One Month Already!! I don't know if I am ready for that!!

Three days old

One month old
Jaycee is one month old today!! How can she be that old already? This little girl has brought so much love and joy to our little home and family! The Lord has truly blessed us with a special spirit! She is amazing!
She is 9 lbs today. So she's gained about a pound and a half since birth.
She is more alert and awake during the day.
She is getting more chubby and eating really well.
She is recognizing mom and dad's voices.
She has met lots of people in her extended family and is happy to be held by anyone.
She is sleeping 4-7 hours a night. (The good news is when she does wake up, she eats and goes right back to sleep.)
She can control her neck muscles really well, and can hold her head up by herself most of the time.
Her legs are very strong.
These are just a few of her landmarks! We already don't really remember life without her, and definitely don't know what we would do without her! She is the best thing that has ever happened to us!
Mommy and Daddy love you Jaycee!!

She's here!

Woo Hoo! Our little Jaycee was born February 9, 2010 at 10:07 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 21 inches long. She was 3 days past her due date and Mommy and Daddy were getting VERY anxious, not to mention Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles. Here's the story. It's a little long, so I wouldn't be offended if you didn't want to read it!
At 3:00 am my water broke, but we weren't exactly sure that's what was going on. It didn't happen like all the books said it would so we were a bit confused. We later learned that it was a high tear and they actually had to break my water again later that day cause there was still a pocket of water that was under her head that was preventing me from dialating more and preventing her from coming down like she should. Well, we got to the hospital at about 5:30 am and they tested me and my water had definitely broke and we were there to stay...finally!! We called both of our parents and they moved me to a delivery room. They started me in pitocin because the contractions I had been having were just not strong enough and they immediately gave me my epidural. I was surprised that they offered it so quick, and I thought about just putting it off until I was in more pain, but then I decided that 16 weeks of contractions was enough, and I went for it! I was completely calm until the anesthesiologist got me to sign the consent. I got really nervous then. Tom acutally said he had never seen me that scared before! The anesthesiologist had me lay on my side and gave the lidocaine. That was painful, but then when he started putting the catheter in the pressure was worse. (Thank goodness for the lidocaine!) The hard thing too, was that I was still getting over the strep throat and had to cough, but I knew that I couldn't. Tom was so great! He just held me and had me look in his eyes and I am happy to say that I made it through! The rest of the day went pretty good! I was dialated to a one until about 1:00 pm. They broke my water again around 11:00 am, so it took a while, even with the pit to get things going! I was totally comfortable though, so I didn't mind. I was just glad to not be sent home! My mom got there around 3:00 pm and I was dialated to about a 5 at 5:00pm. At some point they rushed in and put me on oxygen and made me lay down on my side. Aparently her heart didn't like the fact that I was sitting up, so we did that and everything looked great again. Within the next couple of hours I increased to 7 cm. The nurse said I was doing good, about 1 cm per hour. Then about 30 min later I was feeling pressure and they checked me again. The doctor said, "You don't have a cervix." I actually looked at him and said, " Where did it go?" Not my best moment! He had to remind me that it meant I was fully dialated! We were so excited! We were about to meet our little girl! He said she was still high, so we needed to let the contractions work a little more to bring her down. He needed to go check on another patient and said I could probably start pushing in about 45 min. It was actually a good thing that he gave us this time, cause it kinda hit Tom and I like a ton of bricks that we were almost parents! We were both pretty emotional! Tom suggested that we say family prayer. (I love what a Spiritual giant my hubby is!) My mom said the prayer and it was beautiful! We were all 4 bawling at this point, Tom, I, my mom and Tom's mom. I didn't quite make it 45 min before I was feeling like I needed to push. Tom and I had decided ahead of time that we wanted to be the only ones in the room when we had her(along with the staff). So our mom's went out into the waiting room. Tom was absolutly the best coach EVER! He kept kissing me and telling me I was doing a good job! He would help me push even if the nurse had to step out of the room. Tom vowed he would not watch her come out though cause he thought that was gross. The nurse was like, "Oh, my gosh! She has dark hair!" That was it! He had to see this hair! He kept telling me that he couldn't believe how much dark hair she had! I was so excited to see this! About an hour and 15 min into pushing my epidural started to run out and wear off! I really wanted them to dose me again, but I didn't want to pay for another bag, but the biggest reason is when they dosed me that afternoon the numbness went up to my armpits and I couldn't cough, which was really hard, cause I was still getting over this strep! Tom's mom kept having to pat my back to I could keep coughing! I was so grateful she was there!! Plus I didn't want to be all numb for hours after I had her! So for the next 45 min the pain just kept getting worse, and I was getting really tired! The nurse finally at almost 10:00 pm said would you like me to go get the doctor to see if he could help! I told her I don't care if they had to use the vacuum to get her out or whatever, I was getting way too tired! Dr. Barton came in and we didn't need the vacuum. He gave me a small episiotomy, only 2 stitches worth. It was all kindof a blur and all of the sudden she was here. Tom said she came out and Dr. Barton moved her around just a bit and her eyes opened right up! They put her on my belly and of course Tom and I were immediately crying! It was such a spiritual experience! Tom was able to cut her cord which was also pretty special! They took her over into the warmer and Tom got to go watch them do their assessments and give her the vitamin K shot and put that stuff in her eyes. In the mean time, I was over in my own little world bleeding way too much! I was watching her be cleaned off and weighed and I could feel myself falling asleep! Dr. Barton was getting a little concerned, I could tell! He was massaging my uterus from the outside and the inside to try to get it to clamp down. They gave me 3 meds, I think, to help me to stop bleeding. In the midst of all this one thing I could never forget is how Tom thought she was so cute! You see, he doesn't think newborns are cute! I told him that Jaycee was going to come out as a newborn, and was probably not going to be that cute either. He said if she wasn't cute, he would tell me! Well, while they cleaned her off, he came over and gave me a kiss and said, "Babe, she's absolutely gorgeous!!" He was in love!! While they were trying to get my bleeding stopped I remember saying, " I want my baby!" They gave her to me and I tried to breastfeed immediately. She latched right on, but I didn't remember much after that! Tom went out and got our mom's but I don't remember them coming in! My mom was really concerned that I would drop Jaycee, which was a valid concern. She was also really nervous because she hemorrhaged really bad when I was born too! I don't remember them taking her away from me! Well, they got things under control and I woke up a little more! They had me move over to the stretcher to take me up to maternity. They put her in my arms and we were off! We got upstairs and they took her into the nursery to do her assessments there. Tom got to go with her. They brought her back and bathed her right in the room! I fed her and we were all exhausted! At about 2:00 to 2:30 am my mom went back to my house, Tom's went back to hers and we sent Jaycee to the nursery because I didn't feel like I could take very good care of her because of how tired I was and how much blood I had lost! I was up about every hour trying to go to the bathroom, and by 6 ish I couldn't handle it anymore and wanted her back! So they brought her back to me! I was feeling much better at this point! All in all, it was a great experience, and yes, I will do it again! She is absolutely gorgeous and we love her very much! We thank the Lord all day every day for this beautiful addition to our family!!

