When 2 became 3.

Writing a "birth post" is overwhelming. I haven't even finished recording it down in my journal and baby Deacon is three weeks old today. Holy cow. The time flies, but I also feel like it's been 30 years since it was just me, Mckay and the simple (and in hindsight, so much less fulfilling) child-free life.

So I guess I should start at the very beginning.
(A very good place to start... did you sing that in your head?)

11.20.13
4am.
I woke up to contractions! All along you wonder "Is that a contraction? Is this what it feels like?" And they are right when they say you will KNOW when it's the real thing. I had a contraction every ten minutes for three hours and I was ecstatic. As uncomfortable as they were, I was giddy as I felt each one coming on and it took all of my will power not to wake Mckay and say "Does November 20th sound like a good day to become a Daddy?!".

8am.
To my dismay, they had slowed and then stopped by the time Mckay woke up. I spent all day pretty sad that it wasn't going to be baby's birthday. I rested and relaxed most of the day because I figured/hoped I was getting close to the real thing.

6pm.
Contractions start again as Mckay gets home from work.
Immediately I tell Mckay that we need to go to the mall to walk because this time they are NOT slowing down and stopping. So off we go! We walked the mall for about an hour and Mckay timed each surge (I did hypnobirthing and I'm supposed to call them surges, but the RN in me keeps slipping and using the "C" word), they were all about 7 minutes apart but none were too bad. Some would make me pause and squeeze a dirty hand rail but most of them I just walked through.

9pm.
Stopped at Whole Foods for snacks and drinks for labor because by this point I was convinced it was time! {In my food bag: coconut water which I normally think is pretty gross but I couldn't get enough of it during labor, yogurt, apples, granola bars, almonds & chia drinks).

11:30pm
Contractions are getting more intense. They are all 5-6 minutes apart and require me to move & be vocal through each one. I paced the floor for hours to help relieve some of the pressure because laying down was complete torture. At some point I called the midwife and she told me that until they are 3 minutes apart for about 3 hours I probably won't be ready as I'm a first time Mom. I wasn't overjoyed about that.

11.21.13
12:30am
Contractions are consistently 1-3 minutes apart and lasting 1-2 minutes. They are strong and intense and unpleasant!

1:30am
I have a particularly strong contraction while standing in our closet and think to myself "I am such an idiot! Why am I doing this?! I could be laying in a hospital bed not feeling anything... Next baby I am getting an epidural." Immediately after that cascade of negative thought, I knew I was probably nearing transition and that we needed to go regardless of any advice. I told Mckay to get the food packed up and get me to the birth center.

2:00am-birth.
We arrive at the birth center. It's normally about a 50 minute drive and Mckay did it in about 35 minutes (hallelujah!). The drive was BY FAR the worst part of labor. Stuck in the backseat of a car unable to move was utter misery. I was pretty much screaming through each contraction because that was the only way to release that tension and energy. And after every one I'd say to Mckay "I'm sorry honey! I'm being so loud! I'm sorry I yelled!"

My favorite midwife was on call and she helped me out of the car and into the birth center. She checked me and I was a 7! I cried tears of joy because that meant I was there to stay and we were having our baby!

Tub filled for water birth.
I get into the warm water and it feels amazing. I continue to labor through contractions that I really have no words to describe. They were so intense and I felt them through every cell of my body. At some point my water broke (which I didn't like) and within 30 minutes of being in the water I was at 10cm.

Pushing.
Not very effective for me in the tub. My midwife asked me if I was open to an alternative and I told her I didn't care what I did or where I was, I just wanted the baby out. So it was out of the tub and onto the birthing stool where I gave two big pushes and was able to reach down and feel his soft, warm head. The midwife said, "You were just the first person to touch your baby skin to skin!" And this surreal, tender excitement filled my heart up to the brim.

Change of plans.
I transfered to the bed because he was coming too fast on the birthing stool and that can cause a first time Mommy some damage. I got up, walked over to the bed and laid on my side (people cringe when I say I transferred to the bed while he was crowning but it wasn't a big deal at all). My contractions had slowed to about 5 minutes at this point so between each contraction/pushing sequence I was literally chatting and laughing with everyone, it was great and probably one of my favorite things about this experience, in a funny way, I was actually enjoying it! After thirty minutes of pushing on the bed, a drop in his heart rate, the midwife, nurse and Mckay encouraging me to "give it all you have!" and "get him out!" little Deacon was born at 5:05am. (He broke my tailbone on his way out but I forgave him.)

