A cruise romance, pirates, lost on an island with the love of your life and an ending you never expected! I absolutely LOVED it!
Congratulations Donna! I'm happy to say I knew you before. :)
Saturday, August 24, 2013
A Change of Plans by Donna K. Weaver
I just had to share! My former boss and friend when I lived in Orem, UT published her very first book and now has it in audio book! I'm so excited for her. I got my copy and read it in just 2 days!!!! It's SOOOO good.
A cruise romance, pirates, lost on an island with the love of your life and an ending you never expected! I absolutely LOVED it!
Congratulations Donna! I'm happy to say I knew you before. :)
A cruise romance, pirates, lost on an island with the love of your life and an ending you never expected! I absolutely LOVED it!
Congratulations Donna! I'm happy to say I knew you before. :)
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Holden's Birth
Sorry it has taken me so long to get this on here but here ya go...(warning, it is a birth story so if you don't like details, don't read...)
Holden was due on December 24, 2012. We kept telling Graham that Santa Clause would bring his baby to him, so Graham was very excited for Santa to come. Every time we saw Santa at the store or some other activity, Graham would only ask for his brother, never for any toys. It was just too cute. So, when the 24th came and went, as well as Christmas day, we were very disappointed and kept telling Graham Santa would bring him a little late because he wasn't ready to come yet. It was getting very frustrating because for about 2 weeks before his due date, I was dialated to a 2 and then a 3 which is more than I ever got naturally with Graham. I was having very painful contractions that were hard to breath through and had those for about 3 weeks. I thought for sure we would go early or right on time.
The day after Christmas, I went to my doctor, very disappointed that I had had so many false alarms but never the real thing. I told him how strong my contractions were and how close together they were. They would last for hours and just when I would be ready to go to the hospital, they would all the sudden stop. I thought that day he would check me and I would be in active labor. That wasn't the case, however. I had stayed at a 3 and he actually thought I felt smaller. I don't think it's possible to close back up but he was certain I was only about a 2 1/2 or 3. He told me that because I was having such strong contractions and that no progress was being made, that we should induce and get the baby here.
We scheduled the induction for the next day with a slow protocol. I didn't want to be induced because I was trying to deliver this baby VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Caesarean) and it had a better chance of working if no medications (other than epidural) were used. With a slow protocol, the pitocin was going to be introduced into my system very slowly and hopefully my body would just take over.
After my appointment, I called my mom and told her to get on the next flight so she could watch Graham. Eric left work early and we began scrubbing our house down, packing the car and getting Graham ready for us to be away. My mom and sisters and grandma made it to our house around 11:30pm and we all settled in for a very restless night. Eric and I didn't sleep a wink. We were nervous for his birth and the fact that I was being induced. We really wanted this baby to be delivered vaginally. We left our house around 6:20am on 12-27-12, grabbed a bagel at Panera on the way to the hospital and checked ourselves in at 7am. We got all settled with monitors galore all over my belly and the dreaded IV in my hand. I answered what seemed like a million questions and signed my life (literally) over to the hospital stating that I understood VBAC deliveries were risky and they weren't responsible for any deaths, etc that occurred.
I had decided early on that I didn't want an epidural because I felt I had a better chance of nautrally progressing without one. About a week before delivery, after experiencing so many contractions, I realized that I am a wuss and can't handle pain and that I would hold off as long as I could and then get the epidural. Contractions started slowly once the Pitocin was started and I didn't feel much pain (nothing more than what I had been experiencing for weeks). Eric and I took a nap, talked, laughed and even invited my family and Graham to come see us. By the time Graham made it to the hospital however, I was in tears and near screaming with every contraction. I had to put on a brave face for Graham but every time a contraction hit, I had to grip the side of the bed and focus on breathing so I wouldn't scare him. I finally asked Eric to take them all out and order my epidural. It was about another half and hour before they could administer it and luckily, my mom decided it was time to get Graham out of there and go home.
