Merry Christmas!! If you're here because you got a Christmas card with our blog address on it, WELCOME!! If you're here because you're trying to see if I updated yet, well I'm working on it. Because it takes forever to upload pictures UPDATE-IN FACT IT ISN'T LETTING ME UPLOAD PICTURES AT ALL!! I WILL TRY TO ADD SOME LATERI decided to write a Christmas letter now about our year and then go back and update as I can.
The Dorns in 2011
This year we have done lots of fun and exciting things! We are blessed to be healthy and happy.
In January, we started off the year in AZ still visiting our families. Steven blessed Quintin and we were surrounded by friends and family.
Then, we celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary!!
We came back to North Dakota and we both got back to the grind...Steve went to his last Spring semester and Chelsea back to her LAST semester ever.
In February, we had a family Valentine's date. We got all dressed up and went to a concert at the school. It would have been great but Quintin likes to sing to music. So we spent the night taking turns bouncing the baby in the hall. Afterwards we went to Denny's and enjoyed dessert together. I'm the luckiest lady ever to have TWO valentine's dates!!
In March, I submitted my final work and case study analysis to complete my Master's degree. The ceremony isn't until April 2012 so stay tuned for the real celebration update.
After, we went on a spring break trip with our dear friends, the Eagars. We headed to Minneapolis for a few days and based our trip around restaurants featured on Diners, Dine-Ins, and Dives. It was an awesome trip full of the mall of America, the zoo, Mill City Museum, and LOTS of good food,
Shortly after we got back, me & Quintin made a surprise trip to Arizona. We stayed in Arizona for a few days and then flew to Idaho with my parents. We visited Talia and her fiance Brad, were there when she went through the temple, and attended her bridal shower. After Idaho, we drove down to visit my grandparents (Q's great-grandparents) in Utah. I also got to see some good friends from college and my BEST FRIEND for the first time since she has been home from her mission!! Lastly, we stopped in Provo to see my baby nephew/Quintin's only cousin (only a few weeks old). Finally we ended up in Las Vegas were we flew back to ND to a very lonely Steven (We were gone 10 days!)
In April, we flew back to Arizona for my sister's wedding. She was a beautiful bride her husband, Brad, is a great guy! We're so happy we got to be a part of her big day.
After a week in AZ for her wedding, we came back and celebrated Quintin's first Easter. We didn't fill his eggs because he didn't know the difference and he just liked the bright plastic of the eggs.
In May we stayed close to home (finally!) and celebrated Mother's day. Being a mom is my greatest blessing. I love having TWO boys to celebrate with :)
In June, we celebrated Father's day with Steven and then Quintin and I took off to Arizona again. Airfare is inexpensive to AZ in the summer and grandparents love to see Quintin. We stayed in AZ for almost 2 weeks. Towards the end, we were able to have Steven come to AZ too!! He stayed for 4th of July weekend and then the three of us flew home together. We spent the whole time surrounded by the people we love most, our families!! It was a long but wonderful trip and I'm glad Steve got to come for a few days too!
In July we spent time together going on picnics, playing on swings and celebrating our birthdays! At the end of the month, my mom, dad, and two brothers came to visit us for a whole week. We had a laid back trip but it was so much fun! The boys went fishing, the girls went shopping, and everyone but Steven made a trip up to Canada. Quintin loved the attention and I loved having an extra four pairs of hands around to help!
We took a three day break after they left and then Steven's mom, dad, and brother came to visit us for a week!! We stayed in Grand Forks for a few days until Steven finished up his summer semester flying. Then we drove down to Minneapolis. We went to several museums, the zoo, a REALLY fun amusement park, and thoroughly enjoyed our vacation time together. We also ate at some more Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives restaurants and they were all pretty awesome!!
After the Dorns left, we got Steven started again in Fall semester. Well this ended up being a whirlwind because we found out Steven was going to graduate in December instead of May if he would take 21 credits. Eager to be done with school, he signed up for those 21 credits and he IS graduating in December (keep reading!)
After the start of the semester, Quintin and I went back to Arizona for my other sister's wedding. It was great to spend time with family. And my mom and I plan and decorate an AWESOME wedding reception (if I do say so myself!) I am also blessed to have great inlaws that are willing to help with anything (even taking Quintin out of the wedding ceremony into the hall when he started screaming so I could watch my baby sister get hitched).
After the wedding trip, we came back and things settled down for the rest of the month. We attended the world's largest french fry feed here in Grand Forks. And we also took Q to his first parade (which he LOVED).
In October, we started off by celebrating Quintin's first birthday a little early. Can you believe it? We sure can't!! He is such a big boy now and I can hardly believe he's been with us for so long already!! Time flies when your baby is growing up! We had an UNO-themed birthday party. We had many great friends come to the shin-dig and we skyped with the grandparents to open presents.
Next, we went to a pumpkin patch that is just outside of town. There weren't many pumpkins but there were lots of things to do and it was a really fun family day.
On Quintin's actual birthday, Q was sick :( BUT after getting the ok from his doctor to have him out and about, we had many fun things planned. We pounded on the windows to get the birds to fly away (Q loves to scare the birds). Then when Steven got home, the fun really started. We rode the quarter carousel at the mall, shared a cupcake, went to Burger King, got a crown and played on the playground with dad, opened lots of presents, and ate more cake. It was a fun day and Quintin was spoiled rotten.
Shortly after Q's birthday we moved! So if you send us a Christmas card, make sure you updated our address. As Steven is graduating we had to move off campus by the end of the year. We already moved in January one time here and vowed to never do ti again. So we moved in October. We moved 1.1 mile away from our old apartment. But our new apartment is bigger, still close to the school, across the street from a park, and it has carpet!!
