A Baby Story

Leaving the hospital on Tuesday:

Okay, so I mentioned a while ago that I would write more about the day that Kevin was born, and now I finally am. It's not super interesting and it's probably more info than you want to know, but here it is anyway:

Dan and I were watching a movie Saturday night and he fell asleep. (Confessions of a Shopaholic - no wonder he fell asleep. I thought it was good, but not as funny as the book.) I got up when it was over to start to do my nightly kitchen cleanup and I felt a contraction. I never really had any contractions on my own with Elena (my water broke and then I was induced), so I was pretty excited. I kept walking around cleaning because I was praying that they wouldn't stop. I really wanted him to come! After an hour (they were 5-9 minutes apart), I called Shelby to ask her opinion about how long to wait before going to the hospital and then I woke up Dan. By now it was about 12:45 am on Sunday.

I called my awesome friend Emily and she came over to sleep on the couch and watch Elena (Thank you so much, Emily) and then we left for the hospital. When we got there, we found out that I was 5 cm, but the nurse was worried that he wasn't head down (YIKES!) - so they did an ultrasound. We found out that he was head down (YAY!), and then the waiting began. The contractions didn't hurt too bad (especially compared with the Pitocin contractions I experienced with Elena), so we just hung out at the hospital and I got an epidural at about 4:ooam right before the doctor broke my water.

I was too excited to sleep and so I watched tv and read magazines that Dan borrowed from the nurses' station. They decided to use Pitocin at about 10:30 am or so and I continued to just hang out and wait. Have I ever mentioned before that I love epidurals?! My mom arrived in town at about 2 pm and was able to give Emily a break and take care of Elena at our house. It was so strange to go almost all day without seeing my little girl!

I slept a little in the afternoon and when I woke up at 5:00, the nurse (Shelma - I love her!) was setting up for the delivery. I had to push for about 25 minutes (twice as long as with Elena because Kevin's shoulders got stuck) and then I had my little purple boy in my arms at 5:55pm. Dan did a great job (plus he looked super hot in his scrubs!) and was able to take the lead and do everything until Kevin got stuck and then Dr. Thompson stepped in and helped out in the middle.

Elena and my mom came over the hospital to visit with us at about 7:00 pm. The nurses let us hang out in the Labor and Delivery room so that we could spend some time together before Elena had to go back home to bed. We gave her a bunch of art supplies as her big sister gift and it is all that she has wanted to play with since. It was so great to see her and to finally be able to tell her the name of her hermanito.

All in all, it was another long day (like when Elena was born) and another great experience. We are so lucky to have two healthy and adorable children that bring so much joy to our lives. Kevin is eating well and sleeping like a champ and my recovery has been easier this time around. I'm sure that things will not seem so peachy-keen once all the family helpers are gone, but so far we are doing very well. God has richly blessed us.

Some Pics of the Past Week

Granny (my mom) is pretty happy to have a second grandchild......and a third. My brother Andy and his wife had a baby girl on the 30th: Ariana. I'm not sure when I'll get to meet her (they live pretty far away), but I am super excited to have a new niece! Here is a picture of little Ariana:Proud papa with Kevin:His going home from the hospital outfit. He also wore this yesterday and it was quite a tight fit. I can't believe that he is going to outgrow things so quickly. He is already too big for size "Newborn" diapers. Elena wore those for at least 2 months.This is the same "push nurse" that I had with Elena. Her name is Shelma and she is AWESOME. I was so psyched when she came in to start her shift Sunday morning. To my left is the doctor that delivered Kevin (along with Dan): Dr. Thompson.Adam (my little bro) didn't get to see Elena until she was 5 months old. This is, therefore, his first time ever holding a newborn. He was a natural.

Elena loves reading so much, that sometimes she'll pick up a book and start to read it out loud to herself while she's being read to. And don't even think about stopping the reading of the original book; she wants both at once. :) Granddad (my dad) is being a good sport.

On her way to church yesterday. I love this dress. We found it at Marshalls for 8 bucks.
Elena's been really good with the transition so far.

This is how I found him the other morning. He'd wiggled out of his clothes a bit.

