The Arrival of Baby Maddox

We're parents! Maddox Alexander Dargis was born on October 27th at 11:17am. He weighed 7lbs, 4ozs and was 20.5 inches long! He took his mother quite literally when I joked that he needed to come early as I like to be punctual! Lol! On Tuesday afternoon I had an appointment with my Obgyn; she checked me and said I was still 1-2cm dilated (like I had been for the past 2 weeks) and reminded me that most first-timers go past their due date. Later that evening when Lucas & I went for a walk, I told him it was a reality check... I'd been hoping so much that he would come soon because I was so miserable but that I needed to just accept that I was going to be pregnant for another 2 & 1/2 weeks.... my water broke that morning at 4am. I still would have liked to see my face when it broke and my eyes popped open... maybe when I get to heaven I'll ask God to replay that for me. So I was sure my water had broken but Lucas was somewhat skeptical... he said "are you sure you didn't just pee yourself?" (the Ob had just informed us that day that uncontrollable pee was in my near future). After he stripped the bed and could see/smell for himself that there was no pee, he seemed to come around. We started to get our things together but since I wasn't having contractions yet, we decided to eat breakfast (since we'd been told you don't get to eat until afterwards) and call/email our families.
So about 40 minutes later with my contractions in full force we headed directly to the hospital. When we got there they verified I was indeed in labor and then took us to the labor and delivery room. After a million questions and some pretty intense contractions that were already coming less than 2 minutes apart, they checked and said I was 4cm dilated. I held out for another hour or two (don't really remember) when I finally said I needed the epidural. I honestly think knowing that I didn't have to be in pain was just more than I could handle, plus having a 30-90 second contraction every 2 minutes or less, it was just happening so fast that I didn't feel like I could catch a break. So I got the epidural at 6cm... all I can say is drugs are amazing and I couldn't ever imagine having a child without one now! I went from shaking with pain to playing spider solitaire while I waited for the next 2 hours to pass. 2 hours later they checked me again and I was 9 1/2cm dilated; they said they were going to set up and then we would start pushing... I can't tell you how surreal the whole experience was. I had anticipated being in labor for hours and being late, not being early and having a child in 6 1/2 hours! The pushing was hard; mostly because I couldn't feel the contractions to really push into. The only way I can compare it is like trying to have a bowel movement when you don't feel like you need to have one. Then at 11:17am Maddox was born.
He was born with the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around his neck, he was blue, and he wasn't breathing. Those were the longest 3 minutes of my life. We anxiously waited while 4-5 nurses huddled around Maddox and pumped oxygen into his lifeless little body. All I remember was pleading with God "please, please" I was so scared that I had carried this little man in my womb for the past 9 months and pushed him out and that I would never get to meet him. Fortunately, God heard and answered my prayer and he began to cry. So there you have it. The abrupt and fast entrance of Maddox Alexander into the world! He is so precious and perfect in every way and we are already blessed and forever changed for having him.

10 ways you know you're REALLY pregnant

10. You pee, oh, 40 times a day.
9. 12 hours of sleep is not a luxury, it's a necessity.
8. You've adopted the "kangaroo pose" with your hands perched on your belly.
7. You have absolutely no doubts that ice cream is a perfectly acceptable source of calcium.
6. Your husband tells you you're the cutest pregnant woman ever to which you promptly respond to by bursting into tears.
5. You laugh at other people when they tell you they're pregnant.
4. Your doctor tells you that +1 pitting edema in your ankles is really "pretty good for this point in pregnancy"
3. You start to think about ways to punish your unborn child for making you so miserable (don't pretend you didn't fantasize once about popping that little sucker on the bottom!)
2. You try desprately to pick things up with your toes so you don't have to bend over.
1. You dream about giving birth to things like tube socks.

Dear Baby Dargis

Dear Baby Dargis,
I can scarcely believe you will be here in 8 short weeks! (you know how mommy likes to be punctual, so don't get any ideas!) You are already super active, stretching and doing sommer saults all the time! I make jokes that you are already your dad's son because you never sit still. You've been getting the hiccups a lot lately which right after I get annoyed that you are keeping me from much-coveted-sleep, I smile because I know that it means that you are healthy and developing normally. You prefer my right side, which your dad jokes is because the left side is "the ghetto" of my womb... I tell him he's ridiculous. Unfortunately my right side is where my appendectomy scar is and has caused me a lot of pain. The doctor says it's because the scar tissue is stuck to my abdominal muscles which has caused tearing... this is also why I'm dependent on this ridiculous belly brace, which lets face it, is not the most attractive accessory! But even on the days when I hurt a lot and your dad has to push me off the couch, I know through every moment of every day that you are worth it. :)

Everyone is very excited for your arrival... your adopted aunt Amanda is coming to see you right after your born and your Grandma and uncle Kyle are coming to spend Christmas with you. And then of course, all the Dargis clan plans to oooohhhh and ahhhhh over you in Mexico, your first trip outside of the country! You'll get to meet your cousin Gabby then too! Unfortunately, you'll have to wait longer to meet your cousin Lane and your aunt Shelly and uncle Shannon, but they are just as excited to meet you via skype! Not to mention your Grandma Joyce is going to take time off work (a very big deal) to come help you get settled!

