He's Here! I'm a Mom!!!

Introducing Warren Joseph Whitcomb. He was born on Wednesday, August 31 at 6:34 AM and he weighed 6lbs 15oz. Pretty much he's the cutest thing ever.

This is how you get mom to smile really big. GRANDBABY!!!!!

My kid already has paparazzi after him!!!

But really... Can you blame them?? He's freaking adorable.

Warren is gawking at his giant 5 week old cousin.

My little yoga master

So I think it's pretty clear that Ray and I made a really REALLY cute baby.

Here's the labor and delivery story. I put all the pictures first so that if you didn't wanna know the details, you wouldn't have to read through them. haha.

Since I was getting induced, I had to wait for the hospital to call me. It was excruciating having to wait for that phone call. The doctor put in the request to have me induced on Monday but she told me that they might not call me until the day or two after because it all depends on how busy they are in the labor and delivery unit. By the time Monday evening rolled around, I was miserable because I just wanted to get the show on the road and I was super frustrated that it wasn't gonna happen that day. Tuesday I was even MORE frustrated because noon came by and I STILL hadn't heard anything from them. I decided though that if I didn't get a call by 3:00 that day, that I'd call them and ask them what was up. Waiting for things is not my strong point. Thankfully though, they called me at 2:00 and told me to come in as soon as I could to start the induction.

HOORAY!!!!!!!

I called to Ray who was upstairs that it was time to go, and all I heard was frantic shuffling as he raced downstairs with the hugest grin on his face. haha! We got to the hospital and after waiting around for a while, I was put in a bed and attached to monitors. By then my excitement turned to nervousness, and Ray's nervousness turned to excitement. haha. When the doctor checked me before starting the induction, she said I was already 1cm dilated and the baby's head was really low so that meant I had a really good head start. She put the medicated stuff in me to start the induction and then I had to sit there for a two hours to continue being monitored.

I actually started having contractions while I was still there at around 4:30. I noticed them, but they weren't painful at all so I doubted whether or not they really were contractions or not. haha. But the nurse said they were, so that was good. I was finally going into labor!

They let me go home after being monitored to let the medication really start to work. Things were starting to get mildly painful by the time I got home, but I didn't wanna just sit around and wait, and Ray wanted to get out and do something because I'm pretty sure he was super antsy and staying home would have made his head explode. haha. We ended up going out for dinner, which was interesting because my contractions were getting more uncomfortable... But I made it through dinner alright. When we got home, it was getting harder for me to smile through contractions and deal with them like they were nothing... They weren't nothing anymore. I was timing them and they were coming between 3 -6 minutes apart, so I called the hospital to see what we should do and they told me to just wait it out for a couple more hours and if they got more consistant then we should go in.

I waited for an hour and a half, and by then the contractions were consistently 3 minutes apart, and I was telling Ray that we should keep waiting, but he was insisting that we go to the hospital. Looking back on it, it was kinda funny... Me in tons of pain saying I'm okay and we can wait longer, and him telling me over and over that we should go. haha. My mom came in to check on me and when Ray told her about how close my contractions were, she was like THEN YOU SHOULD GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!!!! haha! So we went. Mom drove Ray and I there so we wouldn't have to deal with parking. Much appreciated.

We got up to the labor and delivery unit and I remember one of the nurses saying "Yep. That's the real deal. She's not smiling anymore!" haha... I sure wasn't. Contractions suck...

They put me in a room and checked me again, and by this time it was 10:00 PM and I was 4cm dilated. YAY!!! I was in the hospital for the long haul. I was attached to an IV and I asked for laughing gas, which at that point was amazing. It helped me a lot. My nurse was amazing. She'd been working at the hospital for 18 years so she knew what was going on and she was also really compassionate. I really appreciated her a lot. After a while, she told me that it would help things move along if I walked around, which I didn't really wanna do, but I did anyways. As soon as we got out of the room, I suddenly got nauseous and ended up throwing up on the floor.. Woops... But that got all cleaned up, and the nurse told me to keep walking, so I did. Ray was a great help to me with that. Then my IV started leaking... So we went back to the room and the nurse fixed it up.

