bryce and melanie

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Christmas Eve was delightful.  We had Grandpa and Grandma Nelson and Jeff over for dinner.   We actually only 'hosted' the dinner because of Xan.  Bryce, as is customary, set a beautiful table and prepare a grand selection of  hor de overes. (spelling???)    Mom actually made the meal--a glorious home made lasagna--which in the words of Rachel Ray was 'yummo'.  Then as Nelson tradition holds we watched a movie. (Only difference was this year we were at home instead of at Walker Cinemas.---again due to our new addition).
But we had a great time and laughed and laughed.  If you haven't seen 4 Christ-mases--you should. 




We awoke this morning (after not much sleep for my dear husband who stayed up nearly all night with Xan) to get ready for a great day with our families.
First project of the day---breakfast for the Grandma and Grandpa Day.  And so my dear husband went to work his magic yet again. ---Yet again a glorious meal.  Quiche, fried potatoes, sausage, bacon, monkey bread (my favorite), cranberry muffins, and 'faux-mosas'.
Not to mention another beautiful table complete with a floral center piece.



 It was very tasty--even Grandpa Day enjoyed the quiche. :)  Presents were exchanged....even some for Xan.   We spent time talking and just spending time together.  Then time for pictures and more pictures.


Grandpa and Grandma Day
Who knew I would turn into one of those crazy parents who take picutres of every moment of their child's life.

After Grandpa and Grandma Day were on their way to visit everyone else, we decided to open our presents.   This process was complete with puppy playing in the wrapping paper and Xander eating meal #3 and then sleeping.   Bryce again did way too much for me for Christmas....he is always the sweetest thing.  I love him so much.  I feel like I really didn't do enough to repay him for all he does for us.   Santa also dropped  a good portion of his sleigh at our house.  Bryce and I both commented that Christmas will only get better in the coming years as Xan grows up.

Next, we bundled up Xander and went the two blocks to Grandma and Grandpa Nelsons.  Again...more presents.









My dad loves Christmas so much and we always get spoiled. --Presents were exchanged and we had some great laughs too. Xan got a bunch of gifts too, and Bryce and I took turns opening them.  While he spent time in Grandma and Grandpa's arms. Then we had a delightful and yummy Christmas lunch.  We barely finished lunch when Xan loudly let us know that it was his time to eat...so we made a quick exit (minus Magoo who wouldn't leave Grandma's side)





 Grandpa Nelson


                           



                                                       Grandma Nelson









Jeff and Melanie

And the book Mel made for Jeff for Christmas.  Mom and Dad wrote a poem about Jeff building the addition on the house....and Mel put the pic together with the poem to make a book.  Jeff loved it.



So after feeding Xan, we all took a much needed nap.  Xan and Bryce snuggled together on the bed---so cute (I almost took another pic of the two of them sleeping, but I was able to control myself).   We were awakened several hours later by a hungry little man.   After feeding him, we spent the remainder of the evening watching movies together.  (Pixar shorts, Julie and Julia, Harry Potter 2)
Xan was awake through most of the first 2 movies---which means perhaps my dear husband might be able to sleep a little more tonight.   Xan was so cute....wide awake.   He sat in our laps, and then in his bouncy chair, and then back into our arms.   It was so much fun. Who needs a movie to watch when you have a darling little guy to look at.   I can only imagine the fun we will have in the coming year as he starts to react to us.



Xan is now asleep in his bassinett...for now anyway....and the two of us are finishing Harry Potter 2.  Magoo has returned from Grandma's and has taken possesion of the comfy chair and the boppy.   The day is coming to a close and I am begining to get sentimental.....which is happening more and more often.

Our first Christmas as a family...I hope we took enough pictures!   I don't want to forget anything.   It has been a great day.  This jam packed holiday season brought about a discussion today.  Bryce and I talked (and argued)  about the importance of family traditions.  We both come from such different back grounds and now that we are begining our own family...what traditions will we keep?  For example, will we have Chinese (Day family) or Italin (Nelson family) food for Christmas Eve.  As you can see I won this year...but we will see about next year.  During the past 6 years, we have done our best to try to do everything we can to keep every family tradition alive. It is a challenge to bring two sets of traditions together, we disagree quite often...but we did agree on something.  With Alexander, we want to start new traditions for our new family.  We started one yesterday....we went to Halmark and bought Xander an ornament....yes he has no idea now what we bought him.  But we want to buy him one every year.  There is another new tradition that I will make sure happens each year and it doesn't involve any purchase or wrapping.

