Babies are such nice way to start people

Thanks for all the comments on my last post announcing Malachi's birth!

I can't believe Malachi is already three weeks old!

It makes me sad that he is growing so fast. I'm trying to hold onto every second that I have while he is little. I don't want to miss any of it so I have trouble putting him down... I love kissing his cheeks and head and snuggling him and patting his little bum. And just knowing that he is ours forever!

My parents we able to be there for his birth as well as my sister. My parents stayed for two weeks and left on June 25th. It was SO nice to have them here to help us! Jesse's parents will be here this Friday and my parent's are coming back into to town so Malachi will be blessed this coming Sunday.

A week after Malachi was born, was my sister's birthday. We were all able to go out to eat to celebrate .

Here she is holding Malachi! (That is a newborn onesie and it's still too big on him!)



Here I am holding Malachi!

(Photos taken from my mom's blog).


Some facts about our Malachi:

-When we left the hospital he was 4 pounds 15 ounces. His car seat was so big for him.
-At his two week appointment he was 5 pounds 7 ounces!
-He loves to have his hands near his face. He sleeps with his hands and arms above his head or on/near his face.
-We named his Malachi Michael after grandfathers on both sides of our families. Jesse's great-great-great grandfather was named Malachi and my father's name is Michael.
-He wakes up about every two hours to eat during the night and about every three hours during the day.
-He is a very bunchy baby. He tucks his legs and feet up under him while he is being held.
-He makes the cutest little pucker face where he puckers his lips and raises his eyebrows so he gets wrinkles in his forehead. It looks like he is getting ready for a kiss (picture of this coming soon!).
-He has several nicknames already:
Malley and babykins (me and sometimes Jesse)
Mousekawitz and mister mister (Jesse)
Malleykins (my sister)
Our teeny little super guy (Jesse and I)

I'm still working on the birth story, but I just wanted to give a quick update!

He's here!

He has Jesse's lips
and my nose

10 tiny (but long) fingers
10 tiny (but long) toes

Introducing....

Malachi Michael

born on Tuesday, June 12th (about a month early) at 8:35 pm (EST)
5 pounds, 5 ounces
19 inches long

(It definitely wasn't planned this way, but he was born on Jesse's sister's birthday)

He had a bit of a hard time getting here. I had pre-eclampsia which turned into HELLP syndrome and I ended up having an emergency c-section, but we are all doing well now and are healthy (although sleep deprived!). We'll be released from the hospital on Friday, June 15th and are looking forward to going home.

I will be posting the birth story soon, but it starts with this picture below on Monday evening, June 11th...the day we were admitted to the hospital!

An update

(I'm apologizing ahead of time if this post sounds jumbled or not coherent...)

About the middle of May I started having really bad swelling in my hands and feet. I mentioned it at my doctor's appointment on May 21st and the doctor took some blood and asked me to come in on Friday, May 25th to follow up. When I went in on the 25th, she said that the blood work came back with elevated liver levels, I also had some protein in my urine, and high blood pressure. She gave me the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia.

At the Friday appointment, Jesse and I knew there was a slight possibility that I might be admitted to the hospital but we had still semi-planned on going to my parent's house for Memorial day weekend. The doctor decided to admit me to the hospital to lower my blood pressure. She vaguely talked about inducing me. At the time I was 34 weeks. Being in the hospital helped my swelling go down so I came home from the hospital with instructions to be on bed rest....only a shower every other day, no work, cooking, cleaning, or laundry, etc.

Since then we have been to several doctor appointments and had several ultrasounds to measure how our baby is doing.

I had an appointment this past Monday (June 4th) and my blood pressure was back up. The doctor wanted to induce me then but I really wanted to wait until 37 weeks. She told me to come back in on Thursday (the 7th) for an ultrasound. On the night of the 6th, Jesse gave me a blessing which was definitely a comfort and we got everything ready in case the doctor sent us straight over to the hospital.

We went to the ultrasound on Thursday and the technician watched the baby for practice breaths, movement, etc. and he only scored a 6/8. The doctor wasn't happy, but my blood pressure was back down which was good. She then told us to come back in the next day (Friday the 8th) for another ultrasound and she would make a decision then about what to do. They also took blood on Thursday. Jesse and I knew that both the baby and I would have to score perfectly (me on blood pressure and him on his breathing, etc) in order for us not to be induced. On Friday, the baby passed his test and my blood pressure was down, but my blood results came back again with elevated liver levels which the doctor wasn't too happy about. She asked us what we wanted to do...I looked at Jesse and he said what ever she (the doctor) thought was best...