Finally, the epidural came and I got some relief. It only took one time to get the line in place in my back but only my left side went numb while the right still had all of the pain. I ended up having to lie on my right side for about half an hour to get it distributed throughout my body. My nurse checked me at the point (which was no easy task because apparently I was extremely posterior and they couldn't get to my cervix at all. Without my epidural, I think this would have hurt worse than the contractions. OUCH!) and I was at an 8. I had made it pretty far without the epidural and even though I felt very guilty at first for getting it, I felt better that I had made it almost to the transition phase without it.
My doctor came and tried to break my water but it was unsucessful. They decided to wait a little longer before trying again, in hopes that my body would still take over naturally and do it's thing. No dice! My body apparently is not designed to give birth. The resident ended up coming back and breaking my water, as well as inserting an internal heart monitor on the baby's head. He kept moving around too much and they couldn't keep his heart rate on the external monitor. They also wanted to keep a better eye on him since we were attempting VBAC and it was more difficult for the baby. The next hour was miserable. I didn't feel any pain but having that internal monitor made the baby's heart rate more visible and it kept dropping for several seconds and caused me much concern. I stared at the monitor, keeping a very close eye on him. I was so nervous that something was wrong with him but the nurses kept assuring me that they were watching it very closely and already had the doctor and surgery room on standby, just in case.
When I reached a ten, it was time to push. My nurse had me try one time when Holden's heart rate dropped below 70bpm and took almost a minute to get back up. A normal heart rate is between 130-160bpm so it was not good. I had to change positions several times (which is not easy when you can't feel your lower half) and finally got him stable while laying on my right side. My doctor was called and he immediately headed to the hospital before I was allowed to push anymore. Once there, he had me try pushing another time while lying on my right side (the only side Holden seemed to like). Nada...his heart rate dropped again and I had to receive oxygen and try to relax to get it back up. Again, it took too long for comfort to come back up. The look on my doctor's face told me everything. This baby would not be born vaginally. I began crying and looked at Eric absolutely devasted and feeling guilty and horrible about myself that I couldn't do it. It was the lowest point I had reached all day and I was given a few minutes to compose myself and accept that I was going to have another C-section. I felt like a failure and kept telling myself if only I hadn't gotten the epidural or hadn't been induced that this baby would have made it VBAC. Eric was great in comforting me and my doctor assured me that I had done everything right and given it my all but this baby wasn't going to tolerate it. I accepted it and we prepared for surgery.
Now the nerves set it. Graham's C-section was terrible! I wasn't fully numbed when they began the surgery and even though it only felt like someone scratching me (not very painful) I panicked and ended up getting more medication to calm me down during the surgery, which knocked me out completely and I didn't see Graham for almost 3 hours after birth. The recovery was miserable and coming down off the drugs was hard. My body shook uncontrollably, they had to keep me in the recovery room longer than usual, and I was SO cold that they had several heated blankets on me and I still couldn't get warm. I was worried that all of this was going to happen with this birth as well. I had told my doctor my concerns earlier in my pregnancy and then told my nurses as well while they were wheeling me to the room. My nurse was great and made sure they tested that I was completely numb before they began and told me that I would be asked first before given extra medications so that I could hopefully stay awake to see him.
More tears occurred while getting me prepped and I felt like a baby but eventually calmed down and made it through the surgery. My doctor this time did an amazing job. I didn't feel any pain and he reassured me the whole time that everything was great. It was SO much better than the first and at 5:19pm, Holden George Jacob was born. I was awake (though a little drowsy) and saw my beautiful baby boy and heard his sweet cry. While they were getting him all cleaned up, I experienced shooting, unberable pain in my neck and shoulders. I ended up getting an extra dose of pain meds which relieved it a little bit and didn't knock me out. It took a little longer to get me cleaned up and put back together but I was able to hold and nurse Holden in the recovery room, not long after his birth.
