3 Years

April, 2012

There are lots of pictures of Everett lined up for my next post, but today I must pause.

I must pause to honor the perfect date. 

April 25th. . . 

three years ago. . . 

the day we were wed.

I am one hundred percent convinced that I am the luckiest girl in the world.  

So tonight we will celebrate. 

We will leave our boy of 3.5 months 

(although I am quite nervous to do so).

We will go out to dinner.

AND to a movie. 

And then I'm one hundred percent convinced we will come racing home.

Here's to the perfect match on the perfect date.

I love you Justin Paul Delatore.

April, 2012

General Conference Weekend

California Times
Saturday and Sunday 9:00-11:00 and 1:00-3:00
To watch click here.

It's All About Everett

I realize every post lately is about Everett, which is a perfect reflection of our lives now. He is the center of everything. I love it.

I haven't been the greatest at getting pictures as he's grown. I wish I would have done something that shows his growth a little better, because he sure has grown. We went in for his 2 month checkup last week and he weighed in at 11 lbs 12 oz (and is growing perfectly)!

2 months, waiting for the doctor

But alas, it is what it is and I'll post what I've got.

I do want to do better though because pictures can capture so much. I want to be able to remember everything about this sweet 9 week old boy of mine.

Like the way he twitches his wrist when he stretches.
The way his mouth opens and his forehead wrinkles when he looks up.
How he doesn't totally hate tummy time and the way he looks as he lifts his head. (You should see me cheer him on when he does it.)

5 weeks old

I want to remember how he looks up at the tape on the ceiling when I hold him on the couch.
Or how he looks frantically from side to side while his head kind of bobbles around.

9 weeks old

I love how he sticks his chin out and raises his eyebrows after he coughs. His little cough is so cute.
His smile is to die for and melts my heart every time I see it.

Sometimes he'll smile just to one side, usually the right.

His dimple (on his left cheek) is enough to make any one's day.

9 weeks old

Then there's the smile in his sleep. . . precious.

And the sucking in his sleep. The way his little tongue moves with his mouth open to make his bottom lip quiver. Sometimes he'll even smile and suck in his sleep at the same time.

One week old

I have to remember the way he slowly lowers his hands and how he holds them, frozen, fingers all stretched out after throwing them up in the air when he gets startled in his sleep.

4 days old

He doesn't like things going over his head and sometimes screams when we change his clothes if he's in a bad mood. But other times he tolerates it pretty well.
He likes having his diaper off and usually smiles about that.

Almost 8 weeks old

Right after these pictures were taken he pooped all over the changing pad.

Then he peed, which I was forced to block with my hand

He's not the best sleeper and likes to eat every couple of hours. Occasionally he'll go for a 4-5 hour stretch, but only if the stars are aligned just right.

Almost 6 weeks old

Sometimes during the day he wants to eat every hour or hour and a half!

I love the way he roots around when he's ready to eat.

The ravenous look he gets sometimes while he latches on cracks me up every time.

Then there's the way he grunts when he poops. It used to be a constant grunt, day and night, for his first few weeks. He would grunt and arch his back and grunt some more.

He still arches his back sometimes to stretch. If I pick him up and hold him in mid air while he's doing it he will stay arched in the air with his little legs all curled up under his bum, his head thrown back, and his arms stretched out.

He's been a scowler since day one. Now that he is smiling more, he is scowling less, but he still gets those eyebrows down and looks with his serious eyes quite often.

9 weeks old

He likes his bath (just not the first one when we laid him in the newborn sling). He likes to be sitting up in the water, and I want to remember the way he squirms around while I hold him up with one hand and wash him with the other.

I want to always remember the shape of his mouth when he yawns and the way his little nostrils flare.

One week old

And of course I cannot forget the way his blue eyes look up at me while he he eats or the way his tired arms drape across my body while I burp him in the middle of the night.

There are just so many things to remember and I feel like my newborn boy is morphing into something that is. . . well, not newborn. The times goes so quickly and I have to keep reminding myself to soak in each moment with him, even the time last night when he ate a 2:00 AM and again at 3:00 AM and I didn't even have time to fall asleep in between. Yes, even that moment, because even when he's screaming, he is still my precious baby, and he will not be a baby for long.

