Idaho Adventures: Part One

So if you were not already aware, I took the kids and moved to Idaho.  I am living in Idaho to finish up my degree and Dustin is staying in AZ so he can work and provide money:). It is a hard situation but we are also grateful for Tyson to be around so much family. Here are some pictures of our adventures so far!

 Not quite sure what is going on in this picture but he kept doing it:)

 He loved to hear his echo at String Lake- not really sure if anyone else did.

 Tyson LOVES playing with Matthew.

 Couldn't go to a lake without making some type of big splash.

 I have a new camera and I was working on my water blur.

 Tyson wanted to join in on the fun- this isn't my new camera though

 Brinley is two months old! Although by the time I post this she will probably be three months old.

 Brinley loves to be cuddled and talked to

 Hard work playing with two three-year olds.

 This was the start of our trip when we blessed Brinley. She was quiet the whole time!

 Tyson can pull off these desperate, starving child looks.

And of course- what would I do if I didn't have access to a cat! Thank goodness for Nikko:)

 Brinley loves Taush just like Ty

 Tyson can't get enough of attacking Grandpa. Especially with a water gun.

 Robbie's birthday party- it was Star Wars themed

 Tyson thought this was great- hitting people in the face with a toy and it was allowed, what could be better?

 Brinley almost laughed at this- she was giggling kind of and it was really cute. She loves her brother

 Bring it on.

 This is a project I was working on. I will post more pictures to my other photo blog.

The big battle

Brinley Kristen Buck: The Story

I'm going to start off with pictures and then if you want you can read the experience:)

 Her first outfit! We of course had to go with BYU gear.

 Tradition. Dustin did this with Tyson and will do it with each of our kids.

 I don't like to post pictures of myself- but had to show Rocky's dedication during the labor. Way to go Rocky!

 Proud Daddy!

 First family shot morning of the birth. We had to fight to get Tyson to sit still for just a moment.

 Did you notice the kitty on her outfit- yes that was planned:)

 We received lovely flowers from Grandma Buck, they go perfectly with her outfit!

 Another BYU outfit we had to try on.

 Since the baby is a pretty exciting event- we decided to transition to a toddler bed at the same time. I kind of figured we might as well all struggle getting sleep at the same time. He was so excited about the plane on his bedding though.

 We tried it out today and he actually did pretty well. Nap time may turn into play time but at least he is pretty good about staying in his room. Plus, he eventually did take a nap on his bed- yay!


Now on to the story:

 I would like to start the week prior to Brinley’s official appearance. My mom came to help me finish up my finals week July 10^th. She really did a great job playing with Tyson and keeping him busy so I could focus on finishing up most of my classes. I started contractions mid-week during my finals and was sort of half wanting Brinley to come since I was pretty uncomfortable and half wanting her to stay inside so I could better focus on school. She decided to stay put. Her due date came and left (July 17^th) and then I started to really feel ready to have her join us.

            I woke up during the night on Sunday and started having some more intense contractions. They were very uncomfortable but I didn’t really think anything of them. Then about one or two hours later I had the same type of contractions and I felt this time labor was probably starting. It was about 5 a.m. when I told Dustin I thought it could be time. We had decided to do a home birth and so this meant instead of rushing to the hospital we called our midwife, Stephanie Soderblom to come over. We got things set up in our room as needed for the birth and I started up my Pandora station- Piano Guys. I didn’t have music last time with Tyson because I just didn’t want to take the time to set it up in the hospital and didn’t have a device I could easily play. I didn’t realize what a nice distraction it made during and between contractions.

            Time seemed to go somewhat slowly even though I know I still had a fast birth. I think this is because I really was hoping to go faster with my second vs. the first. I actually ended up going about 15 minutes longer with Brinley, which isn’t a big deal but those minutes can seem long.

            My birth team arrived and set up their equipment. I ended up staying on my bed most of the time on my side. Dustin was there rubbing my back reminding me to “breathe through the belly” and getting me water and food. I was pretty shaky at first because I was hungry so it was nice to be able to eat a little fruit during labor.

            One of the best things about my home birth was that Rocky- one of our cats, was able to be involved. I really like cats and it relaxes me to pet a cat. It was so interesting during labor because Rocky came and curled up right next to me on the bed. It was kind of funny how attached he was. He didn’t stay the whole time but was there a good majority of the time (although not the actual birth). Dustin was so proud of our kitty.

            Tyson was sleeping for most of the time but when he woke up my mom took him to breakfast. They also went to the Pet’s Smart to check out all the exciting animals. This is one of Tyson’s favorite things to do.

