A Year and a Half of Updates - Condensed

So, I've been terrible about keeping up this blog. My apologies to anyone who was hoping for regular reading material from me. A lot has happened since I last wrote much on here.

• Brian passed the bar. 
• Brian started his own immigration and family law practice. 
• We moved to Taylorsville. 
• We bought a house. 
• We remodeled the house... a lot. 
• We moved into my in-laws' basement while we remodeled.
• We moved to Cottonwood Heights, to our very first home of our own. It's a nice place on a busy street. It's surprisingly quiet both inside and in the backyard. Plus it has the gigantic tree of my dreams.
• I sold my beloved truck to one of our new neighbors, and now it's all fixed up and showing off for car shows. 
• Izzy grew up into a two and a half year old who is now talking up a storm. 
• When he was nine months old, I got pregnant with another little boy. 
• Jacob, our second born, will have his first birthday tomorrow. He is such a sweet guy, and such a joy. He started walking last month. These kids make me so happy, every single day. 
• I started an online Spanish teaching/tutoring gig that I can do from home while the kids nap.
• Lately, I've been trying to get out of the house more during any downtime. Baseball games, concerts, hikes, etc. Summer weather is great for that.
• I don't sleep much, hence the lack of blogging. I will try to get Jake's birth story up soon though. Although it's been a year, I still remember it well, and it was amazing. So it will definitely be shared. 

Isaiah's Awesome Birth Story

One year ago, I went through one of the most amazing, empowering, sacred, exciting experiences of my life. I gave birth to a beautiful, perfect little baby boy. It's crazy to think that a year has passed already. That sweet little angel is now crawling all over the place, getting ready to walk, and babbling in his cute baby language constantly. But just one year ago, he was making his entrance into this world.

Childbirth was something I decided to put a lot of time, research and preparation into. After watching various videos on BabyCenter, I became intrigued by how calm and peaceful the moms were who were using hypnosis for pain management. I began researching Hypnobirthing, which led me to something even better: Hypnobabies. (Seriously, check out the link!) The main difference between the two programs is that Hypnobabies is a little more involved. I felt it gave me more tools, helped more with pain management, and that I ended up having an empowered birthing experience because of it, free of fear.

I wasn't expecting Izzy to come when he did, a month early. When my water broke on a Monday night, I thought I had just lost control of my bladder. (Hey, it happens in pregnancy.) Luckily, I just happened to have an appointment with my midwife the next day. She discovered during our appointment that my water had broken. I still remember the shock I felt when she told me, "You're not leaving this hospital. Looks like you're having this baby today!" I called and text messaged Brian, who was in class at the time, as well as my amazing doula, Marinda. (To anyone thinking about hiring a doula for your birthing experience, do it! You'll be glad you did.)

As I sat in the labor and delivery with Brian and Marinda, I felt like we were having a party. We snacked on peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with water, and just chatted happily. (Yes, we snuck in food and water. I refused to fast. You wouldn't fast for a marathon. Why do it for childbirth?) My body didn't go into labor on its own, so by about 4 or so in the afternoon, they had to induce me with Pitocin. Even as they upped the dosage more and more until it reached maximum, I wasn't really feeling contractions. The machine said I was having them, but I just didn't sense them.

As we were hanging out, I began hearing a horrific noise from down the hall. Some poor woman was creating what were, by far, the worst screams I've ever heard from a human being. (This was definitely the worst part of the whole experience.) In order to drown her out and continue to focus on positivity, we turned on some music instead.

Lauryn Hill was my sound of choice, and listening to her album put me in such a good mood. I was having a great time, rapping along with every lyric, while the nursing staff continued to look at me like I was crazy. I remember one looking at the contraction monitor and saying, "You're rapping? With contractions as strong as this? Wow..." The monitor indicated they had gotten pretty strong, but I still wasn't feeling any discomfort whatsoever.

After a few more tracks, sadly, the hospital staff made me turn off Lauryn Hill. Apparently, I was rapping too fast, and it made my blood pressure go up. Yes, it was tragic. But since I wanted to keep my son as safe as possible, I followed their advice. We switched the sounds of the room to my Hypnobabies CDs, and that helped me to relax a bit more.

We received a couple of visits around this point. Brian's dad came by for a short time to assist Brian in giving me a priesthood blessing. My sister also came by, and stayed for most of the evening. It was nice having such a caring support system there with me.

I was progressing pretty slowly. At my 11am appointment that day I was dilated to a 3, and by 9pm, I was only at about a 4 & 1/2. I began to worry that I would need to have a C-section, since my midwife told me we needed to get the baby out within 24 hours of my water breaking. 1am was my supposed deadline. That time came and went, but luckily, my midwife decided to be patient and see how things progressed naturally for a few more hours. At about 2am or so, my sister left to go take care of our dogs for us.

By the time 3am came, things were starting to get more intense. I began relying on Brian and Marinda much more as I worked to stay relaxed, and as I focused on the Hypnobabies prompts that were playing through the CD player. As I began to feel some discomfort, I worried that it would turn into the horrific experience the woman down the hall seemed to be having. I asked for an epidural at that point, thinking that I might need one to handle everything. My midwife and doula knew how much I wanted a natural birthing experience though, so they told me, "Just give it 20 minutes. If in 20 minutes you're still sure you want an epidural, you can have one."

