He's here!

So, Braysen decided to arrive a little sooner than I would have liked him to. I really wanted him to wait until at least his due date, but he decided that 39 weeks was long enough for him.


Sunday the 14th was supposed to be our big moving day. We spent all of Saturday getting everything ready for the big move. After my mom and I cleaned the house from top to bottom, I was pretty tired and still needed to finish packing, so I went home. Tony was out at our new house finishing everything up so the house would be ready for the next day. I was at home packing up the last of our things. At about 10:45 that night, as I was sitting on the living room floor packing up our plates and glasses, my water broke. I called Tony to come home and off to the hospital we went. We finally got checked into the hospital at about 1:00. After they hooked me up to an IV with pitocin, I was given an epidural. They wanted to start pitocin because my water had already broken and they wanted to get my contractions moving. They also said that they suggested I get the epidural right after the pitocin because the contractions would start coming quickly and much stronger (they were already about 3 minutes apart). Since I planned on getting an epidural anyway, I told them to go for it.

Things started to get rough after that. The baby's heart rate was erratic and kept dropping. My blood pressure was extremely low. At one point it was 78/30. They had me switch from different sides to help the baby's heart rate. At some point they took my temperature and noticed I had a fever, so they started antibiotics in my IV.

They continuously checked my dilation and things started off pretty slow, then progressed very quickly. When they checked me at 3:00 I was 2 cm, shortly after this is when they started the pitocin. Then at 6:20 I was at 4 cm, then when they checked me at 10:15 am I was at 9 cm! It was at this point when they told me that the baby was what they call "sunny-side up", meaning he was face up instead of face down. Babies are much harder to deliver this way because of how their heads and necks have to bend to come down under the pelvic bones.

Once I began pushing, the nurse told me that if I wasn't able to deliver the baby quick enough, they would have to take him C-section. I was really frustrated because I felt like I was pushing and pushing but he just wasn't going anywhere. Finally, They decided he was close enough, and had to use a vacuum to assist the delivery. After I finally delivered, the doctor told me that if I hadn't gotten him out with that last push, she would have taken him C-section.

After he was delivered, I didn't even get the chance to see him. The doctor plopped him on my stomach for a split second, but all I could see was his back, then the assistants took him immediately. My mom and Tony got to take pictures as he was cleaned up. Because I had a fever during the delivery, he also had a fever, and they were concerned that he was very tired after the delivery, so they took him to the nursery. After I finally got checked into the postpartum room, Tony brought him there 2 hours after delivery.

I know, long birth story, but I feel like it is easier to write it than to keep telling it. :)

So after that long night and long morning, we finally have

Braysen Gage Schuler

Born March 14th

3:26 pm

6 pounds 15 ounces

20 inches

Our New House - BEFORE

Here are some of the pictures I took of our house late last night.

The dining room, which when finished will actually serve as our bar.

The living room, stained carpet and all.

The kitchen with its yucky vinyl flooring.

Kitchen again with the broken vertical blinds.

Master bath, and yes, that is CARPET in the master bath.

Master bedroom.

Our LOOOONG entryway!

Guest bathroom with the yucky vinyl flooring again.

Laundry room, yes, vinyl flooring again.

These pictures I took this afternoon when we visited to see the progress so far.

Tony and Bud taking a break after a long night last night and long day today.

The new entryway tile in progress.

The painters had also started painting when my mom and I went by there today, but we couldn't get into those rooms because they were still laying the tile. Maybe tomorrow. :)

38 Weeks and 4 Days...

...and there's s much going on!

I had a doctor appointment yesterday. Apparently I'm dilated 1 cm. WHAT? I know that 1 cm dilation doesn't really mean much, but it does mean that things are beginning to happen down there, and I'm currently trying to stall for more time!
Closing escrow is stressful enough as it is, but with the situation we're in, the stress is ten-fold. There was drama with the tile that we originally picked out, and the tile guy was going to start today, so we needed to find new tile ASAP. The people at Lowes probably thought we were nuts when they saw my 9-months pregnant butt, still in my work clothes and high heels, not only picking out, but BUYING tile at 8:30 last night! What a sight I must have been! Last night after all the tile drama, I went out to take some "before" pictures of the house. I'll post those later. Tony and Bud spent most of last night at the house ripping out all the flooring and baseboards so the tile can be laid today. After the tile comes the paint and the carpet, then our furniture.

Hopefully things with the house will get moving before this baby does any more moving of his own!

Class Baby Shower

One of my classroom moms was very thoughtful and decided to have a class baby shower for me today. We had games, treats, and favors. It was a lot of fun and I think the kids had a blast!

Last week she gave each student an invitation with their name on the outside of the envelope.

Yummy cupcakes!

She even went as far to decorate our classroom for the shower!

And everybody went home with their own party favor!

