Birth Story (2 weeks late!)

So I'm finally finding some time to blog about the birth of our baby girl. It was a WONDERFUL birth! With Talmage, he came exactly 2 weeks early, weighing almost 8 lbs! So, naturally, when 38 weeks rolled around, I was anxious and good to go! Then 39 weeks rolled around and still nothing. My doctor was kind enough to schedule an induction for me at 39 1/2 weeks. Well, that day came and went out the door. I was scheduled to be induced on Saturday, December 11th at 11:00 am. Jacob had taken off work to be there. We had our bags packed and were heading out the door when my cell phone rang. And, lo and behold, it was the hospital! They called to tell me they were way too busy and would call when they had a bed available. Soooo.... we waited around all day for a call...nothing. Sunday came and we waited...all day and nothing! I was getting so frustrated and even mad that the hospital would even schedule me to be induced if something like this was going to happen. Anyway, Jacob decided to call the hospital around 5:15 pm, Sunday night, to see what the status was and if we were next on the waiting list. They told him no and unless I could go into labor on my own, it'd probably be Monday. Well, at 5:30 pm, my water broke! I was sooooo excited! Finally! I knew that there was NO WAY I could be turned down now! It was an answer to many of our impatient prayers.

We arrived at the hospital around 6 pm, got checked in, changed, etc. They hooked me up to the IV (after 3 painful and bruising tries!) and checked me. I was 5 cm dilated. I was also contracting every 2-4 minutes and in pain but not bad. They gave me some medicine in my IV to take the edge off and ordered for my epidural. It was so nice to have the epidural already ordered and in progress before I was in immense pain. I received my epidural at 8 pm and was feeling great! My nurse checked me and I was still at 5 cm! Boy was I discouraged. I pretty figured we'd be there all night and deliver sometime Monday. The nurse said she'd check me 2 hours later since I was only at a 5. 1 1/2 hours later, I started to feel lots of pressure but thought it was nothing. So I decided to just wait another 30 min until the 2 hours were up when the nurse was going to check me. At 10 pm, the nurse checked me and I was fully dilated at 10 cm! Holy cow I was shocked! I had no idea that in less than 2 hours my body could go from 5 to 10 cm...with an epidural. They called the doctor and got everything prepped for delivery. I only pushed through 3 contractions! She was posterior so during the pushing process, the doctor had to turn her face down for delivery. Emma was born at 10:32 pm on Sunday night, December 12th. And the best part of the delivery...I didn't tear...at all!! Woo Hoo! It only took 5 hours from the time my water broke to her delivery. It was awesome!

I have been feeling so good and recovering great! With Talmage, I was in soooooo much pain and had countless stitches from tearing. After Emma, I'm happy to say that I have felt ZERO discomfort in that area. The worst part was the after birth contractions and a few days of mood swings. Other than that, I'm great! My body is getting back to its normal size very quickly, which I am so excited about!

I love my baby girl! It's definately been more challenging with 2 kids but I'm learning.

1 week old

She's Here!

Emma Maren Lewis

12.12.10

10:32 pm

7 lbs 7 oz

19 in long

More details and pics to come...

39 weeks

Yes, I'm still pregnant!

3 1/2 cm dilated

80 % effaced

-1 station

No Baby Yet!

Almost...but not quite! Saturday morning, around 6 am, I started contracting regularly. I timed my contractions for an hour, then called my doctor. They were coming every 2-4 minutes and starting to hurt. My doctor said to head over to the hospital. Being my second baby, I was totally convinced that this was REAL labor. It was pretty painful. Once I got to the hospital, the nurse told me I was contracting like crazy and I'd probably have the baby that day. After about an hour, I dilated from 2 cm to 3.5 cm and from 50% effaced to 80% effaced. Again, I was convinced that I was going to have a baby. Then, my contractions got really irregular and I stopped dilating. I went for a 45 minute speed walk around the hospital and still, no change. I was discouraged. The nurse figured out that the baby was in a posterior position, meaning she was head down but her face was up, instead of pointing towards my back. This is what caused my irregular contractions and stopped dilation. I'm still -2 station because she won't move down until she turns. Soooo, I was sent home with pain meds, still having contractions. That night the contractions stopped and I've had hardly ANY contractions since! I guess I should get used to being pregnant because she's not coming anytime soon. I'm just hoping I can be induced on my due date and not have to be overdue. So there's my sad story of no baby. I'll be 39 weeks tomorrow so who knows when she's going come! Her timer's almost up!

