Quite a Day

Well this has been a day of upheaval.

Here it is in pictures:

The Carpet in our guest bathroom went from slightly wet a couple days ago to completely flooded. We did not know why. That spot that you see on the bottom of the closet was filled with linens, they helped soak up the water....I didn't find that out until much later. Thankfully only one thing was truly lost to the water and mold, everything else was salvaged.
That is an industrial blower drying out the carpet and has to be left on until Saturday.

 This curtain was one of the items at the bottom of the closet sort of lightly damp but not wet laying it out hopefully fixed it.

 I called maintenance and the problem was that the A/C drain was clogged and backing up into the carpet and floor. 

Guy had to punch a hole into the wall to get to the hose and snake it. 

Carpet guy had to come and pull up all the carpet. He took out the carpet padding since it was not salvageable and he took out all the carpet tacks because they were embedded with water and mold. He had to suck up the water on each layer, the concrete, the underside of the carpet and the top side of the carpet. He had to do this in both the guest bathroom and the living room under our sofa the areas right around the A/C. Then he installed these lovely industrial blowers to continue until Saturday.

 Blowing the carpet dry. 

Also the hole, third guy was sent over to then patch the hole first guy made.

So fun!

For funsies we threw a pink bath rug in with Kyle's Physical Training (gym) clothes and died ALL of his white PT socks......pink.
He will definitely be out of Army regulation in those.

Just one more thing to add to this wondrous day.

I had tons to do, a kitchen to clean, a dishwasher to unload, laundry and packing to do and sweet Jack wanted to be held All. Day.

And that was our Thursday!

Kyle and Jack are taking a nap together!! Both actually asleep at the same time!!

Finally giving me......another opportunity to write a blog post!

Featuring Jack's baby blessing

Jack was born Monday May 26, 2014; Memorial Day

Kyle was a little disappointed because as he said, "Can't he come later? I /already/ have Monday off from work."

EXACTLY one week later, we were in the chapel of the Port Charlotte ward along with friends and family giving Jack a baby blessing.

Crazy enough, I felt pretty awesome and had tons of energy. I didn't even realize it had only been 1 week. Literally 7 days prior I was in church giving my young women's lesson and then BAM that night I went into labor, 1 day later giving birth and 7 days later sitting in sacrament meeting witnessing the blessing of my sweet darling child.

Here's who attended:

From my side:

Grandpa Sherwood Smith, grandma Patricia Smith, uncle David Smith, aunt Irene Smith, aunt Sarah Smith, dad Kenneth Smith, and mom Ludona Smith, 

From Kyle's side:

Granddaddy Melton, Granny Mary Kathrine Melton, and mom Celeste Melton

It was a big deal for them to be therebecause they are not members of the LDS church and they had to travel 4 hours to attend. We loved having them.

Here's who participated in the blessing:

Kyle Mattox giving the blessing, Kenneth Smith, Sherwood Smith, David Smith, Alex VanScoyk, and Bishop Donald McDonald

It was such an incredible experience! I felt more powerfully then ever the power of the priesthood that Kyle holds. It was amazing to be witness to such a spiritual event and so precious to our family. To have my wonderful dedicated husband and father of our son give him a blessing for throughout his life.

The blessing which Kyle gave Jack:

The name which he shall be known by members of the Church is Jack Waylon Mattox. Jack, we bless you with strength, we bless you to be healthy as you grow that you might be able to function properly in all the things that you should do. We bless you with faith that you might have a great desire to follow your Heavenly Father and the the example of His Son Jesus Christ. We bless you with love for those around you that you would always be willing to serve and always be an example to your friends and to your family. We bless you that you will serve a mission and that you will be married in the temple so that you can continue to, so that you can be with your family forever. We bless you with a desire to read the scriptures that as you grow that you would grow close to the scriptures and closer to your Heavenly Father through them.

I cried so much.

My two regrets from that day are, I didn't get a picture of those who participated in the blessing and I didn't get a picture of everyone who came. (Not being allowed to take photos in the chapel made the first one very difficult to obtain anyway).

My mother Ludona knitted Jack a beautiful white blanket for his blessing day and Kyle's mother Celeste bought him a darling white bubble suit to wear. I cherish them both.

Kyle did a fantastic job of showing off Jack at the end, Simba style, straight up in the air and all around the room. Just as I showed him >_< Everyone ooed and awed 

It was fast and testimony meeting and I felt the spirit so strong I was compelled to bare my testimony, Kyle did also. It was wonderful to be able to have that opportunity with Kyle's family there to hear our personal testimonies and feel the spirit.

The most touching testimony given was from sister Lucy Newton. It was do dear to me. She said she fasted that day in gratitude. Gratitude for the blessing I had received to have this child and that she had spent so many prayers asking for this blessing. She said how deserving I was of this blessing and grateful she was to Heavenly Father for it.

I cried again.

I am so grateful for the temple and eternal families. I'm grateful to have been sealed there to Kyle to June and to Jack. Without it I would be lost.

