Emmett meets Santa!

Im back in the game! I quit blogging for a while and I started to feel major guilt as I saw my little boy literally grow inches before my eyes. I will start off with today…

I got into Seattle last night for Christmas! Woot woot! My wonderful sweet husband is in Mexico right now until Friday working his bootay off for our little family. So, to pass the time I came here early for christmas. Today, we took Emmett to meet santa for the very first time! I was so curious to see how he would react and he LOVED him! It was adorable he was so happy and smiley.

Four generations!

Merry Christmas family and friends! Love you!

Update on Life

These days have been full of little baby boy smiles, cooing, finally working out, eating healthy, my externship, and long days waiting for daddy to get home. Heres a few things that have been going on lately:

1. Right now Danny and I are living with my in-laws who have been so generous and are letting us live with them until we figure out our whole living situation in California. Danny is working at Canon Safe as a buyer/purchaser and is loving it. It is such an answer to prayer and we are so grateful for him to have a job he loves! I have had the opportunity to be home with Emmett which has been a huge blessing. I have been able to see every little milestone fulfilled. He is my little buddy and I just love that kid to pieces!

2. For my major (medical assisting) I needed to do an externship before I technically can be considered graduated. I have been dreading doing this last part because it means I would have to leave Emmett. After praying about it and going back and forth about the decision I decided now was the best time to do it. My mother in law was so sweet to offer to watch Emmett while I am gone getting my hours in. Its basically like a part time job (20 hours a week for about 10 weeks) so it really meant a lot when she said she would. There isn't anyone I would want more to take care of him when I cant be there.

3. I've been on a health kick! say wha? Ya I know, shocking. I can't remember the last time I have been so determined to eat healthy and take care of my body. Oh wait. Thats because I never have. It feels so good to feel my body changing for the better and to have more energy during the day. I've been doing insanity which has completely kicked my butt. Its awesome though! I feel my endurance and stamina getting stronger and I just love it. Along with that, I've been doing weight watchers. Its amazing to me how much mindless eating I did before this past month! I love being aware what I put into my body and I love the way I feel after a good day of healthy eating.

4. Right now I'm in WASHINGTON! I will update on this trip soon but its been a blast. I love being home but it has been sooooo hard being away from Danny. The longest we have been away from each other was 5 days. Im here for 10 so I think its safe to say Emmett and I will be ready to see him on Sunday!

5. Emmet is 3.5 months old!! I was going to dedicate a whole post to this but I'm to lazy to. Right now he:
-loves when people sweep their hair across his face
-always does the cutest little sounds and smiles after he sneezes (:
-gets distracted by the camera...this makes it difficult to get good smile pictures
-loves his baby k'tan wrap
-Rolls over from his stomach to his back
-ALMOST rolling from back to stomach...no more leaving him on the bed alone. 0_0
-Is a little catnapper. This kid won't take longer than a 30 minute nap! So frustrating!
-Has slept through the night a handful of times but we're still working on making it consistent
-Is in the 90th percentile for height and weight! Little chunk!
-Starts to yell (not even fuss) when he gets tired. It is so entertaining!
-Loves bath time!

My Big Two and a Half month old!

This blog and I have a definite love/hate relationship. I love when I can look back and see what I've written before. I hate it because when I don't write a post about every little stage in my life I feel guilty and then I feel like my computer just stares at me until I write a post about it. This hate part of the relationship has only gotten 1000 times worse since having Emmett. I haven't even documented the first two months of his life! Its terrible. Well...heres a resolution to get better cause I know one day I will want to read these.

Anyways, I have NO idea how my little boy has gotten so big! I know every mom says this but...I really can't believe how much I love this kid. He has the absolute sweetest personality in the world. He really is such an easy going and relaxed baby which has been a HUGE blessing. I remember being pregnant and praying all the time for a good baby. He is definitely a prayer answered. At about 4 weeks we got to see his first real smile. And he hasn't stopped smilin since! He laughs all the time and Loves when his dad makes his ooooooowwwww sound :).

 Last week he had his two month check up. The doctor said I must be making milkshakes cause he is a big two month old. my milkshakes bring all the babies to the yard. wait whaa? He was in the 90th percentile for height and weight so I was really happy to see him growing well. Then..of course the worst part of the apt. Shots. Makes me never wanna go back. I felt so terrible but he only cried for a minute after they gave them so that made it a little better. Well from now on I'm going to try and post...maybe every other week. No more blog guilt for me. Till next time!

