Baby Wake

So I was 40 weeks and five days when I went in to be induced with Wake. I had been dilated to a one since 38 weeks and hadn't progressed any further since that time so an induction was definitely needed. I got to the hospital at 7 pm on February 26th. The first thing they did was start my IV which I was SO afraid of (just because I put them in people doesn't mean they don't scare the crap out of me to get them). Anyway, I have awesome veins but it took them three tries to get it in and since it was an 18 gauge it almost killed me. After that they started me on Cervidil and said that the next step was just to wait until I started contracting and dilating. I didn't feel anything until about 3 am and the contractions started hurting me enough that I requested Statol (a narcotic) which was the only pain medication they said I could have (I am anti pain meds so I was hurting pretty bad at this point). She gave me 1mg and I was finally able to fall asleep but when my contractions came around again they were waking me up from my sleep so I requested the second milligram she originally offered me. That was a big mistake/best thing I ever did. The first milligram just made me super drowsy which was good but the second milligram pushed me over the edge and I had an adverse reaction. I could still feel the pain of the contraction but the Statol made me feel like what I can only imagine being drunk feels like but I was still in pain. So I was completely out of it, but still in pain and feeling so impaired that it scared me. Nate videoed me when I was out of it and I have to admit that it was pretty hilarious. I apparently get a British accent when I'm drugged but even though it was funny to watch I hated the feeling and, like I said, I remember being legitimately scared when I was out of it. Anyway, once the Statol finally wore off I was still in pain and since they weren't going to give me anymore narcotics because of how I reacted to it they decided to start my epidural even though they usually wait until people are dilated to a 5 to get it and I was a 2. That's why I say that getting Statol was the best/worst thing I ever did because even though it sucked it made me get my epidural sooner. The epidural really didn't hurt at all and after the eventful night I didn't even have the energy to be scared about it. The ONLY thing that sucked about the epidural was that they made me bend over to get it (obviously) and it's already hard enough to bend over when you're pregnant but add the pain of contractions while you're uncomfortably bending over and it makes for a rough time but it was quick and WELL worth it. I immediately went numb on both sides and I stayed numb without having to be re-dosed until after I had delivered which was awesome. I LOVED being numb. I was finally able to sleep and I didn't have to feel the catheter being put in or getting checked which, I might add, was the absolute worst pain I ad ever felt (worse than contractions). The doctor actually made me cry when she checked me before I had the epidural in so she promised I wouldn't get checked again until after I had, had it in (thank goodness). So it was smooth sailing after that other than the fact that I couldn't eat or drink anything. I, shockingly, did really good with the whole fasting thing for 24 hours and after that 24 hour mark hit I literally thought I would die of thirst and hunger. I had eaten tons of popcicles and even cheated by drinking a little water but seriously, I was done. At that point I didn't think labor would kill me but the starvation. Anyway, I got through it and was FINALLY dilated to a 10 at 1 am on Saturday, March 7th. It took me so long to dilate the doctor said that I almost had to have a c-section (I think everyone ALMOST had to have a c-section haha) but she did scare me for a little bit so I'm glad that I kicked it in gear soon enough to avoid that. Anyway, when they said it was time to get ready to push I, of course, freaked. I had been so worried about this huge life change for such a long time, even before I was pregnant. I DON'T do well with change so I was scared out of my mind. I