"I think that was a contraction" - Part 2

Thursday - 39 weeks 5 days - 4am
From around 1-4am my contractions had gotten more unpredictable and further apart (And might I add that I was getting very peeved with this baby for making me play the guessing game). At 4 in the morning is when my eyes were no longer closing between contractions and I had to get up. I got on the yoga ball and did some bouncing. I did Sudoku (who does this?? While in labor??). I tracked contractions for about 40 minutes until they were 3 minutes apart, and definitely getting more intense. The midwife gave me the all clear to come into the hospital! Now all we had to do was leave. I went back to the bedroom to wake Luke up.
"Hon? Wake up it's time to go to the hospital"
[Very out of it] "What? How far apart are your contractions?" He half sat up and squinted at me. Probably with his mouth open a little. He was really out of it!
"3 minutes"
"Why aren't we at the hospital yet??" Now he's awake!
We got to the hospital around 5am and got into triage. They proceeded to ask me 10,000 questions before even examining me. It is incredibly difficult to answer questions when you're having a contraction every 3 minutes. When I had finally been examined it was about 5:45.
I was 3cm. The terrible phone call was made to my doctor "should we admit her?"
YES. Yes you should. Please don't make me go back home. I haven't slept at all. I need have a baby today.
"Okay, your doctor said to walk around for 45 minutes and we'll check you again at 6:30"
And walk we did. Stopping every now and then to rest on a wall and have a contraction. At 6:30 on the dot the nurse came to get us and examine me again.
"4cm" I could stay!
By 7 we were in a room and ready to get things going. Contractions were very intense right away. It was like my body knew we were staying at the hospital and it didn't want to waste time. We walked. I leaned. We swayed. After 2 hours I was in a lot of pain and my doctor had to remind me how to breathe. It was hard to stay focused. I had planned to have a natural birth (if possible) but I remember thinking it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.
"I might need something." I told Luke "I want to be examined again and see if I've made any progress and then decide"
My reasoning was: If I'm not making quick progress and I'm going to be doing this for the next 20 hours, I'm going to burn out. But if things are moving quickly, I can hang on a little longer.
At 9am I was 8 1/2 cm dilated.
Uh.... What. I can do 1 1/2 more centimeters. At this point I wanted to try some hot water to try to relieve some pain. Oh boy did it work great! I felt like a new woman. Hello, shower! I stayed in the shower for about 2 hours! I was racking up water bills single-handedly. And then... the shower stopped feeling so great. So I moved to the bed. The pressure was getting pretty real at this point. I was uncomfortable. And the only thing that felt better was laying down on my back. At this point I was remembering my ignorant self, months ago, thinking "I don't want to give birth while on my back. I want to be more "natural"." Um. No. There was no moving or re-positioning. There was no squatting. There was only my back. My doctor checked me again. 9 1/2! And my water had not broken? Who cares. Let's start pushing! Light pushes were really a game changer. It felt so much better to start pushing just to relieve some pressure. My doctor checked me again a little while later.
10cm! (At this point I think she was tired of my water not having broken so she "accidentally" popped it)
PUSH. Rest. PUSH. Rest. Listen to my doctor give instructions. PUSH. Look at Luke (I was SO tired, I'm pretty sure I was cross-eyed). Rest. For 2 hours.
I. Was. Exhausted. WHEN is this baby going to crown??
And then, in a sudden rush of commotion, I remember my bed being laid back as far as it would go, the doctor saying "Good! Here she comes!". Nurses hustling around the bed. Luke right there, ready!
And there she was! At 1:56pm, 7 hours after we got into our room, our precious little Hazel made her appearance! They immediately laid her on my belly as I sobbed/laughed uncontrollably.
"My baby! My baby!" I couldn't stop. She was perfect! She had hair! She was so calm! Tears were streaming. I was crying, Luke was crying, the doctor was teary. It was the biggest rush of every emotion I have ever had. And Luke, too.
"This is why I love natural births" My doctor whispered to a nurse
One of my nurses was about my age and engaged. She had no children. During my labor I remember thinking that she was probably going to be turned off to ever having children because she sees first hand what women go through.
I looked at her through my watery eyes and said "I don't know how you feel about having kids, but it is totally worth it"
And there we were. A tiny family of 3. Clueless, exhausted, but over the moon. The pain, instantly forgotten. The journey, eager to begin. This chunky little 9 pound baby had been permanently placed in our care.

