Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last few days. Enjoy.

Jenna

A Baby Story

Once upon a time there was a lady who wanted very badly to have a baby. She planned for her baby to come on a certain Wednesday, but it didn't come. She changed her plans so it would arrive on Saturday, but it didn't come. Maybe I'll try Wednesday again, but no, it didn't come. Surely it will arrive on the very day that the doctors said she would come, she thought. But alas, that day came and went without so much as a contraction. An induction was scheduled, and then postponed. Soon-to-be grandparents were left in limbo as they tried to plan their visit to the new child. Finally, early in the am hours of Thursday, the baby began to signal her imminent arrival with semi regular contractions. Around 9:30 or so, they started to become stronger and closer. Grandma Winn, in all of her experience with births, mentioned to Alixa that it probably wasn't worth it to go to the hospital yet, because nothing is worse than going in and then having to come home. A suggestion was made that she go with Jarom to a local park and go for a walk. But Lix decided that they were too strong and that she needed to head to the hospital.

They walked into the first exam room, where assorted heart monitors and stuffs were attached, and the first check found that Lix was dilated to 8 cm, which for those who don't speak pregnancy means she was really close to having a kid. Yeah for ignoring Nancy, or Jarom would be delivering Jenna on a soccer field at Delcastle Park. The nurses quickly whisked them to the Labor and Delivery room, where the contractions continued to intensify, leading Alixa to wisely elect for an epidural pain blocker, which allowed her to relax and get through the contractions with relative ease. There was a bit of a logjam in the baby making queue, so Lix waited about an hour and a half before the doctor came in and she began to push. After about 25 minutes of pushing, Jenna Marie made her appearance. She arrived healthy and quickly, only 10 hours after Alixa's first contractions. She weighs 6 pounds, 6 ounces, is 17 inches long, and has lots of dark hair. She has been a wonderful baby so far, sleeping most of the time, and looking around inquisitively when she is awake.

The Winns spent the rest of the day watching nurses do things and trying to replicate them, with mixed results. They are both pretty dumb when it comes to infant care, but they will learn. Jenna had her first visitors, as Grandma and Grandpa Winn came by and Jasonannie stopped in as well. The initial review is that she is cute (although the focus group is admittedly biased), although her head is a little squished. She apparently has a very cute nose. There will be pictures as soon as Jarom gets back from the hospital and is able to get them off of the camera. I apologize for the delay.

Friday will be spent recuperating from the ordeal. You would not believe the pain that Jarom went through as Lix was trying to tear all of the tendons in his hands to pieces. But he is a fast healer and should be able to make a full recovery. Hopefully both dad and mom will recover quickly and they can get out of the hospital, because the Hegewalds will be arriving Friday afternoon for a visit. We are very excited to see them and hope to have a wonderful weekend with two sets of grandparents doting over Jenna.

Wait and Hurry Up

This will be short and sweet, with a much longer, more detailed post to follow in the next few days. Jenna Marie Winn arrived today at about 2 pm, after what seemed like 45 minutes of labor and 10 minutes of pushing. She weighs 6 pounds, 6 ounces, is 17 inches long and has dark eyes. Both mother and kid are doing fine. Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, etc... Details and pictures will be coming soon.

Just Kidding

So, you are all probably thinking that since we haven’t posted in a while that we have probably had our baby and have just been busy. Well you would be very, very wrong. There is still no baby and my induction for tonight has been moved to next week so the light at the end of the tunnel keeps moving farther away. I suppose she could still come on her own, which I am desperately hoping for. I am not incredibly uncomfortable, I just want her here SO bad. It is better this way because now I can actually try and have a natural childbirth whereas with the induction it would be more painful and drawn out and has a much higher risk of C-section. So, it is good, but frustrating. I was kind of expecting a baby today. It is hard when you have a plan and you read all the books and you know exactly how you want it to go and then it doesn’t go that way, or at least it takes a lot longer to go that way. I guess I have learned my lesson. No more expecting things, no more planning. Kids come when they want to come. I am very lucky to have such a great support system that is so sympathetic like Jarom and my parents and my in-laws. My mother-in-law felt so bad for me she scheduled me a maternity massage. Maybe that will get the ball rolling.

My sister-in-law Annie, who wasn’t due until June 25^th went and had her baby on MY due date. That’s right, June 20^th she welcomed the first Winn grandson into the world. So, not only did she get to have her baby first, she also had to trump me by having a boy. The Winns already have like a thousand granddaughters. What a lousy day. Actually it wasn’t that bad. He is a cute kid and he and mom are healthy and I suppose congratulations are in order. Whatever. After we visited them in the hospital, we went to have what we thought would be our last meal, just the two of us, at the Cheesecake factory. It was a fabulous meal and I quite enjoyed it. Unfortunately, we will be having more meals, just Jarom and me.

In happier news, I got to get my hair cut last week and I think it looks great. It is my new mom do. I have also been doing crafts to keep me busy. I figure if I get good enough at them then I can be like my friend Amanda and have an on-line shop. I have made super cute bow holders and I painted Jenna’s name to put up in her room. Next on my list is learning to make bows and headbands and maybe some knitting. I think along with baby quilts and sewing, I might have something people would want to buy.

