Memorial Day 2014

Teddy was only a month old when Memorial Day came around, but we still wanted to get out and have fun. Ben had been wanting to take Nayeli camping so we arranged with our friends the Goughs to do a little camping excursion. They also have two kids, so we all met at the campground on Friday evening, had dinner and smores, then Kristen and I took the younger kids home once it got dark.

Nayeli and Georgia making smores

Marshmallow mustache

Best buddies. Nayeli LOVES Georgia.

I knew she had been silent for too long :)

Nayeli slept terrible- about 3am she told Ben "Go home and see Mama". But overall I think she enjoyed it. Ben makes everything fun.

Monday Ben had the day off so we drove to a place a friend had recommended- Tryon Creek State Park in Lake Oswego. It's just a nature park with an easy trail so it wasn't too much for my recovering body. Plus Nayeli got to see giant snails, which is pretty cool if you're two years old. 

Somehow he always ends up carrying both kids.

We packed lunches and had a great time. It was the perfect low-key activity for our family.

My Mother the Hero

As I mentioned before, my mother came to town when Teddy was born. She arrived on Saturday and stayed for a whole week. I may or may not have cried when she left because I missed her so much. Even the site of gifts she left or clothes she folded sent me into tears. Granted I was extremely hormonal, but she's just such a wonderful person and was so great to have her visit. I have to write down all the amazing things she did while she was here.

She took us out to dinner the night she arrived.

She helped with the Sunbeam class in our ward Primary at the last minute.

She helped sway me into considering the name Theodore for Teddy. I was stonewalled on the name Mckay for months.

She brought fun gifts for Nayeli and watched her the entire time I was in the hospital. She took her to storytime at the library, bought her summer clothes, read her stories, sang her songs, and kept her fed and happy.

She filled my fridge with food- and I mean FILLED! Every shelf was stocked with delicious meats, fruits and vegetables. We even had to give some of the perishable food to our neighbors after she left so it wouldn't go bad.

She did all the dishes and cooked all the meals.

She stocked my freezer with 26 freezer meals for after she left.

She put up with my hormones... which were raging, to say the least.

She took me shopping and bought me some fun items for my house such as a rug for the bathroom, baskets for storage in the kitchen, a wreath for my front door. You get the idea :)

She covered up the ugly mirrors of the dining room bookshelves and reorganized all my decorative items to look much better.

She folded all my laundry.

She sewed me four pillows for my couches- pillows I had been meaning to sew for months. She also altered some cute towels for Nayeli.

She recovered my dining room chairs. I had picked out the fabric, but just didn't have the energy when I was pregnant to recover them. She did them all with Ben's help and they turned out beautiful.

She bought me flowers and herbs and planted all my planters on my porch. She also recovered the seats on my patio chairs. In fact, this picture was taken just a few hours before we drove her to the airport. Up until the last minute she was outside planting and making everything look wonderful. Ben could not believe it so he made us pose for a picture. We don't look our best but, hey, doing projects requires getting a little dirty! :)

Last, but definitely not least, she showed us love and took care of us. My mother is one of the most selfless people you have ever met. She came to Portland for a whole week but didn't get to see even one tourist site because she was taking care of me and my family. All she did the whole time was serve. When we later talked I told her that I felt guilty that I didn't take her anywhere. She replied, "Oh honey, I came to take care of you and make your life easier. I wasn't there to sightsee." If that isn't wonderful I don't know what is.

Thank you Mom for being the best. Every day I enjoy multiple things you left behind- my dining room chairs, the flowers on my porch, the meals in my freezer. Your visit meant the world to me and still does.

He's here! Theo's Birth Story

Theodore Benjamin Petersen arrived on April 28, 2014 at 8:03pm. He weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 21 inches long. Here's the full story, complete with photo overload (don't say I didn't warn you).

I was scheduled to be induced on my due date, April 28th, but I thought for sure the baby would come beforehand.  I had contractions all the prior week but by the time we had to pick my mom up from the airport on Saturday nothing had developed. So instead of heading home, we went straight from the airport into downtown Portland so she could see the city. We also drove her past the temple, then went to dinner together. I was so happy to have my mom in town; I may even have cried tears of joy when I first saw her at the airport. You can chalk it up to pregnancy hormones but there is nothing like being with one's own mom.

Sunday was pretty uneventful- church with everyone commenting, "Didn't think we'd see you here!" or "Haven't you had that baby yet?" That night we ate dinner then relaxed and talked. As we were chatting, Ben asked, "What are we going to name this baby?" This was a question we'd been asking for months and we'd narrowed it down to four names: Mckay, Abraham, Theodore and Edward. I was pretty set on Mckay but Ben wasn't quite so convinced. He asked me to consider Theodore again to which my mom responded, "I love that name!" I guess it's lucky my mom was there for the conversation because her enthusiasm was able to sway my opinion and I changed my mind. By the end of the night we'd decided to name him Theodore. It's funny because if he'd been born just a day earlier I'm pretty sure he would have been Mckay Benjamin Petersen. I guess we'll just have to save that name for the future

Monday morning we had to be at the hospital at 7am. What a relief it was to have my mom there to take care of Nayeli. We left them both sleeping.
 

