The End of a Long Journey

Well, it's September and everyone is off to school to start new classes, study for exams, and suffer through endless amounts of homework... But NOT ME! After 4 1/2 years of studying for midterms, practicing skills for pass-offs, going to simulation labs, staying up late to finish a paper, endless hours in the Harold B. Lee Library, capturing friends and boyfriends to practice injections, struggling to stay awake in pretty much every classroom of the SWKT, getting up at 5 AM once or twice a week to work a 12 hour shift (which includes giving suppositories, wiping bums, and all the other nasty jobs that my nurse didn't want to do) for free, and every other task that comes with nursing school, it's sinking in that I have finally reached the end of the road! And I couldn't be happier!

It all started 5 years ago, when I headed out to Provo, UT with my best friends...

Where we made new friends ....

Sophomore Year: Arch House Girls!! 

Junior Year: Chelsea, Sophia, Me, & Jennica

Went to LOTS of football games...

Freshman Year: Football Game

Sophomore Year: More Cougar Football

Explored the outdoors...

Sophomore Year: Stewart Falls hike

Sophomore Year: Biked the Provo River trail to Bridal Vale Falls

Junior Year: Hiking near Sundance in Provo Canyon

Junior Year: Mona Lake Rope Swing

Junior Year: Getting ready to start our hike down to Havasupai

Havasupai! 

Endured the BYU nursing program...

My acceptance email!!! 

Nothing better than getting stuck with a needle just to be injected with Saline...multiple times

Med-surg clinical group!

Practicing Sterile Technique

N400 in Washington D.C. 

Along the way I even got lucky enough to marry this crazy guy! ...

Engagement Pic

April 23, 2011 : Bountiful Temple

Cutting the cake at our Utah reception

And we celebrated our first and second anniversaries...

           First Anniversary: A fun packed night filled with dinner at La Jolla Groves, Mini Golf, and a honeymoon recreation of Oreos on the beach at sunset (and by beach I mean the rocky shore of Utah lake :]) --> so fun!

                   Second Anniversary: a day filled with a recreation of our 3 first dates...yes, we had 3 first dates. That's what happens when someone goes on a mission, comes back from the mission, and then someone almost goes on a mission. Missions, who knew they were so great but made things so complicated! 

                    First item on the agenda: Relive our 3rd first date: lunch at what used to be called "La Baguette" but now has been so eloquently renamed "Mexitalia". Classy, I know. 

Next Activity: 1st date ever: dinner at "Cheeseburger in Paradise"...in our apartment. Apparently there are no CBinP restaurants in Utah. But that's ok. New York steaks sounded better anyways. :]

                       Finally, we finished off the night eating Magleby's chocolate cake, which we had on our 2nd first date. And what better place to eat it than on Squaw Peak! We didn't feel the need to stick to the Squaw Peak tradition and make out in our car though... I don't know, call us boring, but it's a little cliche. 

Then to cap off my college experience we found out that ...

         This picture...

      Was about to become a reality... 

            So my senior year of college was filled with nausea and vomiting, headaches, doctor's appointments, no energy, looking through lists of names, hearing the first heart beat, gender reveal, and everything else that comes with this exciting new adventure we had started! 

And FINALLY, the journey started wrapping up.

             After finishing my capstone in the Newborn ICU and finding my passion in nursing, turning in my final project, and placing a period at the end of the last college paper I would ever write... graduation came!

  Unfortunately graduation didn't feel like the end ... and that's probably because it wasn't. Shortly afterwards we moved to Indiana where I spent the next month studying to take the NCLEX. Talk about stressful. I studied from about 9 AM until 4 PM M-F. Of course I took lots of breaks. Hey, I was 8 1/2 months pregnant and required several naps and lots of snacks :] But the studying that I did manage to do paid off because on June 3rd (4 miserably long days after taking the NCLEX) I found out that I had passed and that I am a NURSE!! WOOHOO! It's been a long time comin', but I am officially a college graduate and about to (fingers crossed) start my first job as a nurse! Thank you to everyone who helped me along my journey!!

