I'm 1 month old!



                                 

  This past month has been an adventurous one for me!

 At just 3 days old I took a trip to Moapa to meet all my new family, and boy are there alot of them! By 4 days old I was camping at Yankee Meadows with my Mommy & Daddy and Grandpa & Grandma Leavitt. I even took my first fishing trip on Grandpa's bass boat!

I'm growing so fast! At my 2 week appointment I weighed in at 8lb 11oz, for a gain of 1 lb 3 oz. and grew and inch and a half. Wow! My pediatrician says I'm growing very well. I never let mom forget to feed me, that's for sure. ;)

I've had so much fun meeting more and more of my family this month. It's a good thing I'm such a good traveler or mommy and daddy would have had a pretty hard time. Between our trips on the mountain, trips to Moapa, and even a trip to Salt Lake & Seven Peaks Water Park; I haven't spent much time home. But hey, I've got to show off this cute little face of mine!

Some of my favorite things to do this month have been smiling, mimicking facial expressions, stretching (I LOVE to stretch!), cooing & moaning (mommy thinks it's the cutest thing ever), staring at all the exciting new things around me & showing off my super strong neck muscles. Oh and lets not forget my naps in mommy and daddy's bed!

Daddy and I practice holding my head up all by myself alot, it stresses mommy out.. He's so fun! I love to go on walks with him too :)  Daddy teaches me lots and lots. He even taught me to hold a bottle up all by myself!

It's been such a fun month for our little family. We love having our little man to take around everywhere with us.

Wyatt's Story

    This post has taken me a week to finally sit down and write because all I want to do is hold and look at our sweet baby boy. He is the most perfect thing I have ever seen. It is such a blessing that he made it here safe and sound, and I am so grateful for that every day.
    Tuesday, July 10th, Chantz and I had driven up to Salt Lake with his family to attend their Grandpa Gate's funeral. About an hour into the car ride home on Wednesday the 11th I started contracting regularly. I didn't get too excited about it because this had happened plenty of times before with no baby as a result. When we got home they dissapeared almost entirely until I had finished making dinner. And then they hit, and they hit hard! I knew it couldn't be fake anymore because I had never felt them strong like this before now & they stayed steadily between 2 and 4 minutes apart. I called the hospital and was told to wait 1 hour or until my water broke to come in, so we waited.. They didn't let up and showed no sign of stopping so we packed up at 10 o' clock that night and headed for the hospital. We learned something that night.. always go through the emergency room entrance after hours. For some stupid reason we tried just about every other door before figuring that out. That was a fun walk around the hospital! haha. After being hooked up and monitored, the contraction monitor confirmed that I was contracting steadily every 2 to 6 minutes apart. BUT when the nurse checked my cervix I wasn't making much progress. They decided that I was in a non-progressive labor and wanted to send me home to sleep in "comfort". When the nurse lifted my blanket and saw how swollen my legs, ankles and feet were she was a little concerned for the baby. Turned out he was perfectly fine and healthy, but all the test's they had to run kept us there until around 1:30am.
    By the next morning I was as miserable and grumpy as they come. I had not stopped contracting once the entire night & ended up not getting any sleep at all. I was frustrated and close to tears asking my husband "how could it even be possible that these aren't dialating me?!" He was so sweet and mindful of how tired I was and how much I was hurting. I'm so grateful I had him through the entire experience. Chantz's mom had arrived at 2am that morning, and boy was I glad to see her! She cooked and cleaned and basically took care of everything all afternoon while helping me stay positive through the pain and fatigue as well.
    As the day went on and the contractions continued they worsened with almost every one. Each time I would ask Racqual, "How can it hurt more than this?" Buttttt they could and they did. I was so terrified of going back into the hospital and being told that I hadn't progressed that I kept refusing to go until my water broke. Finally when I couldn't hardly stand it anymore, I gave in. This time it was good news.. thank goodness!! I hadn't made much progress, but progress was definately there. Finally after 2 hours of waiting and wondering, my nurse (who I actually knew from working at Smith's and threw church) decided they would admit me. My doctor had decided however that I needed sleep to relax my body enough to dialate more, so he order a shot of morphine in my hip, another shot of morphine in my IV, and an ambian (sleeping pill). The idea was to knock me out for atleast 4 hours and then to check me again when I had woken up. It was just too bad that my contractions decided to kick it up a knotch about half an hour after I'd been drugged up, resulting in no sleep at all and a VERY tired body. And what do you know..? I made it from a 2 to a 3 1/2 in an hour. You're not technically supposed to receive an epidural until you're dialated to a 4, but my nurse was so sweet and said she reported to the anesthesiologist that I was at a 4 and to go along with it if I was asked. Gosh I loved her.. :)
    By now I've been in labor almost 25 hours. Not only was I running on no sleep, I was functioning through 2 shots of morphine and an ambian that was supposed to have knocked me out hours ago. After receiving my epidural (which I COMPLETELY reccomend to everyone out there) things moved right along. Soon enough I was feeling pressure and dialated to an 8. Than the nurse could see the head and I was at a 9. Chantz was in heaven smiling and saying, "This is better than Christmas!!!" hahah he was ready to go! We got all ready to push and then the nurse decided it wasn't quite time yet. Talk about a dissapointed husband.. Finally it was time to push! I was so scared I hit my epidural button to send more before I even felt a thing. Chantz, Racqual and Paul were there by my side the entire time. They were so amazing. About 2 pushes in I had to ask Paul  to hold my head up for me because I was so tired and it was so heavy that I wasn't able to concentrate on pushing like I needed to. Pathetic I know.. lol. In no time at all little Wyatt's head and then body was out and in my arms. He was born on Friday the 13th, 2012 at 12:46am weighing 7lb 8oz and measuring 19 1/2in. That is the most incredible feeling I have EVER experienced. I didn't know I could love someone like that. He is perfect in every way <3
    By the end of it I couldn't fight the sleeping medicine any longer. No matter how hard I tried to stay awake to hold my baby, I had to sleep. I was so upset I kept saying "I'm the worst mom in the world, I can't even stay awake!" Chantz took him and loved on him and held him all night that night until I woke up the next morning. He seriously is such a good dad!
    Wyatt has definately changed our lives for the better. He is a better baby than I ever could have hoped for! He sleeps good, eats good, takes (and loves) his paci, and almost never cries. If he ever makes a fuss there is always a reason and it can be fixed almost instantly. I don't know how we got so lucky, but I'm so so glad we did. We love you more than words can describe sweet baby <3



