Party

Party was good.

Girls had fun.

Mom is exhausted.

Details when brain cells come back alive.

Sweet 16 time

Tonight is Lauren’s Sweet 16! 

She seems quite excited.  I think it will be a fun time.  We are going to do cheesecake in an ice cream cone instead of a birthday cake.  Then we are going to dinner, a movie, maybe bowling.  I rented a room at a local hotel so they can stay the night there.  While there they can swim and I’m taking my laptop if they want to play games or whatever. 

Tomorrow I’ll take them to breakfast and we’ll check out.  At this point there are only 2 girls coming…I think that makes a great little group . 

Pics and stories to come in the following days.

Pregnancy and Labor Taggage

This is actually titled First Born but I can’t conform . Tiffany tagged me from Wright Writes.

Disclaimer:  This says “first pregnancy” but my first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. So I’m going to go with my second pregnancy.

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? no

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? no

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? scared and excited

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? no way

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 18

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? I had passed out in the shower. I had to go to the hospital for stitches in my lip. I had bit right through it. I told them when my last period was and they decided to run a pregnancy test because it had been a few months.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? My mom during a very heated argument.  She thought I was lying.  Typical.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes

9. DUE DATE? 1st due date: April 22, 1996 2nd due date: March 22, 1996

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? oh yeah

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? pretzels and ice cream sandwiches

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? I was pretty happy

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD’S SEX? boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? yeah…sorry son…I didn’t know what to do with a baby but I figured if I was having one make it something close to me…lol

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT YOUR PREGNANCY? 3lbs. The reason was because I was a hefty 127lbs (hefty for my frame). I started exercising and eating healthy when I found out I was pregnant. So by the time he was born I only weighed 130 lbs. (Don’t be jealous…that is what I weigh now a days)

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yep

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew…I’m not a fan of surprises

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Yeah. Around 3 months or so I started bleeding a little. Then he was overdue.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? In a hospital, on the 5th floor, in a delivery room

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Not many. I think I realized I had contractions around 6 p.m. They were never consistent. We decided to go to the hospital, just in case, around 10:30. We lived 45 minutes from the hospital.  He was born at 12:11 a.m.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? My mom

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? My mom, baby’s dad, the doctor and 2 nurses

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? 100% all natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? I wanted to but I didn’t get to. By the time we got to the hospital I was dialated to 9 cm. It was too late for drugs.  Thank the good Lord it was a very easy delivery.

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 6lbs 7oz

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? May 3, 1996 yep…that’s right 6 weeks after the original due date. He wound up being quite overdue. Don’t change due dates doctors!! If the baby is small…it could just be small!

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? I can’t tell you but it’s a very cute French name

Hmm…who to tag now. Let’s do the wonderful mommasita’s at these blogs:

Life with my X-men
Okasaneko Chronicles
Sunny Day
Our Life
Paula’s Place

If you ladies decide to play please put a link to your answers so I can find them

Not so good

For my past FX Memories please click this sentence.

I’ve been trying to figure out how in the world to write this post.  I even dug up some of my old journals for entries that may embrace the situation.  No help there. 

Let’s just say that learning Matty’s diagnosis was a pivotal moment in my life and I didn’t handle it well.

As most of you I am adopted.  BUT what you may not know is that I was taken from my adopted family by the state when I was 16 because my mom and I had some issues.  I won’t go into them but they were bad enough for my social worker to remove me.  After quite a few homes I ended up in a group home to finish out my childhood.  Things were worse at home once I turned 18 and my mom and I weren’t any closer.  So upon finding Matty’s fragile X diagnosis I was pretty much alone.  Theresa tried to be there but she was trying to go to a 4 year college 45 minutes away.  Everyone else kind of fell away. 

I went into a very deep depression.  I cried…a lot.  Then I found the one thing I could control…food and exercise.  By the end of the summer I was 92 lbs and 5’0″.  That put me at 3 lbs underweight…and I was stoked about it.  My doctor…not so much.  He told me that I needed to start gaining, get to at least 95 lbs.  If I lost anymore he was putting me in the hospital.  Anorexia was knocking on the door.

So I gained my 3 lbs BUT I started cutting.  I never would have pictured me as a cutter. I have a strong will to live but I cut my wrists.  Cutting is like drugs.  Once started it is really hard to quit and the urge is always in the back of the mind when things get too rough.

