Rex Keith

okay, It has been a little over a week since little Rex joined our family. He has been a wonderful addition and we are so happy he is here. It has definitely been an adjustment, but still so great. I wanted to write down his story before it got too much longer and I forgot. Though Im sure some of the details are already a little fuzzy.

Well tuesday morning a little before justin got up for work i woke up with some contractions. I tried to ignore them and not get too excited, but when they continues to come I started timing them. they were pretty irregular and would come every 5-10 min. but nothing too intense. I did tell justin that they were continually coming. yes He can still go to work but maybe keep his phone on loud in case I needed to call. Also these contractions were only consistently coming because i was laying down and not trying to stop them. I was a little disappointed when I got up to get Ryker and Rylie and they slowed down and went away for most of the day. I was so ready to have this baby out i was sad that i got my hopes up. They picked up again in the evening. a little stronger, but still manageable. We texted sis lawson from our ward to see if she would be available to potentially come over in the middle of the night if we decided it was time. she was fine with that and we headed off to bed to try and get some sleep. i woke up around midnight with stronger contractions. they were still irregular timing wise, but consistently coming even when i got up and walked around. went to the bathroom, etc. they were strong enough that i had to really focus to get through them, but i thought i was coping well even though they were painful.

Around 1 am we decided to call sis lawson and she got there about half an hour later. we made it to the hospital and i was trying to walk through and ignore my contractions. i would have one every 8 min or so, but if the interval was closer to 10 min they were pretty strong. They checked me at the hospital and i was 3 cm dialated. woohoo! i normally dont change from 1 cm unless i am in active labor so maybe this is the real thing! i hope so, i was hurting. they said they would monitor me for 2 hrs and see if i progressed then decide if they would keep me there. the nurse looked at me and said, your too happy in between contractions to really be in labor. um rude... of course im happy in between. thats not the painful part and my baby is coming. we sat in bed for a while. they helped me get up and walk around for a bit. when they checked me again around 430 they said little to no change, and my contractions had tapered off a little bit so they sent me home. I wanted to cry but saved that for the car ride home. I have never been sent home before, and i was tired and in a lot of pain. not what i wanted. plus i felt a little guilty for calling sis lawson in the middle of the night for nothing. oops...

so we went home and tried to do more there. we got a few more hours of sleep. well justin did, i got about 1 hr before i couldnt sleep in between anymore. justin stayed home from work and did a little from home. since they were pretty consistent even moving around he didnt want to leave 2 hrs down south and then have to drive back leaving me trying to wrangle 2 kids while im in active labor. I called my dr and scooted my apt up for that afternoon. since i was still having strong contractions i hoped that i would make my progress to 4 cm (where i usually stall and they need to break my water to progress) and he would send me to the hospital. to no avail. He said i was still about 3 cm and keep going! i thought about punching him in the face. he is a great guy and i really like him as my dr, but i was also so tired and really hurting. he kept joking that oh your induction on monday (5 days away) will be a cake walk  if this is where i am at! haha no... not funny. i cant do this for a week.

anyways i go home and cry a little more. Mom had tried to see if she could change her flight to wed instead of thursday but too many change fees and too many miles it just wasnt feasible. so i miss my mom, im hurting, I feel the drs and nurses are not listening to me when i say my body stalls at a 4! i wont progress without help! please help me! nope, i got nothing from them. As the evening went on my contractions got stronger and stronger. They were still coming every 10 min or so. I never got to that 2-3 min apart. lasting for a min range that they always want you to be before you come in. I never got that far with ryker. rylie was induced so i dont know for her. but i knew thats not how my body worked! according to their guidelines i would never be ready to go to the hospital.

That night i called the hopital again. said hey my contractions are really strong. I cant breath through them anymore. my body is tensing up a lot and i cant relax. they are far apart, but i know i wont progress because my body doesnt do that without help! what is the likelihood that you will send me home? "well we really like them to be closer together. so if you cant progress you will most likely be sent home." thanks. thanks for nothing. i hate you a little bit. bye. i didnt say that, but i wanted to. so i hang up and cry some more. they are just going to send me home. i cant do this all night. im tired. im hurting. i dont know what to do. justin has been a huge help. being such a strong support when im having a breakdown/contraction. justin gives me a blessing to give me comfort and to know my body and know what to do. Tells me that my heavenly parents are proud of me and know what i am going through. they are here for me and know i can get through this. that helps a ton. i love blessings from him. he cries with me for a min after. he hates that im hurting so much just as much as i do. after that i go sit in the tub for a while. i make is super hot and have the shower head just sitting on my back while the tub fills up. it actually does help a bit. once i get out i am able to relax enough to sleep for about an hour.

