Missy Sissy

Veronika

January 19, 2018

7 Lbs 8 Oz

20 Inches

Sorry not sorry

Okay, so I'm the worlds worst blogger. I will be happy to accept my award. And I’m not even going to make promises to be better… Because I know myself. - But really it's been like a whole lifetime, and can you believe it? I popped another one out. This time it was a GIRL! Yes folks, girl Hanson came to us in mid January 2018. This one was much smaller than the last, and actually gave us concerns because she was measuring so small! She came out a week early, weighing in at 7 lbs 8 oz and is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. But I am biased. And I do realize that

Our first family picture with Sissy Squatch

for a standard baby, that's average. But for me, that is tiny! Because remember, I make huge babies. She was behind in growth so much they bumped back her due date TWICE! Yes folks, two separate times they told a pregnant woman she was going to be pregnant longer than they originally anticipated. My doctor is lucky he didn't get his eye stabbed out by a really pregnant and really hormonal me.

A brief recap of the last bit: Hubs got a job in January 2017, and we have relocated to the PNW! We lived apart for 4 months while we made the transition. Hubby in the PNW and bubba and I still in Salt Lake. Bubba and I basically lived in the airport travelling back and forth to be with papa squatch. In April we packed up a U-Haul and made the trek up to Portland, OR. We love the beautiful pacific northwest, but we miss our family back home so much. We have lived out here a year now, and have made a couple friends. And the few friends that we do have out here have made us a priority, and are always looking for ways to make us feel more like home. We are forever indebted to them. It has also been fun having our other half of the family so close! We get to see them much more often, and spend lots of time with them.

Squatch Bro

Hubs and I are both in school full time. I managed to stay in school while pregnant, and didn't even take a week off to have her. I took a weekend off. It was fun times. Dallas is all set to graduate this December, and things are getting so real! We are so proud of papa squatch! He has managed to work full time, have two kids, relocate several times and still get his bachelors degree. He really can do it all. And he isn't planning on stopping there! He wants to continue on to get his masters! He is incredible.

During one of our trips back to Utah this passed summer was when I found out I was pregnant! It was in May, and Dallas was still home in the PNW so I got to break the news to him over skype! I made bubba a shirt that said, “Squatch Bro” and showed it to papa squatch over skype. He was confused at first, but then I had bubba show him the positive test. Papa squatch couldn’t stop smiling and saying, “You’re kidding!” and “Oh my gosh!” - We were over the moon to say the least.

Sissy Squatch

We could immediately tell that there was something different about this baby, since I wasn't nearly as sick as I was with bubba. However, I was way more hormonal. It quickly became clear that this was a girl. I didn't even feel the need to get an ultrasound until 20 weeks, because I was just positive she was fine, and she was a she. And boy, was I right. At our 20 week ultrasound the doctor asked if we wanted to know. Of course we did, but none of us were surprised when they said girl. We bought bubba a girl doll and started referring to it as "Sissy" He did really well with his baby doll, so we were confident he would be a good big brother! He hasn't disappointed.

Bubba squatch and I took a vacay to Florida with my mom, and it was so much fun! Despite his many unfortunate events. Two year olds are fun people, did you know? I’ll start with the unfortunate events since I’m a little traumatized by them. While we were in FL Bubba managed to get his head stuck in a fence (no I’m not kidding) and hotel staff (I’m pretty sure every single employee on their staff) raced to our aide and checked him over about 500 times. That’s what I get for turning my back for .5 seconds. THEN he somehow got a life savor and CHOKED! I’m not kidding here either! It was just my mom and I in the hotel and we had to unplug the hotel phone because someone kept trying to make phone calls. So there we were, a choking Bubba and no phone. I ran throughout the hallways yelling and banging on doors for someone to help. And wouldn’t you know it? A gift straight from God himself - a nurse comes running down the hall. She happened to be out at the ice machine and heard my pleads for help. She came running and was able to get the life savor out of Bubba just in time. It was truly terrifying.

Feeding the geese with grandma princess

Now onto the fun parts! We swam a ton. Like we kind of lived at the pool! It was amazing, considering we don’t get much of a hot summer in the PNW. We went to a wildlife exhibit where we got to see tons of animals! Including a sloth, TONS of gators, kangaroos, and animals that I hadn’t ever even heard about! There were these buffalo type things that had horns bigger than Dizzy! It was crazy. We also went to a flea market that was around a lake, where we got to feed ducks and enjoy an incredible evening. It was something straight out of a movie, it was so beautiful there! We ate lots of candy and yummy food, and the best part hands down was spending time with my mom! Her and bubba are two peas in a pod.

