Not a Baby Anymore

Hello All! It's been a long time. Our girl is not a baby anymore. So I am blogging so I have an official record of this special time. It is a very bittersweet thing. It is so fun to see her grow and learn and turn into an actual person now. But at the same time she is not my snuggly girl who needs mommy all the time. And the fact that having another baby is going to be just as hard as it was the first time, but that's another post.
Here are a few things about this little girl that most people don't know.
She no longer has a pacifier. This was something that it was just time for and she was a champ about it. Honestly I don't think she has missed it for even a second.
She sleeps in a toddler bed instead of a crib. She was definitely ready for this change, but she didn't think she could get out of bed on her own. It actually took like 5 nights before she got that she could get up on her own in the morning.
She talks a lot. Most of the time everyone other than me (and maybe her dad) don't really know what she is saying. One day I decided to make a list of all the words she says on her own without much if any encouragement. Here is the list...

Bubbles; Color; Blue; Yellow; Purple; Mommy (and other forms of "Mom"); Daddy (and other forms of "Dad"); Papa (grandpa); Minnie; Hot dog (Mickey); Goof  (goofy); Daisy; Puto  (Pluto); Duck (Donald); Moo (cow); Juice (which is really just a drink not always juice); Nana (banana); Wow; Go; Num/nummy; Eye; Nose; Head; Knee; Toes; Shoes; Uh huh; Pease (please); Light; Shash (Sam); Bo; Bow; No; Oof  (dog); Reow (cat); Bunny; Bee; Ba (sheep); Spash (splash - swim, bath); Bit (frog); Hi; Bye; Quack; But (button); Hat; Jesus; Nay (horse); Apple; Snack; Flower; Butterfly; Pooh; Piglet (though I couldn't tell you how she says it exactly); Tigger; Woo woo (train or large vehicle); Ernie (can be either Ernie or Eeyore); Up; Down; Brush; Bounce; Elmo; Star; George (Curious George); Buddy (my brother Ethan's dog); Hello; Night night; Hop; Dance; Nate (Nate Johnson); Help; Buck (buckle); Book; Ball; Block; Cheese; Cookie; Hippo; Fish; Owl (not sure if that is just the character Owl or Owls in general); Mano (Piano); Cap (clap); Pillow; Baby.

She knows what the following animals say: cow, horse, bear, tiger, snake, bird, frog, Elephant, dog, cat, sheep, dinosaur, monkey.

She recognizes a lot of songs now, from theme songs to action song. She recognizes and/or sings along with the following songs every time they play... Psych - "I know"; Ducktales - "Ooo"; The Cat in the Hat Know alot about that - "Go go go";  Arthur - "Hey"; White Collar Closing Credits - "Raw Raw (electric guitar sounds)"; Letter and Number of the Day Songs on Sesame Street - stomping, clapping, hey hey, and baking and shaking; Various clips of Elmo found on YouTube - especially "Elmo's Ducks" (She squeels SO loudly); The Hot Dog Dance from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Rachel doesn't use a lot of phrases but she does say "Where Go?" "There (it) is" and "I see you".

Rachel is getting better at going to Nursery at church. She still cries for a few minutes but she eventually calms down and is happy.
She is able to make decisions when she is given choices, like what clothes to wear. She also picks out what books she wants to read.

Yep, definitely not a baby anymore. And as much as I will miss having a baby I am so excited for this next stage in our lives, both the good and the bad.

Looking Back While Looking Forward

It's been a very stressful and emotional last few months for us. We've been doing a lot of looking forward while also looking back (hence the title).

Looking Forward

We decided it was time to move on to other (better) teaching opportunities and resigned from teaching at Whitehorse High School back in February. Since then Jared has interviewed with many schools and school districts and has been runner up for several great positions. Other positions have come up but have not been the right fit for Jared or for our family. We're still looking for our next teaching job, and trying to have faith and trust that the Lord knows where our little family is supposed to do next.
We learned about a month ago that we had to be moved out of our home here in Montezuma Creek in teacher housing by June 10th (that's in less than 3 weeks from now by the way). So we've spent the last month slowly packing up our home. Our storage unit is now full of packed boxes and totes. We've gathered things we'd like to get rid of. Slowly things are getting packed. Hopefully by 2 weeks from today we will have packed up almost all of our belongings.
With us not having a teaching position for next year, we will be moving twice before the summer is over. Currently the plan is to store all our belongings in my parents barn for the next month or so (or at least that is the hope). So far it looks like at least in June we'll be living like drifters or out of suitcases. We've got a family reunion with Jared's immediate family less than a week after we move. At the end of June is another family reunion with our Davenport family (extended family on Jared's side). By July we should have thing figured out for the next school year, though that is still a big question mark. Again we're trying to have faith and trust that the Lord knows where our little family is supposed to do next.

