Henry Clark Pierson

Well I guess it's about time I blogged about the little bundle of joy that arrived 2 weeks ago!  He took his sweet time getting here, but we love him just the same.  I honestly thought he would come on his own and boy was I wrong.  


Here we are on Easter Sunday wishing he would come since he was 1 week over due at this point.  The day before I had walked all around Baby Animal Days and on Sunday we walked up Old Main Hill, but nothing worked.  He was being stubborn.  

Apparently Adrienne really likes my belly.

 Monday morning I was scheduled to be induced.  The hospital called me at 7am and told me to come in at 7:30.  I had been having contractions all Sunday night, so I didn't sleep at all.  They were about 20 minutes apart so not enough for me to go in, but close enough that I didn't sleep much.  But I was determined to get the baby out of me in a timely manner. 

Still in good spirits.  Obviously this picture was taken between contractions since I'm still smiling.  Honestly I wanted to try and go natural (or as natural as possible).  But when you are started on Pitocin going natural goes right out the window.  They started me on pitocin at 8:20am and I was dilated to a 3.  Four hours later with pretty intense contractions that were seriously 2 minutes apart, I was only dilated to a 4.  Lame.  So at 12:30 I decided to get an epidural because I was tired and I didn't want to have those crazy contractions forever with no progress.  The epidural was nice for like the first hour.  Then it sucked. The little guy's heart rate was acting crazy so if I laid on my left side his heart rate would drop.  I also had to have oxygen or his heart rate would drop.  They informed me that when you are "over due" your placenta gets old and doesn't work as well, so that is probably why his heart rate was being finicky.  Oh and my doctor came in and broke my water after I had the epidural and they said it had a greenish tint (gross I know) which meant he had probably already had bowel movements inside the womb.  This is bad because he will ingest the meconium when he goes through the birth canal so they said there would need to be a respiratory therapist there when he is born to make sure he is breathing okay.  At this point I'm wondering why they let you go a week overdue if it causes more problems.  So because of all this, I was stuck lying on my right side so that Mr. Henry's heart rate would be normal.  That meant all the epidural juice was collecting on my right side, and nothing was working on my left side.  So I could mostly feel everything.  At first I thought it would be nice because it was taking some of the pain away, but I would still be able to feel when to push.  That was at like 5pm.  I didn't start pushing until 11:15pm. So for most the day I was in pain from hunger, in pain from lying on my right side all day, and in pain from contractions on my left side.  By 8pm I was getting bugged.  That's about the time they told me I had a fever so I needed antibiotics through my IV right away and my baby would be going straight to the NICU after he was born to get him on an IV with antibiotics.  Apparently a Maternal Temp (that's the official name) is a bad thing and they worry about their being an infection that could have been passed to baby, so they don't take any chances and the baby is taken to the NICU.  So when 11:15pm rolled around we were taking bets on when he would arrive.  The nurse said I could be pushing for hours, but I was not going to let that happen.  I guessed he would be there at 12:10am, the nurse guessed 12:12 and Clark guessed 12:15.  He arrived at 12:16am on April 10th 2012.  A nice even day (I'm weird and I like even numbers so it was perfect).  I only pushed for about 50 minutes.  After 16 hours of labor, I was ready for him to be here!  He was born 7lbs 70z 21 inches long.

As soon as he was out I asked the doctor "shouldn't he be crying" and the doctor said no because they had to suction out the meconium before they wanted him to take his first breath.  So I couldn't do skin to skin right away and hold him because they had to suction out all the gunk.  Clark was able to cut the umbilical cord though, so that was good.  Then it felt like they were working on him forever!  The poor little guy.  When they were done they let me hold him for just a minute.  Then they took him down to get a bath and all cleaned up.  They brought him back to me to hold for just a minute then he had to go get all hooked up to the IV's.  

First Family Picture

Down in the NICU

My poor baby with an IV in his head for the antibiotics.  It was so hard to hold him with all the cords and monitors.  We are glad those are gone! 

Handsome little guy.

He was born on Tuesday and finally able to leave on Friday.  He gained weight, never lost it so his Pediatrician was very happy.  We had his two week appointment yesterday and he is now 8 lbs 4 oz and 22 inches long.  So basically he has almost gained 1lb in 2 weeks.  I love my little chunky monkey.  

This is totally a Clark thing.  When Clark was little he would hold his ear and suck his thumb.  

I just took this picture.  He decided to sleep for a long time so I could blog finally!  He is so kind to his Momma.  

