George - 2 Weeks!

Yesterday George turned 2 weeks old. I went to the first half of church while Pete stayed home with him, then I came back and we switched. This is how they were when I got home. So cute!


I can't believe it's already been two weeks! But at the same time, it's hard to believe that we've only had this little guy for two weeks!

I took George to his 2 week check up today, and he weighs 9lbs 9oz now (he was 8lbs 4 oz at birth) and measured 21 1/2 inches (he was 20 at birth)! Way to go little man. He's going to be a big boy like his brother!

Tonight we put up this growth chart. Mindy is almost 2 years older than Ethan, and look how close he is to passing her up!

While we're on the subject of sizes... I weighed myself yesterday and I'm down to 148. Three pounds to go! Wahoo! This morning, when I was up with George at 5:30, I almost seriously thought about going to the gym. Then I decided that I should give myself another week at least, and that rest is probably more important right now so I went back to sleep. I am excited to start training though!

I do need to decide for sure if I want to switch from the full to the half marathon in June, though. Last year the half sold out by the end of March, and they're already way ahead of that pace this year. Any thoughts?

The Weight Game

I'm not one to put much stock in how much I weigh. Before I got pregnant, and even when I did my Ironman, I weighed probably 10-20 lbs more than my lowest weight, but I was in much better shape! But it is fun to look at the numbers sometimes, and I have no problems putting those numbers out here on the internet for the world to see (gulp).

Ironman Weight: around 140 (It was even 140.6 once and that really made me smile!)

Pre-pregnancy Weight: about 145

Pregnancy Weight at last dr. visit: 168 (total of 23 lbs gained)

Post-pregnacy Weight when I came home (2 days after baby was born): 159

I don't know how I only lost 9 lbs after having a baby that weighed 8lbs 4oz, but these were different scales so it's probably not totally accurate.

Weight 1 week after baby (today): 152.4

So that, my friends, is how you lose 16 lbs in a week without being on The Biggest Loser! I LOVE nursing!

My goal is to get down to 135-140 again before Utah Half which is 8 months away. I think with a little help from George to burn off the calories, I'll get there easily. That is, if I don't eat too many carrot cookies. I'm planning on making some today. I can't wait! But, first a nap.

PS - I LOVE not being pregnant anymore. It's the best! :)

PPS - Happy 1 week anniversary, George!

Babies, Babies, Babies

Warning: This is a birth story so if you don't like that kind of thing, go ahead and skip this post.

And, uh, it's a little long.

Friday morning my dad came over bright and early so he could be here for the kids while I went in to get induced. Maybe. First I had an appointment with my doctor to decide if we really wanted to induce me or not.

After a few hours at the doctor's office, being hooked up to some monitors, getting an ultrasound and a blood test, we decided it would be better to wait. I was dilated to 4cm, though. That was good news, but I kind of thought it would be more after having contractions all Wednesday night that were 3-4 minutes apart. We had actually planned on going to the hospital Thursday morning if they were still going, but they weren't.

But, it wasn't like nothing got done on Friday! The guys came and put the new window in the girls' room downstairs, and my dad brought a door that he put on! It was so exciting! Since my dad was here with his truck, I had him take me to Home Depot so we could get the rest of the stuff for the room. I ended up spending a lot more than I had planned!

Pete and I got to work painting that night after the kids were in bed. We did one coat of the pink that night, then another coat in the morning. I also painted the downstairs bathroom blue, and, oh, it's so pretty! I love both colors! (pictures to come... sometime)

My dad came back Saturday to help us (Pete) put wainscoting up on the walls, and we got my brother to come help too. I helped out a little, but I mostly stayed out of the way, cleaned the house and watched kids.

Watching a movie with the cousins - they were really happier about this than they look! (Our next project is to fix that wall behind the couch.)

It was probably 8 or 9 by the time everyone left, and the girls were all set to sleep down there for the first time. They were so excited! (I wish I would have taken more pictures!!)

