The Honest to Goodness Best Part About Being a New Mom

A lot of times when you ask new moms what their favorite part about being a new mom is, they gush about how much they love breastfeeding, or watching their baby sleep, or looking into their baby's eyes, etc., etc..

As much as I enjoy doing all of those things (let's be honest, breastfeeding only about half the time), I think my honest to goodness favorite part about being a new mom is watching the man I love more than anything in the world be a new dad.

Before Joey was born, I asked Neal several times if he wanted to cut the cord.  He replied that he didn't know...it kind of grossed him out (really...who can blame him?).  When Joey was born though, and the doctor looked at him and asked if he wanted to cut the cord, I happened to look at Neal.  The look of absolute adoration in Neal's eyes for this little human that he really hadn't even met yet is one I will treasure, and never forget.  I am so grateful that I just happened to look at him at that exact second.

While still in the labor and delivery room, the nurses did all of Joey's measurements, and Neal took a TON of pictures.  I won't post them on here since I already posted them in the post about Joey's birth that you can read here.

Fast forward about 9 hours, and this was my view from my bed:

They slept like this through three sessions of General Conference.  It was the sweetest sight to me :)

During the first week of Joey's life, he had jaundice.  It was severe enough that we had to go get him tested every other day, but thankfully didn't become severe enough that we had to go back to the hospital.  During this time, I was pretty much a basket case about it.  One night, I asked Neal and my dad to give Joey a priesthood blessing.  Listening to Neal give his first blessing to our son was an incredibly special moment.

My favorite part of every day is when Neal comes home from work, and kisses Joey sweetly on the forehead.  He also says "goodnight" to him this way every night.  It makes my heart swell with love.

I'll let you in on a little secret - Neal swore we would not be those parents who posted a gazillion pictures of their kid on Facebook.  For the first little bit we posted a ton, but we've slowed down a little.  However, I love it when I get little surprises like opening my Facebook and seeing that Neal posted a picture like this with a caption "This kid!!!!":

It makes me swoon to watch Neal be so gentle and loving with this tiny human.  It truly is my favorite parts of being a new mom!

Joey's Birth Story

I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks.  At my 39 week appointment, the doctor checked me and I was still only 60% effaced and 2 centimeters dilated.  The doctor swept my membranes, but nothing seemed to happen other than some stronger Braxton Hicks contractions throughout the week.

On the morning of Friday the 4th I woke up with what felt like regular, but still painless contractions.  Usually when I woke up having contractions, I would get up and move around and they would go away.  When I got up that morning and started making breakfast, they seemed to get more regular.  After breakfast I decided to go for a walk to see what would happen.

I started timing my contractions on my walk, and they were average 5 minutes apart.  They weren't painful, but I could feel my abdomen contracting harder as I walked.  When I got home I called my doctor and let her know what was going on.  She told me to lay down, rest, and call her when the contractions got to the point where I couldn't talk through them. 

At about 2 p.m. I called Neal and asked him to come home from work because my contractions were getting intense enough that I was having a hard time focusing through them.  While he was driving home, I called my mom and let her know what was going on, and then got all of the "last minute" things packed for the hospital.

When Neal got home, we went on another walk.  The contractions were pretty intense at this point.  I had to really focus on breathing through them, but I could still walk through them.  By the end of our walk, I couldn't walk through them.  When we got home, Neal gave me a priesthood blessing. I sat down to relax, and my contractions completely disappeared.  Gone.  Was no longer having contractions.  At. All.

At about 4:30 p.m. my doctor called to see how things were going.  When I told her my contractions had completely stopped, she asked if I could still feel him moving.  I really hadn't felt him move in a while, so she told me to come in.  Neal and I drove to the doctor's office and they hooked me up to a non-stress test.  After the test, the doctor told me she thought I was probably having false labor.  Joey was fine, and I was still having contractions, but I couldn't feel them.  She sent me home saying she hoped she got a call from the hospital that night, but not to be sad if it didn't happen either. 

