13 Guilty Pleasures: Confession Time

13. Watching The Sing-Off. It inspired me to write this post since last week they had a guilty pleasures night where the groups sang those songs that everyone knows the words to whether they want to admit it or not. Plus, Vocal Point is still in the running. In college, I was in an A Capella group called the Skirts, and our stage director was a member of Vocal Point.

12. Cooking. This is new. Used to hate it. Don't tell my husband. And wall stickers. Love 'em! you can put them up and take them down all without the messy paint job. I guess that was 2 guilty pleasures.

11. My Son Exploring My Face. You could have millions of good-looking guys check you out over the course of your life time and none will even come close to comparing to your child touching and memorizing every detail you have in your face. You'll never feel more beautiful to someone in your life no matter if you are wearing make up or not.

10. Portuguese. Te Amo. I will speak it whenever I get the chance. Especially if that means helping Senior missionary couples at the MTC. Or if I get to socialize with awesome fun-loving Brazilians.

9. Dancing Like No One is Watching with Kez. Too much said. I especially love it when he is cuddly and lays his head on my shoulder.

8. Listening to the Hubster Play Guitar and Sing. This may not happen for a few weeks up to a month and a half because he broke his arm Tuesday :(. I used to love playing and singing myself as often as I could, but I feel like he's way better than me, and have totally been slacking off in the continuation of developing my own talent in this regard. I'd rather listen to him.

7. Reeses. Let's be honest- anything with peanut butter and chocolate.

6. Shimmery Eye Make Up. Love when other people wear it and when I wear it. Glam up those eyes baby! You only live once. Or more if you're Buddhist.

5. Silver. That is why I am going to be this element for Halloween. Complete with periodic table and nerdy silver glasses. Kez will be gold and MJ bronze. If we can find medals and figure out costumes...

4. Albert Einstein. Why am I so infatuated with this man? Oh ya, because he was not afraid to be DIFFERENT! I've written a whole biography on his life after researching everything I could about him. My friend Windy even sketched me his picture one Christmas in high school. Later on she died from malaria in Indonesia, so this is one of my most prized possessions of all time. My college roommate Carly (now Miss Smart) got me a life-size poster of his quotes for my birthday, and Sam bought me an Einstein book for Christmas. I even met him once. In a wax museum, but is that really relativity? :) According to him, he could have possibly transcended time.

3. Writing Songs. Yes, I do. If you haven't heard We Are All One that we wrote together, you can check it out here- http://www.myspace.com/marshalljensen. I wrote one in college called Speck of Doubt. When I dated different musicians, I would ask them to put the words to music for me. When I gave this assignment to the man I was dating at the time, he owned it. On the piano! One reason I knew I could marry this musician. Here is one I wrote about his life on his birthday 2 years ago, but haven't sang since then:

Remember the Lines:
Vs. 1> A mother's tears drop on a fresh face. A sincere soul is born into the human race. In a house in Logan, with God's grace. The baby's bright eyes would remember every line on his mom's face.
CHORUS: He remembers the lines. Lines that stay with him forever. The lines that made life mine; these are the lines he'll always remember.
Vs. 2> He can't see the lines on his mom's face and what they say. She's watching her boy deep in coma after another whole day. Groups of people come together and they pray. He awakes and he remembers all the lines for the school play. CHORUS.
Vs. 3> From buying lemonade at the little girl's stand to helping the Italian widow to stand. A white car drives along listening to band after band. The white car's paint is chipping, where the lines once were it's missing. CHORUS
SECRET VERSE> Contemplating God's words he sits; the woman in white says it will be a few more minutes. The sealer says just what they'd discussed- Eternal lines of inspiration and trust. CHORUS

I was going to sing the secret verse at one of our receptions, but I'd rather just listen to him. See Guilty Pleasure number 8.

2. Science Books. I sure hope I have a child who likes science as much as I do because I have SO MANY huge college text books and just fun reads that I would like to share with someone! Most of them are chemistry and biology. I love knowledge.

1. Kezman's Smile. I know I probably spoil him, but I'd rather see him happy than sad no matter what. Here's another song I wrote about my top guilty pleasure.
Smile Miracle Man:
Vs. 1> If only I could save up every smile
because no matter what the mood or pain,
that incredible smile reflects on my face.
Staring and trying just to catch a glimpse
of that perfect mouth turning up to wince.
Chorus: He's a miracle man once in a while.
And his magic lies in his smile.
A smile that erases all the pain,
A smile that puts all others to shame.
Worth more than all the pearls in the sea,
That smile is a miracle to me.
Vs. 2> I'd wait for hours just for one smile
Fishing for that dimple worth more than a pearl.
It's a miracle that it lights up not only his face,
Reflections of the onlooker puts another smile in place.
And that's why Chorus.

