Birthing a 10 pound boy

Our sweet boy is turning three months next week! I thought I'd take the time to write down all the details I can remember about his birth. It was the most intense experience of my life and it went nothing like how I envisioned it! 

September 26th 2017: We checked into labor and delivery around 2:00 am when my contractions were five minutes apart.  After they checked us in they said would check my progress in one hour. Preston and I walked/waddled the halls non stop for that hour and I did as many squats and lunges as I could being what felt like 854 weeks pregnant (in reality I was 38 weeks pregnant). At 4:00 am they hooked me back up to the monitors and just before 5:00 am I was at 5 cm and admitted. At 7:00 am we met our nurse for the day, her name was Janice and she becomes important later. At 8:30 we met the on call doctor. My doctor got stuck somewhere else thanks to hurricane Irma. The on call doctor broke my water, which was SO uncomfortable. I wanted to crawl out of my skin. As soon as my water broke my contractions became very painful and two minutes apart. We ordered an epidural at 7:00 am and the anesthesiologist didn't make it to me until almost 11:00. After I got my epidural I fell asleep and woke up around 12:30 for another check to find out that I was 10 cm and baby was coming! Our nurse started setting everything up and getting me ready. At this point I got really, really nervous. Pushing with Harper was rough to say the least and took forever, I was so scared it was going to be awful again. As we were waiting for the doctor I started to feel an insane amount of pressure, the nurses started saying not to push and to relax and breathe but I couldn't focus on anything else. At this point I got really nauseous and ended up throwing up. After being sick the pressure grew and grew and I remember laying there with my eyes closed trying to focus on anything else while we waited for the doctor to come. I remember hearing nurse Janice asking around if any doctor was nearby or on the floor and telling me repeatedly not to push and to just breathe. It was the most intense moments waiting for the doctor and then all of a sudden Janice was tearing the monitors off my belly and asking for blankets. She laid blankets on my stomach and said I could give her one small push. I didn't even get my chin to my chest to push and Cohen was pulled out and on my belly. I honestly laid there in shock for a few seconds. I had NO idea what the heck just happened. My baby was born without a single push. Not one. I didn't even know that was possible! I remember Preston telling me to open my eyes and see how big he was. At that point the on call doctor rushed in, a little bit too late. Everyone started guessing how big he was and after some skin on skin they took him away to check him and weigh him. The nurse announced his weight in grams and all the other nurses and doctor started laughing and then they told us that meant he was 10 pounds 4 ounces. We just love this our big boy. He is seriously the sweetest guy and we're so happy he's here. 

25 Weeks Pregnant with Baby Boy!

This pregnancy is still flying by! It's so strange to think I'm headed into my seventh month soon. I'm so excited and also starting to get anxious. Having two kids seems so intimidating to me! I also feel very unprepared for him so far. When I was pregnant with Harper I basically started buying baby stuff right away and then I sat around the last few months annoyed that I had nothing left to do or prepare. This time around it honestly hasn't even really registered in my mind. I know its just because I have my hands full with Harper so it's really not priority number one to go buy a bunch of tiny socks when I still have three months to go. 

In other news, we've officially lived in VA for six months. I don't think we really knew what to expect doing a cross country move as a family and uprooting our lives. But, even through all the crazy we truly love it here. It's definitely been an adjustment and probably still will be for a while but we're so glad to be here. 

This pregnancy continues to be completely different from Harper's. I'm reaching the stage where I'm very much sore and uncomfortable but I am counting my blessings that it's really my only complaint. This pregnancy almost has me convinced I could have a bunch of babies ;) The only real symptom I've noticed the last few weeks is that I have pretty much zero stamina. Its really shameful, my energy levels and ability to do simple things is just not where it used to be. I flew to Wisconsin for a four day trip. I went by myself for my best friends wedding and to see my family and while it was so fun, I was completely exhausted. I slept pretty much on and off for the first two days after I got home. On the way back to my parents house from the wedding, I was driving and made it about halfway and legit pulled over and had to call my parents to come get me hahahah I was SO embarrassed but I seriously thought I could have fallen asleep at the wheel. I have never reached that level of tiredness to where I thought I would fall asleep driving. Luckily my parents are great and were more than willing to come save me. 

