March 2012

March 2nd-

^Lorax movie with the kids.

^Light snow year. Kids had to play in the snow before it melted! Grandma Johnson taught the kids how to make a snowball and start rolling it into a snowman.

^35 weeks

Everything seemed normal going into 36 weeks. I started to nest, cleaned out the car, Ed painted a couple rooms in the house, we thought we had another month to prepare the house and do things before baby came. We were wrong.

Mar 7th-

In the afternoon after taking Sarah to preschool my water started leaking. It was either that, or I peed my pants. :) After it happened several times we headed to the hospital to be checked. They confirmed that indeed my water was leaking and also got my test result that I was Group B Strep positive. They checked me and I was at a 3 and 80% thinned. The biggest problem: One day shy of 36 weeks, and zero labor contractions. Meaning induction. They wanted to keep me and get started, but against their will, I opted to go home for one night to see if somehow I could get labor going on my own. I had a set of antibiotics for the GBS and we headed home.

Aunt Melissa was kind enough to take the older kids for a sleepover just in case. I took a bath, tried to walk around and more officially packed a hospital bag. No luck. No contractions.

Mar 8th-

We went to my scheduled midwife appointment knowing that right after we'd be headed to the hospital to start induction. We went to a couple stores, got lunch and then went to the hospital by noon. Since I was GBS positive, I had another hit of antibiotics before we began the induction process.

At 1:30 they started the Pitocin drip at an 8 (goes up to 20). They increased the drip by 2 every 30 minutes. Right after they started it I had some mild contractions every 2 minutes apart but they died down. After a couple hours and watching a movie (Just Married- a favorite) we were still twiddling our thumbs waiting for something to kick in. By 3:30pm I was at a 12 drip and asked for them to get things going. After all, the other 2 labors I've had have been quick. Even though I knew there was some pain ahead- we were both bored and ready. :) They moved the drip up to a 16. Shortly after, probably around 4pm my contractions got much stronger. They stayed consistent and painful, about every 2 minutes apart. Kind of what I was used to, but still hard. When I got very uncomfortable and started to get the shakes, I asked if the hospital would call my midwife, Julie. They checked me and I was at a 6 and 90% thinned. Julie came in around 4:30 and helped talk me through contractions and asked if I wanted to try a new position. I tried leaning over the back of the bed and was up on my knees. Almost instantly things got more intense and painful as I could feel the progression and baby making its way down.

By about 5pm I started pushing. OUCH! Induction and going natural= pain. I kept thinking that my body and the baby were probably thinking, "What the crap!! What on earth are you doing?!! We're not ready?! We have a couple weeks to go at least?! Why are you forcing this?!" For some reason this time pushing felt harder than the other 2 times. I pushed over 10 times. Finally got the head and shoulders out and the rest of the body. At 5:24 a baby GIRL was announced by a proud Ed who got to deliver her. I turned around and laid on the bed while they placed a new, healthy, quiet baby girl in my arms. We were thrilled to have another girl. Icing on the cake. She was 5 lbs 15 oz and 18 inches. Born at 36 weeks. Perfect! Happy to have her early, even if it took us all by surprise.

^First pic of Madison

^Proud Daddy

Because I was GBS positive, to be safe they wanted to give Madison antibiotics. I wasn't too thrilled about the plan, but I guess it was good to be precautionary since she's a preemie. Just so sad to poke and prod my tiny little baby that just joined the world. I wanted nothing more than to hold her every instant!! Luckily instead of keeping her 48 hrs like they wanted to, they gave her the antibiotic and let her spend the night with me. :) I feel so protective of her. Somehow craving baby time with her more than I remember with the other two.

^Sarah and Kai meet Madison for the first time.

^Sarah really wanted it to be a girl

^Instantly the best big sis. Cute kisses.

^Cute kisses from Kai too

^ Sleeping on mom. I didn't sleep much the first night. So worth it though! Sad little hand...