The doctor said I'm a ticking time bomb...and said she had planned to send us straight over to the hospital for an induction yesterday, but couldn't remember what time our appointment was.

So the plan right now is that we check into the hospital on Wednesday evening June 13th for an induction. I have another ultrasound and appointment this coming Monday.

My birth plan has gone straight out the window. I didn't want to be induced, I didn't want an epidural (which I will probably end up getting since pitocin contractions are much worse) and I wanted to wait until 40 weeks to deliver.

But, you know what? The baby will be fine. He will be a little over three weeks early and right now he's measuring about 5 pounds 9 ounces, but he'll be fine. And in the end we will have our sweet boy! I just have to remember that and not focus in the parts that aren't going as planned.

I've been an emotional wreck and cried almost every day this week wondering whether there was something I/we could have done that could have prevented this and questioning the decision to be induced. I know my high blood pressure is not really going away and I don't want to put our baby in danger by keeping him inside, but at the same time I want him to develop as much as he can inside since I know the most brain development happens during the last several weeks.

And yes, I might be a little dramatic (and I'm sure it's partly hormones) but as I was crying one night I told Jesse that I didn't want something to happen to our baby because of a decision I/we made that caused him to have trouble and maybe not live. And, Jesse, the wonderful husband that he is, mentioned that even if our baby boy takes just one breath, at least he came here and got the body that he needed and we will have the opportunity to be able to raise him again. Which of course, caused me to cry even more. But how grateful I am for the gospel and the knowledge that we have.

I was crying in bed this morning and Jesse turned and held me and being the wise husband that he is said to me: "You can't second guess yourself, it'll just eat you up. You have to make the best decision and just go with it." So right now our and the doctor's decision is for me to be induced on Wednesday.

I know things will be fine, but if you remember, keep us in your prayers, okay?
_____________________

(I haven't been blogging because we don't have internet at our apartment, but I decided it would be alright to come to my sister's apartment (she lives just across the street) so I could update everybody).

Oh, and I've been knitting, watching lots of movies, and reading on bed rest.

Poor Jesse told me on Friday that it feels like he's been having a heart attack for the past two weeks because of all the stress from the doctor appointments, ultrasounds, and wondering whether "today" would be the day that I would be induced. I'm so, so thankful for his love and support as well as the love of my family and friends. Thank you!

Motherhood

(32 weeks pregnant)

Motherhood is on my mind quite a lot these days. This Mother's day will be unique in that it will be the only one in my life that I am almost a mother but not quite yet...

A little over a year ago, in February 2011, I received a diagnosis from a doctor that would possibly result in me having trouble bearing children. I remember sitting with my parents after the doctor visit and just crying. The thing I most wanted in my life was to be a mother. I was trying to do everything right- why would it possibly be denied me? At the time, Jesse and I had not been on our first date. Little did I know that less than a year later, I would be pregnant. It came quickly. Jesse knew I might have trouble having children, and he was fine with it. He said we could explore other options if we couldn't have our own children and for that I was grateful, but deep down I still wanted a biological baby of our own.

As a result, pending motherhood has me thinking about a lot of things.
Some of them obvious such as, "will our baby boy have irresistibly chubby cheeks?" or "will he have long eyelashes like his dad?"

Yet, deep down, other questions and thoughts tug at my heart as well. Hopes and dreams for our baby...

I need to teach our boy to know the love of his Heavenly Father and savior, Jesus Christ and how to help him feel when the Holy Ghost is whispering to his heart and mind.
I need to teach him to honor the priesthood and to honor womanhood.
I need to teach him how to honor his sacred ordinances and covenants.
And hopefully being an example of, kindness, charity, compassion, reverence, humility, adventure, and curiosity, he will learn these things also.
I need to teach him how to pray and read scriptures.
How to love life.
How to not be afraid of change.

I recently read a quote by Gordon B. Hinckley (source):
"You are the bearers of the children. You are they who nurture them and establish within them the habits of their lives. No other work reaches so close to divinity as does the nurturing of the sons and daughters of God."

No other work reaches so close to divinity. Men, even though they hold the priesthood, are not as close to divinity as mothers. That's a big responsibility. Mothers, who nurture their children, are as close to divine as you can get, without being God. What a great responsibility mothers have.