We've got about 3 months left to go now, I'm very much looking forward to meeting this little guy and also to not being pregnant ;) I truly love having a newborn. The early days with them are just so special and sweet and I can't wait to experience that again and to get to meet him. I love that we are having a boy and I get to experience the differences from having a girl. I also can't wait to see Harper as big sister. She keeps telling us to, "get the baby out!"

Here's my 25 week bumpdate info:

How far along? 25 weeks 

Baby's size? head of lettuce 

Weight gain? 18 pounds 

How is sleeping? Can't complain, I'm usually asleep by 10 every night

Food cravings? Cheese quesadillas and Kraft mac n cheese (probably why I've gained 18 pounds haha)

Also Costa Vida, which is a restaurant in Utah and I get SO sad that I can't have it 

Baby purchases? I've stockpiled all his diapers and bought some clothes 

Gender? Boy!

Name? I believe we have a name but we're not sharing it until he's born. We got way too many opinions with Harper and I just don't care to deal with that again haha 

Stretch Marks? Not yet

Happy or Moody? For the most part Happy, I cry WAY easier than I normally would though so that's super annoying. 

Worst moment of the week? Just getting annoyed that I can't keep up and do all the things I want to do/ normally could do 

Best moment of the week? Hearing that my ultrasounds I had all came back normal! I got a little anxious when my Dr. had me come in for more photos of the baby's heart but everything came back great.

Looking forward to? Taking my Glucose test in the next week or so. I like getting that over with and hopefully I pass and things are fine there as well! Also I'm about to start seeing my doctor every 2 weeks which is crazy! 

Bumpdate: Trimester #1 with baby #2

I legit cannot believe my first trimester is done. I also can't believe I'm actually pregnant again and we are having another baby and that I'm a third of the way done growing this little baby. Time is flying by this time around! I will start off by saying this pregnancy is SO different from Harper's. I hate to sound ridiculously dramatic but I will anyway, my first trimester with Harper's pregnancy was honestly one of the hardest things I've ever gone through. I was young and naive and not prepared for what was about to go down during that time. I got diagnosed at 7 weeks with her with what is called hyperemesis gravidarum which is basically severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. It was terrible and not something I would wish on anyone. Deciding to start trying again this time around I knew it was very possible I would go through that again and honestly I was really terrified but I knew if we wanted more kids, we would just have to figure out a way to get through it again. Thank goodness this pregnancy has been nothing like Harper's. I did experience nausea starting at about 5 weeks but so far it has been nothing like before. The most amazing part has been that I haven't thrown up once this pregnancy which is a huge blessing to me. Now that I'm 14 weeks I very rarely feel queasiness, if I do it's usually at night when Harper is already down for the night. I am so, so grateful to not experience what we did before. This pregnancy has honestly been super mild. I really haven't had a lot of symptoms and maybe that's another reason these weeks are flying by. Preston and I keep joking that Harper is our wild child and this baby will just be our chill little laid back kid who just goes with the flow. I guess time will tell! 

Here is some bumpdate info:

How far along? 14 weeks 

Baby's size? Peach

Weight gain? 2 pounds 

How is sleeping? Great! I sleep about 10-12 hours at night hahah I am SO tired at the end of the day 

Food cravings: None...yet

Baby purchases? Nothing :O

Wearing maternity clothes? Yes, give me all the stretchy pants! I don't want any tight waistbands anywhere near me. 

Baby movement? Not yet 

Gender? We find out in 2 weeks 

Gender prediction? I've thought a boy since this pregnancy has been SO different, but we'll see!

Stretch marks? Not yet 

Happy or moody? Happy 

Worst moment of the week? Nothing too crazy, my allergies got bad this week so I had a couple rough days waiting for the medicine to kick in but that's about it! 

