July Holidays

Though it's really hot, I love July because of the holidays. I really enjoy family parties and my whole life, July has been full of them. Not only that but I was always bored in the summertime. But because we lived close to the festivities growing up, it kind of broke up my summer monotony. I also danced in numerous parades and the Stadium of Fire 3 times. Good times in July.

Sweet baby girl that everyone wanted to hold. Top right, that girl is laughing because she thinks my baby has monkey ears. The one with me in it is with my grandpa's sister. It is so fitting that KFC is in the back ground because she brought KFC to northern California. And as a child at G.R.A. park, we always had KFC. Like from before I was born. Yearly. Faithfully. She and her husband know how to run a restaurant. 

And Granny JoAnny giving Embri kisses.

 

 Fun at the park. Food is good. and it looks like someone went to a 3-D movie? 

Ben's mean kick and Cam's congratulatory "five".

I sure love these old farts! They are the beginning for me. I knew my great-grandmother until I was 8, but these people I've watched grow old and I love. I miss my grandpa. I think he filled the void for me where my Dad fell short. I just loved him as an innocent child loves, unconditionally. His sister, her husband, one of his brothers, and his wife keep that connection alive for me. There are things about them that remind me so much of him. Just the way they talk, the way they his brother holds his mouth, their mannerisms. It's fun to watch.

The 24th started out with the parade and a diaper blow-out thanks to Embri. Then fishing at the fish pond (a favorite) numerous times, frog picking and bounce house jumping.

Granny JoAnny telling us to "Get Lost" like no one else can. Beautiful girls. I sure love them. With all that fun, Jaxen was upset that I made him sit and drink water. He loved his loot from the fish pond.

Because of where the holiday fell, we attended two parades this year. Fireworks are awesome! Except that Jaxen was scared of them. Daddy brought earplugs for Embri and she slept through them. Fireworks with family is even better. Emma loves Jaxen but I don't think he loves mauling hugs. He was so proud that he got his own can of orange soda. What a fun night!

Blessing Day

Just a quick note, Jaron's family was there, I promise! Everyone rushed off to get lunch for Scott & Amy so they could head home. Hence, no pictures. Bummer.

Reunion 2011

Reunion 2011

Jaxen and Daddy had lots of fun swimming with the family while Embri and I sat under the shade of the pavilion. I did end up getting in the water while Grandma Nancy watched sleeping Embri. 

What is it anyway about a giant body of water that is so entertaining? Like a bathtub, but morally okay to hang out in together. Things that make you go, hmmm.

The kids at the top were so cute, every time the camera came out, they were in front of my lens.

Jaxen is so amazed at the fireworks that he's going to jump out of his chair.

That's right, kids, run till your hearts content. It's a Mom's hope that you'll fall asleep fast tonight!

 And we can't forget our family in Japan! Skype is great. They were able to chat with us on these special holidays.

Heber Valley Camp was so fun. Cousins are so fun but sometimes running around will result in an owie. :( And I LOVE that S'more picture! It was his first and that was a perfectly delicious bite.

Pretty girls showing me their pretty pictures and smiles.

The one on the far left in pink was watching us get our pictures taken as a family and I assumed she was hanging around because she wanted her picture taken. But after I was done taking some pictures of her she said, "Why are we taking pictures?" 

And the girl on the far right in pink was both putout and excited to go to the cabin "again" to get something.

The two in the middle just wanted to smile for the camera. Too cute!

Originally, we weren't going to go camping. If she had been born when she was due, she would have only been about a month old. Instead, she was 6 weeks old. I know, not a big time difference, but in baby time it's big. We had a great time despite all the extra things you have to do when you have a newborn and are missing the conveniences of home. It was just one night, and she had started to sleep through the night occasionally. 

Jaxen was in LOVE with his bunk bed. I mean in LOVE people! He was so proud of his spot with his blankets and Daddy gave him a glow stick. 

Embri was starting to smile, and recognize Jaxen. It was good to be together as a family.

