Love

These two are so loving with Jaina. They always want to be near her, hold her hands, kiss her head and hold her. I just hope the love continues when she gets older.

6/2/10 - 5 days old

Jaina Emilie

I don't quite know how to start this post. I probably should have blogged this alot earlier, but I've been too lazy.  Let's backtrack to Wednesday, May 26th, I had an appt that morning (39 weeks) and asked to have my membranes stripped in hopes that it would put me into labor.  I had been having contractions for weeks but nothing regular and I was getting really tired of it and was ready to be done.  So after my appt, the stripping gave me more contractions but still nothing regular. We even walked over to Xander's school (it was field day, and we didn't know what his class was doing, so we walked around the school to find him but had no luck, so we went home) and walked the Mall.  It all just made me really tired and achey. I was retaining so much water that the only shoes I could wear were flip flops, so my feet were hurting.  By the afternoon I decided to call the office and see if I could schedule and inducement for the 28th.  (Pat already had the 29th & 31st off of work so we wanted to make sure the baby came before then.)  I was told that there were already inducements set up for that day and that I would be at the bottom of the list and considered an on-call inducement, which I was totally fine with.

Thursday night the hospital called and told me that I was #5 on the list and to call them Friday morning at 10:00 to see how their morning was going.  So Friday I stepped out of Xander's Graduation for a minute to call the hospital. They said that they still didn't know when I could come in and to call them back at 11:30.  So after graduation, we headed home. The kids played and I just sat on the couch and waited until it was time to call again, almost falling asleep in the process.  I was startled awake by a phone call at 11:00 from the hospital, the nurse said that I was on the schedule for coming in at 12:00 and if I could be there by then. I told her yes, then sent Pat a text telling him that he needed to come home!  Pat dropped me off at 12, took the kids to his sister Lana's home, then got to the hospital before they even had my IV hooked up!

When I got there, they monitored the baby for at least 20 minutes before I got my IV, then I had to have a bag of fluid before I could get my pitocin, so it was about 2:00 before I got the pitocin! By that time Pat and my sister Karri were in the room with me.  Sitting in a hospital bed is so boring, especially when there's nothing good on TV.  Once I got hooked up to the pitocin it seemed like things were really going.  My mom got there around 2:30 and then it was just a waiting game. I chose to wait it out before my epidural to see how far I could go.  It was really nice, because I was able to get up and walk around a bit. My nurse Jen was AWESOME (she is the mother to one of Pat's co-workers), she helped us with ideas of how Pat could help me get through contractions, it was great! Jen was hoping that I would be able to have the baby by 6:00, because that is when her shift ended :) (that would have been nice because Karri had to leave at 6 also) After a few hours and not much progression I was getting tired and decided that it was time to get my epidural. I knew that my midwife was going to come and break my water soon and that labor would go fast after that. (I went from a 5 to a 10 in an hour & a half with Mara so I knew that this was going to be a quick one too)

I got my epidural about 5:30, then Claudia (my midwife) broke my water around 6:00.  My epidural was nice because I was still able to wiggle my toes but the pain was mostly gone. I could still feel alot of pressure but the epidural took the edge off.  For the next hour I could feel that things were going fast, the pressure was building and I was starting to get the shakes.  My nurse at this point was Melody and she came in at 7:10 to see how I was doing, I told her that I was getting the shakes and she said that I was probably complete, and sure enough I was!! My mom had left to get some dinner for she and Pat a little before this but walked in a few moments after I was checked. She was so flustered, it was cute.

Melody called in Claudia and a nurse for the baby and it ended up being Jen!!!  She was able to stay long and help with the baby now :)  It was such a different experience for me. It happened so fast that I was kind of nervous and scared. While pushing I felt like I was one of the ladies you see on TV that scream during labor.  I didn't scream, but sure felt like I could have. Once I started pushing, Jaina was born within 5 minutes.  It was amazing to finally have her here. Because I had originally thought she was a boy, the first thing I asked was if she was still a girl. I know, I'm crazy.

Once she was all clean, I held her in my arms and cried. It's been such a long trial to have her join our family and I was relieved to finally have her in my arms.  Through it all I am thankful for an amazing husband that loves me forever.

Here are some pics of her first few hours.

 l-r: Claudia, Jen, & Melody.

The kids ended up going to Grandma & Grandpa's for the night, but were able to come visit their new sister first.

Brent & Lisa came a few minutes after she was born.

They would have been there sooner but they went to the wrong hospital!

Grandma Tolman

Mana & Mara

Great Grandma Joan

Aunt Karri was able to come back and see Jaina, but was sad to have missed the birth.

We also had visits from Aunt Lana & cousin Noah and Aunt Liza & Uncle Morri.  I know that I have a picture of her with Grandpa Tolman, but it must be on someone elses camera.

The next morning:

My 3 blessings.

Daddy and his girls.

I was able to come home the next night about 10 pm, which made me happy, because I hated sitting around that hospital room, and especially sleeping there was horrible.

(Ah!! I finally got this post done, and now I'm being summoned)

Soon

It's tough to blog when you have a 3 week old that won't stay asleep when she gets put down during the day.  I've got 3+ posts that I'm trying to finish up, so hopefully I can get them done in the next few days. I just hate typing with one hand (like I'm doing with this post).  But we're doing good and are pretty much adjusted to life with a newborn, at least I'd like to think so.

Kindergarten Graduation

Playing catch-up is no fun. I hate having tonz of pictures to post, but here we go!

Xander had his Kindergarten Graduation on May 28th. It was first thing in the morning, which was great to get it out of the way.  I can't believe that Kindergarten is over and in a few short but long months, he'll be in First grade!!!  It's so crazy that my oldest is almost 7. It makes me feel old, but hey I'll be 30 next year, so I guess it's okay that he's that old.

