Mr. Mom

So, while I was in the hospital, Greg took over mommy duties. Thursday Olivia had WINGS so my mom came by to take her to school. Greg was responsible for getting Noah to school. Greg and Zane showed up at the hospital at around 8:20 and Greg announced that he had gotten Noah to school 5 minutes late...School starts at 8:50. I asked, "Is my clock wrong? Because school doesn't even start for another half hour. Greg got this surprised look on his face and says, "It doesn't?!?! I thought it started at 7:50. I dropped him off at 7:55! He asked why there were no cars in the car line and I told him it was because he was late. He ran into the school." My heart ached. That would make it an extra long day for him. The school does not allow you to drop your kids off before 8:20 unless they are in what is called Prime Time. I e-mailed the principal and explained that my husband was "doing my job" and wondered if Noah was alright. She responded that he had gotten pretty upset, but spent the morning in the nurse's office until it was time to go to class. I had Greg pick him up from school a little early. He told Greg that he had cried when he saw that nobody was at school. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Poor little guy.

Funny nurse stories:

I forgot some of the funny things that happened while at the hospital. While in the Maternity Ward I had this one nurse who looked to be in her 60's. She frequently came in to check on me. One of her questions that I found quite funny was: "Does your place...where the baby came out...Does it hurt?" I just find that to be such a childish way of asking. It totally sounds like how my kids would ask me that same question. She's a nurse and couldn't use the correct terminology? Funny lady. I had another nurse named Rebecca. She was great big and tall. Late Wednesday night I had just gotten Adley back to sleep and I must have fallen asleep the instant my head hit the pillow. I woke up to find Rebecca standing over me and I nearly jumped out of my skin! I literally jolted! She apologized for scaring me and then said she was there to check my vitals, "Although your pulse is probably going through the roof right now!" Then I had a nurse that I would have punched in the face if I had been more awake. Once again I had just BARELY gone to sleep and she comes in at 5:55 a.m. and says she is there to do labs. I wanted to say, "Really?!?! We have to do that now?!?!" I didn't have any energy to even lift my head. She asked my name and date of birth. I babbled it off. Then she stuck my hand with a needle and said, "I need you to tell me your name and date of birth Again." So I repeated. Then, she walked out of my room and left the door open. I got up and gently SLAMMED it closed. Now I know this makes me seem like a hateful you-know-what, but keep in mind that I was running on very little sleep and I HATE THE HOSPITAL!!! On another note, the labor and delivery nurses were all talking about how they wished all of their moms in labor were just like me. Everything went so smoothly. What can I say? I'm good at squeezing babies out! It's just the nine months prior that I am not particularly good at.

Two Funny Zane Stories

This is Zane. He is a "good" little boy...and always very curious. He was in my hospital room when it was time to feed Adley. The kids said, "Don't Look!" Zane said, "I'm wooking!" as he stared at my bosom. This morning, I was starting to feed her again and found one of my long hairs in my bra. I said, "Ew, a long hair, I better move that. I don't think Adley will want to eat it." Zane says, "She might fink it's pasketti."

