Connor's Birth Story

Sunday

So literally the night before my baby was born, I wanted to get a 36 week picture. I was at 36 weeks and 1 day. I had taken a late shower that Sunday and even thought if I have my baby tonight, at least my hair will look nice - never thinking it would actually be true! Anyway, it was already dark outside so Logan got some with me in the nursery. Look at that bump! 

Later that night, as I was getting ready for bed I noticed for the first time that I had finally gotten several stretch marks! Aw man, I almost thought I would make it all the way through my pregnancy without getting any.

Monday
2:00am
We went to bed and several hours later at almost exactly 2:00am I got up because it felt like I had to pee really, really bad. I went to the bathroom and when I was done, I stood up but before I even got my pants up there was a whoosh of fluid that fell into the toilet! I was a little shocked but knew exactly what it was right away. My water had broke.

I put on a pad and walked over to where Logan was peacefully sleeping in bed. I woke him and said "my water broke" to which he replied "are you serious?!". I told him I was going to call he Dr and he needed to help me pack. Logan got right up and got to work.

Normally they would let women labor at home longer but because I was only 36 weeks they wanted me to come in to check.

When we got into the car, I think this was when it started to really sink in for Logan. I could tell he really felt an urgency to get me to the hospital (he drove there pretty fast). In the car my contractions also slowed down.

4:30am
We walked into the hospital at about 4:30am. They took me into triage and hooked me up to the monitors. While we waited, Logan and me filled out my birth plan. haha. We had actually planned on doing it that night for FHE.

5:15am
They did an exam and then brought in a sonogram to check to see if my water had broke. The nurse had the wand on my stomach for about 2 seconds and said, yes it is.

5:39am
The Doctor came in and said that because my water had broke it there was more risk to try and stop him from coming then to just have him. She said "you are not going home without a baby". She checked my cervix and I was at one cm dilated. They admitted me and wheeled me in to a delivery room. I was really happy that I got an ocean view room.

6:00am
I got my IV put in. I was supposed to go in the next day for my 36 week check up and to finish my labs but that obviously wasn't happening so they error on the side of caution and gave me penicillin as if I had tested positive for the Beta Strep B test. I really hated how the penicillin made my hand with the IV in it hurt.

I had tried eating some muffins before getting to the hospital but eating that early in the morning made me feel kinda sick so I didn't get much down. By the early morning I was so hungry! I asked if I could eat anything. They usually don't let you but were nice enough to bring me "breakfast". It consisted of broth, tea, jello and two juice boxes. Not much but I was so grateful for it!  

 

A lot of my morning was also spent walking to the bathroom. I felt like I constantly had to pee and going really helped with the pressure and helped me feel better. Pretty much every time that the nurse or corpsman came in to check on me I had them unhook me from the monitors, take off my pressure cuff and let me walk to the bathroom with my IV stand and cords. 

Another thing we did that morning was watch the contractions monitor. It is the line on the right side. Each peak is a contraction (the parts where it goes crazy up and down is when I change positions in bed). It took me a long time to get regular contractions.

9:53am

I found out that for me the way that I was able to handle the pain was to be in a "non" state as much as possible. Early on, one of the nurses said to "surrender to the contractions" and somehow that made sense to me and helped a lot. Most of the day I just spent laying in the bed. I was surprised I didn't want anything to distract me and I didn't really sleep much. I just chilled. When I was in that state I really didn't feel that many contractions. Logan hung out by me for a while but I didn't really need him at this point so I let him watch 24 on his laptop for several hours. 

At this point I was still doing really well with the contractions. Thats why I was shocked when they came to check me that I had gone from 1 to 4 cm dilated 60-70% effaced. The nurse said that was a great amount of progress in 4 hours and that usually this first part was the longest. 

2:09pm
It wasn't until the later that afternoon did I start to feel uncomfortable with the contractions because they would wake me from my non state. I started to ask about an epidural. I had to get interviewed by the anesthesiologist to see if I was a good candidate and sign some paper work saying I understood the risks.

I still was handling the pain pretty well but they told me that there were now two other girls that were wanting epidurals so if I didn't want to wait, I should get mine now.

