Landon Brenner is HERE!

I'll have to fill in all the details later...

After a very easy delivery on Tuesday, Landon Brenner was born on March 28 at 12:28 in the afternoon. He weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce and was 18 inches long. A very healthy little boy.

Jo - what's that spot on your shirt?

Bryan had a volleyball tournament this Saturday here in Houston. It was nice actually, because it was right down the road this week. And he got to play BB, so even though they lost, he was playing some really good teams. In fact, they've asked him to go to Regionals with them - depending on Landon of course. Regionals happens to be April 8 - which is the day Bryan is predicting for the birth.

So, about mid-afternoon, Bryan and I are sitting up in the stands between his games. He looks over at me and says, "JO!!" - I'm like what? He's pointing at me by this point and says, "hey, I think your leaking." I'm still like what? He says, "Well, I don't know if its sweat or something, but look." I look down and sure enough have a quarter sized spot on my boob. Nice. (And yeah, I'm sweating in a circle right around my boob? LOL.) THANK GOODNESS I had a jacket which I quickly put on and zipped up tight. I grabbed some napkins from the doughnut bag (breakfast that morning) and stuffed them in my bra. LOL. I guess at least he noticed before I walked up and down the gym or something.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for our Saturday, we went out to Babies R Us after Bryan cleaned up to pick up a few things, some bassinet sheets, etc. I realize I really feel like I need to go to the bathroom. So in I go and guess what -yep, I pass my mucus plug. Whoo-Hoo! Two steps in the right direction. Maybe I won't be pregnant forever. I'm hoping the plug is a sign that I'm dilating more. And yes, I realize it could still be weeks away, but hey, as a FTM, that's pretty exciting to me.

That's my news for the weekend. Too bad I have to wait til Friday for my next appointment.

On the spot...

So on Thursday a coworker asks me if I have a breastpump, to which I reply, well, we were going to borrow one from ***** and just replace the parts. Well, she tells me that her stepdaughter has one and decided not to use it, would we be interested? So I say, well, find out what kind it is and how much she wants for it.

So Friday after lunch, this coworker comes in my office with two bags full of stuff. The breastpump, clothes, diapers, etc. She tells me the girl loaded up the stuff because the baby's outgrown it and I'm welcome to have it. She says she paid $35 for the breast pump, but whatever I want to offer is fine. Then my coworker goes on to tell me how this girl is working at Wal-Mart making $7 something an hour, and only has $9 left over from her paycheck each month after rent and bills. But she's also getting $200 something in child support but her babysitter, who is currently free, won't be able to baby sit anymore so she has to find day care. So I'm feeling terrible for this girl, thinking, man, two bags of stuff here and my coworker is saying how she needs the money and yada yada yada. So I'm like okay, well, I'll take this home and talk to my husband and I'll bring my check book in on Monday. I'm thinking of paying her something like $50 for the two bags. Here, her mother's telling me what a sad case it is and all.

So I come home and talk to Bryan about it - we look through the stuff. First, we would never use the breast pump. Second, most of the clothes are premmie! So out of the two bags of stuff, we find about 10 things we could use, plus some socks plus a small bag of diapers, size 1. So now, I'm like, wait, I didn't ask for any of this...I'm won't even use the breast pump or the miniature clothes and I'm going to pay some girl $50 for stuff that we won't use and didn't even ask for? And now I'm mad because the mom, my coworker, has put me on the spot. So all night I'm sick to my stomach thinking about this girl and how she doesn't have money and what should I do about the clothes...

UGH. Here's what I decided. I'm not responsible for getting her pregnant or for her not having a good job or education or a husband. If it was stuff we could use, yes, I'd pay her for it. So I've packed everything up, except the things we could use. I'm going to take them back to work on Monday and tell the mom (coworker) that it was considerate of her to think of us, but we just won't use these things. That I've kept a few things and would $20 be enough for those things. And I think I'll suggest that she try to take the other stuff to a consingment shop where she could get a better deal for it.

Does this make me a bad person? Rather than give her the $20, I'd like to buy her diapers or some clothes for the baby, that way I'd know where the money was going, but I guess that isn't my responsibility either.

37 Week Check Up

Nothing exciting. I'm still 2 cm dilated, but he did I say I was more effaced this week - so more than 50%. And that the baby's head was way down there. So it looks like Landon will be hanging out for a while longer.

