Teeth!

I spotted where my babe's first tooth will be coming in. It hasn't cut through yet but there is a nice swollen dark red bump and a cute little white tooth peeking out. It's one of his front bottom teeth...I'm not sure if it's the one from where he had 1 when he was born or not... (note to self : ask doc for more info about that) .. but either way... I'm pretty sure that's what I be feeling every time I decides to chomp down on the boob....soooo not looking forward to that 24/7!

Co-Sleeping?

So there are plenty of "professionals" out there that are against co-sleeping (and end up contradicting themselves saying that co-sleeping is ok for the first 6 weeks of life). Co-Sleeping is one of the causes of SIDS, being that there's the possibility of you rolling over on your little one and suffocating them. Personally...why put your child in the bed with you if you know you're that type of sleeper. If you know for a fact that you're usually all over the bed at night....it's pure common sense.

Anyway, I have been co-sleeping with Bryce since the day he was born. Mainly because we were in the process of moving within 3 weeks after his birth and there was loads of clothes and crap inside his crib. Another reason being that I'm lazy. It's so much easier just rolling over, tossing him the boob (I breastfeed) and fall back asleep. I mastered the art of feeding while laying down within the first week. If you breastfeed and don't know what I'm talking about...try it. It will save your life and get you extra zzzz's at night.

I've tried several unsuccessful times to wean him into his crib. But...because of my own unsecurities (and laziness)...it has yet to work. Well...I started trying again last night. We did our usual bed routine. Fed him rice cereal (he started on rice cereal around April 18th or so), bath time, every other day he gets a lotion massage, then it's either tv or story time for 10 minutes, feeds from the breast and after that BED.

Last night wasn't too bed. After I laid him in his bed he slept for about 30 minutes and woke up. The method I'm using to to just leave him in his crib. Even if he cries, I'll offer the pacifier, lay my hand on his belly and just comfort him until he settles down. I DON'T PICK HIM UP.  He whined off and on until it was feeding time again (smh). So I fed him as usual, laid him back down..and he fell asleep this time. He did wake up once but after I gave him his paci and relaxed him he fell back asleep.

I ended up going to bed myself around 2am..his feeding was supposed to be at 3am....being that I was so exhausted...I have NO idea what time I woke up to get Bryce and feed him. All I know is I woke up this morning around 7am wondering how the hell he got in my bed lol. I don't remember hearing him cry, nothing. Just that I laid down at 2am and woke up at 7am very confused lol.

We'll try it again tonight, and tomorrow and every night from here on out. I know both he and I will sleep more peacefully if we don't have each other rolling over and disturbing each other at night. Wish me luck that he takes to it quickly.

I had to deal with this every time I wanted to get into MY bed. lol

OMG #Fail

Totally haven't been keeping up with the blog like I was supposed to. Well lets get right to it.

I'm pretty sure by now you know I did give birth to my bundle (he was due in January....It's practically the end of April..3 months overdue...that would be crazy lol). So lets go into the whole serious of events.

I went into "early labor" right on my due date. January 7th. The whole day I was thinking...this is it..this is it. I had contractions...but they weren't consistent or strong enough for me to go into the hospital. They ranged from every 10 minutes, to every 5, to even every 3..but it never steadied out. After the whole day of braxton hicks I went through the weekend very well, minus the usual aches and pains. Monday, January 10th I started having these pains again, only they were stronger and more uncomfortable. I literally stayed in bed all day and forced myself to eat about 5 crackers around noon. Around 4pm, I had enough and decided to go to the hospital. I was already 3 days overdue. The worst than can do is send me home, right? Well....that's what they did. Send me home. Well, not technically. But after a few conversations with the nurse, I decided it was best that I went home. Granted, the doctor hadn't made her decision to admit me or not (she wanted me to stay for more observation and see how my contractions were progressing on their own) but I didn't want to stay in the hospital overnight (by that time it was about 11pm) only for the doctor to not decide to admit me. So after a very painful stop at Taco Bell's late night drive thru and an even more painful ride on the highway (I swear I was ready to tell my mom to make a u-turn back to the hospital...My contractions HURT!) I made it home.

