Ross Ramblings

I know we have been MIA for a while...

But we have been BUSY!

After Isaac's first birthday party, it was time to get ready for Isaac's first day of Day care!
Isaac goes to the same place where Daddy works... I think Daddy was more nervous than Isaac... Daddy doesn't deal well when Isaac is upset....BUT no worries, Isaac LOVES day care and he is FINALLY starting to NAP well there too!

We also took some time and went to The DuPage Children's Museum, which Isaac also loved. I wasn't sure what to expect, you know since Isaac is only one and all, but there was SO much to do there, and he TRIED IT ALL! He really loved it. AND we loved letting him play knowing that he could explore everything there!

Of course since Isaac turned one, he had his one year check up, and here are his stats as of now...

Height: 32" (97 percentile)
Weight: 22 pounds 10 ounces (47th percentile)
Doctor Hart was very pleased with everything and gave us a clean bill of health! He did fairly well with shots this time, and only had a minor meltdown!
Of course we had one year pictures taken, and they all turned out cute (although I may be biased) this is one of my favorites!!


But what has REALLY been eating my time, well besides a walking Isaac, is SLIDE TRANSFERRING. OYE. I have been taking our old family slides and converting them to digital images for our family. It takes SO much time, but it has been such a blessing. I found pictures of my grandparents, our family, cousins, and so much more. I will leave you with a sampling here.



Well, hopefully this finds you all happy and healthy! As for us, we will hopefully be on here soon to update you on all our fall adventures!

On Saturday we had a wonderful first birthday on Isaac's ACTUAL first birthday... It was at Isaac's Grandma and Grandpap Ross's house and it COULD NOT have been any nicer. Auntie Kati and Uncle Aaron put in ALOT of extra work too, to make it nice for our lil guy. It is ridiculous how wonderful our family is. Isaac, Jeff and I are so lucky to have people who love us so much to go OUT of their way to make the day special for Isaac...Here are some highlights...

So as I was saying...


On August 8th, I was supposed to meet my sister in law in Diamond to finish up shopping for the boys 30th birthday bash on Saturday...

Well, Thursday night, August 7th, Jeff was not feeling very well. I was sitting up with him making sure that he was feeling ok. We were living at my Mom's house, and we were sleeping in the basement, because even with the air conditioning on, I was H O T... I was sitting on my mom's new couch in the basement finishing off a snack size Kit Kat about ready to go to bed when I heard a pop and felt a woosh of water....


I was not as panicked as I thought I might be FIVE WEEKS before this little bean was supposed to make his arrival. I went up stairs, and sure enough, there was NO doubt... my water had broken...(Ok maybe a little panic started at this point....)

I went up to my mom's room at 1:00am, knocked on her door, and told her that I was pretty sure my water had broken. I called the hospital, and they connected me to the labor and delievery nurse... she answered the phone and said, "Nurse!" so of course I said "Nurse, this is Kate Ross, I am a patient of Dr. Toussaint, and I am pretty sure my water just broke..." She told me to get the heck in there!


I went down to wake up Jeff and tell him it was time.... now remember he had been sick all night... hence why I was still UP at 1:00am on Thursday... I woke him up, said, "honey my water broke, we have to go to the hospital!" He looked at me and said, "Awesome!".... Boys.

My sister had just gotten home maybe twenty minutes before... she had gone to a preseason Bears game that night with my cousin. I went to wake her up just to let her know that I was going to the hospital. She said, in true Kassy form, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" She then preceeded to tell me how much pain she was in from wearing new sandals to the game and walking too far in them. IN fact, as we were walking to the car, she was bent over in pain, and I was walking normally... it was HILARIOUS.

I was pretty much in denial that I was really in labor. I wasn't in any pain, and I was still FIVE FRIGGIN WEEKS away from my due date... so I was waiting patiently by the door... IN LABOR... while my mom curled her hair, my sister put on make up, and Jeff got dressed.... such is my life...

Before we left, Jeff wanted to see the "evidence" of my water breaking... I guess he wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy....... so after he was satisfied, he continued to get ready. My mom was about ready to go, and she asked if I had everything... I didn't have ANYTHING... I didn't think I would REALLY be having a baby anytime soon...

She convinced me I should grab my hospital bag which of course was only half packed, because I wasn't supposed to be having a baby for FIVE FRIGGIN WEEKS ... of course Jeff had already grabbed the cameras... I mean come on, he is Mr. Video for goodness sakes...


We piled in the car, and began our trek for Morris Hospital. My Mom had plans to meet with her siblings that morning, because it was her mother's 86th birthday... of course that wasn't going to happen, but when I texted Kati to let her know I wouldn't be meeting her in Diamond for that liquor run; that's the first time I realized that I was going to have a baby on my Grandma's 86th birthday, which just happend to be 08/08/08....