I sat on the edge of the bed and they had Logan sit on a stool right in front of me where my feet rested on his legs. They said the numbing shot would be the worst part. It wasn't for me though. I started getting lots of sharp pain the the mid right side of my back. I have to admit it freaked me out and really hurt. It was hurting so bad the guy gave me another numbing shot. He finished and then the pain finally started to go away once they hooked it up to the IV.

Later I asked the anesthesiologist if they usually have to do more than one numbing shot and he said not often, maybe one in 20. He said it probably was because I was a redhead. He said he did hit a vein that made me bleed pretty bad but the pain was probably from a muscle spasm. Either way, I was still really glad I got the epidural because it kept me from feeling the contractions for a long time.

Logan was teasing me about the hair net I had to put on while they put in the epidural so I put it on him and made him get a pic too.

They checked me again and at this point. I joked that I wanted to be 8 cm so I could have this baby before dinner.  I had only gotten to 5 cm dilated so they said in a few hours they would put me on Pitocin.

With the epidural in and not being able to feel any more pain I was pretty happy the rest of the afternoon. I watched Parks and Recreation and The Big Bang Theory on TV, put on my makeup and took a nap. 

 

I thought it was funny that once the epidural took away the contraction pain, my IV with the Penicillin was what hurt the most. The nurse ran some saline solution through it to help it feel better.

3:55pm

First dose of Pitocin. Throughout the day they upped my dosage three times. The first two I never felt a thing. We kept hanging out and I tried to get some sleep because I knew I would need it later. 

6:19pm

The chair you see Logan in reclines into a bed. I got in it once and it was the most uncomfortable thing ever. I feel like they could do better to help the dads feel more comfortable but Logan never complained. 

As night fell, we watched a beautiful sunset. 

7:30pm

I got my third dose of Pitocin and not too long after that, I slowly started to feel contractions again for the first time. It started off slowly like the first contractions I felt as I went into labor and they continued to get worse. 

8:22pm

They told me when I got there that because my water had broke, it was really easy for me to get an infection so they didn't check my cervix very often. My contractions were finally starting to come at regular intervals (moving into active labor) so they checked me. I was dilated to a 6.5 cm. 

8:45pm

My contractions now were getting worse then what I was feeling before I had the epidural. Epidurals work with gravity meaning that they tend to flow down. The whole time I could feel that my right side was more numb.  The epidural drip did have a function where you could push a button for an extra dose. I had the nurse push it for the first time. 

With the contractions now the baby's heartbeat would dip, so they put me on oxygen and had me switch from one side to the other to see if my position would help him. After doing that several times they said that the baby did the best when I was on my right side. So I had to stay on that side. Remember that the epidural was already working better on that side so as it continued to flow more to the right, my left side got a lot of the feeling back. I could only feel contractions on half of my body but it might have been the whole thing because they really hurt. Unfortunately, there wasn't much the nurses could do. 

9:11pm

They took me off the oxygen and I had them give me another temporary extra dose of the epidural. Around now another anesthesiologist came in because I was complaining from the pain. He said that there wasn't much they could do because I had to stay on my right side but they would make me as comfortable as possible. They did say it might be time to give me a stronger batch of epidural. He left. My contractions now were getting extremely intense. 

9:40

This half hour was the worst part of my whole labor and life. I had gone from active labor to transitional labor (transition contractions are the ones right before you are fully dilated and feel ready to push). At the time though, I didn't know that I was that close because the last time they checked, I wasn't that far. 

I had to really work through each contraction. I really only remember seeing Logan's face. He was beside me stroking my head and holding my hand. As each contraction ramped up it made it hard to think or breath. I didn't feel in control of myself at all. Time was stretched out and felt like forever. I kinda felt like I was loosing it but Logan said that I actually didn't do that bad. He said I didn't cry, squeeze the crap out of his hand or yell but was just kinda whimpering. I do remember Logan helped me to breath deeply and would breath with me so I could mimic him and get through each contraction. I was lucky to still get a little bit of time in between each one where I could refocus. 

10:00

I remember them saying something about how that they almost had my meds ready and the nurse asked how I was. I told her that I was feeling a lot of pressure now. She asked where and I told her down below. It had been a while since I had last been checked so she decided to see where I was at. I remember her being kinda excited when she told me that I couldn't get the extra epidural medications now (it would make the baby lethargic instead of awake and alert when he came) because I had done it! I was 10 cm dilated and %100 effaced! I was surprised I had gotten there too. 

