Welcoming the Newest Member of Our Family

On July 31st, Mitch and I welcomed our baby boy Stryder Thale Lee to the family. But before I go off on how cute and wonderful Stryder is, I would like to share the story of his arrival into this world! Beginning on July 30th, I started to have inconsistent contractions early that morning, then around 8 am they began to become more regular. After a couple of hours of timing my contractions they became about 4-6 minutes apart around 3 pm. Before this time I had called Mitch at work to warn him that he might have to be leaving work soon to take me to the hospital. He was more than excited and just couldn't wait for that final call telling him to come home. So as 3 pm rolled around I called Mitch and told him he better get home because I believed it was time. He flew home and after getting some last minute stuff together we headed to the hospital.

Once we got to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, literally about 10 minutes away from our house, we walked up to Labor and Delivery and got checked in. Once checked in and dressed in my extremely "attractive" hospital gown they began to monitor the baby's heartbeat as well as my contractions. At that time I was only dilated to 2 cm so they said they would watch me for an hour and then see if I was any further along. After an hour of impatiently waiting for my contractions to dilate me further, the nurse checked and I found that unfortunately nothing had changed. I was upset because that meant they were going to have to send me home until my contractions got worse. Yet after the nurse talked to my doctor my doctor said to keep me there and monitor the baby's heart because 1) I was overdue (I was due on the 29th of July, so I was one day overdue at this point) and 2) they said that there were some abnormal rhythms in the baby's heartbeat. Of course this caused me to worry but my doctor reassured me that it was probably nothing but a precautionary action.

Once all that was said and done the waiting began again. A couple hours passed and my contractions began to get stronger but I wasn't dilating very much. After a while the doctor decided to break my water to hurry things along. When they broke my water they found that my little guy had had his first bowel movement while in the womb, which would cause some problems if they didn't whisk him away right when he was born to suck out all the gunk in his lungs. Once again I began to worry about my unborn child but the doctor said that it would be alright, I just wouldn't be able to hold him right away. She also explained how grateful she was that she had kept me at the hospital and found out that he had had his first bowel movement in the womb-so they could keep an eye on him and get him here quicker.After breaking my water I was in quite a bit of pain because I was having back labor (or so we figured it was). I can't explain the excruciating pain that was coming from my mid-back... it was constant unlike the contractions, and I was having a hard time handling it. Thus I decided it was time to get the epidural, but of course you have to wait a while for the anesthesiologist to get there. While waiting for him the pain got so bad that I felt like I was about to throw up but I kept my tortillas I had eaten earlier that morning down! BTW I was also starving at this point because you can't eat anything while in labor because you will probably throw it all up... so the hunger pains didn't help the situation either.

Once the anesthesiologist got there he gave me the epidural which was a sinch. I was worried about it being painful and nervous for the HUGE needle every one mentions but I didn't even see the needle and barely even felt anything-especially since I was having such bad back labor at this point and nothing else could match that pain! With that said, I am an advocate of epidurals, I feel there is nothing wrong with getting one. Many say they want to be able to experience labor and birthing their child, but believe me you still feel and experience it... plus not feeling every pain that comes with labor didn't make me love my child any less.

Anyway, after the epidural, things got a lot better and I was able to relax a bit. Unfortunately I was progressing pretty slowly up until I got to about 5 cm, then things began to come along quite quickly. Around midnight I was quickly going from a 5 to a 6 and onward from there. Once I was about 8cm along my back pain came back and I was experiencing that horrible pain all over again-this was due to what they call the transitional stage which causes the most pain. But once they got me another dosage of the magic they were feeding me through my epidural, things got better.

 Come 3am on July 31st, the nurse told me to get ready to push around 4am. Before I began pushing around 4:15am the nurse told me it usually takes 1-3 hours for first time moms to push their babies out. When I heard this I was flustered because I just wanted the baby to be born right then, not 3 hours from then. I guess my determination to get that baby there asap payed off because once I began pushing it only took me 40 minutes to get him outta there, and that was with me stopping for 10 minutes till the doctor got there! Both the nurse and the doctor were really impressed with my pushing and couldn't believe that it was my first time having a baby... I was pretty proud myself.

