Taking a dip

Ammely went swimming for the first time!

Our little girl LOVES the water. When absolutely nothing else makes her happy, I put her in the bath and she will be all smiles again. You can actually see her physically relax when she is placed into her tub. It's amazing.

So as you can imagine, we've been very excited to go swimming with our little angel. Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa Lords have an awesome pool that was just serviced earlier in the week and was pronounced to be fully ready for summertime fun. Hooray!

Saturday evening we took the plunge.

She smiled when I put her swimming suit on. I mean, who could blame her, she looks crazy adorable in her suit!

We went out to the pool and slowly made our way into the water. You have to witness that in segments. Our camera kept running out of memory space.

She did great! The whole family had fun (it's so awesome that we can say things like that now).

This is as close as we got to a family picture during this event - haha.

However, we did do this in the evening and it's still fairly early in the outdoor swimming season. So Ammely didn't stay in the water too long. We didn't want to turn our daughter into a baby popcicle.

And just a couple more pictures because, well, she's too stinking cute not to add them! -- We're not new parents or anything ;)

Babies can break your heart

Pretty much from the moment I found out I was pregnant, I've been dreading the day my baby would get sick. I mean, I'm not a nurse. How will I know what is wrong? How will I know how to make her feel better?

And it has happened already. Kind of.

Ammely hasn't been sick in the *cough, cough* *runny nose* kind of way. She broke out in a rash.

At first I thought it was baby acne. This alone made me sad, my baby had perfect skin. So soft. No birth marks or any weird discoloration.

And then it got worse.
Over a few days it spread from one cheek to the other, to her chest, back of her neck, and top of her back.
It ended up looking like this:

Definitely not baby acne.

It was AWFUL and it broke my heart. No mother wants to see her baby like that. Good news is it didn't seem to bother her at all. She was maybe a little more fussy than she used to be, but overall still a pretty good baby. But it just LOOKED painful and I figure nobody's skin ought to look like that - painful or no. So I called the pediatrician and got an appointment. Poor little girl has eczema.
What causes this you ask? Most likely an allergy.

To what you ask? Well, that is the million dollar question.

It could be something touching her skin. So we have now changed all of our laundry detergents, bath soaps, and hand soaps.

It could be something she's eating (via me, her food source). Thus, I've been on a no wheat, no dairy, no nuts diet for a couple of weeks.

It could be heat. And we live in Arizona. And it's the end of May. No bueno.

Per the doctor's orders, we've been regularly applying hydrocortizone and some baby eczema lotion which has cleared her skin up considerably. Some days you can't tell anything happened at all. Other days it flares up a little bit again.

So now we're on the quest to find the source of her irritation and praying that she grows out of this particular irritation/allergy. And I have begun the fearful journey into motherhood and all of the correlating unknowns.

Ammely

As many of you already know, Ammon and I (somewhat) recently welcomed our little sweetheart into our family. At last. And I (at last) am here to document the event (I guess being a new mommy is a bit time demanding, better late than never though!).

Ammely Baysinger

April 3, 2012

8:50 a.m.

7lbs 1oz

20 inches

The beginning of the end commenced on Monday, April 2nd. I was scheduled to be induced that afternoon - mostly due to my impatience and my doctor's compassion to a very pregnant lady. However, my blood pressure had gone up the last week or two of my pregnancy - not crazy high, but higher than my usual. Thus, he did have a medical reason to allow me to induce on my due date instead of waiting another week or two. He is a wonderful man and I pray he is blessed enormously for allowing the pains of pregnancy to cease.

Anyhow, as my induction was no emergency, we received a call earlier in the day saying that my induction was being bumped back until further notice. I was to hang tight and await their phone call. So we waited.

Ammon came home from work early.

And we waited.

We got dinner.

We waited.

We went shopping.

We waited.

We called the hospital.

We waited some more.

We almost called the hospital...and at last the phone rang!

They were ready for us.

So we grabbed our things and headed out to the car. It's somewhere between 9 and 10 o'clock here. This is also my last pregnant picture. Don't I look like I'm smuggling something under my shirt...like a beach ball, perhaps?

And we were off to Banner Gateway!

We filled out the necessary paperwork, they took me to the room where I would labor and deliver, and I put on my very stylish hospital gown, as seen below.

It was then another couple of hours of waiting as we waited for various tests to come back - they took all kinds of bodily fluids and had to make sure I was as healthy as could be expected.

And I was. Whew.

Also, good news was that I was already dilated a LITTLE tiny bit and was having regular contractions that I just couldn't feel. Awesome.

So around 1 in the morning they finally put me on Pitocin and told me I could have the epidural whenever I wanted it.

Things weren't too bad so I waited.

Then things got uncomfortable.

Then things got downright painful.

And I wasn't dilating fast at all. A few hours went by and I dilated maybe 2 centimeters.