When we got home, Neal made me an egg sandwich, and I laid on the couch.  I was pretty bummed.  About 45 minutes after we got home, my contractions came back...with a vengeance.  I could not believe how intense they were!  I decided to get in the shower to see if the warm water would make them stop again.  It didn't.  My contractions were about 1 1/2 minutes long with about 1 minute between them at this point.  I had to completely lean on Neal during the contractions, and I definitely couldn't talk or walk.  

Neal suggested we go to the hospital, and I kept telling him no.  He insisted, and I remembered something that the blessing he'd given me earlier said - that I would be able to listen to the suggestions of those around me who were in a better frame of mind.  I finally gave in.  I laid on the bed while Neal got all of the bags in the car, and we took off.  

The car ride was seriously the longest of my life.  We dropped off an extra key at our friends', Paul and Jocelyn's, house so they could take care of our birds while we were in the hospital.  All I remember was lifting myself off my seat every time a contraction came.  We hit seriously every red light from our house to the hospital.

We got to the hospital about 7:45 p.m.  Neal sat me in a wheelchair, and we went up to labor and delivery.  When we walked in, the nurses looked very confused and said "are we expecting you?"  Then they saw I was in tears and rushed me into a room.  When we got into the room, the nurse told me to change into a robe.  Then she looked at me and asked how far apart I thought my contractions were.  When I told her about 2 minutes apart, she suddenly got very serious and started helping me change into a robe.

Once I was changed, I started pacing around the room, and leaning against Neal through every contraction.  My nurse came in, and she checked me and I was dilated to 5 cm.  They hooked me up to the wireless monitors, and then called my doctor.  I told her I wanted to try and not get an epidural, so we tried using Fentanyl to take the edge off.  The Fentanyl lasted a whole 20 minutes or so.  At that point, I told Neal I wanted to get the epidural.  There was about 30 seconds from the end of one contraction to the beginning of another, and I couldn't rest in between them.

The nurse checked me again right before the anesthesiologist came in, and I was dilated to 7 cm.  It had been my goal to make it to 7 cm before I decided to get the epidural, so I was pretty pleased with myself.  It was about 9:30 p.m. at this point.  My anesthesiologist was seriously awesome.  He was very calming, and didn't speak more than he had to.  At 10 p.m. the epidural started to kick in, and I could relax.  I was exhausted at this point, so I laid in bed and tried to relax.

At about 11 p.m. my doctor got to the hospital, and by 11:30 p.m. I was dilated to 9 cm.  At about 11:40 I was fully dilated, and I officially started pushing at 11:42 p.m.. 

Pushing was seriously one of the hardest things I have ever done.  My epidural was starting to wear off, so I could feel the need to push, and a lot of the sensations that came with pushing.  At one point the doctor told me Joey was very close, and that if she were to give me an episiotomy he'd be out.  Apparently at one point I took this as an offer and told her "just to cut me" if she needed to.  Neal said at that point she gave him a look, shook her head, and told me "No, one more push and I think that'll do it."  She was right!  On the next push, little Joseph Milligan Johnson, aka Joey was born.  I was a lucky, lucky woman, and only pushed for 45 minutes before he came.

He was officially born April 5, 2014 at 12:25 a.m..  He was 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and 20 inches long.

They placed him on my chest, and I started bawling.  Neal cut the cord, and I got to hold him for a while.  After a bit, the nurses took him and gave him the necessary medications and measured and weighed him.  While he was on the table, he tried to roll over multiple times.  It made us laugh.

So, say hello to Joey :)

There was WHAT on my kitchen appliances??

Let me tell you a little secret about me: I have never ever been good at cleaning, or keeping my house clean.

Like seriously, if you've ever come to my house and it's appeared clean, its usually because I spent the last 15 minutes before you've come over making things appear clean.  If you had looked a little closer though, you would have noticed that it truly was just appearance.

My mom used to go CRAZY over how dirty my room was.  She finally figured out that at some point it would drive me crazy too, and I would clean it.  That's pretty much how our house has gone too...it'll be dirty until it drives me crazy.  I used to use the excuse that I worked 40 hours a week, and therefore didn't have time to really clean.

