My new mantra

I have been entertaining myself while on bed rest & while "taking it easy" by spending excessive amounts of time on Cakewrecks, where I found my new mantra. I'm going to chant this for the next 8 months or so. Should work like a charm. I might even make myself a cake to celebrate!

Baby update

We just got back from the doctor with good news. The baby looks great & I can ease back into mostly normal activity. I am so glad that I didn't wait until January 20th (my next scheduled appointment) like the receptionist tried to convince me to do!

One of my lessons learned from this: Don't be afraid to stand up for yourself at the doctor. I was getting mixed messages from different people at the doctor's office but I insisted on an appointment and I feel so much better after having talked to Dr Smith in person, as well as having another ultrasound. I could immediately see that the baby had grown & could see the heart beat. What a relief! He assured me that they will squeeze me in anytime I feel like I need to check the baby. He's great! If you need an OB and can go to IHC doctors, I highly recommend him (Russell A Smith). He's worth the drive to Alta View!

Thanks to all who have given help, support, prayers, concern & love during the crazy last few weeks! We are so blessed to have such a great support system!

More book reviews

I was too busy reading the last few days to write anything here. For the record, I am doing ok baby-wise. The whole family has had a nasty cold/virus that has wiped us out. On the bright side, since I can't go anywhere, at least no one has been begging to go do anything. We're all just kind of lying around semi-conscious. While lounging around I read two great books by Carol Warburton. My friend Kim introduced these to me and I LOVED them!

They both start with a woman in modern times doing genealogy/ temple work for distant relatives and wondering about their past. The majority of the story is the life of the woman for whom the work is being done. I wish there were more in this series! I read the Edge of Night in one day and Before the Dawn in two days- I kept getting interrupted. I highly recommend these!

Day 4 book review

I finished this great book today and thought I'd tell you about it. It is by Josi Kilpack and the follow up to Lemon Tart- which I highly recommend, too. This is a great mystery that had me guessing until the very end. I can usually figure these out early on, but this was some good intrigue! I love a good mystery, but most are gory or crude. This has no foul language, excessive gore, or any questionable material. If I still had a grandma, I wouldn't be embarrassed for her to read it!

I read it in two days and couldn't put it down. Fortunately I had plenty of time to read. ;) It was graciously lent to me by the wife of another local author, Frank (wife Heidi) Cole. If you haven't stared the Hashbrown Winters stories, you need to start. They are hilarious!

Well, that wasn't super entertaining, but I think my mind has turned to mush. TTFN

day 3 of holding still

I can't really bring myself to use the term "bed rest" today. I haven't been resting much, just sitting or lying on my bed. I'm beginning to wish I hadn't down graded our cable, but I am so thankful for my laptop & Netflix 'watch instantly' movies.

This morning I have watched a variety of CES firesides and MoTab broadcasts. BTW, my high school choir teacher directed on of the songs with the bell choir and orchestra today. It was beautiful!

I decided around 4:30 this morning that I needed to keep a journal of this adventure on my blog. I need an outlet or I just might lose it.

Yesterday I enjoyed a movie called "The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn" on Netflix. I really liked it! Sidney Portier & Diane Weist were two of the main characters along with the girl who played the abused best friend in 'Fried Green Tomatoes." I'm too lazy to look up her name right now. Anyway, if you are in the mood for a quiet, sweet movie, i recommend it. I'm sure I'll have more movie reviews to share.

I also started reading English Trifle, the sequel to Lemon Tart by Josi Kilpack. If you like mysteries that aren't too graphic & gory- just a good whodunit- I recommend these also. Thanks Heidi & Kim for the pile of books. I'm sure I will cruise right through them! I also translated a talk for my mom so she can speak in sacrament meeting in the Spanish branch today.

The other thing I did was eat yummy treats that people brought us. I'm going to have to watch myself on that one. I've gone from 5k to bed rest in 6 months.

So far things have been uneventful. The bleeding has all but stopped. That gives my hope that the baby is ok. I know people go through much worse to have children and I have been so blessed with easy pregnancies.

Those who know me well will be surprised at my next thought. I am so glad we didn't move this past summer. We had planned & wanted to move but when it came down to it, we both felt it wasn't the right time. In August I felt we hadn't moved so we could do Vittoria's yard sale. Throughout the semester I felt we had been prompted to stay for the help and support I got from my friends here. Now I feel like we needed to stay here where we are so blessed with great friends and a wonderful support system. Heavenly Father does know what we need when we need it. He knows the beginning and the end. Who am I to question his plan for me when I frequently see how he does and gives what is best for me.

