The first 3 months

As usual I have not been diligent with my blogging, but watching Julie and Julia has inspired me to try again!
Lilly is now 3 months old. It has been rough with her, she had colic, and when we finally thought we had sorted that out by changing my diet to dairy-free, she develops a cold followed by reflux.
But to start from the beginning.... it all began at 2:45ish Monday morning, (15th Nov) when suddenly I woke up to the feeling of my waters breaking. My yell of "oh my gosh oh my gosh!" made Landon and mum wake up so fast. Landon flipped and dragged me into the shower while running around getting everything into the car. We rushed down to the hospital, where they confirmed my waters had broken, but i wasn't having regular or strong contractions. So the decision was made that to avoid infection or complications I needed to be put on petocin. The petocin proved to be horrible. It caused me to have double contractions, but my dilating was still slow. I was put on staidol, (IV pain relief) which pretty much made me pass out. I remember them putting it in then everything going kind of hazy. Apparently I said some very odd things while under its influence, but the petocin made contractions were still too much for me so the fear of the giant needle in my back for the epidural was seriously out weighed by the pain.The staidol had relaxed me enough that I was able to not react to the needle in any way, and I am now in love with the epidural. The epidural was given to me at 9:30ish when I was 5cm dilated. It relaxed me so much that when the nurse came and checked me at 11am I was 9 1/2 cm, and soon was having the desire to push. They called my doctor and we began to push. She began to come out and crowned so quickly that the nurse made me stop pushing to wait for the doctor... to my irritation. Finally the doctor arrived and with one contraction and 3 pushes Lilly was out. She was screaming and perfect. Landon cut the cord and the doctor began work on me because it turned out Lilly's shoulder tore me from the inside out which meant I required 45 stitches. So the epidural proved to be a blessing because they could administer pain drugs right away and I couldn't feel the tear.

So I was treated like a C-section patient and kept in the hospital for 2 nights. The first day/night were very miserable for me. The drugs they had given me made my face fiercely itchy, and Lilly was struggling to latch because I had flat nipples. I was also bed ridden with a catheter, a giant tampon like thing shoved up inside me and someone coming in every few hours to clean up the blood down there. It was all very frustrating and I felt terrible and tired.

When we went home I thought it would be nice to be home, but I wanted nothing more than to go back to the hospital after the first night. I was still in pain and tired, and waking up every 2-3 hours to feed Lilly with latching problems. The first day was so devastating for me as she couldn't grab on and feed so would cry and cry and would finally have to give her formula that the hospital had given her. That first bottle brought me to tears because I wanted so much to breastfeed exclusively. Landon called the WIC lactation consultant and made an appointment for us to go see her the next day, and later that night Mum bought me a breastfeeding book. I cried again.

So the next day my milk came in and we went to WIC and got a loaned pump which was a huge relief, not only because of the pressure I was feeling, but I could pump and feed Lilly my milk from a bottle while the pump augmented my nipple shape so she could latch. Mum also took me to babies-r-us upon the suggestion of a family friend and bought me some nipple shields, which ended up to be life savers because Lilly latched instantly.
So the first few weeks were the worst, I was in so much pain most of the time, either from the healing, or from my cracked nipples or whatever else they decided to do. I wasn't getting much sleep because Lilly was waking regularly for feeds. Thank goodness mum and dad were there to help for the first while. I don't think I could have coped well with my recovery and caring for the baby by myself while Landon was at work.
When they did leave though I had a few break downs because the colic started. 2 hours every night, from 12 midnight until 2am, then she would wake to feed at 5am which would last from 1-1 1/2hours. I was also still having a great deal of pain. At our ward conference a few ladies from Crismon ward suggested that I should remove dairy from my diet. So I did under Landon's strict watchful eye and it did the trick. So I am on a soy diet now which has actually helped my milk supply.
So I used the shields for about 2 weeks, when we discovered she could latch on one side, then about a week later she could latch the other side. By a month I got my free pump from WIC which I LOVE. It gives me the freedom to go to mutual, the gym or anything else I need to and leave my milk for Lilly.

