LITTLE LLYR

Llyr Scott Christensen Jr.

Little Llyr came to us Saturday 12/8/12 at 12:20pm. He started his journey the night before. I'll tell you a little of the birth story, so if you don't like it when people do this, just skip it and look at the picture. Isn't he so cute!!!

I had been having braxton hicks contractions since Tuesday 12/4/12, but they definitely weren't painful and weren't super consistent. Friday evening, Big Llyr and I decided to go do a little Christmas shopping and my non-painful contractions started coming about every 10 minutes and then every 5-6 minutes. So we kept a timer on them and about midnight they tapered off. We had called the nurse and she said that they needed to be consistent for about 2 hours, so we decided to try to go to bed. I had some bleeding at that point so we called the nurse again and she said because it wasn't a gush not to worry about it. We got in bed about 12:30am and I woke up about 1am to painful contractions. They definitely got worse around 1:30am. Big Llyr started to time them and they were about 4 minutes apart. At 2am we called the nurse again and she said that she wanted the contractions to be about 3 minutes apart for 2 hours because this was my first baby. So Llyr and I hunkered down and timed the contractions. I got in the bath for a little bit because 'they' say it helps. It didn't do much. The contractions continued and so at about 4am we called the nurse and said we're coming in. The contractions got more intense and stayed about the same frequency. We grabbed our things, got in the car and headed up to the University hospital. Llyr treated the stop lights as stop signs and so we got there in about 10 minutes. I started to walk in, Llyr grabbed a wheelchair and took me in.

At the U hospital they have an OB emergency area and so we went there first and the nurse we had been talking to came to check me. Well, I was dilated to a 4 and so I was wheeled off to Labor and Delivery. From the hours of 5-7am was a little bit more intense. I asked for an epidural and also because I am Group B positive I needed to have an IV so I could get my doses of Anti-Biotic before the baby came. (They like to have 4 hours to give the medicine) Well my veins kept blowing and so 5 sticks and 3 nurses later I finally had my IV going. Then a few minutes the anesthesiologist came in and started to explain the epidural to me along with risks and benefits. So, with me contracting through it all we got everything explained. My contractions were definitely more intense and so it is not surprise that by the time the epidural was in I was already at a 6. I'm glad I got the epidural because I had to wait at least 4 hours before I was allowed to deliver the baby because of the Anti-Biotic. I would have been quite beat by that time without some help. They were going to break my water, but decided not to right away so I wouldn't go too quickly. They checked me before my first dose of penicillin was done and I was already at an 8, so they had to start the drip much quicker. The penicillin finally was done around 11am. They then broke my water. It had a little muconium in it so they got the pediatricians on board to be there for the birth so Little Llyr wouldn't aspirate any of it. I started pushing just after 11:30am and had a baby at 12:20pm.

What a miracle!

BYU VS. UTAH

So Saturday was the BYU Cougs vs the Utah Utes. I'm not going to lie, it was an exciting game despite the outcome being less than favorable for my alma mater. Llyr and I were at the game in BYU gear supporting the Cougs amidst the sea of red. Luckily I sat next to a college football ref and so he was very objective in all of his remarks during the game even though there was plenty around us that were not so fair in what they said. So my biggest frustration of the game was the fact that the fans did not wait until the game was over before rushing the field, twice, and I was really tired. Don't you think they'd learn from the first time? I guess not, because they did it again and got a 15 yard penalty for their beloved team. Unfortunately BYU did not capitalize on their 2 extra tries at the end of the game and so in the end Utah won. I do work for Utah and the rivalry is not as big of a deal to Llyr and I, because Blue and Orange run through our blood, so we did sleep on Saturday night even though we were a little sad. This week BSU plays BYU and we will be sporting the Blue and Orange for that game even though we are so very grateful for our amazing educations that we received at BYU. GO BRONCOS!!!!

28 WEEKS

So, today I reach the 28 week mark in the pregnancy. (For all who don't want to do the math, that puts me about 6.5 months along). I am getting bigger and bigger. People touch my belly. Everyone asks about it or makes the comment that I'm getting big and many ask if I'm ready. So as I was thinking about this today I realized that I haven't journaled much about the pregnancy and need to do a better job so I can tell this little guy what it was like to be pregnant with him. Other than throwing up about 5 times a week up until week 18 and being tired and having to buy new clothes, this has been amazing. He is kicking me more and more. I love it even when it wakes me up, because that is when I am the most still and can truly appreciate the fact that there is a little one growing inside of me. Llyr has mentioned on numerous occasions that he just wants the baby to come. I do too, but I do want to wait until his little body is ready and I need some time to actually make some purchases for the baby. We have not purchased one thing of furniture for this baby. Who does that? I sure hope that I can overcome this procrastination and become a good mommy. I don't have any pictures of my belly, but will have Llyr take some soon.

