Richard Evan Chappell III

Evan

Richard Evan Chappell III known to everyone as Evan, was born on October 28th at 11:46 PM. He weighed 7 lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches long.

What a crazy experience labor and childbirth was! I think it's good that you forget what the pain feels like, because I don't think that most women would have more than one kid if they remembered the pain.

I had a doctor appointment on Tuesday. My doctor was concerned because I gained 7 pounds in the course of a week, was really puffy (including my face and hands), and my blood pressure was rising. She gave me an exam. She said that I was 90% effaced and 3 cm dilated. She sent me to the hospital for tests, and then scheduled me for an induction on Wednesday morning at 5:00 AM.

It was totally lame being in the hospital that early. They didn't start me on the Pitocin until 8:00. I was so blessed in the hospital with my nurses. Both my day and night nurses remembered me from my first experience in the hospital with preterm labor. They were great, honest and very supportive.

Contractions weren't bad at all. I was dilated at a 4 from 11:00 to 5:00. The doctor came in to break my water at 6:00. Wow. I wasn't feeling contractions at all until that moment, and then they started coming on real strong. Along with the belly and back pain, I was having intense cramping in my upper legs as well. I wanted to get an epidural so that I could rest and relax before the pushing. The getting the epidural was fine, but I was sadly disappointed! I wasn't feeling the pain in my back and belly, but my upper left leg was in the most pain I've ever felt in my entire life! The nurses and anesthesiologist decided that it was probably the baby positioned on my sciatic nerve! The pain was so bad that while I was writhing on the bed in pain, I pulled out my IV! It took them another 3o minutes or so to find a vein to get another IV and it was even worse for them because my leg was in terrible pain and I kept moving around. They asked me if I wanted any other drugs for the leg pain and I said yes. As soon as I got the IV in, they gave me some more drugs and I was out.

I don't remember much of anything at that point. I think they just mainly wanted to knock me out so that I didn't accidentally tear out the IV again. Apparently I said some pretty entertaining things while I was loopy that my mom and Rick thought were funny. At around 11:00 PM I woke up with a strong urge to push. The nurses came in and had me start pushing. Evan was born at 11:46 that night. I was proud of myself for my delivery. What great exercise it was! My biggest goal for the pregnancy was achieved! I didn't have to get a Cesarean like my mom and sister, but was able to do it the good old fashioned way!


Evan getting cleaned up right after the delivery.

Proud daddy.

Proud and tired mommy with baby.
First family picture!
Sleeping peacefully after his long journey.

Going home. Someone did not like their car seat!
My mom came and helped with the baby for a week. I miss her! I was really homesick for the first few days after she left because she is my best friend and I enjoyed spending time with her in Arizona. She was also an awesome coach during the birth for me. She really helped me focus with my pushing and was a great support. Rick was also amazing as well. We weren't able to take a childbirth class, but Rick was wonderful.

Evan is now two weeks old! I will definitely have to put up some more pictures. Once I figure out what's going on with our camera.

Strange burst of energy: Nesting?

I have a great feeling about today. I don't know why, it's just a great day.

Last night I stayed up until 1:00 AM cleaning the kitchen. And I mean, deep clean the kitchen. I was on my knees scrubbing the floor and soaking all the stove burners. Rick had to make me stop to go to sleep. So I went to bed, thinking of all the other things that I absolutely had to do on Saturday, finally fell asleep and woke up early.

I unloaded the dishes from last night and folded all the clean clothes and cleaned our bedroom and straightened up the baby's room some more.

Okay, anyone that knows me, knows that I am not the cleanest person. I mean, I pick up after myself, but honestly, all this crazy deep cleaning?

And these bursts of energy to do it in? It's nesting. I'm positive it is.

I've had more energy over the past 12 hours than I've had the last 10 weeks!

I deposited my check that I finally got from our insurance company this afternoon. Then I went to Costco to buy chicken and meat. I decided I wanted to walk around a bit, so I walked around Costco about 2 or 3 times, eating some samples, looking at books, movies, clothes, diaper prices, dietary supplements and agonized over which jerky to buy Rick for his hospital bag. The nice Costco lady even let me come back and get 2 more samples of watermelon after I had left.

Then I got a hot dog, lemonade and frozen yogurt from Costco. yum.