Thus come 4:52am on July 31st Stryder Thale Lee was born! He was quickly whisked away to the side to be taken care of so as to get all the gunk out of his lungs before he ingested too much. Mitch got to watch and take pictures while I had to sit silently by listening to my child scream, yet having no picture in my mind to put with the cute little cry I was hearing. As I listened to my new son I was filled with such great love and tears came to my eyes. I couldn't believe that I was now officially a mother of one of God's choice spirit children! After cleaning him up, weighing, and measuring him-which he weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz and measured 19 inches long-they finally gave him to me to hold. At first I didn't know what to do, this little child in my arms was mine and would be forever and I couldn't think of what to do besides hold him and comfort him. Some say that motherhood comes naturally, but I think it's not exactly that easy... I wish I could say that right away I felt like a mom and knew exactly what my child needed and what I should do for him, but I didn't... I was a little weary about what to do. Yet after several days of being with him, I can say that being mom began to come more natural!

After the initial shock of holding MY newborn, I realized he was rooting around and seemed to be starving.. he too must have felt the effect of not eating for 18 hours straight. Before they took him away to the nursery they had me breastfeed and he did wonderful, eating for 40 minutes straight!! After cleaning up and such my family came to visit and they got to see the baby a little bit before they took him to the nursery. I do wish I had had more time with my baby before they took him away, but I understand that they needed to get me fixed and cleaned up and my baby taken care of.

The rest of the hospital stay was fine, I felt really cooped up and couldn't wait to go home but it was good to have the help I needed there at the hospital while I healed and got to know my baby a little better! I appreciate the kindness and care that I and my baby received at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center! Yet once 11 pm arrived on August 1st all three of us were ready to go home. Hence we packed up and took our new little one home with us!

The first night home was tough because Stryder kept waking up and Mitch and I would wake up to every little grunt, cry, and sigh. Yet after a couple days the nights got better, mainly because we got better at knowing what we needed to do for our son and when! Overall it has been a blast getting to know Stryder! He is such a strong boy, seriously though, he is tough for a newborn. I was amazed when only a day old he lifted his head off my shoulder and turned it to the other side and when he was only 4 days old he flipped from his tummy to his back! Even today when he got circumcised he managed to pull his legs out of the restraints they had him in! I really cannot believe the strength he has! He also makes the cutest noises, which we believe sound like a unicorn if unicorns were real! He is ultimately good natured and doesn't ever cry for no reason. He also is adorable!! He has such distinct features and is a good mixture between myself and Mitch. At first we say a lot more of Mitch in him but as he gets a little bigger we see me in him as well!

Having Stryder in our family truly is a blessing! It seemed to be really tough at first but as the days have gone by my instincts as a mother have matured and my knowledge of Stryder and his nature, personality, and quirks have grown. I can't imagine life without him now and we thank God every day for blessing us with this opportunity to be parents of such a wonderful little boy!! I can't wait to watch him grow throughout the years and see his spirit shine! Oh the wonders of being a mom!! And it only gets better from here!

Great News that is Quite Overdue!!

Wow, I haven't posted on here FOREVER. I know it's called the DailyLEE happenings but it should be called the Bi-Annual Happenings since I haven't wrote on this blog since January. Sorry for all those who like to keep up on our blog, I have been a slacker! So now it's time to sit back and enjoy this long post about everything that is transpired since January!!

First off, Mitch and I found out the gender of our baby back in March! At our 20 week ultrasound we found out that we will be welcoming a baby boy into the world around July 29th! He is a very healthy, happy, and strong baby, which is more than we could have asked for! We had another ultrasound in April to make sure he did not have a cleft lip because at our 20 week ultrasound he kept covering his month and opening it so we could not tell if he did or not. But he does not have a cleft lip which is great and we got to see our little once again, which was fun!

20 weeks, spine and head!

Our lil man's face! 24 weeks!

