Life after child birth...

It has been almost two months since my last post...One thing that has contributed to my lack of commitment to this blog lately, besides my new baby, is that I joined Facebook. Some of my friends had been trying to get me to join for months and I finally gave in. Well, now my husband is on my case because I am hooked- at least I have been for a few weeks!!! I love it! I can't believe that I waited this long to join. Anyways, I will be limiting my Facebook use in the future, so that I can devote my time to more important things, like raising my child.

Since Logan was born, mine and Sy's life has been quite different as we knew it would be. She is amazing and now we can't imagine our lives without her! The first two weeks after she was born was a bit rough for me. Adjusting to a new baby, as well as, dealing with exhaustion, hormones, breastfeeding, and wondering if your body will ever be the same again can take its toll on anyone. After about two weeks, though, things settled down. I began to really get use to Logan and use to my new role as mommy.

One thing that really surprised me is how much breastfeeding hurt in the beginning. I had read article after book after article that stated that breastfeeding should NOT hurt; which is why I couldn't understand why after about 2 days of it, I wanted to cut off my boobs and put them on ice for about a week. I was absolutely baffled! Every time Logan would latch on, I seriously wanted to scream. Well the pain did go away after about 2-3 weeks and not a moment too soon! I vividly remember the first time I got into the shower and could let the water from the shower head hit my chest- it was that serious! Now- breastfeeding is a complete joy! I love it- no pain at all. I figured out that what all those articles and books that give instruction on breastfeeding don't tell you is that your boobs have to go through a 2-3 week initiation period first...if you make it through you get inducted into the motherhood sorority.

Another thing that I noticed about myself after Logan was born was that my voice had changed. At first my voice sounded like I was going hoarse or like I was catching a cold or something. I thought that it would just go away in a few days. Well, days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Eventually, I began to sound like a teenage boy going through puberty. I would be talking and all of a sudden my voice would go really high and then really low and then back to normal. I could not for the life of me figure out what was wrong and people started noticing it. I sounded terrible. One day me and a friend of mine decided to take Logan for a walk and we started talking about my voice. She asked me when I first noticed the change in my voice and I told her that it changed right after Logan was born. She paused a second and then asked if I yelled a lot while I was giving birth to her. All of a sudden it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I didn't yell while giving birth to Logan- I SCREAMED bloody murder trying to get that child out. It was bad. I have never screamed so long, loud, and hard in my entire life. Many people in that hospital probably thought I was dying. My delivery room was on the second floor and my sister in law had to go to the bathroom during the delivery, which was on the first floor. She said that she could hear me screaming in the bathroom on the first floor! So I think that I must have damaged my vocal cords or something because Logan will be 10 weeks old this Sunday and I still sound a HOT MESS!

As I said before, Logan will be 10 weeks this Sunday, July 19!!! My baby is getting soooo big!!! One thing that has totally shocked me over the past 10 weeks has been my weight loss. I was back down to the weight I was before I got pregnant about 2 weeks ago. YEAH! I do, however still have a little pudge belly, but over the past two weeks it seems to be disappearing too! Yippeeee! All I have done is walk with Logan about 2-3 times a week and that's about it...It's got to be the breastfeeding. All that torture of breastfeeding on the front end is worth it if I get my flat tummy back now!

Logan is a wonderful baby and I LOVE being a mommy!!! Me and Sy think that she is the most wonderful beautiful little thing that we have ever seen. I can't believe how much she has grown and changed. She is holding her head up on her own and smiling and trying to talk- baby talk that is. Being a mommy brings a whole new meaning to the word 'servant'. It is the hardest and most rewarding job there is- hands down. Logan had her six week check-up on the 25 June. she had already grown 7cm- she was 57 cm total and she weight 4.95 kilos- almost 11 pounds (she was 7 pounds- 8 ounces at birth). Little stinker!

Logan is discovering all the time...She loves to look at wall art, patterns, bright colors, etc. I love it when I walk in a room or walk past her and she follows me with her eyes- she doesn't know much right now, but she knows who her mommy is. She loves to eat! When ever she walks up from a nap the first things that she wants to do is eat. We go to the doctor for another checkup today so I will keep ya'll posted on her progress!