After moving, we dressed Quintin up as the tin man from the wizard of Oz for our church's trunk-or-treat (I was Dorothy and Steven was at work). Once he figured out he was getting candy he was all for participating. We didn't take him out to go trick-or-treating because we didn't need all the candy and he wasn't quite walking yet.
In November, we hosted Thanksgiving and cooked the turkey for the first time ever. I don't know if we'll ever do it again, but it was a learning experience! We are lucky to have friends here to spend time with when our family is so far away.
In December, things have been very busy. Quintin has officially started walking and he goes almost everywhere on two feet!
We celebrated Christmas Adam with our little family of three last night (because Adam came before Eve). Christmas is WAY more fun when you have a little one to spoil; who knew?! Quintin loved ripping open the presents and we couldn't take the toys out of their packaging fast enough. But you should have seen the disappointed look when he opened the present with socks and shoes in it. I could almost hear him thinking, "Really mom? After all these cool toys? Why did you even bother wrapping these up...just stick them in my drawer and call it good"
We are busy cleaning and getting projects finished so we can head home for Christmas. Our parents will be here tomorrow. Steven graduates on Friday (he's doing his last test as we speak). We are starting a new chapter in our life together. We'll keep you updated for where we go next.
If I picked 4 words to sum up the life of the Dorn family in 2011 they would be:
Graduations
Travel
Weddings
Quintin
We hope you all have a great and wonderful Christmas surrounded by those you love! Please know that we are thinking of you! I'm so grateful for the holiday season that reminds us of the important things in life: the Gospel, family, friends, health, spending time together, etc.
We are blessed to call you our friends. Thank you for being apart of our lives! Stay tuned for more updates (and updating more in depth about our year).
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Chelsea, Steven, & Quintin
Showing posts with label blessings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blessings. Show all posts
December 14, 2011
December 7, 2010
Warning Signs
So in life, we are surrounded by warning signs. Things are hot, dangerous, hazardous, etc. Some are road signs, some are the labeling on packages, some are maybe just a prompting to do or not do something. Today I want to talk about this warning sign:
So, we live in North Dakota and we have a few of these signs on each end of the 3 or so bridges that are in town. Half of the year, they are just there but irrelevant because there is no snow or ice anywhere. I have driven past these signs probably a hundred times in the almost year that we've been here. We used to live right down the road from one of the bridges and I'm sure I have seen that sign and crossed the bridge more than most people who live here.
But here's the thing about warning signs, you get so used to seeing them or hearing them you start to tune them out. You don't notice them anymore. The danger might be there still, but you aren't as cognizant of the bright yellow sign and it's message.
Such is the case of my morning. I had finished visiting teaching one sister from church and was headed towards the second visit. I was by that same bridge (the one we used to live by). I got to the top when I lost control of the car. Lest you start panicking, remember I'm typing this right now so I'm obviously fine. Back to the story...I was about to the top of the bridge when I hit a patch of black ice. Because the day was sunny and the roads were clear, the Jeep was not in 4WD. My car started by just fishtailing the back tires. This happens a lot in the winter here, so it doesn't cause me to panic. Usually, the car catches the clear road, corrects itself, and the fishtailing is minor. However, today when the car didn't correct itself and swerved into oncoming traffic, I did get worried. The thing about this bridge is that the vantage point makes it difficult to see much when you are on your way up. Luckily, there was no one in the lane of oncoming traffic I went into. Trying to fix my situation, without making it worse, I turned the wheel just a fraction. Then, my car started sliding sideways...as in I was facing the right of the road out over the bridge and my car was across both lanes. I've never been in a car drifting completely sideways on the tires. Again, I was lucky no one was in the lane next to me. Then, the car started turning around to face the cars behind me in my lane. At this point, I could feel the uneasiness of the tires on the road more than ever and slammed on the brakes. Well the braking combined with the snowbank and the guardrail finally brought the Jeep to a stop. The car shows no damage, but I am pretty sore and have had a headache most of the day. Quintin (who was bundled up in his car seat) slept through the whole thing. I was able to back out and luckily the cars behind me were close enough to see what happened and not run into me but far enough back that I didn't hit them. So, I backed out of the snowbank/ guard rail area and drove home in tears.
Now back to my beginning. I have seen this sign:
a hundred times or more. I have crossed the bridge just as many times, in all weather (in fact that's where we were when we had the tornado warning and heard the sirens going off). But I got too used to the sign. The yellow wasn't as eye-catching; the warning wasn't as loud. And, I am lucky to be writing this now.
Don't get me wrong, I know that it's not my fault that I hit the black ice and lost control of the car. This happens every day. But, it's never happened to me before. Luckily, I am a law abiding citizen (did I just write that phrase?!) and WAS going the speed limit. Luckily, it was a clear day so the other cars could see me. Luckily, the other drivers maybe did see the sign, or were paying attention enough that things didn't turn out any worse than they did. Luck whatever. I know how blessed I am.
As this had me REALLY shaken up, I've been thinking about it a lot. In life, we have all sorts of warning signs. Every general conference is full of them:
-Read your scriptures
-Create an emergency preparedness kit
-Say your prayers
-Get out of debt
And the list goes on and on. We are given warning signs constantly. But, just like I got too comfortable with the sign "WATCH FOR ICE ON BRIDGE", we get too comfortable with the warning signs all around us, those listed above especially. Often times we don't understand why we're given certain warnings; we fail to see the bigger picture. We put off the warnings or ignore them because we can't see the "ice on the bridge"-the danger ahead-so it must not be there.
