Dianthe’s Blog

well, technically she is - but she’s a far cry (no pun intended) from the baby she was 3 months ago - it’s crazy that exactly 3 months ago today i brought a baby into this world - one day she was in my belly and the next day she was in my arms expecting me to take care of her every need - it’s hard to believe that she was ever inside me - she’s almost 3 inches longer and 5 pounds heavier than when she was born - and every day i’m amazed that she’s mine - being a mom is so freaking cool!

3 months old!!!

no more bobblehead - Sydney is holding her head up all on her own - she’s actually been doing it for about 2 1/2 weeks - but now she has full control and can turn her head to follow you - i guess it’s time to get the Bumbo chair so that she can learn to sit up - if i prop her up in the Boppy, she can sit up alone for about 3 seconds before she slumps over - and she smiles when she sees me - what a great feeling that is!! she’s laughing now - it’s the funniest thing - and she can reach for her paci now - sometimes she can push it back in her mouth if it starts to fall out but if it completely falls out, it’s over - she still hasn’t figured out how to put it in her mouth

i think we’re finally making some headway on the sleep thing - I’M not getting any sleep, but Sydney is on something that closely resembles a schedule, so i guess we’ll go with it - i decided to just ignore about 90% of everything that i’ve read and everything i’ve been told and just trust my instincts and follow Sydney’s cues - and what do you know - it actually worked - Sydney’s been sleeping in 6-8 hour stretches for at least a month - sometimes she’ll take a quick feeding in there, but if she does it’s more of a comfort feed and she goes back to sleep almost immediately - anyway, the problem has been what time she goes to sleep - it’s usually somewhere close to midnight which is great for Kelley and the nanny - because she usually sleeps til 7 or 8am - it sucks for me because i have to get up at 3am - and Starbucks isn’t open at 4am when i leave for the studio - ugh! and what’s worse, she is not a great napper - we might get a 2-3 nap from her twice a week, but for the most part, she’s a power napper - she gets that from me - in fact - all of her sleeping habits she gets from me - she is a night person, she needs very little sleep to function and when she is really sleepy, she is GRUMPY!!! she’s like mini-me! the other night, she went to sleep early (10:30pm) and then woke up at 5:30am - poor Kelley - he’s one of those people that needs 8 hours a night - sucks to be him!! oh yeah, did i mention she’s still sleeping with us? whatev …

this is what she looks like EVERY time we take a bath - she’s just not that into it …

a couple of people have asked how the cloth diapering is going - fantastically - Sydney has outgrown her newborn diapers (Kissaluv Size 0s) and we have graduated to the pocket diaper - i have BumGenius’, Swaddlebees and Blueberrys - most of them are solid colors and i have a couple of cute prints - and i’ve discovered the greatness of MINKY!!! how freaking cute are minky diapers? i have more than enough diapers now, so now i’m buying diapers cause they’re so dang cute - pink diapers, purple diapers, diapers with cute prints - having a girl is so much fun!!

how cute is this diaper???

so i’m in the middle of my 3rd week back to work and i won’t lie - it’s been tough - not the actual working - but getting back into a regular schedule - that’s why i’ve been slacking on updating my blog - i used to write it during the show - but now i’m writing the show blog during the show - and once i get home, well i’m otherwise occupied - Sydney is getting better about being alone (she even lays on her back sometimes now) but it’s not for any extended length of time - so i’m still holding her a lot - and she’s picky about the sling - sometimes she loves it, sometimes she’s like “this sucks!!”- she really likes to stand - and of course she can’t really stand, so we spend a lot of time with me holding her in the standing position - i’m telling you, this kid is gonna be running in no time!!! anyway, i’m trying to get back into the swing of things - and because i don’t have nearly enough things on my plate - i’m going to start yet another blog - it won’t be related to the show - it’ll just be about being a mom - part of it is so that i can have a record of all things Sydney - the other part is that somewhere down the line, i’m thinking of writing a book - ambitious, i know - but what the hell - there are worse things than saying, “once i tried to write a book”!

this is usually where Sydney is while i’m attempting to write my blog

last minute addition to my life - Kelley is sad because Mariah Carey married Nick Cannon - i’ve been calling him Sad - Sad Dad - and because Sydney is her mother’s daughter - every time i say “Dad is sad - he’s Sad Dad”, she laughs - having a girl rocks!!! i love having someone on my side!

ok - this story is for MissMandi in the chatroom - i love to talk about punching people in the face - it’s random and i’ve yet to actually punch anyone in the face - but just thinking about it makes me feel better - so my BFF Angie is the go-to chick in her office - not just in her office, but in other offices in her company across the country - and her phone rings all day long with people asking her questions, important and asinine - well one day she was really, really busy and this guy in her office was bugging the crap out of her with stupid questions - and the conversation goes like this:

Mitchell: “Angie, can you …”

Angie: “Mitchell, i’m really busy and i don’t have time to help you”

Mitchell: “i just have a real quick question”

Angie: “Mitchell - i’m going to let you ask your question - and if your question doesn’t have anything to do with me, i’m gonna punch you in the face”

so Mitchell asked the question

Angie looked at him and said, “you’d better start running”

and so, my favorite phrase was born!

the morning came quickly - i now have a new position with the show (which i’ll get to later) and i have to be at the studio at 4:30am instead of 5:30 - this requires me to get up around 3am - so of course Sydney would pick last night as the perfect time to not go to bed until 1:30am - did i mention that she went to bed the night before at 10:30pm? straight rotten - and she is all mine!!