The only problem was that the Doctor was in another room delivering a baby so they said I had to wait. The nurse said that they were not expecting the baby to come flying out but because I was so early the baby could come pretty quick. Waiting was really hard. As I did, I could feel the head moving down further into my pelvis with each contraction. I could feel so much pressure! In my class they said some women don't feel the need to push right away and get some rest at this point. That was not so with me. 

10:10

Dr Dicarlo finally came in and got set up. They broke the bottom part of my bed down, took the removable cushion off and pulled the stirrups out. Logan said they put a huge bag under me to catch everything. I thought it was so weird that she could put her hands in and feel around and to tell what way the baby was facing. 

Then it was time to start pushing!! I remember there was so much pressure and pain from the contractions as I tried NOT to push - I was very glad I was finally able to. Each time I had a contraction, they had me take a breath, hold it in, and the nurse would count to 10. I would breath out, take a deep breath and push again right away. I did this three times in a row each contraction. 

After I started pushing all the pain and a lot of the pressure was completely gone. For the first time, I didn't really feel pain, it just felt like there was a head sticking out of me (it wasn't but it felt like it was already 2 inches out). I felt very focused on the job at hand and calm. Also once I started to push, my contractions slowed down. I remember Logan holding one leg, the nurse holding the other and all of them just watching and waiting for a big enough contraction to come along for me to push. I could tell as one came before they saw it but often the Doctor said to wait until it built up enough. I felt like there was a lot of waiting in between each contraction and pushing. 

The baby's heartbeat was dipping again so I got put back on the oxygen mask. I really hated it in my face. They told me to take it off as I pushed and I found that to be really distracting. As another way to help me push they asked if I wanted the mirror to see my progress. So I had them bring it out. After one set of pushing I told them to take it away. It was also too distracting - I couldn't look up at it and focus on pushing at the same time. 

Each time I pushed they told me what a good job I was doing. I didn't care if that was true or not, I was happy to hear it.  

At about 10:55 the doctor said she wanted the baby to come on the next push. I think Connor was starting to get stressed now. I pushed and he didn't come. We waited for another really big contraction and I pushed but he didn't come. This is when the Dr gave me an episiotomy - not a big one but enough to help Connor get out faster. 

Finally I got another large contraction and pushed about five times in a row until I could feel my baby's little body sliding out. 

11:03pm

Connor was born! They put him up on my chest right away and I was just amazed, happy and couldn't believe how much I already loved this little guy! Connor was crying a little bit and one of the nurses came with a bulb syringe and sucked out some fluid in his mouth and then he really cried! They all seemed happy to hear his lungs were good. I remember thinking that he didn't look like Logan or me at all but I knew he was kinda squished and would change. Logan got to cut the cord. 

I got to hold him a while skin to skin while they did his first checks but because he was born early they took him to check all his vitals and see how he was doing. The Doctor stayed and stitched me up. 

Poor Logan had to wait until the nurses were done to get to hold his son for the first time. One thing Logan told me about was that he put his finger down by Connor and Connor grabbed onto it and held it tightly in his little hand.

Logan is so happy and proud to be a father! I loved seeing them together. My boys! We are a mommy and daddy now!

We named him Connor Reese Dixon. 

My Logan

I feel like Logan has been so busy lately! Along with helping me around the house and baby stuff, this month Logan is in charge of Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15- October15) for the whole base. He heads a committee and stared out with zero budget. Amazingly everything has gone really well and I'm pretty excited for this weekend when we get to go the the Hispanic Gala even if I'll be the whitest girl there. Below was the Zumba flash mob from the other week. I decided that they are more fun when you don't know they are happening but it was still cool to watch. Also, another activity they did was a golfing fundraiser. Logan participated in it and his team won! He got a $20 gift card and a free round of golf. 

When Log is not at work full time or helping with Hispanic Heritage month, he also does stuff like taking a week long course to become a certified Krav Maga instructor. He is so proud of it! When we washed his shirt the first time, he asked me what to do to make sure it didn't shrink and how to wash it on the gentle cycle. 