I will never forget waking up this morning and walking out to the common room and finding the scriptures opened up to Luke...while I was asleep, Bryce said he had read Xander the Christmas story (although Xan slept through most of it).  During the rush, the wrapping, the cooking and the lack of sleep Bryce made sure that Alexander heard the real reason for this season.   He sat down and held our precious baby in his arms and read to him the story of another infant, our older brother Jesus Christ.  He shared with our little man the story of the nativity and the importance of Jesus Christ in our lives.  Bryce is such a great example to me--no matter how little he is, he is never too young to hear the gospel.  Thanks Bryce for being such a tremendous father and husband.  We are so blessed to have you in our home.  Thanks for reminding us of the true meaning of Christmas and the most important gift we have ever been given.

 So tonight my incredible husband worked his magic in the kitchen.  He has proved again to all of us that he is an fabulous cook.  We can add that to the title of greatest daddy ever.   And his magic wasn't just in the kitchen, he set a beautiful table...it looked like it could have come out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.   He takes such care with everything he does.  The dinner was a great success and very tasty too.  



   Beautiful place setting ....my husband pays attention to every detail.  I am so lucky to have him as my husband.   Traditionally wives are supposed to care for the house and the family....NOT HERE.   He is the greatest!!!  And I bet I have the best husband ever...he cooks, decorates, cares for the baby, does laundry, fixes household problems, and changes diapers and still works on his PhD.  No...sorry you can't have him.  He is all mine---for eternity.   Xan is lucky to have such a wonderful daddy.

When we found out we were pregnant I knew our life was going to change....I just never realized how much.  I never dreamed that I would find so much joy watching my little man sleeping in his bassinet.   He looks so angelic and peaceful and perfect.  I know that I am biased...but he is.  From his long fingers to his cute toes, he is 6 pounds of perfection.   I love him more than I could ever imagined nine months ago.   I could sit and watch him for hours...(some of you may be saying "you are just so grateful that he is sleeping" and yes...there is some real truth to that.  Especially since I think I may have gotten almost two hours of sleep in the past 24 hours.)

It is unbelievable to think that this tiny little person was inside of me just two weeks ago.   I felt him kick and flutter inside of me and I hoped and prayed he would be healthy and strong.  Now he is out here in the world and is already showing signs of his own personality.  As I hold him I can sense his strong spirit and I know he will grow to be a fine young man.  I never dreamed that I would be thinking of the future so often, what will he be?  Where will he go to college?  Where will he go on his mission?  Who will he marry?  How can I help him to be successful?  How can I make him happy?   So many questions....and no answers---I just must have faith in my father in heaven.   So many parents have told us to enjoy every moment of these formative years--because in no time we will turn around and he will be a teenager.   I know I must treasure every moment I can hold him close in my arms and protect him from everything.

Our life has been changed forever by something that started the size of a pea.  Now he is 6 pounds...but he is our life.  He is our joy.   This precious sleeping angel is the love of our lives.  No one can forsee what the future may hold, but I do know this.  This precious sleeping angel has forever changed our lives.

Ok friends, more pictures taken by the fabulous Amanda Maree Shaffer! of our perfect baby boy!  Let us know what you think! Oh and let Mandee know what you think of her photography! (...cause its AMAZING!)

Ok...Attention all of you you who claim to be our friends in the past. Someone explain to to me why, during all of the showers that were given for Mel and Xan, Why...WHY did no one feel inspired to give us a Pee pee Teepee?

Now, I have to say that I the idea, just seemed a bit ridiculous...but...well lets just tell you about my most resent diaper changing experience shall we...

Picture it...I am changing the most perfect child in the world, with my new wipe warmer (it makes the whole diaper changing thing so much easier on both of us). It not a particularly nasty diaper, and I take it off clean him up, and reach over to get a new diaper, when I realize that my shirt is wet, I look back...and what do I find, but my son peeing!!! Its not just a little stream either...I jump out of the way and watch it spray almost to the ceiling! I threw a wipe over his little fire hose, yelled for Mel, and started laughing hysterically. She runs in and says, rather ironically, "What's going on, What happened, What'd I miss?" He looks at my shirt, the mirror, and the now drenched changing pad, and says, "What did you spill?"

