Washington for Thanksgiving

Jeff made quite the collection while we were out there...

On the way to Thanksgiving Dinner

The real reason we went to Washington...so Jeff could hunt with his AR

Hanging out in the house

Luckily we had a snow suit for Aidyn...it was COLD!

We couldn't believe how big Beckham was!

So we decided to go to Washington this year for Thanksgiving. We wanted to visit Jen and Wes and the kids because it had been a while since we had seen them, and they weren't able to come for Aidyn's blessing. It snowed the day we got there, and continued to snow for the entire week...so the weather wasn't ideal, but we did have fun. They live in the middle of nowhere in Mesa, Washington, and Jeff's parents and other sister Jessica came as well. We got to have Thanksgiving dinner with Wes' family, and we had a lot of fun hanging out.

Aidyn's First Halloween

Daddy and Aidyn as a Polar Bear

Mommy and Aidyn

So for Halloween we really didn't do anything because Jeff's family was in town...but the week before Halloween my friend Jessica hosted a Halloween party, so we did get to dress up. I got the pirate costumes from the .99 store, and Aidyn's was from a friend of work who gave us a lot of girls' clothes. The party was a lot of fun, and Aidyn looked so cute.

Aidyn's Blessing Day

We blessed Aidyn on October 31, 2010...yes, Halloween. Jeff gave a beautiful blessing and we enjoyed having family in town. Jeff's parents came from Nebraska, Jeff's grandparents from Utah, My grandparents from Utah, and my other Grandpa came a few days earlier. A woman in my mom's ward made Aidyn's blessing dress. She used the material from my baptism dress. It was so cute and I love that it is meaningful to me. I hope that she will be able to use it for her daughter as well.

Life as a stay at home mom

I absolutely love being a mom...everyone tried to describe to me how I would love her so much, but nothing even comes close to the connection I feel with Aidyn. I have loved staying at home with her, and I am so grateful for a husband that insists that I do stay home. He works so hard to make enough money so that I can be the one that raises our daughter...so I am the one that gets to see her smile for the first time, and rollover, and sit, and walk. I would be so depressed if I had to leave Aidyn during the day while someone else takes care of her.

The first couple of days at home with Aidyn were a breeze....my mom and sister were here, and Jeff was off work, so I had all the help I needed. I recovered very quickly...only had minor tearing so very few stiches. The nursing was probably the most painful thing out of the whole process. After about 2 weeks the pain went away...however at about 4 weeks I got an infection, and that lasted another 2 weeks, and that was extremely painful. Once I made it past that...everything was great. A lot of moms say they feel extremely sleep deprived...I never felt that. There are some days when I am tired, but I never really felt like I couldn't function. I guess those years of little sleep did me good. She was eating every 2 hours for the first month, then every 3...she eates very efficiently...done in about 15 minutes, so I have nothing to complain about...I hear some babies eat for 45 minutes. She loves getting a bath or shower, and she is a power napper...like her mom. She never naps for more than an hour, usually only 45 minutes, but she seems to get enough sleep to function. She is still waking up 2 times a night to eat. She has started smiling more and I love that she can recognize me...my face, my voice. I love being a mom...I couldn't ask for anything more. These 2 months have truly been amazing!

Aidyn LaRae Gallego

Getting hooked up to the IV

Post Epidural


Right after they laid her in my arms

First family picture

Daddy and Daughter

Aunt Corrie and Aunt Rylee

Grandma and Grandpa Snell

Aidyn LaRae Gallego was born on September 2, 2010 at 7:54 PM. She weighed 7lbs 10oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. I started having contractions the night before at about 10 PM. They were enough to wake me up, but didn't hurt too terribly. They were spaced probably 10 minutes apart. At around 4AM I got in the bathtub to help with the pain, and they started wearing off. I had a dr. appt. at 9AM and by that time they were almost gone completely. I told the dr. and he said it was common to start having contractions and then have them stop for up to a week...so I was very disappointed. I was dialated to a 3 and he told me to keep timing contractions, and if they get more frequent to call him. I went home and was bored out of my mind. I called my mom to see what she was doing, and she had an institute lesson to go to in Temecula, so I thought I would just go hang out with her for the day to keep my mind of things. After being in the car for about 10 minutes I started getting contractions again. They were exactly 5 minutes apart all the way to Temecula. I decided they didn't hurt too bad to where I couldn't function so we went to the institute class. This was a huge mistake....They started coming every 4 minutes apart and they were getting more and more painful...and being in a room with 80 women didn't help...I couldn't adjust my position..I just had to sit on a cold hard plastic chair...not ideal for dealing with the pain. The class ended at 11:30 AM and my mom and I went back to her house. I decided the contractions were painful enough and close together enough that I should call my dr. He wasn't available but the nurse told me he would call back. I decided I didn't want to wait around for him to call, so I told my mom I wanted to go back to my house, just incase I needed to get the hospital fast. My mom was convinced that it would be awhile before I could go to the hospital, so she wanted to take her own car. Mistake #2...never drive alone (especially a stick) when you are in labor and contractions are now every 3 minutes. It was the longest drive ever....every time each contraction came I just about cried from the pain. Once I got home I could handle the pain a little better because I was able to shift positions...I ended up on the floor in the fetal position...this seemed to be most comfortable. I got the call back from my dr. and he said to go to the hospital. Once I got there they checked me and I was dilated to a 6 and fully effaced. The checked me into my room and hooked me up to my IV. I was planning on waiting a little bit for the epidural to see how long I could last, but they told me the dr. would be in surgery for the next 3 hours, so I could either get it now or in 3 hours. I decided to get it then...I was dialated to a 7. The epidural was awesome...couldn't feel a thing. We waited for another hour or so...I was at an 8 and the dr. broke my water. Things slowed a little after that, but in about 2 hours I was fully dialated and ready to push. My mom told my dad it would probably be within the next half hour, and I remember the nurse laughing at my mom and telling her that on average, it takes a first time mom about 2 hours to push out the baby...my mom assured her that I would be faster than that. I did one push with the nurses, and they proceeded to tell me to stop pushing because she was coming out. We waited another 10 minutes for the dr. to come...he got ready and I pushed through 4 contractions, about 12 times and approximately 11 minutes, and Aidyn was here! It was such a surreal experience. I couldn't believe she was mine. My dad, Rylee and Corrie were in a few minutes later. They cleaned her up and then it was all over...I couldn't believe how fast everything went. I had checked into the hospital around 3...and I had her at about 8. We stayed at the hospital for a day and a half....and then were able to go home. Having Aidyn has been the best experience of my life. I love her so much and can't wait for all the fun we are going to have together.