My Son's Birth Story

My water broke at 5:30 AM on May 22, 2013. That was certainly a first time for me to experience and very unexpected since it happened right after I went to the bathroom. The funny thing is I knew right away what exactly happened to me (it felt like a balloon popped inside of me). Luckily, I had most of my hospital bags packed and ready to go (just had to put in a few last minute things). I called my doctor (Dr. Saunders) and he instructed me to head over to the hospital! John, girls, and I were at the hospital around 6:00 AM. I started feeling mild contractions while getting admitted. Then after they gave me some pitocin via iv to speed up the labor along, I felt some intense painful contractions that literally took my breath away. My baby's heart rate dropped during my contractions too(from 150 to 80). So they put an oxygen mask on me to help calm Zach down, which helped a bit.  To my surprise, the pre labor pain was nothing to compared to waves of discomfort that I felt from true labor, ack! I made sure I got on the waiting list as soon as possible to get my epidural(I was second in line that morning thankfully). The epidural gave me relief after a few minutes! At 11:00 AM they checked my cervix and I was a ten ready to push! They called Dr. Saunders and he was there in a few minutes(his office is a half a block away)! After three big pushes, Zach finally made his arrival to the world at 11:17 AM. To our surprise, he was 1,170 baby born at the hospital this year! He weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long.

After giving birth to my son, my blood pressure dropped dangerously low and I passed out. Apparently I lost a lot of blood too. My sister in-law Chiaki was coming in the room at that moment and saw me turning blue... They gave me oxygen and I was fine a few minutes later. I also had low blood sugar too and they gave me juice to bring it back up to normal. Poor Savannah (little sister) witnessed the whole labor and delivery.  I feared it was too much for Savannah to see the birth of her brother, but she was brave though it all watching all the bloody details. She seems okay now not too traumatized! Audrey (big sister) was a pro with the camera and didn't get grossed out at all from the gore. It was hopefully a beautiful experience for my girls to be apart of Zach's birth! I loved Zach the moment he was placed on my chest. He is a handsome little guy! I am overwhelmed with gratitude and thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the beautiful miracle of being a mother to  my three precious children.

Zachary is almost perfect! He has some strange lesions on top of his head and one testicle that has not descended yet, which the doctors are going to watch that closely and may need to see an urologist later.  We did a circumcision when he was a few weeks old. Around the same time, Zach was diagnosed with a hernia that needs surgery later when he is bigger (his testicle is in the middle of the abdominal/bowel mass). He had three ultrasounds and saw a pediatric surgeon.  As for the lesions on Zach's head, at first they thought the sores were like bedsores (pressure on his head from resting on my pelvis bone for several weeks).  Since the sores are near the mid-line of his skull, the doctor determined he has aplasia cutis congenita.  They believe his brain didn't completely form/close properly and it has been slowly healing on it's own. When Zach was one day old, he had an ultrasound at the hospital, which confirmed that he has a normal brain/etc. He passed every test for the doctor and he doesn't suspect anything else wrong with him... We are thinking the spots on his head could be similar to some red bald spots that John has on his head, which he also had at birth.  If that is the case, this issue is defiantly genetic and not a big deal at all... The sores are healing very well with vaseline and we need to follow up with a dermatologist in July at Primary Children's Hospital. I am not sure what they would want us to do. At this point, they are not very noticeable and almost completely healed.

Zach had many vistors come to see him at the hospital. Karen and Adam Smith, Chiaki and Matt Free, Marilee and Holly Nelson, the Merrik family, and Justin and Keli Silva. 

I am truly grateful for the privilege to be Zach's mother! I have always wanted a son and John is very excited to spoil him (take him fishing, hunting, play sports, etc). It was worth the long pregnancy, pain, wait, etc. He is a great blessing in our family and we look forward to watching him grow up into a wonderful gentleman! XOXOX

My Little Monkey Baby Shower

On April 20th, 2013, my nieces and sister in-laws threw me a fun BOY monkey themed baby shower. Since my nieces were both expecting babies soon, I helped them out with some details of the party such as using my digital skills in designing decorations, game printouts, and invitations, which they all appreciated. 
The Baby Shower Invitation

Credits: The papers and clothes line with baby clothes are by Megan Farrow (Studio Flergs). Monkey doodles and alpha are by Kate Hadfield The fonts I used are grumble and FO-Giggles.

