We're Alive! + Day 16

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." - Marcus Aurelius

Yes, we've survived the first almost-week as a family of four! Hurray! Here are the updates of us:

Jason is back to work, and actually has been since Thursday night. Since starting his tutoring job, he's missed a lot of days because of the weather, and didn't feel like he could miss any more without endangering his job plus the grades of the students he was working with. He's been keeping busy with that along with his interpreting job, plus having the energy to come home and have the energy to play with Andrew and help me with night-time diaper changes. What a trooper! I really appreciate having him around.

Andrew is having a difficult time adjusting to the change. He doesn't mind David himself. Andrew likes trying to give him his pacifier or saying, "Hi baby Vevid," which is how he says "David". It's pretty cute. What isn't cute is the way he reacts to is the sharing of our attention. He's been throwing tantrum after tantrum; says no to EVERYTHING, including to things that he wants; and has been wrestling us for diaper changes. Andrew really HAS been improving over the last few days, but I know it'll take a while for him to see that having David around is a good thing for him. Once David doesn't sleep so much and interacts more, I think Andrew will really like having him around to play with.

David is doing really well! He sleeps pretty much all the time, eats frequently with some long naps in between sometimes, and needs lots of diaper changes. Watching Andrew grow, I'd forgotten how much newborns sleep! I'd forgotten that they don't move! I'd forgotten a lot! I'm finding it much easier to take care of David than I did for Andrew because I actually know what to expect and what I'm doing this time around. It's really nice. I've even been able to get what feels like a decent amount of sleep at night because I'm not constantly worried about each tiny sound he makes. It's been nice. He goes to the pediatrician for the first time tomorrow, which I'm actually quite nervous for because he looks like he could be a bit jaundiced. Yuck. Wish us luck!

As for me, I'm doing well. :) I seem to be healing alright so far, David is easy for me to care for, and I'm loving living at home right now because of all the extra help we've been getting with Andrew. After gaining 27+ pounds while pregnant, I have somewhere around 8 pounds left to go before I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, which I'm happy about. I've been ravenous for food because I'm nursing (and knowing what I'm doing makes that a LOT easier!), so I've been eating whenever I get hungry. Yeah. Life is simple and good. My mom is taking off work this week, and I know that reality will hit next Monday when everyone is back at work and it's just me and the two little boys at home.

Day 16 - Another picture of yourself

Well, these aren't just of me, but here are some pictures from this last week!

Going-home outfit

Size comparison. I always knew Andrew was big for his age, but he just DWARFS David! Andrew's knees are even bent in the picture!

Andrew holding David - he asked to hold him!

Close-up on the new addition!

And here's my picture. Lovely, no? I thought it was funny. I obviously wasn't ready. I was saying something to Jason when I saw the flash. Nice. Very nice.

Secret: People keep asking me how I looked so good after just having given birth. Want my honest answer? It's because I was induced! How does that have anything to do with looking good? I made absolutely sure I had showered, done my hair, and put on makeup before going to the hospital! If there was anything I could've done to prevent myself from looking like a heap of crap in the "I just had a baby!" pictures, I was going to do it! I don't know what I would've looked like had I not been induced! So there you are. I am vain, and that's how I accomplished it!

Ta Daaaaa! Introducing...

Our new little...

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BOY!

His name is David Grant McBride. He was born at 9:33am this morning (February 9, 2011). He weighs 9 lbs even and is 21 1/2 inches long. BIG boy! And that was him being born a full week before his due date! I don't even want to know how gargantuan he would've been if we had waited any longer!

The new addition with his parents

And here's a close-up shot:

He looks kinda similar to Andrew, don't you think? To compare a hospital picture of Andrew to these pictures of David, click here.

