Baby Coming Soon

I'll start this post with a very poor-quality, haggard-looking picture of me at 34-35ish(?) weeks. 

As of today, I am 35 weeks and 5 days. The haggard part is realistic (so is the very dirty mirror). It has been a long and hard pregnancy. 

I started having preterm labor scares at 16ish weeks. It continued to get worse and starting around 20 weeks, I was instructed to "take it easy" (because of the frequency of my contractions, that basically meant I had to stay down much of the time) and they started me on some real fun drugs. I started getting weekly shots of Alpha Hydroxy Progesterone, which were actually not as bad as I expected and the nurse conveniently came to my house each week. I also have to take 20 mg of Nifedipine 3 times a day. The Nifedipine is awful. It makes me feel dizzy and feverish, my heart race, and my whole body feel fatigued. Luckily, I've started to build up a tolerance to it, so it doesn't make me feel as sick anymore but the first couple months of that were not much fun. 

Most people think that the worst part of all this would be the boredom/feeling stir-crazy, but for me, the worst part has been all the pain. I.am.over.it. Imagine going into labor almost everyday for 20 weeks straight. And, when you're not having contractions, imagine menstrual cramps for months. The medication helps them to slow down/not be quite as intense, but I am a wuss when it comes to any level of discomfort. And I'm not nice when I don't feel good, so I feel bad for everyone around me-especially Scott. I can complain like its my job!

We are so blessed to have family nearby to help. Our moms and sisters have been taking turns watching London each day so that I can rest. I don't think I could ever adequately express how grateful I am to them and how much I have appreciated all the help!!! 

Yesterday, at my doctor's appointment, he told me that I could stop taking the medication this Thursday and that I didn't need any more shots. Hallelujah! I can see the light! As of yesterday, I was dilated to 2 cm, 80% effaced. We can't wait for this little guy to come! Hopefully its sooner rather than later. How hilarious/not-funny-at-all, would it be if he came full term at 40 weeks?

Loving London

London is 2 years and 4 months old. I am LOVING this age! He is so much fun and talks a ton! It is so fun watching him grow and hearing the funny phrases he picks up.

Some of my favorites:
"Silly Goose"
"Nice and coyeez mom?" as he piles blankets and pillows on me (translation: nice and cozy)
"Blast off to the Moon!"
Runs around the house while holding these plastic wheels on his chest yelling: "Creature Power Suits!" (from one of his favorite shows-Wild Kratts)
Runs around with dad's shirts tied around his neck as a cape yelling: "Supa-heros!"
Runs around with a Spider Man mask on yelling: "Spida-Man!" (yeah...there's lots of running around)
"Buzz Hight-Hight...To infinity and beyond!"
"Just kidding!"
"I got a shot today" (I get shots once a week, and apparently he thinks he does too...)
L: "You sick mom?" M: "Yeah, I'm not feeling good." L: "Oh, sowwy mom." And then he will give me a big hug and kiss. (I am down a lot in pain with contractions or sick from my medication and he has been very sweet to me through it all.)
"Guess what mom?"
"S-S-U" (translation: ASU) He totally knows ASU colors/emblems and will pick them out anywhere.
For awhile, he used to say "I wove we" instead of "I love you" but just recently, he has started to say "I love you" - I love hearing that.

And my not-so-favorite:
"Sucks man" (And sometimes the "s" sounds more like an "f" sound...thanks Scott for teaching him that.)

