Chapter 2: Adventures in the ER

So...Chapter Two isn't as exciting as Chapter one...but nonetheless it happened.

OK, birth as you can see was quite the roller coaster ride. While it was great, it also was kinda scary. Especially for those around me. Apparently I like to have people on their toes because the drama continued....

Around a week and a half into Kaitlyn's beautiful time here on Earth, I had been struggling with the whole breastfeeding thing. It's painful and I was in much pain and going through much frustration and sadness because I wanted to breastfeed her so badly. One night...or I should say morning since it was after midnight, I felt like I was coming down with something. I had body pains through the day but didn't think too much of it. That night I got the worst chills I had ever had in my life. Skip tried to warm me up with his body heat which usually works, but I just kept shivering uncontrollably. I thought, maybe if I take a warm shower that would help. I could hardly stand at that point and I had to then lie down in the tub as the hot water hit me. Things got worse from there. The tub slowly filled with water and I was still shaking, could hardly breathe and had horrible body pain. My boobs hurt and I didn't want to be touched. Skip woke Mom and I started to sorta pass out again. We called Jackie and she suggested we call an ambulance.

In come the Paramedics (and a fire truck...and my neighbors appeared outside...how embarassing). They took me into the ambulance (One of them was called Reese....can you believe that???), and drove me to the hospital. They (and Mom) kept saying that I was having an anxiety attack. They shut up about that when I reached the hospital and they took my temperature which was 103 F. Guess that was out of the question. Ha!

I was poked and proded...x-rayed, cathetered, and frozen some more. In the end it turned out that I was suffering from Mastitis. That is an infection in the boob for those who don't know. It's painful and a pain in the ass. They also told me my hemoglobin was on the floor (big surprise there doc....I lost a ton of blood a few days back!) He he!

Luckily this wasn't a long stay at the hospital. Just a few hours. I was a mess though. The next few days were blurry since I still had a high fever. I basically was once more...bed ridden and asleep most of the time. And the worst part was that I still had a hard time breastfeeding! So I pumped most of the time. Don't worry..there is a light at the end of the tunnel....but that's another chapter!

This is why lot's of you haven't heard from me latley. I've just been trying to concentrate on getting better and getting to know Kaitlyn and feeding, caring, discovering new things about her. I guess you could say, I'm nesting. So please be patient, I will come around. :) I miss my groups and socializing, but right now my focus is my daughter and what a treasure she is.

With that said...I will bring you into the next chapter....

Visitors check in and out of Chateou di Haberlack

I'm BAAAACK!! Chapter 1

Hello everyone!

Your favorite blogger is back from hiatus! I was thinking about how I was going to take on telling everyone my story. I think that what I will do is make little Chapters...Before I start though, I would like to point out two very important things...Ok Three:

• My kid is awesome
• I'm 30
• Heroes Season 2 DVD comes out today

Take those into any order you would like. I know that the responsible thing is to put the kid first...although secretly I've been waiting for my DVD before she came. Ha ha ha! Calm down people, this does not make me a bad Mom! Anyway...I will do this Chronologically with the most interesting news first of course.

The Birth of Kaitlyn

Ok, so as many of you know, she was born. By now you should all know that at least! What some of you might not know...is the story behind the birth! So I will make it as painless and entertaining as possible.

My contractions started at midnight on August 5th. Yes I was due the 4th, but apparently that storm (Edouard) brought it's low pressure which has been rumored to bring babies. I still think that it was Skip's Grandpa that brought Kaitlyn. Contractions....not too fun, but they are a piece of cake compared to hurling a kid out your wahoo....so keep that in mind. This all happened pretty fast because by 6:30 I was at the birth center with my midwife Jackie and a few minutes after that I was happily in the tub with some nice water. Let me tell you, being in that water was a godsend. (PS. Godsend is what that symbol in Heroes means....but I digress.) As soon as I hit the water I felt a zillion times better. Then I pushed and felt lot's of not so fun things but in the end little Kaitlyn came out at 8:10 am! The feeling of the best poop in the world doesn't even come close to the relief I felt. Apparently it was winter time in my body because Kaitlyn decided to wrap the cord around her neck for warmth 3 times. Perhaps I should have made her some mittens and booties. LOL.