Thanks for letting me confess a few guilty pleasures and record these things on my obsequious allotment of internet.

A Birth Story: Finally

The above name Finally signifies two things: 1) that I am finally posting it after 3.5 months (I have some pregnant friends I figured might want to read it since I loved reading any and every birth story while I was pregnant) and 2) that he finally came after being in labor for so long.

I've had a little extra time today with the K-man eating around the clock and I found the e-mail I wrote to my brio birth teacher just 3 days after he was born, so I will just copy and paste to make it easy for me and the story will still feel fresh. Also, at one point my dad gave me a priesthood blessing and I must have been so out of it, I didn't really know what he said, but just felt confident. Marshall later on told me that after the words flowed of trial and hardship, he was thinking, "What in the world is about to happen?" Here it is:

Finally after being in labor off and on for a week (by that I mean hard contractions that would wake me up, get to 5 minutes apart then trickle back to 7-20 minutes apart) and practically no sleep- maybe 15 minutes to an hour here and there- the contractions picked up again on a Wednesday night. Hubby and I worked through them together and all night they were 5-7 minutes apart. At 5 am, we had our neighbor 'doula' come over and we worked through contractions throughout the house with her. She was awesome and knew just what to do to get me through them. They were coming about 4 minutes apart and our goal was to go to the hospital at 3 minutes apart.

Well after a few hours, they started spreading out again like they had been all week, so I figured it was a no go. We sent the 'doula' home, called the midwife and she said if they get to 4 minutes apart again to go in to the hospital. Otherwise, take a percocet and go to sleep because I had not slept all week and that's not good going into labor. Well, they got to 4 minutes apart again that next hour and we called my mom and said we don't know if this is it because I had been feeling the contractions like that all week. We went to the hospital at 9 am where they checked me and said I was at a 3 and 80% effaced. They said they'd monitor me for an hour and see if it was active labor.

An hour later I was 3+ and 95% effaced, so they called the midwife and she admitted me. My midwife came and broke my water to finally get things going after weeks of weird labor contractions (I had not wanted my water broken, but I felt that at this point if she didn't I would have just been in labor for even more days. I was glad that cytotec would not be administered after all since I was effaced so well. I had been worried because the midwife had told me she would induce me with this drug the next week since I would have been 42 weeks along. I had researched the drug known as cytotec and did NOT want to use it or even be induced at all.

I labored for hours through hard, constant contractions with hubby and moms at my side. They got really intense to the point where I scratched my husband in the face and I felt that maybe this was transition. The midwife checked me and I was at a 4- a 4! After being a 3+ almost 7 hours earlier! I was out of control and couldn't take it any longer. I told my husband that I wanted an epidural a few times and he was very good at ignoring me. After a few intense and mean contractions I said it again and then I said let's wait half an hour. Then I screamed it thinking there was no way I would continue to dilate if I was not relaxed and I was exhausted. I received the epi and loved labor after that. I asked my husband if he would still love me if I got it :).

I am glad I screamed that; contractions were so consistent before this, and after receiving the epidural I could rest and labor proceeded well until I was at a 10. They let me rest for an hour and a half after getting to a 10 before we began pushing at 2 am. I was so tired the only way I could push was take off all my clothes and coach and pep myself up with the hubs throwing ice and water all over me. I pushed for 3 hours and my midwife called back-up because obviously something was wrong when the head started crowing (baha, that would be a major problem if I gave birth to a crow), I meant crowning. He ended up being posterior and I could see little blisters on the top of his head from him rubbing the wrong part of my bone when they positioned the mirror. Since he was not in the right position at all to come out, I was yelling- just get him out! Do whatever you have to do! It was probably more of a weak sauce sentence, but from my exhausted body I felt like I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I was pushing 1 min apart contractions which I could feel perfectly since the epidural had worn off. The back-up doctor was amazing- he knew right away the baby was posterior where the midwife did not. He started putting forceps in and despite all I had studied about how terrible forceps are, I was just relieved that the baby would finally be here but hoped he would be okay after that. The doctor didn't even ask and I didn't know it but he gave me an episiotomy. Later on he told me that I was one of three episiotomies he had performed that year. Well, at least I know he is not episiotomy happy. Um, shucks, I feel...special.

I pushed hard that last time and he was out. I was so delirious, but I do remember seeing his red body dangling and he was not crying. I knew something was wrong because they whisked him away and would not let my husband cut the chord like we had planned. I kept screaming why isn't he crying! (Probably when I say screaming, that's more of an emotion- I don't think I had energy for anything including opening my eyes at that point). Another man came in and I heard the word meconium and hubby say he was going with our son to the NICU. I guess they did not want him breathing until they cleared it out so it wouldn't go in his lungs. They said that he would remain there for probably 48 hours. I was like- no! After all that! Just wheel me over in a bed- I want to see him. I still had to get stitched up and I told my midwife I could feel it while she was stitching so they had to use some form of anesthesia so I couldn't. I ended up with a 3rd degree tear :( but signed up as part of a study for women with third degree tears or worse.

