What a CUTIE!

Eva, which is pronounced "Ava," is now one day short of three weeks old. It has been a busy three weeks with Aaron graduating, working, planning our move to Arizona, Mother's Day, and my birthday! Here are a few of our favorite pictures from these first weeks.

Eva Arrives NINE Days Late!

Yea! Eva is finally here! She was slow coming, at nine days late, but she is definitely worth the wait. I was scheduled to be induced at 1am. I went into the hospital at 1am that morning, already in labor. I swear that I was in labor for 3 weeks! I had been having contractions since the first week in April! Anyway, the nurse at the hospital told me that I was most likely in labor because my contractions were cyclical at about five minutes apart. At about 2:30 or 3am, the nurse gave me pill called Cytotec that was to help ripen my cervix more quickly. At this point I was already dilated to a 4. For about an hour and a half, I my contractions increased in intensity and became closer together. The nurse also noticed that with each contraction Eva's heart rate would drop. However, it would quickly recover after the contraction was over. Aaron lay asleep in my room because I told him he should sleep until I needed him! I expected my labor to become difficult to the point of needing Aaron to coach me through the pain. However, that point never came! I would only describe my contractions as uncomfortable. At 4:30am the nurse came in, discovered that I was dilated to a 4+, and asked me if I wanted my epidural. The anaesthesiologist had just given the girl in the next room an epidural, and didn't want to go home and come back for me! So, before I even experienced pain, I was given my epidural! By 6am I was dilated to a 6 and at 7am I was at a 9! That was quick! My mom arrived at about that time for support and Aaron woke up and joined in the fun as well! At 7:30am I was told that I was dilated to a 10 with a small lip. My doctor was still performing a C-section with another patient so I couldn't start pushing until he showed up. At 8:40am my water broke. My amniotic fluid was green, so the respiratory therapist was called. They assumed the baby had taken in her own waste. They would have to pump out her lungs and stomach immediately after birth. Soon after 8:40am I pushed through my first contraction--but just one contraction. At 8:45am my doctor arrived, and at 9am I started pushing through contractions again. During this time, the doctor noticed that the baby's heart rate was really dropping with each push/contraction. He said, "We need to get this baby out." Call it what you want, but I believe it was a tender mercy from God that I only pushed through 3 more contractions (4 contractions total) before Eva arrived! So I pushed for about 5 minutes on my first child! That is unheard of! When Eva came out at 9:10 am, the cord was wrapped around her neck twice. This was the reason her heart rate was dropping. They quickly put Eva on my belly, cut the cord, sucked out her nose and mouth, and handed her off to the respiratory therapist. He sucked out her lungs before they let her take her first breath. Aaron counted 23 seconds from the time her cord was cut until she took that first breath! That was an intense 23 seconds. The first thing I wanted to know when she was born is if she was indeed at female! I was very excited that she was a SHE! They continued to pump out her stomach and collected 2 teaspoons of meconium (baby poo). Now that my baby was okay, they weighted and measured her. She was over 7lbs and around 20 inches long. When I was born, I weighted her exact weight as well! I thought that was kind of neat. They then handed off the baby to Aaron because I began to have complications. My placenta would not come out. The doctor literally had to dig my placenta out piece by piece. This took about an hour after the baby was born. To give you an idea of the rarity and seriousness of this situation, Aaron asked the doctor, "How common is this?" The doctor answered, "I've never seen this." Aaron says that the doctor had his "game face" on and was very serious and worried during this hour. I remember him telling me, "I'm sorry kid-o." I also remember how he was perspiring. He looked really concerned and worn-out. It was a little frightening, but I was very grateful for him. The worst part was that my epidural had worn off by the time he started digging out my placenta. This means this was very painful. The nurses kept putting things in my IV and giving me shots that were to lessen the pain and calm me down. Finally, at 10:06am, the doctor re-sewed me up for the last time and I was finally done. They let me hold the baby and feed her. Aaron was able to bond with her for the first hour of her life. I know that was a special experience for him. They also let me eat a light breakfast at this time. Several hours later they had me stand up and walk to the bathroom. Up to this time I had felt wonderful, however, a large blood clot passed when I stood up and I began to hemorrhage. I was bleeding so heavily that I began to faint. I remember being so frightened. It sounds silly, but I honestly thought that I was dying. It was very scary. They tried getting smelling salts to wake me up, but nothing worked. My nurse yelled for help and they wheeled me to another room and had me lie down. They put some things in my IV to raise my blood pressure and put an ice pack behind my neck. I stayed in bed, sure I wasn't going to survive the day...and if I did, sure I would have the Doctor "tie my tubes" when I saw him next! I continued bleeding heavily for much of that day. I was extremely weak, and they would not let me eat anything because if my bleeding did not slow down they would have to take me to surgery and perform a DC on me. They thought that maybe the doctor didn't get all my placenta out and he would have to go back and scrape me out :( Finally, late that afternoon, my bleeding began to slow down. I was able to eat at 4:30 or 5pm. By the next day I could get out of bed long enough to shower. I was still weak and light-headed, but showering felt fabulous! The doctor had me stay and extra day and the nurses keep a close eye on me. However, I recovered quickly. I felt myself again very shortly and even considered having more children one day. How quickly we forget. Eva is just worth whatever troubles I went through! Aaron and I love being parents and thank God for his tender mercies. We feel we experienced many miracles during my labor and delivery. 50 years ago neither of us would have survived the experience. Even if I had decided to deliver at home, the baby definitely would have not survived and I would most likely not had survived either. We are so blessed!

