Me at two months
Dane at two months
Dane at two monthsNot exactly the same angle, but he was too sleepy to smile.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
So, you think he looks like his mom?
At first when people would ask who Dane looked like, I felt kind of bad saying "Me." But as he has gotten bigger, I just can't deny it any longer. Dane looks like his mom. I know that Brock was a little disappointed that his genes didn't win out a little bit more on this first go around, but he's still got his fingers crossed that Dane's eyes will turn green...Here's to hoping!
Shower Fun
So when we moved into our house a year ago, there was only one shower. It was downstairs, and SCARY!!! Quite reminiscent of my shower days in Venezuela. I must admit, I didn't think that I would ever be forced to shower with flip flops on in my own home. Nevertheless, that was unfortunately the case. I'm not sure how the previous owners did it, but that was the first project on the list when we moved in...
Shower complete with custom shower-head.
Fast forward a year later...
Really, I don't know how it possibly took us so long to get this little project done. You'd think with the growing belly, and the sheer atrocity of showering in something so third world would be motivation enough! In all fairness, it didn't take us quite a year to get the project done, just 11 months :).
He did it all by himself, and did such a great job. There were a few set-backs that pushed the finishing date back, but all in all, it was a great first run at tiling!
Voila! The finished product. It sure feels luxurious to shower bare-foot!
Shower complete with custom shower-head.Fast forward a year later...
Really, I don't know how it possibly took us so long to get this little project done. You'd think with the growing belly, and the sheer atrocity of showering in something so third world would be motivation enough! In all fairness, it didn't take us quite a year to get the project done, just 11 months :).
It did take us a while to find tile to match. The previous owners had re-done the floor in a granite that has all sorts of colors in it-pink and gray. Since I wasn't too keen on having a pink shower, we went with the gray. Lucky for us, there's not a whole lot of gray tile to choose from. We finally found something we liked, and Brock got going on the way overdue do-it-yourself project.
Voila! The finished product. It sure feels luxurious to shower bare-foot!Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Spudman
My siblings, and my Dad are pretty big into cycling. Earlier this year, they had the idea that it would be fun for everyone to do a triathlon. Jeff had already reserved a spot for Bobbie and himself on the Zions team, and the rest of the fam was excited to secure their spot as well. The morning of the sign-ups came, and all 2000+ spots filled up in 18 minutes! Brock was the only other person in my family to get in. He is the only one out of those who were going to do it, who didn't have a bike and didn't swim or cycle. So the story begins...
Jeff spent a good number of hours on EBay trying to find Brock a good bike. With a baby on the way, there were more important things to take up Brock's time, so he didn't have a lot to dedicate to finding one. Jeff loves looking for cycling stuff, and it was fun for him to look with the idea of spending someone else's money :). He found a frame, and using his old components, they built Brock a bike, that is actually pretty sweet looking (this coming from someone who knows NOTHING about bikes, but still...).
Brock still had limited time, since we were trying to get the nursery ready (which story will come at a later date) and the bathroom shower put in (also another story) and the garden planted before the baby arrived. His training was minimal to say the least. I think he went on 4 bike rides, swam 4 times, and went running maybe 5. Not too much if you consider the mile swim, 24.something ride, and 6.9 mile run that would be coming up the end of July. But, Brock is a natural athlete, so he completed the triathlon in 2 hours 46 minutes. Not bad for a first timer who's training was completely negligible!Bobbie, Dane and I were great cheerleaders
Cheerleeding sure is hard work!
Labor Story
For all those who have been dying to know how labor went, here you go:
When I went in for my appointment on Friday, June 13, I was dilated to a 2, and 50% effaced. She stripped my membranes, but said that they were still pretty in tact, so not to plan on anything exciting happening. That was also my last day at work, because I wanted a week or so to get things ready around the house, and I had this awful fear of having my water break while at work.
So Monday came, and I had a wonderful friend come help me clean the house, so I at least felt somewhat ready to have the baby without worrying about coming home to a mess. I still felt really good, though tired, but no contractions to speak of besides the typical Braxton Hicks. Wednesday I spent the day with my mom running errands, and getting some last minute items. I had some random contractions, but nothing regular. That night we went to our niece Lindsay's dance recital, and I started to not feel so good, but nothing too unbearable.
We went to bed at about 11:30 that night, and I got up at 1:30 for my typical night-time trip to the bathroom. As soon as I laid my head back on the pillow to go to sleep, I felt like I had peed my pants. I knew that I had just emptied my bladder, so thought to myself, "I think my water just broke." Then, as if to confirm my suspicion, another gush came. I woke Brock up and told him that my water had broken, and I've never seen the boy wake up so fast! I wasn't having any contractions, so this wasn't at all how I had imagined things would go. I wasn't even sure if we needed to get to the hospital right away, so Brock called and asked. They told us to get there as soon as we could. Brock packed his bags, and we were off. I guess the good thing about going into labor in the middle of the night, is the lack of traffic. We made it in record time!
I got all checked into my room by 3:00 am. Still no contractions. They didn't want to check to see how far dilated I was since there is an increased chance of infection once your water breaks. So we just walked around the floor trying to get my contractions to start coming. They started about an hour later, and were really very bearable. Not that they didn't hurt, but I could breathe through the pain. Brock was great with helping me, and being a great labor coach. They came in around 6:30 and wanted to start me on some pitocin, because my contractions still weren't close enough together. I wanted to do an un-medicated delivery, and I knew that once the pitocin started, that would be harder to accomplish, so I had them check me to see how far progressed I was. I was at a 4, and 90% effaced. I asked them if I could try it for a bit longer to see if I could continue to progress on my own. They were okay with that, but didn't want to wait too long, since my water was broken. They give you an 18 hour window to deliver vaginally after your water breaks. After that, they seriously look at c-section, because the risk of infection is too high.
