Liam's Birth

Well, I may have a minute between feeding/changing/wrangling kids, so I think I'll finally take this chance to write out Liam's birth story.

Saturday September 10th, I started having contractions. They were pretty strong, so much so that I didn't make it to Reese's soccer game. I stayed home to shower, get ready, and pack a hospital bag. They were getting stronger, but where staying 15 mins apart. After Reese's game was over Adam picked me up so we could run to the store and grab some things for the hospital and kids. I had never gone into labor on my own before, so I wasn't sure this was the real thing, but I wanted to be prepared. Next was Noah's game...contractions still 15 mins apart...My mom came to the game and was convinced today was the day. I was still skeptical.

After the game, we decided to go to Cafe Rio and grab some lunch. The contractions slowed, but the couple I had were really strong. Still hoping, when we got home I started walking. I walked up and down my hallway, up and down my stairs, out on my deck, anywhere really. Contractions started to fall back into a pattern of 10 mins apart. Adam gave his mom a call and gave her a heads up. For hours they stayed 10 mins. Some were strong, some not so bad. At 9 pm, Adam convinced me to go to the hospital just to get checked out. My mom came over and sat with the kids and up to the hospital we went.

When they checked me I was 4.5 centimeters...better than the 3.5 the previous day...but not really effaced more than 70%. My doc was "on vacation" until midnight that night. Great. So, the on-call doc said to watch me for an hour and if I had changed I would get to stay, if not I would be sent home. An hour later, no change. They sent me home with 2 ambien and told me to rest because I would probably be back the next day (yeah, yeah).

So, I went home at midnight and fell asleep immediately. At 3 am I woke up with contracations 3 mins apart. Adam wanted to go straight back to the hospital. I was so tired, and not wanting to be sent home again, I said I wanted to go back to sleep and if it got so intense that I couldn't sleep we would go. The next morning, Sunday, September 11, I woke up with nothing, absolutely nothing. It was all a false alarm, I thought. I slept and rested most of the day. At 2 pm I asked Adam to make me a grilled cheese sandwich. He seriously makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever and that day was no exception. After that I started to feel a few contractions here and there again, but didn't really say anything to Adam. I went back to sleep in our bed.

At 3:30 I woke up to my strongest contraction yet...holy moly...so I said Adam, I'm gonna take a bath and relax and see if they get stronger or fade away. I got in the bath and it was like everything moved into warp speed. My contractions quickly jumped to 5 mins apart. By 4:15 Adam wanted to call my mom and I wanted to hold off because I didn't want to be embarrassed again by another false alarm trip to the hospital. 4 mins apart...ok, I'm starting to get nervous...I get out of the tub and yell, "Adam I'm having another one!" "What?! That was only 2 mins apart!" "Well, Hun, I don't know what to tell you but I'm having one and it hurts!" So, he called my mom and she hurried over.

When she got there, I tried to act all casual, "No really, I'm fine. It's probably nothing." Then I sat in my bar stool and had a contraction that brought tears to my eyes. My mom assured me that it was time to go to the hospital. On the way up, they continued to be 2 mins apart and were very painful. When we got to the hospital, me being a dork, said, "Adam, lets just wait a few more mins, maybe walk around the hospital?" It's amazing how inbetween contractions you can feel completely normal. He told me we should just head up. When we were about to walk in the hospital I had another contraction and said, "You better call the Monsen's (to replace my mom) and your parents." This was just after 5 pm.

On the way up to maternity I had a contraction so bad I couldn't walk out of the elevator and awesomely there were people standing outside the elevator doors waiting for us to exit. Uh, hello, I'm in labor! So, I got out of the elevator as quickly as possible. I got into the maternity triage and they checked me 5cm and 90%. The nurse said, "You're definitely in labor, I'm calling your doctor." She had another nurse get the IV going while she was filling out the paperwork (sensing the urgency). I did have it pretty much together still, but was deseperately hoping for that epidural. I told the triage nurses, "just so you know, when my water breaks, I always deliver my babies within an hour." They replied, "Oh really? That's fast, wow, ok." I never know whether they ever really believe me or not, but they would soon find out....

