The Mayos

Baby Mayo no.2

2011-03-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

Due September 8 2011

Our Birth Story

2009-09-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is our Birth Story as written by Lana, our Doula. I am so grateful she worte it our for me because I had my eyes closed for most of my labour and it's a bit of a blurr when I try to remember what and when things happend. I may add some commentary later when I have time (She also took some pictures which I will add). Commentary in Red

Lochlan Parker Mayo was born 7 pounds 15 ounces at 7:10pm on June 29, 2009. It all began at 2:30 on June 28, when Anna started experiencing early signs of labour, she started feeling ill, had some low backache and had some show. I was not really convinced I was in labour, I thought I lost my mucous plugg, which can happen weeks before you deliver, but I think it was actaully Show After about an hour and a half her contractions started, it was “time”! Andrew and Anna managed the onset of labour at home moving around from the bathroom to the bedroom. Andrew was keeping track of the contractions with an excel spreadsheet and I wasn't really sure when my contractions were starting or ending because all the pain was in my back. Early on Anna started to feel nauseated and with each contraction was throwing up.This sucked At 7pm I was called to join them. Anna’s contractions were becoming closer together and we all worked to try to relieve some of the back pain that she had. At about 10 pm Anna was ready to go to the hospital to get checked out. I was sure I was at least 7 cm, I could hardly moved, getting from our appartment to the car was epic. Just before we left Anna’s sister arrived at the house from Vancouver.

We arrived at the hospital and got settled into Anna’s room and waited for the Doctor to come and tell us about Anna’s progress. Dr. Klein came in with some pretty good news, Anna was fully effaced and 2 cm dilated. (Great news to someone who thought they were 7cm)We still had a ways to go, but things were progressing well. Anna was experiencing quite a lot of back pain so we decided the tub was the best place to go.
Anna laboured in the bath tub at the hospital for a few hours, her contractions were becoming more powerful, and we could tell she was making progress. The bath helped her back pain and we were able to help her move around and make her more comfortable. After a while with every contraction she wanted to push, we coached her through the urge, but decided to have the Dr. come and check her. At 2:30 am she was 4 cm dilated. Only 4cm for 12 hours of labour!!!! 12 hours is the average length for the entirty of most labours This was great progress. Anna was having little reprieve from her back pain, each contraction melted into the next with the pain from her back, She needed a break from this so with the Dr. she decided to have some morphine to give her a break from the ongoing pain.

She got out of the bath and back to her room and the nurse came in to give her the morphine and decided to give her an IV as well since she was quite dehydrated. Once the morphine started to work Anna was able to relax between contractions. It had been a long haul we took advantage of this and we all tried to rest a little. During the night Anna’s contractions seemed to back off and her labour really slowed down.

Dr. Strydom arrived at 8am the next morning when she checked Anna there had been little progress from the last check. Anna had some options on where to go from here; the Dr. could artificially rupture her membranes (AROM) which would kick start labour but could intensify things a lot, or she could try moving around to try to kick start labour. Anna and Andrew decided to try moving around to help labour progress. We got Anna up on the birth ball, in the shower standing and rocking, walking up and down the hall, all this and her labour seemed to have stalled. With this result she decided that and AROM would be the best. So at 1pm Dr. Strydom came back and checked her and she hadn’t changed.

The Dr. ruptured her membranes and Anna tried laughing gas for the pain. This really helped; her contractions came in and seemed to be a good intensity and becoming more regular. The gas was the weirdest feeling, like I would disapear in the middle of each contraction, Andrew had to count for me to regulate me breathing All three of us worked with Anna to keep her comfortable and relaxed, but also keep her contractions coming. We got her up on the ball again and massaged her back to help with the back pain. She worked hard with her contractions and it really felt like her body was working hard and progressing. The nurse came in and said we should move over to the birthing room, we still had a ways to go but this was a good sign, the end was near!

During the C-section

Very first picture we have of our beautiful son

25 hours in Anna was still going, the contractions were coming and she took them in stride. Exhaustion was starting to set in, Anna was working hard and we were waiting for the Dr. to show up to see where we were at. At 5:30 Dr Strydom was back to check Anna, she was still 4cm, all that work and no progress. It was time to make some decisions. Anna was exhausted she had worked hard for hours with these contractions and her body was not responding. They talked about trying an epidural and giving it a couple more hours or there was talk of a c-section. The Dr. went to talk to another Dr about Anna’s situation and she came back to say that Anna had failure to progress, This could be for several reasons, the baby was not positioned right, the baby was too big for the pelvis, the contractions weren’t strong enough. With the amount of time that she had been in labour, reaching exhaustion, and no progress it was decided that it would be best for Anna to have a c-section. She was prepped and ready to go when the anaesthesiologist came in, and at 7:10pm Anna and Andrew were parents of a healthy beautiful baby boy.

They let me hold him as soon as he was ok

Below is our first (albeit we look awful) family photo

Daddy changing his little man (Andrew has corrected me, this is the nurse changing Lochlan...ooops)

37 Weeks

2009-06-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken last week at 37 weeks and now we are nearly at 38 (so 9. 5 months), only 2 or so weeks to go before Baby Mayo arrives.

