Change

Change has been said to be the only constant in life.  And right now that couldn't be more true.  In the past 2 years I have:
-Transferred schools
-gotten married to my favorite person
-gotten pregnant and she held on :)
-Graduated with my Bachelor's
-had a beautiful baby girl who has become my world

If my life hasn't completely changed, then I don't know what change is.  Change brings many things; nervousness, anticipation, fear, hope, love, excitement, sometimes dread, but most of all change brings growth.

Everyday now I get to witness change.  And feel that rush when I see the changes life can bring.  From a small newborn who sleeps, eats, and poops.  To a four month old with her first 2 teeth, who smiles more than anyone I know, and is constantly watching everything, trying to take this world in.

Change makes me feel lucky.

Lucky that I have this life to live, grateful that I have a daughter and husband.  Not everyone gets so lucky, but I did!

I am lucky to be able to experience change.  I have been changed for good and I wouldn't give that up for the world!

The Waiting Game...

Get ready for a long post (and maybe some TMI moments), it was a long day...

9 months is long enough to wait, 40 weeks of imagining what this little one would look like, what kind of personality she would have.  Then she decided to make us wait 11 more days.  Those days seemed like torture, pure torture!  Due to insurance reasons it was cheaper for us to have this sweet baby girl out in California so I went to live with my parents in July so that I would be able to afford the many appointments that they schedule for you at the end of pregnancy to make sure that everything is going well with the baby.  Our sweet baby girl was due to arrive August 21st, so Joseph flew out on the 17th.  By the next weekend we still had no signs of a baby wanting to join us, so on the 25th I got on my swim suit and played for half of the high school water polo alumni game, sure people thought I was crazy for jumping in the pool 4 days overdue, but I was blessed with being able to be active the entire pregnancy and I play goalie, people don’t really come near you in the position!  Joseph had to leave the 26th, school and work don’t wait for a baby to arrive.  Needless to say, I was a wreck.  What if she decided to come while he was gone?  What if he didn’t make it in time?

At my 41 week appointment the OBGYN told me that I could choose what day I wanted to be induced, since it still didn’t look like she’d be making her way out, so I chose Friday.  That way Joseph could get there in time and it was labor day weekend so he didn’t have school or work on Monday, so he had more time to spend with us.  Friday comes and I call an hour before my scheduled induction at 2 pm.  Thanks to so many babies that were actually coming on their own they told me not to come in until 6.  I was totally freaking out because I just wanted to get in and get going!

We finally made our way to the hospital got checked in and got assigned a room.  Pretty soon we’re meeting the nurses, doctors, and midwife.  As luck would have it Julie King was the midwife on call that night and I’m sure glad it was her! (She’s in my parents Stake and her daughter was a year behind me in high school)  It was nice to see a familiar face and feel comfortable with everything that was going on.  Our nurse, Jo, was so sweet!  She was always making sure we were comfortable and made it a much better experience than I’ve had with nurses before.

So at 8 Friday night they put the strip of induction medicine in and got things going, labor started and contractions got worse and worse.  Let’s just say I didn’t sleep that night.  Joseph slept on the floor, for the couple of broken up hours that he slept, and my parents slept on the couch (not the biggest couch either mind you).  Even with hard contractions/labor going pretty much all night at 8 the next morning I had only progressed to a 3, so to try to get me more progressed Julie broke my water.  Things slowly and steadily progressed and got harder and harder to bear.

  I kept going and threw up a few times, talk about a fun experience!  With my mom/Hannah rubbing my head, my dad holding my hand, and Joseph pushing on my knees (totally helps, who knew?) I was able to handle a good amount of the pain.  Finally a little after 2 that afternoon I decided that it wasn’t progressing fast enough, and desperately needed some rest (sleep deprived for sure).  So 18 hours after being induced I got an epidural and pitocin.

  Things progressed a lot faster after that and I finally started pushing around 7.  Hannah had a great view while I was pushing, and helped keep me distracted, how can you not be distracted when your sister’s watching and wincing and squirming and excited all at the same time.  Joseph and my mom were holding my legs up, because I definitely couldn’t!  And my dad was sitting on the couch trying to distract himself but getting a pretty good ab work out from holding his breath and contracting his abs every time I pushed.  He was just trying to help! :)  Finally Dad had enough and asked if he could come hold my back, and I’m sure glad he did (if you’re going to be pushing a baby out make sure someone’s holding your back up, it’s much easier to push that way).  Finally at 7:50 pm, ten minutes shy of 24 hours after being induced, our sweet little Jane came out and finally graced us with her presence!

  Thanks to my midwife Julie I didn’t tear at all outside and only had one small stitch inside!

A lot of people discount my labor because when Jane came out she was 6 pounds 8 ounces and 18.5 inches long with a 12.2 inch head.  But I’m proud to say that I was able to deliver this sweet, perfect baby.