Introducing Adley McKay

I wanted to journal about my experience now so that I don't forget all the little details. Roughly one year ago, I gave birth to a tiny stillborn Will. While in the labor and delivery room, I expressed how that was the last time I was going to go through the whole ordeal of pregnancy again. It was too hard on my family and certainly too hard on me. It was especially difficult to lay a third child in the ground. I had made up my mind I WAS DONE. Then I decided that I had better let the Lord make that decision. In November, I fasted and prayed to know if there was another child waiting to be a part of our family. I listened to Elder Anderson's talk: "Children" as a part of my fast. I was thinking that it would be on the topic of how we need to be more like children: meek, submissive, etc. Instead it was how the Lord's command to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. As I listened to these words, I began to sob and realized that it was the answer to my prayer. And I accepted it. I just had no idea that I would be looking at two those two lines on a stick so quickly after that...two months later. I was still carrying around weight from my previous pregnancies, so this time around was pretty uncomfortable, pretty early on. My body is getting old and worn out from it all as well. These are only a couple of reasons why I was so anxious to have my baby in my arms instead of in my womb. But mostly, I wanted her here ALIVE and WELL. I had prayed and prayed that she would arrive three weeks early like Olivia did. When that came and went, I prayed for 2 weeks early. Then I began praying for her to come "TOMORROW". Tomorrow would come and go. My doctors urged me to be induced one week early. I continued to pray for her to come on her own. I started having Braxton Hicks at 5 months. Then they started getting more intense around 8 months. And every time they started in, I wondered if that was the beginning of the end. I was feeling really rough pretty much the whole week prior to Adley's birth. But on Tuesday afternoon around 2:00 I was having contractions every 7 minutes for a couple of hours. Then they stopped being consistent. I was scheduled to be induced the following morning at 5:00 a.m. Tuesday evening the contractions started back up. This time they were growing more intense but were not really consistent. Olivia and I went for a walk. I was having to stop every three minutes for a contraction to pass. When we got home, they slowed back to every 7 minutes. WHAT THE WORLD!?!?! BUT, they were still coming so I was holding out hope. Finally around 9:00 they started getting to where I had to really breathe to be able to bear the pain and I was perfectly still during each one because moving made them worse. We got the kids to go to bed. Greg's sister Tanya got here around 11:00 to stay the night and we headed to the hospital at 11:20. In triage they checked me and I was dilated to 5 cm. They wheeled me to Labor and Delivery and started an IV. The doctor checked me and I was at 7. Then she broke my water. Soon after I was an 8-9 and quickly moved to 10. I had made up my mind that I was NOT going to have an epidural...and I was sticking to it! The contractions were painful, but I was getting through them by breathing slowly. Then came the time that I felt like pushing. They told me not to....yet. Which was kinda okay, because I was scared to death to push. Finally they said I could. I had asked for a mirror so I could see things as they progressed. They had it positioned where I couldn't even see anything in it. I started pushing and had no idea what was going on down there. Everybody kept telling me to look in the mirror and I kept telling them that I could not SEE anything in the mirror. I was so frustrated. I knew I had pushed part of her out, but didn't know how much. "See, there she is! Just keep pushing!" I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING! JERKS! With an epidural, I pushed and had a mirror so even though I wasn't feeling what I was pushing out, I could at least see what I was doing. This time I would push and feel something but didn't know how much progress I had made. To me it felt like all of her came out on the first shot, but I had to push about 3 more times. I have NO idea how women push like that for hours. That is beyond me. I am so glad it didn't take any longer than it did. Finally they placed her on my chest and wiped her down. She was perfect and so cute! Then it was off to the scales. 8 pounds 3 ounces. WHAT?!?! I was expecting at LEAST a 9 pounder. Oh, I failed to mention that as I was pushing, I was also yelling. I had no idea I would do that. It came from nowhere. BUT I did not use obscene language or threaten to castrate my husband so I think I did pretty good there. So we had arrived at roughly 11:30 and had a baby at 1:21 a.m. Then came the after birth. That was not fun at all because there was not a precious baby on the other end. I don't even remember that part with my other kids because I was numb and just relaxed through it. One really nice thing about my delivery was that one of Dr. William's former nurses was there: Malia. She had transferred to labor and delivery and I hadn't seen her at all during this pregnancy, but she had been so compassionate when I lost Will. That was the last time I saw her. The hospital stay was horrible....it always is. I cannot sleep there. I can't sleep with a baby in my room because every noise they make wakes me up. I can't stand all the nurses coming in the room to check vitals and do all that other garbage. I was at the hospital for 36 hours and slept MAYBE 4 hours total. Plus I had been up since 5:30 Tuesday morning. We got to go home around 1:30 Thursday afternoon. I got Adley to bed at around 8:30 and she slept until 3:30. I got her back down at 5 and she slept until 9. So in a 12 hour period she only got up once. Don't tell her I told you about it, or she might change her mind and decide to get up every two hours. I just had her at the doctor's office for a weight check and she is down to 7 pounds 6 ounces. So I need to bring her back on Monday. Turns out I have "extra large" nipples and Adley evidently has an extra small mouth. I've never had trouble with my other kids but she only gets half of it in her mouth (ouch) so not only am I cracking and bleeding, but she is not getting as much milk as she should. I spoke with a consultant and we are working on it. I am totally in love...still exhausted, but life (and my family) is complete.

Sometimes I actually DO the things that I Pin on Pinterest

I had to share something that I found on Pinterest: Super Easy Pizza Dough. It calls for equal parts of Plain Greek Yogurt and Self-Rising Flour. I mixed the two in my stand mixer using my dough hook. I had to add more flour than what was called for. I'm not sure if it's the humidity or what. Then I dumped it out onto a floured counter top and rolled it out. Or you can press it into your pizza pans and skip making a mess on the counter. 1 cup of yogurt and 1 cup of flour yields one pizza crust. I pricked mine with a fork and placed them on a pizza stone at 450 degrees (using my pizza peel). You can also use parchment paper on the back of a cookie sheet to get the crust to slide onto the stone. I baked the crust until I was able to remove it in one piece then added my toppings. Something else that you may not know; you can duplicate that creamy garlic sauce they put on pizzas by mixing ranch dressing with some extra garlic. Then sprinkle with Cheddar and Mozzarella for what we call "White Pizza". I even made my Ranch dressing from scratch (thanks you Pinterest) to avoid the MSG found in most store-bought brands. This pizza was fabulously simple. My family loved it. You should give it a try!

