October...That Went Fast

So I just realized that I only blogged once in October about something that happened in September. I guess you could say I have some catching up to do. So here it is: October.

Cruise's Field Trip
I volunteered to help at Cruise's field trip to a farm about 9 days after giving birth. I ended up paying for it the next two weeks as I had massive abdominal pain from walking for four hours. But it was still a lot of fun to get out and spend some time with Cruise and his cute class. Here are some pictures from that:

Carrots

We finally were able to pick our carrots! The boys had been waiting all summer and were eager to help pull and clean (and eat) them. Because our soil is pretty much clay, they all turned out short but fat! But they were still delicious!

Barnyard Boo

I love October. I LOVE the fall. And I really love festive activities that don't involve large crowds. Since Dave isn't a big fan of doing Halloween stuff, I had him stay home with Miles while I took Cruise & Jett to Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving Point. The boys had a lot of fun, despite it being cold, and the best part, it was free with our family pass. Free is good. 

Miles 

It really does go by way too fast. Miles has been doing great! He eats like a champ and is relatively easy going. He hates to wait for his food but is just the sweetest little baby. He is still healthy and still wakes up a lot at night. Every now and then he throws in an all-nighter, just to keep us on our toes. His brothers just love him so much, and Jett especially loves to hold him and help me feed him. Sure, it gets exhausting and stressful, but I relish every second because I'm going to blink and they'll all be graduating high school or leaving on their missions. Some days I wish they would grow up, but most days I just want them to stay little forever. 

My 28th

When Dave asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year, I told him I wanted my bedroom finished. When we moved in, we spent so much time trying to paint and decorate all the other rooms, that our own bedroom was neglected since no one else really sees it. But I really wanted my room to be relaxing and chaos-free (as much as possible). So Dave got to work and finished painting the room white, made me a headboard, hung up our pictures and diplomas, and put our new sheets and comforter set on the bed. He still has a couple little details to finish up, but it is looking really nice! He is such a great husband! Once it's finished, I'll take a picture and post it on the blog.

On the Friday before my birthday, we got brave and took the kids with us to Tucanos for my birthday dinner. I got my dinner free and kids 6 and under eat free too! Woohoo! So we got a pretty good deal for a lot of awesome food. And surprisingly the boys weren't horrible. Afterwards, we stopped by Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and we each got a piece of chocolate. There was a little vendor event going on there in the Riverwoods with a band as well, so we stayed and the boys danced (okay, they just smacked each other around like the Three Stooges) to the music until we decided it was too cold for Miles. 

Sunday was my actual birthday. I woke up to feed Miles when Dave got the kids together and they brought me my birthday cake in bed with cards from them. Dave made me my favorite: German chocolate cake, and we all ate cake and ice cream for breakfast. We then got ready for church and I dressed this guy up because I can.  I love being able to dress a kid again. The two older boys don't like it when I try to make them wear things that they didn't pick out. So I take full advantage of being able to dress my babies how I want to, before they begin displaying their utmost stubborn independence (which secretly I'm really grateful for).

After church, we headed to Dave's parents' house where we had a great dinner and dessert, I opened some really nice gifts, and then we carved pumpkins! I was actually surprised the boys behaved themselves for that. Dave's parents actually gave me some money for my birthday, which I decided to spend on a swimming suit, goggles and a month pass to the rec center so I can swim laps. I'm really looking forward to being able to work out again and lose some of this baby weight!

My Dad flew in on Halloween, so we celebrated our birthdays together on the first of November by going out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. My parents actually got me a new microwave for my birthday since ours had exploded the week before. I guess the only thing better than getting what you wanted for your birthday is getting what you really needed. So yeah, it was a great gift. 

My little sister Abby treated me to a pedicure that evening while she watched Miles and Dave took the other two out to a movie. After my pedicure, she helped me shop for a nice outfit for church. I have the worst time dressing my post baby body. It's nearly impossible to feel remotely attractive, but luckily she has a great eye and good taste, so we left Target with a nice outfit. 

All in all, it was a great, drawn out birthday! The best kind! Thank you to all our family for making it special and especially thanks to Dave, he really made me feel so loved and appreciated, which is really the only thing I need for my birthday. 

HALLOWEEN!

Halloween started a day early. On the 30th, Dave & I went to Jett's preschool Halloween party where the kids had a little parade, recited 3 Little Pumpkins, sang a song, and then did some trick-or-treating to the parents. It was adorable.

