Monday, November 17, 2014
Eve's Newborn Photos
Well Eve is almost five months old now, and I am finally get around to posting photos of her newborn session that took place when she was just a week old. She was sooooo alert, and it took a while for her to settle down and fall asleep. She still is a light sleeper. Which is totally foreign to me, since all my other babies sleep like Pet Rocks. So here she is, my little angel fish!!
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Four Little Monkeys
Four little monkeys, sleeping in their beds! I just love how they all like to be tucked in the same way. Can we please talk about the miracle of fitting four beds/cribs in one room!!!
PS this picture was taken on Oct 18th. I am standing in the middle of the room on a stool. All their beds are lined up against the same wall.
Monday, September 22, 2014
A Birth-day Story
Now that Eve has finally made her blog debut, I can now share her birth story.
Since the twins were a C section, I wanted to do everything in my power to have a VBAC {vaginal birth after cesarian} which meant that my body had to declare labor naturally on it's own. Since she was my third pregnancy, she held strong to that wives' tale of it really being a "wild card."
I thought she would come early for several reasons. One, being that the twins came early and since the twins and Eve are only 15 months apart, I figured there was no way that my body could go through all that "trauma" again. Second, I thought she would come June 4th because that was the day of a very close friend's birthday who passed away when we were both sixteen. FALSE... she came at 41 weeks exactly. Every time I went in to the doctors I was "barely at a 1," he would say. There was no way to scrape my membranes or break my water. I was starting to panic I would have to get another C section if I made it to 42 weeks with no progress. I cried a lot those last few weeks. It was so hard to wait and be patient. I did accupuntre, I ate all those meals that claim to jump start labor, I did all the stimulation that gets your body working... NOTHING!!! NUH-THING!! So I was convinced everything that people claimed to work is just coincidence.
Then finally I woke up Thursday morning in pain!!! Pain that came and went that felt like it came in waves!! It was so clear it was labor pain because of the amount of pain! My mom was scheduled to fly out that same day at 1pm. By noon, my mom was calling a million and one people to reschedule everything including her flight that was supposed to depart in less then 90 minutes. The tricky thing about everything was that my contractions weren't exactly consistent so we wanted to wait until the contractions were less then ten minutes apart before we packed up the car. Literally, the second my mom hung up the last phone call to wrap up her work stuff my contractions stopped... for two whole hours. We joked saying it was false labor and I crawled back into bed to take a nap at 4pm. Within 15 minutes they came back and stayed about 15 minutes apart for 1 minute long. With that rate, I figured I would wait for Gian to come home and heck, do my hair and make up. Honestly if it wasn't for the pain I don't think I ever would have left for the hospital, but the pain still wasn't even all that bad, like a 4-5 on a scale from 1-10.
Gian came home, we {including my mom} load edup the car, kissed the kids goodbye and tucked them in to bed while a friend stayed back at our place. Gian wanted to stop and get food because he hadn't eaten since lunch, so there was no way he was going to get stuck eating hospital food at who knows what time for who knew how long. We swung by a drive-through and that was one of the biggest contractions I had ever felt so far. I felt like I understood what all the movies have portrayed. Gian said something all happy and excited, because he was, and in my head I was dropping F-bombs and I grasped tightly to his arm and said in a low grunting voice, "Don't talk to me right now!" Then it passed and I was happy again. I was trying to manage that pain while sitting in a car not able to do much about it.
We park and as I walked towards the hospital, another contraction hit me. A sweet lady ran and got me a wheelchair and I felt so embarrassed. I told her I was fine before she could even reach the wheeley object. I had to reassure her several times I was fine, and again I swear that was my last contraction for like an hour!
