Love At First Sight

Saturday May, 3 Jeff and I went to a wedding reception for a college friend up in Brigham City.  We got home late at night and climbed into bed about Midnight.  That's when my contractions started.  They were painful but not awful and were coming about every 8 minutes or so.  

The next few hours (unable to sleep) I spent switching from bed, to couch, to walking around the living room, while also keeping track of my contractions.  We, of course, were trying to figure out when we needed to go to the hospital.  We really did not want to be one of those first time parents who goes in too soon and gets sent home ha.  We waited so long at home because even though my contractions were getting closer and stronger they were still very sporadic and inconsistent.  From everything we were reading online it sounded more like "false labor"... psh.  Now I know not to listen to the internet.

5:30 AM:  My contractions were very painful and about every 5-2 minutes, though still sporadic and inconsistent. 

6:15 AM:  Jeff finally called my doctor, explained the situation, and he said it was probably a good time to go in.  

6:30 AM:  Off to the hospital!  It all felt very surreal...  While gathering our things to head out the door, my contractions slowed way down and hardly hurt anymore.  I started to hesitate and question whether or not we really should go in.  All you moms out there are probably laughing at me - I don't know why I was so paranoid about going in too early.  Ha.  We decided it'd be best to go anyway :)

7:00 AM:  Arrived at the hospital.  My contractions were still slowed down.  I felt silly walking in to the hospital feeling mostly fine, so I tried to look more in pain than I actually was :)

7:25 AM:  All settled in our labor and delivery room.  Still not feeling as bad as I had at home, I held my breath while the nurse checked me.... we were all very surprised (even the nurse I think ha) to hear that I was already dilated to 4 cm, 80-90% effaced, and her head was very low.  The nurse said that we were ready to go!  She called in my doctor and the anesthesiologist. 

8:05 AM:  Received my epidural, and the anesthesiologist turned out to be our neighbor ha!  Ugh, I did not like getting the epidural... I do NOT like needles, blood, shots, etc.  Thankfully I couldn't see anything that was going on.  However, unfortunately Jeff could.... Ha!  I almost lost my husband there for a minute :)

Getting the epidural was weird... I did not like the going numb tingling sensation as I slowly lost feeling in my entire lower half.  So weird... However, I did appreciate the fact that I could no longer feel any pain :)

8:20 AM:  Doctor came in, broke my water and checked me again.  Once again we were all surprised to hear that I was now dilated to an 8!  I went from 4 cm to 8 cm in just under an hour!  The doctor also commented on how low her head was and said "This baby is coming!  You're having this baby... this morning!"

Waiting... we had about an hour to kill before the doctor returned.  The epidural made my blood pressure drop which made me feel SUPER tired, I could hardly keep my eyes open.  I wanted to sleep (and I tried too), but I was just too excited.  It also made me feel so weak and a bit nauseated, but not too bad.  I was super hungry and really shaky too...   

9:23 AM:  Doctor came back, checked me again... 9 cm!  It was GO Time!!   

9:57 AM:  Started pushing!

10:37 AM: After 40 minutes of pushing (and a vacuum to suck her out), Madelyn Sarah Wegner finally made her arrival into the world!  And despite the fact that she was a bluish color and covered in nasty white cottage cheese goo, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.  It's impossible for me to describe the emotions that overcame me as I caught my first glimpses of my baby girl.    

Weight:  8 lbs 2 oz

Height:  20.5 in

Born:  Sunday May 4, 2014

Time:  10:37 AM

The birthing process was a bit rough on the two of us... she broke her collar bone on her way out :(  Apparently everyone in the room heard it "pop" when it broke, except (thankfully) me.  She was also a bit too big for me... and we'll just leave it at that... :/

On the scale - Big girl! 

All cleaned up!

That night my entire family came up to visit and meet Madelyn!  Yes 9 adults and 7 little ones in a tiny hospital room makes for a bit a chaotic time ha ha (the twins eventually got exiled to the waiting room to work out their wiggles :).  But it was fun to see everyone and watch them meet out baby girl for the first time :)

All the girls loved holding Maddie!  

She was wide awake the whole time

Even Luke wanted some baby action :)  He was pretty funny and got really excited about holding her ha ha.

First family photo :)

Tiny toes!

Her going home outfit

So tiny!  

The day we went home also happened to be our 3 year anniversary!  I seriously couldn't think of any better way to celebrate 3 years than by bringing our 2 day old baby girl home for the first time and snuggling all day long :)  We didn't do anything special to celebrate, but it was by far the most special anniversary we've had yet.  

I love my family and we are so in love with our little Madelyn.  Life couldn't get any better :)

The Final Countdown...

Well... here we are at nearly 39 weeks (I'll be 39 on Thursday!).... less than 1 1/2 weeks to go!  YAY!!!  

It's so crazy - SO Crazy - that we have finally reached the end, and that really any day now we could be snuggling our baby girl!  We are so darn excited that we can hardly contain ourselves and I'm having a very difficult time being patient.  We are so ready for her to arrive!

She has definitely run out of room in there, and I don't really know what's normal, but she seems pretty darn wiggly to me.  Jeff LOVES to sit and watch my tummy roll and wiggle, with tiny body parts constantly popping out here and there ha ha.  It's really quite the incredible and crazy sight to see!  Like straight out of a Sci-Fi movie really ha.  