He is also getting better at singing along to his favorite songs, which include:
"Baby Beluga"
"Tonight You Belong to Me"
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
"A-B-Cs"
"1-2 Buckle My Shoe..."
"Old MacDonald"
"Hakuna Matata"

He is very cuddly still and loves to give big kisses. He is pretty good at entertaining himself for long periods of time with his toys. He loves watching shows such as Curious George, Handy Manny, Wild Kratts, and Air Bud or random videos on Youtube such as Toy Story clips, nursery songs, or shows with cars in it. He has a plastic car that he can sit and push himself around on that he calls his "motacycle". He has a plastic tool set that he loves to fix things with. He also likes to check me out with his doctor kit. His favorite toys are his cars/boats/planes. He will follow me from room to room, driving his little cars all around the furniture. If it was up to him, he would live on chocolate Luna Bars...but I can't say I blame him-they are just so good. He is a good helper and likes to help me with the laundry and emptying the dishwasher and other various tasks. I am excited to see how he will interact with his new baby brother coming soon. He has a stuffed owl that he keeps wrapped in a blanket and calls "Baby Owl" that we've been using to practice. He is very sweet to Baby Owl and likes to put him down for a nap and then says to me "Shhh, Baby Owl Sleeping, Quiet."

I love my London!

Gettin' Real

London was a sleepy head the other day, and I finally got a chance to do a little crafting for the first time in a long time. I covered cardboard boxes with fabric to make some paper organizers for my desk. It was fun. In the meantime, I left a crock pot of leftover beef juices rot for days, until this morning, when I found little maggots crawling out of it. Excuse me while I vomit. I adorned my haz mat suit and wrecked havoc on the creatures with vengeance, using nearly every cleaner I own in the process. I know. GROSS.

London's First (and Hopefully Last) Ride in a Firetruck

This Friday, London was sick with a runny nose, low-grade fever, and also started having these involuntary jerks of his arms throughout the day. He wanted to be held all day and I could tell he was pretty miserable. Saturday, he was still sick and the jerks were getting a little stronger/more prolonged. Around one pm, he went into a full-blown seizure that lasted over 5 minutes long. It was one of the worst moments in my life. We called 9-1-1 and two fire trucks showed up within minutes. They checked him out, administered a sedative, then drove us (London and I, Scott had to meet us there) to Cardon's Children emergency section at Banner Desert Hospital. As we checked in, the sedative started to kick in, and London gave the fireman a very loopy grin. It got us all laughing.

Back at our house, London's temperature had gone from 100 degrees 30 minutes before the seizure, to 101.6 by the time the firemen took his temperature. By the time we arrived at the hospital, his temperature had risen to 104. The nurse quickly took his vitals, set him up to all these monitors, then administered Motrin to bring the fever down. He was very upset and somewhat out of it still. It took a long time to calm him down, but eventually the Motrin kicked in and he fell asleep in my arms. Scott finally made it into the room and we waited (forever) to meet with the doctor. The doctor was from Nigeria and had a thick accent. He asked us some questions, then said that because his fever was so high, they were going to do some blood work to see if he had a bacterial infection. My favorite part of this doctor's visit is when he said in his Nigerian accent, "He is a very cool boy!" as he pinched London's cheek. London just stared him down, as he did all the nurses that came in throughout our time there.

Though I got him to smile for a little while, most of the day involved lots of tears and sad faces.

After waiting (forever again...probably at least an hour) our busy nurse finally got a chance to come get a urine and blood sample from London. I tried to comfort him as one nurse helped hold him down and the other nurse inserted a catheter to collect the urine sample. It was not a fun experience for London. Then, they had to hold him down again as they inserted the IV, took a blood sample and then hooked him up to a fluid drip (luckily, they already numbed the area, London just did not like being held still). After that ordeal was over, I bounced London in my arms until he calmed down. Unfortunately, the minute he calmed down, was the minute he discovered his very-taped, robotic-looking IV hand. He freaked out and started crying all over again, trying to bite and rip the thing off his hand. Luckily, I was able to prevent him from ripping it off, and got him to finally fall back asleep.

After waiting another eternity (waiting in a room for 5 hours with a 1 year old = torture), the nurse came in to tell us that they got the results back from the lab, that they looked good, and that the doctor would be in shortly. The doctor that came in this time had an accent that sounded like he may be from South America or something like that. He said that London did not have a bacterial infection, that it was probably viral, that he had a febrile seizure-which is fairly common and usually not too harmful. We just needed to try to keep his fever down to prevent them from happening again.