We are not quite set up and ready, but getting close, so as long as the baby is not early I think we should be fine.

Andrew is getting very excited and we have been having fun getting the crib set up, washing baby clothes and marveling at how tiny the socks are.

Still it is hard to believe that the wiggling bump in my belly is actually a baby and will soon be changing our life forever.

I don't think the reality has set in for us yet, but when I look at the little sleepers I am really excited to meet the little person who will wear them.

8 Months Down, 2 to Go

2009-05-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

Joshua Tree Park

Andrew gives bouldering a shot

Andrew...need I say anything......

So we are now 8 weeks away from the estimated arival of our new baby and things are going well. We have a new couch, chair, TV, a mountain bike for Andrew, a Coach purse for me, and we took a vacation, that's all an order for never having money to spend again.....right?

We have at least now painted the baby space and have a few items of generic baby clothing.

Our holiday to Palm Springs was a lot of fun, we spent time in the pool, did some hiking and a lot of window shopping. It was nice to have some relaxing time together before our life goes through the potential majour shift.

I can't say I am exactly tired of being pregnant, but I am missing climbing, going to J tree and not being able to climb or even scramble around was hard. I miss running on these nice spring days we are getting, not being able to bike and I am even a bit tired of the round shape.

Did I mention I miss wine at dinner? I am ready for that again to. I know it will all be worth it and I am almost done, but really this growing a baby business kind of throws a curve ball for the better part of a year.

Baby 19 weeks 2 days

2009-02-11T11:23:00.001-08:00

Well we are now at 5 months the half way mark, which we are really happy about. I don't feel rushed, things are progressing at a nice pace. I can feel the baby move quite regularly and Andrew thinks he has felt it move. it likes to sit to one side or the other, so you can sometimes feel where it is or isn't. The ultrasound was a really cool experience as we could see our baby open and close it's mouth, wave it's hands and see it's spine flexing as it moved around.

At this point I still have no feelings either was as to whether it is a boy or a girl, and Andrew says if he were to pick based on an inkling he thinks it is a boy (but has planned and practiced his reactions to both-which he says are equal, yet different responses).

We are horrabley unprepared with no nursery, although we have talked about it a bit, in fact we have yet to purchase a single baby item yet. Our plans have been focussed more on the things we anticpate being harder to buy once we have the baby here, such as a couch or Andrew's flat screen and Play Station- you know essential items.

Last week end we flew to Edmonton for my Gerrany's 90th birthday, which was a lot of fun. I was amazed by all the friends and family that came from all over to attend the party, England, Toronto, Vancouver etc. One of my brother's made a slideshow to music with pictures throughout her life time and my other brother Sang a song about 3 old ladies stuck in a lavatory or something- it was good times.

Next year i am looking forward to...

2008-12-31T11:19:00.000-08:00

Instead of making resolutions, I found this way of listing things to do in the new year on a blog, so here we go:

Next year i am looking forward to...

Our second ultrasound on Feb 4th, which we will see together (Andrew and I)

My Gerrany's 90th Birthday party in February

Experiencing the last 5 months of pregnancy

Meeting our new baby in the end of June or early July

Taking another warm vacation to the West Coast of Mexico (short flight with no time change)

Taking time off from work to spend with my baby

Seeing more of my family because I am off work

Reading lots of books and watching the backlog of movies Andrew doesn't want to watch with me (i.e. Ballet Shoes and Marie Antoinette) while nursing

Spending time with Andrew in the morning while walking Farley

Drinking lot's of latte's with good friends, made with our new espresso machine

Running again in September with Alison- maybe next fall we can do our half marathon

Pilates with Carla in the fall

Baby Mayo

2008-11-25T15:35:00.000-08:00

Due July 1' 2009

Apartment 322

2008-06-17T12:11:00.001-07:00

So as of June 26th'2008 Andrew and I will officially be"Home Owners", or home debtors...whichever you prefer.

We are so excited and so in awe of this blessing from God.

I think I had decided that we could never buy a home in Squamish.

Awhile back though I heard a sermon at church that talked about when the Israelites were almost in the Promised land, and some of them decided to settle outside, they were ok to have have the Promise of God. I thought " I don't want to settle for less than what God has planned for me. If God wants us to own a house in Squamish, he will do it."

So about a Month ago we went for dinner at our Pastors, Steve and Marilyne's home, where they told us we needed to get in the Market as soon as possible. They gave us the numbers of people they use when buying real estate and told us to find out what our options were.

I still don't really think we were really serious, but a week later Andrew started making the calls, we had an appointment with the Realtor to see the 2 properties we thought we might be able to afford. 10 minutes before leaving to see her, we got a call from the Mortgage Broker saying we would be able to get significantly more than we thought, which significantly increased our options.

I think we looked at 5 places that day and decided to put in an offer on the above. We signed the papers the next day (Sunday) and had all our subjects removed by Friday. Who knew buying a home was so easy?

Really I don't think it is usually, but I think God has a plan for us, and it involves us owning our own place.

