Mister Man

WARNING, VERY LONG!

Obsessed. That is a good word to describe how I feel about our new little man. Milo Preston Smith was born on September 27th around noon. Weighing in at 7 14. It was of course love at first sight and such a relief when he arrived so healthy and no complications to him. The recovery was surprisingly easier than what I expected. I think I thought so because ENYTHING in the world would be easy after the last month of pregnancy! I thought I should write down his birth story before I forget because it is already starting to fade. I though his 3 month birthday would be just the right time to do so.


I have never been an anxious person. That all changed when I found out I was pregnant. We were SO excited!!!!! I couldn’t wait to start showing and feel the baby move. Everything was so new every ach and pain in the beginning I was afraid was a bad sign. Thank heaven for 3 sisters and my mom who have many children to walk me through it. At my first ultrasound by doc told me I have a low lying placenta. She scheduled a few more ultra sounds so we could watch it to make sure I don’t have placenta previa. Half way through my pregnancy we moved from Seattle to Tucson and I had to change docs. My new fabulous Doctor Jenny Hutchison took another look at the placenta and told me the good news that I no longer have a low lying placenta but it does look like I have a little something called vasa previa. She told me whatever I do to not google it until we know for sure I have it. I looked it up... She was right I should have never done that. She sent me to a high risk OB. After weeks of anxiety thinking the baby and I were going to die a sad death, I got the results back from the high risk OB and found out I don’t have that either. Now you might be thinking great this has nothing to do with the birth story of Milo because I was all clear and neither one of those situations came to pass. The thing is I was a nervous wreck. For months I didn’t know what was going to happen. Thank heavens I didn’t have either one of those conditions and all is well... But this started all the anxiety.

Now for the story...

Milo's due date was October 5th. Mid-September I went up to Mesa for one of my best friends sealing in the Mesa Temple. I was a little worried to make the trip because I was SO BIG and my Braxton hicks contractions were getting a little harder but it was an event I did not want to miss. On my way home the contractions started to get more and more painful. That night my back on my left side started to kill. I didn’t sleep a wink...(that I was already use to) I felt something was wrong. Of course I called all my sisters and asked if they had such extreme back pain when they were prego and they assured me it was normal. My contractions we getting more and more frequent and for the next week my random back pain (on just one side) was coming off and on in awful waves. I was in so much pain the bath was not working to ease my pain. I called another one of my best friends Cami who had just recently had a baby and told her I am not feeling half as many kicks from the baby and about the pain and also about having contractions so close together but not feeling any pressure or progress. She said if it were her she would go right into the hospital to make sure everything was ok. I decided to try another night to see how it goes and if I still have a bad feeling to go in the next day. As it turns out that night my sister Sarah got bit by a rattle snake and I went to the hospital to see her and after decided to just walk on down to the triage and let them know what was going on. So I did. (she is ok by the way) They hooked me up to the monitor and his heart beat was just fine. That was a relief. Then when they were monitoring my contractions the nurse looked at me and said "are you feeling these contractions?" "YES!!!" They were every three minutes!!! I was still not dilated more than a 2 so they sent me home.

The next week I hardly felt the baby move. I had a very sick feeling something was wrong. In fact I knew something was wrong. I know it sounds crazy and I am glad that I had told Preston and my sister Sarah this. I had a very strong feeling the cord was around his neck. I had earlier heard a story of a girl I went to school with having a still born because the cord was wrapped around his neck. I had a sick feeling this was the case with him. I just knew something was wrong. That Sunday I skipped church because I felt like poop and my back hurt like NOTHING I had felt before!!! I decided this pain was not normal and even though everyone said "you will know when you are in labor" I was one who only had back pain and contractions and no pressure. I had decided this because no way is this the "normal" pregnancy back pain everyone was saying it was. So I decided to walk around the mall to get the party started... bad idea. That walk only made the pain worse and no action. I decided I was going to go back to the hospital if it didn’t get better. So the next morning that’s what I did. Preston being the sympathetic husband and the doctor that he is told me that "maybe the pain is because you are laying down so much, sometimes when I sleep in and am laying down a lot my back starts to hurt a lot too" Wrong-o buddy I was passing a kidney stone!!! I got admitted to the hospital. I was throwing up and I couldn’t pee and was on a large amount of morphine. I think that night was the worst night of my existence. The stone was forcing the contractions to come hard and every 3 mins. By the morning the stone hadn’t passed yet but because of the trauma my body was experiencing and could be effecting the baby, the Doctor wanted to take him then. The next thing I know I was calling my mom and telling her I was about to taken in for a C-section right away.