Another Year Older.. He's 20!

June 6, 2012

He's finally 20!

I had such a fun day running around trying to get everything ready

for his suprise party that night. Thank goodness for good friends, that's all I can say.

Chantz's favorite suprise was his new gun safe he found waiting for him at home 

that night from his parents :)

Thank you Dillon, Zack & Josh for getting it in the house and set up while he was gone!

That's one happy boy right there! :)

Once I got him home, we had a few friends over for steaks and hamburgers and corn on the cob.

And of course ended the evening with some Nazi Zombies

& cake..!

(No comment on this picture)

Happy Birthday Sweet Heart!







The Perils of Pregnancy

Ok, today's post may be conceived as a tad bit negative. BUT please bear in mind that it is in no way intended to be negative in the least. I just rather enjoy finding humor in my current circumstance, and want to share a little of that with friends & family.

That being said; here it goes...

This cartoon just says it all, doesn't it? :)

 

 

Backaches... awful and unavoidable. Especially working on my feet all day 5 days a week. Sometimes I can't take it anymore and sit down on the floor in my check stand for a minute or two for a little break, but now a days it's honestly almost more work than it's worth trying to get my butt back up in a hurry for a customer. (hurry...HA!)

Leg cramps are my new favorite sleep robbers. "Calcium" my doctor says. I "just need more calcium". Well if the 4 tums every night (for that lovely heartburn), almost half a gallon of milk a day (I CRAVE the stuff like crazy. Along with cereal, which I eat almost every day), cheese sticks & prenatal vitamins aren't giving me enough calcium to ease the leg cramps; I would love to know what more "calcium" I need to be eating that would. But hey, who needs to stretch their legs at night anyway?! right?

Heartburn... Wow I really sound old now don't I? I guess it's karma's way of getting me back for always laughing at my parents and calling my dad a sissy for skipping out on a spicy meal to avoid it. And now? Now the first thought that crosses my mind when picking a meal or deciding whether or not to eat something is "are my tums near by?" or "am I going to regret this immediately?" That answer is almost always; YES. Everytime I try to convince myself I won't get it or that it's really not so bad, my body teaches me a swift hard lesson. You'd really think I'd learn! Have you ever tried to sleep with fire in your chest and throat that comes into your mouth every few minutes as well? Not too soothing. Not too soothing at all.

[Can't sleep, breath or walk. How am I supposed to find the energy to glow?!]

 

If Chantz thought I was emotional before... He really know's what it means to be emotional now!

Our most recent emotional crisis took place while watching my show in bed a couple nights ago. One of the characters died. Naturally I should bawl my eyes out right? Ya, my body thought so too.