I wanted to try the shower to see if that could help me. By this time, contractions were getting really strong and I was NOT happy. I spent a little bit of time in the shower, but I told my nurse that I was ready for the epidural. She told me that as soon as I got out of the tub, she'd make it happen. I got out of the tub pronto. Well... As fast as I could go considering I was in labor...

Getting the epidural was scary, but again, Ray was a huge help. He and the nurse together were really good at keeping me calm. Luckily, I didn't have a contraction when the needle was in my back, which was my biggest fear with the whole thing. As soon as it started working, I was so happy. haha. It was a huge relief. I was finally able to get some rest. Ray put on some soft church music, and that really helped keep the environment calm. All the nurses and the doctors that came in commented on how nice and calm it was in our room. It was kind of awesome. haha.

I got my epidural topped up a couple times, and by 4:00 AM I was fully dilated, but not feeling the urge to push. My nurse let Ray and sleep for another hour or so, and by then I was ready to push. I pushed for an hour or so, but the nurse was saying that the baby wasn't moving down anymore. I'd push, and he'd just go back to where he was when I was done. That and the baby's heart rate would drop with every push and not going back up fast enough. At one point there were like 4 doctors and a couple residents and nurses all staring at the heart rate monitor looking all concerned, which made me really nervous... Then they told me that if the heart rate didn't improve they'd have to do a c-section. Then I got REALLY nervous. Thankfully it didn't come to that.

So the doctor came in after an hour of pushing, and after watching what was happening for a while, she  realized that the baby's head was stuck on my pelvic bone and wasn't going anywhere without any help. That meant she had to use forceps... Kinda scary. Again, the situation was made more scary by the fact that they told me if it didn't work, a c-section was the only option. So they called the epidural man in and got him to REALLY freeze me just in case it were to come to that.

The forceps felt like I was getting all my insides ripped out... NOT A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE!!!!! But he was out in really fast after that. I think I pushed twice. The doctor said that all she did was un-wedge his head and I did the rest. I was in such shock from the whole forceps experience that I wasn't really able to take in the whole moment of birth. I didn't even realize Ray cut the cord at all. But I watched the nurses clean off the baby and Ray take some pictures, and all of the sudden he was in my arms. It was crazy. I was in such a daze...

Throughout the whole thing Ray was SUPER interested. He watched everything and thought it was all so fascinating. haha. Fair enough. Now that I'm starting to heal up, I feel more up to asking him details about how things went. He can give me some pretty graphic details that I just didn't wanna know about when they were happening. haha. Now it seems a lot less traumatic to hear about. I'll spare you those details though. His biggest thing was that there was A LOT of blood. More than he realized was possible, and was so confused at how unconcerned everyone was about it. haha. He thought people should be freaking out, but nobody even acted like it mattered, so he was confused and still concerned even though everyone else wasn't. haha.

We decided shortly after he was born to name him Warren Joseph. Ray chose the first name and I chose the middle name. I thought that was fair. Then Ray called my mom and dad to tell them the news and mom was there right away. She was ecstatic. It was pretty funny.

The rest of the day, my whole family had come to visit and so had my best friends. It was a really good experience.

I'd say that in general, the whole thing went really well. I don't have any major complaints about anything. I'm glad to be home though, and getting to know my little man is the best ever. I love being a mom. It's the best ever.

The Last Days

This week couldn't be more exciting for me!!! I can potentially have my baby ANY DAY NOW!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!! No more being pregnant!!!!!! No more heart burn!!!!! No more peeing every hour!!!!!! I'll finally get to care for my little boy and realize that the extreme discomfort of pregnancy really was all worth it. WOOT!!!!!

My husband is flying up here on Thursday night, and I have my final doctor appointment the next day. Ray will finally be able to hear the baby's heartbeat. Better late then never I guess... And that's also entirely conditional on whether or not the baby decides to come before then (prayers that that won't happen are encouraged and appreciated).

