Evan James Houghton

It's been a week and a half since we had Evan and we could not love him more.

So here's the short version of his birth story: We were taking our Sunday nap when I woke up to my water breaking around 4pm. When we got to the hospital I was a 3.5 and pretty thick. I got my epidural in around 6:30 before I felt any bad contractions, at 7:30 I was a 4.5. Then by 8:30 I was an 8...  Evan was born at 9:11. 20 Inches long, 7.2 pounds.

For my journal/record keeping:

So to begin with Evan was sort of an accident . Casey and I weren't quite ready to have another kid yet, but knew we wanted to and were trying to get ready. In an effort to take one step in that direction we didn't protect when I was just coming off my period and wasn't supposed to ovulate for at least a week. WELL - I knew the very next day when I was having ovulation pain that I was probably getting pregnant. I even got this nerve/twitch thingy in my thumb that I only get when I'm pregnant... and was pretty sure right away that I was. Yup.

We decided not to find out gender. I never felt this burning desire to find out (unlike with my first two... I TOTALLY had to know with them) so I figured as long as I didn't HAVE to know, we wouldn't find out. I also had lots of peer pressure not to find out, haha! We had a friend do a string and pencil trick to guess gender - she said it hasn't been wrong in 20 years - and it came out girl. Also Casey's dad was pretty sure it was a girl and said he hasn't been wrong about gender in 17 grandchildren. So we were thinking this baby was gonna be a girl.

Fast forward 9 months. I got my membranes stripped on Friday (3/16/18) morning and had lots of mucous coming out. I also started having contractions that were getting stronger and more frequent, but nothing super consistent. There was a moment Friday night when I thought it could be happening, but then I fell asleep and woke up the next morning. A friend in our new ward and I (both due end of march) went and got a pedicure. When we got there, this cute Chinese lady told me I would be having a girl too, and that I wouldn't be ready for a while... that my friend would have her baby before me. Pedicuregirl acted like she knew what she was talking about!! After the pedicure, Easton had a soccer game and then we had an AWESOME family night. We played games and laughed and danced. I remember thinking if this was our last night as a family of four, it could not have been more perfect.

Then the next morning, I figured I might as well go to church if I wasn't going to be having a baby. I was totally planning on curling my hair and getting ready but I wanted my hair curly when baby came.. .so kind of bitter I didn't curl my hair. I was contracting through church... about every half hour. When we got home from church we decided to take a nap since we would be going to the Godfrey's for dinner. At 4PM, half asleep but waking up I screamed "it's happening!!!". My water totally gushed (not trickle like before). I've never seen Casey get out of bed faster. I called my parents to meet us at the hospital to take Easton and Elsie - and I finally finished packing my hospital bag.

Put the same shirt on that I went to the hospital in with Easton and Elsie :)

Easton got pretty nervous about this. He was crying cause he was going to miss Casey and I.

Waiting for the nurse to bring us to our room.

When we got in our room and the nurse checked me, I was a 3.5 and pretty thick. I told the nurse that I get pretty nauseated and throw up quite a bit after I've gotten my epidurals before, and she suggested we use warm IV fluid. Must have been the answer because I only got slightly nauseated and didn't throw up at all. Getting the epidural wasn't bad at all - we chatted about anesthesiologist that we both knew and joked about Doctors having nicknames - sometimes good/sometimes bad :)



These pictures have become a tradition... this is WE ARE ABOUT TO HAVE A BABY face :)

Casey was able to watch 2 basketball games AND Julie brought him coke and a dinner.

