Future BYU Roomies

Part of our NYC family has been the Stevenson's. We are going to desperately miss them when they move to UT in a few weeks for residency but are so glad they get to go where they want to go! Ashley had Marjorie's future BYU roommate 8 weeks before Marjorie was born. These were taken when Marjorie was about a week old and Eleanor was 9 weeks. I can't believe the difference only 8 weeks makes!

 

Also it's a week later and Marjorie has on those same pants and she probably won't last one more week in them. Crazy!

 

Boys trying to instill some Bronco love in the girls...

Oh we are going to miss you guys!

First Bath

A day or so after we brought Marjorie home, we gave her her first bath. She liked it okay until we had to keep cleaning her after washing her hair. Then she was not pleased. Thankfully she's enjoyed subsequent baths. I can't wait until her cord is all off and she can hang out a bit in the water!

Dan's friend gave Marjorie an adorable shark bathrobe. Absolutely perfect for Dan's daughter.

In the hospital

While we were in the hospital, we took some pictures of Marjorie. These are all over facebook, but here are my favorites for blog documentation.

I love me those chunky cheeks!

April 21, 2013

For me to remember.

On April 20 I woke up with a contraction? I had no clue if those were what I was feeling, but it felt weird and uncomfortable. It was Saturday. My parents had flown in the night before, it was my dad's birthday the day before and Dan's birthday the next day. We were going to have a birthday day for the menfolk filled with chicken and waffles, whales at the museum and walking around NYC. But nothing really worked out except the chicken and waffles. We spent the day walking through Central Park, seeing a movie, walking down to Hell's Kitchen for dinner, walking to Times Square for dessert... lots of walking. While the contraction things slowly became more intense and more regular. By 8pm I told Dan he was in charge of making decisions now cause I didn't want to think about anything any more. We took a cramped cab home and it began.

I took a bath for a while, and that helped until it didn't. We opened birthday presents and baby gifts to distract me (and make sure the birthday boys got a little something). My parents went to bed to get some rest and I tried unsuccessfully to rest in bed. Dan and I walked the hallway outside our apartment door with Fitz trailing along behind. Stopping every few minutes to deal with a contraction. Fitz was very concerned and kept putting his paws on me while I was dealing with contractions. At 2am we decided to go to the hospital. Contractions were lasting about a minute and were 4-5 minutes apart.

We got to the hospital and I went into triage. I was told nobody could come back with me and I stood alone for at least 45 minutes in a little curtained area. They asked me questions while I tried to breathe through the contractions. "Any issues with domestic violence? How much did you weigh pre-pregnancy? How much were you at your last appointment?" And they left me. Dan finally asked if he could come back and stand in my cubicle with me. He tried to ask when I'd be seen by a doctor to check how dilated I was, but kept being told that since it was my first baby and other women (6!) had come in at the same time and were pregnant with their 2nd, 3rd...etc. baby, they got priority for checks. He switched with my mom and finally someone came to check how dilated I was. It'd been 2 hours since arriving at the hospital. They finally asked if I was positive for group B strep (I was) and got mad that I hadn't said anything. Sorry that wasn't in the list of annoying questions to ask a laboring woman. I waited another 45 minutes to be put into a L&D room.

 

I had wanted to try for a natural birth, but contractions kind of sucked so I asked for an epidural. After waiting another 45 minutes for the IV fluids to go through and waiting for the anesthesiologist, I got poked multiple times while they re-inserted it twice. But then the relief!! I could finally relax. Mom and Dan took turns getting breakfast downstairs. My nurses changed and the covering MD for my OB practice came in to check me. I was an 8, she thought I would be a couple more hours.  But then, I started to feel the contractions again. I kept hitting the button, but they kept getting worse and the screen on the machine read "error." The nurse paged the anesthesiologist, but it was shift change and it would take a while. I was scared. I didn't think I would have to feel it any more. I'd happily checked out on the natural birth thing. I started to feel like I needed to push, but it had only been a half hour since the MD checked me.

She checked me again and said I was fully dilated. The anesthesiologist walked in to "top her off" but the MD waved her away saying I was ready to push. That's when I got really scared. I had to choose to create more pain when I felt like I could barely handle the pain of the contractions. My body wanted me to push but I didn't want to. I didn't handle it well. I was scared, didn't want to do it, and didn't think I could do it. But 20 minutes later and with lots of yelling (from me), she was here.  

Marjorie Lyn Thomson, born April 21, 2013 at 8:41am. 6 lbs, 14 oz, 19 & 7/8 in long. 

She was perfect.