Max's Belly Departure

Disclaimer:
Long post alert. But, as with the other two kiddos, I want to document the experience for Max and myself. And, despite my worry that people are going to think I'm completely granola, I've decided to share all the details - including that we did it at home. Read on if you're interested.. or not if it's TMI.

Reader's Digest Version:
I spent the entire week before going on walks around the neighborhood to start up labor, but as soon as I sat down, the Braxton Hicks would go away. My water broke at 10:15 pm on Sunday night (that's a first!), and contractions started at 11:00 pm. I got into the half-filled tub (we ran out of hot water!) at about 1:45 am and the midwife showed up ten minutes later. After 3.75 hours of labor and 2 pushes Max was born!

All the Fine Details:
I had it in my head that this baby was coming on August 8th, even though I wasn't due until the 13th. Lots of Braxton Hicks started on Monday night and I got really excited thinking that I could go into labor a whole week early. I walked around the neighborhood then went to bed, but slept soundly all night. This happened over... and over and I started getting frustrated because nothing was happening and everyone was calling to ask me for updates. My continuous answer: not a single thing.

Friday, August 9:
I had an appointment with my midwife. I was hoping that she would sweep my membranes to stir something up and hopefully get things started. When I got there, she said another one of her moms was a week and a half overdue, and she didn't want to do anything "artificial" in case she compromised her attendance at one of our deliveries. She said in all of her years delivering babies, if the babies were left to decide when to come they were considerate of each other's timing. Interesting, but disappointing. Especially when she checked me and said I was only dilated to a 1 and it would be hard to do a sweep anyway.

Sunday, August 11:
The Young Women in our ward were assigned to speak today about Girls Camp. I thought I got out of the assignment because I would have a baby by then. When Sunday came, I debated about coming to church because I felt guilty. I decided to go, and during Young Women's (we have backward's church with Sacrament meeting last) I got persuaded into speaking anyway. I even mentioned at the beginning of my talk that hopefully standing at the podium would be the ticket to jump-starting my labor.

After church we went over to Justin's parent's house for dinner. Something told me to take the kids' overnight bag with us, so we threw it in the trunk. After dinner, around 7 pm I got up from sitting on the couch and thought my water broke. I felt a gush, but it was pretty small. I called my midwife, Rebecca, and she said if it was my water that labor would start within the next four hours. If not... maybe the baby just peed my pants for me. (Embarrassing!) We hung out until 9:30 pm waiting for something to happen so we could leave the kids overnight... but nothing. Not one single contraction!

We put the kids to bed as soon as we got home, and when I stood up after reading Harvey his bedtime story I felt another small gush. I ran to the bathroom and then I knew my water really broke. Luckily I made it off the carpet and onto the toilet! I called Rebecca again, and she sounded encouraging - telling me we would probably have a baby on Monday. But since there were still no signs of contractions, she told me that now would be the best time to take a nap and to call when I wanted her to come over.

I made Justin vacuum the living room, lay down a painter's tarp, pump up the tub (Rebecca had dropped it off, along with a bunch of other stuff at around 36 weeks), and hook up the hose to our bathroom sink. Meanwhile, I unloaded/loaded the dishwasher, and headed to bed. At around 11:00 pm I started to feel contractions, but they were really mild so I just laid in bed and timed them on an app on my kindle. After about an hour and a half, I got sick of laying there, so I went downstairs with Justin. We chatted a bit, but I didn't feel like things were far enough along to wake Rebecca up and have her come over. Justin asked me if I felt like watching the recorded Breaking Bad episode we had on the DVR, and I thought it might be a good distraction to pass the time.

Monday, August 12:
I lost interest after a while, when the contractions started getting a little more intense. I sat Indian style (on a towel) on the couch, and I had to lean my head back, close my eyes and breath through the contractions. Justin gave me a Priesthood Blessing, and I felt calm about the whole thing. He said a host of angels would assist in the birth of our baby, and reminded me that I could call upon the Holy Ghost any time I stood in need of comfort or strength. I finally called Rebecca because the timing of the contractions were getting pretty close: 1 minute long and about 3-4 minutes apart. She said she would head over, and told us if the tub wasn't already filled to get started.

As soon as we came upstairs the contractions got more intense and I told Justin I wanted to get in the tub as soon as possible. We hadn't really thought the hot water situation through - our water heater had a 50 gallon capacity, and the tub held 100 gallons. I got in with the water level just below my belly button and used a glass to pour the warm water on my belly during each contraction. It actually wasn't that bad - the feeling of the pouring water was both relaxing and distracting from the pressure and felt really nice. Rebecca arrived at about 1:55 am, and set up all of her stuff. I was kind of oblivious to everything, just focused on staying relaxed. She used her baby waterproof doppler to check the baby's heartbeat and figure out his position; still on the left side, so we knew we had some labor time. Justin turned the water heater all the way up, and once the water was warm enough we turned the hose back on. It was perfect timing because at that point pouring water from the glass wasn't quite fast enough - I wanted continuous warm water, so I just took the hose and held it right above my belly.

Justin and Rebecca kept a cool washcloth on my forehead, and fanned me, or gave me ice water to keep me cool. The only really negative thing was my face started feeling really tingly - kind of like when your foot falls asleep. I asked Rebecca about it and she said sometimes people feel that way after getting too much oxygen in one area. I guess I was really getting into the breathing thing. After a while, Rebecca asked me if I had gone to the bathroom in a while, and I thought I could get up and pee so she helped me out of the tub and we walked to the bathroom. A very intense contraction came on pretty quickly as I sat on the toilet. I had to lean over the counter because I felt really dizzy (the tingly feeling around my eyes), and kind of nauseous. After what seemed like a really LONG and intense contraction, I felt the urge to push. I told Justin and Rebecca and they quickly helped me back into the tub. As soon as I stepped into the tub, I knelt down and leaned on the wall of the tub and the urge to push came again. Rebecca got out her doppler to check the position of the baby, but after one push I could tell that the baby was crowning. I just pushed one more time and he was out!

When we pulled the baby up out of the water, Justin asked me if it was a boy or girl... and I told him to let me catch my breath. I knew before I sat down and checked him over that he was a boy, even though I was sure I was having a girl almost the entire pregnancy.

