Kids Pictures April 2013

 

 

 

 

Brady's Birth Story Video

Our friend Holly was there during the labor and delivery of Brady and took some precious shots and put them into this video.  I can't even begin to explain how priceless these photos are and this video is.  It's an experience that I never want to forget and she made that possible with her amazing talent.

I still can't watch it without sobbing!

It's A Boy!!!

On Thursday night, April 4th, I was bound and determined to get the baby to "drop" so that when I went to my 39 week appointment on Friday my midwife would tell me I'd progressed.  I got online and researched all sorts of exercises, stretches, etc. that I could do and I worked hard.  For probably 2-3 hours straight I bounced on my birthing ball, sat in different positions, stretched, side-stepped my stairs, etc.  I actually went to bed more sore in my hips than before...if that's even possible.

All night long I was feeling kind of crappy...I felt like the baby was hitting my pelvic bone all night, my stomach wasn't feeling right, and I was having a hard time sleeping.  I had a dream that my water broke as well.  I may have been having contractions all night and didn't realize it, but at almost exactly 5am I was woken up by a contraction.  I laid in bed for about 30-40 minutes timing contractions and had them about every 10 minutes.  I decided to get up and get in the shower just to see if anything changed.  They kept coming so I grabbed my birthing ball and sat on it in the bathroom and continued to get ready. 

Around 6:30am Tony realized I was up so he came in to see what was going on.  I told him I thought I was in labor, so he made some phone calls for work.  I texted my mom to see if my dad had left for work since he was my on-call person to watch the kids.  He had left but thankfully she was able to get a hold of him so he turned around and went back home.

The kids got up around 7:30am so Tony got them ready and helped finish packing my hospital bag and got things ready to go.  Contractions were about 8 minutes apart at that point. 

I decided to head to my parents' house since they are closer to the hospital and wait it out there.  We left our house at about 8:00am and in the less than 10 minute drive to my parents' house I had 3 contractions so when we pulled up I decided we should just go to the hospital.  Tony took the kids in and I stayed in the car with my hypnobirthing affirmations playing in my headphones.  I had prepared Macie to be in the room when the baby was born but I left the decision to her.  She decided to stay with my dad at that point but we told her if she changed her mind she could come later with someone else.

We got to the hospital around 8:20am and had to do all of the check-in crap...I don't think they realize how ridiculous it is for me to be sitting there in full labor and have to be signing documents.  That's why I pre-registered!!!

Anyway, they finally got me to a room (I requested a room with a tub) and I changed into a gown and we waited about 20 minutes for a nurse.  Finally our nurse Paige arrived...she was darling...I feel very blessed that we got her because she was awesome!  She checked me and I was 5.5cm dilated and almost 100% effaced.  That made me happy because I was scared she was going to tell me that I wasn't very far.  She put me on the monitors for a few minutes and gave me a heplock IV (it's a start to an IV that isn't attached to anything but can be attached at any time...my midwife was concerned about my post-partum bleeding/fluids so she had requested I get one.)  In the meantime, I was texting/facebooking/talking between contractions...things weren't too intense so I didn't feel like I needed to get too relaxed at that point.  I sat on the birthing ball while she finished the monitoring then once it was done I got in the jacuzzi tub.  It felt really nice so I just sat in there for awhile.  By then my mom had come and soon after that Tony's mom arrived.

Around 10:30am I started feeling like things were progressing but I wasn't sure.  I was feeling a lot of back labor so I was worried the baby was posterior (Pax was posterior and the contractions were similar.)  I asked Tony to have the nurse check me so she came in and checked me while I stayed in the tub.  At that point I was dilated 7cm and she said my bag of water was "bulging" and would break anytime.  I decided to have everyone who was planning on being at the birth come at that point.

I got out of the tub and got back in my gown then got back on the birthing ball to finish out labor.

At that point my contractions started getting more intense and closer so I put in my headphones and tuned everyone out so I could get into a deeper relaxation zone.  My friend Holly came to take pictures.  My grandma came at the same time my sister-in-law Mackensie came with Macie who had decided she wanted to be there.  I got a little emotional when Macie came in and I hugged her...I had really wanted her to be there to experience the whole thing and I was really glad she came.  I really wanted her to witness a real birth so she could see that it's not like TV or the movies that make it look like some sort of terrible, horrific thing.

I continued to labor on the birthing ball and everyone just kind of sat around waiting for me.  I decided to have my midwife Lindsay come.  I just felt like I needed her to help me through the rest and she had told the nurse to let her know when I wanted her to come. 

She got there around 11:30ish and was able to help massage my lower back during contractions and help me relax.  She offered to break my water which would defintely get things moving faster.  At first I declined and wanted to wait, but I got to a point where I was just exhausted and decided to just go for it.

