Curran is One!

Its been a whole year since our special Curran joined our family! 

Unfortunately he was super duper sick on his actual birthday (and our anniversary. Someday we'll have a normal anniversary...) so we waited a few days to celebrate his birthday until he was feeling better. After all, having one's first birthday cake (or in his case, cupcake) is an important event! Plus we had already gone to the zoo and his first baseball game in the weeks before as part of his birthday + our anniversary celebration, so we decided to do this last activity at our own pace.

Daddy helped Curran blow out his candle

We ordered some cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake for Mother's Day and our anniversary, so Curran got to have an extra special cupcake for his birthday. The significance may be lost on him, but we're still glad he got to have a taste of something important to us and our time in Virginia. Curran also really likes to give Joey tastes of his food. He never shares with me, but he and Daddy are buds when its meal time.

Yeah. This is how most of his cupcake smash went. It reminded me of all the times my mom tried to have a special moment or photo as a family and someone was mad or another was crying while a third refused to smile. And suddenly I felt my life had come full circle as I now just wanted one darn happy cupcake smash for his first birthday. So, sorry for all the moments us kids ruined, mom!  

Once he finally stopped crying and actually gave the cupcake a taste he was actually rather pleased, even more so to rub that yellow frosting all over his tray. 

And there's our happy boy!

Oh my dear Curran, we're so glad you're part of this family! Being your parents has been really, really hard, but so amazing. Watching you grow and discover new things is the most rewarding part of my day. I never thought I'd cheer and sing "Go Curran, Go Curran!" while a person ate a blackberry. But helping you overcome the challenges you face fills my heart with so much love for your little self. You make us laugh with your silly smiles and the way you dance and the way you chase the pets as you giggle. You're a strong, brave little boy and we can't wait to see the man you grow up to be. Your name means hero, and you are certainly that to us. 

Here's to a second year full of even more fun and exploring, bugaboo!

Birthday Trip to the Zoo

I've recently realized that a kid's first birthday is great because its a perfect excuse to do fun stuff you normally like to do--in our case, a trip to the zoo. Its also great because it means that when the bookstore's kids club sends your baby a coupon for a free birthday cookie, you actually get a free cookie (I mean, he can't eat it anyways). And really, shouldn't all of the celebration for a child's first birthday really be for you, the parents, for actually managing to keep him alive for a whole year? That first year is no joke. We are survivors! And we will eat our son's free birthday cookie without shame. 

But right, back to the zoo---

Yes, so we figured that with how much Curran loves Remy and Marley as well as watching the seagulls flying along with the ferry, he would surely enjoy a trip to the zoo, and we would too. Because the weather was supposed to be gloomy his actual birthday weekend, we decided to go the week before--which actually worked out great because my ticket was half off for Mother's Day and Curran ended up being horribly sick the weekend of his birthday anyway. So it was a perfect day for a family outing in every way.

As soon as we got to the zoo we were greeted by this flashy peacock. Curran was definitely interested in him and kept saying "ahooooo, ahooooo" while he watched the bird turn and caw. Being the quiet observer he is, he calmly took in the sights and sounds, enjoying things in his own way.

He really took a liking to the aquariums and watching the fish and sharks swim about.

He wasn't quite big enough to reach the sting rays and little sharks, but he did pet a star fish!

This was so great! Elephants are one of my favorite so I was very excited when one walked right up to the edge and we were able to get an awesome look.

This picture of Curran sticking his tongue out while walking makes me laugh because my dad does it when he's working on or figuring out something, and my dance teacher used to tell me I did it too when I was trying to get a difficult step. Looks like Curran might be a Conrad tongue thinker too.

Once we stopped for a little break Curran made a bee line for the snacks. The man knows what he likes! And its so nice that he's finally wanting to really eat food now, though we have a long way to go (but more on that another time).

After a snack break we went to the amphitheater to watch the Indiana Bones show and see more gorgeous animals. The show had lots of audience participation which always took Curran by surprise and of course upset him, but once he got used to it he was fine. And he was so enthralled, he sat still for the whole show---I don't think that's ever happened! Now if only he would do that in church....

