Blog Catch Up...

I know, it's been forever since my last post and I'm sure that the 3 people who even read this thing have probably given up and lost interest by now... but just so I have it all documented, this is a quick update of happenings since last summer, followed by a photo dump that kinda corresponds to the update, but I don't have time to individually comment on each one...

June 2011

• Moved into our new house
• Had to go back to work after maternity leave
• Bought a new Honda Pilot - it still isn't big enough for our huge family....

July 2011

• Spent much of the month unpacking, painting, and spending way too much money on furniture
• Went to my favorite concert ever... JOURNEY ♥

 August 2011

• I turned 38... ugh
• Another summer concert: Sublime and 311.  awesome
•  Kids started back to school (Kesley ~ senior; Ash ~ 9th; Dallin ~ 6th; Max ~ 5th; Hallie ~ 1st; and Audrey ~ pre-school) 6 kids at FIVE different schools!

September 2011

• Spent most of the month trying to get into a groove and routine for school.
• Welcomed a new 6 weeks old kitten into our family.  She's adorable... named her Mocha.
• Kes turned 18!  EEK!  How am I the mom of an 18 year old!

 October 2011

• Ryder blessed by his grandpa Black
• Spence turned 42
• Halloween! Kes was a nurse, Ash and Max were zombies, Dallin was a master ninja, Hallie and Audrey were fairies, and Ryder was a dinosaur.

November 2011

• Ash turned 15 and Audrey turned 5.
• Thanksgiving at Spence's grandpa's, with another feast at our house the following Sunday
• Black Friday with Spence, Ash and Kes... and Ryder in my baby bjorn carrier. He loved it.  Target crowds were insane, but we got some awesome loot.  :)
• Spent 3 days in San Fransisco for work while the insane winds of 2011 ripped our roof off and tried to destroy our neighborhood.  Seriously, I could NOT believe all the damage when I came home.  

December 2011

• Attended various Christmas parties and holiday shopping excursions....
• We had a wonderful Christmas and loved spending time with our kids.  Santa was SO good to them this year... they were all very happy.

January 2012

• Happy New Year!
• Dallin started playing Jr Jazz basketball
• Hallie turned 7
• I've been SO busy month at work with reports and grants due...

February 2012

•  Dallin turns 12 and becomes a deacon.  So proud of him.
• Happy Valentines - Spence and I usually celebrate this holiday as our official start to our relationship.  It's now been 3 years.  And I am more in love with him every day. 

March 2012

• Dallin goes on his first Scout campout.  He was SO excited and had a blast.
• Max turned 11.
• Took our kids on a surprise trip to Disneyland.  They had NO idea we were leaving until the morning of.  I will post a separate post about this one - with lots of pics.

April 2012 - I'm now up to date.... phew.  That was a fast overview of our super busy lives over the past 9 months.  My baby turns ONE in just 10 days.  That's how fast time has flown.  It's just crazy...

There are MANY more Disney pics to come in my next post (which hopefully won't take another 6 months to get on here)...

NEW HOUSE!!!

We finally bought our new home and need I say more? WE FINALLY BOUGHT OUR NEW HOME!!!!! :)

Growing like a weed...

SO I have been completely MIA for some time... I guess the stress and time consuming job of having 7 kids, packing, moving, unpacking/organizing, going back to work, and keeping everyone alive and happy leaves little time for luxuries like blogging. But before you think I've fallen off the face of the earth, here is a quick update of baby Ryder with pictures!

10 days old.

Happy Mother's Day. 2 1/2 weeks old.

Night owl. 3 weeks old.

6 weeks old.

We called his sock-hands "paws". 7 weeks old.

Happy Father's Day. 7 weeks old.

2 months old.

2 months old. 10 pounds 10 ounces. 3 shots.

Just chillin'. 10 weeks.

Loves to suck on his fingers/hands. 10 weeks.

Pictures from hospital

Birth Story

Today was my due date. I'm so incredibly happy to be holding my 8 day old son in my arms rather than waiting for this day and possibly longer to arrive. I've had scheduled inductions for my last 3 kids because my body doesn't go into labor on it's own and my babies get too big for me to handle if I wait... So on Friday, April 22nd we went in to labor and delivery at 7:30 am for an elective induction.

We arrived at the hospital a little late and by the time I was changed into a gown and settled in my bed, it was close to 8:30. I was checked then and only dialated to almost a 3, 80% effaced, and baby was still pretty high. My doctor stopped by and said once the pitocin was started and my contractions were going, she'd be back to break my water to we could really get things moving. The nurse had a hard time getting my IV inserted, so the anesthesiologist was called in to do it. We decided he'd come back and get my epidural going before my water was broken. So... IV in at 9, pitocin started shortly after, Epidural in at 10 and water broken at 10:30. Then, finally some time to relax and let my body do it's thing. About 12 I was checked again and was only at a 4. Kinda bummed, but was thinking from my previous inductions, this would be an all day laboring event. I was wrong....

I slept for a little bit and Spencer got some much needed lunch. My epidural was working great and I could see my contractions getting pretty big on the monitor. Around 2:30 pm, I started feeling some pain in my side and realized I could feel my contractions coming and going. I changed positions, but with every contraction I was feeling more intense pain and it was spreading to my entire belly and my uh, girl parts. My epidural was failing and I was in a lot of pain. The nurse decided it was time to check my progress and to everyone's surprise I was at a 9. Crap, no time to fix the epidural and most important no time to really wrap my head around THIS WAS IT! I felt like I was swimming in pain. I couldn't talk during the contractions and was oblivious to everything happening around me. Spencer later told me it was a mad scramble to get everything set up and my doctor was paged for delivery. Next thing I realized, my legs were being pulled back and I was told to start pushing with the next contraction. The pain was so intense I could hardly stand it. And I was confused because I could feel it so much it my lower back and butt (TMI). I pushed and I admit, screamed for 10 minutes before I finally told myself the only way out of this pain was to get this baby out of my body. So the next contraction I gave it everything I had... I now know what it means to push through the pain. Baby's head was out and with one more push his body came too. I laid back in complete grateful relief. Ryder was born face up which explained the backside pressure and the difficulty getting him out. Spencer cut the cord and my son was placed on my chest. Wow. How do you explain falling in love with someone so tiny in an instant. I loved him before he was born, but seeing him just melted my heart. He was SO beautiful. He never cried, just looked around taking everything in. We got to spend a long time just staring at him and loving him.

