Pumpkin Patch

We got out and went to a pumpkin patch/corn maze today. These are my walking buddies' kids. Sadly, one of my friends won't be here when we get back from Oregon. Her husband is graduating. That is the student life though.

These are the two leaving: Davey and Savannah. It was fun while it lasted.

Tanner cheating at the corn maze and walking on the walls.

Dallin pretending to drive a tractor.

Halloween Party and more Hospital pictures

Saturday night we went to super creative Halloween party that one of Nate's classmates put on, well, his wife mostly put on. Lots of fun food and games. Dallin went as a cowboy and Tanner, Luigi. They didn't want to wash off their mustaches and eye brows. Can't wait for 2 more parties this weekend. Knowing the boys, they will want to be something different for each of them. Luckily we have lots of costumes my Mom got on clearance last year.

Here are some pictures from the hospital from when Jordan and Michaela came.

The boys thought she was pretty special at the hospital. Now we are home they don't seem to care as much, which is actually good. I worried about them picking her up like a doll or poking her. It is still early, I guess that could still happen.

Wow! We are a family of 5 now! Crazy.

Poor Tanner got sick over the weekend. He didn't get much sleep and was passed around a lot, so it doesn't surprise me. As soon as we got home he crashed on the couch.

We have such amazing friends. The boys stayed with the Pettingills, Hintons, and Clements from our ward, plus Jordan and Michaela. All were so willing to help. I felt bad sending Dallin in underwear. He is potty trained at home and requires help, but with other people he doesn't quite have the communication skills. I guess he had lots of accidents. Even when we all got home he was still having a hard time. I think he is back to normal today though.

Ashlyn has jaundice, which both Tanner and Dallin did also. They had to do blood tests yesterday, and I have to go back to have her bilirubin levels checked again today. I am not too worried. She is eating better. She left the hospital weighing about 6lbs 12 ozs.

Ashlyn's birth {Kelly's highlights}

Lots of dark hair.

I know how many of you like labor and delivery stories, so here is mine. Probably the most writing I do in a blog post is labor and delivery stories. :)

I start contracting regularly about 1 a.m. Sunday morning: 10-15 minutes apart. I can't sleep so at 5:30 a.m. I get out of bed and clean the house and get stuff ready to go. I guess all the activity made the contractions closer. At 6 a.m. they got to be 5 minutes apart and I time them for an hour. I tell Nate to get ready. I sit down to contact some people telling them I will go in anytime, and they SLOW down! I was so mad. So I got up and started working again, mopping, vacuuming, climbing stairs, but they never get back to 5 minutes apart. They hurt real bad and last a good minute each though. So I send Nate to church with the boys and Nate comes home after the first hour, and we go ahead and go to the hospital 11ish with contractions about 5-10 minutes apart. I didn't ever have regular contractions with Dallin, so I thought it would be ok.

The resident doctor checks me and I am 90% and 4 cm dilated, so they decide they could admit me. I make sure to tell them that if they send me home, I am scheduled for an induction the next day. I think that helped convince them to keep me. :) They weren't busy, and the resident said he could "use some action around here anyway".

So I get admitted and they put me on low doses of Pitocin to get contractions closer and more regular. That sort of works but they decide to break my water to get it going faster even. I tell them to be sure to call the anesthesiologist because that is when labor gets intense. The nurse understood. He might have called her before, I don't really know what happens outside of my hospital room, but it would have been only minutes before he broke my water if he did. She was coming from her house, 30-45 minutes away. Why he was in such a hurry to break my water, I don't know! He actually wanted to do it when he checked me the first time and saw that I was dilated to a 4, but he is just a resident and has to follow a doctor's orders. I didn't care for all the doctors orders, it wasn't my doc. They seemed too complicated compared to what I experienced before.

As expected contractions get intense. I get some drug to "take the edge off the pain", which it seems to have no effect on, however, it does make me see double and feel loopy. That in combination with pain makes me feel like a crazy person. I was so exhausted that even though I was having killer contractions I felt like I could actually doze off between them. There is nothing as frustrating as knowing that you can't actually doze off because you'd be feeling stabbing pain in another minute.

I was at a 5 when he broke my water and in less than an hour, I am fully dilated. The resident doc had said earlier when talking about breaking my water that going from a 4-10 usually takes about 3 hours. With Dallin in maybe took 2, so I thought OK it should be fine.

The anesthesiologist gets there in a half hour, but has to wait for lab results to do anything still. I think the sympathetic nurse fibbed and said I was a 9 just so I could still get the drugs at all. I could feel her head in my pelvis as I sat forward to get the injection in my back. It felt it would be impossible to sit like I was supposed to. She does the intrathecal injection--no time for an epidural to kick in--literally minutes before I have to push, which is literally minutes before Ashlyn is born. The drugs didn't kick in until my first push. Thank goodness it kicked in then. Pushing is the scary part for me. Glad it only took 3 contractions to push her out.

