Our Birth Story

Our birth story began Tuesday November 4th, 2014. My mom had come up a few days earlier from Phoenix, AZ to help us out with the baby while my husband and I are going to school and my husband and mom and I were walking around the mall for the fun of it. It was about 8:30 pm and we were in Sears and I started to feel my first contractions - they were really, really mild and didn't hurt at all. I hadn't had any Braxton Hicks contractions up to that point, so I wasn't sure if these contractions were real or not. I just remember turning to my husband and mom and saying, "I think I'm having contractions." They were pretty excited to say the least, and my husband could hardly sleep that night.

The early morning hours of Wednesday, November 5th, I woke up at around 4 am with stronger contractions. They continued to progress that day, and my husband and I stayed home from school anticipating each hour that we would go to the hospital at any moment. However, it wasn't until around 1 pm that my contractions started to get very strong, although they hadn't been close enough together to rush to the hospital just yet. Around 4 pm, the contractions started to come about every 3-5 minutes, and we knew that it was time to go to the hospital. Of course, we went to Wendy's first for a quick pre-hospital dinner, and then got to the hospital around 5 pm.

We got to the hospital, and I was only dilated to about 2 cm, but 80% effaced, so they kept me in a private waiting room while they waited to check my contractions to see if they were progressing. If they weren't, they would have sent me home, but at this point, the contractions were so painful that I would not have allowed them to send me back. Unfortunately, the contraction monitor was not picking my contractions up, so they kept me in the waiting room for 2 and a half hours to monitor my progression by how much I was dilating. The contractions at this point were VERY painful, and I was struggling to keep my calm - I was especially frustrated that the hospital just wouldn't admit me right away with how incredibly strong the contractions were. Luckily, I was dilating pretty quickly, and by 7:30 pm, I was dilated to 4.5 cm. They FINALLY admitted me at that point and took me to the labor and delivery room.

Although I had done a lot of research and decided for myself that I did not want an epidural, feeling how strong and painful my contractions were, I opted for one when asked by the hospital staff. It really wasn't painful at all to receive the shot, and it made the difference for me in being able to relax and enjoy the birth experience rather than suffering through the contractions and crying and being in so much pain that I couldn't think of anything else. I had read a few books on hypnobirthing and techniques for having an unmedicated birth, but these techniques did not help me at all in the hours before I was admitted when I had no pain relief. It was so worth it to get the epidural. I don't regret it at all.

During the hours that we were waiting for little Ella to arrive, my husband, mom, and I relaxed in my room and enjoyed watching movies on the TV. There was another woman who had been admitted to the hospital at the same time as I and at the same dilation, but I was progressing WAY quicker than her. By 10:50 pm, I was dilated to 7 cm, by 11:50 pm, I was dilated to 8.5 cm, and by 12:17 am, I was dilated to 10 cm and my water finally broke.

However, although baby was well on her way, I was told not to push because my midwife was not yet there. She wanted me to wait a bit because of some technique called 'rest and relax' (I think?) where she wanted to let the baby come down some on her own to save me time and energy from pushing her down myself. She wanted me to wait a couple hours for this, but baby had other plans and the nurses called my midwife back to tell her the baby would be ready for me to push in more like 30 minutes.

I don't remember exactly when my midwife got there and I started pushing, but I do remember it being a pretty painless and easy delivery where I didn't feel like I really had to struggle to bring her into this world. In fact, I had had a pretty nasty cold and was coughing a lot, and every time I coughed, I brought Ella down a little bit farther. The coughing was working better for me than actually pushing!

Ella Mae arrived at 2:07 am, November 6th, healthy and beautiful! She has brown hair, and we think she has blue eyes, but we are waiting to see if they are going to change. She was born 5 lbs and 10 oz, and 18.5 inches long.

She is about a week and a half now and has been such as bundle of joy! I've discovered that she hates being on her back (changing diapers is a challenge because of this), is a side sleeper, and loves to cuddle. She also loves taking baths, but hates being washed. One thing that we are unsure of is if she can hear or not. She failed her hearing test 3 times, and so this Wednesday we are taking her for an ABR test where they will test her hearing by attaching electrodes to her head and placing a headphone in her ear to see if she responds to the noise. We are praying that she passes the test and can hear. I will keep this blog updated on how the test goes and what we find out.

