after the birth...

ok so here's what happened after krozby was born...

no one really tells you what to expect after the baby is born.

we were in the delivery room for about 30 minutes, just me, branden, and krozby.

it was really nice to have those first few minutes just the 3 of us. 

after that our parents (the ones who were in town) and branden's brother came in to meet the little man. 

then it was time to change rooms.

well when you change rooms you get to stand up for the first time after getting your epidural taken out and for the first after losing a lot (according to branden) of blood.

while you're already standing up they like you to try and go to the bathroom...

that was an adventure. by the time i walked the 5ish feet to the bathroom and sat down, things started getting a little hazy. 

the next thing i know i was being woken up by an ammonia strip under my nose. 

and that happened the next 3 times i tried to go to the bathroom haha. 

good times!

we had lots of visitors throughout the day and finally by like 11pm everyone had cleared out and we got to take krozby to the nursery to get his first bath!

(i had to take a wheelchair because i couldn't walk without passing out!)

haha he was not impressed! poor guy.

after his bath he got his first mohawk :)

we ended up staying in the hospital for 2 nights (which was just fine for me).

i loved all of our nurses and it was so nice having the extra help the first few days.

you expect having to take care of a new baby will be hard but you don't realize you have to take care of yourself too... and healing from labor when you tear is really no fun!!

wednesday came and it was time for us to go home. 

as we were packing up and getting ready to leave we realized that we didn't fill out his birth certificate information! 

not only that... we hadn't decided on a middle name!! 

we had it narrowed down between Kyfe or Jett.

Kyfe is a nickname that Branden has been known by forever.

we thought it would be kinda fun to have that as a middle name.

Jett is a mix of our dads names-- Jay and Brett.

in the end we decided to go with ......

Krozby Jett Arnold

krozby's birth story

***if you aren't wanting to read labor details, don't read this post.

you've been warned.

i was scheduled to be induced at 4am on monday december 9th. 

i was told to call labor & delivery at 3am to make sure they had rooms available before we came up. 

obviously i couldn't sleep that night anyway and before we knew it, it was time to call. 

we got the thumbs up that they had room for us, so i got up, freshened up, had a piece of toast, woke branden up, and we were off!

(last belly pic before we headed up. kinda sad!!)

the time and temperature (-6!) on our way up to the hospital

we got to the hospital and checked in a little after 4am.

they showed us to the room where our little boy would be making his arrival!

i got changed into my super cute hospital gown and we met our first round of nurses.

our first nurse was SO NICE, we loved her! unfortunately we got there right before a shift change, so about 30 minutes later we got a new nurse who wasn't as friendly. 

anyway--a different nurse ended up putting in my IV and i could have punched.her.in.the.face. 

the first attempt she made, she blew out my vein and had to try again on the other hand.

both tries hurt!!! luckily the second try was a success. 

after all of that fun we had the resident doctor come in a check me to see how far dilated and effaced etc i was. 

(the week before i was dilated 3cm and 75% effaced)

she strapped on her gloves and got down to business...in my business ;)

after some feeling around she said "well you definintely aren't a 3 anymore!! You are 5cm dilated, completely thinned out, and have a bulging sac." 

so right then and there she broke my water. k...it doesn't feel like peeing your pants so much! 

it's a huge gush of warm water, which is really awkward feeling while your laying in a bed and it just keeps coming! 

before they checked me or broke my water i told them i wanted an epidural as soon as i could get one. i'm a total wimp and didn't want to feel any pain if i didn't have to!! 

right after she checked me and broke my water i asked if i could get the epidural. they said i could, they just had to wait to get the labs back from my blood work to make sure i was cleared for it. 

branden kept telling me i should wait to at least feel a contraction before i got the epidural! ha! 

(he was freaked out about me getting one... a shot in the spine is kinda intense!) 

i'm glad i ordered that baby up when i did, because a few minutes after they broke my water the contractions started coming!! every few minutes they came on and it was no fun! 

after about 30-45 minutes of feeling the contractions i got the ok for my epidural, the anesthesiologist came in and gave us the "run down" on all the risks blah blah blah...

i signed the consent form and told him to get that sucker going!! 

(p.s. he was a really cool guy! thank goodness for nice hospital staff!)

getting an epidural is an interesting experience for sure!! 

first of all- they give you a shot in the back to numb you (not pleasant, but not as traumatic as i was anticipating) and then they insert a tube into your spine, which is a totally weird feeling! it's not necessarily painful but you can feel the tube moving around your spine... yuck! 

doing all of that while having contractions wasn't great, but it was over pretty quick! 

