Lincon Adam Balmforth

It is time to officially announce the arrival of our little one. Lincon Adam Balmforth was born at 8:43 pm on February 19. He weighed 7 lbs 4 ounces and measured at 19 3/4 inches.
We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am. It took about a half hour to just get paperwork done and get checked into the room. Once we got into the room I changed into the gown and waited some more. At about 8:30 am the nurse came in, asked me a bunch of questions, hooked me up to the fetal and contraction monitor, poked in my IV and started me on Pitocin. At about 9:30 is when the doctor came in and broke my water. Little uncomfortable but not bad. After they broke my water I expected the contractions to really start kicking in but nothing happened for awhile. I was checked at 1:30 pm and was only at about 5 cm and 85% effaced. My Pit was turned up to a 13 and my contractions were really strong by now. Adam and my mom told me to try and make it till 2:00 until I had the epidural. It was harder than I thought to make it till then. At 2:00 I told Adam to get the nurse because I wanted that epidural. By the time I actually had the epidural it was close to 3. He had to insert my catheter twice because it had some blood in it the first time. Getting the epidural didn't hurt compared to the pain of contractions. About 15 minutes later I was feeling great. Epidurals are the BEST INVENTION EVER. I give kuddos to those women who have babies naturally but I don't know if I will ever do so.

I tried to get some rest and relax after the epidural but I never fell asleep. I guess I was too excited. I was checked at about 6:30 and was dilated to a 9.5 but they wanted to let Lincon drop a little further so we had to wait another hour before I could push. I pushed for about an hour and 20 minutes and Lincon arrived at 8:43 pm. What an amazing experience! I watched the entire thing in the mirror and I'm so glad I did.

I can't believe that Lincon is already over 3 weeks old. Time is flying by and I wish it would slow down. He is such a good baby and hardly ever cries. He pretty much only gets fussy when he is hungry or has a dirty diaper. He is still somewhat mixed up on his days and nights but hopefully he gets it figured out.

As for me, I feel great! I really wasn't in too much pain afterward and was completely pain free after a week. I'm excited to get back into an exercise routine and get back in my jeans. Adam has been so great. He is a wonderful dad and has been a great help around the house. In the mornings he is great about taking Lincon into the living room and letting me sleep for a solid hour without interruptions :)

And here is some pictures of our little guy!

Fresh out of the womb :)

Cuddle time with mom. I don't look very happy but I promise i was

 Dad and Linc

Leaving the hospital

 

 

 

 

 

 

One week old

2 weeks old

Tomorrow!

Just in case anyone was wondering.... we are having the baby tomorrow!

Yep... I'm being induced. I realize this causes some controversy with MANY moms, but it is what we've chosen to do! I have a "favorable" cervix and doctor seems to think everything will go well.

Don't try and scare me with your horrible labor stories because there is no going back. We are meeting our little man tomorrow :)

I feel like a little kid the day before Christmas. I hope I'll be able to sleep. :)

I'm terrible at blogging.....

So I'm know I'm terrible at blogging but here is a quick update on life.

I'm 38 weeks and 4 days today (technically almost 5 days) and everything is going really well. Had my baby appointment today and I'm dilated to a 3 almost 4 and about 80% effaced. So that is good news! We are hoping this little man is going to make his appearance soon.

Adam and I had a good Valentine's Day together. He surprised me at work with a rose, a box of chocolates, and a card (I love cards the most). We didn't want to go out to dinner so I decided to make breakfast for dinner. We had heart shaped pink pancakes, sausage, and orange julius (or pink julius). It was fun. Because what we really wanted for Valentine's Day was for this baby to come - - we went to the school and I walked about 3 miles. It's amazing how heavy he gets by the end of a nice walk!

I have pictures to post... but I'm feeling a little lazy right now. I promise I'll post them soon! I know everyone is dying to see how fat I am :) Bye for now!

