Our Beautiful Little Miracle

And now introducing to the world, after a 9 month hiatus in Rachael's tummy, Anna Rachael Rose.....







This is going to be Rachael's version of the events that transpired on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009. Richard will be adding his commentary shortly. Expect a page gripper!

So I got called at 6:15 am on Tuesday to go to the hospital to get induced. Up until the last minute I kept hoping that Anna would come on her own. I instructed her in no uncertain terms that if she wanted things to be on her time table, she would have to step forward now, or she would be smoked out!
At 8 am they started me on the pitocin. I was also hooked up to antibiotics and a saline drip. Additionally, I had two monitors hooked to my stomach at all times. Not really the ideal conditions for a natural birth, but I had high hopes.
At first the contractions were very manageable and I thought I had achieved Rock Star status. I thought, "all those women who talk about not being able to handle the pain of childbirth were obviously lesser women." I was wrong!
My contractions came every two minutes for all 10 hours of labor. For the last 8 hours I spent 95% of the time with my eyes closed, concentrating with all my strength on getting through each contraction. Although I had taken hypnobirthing classes, I remember thinking "this whole frolicking off into a grassy meadow in my mind is not working for me anymore." There was definitely more than just a "tightening" or "pressure." It was the hardest dang thing I have ever done in my life.
At least three times I said "I really want an epidural..." but I just kept concentrating on getting through the next contraction, and then the next. I had a trio of helpers (my doula, my mom, and Richard) who kept rallying around me and encouraging me the whole time. I really wanted to give up, and just when I thought that I couldn't do it anymore, that is when I was fully dilated. At that point, I knew an epidural was not an option-- and I would have to finish this on my own (but not really-- there were a lot of prayers buoying me up at that time). Pushing was a relief, and at 6:36 pm, our beautiful little girl, Anna Rachael Rose was born.
So, is it possible to do an unmedicated birth even when being induced? Heck yes, but not for the faint of heart!

This next part is Richard's addendum to the day:

7:30am -- arrive at hospital
8:00am -- begin oxytocin
10:30am -- water breaks (gradual)
2:00pm -- dialation at about 2cm
3:30pm -- dialation at about 5cm
4:30pm -- dialation at about 6cm
5:30pm -- dialation at 10cm, begin pushing
6:36pm -- Anna Rachael Rose born


Watching Rachael bring our little daughter in the world was the most inspiring day of my life. In 10 hours she went from only 1cm of dialation and the baby not fully desended into place, to delivering our baby. We often use the analogy of labor being like a marathon. Being induced is like someone telling you, "You are going to run 26.6 miles, starting immediately and maintain a 6 minute mile pace the whole time." The fact that she was able to do it without medication speaks to her indominable spirit (which I believe has been passed on to our daughter!). And, in true Rachael fashion, she kept us laughing throughout the process. Any time a new nurse walked in the room, the others would mention how this was Rachael's first baby, induced, and unmedicated. Truly a sight to behold.

One day more

"One day more...
Another day another destiny..."

So I know what my daughter's birthday is going to be. She will be born sometime on July 28th (Happy Birthday to Johnny Hansen on that day). I am on an "induction schedule" which means that as beds become available they will call me to come in to the hospital to be induced. Luckily, I am the second woman on the list, so sometime between 6 am and 9 am I should get that phone call. Do you think I am actually going to sleep tonight? Its like the ultimate night before Christmas, with the biggest expected Christmas ever. Except, I never had to go through labor to get that Huffy bike when I was 12.
Richard takes the third section of the CPA exam Wednesday at 4 pm. We move down to St. George on Sunday afternoon. For being intelligent, logical people, we do rather irrational things sometime (but it made so much sense 9 months ago).

So what am I doing to pass the time....baking cookies and letting my stomach tie in knots. I have to remind myself that this is going to be a happy time. I am still determined to do this thing naturally. I have trained myself physically and mentally for this challenge, but there is still the unknown factor-- like the first time I ran a marathon and wasn't sure if I really had the ability to finish. I know my body is capable, as women's bodies have been since the beginning of time, but I need to control my thoughts to think positively and stay relaxed. This is my chance to serve my daughter!

I will let you know how it goes!

