birth story

baby girl taylor with mom and dad minutes after birth.
the taylor girls. jillian was acting so silly the first time she met camille.

camille taylor's birth story as i remember it:
my neighbor and i had the same due date: may 29th. she was scheduled for a c-section on the 20th. as i walked to my car for a doctors appt. the day of the 20th i couldn't help but think that she was no longer pregnant. here i am: 30 lbs. heavier than normal, 110 degrees outside, sleepless nights, and a 19 month old kicking my belly at every diaper change. therefore, when given the option to have my membranes stripped at the appt., i took it. as the doctor began i promptly regretted this decision. she later explained that if i am days away from labor this will do nothing, however if i am going to go into labor in the next few days it "may" expedite the process. after the sweeping of membranes i was dilated to 3cm and 60% effaced feeling stupid for agreeing to it.
that afternoon continued as normal but with a bit more pressure in my pelvis. a friend came over to watch idol and stayed to visit. i began feeling a bit uncomfortable with back pains around 9:30. luckily, the conversation was keeping me occupied as i continually became more and more uncomfortable. as jeff and i crawled into bed i knew something was happening. i had jeff get me a pen a paper to track the contractions. i told him that this may be the real deal. he responded, "well, if it is stop talking to me. i need to get some rest", then promptly feel asleep. :)
my contractions at this time were lasting 30 seconds and were 5 minutes apart. having decided to have a "natural" (i.e. no drugs) birth i wanted to labor at home as long as possible. i tried to follow jeffs lead and "get some rest". at 1:30 i couldn't lie awake anymore watching the clock. i began pacing the house. when i felt like i couldn't walk through my contractions i started watching crouching tiger, hidden dragon (i love that movie).
at 2:30, each contraction was more and more intense, forcing me to pause the movie and just concentrate on breathing through them. i decided to track again. lasting 1 min 10 seconds each and 3-4 mins apart i wondered if i should call the doctor. :) (pregnancy brain kicking in). i decided to first look it up in a book. i found my what to expect when your expecting book. frustrated with the out of date information i searched for something to tell me what to do. i finally found a "new parent binder" that prompted me to go to the hospital or call the doctor (no kidding). living 25 mins away from the hospital and it being 3:00 am i choose the latter. after expressing my concern of not wanting to be sent home from the hospital the nurse stated, "you might be sent home. but if you don't come in, you might have the baby at home." i woke up jeff, got a priesthood blessing, and we were on our way. of-course, the road we needed to take was blocked off completely. after our little detour we got to the hospital at 4 am. apparently the hospital had received 8 l&d patients in the last hour. we waiting, contractions continued, jillian wondering what's up.
finally, around 5 am i was checked and admitted; 5 cm dilated and 80% effaced. jeff took jill to his sister sarah's home and i started walking the halls. with each contraction i held onto the wall and imagined a wave rolling in and back out as i counted (like only a dancer at heart knows how): "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. 2,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. 3,2,3,4,5,6,7,8" randomly counting in 8's, 12's or 16's.
at 8 am i was at 7 cm and 90%. jeff and i went on another walk that seemed like one continuous contraction. this is the point when i thought, "this is what an epidural is meant for". jeff was great at keeping it light hearted and i found that by laughing i was able to deal with the contractions easier. jeff was my saving grace through it all.
at 9:45 i was 9 cm and we decided to have the doctor break my water. i was quickly in transition. from this point on i didn't know which way was up. i wanted a cool wash cloth, no i want a warm one, rub my back, wait don't touch me, etc. i was never like the crazy laboring women you see on t.v. but i felt like it. i remember very vividly gaining strength as i looked at jeff and he would tell me "you're almost done, you can do it". i pushed for approx 30 mins. and then sweet baby girl taylor came to us. our emotions were released.
jeff and i are happy that i went natural. it was the most difficult and intense experience of my life. it was an unbelievable and truly indescribable experience. i don't know that i'll never get another epidural but i do think every women and husband needs to experience a natural birth if they can.

baby

new baby from Alisha on Vimeo.

Camille Taylor
21.May.2008
10:58 am
7 lbs 13 oz
20 inches long

Jeff + Alisha = True Love

Four years and counting. I love this man more today because of yesterday.

what's your vote?

CAMILLE

vs.


