Family Photo's!

We got our first family photo's taken today!! And it was SOO exciting! We went and got the most adorable photo's taken of our little baby, and of us.
When I was born my mother took one look at my hands and said that I would play the piano and the flute. And now, 22 years later I play many instruments-including the flute and piano. And when Liam was born I took a look at his hands and noticed that he had the same hands as me, long slender fingers. And I said that he was going to play the piano and-I hope- the violin. So today, for pictures we took the violin that was my grandfathers-the same grandfather that Liam is named after- and used it for pictures. It was very sweet to see him with the prized possession of such a good man.
Liam was such a good little model for the photographers, and he took such good photo's. I'm excited to get the prints in a couple of weeks, because ever since we moved into our house I've kept this one wall completely empty because I wanted to put up pictures of Liam after he was born, and so now that he has been born I am ready to decorate that particular wall!! EEK!! So excited!!

Liam Andrew Mosher!

Liam with Andrew Hannah's violin

Our cute family!!

Yeah, I seriously have the cutest family ever! I love my boys so much! I can't believe that my baby boy was born almost three weeks ago! Everything in our lives is about Liam now, and I love that! It is so rewarding to have such a big purpose in your life. And I know that Jon and I would give up anything for our little boy because he is the most important person in our life. We've already given up something that is really important to avoid contention, something that I believe we shouldn't have had to. And frankly I'm still upset about it, I'm trying to get over it, but it really has been hard to know that something so trivial was much more important than something so special. But now it's up to me to just get over it. There are very few things that have happened in my life that I have held grudges over, and most of them I really have gotten over, it just takes time. And this will take time but for now I'm still very hurt. Liam is such a special part of our lives and we will always do what we have to to make sure that he is happy and well taken care of.

Liam's Birth Story/Coming Home!

Well, I haven't blogged for such a long time! I guess I was waiting for something amazing to happen, and lo and behold the most amazing thing has happened. I had my baby!

Liam Andrew Mosher was born July 3 after me being in labour for almost 38 hours. Here is his birth story!