Just in case you're wanting the story, read on. If not, you can stop reading now. :)

We got to the hospital a little early last night. We were supposed to come in at 10pm and got here around 9:45. Not a big deal. They got us all comfortable and got my IV ready, but wouldn't start the pitocin until after midnight. Apparently you're not allowed to be induced until a week before your due date, and mine wasn't until next Wednesday. *shrug*

I started feeling contractions right away after they started the pitocin at about 12:15am, and attempted to sleep for the next few hours. The contractions felt pretty mild though, and even after turning the pitocin up pretty high I wasn't getting very far. I came in dilated to two centimeters and only progressed to three centimeters in the first few hours. They were concerned that I wasn't progressing very well, so they broke my water around 4:45am. Right away the contractions were a LOT more intense, so about an hour later I asked for and got my epidural. Yay! Just before the night nurse left for the day, she checked me one more time to see how I had progressed over the last few hours, so I was to five centimeters at around 7am. I just kept thinking, "Wow. This is taking a long time considering it's my second kid!" This is keeping in mind that my labor was 9 hours long with Andrew. I thought this time I'd be able to shave off a few hours. Oh well. I guess, considering his size, it wasn't so surprising!

I started getting tired again, so I laid down and tried to sleep again. I think it was somewhere around 9am when I started feeling a lot of pressure. It felt like the baby was trying to push itself out! So I called in a nurse to check me, and I was fully dilated! Hurray! We did a practice push to see when we should call in the doctor, and she had to stop me so that she could get the doctor there in time! They got me all prepped for the delivery, my doctor came in, I pushed about five times (only two contractions!), and Ta Daaaaa! There was our brand new baby BOY!

This labor went a lot better and a lot differently than I was expecting. With Andrew, they broke my water first, then started the pitocin, not the other way around. I think if they had done it that way, I would've had David a lot sooner, but my doctor wasn't even available to come in until around 7am anyway, so it worked out just fine for us. Not only that, but I also pushed for 2 hours with Andrew, let myself get freaked out by the pain, and I even hyperventilated because I felt like I couldn't breathe. This time around, the pushing was SUPER short, and I told myself to remain calm because I knew it would be over soon. And it was!

Thank heaven for little boys. :)

Now we just have to get adjusted to having two little boys to chase around! I'm sure these two will be fast friends... once Andrew figures out David's not leaving anytime soon!

Our little chunky monkey :)

Here Goes Nothing! + Day 15

"All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary." -Sally Ride

Well, today is the day the new adventure begins, folks! I don't have to go in to the hospital for another 9 1/2 hours, but still. It feels like there are still a million things I have to get done before we go, but I know that's not really the case. That's just me trying to come to grips that by this time tomorrow, I'll most likely have a beautiful new little baby lying in my arms.

From Similac.com

Wow.

Just FYI, we're bringing our laptop to the hospital. It may not be right away or anything, but we'll be posting pictures of the new addition. :)

Day 15 - Put your iPod on shuffle - the first 10 songs that play

I don't have my iPod with me, but I'll put my iTunes on shuffle. This could be interesting. We have a really random array of music...

1. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - Michael Buble
2. I Wonder - Mary Costa (from Sleeping Beauty)
3. Am I The Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way) - Dixie Chicks
4. You're A God - Vertical Horizon
5. The Boy's Gone - Jason Mraz
6. Friday - Daniel Bedingfield
7. May The Horse Be With You - Relient K
8. Whatever It Takes - John McVey and Felicia Sorenson (The Best of EFY)
9. Hush! The Gentle Night is Falling - Rob Gardner
10. Overture and Preludium - Rogers and Hammerstein (from The Sound of Music)

The really funny thing about all this music is that it isn't representative of the songs we usually listen to at all. Looking through the list, the only ones I've listened to in probably the last year are #s 1, 2, 7, 8, and 10. And it's probably been one listen in the last year for them all except #7. lol.

So, I'm going to do a second list based on my favorites list.

1. All of Me - Jon Schmidt
2. All the Right Moves - OneRepublic
3. Exit to Exit - Ryan Cabrera
4. Go The Distance - Roger Bart (from Hercules)
5. I'm Already There - Lonestar
6. Prayin' for Daylight - Rascal Flatts
7. Not That Different - Collin Raye
8. Journey to the Past - Liz Callaway (from Anastasia)
9. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
10. Breaking Free - Vanessa Hudgins and Zac Efron (from High School Musical)

Ta daaaaa! Now you can proceed to make fun of my musical taste. :)

Secret: When I was in high school, I thought I liked a wide variety of music that most people would like. Then, after a few people (boys, specifically) looked through my cd collection, I realized that I have very girly, mostly pop taste. I guess I'm not the owner of such a wide variety of songs as I thought!

