We had a baby....At a bar!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!! This is a VERY special day for me. For anyone that knows me St.Patrick's Day is a HUGE deal. I go BIG! I love the day..its so much fun! Green shoes, the outfit, beads, stickers and tattoos for all. This day was particularly special. we celebrated my fathers birthday (which it is every year), Kyle's first St.Patrick's Day and 11 month birthday and 2 months until Hailey is due.

To be honest I thought this year was going to be like last year: St. Pitty Party Day. See a year ago I was preggers with Kyle, and I could hardly move while pregnant with him. In fact one of the first things that ran through my head when I found out I was pregnant with Hailey was.."Great, there goes another St. Patrick's Day" but NOT THIS YEAR!

We went out. Hit up the town! OK so we didn't hit up the town, and we didn't go all out..but at least we went out! We hit up Donohues in Watertown, Yes, its a bar... the one we go to every year...NO don't JUDGE me! I will say I never thought I would be the one to have a baby in a bar, but its not as bad as it sounds. My cousin and his wife go there all the time. They are friends with the owner (who is a family man himself). There were other children there including Kyle's cousins Taylor and Nolan and we were not exactly IN the bar. We were in this back room set up for anyone who wanted buffet Irish dinner!

I don't know why Kyle would not cooperate with taking pictures, or maybe it was me..seemed like the photo would always snap a second too late, but I was able to catch a few OK shots =)
Kyle and Daddy =)

He looks like he is up to something here....

Kyle and his little cousin Ryan. They match in their "First St.Patrick's Day" shirts and bibs.

The evening commenced at my in-laws where there was even MORE corned beef and cabbage. I have to say, it may not have been the St.Patrick's Day I am used to, but it was a very special day overall.

Another Milestone

To most people out there you are going to think.."whats the big deal?" for me its another step toward independence and needing Mommy less. I thought we would have a more time. Of course this is coming from someone who broke down in tears and made her husband come home early because her sons umbilical cord came out and thought "that's it we have no connection now"

Kyle is now holding his bottle on his own! Granted only while lying down but still.. I thought this would be one of the first "tricks" he would master, but true to his Italian background I think he enjoys being served =). So last night he took the bottle away with a look in his eye "look mama, I am almost 11 months now I can do it by myself! I could imagine a teenagers tone.

Though I have to admit, after breakfast it was nice to lay him on the floor with a pillow and have him feed himself, giving me a bit more freedom.

I am also continuously telling myself he has to hit these milestones and it will (hopefully) make my life slightly easier when Hailey joins our family.

Baby makes 4??? WHAT! WHAT?

September 17,2008...Kyle was 5 months old ALREADY. Jay suspected I was pregnant. I thought he was NUTS! I JUST had a baby..I am NOT pregnant! Ohhhh but I was.

Ladies, Ladies, Ladies. The nurse told me in the hospital make your post natal visit ASAP. I did the day I got home I called my OB/GYN. I could not get an appointment until June. I went and got my new "pill" YAZ. Unfortunately I could not start the pill until July. July 15th I began the pill and in August conceived baby #2. Now we are 30 1/2 weeks pregnant with Hailey Rose DeVincent, our baby girl. She is due May 17th. 13 months to the day after her big brother was born..CRAZY!

She was VERY unexpected, but meant to be. We are blessed to be welcoming more love and laughter into our home.

The last 10 months

So I would love to share with everyone the last 10 months but I can't. All I can say is I am amazed daily by my beautiful baby boy. Every coo, every tear, every giggle amazes me. It is hard for me to accept how fast he is growing and changing. I wish I could give him a pill to keep him my baby forever.

Month 1 a HUGE challenge was feeding him. He was a formula baby from day 1...Go ahead judge me, but he was taking down 5oz. his first day in the world, I would NOT be able to keep up with this monsters feedings. Anyway, in the hospital he was given Similac and did very well with it. When he got home he had such terrible gas. I tried every baby bottle to help him and then a little research. Where his father and I did not have any issue with Lactose, (the sugar found in milk) I did not suspect he did. So before switching him to a soy based formula I tried Similac Sensitive. Problem solved! Dr. Brown's baby bottles and Similac Sensitive...he never had a gas problem again.

Love his cheeks!

