Our hospital stay

I love the stay at the hospital after having a baby. The nurses are so great to take care of us and the baby and I am actually able to get some sleep before heading home for many sleepless nights ahead. Here are just a few pictures of our baby boy and the happenings at the hospital.

Just minutes after he was born - all bundled up and sweet.

First bath.

The girls loved seeing him for the first time. Crazy Rhen couldn't keep her hands off him - literally poking him in the eyes, nose, ears, etc. and naming every part of his body (and not doing it softly I might add.) But she sure loves him and couldn't stop giving him kisses.

Rease is a great big sis already. She has been preparing for him to get here for weeks and asking how she can help when the baby comes home. When she saw him and held him for the first time she said, "I'm going to be the best mom aren't I?" She is so sweet.

Sunday night was the Super Bowl and the three of us hung out and watched the game together. Liev of course slept and I couldn't get enough of his snuggling!

The nurses in the nursery crocheted these little hats for all the babies. It was a little big for him, but we thought it was so darling!

We also got our "Special Dinner" on Sunday night while we were watching the game. We got to choose what we wanted to eat from a special menu and they brought it on this nice table with sparkling apple juice and yummy dessert. I had salmon and Josh had steak - and it actually wasn't too bad considering it was hospital food. It was really fun and a nice event for us.

We had lots of visitors but didn't get many pictures of all our loved ones. Grammie and Papa Losee were there though and we snapped a picture of them with their newest grandson.

Josh and his boy. He definitely got most of the lovin time and couldn't get enough of sweet Liev.

This morning as we were getting ready to come home. We got him all changed and into a new outfit before we strapped him in the carseat.

All snuggled in and ready to go out and brave the cold February day.

The last night we were there, the nurse was getting me a Motrin before I went to bed and asked if I would like an Ambian as well so I could sleep better. I always let the baby stay in the nursery anyway and Josh goes home to sleep, so I am alone in the room. I decided to give it a shot and figured I might as well get a good night sleep. So she got me my meds and Josh headed home and Liev went to the nursery around 10:30. The next thing I knew it was 8:00 am and the nurse was back to check on me and see how my night was. I don't remember a night in the past few months that I've slept as good and as long as I did. I was rested and refreshed and am still thanking the nurse for requesting that Ambian for me. It was the best and I will for sure remember to do that next time around.

We had a great hospital stay but as always, I'm glad to get home and get back into real life. Here we go...

Baby Day!

Well here it is almost 2:30 am and I can't sleep. I thought I'd take advantage of the time and write about our day yesterday. What a day.

February 5th started as an early morning as the girls both made their way to our bedroom about 5:00 with a very cheerful "Good Morning Mama!" I quickly put that out of their minds and reminded them that, no it's not morning yet and lets get a quick drink and jump back into bed for a few hours. So I got up and walked them back downstairs and tucked them both back in. Luckily they went back to bed with no fuss. At this point, I had been up 2 or 3 other times for bathroom breaks and felt like each time I got up, I had a contraction that seemed a little harder and longer than the ones I'd had the past few days. I didn't worry about it much because as soon as I was back in bed the contraction stopped and I was able to fall asleep with no problem. I ended up sleeping in until about 8:00 thanks to Josh and felt like I had gotten a good night's sleep for a pregnant girl.

We had planned on going up to Josh's parents house that morning and Josh and his dad were going to change the brakes on the van. I was having contractions on and off and I thought to myself "am I going into labor?" But the contractions were far enough apart that we decided to make our way up north anyway and see how the day progressed. At the last minute, I grabbed the bag I had packed for the hospital just in case.