I think this turned out uber cute

Extra pregnant, but cute hair, no?

I also had a baby shower last week thrown by the fabulous Karen Slaugh for the people in my new ward. They have all known Jarom for forever and I have started to make friends so it was really fun. Karen and her daughter Kim went all out and made the Quesadilla Explosion salad from Chili’s. It is like my favorite salad. The food was delicious and the company was great and now my daughter has every single clothing item from the Carter’s store. I love that store. They just got in their winter stuff and I can’t wait to go check it out. I have figured that my baby will need to wear at least three outfits a day to make sure she wears all of her 3 month clothes before she grows out of them. They are all so cute, I wish they could grow with her. I guess I will just have to have another girl down the road so she can wear them too.

Not a great picture, but it was the one that I looked the skinniest in

Jarom has kept himself busy with work and golf. He golfs about once a week and is getting much better. We have been watching the U.S. Open this weekend and it has been quite entertaining with all the rain. I really don’t think it is fair that poor Tiger had to golf in the awful conditions on Monday with a few other people and everyone else got to wait for better weather. He is so amazing, though, he is coming back and has managed to reclaim a spot on the leader board. It is a long shot, but I am rooting for him! Jarom also got to go to the Phillies game last Friday with his dad. They had awesome seats, front row behind home plate. If you were watching the game, you would have seen them on TV a lot. We recorded it so we could watch them watch the game. It was pretty cool. Jarom said it was really neat and they got special treatment and free food. I was jealous I couldn’t go, but there were only two tickets. Instead I got to go to the Proposal. It was a hilarious movie and I would highly recommend it to everyone; boys, girls, whatever. It is seriously funny.

As you can see, Jarom was very close to the action

Well, I hope all of your days are going better than mine. Pray for a baby that comes on her own before Monday. I need all the help I can get!

Eviction Notice

Jarom took a half day today and went with Alixa to the doctors office for her regularly scheduled appointment. Because she took some Nyquil Monday evening and put the baby to sleep for a few days, the appointment stretched a little bit longer. Several machines were strapped onto her to measure the baby's vitals and see if she is healthy and moving, which she is. Alixa has made no progress in the last 4 weeks towards having a baby, so the discussion turned to induction. The due date is Saturday, so everything has been set up to begin inducing labor Monday evening if labor doesn't start on it's own. Lix isn't super thrilled about inducing, but she'll be overdue and placentas start to break down, so hopefully it will go well and she won't have to get a C-section, which is her biggest concern.

4..3..2..1...

We are getting pretty close with this baby thing. Lix is already overdue if you use her predictions of last Wednesday and last Saturday. Jarom had a good discussion with her about the importance of managing expectations; although I’m not sure she fully appreciated the wisdom of that tactic. But she is staying busy, which is great. Today she is headed up to Lancaster with some friends, and will be bringing one home with her to hang out and spend the night. She has a big baby shower tomorrow, a final (cross your fingers) doctor’s appointment on Wednesday, and then…



In the meantime, the Winns have been trying to enjoy themselves as much as possible. For Jarom’s brother’s birthday they went up to Frazer, PA to hang out for the day. They borrowed a Nintendo Wii and Guitar Hero from a friend and played a bunch, with a trip to On The Border sandwiched in there. None of them were any good, but it was a good time. Fortunately the system did not have a microphone, so nobody had to sing. Bruce is super thrilled when people visit because it means that he can catch up on his movie watching, and Lix couldn’t be happier to help him out. They have been to see Angels & Demons and Night at the Museum, which is where Jarom ran into a girl that he went to high school with. Honestly, it is a little surprising that this is the first one since we’ve been here, but he enjoyed it. He was even able to remember her name, which ranks as quite an accomplishment considering he is so old now that he probably graduated in the early 80’s.

If I know my audience, and I think I do, you have all been waiting on pins and needles for my analysis of the Stanley Cup Finals, which ended this week with the Pittsburgh Penguins beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-3. Since you surely watched every minute of it I won’t get into the details, but I do want to say that I was pulling for Pittsburgh the entire time. This is because of Marian Hossa. Hossa played for the Penguins last year when they lost to the Red Wings for the championship, and then bolted as a free agent to Detroit because he figured that would be an easy way to win a championship. And so he played in back-to-back finals, with the same two teams both years, and won zero championships. I love it. I also rooted for the Pistons to beat the Lakers in 2004 simply because I didn’t want to see Karl Gaylone and Gay Payton get a title with them.

This week, as you all sit online and await the email that says “Her water broke!” or something like that, you should check out the blog Seriously So Blessed. It is a fictional person, and is written in a way that pokes fun at Mormons, Utahns, women, and Mormon Utah women. You may have to go back in the archives a little bit to really get a feel for it, but I think you will enjoy it immensely. Unless you are particularly sensitive about your own blog, in which case you might be offended.