Week 38 and 1/2

Just kidding!

So I think Jaycee has a sick sense of humor all ready! Wednesday morning I was woken up by contractions at 2 am, but knew I had to go to work, cause I was the only nurse in our admit department! I couldn't sleep through them the rest of the night, so I got no rest. The contractions continued throughout the day and I had to leave work early! I got home and laid down for a while and was able to get a couple more hours of sleep. At about 6:30 pm I started to have regular contractions that were every 5 min apart and increasing in intensity. At about 8:30 they started getting closer and were continuing to increase in intensity. By about 9:00 they were every 3 min and still increasing! They continued at every 3 min and by 3:30 am I was having a lot of pain. Then they started to lessen in both intensity and they weren't as close together! They calmed down so much that I was actually able to get an hour of sleep before they woke me up again! I have continued to have contractions all day, but they are at random times, still increasing in intensity, but not regular at all! I had a MD appt today and I was only dialated to a 1 cm. He was planning on stripping my membranes today, but was unable to cause my cervix was still too closed! So we wait! Jaycee's Daddy and I were getting pretty excited last night thinking that our sweet little girl was for sure going to be joining us by today at least, and so were her grandparents, but the Lord has other plans! I am trying to be SO patient! It's hard, but I think I am doing better! Tom gave me an absolutely AMAZING blessing last night! We were both bawling by the end and there were some pretty amazing promises about our little girl! She is truly loved where she is now, and I can guarantee you she is already loved by us here!! We can't wait to meet her, but we want things to happen the right way! Please pray for us that this can happen soon and we can have our little girl here in our arms!

14 days left!