Blessing Day

Eight weeks old

Today our Everett was blessed by his daddy.

This ordinance is one of those that help you remember who you are and is there for comfort and encouragement through this journey that is life. Since he can't quite understand it yet, I guess it is more of a comfort for us as parents now--until he is older, and we can tell him all about the special spirit that he is and some of the wonderful qualities that he possesses.

Thanks to all who came to show your love and support (and to those who would have come if you could have)!

Is this not the cutest bald head you've ever seen? 

. . . and not a bad looking neck tie either on that headless man ;)

One Month Old

(A little late)

Everett's Birth Story: Part 2

 One week old

So where was I? Ah yes, the hospital.

As we got set up in a delivery room, I requested to talk to the doctor to discuss a plan. I explained to him some of my original preferences and that I wanted to avoid Pitocin at all costs. At my appointment earlier that day I was dilated 2.5 cm and the doctor confirmed this. If I didn't have a preference, he would have just started the Pitocin, but since I did, he agreed to start me on some Cervidil. This is a drug used to soften the cervix so that labor can start or continue on its own. I preferred this to Pitocin, which usually causes labor to start off harder and progress faster by causing the uterus to contract stronger than it normally would. I didn't want this for me or my baby. He also agreed to not hook me up to an I.V. right away but to just do a hep block until it was needed so I could move around easier. 

So we agreed on the Cervidil to start off which is a 12 hour dose. It was understood that if things didn't progress after that then they would go to the Pitocin. Well, I was determined to not get to that point. 

It was 4:00 when they inserted the Cervidil. I was having mild contractions before they even started the drug, which was encouraging. For the next 5 hours the contractions grew steadily stronger. I listened to some Hypnobabies tracks and did my best to use the tools I had spent weeks practicing. I was able to stay pretty relaxed and just let my body do it's job. I changed positions frequently and tried to find those that would relieve the pressure and keep me calm and comfortable. I went from the bed to an exercise ball to the floor and back again the whole time just trying to focus on relaxing all of the muscles that I could. I would say that my Hypnobabies training did pay off. It keep me relaxed for a while, it kept me positive, and if nothing else, it gave me the confidence I needed to deliver this baby.

Concentrating

At around 9:00 my nurse came in and I asked her to check me because I was starting to feel a lot of pressure. She discovered that the babies head was super low, (hence the pressure) but that I was still only dilated 2.5 cm. I realize that childbirth doesn't work at a constant rate (so many cm per hour) but it was still a little bit frustrating. I knew that my body was progressing in it's own way though, and that things would start happening when the time was right. That time came relatively quickly.

The next two hours might have been the longest of my life. The contractions were super intense and it was all I could do to make it through them, forget about relaxing. The pain made me nauseous and several times I thought I was going to throw up, but I never did. Around 11:00 I thought I would either need some pain relief soon, or I might die. The thought of continuing on like this for any significant amount of time made me seriously consider an epidural. Around that time a nurse came in to get me hooked back up to the monitors. (My nurse had left them unplugged so I could move around and then I just took them off all together because they were adding pressure where I didn't want it.) 

Everything after this point is kind of blurred together, so it might not be 100 percent accurate, but you'll get the idea.

So the nurse was trying to check on the baby but couldn't really get a good read. My mom started asking questions for me to help me decide what I wanted to do about the pain. Have I progressed at all? What are my options for pain relief? The nurse started calmly explaining my options and tried to downplay my situation describing my contractions as "normal labor pains." Normal they might have been, but little did she know, these were not the just-getting-warmed-up kind of labor pains. These were the almost-time-to-push kind of labor pains.

