Saturdays are always an awesome day in the house. It's the one day we are all at home and can have endless fun. Every other Saturday is always special because it's half off at the Goodwill and my mom and I seriously have an addiction to this place.
Some people aren't a fan of second hand shopping but I feel like everything can be washed. We always go to the Goodwills in the nicer areas because they have better stuff and this Saturday did me some justice. I was mainly going for the boys for some school shorts but saw this lady shopping in the bathing suit section and was intrigued. My first thought was who the hell buys a bathing suit from the Goodwill? Then I thought, well, I guess it could be washed a million times. So, I entertained the idea and boy did I find a gem!
I absolutely love one piece bathing suits and it just so happens to be name brand (La Blanca). It's high wasted with a low back and super cute on. I also love how the zipper drops down in the front. It cost $8.99 but of course I got it for half price. La Blanca's are pretty pricey, so thank you to whomever donated their swimsuit. Now I can officially start training for my triathlon in style.
I also found a couple of good books to add to Baby P's collection. This lil guy is going to have a huge collection by the time he can start reading. Generally the books range from $.99-$1.49 which is a steal because books are expensive. The family loves to read to him and I find it easier to buy than to remember to return the books to the library. Can't wait to read our new finds to him.
So, now you know one of my many secrets, I am a Goodwill junkie. Tell me what's a good find that you have from a thrift store.
I am so excited to share the images I took of P at 11 days new. He is so stinking precious, and I swear I am not saying it because he is mine. This lil man took some of the most interesting characteristics of Dre and I's. He has crooked pinkies like Dre, a big toe with a gap like me, and we have no idea where his booty chin comes from. Another pretty cool thing about this kid is he is part of like the 5% of babies that are actually born on their due date. I tried to get him to come out on Friday the 13th when there was a full moon but he wasn't having it.
Well my loves, as you know Baby P aka Pharaoh Calais Amar is officially here. He's actually squirming in my arms as we speak, trying to get to my boob. He was born on June 14, 2014 at 625 am, almost exactly 36 hours after early labor started . This was honestly the best birth ever but also the most anxious feeling one.
My pregnancy with P started off with me buying a pregnancy test one night in Oct. and hardly being able to sleep because I was so excited to take the test. Something just told me there was a lil bundle in there. I'll start off by saying the munchkin was not at all planned but I was so excited of the idea of adding a new addition to the Fantastics. Around 5 am I took the test and bam it was a POSITIVE. EEK. I immediately woke up Dre and then sent a pic of the test to my girlfriends and my favorite cousin. Ya skip that 12 week rule, they needed to know now. Dre and I once made a deal when we were younger that if we got married and had another kid, we would not find out the sex, have a water birth , and if it came out a girl the name would be Phoenix. So we stuck to the plan and the journey started. Later on in the pregnancy we decided if it was a boy his name would be Pharaoh, and that's how the nickname Baby P came about.
My pregnancy was pretty much smooth sailing except for the morning sickness that lasted up until 36 weeks. Hey no complaints now that I think about it because it meant a day off work.
The minute I hit month 9, I just couldn't wait to get this baby out. At 36 weeks I was 2 cm and 50% effaced. I'm thinking oh ya, this lil one is not lasting the full 40. Then came week 37 and I was still 2 cm but now 60-70% effaced. What the heck! It seriously felt like I was reading blogs every hour trying to find ways to get P out. So I picked up working out again since baby was full term. I seriously walked every day and did squats or stairs. I was bouncing on the exercise ball as well as figure 8's, and hip circles, and nothing. Week 38 I had not progressed at all and even tried to convince my midwife of a membrane sweep. But nope, she said I had wait until I was at least 40. Well at our week 39 apt on 6/12 I was still the same and was just convinced to chillax because P was coming on his/her own terms. Funny thing about my week 39 apt is we had a little party with other moms who were close to term and we all wrapped a red piece of yarn around our wrist and weren't supposed to cut it off until the first person had their baby. In my bad mood I cut mine off the minute we got home because my cervix couldn't be reached to do a sweep, and stomped up stairs to go to bed.
Labor Day! Is it real. Oh yes it was very real. I woke up around 6 am on 6/13 with some pretty interesting contractions. I knew they weren't BH because I felt them all over, and my BH's started around week 26, so I knew what those felt like. I told Dre I was pretty sure baby was coming and he was pretty much glad to know the journey was close to an end. I'm pretty sure he just wanted the baby out so he could torture me since I would always pick on him, knowing he couldn't get me back. Anyways, back to the story. The tractions never stopped but they also weren't getting any closer. So, we just played video games all day and I did some random working out to pass the time. Finally, they got closer but still manageable. I called the midwife hotline around 11pm to let them know I was in labor but let Pam know I was going to try to get some sleep and I would call if they hit the 1 min mark
Random things you do in labor (1st day)
Fast forward to second day of labor.
