Christian Bennion: Second Lieutenant, US Army

Christian getting sworn in

Well, we did it. We are now a part of the US Army! Christian received the Health Professions Scholarship which will pay for all four years of dental school plus books and fees as well as provide monthly living expenses - a blessing considering I will not be working. He has no commitments to the Army during school but afterward will attend a six week Basic Officer Training in Texas and then begin four years active duty working as a dentist for the base he's stationed at. We will spend our time stateside on or near a base but if he does get deployed overseas we would come with him unless he's sent to a war zone (where he would work on teeth away from enemy lines - no fighting thank goodness). Of course no one wants to be separated from their family, but you have to be ready for such a sacrifice. We could experience some of the greatest hardships we've every experienced, but also some amazing blessings as well - being debt free a huge one as well as having a job straight out of dental school. We have thought and prayed about it a lot and feel this experience will bring blessings and growth to our family.

After 4 years active duty he will serve 4 years reserve where it is extremely uncommon for dentists to be called up. Then you're done unless you decide to make the military a career (which I highly doubt we will but I can't speak for myself 12 years down the road).

So, big decision but the reality of it all is four long years away - the moving around and ups and downs that come with military life. Right now we're just focusing on school which isn't too far around the corner. We'll be moving around the first of August.

Lots of crazy changes in our life just keep coming. Life is great and our Claire becomes more special to us every day. Here are some smiley highlights from the last month of her life:

A dress to be blessed in

Look at that angel! Oh I love her so much. Claire was blessed on Sunday February 27, 2011. A special day. And to make it even more special, she wore the same dress that I was blessed in.

December 7, 1986

On that day in 1986 two young parents blessed their oldest child:

And 24 years later two more young parents blessed their oldest daughter:

Everyone except Claire's uncle David who is preachin' the word in Chihuahua

A power is passed down through the generations. Especially when successive generations are righteous and keep their covenants, a powerful love and bond is present which ties us together.

Four generations of oldest children in their families: Grandma Maurine Johnson, Pam, Stephanie, and Claire

I am brought to tears when I look into Claire's radiant eyes during her calm happy moments and she smiles right at me. A wise soul is gazing back. I'm in awe. I feel taken aback that I get to raise this intelligent daughter of God. She has so much to teach me.


And now for some more fun pictures. We can't get enough of this cutie:

This pic is entitled, "Having Fun with Daddy at 3:00 in the morning"

This pic is entitled, "I just threw up all over dad and I think I'm pretty awesome"

We're trying to get her to play with us even though she doesn't really have fun yet.

First time tryin' out the Bumbo

And these were taken a couple weeks ago, but here is Claire's betrothed: Andrew Jed Sybrowsky. Future prom date, boyfriend and possibly Future Eternal Companion (F.E.C.) :

Their first date. It doesn't look like it's going very well


And here are the parents that are gonna make it happen:

Coincidence

So, many of us know of Stephanie Nielson of the NieNie Dialogues. Her blog is inspiring and beautiful and loved by many. But did you realize how much we share in common? First off we share the same name. And our husbands share the same name. And our oldest child also shares the same name! And strangely, her new life began the same day as mine. Although I don't want to make light of such a tragedy I find it interesting that their plane accident occurred the evening of August 16th, 2008, the same evening I began my journey with Christian Bennion.

Maybe I'm reading too hard into things, which would not be surprising as I find her the epitome of beautiful and cool.

ps...Claire is growing up beautifully and smiling at us more and more. I love her bright eyes which beam out her beautiful spirit.

Bellissima Baby

So, Bella Baby is one slick photography company. They come to your hospital room and take pics of your day-old baby and then show you the adorable pictures to tempt you to buy them. We fell for it hook, line, and sinker. How could we give up these precious pictures?

Our baby is more than bella, she's bellissima!

Here are a couple other pics I couldn't help but post. Look how big and alert she's getting! And even though she's sporting her classic concerned expression in almost every picture, she has started to smile at mom and dad :)

Time flies when you're having fun

Well, fun except for the sleepy night-time feedings. But time does fly once that baby is outside of you. The two weeks prior to birth - an eternity. Two weeks since - I feel like I'm in a weird time-warp. Babies do that to you I guess. Here's her progression over the last two weeks:

Just days old. One floppy, squishy little bundle of baby

Features are still soft and hard to define

Uncle Matt with niece Claire

Her face is finally starting to mold into its own unique little self

This is who our Claire is today!

