Annalisa Mae Bowman

I had my membranes stripped on May 5, and had lots of hard contractions the rest of the day. I was positive the baby would come that night. When I woke up and nothing had happened, I cried and was upset for a while. But then the girls needed me to get them breakfast and dress their Barbie dolls, so I had to get up and get going. Then, on Sunday, during sacrament meeting, I didn't feel well at all, and I had a contraction that lasted for 3 minutes or something. So I went home, made sure my bag was packed, and laid down to rest. No more contractions the rest of the day. Monday morning I woke up at 7:30 to hard contractions for about an hour or so, but they ranged from 5 mins apart to 17 mins apart. Oh well, we will just go over to the hospital and have them check me, and maybe they will keep me and induce me. Because I was at a 3 on May 5, so I had to have progressed since then, right? Well, we got the girls dressed and over to Irma's. Ryan gave me a priesthood blessing while we were there. The contractions stopped before we left our house. Nothing on the way to Irma's. Nothing while we were there. Nothing on the way to the hospital. So we came home and I put dishes away from the dishwasher and took a shower and I'm writing this now.
Oh, the reason I wanted to write stuff down. Katie, this morning, when I told her the baby might come today, so we were taking her to Irma's house. She said, "Mom, remember when we were on that trip, and the water was leaking at the hotel?"
Yes?
Well, i thought that is what it would be like when you had your baby.
Oh, when my water breaks?
Yeah.
Oh, sorry. It is a little different. :)

She's so funny.

My back hurts, and there is lots of pressure down there, so I guess maybe we will go over to the hospital and have them check. I just feel so wishy washy about it, that it must not really be time. But I don't want her to come before I have time to get to the hospital either!
Ryan is taking a nap, so I guess I'll go wake him up.

I had been having contractions for about 2 hours on Monday, May 9. They ranged from 3 minutes to 17 minutes apart. They weren't hurting tons, but we decided to drop the girls off at Irma's house at about 9:30 am. We started to drive to the hospital, and of course, the contractions stopped completely. So we went home and I cleaned the kitchen and straightened the house. Then Ryan was hungry, but I didn't feel like eating, so we went to Santaqueen, and Ryan made me get some food. He always knows when I need to eat, even if I say I'm not hungry. I ate all my food, and we decided to go to my OB's office to see if they would check me and see if there was any progression. At my last appointment, on May 5, he said I was at a 3. He checked and said I was dilated to a 4, and effaced to about 70%. He said I could go to the hospital and they could induce me then, or I could go home and probably come back in the middle of the night and then have the baby. We went over to the hospital at about 2:00 pm. Dr Crouch (my OB) broke my water at 4:45 and said I was at a 5 and 80%. Then I got the epidural, which slowed down the progression, but it so worth getting! I stayed at a 6 for about 1.5 hours, so they increased the Pitocin and I went to a 9 in half an hour.

Annalisa arrived at 8:39 pm on May 9. She weighed 9 lbs 3 oz, and was 20.5 inches long. She had some fluid in her stomach that they had to suction out, but otherwise, everything went really well. I think I pushed 5 times through one contraction, and she was here! When the doctor laid her on my belly, I was amazed that big baby had been in my tummy. She is so beautiful! 

Annalisa calmed down while holding Daddy's finger, just like her sisters.

Weighing in at 9 lbs, 3 oz, and 20.5 inches long

Her hair is curly when wet

We are so happy to have Annalisa here!

Happy parents

The hospital has a photographer that takes pictures of the babies, then wants you to buy prints. They cost $18 for one 8 X 10. We didn't get any prints, but this was the best picture they got. 

I left the hospital on May 12, and everyone has been taking really good care of me. I was blessed to have meals brought in by the ward, friends, and my loving family for 2 whole weeks! I've recovered pretty well. I feel almost normal at this point. 
Annalisa nurses really well, and she even takes a bottle easily. Ryan will normally give her a bottle at about midnight or 1 am before he goes to bed, which means I don't have to wake up to feed her until about 4 am. It is great.
Annalisa has a little bit of congestion, so she breathes noisily. She snorts and snores when she sleeps. It is pretty cute. She started recognizing when I was getting ready to feed her within about 4 days of being born. She will be fussy, and I lay her on my lap sideways, while I get ready to nurse, and she will quiet down. She tends to fill her diaper right as I put a new one on her, even if I've waited until I'm sure she is done. :)

Katie and Elayna love her. We had to keep reminding them of her name, and even now, they tend to just call her baby. It's okay, because I call her Elayna a lot. :) Katie likes to hold her, and wants to feed her and burp her and carry her around. Right now, she just holds her on her lap, and has fed her with a bottle once.

