Introducing Marcus Cane Updegraff

Thanks for waiting patiently for this... I've had my hands full for the past couple days :).

First things first...How handsome is he!!!????

Marcus Cane was born on December 24th at 3:15 in the morning. Making his entrance into the world a full 2wks early had absolutely NO bearing on his size; he weighed in at 8lbs 12.2oz.

The labor and delivery were unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. First of all my water broke but my contractions didn't show up until a few hours later. If you read the previous blog you know that I also thought my water broke on Saturday. So when I found myself sitting in something wet on Wednesday night I thought, "You can NOT be serious..." Which meant, I know I didn't just pee on myself again!

Hint* if you ever think your water broke but are unsure, Amniotic fluid smells like bleach. No joke, like straight Clorox.

Another thing that made this delivery different was that this time I had to get antibiotics for some test called GBS that I had apparently failed. This meant that I wouldn't be allowed to push the baby out until 4hrs after the antibiotics were administered through an IV. So for the longest time I just kicked it. I knew my water had broken and I knew I would have the baby soon, but there were still no contractions. I didn't even know how dilated I was- there was no point in checking me since I wouldn't be allowed to push anyway. All I knew was that the baby's heart rate was good and that's all that mattered.

Now I'm not sure what time it actually happened but I did eventually have a labor contraction that pretty much immediately reduced me to tears. I had about 4 or 5 of those before the anesthesiologist could get to me but once he did I went right back to just hanging out.

Soon enough though my four hours had passed and they were ready to see how dilated I was.

It literally went this fast.

Nurse: 10cms. You're ready to push.

Me: Oh! Okay...

Doc: We're gonna go on and go on this next contraction.

Me: Okay...

Doc (moving closer to me): I can see his head.

Me: What?

Nurse/ Doc: Okay we're gonna start pushiiiiing... NOW.

I push as the nurse counts: 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10! Deep Breath. Again. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10! Deep Breath...

Marcus says something about the fact that I'm pushing so hard.

Doc: Okay, little tiny push... Heads out.

Me: What!!

Marcus: His head's out!

Me: Already??

Doc: Alright, I'll just pull him the rest of the way.

And there you have it.

Marcus Cane. I think I pushed at total of 4times during 1 contraction and he was here. They gave him to me, let me look him over and talk to him a little, then it was off to the scale. Did I mention he weighed EIGHT POUNDS, TWELVE POINT TWO OUNCES!!!!????

Here are some pics of us in the hospital and his first couple days home.

Enjoy!

I love him so much.

I think Daddy looks pretty proud.

The girls meeting their brother for the first time.

Charlie and Sierra getting to know him better.

Marcus and his son.

Labor Update!

I'm back home.

Apparently hospitals aren't as strict as I thought they were. They examined me today and I hadn't made any progress. The on-call Dr said that since my water didn't actually break and I wasn't officially in active labor I had 2 options.

1. He could break my water and we could have the baby.
2. I could be discharged and go home to wait for Dr. Webb.

I chose to go home. I did so because I wasn't really in labor. The only reason I went to the hospital is cause I thought my water broke. If I had known it hadn't I would've been kicking it at home anyway. So they sent me on my way with instructions to take it easy and pay close attention to make sure the baby keeps moving, which he has been.

When I go back, I'll be sure to let everyone know :)

This is what happens when you don't listen

I'm in the hospital. Not in labor, but here none the less.


On Thursday I had an appointment with Dr. Webb, the man who delivered Charlie, the man who I traveled across the world to have deliver my son. He examined me and told me I was 2cms dilated and 80% effaced. He knew that Marcus wasn't coming to town until Saturday afternoon. He also told me that he was leaving town this weekend and wouldn't be back until Sunday night.
I don't want you to have this baby without your husband, and I don't want you to have this baby without me. So this weekend take it easy. Just put your feet up and relax- at least until Sunday night.


Sounds reasonable right. Unless one of your best friends is also coming to town and you have plans to go to a fashion show on Friday night and to get facials and mani-pedis at the spa on Saturday.


I knew Friday was a bad idea but it wasn't like I was running a marathon, I pretty much sat the whole time. That night though, my contractions were non-stop and I spent most of the night begging the baby out loud to just 'wait for daddy to get home tomorrow'.


Saturday was cool. The spa was relaxing. Marcus came in as scheduled. Everything was great until about 6:45pm, when alone in the kitchen I felt something fall out of me onto the floor.

What the hell is this? Did my water just break??

