Ty's Birth Story

When we first found out that I was due April 30th, Sean and I thought that it would be perfect if 

I went one day overdue and had the baby on May 1st.

Sean really wanted a May baby and Avery did not want to share her birth month.

Well, the baby continually measured big, so we assumed that he would come early.

I never would have guessed that I'd actually have a May baby!

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When I hit my due date I was so uncomfortable!

I was feeling a lot of pressure.

It was Sunday and I went to Sacrament meeting. That was all I could handle.

That afternoon, Sean and I went walking hoping that it would lead to something.

It didn't.

The next day, Monday the 1st, I was feeling a lot of pressure.

I wanted to see if I could see my O.B. that day but she was booked.

By the receptionist at her office suggested that I just go to Labor & Delivery and get checked.

So I did.

I was between 2 and 3 cm dilated. I hadn't progressed at all since my 39 week appointment!
I was so bummed.

And speaking of bums, the pressure I was feeling turned out to be constipation!

How embarrassing!

So they gave me some Miralax, I went home and took some stool softener and drank prune juice.

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The next day was Tuesday the 2nd.

I successfully cleared my bowels that morning and then headed to my prenatal check up at 11:00.

Dr. Lazernick stripped my membranes for the second week in a row (NOT FUN!!!).

I was 4 cm dilated and 70% effaced.

(That is more dilated then I ever have been with any of my other kids prior to labor.)

We were hopefully that labor would start on it's own after that

but just in case it didn't, we scheduled an induction for May 4th at 6:30 am.

Sean did not want our baby to be born on Star Wars day!

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That afternoon I was in pain.

I was experiencing cramps.

They were getting intense by 2:00.

At that time I was getting ready to take Avery to her 2:45 pm well child visit.

I decided that I was probably in labor and called and canceled the appointment.

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By 3:00 pm I was timing my contractions with an app on my phone.

I remember just sitting on the couch in the living room with my dad

and my mom clipped and painted my toes while I timed my contractions.

Just before 4:00 pm, I texted Sean and told him that this was it, for real.

He was working from home that day.

He got done with work at 4:30 and then we got ready to go to the hospital.

,..

My mom made me a sandwich.

Sean and I finished packing our bags and we changed.

We were pretty laid back about the whole situation.

Not surprising since it was our fifth kid.

We left for the hospital just after 5:00 pm.

I suggested to Sean that he get some food on the way to the hospital.
So we went to the Carl's Jr. drive thru.

It took 20 minutes!

By the time we got to the hospital and into our room, it was about 6:00 pm.
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Here's a picture of Lexi saying goodbye to me. She bawled when we left for the hospital.

Walking into the hospital. Last picture with my big belly!

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At 6:30 pm I got checked and was 5-6 cm dilated.

That's when I knew that I was having my baby that night.

I got my IV and started getting my fluids so I could get an epidural.

I also need to get on some antibiotics because I tested positive for Group B Strep.
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At 7:30 I was ready for my epidural.

The anesthesiologist at the hospital was busy so they called in another guy, Kyle.

When he walked into my room, I nearly lost it. Sean too.

He had come straight from his house or possibly the mountains, I'm not really sure.

He was wearing a camo shirt and Wrangler jeans.

He apologized for not changing and I told him I could care less, I was just happy to see him.

He was friendly and funny which helped keep me calm.

I didn't even cry while getting my epidural this time!

The epidural took more quickly and strongly to my left leg though.
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Here I am happy to have my epidural.

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Around 8:00 my doctor broke my water.

I was 8 cm dilated and 80% effaced and the baby's head was at station 0.

So he was getting low.

(Before labor he was at -2.)

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Not long after that the nurses started prepping my room for delivery.

I couldn't believe it was time already!

Sean had jokingly told Dr. Lazernick that he had delivered Ruby and he was experienced.

So she put him to work.

He got suited up and he delivered Ty with her assistance.

He had both his hands on Ty's head and helped pull it out and he caught him.

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Ty was born at 8:41 pm.

