Jacob's Arrival and picture overload

I still can't believe that a week ago our lives changed again as we brought our beautiful little boy into the world. We are absolutely in love with him and can't get enough of of him.

Last week I hadn't been feeling very well on Tuesday (Aug 7th). I was nauseated and cramping. I told Josh about it and asked him to bring me some Ginger Ale home to see if that would help calm the nausea. That night after getting the girls down we went to bed and I kept telling myself I needed to bring up my concerns with my doctor at my 36 week appointment that was schedule for Friday (Aug 10th). That night around midnight-12:30ish I woke up to contractions but was able to fall back asleep off and on until 3am. I ended up having 10 contractions in an hour and decided to wait it out until the next hour to see if they'd slow down. The next hour I only had 6 so I figured that they were slowing down and I could wait until morning to call the doctors office. Every hour from then on I had 6 contractions. By 7 am, Josh was up and getting ready for work and getting Kaylee out of her crib. We both agreed that he should go to work because we didn't know when I'd be able to go in or even if the doctor wanted me to come in or wait it out. Finally at 8:30 I called the doctor's office to see what they wanted me to do. Because I was pre-term (35 weeks 5 days)and had been on bedrest since 33 weeks and medicine to control the contractions they told me to come in as soon as I can. So I called Josh to have him come and get me (since I was too big to drive) and finished packing what I thought we needed incase they decided to keep me. Both of us were skeptic about them keeping us and figured that we'd be going home after the appointment and having to continue to wait at least another week or two before Jacob decided to make his debut.

Well anyone that has been pregnant or who has gone with their wife to the doctor appointments knows how much we hate to have to wait when we get there. We checked in at the office and waited for what seemed like forever (probably was because my contractions were getting more painful) and then went back to room 5-10 minutes later. That's when things got annoying pretty fast. I did the routine tasks that they have you do and then we waited for almost an hour before the doctor came in. You'd think that by having someone come in for possible preterm labor they'd try to get to you faster but they didn't. After the doctor checked me and told me I wasn't chaning he sent me to another room to have an NST done. Where my contractions were coming frequently and the doctor could see that I wasn't feeling well he was worried that they contractions could be thinning out my previous c-section scar, which could cause a rupture and not a very good outcome for me or baby. After being on the monitor and having the nurse come in several times the other OB (Dr. Evans) in the office came in and looked at the strip. He then told us that he and Dr. Allred felt it best to just take the baby out. Love that he stated that there was more to lose than to risk letting me go another week. As we signed the consents and got some blood drawn I felt so many emotions. I felt calm and okay that our sweet little boy was coming today, nervous about his overall health and his NICU stay, mixed about another c-section, and excited that I was finally going to meet my little boy and be done with this pregnancy.

We left the office a little before noon and headed up to the hospital. We called our parents and Josh's sister (she had our girls at her house) to let them know we were headed up and that they hoped to do the c-section by 12:30. While Josh parked the car I went up to the familiar floor that I had worked at only a year ago to get registered and prepped for surgery. Once we were in the room being prepped it seemed like forever but when they wheeled me to the OR I remember asking myself am I really ready for this. For the first time that either of us could remember in our past c-section experineces I had tears as I went in and Josh had to stay out until they were ready for him. The emotions hit hard but I knew we were doing the right thing and that somehow everything would be okay.

As the c-section progressed the doctor told us it was a very good thing we didn't wait to do the c-section. Even a couple of hours to a day could have been fatal to one or both of us with how close I was to rupturing my uterus. We have truly been blessed and the prayers in our behalf from family and friends definitely had power to them.

Jacob Joshua Harmon was born Wednesday August 8, 2012 at 1:18 pm. He weighed in at 6 lbs 3 oz and 19 1/4 inch long. He seemed and still seems so small but was a good weight for being a little over 4 weeks early. Wish we had remembered the camera when we were in the OR. The doctor was able to pull him out without rupturing the bag of waters, which I've never heard of. It would have been a neat picture I think. Once he was out the bag of waters he had a good loud cry and when they took him to the NICU we could hear him howling the whole time. Josh stayed with me for most (or even all-can't really remember) of the time as they put me back together before going into the NICU to be with Jacob and see how he was doing. Once I was all sown up I went to recovery for several hours before going to a regular room. It was a while after that before I finally made it down to the NICU. I was having a lot of pain and not feeling well after the spinal block wore off. When I first got to see my newborn son he was already 7-8 hours old and had been weaned off of the oxygen.