29 weeks

Yep... Friday marked the 29 weeks mark which means I'm going to start counting down!
Here is the updated picture of my buddah. Getting bigger! I feel like I'm already big enough to have this baby so I can't imagine what it will be like in 10 weeks or so.

Can I just say that I am so grateful to be pregnant in winter!?!? I'm starting to get to that "warm" stage... where I wake up sweating in the middle of the night. We only turn our furnace to 65 degrees (or less) and I still wake up sweating. I can't imagine it being summer and hot outside. I'm also grateful because I haven't had any swelling of my hands or feet but I'm not sure that would be the case if it wasn't winter!

On another note, we got our crib set up! My brother-in-law came and helped Adam put the crib, dresser, and changing table. It was quite the task but they did great! We also decided to buy a chair this past weekend that matches our crib set (I will post pictures when everything is organized). This tiny room is a mess right now and I'm not sure how we are going to fit everything. :)

So I've had a nasty cough for the past couple of days and haven't slept the past couple of nights because I can't lay down long enough before a coughing attack happens. Being sick when your pregnant is hard. I did stay home from work and relax all day today and am feeling a little better so hopefully it will pass. I'm sure the little guy doesn't like me contracting my stomach with a cough every 10 seconds :)

Parenting skills....

So maybe we should work on our parenting skills when our little guy gets here. . . .

Adam and I have had quite the influence on my little nephew haven't we??? : ) My sister and bro-in-law came over the other day and Adam got Oscar all riled up. I just had to post this video.... his laugh is adorable.

This past weekend we went over to Boise to watch my brother play football against Bishop Kelly in the semi-finals. Unfortunately they lost, but my brother had a great season. We had a little time to head over to the mall before the game and do a little shopping. Of course my husband's stamina for walking around the mall lasted about 10 minutes but we were able to find this cute little outfit.

I think this outfit is a keeper and our little man is going to look like a stud.

24 weeks

The buddah (as Adam calls it), is getting bigger. Much much bigger. I had a traumatic experience with this growing belly this past weekend..... the beginning of my first stretch mark..... :( Although it is only a 1/4 inch long - I have the feeling it is the beginning of more to come.

Now normally I might be opposed to admitting how my body is changing, but I figured there are lots of mom's out there who have gone through this same experience and might have some advice. So the question is.... has anyone ever tried any stretch mark cream that actually worked??? I am willing to try something (because I know if I don't, I'll always wonder what if?), so if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear it.

I hope nobody is taking this the wrong way - I do love my growing little boy and would do anything to have him here - but ya know.... it doesn't hurt to try :)

On an unrelated note, my little sister is engaged!

She is getting married Feb. 5 in the Idaho Falls temple and isn't wasting any time getting wedding stuff done. She has been engaged for a 9 days (I think) and already has the temple booked, the reception venue, a dress picked out and bought, and engagements done! We were able to go out yesterday and get some pictures done but quickly ran out of light due to daylight savings. We tried again today but it was very wet and cold! I still think we got some good ones. I am super excited my sister and am glad she can join me in the married world.

Officially blogging!

I decided to officially join the blogging club! I love reading other people's blog, so I thought it would be good if I started my own.

As most of you know, we are expecting a little boy this February and couldn't be more excited. My baby bump is growing rapidly and people are now starting to say to me "wow, you look pregnant now!" In fact, I had my 23 week appointment this past Saturday and the doctor actually asked me if I was retaining water because I had significant "spike" in my weight. Awesome. Thank you for informing me that I am getting fat :) I didn't know what to say, "uhhhh no? I don't think so?" But yes, I am getting bigger.

Baby boy has been kicking and flipping a lot lately. It's so fun. I'm sure that once he gets bigger and is all up in my business I won't be saying that but for now I like it.

Here is me at 22 weeks.
Other than working, I am staying pretty busy with photoshoots, editing pictures, and hanging out with my hubby. We have the same work schedule which is nice because we have our evenings together. We haven't bought any baby stuff (besides a few onsies) so I'm looking forward to shopping for baby stuff. I think that will make it seem a little more real.