Welcome Kinnick!!

Well he finally made it. And thank goodness. I was definitely done with that whole pregnancy thing. Like I said in my last post, this one was pretty rough on me, and I got out of it 10 days early!

Well I am sure you are all wondering about the details. So here they are. It all started Friday the 7th. I had a doctor appointment, just a normal check up. And he decided that because he was the doctor on call for the weekend, he would strip my membranes (for those who don't know what that is, it can sometimes encourage labor, look it up if you want more details). I wasn't very hopeful. We had done this a few times with my last pregnancy and it didn't ever do anything. So I went about my business like usual, not expecting anything.

Saturday Cory decided to go golfing. It was a beautiful warm day and Ace and I decided to go visit my parents for a couple hours to get out of the house. A little after noon, while at my parents house, I started getting sporadic contractions. Nothing very painful or consistent, so I didn't pay much attention. I mean, I had had Braxton Hicks contractions before and really didn't think this was anything unusual... Until a little later that is.

We went home in time for Ace to nap and meet back up at the house with Cory. I was still having sporadic contractions, but they were anywhere from 10 minutes to 50 minutes apart and anywhere from a 1 on a pain scale to a 3. Not very convincing that a hospital trip was in order. Also, my water broke at home last time, so I was kind of waiting for a pretty serious sign. The last thing I wanted was to go to the hospital and be sent home without a baby.

So I didn't say much, and figured resting would eventually make them stop. Around dinner time, things got a little more interesting. I started timing the contractions and they had gotten more consistent. About 10 minutes apart. But only for an hour, then they stopped. Another hour past and they started up again. Another hour and they stopped. This continued for several hours. Although I thought this was a little odd, I still wasn't convinced it was time to go. So I waited. We went to bed, and I think Cory secretly knew we would end up at the hospital, we got into bed where we would normally look at funny youtube videos or talk about funny things that had happened that day, and instead, he rolled over and went straight to bed.

I, however, was not so lucky. I couldn't sleep. I was still contracting and although not very painful, annoying enough to make it impossible to sleep. So I played some mind numbing phone games for an hour or so until the contractions stopped. I finally drifted off to sleep around 12 or so. 2 glorious hours later, I woke up to use the bathroom and the contractions were back, this time with a vengeance.

Again, being as stubborn as I was, I didn't want to wake the family up and head to the hospital for no reason, and since my water hadn't broken yet, I was thinking this was still just my body practicing. So I waited and timed and cringed. After about an hour and contractions consistently 5-10 minutes apart and getting more painful as it went, I woke Cory. If nothing else, maybe the hospital would give me some pain meds or something that would ease the contractions.

So we got up and got a few things packed, just in case, and headed to the hospital. We decided to keep Ace with us rather than dropping him at my parents. At least this way if we got sent home with nothing, no one else would have gotten excited for nothing. In we went. Upon arrival I was put in a triage room, hooked up to the monitors, and checked. I was definitely contracting, my water definitely had not broke, and I was dilated to a 4. They decided to observe me for an hour and see if anything changed. If nothing happened, the plan was to get some pain killers and head home.

A little over an hour later (now a little after 5am) the nurses came back in to check on me. I was definitely still contracting, my water still hadn't broke, but I was now dilated to a 5. They called the doctor and the anesthesiologist, it was a very slow night and both were away from the hospital on-call. I was staying, and probably going home with a baby! Wahoo, no useless trips to the hospital this go around. So I called me dad to come get Ace and told him we still had some time so he should go get some rest and try and get Ace to rest too. It had certainly been a long night for him.

A little over an hour later, Cory decided it was time for some breakfast. I'm sure he was starving and exhausted and so he headed out to go find himself some food. While he was gone, I got my epidural, finally. By this point the contractions were quite taxing and I was looking forward to the reprieve I would get from the epidural, and the rest that came with it. Cory made it back with his breakfast and I was just getting comfortable. A little too comfortable, and then, lots uncomfortable in the other direction. An alarm started beeping loudly, and I had to get Cory to get me a nausea bag.

