Sunday, December 14, 2014

The Band-Aid Theory... Quick and Painless?

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who rip the band-aid off in a hurry because hey, if you're going to be losing a layer of skin it may as well be fast, and then there are those that slow but steady pain is less awful. For me, I'm the quick and it's less painful. That's how we're going to play catch up on this past year... Since I'm the world's worst blogger. That being said, does that mean that I'm not a blogger, just an occasional spouter?

Warning: lots of pictures!

I'll just start the highlights with James since he is everyone's favorite!














*Today he turned 14 months... How is that possibl


















*He turned one in October and had his first taste of chocolate... love at first timid bite


















*He started walking at 9 months and our apartment has yet to be the same... same with the dog



















*Favorite foods include bananas, avocados, pizza and mac and cheese... DNA is strong with this one



















*Flew to Utah over 4th of July weekend and he loved the window seat... happy baby, happy parents!







As for Jeremy and I, not much is different with us. Jeremy really likes his job and working at Epic. He travels every few months which means that I travel too! Off to the grandparents for James and I! Becoming parents has been the biggest blessing for us. We have a weekly conversation of how is it actually possible that two average humans can make such a miracle. Seriously, when you look at the really random DNA that could result, it makes you grateful for just how good your child turned out! Yes, we have gladly succomb to being those parents! 




 *I did my first 5K and we had a blast as a family!














Thursday, February 6, 2014

The Arrival of Sweet Baby James... Sorry It's A Long One!

So James is almost 4 months old which means... this post is long overdue! As they say, life gets crazy when you have a baby. Add to that lots of traveling and having to move, and you get a healthy dose of chaos as well.

James made his appearance on Monday, October 14th, which was his due date! However, I thought he was going to be arriving a little sooner. My contractions started on Saturday morning at 3:15am. I woke up and started getting excited, waiting to see if there was going to be another one and then another (I had a morning about a week earlier when I had some contractions, but then they stopped). Around 4:45am I woke Jeremy up because the contractions were still coming, though they were still around 10 to 12 minutes apart. We talked for a while, I had breakfast, and tried to be busy doing things to keep my mind busy.

At 6:00am I was just too excited and called my parents. I told them that I was having contractions (they were planning on coming up when I went into labor), but not to come just yet because they were still far apart, and they could potentially stop again. I was busy in the kitchen around 7:30am when my dad sent me a text saying they were in West Branch (about 35 minutes from their house), and would be at our house around 3pm. He said they were taking that 'leap of faith' I had been teasing them about the day before (I had said they should just come up because this was going to be the weekend the baby would come). That was the day I learned I really should watch what I say! :-)

Saturday passed rather slowly, mostly from waiting for my baby and parents to come (no offense parents, I was really rooting for the baby!). Jeremy and I went on a few walks to help speed up the contractions (I got my contractions down to being 7 minutes apart!), and then my parents arrived. My mom took me on a few more walks and my contractions continued to progress. By around 11:00pm, they were around 5 minutes apart! Jeremy and I were super excited (they'd been like that for an hour) so with a good bye from my parents (they were going to wait at home until things were closer to delivery), we headed to the hospital!

We checked in and I got all gowned up. I was so excited! Things were amazing, just as I imagined! The nurse came in to check on me, and asked how my contractions were going. I said how far apart they were but I noticed they had started to slow down a bit (I was tired and was resting on the bed). My nurse checked me and said that I was between a 1 to 2 cms. That was pretty deflating! REALLY?! After an entire day of having contractions, I had hardly dilated AT ALL!!! They let us stay for a few hours, but when I didn't progress they sent us home so I could continue early labor at home. So at 2am we went home. Jeremy and I went to bed, but it was hard to sleep since I was having contractions every 10 minutes (yeah, they were back to being that far apart).

Sunday morning we got up and had a nice breakfast, got cleaned up and started walking again. Something to add about all this walking: it was cold outside! Very windy and cloudy, so going outside was not something we enjoyed. We would come inside and I would keep walking around or do something in the kitchen (I know, how could there be anything else to do in the kitchen, but don't worry, I found something every time). As the day went on my contractions got harder and harder, but were still about 7 minutes apart. Then, finally around 9:30pm they really started to get stronger!

