Birth Day Pictures

Ella Mae.  5/23/2012.  8 pounds 2 ounces, 19 inches.

Mama and baby girl.

Daddy and baby.

Getting ready for her first bath.

Meeting her big brother for the first time.

Ella and Grandma Bennett.

Ella with Grandma and Grandpa Taylor.

Sweet girl.

She looks a lot like Milo is this one.

Grumpy face after having a poo explosion at the pediatrician.

When Milo first met her he wanted to "hold it", now he says "hold Ella."

Grandma and Grandpa Bennett with Ella.

Our family of 4!!

Ella's Birth Day

I had started to get uncomfortable these last few weeks, and the contractions were really wearing on me.   I even said at one point that I was sick of having contractions and no baby, I would rather just have them and have a baby or not have them.  It had to be better to just get it all over with right?  Now that I have lived and learned, I am so glad my body works the way it does, because those contractions I was having for months are a BREEZE.  Annoying, sure, but really no big deal.  I honestly had the best birth scenario, I really couldn't have asked for a better one.

I worked until 10pm on Tuesday night.  I came home, did some unwinding, and then Kevin and I went to bed around 11.  Kevin usually gets up for work around 6-6:15, and I usually wake up a little when he does, but stay in bed.  Wednesday morning was the same deal, I think I woke up around 6:15am, after a restful nights sleep.  When I woke up, I was having a weird pain below my belly, it wasn't like anything I had felt before.  It was quite sharp, I had been having sharp pains throughout these last few months, but this was just off.  I thought it must be gas, so I went to the restroom.  I came back and tried to lie down and that did not feel good at all.  My stomach was growling, so I figured the pain must have something to do with food, so I went and grabbed a Luna bar and some water and scarfed it down.  Kevin was in the shower, and I was on the sofa, but decided to go back into our room.  I was getting super hot, so I put on a tank top and some deodorant.  I couldn't stay still and was kind of pacing almost.  I started to realize this was it.  I remember reading in one of my Bradley books about how animals give birth and that is totally what I felt like, LOL.  I felt like a cat pacing around, it was way weird.

Kevin got out of the shower and I didn't want to get him too worked up, but I told him to start getting our bag ready.  I was mostly packed, but I told him to grab my wallet, the cameras, etc.  Things were starting to hurt a bit more and Kev started to time my contractions on the I pad.  He would ask me if I was having one and I would just keep my eyes closed and give him a thumbs up.  I was going through all the different labor positions in my head, trying to think of what would feel the best.  Standing/leaning on Kev or the counter was out, I tried Taylor sitting, which actually felt ok, but not the best, and lying down was definitely out.  Then I thought about the birthing ball, I didn't think I would like not having the back support, but I decided it was worth a try.  Since we didn't actually have a birthing ball, I started to do the same bouncing motion on the bed.  IT WAS THE BEST.  It totally made things bearable.  Between contractions I tried to pull up my hair, it was a difficult task.  Then I really wanted to brush my teeth, with my electric toothbrush, during which I had a contraction, it was the WORST.  After that around 7:30am I told Kevin he needed to call his Mom to come over, Milo was still asleep.

I threw on a short sleeve hoodie to somewhat cover myself and then put on platform flip flops, yeah that was not going to work.  I told Kev to find me some regular ones as I sat bouncing on the bed.  He found the flip flops and within a few minutes his Mom was at our house and we were on our way.  We live MAYBE 10 minutes from St. Mark's, but the 2 contractions in the car were not fun.  I told Kev to just drop me off at the front and park the car.

