A week late...

I'm glad Jay finally decided to update our blog for the first time because Gianna's already a week old and I haven't even posted about her yet. I would like to have words for all those people out there who told me the second is easier than the first. That is NOT TRUE!!! There are TWO of them! If I could take them one on one, then yes, she is easier than my first was, but since Jay deserted me and went back to work today, I have to take care of both of them at the same time and it is scary! Now, that being said, I do happen to have them both asleep right now! I am very proud of myself despite the fact that Gianna spends most of the day sleeping. And despite the fact that Jamison got Oreo's for breakfast since I was busy nursing for an hour and he was hungry... Hopefully I'll get better!

So, about Gianna. After last Friday when I had made no progress at my last doctor's appt, me, my sister, my mom, Jay and Jamison went to Viewmont High School and walked about 2.5 miles around the track. I also sprinted up the bleachers about 20 times (Jasmine would have been so proud!). Then, Saturday morning, Jay and I took Kody and Jamison to the off leash park and did about a mile walk. And then on Sunday, I got a foot massage from my mom (it was online so it had to be valid, right?). I'm not sure if any or all of these things contributed, but Sunday night, I woke up having very painful contractions. They were about 20 minutes apart though so I knew I still had time, but I was getting so excited, despite the fact that they were keeping me awake the entire night. When it was finally time for me to get up and get ready for work, I was thinking 'yay, no work for me today!!!'. But I took a bath and the contractions stopped. I was so disappointed that I apparently experienced 'false labor'. So, I ended up just going to work. Right after I got there though, the contractions started back up again, but they were completely random. Like once every 7 minutes, then 20, then 15, then 35, then 9, etc... I of course did what anyone would do and googled labor and read that the difference between false labor and real labor is that false labor is very irregular and true labor is like clockwork. So, I figured I was in false labor again. I ended up calling the doctor from work because I was in so much pain and the nurse told me that it sounds like false labor but I should go home and drink a lot of water and take a bath to get the contractions to stop. So I left work about 4pm (I realize I should have just left work MUCH earlier, but I really didn't want to leave work for labor and then end up coming back again the next day because it wasn't really labor). I went home, got in the bathtub and drank a bottle of water. And instantly, my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart. Luckily my mom showed up about that time to help me take care of Jamison and instead we immediately left for the hospital. I called Jay and told him to meet us there. We got there at 7 and they put me in triage to see if in fact I really was in labor. She checked and I was dialated to a 7+!!! I was shocked! I am such a wuss; I never would have thought I could make it to a 7 all by myself. I had to get my epidural when I was a 3 with Jamison! Then they gave me the news that I probably couldn't get an epidural because the anethesiologist had just stepped into a C-section and I was going to quickly to get one. I panicked and apparently the nurse took pity on me so she pulled some strings and basically got me all prepped and then had the doctor run from the C-section, give me an epidural and then run right back to the C-section. Unfortunately, he could not do this till almost 8:30 so until then I was in quite a bit of pain. Jay said I hit him. And yelled. By the time I got my epidural, I was dialated to an 8+. 10 minutes later, they told me to push and 10 minutes after that Gianna Grace was born at 9:05pm. I didn't feel a thing after I got my epidural and I am eternally grateful to both the nurse and the doctor for making sure I could get it.

Anyways, that's my story for anybody who's interested. Time to feed Gianna yet again... :)

The New Arrival

She's here! Gianna Grace LaVanway was born on June 2nd at 9:05 pm, weighing 7 lbs 11 oz and measuring 20.5 inches. The hospital labor was about 2 hours long and everything went about as smoothly as it could. Both mom & baby are happy and healthy, and getting in some quality bonding time now. Jamison seems to be adjusting well to having a sister, but the animals are still a bit unsure around her. Below are a few pics from the hospital. To see the rest, click on the 'Pictures' link at the top of the page and go to Gianna's folder. Thanks for all your thoughts! We'll post more pics in the days to come.

Progress update

All right, the title of this is a little misleading since it kind of makes it seem like I might have some sort of progress to update on. But no, as of my appointment today, there is still absolutely NOTHING going on. Not even a little bit. Apparently she's in no hurry to get here.

So, since my doctor is about to be headed to Europe, I've been switched to a new doctor temporarily and I will see him next week. If things are still not progressing, they will probably schedule an induction date for when my doctor comes back (I think around the 19th or so). I really didn't want to be induced this time around, but I guess by then I'll probably be all right with it since I'll be about 2 weeks late at that point.

I'm still really hoping that she'll change her mind and come on her own sometime in the next week or so. So, if any of you could send dialating thoughts my way, I'd really appreciate it!!! :)

Less than 2 weeks! (Well... hopefully!)

