Baby E's Due Date

For the last 9 months, today is the day we had been looking forward to in anticipation of Baby E coming! Things have been a bit chaotic here around our house but I've finally found a couple minutes and today seems like a fitting day to tell the rest of her story.

So I went into labor naturally and finally decided it was time to go to the hospital. It was 11 am when they checked me in and I was dilated to a 5. With A, I had been terrified of labor and delivery; this time was a lot less scary because I had an idea of what to expect. But this time also hurt a lot more because I had actually labored at home for seven hours first, whereas my first delivery had been entirely in the hospital! So as soon as I was checked in, I was asking for my epidural. Unfortunately the anesthesiologist was in an emergency c-section, so they told me it would be about half an hour before he'd be able to come.

The contractions started to get strong enough that I had to grip onto something and gasp "ow ow ow" over and over again until they passed. M was so sweet to hold my hands and let me squeeze them through the pain and cry. Finally the anesthesiologist arrived and brought magical pain relief with him. By the time the epidural kicked in, it was 12:30 pm. We had been at the hospital for 1½ hours and I was dilated to a 9.

My fear was that Baby Girl would come before the epidural was working, so I was thrilled that both of my legs were wonderfully numb by the time my doctor had everything ready for the delivery and said it was time to push. I didn't think to look at the clock, but I think the total pushing time was only 15-20 minutes and suddenly our beautiful baby girl was here!

Over the past 9 months, I had wondered over and over how I could possibly ever love this little girl as much as I love A. But the moment the doctor put her in my arms and I held her close to my chest, my heart felt so full! Once again, it was kind of surreal how instantly I fell in love with my brand new baby.

Her face was simply beautiful! Her features reminded me of A but with a gorgeous femininity. Although we had a little list of names we were choosing from, once we saw her we knew this was our Baby E that we had been waiting to meet! I wish I had words to express what an amazing moment that was for me and just how much love I felt for her. Laying in my hospital bed with M sitting in the chair right next to me and holding our little girl was truly amazing.

When they took her to clean and weigh, she grabbed the edge of the scale and tried to pull herself up! I loved watching M there at her side because he is the sweetest dad. He brought Baby E back to me after the doctor got him cleaned up and we all cuddled together. It was really nice because at this point all of the nurses and doctors left the room and let us have our time alone.

We were then moved from Labor & Delivery to the Maternity wing, where we would be allowed to stay for the next 48 hours but we were pretty much begging to be let go after 24! We had dropped A off at my sister-in-law's house when we headed to the hospital; then, after a few hours, my mother-in-law came to help watch him too. So by the time we were moved into our room and could have visitors, I was missing A like crazy and so excited to see him—and have him meet his new sister.

We wanted A to meet his Baby E before any other visitors and allow him some time to understand what was going on, so M left to go pick him up. They spent some time together before coming to the hospital. When they got to the room, I made sure to have Baby E in her little crib so that I could spend a few minutes with A too. Once he had lots of hugs, kisses, and attention from us, we had him look around and find his baby! He seemed partially fascinated but partially terrified of her. We knew it would take him longer than a few minutes to love having a sibling, but we made sure to capture some of the first moments—both the smiles and the tears! But overall, he has been sweet and gentle with her.

My parents had jumped in the car as soon as I told them I was in labor and M's parents live here in the area, so Baby E was able to meet all her grandparents, as well as her Auntie Kiera, on her first day in the big world. I was so grateful for our great families and their love and support.

Finally our 24 hours were up and we got to come home. I was so glad to be leaving because it meant we wouldn't have nurses and doctors waking us all up constantly. M loaded up the car while I got Baby E dressed in her cute "going home" outfit. We buckled her into her carseat and she just looked so tiny! She loved the car ride home and slept soundly to the movement of the car. A was at home with my parents and I was so happy to have my little family of 4 reunited in our own home.

Overall, I had been nervous of several aspects of this experience. But I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly it all went and what an amazing and special experience it was for me to welcome this beautiful little girl into our family.

Today Is The Day!

I have been feeling great {well, as great as a 9-month pregnant blimp in the summertime heat can feel...} and was 99.9% certain that I wouldn't be going into labor before the evening of the 15th, which is when the hospital had already so kindly booked a room for me to be induced.

But this morning, I woke up at 4 am with some discomfort. I assumed it must be Braxton Hicks contractions and kept trying to fall back asleep before another one would wake me up about twenty minutes later. Because I had been induced with A and got my epidural fairly early on, I realized that I don't really know what labor feels like! So I started getting nervous and told M when he left for work to keep his phone on, just in case.