I cleaned up the kitchen and without a word to anyone went to my room, walked past Marcus who was asleep and Bri who was reading a magazine, and took a shower.

When I came out of the bathroom I whisper to Bri,
Soooo, I think my water just broke, but I'm not sure.

The next 30 or so mins is filled with Bri on the computer, googling her fingers off on how to know if your water really broke if there aren't any contractions.

Marcus wakes up just as I'm taking a "test" to see if it was the real deal and we explain to him what's going on. He makes me call the Dr. and the on-call Dr suggests that I go to the hospital.

If your water broke, we'll keep you. If not, we'll send you home.

Sounds reasonable, and as it turns out my water didn't break.
Great I can go home...
Not so fast.
Also turned out I was 4-5cms dilated and 100% effaced... so they decided to keep me.


So I've just been hanging out. I sent Marcus home to get some sleep at around midnight. I slept until about 5am. He's gonna bring the girls here a little later so I can comb their hair before they go to their first play with Grandpa (the Nutcracker). And my plan for the day is to try to keep this baby in until Dr. Webb makes it back to town tonight so he can deliver me.

Sounds reasonable. I mean I haven't haven't been in any pain. The baby is doing great right now. I think I can do it.

Except that's not how hospitals work. My guess it when Dr, Bartels gets here in 15mins they'll examine me and if I'm more than 5cms they'll break my water and make me deliver without my beloved Dr. Webb.



Either way wish me luck!!

7 Pounds

Not the Will Smith movie, the weight of the gigantor baby that currently resides in my belly.

I'm not due for another 5wks. Standard weight gain at this stage is a half a pound a week. For those of you not doing the math that puts me at 9.5lbs.

Did I mention that his head is measuring 2weeks larger!

Thanks, ultrasound tech, for officially freaking me out.

Is the Sun up yet?

My Charlie just turned 5.

She was so excited that she didn't want to go to bed the night before.
I told her, "The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner the Sun will come up and then it will be your birthday."
Needless to say, at 5:30 Tuesday morning I was greeted by one of the most precious things in my life, her sweet voice asking, "Mom, is the Sun up yet?"

Our family has been through a lot over the past month. We have suffered an incredible loss in the passing of Marcus' mom, a great woman who Charlie had an indescribable bond with. When you lose someone that you love so much it's easy to wallow in sorrow and sometimes it's a lot of work to keep yourself from winding up in a dark place. So far, we've all done a pretty good job managing, but there's a sadness that creeps up and we just have to find those things that make us happy- that light- wherever we can.

When my amazing little girl asked me if the Sun was up yet, I couldn't help thinking that that moment was one of those times. So I smiled a sleepy smile and replied, "As a matter of fact it is Sweetheart. As a matter of fact it is."

Here's a picture of my angel from her birthday party.

Another day on the grind

Today was a pretty good day.
I spent 5hrs at the Schilling Community Center on Kadena Air Base selling books.
I didn't do bad, didn't do great, but shared my children's book series and vision with a ton of people and it made me feel good :).

YAY for me!!

A Girl named Charlie Presents... has been featured for the first time on a website that is not my own :). Please check it out here!

The first taste... of 'hate'???

This past weekend while selling books at the USO Bazaar I met and became friends with tons of other vendors. Most of the vendors were very friendly! We purchased products from one another and sent customers to each others tables. The Bazaar was completely dead all weekend. We were competing with the Grand Opening of the new BX which had been under construction since my family got to the island last year. It was pretty clear from the start that none of us would sell as many products as we'd hoped. Still we weren't in competition with each other and were pretty excited whenever any of us made a sale.

However I had an interesting experience with one of the vendors that didn't really make me upset as much as it made me wonder why people are a certain way.

This particular vendor was sitting directly across from me. When I set up early Saturday morning it was clear that we could be looking at each other all weekend so I made my way over to introduce myself. She was friendly enough. She said hello and smiled, but it was a stale smile, almost as if she were sizing me up.

At one point early in the day she asked if she could take a look at my book so I walked one over to her and she sat it on her table. She was Black and had a young daughter so I just knew she would buy it. Duh- what woman with a little black girl wouldn't buy a book titled "I LOVE my Cotton Candy Hair!" We made small talk and I bought a couple of lip glosses from her.

