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Friday, January 28, 2011

Super baby

Dear Winston,

You know how when you lay a newborn baby on their stomachs and they just lay there, still and look so cute? Well, this is what happens when I put you on your stomach (please excuse my baby voice).




Already trying to crawl? What the... 

Thursday, January 27, 2011

A Birth Story Slideshow


Black and white photos by Larry Reeves
Song by Wilco- My Darling

Monday, January 24, 2011

I think it's time I blog again...

Winston, 
You are now a month old and I have decided to become a dedicated blogger once again. Time sure is flying and I seriously love you more and more everyday. I have so much to blog about your first month but we need to get ready to leave. Uncle Cole is leaving on his mission on Wed. morning and we are going to go help him with some last minute shopping! When he gets back in two years you will be a babbling fool running around like crazy... I hate that you babies grow so fast.
Until next time (very soon) enjoy these pictures taken by Larry Reeves when you were two weeks old.
Oh! And the pictures were taken on a blanket made by your great aunt Cherisse. There are spaces all over it for people to sign. I love it!







Friday, January 7, 2011

The Story: part three

Having my mom work at the hospital that you were born in was one of the greatest blessings. She made sure that I had the best Dr., nurses, and anesthesiologist.
When I finally decided that it was time to get the epidural I mentally prepared myself for the worst pain I had ever felt. I was shaking as the anesthesiologist prepped me for the needle. Steven was sitting in front of me and I kept waiting for the pain... Then all of a sudden the anesthesiologist said, "OK, you're done!" 
I don't know if I had ever been more excited. I could hardly even feel the needle at all and I didn't even know it was going in. Then a couple minutes later I could not feel the contractions any longer. Amazing. It really was such a pleasant experience and I want to be best friends with the anesthesiologist! (If anyone ever needs a good epidural, you let me know!) 
After the epidural I got checked two more times. The first time I was dilated to a 4 and the second time, not much longer later I was dilated to a 6. That was around 12:30 pm... 
After my nurse checked me the second time she told me what I should be feeling about the time I was ready to push. She said that if I felt a lot of pressure down below that I needed to call her. 
My mom and Steven were in the room with me and also some IT people... Apparently the computer that was monitoring you and me was not working so they were all in trying to fix it. About the time that they were in there I started feeling the kind of pressure that my nurse had told me about and I started getting really uncomfortable. However, I didn't want to say anything while the IT people were in there so I just sat there and waited. 
As soon as the male IT people left I looked over to my mom and told her that I was feeling a lot of pressure. Her response? 
"That's normal. You have to feel pressure to know when to push."
I was satisfied with that so I decided that I would wait a little longer... 
But, not even a couple minutes later I told her again that I was feeling A LOT of pressure. 
We then called my nurse into the room and she checked me and I was at a full TEN. The amazing part of this whole story is that I went from a 6 to a 10 in about an hour...
Just then my dad and all three of my little brothers walked into the room. I remember telling them multiple times that they needed to leave so I could get the baby out but for some reason they just hung out in the room for a while and made themselves comfy. Somehow someone finally got them to leave the room and my nurse told me that it was time for me to try pushing. Just then it hit me, I have don't even know how to push... I shared this concern with her but she walked me through it. After a few practice pushes we called the Dr. in and as she came in she said, "Holy SH**! You are ready to push!" You would laugh at this if you knew my doctor. She is incredible and so good at what she does. We were all surprised at how fast everything had gone but I think she was surprised the most. 
This is going to sound so weird but I loved pushing. I loved that I could hear my husband, mom, nurse, and Doctor tell me how great I was doing. I love being praised a little bit...
I remember the last push so well. I felt so strong. I had my eyes closed and I was so focused on pushing that the doctor had to tell me to open my eyes so I could see you. 
At 2:24 PM on December 22, 2010 you were born. You weighed 5 lbs 5 oz and were 18 inches long. I was doing a combination of laughing and crying and I could not take my eyes off of you. I could not believe that I did it and that you actually made it. 
As soon as you were born they took you to the other side of the room was to asses you. Since you were born early they had to make sure that you were OK. After a few minutes of checking you out, you were having some trouble breathing. 
They then unbuttoned the top of my robe and laid your little naked body on my chest and you just looked up at me. Those moments are some of the most precious moments I have ever experienced. There really are no words. It was surreal.
I remember that you just kept your eyes open and were looking all around. 
From that point on we had guest after guest come to see you and it was so fun. 
You have been here for 2 weeks and already I could not imagine my life without you. 
You are such a blessing in our family and we love you so, so much. 

