8 months pregnant
She's here! Born 8/10/12. We think it's a pretty cool birthday. She is actually born on grandma clara's birthday (we will get to naming her later). Let's back up a little. At 35 weeks I am checked and already dilated. I should know by now that I dilate early but it takes a long time for me to go into labor (4 weeks to be exact). I am so uncomfortable...big belly, can't sleep at night, Braxton hicks all the time!! I even would have panic attacks (new with this pregnancy) because it was hard to breathe. They usually occurred at night and I had to sit up and catch my breathe and take some deep breaths. Nothing scares you more than not being able to breathe. I didnt like them at all. Week 36, I am dilated to 2, week 37 diluted to 2 1/2, week 38 I am dilated to 4. I know I am getting close. I have had so much false labor I thought maybe my body doesn't remember how to go into real labor. The doctor was going to strip my membranes at my appt but the lab messed up my strep b and I had to do it again which takes 2 days to get the results so on thursday, after I am cleared by the doctor, I get my membranes stripped. Owwwie! Yep it hurts but I knew it would get things started. Within half hour my contractions were 5 minutes apart. Not very painful but consistent. My mom comes over and we head over to the hospital around 9:30. Im still at a 4 and nothing changes even after walking the hospital halls for an hour so they send me home. Bummer. You would think by now I would know what is true and false labor. My mucous plug comes out that night.
I wake up at 7:30 with an intense pain. Is it real? Is it going to happen today? They are 15 minutes apart but intense, enough I have to stop and breathe. Around noon, Paul leaves to go do some appraisals and take the 2 youngest which was so nice. He called me periodically to see how I was doing. Still 15 minutes apart. Around 1:30 I am laying on the couch trying to take a nap and suddenly I hear a pop and my water breaks. This was my fear to have my water break at home but luckily it wasnt alot. I start to panic. #1, Paul is not here #2 The pain is intense and very close. I can barely walk. I call Paul and tell him I have to go to the hospital. He wants to take me but he is in salt lake and I can't wait. I need an epidermal and fast! I call my sister who is working at the hospital and she says she is coming to pick me up. At the hospital, I am checked and dilated to 6. They are about 2 minutes apart. This is happening way too fast. Paul arrives shortly after me after going 90 on the freeway. I'm sure the officer would have understood that his wife was in labor! I beg for the epidural...so much pain, so much pressure, so close together (almost 1 minute now). They have to hook me up and get the IV in. Of course the sweet nurse is going as fast as she could but not fast enough for someone in labor. They have me sit indian style and hunch my back to get the epidural in. I am literally sweating. I have huge drops of sweat running down my head. I don't know why because I am not hot. The room was actually chilly. The nurse keeps rubbing my arm and says "oh your body is working overtime, you poor dear" So much pain. Just breathe I would tell myself. They check me again and I am at an anterior lip which I guess is pretty close to being complete. Epidural is kicking in but doctor is not here yet. We wait about 15 minutes and after 2 pushes (the doctor told me to stop pushing and she fell right out) Aliza is born at 3:13 pm about an hour after I arrived at the hospital.
I start to cry. She's here and I'm not pregnant anymore! I feel instant relief. Relief from back pain, pressure, and tightness. My belly is so soft and squishy. The coolest thing the doctor did was show us the placenta. Usually it's just in a blop in the corner but he took the time to show us how neat the placenta is. He called it the "selfless organ " because it does it works and then when the baby is born it detaches and is not needed anymore. He showed us the veins and think layer that attaches to me and the sac that the baby was in. I was surprised to see how thin and see through it was. Her ambilicial cord was also very short. Such a miraculous organ. They layed her on my chest skin to skin for about 2 hours while they got my room ready downstairs. I was in heaven.
Now to the naming of our baby girl. We had the hardest time trying to think of a name for her. The kids wanted to participate so they cast their votes. Of course, mom and dad was going to decide which they were greatly disappointed they couldn't name their sister. We finally thought of Lizabeth which Paul and I both loved and then one day (actually 2 weeks before her birth) I was just looking through baby names and Eliza jumped out and I texted Paul and wondered if he liked. He did! Yeah we have a name. When she was born Paul threw a curve ball at me and wondered if we wanted to name her Clara since she was born on her birthday. I love the name but I kept looking at her and not seeing a Clara. Next day Paul throws another curve ball at me and wonders if we should name her Eliza with an A. I had to sleep on it but the next morning I texted him a picture of her and said Aliza says Good morning. I have loved it every since, the spelling and all. She is completely perfect...perfect features, perfect cry, and she is perfect for us. She looks alittle like Preston and Kailene. Chubby checks but still skinny body (skinny legs). Definetely ours.
Paul was going to take the scouts camping (actually canyoneering) but because of flash floods it was cancelled so the family went to Yellowstone instead! This has been a dream of mine. That is right, I have never been to Yellowstone. It's such a crazy thought since Paul's parents live an hour away. Every time we visit I suggest we go to Yellowstone but we can never fit it in. My expectations are high because I have waited so long and within minutes of entering the park we see a HUGE bison. It was so close we could see it breathing and its massive size. That was all I needed to see. My dream was fulfilled. I thought it was so cool but of course, Yellowstone did not disappoint. Not only was it a beautiful day but it wasn't even crowded (of what people told us) and we saw animals! Bison, Deer, Buffalo, Coyotes, Gysers, Waterfalls. The bison was so close to us that I got nervous and made Paul roll up the window. It was so AWESOME!! We drove around and came to this cute little town within the park. It had a sign of deer crossing which Paul and I laughed at but sure enough there were tons of deer. The only thing I would say was a dissappointment was Old Faithful. It wasn't as big or amazing as I thought it would be but still cool. We also meet up with some good friends...Ellis and Christensens. After a long full day at the park we drove home getting in around 2am (we had to get back for a BYU game, of course). I can now cross off Yellowstone from my bucket list. Totally worth it! Totally recommend it!