Anyway, just before everyone left I decided I should start timing contractions because I was starting to have a lot again. They were the same kind I was having on Wednesday: not painful, just really tight and uncomfortable. They were about 4 minutes apart, but I wasn't too concerned. I figured I'd just go to bed and have a repeat of Wednesday night.

I woke up during the night several times, still noticing the contractions, but they were about the same. Then at about 5:00, Ethan woke up with a bad dream. I got him calmed down, and when I got back in bed I started timing again. My contractions were still about 4-5 minutes apart so I woke Pete up and told him we probably should go to the hospital soon, but that I wanted to wait just a little longer before we called anyone. I just hate calling people so early in the morning!

So, I laid in bed for about an hour, and I was just thinking, "I should get up and get something to eat before we go because it's probably going to be a long day and I'll need my strength." Plus my stomach was growling.

Then, all of a sudden I sat up, saying, "Woah!" because my water had just broken! I probably scared Pete to death! He jumped up and grabbed me a towel. I could not believe how much water it was either! Yikes! By the time I got to the shower, I had my next contraction, and BOY what a difference that water breaking makes. It was already really painful!

Pete called my dad and our neighbor to come over until my dad got there. She was very nice to come over so early in the morning! She got here at about 6:30.

We were all settled in our awesome, huge room at the hospital by about 7am. My contractions were really strong and close together, but I really wanted to try to do this one naturally. I kept telling myself, "I can do this. I've done an Ironman - I can do this." At one point, Pete reminded me of this, and I said, "An Ironman is a lot more fun!" He was a great coach, though. He also kept having me think of the contractions as one more mile I could tick off or just a hill I had to get over, and he kept having me imagine all the people cheering at the finish line.

I made it until 9 (2 hours), then I was crying and shaking and saying "I can't do it!" and I was hardly getting any relief between contractions. When the nurse checked me again, I was only at 4.5 cm so I told her, "Ok, Epidural then." Now I could understand how people on TV get to the hospital and want an epidural right away. I've always just had it get painful so gradually that I've been able to wait a while.

The nurse told me that with the epidural I might progress a lot faster because I would be able to relax and let the contractions do their work. I was NOT relaxing before the epidural. After I got it, I was so happy. I just laid there thinking about how this was the first time in 9 months that I was able to just lay there without feeling any pain in my belly, back or hips.

It was kind of funny because I was just laying there texting my sister for a while. I thought my phone would have kept better track of the time of these texts, but it only shows the time twice. I'm thinking there must have been more time passing than it shows. (maybe Katie's phone shows the times and she can get me that info...) Anyway, here's part of our conversation:

8:57am

me: I'm in the hospital. We'll get to meet George soon!

katie: What happened? All that work yesterday

me: I guess so! My water broke while I was laying in bed this morning. It was pretty crazy!

...

me: I just got an epidural. I like.

katie: Well, now you know what it's like to go into labor

me: Yeah, I'm so happy about that!

...

me: She just checked me and I'm 8cm! Wow!

katie: Two more to go!

me: !

...

10:02 am

katie: Is he here yet?

me: Not yet but I'm at a 9 now. We're really close!

I loved my epidural and was glad to just be excited now. I was sublimely happy from here on out for the next few days. I did start feeling nauseated again right before they had me start pushing, but once I started pushing I felt better.

I don't know how long I pushed for, but it was a little while, and at one point my doctor said, "The baby's not doing great so lets try to hurry and get him out." That made me nervous, and helped motivate me to push really hard. They had set up a mirror for me so I got to watch him come out which was really surreal, and it was such an awesome feeling to get him out! I don't think there's anything that's more of a relief than to have your baby come out, see how beautiful he is and hear him cry.

George was finally born at about 11am, 5 days after his due date. He was 8 pounds 4 ounces - my biggest baby. My others were all in the 7 pound range. Only 20 inches long, though. I think that's shorter than Ethan was. He has reddish blond hair, almost exactly the same color as mine, and he's just so sweet!

(first bath)

I love that I was able to go into labor myself! It was so much better that way! I'm also so glad I didn't have to have another C-section. Those really hurt! :)

Recipes!

