Month One

Today my baby has been in this world for one month. And I still feel I know very little about being a mother and about my sweet daughter. Just when I feel I've figured out a schedule, it changes. As my mom reminded me today, life will never be the same. But I continue to love her more and more each day! It's sad to know she's not my small newborn anymore, but I'm excited for the months to come and see her develop even more.

What do you think?

I'm still working on getting pictures of Matt as an infant so we can do a full comparison.

Grateful

I've never been in the hospital or had some kind of really bad illness or accident that made it so I need to rely on others. That was until a couple of weeks ago when Ellie came. It's amazing how wonderful so many people have been in checking up on us (a special thanks to our fabulous friends the Davis'!) and providing meals and gifts for us. I've been truly humbled and grateful for the people in our life.

I'm especially grateful for my friend Emily who has and is willing to give advice, answer questions, or help in any way (like with the baby's first bath!). It's great that she and her husband have gone through this with their own son just a few months before us!

I'm thankful for my sister who lets me text her nonstop all day with baby questions! So nice to have someone so close go through it before me! I love my sister and can't wait till she comes out in a few weeks to see her new niece!

And I'm especially grateful for my mom who took time out of her busy schedule to come be with us. I'm glad the baby came before she left too! I was so sad to see my mom leave. Spending all day together for over a week was wonderful and made me miss Utah and being close to family even more. My mom was, and continues to be, a tremendous help and support as I go through this new process. I'm very grateful for her in my life.

Happy Birth Day

I can't believe one week has two weeks have (I've been busy/lazy) already flown by since I went to the hospital and we welcomed our newest addition to our family. As I'm sure is the case with all parents and a new child, we think she is perfect! Ok we know she's not perfect because she doesn't sleep through the night just yet, but she is a great baby! She is very calm and hardly ever cries. We love her peaceful nature and hope it doesn't change!

Elizabeth LuAnn Walser was born June 25 at 8:42 am. She was 6lbs 14oz and 19.5 inches long. We will be calling her Ellie for now!

Birth Story

My mom came into town June 18 and was going to be with us for 10 days, so every day for the week before Ellie came my mom and I walked between 5 and 10 miles a day. Even in the rain.Wednesday, June 22nd (day 2 of being overdue) my sister told me about some restaurant that had a huge rate of pregnant ladies eat their Eggplant Parmigiana and within 48 hours go into labor, so that night we decided to give it a try. We went to Olive Garden and ordered. A little while later the waiter comes back saying they're out of eggplant! So we headed over to Cheesecake Factory. They didn't have the exact same thing, but I got an eggplant pasta dish. 

Nothing happened; and the next day at my doctor appointment the doctor said I was one loose finger dilated...so a 1 I guess. I had him set an appointment for me to be induced because I wanted the baby to come before my mom left. So he set it up for Monday (June 27th) morning - which would give my mom one day before she left.

I think knowing for sure when the baby was going to come started to make me even more nervous than not knowing! Friday morning I woke up and said to Matt, this baby is coming tonight! I was determined for her to come naturally without being induced. My mom and I went for our two morning walks. Around 2 I had some Braxton Hicks contractions start, but nothing different than what I'd had before, so I kind of thought they would just stop at some point. I told Matt and he used that as an excuse to leave work early. :) He got home and my mom and I went on our afternoon walk. We came home and started to get dinner ready. As we were eating dinner the contractions got a little stronger so we decided to write them down. At 7 we decided to go to the mall and get Blizzards and one last walk in! At 8 when we got the Blizzards the contractions were much stronger and 7-9 minutes apart. (I did finish off my Blizzard, which was probably a bad idea!) 

We got home and I walked around the apartment while Matt made sure all our stuff was ready. After timing the contractions from 9-10, and them being 4-5 minutes apart, we called the hospital. At first the lady said I could keep walking around or come in. Then she asked when my last appointment was and how dilated the doctor had said I was. And then she says, ok well start a warm bath and sit in there for an hour. I was pretty disappointed when I hung up with her. Matt started to get the bath ready, but then I had 2 stronger contractions and only 3 minutes apart so I said no way, we’re going now! 

