Cleaning, decluttering and some good news...

I decided to keep myself busy while Jer is away that I would take on the task of cleaning the entire house by myself.  For the last few weeks it has been a bit neglected because at the end of my pregnancy with Cian I just couldn't do what I normally would being that I was so big and then after birth, being a bit sore and needing to rest more frequently than normal.  Now that it has been two weeks since he was born (and given that I don't have an infant to take care of and can rest and recover alone), it is much easier for me to return to my normal routine...it's just a bit more intensive than it was when I was doing it every day/week.

I'm also planning to clean the basement.  We had worked on it a bit in the last few months but I am determined to get it cleaned up completely because Jer had mentioned he wants to have a bunch of his friends over for a poker tournament when he gets back...I'm hoping to have the basment all done so he can do it there as there isn't enough room on the main floor for that many people!!  Since a few people have stepped forward to say that they would take the kids for me every now and then so I can have a kid-free day, I plan to take advantage of those days to do stuff like this where it would be REALLY hard to have them here while I'm at it!  (Thank you already to Jer's step sister and dad for taking Marryn and Jonah for me that first night and full day, I didn't sleep well and I spent the entire day after cleaning and got a LOT accomplished without them here!!)

I spoke with Jer last night and he's found out a few things.  First, he opted to take the night shift while there.  He says it is quieter, cooler, has a 15% bonus included and also is likely to end 2 weeks sooner than expected!  YAY FOR SOONER! lol  He also found out that even though he's technically working right now, his union doesn't take "out of towners" off the out of work list...so when he gets home, he'll still be on the list where he left off and he won't be put back on the bottom (which means a longer wait for another job).  This is very good news as he says there is work coming in September and he likely won't be off for very long when he gets home.  This is ALSO very good news because it means buying a house!!!  I'm hoping we can stay on the same track as before (shooting for spring 2013 but start looking in the winter) even with this little setback.

I'm feeling ok about everything right now...it's hard when we use facetime to talk because I can see him...it just makes me miss him that much more.  But we're in touch all the time through texting so at least we have that.  I have a few things planned for the kids and I that will hopefully make the time pass less slowly for us.  Jonah's really taking it hard...he's cried a LOT since Jer left on Sunday.  He's very emotional poor guy.

First outing is the Drive In on Thursday night to see either Brave or Madagascar 3.  Next week I think we'll go to Safari Niagara and then the week after that possibly Marineland.  Then the week after that is Jonah's birthday and we're going to go to Sudbury for the weekend to visit Jer for that.  When we get home from there, the next weekend will be Canal Days.  Then I don't know what we'll do for the two weeks after that.  I also plan to spend quite a bit of time at the splash pads around here!!  I like them because I don't have to swim with them (being that I just gave birth, swimming is not an option right now!) and I can supervise from under a shady tree!

Only 2.5 more days of school for Jonah and then we're free to do whatever!  The boys will both be busy with Hockey and Soccer twice a week as well so they'll be busy with that as well as what I have planned.  James has to attend summer school this year as well so he won't have much time for anything!

Marryn turned 3 on the 17th of June too, I didn't write anything for that so here are a couple pictures!!


She's been very into Mickey and Minnie lately because we have been talking about Disney.  She's SOOOO excited to go trick or treating at Disney!


Hahahaha, I love the squishy face the goggles make lol


She's starting to look so grown up already....*sigh* My last baby is no longer a baby. ♥

First day of singlemomhood

Today is a sad day for me and the kids.  Jer left for a two month job in Sudbury.  I'm so incredibly sad.  The most we've been away from him in the last 7.5 years is like 2 nights!  It's hard...Jonah cried the hardest, Marryn doesn't quite understand yet.  I'm trying to keep it together for them.

People have had kind words like "it's not that long" or "it will go by quickly" or "take it one day at a time"....it's very nice of them to try and cheer me up so I will feel better but today, I'm just going to own the sadness I have.

He's my best friend.  We do everything together.  I'm going to miss him more than words can express.

I'm looking forward to the end of this....I cannot wait to have my husband, my children's father and my best friend back as a permanent fixture in our home!

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder....I'm not sure it's possible to be "fonder" of him than I already am...I love him with my entire being already.  My heart is a bit broken today.  I know it's temporary but still...this is one of the hardest things ever...

So...worst summer ever...be done now!!

It's a Boy!

Welcome to the world Cian Alexander!

Born 3 weeks early on Tuesday June 12th, 2012.  7 lbs 7 oz and 19 inches long!

