Complete

Our family was completed when Cohen came along.  We had always said that two was the magic number for us.  I am thankful that we have one of each and can experience both sides of things. 

I can't believe that this little cutie is turning five next month...

Being a mom has made me grow in so many ways. 

Last Easter

Last year we spent Easter in Pinetop.  We did the annual Easter egg hunt and made the mistake of telling Ella all about the golden egg.  She didn't find it and was a bit grumpy.  This year when talking about Easter and egg hunts, the dreaded golden egg was brought up again.  If we tell Cohen about the golden egg, we won't make as big of a deal about it.

It's weird for me looking at these pictures from last year.  If you would have told me then that two weeks later we'd find out about my mom and her diagnosis I would have said you're a crazy person.  I remember this Easter because she wasn't feeling overly well which was odd...especially for her.

Flash back 04/06/2014

This time last year we were in Ohio celebrating Devin's moms retirement from the Air Force.  She retired as a Lt. Colonel and had two tours to Iraq.  We had a nice visit while we were out there and it was a good experience for Ella.  I wish that she were a bit older to really appreciate what happens with hard work and dedication. Hopefully down the road Jody will write some stories about her time in Iraq.  

Ella had her ears pierced while we were there.  This was the second time she had her ears pierced and this time it stuck.

 Ella and Great Grandma Bonnie.

Laughing

Cohen is a ticklish little boy.  He is an incredibly happy baby and is almost 4 months.  He's still hasn't had any formula and we're hoping it stays that way until he's six months and ready for solids.  We are working on sleeping through the night but he will sleep for about 5 hours on good nights.  He's a stuffy little thing and often snorts.  He coos and has discovered his chunky little hands. 

Easter

We had a nice Easter this year.  We did an egg hunt at the Arizona natural history museum.  It was a nice change of pace and we enjoyed seeing the dinosaurs.  We did Easter dinner on Sunday and had Ryan over.  We also got Cohen a highchair - he looked so small in it.

Photo Dump

Just doing a quick photo dump.  I am too tired right now to write about anything overly important.

Cohen Michael Pierce in a nutshell

Since I was a lazy blogger all year, I didn't get the chance to blog about my pregnancy with Cohen so here it goes.

Finding out:

We found out that we were pregnant with Cohen the same weekend we found about my moms cancer.  It was such a bitter sweet moment for me because we had planned for Cohen and we knew that he was going to be our last.  There was so much about this pregnancy that I was excited for.

 When I was pregnant with Ella I was so stressed all of the time, I was so worried about motherhood and since she wasn't planned I just spent most of it dazed.  We started trying for Cohen fall of 2013 and was hoping that he would be born in 2014.

Devin and I had made an unexpected trip to Pinetop once we heard about my mom and spent the weekend there with them trying to wrap our heads around this big bomb shell.  The whole time we were there my mom kept saying I was pregnant - how she knew I have no idea.  When we got home from Pinetop we went and had dinner with Devin's family, it was roast and I felt ill eating it.  I figured it was just because of everything that weekend brought and just kind of shrugged it off.  When we got home later that evening my moms voice would not get out of my head.  I figured I would take a test just because otherwise I wouldn't stop hearing her.  Sure enough, we got a firm positive.  So many emotions came into play at that moment; Joy, Sadness, Excitement and Uncertainty to name a few.  I honestly felt like it was just Gods way of showing me he has a sense of humor.  When I went out to tell Devin we just kind of laid in bed talking about how crazy it was this was happening at the same time. I was about four weeks at that point.

During:

The beginning of my pregnancy was relatively normal.  I was much more aware of my body and much more aware of my weight gain.  I was so paranoid I was going to blow up like a hippo again that I was very cautious about how much I was eating.  I actually ended up losing weight during the first and second trimester.  I stayed busy visiting my mom while she was here in the summer and was in training for the new position I had taken at roughly the same time I found out I was pregnant.

