One Month Old

Wow this past month has really flown by.  I can't believe Nyles is already a month old (actually 5 1/2 weeks today)!  There are days when I feel like we're going to be in this stage forever, then there's days when I feel like growing so quickly.  Some days I feel like all I get done is to feed him and change his diaper, repeated many many times.  Each day and week has been getting better and better though.  I feel like I'm getting more sleep (most of the time) or just getting used to the constant interruptions at night.  This past week I also have been able to make meals every day for Steve and I and do some other things that I needed to get done.  We've also been taking Nyles out a little more and have been going on walks w/ him the last couple days.  It's been nice to get out and feel like I'm actually accomplishing things again, in addition to taking care of our cute little boy that is.

Here is a quick update on Nyles since we got home from the hospital with him.  Steve was in between school semesters, which turned out great, so he was able to be around to help me with Nyles.  After we got home we had to go back the next day to check on his jaundice levels and weigh him.  When he was born he was 6 lb 9 oz, then when we weighed him again that Wednesday (three days later) he was 6 lb 4 oz.  His jaundice also went up so we had to bring him back the next three days to be tested and weighed.  His jaundice had increased so much though that they had us put him on a bilibed for a day.  It was sad to see him on the bed and not be able to hold him, but thankfully it got rid of it.  Then next couple days we didn't have to have him on the bed because they wanted to see if his body could get rid of it on its own, which it did thankfully.  His weight also slowly went back up to 6 lb 6 oz, then 6 lb 8 oz.  And at his 2 week appointment he weighted 7 lb 4 oz.

Little Nyles on his bilibed

Steve and Nyles showing off their muscles

Stacie and Conor came over to hang out on August 17th while the rest of the family was at a birthday party for Chandler since they were still so little.  We ordered pizza and watched a movie, well had it on but mostly just talked. ;)

Cousins, 2 weeks apart, Conor and Nyles.

Nyles first bath.  He loved it actually!

The next week my mom came down to help us w/ Nyles.  Unfortunately the day after she got here we learned that her dad had a stroke and wasn't doing well.  That night my mom went down to be with him and ended up staying overnight in the care center with him.  The next couple days she'd come stay at our place, make some food, then go back down to American Fork to be with him.  He passed away that Friday morning, August 24th.  It was hard for my mom, but I guess the good thing is that she got to be here with him a few more days.  My mom went home for a couple days then came back down for his viewing which was held on the 29th and funeral on the 30th.  My dad came down w/ her this time, along w/ my 2 brothers Dexter and Daron and some of their family.  Steve missed his classes that morning so we could go to the funeral, but I was glad we could all go together.  Rose also went to the funeral.  We didn't get much of an opportunity to chat w/ anyone unfortunately because we had to head back up to SLC so Steve could go drop off some things for school.

Nyles w/ his Grandma Hegerhorst

Cute little Nyles in his bassinet (cute little chicken legs)

Such a rough life :)

We put some shelves in the closet in Nyles' room so we can be a little more organized.  We still have our food storage in his closet though since there is no where else to put it.

The week my mom was here, Steve's sister Carrie also went through the temple and was sealed.  Since my mom was down w/ her dad we asked our neighbor Melissa to sit w/ Nyles while we went to the sealing.  Thankfully he just slept the whole time and we got back just in time to feed him.  It was a neat experience to be at the sealing; the Spirit was really strong.

Draper temple on date of Carrie's sealing (August 22nd)

Over Labor Day weekend we went up to the cabin.  It was fun to get out of the house for a while and to be w/ others.  The weather was rainy Saturday and Sunday, but it gave us a chance to visit and also for Steve to get done w/ his homework that he was catching up on.  Nyles right eye had discharge on Saturday so we took him to Heber to get it checked out at the Instacare.  The Dr said it was an eye infection so we got some drops to put in his eye.  It broke my heart to see him in pain.  When we got back on Monday (after Steve went fishing w/ Dave in the morning), it still wasn't better, so we made an appointment to see his regular Pediatrician.  His Pediatrician said it was actually a clogged tear duct so there was nothing we needed to do (no more drops thankfully) other than put a warm wash cloth on it to help clear it up.  Luckily a few days later it did clear up.  When we went in to the Dr, Nyles also weighed 8 lbs 3 oz, so he's still gaining weight at a good pace.

