Baby Christopher's Birth Story

Whew... baby Christopher is 7 weeks old today and getting sooo big! ( Almost 11 lbs already)

Lets back things up and talk about our little Halloween baby. On October 30, 2012 I went to the hospital with contractions. While at home they were 5 minutes apart but as soon as we were on our way and arrived they were more infrequent and not increasing in strength. When we arrived at the hospital we were put in a triage room to be monitored. Immediately the nurses said I was far too calm to be having our baby that night. We hoped they might just induce that night since I was scheduled for an induction the next day at 8 pm. However, since things didn't seem to be naturally progressing and there were no open delivery rooms they sent us  home to come back the next day for our scheduled induction.

When we left the hospital we were on high alert just in case my body decided to start making changes fast. The contractions were present the rest of the night and the next day but very mild. We were excited when it was time to actually head to the hospital and loaded up the car and made sure to eat dinner since I knew I wouldnt be eating until the baby was here. On our way to the hospital at 7:30 pm on October 30th we got a call from the hospital and they had no available beds so they asked me to call back around 9 pm to see if the situation had changed. We called at 9 pm and we expected for them to say come on down but instead they said to come at 11 pm. Now, after being prego for so long, at this point I was a week over due, I was ready to meet my little one. The nursing staff was very nice and remembered us from us coming in with contractions the night before. When we arrived one nurse was so appreciative that we were patient and calm through the induction time being moved around she gave us a very large labor room which she said was good luck since she delivered her son in that room years ago.

After getting checked in and settled into our room the Pitocin started to flow. They told us just to relax and try to sleep because the contractions were going to start coming and they didn't want to give me any medication until I was further along in labor. The lights were turned down and I tried to sleep but had to keep getting up to pee every hour or so. (This was mostly annoying since I had monitors attached to my belly to monitor both baby and my heartbeat and they kept falling out of place since I had to get up and down so often.) Chris on the other hand slept like a log but was super uncomfortable because he is so tall and couldn't fit. The nurse even made fun of the little chair he had to sleep in.

As the night quickly faded to morning the medicine started to kick in more and more. Mostly this happened when the nurses switched and one decided to up the dosage I was receiving. Finally I was starting to feel strong contractions that were not pleasant and since I was starting to dilate I was able to get medicine. Since Chris & I took all our labor classes Sutter offered we already had met the Anesthesiologist. (He taught our Anesthesia class) I would like to say he remembered us and he may have since he loved that we asked so many questions during the class and actually noticed Chris was gone after a break during the class and waited for him but I am not sure he remembered us at the point and I am guessing he probably didn't. Either way I was happy I had someone I had met before and was comfortable with. I of course didn't look at anything that was being done and made sure to breath through the needle pokes and got the walking epidural as I had wanted. Through out the next few hours he came back to check in and would give me higher doses when needed. I did eventually get the full blown epidural while laboring.

The labor process as you read began with the indiction at 11pm on Oct 30th and continued Oct 31st. As soon as I was fully dilated I had to labor down before I was allowed to push.  This was only supposed to last half an hour but actually lasted an hour and fifteen minutes before the nurses finally came back in. During this time I was told to wait by laying on my side. This resulted in a very sore hip :( We pushed for two and a half hours with the nurses and finally they got the doctor. By the time the doctor arrived the baby was already down in the birthing canal but his nose was turned slightly resulting in one stuck baby. We tried the Vacuum extraction and has 4 sets of pushes to see if it would work. Since the baby was in the birthing canal for so long his head had already become cone shaped and the  vacuum couldn't get proper suction so it didn't work resulting in a c-section. I was very sad to hear that was the only option. Baby's  heart rate was low and wasn't coming out the way he should so it was our only option. A fear tears were shed but I knew I tried everything I could and this was the last step in getting baby out. I was then given more drugs and wheeled down the hall for the c-section.

My mom and Chris got suited up and joined me in the operating room. The medication I was given was very strong and had be very sleepy and shaky. I just made sure I stayed awake enough for the birth and knew the endorphins post birth would help me stay awake since I would be so excited to see our new baby. The surgery seemed to go very fast and before we knew it baby was pulled out Peeing, Pooping, & Crying! Next thing I heard was Chris shout out it's a boy and seeing the baby held up over the blue sheet so I could see him. He was then taken to get cleaned up and my mom and Chris joined him. We had asked my mom to take photos of the birth so she documented a lot of this. We were weary since she isn't a pro at technology but she did a fantastic job. I looked over at them all as I got stitched up. They were so silly and came over to showed me that they had the nurse who took baby foot print for the birth record stamp them with baby's foot. 

