Zoe's Story

On Tuesday morning we checked into the hospital around 9 a.m. and things were on their way around 11 a.m. There was no sign of this little girl coming out on her own so I decided to be induced. I was on the pitocin for a couple hours when they decided it would be time to break my water.

I got my epidural, they broke my water and we waited around for another couple hours. The next time they checked me I hadn't really made much progress so I was starting to get frustrated but they increased my pitocin and around the same time I felt the rest of my water come gushing out. It was also around this time I felt like my epidural was starting to wear off. They had given me a low dose so they increased the medication hoping that would work.

Unfortunately the dosage was not the problem. My epidural was only working in my legs, leaving my legs completely numb and allowing me to feel every single contraction, which at this point were coming every minute or so. I was progressing quickly and after an hour or so of incredible pain they finally discovered the problem. They leaned my bed a little upside down so the epidural would travel upward; which it did, finally giving me some relief.

About an hour later I was completely dilated and it was time to push. She came out after just 20 minutes of pushing and it was the most incredible feeling in the world. I was able to just hold her in my arms and loved every second of it.

Gavin has been so incredibly sweet and he was so excited to meet her for the first time. He went straight to her with a huge smile on his face. He is very helpful and always wants to hold her. 

I love being home with my little family of four but recovery has been tough. I unfortunately suffered from what is called a post-dural puncture headache as a result of my epidural. It happens to 1 in 500 people and I happened to be one of them! It caused me to have a crippling headache and we actually had to go back to the hospital yesterday so they could do a procedure to fix it. The headache is gone but it has left me somewhat bed-ridden. I'm not allowed to lift anything which includes Zoe, so Jesse has to bring her to me whenever it's time to feed her. I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband who will gladly play with Gavin, clean up the house and take care of the baby all while I am stuck on the couch. 

I am looking forward to our lives with this beautiful little girl. It's amazing how I can't get enough of her, even when I am exhausted. We are so lucky and I am incredibly grateful for the chance to be her mom.

She is Here!

Zoe Rae Whitchurch

May 24, 2011

7 lbs. 9 oz - born at 7:43 p.m.

More photos and details to come!



Make your Predictions!

This baby is full term and now begins the waiting game. I hate that they tell you the baby could come anytime after you hit 37 weeks because then you start to believe it!  Gavin was only two days before his due date and it's anyone's guess as to when our baby diva will make her arrival.

This pregnancy has been so different than my first, from start to finish. I have been having contractions for the last two weeks which are just oh so fun. With Gavin I basically didn't feel anything until I was already in labor. This little girl is making it known she is getting ready to come out. Her head is down and locked and loaded (meaning it feels like she is going to fall out everytime I stand up). I'm dilated at 2 cm right now but as many of you know, I could easily stay that way for the next two weeks.

My official due date is May 21st. WHEN DO YOU THINK SHE WILL COME?

sorry but I don't have a prize or anything if you end up being the correct guess. You will just have the satisfaction of knowing you predicted our little girl's birthday. :)

SERIOUSLY!

I decided to venture to Target last night because I needed a few random things and Target is the best place to find all those random things. Jesse had class so I had Gavin by myself which at this point in time is a difficult thing. I'm huge and all I can do is waddle so any kind of errands are tough, but we went anyways.

When we got there I asked Gavin if he would like to sit in the front or the back of the cart. He of course said the back which was fine with me, and seriously it is not worth the fight to put him in the front seat and buckle him in. That would have resulted in lots of screaming and crying from both of us.

As I'm strolling the makeup aisle a Target employee comes up to me and says "we need you to seat your child in the front of the cart and buckle him in." I politely (not really) said, "well if I do that he is going to throw a tantram. Is it store policy to make them sit in the front?"  She then replied with "well we just have a lot of kids fall out of their carts and get injured." Seriously woman; if he falls out of the cart I can promise I'm not going to sue Target.

I told Gavin to sit down and we walked away. I can 100% guarantee this woman does not have kids because if you are a mom you know that the first rule of womanhood is never to criticize another mother for what she is doing. And on top of that, if you criticize a nine-month pregnant woman you are really taking your life into your own hands. I would have liked to cause a big scene but let's be honest, I'm just too tired. ;)

Gavin and I then headed to Cafe Rio which is always an adventure because he never wants to stand in line with me. So I'm trying to stand in line, order my food over the incredibly tall counter and watch Gavin run around to make sure he does not get kidnapped. After I paid I was finally able to get Gavin to stand by my side while I waited to fill up my drink.