Thankfully, we have a Heavenly Father who knows us and loves us. If we live worthily, we are blessed with the Holy Ghost who sometimes has to be our guardrail. We often get promptings of little things to change in our lives, or little choices to make-Guardrails before going over the bridge.
I think the point of writing this is more for myself than anything else. I don't expect anyone to go start reading every warning label on everything in their house or mapping out every speed limit sign in the city. Take it from me, warning signs are there to help us. There isn't always danger ahead, but there could be-that's the beauty of it. You may go over the same bridge a hundred times with nothing happening. You may go a week without reading your scriptures and nothing bad happens. Or, maybe you'll hit the unexpected black ice and have your world spun around. The choice is up to you.
Maybe those warning signs are pretty important after all.
*NOTE: There was a van driving behind me that slowed down enough so that other drivers realized my car was out of control. Turns out the woman driving the van is from our ward. She called to check on me tonight as she witnessed the whole thing and knew the anxiety I was probably going through. I believe Heavenly Father places people in our lives when we need them most. Today, he put Alisa driving behind me making sure that things didn't get worse.
So, we live in North Dakota and we have a few of these signs on each end of the 3 or so bridges that are in town. Half of the year, they are just there but irrelevant because there is no snow or ice anywhere. I have driven past these signs probably a hundred times in the almost year that we've been here. We used to live right down the road from one of the bridges and I'm sure I have seen that sign and crossed the bridge more than most people who live here.
But here's the thing about warning signs, you get so used to seeing them or hearing them you start to tune them out. You don't notice them anymore. The danger might be there still, but you aren't as cognizant of the bright yellow sign and it's message.
Such is the case of my morning. I had finished visiting teaching one sister from church and was headed towards the second visit. I was by that same bridge (the one we used to live by). I got to the top when I lost control of the car. Lest you start panicking, remember I'm typing this right now so I'm obviously fine. Back to the story...I was about to the top of the bridge when I hit a patch of black ice. Because the day was sunny and the roads were clear, the Jeep was not in 4WD. My car started by just fishtailing the back tires. This happens a lot in the winter here, so it doesn't cause me to panic. Usually, the car catches the clear road, corrects itself, and the fishtailing is minor. However, today when the car didn't correct itself and swerved into oncoming traffic, I did get worried. The thing about this bridge is that the vantage point makes it difficult to see much when you are on your way up. Luckily, there was no one in the lane of oncoming traffic I went into. Trying to fix my situation, without making it worse, I turned the wheel just a fraction. Then, my car started sliding sideways...as in I was facing the right of the road out over the bridge and my car was across both lanes. I've never been in a car drifting completely sideways on the tires. Again, I was lucky no one was in the lane next to me. Then, the car started turning around to face the cars behind me in my lane. At this point, I could feel the uneasiness of the tires on the road more than ever and slammed on the brakes. Well the braking combined with the snowbank and the guardrail finally brought the Jeep to a stop. The car shows no damage, but I am pretty sore and have had a headache most of the day. Quintin (who was bundled up in his car seat) slept through the whole thing. I was able to back out and luckily the cars behind me were close enough to see what happened and not run into me but far enough back that I didn't hit them. So, I backed out of the snowbank/ guard rail area and drove home in tears.
Now back to my beginning. I have seen this sign:
a hundred times or more. I have crossed the bridge just as many times, in all weather (in fact that's where we were when we had the tornado warning and heard the sirens going off). But I got too used to the sign. The yellow wasn't as eye-catching; the warning wasn't as loud. And, I am lucky to be writing this now.
Don't get me wrong, I know that it's not my fault that I hit the black ice and lost control of the car. This happens every day. But, it's never happened to me before. Luckily, I am a law abiding citizen (did I just write that phrase?!) and WAS going the speed limit. Luckily, it was a clear day so the other cars could see me. Luckily, the other drivers maybe did see the sign, or were paying attention enough that things didn't turn out any worse than they did. Luck whatever. I know how blessed I am.
As this had me REALLY shaken up, I've been thinking about it a lot. In life, we have all sorts of warning signs. Every general conference is full of them:
-Read your scriptures
-Create an emergency preparedness kit
-Say your prayers
-Get out of debt
And the list goes on and on. We are given warning signs constantly. But, just like I got too comfortable with the sign "WATCH FOR ICE ON BRIDGE", we get too comfortable with the warning signs all around us, those listed above especially. Often times we don't understand why we're given certain warnings; we fail to see the bigger picture. We put off the warnings or ignore them because we can't see the "ice on the bridge"-the danger ahead-so it must not be there.
Thankfully, we have a Heavenly Father who knows us and loves us. If we live worthily, we are blessed with the Holy Ghost who sometimes has to be our guardrail. We often get promptings of little things to change in our lives, or little choices to make-Guardrails before going over the bridge.
I think the point of writing this is more for myself than anything else. I don't expect anyone to go start reading every warning label on everything in their house or mapping out every speed limit sign in the city. Take it from me, warning signs are there to help us. There isn't always danger ahead, but there could be-that's the beauty of it. You may go over the same bridge a hundred times with nothing happening. You may go a week without reading your scriptures and nothing bad happens. Or, maybe you'll hit the unexpected black ice and have your world spun around. The choice is up to you.
Maybe those warning signs are pretty important after all.
*NOTE: There was a van driving behind me that slowed down enough so that other drivers realized my car was out of control. Turns out the woman driving the van is from our ward. She called to check on me tonight as she witnessed the whole thing and knew the anxiety I was probably going through. I believe Heavenly Father places people in our lives when we need them most. Today, he put Alisa driving behind me making sure that things didn't get worse.
