Howard Beck Day

As I write this, I'm sitting in our apartment in Chicago, IL. We've been here about 6 weeks now, but the details of that are for a different time. Blake has a late night of work so thought I would write about our newest addition to the family: 

Howard Beck Day. 

For those of you on instagram, you may have seen/read about how we traveled to the Oregon Coast for Thanksgiving even though I was 4 cm dilated already. I selfishly really wanted to go on the trip and since I didn't have any labor signs and Molly didn't come on her own, I felt good about going. Once we were safe and sound at home though, I was ready to not be pregnant anymore! 

I had my appointment on Wednesday, November 28 and my doctor said I was measuring a little big. I asked if she thought it might be an ok idea to be induced to prevent him from getting too big for me to deliver him. She said it wouldn't be a bad idea and that I could be induced any time that weekend. 

(side note: I was going to be induced with Molly on her due date but due to the number of women going into labor on their own, they weren't able to take me until a week later at 41 weeks.)

Blake and I were skeptical that I'd actually get to go in on Friday, November 30 so we didn't really tell anyone that was the plan, except for Blake's mom, until we knew for sure. I spent Thursday evening, November 29, with my girlfriends. We ate at the Dodo and painted nails and talked. I didn't get home until after midnight and didn't sleep well. I called the hospital at 6 AM expecting them to turn me away but they said YES! We gave Blake's mom a call right away and she made her way up to Salt Lake so she could watch Molly. 

This is our last picture as a family of 3, right before we left for the hospital. 

With Molly's delivery, it was about 12 hours start to finish. I remember taking several naps after getting my epidural and relaxing with Blake. A very pleasant experience, honestly. So I was kind of expecting the same thing, maybe a little shorter. They started me on pitocin at 9 AM and broke my water at 9:30 AM. I had my epidural soon after that and it took them a couple tries which was a bit painful but worked in the end. I slept for about 45 min and woke up when my nurse came to check me. 

Baby's heartbeat dropped a little so my doctor wanted the nurse to place a monitor to see how strong my contractions were. She went to get some supplies but when she went to place it she said, "just kidding, we're not going to place this because you're ready to deliver!" So, they called my doc right over and we got ready for delivery. It was probably 11:30 at this point and I was a little bit in shock that we were going to have a baby so quickly. It was 3 hours start to finish. Howard was born at 12:02 PM and was 7 lbs. 15 oz. 

As he was being delivered, I remember my doctor saying, "Look at those legs, they're still coming!" Apparently Howard's legs were super long. I'm lucky to have had such smooth labors and deliveries with my babies. It makes the hours afterward so enjoyable. Babies are such miracles. 

I delivered at LDS hospital in Salt Lake and over the course of my hospital stay I had lots of staff helping me and actually had two women take care of me who had helped me after Molly's delivery. The same woman who gave Molly her first bath, gave Howard his first bath. I thought that was pretty neat. (FYI, I loved my experience at LDS hospital)

Howard shares his first name with my Dad. We love that it's a family name and that it's not so common. Not to mention, he has the same name as the famous musical artist, Howie Day, who wrote "Collide." (Blake and I may have performed this musical number for the family talent show two weeks prior.) His middle name is Blake's grandmother's maiden name. 

I stayed two nights in the hospital when Molly was born but we got a little stir crazy so we went home the next day with Howard. 

Molly came and met Howard in the hospital but wasn't quite sure about him. I think the whole hospital environment felt a little strange to her, but ever since we brought him home, she's been a real fan. She loooooves saying his name. "Howaaaard, howaaard, howaaard." It's all very sing songy and we can't get enough of it. 

I was lucky enough to be pregnant at the same time as my dear friend and neighbor across the street. She had her baby girl two weeks after Howard was born and I'm sad that we don't get to celebrate all their milestones together in Utah. 

We traveled to California when Howard was 4 weeks old and he got to meet his namesake. I think they look alike. Identical bald heads =).  And just some photos I've dumped here. Enjoy!

Thoughts on Our Only Child (For Now)

As I get closer to my due date, I'm getting emotional thinking about how Molly won't be our only baby anymore. (I literally didn't make it through typing that sentence without tearing up.)  I want to remember the time that we've had with just her. Baby boy is coming in 6ish weeks and our family is changing forever. Molly has such a sweet spirit and is growing so much every day and here are some of the things I'm loving right now.