And just like that Milo was born. Best moment of my life! I was right he did have the cord around his neck and also a knot in his cord. Now I know that many babies are born with the cord around the neck and survive, but a lot of them don’t.

I know the kidney stone was a blessing. It sounds crazy but if I would not have been in that pain I would not have known to go to the hospital and get a C-section and get him out early. I know it was the Lord looking out for my sweet little boy and for my family.

The End

A little something to add...

Yes I am prego! Very exciting. As you read in Preston's post below we are very excited. Things are a little different then what he made it to be.

1. When he said I must have taken a test without him knowing what he meant to say was... Every single time he turned his back I was taking a test. I felt very sheepish you understand, so most of the time I would take it without him knowing.. Some say the day after the possible conception is a little early? Well I was going to prove them wrong. I didn't.

2. When I magically appeared behind him on the treadmill at the gym... I had actually run the whole way.. by foot. I was so excited and happy I didn't even have the time to tell off and scold the homeless man who yelled "nice butt" while I was on my way. (ohhh Seattle) If he could only see that "nice butt" now he would have nothing nice to say.

3. Morning, afternoon and night sickness translates to... I was a crazy person. I had to hold back crying every time I walked by someone because they stunk so bad.

4. Showing. Showing very early. I don't think people are supposed to be able to ask you "boy or a girl" at two months, but it sure happens. The growing so fast has come to a halt or so I thought. Last week at 20 weeks I was at a parade eating a Scandinavian hot dog... (don't ask because I don't know) a woman walked by and very sweetly smiled and said "don't drop that baby here!" Well yes I hope not I am only half way there. Poor little baby would die! That's what I wanted to say, but I didn't. I just said "yes I hope not!"

5. Yay it's a boy!!! We all know I was wanting a girl. Who are we trying to kid. I feel so bad even saying that now. Knowing that I am going to have a boy I could not picture anything else.

We are so very excited. It really is is all consuming. We shall see what the rest of the pregnancy is like because I have a long way to go. This past month I have been able to be stable enough to not think of the cute little one as a parasite. I'm making progress :)

Love you all!

Baby Boy Smith 19 weeks

Well, as you most likely already know, Lindsey and I are expecting our first little baby October 5, 2011. This story begins one night when I was at the gym, running on a treadmill. I don't remember why Lindsey decided to stay home that night, but suddenly there she was, standing behind me on the treadmill. She was glowing with excitement, and I instantly knew she must have taken a pregnancy

test without me knowing, and it must have been positive. She said I had to come home immediately because there was something I had to see. She didn't say what, so I thought I would give her the satisfaction of surprising me at home. I went along with the idea that Pearl, our furry fluffy friend, must have either torn apart the house or cooked us some eggs and bacon. When I got home, Lindsey showed me a pregnancy test that was positive. After a few months of morning, afternoon, and evening sickness, Lindsey's feeling a lot better and is really starting too show. Okay, she has been showing since one or two months (which I thought was so cute), but now she is having fun showing off her pregnant tummy and feeling cute instead of fat even though she looked adorable. Anyway, we had our last ultrasound this week to make sure all the baby's anatomy looked good and to see if it was a boy or a girl. Well, it's a BOY!!! And everything looks great on the ultrasound. We're so excited to welcome our little boy into the world. We thought we would share some of the recent shots.

"oh did you just move to the neighborhood?"

