Big Sister

My Girls

Callie is such a sweet sister. She loves to look at Madison, give her kisses and hugs, and talk about her (she especially loves identifying Maddie's body parts). I was nervous about how Callie would react to a new baby in our family, but so far she's done really well. She's very gentle and loving with her. I just hope her good treatment of Madison doesn't end anytime soon. I love these girls!

Photo Shoot

Here are my favorites from my attempt at a newborn photo shoot of Madison.

Madison Anne

I elected to be induced for various reasons, so I was told by my doctor that Wednesday, April 25 would most likely be the day. On Tuesday, while getting a pedicure, my doctor called to tell me the hospital was understaffed and I would probably be pushed back to mid-morning or afternoon(instead of 5:00am) or, worst-case scenario, I would be induced Thursday instead. Later that evening, I was told they could get me in at 9:00am. It's weird knowing when your baby is coming. I couldn't sleep very well that night. I was so anxious, excited, and nervous. I got up the next morning and received a call from a nurse around 7:30 saying she was so sorry, but they still didn't have enough people working and my doctor wanted to start me in the morning rather than the afternoon, so I would have to wait until Thursday. I was pretty bummed, but the nurse was really sweet and felt bad about it. Jason headed to work and my mom and I decided to spend the day shopping instead of sitting around waiting. Right as we were heading out the door at 9:00, the same nurse called back and said she found another nurse to come in and could I get there within the hour. I happily agreed, called Jason, and we arrived at the hospital about 30 minutes later. They got me all prepped with the IV and such (it only took three tries and three nurses this time around), and my doctor broke my water at 10:15am. It took a couple hours to get a regular pattern of contractions and during that process it started getting uncomfortable so they started the epidural. At that point I was dilated to a 3. Without the pain of contractions I found I was just really tired and hungry. No. STARVING. My doctor doesn't allow any food or drinks during labor. Only ice chips, so I had lots of those. In three hours I only progressed to a 4.5 and Madison's heart rate started dropping every time I had a contraction. For the next hour, they put in internal monitors to keep a better eye on her, decreased the pitocin, gave me oxygen for her, and gave her some warm saline water all to calm her down and make her comfortable. It worked perfectly. I progressed from a 5 to a 9.5 in a little more than an hour and a half, so they called my doctor at 5:30. Side note: the nurse (Kristy) who called and was able to get me in that day was also my nurse during labor. She was awesome. Best nurse I've ever had. Anyway, earlier in the afternoon she told me we better have the baby by 6:00, because that's when her shift ended and she wanted to be there for delivery. They have a dry erase board in each room for the nurse to put her name and number. The board also says "goals for the next 12 hours". I've never seen anyone use it. Once the nurse told us we better have her by 6:00, Jason started a countdown on the board. It read "goals for the next 4 hours: have a baby", which he updated every hour. I pushed for 16 minutes and she came at 6:06. They put Madison on my tummy right after she came out. That was amazing. They didn't even ask if I wanted that when Callie was born. They also did her first bath right in the room with us instead of taking her to the nursery like that did with Callie in the other hospital. Madison was absolutely perfect. Everything about this labor, delivery, and recovery has been so much better than my first experience. Labor was half as long and was relaxed, I pushed for 16 minutes instead of 3 hours, my recovery has been much quicker, and nursing is actually working this time! Madison is a better nurser, I know better what I'm doing, and I didn't get a staff infection right out of the hospital. I can't tell you how many prayers I said or how many times I worried and stressed about doing all of this again, but the Lord answered my prayers. So I guess you probably want to see some pictures!

Congratulations Jason!

Jason started school at BYU 8 years ago. One mission, a wedding, and 1 (almost 2) kid(s) later, Jason has officially graduated with a Masters and Bachelors in Accounting and a Minor in Music (good thing they gave him credit for being a music major for two years). We had a party for him yesterday at his parents' house after his convocation. Here are some pictures from the event:





Jason walking across stage (right in front of the microphone)

Jason got a really good seat for his convocation--front row. He was the second person to walk (he's the 4th from the left).



My Grandma Black is awesome. She attended Commencement and two Convocations. One for my cousin, Ciera, and Jason's. Then she threw a huge graduation party that evening!

My parents with us.

Three of Jason's aunts--Nancy, Connie, and Anne.

Jason's family--Kelsie, Halie, Shaina, Kaden, Mom, and Dad.

Easter

This Easter was a lot of fun with Callie. We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard on Saturday afternoon. She was so excited about it.




After the egg hunt, I died some eggs. I originally planned on Callie "helping" me, but she was much more interested in taking the candy out of each egg and putting it all in one egg.

Sunday morning Callie got her Easter basket, which she was also excited about.

This was the first Sunday I was able to go to church since being on bedrest, and I absolutely loved it! Jason especially loved that I was there to entertain Callie during Sacrament meeting and to take her to Nursery, because even that has become difficult. Thankfully, Callie was just fine going to and staying in Nursery all of church. I got to go to Relief Society for the first time since we first moved to the ward (I was a teacher in Primary for a year and a half and an advisor in Young Women's for 2 years, but was released because of bedrest).

Jason had his 2nd CPA exam the next morning, so we decided to just have our own Easter dinner at home instead of going to Highland to his parents' house. We had ham, potato casserole, deviled eggs, green beans, and rice krispy treats for dessert. It was yummy!

This Pregnancy

This picture was taken when I was 35 weeks (I'm now 37). I realized I only had one picture of me pregnant this time around (I think I have about 10 from my first pregnancy), so I figured I'd better take one :)

Well, late pregnancy this time has been much more exhausting and painful. Some of it probably has to do with 11 weeks of bedrest and now no longer being on bedrest. I am trying to patiently wait and convince myself that I don't want to have this baby for at least another week and a day so that Jason won't have to balance time between the birth of a child and his graduation. But I must say, I am really anxious and excited for her to come. I am a little terrified of trying nursing again and handling two kids, but mostly I'm just ready for her to come (after Jason's graduation, of course)!