First Family Portrait

The hospital photographer was actually pretty good.  We had this family portrait taken before we were discharged.  I think it’s our favorite of all of the photos we’ve taken during the last two weeks.

Diary of a Sleep Deprived Mommy

Day 12 of my captivity:

My captor woke me up at 3:30 this morning.  She kept me awake until 4:10, and then woke me up again at 4:40 with demands for more food and a clean diaper.  She’s getting very good at making dirty diapers — I gagged three times on that one.  I must have done a good job though because after letting me go back to bed at 5:30, she let me sleep in until 8am.

She has been awake for most of the day, which is a first… but I was able to lull her to sleep long enough for a Starbucks run this afternoon.  I don’t think she even noticed that we had left the house.

Carrie’s New Baby Buggy

Waaay back in October we started setting up a baby registry.  We picked bottles and toys and diapers and all sorts of things — including a rear-facing infant seat.  My aunt bought us that seat when she came to visit at the end of the month…. and we immediately discovered that the only way the seat would fit in my car is if the front passenger seat is all the way forward and completely unreclined.  So, I could take myself and the baby places, but wouldn’t accommodate other people and baby stuff.  My beloved Baja instantly became useless.

We decided to wait until after Carrie arrived to replace the Baja because we figured that it would be best for us to figure out what we really needed before we just ran out and bought a car.   We were planning on going out to have dinner and then look at some cars on the evening of March 2nd to get the shopping out of the way so we could just buy once she was born.  Carrie, of course, had a different idea since she decided to arrive on the morning of the 2nd.  I will say that wandering around car lots, being accosted by salesmen and hopping in and out of cars does not make a fun time for someone who gave birth just 5 days prior, but it had to be done.

I really like my new car — it fits the baby seat and all of her stuff very well.  It seems to fit me very well, and it’s pretty darned nice considering how reasonable the price was.  I cried when I handed over the keys to my Baja.  It was a good little car.  It was my first ever new car.  I loved it.  But here’s Carrie’s new baby buggy:

Tags: baby buggy

Hello World!

I disappeared from blogging for quite a while.  Towards the end of my pregnancy things started getting crazy and I just didn’t feel like I had much to say… so I didn’t say anything.  Carrie was born last Wednesday morning (3/2).  Here’s the story that I emailed out to our families when we got home from the hospital.  I’m also including some pics for your enjoyment.  (You can see the whole album here.)  Now that I’ve got lots to talk about, I will be blogging more — promise!

On Tuesday afternoon I had my latest OB appointment.  At that time I was still 3cm dilated and 80% effaced.  The doctor I saw told me that I would probably go all the way to the end since I’ve been walking around like that for 3 weeks.  I did get some good news (at the time) though.  After watching me cry when they tried to roll me over from my side (for the fetal monitoring) to my back (for the ultrasound), she checked me over and gave me an official diagnosis for the excruciating pelvic pain I’ve been having:  Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD).  In laymans terms, it means that my pelvic bones have essentially been dislocated and grinding against each other for the last 6 weeks.  Funny thing is, John and I self-diagnosed it 5 weeks ago but the doctors weren’t picking up on how much pain I was in because I wasn’t complaining loud enough.  If I had been more of a complainer they would have put me on narcotics, physical therapy, and a given me a prescription for a membership for a walk-in arthritis tub (at a localgym).

Anyway.  I left the appointment in a lot of pain and completely depressed that I still likely had several days to get through it.    I updated John and told him that he should go to Neil’s to play pool; I would be fine.  I worked until 8pm to try to finish up an emergency project, then warmed up some dinner and decided to bake a yellow cake for dessert.  (What can I say; I’ve been living some pretty crazy hours the last few weeks since sleep doesn’t come easily due to the pain.)  I puttered around a bit after dinner and settled in around 10:45 with a slice of cake, a glass of milk, and Food Network.  I got  two bites down when I felt two “pops”; almost like she had the hiccups, but they were actually painful.  That apparently was my water breaking.  John walked in the door from Neil’s house about 30 seconds later.  (Talk about perfect timing)

My contractions started about 2 minutes later and were 4 minutes apart.  My OB told me to go straight to FMH; we left here around 11:10pm.  By the time we got there my contractions were 2 minutes apart.  They sent me straight to labor and delivery because I was at 5cm at that point.  When L&D checked me 3 minutes later, I was up to 6cm.  It took almost 2 hours for them to get my epidural hooked up and then another hour to get it right (it initially only worked on the right side).  The nurse checked me and said “OH!  You’re 10cm!!”  They think I had been that way for quite a while since the contractions had been less than 2 minutes apart the whole time they were fooling with the epidural.