I had to retell the whole experience between chortles. I have learned several things from this experience:

1. Always make sure you have all your materials prepared before you change a diaper.  
2. Wipes do not really absorb urine very well. 
3. Don't piss-off a little man with an exposed fire hose...you may end up all wet.

So all of you who claim to be our friends, and neglected to purchase such an invaluable item...shame on you! Now that we are stuck at home we will not able to purchase one for while. In the meantime, does anyone know the most absorbent material to make them out of? :)

Now for the moment you have all been waiting for.  The opportunity to see some pictures of Xander!  Here you go!

Head to this link to see pics! So stinkin' cute stay tuned.  More pictures to come.

So here I sit in the hospital, all alone with my thoughts.  Bryce has gone home to shower and Alexander has gone to get circumsized.  The room is so quiet--so I decided to take a walk around labor and delivery. In this section of the hospital pictures line the ceiling. Baby boys and girls with such big eyes and beautiful smiles. Each one a beautiful miracle from our father in heaven.  I am in awe of the perfection and individuality of each one.  They are all truely gifts from heaven.   I sat with Xan this morning--just the two of us in peace and quiet and I began to count my blessings.  Our journey to this moment has not been an easy one....but ohhhhhhh it has been worth every step.  As I sat there I looked down at this tiny little body, fragile and pink....I thought of the incredible spirit inside of him.   A spirit that has been strong enough to make it through to us.  I am thrilled to see what a fine young man he will become.  I can only imagine the incredible memories we will have in even a week.   He is so special and we are going to try to be the best parents we can be for him. Honestly, I am so scared to be a parent...perhaps that is because I have taught school for 14 years....  I want to give him every opportunity, I want to provide him comfort and stability, and a strong spiritual foundation.  I want to give him everything.....and my fear is I will make some big mistakes along the way.   I just hope that Bryce and I can trust in the lord to guide our new little family.   Melanie 

Well...it has been a long night! For those of you who don't know whats been going on with our family the past few days I will give you the low-down.

First off, Melanie has been having trouble feeling the baby move. It was a bit disconcerting that she couldn't reassure herself that he was ok. So Monday we went in for our weekly check-up. The doctor told us that our concerns were very valid. He said Melanie's ability to feel the baby move is the first line of defense against any problems that may arise. It was nice to know that he didn't think that we were crazy, or that over the top.

The next day (Tuesday, if you are following along), Mel still couldn't feel him moving. She went into the doctor's office to check and make sure everything was ok. He told her that the fact that she could feel her baby move wasn't a good sign. He told her that everything was fine but that if she can't feel him move, then she won't beable to let anyone know if anything is wrong. He scheduled her daily appointments to go into his office, or the hospital to check on the baby, to make sure that there was nothing wrong.

Then on Wednesday, we went into the hospital together. Again, nothing of consequence...he was doing fine. I went off to class, and Mel went home.

Then yesterday (Thursday), Mel went over to the doctors office to have them check the baby. The doctor was waiting for her so he could go and deliver 3 other babies. He was concerned that she still couldn't feel the baby move. He told her he really considered taking her with him and inducing her that night...But he was think that we would wait until Sunday, and start her then.

Well, we thought..."Okay, we have til Sunday to get all the last minute things done." So we sauntered off to get some dinner (El Toro Viejo, YUM!) before I had to head to my last class of the semester. Well I left my phone at home, so when we got home, there was a message from the doctor's office, that we should call back right away...so we did. The doctor had reconsidered while he was delivering the other babies. He said he really didn't feel comfortable waiting til Sunday, and that he "really felt" that we should come in that night and get her started. Now tell me what would you do? We really trust the doctor and know that he follows his intuition quite often, and we really admire his willingness to listen and follow what feels right. So...we went in.

And so it began...