So there is my story. Worst of the three labors. What I learned?
Be more aggressive. I could have said, "Call the anesthesiologist WELL BEFORE you break my water. I know how my body works." There are a list of things I felt uncomfortable with that I could have spoken up about. Would have had them break my water before Pitocin actually, since I know it works for me--of course with the anesthesiologist standing by. :) I wouldn't take the drug "to take the edge off" either. Doesn't help enough, and the side effects probably make it worse.
I also learned, I probably could do natural labor and delivery if I had to. I would survive. I won't attempt it, but good to know it wouldn't kill me.

Michaela snapped some pictures so I will be sure to get some of those and post them soon, or take some of my own.

Ashlyn Raye Spence {Nate's highlights}

Ashlyn was born today, Sunday October 24, 2010, at 3:07 pm. She is 7 lb 3 oz, 20 in long. I think she looks a lot like Dallin did when he was born. Kelly progressed so rapidly after they broke her water that they gave her an intrathecal epidural just in time to push for three contractions. I am glad she came on the 24th because my brother's birthday is July 24th and my dad's is February 24th. So, it's easy to remember for my sake! We found out that the resident that delivered her has the same birthday and is the same age as Kelly. Crazy, huh?!

Looks like there is a 10 day check-up where they take her blood to do all the newborn tests, so we won't leave for my clinical in Oregon till after that. I took the pictures, so don't expect the best quality. Ashlyn and Kelly are both doing well. We can't wait to welcome Ashlyn into our home. Here are some pictures after the delivery and a couple not long after that with her mom.

A "real" job

Nate let someone in the Physical and Occupational Therapy department know that I do photography, and the graduating Occupational Therapy class asked me to take their class picture. I feel like I have a lot to learn still before I can be called a "professional", but I feel like I am on my way.

Cute vampires

Got some fun vampire teeth at the store today. Tanner likes to wear them everywhere and flash them at people around town. They pretty much make Dallin salivate like never before.

Progress & Dirt

I saw the doctor today and he said I could be induced since I am dilated to a 1 and 90% effaced, HOWEVER, the hospital can't schedule me until Monday! The day before my due date! I am so bummed. I am hoping I will go into labor naturally SOON. If I went from 60% effaced last week to 90% this week shouldn't the other 10% happen before Monday??? I would think and HOPE.

I left my boys with my friend and she let them play outside in the dirt and grass behind our apartments and they LOVED it. They played with shovels and sticks and got all dirty.

Bikes

Tanner wanted to try his big bike with no training wheels since he has mastered a smaller bike with none, but it didn't go as well. His seat is too high so he can't get going by himself. He did fine when he was up. Maybe next summer we'll try again.

My handsome boys. Can't wait to have another girl in the mix.

How cute are these?

I can't take credit for them really, I got this pattern from one of my favorite blogger's Etsy Shop. I think they are adorable. They will look cuter as I make a couple more pairs I am sure. The first is always a little rough.



I did come up with the idea to add snaps so I could change the embellishments.

Quilt

I had a bunch of scrap fabric left over from making various things, so I put together this baby quilt. I am not a quilter. I don't think I ever will be. Too hard to cut and sew strait for me. Glad this was a small one, I was tired of working on it by the end.

My progress and Baby shower

I had a doctor appointment today and he checked my progress. I am not progressing nearly as much as I though I was. I am only at 1 cm and 60% effaced. Feels like I could go into labor any day because she is hanging out so low causing a lot of discomfort. But I am not to a point that we can schedule an induction, so he will check again next week. Hope it works out for the best, whatever that is.

My sister in law Michaela planned a baby shower for me. She did a really great job. She is so crafty and creative. She made a mobile, yummy cupcakes, and adorable invitations.

I got some really nice gifts from my friends.

My other sister in law, Mickie, couldn't come but sent this awesome diaper cake.

Pinewood derby cars

Our ward did a pinewood derby race for an activity so we let the boys paint their cars. They were so proud of them. . .until race night. They didn't cross the finish line, and Tanner's lost a wheel and couldn't race anymore. Nate wasn't there due to a seminar, and I didn't know all the tricks to make them faster (adding weight, oiling wheels, adjusting axles), nor did I care, so we had 2 oz cars when they could have been up to 5 ozs. Oh well, they enjoyed the night still. Wish I took pictures of the actual race.

Sorry, lots of undie pictures. Didn't want them to ruin their clothes. And they would have. As you can see they painted various body parts.