Christmas 2024

We are currently in Yakima, Washington celebrating Christmas with Wesley's family. It was a great Christmas and I am happy to create better memories than last year with illness and scary bleeding. I will update next week with the full trip report. It was so fun to celebrate William's first Christmas!

4 Months

William is officially four months old as of Thursday. He had his 4-month pediatrician appointment and weighs 15 pounds and is 30 inches long. He can hold his head up and roll to his side and stomach. He is growing up so fast. He also loves to smile and babble. I am so excited for his first Christmas next week.

North Pole Express

We took William on the Heber Valley Railroad's North Pole Express on Saturday. As a fan of the book, it was fun to get the Christmas treats, interact with the "elves", and play the Christmas games. The best part was reaching the North Pole and getting a picture with Santa. William wore his cute Christmas pajamas. He of course was a little too young to appreciate it but Davie and Henry had a great time.

Thanksgiving 2024

It was our first Thanksgiving with William. We had lunch with my mom and the Turleys and dinner with my dad and his girlfriend. Katie and John also came into town over the weekend and we got to spend time with them. It was so nice to see the whole family. William is also growing up so fast. He was what I was most thankful for this year. On another note, we are sick yet again. After the death illness of October and November, I tried so hard to avoid germs. I washed my hands and disinfected surfaces like crazy. I took immunity supplements every day. We avoided crowds. Wesley and I saw Wicked on Friday and specifically chose a theatre and showing where we could have our own row and avoid people. We all still came down with another cold, including my poor baby boy. Colds are always just going to be the bane of my existence.

Utah Activities

I have been able to do some fun activities around Utah the past couple months. It has been so nice to go out again after basically doing nothing my whole pregnancy. In September, Wesley took me to La Caille in Little Cottonwood Canyon for my birthday. In October, we went to Pumpkin Days at Wheeler Farm. This month we went to Disney on Ice. Leanna and I are also going to the Magnify conference for women this weekend. Then next week Wesley and I are seeing Beauty and the Beast at Hale Center Theatre.

William’s Weekend

William had his welcome baby party on Saturday and his blessing on Sunday. Wesley's whole family came into town and most of my family was there too, except Katie. Kaitlin and Jessica also came to the welcome baby party at Brick Oven with their partners. It was so nice to be with family and celebrate William. There was only one drama on Sunday. Wesley and I were going to have the luncheon after the blessing at our apartment complex's clubhouse. Some family had a party in there the night before and never cleaned up. We had to move the luncheon to my dad's house at the last minute. It all worked out though. I just hope William knows how much he's loved and how happy we are to have him.

Disneyland 2024

Wesley and I went on our first trip without the baby October 23rd-26th. We flew down with Rachel and met up with Wesley's parents. We had a fancy dinner at Napa Rose at the Grand Californian on the first night. The second day we went to California Adventure and the Disneyland Halloween party. It was fun besides having back pain and catching the cold. We went trick or treating and saw lots of villain characters. We spent the third day at Disneyland. It was fun to be back even though I was still having back pain. I flew home on the 26th back to William.

Sick

I was going to write about my Disneyland vacation, but illness got in the way. Wesley lost his voice the first day of the trip and I got sick a day later. I honestly haven't felt this ill in a long time. I have a horrible stuffy nose, cough, fatigue, chills. Strangely I also lost my sense of taste but not smell. Poor William also got a stuffy nose. I blame the football game Wesley went to. Of course I got hit the hardest with none of the fun. I hope my taste is back by next week.

Back Pain

Not much to report on this week except I've been having horrible back pain. I am coming to terms with the fact I may have to finally see a specialist for my scoliosis. The back pain will be fun at Disneyland this week. I will update on the trip next week. I'm so sad to leave William!

Back to Temple

We went to the Deseret Peak Temple open house in Tooele on Saturday. It was so fun to go to a temple open house after missing the ones in Manti, Taylorsville, and Layton during my pregnancy. We also renewed our temple recommends this week and I can't wait to go back to do ordinances.

Davie’s Birthday and 2 Months

It was Davie's 4th birthday yesterday and I cannot believe it has been 4 years since he was born. Time has flown by! It feels like just yesterday he was born right in the middle of Covid. He has grown into such sweet, compassionate, and smart little boy. He is a great older brother and cousin. I hope time doesn't go by so fast with William. William is two months old on Saturday, so time is already escaping me! He is 11 pounds, starting to vocalize, and smiles more which melts my heart. He is also sleeping longer at night. I love watching him grow.

