Our Last Night

Brandon and I decided to go to dinner at the Pizza Factory tonight to celebrate our last night alone. Man, it tasted good.

I went to the doctor today and nothing had changed from my appointment on Monday. They got me scheduled to go to the hospital for some prostin gel something something to help things move along. I went to the hospital but when they checked me there they thought I was good enough without it. So the plan moves forward as expected, I will go in sometime tomorrow morning and be induced. I guess it's a good thing that this whole time I was planning on her being born May 6th, doesn't leave too much room for disappointment.

So I am pretty much a week overdue, and I still am not feeling like I'm dying to get her out of me. I really like carrying around a baby in my belly. Especially this sweet baby who has been through so much.

For those of you who don't know, Mckinley has had a bit of a different journey than the average child. She is an In-Vitro baby. She started out as one of 30 eggs on 2 very over stimulated ovaries. She was vacuumed out of my ovary and transferred to a peetree(sp) dish where she was injected with one of Brandon's sperm through a microscopic needle. Then she grew in a lab for 5 days and was one of 6 survivors out of 24 fertilized embryos. Two of those embryos were transferred into my uterus. Neither survived. Mckinley was one of the 4 who spent the next 6 months frozen in liquid nitrogen at -350 degrees.

She then became one of the 2 embryos that survived the thawing process, and after that, the one and only embryo who was able to imlant into my uterine lining and grow into a little baby. Modern medicine is such a miracle. I can't help but think she must be someone special to have been the only one to make it through all of that.

Here's the very first picture we have of her. Wish we knew which one she was. I'm guessing the one on the left.

This might give some of you an idea of why I like being pregnant so much. It's something we've been working for for quite a while. And of course while we can hope this won't be the only time I get pregnant, there is no saying what will happen, so I have really tried to enjoy every moment.

Brandon and I are incredibly excited to meet this amazing survivor tomorrow!!! We are already head over heels in love with her.

T minus negative 1 day

I know I am using a double negative in my subject line, but that is the best way to describe it. I am one day past my due date. So yes, like the counter on the side bar says, my baby should be 1 day old, but she is in fact still hanging out inside my uterus.

Here is a picture of me today at 40 weeks, 1 day.


The plan is to induce me this next Thursday, when I will be a week overdue. I was totally fine with that plan up until yesterday when I decided to take a peek at the baby on ultrasound and found out she is already measuring at 8 lbs 7 oz! Yikes. With a week still to go, I feel like I am going to give birth to a giant. I know lots of you have had big babies, and I know it's not the end of the world, but I kind of just wanted a smaller baby. Of course the ultrasound isn't 100% accurate, but still, I am getting a little freaked out.

Other than that, I am just still coming to work every day, and considering getting a shirt that says "Yes, I'm still here" so I don't have to respond to EVERYONE who asks me if and why I'm still here. I guess I could quit coming to work, but all I would do then is sit on the couch and twiddle my thumbs waiting to go into labor so I figure I'm better of just coming in to work.

I'm hoping my next post will be a picture of Mckinley, but I can't make any promises....

Picnic Weather

First things first. No, Stacey, I haven't had my baby yet. Sorry! I think you'll see a few more posts before then. She seems perfectly happy inside. And from what I hear, they're easier to take care of in there, so as much as I want to meet her, I'm happy to keep carrying her around in my belly.

I just wanted to blog about some of the fun picnics we've been on lately. Brandon says he has never been so excited for summer to come as he is this year. So whenever it's warm weather (especially on a Saturday) he just wants to get out of the house so bad and be outside.

A couple Saturdays ago we went to Nielsen's Grove and had a picnic with my 2 sisters, Kristen and Amy. Then this last Saturday we wanted to have another picnic so we invited Brandon's family to come. We had such a good time. The weather was awesome.


Me and Bran working hard at enjoying this last little bit of time that we have together with just the 2 of us.



Hanging out by the pond feeding the ducks.


Here's sweet Haley. If you can't tell, me and Brandon really love Haley and Brynlee...

Brynlee wanted to go back to the pond later and she totally just sat there and chilled watching the ducks. She doesn't usually sit still too long so I enjoyed every minute with her. Too bad there is like NO shade at Nielsen's Grove and my skin is super sensitive to the sun so I totally got sunburned. Who gets sunburned in April? ME!

Brandon and Brynlee just chillin' on the sidewalk.

Tonight we had another picnic to celebrate Dallin's birthday. Sorry I couldn't grant you your birthday wish today Dallin. (He really wanted to share a birthday with his new niece. There's still an hour and a half left of the day but I got a feeling it's not gonna happen.)

Weather permitting, if we're not at the hospital on Saturday, we're going to be at the park again for another picnic. We can't get enough of this good weather!

