Birthing a Baby...

My sweet mama just sent me the sweetest funniest email about my birth! For posterity. I am guessing this pic is from my first birthday.

-----Original Message-----

Subject: OOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHH.............

Vacuum the house, dust the furniture, mop the floor.....energy to burn.....feeling just great....Granny Farris has been picked up from the airport, flew in from Illinois.....supper is done....sitting on the sofa looking through old photo albums....time to go to bed.....big PAPA has gone to work the graveyard shift at the shipyard.........lie down to relax and oh something doesn't feel right in my back..........hummmmmmmmmmmm.....go and tell Granny.....she makes the big phone call to Uncle Homer's house..........he & auntie baby doll arrive.....Ho Ho arrives curb side on Dover Road.......vw car door flung open.......all doors on house he props open too.....ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM.......off we go to the hospital in Uncle HO HO's VW............it is about 2 AM....he runs through all of the RED stoplights........car flashers flashing yellow, car horn beeping to warn other motorist we are coming through (however there are few cars on the road at this hour of the morning.........OUCH....I can see the head..........YIKES............MY BACK IS CRACKING IN TWO............OWWWWWWHHHHHH..........HELP ME.............."stop telling me to count the holes in the ceiling tile"................God Damn it, QUIT telling me just to relax my hands...........
OH THIS HURTS............OW THIS REALLY HURTS...............................YIKES.............
SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME.......................I NEED TO WALK.........OW............BREATHE
DEEP...........RELAX.............YEAH RIGHT!
help ME PLEASE...............OH GOD I AM GOING TO KILL SOMEBODY................ah la la land finally
they have given me something to relax me ........... I doze in and out ........... soon I hear "IT'S A BABY GIRL" and I am so happy and I know my life is forever changed for the better............
In about 5 minutes from now you were born some 34 years ago....you looked just like a little
indian baby, dark curly hair, dark pink skin, so cute, sooooo big all 11 lb 4 oz of you
I was so lucky ............and the rest is history as you know.......................Love your mother

Birthday Plans

I couldn't resist posting this since its almost my birthday! Good times, good times :)

I am a Crazy Woman!

And ... its almost my birthday.

I have been crazy busy, between the house, the kids, the husband and the job, I am running around like a nutty woman. I leave 1 week from today for SLC, Utah for work, so that is a big part of the insanity. 2 weeks from today it will be all over!

I have been talking with some landscape architects, pool people, etc to see about possibly putting a pool in our side yard and doing something with the overall space. We need a MASTER PLAN! Hung and I are clueless. We know what we don't want, but have no idea what is possible. We would definitely like something au natural (greenery) that would serve as a privacy/noise buffer for the main road. We'll see ... baby steps. So far Town & Country Pools is the front runner.

This weekend is packed with fun. My mama is coming to celebrate my birthday ... so Friday night she arrives. Saturday we have Ella's dance class from 11:30-12:30, rush home change and head out to Summer's bridal shower (whooo hooo Summer) from 2-5. Hung will be taking the kids to our nephew's 4th birthday party from 4-6ish. All home by 6:30 to get ready to go to dinner. Johanna is coming at 7:30 and we are off to DC for dinner at Firefly with KK & her hubby & my mama!

Sunday should be relatively relaxing compared to Saturday. Just plans to go see the new baby in town, Sophie. Hopefully we'll get some pool time in there somewhere! This is why I lobby for our own pool!!

MRI & Cortisone to the epidural space

Sounds like fun, no? Well, I got worked in yesterday for an appointment to read my MRI and have a cortisone injection if needed. Seems like I definitely have a herniated disc - L4, S1 if that makes any sense to any of you. Anyway, lower back left side. That is what is pushing on the nerve and making my leg hurt. So, we moved ahead with the shot. Now I am a woman who has had 2 epidurals (labor related) and 3 amniocenteses and 2 thoracocentesis (remember through me, my uterus, Max's chest cavity and into the space around his lungs). I am NOT a wimp when it comes to these things. I don't like them but I don't freak out either. All I can say is it damn well better work (you don't really know for 3-7 days), because it HURT like a son of a b#@%$ !

The procedure for those into gory details....

They prep you just as they would for a L&D epidural. Except you aren't leaned over you are laying flat on the table. Sterilize the area and inject a little lidocaine to numb you locally. I still can't figure out why they even make this token effort. I mean they are INJECTING near your spine. Really does it matter if you feel the prick on your skin? I think NO! Then with the guidance of an xray (that was reassuring) they shoot in a little dye to make sure they are in the right space. When they have the spot, they inject a combination of lidocaine and cortisone. His first try wasn't quite there, it only pinched a bit in the butt area. They know they have the right spot when you just about break the table from squeezing down. It burns alllllllllllll (and I do mean ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL) the way down the nerve that has been irritated, in other words from my heinie to about the back of my knee. He said that was a good sign that he was in the right spot. I said nothing because I could only think of expletives.
Immediately after you have a bit of relief from the lidocaine, but that wears off after a few hours. Then you get REALLY sore. My entire leg is very tender, but that too is normal. Apparently the cortisone will really start working on the area and bring the inflamation down in 3-7 days. I am hoping for 3. That would be tomorrow if I count the day of the procedure as a day :) Can you tell I've been suffering a bit too long.

Anyway, the next steps are ... Physical Therapy for about a month, one more injection in about a month if I am still suffering. Then just regular self-care stuff. I think if I can get my core stronger and just generally get a little bit fitter, I can win this battle.

