A New Baby!

Finally! He's here. After months of waiting and extended due dates, Taylen James Priebe finally decided to join us!

Taylen James Priebe
October 5th, 2009
10:10pm
8 pounds, 1 ounce

My due date was Monday, September 21st, but when he didn't come, the doctor said "come in on Thursday". So we thought Thursday would be the day. But then Thursday wasn't the day. Then the doctor said "well, it looks like his due date is later...how about Christmas?" There was always a discrepancy with my dates. Some method of figuring out the date suggested September 21st, the other method suggested Oct 1st. So when he didn't come for Sept 21st, the due date was moved to October 1st which was inline with my ultrasounds. When Oct 1st rolled around and he still didn't come, the doctor then said that if he didn't come by Oct 8th, he would put me in the hospital and help him come. And boy was I ready to have him come...although I would prefer not to be induced.


But then the day God told little Taylen to come was Monday, October 5th. It was the most perfect day for his birth:
-my mom has been staying with us, helping out with the extra things needed around the house and herding the other little one, Mikaya since I was so big and uncomfortable. She will need to go back to Abbotsford soon, so it would be nice if he would come before she has to go back.
-my dad was still in Abbotsford, but came out just for a quick visit on Sunday and would need to return to Abbotsford on Tuesday.
-my mother-in-law had a doctor's appointment on the Monday during the day and my sister-in-law had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning. We all have the same doctor. Taylen was born right in between the two appointment on Monday evening.
-My parents took Mikaya with them to visit my brother and his family on the West side on the Monday evening. So Chris and I had a few hours or quiet to ourselves before everything started.
-I had the wonderful support of my friends from church as I attended Bible Study minutes before going to the hospital and was the recipient of prayer with the coming birth in mind.

Monday, October 5th:
-something felt weird and different starting at 5:30.
-I got Mikaya ready for a visit with her cousins and kissed her goodbye in grandpa and grandma's car.
-Chris and I had dinner
-I asked Chris to drive me to the church because my stomach was hurting every few minutes (was it something I ate?).
-Throughout the 7 o'clock hour my stomach pains continued every few minutes and were getting worse. Maybe it wasn't something I ate.
-I called Chris to come and pick me up thinking we should just go to the hospital.
-We called the hospital saying that the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart, my water had not broken yet, and this was my second baby. They said, "you can stay at home longer if you like." Naw, I wanted to go to the hospital now just to be on the safe side. "Will you call my doctor?" I asked. "No, we'll wait until you get here".
-We got there and the emergency entrance door was locked. The only other entrance? All the way on the other side of the hospital! Just getting out of the van was hard; I did not want to have to get back into it and drive over speed bumps and all to the other side of the building. Thankfully, a man was leaving the building by that door and we were able to sneak in that way.
-Between 8:15 and 8:27 (the time it took to get to the hospital), I had had 4 contracts -- can we say 3 minutes apart...and by the time I got to the prenatal part of the hospital, another 3 or so contractions.
-Then they said, "just wait over there please".
-The waiting seemed like forever because the pains kept coming and were getting stronger.
-Finally, they put me in a pre-birthing room for assessment.
-"Have you called my doctor yet?" "No, we will assess you first".
-"Can I have something for the pain" (IT HURT). "Just wait, please".
-"How about now?" "Oh...let's move you to the birthing room; this baby will come soon after your water breaks. You are 9 centimeters dilated".
-In the next minute, my water broke! (into the toilet thankfully)
-(I was only in the assessment room for maybe 15 minutes. This baby was coming quickly.)
-"Can I have an epidural?" "Let's start you with the laughing gas".
-"How about now?" "No, you are too far along. It's time to push."
-He was born 1 hour later. Entire time from arriving at the hospital to when he was born = 1 hour, 40 minutes. Drugs used: laughing gas. Drugs desired: epidural. Next time I guess. Didn't I say that last time?


So the ultrasound we had done back in April was confirmed as accurate -- he was/is a boy. Can't you tell?

(Out of respect for the young child, certain parts have been edited)

Good thing we prepared in accord with blue walls and boy clothes. He's right at home in the house and in our hearts.



Mikaya is adjusting to having a baby around. Still a little unsure of him, but keenly interested too. She came to visit twice on Tuesday and both times was great for about 5 minutes before her short attention span was done. Since there is nothing to do at the hospital for a little 19 month old child, she would take her shoes and socks off many times, run around the room, and eat mommy's left over breakfast fruit. It's nice to be home where she can play with her toys and take care of her own little baby (dolly) - courtesy of Ridgeview Church (our home church) which graciously allowed Mikaya to take the dolly home from the nursery for her to practice being a big sister.