Max Justin Keetch

2:42 am

9 pounds

22 inches long

Max didn't cry right away, and when he did it was almost like he was saying "hi" rather than crying because he was unhappy. We snuggled in the water for a while, then Justin cut his umbilical cord and held him while I got out of the tub. The poor kid didn't like all of the flash photography in his first minutes. After we stopped taking pictures, he tried opening his eyes but even with the lights dimmed all the way he would squint then quickly squeeze his eyes shut again.

Rebecca checked us both over then cleaned everything up and left to let us sleep around 5:30 am. The kids woke up around 8:45 am. When Harvey came in our room I told him that the baby had come last night. He got a really big smile on his face and asked, "Where is she?!" I wish I had my camera ready for his first peek at baby Max; a sweet little smile crept up on his face as he looked at his new baby brother, then he turned to look at me. It was precious.

After Justin got Avery out of her crib, I got the camera but I didn't have the best angle to get their reaction.

In hindsight.. a video would have probably captured the whole moment the best. Oh well.

Avery was especially enchanted with him. I thought she might be jealous, or cranky about the whole thing, but she wanted to hold him and didn't want to give anyone else a turn!

Max's grandparents came over to meet him, and when my mom showed up with balloons, Harvey asked where the gifts were. And that reminded me that we did have gifts to exchange! The kids had each picked out a baby toy to give when he arrived...

 and Max came into the world bearing gifts as well. He knew Harvey would love some new Hot Wheels...

... and he thought Avery might like to feed her baby dolls while I fed Max. She wanted to feed Max herself.

It has been kind of crazy readjusting to baby stuff, and adjusting to 3 kiddos, but we are loving every minute. We are officially outnumbered!! Luckily, we have great family and friends who are so willing to help out; we're so grateful for them!

Avery's Belly Departure

Disclaimer: 
This is a ridiculously long post. But I want to document the story for myself and for Avery if she's interested. So, here's the short version in case you just want the nitty gritty, but feel free to read the novel with all of the juicy details. Or not. :)

Reader's Digest Version:
I got acupuncture last Monday to induce my labor (just like I did with Harvey), but it didn't do much, so I went in for another treatment on Wednesday. Contractions started about 12 hours later. At about 3:00pm on Thursday we headed to the birth center and I was already dilated to a 7 and 100% effaced. I labored and delivered Avery Anne in the tub three hours later!

All the Fine Details:

Monday, September 26:
I went in to give a massage at the chiropractors office in the morning, and had him do an acupuncture treatment while I was there. I was sick and tired of all the heartburn (since 13 weeks!) and dying to get this labor started. Dr. Collard used 4 points this time and added electric stimulation for 40 minutes. I was disappointed that I didn't feel any contractions during the treatment like I did when I was pregnant with Harvey. I was a little worried that it wouldn't work.

After the treatment I went to Home Depot to pick up the paint match for the baby's nursery. We tore out a built-in desk in that room and still needed to paint the wall. (Talk about leaving it until the last minute!) I headed home, picked up Harvey from my friends' house and ate lunch. During his nap, I painted the nursery wall and went on a cleaning spree through the whole house. I was hoping all the activity might stir something up. Justin came home from work and we went on a long walk to the Redbox at 7-Eleven to get the movie Thor. I got excited because I started feeling some contractions, but they stopped as soon as we did.

Tuesday, September 27:
This was my "changed-to" due date; my mom got a substitute and we spent the day together. I was irritated that the acupuncture wasn't jump-starting anything.

Wednesday, September 28:
My mother-in-law already had the day off to take Justin's dad in for a doctor's appointment and so we planned that she would take Harvey if and when I went into labor. I went in for another acupuncture treatment in the afternoon (but the doctor's appointment turned into quite the ordeal, and she ended up not being able to watch Harvey even for my treatment, so I took him with me. He watched Cars on my laptop on the floor.) Dr. Collard did the same points and turned up the electric stimulation a little higher. Again: no contractions.

I went walking again to deliver some thank you notes around my neighborhood, and contractions started coming about 10 minutes apart. I was pretty excited, so I called Rebecca Williams (my midwife) and my mom to give them a heads up. I packed a bag and set it by the front door just in case. I went to bed feeling really excited, and slept great until about 3:30am.

Thursday, September 29:
Contractions would wake me up, but they were really light and irregular. This continued all morning. One contraction here... the next one 30 minutes later... another one an hour later... then 7 minutes. I kept track of them on a notebook and just went about my day trying to get things done. At about 1:00 pm the contractions started coming between 3 and 5 minutes apart, and Harvey would drive me nutty asking for something over and over. I made some phone calls: Justin to come home from work, the neighbor to watch Harvey, my mom to pick up Harvey after she got off work, and Rebecca to say we would be at the birth center by 3:00 pm.

When we got to the birth center, I marched straight in and laid on the bed with my body pillow. Justin gathered all the stuff and made it in just in time to put pressure on my lower back during a contraction. I was already 100% effaced and dilated to a 7! I asked her if I could get in the tub, and I found immense relief once submerging myself in the hot water. Honestly, the water relieved so much of the low back pressure during my contractions, at one point I asked Rebecca if I might have stalled labor by getting in!

Oh, that tub was heaven. It was specially designed for birth; with padding too! Justin, Rebecca and I spent the next hour or so talking about what to expect with a water birth, snacking on grapes and ice water and concentrating through contractions. We took some funny photos of Justin feeding me grapes like a Roman goddess (although I won't share them with the whole world, if you know what I mean...). Rebecca kept tabs on the baby's heartbeat with her waterproof Doppler from time to time. When I first got in the tub, Avery was hanging out on the left side of my uterus. Rebecca told me that she would move toward the center and then move down as my labor continued. At every check-in Avery had moved quite a bit which made me feel like we were making progress. At one point, my contractions started getting pretty intense, but we drained some of the cooler water and added hot and they lightened up again after that.