Instantly the nurses all commented about how big he was.

He weighed 9 lbs 1 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.
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When he was placed on my chest, it was so surreal (like it always is when I first see my baby).

He didn't cry a lot at first.

He had a lot of fluid in his lungs.

The nurses tried to suction some out.

(Later, a respiratory therapist come to help clear out his lungs.)
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Because of his size he had to get poke three times over the next few hours to test his sugar levels,
 I think.

He passed perfectly.

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I nursed him for an hour the first time 

and he probably would have kept going but he had to get more tests done.
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By the time we got to bed it was after midnight.

I sent Ty to the nursery while we slept in between feedings.
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The next morning Sean headed back to our house to get the kids ready for school.
I spent the morning napping and taking pictures of Ty.
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It was Wednesday which is the girls' short day.
Sean brought all the kids to the hospital after school.
Except Ruby. She had a cold and was napping. So she stayed home.
The kids were so excited to see their brother.
They got to help the nurses give him his first bath.
They loved that.
And they got to eat lunch with Sean and I.
They thought it was so cool that the cafeteria delivered food after I simply made a phone call.
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I took a nap after that and then my mom came to meet Ty.
My dad had a cold too and my brother was napping.
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As soon as she left, Sean came back to the hospital to have dinner with me
and hang out until bedtime.
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The next day Sean came over after taking care of the kids.
We spent a few hours together with Ty and did everything we needed to do to check out.
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We got home just in time for dinner.
Pizza!
My parents know me so well.
The kids also had a banner waiting for us on the garage door.
It was so sweet.
And Ruby was so excited to finally see her new brother.
She instantly loved him!
My dad and brother got to see him for the first time too.

The End of An Era (My Last Pregnancy Post Ever!)

I never really blogged about this pregnancy another than announcing it back in October.

But I thought I should take a moment to document it because I'm planning on it being my last.

That's still a really weird thought to me.

It's strange to think that I'll never be pregnant again and that we'll never have another tiny newborn.

It's a bittersweet feeling for both Sean and I.

Anyway, let's get to this post. Because the real posts that everyone wants to see are the newborn ones which are up next.
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At my 20 week ultrasound, it was discovered that I had a low lying placenta which could possibly be placenta previa. That's when the placenta covers the cervix. It can cause bleeding during pregnancy and bed rest. It can lead to hemorrhaging and a c-section.
I was so stressed. Another ultrasound was scheduled for 30 weeks gestation.
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At that ultrasound (February 21st), we saw that my placenta had sifted and was no longer a concern.
However, after measuring my baby they were concerned about his size.
He was measuring 90% for his size. And was estimated to already be 4 lbs.
So another was scheduled for a month later.
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At that ultrasound I was 34 weeks. (March 16th) They baby was measuring 94% for size.
 Supposedly he was 6 lbs 2 oz.
He was measuring like his due date was April 18th instead of the 30th.
But I was still measuring on time.
So another ultrasound was scheduled for a few weeks later.
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At that point I was just over 37 weeks (April 11th).
(Pictured below.)
At that ultrasound the tech told us that the baby was 7 lbs 9 oz and down to 79% for size.
 And now measuring a day overdue!
At that point I didn't know what to expect.
But I still assumed that he would be born a little bit before his due date.

The next two pictures are me at 39 weeks.

And this is me on my due date.

And now it's baby time!!!

March Picture Post

March!!! These pictures aren't that old. I'm almost caught up!!!

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This is what real life looks like when you're in your third trimester with your fifth kid.

It's survival mode!

Ruby on a walk to the church, taking Lexi to Activity Days.

Eli threatening to "Spell me" when I asked him to do something he didn't like.

Me at about 31 1/2 weeks pregnant. Occasionally, I remember to take a pregnancy picture.

Eli enjoying the sunshine.

Here's the play area before Sean added Ruby's playhouse, and the swing set.

And here's Sean with his friend John building the swing set.

Here's Sean getting the footings set for Ruby's playhouse.

