Saturday, May 5, 2012

A day in the life of a mother

 This is so true and too cute to not share. The other day my mom was great enough to get a real (not set up) shot of a typical scene in my house. The captions above say; What my mom thinks I do, What society thinks I do, What my husband thinks I do, What I think I do, What I actually do, and what I want to do. I hope you can see it clear enough.
Here I am clipping Shad's fingernails
In this one I am knitting a baby beanie for my midwife (she just found out she is pregnant after trying for a couple of years). Please ignore how incredibly horrible I look in both these photos and for the poor quality. My mom is great at so many things but taking pictures is not one of them;)

Visiting the GGs

All 3 generations
 While Dan's dad was in town we decided to go visit his his grand parents or the boys Great Grandparents (GGs). They are the sweetest couple ever and I am so lucky to finally get some grandparents that I want to claim. They live down in Price, UT so it is an all day adventure and even more so now with two little ones but the trip is always well worth it. Fern makes THE BEST jam and a couple of years ago I was lucky enough to be the first one to get her recipes (I guess she figured she wont be around for much longer and doesn't want them to be forgotten). When I read over the recipes for the first time I was totally shocked to find none other than JELLO, yes good ole trusty flavored Jello. I had to laugh, no wonder it is so good. Now I guess I need to stock my food storage with Jello so that I can preserve all the yummy fruit I may someday grow myself;)
Papa Ray

GG Fern was so cute with Liam, she held him most of the time we were there.
 Bill and Fern have a really cute relationship. Bill is relaxed with his language and is not concerned with offending people and Fern could not be more opposite. So whenever Bill says something disapproving Fern will just roll her eyes and shake her head and look at me to make sure I am not offended, I think it is just adorable. I hope that someday my grand kids can see as much love between Dan and I as we do in Bill and Fern. Unfortunately their health is not so good and we don't know how much longer they will be with us, but we will enjoy the time we do have with them.
GG Bill, he was very reluctant to hold Liam because he was afraid of dropping him. I love how Liam is looking at him so intently.

Liam's Blessing

 We did things a little different this time around. When we blessed Shad he was 3 months old (which is a little older than most do, I think) because we wanted his grandparents to attend and they were still in China until then. Liam is 1 month old and to my surprise the same blessing outfit fit! He is not the tiny baby that Shad was. We decided to bless Liam when he was so young because his Papa Ray was in town and Dan really wanted him to be a part of it for good reason. Because Liam is so young and the flu is spreading like wildfire this time of year we decided to do the blessing at home. Overall it was a pleasant event and a sweet blessing. That very evening Liam decided to roll over, yes also ahead of Shad but who's comparing really;)
I absolutely love this blessing outfit. My mom made the vest from her wedding dress and I made the tie out of my wedding sash.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Liam Ender Burton



 That name rolls off the tongue nicely don't you think;)

Well Liam arrived to us at 3:51 am on the 29th of January weighing 9 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long after a very interesting labor, well to me anyway.