so, in case you missed the first break of the show, i’m no longer on the phones - i have a new bigger and better gig - there’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff that i’ll be working on - but the big thing is that i’ll be writing a daily blog/synopsis of the show - so if you missed something on the show, you can refer to the synopsis to see what you missed - and then of course catch it on the K-Pod - i’ll also be moderating a chat room that will be just about the show - and as i write the blog, i’ll incorporate the listener comments from the chat room - it’s a big change for me and a chance to expand my writing skills, so i’m super excited about it!!

you can just call me Elsie - cause i am producing milk like a big old cow - now don’t get me wrong - i’m not complaining - i know that i’m really fortunate to be able to produce so much milk, especially when i know a lot of women aren’t - but so far today, i have pumped 18 ounces - that doesn’t even include the 3 or 4 times i’ve actually nursed Sydney since i got home - even when i’ve had a beer or eaten oatmeal, i’ve never pumped that much - how crazy is that??  oh, and just an fyi to those who are or will be breastfeeding - this is the greatest website ever - kellymom.com - you will find the answer to every breastfeeding question you’ve ever had!!  oh, and someone asked me about breast pumps - i have the Medela PISA and i LOVE it - it has a battery pack so you can travel with it - and it has bottles and an ice pack so you can pump on the go - up to 20 ounces!  and if you’re freezing milk, get the Lansinoh bags - you can freeze them flat and it takes up a lot less room in your freezer!

i have become a cloth diaper freak!!  i love them - i’m really trying not to spend too much money on diapers because part of the appeal is that it’s cheaper than disposables - but there are so many cute ones out there - we started off with Kissaluvs Size 0s - while these are cute diapers - you have to put a cover on them - and they are great newborn diapers because they contain BF poo like no other - we haven’t had any blowouts!! but now that Sydney is getting bigger, she can fit into the really cute diapers - i started building my diaper stash before Sydney was born and since i was sure that Spike was going to be a boy - i didn’t buy any girly diapers - girls can get away with wearing boy colors, but it doesn’t work as well the opposite way - so now, i’m all about the girly diaper!  so far, i have Bum Genius, Swaddlebees and Blueberrys - i ordered some new girly prints of the Blueberry’s over the weekend and they should be here on Thursday - i can’t wait to take pictures of Sydney in them!!  so freaking cute!!  and so easy - i just throw them in the washer and dryer and bam - new diapers - and did you know that the sun will bleach away poop stains??  it’s like magic!!

ok - as promised - new pictures of Sydney

she’s discovered her hands!!!

Sydney in her sling

and it’s back to the grind - though it’s not really fair to call it the grind since i love my job - and as much as i love my baby girl and i miss her like crazy when i’m away from her - i miss the real world - it’s been tough for me because we have no semblance of a schedule - and i’m a girl who likes order and routine - so i’ve missed the news a lot - and while i’ve tried to keep up with my love of celebrity gossip - i just don’t have the time to read all my usual websites - i have to depend on the headlines from my MSN homepage - and the entertainment news segment from my local midday news - of course that’s if i was able to catch the midday news - i’ve also been eating like crap - and since i’m breastfeeding, that’s no bueno - i haven’t been eating enough because my appetite is pretty much gone - i went from eating breakfast every day to not getting a chance to eat until 2 or 3pm - and by that time, i’m either too tired to eat or nothing sounds good - and since i’m not taking in enough calories, my body is retaining all of my fat instead of shedding it - those people who say breastfeeding melts away the pounds - they LIE!!!  i dropped 25 pounds pretty quickly after i had Sydney and then i stalled - so i decided to join Weight Watchers - i signed up online but i was too tired/busy to get to a meeting - so for 3 weeks, i stayed at the same weight - then the one week i decided to have ice cream every day, i lost 5 pounds!!!  see, you do have to eat to lose weight!  anyway, after 2 weeks officially on WW (meaning i’m attending meetings), i’m down another 4.4 pounds - and since i’m having trouble eating all of my points every day (you get a ton of extra points for nursing), i’m pretty excited about the weight loss - after going into delivery at 206 pounds (YIKES!!!), i am currently at 165.2!!  not bad for 10 weeks - i’m 15 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight - 30 pounds away from my wedding day weight and 40 pounds from my ultimate goal weight - what i weighed when i met Kelley!!!  and i am determined to get back to that weight - Kelley’s not too enthused about me being that thin again - but since i’m not losing the weight for him, i’m not that concerned what he thinks - after all, it didn’t stop him from asking me out!!  anyway, i’m sure there will be no shortage of food at the KKITM studios, so once i get back into the swing of things, i’ll be meeting those point totals in no time - and using Flex Points too!

i had my first post-Sydney wedding this weekend and it went fairly well - the wedding part was great but i was away from Sydney all day long - i left home about 2:30pm and the reception wasn’t over until 11pm - that’s a long time to go without nursing - have you ever tried to find time to pump in the middle of a wedding reception?  thank God for my assistant!!  it was almost midnight by the time i got home - and just my luck - it’s the one night Sydney decides to go to sleep at a decent hour - plus, she’s going through a growth spurt - so she slept until 5 or 6am - so needless to say, i pumped a pretty good amount yesterday - with what i’ve built up so far, we’re going to need an additional freezer soon!!

