She's here...

After a delightfully uneventful planned repeat cesarean...
Kemiry K and a full head of black hair was born.

7/23/2010
7:45 am
7 lb 12 oz.
21 in. long

39 weeks and ready to go.

proud daddy to be 30 min before the surgery.

She's here.





Doesnt she look ready to concour the world?



7 lb 12 oz.

I love them... look she is even smiling for the camera.

in recovery.

happy mama!

Kroten begging to "hold you." He couldn't wait to give her kisses.






Grandma with her new grandbaby.


Nana and her first granddaughter.


Seriously all Kroten wanted to do was lay down and look at her.


Xander and his new baby cousin.


Aunt karly


Aunt Sammy J

There are tons more pictures and more story, but for now I must get back in bed!

Ready or not...

Tomorrow is the day.  Can you believe that I made it? I am not dead, because I did not die. I did not rip the baby from my belly, I did not ring kman's neck, and despite what I originally thought...the day has come.


Almost my whole to do list is crossed off, including getting my eye brows waxed, and I think the name is 90% picked out.


I told myself and the baby that we just have to make it till Nana gets here and guess what, Nana is here and we are still kickin'. And now we are kickin' with pretty toes.



I love life and things are good... lets just say I am glad that tomorrow is the day. I hope I can sleep tonight!!! 5:30 am is really early to be at the hospital.

getting ready

We had our second to last  doctors appointment yesterday. And I am still prego, thank goodness. I was very worried that they were going to make me go in right after that appointment, but all checked out. My blood pressure was WAY down, I even lost a pound, probably because I wasn't as swollen because my blood pressure was down.

We had to have an ultrasound because she is measuring so big and because my blood pressure was high. It was a little weird to have one at 38 weeks, but I didn't argue. She is beautiful. She has big cheeks and big lips and her little hand was in front of her face. I am so excited to see her. The ultra sound concluded that baby is around 8 lbs already. This means that she is in the 90th percentile, translation... BIG! The doctor said normally when the baby is this big they would talk about a possible c-section, but since I am already scheduled for that route, were good.



The best news is that we had a completely different ultrasound tech and she said the same thing the last one said... "Oh she is going to have hair." how they can see that I have NO idea, but two tech have said it, it must be true. Cross your fingers for red.

I am starting to feel a lot more prepared and ready. Remember this list? I can now cross off a lot more things...

• Baby shower is over and it was FANTASTIC. I owe a huge THANKS to so many wonderful people...

oh and this is the dress I made for myself from the to do list, I did finish it and it was so cute, I will post a better picture of it later. 

• My sister-in-law Sarah came over yesterday to help me clean and organize
• Kroten's clothes are now in a dresser
• Baby's clothes are washed and sorted in the changing table
• Bassinet is finished and set up...

Isnt it beautiful, Jared refinished it and set it up. This is the bassinet that I slept in as a baby.

• Baby girl bling is set up next to mommy bling...

• My bag is packed...

• We have the name narrowed down to three (this is progress)...

Names blurred for security purposes. ;)

• I have an appointment to get my eye brows waxed on thursday
• I think Kman is getting all set...

He even sings twinkle twinkle to his "baby sister" unfortunatly he also makes her jump on the bed which consists of him throwing her.

Although I am not all the way ready, and probably never will  be, things are starting to feel right. Baby girl can come any time... actually can you please wait till Nana gets here next week!

there's just something about...

... being miserably 9 months pregnant in 95 degree weather with yet another 2 weeks of unfolded laundry on the couch, that can be so relaxing.



Thanks sammy for taking photos and suzman for letting us swim in your oasis.

To do today...

When I showed my ankles to Jared I said "look at my ankles" and he said "you mean lack thereof?" I love him!

1. Go to breakfast
2. clean off the kitchen table
3. take a nap

9 months...

...and one week.

If you thought that it was possible that I could take this shot at 9 months huge, you were mistaken... Thanks sammy J for taking it for me!

I had a doctors appointment this morning and it was interesting. Apparently my blood pressure is a little high and they have been watching it the entire pregnancy, but it is creeping up. I have been getting some head aches and seeing spots occasionally, so he sounded a tiny bit worried. This is what he said...

"Your full term tomorrow, so we could just deliver then..."

There was more to his statement, but that was all I heard. In that moment, when I thought I would hear hallelujah choirs singing, my only thought was...