On Saturday afternoon I called my midwife, Jen Krebs, because I was having a sharp pain on my right side that persisted for over a day and was getting worse. She ordered me to go to the hospital just for an NST (non stress test) to monitor the baby to make sure he was doing ok. Dan was at work so my aunt took me to the hospital and I text Dan on the way telling him where I was but to not worry since they were just doing testing. Despite my un-alarming text Dan called me a few minutes later to tell me he was on his way to the hospital. After being monitored for a couple hours the nurses informed me that everything looked fine (baby was healthy and all my labs came back "normal") and that my midwife would be coming in in a little while to talk to me. My midwife recommended that we induce immediately due to pre-eclampsia and if I waited then I would be risking causing illness to me or Liam. Because I wanted to deliver naturally I was very hesitant to induce due to the amount of pain the petocin could cause. Dan and I thought about it and agreed that it would be best since we were both healthy and he was considered full term. Luckily I had grabbed my hospital back on my way out the door just in case.
    The nurses moved us to the "natural" birthing room (it had a birthing tub in it which I was very excited for) and started the labor process. To my dismay they had an intern take a whack at putting my IV in, I almost asked that she not be the one to do it but I talked myself out of it and soon wished I hadn't...she missed. The nurse tried 2 more times with no luck so they brought in the big guns and she got the one it my wrist (restricting me from moving my hand) whoo hoo. At about 10:00pm they started the petocin. Over the next couple of hours the increased the petocin up to the maximum dosage and I still was not feeling contractions although I was having them.
Shad really is a proud big brother
   At 12:30 Jen suggested that we break my water to move things along so that the overall labor was not longer than it needed to be to save my energy. I reluctantly complied. I think that part was one of the coolest feelings. Almost immediately I started feeling contractions but they were very mild. As the contractions got harder I stared breathing through them and managed them just fine. At this point I was feeling like, "I can do this". At about 1:30 I had dilated to a 5 so they turned off the petocin at let my body take over. Since I was no longer attached to the IV I got into the birthing tub. I really thought that the tub would be more of a relief than it was. It was nice because it was easier to move around but it really didn't do much for the pain. At this point I started saying things like, "I cant do this" or "I dont want to do this anymore", "this really sucks" and Dan and Jen just ignored me and encouraged me which I am now very grateful for. I think it was when I was about a 6 when I would have like to get the epidural but I was committed to doing this naturally so I wasn't about to ask for the drugs.
Shad made a fort to share with Liam when he got home.
    Jen was not about to accurately check me in the tub so she had me get out at about 3:00. I had a couple of contractions while getting dressed and to the bed and I actually had an easier time managing he pain while standing up but I wanted to get into bed so she could check me, I was at a 7. I wish I had stayed standing because "laying down" proved to be much more painful. Shortly after getting into bed I started going through "transition" by far the worst part. What made this worse was the back labor I was feeling and nothing would alleviate that pain. During transition I was completely un-aware of what was going on around me and couldn't have cared less.
   After about 45 mins the pain was more than I could bare, I wanted to die or at least pass out so that I didn't have to feel anything anymore. It was then that I turned to my father in heaven and said "I NEED THIS TO BE OVER!" Within moments Liam's heart rate dropped dangerously low and they needed him to get out as soon as possible. Jen got in my face and offered to push back my cervix through the next contraction so that I could start pushing. I agreed. That next contraction is more pain than anyone should ever have to experience and I recall making a not so pleasant sound (totally involuntary). The pain totally paid off because I did in fact feel like pushing. The first push did nothing, I wasn't doing it right, I guess I was a little out of practice. I was determined to make the next one count. Through the next contraction I pushed and pushed and pushed and wondered why is no one counting or telling me to take a break... oh yeah I can feel all of this, I am in control and can do whatever I want. So I took a break and I would have fallen asleep right then but another contraction came too quickly. I pushed for a few moments and his head came out. This pushing part was such a good feeling, I hardly felt any pain except for the "burning ring of fire" which is very real and present. Through the next contraction the rest of his body came. The feeling of him coming out was by far the best feeling EVER.
All locked up ready to go home
   I was immediately alert and surprisingly full of energy, joy, relief (kind of hard to explain exactly how I felt). The put Liam right on me so I could watch as they cleaned him off. I was also able to feel his umbilical cord pulsing before they cut it which was unfortunately cut earlier than I had hoped because they needed to try to get him to breath better. We were all surprised to hear his weight which was totally unexpected compared to Shad's mere 6 lb 14 oz birth weight. The next couple of hours were the well earned reward. I was able to hold and nurse my little one uninterrupted in a quiet room.
   I am so grateful for a happy healthy little boy, for an incredibly supportive and patient husband who was with me every step of the way, for the mercy of my father in heaven and for a midwife that handled my delivery with such grace and sensitivity. I am extremely proud of myself for pushing my own limits and allowing myself to experience to full beauty of bringing a new life into this world. That being said I don't know if I have it in me to do a natural delivery again (Dan would prefer I didn't) but we will see.