We left our house about 11:00 and on the way up my contractions continued, but were about 20 minutes apart still. They were getting more painful though and I remember one of them made me cry. It's funny cause in the moment of the contraction I thought, "oh man this hurts so bad!" and then once it was over I was good and could function normally. Anyway, we got to Roy which is about a 45 minute drive from our house (and our hospital which we can get to very quickly from the house.) We pulled up just as I was having another contraction and I remember saying to Josh, "we might not be here long." But Josh's sweet mom had made lunch for us and we sat down to good food and conversation. I ate and then laid on the couch for about an hour while everyone chatted and my contractions started getting to be about 7 minutes apart. We laid the girls down for naps around one and shortly after I told Josh that we should probably start heading down south just so we could be close to the hospital in case we needed to get there quickly. In my mind, I wasn't really in labor - I'm not sure why I didn't think I was, but I just thought we had plenty of time. So we left the kids with Josh's dad and had his mom ride down with us since she was going to be at the hospital anyway when we had the baby. I was happy to be on our way back down closer to home - still thinking "I'm not in labor, just having some contractions."

At this point I figured we were probably going to go straight to the hospital and I would have them at least check me. We called my mom and sister-in-law Steph and told them that we were on our way and would keep them updated on my status once we got to the hospital. The ride down south quickly turned into a "hurry up and get there" drive. Just after we left Roy, Jeanie started timing my contractions and they started out about 5 minutes and then became 2-3 minutes in no time at all. With every one, I told Josh to drive just a little faster. He started at about 80 and by the time we hit 4500 south he was easily going 100 mph and weaving in and out of traffic as carefully as he could. I remember turning to Jeanie between one of the contractions and saying, "If I were really dilated by now and in labor, wouldn't my water break?" I think I was trying to convince myself that we were going to make it. All I could think was that I couldn't have a baby without an epidural so we had to get there in time for that at least. My contractions were really strong and Jeanie kept telling me to breathe and let out the breath slowly. I was in pain during the contractions but then had a moment of relief between. Josh called the hospital and let them know that we were on our way and told them how fast the contractions were coming. They said they would get ready for us. Just a couple minutes later as we were passing 7200 south, my water did break. Contractions were now about a minute and a half apart. I think this was the first time that I really realized, "I'm in labor and going to have a baby soon." We pulled off the 90th south exit and I became frantic, telling Josh to hurry and get there and hoping we made it to the hospital in time. Josh called the hospital again and told them my water broke and they might want to have a wheelchair down at the entrance for us. Jeanie called my mom and Steph again and told them to come to the hospital right away. Between exiting the freeway and getting to the hospital I luckily only had one hard contraction. After that one was over I thought to myself, "we are going to have this baby in the car. Next contraction, I am going to have to get undressed and start pushing." Thank goodness that wasn't really the case. Between Josh's expert driving - still weaving in and out of traffic, running red lights when possible, stopping for the trax train to pass, honking, flashing lights for people to get out of our way, etc., we made it to the hospital at 2:02 pm.

By the time we pulled up front, I was officially freaking out. I couldn't handle the pain and I barely made it out of the car and into the wheelchair. The elevator ride to the second floor took about a year and as the nurse wheeled me into the Women's Center I said to her, "I can't do this without an epidural." Once again reminding myself that we were going to make it as long as I could get out of pain. She called to the other nurses to get the anesthesiologist in there right away and I had a little relief come over me hearing that. She wheeled me into room 209 and there were 3 other nurses waiting for me. From this point on, it was something of a blur to me. I remember screaming a lot because of the pain and saying, "I can't do this. I can't do this." My contractions were so hard and long. They were trying to get me undressed and into a robe. Got me on the bed somehow and were trying to start an IV. Checked me and I was at an 8. I kept telling them, "I need an epidural. I need an epidural. I can't do this." Our sweet nurses were very calm during my freaking out and the head nurse, Bobbye, told me that the anesthesiologist they had here was the fastest one they had at doing epidurals and could do it quickly if he needed to. I'm sure that she was thinking I was a crazy woman and there was no way there would be time for an epidural - but she calmed me down by making me think that at least there was still hope. Talk about one track mind - all I could think about was getting out of pain, not about the fact that I was minutes from having a baby. I do remember them saying that they had called Dr. Smith and he would be here in 5 minutes. Nurses were running in and out setting up for delivery and the nursery nurse came in and prepped for baby. So many people in and out, but everyone was very calm - except me.

