Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Weston Ross Hill

Our sweet little familyBlake was a little unsure of all of the tubes and monitors on his baby brother but he was still excited to meet him.


So happy to be holding him
I might be smiling but I sure was hurting.. :)
Weston Ross Hill was born on October 3rd, 2011 at 5:07 am weighing it at 7lbs and 7ozs and was 21 inches long. This delivery was so much faster than with Blake. Weston came 2 weeks early just like his big brother. Here is his birth story...
On October 2nd I decided to pack my hospital bag and finalize everything in preparation for our baby's arrival (my due date wasn't until October 16th) so I thought I was ahead of the game. Mitch wasn't home that night, he was dog sitting his parents dogs but I wasn't worried at all because I still had two weeks left. I jokingly called him that night and said well my bags are packed, just watch my water will break tonight. And around 1230am it did! I was fast asleep and a gush of water woke me right up. I don't think I have ever moved faster in my life to get out of my bed and into the bathroom. How ironic that I made that comment to Mitch just a few hours before. I called him immediately and we rushed to figure out who could watch Blake while we went to the hospital. I called my mom and she met us there. We made it to the hospital by 1:30 am and my contractions were very close already. They admitted us and by 2am I was already dilated to 4cm. The nurses for whatever reason could not get an IV in me. You have to have a full bag of fluid before you can get your epidural and the nurses could not get an IV in me! Needless to say I was getting very frustrated and my contractions were only getting stronger and more close together. They moved me to the labor and delivery room (still no IV) and I was really starting to get anxious about that epidural. Finally the head nurse got the IV to take and the fluids started. My labor nurse was a sweetheart. She was very thorough and explained everything to me. I told her I was having a lot of pressure so she checked me and I was at 7cm. Still no epidural. I had not prepared my mind at all for what it would be like to deliver a baby without an epidural. I pleaded with her to get that process started. Thankfully I was able to get one before I missed the window of opportunity! After I got the epidural I still felt a ton of pressure so I asked the nurse to check again because it really felt like it was time to push. She checked again and sure enough it was! It was 4:50am. My doctor was on her way so the nurse was coaching me to not push just yet. Dr. Hollar arrived at 5am and with two pushes Weston was out. I couldn't believe how fast it all went. With Blake I was in labor for 23 hours and with Weston a little over 4 hours total. So fast.
So that was the delivery part...

When Weston came out the cord was wrapped around his neck twice and he wasn't breathing. They put him on my chest... he still was not breathing. He was blue. A deep shade of blue. I knew something was wrong. I looked up at the nurse and said take him he is not breathing and he is blue. My doctor was trying to ensure me that he will take his breath. As I am watching across the room I still don't hear a cry. I see the nurses working with him but still not a sound. Then teams of doctors and nurses start pouring into my room. Still not a sound. My doctor gets up and goes over to Weston and starts working on him. Still no sound. They start chest compressions. No mom should ever have to see that. That image will forever be engraved in my head. I was so scared. Actually scared doesn't even describe my emotion. I was frozen. Finally after what seemed an eternity Weston let out this little tiny cry. Barely anything. I just started crying. I didn't know what was going on. Why didn't he breathe? The NICU pediatrician came over to me and reassured me that he was going to be okay. He said that some babies are just slow to start. His oxygen levels weren't maintaining so they needed to take him and put him on oxygen and observe him. I didn't know what to think. They brought Weston over to me... this time he was pink like he should be so I knew at least he was breathing. I only got to hold him and see him for a brief moment before they whisked him away. Mitch stayed with me until I was all taken care of and then he went with Weston. Before I knew it I was alone in that room. No doctors, no nurses, no Mitch, and no Weston. Just me. And I cried and said a prayer. In that moment when it was just me I felt a reassuring calm from the Spirit letting me know that everything was going to be okay. The peace that I felt was something that I hadn't felt in a while. God works miracles every day. Weston was our miracle that day.
Weston had to spend the time we were in the hospital in the NICU because his oxygen levels wouldn't level out. Our nurse in the NICU was wonderful. She took care of Weston and reassured us that everything was going to be okay. Being in the NICU really made me realize how miraculous it is to have a baby. So many babies were sick and it broke my heart. I just wanted to go home with my baby. They took xrays of Weston's chest and saw that he had a lot of fluid in his lungs and that could be a possible reason why he didn't breathe right away. Over the next two days he coughed up a bunch of fluid. He had every possible monitor hooked to him it seemed. That was hard on me to see that. After rounds of antibiotics and lots of monitoring he was released to go home with us. I was so grateful for all of the nurses and doctors at Banner Desert for taking care of him.
This birth experience was so different from my first on many different levels. Being in the hospital after you carry a baby for nine months and then deliver him and then not having him with you was hard. I felt empty not having him close by me. I spent as much time as I could up in the NICU with him. I missed him.
I am so happy that he is a healthy little boy. Weston has such a calm demeanor. He rarely cries and never complains about anything. He sleeps all day and most of the night. He only wakes up to feed. He loves to be held and snuggles into my neck. He has the best hair. It is my favorite thing.
Blake loves being a big brother. He loves to help. He only has had a few outbursts but that is normal. He loves to hold him and help change him and bathe him. He asks me every day if he is big yet... he can not wait to be able to play with him.
I love my husband. He was right by my side and was my calming force. He kept reassuring me that everything was going to be okay and that we were in the best place possible for Weston. Mitch is a wonderful dad. The best I know.

