Ezra Jackson Basilius

Found out that we were pregnant at 8.5 weeks and were so excited to see our little friend on the ultrasound screen looking like a little teddy bear.

Have had acid reflux since week 12.

First felt movements at 16 weeks.

Made pregnancy announcement at 17 weeks.

Baby first got the hiccups when he was 23 weeks old. Samuel and I were laying in bed watching my stomach move up and down rhythmically after which he would get really frustrated and and kick and punch all over the place... only to get the hiccups again just moments later.

At about 24 1/2 weeks, I told Samuel that I needed to stop eating sugar due to the fact that I had eaten cookies for breakfast for more than a few days in a row. After telling him that I proceeded to telling him that I needed something cold, chocolatey, and delicious aka ice cream. After trying and trying to talk him into taking me to get ice cream I started crying when he reminded me that I was the one that said he shouldn't let me eat treats. We ended up at Wendy's getting Frosty's 10 minutes later.

2 words. Charley Horse.

I'm saying that the possibility of having a dislocated rib is VERY high. Since about 24 weeks I have the most unimaginable rib pain and can get no break from it. Sam seems to think that baby enjoys my rib massaging his back. Or according to the doctor wedging his butt right under my rib cage.

28 weeks and my weight gain was 25 pounds.

At 28 weeks we took a tour of the Presbyterian hospital where baby will be born. I think that I'll just stick to having a stork bring him from heaven.

30 weeks and the only thing that we had bought our baby boy was a pair of shoes. So we took our 20% off coupon and bought him a Chicco car seat.

No real appetite. Which is totally lame seeing I have yet to embrace the "eating for 2" phase.

No real cravings.

End of 31 weeks while we were in Utah we ended up in the hospital because I had been having contractions all day and needed  to get on an airplane to get home to Charlotte the next day. Everything was fine so they gave me a shot to make them stop and we made it home safely.

Can you say horrible acid reflux? Waking up middle of the night to take some tums and an acid reducer.

33 weeks baby was showered with lots of gifts and I'm so grateful and humbled by the love of the friends and ward members that we have here in Charlotte. (Bottom, L to R: McKaylee Childs, Alina Richey, Lauren Maripodi, Autumn Stone, Indhira Jimenez, Marie White. Back, L to R: Peggy VanBrederode, Shanna  Malave, Angi Wood, Me, Katie Gustafson, Kate Johnson). We sat and chatted, opened presents, and ate lots of delicious treats. Although my mom couldn't come she found out Autumns information and send a diaper bag for me to open during the party :)

End of week 33 having more contractions which put me in the hospital for some more observations for a couple of hours. I was dilated 1/2 cm which they said wasn't that impressive so they sent me home. The contractions come and go, but they don't seem to be super worried about it. My doctor told me this past week that if baby wants to come anytime after 34 weeks then they'll gladly take him.

34 weeks and I quite my job! Time to stay home and rest before babe comes! Some how I have managed to keep myself from going crazy. My weight has plateaued at around 154 lbs but I just keep getting bigger and bigger....

My favorite things are currently my body pillow, heating pad, popsicles, and The Amazing Race.

The beginning of 35 weeks we ended up back in the hospital (...because why not?) due to some really fun contractions. Babe wasn't quite ready to come but getting closer. 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Still moving and kicking all the time, getting up and going to the bathroom 5 times a night and my 2:30 am heartburn issues are getting really old. Keeping our fingers crossed that babe wants to come sooner than later.

35 week appointment. Woof. After only getting 2 hours of sleep the night before I was feeling pretty terrible and in need of some good news.  Babe is measuring at 37 weeks. I'm still 80% effaced but am now 3 cm and could feel his head while she was checking me. Doctor said that she thinks babe will be here before 37 weeks. THAT'S A WEEK AND A HALF! She thinks that he is currently about 7 pounds  which makes sense after all the soreness I have felt the past couple of days. Guess I better hurry up and finish my freezer meals and get the hospital bag packed!