Daddy Cutting the cord

1st picture of baby

As soon as  I was good to go Chris and Mom were asked to leave and I moved beds and they gave me baby to hold for the very first time. I was beyond thrilled but nervous because I was still shaking like crazy and they wanted me to hold baby from the operating room to the recovery room. I held tight and stayed in the recovery room for 2 hrs before being brought up to our actually room. (We only had a few of our closest family members visit us in here and we had to sneak them in.)

We lucked out and were given a single room! I am so very grateful and feel blessed because it was nice to have the privacy especially after a c-section. As soon as we got in the room we had family come in and see the little one and spend some time with us. It was great to have family there and the kids were beyond cute in wanting to see the baby. We stayed in the hospital for 4 days and had a wonderful set of nurses who took amazing care of us and the baby. (Love Sutter Memorial) 

We are so happy to have our little Christopher James Boyd III in our life!!!

Baby being weighed 8 lbs 6 ounces

Mommy being wheeled down the hall w/ baby to recover

Mommy holding baby in the recovery room just minutes after surgery w/ daddy not too far behind

Baby Christopher in the hospital doing skin to skin bonding w/ mommy

Going home outfit

Leaving the hospital

Our 2012 Christmas Card & Birth Announcement

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Life over the past few months...Pre-baby Bean

Ok Ok... The Hubs has just asked me to update the blog. Funny thing is that I didn't even know he read it! Since I now know he does I have to post this picture of him doing his daddy duty of assembling the crib.

So what has happened to us and this little baby in the past few months? School started back up for me in late August and I went back to the computer lab at the local elementary school, which I love. It was a crazy busy time since I had to make sure everything was ready for my maternity leave as well as get everything started and ready for all of the staff and students for the start of the school year (lots of work to do). Prior to summer starting I put together a binder to help things run a little smoother while I am away but knew I would still have to train someone to officially take over my position during my absence and add additional information to the binder. I trained someone that is currently taking over the bulk of my classes that come into the computer lab and also partnered with  another person who does my same position at another school so that she can assist my teachers with additional help. Being the control freak/ mothering person I am with my staff members, whom I love, I of course have been still checking my email periodically. But, I really have been hands off in the work department as of September 25th when my maternity leave officially began and try to only check it once a week and update the important things on our school website since I don't want anyone else to do it for fear that they will delete or ruin something and that was a lot of work to get going which I don't want to have to do again.

oops I almost forgot... In early September we made sure to get in some Maternity photos which I really wanted to get done before baby got here to record this amazing time!

Maternity leave for the first week was not all that relaxing for me. I filled my days with things I wanted to make sure I could get done before baby arrives and bugging Chris. I was so tired after all of the running around and prepping that for the past week I really focused on resting and as my grandma constantly says..."put your feet up, Mija." I was also fortunate enough to have my quarter of a century (25th) birthday during this time off and was able to have a great time with the hubby. We went up to Apple Hill and went to a few of the apple farms and had a relaxing day together and did dinner the day before my birthday. My actual birthday day the hubs made me breakfast in bed which was my requested homemade french toast... very yummy! The nice things about being prego is I can say the baby wanted it... truth be told, this mama to be wanted it and because it was my birthday I got it! Later that night we went to Bj's for dinner with the family and it was very delicious and we ended the night by browsing in Barnes & Noble. We had a very nice and relaxing time but I am one paranoid mama to be and had a difficult time getting in my kick counts that day so going to the book store allowed me to relax and focus and after Chris woke up the baby by tapping and talking loudly to it the baby finally started to move enough for me to get my kick counts in. ( I have to make sure I count 10 kicks from the baby for the duration of an hour once in the am and once in the pm)

That brings me to what been going on with the baby... the most important updates of course! As of Tuesday October 9th we will be 38 weeks pregnant. Last week marked 37 weeks which in the prego world means we are currently full term and baby could deliver and be healthy anytime now.  Baby Bean has been low in the belly for 3-4 months and officially dropped for 6 weeks. The way the group of doctor's I see work is that I have a large group of doctors and I rotate through them. I like seeing all of the doctors instead of choosing one and visiting only that person in case I have a different doctor for delivery due to whoever is on call. The only problem we have run into is that we have to constantly tell the doc we don't want to know the gender of the baby so they don't let anything slip and since they don't always write new info/ observations on my chart we have to tell them what the last person said. Specifically they don't believe that the baby is that  low when they look at me until both of us tell them and they check for themselves...down there. Not my favorite part of the appointment of course but I know its part of the drill. When they do check they are always surprised at how low baby is and we have been warned that when I start to feel contractions I need to go in rather than labor at home since the chance that baby will come FAST is a real big possibility.  We have also been told that we are measuring a week earlier than we are and may deliver 1 week early or have a bigger baby. If we deliver on due date we are looking at an 8 lb baby. At my last appointment on October 2nd we were told that I was 80% effaced and went over the labor procedures. It was very real especially when she ended the appointment with..."well, I will either see you this weekend in the hospital to deliver your baby or at your next appointment."