To announce the gender of our baby to Mitch's parents we sent a bouquet of blue and white flowers to indicate it was a boy! It was a fun and creative way that Mitch came up with and his parents loved it! We just called my parents and told them since my mom was insistent on being the first to know the gender and wanted to know asap! But this pregnancy has been great and quite simple! I haven't been sick really at all and all has been well. I am now about 36 weeks along so we're coming to the end of this pregnancy and the beginning of our journey with our little boy! I have been quite uncomfortable these past few weeks since I am getting bigger and I am short so I feel the baby in my bladder at the same time as I feel him in my ribs. Also, this little guy is quite strong and really throws me some hard punches. In fact he hates when anything or anyone encroaches on his space. For instance, if Mitch lays his head on my belly, I will feel the baby move towards Mitch's head and administer some very forceful blows until Mitch moves his head! It's actually quite fun to feel such movements and get to know this little one's personality a little bit before he is born! 

Flowers to Mitch's parents to announce the gender!

33 weeks!

On June 1st my wonderful mother and best friend Preslie Steele threw me a baby shower! We had a ton of fun and a lot of people came to celebrate the exciting news of our little man coming to be a part of our family! We got a lot of great stuff and saw a lot of great people there! Thank you so much to my mother and Preslie for throwing me such a wonderful shower!! We also had a shower for my sister Danica right after mine! Danica is also having a boy and is due 3 1/2 weeks after me! We are really excited for our little boys to be best friends and cousins! My other sister Keli also had a baby in March! She had a baby girl which they named Bella Grace, so we all have had fun comparing pregnancies and being excited that we all will have a baby around the same time (only within 5 months of each other)! My mom has been excited too since she will have went from having 2 grandkids to having 5 at the end of this year!

Just some of the wonderful people who came to my open house baby shower!
 W/ Jessica Pingal, Lilon Dray, Emma Medina, and me!

My cute game center at my shower!

There will be more pictures of the baby shower to come. Preslie took a whole bunch with her nice camera but I still need to get them from her! 

Some more exciting news is that Mitch got a new job in April! He applied and got a job at Joe Carrick Design: Custom Home Design which is a custom home design business in Spanish Fork! Mitch absolutely loves his job and has been getting some great experience and work hours! His boss and co-workers are great and we have really enjoyed him working for this company. He is currently a detailer draftsman at the company but also helps out with designing custom homes for people! We are so grateful and have been more than blessed for Mitch to get this job being that he is not even done with his degree yet! So the plan from here is that Mitch and I will both graduate from school in December and then we will be moving to Spanish Fork area or somewhere around there for him to work with this company for awhile, and just let work and life take us from there! My type of employment also changed in May! I was working at a child care in Provo but quit to become a stay at home wife and soon to be mother! It has been great to be home to get ready for our little one to come and get in the hang of doing housework, cooking, mending, etc. Pretty much living the dream of being a stay at home mom! I have also taken up a new type of work from home, which I will post about separately since it would make this post even longer! But we are so grateful to have the career opportunities that we have been blessed with as of late and couldn't thank our Heavenly Father enought for what he has provided us with, especially at this point in our lives where we will soon be parents!

Also, as far as school goes, I had quite a blessing come to me. I have 12 credits left and was wondering how I was going to do it all with a baby. As I prayed to my Heavenly Father for answers I kept getting the answer that all will work out and that I should finish my degree by December. Though I was sure of the answer I received from the Lord, I was not sure how it would all work out with Mitch having to go to school as well as this new job of his, which is full-time instead of part-time. Yet when I visited with my academic counselor at BYU she informed me of 3 classes that I could take online. Hence, I was able to sign up for 3 online classes and only have one left to go to on campus! Now I will be able to finish most of my studies at home while taking care of the baby and the one class I have on campus is at a time when Mitch can watch the baby and if necessary my professor for that class allows babies in class! So everything has worked out great and I saw the Lord's hand really administer to me and my family with this news! He also taught me that when he gives me an answer I should just trust in Him instead of pushing for more answers and being set on figuring everything else out myself! What a blessing it is to learn such a lesson and feel my Savior's and Heavenly Father's love for me!