was shaking uncontrollably and I felt bad that I wasn't very excited for this big moment because I was so afraid of how it would change my life and how much responsibility I would have to keep this baby alive. Anyway, Nate is always good to talk me through things and my friend Lindsay Whiting came because she wanted to take pictures of us during the delivery and she made me feel a lot better too since she had, had a baby recently too. It was nice to have her there since my mom and sisters weren't there to calm me down like they usually do. But I ended up pushing for about an hour and a half and I actually enjoyed that. It was exciting to hear that they could see hair and, honestly, it was a good workout haha. It was also SO nice to be numb so that I could just enjoy the moment pain free. As soon as he came out I felt nothing but extremely happy. It truly felt like Christmas morning and any fear I had immediately left. I thought that I would at least have to fight back tears when I saw him (I knew I wouldn't cry because I'm a little anti showing emotion) but I at least thought I would be fighting the tears back. Wrong. I was, like I said, just stoked about the whole experience and so happy that he was healthy, had hair, and was so cute. I can totally see how people get addicted to having babies because that was, by far, the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. Totally worth the gruesome 9 months and body destruction (that means a lot coming from me). Nate said that he had to fight back the tears when he saw him which I thought was crazy because the only time I had ever seen Nate cry was when he lost out of state basketball his senior year haha but apparently our son's birth was a close second to that in the emotion category lol. Like every new mom I was addicted to looking at him and was on cloud 9 but the exhaustion soon kicked in after they kept us in the hospital for two and a half days AFTER I had delivered. That was a HUGE mistake to stay that long. We were woken up like every hour by the staff and the rest of the time I was trying to get Wake to eat. He was a good eater from the beginning but it took a lot of time and energy to keep him awake long enough to eat. Nate and I were so exhausted that we didn't even have the energy to even think about trying to leave the hospital early so we were off to a bad start with a newborn. When we finally did get discharged Monday afternoon we were so ecstatic to be in our own space again and try to figure this little dude out. I felt bad for Nate at the hospital because he basically went hungry and had to sleep on this tiny, hard cushion so I cannot express enough how good it felt to be home. The first few nights at home were rough too though. I admit that I bawled every night for the first three night because I was so sleep deprived and overwhelmed. The worst night was the first when I was not only exhausted but I was worried about him not getting enough food and my stitches hurt so much that I thought that I had ripped them out and I literally couldn't hold him while sitting down and standing up from the couch which was, obviously, a huge problem because I had to do both to feed him. Anyway, I saw lactation the next day and she said he was acting weird about eating because my milk was coming in and he couldn't latch on like he used to because of the change so she told me to press down around the area in a window-shaped fashion right before I fed him and that helped a ton to reduce he firmness so that he could latch on. She also showed me how to look for his chin making deep dips when he ate so I could tell when he actually swallowed something versus when he was just sucking and that helped a ton too to put my mind at ease so that I knew he was actually swallowing. I also got my stitches checked that day and they ended up being fine so just for my own future reference, they just hurt that bad and it doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong haha. ANYWAY, we are learning everyday and it has definitely gotten easier but we still have a long ways to go learning-wise lol. Here are some pictures from his birth...

