Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Then and Now

Sweet Eli fresh and new!

About 6 months

He's a little boy now! 

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Visiting A Different Type Of Utah

We spent the weekend in Monticello Utah (near Moab) with Bryan's brother and family.  It is 180 degrees opposite of 'The Valley' that we live in now, and we love it there!

Eli got to play with his two cousins Libby (19 months) and Sidney (5 yrs), and life was sure lonely back at home without those two cuties.

Eli was 'reading' to me on the trip down.  It was a 6 hour drive including stops and Eli did amazing!  he slept for a couple hours and played great the whole time.  





 We went swimming and I didn't realize I wrapped Eli up in a flower hooded towel.  He sported it well ;)


  For lunch one day all he wanted to eat were plums. Funny kid!

Oh Family, we love you!  Bye Monticello, see you soon!

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Eli's Birth Story

A few days before Eli was born I had been leaking amniotic fluid.  My first thought was that I wet my pants, but I stopped doing that when I was potty trained :) This was different, and I knew what it was.  I called the hospital and they wanted me to come in that night.  I called at 10:00 that night so I jumped in the shower, got things together and headed over to the hopsital.  I knew this baby was coming soon but Bryan was not sure if they would keep me there. 

The nurse tested the fluid and it came back positive for amniotic fluid (duh).  So I dressed in that awesome gown and got hooked up to all the lovely monitors.  I was having contractions every 7 minutes but didn't feel them so they started me on Pitocin (drugs from Hell).  I hope to NEVER have that again.  About 30 minuts later (now at 2:30 in the morning) my contractions really became painful.  I wasn't able to talk through them anymore and I wanted to walk around but with my being on Pit I wasn't allowed to.  I was only 2 cm dilated and they offered me the epidural but I wanted to eperience a little more of what labor and childbirth were like. 

My pain was about a 6 or 7 on the pain scale and she injected fentynal in my IV.  It did NOTHING.  A while later the nurse returned and asked what my pain was at now.  I may or may not have said "Where does holy crap go in the pain scale." I was hurting!  I coud hardly breathe through them but they just ket coming one on top of another.  All I could get out was "help, help, help" during each contraction. My mom and Bryan would rub my feet or head to help me get through it. 

It was actually Bryan who asked for the epidural for me.  Since it was 5:00 AM he had to come from home which too about 30 minutes.  By this time I was 7-8 cm and 100% effaced.  My mind went pretty fuzzy from this time until he came in, as I was trying not to die with each contraction.  He did fantastic job placing the epidural and I don't remember feeling it hurt when it was placed.

The epidural never took the pain completely away but kept me from being a potty mouth :)  I kept having to roll one side to the other to help the medicine disperse better.  It was now Saturday and very few doctors were making rounds.  I needed my bag of water broken, but it took 2 hours for a Doc to come around.  UGH.   By this time we were all tired and impatient and ready to meet Mr. Eli.

Around 1 o'clock that afternoon I was finally dilated completely and ready to push.  Eli tolerated labor and pushing really well and a little over an hour later he made his appearance!  As soon as they set his slipperly littld body on my chest tears started pouring out.  It was such an overwhelming experience- He was beautiful and perfect!

As soon as he was warm and dry they brought him to me and I was able to try to nurse him.  He latched on immediatly and knew exactly what to do, it was pretty amazing. 

*Please don't laugh too hard at these pictures, I was in labor for 18 hours!*






 


 
 




Eli Bryan Westfall
Born June 30, 2012
2:50 PM
20.5 inches long
7 pounds 11 ounces of perfections
 

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Brotherly Visit

Eli loves to play with my brother Doug when he can get a short leave from the ARMY to come visit. We pretty much spend the whole weekend cooking and that's how we like it :) 



Saturday, June 1, 2013

Happy Birth Month Eli

Eli turns 1 year old the end of this month and I want to spend a few blog posts sharing his life with you!  So prepare for a few flash backs from last June :)

Eli has been the light of our life since we met him.  Now he is here I can't imagine our lives without him.  He is such a happy, busy, smart, cheerful little boy who teaches me new things everyday!  He is our miracle baby and we feel so blessed to be borrowing him from our Heavenly Father to help raise.