Back to Work

I returned to SLCC on Monday after a 12-week maternity leave. I didn't know if I would even remember how to be an academic advisor anymore but I got back into the groove of things pretty quickly. I am still a psychology and criminal justice advisor but my team is going to cross train in different majors. I also missed the whole August rush at the beginning of fall semester. Leanna babysits William when I work on campus two days a week. I am happy to be back in the regular routine though I miss my baby.

Back to School

I returned to my EdD program last Wednesday. I hadn't taken classes since January. I got back into the swing of school relatively easily. I just have to navigate getting my schoolwork done with a newborn this time. I anticipate I will mostly be working on homework at SLCC and when Wesley is home in the evenings. This term I am taking Education Systems.

Peter

Leanna had her baby boy on Sunday night, September 15th! I'm so excited to have a new nephew! I'm so happy he's so close in age to William and I hope they are friends. Leanna and I are now both in the postpartum period. I'm so blessed to be the proud aunt of my three precious nephews and one precious niece!

Maternity Leave

I have been on maternity leave from SLCC since July 9 when I thought my baby would be coming early. It is the end of my last full week of maternity leave since I go back to my doctorate program next week and SLCC two weeks later. It has been a good maternity leave hanging out with Wesley and taking care of William. I also have been working on personal projects like backing up photos and planning William's welcome baby party. I am also still physically recovering. My stitches still sting sometimes and I'm still having pretty heavy bleeding over a month later. I had an ultrasound yesterday and at least it's not any retained placenta causing the bleeding. I'm just hoping it will heal and lighten.

Motherhood

I have been a mother for almost four weeks now and it has been a wild ride. It has been so happy and rewarding combined with a lot of guilt. I thought I had a lot of experience taking care of my niece and nephews, but I realized I knew hardly anything about newborns in the hospital. Breastfeeding was a challenge and terrifying when he was at risk for jaundice and not wetting enough diapers the first week. As soon as I switched to formula, his jaundice went away and he wet his diapers as often as newborns are supposed to. I also had to get used to not sleeping consistently and working on his schedule. It's been hard because my body is still recovering from childbirth and the third-degree tear. It's made me really appreciate what mothers go through. I also got hit with a bout of the baby blues. On the amazing side, I am absolutely in love with William. He is the cutest baby ever and really chill in a lot of respects. I love him more than anything.

Postpartum Hospital Stay

One thing I was not prepared for after I had William was the hospital stay in the Mom & Baby unit after the birth. I spent all my energy preparing for labor and delivery that I went into postpartum completely blind. I was lucky that since William was very healthy, the recovery was really only for me. Immediately after giving birth I had to learn how to breastfeed while also going through physical recovery. Because I had a third-degree tear, I had a lot of bleeding and pain. I had to take care of my bleeding and stitches while also attempting to breastfeed and caring for the baby. I think between all of that, I only got an hour of sleep in two days. I am glad the postpartum nurses gave me and Wesley the freedom to room in and take care of William ourselves. However, we both were exhausted and could've used some help to get some rest. I also struggled with breastfeeding. When I asked one nurse about pumping, she completely shut me down. I developed anxiety around breastfeeding and already felt so guilty over whether William was getting enough nourishment. I made it less than a week with breastfeeding because his bilirubin levels shot up at his first pediatrician appointment. When we started getting giving him formula, his weight and jaundice immediately got better. There was a lot of unnecessary anxiety that I think developed during my hospital stay. If I were to do it again, I would put that I was breastfeeding and using formula. That way the nurses would not be so strict about breastfeeding. That would have removed a lot of the anxiety. I would also have asked for a lot more help so I could actually get some rest. It was all worth it for William though and I will write about him next week.