Finally, I got to the point where I wanted to be done with labor. It seemed like a lot longer to me, but it had only been a couple hours since we arrived at the birth center. Rebecca checked with the Doppler to see where the baby was, and she was very low and right in position. I didn't feel my body start to push on its own like when I had Harvey, but we thought that maybe my water hadn't broken yet, so the baby's head wasn't pushing as low as it could have been. I tried to just push a little on my own and my body took over after that.

I just have to say... this "pushing experience" was much harder mentally than Harvey's delivery. Staying in sitting position was way too intense, so I turned over on my knees and sat on my feet (plus Rebecca said that position was more likely to result in no tearing). Justin had to put lots of pressure on my lower back and I was shocked to hear my "inner-beast" come out. After a while it seemed like we weren't making progress, and Rebecca thought that maybe Avery was stuck behind my pubic synthesis so she had me turn over again to push. Holy moly the contractions were intense, and Justin couldn't get to my back, but Avery started crowning really quickly. And I started freaking out. I was nervous that I would tear and it really felt like I might, so Rebecca asked if I wanted to turn over. Yeah, with half of a baby head out of my body. Somehow they talked me into it and got me flipped over again. Rebecca realized I was not mentally in control anymore and told me to reach down and touch Avery's head. Almost instantly I was calmed, and a couple more pushes and her head was out. 

I expected her to just come out with the next push, but no: her chest was wider than her head!! Somehow I stayed in control (with a few more inner-beast growls) and Avery was born. Rebecca unwrapped the cord from her belly, and we pulled her up out of the water.

Avery Anne Keetch

5:48 pm

9 pounds 9 ounces

21.5 inches long

Everything was up to me. On my time. I loved that I held her for so long immediately after she was born. I love that we let her gradually adjust to life outside my belly. She didn't cry right away... but when Rebecca asked her if her name was Harvey she let out a wail to let us know she didn't like that. When the cord stopped pulsing Justin cut it and held her while I got out of the tub. 

After a while, Justin went to go get Harvey. He was delighted to finally see "the baby Avery"...

... at least for a little while. Then the trains were much more fun to play with:

When we had all held and snuggled her to our hearts content, Rebecca did all of the stats and checks on her... she didn't mind one bit:

After she fed us dinner, Rebecca told us that both Avery and I were doing well enough that we could go home whenever we wanted. We were welcome to all stay overnight, but we all decided that we wanted to sleep in our own beds, so we headed home at 9:30pm. 

Our first family photo... right before we left:

I think Harvey was sad to leave the trains. (And that random thing on Justin's shirt is Harvey's Transformer bandaid that he had to have when Avery got one on her leg... but then promptly decided to put on his dad.)

We are so excited that she's here! Although, I don't know how any of you mothers with more than one child get anything done. Hopefully I can figure it out soon, but for now I'm so grateful that Justin was able to take this entire week off work!

On Being Present

Today was one of those days.

A day where I had to force my exhausted body out of bed. I fed my son a half healthy breakfast of zucchini bread and applesauce. And then I turned on the television. I'm pretty sure it stayed on until lunch time. Harvey amazingly enough entertained himself watching "his shows" and playing with random toys in the living room, while I piddled around doing things on the list or just plain wasted time. Before I knew it, lunch time had passed and we hadn't even gotten ready for the day.

Harvey finally came in to me, grabbed my hand and asked to go outside. I really didn't want to. But I made myself go sit on our patio swing while he found more ways to entertain himself outside in our backyard. After a while he found a worm and begged me to come see. He literally had to pull on my arm and beg.  I finally got my lazy self off that swing to inspect the little creature.

Anyway, now it's naptime. And while I so desperately want to take a nap and waste more of the day away... I somehow got on the computer and stumbled on this post from 71toes. (If you don't already read her blog, you should add it to your list. It is completely inspiring.)

The quote at the bottom of her post is what really got me:

“Everything in all the books I once pored over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach. T. Berry Brazelton. Dr. Spock. The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education, all grown obsolete. Along with ‘Goodnight Moon’ and ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages dust would rise like memories.” Then she goes on and talks about some of the mistakes she made while raising her babies. “…the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make…I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three of [my children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4, and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”

--Anna Quindlen

And now I want to resolve to be more in the moment. More aware of the look of curiosity and glee on Harvey's face while he cheers for the digging worms just like Curious George in the Worm Race episode. More aware of his facination with all things automotive by actually getting on the floor to play with his trains or cars. More aware of his desire to be with me... and including him while I cook dinner, or paint one of my craft projects, or even mop the floor.

I can't believe he has already gone from this...

to this...

in one blink. I feel like I've missed and forgotten so much of it already, and I'm determined not to miss any more.

Things About Me...

Since today is my birthday... I thought I'd share some random things about me:

I made my little niece take this photo of me. Pretty good for a 6 year-old, eh?

1. I'm a massage therapist. (And I just posted my technique on folding fitted sheets...)
2. I am very interested in learning more about photography. In fact, it's kind of become a hobby, and a new DSLR camera is the only thing I want for my birthday/Christmas. 
3. I really love scrapbooking (what, you're surprised?!)
4. I'm bossy. I have a natural tendency to try to be in charge of everything and I have to remind myself to step back - especially if I'm out of place!
5. I secretly like cleaning. Not picking up everyday clutter and all that normal stuff, but when something is dirty, I love scrubbing and rinsing and stepping back to see it sparkle.
6. I love post-it notes. And I LOVE that both my phone and windows 7 on my laptop have digital versions. 
7. I like organizing by color. Maybe I'll have to post some of those ways on my crafty blog.
8. When I was younger, I wanted to grow up to be an architect. And I've always loved drawing floor plans (more on that later).
9. I'm scared of using a lighter. I'd rather use a match. 
10. I've (very minorly) electrocuted myself 2 times.
11. I've fainted 6 times
12. I've gotten stitches 2 times - both times in my foot!
13. I've never broken a bone.
14. My two favorite candybars are Twix and Big Hunk. Oh, and it's not a candy bar per say... but I love Mambas too.
15. "Wow!" is the most overused word in my vocabulary right now. I say it a billion times a day to Harvey. 


   Oh, why not go to 27... 