Best moment of the week? Hearing the baby's heartbeat at my check up 

Virginia is for lovers

5 years ago my dad and I packed up my little blue Mazda3 and drove to Provo, Utah. I was just barely 18 years old, Preston and I had just started dating seriously and we decided to move to Utah so that he and I could attend college. Growing up in a small town in Wisconsin, it was equally terrifying and exciting to leave and go somewhere 1,500 miles away, somewhere that I knew exactly two people (one of which was Preston) and a place that I had never even visited.

Now, 5 years later, Preston and I fell in love, got engaged, got married, had a baby, graduated from those colleges, sold that little blue Mazda and are moving to Virginia! We decided to sell everything we own before we go and this was something we went back and forth on SO many times. Now that we have officially decided and started the process of selling everything I'm in love with the plan. Something really cool happened where I realized that stuff was JUST STUFF! It is actually pretty liberating to get rid of everything and start again. Deciding to sell everything and only take what fits in our car has actually turned this cross country move into more of an adventure rather than a big stressful moving process. I love the idea of just packing up the car with a few belongings and leaving Utah and starting again somewhere new with all new people and places and things. Preston and I are no strangers to moving, this move will be our 9th move in 5 years (insert huge eyed emoji) and we are very excited about it. 

Preston is going to Virginia in a little over a month to meet with his recruiters and do some interviews and look for housing and then our actually move will happen in December after Preston finishes his last semester. We aren't completely positive on the actual date yet, but Harper and I will fly out to Virginia together and Preston and his mom will be driving from Utah to Virginia a few days later because lets be honest the idea of doing a 36 hour drive with a two year old makes us want to poke our eyes out. I know many of you are probably thinking..."Our family has done longer drives than that with more children" and to you I say congrats, you're better than us ;) We are very excited to start this new phase of our lives. We keep joking that we are starting "our real adult lives" because for all of our marriage, one or both of us have been students. Now we get to get real adult furniture and buy a house and start Preston's real career and we can't wait! So here's to new changes, we are so ready for it! 

"and suddenly you know, it's time to begin again and trust in the magic of new beginnings.."

family photos 2015

I've been wanting to get some family photos done lately but I knew it was going to be impossible to get Harper to actually sit still and I really didn't want to try and force her to be still and pose because that's just not where she's at right now. She's little and she's meant to be running around and being crazy and playing so I really loved the idea of doing a lifestyle shoot and Alyssa Holiday captured it so perfectly. These photos were actually taken in mine and Preston's bedroom. So if you're a creeper and ever wondered what our room looks like....now you know! haha I kid of course! I really do love our "master bedroom." It sounds funny calling it that because it's actually pretty small but it really is my favorite room in our place. I love how intimate the shoot was and that it was taken in our home. We've spent a lot of time in that room since Harper has been born. We snuggle and play and read and watch shows together in there and I love those memories. Alyssa let us pretty much just do whatever we wanted. Like I already said Harper LOVES to read books so we do a lot of that and she loves to be tickled and tackled on our bed so there was a lot of that happening too. I really loved that Alyssa was so, so great with my little Harper. Anytime Harper would get whiny or shy Alyssa would let her run around for a bit or play with her camera all she wanted to make her more comfortable and that was really great. I figure we will have more traditional family photos done as Harper gets older but this really was the perfect photo shoot for where Harper is at right now.

Our lives lately

Hello!
Oh man our lives have been so crazy lately but really great! 

This summer we took our first family vacation with the 3 of us. We went to a family reunion on Preston's side to a lake house in North Carolina. We flew a red eye to Virginia to meet up with Preston's family first and then we drove to North Carolina and we were at the lake house for a week and then went back down to Midlothian VA to hang out for a few more days. If you're wondering a red eye with a 16 month old was a DISASTER. Now we just laugh at the experience and are so glad that it's over but HOLY CRAP it was insane. Harper is a great, great little sleeper but that girl was over tired and over stimulated and our hopes and dreams of her sleeping for the flights in hindsight were a complete joke. The girl went full on crazy, screaming bloody murder, hitting us, bending backwards like one only does when they've been possessed by a demon spirit. It was ridiculous but then she was mostly an angel lady once we got settled and she LOVED the lake as you'll see below. We had a lot of fun and made a bunch of great memories while we were there. Traveling with a tiny toddler is no joke but luckily we have a little while before we plan our next big trip with little lady.