Thanks to Google, I found some pretty good descriptions of what to watch for with labor and how to know if it was false labor or the real deal... but I was still so unsure and didn't want to drag M out of work and get A a babysitter just to be told it was a false alarm and have the hospital send me home. So I kept trying to wait it out.

Around 8:30 am, the contractions were 10 minutes apart like clockwork. Near tears, I called my sister-in-law and my mom to ask what they thought I should do... they both told me I should go to the hospital!

I kept debating and finally at 9:30 am, I put A down for a morning nap and called M to tell him I was probably in labor and that he should come home.

He rushed home and we grabbed a few things for us at the hospital and for A with babysitters, got A up from his nap and dropped him off at my sister-in-law's house, and then rushed off to the hospital.

We got here just before 11:00 am and I tried to act really calm when I checked into Labor and Delivery {but I'm pretty sure I looked like a total wimp trying to act nonchalant even though I couldn't breathe very well during the contractions...} and they brought me into the room and hooked up monitors to check the contractions and heart rates.

And guess what?! They didn't send me home. I reckon that means now it's time to have a baby!

Happy 4th of July!

We started out our Independence Day festivities by going to a cute little local parade that goes right in front of a family friend's front yard. We met M's family there and had VIP seats to enjoy the show!

A had a blast! He was fascinated by everything going past and especially loved that candy kept getting thrown at him. I have never been to a parade with so much candy! It was perfect for A's first parade!

Then in the afternoon, we met up with our friends Ammon and Lauren because A loves hanging out with their 3-year-old son, Logan. Older kids fascinate A and he always seems enamored when he gets to hang out with big kids. So he was in heaven!

We went to the Natural Curiosity Museum and the two boys played and explored until they were both exhausted. It was so cute to watch them {and their dads, who also tend to act like kids...}

After the museum, we stuck with tradition and had a delicious BBQ in our backyard.

Because he had been so terrified by them last year, I was curious to try fireworks with A this year... but he was so exhausted that he went to bed early instead.

I was really tired too... and fell asleep by 9 pm! {Poor M! Being roommates with a pregnant wife and a toddler doesn't really make for an exciting late night party!} But I woke up around 10 when I heard fireworks outside, so we went outside to watch the fireworks throughout the valley.

It was a great holiday! I'm so grateful to live in this country and for my cute little family!!

A at 18 Months

I can't believe this handsome little man is already 1½!

At his 18 months checkup, his stats are:

• Weight: 24.4 lbs.
• Height: 33 inches
• Diaper Size: He's moved up to Size 4.
• Clothing Size: He's wearing 18 Months.
• Likes: Talking about everything, learning and exploring.
• Dislikes: Being hungry or tired.

He's growing up way too quickly! He officially started nursery today and is so cute running around with the other kids. {Nevermind the fact that the reason we saw him playing is because he didn't last 10 minutes before the nursery leaders had to come get us because he was crying and didn't want to be away from mom and dad...}

Socially, he likes playing with friends and has started to interact more with the other kids during playdates or even at the park. But he is definitely a momma's boy and exhibits anxiety and a wariness around other grownups, especially if M or I aren't right by his side.

He is a lot of fun and is very expressive and animated when he talks and plays. He loves exploring and is energetic, but also willing to snuggle and cuddle with mom or dad while we watch a show. He gets very focused and serious when he is working on something but, overall, is a very content kid who is almost always happy. I have been very grateful for his sweet personality while being pregnant!

Verbally, he seems to be really excelling. He says words back as though he thinks we are having a real conversation; his comprehension is impressive! He loves doing puzzles, coloring and drawing, he knows almost any animal we can think to ask him, and he accurately says the basic ten colors. In fact, he loves to talk about what color everything is and has also begun to organize things by colors now as well as just putting similar items by each other.

Even when we play outside, he can't resist the urge to organize his toys!

He's a good eater and is almost just as happy to eat fruits and veggies as he is candy. Sometimes he's picky, but it has more to do with his mood at that moment and the textures of the food—particularly when switching from one texture to another, like eating bread and then suddenly a grape will cause the grape to be immediately spat out into my hand!

He loves his "nulk" {milk} and asks for it all day long—and gets very excited when we go through the milk aisle of the grocery store!

Because he loves milk so much, it's no surprise that he also absolutely adores "ike keem" {ice cream} and milkshakes!!

Although he used his bink to fall asleep at night, he gave it up really quickly... but that is mostly because one night we couldn't find any of his binks so he had to go cold turkey! But he adapted well after that first night and has been bink-free ever since. He also gave up the bottle really quickly—probably because he loves drinking his milk from a sippy cup.

But he is very attached to his blanket. Blankey goes everywhere with us and only gets washed when he is beyond disgustingly dirty because it's almost impossible to make A let him go.