TORI

mother's day

i got a piano for mother's day, anniversary and having a baby gift!!! i found it on craigslist for only $150!!! i love it. there is something special about being a mother and being pregnant too on mother's day. i'm not sure what is was but yesterday was such a good day. i woke up in a good mood that lasted all day long (a rarity lately). jill and i played the piano, jeff cooked, we went on a family walk, a zucchini is growing, my flowers are blooming, and amanda and ozzy are still together (parv winning almost broke my mood though).
since yesterday i have been more and more excited for this sweet baby to come. mother's day did my "late pregnancy bad-attitude" good!

mom and mom-in-law: i love you and thank you for teaching me and jeff continually.
.

coming soon...

i'm sitting pretty at 2.5 weeks to go until my due date arrives. at my previous ultrasounds the baby was breech so i had a follow-up on wed. and we are good to go. the baby's head is down, feet are noticeably in my ribs, and now i wait. i'm having a lot more contractions this time around than i had with jill. last night i had around 8-10 contractions in a row. i was crossing my fingers that i wouldn't go into labor yet because i still want to get a clean home first. i'm not as swollen (ankles and feet) which i attribute to working less this time around, but i am more out of shape.

last week hayley held a luncheon with friends of mine at cafe rio. yummy. don't mind the fat face and big ol belly. this picture is missing natalie, luanne and hayley.

if i can get my home cleaned today and packed for the hospital the baby can come anytime...

my husband the athlete

two saturday's ago jeff did a triathlon!! he had been training for about a month and a half. jill and i got to go watch. it was so cool. jeff and i were a little apprehensive about it because neither of us knew how it worked or really any information. the night before the race jeff "bic"ed his head for that extra advantage. once we arrived we realized how big of a deal it was. a ton of guys were sponsored and jeff said that he only saw 2 bikes that were worth less than his. he took 81 out of 110 for his group in 3 hours 2 mins. the race started with the swim, jeff's weak spot. . .

this is the athletes waiting for the race to start. . .must have been fun treading water. if you blow the picture up you can pick out jeff. he is near the back without a cap on.
once the horn blew the lake was full of activity.
jill and i then drove to transition point to wait for jeff to finish and start the bike. we waited and we waited and we waited. finally, after i saw an older women finish her 1 mile swim and mosey over to the bikes i thought "i must of missed him". i packed up jill and headed to the next point hoping to catch him at transition to the run. i was wrong. jeff was still in the lake. he came in dead last with a time of 43:16. he did however have to swim to the aid of another athlete and pull him to a safety kayak.



once jeff finished the swim he determined to make up time in the bike. this was no ordinary bike trail. it was 17 miles of off road desert mountain trail. the trail began with a 1000 foot ascent that they called "pack your bike". jeff said that not one person could ride up the mountain, everyone had to get off their bikes (they had to do this at one other point too). when the athletes came in on their bikes some helpers grabbed the bikes and helmets so the athletes can run down the shoot and change shoes, grab a drink and start the run.
at the transition point i waited and waited again. biker after biker came in and no sight of jeff. i had become temporary friends with another wife. this was her husbands second race. the longer we waited the more anxious we became. as athletes came in we heard of a racer down with a broken collar bone, another down with a bike broke in half, yet another with multiple bike wreck, the stories came in as if to make me and my friend more uneasy. i kept seeing racers come in covered with dirt and bloody. "this must have been a brutal trail", i thought. finally, her husband came in...now jill and i were alone in waiting. about 3-5 mins later i saw jeff come around the corner. my excitement was too much to contain, until i saw the blood and dirt on jeff. jeff jumped off his bike and i ran with him down the shoot (me on the outside). i asked if he was okay and jeff just said how much fun he was having. i felt so much better.

jeff's about to change into his running shows. i knelt down by him and tried to help him change shoes and pin his number on his shirt. he came in 78th in the bike at 1:35:37. movin on up!
the 4.5 mile run was through the mountains too. jeff is the one with the white shirt on.
as my temp. friend and i waited for the hubbies to finish the race i got comfortable. i decided to wait until her husband came in to get ready for jeff. all the sudden, he comes into view. i wasn't even at the finish line with my camera ready when he crossed. jeff took 64th (43:20) in the run passing my friends husband.