November 2, 2010
Going Private
Yup, our blog is going private.
Nothing weird or creepy has happened.
I just look at little Q and think how blessed I am to have one of Heavenly Father's children under my care. I want to do everything I can to make sure he is safe and protected and I feel that making our blog private is something simple I can do.
We share some pretty personal stuff on blogs, and I would like to be in charge of who is reading mine.
So, send me your email address via comment below, text message, facebook, whatever you feel like and I will send you an invitation.
We're also going to have a pre-blog. I will update the pre-blog when I update the real blog. That way you know to check the private blog. (I stole that idea from a friend because it is so handy).
Also, don't be embarrassed if you read my blog and I don't know. I read lots of people's blogs that I don't talk to very often. As long as I actually know who you are, I'll send you the invitation.
So, do the following things:
1. Send me your email address so I can send you an invitation.
2. Add our pre-blog to your blog list so you know when we update.
3. Get a load of this handsome boy and his grumpy face:
Nothing weird or creepy has happened.
I just look at little Q and think how blessed I am to have one of Heavenly Father's children under my care. I want to do everything I can to make sure he is safe and protected and I feel that making our blog private is something simple I can do.
We share some pretty personal stuff on blogs, and I would like to be in charge of who is reading mine.
So, send me your email address via comment below, text message, facebook, whatever you feel like and I will send you an invitation.
We're also going to have a pre-blog. I will update the pre-blog when I update the real blog. That way you know to check the private blog. (I stole that idea from a friend because it is so handy).
Also, don't be embarrassed if you read my blog and I don't know. I read lots of people's blogs that I don't talk to very often. As long as I actually know who you are, I'll send you the invitation.
So, do the following things:
1. Send me your email address so I can send you an invitation.
2. Add our pre-blog to your blog list so you know when we update.
3. Get a load of this handsome boy and his grumpy face:
Quintin Beckim Dorn
Our little bundle of joy has FINALLY arrived!! Actually he's snuggled up on my chest asleep (with his mouth totally open) as I write this. I can't believe he's 14 days old. But at the same time, I can't really remember life before being Quintin's mommy. Anyways...here's the story. I've provided it in 3 levels to let you decide how much info you want. I will warn you that the most extensive story spares no details (unless I already forgot them). And, this is my first time writing one of these labor stories out so maybe I included too much...But, I will throw in pictures in between to break it up :)
Or if you don't care how he got here, here are his stats:
Quintin Beckim Dorn
Born 1:17 AM Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Weight: 7 lbs 12.9 oz
Length: 20 3/4 inches
Shortest story: Went into the hospital at noon on Monday October 18, 2010. Had the baby at 1:17 AM October 19, 2010.
Short Story: Went to the OB at 11 on Monday October 18, 2010. They were worried I was starting to have preclampsia so they wheeled me over and admitted me to the hospital. Started pitocin at 2:20 PM. Had my water broke at 6:15 PM. Started really hating life. Got my epidural in at 7:30 PM and started loving life again. By 10:30 I was fully dilated and thinned out. At 10:45 PM I started pushing. At 1:17 AM on Tuesday October 19th, Quintin was born. Steven cut the umbilical cord.
The Story:
On Friday Oct. 15, I went to my regularly scheduled OB visit. Except, I was with the nurse practitioner because my OB was out of town. Everything measured normal except I had a high level of protein in my urine. So, they made me go down to the lab and have some blood drawn and do another urine analysis. We went home and waited for the call. At about 5:30 we got called by the NP and told that I was starting to show signs of preclampsia. She gave me the list of warning signs and told me to take it easy for the weekend and come back on Monday morning. So, Monday morning came and I got dressed and headed to the OB again (well the NP actually because my OB is still out of town). This time I went by myself. We had had so many false alarms we figured this would pan out normal and so Steven went to class and I went to the doctor. Luckily, we did put the hospital bags in the car just in case the slight chance I was having the baby came true.
Well, I got to the doctor and the protein in my urine had gone up even more over the weekend. I had also gained a half pound and another cm to the top of my belly. So, I was at 40 cms and officially full term. The nurse practitioner came in again and announced she had discussed with the on-call OB and I would be getting induced that day. She checked me and I was at 3 cms, 75% effaced, and 0 station. She told me I had a few minutes to call whoever I needed too and then I would be getting wheeled over to the hospital. So, I called Steven first. He was just as shocked as me...he was at work and had to take a test in about an hour...oh and I had the car. So he hung up in a panic and I called my mom, dad, and Steven's parents. By then, my time was up and the nurse came to take me on a 'cadillac ride' (her words not mine) over to the hospital. I know it's just protocol but man did I feel dumb being wheeled through the floor across the main entrance of the clinic and the hospital and up to the birthing center.