The other day, I saw Ryan yawning and stretching in bed. I realized that Annalisa yawns and stretches exactly like Ryan! It was so cute. I don't normally "see" characteristics of people in my children. That was the first time I have actually noticed a resemblance between my children and anyone else.

We are so thankful Annalisa arrived safely and that everything went well with the delivery. Living and breathing and giving life- I am so grateful Heavenly Father has blessed me and my family with these amazing miracles!!

Swinging and Playing Outside

My beautiful girls, all dressed up for Mother's Day:

Mother's Day-May 8

Part of my Mother's Day present-May 7-Irma edged the lawn, and Ryan mowed and took down Christmas lights and the girls helped sweep up the grass clippings. I just sat in a lawn chair and watched.

Ryan also got me LEGO Harry Potter for the xbox for Mother's Day. We have lots of fun playing the LEGO games together. We have already passed off LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Batman, and LEGO Indiana Jones. Ryan likes to buy them for me, because they are the only games I will play with him on the xbox.


 

Katie and Elayna really love to swing in our backyard, These are some of the "tricks" they were showing me one day:

Swinging on their tummies and letting their hair touch the ground:

Swinging while standing:


Flipping over and touching the ground with her head:


Swinging while standing up:


Katie was pushing Elayna. It was actually a little scary, but they both enjoyed it:


Holding hands while swinging:


These girls make me so happy! They love playing together and coming up with new and interesting things to show me. Such cuties!

End of April 2011

Pregnancy pic-May 2, 2011-38 weeks

I went to my OB doctor on April 22. He said everything looks good, and he will see me on May 5, because he is going on vacation for the week in between. I'm supposed to be seeing him weekly at this point.

This yellow tulip is from our yard. It was huge! The dark purple tulip is the size of a normal tulip. The yellow was about the size of a teacup. I love tulips.


I turned 32 this year. My parent's took me out to lunch, and my in-laws took me out to dinner. Ryan took me to dinner. I think I ate out for most of the week of my birthday, which was great. Ryan bought me the 5th book of Fablehaven. It is a series that we are reading together, and that is the next book! I'm excited to read it.

When Ryan took the girls shopping for my birthday, I guess he was asking them what they should get. Ryan says this is how the conversation went:
Ryan- What should we give Mom?
Katie-her cooking thing is broken (my mixer)
Ryan-no, too expensive
Katie-a new sewing machine? (I had said I wanted a new one around Christmas, then changed my mind)
Ryan-No...
Katie-I know! A piggy bank. So she can keep her money and special stuff in it!

So when they got home from shopping, Ryan texted me to go into the bedroom. Then I came out, and they were hiding from me in the stairway. They yelled, "Surprise! Happy Birthday!" Then Katie asked, in a loud whisper, "Can I tell her about the donuts?" Ryan said no. Then later, again in a loud whisper, "Can we give her the book now?" Ryan said "no" again. I had to pretend both times that I hadn't heard her. She is so cute. Katie and Elayna were both so excited it was my "happy birthday" and that Ryan put candles in the donuts and they got to sing Happy Birthday to me. Birthdays are a lot more fun when kids are involved.
My parents also gave me some money, which I used to partly pay for my quilt to be machine quilted. I will post pictures of the quilt later.  I'm really happy with how it turned out. I need to bind the edges together, and then it will completely finished.

For my birthday, Irma, Jerry, and Clarissa got me a gift certificate to a nail salon. I got my nails done in a French manicure:

And my toes got a cute little flower. It was really nice and relaxing. Surprising how something as simple as nail polish can make you feel pampered and special. :)



Elayna has cream that we put on her when she gets really dry or irritated skin. One night, Ryan came into her room (we thought she was asleep) and Elayna just held up her hands and said, "lotion" in a kind of depressed, worried sort of way. We had to get a picture, then we told her she was in trouble. It took quite a bit of paper towels and warm washcloths to get it mostly off.
You can see she got it all over her face, hands, arms, and legs.

Elayna, trying on her Daddy's shoes. She was so proud of herself.

Katie and Elayna wanted to play out in the rain. It was raining pretty hard.


A beautiful rainbow:



Irma had Katie and Elayna come stay the night at her house on April 22, in preparation for when the baby comes. The girls love it. In fact, they were both upset that they had to come home.  Ryan and I were both ready for them to come home. We were sitting in the front room, waiting for them. We both kept looking out the window, and looking at the clock, and wondering where they were. When they finally came, we went outside and helped get them out of the car, and gave them really big hugs. I think they were excited to see us, after Grandma and Grandpa went home.

