Quincy William

    I'm a little scary in this picture, but I think the smile on my face sums up my joy!!!

In keeping with blogging tradition, I'm writing my birth story. What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't? Really though, this is more for my sake, it's much less time consuming to type than to write this all out in a journal, and less for your entertainment, although you are more than welcome to read!

Quincy William made his way into this world on April 28, 2012 at 8:25 am. He weighed in at 6 lbs 2.9 oz and 18 inches tall.

My whole labor process began that Wednesday, the 25. I went in for my weekly check-up crossing my fingers for some progress, this was, by the way, the longest I have ever been pregnant! The doctor came in and did his thing and informed me that I was at a 2 and 80% effaced. Although I was hoping I was at a 10 and was actually having the baby without feeling anything, I figured a 2 was better than nothing.

Soon after my appointment I started having some mild contractions. Nothing that hurt, and they were spaced about 30 minutes apart. As the day progressed, so did my contractions. By late that evening, my contractions, although still unpainful, were much closer together, around 10 minutes apart. Because of the baby's position, and because of how fast my labor went with Carter, my mom and sister, Carli, decided to jump in the car and head on over.

They arrived slightly before midnight and now my contractions were only about 5 minutes apart. They still did not hurt though and I was not having any other symptoms of labor. We decided to take a nice stroll around my neighborhood once they arrived, which, like I mentioned, was around midnight. After walking for quite some time, we figured we go to the hospital and have them check me, just to see what was going on.

We arrived at the hospital and took the elevator up to the 6th floor! The nurse greeted us and brought us back to a monitoring room. She hooked me up to the machines and then checked me. I was only at a 3 and 80% effaced! This was not going how I imagined. My contractions were registering at 3-4 minutes apart, but once again, still comfortable. The nurse came back in the room and said she wanted us to walk around the hospital for a couple of hours! Ugh...not something you want to do at 2 in the morning.

Nathan was starving so he decided to go grab something to eat while my mom and I explored St. Mary's. We started at the bottom floor and took the stairs to the highest level we could go several times. We explored the maternity ward, the main floor, just about everything. After the longest hour of my life, we decided to go back and see what was going on, which was absolutely nothing. The nurse checked me again; I was still a 3. I knew that I was not in "active" labor and decided to just go home and let things play out.

On a side note, while the nurse was doing her thing, sleep deprivation kicked in because we all got into joking mode. I don't know if I have laughed that hard in a long time. Being a huge supported of modern medication and technology, we had some good laughs at the weird things people do during child birth! I won't even start with some of the ideas we came up with!

Anyway, we headed home, went to bed, and that was that. This was turning out more like my labor with Grant than my labor with Carter. There was one huge difference though, with Grant I was in a ton of pain and crying for 2 days straight. I really was in labor. This one was merely wishful thinking and hoping!

On Thursday morning, I hit the gym and hit it hard. I was really hoping something would happen here, not to mention, I had this twisted fantasy of my water breaking all over the equipment at Gold's so that, for one, I wouldn't have to clean anything up and two, I could repay the raunchy employees for the lack of customer service! Unfortunately, that wish never came true! So, wake-up, gym, grocery store...what next.

By that evening, we were a little bit discouraged that I had not had the baby yet. I was still consistently contracting, and when I was active they even got a teeny tiny bit more intense than normal. The only problem was that when I sat down, they pretty much stopped. Another indicator I was not in labor. So, back to feeling discouraged. My mom had driven down while my poor father was still sick in the hospital. She was limited on time and had to get back to my dad. We were just so sure that those contractions I was having meant labor. She decided she could stay through Thursday night, but Friday she just had to head out.

That evening, nothing really happened once again. We went to bed and woke up nice and refreshed in the morning. I went to the gym again, made the workers uncomfortable AGAIN, they really thought I was going to have the baby right there, and then went home. Contractions were still the same. I can't remember for sure, but sometime around 9am, I think, I lost my mucus plug...TMI! This was a great sign though because with Carter, I lost it and popped that little dude out a few hours later. I think I went to the gym, okay, I know I went to the gym after. Carli came with me and we worked out, if that is what you can call it. Okay, so we came home and decided to go back to the hospital just to see if something was happening. For all I knew, and hoped, I could have been completely dilated and just one of those crazy women who didn't even know she was in labor!

