I'm really happy I got to give Bentley lots of attention and celebrate her birthday because 2 days later, Deacon was born! Here is the story of his birth...
Last week I went to the doctors for my 38 week appointment and, as they routinely do for everyone, I got the membrane sweep and the doctor was pretty surprised to tell me I was already 3-4cm dilated and my cervix had thinned a lot already. She predicted I would have the baby within the week! I was pretty surprised and went home to tell Jeff the news. Jeff had taken the week off work to use up vacation time and spend some time with me getting things ready and enjoying each other before the baby came. He didn't want the baby to come early because we had the week all planned and even told me to go lie down! I told him that I could be dilated this much for a long time and it probably didn't mean anything. I decided to still assume I wasn't going to have the baby early. We went about our week and bought a big freezer for our basement, built shelves for our garage (so I could get on both sides of the van), made a bunch of freezer meals, and assembled the baby's dresser, as well as Bentley's kitchen for her birthday. We went to Don's birthday party on the Friday, and had Bentley's birthday party on the Saturday. Sunday and Monday went by and no baby came. We got through the week and got lots done! I was pretty exhausted.
The next day was Tuesday and I had a doctor's appointment scheduled. I would be 39 weeks. I emailed my parents that night and told them just to expect that I wouldn't have the baby for another week because I really wasn't feeling any contractions or feeling like he would come soon. My mom had been thinking about it all week and kept asking if anything happened yet. I went to bed pretty late that night after watching The Bachelor and eating popcorn and treats. At about 3:30am I woke up feeling uncomfortable and turned over to the other side to go back to sleep. The pain wasn't really going away, though, no matter what position I was in. I thought maybe I had eaten too many treats! Not long after, I realized it was probably a contraction. I tried sleeping again, but they kept coming back. I took out my contraction timer app on my phone and started timing them. Sure enough, they were about 5 minutes apart every time. I couldn't decide if it was too early to wake up Jeff and let him know, so I waited another 20 minutes or so trying to decide if this was the real thing. Finally, I decided to get him up and I told him I was scared because I was having contractions, but I didn't know if it was labour. Once he saw how far apart they were he decided to call his Mom to come over so Bentley could stay sleeping and we could go to the hospital (this was the plan...even in the middle of the night!). Cindy came around 5am and I was packing my bags and cleaning up a little. Jeff thought I was crazy and that we should go but I told him it wasn't that painful and even apologized to Cindy if this was a false alarm. She told us to leave and even if it wasn't the real thing, at least we would know for sure.
We got to the hospital around 5:30 or 6 and it was very empty! We checked in and a nurse took us to a room, asked me a bunch of questions and then the doctor came to check me. I was already 6cm dilated! They moved me to our room which would be ours for delivery and postpartum. I told them I had plans of getting an epidural and so they started the process of taking my blood and getting the IV ready. I really wasn't having a lot of pain with the contractions yet, but I knew that it would get worse so they got started. The IV was probably the worst part of the whole thing because the nurse couldn't get it in! She poked me twice before calling another nurse to try. The other nurse finally got it to work with a third poke. I still wasn't in a ton of pain, but Dr. Endersby came in to give me the epidural. I figured why not get it now and then I could sleep! He was an awesome doctor. Jeff and I both really liked him and he gave me a great epidural. A lot of my labor pain was in my back once again so it felt good when the needle was stuck in my back. The doctor thought it was funny that I enjoyed it and wondered if I even needed it because I was still talking through contractions. Once it kicked in, it felt great and all I wanted to do now was sleep! Not long after the epidural my water broke. They checked me again and I was 8cm dilated. Not long to go! This was around 8am at this point. Suddenly I started feeling light-headed and super nauseous. I told them I felt like I was gonna throw up and everything was getting fuzzy. My blood pressure had dropped, but luckily they gave me a cold cloth, some juice, raised me up, and the feeling eventually went away. I felt good again and the baby was happy through it all. Sometime around this point my IV burst and my arm had this big bulge in it. So, they had to take it out and try again in a different place. After a different nurse tried, she couldn't get it to work so Dr.Endersby came and poked me for the fifth time, which finally worked. At last, they let me sleep! I had about an hour of resting and then they came in to tell me I should have this baby now because they had a c-section they had to go do in not too long so the doctors would be occupied. The doctor checked me and, sure enough, the baby's head was really low and I was ready to push, right after they broke a little bit more of my water that was left and in the way. I was really scared for the pushing part because I remembered with Bentley how painful it was. Well, I didn't feel a thing! I could feel when I was having a contraction and where to push, but other than that it was easy. I guess this epidural was a lot stronger than the one I had with Bentley! I couldn't walk with this one, whereas for Bentley I was walking and definitely in pain pushing her out. Anyway, I pushed for 8 minutes and they were pretty impressed with how controlled I was. The baby came out with no tearing whatsoever. The doctor told me to come back anytime because that was such an easy delivery! Honesty, I had no idea it could be this easy. When the baby came out, the doctor put him on me skin-to-skin and the tears started flowing. Another magical, indescribable moment! A fresh spirit from heaven. The baby was born at 10:12am on Jan.26, exactly 1 week early. Jeff cut the cord and then they wiped him down, weighed him, etc. He weighed 8lbs, 1oz, and measured 21 inches long.