We went to triage and checked in at 8pm on the dot... but guess what you guys... this is the very best part... I KNEW ALL THE NURSES WORKING THAT NIGHT!!! Why, ohh because I lived in the hospital for two months pregnant with not one, but two tiny girls, just 15 months previously. They all remembered me instantly and were shocked to see me back so soon. Ahaha SURPRISE!!! Ok, back to story. While my beloved triage nurses checked me to confirm labor, slash, see my progress, she shouted in an excited voice {knowing how I have tried everything under the moon to start labor up until 3 days previously}, "YOU'RE AT A 6!!" Ohhh I think I heard harken angels singing and blowing their trumpets right above my face as I threw my head back dramatically onto the hospital flimsy pillow. I was beyond happy about that news! I was soooooo thrilled to see what our beautiful baby was going to look like! I was so excited to finally hold her and love her! Would she have hair? Was she going to look like her siblings? It was the best anticipation of all time!
It was time to walk over to my delivery room, where again I had another nurse I loved ohhh so dearly. Her and I had bonded all those late nights while I was in Antepartum and she was just great at her job. I told her all my concerns and thoughts and she totally backed me in everything. She made all the calls with her knowledge and my requests. She was just perfect! The great part too was that I had her all to myself because there weren't a lot of women in labor so she was able to spoil me with all her attention and time. She kicked it with us during the down times. She was there like 90% of the time.
I got my epidural at 10:30pm. Right before the anesthesiologist walked in, I had the most painful contraction ever in all my history of life. That one I was breathing super intensely, and my nurse freaked out saying I would hyperventilate... but I ignored her because that pain couldn't pass fast enough. I felt as though I could feel my pupils dilate. The chemical realeased during that moment coated over my nervous system and shot through my brain like needles. It was the craziest sensation. Then the gas man came in, gave me that lovely drug, and I felt the best I had felt in MONTHS!!! I freaking love epidurals. I had no idea how much pain I really was in that last month and a half of pregnancy. I specifically asked for no patocine because Ekemona didn't do well with it, so I wanted to wait to see if it was something I needed and my nurse agreed. How many of you get Labor Shakes? I've had them with all three deliveries and it was just out of control! My poor mom was so worried she didn't know what to do. She kept wanting to get me a blanket and I was fine. I felt nice and toasty.
They offered to break my water at 11:30pm when I was at a 7, but my mom had run to the store and I wanted to wait for her. So they came back and broke my water a little after midnight. I was progressing great, I couldn't feel anything, but I felt the need to push, which was so awesome because I never had that feeling before. We did a test run of pushing, my nurse counted "4...5...6... OKAY STOP, STOP, STOP!! You are crowning I need to call the doctor!" It took 20 minutes for my awesome doctor to get there. If I didn't hear him laughing down the hall, I would have just pushed and made Gian catch her ahahah. It's hard being patient while in labor. Since my contractions were all over the place and not consistent, my nurse thought I could do it on my own without the contractions. So I started pushing and in less then a minute, and in two pushes, she was here at 1:54am!
She was so alert and so focused
She was totally worth the wait!! Recovery was better then the other two pregnancies and I felt like I was on cloud nine. I also need to emphasize how difficult the recovery and everything in general was with the twins. So in comparison I felt like this whole experience was a walk in the park. The tail end of my pregnancy was just hard on my feet, legs and back. I was so tired all the time, so every detail was a strong form of gratitude to finally making the next chapter in our lives, to move on and enjoy the fun stuff!
My favorite thing about sweet little Evie, is that from the moment we brought her home she has felt older then she really is. Gian and I always say something along the lines like, "I can't believe it's only been 5 weeks, it feels like she's been here forever!" It's the greatest thing to feel like she was here all along!! She hasn't missed a beat!
Holding her for the very first time
Since the twins were a C section, I wanted to do everything in my power to have a VBAC {vaginal birth after cesarian} which meant that my body had to declare labor naturally on it's own. Since she was my third pregnancy, she held strong to that wives' tale of it really being a "wild card."
I thought she would come early for several reasons. One, being that the twins came early and since the twins and Eve are only 15 months apart, I figured there was no way that my body could go through all that "trauma" again. Second, I thought she would come June 4th because that was the day of a very close friend's birthday who passed away when we were both sixteen. FALSE... she came at 41 weeks exactly. Every time I went in to the doctors I was "barely at a 1," he would say. There was no way to scrape my membranes or break my water. I was starting to panic I would have to get another C section if I made it to 42 weeks with no progress. I cried a lot those last few weeks. It was so hard to wait and be patient. I did accupuntre, I ate all those meals that claim to jump start labor, I did all the stimulation that gets your body working... NOTHING!!! NUH-THING!! So I was convinced everything that people claimed to work is just coincidence.