Wednesday, January 12th is when everything started. I was supposed to wake up at 6am to get myself ready for my 41 week check up at the doctor...but...I could not move. I decided to skip out of my doctor's appt (didn't call..oops sorry) because something in my head told me I would be seeing doctors later anyway. ALL DAY LOOOOONG I had very consistent, PAINFUL contractions. 5 minutes apart...I knew they were the real deal. But I tried to bear it out at home as long as I possibly could, I was scared it would turn out being another false alarm. The morning of January 13th, I had just gotten off the phone with a good friend and was trying to lay down to sleep. I COULDN'T...every time I went to lay down...I got the worst excruciating pain in the world. That's how I knew..."this is it". I woke my mom up and told her "You might want to call an ambulance." Whew, if that woman didn't jump up like a bat out of hell (what does that even mean? "bat out of hell"...hmm..anyway,). The ambulance was there within minutes (after my mom talked on the phone w/ the dispatcher for what I felt seemed like hours, asking me every stupid question in the book)..only for the ambulance crew to come and ask the same damn questions. It took for me to have 3 contractions before they jumped their butts into gear.

The ride in the ambulance wasn't like I expected it to be...Where were the lights?? Sirens?? Speeding like a Nascar driver? C'mon...I'm paying for a pieceful 45mph drive to my hospital? Booooooooo. Anway, made it to my hospital around 2:30-3:00am. And all I have to say is my nurse was the BEST. She had me admitted, checked my dilation (at that time I was 4cm) AND had the anesthesiologist give me my epidural. Yes, honey..smooth sailing from there. I was checked again around 11:30am by a student doctor...her dumbass said I was still at 4cm...then asked my nurse to double check. My nurse measured me at 7cm. -_- Why I opted in to let the students touch my body...i do not know.

Around 1:15pm I woke up from one of my many naps (hell..I was drugged UP!) and something didn't feel right...I felt something...poking out of my lady part...WTF IS THAT? Pressed that good ol' nurse emergency button and said "Um....I feel something coming out." 3 nurses rushed in, 1 checked me and she said "uh oh...we're about to have a baby!" That's when everything hit home...I was about to be a mom. Bryce's head was not only sticking out...but he had pushed my bag of water out too...it didn't even break! Being on the epidural..my body was naturally pushing..but I couldn't feel it because my whole lower half was numb. A nurse broke my bag of water..and after that it was Push to 10. 30 minutes later...at 1:49pm I gave birth to my heat. Bryce Addai Johnson. 10 fingers. 10 toes...AND A TOOTH! My baby was born with teeth..but they pulled it because his gums weren't mature enough yet and there was the possibility of him swallowing it.

I'm not going to post all of his milestones...I waited so long to post this blog, I'll just pick up here. He is 14 weeks as of yesterday, and the BADDEST 3 month old I've ever met! Recent pictures are below, from the past 2 weeks, I promise I'll drop in more often now :)

39 Week/40 Week Check Up

*I didn't update last week because it was just routine and nothing new*

So I didn't know what to title this...since my appointments changed from tuesday to wednesday...I'll technically be 40 weeks in 2 days.

So I don't know where to start....the unbelievable weight gain? Ok. So 2 days ago I weighed myself on my home scale like I usually do so that I could get a general idea of how much weight I've gained b4 going to the doctor. Let's just say....I gained 10 pounds in 2.....2 days! W.T.F. I swear their scales were wrong until I got home and weighed myself again and yup....definitely gained 10lbs. Again..W.T.F. Unless I read the scale wrong that day...I have no idea how to explain that one.

So anywho...I hop my naked booty onto the table. Doc listens in on the heartbeat as usual then she prepares to check me. Mind you..this is my first time being checked....NO ONE prepared me for that experience. OMG. She said take a deep breath and before I could finish my breath she rammed her hand inside me. Child, when I say I screamed....I screamed. I was squirming soo much trying to get off that table and away from her. But the good news is..I'm 3cm dilated..and she said his head was really low. She went ahead and scratched/stripped my membranes which she said is supposed to help me go into labor..like...yesterday. That's probably what took her soo long to get the hell out of my vajayjay. But neway..she told me to walk walk walk..and she expects me to not be at next weeks appointment. We'll see...I'm feeling real confident about the fact that I may be going into labor soon...Hell, maybe tonight.

So ... the next time I post...I won't be pregnant :)

37 Week Check Up

Gained another 5lbs! So what are we at now? 37lb total weight gain? Craaaazy. It's all in my belly tho *as I look down and notice i dropped jelly on my belly from my pb&j i was eating*

Everything went pretty normally. I was told this was my last time getting blood drawn.....YAY! And I had my Groub B strep test done. It's pretty much the same procedure as a PAP smear only..duh it's a different test.