The nurse came in and explained that sometimes an epidural can lower your blood pressure too much, which is what was happening. She pushed some drugs into my IV to help bring it back up. After a few minutes I was feeling better. Still very tired though, so Cory and I both decided to try and get some sleep while waiting for the right time.

Unfortunately that didn't last too long. Roughly another hour passed, making it near 8am and my blood pressure dropped again. Same ritual, my body tried to throw up, but it was empty from last time, and the nurse came in to help bring it back up. By now the doctor had also arrived and had come in to say hi and check things out. Since my water hadn't broken on it's own yet, the doctor needed to do it. Easy enough, and I didn't even feel a thing, well, a gush is all. I was still at a 5 and the doctor and nurse talked about using Pitocin to help induce steadier contractions to get the ball rolling. We decided to wait a little longer to see how things looked. The doctor and nurse left and Cory fell asleep almost instantly. I fell half asleep. I was too close to the noise making monitors for any real sleep.

The nurse came back to check periodically and because I was making progress on my own, we decided to still hold off on the Pitocin. A little after 10:30am the nurse came back in to check again. She asked if I had to push the button on my epidural yet, and I told her I just had minutes before she walked in. The contractions were starting to get a lot stronger, and because I am a wuss when it comes to them, I wanted to feel as little of them as I could. She nodded as she went about her checks. "Looks like you're ready," she said, "Let's try a couple practice pushes." So we did. One. To which she exclaimed, "Don't do that again, I'm going to go grab the doctor." Ah ha. That usually means things will be moving rather quickly.

It took a few minutes to get the doctor and get all the things in the room ready to go. Then it was game on. Literally 6 pushes later, and we had a(nother) healthy baby boy. I was so thrilled that it went so smoothly, not only because that meant less work for me, but I was already exhausted from being up all night, and a little woozy from the blood pressure stuff. But all was well, and this was done! Kinnick Emerson Junck was born 10:54am, March 9, 2014.

Because it all happened so fast, no one had arrived at the hospital yet. The nurses handed me the baby and after a quick clean up, they all left. It was nice to just have a little time just the three of us (Ace was with my dad). Cory made a comment about how Kinnick didn't look as "alien" as Aceson had. Which was to be expected. 6 pushes vs. 2 and a half hours of pushing. Poor Ace did look like an alien.

It wasn't too long before we were moved into our other room and family started arriving to say hi. Most of them giving me a very hard time because I suggested not rushing based on our previous birth experience. All were still very excited, particularly my little brothers who actually timed how long the other held the baby and got upset when they didn't get the same amount of time.

We couldn't be happier with Kinnick. And we couldn't be more proud of how Aceson has handled the situation. With the exception of small outbursts brought on by lack of sleep and/or food, he has done a remarkable job adjusting. And he certainly cannot stop giving his brother kisses.

5 weeks and counting!

5 weeks (give or take) is all we have left until our new little man joins our family. We are so so so excited. But man has this one been so different.

When I was pregnant the first time, I was sick enough to not be able to keep food down for about 6 weeks. The doctor put me on some drugs and I was more or less fine for those 6 weeks.

This time, I was sick for over 5 months. And the drugs did not help as much. Even on morning sickness drugs, I was throwing up at least twice a day. I tried everything. Teas, herbal supplements, prescriptions. Some things helped more than others, but certainly nothing seemed to fix it.

My first pregnancy, I spent the second trimester in bliss. I wasn't sick anymore. I wasn't uncomfortable yet. I didn't show until after 5 months, so no one could really really tell I was pregnant.

Again, this second time was different. I went straight from throwing up to being super uncomfortable. Turns out this second baby is sitting a little differently and sometimes he pinches off my sciatic nerve causing my hips to hurt so much I can barely move or my legs go mostly numb. Sleeping is awkward too. I get about 20 minutes of comfort on either side before I need to switch.

With my first, my water broke at home at about 3 in the morning and I spent 8 hours in labor, 2 and a half pushing, then we had a beautiful little perfect baby boy to take home. Thank goodness we didn't have any complications.

With this pregnancy, well, that remains to be seen, but I can only hope for the best right?

