Mormon Battalion

With a 4-day-weekend and Daddy's last before going back to work, we HAD to do something FUN!
We had heard all about the newly remodeled Mormon Battalion and so headed on down before the rain began.
I wasn't sure what to expect or if it would even impress my kids, especially Dillan who acts "too hard to impress" nowadays.
But I was pleasantly surprised!


soldiers

We walked into the building and were greeted by sister missionaries and couple missionaries dressed in pioneer attire. Then put into a room with a some older folks on vacation from Utah. The sister began speaking about the Mormon Battalion and pointed out the pictures on the wall. As soon as one of the pictures sneezed, Dillan about jumped out of his chair! He was shocked and listened intently as the pictures spoke to one another and then got up out of their chairs and out of their frames!


pan for gold

Both kids obediently followed the missionary from room to room and were first to volunteer for everything! They had a blast. Baby D slept the whole time.
It was cold when we were finished, but we still panned for gold and played in the water.
Then we ate lunch and the kids did not want to go home, they were ready to go back! By this time it had started raining, so we got back on the road but made a stop at MikiD's to play and have a treat before heading home.
They haven't stopped talking about it all weekend. We will definitely be back soon!

Brothers

Dillan has fallen head over heels for his little brother. As soon as he gets home from school he looks all around for where he could be and always wants to hold him.
He's even started affectionately calling him "Little D."

I needed to see for myself just how similar they look. This is as good as it gets:

Dillan


Drew

Best Buddies!

Drew Christian Anderson

the newest little member of our family has arrived!

Thursday, February 3, 2011. Weighing 7 lbs and 19 inches long.

The story:

Wednesday
We arrived early morning at the hospital for a planned induction. It was nice and quiet in the OB wing, so we were extra taken care of. All set up in bed, pitocin was started around 9 am. Dr B came to visit before that morning and promised to return later. Later there wasn't much change except for minor contractions. Dr could not break the water, and could not feel baby's head. Later that night, baby had still not dropped but Dr was confident and advised to just stay the slow and steady course. Baby's heart rate was fine and allowed Mommy to rest easy.



Thursday
In the early morning hours, in between small winks of sleep, Mommy's water finally broke on its own! Soon after an epidural was given to allow Mommy to sleep. Note to self: get the epidural the night before so you CAN sleep during the night. Soon after, Mommy woke up to pain in her arm/wrist and saw that her IV had slipped and her wrist was swelling! IV was quickly switched to the other hand. Now that the water had broken, something had to give. Dr knew it, Mommy knew it. Still a long day with little change to cervix. Lots of frustration, Mommy was ready to just go home, but the consistent fetal heart rate echoing in the room was reassuring.

By 7:00 that night, Dr came into the room stating his concern that there must be a reason for slow progression and brought up the C word. By this time, all the fears and doubts start creeping in. Could the baby be too big to fit in the pelvis? Was a Caesarian inevitable anyway? Are we fighting against nature that the baby's even ready to be born?

But moving forward with faith, we agreed that a C-Section was the best option. Mommy was such a mess of emotion. Every little thing, like the temperature in the OR and the nausea from my spinal, was playing with my feelings, I wasn't sure how I'd get through it. Thankfully I had the sweetest nurse and husband on the planet who buoyed me up and lent me their strength for the night. Just a surreal experience overall. Feeling your stomach being tugged forcefully in many directions, having your doctor talk talk talk through the whole procedure, and wondering what it all looks like.

The few days before we went to the hospital I thought a lot about pioneer women crossing the plains and giving birth. I thought of all they went through just to bring a life into the world, not even certain how long that child would live. Then I felt so grateful that I could have children at all, healthy children. And that medicine was advanced enough to keep both of us as healthy as possible. Then I stopped feeling sorry for myself.

Finally I heard the Dr say hello to the little guy followed by an "Oh my goodness!" I wish I could have seen what he saw. Chris didn't even sneak a peek! Apparently Little D had the cord wrapped all around him. Around his arm, behind his back and three times around his legs! Fortunately, it did not end up around his neck.

When I was in recovery, Dr B came to see me to tell me the baby's weight and other details. He assured me that there was NO WAY this baby was going to drop into my pelvis, and if he had been able to see that on an ultrasound he would not have had me go through labor for nearly 2 days. But you can't see everything.



So he's HERE! He's healthy! He's tiny! And we couldn't be happier!