Monday morning Jon and I went to the Hospital for me to be induced. They started my Pitocen at 9 am and then Jon and I waited and waited and waited some more. At 1:30 pm, Dr. Hall came to the hospital and broke my water- nastiest feeling ever by the way!!!! After the breaking of the water Jon and I continued to wait and wait and wait, but to no avail. Finally nighttime had fallen and the hospital decided to stop my Pitocen for the night. I was given a sleeping pill at about 2 am Tuesday morning and fell asleep. At 6 am, they came in and checked my vitals and started up my Pitocen again. Then after 27 hours of labour they came in and talked to me about because I'd been in labour for so long but wasn't dilating fast enough for them I should get an epidural because then I would be able to relax through the contractions and if I had to get a C-Section I would have to get the epidural anyway. So after a discussion with Jon, we decided for me to get the epidural, much to my disappointment, because I'd wanted to do it unmedicated. Then they came in and gave me my epidural and I finally started dilating at a pace that they wanted- which still wasn't very fast... In between this and about 10 pm. I got a fever, so because my water had been broken so long and I hadn't dilated far enough yet, there was risk for infection for our precious baby. So I was put on antibiotics and then my fever soon went away. Finally at 10 pm they told me that I was dilated far enough to be ready to push soon but that the baby was still farther up than they wanted, so every time my body felt the urge to push, I would push just a little bit in hopes that it would help him down. Then at 10:30 Dr. Hall had gotten to the hospital and I had three practice pushes and then it was time to push for real. I got to about 9 pushes and Dr. Hall had to cut the cord from around Liam's neck before he was even out. Then three more pushes and Liam came out, but he wasn't breathing due to the cord being wrapped around his neck so tight. The nurses called the code and then all of a sudden there was about 11 or 12 people in the room all having a job to do on Liam. It took three minutes of chest compressions for him to start breathing and finally after what seemed like forever my baby gave out a little cry. He was then taken to the NICU for observations and Jon had followed him to see what they were doing to him. And my mother stayed with me while I finished up with the placenta delivery.
The next little bit is kind of a blur for me because I don't remember hardly any of it. I remember bits and pieces but most of everything is from what I've heard from Jon and my mum. I remember Jon coming in and saying that they wanted me to go to the NICU so that I could feed Liam. I remember sitting up on the side of the bed and then I remember throwing up, and then being laid back down. Then my next real coherent memory is being on a gurney being wheeled into the NICU to see my baby. Apparently in between this time, I had blacked out and was drifting in and out of consciousness. And they had tried to get me up another time and I had made it to the wheelchair but then my mother said I went completely white and that she had to catch me before I fell out of the chair, and that I couldn't even hold my head up. Then Jon had come back in and called for help and another nurse had come in and put alcohol swabs in front of my nose to revive me, and then they put me on my bed again.
Then we were in the NICU and I was able to hold my baby, he was perfect. He had Jon's chin and face and he had my hair colour. I just couldn't believe that Jon and I had created this perfect little body for one of God's children. After I had some time with my baby I was taken to my recovery room and I was given a little box lunch that after almost three days of not eating I more than happily chowed down. Then on Thursday we had gone to the NICU and they told us that Liam would not be discharged with me because they wanted to observe him a bit longer after his rocky start. I was devastated. I went to my room and just cried and cried and cried. After awhile a social worker came in and talked to me about how this really was a horrible thing but that it really was for the best. Then they offered to let me board at the hospital so that I could be close to my baby. She started looking for a room that I could board in and left me alone to think over the decision. I went to the NICU and changed him and fed him and was just snuggling with him and I prayed that I would know what the right decision was when it came to this. I had just finished my prayer, when I overheard the mother in the next little bit over whose baby was in an incubator mention that her daughter was five months old that day. That was the answer to my prayer. I knew that my baby wasn't as sick as that little child, and I knew that if that mother could be strong enough to leave her baby there day after day for five months I could leave my baby there for a couple of days. It was a very hard night for me to leave the hospital without my baby. It came time for me to be discharged and we got all of Jon's and my things and they got me a wheelchair and we were on our way down to leave. Jon and I stopped at the NICU to say our goodbye to Liam, and then we went downstairs and then got in the car and went home. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. It is a horrible feeling leaving the hospital after carrying your child for nine months and then not be able to bring him home with you.
We went to my parents house first so that I could soak in their big tub for a bit, and so mum made me some food and I just soaked in the tub. Because of all of the saline that they had in me for two days I was pretty bloated, my ankles were non-existent and my legs were huge! Even my arms and hands and fingers were swollen. I felt humongous, but I got in the tub and soaked for a bit and then I took a shower and managed to wash my hair, then after all was said and done Jon drove us home to our house. And we laid down and went to sleep. I woke up earlier the next day and when the realization hit of everything that had happened I just cried and cried. Since Jon had gotten less sleep than I, I called my mother to come pick me up to go to the hospital and I let Jon sleep and I went up there by myself. He met me up there a bit later and then we got lunch and stayed until it was time for shift change then we went home for the two hours.
Saturday came and we were able to bring home our baby!! We brought him home and immediately he pooped all over his coming home outfit, so we changed his diaper and then changed his outfit. We had changed him, fed him and burped him and that was usually when we would put him back in his little bassinet in the hospital and go back to our room, and so I laid him down in his crib and then went out to the living room to sit with Jon; I then realized that he was home and we were no longer in the NICU, and so I went and picked up my baby and took him back out to the living room and just snuggled with him. It's a pretty awesome thing to snuggle with your baby.
Liam is such a good little baby, he's pretty content unless he's hungry, then he gets a bit fussy. He sleeps through the night- yes you read right! He sleeps from midnight to about six every night. He is a very good eater, whenever it's time to eat he will eat a ton, and he loves to be snuggled with. Jon and I are very glad that Heavenly Father trusts us enough to send us such a precious baby. We weren't planning on having a baby for awhile, but He obviously had other plans. And honestly, now that Liam is here we wouldn't have it any other way. There is such a feeling of completeness to our little family now, it's strange to say but Liam fills a hole in our lives that we didn't even know was there until he filled it. And as scary as it is to be a mommy, I am so thrilled to have the opportunity. It will definitely take some learning and teaching and I really am scared to death but I am so excited. And to see Jon with our baby is probably one of the most attractive sights EVER!! We figure it's evolutions way of making us want more babies. And we will, a couple of years down the road.

Ticking Time Bomb!

Ok, so I have not blogged for a freakishly long time. So I probably should blog a little bit before the baby comes.
I am 39 weeks pregnant with my due date being next Wednesday! Hopefully he comes before his due date, especially considering that some girls who are due after me have already had their babies. It's like the whole how people who were finding out the sex of their child who weren't due til way after me thing. Yeah... super annoying, more of just frustration though. Liam is getting super cramped up in my belly and I am sure that the uncomfortableness is not just on my part.

I personally feel like I am some sort of ticking time bomb. Every ache, pain, twinge, stab, pressure makes me wonder if this is the real deal and if it's time yet. For about a week I would wake up at about two in the morning and have steady, consistent contractions for about an hour and then as soon as I was about to wake up Jon to take me to the hospital they would subside. It was as though the child in my belly was taunting me with it. I can already sense part of Jon in him which is totally crazy but so true.

With the end of this pregnancy being so close there are some things that I am excited for and then there are some things that I am terrified for.

