October wrap-up, volume 1

Nothing like being a month and a half behind on our family journal! Life has been so busy lately that it seems I barely have time to sleep, let alone blog. Let me catch you up on what we've been up to!

Lance is doing baseball again this fall with the same coach he had in the Spring. He LOVES it, which is amazing. I was sure we'd never find a sport this kid enjoyed, so I was more than happy to sign him up again when the chance came. We love his coach who has been instrumental in helping Lance develop a love of the game.

This season was more of a challenge than last season when his team was District Champs. They ended up loosing more games than they won this go-around, but Lance still came out of the season begging to play again.

Batting is definitely Lance's strong-point. When he makes contact with the ball, he hits it harder and farther than most kids I've seen in his league.

And because Lance has practice during the week, it gives these kiddos a chance to play at the park while we wait for practice to be over.

(Look at Jude's face! He had been running around quite a bit.)

End of September, George's good friend Karl proposed to his long-time girlfriend. We were invited to a surprise party that took place directly after the proposal.

She said yes!

It's always nice to see these wonderful people and it was neat to be a part of such a special day in their lives.

Lance is plugging along in third grade and doing well. He got top marks on his first report card that came out. We're very proud of you, Lance!

I feel like he has less homework this year than he did even in Kindergarten. I'm not complaining, trust me! 

Scott and Abbey were out of town for a week, so we got to watch Falcon during that time. Bender definitely enjoyed the company, although poor Falcon wasn't too enthusiastic about his puppy antics and ended up irritated quite a bit.

Lance was reading on his bed and was joined by both dogs. Can you even see him under that pile of fur?

One neat feature about our new house is the fireplace! We finally broke it in on October 3rd and roasted some marshmallows.

The boys all thought this was fantastic!

This little girl thought it looked so neat, she wanted to touch it, so George and I had to hold her most of the time we were roasting.

I love that these boys just refuse to wear clothes. Crazy kids!

And this night (October 3rd) was the first time Lily stood up all by herself without falling! She was able to push herself up and stand there for a few seconds before coming back down again.

At this rate, she may pass up Lance who started walking around 9 1/2 months. 

Lily is such a stinker and insists on being older than she is. Love this girl!

Mom and Glenn finally came home from Australia and New Zealand! We were up in Ashburn for Conference weekend when they got in. The boys all had a great time looking at pictures and going through post cards Mom had collected and hearing stories about the different animals and areas they saw.

The boys had been begging to take Bender back to the creek, so we took advantage of one of the last warm days in October to do just that.  It was still a little too cold for me, but the boys ventured in anyway.

Bender loved it! He's still hesitant in the deeper areas, but he spent most of the time rocketing back and forth in the shallows making the water fly. It was very cute to see him so excited.

And this little girl just loved the swing!

What, Lily? You want to be a pirate for Halloween?

I can't get enough of this baby girl!

Bender is definitely part of the family. He insists on being wherever we are at all times, but seems to share a special bond with Cole. Cole thinks he's pretty great, too, and will walk over to him crooning, "he's so cute! Bender so cute!"

And he makes a nice pillow to boot!

Lance's Birth Story (part 4)

Lance and I joined Scott in Chicago when Lance was two weeks old. It was definitely a bit of a culture shock going from the suburban wasteland to basically inner-city. There were many things that were hard to get used to: walking everywhere in the "Windy City", parking two blocks from our apartment, police parked outside the schools at all times, even cat calls from passing cars (while I was pushing Lance in a stroller no less). I once had a man proposition me while I was out with Lance who, when I turned him down, angrily announced he was rejected because "it's a black thing". Luckily I had the presence of mind after a moment or two of shock to yell back, "No, actually it's a married thing." Yeah, definitely culture shock.

But there were lots of things I loved about Chicago: I loved being surrounded by so many other families that were young and going to school. I loved going to church and hearing the Primary children jazz up the songs and do some soul clapping while they sang. I loved having friends, attending book group, walking to the library with other young mothers, playing in the tot lots and finding ways to escape the apartment even in the freezing weather. I'm not sure if I would choose to live in Chicago again if given the chance, but I'm grateful for my experiences there and the friendships I made.