During the day we didn't get much traffic but my books were selling like crazy. I sold one to practically every other person that came by my table. Those with children and those without. Those with little girls and even those with a house full of boys. Everyone seemed to love the message. I was really happy and my vendor friends were happy for me. But I started noticing that whenever a customer at her table noticed my book sitting there, instead of pointing out my table- which bty all the other vendors did- she would distract them and have them look at another one of her products. Now we were all there to sell so I didn't expect her to send a customer to me mid-sale, but once said customer was walking away it would've been nice if she had pointed them in my direction.
Although my table was directly across from hers it was on the outer portion of the display area so if customers were walking through and their bodies were facing the center display area, I was easy to miss.

Toward the end of the day while passing her table en route to the restroom, I noticed that my book was underneath one of her chairs.
Is she hiding my book?
On the way back we made eye contact and she says, Oh you can just take that. So I smiled, bent my gigantic pregnant self over, and picked up my book. She never purchased one.
I didn't want to assume that this older woman would be hating on little old me so I just shrugged her behavior off as odd and let it go. I even went out of my way to say goodbye to her at the end of the day.

SUNDAY
There was maybe one customer in the bazaar the whole first hour, and she wasn't even really a customer, she was a friend of my nemesis (haha) there to get her makeup done on her way to church. I smiled at them a couple of times and at one point the friend pointed over at my table. When they were finished the vendor got up to do something and when she was gone her friend moseyed on over to me. She didn't have children and wasn't interested in buying a book, she was however interested in how I got mine published. I was super friendly and gracious and more than happy to give her all the info I could. I remember how frustrating it was when I was looking for a publisher and kept running into dead ends so I was happy to help her out. I even gave her my contact info incase she had questions later. Maybe it she just liked my personality but she asked more about my book and after hearing my story, decided she LOVED the message and wanted to purchase one. This would be the first purchase of the day for any of us! Now eagle eye across from me was watching the entire time. As soon as I pulled out my receipt book to write a ticket, she jumped up from behind her table and came rushing over.
Girl what are you doing? she says as she links arms with her friend.
I'm buying a book! Don't you just love these!? Her friend seemed oblivious to what was going on.
It's 10 after 10, you're gonna be late for church! Now she's actually tugging the customer in the other direction.
Smiling, I finish my receipt and chime in. You're pressed for time so you don't have to wait here while I sign it. Just take this to the cashier and when you bring back your stamped receipt it'll be all ready.

The day continued with the lady across from me doing everything she could to stop my shine. Even going as far as to get up and walk customers away from her table in a direction where they would be sure to miss mine. Weird right? But it didn't put a damper on what I was doing at all. Nor did it dim my spirit. I smiled all day long and still sold a book to almost every person who stopped at my table.

I viewed the day as a great success and her behavior as an anomaly that I hopefully won't run into much in the future.

Loves of my life

Charlie and Sierra are so awesome.
This past weekend I had an opportunity to sell my books at the USO Bazaar. Typically these bazaars are extremely busy and being there is a great way for vendors to sell their products and promote their businesses. When I found out I was in, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. There was a problem though- the bazaar was open from 9a-6p on Saturday and 9a-5p on Sunday and vendors were required to be there all day, both days.
My main concern (aside from the fact that I would be missing church on Sunday) was what I would do with the girls. Luckily my friends Carol and Teresa came through for me big time. The girls spent the entire day with Carol and her kids on Saturday, then with Teresa and her family on Sunday. They were up early and went to bed late but they were well behaved and never complained.
Mommy has been extremely busy lately, more busy than they've ever seen me. We used to have down time to watch movies or just hang out between school and organized activities. Lately we haven't had that. That time has been replaced with phone calls, emails and running back and forth to offices and meetings. Sometimes our days are so busy and exhausting. Still they don't complain. They are such troopers :).
Seriously hoe did I wind up with such awesome little angels??

Lonely

I miss my husband.
Marcus has been in the States for about 4weeks and it's really difficult being here without him. I have great friends, I have the girls and I have the launch of my new book to keep me distracted but I'm still lonely. I talk to him pretty much everyday but there's a difference between being on the phone with him and being on the couch with him.
I love being on the couch with him :).
One week to go. Wish me luck!

How to move forward??

It's been about a week since my last blog. I didn't send my normal blog update to anyone because everyone I know (shoot, everyone I've ever known) got an identical, easy to forward email announcing the launch of my new children's book series.

So much has happened since last week. Some of it book related, most of it not. But every time I sit to update my blog I find myself wondering what the heck to write.

I don't want this to turn into a blog about my business so I'm a little hesitant to share that stuff, but this children's book series is a huge part of my life, and that's what this blog is about right? I mean I can't very well write about my life and leave that stuff out?

