Neil's Birthday

Today is Neil's birthday but since we knew we wouldn't be able to do too many fun things right now, we tried to put a few things together ahead of time.  

Last Saturday, we went to Tona again to celebrate Neil and Bruce's birthdays.  We sat at the same table and even all in the same spots (minus a few people missing and plus 1 replacement) as last year.  I wasn't sure we'd be able to get out with our friends to celebrate like we usually do, but since baby was holding out on us, we hurried and threw together one last night out with this great group!

Sunday, we did Neil's bday dinner with my family.  A few days ahead of this, Bear kept asking Neil what kind of birthday cake he wanted (meaning, what decorations would be on it).  Neil kept telling him that he was just going to have candles on his peanut butter bars, but Bear kept insisting that he should have a purple boca (minion) on it, so we made it happen.

Today, Neil took Bear fishing up at the trout farm.   He got some video but no pictures.  I obviously stayed behind, but it sounded like they had great time.  He also went to a BBQ over at Blake's. I'm glad he got to get out and do a few fun things!  He got himself cologne and a GoPro Hero for his birthday and Father's Day present and has been having fun with it.

Baby Day

Believe it or not I waited 41 weeks to have this baby!! I kept waiting and waiting to go into labor on my own and on Sunday I finally starting having contractions!  I was up all night because of them and then headed to the hospital at 5:00am for our 5:30 appointment.  My appointment was for the scheduled c section but I asked them to check my cervix since I was finally contracting.  Guess what?  Still closed.  Oh well, I tried!

41 weeks.

 Ready for baby.

Right before we headed down to the OR.

Waiting for my epidural.

There she is!  Neil thought he was recording this, but he wasn't.  This is the only picture he got of her coming out, but it's better than nothing!  I could hear her screaming and crying so loud but I only got to see her for about 1 second before they took her over to the warming table to measure her and clean her up a bit.

Neil got to stay right with her the whole time though.  They had some good bonding time.

She was 6 lbs 4 oz. 19 inches long.  Born at 7:54 am on 6/15/15.

Still testing out her lungs back in the recovery room.

And I finally got to hold her!

Party of Three

We headed to Lagoon for our last outing as a family of 3.  We only stayed a short time because it was SO hot and I could not deal with it- that happens when you're 100 months pregnant.  

Before we left for Lagoon, Bear brought down his piggy bank and I asked him why.  He told me it was because he wanted to bring his money to Lagoon so he could buy a tiger.  "I've never had a tiger before," he tells me.  I explained that tigers were wild and not super nice and we couldn't have one as a pet.  I thought it was so cute, I wanted to cry and buy him one of those tigers!  

The first ride Bear wanted to go on was the train (to see the tigers of course!).  We rode it twice in a row without even having to get off.  The first time we were the only ones on it!~  He's saying woo hoo in this picture when we first started driving. 

Cutest boys.

Mother Boy

I just found this post from last summer that got saved as a draft so I decided to post it now.  Look how small we both were!

Packing in the Fun

With my due date drawing nearer, I wanted to have a few fun playdates before we're housebound for a while.  I've gotten kind of lazy with taking pictures so even though we had 2 fun playdates with Kacey, Zeek, Nicole, and Eli I didn't get any pictures.  That's especially sad because the Lorenzens are moving to Minnesota at the end of the month :'(

I got a couple pictures when we went to Boondocks with Kelsey, Tyce, Rylee and Macie (Courtney's daughter). 

We went to the splashed with Erika, Naomi, and Lucy one day.  

Eating smarties.

We got some delicious snow cones with Nick one afternoon.

We also played at the Farmington Station playground and fountains and played with more cousins.  So NOW we're ready for baby, right???  I know I am!

Grumpy Face

If you look back on any of Barrett's pictures from the time he was born til he was about 2 1/2 or 3, you'd find that he was THEE happiest baby on the planet!  He didn't cry much at all, just smiled and was super pleasant and fun.  Well, 2 1/2 rolled around and he has discovered his grumpy face. 