Just so you know, I've updated my Ironman post, adding in pictures. I don't know how I can call myself a blogger and not have put pictures in there in the first place!

Also, just so you know, I haven't had the baby yet. :)

While I'm sitting here timing contractions, I thought I'd share some fun recipes I've been enjoying lately! (I'm so happy to have my appetite back!)

Aloo Gobi

This first one is an vegetarian Indian recipe that is actually from the bonus real of Bend It Like Beckham. If you haven't seen that movie, you should watch it. It's pretty good, and while you're at it, watch how to make Aloo Gobi, then use this recipe to make some for yourself sometime.

It is so good. I've tried making this a couple times, but this recipe is the best I've tried and it turns out so good! It's like you're eating at an Indian restaurant (minus the naan. I just need to learn how to make that good now). Plus, you can feel good about what you're eating while you enjoy it, especially if you make some brown rice to go with it.

Now for Dessert

I actually have two kinds of cookies I've really enjoyed making recently. I need to cut back on making cookies, but at least these cookies are healthy-ish.

First: Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies

(adapted from Nestles Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies)

These were also slightly inspired by RubySnap (formerly known as DoughGirl) with her Audry cookie: "Almond dough packed full of adoration, almonds, cranberries and white chocolate." I usually hate it when people put nuts in cookies, but these cookies are an exception! Anyway...

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup craisins

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla and almond extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, morsels and craisins; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 to 13 minutes for crispy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Second: Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

(adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe, thank you very much!)

Oh. My. Gosh. These are so good! My mouth is watering just thinking about them...

I made these one day when I happened to have some left-over cream cheese frosting and grated carrots and Elle wanted to make cookies with frosting. They were perfect!

Ingredients

Makes about 25 sandwiches

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)
1 cup raisins (I did not put raisins in mine. Yuck! But, please feel free to put them in yours if you wish.)


Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour. (I didn't chill mine. They were thick enough for me for some reason, on the reviews people said it was really thin, so use your best judgment here)

Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough. Once cooled completely, use an offset spatula to spread about 2 teaspoons of cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

(We didn't store these in the fridge because they didn't really last long enough to store. I did only make half a batch with just enough for everyone to have one for family night. And one for Elle and I to "try" beforehand.)

So, there you go. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! And I'll try to stop think about them now. I mean, now. NOW.

40 Laps for 40 Weeks & The Plan

Thank you all for your support and encouragement! It really does help me out a lot to know so many people are thinking about me. :)

This morning I decided I didn't want to sit around waiting to go into labor again so I went to the pool and swam 40 laps - one for each week I've been pregnant. It seemed only fitting. Plus it was a good little workout.

I broke it up into 10 sets of 4 to help me keep track, and here's what I did:

1. 4 kick board/fins
2. 4 free
3. 4 pull buoy/paddles
4. 4 free
5. 4 pull buoy/paddles
6. 4 free
7. 4 butterfly - I've never even done a full lap with butterfly, usually just a few strokes at the end for fun, but the guy next to me was doing it and it looked like fun so I thought it would be good to mix things up a bit. It was painfully slow, though! Plus, it felt like it was going to use up all my energy so I switched back to free after 2 laps. Then I felt like a big ol' quitter and switched back to butterfly for the last lap.
8. 4 pull buoy/paddles
9. 4 free
10. 2 kick board/fins + 2 backstroke

It took me about 40 minutes to do all that, which isn't bad considering I was taking it easy and all the belly drag and whatnot. It was so nice to be able to do this while Elle was at preschool so I didn't feel rushed or anything. By the time I got out, though, I was having some pretty bad heartburn. Yuck. I will be happy when that's all over! I'll be happy to get rid of this big belly too. Pete likes me when I'm pregnant and I have to say I like some of the added curves, but the belly's getting old. It's so weird to think that there's a baby in there!!

I feel really good today. Too good! I'm really going to to try not to worry about it. It will happen when it happens. Later will actually be better because then we might actually get the girls' room done before George comes!

