Baby Girl: She's Here!

Today, I had a doctor appointment. Like I said I was worried about I had more protein in my urine and my blood pressure was pretty high so my doctor was worried and said I had two options: I could collect my urine for a whole day (this may be a TMI post, yes?) or I could go in now and be induced today.

After some convincing by my doctor (I was already dilating and had a "favorable cervix") and some hormonal tears I decided to be induced. I made arrangements for Tate for the afternoon and called Husband to have him meet me at the hospital.

I was checked in by 11 and started on pitocin soon after.  My contractions started pretty quickly and were coming about every 3 minutes but were pretty easy to handle. Around noon my doctor came in and broke my water. That's when the contractions started to get a lot stronger. I said this with Tate and I'll say it again, unmedicated birth...you ladies are super amazing. I was at a 7 and feeling lots of pain so I decided to get my epidural. From there everything progressed pretty quickly. A bit before 3pm I was feeling a lot of pressure so I had the nurse come check me. I was at a 10 and she could feel the head. My doctor came in a few minutes later and I started pushing with the next contraction. After two pushes during the first contraction, Baby Girl was born. I didn't expect her to come out so fast and it completely surprised me when they put her on my chest.

Brynn Linnea Heber
5 pounds 10 ounces
19 inches
Born at 3:04 p.m.

 

Heading home.
Apparently, T-rex arms are hereditary.

A Few (Mostly Baby-Related) Things

First, teaching a solely breast fed 4 month old baby to accept formula is not a battle I would wish on my worst enemy.  I was/am against formula.  I know that it is not the healthiest option for my baby but after I went back to work I wasn't able to produce as much.  Now Baby is never satisfied.  He wants to eat about every 2 hours (when I'm around).  Normally, I would contribute that to some sort of growth spurt but when it continues for over a month...  Anyway, we tried forcing him to eat it...for about 1 ounce (most of which ended up all over his shirt) and adding a little to breast milk (3 oz/.5 oz.).  He did better with the mixture but was not happy about it.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

Second, even though I think he's starving, look how chunky my little is.

Third, is anyone else about to die because of how cold it has been?  If I don't die from hypothermia the icicles hanging from the ceiling/bottom of the upstairs neighbor's deck may kill me.

Winter's spears of death

Fourth, how fast do baby finger nails grow?  For real I trimmed those things 2 days ago and this morning Baby has a chunk taken out of his forhead.

Okay, the "chunk" doesn't really look that bad but it was, trust me.

Fifth, is mine the only baby obsessed with cameras/cell phones?  The other day, Baby missed his evening nap and by the time he was tired it was way too close to bed time so I was keeping him awake.  That made him super ornery and he was making the funniest faces and noises so I decided to take out my camera and document it. As soon as he saw the camera he was fine and these are the only pictures I got:

Then this one from last night:

Sixth, can your baby do an assisted back flip?  Mine can.

That is not a face plant at the end

Seventh, I might be a little obsessed with my baby.

Last,  my mom had a birthday yesterday.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

I think my grandpa likes Baby.  Look how he looks at him.  Precious.

Courtney's 23rd

We celebrated Courtney's birthday today.  It was lots of fun to spend time with family and eat delicious food.  Happy birthday, Courtney!  We love you.

If someone tried to ruin your birthday, I'd ruin their life.

Mom made my grandpa hold Baby H.  Turns out Baby H. loves grandpa.  Look at that smile.

Baby loves his great-grandpa

37 Weeks & 5 Days -OR- The Day Baby H. Was Born

Well, Baby H. did not listen and stay inside of me for a few extra weeks so I could go off track before I had him.  This not doing what your mom says...let's not make it a habit, Baby H.  (Side note: I didn't mention this before but at my last appointment--Aug. 21--I was already 1 cm. dilated.  I should have known the baby would be here sooner rather than later but my doctor didn't seem too concerned.  He was still convinced I'd go over my due date.)

Here's the story:

I woke up like normal to get ready for work at 6:45.  As I was walking to the bathroom, I thought I was peeing my pants but for some reason couldn't stop it.  I figured out quickly that it was my water breaking. 