Looking Back

As we have been packing and preparing to leave Montezuma Creek, a flood of memories have come. In our bathroom 8 puppies were born. For 2 months 8 puppies and their mother lived in my kitchen. Deciding to add Sam to our family and raising a puppy. Here is where we struggled the most with infertility, but also it was here that we had the support to get through it. We've had many outdoor movie nights with all our wonderful friends/neighbors. It was here that I finally got that positive pregnancy test and experience the joy of feeling that little life growing inside me. For 2 years I taught seminary which helped me as I struggled with my relationship with God and taught me so much about the gospel and what it can take to be a good teacher. Countless dinners with the missionaries which gave us the opportunity to serve and learn how we can help bring others to know Christ. Helping people move in and helping people move out of our little neighborhood. Playing at the San Juan River with Bo and Sam.  Playing down in the wash with Bo and Sam. Playing in the practice field both during the day and at night with Bo and Sam. Going on Band Tour. Band concerts. Holidays. Visiting the National Parks & Monuments in this area (Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, 4 Corners). Game nights with friends (definitely need to do at least 1 more of these before we move). Branch Activities. Playgroup with the neighbor kids. Countless movie marathons. It was here that we started parenthood, which consisted of late nights, lots of snuggles, teething, and baby giggles.
Our time here in Montezuma Creek has been quite the experience, if you couldn't tell by all those memories. We've learned a lot here. We've had to learn how to plan ahead since the nearest grocery store is about an hour away. I learned how to step out of my comfort zone and talk to complete strangers. I learned many copycat recipes since all our favorite restaurants/fast food is an hour or more away. We learned about dog training as we raised Sam and as we got them ready for Rachel to be here. We've learned a little of what it is like to be a minority and have cultural differences from the community you live in. We've learned to rely on ourselves more since we lived far from our families. Our time here has helped shape us into the people we are now. It's given Jared very valuable teaching experience, experience he could not get anywhere else.

To all our friends still here, you my friends have become our family. I know we wouldn't have stayed this long without you. You are what I will miss the most. And thankfully thanks to social media we can always stay connected.

We will never forget our time here in Mussi. The memories and experiences here are priceless. This area will always be a special place to us.

6 months

My how the time is just flying. Little Miss Rachel is 6 months old. I can't believe that in 6 more months she will be 1 year old. She is just growing SO fast. I don't have much time so I'm going to have to bullet point this post.

• Rachel LOVES to sit. She would rather sit than pretty much anything else.
• Tummy time isn't her favorite thing, but she doesn't hate it necessarily.
• She easily rolls from her back to her tummy, but has a harder time rolling from tummy to back. Not being able to roll easily from tummy to back is becoming problematic in the night when she rolls over and gets stuck.
• We've started her on some solid foods. She LOVES cereals (we've tried rice and oatmeal so far). She has tried pears, bananas, apples, peaches, sweet potatoes, carrots and beans. She wasn't wild about the beans or carrots. Her favorites have been the sweet potatoes and the apples. Her daddy loves that he gets to be more involved with eating now.
• She takes a bottle very well, either of breastmilk or formula (she prefers breastmilk obviously). In the afternoon she will down 6 ounces of formula within 10 minutes.
• She CAN sleep for 8 hours straight at night, though that doesn't always happen. She does take 2 to 3 naps during the day, though lately they have been only an hour or less long.
• She officially has 1 tooth popping through on the bottom. She's had all the signs of teething for months so it's kind of nice to see a tooth starting to actually show. Teething rings have been our friends lately.
• She loves to grab tags. It's funny how many things have tags on them.
• We watch a lot of PBS during the day so that she stays entertained while I work. Her favorites shows are Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street. She LOVES Cookie Monster and gets SO excited whenever he is on screen. We also watch Thomas & Friends on Amazon which she seems to like too.
• When we went to the doctor a few weeks ago we learned she is in  the 50th (or over I'm not 100% sure) percentile in both height and weight. She's nearly 17 pounds now.
• She is officially in 6-9 or 9 month Jammies (mostly because she is so long) and is almost ready to move up to that size in the rest of her clothes. She doesn't particularly like to wear socks so we often don't wear them.
• She LOVES to be outside. However, the gnats are terrible here so we don't get to go outside for long. When we were at my parents last week she loved that she could stay outside for as long as she wants. We are looking forward to being able to be outside more this summer.
• She loves to see herself in the mirror. She thinks that Rachel girl is SO cute, and who can argue with that.
• She loves dogs (big surprise huh). We are already teaching her not to grab or even touch a dog's face and to be soft. She tends to grab onto their hair, but eventually she'll figure it out. We are glad that our boys have been  patient with her. She loves to watch them chase after balls and gets excited to see them.
• She laughs and giggles more and more. Her daddy can always get her to laugh (and he loves that).