At 5:45, I was finally ready to go to a room. They had called the anathesiologist, but he was at home...awesome...so he was "on his way". They asked me if I wanted a wheel chair or if I could walk to my room. I thought to myself, "I'm between contractions, I'm feeling good, I can walk." I stood up and my water broke. CRAP! I thought, but what came out was, "Uh-huh, I think my water just broke!" They hurried me down the hall and to my room. This is where things started to get a little surreal. The pain was crazy and it only took 5 mins before my nurse said that she needed to check me. 9 cm and 100%. The pain was sooooo bad.

I remember screaming (yes, and I'm still embarrassed) 3 times. I remember saying the cliche, "I can't do this!" and I remember the nurse saying, "Yes you can, but you have to breathe!" That was seriously the last thing I was thinking about. All of a sudden I knew I had to push, which I also shouted, and was told to go ahead. Three big pushes later and my Liam was born at 6:03 pm. I remember crying hysterically and saying, "My baby! My baby!" as I held him in my arms for the first time. It was definitely the most emotional 30 mins of my life. The funny thing is, it is what I was afraid of happening the entire time I was pregnant. But he was here and he was beautiful. 7lbs 4oz, 19.75 inches. My tallest and 1oz smaller than my heaviest.

Some fun fact:
-The nurse delivered Liam, but my doctor made it to deliver the placenta.
-The anathesiologist was still at home when he was born.
-The nurses officially inducted me into the "Pop and Drop Club" since it was 18 mins from my water breaking till he was born.
-Adam's parents had only made it to Spanish Fork, which is 10 mins from Payson, by the time we called to tell them Liam was born.
-My mom made it for my last scream and mins before he was born, but it was a very close call.

Now for the pictures:

Catching up...again.

I feel like such a slacker. You know what, I'm gonna blame it on the fact that I lost my camera for like 6 months. So, here's the break down of the Barnett Family lately:

1. We are selling our house! Adam and I have struggled with this decision since Camryn was born. We knew we would probably have another baby not too long after Camryn and so we had to figure out what our next move was. We LOVE our house and we LOVE, LOVE our neighborhood, but we knew that we didn't want to finish the last two rooms in this house. We have invested enough into this house and we didn't want to invest any more knowing that we were definitely going to move at some point. We looked for a property to build on for close to 8 months. We were stubborn and kept insisting that we stay on the East Side of Kaysville. We love how convienent it is for Adam to jump on 89 and get to work; we also love how easy it is to get to Grammy's house. After all those months of looking, Adam really liked one property in particular and I just could not get on board. The property was at the top of our price and not much bigger that the land we have now. We finally decided that maybe we were looking in the wrong place. So, West Side we went and I absolutely fell in love with a particular property. It was a good amount less than on the East Side and almost .48 acres. Yeah, we knew it was where we were supposed to be...the next question was when? We decided to put our house up and many weeks went by with no interest at all. Last week, I was particularly frustrated; we have our house plans ready and we are seeking bids from contractors, but what good is it if our house doesn't sell? I drove out to our property, parked in front of it, and prayed. I just wanted to know if we were making the right decision...1 hour later our realtor called to let us know we had our first showing. Call it coincidence or a sign or whatever you want, but I told Adam that I think the Lord is trying to tell us to be patient. No, the people who came did not put an offer on our house, but I have faith it will happen when it's supposed to happen. More importantly, I was reassured that we are making the right decision.

2. Baby Boy Barnett is on the way!! We could not be more excited, and honestly nervous, to add this little boy to our family. I can already tell he is gonna be a nut. With the other 3, I really didn't really feel them move a lot till about 20 wks. Even crazy Camryn was pretty quiet till then. I have been feeling Lil' L since about week 15! The other day Adam and I were finally able to see him moving from the outside, which was really fun. We call him Lil' L, because he doesn't exactly have a name yet. We've narrowed it down to Liam Smith or Lucas Smith. I prefer Liam, honestly, but Adam can't decide and I'm letting him have the final decision. He goes back and forth almost daily. I know whatever name he picks, it will fit him and fit in the family and we will love it. Oh and my due date is September 26th, Reese's birthday. I hope he comes 2 weeks early!

