Pee Pee in the Toilet

Never knew I would be so psyched over someone going piss in a toilet...but I am.  Two nights in a row, before bath time, Steven went pee pee in the toilet!

Celebrate!

This kid, yes, stink face an all, went potty in the toilet...we need to burn through some diapers and then it's pull up time for day time right?  Who knows.  Just pee in the toilet!

2 Years Old: The Next Big Adventure

It's been a while since I last posted anything.  That's fine.  My excuse is I have a 2 year old.  Who has time to even sit down?

What's next for the Gorkas?  Potty training.  I have ready everything you can on potty training a boy.  I have heard every tip you can hear from friends (and strangers).  I am so not ready for this next adventure.

Steven has been showing an interest.  Why not?  His Sr. Toddler class has dedicated "potty times" for the potty trainers.  Monkey see, Monkey do.

It's so cute to watch him try and pee pee in the toilet.  He stands and holds it and everything.  Now we just need to connect the dots.  Pee Pee in the toilet = HUGE CELEBRATION and CANDY! No, I do not plan on setting up a potty training boot camp.  Sound rough on the kid (and on the parents).  I will take it slow and hopefully he will pick up on it quick.  The good thing is we have his school to support us.  They will help maintain the potty mantra while we are at work (worth the money!).

I also know that I probably fooled you with my title.  The Next Big Adventure usually means something like moving to another state or having another baby.  HAHA.  NOPE.  We are hoping to move soon though.  Not far, but to a larger home.  A family of 3 with animals has stretched the limits of a 4 bedroom ranch.  Seriously.  Kids come with a lot of crap.

Is a new baby in store for the Gorka family?  We go back and forth.  We are at the terrible 2 stages you know...and for the most part Steven is cool, but he does have some terrible, patience testing moment.  So if you asked me today?  NO.  Big fat NO.

Until next time!
Yen

Steven wanted OUT!

As many of you know by now Steven Thanh Gorka wanted out 4 weeks early.  He was born 4 weeks early on January 20, 2013 at 20:20.  He weighed 7 lbs and 5 oz and measured 20 & 3/4 inches.  I guess he seemed a little impatient to meet us.

Here is a summary of his delivery - still long, but I summarized where I could:

I woke up Saturday, January 19th at 3:00 am to my water breaking...at the time a bit of denial led me to go back to bed instead of waking up Brad.  I woke up at 8:00 am and woke Brad up and told him I may have had my water break.  Against his advice I did not call the doctor's office (the baby wouldn't be 4 weeks early!) and took a shower to get ready to meet some friends at Starbucks.  I kept thinking there is NO WAY this baby is coming this early so I pushed the worries out of mind.  Just in case I called a friend and asked her what it was like to have your water break.  She said it sounded like mine did and that I should call the doctor...I said ok...after Starbucks.  Met with my friends and also got their advise.  They asked me to call after our coffee.  HA - FINE!

On the way home (11am) I called the midwife.  She recommended I go to the Women's Center for them to confirm if my water broke.  I asked "Should I bring my husband?".  There was a pause and the midwife said "Ummm, yes.  You need to head to the Women's Center like you are in labor".  Ok.  Fine.  I called Brad and told him the plan.  When I got home he was in the shower.  As I packed my "go bag" I got to hear the "I told you so" lecture.  I packed everything in record time. By the way, Brad's bag had been packed and in his car for 2 weeks.  I think it's funny that I was not packed and he was.

We head to the hospital and they confirm at 12:00pm my water has broken.  I was 1.5 cm and 90% effaced...wow.  We were moved to Labor and Delivery and we started making calls.  I was put on Pitocin for 4 hours...NOTHING happened.  They decided plan B was to use Cervidil overnight and we'd try again in the AM.  I was to try and get some rest.  Not so easy when they come check your temperature (risk of infection is high when your water breaks - they try and deliver the baby within 12-24 hours of your water breaking) every two hours and if your monitor falls off they "sneak" in to fix it.

At 6am, January 20 they started again.  The doctor that was on call was awesome.  We loved him.  He predicted the baby would be born around 9 or 10 pm.  GEEZ.  More penicilin (every 4 hours) and Pitocin.  After 3 hours and a potty break (one of many due to the IV fluid) Brad noticed an "issue".  The nurse hooked the Pitocin line back into itself.  I was not getting any through my IV.  Fun times.  They corrected it and we waited.  My contractions were getting stronger and I was in active labor around 3pm.  I was ready for the Epidural.  NOW.  After they hooked me up I was feeling GREAT...but then nausea struck.  Nice.

At 8pm the doctor came back in to check on me.  Keep in mind we were expected an updated of "see you at 10pm to deliver"...instead we got "well it's time...his head is there".  Wait what?  We're doing this now?  Brad and I were not really prepared.  Why?  No clue.  So lets do this.