I guess it was a good thing we took our last birth class the previous Saturday.

"I think that was a contraction" - Part 1

Saturday - 39 weeks
For several days I had been feeling what I thought was just the baby headbutting me. But on Saturday I realized... that was not a headbutt. I paused for a minute and started thinking of all the things I had felt throughout the pregnancy.. but that didn't feel like anything familiar.
I said "I think that was a contraction".
His head whipped around to me "WHAT. Really? Are you sure?"
Well... no... I wasn't sure. I had never felt contractions before, I wasn't really sure of what they were supposed to feel like?
After a few more "heabutts" I determined that they were in fact, contractions. Tiny as they were.
"I don't know if this is necessary, but we might want to start tracking these" I definitely didn't think that this was the real thing, but I didn't know for sure!
Queue the stereotypical (semi) freaked out husband and the nesting Momma! There was laundry I was putting off everywhere. The dishes were stacking up in the sink. I couldn't have my home in this mess if I was really going into labor.
So after a few hours the "headbutting" stopped. False alarm. Talk about an adrenaline rush!

Sunday - 39 weeks 1 day
The "headbutting" continues in an annoying, non-progressing fashion. I believe at this point we were walking whenever we had the chance and people at church were saying to me "You better not be here next week!"

Monday - 39 weeks 2 days
Continuing of "headbutting". I had ditched the hubby at this point to walk alone during the day. I tried really hard to go into labor on this day so Luke's uncle could have a birthday buddy, but to no avail.

Tuesday - 39 weeks 3 days
On Tuesday my wonderful friend, and fellow pregnant woman, gave birth to her beautiful baby boy! The annoyance of tiny contractions continues. I begin to think "This needs to either increase and start labor or stop"

Wednesday - 39 weeks 4 days
On this day is when things really started to pick up. I had a doctors appointment in the afternoon.
"About 2cm dilated and 80% effaced!" the midwife told me. "any day now!"
After this appointment, my contractions started to pick up. They were not painful, not difficult, still just annoying. I just didn't feel well.
In the evening I went to Bible study. However, as soon as I sat down I had to get back up. It was too frustrating to just sit down and be still so I walked around. Every now and then someone would ask "are you okay?" I probably told every person there that I was having mild contractions. After Bible study we decided to swing by the hospital and visit our friends who had their baby the day before. We got to the hospital around 8pm and visited. We all love to talk so its no wonder we stayed for about an hour. It was around 9pm when I said "I think we should go. I'm just not feeling the greatest." What I really wanted was to be in my pajamas. So we headed back to our domain and scooped some great big bowls of ice cream and laid down in bed watching Netflix. Pretty soon, I was getting pretty uncomfortable.
"Maybe we should start tracking these again.." so we did.
We then proceeded to "rest" for a while. (any woman who's given birth knows how incredibly impossible that is)
After resting for about 45 minutes, we decided to get up. Guess what we did? Walk! That's right, at midnight or a little after, we got up, threw on some jackets, and walked around outside our apartment building. Walking helped, but after walking every day for the past 5 days, it grew old quickly. So we decided to come back inside. I couldn't rest so... I did dishes. I had to pause mid knife scrubbing to have a contraction. Probably not my finest decision.
At about 1am my contractions were pretty consistent at about 3-4 minutes apart so I called the doctor's office! (which, by the way, I felt so terrible for waking her up at 1am)
"Hi, um, I'm not sure if I need to come into the hospital? I think I'm in labor"
[Very groggy midwife] "How far apart are your contractions?"
"About 3 minutes"
"And what baby is this for you?"
"My first"
"Have your contractions been getting more intense?"
At this point I realized that they had not, in fact, been getting more intense. They had only been getting closer and closer together. The midwife instructs me to try and rest and call her back in an hour if they started getting more intense. So that's what I did. Luke promptly fell asleep and I laid in bed next to him, only closing my eyes between contractions. There was no sleep.