•  I am NOT scared for the labor and delivery of my baby, I have chosen to forgo having an epidural. I don't want to not have control over my body, and with the epidural it makes everything waist down entirely numb, and I do not want to have that feeling. I am ok with other ways to ease the pain, but I really do not want an epidural.

•  I AM scared for recovery, and not necessarily the recovery of my body, but I'm more concerned with the recovery of my mind. So many women get post partum depression and that is one thing that I am terrified more than anything for. When I first got on birth control I was using the pill. I took it religiously every day, but it messed with my hormones and my mind. After about a month of using it I was not myself, I was angry and was so easily offended, I would cry at the drop of a hat, Jon and I had constant bickers, and eventually the pill made me so self conscious. I would wait for Jon to go to sleep and then I would just cry and cry because I just had no self esteem anymore. I felt completely hopeless and I felt like I wasn't worth anything to anybody, and one night Jon woke up in the middle of me crying and he made me promise that I wouldn't take my next dose of birth control. Within the next couple days I felt so much better and I wasn't so depressed as my hormones leveled out and made me not feel totally worthless. That is what I'm afraid of. I have never been a depressed person, I've always known that I was worth something and I have never once thought that things would be better if I weren't around, and to have those feelings was the worst thing ever; I never want to feel like that again. So even though it might not happen, just the fact that postpartum depression COULD happen is what makes me scared.

• I am NOT scared to be a mom because I know that instincts will kick in and that I have so many people around me who have been in this situation who will be more than willing to help me out.

• I AM scared that people will completely go against what I want and do what they want and what they think should happen to my baby. I am more scared for them in this situation. This is Jon's and my child and I will not sit around and be talked down to because we have chosen a different way of raising him than they would have or have done.

I'm also nervous to have people come to my house... I know that it will be really nice to have them come and help me out, but I don't want people coming over just to hold the baby and have me feel like I need to entertain them somehow. If they are going to help- great, then I will have no problem having them hold my baby, but if they are just coming over to hold him then I'm not going to be happy. Also, I'm scared to have people come over and then not know when to leave. It's much easier going to see people because then you can go super easily, but it's not so easy getting people to leave your own home. Jon and I had even discussed not allowing visitors for the first couple days when I get home because we want to have time to bond with our baby and come up with our own little schedule. And if people are coming in and out and holding him and wanted to change him and stuff he's gonna get confused, I have NO problem whatsoever with people holding him and getting to know him, but I really want to have a chance to bond with my baby on my own without people interfering. This is a big change for us, and I want to be able to transition as smoothly as we can into it.

With all of this being said, I am really excited to bring this new life into this world. It still amazes me whenever I look at my belly and I can see him moving, to think that Jon and I made this little creature and that he is going to be ours to love forever. Jon is going to make a FANTASTIC father, we've talked about all the things that they are going to do together, and our son is so lucky because he has a best friend without even having to search for one. Jon is so excited to do all the cool father-son things, and I am excited to watch them together and watch them grow. I can just imagine all of the scrapbook pages I'll be able to make with my two boys. I feel so young, probably because I am, but I think about how fast time goes. It seems like only yesterday that I was a little girl playing in my room with my barbies.

Well, the next post will most likely be after the baby is born. So keep checking up on that cause I'll probably put pictures up.... if I'm not too lazy or tired. 

Test Run!

So the other night I was having a really bad stomach ache. It lasted for about two hours and then I started cramping and then my back started hurting and came in waves. Dealing with one or two, not a big deal, but when all three started happening that's when I started to worry. So I called the on call doctor and they told me to go to Labor and Delivery. I wasn't in as much pain as I thought labor pains would be, and so I didn't think that I was in labor but to be safe we went. The look on Jon's face when I told him that we needed to go to the hospital was giddiness. So we grabbed our hospital bags just in case and got in the car. Realizing halfway to the hospital that I didn't have my ID with me, so a quick call to Matt and Rachel happened because they are about five minutes away from our house.
We got to the hospital and went straight up to L&D and they took us back to the triage where they hooked me up to monitors to check for contractions- which so happened to stop on our way to the hospital... and a fetal heartbeat monitor to make sure Liam's heart was doing that whole beating thing. Everything was perfect, she then checked me and I have officially dilated!!! WHOO!!! I am at a whole 1 centimeter! 9 more to go until this baby will come out.
But it's good to have a test run before the baby actually gets here! And now, we are ready for the real deal. Being 37 weeks... it can happen any time!!

Birthday Post!

