Things I Do During Meetings

1) Blog (like right now)

2) Put the baby to sleep and take video of him (***WARNING*** this is so cute that you may turn into something with an innocent look and big eyes ***/WARNING*** and yes, Valentina's Buddy - in the background you hear our friend K E-R)

3) Change the baby's diaper (don't worry, this isn't the actual change operation, this is the fun time post-change - usually AJ's happiest and most talkative time. This actual video isn't from during a meeting, which is evident by VNB off-screen making faces at AJ and distracting him (but eliciting some awesome smiles and giggles))

4) Fix lunch/snack/tea for myself

5) Do the dishes

6) Clean the house

7) Feed the baby (aka "Carrot Face")

8) Do laundry (well, until the phone cut out in the laundry room)

9) Perform my morning toilet (sans shower - i.e., brush hair/teeth, put on deodorant/clean clothes, etc.)

10) Play with the baby

11) Web surf

12) Play games on the computer

13) (*gasp*) Work



Things I Have NOT Done (But HAVE Contemplated)

1) Showered

2) Taken out the trash/recycling

3) Vacuumed

4) Bathed the baby

5) Watched TV

6) Slept

Poor Parenting Moments, Part I (I'm sure of many)

So AJ's on the floor right now, crawling around, while I'm (you guessed it) in a meeting. So I looked down a few minutes ago to find him gnawing on the end of a USB cable. Thinking that it was ok for him to chew on a cable as long as it was the plug end (meaning that, while it's not really a good habit to get into, at least if he's chewing on the plug itself, then it's not plugged in), I just let him continue. Then a note popped up on my desktop:

"USB device not identified"

Yes, the cable that was being gnawed on by my infant son was plugged into the computer (which means that it was getting power, albeit a small amount).

And apparently he's not an identifiable USB device.

Dude...if this kid survives, it'll be a miracle.

Google Video

So I've got my "What I Do During Meetings" post almost ready to go (I started during the meeting yesterday and was continuing on it during this morning's meeting).

Unfortunately, Google Video (formerly You Tube) is in the process of upgrading or something...and since this particular post is not nearly as funny/cute without the video, I'm not gonna post it until I can upload stuff.

So for those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the next post...well...sorry...it's coming soon, I promise!

Bloggy Giveaways

****WARNING****
Following this link could be an infinite time sink.
****/WARNING****

Ok, so I've got Rocks in my Dryer on my blogroll because I read her stuff frequently. Well, today she's hosting a carnival in which people give away free stuff. As of the last time I reloaded her website, there were 192 people who were giving things away...things ranging from a purse that was used once to a $50.01 Amazon gift card, with oodles of things in between. Granted, most of these items are being given away by "mommy bloggers," so the content is mostly geared towards people in that category, but then again, who couldn't use $50 to spend at Amazon?

I'm not giving anything away myself because that is _way_ too much hassle in the middle of deadlines, an increasingly messy house, and a teething baby...but I certainly wouldn't mind _getting_ free stuff.

And just so you know, I'm working my way through the links while I try to pay attention to the meeting that never ends (seriously...this thing has been going pretty much daily and for a good part of each day for like the past month and a half...but the light at the end of the tunnel is only two days away!!!! Yay, Wednesday COB!!!!).....I'll post again later today with video of what else I do during meetings.

My Childhood Home

This is another of those things where someone's running a carnival. And since this was something that is currently on my heart a lot, I thought I'd share.

When I was six, my family moved to the town of Laurel, MD so that my dad could become the Minister of Music and Youth at First Baptist Church of Laurel. We started out living in an apartment, but moved into our house about three months later. And while I have many, many very fond memories of that little yellow and green house in North Laurel, that's not the place I think of as "home" during the time we lived there. The place I think of is the church building. We were there so often (my mom taught school there for a while too) and spent so much time there that that building is really what I would consider to be my "childhood home."

I really just have pictures in my head of things:
- seeing how far we could roll a bouncy ball under the pews during adult choir practice
- sliding under the pews during adult choir practice
- rolling bouncy balls and sliding along pews during adult choir practice (do you see a theme here?)
- painting a rock for an Easter program (during adult choir practice) with a 102° fever
- Boogy "Hart Fall" (the PC name for "Boogy Fart Hall" where the "Boogy Fart" lived....long story...which, incidently, begins during adult choir practice)
- the 8" of cross that hung down into the baptistry
- the corner of the ledge by the elevator that was always broken off

It's where I got baptised, it's where I was commissioned to go overseas, it's where I met and married my husband...

It's where I grew up (heh...as much as I ever will).

But in less than a month, we'll turn the keys over to the local police department for their new headquarters as our church family moves into a much-needed larger facility a few blocks away. I know that we need it (heck...VNB and I are the ones who took over the pastor's office for a Sunday School class for a while), and I'm really glad that we have a set of pastors who _aren't_ as tied to our current space as people like me are....but I don't know that it'll ever feel quite _right_ to be in the new building. It won't be "home" as much as our current location is. There will be new bells and whistles that will be nice, there will be plenty of classroom space for everyone with room to spare, and we won't need as many services because we'll all actually be able to fit in one room at the same time...but it won't be home. At least not for a while anyway.

I know, I know, a church is a group of people, not a building...but home is where the heart is, and my heart loves that place because it represents so much of my childhood (and life!) to me. And I'll be sad when it's gutted and it quits being part of the heavenly justice system to become part of the earthly justice system.

But, at least for now, the outsides will stay and I can still drive by and remember climbing the tree on the corner, and running through the snow and birdseed on the way to the car on my wedding day, and playing "escapee baby" on the fire truck jungle gym in the playground, and slicing open my knee on that same playground, and playing three different parts (at least two of which were male) in one Christmas cantata, and, and, and...

Busy

I haven't posted in a while (again, some more), and this time I've got a valid excuse which is going to continue for at least the next two weeks, so I figured I'd post a "quickie" update.

First off, work is crazy for me right now with our first major deadline for this project coming up in the next two weeks. AJ and I will actually be going in to the office semi-regularly (AJ at our division director's explicit invitation which was questioned multiple times by me). He's the team mascot, I think. We'll see how quickly that invitation gets rescinded the first time he screams while the company president has visitors in his office (our "War Room" is apparently right across the hall).