She is getting super talkative and repeats a lot of stuff that we say.

-When we walk in the door she says, "hey bud" to Floyd. (this is how Blake greets Floyd)
-She likes to greet us by saying "hi baby"
-When she wants us to carry her and is getting impatient, she says, " Up peas, up peas, up peas..." over and over again as if saying it faster and louder will get her what she wants.
-Calls water, "waloo"
-She is really good at her animal sounds, except when I ask her what a dog says, she responds, "quack!"
-I was teaching her about being soft a while ago and now she likes to look us in the eyes while we're holding her, place her hand gently on our cheeks and say quietly, "soft, soft."
-When she's feeling cuddly she rests her head on our shoulders and says, "nice."

Molly has been throwing more tantrums recently and I wonder if it's because she can sense the changes that are about to come or just because she's entering that toddler stage, but I just want her to know so badly how much we love her and that when this new baby comes we won't love her any less. They say that your capacity to love just grows with each new child and I'm glad to hear that, because I don't want to have to love Molly any less, just be able to love both these babies so so much. We love our Molly Lynn, and are also so excited to welcome a new member to the family in a few weeks!

And here's a photo dump from the last few weeks. (I'm loving portrait mode on our new iPhones.)

Summer Lovin' 2018

Probably the biggest news since my last post is that we're expecting baby boy Day in December! We wanted to have our kids close together, but since it had taken a while with Molly, we weren't sure if it was in the cards for us. We tried for a few months with no luck and then I bought these ovulation tests  and I felt really confident that it had worked that time around. 

I know I spent way too much money on pregnancy tests and started taking them way too early, but I was so anxious to know. 

You might think this is a negative test, but I looked soooo hard and I felt like I could see a really really faint second line. I was convinced we were having another baby, but I don't think Blake was so sure. Blake was going out of town that morning and I was hoping we could celebrate a positive together, but instead it was really unclear and neither one of us was really sure. I took another one two days later and sent him of the video of a digital response test and it flashing "yes," so then we really did get to celebrate. 

Anyway, I'm now a super believer in those ClearBlue ovulation tests. 

And I think I'll just sum up the rest of our summer in pictures and captions:

Molly and I got to spend some time with my mom and dad in San Diego and Blake joined us later with his brothers. We played in the pool and I found a new sport to love: foot golf. 

We got to watch quite a few of Blake's softball games this summer

and went to quite a few Bee's games. We have to get in one more before the season ends. This night Molly also made it onto the Simba cam. <3

My oldest nephew graduated from high school and is headed to BYU next week! I've loved being close to my sister and her kids this past year and being able to celebrate their milestones and watch their sporting events and plays with Molly. (Molly was not a fan of the 3 hour graduation ceremony. We spent most of our time running around outside at UVU.)

Our Molly bear had a birthday! I know she couldn't have cared less about the food or decor or activities, but I had a blast planning it and visiting with so many friends and family in our backyard. 

This is her little boyfriend, Leo. They are one day apart!

Mom and Dad love you so much, Molly Lynn!

We went to St. George with Blake's mom and brothers. It was so hot, but Molly loved the pool!

This past year and a half I served as the YW president and the stress of Girls' Camp really weighed on me, but once it was all over, I think it was a success and the girls had a great time. It was quite different from my camp experience. I never tent camped growing up and I learned that it is not ideal to tent camp while pregnant. 

Blake's brother, Tyler got married to Gabby and we are so happy to have her in the family. She is a great fit and I love having more sisters!

Speaking of sisters, I was able to go to Philly for my niece's baptism. We are just missing our sister, Vanessa, but it was so nice to have some girl time and celebrate Mi Na. I left Molly with Blake and although she was missed, it was relaxing to have just have me to take care of. 

I try to force Molly to snuggle with me daily. She resists. She is getting so big and learning so much. Right now she has about 20 words that she says and is becoming more independent. She loves books right now and I want to remember how cute she is when she gives me a book to read, turns her back and backs up slowly until she sits in my lap. She gives my tummy hugs and kisses and says baby and I know she is going to be a great helper and big sister. She loves to pick out her shoes for the day and knows how to put them away by herself (not that she always does it, but she knows how to.) I feel so lucky that I get to spend my days with her. 