Week 38

Today I am 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant, so Ella could come at any time! (I know, I'm just horrible at blogging - I haven't updated this since June, but I can assure you that not a lot has happened since then!) However, I've had no signs of her coming yet - no contractions or anything. We are pretty excited and are ready for her to arrive! Her due date is November 8th, so we'll see how things go!

So far, everything has gone well with our pregnancy and my blood pressure and everything has been normal. I haven't felt bad at all and can usually go out and do the things that I want to do - for example, my husband and I went to a Homecoming dance for BYU while I was 37 weeks pregnant (when this picture was taken), and we went to a wedding on Friday for his aunt Rhonda and did a little bit of swing dancing and cha-cha-ing - I didn't feel like I couldn't do those things at all. A lot of the people around us were surprised to see a 38 week pregnant lady dancing around, but I guess I've just gotten lucky. The only problems I've had so far are pretty normal ones - if I walk too long, sometimes I'll feel like my bladder is about to explode, whether it is or not, depending on where Ella is positioned on me. My hips also used to hurt pretty bad when sleeping, but putting a pillow between my legs helps a lot and I haven't noticed the problem in a week or two.

One other thing, Ella LOVES to sleep on my right side! She never moves to the left of my body, which makes it convenient when I want to find her little feet (which are usually pushed into my side and which also hurts sometimes). I know that she is going to be very ticklish like her daddy, because any time Cameron and I touch her feet, she retracts them pretty quickly. :)

I feel very blessed to have had such an easy pregnancy, and I know that that is not normal for all women. In fact, I know many women who have had VERY difficult pregnancies and have just had a rough time all the way through. I have so much respect for women who have gone through those challenges and how they are willing to go through fire and brimstone for the sake of their child. I think that that demonstrates so much love and selflessness. I can only admire those women and do what I can to help support them during such a tough time.

I am very excited to meet little Ella Mae, although I am not sure how soon that that meeting will be. The next time you hear from me will probably be when she's entered this world! Crazy!

Week 14 through 21... and ITS A......

So, I really, really need to get better at updating this blog, because I just let 7 weeks fly by without detailing how baby has been developing.

Also, its a girl!!!!!!!!! We found out this Tuesday at my 20 week ultrasound, which you can watch at the bottom of the page. :) Her name is going to be Ella Mae, after my grandmother whom I was very close to and lived with for a few years to help take care of her. We are so excited that we can now saw she and her! I was also thrilled to be able to make out her characteristics - so far it appears that she has my face and skull, my husband's legs, and my arms. It both touches me and blows me away that this little being is part of me and part of my husband - the mixing of our features really does reflect that. I am so excited to being able to meet little Ellie and see if she has red hair like her mommy! We will still love her if she doesn't, but daddy would be really happy if she did.

Anyways, as far as baby goes, Ella Mae started moving around week 15. They were very small movements, and rightly so because the baby at that gestational age was just about the size of an apple, which really isn't that big. However, as the weeks went on, I began feeling her become more and more active. Right now, at 21 weeks, I can feel the baby moving VERY well! In fact, Ellie's most active moments are usually in the mornings when I wake up, and at night just before I go to bed. You can tell that she just can't get comfy in there and is probably a little claustrophobic like her mommy.

Before about 18/19 weeks, I could only feel her inside of me, and couldn't feel her move by placing my hand on my stomach, but that has changed. Now, when she is really active, I can put my hand on my tummy and feel her kick me pretty well.

As far as body changes goes, I haven't been sick at all (besides a small cold that my husband gave me that lasted a day at most). My body does have a more difficult time bending over and so I try to avoid doing that as much as possible. Sleeping can also be somewhat uncomfortable for my hips especially, but we bought a cheap body pillow at Walmart and that has helped ten fold (I call the pillow my fake husband because it seems like there is a 3rd person in bed with us sometimes). Other than that, the second trimester really is the best, and I feel that I've gotten really lucky in my pregnancy. No more nausea, no more vomitting. Just four more months and we get to meet our little girl! :)

Here are some super adorable ultrasound pictures of our Ella Mae. Enjoy!