Well, my birthday came and went. It's always an interesting thing to wake up on your birthday, a day that is reserved for you. Jon and I usually do some really fun things for birthdays, but it was more difficult this year with me being as pregnant as I am. I originally wanted to go to the zoo, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to walk around as fast or as comfortably as I usually would, so that is going to be reserved for when I am not pregnant.
I woke up the day of my birthday and Jon went to work, I managed to sleep in a little longer than I normally would. Then my doorbell rang and it was the guy to come and fix our air conditioner. It's been so hot lately, and of course on the hottest days of the year our a/c decided that it was going to stop working. Monday we came home from my mum's house and it was 88 degrees in our house. This was at about 9 at night, and it was colder outside than it was inside our house at this point. Now, before I was pregnant that wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but with me being essentially a slow cooker for a child I was miserable! So to have the a/c guy come on my birthday was probably one of the best presents ever- not that it really mattered, because it ALWAYS rains on my birthday. Every year, without fail, it has rained on my birthday, so by the time the a/c was fixed and kicking in, it had already dropped to lower temperatures and it was almost too cold inside.
After the a/c guy was done, my mum, Scot and I went and met Jon for lunch at our new favourite little restaurant: Souties. It's a British/South African restaurant that has the look, feel and presence of England. Everything in there reminds me of being across the pond. And it makes me miss it so much more. Jon and I are definitely going to be saving up so that we can go back.
Mum dropped me off at home and I managed to do some homework and take a nap, then when Jon came home he took me to the mall and I got a pedicure, and it was probably one of the most needed things for me! Not only because I can't bend over to do anything to my toes, but because it was so relaxing, and for an 8 1/2 month pregnant chick, everything hurts... all the time. My back, legs, tummy, everything! After my pedicure, Jon and I were going to go to see a movie but I didn't feel up to it, and so we came home and watched Ever After and just snuggled on the couch. It was nice and relaxing. And I was completely content. Now I just have to plan out Jon's birthday... :) because I won't be pregnant then anymore.

Jon's new Blog

Hey everyone, this is Jon. I know I don't post on here much, I just wanted everyone to know about a new blog I'm working on, its called New Dad Experience, its for new dads, and this thing we call "Fatherhood". Send all new daddies there to help get the site going!
http://newdadexperience.blogspot.com/

Thanks everyone!

Root Canal and Maternity Photo's

Wow what a time we've had...
So a couple weeks ago, my gums were hurting really bad, it came and went throughout the week but it kept getting progressively worse. So I finally broke down and went to the dentist because it was becoming slowly unbearable. He told me that it was gingivitis that was just made worse by pregnancy hormones, and that it probably would keep up until after I was done nursing (let me tell you that made me oh so happy). So he prescribed me some mouthwash-who knew dentists could prescribe stuff? Not I!- and so I went and got this mouthwash, and started using it. Then on Saturday the pain had moved to the row of teeth, I was in soooo much pain!! I finally went to instacare because I couldn't get a hold of my dentist, and because of how much pain I was in, I was just praying that they would be able to do something for me. Unfortunately, because I was 33 weeks pregnant-as the physicians assistant was so happy to remind me of- he didn't want to do anything for me, but that didn't stop him from telling me all the things he could do for me-if I wasn't 33 weeks pregnant. It was a total waste of time, and I totally started crying as soon as we were out of the building. My pain was building up and the only thing I was allowed to have was Tylenol, which does nothing for pain, I was in so much pain I couldn't chew or even touch my teeth with my tongue. I ended up making a rice bag out of one of Jon's socks because I had nothing else, and then it became my comforter for the next week. Then Sunday, it had localized to one tooth which hurt like no other, but I couldn't not go to church because I was playing a piano duet for mothers day. After playing Jon and I just left and he took me home. Then Monday I went back to the dentist and he told me that I needed a root canal, he then prescribed me an antibiotic and then said that he would give me Lortab for the pain if my OB ok-ed it. So I filled my antibiotic and then called my OB's office, and lo and behold some lady had decided to have her freaking baby that day. So I couldn't talk to him to get the ok for my pain medication. Finally his nurse got a hold of him and she called me back and told me that he'd said it was ok. So Jon rushed to the pharmacy after I called my dentists to call in my prescription and while he was gone I was in so much pain that I am pretty sure I passed out because of how much pain I was in. Jon finally got home with my medication, and then I don't remember the rest of the night. According to Jon I was very funny and said some very funny things, including calling Pantomime the "meow".
So Tuesday I had a partial root canal but he couldn't get all of it out, so I had to go to a specialist the next day (Wednesday) and he got to finish the job. Then that night we went to dinner for my dad's birthday. And for the first time since Saturday I managed to eat semi solid foods. The next day was Thursday, and truth be told, I didn't realize that it was Thursday. As much as the root canal sucked, I'm glad it's over and now I'm not in pain.
During all of this, sometime... Jon and I got maternity photo's taken!! They turned out really awesome! Our photographer was Jen Hampton and she was really awesome. We totally loved her! Jon was really funny because we got pictures taken in fields and what not and Jon finally piped up and said, "for a girl who hates nature we sure get pictures taken in nature a lot..." and I realized that that was true. So here are a couple of our maternity photo's!