I asked the doctor about my braxton hicks and my back pains...since they've gotten worse for me during the weekend. It's all perfectly normal..(of course).. she said since I'm such a small person carrying a nice weight baby (still have yet to have an ultrasound to see how big he is) that he's partially in my belly and partially in my back. And now that the time is drawing near....he's just really trying to get comfortable..there's no space in there!

So now my doctor's appointments are every week. I go back next Wednesday. I'm just really anxious at this point..pretty soon my baby boy will be here! ♥

My Birth Plan

Being that I will be delivering in a hospital where I do not receive prenatal care and where no one knows me..I have my birth plan ready for the nurse and delivering doctor to go through so that they can get a general idea of how I would like things to go. So of course I'm sharing it with the blog...why not?


This birth plan is to help people understand me and my pregnancy better..and how I would (like) things to go. My pregnancy has been a fairly easy one with the occasional bump & cramp or two, but I’m thankful for it being very….smooth. I would like delivery to go the same. The things listed in this plan are in no way “mandatory” ,of course things don’t ALWAYS go as planned, it’s just a general idea of how I would like everything to go. This is my first child…I don’t know everything! Therefore, any safer/easier alternative to anything listed here is very openly accepted.

I would like to go through the labor process naturally for as long as possible, however, I will be opting for an epidural. I don’t want to be forced into getting an epidural too early in the process that it wears off by the time I need it most. The moments before the epidural where I am dealing with my pain naturally, I would like to be able to move as freely as possible (Not many wires and gadgets connected to me). I would like use of the shower when I get too uncomfortable.

The persons to be present in the delivery room will be baby’s father and my mother. In the case that baby’s father is not available, I would prefer my best friend to take his place. In the case that my mother isn’t available, I would prefer that baby’s paternal grandmother take her place. I will be having my ipod in my ears at all times (unless of course there’s important topics to be discussed).


I will be breastfeeding so there shouldn’t be any formula feeding by nurses. Being that my son will be getting circumsized, I will allow him to have a pacifier during and after the procedure but other than that, NO PACIFIERS please. I would prefer if he stayed and slept in my room at all times unless there is testing to be done that can not be done inside the recovery room.

Again, nothing in this plan is binding. It’s just a general idea of how I would like things to go.

All I Need Is a Baby ((Pics))

So I finally put some pep in my step and finished the carseat and other random things. Here's the pics I halfway promised from the last post ((I wanted to take a pic of his coming home outfit..but I forgot...and I don't feel like going to unpack it right now...yeah...back to lazy mode))

So here's my pack & play/bassinet. Being that I just moved back to my mother's house..there's really no room for both of us to have anything big and extravagant. So he (and I) will be sleeping in the living room until we move in February.
It was given to me by his Aunt. It was barely used....my niece would rather sleep next to her than in her bed lol.

Here's the link so you can see a more...unwashed out picture ((the sun is crazy in that room..i love it though)).
It retails at Target.com for $135 http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/178-7264634-5545919?asin=B00275N6X4&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=B00275N6X4 and is very easy to put together/take apart and travel with.

The changing area. I put wash cloths in one of the holders to the side. When I get some baby wipes ((which I have none yet lol)) They will somehow go there too. More than likely I'll have a travel size holder to fit in there.

And in the other holder next to the washcloths are pampers & extra onesies for those "Oops!" changing moments.

Don't mind the pile of crap in the back :)

Here is the swing. I loooove it. It can actually rotate to a different direction so that it rocks as opposed to "swing" and it plays music as well as outdoors sounds. I took the tray off..I don't think I'm really going to use it until he gets a little bigger. Idk..that's TBD.

This was given to me by that lovely lady I found on craigslist.

And here is the car seat. It is Chicco brand and retais for $180 at Babies R Us http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3604029

Which includes the car seat base, head & body supports and arm strap protectors. After playing around with it and figuring out some of it's little secrets...I AM IN LOVE WITH IT.

(I took the straps out to wash the liner and everything..and didn't put them back in for the pic. Blah.

This was given to me as well by my craigslist angel.

Then I put in my JJ Cole BundleMe so he can be nice and warm. It retails for about $50 on jjcole.com http://jjcoleeurope.com/original-bundleme

So now I can sit back and relax for these next couple of weeks..because everything is all set and ready! Well minus the fact that I need to pack my stuff into the bag...Everything for Bryce is packed, set up...and ready! :)