            I was really looking forward to having my water break- since last time my water broke right off the bat and then I went into pretty intense labor. This time is seemed to build up slower but when my water finally did break (sometime after 7) things really sped up. I started feeling the need to push and pretty soon was pushing to get the baby out.

I don’t know exactly how long I pushed for but it was pretty short. Brinley’s hand and head came through at the same time, which to me didn’t really make a difference. It was painful either way. Dustin asked me later if I temporarily forgot my pain after her head came through and I realized I did for a brief moment. It was just such a relief to finally get to that point and then I had to re-focus and finish the job. He was referencing part of scriptures where it talks a little about labor. You would have to ask him exactly where it talks about this- I can’t remember.  After the birth I was just as exhausted as I was with Tyson. She was born around 8:15 so the whole labor/delivery lasted about 3 hours and 15 minutes. She weighed 8 lbs and 8.5 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long. She had a little bit of hair-blonde all over her head but mostly in the back.

            Again, one of the best things about this delivery was that I didn’t tear! I did get a bit of a scratch but nothing that required stitches or repair. I think it made a big difference because I was able to walk fairly soon after giving birth without fainting (I did that last time).

            Dustin was able to catch Brinley as she came out and I know he enjoyed being involved with the birth process. He also cut the cord and checked out the placenta in detail, I didn’t care to look at the placenta.

            Mom got me breakfast and then came home with Tyson. He was pretty interested in the baby and was very excited about the baby although part of it could have just been a sugar rush. He was running in circles all over the room and we had a hard time getting him to sit still for the first family picture. I think he will be a good helper for Brinley and he even is now trying to say her name. It was really sweet to watch him make the connection of pointing to my stomach-saying baby then pointing to Brinley saying baby. It was also really cute watching him first touch her head very softly. He is going through another screaming phase but it doesn’t seem to bother Brinley and she can sleep through a lot of noise. It has also been fun watching the cats check out Brinley. It reminds me of Lady and the Tramp where Lady is on her back paws rocking forward and back to get a glimpse of the baby. That is totally what both of our cats have done while Brinley has been in the crib and swing.

            Overall I would totally do a home birth again. (assuming I am having a normal, healthy pregnancy) The biggest difference for me was that our midwife was there the whole time and we got to make the decisions and follow our birth plan. It was really nice to have her there to give encouragement and instructions as well as help take care of things after the birth. I definitely felt like in the hospital the OB-GYN on call was there to deliver a baby and then move on to his next to do item. It was also nice because Stephanie’s assistants were on board for what we wanted as well. In the hospital we sort of had to fight to get certain things done with the nurses even though I know this isn’t always the case but you can’t really pick who the nurses will be. This experience has been more personal. It has also been wonderful to relax in my own home and bed.

San Diego and MORE!

 The first day at our hotel-Tyson loved playing on the bed and in the pillows.

 Another favorite activity was saying hello and holding up the phone.

 Our hotel- they upgraded us to a two bedroom and it was great! Tyson had the whole upstairs to himself:)

 We went to the children's museum in San Diego and Tyson had so much fun! It really wasn't that big but we did everything about 3-4 times.

 All this play can be so tiring!

 He hated getting water on his shirt so I ended up taking it off- but he loved playing in the bubbles.

 When we first went to the beach Tyson was so excited seeing all the "juice" and sand.

 We made a trip to the San Diego temple and Tyson found games to play:)

 We went to the Birch Aquarium and they had these huge whale fountains

 Tyson liked seeing all the fish but pushing the buttons was even more exciting!

 Anemone- we didn't realize it attaches itself to you at first and it threw us off suddenly having something attach to your fingertips.

 Tyson loved seeing the big sharks overhead

 This was a really cool toy displaying river currents. You could move the blue and yellow dividers to create a steady stream of water and then set boats down your course. I think some of the parents were getting more involved than the kids.

 I'm not sure why- but Tyson loved the teeth on this shark

 This is a view on La Jolla Shores/Children's Beach

 There was a spot blocked off that the seals come- it was amazing to see how fast the seals could swim. Dustin really wanted to go down on the beach next to the seal, but there was a ranger nearby:)

 Tyson ended up enjoying playing on the rocks and in the shallow parts of the ocean. He was nervous whenever a large wave came up though.

 Dustin wanted to show that our car was partially in Mexico while driving home- at least according to our GPS. We did see part of the border though while driving it didn't seem like much.

We had some fun writing in the sand- well Tyson really wasn't having any fun at that particular moment so I sort of added him in:)

 drum roll....IT'S A GIRL!

Due Date is set for July 17th