My New Toy

This has been a very exciting and busy week for us. Mon. morning Weston got to come home. Drew took Mon., Tues., and Wed. off to help out with Autumn, then Drews mom came down Thurs. and Fri. and was a big help with both Autumn and Weston. She cooked, cleaned, changed diapers, and entertained Autumn, very very helpful to me since I was trying to take it easy to keep my blood patch in place.

Anywho! On Fri. our new toy arrived, we bought it back at the beginning of Jan. but it took this long to get to us. We finally have 2 cars again! We sold my Jeep back in May, taking us down to one car, which really wasn't so bad, but I had my days where it really bothered me that we had one car. Drew has a tiny car and so two cars seats in the backseat is very tight. I actually have to sit in the front seat with my knees in the dash just so Westons car seat fits properly. We needed something bigger!

We looked and looked at Suburbans and Tahoes but for one, I didn't like the idea of the hugeness of a Suburban; two, the gas mileage; three, there are a lot of Tahoes and Suburbans on the road. So we started looking at other SUVs that sat 7+. We bought a Toyota Sequoia, with low miles, it seats 8, drives smooth, and is really powerful.

This is what our family of 4 was squeezing into:

My car!Drew was getting all the insurance stuff squared away and Autumn was playing in the seat next to him.

Weston at Home.

We are so glad that Weston is finally home. My nights are somewhat sleepless, but my days are pretty easy. It helps that Drew has been home these past 3 days to help with Autumn. Weston eats and sleeps...what a baby should do. I am really grateful for his sweet disposition and his easiness.

Autumn has been very curious. Yesterday we kept Weston in our room when he slept but today to help with the transition we had him sleep on the couch. She kept giving him kisses, and wanting to hug him. She rubs and pats him like a dog and always whispers when she is next to him. When we brought Weston home Autumn climbed up on the table to get a better view of him in his carseat. She offers him her toys and gets frustrated when he doesn't accept them, like it hurts her feelings.

We feel complete, and love having a small sweet baby in our home. It's amazing what such a small person can do to a home.

Another Day.

It's another day without Weston at home, but we have gotten to spend a lot of time with him in the hospital which we are grateful for. Last night I had an issue and had to go back up to the hospital for a small "procedure" and while we were there we decided to hang out with Weston. I am so glad we went when we did. Usually our handsome little guy is sleeping. They wake him up to eat and as soon as he is done he doses off back to sleep. But when we went to go see him at 11:30 p.m. he was wide awake. Apparently he is quite the night owl. It made it so hard for us to leave, at 12:30 we needed to go home so we could get some sleep, but it was so much harder to leave him when he was awake. He is very social, and the nurses think he is a flirt because he smiles at them. This morning when we went up we talked to the pediatrician to confirm his coming home tomorrow. The nurses were getting us excited saying it was tonight...because his last dose of antibiotics will be at 8 pm tonight they can't circumsize him until the morning, so as soon as that is over and done with we can take our little man home. We are so excited! We are anxious to see how Autumn will react, to her her world hasn't changed, little does she know...

Weston Andrew Hardy

The newest addition to the Hardy family!

Stats-

Born: Jan. 13, 2009

Time: 7:01 a.m.

Weight: 8 lbs. 15 oz.

Hieght: 22 in.

Hair Color: Blonde

Weston is the most beautiful little baby boy! We are so blessed to have him be a part of our family. We never knew that something was missing until we got to meet our sweet little guy. Now that we have to be apart from him for short periods of time we realize just how much we need his sweet spirit in our lives.

Our Story (this may turn out more like a journal entry, minus some personal stuff, that way if I want I can just print it off later and stick it in my journal)

Drew, my mom, and I arrived at the hospital mon. night right at 8 p.m. When I was scheduled to be induced. Weston's due date was the day earlier, and the dr. recommended me getting induced by Mon. if he had not come yet. I was so nervous about getting induced and paid more attention to the negative sides of being induced rather than the good that can come from it. Once we were in the room and I got the IV for the Petocin my nurse checked my cervix and I was at 3 1/2 cm. Because I had been having contractions all day she said I was in active labor and reduced the amount of Petocin. Around 2 a.m. I still had not slept and so I asked for an epidural. Which is a whole nother story, and resulted in me having to spend an extra 3 days in the hospital. Even though I was numb and only occassionally felt pressure I still couldn't sleep. Around 6 a.m. my dr. showed up and I had dialated to a 7 and he broke my water. From that moment on it was labor in fast forward. Everything went so quick. My nurse checked me again at 6:40 and I was already to 10 cm. I started pushing at 6:50 and after only 10 minutes of pushing, which really- I literally only pushed 12 times, Weston's head popped out. While my dr. cleaned out his air ways he said all I needed was one tiny push to get the shoulders out. When I had the go ahead to push I barely started pushing when no lie, Weston shot out, and was born. My dr. said one shoulder came out and then he just flew all the way out. It's the neatest, and most surrel feeling to feel the baby coming out and depart my body. I remember after having Autumn telling Drew that that was the weirdest feeling, this time was more amazing to me and I didn't think it was so weird.

When the dr. saw him he said he really underestimated the size of this baby. I think since I always measured small, and gained only 20 lbs. he assumed the baby would have been around the size of Autumn when she was born... 6 lbs 14 oz. Nope...Weston was an ounce shy of 9 lbs. Because he was classified as "big" they had to monitor his sugar levels every hour for 4 hours. Which everything turned out fine.