A funny (but not at the time) story: The sun comes up very early and in these cabins there are windows at the top with no curtains, letting the natural light in. Well, I had pumped late, both kids woke up crying at seperate times and Daddy just slept. I was so furious, I didn't even try to wake him up. I wanted praise and him to feel really bad for not getting up. So, I did it myself. Jaxen fell back asleep on his own and I fed Embri. Then, in the morning, for some reason, without checking the actual time, Jaron woke Jaxen up and took him out to explore so Embri and I could sleep. Ahhh! Why? It was so early, I'd had such a late night, Jaxen having been woken up early would be ornery sooner and on and on. So, I did sleep a little more, but eventually stopped trying and just got up. Here's the funny part, Jaron told Chris, "I think both kids got up at some point in the night and I didn't. I'm pretty sure I'm in trouble."

Even going to the grocery store with a 6 week old is complicated. We just decided to go for the gold by going camping with one and all in all it was fun.

First Month

Ah, to have a newborn again... it's such a special time... a tired time... an adjustment... 

 and oh so sweet!

We were told when Jaxen was born that he had an accelerated version of Jaundice. It was a tough thing to fight those first couple weeks. Our pediatrician also told us it was likely that all our kids would have this. But after Embri was born, she was fine. We only took her back for one Bili test as opposed to Jaxen's 15+ visits. Jaron took her in the day after we came home (I tried going, but was surprised at how extremely weak I was. No energy to even walk around. Stunning.) and the pediatrician told us to bring her back in 2 weeks. Wait, are you sure she's going to be okay that long? We brought Jaxen back everyday for the first two weeks. Are you sure we can just hang out at home? It felt strange but was a refreshing change to what we'd experienced before. Who knows, maybe she came out fine because I wasn't fine. If so, what a blessing!

 This girl is a screamer though, so it makes those moments she's not screaming extra sweet.

Our little princess was fine with her weight as well. She was back up close to her birth weight the day after we came home, and steadily gained from then on. It was so awesome to watch her gain weight. Literally. I remember telling Jaron I swear I could see her gaining. Due to Jaxen's not gaining weight for six weeks, I was physically relieved to watch her fill in her skin. After her 2 week checkup, when the pediatrician told us to come back in a month, it felt strange again. We went back so often not only for the Bili tests with Jaxen, but also the weight checks. Every week. Every new baby is a new experience, and a little scary. We always knew Jaxen was okay that first six weeks because he was seen so often. Though Embri was gaining weight steadily, I didn't have a doctor checking her out almost every day; to rely on my own instincts and judgement with a newborn was different for me. 

So, to sum up that first month I'd say, "Whew!"

The Hospital

 See the number one on the Pitocin machine? Um, yeah that really was only the beginning. When I first heard her cry, I cried. More than I did when Jaxen was born. This pregnancy was harder for me. I told Daddy before she was born that I was going to cry when she came out because of sheer joy that it was over. And I did. But, little did I know that it would get harder rather than easier, fast.

 One day old.

 My beautiful world. Jaxen really was an "eager helper". He walked in, asked if he could feed her and climbed up on the bed to help.

 The only difference between Baby Sister and I sleeping in the middle picture, and the bottom one, is that I'm getting a blood transfusion in the bottom one. I thought a blood transfusion was much more invasive, but no, it's REALLY expensive. $830.00 per unit, and I had 2 units! Sure takes true meaning out of "volunteer" donor. I am grateful though, I needed the blood. I felt alright about it, too because of the testing and purifying they do now. I was sent home on 500% DV iron pills and I took 3 pills a day for about the first month.

Baby Sister's Birth Story

     It was Thursday, May 19th. I was sick, I was tired, I was so done. It was 3 weeks and 1 day until our baby girl was due. Because of that 1 day, Dr. Anderson said that if I started into labor on Thursday, he'd stop it, but if I started Friday, he'd let it go. I had an appointment that day and my doctor said he would get things started if I wanted him to. Um, Yes please! Aside from getting things started, I had signs of Toxemia. Daddy was given specific instructions to have me rest as much as possible. I was kind of expecting to go into labor within a day or two of the appointment because with Jaxen he started things at my 3 week appointment and Jaxen was here less than a week after that. Not to mention the fact that I was already dilated to a 3 1/2 and was 70% effaced. Let's move things along, I say. 