So the fun did not end there! Skip got to cut the cord after a while and you would think..oh great, the Placenta will come out next. Well...it didn't. It actually took a while and then with it came the hemorrhaging. Good thing I was in the tub huh? Yeah...so I passed out a few times and got some delicious oxygen so I could breathe again and some shots of Pitocin to stop the bleeding. Let's just say that I passed out quite a few times...some in the tub...some in the bed. It was fun. I also got to drink what felt like a whole keg of Gatorade, Water and Juice. I was doing all I could to avoid the hospital though...so I chugged like an undergrad.

All is not lost...I regained my color, my consciousness, and a little bit of strength. And just in time for some stitches too! Ha! After that I got to go home and rest in my own bed. It was so nice. Lot's of people say it was like a Drive thru birth. Get there at 6:30 am and leave at 3 pm. I thought it was perfect. OK...not the drama part, but everything else. My birth team was awesome. I had Mom and Skip, Jackie and Camilia (my midwives). They were awesome. And Mom was such a trooper! She did not pass out from seeing all the blood and THAT is a feat I will never forget. She hates blood....

Anyway, as you all also know. Mom is our official photographer and you can see her pictures at the following link:

Grandma's Photo Album

So that is really the end to that chapter. I was on bedrest for a few days....walked like a duck for a week....lot's of fun! I'm more anemic than before so I'm all tired all the time. Joy! But I love my daughter and she was well worth it!


Next chapter....Adventures in the ER....

No baby....Hurricane instead...

Hello everyone!

So....yeah, no baby yet...however we are expected to have a lovely storm instead! I think though that perhaps this means that a baby will come during the hurricane (Tropical Storm Edouard isn't a hurricane yet, however it's expected to become one by Tuesday, which is enough for me). I seem to be "lucky" this way. Ha, ha, ha! I thought for sure she would be here since I had a few signs of labor on Saturday but apparently that was just to get me excited and all that has gone away. :) I'm doing well though. Mom and I are going to hunt for provisions this morning once she wakes up. We figured lot's of people don't know the storm is on it's way since it just kind of formed yesterday, and that was a Sunday. The only reason we found out was because Skip's boat is leaving tomorrow so they gave him a call. Thank goodness he does NOT have to go! I would be beyond pissed if he did, I mean wouldn't you?

I find it all to be so very ironic. Skip's late grandpa's name was Edward...and this hurricane-to-be's name is Edouard. I think this is a sign. I think perhaps his grandpa is bringing Kaitlyn to us! I think that would be sweet although I need to call my midwife to see what happens in situations like this. The latest projected path has the hurricane going directly over the town where the Birth Center is. Another sign? Who knows? Oh wait, there is another sign....this past Friday, I had to go to the Coast Guard base to get training and whatnot on what to do in case of this situation. It's quite eerie how that just happened to coincide with the storm. Hmmm...Take it as you will...I think these are all signs that Kaitlyn is coming. :) Or it could be a fluke and she can be here next week. But at least I now have a nice story to tell.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that we are all fine here in Texas. We don't' plan to go anywhere during this storm since we doubt it will turn into a Category 3 which is when it's mandatory to evacuate for my town. It seems to be moving quite fast so who knows, maybe it won't be so bad. The pool as usual needs water anyway. Not to mention saving on watering the grass! I try to look at the bright side of things. Perhaps I should put a wind turbine on my roof now and store up some energy so I can power my house for a year! That would be using earth wisely.

Hope you are all safe in your neck of the woods! For those who live with me in Houston, go get ready! (Vincent, this will be your first hurricane as a married man! Awwww!)

Robyn, here is a special shout out to you if I don't get to talk to you on Tuesday: HAPPY FRIGGIN 30TH BIRTHDAYYYY! WOOO HOOOO! PARTY HEARTY GIRL!!!! Crap! I'm next! LOL!

Love you all!

Kat, Skip, Kaitlyn, Mya, Jack and Mom (Rebecca) riding it out in Houston

San Antonio Pre-Baby Getaway!!!!

Aaaahhhhhh the sweetness of a minivacation!

