Leone Bruce Larsen's debut

Read at own risk!

I started having mild contractions Saturday 9/24 at 1:45am and I kept thinking it would pass, especially since I wasn't due til October 13th, but it kept happening throughout the day just not enough to alarm my midwife.

Come Sunday morning, I passed my mucous plug & called my midwife and she wanted me to come in to the hospital to check the movement of the baby & make sure he was ok. I went in at 11am and she checked my cervix, which I had been worrying about 'cause I heard it was painful, but it wasn't at all. It probably didn't hurt 'cause the contractions were painful enough. I was dilated at 3cm and totally effaced. My contractions were coming on stronger, but not close enough to be active labor. She wanted me to stay in the hospital a little bit longer 'cause I was 100% effaced but I chose to just go home & wait it out & shower ('cause I knew it would be a long night) til my contractions were closer together. So we went home & Aaron had to work so I told him to go in but to make sure his phone was on him. I got home & my contractions were still not close enough, but they were getting suuuuper strong and when they finally got 5 minutes apart I texted Aaron to hurry and come home & take me to the hospital. I know, who sends a text when you can call? I didn't want him to hear the pain in my voice i guess. I told him not to talk to me when I would get a contraction, I know, so mean, but if he did talk to me I would've just bit his head off.

I had been going back & forth on how I would go about with the delivery, if I'd go unmedicated or have an epidural. After taking our childbirth classes, I decided that I would DEFINITELY have the epidural. Lucky for Aaron that I got the epidural or I would've spent these past two weeks apologizing for my demonic behavior had I not gotten it.

We went back to the American Fork hospital at 5pm and I was 5cm and I originally told them I would wait til I was close to a 10 in pain to get my epidural, but right when I got there, they asked if I wanted them to call the anesthesiologist then and I was like, ok. hahaha! I LOVED the epidural! I felt soooo good & so calm and I was so grateful I got it! My midwife kept saying maybe i'll have the baby before midnight, but he was still high and my water had not broken yet. So at 9 1/2cm she broke my water and when it came time to push it only took 15 minutes and out he came just after midnight. It was so surreal! I think out of the whole experience, I hated pushing, only because the nurse that was counting kept getting distracted. She would talk to the other nurses then come back counting where she left off. I felt like I was holding my breath forever! Thank goodness I didn't have to push long. There is no kind of modesty once you go into labor. It's crazy how you don't even care that your legs are wide open & there are a bunch of people in the room, all that's on your mind is that your baby comes out ok and is healthy.

When he came he had the softest cry. He sounded like a mouse, it was so cute. The midwife said he sounded like a girl, haha! I'm so grateful for the midwife I had. She was amazing! I'm grateful for the nurses that helped as well. Loved my experience but not loving the recovery process, that's another story to tell.

born: 9/26/11 at midnight. 7 LBS 1 OZ 20 INCHES

Took us forever to figure out his name, but when we finally came up with his name, it felt so right...our mothers told us so so we know it's his heavenly name :)
Leone is my dad's middle name and Bruce is Aaron's dad's name. He is named after strong, compassionate, loving, God fearing men.

After being scrubbed clean.

Here he is at 1 week with his yellow jaundice eyes, that have gone away yay!

here he is at 2 weeks getting tummy time. When we left the hospital, he lost weight and was at 6 lbs 9 oz but at his 2 week appt he got back up to 7 lbs 11 oz. Our baby boy is growing :) WE LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

Cutting Down on Costs

I love the Nate Berkus Show, especially when he gives great tips. Here are some via learnbest.com:

1. Wash laundry loads in cold water.
You can save up to $60 every few loads and it extends life of your clothing.

2. Put a regulator on your thermostat.
Regulates heat and a/c and is only a few dollars to buy. It takes 20% off your electricity bill.

3. Make one trip to the grocery store a month.
Throw everything in the freezer.

4. Comparison shop.

Now I just gotta do!

NEGATIVE FREE ZONE

It's been a while since I've been on here. I'm now 32 weeks and 32 lbs heavier. hahaha! So sad 'cause I'm kind of not exaggerating. I didn't want to post up any pictures of myself because I felt like a big whale, but it'll be a memory...a memory to not get so fat with the next child.

I've been extremely anxious and somewhat fearful of what lay ahead with my labor/delivery. I've heard a few people's stories and they were not very comforting. I went in to my midwife and expressed my anxieties and she said to tell everyone to shove it. Kidding! But she did say to only think positively and read positive experiences. Sooooo, if anyone has any positive labor stories, please feel free to share :)

oh boy

When we had our 13 week appointment, we were told we could find out the gender in our next appointment which was 6 weeks away. Of course we were super excited, but did I really want to wait that long? Heeeeck no! Aaron was content to wait, but I kept begging and begging and begging and finally he gave in :)

So we went to Fetal Fotos last Thursday to find out what we'd be having. Aaron and I both were hoping for a boy, but I honestly thought we'd have a girl, 'cause when do we ever get what we want? I always wanted to name our baby girl Sereima after my great grandmother on my Fijian side, and on our way to our appt, what song was on but Sereima! I told Aaron it was a sign. I was so excited but so nervous 'cause I felt like the baby would play games and not show itself.

We finally got into the room, we saw the baby (of course hiding), and after a few minutes and a little nudge from the lady doing the ultrasound, HE showed HIMSELF! hahaha! My first thought though was, it's not a girl :( I think I was more disappointed that I wasn't right than anything. Pride is a B! heeheehee. We saw our baby boy moving and stretching and I couldn't help but cry. There really was a baby inside of me! I did get a little freaked out by the alien face though, I'm not gonna lie. I so can't wait to see our baby boy again in 3 weeks!

As for names...we already decided his middle name would be after Aaron's dad. So thus far, we got a little Bruce :)

Pregnancy Woes

Since Aaron and I were married, we wanted a family right away. After a year of thinking we couldn't have kids, we finally were pregnant! When I took the test, I had mixed feelings. I was more scared than I was excited. We didn't have any insurance and I was terrified of giving birth.

I was 8 weeks along when I was cramping and bleeding heavily. I know, TMI, but I know how some people don't want to talk about these things, but I will. It was late December 30th when I called the ER and they told me to come in to be evaluated. The Dr ran tests on me and did an ultrasound and found that the fetus was 5 weeks 3 days and was still there. The Dr said later that it must've stopped progressing which is why I thought I was further along than it showed. He said I had to be on bed rest but I could miscarry at anytime. Sure enough, 2 hours later, I felt sick to my stomach. I felt like I was going to throw up and pass out at the same time. Then, it happened, I miscarried. I knew then how much I really wanted to have a baby and was scared that it wouldn't happen again.

I was grateful to those who helped me through that difficult time and for a loving Father in Heaven who helped comfort me. I was also comforted by the Dr from the ER who said that 1 in 4 women miscarry their first pregnancy and it's pretty common. I had hope!

2 1/2 months after my miscarriage, I started feeling sick and Aaron kept telling me to take a pregnancy test. I put it off for a week and decided to take it, and it came out positive! I wasn't sure if it was correct, so I took another one at work. That came out positive too! Just to be sure, the next day I took another one and later on that day, another test. They were all positive! I couldn't believe it. I went in to see these midwives in AF where both my sisters-in-law went and after doing an ultrasound, the midwife said, "You're 9 weeks and 5 days pregnant" I was ecstatic!!!

I'm now 15 weeks!! Sometimes I think pregnancy sucks, but even though I've been sick, have headaches, been constipated, bloated, have heartburn, and major gas, I will still be forever grateful for this miracle of life inside me.