Birth.
He was warm and wet and his Daddy grabbed him and laid him on my chest. He just wailed and I looked down at him and just remember thinking what a precious, perfect mouth he had! After a few minutes he settled down and just nuzzled on my chest and we held each other. And like that, all the (here comes a naughty hypnobirthing word) *pain* was gone and he was in my arms and Mckay was at my side and this momentous, heavenly, sacred feeling was there and we all just soaked it up for a few minutes. It was surreal and wonderful and I can't even do the moment justice so I'll leave it at that.

5-6am.
We delayed cutting the cord until it stopped pulsing, when they asked Mckay if he wanted to cut it, he declined. Maybe it was anticlimactic after all that had just happened...
Mom & baby get cleaned up.
Dad puts our tiny son in a diaper and hat.
He gets his footprints taken, weight, height, vitamin K, Apgar scores etc. (7 lbs. 8.5 oz.//20.5 inches long//35cm head circumference).
Daddy holds baby for the first time.

6am-1:30pm.
The midwife left, the nurse came in periodically to check temps & BPs and the three of us all got into the cozy, soft Queen-sized bed and just snuggled each other. We called family, took pictures, and just looked at every inch of our new baby. Eventually we decided on a name (Deacon Mckay Dunn) and announced that to our families and friends.

Mckay ran out for a few minutes and brought back a hot lunch that we ate in bed. Eventually I got up and showered and then we decided we were ready to be home so we gathered our things and dressed our sweet baby and we were on our way. Less than 9 hours after birth we were home and in our own bed spending our first day as a family of 3 in the quiet privacy of our own space. It truly was an amazing, life-altering experience. I was so grateful for the midwife I had, she was just a perfect fit for me, and for Mckay's love and support during the labor and birth.

And at 3 weeks:
Deacon is such a great baby. He's so calm & so sweet. He cries when he's hungry or wet and we don't get too much fussing from him. He is such a great sleeper at night (he wakes up, cries, eats and goes back to sleep) and is getting to the point where he's a little more alert during the day. We love him so much and comment constantly on how wonderful, handsome, precious, sweet, perfect, darling (so on and so forth) he is. We are lucky to have him in our home and thank God daily for sending us such a special little boy.

My 7 mile long catch up post, cross that off the list!

We're having a baby in about two seconds! That's what it feels like at least. Not physically though (don't get excited yet), just in every other way. We've been such busy bees getting "ready", although as "ready" as we now are (crib it set up, bathroom is sparkling, baby clothes are washed and put away etc.) I don't know if a couple is ever really ready for what is in store.
Anyway- here's a quick recap on what has been going on over here these past 7 weeks since I last blogged.

Mckay's good friend Andy & his wife came and spent the last week of August with us. They've been friends forever and it was fun to see them reunited and having so much fun. Andy & Kaylynn went to the city during the week but the weekend they were here we packed in Atlantic City & Philadelphia IN ONE DAY. It was crazy. The guys went to open casting calls in Atlantic City for the Amazing Race and then "on the way home" we stopped in Philadelphia to see the sights. It was a very busy, but fun day. By the end I was pretty drained and when we went to get Philly Cheesesteaks for dinner (my first one!) I ordered from Pat's instead of Gino's and it was not as good as Mckay's (he ordered from Gino's). That turned me into a cranky, tired, pregnant lady. To add insult to injury, I spilled on my belly, which happens a lot. But it's great when you're not at home and you have to walk around looking like a slob; a cranky, tired, pregnant lady slob that is.

We got back to Darien on Friday night and Saturday Mckay had class until 5pm. At 8pm we drove six hours to Rochester, NY with Andy & Kaylynn to see the church history sites. It was my first time in the Sacred Grove & surrounding areas and it was lovely. Minus the mosquitoes that went to town on my legs. Then we went solo for a few days and drove up into Canada! That was awesome. We stayed on the 17th floor of a hotel right next to Niagara Falls & the views were amazing. Niagara has never been a place I've had any desire to go to, but it absolutely blew my mind. It was gorgeous and we spent so much time just staring that that incredible water and walking along the falls. Weather was perfect & I took about 1,000 pictures. We can't wait to go back (we're pretty sure in a few years our little buddy would love to ride on Maid of the Mist!).

Look at that water! It makes me want to jump in. A little.

