Check this out!

My friend Amy needed some models for a photo shoot so I signed Mya up. And I'm so glad I did! Amy just put up a "sneak peak" on her photography blog. You must check it out! She is a fabulous photographer and I am so happy with the pics. I can't wait to see the rest! Thanks Amy!!

Click HERE to view the pictures of Mya!

We love LA.....WE LOVE IT!!

We ♥ the Dodgers at our house! They just swept the Cards! SHAAAAZAAAAAM!! Only 1 more series to go then it's on to the World Series!!

Isn't this little guy just the cutest! FYI - his middle name was ALMOST Dodger (for real, I'm not joking!!)

We really ♥ this little guy!!

Liam's Birth Story

So this is how the story goes...

It all started on Monday night August 31. I started having contractions while relaxing and watching tv. They weren't consistant but they were somewhat painful but not enough for me to think anything of it. I went to bed around 10:00PM. I woke up several times from contractions. They were becoming more painful. I tried to stay in bed but it just wasn't comfortable. So, I decided to walked around upstairs for awhile. When I got tired of that I decided to go downstairs (I finally got to look at a clock and it was 1:30AM) and do some research online about distinguishing between false labor and real labor. I also tried to time my contractions - they were very sparatic ranging from 3 mins to 5 mins apart and becoming more and more painful. I still wasn't sure if it was "real labor". I think I was trying to make myself think it was false labor because I just wasn't prepared and there were still so many things I wanted to get done before the baby showed up. Next I decided to drink some water (internet said drinking water could help settle false labor so I thought I would give it a shot) and I ate a banana because I knew if it was real labor then I wouldn't be able to drink or eat after I got to the hospital and I was already hungry! :) After not really knowing if I was in real labor or not I again decided to go back upstairs to try and lie down and rest but that didn't last long. The pain was too intense to lay down - it was better when I was walking around. I paced around my dark bedroom for the billionth time. But this time I had to stop moving with each contraction. I could now feel them in my stomach, back and down in my legs. (When I was downstairs on the internet I had read that if you were having contractions in your stomach that moved to your back and into your legs it meant that you were in REAL LABOR!) So, finally I convinced myself that this was probably the real deal. I still didn't want to wake Brandon just yet. I think I lasted another hour or so until I couldn't take it anymore - I believe I was in tears by this time. I decided that I should wake up Brandon. We tried to time the contractions but that didn't work too well. I decided we should just go to the hospital - I was done with the pain!! We got dressed, I finished packing my hospital bag and Brandon got Mya up and ready to go. By 5:30AM we were out the door on our way to the hospital to have our baby boy. We got to the hospital and Brandon dropped me off at the door but I couldn't walk because of the contractions so I had to wait for Brandon to park, get Mya out and go into the hospital to get a wheelchair. Once we got up to the maternity ward they put us in a triage room to monitor my contractions and the baby's heart rate and check my cervix. I was dialated to a 4. The nurse called my doctor to see if he wanted them to admit me or send me home. Thankfully he chose to admit me. YAY! That meant that I could get an epidural!! I finally got settled in the delivery room, answered a long list of questions and got hooked up to several machines. The Anesthesiologist gave me the epidural and I was finally able to relax. I even got to take a couple of short naps. My doctor had 2 surgeries to do that morning so he told my nurse to hold off on getting me at a more advanced labor until 9:30 AM. So at 9:30 the nurse came in and broke my water. She said that before she broke my water I was still a 4 and after she broke my water I immediately became a 6. A little while later they started me on a very low dose of petocin to help keep my contractions more consistant. By 12:30 I was ready and I could feel the pressure become more intense. The nurse called my doctor to tell him I was ready to deliver. Once the doctor got there and the nurses got me ready to go I pushed once and the head came out. I gave 1 more push and baby Liam was born at 1:15 PM. Dr. Groom and the nurses were amazed that he came out in just 2 pushes! It didn't even seem real to me. Liam was here and decided to come 9 days early (little stinker!!) It all happened so fast but I was relieved and so happy to be holding my healthy baby boy! It was a wonderful experience and I feel so blessed that it went so smoothly. I did tear a little bit and it was at a weird angle so my recovery was more painful and took a bit longer but I feel great now!