At abour 7:55am I walked into the hospital in some what of a haze.  I pushed the button at L&D and they asked how they could help me, I wanted to scream, but I just casually said, "well I am having a baby."  They buzzed me in and I walked about half way down the hall, then had to stop and work through a contraction.  I could hear the nurses talking, wondering where I was, and one of them said "she must have stopped to have a contraction."  Well yeah.  I finally made it to the desk and they told me I needed to fill out some paperwork, I feel bad, but I was hurting and losing patience.  I told them I couldn't, my husband was parking the car and he would went he came up.  I leaned up against the counter to get through another contraction.  During that contraction I heard the most high pitched voice I had ever heard in my life.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw this couple standing next to me.  "HIIIYEEE" the girl said.  The nurse asked how he could help her. " Well I am going to have a baby today!"  It seriously was so chipper I thought I was standing next to Minnie Mouse.  The nurse asked what made her think that. "Well my water just broke."  I was thinking "you have got to be kidding me, how is this woman so chipper right now!?"  After one more contraction at the counter the nurse took me back to room 4, she knew things were starting to get serious.

I started to get into my gown and a L&D nurse came in and told me they were going to hook me up to the monitors and check me.  I told her I needed a birthing ball, I was going non medicated, and she said ok.  Kev showed up and went and grabbed the birthing ball.   I told her I was GBS positive (Group B Strep), so I needed an IV soon.  She said "ok after I check you and monitor the baby for 10 minutes, we will start one."   She checked me, I was 8cm, and things were getting REAL.  I told her I needed to sit on the birthing ball, it was seriously getting intense.  I told Kev when she was done with her stuff he needed to give me a blessing, she said it would be a minute, that she was LDS and just to go ahead and do it.  I sat on the birthing ball and he started to give me a blessing, then a HUGE contraction started.  Another nurse was trying to get my IV in and start the antibiotics for the GBS.  The contraction was so painful I started bouncing even harder, after the blessing was done, I stood up and told the nurse I wanted to push.  She told me not to, she needed to check me again before I started pushing to make sure I was dilated enough. I got on the bed and she checked me, 9 1/2 cm.

Things at that point started to get crazy.  Nurses came flying in and the one that had been helping me started calling my doctor.  He was in surgery, so she called the office to get another doctor from over there.  The contractions were so intense, Kevin was trying to coach me and my breathing, I wasn't breathing very good.  He held my hand and softly touched my back, but I was still struggling.  Even though I felt well prepared for a non medicated birth, I am not a calm person by nature.  I have a hard time relaxing in general, and when in this much pain, it was hard to focus on my breathing.  Luckily there was an awesome nurse named Jennifer in the room who had the most calming voice.  I focused in on her voice and started to breathe the way she told me to.  She had to leave for a second and an intense contraction started to come on and I screamed for her to "help me!" through it. I sat on the bed having contractions and after a large one, my water burst.  It felt like a giant water balloon popping.  After it burst, the fluid appeared as if it had meconium in it, so they started to call the NICU.  Not something any Mom wants to hear.  By this time the nurses were frantic to get ANY doctor in the room cause baby girl was coming.  I kept begging to push and finally they found a doctor to come in a suit up.  He was an older doctor and apparently old school, he told the nurses to put me in stirrups, and both looked at him like he was crazy.  They told him I was not medicated and I told him there was no way, I was just going to sit up in a squatting position.  As my bottom is hanging off the table and  after another large contraction I felt the same sensation again as my water breaking.  Kevin and the nurses made a gasp and the look on the doctors face was surprised/confused.  I thought for sure I had pooped every where, but I didn't care this point, I was in pain!!  Come to find out after wards what had actually happened was a large ball of blood had burst EVERYWHERE.  The entire floor was covered, everyone's shoes and the whole floor.  Kevin said it looked like a murder scene, and it look as though a bucket of paint had been thrown all over the floor.  I remember sometime during this thinking I was crazy and this was so painful.  I didn't think I could do it and told Kev we were never having another baby.  Although it was painful I didn't want an epidural either.