we had a great time. it was really fun to cheer jeff on and jill was a trooper too. i would love if jeff got into triathlons and raced more. jeff did enjoy himself and he felt very accomplished.
back to jeff' s wreck. jeff was going too fast (trying to make up time) on a down hill and hit a big rock. this caused an "endo" i.e. flipping over the handle bars and bike flying over the top. once jeff realized that all of his appendages were still in-tact he checked his bike. a few parts were jacked up but jeff was able to keep riding. on the way home we stopped by my work to have the doctor check jeff out. she stated that jeff needed a few stitches on his shin and 1 or 2 in his elbow. jeff refused because we'd have to check in, so we've been taking care of his battle wounds at home. . .
here's jill waiting for daddy to finish.

the past couple weeks

jill, sam, and caroline playing. i thought jill was the only one that liked all my shoes. apparently anyone between 1-3 likes my shoes.
jill loved having gma and gpa pete and jon's family to visit. it was really fun to see her run around with sam and to wake up so happy to see gma and gpa pete.
jill showed sam what us arizonans do in april.

these are the only pics i took of the last few weeks. a lot has happened though. i'll blame it on the cold and my foggy pregnancy brain as to why i kept forgetting my camera. i've been waiting to receive some pics via email or steal them via other blogs but to no avail.

jeff's dad had a birthday a few weeks ago and it was great to see everyone and let jill play dress up with her cousins. jill has really opened up to letting anyone hold her and even prefers others at times over jeff or i. i'm not going to lie...sometimes it hurts my feelings.

my grandpa turned 90 years old two weeks ago. the petersons had a birthday bash (as "bashy" as you can at 90) for him in mesa and chandler. on thursday we met at the Old Country Buffet for dinner. jill actually liked the OCB Bee (thier mascot) and wasn't scared of him.

i was the lucky one to have my parents a couple brothers fly in for the event. it is so nice to see family. james and valerie brought carrie and jon and kristen brought sam. we all went to the zoo on saturday morning and then to the party. jill loved spending time with sam and caroline. this was my first time at a real zoo and i loved it. i couldn't get over the giraffe. are those things really real?















(i did steal a couple pics from kristen). jeff took my dad and jon out golfing. mom, kristen and i joined in a few holes with the kiddos. it's fun to just ride around on in the carts.

the day of the party jeff ran in Pat's Run with his family. this has quickly become a Taylor tradition. i can't wait until next year so me and the girls can participate. i ran it two years ago, four months prego with jill. i just thought being 9 months prego and my family in town i'd skip this year.

( i also stole these pics)

last saturday jeff did a triathlon. it was so cool. i'll be post about it soon...

18 months

jillian turned 18 months old on sunday. it has become more and more difficulty to hold her with my big ol' belly while conducting and doing sharing time in primary. i was looking forward to sending her to nursery. jeff couldn't just leave her so he stayed in the room for the first half. i don't think jill even noticed that he was there or that i forced him to leave. she did great!! one month of baby free primary...then i'll have a brand new one at the hip.

i will admit that i sorta missed having jill with me though. she is just so dang cute during singing time.

she had her 18 month appointment on tues. she got a shot and didn't even cry!! i couldn't believe it. the doctor said "this is the easiest 18 month check-up i've ever done. is she always so cooperative?" the doctor must not have remembered her 1 yr check-up when she cried from the moment the doctor walked in the room to the moment i got jillian in the car. hopefully, jill will have pleasant appt. from now on. here's her stats: weight 26 lbs (75%), head 18.6 in (79.9%), height 34 in (97%).

sicko

sick and pregnant don't mix! for the last 2.5 weeks i have had a killer cold. between blowing my nose, losing my voice, and coughing up a lung, i was trying to get ready for company (some of my family came down) and get ready for the new baby. needless to say jill was a little neglected and became bff's with the tv for a week or so. oh, and my blogging went down the tubes. here's a few clips i did manage to get while i was sickly:


Untitled from Alisha on Vimeo.


Untitled from Alisha on Vimeo.

conference weekend

it's become somewhat of a tradition to have a pot-luck dinner at the TT house for the last session of conference. it's a little hard to listen with so many chewing mouths and a handful of sweet kiddos running around. i love any opportunity for jill to hang with her cousins. emma was laughing at her and said "it's funny when jillian talks because you don't know what she's saying". oh, of-course ballard and monson were hi-lites of the weekend.