We got to the hospital and the nurse checked me...still a 3. She asked us if we wanted to walk around and I said "no." I knew that it was still false labor. The doctor came in and talked to me a little about when I should definitely come in and what I should watch for.

We headed home sorely disappointed. My mom just could not stay another second. My dad had FINALLY been released after nearly 3 weeks in the hospital. He was still super sick and there was no verdict on what was wrong. So, my sweet mother packed up, left Carli, and headed out! We just knew that with our luck, this would be the night I had the baby.

On another side note, Nathan and I still had NO idea what we were going to name the baby. We didn't even come close to agreeing on anything. We had even given up on keeping with the "presidential" theme, but nothing came to us.

The night went on as usual and Nathan and I went to bed. At 3:14 in the morning, to be precise, I woke up! "Ow" was the first thing that came to mind. I laid in the same position until the contraction passed and decided to time just how closet these suckers were. Just 4 minutes later, another painful one came on, then 4 minutes later, another. I woke Nathan up and told him I was hurting but I didn't want to go to the hospital again. It's funny how things change from your first to your third pregnancy. With our first, Nathan probably would have jumped out of bed, ran to the truck, and with tires screeching, sped to the hospital. This time around, he just went back to sleep! I got up, went to the bathroom, came out, and decided that it was definitely time to go. Nathan got out of bed, we grabbed my hospital stuff, which was not very well thought because I didn't even have a tooth brush packed, woke Carli up, and headed to the hospital.

We walked in, got checked-in, and started the routine. Monitors, papers, etc. The nurse then checked me and I was at a 4 and 100% effaced. Yay! It was real this time, oh and about 4:30 am. She asked me then what I wanted to do, I replied, "Have a baby!" Right away, she got my iv hooked up and got my antibiotics going for group B strep. My contractions were really starting to get intense at this point, but not completely unbearable yet. The nurse informed me that I only had to finish off 1.5 bags of iv fluid and I could have my epidural! I don't think I have ever been happier. I guess there was another lady in labor in the room next door waiting for epidural as well. We had a nice little race going on to see who could finish their iv fluid first. The other nurse kept coming in and checking. My nurse was so great, even though I was loosing the race, she snuck and called the Dr so he would come to me first! Anyway, the anesthesiologist came in, I professed my love to him, I sang "Oh when the Saints go Marching in," as keeping with my epidural tradition, and was in complete and utter happiness and bliss within a few minutes. It was amazing! I'm not positive, but I think it was around 5:30 am that this all happened. Nathan was obviously feeling the effects of the epidural as well, because he wanted breakfast, so he headed out in search of a fast food restaurant near the area that served breakfast burritos!

I can't believe how the sequence of events have slipped my mind already and it has only been 4 days! So, either right before, or right after my epidural, Nathan looked at me and said, "I can do Quincy!" Happy day. This was the name I had wanted from the beginning, but he hated it, so I had just given up! So Quincy it was. I asked him about a middle name and we decided we would worry about that later. I'm not sure when we finally decided, I don't think he had been born just yet, but I remember Nathan saying, "what about Will?" I was like, "Ew not thank....wait, William, we have a few Williams in the family! Let's do it!" So, that is how Quincy William got his name!

So, skipping over a whole lot of nothing, Nathan came back, the nurse came in an hour later and checked me. I was at a 7! That was what I liked to hear. My water had still not broken though. The doctor, not actually my doctor because he was not on call, came in around 8:10 and decided to break my water. What a weird sensation. I absolutely felt a pop! Oh, I was still at a 7 when she checked me. Right away something changed. I told the resident I was feeling a whole lot of pressure. He said it was because my water was broken. The doctor then came in the pressure wasn't subsiding. I really felt like it was time to push. This was all in a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds, from the time she broke my water. She checked me again and BAM, I was complete! She looked at me and said, "I'm going to grab my stuff!" The nurse and resident then started getting everything ready to go. I was feeling some serious pressure now. What happened to my dear epidural? The doctor came back in and it was time to push. Immediately when I started pushing, the pressure and pain became insanely intense.

