First off, I have to thank my good friend Lisa Swendsen for convincing me to get this blog started. I have read Lisa's blog over the past few years and have found it very entertaining to follow her family as they grow. Having recently started my own family, I think it will be a great way to document the many adventures ahead. Hopefully, you will find our adventures as entertaining as I do.
I want to start by rehashing the last year of my life, in other words, how did I get here...
My wedding day!
As most of you know, I met Chad on Cinco De Mayo in 2006. I knew very quickly that I would be spending the rest of my life with this amazing man. We were engaged exactly a year later and we made it official on August 2nd, 2008. The day went perfectly! I feel so lucky to have had such a perfect day. We got married at a beautiful old church in downtown Denver, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and we had our reception at Invesco Field at Mile High on the club level. If you are reading this, you probably already know what a big Bronco fan I am, so this was my dream location for a wedding reception. My favorite part of the actual wedding was having all four of our Grandma's come up to the alter to offer words of wisdom. These women are so inspirational and Chad and I feel so fortunate to have all 4 of them in our lives at this point. It was a moment I will remember and cherish forever. The reception was the greatest party I have ever attended. Some of my favorite parts included taking pictures on the field, being introduced to the "Hey"song, Chad getting dancing started with Baby Got Back, the speeches given by my sister and dad, sitting in the stadium seats with a glass of wine and a cigar and enjoying all of this with my closest friends and all of my family. It was truly an amazing day in my life. To top it all off, I left with the most amazing husband in the world. I feel so lucky to have found my best friend and man of my dreams all in one.
The Honeymoon!
Chad and I went on a cruise at the end of August to celebrate our new life together as a married couple. We spent one night in Miami before cruising to Jamaica, Grand Cayman an
d Cozumel. We were supposed to go to Haiti, but a hurricane caused us to miss this port. In fact, we spent our entire trip dodging hurricanes Gustav, Hannah and Ike, but luckily the weather was amazing throughout the trip. We spent our days hanging out in the sun, enjoying everything on the boat (basically a floating city), eating great food, drinking lots of tropical concoctions and enjoying each other. It was a trip I will always remember, especially since within a week of our return, I found out some life changing news, I was pregnant!!!The next nine months!
Chad and I were both very excited to start a family right away, and luckily for us, our plans became a reality. I will never forget the moment I found out I was pregnant. It seemed like the longest minute of my life as I sat and waited for the digital tester to flash Pregnant or Not Pregnant. When it came up Pregnant I started screaming with joy and Chad quickly joined in my celebration. It was very late at night when I took the test, but that didn't stop Chad and I from calling our friends and family to share the news, we were soo excited. 
Our first doctors visit was such an a cool experience. I can't describe how thrilling it is to see and hear this little heart beat that would grow to be our baby. I still can't believe how small the baby is in that first ultrasound and how that little heartbeat grows to be an amazing baby, it truly is a miracle.
My pregnancy was uneventful (which is always a good thing.) Looking back on it, the time went by fairly quickly. Before I knew it, my due date (May 25th) was here and gone....I started to wonder if this baby would ever come.
Finally, contractions started on the night of May 29th. They started out fairly slow and I spent that night watching movies, sitting in a warm bathtub and counting the time between my contractions. At 5 am, the contractions were 1 minute long and 5 minutes apart...time to go to the hospital. I arrived in my hospital room about 7 am, they hooked me up to some monitors and checked for dilation...I was only dilated 1 cm. This wasn't completely unreasonable because I had no dilation the day before at my doctors appointment. However, if I 
failed to progress, they would send me home to progress there. Luckily, when they checked me 2 hours later, I had dilated to 3 centimeters and they officially checked me in. I was having my baby that day. Originally, I was hoping to make it through my labor and delivery unmedicated, my mom gave birth to 4 kids without any drugs and I was hoping I could do the same. However, when 2 pm I had only dilated to 4 1/2 centimeters and my contractions were getting further apart. After being up all night and enduring 14 hours of contractions, I was officially exhausted. I decided to go ahead with the epidural...a great decision. I was able to sleep, yes sleep, through the next 3 hours of labor. When the nurse woke me up at 5 pm I was 9 centimeters dilated and ready to push. It all happened pretty quickly from there. This was an exceptionally exciting time, since Chad and I had decided not to find out the sex of the little one. We waited anxiously to meet this new member of our family...would it be a girl (Payton) or a boy (Braeden). 
After 10 pushes, Braeden was born!! Words can not describe that moment. He was perfect. Chad and I felt like the luckiest people alive to meet this new little man that would be the new focus of our world. Because our family all lives here, they were able to share in our big moment. Chad joyfully announced our new arrival to everyone in the waiting room - IT'S A BOY!! He was only minutes old and already soo loved.
failed to progress, they would send me home to progress there. Luckily, when they checked me 2 hours later, I had dilated to 3 centimeters and they officially checked me in. I was having my baby that day. Originally, I was hoping to make it through my labor and delivery unmedicated, my mom gave birth to 4 kids without any drugs and I was hoping I could do the same. However, when 2 pm I had only dilated to 4 1/2 centimeters and my contractions were getting further apart. After being up all night and enduring 14 hours of contractions, I was officially exhausted. I decided to go ahead with the epidural...a great decision. I was able to sleep, yes sleep, through the next 3 hours of labor. When the nurse woke me up at 5 pm I was 9 centimeters dilated and ready to push. It all happened pretty quickly from there. This was an exceptionally exciting time, since Chad and I had decided not to find out the sex of the little one. We waited anxiously to meet this new member of our family...would it be a girl (Payton) or a boy (Braeden). 
After 10 pushes, Braeden was born!! Words can not describe that moment. He was perfect. Chad and I felt like the luckiest people alive to meet this new little man that would be the new focus of our world. Because our family all lives here, they were able to share in our big moment. Chad joyfully announced our new arrival to everyone in the waiting room - IT'S A BOY!! He was only minutes old and already soo loved. Chad and I are so excited to be parents! We can't wait for the years ahead.
The Baker Bunch is sure to have some amazing adventures!!
I am so excited that you started a blog! You'll love looking back at all you've done and how much your family has grown. What a great post to drat out with, too! This past year has brought you so much happiness and I can't wait too see what the next year holds.
ReplyDelete-Lisa
Nice! It's pretty crazy to think of all the stuff that has happened in the psat year. Although I get updates from time to time on the phone, this will go a long way in keeping me updated. Curious as to what the little guy's first words will be, or when he'll take his first steps, or - more importantly - visit his first Broncos game ;)
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