Aceson was due on the 19th and came on the 20th. We had a friend who Cory guessed their baby would be born the 20th, and he was. Baby #2 is due on the 19th and we are hoping for the 20th. Ironically, that is Cory's favorite and lucky number. He's 2/2 with a pending 3rd.

Mostly we are just very excited and I am super anxious. If you are a parent, particular a mom, you know these last few weeks go the slowest. The anticipation is killer. But so worth it in the end. We are so excited that our family is getting bigger and seriously can't wait for this baby. Not only for the baby, but because of how excited we are for Aceson to have a little brother.

Here's to a quick 5 (ish) weeks!

2013 in Review

It certainly was a very busy year. Some of the key things that happened include: celebrated our 3rd anniversary, celebrating a first birthday, me spending 2 months in Kentucky becoming a medic, coaching my soccer team to another state championship, finding out we will be 4, finding out it will be a 3 on 1 ratio, celebrated our second Christmas with children and deciding to sell our house and better our lives.

We have been married for 3 years, as of May 1st. It's weird to look back and think that even when we first met, there was something there that told me I would know Cory for a very long time. That saying "when you know, you know" hits home with this one. Technically we didn't really "date" until we had decided to get married. It wasn't one of those crazy fast meet and get married stories, but he did live a few states away and when we were talking about how our future would go, he was very clear that he wasn't moving to Utah to "mess around for a few months and then break up." Which was basically him saying that by moving to Utah, we were most likely going to get married. I was of course ok with that. I am greatly looking forward to this next year and the many more we will have.

Ok so here is some more detail on those. Let's start at the top. Ace turned 1 in May. He is growing up so fast. He has started becoming quite the little talker. He knows quite a few words, and tries to pick up a new one about every other day. When he doesn't know words, he sure tries to tell you anyway. At the beginning of the year we were pretty good with signs and trying to get him to talk a little. Now we don't use signs and can rarely get him to quiet down. He's pretty amazing.

I spent two months in Kentucky. It was awesome and horrible all at the same time. I have wanted to become a medic ever since I had a full time job with the Army National Guard's Medical Unit a few years back, but one thing or another happened (having a baby...) and it was just not the right timing. They called me in June and said if I wanted a spot I could have one, but I had to leave in July. After some rushing around and trying to decide, things fell into place and we went for it. Cory's mom came to stay with Aceson while I was gone and he was working all day. The training was amazing and I am so happy I did it, but being gone for so long and only being able to Skype at nights was extremely hard on me. Gave me a very new and very real appreciation for people that sacrifice being away from their families, particularly deployed soldiers who don't get Skype calls every night.

Being in Kentucky made me miss the first 3 weeks coaching my soccer team. The second I got back, I got right into it though. And eventually we made it to The Big Game. And we won that game. I have been coaching at Timpanogos High for 6 years. We have had 3 state championships in those 3 years. 1 runner-up, and many many important memories and friends made. I am currently planning to take a few years off. I will miss it on an extreme level, but with another baby due and some other plans and changes for the coming year, I think it's just going to be better. I will still enjoy going to watch the girls play and keep in touch with most of them, but my commitment will not be so extreme.

While in Kentucky (seems a lot of things involve Kentucky) I found out that 3 will become 4. Very exciting. This pregnancy hit the ground running and I spent 7 of the 8 weeks trying not to be sick and let anyone know. They would've sent me home if they found out, too much of a liability. Because I was so sick for so long, everyone thought it was a girl. I was excited for a girl. Even out the numbers a little. I think he was offended and kept me much more sick than I was with Aceson. And our numbers will certainly not be even. Baby boy Junck #2 will be making his grand appearance in March. Cory and I are both betting the 20th, but only time will tell.

Christmas 2013 was a great one. Aceson was spoiled rotten by all his grandparents. As if we expected anything else. He always is. Then again, so was I. Cory decided to surprise me with Real Salt Lake season tickets. Awesome! Now, we will just have to find a weekly sitter for two little boys so we can get out just the two of us. The one downside, we set a budget, and blew it completely out of the water. But still managed to find a way to actually save money this month... Hmm, don't know how we did it, but I'm ok with it.

