Busy busy busy

Wow, I haven't updated in a long time, but then I have been pretty busy enjoying our little angel.
I started back working when she was 6 weeks old, boy was that harder than I thought it would be. Because of issues with beyond my control, I ended up having to work at night (4-10), right in the window when she's most awake and interactive, along with bedtime. It was SO hard and made me so sad every night, not to mention the extra stress it caused. Luckily I've been able to work my regular shift again this week, and it has made life for all of us better, and we're all much happier too!We are lucky enough to have a couple of photographer friends who took some adorable pics of Ella, sadly I don't know where they are all on the computer, I'll have to find them later and post more. Ella is 2 months old today! I can't believe it, she's growing so fast! She smiles and coos at us, as well as bats at her floor gym toys. She even talks in her sleep just like her daddy. She's a pro at pouting, but she's had that down since birth. She's perfect in every way and we couldn't feel more blessed. I still cry sometimes when I look at her because I feel so lucky to have her in my life. We'll be blessing her June 6th (our last Sunday in our current ward :( ) Which leads me to my next bit of news, if you haven't heard yet, we're moving. We sold the condo and have had it appraised and inspected, now all we have to do is close (next week!!!). We've been trying to go through our stuff and get some of it packed up, we're hoping to get a lot done Memorial Day too. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed though, I look around and just wonder how it's going to get done along with everything else (taking care of the baby, working, laundry, etc). We'll be moving in with Jer's parents until our house it built (which should be started as soon as we close on the condo!). Just about everything is off the walls-it's kinda creepy in here now and doesn't feel like home anymore, it's weird.
Well, I think that's about it for now, I probably won't be updating for awhile again with everything coming up.
YAY for summer!

She's here!

Ella was born Friday, March 26, 2010 at 2:31 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. She has hair, it's a little shaggy in the back even, though it's lighter than we expected-more light brown, but at times it almost looks auburnish. We can't be happier that she's finally here, although this last week has been extremely surreal.
I'm guessing people will want to hear the story, so here it is:
On Friday morning at about 3:10, I woke up with a majorly painful stomach cramp that went away after maybe 10 seconds. I'd had contractions the day before, but nothing too strong or worth watching the clock for, but about 7 minutes later I got another contraction, and then 7 min. after that I got another one and they were lasting longer. I couldn’t sleep through them, so I decided to get up and work. I figured that if these were real labor pains, and since it’s my first baby, that I wouldn’t need to worry about going to the hospital for another 7 or more hours. Boy was I wrong. In the space of working 40 minutes, my contractions quickly got closer and closer together, when they were fluctuating around 4 and 5 min. apart. I woke Jer up and told him we needed to go to the hospital. He didn’t really believe me and didn’t really want to get up, I can’t blame him though, I wasn’t really sure if we should go or not either since we didn’t know if they’d just say it was false labor and send us home, although the contractions felt pretty dang real to me.
We got to the hospital around 5:45 (my contractions were fluctuating between 2 and 4 min apart at that point) where they put me in a room for observation. I wouldn’t be admitted as a patient until it was confirmed that I was in active labor, but luckily my water sort of broke while I was laying there contracting, so they had to keep me after that. They started my I.V. and Jer and I tried to rest while we could. It was the strangest feeling knowing we'd have a baby by late afternoon, especially since we actually had plans for that weekend since we were just expecting to have her on the 30th-oh well, having our baby topped anything else we could have done.They started me on pitocin to help labor progress more steadily, and I stuck it out without the epidural until about 10:45, by that time I was dying every time the contractions would come and didn't think it was worth it to endure the pain just to be 'tough'. (I don't understand how the breathing technique you learn is supposed to help, it did nothing to calm me down when the contractions came-I guess it's just supposed to put your mind on something else?)
The Dr. came in and checked me every so often, along with the nurses. I was slowly progressing, and the Dr. said we'd probably have the baby around 4 or 5. Another time he checked me he said that I'd probably be pushing for 1 or 2 hrs, so I was extra relieved to have the epidural to try to get at least a little rest before the hard work started. At almost 2 p.m. I started feeling like something was changing, so I told the nurse, and right before she was going to check me, the Dr. came in to see my progress. To our surprise he said that I was fully dilated and ready to push. Jer and I looked at each other thinking the same thing...."already?". The Dr. left to get changed, and the nurses got things set up so I could start pushing. I was surprised they had me pushing when the Dr. wasn't there, but my nurse reassured me that he'd be back in time to 'catch her'. Jer even helped the nurse while I was pushing. The Dr. came back and helped Ella come into the world after only about 25 minutes of me pushing. I couldn't believe she was finally here, but I also was having a hard time believing she was ours, she had such a round head! She was much bigger than any of us thought she'd be (by nearly a lb.) the Dr. even asked where I had been hiding her. She also had a bigger head than my body could handle, so I had to get 3rd degree stitches (the scale goes to 4), but she's perfect and amazing and healthy, and that's all that matters (as long as I can still take care of her in my condition too). I love her so much that I cry when I think about it and how grateful I am to finally have her. She really is our little miracle baby, our little angel. Jer has been amazing, he's such a good daddy and does so much to help me out with her. He'll hate that I'm typing this, but he's so cute with her, we're so lucky to have him.She sleeps like crazy, but not so much at night, which has made it a little hard to deal with life, but we're adjusting. I know I should sleep when she sleeps, but it's hard to not just pass the time staring at her, she's such a marvel. She nurses pretty well for the most part, it's just hard to keep her awake and keep her mouth open wide enough when she does (if anyone has any suggestions they'd like to share, I'm open to new things to try; I feel like I've tried just about everything I've read).Thanks to everyone for the support and love, we've been well taken care of, and Ella is definitely adored and spoiled.