He was beginning to sit up on his own

This was a BIG month we started FEEDING him real food. The Dr. recommended we try to wait until 6mos unless he shows you signs he wants real food. When he ripped an apple from my hand I had to start feeding him real food....he eats everything =)

First Halloween

First Thanksgiving

First Christmas, and First Tooth =) He also started crawling, and started pulling himself up on everything! This was WAY too much for me to handle all at once. Why is my baby doing so much at once?!?!? I was heartbroken and so excited =)

Happy New Year!
Tooth #2 is coming in and now he thinks he can eat everything. From this point on I have had to get creative with food. he will NOT eat ANY baby food. I can not mash or puree anything. I have become very creative with food. The Doc. does not want him to have milk until 12months so I cook with Similac. We have always given Kyle the ready made formula-so now I cook with it. For example I will give him scrambled eggs but add Similac instead of milk to the eggs. Pancakes, I add pureed fruit like banana so I know he is getting some nutrients in his breakfast. Those are just a few examples. I try to give him at least 1 fruit and vegetable a day. I think overall he is getting a well balanced diet. It is just not as easy as everyone thinks it is to find foods that are easy for a baby with only 2 lower teeth to eat. I recently bought Jessica Seinfelds book Deceptively Delicious and will try some of those recipes for him.

On 2/17 10 months to the day he started walking..WALKING!

My little man =)

Labor and Delivery

OK Labor. I will be honest, it was not as bad as I had imagined it would be. In fact I was one of those women who thought I can do this...DRUG FREE, I am strong! I wasn't strong...I was dumb!

So once we got up to the hospital we were immediately admitted. I was given "the gown" to change into- which on a side note, why is it called a gown? When I hear gown I think Cinderella, a ball, my wedding dress, not this pajama thing that you feel awkward in...Anyway, I changed into the gown and in the bed I went. I was not able to walk around and what not because my water had already broken, and to reduce infection you stay in your room. I was allowed to move around in my room when I had to, but only when I had to. FYI this may be graphic for some, but here is a little something I did not know that I would have loved to have known before labor: after your water breaks, you are not done...I thought OK your water breaks once rushes out and that's it for the water...nope it just keeps coming your body keeps producing the needed water.

Contractions were HARD I had front and back labor and to be honest back labor was a lot more uncomfortable. My contractions did not go in waves like they are supposed to. My stayed in full tetny. To better describe, when you have a contraction it looks like a wave it goes up, peaks and comes back down. For 19 hours mine were only in the peak position. I was given pitosin in high doses to try and break up the contraction. The nurses would come in and lower it to try and give me a break, the doctor would come in and boost it back up to break up the contraction. 19hours later a nurse came in and said "that's it..we are getting you the drugs". I told her "I'm OK". She said "hunny, get the drugs"..Needless to say I got the drugs.

The epidural was one of the most relaxing, relieving, orgasmic experiences in my life. For the first time in 5 1/2 months I was PAIN FREE. Don't be a hero ladies GET THE DRUGS

So 7pm rolls around and the doc. starts talking to me about having to have a c-section. I have not dilated at all! "He said I will let you go as long as we can"...because I got up to the hospital so fast I had antibiotics through an IV less than 1 hour after my water broke reducing the risk of infection to both me and Kyle. I did not have a fever, and though ideally babies are out within 18 hours after the water breaks there were no major concerns with me...well 15 minutes later my temperature went from 99.3 to 104.5 so I was rushed in for a c-section and terrified. I came through it OK and had my SON..I was a MOMMY! Kyle was born 4/17/08 at 8:06pm. He weighted 9lbs 13oz. and was 22 1/2 inches long. Can you believe a nearly 2ft person can fit inside the human body?!?!? CRAZY!

Its official we were a family. My husband and partner was now a Daddy. He took to Kyle right away. He never left his side..not even to be circumcised! In the hospital Jay changed every diaper..it was amazing to see this man who would not even hold a baby become a loving, caring, nurturing father. I feel blessed to have been able to see this moment in his life.

The Beginning of the End

Thanks to our friends and family we were more than prepared to meet our baby boy. Our entire registry was fulfilled and then some. In fact to this day I have not had to purchase a diaper, wipe, or bathing supply. We are so blessed! Below you can see the beginning stages of Kyle's room. Daddy INSISTED on a sports theme and after MONTHS of looking we agreed on this one =)

So we were READY for baby. His room was decorated, the house was super clean (thanks to my CRAZY cleaning) , the car was packed with everything we would need for the hospital from clothes to snacks and I was READY to ride solo in this body! Kyle was so active, and he was on my nerves..LITERALLY from month 4 1/2 on I could not walk. That pregnancy was rough. I had heart burn and indigestion daily, suffered insomnia from the second he was conceived and was basically forced to be sedentary; but it was ALL worth it!

On April 16,2008 I had my 39 1/2 week Dr.'s appointment. It was just a matter of time. I could go any second, literally..then came the news. "No progress Karen, looks like you will go another week at least." I was devastated! What do you mean NO progress?!?!? I am bigger than Texas. I am STRETCHED more than the human body should be able to stretch. I can not walk, I have not slept, get t his baby OUT OF ME!