Me mentally preparing for this and making sure to close my eyes to keep from being more freaked out.

Nate giving me the, "Stop being so dramatic" face that I'm usually giving him haha.

Wondering what I had gotten into...

Them putting Wake on me for the first time and me being somewhat annoyed because I told them beforehand to clean him off before they gave them to me haha.

Favorite picture...He ended up being 8.2 lbs and 21.5 inches long.

Major cone head.

So freaking pleased with life...

Love swollen babies...

Also so pleased...

I don't know why but I LOVE this picture because when I think of what Wake looked like the first time I saw him, this is the face I think of. Captured perfectly.

Officially a family of three...

Pregnancy

So here is my post on my pregnancy for my own personal record. Nate had been wanting a baby for awhile and me, being afraid of having kids before we were both done with school, made the compromise with him that I would agree to start trying as soon as he got accepted to dental school. So, sure enough, when he got his first acceptance letter in December we started trying. It wasn't until May that I actually found out I was pregnant though which I was kind of bummed about because I really wanted a fall baby but my due date ended up being February 28th. I wasn't able to get in for an appointment until I was 16 weeks so I heard his heartbeat for the first time and found out his gender all at my first appointment. Nate and I were both convinced it was a girl because we just thought we were the type to have girls for some reason ha so when she said it was a boy we were both shocked. Nate was stoked and, I admit, I almost cried lol but it wasn't long before I was pumped too. I had a very easy pregnancy in comparison to everyone else I've talked to. I never threw up (which I knew I wouldn't because I don't think my body knows how to) and that made it a lot easier to keep working out. Now, there is nothing more annoying than hearing about someone else's workout but, like I said, this is for my own information for the future so I'm going to document it. I made sure to be very consistent from the first week I found out I was pregnant so that I would never feel like it was too hard to continue doing what I was doing pre pregnancy. So every week up until I delivered at 41 weeks I went to a kickboxing class for an hour (that was mostly legs), a class called R.I.P.P.E.D for an hour which is a combination of weights, cardio, interval training, resistance, plyo, and abs, and I ran a 4 mile route and a 7 mile route each once a week (I had to quit the 7 mile route after 38 weeks though and replace it with another 4 mile route). I also continued my daily push-up and sit-up routine that I've been doing for about ten years up until the day I delivered as well (whether or not it helped, I'll never know but it helped my sanity). I felt pretty dang awesome throughout the whole 41 weeks and I attribute it to all the working out I did so something to remember for my next pregnancy. It wasn't all smooth sailing though, there were a few minor things that I hated about being pregnant. There were a few times I felt a little nauseous but not enough to ever throw up. Also, I felt a "warmness" in my throat on occasion like I could feel my stomach fluid coming back up my esophegus which was annoying. My ears seemed to need to be popped a lot more than when I wasn't pregnant (no idea if that was related or not though). I experienced my first charly horses when I would stretch first thing in the morning (worst pain ever). Of course I was hungry at night and got up every single night to pee which was annoying. I also never slept super well towards the end because I had to wake up to heave myself to the other side so the one I was laying on wouldn't go numb ha. Running started to get harder at around 23 weeks. I would get killer side aches on some of my runs (which I had never gotten side aches before in my life) and my feet started to hurt towards the end too. The 7 miler runs were definitely not enjoyable towards the end, I just forced myself to do it but the 4 miler runs were still pretty enjoyable even towards the end. The weirdest thing that happened to me though was I got really bad vertigo that lasted a full 24 hours even after I had tried to sleep it off. It hit out of nowhere and went away just as suddenly. I didn't end up taking anything for it but I was pretty much out of commission that entire day. I don't think I had any real cravings but I did really want slushes and apples during the time I was pregnant with him. Other than that I just hated being pregnant because nothing fit and it sucks to feel huge but I'm sure I am no different than anyone else in that aspect. The only thing I liked about being pregnant was feeling him move inside of me which I felt for the first time at exactly 20 weeks and that really never got old and it didn't hurt even towards the end even though some people told me it would. My pregnancy was completely normal from a medical standpoint though, so for that I was very glad. I absolutely HATE taking pictures of myself and ESPECIALLY pregnant so these pictures, once again, are just for my own FYI even though they are painful to look at. I just had Nate snap the picture once so I got what I got when it comes to how good/bad they turned out haha.

15 Weeks

28 Weeks

34 Weeks

38 Weeks

40 Weeks and 5 days...Right before going in for my induction.

Nate's White Coat Ceremony

So apparently all doctorate level medical programs have a white coat ceremony for the students to kick off the start of their program. Here are a few pictures of Nate's ceremony...

After the White Coat Ceremony we took a tour of Nate's school. Here is where he has, and will, spend way too much time over the next few years...