16. I love the color red!
17. My favorite song right now is Soul Sister by Train.
18. I really love cream slushies at Sonic.
19. I know the lyrics to an extensive number of songs that play on the radio and I have this annoying need to correct people that sing the wrong words.
20. I really do love to talk on the phone. (Apologies to those on the other end of the line.)
21. I'm kinda scared of the dark. Okay, not the dark, but what could be lurking in the dark. Sometimes when I'm home alone, I turn all the lights in the house on and check to make sure no scary people are hiding out.
22. Despite number 21, I really like watching scary movies. It always comes back to haunt me though...
23. The 4th of July and Halloween are my favorite holidays. (Does that make me a bad Christian?)
24. I have quite a bit of gray hair, and I have had some since I was 13 years old! I think I have some kind of birth mark on the crown of my head that gives me a gray patch.
25. While squatting down, I can't keep my heels on the ground. My ankles don't bend past a 90 degree angle.
26. I have sold both Kirby Vacuum Cleaners and Cutco Knives door to door.
27. Some day I would love to be a professional Event Planner. 

Winner of the WMITW Award!

What's that you say? Well, it's the "Worst Mom In The World" Award. And I win.

First... about a month ago, I was at church and a friend noticed a little goop in Harvey's eye and asked me if he might have pink eye. I totally shrugged off the comment because that eye has been a little goopy since birth and patted myself on the back for "knowing" my son.

Fast forward 5 days. Harvey wakes up with his eye sealed shut with goop. He has pink eye. I call the doc, and he prescribed me some eye drops over the phone so I wouldn't have to come in. (Nice doc, right?!) I headed over to the pharmacy and was told to administer drops 4x a day for 2 days. I congratulate myself for saving a 25 dollar copay.

Fast forward 4 days. I stopped with the eye drops after 3 days, and the pink eye is back. I called the doc again, and was forwarded to the nurse who told me anything "antibiotic" should be administered 7-10 days and the pharmacist didn't know what she was talking about. I start with the eye drops all over again. Now I've had pink eye - and it stinks. I'm pretty sure I moaned about it until it was completely gone. But if you looked at Harvey - it was as if he didn't even know something was infecting his eye!

{Meanwhile, I'll just insert here that I was tending the girls full time and living at Steve and Monique's house while they were in Hawaii. Harvey wasn't sleeping well, but I attributed it to the fact that he was in his pack n' play instead of his crib at home, and the pink eye.}

Fast forward 6 days. The pink eye cleared up. Harvey has a nose like a running faucet, and has a little dry cough. His 15 month "well check" got rescheduled for a week and a half away. His demeanor STILL hasn't changed one bit. He's going full speed everywhere, eating like a horse and napping well. I decide it's probably just a little cold, and we can stick it out the week and a half or it will get better on it's own.

Fast forward 7 days. The cough is still around, the nose is still running, and Harvey starts waking up in the middle of the night: at 1:30am, at 4:30am, at 6:30am, and at 8am. (He usually sleeps in until AT LEAST 9:30.) Only 2 more days until his appointment, and I have to work, so I just decide to wait. His demeanor finally starts to slug. He just wants to snuggle, and he eats like a normal child. 

Fast forward 2 days. Harvey and I go to his "well-child" visit to find out that despite being very healthy and strong overall, he's sick with the following:

• a double ear infection
• a sinus infection
• and tonsilitis

Apparently they (including the pink eye) are all related. When you get an infection somewhere in your head (eye, nose, ear, or throat) and it doesn't clear up entirely, it just spreads to the others. Here's how he looked right after the appointment (finally showing how he really felt):

As the doc put it... I've got a strong child, putting me at a disadvantage because he will give me NO clues as to what is going on inside his body. Right about then I told Harvey he couldn't have a starburst from the diaper bag, and he lost it. The doc said, "Well, he gets offended easily. At least we know he can cry."

Note to self: If a friend at church asks if your kid has pink eye - schedule a doctor's visit for the next day and save yourself the trouble.

Endurance

So, I've been in a rut. A spiritual rut.

I just haven't felt like reading my scriptures, praying, or going visiting teaching. I've kind of felt like 3 hours of church is almost a waste of time because all I do there is wrestle with Harvey. I didn't want to feel that way, but that's just how I felt.

Today I went home from church to get more milk for Harvey hoping he would drink some during sacrament meeting and get sleepy, and once I got home I didn't want to go back. Lucky for me, I left my diaper bag and church bag next to the primary room. I took Harvey back to sacrament meeting, and one family in our ward spoke on an article in the January Ensign called "Hold on a Little Longer" by Elder Uchtdorf.

The father likened our spiritual preparation to the physical preparation of the participants in the Tour de France. He said the athletes wake up very early to consume almost 5500 calories of breakfast carbohydrates so they can have 2 hours to digest before starting the race each day at 7 a.m. He kept repeating the phrase: "If you don't consume, you can't compete."

No wonder I've been feeling so stressed out and unprepared for everything that has been going on around me. I can't compete with all the adversary is throwing in my face because I haven't consumed anything spiritual! My spirit is dehydrated and malnourished. Elder Uchtdorf said, "We need to stay close to the Lord every day if we are to survive the adversity that we all must face."

President Harold B. Lee taught: "Testimony isn't something that you have today and you keep always. Testimony is either going to grow and grow to the brightness of certainty, or it is going to diminish to nothingness, depending upon what we do about it. I say, the testimony that we recapture day by day is the thing that saves us from the pitfalls of the adversary."

At the end of the article is listed a self-evaluation to help you think about how you are doing in strengthening your testimony:

• Do I desire to believe?
• Do I fast and pray for a stronger testimony?
• Do I read and ponder the scriptures each day?
• Do I try to keep the commandments each day?
• Do I try to follow promptings from the Holy Ghost?
• Do I bear my testimony when prompted to?

I know I could definitely improve in some of these areas. Here's to holding on a little longer.

Getaway

*Disclaimer: The second photo is of Justin's questionable gift at the party... scroll quickly if you're easily offended or around children.*

Justin works for Quality Electrical Systems wiring up control panels. (No, he's not an electrician, and his major at the U has nothing to do with anything electric.) He works on some really big panels. When he first started, he put together panels that make hospital rotating doors work, and now he does panels for huge water purification plants.

