Cruise Slideshow - Good Time

I put together a slideshow of our Christmas cruise on the Disney Magic - and it only took me 10 months! We had so much fun and I can't wait to go again when Henry is a little bit older.

A Pregnancy in Pictures

Two blastocysts, ready for transfer. 11/28/2011 - 2 weeks 5 days

A beautiful sight! 12/3/2011 - 3 weeks 3 days

One little embryo. 12/16/2011 - 5 weeks 2 days

                ER trip for stomach pain, suspected ectopic pregnancy. All was OK and we saw the heartbeat! 12/23/2011- 6 weeks 2 days

Christmas Eve dinner on our Disney cruise. 12/24/2011- 6 weeks 3 days

Already looking like a baby! 1/3/12 - 7 weeks 6 days

Last sonogram at Shady Grove, 1/11/12 - 9 weeks 0 days

Ryan Adams concert at Strathmore, 1/24/12 - 10 weeks 6 days

Gender prediction test said girl - not quite! 2/3/12 - 12 weeks 2 days

2/6/12 - 12 weeks 5 days

Palio for Valentine's Day.  2/14/12 - 13 weeks 6 days.

In maternity clothes! 3/6/12 -16 weeks 6 days

3/6/12 - 16 weeks 6 days

Sweet little foot. 4/2/12 - 20 weeks 5 days

5/1/12 - 24 weeks 6 days

New York with my sisters. 5/5/12 - 25 weeks 3 days

Goodbye old house. 5/19/12 - 27 weeks 3 days

Hello new house! 5/19/12 - 27 weeks 3 days

Touching his foot to his head. 5/29/12 - 28 weeks 6 days

6/5/12 - 29 weeks 6 days

6/15/12 - 31 weeks 2 days

6/26/12 - 32 weeks 6 days

7/5/12 - 34 weeks 1 day

7/5/12 - 34 weeks 1 day

2 days before being born. Est weight 8 lb 6 oz 7/24/12 - 36 weeks 6 days

Little did I know this was my last day being pregnant! 7/25/12 - 37 weeks 0 days

7/26/12, 2:23 pm, 7 lb 15 oz, 21.5 inches - 37 weeks 1 day

Henry's Birth Story

He's here! Henry Spencer Watts made his entrance into the world on July 26 at 2:23 pm, weighing 7 lbs 15 oz and 21.5 inches long.

Since I was only 37 weeks along I was not expecting to go into labor so soon. I hadn't preregistered at the hospital and I hadn't packed my hospital bag or Sawyer's overnight suitcase - I was planning to do that the next day. I hadn't even made it all the way through my Hypnobirthing course. I had never been checked by my OB so I had no idea if I was dilated or effaced or anything. I never got really uncomfortable this time the way I did when I was pregnant with Sawyer, in fact I had just mentioned to my sister the day before that I felt so good that I wouldn't mind being pregnant for several more weeks. So of course I went into labor. 

Around 4:45 a.m. I got up to use the bathroom (my third visit that night - thank you third trimester!) and after I had emptied my bladder something kept coming out of me. I knew right away that my water had broken because the exact same thing had happened with Sawyer, only at 3 a.m. instead. I woke Eric up and told him it was time to go, then called my OB who told me to head on over to labor and delivery. I wasn't having any contractions yet (again, the same as when I had Sawyer) so we didn't rush. I took a shower and packed my bags - not the easiest feat when your water's broken and it's early in the morning - while Eric got Sawyer ready to go.  He was a bit disoriented about being woken up so early but excited when we told him baby brother Henry would be born today! Around 5:50 we were finally on our way to Leesburg to drop Sawyer off with my sister. She met us in the hospital parking lot. Eric was getting hungry at this point, and knowing that they wouldn't let me eat anything once I was admitted to the hospital, we made a quick stop at Chick-Fil-A to get some breakfast. I wasn't hungry but ate a bit anyway because I knew I would need the energy soon.