Well that pretty much sums up our sweet little girl. I took her to get her pictures taken the 1st week of May, her 6 month pictures. Her dad wasn't there to get the best smiles out of her, but I think they turned out great. Here are a few of my favorites.

We love her so very much. Can't wait for the adventures we'll have with her this summer.

Life at 4 months

Hello all! Sorry I haven't blogged much since Miss Rachel came into this world and turned my world upside down. I find that it is harder to work at my desktop computer than on my tiny laptop, which means less opportunities to blog. But I figured I better get on here and write a quick something. If you are wanting to know what is really going on with our family (because lets face it blogging may be taking a back seat for the next little while) be sure to add us on Facebook and Instagram.

The last 4 months have been some of the hardest and most definitely the best ones of my life. Life with a young infant is tiring, but to me so incredibly worth it. I guess it's because of what we went through to be parents. It is so rewarding to see this little person gain personality and to discover the world for the first time. I have often run on 6 hours of sleep or less. I am working once again, usually 15-20 hours a week.
We've stayed close to home for the most part, though that changed when we make our 1st trip to Ridgecrest CA since becoming a family of 5. I was VERY nervous to make this 10+ hour drive with my 4 month old daughter. She hates to be stuck in the car seat for very long, especially when she's the only one back there. I made it so we can hang some of her toys from the handle of her car seat to keep her entertained. We did the drive there in 1 day and it took us 13 hours, and Rachel did much better than I thought she would. Though the last few hours she made us stop almost every hour, mostly because she was tired of being in the car and who could blame her. On our way home we split the trip up and drove to St George on 1 day and then the rest of the way home the next day. With as well as Rachel did I may be taking some solo trips with her to South Jordan in the not so distant future. I will do a post soon on our trip to Ridgecrest.

Seeing as most of you haven't spent much if any time with Miss Rachel, here are a few little things about this sweet girl of ours.

• She LOVES bath time. From day 1 she has loved being in the water. For a while there she would get upset when you took her out of the warm water, thankfully now she loves to be cuddled up in her towel after bath time is over. Because of her love of baths, she gets one most every night and is a big part of our bedtime routine. 
• She smiles almost all the time. She will not smile at the camera very often. 
• She had her first laugh when she turned 3 months old. It is the cutest sound ever. Her daddy is the one who can always get her to laugh, and it took a few weeks for mommy to get her to laugh. 
• She is a people watcher. We go to a playgroup here in Mussi every week and she just loves to watch the other kids playing and running around.
• She LOVES to watch her dogs/brothers Bo and Sam. She wants to see what they are up to. She also doesn't mind when they nudge or lick her.
• At her last appointment at the beginning of February she was in the 90th percentile in height and over the 50th in weight. 
• She does not like tummy time very much.
• She hasn't quite figured out how to roll over. She has rolled from front to back a few times though.
• She likes to sit in her bumbo seat. I think it's mostly because then she can see what is going on. She is can sit almost anywhere as long as she has some sort of support.
• She loves to kick her legs, and recently discovered that her toes are pretty awesome. She often pulls them up to her mouth and tries to stick them in her mouth.
• She is starting to teethe. She will chew on her fingers, my fingers, and toys. She also is starting to be a little drool monster, thank goodness for cute bibs.
• She is starting to sleep through the night most nights now. She is usually in bed by 11 and will often sleep until about 7. It is nice to get some longer stretches of sleep. She does take a few short naps during the day, and if she doesn't get much of a nap she is a little terror in the evening and will only accept being taken care of by her momma.
• She still loves her swing (often it's where she will fall asleep and take her naps) but isn't such a fan of her bouncer.
• She is MOST DEFINITELY a momma's girl. She loves her daddy, but momma has the magic touch (sorry Jared). So if you do happen to get the chance to hold that sweet girl don't be hurt when she cries.
• She has enjoyed being outside when we've been able to go out. She spent quite a bit of time outside while we were in Ridgecrest since it was so warm while we were there. I have a feeling we will be outside a lot more now that it seems spring is here. 