so, i go back to work on the show tomorrow - i’ve already left Sydney for long periods of time, so i’m not too freaked out about that - but this will be the first time i’ve left her with anyone but my mom - we’ve hired someone to come stay with Sydney and i completely trust her - she’s great with Sydney and Sydney seems to like her - but it’s still hard to leave your baby - fortunately, when i leave for work, she’ll be here with Kelley - so that makes it a little easier on me (plus i loaded my iPod with pictures of her - i’m SO a mom!!) - but unfortunately, Monday is our long day - and i probably won’t be home until 1 or 2pm - it’s going to be a VERY long day …

or at least it should be, according to one of my girlfriends - and after this last week, i think she may be right …

so because i’m clearly the worst mom in the world, Sydney is still not sleeping in her crib - we try every night but it never lasts for more than 45 minutes - then she’s up and we can’t get her back down - most nights she wakes up within 5-10 minutes of us laying her down no matter where it is - and because i don’t think she’s old enough to cry-it-out yet, we usually start her off in the swing and she falls asleep and stays there until she’s ready to eat - then i put her in bed with me, nurse her sidelying and we both sleep until morning - yes, i’m ruining my child and she’ll probably sleep with us until she’s 10 (NOT!!!) - whatever, i’m over it and it’s not the point of the story

so sometimes Sydney naps in the swing and Thursday was one of those days - she had fallen asleep in my arms 3 different times and every time i put her down, she woke up - so i decided it was swing time - now in the midst of all of this, the painter is here finishing up the outside of the house, it’s becoming increasingly hot (because i’m STILL getting hot flashes) and i just remembered that i have to call DirecTv because the living room tv isn’t working - so i put Sydney in the swing and because i know she’ll be asleep soon, i call DirecTv and head to the living room - after a few minutes i come back to check on her and the swing is barely moving - so i turn it off and back on again, give it a little push and head back into the living room - by this time i’ve finally gotten a real person on the phone - so i’m dealing with the tv and the painter is yelling random info to me - while i’m waiting for the tv receiver to power back up (and meanwhile i’m about to spontaneously combust) i come back to check on Sydney - the swing is still barely moving so i take a closer look - i can hear the motor spinning at it’s regular speed but it’s like something inside isn’t catching - i know it’s not the batteries because i had just replaced them a few days earlier - so me being the genius that i am, decide that maybe i can fix it - so i go get the bouncy chair and bring it in to the bedroom so Sydney can sit in it while i “fix” the swing - i grab the screwdriver and open the motor case and realize i have no idea what the hell i’m doing - no big deal, i’ll just close it back up, right? right … um, yeah - that’s exactly how it went - maybe i’ve mentioned this before, but Sydney hates the bouncy chair - and the entire time i’ve been messing with the swing, she’s been becoming more and more agitated - of course, i’m trying to soothe her with my standard “it’s okay Sydney - mommy just needs a few more minutes” - i swear those will be her first words - i’ll look up one day and she’ll bust out with “just a few more minutes” - anyway, i’m trying to get the swing back together, Sydney is getting fussier and the DirecTv rep wants to be all chatty Cathy telling me that he and his wife have a dog because they’re not ready for kids - thanks for the info dude!!

so i finally get the tv working and i’m still messing with the swing - but by this time, Sydney is D-O-N-E DONE with the bouncy chair - i’m now pleading with her to give mom a few minutes so that i can get the swing back together - but in true i’m-my-mother’s-daughter fashion, she’s not having it - she’s now screaming bloody murder and i still can’t get the swing together - so i rig it together temporarily and turn to get Sydney out of the bouncy chair - the minute i get ger unstrapped and pick her up, the swing comes crashing to the ground - i look over and see this …

yeah - good times!!  so now i have a screaming baby, a broken swing and all i can think is “how am i going to get her to go to sleep tonight?  and oh yeah - have  i mentioned that the swing doesn’t belong to us?  that’s right - the wonderful Mike and ReJana Krause LOANED us the swing - so now i have a broken swing that i HAVE to replace - so i plop Sydney in my lap and start calling every Babies R Us in the vicinity and no one has it - but one store tells me that Toys R Us carries that particular pattern - woo hoo!!  except i call Toys R Us and they don’t have it in stock - so i go to the Graco website - but even they don’t have it in stock - WHY GOD WHY?!?!  i get it, being a mom is hard - i don’t need proof - i believe you!!!  so finally i figure out that i can order a replacement part - and after spending 10 minutes trying to find the serial number on the broken swing, i finally get the part ordered - only to find out that “due to system upgrades”, the part won’t ship for 5 days - ugh.  it’s going to be a long weekend

UPDATE:  ok, so i’ve been a little busy - i actually started writing this blog almost 2 weeks ago - fortunately, the part shipped a few days early and the swing part arrived on a Tuesday - just in time for me to leave Sydney with Daddy while mom went out on an appointment - end result - the swing is a LIFESAVER!!!!

i think i’m over it - i was able to watch the entire episode uninterrupted (Kelley was in class and Sydney was asleep) and i was bored to tears - no one was stellar last night and most of the routines were boring - i felt bad for Marissa - last week they told her to reign in the energy a bit - this week she did and they told her she needed to turn it up - poor thing - i wanted to cry for her - Jason Taylor - still HOT - his dance was a little dull but who cares because he he is freaking HOT!!!  did you see his butt in those dance pants - very nice!  everyone else - don’t really care - if it’s not better next week - i think i’ll be jumping off the bandwagon - but i will be checking in to see Jason !!!