Diz in her Tac Town shirt

Shortly after our escape to FL we ended up making a second big move. We were originally living just outside of Portland, OR and after six months of living there, hubby was transferred to be an assistant manager over another store in Tacoma, WA (just outside of Seattle) so we have been living here ever since. We have loved our time in Tac town! Even Diz has enjoyed it out here, aside from the many more bugs that exist in the PNW compared to UT. We still miss home, but this has been a fun and wild adventure, to say the least! Every day there is something new going on in our lives. It's truly an amazing adventure.

Bubba turned 2 just after we made our move. He is getting so big and so grown up! I can't believe where time has gone. It seems like just yesterday I found out I was expecting him, now I've got him and his sister and they both just keep sprouting up like weeds. I just can't keep up. He has started talking a lot! He says many funny things, and has started learning colors and how to count. He mispronounces tons of words, and that has probably been my favorite part about talking. The other day Papa squatch was working on his car and Bubba was out by him and kept saying, "Daddo vroom ow" - toddler speak is fun! I have to remind myself that I am an adult and should use grown up words because I find myself using toddler speak too! haha.

The holidays came and went, we spent them here with this side of the family. I missed my family LOTS, but we were having so many scares with my pregnancy I wasn't allowed to travel much. Sissy was small, and I had borderline preeclampsia my whole pregnancy. We were considered high risk, and I had to see my doctor at least once a week. Occasionally I got to see them more often. She gave us lots of scares throughout the pregnancy, so we are incredibly grateful she is here safe! Mid January my mom came to visit because I was due to have sis. My mom got to spend time with Bubba while Papa squatch and I were in the hospital with sis. The delivery was a scheduled c-section, due to me having a c-section with Bubba, and all of the complications in our pregnancy, scheduling our c-section was the safest route, so we took it. It was a very drama-less birth. Aside from Papa squatch almost passing out in the operating room, that is! Sis made her arrival in a very quiet and peaceful manner. Just like her brother. She didn't squawk or cry at all. Just looked around. She has the biggest blue eyes I've ever seen on a baby. And is so interested in the world around her. She instantly latched on and has been a good eater since day 1. My mom brought bubba to the hospital to meet his sis, and he was instantly smitten. We all were. She is perfect in every little way. It's amazing how quickly your kids can age when they become a big sibling. As soon as Bubba walked through the door to meet his sissy, he seemed like he had grown up a ton since I had last seen him that morning.


We stayed in the hospital for 3 days, and my mom and bubba got to spend those 3 days being two peas in a pod. I'm not sure why, but those two are just smitten by each other. It is absolutely adorable to watch. While my mom was here she got her phone stolen, along with all her cards and her ID. So she had to have my sister overnight her passport to her so that she could get back on the airplane to get home! Such a mess. My mom stayed a total of a week with us before she had to go home. I sobbed like a baby when she left. Partially due to being home sick, and partially due to the baby blues. It was heartbreaking. I literally didn't stop crying. Dallas had the following week off and was able to help me a ton around the house. That next weekend my dad and step mom came to help out and they were such rock stars! They drove up on Friday, stayed Saturday and drove home Sunday. In the time they were here they were able to do a massive amount of helping! Including grocery shopping, laundry, made frozen dinners, and entertained bubba the whole time! It was incredible. The Hanson's also did some shopping for us, and took bubba off my hands for some time to give me a rest! We are seriously so lucky to have such a helpful family. They really kicked butt while I was out of commission.

And now here we are in April. Not much has happened since I gave birth! Sis has been struggling with reflux. She can't seem to keep her food down, and has fallen off the growth curve. She is always giving us a scare with her dang size! She will probably just grow up to be a small person. And I'm okay with that! Bubba loves using her as his personal hot wheels track. He is talking up a storm, and learning new things every single day. Constantly keeping us on our toes! Its been a year since I moved to the PNW. I still miss my family and my home like crazy. Not a day goes by that I don't miss home. But we are slowly but surely building a life out here, and we try to stay positive and see what this adventure has in store for us next! 

Much love to everyone, and A+ if you made it this far! You rock. 
Love always,
Kaitlyn

The past bit

Well, where to begin? Dallas recently landed a new job that has us relocated. It's a whole different world out here and we are loving it! With our relocation and new job, I was also laid off. It's been a blessing and a curse, because though the money would be helpful, it's given me time to spend with Den. And that is something that's really been priceless. I've really enjoyed spending time with this little boy of ours. He's now "Talking" (groaning and screaming). Dallas is convinced he said "Mama" the other day. Which wouldn't surprise me because when he cries he usually says "mamamamama" but I guess this time it was just a single "mama". He surprises us daily with new things he's learned how to do. The other night we were asleep and he just screamed as loud as he could. We looked over at him and he just started smiling at us. It was quite creepy, but also funny at the same time. Needless to say, we've really been enjoying the parent life. We love our little nugget. He keeps us on our toes, and is always so loveable.