I got onto the hospital bed and she broke my water which was painless.  My contractions got stronger and faster after that, though, and I could feel the "transition" period where things get a lot more intense.  I felt very much in control, though.  Lindsay really helped to keep me relaxed with each contraction...she knew just what to do.  Within about 1/2 hour of breaking my water I started feeling the urge to push.  I had really wanted to focus on "breathing the baby down" this time and not so much "pushing/bearing down" and Lindsay helped with that.  She laid me back into a different position, propped my left side up slightly, and gave me the best position to deliver.  I felt like I did really well staying in control during the "pushing" process and she helped by guiding me and telling me what to do.  I could feel tons of pressure and the urge to just push it out as fast as I could but she would just tell me to give a gentle push and just how much or how little. 

I had been so afraid of tearing "down there" but I didn't end up tearing!  Lindsay said I had a slight tear but that stitching it was optional since it was so small...I ended up getting one stitch.  I had a class II episiotomy with Macie, a class II tear with Paxton and on my biggest baby of them all I didn't tear, despite scar tissue and all...there's something to be said about that.  Calmness, control and someone who knows how to deliver a baby gently!

Anyway, Tony helped Lindsay bring the baby up between my legs and the umbilical cord was right between the legs so we couldn't see what it was.  I said "What is it?!!!" and finally Tony said "It's a BOY!!!"  (He was born at 12:28pm.)

I think I would have been surprised either way since we had no idea.  I had thought it was a girl all along up until the last few weeks then I had started thinking boy.  But I really didn't know.  As soon as they put him on my chest and I held him I thought "Of course he's a boy!"  I couldn't imagine him being anything else!  It was love at first sight and I bonded with him immediately. I held him skin-to-skin and everyone gathered around to meet him.  Macie loved him immediately and she did so great throughout the entire birth...she wanted to see EVERYTHING, and she did.  She thought it was the greatest thing.  I think having her there kept me calm and quiet as well. 

They let the cord pulsate until it stopped on its own before Tony cut it which was cool...I've read that it's really healthy to do that.  I finished the delivery process while holding my sweet boy...we named him

Brady Garrison Davies.

(Garrison is combination of my dad Gary and Tony's dad Dennis)

After awhile they took him and weighed him and he weighed 9lbs 12oz!!!  I knew he'd be a big baby but when I went into labor 1 week early (my due date was April 12th) I thought he'd be in the upper 8lb to lower 9lb range.  Nope, he was still huge!  Thank goodness I didn't go another week or he would have easily been over 10lbs!

Brady latched on and started nursing right away which made me happy.  My dad came soon after with Paxton.  Pax didn't really want to have anything to do with me or the baby which made me really sad, but he eventually came around.  Tony and our moms and my dad held Brady, then Macie and Pax held him, then Tony's brother Kip who had come soon after held him.  Mackensie and my grandma had left by then.

I had a lot of post-partum bleeding like Lindsay had thought, so I had to have the IV started with pitocin and some other meds to help everything.  I also ended up getting a fever so I had the dumb IV until about 1am the next morning.  Brady had low blood sugar as well but he had 3 normal readings by the next morning so they weren't concerned.

Anyway, we are completely in love with this little boy.  I was kind of concerned that because we didn't know the sex it might take longer to bond but it didn't at all.  It was so fun to be surprised...if I was going to have a 4th baby I think I'd do it that way again!

 

Tony and I took Brady down to the nursery later on that night and gave him his first bath...I let Tony do it but it was fun to watch and take pictures.





After his bath Brady's body temp was a little low so he laid under the heat lamp for a little bit then we went back to our room and I put him skin-to-skin on my chest for awhile to get his temp back up.

Tony's work sent this gorgeous flower arrangement.  They also gave us a giftcard to Pottery Barn Kids.  They are awesome!

Ready to go home! 

 

Macie is 6!

 

 

On Wednesday April 3rd Macie turned 6!  Since we had her family party and friends party early I feel like we have celebrated it for 2 weeks, but we still celebrated on her actual birthday, too!

First thing when she woke up she found her gifts on the kitchen table and begged to open them right away.  I made her wait until Pax woke up but she was dying by then.  She got a new outfit, a McKenna book (an American Girl she has, they have chapter books and we love to read them), a doll tent/camping set, and Caroline (an American Girl Doll).  Both of the kids also got a swing-set a couple weeks ago as a joint gift. 

Anyway, we had pancakes for breakfast then got ready and went to the zoo.  We should have known a nice day over spring break probably wasn't a good time to go there...it was PACKED!  I've never seen it that busy.  Since it was Macie's birthday I didn't want to ruin the day so we braved the crowd.  The kids had fun and the weather was beautiful so it was nice to just be outside.  We were only there for about 1-2 hours.  We took Subway and ate it there as well.  We were all exhausted when we left...being 9 months pregnant pushing a stroller up large hills is a workout! 

