January we rang in the New Year, unfortunately by ourselves. Our friends were up in SLC celebrating with their family, seeing a concert at the Tabernacle. We spent the night with our girls, and went to bed right after midnight. We're boring, I know!!! Ian was laid off the end of December and the next couple months would be tight for us. The middle of January we had one of our friends move in with us. It's been nice having him live with us, especially when it was difficult for me to get upstairs to take care of the girls. Our friend also had her baby in January, and it was nice to see them in the hospital.
February Ian started a new job, working for a company that he worked for last year. He works for a call center in Draper, working Data Entry, taking phone calls from representatives who install security alarms in homes. He loves working there, and was sad when the season ended last year. Thankfully he got on pre-season this year, so he is able to build up time and expertise and stay on after the season ends in October. I'm ready to have him working somewhere that he loves and somewhere where there's room to grow, and this company has both. February also brought us closer to the end of the pregnancy. I had my baby shower, I had my weekly doctor's visits, and began the fun phase of Braxton Hicks contractions.
March 3rd was a Sunday that I will never forget. Ian and I went to church, I managed to get through all 3 hours, even though I wasn't feeling well. I felt hot, dizzy and was ready to be home and relaxed. We got home at 12:15, had lunch, put the girls down for a nap, and went upstairs to watch tv. At 2:30 I felt a small gush of fluid. I text my doula, she came over at 3:30, and began working with me to get my contractions going. We went on a walk with the girls (it was a nice day outside), and when they became regular, we dropped the girls off with the babysitter and headed for the hospital. We got there at 6:30pm, got me hooked up to an iv (since I was somehow dehydrated), and the contractions began coming even more regular. They were still small, so easy to breathe through, and they sent me walking the halls for 1 hour to see if I would progress faster. I was admitted at midnight while my husband was sleeping and my doula was at home sleeping (since my contractions weren't strong enough to do anything), and I tried to get some sleep. At 3:00 the doctor came in and asked if he could start me on pitocin and break my water. We decided to break my water first, and see if that would help. After 1 hour, I was dilated to a 4cm, but not fast enough for the doctor (since I had been there for 10 hours already with not much progress). They began me on pitocin, and those next 6 hours would be the worst of my life. I began having regular contractions, which became stronger as the pitocin dose was made stronger every 30 min. I climbed into the tub to try to calm me down, but that didn't work and the water quickly became cold. At 9:30 (after 5.5 hours of pitocin), I was at a 5.5 cm. dilation, and I quickly went to a 7, then 20 min. later I was at an 8, then 10 min. later while feeling like I needed to push, I went to the bathroom. When I realized that he was coming. my doula whisked me off the toilet as fast as she could, drug me to the bed (since my legs hurt so bad I couldn't walk), and the nurse checked me. I was at 10cm and ready to push. They whisked a couple nurses in to help me deliver, since the doctor on call was in the room next door delivering. They realized that Connor was not going to wait, and they began getting things set up. I was in so much pain, after reaching level 18 on pitocin (the highest dosage they can give you), and could not sit still. I couldn't listen to anybody and was trying to push him out on my own. The doctor told me to push, and I pushed once and his head was out. 1 more push and his shoulders were out. I felt so much better, and realized I still wasn't done, as there were other things the doctor needed to do to me. Connor was born at 10:43 am, Monday, March 4, 2013. He weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz, and only being 17" long. He came out crying and breathing just fine. The nursery nurses were there taking care of him, and things were looking good. Ian and I were busy crying, relieved that he was here! They took him away to the nursery to clean him up, but let me see him first. He was beautiful!!
March 4th he spent in the nursery, and after him being there for 4 hours, we went to check on him. We found out that he was having to breathe a lot harder than normal, and he wouldn't be in our room. They said it would be 48 hours, then he could come home. That would be Wed., that's fine, I could wait. I was being discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, and could wait 1 more day. Then things became worse, when I found out he would be on oxygen, an iv, and that he possibly had pneumonia. That was later confirmed on Tues. morning.
March 5th I was discharged and came home to rest. I made sure to see Connor a couple times that morning before I left and held him. He was so out of it, almost lethargic, and it was sad seeing him like that. As I was leaving the nursery, the pediatrician called with more devastating news. He would need more care than they could provide, and they needed to transfer him to a NICU capable hospital. I authorized one of the two hospitals, which wasn't very far from where we lived, and we went home heartbroken. We also found out that his pneumonia had spread, his heart wasn't pumping fluids to the other side of the heart, and we were worried we were going to lose him. Tues night was very hard for us. I sent Ian and Matthew to go give him a blessing on Tues. night once he was settled into the new hospital. Little did we know that blessing would open up a world of improvements.