Baby Shower!

My older sister threw a baby shower for me on March 7. She went all out with darling invitations and fabulous food. My mother and little sister also helped out. I'm grateful to have family in town that gives me so much love and support.
All afternoon, friends and family came and also gave their love and support. I was very touched by all those who made the effort to come. I felt very blessed. It will be difficult for me to move away from so many people I love!
In addition to the great company, I also received many gifts. I left the baby shower feeling prepared for our new arrival. I got nearly everything on my list that I needed for the baby and me. Thanks everyone!

As a side note, I also have received many thoughtful gifts from friends and lap swimmers at my work since the baby shower. I would also like to thank them for their thoughtfulness. You are all fabulous!

Gravity? Who Needs it?

For all those women out there that find themselves large with child, take a swim! It's the way to go. I am 38 weeks pregnant now and still swimming! Why you ask? Well, besides being a little crazy, I enjoy being...well, lighter! My belly is this flotation devise that makes me feel like The Unsinkable Molly Brown. However, I'd be no good at diving for pennies off the bottom of the pool! But, swimming has allowed me to still get my workout in while allowing me an hour free from my uncomfortable largeness.
Here are pictures of me taking a swim at the SUU pool. I am a lifeguard at the pool and jump in for a swim on my breaks. Look at this fabulous picture of me still doing flip-turns. It's okay, you can laugh out loud, I do. However, I think I'm the only pregnant lady that still even attempts them!

Mr. Stud takes 7th Place in Triathlon!

Southern Utah University hosted an indoor triathlon on March 7th. Aaron trained for only 3 weeks prior to the competition! His training was pretty hit-and-miss due to his demanding school and work schedule. On March 7th, Aaron began the triathlon with a 3 mile run in 20 minutes, a 10 mile bike in 27 minutes, and a third mile swim in 5 minutes. Including his transition times (changing from his workout clothes/shoes into his swim wear), Aaron finished his first triathlon in 54 minutes! That was good enough to give him a 7th place finish! We are all so proud of Aaron! Great Job! What a Hunk ;)

AARON IS ACCEPTED TO MIDWESTERN MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!

We just found out that Aaron has been accepted to Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona! He will be part of the class of 2013. This is Aaron's second acceptance but we are MUCH, MUCH more excited to accept this school. CONGRATS Aaron!

Christmas PJ's

As you all know, Aaron and I celebrated Christmas in California with Aaron's family. For both of our families, it is a tradition to open pajamas on Christmas Eve. Aaron's mom, or Mrs. Clause, does matching pj's which makes for fabulous pictures. I just received these pictures from Aaron's older sister yesterday--thanks Sara!
Aren't we all lovely?

28 Weeks!

I've had requests from many people that wish to see my ever expanding belly. Why? I don't know. Perhaps it is cute if it isn't yours! No, this part of pregnancy has definitely been the easiest. I'll take gettin' fat over that nausea nonsense. In my final trimester I finally have energy enough to get a good work-out again! I swim and/0r run everyday. This picture isn't the best, hopefully I'll be able to post a few better ones in the weeks to come!

