09.08.09 ~ Connor Nathan Jorgensen ...

Connor Nathan Jorgensen has arrived! He was born at 12:40am in the morning at the Parker Adventist Hospital on Sept. 8, 2009. He weighed in at 7 lbs., 6.4 ounces, and measured at 21 inches in length. His head measured at 14 inches ... big head! My epidural wore off at the end, so it was extremely painful ... the actual pushing and the "sewing up" afterwards (3rd degree episiotomy - yikes!), but it was all worth it to have this precious baby boy in our lives.

We had quite a scare at the end of labor as well. Connor was born with the cord wrapped around his neck and body... the doctor worked extremely quickly to get it off of him once he came out, but he didn't have a heart rate. I, of course, didn't know this was all happening (I was in so much pain by this point) until later that night when Nate had filled me in. He had just been deprived of oxygen the last couple of minutes when he was crowning. Dr. Tyler said it was the cord that was around his body - it had been pinched at the last couple of pushes and that is why she had to immediately "snip" me and get him out as quickly as possible ... so thankful that she did. It was the best sound in the world when I finally heard that baby cry (it took him a minute) - he had a lot of fluid to get rid of, so it was a soft, gentle cry. It was so precious to hear him for the first time.

The nurses then took Connor to the NICU to monitor him for a bit - just because of the "cord" situation - but they brought him back in to the room a half hour later, saying all was well. His apgar score was a 9 and throughout the stay at the hospital, the nurses/doctors said all his tests were turning out perfect. He is completely okay - so luckily, the last part of pushing was just a scare and nothing more.

Major conehead ...
... and good thing I had just gotten a pedicure two days before, eh?


Connor getting weighed in ...


So precious ... just had the gunk put over his eyes that they do after a baby is born ...


Seeing my baby for the first time ... a moment to remember forever ...

09.07.09 ~ Going into Labor on Labor Day ...

For our first time experiencing this, I think labor went really smoothly ... I had started labor on Labor Day ... ha, ha, ha ... around 9am in the morning. I had just finished mopping the floor - the last thing on my "to do" list before our whole place was spotless. Perfect timing, eh? Nate timed my contractions that morning as I tried to just stay relaxed on the couch and watch the US Open on TV. Watching tennis through all of this really helped me - it was soothing to watch the ball being hit back and forth and it took my mind off of the pain. When I thought the contractions were lasting around a minute, and were around 5 minutes apart, we went to the hospital, which was around 2:30pm. They admitted us and told me to walk around for an hour and they would check my dilation. An hour later, I was dilated at a 4, and by 6pm, I was dilated at a 6. I then got an epidural and "enjoyed" the rest of my labor. Nate's family came and it was a joy to have them there as well. The only thing that was weird about my labor was the fact that my body kept shivering uncontrollably. The nurse said it was my adrenalin and my body just dealing with the labor. I was glad I couldn't feel any of the intense labor ... just some pressure every time a contraction came. I then quickly progressed and was ready to push around 11:30pm. I pushed for a little over an hour and the last 15-20 minutes, I could feel EVERYTHING!!! My epidural had wore off and I had run out of my reserve. So pushing was extremely painful, but very well worth it to bring this beautiful baby into the world.

Just got the epidural ... I feel great!


Nate's sisters and mom witnessed the birth ...

08.16.09 ~ Exactly 9 Months Pregnant ...

I'm bigger than ever, and definitely getting to that "uncomfortable" state. Just getting in and out of my car is a hassle, but it's exciting that I am getting so close to delivering ... hopefully. I just had an ultrasound done a few days ago, and everything looked good - he is so much more developed and I would have posted another ultrasound picture of him but we didn't get very clear pictures. We found out that the baby is around 6 lbs, 3 ounces right now ... so he'll most likely be in the 8 lb. range by the time I have him ... hopefully not too much bigger! Nate and I are so excited - I can't believe we are only weeks away from having this baby!

08.15.09 ~ Baby Shower Time ...

Today I had my baby shower and it was such a blast! My mother-in-law, Cindi, hosted it at her house and it was all so cutely decorated with baby decor. I am so appreciative to those that helped make it such a great party - Cindi, Kristen, Nicole, and Jacqui - thank you! And it was so great to get so much love and support from family and friends!

Opening presents ...



Yummy refreshments ...


Playing games ... guessing how big my tummy is ...

08.09.09 ~ Camping with the Jorgensens ...

This last weekend Nate and I met up with the Jorgensen family in Pike's National Forest, located just a little over an hour from Denver. We camped at Kelsey Campground and it was absolutely beautiful. It was such a wonderful weekend and it was filled with great fun, family, and food! We had a blast ...

Playing "Mexican Dominoes" at night ...
... I won 11 out of the 13 rounds the first night! That has never happened! I was lucky, lucky ...