And on the little man that life revolves around: As of this past Sunday morning, he's been outside of the womb for 6 months! Hard to believe! We went to his 6-mo check-up on Tuesday. He's dropped a little more in weight percentile (14 lbs 1 oz, down to 5th percentile - that was easily blamed on last week's plague), but he gained a little in height (up to 30th percentile). By far his biggest gain, however was in his head size. He'd been around the 50th percentile the last time. This time he was in the 70th percentile! That's right. My baby has a big brain! :) When I was expounding on all the various ways in which AJ is the most advanced 6-mo-old in the world, the pediatrician kept saying "well that's very ambitious." I think she was just making me feel better. Although I'm sure she knew that he _is_ the most advanced 6-mo-old in the world.

We all seem to be over the plague (although AJ apparently passed it on to some friends of ours on Saturday...oops!). AJ's appetite hasn't quite returned to normal though. Or let me be more precise - his appetite for solid food hasn't quite returned. Before the plague, he was eating about six containers a day of baby food in three different sittings. Now, if we really work at it all day, we might make it most of the way through two. He's still _eating_ plenty, it's just not from a spoon as much anymore. A little regression due to teething/the plague.

No teeth yet, but we have had a small amount of forward motion. He hasn't quite really figured it all out, but he's discovered that we cheer when he "comes to Mama" in his walker, so he _REALLY_ wants to be able to do the same on his belly. Plus, just "over there" is something he's sure he's not supposed to have, so if he can just get over there, he can chew on it (this morning it was the remote control, Wednesday it was the cables on the floor in one of the conference rooms at work). Every so often, he gets his butt up in the air and manages to wiggle a little closer. Definitely hasn't mastered it yet though.

OK...gotta get back to work. I'm glad to hear from all you folks who have emailed lately saying that you're still reading! With this counter thing (which could easily become an obsession of mine - it's very addictive), I've been amazed at how many different places people read this from. And I've only had two different (non-directed) web searches which resulted in people clicking in - one for a "urine catheter" (heh...it's amazing what you talk about during a birth story), and one for a "12 week sonogram does the baby move around "a lot."" Heh.

Ok...but enough stalling...back to work for me.

The Silver Lining

You know, there is definitely a silver lining to having an infant son barfing all night one night (which kept you awake all night), followed by another day and night of him not feeling well, fussing, and only nursing (which kept you up a second night), followed by a day of yourself barfing and well, not keeping anything in the other end either, while having a teething and still not quite back to normal infant son continue to pretty much only nurse, followed by another semi-sleepless night of your own aches and a husband who's tossing and turning as he begins his own day of barfing, etc.

Anyway...so the silver lining of all of that is that instead of being between 10 and 15 pounds away from my max "normal" weight, I'm now less than five pounds away from it! Of course, once my appetite returns and I get back to eating normally, that'll probably go back to the 10-15 lb range, but it feels kinda nice right now.

Now if only my thighs would stop their massive jiggling and touching of each other, and my pants would go back to actually covering all of my backside when I sit down, I'd be almost back to "normal." It only took six months and having my entire family get the plague to get this far.

Of course, the mega "nursing implements" are here to stay for a while yet and the stretch marks will never go away...but still...at least my gut's almost gone...you know...until I start eating again.

An Homage to Me on My Birthday

By Weird Al



Ok....so it wasn't really about me, nor do I fit it exactly, but that equation in the background looks so familiar that I'm tempted to look it up (and I'm pretty sure which book would have it), and, well, hands down, Picard.

Pretty hilarious though.

So happy 31st birthday to me and happy 3rd birthday to Iraq! :)

For AJ's Grandaddy

AJ's Nana and Grandaddy (VNB's folks) came up from NC for dinner on Thursday and forgot to take pictures!!!

So these are for them. There's video too. AJ _LOOOOOVES_ his walkers. And watching his daddy's fish.

Father's Day

Ok, so it's a little late, but I had to post a pic of what AJ and his daddy did together for Father's Day.

To add to the day's manliness, we watched the American Chopper marathon on TLC (OK, _I_ watched it while they napped). But we'll _really_ celebrate Father's Day on August 5th when we go to this. We'll camp nearby Friday and Saturday nights, spend Saturday hiking in the Poconos and enjoying a nearby lake, and Sunday at the race.

Oh...and if you're wondering, I got dangly things for my ears for Mother's Day. They have AJ's birthstone in them and match the necklace I got for Christmas.

Bored, Plenty to Do

I'm bored. I've got plenty of work (paid and otherwise) to be doing right now, but I'm not doing it. Unfortunately, I'm all caught up on all of my websites, I've played my latest game as far as it'll let me play without paying for it, AJ's asleep on my bed, so I'm not going to go do the other things I could be doing, just in case he decides to try to roll off...again...(boy is bound and determined to be dropped on his head).....so I'm just sitting here, trying to think of something worthy of blogging about.

Nope, nothing's coming to mind...well other than a "please, please, please buy me EV Nova for my birthday!!" But I don't think that counts.

Um....we're working out way into the fruits now with AJ (who can actually sit in his high chair - propped up on a towel, but still). He still LOVES carrots, likes sweet potatoes and squash, and will eat green beans, but I don't like his reaction to peas, so I think we're gonna hold off on those for a while longer and try them again later. I don't know how to describe it other than just my "MommySense" which makes me think that it's not just a dislike of the taste that makes him act the way he does when he eats them. Having no other green veggies to try (well, without cooking and mashing avocados and zucchini myself), we moved on to applesauce yesterday. I was hoping to start the tradition of eating a "breakfast" of fruit everyday, but AJ wasn't interested in the apples at all until it was "lunch" time, so that may or may not work. At lunch, he ate them gamely, although he didn't seem obsessively excited about it or anything. I didn't try them myself, but I'm guessing they were a little tart. He'll try some more once I actually get to the store and buy more.

Since this new habit of his has gotten to be rather expensive (he eats about five of the 2.5 oz packages a day, which costs about $2.50), I've started trying to make his food from scratch. It's really not hard or even that time consuming, but it _is_ messy, and I'm having to learn a few tricks.

First thing that I learned as I was madly steaming and mashing squash as he was eating the last of our store-bought food was that the squash is a very low-yield food. I mean, I get less than one 2.5 oz container from two good-sized yellow squash. Not really worth it except that they're really juicy and I get lots of good squash juice for use later on. Let's see...I spent $4.20 on squash and got _maybe_ three containers out of it which would cost $1.50 at the store...for a loss of $2.70.