Somewhere within the first minute, my doctor got a phone call, which she took! It was a little odd because she was on the phone for quite a few of the pushes. So, pushing right along, the baby's head was a little cocked and kind of stuck on the bone. The fix, push harder, which I did! I could then feel the baby's head crowning, and I mean really feel it because I was kind of yelling and screaming a little bit... okay, a lot! That last push I though was going to kill me. The pressure was just insane and I thought I was going to rip open, that could have been because the Dr and the Resident were both...assisting me (tearing my woman parts to pieces)! Then, all of a sudden, pop, the head was out and the pain subsided. One small push and I was holding my sweet baby boy! Although it had seemed like I had pushed for ages, the whole process had only been 6 minutes! I remember thinking he looked so tiny, which was funny because Carter never looked that insanely small to me!

Side story, once again! Sometime during my delivery, in the first minute, before the doctor had to take her "super important" phone call, she was watching the baby and got all excited. I had told her how my kids come out basically bald, which she just couldn't believe! So, the doctor is watching and says, "Wow, he got A TON of hair! Like, a ton!" I was soooo excited. I could hear my mother on the phone in the background absolutely thrilled as well! Anyway, once he really started crowing, she looked at me again and said, "hmmm, maybe his hair isn't that dark!" Sure enough, he was my baldest of all!

What an amazing experience! Everyone, including the doctors and nurse, were thrilled and just as excited as I was! Nathan was snapping picture, we were all just so happy and excited. I did get a tiny bit nervous because it took the baby a few seconds to finally catch a breath, but then all was well! Did I mention that the second they laid the baby on me, he peed all over me! It was just the beginning of an uphill battle I have lost several times with him already!

It was so nice to just get to hold and snuggle him for a good ten plus minutes before they decided to clean him and take his vitals. I really loved that about this hospital. As a Catholic institution, they have very different policies. They did not take the baby away at night time, mom was responsible for diapers, everything they did, vitals, baths, etc, were in the room, with the mother, and they majorly promoted breast feeding! I really loved it all! We Skype called my mom, who was so thrilled to see the baby, but so sad she could not make it!

Anyway, that is the story and all the nitty gritty details! Later that day Nathan brought Carli and the boys by to see their brother! It just melted my heart to see my family all together! The boys just LOVED//love him too! Grant kept saying, "he's so cute!" Carter kept wanted to hold little man!

We got to come home Monday morning, they kept us an extra day because I was not able to get enough of the antibiotic for Group B Strep, so they just wanted to monitor the baby and make sure he was okay. Monday morning, they circumcised poor dude and about an hour later, hacked off his extra digit. It was definitely a rough day for my guy!

Now we are home, Grant and Carter are in Utah at my mom's until this afternoon, and adjusting to life. I can't believe how blessed I feel with the support and love my friends and family have shown. So many sweet presents and meals and kind thoughts! My heart is so full and it only continues to feel this way! Now FINALLY, some pictures!

Hanging out pre-epidural!

 

First time "meeting" munga!

Daddy and his boy!

My sweet Quincy's first bath! He looks so chubby in this, but he's really not!

My family!!!

Aunt Carsee!

Prague: July 17- July 20

Prague

I can barely remember our train ride over to Prague. Thank goodness I have my handy dandy itinerary with  more detail than the president's SOMETHING to revamp my memory. We left Berlin early...ish and arrived in Prague around 1:30. After realizing the Euro is not used in the Czech Republic and understanding that 2000 Czech Crowns was actually not much money at all, we found a cab and headed to our hotel: The Hotel Casa Marcello! This once monastery was hidden on a back road in the old part of Prague and was absolutely breath taking. We "Czeched" into our room ;) and oo'ed and aw'ed at the beauty of it all. Our window opened to a small cobblestone ally that looked onto several other older buildings with similar architecture. 