Holding him for the first time was such a sweet experience and even now as I reflect back to it and write this entry it still brings tears to my eyes. Our outcome could
have been so different. He is such a sweet little spirit! Over the next few days we were told by the doctor and nurses in the NICU that it was up to little Jacob on when he went home. He had to have the IV in place for 48 hours and then it came down to just feedings. They told us that they didn't think it'd be long before he went home but that it could go either way depending on his eating. They told us to plan on at least a week but as long as 5. Josh kept telling me he thought Jacob would be out by the end of the weekend and I just kept silently praying that he'd come home with us. I decided to stay in the hospital for 3 days (with the other 2 I got out as soon as I hit 48 hours) due to still having some pain issues. When we went to the NICU Friday morning to see him the nurse told us that if his blood work came back fine between noon and 1 pm then Jacob would be able to come to our room and as long as his bilirubin labs ( lab to check for jaundice)came back fine in the morning and that he kept up his with his feeding that he'd go home with us on Saturday. We were so excited and let our parents know. The next morning he had his labs drawn and the nurse said he did great with his feedings. We just had to wait on my doctor to release me and see what the pediatrician said. Can' I just say that was a very long morning. I was given the green light around 8:30 to go home but told if baby wasn't coming I could stay one more day. The pediatrician had a very busy morning with a full NICU to attend to so he wasn't able to come out to the floor til mid-morning. When he finally came and looked over Jacob and his labs he gave us the green light to take him home. What a relief that was. As soon as we had the green light, Josh went and got my meds from the pharmacy packed up our room and we went through the discharge process. Finally at 11:30 our little family of 5 headed home to begin our new adventure!

We are all doing well and adjusting fairly well. The girls absolutely adore their little brother. Kaylee is constantly climbing up on the playpen to look at him and try to help him. Ashlyn is so willing to get me things for Jacob and tells me all the time that she loves him and that he is so handsome. We are so grateful to family, friends, and a great ward who have done so much for us!

Enjoy the pictures:

In the hospital at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg ID

My girls. My sister and her daughter did such a great job with their hairdos. Now if I could only master that talent.

Home!

A Life Saver

This was my life saver

I didn't know goo-be-gone would take off crayon and I was even more worried that it would take off the paint on Ashlyn's wall.

So why did I have to use this you ask? Ashlyn got upset with me because I told her that I couldn't play outside so she decided to take orange crayon to her walls, bed, and some of her bedding. It's hard to be almost 3 1/2 and not understand the concept of mom being on bedrest.

34 Weeks Pregnant

Can't believe that we are finally to this point in the pregnancy. Last Friday when I hit 33 weeks (7/20/12)I went into the dr because I was having contractions, some very painful while others were just simply there and continuing to come. After my NST showed timeable contractions I was sent to L&D to get a shot to stop the contractions and then sent home on bedrest.

I went back to the Dr on Wednesday (7/25/12) for my follow-up appointment. I have been having constant headaches since the previous Friday and let the dr know. They did labs for preeclampsia as well as another NST. I was still having timeable contractions so they decided to put me on medication to slow down the contractions and told me to continue bedrest. They are hoping to get me to 36 weeks and then we'll go from there since baby is looking good. Some will depend on what the labs show. The nice thing is that I did at least get permission to go to my baby shower this weekend. Other than that I'm suppose to stay down. Lets hope I can survive bedrest. Was on it for 3 weeks with Kaylee and I went crazy so here's to hoping that I survive :)

Movie Night

So my brothers and hubby have been talking about watching Avengers for awhile now and so on July 14th they went off to the theater to watch it. We were going to have a family movie night but I told Josh just to go ahead and go and I'd have a little movie party with the girls. So why the guys watched this action show

the girls and I ate popcorn and had ice cream while watching this

Here are some pics of the girls after I got their pillows, blankets and popcorn ready:

New Nursery Color

So I've been talking about painting the nursery forever! If you don't believe me ask Josh, he'll tell you it's true. Last Friday I finally did it and am so happy with how it turned out. The only think I wish I would have done was take a before picture to show the difference. It was previously a light green (the closet I color I can think of to describe it was mint or if you have seen the movie Princess and the Frog think of the shade of green in that) but it gave off an awful yellowish tint on people when they would go in the room. After looking at ideas and different colors I decided to just go with one solid color. We chose Sweet Baby Blue. Blue is no longer just a boy color so I decided that Kaylee wouldn't suffer from the color choice, besides blue has always been my favorite color. Eventually she'll move in with Ashlyn but for now the youngest 2 will share a room. So here is the what it looks like. I also but up his crib and bedding and I think they look great. Eventually I'll put some shelves or picture frames up with other colors that can match but for now this is how it looks.

