little man

This little man is my favorite thing. Ever.

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one week

Today this little baby of mine is one week old. It has been the strangest and happiest week ever. I'm exhausted, I'm recovering from being run over by a truck (essentially) and my hormones are going crazy but this little boy is so worth everything and more. He is the cutest thing in the entire world and I just adore him.

Labor and delivery was super easy, for labor and delivery anyway. My water broke at 4:00 am on January 2 and I was dilated to a 3 when we got to the hospital. They put me on Pitocin at around 6:00 am. About 8:00 my contractions were strong enough and painful enough that I wanted the epidural so I got that around 8:30. The nurse checked me shortly after that and I was a 6. Just then, the rest of my water broke (I guess it can happen more than once if part of the amniotic sac remains intact initially? I don't know) and I dilated to a 10 within five minutes. My epidural wasn't quite kicked in and I felt enormous pressure (and pain) as the baby's head started descending rather quickly through my pelvis. My doctor wanted me to spend about an hour "resting and descending" without pushing so the baby's head could come down through the pelvis and birth canal on it's own, reducing trauma to both him and to me and allowing for more natural stretching. So we just hung out for about an hour and a half and I had stopped feeling anything and was rather giddy. It was kind of fun. The nurse came back and could see his head so she immediately called in the doctor, who got there about 20 minutes later. We started pushing. It took ten minutes and four contractions and he was out at 11:05 am. Not bad at all. They placed him on my stomach for me to dry off and it was so fantastic and surreal and emotional and he was screaming and I was crying and Sam was so excited and I'll never ever forget it. 

Thanks for all your congratulations, my dear family and friends and readers, both here and on facebook and through text and email. I love you all. And now I have a hungry baby to go feed. 

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happy new year

We welcomed this delicious bundle at 11:05 this morning. His name is Carter David, he weighs 7 lbs and 7 oz and he is 19.5 inches long. AND WE LOVE HIM.

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37 weeks

Sam took this picture and then said "Wow, you are very pregnant." Yep. I am.

Guys, 37 weeks means full term! Which means any day now! I am totally ready. My sewing projects are all done, my house is all clean, there are meals in the freezer, the baby clothes are all washed and put away, the hospital bag is packed, the car seat is installed, plus my legs are shaved (for the moment). I am dilated 2 cm and 60% effaced already and the baby's head is low down. Let's get this show on the road! Unfortunately, I haven't felt any strong contractions yet, but still. They could start any time (like tonight, please).

Anybody have any fool-proof labor starting techniques?

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the nursery

So the baby's room has been mostly done for quite awhile, just waiting on some finishing touches. You can see how this room previously looked as our fake guestroom here. It is all finally done now and time to be blogged. Drum roll please.

Ta-da! The crib is from Ikea but we got it slightly used from ksl.com. I painted it and the dresser (which we already had) Dolphin Grey from Glidden which happens to be much more purple than grey in certain lights. Poor baby boy. Since the paint was a free sample, there was no repainting. Please. Like I buy paint. The afghan was made by my late grandmother and inspired the rainbow theme. The map and the rug we already had. My mom gave us the hamper since she wasn't using it.

The crib mobile I made from paint chips (free) and an embroidery hoop from the craft store. It was kind of pain but I like it a lot.

The diaper pail was a baby shower gift. The dresser as I mentioned, we already had. It used to be my great grandmother's and was handed off to us when we got married. I repainted it and used white spray paint on the handles. The changing pad was given to us.

Most of the frames we already had or I got at a thrift store. The artwork was either printed for free or we already had except the Star Wars one at the top. That I bought for Sam from Etsy. I got a cardboard B from the craft store and wrapped it in yarn I already had. B is not baby's first initial (we don't actually have a name yet) but it does stand for Baby and Boy and our last name which starts with B (I'm reaching a little, I know).

This is my favorite spot in the whole house. The rocking chair is soooo comfortable and we found it for $5 on craigslist thanks to a quick text from Sam's sister.

The bookshelf we already had and the books are a combination of already owned books, gifts, and thrift store finds. I couldn't resist the delightfully soft stuffed panda for $5 at Kohl's and the stuffed Yoda and Millenium Falcon I gave to Sam for his birthday. The baby keys were a gift. The stuffed owl I made myself out of a sock using this tutorial. The globe, camera, and birds/cage we already had.