"NO... please no, I am totally not ready."

Ironic, seeing how I am completely miserable, right. But when it really boils down, I am not ready and this is why...

• I have no socks or washcloths for the baby
• I haven't had a baby shower
• Karly's b-day is thursday
• I started sewing a MATERNITY dress for this Saturday and that means two things...

1. My sewing stuff is everywhere
2. I won't be able to wear my MATERNITY dress on Saturday

• Kroten's clothes are still in the baby's dresser
• My house is a disaster
• I need to do more laundry
• I have blogging to catch up on
• I have one more photo shoot to edit
• WE DON'T HAVE A NAME PICKED OUT (I am not joking)
• My hospital bag is not packed
• Nana is coming and she is not here yet!!!!!!
• Jared still has two more weeks of school left
• The bassinet is not set up
• The car seat is not in the car
• Jared needs to finish making night stands
• I want to make Kman curtains
• I'm not ready to quit chocolate
• I need to get my eye brows waxed

And there is more... seriously what would we do if we had to deliver tomorrow?

Thank goodness he said, "lets try to make it to the date, but call me if your headache lasts longer than 2 hours after taking Tylenol." That was a relief, but a good wake up call of all that needs to get done this week.

Oh and I have another ultrasound next week.

Even though it is cruel an unusual punishment to myself to post this picture I know I will get in trouble and I will regret it later if I don't, so here I am at 9 months...

Oh and this is the dress I made for the 4th.

I CAN DO IT!!!!!!

Yesterday was just full of signs for me. Things that I read or saw or heard that pushed me to think either

1. OK... I think I can do this!!
Or
2. You have to do this Kristen.

For journaling purposes, lets recount what I was spiritually fed...

I started the day off crankily getting up with Kman at 6:30. (he normally sleeps till 8.) So I popped in a movie gave him some grapes and started blog stalking (Something I don't get to do very often anymore.) Just my luck I stumbled upon this super cute blog and quickly got sucked in to reading it. She had two little boys and was expecting another boy soon. I was just skimming and BAM there was a picture of her in the hospital with an obviously lifeless baby. So then of course I had to read more. It was her little girl, the one she had been dreaming her whole life would come. She was 27 weeks pregnant and just didn't feel the baby moving anymore. One particular post soon after the event said that she longed to be pregnant still. To be growing this baby. She got to hold her dead body for about 3 hours, but She wanted to hold her more than anything and the only way to do that was for her to grow more inside her.

I realized after reading this blog that I am privileged to be able to grow this baby inside of me. It may hurt more than any other aches and pains I have ever experienced, I may not be able to do things that I normally can and my family may be suffering because of it, but what a blessing my Father in Heaven has given me to have this body and the capabilities of building and growing a new life. Why would I question that ability at this point in my pregnancy when he can so easily take it away? I should be praising him for letting her stay in there everyday that he lets her.

OK... I am already bawling, I need to collect myself, cause there is more!!! What a day huh?

So later that day, we went to church. Jared let me take a nap thank goodness after getting up so early with kman.

The youth in our stake just went on a pioneer trek this past weekend. This was something that I would have LOVED to participate in but being 9 months pregnant, it was out of the question. So obviously I am wrapped around every story I can hear so that I can soak up the feelings they had. Well, the bishop asked a few people to speak about their spiritual experiences on the trek. A lot was said, a lot of great things. But one particular adult that went on the trek said that there was one experience that was most meaningful to her. There was a women's pull, which means that the women had to pull the hand carts. The men were "taken away to war" and the women had to pull all by them self's up a huge rocky hill. Apparently it was REALLY hard. These were the handcarts... uh they look heavy. And I guess there were 24 or some carts. (I stole this photo from Leanne Larson's facebook)

This leader said that she saw strength in these Young women that she had never seen before. One young women told her later, I never thought I could do something like that. And she recounted to us that she said to that girl that she knew all along that this girl could do it, but she had to prove it to her self or she would never know it. She then said that what she learned from this experience was that we are capable of SOOOO much more than we think we are. We can do the things that God asks us to do, he will never ask us to do something that we can't. I felt like she was looking straight at me and saying, "Kristen, your pregnancy is NOTHING compared to what the pioneers had to go through... YOU CAN DO SO MUCH MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU CAN."

