My baby is growing up...

My daughter Rylee turned 7 a couple of days ago. I cannot believe how fast these seven years have flown by. I remember the anticipation when I found out that I was pregnant. That was the longest pregnancy... well technically it was the shortest... but it felt the longest. 

She is so wonderful. She has the most beautiful spirit. I love and appreciate her so much. She changed my life in unimaginable ways. I am truly so thankful that I was blessed to be her mom. Happy 7th Birthday Rylee!!! (a couple days late. :) )

I was hoping to post her 7 year old photos but I haven't taken them yet. I better get on that. 

I wrote her birth story in three parts if anybody wants to check them out. :)

Birth Story Part 1

Birth Story Part 2

Birth Story Part 3

The Ceramic Place with Rylee and two missing front teeth...

I took Rylee to The Ceramic Place a couple of weeks ago after getting her two front teeth pulled. She painted an adorable horse. Today she dropped it and it broke. Tim glued it back together.

Randoms...

 Our lawn guy decided not to show up for about two months... (yes that is a piece of grass that is as tall as Rylee). 

Tuesday Tea... 1st Sewing Lesson...

Rylee has been asking to learn to sew for a little while now. We decided that it would be fun to do a Tuesday Tea each week. A sewing lesson while drinking "Tea". Nathan spent most of his time playing with the stuffed tomato pin cushion. He made a pretty cool snake out of push pins... :)

Rylee decided that next time she is going to go slower and make the stitches closer together. :) She wants to make a pillow in the shape of a doll next week. 

Mukilteo Beach...

Rylee took care of it herself...

Rylee has wanted to cut her hair for awhile now, but Tim did not want her to. A few weeks ago she was in her room for something and she was feeling upset and decided to take care of it herself...

Secretly I was glad... brushing her long hair had become a nightmare. 

Rylee's handiwork...

Rylee's Birth Story: Part 3- A baby Girl!

Read Rylee's Birth Story : Part 1  Part 2 


Nathan's Birth Story: Part 1 Part 2


Warning: Some people may not want to read this...


Holding Rylee for the first time was amazing! I felt so much love for her. I never wanted to let her go. Unfortunately I did not have a choice. She turned blue in my arms. They took her from me and started fussing around her. They put an oxygen mask on her and said they were taking her to the NICU (which was five floors away).

They moved me to a regular room. Eventually a doctor came in and told us that they thought she had spinal meningitis and they needed to do a spinal tap on her to find out. He recommended starting antibiotics as soon as possible because the longer we waited the higher the risk of her dying. Tim and I were brand new parents and just agreed to everything they said. I didn't get to see her for awhile. 

I did ask for a breast pump and asked that they not give her any formula. They threatened told me that I would not be able to keep up with Rylee's milk needs. They said that I needed to pump 2 oz every three hours otherwise they would supplement with formula. The nurses were amazed I pumped 2 oz my very first time. I asked a nurse when my milk was going to come in and she laughed and said that it obviously already had (she was wrong). 

They finally let us go see her. Tim changed her first diaper and then we fed her my breast milk with a syringe dropper. We then had to weigh her and make sure that she weighed 2 oz more then she had. We had to get her back in her incubator as soon as possible because she wasn't keeping herself warm. We hadn't slept in a long time so we went back to our rooms and slept for 1 1/2 hours and then did it all again. This time I changed her diaper. We repeated this over and over. 

The test results came back and it turns out she didn't have spinal meningitis. However because they had given antibiotics she would need to stay in the NICU for a  total of three days. 

Finally, on the 3rd day they said she could come home. Tim gave her a bath for the first time. We got her dressed, did the hospital test and Auntie Tami drove us all home.

 I finally get to nurse...

 Grandma Airplane (my mom) with Rylee...

 Rylee's first bath...

Auntie Tami and Jadeyn...

 Grammie and Jadeyn visiting...

The day we came home from the hospital my milk came in... wow... they were hard as concrete. I didn't have a pump. That night Rylee refused to eat. My breast were drowning her every time I removed the breast pads so I think she at least got some in her mouth... and her eyes and her nose and her ears. I tried all night long. She cried and cried. I cried with her. The next day we went to the hospital to rent a pump and the lady there explained to me that it was impossible for Rylee to latch on because I was so engorged. When we got home I pumped like 20 ounces. Rylee latched on and ate after that. Nursing went okay after that. I just had to pump before and after feeding her to give a little relief. I was always still full afterwards. Over time I was able to pump less and less until I finally regulated.

