Grandma and Grandpa Brison

At the end of February my parents came out to visit Paige.


Unfortunately, Jake was busy with a journal write-on competition, so he didn't get to do much sightseeing with us. But the rest of us got out to see a few sights, including a couple museums, a few monuments, and the Washington, DC temple.

First metro ride for Grampa, Gramma, and Paige.



Even though Paige was only a few weeks old her grandparents managed to spoil her. After she left she wanted to be held all the time like she was when they were here.

Come visit again, Gramma and Grampa!

3 Weeks Old, 3 Weeks Tired

Yesterday Paige turned 3 weeks old. We're adjusting slowly to the new schedule and absolutely loving having our little Paige around. It's been hard to get good pictures of our little wiggly baby, but here are some of the ones we've taken.

Dad and Paige. I love how this picture shows just how tiny she is:


I wore this outfit when I was her size:


Paige in her bouncer (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Kartchner!):


I love when she grips my finger:


Tammy came to visit!

She likes to lay there watching the world:

She's so little! I love seeing her cuddled up in her car seat:


Hanging out with Dad:

I love watching her wake up. Big stretch!


We're certainly tired, but we love our little girl so much!

Birth Story

Before I got pregnant I was absolutely horrified by birth stories on blogs. Quite frankly, I just didn't want the details. This changed after I got pregnant and as I got closer to having Paige. I started seeking out my friend's birth stories and read as many of them as I could. I liked hearing about the experiences that my friends (people I actually knew) had, because it helped me see more of what to expect.

I recognize that there are people who read our blog that would like to know the details of Paige's birth and there are also those who would be horrified by them. Hopefully this post pleases everyone. I'm going to write three different versions of Paige's birth with varying degrees of detail. Read only the details that you want to know. If you get more details than you want, it's pretty much your fault.

Paige was born right before the biggest recorded snow storm that DC has ever seen. Since a lot of snow was predicted Jake and I did our best to prepare. We had chains for our car, a camp shovel that could be used to dig ourselves out if necessary, and plenty of winter clothes. Thursday morning (February 4) it hadn't started snowing, but it was time to go to the hospital. We headed out to the car only to find that our car wouldn't start. We'd been having problems with it (although two trips to the mechanic had failed to fix it) and finally on that morning it didn't start at all. Awesome. Fortunately, we have a lot of great friends in the area that were more than willing to help us out. We called the Snows and they generously came and gave us a ride to the hospital.

Pictures of us waiting for Paige to come. We both look kind of awful, but they're the only pictures we took during that time.



**Fill in story with desired level of details (found below) here***

Baby Paige getting checked out and measured:


She was completely healthy!

During our stay in the hospital it started snowing. The snow and the winds created lovely blizzard conditions. During our stay Jake got a ride home from the Princes and picked up the car seat (the car still didn't start). On Saturday when it was time to go home most of the people we knew didn't have cars that could handle the snow. The Fowles called around and found someone in the ward with four-wheel-drive who was willing to spend 2 hours digging their car out to come and give us a ride. We're so blessed to have so many good people around to help us out. Thanks everyone! In the end we made it home safely with our new little girl.


***Lowest Level of Details***

I had a baby. We named her Paige.


***Medium Level of Details***

Labor took about 16 hours which includes the time my water broke (around 5am) until Paige was born that evening. I had an epidural and at the very end had a vacuum extraction to help her crown. She weighed 7 lbs. 12 0z. and was 20.5 inches long.


***Highest Level of Details***

I woke up February 4th around 1:00 am to discover I was bleeding. I (surprisingly) calmly called the doctor on call and finished packing my hospital bag while I waited for him to call back. I talked to the doctor a few minutes later, and he said it wasn't time for me to go to the hospital. Since I wasn't having any regular contractions and wasn't bleeding a lot, he attributed the bleeding to the pelvic exam I had earlier that day. I went back to bed and did my best to sleep. I slept a little bit over the next few hours until 5:00 when I woke up again and found that I was still bleeding. The difference this time was that there was more fluid with the blood. I figure that was probably just because I had been laying down, so when I got up the blood rushed out a bit. I tried going back to bed, but couldn't sleep. I was having mild contractions so I started timing them. I kept wondering if my water had broken, but I couldn't tell for sure. Around 6:45ish I got on the internet and started looking up how to tell if my water broke. After reading for just a couple of minutes I decided that, yes, it indeed had broken. At that point I looked back at the timing for my contractions and found that they were coming 8 minutes apart like clockwork. The contractions still weren't very painful and didn't last very long, but I called the doctor again and this time he told me to head to the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital we checked in and they took us to triage. They had my put on a hospital gown and get on the gurney. I was still bleeding pretty regularly. They hooked me up to a fetal monitor that monitored my contractions and the baby’s heartbeat. Mt doctor came in and saw me, determined that my water had indeed broken and I was dilated to 5 cm. He said I was definitely having the baby that day and they got me hooked up to an IV. Around 11:00am they moved us into a room on the labor and delivery floor.