Holden is absolutely perfect. He has blonde hair (and a good amount of it) and gray blue eyes. He didn't have even a hint of jaundice in him. Our pediatrician was shocked about how good his color was and how low his jaundice count was. He is strong and healthy and weighed almost a pound more than Graham (8lbs 7 oz). His skin was pretty dried out from being overdue but lots of lotion has cleared that up. He took to nursing right away. I had a lot of problems with Graham not latching on right and not sucking. It took almost 2 hours to feed Graham the first time but Holden got right on and quickly got his fill. He's such a good sleeper and an amazing eater. He only cries when he is hungry or wet and is very content with just sitting in his chair and watching everything around him. Graham is in love with his "little bro" and already is very protective of him. The second Holden cries, Graham rushes to him and gives him his binky and calls for me to take care of him. He loves giving him kisses and hugs and holding him. It's been an adjustment getting used to two kids but we are a very happy family and are so excited that Holden is finally here with us!
Holden was due on December 24, 2012. We kept telling Graham that Santa Clause would bring his baby to him, so Graham was very excited for Santa to come. Every time we saw Santa at the store or some other activity, Graham would only ask for his brother, never for any toys. It was just too cute. So, when the 24th came and went, as well as Christmas day, we were very disappointed and kept telling Graham Santa would bring him a little late because he wasn't ready to come yet. It was getting very frustrating because for about 2 weeks before his due date, I was dialated to a 2 and then a 3 which is more than I ever got naturally with Graham. I was having very painful contractions that were hard to breath through and had those for about 3 weeks. I thought for sure we would go early or right on time.
The day after Christmas, I went to my doctor, very disappointed that I had had so many false alarms but never the real thing. I told him how strong my contractions were and how close together they were. They would last for hours and just when I would be ready to go to the hospital, they would all the sudden stop. I thought that day he would check me and I would be in active labor. That wasn't the case, however. I had stayed at a 3 and he actually thought I felt smaller. I don't think it's possible to close back up but he was certain I was only about a 2 1/2 or 3. He told me that because I was having such strong contractions and that no progress was being made, that we should induce and get the baby here.
We scheduled the induction for the next day with a slow protocol. I didn't want to be induced because I was trying to deliver this baby VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Caesarean) and it had a better chance of working if no medications (other than epidural) were used. With a slow protocol, the pitocin was going to be introduced into my system very slowly and hopefully my body would just take over.
After my appointment, I called my mom and told her to get on the next flight so she could watch Graham. Eric left work early and we began scrubbing our house down, packing the car and getting Graham ready for us to be away. My mom and sisters and grandma made it to our house around 11:30pm and we all settled in for a very restless night. Eric and I didn't sleep a wink. We were nervous for his birth and the fact that I was being induced. We really wanted this baby to be delivered vaginally. We left our house around 6:20am on 12-27-12, grabbed a bagel at Panera on the way to the hospital and checked ourselves in at 7am. We got all settled with monitors galore all over my belly and the dreaded IV in my hand. I answered what seemed like a million questions and signed my life (literally) over to the hospital stating that I understood VBAC deliveries were risky and they weren't responsible for any deaths, etc that occurred.
I had decided early on that I didn't want an epidural because I felt I had a better chance of nautrally progressing without one. About a week before delivery, after experiencing so many contractions, I realized that I am a wuss and can't handle pain and that I would hold off as long as I could and then get the epidural. Contractions started slowly once the Pitocin was started and I didn't feel much pain (nothing more than what I had been experiencing for weeks). Eric and I took a nap, talked, laughed and even invited my family and Graham to come see us. By the time Graham made it to the hospital however, I was in tears and near screaming with every contraction. I had to put on a brave face for Graham but every time a contraction hit, I had to grip the side of the bed and focus on breathing so I wouldn't scare him. I finally asked Eric to take them all out and order my epidural. It was about another half and hour before they could administer it and luckily, my mom decided it was time to get Graham out of there and go home.
Finally, the epidural came and I got some relief. It only took one time to get the line in place in my back but only my left side went numb while the right still had all of the pain. I ended up having to lie on my right side for about half an hour to get it distributed throughout my body. My nurse checked me at the point (which was no easy task because apparently I was extremely posterior and they couldn't get to my cervix at all. Without my epidural, I think this would have hurt worse than the contractions. OUCH!) and I was at an 8. I had made it pretty far without the epidural and even though I felt very guilty at first for getting it, I felt better that I had made it almost to the transition phase without it.
