Now I know what all the fuss is about

This is my story of when I became a mom.

Tristan was born one week after his due date, on Tuesday, February 3, 2015. Because he didn't come before that, the doctors had to help him get here by using medications. It was a sunny day and, with it being a very mild winter in Utah, there was no snow on the ground. I had to call at 5:00AM to see when I would be able to go to the hospital. The nurse told me they would call me back when it was time. Ryan works at a utility billing company, called Conservice, at 6:00AM every morning and decided to go in until it was time. At 8:00 that morning we received a call back from the nurse saying to go in around 8:30. I called Ryan and he came home right away. We grabbed our bags, took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, took a few pictures, and off we went.  ... I may or may not have shed a tear or too. We were both excited and terrified at the same time knowing as we left our home, it would be the last time leaving as just us. We were leaving as 2 one last time. Everything was about to change and we couldn't be happier that it did.  

We arrived and checked into the hospital at 8:40AM where they gave me a wrist band with all the information about me on it. We went to our room, #15, where we met our nurse, Tricia. She was so genuine, caring, funny, and easy to have a conversation with. After strapping on two monitors to my belly, one for heart rate, the other for contractions Tricia gave me an IV in my right arm and started the medication to make Tristan come to this world.

I decided to go as long as I could without any pain medication which was only about 90 minutes. I felt like a weakling, but I did not want to go through any more contractions that I felt. It hurt... bad. The Anesthesiologist came to my room and introduced himself. His name was Cameron and he looked very similar to Keanna Reeves, the actor from the matrix. He became my best friend that day when he took away the pain. He gave me an Epidural at 10:45 and it kicked in at about 11:15AM. But there was something wrong with how it was sitting, so my entire left leg was numb, but the right was just tingly and I could still feel the contractions. He gave it about 15 minutes to get more numb and nothing was changing so he was able to come and put into the tube a booster open up the space. This just made my left leg go even more numb. Keanna, I mean Cameron, went back to the tube and just pulled it out a little bit because he believed it was tilted to the left. IT WORKED! I felt my right leg go numb immediately. He gave me one more booster before he left.

At 10:30, Dr. Olsen came in to tell me that he would be in to break my water at 1, after his meeting, and that would help things progress a little faster. Ryan and I enjoy watching the Harry Potter movies and it has become a tradition for us to watch them whenever we are in Labor and Delivery. This started with Ryan's sister for her deliveries when we would go keep her company, so of course we had to continue tradition. Plus, it's a show about magic and who doesn't just adore Fred and George?!

We got through about one movie when Dr. Olsen came back in. As he was checking me, he had a little bit of a confused look on his face and said "you are at a 10 and are to ready to push in about a half hour". This is when I started getting really nervous. Most people when being induced have to wait all day to have a baby and here I am ready NOW.

I started shaking. Well, only the top half of me started shaking (Thank you epidural). I got really nervous. No one had mentioned anything about the shaking. I called my nurse in, in a panic and showed her my hand that I couldn't hold still. "This is normal", she reassured me and sat down next to me to start chit chat while we waited.

At 1:45PM I started to push and wouldn't stop until 3:37PM. Almost 2 hours exactly. During this time, I had become nauseous and needed that wonderful blue bag (which I want to keep some in my car the next time I get preggers) a few times in between contractions. It was hard for baby because he would be under a lot of stress for the contractions then a lot of stress for the puking. So we had to rest a few times through a contraction or two.

My husband tends to get a little dizzy when in hospital settings so he pulled the lovely brown chair to my bedside and paused the movie. He describes his feelings as helpless, but I found the occasional thumbs up in my peripheral vision paired with a "You got this"; "Way to go"; "Nice!" or even a "Whoop whoop" very encouraging.

Ok. I did it. I watched it in the mirror. Not as yucky as I thought it would be. That being said, the scene of me pushing a baby out is forever engraved in my mind. It is the craziest thing. I thought I would be completely repulsed by it, but I found it very interesting. The coolest part is once they pulled that mirror out, my baby was here in a matter of 10- 15 minutes. *Recommendation time: USE THE MIRROR! It lets you see what muscles you are using and help you be able to push that baby out faster. Be like nike and Just Do It. ;)

At 3:37PM Tristan Ryan Alsop was born. The moment was so beautiful I don't think I will ever forget that gurgly cry. Dr. Olsen asked Ryan if he would like to cut the cord and Ryan said he would try. He did try, and he succeeded. Dr. Olsen then placed Tristan on my lap and I saw a piece of heaven that day. Tristan was crying until I started talking to him. Once I said "It's ok baby" he looked right at me and calmed down. That was until the came and grabbed him to clean him up. He did not like that. Ryan took some pictures and I sat in amazement, thanking my father in heaven for this amazing gift. Also, asking him how he could trust me with this when I have a really hard time keeping a plant alive.