Back Pain is Kicking my Ass

Ok, I am over it. It has been almost an ENTIRE month now of lower back pain that has migrated to my hip and upper left rear leg. I now completely understand why people with chronic pain go nuts. I am so tired of not being able to find a comfortable position, or pick up my child without a twinge or crushing pain, or SLEEP. Its the sleep that is killing me I think. I am one of the few mothers of a 5 month old who can say that what is keeping me up at night is NOT my child.

I've tried every remedy I know. Last week I went to my regular doc who immediately uttered the word "surgery" and wanted me to go on prednisone - HIGH doses of prednisone. NO thank you. He wanted me to go for an MRI and see another specialist. No thanks. So I called the place that fixed me last time this reared its ugly head ... hmmmmmm Ella was about, you guessed it, 5 months old. Seems as the short ones approach 20 lbs that's my backs limit!

So I call the Capital Spine and Pain Center or whatever it is called now and got an appointment for today. It went well. We got through the entire appointment without the mention of surgery. It helps they are commited to non-surgical interventions. So, off I went after that appointment, to get an MRI. The doc suspects a herniated disc. I suspect SI joint dysfunction. We'll see who wins tomorrow. I go back tomorrow to have the MRI read and to get an injection of cortisone if it is warranted. I am not sure how I feel about that but as my mom said "if you can handle a needle through your uterus surely you can handle one in your back!" We'll see! But something has got to give because this is kicking my ass big time. I hate it!

5 things you didn't know about me until now

Summer tagged me so I must play along! 5 things you didn't know about me until now... though I can't promise you don't know these .. I am pretty much an open book.

1. My entire life I always thought I would grow up to be a lawyer. I even still entertain thoughts of going to law school for the fun of it. My husband says my argumentative skills are going to waste.

2. I weighed 11 lbs, 4 ozs at birth. Which is why my mother offers ZERO sympathy when I whine that this boy in the belly is already over 7lbs. Looks like he'll weigh in around 9-10 lbs when all is said and done. A good lb or two smaller than me. My brother was 11 lbs, 14 oz. My mother is 5'2. Yes, we were delivered the old fashioned way. HOW I do not know!

3. I am the only member of my family - including aunts, uncles, cousins, brother, mom, dad, grandparents - to be born south of the mason dixon line. Hence my rebel status :)

4. I have a masters degree in Social Work. Though many would think it is going to waste, all the psychology and clinical training required for that masters comes in handy every day.

5. When I was growing up I lived in Jamaica (Virginia) in a little country house with horses, a goat, ducks, chickens, guinea hens, a dog and cat!

And the Bonus #6...Though I don't look so huge from the front (see above)...

Stealing from Summer...

So where have you been? I had been more places than I thought. This is all the states I have actually visited, not including plane stops. Just like Summer. I will get to add Utah to the list this Summer - conference time! And Colorado will be added in late 2007 as we go for our pre-con site visit in Denver.

More about me...

Because you just don't know enough about me already! Hey, its my blog and I'll post what I want to post!

Where were you?

10 years ago: Working on my masters degree in Richmond, VA (lot of good that did me :) Actually counseling skills always come in handy in the real world!

5 years ago: married for 2 years & living with my mother in law - having SOLD my house in Chantilly, VA. Waiting for BISON to finish building my house!!! At my current job for just about a year and a 1/2.

1 year ago: Enjoying life with a 3 year old. Hum...Nothing really.

Yesterday: Working from home & then going to pick up Hubby's car, then to Thai for dinner, then home to veg!

5 snacks i enjoy: popcorn, chocolate, nuts, wine (well I will again post-baby) & cheese!!

5 songs i know all the words to: most anything by Jack Johnson, the Eagles, Sarah McLachlan, DMB & Eric Clapton. Hotel California, I will Survive!

5 places i would run away to: St. John, just about anywhere in the caribbean, London, San Francisco, anywhere on the water

5 things i would do with $1 million: sock away college funds for the kiddos, finally let Hung buy a boat, buy waterfront property (not necessarily a house - it is only $1M) for myself & my mom, travel LOTS more, redo my entire wardrobe, shoes and all.

5 things i would never wear: stilettos, anything skin tight, fake nails, legwarmers, socks with animals on them, and real fur. I know that's 6 but really nothing can be or should be cut from that list.

5 favorite TV shows: The Closer, Grey's Anatomy, Law & Order, Rome (if it ever comes back), and any cartoon that keeps the girl busy.

5 bad habits: procrastination, staying up too late, NOT exercising enough, shopping, and the #1 - impatience

5 favorite toys: my iPod mini!!! that's really the only toy I have.

5 biggest joys: my family, watching the girl mess with her dad's mind (Picture this conversation "Daddy, I love you. Daddy, I do not love you." Him hang dog look, her, "Sorry"), my friends, travel travel travel, and fielding the girl's questions - "Mama can it ppppppllleaaaaaseee be dark when we go trick or treating?" I like it both because it has an easy answer and it implies I control the universe!

5 fictional characters i would date:
If I weren't already committed, ok in spite of the fact that I am married! :)
Dr. Shephard from Grey's Anatomy (Patrick Dempsey), Any Character Clive Owen's played even when he's evil like in Closer, Luc from French Kiss (Kevin Kline), Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), the FBI Agent in the Closer, don't know his name but I do know he used to be married to Teri Hatcher, which you'd think would be a strike against him but he's hot.