38 weeks as of yesterday!

2 cm dilated

50% effaced

-2 station

Talmage was born at exactly 38 weeks but no labor for Emma yet, despite the irregular and painful Braxton Hicks. My doctor said I'm good to go anytime and can try any natural labor inducer I want to try. We are hoping for this weekend! I'm getting pretty uncomfortable now. My heartburn was so painful last night, it took forever to get to sleep and I slept with an ice pack to try and numb the pain. Hopefully she comes soon!!

36 weeks

1 cm dilated

50% effaced

Almost done!

The Four Skeletons

We already had Talmage's costume so Jacob and I decided to make our own and all go as skeletons. We won the costume contest at our ward trunk-or-treat. Everyone loved our costumes. Even Emma had her own skeleton costume! It was so fun except that we lost our camera and all the "good" pictures so, thankfully, Jacob's parents took some pictures afterwards for us at their house.

Finally...a baby update!

Today I am 32 weeks and 4 days, which is the same as the picture above. And, I have less than 2 months left before baby Emma is here! Time is going by fast yet slow at the same time. Everyone, I mean everyone, has been telling me how small I look for being 8 months pregnant. I guess it's because I was HUGE and swollen and HUGE with Talmage. Just to jog your memory and see how huge I really was. Here is a picture of me at 32 weeks and 3 days with Talmage.


It's really nice not to have all the swelling and extra weight this time around. I'm feeling pretty good most days except for my heartburn which happens EVERY day. But that's about it! At exactly this same time, 32 weeks and 4 days, with Talmage, I was admitted into the hospital for preterm labor. Thankfully, I've only had Braxton Hicks so far. I'm hoping to stay away from the hospital until December 15th.

I've been doing some crafts lately for the baby. I made 3 burp cloths and still need to make more.

I also made this bow holder awile back and have been adding flowers and bows as I make them. I still have more bows/flowers that I haven't added yet though.

And one of my favorites, I made these Bling Binkies! I love them! They are so girly and so cute. I'm planning on making more but for now I've only made these two.

And this is Emma's bedding. The bumper pad is pink and white damask and the sheet is white with pink polka dots. The ribbons are green. Her room colors are pink and green. I can't wait to finish decorating.

Halloween Craft

I made this Halloween wreath on October 6th but never got around to taking a picture of it until now. I cut strips of burlap and tied them around a dollar store wreath. Then I modge podged scrapbook paper and glitter onto wooden letters to spell "BOO." And I added a pumpkin from Walmart. It was lots of fun to make and I love how it turned out! I especially love that I made it!

Toys

I finally organized Talmage's toys. We've had his bins for awhile but nothing really had its own place until now. I even labeled the bins so it never gets unorganized again. I love it when Talmage's room is clean. It makes the house feel so much cleaner and organized. Also, here is an updated picture of Talmage's bed. We finally put a bedskirt on. And now he has his favorite Yoda stuffed animal that he sleeps. Also, he has an Obi-Wan Kenobi bear that he made on his birthday from Build-a-Bear. These next few weeks, we are going to try to "complete" his room with wall decor, paint and chairrail.

OFFICIALLY Potty Trained!

I'm very happy and PROUD to announce that Talmage is officially potty trained! It took about 1 1/2 months to get everything down without mistakes. He still has an occasional accident bbut they are very rare. We've even started putting down for naps (3 hours) in his underwear. After about 2 weeks, he was potty trained #1 but it took about another month to get him to only poop in the toilet. He wouldn't mess in his underwear, but instead hold it for when we put him in a diaper at bedtime. Almost every morning he would wake up with a poopy diaper. Finally, after his diarrhea episode, he learned the signs and how to tell us that he needed to go poops in the toilet. It's been about 3 weeks now that he's been consistently going both pee and poop in the toilet. I'm am just so amazed everyday at how smart my little boy is. He is such a good boy and we are sooooooo lucky to have him in our family.