We blessed Lance October 30th and were lucky to have many extended family members attend. I know it was a sacrifice for them to come so far and it meant the world to us that they were all willing to do it so spend this special day with us. 

Denise, Dave and Calvin drove in from Ohio and stayed a couple nights at our apartment before the rest of the family came. While they were visiting, we took them on a sight-seeing boat tour of Chicago that told all about the history of the city.

Lance slept the whole time.

Dave was in his last year of Med School at Ohio State.

So sweet!

My mom flew in on Saturday and stayed with us while Denise, Dave and Calvin went to a hotel to stay with Bob, Kari, Shianne, and Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Cal. Even some of Scott's cousins came for the blessing!

Getting ready before:

See the blanket? Grandma Brewer, my mom and I all worked on sewing it.

Scott gave Lance a beautiful blessing. His dad Robert Dahlquist, Dave Gonda and Grandpa Calvin Dahlquist were also in the circle, along with Biship Cannon.

Family pictures after church:

Four generations:

The Dahlquist family: (It was windy...)

My beautiful mom!

After church, everyone came back to our apartment for lunch.

Scott youngest brother Dan:

Grandpa Cal and Grandma Joyce:

Shianne, Scott's step-sister:

I love this picture!

Mom stayed a couple nights. It was fun to have her. Scott snapped this picture of us one night...

Lance asleep across my legs totally makes this picture. I love it!

There are so many stories from Chicago I could tell and people I could talk about. Like this wonderful lady we saw a lot of:

 Andrea and her husband Ross were also attending Law School at University of Chicago and they were living in our same apartment building. I knew Andrea from BYU--it was wonderful to see a familiar face so far from home. Little Allen was just 5 months older than Lance. The Tuckers now live in California with Allen and FOUR little girls. 

And to show what a small world it really is, this is Aprilanne Sweat. I knew her sister at BYU and when I moved to Charlottesville years later, I was in the same ward as her parents. Her husband was attending Business School in Chicago, and she and Andrea were the ladies I visited with the most. They had one little girl at the time named Annalisa. They have just recently welcomed their first baby boy into their family--after four girls. 

Like I said, there are so many stories I could tell about Chicago, but that is for another time!

Lance's Birth Story (part 3)

 I was officially due September 20th. My pregnancy had been uneventful up to this point, but around 38 weeks it started to get interesting. My Braxton hicks contractions were increasing in frequency and intensity and to make matters worse, my blood pressure wasn't cooperating.

My regular doctor was out of town for my 38 week check-up, so I was seen by Dr. Foster. My blood pressure was elevated, so they ran some labs and put me on "modified bed rest". I was confused as to what that meant because they said I could still go to work. Lifting patients, bending, standing all day long. That didn't seem like bedrest to me, but you can't argue with the doctors. They made me do a 24 hour urine collection and because I worked the next day, I had to bring the jug with me to the hospital. Gross.

Later that week, I started leaking fluid. Actually, I wasn't sure if I was leaking or if I was just experiencing some of the less appealing side effects of pregnancy, so I kept an eye on it. I would leak every few hours, just a tiny bit. I was concerned, but didn't think much of it until one evening I went to use the bathroom and saw blood. Looking back, it wasn't very much, but at the time I was more scared than I'd ever been. You hear all these horror stories about abruption and babies dying, so Scott and I rushed to the hospital.

At the hospital they did an exam and decided the blood was from a burst capillary--something that can happen when your cervix is dilating. No big deal. They did a nonstress test to check on the baby and when they heard I was leaking fluid, they tested to see if it was amniotic fluid. There was too much blood to know, so they sent me home.

I followed up with Doctor Foster the next day (Sept. 12) for my 39 week check. I was dilated 1-2 cm and 50% effaced. The doctor said that since my body was making progress toward delivery, if anything was to go wrong, they would just induce and deliver me.

I was supposed to work, but since they put me on "modified bedrest" again, I called in sick and spent the day shopping for bedroom furniture with my mom. I was uncomfortable and my contractions were coming stronger. And I was still leaking fluid.

