A birth story

While writing this post Conner is laying like a little bug sleeping on Mark and I can't help but think of the joy he's brought to my life. I look at the picture above and it amazes me that the little guy next to me was inside my stomach at this point...on second thought maybe I can believe it because I was HUGE! While I still haven't been able to forget how difficult pregnancy was, I believe I can understand why some people would want to have more than one child because the whole birth experience was pretty incredible. The picture above was taken just as we were leaving for the hospital at 4 a.m.!! I already hate these pictures of me but they are important for documentation.
I decided to have the baby at the Payson hospital because my Dr. only delivers there and Utah Valley but because Utah Valley won't induce a first time mother until over a week after delivery I opted for Payson. I seriously tried everything sans castor oil to get him to come early but nothing worked. I was stuck at 80% efaced and dialated to a 2 for three weeks. His original due date was June 3 so he was born just one day early.
When we first got to the hospital to check-in at 4:45 A.M. they put me in a room, hooked me up to the monitors, and told me the nurse would be in shortly...well, at 7:30 I finally rang the nurse button to ask where my pitocin and IV was (It's only because of my patient husband that I waited that long to ring the button). They told me that they were swamped with people coming in that were already in labor so they had to make sure those people were all set before they could induce me. I wish they would have told me that 2 hrs earlier! The nurse finally came in at 8:15 and started me on Pitocin to induce labor. This is how labor progressed for me:

• 9:30- increased dose of pitocin
• 10:45- Dr. broke water and increased pitocin
• 12:30- received the epidural and spinal (I know you're probably thinking wow Shan you got an epidural quickly but with the pitocin and water breaking I definitely got my taste of some rough contractions and decided I didn't need to suffer more)
• 2:03- dilated to a 4
• 3:24- dilated to a 5
• 4:08- dilated to a 7
• 5:20- dilated to a 9
• 5:55- saw the head and that he had lots of dark hair
• 6:21- Conner was born
  

I was scared to push the button very often for more epidural medicine because Mark has a friend that has inverse sideburns because the epidural was so strong they had to use forceps to get him out and it permanently scarred the baby. At 5:30 I started to really feel the contractions again and the need to push, I kinda ignored the feeling for a little bit and continued to play phase 10 with my mom and Mark but at 5:45 I finally called the nurse in and told her how I was feeling. She decided to take a look and when she did she kinda let out a shocked expression and said "wow there's the head." So they called the Dr and told him he needed to come to the hospital quick. By the time the Dr got there I was really struggling to hold back on the pushing so when he was set up it only took 2 pushes to get the little guy out.
This was right after he was born and they weighed him. He was 20.5 inches and weighed 8 lbs 4 oz.

Words can't express the love I felt when I first saw this little guy. It's crazy how quickly it comes in an almost overpowering wave. I'm so excited for our little family

Maternity photos

I am super behind on my posting but before I tell the baby story and show off my new little love (Conner) I thought I'd show the maternity pictures that one of my friends took for us. Molly Hunter went to El Salvador the summer before we did and she was a huge help to us when we were down there. She is an extremely talented photographer and I am excited for her to take the newborn pictures soon.
As much as I hate seeing myself pregnant because of how big I got, I feel like there is something so beautiful about pregnancy and life and I wanted to make sure it got documented. The pictures were taken at 35 weeks.

Masters program

I'm so proud of Mark! Today we found out that he got into the Macc program (masters in accounting) at BYU. The program is consistently ranked in the top 3 in the country. We thought that the accounting bachelors program was difficult to get into but the MAcc is even harder so it is a huge blessing that he did. It's funny how different our approaches towards school are, he is the worrier and stresses about every test and quiz. He's been telling me not to get my hopes up about getting in the program but I knew he would because he usually does really well on the tests and it seems like everyone in the world is calling to study with him or to ask for help. He is such a hard worker and deserves every bit of what he's gotten.
He also got a "Mr. congeniality" scholarship for next year because he was voted by his teachers and classmates and the most helpful, honest, and hard working student. The award isn't really called Mr. Congeniality but that's basically what it is.

I AM SO PROUD!

My personal florist

Mark is finally taking a class that I can get excited about and help him with, floral design. This past year was torture because he would use me as a sound board to help memorize all his accounting stuff and boy is that boring! I seriously felt like he was speaking another language most of the time. But now, with floral design, I don't mind helping him at all. The other day I was talking about color schemes and not only could he follow what I was saying but he contributed to the conversation! In the past he laughed when I would talk about feng shui and how certain colors give feelings but now he actually agrees! He took the class to satisfy one of his generals in arts because a counselor told him it was an "easy A" class. Now I get to enjoy new flower arrangements every week and my kitchen looks like a mini greenhouse. The picture above is his latest work of art. He may be slightly embarrassed that I am making this post ;)

Oh the joys of pregnancy

When I was younger I was convinced I was going to be one of those cute, and somehow skinny, pregnant women. I thought I would love being pregnant and that I would not fit into any of the stereotypes at all. Wrong. Here are a couple funny stories that comes along with being 9 months pregnant.

A couple nights ago we were playing games late at my parents with all my family. I knew I was a really tired but Alisha was in town and Brenton was over so I decided I could put sleeping on hold. I don't know what came over me but out of the blue I suddenly thought everything was hilarious. It was laughing so hard it hurt at nothing! Everyone seriously just kinda stared at me and started chuckling with me...it doesn't stop there. Next thing I know my hysterical laughing turns into crying, and not just little tears, sobs! Everyone's faces were completely shocked and while I'm sobbing I'm choking out the words "What is wrong with me I'm not even sad, this can't be real". I still have no idea what it was! Gotta love hormones.

I went to an eye appointment last Friday and as soon as I walk up to the desk the receptionist says "I sure hope you're having that baby soon because you are HUGE". Her face just showed amazement. I didn't really know how to react so I just said "I hope he comes soon."

The other day I was taking a shower and Mark walks into the bathroom to clear his nose and just hearing the sound made my throw up all over the tub. Gross part is I had just eaten Reeses Peanut Butter Puffs cereal and the look of my own throw up sent me going again.

2 Years!

On April 25th Mark and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. One part of me feels like I've always been married but another part feels like it was just yesterday. This picture always brings laughs. This is Mark's "blue steel" pose.

Mark and I switch of planning how we're going to celebrate our anniversary and this year was my turn. I first planned on going to Vegas to see a show and stay in a nice hotel but the doctor nixed those plans when he said I couldn't travel farther than Salt Lake. Seeing as I am very big and uncomfortable we decided to save the money and just go out to eat and see a movie. We went to Texas Roadhouse and then went and saw Source Code. We were pleasantly surprised with Source Code as it turned out to be pretty good.
I don't know what I'd do without Mark in my life. He is the most supportive/loving husband and I love him more and more with each new day and experience.

Graduation Day

I couldn't find a good collage maker online so if any of you know of a good one let me know. I am so happy that I finally graduated! It's definitely taken long enough, but in my defense I did take two years off to serve a mission. I was excited that my Grandpa could come from Arizona to see the event. I am so grateful to everyone that helped me get to this point especially my parents. I cringe at putting up pictures of me at this point because I have finally accepted the fact that I have gained a lot of water weight/weight in general and no matter how many pictures are taken I will not come out looking like I did before, but it'll all be worth it when little Conner makes his debut. We went out to my favorite restaurant afterwards, Carrabbas, and had the best meal ever! It was a really good day.