First comes Love, then comes Marriage...

It has been a while since we have written, so let's get you all caught up!

First, let me say thanks to all of you for your love and support with our marriage. It was a wonderful celebration! As reminder, we were married in the LDS St. George Temple on March 25th 2011. It was a relatively small group. After our wedding luncheon, Brice and I proceeded on to Vegas for our honeymoon. A month later, we had our reception in Draper on April 29th.
I don't think everyone got the story for the uniqueness of our decisions here, so let me explain.
First, the St. George temple. When Brice and I discussed getting married, we each asked each other if there was anything important we wanted to happen on our special day. I wanted my grandpa to seal us (he and my grandma are currently on a mission and therefore were unable to do so) and he wanted to be married in the St. George Temple. I didn't feel I had a very strong connection to any temple in particular, so I agreed. You see, both sides of his family are from Southern Utah. His mother's side is from Panguitch and his father's side is from Cedar City. So, as it turns out, his parents, sister, most aunts and uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents (and some great greats?) were all married not only in the St. George temple, but across the same alter that Brice and I were able to be married across. I thought that was pretty special, and will mean a lot to our children. So, that is why we passed a dozen or so temples to get to the one we wanted to be married in.
Next, the length of time between our wedding and our reception. Brice's sister was pregnant at the time, and due just about the time we chose to have our wedding date. We discussed this before and talked about options, and decided it was going to work out and set the dates with the temples (for my endowments and for our wedding). Afterward, it kept coming up that Camy might not be able to make it to the wedding, which was hard on Brice. But I felt we shouldn't change the date, and I really didn't want to wait longer to get married, so we changed the reception so we would be sure she would be able to make it to that. (As a note, I would not recommend doing the reception so far apart. Maybe a week, after the honeymoon.)

So, that was our wedding day! ... wedding month. ... We got married! Between the wedding and the reception, we moved into an apartment just northwest of Utah Valley University in Orem, and the next month proceeded with the joys of learning to live together, communicate like a couple, and all that fun first months of marriage stuff. Then, I started noticing signs. Just little signs about my body that were unusual. And in May, we found out we were pregnant!
The months that followed were quite the roller coaster for both of us. I was learning how to deal with a growing body inside of me, and poor Brice was learning how to deal with an already too-emotional woman with pregnancy emotions on top of it all. Not to mention learning about what I should and shouldn't do, trying to figure out how work and school would play out, and the general how our lives were going to change forever. (Also, part of pregnancy for me was I became really anti-social and socially awkward. So it wasn't just you. I didn't talk to anybody much save Brice and my mom for the last nine months. But please, let's still be friends! My craziness is just about over!)
And now the time is upon us! Our little girl was due to be born on Wednesday, January 11th, but as most first pregnancies go, she is late. We are planning to deliver in Riverton hospital and I have informed Brice that we can't pick a name till she is born because I have heard of so many situations where the baby came and the parents changed their minds. Don't worry though, we have a list made up of names we like. Anyway, with labor so close, many ask us about how I'm doing and for updates on progress. This is tricky because any progress I can report on is kind of gross, if you know what it means, and I didn't want to offend anyone. So, let this be your warning, I am about to get detailed, and if you don't wish to know too much, I would just skip the next paragraph:
---WARNING: TMI TO FOLLOW---
There a lots of signs that show labor is in progress. One of the pre-labor signs are contractions known as Braxton Hick's. This is where the stomach muscles (more technically, the uterus muscles) all contract to help soften the cervix (which is at the bottom of the uterus) and prepare the body for labor. I have been experiencing Braxton's since about 5 months along, which I'm told is really good an means labor will be a lot less intense... I'll let you know how that goes. :) So, I have contractions, but not labor contractions, on a daily basis. Next, there's a drop station. When the baby and body are preparing for birth, the pelvic bones will spread, and the baby will drop down in between the bone. There is a general measurement they use for this from something like a -4 to a +4. with the +4 meaning the baby is crowning (or something close to that). During the rest of pregnancy, the baby is at a -4 and can move and turn as she likes. When the baby is a zero, it means her head has engaged with the pelvis and she is unlikely to go breech (when her feet are facing down instead of her head). When I was checked at my appointment on the 12th (yesterday) I was a -2. This isn't a very precise measurement because all women are such different shapes and sizes and the drop isn't necessary for other parts of labor to progress. Probably the most commonly known sign of labor is dilation. For those of you who don't know (I didn't when I first became pregnant) this is the measurement of how open the cervix is. The cervix is about 2.5 inches up the vagina. It is just below the uterus, and it is closed for most of a woman's life. When the body starts going into labor, the cervix is 'ripened' or becomes soft, thins out (or effaced which I'll talk about next) and opens, which is dilation. There is a 1 to 10 measurement for the cervix, with the numbers representing how many centimeters the cervix has opened. The past few weeks, I have been told it had started opening, but wasn't quite a 1. Yesterday it officially reached a 1, so I'm officially dilated, exciting, huh? Next is effacing. So, as I said, the cervix needs to thin out. I'm told that it starts out about as thick as an index finger is long. (yes, that's how they check all of this). When it's halfway up the finger, the cervix is 50% effaced, just the top knuckle is about 70% effaced, and when it's 100%, you can feel the baby's head. So when I was check, I was at a 70%. I've been told this is a good thing too, because once the effacing is complete, the rest can happen in a matter of hours. So, who knows, I might just be a few hours away from my baby!
---END TMI REPORT---

A few more stats that I don't think will bother anyone too much. my belly measured 38 cm (or 15 in) and her heartbeat is 143 bpm. If you would like, feel free to guess for when she will come (day and time... don't forget AM or PM) and how big she will be. You might also want to know that my midwife estimates that she will be about 8 lbs, and that I am scheduled to be induced on the 25th, so any guesses after that are moot. It will be fun to see who is the closest! Brice and I are so excited and just can't wait to become parents!
To end, I'd like to give a special thanks to everyone who has supported us and helped us prepare for our little girl! We can't tell you how much we appreciate everything!


Until next time!
-Alec Sherratt