What We've Been Up To Lately

We had a fabulous Memorial Weekend full of fun and family. We kicked it off on Saturday by going to my parents' house to take care of the dogs while they went to Colorado. That night we dropped the girls off at Josh's parents' home so that we could go on a date. We went to Fat Cats in Rexburg and ate pizza and watched "What to Expect When You're Expecting" with our free date coupon from my ob office.

Sunday we were invited by my gracious S-I-L to have lunch with her and her family. After we ate the kids and Josh watched the 3rd Alvin and the Chipmunks movie while Melissa, Ben and one of her friends were upstairs decorating for my nephew's 1st birthday party. I stayed downstairs to keep an eye on the kids and help with the cupcakes.

Monday we were invited to a BBQ at Josh's Uncle's home. It was so much fun! We had lots of good food and played Mormon Rummy. Then we headed home so that we could all get rest and get back into our routine. We got together again a week or 2 later and had another fun game playing, good food eating day with them! Love it when you've got good company and food, couldn't ask for much more.

We've also really enjoyed watching the NBA playoffs. Definitely rooting for OKC to take home the Championship but we'll just have to see. They've been a fun team to watch and have so much talent.

Here's a quick breakdown of what each member has been up to:

Josh-

He's keeping busy between work, yard work and working out.




The day after Memorial Day he was asked by his boss to go to Salt Lake City with one of the partners and another co-worker. They weren't sure how long they'd be gone so I packed him enough for the remainder of the week (hoping and praying it was enough and that it didn't last longer than Friday). They got to work long hours and he ate out more that week than we have in the last 6 months. We were so glad to have him come home that Friday night. Ashlyn really had a hard time having her daddy and best friend gone for that long.



Today he gets the chance to go hiking with his Uncle Mallory and is really looking forward to it. Next week he gets to go to Island Park for a work retreat and then 2 weeks later he gets to take his scouts on their 1st campout of the summer season. He is also waiting for the results to find out if he and my B-I-L drew on their hunt or not. I know he's hoping so that he can get some hunting in, since archery season isn't looking so good with the baby coming at the end of August.

Jamie~

I've mainly just been busy growning a baby. Definitely feeling large and uncomfortable but keep telling myself that it's all worth it when I finally get to hold my little boy. Glad that I'm in the final stretch of the pregnancy. Everything is going well with the pregnancy and am so glad that I'm down to bi-monthly appointments. Below are pics of my growing belly.

(22 weeks 5 days)

(28 weeks 2 days)


Something I've really been enjoying is weeding the flower beds. Need to be better about the garden but it'll get there. I can't do it for very long because I swell up really bad in my feet and hands but it has been quiet theraputic to me.

I also have been getting everything changed around and ready for when this little guy makes his debut. I've already got a case of Newborn and size 1 diapers, his bedding (thanks to his Auntie Melissa) and some clothes and blankets. They are all washed and organized on the shelves. The baby and Kaylee will be sharing a room so it was fairly easy to get it organized. Just need to order the replacement pad and canopy for the car seat now.

Just registered for classes this last week, but not a 100% that I'll take them. We'll just have to see how I'm feeling. It was hard enough to take classes with 2 kids, trying to imagine it with 3 under 3 and it's not sounding fun at all.

Ashlyn~



This cute crazy girl is so much fun! She's really getting into playing games and has a love for taking showers lately instead of baths. It's crazy what she's been telling me lately because they are related to things I thought she would have forgotten by now. One example of this is when she was playing with her stuffed animal puppy she said that the puppy pooped on the floor and she had to put her in her crate for being naughty, just like when we were trying to potty train Marley (which we no longer have).

She loves to go anywhere that there is a slide or the library. I just signed her up for the summer reading program and she has already finished 1 chapter book. I'm surprised she even picked the book, but who am I to tell her she can't read a book that is in the kids section.

Nursey is still a wonderful place that she looks forward to every Sunday. This last week when I went to get her she was helping the teacher by pushing the vacummn around. She insisted that she had to get all the stuff on the floor picked up and she did it and was so happy with herself. She loves her teachers and loves telling me about what she learned.

She is still testing the limits to see what she can get away with but for the most part we simply enjoy her fun personality. She is such a sweet and sasy little girl who just wants to help around the house, have fun with her sister, and create havoc from time to time.

Kaylee~



This crazy adventurous girl is a lot of fun! This girl has no fear of anything, except maybe being gone from her mommy too long. She loves to climb over anything and really enjoys anything to do with water. The other day I had given her Kool-Aid and she was so round up that she was climbing up on the couch and onto the back of the couch and throwing herself over the side. After repeatedly doing it 3 times and her laughing the entire time I finally got her settled down for nap time.