The second thing that I learned was that sweet potatoes are a rather high-yield homemade baby food. From two normal-sized sweet potatoes, I got six very full 2.5-oz containers (so they were probably more like 3 oz), and each of those can really be cut in half and watered down (with squash juice) for an easier consistency. So from two sweet potatoes which cost $1.80, I got 12 containers, worth $6, saving us $4.20. Now, you add in the time it took to peel, cut, steam, and smush the potatoes and consider that I probably could have been doing "real" (and by that I mean paying) work, and I probably lost about $30, but if I can manage to multitask, then I think it's worth it. Plus it's fun to smush things in my food mill.

Carrots are medium-yield. From a standard bag of carrots (2 lb) I've gotten 6 2.5-oz containers that aren't quite so tightly packed as the sweet potatoes, and are a little juicier, so I don't think they'll quite double, but still, let's say nine 2.5-oz containers for another $1.80, in place of $4.50's worth from the store, saves me $2.70.

So between the three of them, I'm saving $4.20 on approximately 24 containers of food which will last him about five days. Heh...that's less than a dollar a day. Maybe not worth it? I dunno...I kinda like doing it.

Anyway...I haven't tried the zucchini yet (although I would suspect another low-yield veggie) or the butternut squash (medium-yield?). Now that he's starting the fruits too, I may try my hand at apples, etc., depending on seasons. I'm not sure that I'll try the green beans. They're so stringy that I'm not sure I really trust my food mill to smush adequately. Although I guess there would probably be less prep work prior to steaming than with the others...just snip the ends and check for bad ones.

In any case, should you try this at home, be sure to work with large quantities to minimize the time it takes you.

Now back to figuring out what to do to avoid doing any work.

Elvish and Hobbit(ish) Names

So, in browsing other peoples' blogs today (yay, for comments!!! boo for work that I _ought_ to be doing instead of reading comments and checking out the commenters' sites!), I came across this and this.

My Elvish name is: Ireth (Sáralondë) Mithrandír. And I'm married to: Círdan Mithrandír. Our son is named: Valandil (Huor) Mithrandír.

My Hobbit(ish) name is: Primula (Burrows) Boffin of Whitfurrows. And I'm married to: Hob Boffin of Whitfurrows. Our son is named: Mungo (Popo) Boffin of Whitfurrows.

The names in parentheses are my maiden names and AJ, as opposed to his actual first name. Eat your heart out, Elianna. Or should I say, Silmarwen Sáralondë? Or Anaranë for short.

Oops....Mungo's crying (I don't think someone named Valandil would cry).

Breathing

People joke about new moms who wake up in the middle of the night just to make sure that the baby's still breathing.

Well, I have two confessions:

1) I used to do that with my dog when she would sleep next to me, and
2) 5 months after his birth, I still do it with AJ.

Now don't get me wrong, I am usually able to contain my neurosis at night when I really _should_ be sleeping (apparently, my laziness/bed gravity/reason trumps my concern), but during the day when I'm awake and he's sleeping, it's all I can do to keep from just constantly watching to a) make sure he doesn't fall off my bed (ahem....again....), and b) make sure he's still breathing.

Part of me wonders if I'll ever "grow out of it," and part of me hopes that I never do. And then the panic of "what ifs" hit.

So then I take a deep breath, check on him again, and pray that God keeps him safe and breathing for a long, long time.

My Blogging Story

So reading Rocks in my Dryer turned me on to this "carnival." I don't know who'll find it interesting, but I felt like participating, so here goes!

How did you start blogging?

I was living in Iraq, working for a humanitarian organization. The folks back home liked hearing from me, but I stopped being able to access the email account I was using to send out mass email updates. A friend of mine had been blogging for about a year at that time and it seemed relatively easy, so I started blogging instead of emailing (after one final mass email which was painstakingly sent out to about 15 people at a time).

Did you intend to be a blog w/a following? If so, how did you go about it?

Well, yes, and no...initially, as I just said, my "following" was those from my email list who successfully a) _read_ the email (a surprisingly small number), and b) actually went to the effort to continue to keep up with me. I was surprised with the number of people who complained to me when I got back that I "just stopped writing!" There's no real polite way to tell people that if they had actually _READ_ what I wrote, they would have known how to continue reading updates from me!

In any case, when I got back, I was blogging just for me essentially. Most of my "following" gradually lost interest (life in America isn't as exciting, I guess). Now it's down to a few family members and friends (to the best of my knowledge), but that's ok. It's really just a chance for me to tell someone the crazy things that run through my head without having to actually sit down with a person and _talk_ about them.

What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?

Originally, the purpose was to make sure my family and friends knew that I was still alive, and to keep them apprised as to what I was actually doing and how things were actually going "over there." Now, it lets me easily share pics and stories about AJ with friends and family, in addition to giving me an outlet for my thoughts. I think I'm mostly successful. Now that there _is_ a "little man" in my life, I need to be better about writing about something besides him from time to time. I may be a "mommy blogger" now, but that doesn't mean that there are no thoughts in my head other than him!

Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?

Gosh...these questions didn't seem quite so redundant when I read them through. I guess I don't travel as much anymore (and certainly not to such exotic places), now I've got a husband and baby (originally I was just longing for the day when I'd meet my husband), I've definitely matured some over the past few years.

What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?

How it was all going to end. Very shortly after I began blogging, we left Iraq for some training and I was never allowed to return. While I still carry some of that angst, I can definitely see how HE was working in all of it. If I hadn't come home exactly when I did, I literally would never have met my husband.

Do you make money with your blog?

Currently, no, but I've thought about it. I'm just not sure that I've got enough traffic to support it. Would be nice to make some money for "free" though!

Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?

I know they at least _knew_ about it back in the day, but I'm not sure how many other than my mom (hi, Mommy!) still read it. Now I'm letting the in-laws in on the secret too, so they're starting to read (hi, in laws!)

What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?

Um...write for you, not an audience, and don't name your cat Monkey because you'll end up with very confused toddlers.

Archives

So in looking for the link to my "no hit counter" pledge, I ended up re-reading my entire three years' worth of blogs. It was interesting reading. For one, it wasn't nearly as embarrasingly honest as I remembered it being (there have been quite a few "I can't believe I posted THAT" moments over the years), but it was also fun/heartbreaking to remember what was happening during those times in my life, and to realize how much I _didn't_ say sometimes.

I got to relive the death spiral of my laptop, the heartbreak in leaving Iraq so unexpectedly (also look here, here, here, and here), the surprise in meeting VNB so soon after my return (we'd only really met about two weeks prior, but we were both already pretty sure of the eventual outcome at that point), the joy of getting to know him, getting engaged to him, and becoming his wife, the journey of pregnancy and childbirth (I teared up again when I re-read those moments during the turning of AJ when I was so scared), and now looking back over the pics of our little man and seeing exactly how quickly he learns and grows and changes!

