Sydney Newborn Pictures {September 24, 2016}

I am no professional but I like to try and get at least one newborn picture that I can use to send as an announcement that she was born. The first attempt was a complete failure but then Becky gave me some tips that worked great. Turn the heat up in the room and make sure she is fed! I was able to get a few cute ones that way. It wasn’t great lighting and my white balance was off but oh well!! At least you can kind of see how adorable this little one is!

I had to get one of her wearing my Rock ‘N Roll half marathon medal since she ran with me when I was just over 6 months pregnant :)

I know the next few pictures are blurry, they’re just so cute with Avery and Dallin that I couldn’t delete them.

The next series of Avery and Dallin and Sydney just cracks me up. Still not the greatest pictures because of lighting and everything else but still captures their personality.

My favorite!

Sydney’s Birth Story {September 11, 2016}

Sweet little Sydney decided to hang out in the womb a little longer than her siblings. She was due September 10, 2016 and in the week prior to her due date I was getting anxious for her to arrive. My mom arrived on Tuesday (her due date was Saturday) so I wanted to make sure I had this baby before my mom left! I was also getting increasingly more uncomfortable although I feel like I can’t complain too much because I felt much better throughout this whole pregnancy compared to most women.

Saturday we went into Seattle. We went on the Seattle Ferris Wheel and walked through Pike’s Place Market stopping at the French bakery to get some delicious almond croissants and macaroons, then had some fish and chips on the pier. Despite all the walking around I really felt fine and wasn’t having any contractions or anything. It wasn’t feeling like baby girl was going to come any time soon.

That night I woke up a couple times with a contraction and thought I could be in labor but then again I had thought that  few nights before and the contractions always went away. Sure enough, when I woke up the next morning, they were gone.

Church was at 11:00am and during the second hour of church I started to feel a contraction here and there that felt a little more painful than braxton hicks but they weren’t consistent and I didn’t want to get my hopes up. After church around 3:00pm I decided to lay down just in case I did go into labor, I wanted to make sure I was well rested. However, when I laid down I couldn’t sleep because the contractions started being regular and painful. I decided to start keeping track and they were 8 minutes apart. I figured since they were consistent that I probably was in labor. I finished packing my hospital bag and tried to get in natural labor mode and practiced relaxing through contractions.

At about 4:15pm I told Bryce that I was going to call the midwives. I had decided that I wanted to go natural for this baby and if I was going to go natural I wanted to do it in an environment more conducive to natural births so I had decided to deliver at a birthing center. This is the birth center I chose: http://www.eastsidebirthcenter.com/ (Warning! There is a mostly naked pregnant woman when you click on the link : ) It was close to home and I just had a good feeling about it. I honestly thought I would never in a million years deliver a baby outside of the hospital but with Avery’s and Dallin’s births going so smoothly it just seemed like a safe and good choice for this baby. Bryce was also on board as he doesn’t love sleeping in the hospital. Another appeal was that you can go home just hours after having the baby and the prenatal appointments are heavenly—quick and comfortable with only one appointment at a time instead of a waiting room full of pregnant women like what I was used to. I wouldn’t say I’ve had negative experiences with OBs, I just really loved this experience with midwives in a small quiet birth center. Okay back to the birth story.

So I called my midwife and told her that I was in labor. My contractions were 5 minutes apart and becoming more painful. While I was on the phone I had  a contraction and I was able to talk through it just fine so she said once I got to the point where I was really having to work through the contraction to call her back. Less than a half hour later I told Bryce to call her back. My contractions were 2 minutes apart and VERY painful. I was now moaning through the contractions and needed Bryce to offer some counter pressure and help me relax. Bryce said “Are you sure you want to go in now? The more you can do here the better” and I said “YES! CALL THEM BACK! I want to get in the tub!” I had heard the the tub can really help as a sort of natural epidural when the contractions get painful during transition. He called my midwife Chris back and she asked that Bryce put me on the phone. I had a contraction while I was talking to her so I had to pause and she could hear me attempting to breath through the contraction which was more of a moan. I got back on the phone and she asked a couple more questions then said “Okay let’s meet at the birth center in 20 minutes”. When I hung up the phone it was 4:51pm. We only live about 10 minutes from the birth center so I asked Bryce to give me a priesthood blessing before we left. He wanted to put his church clothes on and I said “Is that really necessary?!” He was trying to stall a bit too I think. He gave me a blessing and changed back into his clothes. At this point my contractions were coming quickly and I said “I feel like I need to push”

We started heading to the car and I had to kneel down next to the car because I was having another contraction. People saw me going to the car laboring—I was being very vocal too. The drive over there was intense. Having contractions in the car is no fun. We arrived at the birth center at about 5:15pm. The main door was locked and Chris called Bryce and told us to come to the side door. Chris was filling up the tub with nice warm water, thank goodness. I told her I felt like I needed to push and she told me to pant through the contractions kind of like a dog. This really helped me resist the urge to push. She didn’t want me to push until I was in the tub and she could check the baby’s heart rate. I got right in the tub, she checked the baby’s heart rate. I said “ I really feel like I need to push” and she said “Go for it, Go ahead and push!” So I did. Then she said, put your hands down here and I felt baby girl’s head! Next contraction and she was out. I literally pushed for like 5 minutes and she was born about 9 minutes from the time we arrived at the birthing center. It was crazy. She never even checked me to see if I was fully dilated. Obviously I was but I kept thinking—doesn’t she need to check me?! So baby girl was born in the tub. I hadn’t planned on a water birth but I definitely wasn’t opposed to it and it worked out great. I got to snuggle my baby girl in the warm water for a bit. Then I realized that I couldn’t remember my water every breaking. My midwife said it broke just after I got into the tub and started pushing. 