1 year ago

1 year ago today my life changed forever. It was something I had hoped and prayed for but honestly wasn't expecting at that time. Here is what I wrote about that day back in April 2016.

"Well the weeks went by and I was supposed to start my next cycle on Valentine's Day of all days. But when it didn't start on time I didn't think much of it because I tend to be a little late. But when it had almost been a week (February 20th) I decided I'd just take that pregnancy test just to get things started, I mean it worked every time before then. Plus there was NO WAY I was actually pregnant. What happened next surprised us both.

I thought I was seeing things so I asked Jared to look at it. He saw the same result I did. Positive. Even with seeing those 2 lines I doubted it. So just to be safe I broke out the more expensive digital one, the kind that leaves no question. Plus it gives you a week predictor too so I knew I could trust it. Of course I had to wait several hours to take it. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon here is what we saw...

1 word... pregnant. We cried, we laughter, and we hugged. We were shocked!"


1 year ago today I found out that I was finally pregnant. From that moment on everything was different. And today I have the cutest little almost 4 months (holy shmolies when did that happen) old little girl.

Every day I am grateful for my little Rachel. I am so glad she finally decided to join our little family.

10/28/16 - Baby Girl is here!

Hello my readers! It's been well over a month since my last post, but that's because I've been busy with our new addition. But I wanted to have the story of the birth of our special girl documented so that I can always remember it, so here it goes. It's going to be a long post so hang in there.


It was Thursday October 27th and it was a more busy day. At noon I had my work Halloween Party, which was really us meeting at the office to have lunch and dress up. Since I knew I was having a baby so close to Halloween I didn't really have a costume ready since I didn't really know what I'd be doing at the end of October (well other than potentially being overdue or with my new baby girl). I ended up wearing a shirt kind of like this one...