We've spent many a night with our dear friends and their three baby girls watching BYU games. That has been really fun, as we miss having them next door. We love a little Jensen time! And Mckay just adores their oldest, Tillie. I swear if she only knew how much he loved her she could probably get him to do just about anything. One day he'll make a great Daddy to little girls!

On September 17th we celebrated our 3 year anniversary! We ate dinner at a delicious little restaurant, Match, in South Norwalk. It was a fantastic meal & a perfect night (except maybe the waiter who was a chatterbox, I'm glad we could share our special night with him... ahem.). Sitting across a table from Mckay with good food in between us generally makes me an extremely happy & content lady but this night- this night was just special. We talked about how fast 3 years have gone, but also about how it feels like we've known each other for 13. And all the while, I could feel our little guy squirming inside of me. It makes me teary-eyed to type this! Life has been so good to us. We couldn't be more blessed, and that intense love that I felt for him on our wedding day has only multiplied in the years since we've been married. I can't even imagine what adding our own little baby to the mix is going to do.

After dinner picture. Mmmm, I love him!

Just a few days after our anniversary we flew to Utah for a very quick, 3-day trip to catch up with family. While we were there we relaxed a little, but mostly drove all over to different family things and spent time with our favorite people. It was really great. My Mom threw me a wonderful baby shower and so many of my McAffee family came, as well as good friends from high school & college, neighbors and ward members. This is the picture we took at the end, of just some of the family members. It was fun to catch up, have people rub my belly (I really don't hate it, at all.), eat my Mom's amazing, delicious food & talk babies with everyone. While I was doing baby shower festivities, Mckay golfed with my Dad (27 holes in two days) and then ran down South to meet up with his brother for the BYU game. We were reunited on Sunday and said goodbye to the Craven clan over In N Out. I love this picture of my & my Dad, (although I wish my iPhone wouldn't have been on such a weird setting)-he's gonna be a good Grandpa soon!

That same Sunday was also sweet Delma Lou Dunn's 93rd birthday! Look at that happy smile! This is Mckay's grandma and we both love her so much. She is probably the sweetest soul I've ever met (really) and such a good woman. She sends out monthly, MONTHLY, newsletters to all of her children & grandchildren that have birthdays, anniversaries, announcements  family business etc. & she always includes stories from her and her late husband's life together as well as her wishes for us to be good and choose the right. We love to visit her any chance we get. She's looks more like 83 & acts more like 53 & we were thrilled to spend some time with her on her birthday. (Oh, and that's Mckay's brother Jared, who always lets us crash at his house. We like him a lot too.)

The weekend after we got home from Utah we spent two days in New Jersey (9/27-28) to watch SVU play football! It was almost uncomfortably warm but I was happy to soak up some vitamin D and Mckay was happy to get his yearly fill of Knight's football. He gave the pre-game speech, I wish I would have been there, but that was man time & it probably would have been weird for an 8-mo pregnant lady to be in the locker room with them. Look how content he is!

On October 12th we went Apple Picking! It's one of my very favorite New England autumn traditions. The men were probably mostly appeasing us, but they came along and smiled & even picked all the apples while the girls watched babies. The three of us (each holding a baby at most any given minute) were quite a spectacle & drew a lot of comments, especially when we would explain that the twin babies were Lizzy's and I would shift baby Clara to reveal my own baby arriving in a few weeks! It was great. Tillie & the husbands picked us some yummy apples, we ate crepes and apple cider doughnuts, watched Tillie play in the corn pit, and held babies in the glorious autumn sunshine. 

(10/18-20) Next thing I know, at 35 weeks pregnant, I'm on a plane to Houston to see the Dunn side of the family! I was really nervous, and almost backed out because I didn't want to risk having my baby in TX. But I am so glad I went because we had a blast. We caught a BYU game (so convenient when these family trips always seem to align perfectly with BYU's playing schedule, right?!) and tailgated with a bunch of the family for a few hours before. That was fun and yummy. BYU won & it really was an amazing game. (Mckay with two of our nieces, Savannah & Alyssa, dancing to the Biebs at our tailgate, complete with RV.)

Besides the football game, we got to spend some wonderful time with Mckay's sister, her husband & their 4 daughters who let us stay at their house, my wonderful sisters in-law threw me a sweet little baby shower, we met two nieces and nephew we'd never met before, we enjoyed a Dunn family Sunday dinner together, we ate too much food,  Mckay hung out with his nephews that he doesn't see enough &  then we were headed back to CT early Monday morning (thankfully baby stayed in my belly)!