Adley Update

So, I was up all last Thursday morning (from 12:30 to 6 a.m.) having contractions. I really thought it was the real deal. It started with nausea, followed by back "labor" and then contractions that were quite uncomfortable. I hadn't packed a bag yet, so in between the contractions (which were 5 minutes apart) I started putting a bag together. At 6:00 when I usually get up to get myself then kids ready for school, the contractions stopped. Then they started back up again but weren't as steady. I called my doctor's office and was advised to go to Labor and Delivery Triage to have things checked out. So around 11 or so my mom met Greg and me at St. John's. I was 50% effaced and dilated to 1 cm. woo. They monitored Adley's heart rate for a while, then sent me to walk the halls. Upon my return I had progressed...to a "loose 1". woo. They sent me home. I was totally fine with it. I was, after all, only 36 weeks. I just really wanted to make sure Adley was okay. That's really all I cared about. But by this point I was SO tired. So I came home and slept from 4-8 then from 10-6 the next morning. I've been having contractions off and on for the last week. I had a non-stress test and ultrasound to measure fluid yesterday. During the monitoring, Adley's heartbeat kept creeping up to nearly 180 which is unusual for her. Normally it stays around 150-160. I was getting nervous (to the point of almost throwing up) when the nurse came in. I told her of my concern and she said that it was exactly what they wanted her heart rate to do. During the ultrasound, the man pointed out that Adley not only has quite a bit of hair, but it is pretty long. He also pointed out where her bum was "in case she needs spankins". Her foot was conveniently placed by her ear. He gave me some pictures of her little chubby face. To me, she looks like she is being held hostage....I need to get her out of there! Today I went to see my OB. I am dilated to 2 cm and 75% effaced. He encouraged me to schedule an induction at 39 weeks (September 12). I don't want to be induced but he is concerned and doesn't think we should press our luck. He said ultimately it's up to me, but the Ultrasound Doctor gave the same advice, and Greg is feeling that way as well. So I'm pretty much outnumbered. I just really hope she comes on her own before then. So that's the latest on baby Adley. Oh, and she is in the top 89% for her weight. GO ME!!!

Noah=A Ladies Man

Disclaimer: I am a mom. A very protective mom. And NOBODY will be good enough for my kids-Not until they are at least 21 years of age.

So....last night, around 9:00, Noah asks, "Mom, have you seen my high-tops?" The shoes he was referring to are his Converse Chuck Taylor's. Grandma bought them for him and they have been nothing but a PAIN ever since. They are hard to get on and off his feet. I have to help him almost every time. And he's 7 YEARS OLD! They drive me crazy. So we bought some new shoes for the school year and the "All-Stars" have been put away. I honestly do not know WHERE they are. So I answered, "You mean your Chuck Taylor's? I don't know where they are." He says, "Well, I have to find them! I think they might be at Grandma's house. Can we call her? Does she have work tomorrow? Do you think she could drop them by? Or could we go to her house and pick them up?" My response: "Um, she DOES have work tomorrow and NO we cannot go get them and I'm NOT going to ask her to bring them by. Why do you need them so badly?" He says, "'Somebody' wants me to wear them."..."And WHO would that be?... WHITNEY?" Then he gets this incredibly cute look on his face and says, "Yeah."..."Oh good grief, Noah. She's telling you what shoes to wear? Tell her that you will wear whatever shoes you like. You don't go around telling her what to wear!"..."I can't say that! She would get mad at me!"..."WHO CARES if she gets mad at you!" I could tell he was a little embarrassed. He kind of dropped the subject after that (thank goodness). Whitney is a girl that Noah met on his ONE AND ONLY day of preschool. They became "friends". They didn't see each other again until kindergarten. They weren't in the same class until first grade and are again in the same class this year. Last year for the talent show, she and another girl from class did a dance routine in the talent show. I'm sure she is a very nice girl, but the outfit she was wearing made her look like a hoochie mama and the dance they did seemed quite inappropriate, especially for a first grader. She is a very cute little girl, but NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR MY SON. And I don't like the fact that she's trying to dictate what he wears. I had no idea I would be dealing with such things at such a young age, but I guess that's what I get for having such good lookin' kids (again, they did NOT get that from me).