Although it gets annoying dragging Blankey everywhere, I have been grateful he has something so comforting to him. We've tried talking about the upcoming changes to our family but A is still so young and doesn't really understand that he has a sister coming soon. Yet that change is going to throw off his world and it will be helpful that he has Blankey as a source of solace!

We have been loving the warm weather! A constantly wants to play outside and loves when we go to the park or are playing out in the backyard—especially since he discovered the hose!

We've made a few trips to local pools and several of our local parks have been putting in splash pads. Basically we're loving all the different options to play in the water on really hot days!

We have been trying to spend as much time with friends as we can before life gets a lot more complicated with a newborn. Despite A's separation anxiety and the way he acts shy around friends at first, he has a really great time once he warms up—and I just love seeing these cute little friends play together!

To celebrate his 18-month birthday {and to prepare for his baby sister coming in a few weeks}, today we moved him into his new "big kid" bedroom! We have a toddler bed for him... but he cries if we even try to get him to sit on it, so I guess he's not ready for that upgrade! Because of that, his crib got to make the move to the new room with him and we'll have to find something else for his sister!

I am so grateful for this smart, fun, spunky yet adorable loving little boy! I am so lucky to be his mom!

36 Weeks

Baby Girl is 36 weeks {only 4 weeks left... eek!} and today was ultrasound day! Normally M comes with me to all of my ultrasound appointments but unfortunately had a work conflict and couldn't make it work today. My mom and sister were visiting before Amy leaves on her mission next week, so they came with me instead! It was fun to share the experience with them.

I love getting to see her. According to the ultrasound tech, she's already measuring over 6½ lbs... I'm nervous she's going to be a lot bigger than A was when he was born!

{All of the pictures captured were so hard to tell what we were looking at!}

She kept putting her hand over her face so we didn't get a very good view. Even though the individual images the tech captured for us aren't amazing on their own, she spent a bit of time just letting us watch her moving. She kept trying to point out each thing she was looking at but everything just looked fuzzy and like a poor baby way too squished in there!

I'm getting more and more excited to have her here in my arms so I can watch her cute little personality for myself and not just on a screen!

Oh Baby!

When I was pregnant with A, I was so diligent in documenting the entire adventure... well, this second pregnancy seems to be flying by—and taking my brain with it! We're already up to 34 weeks and I feel like if I blink, this cute baby girl will suddenly be here!

I just want her to know that we are really excited for her to be here, even if I forget to document things and if I look frazzled in any pictures I do manage to snap {we can blame her big brother for making me like that!}

This is definitely the final stretch - only 6 more weeks to go! I am so grateful that I have had an easy and healthy pregnancy so far. And even more grateful that my doctor says our little girl looks healthy.

It's unbelievable how much I love this little girl and yet I've never even met her! I had forgotten how what an awesome connection I feel to my little babies while they are in my tummy. Apparently feeling her dig his feet into my rib cage repeatedly is a powerful bonding experience...

Speaking of documenting, I want to make sure to remember a few things because I don't have the most reliable memory. My pregnancy has been so easy. I had mild queasiness during my first trimester but was never actually sick the way a lot of girls experience. Second trimester was great and I repeatedly said I actually enjoy being pregnant. Now in my third trimester, the only unpleasantness I've encountered is never-ending heartburn {I am wondering if it's my own fault and related to the fact that I just crave sweet things constantly...} and being really tired {I'd be so happy if I could take multiple naps each day!}. I've had several friends who's pregnancies seem miserable but I feel lucky because mine is honestly fun.

I love feeling Baby Girl wiggle around. It's so crazy to glance down to see my whole stomach visibly shift with her movements. According to both the doctor and the ultrasound techs, she has settled herself pretty far down into my pelvic bone. And I can definitely feel that! It's a strange feeling but I think she's just excited to come be part of our little family.

Fortunately, I am tall enough and carry babies far enough into my mid-section to not look gigantic, but I still feel like I weigh close to 800 pounds! I'm so awkward trying to bend over and pick something up off the ground—and thanks to spending my day with a toddler, I get to attempt to pick up lots of things from the ground! So I'm pretty much awkward constantly.

It is so hard to get comfortable sitting on the couch or laying on my bed. Being pregnant is a fascinating experience. I'm so grateful that I get to have this experience... but I'm also really glad it's only for a few months and not a permanent thing!

Well, that's a lot of talk about babies. I love this kid and can't wait for the chance to meet her. As much as I'm excited to hold her in my arms, I think I'm more excited to see her meet her dad. I married the greatest guy and I am so excited to see how quickly his little girl will have him wrapped around her little finger!