Hank's Birth Story

It's been 3 weeks and Hank is BLISS. Ahhh, sometimes Kade and I will just look at him and then at each other and be like, WE LOVE HIM SO MUCH. It's the craziest and best. I figured I should write down his birth story because I never, ever want to forget! One of the top moments of my whole life. 

Here's the story in full detail! It's pretty lengthy, and well, detailed. You've been warned....

I woke up on June 7th at 1:30 in the morning and just felt like I had to go to the bathroom. So I did but liquid just kept coming out! I honestly couldn't figure out if I had just lost control of my bladder (hahaha pregnancy...) or if my water broke! So I sat for a good 20 minutes working on that and I started googling stuff and I basically came to the conclusion that my water broke haha. I got Kade up and told him that I thought my water broke and his response was, "Are you serious? Does that mean I have to get up?" Haha! I told him that he did, in fact, have to get up! We actually both googled it before we left just to make sure because neither of us wanted to get sent home from the hospital! I told Kade to pack a bag and I put on a little makeup because I was looking haggard and thought delivery would only make it worse... So we got our stuff together, I put a towel between my legs (hahahaha) and off to the hospital we went! 

We ended up getting to the hospital about 2:30 and checked in. It was so quiet and seemed so calm. It was weird actually. They took us back to a room and I changed into a gown and a nurse came in and checked. Sure enough, my water broke! It was such a relief. We reeeeeeeaaally didn't want to get sent home. There were 4 other girls that got sent home that night! So the nurse was happy to keep us. I was only dilated to a 1 and wasn't fully effaced and I haven't even had any contractions! But, they had to keep me because my water broke and the risk of infection goes way up if that happens. Soooo, there we were just hangin out. 

[caption id="attachment_1138" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Our last (and not best) picture as a family of two![/caption]

We both tried to sleep a little but nurses kept coming in to check me. They hooked me up to an IV and that was not pleasant... The poor nurse. She tried twice and went through my vein both times and was digging around in my arm and it was very unpleasant and just couldn't get it so she finally had to call another nurse in to do it. I'm still bruised from that... Anyway, we slept on and off and hung out and it was like 4 in the morning and I still wasn't really dilating or progressing but with the small, minor contractions I was having, baby's heart rate would drop so they didn't want to start Pitocin because that would only make it worse. So, we just kept hanging out.

*Side note: Before I ever got pregnant and during my whole pregnancy I knew I wanted to have an unmedicated birth. I just wanted to do it without. I have absolutely nothing against how anyone else has babies or modern medicine or anything like that. There is no right or wrong way, I mean, you had a BABY. That's freakin' amazing no matter how it happens. I definitely had an open mind because things don't always go according to plan and I didn't want to be devastated or crushed or somehow resent how my baby was born because of that, but I knew I wanted to do unmedicated. Or try anyway. So, there's that. Back to the story.

I labored by myself for a while and the contractions all of a sudden started getting so bad!! Like, BAM. Pretty minor and then they sky rocketed! I tried to remember my breathing techniques and visualizations but man, when you're having a contraction, that stuff is hard to remember! Haha. So basically it all went out the window... Kade was so good and let me squeeze the crap out of his fingers and he counted with me and he was just so good. My contractions were getting worse and a lot closer together so I thought that meant I was dilating more but the nurse came and checked again and I was only at a 2!!!!! So I kept going for a while and then finally asked for pain medicine. I couldn't really relax between contractions and it just got too painful. So they gave me something else (not an epidural) and it didn't do jack! In fact, it made me so, so sick. I was violently throwing up! The only time I got sick and threw up during my pregnancy was during delivery haha. It also made me so loopy. I was so out of it and couldn't keep my eyes open and I was so nauseous. Then, they had to put me on oxygen because baby's heart rate was still dropping with every contraction and the plastic thing smelled like plastic and hospital and it made it harder to breathe and made me even more nauseous and it was just not good! So I continued to labor like that for a little and my contractions honestly felt so strong and I was only at a 2 so I decided that if that's how bad it was at a 2 then I really didn't want to find out what they were like at a 10. So, I got an epidural at like 9:45 am. 

