Cooper Kyle Ensign

So remember I had high blood pressure & planned to check it Sunday (May 8th) morning? Well I did & it was high. 149/106 high at 7:00am. I hadn't slept great that night because I was worried about my BP & I still had that feeling that Cooper was coming sooner that we imagined (I'd always felt like he would come earlier than his May 29th due date but I didn't think it would be this early!) I started to freak out a little about my BP but decided to lie back down for a while & check again. At 7:40 my BP was 166/105. Regardless of if the BP cuff I had was a little off-that is CRAZY high! I woke Kyle up, took his BP & it came out normal. I felt like it was time to call Dr Nix to see what she said. (I'll try to keep the details to a minimum so this isn't the longest post known to man)

Here's how our day went:

8:00am Call & speak with the on call nurse who happens to be Mary Daker-midwife. I'm told to pack my bags & get to the hospital not right this second but quick.

8:15-9:15am Have a freak out/crying moment with Kyle (I'm the only one crying but Kyle's freaked out too). Mary told me to bring Coopers bag too. (Thank goodness I had packed it the day before!) After quick showers, tidying up the condo a bit (just a bit), loading up the car, & a quick family prayer-we were on our way to the hospital.

9:30am I'm admitted to the hospital & assigned a gown (ha!) & a room. I'm hooked up to crazy monitors: BP, heart rate, Cooper's heart rate, contraction detector, etc. Blood drawn & in the lab.

10:30am After about an hour of monitoring & being told by the nurses that I would probably just be sent home on bed rest-EVERYTHING changes. Kyle had been keeping an the monitors & an eye on Cooper's heart rate & we'd just noticed that his heart had slowed down when the nurses come running into the room & tell me to roll over on my side, then over to my other side. I had been having a contraction for 9 minutes! (I felt the tightness but no pain-just felt like the normal braxton hicks I'd had before. Oh & contractions are supposed to last more than a minute or two.) When I would lay on my side it helped Cooper somehow. After a quick shot of something to stop the contraction- Cooper's heart rate went back to normal while my BP shot up!

11:00am Dr Nix comes in & tells us the news. She was ready to send me home & put me on bedrest until that contraction hit & Cooper's heart rate dropped. Since that craziness happened, I was dilated to a 3 & at 37 weeks (that day)-we were going to have a baby! (another emotional moment for me-I'll never forget looking at Kyle across the room! Wild!) Dr Nix wasn't certain that I'd be able to have a vaginal birth-it all depended on what Cooper could handle under stress so I had to be prepared for a C Section-just in case. All this time we thought I'd be sent home but boy was this a change!

11:30am Moved to a delivery room. Hooked up to quite a few IVs: Magnesium (for my High BP so I didn't have a stroke or something), Pitocin (to induce labor), & fluid to keep my hydrated. Not to mention I got a catheter...fun.

12:15pm Dr Nix came in to break my water & confirmed I was still dilated to a 3. (Having my water broken didn't hurt but it I did feel like I was peeing)

12:45pm The Anesthesiologist came in & I got an epidural. I still wasn't feeling the contractions really at this point but we had to have the epidural in place in case an emergency C section was necessary. The epidural itself didn't hurt at all but I did jump when he was numbing up my skin.

1:15-6:45pm The waiting game. I was nervous that the epidural would slow down the whole laboring process but I was wrong. I felt like everything went way fast-or at least faster than I anticipated! During this time Kyle ran home to get some clothes (I was freezing him out. I had the room so cold because the magnesium made me so hot), I texted family/friends to let them know what was going on, & I took a nap. It wasn't much of a nap though because I was constantly getting checked on by the nurses (they were very nice) & my BP cuff went off like every 15 minutes). To help with Cooper's heart rate I had to lay on my side the entire time. (5:00pm Dilated to a 7) Near the end I had been on my right side for over an hour & a half therefore the epidural had drained mostly on my right side. I was able to feel the contractions on my left side! I'm sure it wasn't like if I hadn't had medicine but was a pretty painful ache that hit with each contraction. I was still able to move myself around in the bed-a surprise to the nurses-so I'm not sure how strong the epidural actually was.

7:00pm Mary (midwife) came in to check on me again (she'd been in several times). I found out I was dilated to a 10 & ready to push! eek! Next thing we knew bright lights were turned on, nurses & medical equipment came out of the wood work, I was laying on my back with my knees were to my chest, a mirror in place at the end of the bed & Kyle was by my side.

7:17pm I began to push. As I pushed with each contraction Cooper's heart rate went down. Mary had Dr Ech come in at the very end because she wasn't sure if they would have to use forceps or a vacuum... Mary had to do an episiotomy because Cooper was coming out fast & we didn't have time to wait. I knew I didn't want those to be used so with the last contraction I gave it all I had & it worked.