Change of Plans + Two "Day" Catch-Up

"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever." -Keri Russell

So there's a slight change of plans.

This morning, I got a call from Frankie, the nurse that schedules inductions at my doctor's office. She said that my particular doctor actually wasn't going to be on call on Wednesday. She said I could keep my appointment on Wednesday if I didn't mind if someone else delivered the baby, or I could change the date.

Yeah. I wasn't very happy about that. Until they told me my other option.

The other option: going in tomorrow at 10pm to be induced! That would mean that I would have the baby sometime early Wednesday morning, when my doctor would be available. I chose that option! My doctor's office is actually attached to the hospital, and Dr. Krantz (my doctor) will be working Wednesday morning, so whenever I end up having the baby, he'll be able to come over and deliver the baby. Yay!

I'm not super-excited about spending the night at the hospital in labor after having taken care of Andrew by myself all day long (meaning I'll have no chance to sleep beforehand), but hey - I'll take it!

Moving on.

Sorry I missed yesterday's "daily challenge", but I figure I'll be missing a LOT of days coming up here, so I really don't feel too bad. :)

Day 13 - A letter to someone who has hurt you recently

Fortunately, I don't have anyone who has hurt me recently, so I really don't have anything to say!

Day 14 - A picture of you and your family

Oh. Whoops. I've already done that! But let's see what other pictures I can dig up.

The first three are old. They're from Christmastime 2006.

Poppy

Kiwi

Suzi-Q

This one is, well, obviously from when my parents came out to Idaho to help us the first few weeks after Andrew was born.

"The Momma"

My parents at our wedding reception in Ohio (sorry I worked backward...)

Susette and her hubby of 2 1/2 years, Josh.

That's the family I grew up with. These are pictures of the family I married into.

The whole family. I only have two sisters. Jason is one of five brothers and has three sisters. Talk about almost culture shock when we got married!

I have more pictures of these guys (somewhere), and I'll post more of them tomorrow. Just know that the family I married into is incredible and Extremely good-looking. :)

And these are of my own little family. The first is from the 4th of July last year, and the second is from Jason's college graduation at the end of last July. Those really are the most recent I have because, for some reason, we don't tend to get pictures of all three of us together very often! Weird.

Secret: I wish I was as smart as the people who end up on Jeopardy. It just boggles my mind. How could any one person retain so much random information? I mean, Ken Jennings, how did you do it?

Lazy Day + Day 12

"Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy." -Milan Kundera

Haha, I thought that was funny. Partly because I've been soooooo lazy today.

I went to sleep entirely too late last night. It was around midnight when I made it to bed. I used to think that midnight was early to go to sleep. My night owl days, my friends, seem to be over!

This morning, my body was so achy and it's been fighting me all day. I took a nap for a while this afternoon, and it's helped a little, but I just want to sit and do nothing. Ever have one of those days?

Day 12 - How you found out about blogger and why you have one

Well, this isn't too complicated. I'd had a blog for a long time on this website called Xanga. It seemed like everyone in my high school had one. People had started to abandon them when I started college, but I stuck to it for a really long time.

I actually don't really remember how I found out about blogger. It might've been through my sister-in-law Holly. She had one and shared the link with us, and I thought it would be a good idea to switch to a site that more people used. Plus, after checking it out, it seemed super-easy to use and was going in the direction that I wanted my blog to go in. Xanga was trying to be too invasive and be more like Myspace, whereas blogger was sticking to just the blog. I liked that - nice and simple, so I made the switch mid-2008.

The answer to the second question might have been answered already - I wanted to keep a blog but not on that other site anymore - but it was also because it's easier and faster to type than to write in my journal. Not only that, but I wanted to put my thoughts out there in the hopes that other people found what I had to say to be interesting or felt the same way I did.

Secret: I've never watched the Super Bowl. Ever. The only football we follow is college. I like it better than pro, because you have the hope that people are playing purely for the love of the game. Plus, it's fun to root on your favorite school. :)

Even MORE Exciting Stuff! + Day 11

"Contemplation often makes life miserable. We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live." -Nicolas de Chamfort

Pretty much that means "Seize the day", right?