So, I just thought I'd make sure that everyone knows that according to my due date, I have less than two weeks left until Gianna gets here! As of my last appt (on Friday), there is absolutely nothing going on that might indicate that she will be making an appearance sometime soon. It'd be nice if that changes by my appt this Friday but we'll see. My due date is June 9th according to the doctor, but both of my ultrasounds showed June 3rd and June 4th. I wasn't early when I had Jamison, but I have no idea if I would have been on time or not since I was induced 3 days before my due date. I've actually had about 4 requests for her to be due on June 10th but I'm secretly (and by secretly, I mean posting on a website that could be read by anyone) hoping that she comes earlier! My doctor is leaving town on June 4th so it'd be nice if he was able to deliver her before then. And Jay and I are really excited for her to get here. So, anyone have any guesses as to when she'll come?

%#@@#%$#@$#@%

Ever since Jay and I got married, I really think that some sort of bad luck keeps following us around. Jay blames me since I've been rather unlucky before I met him and he claims he had no problems before he met me. But we always pick the SLOWEST line when checking out of stores, at least 50% of the things we buy do not work the first time and have to be returned, and now lately, it seems that employee parking lots are just as bad as parking on the freeway. I did get my van back on Friday (and in great shape) which is very good, since this is what my car now looks like:




So, while Jay was at work yesterday, my car was parked at the Gateway (since this is where Jay works) in Fidelity's employee lot and some STUPID kids attempted to use a screwdriver to break into my car. When that didn't work, they threw a rock through my back windshield and stole Jamison's DVD player which probably contained one or more Baby Einstein DVD's. We got to keep both the rock and the screwdriver (isn't that nice?) since they were left in my car.


My entire back seat (including Jamison's car seat) are currently filled with millions of tiny shards of broken glass. There was another car broken into as well and they apparantly had more time to spend on that one. They kicked in all their doors and really cleaned out their car. Someone happened to come accross this situation and called the police so the kids took off and left some of the stuff they were trying to steal behind. Jay was called down to fill out a police report and while he was down there, the STUPID kids came back to try to reclaim some of the stuff they dropped so they were caught. So, we did end up getting our DVD player back. Unfortunately, that does nothing for us as far as my car is concerned. And this is what really makes me angry. They have all 3 kids who did this to my car. 2 of them are in jail right now and the other one was only 13 so he's probably home playing a stolen Xbox or something. All 3 will probably be fined or something so the state will get some money for this. We got a police report so that we can file a claim on our insurance (meaning WE have to pay the deductable and our insurance rates will go up). They will not even give us the names of the people who did this to us. This is SOOOO unfair!!! I could understand if they never caught the guys; that's why we have insurance, but they have the people who did this. I think they should HAVE to pay for my car!!! I am so mad about this whole situation. Any tips?

K, enough ranting (I don't think I deal well with stress while pregnant!). Perhaps Jay and I should look into public transportation...

Finally an update

I've been meaning to post some pictures of Jamison for awhile now and I'm just finally getting to it. But FINALLY, here are some pictures.















This is how we end every bath. He has to have both of his feet covered up and he's very specific as to what color of towel he needs to be using.

And this is him at our next door neighbor's birthday party. They rented a pony and Jamison LOVED it!!!





I really need to take more pictures.... I'm so bad with that.

Anyways, I only have about 3 weeks left (HOPEFULLY) until I have the baby! I think the most common question I get these days is 'Do you have a name yet?' So, I thought I'd let everyone know that the answer is yes, her name will be Gianna. And I'm completely set on this name too, so if you don't like it, please don't tell me.... And also, there is no need to point out that it does not start with a 'J'. I promise that I already know that it doesn't start with a 'J'. And I do feel much better now that we've decided on a name because it was kind of hard to come up with one we both liked. Jay actually came up with her name which is very surprising considering some of the names he came up with when we were trying to figure out a name for Jamison (for example... Mortimer). So, basically, we're just trying now to get everything ready for her to come. Luckily, we pretty much have everything we need, but we're still working on getting everything organized. But I am getting really really excited. And I'm getting really big so I'm worried she might be a big baby like Jamison was.

Also, I still haven't gotten my car back... but I'm hoping to be able to get it tomorrow. I guess we'll see.

I love honest people!

Yesterday, my new car was hit in the parking lot while I was working. That sucks. I work on 4200 S Highland Drive and we've had SO many problems out here specifically with the parking lot. My co-workers car was stolen last year right out of the parking lot in broad daylight while we were working. And 2 other employees that I know of have been hit in the parking lot without anybody leaving a note or anything. So, I guess I shouldn't really be all that surprised. However, what did surprise me is that the guy who hit my car was kind enough to leave a note with his name and phone number on it. I can't tell you how grateful and appreciative I am that he left a note. Because I'm sure it would have been pretty easy for him to get away without leaving anything. So, hopefully it will all be resolved quickly and I'll get my car fixed with no issues.