Then finally I woke up Thursday morning in pain!!! Pain that came and went that felt like it came in waves!! It was so clear it was labor pain because of the amount of pain! My mom was scheduled to fly out that same day at 1pm. By noon, my mom was calling a million and one people to reschedule everything including her flight that was supposed to depart in less then 90 minutes. The tricky thing about everything was that my contractions weren't exactly consistent so we wanted to wait until the contractions were less then ten minutes apart before we packed up the car. Literally, the second my mom hung up the last phone call to wrap up her work stuff my contractions stopped... for two whole hours. We joked saying it was false labor and I crawled back into bed to take a nap at 4pm. Within 15 minutes they came back and stayed about 15 minutes apart for 1 minute long. With that rate, I figured I would wait for Gian to come home and heck, do my hair and make up. Honestly if it wasn't for the pain I don't think I ever would have left for the hospital, but the pain still wasn't even all that bad, like a 4-5 on a scale from 1-10.
Gian came home, we {including my mom} load edup the car, kissed the kids goodbye and tucked them in to bed while a friend stayed back at our place. Gian wanted to stop and get food because he hadn't eaten since lunch, so there was no way he was going to get stuck eating hospital food at who knows what time for who knew how long. We swung by a drive-through and that was one of the biggest contractions I had ever felt so far. I felt like I understood what all the movies have portrayed. Gian said something all happy and excited, because he was, and in my head I was dropping F-bombs and I grasped tightly to his arm and said in a low grunting voice, "Don't talk to me right now!" Then it passed and I was happy again. I was trying to manage that pain while sitting in a car not able to do much about it.
We park and as I walked towards the hospital, another contraction hit me. A sweet lady ran and got me a wheelchair and I felt so embarrassed. I told her I was fine before she could even reach the wheeley object. I had to reassure her several times I was fine, and again I swear that was my last contraction for like an hour!
We went to triage and checked in at 8pm on the dot... but guess what you guys... this is the very best part... I KNEW ALL THE NURSES WORKING THAT NIGHT!!! Why, ohh because I lived in the hospital for two months pregnant with not one, but two tiny girls, just 15 months previously. They all remembered me instantly and were shocked to see me back so soon. Ahaha SURPRISE!!! Ok, back to story. While my beloved triage nurses checked me to confirm labor, slash, see my progress, she shouted in an excited voice {knowing how I have tried everything under the moon to start labor up until 3 days previously}, "YOU'RE AT A 6!!" Ohhh I think I heard harken angels singing and blowing their trumpets right above my face as I threw my head back dramatically onto the hospital flimsy pillow. I was beyond happy about that news! I was soooooo thrilled to see what our beautiful baby was going to look like! I was so excited to finally hold her and love her! Would she have hair? Was she going to look like her siblings? It was the best anticipation of all time!
It was time to walk over to my delivery room, where again I had another nurse I loved ohhh so dearly. Her and I had bonded all those late nights while I was in Antepartum and she was just great at her job. I told her all my concerns and thoughts and she totally backed me in everything. She made all the calls with her knowledge and my requests. She was just perfect! The great part too was that I had her all to myself because there weren't a lot of women in labor so she was able to spoil me with all her attention and time. She kicked it with us during the down times. She was there like 90% of the time.
I got my epidural at 10:30pm. Right before the anesthesiologist walked in, I had the most painful contraction ever in all my history of life. That one I was breathing super intensely, and my nurse freaked out saying I would hyperventilate... but I ignored her because that pain couldn't pass fast enough. I felt as though I could feel my pupils dilate. The chemical realeased during that moment coated over my nervous system and shot through my brain like needles. It was the craziest sensation. Then the gas man came in, gave me that lovely drug, and I felt the best I had felt in MONTHS!!! I freaking love epidurals. I had no idea how much pain I really was in that last month and a half of pregnancy. I specifically asked for no patocine because Ekemona didn't do well with it, so I wanted to wait to see if it was something I needed and my nurse agreed. How many of you get Labor Shakes? I've had them with all three deliveries and it was just out of control! My poor mom was so worried she didn't know what to do. She kept wanting to get me a blanket and I was fine. I felt nice and toasty.