I've been so impressed that even with all that going on, he still is taking care of his wife that is less than a month away of having a baby, picks up things off the floor for me, takes out the trash, mows the lawns, does all his own laundry and the dishes everyday (I promise I do some housework too!). 

He told me that every time I call now, he thinks I'm going to tell him it is "go time" or that the baby is coming. He now keeps his cell phone on him at all times. In his head, he imagines that when I call, he is going to drop everything to race home so he can drive me to the hospital like a mad man. I told him it probably won't happen that fast but he can pretend if wants. I won't complain if he comes as fast as he can to be with me. He is so excited to become a father! 

Baby Classes

Lately I've been busy with baby classes. Last week was breastfeeding and this week birthing classes at the hospital where Connor will be born. Got to learn all about what to expect and tour the labor and delivery floor. 

I was really glad that Logan got to come with me for two of the three days of the birthing class. We both learned some new things and it gave us the opportunity to talk more about our birth plan, what to expect and what I will need (even if it all doesn't happen). They also went over some lamaze techniques to find out what I prefer and don't. I know I don't like breathing. Focusing on rhythmed breathing actually really annoys me (one reason I don't like Yoga) but I was all over the soft tickles/massages! 

Another great part of the class was that Logan got to wear the Empathy Belly for about an hour! All 22 pounds of it (normal weight gain in pregnancy is 25-35 lbs). 

I have to say it made me pretty happy when he said it was pressing on his bladder while we were sitting and after he got to take it off he would not want to wear it for several months. Good response.

So after finishing the class, I actually think I'm more nervous now! I really believe that it is very important to be informed but it makes it all more real. I'm really going to have to do this. I don't wanna but I have to! And I want pregnancy to be over and have a little baby but then it will still be hard, just in a different way! Lots of feelings and emotions.

New Pet

Check out our newest back yard visitor. 

I really wish he was just a bit further away from my back door! 

Nesting

We ordered our nursery furniture about 2 1/2 months ago and I am SO happy it got here before baby came! It is obviously still a work in progress but everything is assembled and I love it! I'm just waiting on a few things my mom made for me (bedding, changing pad cover) and working on a few decorations. 

 I honestly love being in the baby room and stop by every time I walk by. I've even seen Logan do the same thing a few times :)

I've really started the "nesting" phase of my pregnancy! I really just feel like everything has to get done now! Just the other day I cleaned half the house and am finally finishing the baby projects I started a few months ago!

Lemon & Dill Chicken

I don't always have the energy to make dinner and didn't think I would at all last Sunday because I wan't in the mood. But I remembered I had everything for this recipe and it turned out to be really easy and good! 

You can find the recipe here. Pretty much the only thing I changed was using 2 tsp of dried dill instead of fresh. Then we ate it with a box of flavored chicken rice and roasted broccoli (with fresh lemon and shredded parmesan). It tasted like a pretty fancy meal but the best part was that everything was really easy and quick to put together.

Baby Shower/ 35 Weeks

I always feel so lucky to have so many friends here in Okinawa! It honestly has been such a blessing! I felt so loved at my shower! Here are some picture highlights!

It was at my friend Claire's home and she used the woodland baby theme that I'm doing in my nursery! Claire made the yummiest pumpkin cheesecakes, sweet ham sandwiches, veggies and the cute water bottle wrappers that said "Welcome Connor". My other friend made the cutest hedgehog cream puffs and watermelon.

I felt so bad because the day before the shower, the power at our houses went out three times that day right in the middle of making the cheesecakes! In the end, everything turned out but I know it added a lot more work/stress. 

Playing the purse game. I only lost by one point!

Opening presents. I got a lot of clothes, diapers, a few little toys, plus some other things I'll need when baby comes.

Preggers!! The three of us to the right are all due at the end of October.

Thanks Annie for taking my shower pics.

Most of the crew that came to celebrate with me.

Finally, my two amazing hosts who worked so hard and did an amazing job! Thank you! and thanks to everyone who made it out! 

Another Hospital Visit

Around Friday, I started getting super bad pain in my left side - so much that I could hardly breathe or walk a few days later. So on Tuesday when I couldn't take it any more, I talked to a nurse and she said I needed to come in to get it checked out. I knew that they would tell me I'm just pregnant and send me home but in the unlikely event that it was hurting baby, I knew I should get it checked out. I never would want to hurt Connor just because I was being stubborn. 