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Story: part two

Continuation from previous post...
Your dad sat on the couch crocheting up a storm and everyone that came in the room could not help but comment on the creations he was making. They were pretty.
Somewhere between 5 and 6 am I got up to go to the bathroom and as soon as I got up I was convinced that I peed my pants and I immediately sat back down on my bed and told your dad what I thought I had done. I was embarrassed. However, I picked myself back up and and headed to the bathroom anyways.
A little bit later my nurse came back into the room to check me again and found out that water had broken all on its own! Even better news is that I was dilated to a four! Exciting.
Very shortly after that I started to really feel the contractions... They were so not fun. They were getting closer and closer and with each one I would cling to the side of the bed, talk myself through them, and make your dad squeeze my leg. I am not sure why but it seemed to help.
The nurse came in and asked me what my pain level was... Unsure of what to compare the pain to I said a four... Stupid on my part since that was the worst pain I felt during the entire process from beginning to end... Anyways, she asked if I wanted the epidural then and stupidly (again) I said no. I said no for two reasons. One- the obvious. I have heard more horror stories about the epidural than I have actual labor and I was a bit scared of the big needle so I wanted to put it off a little while longer. And two- on TV they make everything SO dramatic. Surprise! I was going to wait until I was screaming in pain until I got the epidural because that's how it happens on TV... (stupid)
So the nurse offered me something else that only lasts about an hour but "helps" with the contractions. I said yes.
Woo, the nurse told me that it might make me a little loopy but holy cow! I felt like I was totally out of it. However, I could still feel the pain of the contractions, I just did not care as much about them. My mind was in a totally different place. It was weird.
Around that time my mom came into the room to hang out (so grateful she was there) and when the medication started to wear off she convinced me to get the epidural instead of dealing with the contraction pains any longer.
Getting the epidural was one of the highlights of the whole experience for me...
To be continued. You are crying in your crib Winston so I have to cut this story short so I can dedicate myself completely to looking at you.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Story: part one

I started writing this when the baby was a week old. I decided that I am going to tell the birth story in parts since I want to include so many details and it is going to end up being way too ridiculously long... Enjoy!


A week has gone by since I had you baby boy. You are sleeping in my arms as I write this and to me, there has never been a more beautiful baby.
I wanted to write everything I can remember from your birth before the details fade. 
On Tuesday December 22nd I was expecting to head to the hospital around 9:00 that night to be induced. Your dad went off to work and I had the whole day planned for a lot of sleeping (being on bed rest makes anything else difficult to do). My mom was working at the hospital that day and around 10:00 that morning she called me and told me they had an opening and instead of going to the hospital at 9:00 pm we needed to be there at 2:00 pm that afternoon. 
I called Steven and began cleaning the house in a frenzy (yes, I did just use that word) even though I was still on bed rest. 
My head was spinning and I was so, so excited! I took a few last pictures of me pregnant, packed my hospital bag, charged the cameras and waited for your dad to get home.
Around 1:30 he showed up and we grabbed our stuff and left. I made him stop by Culver's for my last "pregnancy meal outside of the hospital" meal. I got a bacon cheese burger and a strawberry cheesecake concrete...
We got to the hospital and checked in and then the nurse came and showed us to our room. It was an unreal moment. Just knowing that we were not going to leave that room until we had you, seeing your little bed, and everything else was overwhelming. And I cried.
When we got settled in our new room and I stripped down to nothing but a hospital gown the nurse came in and checked me and hooked me up to an IV. I hate IVs.
My blood pressure was 150 over 106 (the worst that it had been) and I was one centimeter dilated and my cervix was still really thick, but you were really low. That was really the only good news.
At 4:00 that evening they started me on something that would soften my cervix for 12 hours.
We tried to keep that night really low key. My nurse (who I love), doctor, and mom told me that if my blood pressure got any higher they would have to start me on magnesium which apparently is horrible and makes you feel like you have the flu. I didn't want to take any chances and stayed on my sides, to ensure my blood pressure would not get any higher, so long that they actually got sore.
We had a few visitors and all of them were quite and I was not concerned about my BP rising... until my aunt Tiffany came to my room. She burst in singing and dancing and what have you. It was very entertaining and a nice breath of fresh air. Anyways...
I watched some re runs of What Not to Wear until my night nurse (who I knew previously to my stay at the hospital,  who was also awesome) came in and gave me some ambian. Amazing. I slept so well that night, even though I got woken up every hour to get my BP taken.
The next morning at 5:00pm I got started on pitocin to get the labor started. I was checked again by my nurse and found out that nothing had changed from the night before. I was still dilated to a 1 and my cervix was still thick... Very sad news to me.
Apparently nurse and my doctor contemplated re starting me on the medication that would soften my cervix again for another 12 hours... Even though they started me on the pitocin my nurse told me that I most likely would not have the baby until the next day...
Now in my mind since everything in my pregnancy had gone wrong for the past two weeks I was convinced that I would end up getting a c section...


To be continued...