Oh, I should have said in my last post, the new car we bought is a Hyundai Sonata. I had a few people ask. So I'm just answering it here. We are loving it and we feel like we're about as ready as we can be for this baby girl to join us!

Buy a New Car. Check.

We have been meaning to buy a second car for quite a while now. Our goal was to get one before the baby comes so we wouldn't have to keep sharing one car. The procrastination is finally over and we now have 2 cars and Mckinley is still hanging out in my belly.

Brandon thought it would be fun to get the car for me on my birthday. I think it was a pretty sweet birthday present! We've been car shopping a few times and I hate it. Brandon has done pretty much all of the research and finally found one that was perfect so yesterday we went and got it. We're both really happy with it. It's quite the step up from our old '96 camry. :)


My whole birthday yesterday was awesome. We had a fun lunch to celebrate Dallin graduating from BYU and Brandon's mom made a really yummy cake for me for my birthday.


She put 6 candles in it because that's how many days were left till my due date.

Today we are headed off to the park for a picnic and then later this evening I am going to the mall for a 1-hour pregnancy massage, thanks to my amazing friend Jessica. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!!

Gettin' Old

Today is my birthday and Im 28!!! Holy cow. I'm getting up there. But I still feel like I'm 20.

I have had a GREAT birthday so far. I decided to give myself the day off work so I've been home relaxing and cleaning my house. Gotta get things ready just in case this little girl decides to come out and meet us.

The birthday celebrations started yesterday when my work replacement, Linda, surprised me with this big boquet of flowers from her and the doctors.


Not only that, but she had been working behind my back for the last few weeks at getting each of the doctors to write me a note for my birthday, and secretary's day, and kind of a good-bye thing. Even though I'll be going back to work part-time.

Linda went to tons of work and it was the coolest thing ever. She compiled all their notes into this cute little scrapbook. The picture went on here sideways but oh well.


Then today on my birthday Brandon made me pancakes, eggs, and orange juice for breakfast. And then I've been at home all morning and am loving it. Later on we are going to go car shopping and hopefully actually buy one this time. :) We have been meaning to buy a 2nd car before the baby came. And we are getting pretty close to that time...

I still haven't reached the point where I'm dying to get her out of me. I love feeling her roll around in there and I'm still fairly comfortable so I really can't complain at all. I'm totally planning on her coming late. The official due date is the 29th of April but I think she'll be born in May. All I know from the doctor is that they won't let me go longer than 41 weeks, which will be May 6th. So we'll meet her by then for sure.

Here is a picture of me at 39 weeks. I am still in awe that I'm here. This has been such an amazing experience and I am so grateful for it. I feel so bad for all those who are still in the same boat I used to be in who want children but can't have them.

Well, I would stay and chat but I'm off to go enjoy the rest of my birthday!!!

Maternity Shoot

My friend Ashli was nice enough to take some maternity pictures for me. I love them!! Thanks so much Ashli.

We have less than 2 weeks left till the due date, so hopefully in less than 3 weeks we will finally get to meet this sweet baby we have completely fallen in love with. I still haven't gotten to the point where I'm dying to get her out of me. That is of course subject to change, but I love being pregnant and Brandon likes it too. Both of us think she will be born in May.

4 Generations

Last night we went and did a session in the Provo Temple with Brandon's parents and grandparents. Brandon says it's the last time I can go to the temple before the baby comes. He was so worried I would go into labor or throw up during the session. Yes, I've been throwing up again. It's my own fault though. I tried one last time to go off the medicine. I've actually been off for almost a whole week and I'm not doing too bad, so we'll see how it goes.

Anyway, I survived the session. When we were walking up the stairs from the dressing room this temple worker looked at us and said "is this 4 generations?" I was a little confused because I was with Brandon's mom and his grandma. There were just three of us. Then I remembered I'm pregnant and I actually look like it now, so I realized she was counting baby Mckinley. And then I thought oh yeah, that is kind of cool. There are 4 generations of us in here together.

After the temple we went and ate at the Pizza Factory. The food was much better going down than coming up later that night. :)

Brandon and me.


Ross and Karen (Brandon's parents).

Grandma and Grandpa Salmon. Grandpa's birthday is tomorrow so they made him a cool little birthday pizza. Happy 83rd birthday Grandpa Salmon!

Life is going well. I'm 37 weeks today and finally training someone at work to take over for me while I'm gone. Training has actually been kind of fun and it's definitely making the days fly by.

36 Weeks

Holy Crapoly here I am at 36 weeks. I can't believe it. I know I've said that a million times since I got pregnant, but it's true. It is so unbelievable to me that this is really happening. I am so happy to be here and so grateful for this blessing. We are so excited to meet this little girl in just 4 short weeks (give or take).