Xander's friends: Jarom Beck & Tanner Hanks

We are in the same ward with these boys and were able to carpool with them this year.

(one of my last pregnancy pictures)

Xander & Miss Watanabe.

She was such a great teacher and I'm glad that he was able to be in her class this year.

Xander & Ellis Peterson.

These two are such good friends and loved having play dates.

Graduation was a great way to start an important day :)

Introducing

Jaina Emilie Tolman

Born: Friday, May 28th, 2010

Time: 7:30 PM

Weight: 7 pounds 9 ounces

Length: 20 1/2 inches

 

More pictures to come later!

Baby Bump & Mara Dress

Since I haven't taken many pictures of my belly I decided to get a snapshot before it's over.  I don't really like the full body view so here's what you get!

I feel very HUGE and I'm ready to be done.

This pic is at almost 39 weeks.

I've had everything ready for the baby for awhile and finished up the last few things on my list last week, so I've been trying to find other things to keep me busy.  I've already finished Pat's gift for Father's Day (but I can't take a pic or post it because he reads the blog!), I've already addressed and stamped envelopes to send out birth announcements, I've finished some projects that I've needed to Mod Podge, and pulled out my sewing machine again.

I had seen a picture in a magazine with a little girl wearing a skirt that was smocked/shirred at the top and I wanted to make one. I bought the elastic thread when I got the fabric a few months ago and just let it sit until last week.  I made the skirt, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. So it might end up as a shirt for Mara or a dress for the baby. I still haven't decided yet (but I'll post a pic when I make up my mind).

But I did want to make matching dresses and smock the top of those too!  So after figuring out what I did wrong with the skirt I was able to make this sundress for Mara!

It didn't take much time (even considering that I had to take it all apart and re-size the bodice, then put it back together).  I've made the one for the baby, but I'm waiting to put the straps on it until she's here.  I made braided straps for Mara's but I need to change them or shorten them or something because they keep falling off her shoulders and it's bugging me.

But we're hoping to have the baby in the next few days, so keep checking back!!

Prediction

I have 1 week until my official due date.
I would love to find out what day YOU think this baby will come and how big you think she'll be.
Leave a comment with your prediction :)

Bronco Days!!!!!

Every year Bonneville School has Bronco Days, which is a fun carnival, for a school fundraiser. Xander was so overly excited for this.  Yesterday afterschool it was all he could talk about, that it was 'Bronco Days today!'  He kept telling me that it started at 5:30 and that we needed to be there the whole 2 hours that it ran.  But we had to wait for Pat to get home from work before we could go, and that about killed Xander.  He did okay waiting and we were able to walk to the school around 6.  We bought ticket lanyards for the kids that entitled them to do up to 20 things.  Each booth or activity was 1 ticket, so there was a high potential to get alot of stuff.   Mara was in it for the candy, and Xander wanted tickets.  At the end we had about 10 tickets and the kids were able to get little prizes.  It was alot of fun and it made Xander happy :)

Mara in the sawdust pool

(she found a jolly rancher and was pretty happy about it)

Xander got a few tickets from this one because he was able to hit the target with the nerf gun!

You would think with all the practice they got a few weeks ago they would have been able to get a hole it one, but no luck. At least they got candy as parting gifts :)

The line for the hair coloring was really short so Pat took Mara over. She was so excited to have 'pink' in her hair!!!

And she was even brave enough to get her face painted!!

(but only if daddy was with her)

While Mara & Pat did the hair and face painting, Xander and I waited in line for the balloon 'animals'.

Here's Mara with her flower.

And Xander with his sword!

On the walk home Mara was worn out, so daddy was nice enough to carry her for a bit.

Such a fun night to have a school carnival.

Week In Review

We made a fun bouquet of flowers for Grandma for Mother's Day.  It's just flowers cut out of cardstock, and I let the kids fingerpaint on them (it was supposed to be finger prints for the petals, but Mara was just making them her own), a button for the center, and we used green pipecleaners as stems and a painted styrofoam ball as the dirt.  The kids had alot of fun making them for their Grandmas.

I had seen this on my friend Natalie's blog (who got it from her sister's blog here) so I decided to try it out. Instead of using sponge rollers or fabric, you roll up the hair in socks!!  It was really easy to do, but I think her hair was too wet, so by morning it was just wavy and not the spiral curls I was hoping for. But Mara didn't really like them in her hair all that much, so it might be awhile before I try it again.

My mom took an afternoon off and spent some time out in the garden. So of course, Mara had to be her helper. She got out gloves and a shovel and was ready to work.  She just loves Mana so much and is ALWAYS her shadow and is wanting to help her in any way.  That afternoon it was really nice because I was able to get a much needed nap while Xander was at school :)

Nielson's Grove Park

Last Thursday, the 6th, we went to Nielson's Grove Park for a little bit before Xander had to go to school.  It was a really windy day, so we had to bundle up in our jackets. We made sure to take a little bit of bread with us for the ducks.

Pat found a duck that was camped out under a large rock. She was sitting on a nest of eggs!! She even ate from Pats hand, it was cool!

There was even a bird that would eat from your hand too!

I was trying to get a snapshot of Mara, but she noticed the camera and made this pose!

Oh how I love her!

We even saw a Mommy Duck with her ducklings out in the pond. They were so cute and fluffy!

Pat noticed a bunch of ducks by some bushes, so he and Xander went to investigate.  They found 4 nests, but only 2 had ducks on them.

This nest had 12 eggs!!!  So crazy!

It's such hard work having babies!

I love this pic!

I think this duck had too many eggs to sit on so they were coming out the sides!

Aww, spring!  It's always fun to see baby animals :)