7:37pm Cooper Kyle Ensign was born a healthy boy. I pushed for only 20 minutes & he was here-Mary & the nurses were pretty impressed I suppose because they kept talking about how quickly it all went. I get emotional now just thinking of that moment that he was born & the moments that followed. It seems so surreal that I could do something so incredibly amazing as bringing a sweet baby boy into this world. (I know I didn't do it alone)

Kyle cut the umbilical cord & looked on while the nurses took care of Cooper. It was so sweet watching Kyle as he looked at his son. Soon after I was able to hold my baby boy for the first time. I'll admit-I did ugly cry & it was caught in pictures but it was totally worth it! :)

Next thing we knew we were left alone in the room with our little Cooper. It was kind of odd when we realized we were alone. Everything leading up to his birth was fast & kind of intense. Now we were at this moment of looking at our baby. It was a sweet moment to just be the three of us.

Days leading up to his birth...

It definitely was a happy Mothers Day for me! Here's how it all started...

(actual birth day/story to be posted separately)

Thursday (May 5th) I had my 36 week Doctor's appointment. While there I was told that my blood pressure was slightly elevated & I need to keep an eye on it so if it stayed 140/90 I needed to call Dr. Nix ASAP. I was a little freaked out about it because I'd been having pretty bad headaches that week but figured it was just a little stress. I also found out I was dilated to a 2! Crazy!

Friday came & went. I didn't check my BP because I hadn't purchased an automated cuff yet.

Saturday morning I got a BP cuff. Checked my BP a couple of times throughout the day. Each time my BP was elevated to the point where I should've called Dr Nix but talked myself out of it. I figured the more I checked it the higher it would get because I was stressing out about it. Kyle wasn't convinced that my BP was that high & figured that the cuff was a little defective-I didn't completely disagree. Also I had been doing a lot that day. I was trying to finalize some stuff in Cooper's room as well as doing some laundry for him. I put his stroller together & we installed his car seat in the car. & the list goes on! So I decided I would check my BP first thing Sunday morning before I got all stressed out about it again...

Looking back at this weekend (& the days leading up to it) Kyle & I both agree it felt like things were about to change or like it was our last weekend as just the two of us. Here's some reasons why:

-We got our new car the week prior.

-The week before Kyle gave me a new phone which I wanted before Cooper's arrival.

-The weekend before our great friends, the Bartons, came for a visit. MinDee did my hair & we got pedicures together. We've hung out with them a million times in the past but they came were there the weekend before we got married too. So our last weekend before we were married & our last weekend before we were parents-we spent with the Bartons! :)

-Friday at work I cleaned out my desk (I already had a replacement), turned in one of my keys, & handed out all the Thank You cards.

-I put the stroller together & we installed the car seat (I had a strong feeling it needed to be done on Saturday)

-I couldn't just rest & enjoy the weekend. I felt like there was always something that needed to be done to get ready for Cooper.

-Saturday night Kyle & I went out to big dinner to celebrate Mothers Day. Afterwards we talked about how it felt like the last supper for us for some reason.

I'm sure there are more I just can't remember off of the top of my head! :P

Everything NEW!

So I have to admit-I was pretty spoiled the past week. Here's how:

I'd been available for a cell phone upgrade for over a year now but I've been holding out for the WHITE iPhone. We were hoping it would come out before Cooper's birth because it would just make life easier with the great camera, video, & face time features. I was starting to get nervous that Cooper would come before the phone BUT FINALLY on Thursday Apple officially released the white iphone for sell. :) Kyle said he'd buy it for me online & have it shipped to our house because we figured it'd be sold out by the time we got home from work & went to the Apple Store. I spoke with Kyle at lunch & he gave me the sad news that he'd waited too long & the phones had already sold out. This REALLY bummed me out because I was having a crummy day at work & I was really looking forward to some good news. (I made myself feel a little better with a chickfila milk shake. hehe) Kyle rushed home from work that day saying he had to run to the church to take care of some Elders Quorum stuff (btw he just got called to be the 2nd councilor!). Needless to say it was all a ploy. Kyle came back with the white iphone & made me one happy wifey! I'm one lucky lady!

Kyle taking a picture of his iphone with my iphone. It's never ending! (no I'm not asleep in the background just looks like it.)

Kyle & I have been talking about getting a newer/more reliable car for a while now. Our cars have been great to us but we wanted something secure with baby Cooper on the way. A week ago we went to check out the 2011 Hyundai Elantra but since they are selling like hot cakes we ended up looking at the Elantra Touring (same car but with a hatch back). I fell in love with the Touring version! I thought it was roomier & overall just awesome! :) We spent 2 days in that dealership trying to get everything to work out but no luck. We came home empty handed but Kyle went into overdrive & worked his booty off trying to find us a better deal at another dealership. His work paid off! Friday night about 10pm we were handed the keys to our new 2011 Hyundai Elantra! I'm so proud of Kyle for all the work he put into this! We celebrated by going to Sonic Drive In & stuffing our faces (we hadn't had dinner).

Kyle saying goodbye to his Jeep!

Goodbye Sonata! :( The only car I ever owned.

Our first picture with our new car. :)

We love you little blue Touring! We pray you will last 10 years like our last cars!

Saturday the Bartons came to visit. MinDee & I were able to get some MUCH needed girl time in by getting pedicures! It was so great to spend time together while being pampered. That night MinDee gave me some highlights & a trim.

SO I was right, right? I'm pretty spoiled! New phone, car, toes, & hair! The only thing that would've topped it is adding a new BABY to the list but negative-Cooper isn't ready yet. :)