day 641

this commercial is perfect for two reasons...

1. it (almost) perfectly sums up my life since my last post (scratch bob, insert blake)

2. it is exactly how i intend to update this blog since my last post (i.e. short and to the point)

how else would i be able to sum up the last 129 days? 

so here are the highlights

1. new years eve was BORING. my prime rib was overcooked and we watched a movie. what's worse is we didn't even realize it was midnight when midnight came and passed.

(look at that ginormous belly...)

2. i subbed for the LAST time in my entire life!!!!! halle-freakin-lujah! i mean... oh sad, i'm gonna miss those sweet children... yeah... no. 

3. i had a baby. no biggie.

um, i had a BABY!!!!! yeah, i know. most of you that read this are friends with me on FB, so i imagine that you are already aware of this fact. but in case you feel like reading the lovely birth story (i'll try to shorten it as much as possible), read on. if not skip to #4...

so, there i was. at my doctor's appointment on my due date (feb 7), praying that i'd go into labour right that second so she could just pull him out of me in the middle of the office. nope. i was kinda concerned cos i hadn't felt my little man move very much. not sure if it was cos i was so used to him moving that i didn't notice it anymore or if there was actually a problem. before i could even finish my sentence, my doctor was like, go straight to the hospital. i'm not taking any chances. 

well, alright then. you don't have to tell me twice. 

so, i get to the hospital around 2 pm for a non-stress test where they just monitor the baby to make sure he is alive and well. luckily, he was. all it took was a gallon of cranberry juice for him to start moving around like crazy. already, we have something in common. we love juice. before they let me go, however, they wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure EVERYTHING was okay. well... turns out there wasn't much amniotic fluid around him and my doctor said, sorry dearest, you aren't going home. we're inducing you. to be honest, i was ELATED. only about 1% of me was disappointed since i really wanted him to come "naturally" where i had time to spend at home, breathing, eating snacks, pretending i had the stamina to stick it out drug-free for hours and hours, etc.

but... this was kind of better. i know. courtney, the girl who loves all things natural (well, most things...) and practiced hypnobirthing was now admitted to the hospital (4 pm) under different circumstances. 

(this is getting long isn't it? sorry... just trying to give you a visual... well, not too visual)

so, they plop me in a bed, naked, with a gown 10 times too big hooked up to machines and IVs. that part kind of sucked. blake and i were just hanging out eating pizza watching the monitor tell us that i was having contractions (7 pm)... but i didn't feel anything! it was amazing! until it wasn't anymore (here i thought i was the lucky one)... 

contractions... are not what i thought they would be. i thought they would be like sharp pains in my pelvic region. instead it's like having stomach flu pains that get worse and worse and WORSE. and then they happen for a minute... every 60-90 seconds... and you have to pee, but don't have the energy to sprint to the bathroom in between a contraction so you just hold it... and die. 

so............... i took the drugs. 

yep.

i did. 

first i just took the mild ones around 4 am. i thought, i'm tough (okay, no i'm not), this is all i need to get me through this whole ordeal. 

yeah... those didn't help for very long. i thought, you know what? who am i kidding? i love drugs. i do. don't worry, not the kind you buy behind alleys, just the kind that you buy at CVS that make you feel really good. 

so, i said, BRING ME THE EPIDURAL. blake was like, are you sure? you really wanted to try your best to go natural. nope. not anymore, dearest. this sick-to-my-stomach feeling is making me want to die. i really wish i could help those of you who haven't given birth understand what it feels like. cos i sound like a pansy taking hard core numbing drugs for a "stomach ache." just trust me. 

after only a couple minutes, my new BFF (the anesthesiologist) came in with the miracle solution. 

and it was TRULY a miracle. 

finally, around 9 am, my doctor arrived and was like, you look great. you're a 10. you're ready to push. 

wait, what? push? that's it? i'm almost DONE!?!?!? like, i'm gonna meet my kid any minute now? 

yep. 

well, more like 38 minutes from now. 

and that's how it happened. 38 minutes of easy-peasy (seriously, easiest thing ever) pushing and out popped my gorgeous babe. white hair, no slime, covered in about a million tears from his mum and dad. 

i didn't think i would cry, but seeing that little guy for the first time, plopped on my chest, was the most AMAZING EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. 

there. i'm done boring you with all the details. i'm sure most of you skipped to #4 after you saw how long my "short" version of sam's birth story was. i don't blame you. 