Logan Alexia Saevarsdottir- Part 3

Logan napping...
Logan napping with daddy...
Logan and her great-grandma Stella...
Napping again...
This was Logan's first night at home in her crib...She had a good night's rest!

Logan Alexia Saevarsdottir- Part 2

Logan taking a nap in her crib...She knows how to relax!
I love this picture of Logan and Sy having a heart to heart...She looks so cute looking up at her daddy!
This is Bothildur- the midwife that delivered Logan.
Logan sleeping and sun bathing. We try to let her get a little bit of sun everyday to make sure the juandis stays away.
Logan with her Aunt Sirry.

Logan Alexia Saevarsdottir...

Our baby girl made her debut into the world on Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 2:38pm- on Mother's Day of all days!!! What an unbelievable, awesome, totally perfect, precious Mother's Day gift!
Getting her here was quite a challenge to say the least, so I guess I will start from the beginning.
I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for about 2 weeks on and off. On Saturday, May 9 me and Sy had planned to go to Reykjavik to spend the day with his parents and have dinner with them that evening. We got to the city at about 4:00pm that afternoon and we all decided to go for a walk because the weather was so nice. The 'walk' turned more into a short hike, as we were walking small hills, etc. I was exhausted after the walk. I started having contractions at dinner that evening at about 8:00pm. Of course I was thinking that these were the same ole Braxton Hicks contractions that I had been having. After dinner I decided that I wanted to see the new X-men movie- Wolverine. Me and Sy decided to go to see the 10:00pm showing of the movie that night. My contractions continued throughout the entire movie and on our way home to Selfoss and all during the night as I tried to sleep. Needless to say, I did not get any sleep that night. I got up at about 4:30am Sunday morning and decided to Goggle what it would feel like when my water broke. I felt as though it was time because my contractions had never lasted this long before. After my research I laid back down and tried to sleep.
At about 7:30am I felt a gush of liquid flow into my undergarments. My reaction woke Sy and I told him that I thought that my water had broke. He got up and called the midwife and told her my symptoms. She told me that I could come to the hospital whenever I was ready. I took a shower and Sy gathered our things and we headed to the hospital. We got to the hospital at about 10:00am.
The midwife that was on call that morning was Bothildur. Unfortunately, we had not gotten the opportunity to meet her during any of our doctor's appointments. She hooked me up to a machine for about 15 minutes to monitor my contractions and mine and the baby's heartbeats. She then checked to see if I had dialated any and determined that I was dialated 3-4. She then moved us to the room where I would deliver the baby. This entire time my coontractions were getting more and more intense.
Once we got to the delivery room I immediately decided that I wanted to get into the hot tub, since throughtout my entire pregnancy hot water always helped to ease the pain of the contractions. I stayed in the hot tub for the next 2.5 hours. At one point I thought that Logan might be born in the hot tub, but I got to a point to where NOTHING was helping the pain. We all decided that it might help if I changed scenery for a while so I got out of the hot tub and went to the bed. Bothildur checked me to see how much I had dialated- I was at about a 7. She also broke my water at that point- which wasn't broken as I had previously had thought. When she broke my water the floodgates opened- literally! Tons of warm water gushed between my legs for what seemed like an eternity. Not only that but my contractions began to become excruciatating. I have NEVER felt such pain. The midwife tried accupuncture, laughing gas, changing my positions to comfort me and NOTHING was working. Sy was trying to be as encouraging as he possibly could but to no avail. I was in pain!
About this time, my mother-in-law (Elsa) and sister-in-law (Saedis) came into the room. They began to caress and massage me and fan me (I was so hot!). Sy would also fan me and give me water which provided VERY temporary comfort.
After about an hour or so in the bed, Bothildur came to check for dialation again and I basically told her no! I did not not want her to touch me ( I was not in my right mind at this point not to mention I was soooooo exhausted)because everytime she checked me it seemed like the contraction that came after was ten times worse. Well she didn't listen- I was just about dialated to 10.
At that point, Bothildur began to prepare the room for the birth of the baby- it was about 2:00pm. I began to push at about 2:00pm and it was the hardest thing that I have EVER had to do in my ENTIRE life. After about 10 minutes of pushing, Bothildur kicked Elsa and Saedis out of the room. She really needed me to focus and she felt like they were maybey babying me and showing a little too much compassion (Me and Sy deteremined after the pregnancy that Bothildur is kindof a 'get-it-done, no non-sense' type of midwife- which is exactly what I needed!). I continued to push for another 10 minutes or so and at that point I was really beginning to feel like I couldn't get her out. Twenty minutes of pushing seemed like an eternity and I soooooo completely exhausted and I just felt like I did not have any energy or strength left. After every push I felt like I couldn't do it again, but somehow I did. After about 25 minutes the midwife could tell that Logan was getting weak and her heartbeat was slowing down. She didn't tell me that, but she and Sy knew that the baby was in distress. Sy went into 'you-can-do-it-Dasha' mode and he became my biggest motivator/cheerleader. After his little pep talk speech I took a good rest in-betweeen the contractions and tried to muster as much strength as I could. When I felt the next contraction come I pushed with ALL my might and Sy got really excited and told me that he could see her head ( I thought to myself finally some progress which was a huge motivator). After that and another three good pushes- she was out.
When she came out the umbilical cord was wrapped around her head twice, which is way she was getting weak. But she was perfectly fine and no harm was done. She did cry right away for about 5 minutes. I, on the other hand, did not cry. I was so happy that she was out and I think that I was too exhausted to shed tears. All my energy was gone!
The whole natural birth experience is one that I don't think I will EVER forget. I remember all the mothers that told me that once they place that baby in your arms- how you forget all about the pain. Well, all I have to say to that is- LIE, LIE, LIE!!!!!!!!! Was my baby worth the pain? YES!...Will I ever forget the pain? NO! Me and Sy have always said that we want at least three children. At this point in time- Logan may be an only child!
I have a whole new respect for mother's, especially single mother's...I have a whole new respect for my body! It is truly amazing how God created women to experience and partake in the process of childbirth- how our body'sustain this little life for nine months and then produce milk to sustain it after it's born. I am continually amazed and blown away by the awesomness of God.
Well our little angel is here and she is truly precious! We stayed in the hospital 4 days after she was born. We had planned to stay 2 days, but ended up staying an extra 2 days because Logan was juandis and had to sleep under a heat lamp for 24 hours. She is better now and is doing great. She basically eats, sleeps, and poops- the life of a newborn!
We went back and forth on her name for many. many months. My mom actually came up with Logan (thanks momma!), which I love ( I love unisex names for girls), but Sy really didn't but into it at first. He wanted something more 'girly'. He loved the name Alexia, which is really 'girly' and its also a family name for him (his great-grandmother and his sister Saedis both have the name Alexia). So we decided on Logan Alexia Saevarsdottir. Logan weighed 7lbs-8oz when she was born and was 20 inches long. Her daddy and I think that she is the most beautiful baby in the world- we could be just a bit biased!