3. We are busy!! Between dance, soccer, t-ball, being an activity days leader, school, etc, we are just plain busy! Reese has been doing great during Spring soccer. We love to watch her play. Noah and her are already signed up for soccer in the Fall. Since Noah will be going to Kindergarten this Fall, he final gets to play and he is SOOO excited. Noah also just started t-ball last week. I don't think he has stopped talking about it since his first practice. Tomorrow is his first game. I'm not actually sure how the games work, because there are not strikes, outs, or runs. Hmmm, oh well, we are excited. Reese's dance recital is in 3 weeks. This is the first year that I have no idea what the song is and have not seen any part of the dance. The only thing she has told me is that there is a cartwheel in it, which she is super stoked about.

I think I could make a whole post about how busy my Lamby (Camryn) makes me! I think the best way to explain it is that I have never baby proofed before, but with Cam, we have the super door locks on cabinets and every outlet definitely has a safety plug in them. If she can, she will get into everything and anything. She also is clingy. She has her days where she is literally attached to me. I don't know how that is going to work when the baby comes, but we will just roll with it. Lamby is also a goof! She has THE biggest personality. She knows what is funny and frequently uses her goofy/funny/cuteness to her advantage. Favorite phrases I hear Camryn say: "Wah Doh" aka Let Go, "IGiChu" aka I get you, "Nini" aka Grammy, "Tank Chu" aka Thank You. One of my favorite things is singing with her. I'm going to try and find the videos of her singing her favorite songs; it melts my heart every time I watch them. We do not know what we would do without her crazy bum.

Well, I think those are the major things happening with us, and I have probably tired your eyes out with how long this post is, so until next time!

Miss Reese

I realized that I am seriously lacking in the posts about my Dolly. Maybe it's because she is so "grown-up" and responsible. Or, maybe it's because she isn't changing as often as the other two, but I feel like I need to right this situation.

Reese Donna-Lyn

Age: 7 1/2 yrs old

Favorite Colors: Blue and Pink

Favorite Food: Steak and Rice-a-Roni Box noodles, spaghetti, carrots, salad, any veggie really. She genuinely wants to be healthy and talks about it a lot.

Favorite Person: Camryn, definitely.

Loves: Dance, school, reading, Webkinz, Barbies and Barbie movies, helping Mom

Reese is really getting older. She is in the transitional age between little kid and big kid, so she is just starting to watch older kid shows and listen to Taylor Swift and is phasing out of Disney Princesses andsuch. She is so funny, because she can get so serious about things. She always feels really bad when she hurts anyone's feelings or does something wrong.

She is an amazing reader. It is rare that she runs into a word that she cannot read. When we had her SEP conference after the first term, her teacher said they didn't have anything to teach her and just didn't know what to do with her, because she just does her work as she is asked and gets done quickly. She is a wiz at math and scored the highest in the class on the state assessment, she also was one of the first in her class to understand addition of several numbers vertically.

Funny thing I often hear from Reese: "Ya know Mom, sometimes when Camryn is alseep, instead of going to bed, I get up and clean my room." She complains a lot about having to help clean the basement or Noah's room (if they've made a mess in there), but she really enjoys having a clean room and at least once a week I hear her say she needs to "organize her dress up closet."

Reese has an amazing memory. Out of nowhere she'll say, "Mom, remember when..." and she'll tell me something from 4+ yrs ago.

One thing that Reese struggles with is being scared or nervous about a lot of things. She gets out of bed and checks if we are still here if we are in the basement and she is upstairs, she is terrified to pierce her ears (eventhough she really wants to) because she is scared of how much it will hurt, she will not ride 99% of the rides at Lagoon, she believes anything people tell her even if it is a crazy made up story about how their family is all vampires... my tender-hearted little girl just honestly has been a little sheltered. I'm very particular about what I expose my kids to and some may think we're crazy, but we want to keep our kids, kids. Anyway, she's getting better about putting things into perspective and she is getting braver.

I really couldn't ask for a better daughter. She is just so darn sweet. She tells me she loves me, that I'm beautiful, and that she loves being in our family. I love my Dolly to pieces and love having her in our family!