After she arrived Joseph cut the umbilical cord.  And Jane just stuck her tongue out at us, she didn’t cry, which made the nurses nervous.  They put her on my chest, and no joke, she picked her head up to look at me.  But they quickly took her to the other side of the room to check her oxygen levels and make sure she was okay, she was already pink and everything they just wanted her to cry (but the stubborn little girl wouldn’t no matter how much they tried slapping her feet and doing whatever they could to get her to).

Gram and Grandpa came in the room as soon as they could.  As soon as they walked in I said, “Happy birthday grandpa, I hope you enjoy your present!” Definitely a unique birthday present to have your first great grand baby born on your 71st birthday!

Other than the fact that they kept bringing me food I couldn’t eat, and the nurses trying to keep us after both the pediatrician and midwife told us we were good to go it was a good stay in the hospital, and definitely and experience that wont be forgotten.

And yes, one day in the semi-near future (not before 2014) I will do this again. :)

Update...

I guess it's about time that I update on the past 2 months.

Haha who am I kidding?  That's a ridiculous amount of time, so we'll just skip it but just know that my amazing man has continued to spoil me and make me feel like the most important person in the whole world.

Today I took my last final as an undergraduate student at BYU!  That's right my LAST final!  It went horribly and I was upset but thanks to a loving husband and also the best dad in the entire world my worries were set aside and I was able to know that I will indeed be graduating this friday.

Friday, friday, friday will be a glorious day!  I get to have an ultrasound of my baby, that's right baby pictures instead of just feeling this little one kick up a storm!  I officially graduate in the afternoon.  And the family is taking a trip to St. George for the weekend.

Did I mention my parents are coming tomorrow night?  I can't wait!  So that's the newness in our lives for now...maybe next time I'll post pictures, that would be fun. :)

Oh how blessed we've been!

Oh Baby!

We found out back in December that we are going to have a baby...but decided to wait until we had heard our little one's heartbeat before telling anyone other than our parents.  And let me tell you I am bad terrible at keeping secrets!  So I'm pretty amazed with myself that I was able to keep it a secret for over a month...


And you know what was even more amazing than keeping that secret??  Getting to hear that super fast little tiny heartbeat! :) (And maybe being able to watch Joseph's face as he realized that what he was hearing is his own baby!)


I'm so excited/nervous to be a mom, sometimes it seems like my sweet man is more excited than I am! :)

Oh My Sweet Man :)

I'm just going to brag about my husband for a little bit and then tell you about our exciting news!...


Last week I had just gotten out of class after a long day and got an unexpected phone call from my favorite who said he would pick me up from class.  So I went and grabbed my bike, walked it to the parking lot, and this handsome man was there to greet me! :)

How could you not smile when you see this hunk leaning against the car waiting for you so he can take you on a date in the middle of the week! :)


Let me just tell you he does "hopeless romantic" stuff like this constantly! :)


And now for the exciting news!! We're moving!!  Just to the next town over so that he can walk to school and so it'll be easier to get to my internship!(at 6 in the morning...)  And the best part...it's one flat fee per month all the utilities are included, so it's cheaper than where we live now! :)


Oh what a WONDERFUL life!

Oh finally!! :)

Finally a new blog post...I know Ashley'll be happy that I finally posted! :)

But mainly...I finally have my schedule and internship figured out for my...wait for it... LAST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE!!

That's right world, I will be graduating in April and then I will be jumping into the world of full time working. (At least until I have babies...then I'll be a full time Mom.)

But I am sooo excited about my internship!  I get to work at Alpine Fitness Center as a personal trainer and a physical therapy assistant.

I mean how cool is that?  A two for one deal!  So I get experience in two marketable fields and maybe if I'm lucky they'll keep me on after my internship and I'll already have a job!  (Keep your fingers crossed that would be beyond AMAZING!)  But for now I need to focus on just getting through my classes.

Can I just say it again?  I'm GRADUATING IN APRIL!!  At the age of 21 I'll be a college graduate, married for a year, and loving life...even if it's hard!

Oh what an EXCITING life!

P.S. Can I just brag a little about my husband?  He's got to be the stinkin cutest ever!  Thank goodness I married him because he makes all my "hopeless romantic" wishes come true! :)  I'll explain more next post!

Oh Water Polo! How I missed you...

Going home in August for the water polo alumni game was SOO much fun!  I mean come on I got to spend a week with my family, see my old teammates, and play water polo against my little sister! :)  The only sad part was that my husband didn't get to come with me...he's never seen a water polo game, IN HIS LIFE! :(

But that's ok because next time he's coming, he will see a water polo game eventually!  Maybe even hundreds of them when our kids play ;)

So this is my team or at least the alumni team 6 of us are from the original team:

We played the current varsity and conquered!  Let's just say they stopped keeping score, but they kept pushing through it and trying so I'm proud of them!

Look we can all be friends! See:

I loved getting to play especially with friends I haven't seen in forever, like this crazy lady right here! Lyndsay!!

That was then:

And this is now:

Yeah she's a captain on UC Davis' water polo team!

And who can forget I got to play against my sister!  Oh the Hannadah! :)

(forgive my face in these pictures...at least everyone else is cute!)