That's enough for now. Three little girls need hair-dos for church. I can do that from where I'm sitting- makes me feel less useless.

One more page...

I wasn't expecting anymore baby news for a little while. I guess that's what I get for announcing so early.

We had a little scare with a LOT of blood last night. After a late night trip to the ER and lots of tests, everything looks to be ok. I was shocked that there was still a nice, strong heartbeat on the ultrasounds, but so far we are ok. The source of the bleeding was near the baby, but the baby seems to be ok for the time being. I have my orders to hold really still for a while.

I find myself entering the wonderful world of bed rest for a time. I am only 8 weeks along, so let's hope this is a brief bed rest!

To answer some questions I've had, I feel ok. After the initial blood loss I've been ok. The pain is gone & the terror has subsided. As you may have read previously, I am familiar with blood loss, so Tim made me steak for lunch and I'm feeling better already. We have the best neighbors & friends & family and have had so many kind offers of help, so thank you all! Special thanks to Aimi and her mom for coming to stay with the girls last night & cleaning my kitchen. It hasn't looked that good for years! Thanks, Daphne, for coming over to do hair before school this morning. Thanks, Dad for helping Tim give me a blessing.

I will keep you posted if anything changes. Maybe I should use this time to catch up on months of blogging that I didn't get to during school.

Thanks again for all of your concern, help & prayers!

Snowglobes

For Aubrey's kindergarten class party we made melted snowmen snow globes.

Here are some of the finished snowmen.

This close up shot kind of shows the "parts" at the bottom.
A snow globe is a tricky thing to photograph, sorry.

We rounded up baby food jars and filled them with distilled water, 1/8tsp glycerin, 1/2 tsp glitter (crystal colored w/ a dash of silver).

We also added two googly eyes, carrot nose (carrot- shaped craft buttons found at Michael's), pompoms and beads for the mouth & buttons. I made little fleece hats for the top of the jar.
(7 inch piece of fleece, sewn in a tube, cut into 5 inch lengths, top tied with embroidery floss)

We attached this poem to the outside of the jars where the sticky was left from the label.

"I made a little snowman,

As perfect as can be.

I thought I'd keep him in my room

And keep him warm like me.

But when I woke next morning

My mind was in a muddle.

He's run away, I don't know why

And left me with a puddle."

Lydia was a good helper, so I made her a hat that matched the snowmen!

The next page of the story...

Next craft show- due around Aug 2nd, 2010.

My doctor said there's only a 5% chance of repeating the craziness of Lydia's delivery. I like those odds...

Lydia's birth story- you don't have to keep reading!