I was still having contractions, but they weren’t horrible. I started getting grumpier and grumpier because I was hungry and wasn’t allowed to eat anything in case I ended up needing a c-section. I was also grumpy because with the IV I couldn’t use my arm much and the contractions were getting worse. They weren’t unbearable, but definitely weren’t fun. Around 1:00 pm my doctor came and checked me again. I hadn't progress at all, so he decided to give me something that would up the contractions. That was the point I decided definitely to have an epidural done.

For quite a while I had been contemplating and wanting to do a natural birth. However, as the pregnancy progressed and I felt more and more discomfort and pain, the epidural was starting to sound like a good option. I had read up on and practiced a natural child birthing technique (hypnobirthing) just in case I decided to go that direction. When it came time for the decision to be made I decided without hesitation to go with the epidural. I hadn't slept much the night before, was a bit scared because of all the bleeding (during the night and the day in the hospital), was uncomfortable due to the IV in my arm, and I was getting grouchier by the second because I was really hungry. I didn't have the level of focus needed for hypobirthing.

The anesthesiologist came in shortly after to give me the epidural, which ended up creating the perfect experience for me. Once the fluid was hooked up and flowing into me I was able to relax since the pain was pretty much gone. The great thing was I was still able to feel most of what was happening in my body. I could still feel the tightening of contractions, touch on my lower body, and I could still move my legs a bit. However, it took away the pain and discomfort of the contractions, of being hungry, and of being pregnant in general.

At one point Paige’s heartbeat dropped dramatically. The nurse came in and figured out that it was because I was laying on my back. I knew I wasn’t supposed to do that the last few months of pregnancy (and hadn’t done it up until then), but it was scary to see the proof of her heart rate decreasing. For the rest of labor I made sure to stay on my side or propped up slightly.

At 6:45pm my doctor came in again and checked me out and found that I was completely dilated and ready to push. The hospital shifts change at 7:00 so he informed me that a different doctor would be delivering the baby. Around 7:00 I started pushing with the help of Jake and the nurse. As each contraction hit (they were only a couple minutes apart) I pulled up my legs in kind of a frog position (laying on my back) with Jake holding one leg and the nurse holding the other. I tucked my chin to my chest, took a deep breath in and pushed out for the count of 10 three times per contraction. In between contractions I would lay back and rest.

Pushing actually felt really great. I could feel the pressure of it and the squeezing of the contractions, but none of it hurt. My biggest worry with the epidural was that I wouldn’t be able to feel anything and would have to rely on the monitor to tell me when to push. So I was absolutely thrilled that I could still feel some of it. Exerting myself physically, as much as I possibly could, felt really good. It felt like I was pushing myself to the physical limits, and since it was only for a relatively short period of time, it felt fantastic.

At first as I pushed, the nurse counted the seconds, but after a few contractions Jake took over as the counter. Having him counting helped me a lot, because hearing his voice constantly was really nice and encouraging. About halfway through the pushing the nurse set up a birthing bar (a bar attached to the foot of the bed) and tied a sheet around it. From that point on I pulled myself up using the sheet instead of my legs.

During one of the pushes the nurse pointed out to Jake that you could see Paige’s head coming out. Jake got a glimpse of it and saw that her little head had plenty of hair on it. The nurse offered to get a mirror so I could see, but I declined. I figured the mental picture of what was happening down there was more pleasant and motivating than the real thing.