It was about 4 a.m. when they told me that at my current pace I would probably deliver sometime that afternoon. So I wasn't sure if I should hold out and do the epidural later in the process (maybe it wasn't hurting as bad as I thought, afterall, I had HOURS to go still and much much dilating to do) -- or maybe I should just go ahead and get the epidural.

And then I felt a little *pop* inside. And then a tiny trickle. I remembered reading several books that said labor pains tend to get much worse, much faster after the water breaks. So I called the nurse in and told her that...ummm...I think my water broke.

Indeed it had. Tiny trickle was a tiny trickle no more. And contractions were already getting more intense. At this point, Ammon so kindly asked the nurse if we could get the epidural quickly. I love this husband of mine. I didn't even have to ask for it - he just knew it was time. No argument from me.

Epidurals are beautiful.

And once the epidural was effective I was much happier. Much more patient. Much more restful. In fact, I think we all were...

Around 7:15 my nurse came in and said it was time to switch shifts and she would update the nurse that would be taking over. At this point I was dilated to about a four. *sigh* She predicted I'd be pushing around noon or 1 o'clock. She left the room and I tried to go back to sleep and just let my body do its thing.
The next nurse came in around 8:00 and checked me - she said I was about a nine and was ready to start pushing.

Ummm...excuse me?!?

Well, that required a change of mindset in a rather big hurry. In fact, the quick change in "plans" really scared me. Nevermind that I had nine months to prepare for this moment or that I had practically begged the doctor to induce me - the fact that I got shorted a couple hours of labor slapped me into a terrified realization that this was REALLY going to happen. There REALLY was a person inside and she was coming out. Now. Whether or not I was ready.

As I tried to deal with this sudden fear of mine, Ammon got on the phone and made sure his mom was on her way - I really wanted her to be there and she too thought she had many hours to go.

By 8:20 I was pushing, Ammon holding one leg, my mom holding the other, Ammon's mom offering head massages and other comfort as needed.

I pushed and looked at the others' faces - all excited/nervous, mostly smiling.

Me, I'm thinking that they shouldn't be smiling. This is hard work. This is scary. This is serious. Nothing to smile about.
Soon enough they're telling me that her head is out...again, they're all smiles. They're looking at the face of my daughter and seeing her breathe and cry for the first time. Me, I remember very little of this. Possibly because I was still scared. Possibly because I still had the rest of her body to evict from my own body.

A few short moments later, at 8:50 a.m., she was fully born.

They put her on my chest and just like that we were a family.

It's amazing how quick life can change. All I could see was her beautiful little face.

And when I could tear my gaze away from her precious face, all I could see was Ammon's face. Was he happy? Did he love her as much as I did? Was he okay with this new addition?

Of course.

And sure, the fear was still there. From what I'm told that never really goes away - moms are always scared they won't do a good job, that they're not ready for what their little ones are getting them into. But the fear just wasn't the only thing anymore.

I was happy. And excited. And tired. And overwhelmed. And overjoyed. And thankful. And prayerful. And so in love.

Oh so in love.

I was a mom. I am a mom.

And the two of us became the three of us.

It just doesn't get better than this.

And so we gladly welcomed Liliya, Laramie, Lydia, Lynnley, Brooklynn, Sierra, Rebecca, Ammely into our family (the naming took longer than the pregnancy/labor/delivery - but it suits her just right. Worth the wait).

Week of Love

Well, with the passing of February was the passing of the second annual Week of Love! (And with April almost gone I figured it's time to post about it!) For those unaware, my dear husband took note that my birthday falls precisely one week ahead of Valentine's Day. Thus, he plans something special for every day of the week and we call it the Week of Love.
This year was just as wonderful as last year (which you can read about here) and was what Ammon called "The Pregnant Edition." The week proceeded as follows:

Day 1: Tuesday, February 7 (My birthday!)

The day started early - Ammon got up before his early morning class and baked me a cake. Yes, I got cake in bed. Be jealous.

Furthermore, I got to follow a clever little scavenger hunt to find my gift - which I did not find until I got home from work. What can I say? - His hiding place was good! As was his gift. I LOVE this movie (Princess and the Frog) --which also happens to be the first movie we saw together in theatres. Day 2: Wednesday, February 8 - The Zoo!
I got my letter in the morning, read my clues for the days events and awaited the return of my husband (who had school that morning, but no work). Upon his return, we took off!



I was soooooo excited! We've been talking about going to the zoo for AGES and we finally got to go. And though it was an exhausting activity for very pregnant me, it was a blast. We definitely enjoyed ourselves....

Day 3: Thursday, February 9: Fondue!
It must be said that my husband did especially well with the Week of Love this year as he is doing both school and work full time. He came up with the best ideas that could be fit in even in the smallest moments together - like this one, fondue!

He even bought fake beer to go in a recipe he looked up to imitate The Melting Pot's recipe!

Day 4: Friday, February 10: Pedicure for Brelynn!

Ummm...can you say heaven? I mean, I'm always up for a good pedicure, but when you're weighing waaaayyy more than you usually do, well, your feet especially appreciate the extra attention.