We walked in to the birthing center and they took me to triage to see how far dilated I was. Unfortunately we got the same lady I had just talked to on the phone. She seemed to take FOREVER long with the whole process. We got in there at 10:30 and didn’t finally get admitted and to our room till 11:30 or 12. I don’t usually get mad, but I did get pretty upset with this lady. I feel a little bad now, but I still think she didn’t believe me when I said I was in pain all because I had barely been dilated the day before. She finally checked me and I was at a 4. She had my IV set up and gave me some pain relief medication. It made me light headed and feeling like I would pass out. I asked if it was ok if I passed out and she said yes! I was pretty surprised it was alright for a pregnant lady to pass out while having contractions… She left to go get or do something and I told Matt I was going to throw up. He tried to find something for me to vomit in, but there wasn’t anything and it came quickly. I threw up all over myself and got some on Matt too. 

FINALLY a nurse came to take me to my room. The anesthesiologist came not long after and got my epidural started. He had to do it twice because the first one didn’t numb the left side. It was WONDERFUL once I got the epidural. (I’m not sure how women like my mom do it without pain medication.) At a quarter to 3 the doctor came and broke my water. He said I was about 5-6 cm dilated and 100% effaced. They told me I’d probably deliver at 8 or 9 in the morning and told me to try to sleep and get some rest. I would sleep for 5 or 10 minutes then wake up. This went on the whole time till just before 6 in the morning. At that time I woke Matt up and asked when he thought they would come check how far dilated I was, because they hadn’t checked me since the doctor broke my water. Well I decided to call the nurse to find out. She said probably not for another hour – hour and a half or so because they didn’t want to check too much and risk getting bacteria to the baby since my water had been broken. She said unless I felt more pressure down low then they wouldn’t come right away; but I couldn’t really tell if there was new or more pressure! Well, at 6 the doctor came to check me anyway. I was at 10! I was kind of upset because who knows how long I’d been at a 10, plus they would’ve left me there for another hour or so. They were a little slow getting in there and set up; finally by 6:40 I started to push.

Two hours later our beautiful little girl entered our lives! It was one of the best moments in our lives. We are so blessed to have this sweet child as a part of our family. I've been thinking about it lately and I would gladly go through the pain again for her and my future children. It's not that I've already forgotten how painful it was (because I remember that feeling of my insides feeling like they wanted to explode every time there was a contraction or the pain each time I sit down after her birth), it's just a miracle to have something so precious come into this world, and we're so fortunate and blessed to have her with us. 

And one last thing about this whole experience, Matt has been wonderful. I'm blessed to have him. It's been so great to see his reaction when Ellie was born and how in love with her he is. He's a great husband and father already.

A very proud and happy father!

First bath

Ready to go home in the outfit daddy picked out for her :)

What's Going On

This week I am 39 weeks (due date is Monday!)! And we have been having lots of fun to stay busy and preoccupied. Mostly we've been doing last minute things to enjoy our time together and finish getting ready for the baby.

39 weeks

Monday night we went out to a movie with a great Living Social deal.

Tuesday I got sewing lessons from a lady in our ward. And she helped me make a dust ruffle for the crib! The crib is now completely ready. We also got a dresser, which was the last thing (I think) that we need for the baby room besides the baby.

Wednesday we were invited to a Mariners (baseball) game. We had great seats! And the Mariners won, so that was fun.

Great seats!

Mariners game

Last night we went out to eat as our last time with just the two of us. Plus with it being 3 weeks away from our anniversary, we decided it was our anniversary celebration too. We went to Cheesecake Factory and it was delicious as always. Matt ordered me a virgin Pina Colada because I've never had one; it was yummy!

And now we are just relaxing and waiting for the baby to make her appearance. The doctor told me it's all up to her at this point, so hopefully she doesn't keep us waiting too much longer. Especially since my mom comes into town tomorrow and her daddy has been getting very anxious for her to come! (I love how excited he is :))

Resting up for baby :)

In Memory Of

Wednesday afternoon I received a text from my brother saying my Grandpa Morris had had a stroke and was in the hospital. I was shocked and saddened. Just a few weeks ago I had written him a letter to see how he was doing. He had even written back expressing interest in coming to the baby's baby blessing in a couple of months.

Today he passed away. It's sad, yet so very happy thanks to the gospel and knowledge we have of life after this and eternal families. He was 90 years old, and for, almost, the last 7 years he has been without his sweet wife. Although it's hard to imagine he's gone and knowing I won't see him anymore, I can only imagine how happy he is today being with my grandma, his daughter and son.