Issues:

When I was pregnant with Ella I had been induced due to high blood pressure.  I was induced with her at 37 weeks but, leading up to that point I really didn't have any complications.  Cohen was a different story.  The OB was aware of the issues so they were watching to make sure I didn't show any signs.  At about 20 weeks they did a protein test (24 hr screening) and found that I had high levels of protein.  They said they would re-do the test a few weeks later to see if it was still coming up high.  A few weeks later it was still high and at that point they decided to refer me to a specialist.  This was in October and right before our Disney trip.  I went to the high risk specialist and she told me at that time basically to take it easy and they would continue to monitor my BP and they would see me back in the office at 36 weeks.

Shortly after our Disney trip I went to a normal doctors visit and my blood pressure had sky rocketed - They sent me home again with the lovely orange jug to do the 24 hour screening again.  This time my protein levels were lower which was great.  My BP stayed high and I went to the hospital at one point and was told then to go on bed rest.  This was second week in November.  While on bed rest I was sent to the hospital two more times with one of them being an overnight stay.  The whole time my doctor was trying to get me to 35 weeks.  My overnight stay I was at 34 weeks - Since I had my appointment with the specialist already scheduled (how convenient) I went and she immediately saw how much I had been in and out of the hospital and said that she gave her stamp of approval to induce me the following week.

tooons of doctors appointments, ultra sounds 2x's a week for a month and a half, 5 24 hour screenings, three hospital visits and one overnight stay later...

Delivery:

We were set to go in on Tuesday but ended up getting a call saying that their beds were full so they would get us in the following day.  This made me pretty upset because I was just so done.  I hurt badly every time I walked and I was so tired of going to the doctors office 2x's a week.  We got a call the following afternoon saying we could go in at 4. They induced me with an internal medication that was supposed to sit there for five hours.  She told me at that time that it could take multiple rounds for a baby to come but they would keep measuring my progress.  Well, they put it in at about 7 and when I woke up at 4 the next morning I could tell things were starting to get rolling.  They took the medicine out and by 8 I was ready for my epidural.  Doctor came in at about 12:50 to check and said I was ready - I pushed for maybe 10 minutes and we had our beautiful baby boy at 1:18 weighing 6lbs 9oz (exactly as much as his sister) and 20.25" 

Mercy Gilbert has a 1 hour baby bonding time - they immediately put him on my chest and he laid with me for an hour before we allowed any family to come in and see him.  Devin didn't even hold him until after my hour was up.  I absolutely loved it.  It was just nice being able to relax afterwards and just hold him.  It was such a rough pregnancy and it was beyond rewarding just having him in my arms for a bit.  

We brought Ella in first so she could meet her baby brother - She did so well holding him and was just beaming.  When everyone else came in to meet Cohen she was fine with them holding her brother but only for a little bit and then she wanted him back.

We love this little boy so much and our family is complete.  

*side note - I am so happy that my mom was able to be in the delivery room with us.  She was there for Ella's birth and I was so thrilled that she could be there for Cohen's too.  She made it even after having her lung biopsy that same day.  She's a trooper and my hero.

February -

This month has just gone by way too quickly.  This month started my return from maternity leave and Ella back at daycare.  It's odd being back at work and I really am missing being at home with both kids all day.  Ella was going stir crazy and so it really is best that she's back.  Our little chunk is doing well adjusting to daycare - got sick his first week but has done well since.  

Parents are settled for the time being at our house and it is really just nice having them here.  They're a huge help around the house and in general it's just nice having my mom right there with me :) I like that Ella and Cohen get to see them everyday and watch these beautiful babies grow.  Devin and I are still sad that they're choosing to move into an apartment in Mesa.

1 year later...

One year later and I'm back - Seriously, my last post was almost exactly a year ago.  really no one reads this but my mom....hi mom...and she already knows what's happened in the last year.  I however plan on doing a better job this year.  I figure I'll post and then try and remember something from the year prior to update things as I go.  So this is my welcome back post.  Biggest thing that has happened in our little family is the birth of our incredibly adorable son.  Cohen joined our family December 18, 2014 and we are very much in love with this final addition to our family.  

Stay tuned for more posts :)