On another note, Jer's still looking for a job, so if anyone has any leads, they'd be much appreciated (he's looking for something to do with customer service/support, possibly marketing or something like that).

So much

Well, I was waiting for more pictures from my other showers to post more, but I haven't gotten any (which is my fault) so this will have to be a picture-less post, hopefully it won't be too long and boring.

The Sat. after my Dr. Seuss shower, I had a friends/old co-workers shower. There were 5 of us there and my long-time friend Joanna threw it for me at Mimi's Cafe. It was very laid back and nice to see everyone, especially since I work from home now, I never see co-workers or ex-co-workers anymore. I got some really great gifts and Joanna made me a super cute diaper cake. I regret I didn't take any pictures of it before I started taking it apart when I got it home (hint hint Joanna, I need pictures!). It had a bunch of baby odds and ends on it, along with lots of cute little hair clips, which for some reason I was extra excited about!

The following Sat. a bunch of ladies from my ward threw me a great shower. Sadly a few people couldn't make it, but they were sweet enough to drop gifts off at our door. Back to the shower, there was great food (Tori knows me and my salad taste too well, Denice makes awesome cookies and Elisa and April seem to know that I've been on a major fruits and veggies kick lately). April had us play a couple of fun matching games (which worked out for all of us, we all got prizes) and everyone was so sweet and gave us some really great, useful, and cute stuff!

The Sat. after that (this past Sat.) was my family shower that one of my sisters-in-law, Lorie, threw for me. She's the sweetest, we're so lucky to have such awesome family. There was good food and some fun guessing and matching games. I got lots of wonderful things and a few beautiful quilts (I didn't seem to get the crafting gene, but luckily it runs elsewhere in the family). I love being able to get together with my aunts and cousins, my mom's side has always been really close and I LOVE it (which isn't to say I don't love my dad's side, I just don't get to see them as often).
Phew, 4 showers in a row, I think I'm all showered out, but I'm so grateful for everyone's generosity and love! We're so lucky, and can I just say this baby is so spoiled and she's not even here yet?