 Nyles w/ his Aunt Kim at cabin

Cute Nyles at cabin

Hanging out w/ his Grandma McGrath

 After we got back from the cabin, I had a meeting w/ my RS Presidency (finally after a month).  I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things.  We went to sacrament meeting that week, September 9th, but then came back to feed Nyles and didn't make it back.  This last week though we stayed for all 3 hours.  It's still a challenge to balance when he needs to feed, but its getting better.  I've also been able to go on RS visits w/ my counselors again, which has been nice to meet the new sisters that have moved into the branch.  This past Sunday we had lots of changes in the branch.  We actually got a new Branch President.  We also got a new Elder's Quorum President and a couple weeks before that we got a new Primary President.  We still haven't got our new Sunday School President, but I'm sure that'll come soon.  The branch definitely has changed, as it always does every so often.  Many people moved out in July and August also, so since we've come back from having Nyles it really seems different.   We were able to meet w/ President Thorup before he was released in order to get our temple recommends renewed and to get tickets to the Brigham City Temple dedication coming up this Sunday.  It was good to talk w/ him one more time and discuss the needs of the sisters.  I'll miss working with him. 

Chillin' w/ dad, looks like he's watching TV

 So happy ..... after being fed :)

Steve is enjoying his classes for the most part.  This semester he has 2 classes at SLCC, 2 online classes, 1 hybrid class which is mostly online, his capstone project, and one other class at the U in order to finish his Bachelors Degree this Fall.  He's got quite the load with 22 credits, but luckily he'll be done after this, then he only has his prerequisites to finish in order to apply for PA school after that.  He's got his work cut out for him, but I know he can do it. 

This past week Nyles has made great progress.

• He has switched from newborn diapers to size 1
• His newborn outfits are getting tighter, so we're starting to use his 0-3 month ones
• He started using a bottle w/ no hesitation.  We wanted to introduce it now so when I go back to work it won't be a struggle.
• He started sleeping in his crib and now sleeps there all the time.  Steve is pretty happy about this one ;)

Here are some more pics of cute little Nyles.

 He truly his "Daddy's little buddy"

Exhausted after talking w/ Grandma McGrath ;)

Passed out, enjoying his cocoon/sleeping bag that Great Grandma VaLere made for him

Doesn't want to let go of the Binky, silly boy ;)

We're loving having Nyles around and his precious spirit.  He's such a joy to be around.  Even when he cries he is just soooo cute; I can't help but smile.  We're going to bless him on October 14th.  We'd love to have anyone come that can.  Have a great week!

Nyles Is Here!!!

In case you haven't heard.........Nyles William McGrath has made his arrival!  He is actually 2 weeks old today.  He was born on Sunday, August 12, 2012 at 6:12 am.  He weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 20.5 inches long and was 3 weeks early.  We were so HAPPY to welcome him into the world!

Cute little Nyles, so happy to be here!

I want to give all the details of his birth, so this may be a little long and detailed (sorry, I want to remember everything later).  Let me start where I last left off.  So the week before Nyles was born I had been rather uncomfortable, imagine that.  My feet had been swelling up every day and it was really hard to sit or stand for long periods of time, so work was getting pretty hard to carry on.  I always take the stairs at work, being on the 3rd floor it's not that far and it's good exercise, but that week I had decided I was going to take the elevator because it was so uncomfortable.