Then, I was in my birthing room. Still no Steven. I was turned over to a great nurse who started all the admission stuff. I got asked some of the dumbest questions ever, but the nurse was hilarious and we made the best of it. She got my IV drip started and also drew some more blood. If you don't know, there are 3 signs of preclampsia: high protein in the urine, quick swelling of the hands, feet, and face, and high blood pressure. Well, since I was showing one of them, they had to monitor the other 2 pretty well. I was getting my blood pressure taken every 15 minutes...talk about irritating. So after about an hour of questions and answers with the nurse, the on call OB came in- Dr. Lays. I had never met her before but man she was great too! She had excellent bedside manner. She came in and told me what was happening and what I could expect. She actually gave me the choice to not be induced and come back every day to the lab to have more blood drawn, urine samples given, and blood pressure taken...So basically we could wait for something bad to happen or I could have my baby within 24 hours...like that was really a question. She also explained to me the risks of being induced and the epidural and we talked through how I wanted my labor to go. Seriously I felt so at ease with her that I knew it was an answered prayer. During this time, I also met the on-call resident, Dr. Mahji. She was also an answered prayer. We had already been to the birthing center 2x in the past 2 weeks. Once because baby wasn't moving and we needed to check he was ok (he was-he just didn't like the contractions either). The second time, we thought I was in labor--I wasn't. During both those visits there had been another resident doctor that I didn't love, so I was happy with Dr. Mahji. Anyways...at about 2:20 the nurse was finally done with everything and started the pitocin drip. Steven got there very shortly after this. *A BIG thanks to McKenzie for driving him. He basically just showed up at her door and asked her to take him to the hospital*. At 3, we got a new nurse who I can honestly say was one of the most obnoxious people I have ever met. She rubbed both Steven and I the wrong way. She kept telling me that my contractions weren't strong enough and I wasn't in enough pain...it still irritates me just thinking about her. She also called in the CNRA (the lady who gives out the epidurals) to talk to me (this lady was great and put me at ease also) But, this obnoxious nurse was sure to point out that I wasn't hurting enough to get an epidural yet. SERIOUSLY I could have killed her...Then, she kept moving me around in bed which wasn't helping anything either. Finally at about 6:15, Dr. Lays sent word that I needed my water broken. So, Dr. Mahji came and broke my water (which actually was one of the worst parts of the night) and put in a inter-uterine device catheter to monitor the contractions from the inside. Baby does not like to be monitored and I think they were tired of him kicking off our monitors. After my water was broken and I have this new contraction monitor on, this obnoxious nurse says "Wow you must really have a high pain tolerance, I think you've been in active labor for awhile" Ya...like I was trying to tell you, irritating. After, I was checked again and I was at a 4 and I was cleared to get my epidural at any time. My goal was to get to a 5 on my own and then have it.
At this point, things really started to pick up. I was gushing fluid and having TERRIBLE contractions. Steven was helping me breathe through them and I was miserable...oh and did I mention I also had back labor?! The only good part of this stage was that the nurses were overstaffed so my nurse had to go home. Bummer. BUT again, with an answered prayer, we got Haley, a FANTASTIC nurse who made it through the worst part of labor with me and Steven. She was supposed to stay on until 7 am so she would be the one to deliver with us. When Haley came into the room around 7:15, I told her I was ready for the epidural. By this point, I could hardly catch my breath in between contractions and I had promised Steven he was never getting another child out of me.
Finally, they had me sitting up ready for the epidural. Sitting up caused me to GUSH fluid like there was no tomorrow. So, I'm sitting on my bed, gushing fluid, having regular HARD contractions, back labor, crying (which made my nose run like crazy) all while trying to keep still and relaxed to get the epidural in. It took about 3 or 4 of the worst contractions of my life to get it in and get me laying back down. All the while Steven and Haley breathed through them and talked through them with me. I laid back down and the epidural wasn't working yet. Dr. Lays came in right at the end of this stage and introduced herself to Steven. She also had to check me. I was still feeling contractions and I was at a 6. So that means I went 2 cms in about 40 mins...That's fast. AND I made it to 6 on my own. No wonder I thought I was dying.
After this point, things were much more relaxed. The epidural kicked in and I was able to relax a bit. In fact, it was more of an anxious waiting excitement at this point. I was one of the lucky third of women who get an epidural and it works perfectly for them. I truly admire women who do it without pain medicine, but not me, not ever. At about 9:30 PM Steven decided to go get some food and go for a walk. While he was gone, Haley checked me and I was at 9+ and 95% effaced. She told me I was about ready to push. She also said she'd wait for Steve to get back before she checked me again and called me ready to push. Also, she said that they needed a nurse to go up to the 5th floor to babysit a patient who kept trying to get out of bed or take their lines out...and it was her turn :( Almost in tears I asked her what we had to do to keep her there. She told me there was a good chance the baby would be there before she had to leave at 11 anyways. Steven came back at about 10 and I told him the good news. He was shocked out of his mind. He text my mom right away and she requested to be put on speakerphone so she could listen while we pushed...Steven obliged and I found out later.
At 10:35 I got all set up to start pushing and Haley taught me the counting procedures and everything. By 10:45 it was game time. We started pushing and Haley immediately could see baby's head. Even Steven looked to see how much hair the baby had. At 11, my new nurse Karlina came in and took over the breathing and pushing coaching. Haley was able to waste time and stayed until almost 11:30. We kept thinking the baby was almost out but he kept going right back up after every push. Luckily, Karlina was equally awesome and she got us through the next 2 hours of pushing...that's right I pushed for 2 1/2 hours total. Dr. Lays and Dr. Mahji came in after about an hour and checked on me. Dr. Mahji stayed for about 30 minutes and helped as well. Finally at 1 AM I made a deal with Karlina. If the baby wasn't there by 1:45, she would let me order food and I would save it until the baby was born. You see I had expected to be home for lunch...so I hadn't eaten anything but a cup of jello and water since 10 AM...that is a LONG time for anyone to go without eating. AND the hospital room service closes from 2-5:30 AM every morning. I needed to make sure I had some food. She countered with an offer of "If he's not here by 1:30 you can order food". Turns out both were unnecessary. At 1:05, the nurse supervisor came in and suggested a different position to push in. I tried it and it got things really going. I think I had finally figured out which muscles to use. By 1:10, Karlina called in the crew. The doctors got gowned, took out the IUDC monitor and left it up to me to feel the contraction and push the baby out. It only took one more contraction. In the second set of counting to ten, I got to 6 and something felt weird but I was still pushing. Then I heard someone say, You can stop...I opened my eyes and lo and behold the most beautiful thing I've ever seen: Quintin. I saw Steven cut the umbilical cord and then they laid baby Quintin on my chest. I got to hold him for a minute before they took him to the warmer. He got to the warmer and gave the nurses a shower in his pee...they all laughed about his plumbing working. I got stitched up (level 2 tear which I guess is normal for a first time delivery and pushing for so long). Steven ordered me some food, and things started calming down. I got to hold my baby for awhile while we waited for the epidural to start wearing off and my food to come. Haley came down on her break to see him.