Brooklyn

Hello everyone! Now that things are starting to calm down a bit, we thought we'd introduce you to our newest addition: Brooklyn Patrick. For those of you who haven't heard the story, here it is. (For those of you who have, feel free to skip to the pictures :] ). 

So my due date was June 13th, and as it came closer I got more and more excited (and by excited I mean impatient! :] ). Then it came -- nothing. It passed -- nothing. Fortunately I had an induction date set for a week later, so I knew it had to end sometime. That week crept along and still nothing. Finally, Thursday June 20th rolled around, and Stephan and I packed our bag and headed to the hospital at 6 AM to be induced. At 7 they broke my water, and I immediately started having contractions. I only ended up getting up to 6 mL/hr of Pitocin, and for those of you who have been induced you most likely know that that is nothing compared to the 60 mL/hr most women reach before they deliver. So, turns out all I really needed was to have my water broken. If only that's something they taught you in nursing school...I would have broken it myself! :] Anyways, 45 minutes into serious contractions I couldn't handle it any longer and got an epidural. Another 45 minutes later and I was in labor heaven! I don't know how people go natural. I must be a weenie or something, but that is a decision that I do not regret! The next few hours were cake -- all thanks to the drugs! So I think by 9 AM I had gone from 3 cm to 7 and was complete by 10:30. I wasn't allowed to push until 1:30 though. And by 2:49 PM on June 20th we had a baby! She was 8 lbs 6 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. I would have preferred to push out a 7 lb baby, but we couldn't be happier with our little chunk. She's got all ten toes and fingers, LOTS of dark brown hair, and the cutest little cheeks! :] We think she's pretty perfect. 

And now it has been almost 3 weeks since that eventful day! It's hard to imagine our life without Brooklyn. Luckily I've even forgotten the misery of pregnancy! I didn't believe that was possible, but I guess that's what happens when you have round the clock feedings and diaper changes to worry about. :] Anyways, Brooklyn is doing great! She's growing and changing before our eyes. She already has Stephan wrapped around her little finger. He even made the comment the other day that he doesn't think it smells bad when she passes gas... I've smelled that gas -- and it's bad. She's my daughter so I can say that she can be pretty stinky! Just goes to show how love blinds you! :] 

Thank you everyone for all of your love and support. We really appreciate it, and can't wait for you to meet our little girl! But until then, here are some pictures for you to enjoy!! 

 On our way to the hospital. The end is here...thank goodness because I am about to pop! 

 She's here! 8 lbs 6 oz, 21 1/2 inches long! 

 Proud dad :]

After all of that work I finally get to hold her! She felt so heavy after holding 3 and 4 lb babies in the NICU! 

 Our happy little family

 She loves snoozing with dad. We got in trouble one night from a nurse for doing that though...You can imagine how Stephan responded to being told how to care for his daughter :] 

 Such a cuddler! 

Finally leaving the hospital! 

33 weeks of Progress!

And then there were 3...

October 7, 2012:  This is the day that I took my SIXTH pregnancy test, and it finally showed up POSITIVE!! I think after 5 negative tests most people would have just accepted that they weren't pregnant. But, I KNEW I was pregnant. I could just feel it! I just wanted to cry when I saw the second line appear on the test. One of my happiest moments. Unfortunately Stephan wouldn't get home until late and I had to go to bed early because I had work the next day. So, being the impatient person that I am when it comes to sharing good news, I made signs and put them all over the bathroom because I couldn't wait to tell him! :] --- And thus started our long journey...

The not so fun stuff...Pregnancy Symptoms

1. Nausea/Vomiting: From weeks 9-17 I was so sick! Luckily I had afternoon/evening sickness rather than morning sickness. This made getting up at 5 for work and clinicals much easier. I still had absolutely no energy, but I wasn't puking up my guts before the sun had risen. Gotta look at the bright side! :] But eventually the nausea went away, and I finally enjoyed eating again! I can't even explain how wonderful it is to not gag as I make dinner.  

2. Super Human Sense of Smell: I don't know why, but Stephan was fascinated by this symptom. I, however, hate it! Makes the nausea part so much worse. 