And that’s when things slooooowed down — because Carrie was sunny-side-up and got caught on one of my pelvic bones.  It took three hours of pushing; my OB finally decided to do an episiotomy and her head was out on the next push.  5:52am.  7lbs 5oz.  19.5 inches long. She was crying before they had her fully out, and if you’ve seen the picture of her at 3 minutes old then you know how bad of a conehead she had.  She has a large dent on her forehead from where she got caught up, a large bruise on the top of her head, and a large hematoma on the back of her head.  Her pediatrician thinks it should all clear up in time.

By that point we had both been up for 24 hours, and it would be 36 before we got any sleep because people had to keep coming and checking on us constantly.  We were released yesterday around noon (Friday), but Carrie has some follow-ups for “low-intermediate” jaundice.  We saw her pediatrician this morning (Saturday) and her levels were elevated from yesterday but they think they will probably have gone down when we see them again on Monday.

NOTE:  She’s now had her last appointment (Monday) for the jaundice and they think it’s going to resolve itself pretty quickly.  We go back in tomorrow (Thursday) for one more heel stick test and then she’s a free woman until her 1-month checkup.  (I know she’ll be thrilled to hear that!)

Check this out — she was 4 days old on Saturday and already had more of her Daddy’s company logo gear than I do!  (John’s partners Joe & Jerry had these made up just for her.  Advertising for Daddy already, lol.  Please consider Nteligen for all of your software development needs…. Carrie needs to go to college.)

Babymoon: Strasburg, PA

Now that I’ve got some time off, time to finally catch up on blogging.  Back in October we were faced with some pregnancy complications that were going to completely stop all travel after October 18th.  We had been planning one last trip to Disney World for the first week of December, but that got thrown out the window.  We ended up going up to Strasburg, PA for a train-filled long weekend.

We took off work on Friday and drove up in the morning.  After getting the lay of the land and picking up our “Strasburg Day Pass” tickets, we went to a place John read about online for lunch (Issac’s Deli).  It was right next door to the Choo Choo Barn, which was on our list of things to do, so that worked out perfectly.  Issac’s is an awesome sandwich shop.  Lots of variety and large portions (of course I couldn’t finish mine to save my life).

The Choo Choo Barn is a 1700-sq foot train layout that’s designed after Strasburg and the surrounding areas.  They’ve re-created the Strasburg Railroad, Dutch Wonderland, and lots of other stuff.  If you’re in the area, you could blow at least an hour looking at everything.  Our next stop was the National Toy Train Museum which is another multi-hour eater if you’ve got a train fan in your midst.  The museum has lots of amazing history and educational information.

By the time we were done at the museum it was going to be too late to do anything else so we checked in at the Hershey Inn where I had a little surprise waiting for us.

After resting a bit and deciding where to have dinner we went to the Carters outlet to do some window shopping.  We still hadn’t bought anything at all for the baby because we were afraid we might jinx it after the long road we’ve been down.  I figured that since we knew it was a girl and she was healthy that maybe it would be ok to buy a onsie or a blanket or something…. but John had other plans.

We had dinner at a place called Iron Horse Inn.  Honestly, it sucked.  The atmosphere was bad — we were seated in the bar area and were treated to a loud television with sports on.  John’s steak was cooked really poorly and my “Jumbo Stuffed Shrimp with Crab Meat and Garlic Sauce” came with zero sauce — but the waitress did bring a side of cocktail and tartar sauces after I asked about the missing garlic sauce.  (”That entree doesn’t come with garlic sauce, but here’s some stuff for that.”)  Dessert was a serious disappointment, and honestly it’s not easy to screw up Shoo Fly Pie.  It was an expensive disaster from the very beginning.  Don’t go there.

We slept in the next morning and had breakfast at the hotel restaurant which happens to be the Hershey Farms Restaurant, which was included in our weekend package.  It’s the standard “Amish Buffet” stuff, and it was pretty good.  From there we headed across the street to catch a buggy ride tour of an Amish farm.  While we were at the farm, we bought a little cloth train book for Carrie.