He needs to eat so I don't have time to proof read.  I hope I don't have too many errors, but if I do I'll blame it on "new mom brain" formally known as "pregnancy brain"

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Well I'm still pregnant.  I figured my little guy wouldn't come on his due date, but I'm getting so anxious to see him I can't stand it.  Really I don't know how they calculate due dates, because I feel like they are usually inaccurate.  I'm hoping he will be an Easter baby.  If not they will call me on Monday morning at 6am and tell me to come in to be induced.  I really don't want to be induced.  I wanted things to happen as naturally as possible.  But as long as my baby is born healthy, that's all I really want.  


Since baby isn't here I'm going to Baby Animal Days with my Mom, sisters, and nephews.  If you don't know, Baby Animal Days is a fun thing in Cache Valley during April.  You go out to the American West Heritage Farm and you get to hold all these adorable little animals.  They even have baby Black Bears.  I don't think you can hold those.  I'm hoping all the baby animals will make my baby want to make an appearance.  

The only picture I could get of Baby Animal Days.  Look at that cute little Chick! 

Hopefully my next post is about baby Pierson's arrival!  If the snowstorm didn't entice him to come maybe having an Easter birthday will.   

Perspective

So I will admit these last few months I have been feeling very sorry for myself.  It's quite embarrassing really, but I've been having a pity party.  My husband has been looking for jobs since about November with no luck.  Job hunting is the worst. I'm know I'm biased because he is my husband, but I just don't understand how he hasn't been offered a million jobs by now.  He is very smart and talented.  I try to be optimistic and give him encouragement, but it is a very discouraging process.  


I often find myself asking "what have we done to deserve this" or "I'm pregnant and we are about to have a baby, I don't need this stress" or "why can't we have what other people have, it's not fair".  This is not a pretty side of me. This has definitely been a test of my faith.  Which is strange because we have gone through some pretty big trials in our 4 1/2 years of marriage and for some reason this trial is bringing me down.  Maybe because I'm pregnant so everything seems more dramatic.  Looking at other people's blogs doesn't help me either.  


But then I realized I had no room to complain or think my life is so horrible.  I have a healthy little baby boy growing inside of me and my pregnancy has been great with no complications.  Seriously, I should feel SO blessed, not so picked on.  We have a roof over our heads, food to eat, cars to drive, and I do have a job.  Things could be A LOT worse.  I have a hard time with Heavenly Fathers "time line".  I always want things to work out when I want them to.  I need to work on being patient.  I do know things will work out, I just wish they could work out a little more quickly.  But instead of thinking "I'll be happy when..." I need to just be happy now!  And it's not that I'm not happy, because I am.  I just need to remember to be grateful for all the things we do have and not worry about what we don't have.  We have each other and that is the most important.  I love my husband dearly and all you need is Love, right?  


I read this today on Nie Nie's blog.  I cried.  She is wonderful.  I want to read her book so bad.  I told Clark to buy it for me, but I fear that I will get it after the baby is here and either A. I won't have time to read it or B. I will neglect my poor baby to read.  Listening to her talk and watching the little video gave me a lot of perspective.  I'm not going to feel sorry for myself. 


I'm sorry if you have heard me complain about various things that past few months.  I have been a Debby Downer.  I mostly feel bad for my family and my friend who I share an office with at work.  She gets a lot of my complaining.  We have therapy sessions with each other.  It's fun.  

I need to remember my cute little baby that is already so positive.  He is giving the thumbs up so I guess that means everything is going to be fine.  

Baby Shower Number 2

My wonderful Mother in law, my sister in laws, and Clark's aunt (do I call her my aunt in law?) threw me a baby shower on March 17th.  My turquoise cardigan counted as my green for St. Patty's day.  Here I am at 37 almost 38 weeks. 

My father in law and I were comparing our belly sizes.  He likes to tease :)

Owl party favors.

Just some of the cute decorations from the shower.  They really put a lot of work into decorating. 

Angie made Henry a little sign.  It works as a cute Easter decoration too.

My wonderful sister Allison that drove down from Logan!  I was happy she was there.  My mom and my other sisters are still wonderful but they were in California.  I guess my nephew's 3rd birthday was more important :)

My beautiful cousin Megan with her darling baby boy Rohan.  Isn't she just so photogenic!

Some family from my mom's side.  My aunt Sherrie, Grandma Allred and cousin Megan and sister Allison again.  We had to show the California people that we were having more fun then they were! 