     Well, Thursday passed, Friday passed and I was so uncomfortable and sick. The Toxemia was getting worse and I could feel it. We went out to eat Friday night because I just needed something to go right. The meal was okay. I was scared. I knew from my mother and friends' experience that Toxemia is scary. It can escalate fast, and this was uncharted territory for me. I was sick, full of anxiety and was just plain unsure. Sleeping that night was as good as it gets when you're 9 months pregnant, not restful at all. 

     Now it's Saturday. I thought about getting up and taking a shower to clear my mind, in fact, something told me to but I didn't. We worked Saturday, and I told Daddy my  fears before he left but it didn't help calm me at all. He didn't know what to say or what to think either. While he was gone, I tried calling the after hours number and got our local hospital Labor & Delivery nurse. I explained my symptoms to them and hung up frustrated. They didn't help at all. So I called the other hospital Labor & Delivery nurse and they were no help either. Ugh! One problem I was having was that I didn't feel her moving as much. Her movements had slowed naturally because she was bigger, but it was less than that. I was devastated and in tears. I just didn't know what to do and I just felt awful. I didn't want to go to the hospital and have to go home again. The experience with Jaxen really has me fearful to ever go in before I KNOW they'll keep me. But, I put my fears aside and decided to go to the hospital to make sure our baby girl was okay.  We'd for sure be coming back home that day, she was still 3 weeks early, and I just needed to hear her heartbeat. We dropped Jaxen off at Grandma Nancy's- fully expecting to see him in a few hours- and we were off.

            We arrived at about 11AM. My first nurse was so nice! Very talkative and interested in Jaxen and what we'll name Baby Sister. So, I get all hooked up and though I'm able to make small talk, my spiritual heart is seizing in my chest until I hear her heartbeat. There it is! What a beautiful sound, she's okay. When you go in at all without your doctor knowing, they always check your dilation and effacement next, then wait an hour and call your doctor. The blood pressure cuff is automatically set to go off like every 30 minutes. I think they set mine at every 15 because of the Toxemia. And, when your blood pressure is high, it beeps until the nurse comes in to reset it. It was beeping like crazy! Well, on top of that, Baby Sister wouldn't hold still. She was a squirmy wormy and they couldn't keep the monitor on her. During that hour, I hadn't dilated or effaced much more, but my blood pressure was high so Dr. Anderson ordered some lab work. Wait another hour, or two for the lab work and call the doctor with the results. A phlebotomist came and took my blood and thus began the waiting game. All while monitors just kept beeping because of my blood pressure and baby sister's acrobatics. The blood work came back and showed toxemia. Not dangerous levels, but toxemia nonetheless. She checked and I was dilated to 5 1/2 or 6 and 80% effaced. "You're having a baby today!", the nurse excitedly said as she came back from calling the doctor. (I should have taken that shower.) "He'll be here in about an hour to break your water so let's get your epidural ordered and your Pitocin started." Suddenly I didn't know what to think. I was NOT expecting this outcome today. But ready or not, here she comes! I wasn't really in pain but since the doctor was coming in about an hour to break my water, I wanted the Pitocin to get started. You can move the Pitocin dosage up about every hour I think. Everything went fine with the epidural and Pitocin hook ups. Now we wait and wait... and wait... and wait. Being serenaded by beeping and every single nurse on the floor coming in my room to adjust the monitor on Baby Sister made for an eventful labor. I'm watching the clock and 1 hour passes, 2 hours pass and the nurse calls Dr. Anderson just before she goes home. He says he'll be there in a bit. The nurses asked if the nurse practitioner could break my water if he wasn't coming soon, and he said no, he'd be there soon. 2 more hours of constant beeping and adjusting Baby Sister's monitor and me, pass. About an hour before he got there, 3 hours waiting, they had to turn the Pitocin off because they couldn't monitor Baby Sister. Now, mind you, I had worked up the scale for the last 3 hours and they were now turning it off! I was at 6 of 10 on the scale. Ah! What was he doing? Why did he request to break my water? Why was he 4 hours later? Why was I started so soon on Pitocin and the epidural? I was frustrated. The beeping, the moving the monitor for Baby Sister (my belly), turning every hour to keep the epidural equal, ah! If I would have known he would be so much later than he said, I wouldn't have started the epidural and Pitocin when I did.