I wake up at midnight again in lots of pain and lots of contractions. I try to take another bath. this time is doesnt relax me enough like it did before. my contractions are still super strong and i am really struggling through them. I go downstairs and try to distract myself and lay down. get a heating pad on my back. nothing seems to be working to take the edge off. **side note, i hate when the nurses ask, did you try a warm bath or tylenol? um. this is baby number 3. of course i tried everything. i wouldnt be calling you if it was a side ache. granted, im a lot hormonal, a little irritated and moderately cranky at this point. back to my story - i told myself i wanted to try to get through the night. i didnt want to have to call sis lawson again at 2 in the morning. not to mention i know i wont be far enough along and i definitely didnt want to be sent home again. but around 2 am i am just dying. i cant relax. im in my living room yelling into a pillow during contractions because i feel like im being ripped apart. i figure okay its probably time to tell justin. so during an in-between i go upstairs and make it to the side of the bed before another one hits. i try to be a litte quieter, but remember i am being ripped in half. back labor is no joke. worst thing ever. justin bolts upright can tell im not doing well and rushes over to hold me. i sure love that man. i am finally able to sit on the bed and i am just in hysterics. im sobbing and hyperventilating and just losing it. justin helps me through one or 2 more contractions. asks if we need to call sis lawson again. i somehow communicate that im scared of them turning me away. he looks at me and says with how much pain your in i wont let them. okay maybe my tear stained face is a good indicator baby is coming. so sis lawson comes over again. we get to the hospital about 3 am. they check me and im about 5 cm dialated! woohoo! i have never made it past 4. thats cool. all this pain and suffering is helping.

they call the on call dr and they decide to keep me. double woohoo! such a blessing to hear. i had been praying ever since we called sis lawson that they would keep me. that my body would have done enough to have them help. thank you thank you! so many prayers of gratitude after that. luckily for me since it was the middle of the night not much was going on so the lab people could come in right away to take their samples and prepare me for my epidural. perfect. stick me! they tried to take blood from my IV site, but that means they would have to get it right. blew veins in my arm and hand on my right arm. massive bruises. which pulsed and got worse every time the blood pressure cuff went off. and blew a vein in my wrist before a different nurse finally got it in my upper forearm on my left arm. i know my veins are bad. but a day or 2 later my arms look so beat up. i am still waiting for the bruises to go away. anyways it was super short and within half an hour the anesthesiologist was in coming to give me my epidural. i mentioned to justin that even though i was in a lot of pain. the contractions got a little easier once i knew relief was on the way.

so its probably about 430 by the time they get my epidural in. it was a good stick and they only had to do it once. better than rylies despite being done by the same person. haha. with this one is was different than what i felt (or didnt feel) with ryker and rylie. like with rykers epidural i couldnt move my legs. a few times i had to ask justin to help my move my knees or put my foot back on the bed because i couldnt lift it. but i could lift my hips just enough to help. and i did continue to feel contractions in my stomach. though much less painful. and the backlabor was completely gone. i never felt any pressure to push like i did with rylie. so another expereince to dwell on next time. haha. basically i could feel enough to not nap while i wait for baby boy to come, but i could rest and relax. they came and put in my catheter around 5-530 ish. also checked me again and said i was 7-8 cm dialated. cool! still havent broken my water. they havent given me any pitocin. so my body did this on its own. i didnt know it could do that. haha. ive never done it before. granted i also never want to be hurting like that either.i kept having huge waves of feeling flushed. like all of a sudden im hot and sweating profusely, nauseous, and a little dizzy. the nurse said it was my bodys response to being "in transition." even though i was relaxed (mostly) with an epidural. either way it was weird and it made me feelsuper odd and i didnt like it much. but justin helped me making sure i always had ice and acool cloth for my head. i made the comment that this was the first time i felt truely as gross and sweaty as they show in all the movies. thank heavens i could shower later.

they told me my dr would be making his rounds before going to the clinic for his usual day of apts. he would come in around 7. about 730 my nurse came in and checked me again. said i was about ready to push and about 9 cm dilated. holy cow! all on my own! im still in shock. but also on a high from not feeling as much pain and being sleep deprived. amniotic sac is still in tact by the way...