One more story... My parents and my sister were on the trek, so they came over for dinner the night they got home and told us stories. My sister Karly taking a break on the trek... couldn't you have made it look a little more difficult for the sake of my story? (I stole this picture from georgia Mertz's facebook.)

My parent are in the middle my mom in the brown dress and my dad with his neat-o home made suspenders. (he made his whole outfit from scratch, even a leather bag. He is hardcore!!) (I stole this one from Leanne Larson)

I asked if people got blisters because that was one of the big concerns. Karly then told me about this little girl in her group that took off her shoes one night and her feet were COVERED in blisters. She hadn't said one word about it. They patched her up and she trekked the whole rest of the way without one complaint. I don't know about you, but I complain about the smallest little blister on my baby toe. I would have been in the hospital camp SOO fast if I was this little girl. But she didn't say a word. Now I could learn from this that I should NEVER complain, but that isn't going to happen. But I do need to be a little more patient and humble and grateful. I need to stop and realize that my pain is not really that bad. I feel like kinda a big baby complaining about how hard I have had it, now that I have heard these stories and realized how ungrateful I have been. I am sooooo grateful to my Heavenly Father for the blessings I have received. I will praise him every day, (except the few occasional whining and complaining days that I will allow myself) for the blessings I have been given.

I CAN DO THIS... KRISTEN YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!!!!

8 months

This post is two weeks late. So now i am really 8 1/2 months. We have been SUPER busy the last couple of weeks. (more on that later) The only picture I have of me at 8 months is one while we were camping (again, more on that later)



The doctor says that the baby is still measuring big and that my blood pressure is a tiny bit high, so we are going in for an ultra sound tomorrow. Hopefully it will all be good news. I am excited to see the little girl, even though an ultra sound at 34 weeks is pretty minimal, there is not much to see when they get this big. But it is still exciting.

I have been super tired and lazy lately. I just feel so drained. I asked the doctor about it and he just said that with a two year old at home, this pregnancy is going to be a lot more tiring than the first one.

I now weigh as much as I did the day I had Kroten. Every one say Hip Hip Hooray. Ok I am just trying to make myself feel better. Actually is sucks. But what can you do? So I eat another bowl of ice cream.

It is a little weird, I haven't craved a lot of different types of food, but I definitely lean towards the sweets instead of the salty. All I really really want to eat are 100 grand candy bars. That must be why I now have 100 grand to loose after she is born. LUCKY ME!


But the only true news is that we are having this baby in 5 WEEKS!!!!!!!

28 weeks...going on 35

28 weeks, wow, that is 7 months. This pregnancy has flown by. But 2 1/2 months still seems so far away.

I went to the doctor this week and it was by far the worst appointment so far. I got a shot in my butt and had to take the glucose test. YUCK. You have to drink a REALLY REALLY sugary drink and then get your blood drawn. I have horrifically small veins so it is always really painful to get my blood drawn. They took it from my hand, yucky.

Then, the doctor told me that my uterus is measuring at 35 weeks, not 28 weeks. I was shocked and asked what does that mean? He just said it means she is going to be a big baby. Thank goodness I am already planning on a C-section. But he didn't seem worried, there is still time and she might have just gone through a growth spurt.

I went home and looked up what that means, and found this picture that helps explain it.


I am supposed to be at 28 weeks, but am measuring at 35. WOW, he didn't change the due date or anything, so we will see what happens. I am a little nervous that it means I have Gestational diabetes, but we will see. Jared says that I am a hypochondriac.

We are getting close, I am super excited.

PS still no name yet.

baby cradle

Jared has been refinishing the baby cradle that my parents used for me when i was born. I swear this thing is from the 1800's. It is adorable though, and we love it. We also used it for Kroten when he was born. The cradle was sitting in the living room for a few days and K man took it upon himself to make it his home. He spread out his blanket and made himself a nice little spot to sit and watch TV.



It apparently made a nice jungle gym too.

So I told Jared that it has to go because I am worried that Kroten was going to hurt it or himself. So Jared took it apart to do some touching up. Kroten was fascinated by the process and insisted on helping. It was cute to see them working together.




And here is the before shot. Oh and it has Legs too, but those weren't set up with it. It will make more sense later.
I will try to remember to take an after shot when it is all set up and girly!

24 weeks

6 months.