I mean, I don't know where he gets it!

Okay, I will fully admit that he inherited/learned MANY of my negative qualities.  He is easily frustrated- especially if he's not good at something right away or has to try again.  

He gets irrationally angry at inanimate objects, wants to be the boss of everyone and everything, and just over all has a pretty short temper.  I have really tried to not model those behaviors in front of him since I noticed he picked them up, so I'm hoping that eventually (SOON) he'll grow out of them!

40 Weeks

How Far Along:  40 Weeks

Size of Baby: We’ve hit watermelon status here.  She’s full term, between 19-22 inches, and around 7 lbs.  Those are my “What to Expect” estimates since the ultrasounds I get now basically do nothing.

Maternity Clothes: I am too big for everything these days.  Everything!  I want to go into hiding and not be seen again until I can fit into a normal outfit!

Gender: Girl and oh my gosh, does she have the cutest clothes ever!  She has gotten SO spoiled by our awesome friends and family ♥

Name: I’ve started thinking about this a lot more lately. Unfortunately, it only pops in my brain late at night when I want to fall asleep, so I lay in bed forever thinking about names instead of sleeping- I’d like to reschedule those thoughts for other/awake times.

Movement: Even though she definitely likes to use my bladder as a punching bag, I really am grateful for how much she moves.  It always eases my worrisome mind.

Sleep: Getting comfortable is my nemesis.  I’m so tired but it takes me forever to fall asleep (also because I can’t turn off my brain). And of course I wake up a million times each night to roll over/move pillows/try to get comfortable! L

Exercise/Activity Level: I was keeping at it 3-4x a week until I hit 39 weeks, then at that point I was mostly just too embarrassed to keep going anymore because I look so dorky and awkward!  Plus, I figured it didn’t help me keep the pounds off the previous 39 weeks, I doubt 1 more of working out would help me anyway!

Weight:  37 weeks was 157. It really is perplexing that I am SO much bigger with baby #2.  I mean, yes, I’m older and started out a few lbs heavier than last time, but I swear I’m exercising more and eating healthier too.  My two theories are either that I’m not really eating as healthy as I think I am and/or the stress I was under during pregnancy #1 kept the weight down a bit.  I was dealing with a lot of really crappy situations at that time and that’s the only other explanation I can think of that might’ve led to this.  Happiness = fatiness?

What I Miss: A body that doesn’t hurt allover all the time.  I started getting hip flexor pain, plantar fasciitis, and the right side of my back starting hurting too just to add to my painfully swollen feet and shoulder and other back issues. I think if I started at my feet and went all the way to my head, I could probably only list about 5 things total that aren’t hurting! I really hope I’ll start feeling better quickly after baby is born.  

Cravings: Hot dogs, Arby’s roast beef sandwich, Red Lobster, turkey sandwich from subway, and a turkey cranberry sandwich from Cutler’s.

Symptoms:  Not necessarily a pregnancy symptom, but I came down with the worst cold/cough at 37 ½ weeks.  I was seriously miserable and SOOO wiped out!  I got over the cough and cold part mostly, I do still have a lot of congestion, but that’s just part of pregnancy. My Braxton Hicks have definitely been getting more and more intense. My tailbone has started hurting me again- I think because I can’t sit forward ever or because my back sways out more?  That happened after I had Barrett too and lasted FOREVER!  Throughout the last few months of this pregnancy, I’ve gotten awful, sharp stomach pains that I can’t figure out.  My doctor did some blood tests to look for anything weird that might be happening with my liver or even appendix, but the labs all came back normal.