I had two contractions while I was on the bed and I was officially a madwoman during both of them. I don't remember much of what happened except that I was screaming so loud and couldn't stop crying. In my mind I knew I was being crazy, but I couldn't help myself. I was in too much pain to think about anything else. Josh and his mom were both right by my side and trying to soothe me through but I just remember looking at them and saying again, "I can't do this." During the second contraction (which was only a minute after the first) I came to grips with the fact that I was having this baby naturally whether I liked it or not. I couldn't help myself from pushing and the nurses could see that. Sherri, Wendy and Bobbye (my nurses) said, "Okay, let's go." The grabbed my legs and I held on for the next contraction. A minute later there it came and they told me to push. After so many hard and fast contractions it was actually a relief to be able to push. After one push, Baby Liev was here! Literally just like that. He made his way into the world at 2:10 pm, just 8 minutes after we got to the hospital. Longest 8 minutes of my life, but I was so glad to have him there after a fast and crazy labor. Dr. Smith walked into the room about 3 minutes later. My mom and Steph walked in just after him. Everyone had missed the birth and the nurses said to my mom, "we almost missed it too!"

I held onto my sweet baby for a few minutes before they took him and cleaned him up and Josh was standing just above me saying, "you did it!" Baby Liev is a perfect little thing weighing in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 21 inches long.

Just a couple pics of our sweet little guy.

Our nurse Bobbye (she was the one who really delivered the baby today - not Dr. Smith.)

The girls love him already. Their visit to the hospital is another story in itself. I will update again when I have a minute.

Storytime

This is such a crazy picture of my girls, but I love it. Rease is such a good big sis and I caught her reading her favorite church book to Rhen the other day. Rhen of course loves the attention from Rease and was taking it all in as you can see. Don't mind the crazy hair - it was just one of those days for me and the hair was the last thing on my list of things to do. They don't seem to mind.

I love these two cute sisters!

Baby Liev Update

So I was sure that yesterday was Baby Liev's day. No such luck - I am still prego and waiting one last week before he comes. Last week at my Dr. appointment, Dr. Smith did an ultrasound to check fluid levels and also measure the size of the baby. It ends up that he was measuringing in at 7.5 lbs and averaging 38 weeks and 4 days big - I was dilated to a 3 and 60% effaced. So in my mind, baby was ready to come. Dr. Smith told me that if next week (which was yesterday) I was a 5 then he would start me since the baby is obviously big enough and would be fine if I was continuing to progress. So Monday I cleaned house all day, got all my baby stuff out and ready and finished up last minute stuff that I wanted to get done before the baby comes. Josh also has a trip to Chicago planned for work later this week and it ended up that his flight earlier in the week got cancelled due to crazy Chicago weather and he wouldn't be able to fly out until Thursday morning. We took this as a sign that Tuesday was our day and we would be able to avoid Josh missing the birth of boy because he was out of town. So I took my packed bag with me, had a babysitter lined up for the girls for the day and headed to the Dr. prepared for him to tell me I was a 5 and lets have a baby. Didn't happen that way. I am only a 3 1/2 and still 60% effaced and he said he would just like me to wait until the 9th (which is next Wednesday and when I am scheduled to be induced.) What a letdown! I was sure I was ready! But baby is doing fine and still growing strong which is what is important. So Josh still goes to Chicago Thursday and will be back Saturday - lets hope that Baby Liev doesn't decide to come during those 3 days. I think we are in the clear since I haven't had any labor signs. Anyway, here we are still pregnant (which is fine) and still preparing for our sweet Baby Liev to join our family!

I decided we needed a belly picture so this is me at 38 weeks.