Now I am writing out all our bills for November and agonizing over all the other things that I have to get done today. And no, I can't do it tomorrow, or wait until Monday! It has to get done today!

The only reason why I haven't cleaned the bathrooms yet is because I ran out of the all important cleaning supplies!

I told Rick that I would wait until he called me on his lunch break to go to Target to buy more paper towels, cleaner, and Comet. I'm regretting my promise now because I'm tapping my fingers anxiously and I need something to do!

Hopefully this nesting instinct signals some sort of approach of labor? I sure hope so!!!

Countdown!

Countdown is on! My due date is November 7, which means I only have 18 more days until my due date! HOPEFULLY, little Evan will want to come out a little earlier than that because I am so sick of being pregnant! At least I'm not really nauseated or anything, but I am totally over pregnancy being 40 weeks.

This past week we spent a lot of time getting the baby's room ready and cleaning the apartment. I also did my visiting teaching (yay for me!). My mother-in-law Lanelle also gave me all the stuff I needed to begin making thank you cards for baby gifts. She is so creative.

This week we're supposed to find out some news about an application that Rick put in back in July for an amazing and awesome opportunity. Please keep fingers crossed and send prayers our way that we'll hear good news sometime on Thursday. I'm also really excited for Thursday because that's the baby shower that coworkers are throwing for myself and my friend Krystal. I'm just really excited to be able to see work friends!

No other news besides that. I am going stamping today at this awesome store: http://www.thecreativequest.com/index_files/10card.htm They have an awesome event every 6 weeks or so where you're provided with all the materials that you need to make 10 different cards-- all for a dollar each. Now, I'm poor and I'm a novice rubber stamper, so I LOVE going to these so I can build up a collection of fun cards to give to people. And for only a dollar each, it's a pretty good deal. And we're making fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving cards. So much fun.

Ready, Set, Go!

Okay, I am totally ready (temporally that is) for Evan to come! Any day now, baby, and you can come. Here are pictures of his room!

Crib with his name over it. You can see the sheets that my mom made for Evan a little bit better in this picture.
Here is Evan's fancy dresser. We really didn't see the point in spending so much money when this works fine. It's a little ghetto, but hey, that's how we roll.

Ah, our changing area! This is Rick's computer desk that he made in woodshop in high school. We changed it into a changing area for the baby because we don't have any computers that we use on that desk because we have a built in "tech center" in our apartment.
This kid is so spoiled that he has his own bathroom! (That he'll share with guests of course)

I went to the doctor on Monday! I am now in my 37th week of pregnancy, so I am off bed rest, and the doctors said that if labor started, they wouldn't do anything to stop it. I had a little scare though. My blood pressure went up a little bit from last week, and my doctor thought I looked a little more swollen/ puffy than the last time she saw me. So, she had me get blood taken to see if I may have preeclampsia, which if I do at this stage of my pregnancy, I am pretty sure they're just going to be putting me in the hospital and inducing the labor. She also said I am measuring HUGE and she ordered an ultrasound two weeks away to measure the size of the baby. Really, I kind of think I am measuring huge because maybe I have a small torso. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to follow up on the preeclampsia thing. Hopefully, all will be well.

I am so ready for Evan, and I am just getting excited to meet him now! I am 2 cm dilated still, which my doctor said that some women can stay dilated that long for about a month or so. But, I've also been having contractions, not consistent or heavy at all, just enough to make me feel uncomfortable. We'll see what excitement this next week brings for us!

fun in the sun

I am off bed rest! Woo-Hoo! I can't believe that I made it. I started going crazy for awhile, but I am doing much better. On Saturday, my friends Brenda and Jennifer, and my sister-in-law Renee threw a baby shower for me. I had a great time visiting with friends and basically, getting out of the house. It was also great to see my mom, sister Bethany, and my nephew Ollie. My family is great, and I really miss them. They're only 5 hours away (except sister Sarah) in California, but we don't see each other too much. Next time they'll see me, I'll be having/ have a baby! Crazy!


Sarah bought this onesie, among about 10 other outfits for Evan.
My mom surprised me by making a pair of flannel sheets for the crib.
Friends from school! I am so glad that they could come!

The blanket that my mom made for me. I LOVED these colors all together.

