Kasting Kall: Liam's Big Break Into Stardom

Here is the Casting Call and the link to the website.

www.capturedmiracles.org/blog/

I am currently looking for talent to be in my next collection. This shoot will be for a Christmas Concert Collection...on the Birth and Life of Christ...So manger scene to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Crucifixion.

I am looking for:

NEW BORN for the role of BABY JESUS

Needs to be around 1 week to 3 weeks old...for when we do the shoot on Friday Nov. 5th. The NEWER the better:)

medium brown to dark brown hair...or bald:) works too

So today Dara and I took Liam into the Trotter Gallery (located inside of Poppy's on Power and Southern) to meet with Hellen Robson. She is the gifted photographer responsible for the amazing work in the above link. She looked Liam over and has chosen him to be the Baby Jesus for her photo shoot. Dara and I could not be more pleased or proud of our handsome little Liam. This is such an amazing opportunity. Both Dara and I will receive a signed print from the shoot to cherish forever. I can't wait to see our perfect little angel wrapped up in swaddling clothes laying in a manger.

A special thanks goes to Merri for finding out about the photo shoot, and to Tamy for setting it all up. Oh yeah... and to Liam for being so stinking cute!

Kontracting: Liam's Labor & Delivery

This fairytale begins much like any other... Okay, well maybe not like the normal fairytale you hear, but to all involved it feels a bit like a fairytale...

The magic really began once I was in my Princess Suite #23!

Here I am between contractions talking with my sister Tiffany on Skype.

Here is my beautiful group of very supportive ladies.
Tamy, Dara, Me, Merri, My Mom, Natalie, and Tiffany on the laptop.


I got my epidural at 10:15 p.m. Monday evening.

Here I am so excited as I am getting my epidural by Dr. Putnam. I love these things!!!


Thumbs way up to wonderful Dr. Putnam.

Still smiling after getting a huge needle in my back. Epidurals make it all worth it;) I recommend everyone get one. Two if you can LOL!
So I mentioned that the only unpleasant part of the entire Fairytale was the I.V. penicillin... You have to get two doses 4 hours apart. I received my first dose while in triage, now at 12:10 a.m. Tuesday morning I received my 2nd dose, and was 6-7 cm and 100% effaced. The pain had gotten so bad from the penicillin that I was brought an icepack to put on my arm (although I really think I should have received an epidural for my arm if they even make those). The alarms kept going off from my pulse ox. on my finger while I held my icepack on my shoulder. It was driving me absolutely insane, so I handed it to Dara and she wore it for a while. It was funny because her heart rate and oxygen saturation was exactly the same as mine. So I was in no rush to take it back. Technology is a wonderful thing, and they have made amazing medical advances over the past few decades, but man are those things annoying. We should come up with one that is cordless or something. Anyways, thank you Dara for taking over that task for me.

I love pictures, and apparently so does everyone that was in on my delivery. We pretty much documented everything. I am so grateful to them all. I posed with all of my favorite people between contractions.

Dara and I.

My sister Merri, Me, and my sister Natalie.

Me, and my Tamy.

Dara and Tamy talking me through contractions and comforting me!

As Merri drove me to the hospital I could not help but be a little sad. All that was racing through my mind was how my amazing doctor Dr. Tamanaha would more than likely not be delivering Liam the way he had been there to deliver Kade and Azlyn. He has always played a very important role in bringing these wonderful babies into this world. I just love him! We got to Triage at 8:30 p.m. Monday evening and I was 6 cm 80% effaced, and Liam was at a -1.

My nurse tried to reach Dr. T, however he had been on call all night the previous night, and worked all day today. So I knew the chances of reaching him were slim. I finally had to come to terms with the fact that Liam was not going to wait until Dr. T's normal office hours Tuesday morning to be born.

Dr. Alperin was on call for Dr. T so he would be the one to take care of Liam and I. By 1:08 a.m. I was 9cm with a very bulgy bag of water. I am sure if my bag of water had broken earlier Liam would have been born immediately. Dr. Alperin came in around 1:30 a.m. and broke my water (I really don't think it ever would have ruptured on its own). After rupturing my bag of water, he said he would be around when it was time to push. At 2:35 a.m. I was 10cm and ready to push. Dr. Alperin came in the room and asked Dara how she would feel about Delivering Liam. She was more than happy to do so and asked if I minded. To which I responded that I was fine with. I began pushing at 2:37 a.m., I pushed through 3 contractions and at 2:47 a.m. he was here.

Here Dara is suiting up to deliver Liam.

Here is Dara and Dr. Alperin

Here is Dara and Dr. Alperin working on getting the cord off from around Liam's neck.

Still working on the cord and getting him to rotate the correct way for delivery. Liam was "posterior" which means that he was facing backwards, so as I pushed he rotated the correct way.

Here Liam is coming out

Right as Liam first entered the world. Look at how thick his cord is!!!

Here is a wonderful video right after we got Liam breathing and they laid him on my chest.

Here Liam is right as they laid him on my chest. He was not breathing and it had me a little worried, because both Kade and Azlyn cried right away. I rubbed him and talked to him as well as did the nurses to get him breathing.

Liam just about to take his first breath

Liam crying for the first time.

Liam and I

Dr. Alperin, my nurse Michelle, Me, Liam, Dara, Natalie, and Tiffany on Skype.

Great work Liam! You made it here safely.

I have to say that the delivery went so amazing. The room was quiet and peaceful. The mood was set perfectly for Liam to come into the world.

Kan You Guess Liam's Weight?: Liam's stats.

