Keeping busy!!

Life has been good and I've been busy with Caraline, so I haven't taken the time to update. . . see the picture for yourself. . . she's growing fast and keeping both Kyle and I busy. If you look close at the picture Caraline's shirt says, "Daddy makes me smile." Kyle has just finished feeding and burping her in this picture and she is filling her pants while sitting on his leg, which made us all smile. Someone passed him the diapers and wipes just after his Uncle took this picture.
For anyone who may be interested we will be blessing Caraline September 6, 2009 at our ward here in Henderson, Nevada. If you are interested in coming let me know and I can give more details. . . I can't believe she is 8 weeks/2 months old today!! How time flies!!

The New Addition!!

Four weeks ago today, Caraline Gwen Hansen made her debut!! I've been busy and have not made it a priority to update my blog with the details. After much harassment from friends and family, I decided to give up a nap while Caraline is sleeping to share details.
During the last week of June, each morning when I would wake up around 4:30 in the morning for a trip to the bathroom, I would notice I was having contractions, go back to bed, and by the time I got up around 7:00 or 8:00 they had stopped. June 30, this was not the case. The contractions were noticed around 4:30 am, I went back to bed, and when I got up around 7:30 I was still having them. The contractions continued through the morning. I had a Doctor's appointment at 1:30, but when the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and lasting 45-90 seconds at 11:30, I called the Doctor's office and told them I would not be coming to my appointment, but would be headed to the hospital in the next couple of hours. The contractions continued like this for hours, but I was able to talk through them and they were not very painful, more just feeling of by belly becoming very tight and my hip joints stiffening. I even sent Kyle for a Jamba Juice and shopped the ads. I even contemplated mowing the lawn to try to speed things up.
As you can see in this picture, I had finally "popped out". In the the last three weeks of my pregnancy, Caraline decided she wanted more room to move, so I had to go buy some maternity clothes and got some AMAZING stretch marks!!
Contractions continued all day. I was still doing things around the house, getting a little anxious for this little one to come, but feeling pretty good. Around 7 pm I noticed that I was having to go to the bathroom more often and each time a contraction came I would "dribble". So questioning if my water had broken, we headed to the hospital, which is just over two miles from our house.
We checked in and the nurse checked me. My water had not broken, but she was surprised that I was dilated to a 6 and 50% effaced. Her comment was that I was too calm for that. They put me on the monitors and were surprised at the strength of my contractions for my demeanor. So the text messages started being sent to let everyone know we were actually at the hospital and this baby was coming.
The nurses informed me that my doctor had ordered an epidural, and asked if I wanted it right away or if I wanted to wait. I told them I didn't want an epidural. We discussed the pros and cons, and I told them that at that point in time I wanted to deliver this little girl as natural as possible, but I would let them know if I changed my mind. Labor continued uneventful and pretty much the same until about 3:00 am when I was moving from the chair next to the bed back to the bed and my water broke. Then the contractions became very strong and very intense and painful. At this point Kyle came over to my bedside to coach me with breathing (which I wouldn't have been able to do without him in my face helping!!) I knew this little one was going to come pretty quickly. The nurses called the doctor, but Caraline beat him there by 45 minutes!! When I got to the point that I felt like I needed to push, I told them, the nurse and Kyle told me not to, but Caraline came anyway! I couldn't stop my body from pushing her out. Two contractions after I felt like I needed to push she came very quickly. . . and wow does she have a set of lungs!! Caraline was born at 4:04 am July 1, 2009. She weighed 7 lb 12 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. Kyle is excited because she has curly hair. At birth there was no way to say which of us she looks like, except that she has a dimple in her chin like her mom, and Grandma Hansen says she has long skinny arms and legs like Kyle did.

This picture is after they cleaned her up and were weighing her.

This is Kyle next to the crib, checking Caraline and trying to decide if he should go bug mom again and see how she is doing. . .she's got a great nurse at her bedside!!
This is the cake the hospital gave us to celebrate her "birth"day.
In the warmer after the first bath.
Notice the baby LoJack on her ankle to prevent anyone from
kidnapping her. Her scream would deter them.
She has an amazing set of lungs!!
36 hours after labor started Mom and Baby finally get a nap.
The happy family just before our first dinner as a family.
Yes, we are all as tired as we look!!
Our first evening at home and Caraline
just wants to cuddle with Mom!
Three weeks after birth Caraline still likes to cuddle for naps!!