So, we are obviously getting extremely close to welcoming our little one into this world and we are both very excited but scared of the unexpected at the same time. I  have prepared as much as I can and read almost everything I can. My biggest fear is the actual labor & delivery part whereas the hubby's is what to do once the baby is here. I guess thats a valid fear for him since he doesn't have to push this little kiddo out! All Kidding aside, I know that the hubs will be a great daddy since he had such a great role model and we work very well as a team. We are currently on baby watch and counting contractions when they come and taking it easy until baby comes.

Hope this update has been something worth reading! We love to share what's going on with us with our friends & family. Look back here for pictures of the completed nursery and more importantly our BABY!!!

July flew by!

July has been a good but crazy month! I finished my summer job with the school district in the computer lab. I enjoyed that job which only lasted a month and when that was finished I thought I would have a week off to relax. This was not the case as my other summer job with the city started up early. I am still doing that job now which is a summer camp at one of the elementary schools. I feel blessed to be able to have a job in a time when most people are struggling and do not have a job. I had thought about taking the summer off but Chris and I talked about it and since I will be taking time off for the baby we decided I should work now when I can and enjoy my time off later once Bean arrives. Chris is preparing the office to become Bean's room and moving around other furniture so we have room upstairs and downstairs for the baby and all things for the baby.

Baby Bean is still growing and getting bigger and stronger everyday! We are currently 28 weeks prego and excited about Beans arrival. We have been through a few hurdles but are glad to be were we are now.  Since the last post we went to a specialist and got an additional ultrasound which still had a bright spot on baby Bean's heart but no other indicators of down syndrome or any other defects. I also had an additional glucose test to see if I had gestational diabetes and the results came back negative which I am very excited about. I love hearing good results but the waiting process is crazy.

Recently I believe I have felt my first few Braxton Hicks contractions which woke me up in the middle of the night out of a dead sleep. I was able to go back to sleep but experienced another one the following morning and then moderate pain for the rest of the day. I got worried and called the Doctor who informed me that I should be ok but to go in if i experienced 6 contractions in one hour since I am still too have 12 weeks to go. Crazy news from my doctor a few weeks ago... "At this point in your pregnancy you could deliver today and your baby would survive!" The scary part about all of this was that he said this right after he told us that Bean is now in the proper birthing position for a normal delivery. We also went on our hospital tour and were able to get all the hospital details we needed plus were able to see the labor and delivery floor. Eek... delivery is just around the corner! It's scary but we are both excited to see our baby :)

May flowers... just a little late

Wow does time fly! I had intended on writing one blog a month but I guess the month of May just came and went without me realizing it.The school year was winding down and with an expected last day of school being June 7th May was a rush to the finish line. I had such a busy computer lab and any available time slot was filled with teachers bringing in students to complete last minute assessments and final projects to hurry and get grades in by May 31st.

In all of the craziness we did go to Reno, NV this month to celebrate Grandpa Joe & my dad's birthday. This trip is pretty annual as Grandpa's birthday is in the beginning of the month and dad's is at the end... so, we take the trip mid month.We had a lot of fun and even though we were not big winners when it came to the casino we enjoyed our time with our family.

Baby update... This month we went in for our high resolution ultrasound. This is the ultrasound where you typically find out if your baby is a boy or a girl. We have officially decided we are not going to find out. This was Chris' idea but he has made me come to the dark side. He came to me and told me it was really important that we didn't find out because he wanted to be able to come out of the delivery room and say, "It's a ...!" I think this is pretty darn adorable but he continued to persuade me even further. Knowing that I am always on the look out for a good deal or ways to save money he reminded me that we want more than one child and not too long after this one so we will be able to do all gender neutral clothing if we don't find out. This allows us to pass on all clothing to the next kiddo and thus save us more money in the long run. Last but certainly not least, Chris said that his main reason for this choice on his part was so that we can focus on having a healthy baby. So, I was persuaded and do really think this is a good plan. It also helped that a lot of ladies at my school also did not find out and loved not knowing. They explained to me that there are so few things in life we can't control these days that we should just be here and enjoy the ride.