At my last doctors appointment (a week before Liam was born) I asked Dr. T to please guess how much Liam weighed. I was very nervous when Dr. T replied (a month before his due date) that he was around 7 or 8 lbs.. So when Liam was born under Dr. T's estimated weight guess I was thrilled. He gave me quite a scare though.

Liam's Stats

Born: 10/19/2010

Time: 2:47 a.m.

Weight: 6 lbs 14 oz

Length: 19 in.

Head: 14 in.

Chest: 12 3/4 in.

Liam getting weighed.

I think 6.14 lbs. is the perfect weight. Not too big, not too small, but just right!

Here is Liam's board...

Getting checked out. He looks great and was born in perfect health.

Look at his beautiful face.

I love you Liam, and am glad that you are here safe and sound.

He has the most beautiful skin coloring.

He looks so much like Kade did at birth, just a little over 2 lbs. bigger:)

Welcome Liam! You are so very loved by so many people. One of the many joys of adoption is that you have that much more love!

Keep it Koming: Liam's 1st Bottle

Liam is such a champ. I swear he was born a genius... At 4 a.m. I gave him his first bottle, and he opened his mouth right away like he had been drinking from a bottle for months. He guzzled down 30 ml. no sweat. He did well during all of his feedings, but how nice that I did not have to cox him at all to get him to eat his first time. Great work little man!

Keep it coming!

After all that food Liam was exhausted!

Kompanions Through It All

Here are all of my favorite people that were there not only for my delivery, but throughout my entire pregnancy. Thanks you guys you are the best, and made Liam's birth a beautiful magical thing.

My Family: Tiffany on Skype, Merri, Me, Liam, My Mom, and Natalie.

Dara, Liam, and I

The Love of Two Mothers! Dara, Liam, and Me.

Merri, Liam, and Me

Tiffany, Liam, and Me

Natalie, Liam, and Me

Tamy, Liam, and Me.

Keeping Busy: Trying To Induce Labor

I think everyone has high hopes as they near the end of their pregnancy that each time they go in to their doctors appointment to be checked they will have changed significantly from their last appointment. I did not have any of these hopes this time.

Monday morning began with Dara and I going to my scheduled O.B. appointment. (My last appointment I was a 2+ and 70% effaced.) Michelle checked me today and I was 4cm and 80%. As she checked me she stripped my membranes, and said "hopefully by this afternoon we will get some action." I was excited to say the least. We then headed to Merri's house to let Azlyn, Kade, Ryan, and Rylee play and get some energy out. Later in the afternoon Dara and Azlyn headed down to Tucson to get Azlyn settled in at Dara's parent's home. Merri and I headed to San Tan Mall to find the kids matching outfits for our upcoming family pictures, and to walk around as much as possible in hopes of inducing full on labor.

Kade, Rylee, and Ryan trying on their matching outfits at Children's Place for our family pictures.

After Children's Place we let the kiddos play at the toddler zone, and then took them into the pet shop to look at all the cute dogs. Kade was playing with this dog and fell in love, they chased each other through the glass.

Kade, Ryan, and Rylee looking at the cute puppy.

After leaving the pet shop we headed back to Merri's. I was having some pretty gnarly contractions, and cramping pretty bad. I knew it was time to head in to the hospital. We had done it! All that walking finally did the trick. I was in full blown labor. It was a little chaotic trying to get everything in order with the kids so we could head into the hospital. Rich was at work (go figure this month he was working nights). My Mom was driving up from Sierra Vista, but was still in Casa Grande. And Dara was down in Tucson, on her way up. Merri called her friend Katie (who had a brand new baby as well as two other small children) to see if she could come by and stay with the kids for a while until Rich got off of work. She rushed over with her baby and Merri and I were off to the hospital. Natalie rushed to Merri's house to help Katie get the 3 kids to bed and later met us at the hospital.

Here I am right after getting to triage at Banner Desert. My last picture pregnant.

Here I am getting my I.V. started in triage. Can I just say that my I.V. was the worst part of the whole delivery!!! The penicillin made me feel as though I was being stabbed in my shoulder and made my whole arm hurt. The pain was up there with one of the worst pains I have ever experienced.

When I got to the hospital I was 6cm with a bulgy bag of water. Good thing everyone was on their way to the hospital!!! Liam was coming, and this time it was for sure. I was admitted, started on my i.v. penicillin for GBS, and booked into room #23 the "Princess Suite" they call it. It earned its name from being the biggest and the best room that Banner Desert has to offer. Both my sisters Tiffany and Merri delivered in this room also.

Liam's heart rate remained beautiful throughout the entire process. Look at those beautiful accelerations. (I love that I sound like I know what I am talking about. With my sister Merri and Dara the adoptive mom both being Labor and Delivery nurses, I pick up on all the terminology quite rapidly.)

My delivery room was filled with almost all of my favorite people. I could not have asked for more or better support. Tamy (who was in tons of pain from tearing a muscle in her leg, and needs surgery was still by my side the entire time. She is one of the most amazing selfless people I have ever met, and I will love her for all eternity.), Dara (Azlyn and Liam's adoptive Mom, and one of my best friends), Me, my sister Merri, my Mom, my sister Natalie, and my sister Tiffany (via Skype on the laptop. She lives in Colorado, and was unable to be here physically.) I am so thankful that I did not have to do this alone. This wonderful group of people I call my family have been there for me every step of the way, and I would not be where I am today without the love and compassion that each one of them has shown me throughout this pregnancy. Thanks everyone!!!