California Greetings

GREETINGS from the warm and snow-less state of California! After Christmas, Aaron and I spent an entire week under the sun with his Mom, siblings (Sara, Katie, Rachel, and Trent), Katie's boy (Josh), his aunt and uncle (Tom and Cindy), and his uncle with two of his children (Rick, Mary, and Danny). We spent two days on the beach in San Diego, one day in Disneyland, and two days in Oceanside relaxing, eating, and whale watching. If you were counting, the other two days of our week vacation were spent traveling! The first day on the beach was spent at a park in San Diego. We caught some beautiful views of the ocean and some lazy sea lions and played "500" with a Frisbee. This was entertaining because two of the players were pregnant (Sara and myself). After letting everyone know that we would not be accepting cheap shots to the belly, Sara and I held our own and both won one game. The weather that day was beautiful, we couldn't even wear a light jacket because it was so warm. In the evening we opened gifts from "Mrs. Clause." The gifts were matching pj's for everyone! We took pictures 'cuz we all looked so darn cute, but I'll try to post those pictures later.
The morning of the second day was "Christmas" for the Dahlin family. We opened gifts in the morning and spent the afternoon at the beach playing in the water and on the sand. Many of us also watched surfers practice on an artificial wave and ate chocolate-covered frozen bananas! Mmmmmm! On the beach Aaron found seaweed that looked alien-like. In this picture he is dancing with seaweed.
Day three was spent in Disneyland. See the post below for that day.
Day four was spent in recovery move. All of us were so tired from a LONG day at Disneyland that we just sleep, ate, and watched movies all day.
On day five we called the front desk to find out were the harbor was, and the lady's reply was "look out your window." Oops! Sure enough, 100 yards from our window was the harbor. We decided to go on a three hour whale watching excursion that afternoon. Even though we did not see one single whale, we found two different breeds of dolphins in large "schools." Since I don't remember the bred names we will just call them, "small dolphins" and "large, grayish white dolphins." Here is a picture of the larger dolphins. We had a blast out on the ocean. It was a beautiful and relaxing ride.
All-in-all it was a fabulous week in California! I enjoyed spending time with Aaron's family and getting to know them a little better. Thanks everyone for the Christmas gifts and thanks to Pat for taking us on this trip! It was wonderful.

Happy New Year From Disneyland!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had a blast to kick off the new year. However, I doubt anyone had as much fun as Aaron and I! We spent New Year's Day in Disneyland! Aaron's Mom treated us, along with all of her children, to a week in California. We had a fun filled week, which I will cover in another post. In this post I'll tell you all about Disneyland. We woke up at 5a.m., left our rooms at 6a.m. to drive from San Diego, arrived at the park at 8a.m., and played hard ALL DAY LONG!!! We left the park at about 10:30pm after about 14 hours of being on our feet! I know that doesn't seem like much, but try being 6 months pregnant, it is a little more difficult! I couldn't ride any of the rollar coasters, so I made Aaron ride Space Mountain and Indian Jones while I waited. Luckily most of the rides in Disneyland are for kids so I was able to fill my day with rides like Pirates of the Carribean, Nemo's Submarine ride, and the Haunted Mansion. I did, however, ride two rides that pregnant woman are cautioned not to ride. I dared Star Tours and the Thunder Mountain rollar coaster. Star Tours was very mild, but Thunder Mountain was the rockiest rollar coaster I'd ever been on! Oops! All is well though, and it was a fun adventure. The day's events also included a Fantasmic water/light show and fireworks to celebrate the New Year. Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause were also there. Aaron and I waited in line to catch a picture with them! There were also several parades but we thought that this would be a good time to eat and catch the short lines while everyone else enjoyed the parades! It was fun to be able to spent time with Aaron's family. We all went to Star Tours and the wild ride Autotopia together. This is a picture Aaron took of the rest of us waiting in line at Star Tours. My favorite part of the day was just being able to spent time with Aaron and enjoying a beautiful day in California (while it was snowing back home). Aaron and I were surprised at the "magic" of Disneyland. The staff and the atmosphere were wonderful. Thanks Pat for the tickets! We had a great time!