For some reason, I thought it would be okay to go into work and not worry about going in until contractions started.  Luckily, I called the doctor and he said to get to the hospital NOW!  I took that as "Take a shower and pack your bag.  Get here when you can." 

As we drove to the hospital, the contractions began.  I was expecting the first contractions I felt to be easy to get through...not these ones.  They were strong and they were happening frequently. 

We arrived at the hospital around 8 am.  They were not convinced that my water had broken (umm, hi.  I'm an adult.  I can control my bladder.  There is no other explanation for liquid leaking from between my legs.) but they kept me because I was contracting and Baby H.'s heart rate kept taking a nose dive with every contraction.

We were registered and ready to go by 8:15. 

And the contractions just kept coming...super close together.  (I have a high tolerance for pain but contractions...holy Hannah.  Those are intense.  Hats off to those of you who do it without pain medication.  You are amazing.)  The doctor checked me and I was dilated to a 2.  I was so disappointed...after all that pain and I was only a 2?  Luckily, the anesthesiologist was ready with an epidural.  (Those are magical.  I highly recommend them.)  Within a few minutes the drugs started kicking in and the contractions were nothing.

About an hour later, I was dilated to a 3.  I was excited that I was still dilating after the epidural because I had heard that some people stop making progress after they get an epidural. 

The nurse came back to check me about an hour later and I was at a 7.  Whoop whoop!  Labor was going beautifully...as long as you ignore the part where Baby H.'s heart rate kept dropping drastically with every contraction and the doctor began telling me how it was very possible that I would have to have an emergency cesarean...not fun.

Half an hour later I was a 9.  Baby H.'s heart rate was dropping into the 50s with every contraction and seriously scaring the nurses which in turn seriously scared me.  At this point there was less than a minute between contractions and I quickly dilated to a 10.  Because the contractions were coming so quickly and not giving me time to rest or Baby H. time to recover, the doctor gave me a shot of something to slow the contractions down.  After the shot, the contractions started coming about every 3 minutes allowing me time to rest between them but Baby H. was not recovering as well or as quickly as the doctor would like.

This began more serious conversations about the possibility of a cesarean.  The doctor told me he'd let me try to push for a little bit but if the baby didn't come out quickly we were going to have to have an emergency cesarean.  I wasn't about to let that happen.  I did 4 sets of 3 pushes and Baby H. was here...with the cord wrapped around his neck 3 times.  That would explain the heart rate dipping so much.  Thanks for scaring the crap out of us baby.

But, he's here and healthy and we love him so much already.

6 pounds 9 ounces
19 inches
Born at 11:57 am

Pizza Play Here We Go!

Husband and I took his nephews, R and Baby S, to Planet Play today for R's birthday. 

The entire time we were driving to Planet Play R kept saying, "Pizza Play, here we go!"  If I ever referred to it as Planet Play, he'd say, "No! It's Pizza Play, silly."  R was super excited.  Look at the excitement on his face.

The excitement even rubbed off on Baby S:

That's Baby S excitement...promise.

We ate first.  The pizza was actually decent.  I was expecting so sort of cross breed between Chuck E. Cheese and 5 Buck pizza.  Also, not a bad price for all you can eat.  P.S. if you're 60 or older...go Monday-Friday for $5 all you can eat pizza, salad, pasta and dessert buffet.  That's a good deal.  Plus! The restaurant is separated from the games. 

To get the boys to keep sitting while Husband I and finished eating dinner we gave them ice cream cones.  Not so sure if Baby S knows how ice cream cones work.

Use your hands like a spoon?

Let it melt and drink it?

R was a pro though.  "Take a picture of ONLY my ice cream cone.  I'll hide my face."

"Take a picture of my mustache."

After we ate ice cream we went to wash up in the bathroom.  Turns out these hand dryers are terrifying.

Who knew?

We played and played and forgot to take many pictures. 

It was a fun, exhausting day.

Happy (late) birthday, R!

Pretend Today is April 27th

So...I'm a horrible mother of a toddler.  I forgot this chubby, drooly, sometimes incoherent baby's second birthday.  I am so so sorry, baby blog.

I will try really hard to never forget your birthday again...but I can't promise anything.

Last year (when I acutally remembered my bloggy baby's birthday), I did a year in review.