Your room is almost completely done which your dad says is the nicest room in the house... which might be true because none of the others are really finished yet. We get more and more ready to meet you with each passing day; your dad tells me frequently to "hurry up and make him a baby!" :) I already get teary eyed thinking about the day I actually get to hold you... and then I full on cry when I think about how quickly you'll grow up. We can't wait for the added joy and blessings that we know you'll bring to our lives.

We love you and can't wait to meet you.
Love,
Mom & Dad

Ticking right along...

Well, I started to feel bad that it's been so long since I've updated... but I refuse! I have been way too insanely busy!

I have been working between 40 and 46 hours a week at my internship which has been at High Point Regional in the outpatient pediatric setting.... while I am exhausted, I have loved it! I really think if I can find a pediatric job that it's what I'll end up doing... the kiddos are so fun! I have also been trying to put in extra days on the weekends so that I can finish at 38 weeks instead of 40 or 41 which was my original finish date.

Speaking of kiddos, ours is doing well... he is getting big and the Drs say that according to his ultrasounds he looks super healthy... and has big feet. I guess that runs in the family. :) He has been kicking up a storm and we are slowly getting more and more ready for his arrival... my mom and sister painted the nursery for me, I have a crib, and finally got registered for all the knick-knacks we will need. If you are wondering, we are registered at Babies R us and Amazon.com.

In other news, my brother Sean has come to live with us. He is currently looking for a job and trying to get settled in a new place. Pray for him if you think of it that he will find happiness in living a different kind of life. Lucas' parents have decided to move to Colorado instead of Arizona (yay!) and will be moving there in a few short days...

I think that is pretty much the highlights... I will try to be more regular about posting, but don't hold your breath! Here are some pics!

Baby Lemon!

I am 14 weeks tomorrow and apparently baby Dargis is the size of a lemon this week! That makes me feel a little bit better about my pants getting tight. :) Not a whole lot is new in the NC Dargis branch... we got a new (to us) washer and dryer today which is very exciting as our washing machine had been sitting in our kitchen nook for the past 3 months b/c it sporadically leaked. So today we got new ones and actually got to close the laundry doors! Yay! It's amazing how large the kitchen nook looks now! We are still working on putting the finishing touches on the kitchen; I painted the last couple of doors today and only have a little more cabinet painting to do. Then we will tackle putting up the tile backsplash and then painting the kitchen and nook. It is slowly starting to look like a home... and I am slowly finding everything in our house a place to go. It is a bigger challenge than I had originally thought it would be. I even put up some pictures this week! :)
I only have 2 more weeks of classes before I start my internship; it's totally surreal that PT school is coming to a close already!
In extended-family news, my sister-in-law Carmen graduated medical school this week and is officially the first Dr. Dargis! We are super proud of her! Also, my youngest brother Kyle made national honor choir and will be performing in Washington DC this summer. It is really good timing because his concert will be right around the time Michelle, Shannon, Lane, Mom, and Kyle will be staying with us for a couple of weeks, this way we can all go support him!

Internship news

So the last week has been an emotional, physical, and academic rollercoaster. On Monday I started my independent study in pediatrics. It made sense for me to study pediatrics since half of my internship would be with kids and I've only had a few courses on working with them. It was a glorious 2 days of sleeping in until 10 every morning and studying at my leisure. Well yesterday the director of clinical education calls me into her office so we could "discuss how to proceed with DPT805" (which is my internship). When I get to her office, she informs me that I will be unable to complete my internship in the origninal location, as I will not be physically able to do the required amount of lifting for the second half and that they had no other place to put me for those months. So she and I conclude that we need to find an internship site where I would be seeing exclusively outpatient musculoskeletal patients. With that in mind, I decide that it no longer makes sense for me to study pediatrics if I won't be seeing them anymore, so we get approval and switch me into the orthopaedics selective. Well, after tears, class manuevering, and reality hitting me that if she can't find me a spot I may not graduate, I leave only to find an email in my inbox from my original site saying that they have found me a slot in an outpatient, musculoskeletal setting for the second half! Praise God! Only now I'm not studying pediatrics and I will actually be seeing pediatric patients for the first half. Oh well. So there is school drama for you.

On the pregnancy scene, I will be 11 weeks tomorrow and I feel great! I am starting to tell that I have more energy and require slightly less sleep! I've been fortunate to not really have any nausea or vomiting, only indigestion and burping. And a bizarre ongoing craving for BBQ potato chips. :) Well, that's all I've got for now!