The last few days we've been trying to get the last minute things so that we're not completely scrambling when she does come. We're slowly getting closer to being as ready as we can be. At least we know she'll be dressed, warm, fed, clean, and of course LOVED!

Here's my progression so far if you're interested, if not then just don't read this part:
Week 36: Total weight gain 21 lbs, 70% effaced, 1/2 cm dilated, she's so low the Dr. can touch her head. Lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions.
Week 37: Same as week 36
Week 38: Total weight gain 22 lbs, 80% effaced, 1 cm dilated, baby just seems to get lumpier and lower. I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss being able to feel her move around after she's born, I love that she's been so active. The Braxton-Hicks seem to have backed off a bit, but the back pain and pelvic separation are enough for me to try to handle right now.
Week 39 (yesterday's appointment): Same as last week. Baby's really low. Dr. said he'll induce me on my due date if she hasn't come by then! Ella will be here by March 30 no matter what!

After the appointment last week, we stopped at Jer's parents and got to meet our newest nephew (he's SO cute) as well as get our car-seat and stroller (having those definitely is making things seem that much more real).

Well, with the way I've been posting lately, it's very possible I won't post again until after the baby's born, but I'm sure there will be LOTS and LOTS of pictures and video for that one! Stay tuned!

Baby Shower

I realize we haven't posted anything in awhile...mostly because nothing really has changed. Jer is still looking for a job/waiting to hear back from jobs and luckily I'm still working.

We finally got our crib, and just last night picked up a mattress for it, things are starting to look more like a baby's actually coming (besides my growing belly).

I had my first baby shower last week with Jer's family. It was so fun and they went to so much trouble to make it super cute w/the food and decorations. If you couldn't tell, the theme was Dr. Seuss and the baby got some Dr. Seuss books and stuffed animals, as well as "Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go: A Book to be read in Utero" to go along with the theme. I tried reading it to her/my stomach the other day (because that's what you're supposed to do with it) and could barely get through it I was crying so much. It's amazing to think we'll finally have our little angel in less than 5 weeks. I'm still so scared that she's going to die though, I'm not sure if this is a normal fear or if it's because of everything that's happened in the last 3 years? I try not to stress too much about it though, I'm trying to have faith that everything will be fine.
Well, back to the shower. I got a ton of wonderful gifts from everyone that came, and I had some friends come that I haven't seen in a long time.

Belly shot of Kim and her miracle baby with me (above)
Kim, Joanna & Makenna, me, Riley and Heidi

As for games, the main one was where everyone estimated a length of yarn to what they thought would go around me. My sis-in-law, Janeen, was right on in her measurement, and then there were a couple others that were pretty dang close. It was fun to see how big around some people thought I might be.

My next Dr. appointment is Tues. for my 36 week check up. I'll be going in every week from then til our little girl comes to join us! It's crazy!

Feeling Blessed, but Seriously Stressed

Most of you know (thanks to Facebook) that Jer lost his job nearly 2 weeks ago. It was SO unexpected and out of nowhere that we were feeling pretty shocked. It has been a hard past 2 weeks. I've had to learn to not worry too much because I can tell the baby doesn't like it. The day he was let go I had some contractions and they freaked me out a little (even though I know they're normal-but when they're induced by stress, that can't be a good thing). Jer has felt this is something he's needing to go through and learn from. He's gone to workshops and seminars, and has learned a lot and has been sprucing up his resume and a blog he put together to show what he can do with graphic stuff (Click to see his Portfolio and Marketing blogs. Pass them along to anyone you think can help.)
In the midst of this situation we've felt pretty lucky though. Lucky that the car accident happened in Nov, he wasn't hurt and we got a decent amount of money from it. That money was going towards our house fund, but we think now that it'll come in handy with helping us get by until Jer gets a job. We're also lucky that we have the internet, and within minutes of posting on our status' that Jer was out of a job, we both had tons of responses in our inboxes and in comments. Our neighbors have given him leads and offered help, even passed his resume along. We're lucky I still have a job, and that I can do it from home (though it won't cover our expenses, it's still something).
So in the midst of this trial, we know things could be much much worse and we're counting our blessings.
Now I just need to learn to stop stressing that we still have everything left to get for the baby except clothes.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and help with the job hunt, we are so blessed to know you.