Our new house is absolutely perfect for us and what we need right now in life. It's much bigger then that little apartment we were squeezed into. There is a yard, so Diz has been  pleased. And a garage, so Daddy is pleased!

We also have a spare room that has been converted to an office for Hubs. He's started recording music, and it's really qutie good. If you haven't yet, you need to pop on over to his facebook page and give it a like. Then also download Supporting Character's songs here. :)

We've really kept quite busy between work and school, music and baby... But we would still love to see friends and family. So if you find yourselves in our area, come by and say hi!! 

Before He Came Along

And here's the story of how we found out... :) Enjoy!

Baby boy Denver is due on November 20th 2015. His mommy daddy and sister are so excited for his arrival. He entered our lives with quite the surprise. His mommy was experiencing really bad migraines, and the doctor couldn't figure out what was going on. See, when she went to the doctor she was only about 2 weeks pregnant. There were no other signs, other then these awful migraines. There was only about a .03% chance Mama could even be pregnant. The doctor thought it was a wise choice to get an MRI done to be sure there wasn't anything funky going on. The MRI was scheduled out for a few more weeks. 

The evening before the MRI Papa Squatch randomly felt compelled to tell Mama Squatch, "You're pregnant with my son!" - well this got mama Squatch thinking that we should probably test that theory out before the MRI the next day. So the morning of the MRI she took a test and got an awesome little pink plus sign. Know what that means? Baby Squatch was on his way. Daddy Squatch almost couldn't contain himself. It was love at first sight. (sight of the test? Not sure. He was in love) 

So, sweet baby Squatch, what we learned that day was that Papa Squatch is always right. And we should listen to him. He has some sort of strange powers and can tell the future. I'm not sure how, I'm sure you will have a better guess at that then I do. All I know is that I'm so excited to be your mommy! And your daddy is so excited to love on you! You kick when he talks to you, you calm down when he holds my belly. You're already two peas in a pod, and I'm so glad to be able to witness it! I love my boys!

The Birth Story

 I realized I never shared the day my sweet boy came into the world. This year I'm really going to try hard to keep this blog up to date. I know that was my goal last year and I failed, but I'm going to try extra hard this year so that everyone can keep up with the growth of our sweet nugget. So let's start with 4 days before Denver was born.

On Monday November 16th my doctor called me and asked if they could move forward my normal Thursday appointment. They said they wanted to see if I was progressing at all, since the baby's size was a concern. (Remember how I make giant babies? Me too.) So they scheduled me to come in the next day. On Tuesday we went in and the doctor checked me. I wasn't progressing at all. Denver wouldn't even move down at all. Not engaged in the slightest. And after feeling around, the doctor suspected that there wasn't enough room for him to move down. Basically, my pelvis was so small and Denver was so big that the doctor didn't think it would happen, and recommended we have a c-section. He said that I didn't have to make a decision right away but that I should seriously consider it. He said that we would most likely end with c-section anyways if we tried to continue with a traditional birth. Basically I could plan for a c-section or I would end up with an emergency c-section anyways.

I know this might sound dumb to some, but I was really upset that this was my situation. I felt really robbed. I mean, this was what my body was built to do... The biological purpose of my body... And I couldn't do it. I cried lots. I cursed lots. I felt like I had let my baby down and he wasn't even born yet. There is a lot of pressure for moms to do everything perfectly, and I felt inadequate because I couldn't do it. After lots of thinking and contemplating I decided it was in my best interest and the best interest of my baby to schedule my c-section. They scheduled it for Thursday November 19th at 7 AM.

On Wednesday I was so worried and I kept having Braxton hicks. That night I started getting really worried for my surgery in the morning I couldn't even eat. My "last meal" was Pizza, and I couldn't even eat any because I was so stressed! I was due to check into the hospital at 5 AM and I was so worried. Dallas and I went to bed at 9 PM but I was so worried I just laid there. I laid there until about midnight when I finally fell asleep. At 1 AM I woke up to the worst pain I've ever felt in my whole life. I was having contractions. They were only about 7 minutes apart, and for the hospital to admit you, they have to be 5 minutes apart. I laid in bed for an hour trying to get them to settle down and go away. Finally at 3 AM I woke Dallas up and told him that we needed to go to the hospital. He assumed I was just worried and told me to try and relax more. I figured I would try a hot bath to relax.