Since I did a year in review on January 1st, I don't think I need to do one again because...let's face it.  I haven't been the greatest of bloggers lately.

So here's what's going to happen...I'm going to predict-o-blog.  That's right...predict-o-blog (copyright pending). What does that means you ask?  Basically, I'm going to pull a Miss Cleo and write things that (I hope) will actually happen...pretty sure it's basically like the Secret but without reading the Secret.

May

~Even better Cinco de Mayo party than last year.

Fake mustaches and sombreros.  What could be better?  Hopefully you'll see real soon.

~Students take (and pass with amazing scores) the CRTs.
~Spring finally arrives in Utah.

June
~Summer arrives, 6th graders start stinking up a storm.
~Go to Manti again.
~Make a countdown chain to the last day of the school year.

July
~Last day of the school year!
~Read a bunch of books.
~See the midnight showing of last Harry Potter movie.
~Attend Movies Under the Stars.
~Farmer's market.
~Meet someone new.

August
~Enjoy the last few weeks of my summer break.
~Paint my house.
~Be more awesome.
~Camp
~Have an epically awesome first day of school.

September
~Celebrate being married for 2/3 of a year.
~Have good ideas regarding my blog (this idea = bad.  I'm bored...you're probably bored.  Stop?)

October
~Get excited for Halloween (and a couple's Halloween costume!)
~Go off track.
~Have an excellent couple's Halloween costume...win some sort of contest.

November
~Thanksgiving!
~Kiss Husband lots (only in November....sorry Husband.)

December
~Christmas!
~Think about having a baby sometime next year...probably not though...sorry Court & Dev.

What I Love...Day 23, 2011

I love...

Ryan.  Happy birthday!

Look at him ladies.  He's smoldering and single.  Comment if you want me to hook you up.

There are so many reasons why I love Ryan.  Here are just a few:

1. He helps keep my mind occupied when someone's driving is about to kill me.

Scared for our lives while driving to St. George.

2. He has good ideas.

How you have to stand in the rest stop bathroom so you don't get any bodily fluids on your clean socks...instead of wearing shoes.

3. He never says no to me.

The Trifecta glittered their toes.  I asked Ryan if I could do his...what do you think he said?

 4. He's got some sweet dance moves.

 5. He's got mad hops.

 6. He's only tried to murder me once with an ax (kidding....it was 3 times).

 7. He laughs really hard at my jokes (that's probably not why he's laughing in this picture but I'm saying it is).

8. He's really good at imitating art.

9. He looks super hot and smart in glasses.

 10. He sometimes ruins perfectly good pictures.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

11.  He has funny stories from work. 

If you ever run into Ryan, ask him how he burned all the hair off his arm.

 12.  He thinks it's funny to bite me.

At least that lady in the back was enjoying it.

 And last, but not least,

13. He is an excellent friend, amazing cook, good kisser (not that I know, I've just heard stories), funny, smart, honors his priesthood, is the life of the party, wears nice clothes, likes and reads my blog...I could go on but I'll stop.

Right to left:  Good friend, crazy smile me, butt head who can't think of anything better than bunny ears.

He truly is an amazing person and I'm grateful to know him.

Hope this is the greatest birthday ever, Ryan!

What I Love...Day 8, 2011

I love...

Jaynee.  Happy birthday!

A Very Merry Un-Birthday to You!

We celebrated Jaynee's Half Birthday (which I realize is different than and un-birthday but that's the title, okay.  Give me a break!)

This half birthday was really just an excuse for me to bake a baby into a cake.  (Remember the first time we baked a plastic baby into a cake?  I do.  It was awesome!)


I forgot to get a picture as I was drenching the baby in cake batter.  Here is it's little plastic baby arm.

And here is the plastic baby is baked into cake goodness.

Cakes are a lot more difficult to bake babies into than cupcakes.  I had a horrible time trying not to cut the baby when serving the cake.

 Jaynee with her cake and a pineapple.  What?  You don't always have pineapples at your birthday parties?

Jayson got the baby!  But didn't notice.

He won a pineapple because that is a logical gift for a Half Birthday Party.

Jaynee could balance the pineapple on her head without support from Brandon.

Hope you had the happiest half birthday ever Jaynee!