It was insane not being in control of my pain! I honestly was a little bummed at first to get the epidural just because I felt like I was a lot stronger and could've lasted longer. But, after it kicked in, I was so happy I got it. The experience was so much more pleasant for me and for Kade (haha poor guy, he was so helpful but I don't think his fingers could've lasted much longer I was squeezing them so hard). Kade and I were both finally able to relax and be comfortable! Heck, I even took a nap! But, I tried to keep the medicine low enough that I would still have a little feeling and be aware of my body and know when to push and all of that.

The doctor decided it was best that they start me on the lowest dose possible of Pitocin because I still wasn't progressing and I was just stuck for so long and they needed to get things moving. At this point it was like 11:45 or 12 and Kade was starving (so was I but they wouldn't let me eat...) and the nurse said that I most likely wouldn't deliver until 6 or 7 that night because I was only at a 4 so he would be okay to leave for a little. So he went to Cubby's literally right across the street from the hospital. While he was gone the nurse came in and checked me and was like, "Ummm, you need to call your husband and tell him to get back here right now." I had dilated to an 8 in a matter of 10 minutes! I called Kade half laughing and half panicking that he wouldn't get back in time and told him to hurry the heck up!! After what felt like an eternity, he finally made it back and asked the nurse what I was at on his way into my room and she told him I was an 8 pushing a 9! So they came in together and she checked me one more time and was totally shocked and told me to put my legs back together and not move. Apparently baby's head was right there!!! She called the doctor who was doing a D&C downstairs and said she needed 15 minutes. I started stressing a little because my mom wasn't even there! Kade called her and told her to run. Thankfully they don't live far away haha.

I told my nurse I was starting to feel pressure and so she grabbed another nurse and they starting prepping to deliver him themselves! My mom walked in probably 2 minutes after that and then 2 minutes after that the doctor walked in! They set my bed up and got my legs all situated and told me to push. One little half push and his head was all the way out and then they told me to count to 10 and push and I got to about 7 and he was out!! They laid him pretty much immediately on me and he had such a good, strong cry! The nurses commented that he was actually pretty loud haha. It felt like he was always part of our family, like obviously he came to us! He was so perfect and straight from heaven and it was just so surreal! I totally get emotional typing this out and even thinking about it. It was one of the most special moments of my whole life.











And there it is. Hank Kade Hansen was born at 12:31 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. He is such a dreamboat and I seriously feel like my heart is going to explode! We love our little guy SO much. Welcome to the crew Hank!

happenings

Lots has been happening around here! But then it's funny because sometimes it seems like nothing at all has been happening haha. But really, there has been a lot! So I thought I'd give an update.

I am now 34 weeks pregnant!! Gaaaaaahhh. That's weird. We've officially hit the point where I can say that we are having a baby next month! Like WHAT. So nuts. And so, so exciting all at the same time! For the most part, I still feel pretty good. Exhaustion has start to set in and there have been a couple days that I feel like I literally cannot go on or function without a nap. So I nap and I nap hard. Like 2+ hour naps. I'm not sleeping super well at night, I'm pretty restless and mostly uncomfortable and I'm tired all the time so my naps are where I get my sleep I guess haha.



Side note: WHY can't pregnant women sleep well towards the end?? Like, we're going to have a baby here soon, shouldn't I be getting the best sleep of my life now? Because we're going to be sleep deprived then that's for sure. But starting now before we even have the baby? That's kinda mean. Or maybe smart... I guess it's good prep. But I don't like it.

Anyway.... I've started to get ligament/tendon/something pain right in my groin area and I've done a ton of research and apparently that's pretty normal. Things are just changing a lot and it goes away when you have the baby. It just makes getting out of bed hard, putting pants on hard, and rolling over hard. So I feel like, sound like, and look like I'm 100 years old sometimes haha.