A little more than an hour later, they brought him back to me! That's it! He made a wonderful comeback going from an Apagar score of 2 at birth to an 8 in a couple hours. It was mostly his breathing that made it so low. But he is amazing and is so strong with a great recovery and story. And beautiful! My husband also sent a video of him so I could see what was going on when they whisked him away, and he wasn't crying in the video either even though his airway was clear at that point.

He was born Saturday June 11th at 5:34 am weighing 7 lbs 5 oz, and was 21.5 inches long. However, he lost his height down to 19.75 inches a few days later because he lost his ninja turtle shaped scalp. Recovery has been difficult, and this is not the fairy tale all natural birth we wanted, but a beautiful little boy is here! I also learned that just because your entire pregnancy goes perfectly does not mean your birth story will. And I am very glad that intervention is available in extreme circumstances and have vowed I will never have a child again :)

Yes, we do dew too much.

We've invented a new drink at our house called a dew driver. It is 1/2 mountain dew and 1/2 orange juice. Some of you might understand the name now :). It keeps us going through our crazy days and lately there seems to be more of those especially on the weekends. Mostly I like it because it is yellow mixed with green, which are of course the colors of Brasil. Speaking of Brasil, we went to the festival they do every year at a local mall.

Of course, we dressed Kez up in yellow and green as well. And he danced true Brazilian style with my Brazilian friend.

Kez and I took a little trip to Jackson to see the Bar J Wranglers true country style. I wished his daddy would have been there for the last song. They sang about a Father's love, and how it is a love without end. At least my dad was there and Kez seemed to enjoy the music.

I know he is just shy of 3 months, but he seems to be holding his head up pretty well, so we tried out the bumbo. I think he likes it, but he looks so grown up :(

We also took him swimming for the first time. He seems to enjoy that more than his baths. Maybe he will take after grandpa J and be on the swim team :)

My fave:

We also went to my niece's baptism. She sang a solo at her own baptism and she still amazes me with her beautiful voice. She was so elated to receive her own set of scriptures with her name engraved on them.

Kasa-chan came to visit us from Japan and we took her to the airport. She's such an amazingly happy person I just want to hang out with her all the time. That's kind of hard to do when there is a Pacific Ocean between you.

We also celebrated somebody's 27th birthday. I better not tease him so much because I am next to reach that age. I'll have to say that every year for the rest of my life. Our wonderful neighbor made him an awesome guitar birthday cake (he teaches their son the guitar). Seriously, this woman has 4 kids of her own and still finds time to feed the whole neighborhood. No joke!

What a Gr8 Fam!

Phew, I didn't even have time to get to some of the stuff we've done lately and I am already ready for a dew driver. That's the wonder of the blogger world and life, always more days and fun times to come!

His first guitar at 2 months old

Kezman got his first guitar from Matt and Brielle from their trip to Mexico. So fun!

Jammin' with dad

Mom's musical man

Thanks uncle Matt and new aunt Brielle!

Kezman at the Market

Farmer's Market that is. It was a spur of the moment shoot. I thought I would get ONE picture for $5 then I ended up spending more, but getting three times more pictures than I paid for! YAY!! We did end up driving to Draper to get them- maybe that is why she gave me extra? Enjoy-

Kezman Pond Jensen- 1st day of life

Kezman is amazing!

I haven't posted forever because my computer either chord or battery is dead so it won't charge. So here I am with an adorable little boy snuggling with me and posting from my iPhone. I love having this phone while I am breastfeeding or holding him. I feel like I can keep myself occupied. His delivery was tough since he was posterior, but I'm just glad I didn't break any bones in the process. I'm so thankful for a beautiful baby boy who made an amazing comeback from swallowing meconium and a wonderful husband who has been my right hand through all the hard times including catching me when I passed out in the shower last week and fetching things for me as my right side is having difficulties recovering. I had an incredible experience giving birth and I admire every woman who has ever done or ever will go through labor and delivery. Also, I think every woman should have the freedom to choose the method and steps she takes in the process. She knows her body and what is going on better than anyone. I will post my birth story after I find where I typed it up to my childbirth instructor while it was fresh in my mind. His name is Kezman (the Ke is from Marshall's middle name Kenneth and the man is in my first name with a z for his own pizazz.) Kezman is also the last name of a famous soccer player so mom gets a bit of connection to her Brazilian side :). His middle name Pond is the middle name of his great grandfather. Also, mom loves nature and wanted something to do with nature in his name. He was 7 lbs and 5 oz, born at 5:34 am on June 11, 2011 after mom labored for days.