His Good Side

Catching a baby on camera can be fun. You never know the faces you'll get. These are some of my favorites so far.


No gas involved.



Look at those cheeks! All boob fed!



If anyone knows Justin well, you'll see why this photo is funny. If his arm was just a little big longer - like father, like son.

2 weeks out and Jules is now 8 lbs. 2 oz. and is up to 20 inches long. My big boy!

1st Drum Corps Show

We took Jules to the Stillwater show last weekend. Honestly, we thought we wouldn't make it to any shows this year because of when he was due. But, we made it to Stillwater. Turns out it was the first show of the season because the night before was rained out.



Regiment horn arc during warm-up. Seven days out and I'm still a little swollen in the face. Plus, it was HOT!




Hot baby.



"I think I'll wake up for finals."

Jules was awesome during the show. Until Cavaliers came on the field. Jules we know and it's ok to cry, but they really did sound good.

His Name

It took a long time for us to come up with a girl's name, but when it came to selecting a boy's, it wasn't hard. We knew we wanted to keep the J.R.F thing going especially if he was a boy. Justin is more into traditional names and I wanted something unique without being so unique that people would think we were crazy.

I mentioned the name Jules in passing and Justin liked it. The reason? Pulp Fiction.

"Jules is a badass," he said.

We covered all of our bases with his middle name, Robert, after my Grandpa, Justin's dad (middle name), and Justin's favorite Great-Uncle, Uncle Bob.




Now tell me, is this the face of a badass or what?

Jules

So that last post? Yeah, little did I know it was my last day of being pregnant.

My water broke early Friday morning, but with everything else going on (too many gross details to explain), I didn't really realize what it was. At my Doctor's appointment that afternoon, she confirmed they did and that I was "gonna have a baby this weekend!"

"Oh crap!"


On our way!

After frantically packing and throwing the car seat base in the silly car, we headed to the hospital. They let me walk around and much as possible to see if things would just start on their own since I wanted to do things as "natural" as possible. No dice. So around 7pm, pitocin was started and I was somewhat tied down. I did well until around 5am when the back labor was killing me and I opted for the epidural. I was only at a 4 and everything else we had wanted to do was out the window, so why not?

It was somewhat relieving, but also caused things to progress slowly. I did get a little sleep, but not much. The back labor never really went away and I had to get a second dose of the epidural.

Hours, hours, and hours later (and being confined to one side because baby's heart rate would decrease when I'd roll over), I was finally ready to push. I'm pretty sure I yelled at the nurse because was no way a baby would come out in the position I was in. Don't you want gravity to work for you and not against you? At least that was my reasoning to the nurse. I'm pretty sure she thought I was crazy because, well, I was. I also yelled at her to call the Doctor NOW because he might get called into yet another C-Section and won't be able to help me. She assured me that "no, he'll be here when I call."

He was. And so was a team of nurses. Justin was great. Except the counting thing. I had to tell him to stop because it was annoying. I wanted to push as long as I wanted too. So, with a little "help" and 2 hours of pushing (GAHHHH!), we got this:



Jules Robert Foell
Saturday, June 13th 4:54pm
7lbs. 1 oz. 19 1/2 inches long

We're still trying to figure out who he looks like but either way, he's cute and we like him.

Still Here, Still Pregnant

But Justin seems to think today will be the day based on all the "early signs" I've been having. I've been home pretty much all week from work, but still working from home. Which is good and bad.

Good: I get a lot of shows and work done.

Bad: I can nap at any time - which I've been doing because oh man, I'm exhausted!

I have a Doctor's appointment today. We'll see what's new.

Labor & Delivery: Round 1

Sent home much to my happiness because I have not done the following:

- packed a hospital bag
- made a going home outfit for baby
- finished my work for work
- finished my thank you cards from my baby showers
- finalized a name for baby
- installed the car seat base in any car


But just in case I was going to be admitted I had done the following:
- ate breakfast
- packed my mintop, the camcorder and the digital camera
That's it. Sad huh.

I'm at home today working, I'm fine.

I think I'll get to that bag sooner than later.

38 Weeks

My little mintop has come in so handy. I can post from any place - you know, like a laptop but without the weight and heat because, really, that's the last thing I need.