Every year QES has a Christmas party; the first couple I went to consisted of an all-you-can-eat dinner and bingo for gifts. Once you got bingo, you could choose from a variety of wrapped gifts labeled "elf" or "elfette." While I always got nice gifts, they weren't always what I wanted. But, with the receipt I headed back to Kohls and exchanged them for a Kitchen-aid Stand Mixer the first year, and accessories for it the next. Sweet.

This year, instead of purchasing and wrapping gifts, QES decided to pay for all the employees to stay a night at the Zermatt Resort in Midway! The night was fun and... interesting.

The first item of business was to pose for a complimentary 8x10 photo. I kind of felt like I was on a cruise ship... all dressed up waiting in line to get my picture taken before I could enter the activity. And the photographer totally lined up the printed photos when he was finished just like they do on the ships. Pretty funny. It turned out okay, but I don't know where I'm going to put it in my house... kind of random.

After pictures, we headed into dinner. It was assigned seating; apparently Justin's boss thinks there are too many cliques at work. I'm not sure why he feels like the Christmas party is the appropriate place for employees to work on developing new relationships. Everyone had a place card with a different questions on the back. My question was "What is the worst pick up line you have ever heard?" I guess I could insert my answer here, although it's a total tangent:

One morning, while I was waiting for Trax to come on my way to school, a guy came up to me and asked to use my phone. When I declined, he said he had missed the "last" bus and needed to call home for a ride. I told him my minutes were low... he said he would only take a second. Finally, I gave in and let him use my phone. A couple of days later I received a voice message: "Hey! This is homey from the Trax station. I just had your number from my caller id, and thought I would give you a call. Wanna hang out some time?" Seriously? He used my phone to get my phone number? Who does that?! I didn't respond, and he called 3 more times. I finally answered, and when I told him I wasn't interested, had a boyfriend and didn't want him to call anymore he called me a terrible name and said I should worry. Worry? What was he going to do? Justin called, talked to his Dad, and I didn't hear from him again. Some people are PSYCHO!

Okay.. back to the Christmas party. After I shared that story, the lady next to me got all excited. She started telling me about some dating book she just bought her daughter, and it took her about 20 minutes to get it out of her system. (I guess the cards did work, fostering all that conversation...)


Next, dinner arrived. The appetizer was (I think) supposed to be tomato soup, but it was like eating spaghetti sauce. There was one shrimp in the bowl, with the tail on. I wasn't sure exactly how to eat it - or where to put the tail when I was done. We kept joking that it seemed like marinara dipping sauce, and we needed bread, so of course, when I had almost completely finished my soup... they brought out the rolls. Then, when everyone had finished their roll (and got crumbs all over - we didn't have a bread plate either) they brought out the butter.

Finally, the last two guests at our table arrived. This guy and his girlfriend live with his parents, but the parents and the girlfriend don't get along... so she comes to work with him and sits in the car ALL day long. I'm not sure what she does in there, but there's a rumor about coloring books. Anyway, she showed up wearing sweat pants and a hoodie, sat down next to Justin and completely turned her back away from the table. The couple didn't say anything and wouldn't even look at any of us. It was SUPER awkward. The rest of us just tried to keep up the conversation so it wasn't so weird. Then... Ron couldn't take it anymore. Justin asked him to share his question and he yelled out: "My question?! Chelsea, what's your favorite color?!" I couldn't keep from laughing. But I tried really hard. When she didn't answer, he loudly said "There are people sitting at our table that haven't even been acknowledged!" It was so awkward. And weird. And HILARIOUS.

The main dish was next... Justin ordered one beef plate, and one chicken. I thought I was in the mood for steak, so he took the chicken. And he was the lucky one. The beef wasn't steak exactly... it was super fatty and super tasteless. The chicken was really tasty, but Justin was still starving after he had finished. As he put it: "Honey... my metabolism is so high, that meal was like throwing a twig in a furnace!" He couldn't believe there were only 3 carrots, a small chicken breast, and a few pieces of red potato on his plate.

Last was the gift exchange. They gathered all of our name tags, and after we heard our name drawn, we could go choose a gift. After Justin got his gift: (I'm not kidding here...) men's thong underwear, I couldn't hear a thing. Everyone was laughing and talking so loud I never did hear my name. I got the last gift on the table... but I didn't mind a useful gift like winter gloves. Oh, and I'm pretty sure someone forgot to bring exchange gifts, so they purchased two pair of blue gloves in the hotel gift shop. Both myself and another guy got the same gloves. And they were 15 bucks each!

We decided to go swimming, so we could actually mingle with some of the people we wanted to see at the party. The pool was really cool, but I'm sort of disappointed we were there on such a cold night. There were two pools, one indoor and one outside, connected by a little "river". The wall came completely down to the top of the water, so you had to swim underwater to get outside (or go through the door on "land" but who wants to be boring like that?) Justin went out and came back with the report that the drips of water on his face froze in the few seconds he was out there.. so I went to the hot tub instead.

It was only a 12 capacity space, but there were probably close to 20 people inside. My sister-in-law (yes, Jus works with his brother) and I squished in anyway. And during our stay, someone tried to turn the jets on, and turned on a waterfall instead. I wasn't in range, but the people sitting directly under the fall didn't look pleased. I'm not sure why they would install a waterfall in a hot tub - where people who don't want to get their hair wet/just want to relax decide to be - instead of in the pool, where the splashers usually reside. Anyway, about 2 minutes after that escapade, when everyone got over the shock of being dumped on and had resumed their original places, the lady that sat next to me at dinner turned on the waterfall yet again. The look on those people's faces was classic.

I'll spare you the details, but it was so nice to be able to get away for a night and spend some time with my hubby. And as a side note - sleeping on that amazing king-sized bed was a big reminder that we really need a new mattress. And new pillows. I almost asked the front desk if I could take them home.

Flashback Friday

So, I was in a "band."

It all started when I was a Senior in high school. I took a Humanities class with a teacher I so affectionately called Dr. J. (I can't even remember what his last name was, but he hated rap.. and I was a fan of Dr. Dre at the time. I thought I was pretty funny.) One of our assignments was a pretty large project in which we were required to spend a certain number of hours learning or completing a project in some sort of "art category" and teach/do a presentation about it in front of the class at the end of the semester. I chose to teach myself how to play the bass guitar.

