Where It All Began

I thought I would begin where it all began........We (Paul and Gladys) were married on May 5, 2000 in the Orlando Florida Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We could not have had more beautiful spring weather...........AND who would have thought that a year and a half later November 14, 2001 we would have been so richly blessed with...........

........Nicole Diane Waters. My pregnancy with her was a breeze. I gained 31 lbs. She was born 5 days early. Labor was another story. I had about 12 hrs of labor with about an hour and a half of pushing. She decided that she was going to come out face up (posterior-"loved the back labor" :)) with her head against her shoulder. So I ended up with an epidural at 7 cm and a 2nd degree tear. IT WAS ALL WORTH IT THOUGH. She didn't take to nursing even though I was producing plenty of milk (her pediatrician called me a cow), so I pumped for a month and a half.





Nicole , November 2002

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!!










Here is Nicole (left) (almost 5 years old) all grown up last September 2006 with her baby sister Michelle (right), who was our 2nd blessing. They were playing on my hospital bed the morning after I gave birth to Tison.







Michelle Aileen Waters, born October 11, 2003. She was born 11 days early. My pregnancy with her was not as easy. I was sick for the first 4 months. I gained 33lbs. My labor with her was completely different. I arrived to the hospital and had her within an hour of arriving. When we made it to the hospital I was 3 cm dialated. The nurse said that I would deliver in 5 hours. Yeah Right? 45 minutes later I was 8 cm and she was scrambling to call my OBGYN. The pain was horrible, it was like one long contraction for that full hour with no time for air inbetween. They had me on oxygen and I was unable to get an epidural (which was fine) because of how quickly the labor progressed. For both pregnancies I was Strep B positive. She came so quickly that they couldn't administer the antibiotics, so on top of her having to stay over night in the NICU because she wasn't breathing well she had to stay a total of 9 days to recieve atibiotics. The nurses said that her high white blood cell counts must have been a fluke because she was perfectly healthy.




Michelle, October 2004!


HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!!










January 2005, with my 2 beautiful girls!

This picture was taken by our friend Natalie Copeland, outside her home.
One year and a half later we were blessed with our 3rd blessing.........







........Tison Layne Waters. He was born September 5, 2006. I gained 30 lbs. He came 13 days early. When I was 4 cm dialated my midwife decided to induce labor. She feared me not getting to the hospital in time to get the antibiotics for the Strep B and she was also afraid that I would be having him on the side of the highway because of how quick my 2nd labor was. She gave me a little bit of pitocin. My body started doing what it needed to and he was born in 3 hours. NO EPIDURAL! It killed but my recovery is so much better without the epidurals. Paul is a great partner to have during labor. All my labors have given me back pain and he applied a good amount of counter pressure on my lower back which helped a great deal during the contractions.

So now it is March 2007... Our family has been almost 7 years in the making and we couldn't be happier!