They offered to break my water at 11:30pm when I was at a 7, but my mom had run to the store and I wanted to wait for her. So they came back and broke my water a little after midnight. I was progressing great, I couldn't feel anything, but I felt the need to push, which was so awesome because I never had that feeling before. We did a test run of pushing, my nurse counted "4...5...6... OKAY STOP, STOP, STOP!! You are crowning I need to call the doctor!" It took 20 minutes for my awesome doctor to get there. If I didn't hear him laughing down the hall, I would have just pushed and made Gian catch her ahahah. It's hard being patient while in labor. Since my contractions were all over the place and not consistent, my nurse thought I could do it on my own without the contractions. So I started pushing and in less then a minute, and in two pushes, she was here at 1:54am!
She was so alert and so focused
She was totally worth the wait!! Recovery was better then the other two pregnancies and I felt like I was on cloud nine. I also need to emphasize how difficult the recovery and everything in general was with the twins. So in comparison I felt like this whole experience was a walk in the park. The tail end of my pregnancy was just hard on my feet, legs and back. I was so tired all the time, so every detail was a strong form of gratitude to finally making the next chapter in our lives, to move on and enjoy the fun stuff!
My favorite thing about sweet little Evie, is that from the moment we brought her home she has felt older then she really is. Gian and I always say something along the lines like, "I can't believe it's only been 5 weeks, it feels like she's been here forever!" It's the greatest thing to feel like she was here all along!! She hasn't missed a beat!
Holding her for the very first time
Gian holding her for the first time.
And just like that we became a family of SIX!! Peoples, we have a big family! We have had four kids in 3.5 years/ three kids in 15 months. We just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! I don't know how this all happened, but life has moved at lightening speed!!! We couldn't be happier... cliche, yeah I know, but it's the truth.... Maybe that's why you hear everyone say it!!
Our friends back from our college days, Sarah and John ,came by to visit! Sarah just so happens to be a nurse and work at that hospital too! It was awesome!!
Our friend Jen came to visit. She is such a great friend!!
From the moment Eve was born, she has always done the most precious things with her hands by her face. She is also the first of my babies to be born with eyelashes.
Be still my heart!! (Cozy Headband by Bloomies Handmade)
And just like that we became a family of SIX!! Peoples, we have a big family! We have had four kids in 3.5 years/ three kids in 15 months. We just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! I don't know how this all happened, but life has moved at lightening speed!!! We couldn't be happier... cliche, yeah I know, but it's the truth.... Maybe that's why you hear everyone say it!!
This was my labor and delivery nurse! I love her!
My beautiful mom and beautiful Eve
Eve's little coming home outfit!! Headband by Bloomies Handmade.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
And Eve Was Blessed
On August 3rd at only at 5 weeks old we decided to have Eve be given a blessing and name in our church. We planned it because my whole family was in town and it just so happened that Gian's friend, Brad and his family, were in town too. The timing was perfect. Busy but perfect. I personally do not like blessing my babies so early, mostly because I'm still trying to learn how to get organized and I'm still sleep deprived and it's always a new adjustment, but we did it. And sadly we did it without many photos. Four kids 3.5 years and younger just seemed more of a fight for photos than I wanted to give. Add in the other six cousins and the very humid hot weather that day, I just waved my white flag and did us three. Our friend Whitney was taking our photos and insisted we do one with the other three kids. I am sooooooo happy she insisted and was so willing even though she had two munchkins running around. So just know despite these sparse pictures there were a lovely amount of family and close friends who came to support us as we blessed our fourth child, and third daughter. It was a beautiful and peaceful day!
A special shout out to Hillary from Alta Moda in Salt Lake City for hooking me up with the most amazing and beautiful fabric I ever laid eyes on. Making Eve's gown was so much fun!!