Maybe I'll give all my normal updates and then at the end of each blog have a Series update... yeah, I think I'll do that and see where it takes me.

But I'll start tomorrow cause I'm exhausted.

Exciting News!!!

Hey everyone,


Some of you are aware that for the past couple of years I've been tossing around the idea of writing & illustrating children's books. Like many parents I'm extremely conscious of the images Charlie and Sierra are exposed to and over the years I've found that there are simply not enough books for young children about loving yourself as you are.



With that said I am SO EXCITED to announce the official launch of my new Children's book series titled, "A girl named Charlie presents... Stories about loving yourself the way you are!"



This project means so much to me. I truly believe that every child should love and be happy with themselves and their differences, and each book in this series champions that principle. The first release in the series, "I LOVE my Cotton Candy Hair!" is available now on Amazon.com.



Please share this announcement with your family, friends, coworkers and fellow parents. I'll admit that I'm biased but I'm proud of this series. I really believe that the message of absolute self-love and acceptance is one that kids need and one that my series delivers.



Thank you SO much for your support.



Nikkie



Seriously, I'm so excited!! I can't believe this is real :).

What's in a name??

Decisions, decisions...

Marcus and I are having a bit of trouble coming up with a name for the new baby. I don't know if boy's names just aren't as cool as girls names, but nothing I've seen or heard is doing it for me.
I need help.

Boy oh boy!!

Wow.

I'll start by saying the baby is healthy. He, and I'm not just saying that this time cause I feel like it :), is measuring well. His heart, brain, stomach, bladder and kidneys are all where they're supposed to be and doing what they're supposed to do!

At the ultrasound appt they took me back first so the tech could take all the required measurements. When he came up on the screen this is the position he was in.

Look at those legs!! They are so long. I mean, I though Charlie's legs were long when we saw her ultrasound but this kid's foot is dang near behind his head. That made me smile and I could literally see myself laying there when I was pregnant with Charlie and remembering how excited I was when I saw how long her legs were (they get the legs from me).

The tech, Mimi, took quite a few measurements around his chest and abdomen and when she came back up to his face here's what we saw.

Yes. He's sucking his thumb. Just like Sierra did in the womb. This actually made me cry. I mentioned in the previous post how this never gets old and it truly doesn't, couple that with the fact that I'm super emotional anyway and I should've known it would happen. So there I was. Laying there with Mimi. Tears streaming down my face. Smiling the biggest smile ever... and I can smile a pretty big smile :).

Once the required measurements were taken Mimi went to get Marcus and the girls. The only thing really left to do was to show Marcus the organs and reveal the sex.

I actually knew I was looking at a little peepee before she told us. I blurted out, "A boy!" But I didn't notice a reaction in Marcus until she told him.

Charlie was really happy... If you recall she's been praying for a little brother. Marcus is happy too- a little nervous because he's used to living in a house full of girls, he's comfortable raising daughters and this will be a whole new dynamic, but still happy.

I am beside myself with excitement. Yesterday afternoon I found myself thinking of the kids as teenagers. He's gonna have a very hard time dating girls. His sisters, I'm certain, will be very protective of him... I have a feeling Sierra will just be flat out mean to whoever he brings home- that makes me laugh.

Oh and did I mention how handsome he is.

I'm such a mom :)

I grow people, what's your superpower?

I LOVE being pregnant.
Well, after the first trimester I love being pregnant.
For me it never gets old. Although this is my third pregnancy every step is still so exciting. When we had our first ultrasound, I wanted to cry. The first time I heard this baby's heartbeat I was beaming. Now the baby is moving. I had been waiting for weeks to feel something and I have to admit that I'd been pretty disappointed, but now he's (yes, I still call the baby he) nonstop. I love it. The ability to grow another human being inside of you is so amazing. It blows my mind.
Tomorrow we find out the sex of the baby and once we do the next step will be to decide on a name.
We'll keep you updated!

It's Beautiful...

What am I gonna do with my daughter?

I mentioned in a previous blog that Charlie has yet again chosen her future husband. Seamus is the 7yr old older brother of one of Charlie's classmates. He's attending her school's Summer Camp program which is permitted because his sister is a student.

Charlie tells me often that she loves Seamus and she's serious, I mean as serious as a four year old can be. I certainly never anticipated discussing love and marriage with my 4yr old, but I listen to her and ask questions and I do my best to make sure she feels comfortable telling me everything... and boy does she ever!