Now most people cry, at least in the movies they do. I didn't. I just sat there almost filled too much with love and amazement. Most people have a beautiful family moment after delivery. We didn't. It was surreal to me. All I could do was stare at my baby. We made this. And he was normal. All 10 fingers and 10 toes. Even though on the foot print paper, Tristan did a weird thing with his toe and it ended up only showing 4 toes. But trust me, I counted 10 toes. I counted 10 toes about 5 times. Pictures below to prove it. (and to show off my new babe.) This is the point in the day when my husband, who had been sitting next to me, through all the tears, root beer freezes, for 9 (10!) months, walked over to the side of the bed and with love in his eyes, raised his hand in the air, gave me a high-five, and in a high pitched sound said, "NAILED IT!!!".

We named Tristan the night before we left the hospital. Speaking of leaving the hospital, I can honestly say that it made the top 5 list of moments of when I was the most scared in my life. However, it was perfect. It has now been 7 weeks (I know right!!), and he is still alive!!! He is actually growing. He now smiles at me and it melts my heart. Ryan and I love him sooo much it almost hurts to not squeeze him as tight as I want to or to not kiss his face off all day. I can't wait for him to be awake each day so we can hang out. He makes everything worth it. All the spit up and poop in the world could be all over me and it doesn't matter because when he looks at me, I feel Gods love. This is truly His work and His plan.

Ok! I'll stop with the mushy gushy of my testimony and let you all get back to your Facebook stalking. ;)

It's a........

 

 

9.13.14

Gender Reveal Party

 

We decided to find out the gender of our baby with our family and close friends.

 

Everyone wore either PINK or BLUE to show their vote, as well as writing their names on the color on the box.  ---->

  

Kirby, my BFF, helped me make the box where the balloons would come out of and I had a neighbor look at the paper the ultrasound tech gave us, and put in the color of balloons that it was. It turned out really cute if I do say so myself.

 

 Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints has it's perks. Our church building is a great place to have a party with lots of people, especially when you live in a condo like I do and it gets crowded with 5 people inside the house at once. We were able to use the church cultural hall for our party!

 

 

 

Dinner and desert was served. Soup, rolls and lots of yummy treats. Thanks to family and friends that helped. It made all the difference! Shout out to the great friends and family for their

and support. The food  was DELICIOUS!!!!

 

 

 Some other fun things we did was have people write down their favorite boy or girl to help us name baby Alsop. We got a lot of Landon's, Rylan (my 4 year old nephew who put his own name in because it's his favorite boy name), Harry Potter, Zander, Alvin (my dad's name), Pedro, Laquisha, and many other names we can't use due to the fact that we are Caucasion and not of any other race. [seriously could you imagine our white, red headed, freckled face

child named DeAndre or Jamal?!]

I mean that in the most non-racial way possible.

-------->

 

 

<---------Kirby and I also did a bunch of old wives tale tests which I posted at the party for all to see and help make their guesses from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<--------The votes are in and

FINALLY!!!!

The time has come to find out what we are going to have!!!!!

We stood in front of everyone. Opened the box.

AND IT'S A.....

  

 

 

BOY!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Ryan was right! We also have some nephews who are really excited to have another boy cousin.

 

After the big reveal, we had everyone come up that wrote their name on the Blue side (even though some wore pink) and take a picture saying they guessed right. My dad also guessed boy but he was camera shy that day and wouldn't come up for a snapshot with the balloons. Maybe someone can figure out how to photo shop him in there?

Anyway, in the pictures at the end of the post, you will see my nephew (supposedly best friend of mine since his birth) push me out of the picture because I chose girl. What a little stinker, huh?! Then Ryan was able to have his glory moment as the lone victor in our relationship. I let him enjoy this moment where he was right, because we all know these moments are few and far between. ;) Love you honey!

 

        

 

 

My sister Jennifer, is quite the photographer! She took some really nice pictures for us of our decorations and us finding out what our baby is. Here are a few pictures that she took for us of the party.