More ultrasounds

I promised a few weeks ago that I'd post some of the ultrasound pictures from my 20 week appointment. The scanner was nice to me today and worked, so here are a few. We have about 8 pictures, but a lot of them are very similar profile pictures so I left some out. Plus, because I am the way I am, I'm not going to post any of the ones showing she's a girl.
The first is of her body and head, you can see some of the umbilical cord at the top
This one is of one of her legs and I think both of her feet. I think it's so cute!
And this is, of course, her cute profile.

Car Accident, Thanksgiving, Gingerbread Houses, and Disneyland

A lot has been happening since my last post, and since I've been slacking I'm squishing it all into one post. Sorry it's gonna be a super long one!

First, the car accident which happened about 3 1/2 weeks ago. Luckily I wasn't in it and luckily Jer wasn't hurt, and luckily it was the blue car, which is paid off and not as nice as our other car. He was on the freeway, traffic was bad and he had stopped. A semi (without a load) didn't slow down fast enough and ran into him, pushing him into the suv in front of him. The semi driver didn't want Jer to call the police and said we could just take care of the damage on our own-yeah right! I was a mess when he called to tell me what happened. Crazily enough, he was able to drive the car home. The other insurance was ridiculous and slow about everything (of course). We finally found out where to take the car, and the day after Thanksgiving we were planning on taking it in, but it wouldn't start-we're assuming the battery died because the trunk can't latch anymore. We were going to jump-start it, but the hood was too crunched to have access to the battery. Long story short, the car was towed last Monday and we FINALLY got a rental car. Right after we landed in California for our trip just 2 days after getting the rental, Jer checked his messages to find out that our insurance has decided the car is totalled. So, we're planning on trying to be a 1 car household. It'll be tough sometimes, but won't be too bad, especially since Jer carpools most days to work.

Amidst the car drama, we had a great Thanksgiving with my family. After making yams my very first time, I've been appointed to the yams every year we're with my family....hopefully my beginner's luck will hold out. The Sunday after Thanksgiving we had our usual family dinner with Jer's family and decorated gingerbread houses. Jer and I shared one, and although it's not perfect, I think it still turned out cute-ish. Here's the before and after shots:











Now for Disneyland. I've never been there during the holiday season and it's SO pretty and extra magical there with all the decorations and lights! I loved it. When we got home I was kind of sad because besides the gingerbread house, we haven't decorated yet!
We flew into Long Beach Wed night and got to the hotel, which was within walking distance of Disneyland! We could even hear the fireworks going shortly after we settled into our room.
Our first day we split between California Adventure and Disneyland, the 2nd day we were in Disneyland all day, and our last day we split again. I think my favorite rides (that I was able to actually go on) were the interactive ones-the Toy Story 2 Midway Games in California Adventure and the Buzz Lightyear ride in Disneyland. I was a little disappointed I couldn't go on a lot of the rides, but it was still a really fun trip, and at least I didn't have to stay off the rides alone since Jer's mom doesn't like a lot of the 'scarier' rides and one of my sisters-in-law is pregnant too.


This is a video of some of the fireworks, I think it was my favorite section because of how they choreographed them to the Nutcracker Suite...


We had so much fun in Disneyland and just got back yesterday in the early afternoon. I think I'll need a few days to recover though, I don't think my poor feet and hips will ever be the same, I'm still super exhausted from it all!

For your viewing pleasure, here's a better picture of my pregnant belly when I was about 22 1/2 weeks since you can't really see it too well in the other pics....