Now to the ultrasound, I was told that I must drink 2-3 bottles of water before coming to the appointment at least an hour before. I was not told anything about not going to the bathroom. In talking with ladies at work they said when they had to do this ultrasound they couldn't use the bathroom after drinking the water and had to hold it the entire time they were in for their exam. I got worried and of course went potty and then consumed the same amount of water again and didn't use the bathroom again until the nurse told me I could. I was probably there for 45 minutes and at first it was just the  normal belly ultrasound and they checked for a list of things. Crazy how they can see things like the kidneys and items in the brain now. We also got to see the baby yawn, move and also a close up of the baby'e heart chambers and them moving. The weirdest thing about the ultrasound was that the nurse kept telling me when I should go pee. She said she had full view of my bladder on the screen and every time it got full she would make me go try... and yes I did have to go.

The test was long and when she couldn't find everything on her checklist she started to move the baby around or ask em to walk around so we could get better angles. We got the results 2 days later while we were in Santa Cruz and all looked normal but one thing. The results said there were bright spots on the heart which was an area of concern. Chris immediately started looking this up to see how serious it could be. What we found out from our own research and speaking with the doctor a few days later is that bright spots on an ultrasound typically means mineralization. This is common to be shown in the heart on the ultrasound and typically goes away or doesn't affect the baby. The only time it can is if the baby has down syndrome or a chromosome defect. Since we didn't opt to do any genetic testing earlier on in the pregnancy ( which cost a pretty penny and can be intrusive for mommy and baby) we now have to go to a para natal specialists. She said we need to take the first available appointment and that was a little scary. Of course the first available appointment isn't until this upcoming Friday. ( yes, that's 3 weeks of worrying but it's almost here) Apparently they will do another ultrasound to see if the bright spot is still there and if so I hope will be checking for any other abnormalities.

We are hoping and praying for a healthy baby and would greatly appreciate it if you all could do the same as well. Oh... due date was moved up from October 23rd to October 21st!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

 Whew! This last month was a doozy and I just finished throwing the last of the two baby showers  at work and even though I had an amazing time I am glad to be able to breathe a little more. The funny thing is that I am now having many teachers come up to me and ask how they are going to top the showers I recently threw. I just keep telling them They will have to reach deep down inside and pull all of their craftiness together ;)

Many have asked how the pregnancy is going and and the answer is pretty well. We  recently had our 14 week checkup and all went well. The baby looks amazing and has a strong heart beat. Recent symptoms that have been going on but not so great have been some not so great acne, continued food aversion and sickness related to it, headaches, and above all ALLERGIES! I have been sneezing like crazy these last few weeks. So much so that I had to plead with my doctor for some solution. Luckily I am now able to take nasal spray and  already feel better.

I am very fortunate that I have such a wonderful hubby who has helped me along the way with everything going on. Glad this is a TEAM BOYD effort as we like to call it :)

Marching on thru 2012

 This month we have decided to make some new goals for next month to better this year! We sat down and had a budget meeting and made plans on how we are going to start paying off current debt and saving for the future. We are also planning on getting organized and clearing out the clutter. We want to go through all of our things and figure out what we can get rid of, donate or sell.  This also includes going through our storage unit and doing the same. We are thinking of having a garage sale within the next few months to get rid of some stuff. Hopefully we can do it at my a family members house since our place is hard to access for something like this. We just have so much stuff and need to de-cluter-fy our house and life.

This month we celebrated St. Patricks day early with my work and went to an auction night and fundraiser event at The Boxing Donkey Irish Pub. We had fun on St. Patty's day as well and went out with the my parents to Thunder Valley and celebrated the holiday. We were hoping for the Luck of the Irish that night but sadly neither of us are Irish :( My dad is and he did do quite well.

I have also been busy at work with my Sunshine club. Which is a technically an adjunct duty where a few staff members come together to help celebrate life's events like weddings, babies, retirement etc.  I have been planning two baby showers for our staff. I led one this last week which was for a little boy and was rubber ducky themed.  I made all the decorative cupcakes, a diaper cake, organized who brought what to contribute to the snack table and ran around  to getting items from her baby registry at the store she registered and other similar stores as well as filling in the holes left in the registry. It was a lot of work but so much fun. In fact, I had a lot of co-workers tell me I need to start a party planning business! I would love to do that if I could get good money doing it :)

We are looking forward to making a lot of good changes and getting an organized :) Go Team Boyd!

February & Life's Little Gifts

What has the month of February brought us? The response is simple...LOVE.

This month we celebrated Chris' 31st birthday and he had an amazing time.  I put on the invites to "bring something that reminds you of Chris" and people definitely did! This provided some great moments and Chris said this was also the most presents he has ever received on his birthday. Here are a few of the things he got... An inflatable 49ers helmet, Veronica Mars on DVD ( since he loves Kirsten bell), Star Wars on VHS, 31 lottery scratchers, Grandma's Cinnamon Rolls and much more! We had a lot of fun, food and yes the night ended with some pong.