What do you want to hear first?

BAD NEWS:
a few days ago as i was watering my flower sprouts that are up against the house i noticed that they were looking sad. on closer inspection i saw that each of them had a few bite marks and were missing some of their leaves. i'd be pretty sad too if i were being bitten all night. by the next morning every single last flower sprout was GONE!!! last night jeff went out there and saw two crickets in the area. i am sooooooo sad! what now? do you think some of my seeds might still sprout? can crickets dig and eat seeds too, or are they only scavengers of cute little flower sprouts? today i closely inspected my other flower sprouts and my veggie garden. no stupid bug has got to them yet. i have my fingers crossed.

GOOD NEWS:
less than two months to go to meet our new little girl. the last few days i've been touching my belly with jill and saying "come out sister". (stole it from hayley). jill doesn't really act like she knows what i'm saying though. lately at night i've had a bit of anxiety while i try and sleep. it's hard enough to sleep while big and uncomfortable but i feel like there is so much to do before she gets here. never the less i am getting soooooo excited. i can't wait to give birth (is that weird?). every time i have a contraction i get really pumped up for the whole experience. i don't think my belly has grown since the last pic but maybe i'll get around to documenting it with a photo some time. let the count down begin. 7.5 weeks to go...

the anticipation is KILLING me

last saturday jeff and i planted a veggie garden and a bunch of flowers. everyday since i've planted the seeds i've been dying to see what comes up!! the anticipation has been killing me. i thought i was going to have an aneurysm when i saw my first flower sprout. this is my cucumber and beans. i also planted some squash, cantaloupe and carrots. you have blow this pic up and look very closely for these four flower sprouts.
few more flowers.

this is really fun. i'll give you an update is a few months with my harvest.

Easter

jillian wasn't too excited about her basket after 8 am church. she needed a nap. we got to go to jeff's grandmas house for a wonderful ham dinner and an egg hunt. jillian loved to put the eggs in her basket and then take them out to throw them.

now for a few random thoughts:

i was thinking yesterday; why is it that christmas is the more celebrated holiday over easter? (i understand the hype over santa etc.) i'm speaking religiously. there are many more devotionals, more music, more everything for christmas. isn't easter what it should be all about? without the resurrection there would be no point. we would literally be in a lost state. today as i was reading the BoM, Lehi was teaching Jacob of this and how the resurrection was the key to salvation (2nd Nephi 2:8-10). after pondering my thoughts yesterday and then reading this this morning i will will now try and focus as much or more attention to the meaning of easter that i do to christmas.

"egg"stravaganza

a few sundays ago as jeff and i were getting ready for church in the bathroom i couldn't hear jillian anymore. i stepped out of the bathroom to this sweet picture. i've had the baby bouncer/vibrator out as i get ready for the new baby. jill had found an old pacifier and got her blanket and crawled onto the bouncer. now she enjoys just laying in it, especially if i turn on the vibration! her legs dangle off from the knees down and the bouncer is almost touching the ground but she doesn't seem to mind. i'm not sure if she's ready to give up the "baby" title of the house yet. 2 1/2 more months and it's ready or not... yesterday our community had an "egg"stravaganza. jill had fun picking up all the eggs, coloring, making bracelets and dancing to the music.
she learned where the eggs go.
but her favorite part was the petting zoo. she LOVES animals. the tally continues...things jill is not scared of: water, the street, heights, animals (including big dogs that bark and look scary).

7 month belly

today i'm 28 weeks!! three months left, i can't believe how fast it's gone. i had an ultrasound today and the baby is still a girl. she's healthy and my placenta is all good too. no more worries (hopefully). i had a great "mommy moment" today. as i was standing by jills high chair, she reached out and placed her sweet hand on my belly. she just held her hand there for quiet a few seconds, looked up at me, smiled and then went back to eating. she has no clue that a baby is in there. i was having a bit of anxiety about my ultrasound today and she just put me at ease. is that funny...for me to think that she, somehow knew what i needed? anyway...here's my baby bump: here's jills baby bump:
jill has learned to "smile" when the camera is on her. here's what i get almost every time now:

on another note:
after the ultrasound jeff wanted to go fishing. we found a pond and got out to find some fish. jill walked, actually ran, right up to the waters edge and kept going. had it not been for the sweet little hand i was holding, she would have ended up in the water. my jillian is NOT scared of water, which makes me scared to death. therefore, if you have a pool in your backyard, sorry, no play dates at your house.