Okay, enough complaining. Other than that, I feel GREAT. I am so excited to get this baby here!! Nesting has start to set in a little and I just want everything CLEAN and FINISHED. Which is a challenge because we're still doing renovations. Ha. But, basement should be finished really soon and then we can do some shifting and set up baby's nursery!

Moving on to things other than baby... (but what else is there? ;) just kidding!) I graduated? That's great news and a pretty big deal, ya? It maybe doesn't feel like it because I did online school and I didn't walk. In hindsight, I totally should've walked. I just didn't because... I don't know. Too much of a hassle? I really don't know. It would've been a really cool experience but I am happy and well without walking so it's fine.

I graduated from Weber State with a degree in Health Administrative Services with an emphasis in Health Promotion. Whew. That's a lot to say haha. After I say that, most people ask what I'm going to do with that and my answer is nothing. I really am not particularly interested in my degree, which is so awful. But, there was a mix up with my programs and I ended up being farther along in this one than the one I originally intended to be in so I just went with it. Honestly, I'll probably go back to school anyway so I'm not overly concerned. My original oriiiiginal plan was to go to nursing school, but life happened and nursing school didn't. So, I'll go back and do that eventually. Sooner? Later? I'm not sure. But I will. And then I'll walk :)



Kade was the nicest and stopped by Weber State on the way to his parent's this past weekend. It was actually only my 2nd time EVER being on campus haha! Neither of us knew where the "front" of the school was or where you took your graduate picture. You know, the ones... It was a Sunday and there wasn't a soul in sight so we drove around for a minute and decided this was just fine. Good thing too because I did a jumping picture and it probably wasn't pretty...



Pregnant people are maybe not meant to jump like that hahaha.

Anyway, those are life's happenings. I'm just trying to be patient and enjoy all the things because life is going to change drastically here pretty soon. So, cheers to patience and enjoying all the things!

the shower

My friends are basically the greatest humans ever and threw me a baby shower. I STILL to this day get a little bit teary thinking about it. Hormones, guys, hormones. But, it really was soooo amazing and sweet of them and I'm so grateful!

They went all out! I was blown away.

















They had the cutest games for us, too. We played a Guess the Celebrity Baby Game and that was so fun but actually so hard! Haha apparently my knowledge of Pop Culture is lacking. We also played a Bingo game with questions about my pregnancy. It was fun talking about it! I probably talk about pregnancy wayyyyyy more than people care but I just love it!

Baby boy and I were so spoiled and felt so much love. These people are seriously the best. THANK YOU TO THEM OVER AND OVER A MILLION TIMES AGAIN.























Taking pictures with other pregnant people is so weird sometimes hahaha.



Aaaaand what baby shower is complete without a selfie?? :)

california

Sometimes I really just want to kick myself for not taking pictures. I am just a space cadet! We have a nice, big camera but I aaaaalways forget to get it out or when I do the battery is dead or a basically any other excuse you can come up with. And I'm so mad at myself. every. time. I'm all for living in the moment and soaking it up while you're living it, but I really love pictures. I love looking back and having those memories!

Growing up my dad had a camera in our faces probably every day. He videotaped everything! From the not important, everyday life things, to the really important, monumental things. And now we have all of those on DVD at my parent's house and they are so awesome. We love busting them out on Sundays and they seriously make me so happy! Every person should have a well documented childhood. Those are sooo special to me!!

My parents were the cutest and even gave us a little handheld camcorder to start recording now so that our little babe can have all of those videos, just like I did. Sooo I'm trying...

Whew. There is my rant. And now to document our not-very-well-documented trip to California. Haha!

We were celebrating me finishing my internship and hitting the 30-week pregnancy mark!! Actually, we pretty much just crashed my sister's spring break and were looking for an excuse to get out of town haha.

We stayed with my angel Grandma and went to the beach and ate a lot. That was basically what we did every day and I loved every second of it!



One day we went on a hike with my aunt April. It was so fun! And so pretty.