Besides being really uncomfortable I had several instances about "water breaking."  First the guy who sit in front of me at work, his wife who was a month a head of me, her water broke the week before her due date.  He was gone the week before to help take care of her and their baby, so this past week I got to talk to him about their experience.  It's been fun because it's both our first babies and we were both expecting boys.  Then on Tuesday the 7th we went and visited a sister who moved into the branch and she told me that her first baby came after her water broke when she was only 36 1/2 weeks, which is exactly how far along I was the day we were visiting her.  That night I had a dream about my water breaking.  The next morning we went for my weekly Dr appointment and asked my Dr how how likely it was for the water to break and he said it was pretty rare and not to worry about it.  So.....after hearing that from my Dr and after he checked me and I hadn't changed from the week before, I had decided I had better get used to this REALLY "uncomfortable" state for the next 3 weeks and just deal with it.  I figured he was just going to wait until his due date or later. 

So that day Ryan, Carrie's husband was going through the temple so we wanted to be there for him.  We had it all planned out.  Steve would pick me up at work in order to save some time not having to take the train, he'd bring our temple bags, my skirt, and a quick bite to eat.  Well when he came to pick me up he had forgotten our temple bags and there was an accident on I-15 blocking the south bound lanes all the way until our exit.  So we decided to go down 7th east instead, which was a little quicker, but still we didn't move too quickly.  By the time we got home and grabbed our bags, it was getting late.  We got to the temple just before the session was to start, and considering how quickly I was able to move at this point we figured we would just do initiatories instead.  There was not many people doing initiatories so we were able to go through pretty quickly.  We finished well before the session was done, so we went to Maverick to get a frozen yogurt (mainly because I was uncomfortable and didn't want to sit much longer).  We then came back and went back to the waiting area in the temple and waiting for a little while for them to come out.  Though we didn't make it to the temple session, we were still glad to make it to the temple regardless.  It's always nice to feel the Spirit at the temple.

At the Jordan River Temple

Friday after work Steve decided to go up to the cabin with his dad in order to be there early the next morning to help w/ Cast for Kids.  Steve has helped his dad do this for three years now and we figured since I hadn't moved along much (dilated/effaced) this past week, they my as well get a good night's sleep up there so they don't have to get up as early if they left from here.  While he was gone I felt I needed to get some Relief Society things done, so I worked on getting things organized and assignments made, especially for visiting teaching.  I was able to take it easy and got a lot of things done and ready "just in case" Nyles decided to come early.

Saturday I slept in a good while then got up and did some more things around the house.  I cleaned our place, did dishes and washed and folded laundry.  I even got more things put away in Nyles' room.  Steve got home by the afternoon.  On his way home Steve stopped at his parent's house, so I asked him to grab the bassinet my sister Rose gave us, just so we'd have it here and be more "ready."  Carrie also showed up about the same time.  She had a little while until Ryan would get off work and wanted to make a photobook, so I showed her a few things that I know about them.  Steve was tired, so he took a little nap while we did this.  After he got up Carrie headed out to go meet Ryan, and we headed out to go to a few stores.  I wanted to see if we could find a few more things to decorate Nyles' nursery.

We didn't find anything at the first store for his nursery so we went to the 2nd store, Burlington Coat Factory/Baby Depot.  We found some valences that would work perfect then had just found some cute wall decals when all of a sudden I felt this warm "gush" go down my leg.  I looked at Steve and said, "Ought oh."  Steve then said, "What?"  I said, "I think my water just broke."  Steve looked at me liked no way, then asked if I was sure.  I said, "Oh yes."  He then said we should find a restroom but I told him that I couldn't move because it was still coming out.  We stood there for a few moments trying to figure out what to do, the whole time I was laughing really hard, which didn't make matters any better (it of course made more come out).  After containing myself, I told Steve that we should just leave since there was nothing we could do.  Since we had found the decals we wanted I told Steve to go check out and I'd go to the car and wait for him.  The water had gone all down my pants so I asked Steve to roll up my legs to maybe get less attention.  Of course we were in the very back of the store, so I followed behind Steve trying to avoid eye contact w/ anyone.  I made it out to the car and grabbed the store ads I had brought and sat on them, hoping to not get any more in the car.  Steve came out a few minutes later and we headed home.

