Big Sister

She brought her stool to the kitchen and posed it right by the mamaroo. "I want to watch the baby" she announced. Then we read the baby and her some stories. She is loving having a beautiful baby in our home. 

Beth’s Birth

Wednesday Justin and I had a good evening together. Everyone went to bed peaceful and I wasn’t planning on baby making her debut right away. 

That night I would get comfortable, drift to sleep, only to be awaken every 40 minutes or so due to discomfort caused by contractions and cramping. I went to the bathroom several times. As we got closer to dawn I noticed that contractions were taking on a pattern and I had some other signs of labor. I told Justin at 6 that morning that we would probably be having a baby that day and to cancel his classes. We were both excited.

Contractions kept coming, they weren’t picking up speed but were regular. I texted my mom to let her know. She came over 45 minutes later to pick up the girls. My contractions had slowed down and so I felt bad having her take the girls. She insisted though. 

By 9 am contractions had stopped. I felt ridiculous for asking Justin to stay home. I was tired from the restless evening and decided to lay down and try to rest. I also gave Annie a call to ask if I could use her herb drops for labor prep to see if those could get things going again. 

Annie obliged and Justin met her in Ontario to pick them up. I rested for a bit, but still nothing was really happening. When he got back I did the first round of drops and then we decided to go for a walk to see if that did anything for my body.  

The walk was beautiful and calm. I had four contractions. A couple long and a couple short. Still not a consistent pattern. I had a few more signs of labor upon returning, which I thought was good, but was still unsure what my body was doing. 

We ate some lunch when we got back and I took some more herb drops to see if they would work. After lunch I had Justin blow up our exercise ball to sit on while watching a movie. As I did this contractions started to come. The duration was inconsistent, but the spacing was growing more reliable. This went on for about an hour or two. We watched Armageddon to pass the time.

Just before 2:30 I had a pretty strong long contraction and decided it would be ok to go to the hospital. The drive wasn’t too bad and I was just worried that labor was stopping once again. I had a few more contractions heading up to the third floor. 

When we got there our nurse Amy showed us right to a room and had me change into a gown. She checked me and I was at a 5 and 90% thinned. She went to call Raquel and see if I was to be admitted. 

When she came back she said Raquel would come break my water and we could have a baby right away, or we could wait and see what my body does for laboring. She also asked if I wanted an epidural. I said possibly and then briefly tried to talk it over with Justin. He tried to encourage me to wait as I had birthed Natalie and Jenna naturally. I was very nervous at the thought of having my water broke as I knew things would get intense very quickly. I said that I did want the epidural and the nurse moved forward from there. 

Contractions continued coming. They had a hard time getting an IV in my arm as I think I was dehydrated. The anesthesiologist was able to get one going in my mid arm. We then moved forward with the epidural placement. It was a challenge to hold still with contractions, but Amy my nurse was very helpful during this. She had me curl into her while it was placed. Once he was done I started to feel some relief. My legs were tingly, but I could still feel them enough to move them. 

It was strange to be in labor but have relief. The nurses and anesthesiologist chatted a lot with Justin. While having heavy contractions I was a little irritated by this as he was trying to help me. He ended up getting a possible new student for his program out of the labor room. One of the nurses sons has been trying to figure out how he can take one of Justin’s classes. After the epidural kicked in I wasn’t so bothered by all the conversation.

It was very nice to be able to lay back and relax for a little bit. Raquel came in shortly after and checked me. I was all but dialated. She said she was going to let my body finish doing what it needed to while she charted. About 10 minutes later I felt like I could push. Raquel came back in and I started to push. It took about 5 different contractions to push her out. I was able to feel her descend down and as soon as she came out I was overcome with emotion of joy, wonder and gratitude. As they laid her on my chest she was still blue and covered with vernix and so so beautiful! It was amazing to see this little girl who I had felt inside of me for so long. Her head full of dark brown hair was breathtaking.

She made a small little cry and then was quite calm. Her birth time was 4:43 pm. We spent the next while holding and adoring her. She had 10 perfect long fingers and 10 perfect little toes. She was born with a small skin tag on her right pinky. The pediatrician tied it off with a string to cause it to fall off in a few days. Jenna called this the string on her babies finger that looks like a butterfly. She loved observing it.

We had decided about a month before she was born that Beth Nicole was a beautiful name we could agree on. Beth is short and timeless and Nicole after our good friend in Sandy Oregon. She is a very good woman and has shown us much kindness in our time as friends. 

After snuggling her for a while our nurse weighed and measured her. 8lbs 6 oz, 20 inches long and 13 1/2 in head. She was about 1 lb larger than her sisters. 

They gave her back to me and she went right to nursing. We spent probably another 45 minutes- hour in the delivery room before moving to the recovery room. By this time my epidural had worn off enough I was able to walk.

