It's been a LONG time!

It's been forever since i've posted!  I thought i'd take the opportunity to introduce my new little guy.  We are now a family of 4!  On January 24th, 2012, Izak Orion Hawkins was born!

I love this little guy!  And we are so happily surprised that he does not resemble Ricky like Tristan does.  He has RED hair! And his eyes still have yet to decide their color, but they may be multi-colored like Ricky's.  My pregnancy with him was very similar, except he was bigger so I was more uncomfortable near the end, and he added some more stretch marks.

I was nervous about a quick labor.  For good reason.  I had my first contraction at 8:30pm while hanging out with my wonderful hubby (one week early).  My contractions started at 2 min apart (same as with Tristan).  We asked Nick Walker to come over until my mom could get there since we knew we should head out asap (Tristan was a quick labor until pushing).  He said he was only here for 10 min before my mom got here.  I wasn't in pain when we left, but I was in heavier labor by the time we got to the hospital.  They had lost my registration, so they made me fill that out while I was contracting every minute.  They didn't make me get checked in the "oasis" triage room since I had a history of a quick labor.  I got to my room for 30 min of monitoring, and they told me they might send me home since I was only 3 cm (which is what I had been the day before).  My Dr. had given me strict orders to just walk the lobby for an hour if they tried sending me home. Luckily, the doctor arrived at the end of my 30 min monitoring (I didn't get my own Dr), and I was 7 cm dilated, and heavy contractions that were 1 min apart and lasted 45 seconds.  This was really painful.  She said they could break my water and I could go walk the halls for an hour, but I knew I didn't need any help speeding things up, and I never got to use the hot tub with Tristan since I had been fully dilated before I got to my room, so I asked if I could go in the tub.  I got in for about 10 min (I didn't like it that much) until I felt I needed to push.  Again, the nurses didn't believe me, but I got out and was fully dilated, and my water broke just as they were going to do it for me.

Then things went very, very fast.  I started pushing (Izak had turned to face the wrong way) so the doctor had to "manually" keep him in place the entire time I pushed.  It wasn't very long, though.  I started pushing and after only a few minutes Izak's heart completely stopped.  Everything was a blur to me, but it was more real for Ricky.  Over 15 doctors came into the room, and they picked me up and changed my position, turned on the lights, and gave me oxygen. Izak was far enough down that pushing him out was faster than a C-section, otherwise I usually would have had a C-section.  I'm also allergic to general anesthesia (and my babies), so that creates more of a deterrant.  The doctor used the vacuum, and we got him out in one push.  (Later the dr said that once she announced we needed him out, she didn't even need the vacuum.  I got him out). Ricky said I screamed really loud (I had a natural labor), and Izak came out with the cord behind his neck, and I had had a placental abruption. Ricky thought he was dead when he came out :-(. They cut his cord (Ricky didn't get to).

But by God's grace, Izak started crying before they even handed him off. AND right away he pinkened up and got a 9 APGAR score (which is high), and they handed him to me :-)  Another God's grace was that I didn't tear at all.  Izak had a bit of jaundice, but I breastfed him every 2 hours and he never had to go on formula.

Izak was born at 11:27 pm, a slightly less than 3 hour labor.  The Walkers were surprised to find that they had just been at my place to watch Tristan, and Izak was born before they went to bed.

Having children has been the biggest blessing from the Lord for Ricky and I.  If we had lived in a different time, neither me or either of my boys would have lived through delivery. It is also a miracle I didn't get a C-section for either one. Usually in both situations I would have, but God protected me, especially with our allergy to anesthetics.

Izak is a wonderful little guy!!!  He has SO much personality!  He is 3 months old now, and is wearing 6 month clothes.  He is a BIG guy!

Tristan LOVES his little brother.  The people at the gym tell me that he always gives his brother kisses.  We are also working on being gentle......

I love both my boys :-)

Creation NW

Today through saturday, my mom and I are going to Creation NW. It is the largest Christian festival in the US. This will be my mom's first time, but it will be my 8th time. I started going with my aunt (my Godmother) in 6th grade. It used to be at the Gorge Ampitheater, so this will be my first time at the Enumclaw Expo Center. We are going to see tons of bands and speakers, including Toby Mac, Switchfoot, Newsboys, etc, etc. I am excited! I'm hoping that I can get a lot out of the messages.

While i'm gone (i'm coming home each night), my dad and Ricky will be teaming up to babysit Tristan. Hopefully Tristan will finally sleep at my parent's house. I'm sure he will be fine. This will be good practice for when Ricky and I leave for 9 days in August.

sleep, food, and baby

We have been trying to tweak Tristan's schedule. He has been sleeping poorly for his naps, and has been waking up at 6 (he usually woke up at 7ish). I tried the one nap a day, but he only took 45-1hr nap instead of extending it, and he was tired by the end of the day, and before his nap. So we also tried moving up his bed time by about 30 min. He sleeps longer at night now (still wakes up at 6). So today we are back on a 2 nap schedule. Hopefully we can figure out the right combination of naps and bed time.

