Luke Is Here! Part 1

Bean, now officially Luke, is here! Despite some intense sleep deprivation, we are so happy to have him with us. Below is the first part of our birth story... the rest to come whenever I get the chance to get on the computer again:

I should preface this story by saying that the hospital we delivered at is about 45 minutes away from our apartment in Alexandria.

Hospital Trip 1: On Tuesday, I was getting a little worried that I hadn't felt him moving very much all day (as a side note, this is actually pretty common right before labor as the baby is saving up energy to make his move, according to Baby Center). I called my doctor and he said that if I was worried to go to the hospital and do a non-stress test. We drove to the hospital and they hooked me up and said everything looked good with the baby. She also mentioned that I was having almost no contractions, and that in this stage of labor (almost 40 weeks) it is common to have more small contractions. She concluded by telling us that it would likely be up to a week before the baby comes. You can see where this is going...

Hospital Trip 2: We got home from the hospital at about 9 pm and I went to bed and Richard stayed up to finish some work. About 5 hours later, I woke up to use the restroom and noticed that I had A LOT of red blood (enough to soak a pad and then some). I freaked out some and called my doctor who told me to come into the hospital to get it checked out and that this might be the beginning of labor. Richard and I headed to the hospital, bags in tow, and got checked in (checked into a room, IV put in, etc.). I was still 2 cm dilated and having some moderate contractions. They told me that my doctor would be coming in a few hours and to just hang out until then. A couple hours later, they came back in and said that they had several inductions scheduled that day and that they needed the room and we had to go home. I told the nurse that I was still feeling contractions, and she said that I should take some Tylenol and try to get some rest. Home we went.

Hospital Trip 3: We got home around 8 and Richard went to bed while I laid on the couch and waited for the Tylenol to kick in. And waited... and waited... and waited... Needless to say, no Tylenol would be strong enough to relieve what I was going through! I felt like my inside were being torn apart, but I KNEW I wasn't in labor because they had JUST sent me home about an hour ago saying I wasn't! I decided I was just a wimp with no pain tolerance and tried to tough it out. After 3 hours, I couldn't stand it any longer. I called my doctor and explained what was happening. He was really upset that the hospital had sent me home and told me that I should come back from the hospital immediately. I woke Richard up, and we headed back to the hospital getting there about 4 hours after after we left the second time. I was NOT a pretty sight, crying and screaming all over the place.

The labor and delivery unit was completely full, and so they had to put me in triage until something opened up. When they checked me, I was 6-7 cm dilated and almost fully effaced (although my water hadn't broken yet). It took about another hour to get an epidural, at which point I was 9 cm dilated and in more pain than I ever knew was possible to feel. However, right after the epidural kicked in, I was the most relaxed I had been in a long time. Not only could I no longer feel the contractions, but all of the pain and discomfort that I had in my last trimester was also gone. I didn't even have to get up to pee thanks to a catheter!

Stay tuned for the rest of the story...

Baby Bump Progression

I didn't do a very good job consistently measuring the baby bump process, but here's a few pictures showing the progression:

Kristen and Dave's Wedding (14 Weeks)

GMU Graduation (18 weeks)

22 Weeks

Dress like a Cow Day at Chick-Fil-A (25 Weeks)

26 Weeks

34 Weeks

38 Weeks


Ready for Bean to come out and play!

This Just In: Richie is Awesome!

A few months ago, Richard got a big promotion at work -- he is now an associate (was a law clerk) with his own office and what not. Here he is looking all like a bigwig attorney:

Last weekend, the firm hosted a dinner in Richard's honor to celebrate his move up in the firm. It was a fun night filled with great food and all of the partners stood up and said nice things about Richie and what a smarty pants he is. One of the partners talked about how when he found out that Richie was an Eagle Scout, he thought "I should have known that he was an Eagle Scout because he exemplifies all of the good qualities -- hard working, honest, kind, knows how to tie knots" (okay, I just made up the last one).

I secretly thought it would be fun if I went into labor during the dinner -- what an awesome story that would be! But Bean decided to stay put. Oh well.