I dont know if it is because it is a girl rather than a boy this time; maybe it is because I didn't loose all the baby weight and I may or may not be a little more out of shape than when I was prego with Kroten; maybe it is because I have to deal with chasing Kman around; or maybe, no, it is probably, because I am still working night shift; whatever it is, this pregnancy is kicking my butt WAY harder than the first one did.

After the ENDLESS morning sickness, I am now having horrible ligament and hip pain, way more than I had with Kman. I feel like I am waddling and I am only 6 months. What is 8 months going to be like?

Other than the horrible groin pain, and the heart burn, I dont have too much else to complain about. I feel great other than that. My appetite is back and I can eat what I want without throwing up or feeling nauseous, THANK GOODNESS. I am already feeling a little bit of nesting which I LOVE!!! And the baby seems to be healthy and wonderful, what more could I ask for than that?

4 more months to go...WOW!

growing like a weed

I read in one of my pregnancy books that if a baby were to continue to grow outside the womb at the rate that it grew inside the womb, by the time it was a year old it would weigh 100 lbs. That is amazing to me. That means that this baby is growing like a weed. And I know it is growing like a weed because today I was super hungry and sleepy all day long. I have been feeling her a lot more and a lot stronger. It is wonderful, AND...
Jared felt her kick for the first time today.
YAY. I saw his eyes beam and then he started talking about how excited he was to go to the hospital and hold her for the first time. It is nice for him to have some connection to the baby besides my growing belly, now he can feel her. This was a happy accomplishment in the pregnacy.

All is well on the prego front.

21 weeks

5 months (and one week.) Were over half way there. I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has gone. It is probably because if I am not working or sleeping I am preoccupied with Kroten. There is just so much to do in a day.

I am FINALLY feeling better. WAHOO!! No more morning sickness. Because it lasted so long I feel like I skipped the whole second trimester. Although things are pretty good, I am starting to feel big and am starting to have some aches and pains. The worst is the heart burn, but I had that all the way through with k-man as well, so that is no surprise. Things are great and progressing. It can only get harder from here, and I am ready. Bring on the pregnancy. I am working on being more optimistic. (can you tell?)

I can feel the baby kick a lot more and I love it. Yesterday she was kicking and swimming like it was a party or something, but today I have hardly felt her. I love feeling the flutter and can't wait for Jared and Kroten to feel it. This stage of life is so fun and beautiful, I am trying to take it all in, I dont want it to end (except for my job of course.)


Oh and you can see in the picture that I got a haircut. Funny story to go along with that...
If you know me, you know that when it comes to my hair, I am kinda fickle. To grow it out or not to grow it out, that is ALWAYS the question. Well, I have now decided to grow it out. So I needed to cut off the A-line. Who better to have cut it off than my sweet husband, RIGHT? well I told him to just cut  off the A-line and make it all straight, the same length as the shortest part all the way around. We should have taken a picture, but when he finished (the first time) the left side was about an inch longer than the other side. Long story short, it ended up getting shorter and shorter (great for growing it out right?) but in the end, it does look really cute and it is a great starting point for growing it out. I love that he is willing to do that for me, and I must really really love him to let him do it.

Here is a riddle for ya...

yep... its a girl

I wont say that I am disappointed, cause that isn't the right word. I guess I just had this image in my head of two little boys, best friends, playing ball, getting stitches and leaving mud tracks through the house. Constant wrestling and lots of blue stuff. I thought that I would be the princess of the house forever. I love my boys and I love that I am their only girl. But now I am forced to face the facts.. someone is moving in on my territory. someone that will be cuter than me, skinnier than me and someone to steal away daddy's affection. Maybe I was a little disappointed, maybe a little jealous or maybe just not prepared for the shocking news. But it is a girl and I am going to have to like that.

Now instead of a best friend, Kroten will have someone to protect, to care for and to love. Instead of blue I guess I will buy pink. I get to make onsies with ruffles on the butt and yes she will wear homemade headbands with BIG flowers on them. Jared is so excited to paint her little toe nails fire engine red and I can't wait to see the look in his eyes when he holds something so precious. I am going to the store first thing tomorrow and buying some little tiny leg warmers and some girly material. I guess I will have to make room and instead of enjoying my throne, I will have to share it. I will love her, I know I will, I already do, but I just need a second for it all to sink in. THINGS ARE REALLY ABOUT TO CHANGE!!!!