March 6th he woke up, was breathing better, his levels of oxygen were coming down as for what he required to breathe with, and he was eating better through the feeding tube they had put in. I called so many times that day for updates, and it was nice to always hear good things from the nurses. I'll start posting status updates from facebook as there are too many updates on him for me to remember when they happened. "YAY!!!! He's now only on 30% oxygen, instead of the 40% that he was on yesterday. He has shown more interest in wanting his pacifier, he slept through the night, and they're thinking they should be able to feed him today just fine through the feeding tube." "Another Connor update: (I hope none of you are sick of his updates) He has kept his formula down that they fed him at noon. He finally had a messy diaper (after not having one since he was born), his oxygen has gone down to 22% and 3 liters (down from 40% and 5 liters), and he's doing better sleeping." "Went to go see Connor tonight. He had a little bit of jaundice, but it will probably go away by tomorrow. While we were there, he kept taking the oxygen tube out of his nose. I think he's ready to be breathing on his own. The respiratory therapist said he can go off oxygen when he gets to 2L (he's at 3L now). We were able to hold him and take his mask off his eyes, that protects his eyes when under the jaundice light. He opened his eyes!!! It melted my heart. I posted a couple pics of him from tonight. I want to thank my amazing cousin, Sharon Crown, who offered to take time out of her night to drive me, take pics, and sit with me while I held him. You're the best!!! Thanks to her daughter Tamara Johnson, who watched Em so your mom could be with me. Thanks!!!!"
March 7th: "Connor was pulled off feeding tube and nasal oxygen today. We're going to see him tonight and we're excited to be able to feed him a bottle and hold him with nothing in the way. Thanks so much for your positive thoughts and prayers. We love you all!!!!".
March 8th: "Connor is off all wires. His jaundice is gone, he's drinking a full bottle of formula (and then some), so his IV is out. We get to dress him today and hold him with nothing attached. This was news I loved hearing this morning. Tuesday can't come fast enough....." I will try to post pictures when I can, possibly tomorrow. Stay tuned...
Friday, March 8, 2013
1 year in a nutshell
I'm going to try to start blogging again, since I realize that it's been over a year. My roommate keeps bugging me about blogging, saying that my facebook statuses are too long. So, since I just had Connor, we'll try to see if I can keep the blog up.
In April of last year, we celebrated 6 years together. We went to dinner and exchanged presents. It was nice to be out. We also went shopping to get new bedding and a new blender, and I was thankful for a cousin willing to watch our girls so we could do that.
In May, McKenna turned 3 and she was finally potty trained. She was in underwear during the day and pull-ups for nap time and night time. We had a fun party for her, where we had Ian's parents who came from CA to celebrate, and my cousin over for the party. We also got a chance to see my friend Kennie whom I served with in So. CA in 2007 for Achievement Days. Her oldest son was being sealed to his wife in the Jordan River temple, and she invited Ian and I. We were able to reconnect with her son, and offered the invite that if they wanted to hang out, we were cool. Little did we know, we would end up inseparable from them and would begin hanging out weekly, sometimes more than once a week. They have become real close friends/almost family for us. Ian's parents stayed for 2 weeks, and it was good having them here to see the girls, tour the zoo in SLC, and just spend time being lazy. Ian's mom was in the hospital for a short visit while here, but was better when she got out. They went back to CA the 2nd week in May (after celebrating Mother's Day with us), and 2 weeks later we got the devastating news.
It was 3:30 am, my phone began ringing. I woke up, saw it was Ian's mom calling, hung up and sent her a text asking what was up. The phone rang again, and it was Ian's mom calling again. I answered and my heart sank. Ian's dad was on the other end crying, telling me that mom had just passed away. He said that she woke up with the cats jumping on the bed, laid back down, and began gasping for air. He tried to help her, performed CPR while dialing 911, but he lost her. She had passed away on May 31, 2012 at the young age of 64. My heart sank, and I was left to the task of waking Ian up while still being on the phone. I woke him up and told him, and he began screaming this bloody murder. His worst fear of his whole life had just come true, and he was heart broken. I finished on the phone, knowing that Ian's dad's bishop was there and his dad's parents were on their way down from Dutch Flatt. I went and woke the girls up and told them that Grandma had just passed away, and she was in heaven now. Hunter, at 5 years old, was able to comprehend, and began crying. I sat there holding her, then woke McKenna up, who didn't understand. We went downstairs and sat there and cried for the next 3 hours. That whole day was horrible for Ian, as he sat there staring at pictures of his mom, who had just been ripped away from him. He cried a lot, was quiet a lot, and began withdrawing from everything that day. That next week while we waited to go to CA for the funeral was a long week for him. Thankfully he was unemployed at the time, so he was able to grieve and heal in his own time, and we were able to spend 4 days in CA taking care of Ian's dad and making sure he'd be okay before we left to come back to UT. To this day, every month that passes with 31 days, the 31st is always a hard day for him.
In June was Ian's mom's funeral. It was a good visit and gave us the chance to visit with family that we hadn't seen since we moved to UT in Jan. In July Ian started his new job and we spent 4th of July at a rodeo and enjoying time with the Tritsch's. Bro. Tritsch teaches Gospel Principles, which we were attending in the ward, and Sis. Tritsch was the 1st one to say hi to me in RS. Their kids are older and living on their own, and they loved taking our girls in. We grew pretty close to them pretty fast, and it was nice having friends in the ward again.