Well...it's been an interesting ride. I wonder what will happen next!

R2-D2, Where Are You?

So VNB's sister and bro-in-law came up to visit a few weekends ago. It was their anniversary weekend, so to celebrate, they babysat AJ and let us go see a movie (Spiderman III....it was....eh, but then I'm not a huge fan). On Saturday, we all went downtown because his sister had never seen DC. We saw the Air & Space Museum, then toured many of the monuments. On the way back to a metro station, we passed something which made my day/week/long time (well, if you take AJ and VNB out of the picture). You see, to celebrate Star Wars' 30th anniversary, the USPS is putting out a series of stamps...and as advertisement, they've painted some of those blue mailboxes to look like R2-D2!!!! There are apparently several around DC, but the one we saw was about a block south of the White House, near the Red Cross headquarters and DAR's Constitution Hall. My in-laws have the pics. It was awesome!

Well, today I got my ~monthly ThinkGeek.com email and in it was this link. If anyone feels like spending $130 plus shipping on me anytime in the near future, I WANT ONE!!!!!!! Be sure you watch the video on the page.

Changes

So, way back almost two years ago, I pledged that I would never set up a counter on my blog. Well...things have changed drastically in my life, and I think I'm going to go back on the letter (although not the spirit) of that pledge. You see, back then, VNB was "just" my "VeryNiceBoyfriend" (although he became my "VeryNiceBetrothed" about 10 days later). Now I'm posting images of our son for anyone on the web to see. So I want to see who it is that's looking and make sure they're not coming in from some weird search or something. Which means keeping track of stats which are easily available through a counter.

I'm still not going to let myself obsess about the numbers of people reading, because this blog really is just an outlet for my random thoughts (and why the heck not share those with the world?). I think that's still conforming to the spirit behind that pledge, if not the letter. But I _do_ want to make sure (to the best of my ability) that there aren't any wackos out there with pics of my little man.

I still have to research and add the counter though, so it may take a little while. Just know that I didn't add it lightly and that it was for good reason.

I'm also thinking about adding a "blogroll" to the sidebar. These are just other peoples' blogs (or other websites) that I read regularly. I like them for various reasons, so I'm happy to give them a little free advertising. Check 'em out, once I get 'em posted. It's not usually _required_ "netiquette," but I'm probably going to email the folks first to get their permission, so that may take some time and will mean that it probably won't be stable for a little while.

I might also join a "blogring" which is basically just a community of bloggers who share some similar trait like "mommy bloggers" or "Christian bloggers." It's always good to have friends.

And how is it exactly that Blogger.com doesn't have the word "blogger" in its spellcheck dictionary?

Team Jones For the Cure

AJ, VNB, and I (along with the rest of Futron's team and the other half-million people who were there) got up early yesterday, Metroed downtown into DC, and walked 5km. We (meaning VNB) managed to raise almost $450, which will be doubled by Futron!

AJ had a nice nap in the stoller and continued to wow the folks from my company with how laid back he is all the time. Heh...they should have been in the car with us last night on the way home...but that's a different story.

Anyway, here are pics from the day.

Food Fight!

Here's the long-awaited second meal. He LOVES his carrots. He's not quite to ecstatically in love with sweet potatoes or squash, but he likes them too. Next up, green beans!

AJ Noises

Here are typical AJ noises. The video gets pretty boring after about 30 seconds.

Updates

It's been a while since I've blogged about anything except the little parasite who is currently (literally) sucking me dry. He's still good. He still screams when the carrots are gone and he likes sweet potatoes too, just not quite as enthusiastically. We'll try squash here in a day or two. His favorite new game is to lunge forward. I guess that means that sitting up is just around the corner. It's hard to believe how quickly he learns, gets stronger, and grows. He's got a white bump on his lower gum below where his left canine tooth would be, and he's been royally fussy these past few days, so I'm thinking that one might be first.

Today I was even able to lay (lie?) him down in his crib and have him fall asleep. It wasn't nearly as easy as that sounds, but that was the ultimate outcome. In between lying him down and him actually sleeping was about 20 minutes of him "rolling" around in his crib (just back and forth, not over, although he's done that twice on the floor now), about 30 minutes of him screaming in his crib, then about ten minutes of me standing by his crib with my head on the railing and my eyes drowsily blinking as I went "shhhhhh, shhhhhh, shhhhh, shhhhhh..." That quieted him down, eventually _his_ eyes started blinking drowsily, and then he fell asleep!!! And he slept for about 45 minutes, whimpered for a bit, then slept for about 15 minutes more. And the angels sang.

They were also singing because my scale told me this morning that I am officially no longer "overweight" (according to my bmi)!!!! I'm still 20 lbs heavier than this time last year, but I'm no longer officially "overweight!!" I still feel pretty ookie about the way I look, but at least there's progress!

What else? Hrm....so I've found myself feeling a bit directionless lately, mostly because I'm just now getting to the point where I can notice that for the past I don't know how many months, all I've been doing is keeping my head above water. To the point that I've somewhat had that McDonald's commercial moment where I wake up and discover that I'm a soccer mom with three kids in a mini-van. Now that I've gotten over the anxiety caused by that awakening, I'm realizing that I'm in a very different place in life than I was just a little while ago. Relationships are different (and some don't seem to be surviving the transition...but at the same time others have deepened and new ones have formed...), responsibilities are different, priorities are different....but there's been so much change in my life lately that I've been afraid to ask Him what my next steps should be for fear that the answer will require _more_ change.

Or at least that's what I thought I was afraid of. I think the real problem was more that I don't know yet how to deal with His will for _our_ lives. It's not just about me anymore. Gone are the days when He can say "go" and I can get up and do just that. I mean....He could still tell us to go and we would still go, but now it involves changing two people's minds (and eventually AJ's too). And I think my real fear is that He'll tell _me_ something, but not VNB and then I'll have to figure out what to do about that. Except that I know that's just silly and He'd never do that. In fact, ways in which I've hoped that VNB would step up, he's done exactly that on his own without any prompting from me.

But life is different now in ways that I never anticipated (and I'm not just talking about surprises like AJ). It's still good, it's just different...and it's interesting seeing who's come alongside me and who's fallen away.