So This Happened
Hello blogging world... it has been so long. This is the first time my fingertips are even touching a keyboard/computer. WOW, have I lost my typing skills. I live on my phone now... these letter/buttons are spread out way further than I remembered!!!
So you know, I haven't been on this blog in like 12 months... well you know what can happen to a woman's body in that time...
SURPRISE!!!!
Yep you got that right, I disappeared and had another baby, but if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook then you already knew that. So we had another sweet, beautiful and fabulous girl!
We named her Eve. She weighed 7lbs 2oz and 20" {our biggest and tallest baby yet}. She came at 1:54am.
She was exactly one week over due and come the end of June.
Isn't she amazing!
She is 11 weeks old, and ohh my heavens do her siblings love her! They just are the sweetest with her. I am constantly touched at the way these tiny children show their love. Ekemona loves to rub her head/hair and say "hiiiiiiii baby!!! She so cuuuuuuute!" In the highest, funniest voice ever ahahah. The twins love her and literally snuggle her. Snow tries to pick her up to hold her... as you can imagine, this stresses me out tremendously. Rose loves to shove the pacifier in her mouth and lay on top of her to give her hugs during belly time... again high stress levels there.
When Eve first stepped into the Garden of Eden... Hahahahah
We chose her name because of Eve from the Bible. To us, Eve was the most perfect example of what an eternal family is. "We and all mankind are forever blessed because of Eve's great courage and wisdom... We don't know all the help Eve was to Adam and to their family. But we do know of one great gift that she gave, which each of you can also give: she helped her family see the path home when the way ahead seemed hard." President Henry B. Eyring. To hear the whole talk click here. I heard this while pregnant with Eve during the Spring, and it was just that moment I knew it was her name. I came running home to Gian to share this new excitement and he agreed, which never happens ahaha. So far her name has been accurate! I just look at her and see how not only our family, but how I have grown tremendously. Even though it seemed impossible at times, she, like Eve, was a beacon and light of faith.
Well here you go world, you finally get to meet our sweetest little Evie! {Newborn photos to come}
P.S. Feel free to follow us on Instagram- @haolepinos. Just leave a comment here so I know you are trying to add a request. Sometimes if I don't know who is who I just ignore the request.
So you know, I haven't been on this blog in like 12 months... well you know what can happen to a woman's body in that time...
SURPRISE!!!!
Yep you got that right, I disappeared and had another baby, but if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook then you already knew that. So we had another sweet, beautiful and fabulous girl!
We named her Eve. She weighed 7lbs 2oz and 20" {our biggest and tallest baby yet}. She came at 1:54am.
She was exactly one week over due and come the end of June.
Isn't she amazing!
She is 11 weeks old, and ohh my heavens do her siblings love her! They just are the sweetest with her. I am constantly touched at the way these tiny children show their love. Ekemona loves to rub her head/hair and say "hiiiiiiii baby!!! She so cuuuuuuute!" In the highest, funniest voice ever ahahah. The twins love her and literally snuggle her. Snow tries to pick her up to hold her... as you can imagine, this stresses me out tremendously. Rose loves to shove the pacifier in her mouth and lay on top of her to give her hugs during belly time... again high stress levels there.
When Eve first stepped into the Garden of Eden... Hahahahah
We chose her name because of Eve from the Bible. To us, Eve was the most perfect example of what an eternal family is. "We and all mankind are forever blessed because of Eve's great courage and wisdom... We don't know all the help Eve was to Adam and to their family. But we do know of one great gift that she gave, which each of you can also give: she helped her family see the path home when the way ahead seemed hard." President Henry B. Eyring. To hear the whole talk click here. I heard this while pregnant with Eve during the Spring, and it was just that moment I knew it was her name. I came running home to Gian to share this new excitement and he agreed, which never happens ahaha. So far her name has been accurate! I just look at her and see how not only our family, but how I have grown tremendously. Even though it seemed impossible at times, she, like Eve, was a beacon and light of faith.
Well here you go world, you finally get to meet our sweetest little Evie! {Newborn photos to come}
P.S. Feel free to follow us on Instagram- @haolepinos. Just leave a comment here so I know you are trying to add a request. Sometimes if I don't know who is who I just ignore the request.
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