On a side note... We had a bittersweet moment on the way to the hospital. We both got choked up realizing that the drive their was the last time it would just be the 3 of us. The past 3 years with Blake have been so wonderful. We have been blessed with such a sweet little boy that we wondered how it could get any better. Now that Weston is here it feels like he always has been. We are so blessed.

Blake

Dear Blake,

I wanted to take a minute to write down how much I love you so that you will always know how special you are to me. From the minute I met you I fell in love. You are such a sweet, smart, caring, stubborn (which will be a good thing when you are older), loving, thoughtful, happy, shy (until you get used to someone), special little 3 year old boy.

Right now a little about you...

You love to be with your family and we love to be with you!
You love to help with anything you can. You help your daddy fix everything and you help me with house hold chores
You love your daddy and you love to spend time with him.
You love your mimi, grandpa, and your grandma d and love running errands with them by yourself in their cars.
You love skittles and sugar cookies and it is hard for all of us to tell you no.
You love to create and you are funny. You are a thinker.
You have the best little imagination and you are always teasing us making up your own words to songs and stories.
You don't miss a beat with anything and you remember everything.
You love Mickey Mouse and everything to do with cars and trucks.
You especially love your red car and your lightening McQueen car. You are always in them.
You love having date night with your mom - and I think I love it more. We usually watch a movie and go out for pizza
You tell me you have a secret for me and then you tell me you love me. It melts my heart.
You are a picky eater - I think it is because you are too busy to sit down and eat
You like macaroni and cheese, cereal, mandarin oranges, turkey roll ups, and noodles. Yes plain noodles. You are a snacker - cheese its, goldfish, and pretzels are a few of your favorites.
You love going to school and to nursery. You have lots of friends at both places
You are so sweet and sensitive. You don't understand when kids are mean because you aren't mean
You think about how your actions effect others and apologize when you have a fit. "I'm sorry mommy for throwing that fit and saying mean things, I don't know what I was thinking" Love it.
You have the best vocabulary of any kid I know. You use words like predicament, suppose, clarify, and other big kid words. It is awesome because you use them in the correct context always.
You know how to re structure sentences when someone doesn't understand you. What 3 year old can do that? Just you.
You laugh at all the funny spots in movies. You have the best laugh. It cracks us up!
You have this awesome serious voice that you use when you are making a point about something.
You think of reasons that you love your mommy and daddy and you tell us, you are so sweet!

There are so many special things about you and these are just a few that I can think of right now. Thank you for blessing my life and for teaching me how to be a better mom. I love you little man!

Early Bird Preschool!

Waiting ever so patiently for his first day! He was so excited... walked right in and took off his back pack and said see you later mom and dad! Like I said... he is growing up way too fast!Walking on up to her door. He picked out his own back pack for school. Love how big it is!
I love his first school picture by the door. His face is priceless!
Yes my little buddy now goes to preschool! He is such a smart little boy. I know everybody says that but this little kid is hilarious with how smart he is. He uses logic and decisive reasoning when making decisions so it was more than time to find him a school to attend. Ms. Erin is his teacher at Early Bird Preschool and he loves every minute of it! He is learning so much! He cracks us up because he is so private with school... doesn't want to tell us about it! That's fine with me... It is his own special thing! Everyday he brings home some art project about what they learned that day and some home work that we can do together. He LOVES it!

Blake turned 3!

Blake we love you more than you know! You are such a special kid and you have blessed our lives beyond any description! Happy Birthday my best little man! What?? I am just enjoying my cake! :)



Playing skeeball. He was loving it!
All of his best little buddies sitting down for pizza together. so cute!


I am behind with my blog. Blake celebrated his third birthday on August 31st. He is such a big boy now! The theme was Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Cassy did a great job again with his cakes! So cute! We had his party and Peter Piper Pizza and it was a blast! Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Potty Training! A success!!


Very proud of you little buddy! Way to go!Picking out stickers for his reward! He also knew that once he started going potty than he would get to go to pre school! That starts tomorrow!!
So proud! Showing daddy what he did!
I decided that it was past time to start potty training this little kiddo... so Blake and I blocked off 3 days and dedicated our lives to the cause! haha. By using sticker charts, skittles, a timer (every 10 minutes), and lots of recognition we finally made it! I was so proud of him and he was so proud of himself! It took a little while to go #2 but going #1 was not really an issue. Hardly any accidents and we would wake up dry almost every day from nap and even from the night. Once he finally decided that going #2 in the potty wasn't scary anymore we have not had any accidents at all and he wakes up dry every day and every morning! YAY! I am not going to lie... this was hard for me (probably because I waited until I was 8 months pregnant to accomplish this mile stone.) But ever since he has gone on the potty Blake has been so happy and so proud of himself! WOOHOO!

Baking a cake!

End result: A yummy cake! And yes that is how he smiles when he doesn't really want to smile!

I love the excitement on his face in this picture! He was having so much fun!

Blake loves to help! It doesn't matter what we are doing he wants to be right there helping us! He had so much fun baking a cake with dad! Mitch is such a wonderful dad. He never loses his patience with Blake and makes sure that Blake knows how special and important he is!

Self Portraits..

Love you little buddy! Full chipmunk cheeks!
Big BITE!
I love random funny surprises! Blake sometime got a hold of the camera while eating a yogurt and took some pictures of the event. It must have been one delicious yogurt! He is so funny! Seriously when I found this I started laughing out loud! So fun and so cute!