While Beth is definitely a Blazzard by looks, her birth experience was very different from my other two girls. Some of these differences include; her birthday is all even numbers and the girls are all odds, during the pregnancy we started with twins and lost one, had awful morning sickness, first time I took medicine for the morning sickness, sciatica nerve pain from twenty weeks on and had a terrible kidney infection at thirty weeks. I had a doctor tell me early on the third baby always is. I have learned much from it and so grateful it all went well and she is here safe with us. We love her! 

There were a few different times I wasn’t sure what the outcome was going to be. Learning to trust and be patient has been part of this experience. Heavenly Father loves us and I am grateful to be able to be an active participant in His Plan of Salvation of creating families.

Natalie and Jenna were very excited to be able to meet Beth for the first time. They loved observing her tiny features and climbing in top of me to see how I was doing. They also had a wonderful time at Grandma’s house while mom and dad were at the hospital.

 

March and Such

This girls turned five this month! I can and cannot believe it. We are all happy she is five. She is a kind, sweet, and calm little girl. She loves to laugh and make others laugh with her. She loves stories, all things princess, her friends, Joy School, animals, sunshine and playing. I am grateful I get to be her mother and learn from her of how to be a little more gentle and kind.

We had a small party at our home on her birthday. With chocolate cake and chocolate frosting... she was so excited for this. The next day we went swimming at Givens Hot Springs with some of her cousins. It was a very warm pool, so we couldn't tolerate it that long, but had fun. She is excited for the adventures being five brings, especially going to Kindergarten this fall. We have been working hard to prepare for that. She also has a testimony of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and their love for her. She knows a ton of scripture stories due to watching scripture videos every Sunday. She has also been telling me lately what she will let her children do when she is the mom.

 From the week I taught Joy School. The theme was "Spontaneous Delight." It was

really a fun lesson. We blew bubbles, popped popcorn without the lid, painted with our toes, and had many surprises. Definitely an area that I could improve on as an adult. We shared many giggles this week.

 The girls love to use their food at lunch to do "chicken nugget" or "cucumber" eyes.

 I think this is about 33 weeks pregnant. Baby girl is growing, and I am doing yoga every day to stay comfortable and prepare for labor. Pregnancy pillows are heavenly. I have never used one until this pregnancy, but it has helped a ton with lessening sore muscles.

 A saying I loved. I hope our home emulates this in some small way.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

My Girls

 27.5 weeks pregnant with this little girl. I feel very large. I have started going through all our baby stuff and getting things in place for her arrival. I have appreciated the simplicity of this process with this baby being our third girl. I have done some sifting of the baby stuff and have a pretty good idea of what I need to keep and what will be better used as a donation. 

I am feeling as good as I can and mostly just pregnant. I really have to make an effort to focus on the positive parts and joy of pregnancy, because most of it just tries my patience. 

We have a couple of names we like, but are not certain on anything yet. 

This was one afternoon I took some time to get down on the floor and actually help the girls build something out of Lincoln Logs. Another part of parenting Justin is way better at then me is getting down and actually playing. This building lasted about 3 minutes and then Jenna decided it was time to dismantle it. It was fun while it lasted.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Goals

One of the lessons for Joy School was on goal setting and the joy that comes from achieving a goal. Natalie set a goal to work on writing little a's in her name. She worked very hard all month (with encouragement from mom) and finally reached her goal!

Now to work on writing a little e

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Joy School

 Here are some pics from our Joy School. This one the girls were learning about goals and had to work together to build a tower that was at least three feet tall. They exceeded their goal.

 We also went on a field trip to the Ontario Fire Station. The kids had a blast and the firefighters were so good with them.

 Stop, drop and roll!

Joy School has been one of those things that I didn't realize just how much of a good thing it was going to be. I really felt led in organizing the group and I have really enjoyed and appreciated the curriculum. I know those who have participated have really loved it as well. The kids enjoy getting together, learning and playing and the adults have appreciated the lessons taught.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

January in Photos

 Natalie bringing home her Choose The Right Shield from Primary of 2017. This girl threw a huge fit this morning because she was worried about going into CTR 4 class. Needless to say, Primary was great as always and she is happy to be there.

 Jenna is a pretty good little scooter on this car. She was riding this on a nice winter day at her cousins.

 Playing the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game. We got this for Christmas and the girls really enjoy it. Jenna loves to steal others nuts, but throws a little fit when hers get stolen.

 A picture from lunch one day. Pretty sure Jenna insisted on trying several different leftover this day.

 Practicing letters and fine motor skills with glue and beans.

 In honor of my nephew's birthday on January 5th, we went and delivered balloons to be given to a patient in the hospital who could use them.

 Babysitting the girls cousin again and making sure she gets in on some princess action.

These are the picture size options for the Meridian Temple Print we made for our Relief Society Meeting in January. We made these prints, listened to a certified counselor speak on mental health, and ate delicious cheesecake. It was a fun evening and more fitting than I realized it would be for many of us. I am serving as a counselor in the Relief Society right now. It is very busy, but I am learning so much and definitely stretching myself in fulfilling this role.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard