I've really been slacking on the blogging front lately, but it's because I have the world's cutest baby who I have to spend hours doting upon daily leaving me with little time to pursue other activities. I've actually created several posts in the last few weeks but haven't posted them because I never had the time to complete them...so I'll do a recap of the important information. Oh and this post was supposed to have pictures but my camera and computer aren't on speaking terms today. Hopefully they'll make up and be friends tomorrow.

Announcing the Winners of My Prediction Contest: Allison T. (not to be confused with other Allison's or Alison's who read this blog) correctly predicted IV's birth date...although secretly I was hoping for Kellee to win, I mean having IV be born on 4-4? That would have been fantastic, but I am certainly glad that I was not in labor for that long. Now Lucky Mom correctly predicted the majority of the other categories including hours in labor (7 all together) so we have two winners. As for your prizes, you'll just have to wait and see!!

What Made Me Super Happy: Would be the fact that I lost 20 pounds within the first week that I had IV. My weight gain was a big issue to me, and I've heard that others were shocked as well when they saw the video of IV's birth and how swollen I was. I still have tons of weight to go but I'm just happy to not be retaining all the water anymore.

The Lucky Family Member Who Was The First To Hold IV: Would be my mother. She flew out here for a week and was invaluable to all of us. She actually would stay awake with me all hours of the night while we tried to figure out why IV wouldn't sleep. I was sooo well rested while she was here and she loved holding IV all day long...now he doesn't want to be put down. Ever. Thanks mom.

News About IV: Everyone who sees him comments on how TINY he looks. At our two week appointment we were told that he was back up to his birth weight and that he had grown two inches. The doctors had originally thought he would weigh more by then, but his size growth made up for it. My family's just thrilled that he might be on the tall-side. I'm afraid I'll end up like the widow on Mary Poppins whose daughters are much taller than she is. We'll just have to wait and see.

He is starting to be awake more and loves looking around, especially at the lights. His favorite place to sleep is on our chests which is quite enjoyable during the day time, but doesn't allow us to sleep much at night. He can't hold his head up yet and it certainly isn't for lack of trying. Oooh, and his favorite thing to do is to scratch his face and then to cry while it hurts, silly boy.

Well we love him tons and we're super excited to be moving back to Arizona in four weeks! IV can't wait to meet everyone!!

Poundage

I originally took the weight question off of the guessing game because even when people did guess, no one got anywhere near where my end weight was. I gained so much weight it was ridiculous. The only thing that was helping to make me feel better was the knowledge that so much of it at the end was just water weight. For those of you who saw the video Stephen made you could see that I was just a giant balloon of water.


The Sunday before I gave birth Stephen and I were playing a little game with my water weight at church. If you poked my feet/legs the imprint would stay for quite some time. It was super gross. Then Stephen asked the Bishop's wife (who was sitting right in front of us) to poke my leg so she could see how much water I was retaining. And she did. Awkward.


I was shaving my legs at home for the first time since being in the hospital and I was amazed at how tiny my legs were! Those little ankles could actually support my weight?!? My feet and toes are no longer marshmallows and those pregnancy shoes...they are WAY too big now! My fingers are no longer sausages, and I can almost put on my wedding ring again!


Seeing how the water was draining out of me I have been dying to know what I weigh now. We don't have a scale at home and so I've really been in the dark about my weight. Saturday we went over to a friend's house and while there I remembered that they have a scale!!! Hallejuah! Wanna know how much weight I had lost in just over a week?


Twenty Pounds! That's right...I lost 20 pounds in just over a week! (nine days to be exact) I no longer feel like a blimp any more, I feel much more normal.


And as for the cute child who is the cause of this weight loss...he's slumbering sweetly right now. Today he gets to meet Nana. And ten points for whoever pronounces that correctly...apparently my husband can't.

Some fun facts about our son:

He hates night time and would rather sleep through the day.