I gave out bubbles.

After that, we grabbed some lunch and then I headed off to Cruise's school to do his Halloween party. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, but we had a blast! I was able to recruit three other Moms and I had them each in charge of a station. I had 3 stations and we would rotate every 10 minutes or so. The first station, the kids decorated a gingerbread man into a mummy and then I provided some other snacks once they finished. The second station was ghost bowling and the third was musical pumpkins. Cruise said the bowling was his favorite. Overall I say it was very successful and the kids had a lot of fun. That whole class is just full of adorable children.

That evening, at about 7:30pm, Cruise broke the news to me that he wanted to be an evil scientist for the school parade the next day. I had a Super Wizard costume all ready for him that my sister Charlotte made just for him, but he insisted on being an Evil Scientist for school and the Super Wizard for trick-or-treating. The only problem was that we didn't have a lab coat. He needed a lab coat! So I put him to bed, hopped in the car, and began my long journey in search of a lab coat his size. I first went to a Halloween store where they only had adult lab coats. Then I hit up Target which only had toddler sized lab coats. I lowered my standards for a bit and hit up Walmart where there were no lab coats to be found. I got in my car determined to come home with a lab coat for Cruise, so I jumped onto the freeway and made my way to South Orem where I prayed Toys R Us would have something. 

According to their sign, they were technically closed but the sliding doors opened when I walked up, so that in my world means you are open. I walked in and was greeted by an employee. I asked if they had a lab coat for kids in either the Halloween costumes or the dress up section. She directed me to the dress up where they had a doctor's outfit for $21, complete with a lab coat. I returned to the employee with the outfit and a big sigh of relief. I told her I had driven from Lehi looking for a lab coat, in which she rang me up and high-fived me. Yep, I rock. 

Of course I got home exhausted only to be kept up until 3am with Miles. But luckily come 6:30am, Cruise woke up to find a lab coat and he was soooo happy! He completed his costume with a hard hat (who knows why) and filled some test tubes with soapy water. He was all ready to go!

It being Halloween, Dave had to leave earlier in the day to make it home in time for trick-or-treating, so I had the task of dragging Jett & Miles with me to Cruise's school (again) to hear his class sing their Halloween songs and to watch the costume parade. It was a bit tricky juggling everything, but I did it!

After the parade, the three boys and I loaded up into the car where I went for my phone to call in an order for a jack-o-lantern pizza form Papa Murphys. Unfortunately I learned I had left it at home, which meant...I had to bring all three boys inside and wait in line to get a pizza. The line was long. And as I hit the half way mark, Cruise said he needed to use the bathroom. So I had to get out of line, walk the kids to another store where they had a bathroom, go back to Papa Murphys, get in the back of an even longer line, and wait. As I reached the counter, Miles woke up angry that he was still in the car seat and hungry! So he started to cry and I didn't have an extra bottle ready. I paid for the pizza, got everyone in the car again, and tried to rush home with Miles screaming in the backseat, only to hit every. single. red. light from Papa Murphys to our house. It was a long day. 

Finally Dave got home, installed our new microwave, and then took the boys out to trick-or-treat while I stayed home with Baby Monkey Miles and handed out the goods. 

And THAT was October.

Welcome Baby Miles!

Well, he is finally here! Miles Enoch Ybarra was born September 22nd 2013 at 6:52pm. He weighed in at 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. He has dark brown hair, dark grey eyes, and olive skin.

I will have to say that of all my labor and deliveries, that was the longest and most difficult of all of them. He definitely made me work for it.

The following is all about the labor and delivery. If you want to skip this part, scroll down to the next picture:

At about 6am that Sunday morning, I woke to one of my infected ovarian cysts bursting, causing some excruciating pain. I laid in bed with a heating pad on my side for about 45 minutes. Just as the pain was starting to become bearable, I got a great big contraction telling me it was time to go! Dave called up my parents to come watch the kids, then proceeded to pack up the hospital bag while I began my Hypnobabies hypnosis disc.

Once at the hospital, I was taken to my room where I changed into one of those sexy little birthing gowns, hooked up to the machines, and checked to see how far along I was. I was still dilated to a 4 and 80% effaced, but I was hopeful that things would progress nicely. 4 hours later I was still 4 centimeters and was 90% effaced. I was shocked! First of all, my labor with Cruise lasted 6 hours and Jett? Well, Jett was 1 hour and 45 minutes. Needless to say, I was not prepared for a long, drawn out labor. My hypnosis was still going great and my contractions were slowly increasing in intensity, but 4 hours without any headway? That's when I made the decision to have my doctor come break my water.

