What just happened?........

DISCLAIMER: This post contains a birth story. For those of you unfamiliar with birth stories, they can be gross. Also, I am a chronic oversharer. Reader discretion is advised.

So, with this pregnancy, I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions for about the last three weeks. Some days I would have a few. Some days, I had that ALL DAY. So, last Monday, when I started having contractions at about 2:30 in the morning, I didn't necessarily think too much of it. I had contractions all day again, but these were consistently 30 minutes apart. That night, they stopped for about two hours and I thought, "Ah man, ah well, we'll just wait some more." When I went to bed, they started up again and were about 20 minutes apart. They stayed that way for most of the night....15 minutes apart by morning. I was about to sleep for about 4 hours which was nice.

Ok, so Tuesday morning....

- Early Tuesday morning, the contractions continued getting closer together. By 8:30, they were about 7-8 mintues apart. (side note: my phone has a fun stopwatch app, which I became a little bit addicted to. This proved to be a good thing in the end).
We decided to go to the hospital at this point as the contractions were getting harder to get through. Sandy needs to win a prize for the best driving ever. We live in College Place, which is actually known for having horribly pot-hole filled streets. He did an amazing job!
So, the drive from our house to the hospital takes about 5 minutes. By the time we got to the hospital, my contractions were a minute apart. At this point, I had abandoned the timer, but it proved to be invaluable because if we had waited.....well, you'll see.

Sandy wheeled me upstairs. By the time I got into a bed, the contractions were basically on top of each other....get ready for overshare. The nurse checked me, I was dialated to 3.5 cm....For those not in the centimeter loop, that really bites. I almost cried. Thirty hours of contractions and I'm only 3.5???!?! I have to get to 10 before this thing is over...LAME! I didn't have too much time to whine because the contractions were getting worse. The nurse told me that she'd call me 4cm so they could admit me.

I wasn't too worried. I had a plan. If they sent me home, I was going to have Sandy wheel me back downstairs to the lobby where I would holler up a storm until they let me in. Thankfully, I didn't have to.

Ok, so at this point, we've been at the hospital for about 15 minutes. They started an IV. I confirmed that I was in fact interested in an epidural. I had considered med-free, but after laboring at home for so long, I was done. At this point, I was pretty much hollering....loudly! I sort of figured that the louder I got, the quicker the people around me would move!

25 minutes into the whole thing, I told the nurse that my body was starting to push. She said, "Ok, let me check you again." After she checked me, she yelled, "Somebody get in here!" and told them to call the doctor. The nurse told me to do the stereotypical hee-hee-hoo...which it turns out actually helps. Five minutes later, the doctor literally ran in. She said, "Ok...go."...which I did. It was such a weird experience. I obviously felt the pain, but I also remember thinking....hmm, nobody said it would feel like this?.....I would be happy to tell you about this, but have been told that it's too much for a blog...even one with a disclaimer :-)

In two contractions, Josie was born.

Basically, the contractions were 7 minutes apart when we left the house.
They were one minute apart when we got to the hospital.
We arrived at 9:00
She was born at 9:38

I tell you what! If you're going to have a natural child birth, 38 minutes of actual work is seriously the way to go! :-)

A few weeks ago, I tested positive for a strain of Strep. It's a common thing to have and not a big deal for me, but it's potentially a major bummer for the baby. They had wanted to get two doses in me before she was born. That obviously didn't happen. So, we were in the hospital for two days while they made sure she wasn't going to get super sick. She didn't and all is well.

So far, she's a good eater. She will be a good sleeper....someday :-) Sandy's parents were able to come up and are still here - which has been wonderful! Even mamas with crazy fast labors can take a little tlc :-)

Here are a few pictures...enjoy!

Addi giving "the belly" a kiss. 

Brand New Josie who looked soooo much like

brand new Addi. She looks much more like

herself now.

Introducing sisters

Grammy and Josie

Addi helping Papa hold Josie

Nana, Josie and Adalie

Pops and Josie

Addi and Nana being so silly :-)

Very little feet

So much blond hair...just like her Papa.

I didn't want to use the flash, but had to get

this picture, because she was just so content.

Sleeping on a pillow

This is what Mamas do in the wee morning hours

when we've already been awake for most of the

wee night hours...take pictures of ourselves....

Three girls at home

9-Months

So, my sister, Cami tells me that the second born gets shafted when it comes to

pictures. Being a first-born, I never really worried about it. However, I already

have WAY fewer pictures of the belly this time around. So, after work last

week, I asked Sandy to take a few pictures.

The 9-Month Belly

Yup, there she is..whew, that's a lot of belly....

I love it!

Easter 2012

I have been doing some research/reading about Easter, origins, meanings, etc.

I'm coming to a conclusion, but am not there yet, so this year...fun with

eggs it is! We'll see where I'm at next year :-)

Addi was very excited to dye eggs...actually,

she's just making a very silly face.

 Addi did a great job "gently" dropping the eggs into

the dye. We didn't even stain our clothes or dump dye anywhere...

amazing.

