Our sweet baby Ian gave us all a surprise by coming a full two weeks early!! His timing couldn't have been better since just 3 days earlier his Daddy had come home from working in NYC for a week. He would have missed his big arrival... and I shudder to think of myself going through this one alone. It all began on Wednesday evening as I sat on the floor sorting through Gabe's old baby clothes to wash in anticipation of our little guy coming...5:30pm I stood up from sitting on the floor (an extremely uncomfortable seat when your 38 weeks!) and immediately had low back pain hit me hard. I quickly made my way to sit in the rocking chair to wait for it to pass... only it didn't! At 5:45 it was still a constant, intense ache and I called Eric to see how soon he would be home. Thankfully he was on his way after having a feeling that he needed to head home early that day! I was so relieved I could have cried (well, maybe I did a little!) Dinner was cooking on the stove and I couldn't even walk downstairs! He arrived home soon after and helped me into bed where I thought some rest would help. At this point it didn't occur to me that I might be in labor. The pain was constant and I couldn't feel contractions through it. Eric fed the kids and put them in bed, but the pain was only getting worse so we decided that whether or not I was in labor, we needed to go to the hospital.
8:00pm We arrive at Valley Medical Center and I go into the triage unit to evaluate if I'm in true labor. Of course the pain stops almost completely as soon as we get in the hospital so I'm feeling like a fool and just want to go home! I'm at 3cm and 70%. However, at 9:30pm the back pain and contractions start up again but by 10pm they send me home anyway.
2:30am This is beginning to feel like a nightmare with no end in sight. I am in so much pain - my back literally feels like it is breaking and it never lets up, even between contractions. I know the baby must be pressing against nerves because my legs are almost completely numb and tingly. The contractions themselves are bad enough that I can't talk and have to breathe through them. And all this on a hard little table with one flat pillow and no pain medication! The thing is, I am completely unprepared to do natural labor... and I have to admit that every hour or so I let myself cry a little and feel really sorry for myself! :)
3:00am So far I have been very trustful of the staff and assume they are doing their best to help me... Eric disagrees. He has had it! He insists that the situation we find outselves in is ridiculous and unacceptable and goes to the nurses station and lets them know that I need pain relief now! (I'm sure he said it in a very nice way though!) Thanks to my wonderful advocate, the nurse comes to start an IV and give me some fentanyl. (Why haven't they done this earlier??) It lasts for a blessed hour - taking the edge off my back pain and the contractions. They tell me there is only one anesthesiologist in the hospital that night and he is so busy starting epidurals and doing C-sections that he hasn't had time to start one for me.
4:00am The Dr. comes in to check me and I've made no cervical change since the last time despite the past 3 hours of agonizing contractions. This is extremely discouraging because the birth center is so busy that night that they keep admitting women ahead of me that are farther along in labor. She even admits that the anesthesiologist was here earlier and they told him he could go because they still weren't sure I was progressing enough to get an epidural!!! What?!!! I am devastated that she has done that and Eric is really upset too... which makes me feel slightly better, knowing I have one person on my side! The Dr assures me that the anesthesiologist will be back very soon and they will get me an epidural as soon as possible. Ya, I've heard that before - all night in fact but now I don't trust them at all. I have to say here that the worst part about the whole thing was that we felt like the staff was not taking me seriously... that because I wasn't more dilated they were very casual about my pain and getting me admitted. Since I was only at 4cm, how bad could it hurt?! That made it so much worse. It's funny how a little sympathy can make you feel like you can take on the world but the opposite can really sap your strength. I am so thankful I had Eric there to bolster me up and support me through it all.
7:30am I am at 5cm and 80%. It is staggering to me how slow my body is changing despite all the pain I've been through. (I honestly think that I was having serious nerve issues and that was a big part of why my pain was so intense.) Atthis point the epidural is not working very well anymore, in fact it feels like I don't have one. The anesthesiologist comes in to bolus it and increase the rate.
9:45am They check me - no change. The newly placed epidural isn't working either so the anesthesiologist comes back in and gives me a bolus and increases the rate. By the way, he is amazing! So funny and happy - and the first Dr that has truly made me feel validated. He is surprised and worried about my level of pain and it feels good to have someone understand. I'm finally comfortable and pain free for the first time since 5pm the night before! It feels like heaven.
Over the next 2 hours it is crystal clear that I am in labor as the contractions are 3-5 minutes apart and are very painful. In fact, this level of pain was definitely new to me. Both of my previous labors were uncomfortable at this point but not painful. So by midnight we were back at the hospital!
12:45am I am at 3.5 cm and 70% effaced. They tell me you aren't in labor unless you are making cervical changes which felt so irritating since Eric and I both KNEW I was in labor, whether or not I was progressing "quickly" enough... well an hour later I thankfully progressed to 4cm and 80% so they decide to admit me. They tell me they are just waiting for a bed to open up and then I can have my epidural.
