So much to be grateful for....

There's no way I could go today without expressing gratitude to my spouse and eternal companion.

I mentioned in my last post how you don't know how much you can love your child till you're holding her in your arms. But I also have to say it's amazing how much the love for your spouse grows when you see him holding your daughter in his arms. You see this entirely different side of them. This softer side you weren't sure they had. It's amazing.

He has been so wonderful since I had the baby. He's up with me at night, he's helping me breastfeed, he's doing everything he can to help me adjust to this new life, even while he himself is trying to adjust.

I'm so blessed to be able to have him in my life. I'm so grateful that we were sealed for time and all eternity and that our daughter can be with us forever because of that choice that we made together. Darin, I love you so much and I'm so excited to start this new chapter in our lives.

And how do I even begin to talk about this little thing? I'm so grateful that she's here and that she's healthy. Even though she's only been in our home for a short time, I can feel the spirit that she brings. It's amazing how close to our Heavenly Father these little ones are. It makes me want to live my life that much better so that I can be an example for her as she learns and grows.

I love you Darin. I love you Nora. I'm thankful to have you both in my life and look forward to the memories that we're going to make together.

The Low Down

On November 19 at 10:30 pm I was waiting around to go see the midnight premier of New Moon with my sister. Luckily I didn't make it to the theater because of all days, that was the day that Darin forgot his phone at work. I got up to go to the bathroom and felt a little rush of liquid come out. I didn't think I had pee'd my pants but I wasn't sure and it has happened before. I took another step and felt a huge rush of liquid down my legs. I turned to Darin and said "I think my water just broke." I was laughing and he was running around the house like a nut trying to pack our bag for the hospital. (You think I'd have had that ready already). I couldn't do much because the fluid just kept coming. Diesel knew something was up and was whining and running around.

We finally got everything and made our way to the hospital. We got there around 11:05. We got into our room at 11:20 and they hooked me up to the heart monitors and checked to make sure she was head down which she was. My contractions were getting closer together and more painful. I was dilated to a 4. At 12:20 the Dr came in to give me my epidural and I was dilated to a 5. Once I had that I was feeling pretty good and was able to relax. At 1:00 our nurse came in to check me again and I was dilated to a 6 almost 7 and they said her head was still down and just a little bit longer. At 2 am I was trying to get some rest before I would have to start pushing. The nurse came back at 2:40 and checked me. SURPRISE! Just a little more than 3 hours after getting into our room I was completely dilated to a 10 and ready to start pushing. But she needed to check one more time to be sure she was head down and it's a good thing she did because our little girl was breech and backwards. All the checks they had done prior to that they thought they were feeling her head when really it was her little bum the whole time.

I asked the nurse what that meant for me and she said "C Section and right now". I was really scared and crying. Everything was just happening so fast. They finished up the final preparations and wheeled me into the operating room. At 3 am they started the surgery. Luckily my Dr was on call that night and was able to do the procedure. By 3:10 Darin was telling me that he could see her bum and legs and then her arms and head. They took her to the weighing station to be cleaned and weighed. I couldn't see her because they were still putting me back together and the drape was up. But Darin said she was so beautiful and we were both crying.

After what seemed like an eternity I was finally able to see her and I just cried and cried. You hear people say that you'll never love anything more than when you see your baby for the first time, but you honestly don't even know until you're going through it. Just thinking of it makes me cry. She was the most perfect little thing I had ever seen.

After 3 days in the hospital we're home now and adjusting to life with a baby. It's so wonderful and scary and completely unreal. Although I probably wouldn't have elected for a C Section ahead of time, it really went well. I can't complain about giving birth only 5 hours after my water broke. Our lives have changed as we know it, but I wouldn't want it any other way. She's the most perfect little angel we could have asked for.

Welcome

You might have come a bit early.

 

And you haven't been here long yet.

But you've stolen our hearts already.

Introducing Nora Lynn Oberg. Born November 20 at 3:13am. 5 lbs 12 oz. 19 in long.

What can I say.....

I'm an overachiever.

We have pretty much all of our Christmas shopping done and wrapped. It's such a nice feeling knowing that we'll be able to just enjoy the holidays and we won't have to be out in the hustle and bustle.