After the buggy ride we headed to the Strasburg Railroad to catch the train.  It was really busy (Saturday.. what did we expect?), and I was getting really hungry so we decided to put the train ride off until the next day.  We did catch a ride on the Cagney train while we were there, and poked around in the various gift shops before heading across the street to have lunch at Issacs again.  (For those who don’t know, a Cagney is a miniature replica live steam engine.)

The day was moving by pretty fast but we thought we might have time to fit in the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum before it closed.  We were there for four hours and still didn’t get to see all of it because they closed before we could see the outside displays.  That place is HUGE.

So, it was Saturday night and we still had mini golf tickets to use from the day passes, so we played the Gold course at Village Greens.  23 holes of AWESOME.  It’s a 23 hole course (who’s ever heard of that) with all natural obstacles that meanders through the woods.  I’m sure it’s a pretty cool course during the day but we played under the lights in the dark — pure wickedness.  We had a ton of fun.  If you’re ever in the area, you need to play that course.  We capped off the day with dinner at Applebees in town (at least it was a safe dinner).

We did not sleep in on Sunday morning because we wanted to get breakfast, ride the Strasburg Railroad, and get home at a respectable hour.  We arrived at the Railroad about an hour before the first train departure and got an extra special treat — there was a photo shoot going on with one of the engines, so we were able to get really close to it while it did various maneuvers.  I got lots of great pictures, and John was very excited.  We got our train ride and then headed out.

John decided that maybe we should try the other mini golf place that was on our way out of town after lunch, so I got a twofer that weekend.  It was a pretty nice course, but the one from the night before is still our favorite.

Mmmmmmmmm, Fudge!

Since it’s the holiday season, I might as well post a couple of my other favorite holiday recipes.

Patti’s Unfamous Chocolate Walnut Fudge

A smooth and creamy fudge with just the right balance of bitter and sweet. Unlike a lot of fudges that have a gritty texture, most of this recipe’s sugar comes in the form of marshmallow creme (you may know it as “marshmallow fluff”), which gives it the creaminess that people seem to love so much.   This is a recipe that I’ve developed over years of trial and error — hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

• 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
• 1-1/2 cups white sugar
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (pecans work just as well, if not better!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Line an 8×8 inch pan with aluminum foil. Set aside.

2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine marshmallow cream, sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt. Bring to a full boil, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Remove from heat and pour in semisweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours, or until firm.

Notes

You may be tempted to leave the heat on while stirring the chips. While this would normally be ok, you really shouldn’t do that in this recipe. If the mixture stays at a boiling temperature, you may be in for a nasty surprise when you add the vanilla. Bottom line: it’s safer for you and better for the fudge if the mixture cools down just a tad before the vanilla goes in. As long as you keep stirring, the chips will melt just fine.

First Snow of the Season .. and Chili!

It’s official; today is the first snow of the winter season.  I normally love snow because it’s so pretty to look at, and I can curl up next to the fireplace, drink hot chocolate…..  But we have to get to our small group bible study tonight since I’m making the main dinner entree (chili).  I hope it stops soon.

I know I’ve got a lot to catch up on.  To be honest, things have been CRAZY at work so I’ve barely had time to think much less actually update.  I’ve accepted a new opportunity elsewhere so I’ve got some downtime coming.  Keep an eye out for some catch-up and updates over the Christmas holiday.

Oh yeah…. here’s the chili recipe:

Patti’s Sweet and Spicy Chili

This chili provides great combination of spicy and sweet to please every palette! Don’t let the long ingredient list fool you; it really is very easy to make.

Yield:  Approx 4 quarts

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 pound beef sirloin, cubed
2 (14.5 ounce) cans peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
1 (12 fluid ounce) bottle dark beer; Honey Brown, Newcastle, and Nut Brown work really well
1 cup strong brewed coffee
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
3 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans
4 fresh hot chile peppers, seeded and chopped

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions, garlic, ground beef and cubed sirloin in oil for 10 minutes, or until the meat is well browned and the onions are tender.

2. Mix in the diced tomatoes with juice, dark beer, coffee, tomato paste, brown sugar, and beef broth. Season with chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, coriander and salt. Stir in 2 cans of the beans and hot chile peppers. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

3. Stir in the remaining can of beans, and simmer for another 30 minutes.

Notes

Serve buffet-style with fresh shredded cheese, jalapeno pepper slices, chopped onion, sour cream and hot sauce for topping. Goes great with a nice big salad and some corn bread.