My doctor came and tried to break my water but it was unsucessful. They decided to wait a little longer before trying again, in hopes that my body would still take over naturally and do it's thing. No dice! My body apparently is not designed to give birth. The resident ended up coming back and breaking my water, as well as inserting an internal heart monitor on the baby's head. He kept moving around too much and they couldn't keep his heart rate on the external monitor. They also wanted to keep a better eye on him since we were attempting VBAC and it was more difficult for the baby. The next hour was miserable. I didn't feel any pain but having that internal monitor made the baby's heart rate more visible and it kept dropping for several seconds and caused me much concern. I stared at the monitor, keeping a very close eye on him. I was so nervous that something was wrong with him but the nurses kept assuring me that they were watching it very closely and already had the doctor and surgery room on standby, just in case.
When I reached a ten, it was time to push. My nurse had me try one time when Holden's heart rate dropped below 70bpm and took almost a minute to get back up. A normal heart rate is between 130-160bpm so it was not good. I had to change positions several times (which is not easy when you can't feel your lower half) and finally got him stable while laying on my right side. My doctor was called and he immediately headed to the hospital before I was allowed to push anymore. Once there, he had me try pushing another time while lying on my right side (the only side Holden seemed to like). Nada...his heart rate dropped again and I had to receive oxygen and try to relax to get it back up. Again, it took too long for comfort to come back up. The look on my doctor's face told me everything. This baby would not be born vaginally. I began crying and looked at Eric absolutely devasted and feeling guilty and horrible about myself that I couldn't do it. It was the lowest point I had reached all day and I was given a few minutes to compose myself and accept that I was going to have another C-section. I felt like a failure and kept telling myself if only I hadn't gotten the epidural or hadn't been induced that this baby would have made it VBAC. Eric was great in comforting me and my doctor assured me that I had done everything right and given it my all but this baby wasn't going to tolerate it. I accepted it and we prepared for surgery.
Now the nerves set it. Graham's C-section was terrible! I wasn't fully numbed when they began the surgery and even though it only felt like someone scratching me (not very painful) I panicked and ended up getting more medication to calm me down during the surgery, which knocked me out completely and I didn't see Graham for almost 3 hours after birth. The recovery was miserable and coming down off the drugs was hard. My body shook uncontrollably, they had to keep me in the recovery room longer than usual, and I was SO cold that they had several heated blankets on me and I still couldn't get warm. I was worried that all of this was going to happen with this birth as well. I had told my doctor my concerns earlier in my pregnancy and then told my nurses as well while they were wheeling me to the room. My nurse was great and made sure they tested that I was completely numb before they began and told me that I would be asked first before given extra medications so that I could hopefully stay awake to see him.
More tears occurred while getting me prepped and I felt like a baby but eventually calmed down and made it through the surgery. My doctor this time did an amazing job. I didn't feel any pain and he reassured me the whole time that everything was great. It was SO much better than the first and at 5:19pm, Holden George Jacob was born. I was awake (though a little drowsy) and saw my beautiful baby boy and heard his sweet cry. While they were getting him all cleaned up, I experienced shooting, unberable pain in my neck and shoulders. I ended up getting an extra dose of pain meds which relieved it a little bit and didn't knock me out. It took a little longer to get me cleaned up and put back together but I was able to hold and nurse Holden in the recovery room, not long after his birth.
Holden is absolutely perfect. He has blonde hair (and a good amount of it) and gray blue eyes. He didn't have even a hint of jaundice in him. Our pediatrician was shocked about how good his color was and how low his jaundice count was. He is strong and healthy and weighed almost a pound more than Graham (8lbs 7 oz). His skin was pretty dried out from being overdue but lots of lotion has cleared that up. He took to nursing right away. I had a lot of problems with Graham not latching on right and not sucking. It took almost 2 hours to feed Graham the first time but Holden got right on and quickly got his fill. He's such a good sleeper and an amazing eater. He only cries when he is hungry or wet and is very content with just sitting in his chair and watching everything around him. Graham is in love with his "little bro" and already is very protective of him. The second Holden cries, Graham rushes to him and gives him his binky and calls for me to take care of him. He loves giving him kisses and hugs and holding him. It's been an adjustment getting used to two kids but we are a very happy family and are so excited that Holden is finally here with us!