Working from home has really been good. We've gotten stir-crazy from time to time, but really much less frequently than I would have expected. I've still not quite figured out working, keeping AJ happy, _and_ keeping the house clean, but two out of three (at least most days) isn't so bad, right? I've still got a complex about my bosses thinking it's a good long-term plan, but really, I would say that the company's getting a _really_ good deal out of me this way. Since I'm part-time, they don't have to pay benefits, plus they're getting about as much work from me as they are from people who are on this same project full-time - they just pay me for half as many hours, plus I don't have to worry about getting up, dressing up (in my one pair of work pants and two work shirts that "fit" right now), getting AJ to daycare, getting to work on time, and working while feeling guilty about AJ being in daycare...AND they're not losing an experienced analyst. Logically, I think they come out ahead, even though it means that I'm not in the office all the time. I still worry that at some point someone's not gonna be so cool about it and I'm gonna have to defend my work situation though. It could be interesting as we walk as part of Futron's "Race for the Cure" team with the company president this weekend. :)

Speaking of which....if you want to sponsor us, go to this site. Only sponsor VNB because his company will match whatever he raises, and then my company (whose team we're on) will match whatever he raises...which means that if we do this right, your pledge could be quadrupled. Pretty nifty, huh? :) This is a cause that hits pretty close to home for me. There's been virtually no cancer in my family history (what little we know of was caused by my grandfather's 2nd-hand smoke and even then my grandmother was in her late 70s), but my lumpiness puts me at higher risk, as does the fact that AJ didn't come along until I was 30. Plus, I've known several folks who have been personally touched by this disease. So give early, give often. :)

What else? Hrm....AJ's kinda funny and already reminds me of myself in many ways. My mom loves to remind me of one time that I was down in the dumps when I was about 9 or so. I'd only been playing piano for about a year, but we had this simplified version of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" that I was desperate to play. So she found me crying one day and asked what was wrong. There were three things. I don't remember the first one, but the second was that I didn't like Cabbage Patch dolls (they were the big thing at the time, so something _must_ have been wrong with me if I didn't like them), and "I can't even play the Moonlight Sonata!" Oh, life was ending....well...AJ does the same thing. He can reach for and grab onto toys now, but if he can't get them to do what he wants them to do (or if we empty the jar of carrots), he _SCREAMS_ in frustration. With the toys, he usually gets distracted after a minute or two of _SCREAMING_, so life in his Pack 'n Play goes like this - play, play, play, _SCREAM_, play, play, play, _SCREAM_....and so on. And he can't even play the Moonlight Sonata.

Well...that's about it for now. I'll upload the video of AJ eating so that everyone can experience the joy that is carrots.

Food Fight!

So AJ's been kinda fussy lately (fussing during the day, not sleeping at night, etc.) and I've been feeling rather emptied, especially by the evening, plus he met most of the requirements listed on BabyCenter.com before you should feed your kid solid food, so we decided to try "solid" food for the first time last night.

Our pediatrician had said that we should start with orange veggies (carrots, yams, squash), then progress to green veggies (green beans, avocado, etc.), then fruits (bananas, apples, etc.), and _then_ to cereals (apparently this stimulates fewer food allergies than the other way around). Since he's been happily gnawing on frozen baby carrots as teething "rings" for a month or two now, we were pretty sure he'd like the carrots, so that's what we started with.

We put him in his bouncy chair, rolled up his sleeves, put a bib on him, and VNB gave him his first spoonful. He proceeded to get it all over his face (of course), but very quickly caught on to opening, slurping, and swallowing. By the end of the jar (yes, he ate the whole thing), he was reaching for VNB's hand and guiding the spoon into his mouth. No I'm not exaggerating even a little.

When the jar was empty, he literally screamed for more. I think he might like the carrots, what do you think?

He hasn't 'eliminated' the jar yet, so we may hold off on the next one until he does (don't want to stop him up too badly), but when he eats again, we'll definitely get video for you to enjoy.

Spaceman Spiff

So we stopped by my office again today to take a picture of the team for a contract re-compete proposal and we decided that it was too good a chance to miss to take a few pics of our favorite little spaceman.

AJ at the Gym

So last night, AJ missed his diaper and had to change PJs around 2:30 AM (there was _MUCH_ screaming involved, even though I tried to do it in stages, because he was _HUNGRY!!!!_ and yet Mama insisted on changing his clothes!). So in the dark, I grabbed the first onesie and pair of PJs I could find. This morning I discovered that it was his grey onesie that my mom had given him to go with a pair of grey sweat pants, as like a little work-out outfit. So I figured that he could wear that today and I could get some pics for her. Then I had the bright idea to have AJ playing in his little "gym" (which he does in the mornings anyway). Well, several hours (and videos) later, this is the result.

I put him in like this:


Notice that his head is to the right and he is centered on the mat. Notice also his cute little outfit, complete with gym shoes from his Aunt Grandmom, and the adorable "I'm the champ" pose! He's been getting good at finding his right hand with his left. Yes, he's the cutest, smartest 3-month-old in the world, and no, I'm not biased at all.

Well, within about five minutes, he had positioned himself like this:

I swear that I had nothing to do with it, he just likes kicking his little ball. Apologies to those of you out there who couldn't care less about AJ kicking and talking in his little gym. Just keep in mind that there's a set of grandparents (and aunt and uncles) in TN and a set of grandparents (and great-grandparents and aunt and uncle) in NC, and some great-aunts and uncles in GA (who haven't met him yet) who don't get to see him very often. So deal!

He's only recently discovered kicking the ball, and the video was the first time I'd seen him actually _grab_ a fish. Did I mention how brilliant he is?

Well, by the time I was done downloading the pics and videos from my camera, he had re-positioned himself like this (and even though I was sitting right next to him, he did it so quietly that I was surprised when I looked over):



He's getting more and more, um...spirally-mobile? In that video, he's playing his new favorite game (that he discovered for himself while we were visiting my family in TN) - kick the side of the bassinet and bounce around. The squeals should be enough to tell you how much fun it is!

There's nothing in the world like watching a baby play when there's tragedy on the news.

Good Times

Ok, we'll see how (if) this works. I've been jealous of all of my friends posting videos to their websites, and I finally decided to _take_ video of AJ...and it was so cute, it had to be shared. Be sure you watch till the very end.

Also amusing in this clip is the audio (which I assume comes through as well). You get to hear a professional "rocket scientist" that I know making a fool of herself trying to get the little man to smile. Ah, the joys of motherhood. ;p

Also, apologies for the branding across the top. I either need to shell out the $70 to buy the software, find free software, or stop turning the camera sideways. Seems like it'd be easiest to just not turn the camera.