Here's the birthing timeline (Michele got the stats from the nurse for me):

6:30 - Got Epidural and started Petocin
7:23 - Dilated 4.5
8:30 - Dilated 8 - felt a lot of movement, told the nurse and she checked again
8:32 - Dilated 9
8:50 - Dilated 9.5
9:06 - Dilated 10
9:11 - Baby born with 1 contraction and 2 pushes (Doctor had to tell me to stop pushing)

At 8:29 Michele texted and asked if  we wanted some company while we waited. Casey was watching basketball and I was watching This Is Us, but we are always up to see Michele so I said yes. Right after telling Michele to come on over, the nurse checked me and I went from 4.5 to 8... so I was progressing quickly. I hurried and texted Michele " Come quick if you want a show!". Michele, Julie and my Mom were all able to make it with just minutes to spare. My mom was the last to arrive at 8:52 pm (thank goodness for time stamps on text messages!!)

 Up until that point everything had gone wonderfully. The doctor walked in and I think because everyone and everything was so shill, she had to ask the nurse if we were actually ready. The nurse in a super calm (but with stressed undertones) said "Yep, she's at a 10+3". Casey took one of my legs, Julie took the other. The doc told me to push and I must have pushed a little too hard cause she told me to stop. Then she said to slowly push one more time.... BABY.

But then... what was supposed to be this awesome moment for Casey and I... something I had been waiting for MONTHS for... was ruined by a stupid nurse who blurted out "BOY". I was shocked and said "what??? A boy"" Casey, is it really??. Then that nurse spent what felt like minutes apologizing and messing up again and again. She probably felt pretty bad that she ruined our surprise, and got flustered cause then she did something to where she had to apologize to the doctor over and over. Super annoying. Now instead of remembering Casey cutting the cord and them placing Evan on my chest, I just remember this nurse trying to apologize to me. SO ANNOYING. Soon after that, that nurse left the room and it was finally shill again and I got to enjoy this sweet little boy!

This pic was after Casey said "that was easy". He wasn't trying to be insensitive - he just meant as far as deliveries go... it all went pretty smoothly and he was happy baby was here safely. 

His first bath :)

Car ride home

Elsie Celine Houghton

FINALLY had one second to type this up. It's been almost four months and I'm not even working anymore... I thought I would have had some time by now... but nope! This isn't quite as fresh in my mind now... but here goes, Elsie's birth story:

Short Version: Water broke at 6 Thursday morning, went to the hospital at 8... stopped by my office and chatted for a little while and then got checked in. Got the epidural around 10 and then around 2:45 the nurse checked me and I was at a 6. The nurse had just left the room for MAYBE a minute when I made Casey go get her again. I apologized to the nurse feeling bad she had JUST checked me, but I felt like there was a head in between my legs. If I was wrong and this was a false alarm, I promised not to bug her again. She lifted up the blanket and said "you will have a baby within 10 minutes". Two pushes later, Elsie was born :).

Longer Version:

So Easton was two weeks early and I kinda had it in my head that Elsie would be also. When I went in to my 37 week check up I was barely dilated to a 1 and still high. Then when I went in to my 38 week check we were trying to decide if Casey could go on his family's summer camping trip (I was definitely not going). I told the doctor that I really wanted Casey to be able to go, but obviously wanted him there for the birth of his kid. The nurse checked me and without hesitating said "he's not going". I was dilated to a 3 and fully effaced ( if I remember correctly, crazy how we forget) and since I had progressed that much in a week, there was no telling what would happen. So Casey did not go on his trip, so of coarse Elsie did not come all weekend. Then Tuesday night I was having contractions. I started having contractions when I was like 5 months pregnant... but these were starting to hurt more and more and so I started to time them and I was 3 minutes apart at least. They weren't super painful... but they were consistent. So I went to labor and delivery. By the time we got there the contractions had slowed down... but that's what happened with Easton when he was born. I know they say that if you lay down and your contractions stay strong, then you are probably in labor. Well with Easton and again this Tuesday night, when I got up the contractions got weaker but when I layed down they got stronger. Anyways, after about 2 hours at labor and delivery they sent me home.

Wednesday I was VERY discouraged. Super embarrassed for the false alarm and pretty upset that I was still pregnant. My mother-in-law took me to get a pedicure which was really awesome, then I fell asleep at 7 PM!