for 24 whole hours!!! a few weeks after Sydney was born, Kelley informed me that i needed to get a babysitter for an overnight trip on the 29th of March because we were going to Houston to see Chris Rock - after checking the calendar, i realized that my baby girl would only be 7 weeks old - are you serious? i’m supposed to leave my baby at 7 weeks?? now here’s the back story - before Kelley and i got married, we had several discussions about the importance of maintaining our marriage post children - and i have this fear of waking up 10 years from now and realizing that i no longer know my husband because i’ve been so wrapped up in our kids - so we made a deal that we would always make an effort to spend time together without children - i just didn’t realize it would be so soon! but i also know that Kelley plans the most awesome surprises ever - and i didn’t want to be Debbie Downer and say “no honey - i can’t leave Sydney” - so i had my anxiety attack silently and said ok - i called my mom and asked her to keep Sydney (because at this point, she’s still the only one i’ll leave Sydney with) and of course she was thrilled to have 24 uninterrupted hours with her granddaughter!! so it was a date

as it got closer, i started to freak out a little more - but i was looking forward to getting a full night’s sleep - it doesn’t matter how much sleep i get with Sydney, i’m still in a constant state of exhaustion - especially since she’s still sleeping with us (which i’ll get back to later) - but when i told Kelley that i was looking forward to the sleep, he said he had the whole evening planned and that maybe i should take Sydney to mom’s on Friday if i was expecting some good sleep - well that was out of the question - i was already leaving her for 24 hours - here was no way i was giving up another 12-15 hours with my baby girl - even for some good sleep!

so Saturday morning, i got up at the crack of dawn so i could get dressed before Sydney got up - it takes forever to get out of the house with a newborn - i tried to get as much done the night before as possible but there was still a ton left to do - i have been pumping a ton of milk so that she would have plenty to eat while she was with mom - but it’s hard to gauge how much she eats since i primarily nurse her rather than pumping and feeding from a bottle - i had almost 60 oz frozen - do you think that was overkill? anyway, i got up and got dressed - i fed her and then pumped so she’d have a bottle ready to go - decided that Sydney could go to Grandma’s in her pajamas (can you believe i was actually thinking about getting her dressed? duh!) and we were on her way - as Kelley loaded up the car (with enough supplies to keep Sydney set for the next week!), i teared up a little thinking how much i was going to miss her - i sat in the back with her so i could get in every last minute with her before handing her off to Grandma - but i did it!

so off to Houston - we stayed downtown at The Magnolia - loved it!! we got in around noon and Kelley had some things to “take care of” - so while he was gone, i called to check on my baby - mom said she was fine (of course) so i took a nap - we had dinner reservations before the Chris Rock show and Kelley surprised me at dinner by inviting his sister and her boyfriend and MY sister and her boyfriend - YAY!!! they both live in Houston (our sisters) but i didn’t think we’d have a chance to see them since we were flying in and out - so how excited was i to see them at dinner - after dinner we all headed over to see Chris Rock (who was HI-larious - completely offensive - but truthful - and HI-larious!!) - and then after Chris Rock, Kelley made reservations for us at a jazz club - it was such a great night - while we were hanging out, Kelley asked how long it had been since Stacie and I had hung out - um, years?? i’m not sure why but we just never hang out when she’s in town - the last time we went out was my bachelorette party - so it was cool to kick it with my sister - and i haven’t hung out in Houston in FOREVER - downtown Houston is cool!! anyway, we headed back to the hotel about 2am and i slept all the way til 7:30am with no interruptions - it was only 5 hours, but it was the best 5 hours of sleep i’ve had in almost a year!! we headed back home Sunday morning and my baby girl was back in my arms at noon - WOO HOO!!! it was a great trip and it was nice to get away and just be “dianthe and Kelley” for a while - but it was also nice to get back and be “mommy and daddy” again too!

in the meantime - being a mommy is hard - i mean i knew it would be - but it’s a different kind of hard - and no matter how much you know, it’s still never enough - finally, after 7 weeks - i can finally distinguish Sydney’s cries - i tried to listen like that Baby Whisperer chick on Oprah - but i could never figure out what she was talking about - none of Sydney’s cries ever sounded like what she said - but now i can tell exactly what she needs when she cries - i’m just thankful we haven’t had colic!! now don’t get me wrong - i’m super proud that i figured out the crying thing - but the sleeping thing - it’s a battle i don’t ever think i’ll win - her days and nights have finally evened out a little more - instead of going to bed at 4am, she’s going to bed around 11pm or 12am - and while it’s still not the ideal time, it’s at least more in line with my sleep patterns, so that’s a bonus - still no luck in getting her out of out bed though - so she does the first night time stint in the swing and then when she wakes up for her first feeding, i nurse her side lying in bed with me and that’s where she stays until it’s time to get up for the day - in my head, i keep thinking that i’ll nurse her and then put her in the bed or back in the swing - but by that point, i’m so tired - we both just fall asleep! and why is it that everyone else can put my baby to sleep but me? don’t get me wrong - she’ll fall asleep in my arms - and i love it - but when i lay her down, she wakes up immediately - when my mom or Kelley or anyone else lays her down, she usually stays asleep - i know that she knows me - she recognizes my voice and knows my scent - she may even know my face - but if she’s asleep, how can she know that I’M the one that’s putting her down - man this kid is spoiled rotten - and i have NO idea where she gets it from!! i hope i don’t sound like i’m complaining - i wouldn’t trade being a mom for the world - but that “get ready to never sleep again” thing is like the understatement of the century!!

