The Arrival of our Sweet Little Boy

This is the story of how Adam got here (at least the birth part, you don't need to know the rest), so if you don't feel like reading it just go down and look at the pictures.

I (Alexis) am only going to tell the first part of Adam's story because frankly, I was so drugged up by the end that I can barely recall any details.

So we showed up at the hospital to get induced at 7 AM. They hooked me up to a monitor and found out I was contracting on my own which was an awesome sign. So we were all very excited. So instead of hooking me up to pitocin, my doctor decided to break my waters and see if that did anything. What a great experience... I then felt like I was peeing my pants for the next two hours. Anywho, the contractions weren't getting super strong, so they decided to give me just a teeny bit of pitocin. The contractions started to to get more painful and more painful (Also these were the first real contractions I had ever felt - FYI) so they decided to give me the epidural. This is where it starts to get fuzzy so Matt will tell it from here...


The anesthesiologist came in and got set up. He then had Alexis sit on the edge of the bed and arch her back as much as she could. He had a really hard time sticking the needle through her spine; it seriously took him like 10 minutes. Once he got it in and hooked her up to the drugs, we waited for it to kick in. Her whole right side got super numb but she was still in tons of pain on the left. They had her change positions, and the anesthesiologist came back in and messed with the positioning of the epidural like 3 times...still lots of pain. He decided to pull it out and start over. This time he went up a little on the spine and upped the intensity of the drugs. It worked. Alexis got super numb and started feeling really weird. Let the worry begin. Her ears started ringing and she was super dizzy, so the nurse sprang into action and hooked her to the oxygen. After the epidural kicked in, the contractions slowly started to get stronger and stronger. At this point Alexis was dilated to like a 4. The contractions were getting stronger and stronger and closer and closer together. This is when the nurse started getting kind of nervous. Each time there was a contraction, Adam's heart rate would drop significantly. It got to point where the contractions were like a minute apart and the heart rate was not having time to get back to normal. This is when Dr. Haskins came back. She checked Alexis and she was dilated to a 7, and she presented us with some options. We could either get a c-section, or they could give Alexis a drug to stop her uterus from contracting for like a half hour and give Adam's heart rate a chance to get back to normal. We opted to go for the drug and hopefully avoid the c-section. The contractions stopped, and right on cue the heart rate went back to normal. We were hopeful. Like 3 minutes later the heart rate started to drop again. Dr. Haskins rushed in and started ordering people around; it was time for the c-section. They wheeled Alexis to the OR to get her prepped and left me alone; they said to wait for someone to come get me. I waited, and waited, and waited. It felt like 10 minutes and I thought for sure they had forgotten. Finally they came and got me. Alexis was laying on the table with a sheet blocking the view just below her neck. They started cutting at 2:02 PM and at 2:05 PM they announced that Adam was born. Like 15 seconds later we heard him make his first sound and we could finally breath.

As it turns out Alexis' uterus had ruptured at the scar from the previous c-section, which is super rare and super dangerous. The Dr. said it was hanging on by a thread and that we were really lucky we got him out when we did. She reinforced the old wound and the new one and they wheeled Alexis back into the room where Adam and I were sitting to recover.

So that is the story of Adam's birth. It was a pretty traumatic experience, but we are still glad we tried for the "natural birth" (I know, easy for me to say but Alexis agrees). Next time it will have to be a planned c-section for sure. At least we will get to pick the music.

Here are the pictures.

Livy wasn't super patient with the whole hospital thing. She was banished after about an hour.

I just like this picture because Alivia said "Daddy, picture!" and then she posed like this.

7 lbs 13 oz, 20.5 in


First time Alexis was able to hold the new baby.

Livy's first encounter with baby Adam.

Fathers and sons.

What a cute little monkey.

"Yook Daddy! Ayam's nose!"

Livy is figuring out how to smile in pictures. She is trying to make sure we still think she is cute. It is working.

Nose.

After refusing to look at him the day he was born, Livy was super excited to see him and hold him the next day.

Can't get enough of that little guy.


Best friends forever. Also Livy seems HUGE now.

Good times.

This is what we came home to. Thanks Nana and Livy!

The End

He's here!

Introducing Adam Calvin Wiseman! Born at 2:05 pm today. 7 lbs 13 oz and 20.5 inches.


It turned out to be another emergency c-section, but he is perfect and we couldn't be happier! He's so freaking cute! These are just a couple of pictures from my phone. We will post some real pics tomorrow.

The Randomosity that is Life with Livy

I decided that I should probably update our lives on here before my motivation is COMPLETELY gone! I updated in chronological order - so skip to the bottom to see the early stuff! T.he first one is titled "Our little ShawnJohn part 2"

These are just some random pics from Matt's phone that I've been meaning to put on here.

Just relaxing, watching a little T.V.

She LOVES the milkshakes from Red Robin

Two weirdies with weird smiles

"Scawy!"

Livy has a total disregard for cart riding safety rules

She only picks out outfits with a complete polka dot theme...

Here she is on one of our many walks to try and get Baby Adam here! They obviously did NOTHING!

Here's what Livy does post church. Just like Daddy.

Liv and Cos - BFFs!

