I'm not a huge blogger but recent events have brought on the need for reflection and sharing. My last blog was back in September 2011! We just moved to Colorado from Oregon for the purpose of getting Aaron into a nursing program. We didn't know what to expect but we knew we were preparing ourselves for an adventure. We were definitely right about that.
Colorado started out with us living with our dear friend Peter and our two cats. He graciously let us live with him (including our two cats - to which he is allergic) for four months. During that time we found jobs and began meeting friends through a local church. We were accepted with open hearts to their close knit group of friends, which was such a blessing because my friends are one of the most important thing in my life and I left in Oregon the most precious people to me.
In December of 2011 we found our own apartment and adopted a new addition to the family; our new puppy Walt. He was so cute and soft and quickly became our baby and king of the apartment. He is such a sweet boy and he loves meeting new people and dogs. It was a great way to ring in the new year and it was helping to prepare us for the next step in the future.
As we were adjusting to life in Colorado, living on our own and working two jobs we began to plan one of the biggest things in our relationship, marriage and lives: a baby.
We knew it would take a while for us to get pregnant so when we traveled to Oregon for Alayna's wedding four months later, we were just assuming it would be just another negative test. We were camping at the Oregon coast with both mine and Aaron's family when we found out we were pregnant. On the morning when I could take the test, I woke up at 5:30 am and went to the campsite bathroom. A little blue line appeared on the strip and I was stunned. I ran back to the tent and woke Aaron up. We decided it was too early to wake everyone else up so we took a walk on the beach together enjoying our own precious moment. We woke up our families and told them all the great news!
The next nine months were interesting to say the least. The first trimester was filled with excitement,unexpected blessings, nausea and lots of chocolate. The second trimester was the best, we were watching our little one grow in my belly, finding out that we were having a little boy and preparing our lives and apartment for our little guy. Finally we reached the third trimester, and it seemed like it took a year just to get to this point. The pregnancy was very smooth and luckily it was because we were both working two jobs. It wasn't until I reach the 8th month that I began to feel the whoas of pregnancy. I started to get more and more tired, random nausea and my anxiety level was kicked up to full overload. Grandma Netty came to stay with us when I was 35 weeks pregnant to help us fully prepare for Henry and the nursery and be there to help through the labor. Such a blessing to have her come out, put her life on hold and be with us.
A little before the 39 week mark I began to feel what we figured were pre labor pains while at work. We decided to go home for the day just in case it became actual labor. After being home for a few hours, the pains went away and we figured it was just false labor. The next morning I decided to go to the hospital because I didn't feel Henry for a while and he was very active in my belly. Dad was at work so Mama and Grandma went to the hospital to make sure baby was ok. It turns out he was just fine but they found some symptoms of preclampsia in me. Not enough to induce labor that day but they wanted me to get checked out by my own doctor. The next morning I went in to see my Dr. and she took one look at me and said "well lets have a baby". She didn't want to take any chances. The next evening at 9 pm we were at the hospital getting induced.
After not alot of progress the first 12 hours, they decided to break my water and get things moving along. The progress was almost instant and only 2 hours later I was calling for my epidural (ps best invention ever!) It was one of the most exciting, stressful, joyous thing I have done in my life. Aaron was amazing during the whole process, holding my hand during the IV and epidural, talking me through each contraction and being supportive through each update. He rarely left my side and when he did I had my back-up helper: Grandma Netty. With both of them there it was pure joy waiting for our little buddy to get to us. Almost exactly 24 hours from when we checked in our guy arrived at 9:26 pm.
He was 6 lbs 6 ounces and completely prefect. I couldn't believe how much I loved him. The past two weeks have definitely had it challenges as we find our rhythm with feedings, sleeping, visitors and enjoying the moments with our new baby. It will be interesting to see what type of person he grows into and what parts of Aaron he has and what parts of me. So far he looks just like his daddy and is calm just like him too. But I know Henry is already looking forward to his first trip to Disneyland :)