What the CRAP!

Well, as many of you have probably heard, Talmage was sick with diarrhea for 15 days! It started Saturday, October 2 and went until Monday, October 18. He had it everyday, all day long. Luckily, he did most of it in the toilet. It really was a blessig in disguise because he learned to be potty trained for #2. He had the #1 part down great but getting him to poop in the toilet wasn't easy. I felt so bad for me. We'd sit him on the toilet and leave him for like 5 minutes to just "go." He bum became so red that he started bleeding and limping when he walked. I took him to the doctor on Friday, October 8, almost a week into it. They told me to watch him an if he wasn't better by Monday, to bring him back in. We left the office with some probiotic samples and a prescription for some oitment for his bum rash. Well, Monday came around and sure enough, he wasn't better but had actually gotten worse. The probiotic didn't seem to help at all. The doctor then handed me 6 vials/containers to collect some stool samples. That was easier said then done. I tried to get Talmage to go in his diaper but he insisted on doing it in the toilet. So, I put a "hat" container, like they use in the hospital, underneath the toilet seat. That did not work. Talmage hated it. Plan 2: I took a tupperware dish and set it in the water so he didn't know it was there. Finally, something had worked! So far, they weren't able to figure out what was wrong with him. Maybe it was just a long virus. Who knows! I'm just glad that it's over!

Carnival at Barney Family Sports Complex

I'm just getting around to posting this. We went to the Carnival at the Barney Family Sports Complex in Queen Creek on September 24, 2010. It was our date night but, of course, we brought Talmage to share in the fun. Good thing we did because they didn't let pregnant women ride any of the rides...not even the ferris wheel. So Jacob and Talmage rode the rides while I videotaped and took pictures. We ended up eating some barbeque sandwiches for dinner and a snow cone for dessert. There was also a Health and Wellness Expo goig on inside the complex so we browsed the booths for a little while too.

Pregnancy Weight Gain

Do you hate it when people ask how much weight you gained with your pregnancy? After I lost all the pregnancy weight from Talmage, I was happy to tell anyone that I gained 50 lbs. But now, being pregnant again, I feel like I'm becoming obsessed with my pregnancy weight gain and I feel bad for how much I've gained. It can be so frustrating. I feel like I have to be on a diet and never give in to cravings or I'll gain 2-3 lbs in a day. And, with my luck, those 2-3 lbs usually stay for good. It's so hard because I crave sweets all the time but I can hardly ever eat them, in fear of gaining too much weight. I want to enjoy this pregnancy and eat what I want but I just can't. I'm determined to only gain around 25-30 lbs but it's so hard. I've been working out this pregnancy too, but I don't know how much it's helping the weight gain. I'm just getting kind of down and discouraged about it. I stress out everytime I get weighed at the doctor. I feel so embarrassed.

Talmage's Bday

Talmage turned 2 on Monday, August 30. We had a family party with aunts, uncles, grandparents and LOTS of cousins on Saturday the 28th. Our neighborhood has a huge pool and splash pad so we had the party there. My sister, Sariah, made him a Darth Vadar cake that he LOVED! On his birthday, we ate cereal, had ding-dongs and he opened his presents. We hid them throughout the family room and he had to find them. After he opened all his presents, we brought his tricycle out. It was by far his favorite toy. Then he got to play with all his toys. After that, we headed off to lunch at this favorite place, Chick-fil-A. He got a kid's meal and played in the play area with daddy. He had a blast! Once we ere finished, we went to Build-a-Bear where he got to make his first bear. And of course, it was a Star Wars bear. After a nap, he was ready to go again. We went to Peter Piper Pizza for dinner and played lots of games and won prizes. On the way home, we picked up his free dozen donuts from Krispy Kreme. We had such a fun day!

Talmage is 2!

