She's here...

Nayeli Jane Petersen was born on Wednesday, March 28 at 6:02 am after only 5 hours of labor and 30 minutes pushing. She's beautiful and we love her. Birth story with more details to come soon.

Happy Due Date!

Today is my due date. I saw the doctor this morning and had my membranes stripped.

Current stats: 2.5 cm dilated. 70% effaced. Scheduled in one week for induction on Tuesday, April 3rd (obviously if she hasn't come yet).

I love my doctor. Do you know why? During my appointment he said, "You're going to have a baby this week" with such confidence I believed it. Even if it's not true, he's still my favorite.

P.S. The walk from our apartment around the mall was successful. I contracted the whole time. The only problem: when I sit down the contractions stop. Now to figure out how to trick my body into thinking I'm walking when I'm sitting. If you come up with any ideas, feel free to share. Maybe something like this would work:

This is it... or at least it better be

I am seriously hoping that this is the last post I write before the baby comes. It's nearly 2 am on a Monday morning and here I sit on our couch eating strawberries and pumpkin chocolate-chip cookies. Do I feel guilty? Not at all. I tried to fall asleep with Ben hours ago but can't because I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions the past two hours. Needless to say, they never become consistent and they never get stronger. Sorry to vent, but after 6 weeks of these suckers I think I'm ready to face the real deal and push this baby out.

The good news is baby is growing. Here's the current belly bump:

My mom pointed out today that although I may be small compared to other women, I'm getting large for my body size. It was the nicest thing she could have said to me. I think it made me feel some validation for feeling uncomfortable.

On Tuesday (my due date) the doctor is going to strip my membranes. And then I'm seriously considering walking laps around the mall. Who knows, maybe I'll be the first to deliver a baby in the mall parking lot. In that case, we promise not to name her Penney (JC), Victoria (Secret) or Charlotte (Russe). Although Aeropostale has a nice ring to it...

4 days away...

If you've been watching the pregnancy ticker on the sidebar as closely as I have (which is unlikely), you'd realize that I am due in 4 days. Can you believe it? There may be an end to this pregnancy thing after all.

However this little girl might come later than expected. Fashionably late you could say. Last Saturday night I was having an immense amount of Braxton Hicks. I laid on the couch all night hoping they would turn into real labor. Finally, as we were about to get ready for bed, they stopped. And I haven't had any consistent ones since.

I thought maybe the contractions had been worth it if I was dilated further than a 1. Unfortunately at my appointment on Tuesday I was barely a 2 and 60% effaced. The doctor said he'd likely see me again on Tuesday for my 40 week appointment.

But the good news is since I'm not having Braxton Hicks all the time, I feel great! My energy level has gone up and I'm nesting like crazy. I've sorted through all our food storage this week to find expired items. I've emptied my kitchen and wiped down the shelves. I've even delved into the craft world and have been making the cutest "hair pretties" (as Ben calls them) for the baby. If you know anything about DeBry children, we have no hair as babies and a bow is usually a good idea to help the general public discern that the baby is female.

I bought a bunch of tulle and organza fabric scraps at Hobby Lobby last week and have just been looking up tutorials on the internet. Their beads were also 50% off so for less than $20 I've been having the time of my life making hair accessories.

Some of her summer dresses with the corresponding hair flower on top.
When I do things like this (match clothes with accessories) I have to realize
that I'm my mother's daughter. Matching things is her favorite thing to do.

Ben's Job

Ben doesn't know I'm doing this, but many of you have wondered what he does at his job so I thought I'd show you. He works for an online outdoor knife company called Blade HQ and does all their videos for their website. He also does YouTube videos and giveaways since they have a large You Tube audience. Here's just two samples of the videos he's made. Enjoy!

Grandchild #34

I don't think I've yet mentioned that this baby we're expecting will be grandchild number 34 for my parents. That's right 3-4. You'd think by this time my mom would be tired of baby showers and such. However, if you know my mom I don't think she could ever get tired of throwing a party. Especially when my sisters get involved.

So last week my mom and sisters threw me an amazing baby shower and I have to blog about it (I promise this to be the last of the baby shower posts by the way. Ben says they're taking over the blog :) ).

Everything turned out beautifully and we had a great turn-out. It was so great to see some people that I hadn't seen in years.

My mom and sisters did all the food. The table was beautifully decorated.

A little touch of Rita in the centerpiece

Opening gifts

My Bushman cousins gave me the most amazing diaper cake.
Really, it was a work of art.

Rachel explaining how she put it together

And the guest list included:

My sweet nieces Adaline, Ashlyn and Stephanie

Nana Ruby, my DeBry grandma. She's 95 and amazing.

Debbie and Paola

My cousin Amy

Cousins and cousins-in-law from the Leckie side
(L to R: my sister Christina, Rachel, me, Briahna, Cindy and Anna)

First and second generation Leckie girls
(L to R: Aunt Margaret, me, my mom, Aunt Rilla, Aunt Alice, Aunt Carrol)

With some Jackson cousins, Verla and Stephanie

My sister Julia, me and our good friend Amy Clayton

The DeBry girls
(L to R back: Aunt Mary, Circe and her beautiful new baby Tziporah, Nana, me,
Aunt Marla, my sister Laura. Front: Tiffany, my mom, Allison)

Practicing with my friend Nicole Ernst's new baby girl

Thanks to my mom and all my sisters for a beautiful shower and to everyone else for coming. What fun to be together!

Showered with Love

Petersen Baby Shower

A few weeks ago Ben's grandmother Nyla threw me a baby shower. It was up in Ogden on a Saturday so Ben went skiing with his dad at Snowbasin while I spent the afternoon with Ben's family. It was such a fun shower and so good to see everyone. The Petersens make me feel very loved.

