About Me

My name is Nicole Kappes. I am originally from good old Miltona, MN. I was born in Alexandria, raised in Miltona and went to high school in Parkers Prairie. I moved to Fargo, ND where I met my now husband, Aaron. We finished up school, got married and was pregnant with our first child within a week of being married. It was all so fast for us but we were so anxious. Aaron is from Ada, MN and I fell in love from the moment I first stepped foot into it. It is such a beautiful, small town. Unlike Fargo, I felt safe staying at his parents house for the weekend with all doors unlocked and windows wide open, All Night Long. I hated feeling unsafe. I hated running to my front door as fast as I could after work just so no one would snatch me up. Sounds pretty stupid, but it was the truth.

 

So Aaron and I decided that we were over the renting an apartment days and were ready to buy a house. So we figured out our lease date and started saving. We went house looking around Ada with Aaron's dad and found a house right next to his grandparents house that we had to have! It was old, outdated and needed a lot of work. We loved it! So we talked to the owner who was good friends with the family and we saved up for a down payment. It was very hard trying to cut back on everything but we did it. And we did it all by ourselves. Our lease ended at the end of June and it was now May. We decided to go visit Aaron's parents memorial weekend and also work on a temporary house we were going to stay in before our house would be ready for us. I worked very hard mopping and painting and cleaning. All while I was 35 weeks pregnant. We went back over to his parents house for supper and to relax and watch a movie and I was very uncomfortable and decided I needed to go lay down. Right around midnight, I woke up to sharp cramps. I went to the bathroom and there I had noticed that I may be going into labor. I went and woke up Aaron and told him I was having contractions and wasn't sure what to do. So we went and woke up Aaron's mom who had us call the hospital. They were not very friendly that night but told me to just wait and hour and then call back. We were and hour away from the hospital and I was in pain. Bearable, but non the less, in pain. And it was my first baby so I thought it was supposed to be like the movies and we needed to get there right now. So Shelley, Aaron's mom, drove us to the hospital where I checked in. The receptionist had recognized me from my work and kept talking to me about it and I was ready to just say Shut up sir, lets get this going. But we were finally in our little room where there were going to monitor me for awhile and see how contractions were coming along. A doctor finally came in to check how far along I was. She had said I was at 4 cm and I was going to be having a baby today. So they got a room all ready for me and tried to make me comfortable. By 6:30, I was in sooo much pain that I needed my epidural. That epidural was amazing. I literally felt nothing from there on out. Around 9:30, I was watching Regis and Kelly on t.v. and the nurse came in to check how much I had progressed. Next thing I know she said well, you are ready to push. Aw, what? This is it? It's finally time? I never took any birthing classes so it was all new to me. I couldn't feel anything below my waist so pushing was actually tougher than you think. She said lets try pushing once and I pushed one time and she starts telling me wait wait wait! I need to get a doctor. So my midwife came in and after 15 minutes of pushing, our beautiful son Carson was here. 5lbs 12 ounces of pure perfection. We were in love all over again.

 

After a night in the hospital, we headed back to our apartment for just 3 more days! We had originally planned on moving June 3rd because I would have still been pregnant and we wanted the babies room all ready. Things changed. So we were now moving with baby here! We ventured off to Ada and just 3 months of living in our temporary house, we were finally home owners!! Aaron was still working in Fargo at Trail King and I had eventually gotten a job in Ada at the bank. We loved it here and were learning so many new things when it came to DIYing a house. It was not easy. We came upon a lot of issues with our house, mold, bad wiring, leaking pipes and not a whole lot of room. Since then, we have fixed most of the issues and are both starting to really fall in love with our home. A year passed in our house and we had realized that we wanted another baby! We had always wanted our children to be close in age so we thought this was a good time. After a few months of trying, we found out in August of 2012 that we were pregnant again! And we found out we were having another baby boy! Now it was time to get this house ready for another baby. We had a lot of work to get done and pushed it into high gear. We went through a kitchen remodel, bedroom remodel and were still going. I was 35 weeks pregnant again, and Carson ended up getting a nasty flu that he had for a couple days. I stayed home with him and the day he started feeling better which was a Friday, Aaron picked it up. So now I was taking care of my husband while trying to keep Carson away so he wouldn't get sick and trying to stay away myself so I wouldn't get sick. I slept on the couch downstairs that night and woke up Saturday morning feeling nauseous. I knew it. I knew I had gotten whatever those two boys had. And boy did I. I didn't think I was ever going to stop throwing up. It was every hour all Saturday long. I decided to call the doctor to make sure I shouldn't come in for anything and they said to just take a bath and keep drinking fluids. I did just that until I started contracting. I called the hospital again and told them I was now having contractions every 5-10 minutes. They told me to rest and call back in an hour if it's still going on. An hour went by and they were still every 5-10 minutes apart. I called and they said give it a few hours, take a bath and just rest. So I did just that. I took what was probably the most uncomfortable bath I had ever taken. My contractions were at a steady 5 minutes apart and I called my mom and she was nervous and told me to go in if I needed. I decided to try and rest the rest of the night and see how that went. That was horrible. I did not sleep all night. My puking had stopped but I was still contracting. The next morning we got up and around 11:00, I put a load of clothes in the wash to try and clean up the ishy flu that was lingering around in our house. I leaned over in so much pain.  I came upstairs and told Aaron that I think I need to just go in. We brought Carson over to his parents house who lived right next door and they had the flu too! But we needed someone to watch Carson while we headed in to see what was going on. On our way to the hospital, Aaron was pulled over and he was very excited to tell the police officer that his wife was in labor. He looked at his license very quickly and let us go. As soon as we start rolling into Fargo, my contractions had slowed down to nearly 15 minutes apart. I felt stupid but we decided to still go in. We got checked in and I was put in that same little room I was in the first pregnancy. I was hooked up and nothing was happening. No contractions. They were very scared to check how far along I was because that tends to speed up labor. They checked and I was a 4. They had me walk around the delivery section of the hospital for an hour so they could check me again before deciding to send me home. The contractions were instance by the end of my one hour walk. I was almost on my knees hurting. I decided to go back to the room where they came in and checked me again and I was a 6. I had progressed that fast in an hour and they got me to my room. I couldn't even lay down I was in so much pain. This time was so much different. I had such severe back pain and nothing Aaron said or did helped. I was yelling I was in so much pain. Aaron told me I should try and be quite a little. Aw, No? It was just about 3:30 and I was told I had to wait a half hour for the epidural because they were giving another mother one at the moment. I didn't think I was going to make it. I had that urge to push. I didn't say anything just yelled. 15 minutes later, they said I could finally get my epidural. Oh what a relief. Except for the fact they had a student with them in training and took their sweet time getting it in. But finally it was in and I was not pain free but I was a whole lot better. They checked me and told me 15 minutes after my epidural that it was time to start pushing. This one hurt so much more than the first time. But after 45 minutes of pushing, our sweet little Hudson was born at 6 pounds. We had yet again, fell in love all over. He was perfect. We were now a beautiful family of 4 and couldn't be more blessed.

 

I quit my bank job and decided to watch my 2 nephews and our friends daughter at home along with our two boys. I am very blessed to be able to stay at home with them and get to witness all their firsts. Aaron is still working at Trail King in Fargo as an assistant supervisor. We still live in our first home and we are still DIYing everything that needs to be done! Continue to follow us for all of our updates!!