Mar 9th-

^ Wakey wakey.

^First family picture of 5!!

^Even if they all look the same and they are always sleeping-it seems there is a constant need to take pictures of new babies.

^My midwife, Julie

^ One of my favorite pictures. The kids came to say hi again day#2.

^I can tell Sarah is going to be a great help. :) My precious girls.

Madison had some issues with low blood sugar, so during every feeding (which is a lot as a newborn) they had to prick her heel. It was hard not to feel angry and watch as my days-old baby was poked so many times a day. Torturous. Also, her IV came out and they wanted to put another in. After trying in her other hand and her HEAD- WHAT!!?- We opted out of one of the last doses of antibiotic. She had a shot instead of through the IV. Watching that was the most awful thing ever. I sobbed along with her and felt horrible for putting her through that. Rough Day. But we decided on her name- Madison Rose Harman. Love the sound of it!

Mar 10th- Finally passed the bilirubin test and blood sugar tests!!!

^Saturday evening we finally got to leave the hospital! I more wanted to take her home to get her away from all the poking. :) Look how tiny she looks in her car seat.

^ Going home!

Mar 11th-

^After we left the hospital we had to go in daily for bili tests, which meant more poking. :( I was trying to give Madison a little sun to reduce her bili numbers. Unfortunately, they were still too high and we had a bili bed delivered at 1am!

Mar 12th-

^Madison spent all her time, except when feeding, in the bili-bed/blanket. Torturous when you just want to snuggle your baby every second. :)

^Special delivery! Rebecca and SO MANY other friends, family, and neighbors were so sweet to shower us and baby Madison with gifts. Thank you to everyone for being so supportive while we adjusted to our new life with 3. Clothes, Dinners, Treats, Kid-watching, and visits were greatly appreciated!

Mar 15th-

^Such a beautiful babe! We are loving her!

Mar 17th-

^Sleepy time with dad. I love that they'll sleep in almost any position.

Mar 19th-

^I let the kids color in Sarah's room thinking they were over coloring on anything but paper, but then realized that Kai has never learned this lesson. When Sarah came down and told me Kai colored on the carpet, this is what I found. Big fat orange crayon. Lovely.
Mar 21st-

^After any of us have a baby, my girlfriends get together and visit and have dinner together. Such a great idea. So good to see everyone together and a nice way to break back in socially. :)

Mar 22nd-

^Sleepy twitches and smiles are my favorite. Madison above.

^Sarah in the same position with dad. Don't they look similar?

Mar 23rd-

^Oh look, she's sleeping again... :)

Mar 25th- More pics to show similarity to Sarah...

^Madison

^Madison

^Sarah at the same stage. I think they look a lot alike.

^Since Ed had to sell his non-practical-for-UT car when we left CA, Ed's parents were kind enough to let us borrow their Honda when we moved here so Ed could look for a car. Ed finally picked out his new ride. All who know him, know he loves cars! She's a beauty! And look how beautiful UT is in the background!

Mar 26-

^More gifts from sweet friends. So many surprise packages for the welcoming of baby Madison. So thoughtful.

Mar 27th-

^Sarah and Kai have been troopers. They are so good with Madison and they have probably been the deprived ones during this whole process. They have watched more TV than normal and some days we don't even to make it getting dressed, but in the business and adjusting I think they have become better friends. Even if they tease and fight in the process, their play time and imaginations are getting better.

Mar 31st-

^Happy spring! Love making cookies and decorating them.

February 2012

February was slightly uneventful this year. At least that's what my pictures (and the lack thereof) would show. Perhaps it was moving in and adjusting to a new house?

Feb 4- Ed took the kids to a train show.

Feb 8-12: I took a trip back to CA to do hair and see friends. Kaylynn was gracious enough to let me stay with her and borrow her kitchen to work. With some 12 hour days and 28 clients later- It was a busy success! SO fun to see everyone and do something I love. Hopefully it can continue...Thanks to my loyal clients.