I've never gone that early on my own before but this little guy had other plans!!  I woke up to a few contractions on Tuesday morning but they were like I had been having except a bit stronger and a few more than usual.  I thought nothing of it until I went to the bathroom and noticed some spotting.  I told Jer not to go too far because I thought something was happening.  I emailed his mom to let her know what was up and to be on stand by.  And then nothing happened all day except irregular contractions ranging anywhere from 9 minutes to 45 minutes apart.  The spotting went away.  I was starting to get discouraged that it was just a false alarm so I went and had a nap.  Again, like in the morning, I was woken up by contractions that were a bit stronger and a bit closer together than normal.  I was starting to get frustrated thinking my body was doing the fake out thing I've experienced so many times before with Braxton Hicks contractions (especially because I wasn't quite 37 weeks yet!) and so I came downstairs and sat on the exercise ball for about 40 minutes.  Jer was in the middle of making dinner while I was just sitting there and he needed to run to the grocery store to get lettuce and milk...I told him to go, that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.  At 6:35, I stood up from the ball to go to the bathroom and my water broke!!  That has NEVER happened to me before and WOW I didn't realize that it would be that much!  I ran upstairs and called Jer right away, he dropped what he was doing, called the baby's mom and dad and picked up our oldest son from his friends house so he could be here with the two younger ones until my mom got here (who I called right after I talked to Jer) and then came to get me.  I sat on the toilet for the most part until he got home because every time I got up there was so much water!!!  Jer helped me put the last minute things in my bag and our oldest threw some garbage bags on the front seat of our van and we were off to the hospital. 

Contractions were finally regular-ish and coming every 2-3 minutes.  We got to labour and delivery shortly after 7pm.  I was put in a case room and checked and found to be about 3-4 cm's dilated (just last Thursday my Dr. checked me and I was completely closed!) with what the nurse described as "copious amounts of water".  Jer texted mom and dad and let them know where we were at...they said they'd be here at 11 pm.  I was starting to think they weren't going to make it in time!

For the next couple hours I was hooked up to the monitors and was contracting away, praying for everything to go quickly, but not so quickly that mom and dad would miss the birth of their baby...that was a really hard happy medium to have!!!  Especially as the contractions got stronger!

Sometime after 9 pm (I can't remember the time really) they moved us over to the delivery room.  Getting up and walking really sucked!  Once we were in there, Jer continued with updates on facebook all the while trying to comfort me through the pain.  His sister came too and she also helped by rubbing my legs to give Jer a break.  I can see from Jer's updates on facebook that shortly before 10 I was 4-5 cm's dilated.  Mom and dad finally arrived at around 10:20 pm.  The nurse asked me around 10:30 what my pain was on a scale of 1-10...and I answered here with about an 8 or 9 and then with the next contraction I was screaming at her OK IT'S A TEN NOW!!!  With that answer, the nurse stepped out of the room to call the Dr. and at the end of the next contraction I felt that urge to push...I told Jer "GET THE NURSE!" so he ran out and did that...it was very chaotic to me after that.  I was in so much pain that I probably looked completely crazy and wide-eyed!  The nurse was telling me to blow as hard as I could because she wasn't gloved up yet and I really had no control over the pushing urge.  It hurt SO bad...this was my worst birth for pain, that's for sure!  I didn't have any pain medication at all so it was also my first completely natural childbirth.  No induction, no IV's and no pain meds.  Go me!  :D

From that first contraction where I needed to push it was probably about 3 minutes total until he was born.  It was SO fast (thank God!).  As soon as he was completely out I yelled "THANK GOD!!!" lol because the pain was over (mostly lol).  Dad announced that it was a boy and they took him over to the warmer to start checking him out.  Then the Dr. and nurses attended to me (I have hemorrhaged in the past so they gave me some meds to make sure I wouldn't do that again).  I had no tearing at all (huge surprise given how quickly he came) and everything was good from then on out!

I'm very proud of how this pregnancy and delivery went :)  I only gained 14 lbs in total and still he was completely healthy and weighed in well 3 weeks early!  Cian (pronounced key-an) is a beautiful little boy and his parents are just thrilled with him :)  We got to spend a bit of time rooming in together before I went home the next day (not even 24 hours in the hospital, I needed to rest in my own bed!!).

Today I feel like I've been hit by a truck a couple times but I suppose it could be worse!

And, I am now officially retired reproductively speaking.  After 7 pregnancies and 7 babies, 3 of my own and 4 for 3 other families, I'm finished.  It was a great ending to say the least!!  Now it's time to work on me, lose some weight and down the road maybe think about a tummy tuck to get rid of all the extra skin that has stretched out over the course of 14.5 years and 7 pregnancies!  I'm looking forward to this new phase in my life.  Now, my friends and family need to start having babies so I can revell in their pregnancies instead of my own!!!  :)

Happy Thursday!!