Liam's Birth

One thing's for sure, our little Liam had his own timeline in mind when it came to the birth experience. I already blogged about the labor/version at just under 37 weeks. After that when they had us schedule the c-section for Feb. 2, Trent and I just looked at each other and smiled. No one believed I'd make it that long, and what a surprise! I didn't.

I did labor for a couple weeks, but the contractions were only occasionally bad enough that I had to breathe and count and take a warm bath and lie on my left side and all that. Mostly I just lived through them the best I could. At the hospital at 37 weeks, they had sent me home with contractions 8 min. apart and told me "Come back when they're unbearable," so that's what I was waiting for. In the mean time, my boys were sure to follow me around asking about the contractions 24/7 and harassing me with chants of "LABOR, LABOR!" and "BABY, BABY, BABY!" while pounding their fists on the dinner table during those couple weeks. (Uncle Trevor even joined in the chorus -- all 3 boys jumping up and down in the hallway -- on the night I did go into labor.)

On Sunday evening, Jan. 30, things changed and started becoming more painful. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night, but what's new about that when you're 9 months pregnant?! The next day, Monday, Jan. 31, was a little rough, and by the time Trent came home for lunch, he was pushing pretty hard for a hospital visit. I got mad and told him if we went in, they'd just send me home again, so I sent him back to work. He wasn't super happy about that. When he got home that evening, I was definitely in labor but still in denial about it. So, he got on the Net and started taking labor quizzes. Finally I gave in and called the doc, who told me to come in to the hospital so they could check everything out.

An all too familiar sight this year: me in a gown and a hospital bed.  At least this time, it was for a happy reason!

A quick exam and ultrasound revealed that Liam was still breech (yeah, tell me something I didn't already know!), that I was indeed in labor, and that I was dilated 3-4 cm. After that, the room erupted into a flurry of activity preparing for the emergency c-section.

The Daddy, all ready to accompany me to the O.R.

Trying to smile through a contraction.

The surgery went well, although I've been told I was a little too lucid and was talking too much (nervous chatter). Before we knew it, our little boy was here. We were so excited to meet him and were very surprised at all his dark hair!

Fresh from the oven! 

Minutes old.

Trent got to accompany the little guy to the nursery while Mommy got all sewed up. Proud Daddy took plenty of pictures of all the excitement, since I never get to see any of it. He reported that our mellow baby was a great sport and didn't even cry during his heel prick. Amazing! He is such a chill little guy. We are already appreciating the calming influence he is in our little family.

Little boy. He was 6 lbs even when we went home.

So pink and healthy.

First bath, in the nursery.

Snug as a bug.

Loves his binky, just like his big brother did.

To be honest, the hospital stay was pretty relaxing for me. It was wonderful to spend some undivided time with my little one, concentrate on resting and healing (thanks to the awesome nurses), and having food and dishes delivered and then picked up by someone else! By day 4, we were ready to go home and sleep in our own beds, though.

We are so excited to invite Liam into our family. He is such a sweet boy and I already have a feeling he will "bring balance to the force" at our home like we haven't ever had before. What a wonderful blessing he is in my life! I love you, little Liam.

Welcome to the World, Little Liam

Announcing the newest member of our family: Liam Anthony Feist.
Born 1/31/11 at 10:19 p.m. 6 lbs, 10 oz, and 19 inches long.

"Liam" (LEE um) is Celtic, like Camden's name, and means "resolute defender."

"Anthony" honors both sides of our family: Anton Feist, Trent's great-grandfather who brought the Feist family to the U.S. from Russia; and Juan Antonio Valle, Melody's uncle, on the Harrison side.

Happy Birthday to our little boy!

Li'l Libbie's Blessing Day

My little niece was blessed today in VA. We didn't actually make it to the event, but it sure was fun to see the pictures! Thanks for letting me swipe these, Katie-girl. We love and miss you guys!

Jared, Katie, and Libbie. Such a beautiful family.

Teeheehee.

The whole crew: Harrisons and Leakes.

Harrisons.

Crazy Harrisons!

Beautiful little star of the day.

This one was just too cute not to put up! Libbie with her Aunt Heather.

This is what life's all about.

Joseph and fiance, Liz. Just a few more weeks until their wedding! 

Auntie Becka love.

Cam's Big-Boy Bedroom Set: Trent Strikes Again

In preparation for the little guy, we've been shifting Camden to his new room and re-baby-izing the nursery. Trent designed and built Camden's new bedroom set, of course. It is beautiful! And convertible, which rocks. All the furniture fits under the bed for now, and if we want to convert to bunk beds at some point, it will do that too. It is solid oak, so should hold up in our crazy male-dominated abode.

Such an efficient design. Love it!

Handsome fella.

This is a shot of the temporary bed-frame arrangement
he had until Daddy finished building the bed.

We've been collecting stuff for months for the "space room": fabric and Buzz Lightyear sheets and a hand-made fleece blanket from Granmy; glowing planets and moon night-light from Uncle Beebo, space-themed clock and posters from Grandma & Grandpa; and I even managed to finish making his comforter in time.

Camden is pretty excited about it all. We're hoping it will help him feel special during the transition!

Another Version

On the way to the hospital,
about 37 weeks along.

It was a long 8 hours at the hospital today. I'll be 37 weeks pregnant on Wednesday. I started having contractions this morning, and by the end of sacrament meeting they were 5 minutes apart, so we headed home to call the doc. The little stinker has been breech for the past few months, and I've already tried all the home methods to flip him, so we'd already scheduled the external cephalic version (where the doc softens the uterus and then pushes really hard to try and turn him) for Tuesday. Been there, done that. Cam was breech too, and we tried the same thing before our c-section with him. But, in lieu of the early labor, the doctor suggested we try to turn him today in case he decided to come before then. So, we went to the hospital at about 11 a.m. to attempt the version and possibly have an emergency c-section. (Yah!) They monitored me for a while and managed to slow down the contractions enough to attempt the version. Dr. Bubier made 5 attempts, actually. At one point, he went about halfway, but he's already popped his head right back where it was originally, under the right side of my rib cage. We watched him on the ultrasound, and he had his little feet in his face with his ankles crossed. Rascal! Anyway, after a few more hours of contractions and monitoring, they finally sent me home, still contracting about 8 minutes apart but not dilated at all. Now we know we're having a c-section, whether it's scheduled or emergency. *sigh* As long as he gets here safely, that's the most important thing. Either way, we'll be seeing him soon. :)

Sure is easier to keep the family and friends up-to-date
than it was when we had our little Camden 4 1/2 years ago!

Trent at my bedside.

"This is sooooo boring!"

Go Avalanche!

One of the perks of Trent's new job is that we get hockey tickets from time to time. (KeyBank is a sponsor for the Colorado Avalanche.) It has been a fun season, full of firsts for our family.

Trent took Camden to his first hockey game, and they had a blast. Their seats were two rows back from the glass. Camden's favorite part? "The fights!" That and the blue cotton candy that I got to clean off his face, shirt, and from under his fingernails when he got home, wide awake, at 11 p.m. Little stinker. Unfortunately, we had a little hitting problem the next day at preschool and had to have a serious discussion about how "we are not hockey players." *sigh*

Trent also took me to my first NHL game. It was a fun date night, and we won 6-3!

Ryan O'Reilly came to Trent's branch for a promo. But don't let that suave Backstreet-Boy appearance fool you. We watched him tear it up on the ice the next night against the NY Rangers.

Cam wigged a little when Ryan popped out his false front tooth. Gotta love the butterfly bandage on his nose, too. He's the real deal!