39 down...1 to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe we are finally down to the 1 week mark...We can't wait to see her and we are really hoping that she is early!!!!
I am ready...bags are packed...diapers are bought...bottles have been sterilized...baby clothes are washed! We are just waiting for our little angel- whenever she decides that she's ready!
Sy talks to her every night and tries to persuade her to come out and see us!!! It's so precious...
I am ready for her to be out of me!!!...About two weeks ago I was sleeping sitting straight up in the bed, but I have started to recline a little more this week. Every morning I wake up I feel like I have been beat to a pulp- my hands always feel numb. I have alot of energy in the mornings, which is when I try to get my cleaning and some cooking done, but after about 3-4pm I am done. Heartburn is pretty much an all day affair and I am pretty much going to the bathroom every 30 minutes- lots of pressure on my bladder at all times! I am about ready to smack all of the ladies that talked about how great pregnancy was- I hate it!!!!
We went to see the midwife last tuesday morning and everything was great. My blood pressure, sugar, protein, etc are all good. The baby's heartbeat is good, her head is down and her head is in the right position so everything is ready to go. The midwife said that i was doing really well. We have another appointment tomorrow (Tuesday, May 5).
Everyone has been asking me if I have dilated any? The answer to that question is 'I don't know'. Here in Iceland they don't check for dilation unless there is a reason too, for example if I have been having consistent contractions or something...I am really starting to appreciate the methods and practices of childbirth that are used here. There are so many differences between the Icelandic and American cultures when it comes to childbirth. Iceland has the mentality that if there is not a need to check something- they don't. If your pregnancy is normal and there are no complications or concerns then everything is really laid back. They just kinda let nature take its course and when things happen, they happen. They would never induce a patient out of convenience, give a patient a C-section out of convenience, etc. They are even apprehensive about giving epidurals unless there are complications. Here, childbirth is a normal, natural process- women have been having babies since the beginning of time. Sometimes, I feel like in America there are alot of processes and proceudres that occur that aren't really necessary (not for health or safety reasons- soley for convenience) and that interrupt the natural flow of things. Everything that is permissible is not always beneficial.
My midwife did tell me that they will not let me go 2 weeks past my due date, due to health and safety concerns, so that's was comforting...I don't want to go 2 hours past my due date, in fact, I really hope that she's early!!!!
I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions for about a week and a half now. In the beginning, I was having them only in the mornings for about 2-3 hours. Now I am having them at night for about 3 hours or so. Its comforting knowing that my body is at least trying to prepare itself for this delivery and not just hanging out.
Me and Sy have been having conversations lately about a name. We are still nowhere! It's ridculous! Our baby girl may not have a name for a while- even after she is born! Everyone please pray and we send our apologies to all the Americans who want to kill us for not having a name yet!