so now that she’s getting older - she’s getting to be a lot of fun - the first few weeks, all they do is eat and sleep - but now she’s starting to be less dependent on me - sometimes when she wakes up, instead of crying she’ll just sit there and look around - until she gets bored and then she’ll cry!! and sometimes she’ll babble a little bit and then fall back asleep - how exciting is that? she’s also smiling a lot now - i never knew that i could spend hours trying to get my baby to smile - or that Kelley would take picture after picture trying to catch the smile! it’s the greatest thing though - she’ll look up at me and smile - it completely melts my heart - or when i kiss her and tell her how much i lover her or that she is the sweetest baby ever (in my AWESOME baby talk voice) and her face lights up and she gurgles and smiles - it is SO freaking cool!

so we got the official word today - my brother is having a girl!!! my sister-in-law is due in 3 weeks and all this time, they haven’t been able to confirm that it was a girl - they thought so but no confirmation - until today - i am so excited!!! it’s going to be all girls, all the time - they’re practically the same age - they’ll be able to share clothes and dress alike - how fun!! now they just have to find a girl name that begins with J - too bad Jane is already taken - ha ha!!!

Sydney’s First Smile - well at least the first one on film!!!

Sydney’s Easter Outfit - pretty fancy for her first Mass!!

Sydney and her Goddie - that’s the name Stacie aka The Godmother has given herself!! as hardcore as my sister is, i should spell it Gotti!

Steve Guttenberg - i didn’t think he id as poorly as the judges did - it did look like he was off a lot though - especially at the beginning - but it was a fun routine - and he’s such a good guy and has such a positive attitude - you can’t help but like him

Christian de la Fuente - pretty good!  i think he’s one of those that will get better week by week - i still don’t like his attitude though

Monica Seles - um … hmmm … not pretty good - she’s very stiff - she reminds me of those kids shows where they make a robot and then try to teach it to dance - she knows the steps but has problems with the execution

Penn  Jillette - poor Penn - he’s really, really, really fun (yes, 3 reallys) - he’s like the jolly magic giant - he’s huge but lovable - obviously he has huge feet - but what can he do about that?  i mean, it can’t be easy to dance on your tip toes when you weigh 300 pounds!  i thought he’s be the first to go but i think the fans will keep him around for a while

Priscilla Presley - see, last week i only talked about her hair because i didn’t want to get yelled at for being too mean to Priscilla - but since y’all brought it up … what is going on with her face??  i will never understand why people who have money cannot afford GOOD plastic surgery - she’s a mix between “Botox Gone Bad” and “The Incredible Melting Face” - YIKES!!!  but on to the dancing - she’s got the footwork down but can someone teach her how to shimmy???

Shannon Elizabeth - WOW - a big improvement over last week - i didn’t expect her to be that good - i’m impressed

Jason Taylor - when will he be dancing shirtless - dang - was i using my outside of my head voice again - he’s definitely moved into my Top 10 List - he is HOT!!!  plus the man can dance - he could sling me around on the floor ANYTIME!!!

Marissa Jaret Winokur - i just love her!!!   i thought she was good - a few missteps but it’s only the second dance - i think she’s just going to get better and better - you can tell that she’s a perfectionist and that she takes this seriously - i almost cried during her pre-interview - i want her to kick some dancing butt!  plus - she gets bonus points from me because i just read this week that she is a cervical cancer survivor and she and her husband are having a baby through a surrogate - she’s 5 months pregnant - how exciting is that?!?!

Adam Corolla - if he gets to the next round, it’ll be only because of his personality - he’s fun to watch, but he’s not a dancer

Marlee Maitlin - very nice - there’s still something a little off about the routine but i don’t think it’s her - i think it’s the choreography - i think (for the 3rd time)  she did a really good and that she’ll get better every week

Kristi Yamaguchi - this girl can DANCE!!!  she is awesome - it’s going to be tough for her because she’s set such a high standard for herself - inevitably she’ll have one week where she’s off and that’s going to suck - but she is fantastic!!

Mario - another good week for him

i’m waiting for one of the good ones to do something spectacular though - they’re gonna have to start step it up soon otherwise it’s going to get boring real quickly saying “they were good” every week - i still think it’s Monica going home for the girls and Penn or Adam Corolla for the guys 

Dancing With The Stars - WOO HOO!!!!

Penn - dude, the judges were HARSH!!! 5s and 6s?? i wasn’t expecting 10s but dang - that was rough - as Kelley put it, he’s this year’s Mark Cuban - though i think he’s got a little more rhythm than Mark - he was fun to watch and i thin the fans will keep him around for a minute or 2

Jason Taylor - um, HOT!!! oh, was that my outside my head voice??? though there is something weird about his mouth - still hot - oh, is that not one of the requirements for Dancing With The Stars - he was good - a lot better than i expected - he needs to show more personality, but i think he’ll get there …

Christian de la Fuente - ok Latin Boy - a little too full of yourself - “the reason i wanted to do Dancing With the Stars is so i could bring the romance back to dancing” - um, the romance has been there - where have you been?? he’s another hottie but i’m already turned off by his attitude - they were good but he’s a little heavy on his feet

Adam Corolla - he’s way more Mark Cuban than Penn - he’s got personality though and hopefully he’ll show some improvement - it wasn’t all bad - but it wasn’t all good!