All by myself :(

So this week my sweet husband is off partying with his Dad and Brother watching a lot of baseball. They started out the trip on Saturday by flying to Minneapolis and watching the Twins play Tampa Bay. Then Sunday, they were off to Orlando where Dad Christensen had a conference and so Llyr and Robert were off to Universal Studios one day and a visit of Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays stadium) the next. Llyr was also able to somehow talk Robert into taking a dip in the ocean, a big fear of Robert's. Today they flew to NYC and will watch the Yankees play Texas Rangers tomorrow and then the Yankees and Red Sox game the next night. They will finish off their trip in Denver watching the Rockies play Miami Marlins.

To say the least, this is a dream trip for the baseball fans, and they are loving every minute of it. In the meantime, I am working, like normal and am by myself in the evenings. This leaves me a little bit of time to update the blog, which I am so poor at updating.

This past weekend I was able to go to a small Mission Reunion because my mission president came in from Brasil. I went with my first companion since neither of our husbands were able to come. We had a blast!

This is me, Sister Oppe, Presidente Oppe, and Sister Hall- I have found that my Portuguese needs a lot of work. I will work on it, maybe I just need to make plans to take my husband with me to Brasil and that will give me good motivation to practice. ;).

As for me, I keep growing big. The quote of the day comes from a co-worker who has been out of town for a few weeks and the first thing she said to me today was, "Wow, you're getting big!". All I could say is, "um, Thank you." As far as I know, Baby Boy Christensen is doing well.

And, that is all.

PIONEER DAY!

This year is the very first that Llyr and I have actually celebrated and remembered, because we had work off. It is a great holiday to 1. Remember our ancestors, and 2. Play a little bit. We were able to go to the driving range and I finally made contact with the golf ball after about 100 swings. (Llyr was so patient with me.) We then went to Big Cottonwood Canyon and hiked to 'Dog Lake', actually it looks like a small pond, just cleaner and no geese were around. It's trailhead is just up Brighton Ski Resort. We had a great and fun day. Happy Pioneer Day to all!!!! So here's a picture of Llyr at the Driving Range. I will post pictures of the hike soon.

(Llyr definately wins the longest drive out of us two.)

BABY!!!

I have not written since the big news. The day after the last post I took the first pregnancy test and, yep, it was positive. So I took about 10 more of them, just to be sure and then I called and made my first doctor's appointment. I saw Dr. Summers on May 16, 2012 and he was able to hear the heartbeat on the first try. Llyr and I went to an ultrasound the very next day. We found out that the due date is December 10th! YAY!

So, just this past Friday, July 13th, we were able to find out the gender of our little blueberry baby. And it's a.........BOY! Llyr stopped watching the ultrasound after finding out the gender. He jumped up and gave me a kiss on the cheek and then started the texting right when I was still on the table and our little baby was being examined. Today I hit 19 weeks. Only 21 more to go! We couldn't be more excited.

Happy Easter!

Okay, so I had a post all ready and then my internet went capoot and so here I am trying to re-cap all of the amazing words that I already said.

Today has been a good Easter Sunday. Llyr and I woke up and went to church. I had the opportunity to speak in church today, which made me nervous, but also gave me the drive to study more of my Savior this week and so I am grateful for that opportunity. My sweet husband was in the back middle so I could look at his face and not be nervous. But on his face he is growing a graduation mustache. Ahh! At least I know he will shave it by the time he starts his new job. But it's starting to look a little more refined than it did before.

We then went to Catherine, my co-worker's house for Easter dinner. We were in charge of the jell-o and I think it turned out alright. It was nice to be with a family and to meet her's. Because she lives in Layton we were able to stop by Llyr's grandfathers grave and see his headstone today in Bountiful. It was a good experience. Llyr's grandpa passed away when he was 7 and so his memories or limited, but very fond. I felt like I was able to get a little closer to the great family that I married into.

We then went on a hike on the trails behind the Draper Temple. It is beautiful out there. We probably saw 8-10 deer and were able to enjoy the beautiful weather. I'm so glad that I have a husband who enjoys and encourages me to do fun things like that. All in all it was a perfect Easter. I am so grateful for my Savior, his life, and his sacrifice.