Once Upon a Time...

So. We had a baby. 

Story time?

Our cute baby girl was due December 29th, 2013. At the beginning of December she already weighed 7 lbs, so I was sure I'd be going early. 

My last day of work was Dec. 20th (just in case she decided to be a Christmas baby).

Christmas came....

And Christmas went...

Due date came...and went...

New Years Eve came...

(Of course when you're 40 weeks pregnant, you should spend your New Years bowling)

And New Years Eve went...

Our last doctors appointment I was still only measuring a 1. Barely. So they scheduled me to be induced at 41 weeks the following Sunday, January 5th, at 6 pm. 

And surprise. January 5th came without incident.

We got to the hospital and settled in.

They gave me an IV with some Pitocin. After an hour of contractions I decided to get the epidural (which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, thank heavens). The nurse told us that it would probably be at least 12 hours until she arrived. Of course, me being the eternal optimist, knew she would prove them all wrong and show up before the night was over.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

10:30 pm : Dilated to a 1.

1:30 am: Dilated to a 2.

(but a good 2) (this is when they broke my water, hopefully to start moving things along)

4 am: Dilated to a 2.

5 am: Dilated to a 3.

8:30 am: Dilated to a 4.

9:30 am: Dilated to a 7

 (woohoo! There's an end in sight!)

11:30 am...dialated to a 7.

(End in sight? Just kidding)

At this point, they had maxed me out on pitocin. The high range for a normal dose is like 20ml and I was at 34ml. My contractions were steady, but super weak--not strong enough to really do anything.

My mom and sisters came up to hang out, but I was too tired and too sick to enjoy the company.

By noon, even with my maxed out Pitocin, my contractions were weakening so they stopped the dosage to let my poor uterus rest and to flush my system of the drugs so we could start over.

We tried to play cards, in between my throwing up and the nurses rotating me every 30 minutes.

They restarted the Pitocin at 12:30 and 5 hours later....

I was dilated to a 9. 

(a "lazy 9" they said)

(which really means an 8, but they were trying to make me feel better).

Just hanging out, being patient...

One more hour and I would be ready to push.

6 pm: Still a nine. 

(Liars)

7pm: Bazinga! 10! 

(Barely) 

At 8pm they finally said I could push. It had been 25 hours, and I was ready. I just wanted to see my baby. 

The nurse said we would start pushing and she'd call the doctor when things had progressed. After an hour I asked how long do I push before they reevalute...she just kept saying 'we just keep pushing'.

Matt did not like her.

So I pushed for another hour. The doctor arrived at 9:45 pm, and I pushed for 15 minutes with him. When that didn't work, he broke out the vacuum (worst decision ever) and we tried that a couple times. 

Finally, the doctor and nurses accepted the fact that baby girl's head was not going to fit out of my over-pushed little pelvis. Within minutes I was prepped and being wheeled down the hall to the operating room for a c-section.

At 10:38 pm, January 6th, I heard the first cries of my baby girl.

Welcome to the world, Hannah Kate Jaynes.

27 Weeks...

25 weeks

Baby Logan

April 13th, 2013

Logan Burrell Smith. 

Baby Logan, we're gonna be best friends.

Girls Night...

If you didn't know, I have 2 very pregnant sisters. Megan is due the middlie of April, and Saydee the first of June. We decided there was a definite need for a girls night, before the babies took over their lives. 

Girl's Night in our family comes with several requirements:

1. At least 7 decks of cards, so we can play 'Hand and Foot'

2. Very nice husbands, who understand we have no control over how late we'll be home

3. Homemade Pie.

 4. Lots of face-covering laughter.

5. Grandma Rinda.

It might be a while before we get another chance to party like this... 

But man, I can't wait until these babies arrive. Hurry it up.

Happy Easter

Easter was fabulous.

Okay. That's an understatement. 

Easter was FANTABULOUS.

(That's right. Fantabulous.)

Both our families put on some fantastic Easter egg hunts.

The Burrell’s hunt was aimed at the children. My mom put a lot of work into creating packets for each child with pictures from around the yard where eggs would be hiding—kind of like a picture scavenger hunt. We each got teamed up with one of them, and raced through the front and back yard searching for our eggs. 

The kiddies had a blast, and I may or may not have loved it more.

At the Jaynes’, both Jared and Ryan and their kids were with their significant others’ families, so that just left the childless group. Jill and Steve put on the most fabulous Easter Egg Hunt for us. 

With a 'Ready, Set, Go!' all seven of us 20-somethings raced to collect more eggs than anyone else.

I thought i did pretty good, and even left some behind cuz I felt selfish. 

Come to find out Shelley pretty much doubled everyone else's findings.

Next year I will not be so kind, you have been warned.

All in all, Easter was a hit.

 I had so many fun pictures (thanks Em!) , I  had to throw them into a slideshow. Check it out, they’re pretty cute.

(PS. Jaynes Clan, we need to do better at taking pictures. Could someone please remind me to get my camera out more often?)

VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I heart Leprechauns...

I love St. Patrick's Day. Like a lot.

When we were growing up--and well into our adulthood--the leprechauns would come, leaving trails of gold glitter and green footprints climbing on the windows, bathroom mirror, and TV screen.  Candy would be hidden in groups of 5-one for each child. And all green. Green Starbursts, green Airheads, green suckers, green gum, green everything.

 It was a sad day when I got married and realized I had to leave those leprechauns behind.

No worries, though. 

The leprechauns that visit us aren't quite as cool as the ones from my childhood, but they're figuring it out.