The Kid also loves car rides, they put him to sleep faster than anything else.

He makes the cutest facial expressions

Epidurals: The Greatest Gift to Women

I was going to write this long drawn out version of my labor and delivery and then realized that no one wants to read all that, so instead you get the highlights, plus the fact that I'm typing this one handed while holding a sleeping babe may have something to do with it ;)

Side Note: Stephen (the husband) just commented that he thought people were kidding when they talked about getting no sleep with a newborn....haha

• Contractions started at 7 pm Thursday night
• By 8:30 I was ready to go, but of course we had to drop off a rented movie first!
• Checked into the hospital but was told that I hadn't progressed at all from my appointment earlier that day
• Was told to walk around the hospital for TWO HOURS and if I hadn't progressed we would be sent home (I almost cried)
• Only had to walk to the end of the hall when my water broke. Grossest thing ever. So thankful we didn't have to clean it up!
• Demanded epidural even though I was still at a 3
• Decided one child was all I would ever have, contemplated a C-section...apparently back labor hurts the worst...
• Epidural came and worked immediately, suddenly all was right in the world
• An hour later (around midnight) I was dilated to a 9.5 (YES for fast labors!)
• Started pushing at 1, doctor came at 1:30, Stephen (IV) born at 1:49, weighing 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 1/4 in. long
• No tearing or episiotomy!
• III watched the entire thing and didn't pass out! He even cut the cord!
• When we were being checked into the hospital the nurse was asking me all these random questions that I did not appreciate, I was in pain and delegated some of the answers to Stephen. My favorite was when she asked if I had ever intentionally caused myself physical pain, I almost responded "Well I'm here aren't I?" But she didn't seem like the type who would get it.

We're all doing good and am glad to be home...if only we could figure out that sleep thing.
Head on over to Stephen's website for a video, I say some pretty funny things in it!

Stephen the Kid is Here!

After an easy labor and delivery (wait til you here the details!!) Stephen the Kid made his arrival early Friday morning. Everyone involved is doing better than expected and a longer blog post (including the prediction winner) will come within the next few days. For your viewing pleasure, visit http://www.stephenzank.com/ to see additional pictures and maybe even a video about our newest family member.

Why Epidurals are the Greatest Thing Ever

Thursday night around seven I started having some heavy contractions that I knew would lead to labor. We stayed at home watching t.v. to make sure that they were going to last long enough for us to have reason to check into the hospital. One of my biggest worries was that we would get to the hospital and they would turn us away for not being in "real" labor.

After the hour was up and I was still having contractions we decided to wait it out a little longer because I didn't want to be stuck in the hospital for hours on end. Plus we wanted to see as much of Hell's Kitchen as we could. Half-way through I decided the contractions were too strong and that it was definitely time for us to go. After stopping to return a movie (it was Steel Magnolias which I had to see before Easter) we made our way to the hospital.

We checked into the hospital right around nine and after checking me for dilation they concluded that I hadn't progressed at all from my appointment earlier that day. I was so bummed and mad that I almost started crying right there. My contractions were hurting at that point and it was so frustrating to think that it had all been for naught. It was decided that I would have to walk around the hospital for two hours and then they would check me again and if I still hadn't progressed I would be sent home.


Walking around the hospital was no fun because of how much pain I was in. At every contraction I would have to stop and wait against the wall. We made it to the end of the first hall and were just starting back when my water broke. Seriously that was the grossest thing ever. I was and am so grateful that it broke at the hospital and not at home so I didn't have to be the one to clean it up.


From there the contractions became much more painful. They were about two minutes apart and would last for about a minute each. I really was going to try and not have an epidural, but at this point that was no longer an option. It was here that I really thought this was going to be our first and only child. The guy came in to do the epidural and Stephen had to leave.