It took us a while to pick the name Deacon Bruce Ady. We were going back and forth between two, but finally just had to decide! The middle name is after my Grandpa, Bruce Nielson and also my Dad, as it is his middle name. There are a million reasons why I would want my son to be named after them.
After the baby arrived we of course let everyone know and then ate some breakfast and soaked in our new baby. He had no problem eating and really seemed like such a calm, laid back baby. Later that day Don and Cindy came with Bentley so she could meet her brother. She had just woken up from a nap, so I don't think she fully understood what was going on. She was happy to see all of us though and sat up with me eating some snacks that Cindy had brought for us. It was a pretty weird feeling knowing that I am a mom of 2 now. I still don't know how I'm going to divide my attention, but hopefully I can figure it out. After visiting, they took Bentley again and she stayed the night at Don and Cindy's house. It was so nice to have their help! Jeff went home for the night to get a good sleep and I stayed at the hospital with the baby. I didn't quite realize how bad of a night it was going to be...I got next to no sleep and spent the night changing diapers, feeding, and trying to calm baby Deacon. I was so overtired that I felt super overwhelmed, but when Jeff came back in the morning I got to rest and felt a lot better. We left the hospital as soon as we could because I was so ready to get out of there and go home to a nice bed!
Well, since then we have been spoiled with meals, visits, and babysitting. I haven't really hit real life yet, and have to say I'm a little nervous about how I'm going to do it! I definitely wish my mom was here to lighten the load, but I know that she is where she needs to be in Fiji serving the people there. It will be so nice to have my parents back in a couple of months. I am so blessed to have Jeff's family around and a couple of my siblings, as well as friends to help me. Everyone has been so great :)
Today Bentley turns 2!! I can't believe I have a two year old and that she's about to be a big sister! Well, I was debating what to do for her birthday this year, or if I should do anything at all. I definitely haven't had the most energy lately as I come to the end of this pregnancy, but I couldn't miss celebrating my little girl!
So we did a pretty small breakfast yesterday with her closest friends Lucy, Georgia, Porter and Aspen, and also her grandparents Don and Cindy, Uncle Brent, and her great grandparents Jack and Darlene happened to be in town too! Kids seem to love breakfast, so we thought it'd be the perfect thing. We made pancakes, bacon, eggs, yogurt parfaits, and cinnamon rolls. The girls looked adorable all at one table eating and chatting. Bentley has so much fun with these girls and talks about them constantly throughout the day, so she was in heaven. I still wanted to have a cake picture so I fashioned a "cake" from a pile of pancakes, icing sugar and sprinkles. I was going to make it actually taste good and use cake mix, but I never got around to that! So we sang to Bentley and her daddy helped her blow out the candles. Then she opened her gifts and got some pretty adorable things! Jeff and I bought her a little play kitchen, which we were going to give her for Christmas, but decided to wait for her birthday so she would have something new to play with closer to when I have the baby. She loves it! She also loved all the toys, clothes and jewellery from her friends and grandma. She is one lucky girl!! I had planned on making Fruit Loop necklaces with the girls afterwards, but they were having so much fun playing with the kitchen and the toys, I decided to forgo the fruit loops. They played hard for a long time and it was so much fun to chat with everyone and watch the kids play.
We sure love this little girl. She is very happy and giggly most of the time, but of course has her tantrums here and there. She loves music of any sort, dancing, and doing actions to primary songs. She loves greeting daddy when he gets home from work and getting tickled or cuddled by him. She loves mama too, and has freely given me kisses. She's a bit of a picky eater but loves waffles, noodles, ham, bananas and yogurt, among other things. She hates bedtime (we don't use the word bed), but once asleep can have long naps and usually doesn't wake up at all in the night. She loves going out to the library, store, or seeing her friends and goes nuts if she stays home all day. She's a social butterfly. She also enjoys swimming and going in the hot tub. She has a thick head of hair that seems to grow an inch every day, and has almost all of her baby teeth already - 2 second molars have just popped in (which she hasn't enjoyed). Bentley boo, you are gorgeous, silly, and we love you to pieces!! You will make a great big sister to your little brother arriving soon!
Our baby boy is coming very soon and Kellie, being the great sister-in-law that she is threw me a "sprinkle." She did such a cute job decorating her house and the food table was a masterpiece - definitely Pinterest worthy! There was a great turn out of family, friends and people from my ward who all spoiled our little boy rotten. Kellie even had a cute game where we all took turns racing to change a doll's diaper with blindfolds on. I had such a fun night and I'm so grateful to Kellie and everyone who came and got me started on being ready for a BOY. I even had my mom there on the laptop watching me open gifts, haha! I wish I had taken more pictures, but I only got a few.
I'm now coming on 39 weeks pregnant and can't believe I'm about to be a mom of 2! I'm anxious and excited to have this baby (and be done with pregnancy for a while!), but also super nervous about how it will affect my little Bentley.
Here's a pic at 38.5 weeks and feeling massive!!