On the way our gas light came on, but since I wasn't in any pain I told and had heard it takes a few hours for contractions to kick in, I told Steve to just stop and fill up instead of getting the Jeep when we got home.  I also called my 1st counselor to let her know that I would not be able to make it to PEC in the morning at 6:45 am so if she could please cover for me I'd appreciate it.  When we got home, at about 8pm, I casually put a few more things in my bag for the hospital.  Luckily I had started it earlier that week.  Steve was definitely a little more panicky than I was.  I had him shoot a quick picture before I changed (I was still laughing while taking the picture).  On the way to the hospital, I told Steve that I was really hungry, so we went to Arby's and got a sandwich for me.

He's on his way..... ;)

When we got to the hospital, it was about 9 pm.   Since we had been there a few weeks before, we knew exactly where to go this time.  We told the staff what had happened then they immediately got us into a room.  After changing into a hospital gown, they did a quick swipe of the fluid which turned blue and meant that my water had in fact broken.  They they told us that we were definitely going to have a baby and because my water had broken I could have an epidural at any time.  They also checked me and I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  Steve then called/text everyone and let them know the good news!

A couple hours later I was definitely feeling the pain, so we got an epidural.  I dilated fairly quickly during the labor process.  I went from a 3 to a 4 to a 5 to a 9 then 10.  I was pretty comfortable and even though I was really tired I couldn't sleep.  The last hour I got pretty uncomfortable in that I felt like my bum was numb and it didn't feel comfortable at all.  Luckily I started pushing shortly thereafter at around 4:45am.  Things were going well for a while then they noticed that his heart rate kept dropping every time I pushed, so they put me on oxygen to see if it would help.  Unfortunately it didn't help much, so they asked me to not push through the contractions and see if that helped; it didn't help either though.  The nurses were thinking that he was facing head up instead of head down like they prefer, which causes more stress on the baby I guess.  They then called in my Dr, Dr Twede, to see what he said to do.

When Dr. Twede got there he confirmed that Nyles was facing head up, so he said he was going to try the suction cup and see if he could turn him.  While he was in the process of turning him I had a contraction so he told me to push at the same time.  As he turned him and pulled him, I pushed and we got his head out pretty quickly.  As they got his head out Dr. Twede noticed that his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice (the main source of our problem).  The rest of Nyles' body came out pretty quickly and they laid him on my stomach.  As they did this I felt a huge amount of relief and love come over me and cried for a while.  I was soooo worried about him being ok and also the possibility that we'd have to go into a c-section.  I also couldn't believe that he was finally here!  Steve then cut his umbilical cord and then they took him over to clean him up.  I tore a little in the process so I got a few stitches in the meantime.  They then brought him over to me to hold, skin to skin.  After a while they let us move to the recovery room.  Since it was Sunday we had a lot of visitors, which was nice, though we didn't get any sleep.   As I said before, he was born at 6:12 a.m. on Sunday August 12th and weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 20.5 inches long.  Here are some more pics.

 Cute little foot

So little and precious

Our first family photo (ya I was REALLY tired)

Trying to open his little eye

Proud dad w/ baby Nyles

Our cute baby

We stayed in the hospital until Tuesday, and got home at about 11am.  We had really good nurses which helped us w/ the proper techniques to nurse and also made sure I was recovering.  To try and get some sleep we put Nyles in the nursery and they'd bring him to us to feed every 2-3 hours.  We also attended a nursing class just across the hallway, which was really helpful.  Our last night there they even brought us both in dinner; it was awesome!  They also gave me a bathrobe to take home.  We appreciated all the visits, calls and gifts.  Thank you everyone!  Here are some more pics.