(Not the most flattering picture, but I think it shows all the emotions I was feeling)
Quintin is honest to goodness THE most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I've seen lots of babies, but none that were BRAND BRAND new. And none that were quite so handsome. The nurses all loved his hair, and so do we. I couldn't help but cry when I first saw him. I was exhausted and it had been a long day, but he was worth every single piece of it. I'm still amazed how blessed I am to have seven pounds of Heavenly Father's most beautiful creation to take care of.
He is such a well-mannered baby. We were able to come home from the hospital on Wednesday evening. We could have stayed until Thursday but I was ready for my own bed and not to have people coming in and out of my room at their discretion. Quintin is a good little nurser and an even better snuggler. My mom came for about 5 days after he was born and it was wonderful. She helped take care of me and took care of Quintin. She woke up with me at night to help carry him and change him and get him back to sleep. I cried a lot when she left.
Steven is such a great daddy. He comes home in between any classes that he can and helps however he can. Today, he held Q while I took a shower...it's the little things that mean the most.
All in all, we were so blessed in labor and delivery of our little guy. We had great nurses and although our original doctor was not around, we were blessed with a wonderful OB and resident to deliver as well. We still pray that our nurses and doctors get extra blessings for the great work they did for us. We were also blessed with great nurses during recovery. We were lucky to have friends come visit in the hospital and also to have my mom come stay with us. She heard the birth via the phone and was on the first flight out the next day to come visit. In fact, she had to fly to Minneapolis and drive the 4 1/2 hours to get to us. But, I'm sure after she snuggled Q all that work was worth it ;)
Life is good, Quintin is beautiful and we couldn't be happier :)
PS Congrats if you made it through this whole rambling mess ;)
Or if you don't care how he got here, here are his stats:
Quintin Beckim Dorn
Born 1:17 AM Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Weight: 7 lbs 12.9 oz
Length: 20 3/4 inches
Shortest story: Went into the hospital at noon on Monday October 18, 2010. Had the baby at 1:17 AM October 19, 2010.
Short Story: Went to the OB at 11 on Monday October 18, 2010. They were worried I was starting to have preclampsia so they wheeled me over and admitted me to the hospital. Started pitocin at 2:20 PM. Had my water broke at 6:15 PM. Started really hating life. Got my epidural in at 7:30 PM and started loving life again. By 10:30 I was fully dilated and thinned out. At 10:45 PM I started pushing. At 1:17 AM on Tuesday October 19th, Quintin was born. Steven cut the umbilical cord.
The Story:
On Friday Oct. 15, I went to my regularly scheduled OB visit. Except, I was with the nurse practitioner because my OB was out of town. Everything measured normal except I had a high level of protein in my urine. So, they made me go down to the lab and have some blood drawn and do another urine analysis. We went home and waited for the call. At about 5:30 we got called by the NP and told that I was starting to show signs of preclampsia. She gave me the list of warning signs and told me to take it easy for the weekend and come back on Monday morning. So, Monday morning came and I got dressed and headed to the OB again (well the NP actually because my OB is still out of town). This time I went by myself. We had had so many false alarms we figured this would pan out normal and so Steven went to class and I went to the doctor. Luckily, we did put the hospital bags in the car just in case the slight chance I was having the baby came true.
Well, I got to the doctor and the protein in my urine had gone up even more over the weekend. I had also gained a half pound and another cm to the top of my belly. So, I was at 40 cms and officially full term. The nurse practitioner came in again and announced she had discussed with the on-call OB and I would be getting induced that day. She checked me and I was at 3 cms, 75% effaced, and 0 station. She told me I had a few minutes to call whoever I needed too and then I would be getting wheeled over to the hospital. So, I called Steven first. He was just as shocked as me...he was at work and had to take a test in about an hour...oh and I had the car. So he hung up in a panic and I called my mom, dad, and Steven's parents. By then, my time was up and the nurse came to take me on a 'cadillac ride' (her words not mine) over to the hospital. I know it's just protocol but man did I feel dumb being wheeled through the floor across the main entrance of the clinic and the hospital and up to the birthing center.