August, Ian and I both celebrated our birthdays (small celebrations). We also found out we were expecting a baby, due April 1, 2013.
September and October were small months, with nothing really going on. We celebrated Halloween by taking the girls out trick or treating and going through trial after trial with deciding whether we were moving. In November, we found out we were staying in the ward, Ian was laid off, then he started a new job. It was a very crazy month, but we also got the best news ever. We found out we were expecting a boy....
December brought Christmas and we had the joy of being able to host Ian's dad, Ian's brother, and his brother's boyfriend. It was a very nice visit, despite the nasty snowy roads. We also had the chance to go down to Springville on Christmas Eve to see Ian's aunt and uncle (his mom's brother and sister in law, and their grown kids with their spouses). It was a very nice visit, even if it was only a couple days, and a good way to spend the holidays.
In April of last year, we celebrated 6 years together. We went to dinner and exchanged presents. It was nice to be out. We also went shopping to get new bedding and a new blender, and I was thankful for a cousin willing to watch our girls so we could do that.
In May, McKenna turned 3 and she was finally potty trained. She was in underwear during the day and pull-ups for nap time and night time. We had a fun party for her, where we had Ian's parents who came from CA to celebrate, and my cousin over for the party. We also got a chance to see my friend Kennie whom I served with in So. CA in 2007 for Achievement Days. Her oldest son was being sealed to his wife in the Jordan River temple, and she invited Ian and I. We were able to reconnect with her son, and offered the invite that if they wanted to hang out, we were cool. Little did we know, we would end up inseparable from them and would begin hanging out weekly, sometimes more than once a week. They have become real close friends/almost family for us. Ian's parents stayed for 2 weeks, and it was good having them here to see the girls, tour the zoo in SLC, and just spend time being lazy. Ian's mom was in the hospital for a short visit while here, but was better when she got out. They went back to CA the 2nd week in May (after celebrating Mother's Day with us), and 2 weeks later we got the devastating news.
It was 3:30 am, my phone began ringing. I woke up, saw it was Ian's mom calling, hung up and sent her a text asking what was up. The phone rang again, and it was Ian's mom calling again. I answered and my heart sank. Ian's dad was on the other end crying, telling me that mom had just passed away. He said that she woke up with the cats jumping on the bed, laid back down, and began gasping for air. He tried to help her, performed CPR while dialing 911, but he lost her. She had passed away on May 31, 2012 at the young age of 64. My heart sank, and I was left to the task of waking Ian up while still being on the phone. I woke him up and told him, and he began screaming this bloody murder. His worst fear of his whole life had just come true, and he was heart broken. I finished on the phone, knowing that Ian's dad's bishop was there and his dad's parents were on their way down from Dutch Flatt. I went and woke the girls up and told them that Grandma had just passed away, and she was in heaven now. Hunter, at 5 years old, was able to comprehend, and began crying. I sat there holding her, then woke McKenna up, who didn't understand. We went downstairs and sat there and cried for the next 3 hours. That whole day was horrible for Ian, as he sat there staring at pictures of his mom, who had just been ripped away from him. He cried a lot, was quiet a lot, and began withdrawing from everything that day. That next week while we waited to go to CA for the funeral was a long week for him. Thankfully he was unemployed at the time, so he was able to grieve and heal in his own time, and we were able to spend 4 days in CA taking care of Ian's dad and making sure he'd be okay before we left to come back to UT. To this day, every month that passes with 31 days, the 31st is always a hard day for him.
In June was Ian's mom's funeral. It was a good visit and gave us the chance to visit with family that we hadn't seen since we moved to UT in Jan. In July Ian started his new job and we spent 4th of July at a rodeo and enjoying time with the Tritsch's. Bro. Tritsch teaches Gospel Principles, which we were attending in the ward, and Sis. Tritsch was the 1st one to say hi to me in RS. Their kids are older and living on their own, and they loved taking our girls in. We grew pretty close to them pretty fast, and it was nice having friends in the ward again.
August, Ian and I both celebrated our birthdays (small celebrations). We also found out we were expecting a baby, due April 1, 2013.
September and October were small months, with nothing really going on. We celebrated Halloween by taking the girls out trick or treating and going through trial after trial with deciding whether we were moving. In November, we found out we were staying in the ward, Ian was laid off, then he started a new job. It was a very crazy month, but we also got the best news ever. We found out we were expecting a boy....
December brought Christmas and we had the joy of being able to host Ian's dad, Ian's brother, and his brother's boyfriend. It was a very nice visit, despite the nasty snowy roads. We also had the chance to go down to Springville on Christmas Eve to see Ian's aunt and uncle (his mom's brother and sister in law, and their grown kids with their spouses). It was a very nice visit, even if it was only a couple days, and a good way to spend the holidays.
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