 These three are from a couple days before

 This is the morning of the blessing. Waking up is tough.

Jack's Party!

Great Grandpa Sherwood Smith

Great Grandma Patricia Smith

Jack's Birth!

I'm finally doing it! Starting a blog!

What is it about becoming a mom that makes one want to do this?

I thought I would start with a short telling of Jack Waylon Mattox's birth:

It was Memorial Day Weekend and Kyle and I decided to do a little stay-cation. I taught Young Women's on Sunday and after church we packed a picnic lunch and went to Boca Grande where we ate, sat, talked, and walked.

Now mind you, I was past my due date and walking across a large sandy beach. We had a lot of fun. I was still so full of energy! I loved pregnancy! I was happier than I'd ever been and full of energy and joy!

We came home about 6p and at 9p contractions began. I said nothing. After about 30 mins and me wincing about every 5 mins Kyle asked me
Kyle: Are you having contractions?
Me: No
*time goes by and I wince again*
Kyle: Because you look a lot like someone having contractions.
Me: Well maybe, but I don't know.

I didn't want to get too excited I hadn't had any braxton hicks, any false labor of any kind so I didn't want to get my hopes up that I would correctly identify my first experience with contractions.

Kyle was all giddiness. "We're going to have a baby?? We're going to have a baby!! We're going to bring a baby home from the hospital."
I was all denial. "No, this is only the start it's probably not for a while, I'm sure I'm fine, we may not have to go in tonight."

I kept a timer of the contractions and they were anywhere from 3-10 mins apart but that was too close for Kyle. I insisted on a few things first: we had to make the bed (that was dumb because as soon as we got home I pulled everything off the bed so I could climb in it), Kyle had to clean out the car and I had to put on something cute and do my makeup. This could be the last time. So at 11p we arrived at the hospital.

 Here I am timing a contraction.

 And doing my makeup

 And nervous about having this baby

And Kyle giddy about having this baby

We got to the hospital about 11p and entered through the emergency room.
It was a long wheelchair ride down the corridor.

 Birthing ball! Me thinking I'm going to do this naturally.

The contractions intensified but I shortly found out that the dilatation had not. I was still only dilated  to 3cm, I'm glad they didn't send me home!

I had one bad experience during this part of it, I explained to my nurses that I wanted them to tell me everything and I could filter it, I didn't want things to just go on without me understanding the process and the purpose. My main nurse was totally on board and awesome about it! She told me everything!

However another nurse came in to do the hep lock into my hand and it hurt super bad and when I looked down, there was blood everywhere, on her scrubs and everything! I asked her what happened and she said "Nothing, I just put your hep lock in." She continued to insist on this and would not tell my why my hand was in agony or why blood was dripping from it. ......Ultimately she did not come back into my room.

I immediately set about trying to get things moving along. I rocked, I walked, I bounced, I did this for four hours and no change only more intense contractions but no change in dilation. At that point I was talked into an epidural with the argument "It's just hurting, you're not progressing and this way you can get a little sleep." I did sleep for about 3 hours and thank goodness because this is all the sleep I got.

 Kyle being giddy some more

 Me in labor

The sweet nurse offered to take this picture


I was still able to move around a lot with the epidural so I leaned over the back of the bed and used the grip bar. And I still wasn't doing a good job of progressing, in fact Jack never actually dropped on his own, I had to push him the whole way out!

The nurses let me stay leaning over the back of the bed and I wanted so much not to deliver on my back, they kept checking for progress but found none. His head wasn't any closer to coming out then before I tried hands and knees and all kinds of positions but nothing was working. They made me lay on my back. I was so exhausted and whenever pushed it felt like nothing was happening, though they kept on insisting it was and they could see the top of his head. I used a mirror because I totally wanted to see the whole thing. And I never saw the top of his head until it was out.

Finally at 12:26 on Monday May 26 I had Jack Waylon Mattox.
It was a pretty uneventful birth, I've already forgotten the excruciating pain.
In fact I think the most painful thing is the Foley catheter.
I did get to the point where the nurses were encouraging me saying "Think of having him here, think of holding him in your arms and keep pushing." And I said "I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!" I definitely was done.

 We had a wonderful nurse who took all these pictures for us!

That feeling!! Just being so glad it's over and getting to hold this anxiously anticipated darling baby. All the emotions! Kyle and I cried.

I wanted him to be put right on me but they put a stupid sheet thing down and they kept jostling him and rubbing him hard and making him cry!! I started pushing the nurses hand away and saying stop it! At which point they explained to me that they have to get him to cry to get air in his lungs and get all the goo in his lungs moving, they needed to do it to make him cry. I still didn't like it.

It was a miraculous feeling to hold him in my arms. Overwhelming. Indescribable.

Bonus Story: Kyle told me a few days later that a nurse knocked over the placenta that was sitting in a dish on a table. There was blood all over and the doctor was steaming mad!