Duncan Update!

Sorry it has taken me so long to get some more pictures up! Because it has taken so long I will warn you, this is a picture overload post! 

The next two pictures are for comparison. He has gotten way longer! He hasn't really gotten all that chubby in the belly but his face is definitely getting more chubby!  

1 Week

1 Month

Hangin' out with Grandma! 

Chillin' with Dad

The following pictures are from our first road trip to Ephrata. Duncan did great. He slept the whole way!

 One night when Duncan was being a little fussy, Grandma Walker took him out back and we hear her yelling for us to come out there. When we go out there we see this young buck in the field behind us just eating away. Every time that Duncan would make a noise, he would look up at us.

Little Dunc

Sorry it's taken so long for me to get some pictures posted. I've been a little busy. There are a lot of words in this post but the following is my birth story. 

Ryan and I welcomed our little boy, Duncan Ryan Walker, into the world on Saturday June 11, 2011 at 3:42 in the afternoon.

The day started with me checking into to Deaconess Labor and Delivery at 7am on Saturday morning. I was all hooked up to the pitocin drip by 8am. They only had me at 3mu or something. I'm not sure what the measurement was in but apparently it goes from like 0-20 and I was only on a 3. I started feeling the contractions right away but they weren't very bad. It really was like bad menstrual cramps. At 9:15 my doc came in and broke my water. At this point I was measuring 3-4cm. By the way, I was 3 when I checked in. The doc said that I could have an epidural whenever I felt like it at this point because I was far enough along. I decided to wait just a little since the contractions were not that bad yet. I lasted about an hour before I was telling my nurse that, yes, I would like my epidural as soon as possible. So, around 11am, Tom, the most amazing guy at the hospital, came in and started the process of putting in my epidural. By 11:30 I had my epidural in and almost instantly I couldn't feel the contractions on my left side at all. I was still feeling them on the right side but they were slowly fading. I just had to lay on my right side for about 20 minutes and then it was magic. I couldn't feel anything. I was able to sleep and rest. I had set an silly goal of wanting to have the baby by noon. My nurse kind of laughed at me and said that it's probably going to take a little longer than that. I knew that it would by a girl can dream, right? So, for about and hour and a half I was able to just watch my contractions on the monitor and not feel a thing. Around 1 in the afternoon Ryan and his dad went down to the cafeteria to grab some food and at that point I had asked for my nurse to see how far along I was. I was feeling a little bit of pressure in my bottom so I wonder if I had progressed very much yet. So, the nurse came in and checked me and she looked very surprised when she looks at me and says, "Your ready to push!" I couldn't believe it. Ryan's mom then calls him on his phone and says, you better get back up here she's ready to push! My doctor wasn't on call that day so he wasn't at the hospital. He's actually a friend of my families so he had been talking to my mom earlier and had told her that he was going to go to Costco and run some errands that then he'd be back later this afternoon. So, we told the nurse that the doc was at Costco and someone should call him soon then. So she went and called him and in the meantime some more nurses came in and started getting everything set up for the baby; the little heat lamp table where they clean him and weigh him and all the blankets and tools and everything. At this point I was almost in tears. I was so emotional just thinking that I was about to actually have a baby! It still seemed unbelievable. So, the doc finally got there and they got me all ready to start pushing! I started pushing around 2 in the afternoon. I made my parents and Ryan's parents wait outside so it was just Ryan and I in the delivery room. My mom was so cute though, she stood right next to the door the whole time. The doc was great too. He would go out and give them all updates every 20 or so minutes. My dad and Ryan's mom couldn't really handle listening to me push so they were way down the hall with their heads between their knees, trying not to get light headed!

I had great nurses but it was funny because on multiple contractions I had to tell them that I was having a contraction and should probably push. I think they were distracted sometimes and wouldn't notice that I had started a contraction on the monitor. They contractions weren't painful, I could just feel pressure and knew that I should push. I pushed for quite some time and finally the doc said the baby was sunny side up. At one point he tried to turn the baby so that he was facing the right way. That by far was the most painful part of having a baby. That was also the time when I believe I tore a little from the doc trying to turn him. The baby also decided that he didn't like being turned so he flipped right back. I continued to push for another hour and forty two minutes. Then, he just came right out! I couldn't believe I'd just had a baby! I guess I just kept repeating over and over, "oh my baby, my baby." I don't really remember that part. Once he was out the doc plopped him down next to my leg and Ryan cut the cord. They wiped him off a little then put him right up on my chest! He was so adorable even though he had an awful cone head! He checked in at 6lbs 13oz and 20.5in long. At his first check up he had shrunk down to 20in because his cone head had gone down. He still has a big bump on his head. He has whats called a cephalohematoma. This is a pool of blood on top of the skull. They can take up to 3-4 months to go down sometimes. His has started to go down but it's so big that it's still very noticeable. 

