Lizzie

This is the story of Lizzie's birth. I've always liked reading birth stories; I want to write one for each of my kids so I can always remember the special day.

On Saturday, July 26, 2014 Ty and I were just getting ready for my mom to get into town. It also happened to be Lizzie's due date. I didn't feel any different and the day was going on an on and there was no sign of going into labor. My mom got in around 4 pm and we got her all settled in. Then we just sat in the living room and talked for a while. Around 6 pm I got up to go to the bathroom and.......nothing special. When I got out I suggested we go out to dinner because I was hungry. Right when we were about to walk out the door I felt a little gush in my pants - uh oh! I checked in the bathroom and it was definitely not pee. I got instantly nervous and excited. We quickly grabbed the hospital bag and car seat and ran out the door! On the way over to the hospital we weren't too talkative; I think we just both couldn't believe this was finally happening. I was so nervous about the pain I was about to go through (even though I planned on getting an epidural). And I was a tiny bit annoyed that I didn't get to eat and wouldn't eat for a long time haha. I was relieved, however, that my water broke at home and not at the restaurant we were about to go to!

Well once we got to the hospital they sent Ty and I to the triage room while my mom waited in the waiting room. We were the only ones in there so that was nice. My nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 2. My contractions were very mild - just like the Braxton Hicks ones I had been having the past few weeks. The nurse said she could still feel my bag of waters so she did a swab test to see if my water really did break. The lab results came back as positive so that was a relief. We were told that the bag must have broken at the top (weird??) instead of the bottom. While were still waiting to be move to our room, Ty told me he had prayed that I would go into labor specifically on that very day. I had prayed for the same thing. God is so good.

Around 8:30 the contractions got a lot worse and they were close together, about 2-3 minutes apart. I was 3 cm dilated. We were also sent to my room around this time. During these contractions I would squeeze Ty's hand with one hand and hold the bed handles w/ the other. He gave me a priesthood blessing which was comforting. I'm so thankful my husband is a worthy priesthood holder. Anyway the contractions just kept coming and I felt like I got no breaks between them; they were 2 minutes apart and I wasn't even dilated that much. My body was shaking a lot and I just felt bad that Ty had to see me this way. I couldn't wait to get that epidural. My plan was to wait until I got to 4 cm dilated because I heard it doesn't slow down labor much if you wait until then. The next time they checked me I was at a 4.5 and got the epidural by around 10 pm. Let me just say, it was definitely not as bad as people told me. I was bracing myself for some pain- an intense pinch, pierce, poke, something! I hardly felt it at all. I was surprised when they were done getting it in. Ty also said that the needle wasn't as big as he thought it would be. The epidural was amazing, I don't care if anyone calls me a wimp. Ty and my mom ate dinner in the room, but I didn't care because I was finally pain free and got to relax. In hindsight, I was glad I didn't eat dinner before I went into labor because I probably would have felt a lot worse. When I got to 9 cm my body was shaking again like crazy, it was working so hard and I wasn't even feeling it. They got me ready to push at 9.75 cm and nearing 5 in the morning. When they turned me to sit up I got really nauseated and wanted to go right back to my side, but I had to sit up to get this thing over with! I just couldn't shake that nauseated feeling though so they gave me a barf bag and, well, you know what happened. Side effect of epidural? Or just my body working so hard? I don't know but that part was not fun.

Pushing was harder than I thought! Duh. I feel lucky though because I didn't have to push for too long. I finally started pushing at 4:45 am. I pushed through 4 contractions (3 pushes per contraction). Each time they told me to push as hard as I could for 10 seconds - 10 seconds have never seemed so long! Before each push they'd say "take a deep breath like you're going under water" so Ty kept saying "you're going swimming!" I kept wanting to say this is nothing like swimming! But I get where he's coming from, me being a swammer and all. I guess I have swimming for the lung capacity to make it through these pushes. Anyway so by the time I got to my 4th contraction of pushing, the head was crowning, and I remember asking if the baby had hair and the nurse said she had lots of hair. I thought Ty wouldn't watch any of the gory stuff happening down there but he watched it all w/o passing out! So proud. They made me wait with the head right there for the doctor to come in because they just always have to come at the last minute. Dang that was a lot of pressure I was feeling down there, verrrry uncomfortable. When the doctor came in I pushed again and the head came out. Ty kept saying, "she's right there, she's right there!" One more push and she was all out! Miracle. The first thing the nurses and doctor said was "she's big!" I was shocked that this big baby was inside of me. As I held her for the first time I was so overwhelmed and couldn't believe this all happened. I'm still in awe to this day, it feels like a dream. We can't get over how perfect our little girl is. She weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 12 oz (the exact weight I was when I was born) and she was 20 inches long. Born at 5:08 am on July 27, 2014. That date, which never had meaning for me before, is so significant now.

 

     

We named her Lizzie Marinda Gentry. Marinda is Ty's mother's name; he always wanted to name his daughter after his mom so we did. We love being this little girl's parents. After waiting so long to meet her, she's finally here. I never could have done this without Tyler by my side. He is such a good husband and is already a wonderful father. I'm also grateful my mom got to be there too. I guess Lizzie was just waiting for her to get into town before making a grand entrance! I'm so glad I was one of the lucky ones with a great birthing experience. Sure it was hard, but labor wasn't ridiculously long, there were no complications, and the baby was perfectly healthy. Now bring on parenthood!