The inside of the hotel was just as fantastic as the out. Several winding staircases and long hallways brought us to our suite at the corner of the old monastery.

After unpacking and settling in for our stay, we did what all people visiting the Czech Republic would do and went to eat at an Argentine restaurant (hopefully you caught the hint of sarcasm in that statement)! This specific restaurant, La Casa Argentina, which we didn't get to till around 10:00 that night, was so delicious and the atmosphere was so fun! The inside resembled a jungle in the Amazon and near the entrance, music and dancing filled the night air. In the picture is Nathan's order: beef carpaccio (basically thin cuts of uncooked beef), which I refused to try. I stuck to the steak! You can't go wrong with steak! Unfortunately, I can't remember what exactly happened after we ate. I'm assuming we just headed back to the hotel and crashed out for the night!

Our next day in Prague was scheduled for a half-day tour of the city. Our mini-tour bus came and picked us up at our hotel and brought us to a central location somewhere downtown where, like all the tours we went on, were herded around like sheep and shoved onto another tour bus. Finally, after several mix-ups and forgetting to pick up one couple, we headed out on our tour. Most of the trip we just drove around Prague, but when we finally reached the top of a large hill, we began a walking tour of Prague Castle. It was so incredible beautiful, and full of tourists. We visited the cathedral, saw a great Czech band play some of their traditional music, and enjoyed amazing views of the city.

At this point, we got a little one-on-one time with our tour guide who was a total creeper. The first thing he asked me was where I was from. When I told him the United States, he was shocked and said it was not possible because I wasn't fat...hmmm, thanks? After several minutes of being hit on, with Nathan just laughing in the background, we continued on the tour and actually learned some fascinating information.

When we finished the tour, we were dropped off in the Old Town Square where Nathan and I wandered around for a little bit. I forgot to mention that on our train ride from Berlin to Prague, while walking through about a million cars to get to our reserved seats, my suitcase broke. That was probably the worst thing that could have ever happened on our vacation. My luggage had been having some minor issues with the bar since Paris, but it finally snapped clean off once we left Berlin. To make matters worse, the handle on the side also snapped, so I couldn't even carry the suitcase if I wanted to. I think it took me a good 20 minutes to make it through the train with that stupid bag!

Anyway, back to Old Town Square...we hit up a little side shop in hopes of finding a new suitcase. We quickly spotted a place that sold way overpriced low quality luggage and settled on a grey one that looked somewhat like a gun safe on wheels!

View of Cesky Krumlov

Courtyard at Cesky Krumlov

Palace at Cesky Krumlov 

Finally, back to the hotel we went! We ate a late lunch at the hotel restaurant, which was located in this amazing outdoor courtyard at the center of the hotel. This was the start of my losing battle in ordering eatable food. I took one bite of my sandwich, which was slathered in ketchup, and that was that. Nathan, on the other, managed to order something delicious everywhere we went.

That night, we decided to try our luck with a traditional Czech restaurant. Just around the corner from our hotel, we entered this wonderful little restaurant, where we were seated outdoors. The service was so wonderful; they even brought me a blanket because it became a bit nippy. Of course, my food was awful and Nathan's was delicious, but the experience, nevertheless, was amazing!

One of my favorite things in Europe was the time people took to eat. We never ate dinner before 9:00, which was the time most people seemed to prefer dining out. Once you entered the restaurant, the service was amazing! Every place we stopped at, the waiters and waitresses treated you like family. Rarely did we actually leave a restaurant before two hours of eating and talking. It was just so relaxing and fun!