By the time we got to labor and delivery it was almost 7:00. They got me registered (they actually already had me in the system from a hospital visit in 2000! Funny, I have no memory of what that was for) and a nurse checked if my water had broken - it had - and checked if I was having contractions - I wasn't. Well, I sort of was, but they were several minutes apart and very mild. I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. At 7:45 they officially admitted me and took me to a labor room, where my nurse Vanessa started me on pitocin and penicillin since I was group B strep positive. She also took some blood to see how well I was clotting. I had taken my last heparin shot at 10 p.m. so they needed to make sure all was good in case I wanted an epidural (I already knew the answer to that question. Ha!) 

A few minutes after starting on pitocin the contractions were coming fast and furious, 2 minutes apart and intense. I listened to my Hypnobabies tracks and they really helped me focus and relax. Eric was wonderful, rubbing my back and letting me squeeze his hands. Because I was on pitocin I needed to have continuous fetal monitoring, which I was fine with, but it actually made it much harder to concentrate. They gave me a wireless monitor so I could walk around freely and be in any position - great in theory but in practice it was horrible, because the monitor kept moving around and losing the baby's heartbeat, which would send Vanessa rushing into the room in a near panic to adjust it. I just about lost it when she came in while I was on the toilet (the body tends to, um, clean itself out in early labor). As it turned out it wasn't too long that I had to deal with the ever shifting monitor, because at 10:00 she told me the anesthesiologist would be available soon. Since it was 12 hours since my heparin shot I was in the clear to get one, so I told her I was ready for it. The pain was very intense at this point and Hypnobabies wasn't helping anymore. I felt like I could have gone for longer but didn't want to risk waiting too long. At 10:15 my epidural was placed, and I had several contractions during the procedure - they were coming a minute and a half apart and lasting more than a full minute each. Some choice words may have come out of my mouth. Thankfully I had complete relief about 15 minutes later and soon I was smiling again and texting friends. It. Was. AWESOME.

Loving my epidural

Around 11:00 Vanessa placed my catheter and checked me for the first time since they checked me in triage. I was 3 cm and 90% effaced. For the next couple of hours Eric and I chatted, called family members to update them, and relaxed. He went and grabbed a bite to eat. Around 12:30 I started feeling pain on my right side - the epidural was wearing off. Vanessa had me shift to my other side hoping that would help but it didn't, so another anesthesiologist came in and she gave me another dose of medication. It worked to numb the right side, but unfortunately made my left side REALLY numb. Like, no sensation whatsoever numb, which was a really weird and slightly disconcerting feeling. I started feeling nauseated and shaking, so Vanessa checked me again suspecting I might be going through transition. I was 6-7 cm and completely effaced.

Not feeling great

At 1:20 the nausea got very intense and she checked me again, and I was nearly complete. We waited a while for Dr. A to show up and to let the baby descend a bit more, and at 2:15 it was time to push. I had a moment of panic when I tried to pull my legs back and realized I was now completely numb on both sides all the way up to my chest; I couldn't feel what my muscles were doing at all and I thought there was no way I would be able to push. But apparently my body remembered what to do. I had requested no counting or yelling for me to push, and Dr. A seemed amazed that I knew when I was having a contraction even though I couldn't feel any pressure. Truthfully I couldn't have consciously said when I was having one, I just somehow knew when to push. At one point Henry's heart rate dropped dramatically and I could see on Dr. A's face that he was scared, which scared me too, but thankfully it came right back up when the contraction was over (I kind of suspect it might have been that annoying monitor again.) I had a mirror so I could see what was happening which helped with the pushing because I could see when I was making progress. As he was crowning I reached down and felt the top of his soft little head - amazing! We were excited to see his dark hair. A few pushes later, and Henry was born, screaming and curling his cute lower lip. I pulled him up onto my chest right away while we waited for the cord to stop pulsing so Eric could cut it.