My neice- Khloe Che'lynn!!!!!

While I was in the States I got to help deliver my niece- Khloe Che'lynn. She is the most precious little thing ever! Yes, I am a proud auntie!!! Alot of people told me that I was very brave to be in the delivery room with my sister, knowing that I was about to experience child birth myself in a few months. My sister was sooooo brave and she delivered Khloe WITHOUT an epidural!!! Since I will be delivering my baby here in Iceland without an epidural (unless there are complications), her experience gave me very real view of what to expect in my own delievery. I do understand, however, that our experiences can and probably will be totally different.
Childbirth, to say the least, is so amazing. I cannot even describe how intense and wonderful the whole thing was. I am so glad, however, that I have will have a little over two months to mentally prepare myself for my own baby's birth.
Tamara was induced early Monday morning on February 23. Her water broke at 8:30am that morning. She was in labor for about 7 hours and Khloe was born at 3:19pm that afternoon. I got to cut the umblical cord! It was awesome! Tamara's nurse and her doctor were both great and they took good care of her, but I will have to say that our mom was the MVP!!! Momma was awesome! She was soooooo encouraging and motivating! She really helped Tamara make it through.
Khloe weighed 6lbs-14ozs and was 19.5 inches long. She is about 6 weeks old now and she weighs almost 10 lbs! The pics below were taken when she was first born.

This is Khloe when she was just a few minutes old...I was so shocked at how rough the nurse was with her...She handled her more like a football rather than a newborn baby!

Khloe and her nana!!!

Khloe and her auntie!!!

Look at that precious sleeping baby!!!!

A little fussy here...She was probably hungry!

Ahhhhhh! That's better...

Baby Showers...