Attempts on AJ's Life, or AJ's Story Part IV

So we spent our two days in the hospital (three if you include "Labor" day). They were relatively drama-less. We slept, ate, and tried to be presentable for visitors, we had visits from phlebotomists at 6AM, and I only had to track AJ down once (they'd taken him to see the pediatrician, but apparently they gather all the babies at once, the pediatrician works his way down the line, and as he's finished, they bring the babies back - AJ just happened to be the very last baby in line and I got concerned after he'd been gone for a couple of hours...I probably wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been for those darn phlebotomists...did I mention that they left the light on when they left?). All in all, it was about as positive experience as being in the hospital could be.

But we finally got to go home!!!! Wednesday morning, we waited for what seemed like hours to be discharged. Finally, right before lunchtime, we were. Since we were at a hospital over by where VNB and I each worked, and since I was starving and would want a controlled eating environment, we decided to stop by his office and mine prior to going home. So we went through a drive through, then took lunch to his office. While we ate, everyone admired our handsome boy. When we were done, we went to my office and while I filled out my timesheet and took care of a few more things, VNB showed AJ off to everyone he saw.

Sounds tiring, right? Well it was, but we weren't done. Our pastor's wife hadn't seen the baby yet, so our next stop was there house. That was a nice chance to sit for a while, feed the baby, and relax before we finally made it home.

Now prior to that day, it had literally been in the 60s and 70s for most of December and January to that point. On that day, it was about 23. So before we left the hospital, we dressed AJ in the following: long-sleeved onesie, thick fleece sleep bag, heavy blanket for swaddling, then his car seat has a padded cover too. When we got home, the padded cover was replaced by a second blanket. He did great on the car ride home (with all the stops), but that evening, he would do the following: eat, sleep for about 10 minutes, then scream. Now, he'd hardly cried at all while we were at the hospital and he'd usually sleep for 2-3 hours in between feedings, so we were perplexed. We tried burping and bouncing and walking and everything else we could think of, but the only thing that would make him stop crying was to eat some more.

After several hours of this, something clicked in my head. Without even really knowing why, I started to undress him. Off came the outer blanket. Off came the inner blanket. Off came the sleepbag. (Back on went a lighter blanket for swaddling.) And the screaming stopped. And AJ went to sleep.

Go figure, the appropriate dressing for 23 degree weather with a brisk wind is a _little_ warm for room temperature with no wind.

But he survived _that_ attempt on his life, so we figured we'd try again. This time we were aided by his great aunts - the OP and Aunt Mom. OP brought over dinner that first night - meatloaf and broccoli. Now VNB doesn't like broccoli, but I _LOVE_ it and since he doesn't like it I don't get it very often. So I had it for dinner that night and the leftovers for lunch on Thursday. On Thursday, Aunt Mom brought over dinner - guess what the vegetable was? That's right - broccoli. So I ate some for dinner that night and the leftovers for lunch on Friday. On Friday, VNB's sister and brother-in-law came up to meet their nephew and take care of us for the weekend. They had made a very nice dinner and we were all actually sitting at our table, eating. Now, AJ had been a little fussy all evening, but nothing _really_ unusual...until dinner. He was sitting with us quietly when all of the sudden, he let out this ear-piercing scream. We seriously thought that he'd somehow pinched himself or something. That caught our attention.

After a while of him screaming for a few minutes then calming down, then screaming again, then calming down again, I was beginning to suspect gas, so I sent VNB to the store for Mylecon drops (except I didn't know the name then, so I sent him for "baby Gas-X"). He talked to the pharmacist at the store who said that he should call the pediatrician. So he came home and we attempted to call the person who was going to be our family practice doctor. Since we hadn't seen him yet (and couldn't seem to get an appointment), it was a little difficult to get his on-call person to talk to us, but we finally did. His suggestion was to watch it and if it got significantly worse, to go to the emergency room. I finally asked if it might be gas (remember my four large helpings of broccoli?) and couldn't we get drops for that and he said, "Oh yeah, Mylecon. That might work too." (Leia's uncharitable thought at the time, "Thanks for nothing, idiot.")

So VNB's sister drove me to the store where we bought the drops. We came home, AJ ate some more, then took some drops. The drops went down, a burp came up, and AJ relaxed and went to sleep. It all literally took about 5 seconds.

So we tried to cook him and that didn't work. Then we tried to make him explode. When that didn't work either, we figured that he was sticking around. I don't _think_ we've tried to kill him since then....although his 9th day was a "little" interesting. Read all about it in the next episode, "The Terrible Day, or AJ's Story, Part V."

The Longest Day or AJ's Story Part III (Appendix A)

So I forgot to mention one thing in the previous post. If you were paying attention, you would have realized that AJ was born on January 8th (the version was on the 7th and he wasn't born until the following morning). Well, for those of you who didn't already know this little tidbit, Jan 8th is also Elvis' brithday. As a result, AJ has been practicing his sneer and even has is own Elvis outfit. Unfortunately, the odds of catching the sneer in a picture while _in_ the Elvis outfit are very small. So you'll have to make do with this pic. Looks like he's getting the hip swivel down. :)

Halleluiah!!!

The angels are singing in Leialand right now.

That's right folks...I was able to zip and button my favorite pair of jeans WHILE THEY WERE ON MY BODY today!!!

This is the first time since about a week after Labor Day.

They've made it up past my ginormous thighs and butt for about a month now, but it wasn't until I tried today that I was actually able to button and zip them over my (equally ginormous) gut.

And to think that I almost didn't even try today just to avoid the disappointmet of them still not fitting.

Now, this isn't to say that they fit anywhere near like they used to (several inches to spare in the waist), in fact, it's a little difficult to breathe right now, as I sit down in them...but they're ON! And I can go out in public in them!! I don't have to wear VNB's pajama pants or sweats anymore!! I can wear my own pants again!! Yay!!!!

It's a glorious day!!!!!

The Longest Day or AJ's Story Part III

This post has descriptions of the birth of a baby...be aware that things might get a little "icky" to some folks. If you don't want the sordid details of the process, just skip to the end.

So after they turned the baby and saw that he was still doing ok, they moved us into a Labor & Delivery (L&D) room and started all sorts of drips. Well...they'd started the saline IV before the version, but I also needed antibiotics (due to a naturally-occurring bacteria that I was having a flare-up of that the baby might have gotten in the process of being born), and Pitocin (the drug used to induce labor). All of that was started around 11:30 AM. The Pit was set to drip at a rate of 4 mL per some time increment. That got my labor to think about starting, but it wasn't really going that well, so they upped the level by 2s every hour or so. They planned to get up to 20 and then re-evaluate, but it really wasn't doing much for me, so they started increasing it by 4s instead of 2s.