What a sweetie! And he's been such a good sleeper. I hope that continues.

The Best Big Sister Video

New Family Pictures

Happy (late) Independence Day!

Great Experiences

I've never posted before, I am usually just involved by helping Emma decide upon pictures or how to phrase something. I decided that I should finally write something about this weekend and our new son.

I think one of my greatest experiences happened this weekend. I am still trying to take it all in and enjoy it. I was able to deliver my son, I was able to watch my wife dedicate herself to bring him into this world and I was able to see my daughter give him hugs and kisses and yell, "Hermanito!" - those are some great moments.

Oddly, the most personal and profound experience I had this weekend was during a short phone call to my brother-in-law. I was not prepared for his reaction, I hadn't really considered what naming a child after someone encompassed.

I had just called my parents for the second time, this time to tell them the name we decided upon. I asked my father to relay this information to my brother since they were visiting, and that I would call my sisters to let them know as well. As proud grandparents, they dialed my sisters anyway - who can blame them??? Luckily I dialed Barbie first, while my parents were dialing Kathie....that was a close call!

Anyway, I dialed my sister Barbie, and mistakenly got Kevin's cell phone instead - I had not wanted to disturb him at the hospital. Kevin answered and we shared greetings and I spoke my son's name - Kevin Ezequiel Dison.... My brother-in-law, the strong, successful father and amazing physician was speechless, full of gratitude, love, humility and awe. He has been my role-model as long as I can recall. I remember seeing anatomy models in his apartment on a visit to San Diego while he was in medical school. It is no great stretch to see that I am following in his footsteps, working my way through medical school as well. Surprisingly (or not), I am in love with surgery and hope to find a family friendly specialty as he did.

My best friend, Kevin Arbon Collier, passed away in 2001. I had been determined to name my first son after him. As my brother-in-law has had his health in question, I realized that my son's name had to be Kevin. There are two great men my son now has to look up to, to base his life upon and to honor these men of great strength, intelligence, faith and love.

I can honestly say that this short phone call to my brother-in-law has impacted me far more than I imagined. I find myself reflecting upon it constantly - a short phone call where few words were exchanged has strengthened my testimony of eternal families and the importance of leading a worthy life.
-Dan

Kevin Ezequiel Dison

He's here and he's adorable! Kevin looks a lot like newborn Elena - except chubbier. :) He was born at 5:55pm on Sunday June 28th. He weighs 8 lbs. 5oz. and is 21 1/2 inches. He's so sweet and we love him! He is named after some amazing people. "Kevin" is our brother-in-law who is an amazing man and has been a wonderful role model and example to Dan all his life. "Kevin" is also the name of Dan's best friend who passed away in 2001. "Ezequiel" is a young man that Dan taught and baptized on his mission in Mexico; he has an amazing conversion story and a very strong testimony of the gospel.
We couldn't be happier about our son's name and the significance that it holds for us. He is lucky to have such strong male role models right from the beginning (including his father and grandfathers of course).
I'll blog about the whole birth experience (Dan got to help deliver him!) and post more pictures later on today, but for now: I'm going back to sleep. :)

Happy Update

I went to the doctor today and Baby Boy is head-down and ready! Yay! That was the main good news. The other good news is that I'm 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced, so hopefully we'll get to meet him really soon. I am super excited about the fact that I'm already 3 cm. With Elena, I wasn't 3 cm until after I'd been on Pitocin for a couple of hours, and I was already asking for an epidural because I was miserable. This time I arrived at this point virtually pain free. Don't worry, I'm sure enough pain is on the way to make up for it.

The doctor said that I should have him in the next week, but I'm choosing to believe that he'll come in the next few days. We'll keep you posted!

Baby Shower

My sweet friend Yvette in the Spanish branch (church) threw a baby shower for me last week. It was so fun to get together with the women and the girls that I work with at church. I had a great time and enjoyed some good food and a fabulous cake made by Elizabeth.

One of the games: "How Big is My Mommy?"
The whole gang:
Looking at all these pics really highlights how tired I look. I think I'll go take a nap right now. :)