He's here!

 
Owen Wesley DeVore was born on December 17,2014 at 5:11 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 3.9 oz and was 20 inches long. He came by surprise but I'm so glad he's here, he's healthy, and he was early!

Wednesday December 10th I has a routine doctors appointment. I had gained a good amount of weight since by last appointment. The nurse commented, "someone enjoyed their thanksgiving!" My feet and ankles started to get very swollen so I blame that for the weight gain. At this appointment my blood pressure was elevated for the first time. The doctor wanted me to go back in on Monday to have my blood pressure monitored again. 

Monday the 15th came and my blood pressure was still high. The doctor had me do some blood work and do a 24 urine collection. 

Now it's Wednesday the 17th. My doctor called around 8 am telling me my blood work came back abnormal (low platlets) and my urine had protein in it. She wanted me to go to the hospital for more blood pressure testing an blood work. That way if my BP is high again they could admit me and induce me. I really need to be careful what I wish for! I was bummed because I really wanted to see Macy's Christmas pageant at school tonight. When I told her I probably wouldn't be going she was a good sport about it and was very excited baby brother would be coming. 

After I dropped Macy off at preschool I learned they would be rehearsing and I could watch that. I was glad I got to see Macy as a stable duck and sing "O little town of Bethlehem."

Then I drove myself to the hospital (which strangely enough is the second time I've done that). The nurse hooks me up to the blood pressure monitor an it reads 180/105. She hooks me up to an IV and says,  " I don't think you'll be going anywhere." So that's when I frantically try and find someone to watch the girls so Ja can come to the hospital with me. 

I dressed in the hospital gown and settled in. I had to have my blood pressure taken every 15 minutes all throughout the day and night. I was given the drug magnesium which is given to patients with high blood pressure on pictocin. Magnesium is an awful drug to be on! It made me really hot, thirsty, and have a dry mouth. Then it made me feel like I had the flu- shaky, achy, hot, cold, and all around terrible. I had to have it 24 hours after giving birth too. I got no sleep the first night in the hospital because of it. I was really glad I had a catheter in because I drank water constantly and would have been in the bathroom all night. 

Back to labor-

Ja made it to the hospital and they broke my water. I was dilated to a six when they did this. The pictocin in combination with my water breaking made the contractions pretty painful. I was trying to hold off on the epidural because knew recovery without it was better. I was dilating as quickly as I hoped so I opted for the epidural. I didn't know how much longer I could handle the contractions. The same thing happened with Owen as it did with Anna- as soon as the epidural was in I felt the need to push him out. So I had another natural birth but will have to pay for the epidural! I need to have more faith in myself!

Owen was a little bigger than the girls so it was harder to push his head out. I had to push three times to get his head out.  After the second time I wanted to give up because it hurt so bad. But there's only one way to stop the pain and that is to push him out! I didn't even feel his shoulders come out. I must have blocked that part out of memory. I do remember the placenta coming out and that hurting. I also remember having a bunch of people in the room. It must have been a slow night because everyone was in my room. I had a great nurse, Trisha, who stayed with me the first few days of my hospital stay.

 A nurse took a picture of the clock when he was born so we could remember what time it was. That's kind of fun to have.

My blood pressure wasn't going down like the doctors wanted. They had to up my dodge of medication and I had to stay an extra day in the hospital. When I walked into the delivery room Wednesday morning I didn't expect to stay in the same room until Saturday afternoon. 

First time meeting little Owen!

Macy is smiling here with pure joy. She loves her little brother!

I love Anna's face as she eagerly looks over at baby brudder. She was very anxious to hold him.

Anna is also smiling with pure joy while holding her little brother!

The girls were so sweet and brought a bag of books to read to Owen. (Technically at this first meeting he was still nameless.)

I hesitate to put this picture of me on here because I look terrible. But it's an honest representation of how I felt.

Finally Friday night my blood pressure was remaining stable. It was still on the high side for me but wasn't spiking or getting higher. Now I have to take the medicine for 6-8 weeks to make sure my blood pressure goes all the way back to normal. 

Sometimes I got lonely in my room but overall it was nice to relax with my new little baby. Ja would bring the girls in to visit once or twice a day. The lady who delivered my food thought the girls were so cute and always gave them food and drinks. 

Macy and Anna loved holding baby brudder. They would take turns holding him. Anna was very possessive of him. 

Macy brought Owen gifts when she came to visit. The nurses thought it was so cute. 

Proud father and cute son. 

Breakfast with Santa

Our HOA put on a breakfast with Santa and the neighborhood kids had a blast. Ja is on the HOA board and is in charge of the social activities (surprising, I know) so he and our two neighbors who are also on the board planned this breakfast. The night before we went on a family trip to Costco and bought pastries, drinks, and fruit. Our neighbor Jackie brought hot chocolate, Chik-fil-a breakfast sandwiches, and bagels. We had a good turn out of about 50 people and still had a lot of food left over! The Elder's Quorum and Young Women in our ward were very excited that Ja and I brought them treats the next day of the big Costco muffins.

Of course the highlight was having Santa with us. He was a really great Santa. I was worried because I imagined him being like the fake Santa in Elf with the fake beard and who smells like beef and cheese and sits on a throne of lies. Unlike him, our Santa was the real deal! 

We set up a special chair for Santa in the tent. The morning was cold but that tent was toasty warm. We put down our Christmas rug so the kids could have a spot to sit on while Santa read us a story. He also allowed the kids to ask him any question they might have about the North Pole. 

Macy was so excited to be in Santa's presence! 

Just look at that face of excited anticipation! It melts my heart how happy she was to be with Santa.

Anna was more excited about liking the cream cheese off her bagel. 