Above: it goes in order clockwise. Checking in, getting epidural, enjoying epidural, had baby, new family, first bath, all clean, going home. 

Above: 

Top row: New outfit, hanging with Dad, Duncan's Blessing

Middle row: Napping with Grandma W., Newborn measurment with sock monkey, First day home

Bottom row: Grandma B with her grandbabies, blessing outfit, first bath, sock monkey measurement, naked time

Now I'll just overload you with a bunch of pictures from the last 2 1/2 weeks!

39 Weeks!

 Hello Everyone!!! So, I'm 39 weeks prego and just counting down the days! I am so ready to have this baby boy. I've enjoyed being pregnant. I have to admit, it was a really easy pregnancy. No morning sickness, no heartburn, no real aches and pains. I've quite enjoyed it, besides the stretch marks :(

I just want to hold the baby in my arms now and not in my stomach any more. I don't know if I'm ready for the no sleep and the crying and constant care of a new born but I'm still super excited. I feel like Ryan and I are pretty prepared. I think we have everything that we need.

I have my 39 week appointment tomorrow at 11. I'm super excited and nervous for what he'll say. I'm hoping that the contractions I've been having are making a difference and maybe I'll be far enough along that he'll just send me over to the hospital! I think that is just hopeful thinking, but, you never know.

I don't know if I mentioned before sometime but I have been addicted to reading birth stories and mommy blogs lately. On several of them they talked about making their own hospital gowns that are super cute for after the birth so that you look good in the pictures. I thought, I have nothing to do with my time so I'm going to attempt to make my own hospital gown for after the birth too! I mean, in the moment of birth I'm probably not going to be too concerned with how I look or feel but right now I can think about it and get prepared to take cute pictures so that when I do look back I won't think, ugh, gross. I look terrible. I know, I will have just  given birth but still, who doesn't think that when looking at pictures of themselves. Below you will find pics of the newly finished hospital gown. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with myself. It was my first time following a pattern and probably the biggest sewing project I've ever taken on.

Front

Back Detail

Back

A Fun Weekend

I know I'm very behind in posting this blog. I had all the pictures uploaded and then I just got distracted and never finished posting it! 

Above is 37 weeks, 2 weeks ago! Sorry it's late.

Over Memorial Weekend Carrie came home so that all the girls could go to Wicked! Such a fun show. I loved it and I think that everyone else did too! That was on Friday night. I didn't bring my camera so sorry, no pictures from that one. 

Saturday all the girls went and got pedicures! The main reason for this, trying to put me into labor! An old wives tale says that pedicures can make you go into labor. Obviously it didn't work because I'm still very pregnant! 

My swollen little feet...with a very cute pedicure!

That Monday was Memorial Day so Ryan had the day off and it was a gorgeous day outside! So, to take advantage of the weather and again, try to induce labor, we went for a little hike. Some people might think I was crazy, going hiking at 38 weeks pregnant. We drove to the Dishman Hills Natural Area. It's just right off of Appleway. Not far from our house, or the hospital! It was so much fun. I think that this might become a usual little get out into nature hike. There were tons of trails to take and a cute little lake at the top. There's also a park there too. I think that after we have a little one to tote around this park will become a fun destination for our family. The weekend was fun but again, I did not go into labor. I was just very hot. 

Nursery Decorations!

When I bought my bed set I also purchased some vinyl wall pieces too. When I put them up on the wall I just thought that they look way too tacky and cheap so I tried to figure out how else I could use them. I decided to decoupage them onto cute bright colors of canvas that I painted. Now, if you know me well enough you will know that I have trouble with "over" decorating items. This project was very difficult to keep it simple. I had tons of more sticker things but I kept it to only 2 decorative stickers on each canvas besides the animal. That was a hard task for me! Normally I would have so over decorated. You should all be proud of me. I think my crafty, style side is starting to develop! The above picture shows them in progress and the bottom pictures show them mounted on the wall! I went with an uneven line so that I didn't have to try so hard to line it all up perfect cause it would drive me crazy if they were all a little off.

