It's a boy!

1.Where were you when you first found out that you were pregnant? At the Health Center on Campus of BYU-Idaho. Tyler was taking a test for finals before Christmas break...and I couldn't stand not knowing. I decided that I would have a pregnancy test while he was testing. It was fun to surprise him with the results when I saw him after he finished his test. Plus, we got to surprise our families too!

2.Who was with you? No one was when I had the actual test. Actually, another couple was waiting for their results too... it was the longest 5 minutes of waiting ever!
3.How did you find out that you were pregnant? Well, we had just recently decided that we would start trying and it had only been a month. I was dying to take a test as soon as it was my first missed period.... Tyler made me wait a few more days. Five days later.... surprise!

4.What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant? I was so excited... and happy. It took everything in me to hold in some of the excitement so that I wouldn't give away the news the second I saw Tyler. This proved to be even more difficult in keeping a surprise from our families. I was dying to tell them our news.

5.Who was the first person you told? Tyler... and then technically we told Matt, his best friend and old roommate, because he was graduating and we didn't think we'd see him anytime soon (he lives in California). He kept our secret well, and didn't say a word to anyone.

6.Did you plan to get pregnant? Yes.... and it worked out so well.
7.Did you tell everyone else right away? We didn't tell our families until Christmas. From the second I found out I was pregnant I started planning a way we could tell everyone, since we were a week from Christmas. I came up with a little poem and found a cute shadow box picture frame. The poem said this:

There's so much excitement this time of the year,

With family and friends and loved ones held dear.

There's holiday trimmings and Christmas tree lights,

Special presents with bows, and cold chilly nights,

Although we didn't get you special things that you can wear...

Tyler and Kati have some news for you that they would like to share....

For the past few months you've asked us, all we've answered was "someday", or "maybe"...

But our Christmas gift to our families this year, is that we're going to have a baby!

When we got to my parents house, I wanted to tell them right away, but not everyone was there. Finally, when everyone was together we said we wanted them to open a gift we got so everyone could enjoy it while we were there. (They totally thought it was a game). They were all shocked while Scott read. My mom was crying and so was my dad. My mom kept looking at me through the whole poem (the past few months I lied about having a period and birth control and such.... as to not excite them because we were trying.) After Scott finished my mom said, "This isn't a joke is it, because it would be really sick!" From then on.... we spread the news to our extended family and some friends.
8.Was everybody happy for you? Yes. Especially our parents, because Quincy was the first grandchild on both sides!
9.Did you go out and celebrate? Not really... just shared in the love with family and friends.
10.Did you want to find out the sex? YES... I couldn't stand to NOT know for 9 whole months!

11. What was the sex? Boy, obviously. :)

12.Did anyone throw you a baby shower? Yes, we actually had a shower AFTER Quincy was born. We were new to our ward here in Boise and so I figured I'd have a shower where people actually KNEW me. It was really fun to see everyone, and they all loved being able to hold Quincy.

13. Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you just knew that you wouldn't put on your baby? Ummmm..... I'll be honest. Yes. We got an outfit that seriously looked like a girl outfit.... it had bows and ribbons and pink and lavender and mint green balloons on it. Seriously? Did they just not know it was a boy? I dunno, but it's all good. We just laughed about it.
14.How much weight did you gain? I gained about 47, maybe closer to 50 pounds. It was horrible, and I hate looking at pictures of myself during that last month, but for your own pleasure I'll just post one to show you how HUGE I was:

(This picture was taken the morning of Quincy's birth.)
15.Did you lose all of the weight that you gained? I actually did... in the hospital I lost 30 pounds the first three days. The rest came off fairly easy through breast feeding. For a while, I think when Quincy was around 6 months... I was below my pre-pregnancy weight. Now I'm back to my normal weight.

16.Did you get any stretch marks? Did I? Can you all see that picture? My body was never made to stretch that far out. My skin hurt the last couple of weeks because it was so tight!
17.What did you crave the most? The only thing I craved was fresh oranges during my first semester... I ate like a whole box. In fact, it was the only food I could eat that didn't make me feel nauseous.

18.Did you crave anything crazy? Nope.
19.Who or what got on your nerves? Nothing really..................

20.Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? Not necessarily. I had a pretty normal pregnancy... the only thing that complicated it a little was that after preparing for a regular delivery and even going to classes... Quincy decided he didn't want to turn around. He was breech, which we found out towards the last couple of weeks. After talking to my doctor about the options, we decided to schedule a date for a c-section.... if he turned before we'd go through to my due date, luckily though everything went fine and he was born perfectly healthy.

21.Where and when did you go into labor? August 15 2007 at 1:00PM.... as scheduled at the St. Lukes Hospital down town Boise.

22.Did your water break? Nope... no worries about that because we were in the operating room.

23.Who drove you to the hospital? Tyler, it was really weird.... we were driving to the hospital and I looked over at him and said, "Well, are you ready to have a baby?" It was so surreal.
24.Who was in the room when you gave birth? Tyler and the doctors and nurses. It all went very smoothly.
25.Did you go early or late? 8 days early.
26.How long were you in labor for? I think the whole process was about 2 hours.
27.Did you have any drugs for the pain? Oh yes, a spinal block. It was the weirdest feeling. I could feel them poking and pushing to get Quincy's little body out, but there was no pain. I couldn't move anything from my chest down to my toes. I remember feeling a little scared about that... like afraid that maybe it might be permanent... but of course it wasn't.
28.Did you go natural or have a C-section? C-section, but not by choice.... it was a good thing we didn't' try to turn him in my belly though since his umbilical cord was a little shorter than normal.
29.What was your first reaction after giving birth? I was amazed to see my tiny little baby outside of my body. He was so little and precious and I wished I could have held him right away, but I still had to be stitched up. Tyler took care of him while the nurses cleaned him up. That was the only part of my delivery I would have liked to have been different, it would have been nice to hold him in my arms. After I was out of surgery I was very nauseous and throwing up.... needless to say, I didn't get to spend much quality time with Quincy right after he was born. However, it all went fine because I will forever remember Tyler holding Quincy in his arms for the first time, and looking like a pro.

30.How big was the baby? 7lbs. 6 oz. 20 inches long.
31.Did your husband cry? Not that I saw, but like I said.... I wasn't able to be with him the whole time.

32.What did you name the baby? Quincy James Howard.... we didn't decide on James for a middle name until I was on the operating table.
33.Does his name have any significant meaning? My grandparents really wanted us to use their names. Although I love my grandparents, I wasn't too fond of their names. We both like the name Quincy, which is also the closest town to them in Washington.... we decided that it was a good way to please them. We liked the name Quincy James, and thought it flowed well together. It was almost Quincy Taylor. He's definitely a Quincy James though.

34.Did you have any visitors? Because we knew when Quincy was going to be born my parents were able to fly in from WA. and of course Tyler's parents were 45 minutes away. Both of our parents were there. My brother Spencer, and Tyler's sister Kelly also came.

35.Did he have any complications? No, in fact when he was born the doctors said he looks so healthy.... he could have been born a week earlier. I thought, "Oh, thanks for sharing that info. since I carried him through all those hot July and august months of 100*plus!"

36.How old is your baby today? 16 months.
37.When is the next one coming? Ha ha....now wouldn't you all like to know! Probably in the future sometime. :) That's all you need to know.
38.If you could, would you do it all over again? Yes, of course.... look at how cute he was:

39.Tag five: Everyone! I want to hear YOUR pregnancy and birth stories.