Control Issues

In my five years of teaching, I think the most important lesson I've learned is that you cannot stress about things you cannot control. I spent my first year of teaching very frustrated, because I felt like there were so many kids I couldn't reach. I worried because I didn't have much support from most of the students' parents. Many of those were the parents I needed the most support from. I didn't understand how I was supposed to get these children's test scores up when parents were unwilling or unable to help at home, or could not provide books for their kids, or kids who just plain had bad attitudes about school. I felt completely helpless when I realized that there was nothing I could do to change these situations. I can't control what goes on when these children go home, so I just have to let that go. What I can control, though, is what happens in our classroom and I can control how they view see their education. I needed to stop worrying about the things I couldn't change and start changing the things I could.




I'm trying to apply this teaching philosophy to my life. I know, confusing, right? I have just realized that stressing and worrying about not being moved in by the time the baby is here is not going to get me anywhere. I can't worry about how much still needs to be done if there isn't anything I can do to change it. What I can control, though, are the things that I can prepare for Braysen's arrival, like organizing all of his stuff. I may not have his nursery to put everything away in yet, but you can bet I've had all of his furniture since before we even knew he was a HE! And you can be certain that Little Guy already has his stuff packed away in moving boxes. It is all organized based on when we'll need it. I have several boxes labeled "Newborn Stuff" just in case he decides to arrive before we actually move. All his nursery stuff is also organized and ready to be moved into his new room. Right now I am working on finishing these dividers that will hang in his closet to divide his little clothes.

I may not be completely prepared, but what I can do I will do!

34 Weeks & a Baby that Dances to Lullabies

Your Baby: Month 8

Baby’s senses are continuing to improve --
when light peeks in through

your (extremely) stretched belly, those tiny
eyelids and irises blink and dilate.

And, baby can now recognize and react to simple songs…

time to start practicing your lullabies!

I am 34 weeks today! That means I am only 6 weeks from my due date. Really? Is my due date really only a month and half away? It hasn't really hit me that I will have a baby to bring home sometime within 1 to 2 months. What I am still really anxious about is the fact that we may not be in our new house by the time he arrives. We are set to close escrow on March 10th. Yes, March 10th, which is 10 days before my due date. And before we move in, we want to re-do the flooring and paint. Yikes! I think that this whole house-hunting thing has been the hardest for me. I am a plan-ahead type person (so much so that I started packing our hospital bags when I hit the end of my 2nd trimester). I like to plan ahead and be organized, so the fact that I can't be positive that we will be in our house and completely ready by the time Braysen arrives really freaks me out! That being said, I am doing as much as I can to satisfy my need to be prepared. His carseat and my hospital bag were both put in the car today. Tony's hospital bag, on the other hand, well, let's just say he's not as concerned with planning ahead as I am. It has still yet to be finished. I may work on that for him tomorrow. :)

On another note, after reading this little bit of info about the baby this week, I realized that he can start to recognize lullabies. My mom bought me this cute little Soothe and Glow Seahorse as a shower gift, which is kinda like a GlowWorm that I had when I was little.

Marlo had it when she was pregnant with Emery, and would play it for her at night time hoping when Emery finally arrived, she would know that the lullaby it played meant it was nigh-night time. She said it really didn't work, and now that Emery is here, she could care less about the darn Seahorse. I decided to give it a shot anyway. I've been playing it for him when I lay down to go to bed, but it only seems to get him riled up! As soon as that music starts playing, he stretches and dances and pokes me with elbows, knees, feet, and hands! Guess it didn't work for him either. But it's still fun to use it to get him going. I'll just make sure to not do it at bedtime so that I can get some sleep! Tiffany, on the other hand, seems to really enjoy the seahorse. I got out of the shower yesterday morning to find her snuggled up with it in my bed! She thinks everything belongs to her. It looks like we're going to have to figure out a way to separate her toys and his toys, so she knows what she's allowed to play with!

Baby Shower

So this past weekend we had my baby shower. It was amazing! I cannot believe how much work my aunts and especially my mom put in to making every detail so perfect. To me, it was perfection, with the exception of two things. One: it was too cold. Because of the fact that there were so many people, the shower was held mostly outside and it was really cold. Two: There were way too many people! Not that I'm complaining! Well, I am, sort of. We thought it would be fun just to do one big shower and have everybody over at once. A good idea in theory. But in reality, it made it really difficult for me to visit with anybody. I spent most of my day eating and opening gifts. I was really sad that I didn't get to spend more time visiting.

Back to how I spent most of my day:

Eating. Yum! The Taco Lady did an excellent job with the food.

Opening gifts. Fun! But exhausting! My family and friends did such an excellent job in making sure we have everything we need to welcome our little guy. We got almost everything we need. Now all we need is the baby!

Yes, Tony sent me flowers. There is a reason why he is my favorite! :)

Gina had Ethan and Ryan on Monday. I guess they were just holding out until their mommy could make it to my shower!

My parents got us our stroller! Yes, the infant seat is backwards, and no, I wasn't the one who put it in like that.

Aunt Stephanie & Aunt Jennifer

(We were really tired by this part of the night)

My aunts got me a diaper bag. Adorable, right?

I didn't have room for the rest of the pictures. But you can find them on facebook.