Taj Addis Washburn

Taj Addis Washburn
Born: November 3, 2009
8 pounds and 2.4 ounces
27 hours of labor followed by caesarian birth


Our blog took a hiatus for a while. And I got a little inspiration to start it back up when my cousin started her pregnancy blog. So, here goes.

At the end of 2009, we were on our delayed honeymoon in Thailand having a jolly good time. No, we didn't get pregnant there, but we were thinking of it. When we returned, we decided it was time to think about it and low and behold little Taj was conceived. At the same time, Ethan had made the committment to himself to quit smoking. Low and behold, he quit smoking the same week and there was no turning back for him with such a great anniversary date and all.

Well, as Ethan learned that he had tastebuds and I had cravings for milk & dairy, particularly the frozen creamy sweet kind, we gained a few pounds together and got excited and 'prepared' for baby. Now I must say, everyone always talks about preparing for baby, but really how much preparing can you do for sleepless nights, unimaginable birth, and the joys of parenthood. We never did paint the spare bedroom, that could have been a preparation.

Slowly I grew (and Ethan stopped growing) and we eagerly anticipated our unknown gender child. The fact that we didn't want to know the sex was really a point of conversation. It made gift buying difficult and it made my mother extremely aggitated. But, I knew in my heart from day one that it was a boy.

I never actually went into labor that I remember. We were home, Ethan had contracted some weird sickness (not flu and we now figure it was dengue fever)and I was home nursing him. I had stopped work a few weeks early as my feet were like little sausages and the stress was starting to play havoc on my blood pressure. While Ethan sweat and shivered through 103 degree fevers (maxed out at 104.1), I crossed my legs and failed to notice that my water was broken, or should I say leaking. This was on Sunday and I knew I had a appointment the next day at the clinic. The next day appointment was in the PM, not the AM and they were surprised that I was not contracting because that was my water that was broke. So, I called Ethan and informed him I would be coming home to collect his fevered body to go to the hospital, it was time.

I got home to find him bundled up in sweatshirt and jeans (it was 85+ degrees out) and he informed me his latest fever reading was 103. Yet, he insisted on driving because thats what the about-to-be-daddy is supposed to do. Meanwhile, no contractions on my part.

We get to the hospital and I inform the admitting doctor that I would like an all natural birth plan and tell her that I don't want pain medicines, etc etc. She hears me out and then says, well, its not going to happen that way. You have preeclampsia. We need to get your blood pressure down (200/100), you are at risk of seizures, so you need to take magnesium sulfate for that. You aren't contracting, thats a problem and your water has been broke for 18 hours which mean baby is at risk for an infection. Aaahhhh.

After a long night of medicine mixing to get my contractions going but my blood pressure down. I was having 'back labor' because baby was OP or spine to spine with me which are extremely painful. It was finally time to push. And push I did. Once for an hour and then again for almost two hours. My mother showed up straight from the hospital just in time for the second pushing session and for the doctor to say, I don't think this baby is going to make it down your cervix, I think we need to cut it out.

My caesarian section was amazing and quick. They had me prepped and ready and once I had the spinal, it took them 8 minutes to cut the baby out and 16 to sew me back up. I was awake long enough for them to say, "its a boy" before I passed out and snored through the rest of the procedure.

Its been 8 weeks now and I am adjusting to motherhood well. I can't get enough of this little guy and nor can his daddy. We are totally smitten by him. And most people tell us how he really is a cute newborn, not just saying it but really he is.

His eyes are still blue although we know they can change up until he is 2 years old. He is starting to get a bit of baby fat and is really healthy.

They say nothing can prepare you for the love and admiration you have for this this little life and it is so true. I never could imagine loving this little guy as much as I do.....

Pictures to come soon.

2009 and we haven't posted in like forever.

Hello everyone out there. Ethan has reminded me the world of blogging and updating is not just for people on Facebook. So we are posting our latest photos from our honeymoon here too:

Thailand Honeymoon

and here too.

Thailand Honeymoon Part 2

January in St. Croix has been busy and fun. We continue to make time for Sunday Funday and have heard some great music and got a chance to catch up with friends we missed during the holidays. Keep intouch and know we are thinking of you!

Finally, the reception photos

It took a while, but I had no idea my cousin Mike was actually taking photos while we all danced the night away. These pictures were great and I tried to include as many people and shots without boring you with his unabridged and uncut version.