After the party I headed back home all the while feeling the contractions I had been having for a week. I got home at about 2 pm and since the internet wasn't cooperating I decided to just relax and watch TV. Around 3 pm my contractions became stronger and so I tried all I could to relax and take a nap so they would stop (because they always did). At about 4:30 Jared called and it became apparent that my contractions were not going away, mostly because I could no longer talk through them. Jared said I should head up to the hospital since my contractions were bad and I couldn't talk through them. So I grabbed my hospital bag and my mom drove me up to LDS Hospital in downtown SLC. It's a good thing we were heading into downtown instead of out of it at 5 pm because it was rush hour, though once we got off the free way I was swearing up a storm yelling at people who were being stupid. But hey I was in labor so I think it's totally understandable. My mom dropped me at the curb and I headed up to Labor & Delivery on the 4th floor while she parked the car. As soon as I go to the desk at L&D a nurse asked if I was contracting, I said "Yeah" but to be honest was thinking "Ya think." I had to sign a few papers so they could treat me and decided to not try to be tough and said yes to the wheelchair and then we went off to the room.
I got changed and shortly after that they got me hooked up to all the monitors. They also checked my cervix and thankfully I had progressed, though barely, since my appointment on Tuesday. They decided to monitor me for an hour to see if I would continue to progress. So we called Jared who was still back home to put him on notice that he may need to start driving. Once he was ready he decided to make his way up to Blanding and wait to hear from us. So for an hour they monitored my contractions, baby girl's heart rate, and my blood pressure. At some point during this hour they decided they needed a urine sample from me (I would learn later it was due to my higher blood pressure). I waited an hour all the while having painful contraction that would leave me crying, which is saying something since I never cry when I'm in pain. All I could think during that hour is that I needed my husband, mostly because he could help me stay calm and help me work through these contractions better than anyone else. After this 1 hour period they came to check me again, but nothing major had happened. I mentioned to the nurses that Dr Steele was concerned that I would have a hard time having a vaginal birth due to my more narrow pelvis. So she checked again paying more attention and agreed that my pelvis is more narrow. They decided to keep me so we called Jared and told him to finish driving up, safely but quickly.
Then came time to make some decisions (decisions should never have to be made by a woman in labor by the way). I could go ahead with a C-Section and have Dr Steele (you know the doctor I had been driving 6 hours to see over the past 9 months) do it right away (which was a very tempting offer as I was in pain from these contractions and was SO ready to be done) or wait it out for Jared to get there knowing my chances of getting my doctor would be slim to none. Seriously one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make, but told the nurses to let Dr Steele know that I would wait until Jared got there to have a C-Section. Dr Steele called my room and talked to my mom while they were hooking me up to an IV and doing a few other things. The nurses seemed shocked that he called my room directly to talk to my mom. He wanted to make sure that I knew he wasn't deserting me and that he had full trust in Dr Daniels and Dr Cannon who were there that night. He also said that he'd be willing to come in the middle of the morning and do my C-Section if that's what was needed. Now if that isn't one of the most caring and dedicated doctors I don't know what is. You see now why I drove 6 hours every month just to see this guy. So at this point the plan was to wait for Jared to get there then take me back to OR for a C-Section, that is unless by some miracle I progressed super fast and a vaginal birth became a possibility.
It was about 8:30 when the anesthesiologist came in to administer my epidural (thank heavens). As he was getting ready he joked that many women name their babies after him because of the miracles he can do (seriously it's pretty amazing). So we asked what his name was... and guess what... his name is Robert Hall!!! My mom and I had a good laugh since that is my dad's name. We let him know that that is my dad's name and that we do plan on using the name Robert when we have a boy. Anyway, getting the epidural was a pretty cool experience (what can I say I am a science/medical nerd). He had me sit with my back to him with my legs crossed. He then helped me get into the correct position so he could work his magic. It was actually pretty nerve wracking but that's because I knew exactly what he was doing. Plus trying to stay still while having a contraction is hard to do. But once he was done and the epidural was doing its job I could no longer feel any contractions. YAY!!! I can't imagine going through labor without an epidural, and plan on getting one for each labor I have.
At this point I was pretty much just stuck in bed and couldn't have anything to eat or to drink really, which was a huge bummer because I hadn't eaten since my work lunch party. Thankfully I had plenty of company to help pass the time. My sister ended up coming up to the hospital so she could take a few pictures and to be supportive, and my dad also came up around 11. It was really just a waiting game for me. They kept monitoring me and baby. At one point during all of this I could see the concern on my nurse Bailey's face as I would have contractions. Turns out baby girl did not like my contractions and her heart rate would drop when I would have contractions instead of going up. So they then had me put on an oxygen mask since it was likely that baby girl wasn't getting enough oxygen during my contractions due to my placenta being old (I mean I was 4 days past due). I absolutely hated having that mask on, I'd get claustrophobic and would get this awful taste in my mouth.
At about 1:00 am Jared finally got to the hospital (he may or may not do a post on his experience with the birth of our daughter). I was SO glad to see him. For the last several hours as we were monitoring baby girl I was worried that they would have to rush me into the OR and perform the C-Section without Jared there, not to mention he's the biggest part of my support system. This huge relief came over me seeing him, I knew that everything would be ok. Once they knew Jared had made it they started finishing making preparations for  my C-Section. Turns out that Dr Daniels was already in surgery with another patient so as soon as they finished they would clean up the OR and get things ready for me. It was nice to have some time with Jared before they took us into OR. At about 1:30 Jared and my dad gave me a wonderful blessing. I can't remember what all was said, but I do remember that I was blessed to be able to make this transition to motherhood. The blessing gave me comfort and I knew that me and the baby would be ok. 2:00 am rolled around and they told Jared to get all suited up in the scrubs they had for him. Dr Daniels came in sometime after that and explained that I was having preeclamsia and that the best thing we could do to get rid of it was for me to have the baby. Looking back now I can see that I definitely was experiencing preeclampsia because of my blood pressure and the swelling in my body especially my feet. Dr Daniels explained that after I was out of surgery they would administer some magnesium sulfate to help me recover from the preeclampsia and also prevent me from seizing.
At about 2:30 am they finally took us back to OR and as they rolled me away I said goodbye to my parents and sister. I really don't think I could have made it through the night without them. Once we got into the OR they moved me over to the operating table. Of course they needed my help moving my body which was difficult to do since I was numb from the waist down. So weird to have your brain tell a part of your body to move and then not really be able to do it. They placed this sheet in front of my chest (basically right in front of my face) and placed the oxygen mask over my face. I laid there as they finished their preparations and tried to focus on my breathing since I was starting to have some difficulties. There was a lot going on so a lot of those first few minutes are kind of a blur. As things started happening I was glad to have Jared to my left and Dr Hall at my head. I told Jared to not tell me what was going on because my heart rate was high (or at least it felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest) and I was having a hard time breathing, but I asked him to take some pictures. (Once I get my camera hooked up to the computer I'll add them here.)
At 3:02 am our little girl was born. She let out this cry and my heart just soared and tears filled my eyes. They needed to take her to another room to get the gunk out of her and give her some shots and Jared took off with her. They eventually got her weight, 9.1 pounds!!! Once I heard that I knew that I made the right choice in having a C-Section. I would have had a VERY hard time with a vaginal delivery with how big she was. She was 22 inches long, guess she takes after her dad in the height department. Anyway, back to me. In the rush to get her in better shape I didn't get to see my baby, but I knew her dad was with her and that kept me from going out of my mind. Thankfully I still had Dr Hall right there if I needed anything. While they worked on stitching me back up they all kind of talked shop. Apparently the woman before me wasn't doing very well and was hemorrhaging. Dr Daniels talked about an issue he had with a nurse, who if I was hearing right was one my the nurses that took care of me when I first got there. Apparently he thought my preeclampsia should have been better taken care of right off the bat. Anyway I tried to ignore the shop talk and just think about breathing. I could feel tugs as they were sewing me back up, pretty cool actually.
It was probably close to 4:00 when they finally finished up with me and Jared came in holding our precious daughter. They moved me off the table and back into my bed. They sat me up and it was then that I saw my baby girl for the first time. She already was sucking away on a pacifier. I was instantly in love with her. They cradled her in my arm (at the time I didn't really have control over my body so they made it so I could at least have her close to me). They wheeled us back to our room so they could continue to monitor me and get me on the magnesium as well as pitocin to help my uterus contract and start returning to its normal size. My mom, dad and sister were anxious to see us and meet this little girl...

