Rachel 365

I am really excited about this site! Basically you upload a picture for each day of the year! I am hoping that I'll be much more consistent with taking 1 photo a day than I am at updating my blog every day/week.../month lol! Check it out! http://365project.org/rachel_dargis/365

Happy New Year!

I think that 2011 will be hard pressed to top 2010.... during the past year I graduated with my doctorate, we bought a home, an investment home, and I gave birth to Maddox Alexander! While I don't think 2011 will hold quite as many milestones, I know that it will hold just as many blessings! Coming up we have our trip to Mexico with Lucas' family, then I'll come back and study for, take, and hopefully pass the boards, and Lucas' parents will come for a visit and to help us fix up the investment home we bought. I am looking forward to watching Maddox grow and explore his world and all the blessings that come with being a new mommy! Here's to 2011! You love hanging with Dad...

and you are much happier now that you get your acid reflux medicine!

Maddox loves his Grandma!

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!