Thursday, March 1, 2012

Family Pictures




An awesome friend of ours took our family pictures for us and I think she did an amazing job. I know I am a little crazy for wanting to get family photos done while pregnant but I dont have any pictures of me during my last pregnancy and I regret it now. Also it has been well over a year since our last family photos so I figured I should get some done before our little family gets bigger. Thanks Stacy!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Pop's Haircut



Well my dad has been bugging me for a while about how awful Shad's hair looks because we have been growing it out for about 6 months, partly to see him with a shag haircut and partly because he HATES getting his hair cut. Well my dad eventually said that he wanted to cut it himself so I thought alright I dont have to do it and this could be interesting, and it was. I found out later that this was only my dad's second haircut EVER and the first was my little brother when he was Shad's age.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

August San Diego Trip

I know I go often but its like a drug to me, if I dont get to my hometown of San Diego frequently enough I start to go crazy. These were some of the highlights.One of Shad's favorite parts about Sea World is visiting with the Sesame Street characters

Shad getting ready for the 3D movie, which he hated.

Vistitng the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center in Old Town San Diego

Washing clothes to old fashioned way

Panning for Gold


Checking out the Tide Pools, all we found were hermit crabs but he was happy with that as you can see.

Shad and Kai


My best friend growing up was Chelsea and to this day we are still best friends. Her son is about 4 months younger than Shad and to our surprise and great pleasure they are becoming best friends too. These are some pictures of them during their last trip here. We just love how they could not be any more physically opposite. Kai has dwarfism so is obviously stocky and Shad is skinnier than skinny so I just love seeing them together.Enjoying a movie together, it was probably Cars

At a friends birthday party


Watching Cars 2 for the first time (Cars is both their favorite movie so this was much anticipated)

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Shad is 3! (playing catch up)

Shad is still very much into Lightning McQueen so naturally we had a cars birthday. We celebrated with the family on his birthday then again later with his friends.




Once a Trimester?






I am noticing that my usual schedule is posting once a trimester since I just slid into my last trimester of pregnancy. The first trimesters two were ok, not a whole lot to complain about. Where I am right now on the other hand is a different story, I am so uncomfortable about 60% of the time and that percentage going up everyday. I did start doing water aerobics and that had kept me alive. As much as I hate exercising, I sincerely look forward to getting in that pool, despite that fact that I have to put on a swim suit. I am about half way into my 28th week and thought I would post a pic, Thanks again Stacy for taking our family photos, I love how they turned out.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

6 Months REALY!?!?!


Yes it is true I have not posted in 6 months and I feel pathetic for it. I guess I have been super busy and just dont take enough time for me...big surprise.

Well the biggest news I have is that Dan and I are expecting in Feb! This came as a huge surprise especially since we had that discussion about a month prior to finding out and Dan gave me a big fat NOT YET. Well I guess it just goes to show that us wives get what we want. And in case you were thinking it, no I did not get pregnant on purpose. A few weeks ago (at 13 weeks) we went into the office of a friend and got an ultrasound. I was dying to find out that it was a girl so I could finally go shopping for this little one. Well I guess the Lord had something else in mind since he gave Shad a little brother instead of giving me multiple shopping trips. I was worried that I would be a bit disappointed but as soon as I saw his little picture I knew that he was who was meant to come into our family next. I am very much looking forward to watching Shad dote on his little baby brother and dreading all the trouble they will get into in the future.

I am so lucky to have an amazing husband like Dan. He has been self employed for about 6 months and business is picking up but when we found out I was pregnant he went out and picked up another job for health benefits so we could avoid the $7000 maternity deductible. He works so hard to keep us comfortable and me at home with our son.

So far pregnancy has not given me much trouble. The first trimester was pretty ugly with complete exhaustion (I dont remember this being the case but then again I was not chasing and cleaning up after a 3 year old) and constant nausea. But now that the first trimester is behind me I feel just fine except for the occasional crap, ache or pain.

Friday, March 18, 2011

My weight update

I know it has been a LONG time since I have updated on whats going on with my diet and it really does not mean that I have fallen off the wagon, really, I have just been crazy busy! I am actually doing really well. As of today I have been on the diet for 84 days and have lost a total of 45.8 lbs. About 20 lbs ago Dan agreed to buy me an ipad when I reach 50lbs lost. Little did we know that he would not have a job when that time came around so we will see if I get it when I hit the mark but I will get it eventually. In all reality I am very shocked that I have stuck with the diet as well as I have and actually lost as much as I have. I am now down 2 jean sizes and last time I measured 17.5 inches but its been a while. I will measure again at 50 lbs and maybe I will have to courage to post my before and after pictures.