Once my water was broken, things finally got going! Contraction after contraction I was focused and relaxed. However at hour 9, the peaks of my contractions were getting incredibly intense and I was having a hard time breathing through them. I asked for something to help me take the edge off and was told I could have it as long as I wasn't past a 7. Luckily I was at a 7, so that helped me so much.

However, by hour 11 I had hit my breaking point. I was exhausted, hungry, and couldn't focus anymore. The contractions were beyond intense and all I could do was cry at the peaks. Dave during all of this was so helpful and calm. He dabbed me with a cold, wet washcloth, used the relaxation techniques he had learned to help me get deeper into hypnosis, and was continually encouraging. But at that point, I couldn't take anymore; I had no idea how much more I had to endure. So, I asked for the epidural.

In came the anesthesiologist to shoot me up. He had me sit up on the side of the bed and started to prep me. I was having close contractions and was too distracted by the pain to realize I was in transition. At each contraction I would do my hypnosis training, but lost it at each peak where I would lean on Dave and just sob. Finally at one contraction, just as the anesthesiologist was ready to stick that huge needle into my spine, I had to push.

I laid back down and began to push with every contraction, in between every contraction, gripping onto Dave the entire time as I screamed louder than I've ever screamed in my entire life. Within a few minutes, Miles finally made his way into the world! As they cut his umbilical cord and got him cleaned up, I continued to hold Dave close as I said, "We are never doing that again."

Unfortunately, the doctor didn't make it in time for the birth, but a whole group of amazing nurses made sure everything went well, and one nurse in particular headed up the delivery and made sure that Miles' umbilical cord didn't strangle him as I pushed him out.

After getting stitched up and being able to nurse Miles, I was able to take a shower while the nurses performed all the post birth tests and procedures. I'm always amazed at how good I feel so soon after going through so much, but I am so grateful it all went well and that Miles and I came out of it without any complications.

That night, Dave stayed with Miles and I while my Dad stayed with Cruise & Jett at home. That morning, Dave left early to go home and help my Dad out and get them ready to visit their new baby brother. After some breakfast they walked in and were able to meet Miles for the first time. Cruise was so excited and thought Miles was so tiny and cute. Jett admired from afar but was a little hesitant to hold this new little person. But we got both of them to hold him for a couple minutes. Jett was not too thrilled to hold Miles and quickly requested, "Ok, just take him away, please." The rest of the day we had visitors come and go and it was so much fun to have my Dad and my sister Ruth in town to meet Miles before they had to leave for California.

Mama's Boys

Miles and Papa Greer

Miles and Grandma Ybarra

Miles and Grandpa Ybarra

With Uncle Fernando

With Aunt Ruth

With Uncle Dan

With Aunt Sofia

That evening after Miles passed all his tests, we were able to go home and sleep in our own bed. Dave's parents were able to give my Dad a break and take over the evening shift with the boys. The next morning Cruise & Jett were excited to see Miles home. In fact, when Cruise got home from school that afternoon, he walked right past me and into my room to see Miles. He then ran back downstairs, grabbed his Doctor's bag, and went back up to give Miles his first check up. It was adorable. Even Jett has warmed up to his little brother. He will sometimes walk past him and pet his head ever so softly or volunteer to hold his bottle. The boys were arguing the other day about who would get to feed Miles first. I am so glad they aren't plotting his disappearance.

Ready to go home!

Cruise's turn to feed Miles!

Jett's turn!

Miles was able to go to the doctor the Thursday after his birth just to get checked out. He weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. which means he hasn't lost a lot of weight, and grew about 1/2 an inch. I credit that to his big appetite. His doctor said he looks perfect other than just being a little yellow, but we went in for another billirubin test and it came back in the normal range.

Miles is a pretty laid back baby so far. He only cries when we take too long to get his bottle to his mouth. He eats like a monster and poops like one too. He is the only kid we've had who will take a binky. He loves baths and when his eyes are open, takes everything in. He likes to listen to Cruise talk to him and has already learned to sleep through the boys' yelling and craziness. We sure do love this new addition to our family; Miles is such a sweet and wonderful baby! And despite the long pregnancy and labor, it was all worth it for this beautiful little boy.

First bath at home!