Anniversary Weekend

Chad and I have officially been married for one whole year! Boy, what a year it has been! Here are some of the highlights:

-Honeymooning at the North Shore in Minnesota. I loved being able to show Chad my happy place.

-Moving into and setting up our first apartment together.

-Finding out I was pregnant. And everything that comes with pregnancy...baby appointments, ultrasounds, hearing the heartbeat, feeling him move around, etc.

-Taking a marriage class together.

-Spending so much time with Chad's family.

-Attending a wonderful marriage retreat.

-Spending so many late nights playing games and watching movies.

-Staying up until 3am talking and snuggling in bed.

-Chad's promotion at work.

-Setting up house for the baby.

-Gaining deeper respect for one another as we saw how each other handled childbirth.

-Becoming parents to one beautiful baby boy.

There are so many other things that aren't really coming to mind. It has been an awesome year for us. Being young with one income, we've definitely had our struggles, but the Lord has really watched out for us. It has been so great for us to see His hand in all things. We've had our fair share of fights, but have learned so much from each one. We are each other's best friend. I couldn't ask for a better one. I can't believe how much my love for him has grown just this weekend!!! And with that, I will give you a recap of our anniversary weekend:

Saturday was our one year anniversary. Chad took the day off. We spent the day getting ready for our planned over-nighter Sunday night. We were getting really excited and did a lot of things to make sure it would be really special. That evening, we dropped Jarek off at my wonderful friend, Claire's, place and then headed to the Rexburg temple where we were sealed. We got there just in time to do sealings. It was so wonderful. We haven't done sealings since before I got pregnant. I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about the experience we had. What a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary by kneeling across the altar from each other once again. And I'm pretty sure we were in the same sealing room! So wonderful!

After that, we picked up Jarek and ate dinner at Applebee's before we headed back to Idaho Falls. This is when things start to get interesting. I noticed as I was finishing my Oriental Chicken Salad that I was starting to feel queasy. Not a good sign. I was really not not feeling good when we went to bed. I woke up at 2:30am still feeling icky. I went to the bathroom and sure enough, I threw up! I got a little more sleep and then continued to spend the rest of the morning in the bathroom. So not fun! Luckily, I was done throwing up by about 10am but felt horrible the rest of the day. So, we couldn't head to Salt Lake! What a bummer! But, the hotel was kind enough to change our reservation for this coming Sunday. Hopefully nothing else happens so we don't have to cancel again.

Chad was so great all day long. I knew he was really bummed we couldn't go to Salt Lake but he didn't really let it show. He just concentrated on helping me feel better and making sure Jarek had everything he needed all day. I am so lucky! What a wonderful man I have! It really stunk being sick on our anniversary weekend but it really helped me appreciate just how awesome my husband. That's what an anniversary is all about!

Monday, we spent most of the day watching movies in bed. I was feeling a lot better but still had a sore tummy. By 2pm, Chad and I were both tired of being inside so we went for a drive, which was nice. While we were dating/engaged, we spent so much time in the car driving here and there which was a great opportunity to talk and get to know each other. We still love driving for that very reason. When we got back, we hurried to get things ready to have a former roommate of mine and her fiance over for dinner. We had a lot of fun with them. I am so happy for them! They are so great together and so fun! I'm excited to get together with them again!

And time for the pictures. We carved pumpkins with Lyndsi and Dustin last night. Chad and I have been so excited for it. We got a pumpkin for each of us and a little one for Jarek. We didn't get a picture of Lyndsi and Dustin's. Chad and I decided to choose really hard patterns and hadn't finished by the time they left! Anyways, here are our beautiful creations!

The whole family!

This is Chad's, the Headless Horseman. I think it turned out great!

This is mine, the hardest pattern in the book. Pretty ambitious for never going off a pattern before. I was really not happy with it until we lit it up. Now I think it looks great.

This is the other side of my pumpkin. After having a difficult time with the other one, I wanted to do an easier one to make me feel better.

And here's Jarek's! Jack, the Pumpkin King. I got really excited when Chad found the pattern online. The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies!

So, as you read, our anniversary weekend had it ups and downs, but it really was a great weekend! I love my husband and I love my little man! I am so lucky to be the wife and mom to two such wonderful boys!