The nurse was pretty sure I hadn't progressed any since they just checked me two hours ago and said she wasn't going to check again, but ended up doing it anyway. To her surprise, I was at a 4.5. More nurses came in and sometime in there I started having these pushing convulsions. I say convulsions because my body took over and I had no control. They were all telling me not to push though because they didn't want my cervix to swell, which would make it even harder for the baby to come out. Someone checked me again, maybe the doctor this time, and I was at a 6. After some more uncontrollable pushes my water broke and gushed out more than once. I don't know how they missed it earlier, but all that fluid had to come from somewhere. That might have been around 11:15 or 11:30. Soon, the doctor checked me again and I was complete. By this point I was hyperventilating and my body was starting to tingle. I wasn't trying to be dramatic or anything, I was just trying to survive by breathing through it all, but apparently I was breathing too much. They couldn't get a good reading on the baby so they hooked him up internally. At some point they also put me on oxygen for the baby as well. His heart rate was dropping and the contractions were coming so close together that they didn't give the baby a chance to recover. The doctor gave me a shot of something to slow down my contractions so that they weren't coming back to back. The doctor was worried about the prolonged decreased heart rate and wanted to get the baby out ASAP. So now, just minutes after telling me not to push, they were telling me that I needed to push. 

I pushed through a few contractions and before the last one the doctor was about to cut me to let the baby out. She was worried he wouldn't get out soon enough, but I wasn't. I knew I could do it and I did not want an episiotomy, even if it meant tearing. She got the lidocaine ready and that was enough motivation for me to get him out in a hurry. I pushed and at 11:57 he came. Because of the circumstances, they whisked him away to the other side of the room. Justin followed close behind. Knowing he was there with our boy gave me a great deal of comfort. I knew Justin would watch out for him and I wasn't worried about him at all. In fact, I never really was. I seemed to know that he was fine the whole time. Even when the doctor was worried, I wasn't. I still heeded their advice, but I knew he would be fine. I was actually more worried about me at one point, but everything turned out okay. 

Proud Daddy, Tired Momma

I was so exhausted and relieved and happy and excited all at the same time. While they were taking care of the baby, who was perfect (6 lb 13.9 oz and 18.7 in), all I could do was lay there and try to get a glimpse of him. I wanted so see him so badly. I wanted to hold him and soak him in, this bundle of joy that I had worked so hard to meet. As the doctor stitched me up (I did end up tearing some) I couldn't take my eyes off of the huddle of medical staff (it seemed the whole floor of the hospital was in my room for the occasion). They finally finished and brought him to me and we cuddled skin to skin. I was in complete amazement and awe at the whole thing. Little Everett, squirming around on my chest. He was, and still is, simply a miracle.

Finally

Everett's Birth Story: Part One

One week old

Today my little Everett turns one month old. He made his world debut just before midnight one month ago today. I am not over the fact that he is one month old by the way. But since he is, and there is nothing I can do about it, I guess it is high time I record all of the details leading up to this long awaited arrival. So if you don't want details, don't read on.

First, A little background.

I believe in natural, unmedicated childbirth. I believe that the human body is capable of incredible things and that a woman's body in particular was designed perfectly to give birth without much intervention in most cases. I believe that, while medical interventions have their place, they can sometimes cause the need for more interventions and even cause unnecessary complications.

So going into this pregnancy, I really wanted to do everything I could to have a natural, unmedicated childbirth. I wanted to learn to think positively and how to relax so that I could let the birth happen without letting fear and worry make things more difficult than they needed to be. To help in this effort, Justin and I took a Hypnobabies class. As well as being a regular childbirth preparation class, Hypnobabies teaches self hypnosis for childbirth and gives you many tools to use during your birthing experience to help you relax so your body can do what it was designed to do.

Well, my due date (December 31) came and went. Six days past my due date was Friday, January 6th. I had a doctor appointment that morning around 11. Justin was able to leave class and meet me at my appointment. While there, we were informed that I was scheduled to be induced the next eventing at 5:00. Now, for someone who wants minimal medical interventions, being induced is not a good start. We were also told that since I was past my due date I needed to have a non stress test done as soon as possible. In a non stress test, they monitor the baby's heart rate for 20 minutes or so and check fluid levels around the baby. (This was actually suppose to be done earlier in the week but never happened.) They were able to schedule this test for 1:40 that same afternoon.

An induction was not the path I wanted to take, to say the least, but I knew it would come down to it if baby Everett didn't come on his own in time. Although I was bitter about the situation, I found myself feeling hopeful that it could still be done with minimal interventions. And I still did have one more day for things to get started on their own, and that also gave me reason to hope.