They put us in a little curtained off room and hooked me up to the baby monitors. We ended up being at the hospital for 6 hours. Poor Logan only had that stool to sit on the whole time! He was also on night shift that week and didn't get much sleep so he could be there with me. He is a great husband and is going to be an amazing father!

So they thought that I might have Kidney stones but after testing and because my side wasn't sensitive to touch they ruled it out. After lots of questions and tests, it turns out it is just baby kicking my ribs! The little punk!

You may not know this but listening to a baby's heart beat for 3 hours is actually pretty relaxing. It is a sweet little reminder that he is really in there and doing well. Every time they came to check on me they said baby was doing great! I love hearing that! They also monitored me for an hour after that. It isn't as cool and we had them turn the monitor down. 

I think the most useful thing I got out of the trip was that I learned that I was having regular contractions! I knew I had had a few but I couldn't always identify them because the tightening of the uterus from a Braxton Hicks (practice) contraction is pretty close to a baby stretch and is not really painful at all. But as I watched the second monitor I could see what it looked like and figured out what having a contraction felt like. 

Because I had so many they checked my cervix to see if I had dilated at all. I hadn't, but man, did that hurt!! And the Dr said a side effect of that would be that I might feel the contractions more. Yep, I do! When I get up or walk around for too long, I can now feel the tightening and cramping of a contraction. They are all still random and mild but my body is getting ready to have this baby even if I'm not yet. 

The next day when I woke up the pain was almost completely gone and by Thursday I was back to normal. Irony. 

Just as one thing leaves it always seems like it is replaced by another. The day after, I got off the couch and my left foot was all swollen!! It felt really funny to walk around on. Luckily it didn't last long. When I get hot my hands swell a little more then usual but so far no more real swelling yet.

This week I now am getting leg cramps! I wake up with charlie horses in my left calf almost everyday and then when I'm walking around I get super cramps on the interior of my right thigh. I'm pretty sure the right side ones are because Connor's head is resting right above that spot. He is so naughty. 

33 Weeks

Look how big I'm getting!!! Here is the side by side of me at 33 and 23 weeks. Pretty impressive the difference 10 weeks make. 

• Baby has run out of room. Mostly rolling, stretching and hiccups now. Nice because he doesn't wake me up at night but it is getting even harder to breathe. Little elbows and knees can be pretty pointy though when they move across my belly. 
• Bending over. Most likely not going to happen again till baby comes. lol
• He still prefers my right side. I'm sure if/when I get stretch marks it will be there. 
• I couldn't even stand to look at sweets in first two trimesters. Now my sweet tooth has come back with a vengeance! All I want is sugar!! Probably because baby is putting on some serious fat now. 
• Started off great taking Iron again but it slowly started making me more and more sick! Now I know if I take it I will not be doing anything else that day. Something about being pregnant just doesn't let me take pills. Funny because I took prenatals for two years before getting pregnant without any problems at all.  At least I've stopped craving ice and feel like I have a little more energy so it must be helping at least a little. 
• So happy to be cooking again! Still don't love trying to figure out what I want to make but being in the kitchen makes me happy. 
• Starting to see a pattern with baby. He will be very still one or two days and then right after goes through a huge growth spurt! This happens about every other week. When it does my whole tummy will ache even when he is not moving. After that I feel like I double in size and he goes back to normal movement. My baby app says this week baby could grow up to a full inch! 
• Braxton Hicks contractions are real. These are the practice contractions your uterus does to prep for the real ones later. At any time during the day but especially at night my belly will tighten up and get really hard for a minute or two. They don't really hurt yet but you know when they are happening! 

Mushroom Asiago Chicken

I know this recipe doesn't look like much but I promise it is so good! We had company over and they said it tasted like something you could get from a restaurant!

This recipe was adapted from http://www.bakeatmidnite.com/2013/07/mushroom-asiago-chicken.html and her pictures make it look a lot more appetizing.