Anyway...Welcome to my 38th week of pregnancy! Now in the middle of it, I'm bigger, getting more uncomfortable, sleep is apparently for the dead, and I chopped my hair off. Apparently, you aren't supposed to do that (well drastic cuts) but the 5-6 inches she cut off were bound to go bye-bye sooner than later.

Baby is also getting on my nerves, literally. My legs are wobbly and my back is all outta whack when I stand up. But once I get moving, baby probably gets the idea and leaves the nerves alone.



Thankfully, I can work from home on days like today (heavy, wobbly legs, back pain, and any other weird pregnancy related issue) and I'm taking advantage of it. My last baby shower is this weekend. Should be fun because it's a bbq and it's supposed to rain. Ya, sure, Minnesota. You've been threatening rain for the past 2 weeks and nothing has happened. Much like my false contractions.

Still Here, Saving Cash, Nothing Else To Do

38 weeks, full-term baby inside, but I've got other things to do besides wait.

I love scoring good deals, especially on things we use often. Last week at CVS, I bought 2 Soft Scrubs, laundry detergent and toothpaste for (and I'm not kidding - ask Justin) $3. AND I walked out with an additional $2 in ECB's to use another time. Justin was shocked at how much I paid.

If you have a CVS, I highly recommend using it. And if you incorporate coupons, the deals are even better. (That's how I scored such a sweet deal for those four things. The toothpaste was FREE!)

Wednesday's are double coupon day at the local grocery store. Not a store I like to go to, but if they've got good prices on the items I need and I've got the coupons, I'll go. Here's what I got:

6 boxes of cereal (we eat a lot of cereal)
2 - 4 packs of yogurt
2 - 1 lbs. strawberries
3 boxes of kleenex
1 6-pack ziploc containers
1 gallon of milk
1 packet of jam pectin (for strawberry jam)

Without sales/coupons: $42.05

With sales/double coupons: $21.55

That's like 48% savings! Trips like these leave me more money to get the things we need or want for lunches and dinners. And I always look for sales at my favorite stores and still use coupons. It just makes sense to maximize when I can. Plus, babies like cereal and jam, right?

No Hormones Involved

I'm getting to the point to where I'm vocal about things I hate or drive me crazy, because I can. This pregnancy has been so easy and (thankfully) issue free. And with that said, I've decided I can complain about everything else non-pregnancy related, vocally and without feeling bad until baby shows up. (Then I'll be back to my regular, secretly complaining self.)

#1 - Minnesota and it's drivers who don't know how to get on the freeway. Freeway speeds are not ridiculous here so why is it that people cannot get up to speed in the time allotted? By the time they HAVE to merge, these drivers are STILL going 40-45 mph (sometimes less)! I'm up to speed long before them, I get over and then, BAM, they HAVE to get over and I'm forced to slow down for their dumb asses. Maybe they should go back to driving school for a refresher on how to enter the freeway. It's not everyone, but just enough people do it to drive ME crazy.

#2 - Expensive vets. I love Scully. She's been my baby for a very long time. But man, are trips to the vet are expensive! I guess it's only a shock when you have to go twice a year for shots or whatever and the bill is anywhere from $80 to $200. It's hard to find a good one. One who listens and doesn't think you're crazy when "I swear, just before I brought her in here she was all sickly looking." We've got a good vet, but I need a good loan sometimes.

#3 - Ok, baby related but still irritates me; due dates. It's all really a guessing game kids. I propose a due MONTH. I'm due in June. It could be now or it could be in three or four weeks. What's with the pressure of a due date? Why does everyone say "You're a first-timer, you'll go late," or "no baby arrives on their due date." Well, no doy! It's just a freaking guess! And I especially DO NOT need a MAN telling me when I'll have my baby. Unless the baby is a boy, and it's MY boy, then he can do whatever he wants, until the second he pees on me, then all bets are off kid.

#4 - Who are these people and why are they famous and why should I care and why are they still around? GAH! Get rid of them already! Katy Perry. Octo-Mom (which is a terrible nickname), Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Heidi and Spencer Pratt (seriously? who are these people??), Donald Trump. Oh, the list could go on but these people bother me big time.

#5 - Stupid news stories that don't get to the point. Is it just me or is that story missing some vital information? Or what about this one? How did they "witness" the act and yet say it's "not part of their normal behavior?" Stupid - but really funny.

#6 - Twitter.