Livy Lately:

*When Matt doesn't answer her after saying Daddy - she'll yell out BABE!
*She has finally stopped pulling out her earings - yay!
*Her favorite games to play is duck, duck, goose and hide and seek
*She counts to 10
*She goes into her room and play and laughs by herself
*She loves to say "No singing, Daddy!"
*She also loves to say "I want to hold you!"
*She loves to help me clean and says "I'm cleaning, Mommy!"
*Every time we take a picture of her she yells, "I want to see!"
*She plays this memory/matching game on Matt's phone and can actually beat the game by herself
*She loves to sing Happy Birthday
*Her favorite song is This Kiss by Faith Hill - she screams This Kiss over and over during the chorus - it's hilarious. She has to listen to it over and over in the car
*She loves this stuffed Nemo and carries it around everywhere
*She also started loving My Little Ponies
*She loves any movie with fish - Nemo, Sharktale, Little Mermaid, etc.
*She loves Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer movie and keeps saying "Eat Santa!" after watching it
*She's still terrified of strangers that are guys - which I don't mind at all
*Lately, while Nana's been here - she's been yelling out "Help, Nana. Help!" when we discipline her

Livy's Last Hurrah

So since today is Liv's last official day as our only child, we thought we would have a special day just for her since she has no idea how her life is about to be completely turned upside down! We decided to take her to this little place called Fairytale Town. It was very cute.

Here we are at the head of the Knights of the Round Table place.

The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe

Little Red Hen! Livy was so excited to see the "chichens"

The slides at this place were pretty steep! Of course that didn't stop Liv.

Cuteness

The creepy ginormous Mother Goose... I'm surprised she sat on it.

Here she is sitting next to Ahbed (from Community) in the pumpkin carriage. I wish that kid would have been looking in my direction. He looks just like him!

I don't remember what this one was. The cheese stands alone? What is that? I'm not familiar with most nursery rhymes. I blame my parents.

I love this pic.

I'm not meaning to advertise for Fairytale town - it was just the only one she would put her head through...

Chillin in the crooked house after walking the crooked mile.

We then took Liv to her favorite place ever - Baskin Robbins. She LOVES ice cream!

Of course, she picked the most play dough looking one.

It tasted horrible - but she ate it up!

It was so cute to see her tongue all purple and blue!

We ended the day with her staying up a little past her bedtime, playing with her BFF, Cos. I just wonder if she has ANY IDEA what's going to happen to her when she wakes up tomorrow... I sure am going to miss our days of one-on-one time together. I mean, I'm super excited to have little Adam, I'm just a little sad to see things change. I got use to having a lot of alone time with my little mini-me.

It seriously is the final countdown...

Livy and I were having fun with the balloons from the birthday celebration... Doesn't 3 days after the due date look awesome on me??? Yeah, I'm done with the whole preggo extravaganza.

So... there's a lot I wanted to update about how this little guy is getting here. I kept going to each of my appointments and my doctor kept being surprised that I was still pregnant! Yeah, you and me both! So at my appointment two weeks ago, we decided to push back the c-section date - because everything was ready with me - we were just waiting for his little head to engage and I wanted to give him the time that he needed. So she sent me home with some exercises to do to get this little sucker in the right position.

So then a week later, I show up on my due date - still very much pregnant and again my doctor is amazed. And so she decides to talk to me about getting induced. She explained all of the risks, but basically said that my chances for a c-section are no greater than anyone else getting induced because of how ready my body is. So I asked how soon I could get induced and she said, oh - maybe I shouldn't have told you that. My schedule is completely booked for the next two weeks.

And I'm pretty sure she saw the tears begin to weld up in my eyes. All of my hopes for a VBAC were completely obliterated and I was preparing myself to start bawling once she left the room. So seeing this great despair, she said, get dressed and come into my office and I'll stare at my schedule to see if I can do anything. So we went into her office, and she made Tuesday work!!! She warned me that I would have to explain to her husband why she was going to come home late that night - to which I replied I would send him a box of chocolates.

So we go into the hospital TOMORROW at 7 A.M.! I know that I could still very well have a c-section again after all is said and done - but I'm just so grateful for the chance to TRY! Prayer has played such a big part in this pregnancy and delivery! I'm so thankful to my Heavenly Father for this chance, even if it turns out as disastrous as the first. Then I'll finally accept my place in the c-section club...

So anyway, wish us luck! Let me know if you'd like to be on the text list for the announcement of his arrival! If not, I'm sure Matt will be updating both of our Facebook accounts constantly!

Happy Birthday!!!! Wooooo!

This is one of the two days a year that I get to blog. Get Excited. Alexis has hit the big 23. Look how happy she is.

I even caught a sweet video of her blowing out the candles.

I got to do the annual wake up early and decorate the house thing. I got up at five and I guess the result was not that awesome.


A few hanging streamers, a few streamers going across the room (as you can see, not even Alexis could walk under them without ducking), a happy birthday banner, and 40 tiny balloons that I blew up (I didn't realize how tiny they were when I bought them). The main point is that I tried and that the decorations are BYU colors.

