Revisit

As we're nearing the end of the year, it makes me reflect on all that has happened this past year. Around this time last year, I got pregnant - even though I wouldnt find out for another 5 weeks. Little did I know how much my life would change in one year. Here are a few memorable things that happened in 2011:

~ Tony and I both got professional websites up and running for our businesses (his photography business and my pet sitting business).

~ I found out I was pregnant during the last week of January.

~ I got horribly sick the first week of February... and it remained like that for FOURTEEN WEEKS (although I was nauseous through my entire pregnancy, those first 14 weeks were the toughest. I was finally prescribed Zofran and I was at least able to function).

~ I celebrated my first Valentine's Day with my husband.

~ At the end of April / beginning of May, Tony and I took an 18 hour road trip (36 hours round trip) to Durango, Colorado to visit his side of the family. The day before we left, we had our anatomy ultrasound and found out we were having a baby girl (even though her legs were closed tightly... we were given a 98% chance that we were having a girl)!

~ Our growing little minion became Miss Anistynn Grace (I came up with the name after my favorite actress, Jennifer Aniston, and Tony came up with spelling. Grace was always a name I had wanted for a middle name had I ever had a daughter; no special reason, I just love it.).

~ Celebrated Mother's Day by throwing up in the car on the way to lunch at the Charburger; baby girl was reminding me that indeed soon I would become a mother.

~ Celebrated Father's Day by having a picnic at Eagle Creek.

~ Tony was laid off in June from his job of over a year and a half. It was scary, but luckily he was only out of work for 2 weeks.

~ In July, Tony found a job doing the same thing (warehouse manager) at a different company, which turned out to be much healthier for him. Better people, better boss, better hours, less stress.

~ We did not get to go to Wallowa Lake this year as I was 8 months pregnant and Tony had just started a new job. 

~ We made the decision to move in August and ended up moving into our new place 3 weeks before my due date. It was stressful at the time trying to get comfortable in a new place when something huge and life-changing was also about to happen, but ultimately, it was the best decision. Our old place had too much space for our little family of 3 and this place is nice and cozy. Plus, we're saving $500 + a month, so that's worth it. We can put more toward our baby and more in our savings accounts.

~ At the end of August, we found out that baby girl was in the breech position. It was difficult because the safest way for her to come out was to have a C Section. In my birth plan, I had written down that I wanted to exhaust all possible safe options before having to have a C Section. So it took a little bit to wrap my mind around it but I was lucky because I had that time. At least it wasnt an emergency C Section.

~ On September 16, 2011, our world changed forever when our little Anistynn entered our lives. She was beautiful, healthy, and perfect. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. She is an amazing baby.

~ In turn, I survived having surgery and being in the hospital (plus going to all my doctor's appointments successfully) - something I was terrified of and always have been - so that was a real accomplishment on my part for me.

~ We celebrated our first holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas - soon to include New Years) as a new family of 3 :)

~ We traveled by plane (Anistynn's first flight) to Durango, CO, for a week so that baby girl could meet her daddy's side of the family.

~ Baby girl will be 3 1/2 months old at the end of this year and she has already grown so much. She's learned a ton and is so smart. She's a laid back baby who is a great sleeper. She has an adorable smile and I could cuddle with her all day. She is my everything, a part of me and Tony, and is the most important thing in the world to me - I would give my life for that little girl. 

It has been a truly life changing and amazing year and I am so blessed by what I have. I never ever take anything I have for granted and I recognize all my blessings every single day. What a wonderful life I have. I will never let that slip my mind even when times get a little tough. If we have each other and our health, nothing will stop us. 

Of course, thinking about first being pregnant at this time last year makes me think about being pregnant.... Obviously, being pregnant wasnt a walk in the park for me. Now that may have just been because it was my first pregnancy or maybe because I was having a girl.... ;) I mean, you can look back at my blogs and see that for the most part, pregnancy didnt mix well with me and I didnt have an enjoyable experience. I didnt have what some call the "pregnancy glow." But I did enjoy some parts - seeing her on the ultrasounds, hearing her heartbeat, and feeling her move. Boy, was that little girl active! Might explain some of her behaviors outside of the womb ;) I still feel like she will be an athlete or a dancer or something. Anyway, despite her really acting up at night and kicking me all to pieces, I enjoyed it. I loved feeling her in there. It was so alien, yet so wonderful. I felt like I could really protect her. Now that she's on the outside, I can only do so much, but while she was in there, I had almost total control. I always said I wanted 2 - 3 kids (and while I still hope to put at least a year or more between her and another child - I want to spend time with her, give her attention, and just enjoy who she is) I know I probably want to be pregnant at least one more time. BUT I just got my body back and I still want to heal completely, as best as I can, inside and out from the C Section before I put myself through pregnancy again. 

In the meantime, I guess I just have to put up with this postpartum hair loss crap. Ugh. Seriously, I feel like an animal with a bad shedding problem. I run my hand through my hair and I just pull out clumps. When I blow dry my hair, my blow dryer just blows it out!!! I hate it. The books say that it really starts around 3 months postpartum (so I'm right on the money) and can last all the way up until my child's first birthday. Lovely. I guess that's what I get for retaining most of it during pregnancy (which was nice, I have to admit). It's not like I'll go bald, but my goodness, what a pain.

Anyway, basically, I'm thankful. I'm thankful for my eventful year, my wonderful and hard working husband, my healthy beautiful baby girl, our home, our families, and our health.