After I got to my room they gave him his first bath and I spent a long time having skin to skin contact time with him... I love that. I felt so good and he was doing well so we were discharged the next day. This first week home with him has been great. His siblings love him and we feel so blessed to have him in our lives. I can't imagine life without my sweet baby Ryder.

He's arrived...

Ryder Mason Black

Friday, April 22, 2011

3:19 pm

6 pounds 8 ounces

19 inches

(more info to come later... I'm tired)

end in sight...

I am amazed at how much pain I can be in and still not be in labor. Ugh... today is already miserable. I am having low abdominal pain. I think it's pressure from baby's head pushing my cervix, which is good since we need to dialate, but it's bringing me to tears... I've never felt pain like this with my previous 3 pregnancies. All I can say is this better be doing something to get things moving... Regardless, I have at the most 9 days left. I'm scheduled for an induction a week from Friday. SO hoping I go a little sooner on my own, but at least I can finally see an end to this! It's what's keeping me going at this point. This little boy has by far been my most difficult pregnancy. Not sure if it's because it's the first boy I've ever been pregnant with, or that I'm just older. Probably a combo of both. Just ready to be done and hold his warm little body in my arms and kiss his fuzzy little head. That's my motivation! Hopefully my next post will be his birth story... stay tuned.

Baby Progress...

We are moving ever closer to having this baby... Today's Doctor Appointment Stats:

• 1 cm dialated


• 50% effaced


• Baby has turned into head-down position (not fully engaged, but at least he's finally going the right direction)


• Belly measuring right on at 35 cm


• Baby's heart rate at 135 bpm


• Induction set for 4/22 at 7:30am


• Doctor will also strip my membranes at my appointment on 4/18 to see if I start labor on my own....

It's getting close... can't wait!

the ABC's of me...

• A. Age: 37


• B. Bed size: King… I love being able to stretch out without kicking my husband in the shins. LOVE our bed.


• C. Chore you dislike: Mopping the floor, scrubbing the shower… and I HATE stopping to fill my car up with gas.


• D. Dogs: none right now, but we promised our kids a dog when we finally move.


• E. Essential start to your day: Ice water… especially being pregnant, I am SO thirsty when I wake up.


• F. Favorite color: turquoise


• G. Gold or silver: silver – except for the gold college ring my dad gave me when I graduated. It’s sentimental and I wear it every day.


• H. Height: 5’3


• I. Instruments you play(ed): piano and violin when I was younger.


• J. Job title: HIV Supportive Services Program Administrator


• K. Kids: almost 7: Kesley (17), Ashley (14), Dallin (11), Max (10), Hallie (6), Audrey (4) and baby Ryder due in 3 weeks.


• L. Live: in Farmington, UT in a townhome that is too small for us. WE NEED TO MOVE!


• M. Mom’s name: Diana


• N. Nicknames: Rach, Princess


• O. Overnight hospital stays: having babies, kidney stones, hyper-stimulation from IVF.


• P. Pet peeves: Ignorant/oblivious people


• Q. Quote from a movie: “Shut your mouth when you’re talking to me!” (wedding crashers)


• R. Righty or lefty: right


• S. Siblings: just one, my younger brother Jared


• T. Time you wake up: depends… for work about 6:30ish, on days off… whenever.


• U. Underwear: I love underwear… Victoria’s Secret gets a lot of business from me. I love their sales…..


• V. Vegetables you don’t like: broccoli (I actually like it, but my body hates it… makes me sick), lima beans, tomatoes.


• W. What makes you run late: the snooze button, my little girls refusing to cooperate and hurry.


• X. X-rays you’ve had: head, wrist, abdomen, lungs


• Y. Yummy food you make: cookies, chicken soup, poppy seed chicken casserole, cheesecake


• Z. Zoo animal favorites: tigers, wolves

Getting ready to POP

I will be 35 weeks this Saturday... countdown to D-day is in full swing. Since I will be having an induction at 39 weeks, I only have 4 weeks left ~ that's about 30 days according to MY plan... of course we all know babies often have their own plans...

My baby has been lying sideways (transverse) for several months now. He's perfectly content to stay that way it seems, so unless he turns head down on his own within the next 2 weeks, we're looking at a "version", which is where my doctor manually tries to turn the baby from the outside. Painful? YES! Worth it to avoid a c-section? Double YES!!!

So the possibility of a c-section is very real this time. I really want to do this MY way, but I realize the most important thing is a healthy baby... and I will do anything for that. If he doesn't turn and/or the version isn't successful, I'll deal with the c-section. But hoping like mad I can give birth to him on my own...

I have an appointment on Monday with my OB. She'll check to see if I have stared to progress yet... hoping for that as well since my induction will go much smoother and quicker if my body has already started to dialate and efface.

Sorry if this is all TMI. It makes me feel better to write it out and deal with it this way. And SO many of my friends and family are also expecting right now, so I know I have a lot of empathy and support from these girls. Hoping all of your pregnancies are also going well. Can't wait until we all start having our babies. ♥

Here is a photo from this past weekend. I'm now classified as ginormous... and I can't see my feet anymore.