Look Out for Mr. Stork

Look Out For Mr. Stork

Look out for Mr. Stork
That persevering chap
He'll come along and drop
A bundle in your lap
You may be poor or rich
It doesn't matter which
Millionaires, they get theirs
Like the butcher and the baker
So look out for Mr. Stork
And let me tell you, friend
Don't try to get away
He'll find you in the end
He'll spot you out in China or he'll fly to County Cork
So you better look out for Mr. Stork

Look out for Mr. Stork
He's got you on his list
And when he comes around
It's useless to resist
Remember those quintuplets and the woman in the shoe
Maybe he's got his eye on you

 

Induction time was 7:30, but I needed an antibiotic that had to be in my system for four hours. They checked for dilation (I was at a 5), broke my water, and gave me the antibiotic, but they didn't start pitocin until around 11:00. They cranked it two notches every half hour, and after about an hour or two, the contractions started moving in. By around 4:45 I was wanting to push, but the doctor wasn't there yet. About that point I decided I wanted an epidural, but I was too late. I was already at 9 1/2 cm, and the contractions were on top of one another. At 5:00 I started pushing, and at 5:15 p.m., Netty Kay Phelps made her appearance at 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and 19 inches long.

 

Netty was awake for about the first two hours after she was born. She latched on right away (though future attempts at nursing have not come so easily as the first), and has been relatively calm. Even her screams are soft. I have loved just staring at her, watching her breathing and talking to her as she bats her dark eyes at me.

  

I was very grateful that they bathed Netty and let me shower before moving us to our new room with clean sheets. The bed is much more comfortable. Cousin Nicole was Netty's first visitor, and she was welcomed with open arms when she came in with pizza, courtesy of Uncle Brent. :)

Delivering a baby is anything but easy, but in less than 12 hours it's already worth it. So, "Look out for Mr. Stork, that persevering chap. He'll come along and drop a bundle in you lap!"

Week Thirty-Nine's Baby Bump

I know I don't look very happy in this picture, but I was trying. I've been so uncomfortable. But tomorrow that will come to an end. My doctor is inducing me first thing in the morning. Not a moment too soon, that's for sure. Emotions are high; I cried three times watching Dumbo the other night, and once again during a particular MASH episode involving the delivery of a baby.

My mom came into town today to help out for the first little bit. I'm so glad she will be here not only for Netty's birth, but to help me figure things out. While she made dinner I made a lemon cake, and then later tonight Mom made the frosting. Happy early birthday to Netty!

Week Thirty-Eight's Baby Bump

I finally gave up on putting off reading Pride and Prejudice. I've been wanting to read it but decided to wait and read it aloud to Netty (not that she'll find much enjoyment in it, but it would be good exposure to classic literature). But I decided that since she's being uncooperative, I'm going to be uncooperative, and I started it without her.

On Sunday, Jon stuck in Disney's Robin Hood, one of our favorites. Netty knows the music well, and she started kicking when it came on. I said, "Netty, if you'd just get here already, you'd be able to watch it with us." For that I got a strong kick in the ribs, and she spent the rest of the movie still and pouting.

HoneyGram (my mom) said she's losing her patience with Netty because she can't just keep putting her life on hold. So I had a talk with Netty and said, "It's very rude to keep people waiting like this. HoneyGram can't wait around for you. You need to cooperate and just come so that she can get back to her life." With that, Netty rolled over and probably went back to sleep.

A Graduate of B.S.

After seven years (yes, I know I should be a doctor by now), I am finally a BYU-Idaho graduate. At least I think I am. The degrees are conferred by President Clark according to the Commencement program, and my name was not in it. Instead, one girl's name was in it twice, and mine was not in there at all. My name would have been in its own section since I was the only one graduating with a Bachelor of Science in English Education Composite. And even more irritating is that I happen to know that the girl whose name was in my place didn't complete her student teaching and didn't graduate. At first I didn't care. Then I was mildly annoyed. Then I was really frustrated. Now, several days later, I am back to mildly annoyed. I'm pretty sure that in the next day or two I won't care anymore.