I also went to the chiropractor this morning. Besides working on my lower back, he massaged out my neck. OOOOOOhhhh - that felt great.

I worked on the baby stuff last night. I put the bouncy chair together (need to get batteries) and the BarnYard floor mat thingy (need to get batteries.) I set up the bassinet and made a drawer in our nightstand for diaper supplies. Mason (our dog) is deathly afraid of the stroller and car seat. Its really annoying. I guess he compares it to the vacuum which he's convinced is the devil, out to suck up all his toys.

Did I mention how comfortable it is to sit on our exercise ball? Its pretty much the best position I can get in. Too bad I can't sleep on it. Maybe if Bryan could strap me up like they do dolphins when they're moving them to new tanks...then I could just hang suspended. Yes, that would be nice.

Yawn!

Oh to sleep another four hours. We played volleyball last night. Its a competitive league, but not really competitive. They were short a girl last night so I offered to play. Oh man, do I miss playing. It was definitely different...not being able to move as fast as I thought I could, but personally, I think my sets were still pretty good for a nine month pregnant lady, actually, they were pretty good for any lady. =-) I'm definitely sore today. My shoulders, legs, back, feels like I got an actual workout in.

We had pizza after the game, which was around 9:00 so I tried to stay up as late as I could so I could digest it before trying to lie down. That sort of worked, but not really.

Its nice and cool here, around 60 today. My sister sent an email saying they got out of school early yesterday because of the snow! The snow? On the third day of spring, after pretty much no snow all winter. But they've needed the moisture, so I'm glad they're finally getting some, even if it is Spring Break.

21 days. Come on Landon, come out early. In fact, I could clear my schedule today if you wanted. I'm feeling pretty frumpy - wearing one of Bryan's shirts and my favorite gap jeans which don't quite fit the way they did a month ago. I'm off to fire up the heating pad.

Back Pain Again

Let me start by saying that I'm really going to try to update my blog every day. For the past couple of weeks I've been blog hopping and I'm so sad when there's no updates on some of my favorite blogs. Not that the update has to be so exciting or have some great detail, it just makes me feel better when I see that someone has posted.

Back to my blog: I had back pain again last night. I probably slept a couple hours total. The back pain along with the indigestion, along with Bryan's snoring, just kept me up. So now, a few diet dr. peppers later, I about to crash. I went to my favorite chiropractor - that helped for a little while, but the pain is back with a vengeance.

Bryan played volleyball last night, nothing too exciting. Oh, but one of the girls on his team brought us her bassinet. Now, we barely know this lady - only see her Tuesdays at volleyball, but here she brings us this bassinet to borrow. Somehow pregnancy creates a relationship with every other woman in the world (well, every other woman who's given birth.) So now, we really are set. So, come on Landon, come on out.

And just FYI - I feel like I'm going to be wearing this same pair of pants for the next 22 days or however long it takes Landon to come. So I hope my coworkers like Khaki.

Long Weekend

Well, it was a long weekend. Bryan's parents come in on Friday night and are staying until Wednesday (I think.) They've helped us work on the garage. We have all the insulation up in the top floor and I think they may work on the sub floor up there - so its better supported and doesn't shift or something like that. We're putting up peg board in the garage downstairs so we can finally hang all our tools and get them out of the way.

The stain on the twin bed wasn't red enough so we bought a more red color and are hoping one coat will finish it up. Then will have to poly it and it will finally be ready to put in Landon's room.

We finished up the last of the baby stuff. Changing pad and cover, a couple of sheets, stuff like that. Bryan's mom bought us one of those shopping cart/hi chair cover things. I found some Tide HE free and clear, so I washed all the diaper rags, mattress pads and sheets. The diaper rags were so wrinkly I decided to iron them (I was hoping that was me starting to nest, but I don't think so.)

Saturday morning I had a few contractions but they were very irregular and stopped after I finally got some water, I was just dehydrated. But then Landon moved like crazy ALL day long. That's the first time he's done that. I mean my stomach was going crazy, you could see him from outside just turning and turning. But yesterday he was pretty calm, probably tired after all the work on Saturday.

I mowed the front and back yards yesterday, hoping that would do something. Then I tried to edge - yeah, right. We haven't edged since last November, so our grass had grown way out, so yeah, I basically jacked up the yard, but quit before I got to the front, or actually I should say Bryan came and stopped me before I got to the front. Then I picked weeds for about an hour, and I didn't even make a dent.

