Labor and Delivery

So several people have asked for the details of Taos' birth. I will share, not in extreme detail of course, the events that occurred on his birthday. I was scheduled for an induction on Thursday, April 22 if he did not come before then. I was already a 3 and 80% effaced so the scheduling was more just for family to be at the hospital since they all live out of town. Casey and I arrived at the hospital at 5:00 a.m. The medication to induce labor was started and my IV placed, etc. Dr. Davis came in and broke my water around 8:30 a.m. He said I could have my epidural anytime after that. I thought I would wait a while, then the nurse told me that the anesthesiologist was about to go into a c-section and we may not be able to get her immediately if we waited... so I thought about it and decided if I was going to get an epidural anyways, I might as well get it then. I ended up getting it put in around 10:00 a.m. The contractions had begun and were clearly uncomfortable, but not unbearable. I mean nothing about labor is particularly pleasant anyways. After the epidural I felt pressure like cramps and in my lower back - totally different from those with Avery which were across my stomach. Taos' heartbeat was perfect throughout the labor process. I told the nurse that I sure did feel alot of pressure during each contraction so she decided to check me. I was a 7 around 12:00 p.m. so Casey decided to go grab lunch in the cafeteria before I made it to a 10. At 12:45 p.m. I told the nurse that I felt more pressure and I was already a 9. She called the doctor who was on his way over to the hospital. My dad went down to get Casey, who had to throw his lunch away, and come on up to my room. Dr. Davis walked in at 1:00 p.m. and I started pushing. Taos had to be turned because his head was face down and Dr. Davis wanted him face up. OUCH! is all I have to say about that. After considerably less pushing than with my first child, he was born at 1:17 p.m. with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice! We couldn't tell because his heartbeat never went down and we are so thankful that it didn't cause any complications. He was perfect and we got to hold him and keep him in our room for an hour. Casey went and got Avery so she could be the first one to see and hold her baby brother. She was more worried about me being in the hospital bed than anything, but did act like she loved her little Taos. We were blessed to have my parents, Casey's parents, my brother and sister-in-law, and my cousin Betsy at the hospital when he arrived. Taos and I were both released the next day and home by 5:00 p.m. Whew - quick hospital stay, but we were all ready to get home. My mom stayed a week - thank goodness since we have no family here and Casey's mom is coming to stay a few days as well. How sweet our families are! All four of us are doing good and adjusting to our little blessing. God is good!

1st week

Here are some more pictures from Taos' first week of life!

He likes the bouncy seat.
And the boppy pillow.

Avery and her Nona - not sure what I would have done this week without my mom's help.

Looking at her baby brother - so sweet.

Taos Crawford Armstrong

Baby Armstrong #2 is here! Taos Crawford Armstrong was born on April 22, 2010 at 1:17 p.m. weighing 7 pounds, 7 1/2 ounces and measuring 20 1/4 inches long. Labor and delivery went great and much quicker than baby #1. He was a tiny bit smaller than Avery was, but looked just like her when we first met him! I will give a more detailed blog about delivery later. First, I wanted to post pics - and I did get a little carried away with the uploading. Mom and baby are doing great. Dad and big sister Avery are adjusting well also! We all love having a sweet addition to our family :)

Waiting on Taos to be born - with a snack :)
Grandmas - Nona and Posey

Proud Daddy and new baby Taos (in the "space suit" warming blanket)

Wonderful labor and delivery nurses and Dr. Davis

Taos Crawford Armstrong

He's so precious!

First family picture

Kallie, Lance, Me, Betsy, Casey, and Taos

So handsome - 1 day old

Pretty big sister Avery

Holding little brother

Going home from the hospital

Home with daddy

First bath

Another family pic - sorry I look so rough, no makeup and pjs on...

Daddy and his kiddos

Big sister and little brother

Wide awake!

Branding

Casey's ranch has started branding for the spring. His dad was in town this week and took some pictures while watching the cowboys brand.

First, they have to get all the calves in one place... that is Casey in the middle wearing the green vest.
This is pretty much the set up - calves on one end of the pins. No real fire to heat the branding iron these days, just that propane powered pit thing that looks like a grill (Casey would probably die if he saw all the "wording" I use to describe the cowboy stuff) But you get the idea...

Then a cowboy rides his horse into the heard and ropes a calf. Yes, that's Casey.

They drag the calf by the rope, usually by his feet (no it doesn't hurt the calf) to the men ready to brand.

Casey and his horse Pickpocket

The cowboys flank the calf (lay it down) and take the rope off its feet or neck.

Then they hold the calf down while getting the flamming hot iron from the pit and brand the calf.

After they brand him, they let him up and he runs back to the heard with the other calves that have already been branded. The cowboys do this over and over again until all the calves are branded taking turns with who gets to drag, brand, and flank. The process takes several days to brand all the calves on the ranch. It's really quite interesting!

This pic is of Casey's new spurs... I know it's hard to see in detail, but they are really nice.

Taos' Room

Yay - Taos' room is finally finished. It has been close for a few weeks, but I am finally calling it complete and ready for the sweet baby to arrive. Here are the pictures:

Thanks to my sweet cousin Sarah for painting the name letters. I love them and they match perfectly!
Casey's grandpa actually made the shelf and it was in Casey's room when he was little. I was glad that it matched the baby's room so we could use it!
We got the chair cushions re-covered to match the bedding and I was very happy with the way they turned out.

Ok, so maybe there is one thing still unfinished. Casey's parents bought us a new picture to hang above the dresser and it is still being framed. I can't wait to see what it looks like hanging on the wall. We had fun looking through Casey's baby stuff when we found out baby #2 was a boy... the "cowboy" cabbage patch on the dresser is from the 80s and we literally had to clean the spider webs out of his hair! Also, it's hard to tell, but the picture on the far right is of Casey and his best friend Hegan when they were at a rodeo around age 3 - little cowboy buddies from the beginning.

These were Casey's leggins too! Aren't they precious?

Some spurs of Casey's spurs with his name on them. And just in case you're wondering, the picture frame is still empty - just the store-bought picture showing :)

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter and appreciated some of my family driving to the panhandle to see us since I can not travel anymore. My parents and brother and sister-in-law came to our house for a few days and went to church with us Easter Sunday. Avery looked adorable in her Easter dress that Casey's mom bought for her.

Big smile!
Being silly

Group picture after church. My sister-in-law Kallie, my brother Lance, my mom, dad, and us (yikes I look huge from the side - guess that's what happens when you're 8 months pregnant!) Avery wouldn't put her bag of eggs from Sunday School down for the picture... oh well, we'll take what we can get with a group picture.

The wind was blowing us away as Aves hunted Easter eggs in our backyard.

Then we went over to her friend Hazen's house for another egg hunt and supper. They both have on their "cheese" faces :)

Now she really has the hang of it!

Baby Shower

Last week, my sweet co-workers threw me a baby shower at work. I am so blessed to have such thoughtful friends to go to the trouble of getting a shower together. I only work 2 days per week, and felt fortunate that so many people wanted to have a shower for baby Taos. I can't wait to go shopping with some of my gift cards for baby boy items!

The cake was adorable! And very yummy I might add :)
Me and Monica, the other speech pathologist at my school.

Me, Robin, Reagan, and Monica. I was sad not to get a picture of all the hostesses, but everyone was busy and not together at one time. Thanks everyone.