When we got home it was time to take Macie to dance/tumbling...thankfully my mom called and offered to take her so Pax and I took a little rest.  After Tony got home we went and picke Macie up from dance then met my parents at Texas Roadhouse for dinner- Macie's choice for her birthday dinner.  (We have our kids trained well!)  They brought out the saddle and had her sit on it and gave her a big "Texas Roadhouse birthday YeeHaw shout" and some ice cream.  She loved being the center of attention for a minute.  It was cute.  Kind of a low-key day since we'd already celebrated twice.

Anyway, Macie is so happy to be 6...she said she still feels like she's 5 sometimes...haha!  I can't believe we've had her for 6 whole years.  She is so fun...such a silly girl.  She is also so sweet...always willing to help out and take care of her little brother.  She has been so excited for our new baby and would just lay her head or hand on my belly to feel the kicks.  She is always wanting to evaluate everything and asks so many questions.  She is reading so well now, too.  Everywhere we go she'll point out a sign or billboard or whatever else and try to read what's on it.  She's so smart!  She can do simple addition and subtraction and she loves to count to 100 and then on and on...she thinks she can count to infinity!  :)

We love you Macie!

Easter Sunday

Macie woke up bright and early Easter morning, so excited to see what the Easter bunny left and to hunt for eggs.  We were mean and made her wait until we were all ready for church before we went downstairs.  The kids looked at their baskets then each got to find a dozen eggs- they have their own set of eggs so they know who's is who's.  Then we looked through all of the eggs to see what they got.  They each got about $4 in money and the rest candy.  Somehow we made it to 9am church on time and since my parents' ward doesn't start until 1pm they and my grandma came to ours with us.  We had such a nice Sacrament meeting with great speakers...I definetely could feel the Spirit.  The resurrection is kind of a hard concept for little kids to grasp but we try to explain it to them every year...I think Macie pretty much gets it.

After church Tony and I attemped to get a quick nap in, but our kids were crazy (probably from all of the candy) so it was kind of hard to do.  Later on we went over to my parents' house to get their Easter presents from Grandma and Grandpa....they got cute jammies which they were excited to wear that night.  We also went over and visited my grandma and grandpa and the Steeds who were also visiting.  Then we went with my parents over to our good friends/other family the Hopkinsons for dinner.  The food was great and the company even better.  After we ate Chris had put together a darling hunt for the kids with clues and prizes at various places throughout the house and yard.  She went to a lot of work and it was very cute...the kids loved it.  The kids all played great the rest of the night while the adults played games.  We had such a nice day and it was beautiful weather which was so great, too!

 

His favorite part of the day was getting his own box of Skittles!  He ate almost the entire package during Sacrament meeting.  Usually I wouldn't let him have that many but it was keeping him quiet and it was his present so I let him do it just this once!  :)

I couldn't help but get a pic of darling Kash...he is so stinking cute!  He covered his smile with his toy but he is so happy everytime I see him...he even cut a tooth that day and was still smiling!

Easter Eve

On Easter eve morning we dyed Easter eggs.  It's so funny how putting an egg in some dye and pulling it out all colorful can be so much fun for kids!  But they loved it!  Pax was a little messy since he liked to drop the eggs in and splash the dye all over, but it wiped clean.  Anyway, we wrote on a few of the eggs but I didn't get a pic of any of those.  Tony put "Baby" on one of the eggs since we wrote our names on some of them and he put it in the blue dye.  I guess he thinks we're having a boy?!

Before the kids went to bed they put out a glass of water and some carrot sticks for the Easter bunny.  Macie was super excited for him to visit!

Macie's Friend Party

Macie is at the age where she needed more than just a family party to be satisfied for her birthday.  Since I wasn't about to have a bunch of kids running around my house at this point in my pregnancy we decided to invite a few of her girlfriends and go get manicures and ice cream.  We went before her birthday since I'm getting close to my due date and I didn't want to have to cancel it if baby shows up early (although, I'm sure it won't!) She invited Bailey, Gracie, Kaitlyn, and Preslee.  We went to the Cameo College to get their manicures.  It was kind of hard for them to keep still (especially Macie) while the techs did their nails but they all turned out cute.  After manicures we went to Leatherby's for ice cream.  They each chose their own ice cream and then we got some fries to share.  While we waited for our ice cream Macie opened her presents and got some cute things.  It was a little crazy having 5 girls on my own, but Macie had fun and that's all that matters.  My mom watched Paxton while we were gone and they met us at Leatherby's for a minute but Pax started throwing a fit so Mom took him to my house until we were done.  I dropped off all the girls except Preslee and she and Macie played at our house the rest of the night and had so much fun.  Macie's actual birthday hasn't even come yet and I feel like we've been celebrating all month!

She was so interested in what she was getting that she wouldn't take a break to look at the camera.

Left to right:  Kaitlyn, Macie, Preslee, Bailey & Grace

 

All of the girls nails!