I did have a little bit of a breakdown last night. Guess it just finally hit me that these are the last few days of me just being me. Don't get me wrong, I love my baby and I'm very excited about him coming...it just really sank in that I have a grown up life, a house, a husband, a job, a (soon) baby. I think its just the hormones and house guests and working in the yard and not sleeping because Bryan snores like a freight train.

Let me end on a happy note. I'm going shopping after work. Just me and I'm going to buy something for just me, maybe a purse, maybe some earrings. Yay shopping!

36 Week Checkup - No progress

So last night around 1:00 I woke up with cramps - much like menstrual cramps - and a back ache. Nothing really like contractions, just constant pain. I couldn't get back to sleep, so around 5, I headed for the living room and some TV. I still have the crampy feeling, like I'm about to start or something.

But, I had my appointment today, so I figured if anything was going on, Dr. Johnson would let me know. Yeah, that's a big NOTHING. Still 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. He said the baby's head was down, but still moving some (guess meaning he wasn't engaged or whatever.) He asked if I could time the cramps, which I can't since its just pain all the time. So, basically, see if the cramps go away and he'll see me in a week. He did suggest drinking red wine if I couldn't go to sleep - to which I must have looked at him funny because he then offered Benedryl which would do the same thing.

I don't mind that Landon's going to stay put for a while longer, I'd just like him to stay put without the cramps.

36 weeks

My doctor appointment is tomorrow - I can't wait. I know I should be patient, but I'd love to hear that Landon's ready to come out into the world.

I've been having more back pain / cramps this afternoon. Nothing consistent. I woke Bryan up last night to tell him I was having contractions...it went something like this...

Bryan: ZZZ..ZZZZ..ZZZ
Me: Bry, Bry, BRY, I'm having contractions.
Bryan: Are they regular?
Me: No
Bry: ZZZ...ZZZ...ZZZ

LOL. That's about it. I fell asleep and they were gone by this morning. I have noticed that Landon gets super upset if I slouch. Which is understandable since there's not much room in there anymore, I'm probably squishing my poor baby.

Nothing New

I basically having nothing new. Bryan stayed home yesterday, I stayed with him the morning. Oatmeal baths and Caladryl lotion finally gave him some relief to his itchy sunburn. He did decide to go to work today, hopefully he's all better.

My back pain has subsided quite a bit. I think it may have to do with my chair at work, so I'm now keeping a heating pad on my back while there and trying to remember to get up and walk every hour.

Only one more night babysitting Nicole's dogs (One Rhodesian mix and One Great Dane mix.) Samson didn't sleep at all last night and decided he would be up at 5:00 this morning. Yeah, only one more night. =-)

We have some work to do before Bryan's parents get here. We need to clean the house (which is pointless until we get rid of the dogs.) Finish the twin bed for the baby's room, organize some more of the garage. They're coming to help Bryan build out the upstairs room above our garage, so hopefully we can have everything ready for when they get here.

Oh, and I think I forgot to mention that Kallie's surgery (ear tubes) on Monday went well. They removed her old tubes which had dislodged and replaced them. The doctor said she didn't see any ear drum damage which is great. Hopefully she's recovering well.

Is it here yet?

So, long weekend. I mean way long. We had a list of things to accomplish and I'm proud to say, got through most of it. Bryan's parents are coming this weekend, so we're trying to get a few things taken care of before they get here.

Sadly, Bryan and I both sunburned again on Saturday. I'm doing much better, but Bry got it pretty bad and is actually home right now. Poor guy. His skin itches after he burns like that, he's pretty miserable. But he did get the first coat of stain on the twin bed for the baby's room. It will definitely need a second coat, but its looking good.

I've had horrible back pain since last night. Horrible. It helps to get up and walk, but then it starts hurting again. I don't know if its where Landon's sitting or what, but man, oh man, I can't go through many more nights like last night. And we all know, Tylenol does nothing. So between the indigestion and back pain, I got about 4 hours of sleep. Yes, I know in about two months I'll wish I could sleep for four hours.

We put together the stroller that my coworkers gave us. Mason (the dog) was scared to death of it! So we're trying to acclimate him to all the new baby stuff. He pretty much is scared of anything that moves (vacuum, bicycles, lawn mower, etc.)