I'm grateful for a grandfather who has lived such an excellent life. He was quiet, but always faithful. I'm thankful for his example. I am so blessed to have had him for a grandfather.

Me with my wonderful grandparents

While my grandpa was in the past few days the hubby and I were discussing our parents and grandparents. (Side note: Our parents have strangely similar family backgrounds. It's kind of weird, but interesting too.) Both of our grandparents on our fathers' side have now passed away. Matt was lucky enough to be able to live with his grandparents for a little while (I get jealous at times wishing I could've done the same). When he shares stories or characteristics of his grandparents it reminds me very much of my grandparents. I'm grateful that we both could have such wonderful examples in our life! I suppose with Memorial Day tomorrow, and the recent events in my family's life, I've just been thinking a lot about family and how blessed we truly are.

Matt with his fabulous grandparents

Aren't grandparents great?

P.S. I like to imagine my Grandma & Grandpa Morris, Grandpa Valdizan (my mom's dad who died before I was born, hence no picture), and Matt's Grandma & Grandpa Walser are all socializing together tonight. It'd be fun to be there. :) Oh, and we both love our living grandparents too and are glad they're still around!

O Canada

Well, this past weekend we decided to have ourselves a little adventure. I had some unused hotel points from the good old days when I traveled for work (which I miss a lot!), so we decided to cash them in for a weekend getaway to Vancouver, Canada! The drive wasn't too bad for being about 8 months pregnant, which I was happy about!

Thursday night we got to the hotel. So, in my family, sometimes when we go on vacation and if we'll have a kitchenette in the hotel room, we will take cereal, paper bowls, and plastic spoons with us to save on the cost of eating out. Then once we get to the location we buy milk at a local grocery store. Well, we decided to do the same thing on this short trip. So we went to the front desk and Matt asked where a grocery store was located. The girl looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language! And we felt dumb, till another employee and hotel guest chimed in and said "Oh, a Superstore!" We laughed about it and figured they don't use the word "grocery", but later during our trip we saw stores with the word "grocery". So we're still confused as to why the girl acted like she had never heard the word before!

Friday morning we went to the LDS Vancouver, Canada temple to do a session. I wish we would've taken a picture to actually document us being there. It was a first for both of us to go through a session in a foreign temple. And this one was SO beautiful! I loved it!

After the temple we went to the main attraction of our trip. The Capilano Suspension Bridge! It was a lot of fun and very beautiful! (I'll try to not put too many pictures! But like I said, it was really pretty so we got carried away with the camera and the nature shots.)

The trees were huge!

The bridge. It's surprising how much it actually sways.

Matt may have been trying to make people lose their balance as they walked across...

I just love all the green trees!

They also had a "Treetop Adventure". Smaller bridges through out the trees.

We spent 2-3 hours walking around.

This refers to the picture up above. Like I said before, HUGE trees!

Matt's span is about the same as the Canadian Goose. The really long one is the span of an eagle.

After the bridge we went to Stanley Park. This park was huge! We made a stop at a look out to enjoy some scenery. We got there and saw Meeko!

Meet Meeko. He was just going along in broad daylight minding his own business.

When all of the sudden he heard something...

And along came Crazy Eye!

Crazy Eye hissed and scared Meeko away.

 We thought it was weird these raccoons were out in the middle of the day.

I'm pretty sure Crazy Eye had rabies.

The beautiful view of North Vancouver from the lookout!

 Well, after Stanley Park we drove through Downtown Vancouver. Really, it reminded us of Seattle or any other big city in the U.S. It didn't feel so much like a foreign country. But we did get lost driving around downtown; best way to see a city is to get lost. :) (I had directions from the hotel to each location, just not from the location back to the hotel...)

I don't know if we were staying in the wrong location, but it seemed kind of hard to find nicer restaurants to eat dinner. All we kept seeing were American fast food places. Maybe we should've just asked the hotel.

Saturday we headed home. It was a nice little adventure before the baby comes! And I'm pretty sure Matt didn't mind having a reason to take a day off work.

There's just something about coming home to the U.S.

Saw this on the drive home and thought it was a pretty interesting name...