While finishing up some Christmas shopping I found this cute purse at Kohls. You can't Christmas shop without buying yourself a present, right? This was an $80 purse that I got for 6 DOLLARS! I was so impressed with myself. I love getting bargains.

And here's a few projects I've finished up recently.

Christmas tutu for the little gal. I can't wait to take her newborn pics, it's going to be so fun.

Frames we finished painting. I'll put her newborn pics in there once she comes.

Last frilly pillow I finished up. Pillows are fun and easy and only take a couple of hours to make.

I hope everyone is able to enjoy their holidays this year. I think it's a lot easier nowadays to get so wrapped up in all of the material things that you forget the important things. I'm going to try extra hard this year to remember the TRUE MEANING!

Check out more.....

.....of this little sweetie over at my photography blog! And don't worry, she isn't always this mad!

My Last Shower

You know you're getting close once you've had your last baby shower. Darins side of the family threw me a great shower. It was really nice not having to plan anything and just getting to go and relax and eat good food.

I'm looking pretty round these days.

We played a fun game that Aimee planned for us. I got some great gift ideas for when her baby comes, like the snot sucker.

We had the quilting frame set up for the family quilt tradition. It turned out so cute!

And of course I got to open some fun gifts.

I'm due three weeks from today. I can't believe it's almost here already. We have mostly everything ready and are just patiently waiting for her to make her debut.

We finished our second and last birthing class today too. We actually really enjoyed it. We had a great instructor that had a fun sense of humor and made things really comfortable. I mean as comfortable as you can get when you're talking about "penises and vaginas".

She told a story of a lady that came into class and after a while of her using the terms vagina or penis a lady raised her hand and said, "Honestly, I thought you would use terms like "who who" or "cha cha"or "wee wee."

Really? How old are you? 5?

If I went to a medical birthing class and my instructor called my vagina a "who who" I'd get up and walk out. But I guess everyone is different.

It's good to know of all the different things that can happen during labor and delivery. Honestly before the classes I had no idea what to expect. I'm still not sure that I do but I assume most people don't with their first. It made me a little nervous though too. Before, I could just be naive and unaware. Now I can't keep pretending like it's not going to hurt anymore.

Honestly, I'm just excited to be done with this phase. Not just because I want to hold her in my arms or smell her sweet skin, but because I'm just really tired of thinking about being pregnant. It's so consuming. It's what I think about from when I wake up till when I go to bed, and when I'm dreaming most of the time.

And I can't wait to have my body back. My carpal tunnel is so bad I wake up most nights crying, and my hands have been constantly numb for the past week straight.

It's really been amazing though. I've been so blessed to have an uncomplicated pregnancy and to have supportive family and friends!

Check out......

........the new session at my photography blog.

Work Shower

The great ladies at my work threw me a baby shower. Work is worth going to if you get presents and yummy lunch. :) I could do that more often.

I got so many great things. And the diaper cake was PERFECT.

I'm exactly a month away from my due date today. I'm getting so anxious. I wore my 4 inch heels for the last time today. My feet are too swollen to fit in them, along with everything else on my body. I had a long run though.When I look in the mirror I don't see my stretched nose or swollen face, when I look at pictures, I cry.

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by people that support me.

HaLLoWeen!

I really love Halloween, and every year I try to think of why because we never really do anything that fun. We didn't have any plans this year and after a REALLY restless night I decided we needed to do something fun Halloween night or I'd slip into a deep depression. So we hopped in the car and travelled 2 hours to Logan to Heidis Halloween Bash!

I'm so glad we did. It was such a fun time. Fun people, good food, funny games. We had a really great time.

I don't even know what to call this game but it was REALLY funny. You have to use your grapefruit to move the apple to the finish line. Some of the moves get pretty risque.

I had an unfair advantage because I could barely see over my stomach to the apple.

Needless to say, I didn't win. But Darin did.

Because he cheated.Way to go honey!

Sweet Sadie Mae. Darin has a way with kids that's really great. Hopefully it's the same with our baby.

Bobbing for donuts.

Thad and Sadie playing. Thad really liked his plate.

Thanks for letting us come Heidi! We had a GREAT TIME!