It's been a while...

Hello,

So much has changed since my last post. Lucas and I are no longer married...I may make a post about that at some point on my new blog, but today is not that day. I created a whole new blog and I will no longer update this one. The link is here. If there are family or friends that wish to follow it they can. I am now happily married to my best friend and soulmate, Ashton Vaughan. We are currently living in the Pacific Northwest and he is deployed until sometime this year...haha...yay deployments (said no one EVER)! Wishing you all the best as we start 2019!

Love,
Nicole

He's here and oh so wonderful :)

He came, he came, he FINALLY came!  We are very happy to announce the arrival of Carlos Anthony Sullivan, born on April 21, 2010 at 1:43 am.  He weighed 7 lbs 7oz and was 19 in long!  I had Luke keep track of my labor and delivery experience so that I could share it with you all.  So here it goes!

I started having contractions on Tuesday morning at around 3:45 am and they had been between 5-10 min apart up to 9:30 am and then they started being 3-4 min apart until we went to the hospital at around 12:30 pm!!  Man do those things HURT!!  I was NOT a happy camper to say the least and things got worse before they got better.  When we got to the hospital they checked me and I was only at 3 cm, 75% effaced, -2 station.  They gave me the option to either stay in the triage and tough out the contractions in a bed until I was at a 4, go back home and wait it out or walk around the hospital for a couple hrs and then come back.  Being that it was about 2:30/3pm when they said this there was NO WAY we would go all the way home in traffic just to drive all the way back.  So walking it was.  We covered a little over a mile of ground walking around outside (up and down lots of hills) and got some lunch at the Subway there.  A couple hrs later we went back and when they checked me they told me I was still at a 3 so I sat there and waited out the contractions.  About an hour later they checked me again and I was finally at 4 cm, 90% effaced and -2 station.  This meant that I was admitted to Labor and Delivery at 5:30pm.  By then I had lost my mucous plug, but my water was still intact.  Once in the room I got an epidural (I had been laboring for about 16hrs by then and couldn't take the pain anymore).  Once it kicked in I was in heaven!  I'm really glad I got it.  I had a little issue with it though since it really numbed up my right side, but my left side didn't get quite as numb so they had to give me a couple extra doses to make it work.  Anyway, the doctor then broke my water at 6 pm and it was filled with meconium.  That meant that my little guy was under some stress so they hooked me up to some monitors and kept me on oxygen until I delivered him.  The next time they checked me was at 8:45pm and I was at 7cm with 90% effacement and at 0 station.  At about 10:55pm they checked me again and told me that I was at a 10 and 2 station.  Doctor said that I could start pushing soon and that he would be here shortly!!! :)

So from 11pm until 1:43am I pushed.  The first hour I pushed with every contraction, but that was causing the baby's heart rate to drop and have some trouble recovering so then the next hour or so they had me push with every other contraction (Thank the Lord for epidurals!!!).  At about 1:15 or so I was told I could push with every contraction and then at 1:43 he was here!!!  He had a good cry right when he came out and then they whisked him away to wipe him down and weigh him before giving him to me to start breastfeeding.  Oh the relief of having him here safe and sound!  To hear him cry and see him was amazing.  And that first time I held him was the BEST feeling in the WHOLE WORLD!  All the pain I went through was soooo worth it!  We still hadn't decided on a name (wouldn't until about 7 or 8 am the next day).  The nurse that was there for pretty much the whole time gave him his shots and a bath shortly after I nursed him.  She also got his footprints for us (he has his Daddy's feet!  they are so cute!!).  Her name was Deshka.  She was also helpful in getting me to get Carlos to latch on.  He did great on the first try!

 at the hospital

He is a very happy baby (when he's not starving that is).  That whole day he did alot of sleeping and eating as is normal for newborns to do.  He started playing favorites with which side he liked to feed on though the stinker.  That night was a rough one for me because he decided to cluster feed the whole night so I didn't get any sleep between 9 pm till around 6 am.  (That was only the beginning of my sleepless nights.  I get maybe about 4 hrs (give or take a couple) of sleep each day.)  Anyway, we were discharged from the hospital at about 2 pm on Thursday and have been doing pretty well.

on our way home from the hospital and snuggling his Poppa at home :)

 cuddle time with Daddy

 all clean after his first bath at home :)

We had a couple follow-ups with a lactation consultant and she said we were doing well.  The only problem I have now was something I didn't notice until later in the day on Saturday (after we got home from the appointment) that I have a small lump on the side of my breast that is red and very very sore.  It's gone down in pain though since I started pumping to help reduce my swelling.  I've been trying to have him eat on that side more too.  Saturday night really didn't help at all...it was the worst night so far...he would not be comforted for anything!  It took me running the sink water to calm him down enough to get him to latch and even then he was still pretty fussy.  Poor guy was having trouble from about 12 am until about 3 or 4 am and I was exhausted!  All I could do was cry because I felt like I was being a horrible mother for not being able to comfort my baby.  We finally got some sleep around 5 or 6 am though for at least one hour before he needed to be fed again (and was still pretty fussy).  So I pretty much got about 2 hrs of sleep.  He has been doing really well the last couple days though!  Eating and sleeping much better than he has in the last couple days that is for sure.  I actually got a 2 hr nap yesterday and about a 4 hr one today!!  I'm hoping this continues, but I know that there are probably more rough nights ahead as he gets older.

passed out after being fed :)

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that we are doing well considering a few bumps on the road :)  I love being his mom and wouldn't change it for the world.

~Nicole

37 down and only 3 more to go!