I again begged to push and they told me I could push just a little.  I slightly pushed and she was crowning.  Then I felt it THE RING OF FIRE, holy moly, I just subconsciously let out a loud scream, like I said, in general, I am not a calm person.  After that pain I pushed once, her head was out, again, her shoulders were out, and again she was out!  They told me she was out and I opened my eyes and looked down at her.  The cord had wrapped around her foot, so they were taking care of that, then they quickly took her away for 2 reasons.  First, the meconium, they had to make sure she hadn't inhaled any of the fluid with the meconium, and second they were worried about the GBS.  She was born at 8:23am, so I had her in less than a half hour after arriving at the hospital.  Fast and  furious is the best way to describe what had just happened.  Just as she had come out, my doctor showed up, he chuckled and said he knew I would be fast, but dang!  He took over and I birthed the placenta and he sewed me up.  I had a stage 2 tear, which I was a little bummed about, it felt like he was stitching me forever!  He made a comment about all the blood on the floor, Kev told him it was crazy when it happened.  I had the shakes so bad!  After talking with the other doctor they determined that the brown in the fluid was not meconium, probably just old blood.  That was good, no NICU for my baby girl.  After that I was able to hold her.  She was perfect!  So tiny and she looked a lot like Milo.

The nurses brought me a juice cocktail that tasted amazing, and I felt amazing.  There is nothing to describe the high you get after a non medicated birth.  It is like nothing I have ever felt.  I was on top of the world and I could do anything!  I felt like I had just climbed a mountain or run a marathon or something.  Will I do it again?  Absolutely, no question.  It was also so great to be able to walk around, get out of bed, go to the bathroom myself, and shower myself.

I know part of it is because it is my second baby, but I think part is because of going un-medicated I still feel great!  I cannot believe the difference from Milo's delivery and Ella's.

They take GBS very serious and had to watch her closely and do blood work on her.  For the first few hours she had a hard time regulating he body temp, but in the evening she was doing well.  They wanted to keep us 48 hours to watch her and get all of her blood work back.  The pediatrician who saw her said she looked great though and it turned out she was fine!  We went home Friday morning.

My lesson learned for next time, I will go to the hospital when I feel my first "real" contraction, I don't want to have a baby in the car!

Ella's Birth Story: The Prequel

On Monday I had my 39 week pregnancy check up. The week prior I had been 4cm and about 80% effaced, and the prior visits from the past month I was dilating about a cm a week. Sure enough I was 5cm and 90% effaced, my doctor didn't think I would last too much longer, but I made an appointment for next week anyway. Like I said in my prior post I was starting to be ready for her to come. The last 2 months I had been in early labor and was really starting to get exhausted by the contractions. I was starting to have longer spurts of them, 4 hours, 2 to 4 minutes apart, but they were not strong enough and would always go away. When I went in on Monday and was 5cm, I was a little worried about going to work that day. I was scheduled my last 2 shifts Monday and Tuesday, and although I have a coworker who in an EMT, I did NOT want to have my baby at IKEA. I wasn't feeling like it was going to happen on Monday, and I said a prayer both days to be guided and to know whether or not to go to work. I felt good about going, so I went. The worst part about work was all the people that work there making lame comments to me like "you're still here?" or "haven't you had that baby yet?", I wanted to scream!! I wasn't even to my due date yet, give me a break. I was really on edge about the comments. Luckily, my direct coworkers are awesome. I did some walking that night and went home and went to bed after my shift at 10pm. Then on Tuesday I woke up and again wasn't feeling like anything was going to happen, said a prayer and decided I would go to work and if anything started to happen I could always leave. My boss had double scheduled me, anticipating that I may not be there. They had a baby pool going on as to when she would arrive, it was pretty funny. I was working with my boss and another coworker that night and they were awesome! My coworker Bailee brought in cake bites and cupcakes to celebrate my last shift, and my boss bought me dinner, a veggie sandwich from kneaders on sour dough, which I have been craving lately. I went home from my shift around 10pm and was thinking how weird and awesome that I didn't have to work for the next 3 months. That night I went to bed wondering what the rest of the week would entail, I had no idea I was so close to having a baby. I had meal planned for the week, and made a visiting teaching appt for Thursday, I was having a few contractions, but they didn't seem like much of anything. Ella was by active that night, as she always is, and I finally drifted off to sleep.