I added a picture of the bed set at the bottom so that you could see how it all goes together!

36 Weeks!

I'm not sure why buy every picture I took this week I really look like I'm struggling to smile! 

So..... I went to my doctors appointment today and everything is looking pretty good. He said that I have to watch out for preeclampsia because my blood pressure was a little higher than normal. Preeclampsia is a first time baby thing. Your blood pressure just gets really high and the only cure for it is birth. So, if it does get too high we will be inducing labor a little early. He also told me (now, I'm not sure if this will be TMI for the guys but) i'm 50% effaced and 1cm dilated! He said that for a first baby I was very ripe, or farther along than most at 36 weeks. I've been having a lot of contractions which is probably why I'm farther along than 'normal'. Ryan and I also went to our first prepared childbirth class last night. It was kinda boring. They didn't really go over anything that was new or unusual. Everything that they talked about I had heard before or read about. We have one more next Monday and I hope that it covers some more information that I haven't learned about yet. 

The count down for baby walker says 26 DAYS!!!! I can't believe it. That just seems so soon! 

Also, I wanted to show off my 'new' baby bouncer. I registered for this one at babies r' us and they cost about $60. I went to other mothers with Mom and Nicole the other day though and saw this there for only $24!! Can you believe that!? It is they exact one that I wanted, in really good shape, at less than half the price! I was so proud of myself I had to show it off. 

A Baby Shower, 2 Weeks, and Jury Duty

Last Saturday my sister Nicole and my Mom threw a baby shower for me. It was very fun and exciting.  Nicole made the above sign for the shower so I took a picture to forever remember it. I was totally lame though and didn't take any actual pictures at the shower. Boo. 

I have been kinda of slacking on my posting belly pics so I have 2 weeks for you this time! Not much difference and I actually look bigger in the 34 week pic than I do in the 35 week pic. I think it has to do with the shirt that I am wearing. Either way though, I'm getting huge! My belly is sticking way out, stretch marks are just beautiful, not, and rolling over is kind of difficult. Some mornings I actually require assistance from Ryan to sit up out of bed. At my 34 week appointment the doc said everything is looking good. He did say that I've gained a lot a weight quickly but my last 2 appointments were right after getting back from vacay in Utah. When I'm in Utah I guess I eat a lot more food and probably a lot worse food! I know that the vacay's are responsible for the weight gain because once I get back I go a week or two without gaining any weight, so I figure I make up for the gaining a lot by not gaining any the following week! Anyways, enough about my getting fatter. 

Can you believe that I'm at 35 weeks!!!! I can't. I seems like I still have so long to go but really I could deliver in like 2-4 weeks anytime. I've been obsessed with reading other women's birth stories on blogs lately. I think I only read on blog where they went past to 41 weeks but all the others were around 36 weeks! I would love to have a little baby boy in my arms next week but I just get the feeling that is not going to happen. I tried to up the walking, hoping that it will help him to drop and down and get things going. It would also be nice with the wedding coming up to be prego free for like 3 weeks before. I feel like I would be somewhat back to myself by then, hopefully. 

In other news, I was summoned to jury duty a few months back for this week and next week. So, I don't know if any of you have had jury duty but I actually think that it would be cool to serve on a jury. I knew though that being in my current state that I was not going to be selected for a jury. However, knowing that I would not get selected, I still had to go the court house and wait. I was called to be in a jury selection pool. There were 55 people in the selection pool. We all had to go sit in a courtroom and answer some questions that the judge asked and then each and every one of the  55 people had to introduce them selves, give a little background and answer a few questions. That doesn't seem so bad but when you have 55 people to go through it is. It took us about 4 hours to go through this process. When it was my turn, I was number 48, one of the questions was could you serve on this jury for 4 weeks? When I stood up and said that 4 weeks would be difficult because I could have a baby at any time everyone in the room just cracked up laughing so hard. I'm guessing everyone was pretty bored because it wasn't too funny but I think it was the funniest thing that anyone there had heard in about 6 hours.  During the time that I wasn't talking I just sat there. You can't do anything. No phone, no books, nothing. SOOOO boring!!! After being in this room from 10:00am-4:00pm with a 1.5 hour lunch break they selected 12 people from this group and the rest of us were free to leave. For the rest of the 2 weeks I just have to call in every night after 5:30 to see if my call group is required to come in. So far I haven't had to go in. Hopefully next week I'm just as lucky too because I have an OB appointment on Tuesday at 10!