Bring on the Pink

The past two months have flown by, and I have been meaning to sit down and blog.  But I haven't.  Then we went and had a baby, and still, I meant to, but haven't gotten around to it, until now.  So I'll break things down for y'all.

1. Sam turned 18 months old.
    Our little man is growing up!  It's crazy to see the new things he'll pick up on every day, as well as how observant and smart he is.  He is definitley a little boy who loves his routines.  He loves bedtime and nighttime songs.  If you fold your arms, he'll start to pray.  He loves to play with the feather duster and will always go to the cupboard under the sink to get it, then proceed to dust all the furniture.  It really is quite helpful!  He has developed a new habit, not such a great one, but one that has been allowed due to serious fatigue on our part.  In the mornings he'll come in our room, crawl in our bed, and watch cartoons.  Not so great when he wakes up at 5:30 and wants to come watch cartoons.  We usually put our foot down at that point and put him back in bed.  If it is close to 7, he usually gets away with it.  It buys us at least another 45 minutes of sleep and usually he'll snuggle up next to one of us and love on us. I kind of like that part too. 
      He's wicked good at puzzles and the shape sorter.  It's amazing to watch him figure them out.  He loves playing with his friends, and thinks he's so big when older kids are over.  I love to watch him mimic them.  Except when they start yelling "MINE!" and take things.  It usually takes him a little bit to get that out of his system once his friends leave.  He's learned how to open every door in the house, and I have to make sure the front and garage door are locked at all times, other wise he likes to go out and explore the yard or the garage.  He has added new words to his vocabulary - including "up", "bye", "apple", "bird", and "baby".  He also says "I just don't know", "uh oh, spaghettio" and "stuck" when he can't get something he wants.  He's super happy and still the most ticklish kid I've ever met. 

2. We had a baby - actually, I had a baby.
   On Friday, March 16, Katelyn Elizabeth Sorenson was born.  She weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz and was 19.5 inches long.  Thursday night, Mike came home from work with a plan to put me in labor.  We went curb walking and galloping up and down the street.  We were laughing our faces off and I felt a few good contractions.  Then we came home, and I had a lavender bath.  The next day, we were going to go find a bumpy road, go galloping again, and then eat a "labor inducing" dinner of eggplant parmesan.  We were both so anxious and excited to meet this little lady!  
   Thursday night I experienced a few strong contractions, but nothing consistant.  However, I woke up at 5 the next morning to fairly consistent contractions.  Nothing painful, just consistent.  They were about 7 minutes apart.  I got up and got ready for the day, sure that they weren't really the real thing because they didn't hurt.  However, at about 10 in the morning when they weren't going away, I decided maybe we should call the doctor.  They suggested I come in, even if it was only to get checked.  So we did some quick grocery shopping and cleaned the house and headed in.  We got there around noon.  I was hooked up to the monitors and after about 2 hours, the nurse came in and said that they weren't detecting any contractions and hinted that we may have to go home.  I really wanted a VBAC and I knew how important it was for me to go into labor on my own for this to be succesful.
    I was so frustrated.  I know my baby moves a lot, but I find it strange that I would be mistaking movement for something that felt like a contraction and was consistently 7 minutes apart.  There was a shift change shortly after, they readjusted the monitor and were able to start picking up the contractions.  My Dr. was out of town, but the Dr. on call came in and checked me. I was at a 4 and 100% effaced.  At that point there was no turning back.  I was hooked up to an IV, given fluids and pitocin and prepped for an epidural.  This is where it gets crazy.  After the epidural, I noticed that only my left side of my body was numb.  I laid on my right side to help distribute the epidural, but by that point the contractions were one on top of the other, and I felt every.single.one. - because you see, a numbed left side doesn't help a woman who is pregnant in her right uterus. 
    Within an hour of starting pitocin, I was at a 9 and ready to push.  It was crazy how fast it all happened and I was a little bit in shock.  Shock of how quickly it happened and shock of the fact that I would definitley not be enjoying the benefits of an epidural.  I started pushing and within 35 minutes, Kate was here.  I've never experienced so much pain or determination from myself to get it done!  I just wanted to be finished to have the pain over with and to hold my baby girl.  When it was over, I may have yelled "Halle-freakin-lujah!"  Along with some other choice words that may have slipped out as I was pushing.  Mike said I was acting like I was high, just out of touch and wired.  I guess it's the adrenaline rush of it all.  I experienced a lot of bleeding during the delivery and needed a blood transfusion which delayed our homecoming, but all was well in the end. 
    She is here.  She is beautiful.  She is such a great little nurser and sleeper.  Sam is having a hard time adjusting and my heart breaks for the poor little guy.  He's lucky to have my mom, his Nana, here to help.  She's been giving him all sorts of love and attention.  He's getting better with each day, but he's definitely not happy that mom and dad have their attention split between him and someone else.  I've been trying to find ways to spend some one on one time with the little guy and let him know I still love his guts.

 Here I am in all my glory, right after we were told we wouldn't be going home without a baby.

 After 35 minutes of the worst pain I had ever felt in my life.... beautiful baby.

Because the next day was St. Patty's Day, Mike came in with Sam and we were all in green.  Our first family picture.  I was really swollen from the fluids and pale from my loss of blood.  But, oh, so happy.