Bird Hunting 2011

Here are some pictures of Chris' bird hunting trips this year....

Andy and Sadie at Lucky Peak

Lucky Peak

Sadie, Porter, and Drake ready for the birds

1 Week and Ashley's Cheer

Molly had her first doctors appointment on the 6th when she was five days old.  Her stats where:

• Weight: 7 lbs 3 oz, 30th percentile
• She left the hospital weighing 6 lbs 12 oz
• Height: 18 1/2 inches, 15th percentile.  They told us their length was always shorter than the hospital length due to the different measuring style, but I also think it has a lot to due with the fact that her cone head finally went away!
• Head Circumference: 34 1/2 inches, 40th percentile

The first week flew by so quickly.  Molly has been a good baby from the start and has never really been fussy.  She is still a ton of work, but has been much easier than I had anticipated.

I have also been recovering well.  I was really looking forward to being able to move again after having Molly, so to have to recover from a c-section was a little disappointing.  Getting out of bed and then situating myself to nurse has been difficult.  I have been able to get little walks in and that seems to help.

When we first came home Molly would start crying the second she was un-swaddled.  She still loves to be swaddled, but by the first week, she at least learned to appreciate a little freedom.

Chris has also been wonderful.  He wakes up during our morning feeding that usually occurs sometime around 6 am, showers, then takes Molly to the living room where he drinks coffee and watches the morning news.  I then get to go back to sleep guilt-free until 8:30 or 9:00.  Chris loves his one on one time with Molly, and this has truly been my saving grace.

Ashley was also cheer leading at half time for a basketball game at the high school across from our subdivision on Molly's 1 week birthday.  The timing worked great with Molly's feeding, so mom came and picked me up and took me to the game.  I was able to stay long enough to see her cheer.  She looked to be one of the younger girls in the group, but did fairly well.  I was glad I was able to see her, and it was a nice short test run to getting out of the house alone, while Molly and Daddy hung out.  Chris said they had a blast, and he even beat Molly at Jeopardy.

         

Baths

Molly's first bath was in the hospital...

Until her cord fell off we had to do sponge baths...which she did not like.

Once we could keep the water running over Molly she decided the baths were not so bad.  Especially once we started using the hair dryer to dry her off at the end!



Going Home

We were able to leave the hospital Sunday afternoon.  Since we did not know if we were having a boy or girl, Chris and I bought a going home outfit for both options.  Once we found out it was a girl, Kristin went to our house to wash the girl clothes for us.  Molly was a little small, even the newborn size, but look how cute she was....
                                                     
                                     

More Vistors

Lots of people were excited to meet Molly.
Anna came and saw me in the hospital while we were still awaiting Molly's arrival and then came the next day to meet her.  Jonathan and Kingston where also able to stop by for a minute to say hi.  Then once we were home all three came over again to bring us dinner.  Looking at Kingston I cannot believe how big Molly will be in a few short months!
  

Amber was lucky enough to get off work in time to head to the hospital before going to the airport and flying to Vegas for work .Zeb got to meet Molly once we got home from the hospital.
       

Pat, Charity, and Megan came to the hospital the night before we left with Old Chicago pizza!  The hospital food was actually quite good, but after three days the pizza was a God send!  Somehow we missed a picture of this crew, but did get one of Pat and Charity at our house.  Andrea and Martin also stopped by the day we got home with some dinner for us, and Andy finally meet Molly at another gathering, since we was sick when everyone else came over.

Family

It was nice to have so much family around when Molly was born. 

                                Nana                                                                Auntie Kristin
 

                                  Auntie Lynnea and Uncle Kerry after they got back from Mexico
   
   
 All the nieces came to the hospital on Saturday with lots of girlie gifts.   
It was the last BSU football home game, so Molly dressed in her
BSU best.                                                                                            Ella
 

             Morgan.                                   Ashley. The first thing out of her mouth was "I told you it was a girl!"
 