William Birth Story

I gave birth to my baby boy on Monday, August 12th. It was both an eventful and uneventful birth. I had my membranes stripped the Friday before but never went into labor. I made it to my induction on Monday. Wesley and I arrived at LDS Hospital at 6:30am and I was hooked up to pitocin. Things were all good until the contractions got really intense around noon. The anesthesiologist was unavailable for another two hours and I started screaming at the top of my lungs. Luckily he got there eventually and I got an epidural despite my scoliosos. The laborist at the hospital arrived to my room at about 3:30pm to break my water. He checked me and to my shock, said I was ready to start pushing. I was shocked it was happening so fast. I did practice pushes with the nurse until Dr. Shinn arrived. When Dr. Shinn arrived, I pushed for about 90 minutes total until William arrived. He was absolutely adorable and we got to do skin-to-skin for the first hour. That distracted me through delivering the placenta and getting 30 minutes of stitches. I also got a medication because I was bleeding a little too much. I am now home just recovering from the third degree tear and loving on my precious baby boy. Wesley and my doctor were absolute champs and got me through the birth. I know Heavenly Father was watching over me and William. I also want to write about my postpartum hospital stay, but I will save that for next week.

39 Weeks

I am 39 weeks pregnant in two days and still no active labor. I may actually end up being induced! I am just trying to keep my anxiety in check in the mean time. I will update!

38 Weeks

I am 38 weeks pregnant today and baby boy is still hanging in. He had his third non-stress test at the hospital today and had one heart rate deceleration which was a little scary. This happened right at the beginning though when the computer glitched. An MFM doctor looked at it and wasn't worried, so I am trying to not be. We'll see if this baby will be born in the next week!

37 Weeks

I am 37 weeks tomorrow. I had another labor scare on Sunday. I was having contractions every 7 minutes all day. Wesley and I went to the hospital in the eveninh and I was only dilated to a 3. I also lost more mucus plug on Tuesday.Tomorrow I am officially full term at least. I am excited to meet my baby but my body keeps tricking me. We will see.

36 Weeks

I am 36 weeks in two days and miraculously am still holding on. I think this baby is going to come soon though with all the labor symptoms I've been having. I am just relaxing on maternity leave and despite being nervous for childbirth, I am very excited to meet my baby.

35 Weeks

I am 35 weeks today and no baby yet. I can tell he is going to come sooner rather than later though. I have my childbirth class tomorrow so I hope I can make it at least until after that. I also started maternity leave from SLCC this week, so at least I can just focus on getting ready for baby.

34 Weeks and Hospital

I spent my Fourth of July in the hospital after having contractions every 5 minutes for hours. I am already 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. They let me go home until labor starts and I am having weekly appointments with my OB. This baby boy could be coming sooner rather than later!

33 Weeks

I made it to 33 weeks today. I am still feeling baby boy get bigger and bigger as he moves around. This week was also Henry's 2nd birthday at Chuck E. Cheese and it was nice to spend time with family. We also bought our tickets for the Disneyland Halloween party in October. It will be a fun vacation after a stressful beginning of the year. Wesley's mom will be in town next week and I will update.

32 Weeks

I am 32 weeks tomorrow! We had the growth ultrasound on Monday and the baby is measuring in the 69th percentile at 4.5 pounds. We also had our 32 week appointment today. I am so happy I am reaching these viability milestones and just have to keep the anxiety down.

30 Weeks

Today I am 30 weeks pregnant and officially made it into the 30s. I didn't think I'd make it this far. I also passed my 3-hour glucose test, so at least I don't have to add gestational diabetes to my list of worries.

29 Weeks

I am 29 weeks tomorrow and will be doing the 3-hour glucose test. I worked on campus both today and yesterday and that put quite the strain on my body. Wesley and I also did our baby registry. I am approaching the last week in the 20s of pregnancy!

28 Weeks

I am 28 weeks pregnant today and have officially made it to the third trimester! When I had my horrible anxiety during 12-20 weeks pregnancy, I did not think I'd make it this far. At least now if my body randomly decides to go into labor, outcomes for the baby would be good. However, I failed my 1-hour gestational diabetes glucose test yesterday and will have to go back for the 3-hour test. At least I feel baby boy moving every day and have started leaving the house more.

26 Weeks

I am 26 weeks pregnant today! I am so close to that all important 28 weeks for baby outcomes. I did have a scare early Tuesday morning with contractions and a hospital visit. Luckily the contractions calmed down and my FFN test came back negative. That means I probably won't go into labor in the next two weeks. I am also going back to working in the office at SLCC next week and Mother's Day on Sunday. I will update!

Aunt Funeral

My aunt Cathy passed away last week. We are going to her funeral tomorrow. It will be the first time I've seen the Cressall relatives since my wedding. I am actually closer to my aunts as an adult than I ever was as the shy child that I was. I will miss her and my heart aches for my cousins. I will update.