It's getting closer to when I will be holding my little one and I'm so excited and nervous for that day to come!  It's crazy to think that in less than a month I will have a baby in my house, that it won't be just Luke and I anymore...I hope the adjustment to the change will be somewhat easy for us.  He's a very active baby still (it takes him between 5-10 min for me to count 10 movements when he's most active) and he has the hiccups often.  At times when he's super wiggly it kinda hurts sometimes and he still hasn't dropped yet so the heartburn is still there as well as my issues with breathing and sleeping.  I guess this is all preparing me for when he's here since I hear you get very little sleep with a newborn.  I'm also having super strange dreams at night or when I take a nap during the day.  Not too sure I enjoy those.  Unless it's one of me holding my baby, then I'm totally happy :)  I'm looking forward to when I can do the things I used to, like sleep on my back or tummy, paint my toenails, shave my legs...things that I didn't know I'd miss until I couldn't do them anymore.  But the thing I am looking forward to most is just cuddling my guy and being a Mommy :)  And I can't wait to see Luke with him too.  He's gonna be a great Dad and I'm excited to see the relationship he will have with our son.  April 16th can't come soon enough (and that's if he feels kind enough to come by then...I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he isn't going to be overdue..)!!  Anyway here's a pic of me that was taken today:

Man do I feel huge!  Good thing it's only for 3 more weeks :)  And just 12 more days until Luke's Mom flies in!!  I'm so glad that she's coming out here to help us!  She's staying until May 3rd.  We are really grateful to her for making this trip.  It's hard for our family to be here for us since we live so far away and plane tickets are super expensive so when anyone comes out to see us it's a big deal.  Makes me wish we were back on the mainland even more. I'm really glad that we have good friends here though to help us out when family can't be there :) 

Anyway, I am going to get ready for bed now since it's almost midnight so I will talk to you later!  Goodnight!

~Nicole

Yay for Christmas time!

Luke and I had some friends over for dinner on Christmas Eve. Dinner was awesome! I'm quite proud of myself for the way it turned out. There were some not so great parts (like the "rolls" that ended up looking like pancakes ha ha), but everyone seemed to enjoy the food anyway :) The cookies didn't turn out quite the way I had wanted them to either, but our friend's little girl still had fun decorating them all pretty! We then played the Wii for a little bit before everyone went home for the night (it was kinda late), and then Luke and I didn't get to bed until after Midnight...which means I didn't get up until late on Christmas morning ha ha. Yesterday was so nice and relaxing! We opened our gifts and then had the rest of the day to just lounge about and enjoy each others presence :) Luke had fun with the new "toy" aka camcorder and filmed dinner from the night before and us opening our gifts. It's a pretty sweet camera that's for sure! We then played the Wii for most of the day together which we hadn't done in a long time. He normally is playing his Xbox360 so we don't use the Wii as often as we used to. That's ok though. I can't wait until next year when we will have a little baby to enjoy Christmas with too! I'm so excited for Monday when we will have our ultrasound to find out what the gender is!! Then let the baby stuff shopping begin ha ha :)

Today we don't have much going on. We are going to take some friends their gifts that we got them and hadn't gotten to take to them before Christmas sometime today. And then I don't know what we will do after that. I love this time of year! I love it more when we are with family, but as long as Luke and I are together that's all that really matters. Oh the day when we will live closer to everyone...that day can't come soon enough!

I hope everyone had a most wonderful Christmas this year! May next year be even more wonderful! Bring on 2010! :)

~Nicole

Getting ready for Christmas!

Just 19 days till Christmas folks! This year is definitely going to be different. For one, I had to get a tree by myself (more on that in a bit) and for another...this is our last Christmas together with no children. Crazy! I'm super excited for next year though! So many neat things will happen! And having a baby is only one of them! I hope next year is even better than this one (and it was a fairly decent year for us)! Anyway, onto the fun part (me talking about decorating ha ha)!

I went to Walmart and bought a little 3' tree yesterday and got it all decorated too! It's much smaller than last year's tree, but it's the best we could do this year since 1) it's what was left and 2) I would not have been able to carry anything bigger by myself (plus Luke won't be back from his class in Utah until the 19th...no way there are trees left by then!). Anyway, here is our tree!


I had to improvise this year and make a new tree topper since our star was WAY too heavy for this little guy! I think the bow turned out pretty cute though! I love how the tree smells! No way was I gonna buy a fake tree this year! I'd draw a picture of one and stick it on the wall before I did that ha ha! Now I just have to finish decorating the rest of the house, which won't take me very long at all. I love to decorate for Christmas! Now, if only there was snow here...then it would look and feel like Christmas. Well, I better go find some food to eat and get some chores done. Talk to you later!

~Nicole

some interesting news..

Yesterday when I got to work one of my supervisors came up to me and pulled me aside. Now the first thing that ran through my head was "Crap! What did I do??" but really, he just wanted to ask me if I would be willing to switch to swings (the day time shift) and I almost cried! But I told him that I carpool with a friend since we live so far away from work so I was torn...she asked if there was a way she could get switched too and he said he would see what he could work out for us. If we get switched I'll be able to function like a normal person again!! and get to see luke too! :] I will let you know what I find out since he said he would let us know today at work...oh the suspense!

~Nicole

Yay!

So I signed the lease for the new place this weekend and it's all official! Pretty excited :] I'll be moving in by this weekend so that's pretty exciting!! It's gonna be awesome to finally have a place of my very own..but yeah, I will post pictures when I get the chance ok? Gotta go now so ttyl!

~Nicole

p.s. I can't believe my birthday is in a week...has it been a year already?