4. i have a newborn... we hang out all day... the end. 

5. probably the second best highlight of february (besides sam) was having my AMAZING family and AWESOME friend, jenjamin, come visit. 

seriously, the best 3 weeks ever. 

jen, my dearest friend of 10 years (i can't believe it's been that long) flew down from portland simply to be my maid servant for the week. she cooked, cleaned, watched my baby so i could go on a date, took care of him so i could sleep for more than an hour, made food for after she left, bought me TONS of baby stuff, and gave me the BEST FACIAL EVER. um, no, you can't have her. she's my friend. 

then, after she left, my ENTIRE family (minus braden, but he's exempt since he's serving a mission) came to visit and be a part of sam's baby blessing. best moment ever. i LOVED having every one of my family members in town to be there at one of the most special times in my life. blake gave an amazing priesthood blessing, full of wonderful promises and council. it was so neat to see all the men in my life (that sounds funny, but you know what i mean) stand around sam in a circle and be a part of this moment in his life. 

we had SO MUCH FUN just hanging out, playing games, watching movies, eating food, taking walks, holding sam, playing with my FAVOURITE niece maddi, etc. 

i stinkin' love my family!!!!!

6. i totally failed in picking this year's NCAA basketball winner. i blame the post pregnancy hormones. they fog up the brain. 

(how long can i use that excuse?)

7. celebrated my two year anniversary! feels like i've been married for 10 years. thoughts about being married for two years...

-year two is WAYYYYY better than year one. 

-my husband can dance like you wouldn't believe (just thought i'd throw that in)

-we can now read each other's thoughts (blake... what am i thinking RIGHT NOW?)

-we made a kid. and he's really cool. 

-we love looking at houses. 

should i have written something really mushy? these are just the first things that popped into my head. haha!

blake surprised me with a trip to alcatraz and a fancy shmancy dinner. i ate seviche and it was so tasty. 

i love my hubbie. 

8. saw florence + the machine with lauren, courtney G., and michelle. 

i wish there were words to describe the greatness of this lady. in a word, she is PERFECT. from head to toe. her voice makes me cry and seeing her in concert with 3 of my lovely friends was one of the best nights of my life. 

9. i spent 3 full days reading all the hunger games books. it took over my life. it still haunts me. even today i kept wondering how peeta and katniss were doing. i kind of love them and am really hoping that there are 3 more books coming out. maybe i'll just go read them again... right now. 

10. blake and i saw coldplay. um... by far, their VERY BEST PERFORMACE EVER!!!!! no joke, i was in the top row of the venue (19,000 people) and even though they looked like specks of dust from that view, it was BRILLIANT!!! even blake was dancing and singing along. many thanks to heather and jake for watching our babe so we could get our ears blown out to "yellow."

11. last, but not least, blake and i (and sam) got to fly out to michigan to visit my dad and grandma. SO. MUCH. FUN!!! it had been forever since we last saw each other, and sam was dying to meet his grandpa, so we flew out there for a bit of R&R. 

highlights? lusting over the $200K mansions (stinkin' midwest), stepping foot in canada (only the punk at the border wouldn't give me a stamp in my passport), enjoying lake huron (more like ocean huron), buying ornaments at the world's largest christmas store (i kid you not- it's the size of 5 football fields... really), seeing a christmas tree covered in peace signs and pizza (are you kidding me?!), and of course, spending time with my dad and grandma! they are so amazing and i'm so glad they got to spend time with sam. 

wow. that whole disclaimer at the top about this being a short post? FAIL. my sincere apologies. i promise i am going to keep this up more often now that i sleep on a semi-regular basis, thus my posts will be much shorter. 

until next time...