Mario - clearly the guy to beat - he just has natural rhythm - it’ll be interersting to see how he matches up against the girls
Steve Guttenberg - Kelley is pulling for the “Guttmeister” - yes, my husband is a nerd! anyway, he was much better than i expected! another one whose personality will earn him an extra week or 2

Shannon Elizabeth - well, she looked really good - exactly how long are her legs and where can i get some of those? she was a little stiff and robotic looking - and i don’t think she and Derek have very much chemistry 

Monica Seles -  did i say Shannon Elizabeth was stiff - poor Monica - she looked like she had a really bad crick in her neck - it wasn’t as bad as i expected though - but it still wasn’t good

Marissa Jaret Winokur - i great big pink and purple puffy heart LOVE LOVE LOVE her!!!!  i didn’t think she danced enough but that’s on Tony for choreography - i think her being so short is going to count against her also - but i think she definitely has some talent - i hope she improves next week because i’d really like to see her stick around for a while

Priscilla Presley - i know this has nothing to do with her dancing, but what is going on with her hair color??  WOW - she was way better than i expected - pretty good - too bad her personality is so dull

Kristi Yamaguchi - WOW!!!  i expected her to be good but damn - she was awesome!!  there’s a reason she’s leading the odds to win in Vegas - she is definitely the woman to beat!!!

Marlee Matlin - pretty impressive - i don’t know how she did it without hearing - she was pretty good but i thought the routine was too slow - of course that’s probably to be expected since she’s just figuring out this whole dancing without sound thing - i have loved her since Picket Fences (yes, i’m 100!) so i’m hoping she makes it far  

it’ll be interesting to see how everyone compares next week - but so far i’m thinking it will be Monica and Penn 

but i think we’re starting to get the hang of this baby thing - well, sort of … i’m still extremely sleep deprived - my boobs feel like they are about to fall off - Sydney has her days and nights completely reversed - there’s nothing like a newborn child to make you feel like you know absolutely nothing! i’ve been taking care of kids since i was 12 and have had tons of experience with newborns - but when it’s your own kid, it might as well be your first time! everyone says babies don’t come with instruction booklets … yeah, i’d like to know why not - i’m not talking about those “Your Baby Week By Week” books - i’m talking about a book that is specific to your kid - God sends you the baby - couldn’t He send the baby with a one sheeter??

SYDNEY JANE - likes to be held (practically 24/7) and is a total snuggle bunny - eats like a champ and likes music (especially Stevie Wonder) - fingernails that grow like weeds and will need to be cut or filed almost daily - is a total night owl but will sleep all day long - a little on the moody side but will learn to like all the things she initially hated - specifically the swing and bouncy chair

see, i’m not asking for a step-by-step of the next 18 years, just a quick heads up!

i’ve figured out why new moms rarely leave the house - because they don’t have anything to wear!!! at some point you get tired of wearing your maternity clothes (because you’re no longer pregnant!) but you’re not quite back to your pre-pregnancy weight - plus, everyone says that even if you hit your pre-pregnancy weight, your body shape is different - so i need a whole new wardrobe for the in between stage (or transition as Kelley calls it) - i can get into my fat jeans (which i was wearing before i got pregnant) but i still have post partum jelly belly which makes for a fabulous muffin top (i’m dead sexy!!) - so all i have to do is wear a top with an empire waist - easy enough, right? except all of mine are summer tops that are low cut or that have spaghetti straps - that doesn’t really work with my sexy (not!) nursing bras - and thanks to my new breastfeeding boobalicious boobies, none of my regular bras fit - i guess i’ll see ya’ll when i lose 40 pounds or stop nursing because until then, i’ll be sitting in my house dressing Sydney in all of her super cute clothes!

so Kelley has been home with me and Sydney since she was born and started back to work today - he’ll be working from home for the next couple of weeks so i’ll still have some help, but he spends a lot of his day on the phone - and when he’s on a call, i’m on my own - there goes my daily shower! i never realized what a production it is to get a baby ready to leave the house - and it’s hard to get yurself dressed when you have to stop down to check on every little moan that comes from your baby’s body - the first time i left the house with Sydney, it took over 2 hours - and that was with Kelley’s help! Friday i took Sydney out for our first Mommy and Baby outing - it was the first time for just the 2 of us and and we were gone all day - we went to the studio so Sydney could meet the show - of course, everyone fell in love with her! then we went to meet the girls for lunch - then off to the mall for some shopping - then we headed over to one of my friend’s house to wait and see if her daughter made cheerleader - how crazy is it that the 2 year old that i used to babysit is going to be a freshman cheerleader?? not that long ago, i was slinging Farris Groth over my shoulder and now she’s gonna be flying through the air in a basket toss for the HP Scots - her mom and i were a nervous wreck waiting to find out if Farris made the squad - i don’t know how i’m gonna handle it when it’s Sydney’s turn - YIKES!!! and speaking of cheerleading - Cheerleader U is back - WOO HOO!! is it too late for me to be a professional cheerleader? that’s really what i want to be when i grow up!

Ash Wednesday was my first official day of maternity leave - i planned to do some last minute errands, go to Mass and then lunch with my mom and godfather and pray that Spike would come unassisted before Friday - after Tuesday’s trip to L&D, my OB had agreed to give me a few more days to see if the baby would come on his (her) own before we induced - unfortunately for me, the hospital schedule was against me