I know time goes quickly. I know that this babe that I am now carrying will one day grow up and hopefully marry and have children of his own. But I don't want to think about that right now because it will make me cry. I want to be the best mother that I can be for him in the moment.

Yes, this pregnancy has been difficult in some ways- I was pretty sick for the first trimester and I've been swollen and itchy and famished lately. But, I love feeling our baby move inside of me. I love feeling his kicks and somersaults. All in all, this has been more wonderful that I imagined.

I'm grateful to my own mom for raising me the way she did. I'm grateful that she taught me what motherhood is all about and for being patient with me when I wasn't easy to be patient with. I'm grateful she taught me to love the gospel and to pray and gain a testimony for myself.

I'm grateful to Jesse's mom for raising a man who knows what it means to honor the priesthood and respect womanhood and with a desire to be a father. I'm grateful that she let him be his own person. And even though they have gone through some trials as a family, I'm grateful for the love she showed and the strength she had. I'm grateful she taught him to love the scriptures and how to cook and sew and do laundry.

How very grateful I am for the opportunity to be a mother- I hope I can live up to this divine responsibility.

And now two quotes that I love about motherhood:

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family. Many are able to be “full-time moms,” at least during the most formative years of their children’s lives, and many others would like to be. Some may have to work part-or full-time; some may work at home; some may divide their lives into periods of home and family and work. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else." Russell M. Ballard

“You have nothing in this world more precious than your children. When you grow old, when your hair turns white and your body grows weary, when you are prone to sit in a rocker and meditate on the things of your life, nothing will be so important as the question of how your children have turned out ... Do not trade your birthright as a mother for some bauble of passing value ... The baby you hold in your arms will grow quickly as the sunrise and the sunset of the rushing days.” Gordon B. Hinckley

Happy Mother's Day!

Two Easter photos

I know this is almost a month overdue, but I love this photo so I'm adding it.
This was taken on Saturday, April 7th (the day before Easter) at my parent's house.
(My mom, dad, sister, Jesse and I. And just for reference I was 27 weeks pregnant).


My Aunt (mom's sister), cousin, her daughter and their dog drove down from Northern Ohio to visit that day. My cousin and her family weren't able to come to our wedding so it was nice for them to meet Jesse.

Update- 30 weeks + Question

I'm 30 weeks pregnant! (31 weeks tomorrow!)

I can't believe our little baby will be here in about 10 weeks. That's crazy to think about- I know the time will just fly by.

Yesterday night as we were falling asleep, my belly was up against Jesse's back and Jesse said to me: "I can feel the baby kicking pretty hard! Every time I try to go to sleep he kicks. How are you getting any sleep?" Yes, he kept me up too. Night time is party time for baby Dahl! It's okay. He's definitely worth losing sleep over.

I had a doctor's appt today and I'm measuring right on schedule. Yay!
We joke that he will end up being an 11 pound baby! Haha, I sure hope not. But I am praying that he will have chubby cheeks.

For the past few weeks, I've had this really itchy rash/kind of little pustules (I don't like that word!) on my hands, feet, and on my belly. I mentioned it to the doctor at my last appointment (two weeks ago) and she thought it was hand and mouth disease. They did some blood work but everything came back fine.
Originally, Jesse and I thought it was poison ivy, which makes sense because we had been in a place where there was poison ivy, but it wasn't going away. Then we thought it was hives from a detergent or soap, but neither of the brands have been changed recently. Anyway, I still have it and maybe we'll never know what it is...so I've just been using calamine lotion in the mean time to stop the itchiness for a little bit. Some relief is better than none.

I want to post a picture, but right now my camera is MIA. I'll try to take one tonight with Jesse's camera and then post it soon.

In other news, my sister wants to throw us a baby shower! That is so kind of her! Jesse and I originally weren't planning on registering anywhere- we were just going to buy things ourselves little by little when we got paid. Not that I expect people to bring things to the baby shower, but now we at least have the opportunity to register at a store for things we might not otherwise have gotten.

Which brings me to my question-

If you have children, what are some things that you or your baby loved using or you felt like you couldn't have lived without when they were little?

We're not planning on buying lots of things because I know there is a chance our son might not like it and we (or other people) would have wasted the money...but a general idea of what you liked would be awesome.

(My visiting teaching companion suggested that we borrow as many things as we can to try them out first and see if our baby likes them before we buy it ourselves, which I think is very good advice).

If you feel like answering the question I would love to hear your responses!