The wild flowers were insane! They were taller than us! And, I'll never pass up an opportunity to decorate with flowers :)





It's crazy to think that next time we come back to California we'll have a baby! Until then, I'm enjoying my time with Kade! Oh, and my mom and Emerson ;)



 

a tooth

A tooth. Yep. A chipped one. A chipped front tooth, I might add.

Back story...

When I was little, I was swimming at my friend McKenzie's house and we were racing across the pool. I wasn't wearing goggles and obviously didn't open my eyes under the water because I ran right into the wall!! Ahh, not my finest moment. It chipped my front tooth and unfortunately it was a permanent one.

Thankfully I got a filling and it was only a small corner. Fast forward, life is good, I hardly noticed it. But now, looking back at pictures, how the heck could I not notice it!??! It fit just fine on my small child mouth but then I kinda grew out of it! It totally made my tooth look crooked and was a different color. Oh well.

Soo, after my mission I got it fixed. Just because it was crooked and off color. They had to shave a bit more of my tooth off to make the filling stick but still pretty minor. No problems with it until about 2 weeks ago. I was just minding my own business eating my innocent piece of toast one morning and BAM. It popped off and I swallowed it!! I swallowed it! I kinda freaked out a little because surely that can't be good for my digestive system?? My dentist assured me that people have swallowed much worse and that I would survive haha.



This is what I look like first thing in the morning with a chipped tooth. It's a winner. My dentist was super chill and got me in less than an hour after it happened. Praises. It was actually pretty funny.

I totally forgot about it again. Despite having to shave off more of my tooth, he made it look better than it ever has and I didn't give it one more thought. Theeeeeennnn, we were in Santa Cruz this past weekend eating lunch and I bit into my kinda crunchy baguette sandwich. No problems until about halfway through. I took another bite and knew instantly something wasn't right. I licked my teeth and my filling was gone!! IT WAS GONE. Actually, it fell on my plate (gross) but it was definitely not where it was supposed to be!! We were with our friends! In public! Not going home until the next day! The dentist didn't open until Monday! Oh my heck. I was mortified and this time it was so not funny. I told Kade and he just laughed. Nice... I did the best I could to hide it but eventually everyone found out. And laughed. Then felt bad for me. Cause let's be real, I'm pregnant and have a big chip in my front tooth. I really don't have a lot working for me here hahah.

I made it through the weekend and hardly opened my mouth. Ha really though! I smiled without showing teeth, I basically mumbled to try and keep my mouth closed and somehow, we made it.

I called the very second my dentist opened today and I was crushed to hear that he wasn't in and wouldn't be able to fix it until TOMORROW. That's a lot of days with a fat chip in your front tooth.

Kade keeps telling me to embrace it because it's "cute" and that I should just leave it!  Yeah, umm no thanks. But, here I am trying to embrace it. Please pray for me hahah.

walkin'

I've taken up a new hobby. I walk! Does that even count as a hobby...? Not sure... But I like it. I feel like it's a very pregnant lady thing to do haha. Me and my belly just takin' charge of the neighborhood! I've been able to keep up my regular exercise routine for the most part and I am so so grateful for that, so walking is more of just something to do to de-stress. Not that my life is super stressful or anything, because it's really not. But, it's a good time to unwind and relax. I make a point to not use my phone while I'm out and I just walk. It doesn't have to be long, I just go. Basically as long as I feel like it. I'm a fan! I totally want to keep this up after baby gets here! And I feel like I will because OUR STROLLER CAME.



I wanted to give our delivery guy a hug.

It is weird that I'm kind of obsessed with it? I think it's the cutest thing ever. We did a ton of research and just felt like this was the one. Like, theee one. It was a little spendy, but this thing can hold 3 kids and it's just so easy and convenient and I could sell you on a million reasons why I love this stroller. But mostly, it's just so cute. Like the bassinet??? I die.



Low quality picture of a high quality stroller.