We checked in at about 7:15 PM. At 9:00 they began with a hormone that helps to efface and thin the cervix. They said that they would need to wait 12 hours to then give her Petocin to induce labor. They told us that once they gave her Petocin at 9 AM she would have about another 12-24 hours before the baby would come. Well...about 4 AM she began having labor pains and contractions, though they weren't serious. At 7 Am I left to make sure she had substitute, all her lesson plans were ready, and so I could collect all my finals and get everthing graded before the baby came, thinking I had at least 12 hours to run and get things all wrapped up, I mean it really couldn't take more that 3-4 hours, and the baby wan't coming for like 12 right?...Wrong.

I had just got to Logan to start collecting paper work, when the Labor and Delivery Nurse call and said I needed to come back as soon as possible, and was very cryptic about the reasoning, say Melanie could use my support. It was just after 9 AM...Hmmm something wasn't right. So I hoped back in the car, and drove very calmly back to the hospital (especially since I about killed myself driving through Sardine in October). I got back just in time to watch the anesthesiologist insert the epidural...Man had I missed all the action!

20 minutes after I left, Melanie's membrane had ruptured and she had gone into full-on labor! Her contractions were so intense that they had to insert the epidural after only two hours of labor. The doctor said it was the best contractions he's seen in a while. I also learned that when she started in labor, the baby's heart rate kept falling. They were concerned that there was something wrong with the baby. The doctor told me that they had stablized everything and that he still thought we should attempt a vaginal birth. I had only been there about 20 minutes when the doctor came back in and said the baby's vitals were dropping again. He was not willing to risk the baby or Melanie. Right then they were both doing fine and he would like to keep it that way, that meant C-section. I was wisked away by several Medsurg nurses to be preped so I could be with Melanie during the C-section.

Wow it all happened soooo fast...next thing I knew, I was in an operating room. They had Mel all ready and they pushed me up by her head and BAM! Off we went! It seemed like only about a minute passed; I saw head then an arm then out came this perfect baby boy...with the embilical cord wraped around his neck...Twice! Wow...no wonder he has having problems.

Oh...what was that I saw...?

Well---here we go off into the world of blogging. I don't know who will be interested or even care...besides our parents. But there may be others so here we go. These will be our thoughts and feelings as we enter into this brand new chapter of our lives. Thanks to our family and friends for their support and love.
Melanie

Well today is December 2 and we are almost to the single day count down. December 13 is rapidly approaching with so much left to do and so much to prepare for. I feel like we are about to embark on a long journey---only we have no map....and we haven't packed very well.
Everyone asks...."aren't you excited" and the answer is yes!!! Of course!! But I am also so scared. Scared of the future...and of the unknown. Life is definately about to change forever---and it is a change we have been waiting and praying for, but now that it is almost here I feel so unprepared.
I keep trying to tell myself it will all be ok....maybe all new parents feel like this. (At least I hope so). But as our little guy gets closer I just get more nervous, excited and scared.

Yesterday we had a bit of a scare....I had been to the doctor on Monday and everything checked out well. No dilation yet, so our Dr. tried a few things to hopefully help start the process. The baby is strong and healthy...just riding high. So hopefully he will start moving down and we can begin dialating and get him here on time. No delivery scheduled for this week....keep healthy and be sure to keep track of the fetal movement.

Well I went home that night...and began to get scared and worried. No movement....or at least none that I could feel. All night it was the same, I got up around 2:30 and tried the tricks the doctor had suggested. (cold glass of water, juice, nudging)--But nothing was working. Still no movement. --Just a long restless night. But I kept thinking it is just in my head...relax and don't worry. I got up and dressed and went to school. All day I kept trying to relax and feel for movement...but still nothing. So after school I called the doctor and asked what to do. He had me come right over for an ultrasound. Sure enough the baby is ok!!! And the heart beat is strong. After the ultrasound they put me on a fetal heart monitor for 1/2 hour to be sure everyting is ok. They tried juice as well to see if I could feel any movement---but still nothing. So the baby is doing well, but I can't feel any movement. Which is good and bad.....because if I can't feel movement, then I can't detect a problem. So for safety's sake my incredible doctor (he is amazing and so caring) has scheduled me to come in to his office or the hospital everyday to check. He doesn't want to risk anything!! And neither do I. Who knows how much these daily test will cost...and at this point they could cost millions and I would still do it! We are too close to let anything happen now. Melanie