Where Does Time Go?

Maren will be three weeks tomorrow... honestly, we just brought her home from the hospital. Time flies these days, and I thought they were zooming along as it was before a second child in our home. Maren must be growing or something because she used to sleep at least 3 or 4 hours betweeen feedings at night and now she's wanting fed every 2. Lucky me. I am feeling very sleep deprived. I am grateful for a good husband who got up and changed her diaper twice last night. And I am also grateful that I don't have to get up with an alarm clock to go to work - I'm zombie enough in my own home, I can't imagine having to be completely productive in a work setting. Maren is also starting to be awake for several hours at a time now, so the 'sleep all day long newborn stage' is over. It was nice while it lasted. And can I say how wonderful my two year old has been? She has been awesome with her baby sister and she's been a big help to me lately. I feel so blessed to be a mother of two beautiful girls. And here is a sweet photo of my Maren:

Double Take

Here are my beautiful girls:

And this is me with my little brother, Brian:

Back to Reality

I've been alone with the kids all week, and I'll have you all know that we are all doing just fine... no, the house isn't clean, and I'm lucky if I'm dressed by noon (hey, at least I get dressed!) but we are all surviving - and I've kept my sanity so far. Here is the real reason that I posted today - more cute photos:

A Family of Four

We have had Maren home since Monday morning and we are all settling into life as a family of four. I have felt very spoiled as Nick has been home all week, and our ward members and friends have been feeding us. I know this is not yet 'normal life' and I'm kind of nervous to return to it. I feel quite well, despite an occassional headache. Maren has been doing very well - not much crying - just eating and sleeping as new babies do. We have had to take her to the lab to get her foot pricked to test for jaundice a few times, but she is fine now. Nick has had a list of things to accomplish this week and has only gotten to a few of them... oh well. Ellie is doing great with her baby sister. She loves to hold her and touch her and is always very gentle with her. She wants to be there to 'help' when mom or dad change a diaper or give her a bath.

Home from the hospital:

Ellie helps dad shuck the corn. Nick put 17 quart bags of corn in the freezer this week.

Sleeping Beauty

Ellie wanted to be wrapped up like a 'burrito' too.

Welcome, Baby Maren!

Maren Patricia Johnson was born August 9, 2008 at 6:03 pm weighing 7 lbs. 10 oz. and stretching to 20 inches.

Labor went well. I progressed from 2 cm to 6 cm over a period of a few hours, and then things happened really quickly in the end. My nurse would check me every few minutes and I'd be a cm larger each time. So I went from a 6 to a 10 within about 20 minutes or so. There were a few tense moments as Maren's heartrate would drop with a contraction. They attatched a fetal monitor to Maren's head, gave me a shot to stop the contractions and had me laying with my head lower than my stomach to take the pressure off the baby until they could get a doctor in there to deliver her. Her head was facing up instead of down, so he used forceps to turn her the right direction. He also guessed right away that the cord was wrapped around her neck, and it was - twice. The umbilical cord was very long and skinny. Maren was just fine though and had a good, healthy cry and then was content just to look around for the next hour until they took her to the nursery. Yeah! We are so happy she is here!

Almost there...

So my alarm went off at 5:00 am this morning, when I planned to hit snooze for a half hour until it was time to get ready to go to Alicia's wedding. Wendy was already up, and had been since 3:00am, having moderate contractions. She said I could turn off the alarm because we probably wouldn't be going to the wedding.

After a half hour, I decided to take a shower anyway. Wendy got up and the contractions stopped. So, we decided to go to the wedding after all. Once we got there, she said she could feel something going on, but she was still feeling fine (just a bit wet, if you know what I mean).

The wedding was great. It was neat to see so many of Alicia's (and Wendy's) brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles that we don't get to see very often. The ceremony was excellent, and the room was packed, as is to be expected from the Browns and the Smiths.

After the wedding, we were debating whether to stick around for the pictures and the luncheon. After not too long, it became apparent that we needed to head back sooner rather than later. We did manage to stay for a few photos, and Dennis was nice enough to take the ones first that included Wendy (Thanks, Dennis!).

After those, Wendy and I headed back to Lehi, gathered up our stuff, and stopped by my parent's house to tell them that they would be watching Ellie for a bit longer today. They were quite excited. We then made a stop at Wendy's (the restaurant, not our house) for some on-the-go lunch, because we knew that once we got to the hospital, they would only allow her to eat ice chips. Good thinking, Wendy! Then on to the hospital.

The nurse checked her out, and sure enough, her water had broken. So, we've been at the hospital since around 12:30 this afternoon. They started her on pitocin, so now we're seeing some better contractions. In fact, she just got an epidural in the middle of me writing this. I did stop writing for that. I wanted to get out of the way of being able to see that needle. Needles usually don't bother me, but come on; have you seen those epidural needles? And don't you see where they insert them? I cringe just thinking about it.
Anyway, Wendy is getting numb and wanting to sleep. So I'll post updates as they become available. Somebody at the reception will have to eat a piece of cake for us, 'cause we're not going to be able to make it!

Hospital Visit

We were pretty close to having baby Maren yesterday. I went in for a non-stress test in the morning and the nurse was concerned because the baby's heartrate dropped with a contraction, so they admitted me to labor and delivery and monitored the baby for another hour. The baby's heartrate was just fine and they sent us home. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad about that. I wonder how much that will cost us... I guess it is better to be safe than sorry. At this point I would, of course, be so excited to have our baby, but I'm kind of hoping that I don't go into labor until Sunday because then I'll be able to go to my sister's wedding on Saturday - very very pregnant, but at least I could be there.

On another note, Ellie is just so much fun. I really really love having a two year old. She has turned into quite the little chatterbox. We went on a walk the other day and she talked the entire time - "Mom, I hear the crickets!" "Mom, it's getting dark." etc, etc. On and on she went. She loves to sing primary songs with mom at the piano and she actually knows the words to several of them and can point out the ones that she sings at church. Her other favorite thing at the moment is her Little People farm. It is so fun to listen to her play, "No, cow, it's the horse's turn!" She is excited to welcome a baby sister, and I'm confidant that she'll be a good big sister. She told me the other day, "I'm ready for my baby sister to come." Yes, me too. Me too.

Nope, Not Yet

We are still waiting for baby. I had a doctor's appointment this morning and not much has changed - about 1.5 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. I am scheduled to be induced on Monday - another week away. I would really really like her to come on her own before then, but only time will tell. All I can do is wait patiently (ha!).

I had my birthday last week. It snuck up on me quickly this year, honestly I hadn't thought twice about it because I was only concerned with getting a baby here. I had a very nice day. My wonderful husband made me breakfast, brought me beautiful flowers and took me out on a date. It was nice and relaxing.