So, as many of you know, Skip and I ran away to San Antonio last week to simply get away from it all for a while. It was loads of fun and we had some pretty funny moments. Our plan was to drive out to S.A. after half a day of grueling work (LOL!), and relax in the hotel. Then Saturday hit Sea World and Sunday do the Riverwalk and take the obligatory Alamo picture; we already did the tour a few years ago and pretty much thought.....it probably hasn't changed since then! Ha, ha, ha!So after Skip tried dragging me out of work we were on the road. It takes about 3.5 hours or so to get to San Anton so eventually of course I had to stop and take a bio break. Of course, on the way we were tempted many times to stop at this one of a kind, super duper, beef jerky supplied, clean bathroom claiming, food bearing, rest stop mecca called Buc-ces. (See picture below). Mind you, that this place has advertising way in Louisiana so of course I had to stop here to see what all the fuss was about. It was great! At the pump where we got some golden gasoline there was nice clean water to wash your windows, antibacterial gel to clean your hands after pumping. Inside it was a whirlwind of things to see. They had the tourist attraction of overpriced items with Texas and whatnot on it, they had a huge counter with Beef Jerky of all kinds, pastries, regular munchies food, FUDGE, etc. They also had the usual pit stop fare such as drinks, slushees, chips blah, blah, blah stuff. But the bathrooms were what sold me. At each stall just outside the door of your private little cubicle, there was more hand sanitizer. Inside there were wipes to clean your seat and very nice tiled walls. (Again, please see below) So I was very happy and so was my bum. Skip and I got our goodies (some Bambi and Elk jerky, Fudge, and slushees), and we were back on the road to San Antonio.

So, we get to San Antonio and settle into our hotel. Now...we've seen sevaral BBQ places on our way here and this being T

exas...well...it got our mouth watering. Luckily right in the same block there was a BBQ place. Our first warning should have been the "Drive thru". We've had not so great experiences with BBQ places with this feature, however, we simply brushed it off and went in. Our second warning should have been the look of the place. We again, dismissed this as just the way it is and that usually these kinds of places probably have good BBQ as one would assume that a Mexican truck on the road has great Mexican food. Third and last warning was the look of the food....not quite that appetizing to look at. Again...blindly we dismissed th

is. Needless to say, we went back to the room and proceeded to go to Walgreens to purchase some snacks to finish filling us up. :)

The next day we went to Sea World nice and early. Got our free passes and had a great time. Sadly in my state of renting my uterus, I was not really allowed to go on any rides, therefore we spent most of the day watching the really cool shows with Shamu, Beluga Whales, Horny Dolphins, Alligators, Duckies, Flamingos, and water skiiers. And yes....I said Horny Dolphins. During one of the shows called "Viva!", they had to stop in the middle because apparently the dolphins were not in the particular mood of performing for us humans who pay good money to see them (OK OK...Skip and I didn't pay, but still). They had other things on their mind like a little romp in the pool sack. He, he! So, of course the guy came out and explained what was happeninig and of course we understood. (At least I'm sure the adults did). Eventually they got some of the dolphins out and continued the show which was really quite entertaining.

Shamu was great as well! She gave us a very very very welcome cold splash of her salty freezing water! And boy did it come at a great time. Walking in the middle of July in San Antonio is quite the feat with the sun blazing on you. Anyway, the show was great! I don't think I have ever seen a whale (except for dolphins, which I learned that day were whales as well). It's amazing how high something so friggin heavy can jump! And the lady rode some of the whales, jumped off their noses, gave them hugs, pet their tongues (I'm assuming they must like this, honestly I don't like anybody petting my tongue.) If you stop and think about it....if Shamu is mighty hungry one day...what's to stop her from swallowing one of the trainers? LOL! I would! Little appetizers. 

The great thing about this park is that unlike many other theme parks, this one offers a very GOOD priced all you can eat buffet with REAL BBQ. It was about $12 and it had all you can drink soda and water (try to get that throughout the park!), and a variety of scrumptious food like Pulled Pork, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, BBQ chicken, potato salad, corn on the cob, salad, baked beans, and PUDDING! So, of course Skip and I feasted there for a while and then sloshed around till the next show.  By the time we saw the last show we wanted to see, we were about to go to the water park part of Sea World because I wanted to float through the lazy river to show off my bathing suit that took me so very long to find. Well....apparently so did everyone else. The water park was full to capacity so I didn't really feel like waiting stating that "I have a pool that is not peed in and can float happily in there instead". So, we went back to the hotel where we recuperated from walking in the heat so much. 