dr comes in about 10 min later. he confirms what the nurse said about how far i am and then breaks my water. since i am basically ready he said that once he broke my water he had a little bit of paperwork to fill out, but he would be back in 5 min and we would have this baby! alright. sounds good to me. compared to ryker and rylies birth i felt that this was really calm. there were a lot of other people around with the other 2. but with rex it was just me, justin, the dr and the nurse. while the dr was gone the nurse leisurely got the room ready. dr came back and  got all dressed in his gown and gloves and such. everyone was joking around the whole time. we joked that rylie had been so quick. 3 pushes and she was here. we had to "beat her record." dr said next contraction lets push. i started pushing and a few seconds left i hear the nurse say. "oh wow." then look! its hard to think while mid push but i opened my eyes to see head was out shoulders just about there. dr said relax and give just a hair more and he put rex on my chest. justin for to cut the cord. our baby boy was here! weighing in at 8 lbs 7 oz. 20 3/4 inches long. official time 7:58 am. Rex Keith Deitrick!

Since it went so fast i didnt tear at all. however the last cm was a little fast so they did give my 1 stitch on my cervix that was not clotting as quickly. but mostly we are both recovering great! The kids came to visit later that day after grandma got into town. justin brought them by for just a min, then took them to pic up mom at the airport. took them home to nap while my mom came to see me at the hospital. then they came to visit for dinner once they woke up. they loved to see the new baby. ryker understands a little more and calls him baby rex. since he was making squeaky noises in the bassinet ryker called him a squeaky toy in reference to patch in 101 dalmations 2. it was funny and that nickname has still stuck a week later. sorry rex. but you are now the squeaky toy. rylie kept looking over the bassinet and saying baby! baby! baby!

we love him so much. named after justins graddad on his fathers side, and the middle name of my grandad on my dads side. he is our perfect little boy. we are so excited to add him to the family. so excited that we have a second son! we love our family of 5. the kids love to hold him. only for a min or so, but they are good with him always. still being careful if we ever put him on the ground its not in running area.

middle of the night the first time i thought baby was coming. 39 weeks 3 days

this is me pretending to be happy in between contractions

epidurals are the best things ever. after 3 kids i know i just cant relax and will always get one. 

all the monitors and IVs. it looks so technical

hes here!

first measurments

so happy its all over

dad holding rex. looks much easier than his first pic with ryker

hes a pro now

since i couldnt move, justin was close and watching him while the took his measurments

it was so cute. once they laid him on my chest obviously he was crying. as they continued to clean things up for me justin came and started rubbing his head. Rex instantly quieted down. even now after a week and a half, rex still calms down almost immediately when justin comes and rubs his head. 

first family photo

first bath

all bundled up and looking like a smurf. I think in this pic he looks a little like Misty's Maya. 

rylie was so curious about the baby!

hanging with dad. 

first night at the hospital. poor justin. its so awful for him. the chair has an arch that makes sleeping impossible while its in the "lay" position. around midnight he grabbed all the extra pillows and made a bed on the floor. only moderately better. flat. but hard. i finally convinced him to join me on the bed at like 4. we slept till 630 when the lab people came in to take more blood samples. we were both so out. we sleep better together. even if the first half wasnt a horrid night sleep. 

chilling with baby boy

ready to go home

i love my boys!

these people are my favorite

our family of 5!

rylie practically snatches him when she wants to hold him. 

ryker and rylie are still learning to share. ryker just wanted to be involved with playing with the new baby. 

grandma with little rex

more bath  pics

Lets start with July

Okay, so a lot has happened in the last week, and most of that is on my mind, but i figure I should start with the update from the previous month. otherwise im pretty sure it would never happen.

So I realized that last time I updated I started listing off all the words rylie could say, but came to the realization that she really says a lot more. she sounds out most words and we are picking up more and more everyday. still mostly just sounding it out, but we can definitely tell which words they are. we went to the store the other day and justin taught her how to say orange. and strawberries. not that she couldnt say them before but its definitely getting more and more pronounced.

anyways, the kids are doing great. we put rylie in rykers room in prep for baby rex coming. it has been an adjustment, but all in all they are doing really well. rylie definitely doesnt stay in bed like ryker. and she is the instigator for all the play time and craziness. they love to bang the blinds against the window and it drives me crazy. its loud and they are going to break something. not to mention is pulls the tacks out of the wall that is holding up their black out sheets. so when i go in i have to find 3-4 tacks somewhere in the shag carpet so their poor little feet dont step on them. gah! update: we fixed it and pulled the blinds up. its not as dark now, but its good enough.