(this all was a little before 6am)

it took a little bit for the epidural to fully kick in (i could still feel cramping type pain down my left side and in my groin area) but once it kicked in, it was heaven!!! 

seriously-- if you are having a baby GET AN EPIDURAL! 

after i had the epidural i got comfortable and started watching Friends while branden took a nap.

i ended up randomly puking shortly after... not really sure why haha but it was a one time deal and luckily i had a barf bag handy!

branden's mom stopped by to say hi around 7:30 and then my mom did shortly after that. 

i still hadn't been checked again, but i had a feeling i was going to progress fast. 

the nurse came in to check in on me and see how i was doing a little after 8.

she asked if i was feeling any pressure in my bottom (sorry for the tmi!) and i told her i was.

she decided to check and see how far i was dilated and guess what? i was at 10cm!

i wasn't expecting that!! i thought that meant go time, but dr. carlson came in to check on me around 9am and decided to start me on pitocin and let my body move the baby down so i wasn't having to waste all of my energy pushing until he was as far down as he could get on his own. 

i decided to try and nap while i waited to push. 

the nurse came in and checked me a few times to see how far down he was. 

she decided to have me lay on my side to see if that would help at all since he wasn't moving as much as she was hoping. 

it was around 10:15-10:30am when the nurse and resident doctor came in to check me again and when they did he was in position and ready to go!

right after checking me said "well your baby has lots of dark hair!" 

i was so excited to hear that!!

they had me start doing "practice" pushes while we waited for dr. carlson. 

i asked for the mirror so i could see what was going on "down there" 

definitely a crazy sight! super cool though. 

dr. carlson showed up and they took my bed apart and got the room all ready for the little guys arrival. (it turned into chaos with all of the stuff!) branden didn't know where to stand without being in the way of someone! once it was time to push for real though, he was right by my side. 

i pushed for about 15-20mins and at 10:56am after one final push baby krozby let out his first cry!

i didn't get to see him come out because there was too many people standing in front of the mirror but the first thing i remember seeing after hearing his cry was one of his little feet.

so sweet!

(wow i am looking good!) 

i'm so happy branden got these pics of our baby's first moments in the world though :) 

after i held him for a minute they took him away to be measured while they stitched me up 

(thanks to the epidural i had no idea what was going on down below... but dr. carlson gave me an episiotomy and i tore past it... yikes! branden said it was a scary sight when he looked back and saw what they were doing. he ended up leaving the room before he got too light headed ;))

7lbs 6oz 21 inches long

baby krozby with dr. carlson.

we absolutely loved dr. carlson!!!

i'm so happy i got this picture of him holding our baby :) 

the sweetest little face!

lots of dark hair!

love that fresh little newborn hair. obsessed! 

i couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery.

it all went so easy and smoothly.

i'm also so thankful for branden and how amazing he was and that we were able to have dr. carlson be the one who delivered our baby. 

i'm so in love with this little boy!!

he is perfection. 

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i'll be posting the "after the birth" story soon! 

38 weeks

this week was lots of fun because i had family in town for thanksgiving!

during thanksgiving dinner someone started a betting pool for when our baby is going to make his arrival...

everyone put $5 in for their guess and the winner splits the money with us :)

i think we got up to $100! 

now for the good stuff--- i had my doctors appointment on monday and we decided that if i haven't had the little guy by next monday (the 9th) he would induce me!

i hadn't really ever planned on being induced but we decided to go that route so that i would for sure have my doctor be the one who was delivering.

it's kinda nice knowing when it's all gonna happen, too. 

so... in less than a week we're having a baby!!

soooo crazy.

not gonna lie-- i've enjoyed being pregnant (besides the beginning) and i'm going to miss it!!

ok... i'll miss some of it. 

i'll miss my belly, but won't miss the fact that some people think they just have to feel it. 

(i'm kind of a jerk that way. sorry if i've offended you!! but i literally cannot handle it!) 

but overall i've loved being pregnant. 

i'll be sad when it's over!!

stay tuned for one more pregnancy update and then the arrival of our little guy!