I try to remind myself to enjoy the journey - every moment. I'll someday miss the sweet smell, innocent eyes and tiny mouth that make up our infant, but it's fun to see who's she's becoming too.

Claire

Our baby is here: Claire Oletta Bennion. The last week is kind of a blur, but I'll do my best to recap her birth story:

We went in for an ordered non-stress test on Friday the 14th (day after my due date) to make sure baby was still doing good and had enough amniotic fluid. Baby looked great and the midwife said that it looked like I was more than ready for labor and even offered to induce me. We thought about it but decided to wait it out to let it happen on its own time. Before we left she stripped my membranes (basically an aggressive pelvic exam that separates the amniotic sac from the rim of the cervix). As soon as she did that I started getting more crampy and I could actually feel my contractions that were beginning to come more regularly (6-20 min apart). Saturday was a frustrating waiting game. I obsessively timed my contractions (a watched pot never boils!) hoping they'd get closer than 5 min apart consistently. The contractions were uncomfortable and I'd pause to breathe through them, but were still manageable. That night they started to hurt a lot more - enough that it scared us into going to the hospital, even though they were 5-6 min. apart and not terribly consistent. Of course, we got sent home :( It was especially frustrating because they were starting to hurt so much, but a nice shot of demerol and morphine helped me get through the night.

Sunday was climax day. Once the pain medication wore off I started to get a little panicky. I'd cry through contractions even though I was trying to breathe and stay relaxed. The cycle of crying and tensing and fear leads to more pain and is not an effective coping mechanism. Things changed 180 degrees after we called Christian's mom for some advice and when my mom came over. We turned on some peaceful instrumental church music, my mom massaged my back and talked me through contractions, and then Christian and I put into practice some progressive muscle relaxation exercises we had read about. It made a HUGE difference. By 2:30 contractions had finally begun to work in my favor - they were under 4 min. apart consistently and getting closer together. My mom told us she thought it was time to go to the hospital, and even though Christian and I were hesitant because we didn't want to get rejected again, we were quickly convinced.

At the hospital I was at a 5 and 100% effaced. It was go time! The anesthesiologist was called and three hours later I was ready to push. Something I never thought much about beforehand was the physical endurance it takes to push! Especially when you're pushing for 2 1/2 hours! There are times where I was tempted to give up, but when you're so close and you've worked so hard already, you give yourself no option but to keep going as hard as you can.

When I heard that little baby cry and saw her on my belly, I was in awe. I used to think I would cry out of pure joy when I saw her, but I started to cry from a mixture of joy and exhaustion! She was finally here - beautiful and perfect.

I'd like to leave the story at that, but unfortunately I experienced a little trauma in the days after Claire's birth. I was the lucky 1% who experienced a complication of the epidural. When the anesthesiologist went in with the epidural needle, he overshot his target and punctured a hole in the dura which surrounds the spinal fluid. That leads to leaking spinal fluid which messes up the pressure which surrounds your brain leading to massive headaches when you sit straight up or stand. That meant it was extremely painful to feed Claire or take care of her. It was debilitating to the point of crawling on my hands and knees. At the hospital we decided to try and wait it out so it could heal on its own, but after less than 24 hours at home we decided to go back in to have another procedure done - a blood patch - which is 90-100% effective at fixing it. Injecting 20 cc's of my own blood back into my back did the trick and I'm now headache free. Whew! I have to say how blessed I am to have such a loving husband who did so much during that difficult time at home and who still does so much - I love you!

Having a baby is hard work - from morning sickness, discomfort in the final months, and then labor and delivery, but when you look at that innocent little face that depends wholly on you, you know you've done one of the most important things in your life. I love you Claire!

Born Jan. 16, 2011, 9:21 pm. 7 lbs, 9 0z, 20 inches long

What happens when mommy can't dress her baby and dad has to step in :)