The next day, we woke bright and early to catch our next tour to Cesky Krumlov. After waiting for quite some time and no bus ever coming to pick us up, we ran to the meeting place, which was the same as the tour we took the day before, and informed the people they had forgotten us! After sometime of them finally figuring out that, indeed, they had left us behind, we headed to Cesky Krumlov. Let me just tell you know, although the idea of a tour and the ease of it all is quite enticing, not one of the tours we went on were actually worth it. They drive you around no where for hours on end, making stops at various retailers, who are partnered with the tour company, and both hope to sell you worthless merchandise. After you spend 4 + hours on the bus when the actually drive should have taken a little over an hour, your tour guide starts talking in 2-3 different languages to accommodate all on the tour. It was quite annoying.

So, after the longest drive ever, we finally made it to Cesky Krumlov. It was soooo beautiful and breathtaking! An old castle sat at the top of a huge hill and looked down over the medieval city. A small river ran through the town, making it even more serene. We spent sometime with the guide wandering around the city, ate lunch at a really neat pub sort of joint, met some polygamists, and then were allowed some time on our own, like a whole 30 minutes, to explore the area ourself! We went into several old bohemian shops, bought the boys a few souvenirs (swords), and then headed up to the palace. The tour of the palace was fascinating, but unfortunately, no photography was allowed. Believe me when I say I tried to snap a few shots, the guide for the castle was onto me though and kept eyeballing my attempts. I finally gave up!

Restaurant we ate at and my faithful shoes. I had another pair in aqua and between the two, they saw some serious mileage!

We ate A LOT of ice cream!

We left the castle and made our looooong drive back to Prague. That night, Nathan and I decided to try the Afghan restaurant down the street from our hotel. We had walked by it on the first evening of being in Prague. When we walked in, I was a little nervous that my husband would go all commando, being as he had just gotten home from Afghanistan a few weeks earlier, and start beating up the waiter. Luckily, he maintained his composure and we had an enjoyable time. While we were preparing to leave, another couple in the restaurant came up to us and asked if Nathan was in the Army. I thought for sure we were going to be suicide bombed right then and there. Nathan told him yes, and the guy told him that he was also in the Czech army and had just gotten home from Afghanistan. He said when he heard that we were from the U.S., he figured the only reason two Americans would wander into an Afghan restaurant is because one had been in the military and had served over there. He was definitely right. He and Nathan chit-chatted for a bit and then we parted ways. Once again, it was close to  midnight because we didn't even arrive at the restaurant until 10.

The next morning, we were truly sad to leave this amazing place. Sometime during our stay there, and I'm thinking it was probably the first day, we wandered around town and did some shopping. We went to a 5 story tall department store, where we

bought socks, and then entered an amazing pink mall across the street, which, if I can recall correctly, was also around 5 stories. We also came across the most amazing, gorgeous, fabulous home decor stores I have ever laid eyes on. I wanted everything in it! We ended up walking past the store several times a day and each time, I had to look through the windows.

We also became closely acquainted with a little convenience store down the street from us where I fell in love with these yummy lemon wafers, of which I cannot find in the United States for the life of me! Nathan and I decided then and there that one day we would move to this place!.

We left Praha via Holesovice train station around 1:15 pm and began our longggg journey to the Eternal City: Rome!

Day 10: Auschwitz

On day 10, Nathan and I woke up bright and early, actually it was still dark, somewhere around 4 am. We hopped in our little rental car, a Mercedes, but the crappiest little Mercedes you ever did see, and began making our long journey to Poland to the small city of Oswiecim to see the once Nazi concentration and extermination camps.

The day got off to a great start when we first realized that the instructions I had printed off of map quest were not actually correct. Our little rental did have a navigation system, and feeling hopeful, we turned on the system, only to find out it was all in German. By some miracle, we were able to figure out the system though, put in our destination, and make our way through Germany all the way to Poland. Once we actually got out of the inner city of Berlin, driving to Poland was a piece of cake. We hopped on the autobahn and drove east for like 7 hours. We stopped not long after reaching the border of Germany and Poland and bought some straight up Polish food at a super sketchy little outdoor booth sitting on the side of the road. I was really expecting to die from some kind of contamination, but I'm still here, so it was obviously just fine. While there, we exchanged a some euro to Zlotys and then continued on our way. Soon after crossing the border, we hit road construction and couldn't drive over 30 kph for the first 2 hours. It was the worst experience EVER! Finally though, the roads became drivable and we were able to continue at a normal pace.