We got home & I declare we've hit our travel limit for the year so now we occupy our time with getting ready for baby! Lots to buy & set up... like the crib! What a milestone, to set up a crib for your first child. It was fun & sweet and after it was all set up we kind of just stared at it in awe and held each other for a little bit. My huge belly is constant reminder (like we need one) of this baby boy, but imaging him in his crib is just wild & wonderful to us!

IKEA for a few items for the nursery... where my 31 year old husband reverts to a 7, 17, 27 year old (I don't think the child side of him ever really went away!). He makes me laugh... & we love Ikea.

We installed the carseat last weekend!!! Not as easy as it looks, but after a few read-throughs of the directions and pulling & tugging on the base to try and figure out if it was actually stable (?) we have a regulation carseat ready to go! Although we still want someone to check it for us and make sure we did it right...

(11/3) Last Sunday of teaching our sweet primary class! This is missing two kids! They've been a challenge over the last two years but they make us laugh every Sunday and we love them! This last Sunday (I wore a long black dress to church with a skinny gold belt over my belly) one of the boys said to me, "Your belly is so big you can barely even see your belt!" haha! I will certainly miss these kiddos! And I'm also thankful for a break:)

And lastly, Mckay took this picture of me at my last appointment. I'm a few days shy of 38 weeks here! That is one huge belly! As far as the whole pregnancy thing is going- it's been great! I've felt good and slept well and really don't have any complaints. I'm starting to notice some "practice-labor" stuff- surges (as they're called in Hypnobirthing), some sciatica and other nerve pain, pubic symphasis irritation (to put it mildly), lightening (he's dropped!), all that good stuff. It just gets me excited for meeting our baby! The countdown is really on... 14 days until the EDD!

I have a constant to-do list going, but this morning I packed our birth center bag & we have now hit the any-day-now part of waiting. Although I'm beside myself with excitement to meet him, I'm not going crazy yet. We want him to come when he is ready (although 11-12-13 WOULD be such a cool birthday!) & I want us to enjoy these last few days or weeks of it being just the two of us. 

Signing off with my last post (likely) before I become Mommy Nicki! 

XO

Beautiful

{From YouTube}:
New York City Ballet presents NEW BEGINNINGS on September 12, 2013. Filmed at sunrise on the 57th floor of 4WTC in lower Manhattan, this short film captures an extraordinary and moving performance of Christopher Wheeldon's After the Rain. It is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, and a tribute to the future of the city that New York City Ballet calls home. 

Just thought this was too beautiful to keep to myself.

McAffee Family Reunion

July 26-31, 2013

Portland, Oregon

We spent five full days in beautiful Oregon! 

I was happy to be able to finally bring Mckay to a family reunion, we've been married almost three years and there were so many members of my family who hadn't ever met Mckay! So weird. So we decided that it was time, plus, Portland is just a fun destination which made it all the more alluring.

We arrived late Friday night and finally got into bed around 2am. We spent the next two days "camping" (the Craven/Dunn family rented a cabin) on coast at Pacific City Beach. It was windy and colder than we bargained for, but still so much fun. We explored the tide pools, cooked & ate food together, sat around in camp chairs and visited, swam in the pool, and had a campfire every night. The scenery couldn't have been more beautiful, Oregon is so green and pretty! We visited Pacific City, Tillamook, Portland, Astoria and Seaside while we were there and every place was as breathtaking as the last. Green, lush and gorgeous!

I honestly love camping, a lot. But pregnant Nicki really appreciated a cabin with an air mattress.

The family with cute Grandpa McAffee.

After the reunion ended, our clan stuck around for some extra family time together, which was so great. We went to the Air Museum nearby in honor of my cute little brother who wants to be a pilot.  Somehow, I ended up 1,000 feet in the air in a bi-plane!!! I was torn between loving it, and praying that we'd land safely and in one piece. After about five minutes in the air I was able to relax and enjoy the incredible views.  My favorite thing the pilot pointed out was the pattern the wind made in the fields, talk about the beauty of the earth!

Mckay, Dad, Kenna & Trevor rented dune buggies for a few hours and had a blast driving way too fast (the owner accidentally had the "performance" key in, as opposed to the "practice" key, so they were able to drive these things as if they actually knew what the were doing... the boys loved it. Kenna, not so much. I heard she just did a lot of screaming, "Slow down!")

We did some "enjoy nature" time. I was hungry so that didn't last too long, but the views were pretty.