My epidural was seriously life-changing. Immediately it started working and I didn't care if this slowed things down or not, life was good again. They came back to check me again and in a hour I had progressed from a 3 to a 9.5. The nurse was really shocked and so were we but mostly I was just happy from that dang epidural. We started pushing around 1 on Friday morning and the doctor arrived at 1:30. From there I pushed for a little longer and Stephen the Kid was born at 1:50.


I didn't tear or need an episiotomy or anything and was feeling really good afterwards. The epidural had started to wear off right when he was coming out, but all that meant was that I could feel the pressure of it, but it didn't hurt at all. I was impressed that Stephen watched the entire thing! He was really interested and kept asking questions that made the nurses laugh the entire time. With a lot of prompting from the nurses he even cut the umbilical cord which he swore he'd never do!


So if you count my labor as starting with the first heavy contractions at 7, it lasted about 7 hours, but if you count from the time we got to the hospital at 9, it only lasted 5 hours. I think that's fantastic! He came in weighing 7 lbs. 6 oz. with a length at 20 1/4 in. I haven't needed to take any additional pain medication and we were released from the hospital on 4/4/09 at 4:00pm. It's just too bad I couldn't wait that extra day to deliver ;)

Maybe the last appointment?

Last night I was having some pretty hard and strong contractions but they wouldn't last for more than 45 minutes at a time. We decided that we didn't want to have to wake our doctor so late at night and so we pushed off having Stephen for another day;)

Before the doctor's appointment today we bet on how far along I had progressed. I was very hopeful that I had dilated to a 5 and Stephen ,to one up me, said I was probably a six. When we got into the appointment he suddenly changed his tune and said I was assuredly a three right before the doctor confirmed it. I'm also 90% effaced.

When she heard that I've been having contractions and that I am indeed progressing along, the doctor decided it would be best to get things going and so she stripped my membranes. Wowsa. She had us make the appointment for next week (on my due date) but said that was just in case and that she fully expects to see us in the hospital before then.

After the appointment we headed over to Schlotsky's to grab what may be my last pregnant meal and Stephen was kind enough to take all the bumpy roads just to see what happens. Stephen is so excited and he keeps calling from work to see what's happening with me. I think I scared him by bawling on the phone, but that's what happens when you watch Steel Magnolias.

I would really like to have him on Saturday (per Kellee's suggestion) but it looks like I may not last that long...who knows!

No Baby Yet

Today is April 1st and as such I am closing the guessing for my son's birth predictions. I can't believe that there's only seven days until his due date which really means that he could come any day now...or wait a few weeks.

I have a nephew whose birthday is today and he's turning 11! I can't believe he's gotten so big! He was telling my mom how he hopes that Stephen the Kid would come in April so that someone else will share his birth month. Well, it's pretty official that Stephen the Kid will be born in April and I'm so excited!

Some of my friends out here threw me a baby shower on Saturday, while I did bring my camera to the event I totally forgot about it and have no pictures to show :(. We played some different baby games and one where they had to guess different facts about me like my most embarrassing moment and how Stephen and I met.

It was multiple choice and I got a big kick out of the other choices for how Stephen and I met. While we met in college in the singles ward, one of the options was that we were high school sweethearts! This had me laughing so hard, just imagining him as a senior dating me as I was getting baptized! We joked that it certainly would have brought new meaning towards the phrase "I baptized my wife!" Haha, the ladies in the ward sure learned more about us!

One of the girls made me this adorable quilt. It's in the wash right now and I'll have to post a picture of it later on. I love getting homemade items like that!

Anyway, it's been fun to see everyone's predictions for our son and so I went online and found a prediction machine and thought it would be fun to see how accurately it guesses what will happen.

Madame Zaritska (the random lady from online) predicts that, "The day you deliver, outside will be foggy. Your baby will arrive in the early evening. After a labor lasting approximately 13 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 10 pounds, 7 ounces, and will be 22-1/2 inches long. This child will have light brown eyes and a lot of brown hair."

Well I certainly hope the weight is wrong! Yikes!