3 weeks old!

(Baileys famous pucker up lips face)
(we took her fishing, she nursed 95% of that time)

(Kyles birthday celebration)

(Park City Olympic Park)

(The moose head at Kyles work, great photo shoot Kyle)

(Micheles photo shoot with Bailey on our red sleeping bag)

(Michele and Bailey)

(she loves her arm straight up in the arm)

(smiles for the camera)

Bailey is now 3 weeks old and I can hardly believe it. Life as a mommy is exciting, exhausting, rewarding, and hard. But I love every minute of it and wouldn't trade it for the world.

Week 1: I was on the new mom "high" and everything was perfect and wonderful. We had my dad in town, then my grandparents came to visit as well. There was never a dull moment around the house. Bailey slept a few hours and then woke to be fed. I seemed to never sit her down, even when she was sleeping. Breastfeeding was much harder than I thought. Advice to all expecting mothers...prepare your nipples before hand, its very painful! Kyle and I just loved being parents and Bailey didn't do too much to not be loving life.

Week 2: My friend Michele from Florida came into town to help out with the Baby. I was stressing a little more this week because I needed to run all the errands and get all the paperwork filled out of a new baby. Bailey was being so good and only crying when she needed to be fed or be changed. We took her up to Park City for a full day of go, go, go, in the hot sun. She had a few melt downs but it was nothing a little milk couldn't fix. I was finally getting the hang of being a mom and felt comfortable and then week 3 happened.

Week 3: I took Michele to the airport Monday morning and got home. Soon after, Bailey decided to start screaming and shreaking. I had no idea what was going on. It continued the rest of the day and she did not sleep that night. I held her in my arms till 5:30 am until she finally dozed off for 2 hours. The next day, same thing. Crying and more crying. I looked up Colic and thats what it sounded like. I started to panic b/c after 1 1/2 days of crying baby, I was ready to throw in the towel. It was too much to handle. I called the Doctor and they scheduled me for that same day. She had no infection or anything so he said it was probably just gas. I was very emotional this day b/c I was at whits end. Sorry for all those that had to hear me cry. lol. Kyle got home from work and I happily handed him Bailey and I took off to Wal-Mart for the gas drops. I made sure I walked around Wal-mart a few times just to take more time. I arrived at home and of coarse, Bailey is sound asleep and quiet! We tip toes around the house and she slept for about 30 minutes and was back to screaming. I gave her the drops and it seemed to calm her alittle. Well, a few hours later, my stomach started to ache and the bathroom was calling my name. I then understood why my poor little child was crying so bad. The stomach cramping almost put me in tears. She finally slept that night but I didn't. Now its me who has been sick with a fever and in pain. I felt so guilty being mad at her for crying when I was the one who caused it. She is doing much better and is sleeping 4-5 hours at a time. Very nice! I love her so much and I'm glad that she is feeling better.

Sadly/Funny story: I called my mom in desperate need of some Malloxx. She said she had some and would be right over. She got to my house, and gave me 2 big spoonfulls of what we thought was Mallox. Keep in mind, I was already having bathroom issues. She asked me if it had started helping my tummy and I said NO! So a few hours later we went to round 2 of the medicine. Luckily, I looked at the bottle and I said...."MOM, this isn't Malloxx, this is Milk of Magnesia!!!" She said, "OH NO!" For those of you that don't know, that is a laxative and a great one at that. I was up every 15-30 mins last night cleaning out my system. THANKS MOM!!!!

Labor Day!

Where to begin:

I went into the Dr. office Monday morning on June 29th (3 days overdue) to see if I had progressed at all. The Dr. checked me and told me that I had 2 options. 1: to have my stress test done that day and have one on Thursday and come back to see him the following Monday. He said I wasn't doing much on my own and I would still be pregnant in a week and maybe still have to be induced. Options 2: Schedule to come in the following morning for an induction. Through much thought and debating, we decided to go with Option 2 and get her out while she was healthy.

After the decision was made, we both started panicing. We knew that we would have a baby the next day when before it was just like..."maybe I will go into labor today". So that night we went to a baseball game and packed our bags and TRIED to sleep. Kyle was so cute. He was thinking of any and every question to ask while laying in bed. I actually slept better than he did. He was very nervous.

