October!!!

  This month has been a crazy one!  I had a baby, celebrated my daughter's 3rd birthday, family came and went, and of course Halloween!

     Last Monday for Family Home Evening we carved pumpkins.  I love Weston soooo much and seeing him as a Daddy makes me love him even more.  I called him while he was at work to see if there was anything he would like to print out to help him carve pumpkins and he brought home an Ariel printout so he could carve Sage an Ariel pumpkin.  How cute is that?  Plus Weston is super talented with carving, seriously I never knew real people (real people:  people who don't work for a magazine)  actually carved things more than faces on pumpkins.

Just in case you were wondering who carved the beautiful masterpiece ghost, that was me.  Yes I come to learn that I am a natural when it comes to this carving business.  

Weston's Eeyore pumpkin from Halloween 2010.  He drew the picture himself and then carved it.  Seriously amazing.

Tonight for Halloween, Sage and I dressed up as Angels while Weston and Reuben were Devils. I was telling my friend Audrey about all the different things I was planning for us to dress up as and she stopped me and told me that my family needed to do a theme.  I am glad she did because it was so fun to do that.

 

I had to make this cute little sign because apparently this time of year you can only find red onesies that have red and green sayings on them about some guy named Santa.

Reuben ended up sleeping through the whole trick or treating process.  I think this little devil is trying to convert to Angel but don't tell Weston.

Silly girl!

Love him even with the horns.

Tonight when we got back, Sage and I made Mummy Dogs and ate LOTS of candy.

She kept calling them "Mommy dogs" and then asked, "when are we going to make baby dogs?"

We also celebrated my Sagie girls 3rd birthday!  I can't believe it has been 3 years since she was born.  It seriously seems like yesterday.  Time moves too fast.  I just love her so much and I am so thankful to be her Momma.  She has been there for me during hard times, she is seriously the only thing that got me through and brought me a smile during them.  She is so protective of me and she makes me forget about my problems (even if she is the one who caused them) in seconds.  I love her with my whole heart.  

She is helping me make her pink cake with pink frosting, pink pearls, pink candles, and pink writing.  She had to have pink everything.

I have to say I am quite proud of myself.  This is a huge leap from what her cake looked like last year.  This year I made the cakes way in advance before frosting.

She got super excited just like this about every single present she opened.  It was so fun for me to see her light up like that.

I got her a Doctor kit because at all of my midwife appointments she loved helping my Midwife listen to the baby's heartbeat.  She kept saying, "it sounds just like a drum".  Love her.

Love,

   Becky joy

Birthing my sweet little Reuben

     He's here! He's finally here!  I was just thinking the other day how I had (had!) been pregnant for so long and I was so ready to hold my baby.
      So yes he is here: October 5th right on his estimated due date
                                   9:44 am                                
                                   6 lbs. 11 oz
                                  19 3/4 inches long
     So it all began on October 4th.  We woke up that morning to General Conference and we did our traditional crafting around the table while we listened (I love traditions).  I was a little surprised to not have a baby yet because I had been thinking since the last conference in April that by the next conference I would have a brand new baby to watch it with.  I am not really sure why I thought that now but I did.  Nothing unusual happened during conference though, Sage and I painted our witches boot, Weston laid on the couch looking like he was about to fall asleep, and we just listened to the messages.  Sage would get excited when she saw the Prophet or one of the apostles because we had been teaching her about 1 or 2 of them each night during scripture study.  It was fun for her to see them on the computer talking.  And she kept asking what they were talking about. It was cute to see her involved like that.