GG had an Easter party at her house on April 23. There were treats, ice cream, cookies, etc. Then the kids went on an Easter egg hunt and got some candy. Then they broke open a pinata, with more candy inside. Lots of sugar, but lots of fun too. 





Easter dresses: (they actually got the dresses for Christmas, but they haven't worn them until now)

 The Easter bunny didn't come to our house this year. We figured the girls had enough candy to last them for a while, and Ryan and I don't need any more candy. This is probably the last year we will be able to just cancel the holiday like that. Katie will figure it out by next year.

The wind was blowing so hard that it knocked over one of my chairs. The chair hit my table, and shattered half of it. :(    Now we will have to use a board for the table top.

First half of April 2011

Bubbles are a big hit in the tub. Katie likes to put them on her face and pose. I asked Elayna why she didn't have a "beard" also, and they both said, "She does, it's pink and really long." Silly girls.

I registered Katie for Kindergarten on April 1st. She had to get some immunization shots the day before, and that was traumatic. She only cried a little though. On the way home, she said something like, "I don't know why I have to get shots. They hurt." I felt so bad. I tried to explain what diseases are, and why we do immunizations, but I'm not sure she understood. At least she knows there is a reason, and not that I just want her to hurt.

Katie isn't taking naps hardly at all anymore. (she hasn't taken many naps since last fall, when preschool started) She is learning "sight words" on flashcards that she can memorize what they look like, then recognize them upon sight, instead of sounding them out each time. At first, we both really struggled with it. I wanted her to sound it out each time, and she just didn't understand the concept. After crying to my mom about it one day, ("Katie will never learn, she hates it, I hate it, I don't know how to help her, will she ever figure it out?" etc...) Mom explained that "is" (the word I started to teach her) doesn't mean anything to Katie. It is just 2 random letters together, and even sounding it out each time doesn't help. Mom suggested teaching some other words first, and having Katie write them down, or draw pictures with them.

Now, Katie will trace each flashcard onto her paper, write the word in the box on her paper, and write the letters of each word below itself on the actual flashcard. She is obviously a person that learns by writing it down. When I flash through the cards, she will look at her paper to see what the word it. It is very interesting. Mom also suggested having Katie read the words in a sentence, and that has helped a lot also. So now, it is not an awful chore that we both hate. It is a fun learning experience, and Katie looks forward to it each day. (We work on them right after Elayna goes down for her nap.)

Katie is growing fast also. When she got her well child checkup before Kindergarten Registration, the doctor said she was in the 75% for her height and weight. She could do all the requested activities the doctor asked about.-- Jump with both feet, balance on one leg, how high can you count, do you know your colors, does she do imaginary play, etc.--
She also passed with flying colors the assessment the school did. Lynette DeGraffenried is my aunt, and she is the one that interviewed Katie. Lynette asked her about colors, what each letter and number was, what shapes were on the paper, what sounds each letter made, and Katie did really great. It seems a little crazy that she will be in Kindergarten in the fall, but she is ready.


After eating some chocolate, and their fingers were all dirty:


This is how my cute Elayna reads books, 90% of the time. Book on the couch, legs crossed as she casually leans against the couch. I think it is adorable:
Elayna loves Princesses at the moment. Especially Snow White. I think I read the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at least 3-4 times a day. She loves being outside, and coloring. She hasn't worn diapers at all for about a month, if not more. She still has accidents, but she can stay dry most days, and she will now go by herself if she decides she needs to. Ryan and I take turns waking her up at night (okay, mostly Ryan does it, but I help sometimes too, since I'm up going to the bathroom also) so she sleeps in underwear also. She is doing really well with potty training.

Elayna talks really well, and a lot. She loves being around Katie so much. She copies most of what Katie does, and they play so well together. Most mornings they will be awake, playing in their bedroom, before I realize they are awake. Sometimes I'll come out and say, "Let's eat breakfast" and they will ask if they can play more before we eat. Of course, they fight about stuff, but most of the time they really love being around each other.