I was glad they told me that. And I was glad that I ended up not getting one. Unbeknownst to me, in the space of about an hour I had progressed from a 4 & 1/2 to a 10. A little after 4am, I announced that I had to go to the bathroom. Maneuvering around the room while attached to a machine became too much for me, especially with wires coming out of my hospital gown. I was in some kind of zone, and I guess lost all sense of modesty, so I just took off my hospital gown so it wouldn't bug me anymore and went to the bathroom.

Brian, Marinda, and the nurse accompanied me to the bathroom. As I was on the toilet, I announced that I needed to poop. At that point, the nurse and Marinda said, "No! Get off the toilet, NOW!" and they dragged me to the table where Lindsay, my midwife, would check me to see how far I had dilated. I was at a 10! She told me, "Okay, you can push now!"

As I pushed, I felt such a sense of relief. Honestly, I didn't feel any pain during pushing. It pretty much just felt like a big poop. I became so excited as Lindsay announced she could see Isaiah's head! I was so tired at this point, that my plans of pushing on my hands and knees went out the window, and I just laid on my side with Brian holding my leg up for me.

After only maybe 5-10 minutes tops of pushing, at 4:20am, our beautiful little boy was born! I held him skin to skin against my chest as he took his first breaths, and as we waited for his umbilical cord to stop pulsating. Brian then held him and bonded while I pushed the placenta out. The nurses weighed and measured him: 6 lbs, 1 oz, 17 inches long.

They said he had inhaled some amniotic fluid, and would need to go to the NICU. Before they took him away, they let me hold him once again. I remember just gazing in awe at his perfect little face, memorizing every tiny detail: his earlobes, the cute little knob on his nose, the creases in his forehead, those gorgeous eyes, that adorable little dimple on his chin. I had Brian follow our sweet little boy to the NICU, where he was able to see where they would be treating him. When my sister arrived soon after, Brian and I were able to enjoy some cherished alone time with our new son, as a new little family.

Having a child in the NICU was a difficult experience, but luckily, Izzy made it out. Our first few days at home together were nothing short of sacred. And each additional day that we've gotten to spend with this sweet boy has been such a blessing. We love him so, so, so much!

Overall, I would describe Isaiah's labor and delivery experience as an amazing, empowering, sacred experience. While I worried for a short time during labor that I wouldn't be able to do it without an epidural, it was so exciting to me to discover that, in fact, I could. It made me feel strong. I was glad I was able to be completely present and completely experience everything. And I am so grateful for the Hypnobabies program! It actually has me excited to give birth again. :)

 

 

Time Flies!

Wow. Has it really been 8 months since I've posted on here?! Oops. I'm gonna try to be better. Updates are coming soon.

Shout Out to My Roo! It's His Found Day!

Today is a day worth celebrating. A day I'll remember forever, and always be grateful for. Six years ago today, on July 13, this very special dog crossed my path and changed my life for eternity.

It was a hot Wednesday afternoon, just like today. As I walked down 7th East on my way home from the BYU campus, I spotted this furry guy running up to each pedestrian. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth about as far as it could while he begged each person for love. I watched as they all shooed him away, one by one.

Then, he darted across the street to me.

I couldn't resist his charm. I gave him some leftover pizza that I had from lunch, and that was all it took. We were instant best buddies. Then he followed me home. After giving him some water, I took the above photo, gave him a bath, and set out to find his owners. I put up signs, called animal control, and notified the local police. Nobody was looking for him.

That night, I looked at him and asked, "Dog, what's your name?"

"RooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

This dog had spoken. Roo it was.

I had worked enough with a local animal rescue group to know that he didn't have much of a chance of survival at the pound. I couldn't keep him in the place I was living, and knew that I had 2 options: turn the sweet guy over for an imminent death, or move elsewhere and keep him myself.

Funny thing, that week some remake of "Listen to Your Heart" was playing on the radio. I remember hearing the lyrics "listen to your heart... before you tell him goodbye"and just knowing that I needed to keep him. Some people probably thought I was crazy, but I had the strongest feeling that this street dog had come into my life for a reason. He needed me, and I needed him.

Once I moved to a place where I could keep him, Roo introduced me to Brian. Then, as Roo, Brian & I went for countless walks together over the space of about 3 years, a funny thing happened. Brian and I became best friends. We fell in love. Got married. Got Rudy another dog. Had a baby.

All because of this lovable street dog. If it weren't for him, my family wouldn't exist. When I say that Rudy's changed my life for eternity, I'm not exaggerating.

Thinking about it, Rudy's made a huge impact on some other people's lives as well.

• The day I moved to that 1st place where I could keep Rudy, my neighbor volunteered to watch him for me. He sat on his lawn (the corner of a semi-busy street), strumming his guitar with Rudy tethered beside him. While sitting there, girl after girl would walk by and ask, "Hey, can I pet your dog?" He and his roommate BOTH met their wives that day.
• My friend Melinda, wanting to be in my ward (church congregation based on neighborhood boundaries), moved into those same apartments where I could keep Rudy. She met her husband there.
• I met one of my closest friends, Olia, while walking Roo. Without Rudy's help, she and I would have never become friends. 

Besides being The Love Dog & The Friendship Maker, Rudy has chased away bad guys, rescued me from a river, been an awesome nanny to his new baby, and has taught me much about the kind of loyalty and forgiveness I want to have for important people in my life.

Happy Found Day, Roo Dog! I'll never be able to thank you enough for all the blessings you've brought into my life.

Izzy's Book for his Dad

* "kwoj aõ" = Marshallese for "you're my"