In 2012, Richard also:

Officially Graduated from law school:

And passed the Virginia Bar (here he is getting sworn in):

Another Apartment Video!

Hello, and we're back!

Loyal blog readers may remember this video from our Fairfax apartment or this video of our first apartment. We moved this summer back to A-Town! (Does anyone call it that? I maybe have just made that up.) We're moving up in the world, folks. 2 BATHROOMS and 2 BEDROOMS! Good times, good times.

Back by popular demand, here's Richie giving the grand tour...

Christmas Break 2011

We had a really fun Christmas and New Year's Eve this year! We ended up going to Salt Lake the weekend before Christmas to hang out with Richard's family and take some family pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:





Then, we stayed home in NOVA for Christmas and New Year's Eve. It was a strange feeling not being with either of our families to celebrate these holidays, but it was great to not experience the stress of traveling and to be able to spend it with such awesome friends.

Christmas Eve day, Richard and I headed out to experience our Christmas presents to each other... front row tickets to the Redskins v. Vikings game at FedEx field. It was so much fun to be so close to the field. Sadly, they lost (which will come to no surprise to those of you who follow football). But it was still SO much fun! I wouldn't want to go to an NFL game any other way.


One thing that was really fun about it was that we had a really good view of John Beck, BYU's former quarterback. I kept on loudly yelling, "Put in Beck!!" in hopes that he would turn around and smile at us. Alas, 'twas not meant to be. Also, I think everyone by me was very confused as to why I actually wanted John Beck to play (apparently, he hasn't been that great this season).



That night, we went over to Bethany & Ben's place. B and I have been friends since the very first day of our freshman year of college, so it was almost like celebrating with family. We had lots of fun with our old Alexandria ward friends eating fondue, playing charades and Trivial Pursuit and exchanging presents.



Fast forward to New Year's Eve... we first went to the Bell's house. Gina and I are in the PhD program together and have lots of fun together. It was great! And then we went to the Vigil's to bring in the new year in style (when Britni's hosting, you really wouldn't have it any other way). Check out her post here. Seriously, Britni should quit her job and be a full-time party planner!




The past few weeks have been considerably less exciting. It mostly consists of Richard going to work and then doing 4-5 hours of bar prep every weekday night (plus all day Saturday), and me getting ready for the new semester, watching The Bachelor, and slowly getting addicted to Pinterest. Hope you're having a great 2012!

My Promise

When I was a junior in college, I wrote for our college newspaper, The Daily Universe. [Side Note: the name of the newspaper is about to become a misnomer.] One day, my editor gave me an assignment for a story to write. There was an author coming to campus to host a "literary boot camp," and I was supposed to call him and interview him for the story. So I did, and I ended up talking to this guy, who was very nice. I asked him some questions about the boot camp and what not. Then I asked him the next question on my list, which was "what books have you written?" Now, if I hadn't been a complete idiot (or otherwise distracted, as I had just started dating Richard at the time), I would have looked him up on the Internet beforehand and figured out that this guy was seriously legit. But alas, I was, in fact, a complete idiot.



He answered, sounding a little bit confused: "Well, Ender's Game."

"Ender's Game..." I repeated. "Can you spell that for me?"

Silence. "E-N-D-E-R."

"Okay, thanks!"

I then continued on with the questions for my story. It's been about 5 years, so I can't remember exactly how his part of the story goes, but I think he eventually figured out that I had no clue who he (Orson Scott Card) was, and I somehow ended up promising him that I would read Ender's Game.



This Christmas, I finally made good on my promise! And I actually really, REALLY enjoyed it! So much so that I am now halfway through the sequel, Speaker for the Dead, which is equally good although written very differently.

Anyway, moral of the story is, ALWAYS, ALWAYS Google people before interviews.

Who Wore it Better?

From People! Style Watch:

Who wore it better? Emily Peterson or Malia Obama?



(From the official Obama holiday photo)



PS - I'm pretty sure we got this dress from the same store in Washington DC. The Obamas have good taste, what can I say?