     After conference was over I headed to the laundromat to do my laundry in Manti and still nothing unusual until I got home.  I sat on the couch folding laundry when all the sudden I felt a surge around 8pm (surge comes from hypnobirthing).  For the past few weeks every time I got into bed I would feel a few surges but then they would just stop and that was the end of that.  I expected the same thing to happen here, just a few sensations, and then for it to stop all together, but it didn't.    Around 9 I got up and went into the room Weston was in and told him what was happening and I was wondering if it was the real thing because they hadn't stopped.  He said, "well that's happy" and all I wanted to do was have him hold me and let me cry a little.  I am not sure why I was emotional, I just was and I fell into his arms and he held me.  After a couple minutes I told him that I wanted to go on a walk to see if they would continue or go away (a sign it is false labor is when you change activity they stop).  Although we would usually be putting Sage to bed at this time, we put her in the stroller and went on a walk.  The surges continued and after only 2 blocks I had 3 or 4.  I would just pause walking and meet each surge with my breath as I relaxed my body.  Weston was really good to stop with me and keep Sage happy.
    After walking for 20 or so minutes, we decided it would be good to go to Walmart and pick out a funny movie.  In Hypnobirthing we learned that watching a funny movie is good for labor because it brings endorphins.  We went to Walmart and I continued to have a few surges there but they were much more spread out than they were when we were on our walk.  We got home, put the laundry away, vacuumed the floor, and then we put the movie (Despicable Me) in.  I texted my Midwife around 11pm and told her that I had been having surges since 8 and that I wasn't 100% sure or not if I was in labor because they weren't very consistant on how far apart they were.  Sometimes being 5ish minutes apart and sometimes being tenish  minutes apart.  She said that it was strange and it may not be the real thing but to try and get some rest.  At this point I decided she was probably right that I should try and sleep, I wasn't really paying attention to the movie anyway because of all my thoughts being focused on what was going on with my body and whether I was having a baby or not.
     We were letting Sage stay up and watch the movie with us because it was sort of special family time together as she was no longer going to be an only child for very much longer.  Weston started getting her ready for bed: brushing her teeth, putting her in pajamas, and reading her a story (I started reading her a story every night since she was 4 months old, now it is usually Weston who carries on this tradition with her).  As I could hear them reading the story, I started crying and I went in there and Weston immediately read my mind, I am not sure how he did it but he just did.  He got up and let me read the story to Sage.  I cried the whole story but took in every second and loved it.  I felt a surge or 2 during her story.  After that Weston came back in and gave Sage and I both priesthood blessings.  I remember Sage's saying that she would love her little brother and become friends with him.
  I am not sure why I don't remember very many things from what they said but I remember mine talking about labor the whole time and the one line I specifically remember was that my Heavenly Father was taking care of me.  Another thing I remember from another blessing is that it said I would be in tune with my baby and his body as I was birthing him (more on this later).
     We tucked Sage into bed, kissed her goodnight, and then we got into bed.  I could not sleep, I had too much excited energy in me and my thoughts would not rest.  Weston went to sleep and I got in the bathtub and watched "America's Funniest Home Videos".  After some time in the tub I finally felt relaxed and tired enough to sleep so I got into bed and fell asleep around 2 or 2:30 in the morning while listening to my hypnobirthing rainbow relaxation and birthing affirmations on my ipod.
     Around 4 in the morning I was awakened by a strong surge.  I realized that I would not be able to sleep through the surges at this point and I got up and made myself a smoothie.  I continued to meet each surge with long slow breathing while I relaxed every single muscle in my body.   I texted my midwife and told her how the surges were stronger now and she texted back and said she was going to come now.  She lives in Springville, about an hour and 15 minutes away from my apartment.  I drank my smoothie and woke up Weston around 4:30 am and he stayed by my side the rest of the time.  He read me hypnobirthing relaxation scripts while I took a bath.  I thought it was weird though because while I laid in the bath tub the surges slowed down.  My midwife arrived around 6 in the morning and checked my dilation at my request.  She said I was a 6 and a half, I was so glad to hear that.  Her assistant (a girl who is in midwifery school) showed up soon after and they set things up such as shower curtains on the floor, plastic coverings over the pillows, towels, etc... what ever they needed during the labor.
     After they were done setting up, my Midwife came into the bathroom told me that she would like to encourage me to get out of the tub since it caused me to lie on my back and to walk around.  At this point I was ready to get out anyway.  The surges picked right back up as I walked around my apartment.  At this point I figured out that sitting and laying down pretty much slowed down the surges a ton and every time I was walking around they came much faster.  I liked the idea of things moving faster so I tried to walk around and stay upright for most the time after that.