FAiled

2008-04-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

So I guess I missed February and March, so I failed at my resolution to post twice a month.

Life has been work busy for us, for 6 weeks (February and Most of March) I was filling my old job and new job, as we were having a hard time finding someone to fill my old position. This stretched me in a lot of ways but finally we hired someone, and she is doing a great job.

During Spring Break Andrew and I went to the Dominican Republic, for a week long all-inclusive. Now typically I think these are for unadventurous persons, but as Andrew and I were both in need of a worry free holiday, it was a good break. I didn't have to cook, clean, think about money, work or check my e-mail for a whole week.

We did choose the resort for it's plethora of water sport activities, but ironically because it was too windy, and because of the Easter holidays they were all cancelled.

Anna's Resolutions

2008-01-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

1) Be uninhibited and post 2 times a month

2) Add a recipe to her other blog once a month

3) Teach Andrew how to cook, at least 2 times a week

4) Take singing lessons

5) Go on a hot Vacation

6) Pray daily and often

7) Finish crocheting pink hoodie

Sooooo Bad at This!

2008-01-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Wow a whole year and we have 2 postings up.....I believe it would be accurate to say that we suck at this blog business.

So lets get this updated in a nut shell.

-We still live in Squamish, with our dog Farley

-Andrew now works for an auto body shop doing paper work in the office, he is also learning how to do estimates

- I still work for the employment centre, but am no longer the Office Administrator, I am now the "Career Resource Specialist" (it wasn't just a title change, it is a different position...although I do much of the same as before)

- We are both playing on the worship team at our church (Church on 99), I usually sing but sometimes play the bass or piano (Andrew bought me the most beautiful acoustic bass guitar for Christmas, so I am hoping to work on that this year). Andrew plays drums pretty much every week and leads worship about once a month (sometimes from the drums, and sometimes from guitar).

-Andrew has become very passionate about drumming, I think he does online lessons a few times a week, he practices at home nearly every day and goes to the church a couple times a week. He has been adding pieces to our church drum set, and we quite often have week-end excursions to acquire new hardware or accessories for the drums.

- This winter has been colder with much more snow then last, which has increased avalanche hazard significantly, so we have done very little skiing this winter.

So that's where we're at...any questions we would be more than happy to answer them:)

Star Check

2007-07-16T12:32:00.001-07:00

Geoff hauling the overhang
Andrew hanging out
Anna making it easy.

The Whistler Express

2007-05-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for Andrew to update this, but he has been busy mostly climbing, and with all this sunshine, there have been few rainy days for him to work on our blog.

I feel like we haven't been up to much, just normal life, which is great. As our friend Jeff said " It's like one day the sun just decided to stay up an extra 3 hours"- so mostly we have been taking advantage of the great weather and daylight.

Last summer after moving here Andrew was always looking for new climbing partners, and now after a year, I think he is actually having to book appointments, which is great. In addition to his love for climbing, he has rekindled his old love of drumming. He has been playing them for our church worship band and he got to help buy a new set last Saturday-which he was very excited about.

Farley got a job working at Valhalla Pure, he now goes to work nearly every day with Andrew. He chills out, digs in the recycling bin for plastic bottles to harass customers into throwing for him, that kind of thing.

I have gotten back into running with the longer days. During the winter it was too wet and dark out. I just need to find an event to train for to stay motivated.
Andrew works four, ten hour days in the summer, so he always has Fridays off, so I took most of my Fridays off all summer as well.
Every week will be a three day week end.

We hope to have lots of visitors-which is an open invitation to you all

Zip Trek

2007-02-22T17:56:00.000-08:00

So this is the start of our life online.We got our digital camera a couple weeks ago, we sort of learned how to use it, and sort of figured out how to get the picture onto the computer and now onto our page. I (Anna) also found out that there is this thing called HTML- and it helps to know how it works.
It's great to see you (our friends) have blogs, and I love to see what you're up to and see how your lives are changing.
So the purpose of this blog, is to let you know how we are.

I always said I had to wait to have a blog up until I had a camera, so that I would have some inspiration for what to write about. Then once I had the camera I needed something to inspire cool photos. There is this huge pressure to have interesting content and unless you are a talented writer (as some of you are) who can write about washing their hair and it's still entertaining- you need bells and whistles (at least for the first post).

God knew this so last week he blessed us and we won a ecotour for Zip Trek in Whistler, which is a series of ziplines down the mountain. It's nice that we have something fun to write about right away.

First they drive you up a ways, then we got to ride a snow cat further up to where we got started. As cool as it is to fly down the mountain attached to a pulley on a cable, the trip was also cool because the guides talked about the local ecology in between lines, and also about the Natural Step, which the Zip Trek company follows. The Natural Step is a four step plan to guide organizations towards sustainability. It's pretty cool, but I am not really going to go into it, but check out the link to their website. All of the lines (there were five) were conected by paths and wooden suspesion bridges that were really beuatiful. It was kind of like an Ewok Village. The longest zip line was 2200 ft, when you started you couldn't see the end, it took about 45 seconds and apparentley fly at a speed of up to 100 kph.

Ewok Village

Bombs Away!

There She Goes