Little pink flowers from the nail lady - for the little girl in my belly!

Day 5: Saturday, February 11: Mormon Tabernacle Choir

So, my dear sweet husband had other plans for this night (equally as awesome) but as luck would have it, my uncle had some SWEET suite tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performance that was in town. So we jumped on this opportunity and were very VERY grateful to Uncle Norm and Aunt Connie for inviting us along. It was incredible!







Day 6: Sunday, February 12: A day of rest - it's Sunday!

Day 7: Monday, February 13: Disney's Scene It
Best game ever. What is particularly great about this game is that you don't even have to play to enjoy it. By the time we were both home this night, we were so exhausted that we just put in the party play dvd, sat together, and watched it loop through different trivia. Still a great date! Maybe even better than playing.

Day 8: Tuesday, February 14: Valentine's Day
This is maybe the greatest day of the Week of Love because we BOTH contribute. So the day started off with breakfast (a novelty in our lives currently). Fried eggs, yummy sausage courtesy of my dad's mad hunting skills, french toast with strawberries and whipped cream, and orange juice.

Ammon also got an awesome lunch full of some of his favorites (Panda Express, nutter butter bars, Dr Pepper) as well as some cheesy love notes from his wifey.

When we got home from work we did the gift exchange. Even though I don't look so happy in this picture, trust me I am! Ammon got me my favorite perfume (Daisy by Marc Jacobs) - which is wonderful as I'm down to merely drops in my last bottle.

Ammon got a thank you note...

...a chocolate peanut butter treat and tickets...

...to the Sun's game the following week.

All in all, it was yet another week of awesomeness. Every couple should have a week of love.  

The Babe in the Belly

Mostly at the request of a certain out-of-state grandma-to-be, here is an attempt at catching the movements of our little girl on film. Tried to get her with the hiccups, but it's too difficult to tell what is her hiccupping and what is me breathing.

So here are a few belly morphing moments between long stretches of subtle hiccups.

I"ll have to try again soon. The bigger we get, the easier it is to tell when she is moving. Enjoy!

They're Baa-aacckk!

Ammon and I were one of those terrible couples that got married while some siblings were out of the country on missions. However, over the past six months or so BOTH missionaries have returned and we are SOOO happy! It's great to have actually, you know, MET all of the members of your spouse's immediate family.

Jared, my brother, got home in October. He was called to serve in the Dublin, Ireland mission and while he was gone that mission merged with Scotland. So that lucky ducky served all over Ireland AND Scotland!

As Jared is my ONLY sibling I was especially eager for him to get home. I missed him like crazy and was quite anxious for him to meet my hubby!

Of course, waiting at the airport was TORTURE.

I mean, his flight didn't even have the decency to come in on time!


And then, of course, he had to be like the last one to walk through those sliding glass doors...
But he DID!




And much more recently Ammon's younger brother Gage finally got home! He served in Guatemala...a tad bit different culture than that of the Irish/Scottish.

Gage's homecoming was a bit different than planned for (we didn't end up greeting him at the airport) and unfortunatley I have no pictures or videos of the reunion. :(

However, other family members do, so maybe I can snag them sometime.

Still, despite the lack of pictures you MUST believe that we are BEYOND excited to have him back! All 7 Baysinger kiddos are "home" now. What an incredible thing.

And the best part is we can DO stuff with our boys again!

We can go bowling...


We can go mountain exloring...

We can play games...
We can go shooting...



Heck , we can do just about anything. We can even just give them a phone call if we want! What a blessing.

We're so proud of our brothers and all the good that they did. And we're equally as glad to have them back home!

Baby Update!

We recently were able to go to yet another ultrasound appointment. We feel pretty lucky, we've been able to see this little girl of ours via ultrasound on several occasions. We're not sure if that is typical or not, but regardless we're grateful.

This appointment was due to a mild concern the doctor had from the previous in-depth utlrasound appointment. The first time around there was a shiny spot on the images of our little girl's stomach. I guess shiny spots are not a good thing to see in tissue-areas of the body and so the doctor suggested we take another look a bit later in the pregnancy.

At last, it was a bit later in the pregnancy. So we went to a really nice facility and had someone show us our little girl again. Not only was everything normal, but we got to see lots of images we hadn't seen before.

They showed us her beating heart (instead of just hearing it) as well as the blood flowing through her heart.
They told us they could see hair on her head (we couldn't see it, but they could).
We looked at her brain.
We could even see her eyes moving around when they held the ultrasound just right (which Ammon thought was particularly cool).
AND they did a few 3-d shots for us. Normally I think 3-d ultrasound pictures look creepy. Probably because she is my child though, I think these ones are adorable. We could see her little nose and eyes and feet and hands....well, take a look for yourself!

We're so grateful that this little girl is growing. That everything is normal. That she is staying inside her mama as long as she is. And now (as I'm typing this blog) I am 29 weeks pregnant, which means only 11 weeks to go (give or take a couple)!