     Every time I had a surge, I would say "Weston I need you" and I would relax into him as he supported me.  Also my midwife and her assistant would see I was having a surge and they would immediately come to me and apply to my hips or back.  This helped ease pain and tension so much!!
     Soon after getting out of the tub my Midwife told me it was time to do the vaginal wash which meant I needed to lie on my back for ten minutes. The vaginal wash would kill strep b if it was present.  As I was lying there a surge came and it was the most uncomfortable one of all.  I immediately turned to my side and the midwife came to apply pressure to my hips.  Being on my back was the worst position ever.
       After awhile of walking around, I sat on my birth ball (an exercise ball I purchased from wal-mart) with my legs sort of strattled, Weston sat on a chair behind me, and the midwife and assistant each sat on the sides of me.  Each time I had a surge I would fall into Weston and the midwives would push on my hips.  This was amazing.  Seriously amazing.  No pain, just pressure most the time.  Every so often there was a surge that was uncomfortable and I would have a hard time relaxing but most of the surges were pretty comfortable in this position on the birth ball, relaxing onto Weston, and the pressure being applied to my hips. Also my Hypnobirthing Relaxation cd was playing on my computer at this point which helped a ton with helping me relax.  The surges were coming on probably every 2-3 minutes.   I also remembered my blessing from before, the one that said I would be in tune with my baby's body during labor, every time I felt a surge while on the ball, I also felt the baby's head.  It was so cool.  It seemed like he was moving down.  I was feeling so excited to meet him and I was just amazed I could actually feel his body and know exactly where he was while I was having surges.
       I would often get up to go to the bathroom and so I stood up to go to the bathroom and had a surge while I was on my way to the bathroom.  I asked my midwife if she would check how dilated I was because I was wondering if I was fully dilated since I could feel the baby's head so well.  She said she didn't want me to worry about dilation but she would check me.  I was dilated to a 9 which was a little disappointing to me because I was hoping to be at the point of pushing (I really just shouldn't have worried about it and just left it alone). I went to the bathroom would just stay there for a few surges.  At this point I was wondering how much longer this was going to take and I looked up at the midwife and asked, "what time is it?"   The assistant said it was 9:24 and then my midwife told me not to worry about things such as time and just focus on relaxing and that I was doing an amazing job.
     Seconds after I asked what time it was, my water broke and I felt a little urge to push.  They helped me move to the living room and I began breathing the baby down as I hung onto Weston.  I started to feel the urge to push and I just went with it.  I quickly changed positions to kneeling on the floor and Weston knelt in front of me and once again allowed me to hang onto him as I pushed.  In between pushes, the midwife told me the baby's head was close and to go ahead and feel his head.  I did and it made me so excited!!  After a couple more pushes his head came out which made me really happy because I knew after the head came out, the body almost instantly followed.  I reached my hand down and caught the baby as his body came out and brought him right to my chest (my midwife told me at my appointments that she encouraged her Moms to catch the baby and that made me super excited and I looked forward to that moment for a long time)!  I asked my Midwife later how long I pushed for and she said 9 minutes.
     So much joy filled me and I was so glad to be holding my new baby boy in my arms.  I instantly started falling in love with him and I don't think I stopped smiling for an hour...or three.  He cried kind of a lot after he came out and he just looked right up into my eyes crying at me.  I finally got him to calm down by singing, "I am a child of God" to him.  He seriously stopped crying the second I started singing.
     I think it is kind of funny because he came 20 minutes after I started to wonder if this was ever going to end and the same thing happened with Sage.  With her I remember looking at Weston and telling him that I wasn't sure if this was ever going to be over and then she was born within a half hour. Good to know.
    The Midwife checked him out and  at first he scored an 8 and then he scored a 10 on his apgar test!!  Woot!  He looked good according to everything else she checked too.  She said his hip may be out of place and so we are going to take him to a chiropractor to make sure he is okay and in place.
      P.S.  My Mother in Law came and picked Sage up around 6 or 7 in the morning.  She kept her for most the day so we could all rest.

So in love and happy.

Weston weighing the baby.  He weighed 6 lbs 11 oz

Sage meeting her little brother for the first time. 

Our cute little Reuben Hinckley 

My midwife Richelle Jolley is on the left with her assistant on the right.  They are showing me the little bag that held my baby, the amniotic fluid, and the placenta.  Sorry kind of gross but I thought it was kind of fun to see.  

Love,
    Becky joy