Blessing

We blessed Amelia on August 12th, just three weeks after she was born. We had a lot of family in town, and I'm so glad they were there to share in this special day. Shawn gave a beautiful blessing, we took pictures, and then headed home for lunch.

 

Kind of feel like this is my life right now. :) (3 year old sticking his tongue out, and a newborn crying)

Miller Family

The whole gang

Amelia Grace Miller-birth story

Our tiny little girl was born on Monday, July 23rd, but her birth story starts a few days before. On Wed July 18th I went in for my weekly doctor visit. Until this appt everything had been just fine. However, on wed. my blood pressure was really high, and I had protein in my urine. They were concerned, and wanted me to come back on Thurs. to have it taken again. I was sent home on bed rest, and thought it was so weird that my BP was so high. I figured that with bed rest it would go down, but no luck. Shawn and I went to my doctors appt on Thurs and like i said my BP was still high. They wanted me to be monitored better and do a 24 hr urine test to check things out, so we were sent to the hospital. At the time my sister in law Steph and Lewis were staying with us from Alaska. I so glad they were here, and able to watch Gavin while I was in the hospital. It was such a relief to know he was in good hands.  I was in the hospital through Friday night, and then put on strict bed rest through the weekend. My midwife was out of town so we were waiting for her to get back Monday morning, to make a decision what to do. While I was in the hospital other doctors informed me that most likely I would be having Amelia by Monday or Tuesday of the following week. I spent the weekend getting a few things ready and just laying around. My mom flew in from Texas and Hailey drove up from Utah, so we were ready to go. 

Monday morning came, I saw my midwife, and she told us we were having a baby that day. I was checked at the doctors office, and was dilated to a 5 and 80 % effaced without even being in labor. I was going to be induced, but my midwife felt like things would go really fast. They started the pitocin around 2 pm. My plan was to go completely natural, but I wasn't sure how everything would go with my bp, or the babies heart beat.

 From 2pm-5pm I just tried to get my contractions going. I felt them a little bit, but knew they would need to get much stronger. At 5pm my midwife came in and asked if I had any contractions. Although they weren't strong yet we decided to turn off the pitocin and break my water. I knew once my water broke things would get intense. By 5:45pm my contractions were very intense and close together. My bp and Amelia's heart beat was doing fine, so I was able to walk around, or stand which helped my labor along. By 6:25pm I was feeling alot of pressure so I asked to be checked. I was at a 6 1/2, which was pretty frustrating. The pain was really intense, but I was doing my best to manage the pain. Although it had only been 30 minutes, I asked the nurse to check me again at 6:55pm. I'm so glad I did because I was at a ten, and ready to push. My midwife came in, I pushed through two contractions, and Amelia Grace was born at 7:06 pm weighing 5 lbs 7oz 18 1/2 inches long. Shawn got to help deliver her which was very cool.

The first thing we noticed was that the umbilical cord was really short. Next thing that happen was that the umbilical cord detached from my placenta. Delivering the placenta was really hard. I had to push really hard, and it was very intense. Once it was out my midwife noticed how deformed my placenta was. The cord had attached in the wrong place, and extra veins were made to get nutrients to the baby. We were all in shock, because everything seemed to be fine at each doctors appt, and ultra sound. My midwife called Amelia a "miracle baby", and we later found out why. She told us that usually when you see a cord and placenta like mine, the doctor has just delivered a still born baby. She also said that because my BP was so high and we decided to induced, it probably saved Amelia's life. When I heard these words, I just started crying. Here I was complaining about my BP, bed rest, and being induced, and it was all a huge blessing. The Lord was not only watching over me, but this special little girl coming into our family. We felt immense gratitude for the safe arrival of Amelia, and I was once again reminded how much the Lord loves each and every one of us. Our hearts have been full ever since. Here are some pictures from our hospital stay

Miller sisters and family

June and July

Most of June was spent looking for houses in Idaho. We found a cute 3 bedroom 2 bath home in Nampa. We love it!!! It has a small backyard for Gavin to play in, and is .9 miles to the park. Did I mention we LOVE it. We spent the 4th of July in Pocatello with my parents, Darrin, Annie, Tommye, Brylee, and Hailey. We watched the fireworks in Idaho Falls, and then just relaxed at Darrin's house.

 Once we got back from Pocatello, we started unpacking like crazy. We had 6 days before we left to go camping. I had the house pretty much ready with decorations up, by the time we walked out the door.( I even impressed myself). Shawn's parents had their 40th wedding anniversary, and we all got together for a camping trip. We had 28 people camping. It was a blast. Yes, I was crazy enough to go camping 36 weeks pregnant, but the majority of the time I sat back with my feet up.

The best thing in July is that we welcomed our miracle baby girl into the world. I had her just one week after returning home from camping. So glad I got almost everything done before we left. She is a complete joy. We ALL love her!!!! More to come on Amelia Grace Miller.  

Just a few moments after she was born

        She was 3 weeks early. Sooo tiny

 Love this man

 Mom and Hailey were there too. Mom from Texas and Hailey from Utah

 This is by far one of my favorite pictures. Gavin loved his sister from the moment he met her. I'm so glad Hailey was there to capture this moment.Oh, and Linsey was in the labor room too, just on Skype. :)

May

Family pic right after Shawn was sworn in

Tommye turned 8 and was baptized. Gavin loves his cousin brylee

Gavin and Jade at Orange Beach

Nana and her grandbabies

We had a  very busy May. Shawn was sworn in, we played for two weeks in Idaho, and then ended the month with a trip to the beach. Gavin loved going to the beach. He swam in the ocean all by himself. At times he got annoyed at the waves for making him fall, but overall he was in heaven. He swam so much we had a minor (with lots of crying) trip to the ER for a ear infection. I did my best 30 weeks prego to chase after him, but had tons of help from Nana, Papa, Lori, Katie, Linsey and Jordan. We tried to take advantages of everything fun to do in Texas before our move to Idaho in June. It was a bittersweet month. We made some great memories.

Time for Change

Well, a lot has happened since I posted last. We have had family in, visited the park, chuck e cheese, zoo, story time at the library and played on our slip n slide. Lots of fun, but not many pictures. Most importantly, we found out on April 19th, that Shawn PASSED THE IDAHO BAR!!!!! He took the bar exam on Feb. 23rd and 24th. We have been waiting a very long time. Although he felt very good about the test, we were still extremely nervous for the results. We are sooooooo excited he passed the bar. No retakes here. With passing the bar, it meant moving from Texas to Boise, Idaho. We have to be up in Idaho by May 3rd, so he can be sworn in.That gives us about 10 days to get everything ready. Crazy, but totally worth it. I'm so proud of Shawn. When we first met, he told me he wanted to be a Lawyer. He had just started his first undergrad semester at BYU-Idaho. Almost 9 years of marriage, and we have been through undergrad, law school, and taking the bar together. I can't believe we are finally done. I'm ecstatic for Shawn to have his dreams come true. He has worked so hard. We are ready for the adventure, and all the exciting things we have coming in the next few months. Moving, new job, new baby in august. Bring it all on. We are ready!!!!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter. It was filled with love, family, laughter, thunderstorms, and lots of candy. Couldn't ask for a better day.

Bluebonnets

She really does love her cousin. Just not so happy to hold Gavin's hand. :)

Every year the bluebonnets come out, and us Texans torture our kids getting pictures. This year was no different. Tradition, tradition, tradition (think Fiddler on the roof). We took 650 pictures, and yes even captured a smile or two from Gavin. :)