37 weeks

full term!

as of today i am 37 weeks and 7 days (pretty sure?) 

branden took me to the hunger games movie this weekend.

besides having to explain to him what was going on during most of the movie, he actually said he kinda liked it ;) 

what a trooper for taking me! 

here's branden trying to find a stud so he could hang a shelf.

the stud finder wasn't working so he decided to put a million holes in the wall instead ;)

good thing he ended up covering them all with the shelf.

hey, at least it got hung!

and here is the newest addition to the nursery!

i've been so excited to get this rug, and i LOVE it.

(the piggy bank and diaper genie are just holding the corners down)

should i be worried that i could technically have this baby any day and his nursery still isn't finished? i don't even have blinds or curtains!! yikes!! 

p.s. this week at my doctors appointment i was dilated 3cm and 75% effaced. 

shiz just got real!!!

36 weeks

today is the last day of being 36 weeks. 

so as of tomorrow i will be considered "full term"

well, this little man definitely needs to stay put for the next 3 weeks!!

i've never pictured myself going much earlier than my due date, but now due to some changes at my work i really need to be able to stay as long as possible! freaking people

(long story)

anyway......i had my weekly check up on monday

my strep b test came back negative, so that's good :)

i go back again next monday and that's when i will start getting "checked"

fun times. 

the nursery is still slowing coming together. 

i finally got the crib sheets in the mail!

they are the cutest, huh?!

we still have quite a bit to do in there...

but it is getting there!

that's all for now!

maternity pictures

so i finally got my maternity pictures back!!

(i say finally like it took soooo long-- it didn't. i'm just impatient!)

and here are my favorites...

:)

35 weeks

here i am at 35 weeks and back to wearing comfy clothes haha

these are my go-to pants right now. 

branden likes to give me crap because i seriously wear them 5 out of 7 days a week.

i kinda feel like this hahahaha

ok... they aren't the only things that fit me. but pretty much comfort wise. 

i do have a pair of maternity pant that i wear to work every day. 

i'm getting my money's worth i guess ;) 

i'm slightly afraid that none of my jeans will fit me again after i have this kid.

here's hoping!!

this weekend branden and i put up the crib!

the sheets shipped on saturday and should be here this week! 

slowly but surely his room is coming together. 

----ok, funny story. remember that oil stain on my dresser??

turns out it wasn't an oil stain at all. 

what was it?? a shadow from the ceiling fan. facepalm!

i. kid. you. not. 

i'm not even blaming this on "pregnancy brain" because branden didn't realize it either. 

apparently we are just duuuuumb. 

hilarious. 

so there you have it. 

an oil-less dresser. 

ta da!

here's another sneak peak of our maternity pictures.

i still haven't gotten the disc with all of them on it back but once i do i will post all of my favorites!

(obviously this is a screen shot from my phone)

i can't wait to see all of them!

as of today we have 31 days to go!

say whaaaaat?!?

34 weeks

here we are in the final(ish) stretch! 

it's crazy to be able to say we'll be having a baby next month. 

technically it could even be this month but i don't think so :) 

i started painting the dresser the other day

and apparently someone spilled something oily on it because the paint won't stick to one spot on the top!! so annoying. at this point i don't even care. i'm just going to put the changing pad on top of it ha. 

ok, so i'm not really one to be posting bare belly pics.

but unfortunately i've started to get a light hint of stretch marks making an appearance on my lower stomach. depressing, i know. 

so i decided to take a few pics while my stomach still looks normal. 

haha that is a big ole white belly!

i'll be super sad if it ends up being covered in purple stretch marks. 

it's the price you pay though, right?? :) 

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in other news...

one of my best friends, jessica, had her baby yesterday!!!

she was due exactly a month before me. 

so basically it's gonna be me next!!

here's her little man corbin dash snuggling with his soon to be bestie!

so sweet!!! 

33 weeks

not much to update here.

(i am now almost 34 weeks)

i had a doctors appointment yesterday and everything is looking good!

i go back in 2 weeks and then (hopefully) my appointments will be every week after that! 

how crazy!!

it seems like time flies between the every 3 week appointments 

so i'm sure it's going to go by that much faster now! 

we got our maternity pictures taken this weekend!!

she's only posted one teaser on facebook but i can't wait to see the rest!!

here's the one she posted-

pictures are always so stressful!! 

i couldn't decide what to wear and didn't end up feeling very cute 

but we had a lot of fun taking them and i think they will turn out great!

now the wait to get them back might kill me!!!