labor story

Welcome Jovi Grace Beck! She wasn't due for another 5 days, but I guess she wanted to make her grand appearance on July 19, 2011 instead.

I woke up around 4 o'clock with some pretty intense contractions. I then woke Joe up at 4:30 and wanted to labor at home as long as possible. I guess I had labored awhile while I slept because my contractions were coming fast and hard! We got our bags pack, loaded Corban into the car, and left our house around 5 o'clock. I had a couple contractions while in the car and Corban had woken up by then. He was nice enough to help me through a couple contractions by helping me breathe!

They got my epidural in just in the nick of time. That and ice chips (not only ice chips, but the fun ice) saved me!

Joe was a great labor coach this time. I don't think I would have handled the contractions have as well as I did had he not been there to help me calm down.

He even pointed out funny things on the bed in between contractions!

Jovi Grace Beck was born at 8:34 a.m. on July 19, 2011. She weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. I literally pushed 4 times and she was out! Joe and the nurses joked that with a labor that easy I should have 50 kids. Um. No. Jovi had quite a bit of meconium in the placenta with her, so they whisked her to the warming table right away to suction her out. She was covered in her green mess. Her hair and fingernails were green making her look like a little witch! She also had the cord wrapped around her body a couple of times so Joe didn't get to cut it this time around. She was a little blue when she came out but perked right up after a few minutes on oxygen.

We're so happy that everything turned out well and that we have a new addition to our family. Even Corban thinks she's pretty cute. Hopefully that won't change.

wilson!

We recently had our Griffin family reunion. Joe and I brought our outdoor volleyball, horseshoes, and frisbee. Joe (of course it had to be Joe) tossed the volleyball to a nephew, throwing it over his head. The ball bounced over the fence, rolled down a hill, and settled quite peacefully in the gushing, rushing, Cub River. Joe then watched the ball bob down the river and around a bend.

Wilson! Come back!
Fast forward two days. Joe and I are about to go back to Logan when he decides, "What the heck. I'm gonna see if that ball is anywhere close to us still." I see him, an expert climber brother-in-law, and a couple nephews heading toward the river. A little while later they all three return with our volleyball in hand! As luck would have it, the ball had gone around the bend like Joe saw, but it had got stuck behind some branches.

Wilson is safely home again. A little water logged and a little dirty, but it sill works great.

glitter toes

Part of the reunion included glitter toes! Corban watched me and the other girls paint and glitter our toes and fingers. He reluctantly let me paint 5 toenails the same color. He then really got into it and wanted 3 different colors for the other 5! Here he is showing Peggy his pretty toes.

family reunion

We had the Griffin family reunion this year at the Cub River Ranch Guest Lodge. We swam, ate, played, ate, crafted, ate, painted glitter toes, ate, did skits, and ate some more. I thought for sure I was going to gain 10 pounds that week (I only gained 3). Everyone was able to make it this year and nobody drowned!

letter to school

Dear summer school:

Please be kind to my husband. He is working 27+/- hours a week, studying for the PCAT, and his wife is expecting a baby. Please let us have some semblance of a fun summer without all the studying and books and grades that come with school. And, if it's not too much trouble, please let him get a good grade in his class and a REALLY good score on the PCAT.

Sincerely,

me

thank you, and goodnight

I'm at my parent's house and this was the only picture I could find on their computer. They look extra good because this was taken 10+ years ago at my sister's wedding luncheon. Anyhoo, I digress.

These past couple ofweeks have been pretty hard with all the aches and pains that pregnancy brings. A lot of the days that Joe is working and going to school, I'll go to my parent's house and stay there for the day just to have someone to chat with. Thanks, mom and dad, for letting us eat with you, use your washer and dryer, and chatting with us.

she hulk

Lately, I've been feeling like ...

I'm almost to my 35th week but I am MISERABLE! Do you wanna hear all about my aches and pains? My feet, legs, and hands look like little Vienna sausages, I've got a tearing sensation on my mid-abdomen that won't go away, I'm having braxton hicks contractions, I get headaches off and on all day long, I can only sleep in 3 hour increments on either my right or left side, I get heart burn every night around 8 o'clock, I have allergies and swollen nasal passages, my pelvis feels like its being pulled on both sides in opposite directions, I'm sleep deprived already and have a needy toddler, and summer school officially started this week so I see my husband for a few minutes here and there during the week.

The way things are going, my baby will come out looking like this ...

Could you still love a face like this?

Those ladies who say that they love being pregnant are full of crap. Please give me another 3 months or so to get back to normal before you judge anything I say. If not I might turn into a giant, green monster. "Amber so mad! Amber crush you!"