Our rental ride! Don't let the big flashy Mercedes symbol fool you. This thing was a piece!

So, as a little side story, people in Europe drive like PSYCHOS! They make New Yorkers look patient and kind hearted while on the road. They fly past you at over a 100 mph and honk and wave at you if you do not get over the second you notice them trying to pass. And for your future reference, on the autobahn, it is illegal to pass on the right-hand side. Funny how no one dares to break that rule, but they hold no regard for the speed limit by going like 5 million kpm.

Anyway, so we finally passed through one of the last main cities before making our way on some back roads to Oswiecim. The trip had gone pretty darn smooth overall until now. Navigating our way through the little village was RIDICULOUS. There are like 6000 round abouts with another 50 exits in each one. There were plenty of signs pointing towards Auschwitz, but you just were never quite positive which exit it was pointing to since there were so many clustered together.

About this time, I pulled out my camera to start taking pictures and with a sickening drop in my stomach, realized I had forgotten to take my memory card out of my computer back in Berlin, 7 hours away, and put it back in my camera. I nearly started crying, Nathan wanted to throw me out of the car, but we managed to console ourselves because we both had camera phones, which both only had about half battery life left.

K, so we FINALLY made it to the actual Auschwitz. We found some parking and entered through the main office to purchase our tickets, pick up our audio devices, and join our tour, which was mandatory. Our tour guide found our little group, and we started on our way. It was hard to look past her hairy armpits at first, and I think if it would have been any other places, I would have probably died laughing, but the feeling throughout the concentration camp kept me in place.

Now for some pictures:

This is just a small section of a room filled with the shoes of the prisoners.

This 

The feeling at Auschwitz was indescribable. It was so hard to believe that such a beautiful place could have housed such horrendous atrocities. I am so grateful that we did take the time to make the trip over to Poland and see this camp. It is an experience I will never forget.

I can't remember what time we finally left, but it was late afternoon. We easily found our way through Oswiecim this time and hopped back on the autobahn. We were pretty exhausted and were hoping for a peaceful drive home; our hopes were in vain. Not long after leaving the town, we were cruising along, listening to music, when we noticed some PSYCHOPATH trying to drive on the shoulder of the road next to us. My heart sunk a little thinking that for sure we were going to be mugged or worse. Nathan sped up to get away from the guy, but he just kept right up with us. He slowed down a little bit and then kept waving his hands out the window for us to pull over. I told Nathan to keep driving, but he said he wanted to pull over incase it was a cop of something. As soon as Nathan began to slow down and pull over to the side of the road, I felt sick to my stomach. He got out and I locked my door but cracked the window slightly to try and hear what was going on.

The crazy driver man gets out of his car and I see him hand Nathan a business card. At that moment, I wanted to kill someone. He seriously put our lives in danger driving like a psycho just to share some business information. I started listening more intently and the next thing I know is that the guy is asking Nathan for money. He's like ripping his necklace off and handing Nathan his watch in exchange for cash. Nathan just kept tell him "no." The guy wouldn't take "no" for an answer so Nathan just hopped in the car and we took off. Basically, the guy told Nathan that his credit card had broken in half and that he needed the cash. If the guy wouldn't have been so bananas, I probably would have had a little sympathy for him and gave him a few bucks, but our nerves were so high, we just wanted to get away from him asap.

So, we left the psychopath in our dust and headed back towards Germany. We made a stop at McDonald's, which was the fanciest, most beautiful McDonald's I have ever laid eyes on. We ordered some food, which was not as good you would think it would be coming out of such a beautiful building, ate our food, got some fuel, which was the most ridiculously expensive thing ever, and made it back to Germany. We got in pretty late that night and I honestly can't even remember much because I was so exhausted. I think we walked down the road and ordered some interesting pizza from some little stand, went back to the hotel, and hit the hay.