I bought a electric bass and an amp at a pawn shop, researched some info online and at the Guitar Center, downloaded tablature of some of my favorite songs, and taught myself to play them. It was the most fun I've ever had completing a Humanities project. Anyway, my presentation went great, and even though I played songs I'm sure Dr. J wouldn't have listened to on his way home from work, he gave me an A. Sweet.

Fast forward another year. While at Snow College, my best friend, Jamie, and I decided to audition for the Ward Talent Show. She played the guitar, and I my bass. We wrote a song about Snow College called Gobble Nation:

I came down here to get an education,
but then I found out I'm in a gobble nation.
There's more poultry here than there are men.
Oh wait - there's none of them.
Site seeing Ephraim takes about 5 minutes,
but at least you can get cheap movie tickets.
When the students leave town the weekend bites,
unless of course it's True Badger night!

Chorus:
These city girls need to get out of town,
or else they're gonna drown in the..
Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble,
gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble,
gobble, gobble, gobble, nation!

Walmart is the hub of Ephraim's economy,
you can get everything except a lobotomy.
If you're an RM it really pays,
some of them propose after 16 days.
Freshmen students are cursed with a trait
of gaining 15 pounds of extra weight.
Sanpete County gets a whole lot of snow,
it really really makes your nose wanna blow.

Chorus

The Manti temple is a popular place
to break up with a girl or take her on a date
Around here you can't get basic TV,
30 bucks a month and you dont get MTV
Our apartment carpet gets dirt on your socks,
might as well go with Ben and climb some rocks.
Our cell phones only get service half of the time,
and I can't think of another line that rhymes.

Chorus

12th ward students are starting to hook up,
thanks to the dating service rigged by the bishop,
When we kicked a hole in our wall,
Brother Bradley came putty and all,
Some of you might think Brother Helms is a drama freak,
But if you take his class you'll learn a lot about the Greeks!

Chorus

We rocked the stage. And we won first place.

And we had to perform in the Stake Talent Show. Just remember that we were living in Ephraim - where EVERYONE attends the activities because there is nothing better to do. Anyway, it was pretty sad because our song was written as an inside joke for everyone in our ward. Needless to say, the other students in the Stake didn't get it. At least we sang "Closing Time" by Semi Sonic as well.

After Snow, I started attending the local Single’s Ward. I mentioned that I played the bass guitar, and someone invited me to a “jam session.” We played one or two nights a week just for fun, and then some of the guys said we should form a band. Then Apple Kor was born.

We each had to write a song.. and since I'm only good at writing cheezy, rhyming, inside jokes, I just had them play Gobble Nation. Anyway, one of the guys made an unofficial CD (which is now kept under 24 hour surveillance). And another guy, Walter, scheduled a "gig" with the Spanish Branch. (He is from Honduras and attended both wards). They liked us so much we were asked to come back 3 different times, and we performed for our Singles Ward a bunch of times as well.

Some of the guys thought we were going to make it big... but I was just doing it for fun. I headed off to BYU-Nauvoo and the band was dissolved by the time I got back 3.5 months later. To be honest, not one of us could sing. And I could barely play. The music sounded kind of catchy, but I wouldn't pay to listen to the vocals. :)

So.. this is super embarrassing, but I'm laughing while listening to our CD now, and I have to post a few. Enjoy! (for a limited time only) Oh.. and I didn't know how else to put the audio on my blog, so I added a lame-o picture of an apple core to make it a video. Go ahead and mock me. I bet you can't say you played the bass in a band, even if the band wasn't that great...

Gobble Nation: (I promise it was better at the talent show.. and it didn't have a 20 minute guitar solo. LOL)


Robby's Got JNCOs: (I'm the backup singer too. Hehe.)


Man in a Can: (I played the funky sounding rhythm guitar for this one.)


"Walter's Song" (I can't tell WHAT he's singing... but I'm on bass):

Oh yeah, and we made a music video. LOL! I totally forgot, and Walter just posted it on facebook (kinda crazy.. I blogged and he posted on the same day).

Harvey's Belly Departure

Disclaimer: This post is going to be a long one. But I figure #1: I want to document all of the details for myself, and #2: because I've talked so much about doing my labor unmedicated people probably want to know how it went. Read on if you want... Or stop if it's TMI. :)

Readers Digest Version:
I got acupuncture to "induce" my labor. It worked, and I went into active labor about 10 hours later. At 11:30 I thought my water broke, so we headed to the hospital. Turns out it didn't. The nurse said I was dilated to a 2.5 and 80% effaced. She made us walk the halls for an hour. She checked me again: this time 5, and 100%. I got in the tub (for about 2 hours) and dilated to a 9.5. I pushed for like 45 minutes, and Harvey Wade was born! Over all, I labored (hard) about 7 hours. I did it all with no medication, and couldn't have without Justin and my midwife.


All the Fine Details:

Wednesday, November 26:
I had one last massage to do at the chiropractor's office at 11:00, so after I finished I had Dr. Collard try some acupuncture to jump start my labor. I figured it couldn't hurt, right? He used the points Spleen 6, and Urinary Bladder 67. During the 15 minute treatment I felt a tiny contraction or two, and afterward he said that sometimes women feel them during the treatment, but everything stops once the needles come out.

I went to the store to buy my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner: pumpkin pie. I thought about buying the ingredients to make it, but decided to be lazy. (Good thing!) I headed over to my mom's house to give her the pie and she had a list of things to talk to me about. I remember being slightly annoyed and telling her I didn't care if Harvey's room had my old Snoopy clock or how many of my boxes were still in her basement. Lol. My poor mom.

From 1:00 to 5:00 I decided to take a nap. (I'd been up until 4 am with heartburn issues from the pizza we had eaten on Tuesday night). I remember being woken up with an annoying back ache right by my sacrum a few times. At one point I had to start moving to the "child's pose" in yoga to relieve the annoyance but it was short lived, and I always fell right back asleep.