5:00am I am finally admitted and the only reason being that they got a nurse to come in 2 hours early for the day shift. It's literally an answer to prayer! We have been waiting so long that it feels unbelievably wonderful to be placed in a real bed and have people there to actually help me. My nurse Kim is an angel and suddenly it feels like everything is going to be ok.
6:00am My epidural is finally placed... over 12 hours from when it all started. I am beyond exhausted. I feel emotionally wrung out from dealing with so much pain for so long.
9:00am My epidural is still not working to decrease my pain. My legs are pretty numb but I'm still feeling everything in my back and abdomen. The anesthesiologist removes my epidural and replaces it with a new one.
11:45am All of a sudden I start feeling the old, nasty pain in my lower right back again. By noon it is spreading across my abdomen and I'm in serious pain again. Since technically I'm still at 5cm the nurse calls the anesthesiologist to come bolus the epidural again. (They don't want to check me again because the OB is coming soon to check me and I'm GBS+ so they don't want to overdo it.)
12:20pm At this point I am in my own little world just trying to focus enough to survive without completely falling apart. Do I sound dramatic? Well, it's moments like this that you experience once or twice in your life (hopefully) and it is dramatic. The anesthesiologist is there and trying to get my pain under control. This is exactly what happened when I was in labor with Nyah! My labor was excruciatingly slow and then suddenly I had incredible breakthrough pain on my epidural and she was born 15 minutes later! A tiny part of me that wasn't wrapped up in coping with the here and now was wondering if the same thing was going on....
12:35pm The OB finally arrives and checks me. I'm 10cm and 100% and the baby has dropped very low and ready to come! The Dr. asked if I'd like to push and I was ecstatic! Btw, the bolus on the epidural had finally hit me and I was completely numb. I mean completely! Which was fine because I got to fully enjoy the moment of his birth and feel all that excitement and happiness without the horrible distraction of pain. I push through 2 contractions and at 12:51pm Ian is born!!
For the first time I got to have the experience of having my newborn placed on my chest directly after delivery. For me it was an incredible moment... hearing his sweet cries and seeing his tiny body pink up and go through all the miraculous changes with the first few breaths. It was life changing... childbirth always is. I feel like I'll never be the same every time I experience a child of mine born into the world. He is so beautiful!! Just perfect from his soft little head down to his tiny, precious toes. What an experience of a lifetime!! I am filled to bursting with love and happiness and awe that I get to experience this wonderful thing called motherhood!
That is one happy and proud big brother!! :)
Nyah Noodle turned 
There was a gorgeous silver tea set with several delicious herbal teas with honey, sugar cubes, lemon slices, and cream of course, as well as a rich hot chocolate with caramel, whipped cream, and marshmallows to top it off with. (I have to say I had at least 6 cups of yummy drinks... but they were tiny cups!) Then there were beautiful and delicious scones - raspberry white chocolate, lemon, and lemon poppyseed. Dainty little Linzer cookies, fresh fruit and gold chocolate topped it all off. And all was arranged beautifully under and around the cutest decorations ever! It was darling! I appreciated and enjoyed every single detail... it was totally a girl party, my favorite!! :)
I had such a wonderful time!! Here I am ready to leave for the party... me and my torpedo tummy at 35 weeks!! Hopefully only a month to go... woohoo!
Those sneaky leprechauns came again this year, playing tricks and spreading around gold coins. Gabe and Nyah were delighted! After gathering up all the hidden gold, we enjoyed a green pancake breakfast... and lo and behold the milk was green too!! :) After that Gabe opened up a package from Grammy and Papa that was full of fun games to play at our family party that night! And of course some yummy treats as well. We are so spoiled with awesome grandparents on both sides that send fun packages and love us so much!
When we all came in to warm up, Gabe went right to the window, asked me to draw up the blinds and positioned his stool for the best viewing of his snowman. Of course 
I have to add that Gabe told me the reason his snowman is short (2 balls instead of 3) is because he's a baby snowman. Oh, and you can't see his mouth because it's like "this" (his lips are folded in a straight line...invisible!) He is so imaginative! I know he was having trouble forming balls with the wet heavy snow and he couldn't figure out what to make a mouth out of... so this was his answer to both 
This weekend we wanted to get out of the house and enjoy the sunshine, so we packed up and drove to the temple and our favorite park. Here are some cute pictures of Gabe and Nyah having fun on the playground. They are so fun! Gabe is getting so much more adventurous and "crazy" on the playground... Eric and I love to see him venturing further out of his cozy comfort zone! ;) By the way, it's really hard to get candid photos of Gabe because he moves around so much when he is excited... so I get these goofy-intense smiles instead! Haha!