Our lovely dinner, w/ cheesecake for dessert!

Steve giving Nyles his first bath in the hospital (his head was still cone head-like)

 Grandpa Dave holding him and playing on his I-pad, Grandma Joann just freezing ;)

Cousins Isaac and Cameron, w/ Aunt Kim holding him

Great Grandma LuDean

Rob, not quit sure what to think of Nyles yet

 Nyles w/ his cousin Conor who is 2 weeks older than him.  They were supposed to be 6 weeks a part, but Conor was 1 week late and Nyles was 3 weeks early.  Conor is 2 weeks old here and weighed 10 lbs.

 Aunt Carrie holding him, Aunt Stacie w/ cousin Conor

 Baby Nyles in his carseat.  We made it home!

We feel sooooo blessed to have Nyles in our lives right now.  He is such a sweetheart.  We feel so incredibly blessed to be his parents.  Though it's tiring right now, we know it's sooo worth it!  Thanks again for all the love and support we've had for Nyles.

End of July, Beginning of August

Can you believe that it is August already? We're definitely excited that it's finally August, which means hopefully by the end of the month Nyles will be here!  We're getting anxious to meet him!  

Since I last wrote we got a new a/c and furnace.  They were both the original units that were put in when the condos were first built, like in the 80's.  We knew they were going to go out someday, they just both happened to go out this year (the furnace during the winter and the a/c this summer).  By the time we got bids and got them replaced it was 2 weeks.  They say July has been one of the hottest months on record and being prego hasn't helped either.  Thankfully we had the pool to use, which we basically went to every night to cool off.

Old a/c and furnace

New furnace

Monday, July 23^rd, we went over to our neighbors for a BBQ, specifically to say goodbye to the Shills.  They are moving to Arizona for med school.  We’re going to miss them in the branch.  It was fun to socialize w/ everyone in the branch that came of course.

Otto, Emily, me (34 weeks), and Steve

Tuesday, July 24^th, since it was a Utah holiday we had a casual day at work.  Steve had to take me to work since the trains were off schedule due to the parade taking place downtown.  He then picked me up off 3900 South then we headed over to his grandma LuDeans for dinner.  It was pretty hot as you can imagine, so after dinner we went home and went swimming.  My feet/ankles have been swelling up most days, so the water is nice to get the weight off my feet, and hips!

Baby Alexa 6 months, Stacie 40 weeks, Penny 34 weeks, Carrie 18 weeks

Wednesday, July 25^th, we got together with friends in the branch who served in Canada to celebrate Canada.  We had 4 couples all together.  It was fun to have them talk about how different their missions were in the different Providences.  We ate poutine, progees, and Canada Dry as snacks.  We also played a trivia game about Canada, which we did pretty poorly at, oh well.  It was a fun evening though.

Thursday, July 26^th, I helped Steve w/ his project and lab, then we went to get groceries and packed to go to the cabin.

Friday, July 27^th after work we went up to the cabin w/ 2 couples from the branch.  Dave and Melissa Thomas and Kalia and Kiam Clark and their little girl Kualena.

Saturday, July 28^th I made crepes for breakfast in the morning, then we all went fishing on the boat.  Everyone had a good time, no wind, and we even caught some fish.  At about 1pm we came home for lunch, and as Steve was backing the Tahoe and boat back in the driveway the power steering went out.  After many back and forths Steve finally got the boat put away.

Kalia and Dave waiting for a bite

Kiam and Kualena enjoying the boat

Look at all the fish we can catch!

We caught a big one!

Steve and Kiam cleaning the fish

Showing off the fish

After lunch they went out shooting while I stayed back w/ Kualena so she could sleep and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies.  After they got back they wanted to go out fishing on the shore.  I didn't feel like moving far so I stayed and fed Kualena and watched her.  Walking, though not a really long distance, didn’t sound good, especially w/ all the pressure I have on my hips.  These past couple weeks Nyles has definitely moved down, "dropped" and his constantly pushing on my bladder and hips.  So walking is really not comfortable as you can imagine. After they got back we made tin foil dinner; they were excellent!  Steve also BBQ'd up the fish which they completely devoured, apparently it was really good.  We then watched “We bought a Zoo.”

