Ethan's Birth Story - Dec 30, 2018

Ethan James Birth Story – Dec 30^th, 2018

I woke up late Sat night at about 11:45pm with painful contractions.  I got up a bit trying to figure out what to do with myself.  I laid back down and started counting the time between contractions and after an hour of them being 1 minute in length and 5 minutes apart I decided it was time to wake up Ben.  Then I re-packed my hospital bag since I had previously included all sorts of Christmas outfits 😊  Then I called my doctor and let her know I was heading into the hospital.  We left the house at 1:30am and drove over.  We were admitted into Triage and of course the contractions slowed down.  When I was checked I was 4 cm dilated around 2:30am.  They said I wasn’t super far along, but given it was my third things could go fast.  Additionally, since I was group Strep B positive they wanted to get the antibiotics in my at least 4 hours before delivery.  They hooked up an IV tap to do so.  After they got it in, I looked over at Ben and his face was white and he said he felt faint.  I told the doc and they laid him on the ground and got him a Sierra Mist to drink.  Haha.  After about 10 minutes he seemed a lot better.  They did a quick ultrasound to make sure baby was still head down, which he was.  Then we got set up in a labor and delivery room at 3:30am.  They got the antibiotics administered I was informed to just try to rest since they didn’t want to force anything along before 7:30am since that would be 4 hours after the antibiotics.  I rested for a little bit, but by 6am, the contractions were coming closer together and super painful.  They were starting to come on top of each other.  At 6:15am Dr. Okorn came in and said since they were doubling up, it could indicate a less than ideal head/birth position so to even them out she said it was time to break my water.  They broke my water and I was 7cm dilated.  I was having very intense contractions and back labor.  My whole body was shaking.  Since I didn’t have much of a ramp up to this intense laboring, it was difficult, and I was so exhausted already.  I decided to get an epidural.  They put it in at 6:35am.  By 6:45am I felt the need to push, they checked me and I was 9.5cm.  By 7:30am I was pushing.  It was nearly impossible to push effectively because everything was numb.  I was having a really difficult time.  I could feel the pressure of the contractions, but could not direct my efforts to push him out.  At 7:45am, they turned off the epidural so I could feel it.  That helped a lot, but it was still a totally different experience with the epidural since so much was numb.  His head was in the birth canal for a while hanging out.  Finally I was able to push him out at 8:11am.  He immediately pooped, and it got everywhere!  It took him what felt like forever to cry, but eventually he did.  He’s a healthy and happy boy!

8:11 8lbs 6.2 oz 21in long 13.75 head

Dexter is 2!

Happy Birthday to our sweet two year old, Dex!  He has grown up so much these last few months that he really seems like a 2 year old.  He says SO many words, and basically repeats everything you say.  He can certainly get his point across and/or tell his sister no.  He loves playing with his diggers, swinging, biking, climbing, going on walks, dancing, listening to music, getting wet, playing trains, pushing cars, and building forts.  He's super silly, and super fun to be around.  His crowning achievement is potty training and has been doing such a great job these days.  He loves his Thomas the Train underpants. 

We love our Dexter so much, and look forward to seeing him become a big brother in a few months!

 For his actual birthday, I took the kids to Build-a-Bear.  Dex got a birthday bear and Anora picked out a unicorn she named Turquoise (despite it being purple).  They both had fun and loved rubbing the hearts before putting them inside the animals.

 

Teddy getting a ride in the stroller

 Dexter LOVED his digger birthday cake this year.  He woke up on his birthday saying, "Eat it!?"  "'morrow"  Answering his own question with my response the day before.  It was very cute.  When he found out it was actually time to eat it, he was beyond thrilled.  He loved using his digger to play in the cake and eat the M&Ms.  Anora liked to eat the chocolate off the Kit Kats and leave the wafer behind.  It took some serious effort and dedication, lol.

 Dexter got lots of diggers for his bday, along with a car transporter, a b-ball hoop/soccer net combo, a car and race track, books, and a bath toy.  He loved it all, so did Anora. 

 He loved having Baby Finley, Aunt Lani, Uncle Jesse, and Katie all here for his birthday dinner celebration.  Such a fun day and big milestone!  Love you buddy :)

His 2 year stats! (He's a skinny mini)
Weight 25lbs 3.5oz (17%)
Height 34.25" (56%)

Easter time

We had such a fun Easter this year!  As usual, the kids went to see the Easter bunny at the mall.  They did a good job posing for the picture in their little Easter outfits.  We dyed Easter eggs and Anora especially loved doubling up the eggs this year.  This craft really frustrated Dexter because he wanted to be really rough with the eggs and splash the dye all around.  Needless to say, he did end up cracking a few of the eggs, haha.

 On Easter weekend we were down in Bend, OR with our friends, the Roths.  The Easter bunny remembered to bring Easter baskets at the house we rented!  Dex got a new dump truck, "dump dump dump" as he likes to say.   The Easter egg bath bombs were a huge hit too.

 Anora's Easter basket theme was all PJ Masks since she is obsessed with that show.  She got a PJ Masks puzzle, book, and Owlette costume.

 We all went to Easter mass that morning, but due to lack of sleep, our kids were cranky!  Ben and I finally got them fed and down for nap and we decided it was time to have a drink to recover and enjoy the day ourselves.  All in all it was a fun day.  That night, we even were able to have a night out with no kids hitting up some of the breweries with the Roths.  That's the night that Shuffle Car was new game that was created and when we all had to laugh about the waiter who said, "You didn't think it was REAL milkshake, did you!?" when our unfiltered beers arrived. HA!

 

 
On the way home from Bend the next day, we stopped at the DQ.  There was snow!  The kids loved playing in it for a few minutes to burn off some energy before getting lunch.

It was  great little family getaway.  The kids are both good little travelers.

Anora turns 4, Feb 27 2018!

Anora celebrated her 4th Birthday with 2 of her best girlfriends - Eleanor & Madeline.  She had a princess tea party complete with pin the tail on the pony, dance party, and a unicorn rainbow pinata cake!  We are so proud of her and amazed at what a loving big sister she has become.  She loves to sing, dance, dress up, and color.  If it were up to her, she would spend a lot more time watching TV and eating sweets.  At school they made her a special crown and sang her Happy Birthday.  She brought in dried bananas and M&Ms for a birthday snack.  On her actual birth day we got dinner at her favorite spot, Chipotle!

WE LOVE YOU, ANORA!