Brad was a champ. He was down by a leg helping me push and he cut the umbilical cord.  I pushed for 8 minutes and out came Steven.  Technically he was premature so the NICU team had to check him out.  He went to the transitional nursery while my 2nd degree tear was fixed (ugh).  Brad sent the news that Steven was doing well and that he'd be with us in 2-3 hours.  We got to come home at 10pm, January 21.  It was nice to be in our own bed...but now we got to wake up every 2 hours with a baby.  HUGE change.

So now we are parents.  Can you believe it?  We are responsible for another human being.  We are adjusting, but I honestly though I had 4 weeks to prep.  Steven had other plans.  Let's just say I am now "nesting", but with a baby on one arm.  The nesting usually takes place prior to deliver lol.

Nursery Project

I did not have any major projects plans...other than putting some vinyl trees up.  Brad was none too pleased, but we spent a whole Saturday putting them up.  LOVE them.

 

LOVE

Baby's Room: Sneak Peak

We've made progress.  The room has been painted for months, the furniture is in (waiting on the hutch), and the bedding arrived yesterday!

I still have lots to do.  Brad has one more thing to do for the wall behind the crib and he's done with the baby room (for now).

Sneak Peak:

Furniture, Bedding, Photos, and Unplanned Hospital Visits

The last few weeks have been a whirl wind. 

We selected and purchased baby furniture.  Thanks to Todd we were able to save some money and pick up the furniture versus have it delivered.  Buy Buy Baby is amazing.  You can apply coupons towards your purchase of furniture 90 days after payment/pick up!  Brad has become the coupon hoarder.

The room is certainly coming together.  All I need now is to finalize bedding.  As many of you know I have been hemming and hawing over options for MONTHS now.  I have finally placed the order and thanks to Brad's parent's contribution towards the bedding I was able to splurge and get the set I really wanted from Carousel Designs.  Brad also gets a break from my endless back and forth on which bedding to buy.  All we need now is the mattress from the registry!

So, news flash, Brad and I are not touchy feely.  Ok, so that's not really a news flash, but we do actually like each other.  Engagement and Wedding photos are there to prove it.  AND we got pregnant so ha!  We weren't really planning on ever doing a maternity session, but Tiffany (Tiffany Kelly Photography) asked if we wanted to do a session with her.  It turned out to be a great session (not surprised)!  The photos turned out great.  Here's one of my faves:

 

We also got to experience our first "scare".  As you know I am still paranoid (just a little) of something happening to the baby during pregnancy.  Anyone that has had a miscarriage has that fear in the back of their mind.  We were back at Buy Buy Baby to buy the glider.  While we were there I started having some mild, constant pain on the right side of my belly.  I assumed standard tummy troubles and took some Tums.  It started getting worse so I took more Tums.  Still getting worse.  By the time we got to the grocery store near our house it was a lot worse and had been going on for 2 hours.  Brad ran into the grocery store to grab some items and I called the doctor.  I wasn't sure what they would say.  These weren't contractions...just constant pain.  Of course I checked the Internet and I assume the worst.  My placenta is separating! The nurse on call recommended we go to the Women's Center at Northside Forsyth.  We did what was natural.  Dropped off the groceries and unloaded the glider at home then headed to the hospital.  This was our first visit to the Women's Center.  We were supposed to plan our tour sometime after the new year, but guess we don't need to now.  This place is amazing.  Admitted and in a room very quickly and they began observation quickly.  They ran tests to rule out gall bladder and liver issues.  The baby was fine.  I ended up being fine.  But that was a practice run to the hospital right?  LOL.  We were nervous, but wanted to make sure the baby was fine.  He's fine.  Moving around like crazy and probably was stepping on my liver or gall bladder for 3 hours.  Trouble already.

Glucose Test

I took the dreaded glucose test today.  Am I weird that I thought the small bottle of orange liquid tasted ok?  Now we wait for the results.  I hope I don't have to do it again though. A stomach full of sugar water makes the acid reflux worse!

The appointment went well.  I have gained a total of 14 lbs and Baby Gorka is already facing head down.  Brad seems to want to think Baby Gorka is just that much more smarter and advanced than others.  All because Dr. Middleton said most babies don't head south until the 32nd week (we're 19 weeks on Monday).  So much pressure on this kid already.

So far Baby Gorka seems like a wild child.  He is non-stop in my tummy.  I swear he's doing karate or something in there.  Brad saw one of his hard jabs the other day while I was just sitting there and of course references the movie Prometheus.  Nice visual Brad!

I guess time is ticking down...we get to meet Baby Gorka soon.  All I keep thinking is "how can my belly get any bigger" and "I could sure use a beer or 10 now".