In my head soda machine etiquette indicates if someone is waiting for the drink machine, and you are done filling up your drink, you should move to the side. This woman and her son seriously stood in front of the entire machine for two minutes while they tried to find the right lid, and grabbed multiple straws. She knew I was waiting behind them and it's not like I can squeeze in next to them unless they want to get belly-bumped. Luckily while all of this was happening Gavin did not run out of the door but seriously; move out of the way when someone is waiting behind you!

Needless to say I came home exhausted and beyond annoyed. Maybe it's the hormones, but why are people so annoying?!?

Happy Easter

We had a fun-filled, busy Easter weekend that left us with way more candy than Halloween ever did!

On Saturday we got together with my family and had an easter egg hunt for all the kids.  Here's Gavin showing off his stash.

On Saturday night we dyed Easter eggs which was, luckily, a lot less messy than I anticipated.

On Sunday morning the Easter bunny brought Gavin his very first set of golf clubs. He has not put them down ever since.



We were able to go to church and spend the afternoon with Jesse's family.  Yes, that large, swollen person is me. Pointing a camera at a nine-month pregnant woman is a very cruel thing to do, but it was Easter, so I took one for the team.

Gavin loves all of his cousins.



R U Ready for some Football!

Today was the annual Spring football game and it was great to get our football fix.

PAC-12 Here We Come!

Gavin wore his first tie to church last week. Do you think this kid has any chance of ever cheering for another team? And again, we need to work on his camera-ready smile. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCUS

We celebrated Marcus' 18th birthday this week! It still shocks me every time I say it; I can't believe he is 18. Marcus is so special and he has been the shining star in our family. When we were younger I never imagined Marcus would be at East High School, playing hockey and hanging out with friends who are so great to him. Gavin absolutely adores Marcus and we are so lucky to have him in our family.

Marcus wanted to play laser tag for his birthday so we headed to Laser Quest.

The other awesome part of Marcus' birthday was that James got to come home for the weekend. We haven't seen him since Christmas so it was so fun to have him here. I don't know who was more excited for his visit, Gavin or Marcus.

Marc got some sweet presents but his favorite had to be the stick-on mustache's from Elise and her friends. He looks like a 30-year old man wearing it; it was hilarious!

Extreme Couponing

The other day I watched TLC's new show 'Extreme Couponing' and I have to say I was both amazed and appalled. While I admire the amount of money these women are saving I couldn't help but think there is something wrong with them as well.

Their homes look like grocery stores because they purchase everything in very large quantities. One woman purchased 60 bottles of mustard! There is no way you will ever use that much mustard. I think in the five years Jesse and I have been married we have used maybe three bottles of mustard.  One of the families had seven kids, so there's was a little easier to understand, but she still had shelving units set up in her bedroom and toilet paper stacked underneath her son's bed.

Yes, it was amazing to watch them go to the checkstand with their boxes of 2,500 coupons. Yes, I was impressed by how much money they saved: her bill was $1,900 and she only paid $100. But I still don't understand why you need that much stuff! In some circumstances it looks more like you are watching 'Hoarders' than a show about coupons.

How Much is Too Much?

I recently joined the 21st century and got a phone that has apps and all those fun things. Gavin has always loved to play with phones as most kids do.  However, now that he has discovered the games and activities on my phone he wants to play with it all the time! 

I'm fascinated at how he knows how to swipe the screen and sometimes I feel like he knows how to work this thing better than I do. The other day he even changed my wallpaper.  Oh, and if you happen to receive a random phone call from me, or a text message typed in a different language it was probably from Gavin (he did both of these things the other day).

To satisfy his technology desires we bought him his own "phone.".  It is a Leapfrog that has games and the alphabet and all that jazz. The thing I'm struggling with is how much is too much? We did not have any of these things when we were kids; I think Nintendo was my first exposure to technology.  But Gavin will grow up with computers, ipads, cell phones, etc.  I don't know if these things are good for his mind or if they are frying his brain.

I'm trying to only let him play with educational things on my phone, or on the computer.  And when he watches TV it's usually Nick Jr., Seasame Street or Disney Channel. I think I'm going to have to start setting time limits on some of these things which is something I never expected would be necessary for a three-year-old.

I know every parent has their own opinions on TV usage and computer games.  I will be honest; sometimes I use these things as 'babysitters' so that I can take a minute to breathe and I'm definitely not ashamed of that. I'm just trying to find a balance between the good parts of technology and the excessive use of it.

Utah weather

These pictures were taken on March 8th but I think they pretty much sum up the kind of weather we've been having.  I just love when the biggest storm of the year comes three months after Christmas.

I thought the Groundhog said we would be having an early spring this year; I think he got it wrong! Snow, please go away!!!!!