I wish I had something exciting to say about this pregnancy, but it has just been so normal, which of course I am incredibly grateful for.

I don't think I've had a single craving this whole pregnancy. Lots of stuff doesn't sound that great, and some things when I eat them taste better than I expected, but mostly I just eat what I've always eaten.

Never did get off the zofran. Every time I tried I threw up the next day 5 or 6 times. So I still take it at dinner time and still take the Unisom/B6 combo before bed. Can't WAIT to stop taking all of it!

No heartburn. Yet.

No swelling. Yet.

No stretch marks. Yet.

I really am pretty comfortable and can't complain about my belly. Sometimes I honestly forget I'm pregnant. Other times it's obvious, like when I walk up 3 flights of stairs and pant like I just ran a marathon.

As small as some people think my belly is, the baby has been measuring right on the whole time. Sometimes a little ahead, sometimes a little behind, but this week in an ultrasound she measured at 5 lbs 13 oz so she will definitely be a good size when she comes out.

It is really weird having no stomach muscles to help me sit up from laying down, stand up from sitting down, or to roll over in bed at night. When I'm sitting in the passenger seat in the car if I want to change the radio station or adjust the heat, I have to hold on to the door handle to pull myself forward to do it. It's a really weird feeling.

I sleep pretty well at night, I have a little back pain sometimes but nothing like what I expected to have.

Even at 8 months pregnant, I pee way less than I used to with all my bladder infections and haven't had one bladder problem this entire pregnancy, which shocks the pants right off of me, and makes me extremely grateful.

This little girl kicks and moves all the time and I absolutely love it.

I've only had a few braxton hicks so far. Like maybe 3. They are usually in the middle of the night.

I feel pretty prepared and completely unprepared all at the same time.

I am a little sad that I only have 4 weeks left, but at the same time, I'm so excited to meet this sweet little baby!

Showered with Clothes

Well, if there's one thing our baby girl WON'T be lacking when she's born, it will be clothes!!! My sisters and sisters-in-law threw me a family baby shower on Saturday and I got so many cute little outfits for baby McKinley. I am so excited to put her in them!


The shower was a blast. My little sister Amy drove down from Rexburg for it and it was so fun to hang out with her while she was here.

My cousin Hilary was in town from Seattle so she got to come too.

I always have to have pictures of the food... :)

My sister-in-law Emily made me the cutest diaper cake ever! Thanks Em!

Some of the peeps that were there...

My mom sent stuff home with Kristen from Hong Kong. What a fun surprise! Thanks Mom!

The cute little pink dress above and this blanket below were from her. I love them Mom!


Brandon's mom got McKinley the cutest little swim suit ever! This summer is going to be so fun. I can't wait.

This is an awesome blanket Kristen made for me.


And a blessing dress Kristen made back in college that she's going to let me borrow. I am SO in love with it.

Me and my 3 sisters, Kristen, Amy, and Heidi.

A bunch of people also went in together and helped us get our car seat and stroller. So we are pretty much set to go for this baby! I just need to buy a few more things and get all these new clothes organized. Not that I'm in a rush or anything. I'm going to enjoy every minute I possibly can of this pregnancy.

It's Official

After 2 and a half years of Shellee being an "unofficial" part of our family, it is finally official. I have a new sister-in-law! Dallin and Shellee got married on Friday in the Draper Temple. It was such a fun day and a fun weekend since all the family was in town.

Coming out of the temple. Man, Dallin was laying on the kisses! It was so cute.

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One of our hundreds of self portraits. :) It was soooo windy and freezing outside the temple, but the rest of the day was actually pretty nice. They lucked out for sure with the weather.

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A guy in Brandon's parents' ward catered the lunch and the food was amazing. All of the siblings told stories about Dallin and Shellee and then we watched the cutest little video of their "love story." I had a really good time. I love weddings!

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I just had to add this picture in here. Brynlee is so stinking cute and all the little girls had the most adorable pink dresses!

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Brandon and I at the reception before it started.

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Me and Bran with the bride and groom.

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Anyone that knows me knows I love candy so this table might have been my favorite part of the reception.

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I thought their wedding cake was so pretty.

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We told Dallin to keep it PG-13 but apparently he didn't hear us...

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The bride and groom enjoying their first dance. I know weddings make for long days and tired feet, but I still love them.

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Also this weekend we got to celebrate Gary's 30th birthday with him.

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And, since all the family was in town Gary and Tara decided to bless their little baby Sam while they were here. He is the cutest little thing ever, I just can't get enough of him!

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Now almost all the out of towners have gone home and we're back to regular life...which means work. Yuck. I guess I can't complain though, I have 6 more weeks of work and then a 6 week break (if you can call it that) while I figure out how to be a mother. I'm pretty sure I have no idea what I'm getting myself into.