 

Tyler and his little girl Jaynee (2 years old)

Tables at the party

 

Mike, Linda, Jen, and half of Tommy

Kirby, Jake, Teresa

Ryan and our friend Jeff



Food Table

Ry Thanking everyone for coming while Tyler texts

Other end of the Food Table



Rylan, Kaitlyn, Brynleigh



Mason, Tommy, Neighbor Dan



Ryan, Me, Jake, Kirby, Teresa



Ryan and I

Julia, Anson, David, Sam



Loni, Penny, Tami, Lizzy, Troy, Jeff, Shelby,
Emmilee

Mariah

Jaynee Belle

Bill- Beau
(real name just Beau, but we sure love our nicknames)



Ryan and His Mom, Linda

Me



Me and Ryan



Kissing



Ryan wiping off my kiss
WHAT A BUM!!!




Winners of the Voting




Wyatt being a bum and pushing me out of the picture

RYAN'S VICTORY PICTURE

 

 

 

Week 20

Week 20- 9.9.14

[baby is the size of a small cantaloupe]

 

 

 

The day is finally here! September 12th. The 20 week ultrasound. This is the one where they check and make sure everything is ok with all the structures of the baby: brain, bones, cleft palate, spina bifida, ect. I have waited for a very long time for this day. Although, we aren't finding out the gender... not yet. We are going to have a gender reveal party tomorrow (9.13.14)

 

We went to the ultrasound tech early to see all the baby again. He was a very nice man and explained everything that we were seeing as we were seeing it. He even gave us a CD of some of the pictures that he had taken of different parts of the baby. The ultrasound tech also took some 3D photos for us. Our little bundle of joy really likes to put his had by his nose and hold the umbilical cord. It's sooo cute!

 

As he got to the lower sections of the baby where we would be able to see gender, he had us look away so we didn't find out because he would take pictures and write on them what the gender was. Baby Alsop would not unfold it's legs and it took about 5 minutes for it to move into a position where the ultra sound tech could tell what it was, finally the baby cooperated.

 

During the appointment, the ultrasound tech measured the head, femur, length, and maybe more things to figure out where the baby was tracking, due date wise. He said all his measurements say he will be done around January 29th. (original due date is January 27th) Again, where it isn't more than so many days off of the original due date placed, they won't change anything and just keep the due date at January 27th.

 

We are so excited to find out what our little baby will be: boy or girl?! Either way we are excited to have a little one. We have a few names picked out for both that we both like, more girl names than boy. I think it's a girl. Ryan thinks its a boy. I guess we will find out soon. AAAHHHHH!

A Pretty Bad Day :(

9.8.14

Today, I found out some really hard news. I have been on my parents insurance since I was born because I can until I'm 26 [thanks Obama]. I called them today because I received a bill that said they would not pay for any of my lab tests and I was curious to why, hoping it was a mistake.

Long story short, they will not pay for anything to do with my pregnancy.

It was really hard news to get.

All the kind words from friends and family are appreciated. We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives that care so much. Even just the words are enough.

Everything happens for a reason and it will all work out in the end.  God gives us trials to make us stronger. I know that this is definitely a trial that better make us stronger!

On a higher note: Ryan has been given an interview to a place here in Logan called Conservice. It would be for a full time position with benefits (hopefully, cross your fingers). They have some other positions that aren't full time and it is all just what he can get. After today, I am praying so hard that he is able to get the full time position. I thank everyone for the prayers and thoughts that have been sent our way over the news that we have found out today.

WEEK 17

17 WEEKS- Aug 19

[baby is size of an onion]
 

The very last day of week 16- which was Aug 18 something amazing happened...

I have been lucky this month [and next month] to get some good sub days at different offices so we can be saving extra money for the baby. Who knew baby items were so expensive? not me until looking them up.

The first sub day was in Smithfield at Smithfield Dental. Just like any other morning, I jumped into the car and headed to work around 7:30. In the car on main street in Logan, I felt it. I FELT THE BABY MOVE!!! ... then I felt it again! 

At first I wasn't sure what I was feeling. It's tough to describe what it felt like. The best description I can come up with is that it felt like it did a little summer-sault and maybe was like butterflies you feel in your belly, when you are excited. I told my friends at work the next day and they told me that was definitely the baby moving.