Eventually, as the baby’s head was getting ready to crown the doctor came in. He had popped in and out a few times before for some of the pushes, but this time he came in for good. At this point Paige’s heart rate skyrocketed so the doctor took a minute to explain our options. He said that I was having a little bit of trouble slipping the baby past the pubic bone and since her heart was going so fast he recommended that we get her out quickly. He said my options included continuing to push, a c-section, or a vacuum extraction (he recommended the vacuum). Jake and I easily decided to go with the vacuum. I breathed through a few contractions (and really had to work to hold back the pushing) until the vacuum was ready. On the next contraction the doctor put on the vacuum in, I pushed, and we got Paige’s head to come through (1 hour and 35 minutes after I started pushing). The doctor said I had done most of the work; the vacuum just helped her past the bone. Feeling Paige’s body wiggle out was one of the strangest things I have ever felt. It was slimy and wiggly, but at the same time it was really special. I got a little teary right then because I could feel her wiggle and I knew she was ok.

They put her on a blanket and put her up on my chest. While Jake cut the umbilical cord and then nurse wiped her off a little bit, I held little Paige and looked into her eyes that were big and open wide. It’s hard to describe how precious that moment was.

The nurses took the baby across the room to clean her up and do all her measurements. Jake went with the baby while the doctor and nurse attended to me. I had a slight laceration that needed to be stitched up, so the doctor started sewing. These stitches were way more painful and unpleasant than the actual labor had been. I could feel the poking of the needle and the pull as the thread worked. Once that tear was fixed the doctor found another tear up inside the canal. This tear took way more effort to stitch. It was in a place that was hard to access, the lighting wasn’t right, there weren’t enough nurses on hand to assist (they ended up grabbing a med student that was around to help out), and I couldn’t hold still because I was shaking uncontrollably due to the hormones released with birth. I tried and tried to focus to keep myself from moving and eventually found that I could only hold still by growling (yes, out loud) and channeling the pain through the growl.

During the stitching Jake was close by holding Paige (as he should have been). Since he was holding her it freed up the nursing staff to take care of me. He kept checking on me, talking to me, and telling me about our new little baby. Once the stitching was finished and Paige was all cleaned up, I was loaded onto a gurney (with Paige in my arms) and taken to our room.

Love at First Sight

Paige Alexis Kartchner
Born February 4, 2010
8:54 pm
7 lbs. 12 oz
20.5 inches

Baby Shower

Last week my wonderful friends threw me (and Paige!) a baby shower. It was so fun to get together with all the girls and celebrate this coming baby.

Here are some pictures:

Left: Henry, Tammy, me
Right: Tristen


Left: Christen
Right: Alex, Eve


Left: Brittney, Brenda
Right: Janice


Left: Gabbi
Right: Henry, Gabbi


Left: Fun decorations
Right: Fabulous food


Tammy explaining that the new bathtub basketball toy was actually more for Jake than for Paige.


Thanks girls for all the work you put in!

38 Weeks

Huge belly. Inability to bend over. Swollen ankles and feet. Approximately 30 trips to the bathroom daily. Perpetual uncomfortableness. Itchy and sore belly. Very little energy. Shortness of breath. Practically no sleep. Consistently numb arms and legs. Full term baby. Dilated to 2 cm. Sore body. Usually hot and overheated. Can't walk without waddling.

Somehow still smiling.

In two more days I'll be 38 weeks (8 1/2 months) pregnant. Almost done!

Starting off Right

Yesterday, my boss gave us the perfect present for little Paige. She'll be starting off right by wearing these.

This onesie says "eat, sleep, museums"

Thanks, Caren! They're so perfect!

Here's a picture of me last Sunday at 36 weeks:

I wasn't going to post this picture because I look huge and frightened in it, but then Holly reminded me that I was 8 months pregnant and it's expected that I look huge and frightened. So there it is.

Paige has gotten so big that I am usually really uncomfortable. But I still have so many things to be grateful for.

1. Jake. He's fantastic. He is always willing to rub my aching body, carry heavy things for me, make dinner (even after long hard days at law school), pick up things I drop, and even put my shoes on for me. My hugeness isn't so bad with him around.

2. My new glider and ottoman. It's fabulous.

3. Paige's kicks rarely hurt. She's kicked my ribs only once and occasionally gets a good jab on other organs, but other than that she mostly kicks the front of my stomach.

The countdown says there are approximately 22 days left. Keep growing, Paige. We're so excited to have you here!