Mom treated me to a manicure and pedicure while we were out so my nails would look nice when I was in labor. :) That night we (Scott, Mom, Jason, Stephen and I) watched "Father of the Bride II". :)

The next day (Tuesday, Sept 13) I rested at home while I continued to have contractions and leaking fluid. Scott worked all that day and came home at 8:30 p.m. I took a shower and told myself that if I leaked again, I would go back to the hospital so they could check and see if it was amniotic fluid.

I leaked again and we were off!

We got to the hospital around 10:00 p.m.

They gave me a non-stress test. The baby was doing fine! They tested for fluid leakage and the test came back positive. (Apparently I really had been leaking fluid for the past several days.) The nurse came in and mentioned that according to the non-stress test, I was also in active labor, so they admitted me to the floor and got me settled into a labor room. It was go time!

It was such a neat, nerve-wracking experience to be admitted and know that when I left the hospital it would be with a baby. Crazy.

Scott brought his laptop and we watched "While You Were Sleeping" while I waited for the anesthesiologist to give me an epidural. I was starting to get uncomfortable as the contractions increased in intensity.

Mom came to the hospital, but waited in the lobby to give us privacy and checked in every so often.

I got an epidural around 1:30-2 a.m. I was quite uncomfortable at that point and getting an epidural was an AMAZING experience. To be in pain and then suddenly have that pain taken away--there are no words to describe the relief, both physical and emotional. Modern medicine is truly amazing.

They checked me at 3 a.m. and I was only 3 cm dilated. Scott tried to get some sleep on the little fold-out chair but had a miserable time of it. I went to sleep and woke up around 4, only to realize my water had broken all the way. I was sitting in a puddle. Bless the nurse and tech that came in and changed my sheets.

At 6 a.m. they checked me again. The baby's head was down and I was dilated to a 9!

 

There were several c-sections going on that morning and since I couldn't really feel anything, they let me "labor down" while we waited for a doctor to be free for the delivery.

The nurses came in around 8 a.m. and got me pushing. They set up a mirror for me so I could watch the progress. I could see his head on the first push, but because I was so numb from the epidural it was difficult to tell how to push. The nurses helped me push for about 30 minutes, Scott holding one of my legs because it was so dead.

8:30 Doctor Foster came in and we pushed together for a few more contractions.

On September 14th at 8:44 a.m. Baby Lance Paul Dahlquist was born!

The nurse I had was orienting another nurse, so she took pictures of the delivery.

It was a great experience! They bathed Lance in our room and let him stay with us until the moved me to the postpartum side of the unit. The nurse was so great. She even showed us the placenta and explained all about it--super cool, although I'm not sure Scott enjoyed it as much as I did. :)

Our first family picture:

I was so tired I kept falling asleep. Laboring was hard! I don't know how those ladies who labor for days do it.

7 lbs, 1 oz., 19.5 inches long

My mom came in to meet Lance and was able to take pictures of Lance after his bath.

I love this picture. Daddy's hand.

10 fingers, 10 toes. Such a blessing! Our perfect baby boy.

Grandma and Grandpa Brewer were in town and came by that evening for a visit!

Lance is the first great-grand baby on both the Allred and the Brewer side.

First-time Grandma!

Scott was so tired, too. Those hospital chairs were NOT made to sleep on.

We came home September 16th, Scott's Birthday.

This cute quilt was made by Denise just for Lance.

That night we celebrated with our family. Grandma Brewer made this sweet cake to celebrate Lance's birth and Scott's Birthday. The Simmons were there, too! It was wonderful to be surrounded by so much family.

There was one sad casualty: I had shown the video of Lance's Birth to my family and I rewound the tape to watch again. I forgot I had rewound it and recorded the family celebration that night. I realized it too late! We had taped over the first part of the birth. Luckily, it only erased the first part of the stay and the beginning of the pushing. We still have his birth, but just barely. About 30 more seconds and it would have been recorded over. I am sad that part of it is missing, but what can you do?

Scott had to drive out to Chicago a couple days later to start law school. Lance and I stayed at my mom's house for the first two weeks after delivery so Mom could help with the baby and Lance could have his two-week check-up.

Spending time with Daddy before he left.

One week old:

(You can really tell how much water I had been retaining! My face alone lost like 5 lbs.)

Two weeks and a green light from the pediatricians later, Lance and I were on our way to Chicago!