 Taking a nap with daddy, 7 days old

 8 days old

 8 days old

Rylee's Birth Story Part 2: Labor

Rylee's Birth Story Part 1 Part 3

Nathan's Birth Story Part 1 Part 2


Warning: Some people may not want to read this.


I woke up at 3:00am in the morning and realized that I had peed in the bed- a lot. I tapped on Tim's shoulder and said "Honey, I need you to get up. I need to change the sheets, I peed in the bed." He was out of bed fast. :) I was standing next to the bed and said "Oh my gosh, I'm peeing again." I ran to bathroom. "Tim, I can't stop peeing." He came in and said "Are you sure you are peeing." And for the first time it occurred to me that maybe I was in labor. 


I started crying because my mom was all the way in Arizona and her plane ticket wasn't for another two weeks. Tim changed the sheets and called the hospital while I took a shower, did my hair and make-up, packed a bag that wasn't yet packed. Tim also called his mom and sisters to tell them. His sister called the airline and somehow managed to get them to change my mom's ticket to that day. My mom was still four hours from the airport and so it would be at least 12 hours before she could be there.

Tim drove me to the hospital. I started having more regular contractions by this time. My doctor was just leaving the hospital and we ran into her. She told us that her colleague would be taking care of me until they transferred me to Seattle. What? Why? She explained that she wasn't comfortable with my situation and wanted me to be at the University of Washington which had the ability to deal with heart stuff better then this hospital (I had a heart condition). They checked me in, started me on antibiotics and then checked to see how dilated I was. I was barely moving along. Tim's mom and sisters came to the hospital.

At about 10:00 am, some paramedics came and put me on a gurney and wheeled me out to an ambulance. Tim rode up front- zooming down the freeway to Seattle was a lot more fun for him then it was for me. By this point my contractions were super painful and being strapped down flat to a gurney wasn't helping. It didn't take long for us to arrive at the hospital but it felt like a long time.

Once there I was given a pretty large room. There were a lot of people there with me. My mom was getting ready to board an airplane from Arizona at this point. Five doctors came in to check on me after I arrived. I don't remember any of their faces. At least three of them if not all of them checked to see how far dilated I was and then they sat there and discussed it. It is a teaching hospital. Never mind that I am having horrible contractions and have been for the last six hours. It was frustrating for me to hear that I wasn't dilating. They mentioned that we had a timeline. They would give me twenty-four hours from the time my water broke and then if I hadn't had her they would do a C-section. They recommended an epidural because then my body could relax and it might help things along. They also recommended Pitocin. I declined and after they left Tim suggested that I get the epidural. I said that I didn't want to and he went back to rubbing my back as hard as he could during contractions. Hot towels on my stomach during contractions kept the poor nurses busy.

I was stuck in bed and the pain was so bad. Tim kept asking me to get an epidural. Several hours later, an anesthesiologist came in with his cart full of supplies and asked if I wanted one. He told me he could do it right then and take the pain away. Does this seem especially cruel to you? Tim was really tired and wanted me to get one really bad- so that he could sleep! :) I caved. I agreed to Pitocin and an epidural.

Let me just say if I had known how incredibly painful the epidural experience was going to be, I never ever would have let him touch me. It was by far the most painful part. It took over an hour (remember this is a teaching hospital). He had to start over in a different spot three times. What made it so horrible though is that my contractions were so strong from the Pitocin. I was having them very frequently and they were long. I wasn't aloud to move at all and Tim couldn't even rub my back for me. Torture! Note to self: in the future, if I am going to get an epidural, do it early on before the contractions get so bad!

My mom arrived at the hospital while I was getting the epidural, so she didn't see me in any pain. Because...

After he was finally done and the epidural kicked in, it was all peaches and icecream. I enjoyed everyone's company and laughed and joked. I couldn't even tell I was in labor except that I was strapped to a bed and couldn't move my legs.

At about 11:00 pm I still hadn't had her and I was getting very tired. The nurses asked me if I would like to take a nap. Tim answered this question for us with a resounding yes! :) We both slept until about 1:00 am. The nurses came in to check on me saying that if I wasn't dilated that I would be having a Cesarean. The doctors came back in and checked on me. I was ready.

The Delivery: