The third week in July of 2010 while Jon was at work I took a pregnancy test and to our surprise I found out I was pregnant. I sent him a text message and said when he got home him and I needed to talk, he then called me right away and he asked me what was going on. I said we could talk about it when he got home and it wasn't a big deal then he asked if I was pregnant. I then told him yes and he didn't believe me. When he came home from work I showed him the test results and then he started to believe me. We told our families and when we told my mother in law we found out that one of my sister in laws were also pregnant. I had guessed my due date would be the beginning of April however wasn't sure until I went to the doctor. After we told everyone the exciting news we went to the doctor and found out my due date was March 30th. I was so excited to be pregnant and even more excited to be pregnant with my good friend Niki Baker. She was due a week and a half before me so we got to enjoy our pregnancies together. While I was pregnant I was working many hours at J.R. Simplot and I was extremely stressed with work and everything going on. On December 26th, 2010 I came home from work and picked up Carter gave him a big kiss and felt a horrible cramping in my stomach. Jon was at work and I had started bleeding a lot so I took Carter to Jon's parents house and went to the hospital. At the hospital I found out I was in pre-term labor, I wasn't even 28 weeks pregnant yet so it was really scary. I spent a couple days at the Samaritian Hospital and then was transported to Deaconess Hospital in Spokane. While at the hospital they did many different tests as well as gave me many shots to help the babies lungs develop in case he was born too early. While we were there they checked his weight and little Xander Pants only weighed 2 pounds and 1 ounce so he surly wasnt ready to be born.
He wasn't ready to be born but he sure was cute!! While we were spending time in the hospital (it ended up being a week) Carter was luckily staying with his wonderful grandparents. We are so thankful they took care of him while we were trying to make sure Xander was going to be okay.Xander and grandma hanging out in the evening before he went to bed. I was missing Carter like crazy however while I was in the hospital they told me I could be in their until my due date and I was really upset. I did not like the idea of being without him for 12 weeks. I talked to the doctors and they said that as long as I went home and was on strict bedrest I would be able to be released. I was so excited to hear that I promised I would go home and not get off my chair until the baby was born. I can't say I honestly stuck to that however I didn't do too much. After all the hours I had been working it was really nice to hang out at home on bedrest for a while and watch television and cuddle with Carter. While on bedrest I looked forward to my weekly doctor appointments so I could get out of the house and I hung out with Niki quite a bit, it was a nice change of pace. My family was really great about helping me and it was wonderful! When I was 35 weeks pregnant I asked Amy to take some pictures because I didn't have any pregnancy pictures and she said yes so we went to the park for 15 minutes and snapped a few pics.
Jon and I 35 weeks pregnant with Xander Pants. At 36 weeks I asked my doctor if I could please be off bedrest, he said that I could start doing a little more however not too much. Jon found some jet skiis on KSL he really wanted to buy and they were in Utah. We decided to get in the car and drive to Utah with Carter, purchase the jet skiis, say hi to our families, then turn around and drive home. Well we drove to Utah and the trip wasn't bad at all. Carter was really good in the car ride and we hung out with Mike and Shawna for a few days and then got on the road to come back. On the drive back when we hit Baker City, Oregon a tire blew out on the trailer. It was horrible and I was ready to be home. Jon and Derek put the spare on and we drove back to Moses Lake. The next day I went to lunch at Taco Shop with a couple of my co-workers and I was telling them I was feeling a few contractions here and there but they were really light and I thought I would have the baby in the next week or so. I then drove to Othello to talk to my boss about a couple things and after I got home from Othello I was putting vinyl up in Xanders room. I was still feeling contractions here and there however not very strong so at about 5:30 pm I told Jon while he was watching tv that if I was still feeling contractions at 7:30pm then I would want to go to the hospital. I was anxious to watch The Bachelorette season finale and it started at 8 pm. He said okay and went about watching his television show. At approximately 6:30 pm I came to the livingroom and said, "Jon I think we need to go to the hospital." He responded by saying, "Babe you said at 7:30 and its not 7:30 yet." I knew he really was enjoying the show he was watching however my contractions were about 2 minutes apart and I didn't want him to get all anxious so I just kindly told him again well I think we need to go right now we can't wait. So we grabbed Carter put him in the car and drove him to Jon's parents house. My contractions were getting to the point where I was a little uncomfortable. We took Carter and dropped him off then Jon told me he had to stop back at the house. At that point I was getting a little impatient because I was ready to be at the hospital. Once we got to the hospital we checked in at the emergency room and then had to go to Labor and Delivery. On tv shows they show someone wheeling you in a wheelchair however that is not the case in real life. When we were headed to labor and delivery Jon thought we should walk up the stairs that way since I didn't think I was far along in my dilation it would help. As we walked up the stairs my contractions were getting stronger, they didn't hurt too bad however they were uncomfortable. When we got up there the nurse made it known that they were extremely busy and they would get to me when they could. I told the nurse that I went to the bathroom and I felt like I was getting close and so she handed me clothes to change into then she checked me and I was dialated to an 8. Her face was priceless, she seemed very shocked and nervous. Once she told me I got really upset, I kept saying I really wanted to get an epideral this time and eat ice. I remember looking at the clock and it sayin 6:51. Jon called our parents and let them know. Everyone was really shocked and rushed to the hospital. The nurse said it was too late however they would try the epideral. She was right, it was too late the epideral did nothing but give me back pain. My doctor came in about 10 minutes later and I told him I was ready to push, he told me to wait a few minutes because nothing was prepped however I told him okay but to hurry because the baby was coming. They got everything ready and he wanted me to do a practice push and on that push I knew the baby was coming so I pushed really hard and the baby came flying out. The doctor said "Slow Down!!" He sounded like he was in a panic however he caught the baby so it all worked out fine.
Xander Eric was born at 7:17 pm (yes 25 minutes after pulling into the hospital) weighing 5 pounds 7 ounces at 37 weeks. He was 19 1/2 inches long (I think or it was something close to that.) After the delivery I got cleaned moved into the mommy baby unit just in time to watch my show at 8 pm. The nurses were really shocked how quickly I was in and out of the delivery room. I was hoping since we had such a great delivery we would be out of the hospital really quick however it didn't happen. Xander Pants had low blood sugars so he was mandated to stay in the hospital for three days. It was hard because Carter was really sick so he couldn't go to the hospital to visit me and baby. He had a good time with his Grandma Jo and Papa Rod.
Xander Pants and I when he was one day old.
He was extremely tiny however at three days old he was ready to go home!!
When we got home from the hospital Carter was so excited to see the baby, he was holding him, kissing him, smiling at him and enjoying every minute of it. It was so nice to finally be home with me and my three boys. We were blessed with such a wonderful addition to our family! I am very thankful to have had such an easy delivery after a rather difficult pregnancy. Xander was just very excited to join the world and meet his great family. We were truly blessed the day Xander was born. Carter is the best big brother we could have asked for.