Then the nurses weighed him and cleaned him off while I delivered the placenta (although I don't really remember that happening, I know it came out because Eric took a picture of it. Don't worry, I won't share that here.)

After he was all clean and wrapped up I held him and nursed him for the first time. He took to it right away and was very alert and gazing at both of us. I was feeling great at this point (adrenaline is an amazing thing!) so we told our family they could come visit as soon as I was in recovery. Henry went to the nursery and the nurses helped me get cleaned up and go to the bathroom, which was quite an adventure given my dead legs and the fact that my bladder always seems to stay offline for a long time when I have any sort of anesthesia.

A few hours later Megan came to the hospital and Sawyer got to meet his new little brother. When he came into the room I tried to hug him and ask him how his day was and he had no time for that - he just wanted to see Henry.

Megan brought us Cafe Rio for dinner, which is quickly becoming the traditional postpartum meal in our family. I was still feeling a little nauseous but I enjoyed it much more than the hospital food I would have had otherwise! And Eric definitely appreciated it. We were sad that the hospital wouldn't allow children to come in and Caroline, Mary Grace and Emery had to wait in the lobby, but happy that Henry at least got to meet his Aunt Megan. A little bit later Spencer and Samm, and Erin and Josh came by to meet Henry and hold him for the first time. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family members nearby to celebrate these times with us!

Soon it was time for Eric to take Sawyer home to bed and for me to try to get some sleep. Not so easy in the hospital, since they were still checking my vitals fairly often and I had to ask for help to go to the bathroom. Also because of my blood clotting risk I had to wear pressure boots on my legs, which noisily inflated at regular intervals. Not so restful. But I managed to catch little bits of rest in between feeding Henry. The nurses in recovery were amazing, so helpful and kind. And Vanessa came over to check on me, which was so nice. All in all I could not have asked for a better birth experience. I feel so lucky to have Henry in my life and can't wait to find out what kind of person he will become.

Tired but happy to be the parents of two!

Sorry Sorry Sorry

I don't even know why I haven't been blogging...I just haven't. Morning sickness, fatigue, too much Facebook time? Pick an excuse. I am the worst.

First things first - I am pregnant! 25 weeks tomorrow in fact, so pregnant that at this point it feels like very old (yet still amazingly wonderful) news. Baby is growing right on track, the Lovenox is doing what it should (I've been bumped up to 60 mL from 40 mL), and it's another little boy! We are thrilled, even Sawyer, who was not completely on board with the idea in the beginning. I spent the first trimester in a haze of nausea and fatigue, it was pretty miserable. I don't remember if I felt that sick with Sawyer, it's crazy how much I've forgotten in 7 years. But Eric remembers me feeling worse with Sawyer, so hey, I'll take it. I'm going to the doctor four times a month: once to the OB, twice to the hematologist (once for labs, again for consult), and once to the MFM (maternal-fetal medicine specialist, AKA perinatologist.) That means lots of trips to the doctor, but the silver lining is I get lots of sonograms and reassurance that everything is going OK. The only complication we've had so far is that the placenta is "low-lying" - less than 2 cm from my cervix. I'm not supposed to lift anything over 10 lbs and I'm on pelvic rest, but we're hoping to find out soon that it has moved - the doctor said in 90% of cases it will move before delivery.