Anyway. We had a nice little teaching moment last night with the kids that I wanted to write down.

We've been reading The Book of Mormon as a family, and last night we were in Mosiah 3 and we got to verse 11 which says:

For behold, and also his ^ablood ^batoneth for the sins of those who have ^cfallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the ^dwill of God concerning them, or who have^eignorantly sinned.

Pete stopped to explain to the kids what that means. (I love that he does this!) How some people believe that if someone dies without knowing about Jesus, they go to Hell, but that that's not true. The kids were asking questions, and Elle said, "If there wasn't Hell, then people wouldn't go to Hell," or something like that. (That sounds kind of funny coming from a 4 year old.) Pete decided he had some more explaining to do so he drew a diagram of The Plan of Salvation that looked almost exactly like this:

He explained that there isn't really just a Heaven and Hell, that all the kingdoms of glory are really nice, and that Outer Darkness is very small and not very many people will go there. We want to make it to the Celestial Kingdom because that's where Heavenly Father and Jesus will be, but you have to be perfect to live there so there has to be a place for everybody. Pete explained that even people who do bad things, can repent and get to the Celestial Kingdom. (For more info about this click here.)

We talked about how George is right on the line between Pre-Earth Life and Mortality. Isn't that exciting? Of course, we don't really know when you actually leave pre-earth life and when you enter mortality. I mean, he's definitely alive and moving around right now, but he's not born yet so it's hard to put a label on that.

Then, when Pete asked if anyone had any questions, Ethan asked, "Why did they make this world anyway?"

Elle pipes right in, "So we could live here!"

It was so cute, and such a perfect answer! Leave it to a child to keep things plain and simple. As adults, we tend to over-analize everything and make things more complicated than they need to be. I mean, I'm sure the Plan is much more complicated than we can ever understand, but all we really need to understand is that Heavenly Father and Jesus did make the Earth so that we could come live here, and so we could get our bodies and our families. It's a wonderful plan. I'm so glad I know about it and that I can teach my children where they came from and what we're trying to accomplish in this life.

Last night I also got released from my calling in the Primary at church which is really sad, but it will also be good to be able to just focus on the baby for a little while. I'm so excited to meet the newest person in our family! Hopefully it will be in the next few days!

1-11-11

Well, today came and went just like any other day with no signs of labor whatsoever. It would have been too good to be true to have my baby ON my due date, though.

I had a doctor appointment yesterday and at least I am progressing! I'm dilated to 3+ cm and 50% effaced. I did tell her that I really don't want to be induced so we set up an appointment for Friday morning so she can monitor the baby and do an ultrasound just to make sure everything's ok to wait. However, she doesn't want me to go more than 7-10 days over so if we don't induce on Friday, we will between the 18th and 20th.

Now I'm feeling really torn about being induced or not. I know it's safer for me to go into labor myself, but I just don't know if I can do that. I was induced for my first two four days after their due dates, then had a c-section with Elle because she was breech, so I don't know what would have happened with her. So, we're thinking maybe we'll do the induction after all. I do want my doctor to check me out first on Friday before we decide, but it would be a lot more convenient since my dad already has the day off and is planning on coming to watch the kids. Crazy?

I can't decide! Hopefully I'll just go into labor myself Friday morning, then I won't have to worry about it.

1 Week to Go!

Are we there yet?

Wanna know something weird? The past few days (not counting yesterday), I've been feeling so much better! It's weird. I've had this surge of energy, I haven't felt sick very much and I'm actually getting a ton of stuff done! It's so nice. I've been nesting like crazy! The house is cleaner than it's been in a long time, we got the crib set up in our room, we got a car seat, I've been happily making dinner every night and I even made bread today!

That isn't to say that I'm not terribly uncomfortable, but that kind of goes without saying, doesn't it? I mean, I think I would explode if someone poked my belly with a pin like they do in cartoons!

Watch out for that little orange, poky dinosaur belly! (?)

