It's time

Ok, all you Moms out there, it's time I got serious. Alivia is here, Dainen is 3, we are all adjusting... It's time to potty train. Some of you may be thinking "What?! Dainen isn't potty trained?" No, he is not. We tried 4 or 5 months ago, but he was so NOT interested and I was sick and not up to fighting him every day. I was also afraid that if we did get him potty trained before Alivia came, he would just revert back for attention. So here we are. I'm tired of changing two kids, and I think he's ready. He tells me when he needs to be changed, especially when he stinks, and he's shown more interest in the potty. So.... what do I do? I want to hear all your tricks, all your advice. If you can't tell, I'm a little bit intimidated by this task and not really sure how to go about it. So any and all advice would be helpful. YAY!! Here we go!

Welcome to our Family, Alivia

After a grueling 9 months, and much anticipation, Alivia is FINALLY here!



Born February 7, 2011 she weighed in at 7lbs 14oz and measured 19 1/4" long.



The labor went quickly, a little less than 5 hours.



My mom and sister were able to be there, along with my wonderful husband who was so amazing and supportive. What would I do without him?



It all started at home when, after running down the stairs from our 3rd floor bedroom to our first floor entryway to answer the door for a brother in our ward who was delivering a meal, my water broke. (If I had known that's what it would take, I would have run up and down the stairs a lot sooner!)



I was home alone; Dainen was playing at a friends house and Ryan was at work. I tried calling his cell phone, texting him, telling him he needed to come home, but he was not responding. So, in a panic, I called my dad's office and he suggested I just call Ryan's work. (oh yeah, duh. Thanks Dad!) He answered and when I told him my water broke, he said, "Hot Dang! I'm on my way!" We grabbed our bags- I was prepared this time- and dropped off an overnight bag for Dainen at his friends house and we were off to the hospital. By the time we got there, it had been about an hour and a half since my water broke and the contractions were coming pretty strong. We got all settled into a room and the nurse, Natalie, confirmed that my water broke and said we'd get things started. As politely as I could, I let her know that I would like an epidural as soon as it was possible. Ryan laughed when I did that. (Apparently, and according to him, I wasn't very nice or patient with the nurse when I had Dainen.) The nurse told me I was extremely dehydrated, a part of the hyperemesis I had been dealing with throughout the whole pregnancy, and that they had to get fluids in me before they could do the epidural. In the meantime, they gave me some pain medication that made me a little loopy. I just remember being tired. Mom and Kristin showed up about then, making the two hour trip in just an hour and a half. (good job Kristin!) The Anesthesiologist came, kicked everyone out, including Ryan (apparently she had an experience where a woman's husband fainted while she was doing an epidural and he hit his head and ended up dying so now she won't let anyone in there except the nurse) and I got the epidural. Natalie, the nurse, was awesome during this time. When I had contractions, I needed Ryan there to hold my hand and talk to me. While he was gone I started to panic so she grabbed both my hands and helped me through them. When everything was in place, they let Ryan back in. But the epidural only took on one side of my body. My left side was numb but I could still feel every contraction on my right side, and they were BAD! They were coming fast and incredibly strong. I really thought my body was being torn in half. The anesthesiologist was called back in and she readjusted everything (and allowed Ryan to stay with me). I was pretty out of it here. I just remember the intense, searing pain, telling Ryan I couldn't do it and that I was scared. He reassured me that I was strong, that I could do this, and that he loved me. At one point they asked me to roll over to my side and scoot towards the edge of the bed. I couldn't respond, I couldn't move. So Ryan had to literally roll me and pick me up to move me where they needed. After they were done, it kicked in through my whole body and I could feel myself relax. I told Ryan I could do it now. :) My nurse checked me and found that in the last 15-20 minutes, the time it took for them to get the epidural in, I had gone from being dilated to a 5 and 75% effaced to a ten and 100% effaced. No wonder I was in pain. She had me push once to see if baby girl was ready and she was, so the doctor was called in, my mom and Kristin were let back in, and we were ready to go. I pushed a total of 6 times, the doctor asked if I wanted him to help me, I said yes, and he got her out. Ryan was able to cut the umbilical cord and they laid her on my chest while they wiped her off. I cried and cried while she kept reaching for my face. The nurses took her over to a station in the corner of the room to clean her up, check her out, weigh her, and do all that they do before they gave her back to me, wrapped up and beautiful. The next few hours were sort of a blur. It was really late, we were really tired, we were really excited, there was just a lot going on. But our baby girl was here! Mom and Kristin brought Dainen to the hospital the next morning. Ryan met them at the door and explained to Dainen before he came in what was going on; Mommy had sister out of her tummy and because of that he needed to be soft with Mommy and with sister. When they walked in, Ryan holding Dainen, he saw me and said hi and then Ryan pointed to sister who was in her bassinet. Dainen said, "Oh! I want to see her!" He was so good with her. He gave her loves and kisses, and just held her, with Daddy's help. He kept looking at her and then looking at my tummy like he was trying to figure it all out. But he finally understood that sister wasn't in my tummy anymore. What a smart kid. We had to stay in the hospital for 48 hours due to the fact that I had tested positive for Group B Strep and wasn't able to get all of the medication before Alivia was born. They just had to watch her and make sure she didn't have any problems, which she didn't. We came home Wednesday night and were so glad to be able to sleep in our own beds. Mom and Kristin stayed with us for almost two weeks, and then Ryan's mom stayed with us for a week. It was SO awesome to have their help! Family is so awesome! I love mine. We've had a lot of fun having everyone over to visit and to see Alivia. Dainen has had fun with his cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents and has been very grateful for their attention. We have also recently celebrated his 3rd birthday!! I can't believe it. We had a family party and a friends party for him. It was good for him, for all of us, to be able to focus on just him and let him know how much we love him. We're all adjusting to our new family and loving it. Thanks to all of you for your love and support!!