The pom-poms you may remember were made by Sam for my surprise rainbow birthday!

The valance I made using this tutorial and cost $6 or so because I already had the fabric.

The pillow, nightstand, lamp, piggy bank, and Eiffel Tower we already had and the baby monitor was a gift.

Those closet door knobs were a weird coppery/brass color so I spray painted them white also.

The back of the Happy Birthday banner Sam made for my birthday.

So there you have it! Total cost to make this a baby's room? Less than $100. Probably closer to $70-$80. Not too bad I say. Now if only a little baby lived here already...

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35 weeks

It's more like 35 and a half weeks at this point, mostly because I hardly ever wear anything but pajamas anymore so it's hard to have a good photograph day. Comfort is key these days as I have a pinched nerve beneath my right ribs and some serious back and round ligament pain. Also I'm usually quite short of breath. On the other hand, I've had a ridiculously easy pregnancy up until now so I think that I am just going to be grateful for that and grateful that I'm almost done and so close to meeting my little baby love. And super grateful for my husband man who is quite tender and concerned and anxious to make me as happy and comfortable as possible. A man to keep around for sure. On a slight sidenote, watching Sam and Baby delightedly interact by prodding and kicking one another is possibly the best thing about pregnancy.

We had a great Thanksgiving last week. I hope you all did too! We hosted our first one since being married and had Sam's sister and her fiance over. It was small and our guests brought half the food so it was a nice low-key first hosting. Sam made a delicious turkey and pies and salad and cranberry sauce and gravy. I mashed the potatoes, very complicated you know.

Now that it's December, I'm sort of freaking out about how much there is to do before the baby comes. I have this long list. Mostly it's all things that if they don't get done, no one will die. Actually it's all things that if they don't get done, no one will die. But mostly it's projects I've given myself like baby sewing projects and Christmas presents (making them all this year, what is wrong with me?) and various deep cleaning activities. But if the spice cupboard in our kitchen doesn't get cleaned out and I don't finish making a stuffed Chewbecca doll, I think it will be fine and no one will care but me. And I'm almost done with the Christmas presents and it's only December 2. So no need to be stressed, right? Right?!?!?

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33 weeks

Well 33 weeks is getting up there, I feel. We are collecting more and more baby items and I am getting more and more sore and unable to sleep. It's very exciting. We've attended our first birthing class which was fun for me and apparently super gross for Sam which made me laugh. As long as he doesn't pass out during the actual thing....

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31 weeks

I feel like my face is getting fatter. The last two pictures I have this weird squinty eye thing going on but I'm not actually squinting. I think my cheeks are taking over. Ah well.

The kicking is starting to get just slightly painful meaning baby is getting strong, hooray! Also he likes to brace himself against my spine and thrust his various body parts forward. This makes for lots of fun for Sam and me to feel his little foot or knee or bum but it does cause me some weird tingling. 

So technically he could come in six weeks! Let's go with that, shall we?

Happy Halloween yesterday to everyone. We did nothing. Next year, however, I'm pretty sure there will be a baby dressed as Yoda that will be shown off in as many places as possible.

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29 weeks

So 29 weeks also marks the third anniversary of our engagement, which happened on this very bridge. And now there's a baby. How romantic. We went up the canyon this weekend to commemorate the occasion, as we do every year (examples here and here). For fun, shall we see a picture of us from each time?

The proposal:

Year One:

Year Two:

And Year Three:

Ah what a beautiful journey.

Speaking of beautiful journeys, the October mountains never disappoint and this year was no exception.

In baby news, we have discovered that our son is super territorial. Anytime anything seems to encroach in his space (Sam's arm, my arm, my organs, the table edge, even the doctor's heartbeat sensor thing) gets kicked. Hard. It's hilarious how much he doesn't want to give up any space. Love it.

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27 weeks

Well the third trimester is here, finally. With it have come ever increasing levels of discomfort and exhaustion, hooray! I can't complain really, though, because overall pregnancy has been quite easy. And I'm so excited to be technically only 10 weeks from full term. Not being comfortable is a small price to pay for the darling baby hiccups I get to feel and soon see in real life.

So Conference was awesome this time, huh? As usual. Predictably, my favorite talk was Elder Anderson's, particularly when he said "Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for."

I can't wait.

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