Afterwards I showered, got stitched up, nursed baby girl then my mom, Avery and Dallin came to visit. They were so excited to see their new baby sister. The midwife gave us some information then we headed home at just before 9:00pm. We were almost laughing on the way home because we just couldn’t believe how fast it all happened.

We named her Sydney Gaile Pinder. Gaile was Bryce’s grandmother’s name who passed away while he was on his mission. We sure love this cute girl!

      

I guess Bryce thought I didn’t look very good because he cut my face out of this picture. This was just moments after she was born and we were still in the tub. Sorry for the scandalous photo.

 

Getting measured and weighed: 8lbs 11 oz 19 1/2 inches long.

Meeting their new sibling.

 

Headed home!

   

Morris Girls Europe Trip 2016 Part III {July 25-July 27}

 

Monday July 25

We headed out that morning to take a two day trip to the Netherlands and Belgium. That morning we packed lunches to eat in the car and drove with Lincoln and Eliza to Delft. 

On the way to delft we stopped at a rest stop and Becky fed Lincoln. There were some chickens and baby chicks there that Eliza was excited about. 

Once we arrived in Delft we walked around the square and visited some of the little souvenir shops. Becky fed Lincoln on a bench by the canal while Jess, Eliza and I walked around to find the windmill. The windmill was under construction but we still got our picture. I really wanted a picture of a windmill since we were in the Netherlands! 

We then walked around a bit to see if there was anything to eat and returned to the cafe we saw right when we arrived that had fish and chips. The fish and chips were delicious and it was a one man show-the guy who served us also cooked the food-we think. Becky regretted not buying a tile that could be a trivet. 

I loved Delft! This was one of my favorite days of the trip. The town was so quiet and peaceful. Everyone rode bikes and it was magical.

From there we headed to our Airbnb in Antwerp. The Airbnb was nice and had 2 bunnies in a cage. Eliza woke up early in the morning and accidentally went in the room with the bunnies. She started crying and Jess went to check on her and she said "take me away from the bunnies". She warmed up to them a little bit when Jess went with her to look at them.

  

 

            

Tuesday July 26

The next morning we got ready to go to Bruges and stopped at Colryut grocery store to get some food for breakfast. We got chocolate and vanilla muffins, yogurt and bananas. 

We arrived in Bruges and headed straight for a boat tour. We took a nice little boat tour on the canal and it was a great way to see the city. 

After our boat tour we walked around a bit and found a bench for Becky to sit on to feed Lincoln. We ended up getting some lunch in a Carrefour express grocery store: some baguette sandwiches. We were going to get fries too but decided we needed to save room for the most delicious waffles ever. After lunch we went and got waffles-Jess got strawberries and whipped cream, Becky got strawberries and chocolate and I got Carmel. After waffles, we walked to the lake in Bruges. It was quiet and peaceful and picturesque. On our way out we stopped at a couple stops, Becky fed Lincoln by the fountains while Jess ran and got something for Madeleine at Zara. 

We drove back to Luxembourg and the kids did great. Jess changed Lincoln's diaper on the way and when we got to Lux he had pooped out of it :) 

We had yummy raclette for dinner. Then packed and relaxed getting ready for our departure the next day. 

 

The following photos were taken by Becky on her camera:

Back to non Becky Photos:

Photo on the right courtesy of Eliza. She was so cute taking pictures of us. Some girls saw her taking pictures and offered to take one of us which is how we got the one on the left. 

 

Seriously the best waffle EVER! I think I’d go back to Belgium just for this dessert waffle!

Wednesday July 27

Jessica and I went to Auchan to get some groceries for lunch and some chocolate for home. We had tried using self check out but then it wouldn't take our card so we had to recheck out in another line. 

We headed back and got ready for the picnic. Poor Eliza was getting sick but was a trooper coming on the picnic. 

We met Nate at work with some baguette sandwiches, blueberries, red peppers, chips and a very delicious raspberry tart! The weather was warm and we sat on the grass with a great view of the city while the boys played some soccer. 

We left from there to go to the airport.

This was a trip of a life time! With all of us sisters being moms, it is a rare thing for us to even get together let alone in Europe! We felt incredibly blessed to have this trip together. I loved seeing new places I’d never been and to new countries! If you count the countries we drove/flew through, we went to 6 countries: Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Netherlands and Belgium. Thank you to Nate and Becky for hosting us! Now when can I go back??