Now, understand that pitocin is the synthetic version of oxytocin. Oxytocin, in addition to stimulating labor and increasing the strength of contractions also crosses into the brain and releases endorphins (the body's "happy" juices). Pitocin, on the other hand, only does the first part. Most women who are subjected to pitocin end up in huge amounts of pain, usually by the time it reaches about 10. Mine ended up at 28 before I asked for drugs, and even then it was only after a rational thought process.

You see, when they'd first checked me, I was ~1cm dilated. The next time they checked (a couple of hours later), I was up to 3. The next time (several hours after that), I was still at 3, so it was recommended that, if I hadn't dilated considerably by the next time, that they break my water to try to speed things up. They did that, then checked again a few hours later. I'd gone all the way up to 4 cm! Woohoo (yes, I'm being sarcastic).

And during the time after they'd broken my water, I hit what's termed "active labor," meaning that it really started hurting and required my full attention, even in between contractions. Before then, it really hadn't been that bad. We'd been watching TV and talking (and getting caught sneaking me crackers). Eventually, it'd gotten to the point where I had to pay attention during the contractions, but in between wasn't so bad. In fact, the worst part about the early labor was the very distracting headache I had. It went away sometime that evening. But then I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. Now, we'd done the bathroom thing multiple times during the course of the day, so it wasn't that big of a deal (well except for the time that we forgot to hook back up to the monitors and the head nurse threatened to turn the pit off - probably stopping the labor and throwing us into C-Section...we didn't like her much). Anyway, they unhooked me from the monitors and I waddled over to the toilet. While I was there, it was like something clicked, and it was all for real. I'd been doing it for probably 9 or 10 hours at that point, with the version prior to that, but all of the sudden, this was it.

So I moved around as much as possible finding a comfortable position (which was impossible), and finally ended up back in the bed. Gradually I went from just concentrating on relaxing during contractions to screaming in agony during each one. It was after a couple of hours of that that they found that I was only to 4 cm. It was then that I knew I wouldn't be able to make it till the end without help. In fact, I'd come to the conclusion prior to that check that, if I wasn't up to 7 or 8 cm at least, that I'd ask for drugs. When I was only at 4, there was no question.

Fortunately, they'd left the catheter in for the epidural from the version, so the anesthesiologist came in and juiced me up. It was probably close to midnight at that point. I hadn't slept much the night before (and probably not well since Wednesday at least), we'd been at the hospital since 7:30 that morning with all sorts of emotionally-stressful things happening, AND I hadn't eaten in 24 hours. So the best thing that the epidural did was to let me sleep for about an hour. VNB got in a nap too (our "assistant coach" kept watch over me while he slept).

After our naps, we were ready to go again, not only that, but I went from 4cm to 9 in about two hours (epidurals slow labor if given too early, but given late in the game, they speed it up). Epidurals are known to prevent women from feeling the urge to push, so I was a little worried. But then I started feeling this pain. The L&D nurse thought that maybe I was feeling the urine catheter they'd given me when they gave me the epidural drugs (you can't tell when you need to go, so they just siphon it off for you), and it _really_ hurt...plus, I figured that if I was going to be drugged at all, then I shouldn't feel any of it right?

So she gave me a booster of the drugs. The pain never went away completely, but that helped for all of about 5 minutes. After that, it got worse. Finally, I told VNB that I thought I needed to push. He got the midwife, who checked me again and I was fully dilated! Now in true "Murphy's" fashion, she had another lady who also wanted to push right then...but she sent the nurse in with her and had her wait while I pushed.

This was the most painful experience of my life. If the drugs worked at all, I didn't know it except for the fact that I had absolutely no control over my right leg, and only limited control over my left. That became important when VNB was helping me hold up one of my legs. I was pushing against his hand and he was getting tired, so he switched to the other hand, but that wasn't comfortable or working for me, so I, um..."forcefully" told him to switch back. He told me that his arm was tired. My response? "I DON'T CARE!!!" That was funny labor moment where I yelled at my husband #1.

A little while later, I was getting _really_ hot and finally convinced VNB to get a wet towel for me. Well, we had to direct him to the towels (in the bathroom), then he was trying to just put some ice in it. That was when I yelled at him to get the whole thing wet and "do it NOW!!!" He had a very startled look on his face, but he obeyed, and I was grateful once I got the towel off of my forehead and onto my body. In his defense, he thought I just wanted something cool on my forehead, so he was getting ice, thinking that would be the coolest thing. What he didn't know was that, unless my entire body could be put in the ice, it wasn't going to be enough for me. And he was so focused on the pushing that he needed a more, um..."forceful" approach to get him to really hear what I was saying.

But those were my only two real "moments." VNB was disappointed that I didn't curse or blame him for the whole thing.

Anyway, after about 40 minutes of pushing, the baby's head was crowning...but it just stayed there for three contractions. After the second one, the midwife started looking concerned and mentioned that the baby couldn't stay there for very long and that we needed to think about performing an episiotomy (where they cut you to give the baby more room). VNB was with her on the cutting, but I wasn't. I told them that I wanted one more contraction and while they were trying to convince me otherwise, I started pushing again. When that contraction didn't move the baby at all, I agreed (I just wanted one more chance, I got it, so I was content). She cut me (2nd degree) and pretty much at the next contraction the baby's head came out and the body during the one after that!

They put my slimy baby on my belly, but with the baby's back to me, so, like my mother before me, I kept having to ask, "what is it?" VNB was distracted, making sure that I was ok (as were the nurses and midwife), so it wasn't until the third or fourth time that I asked that the midwife told me, "It's a boy!!"

Then it was time to cut the cord (which VNB did very nicely), and the baby was brought over to the little station on the wall to get his vitals (which VNB watched like hawk). While he was being checked out, they were stitching me up (that wasn't fun, even with the lidocaine). Once that was done, they brought the baby back over to me and I really got to meet him for the first time.

Even from the moment of birth, he was the most adorable baby on the planet. Yes, I'm biased, but I _have_ had independent verification from neutral third parties that he is, indeed, the most beautiful baby they've ever seen. And absolutely perfect. It was possible that he was still slightly premature (we weren't really that sure what the due date was, but regardless, this was earlier than even the earliest of possible due dates), but he cried on his own immediately, had Apgars of 9 both times, had perfect hearing, peed, pooped, and ate just like he was supposed to. The lactation consultant called him a natural at breastfeeding. For all of the horror stories I've heard about it taking weeks for babies and mommies to figure that out, he knew right away (smart little guy too - have I mentioned how perfect he is?).