Remember when I told you about my doctor's appointment on Wednesday, how my doctor brought up the option of being induced? Well, the more I kept thinking about it after the appointment that day and yesterday, the more I felt like it was probably the right thing to do to just call the doctor's office and go ahead and schedule the induction for whatever next possible day was available.

So, I did!

I called them this morning, left a message with the nurse there who schedules inductions, and she called me back in the early afternoon after having talked to my doctor. It's scheduled for (drum roll please).....

NEXT WEDNESDAY!

Yep, that's right, Wednesday, February 9th, I will be going to the hospital at the bright and happy hour of 5am to be induced. Yuck. Early right? Oh well. I'd rather be prepared and going in at 5am than having been on my second day without a shower (gross, I know) and going in at 2am all frazzled and nasty, having gone into labor myself whenever that would happen. :) I'm so happy. I feel such relief! I have a feeling that if I had waited any longer or hadn't scheduled this at all, this baby would've been HUGE.

Day 11 - Another picture of you and your friends

Ok. Did you not hear me the first time? I don't really have any pictures of me and my friends! *sigh* Let me look for some random ones though.

This isn't of me with them, but this is the VanderWal family! We met them the first Sunday Jason and I lived in Rexburg as a married couple, and they were newly married as well, so we got along great. Their little boy, Dillon, was only three months younger than Andrew, so we got together for them to play a lot before we moved.

These are some of my friends from my "single days": Elliot, Jon, me, Jason, and Stephanie. This was back in January 2007, and the great thing about this picture is that I'm now married to Jason, and Stephanie is now married to Jon! Sorry Elliot, we forgot to bring a third girl on this trip...

This is the same Stephanie as in the last picture, but I just had to tell you more about her! She was one of my room mates my sophomore year, and she became one of my best friends that year. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to see a whole lot of each other since then, because we both got married and went our separate ways, but I still think about her, Jon, and her little boy Will all the time and hope they're doing well.

This is Rachel, one of the friends I've had the longest. She and I met in third grade, and we were instant friends. It helped that she was a member of my church, but still. We were pretty close up until we graduated from high school, then because we went our separate ways for college, we kinda lost touch. Even now we still see each other, but because of life circumstances, she's closer to my younger sister and with me. It makes me a little sad sometimes, but hey, life goes on and changes all the time, right?

Aaannnnd then there's Katie! She's my sister-in-law, and since Jason and I were engaged and married, she's become one of my closest friends. We would talk about boys, we'd talk about hair and makeup, and now that we're married, we talk about married life and being PREGNANT (she's due August 29th! Yay!). She's just all-around pretty much fantastic, and I love her to death.

There are more friends that I wish I had pictures of, but I just don't! I hope this will suffice for now.

Secret: I'm a definite homebody, but I don't like being home by myself ever. I have to have someone to talk to, to play games with, to watch movies with... Otherwise, I just get lonely. I like going out and doing stuff every once in a while, but why go out when you can have so much fun at home?

Better Weather + Day 10

"A day without sunshine is like, you know, night." -Steve Martin

Finally, the sun is shining, and there's no ice or snow falling today! It makes me happy to see the sunshine and the clouds making way for it. :) It may not be the warmest day out there ever, but man, it is beautiful to see!

google images

Day 10 - Songs you listen to when you're bored, happy, sad, mad, hyped

This is hard, because I listen to the same music for all of them! They all seem to make me want to get up and dance if I'm bored, make me laugh when I'm happy, make me smile when I'm sad, make me feel better when I'm mad, and pump me up more (or calm me down, whichever I need, I guess) when I'm hyped.

I guess there is one song that is an exception to the rule. It's the song "Tonight I Wanna Cry" by Keith Urban. I listen to this song sometimes when I'm lonely or sad. If you've never heard it, here's the music video from youtube.

Secret: It seems like everyone in the entire world loves the musical "Fiddler on the Roof"... except for me. Whenever I tell people that it's actually one of my least favorites, people just gasp and look at me with a look of horror. Well, call me weird or something, but I like for my musicals, really ALL the movies I watch, to have happy endings! And this one is just depressing almost the entire time. So... yeah.