Yesterday, my baby turned 2! I can't believe how fast he's growing up. He's such a big boy now. We are so lucky to have Talmage in our family. He has such a sweet spirit. I love how loving he is and how willing he is to give hugs and kisses. I feel privileged to be his mother. He makes us so happy! I love to play with him and see him get so excited about little things. He always senses when I am sad or unhappy and he gives hugs. I don't know how I would get through some days without Talmage. I love my boy so much and I just hope he doesn't grow up too fast. He'll always be my baby no matter what. I feel so lucky to have him to myself everyday and watch him learn and grow. I'm so glad our little girl is coming in December and no sooner so I could have this special time with Talmage. Although many times I prayed for another baby to come sooner, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll always remember these precious moments with my little boy. I love you Talmage so so much! Thanks for letting me be your mommy!

P.S. I'll post pictures from his birthday soon! We had so much fun!!

Potty Training

I started officially, officially potty training Talmage on Wednesday. Today is day 3 of underwear. No diapers!! (except at naptime and bedtime unfortunately) We took away the diapers and went straight to underwear. We didn't want to bother with pull-ups. Afterall, there is hardly any difference between pull-ups and diapers. I wanted something totally different. Talmage loves his underwear and he looks so cute and grown up in them. The first day of wearing underwear he had an accident in the morning which was partly my fault. I wasn't watching the clock! Then later that night, he came running to me and pointed to some urine that was running down his leg. We rushed to the toilet and he went A LOT! So I guess that's only half an accident. Yesterday was his second day and he only 1 accident, late at night. Jacob's whole family is in town for his nieces wedding (which was yesterday) so he was busy playing with cousins. We were gone all day and only 1 accident! I am so proud of him! He also woke up completely dry from his 3 hour nap yesterday. Yay!! Potty training is getting better and better. He's able to hold it for longer and doesn't even need a reward afterwards. We ran a bunch of errands this morning and so far...no accidents! We have a bunch of family stuff going all weekend long so we'll see how it goes.

Belly Photo

Finally..I took a picture of my growing belly. A lot of people have told me that my belly looks really small but the baby is measuring right on track as well as the size of my uterus. I guess it's better than people telling me I'm huge! As of right now, I've gained 10 lbs so I'm pretty happy about that! My goal is 25 lbs instead of 50 lbs like last time!

20 weeks 5 days ( w/baby girl!)

20 weeks 5 days (w/ Talmage)

I think my tummy was a little bigger with Talmage.

It's a....

GIRL!

Out of 12 votes on our blog, 11 were for a girl and they were right. We had our ultrasound this morrnig and everything looks great. She kept crossing her legs so it took awhile to get a good view. Yay! I am so excited to get girly stuff now!

Talmage's NEW Big Boy Bed!

I can't believe that my baby is getting so old and growing up so fast! On Saturday, we spent the day clearing out our extra bedroom and preparing to switch Talmage from his crib to a twin size bed. He slept well on Saturday night but woke up 1 1/2 hours earlier than usual (which is understandable). And he did awesome for his nap yesterday as well. And he's still sleeping right now! I am so proud of him! He watched the whole transition and I think that really helped. We kept asking him where is new bed was and where he was going to sleep now. I guess I didn't have very much faith in him because I never imagined it would go this well. Here are some pictures of his twin bed (BEFORE we put the railings up). And a picture of the beginnings of a nursery!!

Contractions...

Last night I started having hard, long contractions that were pretty painful and frequent. Thankfully, this morning they weren't quite as intense. I was able to be seen by the doctor today and the baby is doing good! I just need to slow down and take a rest for the weekend. I'm pretty much on bedrest or couchrest for the weekend. Thankfully, that's all!! I've been working out everyday for the past few weeks and who knows, that may have contributed to it. Or it may be my 25 lb little boy who I sometimes have to carry, chase around everywhere and lug in and out of the car all the time. Who knows! But, all in all, my body needs a rest! I just hope these contractions go away and stay away until November/December! I'm having my ultrasound on Thursday to see if the length of the cervix has changed, as a result of the contractions. And...we finally, finally will be able to find out the gender then too!

AND...Tomorrow, we're working on organizing our extra bedroom for the baby (or pretty much Jacob is and I'm watching) and transitioning Talmage from crib to a big boy, twin size bed. Wish us luck!!

Hyper Talmage

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at 10:30 pm tonight