Weston got to spend most the day with us, with lots of family and friends visiting and sharing in the excitement of getting to meet him. At 5 p.m. Weston had to go to the Nursery/NICU where he is still being watched and cared for. After he was born he swallowed fluid which the nurses tried desperately to get out. He was checked out by 2 pediatric nurse practitioners who said he was fine, but to just watch him. Around 5 my nurse noticed that his breathing was still shallow and erratic. After a chest x-ray and some tests they said he had respiratory distress which could easily lead to pnuemonia. They were monitoring his breaths per min and his oxygen levels. They put him on antibiotics, and after 2 days he had made a drastic change and was doing awesome. They weren't monitoring his breathing anymore and he was eating. Only because he has to have 5 days of antibiotics he has to stay there at the hospital. The nurses love him, they say he is well tempered, cuddly, has beautiful color, and so on. He makes us so proud!

Weston will be able to come home Sun. night, but because of the amazing care he is recieving and the lateness of the hour he will be able to come home we are planning on going to get him first thing Mon. morning.

Weston eats and sleeps...totally opposite of how Autumn was. We already see SO many differences.I arrived to the hospital Mon. at 8 p.m. I was discharged and left Fri. at 1 p.m. After a quick shower and spending some time with Autumn I had to go back up to the hospital to see him.

Weston and I are still in the hospital. Pictures and story coming soon.

Just Really Quick...

Tonight at 8 pm I will be at the hospital. My dr. appt on Fri left us disappointed because I was dialated to a 2, very very close to being a 3, but he said he just couldn't call me a 3. So we were disheartened. Drew had a hard choice to make and a couple hours after our appt. he left to join his family for his grandma's funeral. He drove the 7 hours on Fri. and then turned around and came home Sat. night. I am glad he went and so is he. Anyways! My dr. suggested being induced and set an appt. for tonight at 8. I have had contractions all day, they are very irregular but getting stronger every hour. Being induced was not something I wanted. I had decided early on to let him come when he and my body was ready... So here's hoping that the contractions today have done some good and they won't need to induce me, or if they do induce it goes smoothly and fast considering all the contractions the past few days. I am excited to see my baby boy and am sad I will be away from Autumn for a couple days. I am grateful for an awesome family who has really stepped up and helped make things easy for the transition we are all in for. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers! Hopefully he comes tonight!!

Baby Woes and Other Woes...

No. Weston is still not here. But people have been asking...and while I was going to wait and update my blog when he came other things have happened.
Drew's grandma passed away Tues. morning. Her funeral is set for Sat. in a town an hour north of Vegas. Do you think I am stressed? Slightly...Weston has not come yet, when I was so sure he was going to be early. I had 3 hours of contractions on Tues. night which lead to nothing, and then I had 2 hours worth of contractions tonight, and still nothing. I have done just about everything safe that I can to self-induce this labor but he will come when he wants. Which I figure will be while his dad is away in Nevada attending his grandmothers funeral. Only because it would just figure. Luckily my mom is here, and my sister has the weekend off so I know Autumn will be taken care of and my mom can be at the hospital with me in place of Drew, should Weston decide to grace us with his presence while Drew is gone.
But let's just hope that he comes tomorrow and Drew can be here for the delivery and then head off to join his extended family in celebrating a life that ended earlier this week.

Congrats are in Order and an Update.

I want to congrats the Checketts/Chapman family on their new addition. If you don't know the Chapman's they had their baby girl on New Years Eve. Which is very exciting because she was due just a few days before me. Those lucky ducks. Not only was she early, but she will also be a tax break. :) And the Pope's may have their baby girl in their arms on Mon. (unless they can get the baby to turn and avoid a c-section) and she is due two days after me. All of my friends are having their babies before me! Stubborn Weston. :)

I had a dr. appt. yesterday. I am now dialated to a 1 & 1/2 and still 50% effaced, but the dr. did say he could touch the baby's head. Very exciting. I wasn't sure he had dropped because I can feel him all over, but maybe he will be bigger than Autumn was. She was 21 in. and 6 lb. 14 oz. I also measured 37 weeks, but the dr. said that it's fine and he can come anytime. I have measured smaller most of the time anyways. My due date is in 8 days. Let's hope I don't make it to my next appt. this Fri. and this baby comes atleast a few days early!!

With all the celebrating of new life and babies, there is a bit of discouragement and fear of death for one of Drew's family members. His grandma fell down some stairs (we are thinking around 4 or 5 steps) and fractured her skull and face. She has been in the hospital for 2 weeks now. Her lungs keep filling with fluid and she is on a breathing machine, and there have been other issues. The decision has now been left up to Drew's grandpa as to whether they should take her off the ventilator or keep her on. It's a very difficult decision for him. They are in their mid 80's and have served several missions and in her failing health over the years he has had to serve her in so many ways and do almost everything for her. Sacrificing his sleep, his health, and his comfort to make sure she was happy and able to get around. In serving others we gain a different level of love for them. So as I am sure she has been a burden on him, I bet he would rather have that burden then be left alone in this life and be the one left to make the decision as to what could keep her alive or possibly end her life. We are lucky that we got to spend so much time with his grandparents at Thanksgiving. Before Thanksgiving we hadn't seen them since Autumn was just a few months old. Drew's grandma told stories about some of her mom's relatives that played a key role in church history, which many of us hadn't heard but found out was usually taught in Seminary. And I pretty much drilled and interviewed Drews grandpa because we don't get a lot of time with him and I wanted to get to know him better. So I feel truely blessed that we took advantage of that time with them.

On a lighter note! Here are some pictures of Autumn, sure to put a smile on anyones face.

These were taken my by Aunt Amee back in Nov. at my sisters wedding.