Nate's sister, Aislinn, reading her book - one of the best things to do when camping ...

Cindi and Paul, celebrating their wedding anniversary over the weekend ... 30+ years they've been married! Congratulations!

Nate just got his new head lamp for this camping trip, and he wore it constantly! He would occasionally blind us with his blinking light, but I still love him ...

Now that I am almost 9 months pregnant, this is what I did most of the time ...
... it was an extremely relaxing weekend. Thank you Jorgensen Family for planning the trip and letting us tag along!

07.18.09 ~ Exactly 8 Months Pregnant ...

In this picture, my face is saying, "Really? I am actually this big?" It's all good though ... I can't complain because it is a blessing to be carrying a baby inside of me. The doctor recently changed my due date from September 13th to September 9th (there was some confusion as to when I had started my last period but we got it all figured out). So that means my due date is 09/09/09! How cool is that! Too bad that it is pretty rare to have the baby right on the due date, but that'd be cool, eh?


My tummy is getting is so big now that when I was unloading the dryer (we have a stackable washer and dryer and the dryer is on top of the washer), my belly kept hitting the buttons to the washer below, and I kept asking Nate, "what is that beeping noise?" After a couple of minutes of getting the clothes out of the dryer, I looked down and realized I had turned the washer on with my belly and it was pushing all kinds of buttons. At least I can still see my feet - my very swollen feet, I might add.

07.10.09 ~ Lake Powell with the Coltons ...

The things that make Lake Powell so great ...


Eating great food ...



Playing games ...




Riding in the boat ...




Admiring the natural beauty ...




Being silly ...




Bobbing in the water ...




Sleep ... anytime ... anywhere ...




And most of all ... getting to spend quality time with loved ones ...



... And even though I was 8 months pregnant and I wouldn't let anyone take pictures of me (obviously because of how awful I look), I had a great time. It was Nate's first time to experience Lake Powell and he enjoyed it as well. Hopefully we will be back soon - it's the best place on earth!

07.05.09 ~ Federer wins Wimbledon ...

So Roger Federer is officially (in my book) the best tennis player in the world. He now holds the most grand slams at 15 ... beating Pete Sampras' record of 14. I am so happy for him! And he is soon to be a daddy as well! The Wimbledon Final was one to remember - a five-setter against Andy Roddick - very close. But I knew Federer would pull through in the end! He's the best!

07.02.09 ~ Dog-Sitting Cinder ...

Man I love this dog. Her name is Cinder and we get to dog-sit her whenever our friends, the Garvins, go out of town. We just got to watch her for the last ten days and she is so adorable. She is so tiny, and she doesn't "yap" like most small dogs do. Nate and I always flirt with the idea of getting a dog after we watch her because she is easy to take care of, and we really enjoy her company. I guess a baby will have to do for now though. Of course I'm kidding ... but this dog is dang cute, I have to admit.



Half of the time, she loves to just sit on top of our couch and look out the window. She's our little watch dog ...


The other half of the time, she loves to cozy up in a ball and sleep on her stuffed animal. She is so tiny!

Thank you Garvins for letting us watch her every now and then!

06.21.09 ~ Exactly 7 Months Pregnant ...

Here I am at 7 months pregnant! I almost think I look bigger in my 6 month picture, but whatev ... I'm happy the pregnancy is going smoothly so far! I have officially started to get "cankles," as the result of having swollen ankles and feet. It just started to happen a couple of days ago, and now every time I sit for too long ... yep ... "cankles." I have my 28 week check-up in a couple of days, so hopefully everything will still be okay. I'll keep ya'all posted ...

06.20.09 ~ Time to Register for Baby ...

Nate and I were able to go and register for our baby today! We decided to just register at Babies 'R Us, since they have everything that we need ... one-stop shopping is my kind of shopping! If you'd like to see what we registered for, just click on the title of this blog entry, and it will direct you to our registry ...

06.07.09 ~ Tennis and Tornados ...

This Sunday, I got to experience something pretty amazing ... watching Roger Federer win the French Open for the first time. He has now tied Pete Sampras for holding the most grand slams in history - 14. Hopefully, he will do well in Wimbledon coming up in a couple of weeks and make it 15 grand slams! Man, I am Roger's biggest fan ...


... So as I'm watching the French Open on TV, I hear a tornado warning go off outside our home. I wake Nate up and we go outside and we see this outside our door ...




So SCARY! I am so thankful the tornado did not touch down where we live! It actually landed and destroyed a considerable amount of homes just three minutes away from where we live. The worst damage we got was from the hailstorm that came our way. The hail was as big as the size of golf balls - no joke - and the hail dented both our cars a "bajillion" times! We are bummed that now our cars have dents all over the top, but at least none of us were hurt, and our home did not get damaged from the awful storm.





I hate tornados.