Loving that she is still willing to take 2 naps a day. Sometimes they are shorter than her usual 2 hour naps but hey I will still take her napping twice a day any day. She loves to chase her big sister and tries to copycat her.

Singing songs is an absoulte favorite of hers. When we sing songs she loves to dance and try and sing along with us. She even claps her hands to the song "If you're happy and you know it". She's just so darn cute you can't help but love her.

Well that's what we've been up to and will be up over the next few months. Hope you all are having a fantastic summer and have lots of fun things planned.

Kaylee's 1st Birthday

Birthdays come but once a year. Growing up my family always just had the family living at home, a cake, and our presents. If someone wasn't there it wasn't a big deal. As we got older and started leaving the nest, birthday cards or a simple phone call is what is considered normal. With Josh's family birthdays are a much bigger deal. Everyone that can come is invited. So each time one of the girls have a birthday we invite Josh's family over. It's fun to see their excitement and our girls excitement. As my kids get older I'll probably end up letting them have friends over and doing parites but for now, I'm simply content that it's just a small family gathering.

I decided to try my hand at decorating a cake that I could be proud of and that I could actually take a picture of without being totally embarrassed. So I got on pintrest and found a cake similar to this. The only difference is that I used sprees instead of those big colored mints witht the white dots on them (couldn't find any). I found a cake mix and chocolate frosting that didn't contain milk or butter products (Uncle Samuel is allergic to those types of things) and this is what it came out looking like.

I also made cupcakes because I wasn't sure we'd have enough. I used a yellow cake mix and frosted with chocolate frosting. Knew I should have made a homemade frosting so that Aunt Rachel could have had some (sorry Rachel, wasnt' thinking very clearly).

Those in attendance were Grandma & Grandpa Harmon, Aunt Melissa & Uncle Ben and their 3 kids, and the aunts and uncles who still live at home. We also invited our friends the Wilcox's over (they are in our ward and live in the same subdivision).

Kaylee was spoiled with the cupcakes, cake and presents. Here is a picture of her with her cupcake after we sang Happy Birthday.

Presents that she got included a cell phone, blocks in a wagon, a dolly with a cow (the cow scares her whenever she sets it off), soft blocks, books, and some stuffed animals. She also got her first birthday card from Grandma & Grandpa Brown that had a $2 bill in it (Each grandkid gets one for their birthday each year).

It was a great day and we were so lucky to celebrate it. Kaylee we love you and the joy you bring to our lives. You've grown so much already in this 1st year and we look forward to seeing you grow and become your very own person. We love you!

KAYLEE

Kaylee had her 1-yr check-up last Wednesday. She is weighing in at 19 lbs 6oz (25th percentile) and is 30 1/4 in. (80th percentile)tall, has 6 teeth and is a healthy little girl. She did fairly well at her appointment considering she was cranky because it was almost nap time and she had to get 4 shots. She didn't like those at all, but what kid does. To help her the nurse gave a sucker and then gave both the girls a free coupon to get ice cream at Rupe's.

Kaylee loves bath time still and could play for hours if I let her. Just like her sister she's usually not ready to get out when I'm done and would rather stay in the water even after it has gone cold. Following Ashlyn around is a constant. Anything she sees big sister doing she wants to do, for instance she can do summersaults from watching Ashlyn do them. Climbing and being held are also things she loves. She likes to clap and dance around when there is music and will sometimes try to sing along. She is now really starting to understand bye bye and will often wave and try to say bye when people leave. Another favorite of hers is getting a hug and kiss from daddy whenever he leaves for work and when he comes home trying to escape into the garage to meet him. She no longer takes the binki (broke that habit around 10 months of age)and continues to sleep pretty well. I'm lucky that she still takes 2 naps a day.

Some of her favorite foods are eggs, toast, and lasagna. She pretty much eats anything within reach. She is even trying to eat with a fork. Transitioning from a bottle to a sippy hasn't been easy for her, but with time it will come. I was told to try and have her off the bottle by August (15 months)but we'll just have to see. Right now it's a struggle to get her to even do 1 sippy cup. I think it's just a comfort thing for her and I didn't really introduce the sippy to her until about 11 months of age (where as with Ashlyn she was trying it around 6 months).

Kaylee's biggest challenge right now is dealing with separation anxiety. If I leave the room, even when others are there, she freaks out. She's definitely a momma's girl. I hate to have anyone babysit her because I know she'll just cry most of the time, but I know it needs to be done. Her doctor said that she was a little more on the extreme side and if we didn't leave her with others while we go out then it's just get worse when the new baby comes. So here's to hoping, this weekend some friends of ours are going to watch the girls while we do dinner or something to celebrate our anniversary.