Happy boy! He's starting to really enjoy dancing and grooving to music.

Though a little hazy, we had a lovely view of Mt. Rainier while at the zoo. Seeing it never gets old!

We don't normally buy souvenirs from places like zoos or amusement parks but we thought we'd get Curran a special red wolf stuffed animal for his birthday and his first trip to the zoo. He enjoys petting him and carrying him around by the paw throughout the day.
We had such a lovely day with Curran and can't wait for future zoo trips as he gets older. Its a little thing, but I'm excited to see what animal becomes his favorite as he learns more about them. I love seeing who Curran is becoming and the things he's interested in. We love our bugaboo!

Golden Birthday Breakfast

Not only was yesterday Joey's birthday, but it was also his Golden Birthday! I always thought a Golden Birthday was a fun idea and a wonderful way to shower someone with a little extra birthday love, so I was very excited to add some oomph to Joey's 25th. 

  Since his birthday fell on a Sunday and we had church in the afternoon I decided to make Joey a golden birthday breakfast. The weeks before, I spent Curran's naps making gold and glitter birthday signs and a tissue paper garland, stashing supplies in various forgotten corners around the house, and the week of his birthday I blew up a couple dozen balloons, strung them on some yarn and hid them in our spare bathroom with a sign forbidding Joey from entering. Then the morning of his birthday I snuck down stairs after feeding Curran his 5:30am bottle to hang the decorations and fix up Joey's special breakfast.

  As I planned his birthday surprise I looked for anything gold to use, including gold cupcake liners for mini mushroom and spinach quiches. I also decided that since a golden birthday only happens once in a lifetime, it was ok if we had some treats for breakfast, like gold-wrapped candies (25 of each, of course), golden cream soda, and donuts jazzed up with gold food paint. 

[More on that blue piano later!]

Curran loved looking at the sparkly decorations and playing with the balloons, and I loved surprising the greatest guy I know. Ya only get one Golden Birthday and I'm so glad I got to celebrate it with Joey and give him a special, gold and glitter filled day. Hooray for Golden Birthdays!

Happy Birthday, Joey!

HIP HIP HOORAY

ITS JOEY'S BIRTHDAY!

One of my favorite days of the year is here and I'm so excited to celebrate this guy today.

There is so much I could say about Joey, and I'm usually not shy about bragging on him round these parts, but if I could only say one thing, it would be this: Joey is truly a dream come true. He's kind, patient, quick to forgive. He encourages me when I'm not feeling very capable of cooking, parenting, painting, sewing, managing a home, and generally staying on top of life. He tries his hardest and never does things half way. He loves me even when I know I'm being difficult to love. He adores Curran and is a natural with him. He makes me laugh harder than I thought possible. He thinks the best of me. He's smart and intuitive. He helps me be a better person.

In short, he's everything I could've hoped for. I have these moments sometimes when I look around and realize so much of my life is exactly as I hoped it would be, from big things like the family I have and having the gospel in our home, to seemingly insignificant but enjoyable details like having a spouse who will try the different foods I want to cook or go on weekend road trips. And it really has all happened because I met him. I don't believe everyone has a soulmate, as in we're assigned to certain people. But I do believe that people become our soulmates, and that's exactly who Joey has become. I could be happy in a multitude of situations and life courses, but I know that the life I have with him is the greatest happiness I've felt, and I love it, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

So today, my darling, I'm so glad that you were born and have become the person you are. 

Happy 25th birthday Joey, and here's to another 25.

Hi, I'm Curran // The Birth Story

 Curran Joseph Fleshman

17 May 2014 | 5:29am

6 lbs 1 oz | 19 inches

Bremerton, WA

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In the weeks prior to Curran's birth, I had this grand idea that I would get this post done and officially  introduce Curran while in the hospital after he was born. Everyone swore I'd have so much down time to fill so I might as well get it done then, right? Oh, what a silly girl I was. One month later and I'm finally here to write down his birth story.