Mushroom Asiago Chicken 

3 boneless skinless chicken breast
2 cups (or more) mushrooms, cut in half
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 pinches of dried thyme
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup seasoned flour (see below)
2 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup freshly shredded asiago cheese (plus more for topping)
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/4 tsp pepper (to taste)
seasoned flour:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Pound chicken breast with a meat mallet (or give your husband a rolling pin and let him at it) between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap until meat is uniform thickness; about 1/4-inch. Cut into serving-sized pieces (2 or 3 pieces per breast).

Heat the butter with *1* tbs of olive oil in deep, heavy skillet or saute pan over medium heat (I used my Dutch Oven).

Dredge chicken in seasoned flour.  Add to hot oil/butter in skillet.  Saute until golden on each side, about 5 minutes per side (it is ok if they are not cooked all the way through because you will be cooking them again).  If there is not enough room for all, you can do it in a few batches. Remove chicken from pan and let rest on a plate with paper towel to soak up the extra oil.

Add remaining olive oil to hot skillet.  Saute mushrooms until they begin to brown but not too long or they will get mushy.

Add chicken stock and garlic powder to skillet, scraping up all the browned bits that are at the bottom of the pan. Rub thyme between your fingers and add to mushroom/chicken stock in pan.

Add the chicken back to the pan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Remove chicken from pan.  Add the cream and heat through. Add the asiago cheese (I thought 1/4 cup was a good amount to start with - asiago is a powerful cheese - but you can use up to 1/2 cup. I preferred start with less and to let each person top theirs later to their personal taste).

Cook, stirring constantly over low heat until cheese melts. Continue cooking until sauce is reduced by about 1/2 (but not too thick).  If you wish to skip the reduction step, you may thicken the sauce slightly with about 1 tbs instant flour or 1 tbs cornstarch mixed with 2 tbs water...however, the reduction will taste better.

Pour sauce over chicken in a serving dish.

Optional: Garnish with sprigs of fresh thyme and/or more cheese.  May be served over any pasta but we really liked it with mashed potatoes.

About 4 servings.

**Notes:

• Don't over cook the mushrooms like I did or they will loose too much texture and be mushy at the end (they will still taste good though!). When eating, I wanted more mushrooms so I will be adding more next time. 
• I also over reduced the sauce so it was too thick. Make sure it still is a bit runny. It really didn't take that much time to reduce. 
• I made a bit of a mess taking the chicken in and out but you can probably do it better. Also, the original recipe calls to add the chicken back in one last time at the end to reheat but I didn't think it needed it and would be a little prettier to put in a serving dish and just pour the hot sauce over it.
• At the end, because I had used salted butter, I didn't think it needed any more salt and I never add extra pepper. 

Cafe Green Green and other stuff

Wednesday I had my 32 week checkup. Baby had a great heartbeat, I measured exactly at 32cm, baby is now head down and have gained 2 pounds since my last appointment (here on out, I can expect to gain 3/4-1LB each week!). My Dr said everything was coming along perfectly and baby is growing right on track! I got a new heartburn medication and I hope that helps but other then that, my symptoms are all pretty normal even if not very comfortable. I'm also officially starting to get hot flashes too! It is so weird and for the first time in my life I've been the warm one in the house! I can't even sleep under my blankets! So that has been really different!

Afterwards, I met up with a couple friends at a cute cafe called Cafe Green Green.  The food was just ok but I'll still go back because it was so beautiful and I loved the atmosphere!

On our way walking back to the cars we passed this little store. It was so fun to check out! Plants outside, office stuff, house decorations and lots of kids' toys and books.

When I saw this book there, I just had to get it! I think it is the perfect souvenir and reminder that we had our first baby in Japan. I can't wait for my dad to come out to read it to my baby boy!

Okinawa Outlet Mall

So for Labor day this week, we had a lot of fun going down to Naha with the Danahers to check out the outlet stores!! It was a hot day but we all had a good time. I was pretty impressed at how many "American" stores they had but of course Banana Republic was my favorite!!!

I went into the dressing room to try on a shirt and the lady handed me this thing. I looked at it and then her and said, "I don't know what to do with that." She then informed me that it was to go over my face to keep the sweat/makeup off the clothes. Those Japanese thing of everything!  

When we were in one of the stores Logan went and got us some shaved ice!! He is the best husband! 

Then that night I made tortellini and we taught the Danahers how to play Blokus. After for dessert, We had a pumpkin cheesecake I made. It was a great day!