WEEK 16

16 Weeks - Aug 12
[baby is the size of an avocado]

16 weeks

We went to see Dr. Olsen for our 16 week visit. He is such a great doctor! Ryan and I both really like him, which is a plus when he is going to deliver your baby.

This visit, we had to decide if we wanted to do a blood test to tell the possibility of having a baby with Downs or Spina bifida. Going to the hospital we were really unsure if we should even consider the test because no matter the results, the answer would be the same for us, keep the baby. It was an easy decision on our part. We asked the doctor how many women actually get the test done and he told us that in Utah, about 10% of women who tend to be older get it. When he was in California, about 90% of people get the test done. It definitely shows cultural differences. We decided against the test.

No ultrasound at this visit. Just checking the baby's heart beat to make sure it is healthy. As Dr. Olsen put the heart beat checker on my belly he said, "now don't worry, it can take a while to find the heart beat". Right after he touched my skin with it, there it was. And it was amazing the feeling I got. It is definitely in there. Just another reassurance that I am for sure pregnant. I don't know if it will ever become real until I can feel it moving and maybe can see the child. 

The heart beat is at 150 bpm. Normal is between 120-160 for unborn children. Do I consider this a "high" heart beat? Yes, Yes I do. This old wives tale, tells me it is a girl. And so do some of my dreams.

I have 4 weeks until I find out gender at our gender reveal party with our family and close friends. I can't wait to know so I can finally start buying things other than diapers and wipes!

THE WHOLE FAMILY KNOWS

We were very fortunate to be able to tell our immediate families in person... well sort of.

~ALSOP CLAN~

Ryan's family was quite the adventure getting around to telling them. We had big plans to make it a huge surprise. With Jen, Ryan's sister, just having a new baby, we didn't want to steal any thunder and to top it off, no one was expecting it.

 

Ryan's mom was in on the ordeal the whole time. She sent a package to Skylar, Ryan's brother in VA, with a special gift for the whole family that she wanted us all to open together over Skype [where the sort of comes in]. No one knew what was going on and when Linda gave Ryan and his sister a package and got on Skype with his brother who was delivered the package the previous week.

 

We invited Ryan's best friend/ brother up from Roy with his mom to break the news to them too.

What we really did was order puzzles with our announcing pictures on them for everyone to put together and find out as a family. We had Ry's mom write on the package to send and then gave her 2 envelopes with 2 other puzzles in them to write one with Ryan's name and one with Jen's name. She took them home at the beginning of the previous week so she was ready to go and we weren't seen carrying them inside. 

 

*Sidenote: the puzzles are magnetic so they will be fun for the kids to play with on the fridge, awesome right?!*

 

As everyone opened their gifts, it was all excitement. Jen and her little boy put together her's, but she didn't need to put anything together because she saw a key piece that said baby and could see another piece with Ryan's face on it. Then there was chaos over the Skype. Skylar's girls went crazy talking so fast on the screen that we still to this day have no idea what they said. We just take it as excitement and that they are happy for us. Skylar and Cheryl said their congrats and we reminisced about it for a while with due dates, morning sickness questions, advice, and support. Mason ran over to me, touched my belly and gave his congratulations by saying "Congratulations Leisa, there's a baby in your belly". I sure love this family I was able to marry into. They are simply put THE BEST.

~JENSEN CLAN~

 

These people in my family are hard to get altogether in the same room at once. I guess that is what you get when there are 5 of us and we don't plan a day in advance! So we did what we could in telling out family members when we could. My brother and sister, Mark and Jennifer, were going to Flaming Gorge with us the weekend we wanted to tell everyone, so we decided we couldn't wait any longer for them to know and we wanted to tell them there. After begging my brother, Tyler, to quit his job so he could come with us, the final answer was no. [probably for the best]

 

When we were at "the gorge", we pulled individual sibling and husband/wife into my brothers trailer to tell them the news. We gave them these super cute announcements. They were all so excited! We talked in the trailer for as long as we could, including congratulatory hugs [my favorite].

As for the other 2 people in my family that were too cool to come with us camping, they got a personally delivered letter to their doorstep to announce the news to them. Which was also accepted well. My brother's wife, Megan, was at work when we dropped by to their house. We simply stuck it on the fridge for her to find when she got home.

We are 3 lucky people! My family has always been soooo supportive with anything that I have wanted to do and having a baby is no different. My nieces are sure excited for me to have a girl, all the nephew's except Rylan are excited for a boy. Man will one side or the other be disappointed when we find out.