Emmett Lanier's Birth Story

Our little boy is 5 weeks old tomorrow!! Where has the time gone? This past month has been an absolute blur but has been probably the most amazing month of my life with my little family of three. I feel so blessed each and every day waking up and peeking at my little boy sleeping in his crib. He is perfect in every way and has strengthened my testimony of the love our Heavenly Father has for each and every one of his children. I thought I would share my birth story because 1.) I love reading other people's birth stories. 2.) I want to remember it in detail 3.) My friend Carlee was able to come and photograph the birth and all the little tender moments that followed. So...brace yourselves. Its a novel.

On Monday, March 4th I was exactly 39 weeks and 1 day. I had my midwife apt at 2:00. Danny and I were so happy and giddy to find out if I had progressed at all from the week before. The Tuesday before, I was dilated to 2 cm and was 80% effaced. We got there and as we talked to my midwife, I asked about her stripping my membranes to make labor come faster. She said that she could do that if I wanted, but there would be a good chance I would have the baby within the next 24-48 hours. I looked at Danny and with a smile we both agreed to have her do it. So, after the apt. Danny and I headed home to get our gym clothes on! We headed over to the BYU-I center and started walking to get things progressing. Little did I know, that in about 2 hours I would be hating myself for trying to make the pain come on faster. HA.

As we started to walk around the track, I finally found out what real contractions felt like. Ya. They sucked. They were coming about 3 minutes apart and lasted for 45 seconds. Obviously not the super strong ones but still pretty uncomfortable. We finally headed home to finish up some last minute nesting and make some dinner. My midwife told me to not go to the hospital until my contractions were at least 4 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute, and having contractions for at least an hour. So I was all of those but one...the lasting 1 minute part. We waited and waited as my contractions got consistently stronger. By 5 o'clock I was hunched over just trying to get through each one. I wanted to go to the hospital sooooo bad but was afraid they would turn me away since my contractions were only lasting about 50 seconds. After about an hour I gave up and said we needed to go. I wanted my epidural! After all...I thought that my midwife would let me get one when I was in labor...which I was. We get there and the nurse gets me into a gown and checks me. 3.5 cm dilated and 90% effaced. I was SO happy! I would be admitted! Oh wait. Just kidding. My midwife is a little intense and after calling her, she said she wanted me at a five before admitting me. I just about died. All you "all-natural" mommas who are laughing at me right now thinking I'm pathetic, need to remember I had absolutely noooo intention of doing this thing without pain meds. Most doctors will admit their patients when they are dilated to a three so thats what I thought would happen. I had taken no pain management classes or read any books on dealing with contractions and pain. I just wasn't prepared. The nurse told me to go out and walk around the hall for an hour and she would recheck me. After bawling through the hallways holding onto Danny and making several asap trips to the bathroom to throw up, we went back to be re-checked. By then it was about 9pm. I was praying praying praying that something changed. But of course...nothin. I almost broke down knowing we would have to go home and I would be on my own going through the contractions. I was so mad too. My contractions were coming so quickly I couldn't believe they wouldn't admit me.

So...fast forward a little bit. We are at home and I decided to get in the tub to try and relieve some of the pain. The next two hours were by far the hardest and most painful hours I've probably went through in my life. I was moaning and sobbing through each contraction. My poor husband felt so helpless. He is always trying to make me feel better when I'm hurting and for the first time in our relationship, he realized he couldn't and needed to just sit there and watch. He was still so supportive and loving and I couldn't have done it without him.  After two hours, I had Danny call our midwife. She, sleepily, answered the phone. Danny told her I could barely breath through my contractions and asked if we should go back to the hospital. She said "I know its hard for her but she should take some benadryl and try and get some sleep"...UM seriously!? I was fuming. Who the heck can sleep when your going through the worst pain of your life every three minutes!? She wanted me to wait until I couldn't stand it anymore. AKA she was too tired to get out of bed and wanted me to wait until her shift ended at 5am. So, I had in my mind that I would try and wait another few hours. But then, they got worse. I was having a really hard time breathing through them. Danny called the hospital and told one of the nurses what was going on. I got on the phone and sobbed to her that I couldn't handle it anymore and told her who my midwife was. She immediately told me to come in and she would help get us set up and get me something for the pain. I think the hospital nurses know that my midwife had a reputation of waiting a long time before admitting women. We jumped in the car and headed back to the hospital

