Using cloth diapers

We all know that having a baby is expensive!  I was trying to find ways to help cut cost and be a little greener in the process.  I had a friend who had used cloth diapers with her son and she really liked them.  I spoke to her about them and decided to try them out.  Aubree was 6 months old when I took the plunge into the cloth diapering world.  I must say it was the best decision for our family.  It is not like your mother's version of cloth diapers.  I had many people tell me that it was a horrible decision and I wouldn't like it once I started using them.  I'm so glad that I didn't listen and tried them out for myself.  Aubree was starting to get diaper rash often because she had started solid foods.  There wasn't anything that I could do to help prevent it, until I changed her over to cloth diapers.  It instantly went away, it was wonderful!!  For this reason alone was a great reason to change over from disposables.  I just wanted to throw this out there.  I know there are so many mom's out there that would like to know more about them, or even try them, but are just to scared of the unknown.  I just have three words to say:  I heart cloth!  :)

Knee Injury After The Tornado

I know that I had planned on starting the Insanity workout and posting about them.  I did a few days of them and then the tornado hit.  The following week I had my daughter in my arms and bent down the wrong way injuring my knee.  I went to the orthopedic doctor today and I had dislocated my kneecap.  Luckily with some physcial therapy I should be back to new soon!  I do plan on starting a new program as soon as I can.  I will make sure to post my progress and let everyone know what I plan on doing. 

May 20, 2013

The last few months have been a world wind for me and my family.  On May 20, 2013 we were in our home when a tornado hit us.  We were living in Moore, Oklahoma at the time.  I was home with my husband, 6 month old daughter, and our dog.  We hunkered down in a closet, prayed for our lives, and with God's good gracious made it through an EF-5.  After the tornado hit our home we were in a complete disaster area.  We ran to check on the neighbors and luckily everyone on our street was okay. Unfortunately, the homes on the next three streets were not.  There was nothing left of these homes. 

Immediately following the tornado the Red Cross and the Air Force came in to help us.  Our home was not demolished, but it was unlivable.  The next morning many men and women from my husband's squadron came to help us.  I don't know what we would have done without the help we received.  Having no running water or no electricity.  I remember one night my daughter was crying uncontrollably.  I had no idea what was wrong with her.  My husband said, "maybe she is hot?"  He went and got some bottled water and poured it on a washcloth.  I put it on her and she went limp in my arms, became quite and fell asleep.  There is no worse feeling than having your child feel that way and there isn't anything that you can do.  

We were scheduled to leave Oklahoma only 3 months from when the tornado hit.  We had been there 3 years and never had to face one.  A week later we had decide the best thing to do was for me to come back to Kentucky and stay with my mom while my husband was retraining in Texas.  He wasn't going to be done until September.  It was the best option for our family.  We had been staying with friends right before we left Oklahoma.  They were so kind and generous to have let us stay with them.  We will never forget them and their friendship.  

The day we were leaving another bad weather report had come on the news that morning.  We had planned to leave that evening around 7pm because our daughter travels better at night so she can sleep.  Around 4pm I spoke with my husband about leaving early.  Sometimes in our life we have instincts, gut feelings and we should always follow them.  That day I'm glad that we did.  We left that evening at 5pm.  We had just got onto the interstate, I-40, when the radio said there was a tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma heading right toward us.  As many of you know this tornado also took lives.  We were only minutes away from being stuck on the interstate.  Panic had set in and I was crying uncontrollably, scared for our lives, the life of my baby girl.  We drove as fast as we could with the tornado trailing behind us.  That night another tornado had hit our home in Moore, Oklahoma.  We made it out okay, but it is something that still haunts me till this day.

I find myself still dreaming about that day.  Thunderstorms can frighten me if the thunder and wind is loud enough.  I sometimes wonder if it is normal for me 6 months later to still have dreams about that day.  I still can't watch footage about it if you can hear the sounds of the tornado.  It puts me right back there, in that closet, praying for my family...terrified.     