Weird Things: Probably not all that weird, but my overall crabbiness level has been on a steady incline for the past few months.  I’m hoping that it’ll peak at delivery time and then be on the decline again, but I’m thinking with the lack of sleep and potential baby blues, it might not be that quick or easy…

Worries: My mom and sisters went out of town when I was 37 weeks and I was worried about the TINY chance that I was going to have the baby while they were gone, but they came back and still no baby, so it all worked out. Also, of course I’m SUPER worried about the whole labor & delivery situation.  I just can’t decide what I want to do/what is going to be best for us.

Best Moment of the Week(s): I lucked out so much with May’s weather.  It was cool and rainy for the majority of the month.  I normally wouldn’t be overly excited about that, but it kept me cooler and a lot less swollen than I would’ve been otherwise.  The few hot days here and there are not my favorite.

Appointments This Week: Every Wednesday. I had totally forgotten how bad those checks hurt!  And of course, my cervix is not dilating or effacing or doing any of the things it’s supposed to do to prepare for a baby.  P.S. Can we talk about those stupid tiny paper napkins they give you to “cover up”!?  It’s got to be a joke!  They barely cover even one of my ginormous thighs at this point!

What I’m Looking Forward To: Barrett is SO excited to get to hold his baby sister; I can’t wait to see them together.  I am so excited to hold her too of courseJ

Something I've Learned/Realized: Literally everything is so difficult right now.  Getting out of bed, getting dressed, lifting Barrett, getting in and out of the car, forming complete thoughts and sentences, breathing… I feel like a complete invalid.

Pictures:

While I was going through some of the baby things I'd had in storage, I found these two blankets that I'd made.  I must've made them when I was first pregnant with Barrett and just put them away when we found out he was a boy.  They're all washed and ready for baby girl now!

I spent a big chunk of one day boiling all the bottles and binkis, etc to get them ready for baby.  I'm planning on nursing her, but thought I should get this stuff ready anyways.  

37 weeks

38 weeks

39 weeks

Time Magazine had a fun thing on their website that lets you find out what your name would be if you were born today.  My name would be Blaire, I thought that was crazy because I happen to LOVE the name Blaire and if it weren't so close to Bear, It would've been in my top 5 picks for this baby's name.

Cuddle Bug

Barrett can be the sweetest boy in the world and he loves to cuddle his baby sister/my belly.  

He told me the other day that when I'm starting to get mad at him, he cuddles me and my belly and it makes me happy.  He's got it all figured out.  

This was on a hot day and I was very swollen and uncomfortable.

This was one morning when he woke up really early and I made him come lay in bed with me.  Of course he didn't want to cuddle me, just my belly.

Only a few more days (potentially) of belly cuddles from this boy.  I think he'll like cuddling his baby sister even more when she's out in the world!
He's really going to be the best brother!  The other day he was telling me that he didn't want me to fall because the baby would "pop out."  But if the baby did pop out, he would be so glad because she's going to want to do lots of things like sleep and have a bottle.  He said he wants to help put her to bed and if she cries he'll give her a bottle.  Melts my heart.

Baby Showers!?

Seeing how this is my second pregnancy, I was not expecting anyone to throw me a baby shower.  I had several great showers when I was pregnant with Barrett and I really hadn't heard of people doing showers for 2nd, 3rd, etc pregnancies.   Apparently, it's becoming more of a thing.  I thought it was SO nice that people actually wanted to throw me a shower, but I felt really greedy and I was kind of embarrassed.  

My first shower was thrown by the young women in my ward.  So nice, I couldn't even believe it- I don't even know them that well!

This wasn't even all the gifts they gave me!

Cute and yummy food.

Playing a baby food guessing game.  I did very poorly, btw.
From l to r: Morgan, Emily, Leslie, Gigi, Kara, Jen, Ashley, and Abby.

They made these hilarious bibs too.  Megan, McCall, and Natalie made the most creative ones!

There were a couple of girls who had left by this time and Melissa was taking the picture, but this is just about everyone who came.
Emily, Morgan, Heather, Abby, Leslie, me, Megan, McCall, Natalie, Jen, Ashley, Kara, and Lindsay.  I still can't get over how nice they were to do this for me!