Justin and I went and got some lunch at a nearby Denny's and killed some time walking around a furniture store while we waited for our second appointment of the day. When the time came we went into the special room complete with reclining chairs for the mother-to-be to sit in while they monitor the baby's heart rate. Before that though they did an ultrasound to check for fluids. There were none. None that the tech or the Doctor could see anyway. This was bad. When this happens they send you up to labor and delivery. I was no exception. Of course I wanted to do the best thing for my baby and did not want to put him at risk, but I was still devastated.

At this point all I could do was cry. Justin had to speak for me and tell the doctor why I was upset, when most people would be excited to get their baby out a day early. I just so desperately wanted things to happen naturally, and I felt like my dreams were being shattered. All we could do then was slowly make our way up to labor and delivery. Part of me didn't want to go. Part of me wanted to run right out of that hospital. But I think I knew deep down that this is what needed to happen.

More details to come . . .

More Faces of Everett

This one looks like me as a newborn

 Hungry face

Scowl-ey eyes

Bombs Away

Daddy's little co-pilot

Our Sweet Boy

Shannon has done it again. . . more to come.

There aren't words.

Welcome Baby Everett

Just before midnight on Friday, January 6th, we welcomed Everett Paul Delatore into this world and into our family! He weighed 6 lb 14 oz and was 18.7 inches long. He is healthy and perfect, and we are so happy to have him. More details to come. . .

December 31

New Year's Eve. 
AKA our baby's estimated date of arrival.
Well, it came and it went, and Baby is still nice and cozy on the inside.

So we rang in the new year with

Ocean's 11 (in honor of 2011),

farmer's market oranges,

and Gummy Bears. (Thanks to Aunt Lynnie and Cousin Katie for the year's supply)

So how about some new years thoughts while we wait?

As President Monson puts it, for a year (or a life) filled with an abundance of success, goodness, and blessings, just remember you ABCs:

A is for Attitude

So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference.

We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude. 

B is for Believe 

Thomas Fuller, an English churchman and historian who lived in the 17th century, penned this truth: “He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.”

Don’t limit yourself and don’t let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities.

C is for Courage

Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one’s coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve.

Have the determination to make the effort, the single-mindedness to work toward a worthy goal, and the courage not only to face the challenges that inevitably come but also to make a second effort, should such be required. 

Those were my favoite parts.
Good words to remember for the new year. 
Here's to 2012. What a wonderful year it will be.

Last Minute Merry Wishes

Shannon took some pictures for us yesterday. She is not quite finished with them, but I wanted to post one for Christmas anyway and document our growing family. Wishing you the very best!

November and Then Some

Or should I say Movember. . . 

Vote for Pedro

Before I let him shave off the goatee

While Justin grew facial hair, I continued to grow a baby.

36 weeks

38 weeks

We set up the Christmas tree (which has yet to be decorated) and set up the crib. Well, I say we, but Justin actually did both of those things. I point and he picks up :) It goes back to my childhood really, but I'll save that story for another day.

Justin and I are both out of school, so now we get to rest and get ready for our little bundle of joy to arrive. He could get here any time within the next few weeks! And since I have been quite infrequent about posting, the next time I do, it might be about a family of three instead of two!

October

Let's do this chronologically shall we?

I went up to Vegas for the PHAST. If you weren't there, you should have been. If you were there, well, you know what I mean. I should have got a picture of the relay team, but alas, I did not. Let's just say that Jamie in the pool + Doug on the bike + Shannon on the home stretch run = a pretty fast time. I am determined to train for a triathlon and complete one on my own after baby gets here. Who's with me?

Jamie came down too and brought me the cutest thing you can imagine made with her own two hands. I mean it just makes me melt every time I look at it. I can only imagine how I will feel when our boy is wearing it!

Speaking of baby, 28 Weeks of pregnancy came and went. He is going to be here before we know it.

Hat by Jam

28 weeks

Was able to snag my brother for a half a day. We went to lunch and went shopping at Bass Pro. I gave him some old international calling cards I had collected and a pack of socks we never used. You would have thought he had just won five hundred dollars. Boy likes socks and calling cards.