Last, but certainly not least, and really not last either. Many things happened this year that I am just not writing about. Anyway, we have decided to sell our house. Not because we have to but because we want to, and it will make our lives infinitely better. As most Americans are, we owe people money. Credit cards, student loans, cars. Mostly the usual. And we are sick of it. Because we bought our home as a foreclosure, we have a bit of equity. The plan is to sell our home, use the equity to pay off our debts, rent for about a year and then evaluate getting into another home. We should be able to get completely out of debt in that time. Which will be awesome because we can really start taking advantage of the wonderful jobs and schedules that we have.

And that is our 2013 in review. We are so excited for this next year. Here's to the New Year!

Happy Birthday! and New family pictures.

Holy cow. I cannot believe my little man is already one year old. It is almost shocking. We went and took some really great pictures and I am so excited to share some with you.

Here's the catch. That is going to be all you get for now. I'm not sure how best to display these. I want to order a large canvas, but we have so many already and we are running out of wall space. Plus I think Cory will kill me. So until I figure out what I am going to do, you just get this little teaser.

Easter style Color Festival

For Easter every year, the Hari Krishna temple in Spanish Fork has a Color Festival. Basically they make a ton of colored corn starch and throw it around making a huge mess and raising all kinds of money for the next year. It's surprisingly fun. The whiter the clothes you wear, the better.

What better way to celebrate Ace's first Easter than to experience some colored corn starch. Yeah. I took my 10 month old to the festival. It was fun. He was safe. We stayed in the back. Don't judge me (see super cute picture below, how can you not want some of that?)

Most people were super respectful and would either drop a little color on his back, or ask me if they could drop some on him. I was very impressed with the people. Ace seemed a bit skeptical. He is a people watcher and very much enjoyed watching all the people. Grandma Juls came with us and we had a super great time! I very much would love to do it again next year. I don't think I would take a little baby, but a 10 month old who can walk (and stay in the back) is probably not a big deal.

Broken

Yep, my age is finally getting to me. I still think I am super woman. I love playing soccer and probably always will, I just need to learn to do it like I'm getting older, not like I am still 17. On a side note, I did stop the guy from scoring... Just saying.

Ok so here's the story. I broke my shoulder. That sounds worse than it actually is. I broke my arm bone, near the shoulder. I went to dive, awkwardly, really awkwardly, and heard a very loud, very painful "POP". And then screamed.

We spent the better part of a few hours at the ER. Which wouldn't be so bad if our game wasn't an 11 o'clock game. We didn't get home until about 2am. But I was drugged and fell right asleep. I woke up grouchy and in pain, but what can you expect?

So what actually happened? My super strong shoulder ligaments tore the bone from where they connect to my arm bone. Sounds painful? Is painful. Here's to a few months recovering and praying that the ligaments themselves aren't torn.

New jobs means mom gets to be home more!

So Cory got a new job over the holiday season and started the 2nd of January. Which means that mom got a new job too. We actually switched jobs, kinda. Cory got a really good job with doTERRA as the Diamond Club Project Manager.

Which meant a few things: a) we needed someone to watch the baby, and b) my dad was out an employee. LIGHTBULB! I can come home and work for my dad. Thus eliminating the need for a babysitter and my dad won't be down an employee. Double score. I decided to still go in to doTERRA Wednesday's when Juls could babysit and Fridays when Lynne could.

The extra cool thing about this: we have essentially doubled our income. Which is extra awesome because we dug a small hole while I wasn't working after the baby was born. We won't recover overnight, but I can see it on the horizon.

Also, Cory's parents have been out to see us. They absolutely love being able to spend time with their grandkids (and kids) they spoil us rotten. From M&M's for me, to dad time for Cory, to small to-do's around the house, to more clothes and toys for Ace than we know what to do with. We sure do enjoy having them around, not just because they spoil us, but because it is nice to be around family. I wish Cory's family wasn't so far and scattered. I think he gets a little overwhelmed with my family being here and around all the time.

Aceson has mastered the army crawl. He is really quick too. It's only a matter of time before we are going to have to get some gates and lock this kid in.