Louisville, KY 40220

So, we have officially lived in Kentucky for about seven months and although it will never feel like home there are probably worse places we could be. It has been nice in the sense that we live in what we call "Mini Utah." There are probably twenty other couples from Utah who are going to dental school out here and live in the same apartment complexes as we do so it made it pretty easy to make friends and everyone here is shockingly really cool (I know that makes me sound awful but, honestly, it is kind of hard to find that many people you mesh with). Anyway, for the most part, life has been pretty mundane. Nate literally studies from sunup until sundown almost everyday. He wakes up at 6:30 am and gets in a car with four other guys from school that live in our complex to make it to the school by 8:00 am. He is usually home by 5:30 pm, eats dinner, and then sits on the couch and stares at his ipad going over slides until about 10:30 pm when he goes to bed. Even on weekends he studies basically from the time he wakes up until the time he goes to bed but Friday nights we usually find something else to do for a few hours (and by something else to do I mean that we go out to eat since that's basically the only thing there is to do in the city). As for me, I had a struggle the first few months living here. I didn't find the job I wanted until the end of September which meant my only purpose in life for the first few months was to sleep, workout, grocery shop, nap, and make dinner. It honestly was so depressing. I just sat at home by myself with no real priorities for a few months. I always say you're only bored if you're a boring person and I truly was a boring person during that time ha. But I finally ended up getting a job at Norton Suburban hospital which is part of the biggest hospital chain in Kentucky and it happened to be only about a fifteen minute drive from our apartment. I chose to work on the oncology floor PRN and it has been the best thing for me. It's a really depressing floor and I find myself constantly paranoid that me or someone in my family has cancer but it's a really fulfilling place to work and I am learning new things as a nurse which is always nice. I am obviously loving PRN status because it allows me to not have to work when Nate has breaks from school and we can go home which is huge to me. But, it still forces me to work at least one shift every two weeks which gets me out of the house and allows me to keep my skills so it has been awesome. The people at work have been so nice I can't even believe it but man, you realize once you get out of Utah how vulgar the rest of the world is and how often they use the "F" word. I can handle some swearing, I swear myself on occasion, but these Kentuckians have taken it to a new level so it has been hard adjusting to hearing it full-time at work. Nate says the same thing about school, we're just not in Utah anymore ha but Nate has used it as an opportunity for missionary work. He is always having conversations with people about the church and handing out Books of Mormon, I should learn to be better about that. Anyway, here is our list of things we like about Kentucky: Nate thinks the dental school is a really good school He loves that they have good sports teams The weather stays pretty mild (most of the time) The people are really nice here We like that we live near other Utahns We like that there's grass everywhere We like how close we are to other cities we'd probably never go to otherwise Missionary opportunities are everywhere and so many people are converts in our ward Things we hate about Kentucky: Eastern time because all the games are televised so late and our families forget about the change and call us when we're sleeping haha They don't have shoulders on the roads here and the roads are SO narrow There are medians everywhere It's a city and we hate traffic and stoplights The humidity in the summer is bad enough to make us drop $600 on a flight just to get out of it The church is a 15-20 minute drive away It's forever away from Utah and we don't get to go home much There is a train right by our house that sounds like it's going to take us out about eight times a day There are so many trees it makes you feel suffocated because you can't see further than 0.5 miles at a time There are no mountains or landmarks and you never know which way you're going We have yet to find anywhere to fish or hunt near Louisville Nate has a long drive to the school everyday People are so hard to understand with their hickish accent and then they ask YOU where your accent is from and they guess Minnesota or Germany before you get the chance to tell them Utah (what the heck??) So, obviously we have a lot more on our "hate" list than our "like" list but, like I said, I'm sure there are worse places. We figure we can handle anything as long as we know it's not our forever. We did get out and do a few things when Nate had a little break from school though...

These are pictures of us on The Belle of Louisville which is the oldest running steamboat to run on the Mississippi/Ohio River. I wish I would have gotten a picture of us in front of the boat but these will have to do. We did this our first week in Louisville for Nate's dental school's opening social.

This was Kirk, Mariah, and I at the Louisville Bats game which is Louisville's minor league baseball team.

Nate and I at the Bats game.

Here are pictures of us at the Cincinnati Reds game. It was such a cool stadium that overlooked the river and we had tons of fun, it's definitely something we need to do again. The day before that we went to King's Island water and theme park (though I just did the water park because I was pregnant at the time) but Nate went on a few rides at the theme park and it looked awesome, we'll need to go back and do that again for sure. I didn't get any pictures there though which I'm bummed about. Then we stayed overnight in Cincinnati, (which we never just get a hotel and stay overnight somewhere so it was fun to just relax) then woke up the next day and went downtown to eat at Nada's Mexican Restaurant which was supposed to be THE place to eat in Cincinnati and it was way good. Their chips and salsa were like nothing we'd every tasted before. We way overpaid as far as quantity goes but it was fun to splurge and eat at one of the best places in Cincinnati. That's all we've really been able to do so far with Nate's school schedule but we're hoping to do a lot more around here in the next three years!