Justin and I also did some shopping of our own. . . one time for a little stroller and car seat research if you will. We want a fairly good quality contraption. Something that can carry the car seat, is durable, and folds up nice too. Any suggestions? One we liked at Target was kind of an all terrain baby pusher. 

On one of our Target runs, I don't remember what we went in for, but we left with the very last one of these:

Irresistible.

Halloween. About this. Justin has had this brilliant idea for my costume pretty much since we found out I was pregnant. The day of our ward Halloween party--after some Photoshop action and some tricky ironing--we finally made this dream a reality. (Costumes made possible by Hobby Lobby.) 

P.S. There is now a Hobby Lobby in Rancho. If you haven't been, you should go, and if you have been, well, you know what I mean. It just might become an addiction for me.)

P.P.S. Yes we are wearing short sleeves on the NIGHT of October 29. Also, today in a meeting, someone mentioned the possibility of having one of our Christmas party activities outside. I love California weather. That could never happen in Idaho. I'm just sayin.

Oh, it's just the Death Star blowing up Alderaan. 

Look who else we ran into.

In case you haven't seen enough, let's throw in one more belly picture. This one was actually taken today. And that about sums up October.

31 weeks

Milk and Pico de Gallo

Justin loves a good pico de gallo.
I got the Trader Joe's version once recently and he loved it.
Would eat it by the spoon full if I'd let him.

Tuesday was a long day for me at work. When I was finally able to head home I decided that despite my tiredness and how late I was, I wanted to stop to pick up some pico de gallo for Justin. He would love it. He had suggested having burritos for dinner earlier that day and this would be the perfect topping. As I got to the store I thought about calling to see what else we needed, but I decided against it as not to ruin the surprise. I thought we might be low on milk so I just left it at that.

A gallon of milk, and a tub of pico de gallo.

I smiled in anticipation as I lugged Baby and me with all of my school stuff and groceries up to the third floor where we currently reside. I walked in to find a beautiful burrito bar laid out on the table complete with sauteed peppers and onions. As he finished warming our tortillas, Justin saw my grocery bag and said reluctantly, "Ooh, I already went to Trader Joe's."

"But did you get this?" I said hopefully as I pulled out my great surprise.

Yes. He did.
He also got milk among other things.

I think that about sums up our relationship. He does everything for me and asks for nothing in return. It's really quite ridiculous the number of times I have tried to surprise him in some way or another and fail miserably. . . like I am trying to prove something but the universe is against me because really, I don't have to prove anything.

The burritos were excellent.
And to top them off, a glass of milk.

(Disclaimer: I didn't give up on my quest to do something nice so I surprised him the next night with a book on tape from the library that we've been meaning to read. He came home while I was making dinner this time, which turned out okay after a second try in the oven. Nobody wants to eat crunchy rice.)

24 Weeks

24 Weeks

Feeling good!

Baby is growing and moving lots. 

I have a doctor appointment this week. 

Work is keeping me busy and Justin studies every chance he gets.

But we try to have fun too and enjoy this wonderful life we have.

Thanks to some friends who gifted us movie tickets!

We saw The Help last night. 

Excellent movie. 

Very touching.

I thought.

Growing Baby

Just for fun. . . 

19 Weeks

21 Weeks (almost 5 months if you're counting the months)

More to come. . . since I'm pretty sure he's growing bigger each day!

Updates

Baby: As far as we can tell, everything is perfect. Baby's been growing for about 20 weeks now and it's starting to show!

Justin: After being back to school for one week he had his first test, which he thinks went well. At home, Justin is so good to me. He makes me breakfast every morning while I am still waking up in the shower, AND he packs my lunch every day before sending me off to school and starting on his own work.

Me: I am feeling quite good. School is busy but going fairly well so far. I'm teaching more technology this year, which is new and fun for the kiddos.

We are blessed.

Summer Break: Week 8

Well, our last week of summer break has finally arrived. We kicked it off with an exciting ultrasound. The findings were just as I suspected. . .

Proof

Boy!

And boy are we excited.

The rest of the week I will spend getting ready to go back to school. Justin will just have to have fun without me because I am simply NOT ready.

It's been a good break, but we knew it couldn't last forever. 

Here's to another year.