Decorations

The decorations included the following: a branch with hanging Monkeys in a Barrel Toy, diapers, and other clipart, Diaper Babies, Diaper Cake, framed ultrasound pictures, banners were made by using a couple templates scalloped circle, onesies templates, and diaper templates, framed boy subway art was from Simple Scrapper, framed "Z" button art, a homemade baby quilt, beach balls, and crinkle baby tag blanket, which were made by my amazing sister in-law Marilee. Not shown in the pictures, there were cute center pieces on the tables (buckets filled with foam, green gems, and sticks with either a diaper, monkey, or onesie clipart on it).

Baby Shower Games

What's in the diaper bag? I got the ----> Template for the purse clip art.

Baby Name Scrabble
Guess how many M&M's are in the bottle
What is in your purse?
Guess Jen's Baby Bump Measurements
Prizes
The prizes were random girly things from the Dollar Store (shower wash, bath salts, lotions, nail stuff, picture frames, candles, hand soap, etc) wrapped in a bag or tied with twine.

Food

My family brought many yummy goodies (finger foods) to eat such as Italian deli rolls, chicken salad sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, fruit platter, and veggie platter. As for the dessert, they served chocolate dipped rice krispie treats, cupcakes, and raspberry swirl rolls. We drank two types of juices or water.
Thank You Favors

My husband and I made these mini chocolate chip banana breads by using a pan that had six bread molds in it. They turned out very moist and delicious! I have been using this recipe for years and cannot figure out where I got from. We have made it many ways (muffins, bread, mini breads, and added optional ingredients).
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
2 c. flour
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
2 1/3 c. mashed bananas
Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. In another bowl cream together butter and sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas. Add banana mixture to the flour mixture, stir well. Pour mixture in a 9X5 bread pan and bake for 60-65 minutes. If doing banana muffins you can cut the baking time in half, which is what I usually do instead of the large bread loaf.   Optional ingredients: Depending on your mood (sweet, chocolate, or spicy) you may add 1. tsp vanilla extract, 1 c. chocolate chips, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp allspice.

You know you are pregnant when you...

You know you are pregnant when you...

1. crave bagels with garden cream cheese spread, pepperoncinis, sliced tomatoes, and cracked pepper.

2. misplace your cell phone and was later found in the garbage can.

3. have no energy to clean or cook and require naps to survive.

4. gag due to the many outside smells while walking the dog.

5. caught talking the unborn baby after feeling flutters and kicks.

6. consume Tums as an extra daily supplement of calcium due to heartburn.

7. get dizzy a couple times a day from sitting/laying down to standing up.

8. pee 3-4 times during the night and cannot find a comfortable position to sleep even with a large body pillow.

9. are easily annoyed with stupid drivers and you find yourself yelling at them when they cannot hear you in your car.

10. are faced with the options of either peeing your pants or puking on the floor. (I chose peeing my pants while throwing up at the same time in the toilet, lol).

11. wake up with a leg or foot cramp in the middle of the night, ouch!

12.  find yourself hungry every few hours and undetermined on what to eat.

A Sneak Peek at Baby

Peek-A-Boo, Pink or Blue?

Our First Glimpse (Author Unknown)

Today we saw

Our first glimpse of you

A little piece of heaven

Our dream came true

The day we will meet 

Seems so far away

But until you're ready

In my tummy safely stay

Our gift from God

Sent from heaven above

For us to cherish

And forever to love.

We announced our baby's gender on Facebook by sharing a precious video of big sisters each opening a package that reveals the gender! The Gender Reveal Video  Here are some pictures below! They were very excited to be big sisters to a little brother (a boy is a joy)! I have 20 more weeks to go!!!

Counting My Many Blessings

Before November ends today, I want to share some of my greatest blessings in my life. I have a loving and hard working husband, two beautiful daughters, a cuddly dog, a large supportive family, many wonderful friends, and a baby on the way! We are very excited especially since my daughters will be 14 and 10 years old when the baby arrives! I will have some very eager big sister help with the baby! Life is good when you count your many blessings!

Good-bye Angel: My Recent Miscarriage

 Sculptor: Martin Hudáček; born 1984; home: Banska Bystrica, Slovakia 

Although this sculpture portrays the emotions of a woman who regrets having an abortion, I believe all mothers who have been through a miscarriage, stillborn, or death of a small child can relate to the sorrow and suffering that is showed in this beautiful artwork. It brings tears to my eyes looking at it as well as comfort.

