5 years later!

Wowser! A lot of life has come and gone since my last post!

In the past 5 years we've had a son (a big surprise!), my dad had a major stroke that disabled him, we moved to a bigger city, I cut ties with my mother, and I started making and selling art and jewelery.

I will hit on each of those subjects in future posts, but for today I'll focus on the impetus for all the other changes...my son.

Sometime around Labor Day we took a vacation. We hadn't used any birth control methods since we were married 11 years prior.  Late September I began to feel awful. I assumed I had acquired the local stomach flu virus, as I was SURE I was infertile. 

This flu was horrible. I couldn't even lay down due to the nausea. I began to sleep in a recliner that was just steps from the bathroom. The only thing I could even try to keep down were freezer pops.  I had never felt so horrible in my entire life (and I had appendicitis and ovarian cysts in the past).

About week 2 of this plague, Mr. Kat Lady started to think outside the box. He suggested I may be pregnant. I laughed...and laughed...and laughed...and puked. I couldn't be pregnant after all this time!!!

I began to consider that I hadn't had my monthly this month (not immediately alarming, as I was irregular).  I reluctantly made a doctor's appointment.  I say reluctantly because just before the vacation I had seen my GP and he had warned me that because my TSH levels were balanced and I had recently lost weight, I may need to use birth control now.  Again, I laughed him off, as I was OBVIOUSLY infertile.

Nevertheless, I went to the lab, got my blood drawn, and made my way to the office upstairs. They called me back immediately.  The doctor knocked and walked in with a somewhat smug look on his face. He told me I was PREGNANT!!!! I must have looked exceptionally stunned, because he backed up and asked if I wanted to keep it. That snapped me into reality. OF COURSE I was keeping "it."

The next 9 months were a whirlwind of telling shocked people, dealing with severe morning sickness, and eventually bed rest until week 39, when it was time to evict him for both of our safety.

Come delivery day, I was confident in my birth plan (insert derisive laugh here), my doctor, and my birth coach's ability to help manage the pain/ I was not planning on delivering naturally with no pain meds. I may have even told the doc I wanted ALL the drugs.

24 hours of violent contractions, vomiting, and then decels in his heartbeat landed us in the OR for a C-Section.  And there he was, a furry little squirming bean.

The first months were rough, with me suffering a horrible case of PPD. Mr. Kat Lady was AMAZING and helped me get through it.  Whilst I was pregnant, my dad had suffered a massive stroke and eventually ended up moving in with us, which meant my mother moved in as well.  The added stress of my mother second guessing every parenting decision I made did NOT help my PPD.

When Ro was 10 months old we made a tough but necessary decision. We were moving to the city. Not the nearest city, we needed some space. We moved 400 miles away. I still contend this was the best decision we have ever made.

We ended up right around the corner from his godfather, who is amazing!!!! We celebrated his first, then his second, then his third birthdays here, and now we're looking down the barrel at number 4 and school is right around the corner. There will be MANY fun stories featuring my son coming up soon.

But for now,

Love and Life,
-Kat Lady

Ten Years Makes All the Difference: Age 21 vs Age 31

As I approach birthday 31 this coming June 2nd, I have been contemplating how much my life and myself in general are different from when I was a new adult at 21. So far I have come up with several comparisons, and I'm gonna share them with you. Feel free to add more in the comments!

Bedtime

At 21 I was easily able to stay up for long periods of time. I was always afraid I might "miss" something while I slept. When I finally slept, it was for long periods of time.

At 31 I know what I am missing. Sleep! No longer feeling the need to be available 24/7, I have become a creature of habit. I sleep at least 8 hours a night, thanks to some very nice pills. I am on a schedule.  At the same time, the schedule when I sleep varies from evening to morning thanks to the hubbs night working schedule.

Responsibilities

While I was married and had three or four cats back then, I really had nothing you could call a responsibility. I was sedentary and introverted.

Now, I have appointments, and Crochet Thursdays, and a car, and a yard to keep up. I don't have kids, but I do take the cat for a nightly walk. I have financial responsibilities that must be kept up with and I have to do it all and remain balanced mentally and physically. And I've grown up enough to accept that this is the way it is. It still SUCKS! lol

Body

I wish I could go back to the days of running around, and dancing painlessly around the bonfire. I could drink and not be feeling it the next day. My body was overweight, but actively working. I could sit around all day watching TV and sucking down Pepsi. No side effects but weight gain. Unfortunately I was very uncomfortable with my body.

Today I tend to overuse the Ibuprofen and have to be careful so I don't re-injure myself like I did a short while ago. Ironically I decided this year to try and get healthier and feel better. I quit soda. I started riding the exercise bike. I walk A LOT. And  my body is telling me I am betraying it...so it rebels. And I have learned to accept I am not going to be that lady to who lost 100 lbs. I'm a big girl, and I just want to be a HEALTHY big girl. And I am ok with it.

Friendships

We had a large group of friends and acquaintances in our early 20s. Our house was the house you went to when you wanted to hang out, eat good, and see your friends. The group was diverse and from many different places in society. It was all about having a good time.

We've tended to drift away from the "good times" friends and into more deep friendships. We basically have one circle of family-like friends, and a small group of confidantes, and a large amount of acquaintances we see occasionally. It's more about quality than quantity now. We still like to have fun, we just aren't desperate for it.\

Marriage

We had been married just over a month at my 21st birthday. It was still awkward, we had NO money, and lived in a tiny apartment. It was a very tumultuous first year, and my mom still hated Mike. I had to get used to doing something I had no prior training on, and that was awkward at first as well.

We just had our tenth anniversary April 26, and things have definitely improved. We live in a spacious house, can actually afford things, and we can have conversations just by looks. Mom has warmed up to Mike and they have their own dynamic now. And our intimate life? The sex has gotten better. Way better. Most of all we love each other more than the day we married.

What major changes did you experience in the years between 21 and 31? Leave a comment!