This year, we got glitter for the eggs.

Messy and so fun.

Easter egg hunt at Grammy and Grandad's

'new' house.

Sandy was such a great sport and followed Addi around

with her overflow bag (she had the world's smallest

Easter basket).  

Ta-Da!

Jan through Mar 2012

2012 - We are so excited for this year. Lord willing, we'll be having our second child in May. Work and school are going well for Sandy and let's face it, even years are just better...

 We discovered the true delights of finger painting..so much fun.

Very serious mixing going on.

We had pretty much two days of snow this winter which

is unusual. Addi was not pleased about

having to postpone playing outside for picture taking.

All she wanted to do was make a snow angel and a snow pig.

Our main problem was that our snow was ice and her

little body didn't even break through the ice when she tried to make

her snow angel. We'll have to try again next year.

Addi got to watch some of the National Gymnastics Championship.

She thought it was amazing and has discovered jumping off stools and the couch.

I can't wait to introduce her to the Olympics.

Ta-Da

We aren't sure if we have a nest somewhere in our house, or

if they're are coming in from outside, but we have a ton

of ladybugs in our house. It's been fun for Addi when she finds them

all over....less fun when she finds them in our glasses of water :-(

We inherited a hutch that belonged to Sandy's grandmother.

We've had it in our garage for a long time. Sandy decided he

needed a project and set about sanding and painting it as a birthday present

for me :-)

Addi and I got to help a little bit. It was a

great family project.

This was the "before" These are the shelves came with the apartment.

They hold a lot of stuff, but look like a disaster.

This is our beautiful hutch which also hold a lot and looks.....beautiful

One of the great things that happened this year...or will happen

is that I get to be home with the girls in the fall (oh, yeah, I'm having a girl :-)

In preparation for that, I figured I should figure out how to cut my family's hair.

This is our first go at it since the first baby haircut.

Lesson learned: don't cut bangs when they are wet because when they dry, they will

be very crooked :-)

The rest of 2011

These next few pictures are pretty much the rest of 2011. We found out in September that I was (am) pregnant and expecting in May. We were so excited especially after last January's scary ectopic pregnancy. When you start losing internal bits, you aren't always sure if pregnancy is possible. We were very thankful and I was very, very sick. It's a lot like having a really gross flu for about six months. During that time Sandy was working full time and taking classes in the evenings and weekends. So, he had that plus taking care of everything for the house...dinner, dishes, laundry, Addi...everything. I worked and then curled up on the couch. It was a rough fall. Thankfully, it didn't last forever. Thankfully, Addi is very, very into art and into helping us in the kitchen. When I could sit up, we had some fun (she also did a lot with Sandy).

She is so focused on her work, but she really is having fun.

My Pampered Chef mini muffin pan is PERFECT for

paint....call me if you need to order one :-)

 Fast forward three or four months to Christmas

cookie making time. Adalie is a pro at sprinkles.

Mama and my girl

So much fun "cooking"

 We went up to the Klicker Homestead to get our Christmas

tree. It was wonderful to be feeling ok enough to be outside for a bit.

Because of Dave's application schedule for residency,

they got to spend about a month with us. I absolutely love

this picture because Jack is wearing Grammy's gloves on his feet.

He's obviously thrilled :-)

Trees inside are so fun

Perhaps the best present...a purple soccer ball from Auntie Joy!

Christmas Morning

This is an old school rocking horse - and my old school, I mean it

belonged to my dad when he was little. (Sorry for calling you old, dad).

My nana told us that it's name was Trigger. I told Addi that she could

call it whatever she wanted to. She chose Trigger Rosita...excellent!

More August 2011

One of my favorite parts of this summer was experiencing the incredible results of acupuncture. After having dealt with my seasonal allergies, we turned our attention to my 14 year dairy allergy. I no longer have an allergic reaction to dairy. We celebrated with a DQ ice cream cone...which after 14 years, tasted kind of like butter.....yummm!

 These next few photos are of us at the annual Frontier Days Parade in Walla Walla. I love this parade - it's old school. Lots of horses and rodeo princesses, lots of candy being thrown from moving vehicles...what's not to love?

 Yeah, we don't mess around...I mean...Parade :-)

 It warmed up quite a bit and Addi got the hang of grabbing candy off the road.

Definitely a once a year thing!

Addi started preschool this year. She is in a three year old class at a local church. It has been such a great thing for her. She gets to be around 18 other kids - instead of just adults - and can't wait to be a kindergartener. She is proud of her work, loves her teachers and her classmates.

 First day of preschool

 Addi loves making this face

Copying her Papa

Copying her Mama :-)

Adalie loves to help me cook. Today, she had fun stacking

spices and a wine cork.

Have I said it already? Preschool is so fun.

I think we might even still have the owl hat and her

alphabet wall is all the way up to "U". This morning

she called to me from the living room: "Mama, the X is missing."

All is well, Addi, X will be here soon.