Well, a couple weeks ago, I realized that excuse was going away (read about that here).  I also realized that one of my responsibilities as a mom is going to be to help our kiddos learn about keeping a clean house and why it's so important: keeping germs that will get a sick to a minimum, and allowing the spirit to be in our home more easily (Helaman 4:24, D&C 42:41, and D&C 88:124...I think these apply both literally and spiritually).

I remembered a "cleaning plan" that my mom tried when we were younger, and I decided that this would be what I would implement to try and keep myself on track.

I have a little 3x5 notecard organizer with five different sections.  Each section has notecards with chores listed that need to be done at different times.  For example, the first section has things that need to be done daily, the next bi-weekly, the next weekly, etc.  Each notecard has two chores listed that need to be done for that time frame.  For example, in my daily section I have wipe down the counters, dishes, and pick up the floors.  In my bi-weekly I have vacuum, and sweep the kitchen.  Then I can write the date that I did that chore in a list, so I can keep track of when it was done last, so I can make sure it's being done often enough.  That way I can't say "oh I've cleaned the bathroom recently" (because I hate cleaning the bathroom, and will avoid doing it at all costs).

When I had made cards for every chore I could think of, I realized it wasn't very many, so I started Googling cleaning lists.  I found a whole bunch of chores that I wouldn't have ever thought of doing, but that would be good to do in the "2 week" and "Monthly" time frames.  One of those things was cleaning the outside of the appliances in the kitchen (I know, duh, but I didn't even think of it).

Well, today I cleaned the outside of all the appliances in our kitchen, and all I can say is I am grateful I did that Google search.  Our appliances looked "clean" but once I started actually looking at them, and looking at the cracks and crevices, I realized they were SO GROSS!!!!!  Haha.  So now, we have beautiful looking appliances too, and I've learned my lesson about cleaning in spots you may not think of.

So, moral of the story?  Its ok if you suck at cleaning, too (because you're so not alone) and just because things look clean doesn't mean they actually are.  (Also, doing a Google search about a project may not be a bad idea....)

39 weeks

There are four days left until my due date.  4 days.  In another 2 1/2 hours, it'll only be three.

Here's what is going on right now:

- Logically, I know I will only be pregnant for another 2 weeks.  My doctor will induce at 41 1/2 weeks.  Therefore, max, I will be pregnant for 2 more weeks.  Emotionally, however, is a totally different story.  I can't remember not being pregnant, and I feel like I'm going to be pregnant forever.

- I'm getting kind of snappy.  I keep getting texts and phone calls from people asking things like "is the baby here yet?", and I really want to respond with something along the lines of "Yup.  We had him last week.  We're just choosing not to tell anyone."  Not kind, I know, and I've done really, REALLY well at not snapping back (Neal even agrees).  However, if you contact me and my response seems snappy, please don't take it personally.  My patience is wearing thin with the knowledge that there's not really anything that I can do (besides what I'm already doing) to make little dude come.

- Neal is being a serious rock star.  He listens to every complaint I have, massages my feet, and does whatever he can to help me out (like making dinner tonight).  He's gone on every walk with me that he can, and has even come up with things like going down to Flat Irons for a change in scenery.

- I'm walking a ton.  A ton being somewhere between 1 and 2 miles a day.  I'm also sitting on an exercise ball, squatting, and all that fun stuff (including the things that are a little TMI to post on a blog).  I REFUSE to drink castor oil.  If anyone has any other suggestions for coaxing this little boy along, I'd greatly appreciate them.

- Little dude's heart rate was 145 bpm at our appointment on Monday.  The doctor told me she wasn't going to guarantee that he would come this week, but she did feel like my body was/is getting ready, and that the chances of me needing to get induced are slim (thank goodness)!

- Little dude is still moving around, but its more squirming than rolling.  His favorite thing to do is stick his foot (or his knee...we haven't really figured out which yet) out as far as he can.  It was pretty entertaining last night to watch a body part repeatedly get stuck out of my side.  It's fun to play with him by grabbing his foot until he moves it and sticks it out in another place (and then repeat the process).  It's fun to watch Neal play the game with him because its a way that Neal can really bond with him while he's still inside.

We truly are so excited for him to be here.  We go to bed every night telling each other it could be our last night without a kiddo.  We love him so much already, and can't wait until we get to share him with everyone else, too!