My trip to the states was great!!! It had its moments of frustration and heartache. Getting there was a total headache because I missed my connection from JFK airport in NY to Nashville and I spent literally 24 hours in JFK airport. I was supposed to arrive in Nashville at 10:30pm on Friday, February 13 and then drive to Huntsville; however I didn't get to Huntsville until 9:30am on Sunday, February 15. It was one big mess to say the least! I did, however, learn many valuable lessons in international travel. I also vowed to NEVER again travel internationally by myself when I am 7 months pregnant.
I made to Huntsville just in time for my sister's baby shower, or so I thought. We traveled to Florence, AL that Sunday afternoon for the shower. I got there to find out that the shower was for me too! My mom planned the whole thing and she had several of our close friends and family help her pull it off. It was so beautiful and it was so wonderful to see everyone!
Some of my dearest girlfriends from church planned a baby shower for me the next weekend- Sunday February 22. It was wonderful and again, I was sooooo happy to see everyone. The shower was beautiful! I want to thank everyone from church that helped plan the shower! I absolutely loved it! I also want to thank everyone that came. It meant so much to me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This is a picture of some of my dearest girlfriends. We all go to church together and they are some of the ones responsible for planning my church baby shower (from left to right: Cani, Stephanie, April, me, Stacy, and Emily). I love ya'll and God Bless you!
This a another picture of some of my dearest girlfriends (from left to right: Shotha, LaDonna, me, Quita, Andrea, Kendra, and Angel in front). We all played basketball together in college at UAH. Go Lady Chargers! I was soooo happy to see all of them at the baby shower. I love when we all get together. We just pick right up where we left off! I love you guys!
Me, my mom (Linda), Angel, and my sister (Tamara) at my church baby shower. Momma looks like she's a sister too, doesn't she. It's sickening, I know!

This is a picture of a blanket that was given to me by Angel (pictured above). Angel goes to church with us and is one of my baby's. She made this blanket (with help from Wanda) for our baby girl. This blanket was one of the sweetest, most precious gifts I received.
Here's a pic of the table decorations from the church shower. Everything was so beautiful! Thanks Joanna!
This is a picture of the gifts from my church shower. I was overwhelmed by everyone's kindness and generosity! I got some really beautiful gifts and I had a hard time getting everything back to Iceland. But don't fret, I got everything in one huge duffle bag thanks to Stephanie, Natelie, and space savers!!
Me and Tamara with our baby bellies! I love this picture! I am about 28 weeks and she is about 38-39 weeks.
Me and my sister at our baby shower in Florence.


The cake that my mom had made for us for our baby shower in Florence! This is the most beautiful baby shower cake I have ever seen!!!! Thanks mom- you are the best!!!! I love you!

Her first pictures...

Our baby girl had her first pictures taken on Tuesday, February 10. We had our 4D ultrasound that morning and it was truly amazing!!! We are in love and seeing her just made us so much more anxious to meet her in person! We had a time getting her to cooperate at first- she was still sleeping and 10:30am is really early for her to be up and moving around. She is already a night owl- every night at about 10:30pm she starts having a party!!! So the midwife and I tried several techniques to get her to move those little hands from the front of her face. She finally began to cooperate. She was so precious- moving, and drinking, and sucking her fingers!

The first thing that we noticed when we got a good view of her was that she definitely has my nose! The umbilical cord is draped around her neck in these pictures. The midwife said that its just floating there and not choking her or anything. It looks kind of like a scarf (she is already stylish like her momma!).
Here she is sucking her little fingers. This ultrasound truly gave new meaning to Psalm 139:13-17 which reads:
"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous- and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable!"

We thank God for this precious little life- we already know that the Heavenly Father is as crazy about her as we are!

Finally, Pictures!!!

The two pictures above and below are of the market were I volunteer about 3 times a week. This market was started by the church that we go to here in Selfoss. People in this community donate items (i.e clothes, furniture, dishes, etc) that they don't want anymore and we take the items and sell them at low prices. Part of the proceeds go to help the ABC foundation, which is a foundation that helps children in Africa go to school. The other half of the proceeds go to help families here in Selfoss that are struggling during these hard economic times. Our church and this market has been a tremendous blessing to me and to this community. It gives me something to look forward to, it gets me out into the community, allows me to meet people, and it helps me learn Icelandic! I love being able to serve the Lord in this way!


I wanted to give ya'll a little comparison of how much I have grown. The picture above and below is what I looked like in January. The two picutures below that is what I looked like at Christmas. I don't know about you but I can tell a difference! I'm glad- that means my little princess is growing!

