Kaden's Here!

Here is the story of Kaden's birth...

On February 6th, my Aunt Mary and cousin Laura threw a baby shower for my sister and I. We had all of my mom's family over. After everyone left, around 4pm, I started getting contractions. This was not a new thing for me as I had contractions for about 2 weeks at that point. Around 5:30 I started timing them just for the heck of it and they were consistently 5-6 minutes apart. I called the on-call midwife and she said to wait until they hurt so bad they made me cry. I thought that was stupid because I don't cry that easily. I went home from my sister's house and continued to count. Around 9pm I called my sister because the contractions were stronger and about 3 minutes apart. She thought I should get checked, so she drove me to labor and delivery. The nurse checked me and I was dilated 3cm and 100% effaced. She told me to walk around for an hour and they would check me again. Kelly and I walked all over the hospital for an hour and I got checked again around midnight. I had not progressed at all so they sent me on my way. But not before giving me an Ambien to help me sleep.

I went back to Kelly's house to sleep. Around 5:30am I woke up to a burst of water. My water broke. I was so out of it from the Ambien that I went into the bathroom and just sat there trying to figure out what to do. Fortunately, Kelly came out of her room to check on me and I told her my water broke. We got in the car and headed back the hospital. At this point, the contractions were pretty painful but luckily the Ambien was helping me. I got checked in and put in a room around 6am. At 7:30am the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural (OUCH!) After the epidural I felt amazing and everything was sort of a blur. I started pushing at 9:45am and only had to push a few times. At one point, the nurses got pretty serious and told me not to push. Everyone was rushing around and I had no idea what was going on. It wasn't until after the fact that I found out the cord was around his neck. Kaden was out at 10:26am.

Despite being born 2 weeks early, he was a healthy weight and everything was developed. He was slightly jaundice and had some issues with body temperature, but, as of today, he is healthy as a horse!

Ok Ok. Time for an Update!

This is mostly because Jessica asked for one :) The last month has been pretty hectic. Between starting school, work, finishing up my practicum, and all the baby showers, it's been pretty hard to keep track of time! I am officially in the last 4 weeks of pregnancy and, honestly, it's horrible. I can't wait for it to be over.

To summarize, I have a small torso and small pelvis. It's a genetic thing. My mom has the same problem which is why my sister and I ended up c-sections despite the fact that we were both pretty small babies. Anyway, I am growing an elephant baby who already weighed 7lbs at 35.5 weeks. I am 36 weeks now and will have another ultrasound on Thursday to get a new weight estimate. At this point I am measuring at 40 weeks. I am weighing my options and have not ruled out an elective c-section, especially if they find that he is approaching 8lbs. No way I am going to push out a 10lb baby!!

I have figured out a way for me to graduate a quarter early and will be meeting with my advisor next week to discuss my plan. I think he will go for it. I am also still working on the paperwork to possibly teach an undergraduate course in the Fall. I am also meeting with my practicum coordinator next week to set up my advanced internship. And all of this has to get figured out before baby gets here! Let's cross our fingers and pray everything goes as planned.

In other news, Mike is coming home soon. He won't make it home in time for the birth, but will be here shortly after, so I guess I can't complain. At least he will get 2 full weeks with the baby, though I think he is pretty bummed that he will be missing the birth. Maybe it's better that way :) I still have to convince my sister that she is NOT video taping it.

We had a loss in the family. Our fish of 1 year, Mr. Fishy, got excited and jumped out of his bowl. He landed on the ground and Peanut ate him. It was a sad day. RIP Mr. Fishy.

I think that's all for now. I will try to be better at updating!

Little Updates

Well, I finished out the Fall quarter strong. I got a 4.0! Very exciting for me. And probably the last time that will be happening for a while. WSU graduation and family vacation was a lot of fun. It snowed about 6 inches while we were at Lake Chelan. Thank goodness for 4WD vehicles! And thank goodness for vehicles with DVD players! That definitely made all of the driving more bearable. We even played the Wii in the car.

Returning from vacation meant returning to stress. I am still pretty overwhelmed trying to figure everything out on my own. It's going to be such a stressful time trying to adjust to having a new baby with everything else going on. I am looking forward to maternity leave and being able to have some quiet time with the baby to adjust and get used to a new routine.

Looking forward to Christmas at my sister's and hanging out with my sister's in-laws on Christmas Eve. Ony a few more hours of work to make it through tomorrow, then on to a nice (but super busy) 3 day weekend. This weekend my sister and I will be cleaning and getting the carpets cleaned in preparation for the babies. It's going to be a shock for Mike how little space we have now with all of the baby stuff. I don't know where all of his Army stuff is going to go once he gets back, but hopefully we will have a house by then.

That's all for now...will post pictures soon.

Washingtonians are Weird.

It's so cold!! Today I woke up to a nice 10 degree morning. The high for today? A nice 28 degrees. It is sunny though, which I guess is nice. I would gladly take some clouds and rain for some warmer weather though. The family is heading to Pullman this weekend for WSU graduation. It was -2 degrees there today. Then we are heading to Lake Chelan for a few days. High temp? 25 degrees. Why do we pick the coldest part of the state for vacation!?

Only ten more weeks until the arrival of baby Amaro. Everyday life is slowly becomming more difficult. I find that taking a hot bath at night helps me move the next morning. My back and hips are suffering. I am only 5'4" and have a short mid-section, so the baby is growing straight out. It has made things painful to say the least, and sleep is a luxury! Let's just say I am ready for this baby to come out now!

Today was the memorial for the Lakewood officers that were killed last week. It was insane seeing 2500+ police officers lined up on I-5 in a 3 hour, 10 mile procession. I am watching the memorial right now on TV. It's sad that such a tragedy happened so close to home.

That's all for now!

11 More Weeks to Go!

Wow time has flown by! I had a great Thanksgiving with the family. On Saturday, my sister, niece and I went to get a Christmas tree and spent the rest of the day decorating the tree and baking cookies!! It was a long day, but so much fun. I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner. My sister found out she is having another girl! So our baby boy will be the only boy around here! I am getting bigger by the day, and not liking it. I can't wait to feel like myself again. If that is even possible. Two weeks left of school and then I get 4 weeks off. I am definitely looking forward to the break!



Peanut got a much needed hair cut



I am enormous.



My niece, Mila...hard to imagine a cuter kid!!

Stress and Hormones are Winning!

I had my 1 hour gestational diabetes test last and I failed! Because I don't have any risk factors, it's probably nothing, but I have been here at the lab at St. Joe's Hospital for the last 4 hours doing the second portion of the test. Hopefully all comes back normal. If it doesn't, I will have to check my blood sugar four times a day for the next 3 months. NO FUN! And it's likely a hormonal imbalance caused by...what else...STRESS!

Will update more later and try to put up some new pictures!

Busy, Busy!!

What a busy week it has been. Time is really flying by now! I had another conference this week, which was actually really good. I attended and the Military Kids and Families Summit as a representative for the VA and also got to attend as a military wife. It was a great 8 hours of networking and learning and I am really glad I was able to be a part of it.

School has been going well, but is keeping me very busy. I have some pretty big projects coming up, so my weekends have been filled with research and group meetings. I took today off to go shopping in Seattle with my sister, which was awesome. And I was able to get my Christmas shopping all done.

Mike and I have picked a name!! But we aren't sharing...yet. I went to Michael's and bought some letters for his room. I spent the last few nights watching TV and painting. So here is a hint for you all!



I know...not very helpful!!


I also finally got some Cougar gear for the baby. Go Cougs!



No USC baby around here!


That's about it for now!