PS... Today Jeff and I are celebrating 8 YEARS OF MARRIAGE!!! Can you believe that on our 8th married 08/08 we had our first baby in the year 2008? I mean THATS ALOT OF 8's!!!

Ok friends, we are getting down to it...

I was pregnant,

Everyone knew,

I had a slew of complications in the first trimester,

I knew I was having a boy.... with a dual vessel cord...

Perfect

So, on recommendation of my Loyola doctor, I made an appointment at the Loyola in Maywood for a fetal echo..


The actual ultrasound took about an hour. The tech said that she wasn't able to get very many detailed pictures as he was not cooperating, but everything she saw looked great. She went and got the doctor, who reiterated that what they could see looked great, but they wanted to get a better detailed picture... SO they wanted me to come back in two weeks to have ANOTHER one done. I wasn't quite sure about this.... There hadn't been any sign of ANYTHING wrong. They have seen all four vessels of the heart, measured them, they all looked normal. They saw all the major arteries of the heart and they all looked and are functioning normal, AND they measured his heart to chest ratio and THAT was normal. I just don't know what else they could see that could do us much more good at this point. (they also took pictures and listened to the heart for rhythms and all that and that was normal as well..) I just was DOCTORED OUT by this point, and I was already going to start going to the doctor every week for stress tests... I was just DONE.... but the more I prayed about it, the more I thought I should probably go and just have it checked AGAIN...

So on July 26th, after two AMAZING baby showers, I went BACK to Loyola, (which made for two doctor appointments that week) and had ANOTHER fetal echo done. This time, the head hancho doctor just came in and did the echo. It took another hour, and they still couldn't see everything they wanted to see... but the doctor said she had looked at all the major stuff and said with 90% certainty that this little boy didn't have an"fatal" heart defects... well great.....I mean, I was glad for the 90%, but with the way this pregnancy was going, I would have preferred 100... but whatev....

Jeff was going to turn 30 on August 18th, so our family was planning a huge joint birthday party for him and Aaron, who was going to turn 30 on the 26th, on August 9th. Kati and I discussing details on the phone... Kati and my mother in law had done all the shopping and we were ready to go.


On August 8th, I was going to meet Kati in Diamond at our favorite liquor store to get the booze for the partay.... except Isaac, who was NOT DUE until September 10th had other plans...

Installment four...

So to catch you up,

* I found out I was pregnant
* Everyone knew
* I had ALOT of complications in the first trimester.

Oye.

Ok, so I was enjoying a drama free second trimester. I was excitedly looking at everything baby related. We decided to save money that we would move in with my mom (who happened to have a very large empty house that needed some commotion... ;-)

So, I went to my May appointment (I was 21 weeks) to find out if the wee babe was a boy or a girl. I KNEW it was a boy. I unfortunately was the only one that thought so. I think because I love the color pink, everyone figured I would have a girl! So Jeff met me there after work. The ultra sound tech there is SO NICE. (Julie) She asked if we wanted to know, and of course we did. As soon as the image came up on the screen, I said, "That looks like a penis to me!" and she laughed and said... that's your son alright!

The third installment...

SO I found out I was pregnant
Everyone knew...

Ok, you are all caught up!

So, Christmas break was over and on Monday January 6th, I went back to work. While I was getting ready, I noticed that I was spotting. I was a little freaked, but it wasn't awful, so I just made a mental note to tell my doctor when I called.
When I got to work, I knew I had to tell my boss right away that I was pregnant because I work at a school where we are trained in physical restraint and I was on the response team. Of course, she was so excited and supportive.

I called my Doctor's office, to make an appointment and to tell them about the spotting. They told me that spotting "could be" completely normal and just to watch it and call them if it got worse. My first appointment was made for January 18th.

The first week of me knowing I was pregnant was great. The spotting stopped by Tuesday morning, and Jeff and I were just giddy with the "what could be's". On Saturday, Kati and Aaron had some friends over, and invited Jeff and I to tag along for Karoke. Since the bars were smoke free as of January 1st, I was IN!

The night was a lot of fun, and we got back around 11:30. I woke up around 2am and went to the bathroom only to notice that I was bleeding... BAD. I woke up Jeff and after about a five minute debate, Jeff convinced me we needed to go to the ER. The ER doctor did an exam, and said that everything looked ok. He took my HCG levels and told me that I was on bedrest for at least a week. Perfect. One week in and I am already on bedrest for a week.