We woke up Tuesday morning around 4:15am and headed to the hospital. I think we were stalling b/c we didn't make it there until 5:30. We checked in and they got the pitocin started at 7:00 am, and Dr. came in and broke my water at about 7:15. Very soon after my contractions started every 1 1/2 minutes apart and weren't too bad. The Dr. and nurse asked if I wanted my epidural yet and I said, "No way, this isn't that bad!!" So they came in twice and turned up the pitocin so I was maxed out. I was still denying the epidural. Contractions were getting really strong and intense but I was bearing through them. Kyle was a nervous wreck watching me in so much pain. I finally asked my mom and Kyle if they would think I was an pansy if I got the epidural and they both said, NO PLEASE....GET IT!!!! They were both in pain watching me go through the pain. My body wasn't liking it anymore and I was shaking and quivering and it was too much. I got the epidural around 10:20 or so. The pain dr. came in and had me lean over the bed and I bore down into Kyles chest. Kyle was having a hard time watching me in the pain but I told him to watch the epidural be placed. He was leaning over and his knees were locked. As soon as the needle was placed, Kyle asked if he could sit down and he was going pale. The nurse hurried and escorted him into a chair. We almost lost the Daddy to be. Anyways, it was in and starting to work. Can I just tell you that I LOVED life after that. It was great. After it all kicked in I was ready to party. I couldn't feel any of my strong contractions and I was in such a great mood. I was laughing and joking and actually enjoyed the rest of my labor. Around 4:00 pm the nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 9.5. They said they would call the doctor and have him come at 5 so I could rest and decend. Dr. Judd showed up about 5:30 and I was ready to push. He checked me and said...Well, we have 2 options. This was sounding too familiar.






Option 1: "I can go home, enjoy a nice dinner, come back in 2 hours and you will still be trying to push this child out of you OR options 2: I could use the forceps and have your baby out in 5 minutes." I was really scared and didn't know how I felt about the forceps but I just wanted her out and he reassured me that it wasn't dangerous. He tugged and pulled on her for a bit and I could feel that through the meds and then he had me push twice and out popped her head. As soon as I saw her head pop out my emotions kicked in. It was finally real. I saw my little girl who I had nurtured and loved for 9 months and now she was here..almost. I gave one last push and she had arrived at 5:37 pm. Kyle and I both bursted into tears. Kyle cut the umbilical cord and they took her to the bedside to check her out. There were so many people in the room that I could hardly see her and remembered asking..IS SHE OKAY?? It was love at first sight. She was so beautiful and perfect. I did notice her abnormally large feet and her left ear was poking straight out from her head, but that didn't matter. lol. She was here, safe and sound. The dr. sewed me back together and next thing I knew, Bailey was in my arms. I will say, I think I fell back in love all over again with Kyle that day. It bonded us closer together than ever before and I'm so grateful for her and her adorable self.





We passed her around to all the visitors and then I was able to feed her not long after. That was an amazing but painful experience. The bonding that takes place when a mother feeds her child is undescribable. The minute she was born, your heart softens and your world has completely changed. Nothing is for you now, your child is #1 priority. Kyle has been such a wonderful daddy already and he loves his little girl. I love to watch him hold her. He is so gentle and caring. Being a mommy is the best in the world, although it is long and hard days. Bailey, I love you and thank you for coming to our family.

(I walked in to Kyle telling Bailey Bible stories. It was so cute)

People in the delivery room....that I could remember: Kyle, Debby (Mom), Heidi (sister), Katy, Annalee, Allie, Caren Johnson, Gini, lots of medical staff, and who knows who else. More people came in as soon as she was born.

She has arrived!!!

Bailey Mae Johnson was born June 30th, 2009 at 5:37 pm. She weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 1/4 in long. She is beautiful and healthy and she is the best thing that has happened in my life. I would never go back to not having her. I'm excited to start each new day b/c thats another day with my little girl.

I will be posting again my whole labor story when I get some time. I'm going to try to use this blog as a journal for me b/c it's easier and faster to type than to hand write it. So, it will probably will be very detailed. So stay tuned.