Amri making me laugh. She just knew she wasn't having any kids seeing me in labor
Just breathe
Holy cow, who knew labor could last so long. I was convinced I would be a wham bam thank you mam since it was my 3rd. Guess not. I mean I guess that was 8 years ago. To pass time in the morning my mom and I went to Walmart and to get donuts. The tractions finally hit a consistent 5 min apart so they had me come in to do a check. At around 12pm I was only 4 cm and 70% so she said to go home and have lunch and try to walk for 2 hrs. humph, fine then. I took a quick 1 hr nap and then headed to the mall with my mom and Alex. By now, things started to move pretty fast. My goal was 2 hrs and I lasted 1 hr & 45 min before I said to hell with it and went to a new sub shop called Togo's. Once we got home, I ate maybe 3in of that sub before I dropped to my knees and told my mom to call Bettie and let her know I needed to push. Oh man, it was time! She told us to get there asap.
At this point, I'm thinking maybe I am at a 6 max 8cm. I mean it had only been 4 hrs since we were last there. So, I brushed my teeth really quick and then Dre pushed 95 on the highway to get us there. Laboring in the car is not fun! There is no where to go and you don't know how long the ride is going to last. I was grabbing on to the seat, to the door handle, basically anything that I could grasp. My wonderful midwife Bettie & my doula Tori were outside waiting for us. I guess when you tell them you need to push, they take that very serious.
Needless to say I was at 9cm when she checked me. Um, what do you mean a 9! I sent the same message to everyone. I am a 9 come now! I then hopped in the tub and the tractions just kept on coming. They tell you to do a deep moan like a whale, but half the time I was screaming like a dying cat and kept apologizing because a mom had just given birth in the next room. Less than an hr later I told everyone I needed to push and then yelled out, "This must be the ring of fire" as I felt P coming into the world. Mind you I am on my knees at this point and Dre is behind me, so they told him where to put his hands so he could catch P. I pushed twice and all I hear is a laugh from Dre and him say, "It's a Boy!" (And what a very cute boy).
After giving birth, I was in pure bliss. This little man was so calm and just relaxed on me while we got checked. We both did such an awesome job that we were out of the birth center within 3 hours. Of course we had to do a toast with the family before we departed and then we headed home. It was honestly such an amazing journey and I can't wait to do it again.
Being around famiy makes you appreciate them more and more. No matter what you may go through with them by the end of the day all the time you spend together makes you love them more and more. I absolutely love mine and my babes family. From the bottom of my heart I can truly say that I can definitely understand that the true meaning of family. No matter what this will always be my family and I would never want to replace them. Christmas isnt only a time to celebrate what people consider jesus and Its not only a time for kids to watch Christmas movies and drink hot coa coa and open presents but also a time of year as an excuse to get with your family, create memories, act crazy and then go back in time and say "remember when we did this and that" I love you all even those I can't always spend the holidays with. Trust you will always be in my heart and I will always make the time to tell you happy holidays and I love you all so much. If I can't tell you it personally know that I mean it and I will always mean it. I love you all. Hugs and Kisses
I learned today that my greatest enemy is the fact that I won't accept defeat, which in return does not allow me to accept others when they accept defeat. I also am a very motivated person with many goals in life and not only as a mom but as a person who is trying to fulfill the reason why she was even given a chance to breath on this earth, I don't understand how people live for today and not for tomorrow. Today you may have a good job, but what if tomorrow you got fired, at least you prepared yourself. As a mom I can get stressed, my kids drive me up the wall sometimes, but at the end of the day they are my kids and I want whats best for us. Many people underestimate my strengths because I am an emotional person. But don't let my emotions full you for a second, I am a very strong individual and yes I tip my hat to my own success because I worked hard for it. I have the loving support of immediate family but at the same time I have had no support. I know what it's like to have a parent give you up, to have a parent on drugs, to have a parent live from pay check to check. My mom has always been my rock and her ups and downs make me a stronger person and my own ups and downs make me a stronger person. I challenge myself to climb up to the mountain top, I challenge you to climb up to the mountain top. I will give myself a break when I have made it because defeat I will not accept.
Today me and Andre dropped our little man off at his first day of school. He was so excited and just smiling like crazy. He wouldn't even take a nap because he was so happy to be going to school. I think Chris not crying like the other kids the day before helped him a little with watching mommy and daddy walk away. In day care he was not very happy, he used to cry by the door and everything. So as a mom I was very happy to not see my child cry. Chris actually cried a little at school today because he was tired.
On to Arizona Moms. I came up with this because I didn't want to call my support group for moms House of Love if that's what the maternity home was going to be called. Basically Arizona Mom's is an unofficial non-profit organization. What I mean by unofficial is we are not a 501c3 non-profit but at the end of the day all of fundraising money and money we receive from people will be put into Arizona Moms and into House of Love to get it started off the ground. The first fundraiser I want to do would be either speed dating or I was thinking of hosting maybe a poetry night at a cafe. Event's that I will be hosting for these young moms will be things such as Managing Finances, Get Fit, Proper Resumes, Get Back into School. Various Life Skills events. Also things for them to do with their kids such as baby and me book club so moms can read to their kids and after so many books you get prizes (like a summer reading club), day at the zoo (where an actual person will take us around and explain the animals to the kids), Be a science kid (visit the science museum.) A lot of activities that they might not have been able to do and through fundraising and donations Arizona Moms can make this happen. Keep it Tuned