She has been promoted (not dis-positioned), we told her.The nice family picture:
The "I cannot sit still any more and must play with my socks" family picture:

The grandparents came to visit:
Pregnancy Photos:


Cute photos:

A Cruise to Port Alberni

Chris and I just got back from spending a week with his parents on a cruise ship from Vancouver to Seattle to Port Angelos to Victoria to Port Alberni and then back to Vancouver. It is true...the coastline is beautiful!

Our adventure began with a flood just outside our cabin, even before we left port. Those in charge, gave us 2 options:
1. Get off the ship and re-book another cruise
2. Get off and stay in Vancouver then bus down to Seattle the next day.

We really did not want to leave the cruise ship as wanted to spend as much time together with Chris' parents on this family vacation. They were willing to take us into their own cabin for the night, but Chris told those in charge that our room was not that bad. Our floor was only sopping wet up to a certain point and really there was no reason why we could not sleep in the cabin. We would just be understanding of the situation and allow the stewards to clean up as they needed to.

This is what a hallway is supposed to look like:
This is what ours looked like:

The water pipe had busted in the hall and spilled water all down the hallway and into various rooms, some more damaged than others.

The friendly dehumidifier guys:

So we did end up staying on ship. Thank God for small blessings like that.

In Seattle we visited Pike Place where they throw the fish. It is a means of getting the fish from the display ice to the packaging counter -- throwing the fish across the 10 feet instead of walking it over.


We did not get off ship in Port Angelos.

In Victoria, we visited the wharf where the seals were being fed by tourists.




Then off to the parliament buildings. While we did not go in them on this trip, we did get to see their nice green roofs from afar.



I was too tired to walk all the way back to the ship, so we opted for a neato date -- a bicycle tour. We learned some interesting things about the city. For instance, according to Ian (our bicyclist) the man who got the contract to design the parliament buildings only got it because he claimed to have designed some spectacular ones on his resume that actually it was his uncle who did them! One place he supposedly designed he would have had to have been 6 years old in order to do it.

Did I mention I was tired?

And pregnant? (Expecting for September...and the ultrasound says it is a boy!)

In Port Alberni, we were told that only 2 cruise ships are stopping there this year...so we were privileged to be one of them.


Notice the caption on the sign: "Welcome Statendam". I think everyone must have turned out for the grand arrival of the cruise ship. A celebration for a small town.

The evening entertainment on the ship was a variety of acts including ventriloquism, song and dance, and humor.



And the food was great. It is a most wonderful thing to go on a cruise and be pregnant at the same time! We enjoyed many dinners with Chris' parents.




And this time I understood when they served the last evening with a Baked Alaska dessert. Last time, in 2007, I confused the words "Baked Alaska" with "Alaskan Salmon" and thought we were having fish for desert. (Reference the Blog on September 29, 2007 for my confusion over the Baked Alaska).

Here the waiters are doing a special dance to serve the Baked Alaska.

This is what Baked Alaska looks like (neapolitan ice cream with a meringue topping)

What an adventure and a pleasant time to share with Chris' parents.

And where was Mikaya? She stayed at home in Kelowna with my parents while we were away. I would call often, just because I missed her so much. But she didn't have much to say on the phone...I am not sure she really understood that it was us on the other end!

While we were glad to have the few days to ourselves (and even got to sleep in...Mikaya wakes up at 7am every morning [weekdays and weekends]) we were so glad to come home to her. We really did miss her so much. And she changed while we were gone for the one week. In fact, she grew 3 new teeth!

During the week, my mom tells me, Mikaya would go to the stairs and look for us. "Muma? Dada?" And then go to our bedroom door and knock. "Muma? Dada?" But then move on to a different activity. So when we finally did come home, she didn't know what to do with us. She came to me easily, but not excitedly like she usually does after being at a babysitters. Then she clung to me until she saw that Grandma had ice cream. She had a harder time coming to me throughout the night as my parents stayed until the next day and she had grown very fond of Grandma and Grandpa, especially the donuts Grandpa brought home from Tim Hortons every morning. But after they left, she was fine with just us. Nice to know we were missed. I think she must have thought we were never coming back...although we did explain the situation to her before we left.

Some funnies:

The sign says, "Notice: Restricted Area" in the above photo. And that is our ship held captive in the restricted area! I thought it was funny.

Crew were painting the boat as we docked in Port Alberni. I wonder how much extra weight the boat carries because of the gallons of paint put on. I didn't even realize that it needed a paint job. But I hear (e.g.,) that Disneyland is re-painted every 2 months. So maybe it is common to paint big expensive places often, just for fun???