36 week appointment. After trying EVERYTHING possible to get this baby to want to come, he just hasn't really been in the mood. After our ultra sound we were slightly disappointed to hear that babe wasn't actually going to be coming to see us anytime soon. He was measuring at 36 weeks and 2 days, weighing in at 6 lbs 8 oz  and I had not dilated or effaced anymore. I guess I had a massive gas bubble in my stomach the week before...? We went to Sam's Club to grab some pizza afterwords to share our feelings with. On the bright side, after not having gained any weight for almost 2 months I finally gained 3 pounds.

Still no swelling.

By my 37 week appointment we were both getting extremely frustrated that our little guy hadn't come yet and prayed every night that he would want to join our family as soon as possible. I had dilated to a 4 and still didn't have any other progress. 

I didn't think that my last "bumpie" would be taken in Sam's my favorite ninja shirt at 38 weeks, but it was. 

At my 38 week appointment I was hoping for some exciting progress, but was really disappointed when I hadn't dilated any more and was shocked at how uncomfortable it was for them to strip my membranes. At the appointment they we talked induction and I was even more frustrated when I got a call that afternoon telling me that the soonest they would be able to induce me was going to be on September 1. SERIOUSLY? 4 days after my due date. 

We got home from the doctors appointment and went for some long walks and rested hoping that getting my membranes stripped would do the trick. Around 5, I started to have some serious back pain and figured that I was just really out of shape, but when a nap didn't do the trick we started to wonder. I started having pretty consistent contractions around 6 and although I didn't really recognize what they were (...the leg pain, the back pain, and the slight cramping wasn't was I expected labor pains to feel like). We started timing them and headed to the hospital around 10:30.

Words cannot describe how terrified and excited I was when they told us that I was dilated to a 5 and were being admitted to have our little babe. After being admitted, doing blood tests, and getting settled in the delivery room I got my epidural (....lets just take a second to talk about how awesome and not painful getting an epidural is? Nothing more than a pinch.) around 2:30, Sam and I hung out and chatted until about 4:30 when we decided to get some sleep, and the doctor came in and broke my water around 6:30. I think it is important to mention how glad I am that my water didn't break in public, who knew little baby had such a swimming pool in there....? 

Breaking my water didn't really do anything to help progression and so around 8 I was given pitocin. Around 10 or so we tried pushing, but our little guy was still to far up the birth canal so they gave me a peanut ball and told me to hang out for just a little bit longer. At around 1:30 we started pushing again and within 40 minutes, at 2:13 pm, our little guy was laying on my chest weighing 8 lbs 7 oz with lots of dark hair and blue eyes. Samuel even cut his cord. Fortunately, Labor was different than I expected. Much easier and a whole lot less painful. 

 It was amazing to have this sweet little babe put on my chest. The minute he got there, his strong, little neck lifted his head up and he opened his eyes and just looked back and forth at Sam and I. It's an amazing moment after 9 months to think that yes, this is definitely our little guy.

It may be the postpartum hormones that are getting to me, but I find it a bit of an emotional experience to sit and look at our little Ezra. I am in constant awe of how perfect he is and that Heavenly Father trusted this little spirit to Sam and I. His sweet little spirit brings so much joy into our home and although we prayed every night that he would come as soon as he was healthy enough, he was worth the wait. 

My heart is so full and I cannot believe that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the 2 best guys. I recognize that the next several weeks (...and years) are going to be difficult but it's a great and exciting new adventure for this little family of ours. 

 

We didn't have a name for our little guy until we got a call from the people who were going to be filling out the paper work for his birth certificate and social security card although we talked about it for months and months. In the end we decided on Ezra Jackson Basilius.

Sam originally brought the name Ezra to my attention because he liked it, but we also liked that Ezra in the bible had a lot to do with the temple. 

The middle name of Jackson has a very special meaning to both Samuel and I. After we lost our first little baby we headed out of town for a week on a trip that we had been planning for months to see the different Civil War sights in the area. The doctors appointment had been changed so many times and everything about this trip was a chance to see that the Heavenly Father was mindful of us and holding us in His hands during this difficult time. During this trip there were so many tender and healing moments that could come only though an understanding of the atonement of Jesus Christ and an opportunity to strengthen our testimony of the Plan of Salvation.