The Life of a SAHM...

Why do weekends seem to go by so quickly? It seems like it's the only time I get to spend time with my husband and the kids. In the afternoons, during the week, we're always so busy. We might get a few hours in but that's about it.
This week I'll mostly be MIA. I have a busy week ahead & hope it goes smoothly. Peyton is sick AGAIN. He has yet another ear infection as well as sinuses. I had to take him to Urgent Care on Friday because his pedi couldn't see him. We were in and out fairly quickly but he wasn't exactly happy. The antibiotics kicked in pretty quickly & we got his fever to break but last night his ear started draining. I guess that's a good thing, it means his tubes are working correctly & at least getting the fluid off of his eardrums. He's still in a lot of pain though.

Other than dealing with a sick kiddo it's a typical Monday around here. Boring but busy is how I describe it. A lot of people wonder how can a stay at home mom be so busy but pretty much never leave her house. Well, we don't have the luxury of having a nanny or babysitter so I definitely don't sit on my butt all day long.

We wear many hats throughout our day. Inevitably someone is going to get in an argument or fight over a toy so we have to be a referree. Someone is sure to get hurt after the above argument so we have to be a nurse. There will be hurt feelings so we have to put our counselor hat on. Eventually they'll need to eat so we become a chef & a waitress. Of course we have to at least attempt to keep the house clean so in order to do that we also have to pick up after the little munchkins, we become maids.

We really never stop. The only time I get to sit down is when the kids are taking their afternoon nap and that's only after I get all of the stuff done that needs to be done. That's often the time that I attempt to shovel food into my mouth to try to stay nourished enough to deal with the afternoon, which means I have to juggle the kids, playtime, making dinner, feeding them dinner, bathtime, and bedtime too. It isn't an easy job but it's my job & I love it.

When Avery was 9 weeks old, I went back to work full time. I hated leaving her every morning and missing out on so much during the day but there was nothing I could do about it. There was absolutely no way we could pull it off for me to stay home & I was ok with that, I had to be. Well, fast forward to September of 2009, we were surprised to learn that I was pregnant again with our second child. I immediately started having problems but nobody could tell us what was going on. We relied on prayer to get us through my first trimester. I prayed constantly that if it was God's will, my child would live & if not to please show me how ot cope & deal with the loss.

When I was about 10 weeks pregnant I went in for what was probably my fourth or fifth ultrasound, I think at that point we were having an ultrasound every week trying to figure out what was going on, the ultrasound said "well there's the problem". The baby was perfectly healthy but a piece of my placenta had separated from the amniotic sac and was causing a leak which was causing all of the problems. I'll never forget, we were taken to an exam room and told to wait for my OB. It seemed like it took forever for Dr. R to come in but in reality it was like 5 or 10 minutes. He told us at that point it was a waiting game, he could not give us a definite answer as to whether or not our baby was going to live or die. Either the tear would repair itself & the baby would be fine or it would completely rupture & we'd lose the baby. It was gutwrenching, I was terrified. He put me on modified bedrest & pelvic rest for a few weeks and said we'd recheck everything at 15 weeks. At this point, Brent & I made the decision that our baby's life was more important than a second income.

Fifteen weeks comes and my ultrasound was scheduled for 3 days after Avery's first birthday. On her birthday, we announced our pregnancy & everyone was thrilled but we were still very cautious. On Tuesday we went in for my ultrasound while my cousin watched Avery for us, she had had her 12 month checkup & shots earlier that day so she wasn't very happy but a sucker did the trick! I can't even describe the relief I felt when the ultrasound tech looked at me and told me that the tear in the amniotic sac had repaired itself like we were hoping for. This meant our baby would live!

Things went as planned for about 10 or 11 weeks. We had our gender ultrasound at 18 weeks and the little turkey wouldn't show us the goods so we had to wait another 4 weeks to try again. At our next appointment we were able to find out that we were expecting a very stubborn little boy. We were thrilled, Brent of course was getting his little fishing/golfing/hunting/football playing little buddy. A couple of weeks pass and I noticed that I started having Braxton Hicks contractions just as I did with Avery & around the same time. I didn't think anything of it because they didn't hurt. Over the next week I noticed that everytimeBH contractions, they were actual labor pains but they weren't regular or consistent. They would hit me throughout the day, at different times and were very sporadic. I might have 3 one hour and none the next then 2 hours later have 10. Nothing that was consistent enough to call my OB or go to the hospital. At 25 weeks I had another checkup. I mentioned them to my OB and he blew them off as BH's. After begging him to do an internal and him telling me they were completely normal & didn't warrant a check & me continuing to argue with him that I knew my body and something was right I left.

I finally decided I wanted a second opinion. I called a dear friend of mine whose mother is a midwife & she told me to call her mom, she'd be happy to talk to me & help me out. I called her office and got an appointment at 26 weeks to see her. I told her what was going on and she immediately checked and informed me that I was absolutely correct, the contractions I was having were indeed changing my cervix. I was put on bedrest and a goal was set that we both felt comfortable with. I had to make it to May 23rd in order to deliver where I wanted to deliver and hopefully the baby would be healthy enough to stay out of the NICU. I was put on a 2 week schedule, meaning I would come in for a checkup every 2 weeks instead of every 4. After the initial follow-up 2 weeks later and strict bedrest my contractions were still effective so I was moved to a 1 week schedule.

We took things day by day, week by week. I ended up in the hospital at 34 weeks getting Turbutaline (sp?) shots to stop the contractions. I was released after a few hours of monitoring & they were able to get contractions stopped.

My goal came & went, I had made it to 36 weeks & we were almost in the clear. When I hit the 38 week mark I was allowed off of bedrest & I've never been so thankful to get out of bed in my life! At 38 weeks 5 days we decided to induce because I was 4 cm's and he appeared to be a large baby.

I went in at 5am and pitocin was started at 7am, after 2 hours of monitoring. My midwife broke my water at 8, I got my epidural at 8:15, lucky me never felt a contraction until my epi started wearing off in certain spots. I was able to get a booster, thankfully, so I was able to relax a bit. At 2:09 pm Brent & I welcomed our second child, Peyton Robert into the world weighing 7lbs 4oz.

He was truly our angel baby, we were in limbo for so long about whether we would ever actually meet him or not. Every time I feel like my job, as a stay at home mom, is stressful or gets to much I go back & read his birth story & it brings back all of the emotions I was feeling that day. It also reminds me how absolutely blessed I am to be able to stay at home & be a full time mom.

My life is hectic, day in and day out. My day starts between 6 & 6:30 every single day and usually doesn't end until 10 or 11 at night, sometimes later. Of course, there's always the waking up in the middle of the night to comfort a child who had a bad dream or them simply not being able to sleep. A mother's job is never done, we are never off, and we never truly get a vacation (at least I don't think so). No matter where you are, if you have a child at home (under the age of 18) you're worried and wondering what in the world they're getting into when you're not there.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go play with my princess a little bit while her brother finishes out his morning nap. Wonder what she's going to want to play today...hmmm