So as it turns out Seattle is soooo artsy. It's very artsy to be "organic"  I knew this from day one and I thought I could hang.  You know I love writing music, poetry, and occasionally I have been known to cry at artwork or a song that really moves me.  I also take to time to buy produce at a little stand, and have started to support our local dairy and getting my milk from them. That's all kids stuff.  Seattle has taken artsy to a whole new level I can't even come close to hanging.  I have found that you are not "artsy" if you buy a lot of grocery's at one time.  It's true. In my local grocery store they only have a few full sized carts.  They mostly have half little guys that everyone wheels around.  Come to think of it... I might be the only one in the whole store that I have ever seen use a full size cart.  I have gotten a couple of comments while checking out like. "it's nice to get all stocked up hu?"  and "oh did you just move to the neighborhood?"  Last night I got "just stocking up for the week?"  YES I AM because I eat food.  I looked around and noticed the woman behind me had a itty bitty cart with her two kids and in it were 1. rice cakes 2. organic peanut butter 3. Oats!  I am most definitely the odd man out here. Well they can enjoy a yummy dinner of rice cakes and peanut butter, but I'm about to grub. 

I was recently introduced to this very funny show by some ladies in my ward.  The show is a spoof of Portland but I am told Portland and Seattle are very much alike.  This video is so funny to me now because it feels as if this is the direction so many of my conversations are going now days.  ENJOY

13 Miles and Still Going Strong

Lindsey ran her first half marathon yesterday in Mt. Vernon, Washington.  The race was held a little over an hour north of Seattle at a little junior college and ran through a bunch of farms and dairies.  The course was rather hilly, and I'm sure nothing was more refreshing for Lindsey than struggling up the steeper hills to be greeted by curious horses lining the fence lines and a fresh breath of dairy air (for those of you with Lunt blood, imagine how refreshing it was coming down the hill in Duncan and breaking through the cloud of vaporized manure to get to Grandma and Grandpa Lunt's).  After running the first couple miles with Lindsey, I was happy to break away from the half-marathoners to finish the 10K course.  This was my first 10K, and I think it's such a great race.  I don't know if I'll ever do a half or full marathon, but I do plan on doing some more 10K's.  Lindsey ran the whole race without stopping, unlike many of her cohorts, and made that finish line sexier than ever.  We forgot to take our camera, but I did get some shots with my phone.

Pre-race photo opp

Race face....oh, and don't judge the guy behind her...it was a little chilly

Right after finishing the 10K...another hour to go for Lindsey!

After finishing the 10K, I took Pearl about half a mile up the road to watch for Lindsey as she neared the finish line.

Lindsey crossed the finish line in style...it's a sweaty style, but a very classy sweaty style...

Lucky Girl

So we all know I am a lucky girl for finding someone as fab as Preston…  I find new things everyday that confirms it.   Preston is such a sweet heart he loves to vacuum!  Ok maybe his motivations for vacuuming are not so sweet.  Our new vacuum is clear and you can see all the nasty dirt and hair  that it picks up as you go along.  Lucky for me, he finds this fascinating.   Here he is in action.  FUN FUN!!!!!  :)

 

Thankful

Tis the time of year to be cheesy and ober thankful so I know you all will not be surprised with this post.

I was not sure how this Thanksgiving was going to turn out.  It was mine and Preston’s first Thanksgiving married, but it was also the first and only Thanksgiving away from home.  After much deliberation we decided with all Preston’s interviews and flying around every weekend, it was not the best idea.  By default I had one of the most amazing Thanksgivings and weekends I have ever had.

Down the hall from us is a older man named Bob.  I don’t chat with him a ton because I have always gotten the feeling that he would rather be left alone.  We were planning a big thanksgiving with our across the hall neighbor( Leah ,our good friend and Pearls best friend) and I ran into Bob in the hall.  I was a little nervous asking him if he has plans for Thanksgiving, but I did anyway.  To my surprise he accepted and seemed very excited to join us.  On thanksgiving he changed from his worn out old jeans and his veterans  hat to a nice sweater and a pair of slacks.  We got all dressed up for the party.  As it turns out Bob has no one in the world.  He has no kids ,his parents are long gone, he has one sister who has very poor health in Minnesota.  He just doesn't have a soul in the world who checks in or to care about how he is doing. He was grateful for a a yummy meal and very rarely looked up from his food.  We had good conversation after dinner for a little bit and then he went home.

 

It really put things into perspective.  I am so so grateful for my situation.  For my loving husband and two loving, caring families that I know would do anything for us.  Every year when I have been dancing and singing with my family on Thanksgiving, Bob like so many others have been alone.  I am so glad he got to feel the love from us this Thanksgiving. I'm just worried about the next when we are gone.

BLACK FRIDAY post to come!!!