I am preparing for an 8 or 9 pound baby seeing the size of my stomach and also according to the ultrasound which said that at 37 weeks he was already 7.5 lbs. I'm guessing in 3 weeks he gained at least a pound or two. We'll see. Regardless - we are having a baby in one week!

Rhen has started wanted to do everything herself - put shoes on, get dressed, brush teeth, etc. She has recently started putting her own hats and gloves on as well and her hats usuallly end up covering not only her head but most of her face as well. The funny thing is that she puts in on and then leaves it that way and just keeps her head up so she can see out of the little slit that isn't covering her eyes.

She can ride her bike this way...

Put make-up on...

And ride bikes some more.

Who really needs to see where they are going anyway?

Locked in

We got Josh some new luggage for his birthday since he will be traveling a lot with his work. Not only did he like his present, the girls loved it too. I wasn't paying attention to what they were doing and then Rease called to me and said, "look mom we fit!" Perfect fit for the two of them!

Then Rhen thought she was funny and locked Rease inside...

If you could see Rease's face you'd be able to tell that she didn't think that was so funny.

These two girls are so fun!

Binky?

Now that we have a baby coming to our house, the girls have been finding lots of new "toys" to play with. I walked into the room and found Rhen like this...

She thought it was so fun to suck on this binky the rest of the afternoon. The funny thing is, she never used a binky (she sucks her thumb instead) but still knew just what to do with it. We are all getting ready for baby!

The girls

I love these little chicks of mine!

Rhenner

I don't really know what to say...

She's one of a kind.

Christmas 2010

We spent Christmas with Josh's parents this year. We had the traditional Christmas Eve festivities which I always love. French dip sandwiches and caroling are always on the list of things we do on Christmas Eve.

We all wear Santa hats to go caroling - Rease modeled her hat for us.
Both the girls were excited to go sing to neighbors and friends. We had a few practice rounds before we left and I think we sound pretty good if I do say so myself! We went to about 5 different places and saw some old friends and family members that we don't get to see too often. It was so fun to visit with them and share the Christmas spirit!

After caroling comes new jammies. The girls had matching ones this year and wanted a picture of their jammies in front of the tree. They were ready to get to bed so that Santa could come!

Christmas morning is always crazy with presents, stockings and candy everywhere. Crazy enough that I didn't get very many pictures of the girls opening gifts. But I did get a picture of Rease with a couple of her favorites.

Barbie and her car.

And Rapunzel and the prince. She has been asking for this since we saw the movie so luckily Santa came through this year!

Rhen got these little trains in her stocking. She doesn't look like she's happy but believe me, she is!

Overall we had a great Christmas. In the middle of all our crazy schedules this holiday season it was so nice to spend time with family and celebrate (and relax) for a few days together!

Temple Square Lights

We try to make it downtown at least once during the holiday to see the lights and watch the nativity. We also have made it a tradition to ride Trax up and back - it's fun for the kids and we beat the holiday traffic! This year was hard for us to find a spare minute to get up there but we finally made it a few days before Christmas. We left just as I got off work and headed north. Rhen and Rease loved the ride up.

Once we got there we checked the Trax schedule to see how much time we had. It ended up that the next train was leaving in 40 minutes and then the next one wasn't for another hour. We decided the quicker the better since it was cold and we forgot the stroller. So we headed straight for the nativity. Of course we had to get a picture with the temple and lights in the background first.

After the nativity we had a few minutes to walk around the temple and see all the lights.

The girls kept oohing and ahhing at all the different colors of lights. And they thought this big Christmas tree of lights was pretty cool.

We made it back to the train with just a couple minutes to spare. It was a quick trip up and back but we saw all we wanted to see and didn't get too cold while we were at it! We love this part of the Christmas season!

Christmas presents from Grammie and Papa

This year was Beutler year for Christmas so Grammie and Papa and Uncle Garrett brought our presents to us a few days before. Rease and Rhen were so excited to open their presents - especially because it wasn't even Christmas morning yet!