Friday I will also be getting "labor inducing acupuncture" which is surprisingly effective. My sister-in-law had it done and was having contractions three hours later. I was reading up on it myself and it's apparently quite effective. 88% of the women that have labor inducing acupuncture deliver their baby within 48 hours. So if it works for me, then I will have successfully avoided an artificial induction. Of course, if I'm part of the 12% that it doesn't work for then c'est la vie... I'm scheduled for a hospital induction on Monday or Tuesday next week. So... Pretty much whenever they call me and tell me they're ready for me. haha. Either way. Within the next week-ish I will be holding my baby in my arms. SO AWESOME!!!! And I'll have my husband with me!!! EVEN MORE AWESOME!!!!!

Our little family begins!!!

Pink Inside

I think this is what my English teachers wanted me to do all along in High School. Read a book. Care about it. Write about it. Unfortunately, the teachers never chose books that captivated me, so all my reports were done after I had skimmed through the book and asked others in the class what the book was about. haha. It worked well for me though. Writing has always come naturally to me, so I was able to take my vague knowledge and make it sound like I knew what I was talking about. I know I shouldn't be... but I'm proud of that skill.

Since I don't have people telling me to read boring books anymore, every time I do choose to read, it's always something that I have a huge interest in. Then I actually read the book, comprehend what it's about, and am thoroughly entertained. Sometimes I even stumble upon a book that ignites a fire inside of me because it's about something I'm really passionate about.

Lately there's been a lot of talk in the media about this book turned movie called The Help. I heard that it was about the relationships between black maids and the white families they worked for in the 1960's. I was immediately interested and told my mom about it. Next thing I know, she'd bought the book for me. haha. I have the best mom ever.

I just finished reading it, and I find myself reflecting a lot on my experiences as a missionary in Arkansas. The book itself is based in Mississippi, but Arkansas is still the South. The same sort of mentalities and attitudes exist/existed there too.

Growing up in Canada, the idea of racism was totally foreign to me. I didn't realize that people still carried those sorts of attitudes with them. I sure wasn't exposed to anyone who (at least outwardly) shared racist feelings. I mean... There was my Great Grandma, but she was 104 and had kind of a bit lost her filters when she talked about the foreign nurses that cared for her in the hospital she lived in. But 104 years is a long time for things to change, so I pretty much disregarded her words about "the foreigners" because I think she was living in a different time in her head, which wasn't the actual time we were in.

Then I go to Arkansas, and a whole new world opened up to me. I start teaching these amazing black people who would come up with every excuse not to come to Church with us just because they didn't wanna be the only black person there, and they didn't want to be stared at or felt unwelcome. To me that was a bogus thing to think so I didn't really take that excuse seriously at all. It kinda made me frustrated because no matter how much I told them that no one would be staring at them or wishing they would leave, they just wouldn't believe me. And even when they gave me the benefit of the doubt and did come to Church, they still felt that they were being stared at. I always watched the Ward members and I didn't see anyone stare. In fact, what I saw were smiles because of the diversity that they brought and the potential for more to come because of that one person taking a chance to be there. It just wasn't taken that way most of the time.

For the longest time I couldn't wrap my head around this. In Canada, there aren't too many black people, but we have an incredibly diverse population who seem to interact reasonably well. But what I was seeing in Arkansas was total segregation. Not because it was being forced upon them by law enforcement or government, but because they were segregating themselves. Our black investigators were asking us if our Church had black congregations so they wouldn't have to go to Church with the white people... Our Church just doesn't work that way... Our Church doesn't see people as a color. The world has definitely made some huge changes to the equality of every human being in the last 50 years, but I started to discover that even though the world's view had changed, didn't necessarily mean that the people themselves had changed.

Ever since seeing this, it's always disturbed me. How could some black people still hold so much anger towards white people, and how could white people still be ignorant enough to believe that they were better than anyone else darker than them? Thankfully I met very few ignorant white people... outwardly ignorant at least... but I sure did see a lot of Confederate Flags flying around, which made me wonder what people were truly thinking and not saying. That's a scary thought for me...