We really really LOVE our new little guy! He is so cute and sweet and really is a great baby - I couldn't ask for a better baby. He eats good and sleeps good and really never fusses or cries - just on occasion. Mya is loving him too. She loves to hold him and kiss him and she's been a very big helper and great big sister. I truly am in LOVE with Liam and I LOVE my new little family!

Here are a few pictures. We didn't get very many after the birth. Brandon was videoing and like I said it happened so fast that he forgot to take pictures. But we got great video and a few good shots.

Relaxing after my epidural!!

Liam just minutes old.

Mya meeting Liam for the first time! This is one of my favs!! So cute!

He's here!

Liam is finally here! We are doing well and love having a new baby in our home. He is so very sweet and a wonderful baby! We are so blessed! More to come on birth and name. :)

News!

I am officially 38 weeks today! YAY!! I had my weekly appointment today too. Dr. Groom said I was almost 1cm dilated but he said he would call it a full cm just to make me feel better. I love my doctor!!:) The best news of the day though was that he called the hospital and I have a check in date for an induction on September 8th at 8:00PM. He did this on my request so I could possibly deliver on 09/09/09! Wouldn't that be a really cool birthday?! I think so!! They will start me on cervidil to help thin the cervix and leave that in for 12 hours and then start me on pitocin after that. This is how it usually works. But, if you read the post about Mya's birth you will learn that last time the cervidil actually helped my body go into labor so hopefully it will do that again! So, I'm really happy to have some kind of date to look forward to. I could also go on my own before then but I don't think that will happen. Now I just need to get busy and do all those last minute things to get ready for our baby boy to join our family! (Top of my list of things to do - get haircut and get a pedicure!! Gotta treat myself, right?!!) So exciting and crazy!

Here I am at 38 weeks pregnant. I actually took this picture this morning. Not the best picture but it will do. I am HUGE and carrying this baby so low.

Mya's birth story

I had Mya's birth story written down but I can't seem to find where I saved it. So, I'm going to write it down here before I have baby #2 and confuse the 2 births. If you don't want to read this I won't be offended it's really just for my own personal record.

