Much needed post!!

Wow!! So sorry to keep everyone hanging like that :).

As most people I'm sure know...Alysha Renae Honeycutt was FINALLY born on October 20, 2010 at 2:58 p.m. As follows next is her birth story, if you don't care to hear details like blood and vomit please skip ahead :).

I went into the dr's office the night before to get the labor process started. They inserted a catheter between my cervix and her head and inflated it to put pressure and make me dilate faster. I had been at 2 cm for about 3 weeks by this point. And then they sent me home. I could hardly walk and all I did was cry for about 3 hours. I finally got into a comfortable enough position on our pull out bed to lay without tears for a little bit. When I would get up blood would start pouring and it freaked me out a bit, but once we called the on-call doctor and he said it was normal with the balloons I calmed down a bit. I got to sleep at about 1:30AM and my alarm went off at 4:30. We ate a bit of breakfast and called the hospital at 5 to let them know we were on our way to make our 5:30 appointment. They told us to wait an hour cuz there had been a few unexpected births overnight and they didn't have my room ready yet. So sadly I sat uncomfortably on the couch again for another hour. Finally at 6 we headed for the hospital getting there around 6:20 a.m. We got all checked into the hospital and they started an IV and set up the monitors on my stomach. Little Alysha didn't like being monitored so she kept kicking the monitor off of her. The nurse was getting frustrated cuz it looked like I wasn't having contractions on paper, but she could tell I was having them every three minutes by the look on my face. So finally at about 9 my doctor came to check how far I was progressing and she took the balloon out. I was at 5 1/2 cm so she decided to break my water and get the guy to give me an epidural. Thank heavens! Cuz when she broke my water I thought I might die! The contractions were escalated by about 100%. They were coming about every minute. The nurse had Loren pushing against my knees to push my hips into the bed and take the pressure off my back. The guy came into the room and had me roll on my side and inserted the needle for my epidural. It stung pretty bad, but once the medicine was in effect I was doing great! Loren would look at the internal monitor they'd inserted and tell me when I was having a contraction and I'd just smile and say...ok. I couldn't feel a thing. It was the best! But the epidural messed with my stomach and I started getting super nauseous! All of a sudden I was leaning my head over the side of the bed and throwing up all over the floor. And myself. Without being able to move my legs I couldn't turn myself over so I ended up getting puke all over the bed, my nightgown, my hair, and the floor. The nurse was very sweet about it. Loren helped me into a clean gown and they changed my sheets and got a cleaning lady to mop the floor. I feel humiliated, but they just gave me some anti-nausea medicine through my IV and I promptly fell asleep. I mean, I was OUT. I would wake up every once in a while cuz I was shaking so badly. So I thought I was cold and pretty soon I had 5 heated blankets piled up on me. The nurse then realized that I wasn't shivering, my body's natural response to pain is to shake all over. So they stopped giving me blankets. So while I slept for 3 hours, Loren spent his time walking between me and his parents who were out in the waiting area with his sister. Finally the woke me up at one to check me and decided that I was fully dilated and ready to push. However my doctor was just about to go into surgery with another patient! So they had me do a "test push" to see how fast this was going to go. The nurse had me push while she looked, then yelled stop stop! Turns out it was going to go faster than they'd thought, so I was going to need to wait for the doctor to get out of surgery. Within the next five minutes though they decided that I was going to go fast enough for the doctor to be there before she went into surgery. So after effectively pushing for an hour...Alysha Renae Honeycutt was brought into the world! Very quietly. I was super worried at first cuz she wasn't screaming!! But after they laid her on my chest and Loren cuz the cord she got flicked a couple times and started crying. She was weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz. And she was 21 1/2 inch long. Much bigger than the doctor had thought. She had dark dark black hair. And she spent the next 5 hours crying. My parents and brother and Loren's parents and one sister were allowed in right after I got cleaned up and stitched a little. They oohed and aahed for about an hour and then Loren and I were left alone to be with our little bundle :). She didn't really catch on to eating and the nurses were a little frustrated cuz by 9 p.m. she still hadn't pooped. But she figured it out soon enough and the next day we were ready to be headed home at about lunchtime. The next few days were really hard cuz she decided to stop eating altogether. We tried everything, but it took her about 4 days to decide that she wanted food! She slept a ton!! Which was great for me. After those first 5 hrs of her screaming nonstop, I have to admit I was super worried about how she was going to be at home. But I have to say that she does not cry hardly at all! She's rather good about putting herself to sleep and she lets us know when she's hungry, but it's usually through grunting and rustling around, not crying. She loves her binky and bathtime. Although she hates to be naked! If she's not in the bath she needs clothes on and a blanket tightly wrapped. She had her first trip over Thanksgiving and did perfectly in the car! She loves a bottle and she loves her Granny and Grandpa Howell! She got a little tired of being passed around over the holidays, but seemed pretty happy with my Aunt MaryAnn, and Loren's sister Marlene. She had a bit of constipation issues, but resolved those after a warm bath at the hotel in Mt. Pleasant. (Sorry laundry staff!!) Overall she's a very happy, healthy, well-adjusted to earth baby :). We love her so so much and can't wait to not only spend our first Christmas together in a couple weeks, but get to share it with her as well! :)