Saturday, January 5, 2013
My baby boy
Holden George Jacob
December 27, 2012 5:19pm
8 lbs 7 oz. 21 inches
Birth story and more photos to come!!!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Christmas 2012
Christmas wasn't what we had originally planned but it turned out to be wonderful. We were expecting our new baby boy on Christmas Eve and were hoping he would come early to be home with us for the Christmas season. Christmas Eve came and no sign of baby showing up anytime soon. We spent the evening together for our last time as a family of 3. We had some dinner and went to see all of the Christmas lights around town. While we were looking at one of the houses, we saw Santa Claus walking into their front door. It was a great way for Graham to see that he was visiting the houses so he needed to get home and get to bed. When we got home, Graham discovered that the elves had brought him and his baby brother some new jammies, a blanket, and a new friend to sleep with. Graham loved it. He got right into his jammies, posed for a few pictures and then told us he needed to go to bed. I've never seen a kid go to bed so willingly. We didn't have to fight him once. I wish every night could be Christmas Eve! Once Graham was in bed, Eric and I watched a Christmas classic, Home Alone, and then went to bed ourselves so Santa could come.
Graham woke up Christmas morning around 7:45am and crawled into bed with us, as usual. He asked to watch a show, so happy for the opportunity of a little more sleep, Eric and I let him. About 10 minutes into the show, he asked for a drink and a snack. We told him to go out to the kitchen and get his sippy out of the fridge, thinking he would see the presents. When he came back into our room, he was complaining that he couldn't find it and needed our help. I told him to go look on the "copy" table (he calls it a copy table because he says we don't drink coffee) and see if I left his drink there. We listened as he ran out to the front room to find his drink. All the sudden, we heard an intake of breath followed by his little feet running as fast as they could down the hall. "MOM!!! DAD!!! Santa brought me presents!!! HURRY!!!" We all got out to the front room where Graham was anxiously dancing around, waiting to open his presents.
Graham got a big piggy bank to put all of his "quennies" in. It took him and daddy a good 1/2 hour to put them all in.
Eric got a motorized helicopter last year that ended up being broken. When we took it back to exchange it, they had run out of them so he was devastated. Of course, I had to redeem myself this year and get him a new one. He was one happy guy!
Graham got: In his stocking
a new electric toothbrush
Bubble bath
Superhero underwear
and some candy
Presents:
Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Hungry Hippos, and UNO
Mr. Potato Head
Walkie Talkies
LOTS of Hot wheel tracks (we got him a lot of new tracks and wrapped them all indivdually. He was very happy to get them but after every track that he opened, he exclaimed "another hot wheel?!?!" I guess we better be a little more creative next year. )
A couple movies
Coke bottle piggy bank
Eric got: In his stocking
Shaving Cream
Body wash
A new toothbrush
Cologne
Presents:
Helicopter
Guiness Records 2013 book
Some new shirts and sweaters
Puzzle
Julia got: In her stocking
Body spray
A new toothbrush
CD
Presents:
Rings
A new paddle for the mix-master
A large mixing bowl
Slippers
Painting in the nursery framed
We got more presents from friends and family as well.
We had a great Christmas, just the 3 of us. It is full of memories that we will have of just Graham. We love our little family and are so excited to add to it.