Finding out... I'm PREGNANT!!

I don't think it's any secret that we love kids and have wanted to expand our family for quite some time. For about a year and a half we've been leaving it up to God and letting Him decide when to give us our much wanted baby.
After a year and a half we started to suspect that maybe there might be some kind of "problem". It seemed a little suspicious that we had gone so long without getting pregnant once. So at the beginning of the 2018 year we had seen the doctor and started some tests. On the first few tests, we were getting normal results. Which was great, and we were so happy to be healthy in those areas but it was a tad bittersweet, since we didn't seem to be finding anything we could "fix".
About a week before my follow-up appointment, I realized something was missing. The last thing I wanted was to take another pregnancy test and see the negative sign. But.... I didn't want to show up at my follow-up appointment and tell them I didn't know what was going on and admit that I hadn't taken a test. So I decided knowledge was power, even if it wasn't what I wanted for myself right now.
So, the next day was Saturday. I had to work but I thought I would wake up early to workout before my shift. And see what a pregnancy test had to say.
With Luke still in bed, I closed myself in the bathroom and took the test. And after I set it on the counter, I couldn't bring myself to look at it as I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I almost couldn't bear it. Logic was telling me to "Just look at it" because I couldn't change the facts. Emotion was telling me to smack it off the counter and run away without ever looking. After I finally couldn't take it, I had to look. So I picked it up with my eyes closed. Finally, logic won. I already had my answer in front of me, it wasn't going to change the longer I kept my eyes closed. So I opened them... and it was positive.
What.
What do you do when it's positive? Okay this has never happened... how do you react?
Logic: You really should wait to react and surprise Luke tonight. Think of something sweet to break the news you've been waiting for.
Emotion: You should start bawling and run into the bedroom and wake him up
Emotion: Also, you should start shaking.
Logic: At least stop holding the nasty test
Emotion: You should cling to it like a precious heirloom
I don't think it's any guess that emotion took over pretty quickly. I proceeded to whip open the bathroom door and start sobbing. "Luke!" I cried through sobs.
I've never seen that kid pop out of bed so fast! "what's wrong? Are you okay?" since he had no idea what I was doing in the bathroom (and probably didn't even know I was up yet) he was completely clueless, and sleepy.
I seem to remember my shaky hands turning on every light in the bedroom as I sobbed and cried "Luke!"
I crawled over to Luke clutching the test and basically putting it right in his face so he could see what I had done. "What is that thing?" His eyes were too sleepy to focus and register what I was holding! Doh! I tried to suggest "look at this line..." Or "what do you think this is?" When he registered it was a pregnancy test his first reaction was sad. He thought it had been negative and that I was just really upset that the test came out negative. After what seemed like hours it clicked and he realized what I was trying to tell him. We're going to have a baby! Talk about a way to wake up and start your weekend!
How do women keep these things secret and surprise their husbands later? I couldn't imagine keeping this a secret, especially with how quickly emotions arose.
And now, the start to our new adventure begins! Only 29 weeks to go before we get our tiny delivery and we cannot be happier or more thankful! Sure, these days I mostly sleep and tell Luke his food stinks. But my dreams are sweet, and my mind is buzzing with excitement!

Rodriguez, The Chipmunk

Being homeschooled, there were many ways we would try to make school interesting. One of the things I loved doing, and still do, are making up stories. Here is a short story I wrote in school (No idea what grade!) enjoy...