Santa read The Night Before Christmas. I should say recited because he had the story memorized.

Then we sang Jingle Bells.

Each child had a chance to sit on Santa's lap and tell him his or her Christmas wishes. I love Macy's smile!

If you look in the above picture, you'll noticed a red ball of tinsel in the tree. Macy had wrapped a present for Santa in that tinsel. It was a red stocking ornament from our tree.

Isn't that sweet of her to give Santa a present?

After most of the people left the breakfast Macy got some great one-on-one time with Santa. He very well could have left (we told him he could leave early) but he stayed to do crafts with the remaining kids. Macy was in heaven. The night before she talked about doing crafts with Santa, eating with him, and coloring with him. I wasn't sure if that would happen so I was trying to nicely explain to her that Santa is busy and might not have time for all of that. She knew what she was talking about because her wishes came true!

Who gets to have Santa make Christmas ornaments with them?! Macy is a lucky girl!

This picture sums up how Anna felt about Santa this year. I'm surprised I was able to stand that close to him.

Santa also roasted marshmallows with the kids. As the adults were cleaning up the kids brought their bikes out to ride around the parking lot. Santa watched them ride their bikes for a little bit then he was off to the North Pole! It was a great breakfast and we had a great time with Santa.

Nativity Festival

Every December our stake puts on a Community Nativity Festival. This year marked the 8th year of putting it on. As this was our first year attending I was blown away. It's held in our church building but it is hardly recognizable by the way it's decorated. I was able to help set up a foyer and I hope I can do it again because it was really fun. 

The stake bought many fake trees and lights that they put all over the gym and foyers. Apparently our building has an attic that holds all this stuff. Who knew?

Along with the trees, there are probably a hundred nativities of all types. I saw one with black bears, rubber duckies, and of course very traditional ones. There are also pictures of Christ all over too. 

This is one side of the foyer. Doesn't it look great with the fake fireplace?

Besides the nativities they have a reading room with Christmas books (Macy and Anna liked this room),

 A dress up room where the kids can be stable animals, angels, wise men, etc,

(Anna the camel and Macy the cow)

And a craft room with all sorts of crafts for kids. 

I didn't take any pictures of this, but there are performances by people throughout the community from 4:30-8 p.m. all three nights. There were ward choirs, high school choirs, kids playing instruments, and singing. I think this is a great way for kids so share their talents. Hopefully our kids can play or sing some day at the festival. 

Our family went three different times. I took the girls on thursday night with our neighbors Karen and Austin. Austin found a friend from school and spent most of his time in the craft room. The friend's mom told Karen, "I didn't know the Mormon's believed in Christ!" Isn't it great she had the Nativity Festival to attend so she can learn we do believe in Christ? I think it's a good way for the community to learn what we believe in without shoving it down their throats. Then Friday night Ja took the girls again with our other neighbors Jackie and Parker. They also had a good time. Then Saturday night Ja and I went on our date since neither of us could really appreciate the nativities while running after children. We also stayed to help take things down.

I hope this continues every year because it's a great way to spread the true meaning of Christmas with our friends and neighbors.

Thanksgiving 2014

We had a fun thanksgiving this year. Devin, Deanna, and Oliver came to visit us! It's only a 4 hour drive from Knoxville to huntersville. It was fun to have guests and Macy and Anna loved having Oliver around. They played with him, got him toys, and made sure he was happy. 

Deanna was so helpful with making my thanksgiving dishes. I was exhausted the night before and it was hard for me to stand for long periods of time because my feet were so swollen. I "helped" her make the stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and apple pie. She did most of the work which I was so grateful for.

On thanksgiving day we were invited to the Campbell's house for dinner. They had a group of friends over and were kind enough to include Devin and Dee. The food was delicious, the girls played and were happy, and the company was nice. I just wish I could've eaten more! My stomach was being squashed by a certain baby so I didn't have much room.

Then Friday we went to our neighbors house, Keith and Karen, for thanksgiving lunch. They made a bunch of food for just the two of them so they were kind enough to invite us all over. I had two thanksgiving dinners this year just like I did growing up. 

Ja doing horsey horsey. 

And airplane. Oliver preferred Ja doing airplane rather than his own dad. 

As you can see from Anna's face she loves it. 

Deanna read books to the kids each night. Macy isn't in these pictures because she was a little sick and went to bed early. 

Saturday ended up having nice weather so we played outside in the backyard. Oliver liked romping through all the leaves Ja had raked into the middle of the yard. 

Anna grew to like Deanna and wanted Dee to push her in the swing. I was not good enough at it. 

Oliver hopped on the swing with Macy. 

Devin and Dee left Saturday afternoon. It was so fun to have them here. I hope they can visit again soon!

Macy brought this paper home from preschool. I thought it was so cute! All you need is salt, pepper, and 6 minutes to cook a turkey. :)

Sealife Aquarium

On Tuesdays the Sealife Aquarium in concord mills mall has toddler free days and adults are half off. I was going to take the girls to the park but Amber Campbell called me about something and told me about the aquarium. I changed our plans so we picked Macy up from preschool then were off to the aquarium.

I was anticipating it to be busy since it was a "free" day but it wasn't. I love living in a place that isn't so crowded like DC. 

We had a great time. All the kids had fun looking at the fish. Charlie was very cute with Anna and made sure she saw everything.

There's a little area to touch starfish and sea urchins but all of the kids were too scared to touch them!

Macy and Claire 

The best group shot we could get

At the end there is a place for kids to climb and tables to color pictures. My kids enjoyed this as much as the fish. 

Of course they make you walk through a gift shop before exiting. This was the worst part of the trip because Macy wanted to buy stuff and I said no. If we go again we'll run through the gift shop so we can hopefully avoid meltdowns.