Graham got: In his stocking
a new electric toothbrush
Bubble bath
Superhero underwear
and some candy
Presents:
Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Hungry Hippos, and UNO
Mr. Potato Head
Walkie Talkies
LOTS of Hot wheel tracks (we got him a lot of new tracks and wrapped them all indivdually. He was very happy to get them but after every track that he opened, he exclaimed "another hot wheel?!?!" I guess we better be a little more creative next year. )
A couple movies
Coke bottle piggy bank
Eric got: In his stocking
Shaving Cream
Body wash
A new toothbrush
Cologne
Presents:
Helicopter
Guiness Records 2013 book
Some new shirts and sweaters
Puzzle
Julia got: In her stocking
Body spray
A new toothbrush
CD
Presents:
Rings
A new paddle for the mix-master
A large mixing bowl
Slippers
Painting in the nursery framed
We got more presents from friends and family as well.
We had a great Christmas, just the 3 of us. It is full of memories that we will have of just Graham. We love our little family and are so excited to add to it.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Busy mama
Since the day we found out we were having another boy, I've been hard at work preparing and decorating the nursery. I wasn't sure how I wanted it at first but had found a certain fabric that I loved, so I decided to base the room around it. It had lots of bright colors and circles all over it so really, it could be turned into any theme I wanted. With the help of many hours on Pinterest, searching for ideas, I finally came up with this:
Mobile I made for above the rocking chair...
Hand painted all of these for the wall...
Name sign above his crib...
Bumper pads and bed skirt made by hand, with the help of my dear mother in law... The bumper pad fabric is what inspired the whole room.
We found this rocking chair on Craigslist for $25 bucks and were able to recover it for another $12. Thank you again to my mother in law for sewing the covers for the cushions!!
Pillow I made from the scraps of fabric throughout the room...
Another pillow...
Curtains made with the help from my mother in law, Jill...
Frame I made at Super Saturday for Relief Society...
Changing pad cover from the same fabric that inspired the room...
Eric and I bought this picture before we were married and have just had it unframed in storage since then. We finally had it framed this year and decided to add it to the nursery...
We had such a hard time conceiving this baby that we feel we were truly blessed and helped along the way to get him. Eric's father passed away in '06 and when I saw this quote, I knew I wanted to add it to the nursery because I feel it applies to the blessing this baby is bringing to our home, with the help from Eric's dad.
Eric repainted the night stand a light silvery blue color. Eventually, he'll paint the rocking chair to match...
Graham helped me with a little art for the room by water coloring on a poster board. I then repainted a cheap black frame that we had and added a wooden letter H in the middle. I think it turned out really cute and I like the idea of having a little bit of Graham in the room.
We replaced the ceiling fan because the old one was HUGE!!! This one turned out to be the perfect size...
View from walking into his room...
We had so many clothes from Graham. I ended up giving away/selling probably two totes full of clothes and still had more than enough for the baby. This is just the beginning of what we have...
Some other projects I did were some carseat covers (the red Husker one was actually made by my aunt Lisa for Graham and was my pattern for the other 3 that I made)
An extra changing pad cover...
The fabric that inspired it all...
I am pretty proud of it all. It took me almost 5 months to accomplish but it turned out to be one of my favorite rooms in the house, which is good since I'll probably be spending a lot of time in there very soon!
I also had one other project I have been furiously working on to get up for the Christmas season. I started Graham's last January and it took me nearly a year to finish. The baby's, however, was a last minute decision of mine. I knew I wanted to have it done for Christmas but they take FOREVER to do. I ended up finishing his in about 4 months. Thanks to the excellent sewing skills of my mother in law, Jill, we were able to finish these up in time to hang on the fireplace. I cross-stitched them all and she turned them into the wonderful stockings that they are now. I'm very happy with them.
I am pretty proud of it all. It took me almost 5 months to accomplish but it turned out to be one of my favorite rooms in the house, which is good since I'll probably be spending a lot of time in there very soon!
I also had one other project I have been furiously working on to get up for the Christmas season. I started Graham's last January and it took me nearly a year to finish. The baby's, however, was a last minute decision of mine. I knew I wanted to have it done for Christmas but they take FOREVER to do. I ended up finishing his in about 4 months. Thanks to the excellent sewing skills of my mother in law, Jill, we were able to finish these up in time to hang on the fireplace. I cross-stitched them all and she turned them into the wonderful stockings that they are now. I'm very happy with them.
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