The next day we went to the Riverwalk downtown and walked all over wherever there was a path. We took our obligatory Alamo picture and enjoyed the shade of the nice cool walk. I took lots of pictures of course, which are in the slideshow I will put up as soon as I'm done here. As we strolled the Riverwalk, we also dined in an Italian restaurant where they had a mariachi band singing. After that, we headed home. :)

I do miss the king size bed that we had at the hotel. Oh well. I did have a lot of fun though. If anybody comes to visit from out of town, hopefully we can make it out there again. If anybody would like to babysit Kaitlyn during that time it would be even better so I can go on a roller coaster again!!! LOL! 

Till next time here is the slideshow!!!!!

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Happy Fourth of July!!

Hi everyone,

It's been a while, but as you can imagine I've been on busy overdrive. As usual I suppose. I'm hoping things will wind down a bit at work so I can have more time to get ready for the little bugger. That and it's just darned hard working with this kid taking up all this space, sleeping on my lungs, making my feet look like potatoes, etc. :) Many of you have been asking for the pictures of the Shower back in May. For your patience, I have uploaded them and they should be visible to your right in a nice little section of it's own.----------->
Please let me know if you have trouble seeing it. I will work on the video later on when I actually have time to do so. That might take a while. Ha, ha, ha! Here is a sample of Kat's typical day (no details...):

• Get up and go to work (do the horrible drive)
  
• Try to survive the day without quitting
• Attempt the horrible drive again
• Come home and contemplate cooking/eating but end up passing out on the couch
• Wake up eat and fall asleep again...
• Wake up in the middle of the night all uncomfortable and confused as to why in the hell am I doing this again?
• Fall back asleep if not surfing the web and when I do fall asleep almost flinging the cell phone whose alarm is attempting to wake me up.

Of course then there are days where I stay late at work because I need to make up the time I took for medical issues.....Birth Classes....running errands...etc.

So...now you know why I'm always unavailable. It's probably because I'm taking what little free time I have to say hello to my husband before I fall asleep in mid-sentence. Ha ha ha!

Anyway, it all hasn't been bad. I had a very nice baby shower thrown for me at work. Here is a link to those pictures:

• Kat's Baby Shower thrown by EAG Services!!!

Got some very nice items and had a lot of fun sharing time with my co-workers playing games that were not embarrassing! I was very happy about that. Plus the food was really good, as always!

So...as of today...I have ONE MONTH TILL MY DUE DATE!!! TICK TICK TICK TICK. Time to place your bets as to when this kid will really come! Next week I get my 36 week check up and will be seeing my midwife every week from here on. She will do my Strep B culture test, take a look at my Elvis in the Pelvis and all the other normal stuff. I'm slowly getting my bag together for my trip to the Birth Center. Luckily I don't need too much since they let you go home pretty fast once the baby is born and everyone is happy and healthy. This week I will probably think about what music and candles and stuff I want for motivation. I joked with Skip and said that the picture I was thinking of having as my focal point was a nice piece of Medium Rare beef...preferably from El Gaucho in Aruba. Hee, hee! I know...weird, sick, demented...but by gosh, I like it!

The nursery is coming along as well. Skip and Mike painted the room last week and I helped put finishing touches, like painting the windowsill. (I wanted to paint SOMETHING!) Skip then built the crib (I ordered the mattress the other day, should be here next week!) and moved the dresser into the room. As I've started to put stuff away, I'm thinking I might want to start saving for the dresser hutch. It's just so friggin expensive! But I'd like the storage. I also can't wait to get my glider. I'm considering getting the dang thing with the gift certificate I got from work. Hopefully I can keep putting stuff together the next few weeks. I'm not too much in a rush, just want the room not to look messy! It's not like she's gonna be going there very soon! LOL! She will be with me in our room for a bit.

Anyway, I've ranted enough for now. I'm sleepy and my potatoes....I mean....feet hurt. I have a long day tomorrow. I'm just happy Skip is driving! I'm going to Little Derek's first BURFDAYYY! Woo hoo! (For those of you who don't know, that is Tatiana's adorable little son!). Anyway, she lives in College Station which is like 2 hours away from me. Guess it's training for next week when we go to San Antonio for the weekend! LOL! Let's see how many times I stop to pee!

Till next time! Keep reading! And hope you all continue to have a great HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Luv,
Kat