I guess when I think about it, I can see why black people could hold grudges and be angry at white people. Their ancestors were the ones being treated like dirt, so why should they believe that things are different now? Just because the laws are different doesn't mean the minds are too... But at the same time, that mentality of anger and resentment doesn't invite growth. It stunts their progress and holding that kind of anger inside for so long, whether it's taught by their parents or learned some other way, is just not healthy. I can't imagine living life being so permanently angry at a general population for something that wasn't done to me directly. Mind you... I don't know what they go through on a daily basis, so maybe they really are still treated terribly and their mentality is justified. Maybe white people put on a show for us missionaries to prove how Christian they were. Hope not...

Anyways... I guess this whole issue is a two way street. Both sides have to let go of their ridiculous ideas and be willing to look at every person a child of God who is equal to them... Forgiveness will need to happen and mentalities will need a complete overhaul. Unfortunately, those changes are very individual and personal. People can only change their own minds in the end.

So what can I do about it? I know I can't change the minds of the masses, but I am thankful for things like this book, The Help, for bringing awareness to the issue. Maybe if racism wasn't a silenced issue, and people saw how ugly a person it makes you to think rasist thoughts, and more people started showing intolerance for it, then there really could be a mass influence for good. It's not acceptable for racism to just be part of how things are. That is not how God intended us to be. God really does love us all the same. He wants the best for all of us, and there's nothing that anyone can do to put themselves above anyone else to Him. Maybe if more people understood the TRUE nature of God, it would change how people understood each other.

That really is it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of peace and love. Intolerance is not part of Heavenly Father's plan.

The world really has made some wonderful progress in allowing equality. It's the people that need to catch up and quit being dumb. And even though I'm just one person, I still have a voice, and I can still be a good example. The more people who aren't afraid to stand up for things that are so wrong, the better. Tolerance for terrible attitudes needs to stop. Things really can be better. I hope to be the type of person that doesn't stand idly by when I see terrible things happen to good people just because they're different, and I hope to teach my son to be that way too.

Really... when you think about it... We're all pink inside...

The Universe Has Conspired

I've been an avid concert goer since my teenage years. I kinda stopped going so often to concerts (rock concerts mostly) in the last couple years because as I've grown up, it seems that the rest of the crowd at the shows haven't. Concert goers these days are still teenagers, and a lot less courteous. The mosh pit/concert in general edequette is a lost art. In all honesty, I feel out of place at shows now. But every once and a while there are bands that come to town that I wouldn't miss for the life of me. Those are the shows where I know the crowd is gonna be awesome, or the band is so amazing themselves that I will find a way to deal with the annoying people around me. haha.

This is where the Universe has conspired against me...

November 1. Ed's Event Center..... JACK'S MANNEQUIN

November 15. Jubilee Theater..... MATTHEW GOOD (who is a new parent himself)

Now. To most of you this means absolutely nothing. But to me, this is as good as it gets. I've driven 12 hours to Vancouver to see Jack's Mannequin OPEN for some band that I'd never heard of, and I've seen Matthew Good an embarrassing amount of times because he's just that amazing. Both of these bands are on the top of my favorite list.

So if this is so amazing, why does this mean that the Universe has conspired??? Well... The Universe waited until I would be a brand new parent to bring these two most amazing concerts at the same time. It's not like I can just leave for a whole night when I have a two month old to take care of. That child needs to eat and that'll be my exclusive job! Don't get me wrong. I have no resentment towards being a parent and having to figure out how to balance parental responsibilities with social activities. I just didn't expect to be confronted with this so early on.

My mom says it shouldn't be that big of a deal because the baby can still use a bottle, but then there's the issue of filling it. She says that I could pump, and if that doesn't work, using formula on the odd occasion isn't the end of the world. But in my naive world of never being a parent, I have an idealistic view of exclusively breastfeeding so I'm slightly hesitant with the idea of the occasional formula feed. But in my realistic world, I know that's not the worst thing ever. In the end, my mom is the expert in the childcare world so I believe her when she says I just need to wait and see what my baby is like and then make decisions from there.