(Isn't she beautiful! And look at all that RED hair!)

Not long after meeting baby girl my parents and sister decided to go home and get some sleep themselves. The next few hours were a blur as we were still in Labor & Delivery. We tried to do some breastfeeding, though my milk hadn't quite come in yet. I was totally exhausted so we all just slept. Sometime that morning (maybe 9:00 or something) Dr Steele came in. He apologized for not being there but expressed his total confidence in the doctors that did my surgery. He said that they'd have me on the magnesium for at least 12 hours, that he would check on how I was doing during the weekend, and that he'd see us again on Monday and then we could go home. It wasn't too long after seeing Dr Steele that they transferred us over to Maternity. As we were heading out they played a lullaby over the speakers in honor of our baby girl.
We got to our room (number 452) and met our nurse for the day, Lauren. The rest of that first day we worked on breastfeeding and kept monitoring me as I was on the magnesium. We met with a pediatrician and he checked out our girl. He said she looked just great. Later in the afternoon my dad came back to check on us, I have the best dad. In the afternoon I also tried to eat because I was STARVING. I thought I would be able to handle the baked potato soup, but I was wrong. SO not fair because it was so good. Later in the day my mom came to visit and brought a few things we needed with her. At 5:00 they decided to take me off the magnesium (YAY) and said I could have the catheter out an hour later. Once I got the catheter out I was able to get out of bed. It was so weird to get back on my feet, and I was extremely wobbly but considering I had been confined to a bed for 20 hours I think I did pretty good. Lauren helped get me out of bed and into the bathroom and helped me get set up in there with a squirt bottle and pads and such.
That night Jared and I decided that we should really focus and come up with a name for our daughter. The names at the top of our list all didn't quite seem right, so we went over a few other names. I mentioned the name Rachel and we both liked it a lot. We kept talking about other names but didn't like any others better. So we decided to "test drive" the name and knew that that was definitely her name. So the next day we announced the arrival of Miss Rachel to the world with this picture...