Exciting News

Well now that we've told our close friends and family, it's time to let everyone else know that.... I'm pregnant!!!! Today I am 9 weeks and 3 days. I have been very fortunate to have no morning sickness and minimal nausea. Mostly, I am just exhausted all the time. My due date is November 11th which should hopefully work out just in time for me to finish my internship, take 2-3 weeks off, go back to class for 1 week, and then graduate in December! Can you tell this was a planned pregnancy? ;)

On April 2nd I turned 27 and had a wonderful birthday dinner with several of our close friends. We announced that I was pregnant and everyone was super excited for us (or pretended to be!) Then on Saturday Lucas "kidnapped" me for a fun-filled day of "funtivities". We headed down to Charlotte to go shopping at Ikea and then Lucas got us a hotel room at the Grandover hotel in Greensboro. He also surprised me with a massage, but unfortunately b/c I am still in my first trimester they wouldn't do it. But he gets points for trying! I basically couldn't have asked for a better birthday!

In other news, we finally got the kitchen almost entirely put back together. We finally got our appliances in and installed, painted the cabinets black, and got the granite installed. So far we are very pleased with the results! We still plan on applying a tile backsplash, painting, and putting the hardware on the cabinets, but one thing at a time!

Today we had our yearly Roberts birthday gathering and this year we hosted it at our new house so everyone could come see. Dad & Joyce, Shannon, Michelle, & Lane, Heath, Melynn, Katie, & Abby, Aunt Pat & Uncle Howard, Aunt Teresa, Grand-daddy & Nancy, Ann, Sandy, and Harry all came... We had a house full! There was lots of good food and great company! We were also blessed with some very generous house-warming gifts!

All in all, life is going really well for the NC Dargis branch! We are happy, healthy, and extremely blessed... and excited!

Fell off the map...

To all my avid readers out there... sorry I fell off the grid for awhile, I kind of forgot I had a blog! Not really, but it's been long enough since I wrote. In the last month we have been busy tearing down wallpaper, painting, replacing light fixtures, cleaning up the yard, organizing, and getting the kitchen ready for it's overhaul. We've decided to replace the appliances and get new countertops which will change the location of the stove. Where the stove is currently really breaks up my functional counter space, so by moving it to a different location, we are hoping to reclaim some of the counter space. Unfortunately (like almost all remodels) it is turning out to be a minor nightmare. So about 4 weeks ago I went to Lowes, talked to an "appliance specialist" and ordered a slide in gas stove and a downdraft to go behind it. (we are moving the stove into our bar so can't have a traditional vent over top) Well.... 7-10 days later my appliances arrive... yay! Well, the guy who is doing our construction starts to go to work and then realizes that these 2 appliances won't work together... the slide-in stove was the exact depth of the counter, leaving no room for the downdraft behind it. SO after a lot of debate and trying to zig when we thought we were going to zag, I return to Lowes, order a cooktop and a wall oven, and ask them to pick up the slide-in stove on Monday.... Problem solved right?
On Sunday, when our construction guy is trying to measure things out, he takes the downdraft out of the box only to discover (drum roll please) that it doesn't have a blower! In other words, nothing to suck the air down!!! Are you kidding me?!?! So not only did the guy at Lowes sell me 2 appliances that can't work together, he sold me a downdraft with no blower... SIGH. So I return to Lowes, tell them to order me one WITH a blower and to pick up the other one when they come get the stove. Well.... that was over 2 weeks ago and my new appliances are still not here and not expected to be here until Thursday or Friday (so they say). In the mean time we have our construction guy on hold and our new granite on hold... all ready to go, but nothing can be finished until my stupid appliances show up! UGH!!! I know that in the end it will look really good but in the mean time I'm so frustrated!
In other news.... hmmmm.... I'm still in school :0) Only 4 more weeks of these classes, then I get to do an independent study in pediatrics and then my 6 month internship! Can you believe I'm so close? I can't! Here are some pictures of the kitchen in progress, and the finished living room and dining room. Enjoy!

Finals, finals, and, you guessed it, more finals!

This week has been so annoying. 3 finals and 1 practical. Thank goodness I only have one more to go! Fortunately thus far my grades have turned out better than I anticipated... all A's so far! Other than finals not much has been happening in the world of Rachel & Lucas. We are trying to figure out how to best spend our tax refund to remodel the kitchen. Obviously it won't be a complete overhaul but it definitely needs a face lift. This weekend my dad and step mom are coming to see the house and to help us repair the sheet rock that came off whilst I was tearing down the wall paper (SUCH a pain and yet somehow gratifying at the same time). My dad is a carpenter so that comes in handy in times such as these... now if only Lucas' dad (who does heating and cooling) could come help us hook up our future gas stove! :) Maybe next week I'll get to paint! Wouldn't that be fun?!

January Happenings

What an insane month! After a great trip to AK for the holidays we returned home to a crazy month. We packed up the house we were renting, closed on our new house, and moved in! Then last weekend we returned to AK to see Rachel (Lucas' sister) married off! That was an insanely quick trip of only 4 days and approximately 40 hours in transit! Ugh. But it was a beautiful wedding and so great to see everyone. We also got to meet both of our new nieces this week, little Lane and Gabby.... so adorable! This week it is back to reality with one final this week and 3 next week... then module 9 comes to an end! I can't believe how quickly December 2010 is approaching! Here are some pictures!