Kaylee, we love you and are so grateful to have you in our home. You bring so much joy to our lives! Love mommy and daddy!

We're having a BOY!!!!

Today we found out that we are finally having a boy! We are so excited and Ashlyn was so happy that her brother is indeed a brother. It was so cute, on the way home I showed her a picture of the ultrasound and she kept saying "this is my baby Jacob" and wanted to hold the picture all the way home. We are right on track with his growth and couldn't be happier that he is doing well. We are pretty sure on his name first name already and are planning on calling him Jacob. Ashlyn has been calling him that for weeks and we feel like it just fits.

Pregnancy wise things are going pretty smoothly. My energy level is slowly coming back and I still get my headaches but have found that by cutting back on salts and sugars helps reduce the intensity and the regularity of them. Here is a belly shot of me as of today (4/23/12), I'm 20w3d along. Wahoo, we're half way there!

Wasn't she just born yesterday?

Kaylee is getting so big and is no longer a little baby that is 100% dependent on her parents. She is growing so much, I can't believe it. She's walking and climbing over everything and loves to be heard. Can't believe she's going to be 1 next week. Will post more after her year-checkup. Love ya baby girl!

Tauphas Park Zoo~April 21st

Aunt Melissa invited us to go to the zoo with her and her kids and of course we had to go. Grandpa Harmon, Aunt Daisy and Uncle Samuel also came along and took turns pushing the strollers. Ashlyn loves animals and Kaylee has never been. So after Josh finished with his scouting responsibilites we loaded up and headed out. It was a lot of fun even though it was hot and there was about a 30-45 minute wait in line. Ashlyn kept asking where the cows were. Thinking we might need to take a trip to see Aunt April and Uncle Fred's dairy farm so she can really have some fun with the cows. It was a fun outing and such nice weather!

Getting into Mom's mascara

Check out the awesome unibrow I constructed :)

Wasn't the happiest about this since she used up my whole tube, but I knew I needed to document because I'd laugh about it later.

Ashlyn's March Photo fun

This little girl loves to have her picture taken!I told her when we went outside I'd take pictures. I didn't even ask her to pose at all, this is all her and her personality

Josh's B-day

So Josh celebrated his 26th Birthday this year. Wow he's getting old (j/k). Seeing that it falls in the middle of tax season we just had a small celebration with our little family. I attempted to make him a cake, but it didn't turn out very pretty so he told me not to take a picture (someday I'll eventually make a cool cake and be able to brag about the awesomeness of it). I made him a nice dinner and he actually picked out his gifts, which was fine by me. He picked out things that will go with hunting so I think overall he was a happy camper. Here's to another great year hun! We love ya!

Potty Training~Feeding the Fishies

So after finding out that we are expecting I told Josh that there was no way that I was going to have 3 kids in diapers. I said the same thing when expecting Kaylee but I was more determined this time. So once Ashlyn finished her bag of pull-ups I told her that she had to wear panties. She has done really well with pottying in the toilet but bowel movements were another story.

Somedays I really wanted to just go back to the pull-ups but I knew it wouldn't help so I continued to clean up after her and make her help. Well as you can imagine having to clean up yucky panties while being pregnant is not the funnest thing in the world. So I decided one day to search on babycenter.com on the discussion boards to see what other parents were doing.

One lady said that the only way her to get her 3 year old to poop in the toilet was to tell her that she was feeding the fishies. At first I just laughed and thought that was so gross, but it was literally the only thing on the boards that I hadn't tried. So I told Ashlyn the same thing and ever since she has been going regularly in the toilet. What a relief! There are still days that she has an accident but overall she is doing really well at it. She gets so excited to feed those fishies that live at the bottom of the tank and tells me that they are all fed and she's a big girl for feeding them. She even had me document it, so here's a picture of her sending the fishies their food (don't worry it's just her flushing the toilet and pointing as it goes down).

Goodbye 1st trimester

So I have definitely been blessed to have a rather easy 1st trimester and can't believe that tomorrow I start the second one.

A few things I won't miss: Being so tired and getting over my cold.

Things that I'm looking forward to: More energy, food cravings (but kept in check), feeling the baby move, hearing baby's heartbeat on March 20th, finding out baby's gender and seeing the little sweetie again in April (roughly around the 17th, and starting my yoga up.

Here's a belly shot for anyone that wants to see; I'm 13 weeks 6 days in this picture.