This is a picture of my belly buddy from school, Krystal. You can't really tell in this picture, because I look so HUGE, but she is due on the 15th of November.
Me with Rick's family! They're crazy, and my eyes are closed. Definitely not the best picture.
Jen and Brenda from church. I was so lucky to have them help throw the shower. Especially Jen, who totally volunteered to bring stuff and help out. And Brenda who has been a good friend of mine since the good ol' single days.

Friends Erin, Collette and Teresa from the Bethany Home ward. I miss them! It was so nice to seem them since the last time I saw them was at Erin's shower.
Not the best picture, but I am so glad that Bethany and my mom came out for the shower! They do so much for me, and are already spoiling Evan very badly!
And how could I forget that Ollie was there also? This is him getting ready to leave.

I had such a great time and it was so nice to spend time with all these great friends and family that I have.

After the shower, we went back up to my apartment and we sorted through the 4 trash bags full of clothes, ages NB- 9 months. Yay for hand-me-downs. And the great thing about baby clothes is that they really don't go out of style, especially little baby boy clothes. We started washing baby clothes with the laundry detergent that my mom brought for us. Then we took inventory, and made a list of the bare essentials that we needed in case Evan decided to come quickly. Then, we headed over to Babies'r'us. We had so much fun getting everything for Evan, even though I was exhausted! My mom then took us out to eat at T.G.I. Friday's. I love the food that they have there. Then we came home, did some more laundry, started folding clothes and put everything in the baby's room. Rick put together the car seat, which wasn't too hard, and read all the directions, then he put the bouncer together also.

Rick putting the car seat all together. (there really wasn't that much to do!) and snapping it into the base. He was proud of himself though. Thankfully we have it all nice and installed in the back of my car now.

This is the bouncer that I absolutely adored when I first saw it. I remember we saw it way back in March (right after we found out that we were pregnant) and I wanted it because of the way cute design. Thanks goes to Auntie Bethany, Uncle Russ, and cousins Casey and Ollie for this gift.

Ollie didn't sleep well in Evan's room on Saturday night, so while mommy was sleeping in, we were trying to keep Ollie occupied. Here he is with. A real cute picture of Ollie, but not such a cute picture of Rick!

Ollie passed out on our floor just as my mom and sister were getting ready to leave! He is too cute! Mom and Bethany left around 10:30 on Sunday. I really appreciated all that my family did for me this past weekend and I can't wait to see them again.

No new news

This past week I haven't done too much of consequence, besides sleeping in, taking naps, and reading.

I made a list of all the things that I need to get still. And then researched prices. And then made a spreadsheet.

Still no news about Air Force for Rick. His recruiter says no news for anyone that applied for the Officer Training School yet.

Doctor's appointment today was nice. It had been two weeks since my last appointment since I had seen any sunshine, and it was an absolutely beautiful day in Phoenix. It felt a lot cooler than the last time I went out.

Doctor said everything is looking good. I've dilated 2 cm so far, and the baby is head down. He also mentioned that Evan is a good sized baby.

Looking forward to getting off bed rest on Sunday. Also looking forward to seeing my mom, Bethany, and Ollie.
I haven't seen this kid since July, and boy do I miss him. His first birthday is on the 14th, and hopefully Evan can hold out so he's not taking Ollie's birthday away from him. My new favorite picture of Ollie and Casey. It's hilarious because my sister and brother-in-law aren't big readers, and these two love books apparently. I love them! I miss them so much!! I wish I could see Casey this upcoming weekend too, but he's a little more work than his little brother.

Scary Dream Last Night

Totally random dream I had last night: I was going into my classroom to talk to my permanent sub about some things that I wanted the kids to do while she was teaching. Well, she had torn down all my posters, decorations, and pictures that I had up. She said that she sold my Lord of the Rings movie poster to a student for $4, and she tore down all my pretty bulletin boards. The worst part of the dream though: she wasn't even teaching reading and literature. She was teaching the kids astronomy and the movements of the planets and stars! I was starting to tell her that she needed to read stories from the Literature book to prepare them for AIMS, and she said, "Oh, no. Honey I've been teaching a lot longer than you, and I know that this will help more!" I was so sad and angry and upset and then I woke up.

This is a teacher's worst nightmare. I always stress and worry about what's going on with my 7th graders and what they're learning, and how far ahead or far behind they will be when I go back to school in December.

I know it's not a total nightmare to some people, but to me it was one of the worst dreams ever! I'm so glad I woke up. I almost cried about my Lord of the Rings movie poster! It was terrible!