Single Digits

The countdown to my due date is in the single digits now, 9 days until May 25.  I haven't felt ready for her to come yet, but I think today I can finally breathe and say she can come.  I keep telling everyone "she will come when she wants to, I am in no rush" and I still feel that way, there were just several things in the way before.

First, I didn't want her to come in April, another April birthday would have just been to hard.  Even though she will have her own month, her birthday will still be very close to the rest of ours. First Milo had a cold, then I did, then Kevin did, so I didn't want her to come into all that sickness.  Then, I wasn't ready because my belly bandit wasn't here, that arrived.  Then this past week, Milo got the herpangina virus, which is basically hand, mouth, foot disease, but only in your mouth.  NOT what you want to have in your home when expecting a newborn.  He is for the most part done with it, and out of the contagious stage, so that is good, but it was stressing me our big time to say the least.

I have been super nervous about having 2 kids, I just hope I can balance, run on no sleep, and some how get breastfeeding down with a toddler around.  I haven't been nervous for labor and delivery hardly at all.  I think for a few reasons.  First, I have done this before, so I some what know what to expect.  Second, since I am planning a non medicated birth, I have been doing a lot of studying and talking with friends, and I feel a little more in tune with my body.  Not to mention the fact that I have been having contractions for MONTHS now (literally 2 months), so I am not anticipating a super long process, I could be completely wrong, but it just doesn't feel that way.  I feel like I have Kevin's support and I think once, if it ever really gets going, that I am prepared as much as you can be.

At my appointment on Tuesday I was 4cm 80% effaced, which means, nothing.  I could have her tomorrow, it could be 2 weeks from now, I am trying not to think a whole lot about it.  Whenever people ask, they get all excited, but I have contractions everyday, so it doesn't mean anything.  Again, she will come when she comes.  My doctor is awesome too, I really like him.  He knows I want to go non medicated and on Tuesday when we were talking he started giving me my options.  He told me at this point I could basically choose her birthday if I wanted aka schedule an induction date, but that was only an option and he just wanted to make sure I knew my options.  I told him I was fine and that we will just wait for her to come on her own.  He said that was great and that was the best way to do it.  He then said "childbirth should be about you and what you want, things should go the way you want them, we are here to support you in any decision you make."  It was really comforting.  Some times OB's get a bad wrap as not supportive of non medicated births, and everyone says you NEED a midwife or doula.  I am glad I have an OB that is so supportive.

I have had a lot of people tell me lately that I look like I have only gained weight in my belly, which is nice, I hope that is the truth and people aren't just trying to make me feel good! :)  Scale wise, I weigh a lot less than I did with Milo, so that is comforting.  Dr. Y's guess is that she won't be as big as Milo, but you never know.

I was reading a random blog today and came across a quote by Elder Boyd K. Packer, and after reading it, I feel a bit more ready.  She can come when she wants, but I am feeling ready now.

"Fathers and Mothers, next time you cradle a newborn child in your arms, you can have an inner vision of the mysteries and purpose of life.   You will better understand why the Church is what it is and why the family is the basic organization in time and eternity."

Zoo Day

Last week we were lucky enough to accompany our friends the Nelsons to the zoo.  They have a season pass and were nice enough to get us in too!    Milo had fun, but got distracted by snacks and wanting me to "carry you" aka carry him.

Milo and his bud Brody.

 Brody, Cole, and Milo sitting on the tigers.

 Milo really liked the giraffes.

 This picture looks scary, but the gorilla was just yawning.  It was kind of weird, he was sitting in the corner just looking up at everyone and smiling.  When we first walked up we thought he was asleep, nope!