Getting Anxious!

These last few days have been ridiculous! Loren and I are so ready to have our little girl finally in our home and out of my belly! Yesterday Loren was talking to her and told her that he's ready to hold her, but she has to be brave and come out first and I totally agree! But I'm also a bit sick of being pregnant...the morning sickness is back again in full swing and between having contractions and having to pee all day long I'm getting a bit tired of it all! The frustrating thing is that I'll get contractions that will start to follow a pattern and get stronger then just as I'm beginning to think, ok this might be it, they'll stop. Anyone have any more suggestions on how to get this going?? We've tried everything except caster oil because I refuse to drink something that disgusting that may not work ;). Poor Loren's probably getting tired of me making him walk so far every night!
But looking at the positive things! We've gotten most everything ready for her to come. (I hope.) And the crib will be here tomorrow. And she got a name earlier this week! After much discussion and hard deliberating we've decided to name her Alysha Renae Honeycutt. Now if only she'd hurry up and decide that she wants to get here already! My doctor told me to shoot for Sunday so that her birthday will 10/10/10. Maybe Alysha likes that idea too :). We'll find out!

Wedding and Baby!

So Loren and I got hitched Saturday the 4th. It was a wonderful day. We had so much support from family and it was so greatly appreciated. Everyone that was there: Thank you!! The weather was perfect also :). The decorations were perfect. My hair was perfect. The food was perfect. It was just a wonderful time! Pictures to come when I get them from my dad and Mark.
After the wedding we took off for Labor Day weekend in SLC. Spent a relaxing Sunday visiting Loren's brother, sister-in-law, and their girls. Monday was spent at the Hogle Zoo. Glorious! It was another beautiful day. Thankfully not too hot. We got to see the new baby elephant, Zuri, and a new baby Tamarin. The tamarin was probably the cutest thing I've ever seen!! It was only about as big as my thumb!
When we got back to IF we had to move like crazy. We got out of our "old" apartment by Tuesday night at about 1030, thanks to my dad!! And we love being in our "new" apartment. We are ridiculously happy :D.

Baby update! Into my 3rd tri now and we're are anticipating greatly the arrival of our little girl. Probably me more than Loren, just cuz that means I'll stop getting kicked in the ribs in the middle of the night and hopefully this dreadful heartburn will go away. My last doctor's appointment went really well. My doctor was happy to see that my blood pressure has only gone up a little bit and that I haven't put on TOO much weight...seems like a lot to me! She said the baby's measuring a little bit large, but everything's normal...like the heartbeat. :) Hopefully we've got 6 1/2 weeks left, just so that she makes it to full-term and I won't worry as much...but if she comes a little early then we'll be just as happy! Just as long as she's healthy.
Now if I can only find a comfortable position to sit through church...and a good way to make my back stop aching without taking time off work...wish me luck!

