Tripp's Arrival

I said I would share Tripp's birth story..so here it is..completely honest so if you're thinking of getting pregnant, this may not be the post to read ;) and if you're not ok with some gross stuff, go away. The miracle of life is a beautiful thing but the process is gross.

With Beau, I was induced and after experiencing maybe one minor contraction, I was given my epidural and slept and rested till he arrived 12 hours later. It was a breeze..except for the no eating thing and the 2 hour pushing thing. --About thirty minutes after he was born I said "I could do that again!"
Things with Tripp moved a bit faster and a bit more painfully!

Because I am a planner, I decided I wanted to induce with Tripp as well. That way Beau would be taken care of with my in-laws, the house would be cleaned and everything would be prepared.  And as silly as it sounds, I would also have my hair washed and ready. (My hair is so crazy that washing it in the hospital seemed impossible so I wanted fresh hair going in...haha I know..stupid.)--but seriously, what if I go into labor and I'm on second day hair and have to wash my hair at the hospital and deal with a frizz bomb?! WHIlE taking care of a newborn?! No thanks. I wanted everything, including my hair, to be under control haha call me superficial I don't care.
Let's also be real here, I really wanted to be induced so I wouldn't be in any pain :)

Anyways, apparently everyone decided to conceive babies in August because I couldn't get into the hospital as there was an overload of women in labor. It was practically impossible unless I went into real labor. So I decided I would put myself into real labor. I got pedicures (supposedly the pressure points in your feet can cause contractions--and they did but not enough to put me in real labor, just pain ugh!) Joseph and I had sex..every day..like twice a day. Lucky him! Nothin. I found myself literally jumping up and down saying "COME ON TRIPP..COME ON OUT!" Still, nothin! I had this awful fear that we wouldn't make it to the hospital in time for an epidural, since usually second babies come faster than first, so with every pain I was freaking out.
Let me just say NOTHING ACTUALLY WORKS. WHEN BABY IS READY TO COME, BABY WILL COME . If you happen to have sex the morning of your baby's birth, then MAYBE that helped a little but most likely, your baby was planning to come that day anyway. And I knew all of this, but was still trying to naturally induce. Being at 3cm for 2 weeks and after all that is just proof that he was going to come on his own time.

Almost a week went by past my induction date (which put me close to 40 weeks) and still wasn't able to get in and still no Tripp. I was sick of everyone making their predictions, sick of wondering if every pain was a contraction, and sick of waddling around while everyone said "Oh My! You are huge! That belly!"--It didn't make me feel fat, just got to a point where I was done hearing it. I really was huge though. Even now, only 4 weeks later looking at the picture makes me laugh.

 (Not my beer)

So on Mother's Day I had a feeling he was going to come the next morning. Or maybe I was just being hopeful. Sure enough I woke up at 2am with awful pains. "that was definitely a contraction, but I'm too tired to care," I thought. I fell back asleep and woke up again about an hour with another awful pain. Went back to sleep. Surely you can't sleep through labor! My doctor made it very clear to me that I would KNOW when I was in labor... (but haven't we all heard stories of women who were in labor for like a day and didn't even know it?!)
Woke up at 6:30 with some of the worst pains I've ever felt....haha or so I thought at the time! Little did I know...

Water broke at 8ish---SO GROSS. I couldn't walk or do anything without it going everywhere. No pad would take care of that..NO DIAPER WOULD TAKE CARE OF THAT! I just had to deal with it. Grooossss
We got to the hospital and I was having contractions about every 3 minutes...the dramatic kind. I know I'm a dramatic person but these were truly the squeeze-Joseph's-hand-take-deep-breaths-in-the-middle-of-the-parking-lot-mid-walk kind. We finally get there and I'm in shock they aren't offering me a wheel chair and rushing me to delivery like in the movies. I had to wait...WHAT?! I'M LITERALLY HAVING A BABY AND WANTING TO KILL YOU AND YOU'RE MAKING ME WAIT?!!? Then a nurse even jokes about my water dripping everywhere..SHUT THE *FLIPPITY FLIP* UP!!!!!!
"Ok sweetie, let's get you in here and I'll check to make sure your water broke and if so, we'll get you admitted."
again, WHAT??? It's literally tracking my every step and you're gonna question??? UGH

Contractions, the dramatic ones, are only getting more dramatic and closer together. Joseph's in my face telling me to breathe and that everything's ok. I looked at him like he's wearing a clown outfit...GO AWAY, YOU DID THIS. <---Anyone ever feel like they're in a movie?! I always wanted to be an actress...this wasn't my idea of a movie-like experience.

Guess what!? The nurse said that I WAS in labor!! Surprise, surprise! And I was about 5cm.
So we get admitted and put into another room. I was being wheeled on the bed to the other room while having a contraction, I feel bad for anyone that was anywhere near that hallway..I was not saying nice words.