Rease opening her huge present...
Ta-daa! A bike!

Bikes for both girls - boy were they excited!

And since it's obviously too cold outside for the girls to take the bikes outside, I've been letting them ride them in the house on our wood floors. They love it and it keeps them entertained while we wait for summer to come!

Life at the Beutler House

So where has the time gone? I realized that it has been far too long since I have posted anything and tried to think back on what has taken up our time lately. This is literally the first time in a month and a half that I have had a chance to sit and relax and think about putting something on the blog. So I will try and catch you up on our life and happenings.

First of all, since it is Christmas time, all my spare moments have been taken up making our family book. It takes me about 2 weeks to get everything from the blog into the book and formatted just the way I want. So since our Puerto Rico trip, that's what I've been doing and I finally got it done, ordered and on the way as Christmas gifts for our parents. It is one of my favorite things to make because as I look back on the past year of our life, I can't believe how much has gone on and how much the kids have grown. It's so fun for me to put it together.

Secondly, Josh started a new job this month! After 13 months of looking, interviewing and looking some more, we finally found a job that fits perfectly for our family. The company is in Midvale (so we don't have to move!) and Josh is very excited about the opportunity and the company. Most of all, he is so glad to be back to work. What a crazy year we have had with him being home with the kids and at the same time looking for a job - not an easy task. But we feel very blessed to have found this and most of all grateful for the years worth of moments that will make us always remember this time of our lives. The crazy thing about Josh taking this job now is that this happens to be the only time this whole year that I have had steady work. I have been temping all over northern Utah for the past 11 months and just happened to have 2 girls ask me to work while they are on maternity leave in December and January. So all of a sudden, I am working 4 days a week and no longer having to temp - which is awesome! So Josh started his job December 1st which was also the same time I started working the maternity leaves. We talked about it and thought long and hard about how to work it out with the kids. We always said that once Josh starts working then I would be home. But with the commitments I had made to these 2 offices, we felt like we needed to stick with it for the next 2 months and then I would be able to officially be home again full time. So thanks to our wonderful moms (Grammies), neighbors, friends, cousins and whoever else is willing to watch our kids, we have both been able to work and still have our kids taken care of during the week. Let me say that it has been exhausting. Getting the kids up and ready to be dropped off wherever they are going for the day before 7:00 when I have to leave for work, has been quite an adventure. Luckily they are always happy to be going somewhere new and playing with new kids everyday - they think it's a party! Once again, we feel like we are very blessed to have such great people around us who are willing to help us out! Our girls are amazing too and we love having a few hours to hang out at night once we are home from work.

Also a quick update on baby Liev. My official due date is February 16th - just less than 8 weeks away. I have been feeling good and have had enough energy to work full time which has been a blessing for us - this baby has made it easy on me! So I saw Dr. Smith on Wednesday for my 32 week appt. Everything is looking good and I am measuring big as I always do. He did an ultrasound this time to double check everything and said that he is averaging about 33 1/2 weeks with all his measurements. We are happy to be having a healthy boy - no need to worry about small kids in this house! I asked him if we could be induced again this time around and he said, "Yep, lets set the date!" So he pulled out his calendar and said that he can cheat by up to a week if we would like (of course we would like!) So I happily agreed and we set my induction date for Wednesday February 9th! Wahoo! Best news ever - a whole week early! So now we are on the official countdown and I really need to start getting ready for this baby. I told Josh that I feel like I haven't done anything for this boy yet - no clothes, no bedding, no nothing yet. The only thing I have been doing is stocking up on diapers and formula. Thanks to coupons and good sales, I have been able to get both for next to nothing. I feel good that we are taken care of in this department at least!

Anyway, life is good and busy this time of year. The girls are excited for Christmas to be here and hoping that Santa will find them at Grammie Beutler's house this year! Hope all is well with everyone and that this season is bringing happiness and joy to you all!