Oh, we did get some new marinades and Bryan's grilled some great chicken. Yesterday we did drumsticks and sweet potatoes...mmm, mmm. Of course, we're watching Nicole's dogs again, and during our trip to Target, one of them took the left over sweet potatoes off the kitchen cabinet and decided to eat it in the living room. Luckily, it cleaned up easily. Note to self - don't leave anything out, no matter how high it is.

Well, I better go check on Bryan - hopefully he's taken enough benadryl to knock him out.

Surprise Shower

Today, I had a meeting scheduled. I thought for sure they were going to ask me to work on another project before I took off for the baby. So dreading it since Wednesday, I slumped down to the conference room. When I got there, there were far more people than what I expected for the project. Well, pessimistic me, yeah, they had a surprise shower planned! Cookies and balloons and everything. I was surprised (and thankful I wasn't getting more work.)

Some of my coworkers had pitched together and bought us a few things, including a diaper dekor (like the diaper genie) and refills, along with the Graco Snap n Go stroller for the infant seat.

It was really nice, and something I truly didn't expect.

Houston Rodeo - Toby Keith

The rodeo was lots of fun. We left early so we could go through some of the booths. The only thing we ended up buying was candy (They had packs of BANANA RUNTS! and some bite size chick-o-sticks.) Bryan wanted to get some more garlic, but the lady didn't have a booth this year.

We did have to stop at the bathroom every fifteen minutes. We had some great food. Bryan had bbq from Goode Co., along with the best pecan pie ever. I had a corn dog, which was really good. And we both had some wonderful ice tea - we actually spent about $12 on tea and refills.

At Reliant, we had seats in the 600s which meant walking up 6 looooonnnnggggg ramps, I made it up four and then we took the escalator up the next two. We had front row seats on our balcony so we had a great view, directly over the livestock events (bull riding, bronc riding, etc.)

Toby Keith gave a good performance. Landon was sure squirming around with all the music and fireworks. After the concert, everyone heads out, so its like cattle trying to move down the six ramps. I'd say it probably took a good 15-20 minutes to get out. And by that time, you guessed it, I had to go to the bathroom again.

We had a great time...and are trying to look for some cheap tickets to another night.

35 Week Checkup

The check up yesterday went great! I had only gained an additional 2 pounds (Yay me!) Blood pressure was good, heartbeat sounded great. But I had a surprise, yesterday started the vaginal exams. Yep, wasn't prepared for that. BUT - Dr. Johnson said the baby's head is already down, I'm 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Come on, Landon. Yes, I realize I could stay that way for 4 weeks, but maybe it could be sooner too.

The pedicure was lovely. I almost fell asleep a couple of times. It felt great. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone do that every week...ahh. My toes do look gorgeous - yes, I can still see them. And my heels feel fantastic.

Bryan played volleyball all night last night. We worked out upper body, then I walked a mile, then I actually got to play some pick up volleyball for about 15 minutes. Yes, I was very careful. It was fun getting to play again, and personally, I thought my sets still looked good.

I am having to get up to go to the bathroom more at night, now. And man, does it hurt getting up. Not sure if its the running/walking or just Landon's head, but I have a terrible pain/pressure in my pelvic area. Feels, sort of like I've been riding a bike. Ouch.

We have tickets to the Houston Rodeo tonight. Toby Keith is playing, hopefully we'll be able to take off of work a little early to get downtown and check out some of the shopping at the Rodeo.

Until Last Night, I didn't know...

What pregnancy pain really felt like.

Yesterday, Bryan and I met out at the short track at Gilruth. I decided I could probably keep up with him for the first half mile, so off we went. I made it 1/4 of the mile and finished the half mile about 30 seconds behind him (which by the way was about a 11 minute mile for me.) My friend Kim was at the half, so she joined me and we were able to run another 1/4 so .75 of a mile in all. Then I had to walk, which immediately sent my calves into cramps. We walked a bit, then I tried to run again. Ha! I could almost hear Landon laughing inside of me as my stomach cramped up. Needless to say, we walked another 1.25 for a total of 2 miles. Not too bad considering I haven't run in about four weeks and spent the whole weekend tearing up the backyard.

So, I finally gave in and got my hair cut. I took lots of pictures so she would know exactly what I wanted. And, great news, she did a pretty fantastic job. Its shorter, but still plenty long (it fits into a ponytail - most importantly.)

