Anna's Birth Story

Never had I wanted to hold a baby so badly. To feel those ten little fingers wrap ever so gently around mine. To kiss those ten little toes. To smell that fresh little head of hair.
What started out as a surprise pregnancy turned into months and months of anxiously awaiting our sweet baby girl to arrive. Oh how I couldn't wait!! I sure as heck couldn't wait to have my own body back too! It's exhausting sharing your body with another person.

My original due date was April 14th, but the fact that I was already dilated to a 4 and 70% effaced two weeks before her due date, I knew she was coming soon.
Being my third baby, I really wanted to have my mom in the room with us when the baby was born. The original plan was to call my mom when I started going into labor and she would either fly out or drive the six hours to be there. It was Thursday the 4th and my mom had plans to go up to San Francisco the next day to take care of some family business. I told her that I really felt that if she went up to SF that she would miss the baby being born. So instead she flew into Tucson late Friday night. We had a ton of fun on Saturday going from place to place getting things in preparation for the baby. Dragging two kids along with us wasn't quite the fun part. :) So, after dinner, Alex watched the kids while my mom and I went out for a couple more hours. At about 8:30pm I started feeling mild contractions every ten minutes. My mom asked if I wanted to go home, and I insisted that we stay out and about. I wanted this baby to come!! We got home after 10pm and settled in for bed. My contractions had slowed down quite a bit. I was totally disappointed. At about 11:30, the contractions started picking back up again. Come 1am, the contractions were between 5 and 8 minutes apart. My doctor had told me to come in when they were 6 minutes apart. I shook Alex awake and told him we needed to go. Being dead asleep, he didn't quite process what I said and pulled the sheets up over his shoulders. I shook him harder and emphatically repeated that we needed to go to the hospital now. He jumped out of bed, I made sure that I had everything that I needed, and we headed out the door. It's funny how much more calm I was this third time around. Looking back on when I had Lucy, my pain tolerance was so low. I have definitely become a lot more tough over the last few years. What once would have felt like an 8 on a pain scale of 10, was now a 4.

I checked in, they checked me (I was at a 5 and 80%), and we checked out our new living quarters for the next 36 hours. That empty plastic bassinet was soon going to have a new life sleeping in it.
I got an epidural in at about 4am.
Now was the waiting game...
We turned down the lights and tried to get some sleep. Well, Alex slept just fine, but I couldn't sleep between the contractions and the fact that I was so itchy all over from the epidural! The itchiness was a first for me. So annoying!
My mom was at home with the kids awaiting my call for when she should have my friend come over to watch the kids so she could meet us at the hospital. The doctor came in and broke my water at about 6am. After breaking my water, everything was ready to go! I just had to wait to finish some antibiotics before I could start pushing. I called my mom and told her to come as soon as she could. She made it to the hospital at about 6:30am. Shortly thereafter, I started pushing. Alex was there to help coach me through and after a few pushes, the doctor had Alex put on some gloves so he could deliver the baby! Alex was right there, guiding the way for the baby.
 At 7:11 am on April 7th, Alex delivered our little baby girl and put her right onto my chest.
Anna Dell Geyer was lovingly welcomed into this world!
She was 7lbs, 2oz and 20.5 inches long. A perfectly healthy, beautiful little girl.

Who knew that our hearts would grow so much that day...three sizes in fact! We're so grateful for and so in love with our precious little Annie.

(And a special THANK YOU to my mom for the beautiful pictures!)

(This is my I've been up for over 24 hours and just had a baby face)

And a little welcome home sign made by the kids (with a little help)

The Hunt

Even with it being their third egg hunt within 24 hours, the thrill was still as exciting as ever! 

(I particularly can't get over how handsome Todd looks!)

But above all, we enjoyed spending our Easter Sunday as a family and reflecting on our Savior, Jesus Christ. How grateful we are for the knowledge we have of Him and His sacrifice so that we may one day again return to our Father in Heaven. 

I hope your Easter was just as special as ours!

iLovin

37 Weeks

And here we are... I've made it! I am now considered full term! Thank goodness! This little girl can make her appearance any time now and I'd be thrilled. Lucy asks me every so often, "Mom, can you push the baby out of your tummy yet?" She cracks me up...during her dinner prayer tonight she prayed that her baby sister would play dress up with her. She's always picking out dresses at the store for her baby sister. To say she's excited to meet her is an understatement!
As far as her name goes...we have been mulling over names for months and months and couldn't find the right name. As of a few days ago, we thought we had it. We were about 95% sure we were going to name her this, but after trying it out on a good amount of people we kept getting the same negative response for the most part. And if cordial, respectable adults were giving us that reaction we could hardly imagine what little stinker kids on the blacktop would call her!!
It was at about 4:30 am on Saturday when the "bolt of lightning" hit and we now have a perfect name for this little girl! Finally! (You'll just have to wait and see!) 
It makes me all the more anxious and excited to meet her!

Ooooh...What the Heck!

Still Here!

Oh yea...hey! Remember me? Still around. My reason for being MIA?
I'm tired.
Just tired.
Can you blame a woman? Especially one with two highly energetic, attention demanding children.
But believe you me when I say I think about blogging all the time. It's something I love and I miss doing it regularly. But when I actually think I have energy to sit down and write, my feet somehow instead find their way walking to the couch where my body flops with exhaustion. And the funny thing is that when I review my day, I feel like I hardly did anything! My kids were at least dressed and fed, we spent time outside playing, maybe walked to the mailbox and back... oh yea, and I'm growing another baby full-time.
I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow. I can hardly believe it. I don't know if I want time to speed up or to slow down. I want my body back along with my energy (oh, and sleeping on my stomach!), but three kids?! I think I'll vote for time to slow down.
In other news, we are loving where we live now. I actually open my blinds every morning without worrying that someone is walking by right next to my window and seeing a helpless mom with two kids all by herself. Or hearing extremely loud music with inappropriate lyrics rattling the walls of my home. Or the druggy neighbors. Or the yelling of arguments just steps from our front door. Or random grocery carts that end up right outside our home....Did I mention the frequent showing up of cop cars and helicopters?
I think you get the idea.
It's peaceful here in our new neighborhood. I love my husband a million times more for moving us. He really deserves some kind of recognition because a move was the last thing he needed on top of school. And he moved us knowing that he would now be commuting to school instead of a quick hop, skip and a jump to campus. I love him. So much. And I think he can tell that our new environment has made a world of difference for me. I'm not as depressed (not that I was ever really depressed), but I am much happier on a day to day basis. At least I can tell a difference in myself.
Life is good great.

31 Weeks

Between moving, a funeral in Utah, and everyone being sick, it's been quite a whirlwind over here.
Nevertheless...baby girl keeps growing! I swear she must be testing the elasticity of my uterus because she is constantly pushing and kicking against me SO HARD! So hard that she causes me to verbally squeal out in pain!

It's hard for me to believe that we are on the last stretch of this pregnancy. Too much to do, not enough time! One of which is to teach my son that he doesn't need to constantly be attached to me. (drives me crazy!)
His world is quickly going to be turned upside down. He won't know what hit him!