Trip to Wilmington

The week after Savannah was born one of David's best friends got married. Scott and Kathleen Hunter were married in the Raliegh Temple and then had a reception that night in Eden. The next day they had another reception in Wilmington. Since David was the best man we wanted to make sure we made it to all the festivities. It was definitely an experience trying to figure out how to travel with a one-week old baby but thankfully Savannah was very good throughout all of our travels and we were able to enjoy this wonderful couple's sealing and their receptions.

The weekend of the wedding required a lot of traveling. We drove to Raliegh for the sealing where Kathleen's former roommate was nice enough to watch Savannah for us (Thank you Amy!). We then traveled back to Greensboro to pack and head to Eden. After the reception in Eden we drove to Raliegh to stay at a hotel for the night. The next day we headed out for Wilmington. We were very grateful that Savannah slept through almost all of these long drives.

When we got to Wilmington we decided to just have David go to the reception. This was a good decision since Savannah threw up twice while he was away and dirtied all of her clothes. We ended up just letting her sleep in her diaper. Isn't she a cute naky baby?



Before we left Wilmington we made sure to stop by the beach. I wanted to take pictures of Savannah's first trip to the ocean at just nine-days old!

By the end of the weekend Savannah was a little tuckered out.

Savannah: Pictures, pictures, and more pictures

Being the proud parents we are, David and I have a lot of pictures of our adorable baby Savannah. I've uploaded some of them for your enjoyment! Happy viewing! 

First family picture

My own little naky baby getting ready for her first bath!

Our pretty girl all dressed up for daddy's birthday.

The cake Courtney made for David's birthday.

Savannah with the flowers we received while at the hospital.

Savannah with Grandma and Grandpa Wilkins

Yea, I know, she's adorable!

Savannah with cousins Caroline and Jackson

Savannah Mae Johnson Makes Her Arrival!

Savannah Mae Johnson came into our lives promptly on her due date, July 19, 2012, after a long and difficult labor.

I began having regular contractions around 5:30 pm on the 18th. Our doctor had advised us to wait until my contractions were consistently eight minutes apart for one hour before going to the hospital so David and I settled in with root beer floats and the tv...and waited. Around 9:00 pm my contractions began to get more intense and closer together but I wanted to makes sure I was really in labor before heading to the hospital so again we waited. When my contractions had been 7-8 minutes apart for an hour and a half we decided it was time to go. But I wasn't going to the hospital without showering first! So, after showering (and reasoning with David why I felt the need to be clean before giving birth) we drove to the hospital.

The entire way there I was second guessing myself because, of course, as soon as we left for the hospital my contractions stopped. I was sure it was a false alarm and I would look stupid heading into the hospital when I wasn't even having contractions anymore. When we arrived the first thing the nurse said to me was that I wasn't in enough pain to be in labor. I felt like an idiot! What was I doing at the hospital?! The nurse reluctantly hooked me up to the monitor but it was clear she was wondering what I was doing there too.

Immediately after being hooked up to the monitor my contractions started up again. They were intense and four minutes apart. Aside from being in a lot of pain I was so happy. Vindication! I really was supposed to be at the hospital! When the nurse returned she was surprised to see my progress and after four hours on the monitor the doctor decided to keep me and I was moved to a room.

By this point my contractions were coming close together and they were getting more painful. Thankfully the anesthesiologist was available almost immediately to come and give me my epidural (which was not nearly as bad as I worried it would be). After the epidural I couldn't feel my contractions at all and the nurse told me to try and get some sleep since I was only dilated to a three or four.

The next morning consisted of more waiting. The doctor gave me petosin and broke my water to help me progress and soon I was dilated to a seven. Throughout the morning and afternoon I simply waited to be dilated to a ten. The worst part during all of this was that my strep B test had come back positive so every four hours I had to be given penecillan in my IV. If you think contractions or the epidural hurts, try the penecillan. It hurts like crazy! When the doctor told me I was dilated to a 9 1/2 and could start pushing soon I was so grateful because that meant I may not have to have another dose of penecillan!

As David and my family left the room so the nurses could prep for me to begin pushing, I pulled my mother aside and mentioned how scared I was to have to push for a long time. She assured me that most women only have to push for about an hour.