We stayed at the hospital till around noon the day after Caraline was born and couldn't wait to get home!! The following Monday, Grandma Hansen and Aunt Rachel came and stayed for a week. This is Grandma Hansen's 1st grandbaby. They left July 13, leaving us to get through Caraline withdrawals from Grandma holding her all the time. July 19 we made a daring trip to Salt Lake City for my youngest sister's wedding. Caraline did great on the 8 hour drive, but struggled a bit the first night we were there, waking up every hour wanting to eat or be comforted. Possibly a growth spurt? We've made trips to the dog park, the grocery store, the library, the mall, the park, Great-grandpa Hansen's house, and mowed the lawn together.
This precious little girl has brought much change to our lives and lots of laughs and joy!! Her expressions are priceless. I think my favorite is her wink/I'm not asleep face. (There are pictures of many of these at the link below.) Her dislike of being swaddled, but love of being cuddled and her "frog" legs keep us smiling. Check out more pictures by clicking on this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hansen.suz/CaralineGwenHansen?authkey=Gv1sRgCOun0cKf562IYQ&feat=directlink
Check out Caraline's own personal blog by clicking this link :
http://caralinehansen.blogspot.com/

Been toooo long!!

It's been a while since I updated my blog. Life has been busy. . . but that's no excuse. We made a trip to San Jose, CA for a friend's wedding and to see the family mid-March. Mid-April we made a quick trip to Salt Lake City, UT for my Dad's birthday and to see some friends we haven't seen for a while. May has been filled with work, trying to get things ready for this little girl that is coming to our lives, fulfilling church responsibilities, taking prenatal classes, and adjusting to pregnant life.
In the last month I have had hip pain which has slowed down my brisk walk quite a bit and as you can see from the pictures below, our little girl thinks she needs to be pushing up and not out, thus making it more difficult for me to breathe. About a week ago when I was at the gym for a swim, one of the lifeguards whom I've chatted with because she guards often when I'm there, came over and asked if I was okay. She had noticed that I wasn't swimming as hard as I used to and was taking longer breaks between sets. I told her I was pregnant and that my baby was starting to make it hard to breathe. She asked how far along I was and when I told her almost 9 months (because technically if you do the math 40 weeks = 10 months, but we don't say we are pregnant for 10 months. . . just nine and today technically starts my 9th month of being pregnant.) The lifeguard gave me this big bug eyed look and said, "I want to swim that well and look that good when I get pregnant!" As you can see from the pictures below, I'm showing but hardly. These pictures were also taken today.

The bump in the middle of my belly is not my belly button. It is the tie from the scrub pants I am wearing. The butt of the scrubs are also really saggy. The scrubs have to be big to fit up over my belly and not just fall off when I tie them on my belly! I finally had to break down in the last couple of weeks and buy a pair of maternity pants and some maternity shirts to wear when I go out into public, but for now around the house I've been wearing my long shirts and scrub pants. It KILLS ME!! how expensive maternity clothes are and I had the hardest time finding maternity pants that were long enough and maternity shirts that actually fit. Plus I'm probably only going to be wearing them for about 6 weeks.
Kyle designed the nursery and has done an amazing job picking colors and getting the painting done. We were lucky enough to have someone give us a crib, and I found most the rest of the furniture that we needed on Craigs list (for those who don't know. . . Craigs list is a form of on-line classifieds.) We are almost done, and when we are, I will take you on a video tour, but for now these pictures will have to do. We decided we wanted to do a jungle theme, but it has turned into more of just an animal theme. Here you can see the general color scheme. The ceiling is very very light blue.

While I was looking for some things I needed at a craft store, Kyle found these cool animals, which we decided to put around the room. We decided they needed to be stuck to the wall with magnets or Velcro so they can be rearranged and played with by either little or big hands. We opted for velcro, but when I saw Kyle with places for them in the closet, I asked why. He looked at me with this childish grin and said something to the effect of, "Didn't you ever play in the closet??" Between the two of us I'm excited to see the creative encouragement that comes out of us and reflects in our daughter :)I've been sitting too long while posting this and our daughter is wiggling all over. . . a sign I need to get up and moving or she's going to start digging with knees and elbows :)

Mamma said there'd be days like this!!!

There have been many days like this lately. . . Long list of to dos and half of them marked off but the house looks like I've been curled up reading a book all day and ignoring it. This has been one of my favorite comics recently.

My Daughter!!

I can totally see this being my daughter :)

Baby smiles!!

I've been surfing the Internet looking for baby coupons and freebies when I came across this website that made me laugh!! It is great for new dads, moms and babysitter wannabes. It even has videos on how to change a diaper, how to bathe a baby, how to burp a baby, how to feed a baby, how to dress a baby, and even how to place a baby properly in a stroller!!