No baby. Apparently she did not have the same plan that I did. I am working on it. We will keep you posted.

Estoy Lista

So, as you can all see from our baby snow globe to the right, Jenna is due in 12 days. This would be exciting news, except I am planning on her coming out on Wednesday. That is right, in two days. I have even packed my hospital bag and diaper bag just to make sure I am ready. This is probably optimistic because as of right now she is showing absolutely no signs of wanting to make her grand entrance into this world, but I feel like 10 days early is just perfect to have a baby. So, Wednesday it is. Now, if she doesn't come on Wednesday, then my new goal will be Saturday, which would be one week early. If she doesn't come on Saturday, I will have to do some recalculating, but I think these are good plans.

Hospital bag, packed and ready to go. Hopefully I get to use it this week

The pregnancy is going well. Still pretty uneventful. I did go to the doctor last week and they said Jenna was measuring smaller than she should be compared to the last weeks measurements so they are worried about her fluid levels. If she is small again this week then more tests will be done and they will see what is up. I am sure she is fine. I think she is just nestling down into my pelvis more and more every day (my bladder tells me this is true) and she was just in a funny position. I suppose we shall see on Wednesday. I think all of her fluid has managed to find its way down to my right foot. It is as big as a bowling ball. Not my left foot, just my right. Pregnancy is awesome.

As you can see, the left is a little puffy, the right is HUGE!!!

I was talking to Jarom the other day and I realized that I won't be pregnant for forever. I had gotten to a point where I really thought I would like this for the rest of my life. Then I realized it was only a temporary condition and I got really excited. I know I wont look like I did ten months ago, but I wont be quite so robust around the middle and that is pretty darn exciting.

Everyone got home from the Bahamas yesterday so I am no longer alone during the day now. It is weird but nice to have a houseful of people again although I did have an enjoyable week last week. They all said they had a wonderful time in the Bahamas and that we totally missed out. Look at me already making sacrifices for my child. I am such a great mother.

Well, I will keep you posted on stuff and make sure that you check back on Wednesday for the grand post of baby girl Jenna! And if she isn't here on Wednesday, check back Saturday.

Hilariousness

This is a pretty old video that I stumbled across, and I simply could not have enjoyed it more.

Settling In

It has now been a few weeks in our new home in Delaware, and we are all getting used to the more lavish lifestyle. Alixa has long been a fan of the ABC show Desperate Housewives, and now she is doing her best to become one. Her full time job here is baby growing, which leaves her plenty of free time for things like quilting, cooking, doing crossword puzzles, going to the mall, getting pedicures, etc… It has been really great for her until this week, because the rest of the Winn clan took off for the Bahamas. Jarom and Lix couldn’t go because of the new rat, so now when Jarom leaves for work in the morning Lix is stuck in a big house with nobody else and little to do. Anyone who knows Alixa will know that her vivid imagination doesn’t do well when left in an empty house, so she has managed to keep herself busy. On Monday she was hanging out with Annie, Adri, and Juliet at Longwood Gardens. Tuesday she went out to lunch with Karen and Lindy at the Olive Garden. Wednesday she has a doctors appointment, Thursday she is planning on visiting Annie at her house, and on Friday a friend from Lancaster is coming down for the day. So far nobody has tried to break in, so everything is OK.

Jarom is enjoying his new job well enough, although it has been a little slower than he would like thus far. He does get to do a variety of things, which he likes. The laid back nature of the job has come in handy thus far. Last week he received a call from his mother and a simultaneous message from JD that he was urgently needed at home. Somehow a full-grown bat had managed to get into the house and was sleeping in the family room above the fireplace. JD was the only male in the house, and none of the females were willing to touch the bat, not even with a ten-foot pole. And so Jarom was called, and left work a little early to assist with the wild animal removal. Fortunately, Bruce also has a cushy job that allows him to leave early, and his office is even closer than Jarom’s, so the situation had been successfully handled with no harm done to bat or man when Jarom finally walked in the door. Jarom also showed up for work late one morning because he had been pulled over by a cop for speeding in a 25 mph zone. As he usually does, Jarom batted his eyes a little, made some friendly conversation, and got away with nothing more than a warning. The cop did seem a little confused by the fact that it was a car registered in Ohio, a driver’s license from Utah, while driving in Delaware. Jarom chose not to tell him that his permanent residence right now is in Tennessee.

As for me, I am enjoying the constant attention that I get from the grandkids, and have even ventured out of my cage to tour the house a little bit. I have gotten mixed reviews from the singles who frequent this place, and got some not so warm looks from Nancy, who made it quite clear that she was making a sacrifice by letting me stay. But she is managing to tolerate me, if only because it means she will get to see a new grandbaby, which should be here sooner than seems possible. Whenever it comes, it won’t be soon enough for Alixa, who has entered the unenviable finishing phase of pregnancy, where you are always uncomfortable and in pain, and everything swells up and generally makes you wish you had never done this. Cross your fingers for an early baby. I would, but, you know.