Four hours later Savannah Mae Johnson came into the world. It was the most horrible and wonderful experience of my life! The first thing my mom said to me when she came back into the delivery room was that she was sure I would think she had lied to me about how long it would take me to push Savannah out.

The doctor, per my request after three hours of pushing, had used a vacuum on Savannah's head to help pull her out. The first time he had attached the vacuum and I had pushed, her head had only come halfway out when the vacuum popped off. The pressure was so intense that I'm pretty sure I turned into a crazy pregnant lady like the ones you see in the movies. I begged the doctor to let me push but he made me wait through two more contractions before I could push her head out.

After she was born (and cleaned off...as much as I love her new babies are covered in a lot of gross stuff!) I held Savannah for the first time. Both David and I cried because we couldn't believe she was finally here and that she was perfect!

Since her birth we have enjoyed learning how to be parents to our sweet baby girl. She is a GREAT baby! She sleeps for four hour periods and is a breastfeeding champ! We are so grateful to have her in our lives and can't wait to watch her grow up...although part of me wishes she could remain my baby forever. 

Baby Shower

Since I'm (still) waiting for baby Savannah to come I figured I might as well use these last free moments to post the pictures from my baby shower. These are in no particular order, but here's some shots from the fun day!

The two women on the left are Hayley Hansen and Alyssa Cordell. They helped put the shower together!

David's sister Courtney made this amazing cake and mousse-filled cupcakes. So yummy!

Woops, I forgot to turn this picture right side up but you get the idea....lots of presents!

My good friend Virginia made these wonderful shirts for David, Savannah, and I about how Savannah is a true miracle. It was so thoughtful.

I am so grateful to all those who helped prepare, plan, and pull off this baby shower for me. It was so special to have so many wonderful friends there supporting me. I especially want to thank DeAnn Carlson, Heather Johnson, Courtney Howard, Alyssa Cordell, and Hayley Hansen who spent so much time and effort to make this day wonderful. 

37 Weeks

My amazing friend, Susannah, took the below picture of us at her baby shower for her little boy. I love this picture so I decided to share.

Weight gain so far: 17 lbs
Baby is down and ready to come out!
I've started to feel her have the hiccups. Unfortunately she only gets them at night when I'm trying to sleep.

33 Weeks

33 1/2 Weeks

Total weight gained so far: 12 pounds

My feet have started swelling...not pretty!

I had some contractions last week but I'm not dilated; baby is just getting low.

Infertility: What Does This Have to Do with You?

Most women will never experience infertility personally. However, I’m sure that all of you have known someone who has experienced it. Maybe you wonder what to say to them or if it’s ok to ask questions? What about announcing your own pregnancy or bringing your own children to visits and lunches? How should you act around someone going through infertility?


Every woman who experiences infertility is different so I can only speak for myself. If I could give those around me four bits of advice concerning how to be sensitive to my situation it would be these:

1} Don’t give advice, especially if you’ve never experienced infertility yourself. David and I told very few people about our situation while we were experiencing it. This was mostly because I couldn’t handle all the advice thrown my way when people did find out what we were going through. I know everything said was said with love and was meant in the best way and I tried to take it as such but getting advice (i.e. take an ovulation test, make sure the timing is right, “maybe you’re doing it wrong”) just made me feel like those around me were implying it was my fault that I wasn’t pregnant.

2} Don’t ignore infertility. I was grateful when those who knew what we were going through asked us questions about it instead of trying to steer clear of the topic. When they asked questions I felt like they cared and really wanted to know how I was doing.

3} Getting pregnant doesn’t mean your struggles with infertility are over. While David and I now have a slightly higher chance of conceiving on our own, we still have to realistically face that it may not happen. We have to plan for insurance in case we need to do IVF again meaning I probably have to go back to work after I have this baby. We have to decide how long to try naturally before we try IVF again and we have to realize that our dreams of a large family are probably not going to happen. I am so grateful for the one the Lord has given us, but I still cried when I recognized that getting pregnant didn’t mean this was over.

4} Love your children. In our society it seems like it has become common place, or even expected, for mothers and fathers to talk about how horrible their child is or how bad parenting can be. How many times was I told by parents, “Well, you can have my kids if you want them.” I know parenting is hard and I’m sure sometimes I’ll fall into the pattern of bemoaning being up all night or not showering for days but I really hope that the majority of the time when I talk about my child I mention the good things and not the bad.