The second big announcement is that we are moving! Again. We have been married for almost 10 years, and this will be our 6th move (8th if you count the interim stages of our move from Utah to Virginia.) I really and truly hope this is the last time, but given our track record it would be foolish to make guarantees. In any case we're crazy excited about the house and its location, secluded in the woods at the top of a mountain on 5 acres. After dealing with an annoying HOA for the past 3 years we can't wait to have some privacy and space. It's going to be a lifestyle change for sure, not being 5 minutes from school and not having Wegmans just down the road (seriously, I could cry about that!), and most of all leaving all our friends we've made here, especially in our ward. It's been a wonderful place to call home and we're going to miss it. A lot. But it feels like the right time to make a change. Because we bought our first home under the first-time home buyers credit, we couldn't sell until 3 years, which we just hit. We knew that houses in our neighborhood were selling quickly and that we had enough equity to come up with a pretty decent down payment on the new house. The house we ended up choosing had just come down $100k in their price. And finally we found out that our school boundaries were redistricted, so Sawyer would be attending a new school next year even if we stayed in the same place. Good timing all around. We plan to keep driving Sawyer to his current school for the rest of the year (just 3 more weeks) and I'm going to keep going to my same OB/MFM/hematologist, which will now be 40 minutes away rather than 10. So some inconvenience there, but all temporary. So that's the plan! We close on our current house May 16, then we're doing a rentback through that weekend to give us some time to move, and closing on the new house is May 18, our 10 year anniversary. Fingers crossed that all goes smoothly from here on out.

Our Christmas Cruise - Day Two - Christmas Day

On Christmas morning Sawyer was the first to wake up. Right away he saw that Santa had come! Santa's haul was on the small side this year, since I had to carry everything for him (the reindeer have a hard time finding cruise ships!) but Sawyer didn't seem to mind.

 

Showing T-Rex the view

Since we got an early start to the day and I was still pretty tired, Eric took Sawyer to have breakfast at Parrot Cay and gave me the best gift of all - more sleep! I slept until 11:00 (!!) and woke up to find that they had brought me cereal and milk, my favorite breakfast. I ate it and then got up, got dressed, and finished unpacking and organizing our stuff. Sawyer wanted to play with his new toys so we hung out in the stateroom for a while.

When it was time for lunch we went to Lumiere's and I had a big salad with chicken. It had a lemongrass dressing and papaya and was delicious. We asked Sawyer what he wanted to do next and he said he wanted to go to the kids club. We tried to talk him out of it because we felt guilty about leaving him there on Christmas day, but he begged us to go so we dropped him off. He didn't even look back over his shoulder as we left. Eric and I took a walk around the ship and stopped at one of the shops to buy a few things we needed - a memory card for the camera and a canvas bag to bring to the beach. Then we went up to Deck 9 for some soft serve ice cream. There was no one else up there so we found some deck chairs and enjoyed the view.

Not the typical Christmas scene!

I don't think I had a good hair day the whole trip. Thank you, humid Caribbean air!

On our way to pick up Sawyer from the club I snapped a few pictures of the decor on board. It reminded us that even though we were in the tropics, it was still Christmas.

After a while we decided to pick up Sawyer, because we wanted to be sure his first visit to the club was fun and he wasn't just waiting for us to come get him (I know, we are overprotective parents!) He said he was hungry so we went back up to Deck 9 to get some more snacks. It was still pretty deserted.

We weren't too excited about going to that night's show (I was feeling tired and nauseous - are you sensing a theme?) and Sawyer was asking to play with his toys some more, so we decided to rest in our room until dinner. That night we were scheduled to be at Parrot Cay, and it was formal night for Christmas dinner. Sawyer had his usual. I loved how our waitress always brought his food right away, he was never sitting there waiting/complaining. Extra nice since dinner was at such a late time.

The food was delicious. I was feeling pretty sick (my "morning sickness" tends to be the worst in the evening) but felt much better once I got something in my stomach. Once again our dinner companions didn't show up, so it was just us. Eric had this fruit sorbet appetizer that was to die for.

My main course was turkey and stuffing. Really really good.

Eric with his dessert. He did not want to share.

My dessert. It was OK, but kind of Little Debbie-esque.

Chocolate pudding with Mickey sprinkles!

As soon as dinner was done we went back down to our room to go to bed. Eric wasn't tired so he left us there and went up to watch the Bears/Packers game on the jumbo screen.

Our towel animal made by Junior, wearing my shades. We couldn't tell what it was (a dolphin with legs?) but Sawyer decided it was an anteater.

Programs for the next day - Cozumel!