The shower was at the Ogden Country Club. Lunch was delicious!
(L to R: Leslie [Ben's aunt], Alice & Dixie [Nyla's sisters],
Jane [my mother-in-law], Me, and Nyla)

The other table of guests
(L to R: Kelly [Ben's aunt], her daughter Lacey, Chelsea [Ben's sister], Karissa [Ben's cousin] and Lydia and Sayla [his cousin's daughter and wife]

I got so many nice gifts. Everyone was so thoughtful and generous. Thanks Nyla!

Friend Baby Shower

Last week my high school friend Brooke threw me the most beautifully put together shower. Everything was so well planned, decorated, and executed that I couldn't have asked for anything better. I took our nice camera (I'm still working on the whole photography thing) and tried to capture some of the beauty in her decor.


We played some really fun games- one was called "My Water Broke" in which there were little plastic babies frozen into ice cubes. Brooke then put them into water glasses, gave everyone a glass and when she said "go", whoever could get the baby out of the ice first won. I thought it was super clever and it made me laugh.

Also, my friends have great taste in little girl's clothes. I got some really cute things. Ben also stopped in at the end so he could meet some of my friends he hadn't met before.

Of course I had to show him all the cute things we'd received


All the girls. Thanks to everyone for coming and Brooke for a great shower!
(Back L to R: Jessica, Cassidy, Natalie, me, Shea, Brooke, Annie.
Front L to R: Krista, Katie)

Something got into the water....

The other day as I walked a patient to her room in the ER, she looked around and asked, "Is everyone pregnant here?" I laughed, but understood why she wondered. Maybe that's because I was working with some of these beautiful ladies:

There are a total of five of us that are currently pregnant and due in the next few months (the other woman pictured is a spouse of one of my coworkers). We're thinking that 8 months ago or so, something got into the water in the ER.

But whether it was something in the water or not, we've enjoyed experiencing pregnancy together. We swap stories, compare belly sizes, eat ice cream and yes, sometimes we complain and vent. Every pregnant woman needs an outlet. But yesterday we had nothing to complain about because our awesome coworkers threw us a baby shower. They were so generous and I got some adorable things.

"Everyone say 'heartburn'!"
We're in order by due date. That's right, I'm the furthest along in this photo.

After I have the baby I'll be quitting my job. Ben and I have planned and saved so I can be a full-time mom. I can't wait, although I know I'll miss these people. We've been through a lot together. You can only understand the ER if you've worked there. We all know firsthand what it's like to be kicked at by a drunk, proposed to by a psychotic man, and even thrown up on. We've saved lives together and watched people die together. It bonds you for life and I love each one of them for what they've taught me. Contaminated water or not, they make the ER a great place to work.

Mission Pennant Banner: Complete

Last night I was up until 2:30am finishing the most fun craft project I've ever done. I finished a pennant banner for the nursery and had the greatest time. Here's my own mini-tutorial, although I can't claim to be the expert. Most of my inspiration came from this site. I just added a few ideas from other tutorials I saw.

First I bought adorable fabric at a local quilting store. I got 4 different patterns. Each was $10 a yard, so I just got a 1/4 yard each. That made it affordable.

I then cut a triangle cardboard pattern 7 inches wide and 9 inches long. That made cutting the triangles fast and easy- I could even cut them side by side to minimize waste. To cut I used a mat and my rotary blade.


I wanted my banner to be double sided so I pinned two pieces of each fabric together. As you can see I went with the brown, green, pink scheme again.


I then sewed a 1/2 inch from the edge down each side of the triangle.


I wanted to add a little extra to the edges so I got pinking shears and pinked the edges of the flags. This was the hardest part since my shears weren't super sharp and on some of the flags I had to cut the two pieces of fabric separate.


I then placed my triangles in order and pinned them into the bias tape. I used the Extra Wide Double Fold Bias Tape (in brown) like the above tutorial recommended.


I then sewed the flags to the bias tape.


And... voila!


This is view when you walk in the door. It was Ben's idea to hang the banner from one wall to another like that. I love it.


There you have it! So much fun, and surprisingly simple. Mission pennant banner: complete.

Pregnancy Chatter: 36 weeks

Can you believe we've hit 36 weeks already? Today is the first day I can officially say "I'm having a baby this month"! Woo hoo! I texted that to Ben this morning and he texted back, "I just fainted". Ha ha. In his defense, it's all pretty surreal. We know that one month from now our life will change in a huge way... we just don't know exactly how. It'll be different, but a good kind of different. And we're looking forward to it.

Lately, in preparation, I've been having all kinds of other "new" experiences. For example:

- I was checked at the doctor today and found out I'm only dilated to a centimeter. Not that I expected to be further, but I was hoping. At this point I'd love to have the baby early, but I don't think it'll happen. In fact, I just realized I could have her in April. Ugh...
- Braxton Hicks and I have started to get to know each other. I get them fairly frequently, although thankfully few are painful. Most just make my stomach feel like someone stretched the skin too tight. And if that's what it takes to get this baby into my arms then bring 'em on.
- The baby has been head down in my pelvis for awhile, but today was the first time that I sneezed and the pressure from her head was too much for my bladder to handle. I'll stop there but let's just say it required a change of clothes. TMI? Yeah probably. Sorry about that. I'll just be sure to take more frequent bathroom breaks so I don't have to publish another such experience here on the blog.

And Ben?
He's wonderful like always. Busy with school and work but excited to be a dad. For Valentine's I got him children's books in Spanish to read with the baby. We've decided that we're going to speak Spanish with her as much as possible. But that's a post for another day.

In the meantime, I think it's time for a bathroom break. Hasta luego.