They checked me and I had progressed to a 5! yay! I cried because I was so happy. By this time it was about 2am. The epidural guy finally came. Blessed man. and got me my relief that I foolishly believed I would have gotten eight hours earlier. My midwife then came in and broke my water and then her and the nurse left us to get some sleep. Danny, after almost fainting from exhaustion while I was getting my epidural, fell asleep right away and I was left laying there with a racing mind on what lied ahead. I couldn't believe we were there and I was going to meet my little boy soon.  I finally was able to fall asleep until about 5:30am, when I heard the nurse come in. She whispered to me that my contractions had slowed down to five minutes apart and that my midwife wanted to give me pitocin. By that point, I didn't really care and she hooked me up. My contractions quickly sped up and were coming every 2-3 minutes. At about 6:50, the nurse came back in to check me. She seemed surprised...I was at a 10! That pitocin sure worked. She said I was ready to push when I felt the urge too. Soon after this point my awesome friend and visiting teacher, Carlee, came to photograph our birth story. I feel forever grateful to her for offering to do this. I cry every time I look at these photos and will cherish them forever. Thank you so much Carlee!!

At this point the nurse started getting the room set up for delivery and called my midwife in. They coached me through some pushes and I could already see his head coming out! It was such an amazing feeling. 

 After only about 15 minutes, little baby Emmett was almost there. I gave a few more biggg pushes....

...and out came the most beautiful baby I'd ever laid eyes on. The next few moments were such a blur. I honestly don't really remember them clearly but what I do remember was that amazing world-rocking moment when they laid him on my chest. I remember the nurse saying that he knew me as his momma. He knew my smell. He knew my voice. I was instantly in love with this tiny human.

 I love love loved my hospital experience. The nurses didn't touch Emmett for an HOUR. Not to even put a diaper on him. He just laid on me and slept. I loved that hour with my two boys. It was so much different than what I thought it would be. You always hear about hospitals these days shipping your baby off for hours to do testing and what not. This was nothing like that.

Favorite picture

7 lbs. 11 oz. 20 inches long

Mesmerized by his boy (:

Those first few days of Emmett's life were ones that I will never forget. Although I went through the worst pain I've ever experienced, I would have done it a million times for him. I know every mom says that but it's true. I can't wait to continue to watch this little guy grow. He is such a blessing to us and we don't know what we would do with out him! We love you Emmett Lanier!

37 weeks + 5 days

Fulllll termmmmm! I've been having one of those weeks where everything just seems so surreal.  Like this isn't my life. That could be from all the drugs I'm on but who knows. As some of you may heard I've been pretty sick this past week. Nothing too serious just a lot of little things stacked on top of each other to make one giant problem. It started out with getting the flu. Which is always so much fun. As I started to recover from that, I got a terrible ear infection. And a cough that made me sound like I was birthing my baby out of my throat. So we decided on President's Day that we needed to go to the walk in clinic. I was fighting tears for a while that day because the ear infection made my entire face hurt including my jaw and teeth. The Doc took one look in my ear and said yep thats definitely an infection! Then he took my blood and realized I also had a bacterial infection which was causing my cough and lack of speaking voice (no joke...i could not even say a word). Soooo I got a shot in my bootay and some prescriptions to get filled and we were on our way. I've just been recovering the past few days and am finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

On tuesday we went in for a midwife apt so they could check on the baby and make sure everything was going okay since I was sick. She checked me and the first thing she said was "whoa his head is right there!" SO he is extremely low which is awesome cause that will help things get going. I was 1.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced! At first I thought "yay! he might come early" Now...Im kinda thinkin I would be perfectly okay with this baby takin his sweet little time. Its funny how for nine months we've been counting each day and wishing everything would go faster. Now Im getting nervous so I want everything to slowwwww dowwnnnnn. I just can't imagine we will be parents in a couple weeks! Its insane. But I still am so excited.

belly that is exploding.

Quick little weekly update:

How far along? 37 weeks + 5 days

Total weight gain: 22 lbs

Maternity clothes? Even some of those are gettin a little uncomfortable. Sweat pants and leggings from here on out! Sorry honor code.

Stretch marks? No new ones

Sleep: Since I was sick and couldn't really breath, its been interesting. But the Doc gave me something to help me rest which helped a tonnn.

Best moment this week: Just spending time at home with Danny. I can't get enough. I know this will be the last time we get to be so care free!

Miss Anything? Mmm not really.

Movement: Actually...a ton! They're supposed to slow down in the end but this little guy is more active than ever. Or it might just be that he's gotten bigger so I can feel every little thing. Seriously. Even those precious fingers and toes.

Food cravings: Water and fruit. Still really dehydrated. Whoops.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Yes actually. A lot of different foods. I kinda feel like Im back in my first trimester. NiGhTmARE. 