So I haven't shared this on here but we didn't have maternity insurance. Another lesson learned. Do not have  a baby unless you have maternity insurance. Apparently no individual insurance plan in Texas covers maternity. Isn't that delightful!? A healthy, young woman who pays a monthly premium for medical safety isn't covered when she is creating a life!<--done with that rant. Anyways, we had already paid for the epidural in advance (if you pay it by 7 months prego, you get a discount! Yay!) So we had already paid $1500 for me to be experiencing this joyous occasion without pain...WHY AM I IN PAIN THEN!? GET ME THAT EPIDURAL. (FYI it costs about 12k to have a baby these days)

I was fourth on the list. FOURTH! Contractions were happening every minute...and I had to wait another hour to get it...do the math...that's 60 awful contractions....what does a contraction feel like?? There truly aren't any words to illustrate it but if I HAD to...
ya know when you're about to get diarrhea? Your stomach does a flip thing and you are about to explode (don't lie, we've all been there...) well its kinda like that but worse. Or you know those cramps you get every month and say "These are the worst cramps I've ever had..I hate being a girl"...yea kinda like that + plus the diarrhea feeling + worse. Or have you ever been back kicked in the stomach and vagina at the same time by a horse?? Me neither, but I imagine it feels better than what a contraction feels like. Got the idea?? WORST FEELING EVER. Joseph was trying to massage my feet, help me breathe, distract me with the tv...I almost punched him in the face. I was that person yelling "GO GET A VASECTOMY RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!"<--Movie moment eh?
Another memorable quote: "I LITERALLY FEEL HIM COMING OUT..I CAN FEEL HIM..HE IS COMING OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I guess I was complaining a lot? They bumped me up the epidural list. :)
I'm such an angel huh? haha!
The dr. came in after that wonderful hour and started the process. Just knowing that I was getting it made my contractions feel better. I was having one while he was doing it and I barely tensed up just knowing that in a few minutes, I was going to be feeling much better. And I did. Almost instantly. It took about ten minutes for my legs to tingly and I finally laid back and relaxed. Ready to wait the 5 or so more hours it was going to take. (the nurse explained that we usually progress 1cm per hour)
Around 10:50 I called my mom to ask her how the hell she EVER had us naturally?? She had two babies with no epidural..craziness. I told her that I was feeling good and ready to wait and he should be here this afternoon.
While flipping through the channels, the nurse comes in to check my centimeters.
"Well, it's a good thing you got that epidural, let's go ahead and get you ready to push, you're almost at 10cm"
Excuse me?? What?? I just started relaxing! I don't want to push! Where is Joseph anyway!?? He didn't really go get a vasectomy did he!?
My dr walks in and asks how I'm doing and we get in position.
I was literally laughing while pushing asking "Am I even pushing?!? I can't feel anything!"<--Now that's what I was looking for!!!
She said I was doing great and that his head was out..ummmm ok.
I pushed 3 times total. I watched my huge, bumped belly **gross alert** slide down my abdomen and then he was out. --so crazy!
"He looks just like Beau!"
And he did...it was so weird!
Tripp Jameson was finally here. After 3 hours of excruciating labor and about 10 minutes of pushing, my baby was here.

 Tripp Jameson
7lbs 13 oz 19"
11:02 am

While those awful contractions were BEYOND worth it...I don't know if I want to do it again... Just glad he's here!

2 weeks

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks!! It goes by so fast! And I'm already seeing changes in his face! I have never taken newborn pictures..definitely not my specialty but I tried. You should see the ones I attempted with Beau when he was a newborn..no, there's a reason why those aren't public. I didn't know anything about photography back then. I may know a bit about photography now, but NOTHING about taking pictures of newborns..so I did my best. I made sure he was fed and full, then did these as quick as possible. Joseph laughed at me the whole time. I had visions of pictures with Beau but I need to get over that, those are not going to happen! Anyways, these were my favorites of our sweet baby Tripp...

Tripp's Nautical Room

We haven't used it yet for sleeping. I've done laundry and definitely used the changing table.
Originally I wanted to do a cool, pirate room. But, just the word "pirate" seems cheesy.  For both boys, I've wanted to do their rooms so they can grow into them. Not all baby. While I do love traditional nursery themes, I just quickly fell in love with this nautical theme and went for it!
 Like I mentioned in another post, most everything is from Hobby Lobby or Michaels. Good ole Pinterest is so handy when you're creating a room! This was our guest room and it was very girly (all of my Belle of Lace Photography stuff was in here too.) I decided to keep the bed in here and after a few weeks in our room, I will move with Tripp into his room. Not that we have a huge mansion and it takes me forever to walk to his room, but I remember with Beau being SO sleepy when he would wake up through the night and wishing I could just crash in there with him. HOWEVER, Tripp has been such an amazing sleeper already that I may not have many middle of the night feedings.