Everything but the kitchen sink

It is, I suppose, a perfect storm. Combine two life changing factors such as moving and having a baby and what you get is a young couple trying to induce the labor of their unborn child while trying to get rid of the food in their house. Waste not, want not (whatever that means).
Because we thought for sure I would have had the baby by now, we were kind of counting on our respective mothers and the women of relief society to be helping with our meals by now and had not stocked our cupboards for a long while. On Thursday night I covered the meal options with Richard:
We could share a can of spagetti o's
We could have instant mashed potatoes topped with refried beans
We could mix in a can of garbanzo beans with canned tomato soup
cold cereal and peanut butter toast.
Richard, in typical Richard fashion, took our limited resources as a challenge (kind of like his own Iron Chef competition). He took over and labored away in the kitchen and an hour later had come up with what he called the "Empty Cupboard-- Empty Uterus" meal (hoping that by using everything we had in the house in one meal that we could somehow induce labor). This consisted of enchiladas filled with refried beans, garbanzo beans, sour cream, and cream cheese and topped with a sauce composed of habaneros, jalapenos, and chipotles. He served these with more refried beans on the side and topped it all with cilantro cousgous (sp?).
Can I just say, that this man is brilliant. I don't know how he pulled it all together, but we loved it!

But did it bring on labor? Nope. Even with extra habanero sauce from Mexico to help it all slide down, I finally realized that this unborn little girl has Richard's genetics in her, which means that not only does she have a natural resistance to spicy food, but she has spent the last 9 months feasting on jalapeno laced food and salsa and now has an acquired immunity to heat.

We are still set to move on Saturday, August 1. Lets hope that this baby decides to make her appearance soon!

I'm a gambling woman!

I went to my doctor appointment today. Today is my due date, but our daughter shows no signs of making her appearance in the next 24 hours or more. So, in an effort to get her to speed up her entry, I bought Richard and I tickets to see "Singin in the Rain" at the Hale Center Theatre on Friday night. So whereas before I was telling her to come by a certain time...I am now instructing her to wait until Saturday to come. What can I say, I like to do everything, and I hate to miss out on anything good.
The good news is, if I go into labor tomorrow, we can change our tickets to next Friday or Saturday with only a small charge. If I actually go into labor on Friday, we will just need to find someone who will be willing to go see an amazing play in our place. Any takers on who wants to be our backup couple to go see a play in our stead?
I figure that planning something on a certain day is the surest way to actually start labor moving along. The price of two theater tickets has got to be less than the Pitocin they would pump me full of on Tuesday (July 28th) if I had to be induced right? So actually, paying for tickets that we may never use could be my most clever plan yet!

Why Uncle Rico Was Wrong!

So as I have been cleaning the house and packing for our move, I came across some pictures of me from high school. These pictures simultaneously answer the questions of why I never had a boyfriend or got kissed until I was twenty, and why I am kind of excited to go to my 10 year reunion in another three weeks. Most of the time when I run into anyone who knew me way back then I run the other way! After seeing these photos, Richard confirmed by suspicion that he probably would not have dated me in high school. I don't blame him....I wouldn't have dated myself either!

It is amazing what getting rid of acne, growing your hair, going to college, putting on makeup, wearing clothes that don't come from D.I., serving a mission, running 5 marathons, losing 20 pounds, going to law school, marrying a fantastic guy, and being eccentrically happy can do for your appearance.

So, when I say I went through a decade of ugliness....I am not kidding. I really did. However, I would like to say that in a way, I am grateful for those awkward years. I remember thinking "well, I will never be pretty, so I might as well be smart and funny!" Because I never thought I would be able to rely on my looks to get me through life, I concentrated on developing my whole person....and the rest kind of fell in place after that. So yeah, when I go to my reunion, I am going to go up to that football player that I had a crush on, and I am going to strike a pose and say "you missed out on this!" (no, not really).

Richard, on the other hand, had a great time in high school. He was Ricardo Incognito-- the funniest, smartest, most outgoing, friendliest, class-spiritest person in school. Girls loved him and guys wanted to be him. He was Editor in Chief of the School Newspaper, Captain of the Knowledge Bowl team, and Class Clown! Basically, he was a legend in his own time. And look how cute he was! And I got to marry him!

So Uncle Rico was wrong....High School was definitely not the best years of my life! I choose now!

The Waiting Game

Nope, no change.

This baby is already asserting her individuality and rebellion. I specifically told her to be born on July 15 and she failed to follow through. What a disobedient child....

Everyday I wake up and wonder "is today the day?"

every time I take a shower I think "what if my water breaks in the next 10 seconds and I don't know it because I am already wet?"

What can I say-- I am a planner. I plan out everything in my life. I like to know when things are going to happen so I can plan around it, anticipate it, prepare for it.