We spent a day and a night up North in Astoria so that the boys + Kenna could go salmon fishing.  This was an activity I was sad to miss out on, as I really do love ocean fishing, but some activities don't lend themselves to pregnancy very well. Plus, these guys were up at 4am and Mom and I got to sleep in and shop. They were the only 4 on the boat and each caught their limit and were back before lunch time! Such accomplished fishers. Mckay was happy to be back on solid land. My uncle grilled their catch that evening and we enjoyed a five-star meal together in their backyard back in Portland.

I'm told that the small fish my Dad caught put up quite a fight, they were all shocked to see it was such a little guy (who got to go back). Trevor caught the biggest one! 

We also went to the gorgeous Multnomah Falls, hiked a few miles up couldn't make it all the way to the top due to time constraints, bummer. 

Mckay & I ended our trip with an incredible dinner at Departure, a restaurant atop the Nines Hotel in downtown Portland.  We enjoyed our dinner 15 stories up on the roof top, and it was amazing. I found out while in Portland that I passed my boards and am officially an RN, so we decided to celebrate accordingly and were not disappointed.

Unfortunately, there's so much more we did that I didn't capture. 

Reuniting with my favorite cousins after too many years.

Meeting their wives & babies for the first time.

Shopping with my Mom, Aunt & cousin.

Golf for Mckay, Dad & my Uncle Ivan.

The best ice cream from Tillamook.

The maybe even better best ice cream from Salt N Straw.

McAffee group picture.

Mckay and I's day in downtown Portland, a place I would never want to live, I've never seen more bums or more meth-heads in my entire life. 

Fantastic and cheap lunch at the food trucks.

Relaxing time at Uncle Ivan/Aunt Shaunna's house.

We really loved the area (minus downtown) and we really, really loved the company. 

We'll be together at Christmas, +1 tiny, new addition, which is so exciting. Can't wait!

bump progression

For the record, baby is growing!

The day we found out I was pregnant!

Week 10

Week 12

Week 14

Week 16 

-I remember we were headed out to see a movie and I got dressed and was so shocked that I had a belly! It was the funniest thing, I made Mckay take a picture because I thought I looked SOOOO pregnant. Which is funny to me now, because I hardly look bloated compared to the soccer ball I'm carrying out in front these days.

The big half-way mark!

Week 22

Yesterday- Week 24.

Some notes:

Now that I'm not nauseous 24-7 I feel great & I'm loving pregnancy. I didn't feel 100% back to my normal self until about 20 weeks, which was a real disappointment after counting on week 14 to be my magic nausea-be-gone week. However; that yucky time is becoming a distant memory with every kick and move I feel.

I sleep great, I ordered a ridiculous horse-shoe shaped body pillow that I'm obsessed with. Poor Mckay gets about 1/3 of our Queen bed, but I had a bad back/neck before pregnancy and this has done wonders for waking up pain free. 

Of course I'm wearing maternity clothes. I could probably squeeze into some of my old ones but I don't to stretch them out, so I stick to the very small selection of maternity clothes I do have. Mckay got me a belly band to wear with  my normal pants/shorts which I think is just the funniest thing, but I have worn it more than I thought I would, what's one more layer in this stifling heat?

We both feel and see movement all the time. It's pretty special and every time I feel baby move it never ceases to amaze me. Our bodies are so incredible and I am just filled with gratitude and love for our little one.

No food cravings at all this pregnancy. I loved watermelon when I was nauseous but I think that was just because it was cold and had lots of water in it. I've never had the I need this NOW experience I hear about.

We found out that the baby is a BOY! 

We weren't planning on finding out the gender, but at our anatomy scan we had a bit of a language barrier with our sweet tech & she let slip the gender.

So now we are definitely planning on a little guy come November! We were both convinced it was a girl, and the news really shocked us. It definitely took a few hours to adjust our minds (I don't know why we were so set on it being a girl!) to that piece of information... but we are so thrilled (and a little scared) to have a little Mckay Jr. running around.

Now, I was apprehensive to have a 3D scan, in fact, I was totally against it. Mostly because I think the babies always look freaky in them... but look at our sweet little guy! I think he is the handsomest 1lb.+ baby I've ever laid eyes on. We're pretty sure that's my nose and Mckay's mouth but we'll have to see if he looks anything like that when he comes out.  For now, we just drool over the 7 ultrasound pictures we have up on our fridge and attempt to "get ready" for this baby to arrive... 16 more weeks!