By week 8 my nipples had settled down and she is now exclusively breastfeeding and is probably 15lbs by now. She is getting cuter and cuter everyday, and I am loving all her new sounds and facial expressions she is learning every day. About a week ago she was given reflux medication which made her turn from a grumpy baby to a cheery baby.... for me anyway because she is a HUGE mummy's girl. She is not happy unless she knows I am nearby and returned to my arms on regular intervals.
Well that's all I can think of about Lilly and I, but Landon's news, he was promoted at work which meant a pay raise and with the tax return we were able to buy a new TV which he is in love with, it's his new man toy. The first weekend we had it he played with it endlessly, then at one point he started pacing the house and I asked him what was wrong and he told me he felt bad that he was playing with his TV all the time so I laughed and told him I didn't care so he got excited and started playing with it again.

So Landon, as usual, did a wonderful job at his valentines day activities. He bought us pizza and cream soda/root beer for dinner, and my gifts? The DisneyNature Oceans DVD and $50 day spa. I love him so much. I got him 2 $25 gifts cards for his two favourite things, Chillis and the movies. Our date was on Saturday and one of the young women from our ward babysat Lilly so we could go out for dinner at Macaroni grill and then we went to the stake Valentines dance.

Up coming events - Jess is coming over on the 14th March for 2 weeks. Since that overlaps with our anniversary she has told me that we must go out so she can babysit and spend time with her niece.

That's all for now ~ Katie

Baby joys!

So, almost 5 months later here I am again!
We are having a little girl, and she may be due on the 23rd Nov but it looks like she is going to come early either naturally, or being so big - she is currently just under 8lbs and I haven't reached my 37th week yet - I will have to be induced. Either way the earliest she is 'allowed' to come is the 10th because Mum arrives from Sydney on the afternoon of the 9th. We'd prefer not the 12th either because that is her Grandpa's birthday (Landon's dad).
So these coming few weeks are going to be hectic, Halloween stuff this weekend and Erin's going to do a maternity photo shoot with us on Saturday, my birthday on Monday, the the baby shower the next weekend as well as my Dad's birthday, Mum getting here on the 9th, Stake conference, Dad getting here on the 22nd then thanksgiving, and my good friend Ash coming in from Sydney at the end of the month... somewhere in there the baby will be coming too!
I am also the 2nd councilor in our ward Young Women. That keeps me very busy too. Landon is still assistant ward clerk over finances, and just had two work conferences, one in Vegas which I went with him to and one in Michigan.
It was my first trip to Vegas and I think being 34 weeks pregnant may not have been the best time to go to really enjoy it to its full potential. We did get to see the Lion King for free at Mandalay Bay and saw all the major hotels on the strip.

So, big news! we are going to have a baby! Yes, Katie is pregnant! It is due on the 25th Nov!!!

Lately

I have been slack with my updates.
Lets see... still waiting on my working permit, no surprises there, when it comes I will be so shocked I will sit and stare at it in disbelief for a few hours.
Saturday we drove out to Surprise to see Dion Wilcocks before he goes home from his mission, which is today actually. It was good to see him again, still the same old Dion.
Went to the temple twice last week, makes up for not going in Jan and Feb. I love the temple.
Hmm what else... Landon has begun working on the wall out the back. He had Kenny and the missionaries over 2 Saturdays ago and his Dad came over this one just gone. I'm pretty sure the missionaries are coming over again this Saturday.
I LOVE my young women they are crazy and so much fun! we had a dinner and auction to raise money for girls camp/scout camp and i was so proud of how hard they all worked serving etc. Then on Sunday 2 of them decided to go play in the rain, so I joined them! so much fun.
I can't think of anything else.

Zooness

On Saturday Landon worked during the day with Ammon.
I went to the Phoenix Zoo with the Chambers. Fun! We all got in for free because Jackie got free passes.
I helped Erin out this week, her little baby is so cute!! And Sam is adorable with her.