I am also compiling the 'best of' version and looking forward to getting some of Quiana's pictures. Ah, everytime we go through pictures, we relive this fabulous event. If you were there, we really are glad you came. If you couldn't make it and are reading this, we are sorry you couldn't make it.



If you are looking to see Quiana's pictures, you can click here. But you will need to sign the guest book and create a password.

And this is the best of compilation.. More to be added to it when you send me your photos!

PICTURES OF THE WEDDING

Alright, I will attempt to add everyone's links to albums on this page. I will sort through these and create one album eventually, but for now, we have links.

Quiana's pics are located here.

Karl Ball gave me his by flash drive and I did not sort but loaded them all onto my picasaweb account and they are located here. Pre Wedding Pictures and Wedding Day Festivities. I will sort these when I get a chance.

Danielle Toole spent A LOT of time and effort in organizing these two fabulous albums. St. Croix Wedding and St. Croix Trip (this album has 500 pics and shows the whole weekend!)

If you would like me to link to your photos, please send me the link!

More to come I promise!

Leading up to a DREAM WEDDING in PARADISE!

Ok, we are both still on cloud nine after a fabulous wedding. But it really could not be possible without the help and assistance of SO many people. It truly turned into a community event with all of our friends and family pitching in different ways to make it all HAPPEN perfectly.

It started with a Save The Date Magnet, extremely early to try and entice people to come visit us on our island:

The image is from Tafua Beach Fales on Upolu, one of our most favorite places.

Then came the invitation, that we had a friend help us with but we printed ourselves.

The tattoo design incorporates both Ethan and my Samoan tattoos and the flower is a frangipani, a favorite both here in St. Croix and in Samoa. As the reception started getting larger, we designed two different invitations. We really wanted to keep the ceremony intimate.

Then in the wedding planning, there was a massive shopping weekend in Florida that ended with overweight luggage of beautiful vases for the table centerpieces and a dress fitting and some crazy women buying a lot of stuff.

Next came the bridal shower, which started as a quiet potluck afternoon luncheon at Cottages, not traditional but wheen the fiance and other boys showed up and the champagne was still flowing, we knew it was not a traditional party. We swam a lot and watched the sunset and enjoyed all of the party. It was good fun with good people.




Then, there was the Bachelorette/Bachelor Parties. Ethan unfortunately did not get the camera, so we have no pictures of his trip to St. Thomas, which is probably just as well. He's keeping that trip quiet. As for us girls, we went to Puerto Rico and had a ball and the pictures are just some of the trouble we got into:


Ok, those were the events leading up to the actual wedding.

REEF JAM 2008

This weekend was a fabulous event at Rainbow Beach, our favorite beach. And I wanted to share the pics with you all. Firstly, I worked the beer/rum bar and although I didn't move (except for a quick pee break once) I thoroughly enjoyed this event from my vantage point. But, to get a fuller view of the whole event, I am crediting Marjo Aho for some fabulous photos here: Marjo Aho's Flicker Pics.

The official site for the event is REEFJAM.com.

And this is what our local online newspaper, St. Croix Source, has to say about the event.

And the organization that helped organizae this benefits is International Year of The Reef.

Oh, and it was hosted at Rhythms at Rainbow Beach.

And here's me behind my bar:


What a fabulous event with Jamesie and the Allstars and then Kurt Schindler. Some say there were 500, 700, 800 or 1200 people on our little neighborhood beach. Who knows what the real number is.I danced so hard and had such a great time with the music blaring right at my little satellite bar. I couldn't have asked for a better spot. Ahhhh. I hope this becomes an annual event.

One Month Left 'Till the Wedding

Ah, its been a month since I last wrote. And first a few housekeeping wedding notes. If you purchased your ticket prior to May 15th, American Airlines needs to honor your two checked bag allowance as it was in your ticket contract. You can print this under view expections on the American Airlines website. Secondly, I wanted to share a picture of our idea of how to enter into the reception:



We have leveled the lot and are ready to put in a tent. The house is at a standstill for now until after the wedding. June 7th is a Saturday and it's Ethan's birthday... so we are having a cleanup party and BBQ to get ready for the event. If you're in the neighborhood stop by for some laboring and a burger and beer.