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I was already scheduled for an induction on Friday May 23rd at 39 weeks because of my preeclampsia, but things ended up moving a bit more quickly when I went in for one of my twice weekly monitoring appointments on Thursday, May 15th and my blood pressure was higher than it had been in a couple weeks. I had a little headache at the appointment as well, but since there was no immediate cause for concern, they sent me home with the usual instructions for coming in to Labor & Delivery for headaches that don't go away, drastic swelling, etc.

That afternoon my headache quickly got worse. I tried the max dose of tylenol--no relief. An hour later I tried lortab, and still nothing. I called L&D for their recommendation and we decided I would stay home for the night, go to bed early, and see if perhaps some sleep would help the headache go away. 

Off to bed I went, but every time I woke up in the middle of the night my head was still pounding. Around 6am on Friday I called L&D again to follow up, and given my high blood pressure the day before and my persistent headache, I was told to eat a big breakfast and then come in, and it was likely we wouldn't be leaving for a while. Joey and I had a feeling I had made it as long as I could with the preeclampsia and that this was it, so we went ahead and gathered the last couple items for our hospital bags, made sure the pets were fed, and headed to the hospital. 

Once at L&D we started the usual routine for my headaches with blood draws, IV fluids, lots of questions, and contraction and fetal monitoring. My blood pressure was also taken every few minutes, and despite trying to relax, was hovering around 150/108. Not good. I was then given phenergan and IV tylenol to try to get my headache to go away, but even after a couple doses of both my headache hadn't changed. We talked with the doctor and weighed the situation and we all decided it would be best to go ahead and admit me and start an induction. We were definitely having this baby! Right before I left triage to be admitted the baby's heart rate suddenly dropped so all of a sudden I had nurses hovering over me and I was put on oxygen for a few minutes until his heart rate bounced back.

Around 11am I got settled in to my birthing suite and started a dose of cytotec to ripen my cervix since I was only 1 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced at the time. Joey and I ate lunch and then he went back to the house to get Remy and take her to the family that was going to watch her while we were at the hospital (thanks, Monroe family!). He got back around 4pm and thats when things started to pick up a bit. Because I still had a headache despite trying several medications to fix it, plus the blood pressure, his small size, and a handful of other symptoms, I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia, which meant that I'd have to be on magnesium sulfate for the rest of labor plus 24 hours after giving birth. Magnesium sulfate works by inhibiting the central nervous system in an attempt to prevent potentially fatal seizures while giving birth. And because it inhibits the CNS, from that point on I wasn't allowed to get out of bed and I wasn't allowed to drink much of anything either. So not only was I bed ridden and couldn't drink anything, the dose of magnesium sulfate was so large that it made me feel panicky and like I had the flu. It really was miserable.

At the same time I started the magnesium sulfate I was also given pitocin to induce labor as well as antibiotics because I was Groub B positive--I'm telling' ya, between the magnesium, antibiotics, pitocin, IV fluids, and tylenol, there were tubes everywhere. I even had two hep-locks for it all.

I don't remember too much about the rest of the afternoon and evening; I'm not even sure what time the contractions really started--I think for quite a while I was more focused on how much my tailbone hurt and the fact that I couldn't get out of bed and stretch. But I do know that around 8:30pm the contractions were really rollin'.

Now up to this point, I had planned to give birth without an epidural. I had prepared ahead of time to do so and had several coping strategies ready to use. Joey had prepared to help me achieve this goal and we even had a secret word so he would know if I truly couldn't do it, without anyone pressuring me for pain relief. And once I learned I was going to have an induction I still thought I could get through it with my coping methods. However I wasn't anticipating the magnesium sulfate. Just about every method I had planned to use was conditional upon being able to move around and get out of bed, which I no longer was allowed to do. I tried to hold out but the back labor was so intense and I felt so stuck, not being able to get out of bed, and I just couldn't cope. Around 9:30pm I ended up getting an epidural. It wasn't my ideal, but I think overall it ended up being the best option for me (and the best option is different for every woman). Before the pain had even faded, my blood pressure rapidly fell through the floor and baby's heart rate dropped again. I think more than that happened too but I felt so weak and out of it I wasn't really sure what was going on. Suddenly I had about four doctors and just as many nurses in my room watching me, on guard if things didn't turn around. An oxygen mask was put around my head for the rest of my labor and after a little while we both perked back up and I was able to relax and get some sleep in between the nurse rotating me every half hour.