Typically, Diz usually won't set foot in the bathroom when water is running because she hates bath time. However, when I got in the bath she stood with her feet on the side of the tub and began crying and licking me. She knew something was going on and she was trying to help me. I was in the bath for maybe 5 minutes and had 2 contractions. It was game time. I went back into the room to get Dallas. He got up and took a shower while I was supposed to gather our bags. I was in way too much pain to gather our bags, I was just leaning on the crib swaying my hips for some relief. We checked into the hospital at 3:30 AM.

The nurses checked to see if I was dilated or progressing at all. I was dilated to a 4, but Denver still wasn't dropping at all. The doctor advised that we continue with the c-section as planned. So they gave me some medicine for pain and tried to slow the contractions. At 6:45 they began prepping for surgery. When you get a C-Section you aren't put to sleep. They give you a spinal block, or basically a strong epidural. It just numbs you from the chest down. As I was waiting for the medicine to kick in all the way and make me numb the anesthesiologist was trying to keep me calm and asked me what we were naming our son. After I told him he began talking endlessly about the Broncos and how "Manning really lost his head this year" - (this has now become a theme whenever I tell people Den's name, and it's quite funny in retrospect since the Broncos won the superbowl...). It was really nice of the doctor, though it didn't help much... I appreciated the thought.

When the doctors were prepped and ready to go they brought Dallas in. There was a clear divider going across my chest so that Dallas could watch but so it could also be sanitary. My mom was standing in the room right outside of the operation room in a window looking in. There happened to be a nurse in the room who was still learning the ropes so the other nurse was telling her what everything is. They began cutting into me and the more experienced nurse kept telling the learning nurse what they were looking at. "And that's the bladder, and there are the fallopian tubes" it was so strange to be hearing all of this.

At 7:46 AM Mr. Denver was born. They held him over me so I could see. At first sight I saw his black hair and thought, "Are you sure this is mine?" Then I looked down further to see him glaring at me and realized "Yep, that's my grumpy son.." he was the absolute definition of cute. He didn't cry at all. He was as calm as can be. He's still a very calm boy. He weighed in at 8 lbs 6 oz and was 22 in long. He is perfect.

Dallas got to hold him right away, and hold him while they ran their tests and cleaned him up. I got even more worried during this time because I couldn't see or hear him.. and they were in the same room as me. I thought there was something wrong but no one was rushing or anything so I was trying to stay calm and trust he was in good hands. After a few minutes I finally heard my baby boy squawk. He didn't cry, just one single scream to tell me "Mommy, I'm okay!" And I was at ease. After he got cleaned up they brought him over to me and let me kiss my baby. I couldn't hold him because they were still sewing me up, and I was still pretty numb. But I got to kiss him for a minute before they had to leave.

I got back in the room and with my baby around 8:00. All in all the operation took probably 45 minutes. It was easy and incredibly rewarding. I love my squeeky boy. This was definitely one of the best days of my life..

 

Love and Worry

Everyone warns you about this intense love that comes with being a parent. But they all fail to mention the amount of worry that comes along with it. I guess it's to be expected that when you love someone so much, and you are solely responsible for their wellbeing. Next time you think about parenthood I want you all to know that you will experience the most intense and beautiful love you've ever felt. But I also want you to know that you will experience the most intense and beautiful worry you've ever felt. You'll worry about absolutely everything. But it is the most satisfying worry in the world because it's met with the most rewarding love.

Baby Month

I'm going to apologize for my negativity ahead of time. I'm 9 months pregnant. What can I say? Well at least we've made it. We're in the baby month. I'm still working, and trying not to think about the fact that I'm 9 months pregnant and ready to just eat someone. I don't know how other 9 month pregnant women can stop working. Honestly, it's the only thing that gets my mind off of the fact that I'm ready to kill over. I'm really excited to meet my baby, and I am already in love with him, but can I please have my body back yet? I just want to roll over in bed and not have to ask Dallas for help. Heck, I'd like to get up off the couch without having to ask for a hand.

My belly is huge. Like. At our last appointment the doctor said the baby was "going to be in the 9lb range" - Do you now what this means? I'm massive. That's what it means. Not only am I massive, but baby boy is massive. I guess I should be grateful that he is very obviously developing nicely, but I just keep thinking about how massive we both are.

So far I feel incredibly unprepared for this baby. There is no rhyme or reason for it, because we really have everything we need. I don't think I'll ever feel prepared for him. He'll be 18 years old and I still won't feel prepared for him. I guess that's how life is. I'll be carrying this "Mom stress" for the rest of forever. (Go hug your moms, they are saints.)

Well, just 11 more days to go. We are due on the 20th. I'm hoping since he's so big I might be able to sucker him into coming early.. But I'm not counting on it.

-Kaitlyn