In January, we started the year with a bang. I had a new renter move in and right away, we had the downstairs toilet leak and had close to $5K in damages. Then we had the horrific contracter issues, where Joe and his step-dad Dick had to go and finish what should have been done in the first place. This is what we walked into after he was apparently "finished."
Also the Packers were Superbowl bound and Joe like to video tape me watching the games.
In February, the Packers went on to win the Superbowl, such a great game and season to be a part of, barely making the playoffs and beating all odds. Also, on February 10, we found out we were pregnant! Who knew one little word would change everything. I think back to that day and how clueless we were about what was to come. I will never forget that Thursday morning at 5am when we both waited in anticipation. Those were the longest 3 minutes ever! Looking back, I should have known already, my obvious symptom before the BFP was my heightened sense of smell. After my work holiday party the weekend before, we came home and when I walked into our bedroom, I said to Joe "I know where Shiloh spent the night" and he was like "Why?" I said "This room smells like her" and he gave me the strangest look, like I was high. He clearly didn't smell what I did, LOL.
February and March brought some pretty bad morning sickness and besides trying to get through the work week without falling asleep at my desk and having lazy weekends on the couch, not too much else happened. I just didn't feel very good and kinda hibernated for a while. In April, I started to feel more like myself again and we headed to Vegas and Arizona for our 1 year anniversary turned baby moon trip. It was a fabulous vacation, just what we needed and would be our last vacation just the two of us.
May brought the long anticipated ultrasound and the halfway point of my pregnancy. We were so excited to see our little peanut and to find out whether we would be team blue or pink. Of course he didn't cooperate the first time but we got our first glimpse of Mason and these adorable pictures. He was just a mere 12 ounces at this point! And we could tell even back then, he would end up my profile :)
The summer came and went with a flash of an eye. I went on my first big garage sale shopping spree in June with my SIL and niece and found so many clothes for Mason. We also started purchasing some big baby items. And the disappearing act of our disposable income then began and I'm guessing that will stick around for the next 20+ years :) In July, I celebrated my 30th Birthday. It was pretty low key but I was ready to be 30 and start the next decade. I had achieved what I needed to in my 20's and was at peace with where my life had taken me so far. July was also when we felt Mason really kick for the first time from the outside. We also started working on the nursery for our little man.
In August, I had some major nesting going on and got back in to sewing. I also had my first baby shower. It was Dr Seuss themed and absolutely perfect.
September started out with a small scare at 34 weeks and we made a trip to L&D over Labor Day. Thankfully it was nothing but it got a lot more real after that trip. We were actually having a baby soon! At my 36 week appointment, things started to escalate. My blood pressure, even though it had slowly risen along the way, it was starting to hover around 140, which is hypertension. At 37 weeks, it had reached the 160 level and my doctor put me on blood pressure meds. At 37w4d, my protein spiked into severe pre-eclampsia levels and I was sent directly to L&D to be induced. On September 27 at 12:39am, Mason Joseph made his grand entrance into the world at 5 lb 10 oz and 19 inches, just a little peanut!
Shortly after his birth, my health took a turn for the worst and I almost bled to death. We requested my medical records (seriously everyone needs to do this, very interesting stuff) and found out I lost an estimated 3000 mL of blood (normal loss is no more than 500 mL, the average person has 5000 mL in total. I've read you gain some blood during pregnancy so I might have had a little more than that). Thankfully my doctor and the nurses knew what to do and they fought to save my life. I thank God every day I was in that room that night with those people, they are my heros. I don't know most of their names or remember what they looked like but they gave me a gift that I can never repay them for and I will be eternally grateful for each and every one of them.
October came and we learned so much about newborns and ourselves. We lived off $5 foot longs from Subway and very little sleep. We made our first long adventure to Hopkins for Mason's newborn session when he was two weeks old.
We celebrated our first Halloween together:
November we survived Mason's first cold and ER visit. We had his 2 month shots and we had our first Thanksgiving at Grandma Wanda & Grandpa Dick's house.
At 2 months, Mason was almost 13 lbs and was 23 inches.
December brought many firsts as well. My first day back at work, our first Christmas and Mason's baptism. My first day back was one of the hardest days of my life but we are getting better at the morning routine and he is adjusting to life without Mommy holding him all day.
We celebrated Mason's 3 month birthday with 2 photo sessions, one with his usual monthly onesie...
and the other with some professional shots at Target.
The year didn't end on a high note for us. Joe's brother James was in a freak motorcycle accident a few days before the new year. He was at the end of this driveway, showing his new neighbors his bike and as he went to turn it around, the bike hit the gravel wrong and it flipped end over end, throwing James (sans helmet) from the bike. He was air lifted from their house to HCMC. It was scary for a while but he is home now, expected to eventually make a full recovery. The next day, we found out that Joe's mom has Stage 4 Lymphoma in her abdomen. It is a treatable cancer with surgery and chemo but not curable and could return at any time. My mother-in-law is an extremely strong woman and I have no doubt she will kick this ugly cancer in the ass.
Needless to say, it's been a rough couple of days for our family but we are optimistic that 2012 will be much kinder and be a much better year for everyone. 2011 definitely had it's ups and downs but it was the year that Mason was born and that overshadows any hard or sad times we had. He is such a blessing and we love him more than words can ever express.
Cheers to a happy and healthy 2012 for our families and for all of our friends! God Bless and Happy New Year!
xoxo