I bought these wooden blocks at Michaels and painted them Navy then painted on the letters-pinterest project! The sailboat is from Hobby Lobby as well as the frame and the lighthouse.

 My mother-in-law is awesome!! I told her I wanted curtains that resemble a ship's sail and this is what she did! Aren't they perfect? She actually told me that they aren't done..but I don't know what more she's gonna do! I love them as they are!

 Picture frames are from Marshalls; I found these cool Nautical pictures on Etsy; and the oars are from my parent's house, I like to occasionally go "shopping" there :)

 I bought the crib used for $60!! The lady said she bought it for her nephew to come stay with her for a weekend and then never used it again! What a deal! I love the dark wood. Steering wheel is from Hobby Lobby ( of course)

 I repainted the base of this lamp, it was an ugly, plain brown color. Both the frame and little fishing boat are from Hobby Lobby...I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with the boat, I feel like it needs something in it. The dresser is Joseph's from when he was a kid! Then it was Beau's dresser and changing table. I decided I wanted to stain it and get new knobs (in Beau's room it had rusted, star knobs to match his cowboy theme.) I couldn't stain it when I was pregnant so Joseph had to. He hates painting so it was quite an act of love he did for me!

 THIS IS THE BEST GLIDER EVERRR!! I can't stress it enough. It is SO comfortable and I don't know what I would have done without it while Beau was a baby. I do miss having it in his room for reading him bedtime stories but knew that I was gonna NEED it when rocking Tripp to sleep. If we could afford another one I would definitely have one in each of their rooms. It's from Babies R Us. My Aunt got him this cute little lovie, "Skipit"...so cute!

I just love this pillow. I found it on Etsy and felt it fits perfect in his room.

First Week

Our first week home has surprisingly been very relaxing and everything has been running smoothly. Tripp has been a great sleeper (I have to wake him up for feedings about every 4 hours) and Beau has been so sweet and interested in him.
I love the last picture with Beau looking at him with his crazy hair and yogurt all over his face :)
I need to take more pictures of Tripp's room but wanted to share a few that I already had. It's all finished even though we haven't used it at all, except to fold laundry.
My mom threw us a little "Meet&Greet" and had this cute pirate cake and cupcakes made. We didn't even want to cut into it..so cute!
I remember with Beau the first week being the hardest (shock, sleep deprived, shock, the unknown...shock!) but this time with Tripp it's been completely different. I don't know if it's because I'm more relaxed, or because he's tricking us. Either way, we're so in love with him and while I'm not as shocked, I still can't believe I'm a mother of two!!

Tripp's Room Accessories: 

Ship Wheel-Hobby Lobby

Oars- from my brother's room when he was a kid, no idea where my mom got them

Frames-Michaels

Nautical pictures-Etsy

"Ahoy"- Blocks are from Michaels, I painted the letters

Sailboat-Hobby Lobby

Frame-Hobby Lobby

Light House-Hobby Lobby

Can you tell I like Hobby Lobby??

Tripp Jameson

Tripp Jameson Stuckey
May 13, 2013
11:02am
7lbs 13 oz 20"

I'll share more pictures from his birthday and the whole story later. I'm tired now and he's sleeping so I need to rest before he wakes up again!

Mother's Day

Knowing that baby Tripp was going to be added to our family the next day, I indulged in all bad foods and soaked up my baby Beau's love all day long. It is a weird feeling knowing that such a big change is right around the corner. I like change (though this may be the last family change like this for us) especially exciting change like having a baby!

We went to the waterway in The Woodlands to take Beau to the splash pad. He had never been before and so we got him all geared up. He was interested for maybe 2 minutes. He was scared of the water and then when it got all over him, he was much too cold to stay near it. He decided to go for a walk instead...which he tends to do anytime we take him anywhere.

I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day. Joseph got me some bath/relaxation remedies and of course these ridiculous drinking glasses bc he knew that after I have Tripp, I'm gonna need a drink! I also got this cute little vanity chest that I've made into my makeup drawers. (If you follow me on instagram you already know all this.)
It was a perfect day spent with the fam.

Only Child

This is the last week Beau will be an only child. It's so weird to think that next week I'll be holding baby Tripp. I'm so excited but also really trying to cherish my time with Beau all alone. Because I'm so big and slow, we aren't able to go outside unless Daddy is home or someone else can chase after Beau..he's just too fast for me. So he likes to look out the window from time to time (sad, I know!)
I haven't grabbed my camera in so long. I'm so glad I did this morning before nap time.