I had to go back to the doctor on Tuesday to get my counts retested. If they went up, the pregnancy would continue, if not, well... we tried not to think of the other. The bleeding had stopped by Monday night, and I never felt crampy. SO many people were so kind to us. Bringing us dinner, calling me, just trying to make us feel better. I went back to the doctor on Tuesday, and had my bloodwork drawn, and I went home. Wednesday I got up and went to the bathroom and noticed a big clot...I thought for SURE that I had miscarried. I cried, called Jeff at work, and then called my doctor. Jeff came home and my doctor scheduled me for an ultrasound at the hosiptal that day. The doctor did tell us that the counts HAD gone up on Tuesday, so we knew there was some hope, but we weren't very optimistic.

On the way to the hosiptal, Jeff and I cried. I called my mom at work and told her that I thought for SURE that I miscarried. We talked, and scheduled a drink fest for Friday night. I went to the hospital and when we were called back to the room, I told the technician that we weren't expecting to hear good news, and we were already prepared for that. She told us that she would be as honest as she could be and turned on the little monitor.

Now, I am no doctor... but as soon as she turned on the machine, I could see something.... and then when she zoomed in, I could see that that something HAD A HEARTBEAT. I.WAS.FLOORED. Jeff and I looked at the screen in disbelief! She told us that everything looked perfect for little peanut. She couldn't see any reason for the bleeding. She sent the results to the doctor and we had to wait to talk to him via phone. While we waited, the ultrasound tech printed out this first picture for us...

I called my mom and cancelled our little drink fest. She was also shocked. I was placed on bedrest for another week. My doctor's explanation? "Sometimes these things happen, and all they do is scare the hell out of us." Um, if that isn't the understatement of the year. I went back to the doctor on Tuesday January 22nd, and was given the all clear to return to normal duty. Baby looked good, I looked good, and I was given the due date of September 10th. Phew!



Everything went fairly well until my next appointment, which was February 22nd, 2008. Now, it should be known that a few VERY stressful things happend in this month.
So, I went to my appointment and everything was totally fine! They found the heartbeat, life was good, and I went to go home. When I stopped to go to the bathroom, I noticed I was bleeding AGAIN and ALOT. I went right back in the exam room and he did an internal exam. The cervix was still closed, and looked good, but I had a clot ( a big one) and he took it out and sent it off for examination. He then said he wanted me to have an ultrasound.. So I went off and had an ultrasound.. The baby looked GREAT. It had a great heartbeat, and was moving freely around in there. The uterus looks normal and they had NO idea why I kept bleeding. I was put on bedrest AGAIN and was told that if we did go on strike that I was to ABSOLUTELY NOT go outside and pickett. They wanted me at home in as little stress as possible. Well, we did go on strike...

But, I stayed home. I was HEARTBROKEN over the strike. I cried when I had to leave my classroom. People I cared about were pissed, it was A W F U L. I was still spotting here and there, but for the most part the bleeding had stopped. After three days on strike, the union called a meeting. We ratified a contract. We went back to work... and wouldn't you know it, I NEVER had another problem with bleeding...

The next few appointments were fine! The doctors were really pleased with everything that was going on. I had lost three pounds in the first trimester....and was only up two by April.

On May 7th we would find out if we were having a boy or girl... and also get the news that we had a whole NEW set of problems...

And now the Second installment of Isaac's journey.....

I had just found out I was pregnant, and I magically arrived at Babies R Us...

So while at Babies R Us, I picked up a few things that were on SUPER clearance from Christmas. I was SO proud of myself, because it had been about an HOUR and I hadn't told ANYONE my HUGE secret!!! I bought Jeff a book, and I bought about four about expecting for myself, and then headed to the car. Before I drove back to Diamond, I returned to Target and bought two more tests (different brands of course) just to take and make sure.....
When I got back to Diamond, I took one of the tests... yup, still pregnant, and got Jeff's surprise ready. I wrapped up a present with the test (in a Ziploc) and the book I had bought him,

and a couple of burp clothes that said, "I love my Daddy." I then hunkered down and waited for Jeff to get home. (Now remember, one of my best friends, AKA my sister in law Kati, lived LITERALLY three doors away from my apartment.... it was an EXTREME test of wills to not go over immediately and share the news...)
Finally Jeff came home, and I gave him his present, which I told him was a Christmas gift that I had forgotten about. He opened the present, and in true Jeff form said with NO enthusiasm, "oh, you bought me a book, Thanks." I told him to look further... (MEN) when he finally realized what I was telling him, he FREAKED. OUT. He ran over to me and kept saying "really? really? I mean you are REALLY Pregnant?" So, into the bathroom I went, and I took ANOTHER pregnancy test....yup. Still pregnant. He then immediately congratulated his "man parts" for working... Lordie.
We talked for about twenty minutes about when we thought I might be due, and then discussed who were we going to tell next. We decided that we HAD to go tell SOMEONE right then! Knowing we wanted to tell as many people as possible in person, we went over to Kati and Aarons and shared the news with them.
Jeff brought over the gift I had given him and told Kati to look what I had gotten him... when she saw, she FREAKED OUT. She was so excited! Aaron congratulated Jeff and we had some champagne.... I kept telling Kati I couldn't believe that it finally turned positive! I just was in shock....so in true Kati form, she pulled out a test that she had and told me to go take it! (this one was digital, so there was no denying it... and wouldn't you know it....
The next day, we set off to tell the parents. First was my mom. We went to the house under the same guise... "We found a Christmas Present." When she opened it up, she saw a sign that read..