I'm still at home with Harper each and every day and I love it...for the most part ;) I love that I don't miss a thing when it comes to Harper. I'm there for every big moment or new discovery and it's awesome. I'm so blessed to be able to stay home with her and it's definitely not lost on me. Even on the crazy days where she is being a sassy, exhausting little girl I always find myself scrolling through photos of her and missing her once she's in bed and all is calm again and I always try to convince Preston to let me go sneak in her room and wake her up to play but he's usually not into that idea and he's usually right that it's a horrible idea to wake the beast haha. 

Preston just got a new position at his company a few weeks ago and the guy is LOVING IT! I'm so happy that he's happy and loving what he's doing. It's a great new challenge for him and the boy is doing great. It all happened so fast and fell together so perfectly and it had us shaking our heads at how things all work out and we know it was for sure a huge blessing from above and it just makes us smile. 

This summer has been a lot of fun. It's been pretty hot here so Harper and I are really loving going to the pool with our buddies Alyssa and Maverick who also happen to be our next door neighbors. It's awesome to say the least...we love hanging out with them and it makes the summer a lot more fun that Harper has a little friend to run around and be crazy with and I love that his mom and I can relate to each other so well because we are pretty much living the same life haha. Her husband works at the same company Preston does and we have babies a month apart from each other and we live on the exact same street! 

Preston and I have started to be able to go on a lot of date nights again which is heaven. I don't know if brand new mom me would have believed that this day would come a year ago when Harper was a tiny nursing, highly attached to me, always hungry, savage, no sleeping lady baby. But alas this time did come and I'm loving this season of life. I love spending time with Preston just the two of us each week and it really gives us the chance to be early 20 somethings. Don't get me wrong we LOVE the child so much and we love hanging around just the three of us but man its no joke when people say how important the time is with just the two of you and I'm so lucky to have him as it is but also get those special date nights with just us is great. We've been to movies, had game nights with friends, gone to a concert, baseball games, and shopping this summer and it's a lot of fun and it's been so, so fun. (also side note thanks for anyone and everyone who has babysat Harper for us...you have NO idea how much it means to us and how thankful we are for each of you)

Just a little update on what Harper is up to lately:

-The girl is starting to talk a lot...like real words! it's so fun and so cute and I seriously LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE (get the point) how her little voice sounds 

-Walks and runs and NEVER EVER sits still but I love it. Play on little lady

-Just loves to eat. We are convinced it doesn't register with her that she's full. She'll eat her dinner and then be completely convinced that she needs to eat all of ours too and then needs a snack 20 minutes later? how the girl only weighs 20 pounds is beyond me

-She really loves anyone that makes her laugh. I like to think she gets that from me. If you make us laugh we love you for life and you will for sure become Harper's best friend for as long as you let her bug you

-She loves books. In the sweetest way possible. No joke she literally kisses the pages as we read stories, we're talking major heart eyes people.

-She's getting very sassy these days. To the point that I'm almost convinced her "terrible two's" are happening early. She has a lot of opinions and if you do/say something she's not fond of she'll let you know with the most annoying little dinosaur screech. It's ridiculous haha but we are working on it. 

-Harper gives the best little hugs, I might be a little biased but they are pretty great. I love her little squeezes and that she grunts a little when she hugs you tight. 

-Loves the bath and going outside. So much that we can't say those words in our house until it's a done deal and we are almost headed out the door or the bath has already been poured. 

So that's just some fun facts about what she's up to lately. She's going on 18 months in September. How she's almost a year and a half already I'm really not sure but she is just the best and keeps us highly entertained on the daily. 

SO anyway that's our lives lately.

XOXO

ONE year old Harper

My sweet girl turned 1 today! I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it but here's some photos I captured of my cute, silly big one year old lady. I'll post some sappy notes about our last year together and some photos of her birthday celebrations after her party this weekend!