Jay had to head up to a car dealership to finish up a few things, I was so sad I did not want to be alone so I went with him. After about 10 minutes I thought I have not eaten a thing all day I should get a granola bar out of the back. I stood up, opened the back door and I was SOAKED. What the hell just happened? I was in shock. In fact I think I actually got back in the car and ate that darn granola bar. I came to a few minutes later and thought is this happening to me? It can not be happening to me. We just had our birthing classes 2 weeks prior. The nurse explained that only 15% of labors start with the water breaking, and of those 15% only 3% happen like in the movies...water everywhere. Of course I would be in the 3%.

Where the hell was Jay? Now I am in a full out panic. I can't go inside to get him I am drenched. As I opened the passenger side door to go to the drivers side..(I thought if I drove to the front of the dealership by some miracle Jase would see me) there he was. I looked at him and said "Jay is my bum wet?" He looked at me and said "you are soaked kid" and off we went to the hospital.

Baby makes 3

August of 2007 I found out I was pregnant. I just did not feel right, I had heartburn and indigestion, insomnia..everyone would jokingly say "Maybe you are pregnant" so, to ease my stress I took a pregnancy test, well in 2 days I actually took 11 pregnancy tests. I just could not believe it. I called my best friend Brandi first, I screamed:"the plus sign means positively not pregnant..right??" I was so scared! When I told Jay he was very excited and then we didn't really talk for a few days..LOL.

September 16,2007 we had our entire family over. We had laid new flooring in the basement and thought it would be nice to have a big family dinner so everyone could see it. We ordered in chinese food..there was a ton of it, but you have to understand just our immediate family- parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters is 22 people! Everyone enjoyed their meals, and I told Jay "oh here, throw out the fortune cookies on the table so we can all read our fortunes". He put them on the table and NO ONE was opening them....Then, I heard around the corner in the living room the crinkling crunchy sound the package makes when you open the fortune cookie. I heard another and another, but NO REACTIONS! My sisters started handing me everyone plates and there were the cookie packages and even a few fortunes laying on the plate. I was HEARTBROKEN...was no one happy???

Then my sister Stacey turned to me and said "Karen, I don't know where you got this chinese food but all the fortune cookies say the same thing." I looked at her and said "I know..READ IT!" The fortune read "This is a fortune from us to you, to let you know it is definitely true. We don't know if it will be pink or blue but in a few months a baby is due!" FINALLY they all got it and everyone was so excited =)

In the Beginning...a small look at history

Jason and I met in 1994 when we began high school. We were in the same homeroom. I was enchanted by him one day when we were doing the "Pledge of Allegiance". I turned around and there was this cute guy, the only one in the room who took his baseball cap off. He smiled my way and like an arrow to my heart I just knew he was the one! August 3,1995 at 11:03pm he asked me to be his girlfriend over the phone....and so it began =)

To say we had a drama filled relationship would be putting it mildly. All I can say is even in high school I knew one day he would be an incredible man. For those who couldn't understand why I stood by him, all I can say is: I didn't understand either. I just could not give up on him. I could not move him out of my heart. Though my heart took its fair share of hurt and pain, it has always pointed me in the right direction. Even though it was hard and even lonely at times.

In college we dated on and off. I even transferred to UMass Amherst to be closer to him, but it did not work out. When I was offered a scholarship and great internship/travel opportunities back at Southern I went for it! We lost touch..or I should say I did my best to move on and forget him for 2 years. I think it was the summer of 2003; I was an athletic training intern for the Detroit Tigers, and about to start my MBA at Webber International, and travel with their football team so I was allowed 1 week off between baseball games and 2 a days of football. I came home and spoke with Christina (Jay's cousin) on the phone. She begged me to call Jase, and curious I somehow gave in. I knew he was playing in a baseball game so I figured it would be safe to call..no way he would answer his phone at a game. So imagine my shock and nausea as he did answer! That night we met up...I know, I tried to say no but I COULDN'T. We took off to Hampton Beach and had this amazing week together. I told him if he wanted me back he would have to prove it. For the next 6 months he flew down to Florida nearly every weekend to be with me. Unfortunately for him athletic training came first. So when he came to visit we usually had about 3 hours of alone time the entire weekend because I had to work. He was amazing. In December of 2004 I moved back to Massachusetts.

August 3, 2005 Jay proposed. It was our "10 year" anniversary..I know I know we had our on and offs but the truth is we always stayed in each others hearts. He took me to Vinny T's on Rte 9 and proposed there. It was VERY romantic because for our 1 year anniversary (August 1996-we did not have our license) together Jay stole a car from his parents and brought me there for dinner.

For Christmas 2005 Jason bought me a house. Yup! That's right- I told you I knew he was going to be an amazing man. I was SURPRISED and a lot confused when I opened a birdhouse. Inside the house was a picture of OUR NEW HOME! We painted and moved in January. August 5, 2006 surrounded by over 300 of our friends and family we were married. My parents gave us a beautiful dream wedding, and now we are The DeVincents =)