Once upon a time,

There was a chipmunk. His name was Rodriguez. He had a lovely wife and 6 chipmunk children. They loved him very much, and he loved them too. One day they were going to move to a bigger tree. He packed up all his belongings with his wife, Sally Jane. Sally Jane was a skunk. She stunk a lot, but true love over powered her stink for Rodriguez. As a result of this intercultural marriage their kids were tiny like chipmunks but had black and white bodies and sickening spray that could knock you out even thinking about it. On the drive to the new tree, with all the furniture and all the family's belongings packed, they got lost. So very lost. They wound up on a tiny gravel road outside of chipmunk & skunk land. One of the children, Maximus, wet himself he was so scared. And Rodriguez got very mad. So he yelled at Maximus. When Maximus started to cry it gave Rodriguez an idea "I know!" he thought, "I don't know if this area is dangerous or not. I'll throw Maximus out of the truck and lock him out. If any wild things come and rip him to shreds and eat him, then its a dangerous place. If they don't, its not and we can all walk back to civilization." Soon Maximus was no more than a pile of bones outside the truck and two satisfied wolves were licking their chops. Sally Jane was so mad at Rodriguez that she fled from him and he got no custody rights after the incident with Maximus. He lived a lonely life in the end and Sally Jane got to keep everything. Even the new tree. Of course... he was a chipmunk so who would have given him custody anyway...

The end

It's been real, 2017! ✌

For the year of 2017 we decided to do a "memory jar". Each week for the entire year we wrote down our most impactful memory of the week (hopefully good) and at the end of the year we read back all of our memories and reminisced. I thought it would be fun to share some of these memories, so here's some of 2017's good, bad and ugly!

3rd week of March: Got chickens?!
 I've written about our chickens in detail but did you know that the decision to get those little ladies was a spontaneous decision? While living with Luke's mom, one day Luke decided: "Today I'm going out to get chickens." and that was pretty much the end of it. We kept them in the garage in a galvanized tub for WEEKS. And, yes, it stunk. Chickens. Stink.

4th week of March: Bought Grandpa's truck


What do you do right after you get chickens? You get a truck. And just LOOK at this beauty. Grandpa's truck is a beauty.

3rd week of may: Left for our trip to Colorado!
I have never been in that kind of terrain. The awe that strikes you when you're standing in the presence of a mountain covered in snow or you're standing on top of pike's peak at almost 14,000 feet, will take your breath away. I would go back every year if I could!




Last week of May: Chickens Died :(
 Yes, it's true. We may have slightly jumped the gun on our dream of having chickens... Just a word of wisdom, maybe keep chickens on land you live on so they're easier to check on! Oh and also... probably shouldn't ruin your Mother-in-law's poor garage... wait to ruin your own.

3rd week of June: Luke GETS A JOB!!  And shortly after...

1st week of July: We move to Indiana!

3rd week of July: Brought home our second kitten, Lady.
When we first got Fonz we were in WAY over our head, he was a CRAZY stray. He was incredibly wild and playful and would side wind everything tiny thing and attack anything that moved. We even considered not taking him to Indiana with us. But then we got a "brilliant" idea. Get him a playmate! That'll calm him down. We took a shot figuring maybe he was so crazy because he was taken away from his litter mates so soon. And it worked!

Last week of August/labor day: Fillepelly!
Our Christmas in July is nicknamed fillepelly and this year was postponed to September. Making it Christmas in July in September.

4th week of October: Home for Lemon's 1st birthday and sold big blue.
Well since our chickens died so many months back we decided we really weren't in need of the big blue truck anymore. The gas mileage wasn't that great and there were a few safety concerns. We did keep it in the family though! And our precious niece turned 1! She is a huge gift to her whole family.

3rd week of December: Home for the holidays 💗
It's safe to say that while living in Indiana, we sure did miss our family. We haven't been able to see everyone nearly as much as we'd like and treasure the time we get to spend with them. It's amazing when you move how you realize what family and friends mean to you.

2017, We will never get a chance to relive or redo you. But we hope that what we've accomplished has been enough that we won't wish "If only..."

2018, bring it on.