We very much enjoyed our time at LDS Hospital. We had a few visitors while there: my parents (who came every day), both of my brothers, my grandma, one of my aunts, and Jared's sister and her husband. It was nice to have visitors. The food was wonderful and I was able to order whatever I wanted and it was delivered to my room. Seriously I ate SO well while we were in the hospital. All the nurses were WONDERFUL and they all worked with me and baby girl to get breastfeeding working for us. They always made sure I had water and made sure I got my meds when I needed them. I felt so well cared for. Each night we sent Rachel off to the nursery so we would get more sleep, though they brought her back any time she needed to eat. Other than during the night Rachel stayed right there with us in our room. There was one night that she was running a bit of a temperature so they ran some tests just to be safe and thankfully everything came back good. I never worried about her while we were in the hospital. Each day we saw a pediatrician and an OB/GYN. Everything always checked out good. On Saturday Jared left us and went to my parents to see our dogs (who were SO excited to see him) and take a shower. Saturday was also my dad's birthday so Jared was able to have dinner (pizza from the Pi) with my family. On Sunday I was able to take a shower finally, and boy did it feel good. Monday came and we were all ready to head home (well to my parent's home). They sent me home with the same meds I had been on at the hospital as well as extra pads and stuff to help with the bleeding. They also sent us home with a gift bag with all sorts of goodies for Rachel to help us take care of her (the bag itself doubles as a backpack and we've already been putting it to use). It took a couple trips to get everything, but eventually we got everything including Rachel all in the car. We are SO grateful to all the people who took care of us at LDS Hospital, from our nurses and CNAs to the food service people to housekeeping to the doctors that were on duty that weekend. I couldn't have asked for better people to take care of me and my baby. Just to show how awesome they were, they sent us thank you card that all the nurses and CNAs that took care of us signed. I am so grateful that everything went well during labor and during the rest of our time at the hospital, and that I was able to give birth to the most beautiful, perfect, healthy baby girl.

Decisions

So yesterday I had a non-stress test and the amniotic fluid levels were checked over at the hospital before I went to be checked by Dr Steele at his office. The nurse started with the amniotic fluid levels which they determine through ultrasound. It was sure nice to see my baby again after 20 weeks. Baby girl didn't make things easy as they measured for fluid though. My fluid levels were at 7.1, which is at the bottom of the normal range. So not scary, but something to watch. Baby girl did great during the non-stress test, which is where they monitor her heart rate for 30 minutes and see how she does during contractions and that her heart rate goes up as she moves around. I did have contractions during the test so that's a good sign I think. Anyway I then saw Dr Steele and he checked my cervix. And what do ya know, I'm still at a fingertip and my cervix is high (which is what it has been for like 3 weeks now). Very discouraging to say the least. The other thing Dr Steele said was that my pelvis is a little more narrow and that is labor would be VERY difficult for me considering everything else going on, and that he foresees us having to have this baby cesarean. So what now??? There are a few things that can happen now. 1-I can wait and have another non-stress test on Friday, and IF my levels are the same wait it through the weekend (which my doctor will be unavailable during) and then see what happens next week. 2-Just schedule a cesarean now and be done. 3-Wait and have another non-stress test done on Friday, and IF my levels are at a 4 be induced or have a cesarean then (with the possibility of not having my doctor). Well after taking the night to think (and cry) over everything and talking to my doctor again, I think we have a plan. I'm going to take care of myself by drinking more water and resting as much as possible the next few days (in other words do everything I can to keep baby girl in there and keep my fluid levels as high as I can). I am going to call into Maternal Fetal Medicine and see about doing my non-stress test as early as I can on Friday (on the off chance that my levels are low) and see what happens. I have a feeling my levels aren't going to go from a 7 to a 4 by then especially if I stick to my plan and rest and pamper myself the next few days. And if baby girl hasn't come on her own by Monday schedule induction if my cervix is more favorable or schedule a cesarean. I feel like this is the best option for me and this baby. It will allow her some more time to drop and "cook" and me a chance to not have a cesarean. I have nothing against having a cesarean, but I do know that a cesarean means a little longer recovery and potentially issues down the road in future pregnancies. I don't feel like I HAVE to have a vaginal birth in order to have a good birthing experience or feel like I will be missing out on something by not having a vaginal birth. I wish I could be more certain about what will happen over the next few days, but am trusting my instincts as well as my doctor. When I told Dr Steele my idea he thought that would be a great plan. He actually has another patient who is kind of in the same boat (first baby, same levels, etc) and she ended up going into labor last night so things could always just happen on their own. The important thing is that we end up with a healthy baby and I pull through this healthy or at least in good condition anyway. So... everyone cross your fingers and send good vibes for me and baby girl.