Justin got home from work at 5:00, and I told him I thought I might be in labor. He didn't really believe me. He checked his e-mail, watched some TV, and went to take a nap on the couch. I got up about 6 and decided to deliver some thank you notes to the people in my neighborhood. I started tracking how close the back annoyances were on my palm pilot. When I left the house they were about 5-6 minutes apart, but I could walk, talk and laugh throughout them. The deliveries took me about an hour and a half, and by the time I came home I had to concentrate to breathe instead of hold my breath when they came. They were a little closer and a little more intense. I got one of my dinners out of the freezer and warmed it up even though I didn't feel like eating all that much.

Justin woke up to eat and then started cleaning the house. We didn't have our "bags" all the way packed so he started getting everything together. We took a belly picture just in case it would be our last chance. I remember thinking that if I could still smile and pose for a picture than I wasn't far enough into active labor to head to the hospital. My contractions were turning from small annoyances to major annoyances. I had to focus on relaxing my body during them instead of tensing up. Some contractions I could deal with on my own, but sometimes I would ask Justin to push on my back to alleviate the pressure.

I wasn't positive (but pretty sure) I was in labor either because I had expected to feel contractions in my abdomen. Justin got out our childbirth class book and read through signs of "false" labor. I decided to call the midwife to ask her if just a back ache could still be labor. Sure enough, she said what I was experiencing could be the real thing - especially since all of my activity didn't change things or make them go away. Justin's brother called and during a contraction he asked if I wanted to talk to my sister-in-law. I snapped "no!" By now, I decided that I was in the "serious emotional signpost" from our Bradley method book.

At about 11:30 pm, I went to the bathroom and thought my water broke. I wasn't sure, but after a few minutes I was pretty positive. I told Justin (who was vacuuming) adding that I was pretty annoyed that he was cleaning while I was dealing with all of this aching in my back. He kind of started freaking out. He says this is when he finally believed that I was really in labor. He said he was going to jump in the shower - I looked at him like "Are you serious? I just told you my water broke, and you're getting in the shower?" But I told him he had 5 minutes. I had a hard time walking during a contraction and crawled up the stairs to get my phone/wallet together.

When Justin was all ready he gathered everything together and put it in the car. I started remembering little things I thought I would need and trying to grab them. I asked Justin to give me a priesthood blessing. I knelt on the floor on my hands and knees just in case I had to go through a contraction during the blessing. But once he started, I didn't have any distracting contractions throughout the whole blessing. I was very confident in my body's capability to labor and deliver naturally after receiving it... I was told that angels would be there to help me through, and that my body was very strong. I was also told that if and when I was offered medication it would be my choice to accept or decline.

We got in the car, and I told Justin I couldn't believe we were really on our way to have a baby... and then I asked him if he thought I was at the "serious emotional signpost" and he said no. We drove up to the entrance and left the car right in front. They let us in, and we went up to the labor and delivery desk. Three weeks ago I filled out a registration form at my Dr's appointment, but they never turned it in, so I had to stand there and fill out another sheet. I bent down against the counter and filled it in as fast as possible (but now I'm thinking that these women thought I must not be that far along if I could still fill out paperwork.) One lady kept messing with the copy machine, and it seemed like everything was taking forever!

Thursday, November 27, 2008
Finally they let me into a labor and delivery room (room 7, right by the desk.) and they told me I wasn't allowed to scream if I was in that room. I knew they were joking, but I didn't laugh. They told me to strip down and get into the ace bandage tube top and put a gown on. Then the nurse made me sit on the labor bed for 20 minutes to monitor the baby's heartbeat along with my contractions. I was going nuts! My back aches were much more uncomfortable in that position, and if I moved even a small bit the monitor would move and stop getting Harvey's heartbeat. I told Justin to go get the nurse because I swore she had waited 30 minutes... and she came back to check me. I was dilated to a 2.5, and 80% effaced. Justin asked if he should go get the bags out of the car, but she told him to wait. I got all unhooked from the monitor and she said we should walk around the hospital for 1 hour. It was 1:00 am.

We went upstairs to walk around the nursery, but all of the blinds were shut. The hospital was dead! We walked up and down the hallway, and my backache was INTENSE! I had to stop and grab the railing on the wall while Justin pushed as hard as he could on my back. After about 20 minutes the contractions started going in to my quads... my legs would start to get weak and I had to kneel over a chair or a bed. This hour went by slow. Finally when it had been an hour we headed back downstairs. The nurse had me sit on that wretched bed again and hook up to the monitors. She checked me again and I was dilated to a 5 and 100% effaced. I asked her when I could get in the tub and she said usually not until I was dilated to a 6 or 7. I'm not sure what changed her mind, but when my midwife showed up they started filling the tub with water. After another 20 minutes of awfully uncomfortable back labor they let me get in the water.

I can't even express what a relief it was to be in the warm water with the jets on. My only complaint was that there weren't any nuclear powered jets beating on my lower back... :) I was able to deal with each contraction on my own - I just pushed on my back with my own hands and it was bearable. Justin fed me ice chips and put cool wet washcloths on my forehead. After a super fast hour and a half my body started pushing... I told Justin to tell the nurses. I was totally oblivious, but Justin says they all got really excited. They had me get partially out, and my midwife checked me, but I was only a 7. She let me labor a little longer in the tub, maybe a half hour, and then I was feeling the urge to push much stronger. This time I was dilated to a 9.5. I decided I would rather be able to move into different positions to actually deliver and push, so I got out of the tub.

Just a little funny tidbit.. of all the things we could have forgotten - we forgot the camera. Justin called my mom who came to the hospital at 2:00am to get our house key, drove back to our house to get the camera, then to the hospital again to deliver it. And after all of this, we told her it wasn't time yet and she could go home and get some sleep! (I only wanted Justin and my midwife there for the birth because I wanted to be able to focus on the labor...)