24 Weeks

I made it to 24 weeks today! It's still not even the end of the second trimester, but it's so nice to be at the point of viability for the baby. I had my last cervical length measurement on Wednesday after my 24 week appointment. The baby looked great and was at 1 pound and 10 ounces! My cervix length did shorten a bit and was at 2.8cm. The doctor was very positive and pleased with my results, however, and doesn't think I am any more at risk for premature birth than the general population. We won't go back to maternal fetal medicine until our growth ultrasound at 31 weeks. I won't see my OB again until my 28 week appointment when I have to do the gestational diabetes test.

22 Weeks

22 weeks today and I had another cervical length measurement on Wednesday. It's holding steady at 3.3-3.9cm. My next appointments are in two weeks for my 24-week OB appointment and my last cervical length measurement. I am also feeling baby boy move a lot more which I love. I am just hoping my body cooperates to keep this baby boy safe and healthy until 36 weeks. I will update!

Easter and 21 Weeks

Despite my bed rest, I was actually able to celebrate Easter this year. We were able to have an Easter lunch with my mom and the Turleys. Rachel also came over to our apartment that evening and Wesley made an Easter dinner. It was nice to have some normalcy. I am also at 21 weeks today. Only 3 more weeks until viability!

Anatomy Scan

We had baby's anatomy scan yesterday. Luckily his anatomy was great and he is growing in the 60th percentile. My low-lying placenta also resolved and my cervix is normal. Baby boy still just has the two-vessel umbilical cord and marginal cord insertion. I am hoping I'll just be able to continuing getting frequent ultrasounds to monitor his growth and my cervix. I will update.

19 Weeks

Another week down....19 weeks. All I can do is hope baby boy is ok down there. I will update.

New Finding

This week has been one step forward and two steps back. After two weeks on progesterone and modified bed rest, my cervix has gone from 2.5cm to 3.08cm! My placenta previa has also resolved and is now just low-lying. However, my MFM noted I have a marginal placenta abruption. She didn’t seem too concerned but I am trying to get more info from my regular OB. I am only 18 weeks so I have a long way to go.

17 Weeks

17 weeks pregnant today. Luckily my cervix length stayed stable. I am getting checked again next week. I also am thinking of changing OBGYNs. I am tired of my nurse acting like I am crazy for wanting to be seen after bleeding.

Short Cervix

My cervix was only measuring 2.5cm at the ultrasound on Monday. I started vaginal progesterone and will be remeasured on Tuesday. I also still have a complete placenta previa. Sigh.

Sigh….Another Issue

I may have a short cervix now. I'm getting an ultrasound on Monday. I will update. Sigh....

Baby Boy

We got our genetic testing back this week and the baby is a boy! He also was low-risk for the chromosomal abnormalities. That is a light in the darkness. Now the bleeding just needs to stop!

More Trauma

I had a grand total of 4 red bleeds this week and was in the ER twice. The baby is fine. I was diagnosed with a placenta previa but my doctor said that might not even be the cause of the bleeding. I can never be at peace and now another long weekend.....

Another Surgery

My mom is having another breast surgery today. I am hoping for the best and that it is just scar tissue. I will update.

Surviving

Still just surviving and am dealing with some more issues. The goods news is I scheduled my first therapy appointment.

Potted Potter

Wesley and I saw Potted Potter last night at the Peery Egyptian Theatre in Ogden. It was the biggest thing I have done this month. Most days I cannot imagine leaving the house or fully getting ready with the pregnancy sickness. It was very funny and they capured the spirit of Harry Potter very well. It was fine until the hour drive home where I got terribly sick. I will probably just do one big thing each with until I am feeling better. I am officially 10 weeks pregnant today so almost at the end of the first trimester.

Still Alive

I am still alive. I feel like I am living in an alternate universe where I do not feel like myself. I guess that's what pregnancy does to you. I am planning on just surviving day to day until February. On another note, I went to the dentist today and had no cavities. It is nice to have a small win in the midst of the chaos!

Survival Mode

This past week has been a roller coaster of challenges, both mentally and physically. I have been paralyzed in fear about the pregnancy and if the baby is ok. I am overanalyzing every symptom and constantly checking for blood. My cold turned into a full blown sinus infection which has been making it difficult for me to sleep. My mom also found another lump yesterday and is getting it looked at tomorrow. I have been in a state of anxiety and surivial mode and I do not know when I will have peace again. I am trying to hold on to some hope and just hope for better days ahead.