Two days ago Charlie and I were talking about Seamus when I started laughing to myself.
What are you laughing at? She asked me with a smile on her face.
This whole thing is just funny to me.
What thing?
The fact that you love Seamus. I think it's funny.
A serious look crossed her face. Mom, the fact that I love Seamus is NOT funny.
It's not? I replied. If it's not funny what is it?
It's beautiful.

Happy Birthday...

...to me!!!

31 and counting :)

Charlie and Sierra

It's time for an update on my lovely girls.


I love this picture!!!

CC and SiSi are doing great this Summer.


Charlie is in Summer School and is having a ball. They're doing tons of activities at her school this summer which include Movie days, Sports days, Water days and- her favorite- Cooking days. I think she likes the Cooking day the best because she gets to wear an apron and one of my headscarves. She's also taking weekly piano lessons and daily swim lessons which are going really well. Her ballet class is out for the summer but that doesn't stop her from gracing us with a performance a few nights out of the week. I even took her on you tube to show her some real ballet performances- she LOVED them. She's also my little songstress. She makes up songs all the time and her favorite grown up songs are Keri Hilson's Knock You Down and Jill Scott's Do You Remember. She's still into princess movies and still talks about getting married but now it's Seamus that she's going to marry, not Sam. She loves going to church with me on Sundays and it's something that the 2 of us get to do together which is nice. Charlie's really excited about the new baby but has made it clear that she wants a little brother. She said, and I quote, "Mom, if there's a baby girl in your stomach then I mind, because I really want a baby brother." She's told me on numerous occasions that she "asked God" for a baby brother :). But she's also promised to be a good big sister even if it's a girl and she won't let me leave her room at night without kissing my belly. I'm so, so, so blessed to have a daughter like her.

Sierra is growing so fast. Her vocabulary is coming along and she pretty much has real conversations now. She LOVES to sing and dance and right now her favorite songs are from the Barbie Princess and the Pauper soundtrack... and Bow Wow's You Can Get it All- not the most appropriate song for a 2yr old to sing I know, and I don't even know how she picked up the chorus like she did, but if that song comes on she sure is in the back like, "Whoooo hoooooo, baby you can get it allll, you can get it allllll..." It's too cute!! She's doing really well with her potty training which I'm very happy about. She loves makeup and it isn't uncommon for me to check on her during her naptime only to find her in my room playing in my makeup, which I'm never happy about. Sierra is very sweet but very feisty. I'll repeat. Very. Feisty. She's in her "No" stage right now so many suggestions I make during the day are met with folded arms and either a flat out "no" or an "I don't want to". Of course she has to do what Mommy says anyway but she does try to put up a fight, albeit a losing one, when she doesn't get her way. Lately that's been a few times a day. It's weird because I've never dealt with this before, at least not with my children. Charlie had her times when she tried to test us but she must've been a faster learner when it came to figuring out who the boss in this household is because she has always been really well behaved. I don't enjoy disciplining Sierra but I have to force myself to be consistent with her. I'll be damned if I wind up with a 16yr old walking around my house like she's running things. But I digress. She's still such an awesome little girl. Like Charlie, she's taking swim lessons and her teacher, who was Charlie's first teacher, just loves her to death... But everybody loves her to death :).

I'm so fortunate. My girls are smart, sweet, loving and hilarious. They say and do some of the funniest things and Marcus and I are constantly looking at each other in disbelief at the things that come out of their mouths. They love us so much and more importantly, they love each other. They argue and fight but they have each other's back no matter what. When we're play fighting they always come to each other's rescue. And don't let another kid mess with one of them. We were at a function not too long ago at the home of one of Charlie's classmates and although Sierra was the youngest and smallest she was being really aggressive, taking toys, even hitting other children. Charlie shared with me the next day that after I pulled Sierra out of the kid's room and made her sit with me in time out, Charlie's friend told her that she didn't like Sierra and she wasn't going to be Sierra's friend. Now she had a point, I mean, I wouldn't like someone who came in my house and thought she was gon' snatch my toys and hit me either. Charlie's response was, "If you're not going to be my baby sister's friend then you're not going to be my friend." Even though I completely understood where Charlie's friend was coming from, I was really proud of Charlie for standing up for her sister.


Anyway here are some recent pictures of my daughters doing their thing.
Enjoy :)

Showing off their dance moves.


Making funny faces.




You've all seen this one :).




This was just yesterday during what was supposed to be naptime... Lipgloss all over her hands... and her face...