Jarek's Birth

Here I go. After my little rant about my frustration with the reactions I was getting about my decision to go natural I'm sure you're all wondering if I did it. And the answer is:

YES. Was it easy? Not at all. Was it worth it? Yes, it was. Will I do it again? Most likely.

Now for the story.

I started having contractions at about 11pm on my due date, Sept 6th. By 4 the next morning, they were 10 minutes apart. I had a scheduled appointment that morning so we went to that to see what was up. I was about 4 1/2 centimeters and 90% effaced. The midwife was confident that I would be having the baby that evening.

We went home to keep waiting. By about 1pm the contractions were 5 minutes apart and fairly hard. They had been that way for about an hour so we decided to head to the hospital. My mom and I speculated that I had made good enough progress since the appointment. When we got to the hospital, we discovered that I was still at 4 1/2 cm. The nurse talked to the midwife and she wanted to just send me home but we figured we would just be back in a couple hours so we didn't want to do that. They had me walk around for an hour to get the contractions going to see if I would start making progress. I got to 5 centimeters so we had the midwife come in to break my water.

After she broke my water, contractions got stronger and closer together. I was able to handle it for a few hours and then it became more than I could handle. I really wanted to ask for an epidural but I was about 8 or 9 cm so it was too late. My only option was to hang in there.

I started pushing at about 11pm. I wasn't making much progress just laying in bed so they had me up and about trying different positions. If it weren't for the fact that my body just automatically did the work, I don't think I could have done it. I was so exhausted I was at the point of delusion. Finally, we found that squatting really worked while I was pushing but at that point I had been pushing for about an hour and a half and was convinced that I couldn't go any longer so I asked to have him vacuumed out (a decision that will probably always haunt me but, as I will discuss in a minute, might have been the best decision).

Once I had been pushing for 2 hours and his head was low enough, the midwife called the doctor in. Just as he was getting everything set up, the nurse said the baby's heart rate had dropped during one of my contractions (his heart rate had been doing great up until then). Then during the extraction, we found out why I had pushed for 2 hours and the baby had a hard time progressing. He was transverse (sideways). Baby's are supposed to be facing down.

After a few more big pushes, Jarek finally arrived! They laid him on my stomach right away to check him out and do the various procedures they needed to. He was only there for a minute before one of the nurses noticed he was very blue and whisked him away to put him on oxygen. Once they got a bunch of gunk out of his airway and got him weighed and everything else, they brought him back over to me for some skin on skin time to warm him up. The minute he was laid on my chest and I started talking to him he stopped crying and just looked around for a long time. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. One that I will never forget.

Looking back now, I am very grateful for the birthing experience that I had. If I had had an epidural, I wouldn't have been able to up and moving while I was pushing. Because he was sideways, I most likely wouldn't have been able to push him out laying in bed. That means I probably wouldn't have been able to have a vaginal birth. And if I hadn't asked for help with the vacuum when I did? With the way Jarek's heart rate had dropped, he probably would've been put into a dangerous situation before something was done about it. I know that is true but I think I will always feel a little guilty about that decision.

Despite that, I am very grateful for Jarek's safe delivery. These last 3 weeks have been the best 3 weeks of my life. I love my little guy so much. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful husband and such a good baby. They make my life so much richer. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for both of them.

And now a few pictures:

Chad and I getting settled in the labor and delivery room right before the midwife broke my water. Chad was so amazing through the whole thing! I wouldn't have been able to do it without him! He stayed calm (well, on the outside) and was so encouraging the whole time. My mom kept trying to get him to eat but he wouldn't leave my side. The midwife kept going on about what an awesome team we were. My mom kept bragging about him to everyone she talked to. I am so blessed to have in by my side for the rest of eternity!

Jarek right after he was born. Notice the swelling from the vacuum. He had a nice bruise for a couple days. I feel so bad I put him through that. You might be able to also notice how blue he was.

Jarek on oxygen. I'm so glad it was just gunk blocking his airway. Luckily, it wasn't something worse.

All cleaned up. He's such a handsome little guy!

It was a very hard delivery but I think I would like to go natural again. The midwife said he really paved the way for any more children we have. She was very confident that I would only have to push a few times with the next one. I sure hope so!!!!