I am pretty sure that graduation cap and gown was designed by either a complete idiot or a jerk who believed women shouldn't graduate. There is no possible way to look cute in a cap and gown. The man who handed me my gown took one look at my belly and upped the size. Then I had the ever-so-annoying experience of trying to keep my cap on my head. Finally I called Stephanie, and she came to the rescue with a hair clip to keep it secured.

The "graduation candidates," as they are called, are contained in a 10-court gym and told to stand in line. I was reminded of my elementary school days when we were told to stay in line and after about a minute, everyone has scattered and mixed. It was incredibly uncomfortable for me to stand in one spot. I only survived by rocking back and forth.

I had contractions all through graduation, and they got progressively harder, but they stopped around 10:00 when we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.

Elder Ballard was the Commencement speaker. One of the things that I loved so much about his talk was how hopeful he was about the future. He said that although times are tough right now, we will begin to see things turn for the better. Of course this doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared for more hard times, but we need to turn our fears about the future into faith. We have been blessed to go to such a wonderful university where we have been taught by the Spirit, and with such an education we can do great things.

By the time we got to Convocation, I was ready to be done with the night. However, it did feel so good to walk across the stage in the Manwaring Center Grand Ballroom and receive my diploma.....cover. I think it's silly that we go through the formality of receiving a folder that doesn't even have a diploma in it. The professor handing out the diploma covers was Brother Bennion, my Shakespeare teacher. The last time he saw me, only a couple semesters ago, I was engaged, and now I have a balloon in my belly and a waddle in my step.

My parents can now say that they have successfully graduated all five of their children with Bachelor's degrees. It is truly amazing that although neither of them graduated from college, every one of their children has, and two of them so far are currently attending graduate school. My graduation from college, in many ways, is a greater reflection of their dedication to education and to their children.

I am also so proud of Jon. Over the last three semesters he has stayed beside me, sometimes pushing, sometimes pulling, and sometimes picking me up and carrying me. He has been a real trooper through my anxiety attacks, morning sickness, and mood swings. The stress has been unbearable at times, and I surely would not have gotten through the last stretch of my college education without him. I love you Jonny!

Week Thirty-Seven's Baby Bump

I've made it to term, and I am SOOO ready to be done!

Week Thirty-Six's Baby Bump

The last week has been a whirlwind. We finished packing up all of our belongings from my parents' house and--with the much needed help of Dad Phelps, Josh, Sam, and Marianne--moved to a tiny one-bedroom apartment in the heart of downtown St. Anthony. The first few days were very emotional for me because I had had a lot of contractions and a nurse at Madison Hospital told me to stay in bed for a couple days. We didn't have TV or Internet, so we completely missed General Conference, and I felt like I couldn't move. I thought I would enjoy "having" to stay in bed, but I was miserable. Every time Jon came in the room I'd break out into tears. I'm sure that did wonders for his self esteem. :) On Monday I had my first doctor's appointment with Dr. Meredith in Rexburg (before moving to Utah I had only seen a nurse practitioner), and he said the baby is over six pounds and should be good to go anytime. He assured me not to be afraid of contractions because although I'm still considered "preterm," the baby is big enough and developed enough to make her entrance.

Jon has been a real trouper through all of this. He has set up the majority of the apartment on his own. He won't let me lift anything, and in the last couple days, any moving or lifting of items more than a few pounds has been somewhat painful for me anyway. So I have been finding other ways of occupying my time. We made lemonade the other day and then decided to make cherry limeade ice cubes. I spent several minutes pouring the juice into ice trays and even absorbing some of the juice when it came up a little too high in the tray so that each ice cube would look perfect. Initially the ice cubes in the lemonade looked really fun, but after the ice cubes mostly melted into the juice, it looked more like blood and it lost it's appeal. But there you go. These are the kinds of things you do when you have a time bomb in your stomach and are trying to keep busy.

Even though we won't be in this apartment very long, we decided to hang pictures to make it feel a bit more like home. The apartment is coming together now, and I feel like this has been my biggest contribution to making it "ours."