Post Baby Weight Loss

I have reached my 6 weeks postpartum.  I got approval from my doctor to start working out again!  I'm so excited.  I have lost quit a bit of weight since having her, I am down 23lbs.  I currently weigh 130lbs.  My pre-pregnancy weight was 121 lbs.  So that is my goal for now to accomplish.  I am going to periodically post my progress with pictures.  I am going to start out with running and doing Bodyrock again.  Then when I feel ready I will start Insanity!  I'm so excited to be able to do this and have the support of others to help me reach my goal.  :)

The picture on the left is 
37 weeks, on the right 6 weeks postpartum

   

MOVING!!

I am 8.5 months pregnant and I received a phone call from my property manager with bad news.  The owner of our house has decided to move back to Oklahoma.  That means for us that we are having to move!  I can't believe that this has happened,  luckily for us we have another house we can get from our property manager.  This is just the worst time for this to be happened since I am so far along.  I guess we just have to deal with it and move on.  There is no reason to stress over it since there is nothing that we can do.  Sometimes you just have to suck it up and deal with it. 

Labor and Delivery

Sorry it's been a while.  I have been very busy!  I had my beautiful baby girl, Aubree, on Election Day I was 37 weeks and 5 days.  I went into labor on Sunday night, but the contractions weren't close enough to worry about. Then Monday they were coming every 15 minutes or so. Then by early Tuesday, around 2am they were every 5 minutes apart. So I went to the hospital and they sent me home because I was still dilated 1cm. I went back that day at 9am and still no change. But, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 1 minute! The nurse made the doctor come and see them because she knew I was in labor. When they walked in I was in so much pain they admitted me right away.
I went around 4 or 5 hours before I was able to get an epidural. The thing was I wasn't dilating from were I had the LEEP procedure. I had been in labor for over 36 hours before they finally admitted me!!! The LEEP had caused me to have scar tissue and it was keeping me from dilating. I was screaming I was in so much pain. My poor husband was in tears because he couldn't do anything to help. Then I finally got the epidural and when they checked me again it made the scar tissue finally tear open. I dilated from 2 to 6 within 5 minutes. It caused me to have a continuous contraction and it was squeezing Aubree. They were making me change positions trying to get it to stop. It made her heart rate dropped and they were preparing for an emergency C-section. They gave me a shot in my uterus and it finally worked. They had to stop my labor completely for 2 hours. Then they started giving me Pitocin to start it up again. I dilated the last 4 cm in around 1.5 hours after that. I ended up pushing for around and hour and it was over!! I have never been in that much pain in my life!!!!  But it was well worth it! 

Welcome to the world Aubree Rae!  6lbs, 1oz, 18 inches long. 

OBGYN: 31 weeks, 4 days appointment

 I can't believe how fast everything is going with this pregnancy.  Everyone is right at first it goes by so slow and then after you find out the gender it flies by!  In two days I will be 8 months pregnant!  It doesn't seem real to me, but is starting to sink in.  I went for my 2 week checkup today.  Everything is normal and good.  I have gained 1lb since my last visit 2 weeks ago.  I have gained a total of 20lbs according to the doctors office.  In one month I have to have a strep B test done.  They told me it was standard to do and is no big deal.  I'm assuming it's just a culture they get.  If I do have it then I have to have antibiotics during labor.  I do know that women that get it can pass it to their babies giving them this infection.  I have no idea what causes it, I just hope that I don't have it.  Even if I do then at least I know it's no big deal and is common.

I did speak with the doctor about my swelling.  The doctor said it's still normal and nothing to worry about.  She thinks that the baby is laying mainly on my left side and is pressing on my blood vessels.  That is the reason why my swelling is a lot worse on my left side.  After 35 weeks I will start to go every week.  I will also start getting checked to see if I'm dilating or thinning at this point.  She also heard from the cardiologist and everything with the ECHO looked good.  I love getting good news.  :)

This day has been a rough day.  Aubree started kicking and moving at 4am again.  I finally got up at 5am because I was worried I would wake my husband up.  I just couldn't get comfortable.  She continued to move until around 10am, then she finally stopped.  The nurse asked me what I had feed her that morning because she was all over the place.  I laid down for a nap when she stopped moving, but 45 minutes later she was at it again.  Needless to say it's going to be a long day...