We have quite a bit of dirt in our back yard, and the other day, when Casey was scratching he was shaking off a cloud of dust. So, because the dogs come in the house and I didn't want half the back yard's dirt in the house, I decided to give Casey and Koko a bath, in the bathtub. Yes, I dared the adventure again!! This time Koko was being the funny one trying to avoid the water and at the same time not touch Casey who was wet. She voluntarily went and got in the tub when I told her to, but once there decided she didn't want to be wet. Casey on the other hand, followed Koko into the tub and sat and let me wash him. Seriously no wiggling, no playing, no fighting, just sat on his rear while I sprayed him down and soaped him, and then wouldn't get up off his rear when I was ready to wash it!! I'm sure they are giving me good practice for my children!! During the wrestling match/water fight I could feel the baby moving quite a bit. It almost felt like she was trying to get out to join the fun, which wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. All in due time little girl, there will be plenty of opportunity once you are big enough!!
She has been really active the last week, moving, poking, and kicking. All usually when I'm trying to sit still or fall asleep. The other night I could have sworn there was more than one in there for all the jabbing and rubbing I could feel. I LOVE IT!!! My dad was teasing me and told me the reason I can feel her so much is because she is trying to sign to me. Too bad tactile sign language doesn't work so well with the feeling I have on the inside of my uterus!
I finally am starting to show. . . a tiny bit. I have a bump that looks more like I've gained a little weight (which I've actually lost not gained) than that I am almost 6 months pregnant. I am still wearing all my "normal" clothes.

(Yes these are self phots!!)

Another month with lots of adventures!!

It seems as if it were only last week that I updated, and it's been a month!! How time flies!!
This last month has been a busy one, mostly because I was working two jobs. Part time at the job I have had since we moved here to Las Vegas, and part time at the new one that I have been hoping will be a better job. The old job had some things I didn't like that were becoming more and more disagreeable and leaving me feeling more like slave labor and less like a nurse. We had accepted a relocation reimbursement and sign on bonus that we wanted to make sure the new job would be better, before deciding to pay it back. So I went to part time at the old job and started at another hospital Per Diem. I started at St Rose Dominican Hospitals, Catholic Health Care West, as a float pool nurse mid January. Basically I tell them when I am available, and they call me that day between 5:00 and 5:30 am to let me know which of the three hospitals and which floor they need me on. By mid February I knew I was in a better place, and February 19 was my last day at the old hospital. So for about a month I was working four 12 hour shifts a week. Now I'm back to whatever my body will tolerate through the rest of the pregnancy. Nice thing is I only have to work two shifts a month to stay on the payroll and can call as late as the night before to pick up shifts.
Just after that job transition. . . the weekend after, Kyle and I headed to San Diego to spend the weekend for his cousin's wedding. While we were driving down to San Diego, I thought my stomach was not agreeing with something I ate. It felt like it was churning, but I wasn't feeling like I was going to throw up or have diarrhea, which has happened off and on pretty often since I became pregnant and more often when I am in the car for long periods of time. Odd thing was the churning feeling would start about a half hour after I would sit down in the car and stop when I got up. I finally realized I was feeling our little girl move for the first time. What an odd way, but well, all I have to say is she's like her mom. . . When I sit for more than 30 minutes, she starts wiggling and gets more and more aggressive the longer I remain sitting. I'm not one that does very good sitting still for more than a half hour. Good thing I do a lot of walking at work, or I would be in big trouble!!
NOTE. . . Through the rest of this update there are darker brown underlined words referring to different things. . . if you don't already know, if you click on these words they will take you to the website referred to.
As I have been registering for baby necessities at Target, Babies R Us, and Walmart, I have been comparing items on-line to try to find what will fit our little girl's needs with the highest quality and lowest price, I have found some really cool websites. One shows very graphic pictures of what the fetus looks like during fetal development and describes week by week what is happening with the baby as it develops. There is another website that shows how big mom's belly is on average through the pregnancy. Though I am almost 6 months pregnant, I am only showing about as much as the 3 to 4 month pictures demonstrate. I am still wearing all my own clothes and only occasionally after eating have to unbutton my pants. Another website has fun animations of different medical procedures that may happen through pregnancy, ie. ultrasound, epidural, c-section, amniocentesis, etc. which has been fun to share with my students from the Deaf School in California who have been emailing lots of questions about pregnancy and medical procedures. I know I am learning through all of this. Over the last 10 years as a nurse, OB/GYN has been the one aspect of nursing I haven't spent much time involved with or learning, studying, or working. I know alot about the baby aspect, but the pregnancy side has been a fun adventure :)
While we were in San Diego, we took the opportunity to go to the Wild Animal Park before the wedding. After walking up and down the hilly paths for a couple of hours my hips were letting me know they needed a break. Which has been another fairly recent pregnancy experience. The following are some of the animals we saw and how close we were able to get with them in open habitat space.