Then, I was in my birthing room. Still no Steven. I was turned over to a great nurse who started all the admission stuff. I got asked some of the dumbest questions ever, but the nurse was hilarious and we made the best of it. She got my IV drip started and also drew some more blood. If you don't know, there are 3 signs of preclampsia: high protein in the urine, quick swelling of the hands, feet, and face, and high blood pressure. Well, since I was showing one of them, they had to monitor the other 2 pretty well. I was getting my blood pressure taken every 15 minutes...talk about irritating. So after about an hour of questions and answers with the nurse, the on call OB came in- Dr. Lays. I had never met her before but man she was great too! She had excellent bedside manner. She came in and told me what was happening and what I could expect. She actually gave me the choice to not be induced and come back every day to the lab to have more blood drawn, urine samples given, and blood pressure taken...So basically we could wait for something bad to happen or I could have my baby within 24 hours...like that was really a question. She also explained to me the risks of being induced and the epidural and we talked through how I wanted my labor to go. Seriously I felt so at ease with her that I knew it was an answered prayer. During this time, I also met the on-call resident, Dr. Mahji. She was also an answered prayer. We had already been to the birthing center 2x in the past 2 weeks. Once because baby wasn't moving and we needed to check he was ok (he was-he just didn't like the contractions either). The second time, we thought I was in labor--I wasn't. During both those visits there had been another resident doctor that I didn't love, so I was happy with Dr. Mahji. Anyways...at about 2:20 the nurse was finally done with everything and started the pitocin drip. Steven got there very shortly after this. *A BIG thanks to McKenzie for driving him. He basically just showed up at her door and asked her to take him to the hospital*. At 3, we got a new nurse who I can honestly say was one of the most obnoxious people I have ever met. She rubbed both Steven and I the wrong way. She kept telling me that my contractions weren't strong enough and I wasn't in enough pain...it still irritates me just thinking about her. She also called in the CNRA (the lady who gives out the epidurals) to talk to me (this lady was great and put me at ease also) But, this obnoxious nurse was sure to point out that I wasn't hurting enough to get an epidural yet. SERIOUSLY I could have killed her...Then, she kept moving me around in bed which wasn't helping anything either. Finally at about 6:15, Dr. Lays sent word that I needed my water broken. So, Dr. Mahji came and broke my water (which actually was one of the worst parts of the night) and put in a inter-uterine device catheter to monitor the contractions from the inside. Baby does not like to be monitored and I think they were tired of him kicking off our monitors. After my water was broken and I have this new contraction monitor on, this obnoxious nurse says "Wow you must really have a high pain tolerance, I think you've been in active labor for awhile" Ya...like I was trying to tell you, irritating. After, I was checked again and I was at a 4 and I was cleared to get my epidural at any time. My goal was to get to a 5 on my own and then have it.
At this point, things really started to pick up. I was gushing fluid and having TERRIBLE contractions. Steven was helping me breathe through them and I was miserable...oh and did I mention I also had back labor?! The only good part of this stage was that the nurses were overstaffed so my nurse had to go home. Bummer. BUT again, with an answered prayer, we got Haley, a FANTASTIC nurse who made it through the worst part of labor with me and Steven. She was supposed to stay on until 7 am so she would be the one to deliver with us. When Haley came into the room around 7:15, I told her I was ready for the epidural. By this point, I could hardly catch my breath in between contractions and I had promised Steven he was never getting another child out of me.
Finally, they had me sitting up ready for the epidural. Sitting up caused me to GUSH fluid like there was no tomorrow. So, I'm sitting on my bed, gushing fluid, having regular HARD contractions, back labor, crying (which made my nose run like crazy) all while trying to keep still and relaxed to get the epidural in. It took about 3 or 4 of the worst contractions of my life to get it in and get me laying back down. All the while Steven and Haley breathed through them and talked through them with me. I laid back down and the epidural wasn't working yet. Dr. Lays came in right at the end of this stage and introduced herself to Steven. She also had to check me. I was still feeling contractions and I was at a 6. So that means I went 2 cms in about 40 mins...That's fast. AND I made it to 6 on my own. No wonder I thought I was dying.
After this point, things were much more relaxed. The epidural kicked in and I was able to relax a bit. In fact, it was more of an anxious waiting excitement at this point. I was one of the lucky third of women who get an epidural and it works perfectly for them. I truly admire women who do it without pain medicine, but not me, not ever. At about 9:30 PM Steven decided to go get some food and go for a walk. While he was gone, Haley checked me and I was at 9+ and 95% effaced. She told me I was about ready to push. She also said she'd wait for Steve to get back before she checked me again and called me ready to push. Also, she said that they needed a nurse to go up to the 5th floor to babysit a patient who kept trying to get out of bed or take their lines out...and it was her turn :( Almost in tears I asked her what we had to do to keep her there. She told me there was a good chance the baby would be there before she had to leave at 11 anyways. Steven came back at about 10 and I told him the good news. He was shocked out of his mind. He text my mom right away and she requested to be put on speakerphone so she could listen while we pushed...Steven obliged and I found out later.
At 10:35 I got all set up to start pushing and Haley taught me the counting procedures and everything. By 10:45 it was game time. We started pushing and Haley immediately could see baby's head. Even Steven looked to see how much hair the baby had. At 11, my new nurse Karlina came in and took over the breathing and pushing coaching. Haley was able to waste time and stayed until almost 11:30. We kept thinking the baby was almost out but he kept going right back up after every push. Luckily, Karlina was equally awesome and she got us through the next 2 hours of pushing...that's right I pushed for 2 1/2 hours total. Dr. Lays and Dr. Mahji came in after about an hour and checked on me. Dr. Mahji stayed for about 30 minutes and helped as well. Finally at 1 AM I made a deal with Karlina. If the baby wasn't there by 1:45, she would let me order food and I would save it until the baby was born. You see I had expected to be home for lunch...so I hadn't eaten anything but a cup of jello and water since 10 AM...that is a LONG time for anyone to go without eating. AND the hospital room service closes from 2-5:30 AM every morning. I needed to make sure I had some food. She countered with an offer of "If he's not here by 1:30 you can order food". Turns out both were unnecessary. At 1:05, the nurse supervisor came in and suggested a different position to push in. I tried it and it got things really going. I think I had finally figured out which muscles to use. By 1:10, Karlina called in the crew. The doctors got gowned, took out the IUDC monitor and left it up to me to feel the contraction and push the baby out. It only took one more contraction. In the second set of counting to ten, I got to 6 and something felt weird but I was still pushing. Then I heard someone say, You can stop...I opened my eyes and lo and behold the most beautiful thing I've ever seen: Quintin. I saw Steven cut the umbilical cord and then they laid baby Quintin on my chest. I got to hold him for a minute before they took him to the warmer. He got to the warmer and gave the nurses a shower in his pee...they all laughed about his plumbing working. I got stitched up (level 2 tear which I guess is normal for a first time delivery and pushing for so long). Steven ordered me some food, and things started calming down. I got to hold my baby for awhile while we waited for the epidural to start wearing off and my food to come. Haley came down on her break to see him.