Then it was time to shop for groceries. By the time we got home, I could barely move. The inside of my thighs were killing me, from squatting in the yard plus the run, my calves kept trying to cramp up, my back was aching, and a new pelvic pain which I can't explain but you can definitely tell by looking at me - I actually iced it last night! So that's what people mean when they say their body hurts during pregnancy. I tried to make up for the work out by drinking extra water - horrible idea - I had to go to the bathroom three times during the night, each time rolling out of bed in pain, hobbling to the bathroom and don't even get me started on how it felt to try to sit down on the toilet. If I had a pillow in the bathroom, I might have just stayed there.

So that's my complaining. Sorry about that. For some happiness, I really do like my hair cut and am sooooo glad I finally did it. And if felt great to have someone play with my hair. I could go every day to have someone else shampoo it and fix it, that would be wonderful. Of course, now I realize I'm in desperate need of some color touch up.

I have an appointment with Dr. Johnson today. And then the girls are going to get pedicures. YAY! I can't wait for that. I hope I can stay awake to enjoy it. =-)

Weekend Warriors

Bryan and I spent the weekend working on the yard. Let's see, we mowed the front and back. Edged the back yard (still need to do the front.) Chopped off the top of two Tallow trees, good thing too, because they were starting to bud. We then spread dirt through out the back yard where we had some dead spots, seeded and then fertilized. Then we dug (hoed - is that a word) a 6 foot by 60 foot section along the back fence for a flower bed. Talk about hard work.

The flower bed is going to look nice. It goes down most of the back fence. We had to dig out the old sod and weeds that were back there. Then back fill with top soil and planting soil. Then the black weed paper stuff, then mulch. We ran out of mulch, so we'll have to go get some more this week. Right now we have about six crepe myrtles planted along the fence. We have some hibiscus that we'll put in, and some yellow broom - which we found yesterday - that will be perfect to cover up the utility boxes in the back corner.

All in all, we put out about 2000 pounds of dirt yesterday. We are tanned and sore right now. I think if I sneeze I'll rip my ab muscles. Oh, I also managed to shave Maddie, vacuum the house, and we cleaned and did laundry all weekend. Very productive.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and, for some reason, really dread getting on the scales. Oh well, what can I do.

And take a look at the pictures I posted from the shower - too cute.

Houston Baby Shower Pictures

The cute cookies Kim made to match our crib bedding:


The gifts set out in the crib:



Landon's New Diaper Bag


UF Gator Diaper Wreath


New Jogging Stroller (Maddie taking the first ride)

I'm So Done.

So, I'm ready. I'm finished with this pregnancy...come on Landon, come on out. He weighs around 5 pounds, that's healthy right? My back is killing me. I'm not sure if he's sunk down on to some nerve back there, but OOOUUUCCCHHHH. Not to mention the fact that NONE of my clothes fit. I think my legs have put on more weight than my stomach, seriously. I HATE MY CLOTHES! And who wants to go by new ones, when hopefully in about five weeks I'll be needing something smaller. (I did say hopefully.)

So, for the last two nights I've had dreams about Landon. The first one - I was changing his diaper and could not get it right. I forgot to clean him, then I forgot to put on rash ointment, then I forgot powder, then someone asked if I ever put lotion on...it was like I was one big failure - think I'm a little nervous? Then the dream last night - we left him at the hospital. Finally, 3 days after we left, someone said I should go check on him. So I had to go to the hospital and say, "I had my baby 4 days ago, and we left him here." The nurses didn't say anything, but I know they thought I was a terrible mother.

So, if Landon will just come out now, I promise to diaper him correctly and not to leave him at the hospital. Come on out, mommy's ready. Well, I guess he can stay in and bake a few more weeks, but during that time, please get off my tailbone.

More Pancakes!

Bryan made pancakes for me this morning. Which is really nice, since he doesn't even like them. He made scrambled eggs for himself. Yummy pancakes. Of course, the whole house smelled like syrup by the time we got ready to leave.

My work group had a softball double header last night. They won both games and were, surprisingly, much better than I thought they'd be. By the end, they were playing together pretty well.

Bryan sub'ed for a volleyball team last night, so I watched it after the softball games. Pretty good games, at least they were entertaining. It's still hard to go and sit and not play.

My sunburn is finally starting not to hurt - everywhere but my shoulders which are still a little sensitive. I talked to Jill last night. Kallie has surgery for her ears on the 13th. Jill had some great stories - that little girl is too smart for her own good. Hopefully, she'll get over these ear infections and make it to the surgery with out anymore.