Long time, not much has changed...

The last almost two years since my last post have flown by (I mean, holy cow! My daughter is almost 2!) and, oddly enough, not much has changed (besides her) in our lives since then besides a few major things I can think of-

1) After having a horrible time trying to breastfeed our little girl I tried the one thing I could think of to increase my milk production- intake more calories. I failed to realize the importance of the quality of the food and ended up fattening myself up (like, so I was only 10 lbs lighter than I was the day BEFORE I delivered our baby. Yeah, it was bad). I decided a change needed to be made in my diet and I cut out processed sugars. Not too long after that I started trying the diet recommended by my footzoning instructors (see next bullet) which includes cutting out wheat, red meat and dairy in addition to the processed sugars. Once I started that my extra weight dropped off like melting butter (40 lbs in 4 months. Not too shabby, eh?) and I was able to reach my pre-married life weight, which was the goal. Not only did I lose weight but I felt the best I had since I could remember. I was (and still am) quite proud of myself. 

2) I struggled with postpartum depression for a long time after our daughter was born. I spent the majority of my time trying to find a way to make myself more accomplished than being a crazed zombie monster who stayed home with a tiny version of myself all day long. My thoughts often reverted back to what I would do if I went back to school, and I seriously considered going to PA school, something I hadn't thought of doing since my first semester of college. My depression about my worth to society did not improve when we talked about it and decided that such a lofty goal wouldn't fit into the lifestyle we wanted for us and our children (I honestly don't think I could have done it even if we had though). Then I was introduced by one of my MIL's friends who is a footzoner and she talked of sorts of things you could do with it and I wanted to learn more, so I signed up for classes. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined how amazing an impact it would have on my life. While taking the classes and zoning myself my depression was gone and the back problems I'd had from my epidural were gone. Not only that but I learned a lot about how foods affect our bodies (in many more ways than you could learn in any college nutrition class) and I changed my diet and was able to lose 40 lbs and feel wonderful. 

So now I have graduated with a certification in footzoning and take clients on in my home. I now don't feel like I need to go back to school to fulfill my need for success in life. 

3) I have, for a long time, been wanting to get more into doing my artwork, but because I enjoy doing portraits of people the most I haven't had much inspiration or motivation because my parents and I only have so much wall space we can dedicate to my art, so I've been on virtual stand-still when it comes to art for the past few years. Then I recently got involved with a local non-profit arts and music program, and got talked into being a part of their local artists faire in December. I enjoyed it so much I started a page for my stuff to sell on Facebook and Instagram. Then the organization had a local business space donated to them for a five month span of time to set up a gallery. I was able to set up my space in there two weeks ago. Even though I have not yet had any commissions for portraits yet my vigor has been renewed and I have put together a few additional pieces since to started and I had forgotten how fulfilling it is for me to be so creative. So the past two months have been dedicated to starting up stuff for this business. It feels nice to have something besides my child to be involved in. 

4) Last, but certainly not least, we are now expecting baby girl number two May 28th. My OB moved out of town right before I got pregnant and, due to a series of frustrating events the previous time, I have decided to try using a midwife this time around. She has been amazing so far and I am excited (and a little nervous) to try and do this unmedicated this time. 

So the next few months will be spent organizing the house so that we can have room for two little ones in our apartment. 

Now that I've caught up on our happenings hopefully these posts won't be so terribly long. 

Our Little Angel

 10 Days Old, Sunday Outfit

Daddy napping with the little One. He caught me.

Grandma teaching Mom how to give Baby Girl a bath.

Welcome to the World!

Welcome to Earth life, little Moriah Wight! Born April 3 at 9:05 am, weighing 7 lbs 12 oz, 20 1/2 inches long.

Details:
I went to my stress test on Wednesday (the 2nd) expecting not to have any issues- I hadn't for the previous 4 sessions. I had even been in a hurry to get to my appointment so I only had some poptarts for breakfast, anticipating a large lunch at the cafe at the hospital after my appointment. The nurse came in when I was about done and said that the baby's heartbeat was doing things that were worrisome. Since I was already at 39 weeks the doctor decided that they would just induce me that day. The nurse walked me down to labor and delivery (making it so that I couldn't eat my lunch). This was around noon. The tech came in a little while later with my ice chips and suckers- the only things I was going to be allowed to eat until the baby was born. The entire floor was full, and I waited 2 hours to be transferred to a different room, soon after which they started me on pitocin. I was still dilated to a 1 at this point in time. From then on it was just a waiting game. I sat and watched tv or slept til Spencer came from work around 4, and then we watched tv together. I was determined to go naturally without an epidural (not only because it's expensive, but because the thought of a needle coming that close to my spinal cord scared me). Up til 9:30 that night I had only progressed to a 2, and my doctor broke my water at that point, hoping I would progress faster that way. Since I was progressing so slowly I told Spencer he could go to his soccer game. He thought once my water was broken I would go faster so he skipped the second game and came and hung out with me. My mom showed up around 11:30 that night and we all hung out together for a long while. The nurse came in again at 3 to check me and I was still only dilated to a 3 plus, and my contractions were getting to the point where I couldn't stand them. I had tried all sorts of positions trying to stay comfortable but most of the positions I found comfortable were not allowed because the monitors wouldn't stay on. My nurse explained that it traditionally takes an hour per centimeter after reaching 4, which wasn't happening. Once I found this out my patience was waning fast. I quickly decided that an epidural would be preferable to trying to endure the contractions the way they were for that much longer, and I was already exhausted, so I opted for the epidural. After that I slept until 7:30 and I was dilated to a 9 plus, and my nurse told me I would start pushing in an hour, and she started to set up the room. I started pushing, stopped for a little while, then started again once my doctor showed up. Less than 10 minutes later Moriah was born.

Flowers and a balloon from Grandma L.

 

Although I doubt any of them will ever see this, I would like to thank the doctors and the nurses that helped us out. They were all extremely incredible and helpful! I actually miss being there and being able to associate with such wonderful people.

Dinner Date

My brother and sister-in-law came down to Utah from Oregon for a break from school. My parents came up from S. Utah and we went to dinner at Chuck-a-Rama in Ogden. It is so nice to be together.

April Fools!

This is what we woke up to on April 1st. I guess Mother Nature had to have the first gag of the day.

So Close and Yet So Far...

Today marks 38 weeks and 4 days along for me. Baby girl could be born any day now. Now that the house is set up to functionality she can come any time-- and I wish she would. Sooner, rather than later. After almost a weeks worth of having Braxton-Hicks off and on I thought I'd be dilated more than I was at my doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I was still dilated to 1 cm (which is what I was at the week before). It feels like every moment is an eternity waiting for things to happen. I guess that's how it is when you're this far along.
Because I have had some high blood pressure (but not high enough to justify inducing me as of yet), my doctor has determined that if I haven't delivered by the time I see her this week we will set up an appointment to induce me. We're hoping to set that date for the 7th. I hope she comes sooner because I'm just biding my time ('cause that's the kinda guy I'm) right now. One week has never seemed so long.

Starting up again-- maybe

Worked on a painting for the first time in a long time as a gift for my cousin's wedding. I don't want to brag, but I think it turned out really well.