            

     So, after taking his sweet time, Dr. Anderson finally comes and is... nice? I wonder if he thought we came in just to try and have a baby that weekend, so he made us wait? I don't know, but I do know that I had a logical reason for coming in. I like Dr. Anderson. I was confused as to why he was late. This isn't the doctor I've come to know. So, he looks at the history of contractions and goes way back to find a "good" one. He finds it and says, "There's a good one." As if annoyed that they aren't as "good" as he'd like. And I wanted to say, "Yeah, that was 4 hours ago, Thank You very much!" "You put me on the pitocin and then, because you were taking your time, they turned it off!!!" That's probably why he put me on pitocin, he didn't want me to progress faster. He was busy. Now I only had the BP beeping because they put a monitor on Baby Sister's head after HE broke my water. Our new nurse comes in about 11:30 PM and I've dilated to a 9. She tells me, if you feel any pressure, call me. No sooner had she walked out than I told Jaron to go get her. The pressure didn't hurt, but it was there.  She came in thinking it was a little too soon, but checked and said, "You're a 10, it's time." They called Dr. Anderson who was sleeping in the hospital, how nice would that be? Sleeping in the hospital? Apparently he had a woman coming in at 6 AM the next day to start her labor. Baby Sisters' birth was so easy. Push for 5-10 minutes and she's out in 3 pushes. 13 hours later, she was here. Though, I was not prepared for what came next. She took about 30 minutes to cry properly, but finally she did and Daddy just walked around the room holding her. JEALOUS! I retained a small part of the placenta and was hemorrhaging. Badly. No more epidural, kneading of my stomach, throwing up (though all I'd had was flavored ice) and Oxytocin (Pitocin) turned up to make me cramp and stop the bleeding. PAIN, PAIN, PAIN! A nurse came in to help with Baby Sister after she was born and says, "Oh, I know you." Great, just what you want to hear when you're legs are in stirrups! I glanced at her but didn't readily recognize her and went on delivering my baby. I decided that it was good she knew me because during all this pain, she pushed for me to get some Morphine. Jaron reminded me later that she pushed for it. I was in a bit of a daze. You'd think the liquid Morphine would help, but it didn't. The gesture was nice. The afterbirth pains were INTENSE! Like, take away your breath-stop talking-think you're in labor again, pain. Even with liquid Morphine sent through my IV. Phew! I wonder if it was worse because of the extra Pitocin I was given? 

     It's an hour, two hours after, and still didn't feel like holding my sweet baby. I was just too weak. We sent her to the nursery. I didn't realize I'd hemorrhaged as bad as I did until later in the day and I wasn't any better. Jaron thought the bleeding was normal because when Jaxen was born, he needed to be rushed to the baby floor and Jaron went with Jaxen. Dr. Anderson came in and said, "You need a blood transfusion." "If you were a pioneer mom, you would have died." I received two units of blood. With every drop I felt stronger. Before the transfusion, I didn't have the energy to simply lift my arm to drink or eat. Seriously. Jaron spoon fed me and I fell asleep between bites. We're talking seconds between a bite and a drink. They were going to give me three units but decided to send me home to make my own. The talkative nurse from the night before came in on her morning shift the next day and was shocked. She said, "What happened here?" She kept saying "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." As if she could do anything about it. She felt really badly and I appreciated her concern. I finally did get out of bed just before I went home. Which happened to be the next day because of the time she was born. All in all, I was mad at Dr. Anderson for being absent for 4 hours, but then he saved my life - so I forgive him. As far as the Toxemia, there's no definite answer as to why I got it. But she's here and I'm glad that's all over. We left the hospital not naming her, which is totally fine. You have 30 days. But by the dirty looks and ornery records woman, you'd think we'd stolen all the mints!