Map of the park

Elephants (Is one feeding the other or playing dentist?)

Giraffes (some of my favorites.
I love how graceful they are even thought they seem so awkward.)

Lion

His Pride (Lionesses and Cubs)

Cheetah (who would
look away every time I snapped the photo!)

Ruffled Lemur (These guys would hold still
and as you tried to snap a photo they would take off!!
There are actually two in this photo.)

Warthog (As ugly as Pumba,
but didn't seem to smell as Disney portrays.)

The wild things I'm related to :) can you see
the tail on the light blue one?? L-R Linda (mom in law),
Trek, Sam, Kelsey, Brandon

Rachel (far left) and Kyle (right) snuck into the shot. Only heaven
knows what animal Bryce (dad in law) is chasing
More Photos

We spent half the day at the park and then headed to the Hotel to change and go to the sealing at the San Diego Temple. It was a beautiful day to spend outside!!

Yankee Doodle isn't coming to town. . .but our little girl is!!

Today was our official ultrasound. . . we are having a girl!!! Just one :) We are excited!! Kyle couldn't wait for the appointment to finish to tell EVERYONE!! After the ultrasound, I went to the bathroom, and half the people in his address book knew before I was done. I dropped Kyle off at work, went to the store and ran into a couple of the girls he works with and they already knew because he had posted it on Facebook!! We are both excited to have her here. Next task, pick a name :) Too bad for Kyle. . . It's not a boy so he can't try for Yankee Doodle any more! We are due July 4, 2009 so Kyle's still rooting for a patriotic name. Any suggestions??

I am feeling much better. I haven't thrown up in a week, but now I have an insatiable appetite!! If it keeps up, I will easily gain back the 25 pounds I lost at the beginning of the pregnancy!

Our first ultrasound

Today I went for my 16 week checkup with the doctor. While he was doing the fundus check (where he presses his fingers into my belly to feel where the top of my uterus, the fundus, is) he had a funny expression on his face. He then asked me, "Are you sure of the date of your last menstrual period?" I said, "Yes". "Did you say multiples run in your family?" "Yes." "We need to do a quick ultrasound. Your fundus is where it should be at 20 weeks not 16." So off I went to the waiting room to wait for the ultrasound tech to have a quick break. While in the waiting room I called Kyle and told him what was going on. He informed me he was on his way over. (My doctor's office is across the street from where Kyle works.) I was called in to see the ultrasound tech just as Kyle got in the building, but she didn't have time to wait for him to come up to the 3rd floor. She did a quick ultrasound and said, "Sorry I'm so rushed!" Handed me a piece of paper and showed me where I needed to wait for the doctor. When I looked at the paper I realized I had a picture of our baby in my hand! The doctor came out a couple of minutes later, looked at my chart, and came up and said, "I was wrong. Just one baby, and you are right at 16 weeks according to the baby's measurements." We had a brief conversation about what could cause my uterus to be how it is and set an appointment for next month for the "real" look at the baby's anatomy (heart, brain, lungs, etc.) and find out the baby's sex if the baby will cooperate. I walked out into the waiting room, handed Kyle the ultrasound, pointed out the baby's parts, and shared what the doctor told me. As we walked out of the building Kyle turned and said, "I'm glad we are not having twins." When I dropped him back at work he was excited to take the pictures of our baby with him to show off.
Looking at the top image you can see the baby lying on it's back with knees and great big belly sticking up in the air with it's little arm down the side of the body. The bottom image is a face on shot. You can see the outline of the skull and it's knees.

I am excited for this new little one that will be joining our family!! We are starting to look for furniture and baby supplies. Wow!! They can be expensive!! If you know of anyone getting rid of some or selling some let us know. . . if we can't use them, I have a couple of friends in the area that are looking for baby stuff too.

A chance to post details has finally been found!!

We have been blessed tremendously in the last 6 months!! A great job for Kyle, a new dog, an awesome house, a baby on the way, and a better job for me!!