I set it up the second I got it. And it's still up sitting in our dining room. And probably will be until we actually use it. I have no intention of putting it elsewhere. Sometimes I just like to push it around the kitchen because I can. I have even contemplated taking it on a walk with me. Because I like to walk and I like my stroller. But I thought people would think I'm crazy. Which would probably be true...

This kid just needs to get here already! Until then, if anyone has a baby I can borrow for a minute... that'd be cool ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a baby moon (sort of)

We went on a babymoon! Sort of. Okay wait, actually no we didn't. We went to Hawaii with friends. Which is still pretty freakin' awesome. We went with a couple of single friends and another couple. It was so fun! But, I'm not calling it a babymoon just so we can go somewhere warm and nice again in a few months time. Ha!

Anyway... We planned this trip back in December and I was waiting and waiting and waiting.... and we finally went! And it was just as wonderful as I had hoped.
I reeeeaaaallly miss Hawaii life.

We ate so much good food! Oh heavens. That may have been my favorite part.



That. Ooooohhoohohohohhh my. Frozen yogurt with fresh pineapple, bananas, coconut, and lilikoi butter! Basically what dreams are made of.
Obviously I'm pregnant and love all the food.

The house we were stayed in was awesome! We Airbnb-ed (?) a condo at Turtle Bay. Which I 10/10 recommend. Great location and it was nice! We, at our max, had 8 people staying in the 1-bedroom-with-a-loft house. So there were cramped moments, but it worked out just fine. Thankfully our friends were nice enough to let me have a bed. Thank you, friends!!


The boys headed out to surf and me headed to my workout at sunrise.

Every morning while the boys surfed early, I got up and went outside to do a workout. I watched the sunrise almost every morning and it was awesome. Everyone everywhere should do that all the time. It seriously was so peaceful and relaxing.

After the boys surfed in the morning, they would usually surf again in the afternoon. So we would pile in the car and follow them to another surf spot. This is a lot of what my view was haha. But I really wasn't all that mad. I got to go to the beach, lay out, take a nap, read a book. Basically what I wanted to do anyway!

Different spot, different day

Poor Kade. He went out one morning and obviously did a half-a job at putting sunscreen on. He was FRIED. Like, skin was a nice shade of purple fried. So bad. You could tell where he put sunscreen on though, so I guess we know it works?? When applied correctly haha.

If you look on Kade's shoulders you can see how distinct the line is! Haha. I ate my own words shortly after that. My feet were so fried it hurt to walk! Ugh. We're such mainland rookies.



While we were there they were having the Volcom Pipe Pro surf competition. It only ran one of the days we were there but we went and watched the day it did! Along with half of the island... But, it was fun! Naturally we got my favorite acai and hung out all day. Not too shabby.

We were even lucky enough to snag a picture with John John Florence! This wasn't at the competition actually. We basically stalked him and lingered on the beach to ambush him when he got out of the water... It's fine. But, when we saw him at the competition I felt like we were friends...ya know? Like, "hey I stalked you and you said hi to me! Remember??" That kinda friendship. Hahaha.



One day we went on a hike called Chinaman's Hat. Of course we had to stop and get McDonald's ice cream on the way ;) For this hike, you start at this beach and then have to swim across open ocean to this island and then you climb up to the top. So basically it was freakin' scary. Swimming. Across open ocean. Like, sharks?? Pregnant?? They can sense my fear? They can sense I'll fill them up a little more because I'm like 1 and a half people right now? Somehow I got talked in to it... Thankfully Kade brought boogie boards that we paddled out with and it ended up being not so bad! I was dead tired when we got there... it was probably a 20 minute paddle and then we had to hike up. That part was pretty steep and kinda scary but the view from the top was amazing!! So worth it. We didn't bring any phones or GoPros because we all forgot so I can't even show it off. Thankfully, there was a guy up there with a GoPro that took our picture for us.





Basically the trip consisted of lots of sunsets, lots of food, lots of surf, and lots of Kade :) Haha. I just love him. (Gushy wife moment)

Even the pregnant lady got to surf! So fun. Already planning another trip back for us!! A real babymoon this time ;)