Anyway, so at 4:58 AM (17.5 hours after starting, but really only about 7 hours after it got to be painful and with only about 45 min of pushing), Andrew Alexander "AJ" Jones was born, weighing in at a hefty 6lbs, 14 oz, and measuring 20.5" long.

This is a picture taken an hour or two after he was born by his proud paternal grandparents through the nursery window (they had to do a more thorough check up in the nursery while they transferred me to a regular room). A very proud VNB is holding him up for all to see. He really hasn't stopped doing that since. :)

But we've had our ups and downs since then. Look for "Attempts on AJ's Life or AJ's Story Part IV," coming soon to a blog near you. There will also be more pictures. :)

To Ev'rything (Turn, Turn, Turn) or AJ's Story Part II

So the next morning, VNB and I awoke _early_ and prepared to leave for the hospital. Our bags were packed, clothes laid out, but there are always "last things." Still, we managed to get away with minimal delay. I was starving, but wasn't allowed to eat anything. VNB, on the other hand, had been instructed that he was _required_ to eat (they, oddly, don't like dads fainting from hunger in the delivery room...go figure). So, on our way, we stopped at the Starbucks and Burger King drive-thrus. Talk about excruciating pain - watching your husband drink Starbucks and eat a Croisan'wich when you're hungry, but can't eat...especially when you know that you probably won't be eating for the rest of the day.

But it had to be, and I really was glad that he got to eat. At least one of us would have energy for the day.

So we got to the hospital a few minutes late, but we still waited for a few minutes, so we didn't feel too badly. We sat in the "family and friends" waiting room on the maternity ward with a guy who was there for a friend of his. After a few minutes of uncomfortable pleasantries (at least for me, VNB is _much_ better about that sort of thing than I), we were called back.

I had to change into the lovely hospital gown and pee in a cup one last time (at least for a while). Our Labor and Delivery (L&D) nurse was _very_ personable and really helped to put us a much at ease as possible. It really helped that she had had her own two children with the Maternity Center midwives (tells you something about hospital/OB care and practices when a L&D nurse uses midwives and birthing centers rather than her own hospital!), so she was sympathetic to our situation. Plus, she went to church with a co-worker of VNB's, so we all had lots to chat about as she was setting up equipment and hooking me up to things.

Even a month later, the thought of that morning makes me tear up. I was so scared. Hospitals, doctors, nurses, epidurals, possible C-Sections, breech babies...There was a moment after I'd been given the epidural while they were waiting for it to take effect when it was just me and VNB in our little curtained partition. I don't think I was crying, but I was certainly working hard not to. VNB very gently asked if anything hurt, I shook my head "no," so he asked if I was scared, and I shook my head "yes" - afraid to, or maybe just incapable of even voicing all of the things that were going through my head. I don't remember what he said, I just know that him being there with me, holding my hand was all that kept me sane at that moment. Somehow, because he was there too, I was able to take a few deep breaths and get a hold of my emotions again - to get my thoughts back to the now instead of the "could bes."

But before all of that happened, the anesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural. Like with the acupuncturist the day before, the OB had told us in advance "this is going to hurt," so we knew we needed the drugs (you know it's gonna be bad when the doctor warns you about the pain). Still, it's pretty scary to have a long needle stuck into your spinal column. Fortunately, I didn't have to look. The actual sticking of the needle hurt a good bit (and I can still occasionally "feel" where it was in my back), but it took effect pretty quickly. He gave me more than they usually give to laboring moms (a "walking" epidural), but less than they usually give for C-Sections. Even so, what was about to happen hurt like heck. One thing he said which was ultimately comforting (although a little scary right then) was that his shift ended in about an hour (meaning that he'd been on all night already! Scary to have someone stick a large needle into the epidural space of your spinal column at the _end_ of his shift!), but that he'd stay through the end if we ended up with a C-Section (somewhat comforting that he wasn't going to jump ship on us at the first opportunity).

Once the epidural had fully kicked in, the OB came in (she'd poked a head in prior to that to say hello, but now she was there to stay). The midwife had also come a while before and was great about sitting with us and answering questions. I really appreciated that she was there with us, even though we were officially under someone else's care. The OB did a quick sonogram just to make sure that the baby hadn't turned (he hadn't), and we were off...

First the OB felt for AJ's butt. To his credit, he had come back out of the pelvis and was back to his head being at about 11 o'clock (my belly button being 12 and nether regions being 6) and butt at about 5 o'clock (that made him easier to turn). Once she found his butt, she asked the midwife to hang onto it (basically to keep it from moving back once the turning motion began), but as she reached for my belly, the OB noticed her _really_ long fingernails and called her off. Instead, the L&D nurse was the second set of hands as the OB then found his head and started pushing him around.

Up until a little over 12 hours later, that was the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life. VNB was standing at my head (he'd had to practically crawl under the bed to find an empty spot of floor where he could be near me). I watched him for most of the time (it took a few minutes).

But then, very abruptly, it was over. And after those few minutes of commotion, the room was quiet. Just to be sure, I asked if it had worked. They said that it had, but all five of the medical professionals in the room (another L&D nurse had come to help/watch - we were the only ones in recovery at that point) were very distracted as they watched my vitals and those of our baby.

That time was almost worse than the time before while we waited for the epidural to kick in. AJ's heart tones dipped down into the 80s during the procedure (120-160 is "normal") and were in the 90s immediately following. Everyone just stayed and watched until they got back to about 110 (that seemed to take forever). Then, one by one, they each slipped away. I don't know where they went (we could hear some talking at the other end of the room, but it clearly wasn't all of them), but eventually it was just me and VNB again.

Then the anesthesiologist returned. He checked my vitals one last time, then said that he was going home. Just to make sure, VNB asked, "so that's good news, right?" The anesthesiologist replied, "That's good news," smiled, and left. I definitely cried some when VNB came back with that news.

We sat there and watched AJ's heartbeat return to normal, slowly, but surely. Eventually the OB and midwife came back and officially said that things looked good, and we were back under the midwife's care. When the epidural wore off, we were moved to a labor and delivery room, and the pitocin drip was started (to induce labor).

That was just the beginning of what became one of the longest days of my life. For the rest of the story, look for "The Longest Day, or AJ's Story Part III," which I promise won't take as long for me to get written.