Wednesday morning i got up to listen to the show (just because i work there doesn’t mean i’m not a fan!!) and i got a phone call from my OBs office about 8:30am - now i was expecting this call to be about scheduling an appointment for the next day - imagine my surprise when the nurse told me they wanted me to come to the hospital at 4pm to start the induction - HUH???  that’s not the plan - she explained that the hospital was booked the rest of the week and that since i was already overdue, Dr. Flowers didn’t want to wait until next week - so they were going to start the Cervidil Wednesday evening and then we would go from there - i asked her if i could get the Cervidil and then go back home to labor - hmm - how about no - she said that labor can come on really strong with the Cervidil and they needed to monitor me at the hospital - yeah, at that point i started to cry - i was prepared for induction on Friday but on Wednesday??  not so much - she asked me if i was okay and i lied and said yes - she promised me that it would be okay and told me to call if i had any questions - um, do you have 2 hours to talk to me - sure i had questions - like, why is my child stubborn?  duh. i think we all know the answer to that - the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree

anyway, Kelley was still asleep and i needed some time to process everything - so i sat on the chaise for another 2 hours trying to think things through - about 10am, Kelley came into the living room and he immediately knew something was wrong - i told him they were starting the induction at 4pm - of course Kelley, the level headed, was completely unfazed and asked me what i needed him to do - um, can you make your child come on its own??  anyway, i spent the rest of the day sending emails and making phone calls and trying to contact everyone and get everything together - as the day went on, i started to come to terms with the induction but i was still a little freaked out - and then i got a call from Dr. Flowers (my OB) - dude, what doctor does that?  she was just calling to check on me and see how i was doing - she knew that i didn’t want to be induced so she just wanted to see if i had any questions and let me know that even though we were going the induction route, she would still do everything in her power to stick to my original birth plan - love this woman!  while i wasn’t wild about the induction, i knew that her number one was getting Spike here safely - so i decided to go with the flow and finally started to really calm down

so we get to the hospital about 4:15pm - it took about an hour to fill out paperwork and all that jazz and they administered the Cervidil about 5:30pm - one of the things that sucks about induction is that they have to hook you up to all the machines to track your blood pressure and contractions and the baby - that means you pretty much get to sit in the bed and go nowhere - yeah, i hated that - Kelley had class at 7:30pm and i didn’t see the point in him missing class since we’d just be sitting around waiting - so i sent him on his merry way (after he picked up some dinner for me - he’s so great!) and my mom and godmother came to hang out with me - Kelley got back around 10pm and my mom and godmother left - during that time, my contractions were starting to pick up - at least according to the monitors - some of them i could feel and some i couldn’t - and since i couldn’t feel all of them, i was trying to watch for them on the monitor - but the monitors wouldn’t stay in place, so the nurse had to keep coming in to adjust them - but he was only concerned about the baby one and not the contraction one - dude, if you’re going to adjust one of them, why wouldn’t you adjust both?  i was more than a little annoyed but he apparently wasn’t concerned with my contractions - i, on the other hand, was trying to figure out what to expect and was VERY concerned - i guess it didn’t really matter because the contractions kicked into overdrive around 11:30pm - Kelley was asleep (because his bedtime is 11pm) but i was wide awake because i had foolishly declined the Ambien offered by the nurse - big mistake because i didn’t get any sleep that night - about midnight, the contractions were getting pretty bad so i told Kelley to call Kathy (my doula) because breathing through them wasn’t cutting it and i had no idea what to do - i don’t know where she was but she arrived in what seemed like minutes - and good thing …

the next few hours were pretty much a blur - the Cervidil had kicked into high gear and it was not fun - first of all, i had terrible shakes - then i alternated between freezing to death and major hot flashes - then i had to pee what seemed like every 5 minutes - the problem was that i was still hooked up to the monitors, so every time i had to go to the bathroom i had to disconnect myself from the monitors - in addition to that, Sydney was still not reacting like they wanted her to - so i was hooked up to some sort of an IV in addition to the monitors - so from about 1:00am until 4am, i spent the night dealing with contractions, freezing to death, burning up, trying to disconnect the monitors so i could pee and carrying around an IV - talk about labor!   so here i am trying to get to the bathroom without peeing on myself in the middle of a contraction - at the same time, Kelley is following me while holding the IV and a blanket because i feel like i’m in Antarctica - good times - not that i was modest to begin with, but labor will eliminate any modicum of modesty that you thought you had!!  “honey, i know you’re holding the IV while i’m peeing, but can you wrap that blanket around me too?”

now here is where things get fuzzy - at this point, it was about 4 or 5am and i was really tired and the contractions were coming super fast - i think the nurse mentioned something about starting the Pitocin, but i wasn’t willing to do that until i could talk to Dr. Flowers - plus i was really starting to feel like crap from the Cervidil and just needed some rest - so i *might* have been a bad patient and told the nurse to take the Cervidil out to see how much i could progress without it - Kathy suggested i head to the whirlpool for a while - so the Cervidil came out and i headed for the whirlpool - SCORE!!!  you wouldn’t think sitting in a bathtub would alleviate that much pain, but it did and it was wonderful!!  now i know why people give birth in water - it’s still not something that i’ll ever do, but i understand it!  i stayed in the whirlpool for about an hour and probably would have stayed even longer, but by then Dr. Flowers was there and she was ready to break my water … YIKES!!  i was very nervous about her breaking water - for the first time i was officially scared - and i told her so!  all i had heard is that if they have to break your water, it will hurt … BADLY - but Dr. Flowers (and my mom who had also arrived) assured me that it wouldn’t hurt and that i would actually feel better - and of course, she was right - see why i love this woman!  she’s the greatest doctor ever!  so i was good for a little while - it was about 7:30ish and i was dilated to about a 5 or 6 at that point and i was good for a little bit - and then the contractions kicked into overdrive again - they were coming really fast and they were intense - and i was TIRED!!!  tired to the point where i was begging for rest - all i wanted was to get a quick nap - that and some drugs - i thought i could get through the contractions if i just took them one at a time - the problem was i didn’t feel like i was getting a break between them - it just felt like one long contraction - i was still adamant about not getting the epi, but i needed something to take the edge off - i asked Dr. Flowers what my options were and she offered me Stadol or Demerol - i opted to go with the Stadol because BFF Angie had Demerol with her daughter and was completely out of it - so we went with a low dosage of the Stadol around 8:30am and while it did nothing for the pain, it did allow me to sleep for about an hour - and i needed it because i was exhausted!!