justin got the word that he is finally getting some help at work! they hired someone to be here and help with his work load. we are incredible grateful and glad things can be a little easier by the time rex gets here. heres hoping!

mostly this month has been prepping for baby. so not a ton has been happening.

photo with bride alicia from June. they look so happy! I love this pic

a tattoo justin got in his birthday card. rylie wanted to wear it. haha

this is how i felt most of the month

dog pile on dad

helping dad wash the car

dads birthday cake!

happy birthdya to you!

ryker helped blow out the candles

rylie wanted to be up with everyone too

fun at the park

ryker helped me make some chocolate m&m cookies. they were amazing

took some yearly photos. this lasted 2 micro seconds before she pulled the flower out

they were so cute together

he still loves to pose with his bear

hot days warrent the pool. 

dad was tired but all rylie wanted was some cuddles

she really likes to try out rykers bike and helmet. even if they are still a little big for her. 

I believe I am almost 38 weeks here. 

they spend their naps and mornings playing together. the first morning i caught them both in rykers bed and reading a story together. it was so precious. 

we were riding bikes outside and for some reason loved to ride each others bikes instead of the ones we got for them. 

playing in a puddle. sometimes you just have to not care if they get dirty

Back to Normal

okay, I think I am back to just my regular updating. All of our excitement is mostly over. at least for a few more weeks. The rest of June was quiet and mostly uneventful. We had a great fathers day. Justin got a grill and we celebrated with steaks cooked outside. they were super delicious. Justin has requested to do the same thing for his birthday coming up. we can definitely oblige, just so long as he knows he will be cooking them. hope he is okay with that on his big day. The kids and I made him a cute little fathers day card that looks like a toolbox with paper tools inside that said some fun puns. I thought it was cheesy and cute and perfect. He enjoyed it.

We also celebrated the 4th of July a few days early. Justin was gone all weekend, so we celebrated on friday. we cooked burgers and hot dogs again on our grill and then a few simple fireworks with the kids. It was super fun! we mostly did sparklers, pop its, and fountain fireworks. but the kids loved it. Ryker and rylie couldnt throw the pop its hard enough so we taught them to stomp on them to make the snapping noise. dont worry, shoes were on. but they were loving it and wanted more and more. We also roasted smores on our grill. tacky yes, but it worked. we thought it was a very fun pre 4th celebration. The kids and i also did a small picnic outside for lunch today to celebrate day of. and justin and i might watch some fireworks tonight after he gets home and it gets dark enough. (1030 11 ish) we will see how tired he is from traveling.

rylie is doing great. she had her 18 mo check up a week or so ago. She is in the 83% for height and 61% for weight. so she is tall and thin! still eats like a horse though. my goodness. she is a bottomless pit. but we love her so much! we are happy she is growing well and happy. She loves to put on shoes and jewlery. so there is some girl in there! her and ryker love to have squealing wars. we cut it off after our ears start ringing, but they have fun with it for a little while. Her favorite toys are of course her puppy, a thomas the train train that has the conductor that you push down and then is rolls forward. she loves any stuffed animal. and she loves to do everything ryker does. while we have been potty training she will always try to sit (fully clothed) on his potty while we wash our hands. mostly because she knows ryker gets a treat, so if she sits she can get one too. cant say no to that! but her reward is much less exciting. i pondered the thought of potty training her at the same time, but i really dont think she gets it. to her its more sit and i get a treat. or i want to be just like ryker. but all that is good too. just good practice. she is getting better at saying a few words. she knows momma, dad, cracker, banana and she calls most round fruit/veggies a popo. (apples, cherry tomatoes, grapes). she is also great at saying bye and waving and bowing kisses. this little girl melts my heart.