By 9:00, the contractions were really strong, and a bit harder to handle. I got in the tub, and though it usually relaxes me, it did nothing. I had them check me again to see how far I had progressed, and much to my dismay, I was still at a 4! Though I guess the consolation was that I was now fully effaced. Wooohoo!!! In nearly eight hours of labor, I had only dilated 2 centimeters at the most (who knows what I was when I went in). I decided that I just couldn't do 6 more centimeters and then push the little guy out. It was a tough decision, but I opted for the epidural. Best decision ever! They still had to give me a little pitocin to speed up my contractions, but by 1:30, I was complete.
He was still sitting up pretty high in the birth canal, and the doctor (who unfortunately was not my OB, but one of her partners) still had some appointments upstairs, so I just laid there ready to go, and let the contractions push him down for me. At about 4:00, I started pushing, and at 4:34 pm, our little boy entered the world.
He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and I still can't believe that he is mine. He had a little difficulty breathing at first, so they were suctioning out his lungs, and had him on some oxygen. Brock overheard them discussing whether or not to call in the NICU team, but he finally cried that beautiful cry, and pinked up. It was truly the most amazing experience of my life. I can't imagine anything being better than that first moment when I got to meet the little angel who had been growing inside of me for the past nine months. He is perfect, and such a sweet boy, and I love him more than anything!
When I went in for my appointment on Friday, June 13, I was dilated to a 2, and 50% effaced. She stripped my membranes, but said that they were still pretty in tact, so not to plan on anything exciting happening. That was also my last day at work, because I wanted a week or so to get things ready around the house, and I had this awful fear of having my water break while at work.
So Monday came, and I had a wonderful friend come help me clean the house, so I at least felt somewhat ready to have the baby without worrying about coming home to a mess. I still felt really good, though tired, but no contractions to speak of besides the typical Braxton Hicks. Wednesday I spent the day with my mom running errands, and getting some last minute items. I had some random contractions, but nothing regular. That night we went to our niece Lindsay's dance recital, and I started to not feel so good, but nothing too unbearable.
We went to bed at about 11:30 that night, and I got up at 1:30 for my typical night-time trip to the bathroom. As soon as I laid my head back on the pillow to go to sleep, I felt like I had peed my pants. I knew that I had just emptied my bladder, so thought to myself, "I think my water just broke." Then, as if to confirm my suspicion, another gush came. I woke Brock up and told him that my water had broken, and I've never seen the boy wake up so fast! I wasn't having any contractions, so this wasn't at all how I had imagined things would go. I wasn't even sure if we needed to get to the hospital right away, so Brock called and asked. They told us to get there as soon as we could. Brock packed his bags, and we were off. I guess the good thing about going into labor in the middle of the night, is the lack of traffic. We made it in record time!
I got all checked into my room by 3:00 am. Still no contractions. They didn't want to check to see how far dilated I was since there is an increased chance of infection once your water breaks. So we just walked around the floor trying to get my contractions to start coming. They started about an hour later, and were really very bearable. Not that they didn't hurt, but I could breathe through the pain. Brock was great with helping me, and being a great labor coach. They came in around 6:30 and wanted to start me on some pitocin, because my contractions still weren't close enough together. I wanted to do an un-medicated delivery, and I knew that once the pitocin started, that would be harder to accomplish, so I had them check me to see how far progressed I was. I was at a 4, and 90% effaced. I asked them if I could try it for a bit longer to see if I could continue to progress on my own. They were okay with that, but didn't want to wait too long, since my water was broken. They give you an 18 hour window to deliver vaginally after your water breaks. After that, they seriously look at c-section, because the risk of infection is too high.
By 9:00, the contractions were really strong, and a bit harder to handle. I got in the tub, and though it usually relaxes me, it did nothing. I had them check me again to see how far I had progressed, and much to my dismay, I was still at a 4! Though I guess the consolation was that I was now fully effaced. Wooohoo!!! In nearly eight hours of labor, I had only dilated 2 centimeters at the most (who knows what I was when I went in). I decided that I just couldn't do 6 more centimeters and then push the little guy out. It was a tough decision, but I opted for the epidural. Best decision ever! They still had to give me a little pitocin to speed up my contractions, but by 1:30, I was complete.
He was still sitting up pretty high in the birth canal, and the doctor (who unfortunately was not my OB, but one of her partners) still had some appointments upstairs, so I just laid there ready to go, and let the contractions push him down for me. At about 4:00, I started pushing, and at 4:34 pm, our little boy entered the world.
He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and I still can't believe that he is mine. He had a little difficulty breathing at first, so they were suctioning out his lungs, and had him on some oxygen. Brock overheard them discussing whether or not to call in the NICU team, but he finally cried that beautiful cry, and pinked up. It was truly the most amazing experience of my life. I can't imagine anything being better than that first moment when I got to meet the little angel who had been growing inside of me for the past nine months. He is perfect, and such a sweet boy, and I love him more than anything!
Time Flies
It's been almost two months since my last post. I really am a slacker when it comes to this blogging thing. But now we have high speed internet, so there is no excuse--I must blog more frequently. (Try not to hold me to that :) )
Well, there is much that I need to catch up on, and I will try my best. There is a lot, so bear with me...
Well, there is much that I need to catch up on, and I will try my best. There is a lot, so bear with me...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