Gender: baby boy

Labor Signs: On Valentines day I started having contractions that for the first time...hurt. 6-8 minutes apart but I got them to slow down by moving my position a few times. Lots of Braxton Hicks. And occasionally more crampy/painful-ish contractions.

Symptoms: back pain, fatigggggue to the max, nesting in between the fatigue, just overall uncomfortableness.

Belly Button in or out? In...but a very strange looking inny.

Looking forward to: Meeting this little guy who has grown from the size of a poppy seed all the way to a watermelon. ALL INSIDE ME! Still can't quite wrap my mind around it.

Also, I've still been sewing some last minute things. I've gotten Everyyyything done. Except my boppy pillow cover. But that should be pretty quick. I finally did my carseat cover. I liked how it turned out but it was actually more of a pain to make than I thought it would be. Oh well. Glad its done.

Lets see what else...Valentines day was so much fun. We cuddled and relaxed all day and then got ready for our date. For the past month or so I've been talking about Outback steakhouse like every other day. I have been cravinggg it. So Danny made reservations and it was mmmmmmmmazing. He got me a Sage day spa gift card for a massage and pedicure. Can't wait to use that. Then, Sunday was our anniversary! I CANT believe its been a year! It feels like time has flown. But at the same time, I look back to where I was a year ago, and realize how much I've grown and changed since then. So, in that way it kinda feels like its been forever. Anyways, I had a nice dinner planned but since I was sick, Danny came home from church and started making it himself while I was asleep. He somehow googled the recipe I was talking about making and I woke up to the best smellin dinner in the world! He's such a chef!

The cute view I walked in on ;)

Apple stuffed chicken breasts. Seriously amazing.

So anyways thats whats been going on in the Hatch household. Hope everyone has a good weekend! Love you family!!

35 Weeks!

...and 34 days to go. WHAA. Im dying at how fast these past few weeks have flown. I had a BIG growth spurt and I hear these last few weeks he just about doubles in size so I'm a little nervous at the changes my body will go through in this next little while ha. Things are going well though and we are just keepin busy getting ready for this little guy to come. I've finally finished most of the blankets I wanted to make which is a big relief and I'm pretty happy how they turned out!

I still need to make one more using these two fabrics...

...and then we should be pretty set on blankets since I have some more that my mom gave me. I also made this SUPER easy nursing cover that I love. I'm not a huge fan of normal nursing covers because they dont have a back to them, so if you have a shirt that you have to pull up you're pretty much showing your back to everyone in the room. So, I turned to pinterest and found this awesome tutorial, bought some fabric for $4.00 and made this beauty!

I don't know why stores don't make more like this. They seem so much more practical and they are surprisingly cute for just being a big piece of knit fabric. It seriously took ten minutes and is really easy. Here is the tutorial for anyone who is interested:
http://www.thecoterieblog.com/2012/05/dyi-modern-nursing-shawl-sew-one-line.html

Until Wednesday, I'll be done with sewing projects because Im waiting for my carseat cover fabric and rocking chair slip cover fabric to get here in the mail. I found an awesome sale on ALL premier print fabrics (ilovethem.) so I bought both fabrics from then. I'll post next week on how those projects are going! Anyways, as far as the pregnancy is going, things are....well. Just well. Not terrible, not great. I definitely don't think I'll be sad to not be pregnant anymore. Anywho, heres a little update.

Haha I thought this was a funny view

Ready to POP

How far along? 35 weeks

Total weight gain: 22 lbs
Maternity clothes? Seriously? 
Stretch marks? None on the belly. Five more weeks to go, I can do it!!
Sleep: Between the potty breaks and racing mind I haven't been getting great sleep. I wake up and usually feel like I just got hit by a train. And its only gonna be down hill from here...
Best moment this week: Just savoring these last few weeks with my hubs. Its so weird that it won't be just us anymore! But we're excited for the change.
Miss Anything? Sleeping through the night with out b-room breaks. Rolling over. Standing up without assistance. oh and fitting into my clothes.
Movement: Yes. I wouldn't call them pleasant movements. More like elbow jabs which is really comfortable when I'm trying to sleep.
Food cravings: Water. Water. Water. I can't get enough. I know I'm dehydrated but its hard to keep on top of it and drink as much as I need!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Thankfully no.
Gender: baby boy
Labor Signs: Occasional braxton hicks 
Symptoms: back pain
Belly Button in or out? In!
Looking forward to: 35 week midwife appt. on Tuesday! Hopefully they will check me even though I doubt Im dilated to anything. But ya never know!