Labor Part One: Bedrest....

So on Mother's Day I got home from our running around, and happily went to go take a bath. I was in the Tub reading when the first real pangs hit. It hurt y'all. Then 16 minutes later another one. I started to time them but they got no closer together.

I called the doctor the next morning and she had us come in for a visit. They checked me and I wasn't softened and all that stuff, but my blood pressure was high so they sent me for monitoring. All looked good...

So the next day I went to work.

That's right... I went to work and worked - all the time in pain. A week later though, I couldn't take it and my doctor put me on bedrest. Driving with heavy contractions every 16 Minutes was not the best thing to do in hindsight.

Bedrest sounds nice doesn't it? It is not all fun. Think of having to stay in bed all day and having to entertain yourself. Now think of doing that for 3 weeks. I was going crazy by the end of it. I had read a ton and watched enough cheesy tv on our crappy bedroom tv than I would care to think about. I felt isolated from the world. It completely sucked.

The worst was the Sunday of our niece's first dance recital. Mr. went and I stayed home and watched ESPN all day feeling miserable. When Mr. came home, he had funny stories of her dancing which made me even more upset I missed it!

Monkey's lungs weren't completely developed so we didn't induce when we thought we would. Every week we were on pins and needles... Could this week be it? Every monitoring trip was filled with "Ok so if you have to stay... what do I need to grab?"

Finally, my doctor set the date, June 9th we would start the induction.

Eviction Notice had been given and we were waiting for D-Day!

Welcome Little Monkey!

Mr and I are happy to announce the birth of our son, "Monkey" Michienzi. He arrived by emergency C-Section on June 10th at 10:19 a.m. here in Boston. We have spent the summer getting to know each other and I was instantly smitten with him. To his mommy, he can do no wrong.

The story is coming, but I did want to let those who pay attention to the blog that 1) I am here, and 2) everyone is happy and healthy!

Things I would like to teach my Son

Now that the day is rapidly approaching that I get the chance to meet my little buddy, I am thinking about things I want him to learn from his Dad and I. Some thing I hope that he learns:

• Take risks.... You never know how something will go until you try it.


• If you love someone, let them know. They may not realize it unless you tell them


• Celebrate every day, because it is a great gift.


• Just because something seems impossible, doesn't mean it is.


• Don't sweat the small stuff and don't pet the sweaty stuff.


• Live life to the fullest, and always try things you want to do at least once. (I have yet to try my hand at mechanical bull riding.)


• Don't be afraid to be who you are.


• Jar Jar Binks does not exist. Han shot first.


• Always take the time to laugh. Be silly, sing loudly, dance wildly, as though no one notices.


• When you find someone and you marry them, slow dancing in the kitchen for no reason is perfectly acceptable. There doesn't even need to be music.

I know he is a great kid, and he will be an amazing man. All it takes is one look at Mr. and I can tell that.

Springtime in Boston....

I love springtime in Boston. When that first 65 degree day comes everyone's mood begins to lift. That is what this week represents. Sure there is some rain, but yesterday it was almost 70, and I was able to drive home with the windows down and the radio up. It was definately lovely. Hopefully this means gorgeous flowers are right around the corner! Happy spring everyone!

Choices and Non Choices

There is something I learned this pregnancy.... everyone has an opinion on something. Even if they have never held a baby before. Some of the best have been about the fact I can not be a stay at home mom. (From people in my work building!) We need the two incomes, and I carry the health insurance. Many assume that I don't want to, but trust me, I would if I could! Some of the advice I have gotten from friends and family have been super helpful. There has been encouragement at every turn for everything. Some things I can't control, but some things I can. It is those choices that will shape the life of myself, my family and my baby. There is one choice that has heavy opposition on either side. Breastfeeding. Now, I made the decision to breastfeed, and a lot of people I know are not or are not fans of it. I am cool if you don't want to, and that is your own thing, but you would be surprised at the anti breast feeding movement. (Note: not so much from the people I know.) Last night, I attended Breastfeeding class, and it was very apparent that the instructor was extremely pro breastfeeding and anti pumping (meaning full time stay at home mom/breast feeder). The anti pumping bit did not sit well with me because I have no choice, but it was an extremely liberating and exciting class, because you learned about all the ways that breast feeding helps you and your baby and how your body is trained to feed the baby. Some benefits I had heard of ( bonding experience, less chance of SIDS, Better immune system for baby, faster weight loss) and some were new to me (less chance of cancers in breast feeding moms, better immune system for mom). I am more excited and beginning to really feel ready for the boy! The whole point though.... is that we are making the decisions about how we raise our children. This is much like our mothers and their mothers before them and so on. Times have changed, and there is a lot more to think about. Do we cloth diaper? Do we breast feed? Do we make our own baby food? We should respect and understand each others decisions and encourage each other as moms.

Know What is Wonderful....

When you go to the diabetes doctor, and she suggests peanut butter ice cream for a bedtime snack. I totally can't wait for my food order to come in tonight!

Starting to Feel Overwhelmed... Why Doesn't Anyone Just Feel Whelmed?

So reaching my third trimester and knowing the little guy is making his grand entrance in 12 weeks or less is starting to freak me out a little. We still have so much to do, but with the weekends filling up and the downtime sparse, we are really going to have to work hard to get things ready. So I figured a little To Do List would be helpful, and I figured I would keep it here.

1. Prepare the Nursery - The Nursery used to be the stuff room, so there is an odd collection of things, not to mention all of my craft stuff and Mr.'s business stuff, that need to be packaged up and stored down in our basement. That is proving to be a project of epic proportions, but it is coming along. Our crib and dresser/changing table are en route to our house in the coming weeks and as soon as everything is out, we will start setting up and putting up artwork. We will be calling for able bodied peoples to help with the moving stuff around. (Murforelli, we are totally taking you up on your offer!) We pay in beer and pizza.

2. Paperwork! - It seems like all of a sudden I have a bunch to fill out. I need to fill out insurance stuff, maternity leave stuff and more recently we received the paperwork to fill out for the hospital. Not to mention I am trying to get together a list of numbers of people who should be notified of Monkey's arrival and other important things.

3. Washing clothes & toys and sterilizing the baby bottle/breast pump stuffs - This one is self explanatory. We already have a lot to wash and put away, and I am anticipating that we will have more as the months wear on. (Which is awesome!) Also toys need to be washed, pacifiers need to be washed and all my feeding stuff needs to be sterilized. That is fast approaching as we may be welcoming the monkey sooner rather than later (if he gets too big, is in too much distress, etc.)

4. Pre-Preparing Meals- I was really hoping that I would have that started by now, with freezing sauce, but I will begin within the next few weeks. Hopefully we aren't sick of pasta by summers end.

Sure it is only a four point list. But each point is filled with time sucking stuff. It seems like everything is never going to get there, but I know it will and hopefully soon we will be close and I can breathe easier.