I my 12 wk ultrasound this past Thursday. It was scheduled when I was 11 wks and 2 days. However, the baby was a bit small still, so I have to go back in 2 weeks. They couldn't do the measurements they needed. Even though the baby doesn't measure at 11 wks 2 days, they don't change the due date because the original ultrasound is the most accurate. Tristan was always on the smaller side, too. I am getting big already, though! I have already gained about 10 pounds....

On another note, Tristan is yet again a very picky eater. He only wants to eat carbs, yogurt, and bananas. I try everything- mixed veggies, black beans, other fruits/veggies, meats, pieces of what we're eating.... I keep offering a bunch of stuff every day, though.

We picked nursery themes. If it's a girl, it will be very girly and frilly, etc. If it's a boy, we are doing owls :-) I can't wait till we find out the gender (september). That is when pregnancy gets more exciting. You can feel the baby, and you definitely look pregnant. You can decorate the nursery and start planning.

What's New

I keep starting this post, but I don't know what exactly to say. A lot has been going on. Tristan is starting to walk!!! Sometimes he forgets that he can, though. I gave him his second hair cut. His hair grows very fast. He is on all finger food now (no baby food!). I can't believe how big he is getting! He is almost 14 months old. He loves books lately. He will pull out tons of books from his book shelf and read to himself for an hour every day. We read a book before each nap and bedtime. Speaking of naps, he has been shortening his morning nap. I'm hoping I can keep him on a 2 nap schedule until Ricky and I return from our anniversary trip in August.

I am now just over 10 weeks pregnant. I had morning sickness for weeks 6 and 7. It was totally unexpected since Tristan's pregnancy was utterly uneventful. However, I am thankful that it was not that bad, and also that it only lasted a few weeks. I feel pretty good now. I am really thirsty a lot. I almost passed out a few times.

My best friend Amy came to visit! We went and saw some movies, went to a kangaroo farm, Ikea, took the bus to Pike Place Market, etc. It was sooo fun! It was the longest i've been away from Tristan.

Boredom

Ahhh boredom, you are my arch nemesis! Here's the deal- I LOVE being a stay at home mom! BUT, both Tristan and I get so bored being at home all the time. We only have one car, and Ricky takes the car 4 days a week. The bus is about $5/day whereas gas is only about $2.70/day. Isn't that weird?

We need people to come over more. Also, we need to go on more walks. There aren't any parks within walking distance. The area around my condo isn't that great for walking. I am going to buy an umbrella stroller so I don't have to lug Tristan and the big stroller down the 3 flights of stairs (the stroller usually stays in the car anyways).

Anyone want to come over and hang out? Any ideas of what we can do around the house?

What's New

Let's see... What's new? We have decided on a girl's and boy's name:

Vaida Kaelyn Hawkins

Izak Orion Hawkins

I know there is controversy over the name Vaida, but Ricky and I just couldn't find anything else we liked.

I am almost 6 weeks pregnant. I am a little over a week 'behind' what I would have been if I had normal cycles. Tristan was 'off' as well. I found this out before my first official OBGYN appointment (June 15th) because I've been having some spotting. I had some spotting with Tristan, too, but I needed peace of mind. I went in to get an ultrasound. There was no heart beat yet because the baby is too young still. She said in a few more days we would have seen it. No miscarriage. The bleeding is probably from the baby "implanting" itself, and it hit a blood vessel or something. I am on 'pelvic rest', so I have to rest, and try not to use my stomach muscles, try not to lift anything over 20 pounds (careful with Tristan). I think she said my due date was Jan. 31st, but i'll know for sure when I see the doctor. The funny part: she asked if I had used any fertility drugs to get pregnant. I almost had twins. There were 2 eggs, but only one developed into a baby.

Tristan is doing very well! He will be 13 months in a little over a week. He is SOO close to standing and walking! He likes pushing his walker all over the place, and leans on things without holding on. It has been about a week and a half since I weaned him completely. I am very engorged. But it's not painful like I would expect. It almost feels hard, like it's calcifying or something. I was told eventually I will just empty, but it is getting rather uncomfortable.

My best friend Amy is coming to visit soon!

What's In A Name

Naming a baby is hard!!! I've been reading book after book, and going to naming websites, etc. I want to pick a boy name and a girl name before we find out the gender. My girl name list is longer than the boy name list by far. Ricky is really picky, too. I think the boy name will be Izak Orion Hawkins. Some other boy names we are considering (either for 1st or middle):

Constantine, Dante, Jasper, Brendon, Sylas, Levi, Camdon

We dont want a name ending in 'on' or 'an' or 'in' for a first name because we don't want it to rhyme with Tristan. Sylas was our second choice for Tristan, but there was recently a 'Silas' born at our church.

For a girl, we really like Vaida Kailyn Hawkins. My family insists she would be made fun of and called Darth Veda. We also are playing with the spelling of that. Veda, Vada, Vaida, Veida, Vaeda, etc. We want people to at least know how to pronounce it (VAY-da). Some other girl names:

Arabella, Arabelle, Anabella, Anabel, Presephone, Charlotte, Scarlette, Lydia, Madelyn, Adelaide, Adeline, Rosalie, Raena, Kaelyn, Cadence, Amelina