 

 

4th of July 2014

 I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July! We sure did. I'm so grateful to live in the beautiful U.S of A. I give a big thanks to my parents who immigrated here when they were young. How different my life would be if they hadn't- um, actually, I guess I wouldn't even exist! I try not to take for granted all the freedoms and opportunities I have for living here. We're definitely fortunate.

So what do we do for fun around here in Sierra Vista on the 4th of July? Here's some of the stuff Ty and I did. Proud to be an American!

We started off the day with a some good ol' American pancakes - yum! I tried a new recipe I found on Pinterest and it was a success. I recommend it to you all. Click here for the recipe.

Later we went on a hike. Definitely not an intense one...ok so maybe it was more of a nature walk but hey I'm 8 months pregnant. So there's that. Now you're probably wondering, "A hike in the middle of a summer day in Arizona???"  Yes. We're just beginning monsoon season here which means it has been cloudy and temperatures are cooling a bit. Hooray!! Bring on the rain. So here are some pictures from our little "hike".

 

 



And what's a 4th of July without a barbeque?? So Ty and I had a barbeque with our friends, Jazmin and Danny. Scrumptious. And it started pouring rain by this point!

Our last activity of the day was watching fireworks! Duh. It was still raining but that didn't stop this town. We were a little late so we just drove into a parking lot and watched the show. When it was over (or so we thought), we started driving home and then they started going off again! So when we got home we watched the rest from our driveway. We realized that we should have just watched the whole show from our house because apparently we have the perfect view. Well, we now know what we're doing next year. I'm pretty sure that was my first rainy fireworks show- it was fun!

All in all, it was a good 4th of July. Hope everyone had a great holiday. God bless America!

Baby Shower Trip

I got to go back to Utah this last week for a couple baby showers and to just have one last visit before having the baby. So can I just say I have the best family and friends ever?! It was wonderful to be able to see all these people I love so much. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law, threw one shower for me and then my mom and friends threw another one; both turned out so good! I really appreciate all those who planned and came, it meant a lot. It does, however, make me miss Utah even more so thanks for that (haha).

Besides the baby partays, I got to catch up and hang out with my friends and of course I got to spend some quality time with my fam. There was a lot of shopping and eating involved - nothing wrong with that! So here are some pictures from my little trip. The next time I take a trip to Utah...I'll have a baby!

Little sister and I

My Dad's birthday dinner at Cheesecake Factory. Yum!

Preggo sister-in-laws! This was taken after baby shower #1

Baby Shower #2

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Besties!

Baby belly buddies!

Love these girls to death!

Maternity Shopping

Shopping for maternity clothes has been a whole new thing for me. I searched online, asked friends, shopped around and have now decided to review the stores I've shopped at. Some places were a success whereas some were less than satisfactory. I hope this helps at least a little for those who are on the hunt for cute, affordable, maternity clothes.

1. Old Navy -  I was referred to Old Navy  by a few friends; I checked it out for myself and was very pleased! I especially like their tees and jeans. Their jeans (pants, capris, shorts) are very simple, but they fit nicely. For those of you who like to shop online, I haven't had a problem with their sizing but I have heard some say that their maternity pants run a little small. Just something to consider.

2. Ross - I was pleasantly surprised by Ross's maternity section. I went in not expecting anything special, but walked out one happy preggo lady! Since it'll mostly be warm/hot throughout my pregnancy, shorts are a must. I desperately searched and searched for shorts that were modest enough and was having no luck until I finally checked out Ross. I found shorts that were modest, stylish, AND freakin cheap. They also have a good variety of maternity tops.

3. Target - The tops I have found at Target have been really great. Not just t-shirts, but tunics and nicer shirts. They also have cute maternity dresses and skirts. When it comes to maternity swimwear, however, I would look elsewhere. They just look too old lady-ish to me.

4. Motherhood Maternity - Obviously, you won't have a hard time finding a good variety of maternity clothing at this maternity-specialized store. Since it does specialize in that one type of clothing, it's a bit pricier. If that's not a problem for you, then perfect! You're bound to find something you like there; they've got plenty of nice clothes.

5. Kohls - maybe I just didn't have good luck when I went, but they hardly had anything to choose from when I shopped there. All that was good were some v-necks that came in different colors and stripes. They do have a lot more available online so check that out!

6. H&M - I love H&M, I really do. But I don't love their maternity section...in the store at least. Again, another place where you'd have more luck finding maternity clothes online because they were seriously lacking in the store. They are inexpensive which is always fantastic. And...they have adorable baby clothes! Just wanted to add that.

I hope this was somewhat useful. Happy shopping!

Dutch Pancakes

Here's a peak into my Dutch heritage. My favorite mornings were when I would wake up to my dad making this crepe-like breakfast mmmmm! They are thicker than crepes and more buttery so...delicious, obviously. I finally got the recipe from my dad. He usually just makes it up, so it's a miracle I got ingredient measurements out of him. Tyler is a big fan of this recipe and I hope you will love it too!

Dutch Pancakes
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons melted butter
your favorite fillings

Mix together flour, eggs, milk, salt, and butter in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Heat up a medium skillet greased with butter. Pour some batter into skillet (almost a half cup) just enough to spread thinly over entire surface. Flip over when side down is cooked. Once both sides are cooked, slide it onto a plate and fill it with your favorite fillings (fruit, Nutella, peanut butter, jam, etc.). Make sure skillet is still greased well before cooking another pancake. Yields 6.