At the end of April, we went to visit with my sister Keli and her family in Washing State! As I said before, Keli had a baby girl in March named Bella Grace, so we went to go visit with them. Bella was born with some medical complications so we went to help out with Bella and Keli's other children, Jamison and Emmitt. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them and helping where we could! It was also really fun to see Mitch with Bella, he adored her and held her every chance he got! He's gonna be such a good father and I can't wait for him to hold our little boy! We also celebrated both Mitch's and Jamison's birthdays while we were out there too, which was tons of fun! Mitch had to go home for work and I stayed out a little longer to help out more! It was good to be with my sister and her family but it was also hard to be away from Mitch for so long since we haven't been away from each other for more than 24 hours since we've been married. But we survived and it was a sweet reunion! As far as Bella is concerned, she is doing much better and progressing each and every day, thanks to the prayers of friends and families and regular priesthood blessings!

Mitch, me, Jamison, and Emmitt having lunch at a park in Washington!

Mitch and Bella!

Mike (Keli's husband), Bella, Emmitt,  me, Mitch,
 and Jamison celebrating Mitch's birthday!

Me and Bella

Me and Keli

Mitch's sign he made and had for me when he picked
me up from the airport! He's such a QT!

Just one last story then this post will be over, I promise, lol! But at the end of May I decided to chop off my hair and donate it to Locks of Love. I grew my hair out for Mitch while he was serving a mission because he liked long hair. After we got married I went to have it chopped and donated but the lady who cut my hair said that my hair was too damaged, so I just took off 5-6 inches of my hair so I could continue to grow it out and get some healthier hair to donate. I later found out that the lady was wrong and I was devastated that she wasted the hair I took so long to donate and also gave me a horrible hair cut. I had gone to Great Clips in Provo to get my hair cut so everyone be warned, never go there to get your hair cut. But now after 2 1/2 years of marriage I decided to chop it again. They took off 13 inches at the longest pieces and 10 inches at the shortest pieces. It has been a big change to have short hair but should be good during this hot summer and when the baby comes! Also, I hope and pray that it can help someone else more than it can me, I will miss my hair but am grateful that it will be able to be used to make some one happier!

 Now that it has taken you an hour or so to read this post, it is finally done and I hope you enjoyed it! I can't wait till I can post pictures and stories on here about our little man who will be here within a months time! Once again we are so grateful to our Father in Heaven for giving us all that we have and for blessing us at this wonderful time in our lives!

Exciting New Beginnings

The holiday season rolled by rather quickly! Thanksgiving was great, we spent it with Mitch's family this year! Christmas was also good! We got to spend a weekend with my family and then Christmas with Mitch's family! We received some wonderful gifts from some very wonderful people, namely our family members! Yet our greatest Christmas gift that we received (early) and gave to our families was the news that we will be expecting a little one in July!!

Mitch and I are excited to start our new adventure as parents come this summer! This will be our first child and we can't express how grateful we are to our Heavenly Father for entrusting us with one of His children! The process of getting and the timing played out perfectly and was surely a miracle! God truly has set this time apart for us to have this child! Mitch will be done with his degree in December, then he'll find a full-time job or do more schooling... decisions to come later! I will have only 12 credits left at BYU when the baby comes so I will either finish up in December as well or take a semester off and finish in April! Either way I will finish my degree and have a bachelors degree in Human Development!

As I stated before we will be having the baby at the end of July! We do not know the gender yet but we do know that he/she is healthy and growing well! Everything looks great in terms of medical calculations and we have confirmed that we are only have one baby and not twins. Our families are also excited for this new addition to the family that will come in July! We told my family the great news by putting a bun in the oven and having them look inside and figure it out from there! For Mitch's family we put together a description game. We wrote grandma x 4, mom x 1, dad x 1, etc. on pieces of paper and the family was to guess which paper went with each family member. They were a little stumped at first but then caught on!

Here's a 12 week ultrasound of our little one. The left side is the head and the right is the bottom!

Some of the cards used in the game to tell Mitch's family!

As far as pregnancy goes, I have been feeling great! I honestly have nothing to complain about. I am a little more tired than usual, get headaches here and there, but no nausea. My biggest symptom is I'm always starving but that's not too big of a problem :) ! I wish that every pregnant woman felt as good as I do their first trimester, because I have been enjoying it so much! I am showing a little bit but not too much, not picture worthy quite yet, but I'm sure soon I will be getting the infamous baby belly protrusion!!