The point is that I have an awesome wife, who is an amazing mother, a fantastic cook, a wiz on the iPhone games (she always beats my scores), and my best friend. She isn't bad to look at either.

Happy Birthday! I Love you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Livy attended her first ever V-day party at our church. It was so cute. They decorated bags, handed out valentines, ate lunch, and decorated cookies. Liv loved it! And she scored some serious yummy valentines - which benefited me! Being a parent has its serious rewards come V-day and Halloween!Also, here's our little V-day decorations. This is as good as it gets when you're in your last month of pregnancy...

And Matt came home and surprised Livy and me with some awesome presents. Liv got this cute bear and I got the movie Pagemaster! Childhood favorite! Best Valentine's present EVER!!! Also, I've started documenting this every year - so here's the list of sweet songs on our annual Valentine's CD that Matt makes me every year entitled "Lovers of Loving Love v.5"

1. Owl City - Fireflies
2. Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
3. Nine Black Alps - Pocket Full of Stars
4. Kris Allen - Falling Slowly
5. David Archuleta - Think of Me
6. Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me (Matt's favorite - no joke)
7. Glee - Don't Stand So Close to Me/Young Girl
8. Kris Allen - Aint No Sunshine
9. Drewbee - CA Roseville Mission Song (Inside Joke for us)
10. Brad Paisley - Then
11. Garth Brooks - Wrapped Up In You
12. Glee - Defying Gravity
13. Carrie Underwood - I Told You So
14. Dispatch - Walk With You
15. Linkin Park - In the End (my fav. that Matt grudgingly put on here)
16. Taylor Swift - Love Story (Matt loves her)
17. Glee - Don't Stop Believin'
18. Ben Harper - Waiting on an Angel
19. Carrie Underwood - All American Girl
20. Obadiah Parker - Hey Ya
21. Five for Fighting - All I know

Best Volume Yet! Thanks, babe!

37 Weeks and still going strong

(FYI - I wrote this post a couple weeks ago - I just never got around to finishing it)

Here I am in all my glory at 37 weeks. I figure, he's full term now - so he should come! We'll see what happens at my next appointment. I really really REALLY hope he comes on his own soon because if he gets much bigger, I'm sure my chances of a VBAC will become much more slim. I've been trying to practice positive thinking to get him here. I even marked on Feb. 12th on my calendar that I'm going into labor that day. I think it'll work!!! haha

I've been so sluggish lately with no motivation to do ANYTHING. I'm also super scatter brained. I can't remember anything, ever. I can't wait to get over this phase. I do want to write down some things about this pregnancy so I don't forget. First of all - foods that ALWAYS sound like they'll hit the spot no matter what time of day it is: fries, pizza, graham crackers, and milk. I've never liked straight milk before, but I love it with this kid! I don't really like sweets. I'm also at about the exact same weight that I was with Livy when I was near the end, which is weird because I started off at a completely different weight. This little guy is also still trying to make his way to my right side - which is more painful than anything I've ever felt before! I can already tell his sleeping pattern. He completely wakes up and is crazy starting 10 PM. And then I don't really feel him moving too much until after 10 AMish.

This week brought a couple interesting firsts:

1. Matt and I had to get poop out of the carpet. (Trick = Hydrogen Peroxide) Livy thought she could change her own diaper during naptime. We're actually surprised we've gone this long without ever having to deal with this.

2. Livy started slamming her bedroom door in my face (yes, she's not even two yet...).

3. Matt and I actually had a date this week. This isn't a first ever, but it is a first in a LONG time. We enjoyed a little CPK followed by grocery shopping at WinCo. It's so weird to be without Liv. What did we even do before her??

Now onto Livyness...

She's been using Adam as a pillow.

This face is so classic! It's like - yeah I did it - so what?? Here I thought she was playing in her room... WRONG! I should know better by now.

So innocent looking while she sleeps...

*This kid is so freaking hilarious. Yes, she has become quite spicy, but I love it. She's incredibly strong willed and independent, but I wouldn't have her any other way.
*She also learned how to break dance lately. It's the funniest thing. We think she learned it from Chicken Little.
*She knows when she's being silly and loves to entertain us.
*She also hates when I play the piano. It's the weirdest thing. Even if she's completely content watching a movie, if I start playing she'll come up and yell "No pay Mommy! No pay!"
*She loves to lead the music in church.
*Her regular talking voice is INCREDIBLY LOUD. She's our loud talker, I don't know where she gets it from... (Uh, that would be my dad who may or may not have passed it onto me as well.)
*She loves these little $1 stamps I bought and will do ANYTHING to get a stamp on her hand.
*When we're watching a movie, she has to make sure I'm paying full attention to the T.V.
*She is obsessed with wearing Nemo swim diapers.
*She loves to say "Oh cute!"
*She is still missing all of her middle teeth between her front ones and molars. And I'm pretty sure she's suppose to have all of those by 2...
*Her fake frown face is HI-larious
*She does an awesome booty shake that Matt taught her, of course.

Our little ShawnJohn part 2

I can't believe I haven't posted these pics sooner. Livy loved her gymnastics class. We decided to take a break from it though for the past two months because of vacations and baby craziness. But here are some cute pics of Liv.