Beth Honeycutt :)

Ooh La La!

Where does time go??

My life is wild and crazy! Working full time leaves me NO time to relax or to catch my breath! I seriously have to stay up late, just so I can feel like I did something other than work! Even if that something is lay on the couch and watch a movie with Loren. At least I'm doing that without old people!! :) Side note: I may complain, but I DO love my job and old people! :)

Wedding update: Everything is coming along beautifully! We're keeping everything very simple and very easy (you really have to with only 6 weeks to plan) and I'm pleased with what's going down. I put my dress on tonight to make sure that the jacket is going to match ok and it's all going to be just perfect!

Stay tuned for engagement pictures! I'm going to figure out this blogging/uploading stuff one day! :)

Baby update: She is doing marvelously! Morning sickness is coming back, but I suppose everything can't be perfect! She enjoys getting the hiccups and sitting uncomfortably on Mom's nerve, but other than that she is doing well. A name will be decided before she's born!! Promise!! It's hard thinking up something that isn't already taken by a family member when your family is as large as ours!!

Au revior for now! :)

Tons and Tons of Updates!

Oh my. My life is so insane and has changed so much lately!!

So tonight I have to play catch up like a lot.

Now I'm working full time at IFHR again and I'm enjoying it just as much as last time!! My residents are amazing and very happy to see me again.
I moved out of my parents house about a month ago and I love my roommates. They're great girls and we get along very well.
Loren has been up here lots and lots and I've been in Logan lots and lots. Loren got offered a full time job here in Idaho Falls and is moving up here in just under two weeks. I'm over the moon excited!!!! I can't wait til he lives 5 minutes away and I can see him whenever I want!
Speaking of Loren...WE'RE ENGAGED!!! I spent last week with him and his family in Smithfield and had a great time getting to know them better. They are a wonderful group of people. Saturday was the pioneer day celebration in Logan, so Loren and I walked around the festivities and enjoyed our time together. That night we decided to go to the fireworks at Willow Park. We hung with his sister and parents and one niece for a while...walked around the booths and listened to the music and talked a lot. When the fireworks started, we walked around the park a little to find a perfect spot to watch and just as the finale started Loren dropped to one knee and pulled out the PERFECT ring! And I said yes...I think...we actually talked about it later and I don't remember saying yes!! But he said I did! It was all such a blur to me! I remember hugging and kissing and crying a lot! Then we went and showed his parents and headed back to his parents house for the night. We are so excited and so happy!!
With this decision came the decision to keep our baby. We are very very excited to welcome this little girl into our new family! The plan is to get married before she comes, but I'll keep everyone updated!
My life is wild and crazy and I'm loving every bit of it!!

Updates

Well...as everyone knows it's been a long time!!

Update on my surgery. It didn't go through in February due to some circustances arising, but I successfully had my first every surgery two weeks ago and everything went perfectly. I'm now gall bladder free and I can again freely eat my onion rings all I want.

I moved home in February also and I got extremely blessed with two jobs and a very cheep car almost falling into my lap within a week. I am now a happy employee of Fairwinds Assisted Living and Idaho Falls Care and Rehab. And I drive an 87 Honda Accord. Which is VERY loud. But it runs me to work and home everyday so it does it's purpose. It also got me too and from a much needed trip to Logan last week. I got to spend 5 days with the people that I love down there and just relax and not worry about when I was working next or where I had to go. Loren and I celebrated the 6 month anniversary of the night we met by going back to where we met so many months ago. We went country swing dancing at the funpark and had a wonderful time. Oh how I miss him up in Idaho.

Ok the last piece of business. I'm finally ok with telling people, but I'm pregnant. I'm about 15 weeks along as of yesterday. I'm very happy. And although Loren and I are continuing our relationship, neither of us are looking for marriage and so we are giving the baby up for adoption. I recently selected a couple and actually just asked them today if they are willing, and I'm waiting back for a response. But really all is well and life is good.