Sunday night, right after bragging about feeling so much better, I had the worst night! I get this pain in my left ribs that feels like something is pushing on them (which is probably exactly what it is), and sometimes it gets so bad it even kind of goes numb. I usually only get this when I'm sitting up, but Sunday night I had it all night and couldn't find a position to make it go away. On top of that, my hip kept hurting, I was feeling sick and my mind would not let me rest! Ug, it was terrible. I finally got up at around 3 for a little while, then I was able to go to sleep for a couple hours after that. Luckily, the kids were back in school on Monday so I was able to take a nap pretty much the whole time Elle was in preschool. I did feel a little better after that.

Last night I slept so much better, and I have felt really good today! Taking advantage of feeling good, I took Elle to the childcare at the gym and went for a nice easy swim. It felt so good to be back in the water. I haven't been swimming for probably 2 or 3 weeks (Or more?), not counting taking the kids swimming twice during Christmas break. I just love that I feel like a normal person again when I'm swimming.

I swam for about half an hour and did a total of 1550 yards.

Tonight I also got to go out to dinner with my sister-in-laws. They brought me cute baby presents and we had a nice time talking about all things baby. One of them just had a baby and the other one is newly pregnant so it's on all of our minds!

It was a great day. I can do this!

Happy New Year!

Wow, I can't believe it's already 2011! I'd like to say that this year just flew by, but then I think back to all my long days feeling sick and I can't decide if it did or not. It does seem weird because I'm now planning for the same race schedule (almost) I was last year at this time, so it's like last year didn't happen.

Looking back at my New Years post from last year, here are my resolutions for 2010 and how I did:

1. Pay the credit card off (We DID have it paid off before Christmas... I don't dare look at it now.)
2. Have family home evening every Monday (I'd say we had family night most Mondays, and the kids now expect it so that's good!)
3. Read from the scriptures every day (I may have skipped a few days)
4. Finish the whole Bible (Um, yeah, the Bible is really long! I'm still in the middle of Psalms. Pete says I'm crazy and that nobody reads the whole Bible, but I'll keep plugging along.)
5. Be more patient with my kids (... this one's hard to really track. I think I'm getting better though)
6. Give my kids more positive feedback (Also hard to track. I'll keep working on it.)
7. Go to the temple more often (This really didn't happen. We only went a few times. Sad.)
8. Finish a marathon in under 4 hours (No marathon for me last year.)
9. Qualify for Age Group Nationals at BAM (No BAM either.)

Getting pregnant really changed a lot of my plans for the year and made it a lot less eventful, but it was still a really great year! I am just so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and fun children, and I'm excited for the new baby who we'll be meeting really soon now! I know 2011 will be a great year too, and I can't wait to get started!

Last night I went out for New Years Eve for the first time since y2k I think! We have some awesome friends who offered to have the kids sleep over at their house so we could go out, and I'm so thankful to them! We had reservations with some friends at a fancy restaurant called Forage where we had a 9 course "tasting" meal. It was so cool. They brought us the menu, but we didn't have to make any decisions. The waiter just started bringing us food. Each course was really little, but very beautifully presented and very good, and we had a lot of time between courses to chat with our friends. It ended up taking 2 1/2 hours for the whole thing, and we were all just amazed at how delicious some of the things were. We even got to try squab ("What is a squab anyway?" "You know what a squab is. It's kine of like a pigeon I guess.") which was delicious, and Elk. I've eaten Elk a ton, but our friend had never had it before, and this Elk was like a really good steak. It must have been farm raised. Everything was local and seasonal which is really cool. It was so much fun! It might have to be our new tradition.

We got home at around 10 so we just watched a movie and had cheese and crackers. The movie ended at exactly 12 too! It was a fun night, and since we didn't have kids this morning we went out to breakfast. We wanted to go to The Park Cafe which is our favorite for breakfast, but it was closed so we went to Coachman's instead which was really good. I'm excited for the kids to get home, though. Oddly enough, I miss them! I even dreamt about Elle. I hope she had a good time and didn't wake up with any nightmares like she is prone to do.