Chantz took one look over at me and busted up with laughter. :) I have to admit it was pretty funny! hahaa. I wanted to stop but I couldn't. I even started laughing at myself along with him through my tears until they finally stopped! And then when he brought it up to tease me a little later, the water works were back.. I guess I really liked that character.

People talk about vivid "pregnancy dreams" all of the time but I hadn't really experienced them

like this until just recently.

Just last night I had a VERY real dream that I had let Chantz keep the baby in his stomach for awhile, and I got extremely upset with him when I found the baby's right arm coming out of his body through his arm pit. "Why would you let him hang his arm out early? He's still growing! What is wrong with you?! Get his arm back in there RIGHT NOW!" I was consciously angry with him for being so careless. haha! And then the baby comes out later that morning, but it's actually an adorable black and white kitten; not a baby. Then Chantz tells me that it's a magic kitten becuase it can walk through anything and that's how he got out of him in the first place. I didn't believe him till the little guy walked right through the screen on our window and ran away. I woke up so frantic and sad :(

Think I'm crazy yet? Oh good, cause I do too. :)

 

TMI Time:

If you would like to be spared of the too much information I'm about to spill, go ahead and stop reading now. Thanks for stopping by! :)

I may be speaking for myself only here; I'm not actually sure because women usually don't bring up the real embarrassing and uncomfortable side effects of being pregooo.

In case my swollen feet & hands, pimples, enormous stomach, incredibly white skin, stretch marks where I really never wanted them, and a new body weight that is rapidly catching up with my husband's didn't make me feel disgusting enough... Nature through in a few extra fun scenario's to deal with.

It used to be that I could laugh, sneeze, cough and run without ever having to worry about peeing my pants. Oh the luxury! Becuause let me tell you, those days are most definately gone. Too much information? I told you to stop reading..

Another completely disgusting side effect? Gas. Holy toleto. Must I say more..?

Oh and don't forget the constipation! Thats a fun one. ha!

Like I mentioned breifly in my last blog update, the bathroom breaks required nowadays are out of hand. Did anyone else dream of having a catheter as often as me? Ahhh.. Even the thought is so comforing!

Sleep? What is sleep? I seem to have a very faint memory of it, but its not ringing any bells for me.. I miss sleep so very very much :/  It seems like I sleep less and less every night and wake up grumpier and grumpier every morning. Please don't take more than 40 weeks baby!

Well it's been fun. :) I love being pregnant and I cannot wait to meet our little guy!! He may be making me feel a tad bit miserable right now, but it's not his fault. I love him and I want him to take his time growing strong and healthy!

The End.

30 Week Utrasound & Life as of Late

Baby boy is 30 weeks and 4 days today!

He's already looking like his daddy to me :)

Our ultra sound tech determined his current weight to be

3lb's 6oz.

I've known from the start that the odds of our baby having a

good sized head were pretty high, and boy were the odds right this time.

That poor little boy gets the [big melon] gene from

mommy AND daddy's side of the family!

His noggin' measured in at 33w 5d today... ouch.

But he's just so darn cute :)

Being pregnant has definatley been an eye opener for me.

It's not the fun easy ride I had always imagined, that's for dang sure.

I'd felt lucky to have such an "easy" pregnancy,

until about a month or so ago.

Between the heart burn, leg cramps, backache's, headache's and

an overall [whale-like] feeling of appearance;

it gets tough.

His kicks and rolls and jabs to my ribs are the only things keeping

me sane most of the time, and reminding me that he is worth every little

discomfort.

Chantz has been incredible throughout this whole experience so far!

I'm not very fun to be around when I'm lacking sleep,

and these days it feels like I'm never going to be able to sleep good again.

Needless to say, not so fun to be around. ;)

He very rarely gets upset with my grumpy attitude & instead makes funny jokes

and teases till I come around. Such a trooper!

This must be nature's way of training me to stay up all night with a baby...

And let me tell you, it is EXTREMELY effective.

On top of the 3 to 4 bathroom breaks every night,

I've found it impossible to get comfortable anymore.

I sometimes get so bored and frustrated that Chantz is sleeping and I can't

that I'll wake him up just to tell him how uncomfortable I am.

(Terrible I know)    :)

He's a champ though; instead of getting angry or annoyed (out loud)

he does everything he can to help me get to sleep.

All in all it hasn't been too bad.

I feel so blessed and happy that we get to be parents to

our little boy, that nothing else really matters.

A little sleep at some point wouldn't hurt though :]