Week 5 through 13

I've been really bad at updating my blog and detailing the progress of baby, but I can assure you that all is well. The first trimester is almost over and thankfully! Weeks 5 through 10, I found myself battling nausea, exhaustion (I would take 3 hour naps almost daily - as well as 8 hours of sleep each night), and a complete lack of interest in food whatsoever. I didn't have a lot of vomiting - I only threw up once in a while at night after brushing my teeth. I would start eating something that my husband prepared (being pregnant had also made me very unwilling to even go near food) and I would just feel sick to my stomach and couldn't keep eating. It was also very difficult to get any liquids in my system just for the fact that everything tasted bad! I really couldn't drink tap water, and trying to flavor the tap water didn't help, so my husband and I finally settled on getting bottled water and flavored sparkling water. That has helped so much. However, during that time, I lost about 3 lbs.

Now, at week 13, I don't have as much problems with food tasting bad, although I have become a picky eater, but I can't get ENOUGH food! I'll eat, and then be hungry right after. Although I'll find something else to scarf down, the hunger usually remains and won't go away no matter how much I eat. I have not had so much exhaustion thankfully, and have found my energy levels returning to normal.

As far as baby's developments have gone, my baby's organs are fully formed and functioning! I went to my first prenatal visit a few weeks ago (week 8), and got to see the baby in an ultrasound. His/her little heart was beating so fast it amazed me how wonderful life is and how that little being was there inside of me growing. I have felt some small movements in my tummy - like a tiny little foot kicking me - and my husband and I are sure that it is baby moving around in there. He/she is only the size of a peach right now - 3 inches long - quite a development from week 5 where they were only the size of a lentil bean. Amazing how rapidly the baby grows!

The next big thing that we are looking forward to is the 20 week ultrasound so that we can find out if our baby is a little boy or girl. :) It can't come fast enough!

5 Weeks and Counting!

My husband and I found out that we are pregnant yesterday! There are no words to say how excited we are to welcome this little one into the world. I don't think its hit us quite yet that there will actually be a baby here in a little over 8 months, and that our lives are going to change drastically after that. We are still in the early stages of euphoria where we can't wait to pick out boy and girl names and tell all of our friends and family the good news and pick out baby clothes and buy multi-vitamins with folic acid. However, we know that whatever it takes to bring a child into this world, whether financial, physical, or emotional turmoil, it will be well worth it.

Right now, I am about 5 weeks pregnant. According to due date calculators - (of course, I've spent the last 48 hours scouring the internet for anything and everything related to pregnancy ) - we will expect this little bundle of joy around November 8. Second to this wonderful date will be around the end of April when we can find out the gender of the baby.

Its amazing to think that right now, our baby is about the size of a raisin. The placenta and amniotic fluid are developing and her/his cells are continuing to divide rapidly.Of course, I can't feel a lot going on in there right now, but I have started to feel the beginnings of pregnancy. For example, my pants are starting to cut into my stomach, and I've been getting cravings for MORE ice cream than I usually crave. I think my first symptoms started coming on Friday March 1st (about a week ago). My husband and I take a social dance class together, and I was SO tired that I just wanted to fall down right there on the dance floor and take a nap. I haven't had much fatigue lately, nor morning sickness, so that's a good thing. We'll see how this pans out as the weeks pass by anyway. I can't wait to monitor the growth of our baby week by week as we prepare to welcome our little boy or girl!

Updates.. and new DIY tutorials on the way!

I haven't updated this blog in about a year, so of course a lot has happened since then.. For example, Cameron and I got married June 8 at the Manti temple, and we have been married for 8 months! Also, Cameron decided to forgo his career choice in bio fuels and will be going to dental school next year - he's taking the DAT (dental admissions test) this April. We'll both graduate at the same time (this December 2014!) and then have a few months to work and relax before he starts dental school.

So far, school is good and not too strenuous, but I've got senioritis just waiting to graduate. A part of me feels done with school and the trials of jumping through hoops to finish classes. I am majoring in Public Health with an emphasis in Epidemiology (which is basically the study of statistics as they apply to diseases and health). I love my major, but classes are stale and uneventful right now. Its not like I don't have enough on my plate, in fact, I'm taking 16 and a half credits this semester with classes such as Clinical Trials, Biostatistics, Physiology, Program Evaluation Methods, American Heritage, and Social Dance. I just need to take some fun classes and relax for my last semesters in college so that I can fully enjoy the rest of my time here!

Also, in the process of trying to find furniture and decorations to beautify the apartment that my husband and I have now, I have been involved with several diy projects. I'm thinking about posting some tutorials, so stay tuned until then!