We think my water broke some time in the middle of the night and by 4am Saturday I was fully dilated and ready to go. Around 4:40 I started pushing and things were going really well. I could still feel pressure and could feel when I had a contraction and was overall feeling pretty good about the experience. Then all of a sudden the doctor said in a somewhat hurried, stressed voice "we've gotta get him out now". More doctors and nurses rushed in once again and they explained to me that his heart rate fell again and wasn't coming back up and I would need an episiotomy so we could get him out (and I'm confident I could've done it without the episiotomy if I had the time and he wasn't struggling so much). So after about 50 minutes of pushing, Curran arrived. His cord was wrapped around his neck and body and he was purple and silent. They showed him to me for a second before quickly cutting the cord and rushing him away to the other side of the room to make sure he was ok. I remember feeling worried and scared for a split second but just as quickly I felt a sense of peace and calm and knew he was going to be just fine. Joey was able to go over and see him while I was stitched up. Luckily it didn't take long for Curran to make a speedy turn around and before I knew it he was on my chest, staring up at me.

When I created my birth preferences I wrote that I understood that things don't always go as planned and my requests were made under the assumption that there would be a lack of high risk or emergency situations. This was the attitude I had during my pregnancy and I'm glad I did because it made it a lot easier to go with the flow when things didn't go the way I would've hoped. From intermittent monitoring to no routine IV fluids, delayed cord clamping to immediate skin to skin contact---virtually nothing from my birth preferences made it in to my birth experience. But it actually was ok. I felt I was treated with respect and I had a couple great nurses that had my back the whole time and made sure I didn't have to go through any more interventions or procedures than was necessary. Overall we were very happy with our experience.

In the weeks prior to May 17th, Joey and I were having a hard time making any concrete plans to celebrate our two year anniversary, and it looks like it turned out for the best. Sure, Curran totally crashed our anniversary by coming two weeks early, but we couldn't be happier. I mean, what better way to celebrate the love we have for each other and the eternal family we created two years ago than by welcoming a handsome little boy that we made together into that family? 

We're so, so glad that our beautiful baby is finally here!

There's a Birthday Boy Over Here.

And its Joey!

Joey's working nights this week, so I planned a little surprise with some streamers, balloons, and a touch of something sweet for when he got home from work this morning.

 Remy also got in on the birthday fun and was extra excited when Joey came home!

 She even donned a party hat to celebrate with the birthday boy! And she actually didn't totally hate it….

 Marley on the other hand…..

(((this is her 'mom! help me!' face)))

And since this morning was technically Joey's evening, I made him a peanut butter pie to enjoy when he got home. Don't sprinkles just make everything more fun?

Birthday boy is sleeping right now, but once he wakes up I'll have a special dinner ready for him before he heads back to work. Once again, shift work makes regular celebrations a tad tricky, but we make it work--and it was so fun to stay up late last night to get things ready for Joey to come home to this morning. 

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This guy is the one person that makes me a total cheese-ball, so….

Joey Fleshman, you are just the greatest! I'm so glad I get to be your wife, because you make life so much more fun and amazing and all-around fantastic. You're so funny (I'm cracking up about the "Joey, smile!" incident right now), smart, kind, hardworking, generous, determined, selfless, thoughtful, and pretty darn cute too. I've loved every day with you--all 1,175 of them! And I can't wait for thousands more. I'm grateful for everything you do, from going with less sleep so we can have some extra time together after work, to picking things up for me when I have bad round ligament pain, to secretly doing the dishes because you know they're the bane of my existence. You work so hard to provide for our family and give us everything we need and much of what we want, and I appreciate it so much. You go above and beyond as a husband and you're totally going to kick butt as a dad. I'm really looking forward to raising a little boy that's just like you, right down to the curly hair and precocious yet gentle spunk. I'm honored to tackle the bad days with you and celebrate the good days with you too. Thank you for all you do and for the kind of person you are. I'm one lucky gal to be married to someone as special as you!

Happy birthday, Joey!

Remy, Marley, Baby Bean, and I love you very very much!