 This month is obviously famous for Valentines Day so here is what the Boyd's did on the day of love.... I had that day off and we had a relaxing morning, made breakfast at home and then got coffee at my fav place later on. After coffee we watched The Vow and it was super cute and sad but mostly super cute.  We were thinking about going out to dinner that night but knew everything would be packed so we took it easy and grabbed some burgers and headed home for a relaxing night in. The gift exchange... I got Chris a cute card and a pack of his favorite frosted sugar cookies. I am actually surprised that he shared some of these with me and there are still a few in the fridge too. Chris got me a Ruths Chris gift card which we fully intend on using during happy hour! They have a great filet sandwich with fries for only $6 and it's so delicious.

This month I also attended a conference in Sacramento  for a company that produces a program we use on a daily basis and learned a lot and had a great time. It's exciting what products we put out to our students these days. I wish we had some of the things when I was in elementary school but, I do feel so grateful that I was able to experience the most amazing program ever created for the computer.... Oregon Trail!!! I still have not found a suitable alternative for my students to play in the computer lab.

Overall we had a really tough 2011 but 2012 is turning out to be a good year. We have still had to deal with a few bumps in the road but are looking forward to what this year has in store for us! We are grateful for our health, happiness and each other. We will sign off with a farewell from my new fav. talk show...

"Be Kind to One Another" -Ellen DeGeneres

The New Year...January

Chris is being his stubborn self and still has not come up with any resolutions for the new year. His actual response was that his resolution is to come up with a resolution next year. Oh...what a clever boy!

Since the last post we made we have moved into our new place. Its a cute little place that is two story with hard wood floors down stairs and carpet upstairs. There are two bedrooms and one bathroom all of which are located upstairs. The kitchen is on the small side but has beautiful granite counter tops kitchen and modern looking cabinetry. Of course the kitchen could be a lot bigger especially, since I am always making cupcakes but it is what it is and so I have decided to decorate the kitchen in cupcake decor. Chris seems to be happy with the new place especially because he gets to have an office again even though I am taking up half of it with my desk and craft items. I have been surprisingly making and selling more and more things these days. The most popular things  are the crochet earmuffs, headbands with flower clips, blankets with the crocheted edge and no sew fleece blankets. My spread for the winter craft fairs I attended included a few more little items as well. For the most part I love to do crafty things and being able to sell my items is nice and keeps me going... not to mention great justification on why I have a constant need to go to Joann's or look on Pinterest.

We are still in the process of unpacking and organizing but are constantly working on it. We do love our new place and think its the perfect size for the two of us but we need to get a handle on all of our "stuff" and may need to get rid of what we don't need. Speaking of things we don't need... weight is still slowly but surely coming off but I  need to stay focused and get back on track with Weight Watchers. I think I became comfortable with the program and when the switch to points plus came I thought I could do it without tracking and since my last post I am only 2 more pounds down so I need  stay on track, eat right and most importantly increase my activity. So now that I know what I need to do I just need to actually do it! Chris has been a great support in this and I am so very grateful! Our freezer is stocked with Smart Ones and my mind is stocked with a plan that I need to follow.

Other things that are going on with us... Chris' 31st Birthday is February 3rd and we are inviting some friends and family over for dinner and to come check out our new casa. We are excited to have everyone see the place but it might be a tight squeeze and we will have to work a little harder to get the place in tip top shape before we show it off. That means lots of work in the next week or two to get the place ready. I almost forgot the theme... All things Chris. I thought it was a good entrance into his "30's" and have asked those who come to bring something that reminds them of Chris and I think if everyone does we will have some great laughs!

Something Chris just reminded me of... Today I went to look at my parents new place. (They are moving to a way better location and nicer place) I am super happy for them but it did make me want to move back into a big house where we can spread out and plainly afford it. On the way home I was thinking about this in depth and a thought came to me... We are where we need to be in this moment now. I also think that God is trying to humble us so that we don't take anything for granted. I feel that when we have more, more money, more things, more space, more whatever we tend to take what we have for granted and sometimes we just need to be humbled. We need to get back to our roots and enjoy one another, our little place and all other things will come in time. Currently we are hoping that Chris will find employment relatively soon. If anyone knows of anyone in the electrical engineering field/ construction hiring please let us know!

So happy we are doing this blog and I have kept to my commitment of posting at least 1 blog per month... even though I keep cutting it awfully close ;)

Thanks for listening and checking up on us.

We love you all!!!