Here I am at 35 weeks:
Everything is going well. The due date, as I've calculated it, should be about the 9th of May. My doctor says it will be closer to the 13th. I'm sure she will come when she wants, and we will both be wrong. :)

Not much going on. Basically just waiting for the baby to come. I haven't really started nesting yet, but I'm trying to get stuff done. Most of the time just having a meal ready when Ryan comes home from work can seem like a big accomplishment. I feel really tired, and don't want to move much. Katie and Elayna play with friends (mostly Abby and Gracie) most of the time, and I do stuff around the house. I really don't just lay around all day. I've got some of my roses trimmed, and my quilt is almost finished. I need to put a border around it, and find someone that will machine quilt it for me, then I'll post pictures of it. I'm pretty proud of it.

Ryan is sleeping better. He seems more rested. He will get his thyroid levels checked at the end of the month, and the doctor will adjust the medication if necessary.

March 2011

My belly at 30 weeks:

Everything is going well with the pregnancy. I've had some Braxton Hicks (fake) contractions, and some back pain, but they are usually worse when I have over extended myself. So I'm trying to slow down, and take breaks in between chores and such. It is a good reminder to slow down and take time with the girls also. On my good days, I set the timer. 20 minutes for me to work, 10 minutes to read/play with the girls. It seems to work well.

On March 12, we were at my parent's house, and the kids were playing outside. The adults were downstairs talking. We saw Katie coming toward the door with her hand over her forehead. When she came in and moved her hand, there was a huge goosebump with a really white spot in the middle of it. It was right over her right eye. I got scared, especially when Dad said I might need to take her to the doctor to have the blood taken out of the bump. We ran upstairs, and saw Mom in the kitchen. I told her what Dad had said, so she said she would watch Elayna, and we should call her.
Well, long story short, Ryan and I called my brother Mike, and he said that we probably didn't need to go to the emergency room to have it checked. (I guess there was some confusion between Dad and Mom about whether it needed to be looked at by a doctor, or not) We stopped at McDonald's and got a cup of ice. (yeah, we should have had ice on it from the beginning, but we didn't. We'll know better for next time.)
This is a side view of her head about 2 hours after Abby and her hit their heads together on the trampoline. (It was an accident of course, and Abby only had a red mark. Strange.)
The picture doesn't show that the bump is about the size of a silver dollar. It looked so huge! Thankfully, the swelling went down significantly after we put ice on it, and in the morning, there was a slight red mark there. Throughout the week, it turned green, and she had a green bruise on her eyebrow also. I'm just grateful she is okay.


The girls were playing in the front on March 9th. They were having so much fun dancing on the driveway:
Plus, they are so adorable with their sunglasses and happy smiles!


Ryan had a date with Katie this month. They ate at a Chinese restaurant, then went downstairs and played chess. I guess Katie wanted to learn, since Ryan has been teaching and playing chess with Katie's older cousins. Ryan says she understood and remembered how most of the pieces moved, and they had fun.

Elayna and I had our date also. We went and ordered some pizza, and wandered around Walmart while it was cooking. Then we got the pizza and took it home to eat. We played one board game, then it was time for Elayna to go to sleep.

Oh, and the weather was awful, again. It was snowing, and windy, and cold. Hopefully next month we will have better luck with the weather. We are really enjoying having this one on one time with the girls. It will be more complicated when the baby gets here. I'm not sure how we will work that out....

Ryan has had some problems with his Thyroid. We decided at the end of last year to have his thyroid ablated (killed) because it was over reacting. It is easier to treat hypOthyroidism, rather than hypERthyroidism, I guess. (Hyper is over reacting. Hypo is under reacting) So now he will be on thyroid medicine the rest of his life. The hyperthyroid was dangerous to his health, and we feel that this was a good decision.
The strangest part of it all, to me, is that Ryan is cold all the time now. And since I'm pregnant, I'm always warm. That is so completely backwards from most of our marriage! It is just odd to see Ryan with long sleeves on, and huddled under blankets, while I feel it is too warm.
Thankfully, the medicine should get his metabolism all straightened out, and we should be back at the same temperature within the next couple of months.

Ryan is also on a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine. This makes it so he doesn't snore at night. Actually, the main reason is so he will keep breathing while he sleeps. Apparently his brain forgets to remind him to breathe, and his tongue can fall into his airway while he sleeps, so it is good to have the air constantly flowing into him. It is strange, because he has to wear a mask at night, but I sleep lots better (the machine doesn't make any noise, and his snoring used to be really loud). I also don't have to worry about whether he is breathing or not, which is nice.

Just being cute, holding each other on the couch:

Katie and Elayna got their dentist checkups. They both held really still, and did just what the hygienist and dentist asked them. Katie and Elayna's teeth looked really good, and neither one had any cavities. Yay!