The end of the year is always a busy time for Jeff and I. Not only is there Christmas, but my birthday comes in November and then our Anniversary comes at the beginning of December! This year we had some Christmas parties that kind of overtook the other things going on, so I had a very casual birthday and we didn't do much for our anniversary. We felt like we had to find a babysitter for Bentley every weekend and with my parents being away in Fiji, it came down mostly to Don and Cindy. Only once have I ever hired a babysitter to come to our house because she just doesn't go to bed for anyone else! So it's tough. Anyway, I had a great time at our Christmas parties which included the ward Christmas party, Jeff's staff party, a Raymond James dinner, and a Nielson sibling Christmas party.
The ward party was a lot of fun - great food, people, entertainment, and we could even bring Bentley! They had a magic show for the kids and Santa showed up. We tried to get Bentley to like Santa this year, and as much as she liked the idea of him, there was no way she was sitting on his lap! She was absolutely terrified when she got too close to him. So unfortunately no picture was taken at the party (besides our family photo by the fire), but we tried again at the mall a few weeks later and at least got a picture of her on my lap right beside Santa. Maybe next year! Bentley also got to have some fun on the slide and other things while waiting in line for Santa. Then, of course, we played at the play area in South Center which is one of Bentley's favorite places!
Jeff's staff party was also really fun. He always has a dinner put on by Raymond James that we go to, and then his own staff party. This year it was at Fred Hurdman's house and we enjoyed a delicious meal and then played the gift exchange game, where you can steal other gifts and hopefully end up with the one you want. There were a lot of nice gifts and we ended up with 2 cozy and cute blankets and some chocolates. It's always nice to catch up with his staff, as I know them all pretty well now.
Our last Christmas party was one that we had with my siblings. Instead of giving gifts to each other, we get together and do something fun. It was also extra important this year because Jocelyn and Jeff decided to move to Arizona! We are so sad about this, but we support them because we know it's best for their family so that Jeff can work, since the housing market is not good here in Calgary right now! We hope we will still see them lots when they visit in the summer and hopefully we can make some trips there. Anyways, this year we decided to try the escape room! I had never done one but Tamara has raved about them and I've seen it on TV so I knew it looked fun. We were all basically locked in a room and our goal was to get out. To get out though, you have to get into a couple other rooms and open up these lockers to help you. We started out really well in the first room and found some clues, including a black light and some writing on the ground, and opened up the first door. After that, though, we struggled and took too long. We were allowed to get hints, but we were too proud so we ended up taking too long and ran out of time! It was pretty fun though. Afterwards, we all went out to eat at Joeys. I had a lot of fun, as I always do with my siblings!!
I love the Christmas season because there's always so much to do! I also did a waffle breakfast at my house with a bunch of other young moms, went to Emily's favorite things party, and enjoyed the Nativity Pageant at Heritage Park. Bentley loved the sheep! They were all she could talk about on the ride home. It was a little chilly, but we dressed warm and Bentley didn't complain once.
We also did some baking this year and gave some goodies to our neighbors. It was great to see their happy and surprised reactions. As a family, we also decorated a gingerbread house. Bentley had so much fun putting the candy on and kept talking about it afterwards.
For Christmas Eve, we went over to Jordan and Melanie's house for some appetizers. Then we watched a short Christmas video, read a story, and opened up pajamas. They were the only family left in Calgary on my side! We had a great time.
We spent Christmas day with Jeff's family opening presents, eating breakfast, going home for nap time, then coming back for dinner. I got so spoiled this year by Jeff's parents, and my parents even left some gifts before they left for Fiji. I have such great family! Jeff even picked out some clothes and boots for me, so it was fun to see what he thought I would like. And he did good! My favorite part, though, is always giving gifts and seeing the reactions of others. Bentley enjoyed the day, but wasn't too interested in opening presents. She likes her toys and clothes, but mostly just played while we all opened. Don and Cindy also had dinner at their house on boxing day and the day after, which was Sunday. They had a ton of family over on Boxing day, and Bentley may have been a little overwhelmed at first, but ended up enjoying playing with all the kids. Grandma Ady even had them do a little "marching band" which was honestly the cutest thing I've ever seen! Sunday was also really fun, spent with Jeff's direct family and Rob and Carry's family. It was a busy few days but I love when there is lots to do and people to see because it entertains Bentley and when she's happy, I'm happy! I've really grown to love all of Jeff's family and I feel comfortable with them all. They are such great people! And let's not forget, the food was amazing! 3 big dinners and it didn't even phase Cindy.
Well we had a great year! It is now 2016 and I can't believe all that has happened in 2015. Bentley turned 1, we got settled in our Legacy home, Jeff and I got away to California, we found out I was pregnant with number 2...a BOY nonetheless, Bentley learned to walk and run, we bought a van, happy 4 year anniversary to us, Jeff has been working really hard in his business, and now Bentley is almost 2 and we are about to welcome our second child into the family! It's unbelievable. I have a love/hate relationship with watching Bentley grow. I want her to stay little forever but I also love to see her learn new things and develop. I love my family. It's the most important thing! I have a feeling this next year will be a busy one, but hopefully a really great one!!