It is so hard to believe that in a few short weeks Isaac is going to be a year old. I used to think that when people said that, that they were crazy, but it is SO TRUE. It REALLY DOES seem like yesterday that Isaac was not even here... that we were living in Diamond, and that we were just living our normal day to day lives. I thought that this would be a good time to document what Isaac's journey has been!


So Jeff and I decided that we were going to try to get pregnant. I had finished my graduate degree the year before, we had banked some money away, and we felt like we were ready! We thought it might take some time to get pregnant, (well since they say to give yourself a year), and we decided that while we were on our Vacation to Tybee Island Georgia we would start trying....
Well... that didn't work out so well as my "monthly gift" came early that month. Needless to say, that ended that.... so it was on to the next month.
In August, I found a great website, fertility friend. I thought I would try it out.... I had NO idea there was so much you could do to find out when you were going to ovulate, and at the time, I was none too concerned... but since my monthly gift was so crazy, I thought I might try out the website. I entered in my info, and when it generated our prime "baby making time" it had already past.... Damn... I was not too good at this.... on to the next month...
September came and went, and when we the "time" came, Jeff was filming two weddings in a row AND we had MANY family trips to get to as evidence below....
October came and there was a family party to contend with...and I KNEW there would be "partaking" so we thought, eh, we'll just wait to November...
November our "prime time" happend to fall on the same weekend we were throwing a BIG 60th birthday party for my father in law.
December, as always, is crazy, and our "power hour" was right in the middle of EVERY school program in our area.... Jeff and I talked about our crazy timing, and we made it our New Years resolution to REALLY start trying in the new year. I was going to take my temp, see the spike and REALLY make it work! I mean what is REALLY going on in January and February? It seemed like the perfect time.
My monthly gift was a little wierd in December. It never really got to full force, and my boobs
H U R T!! I didn't really have a whole lot of time to think about it though because the holiday festivites were upon us. I took a pregnancy test just to be sure on December 22nd, because my mom was having a caroling party that night, and I wanted to make sure I could partake with out worrying. The test came back negative, and I didn't really give it another thought.
On New Years Eve, we went to my Brother and Sister in laws house to celebrate. I was SO tired, I barely made it to midnight. I think at 12:30, I had crashed on the couch. I thought that the Holidays had just taken it's toll...
By Thursday, the boobs STILL were hurting. I went to bed that night and said to God, "listen, if my boobs still hurt in the morning, I will take another test... just to be sure... so if I am pregnant God, you need to give me a sign."
Well, God was listening because on Friday, January 4th, I woke up with AWFUL naseau and a REALLY hurtful... well pair of melons. I had some errands to run in Joliet, so I went to Target and bought another pregnancy test. On the way back to Diamond, my mom called and asked if I could help take down the Christmas tree. I agreed and headed over.
I knew that my mom would want me to stay and have a glass of wine with her, so I brought the test in with me. I helped my mom take down the tree, and down to the basement. On my way up, I grabbed my purse with the test in it and headed to the bathroom. I went in the bathroom and peed on the glorious generic pregnancy test and set it on the back of the toliet. As I was washing my hands, I glanced at the test and it looked like there were TWO pink lines. I thought I was seeing things! I already HAD a negative test almost two weeks ago... I had a quasi period... but there it was plain as day TWO pink lines... a little "+" in the test window... I WAS PREGNANT!!!
I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!. Here I am, in my mom's house, and I have a positive pregnancy test.... I didn't know what to do. I wanted to cry, vomit, and tell my mom.... BUT I knew I really wanted to tell Jeff first. So I put the test in my pocket, made a mental note to wash the jeans right away.. I mean yuk.... and earned my academy award by getting myself OUT of my moms house with out ...
A. Drinking a glass of wine
B. Making her suspicious that something was up and
C. Without telling her!!!

I put the test on the center counsel of the car and just looked at it. I couldn't believe it... we had DONE IT! I didn't even understand how it happened! We were so bad at trying! We had made it our resolution to REALLY start trying THIS MONTH! I was charting my temp, I mean HOLY HELL! While all these thoughts were racing through my head, my car accidently drove to Babies R Us... and I don't think you would be surprised.... I parked in expecatant mother parking....

Stay Tuned to next time when I tell you how we told everyone we were expecting!!!