Then we were supposed to get up and go to Salt Lake for Casey's best friend's wedding... so of coarse that's exactly when my water broke. BEST FEELING EVER (I was so nervous to know when to go based on contractions). I wasn't having any contractions and kinda felt super lame going to the hospital pain-free when two nights before I was totally in pain. So we called my mom and asked her if she could drive down from South Jordan to watch Easton.  I felt totally fine so we kinda took our time... I took a shower, cleaned my house a little bit, put on the same outfit I was wearing when my water broke this Easton just for kicks and kinda had a nice morning. After my mom got to my house, we headed to the hospital and I stopped by office for a little while and chatted with Sandra... and took a pose in front of the elevators I had walked by for 9 months in anticipation for it to be my turn to ride.

So I checked in to labor and delivery at about 8:30 am. I think I was at a 4 when they checked me first. Then at around 10 or 11 I got my epidural. Apparently epidurals make me puke, but this time it wasn't half as bad as with Easton... it came and went pretty quickly. I was actually chatting with the anesthesiologist... I used to work with him and Casey and I have played hockey with him and his family a few times. Then it was hanging out time.. which isn't so bad if I wasn't shaking uncontrollably (worst part!!). I even worked on my computer a little bit, started to catch up on some of my shows. I was in the middle of the bachelor when the nurse came in to check me and I was at a 6.

 She had time to wash her hands and go out of our room to the desk... still within eyesight when I told Casey to go get her. When she walked back in she looked kinda bugged (and rightfully so) with the "I seriously JUST checked you". . I told her that I was really sorry and if what I was feeling was just normal labor pressure that I would not bother her again, but I wanted just to make sure cause it felt like something was in between my legs! So she left up blanket and with a super surprised look on her face said "Oh, you will have a baby in less than 10 minutes". Then all HECK broke loose. They were kinda going crazy and a bunch more people came in the room... then the doctor. While they were running around we had just enough time to take these "we are about to have another baby" pictures:

 The rest happened so fast. I put my legs on the stir ups... the doctor asked me if I wanted an episiotomy but I don't think she heard me say yes because she asked me to push... I pushed twice, and our little princess was born.

 The nurses told us that she actually broke record for UVRMC... she was the first girl born after 17 boys... the longest streak of boys they have seen. My hospital stay with Elsie was SO SO SO much better than with Easton. The nurses were much better and nicer. I feel like with Easton I had 1 good nurse the whole time I was there... with Elsie it was just 1 bad nurse. We did have a scary minute where she was choking and turned pretty blue. We called the nurse in and she got the mucous out, and took Elsie to the nursery. She got her stomach pumped and apparently had a TON of mucousy stuff... somethings that's really common was babies are born fast. 

We struggled a bit to get her nursing but it was so much better with her than Easton. However still, the next couple days were the very hardest in my entire life. More to come on my next post as soon as I get time :)

Easton Lately

I just LOVE this little boy. He is almost 20 months old and he is mine and Casey's pride and joy. He LOVES cars. That's pretty much his whole world. He also loves bubbles, swimming and his Dada. He loves cheese, ice cream, dried mangoes, noodles, grandma's raspberries, goldfish, Naked juice, and he calls all fruit "apples". He'll pretty much repeat anything we say and he can talk quite a bit, but his words are mostly cars, trucks, bus, bubbles, pool, ball, mama, dada, grandpa, grandma, Ava, baba, cheese, binky, blanket, and cracker. Sometimes in the car, he will frantically say "cars, trucks, cars, trucks...." for minutes at a time. He especially loves fire trucks.

 He also LOVES these girls...

And of coarse, he loves his mama. I absolutely love to see him light up when I pick him up from daycare. I love going in his room in the morning and since Casey is the one to wake him up most of the time, he gets a surprised and then happy look on his face.