Feb- 14- Aunt Cami came and made sugar cookies with the kids and I.

Ed and I went to Ruth's Chris in Park City for an early Valentines dinner. Yum!

...and I got some beautiful roses!

Other than that, I started a new bunko group and Ed had a busy, successful trip to Stanford to work for a weekend.

January 2012

January 2- started with family pics with wonderful Julia! When she didn't come out to CA for her typical trip in October we were sad, but happy when we realized our trips would overlap in UT over the holidays. Worth the wait. Check out Julia's blog for more photo's from our session and all her other great work! We'll shoot for a send out of Valentine's Cards this year. ;)

During our session I brought a bag full of new clothes as options for the shoot, jewelry and my makeup bag. I set it down nearby and in the 15 minutes we turned the corner for a location change- it was stolen!! So lame!! :(

Jan 3- We started house hunting the weekend we moved to Utah. That first weekend we made an offer on a house in Sandy, but decided against pursuing it. We decided not only house, but location was just as important. So we looked in Draper. There were a couple houses in Draper we liked, but they only had 3 bedrooms upstairs and we decided that 4 bedrooms was a priority. We also went from looking at older starter homes- to deciding that we have moved enough!! (7 times in 7 years) and we wanted something long term. It was worth working harder to get something we could stay in for a while. After a quick thought about building and deciding not to... we were brought to South Jordan. There were multiple homes that fit the criteria, but this one stood out...

A couple shots...

We made an offer on this house on January 9th and it was accepted the 10th!! The process moved quick and we closed on the house and got our keys January 24th!!! We finally own a beautiful home that we plan on staying in for a while! So far we love everything about it and will post more pictures once we've moved in a bit more.

Jan 7- We finally got some good snow to play in!

Even though the kids haven't had much experience with snow, the jumped right in and loved it!

Jan 10- We have made multiple playdates over the past month with people trying to keep busy and keep out of my dad's basement. :) It's been great seeing everyone. One day we went to the Herriman Rec center with Jenn to swim. The kids were terrified at first, but totally warmed up by the end.

Jan 16- We went with Aunt Nicole one day and with Aunt Debbie one day to the Discovery Museum.

Jan 18- We took the kids back to swim another day with daddy!

^He's able to do a little more with them, and well, he's a big kid himself. :)

Jan 21- Ed surprised me the weekend before my birthday (since the next week would be busy with moving and such) by taking me into Salt Lake to stay at the Grand Hotel. We had couples massages, went to dinner at Flemming's Steakhouse (I LOVE steak!!!), and then we went and saw a movie. Of course the night we were out on the town it was all snowy. I love birthday week!! :)

Jan 22- Thought I should document how ugly the varicose veins I have this pregnancy are. Sick!! :(

^In the lobby of the Grand before we headed to get the kids (thanks gma and gpa Harman) and go to church. :)

Jan 26- My 30th Birthday we celebrated by prepping the house and going to yet another steakhouse that evening. (Christopher's) Delicious as always!! (thanks gma Johnson)

^30 years old! 30 weeks pregnant pic! And the start of a 30 year mortgage! A house isn't such a bad gift at all!

Jan 27- As part of birthday week I went out with some friends to dinner at Cheesecake Factory to help me celebrate!

^Thanks lovely friends! Talitha (preg-boy), Jenn (preg-boy), Me (preg-?), Alisha (preg-girl), Jennie, Heather (preg-boy) and Shandra.

Jan 30- As another bday celebration Mom took Cami and I out for lunch. Can you see why I love bday week?! All the people I love and lots of food. :)

Jan 31- Auzi approves of the new house. :) She stands by the fire all the time hoping we'll turn it on so she can snuggle up on the hot tile.

January was a big month for us! Thanks to everyone who helped us, played with us, fed us and watched our kids during our transition! I think it's going to be a great year!