Me at Christmas- December 2008.
Me on Christmas Eve.
This is Sy paying for our doctor's visit. We are not in the Icelandic social medical system yet- its a six month process to get in. We bought medical insurance before we came and thought that it would cover the pregnancy, but when we got here we found out that it did not. We will get into the system in April- praise God- right before the baby is born in May. We pay for all of our visits in cash and that is something that the receptionists are not use to (they don't recieve many cash payments) becasue no one hardly ever pays- everyone in Iceland is in the system. Consequently, we get charged a different price for our visits almost every time we go. Thankfully, it's not very expensive overall, especially considering what we would have to pay in the States if we didn't have medical insurance.
This is a me getting checked by the midwife. She usually checks to find the bottom of my uterus and then she checks the baby's heartbeat, among other things. On this visit, as she was checking the heartbeat, I noticed that the heartbeat was slower than it usually is. Just as I was thinking that the midwife goes "judging by this heartbeat, I would say that you are having a boy." Me and Sy looked at each other and then at her and Sy goes "our sonar showed that we are having a girl". Well, that did it for me! I made Sy call and make us an appointment to get a 4D sonar- we need to make sure that our girl is a girl!!! Our 4D ultrasound is scheduled for February 10 and we are so excited!!!! Our next checkup is also February 10 at 8:00am and after that we head to Reykjavik for the 4D which is at 10:30am. We will have a busy morning.

This is the building that we go to to get our checkups. No I will not have our baby here. The picture above this one is the waiting room inside this building. You can barely see the sign on the right side of this building in this picture, but its called Hvita Husid in Icelandic or White House (a fitting name, don't you think). We took these pictures during our last visit, which was January 20.

I can't believe it's 2009...

Well, I really can't believe that it's 2009. I am looking forward to a lot of new things this year. For one thing, I will become a baby's momma this year!!! I will also become an auntie to my new little niece, Khloe!! Hopefully, I will also become half way fluent in Icelandic this year with a lot of grace and mercy from the Lord! Oh, one more important thing- I turn 30 this year!!!! Oh, my goodness!!!! What the crap- 30! Anyways, this should be a wonderful year!
The FSU basketball team played their first game since the Christmas break Friday night...I am soooooo happy to report that they won! It was a close one (83-82). It was a great game...Saevar played really well. I was really proud of him and the entire team for keeping their composure throughout the game. Their next game is this Friday night I believe.
I have a prayer request for anyone reading this blog. One our friends and Sy's teammates, Arni (pronounced Out-nee), has been asking a lot of questions about the Lord. He is one of the sweetest guys that I have ever met. Arni went to bible study with me, Sy and Tyler last week for the first time ever (He did not grow up in the church). The bible study is really small and intimate and people are really free to share openly. We thought that it would be great for Arni to experience. We are studying a lesson by Rick Warren, the author of the book, "The Purpose Driven Life". That night we talked about the priorities in our life and if the Lord is top priority in our lives. Arni really enjoyed the group and the study...He said afterwards that he didn't feel weird being there at all and I praise the Lord for that because I feel like alot of Icelanders that aren't Christians have a lot of preconceived notions about Christians, church, etc. Arni's heart is really open to the Lord right now so I just want to ask anyone reading this blog, who is a believer, to please pray for Arni's salvation and that the Lord would continue to draw him unto Himself. Arni will be attending the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) next year on a basketball scholarship!!! Also pray that he will get involved with the right crowd next year that will encourage him in the Lord.
My sweet husband got me three hours of massages for Christmas this year. It's probably one the best presents he has ever gotten me!!! I went for my first massage Wednesday of last week. It was awesome!!!!! The massage table had a big hole cut out for my belly and everything!!! The massage tech was Icelandic but she lived in Scotland for eight years where she got her license. We talked the entire hour pretty much. She has three children ages 4,5, and 6! I was impressed that they were all back to back because I have been thinking recently that if me and Sy are going to have three children (Sy said recently that he wants 4 kids- everyone please PRAY) they are going to have to be back to back as well. I am going for my second massage tomorrow morning!
The baby is doing great! I feel her moving all the time now. I am about 23 weeks now and I weight 86.3 kilos (which is about 187 pounds and I still have 4 months to go- again everyone please PRAY)!!! Today all of a sudden I am experiencing some heartburn, acid reflux kinda symptoms- not liking it too much...
We are still working on a name for our baby girl, but I don't think that we are remotely close to coming to a consensus...
That's all for now...Happy New Year!!!