Welcome Back.

Wow. It's been a while. Months of not a lot of good things happening.

Lets start with my job:
I am no longer employed. After months and months of verbal and psychological abuse, I cracked. I spent the whole day crying and asked to go home a half hour early, to which my boss responded to turn in my key and GTFO. Which I did, after telling him to go f*ck himself. I tried to quit twice, and each time he talked me out of it, saying he was trying and sweetening my position. I should have known better. That is what I regret, not leaving earlier.

Lily is doing great. Still not sleeping through the night. She is now 7 months old. Sitting, laughing, standing (with assistance) and getting into trouble. I have never seen a baby try and get into so much stuff. She is a regular at the Sears portrait studio where her Aunt Leah is the manager. There are picture of Lily hanging in the studio and we get pictures at least once a month if not more. (Like 3x this month)

Life is very stressful right now. I have had 6 interviews and have applied at lots of places, but nothing is going on. I had a few offers, but they all seem to die once they ask me what my salary requirements are. I tried beating around the bush by asking what they normally paid for that position but that didn't help. I have hit a new low and it isn't a nice place.

Survival of the First Week

It has been a week! We survived, the kid survived, and the house is still intact. Well, sort of. The house is a mess and it is killing me not to do any more housework than I already am.

Lily had her first doctor's appointment on Wednesday. She is already back up to 7lbs. The pediatrician said that they normally don't see that kind of gain until the 2nd week home. Lily didn't fuss at all, through the thermometer in the butt, testing her hips, and over all examination. Dr. said that it is interesting to see the personality in a newborn, and that Lily is very laid back. And she really is. And she is funny as hell. She has already started mimicking our facial expressions and entertaining us with her own. My favorite is the kissy face she makes. She "talks" to us a little and will make a singing noise when she is pleased with something. She'll only sleep on her side, does a *face palm* and will hold her pacifier by the handle and will pull it out when she is done with it.

So about me now: My c-section incision started draining a red liquid and was really sore so I had Sergio take me to the ER at 12:30am. It is just irritated and opened in a very small area to drain. So I am on antibiotics and followed up with my OB on Friday morning. The redid the steri strips and cleaned it up. I have my two week follow up on Wednesday and Lily has her two week on Thursday. I lost 20lbs since delivery. Once I get the all clear I am going to work on losing the rest. I am just happy that most of the swelling is gone. My face even looks thinner. BP is still a little high, but that will go away in about 6 weeks.

I am hoping my BP will stay down. Going to start looking for a new job at the end of the year if this shit keeps up. My pay last week bounced, so now Wells Fargo is going to be giving me shit about the checks when I start back up at work. I am going to end up having to cash them and deposit the cash in my account. For what I am getting paid, it isn't worth it.

I better get off my ass and start dinner. Sergio is grilling the steaks and shrimp and I am making the bread and corn. I got the easy end of the deal. :-)

Birth Story

I know I have a lot to catch up on, but while it is fresh in my mind I am going to get this down.

Wednesday (May 12th):
Also known as Jared's Birthday! Went to the doctor for my weekly appointment and check up because I had been a little stressed lately and it was causing some issues. It started out as a routine check up, walked in, pissed in the cup, and then came the blood pressure reading. I was swollen, had high BP and was +1 on the protein in my urine. So I was sent across the street to the hospital for a prelim. diagnosis of mild preeclampsia. Ran home to grab a few things and make sure everything was locked up and cats fed, then I checked myself in. Instead of taken into a little room with a bed, I was in a birthing suite, that was my first hint that this was going to go the way it did. Hours of tests and constant monitoring, I was given the choice, 24hr urine tests, more monitoring, complete bed rest, and the chance of doing all this again next week but with more complications, OR we could induce and get her out before it got any worse. After talking to Sergio, the nurses and my doctor, we decided induction was the safest. Jared and Leah came over and brought me dinner after the office closed and kept us company for a bit. Jared called Godfather dibs if the baby was born before midnight because it was HIS BIRTHDAY, DAMNIT! :-)

Thursday (May 13th):
After a long night of BP monitoring, I was hooked up to the pitocin at 5am. Water was broken by my doc at 8am and the fun started! I asked for the epidural at 9:30 and after that had a great morning and afternoon. Then it got complicated. As I was "transitioning" I got sick and started throwing up, which was dropping the baby's heart rate and upping my BP. I made some progress, was at 9+, her head was engaged, and then I closed back up to an 8 and was having really bad back labor. Around 6pm after no progression, still vomiting, we discussed a c-section. Man, all I had to do was say the c word and they were all agreeing. I guess we were waiting for me to broach the subject. We induced labor to avoid these kind of complications, and I was all for anything to deliver her safely at this point and get this over with. So at 6:37 pm Liliana was born. She scored 9.9 on the APGAR, passed her hearing test, and was very healthy despite the massive cone-head.

Despite the complications, I couldn't have asked for better support and care that I received from the wonderful nurses and Sergio. It made it a much bearable experience and The Med really does have the best staff in the area.

Now I am off to get a nap before she wakes up. I will update on her first couple of days after her appointment on Wednesday.