3. Migraines: I can't WAIT to be able to take Excedrin again...

4. Cravings: French Fries and Salad. Weirdest combination, but these were the only two foods that actually sounded good for the longest time. Now, I just want food. Period. At 33 weeks I am starving all of the time. You would think that I would be the size of an elephant right now, but luckily I have a little piggy inside me eating all of the extras :] 

5. Food Aversions: Broccoli was the only specific thing that I couldn't eat for a long time. However, anything I ate or cooked when I was super nauseous now makes me gag! Unfortunately for Stephan, 90% of those dishes are his favorite foods! He's still pretty bitter about that because I don't make them as often now. He says that the next time I am pregnant I can only make/eat foods that he doesn't like. Luckily for me that list is pretty long! :] 

6. No Sleep:  Body pillows help, but I can't remember the last time I slept for more than 2 hours straight. I wake up throughout the night to change positions because my hips are on fire. I feel like I'm 90 years old with arthritis! I think this the Lord's way of preparing me to never get a good night's sleep again! However, since I'm awake a lot I get to hear Stephan talk in his sleep more! I haven't laughed this much in a long time! He says some pretty crazy stuff. I've started documenting our "conversations" so I'll be posting them in a future post! 

The things you look forward to! ....

1. The first heart beat!: I thought that I was excited when found out that we were pregnant, but nothing compares with hearing the first heart beat. After having a miscarriage, hearing that little thump thump thump was the best sound I have ever heard. I of course lost it, and I think Stephan finally let himself believe that we were actually having a baby. It was a good day. 

2. Weekly Development updates: I loved going onto thebump.com and seeing what new fruit or vegetable or baby's size compared to. I don't really know how a baby compares to a Rutabaga, but it was fun to see the development anyways! 

2. Boy or Girl??: I found out quickly that 20 weeks is a LONG time! We were both so anxious to find out our baby's gender, so of course it went by so slow... January 28th rolled around and we went in for our first ultrasound. Stephan went in with hopes of a boy that he could take shooting and teach how to pee on a tree. I went in dreaming of bows and frilly dresses! Apparently during the ultrasound the tech kept saying "his head" and "see his arm there", so Stephan thought she had seen the gender and we were having a boy! I didn't even notice because I was captivated by our tiny little squirmer! As suggested by my sister-in-law, Aimee, I drank a glass of orange juice before coming so the baby would be moving enough to see the gender. However, we have an already active child, so orange juice was like crack! She did not stop moving once. This made finding the gender a challenge, but our tech was prepared. She finally got a couple shots...and to Stephan's surprise (and at first disappointment) we found out that we're having a GIRL!! Brooklyn Patrick officially made her debut. I couldn't have been happier. And although Stephan was angry at the tech for getting his hopes up, I think he's pretty excited to have a daughter. I know she's going to have him wrapped around her little finger from day one. He has already nick named her "Brooke" and asks regularly how "his two girls" are doing. :] I love seeing him get more and more attached! It's rare to see his sensitive side, but he does have one even if he keeps it hidden. :] 

It's a girl!! 

Gender Reveal Cake Pops

3. Kicks, Flutters, and Hiccups: The first time I felt an unmistakable kick was on January 5th. I had just come home from work and sat down on the couch. All of a sudden I felt this weird little popping feeling in my lower abdomen. I have to admit that was a pretty weird experience. I almost felt like I had an alien inside me or something. (That's what I get for having a husband that LOVES Sci-Fi). From that moment on her kicks and little flutters came more frequently and got stronger. Now whenever I sit down by people they just stare at my stomach because my bump is constantly shifting and moving. You can see every kick and move that she makes!  I love it! Probably one of my favorite things about being pregnant! I also recently started feeling her hiccup. At first I thought it was my abdominal pulse, but then it became irregular and I don't have any heart problems. I of course went online and found out that I was feeling her hiccup! Adorable, and a good sign of neurological development! 

4. A Growing BUMP! 

So I am 33 weeks now! In 3 days I'll be a college graduate. In 4 weeks I'll be done with the NCLEX and officially an RN. AND in 7 weeks we will finally get to meet Brooklyn! It has been a fun and exciting journey, and I just can't wait to hold her in my arms!!