1 Month

Our baby is 1 month old.  Its hard for me to believe that five weeks have already past since the day Addie was born. I'm feeling like my old self again-- well except for now having massive breasts (sorry if that is too much info). Almost all the pregnancy weight has come off and I'm ready to start exercising to tighten things back up. Addie however has been putting on the pounds. She has gained almost three pounds since she was born-- they grow so fast! I feel lucky to say that she is a pretty good baby; she eats well, sleeps well, and is so darn cute! For the past two days she has been so cuddly I end up just snuggling with her all day long, I don't ever want to put her down. We've also found that she loves sleeping on her tummy. For the past month she would only sleep in her swing at nights but now that she has taken to her sleeping on her tummy she has been sleeping more in her crib. I feel a little hesitant and scared leaving her on her tummy at nights sometimes but it seem to work for now. And as you can tell from some of the pictures I've posted she as started smiling too! Anyway, here are a few more pictures of her cute little self!

The Graduate

While I was able to finish my classes before Addilyn was born, Collin unfortunately still had a week of school left. I was so grateful that my mom was here to help after I had Addie because we didn't see much of Collin the week after because he was so busy finishing up with his finals. I'm sure it was hard for him to buckle down and concentrate after just having a baby however, somehow he made it through-- with flying colors too! Collin graduated with honors from Utah Valley University with a BA in Psychology. I know he has worked so hard to get to where he is today and I'm so proud of him. I love the passion he has for learning and his desire to help others. Our plan now is to work and save some money for graduate school which we will be applying to in this fall. I still have three more classes to take before I can graduate, so I hope to be done with school by December. Collin also recently got a new job working at a youth residential treatment center helping troubled youth. He eventually wants to get a PhD in clinical psychology working with adolescents and children so hopefully this job will provide him with some good experience. Anyway here are some pictures from Collin's graduation. Enjoy!

(When Collin's mom came out of his graduation she stayed with us over the weekend to help out with Addie. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful mothers and family that are always so willing to help. I can safely say for the both of us that we would never be where we are today without them, they have done so much for us.)

Addilyn Fae Dean

We made it; we survived April. The first couple of weeks in April was like a mad dash to the finish line after a long, tiresome marathon.The Friday before I delivered was my last day at work, Saturday I took three of my five finals, Monday I completed my online class and that night around midnight I was admitted into the hospital. I started contracting Sunday night but they were very sporadic, happening every 20 minutes to every couple of hours. By Monday night my contractions were coming every 5-10 minutes but I kept holding off going to the hospital in fear that they would tell me I wasn't ready and send me home. Finally after an hour of contractions coming every 5 minutes we decided to grab our bags and head to the hospital. Leaving our apartment that night it was crazy to think that the next time we would come back to it we would finally be a baby to fill our empty nursery.

Labor was long and uncomfortable. Once admitted into the hospital they checked my dilation which was barely 1 cm. After about another hour of intense contractions they decided to get me going on my epidural. Even with my epidural I still felt uncomfortable and dilation continued to progress  very slowly. By 6am I was only dilated to 4cm so they started me on Petocin to get me labor moving along, but literally seconds after they put it through my IV my water broke and I began feeling strong contractions again. For some reason the epidural was not working and it took several different doses to finally get it to work-- by that time it was well past 10am. Finally by 11:30ish I had dilated to 10cm and was ready to start pushing. I was already so exhausted by this point from so much lack of sleep that I was barely coherent during the next hour and a half. Once the doctor came in we found out that the baby was posterior and needed to be turned. Luckily the doctor got her turned correcting using forceps and then at 1:09, after 13 hours of labor, our precious daughter, Addilyn Fae Dean, was born weighing 7 lbs 2 oz and measuring 20 inches long.

It has now been one month since our beautiful baby girl came into our lives and she has truly filled an empty place in my heart I didn't even know I had. From the first moment I held her in my arms my life has felt so overwhelmingly full. Being parents has brought us more joy then either of us could have ever imagined; no other worldly success or accomplishment can compare. Thank you to all of the many wonderful friends and family who have helped us over the last month, we couldn't have done it without you.

I'm especially grateful for my mom who has always been there for me. I was so thankful to have her there during my delivery and for all her help after Addie was born. She is truly an amazing women/mother and I know if I have any success at being a mother myself it will be because of her example. Thank you for all your love and support. I also wanted to say thank you to my sister, Hanna who I also could not have done without. It had not even been 24 hours after her surgery that she was right by my side in the hospital giving her support. It meant so much to me that she was there and excited for me even through the pain of just losing her little babies. She too is a great inspiration in my life and a strong woman that I deeply admire. Lastly, I could not have done without my husband. I am so grateful to have him in my life. He is an amazing spouse and a wonderful father. Life is blissful!