Michele set up a little lunch at Gabor Brothers in Layton to celebrate the baby.  Diane was supposed to come too but she was sick :(  Love these gorgeous girls, they totally spoiled me! (Jen, Michele, me)

I chose to go to Red Lobster when this group of friends wanted to get together.  It was delicious and really fun too. (Annie, me, Krissy, Nicole)

We went out to celebrate me, Jeanette, and Kelsey being pregnant the other night.  Texas Roadhouse for their amazing rolls and had so much fun together. (me, Jeanette, Cristi, Kelsey, Missy, Courtney)

I really am blown away by my super sweet, generous friends and neighbors!

Birth Plan

When I got pregnant with this baby, I had in the back of my mind that I would want to try a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) delivery.  It was important enough to me to have that option open that I went through 3 doctors during this pregnancy to find one supportive of the idea.  I found a great doctor and he is willing to let me attempt a VBAC if I want to, now we just have to get the baby and my body on board.  My biggest reason for wanting this experience was the recovery.  Recovering from a c section with only 1 child isn’t really that big of a deal, it’s still hard and extremely painful, but you can lay in bed and sleep and nurse and not have to do too much- you can actually recover!  Recovering with a newborn AND a 3 ½ year old is what has had me worried.  I wouldn’t be able to do hardly anything with Barrett, not even hold him!  And I'd have to be in the hospital for much longer and away from Barrett.  Plus, the whole birth experience is just totally different with a c-section.  It has a cold feel to it, whereas a vaginal delivery seems to me to have a warmer, supportive, “teamwork” type of feel.   I really want her to be laid directly on my body when she’s born and be able to just hold her and bond with her immediately and that’s not even a possibility with a c section.  I’m 1000x times more scared to have a vaginal delivery than I am a c-section, but I still feel like it’s something worth trying.

When I had Bear, I never dilated past a 4 even when I was given Pitocin.  That plus the fact that his heart rate was dropping (maybe it was going up, I can’t remember) with contractions, we just decided to go for the c-section.  My sisters had all had c-sections and it was a more familiar/less scary route so I was fine with it.  I’ve since wondered if it was the right decision, maybe I should’ve waited or tried something else, I don’t know and it obviously doesn’t matter now. But it makes me worry about how this birth will go.  Maybe my body just doesn’t know what it’s supposed to do so we’ll be in the same situation again.  Maybe my uterus will rupture where it was cut the first time.  I mean, there’s really a million different things that run through my mind when I try to make a plan and I hate it.  I hate making decisions.

The plan we have in place now is that we have a scheduled c-section date.  If labor starts before then, we’ll do a “trial of labor” and see how that goes; it could still result in a c-section.  If baby hasn't come by our scheduled date, we’ll just show up for our c-section then.  When I’m having a hard day, I get really annoyed at myself for not scheduling a c-section on June 1^st (you can generally schedule a repeat c-section at 39 weeks) but for the most part I feel like I could wait a little longer and be fine still.  I could go up to June 15^th (41 weeks), but I’m not willing to wait longer than that (neither is my dr actually).  We’ll see… Of course, as long as me and the baby are healthy in the end, that’s all that matters.  WISH ME LUCK!!

*update: My scheduled c-section was scheduled for June 12th, but I actually pushed it back to the 15th to give baby more time to come on her own.  Am I crazy to voluntarily stay pregnant for 41 weeks?!

Just Like Old Times

This weekend we went out to dinner with some friends we used to hang out with every single weekend.  We went to Red Robin because we used to go there almost every weekend together.  I don't know why we loved that place so much, but we (the boys) were obsessed back in the day.  Missy and Aaron and Jeanette and Jesse were missing, but we still had a great time, just like the old days!

Dallas, Cristi, Kelsey, Alex, Joe, Courtney, me, Neil.