(Not the most flattering picture, but I think it shows all the emotions I was feeling)
Quintin is honest to goodness THE most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I've seen lots of babies, but none that were BRAND BRAND new. And none that were quite so handsome. The nurses all loved his hair, and so do we. I couldn't help but cry when I first saw him. I was exhausted and it had been a long day, but he was worth every single piece of it. I'm still amazed how blessed I am to have seven pounds of Heavenly Father's most beautiful creation to take care of.
He is such a well-mannered baby. We were able to come home from the hospital on Wednesday evening. We could have stayed until Thursday but I was ready for my own bed and not to have people coming in and out of my room at their discretion. Quintin is a good little nurser and an even better snuggler. My mom came for about 5 days after he was born and it was wonderful. She helped take care of me and took care of Quintin. She woke up with me at night to help carry him and change him and get him back to sleep. I cried a lot when she left.
Steven is such a great daddy. He comes home in between any classes that he can and helps however he can. Today, he held Q while I took a shower...it's the little things that mean the most.
All in all, we were so blessed in labor and delivery of our little guy. We had great nurses and although our original doctor was not around, we were blessed with a wonderful OB and resident to deliver as well. We still pray that our nurses and doctors get extra blessings for the great work they did for us. We were also blessed with great nurses during recovery. We were lucky to have friends come visit in the hospital and also to have my mom come stay with us. She heard the birth via the phone and was on the first flight out the next day to come visit. In fact, she had to fly to Minneapolis and drive the 4 1/2 hours to get to us. But, I'm sure after she snuggled Q all that work was worth it ;)
Life is good, Quintin is beautiful and we couldn't be happier :)
PS Congrats if you made it through this whole rambling mess ;)
April 16, 2010
Soo, soo blessed!
Now as some of you know, we recently returned from a whirlwind trip home for my graduation. I did take lots of pictures and plan to update the world on the trip...later. I have had a hard time getting myself to write anything because it was HARD to come back to North Dakota. But, while I leave you in suspense for the actual happenings of the trip, I want you to know that we are
Soo, soo, blessed!
Steven and I have always felt particularly blessed to have the families that we have. It was the biggest 'con' in moving across the country to be moving away from our family/ support network. The only thing that we have been disappointed with having our baby is that for at least a year, the baby will not be close to it's grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles.
We understand that many people think we are crazy for being this attached to our families. We're married adults and we should want to live as far away from our family as possible right? WRONG! We have both already been there, done that, and prefer to stay close to our family.
Never has this been more clear than with our recent trip home. Not only were we showered with attention and love, we were given many amazing gifts but more importantly memories to last a long time. As soon as we got off the airplane, my in-laws handed me the first part of my graduation gift- tickets to see Michael Buble that night. Then at the graduation ceremony, I got the second part- a brand new watch. This meant a lot to me as it is "Dorn Family Tradition" to get a watch when you graduate- I'm officially part of the family now ;)
Also, before graduation, I went to my parents house to do my hair, etc. We pulled up and low and behold there was my aunt and her family (that I consider to be my second parents/ family) standing in the front yard. Her and my Uncle, who met up with us later, drove for 2 days with 3 little kiddos (and one big kiddo-my cousin/ best friend) just to spend a few days with us...I cried when I saw them and I don't think it was a pregnant thing.
And the following day, my mom spent her day preparing for my party. She easily had a thousand other things to do, but spent the day doing things for and with me. The food ended up being so great and we were blessed to have so many friends and family come visit! Finally today, I received my graduation present from my family. My mom told me she was sending us one of her dogs, Gretchen. Well Gretchen is the new name of our Ninetendo Wii. Now, we are excited to have the Wii, don't get me wrong...but again it is the meaning behind it. About a month ago, we got our tax return and were faced with a tough decision: buy a crib or buy a Wii. We bought the crib and I told my mom it was the 'hardest decision of our adult life's'.
Now these are just the physical gifts we received in the past week. This does not even begin to include the laughter, games, spiritual experiences, memories, good food, and being taken care of for 5 days straight that we experienced.
I wish I could truly express in words how we feel. But, I'm in tears again thinking about how blessed we are (for the third or fourth time this week). We are truly blessed to be a part of the families that we are. We can feel the eternal bonds and are more thankful than ever to have them. We are excited to bring our baby into the world with such a loving family already in place. We know how incredibly lucky we are to have such close relationships with our families (and our in-laws). We hope that all of our friends reading this who may need an extra boost in a family relationship will take this opportunity to make the effort.
Family is important, and we are sooo, sooo blessed to know that!
We love you Mom, Dad, Talia, Kayley, Jaden, Dakota, Mom, Pops, Greg, Caitlin, Nathan, & Andrew! Looking forward to eternity together :)
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