Next on our agenda: Blake and I are going to Paris in a couple weeks for a little Babymoon. Molly is staying with Grandma in Utah, but we're super excited to have some time to ourselves and enjoy Paris! I've loved summer, but am ready for some Fall weather and getting excited to add a baby boy to our family in 15 weeks!

My Labor Experience and Molly's Birth

So, I never really got around to blogging about our hospital experience, but I always like reading this stories, so this is here for whoever is interested. Although, it was pretty routine and planned so I'm not sure it's too exciting. Good think I have a few things to pull from my journal otherwise I wouldn't have very much to say. Ha. (Also, I just realized she is now 41 weeks and 5 days which is 5 days longer outside the womb than inside the womb.) 

Like a lot of women, my due date came and went without a baby. My sister-in-law was scheduled to be in town the day of my due date and stayed the weekend and we unfortunately couldn't coax Molly to come. I had been dilated 2-3 cm for the past few weeks and it was hard for me to wait and wait and not have a baby at 40 weeks! My feet were so swollen and painful and I had terrible itching (not cholestasis), so my doctor said I could be induced if I wanted to. 

We called the hospital on her due date, Thursday, May 18, and basically they said, "call back in 2 hours" over and over again and finally there were too many women going into labor naturally that they couldn't fit me in. This happened again on Tuesday but finally on Thursday, May 25, when we called I was higher on the priority list since I was a week overdue and they told us to come on in!

Being induced was interesting. I kind of wanted the movie-like labor experience: "oh my gosh, this is happening!" kind of thing, but it was so weird that it was planned and we woke up without a baby but knew we would most likely have a baby before the day was over. Blake and I woke up at 7:00 AM. We both showered, got dressed, hopped in the car and went to Einstein to get some bagels. 

This is the last picture I have pregnant. We checked into the hospital at 8 AM and they started me on pitocin. The contractions weren't really bad until my doctor broke my water at noon. I only experienced a few really intense contractions before I got an epidural. It didn't hurt really and it was amazing how quickly I went numb. By the time I was going to lay back down I needed help because I couldn't move my legs. 

Once I had my epidural, my nurse checked me every hour and Blake and I watched the season finale of Survivor, Blake worked on homework and I took a nap. It was quite relaxing.  Around 7 PM, my nurse said I was just about ready to go and we would just wait for my doctor to arrive. My doctor arrived around 7:30 PM and gave me some coaching on how to push. I was so numb I couldn't feel a thing so it was hard to tell if what I was doing was pushing, but they said I was doing well so I went with it. 

Mushy alert**(from my journal): "I remember Blake looking at me so lovingly and telling me I was doing so good. I want to always remember how he looked at me and how proud he looked." That was a great moment. 

I pushed for about 20 minutes and Molly was born at 8:11 PM. I was really shaky and emotional after the delivery. I think I was a little bit in shock of what my body had just done. They placed her on my chest for a couple minutes but then took her to check on her irregular heart beat that she had the last few weeks of my pregnancy. When I held her again I was unsure of who this little human was. I'm not sure what I expected her to look like, but I think I was expecting a lot more hair and maybe a little darker complexion. 

But within hours, I had bonded with her and knew she was ours and knew that I loved her more than anything. I think now that I've experienced welcoming a child into our family, I will feel more prepared for when we meet baby #2. Both of Blake's parents visited that night and oohed and aahed over her. She is the first granddaughter on the Day side. 

I don't think I realized that they kick you out of the huge delivery room and put you in a tiny recovery room, but I remember being exhausted and feeling like I could sleep for hours on end, except they kept waking me to try and feed Molly. I think I then realized that it'd be a while before I got a good night's sleep. Except the bad sleep really started like 3 months before that when you're just getting huge and can't sleep well. (But these days I'm sleeping great except when I have to wake up early to teach the Chinese children English.)

So anyway, that's the story in a nutshell. I think I'll try and post about our trip to China next. Might not happen till next year, but we'll see. 

After her first bath

Lifting her head, one day old. She's been a strong girl since Day one. 

Going home.