EXCITING! + Day 9

"We do not remember days; we remember moments." -Cesare Pavese, The Burning Brand

A few exciting things:

Jason and I decided that it was time for us to get a new camera. Our old one is about five years old, is HUGE, has 7.1 megapixels, and is seriously banged up from being dropped (or thrown....) a few too many times. So we decided to get a new one. Our old one looks like a mangled version of this:

...while our NEW one looks a little something like this:

Hurray! We found this sleek and skinny Nikon Coolpix S3000 camera on amazon.com. While it's brand new on their site for $99, which is lower than normal too, we got it refurbished for a whopping $65! Crazy! We are so happy about our purchase! 12 megapixels, 4x zoom, 2.7 inch lcd screen... Pretty awesome. We figured it was about time we got a new one, plus we wanted to take some sweet pictures of our second kid (and Andrew)! I'm glad we'll be able to better record our memories of our adorable little kiddos.

Another thing to be excited about: I am 2 weeks away from my due date today! I went to the doctor today (braving the nasty weather!), and I'm dilated to 2 centimeters, and the baby's head is REALLY low. The doctor also stripped my membranes a bit while he checked me, so we'll see if that helps bring labor sooner! He brought up the subject of induction, and I'm thinking that if I don't go into labor this week, we'll go ahead and schedule an induction. He was worried about the baby being larger because of the one high blood sugar draw I had, so I don't think he'd have any problem with me scheduling an induction. Yay! I was induced with Andrew, and I loved it because I was able to prepare everything for the baby, and I was able to prepare myself mentally for what I was just about to do. Also, if I had waited any longer, Andrew would've been a LARGE baby - he was already 8 lbs 6 oz, and I was induced the day after his due date!

Day 9 - Something you're proud of in the last few days

Ummmmm... Is it sad that I can't really think of anything? That I can think of more things that I'm not so proud of or happy for from the last few days? That's probably normal, especially for the pregnant mother of an energetic toddler! Hmmm...

Oh, I thought of something! Jason is a super-hard worker, a trait he inherited from his amazing mother. On Monday, he started working a second job as a tutor to a few kids throughout the week. I was nervous for him, but it's turned out really well so far! Yesterday's and today's appointments were cancelled because of the awful weather, but the appointments he had on Monday panned out and he took on the challenge like a champ! I'm really proud of his hard work, and his willingness to work so hard for our growing little family.

Secret: I've been so lazy lately, I kinda wish the doctor had a reason to put me on bed rest so that I'd have an excuse to lie around all the time! Sad, huh?

PS. Ashlie, you asked me why we didn't find out the gender of the baby. If you're wondering why we're not sure what we're having, here's the story!

Insane Weather! + Day 8

"The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it." -Patrick Young

Alright, I have to admit, the weather here in Columbus hasn't been as bad for this storm (so far) as it has been just about everywhere else, but the van we drive was covered in ice this morning, and venturing outside to pick up my mom from work this afternoon was interesting. Slipping and sliding down the driveway, we probably could've used a pair of ice skates! And it's supposed to get worse. I hope it doesn't end up looking like this:

google images

Yikes! I feel bad for whoever owned that car!

Day 8 - Short term goals for this month and when you'll accomplish them

Well, since I'm 2 weeks away from my baby's due date, my short term goals are these:

• Stay sane through the last two weeks of the pregnancy! (Or possibly more or less time, depending)
• Have my labor being shorter, especially the pushing part
• Be happy with whatever gender the baby ends up being
• Stay sane after having the baby, especially since I'll still have Andrew to take care of during the day
• Enjoy life with it's multitude of changes!

The first and fourth objectives, I have no idea if I'll be able to accomplish them! Haha. The second objective is up to the baby and my body - I really have no control over it at all. And the third and fifth objectives I will hopefully be able to do just about immediately after the baby is born. But we'll see. All I know is that the baby IS coming this month, so I'll just have to take things as they come!

Secret: This might not be so much of a secret to those who have known me for years, but I used to be REALLY in love with *N Sync! So much so, in fact, that in my free time, I would hang out with my older sister and a couple of her friends to learn all the dances to all of their songs! Even some of the variations of the dances to songs they had. Yes... we had a slight obsession...