This is a story I have been meaning to document for years, now that my semester is basically over, I’m going to hurry and do it. It is a bit gory and probably TMI, so feel free to stop reading at any point.
On Friday, March 16, 2007 I had a regular check up with my OB/GYN. I was about 37 weeks pregnant with Lydia. I had been feeling really crappy, but not any huge problem that I could put a name to. I had gained a few pounds that week which alarmed me, but didn’t seem to surprise the nurse. I think she thought fat girl had too much to eat. Funny thing was that since I felt so crappy, I was living on Rice Chex and skim milk for weeks. How much of that would you have to eat to gain 5 lbs in a week? My other concern was my blood pressure. It was 136/90 ish. For me that is extremely high, even pregnant. Can you see where this is going?
Those who live near me might also remember I was retaining water like the Hoover dam and was about the same size. I felt vindicated when I had lost 36 pounds within the first week of delivery!
I only saw the nurse that day since my dr was in an emergency C-section. I went home dreading the next 4 weeks of waiting- which would have been my normal time with my previous two pregnancies. My due date was April 6th, I was optimistic that maybe he would induce me by April 10th.
Fast forward to Monday. I felt horrible the whole morning. I knew something wasn’t quite right. I called my sister to see if she would come stay with my girls for a little bit while I went to the doctor to get checked. She came around 1:00 I think and then I decided to go straight to the hospital to see what was happening. I was hoping it was just a little stress about the RS birthday dinner I was in charge of the next night. (Thanks to all who picked up my slack)
When I got to the hospital & told them something wasn’t quite right they humored me and put me in a room for observation. I thought I might be crazy and I think the nurses might have thought so too. When they check my stats, my blood pressure was 168/? THAT was not ok! They started me on magnesium to lower my blood pressure & I tried to get a hold of Tim. He was relatively new at his job and I thought I had his new phone number memorized. I was wrong. I must have dialed the wrong number 300 times. He finally got tired of waiting for me to call with an update and drove over and found me at the hospital.
By now, the on-call doctor decided that I was experiencing toxemia. I had been joking for months that I wanted toxemia so I could be induced early. Careful what you wish for… She gave me the option of bed rest for a few weeks or start an induction. The thought of bed rest with a 2 & 4 yr old at home was laughable, so we decided to go for the induction. They started the pitocin around 5:30 and we waited and waited. Our families came to our rescue and took care of the girls without missing a beat. The details are blurry, but I know Court & Jake brought the girls to see me at some point and Jennifer had the girls when Lydia finally came. Thanks to everyone in between- I was kind of out of it. Anyway, back to the story.
As a bit of information, magnesium and pitocin don’t play well together. The mag was basically defeating the purpose of the pit. I was barely progressing as the night wore on. Sometime around 3:00 in the morning, I awoke to alarms going off. The auto blood pressure cuff had taken a measurement and set off alarms. I tried to page the nurse but passed out before I could hit the button. Sometime later it happened again & I was able to page them and whisper “I need help” before I passed out again. Tim was across the room, but I couldn’t talk loud enough to wake him. Next memory- my room is full of at least 7 people including the anesthesiologist and nurses and who knows who else. My blood pressure had dropped to 68/? I have no idea how they fixed that, but I really think they saved my life.
I don’t remember much until the afternoon of the 20th. They said they were going to reduce the mag & increase the pit to get things moving. Hallelujah! I was feeling better after getting rid of the magnesium and was ready to push around 3:30pm. I asked them to put a mirror where I could see what was happening. I was sure this was going to be my last pregnancy, so I wanted to see the birth. I had never done that before & I am so glad I got to see. I felt much more in control & much more a part of the whole process. A few quick pushes and the tiniest baby popped right out.
After Lydia was safely in my arms, I saw the doctor reach in to get the placenta. After he got it, that’s when I saw the blood start spurting out and the doctor starting to move a lot faster. (I had warned him during my appointments that I tended to bleed profusely after birth. I had changed doctors because of an insurance change. At my six week checkup he said “You weren’t kidding about the bleeding!” Yeah, it’s that bad.) At this point things started going dark and I remember thinking that I really hoped I woke up from this.
My next conscious memory was around 6:00. I remember my mom was holding Lydia and Tim was sitting next to me. I was so relieved that everything was ok! Turns out the toxemia stemmed from a problem with my placenta. It was unusually large and crystallizing. Lydia wasn’t getting enough nutrition and was tiny- 5lbs 3 oz. My other babies were 7-12 & 7. I still wonder if I had waited to talk to my doctor the previous Friday, things might have gone easier. I was also so thankful that we felt prompted to go ahead with the induction instead of waiting two weeks. She might have died or been permanently damaged if she stayed in the womb, not getting the nutrients she needed.
Everything turned out ok. She’s a happy, healthy, BUSY 2-going-on-16 year old. Because of the trauma of the delivery I got to stay in the room we lovingly call the “Do not let me die Suite.” It was huge! I stayed until Saturday, missing a freak snow storm. Most importantly, Lydia and I both escaped relatively unharmed. I don’t tell this story to freak people out (or gross them out). It was a rare set of circumstances & I was fine. I am glad that the day before I went to the hospital, Tim & my dad gave me a blessing. I know that I felt prompted to ask for it so early. Ordinarily I would have had another few weeks before delivery, but I am so glad I had that blessing. I was so protected and cared for! Lydia is such a blessing in our family and I am blessed to be here to raise my family!

The Snowy day

Can you believe this! This was 8:30 this morning. I just measured the snow on the back porch and there are 13 inches! It hasn't stopped snowing since 5:30 this morning!

Wow your friends with random facts...

Who doesn't love to do that? Here's a spot to find all kinds of info about the US, our economy, population and anything else you can think of. It is called the Statistical Abstract.

There are facts about things like retail rx sales, Mexico/US border lengths, reported diseases- probably any random thing you can think of. Spend some time there and impress your friends with your wealth of knowledge about Population by selected ancestry groupans region.