...and her body.


Look at that mouth. She used half a tube of lipgloss.


In Mommy's heels, they have good taste.

Hugging it out.

One of my favorites of Charlie at the beach.

SiSi chillin' in front of the TV.


Charlie after church last Sunday.

CC pumping gas with Daddy.

It's never too early to learn... soon Mommy won't have to do it ;).

SiSi & Daddy at the Dr. w/ Mommy last week.

The cuteness.

Working on their scooter and roller skate skills.

After swim lessons.

With their awesome swim teacher Miss Mako.

Ramblings about purpose, fear and REALLY living your life

I've always known that I was supposed to do something big with my life. Not necessarily something that would make me wealthy or well known, but something that would impact many people a major way. I just didn't know what that thing would be. In the meantime I've lived my life trying to be a good daughter, sister and friend. I've been supportive and loyal and I've given tons of advice... both solicited and, as my friends and family can attest, unsolicited :)...

Then I became pregnant with Charlie, my focus shifted, and I began to think that maybe I wasn't supposed to be the one to impact or even change the world... Instead, my role was possibly to raise the one's destined to have this great, positive impact on people's lives. So I threw everything I was into being the best mom I could be. Period.
Because seriously, raising the people who are going to "change the world" is a huge responsibility.

But the truth is, there is something that I am meant to do with my life, aside from being a great mom, and I found it! There were clues everywhere and this nagging voice that kept saying 'you should do this'. It took me a few years but I finally listened and once I did, wow, what came out was so awesome and exciting that I believed it had to be because I was finally walking in my annointing.

But even with all that there recently came a point where I was afraid that I was wrong. Even though I had done something that I knew was absolutely meant for me to do, even though it was work that I was proud of and I knew would be successful, there was this fear that presented itself and said 'What if... What if this is a waste of time? What if this isn't well received? What if you fail?'
Fear. A fear that almost stopped me in my tracks. Almost.

I came to realize that you have to live your life without being afraid of failure. That the people who are successful and who do the most good are those who take risks. That you must believe in yourself and know that there can really be no failure in going for the things that are in your heart and that you are passionate about. It's been about a month since the fear that almost stole my destiny has come and gone and I have been walking on air ever since.

I never planned on sharing this part of my journey with anyone. My plan was to just work hard and then dazzle you all with what I've been up to- which btw I still plan to do- But today my Uncle Frank died suddenly. He was young, had no health problems that anyone knew of, but while he was eating lunch his stomach started bothering him and he collapsed. My cousin CC who was home with him at the time called 911. By the time the paramedics arrived his heartrate was down to 20. They were able to get it to 80 before they loaded him into the ambulance but by the time they got him to the hospital he had lost consciousness and they never got him back. That fast, he was gone.

My point is you have to jump in and live your life, I mean really live it. DO the things that make you happy, that give you purpose. Make your mark on this world. And don't live your life being too afraid of doing the things that you know will bring you joy cause you never know when it'll be too late.

Anyway that's all.

Wait- no it's not!
If there are people in your life that are important to you make sure they know it! If you have children, if you have parents, tell them you LOVE them. I have 3 cousins who woke up today with a father that they could talk to and exchange I love you's with and when they go to bed tonight they won't have him. Seriously... don't take your time with them for granted...

Baby News!!!

You guys know how excited I am to be pregnant. What you may not know is my lack of excitement when it comes to having my baby in Okinawa. Not that I don't think there are great hospitals in Okinawa, I'm sure there are. But I wouldn't be having my baby at one of those hospitals, my child would be born at the Navy Hospital on Camp Lester. Now I've never had to go to the hospital here and I won't spend my time bashing the hospital because women are having babies there everyday it seems, but I just didn't feel good about it. I don't know what it is... I mean, could be the emergency room horror stories I've heard, or the post natal recovery horror stories that I've heard but something about delivering there doesn't make me comfortable. That said, I was thrilled when Marcus said to me, "Why don't we just have the baby in the states?"
So, there you have it, we're gonna have the baby in AZ surrounded by our families and friends who may as well be family. The girls and I will arrive in the states just before Thanksgiving, Marcus will join us at Christmas and we'll be there until late Feb. Dr. Webb, who delivered Charlie and who I absolutely ADORE, will deliver the new baby and I couldn't feel better about it.
I'm just looking forward to being home and getting spoiled by my Moms and Dads, ooh and stuffing my face with Aryn Murray's famous fried chicken, cabbage and yams... mmm, mmm, good.