Of the two concerts, I'm most hesitant about going to the Jack's Mannequin show just because it's not an organized, chaos free environment like the Matthew Good show will be. So because of that, I've already committed to going to Matthew Good. haha. By then my baby will be two and a half months old, and I'm pretty sure I'll have figured things out as far as the feeding issue goes. Going to that show also means I'll be sitting in a comfortable theater chair and I won't be standing in a huge crowd of sweaty people pushing me around. That's why I'm slightly afraid to go to Jack's Mannequin. So I've decided to just wait and see how my body feels and what my baby's like before committing myself to going to that show as well.

Who knows. Maybe my baby will have some psychic connection with me so he'll understand my love of concerts and be the most cooperitive baby ever. The payoff will be my kid being the coolest kid ever, and coming with me to shows when he's old enough (wearing ear protection of course).

Oh Wow...

This is my niece. What a lady!

And this is me at 36 weeks... Holy moly. I'm huge.

Technically I'm at 37weeks now, so the picture is a week old. But 37 weeks means I'm full term!! The baby can come any time now and his lungs will be just fine. WOOT!!! Ray got his plane ticket so he's getting here late on the 25th and will be able to stay for two and a half weeks. That will be AWESOME.

It's Official

So I went to the doctor today and got everything sorted out with the time frame of having my baby. Since my due date is on the Saturday of the Labor Day weekend, my doctor said it would be best to induce me before then. When I got my ultrasound, they said that my due date was August 29, so my doctor thinks it's perfectly fine to induce me between the two dates.

Now things are starting to get more real. I called Ray and told him everything the doctor said, so now he has to get a plane ticket and make all the arrangements to be able to take time off to be here. I'll be having a baby in exactly a month from today. Holy moly.....

Happy Grandparents

"Happy" is probably the hugest understatement in the universe. My Mom and Dad couldn't be more excited about officially being Grandma Grace and Grandpa Rob, and my grandparents couldn't be happier about being GREAT-grandmas and grandpa. haha. Clarke sends us these pictures of Lily because... you know... that's what you do as a new parent. You take a lot of pictures. I haven't asked him if I can post the pictures, but I figure since I'm the aunt and it's my blog and my parents forwarded me the email with all the pictures that by extension, that gives me the right to post them. haha. So. Observe the pride that the grandparents and great grandparents of the family have in their first grandchild/great grandchild. This was the first time my grandparents got to meet Lily.

My parents/ Grandma Grace and Grandpa Rob. Dad is clearly content, and mom is clearly itching to hold Lily.

Then everything in the world is right again for my Mom. haha.

If Mom had Facebook, this would be her profile picture.

This is probably the most awesome sequence of pictures I've ever seen in my life. This is Great Grandma Dyer.

Lily's starting to fuss a little bit...

Yep. Definitely fussing. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! LOVE IT!

Okay better... haha...

Grandpa McLennan and Grandma Olive. Don't ask. That's just what we've always called them. We realized semi recently how it makes no sense that we call grandpa by his last name, but grandma by her first... haha...

Okay so there were some cousins too. This is Nicole, and she's my cousin. So we tried to figure out what that makes her to Lily. We decided that possibly it means that they're first cousins once removed???

This is an ACTUAL cousin to Lily. This is Marie who is Cecilia's brother's daughter. Marie's mom and grandma are supervising. haha.

This is a four generation picture!! Cecilia's daughter, mother and grandmother. Cool eh??

Babies make funny faces too. Observe.

Spit up face

Camera too close to my face face

What the heck am I doing here face

I don't know how I feel about this place and why am I awake face

Trying to figure out my own face face

Yawning face

Adorable. Four and a half weeks until I get to see the adorably funny faces my own baby makes. haha. WOOT!!!