My shower was combined with cute Erin.  She married Clark's cousin Wade, but I also knew her from the days of living in Hess Farms.  She is having a little girl Hadlee in April too!  I'm so happy for her and Wade, and can't wait to meet Hadlee.

The pregnant girls again.  This picture shows the other cute decorations.  Angie bought cute little clothes to hang on clothes wire along with some more cute owls she made.  

The lovely ladies who threw a really fun shower! 

Angie, Me, Carolyn, Kim, & Natalie

 I didn't get a picture of RaJean (Clark's aunt) but she also helped too.  It turned out to be really fun.  I always feel so guilty when people buy me gifts, but we really do appreciate all of it :)  

I only have 4 1/2 more days till my due date.... I should say "due week" since what baby really comes on the official due date.  Probably not mine since I'm not showing any progress at all.  Oh well I feel great so baby Henry can stay in a few more days.  I'm thinking April 2nd or April 4th would be great days to come.  I left out April 3rd because for some reason I don't really like odd numbers.  I know it's weird.  Plus April 4th is Clark's birthday and he would love to share his birthday wish his first born son.  That way they can do "manly" stuff together when Henry is older.  Weird to think I will be posting about a baby soon.  

*Also I just realized I said cute a lot in this post.  I don't want to try and think of synonyms to replace them.

Baby Shower

I had a baby shower on March 10th.  My sisters put a lot of work into my shower and I thought it was so much fun!  My cute cousin and aunt also made some yummy popcorn for a party favor that said "ready to Pop".  So cute!  

Decorations.  They made a cute banner that says "Henry".  I'm going to hang it in his nursery.  

Instead of "cool" shower games they decided that everyone would make a onesie for Henry.  They had a bunch of different sizes of onesies and then had fabric cut out in fun shapes like a giraffe, dinosaur, truck, star, octopus, fish, tree and rocket ship.  Everyone picked what they wanted and ironed it on.  Some added stitching around the outside or buttons.  They turned out so cute.  

Busy working on their onesie

Grandma and Emily working hard.  Emily was so cute to drive all the way from Springville and luckily she was the smart one who actually knew how to use the iron on paper and the fabric.  I was so happy she came!  We missed the rest of her family though.  Thanks Mary and Emily for the cute popcorn treat.  

Erin helping Polly iron on her shape

The delicious treats.  

So happy Carolyn and Angie made the drive.  Angie made a cute diaper cake for me and they spoiled me and Henry with cute clothes! Next Saturday these lovely ladies are throwing me another shower.  I'm so grateful for our wonderful families.  

My cute sisters Adrienne & Allison who threw the shower.  Thanks girls, I loved it! All your hard work was worth it.  My lovely Mom helped too :)

My mom made me take this picture.  She wouldn't let me leave until I took a picture like this.  She is silly.  Here I am almost 37 weeks in all my glory!

Rock-A-Bye Baby

The cradle is finished!  Baby H has a place to sleep whenever he decides to come.  This thing will rock him to sleep all night, it is so smooth.  My husband is talented!  

The cradle is made of African Mahogany and the two end panels are Ribbon Mahogany (that is why the grain looks striped).  This is one sturdy cradle.  It will be a family heirloom for sure.  

I had to put one of his little outfits in to get the full effect.  

 Elephant Book Shelf

I love these little guys so much!  Clark was able to make 3 out of the wood he bought and I secretly want to keep them all.  I can't decide on what color I want, they are all so cute.  I saw the original on pinterest and Clark looked at the picture and made his own.  He drew the blue print by hand then traced it onto the wood and cut it out with the band saw.  I don't think they could have turned out any better.  They are bigger than what the original size said.  That thing is made of solid wood.  It is legit. 

Chair Re-do

This is the chair we got at a yard sale in McCall ID.

And this is what we turned it into.  It is navy blue with green and navy fabric.  I think it turned out so cute.  Clark picked out the fabric so I thought a navy chair would look pretty cute.  As far as "nursery" colors go I didn't want a super matchy room.  I want gray and aqua colored crib bedding, but I didn't want everything to be just those colors.  We don't really have space to set up a nursery yet, so I'm not sure how it will all come together.  But I figure Henry will be in the cradle in our room for a few months so we have plenty of time to set up the nursery.  Clark is working on the crib right now.  

I'm officially 37 weeks!  This means the baby can come at anytime but I'm really hoping that he waits until April.  I just need the last 3 weeks to get everything ready.  I can't wait to meet the little dude!