Ryker is doing awesome. we ventured into potty training this month. that has consumed most of our time and efforts and thoughts. if anyone calls and talks to us, thats mostly what we have to update on. ive never talked so much about poop before in my life. and I used to be a CNA in a nursing home. DAy 1 started off rocky when justin tried to help him get started just being in his underwear and maybe sitting on the potty. lots of screaming and crying and an hour in we hadnt made any progress. shoot.... then we figured, well we sometimes have to force him to change out of his night time diaper anyway, so we just wont put anything on. try the whole naked thing. but this boy is very private. he does not like to be naked. so he was okay putting his underwear on but didnt want to sit on the potty. baby steps.... it took 1 accident to figure out we did not like being wet at all. we hurried to his potty and then helped him clean up and change. but after that he was more willing to sit (with dad next to him reading or playing with his trains) so that he could stay dry. that was our 1 and only wet accident. He didnt poop until the next day. He went hiding behind the couch. we knew what was going on and what he was going to do. we tried to get him to sit on the potty instead but again just needed some privacy. but as soon as it was out he could tell this was not a diaper and he did not like it at all. so! that was our 1 poop accident. we are happy to announce that he has not had any accident in his underwear since. (going on 3 weeks now) we still put him in a diaper for naps and bed time. we know he isnt quite ready for that yet. we did have an issue with after that 1st poop accident he just was holding it in. poor guy didnt go for 4 days. then one day i hear him screaming bloody murder in the middle of a nap. i go up and he has soiled his diaper. but he is still crying really hard. obviously after that many days it was stopped up and hard and not fun to come out. i felt bad. but we snuggled and i cleaned him up and he was okay for the rest of his nap. same thing the next day where he went again in his diaper during nap time. still hard and working through not going for a few days. i tried to change him but he was still crying so i sat in his room and rocked him. apparently he wasnt done, so i changed him a second time in 10 min. but once everything was out he was doing better and could calm down.

We have been doing much better since. with dads help we have finally learned to poop on the potty and not in our diaper. sometimes if he misses a day (which happens randomly before we started potty training) he will go in his diaper before i get him up in the morning. but he is excited about the cookie he gets for a reward if we make it to the potty. he really never wants to sit on the potty. we were worried that he was just holding it in till nap/bedtime when he had a diaper on. but we changed our reward system and now he is excited to go in the potty again. we make him sit before we leave the house, before nap, and before bed. but thats really the only time he goes. i am less worried about leaving the house, but i still keep a close eye on him and his body language. all in all i am very happy with our results so far and i only hope it keeps going so well. next we are trying to teach how to go on our own so mom/dad isnt sitting with you the whole time because mom might need to be taking care of 2 other kids very soon. also working on pulling our underwear on and off ourselves. but its all a work in progress and i am happy with what he is learning. my big boy!

Justin is doing great at work. they are keeping him very busy especially lately. he worked some really long days the weeks leading up to hi weekend vacation, then was gone all weekend. im a little sad i feel like between hectic work and long weekends apart we dont have much time with him before baby comes. hopefully the next few weeks will be better and he can have normal work days.

Im doing great. i feel huge, baby is active, dr says i am measuring right on track so everything is looking normal! thats always a good sign. i am ready to be done, but also dont feel as rushed with this pregnancy, i have enough going on with my other 2 kids that i am just kinda going with whatever happens. I still got plenty to do to keep me busy. now that justin is home we have a few projects that need to get done before baby comes and he will help set up all the baby supplies to be ready for whenever he decides to make his debut. i have some organizing and cleaning i can do. i have mostly been waiting till im 36 weeks so that i can keep busy and not think about impending labor that i have no control over when it starts.

Thats our update! we will see if i can get one more normal one in before baby comes. guess we will see!

happy fathers day! powering up the grill the first time

yay for big boy underwear!

for the first few days we spent lots of time like this

of course rylie wanted in on it too. so she joined them

Justins fathers day card. i think they say "best dad we ever 'Saw'" "our love for you is beyond measure" "if dad cant fix it we are screwed" "thanks for always helping us in a tight spot" and i cant remember the hammer one. 

35 weeks

post dr selfie! no shots so it was a happy day

I was sitting on the rocking chair and ryker wanted to cuddle. a min later rylie wanted up as well. as soon as i put her on my lap she wanted down. i put her down and she wanted up. turns out she wanted to sit and cuddle with ryker and kick me off the chair. stinker.... good thing she is cute! after this she tried to tickle rykers toes. i wish i got it on camera. so funny and adorable. 

she still loves to read books and will plop down anywhere. a few sec before this she just layed the book on her face. a little close for reading, but she liked it. 

the boys cooking burgers for our pre 4th

had to break out the chalk

rylie wanted a raw smore. she put the marshmellow on her thumb and eats it like a kabob

with the grahm cracker. so deconstructed smore?

rylie learning to stomp on the pop its

ryker really loved the sparklers

helping dad light a fountain

one morning when justin was gone i couldnt get the kids to eat breakfast. i dont know why they just were not hungry. very odd. but i look over and rylie is eating her toes. apparently this was an adequate breakfast for the day.