And like drugs, one thing led to another.  I started smoking again.  Smoking was something I had done from the time I was 14 but was able to quit when I got pregnant with Matt.  There is much more but I’m sure you got the picture . 

My faith is what pulled me through.  An LDS family took me under their wing.  Though I am no longer of that faith it is what pulled me through the darkness that inhabited my life after Matt’s diagnosis.  I got the help that I needed to realize that I had this precious gift in my hands.  And no one was there to help him succeed in life but me.  I HAD to be strong in order for him to be the best that he could be.  

He was my precious gift.  He was an angel that was sent to me that helped me find who I truly was meant to be in this world. 

I was able to get my weight back in a normal range.  I quit cutting completely by the time I was 20.  My scars are almost 100% gone these days.  Only took 11 years.  And I was able to completely quit smoking. 

I was now healthy and ready to take these things called fragile X and autism by the horns!

Wordless Wednesday -Austin’s Toilet Pinata

The Wordless Wednesday…

…that wasn’t.  So earlier today I said I would post my birthday pictures.  Well, see, there is a small problem with that. 

I took my camera to work with me to take a picture of the present that Austin gave me. 

1. I forgot to get the picture of the present. 
2. I left the camera at work. 

Soooo….no birthday present WW from me today .

 Instead, I will do a WW that will be a very unique art project that Austin did recently

Best Birthday EVER!!

I had the longest but best birthday ever.  I looked back at last years (which I asked everyone to ignore) and I wound up with strep throat.  So that would make this birthday better just with staying healthy.  Though I’ve been taking amoxycillin until today.

Thursday

On my actual birthday (May 22) my kiddos and my hubby loaded me up with presents.  Austin got me a Star Trek wienie dog that says “Live really long and prosper.”  I put it on my desk at work.  My husband got me a ring.  And the girls and Matt got me two pair of silky pj’s in my fav colors ~ green and blue.  They are very cozy.

Shortly after I got to work I received a dozen purplish carnations with a teddy bear that says Heaven Sent.  They were from Kevin and the kids.  They are gorgeous!!  They still grace my kitchen table.  I can smell them every time I walk into the kitchen.  That is what I love about carnations, they last forever. 

The evening of my birthday I had dinner with my parents.  My mom is a teacher and the last day of school was the very next day.  She had to make out report cards.  So they kept it simple.  They ordered me Pizza Hut pizza.  They also got me a cake from the local grocery store.  It was yummy.  My mom put 4 candles on it.  You can tell she is a teacher because she told me to count 3 of them by tens…lol. They also got me a card with $50 in it!!  I’m rich

Friday

Work celebrated my birthday on Friday.  Thursday had been hectic with meetings and appointments.  There was never a time when all 7 of us were here at the same time.

It was supposed to be a surprise but my supervisor knows how much I loath surprises.  She told me in advance to be here on Friday.  I knew then that there would be a party.  We have our own code. 

They bought me my favorite breakfast burritos from a local restaurant.  They have some good green chili in them.  Mmmm.  I only get them at work because Kevin hates that restaurant. 

They also gave me a birthday card.

Saturday

We wanted to go to an annual festival at the river.  Unfortunately, it was really, really cold.  We lazed around most of the morning then decided to clean up and head into town.  I got a new cell phone (it was free) and had dinner at Fuddruckers (hubby’s treat).  We bought the Indiana Jones trilogy at Walmart and started watching it when we got home. 

Sunday

It was a gorgeous day so we were able to attend the river festival.  We took all three dogs.  They loved it.  Taking the dogs also made the children enjoy it more.  Funny how pets can do that.  There is an area that has an outdoor market.  We stopped and got ice cream cones.  Then we came back in. 

Monday

More walking for me.  Theresa took me to the mountains.  We went hiking and had lunch by the river.  The water is coming straight off the snow run off and it is crystal clear.  It was gorgeous up there. 

Surprising, since I’ve had little activity over the past year because of health issues, I’m not all that sore.  I thought I would be dying today.  But I stretched after a hot shower last night.  Then I stretched before I got out of bed this morning.  I’m doing fine.  I can feel it when I climb the stairs but that is it. 

I’ll add pictures tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday .

(Pictures actually didn’t get added until here)