I took a nice shower to get some relief and then laid down to rest (I was pretty tired by this point). My contractions didn't slow down this time and they were continuously 5 minutes apart and difficult. At 11pm, I felt it was time to go to the hospital again, and this time I felt like I needed to go! I'll admit, this time I wasn't full of so much excitement because I was trying to survive that 15 minute car ride (women who have a longer car ride to the hospital, I don't know how you could do it! So painful!). We check in again, gowned up, got checked and was at 3 to 4 cms! That night, I was determined not to rest and have the contractions slow down again! It was around 1:30am when my parents sent a text saying they were in the waiting room because they couldn't sleep at home so they may as well wait at the hospital (I'm sorry people, I have the sweetest parents of all time).

Jeremy and I walked around the second floor ALL NIGHT LONG! I was having very painful contractions so I would get through a contraction and then we'd pop in and see my parents (I knew it was hard for them to see me in pain). Around 4am they went to the store to get Jeremy some breakfast and came back with a foot long sub sandwich for him, the most comfortable furry slippers for me to walk around in, and a stuffed bunny for the baby to come! Again I say, they are amazing and such a blessing to have around!

Skipping ahead to around 10am, I was to the point of exhaustion. I hadn't slept in two days, my contractions were absolutely killing me, walking was out of the question, I was too tired to sit on the birthing ball anymore, and I was falling asleep between my contractions, which were about 3 minutes apart now. The nurse came in to check me and I was at 7 cms. I was excited, but I knew I couldn't do it anymore. I asked the nurse about getting an epidural and she said she'd get the anesthesiologist. Jeremy had fallen asleep on the couch so I had the nurse wake him up when she left. I told him my decision, he made sure I really wanted it, and then the nurse came back with the man with the drugs that I was so in need of. Believe me, at this point it was no longer a want, it was a need! My anesthesiologist was VERY good, and by 10:30am I finally had some relief!

Now, those of you know know me know that I HATE needles. We will never be friends. Period. Does it tell you what kind of state I was in to have a very long needle put into my back? I still can't believe it myself!

I can't tell you what it was like to finally have some relief, to not feel any more contractions! I had the BEST two hour nap I've ever had! However, that was short lived. Two hours after getting the epidural, the nurse came in to say that my contractions were slowing down (because of the epidural I was now on a monitor), more than likely because I was no longer able to walk around (also because of the epidural), and she asked if they could start me on pitocin. At that point, I just wanted to have my baby, so I said yes, no problem.

Every hour got me closer and finally at 3pm I was on the home stretch! The nurse said I would probably be ready to push in an hour, and that even though I had an epidural I would probably start to feel some part of the contractions (turns out I felt them on my right side but not on my left... a little weird but whatever). By the time it was about five minutes to four I was ready to push and was just about to send Jeremy for the nurse when she walked in.

For me, pushing was the easiest and best thing about this whole experience! I only had to push for an hour! I had a great coach (Jeremy) and a wonderful nurse! When the baby's head first appeared Jeremy said there was hair on the head, which only made me want to push harder! I wanted to see this baby with hair! Finally, at 5:09pm, James Clayton West entered the world! Jeremy said "It's a boy!" and I said "It's a boy?! It was supposed to be a girl!" This is funny because we never found out what we were having, but were fairly certain we were having a girl :-) I had gone to two doctors and they thought it was a girl as well. So a boy was a surprise, a beautiful, wonderful surprise! He was immediately put on my chest and I fell in love with that amazing little creature! His story after this is anything but ideal, but he had finally made it here!

Poor baby! As you can see I'm happy he's here, but blue wasn't a good color!

Motherhood has been such an amazing journey! I look at my baby boy, and I think to myself "How is it possible for me and my husband to create such a perfect little baby?" I wonder where I would be without him, and it's hard to remember life without him even though its only been three and a half months. Baby. That word brings on a whole new meaning now.

P.S. Sorry there aren't many pictures... I need to get them organized! And by organized I mean I can't find them because they aren't on my camera! But here's the latest and greatest for your enjoyment :-)