Moving

So on July 5th Nate and I packed up our lives and drove across the country to Louisville, Kentucky where we will live for the next four years. I remember when Nate wrote me on his mission and told me that he had randomly decided to go into dentistry when he came home. I just laughed it off because I didn't think there was any way on this planet he would actually go through with it, not because he wasn't capable, but because everyone seems to change their major at least once. Anyway, joke is now on me for doubting him and being in denial about having to actually move away to dental school. He literally worked his butt off to get in and I'm really glad that his "no summer breaks" and "no retaking classes" attitude paid off for him. We were originally hoping to stay in Utah or move to Arizona but when The University of Louisville wanted him we had to jump on it. The move was a long process. Nate Moved home as soon as he graduated at SUU so that he could work for a few months for his dad. I stayed in Cedar so that I could work for another month at the hospital before I moved home and then Nate came back to help me move everything to Blanding for a month. Nate especially hated moving day from Cedar because I worked the two previous nights before we moved so while I was sleeping he pretty much single-handedly packed and moved all of our stuff out. Here are some pictures of our vehicles and our empty apartment. We will miss Cedar SOOO much! It was the perfect first place for us.

Our View from our front door...we felt like this was our yard and had lots of fun on that grass playing ball

A couple pictures of our first apartment (I didn't think to get a picture of the inside until we were all moved out :(

When I finally did move home my life was pretty sweet. I didn't have one responsibility in the entire world and spent my days basically playing and swimming with Bryir which, if anyone knows me, they know it's pretty much my favorite past time. Here are a few cute pictures I took of Cheyn and Bry swimming.

But, as always, time flies way too fast when you're having fun and after the 4th of July we hit the road. Leaving on the 5th was super pushing it because Nate started school on the 9th and it was a 24 hour drive but I was bound and determined to play in Midnight Madness and do all of the 4th of July festivities as usual. It was nice because it was a good venue for seeing everyone we wanted to say goodbye to all at once but it also sucked because I feel like the whole town of Blanding saw me doing the ugly sob as I said goodbye to everyone at the fireworks. Anyway, Nate and I had to leave the fireworks early so we could stop by Cheyna's and see her and brand new baby Aiker for the last time before we left. That was hard. Cheyna wasn't supposed to have Aiker until the 5th but she got induced early just so I could see him before I moved. She had him on the 3rd which made for a very sucky 4th of July for her but I ended up getting to meet the little guy because she did that. After the sob fest with Cheyn we went home and got to sleep early since we were driving separately for the next 24 hours. Since I'm pretty sure I'm one of the sleepiest people ever (I've had to nap almost everyday for a year and a half since working nights) I was was REALLY worried about staying awake and meeting our deadline of getting there by the 6th. But 5 lbs later Nate and I made it at about 10:30 pm on the 6th to Louisville. The 5 lbs comes from the fact that we had to snack for two days straight in order to make it (thanks Amber and mom for all the snacks!). But it was HARD! We literally stopped only to gas up and go to the bathroom and once a day for a real meal. It also sucked that we had to drive so much slower since Nate was hauling a Uhaul. The drive was actually really cool until we hit Kansas. Man, that place is FLAT and boring. We spent the first night in Hayes, Kansas in a Wal-Mart parking lot. We decided beforehand that we didn't want to get a hotel because we had heard too many horror stories about Uhauls getting broken into while your sleeping. The parking lot was almost too well-lit and it was surprisingly loud from all the truckers. We also realized that the seats in the truck would barely lay back since there were too many things in the backseat. The night wasn't looking like it was going to be a good one but because we were so tired we slept perfectly. Poor Nate though, his birthday is July 6th so he spent it waking up in a Wal-Mart parking lot, taking two seconds to open the only two presents that he hadn't previously picked out himself, and then driving for 13 hours to Kentucky in a vehicle by himself. Here are the sad pictures of his birthday.

Don't judge the pan, he has been wanting a wok for like two years so it's not my fault he wants lame things haha and there are two U of L shirts in the bag.

But, we made it to Louisville on time and in one piece so I guess we can't complain too much. More posts to come on living in Louisville.