The play area looks so much better now!

And then of course, it snowed again.

Luckily, it's the time of year when the snow doesn't last long.

We had a special stake conference with Elder Ballard from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Here's Eli pointing to him on the TV screen in the primary room.

At the end of the conference Sean and Lexi shook Elder Ballard's hand.

At first Lexi stuck out her left hand. Elder Ballard shook it and then shook her right hand.

Another month, means another art lesson. In March we did a watercolor painting.

Ruby loves going to my prenatal check ups. She loves getting suckers.

At my 32 week check up, the baby's heart rate was really high. 

So they kept me to monitor his heart rate to make sure that it would go down.

His heart rate was nearly 180. That's the highest I've ever seen. He's one active little boy!

Eli finally was picked to be the student of the week at preschool.

I love kids imaginations.

The kids love digging in the dirt. Here they are in the ghetto garden area.

Someday it will be beautiful.

These three were pretending to be pirates one afternoon.

Playing wizards in the backyard.

We have infidelity gotten our money's worth out of that swing set.

The kids use it everyday.

We set up the hammock that we got for Christmas.

Avery sun bathing.

Ruby had fun with chalk one afternoon.

My kids will get in swimsuits any chance they can get.

One morning I got a text from our friend David. He is mine and Sean's friend from high school.

He still lives in Washington. He asked me for my address and then a few hours later he walked into our backyard. He had a layover. It was so fun to see him for a few hours.

My cousin Cassy and my aunt Lisa were in town from California so they came to see us one afternoon. I pulled the girls out of school early. We went to Costa Vida for lunch and then got ice cream cones at Macey's. Then we played board games and played in our backyard. It was so fun.

Why didn't I try to get better lighting? Or edit this picture?

Sleeping kids are the cutest.

We absolutely love being in our backyard.

This girl loves books.

Here's the kids on St. Patrick's morning.

Sean enclosed our sandbox.

And we got sand. Eli was so excited.

The kids and their friends spend so much time in that sandbox. It's been a great investment.

I tried to get the girls to wear hats or bandannas when they played in the sandbox.

I painted rocks to look like gold and silver nuggets for the sandbox.

I also added jewels and pennies and peso's to the sandbox.

The kids love looking for them.

They loved the rocks so much that I decided to paint some more rocks.

This are my rainbow bugs (before I gave them eyes).

As soon as Sean finished the sandbox, he started building a patio cover.

Sean is currently building four planter boxes to set the posts in to help anchor it.

We have a lot of plans for our patio cover.

It's going to be awesome when we're done.

Eli got two cavities filled last month.

It was the first time any of our kids have had any dental work done, other than cleanings.

And Lexi got classes in March.

I didn't even know she needed them until her teacher said something to me.

Eli still loves his Olaf costume.

I took all of the kids with me to my prenatal check up because they wanted to meet my doctor and see what my appointments are like.

Me at 34 ish weeks pregnant.

I finally started getting ready for the baby.

I did laundry and we set up a crib and rearranged bedrooms and decorated.

The girls loves writing and receiving letters. Here they are writing to two of their cousins.

Pigtails!

I took these two out for a lunch date the week of Women's Conference.

Lexi and I went on a Mother Daughter Date to Women's Conference.

She tried to take notes.

Sean's brother Aaron came out to Utah from Virginia.
We haven't seen him since Ruby was a month old.

He was just at our house for a day but we had so much fun with him.

My kids LOVED him!

Ruby is obsessed with Avery's swimsuits.

One week she wore one to church under her dress without anyone knowing. 

She was excited about that.

She wears Avery's swimsuits any chance she gets.

Ruby is loves these puppies.

They belong to a member of my presidency.

Ruby loves playing with them during our presidency meetings.

Sean got to fertilize and mow our lawn last month. He was so happy!

Sean and the kids watching Moana video clips on YouTube.

Love this girls rosy cheeks.

The view as your driving into our neighborhood.

And now it's time to blog about APRIL!!!