It was a fun day, the weather was perfect, and Milo really liked riding on the choo choo train.  The only bummer was it was totally a field trip day, so there were tons of kids.  Sometimes Milo would be up by the glass looking at animals, then a bunch of rowdy kids would crowd him and he would get scared and cry.

I am really getting excited for summer, I love this weather!

Happy Mother's Day!

This Mother's Day was lovely.  Quite and relaxing, I didn't have to worry about what to make for dinner and I was even able to take a nap!  We started off the morning going to church.  They gave each of the women a plant and then in Relief Society they passed our eclairs (one of my FAVORITE desserts!) and cookies.  Milo made me the cutest bouquet in Nursery.

That evening we headed over to Kevin's parents house.  We had Papa Murphy's pizzas, home made bread sticks (Kevin made them), salad and dessert.

Below is my Mother's Day spread.  From left to right: bouquet from Milo, plant from church, card & plaque from my MIL, and flowers from Kevin.

 It was so cute when Milo gave me this, I just love it!

 After he saw me take a picture of it, he wanted to be in the picture with it.  He "made it Mom."

Kevin's sister made tres leches for dessert, but I am not a fan whatsoever.  I can't handle soggy textures.  Since I will be chocolate free in a few weeks (chocolate and breastfeeding didn't mix last time), I begged Kevin to make me this AMAZING eclair cake.  I mentioned that I love eclairs right???  My friend Kristin had made it for a get together awhile back and it is delish and so simple to make.

Image via thekitchenismyplayground.blogspot.com

I really had to limit myself to go back for seconds, thirds, and fourths.  I was good and had one and a half pieces.  If your interested, you can find the full recipe HERE.

I am so thankful to have an amazing Mother.  Every day I find myself trying to me more and more like her.  She is so selfless and loving and a wonderful woman.  I am also lucky to have a wonderful Mother-in-law, who is always helping us from watching Milo to whatever else we may need.

I am thankful to be a Mother to an amazing little boy who I love more and more each day!  I am thankful to soon have a sweet daughter too.  I am grateful to Kevin for everything he does to support me.

To all those who struggle with this day, I know it can be very difficult for some, you are all amazing Mother's and influence so many lives, even though you may not have children of your own at this time.  There are so many women in my life who have been "Mothers" and so many that I consider Mothers to my sweet Milo.  I love you all!

Happy Mother's Day!

Ogden Dinosaur Park

 Since I know my days of being able to go anywhere by myself are numbered, I want to make the best of them.  I want to get as many Milo and Mommy trips in as I can.  Today Milo and I were planning on going to Ogden to take Traci and Eli to lunch.  Traci used her awesome sewing skills to make me a few things for the kid's room, so lunch was the least I could do to repay her.  Since we were already heading North, we decided to hit up the Dinosaur Museum.  I remember going when I was a kid and knew Milo would enjoy it.

It was a lot of fun, but I felt it was a bit pricey. ($7 adults and $5 for 2 year old!?!)  It was really fun though, lots of things to do and see and WAY better than the one at Thanksgiving Pointe.  Plus it was a beautiful day, so we really enjoyed that the majority of it is outside.

Here we are getting ready to go, Mom had her sunglasses on, so somebody needed his too!  I was actually surprised he kept them on so long!

 Here are some of the dinos from around the park, Milo really enjoyed looking at them.

 Even the Flintstones were there!

 The playground was definitely Milo's favorite part.  He loves the swings and they had some there.  He also enjoyed climbing on the dinos.

 He really liked this "alligator".  I can't remember the real name, he kept waving and say "hi" to it.

 To get out of the sun for a bit we went inside.  They had some fun kids activities, and a real paleontologist processing fossils.

 Milo liked the robotic dinosaurs from a distance or if I was holding him.  He thought they were "scary" and didn't really like when they looked at him.

After our dino adventure we went to lunch with Traci and Eli.  Then we came home, took a nap, and played in the backyard with his new water table.  All in all a great day!