I have been feeling pretty darn good considering being 38 weeks pregnant... though of course I am getting more uncomfortable.  Having more contractions, which still aren't painful, though of course are not very comfortable.  Moving, bending over, rolling over in bed, getting in and out of the car... are all simple tasks that can be quite the challenge these days ha.  I don't particularly enjoy the acid reflux/heartburn (tums have become my new best friend), nor the occasional swollen feet/ankles.  The bizzare-o dreams are actually kinda' funny to retell to Jeff and laugh at the craziness that they are :)

Despite all these less than pleasant symptoms that come along with pregnancy, seriously... I have actually quite enjoyed it.  Sure none of those things are fun to experience, but to me it's all worth it to be a part of such an incredible miracle.  I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to experience pregnancy and to be a mother!  (very soon :) 

Baby Bump

Just some belly bump pictures - from 26 weeks until now. 

 It kinda cracks me up to look back on 26/28 weeks, because I remember feeling huge then.... ha ha.    

38 weeks... Soooo Close!!!  
We're so ready for this little girl to arrive!

Some Assembly Required...

You'd think assembling a crib would be a simple task..... well, it is.... at least for most people!  However, apparently for Jeff and I it's a struggle, and actually quite the comedian act.  Ha.

After assembling, disassembling, and reassembling (in our living room), we realized it wouldn't fit through our bedroom doorway (well... yeah, obviously... ha).  What then followed was more disassembling, realizing it then wouldn't fit through the hallway... so, of course, more disassembling...

And all that led to one final reassemble (in our bedroom this time ha)!  

Annnnd Done!!!  

Well..... until we realized the fact that we had reassembled it AROUND me......!!

Man, what a night!  Ha ha :)  We had a pretty good laugh at ourselves.  

At least I can claim Pregnancy Brain...  Jeff...?  Well.. he has no excuse! :)

All set up and ready for a sweet little girl to fill it!  

(these pictures make our crib look cherry/red-ish, but it's actually Espresso - a beautiful dark brown - we love it!)

Our extra large bedroom is quickly getting smaller and smaller, and our one bedroom apartment is quickly being overtaken by one tiny human being who's not even born yet ha.  It's amazing how much is required for such a little person!

A Spring Time Tradition

Yup it's that time of year again! :)

Our 5th Baby Animal Days!!

It's hard to believe that it's been 4 years since Jeff and I went on an adventure that changed our lives and finally got us together.  Despite being good friends that whole school year (and going on 2 previous dates), it took a bunch of adorable baby animals and an off-roading adventure gone terribly wrong to get us together :)

 4 years ago - April 10, 2010 - ...Man we look young! :)

..... And now!  2014!  

Ooopsie :)  Can't reminisce about our first Baby Animal Days without including this disaster of an ending to a perfect day!

Baby Animal Days - April 5, 2014:

Tiny Turtle!

Baby Cows!

Snuggling adorable little Duckies, Chicks...

And fluffy Bunnies too!

Can't forget about the main attraction.... waiting an hour in line to see the CUTEST baby Bears!!!!

Ahhh... I just love Baby Animal Days :)  
And next year we'll have a sweet little 11 month old joining our tradition who will hopefully love it as much as I do!

A Week of Family Fun

The last week of March was an extremely busy one for us that was jam packed with endless fun family time!

The week started off with a day trip to Seattle to visit my old roommate Jessica on Monday!  She picked me up from the airport, we got lunch at Pike Place Market, then went to the zoo :)  It was SO good to see her and catch up!  Fun day :)

My Aunt and Uncle came into town Tuesday night for their sons wedding, and then on Thursday my cousin got married in the Draper Temple, followed by a beautiful reception at Wheeler Farm. 

It's been 5 years since most of us Rau's have been together, so we took advantage of this wedding time and had a mini Rau Reunion on Friday!

We spent the morning wandering through Temple Square

Rau Cousins!!  

(plus a little photo-bomber :)

After Temple Square we walked over to City Creek for some lunch.  It was pretty comical trying to get 16 adults and 14 children from place to place... ha ha.  It seems like we were constantly missing someone and stopping to try and round up all the little ones ha!  Friday evening we spent hanging out in Mapleton at my sister's house and had dinner together.  It was so good to see everyone, be all together again, and catch up on each other's lives!

My Aunt and Uncle stayed at my parents house, which meant lots of late night game nights of course!  One of which was spent playing cards sitting around a lantern due to a random power outage ha.  Sleep is overrated anyway right?  Ha.  We just like playing too much :)

Saturday we headed back down to Mapleton for my family baby shower!  My sister, sis-in-law, and mom were so great and threw me a shower (aviation themed of course :).  It turned out SO cute!  I loved it!!  

Candy airplanes, runway, and our "Airline Meals" :)  So fun!

Candy airplane party favors - "Hershey" comes!

Opening presents!

So grateful to everyone who came!  It was so fun!

My beautiful cousin Ari (Rau side) and her poor sick little guy

Showing off the belly :)

Showing Jeff all of our fun gifts!  

Thank you Thank you to all my family who came!!

The fun didn't end there... Sunday we drove back down to Mapleton for my newest nephew's baby blessing!  Another fun day full of lots of yummy food and good times!

Such a busy week, but we certainly had a great time hanging out together!  Love my family :)