This was the longest and hardest hour of my labor. My body kept wanting to push, but I wasn't dilated all the way... My midwife told me that if I pushed with all my strength I could either tear my cervix or make it very swollen. Either one had a painful recovery. She said to let my body do it's thing, but to try not to help it. These contractions came and went, but my back felt substantially better when Justin kept pushing. This hour was probably the hardest for him as well. Lindsay, my midwife would push on my knee and hip as well. Nothing took the intensity completely away, but I was able to relax with them doing their part. I told them "thank you" at one point, and Lindsay laughed, "You're in the last stages of labor, and you're thanking people?!" I never remember feeling like I wanted to opt for medication, but some contractions were pretty intense. I remember a couple of times I prayed in my head, "I think I might need a longer break this time," or "I wish the next one wasn't so intense." And He would answer me. The next contraction was lighter or shorter.

I tried lots of positions: Hands and knees on the bed, birthing ball, and side lying. The birthing ball felt like it was moving too much which was really distracting to me. Hands and knees was my favorite I think because it took some pressure off my back. Harvey was posterior, which means he was "face up." His skull was right in my lower back. After a while though, my legs would start to fall asleep and I would have to lay on my side until they got some blood pumping through them again. I continued to use the hands and knees position to push for a while, and then I could feel it was getting closer, and I didn't want to have to keep moving. I decided to kind of sit up/back at a 45 degree angle to push. Justin held my head and one foot, and the nurse held my other foot while I pushed, then we all could relax.

The pushing part was my favorite. I knew it was close to being over, and it didn't really hurt. Lindsay actually got Harvey to turn around too - she reached in and gently turned his head during a pushing contraction and he flipped all the way around on his own. All of us saw my belly do a big flip flop. After that, my back didn't hurt anymore. I was so into pushing, that I would kind of forget to breathe. The nurse would count to 10 and then remind me to take a breath and get back at it. Toward the end, Harvey's heartbeat started to slow down because he wasn't getting enough oxygen, so they put an oxygen mask on me. The air smelled like a dentist office, but I told myself I could deal with that for my baby... I tried to take deep breaths through the stupid thing, and Justin said almost instantly Harvey's heartbeat went back up to normal. During one push Lindsay had me look up into the mirror to see Harvey's head crowning. It was pretty surreal. And distracting. I could concentrate much better with my eyes closed. So... a couple more pushes later, I missed the birth - I was way too focused. Lindsay had me pause when his head was almost all the way through to prevent a tear. I should have waited a little longer, but my body wanted to push sooner. None of it hurt at all - I could feel a little burning sensation right at the end, but that was it!

6:13 am, 8 pounds 10 ounces, 20.5 inches long

When they plopped Harvey on my chest right after he was born, I have to say it wasn't instant love. I didn't recognize him, I didn't feel like I had just delivered a baby, I didn't register in my head this was my baby... But slowly my mind came out of shock and I got really excited and happy. Justin cut the umbilical cord, and watched the nurses check all his vitals. He took pictures and told me what was going on. He said he wasn't planning on watching the birth like that (he wanted to just look at my face), but being right there on the side of the bed holding my head and foot he couldn't look away. He said he didn't even get queasy... I was so proud of him!

Next, my placenta didn't really want to come out, so Lindsay had to kind of detach it. Because of this I had to get a stinkin' IV. She said they had to give me some medication to keep me from getting infected. They also ended up attaching a little dose of pitocin so my uterus would contract. I didn't feel anything. I also had a 2nd degree tear to be repaired. After all of that, they let me breastfeed Harvey - he latched on like a little champ.

After about an hour Justin and the nurse took Harvey to the nursery. I fell asleep, and Justin came back. He said they weren't doing the bath until about another hour later, and he would go back then. After a short nap, the nurse came back and helped us move up to the postpartum room. Again we fell asleep, but after Harvey's bath when they brought him into our room I had a surge of energy. There was no way I was going to sleep! (This started a very bad habit that really hit me about 8 days later.)

Tradition

I never wrote about our Valentine's Day date...

For the last 5 years we have gone to dinner at

2004:
We had been dating for five months, and although I wasn't ready to get married, a bunch of my friends kind of convinced me that Justin was going to propose. I wasn't mad per say... but I think I was disappointed and Justin could tell. This gave him an idea...

2005: (the best...)
Justin chose to set me up. We went to "The Wedding Date" movie, and P.F. Changs where I received a fortune cookie that read "Accept the next proposition you hear." He then drove me home and knowing I was fully expecting a proposal dropped me off with an excuse of having homework. I was supposed to run down to my room in disappointment, but instead stayed upstairs smelling my flowers and wasting time. All this while, Justin was sweating bullets around the corner from my house waiting for a phone call. My room had been decorated by my in-laws in pink, red, and white. There were streamers hanging from the ceiling, confetti all over the floor, and 50+ balloons everywhere. When I finally made it downstairs and saw a huge wrapped present in the center of the extravaganza, I called Jus. He came back and took pictures of me opening my gift:

After blindfolding me with the wrapped "gift" Jus drove me up to Mount Olympus, where we spent some of our first date and knelt down in the middle of the snowstorm and proposed. He even set up a video camera in the truck - if I can figure out how to put it on here, I'll add it later. I think by far that an engagement ring has to be the best Valentine's present ever...

2006:
We decided that because of the last year, P.F. Changs had to become a Valentine's tradition. We forgot to call early for reservations so we ended up with a 9:00 dinner date. While we were waiting (like 5 minutes) Justin met up with a former high school basketball teammate. It was a little awkward when they had already been there for about an hour and we got called to be seated.. We didn't ask them to join us - was that rude? ;)

2007:
Ha! This was only a year ago and I can't remember anything significant. But I'm pretty sure the lettuce wraps were good. As always.

2008:
We learned a valuable lesson: If your reservations are for 6:30 - you'd better be there before 6:45 or call so they know you are coming. We arrived at 6:50 and they forfeited our reservation, and added us to the regular waiting list! Luckily the waiting list hostess was feeling nice. She added us to the top of the list and we only had to wait about 10 minutes.

BTW, if any of you are headed to P.F. Changs for dinner get the following menu selections:

Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps - about $7

Mongolian Beef - about $15

Shrimp with Candied Walnuts - about $15

All three are AMAZING and absolutely worth the price.
After dinner we saw the movie "Fools Gold" - I'd give it 3 stars. Not the best I've seen, but a chick flick nonetheless. And Matthew McConaughey had his shirt off about 70 percent of the film.