This picture doesn't do the club-IV-hand or all the wires justice.
That poor guy was hooked up to so many different things. 

Six + hours later, we finally left the hospital with a very grumpy baby (I don't blame him) and two very tired/drained parents. That night was rough, with me up all night worrying about keeping him cool and keeping his fever down. As if I wasn't enough of a worried, freaked out parent already....

Right around this time of year last year, I was at Banner Gateway hospital, getting ready to deliver London. He turns one tomorrow and I think he just wanted to celebrate this time of year in a place similar to where it all began...a Banner hospital. I sure hope that these hospital visits do not become a yearly tradition for the Cardons!

Being a Mom Pt. 2

Awhile back, I wrote about hardships of being a mom. And a lot of days/nearly every day, it still is hard. But, it is also really great and filled with plenty of happy times too:

Like when you're having a nice, little picnic at the park and your happy, munching, little guy decides to give you a big, fat hug for no reason at all.

Or those times you're washing him off in the shower and he decides to lay his wet, little head on your shoulder and then look up at you with the sweetest, smiling, dripping eyes.
And there's those times he chucks his bottle across the room in the night, only to throw his pudgy, little arms around your neck and fall fast asleep in a second.
And there's times that he lets you hold him while he drinks his milk, and his grimy fingers touch every part of your face, pull your eyelashes, poke your eyes, in your mouth, as if he's a lost boy and you're an old Peter Pan.
Or when you find yourself dancing and spinning around the house with your babe in your arms and he's laughing his little head off.

And OH that Laugh! Is anything better?! Nope. Not really.

Nine...ish Months

As always, I'm a little [lot] late on the monthly milestone post. London was officially 9 months old two weeks ago, on the 14th. He is so fun!

Army Crawls with One Leg. Into Everything. Loves to play peek-a-boo & chase.

Happy New Year

A few months ago I won a blog giveaway for a free family photo session by Brittany LeSueur complete with hair/makeup by The Beauty Mark Girls. I was thrilled. I am always signing up for all these blog giveaways and nothing happens. But this time, I won. The pictures turned out beautiful and I considered for a second sending a Christmas/New Years card, but postage is expensive. I thought about doing some sort of E-card instead, but could never get motivated to actually put it together. So, pretend this post is a Christmas/New Years card from the Cardon's. Here's some of my favorite pics from the shoot, along with a short recap of 2013.

2013 was life-changing. On April 14^th, London was born and time has been flying by ever since. I just know I’m going to wake up one day and he’ll be graduating high school, and I’ll be wondering where the days went. Every day I’m just trying my best to catch up.

Once London was born, I quit my job at Brycon and started working from home, part-time, doing insurance billing for my dad’s chiropractic business. I also started babysitting two cute little girls (6 and 1½ years old) once a week. Our ward released me from my calling as ward pianist and primary teacher and instead called me as the primary pianist. (Bestcallingever!) Some big events for us this year included moving to a slightly bigger home across the parking lot from our old home, London’s first vacation (6 weeks old) to California for my grandparents’ wedding anniversary celebration, a trip to Utah in October for Scott’s sister’s wedding, London’s first Halloween, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, and first NYE.

I’ve been on-the-job training for the past 8.5 months trying to figure out this “mom” thing. It has been pretty rigorous, exhausting, confusing, and frustrating, but it’s also been incredible, wonderful, amazing, and blissful. It’s this crazy whirlwind of ups and downs, but it’s also this constant feeling of gratitude, love, amazement, and happiness. There’s been a lot of growing in the Cardon house. London takes the cake for most physical growth. But Scott and I have also done our share of growing…growing into our new roles as parents and figuring out what that means for our relationship-how to be parents and partners too. There’s also been some spiritual growth as we begin to see God’s love for us with new eyes…the eyes of a parent. Heavenly Father must really love us to send His beloved son to earth to die for us. That point’s been reiterated over and over again in my life the past eight months. Truly, God loves us, His children.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

With Love,

The Cardon’s