Kyle is working for LasVegasSun.com as an online editor and for the Home News covering hyper-local news. Kyle really likes his job because he gets to do a bit of everything. His primary job is editorial work and loading the stories and work of others on-line. He also has covered and written stories, taken photos for stories, and done some video work. (Click on the blue word stories and video to see samples of his work.) We live about a half a mile from his work, so quite often he enjoys walking to work. One of my favorite things about his job, is that I have RARELY heard him complain about it. Usually he comes home with stories of the work he is doing, or his awesome co-workers.

As I have shared in the past, after moving to Las Vegas we adopted a second dog, a Yellow Labrador Retriever, and named him Casey. Casey was a lot of work, especially at first. After a couple of months with us he is much better at following commands, behaving, and not jumping up on us. He still has his moments, but he is a quick learn. Koko, our Australian Shepherd is a great teacher!!

Also as previously shared, we bought a house and I think we are almost settled in. We are enjoying our home, and though we have found a few dead scorpions upstairs, we can't find much to complain about. (Really I think the scorpion idea has become more of a topic of conversation than a concern.)

We are pregnant and expecting on July 4, 2009. Kyle's parents are excited to tell people that they will have a grand baby and not just grand dogs =) I would occasionally get sick during my first trimester, but basically felt as if I wasn't pregnant. The first few weeks of the second trimester have been a little more difficult. I have found my stomach is sensitive to some of Kyle's favorite foods (garlic, melted cheese, Togos, greasy foods), and I have had days where nothing will stay down. All in all I'm doing well and Kyle says I'm starting to show.

Job wise for me has been a bit of a roller coaster. We were blessed for me to find a job very quickly, which offered a generous sign on bonus and relocation reimbursement, which was an awesome blessing at the time. The job seemed great at first, but the more time I have spent at this particular hospital, the more I realize they are about the money and not the patients and staff. (The patients are taken care of and get better, I've just seen better care at most of the other hospitals I have worked in the past.) Nurses at this hospital have been laid off and nurse to patient ratios have been climbing. I've watched as nurses are burning out, they are more frequently calling in sick, and rarely have I seen the hospital find appropriate coverage for sick calls. They say they call the agencies to get additional coverage, but I have never seen an agency nurse working in this hospital. I just don't feel like I'm in a place where I can give the care to patients that I want to give and I know they deserve. So I started looking for something that will make me feel like a nurse and that I am giving the patients I am caring for the best care. I start orientation next week for a Per Diem float pool position working for another hospital, while working part time where I am, until we see how things go. The new position pays more money, has more flexible scheduling, is closer to home, the hospital has set nurse patient ratios which seem appropriate, and seems like it will work better with our lives once the baby comes. Only time will tell.

All in all we are doing well, we are greatly blessed, and don't have much of anything to complain about. There are days I wish we had the cockroaches back, because with two dogs there is a lot of poop to be scooped, but chasing the cockroaches back out the door. . . .I'll keep what I've got!!

Update to the maiden name/middle name drama

The week before Christmas I decided to take another chance trying to register my car and see how things panned out with the maiden/middle name drama. I had contacted California to get my name updated on my registration, but had not seen the new registration. I decided to take my chances and went to a different DMV. I walked in, got in line, and waited. When it was my turn to go up to the customer service representative, I handed her the required paperwork, my drivers license, my California license plates, and my California registration. I then asked her if she needed to see my marriage license or my social security card to verify the name change since California had not sent me an updated registration. She said that would be a good idea, took them verified the name and birth date, and as an after thought said, "Since your drivers license has Suzanne Hansen on it, I can go ahead and put that name on your Nevada registration." She then finished the paperwork and handed me my Nevada license plates and registration.
So much for hard fast rules that can't be flexible and not taking names from social security cards :)
As I was leaving I told the woman that I had been told I couldn't have my maiden name as my middle name in Nevada, even though I had it legally changed with the Social Security department, and asked if she knew why. She told me there was a law or ordinace passed a year or so ago that only last names can be changed in Nevada and the only middle name that can be accepted is the middle name listed on a birth certificate.
Moral of the story is . . . if you don't give your daughter a middle name with the idea that her maiden name will become her middle name. . . don't let her move to Nevada or it can't happen!!

Exciting News!!

Kyle and I informed family and close friends around Thanksgiving and are now making a formal announcement to everyone we know, WE ARE PREGNANT!!! Our baby is due July 4, 2009 and Kyle has it in his head that we should name the little one Yankee Doodle. I am sure that won't happen!! Name suggestions are welcome :) The holidays and transitioning from one job to another have kept me very busy. I'm posting this quick note. . . with details to come in the near future!!