A Change of Plans

Landon and I have spent our time getting ready for labor by learning what is called HypnoBirthing. Because I had a mini stroke in January we had to rule out a home birth. So, we decided to stay with our Doctor, Doctor Cloward, who worked with us through out the nine months and supported us with preparing for a Hypnobirth. We attended a class, read the book and practiced at home. We made our Birth preferences and looked to see how we could most naturally bring our baby into the world without medicine and other things that may not be needed but hospitals do anyway.

At 40 weeks I found out that my thinning and dialating had stopped and that my sweet baby had turned. She was a high breech. My Doctor wanted to order a C-section right away. I was horrified, I thought there must be some way to get her to turn around. On top of that, Landon and I were both sick and we worried about getting her sick if she was born within the hour. So we went and got the Whooping Cough vaccination and then went home and talked about what we should do. We decided to try all the natural remedies we could.

McKenna never turned around.

Eventually we had no other options or choices. We woke up early Tuesday morning July 31st and went to the hospital. There in the hosptial, the staff, my doctor, my parents and landon and I all talked about what needed to happen next.  I was wanting to try to deliver her breech. I vaginal birth was so important to me. Unfortunately, it was not an option for me. The Doctor thought that it would put my life in too much danger and as a result would then put my baby in danger. As soon as I heard that my baby could be in danger... I gave in.

I had to have a C-Section.

Getting ready to be parents

We had so much fun decorating her room. Researching the best deals and safest cribs, strollers etc. my big splurge was our two diaper bags!!!

Getting closer

Landon and I really tried to fill our days while waiting for McKenna to come. It was hard because I kept getting bigger and bigger! At 8.5 months prego we went and played laser tag lol not the best idea but it was really fun!

Weddings

Brace and Jordan, Heather and Shane and Tracie and Nate all got married in the temple recently. We are so excited to have such wonderful couples in our family. It is awesome to be able to go to the temple with family. Family came all the way out from GA and it was so fun to see everyone!
Going back to the temple is such a wonderful reminder of the family that Landon and I have formed together. It is so fun to be in the temple with McKenna inside my belly! Family is one of the best blessings!

Yellowstone?

So, we never got to go on a babymoon because I was too sick. So, when my Grandma called to see if my family in Idaho could throw me a baby shower I thought it might be the perfect opportunity for Landon and I to do something fun together before McKenna is born. SO, I decided to take Landon to Yellowstone.
The plan was to leave on Thursday and come back the following Wednesday. Well, Landon ended up having a golf tournament (that he took first place in!!!!!!) and so we didn't leave until Friday. Friday morning we ended up leaving a little late because Landon was feeling sick. He had a really bad sore throat, but we decided to go up to Idaho anyway. We arrived up in Idaho just in time to attend the Baby Shower that my family was throwing for us. It was a lot of fun to see everyone. (Details in a later blog entry) Then right after the shower all the men came and we had a BIG Orchard family dinner.
By Saturday morning Landons throat was worse and so we were going to take him to an Urgent Care but the car wouldn't start. So my Dad, Grandpa and Landon spent the morning fixing the starter in the car. They got it done just in time to go to my cousins wedding. So, we made it to the wedding on time, but because we Landon still wasn't feeling very well we went to the store and got a different kind of medicine and then went and saw the Avengers with my parents. The Avengers was awesome by the way! For what ever reason though I started getting sick during the movie.
By the next morning I was super sick and instead of heading out to Yellowstone we decided to stay at my Grandparents and sleep a little bit more, go to church, have lunch after and then go to Yellowstone. Well, that kind of happened. We got to church and I kept getting worse. Meanwhile my Uncle informed us that my cousin was being made a deacon and that they would like our participation. So, we ended up staying longer at church. As we were starting to enter the room for the ordination, I was informed that someone had just hit my car in the church parking lot. lol You can't make this stuff up. Luckily it was just cosmetics, however they hit the drivers side front bumper which is the side that always gets hit...so my poor car just has the worst luck ever.
Once we got back to my grandparents house I had to take a nap. I was really sick and could hardly stand up. They postponed lunch til a little later so that I could be a part of it and the small portion I had of lunch did help! It helped enough at least to make us think that we should keep going on to Yellowstone instead of just going back home.
We went the long way to West Yellowstone so that we could stop and see Mesa Falls. Landon had never seen it before. I got really sick there and barely made it to our hotel in West Yellowstone. Instead of going bear watching that night we spent the night in the hotel with me locked in the bathroom. I never got better that night or got any sleep, neither did Landon. So, the next morning we decided that we were going to give up the fight and just drove back home. It has never felt so nice to be home!!!!
Yellowstone will still be there next year!

Selling the Truck

We are finally doing it! We are letting go of our fun, hot truck and getting a family car. Wish us luck on finding a nice SUV that we can still have fun in!

Baby Shower

McKenna had such a wonderful baby shower! I hope that it excited her to meet everyone soon! Her Grandma did such a good job with the shower. It was a Luv Bug theme and everything was absolutely perfect! We wanted to have the shower a little bit early than most people do because Aunt Ashley came out from North Carolina with cousin Trey and we wanted them to be a part of it! We are so glad that they could make it.
Thank you to all who could come and to all who helped plan and carry it out! Landon and I are so lucky to have such love and support from family and friends!