Steve, Melissa, Kiam, Kalia, and Dave (devouring the fish, Steve and I didn't eat any though since we don't really like fish)

Sunday, July 29^th  we came back home.  Dave and Joann came up to meet us and get the Tahoe towed.  We had lunch then cleaned up.  We stopped by the hospital to visit Stacie and little Conor (he was born Saturday the 28^th).

Aunt Diane, Grandma LuDean and baby Conor

Conor and Uncle Steve

Monday, July 30^th  I stayed home from work because wasn’t feeling well at all.  My whole body was hurting and I just couldn't get out the door.  Since I was home that day we decided to switch our Dr appointment.  Dr Tweed said everything is looking good.  I was dilated just over 1cm and 70% effaced.  He thinks Nyles is weighing 6 pounds now.  The Dr thinks I’m a little a head of schedule but nothing to worry about.  If I go into labor again he said we’ll take him this time.

Tuesday, July 31^st, Steve and I went to “The Melting Pot” for dinner wasn’t too impressed, tried to go to the Cheesecake Factory but it was too busy,  so we then went home and got pizza.  We then updated Steve’s classes for the fall.

Wednesday, August 1^st LuDean and Diane put on a baby shower for me.  It was really nice and much appreciated.  We had a light dinner, which was very yummy, then played a couple games and opened gifts.  We are very thankful for the family support which we have, thank you everyone for your love for Steve and I and baby Nyles. 

Steve and I at shower, 36 weeks

Our cute bellies ;)

Thursday, August 2^nd  we went to visit a new sister, who is actually moving out this month. I then started working on vt reports for July since my vt coordinator has moved.

Friday, August 3^rd we ended up having to run up to the cabin to bring Dave’s boat’s keys.  They weren’t on his keys.  Steve finished his classes this past week.  He had finals on Thursday and Friday to wrap them up.  He finished up his last lab for his physiology lab, and then we left to go up to the cabin.  We grabbed a sandwich on the way up and some Benadryl  for Jeff’s dog who was at the cabin w/ a swollen eye.  By the time we got up there it was about 9:30pm.  Jeff was up there w/ some young men and a couple leaders from his ward.  They were planning to pass off some fishing merit badges.

The next morning Steve and Dave went out early to get the boat on the water.  It was a veterans fishing day so there was a lot more people than normal.  They got an hour or two of fishing in then Jeff and his crew came and joined them.  We left that afternoon to get back.  We then went to Macey’s for their case lot sale.  We want to get stocked up as much as possible, at least it makes me feel better we have something for long term storage if needs be.  I then had some Relief Society things to work on.

On Sunday I met w/ my counselors, my new 2^nd counselor, and our other RS meetings committee members.  I wanted to have a meeting w/ Ashley my 2^nd counselor before she moves this next week.  I printed information from lds.org about the purpose of our other Relief Society meetings and how to focus on the needs of the sisters in our branch.  Sister Beck points out that we need to get away from being in the entertainment business and instead worrying about the salvation of the sisters.  We then went over our calendar and upcoming meetings for the rest of the year.  I feel like we had a really good discussion and are off to a good start w/ our new 2^nd counselor.  She was teaching provident living on 4^th Sundays before and will definitely bring in knowledge and expertise to our presidency.  I also need to get another VT Coordinator called, 3 more supervisors, and 2 more RS teachers.  We had a lot of sisters move out these past couple months unfortunately, but thankfully more are starting to move it.  I just want to get as many called and trained before Nyles gets here.  ;)

Well we'll keep you posted.  Hopefully w/in the next 3 weeks Nyles will be here!