Before heading to the hospital in all my nine-month pregnant glory. Oh I'm so glad not to be that pregnant anymore.

Selfie in the car on the way to have our second child

We arrived at the hospital and they checked us in. By the time I was all set up and my doctor came in to break my water, it was 9am. We had decided to have my doctor break my water and then try to go into labor naturally. By 9:30 I was pacing the halls with Ben at my side. Eventually I started to have some strong contractions and so I asked to speak with the anesthesiologist. 

He came in and told me that if I wanted an epidural he wanted to have me sitting up during the procedure. My mind was taken back to when I was in labor with Nayeli and shaking so badly from the pain that I could barely hold still as I laid on my side for the epidural. In all honesty, the memory scared me, so as the contractions intensified I didn't hesitate to ask for the epidural.

Everything went smoothly until the epidural slowed my contractions. By the time we had determined that I wasn't going to go into labor on my own it was 2pm. They started me on a low dose of Pitocin and then it was a waiting game. Luckily my epidural was just perfect and I was able to move and mildly feel my contractions without having extreme pain. I relished in the time and relaxed, slept and read.  Ben, however, was a little more anxious.

He became so stir crazy that he took predictions from the doctor and all the nurses about what time they thought the baby would come. He also wrote ridiculous things on the white board in the room. Under "Your Goals" it reads: have a healthy baby, give birth to a Rhoades Scholar, hike the Appalachian trail, be home in time for dinner. The last goal was crossed off because by the time I was fully dilated and ready to push it was 7:45pm. Yeah, we missed dinner time.

But we both didn't care because after only 10 minutes of pushing baby boy Petersen was born. He had the cord wrapped around his neck and gave me quite a scare because he looked just awful when he came out.  They put him on my chest and Ben took a picture right at that moment. This is what he looked like:

Doesn't he look terrible? He wasn't crying or moving; he only blinked his eyes a few times. Thankfully after some good rubbing he began to cry. It was music to my ears. Apparently he has swallowed fluid while in-utero. As a side note, I was so proud of Ben because he cut the cord this time (with Nayeli he didn't want to). He even joked with the doctor that he'd love to cut the cord with a knife from the company where he works. We got a good laugh out of it, even though I knew he was only half-joking.

Pinked up

He was born with a full head of dark hair and chubby chubby arms.

When they told me he weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces I was SHOCKED! No wonder I had felt so uncomfortable and could barely breath for the month before his birth! He weighed almost two pounds more than Nayeli did when she was born.

Giving birth is an incredible experience. Nothing quite compares.

Ben was so great to have at my side. While I was pushing he just kept rubbing my arm and telling me, "You're doing great. You're doing amazing". He's the best.

One of my favorite photos. The proud papa holding his boy.

As soon as I saw Theo I thought, "Whose baby is this?" I didn't feel like he looked anyone in our family. Even now a month later, I see very little resemblance to Ben or I. Some people have told us he looks like me or Nayeli but I guess we'll see.

After we had taken some pictures and each held him, Ben left to go get my mom and Nayeli. It was super late, but since my mom had let Nayeli have a nap at 6pm (my mom is an extremely relaxed personality) she was wide awake and ready to meet her brother.

She loved him right away

"I be gentle mama" - Nayeli

Our first photo as a family of four

My mom was so amazing to have here. She did so much for our family, including filling our fridge and pantry with food and caring for Nayeli. She also cooked and cleaned and helped me with a ton of fun decorating projects. But that'll have to be the subject of another post.

Ben works for CRKT, a knife and tool company, and this spoon is one of their products. He runs their social media, so he posted this picture to their social media pages with the caption, "Some children are just born with a silver spoon".

Sleeping in the hospital was awful- they wouldn't take Teddy to the nursery and he woke up every hour to hour and a half to feed. Thus the exhausted look on my face the next day.

Ben brought Nayeli and my mom back in the morning

After a short visit, Ben took my mom and Nayeli home and we got to have some quiet time with Teddy. One thing we did with Nayeli in the hospital was a mini newborn photo shoot. We decided to do the same with Teddy. Ben isn't an expert photographer, but he's not too shabby, and I love the beautiful lighting we were able to get through our window.

Finally after two days in the hospital, we were discharged on Wednesday. I had slept awful both nights and couldn't wait to get home to be with my family, especially Nayeli. She was a little traumatized with not having me at home. We're buddies, she and I.

Teddy in his going home outfit. Lame picture I know- he's our second child and this is all we got. What else can I say?

Leaving the hospital

One thing we've had people ask us is what we're going to call him. I usually respond, "Theodore the First" because we haven't quite decided. Teddy is what I prefer, but I often find myself calling him Theo. And if he wants to go by Ted when he's older, so be it (Ben's great-grandfather was known as Big Ted). I'm just happy he's here and he's ours.