We checked into the hospital on November 6th (my official due date) at 7:00 PM. I was only 1cm dilated. I was admitted and hooked up to all the usual equipment. My doctor prescribed cervidil to help thin my cervix and a pain killer just in case I needed it. I received both. By this time it was around 9:00 PM and I was trying to rest and relax. Brandon hadn't eaten yet so he went down to the cafeteria for a quick bite to eat. When he got back he wasn't feeling so good. That was not OK because I needed him and there was no way I was going to let him be sick on me! So I sent him to get something to help him feel better. It was around 12:00AM and most places were closed but a gas station down the street from the hospital. Thankfully they had what he needed and he started to feel better. That was good because not long after I started feeling major contractions. They were coming fast and were very strong. My pain meds were not working anymore so I asked the nurse for more. She told me I had 1 more hour before I could have more. So, my strong-willed brain decided I could tough it out for 1 hour. The pain was very intense and the contractions were VERY strong and I wasn't getting any rest time in between. They were coming one right after another. I was also having a lot of "back labor" which is no fun! Brandon was really great and practically rubbed my back for an entire hour. I had no idea that I was in "full on labor" but I was. After the hour was up my nurse came in and decided to check me and I was dilated to 5cm - WHEW!! I wished I would have had someone check me sooner! The nursed asked me if I would like an epidural and I immediately said YES PLEASE!! She left to get the anesthesiologist. Unfortunately he was sent home because they thought I wouldn't need him for a few more hours (no one expected me to be so far along.) The nurse gave me my second round of pain meds while I waited for the anesthesiologist to come back in. That helped - ALOT!! It helped to take the edge off so I could relax a bit. I was still feeling pain but it just wasn't as intense. After I finally received the epidural I finally felt comfortable again and was able to get a quick nap in. The nurses broke my water after that and I progressed pretty fast to about 9 1/2cm then it slowed down so they wanted to start me on pitocin to get me to the full 10cm. I really didn't want to be put on pitocin and I was starting to feel the urge to push. My wonderful nurse (who had been a labor and delivery nurse for longer than I had been alive) said she could try and "help" my body stretch the last 1/2cm. I had complete faith in her abilities and felt good about letting her do what she thought she could do. And it worked!! I pushed a few times to move the baby down and I was almost ready to deliver. My doctor wasn't expecting me to be delivering yet so he had to rush to the hospital. They actually made me hold off on pushing so the doctor could get there. I think holding a baby in is much more difficult that pushing it out! One of my nurses came in and said "I see the doctor running down the hallway." I thought that was pretty funny and I was glad he was trying to get there as fast as possible!! Once the doctor got to my room and was ready for the birth I was able to push Mya out in 2 sets of 3 pushes! YAY!! I would have had her so much sooner if I wouldn't have had to wait on Dr. Groom to get there!! :) But I was glad I waited because Dr. Groom is a great doctor! Once Mya's head was out he commented on her red hair and then when she was fully out he wished her a happy birthday, showed her to us, cleaned her up a bit, let Brandon cut the cord and then finally he laid her on my chest! It was one of the most physical, emotional, spiritual, and wonderful experiences of my life! Mya was born at 7:56AM on November 7, 2006. So, I checked in at 7:00PM (not in labor) on the 6th and just under 13 hours later Mya was born! Not too bad! I hope that this next delivery will go just as well.

My sweet baby girl!

Mya Lee Bartlett

7 lbs 1 oz

Just like Julie Johnson's hair

I know that most of you (only my family) won't know what the title of this post means but I will explain.

The Johnson's are friends of my family and Julie was a good friend of my oldest sister, Nancy. Julie had the most beautiful, long, thick, curly, auburn hair. I always thought if I ever had a girl with red hair I would want it to look just like Julie's. I think I got my wish!! I'm in love with Mya's hair and it seems that everyone else is too.

I can't leave the house without getting a comment or a dozen comments about Mya's hair. People seem to be obsessed with red heads. I've even had a lady chase me down in a store just so she could tell me how beautiful Mya's hair is. Seriously, she chased me down. I was in Costco and it was very busy. She had to dodge a lot of people to get to me. Others love to tell me how their grandkid/cousin/sister/brother/nephew/niece/childhood neighbor has/had red hair. Some people think that all red heads look alike. I once overheard a girl say to her red headed coworker - "That's what your kid would look like if you had one." The comments aren't even limited to girls or ladies. I've had men comment too. An older man once told me that his lovely wife had beautiful hair just like Mya's. I thought that was cute of him. Now I don't mind these comments but when people ask me crazy things like "is that her natural color?" I just want to say "WHAT?" Really people, she's only 2! And then there are some that like to tell me that a lot of people pay a lot of money to get that color and how lucky she is to have such pretty hair.

I've done some online research about red hair. It seems that both parents have to carry the right gene to have a child with red hair but it's not always a given. I always knew that our chance would be extremely high due to Brandon having red hair and I have LOTS of red heads on my mom's side of the family (my grandma was one!) So, my question to all of you is "Do you think our little boy will have red hair?" I'm going to put up a poll on the right side of this blog just for fun and then in about 4 weeks we will find out!!

(Oh, and just so you know - we have narrowed down our names but won't officially name "baby boy" until he is born. We like to keep it a surprise - I think it's more exciting that way!!!)

Now vote and leave a comment! :)