So when people ask how much longer, I say two weeks, but when I saw the little countdown thing on our blog just barely and it said 14 days, I kinda got butterflies! It seems so close! Jaycee's mommy and daddy are definitely ready for her to join us! I feel very ready, and maybe this is my downfall! I know there are things that I am sure I have forgotten and things that I have not thought about, but I feel like I have done everything I want to do before she is born. My house may not be perfect, but I feel really good about everything! I was talking to Tom today and he is really excited for her to be here too! I love hearing that! Just to think that this little person that we have created because we love each other will be here shortly it so amazing to me! It makes me so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for allowing life to continue on this way! For us to be able to have our own children is such a great gift, and she's not even here! Now don't get me wrong, I am not going into this blind. I know that being a parent is NOT going to be easy!! There are probably going to be lots of tears on all 3 of our parts along this journey, but I have an amazing partner to share all this with, and I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else!! As I have sat and pondered about this upcoming change in our lives, it absolutely amazes me how much I love her already! I haven't even seen her, and I am in love! I can't imagine the intense things I am going to be feeling when I do finally see her!! I have dreamed about what her personality is going to be like, and I hope she is a lot like her daddy! There are so many reasons I have fallen in love with him and I hope she takes on those good qualities! I have dreamed also of what Tom's face is going to look like when he sees her for the first time and when he holds her for the first time! I know that I can't even fathom how I will feel and how great it will be! I am so excited about the Spirit that will be in the room! I am pretty sure Tom's dad and some other loved ones who have passed on will be close by and I hope Tom can feel his dad so strong! What an amazing time in our lives!! I can't wait for her to be here! I am trying to be patient, and praying for patience every second of every day!!

I had an amazing baby shower today with people from work! It was so much fun and I am so grateful to the people who threw it and all the people who came! Jaycee got so many great things! She is one spoiled little girl!! I am so grateful for how giving people have been toward us! We have been truly blessed!!

37 Weeks = Full Term and Mommy is READY!!

So we are excited that we have made it to 37 weeks and are officially full term! That means Jaycee can come at any time!! I know she won't come until the time is right, so I am praying for patience! All of you out there that think I am horrible for wanting her to come NOW, please don't judge! I am still very sick, and having lots of pain and contractions, that seem to be going nowhere, I am not getting any sleep(which I do realize won't change), feeling lots of pressure, and am working up until she's born! I am tired, exhausted, and sore, and probably a little ornery! I know that all you mom's out there felt the same way, and when you were to this point, you wanted to be done too!! I do realize that the more time she spends in there, the more she gets to grow and the better it could be, but believe me, I have done my homework and she would grow up just as healthy if she came now! I am praying for patience, and the Lord has blessed me! I am better than I was! I have been given many blessings that she will come when she is supposed to and she will be healthy! So, just so you all know, we are looking forward to Jaycee arriving! Mommy and Daddy are both very excited, as are Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles! We'll update all when the big day arrives!!

Christmas and New Years

I know how late this post seems, but I tried to do it right after Christmas, but blogger was being stupid and I lost patience. So I let it go and figured we just wouldn't have a Christmas post. I can't sleep though, so I thought I might as well try again! We really did have a great Christmas. We got to go to Las Vegas and be with my family! It was Kyle's first Christmas since his mission and Jane's first Christmas in our family! That was a lot of fun! Last year my Grandma Thompson decided that she would go to one child's house every year for Christmas. She is starting with the oldest and working her way to the youngest. She went to Uncle Fenton's last year and my family's turn was this year! It was so much fun to have her there and be all together! On Christmas Eve we had a really fancy steak dinner that my parents made...it was so yummy! We sang songs and read the Christmas story! The Spirit was so strong! We all went to bed and woke up Christmas morning to lots of good presents! It was great and we feel very blessed! Then we spent the rest of the weekend just being together! We got to go shoot Tom and Kyle's new guns on Saturday, which was a lot of fun!! Then we went to Macayo's for my birthday dinner! Yummy!! Sunday morning we got up bright and early cause our flight left at 6:15 am to come back home! I was so grateful we got to go!! Linda picked us up from the airport and we went to her house and slept!! Then we had our Christmas with her and Melinda! That was fun too and we got even more great stuff!

Our New Years was not so great! I ended up in Labor and Delivery with bad contractions, that we attribute to working to much and too long of hours! New Years Eve I was there for 14 hours and I was doing X-ray procedures a lot of the day! I had to wear those lead aprons, but I have to wear double since I am pregnant! New Years Day started in the X-ray room as well, wearing the lead! By the time I got to the ICU at about 8:30 that night to do another procedure, I think my body was saying, absolutely not!! You are done! No more! You need to rest! I started contracting, which was nothing new, but what was new, was I was laying down and drinking lots of water, and the contractions wouldn't quit. I was a little nervous cause I was only 34 weeks, almost 35. So Tom met me, and I had to call another nurse to take my call! My doctor said no more call, so that was the end of that! I calmed down more and more once I got to Labor and Delivery, and was able to go home a few hours later!

All in all though, our holiday's were good! Hope your's were just as good! Once again, sorry about the late post!!