This week

We had a great Valentines/Presidents day weekend. We had our Valentines date on Saturday where we went out for Lunch then stopped at Toys'r'us where we bought our valentines "presents" a kite each. Then we went and saw 'The fantastic Mr. Fox' which is great by the way, very funny! Then after that we went to the Skyline football field and flew our kites... then as the sun went down we realised the stake adult valentines dance was in an hour so we rushed home to get ready. Thank goodness we live around the corner from the stake centre! The dance was average, but we had fun with the Cahill's and the Chambers and afterward since we all hadn't eaten dinner we went to TGI Fridays. BUSY day!
Monday was Presidents day so we went out with the Chambers to the Tonto National Monument, which are cave dwellings. We decided to go out via Tortilla Flats, which we discovered just beyond there the road turns to dirt and gets quite scary in some places! Landon kept saying "we're gunna die!". So I think it was about 20 miles of dirt road or a little less, when we turned a corner and BAM suddenly the Roosevelt dam just appeared in front of us! After that the cave dwellings were only about 5 minutes down the road. It was pretty cool, you could see the fingerprints where they had patted the mud to make it solid.
On the way back Landon decided to go via Globe, which is all sealed roads. The Chambers stayed with us and had pizzas and a movie. So it was a very fun day!!
That day also Erin Parrott had her little girl! AAAAWWWW!!! She is so cute, a mini Erin! We went to the hospital to see them on Tuesday night.
Now onto Thursday night. GREAT night. I had Girls Camp kick off which I went to because I get to be Cabin Mum boo ya!!! I'm so excited to go!!! It helps that my girls are awesome :-D So at that we were introduced to all the camp staff and YCL's (youth camp leaders? The laurels basically) and we did a bunch of activities around the stake centre. The theme this year is CIA - courage in action.
So there you have it, a busy week summarised in a few paragraphs! what a great life we lead!

Short story

I,Katie have had a few requests lately to see if I could get my stories published. I dunno how I feel about that, they are mostly for my personal amusement, but if I get enough positive feedback from those who have read them and from any short stories i post here maybe I will consider it.
So here is something I got 17/20 for in an English exam back in 2003. The topic was Happy memories or moments or place? something like that anyway.

The water dripped off my nose as I flopped into the cool wet sand. My hair felt wiry from the salty ocean water and my back was beginning to burn. I felt so fresh, so alive. I dug my fingers deep into the sand and began to create my sand monument. Beside me he flopped with his board, he had obviously just been dunked by a wave as his breathing was heavy and there was a graze on his knee but he was grinning from ear to ear.
I dug deeper. The wall around it grew higher. The shallow pool of water at the bottom of the hole eroded the walls creating an overhang which i quickly smoothed out to avoid collapse of the sand structure.
The ocean was gushing behind me and occasionally I felt its cool kiss on my toes. I could hear amongst the crashing of the waves laughter, the skwark of seagulls, cicadas humming. It was the song of summer, of magic memories passed and yet to come. Of an innocent childhood when I was pure and oh, so happy. Even now the sounds echo around my mind as if a piece of it exists there frozen in time. As I grow older the sound of summer remains my sanctuary and my hole in the sand with its walls is my mastered creation and now he is with me too. His childish manner, such a contrast from the boys at school. He's a person who makes me smile just by a simple glance. He rolled over onto his belly and began digging in the hole too.
The hole was almost as deep as my arms could reach and about as wide as that too. The walls around it curved gently, the outer wall creating a wind break to protect the inner wall from the ocean breeze whipping up the sand. The water pooling at the bottom was almost ice cold, numbing my fingers while i felt the sun burn my back. This was easily going to be the biggest structure I had created. Years of perfecting, of experimenting, to create just the right shape to avoid collapse.
He followed my lead, recognising my understanding for the design. It made me feel good to see his recognition for this minor accomplishment. I didn't get noticed much for the big things I do, but for him, to notice my refined expertise on such a childish thing left me feeling in good spirits.
Our time had ended, the sun was setting and the tide was coming in. We leaped into the waves to wash the sand off our arms and leghs and out of our swimwear.
In the morning the hole would be gone, washed away with the high tide. I looked at the carefully crafted structure as he wrapped his arm around my neck. The song of the summer began to sing its lullaby.