then it was time for the big guns - around 10am, i wasn’t progressing and it was Pitocin time - i was still a little out of it because when the nurse checked me and said they needed to start the Pitocin, i remember asking her if she had checked with Dr. Flowers - i’m sure she was thinking “um, duh.” but i was a little loopy so when she said “yes - Dr. Flowers is the one who said to start it” i said, “ok” and went with it!  once again, the contractions were in high gear and i was in MAJOR pain - this is where the rantings and ravings of the crazy pregnant woman begin - things i specifically remember saying:

“can you make them stop for just a little while?” - um, sure dianthe, hold on while we take care of that …

“why does it hurt so much in the same spot - why won’t it move?” - the contractions felt like the most severe menstrual cramps i’d ever had - and i think i was expecting them to hurt somewhere else than in my lower abdomen - in my head, i was thinking if it hurt somewhere else for a little while, it wouldn’t hurt as bad - um, okay … 

“i just need a nap - all i need is a nap” - i was SO tired that i could barely keep my eyes open - and all i remember was contraction, contraction, contraction - now my mom says that i was sleeping between contractions - like full on-knocked out-snoring sleeping - what i remember is one contraction on top of another - but whatev! 

i guess the contractions went on for another hour or so because i don’t really remember anyone checking to see if i had progressed any further - i just remember telling Kathy that i needed to push - i know that i changed positions several times because nothing felt right - it’s weird how well you get to know your body - i had no idea what i was doing but i knew what was working and what wasn’t - some positions worked for a few minutes and some positions i instantly knew were out!  and during the pushing, more rantings and ravings from the crazy pregnant woman:

“i CANNOT do this” - i said this A LOT!!  and every time i said it, someone was there to tell me i could - Kelley, my mom, Kathy - everyone kept telling me i could - whatever - i was tired and in that moment, i didn’t think i could finish - but it’s not like i had a choice! 

“stop asking me if i want to see the mirror - IT’S NOT HELPING ME!!!” - so when you start to crown, they bring out the mirror so you can see the baby coming out of you - apparently it helps some women because they realize that they’re really close and it gives them the incentive for those last couple of pushes - a lot of people are weirded out by this - but i wasn’t - it just wasn’t helping - i caught a glimpse, i even touched her head (and was amazed that she had a head full of hair) - but watching her head come out of my va-jay-jay was not benefiting me and i wanted everyone to stop telling me to look

“OMG - can everybody just stop talking and SHUT UP!! S#IT!!!” - while i was pregnant, i spent a lot of time watching “A Baby Story” and every time i would get annoyed when the mom is pushing and there is a room full of people saying “push”, “you can do it”, “you’re almost there”, etc. - i always wanted to tell those people to shut up - and when everyone was saying those things to me, i felt the same way - which is why i told everyone to shut up - it was difficult enough concentrating on pushing - the last thing i needed was a cheering section

“Come on Spike - come out” -  hey, if she could hear me while she was in the womb, surely she could hear me on the way out - and it was a team effort, right?

so at this point, i’m REALLY close - and Dr. Flowers said that we were almost there and made a comment that if i didn’t push Spike out, she was coming in to get her - then she started putting on her delivery gear - that was all the incentive i needed - when i saw Dr. Flowers in that gown with the gloves on and that huge mask, i decided that Spike was coming out no matter what - it didn’t occur to me that doctors wear that for every delivery - hello … childbirth is messy - but in my head she was preparing for forceps or the vacuum or a c-section (later, Dr. Flowers told me she was just kidding!) - but i wasn’t having any of that - it took everything i had, but i gave 2 or 3 more pushes and out came the head - they kept her body in the birth canal while they suctioned her and then one more push and she was out - they immediately handed her to me chest down - i flipped her over just to confirm and screamed “it’s a girl!!!!” - i can’t begin to tell you how shocked i was - i think everyone else was too because i swear there were actual cheers!  someone handed me a blanket or something and let me wipe her off - i was surprised because she seemed to come out so clean - the nurse ended up cutting the umbilical cord because Kelley aka “Mr. Science” was busy checking out things from the other end - normally they tell the husband to stay up by the mom’s head but Kelley wanted a front row view of his child being born - he watched it all and his exact words afterwards were “AMAZING!!”  

and after 15+ hours of labor and just over an hour of pushing, Sydney Jane was born!

as promised - there are pictures - i will warn you - while they aren’t graphic by any stretch of the imagination, you’ll probably see more of me than you ever thought you would (or wanted to) - they aren’t any more revealing than if i was in a bikini, but it’s not quite the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue!  i debated whether or not to post the pictures, but after looking at them a million times i decided that the birth of my baby girl was too big of a miracle not to share - and a HUGE shout out to Mike and ReJana (that’s right, Mike was there too - remember that modesty thing i mentioned …) for documenting this amazing experience - Kelley and i (and Sydney) are so blessed to not only have them as great photographers, but also as great friends - i can’t wait until Sydney is old enough to see the pictures!!  and here they are …

Sydney Jane’s Birth Day