Hazel had her two week appointment last week. It is hard for me to believe two weeks (now three!) have already gone by. Time goes so fast especially with two kids to keep me busy! Hazel is healthy and doing great. She now weighs 6 lbs 11 oz (birthweight 6 lbs 6 oz), supposedly she shrunk because she was measured at 19.5 in long (20 in at the hospital), and her head is 12.5 in around. She is practically the exact same size as Asa was at his two weeks visit. We like to be consistent and I like 'em on the small side! She is darling and we are so lucky to have her in our family. This video is when Hazel was just a couple days old. She had an irritated, goopy eye so that's why one eye looks puffy. Still totally adorable though.
Having Hazel here makes Asa seem so much more grown up to me! My little toddler is so smart and independent. Asa picked up riding a bike so fast! His favorite thing to do at Wal-Mart was try out the bikes, so a couple weeks ago we got him one of his very own. He is very possessive over his bike and loves it so much.
Berkeley and I just celebrated our 6 year anniversary! Time sure goes fast when you're married to someone as caring, helpful and fun as Berkeley is. I was looking through videos and found this little gem. We did Wii Just Dance for family night back in December and it was tons of fun. I love that Berkeley enjoys being silly with me. Happy 6 Years and here's to many more!
We are renting Berkeley's paren't house right now and we are so lucky to share the house with Berkeley's brothers, Karl and Douglas. To say Asa loves them would be an understatement. He LOVES them! They are so good to play with him and give him lots of attention and love. Karl and Doug don't just play with Asa in passing, they really invest time (like an hour at a time or more) to really play with him. It has been so nice having them around, especially with the new baby here. I can't give him the amount of time and attention he is used to anymore, so having two awesome uncles to spend time with has been great. Yes, Doug might be trying to indoctrinate my child with some Aggie pride, but that's okay!
Thanks Karl and Douglas for being such great uncles! Asa loves you both!
For Asa, one good thing did come from getting a new baby in the house. The "boob pump" is Asa's latest fascination. He loves that little machine and makes sure to tell me when I need to use it. "Mommy, you need your boob pump now." Well, last night I was just finishing nursing Hazel when I hear Berkeley say, "Annie, you need to come see this! Bring the camera." I came out to the living room to find this:
If only he could help me in this department! Life would be so much easier!
We are so happy to have our sweet little girl here with us and I am so happy to be able to move and breathe properly again! Our delivery story is pretty basic as it was super quick and easy. When I was due to have Asa, I got really sick the last week. I felt like I had the flu. Finally I went in to get checked out and found out that I had super high blood pressure which they assumed was preclampsia. I had to have magnesium pumped into me to prevent seizures during delivery and it was pretty awful stuff. Anyway... the night of May 6th, I had a bad migraine all night that Tylenol wouldn't touch. The next day the migraine lingered around, though not as bad. As the day wore on, I started feeling flu-like and my heart would race off and on. I recognized the symptoms as being the same type of symptoms I had with Asa. I decided that I would just go right in rather than wait 4 days like I did the last time around. On May 7th, we checked in around 4:15 pm. The nurse monitored the baby and took my blood pressure. It actually had spiked, but it was not in the danger zone like it was last time. The nurse called my doctor and asked what he wanted to do. He had her do an exam and turns turned out I was already dilated to a 4+. They decided to keep me there and induce which I was totally fine with! They put me on a super low dose of pitocin and the contractions started right away, were close together, and were not very painful at all. Since I was already dilated, I got the epidural pretty much right away and it was fantastic. This epidural was so much better this time. I could move my legs with no trouble and I could still feel all the pressure and all the tightening from the contractions. I felt like I had total control and it was great. My doctor broke my water at 5:20, waited for me to finish dilating, and after 3 sets of pushes, she was here at 7:49 pm. SO EASY and such a pleasant experience. I was able to get up and walk about 45 minutes after she was born. When they first held Hazel up for me to look at her, I instantly teared up and I'm pretty sure Berkeley did too. She was totally healthy and scored 8-9 on her APGAR test. She never even had to leave our room. My first reaction when I saw her was, "She doesn't look much like Asa!" I just thought she would come out looking just like Asa but the female version. She does have my eyes, but they aren't nearly as drastic as Asa's eyes are. I think she looks much more like Berkeley's family. I think she is beautiful and I am so in love with her. She is a wonderful addition to our family. Asa is very sweet with her although he has been pretty grumpy with Berkeley and me. Everything is temper tantrum worthy but Berkeley and I are just doing our best to be understanding and patient as he makes this big adjustment. As far as Hazel goes, she is such a sweet little baby. I may be speaking too soon, but she very rarely cries and when she is awake, she is very alert and just looks around. When I talk to her, she goes totally still and just stares at me with the sweetest little expression. She is a great nurser and nights have not been too bad. I'm tired, but not exhausted. I am just so glad to not be a first time mom this time! It feels good to know what I'm doing (for the most part) and not be so neurotic about everything. I am much more relaxed and simply enjoying life right now. All is well and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful little spirits entrusted to me. I also feel extremely blessed to have Berkeley as my husband. He is such an involved father and helps me so much with the kids and with the cleaning and with the cooking...etc...etc... What a great man! I love my little family so very much.
Today I am 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant! My due date is Friday. I went to the doctor this morning and she told me that I am still dilated to a 2 (as I have been for the past 4 weeks!!), but I am now 90-95% effaced and the baby's head is low and engaged. She assured me that I am labor ready and it could happen at any moment. She offered to strip my membranes, but my doctor is out of town for two more days, so I decided to just wait it out. If I haven't gone into labor on my own by Monday, then my doctor will strip my membranes and hopefully this little girl will arrive by Tuesday. I am so excited to meet her, but I am pretty nervous about going into labor and having to make the trip (short 12 minute trip) to the hospital. I was induced last time, so I don't really know what to expect. As long as this little one gets here happy and healthy, then I will be happy. Oh, you should go to the left side of our blog and vote on a name. We are still a little up in the air over it (although we think we know which one we'll choose). Vote anyway and let us know your opinion!
Yes, I can finally say that I am a college graduate! In other words, I'M DONE! I graduated from Weber State University on April 22 with a Bachelors of Science from the College of Education. I am now certified to teach elementary grades 1-6. I never could have done it without the help and support from Berkeley, my mom and Berk's mom. They hours they spent taking care of Asa while I went to class, student taught and did homework are inumerable! If they were getting paid for it, they might have collected a good little nest egg! For now, I don't plan on working for a while. I just want to be home with my kids and be a mom without always having to divide my time with schoolwork. I still wake up thinking, "What do I need to get done for school today?" The answer is NOTHING!
Berkeley and I met in August of 2004. We both lived at the Raintree Apartment complex in Provo. He was friends with my roommates before I moved in so he was over a lot. He asked me out on our first date in August and the rest was history! We got engaged on February 12, 2005 and got married in the SLC Temple on May 21, 2005. We have been married for 6 years now going on forever! Annie graduated from Weber State University in April of 2011 with a degree in elementary education. Berkeley is in the Utah Air National Guard and has completed basic training, technical school and SWAT school. He is a member of Security Forces for the Air Force. He also works for an orthopedic company in Salt Lake City. On February 20th of 2009, our son, Asa Berkeley, was born. On May 7th of 2011, our little girl, Hazel Jane became our newest addition. We are a happy little family!