                                                       Nana with all her granddaughters

We called Grandma in Minnesota when my water broke.  She got a plane ticket that day and got into Boise on Saturday to meet her first grandbaby.

Mom and Dad

Chris and I could not be happier parents or give Molly any more love.  I honestly don't know how we haved lived so long without her in our lives.

   

It's a Girl!

Molly Marie arrived on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 10:43 pm.  She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 inches long.
The day before Molly was born, I just didn't feel right.  I had a significant increase in the amount of swelling to my face and feet, was plain uncomfortable and had a few back spasms throughout the day.  I worked a busy shift in Meridian and told Chris once I got home the baby would be coming that night.  Of course, I had been saying the same thing the past few nights, but this was the most I had believed it (instead of just hoping). So you can imagine my disappointment when I woke to my alarm the next morning. 
I was scheduled to work in Fruitland that day and jumped in the shower first thing.  Chris was about 5 minutes from leaving for work himself when I got out of the shower and started to towel dry myself.  At that point my water broke.  I yelled to Chris, who was in the kitchen, and he ran to the bathroom in disbelief.  I knew we were suppose to go the hospital  when my water broke and not stay at home, but since I was not having labor pains, we did not feel a huge rush to go in right at that moment.  Instead Chris finished packing his hospital bag, I dried my hair, and then we spent a few minutes making sure the house was in good condition to come home from the hospital to. 

We made it to the hospital and were admitted at 7:30 am.  I was having minor sporadic contractions that were less painful then what I experienced while working, so an after an hour walking and time spent on the birthing ball the decision was made to administer pitocin and help my contractions along.  The pitocin started working right away and 4 1/2 hours later I requested my epidural.  It was so nice to get a break from the pain and get some rest.

At 5:15 I was still only dilated to 4 cm.  At 5:40 I decided to give everyone a scare.  I got lightheaded, threw up, had a drop in my blood pressure, and they lost Molly's heartbeat for a minute.  Once they found it again it was too low for comfort.  At that point my room was filled with nurses, I was given oxygen, moved onto all fours (a difficult task when you really can't feel your legs), and Molly was given an internal probe to be monitored with.  After more fluids and meds to bring my blood pressure up things where looking better.  I got re-checked an learned I went from 4 cm to 7 in less than 30 minutes and that was probably a large cause for the scare.  However throughout the rest of labor I could not lay on my back without getting sick and dropping Molly's heart rate. 

At 7:45 it was time to start pushing!  I originally had to push on my side but was finally able to lay on my back long enough to push and would then roll to my side in between contractions.  2 hours later the doctor was called in to check my progress.  After she watched me push another half hour she determined Molly's
head was too big to fit through my pelvis and suggested a c-section.
        

At 10:30 I was taken to the OR.  Molly was born at 10:43 and we learned we had a daughter.  Chris was able to show her to me and then followed Molly to recovery while I was being stitched up.  During this time the doctor informed me Molly had gotten stuck in my pelvis and they actually had to use quite a bit of force to pull her back out.  It was a touch reassuring to know there was no way she would have fit, but I am a little sad that that also means my next baby will be a guaranteed c-section, since I apparently have a very tiny birth canal. 
 

 

Then at midnight we were all re-united.  I could not believe how beautiful and perfect she was.  I tired nursing Molly for a little bit, but both of us were exhausted from the long day.

Chris brought Nana and Auntie Kristin to see us before we headed to our room and they headed home.  Unfortunately Auntie Lynnea and Uncle Kerry were not getting home from Mexico until the next day, and Grandma Sullivan was not flying out until Saturday.  My dad had also been here for Thanksgiving but flew back home that Tuesday.
Chris did amazing and kept me as comfortable as possible through the whole process.  He kept telling me how great I was doing, stayed calm when things got hectic, and gave me massages when the pain increased.  I also have to say how wonderful our nurses were.  L&D were completely amazing and I can only imagine how scary the whole process could have been had I not had complete and total faith in their care.  The same is said for our nurses in the mother/baby unit.  Even with all the unexpected that happened, I could not have had a better experience.