picnics and kiddie pools

what have you done this week?

can't think of a title for this one...

jillian got her first french braid for valentines day. it was a big hit with the locals.
jillian likes to have the blanket on and run back and forth kissing me. i love it! petersons, does this video remind you of anyone when they were younger?

emma and taylor

when i was pregnant with jillian i was thrilled to find out that mandy, a friend in my ward, had the same due date. she already had three children but had since had six miscarriages. tragic news came shortly after the first timester. she was pregnant with twins that shared a heart and a liver, conjoined at the belly. after all her doctors urged her to terminate, and many prayers later she choose to carry. the doctors didn't expect her to make to the third trimester. suprisingly sept. rolled around and the sweet twin girls were scheduled to come c-section a month early. again the doctors prepared for the worse, stating that the seven chamber heart won't last minutes past birth. now the twins are exactly a month older than jill and doing very well. mandy is now expecting a boy the same week i am due!
mandy never wanted to public with her story, not knowing if it was the right thing to do (requesting help etc.). now the girls have a possibility of being separated and recieving artificial hearts until a donor is available. with this possibility the family is looking at being out of state for several months and many expenses. they have now come public. please check out their blog and donate if you're able. if not with funds please pray for their family. http://emmaandtaylorbailey.blogspot.com

up-date

jill is feeling better today!! last week was a pretty rough week for her. hopefully she'll continue on the up and up. with a sick baby on my hip it was hard to blog. this is a little up-date:

a couple weeks ago sarah w. dropped off a toddler bed for jill. i really didn't plan on using until the new babe is about 6 weeks old and needs the crib. thus, i had until about mid-july to get jill into it. the first day i put the bed into jills room she was so curious about it. she would crawl onto it and lay down (just pretending) and then crawl back off. when it was time for bed, with a little push from jeff, i thought we'd see what happened if we put her to sleep in it. a couple of hours later this is what we found. . .
jill and ava raced and both got a cool gold medal.

a few feet from the bed, face down, jill was passed out asleep. poor baby. needless to say she wasn't quite ready for a big girl bed. however, she really does love it. since this night she's actually taken a few naps in it and stayed put. i can't believe what a big girl she's becoming!!


two saturday's ago i ran a 2 mile run for charity with hayley and her husband eric. it was for a girl that was in my ward and passed before we moved down to johnson ranch. the event was held at a big farm (a lot like latin farms but more commerical). it is so fun and exciting to be a part of "something". they also had a 10k and a half marathon. i couldn't help but watch as the runners from the half marathon came in thinking to myself, "am i really going to do that in a few months?" the two mile run was just right for me and my 6 month belly.
jeff and his mom were volunteers there and jeffs dad and ross watched jill for me. after the run they had food, vendors, a rockwall and a kids area.



the week before last jeff had to make a trip down to tuscon for work. he wanted to take jill and i and show us around a bit. jeff lived there from age 4-8. this is his old house . the owners don't keep it up very well.

jeff had to get a picture of him looking in the garbage can in the alley. he has memories of stan and him dumpster diving for "cool stuff". a famous story of jeff was how he started a fire in the alley and then walked all the way around front (in-stead of going through the back door) to tell his mom.

we stopped by and saw jeff's kindergarten teacher Candy Likes. i am not kidding about her name, i may of mis-spelled it though. Mrs. Likes didnt' remember him and i think jeff was pretty shocked. jeff actually got kicked out of her class and had to go to another school b/c of his behavior. jeff kept saying "i can't believe that you don't remember me, i kicked you!". lol.

as we were driving home we saw this truck. tuscon in a nut-shell...

sick baby

jill hasn't been feeling well since monday. monday and tues. she barely ate and was sleeping all day. yesterday she felt really warm... her temp was 103!! today hasn't been any better.
normally, jills attention span for cartoons is 5 min max. today, jeff laid her down and she just laid down and watched tv. poor sweet sick baby. hopefully tomorrow she'll feel better, her budda belly is disappearing! here's jill in happier times. (i had to post these pics, i think they are so cute. jill loves her crib and sleeping. it's so funny.)