That is what makes pregnancy so frustrating. After last week, my plans became something like this:

Thursday: Plan A-- have a baby. Plan B-- go to Harry Potter
Friday: Plan A-- have a baby. Plan B-- lunch with girls, and date with Carly and Brian
Saturday: Plan A-- have a baby. Plan B-- hiking and Farmer's Market
Sunday: Plan A-- have a baby. Plan B-- sing in sacrament meeting

do you see where this is going?

So until then, I do a lot of house packing, Michael Jackson music video watching, and plan B-ing.

Last Day of Work-- the pregnant bailiff speaks

Some of you have never had the glorious opportunity to see me decked out in my bailiff uniform. What you are looking at is a serious P.O.S.T passing deputy sherriff (that means I passed police academy with flying colors). Is there anything more attractive than a woman in uniform? Check out the next picture to find out.
A pregnant woman in uniform! Actually, after I got pregnant, I actually fit in more with the other sherriff's deputies! Take note of the way my stomach hangs over my belt. Are those donuts in there or a daughter? In either case, you definitely didn't want to mess with me in court. I never had to kick butt-- but I often had to kick out babies from court and ask people to take off their hats. This is what I went to law school for!


This was the rest of us. We called ourselves "the nine." We all passed the bar (and Kiersty will be passing the bar soon). One of the reasons I took this job is because I actually wanted to be happy with my life. Any of you who know attorneys know that is typically not the case. I don't care how much money they make-- it doesn't make up for the compromises in quality of life they also make!
This is my apple computer! I have a bad habit (I like to think of it as just a quirky eccentricity) of leaving the apple sticker on whatever or wherever I happen to be at the time. I ate a lot of apples at my desk. They have also been found on my steering wheel, my scriptures, the bed posts, and Richard!
Just a close up to show I don't discriminate between fruit and apple brands!
This is me with my Judge-- Judge Lynn W. Davis. The best part of my job is that I was the person who said "All Rise, Court is now in session. The Honorable Lynn W. Davis presiding" everyday. He is an awesome judge. He offered to give me the shirt off his back, but I took his judge's robe instead (as you will see in the next picture).
Introducing the Honorable Rachael S. Rose. Take this as a foreshadowing of things to come. Judge Davis usually only does this for kids 8 years old and under (letting them sit at the bench wearing his robe), but he took exception for me on my last day of work.

As a side note, Richard is kind of nervous to have me at home all the time now. I get a little stir crazy when I am at home. I think he is afraid HE is going to become my hobby for the next little bit.

Prego Pics

Our friend is a highly talented photographer. (Please check out her blog here). She recently took some 'prego pics' of Rachael.

The luckiest boy in the world (and girl, for that matter)

Well, it finally happened (no, not labor!)....

someone finally told Richard how lucky he was to be married to me, Rachael Rose.

Now, that may be a small thing for those of you normal people. In most families the girl's family tells the boy how lucky he is to have her, and the boy's family tell the girl how lucky she is to have him (and sometimes, the boy's family tells the girl how grateful they are to the girl for taking the boy off of their hands). That is what happens in normal families.

But what happens when the boy's family tells the girl how lucky she is to be married to their son, but the girl's family ALSO tells the girl how lucky she is to be married to such a wonderful guy.

Who is supposed to remind the boy how lucky he is to be married to the most beautiful, talented, intelligent, funny girl in the world.

Well, that job has been placed squarely on my shoulders ever since Richard and I got married. When we visit his home, everyone tells me how lucky I am to be married to Richard, and Richard's mom frequently tells me that I am the luckiest girl in the world (as she stares adoringly at her son-- but who can blame her). But when I am around my family, they also remind me that I am really lucky and that Richard is WAY cooler than me (of course, they have seen me in all my awkward glory growing up, or those times when I used to run around naked in the house when I was six.....).

So, I have to be the one to tell Richard how lucky he is, because no one else is doing it for me!

But on Sunday we were down visiting my family in St. George, and coming out of church, one of my neighbors stopped us and made a remark about how I had such a special spirit (which may or may not be a compliment coming from the wrong person) and that Richard was very lucky to be married to me.

I turned to Richard with a glowing face and said "FINALLY!!"
I think Richard was pretty delighted with how delighted I was. After a moment of letting me gloat, he remarked "Wow, today is probably the happiest day of your life!"

Yes, my friend, it was!

Norm Plus One

Norm McDonald produced the concept of how I see John and Kate Plus 8:

You Tube Clip

Check it out