Several weeks ago on May 26, 2012, I had a positive pregnancy result from a blood test.  We were very excited about having baby number three joining our household especially my daughters who would love to have another sibling.  My due date would have been January 25, 2013.  My pregnancy started out very difficult with some morning sickness and many PMS symptoms.  To my surprise around the same time,  I had finger numbness and pain due to a pinched ulnar nerve for a couple weeks, which I believe may have been related to the pregnancy (increased blood flow through out my body) because I did nothing unusual to cause the trauma.  Since I could no longer function normally due to the pain in my wrist, fingers, and elbow, I went to the doctor to see what I should do about it.  He recommended to take some anti-inflammatory pills and steroids and assured me that they would not harm my unborn baby.  So I followed his orders and within a week and a half I was back to normal and pain free.

I made an appointment with my OBGYN around ten weeks of my pregnancy.  A couple weeks before the appointment I noticed my pregnancy symptoms started decreasing (very little morning sickness, etc) as well as unusual cramping in my side.  I didn't think it was too serious because I was heading towards the second trimester and thought the pain was due to my body stretching to make room for my growing uterus. Then two days before my first prenatal check up, I started spotting, ugh.  So there were "flags" indicating what was happening to me, which I completely ignored.  I kept praying that all will be well, but deep down I had a gut instinct that there was something terribly wrong. Finally on June 29, 2012, I saw the doctor.  To my surprise, my blood pressure was elevated which concerned the doctor a bit.  I also had a full exam since it has been awhile since my last pap smear etc and the baby's heart beat wasn't found using the doppler.  He tried to not alarm me because maybe I was off a week or so on my cycle (but I am very regular and was exactly ten weeks that day).  So we were sent to the ultrasound room down the hall.  I had a regular ultrasound at first then a vaginal ultrasound because my baby was very tiny.  The ultrasound tech quietly measured my motionless embryo that averaged around 7 weeks old instead of 10 weeks.  I could not see or hear a heartbeat or any sign of life and knew before they said anything my baby was dead. A few minutes later my doctor came in reviewed the images/looked closely at the screen and diagnosed me with a missed miscarriage (he was very sad for my loss too) then gave me three options a D&C, natural miscarriage, or induced miscarriage using misoprostol (cytotec).  I chose to take the cytotec option since my body was slow in acknowledging my baby's death. I recall being numb while in the office and refused pain pills (for while passing the baby naturally); however, on the way out the door, I broke down in tears.  I was lucky to have my husband right beside me the whole time.  Next, we went to the hospital to get blood work done for a rhogam shot since I am rh negative and a couple hours later I received my shot in my right hip. I went home cried all evening and went to bed since I planned on taking the cytotec pills in the morning.

The next day June 30, 2012 was an emotional roller coaster and one of the worst days of my life.  The thought of my dead baby stuck inside made me very sad. I had extreme anxiety about taking the four cytotec pills (orally) after reading many horror stories online about them (a big mistake for any woman in my situation).  I panicked because I refused pain pills from my doctor the previous day and it was a weekend. What was I thinking, ugh???  I had a miscarriage in 2002 (I was five weeks along) and it was very similar to a heavy period and terrible cramps.  I was afraid that since I was further along it would be more painful with contractions and back pain like labor, ack!  So I ate a small breakfast and took 1000mg of Tylenol.  After a prayer and priesthood blessing from my husband, I finally had the courage to take the cytotec pills.  Thirty minutes later my miscarriage began (started bleeding) and had an unpleasant side effect from the pills (diarrhea).  It was a long physical and emotional day of heavy bleeding, passing clots, and back/abdominal cramping. I used two rolls of toilet paper and several overnight pads. My pain was managed pretty well thankfully with just Tylenol 1000mg (every 4-6 hours) and I applied a heating pad on my abdomen/back. I was okay with my choice.  If faced again with the same situation, I would take cytotec again. A woman's body is truly remarkable in creating and naturally miscarrying a baby.  I was able to have closure after passing my darling angel naturally with help from cytotec to speed up the process.

The highlights during my miscarriage was the love, prayers, and concern for me.  I was truly grateful for the outpouring private messages via Facebook, phone calls, text messages, etc on my behalf.  I recall making ice cream sundaes with my family and painted my nails with my beautiful daughters during my miscarriage. I got a phone call from a wonderful friend who recently went through a miscarriage herself a couple months ago.  She gave me comfort and great advice on what to expect. I also received some gorgeous flowers from my sister in-law and a pomegranate Jamba Juice. I counted my many blessings and was truly grateful for my daughters, husband, my dog Jagger (who stayed by my side the whole time), extended family members, and friends.  I was a brave warrior who survived a miscarriage without any complications.

I followed up with the doctor a week later on July 9, 2012. My blood pressure was still high 159/106, ack.  I stopped bleeding three days after my miscarriage, which I thought was odd. So I had another ultrasound which concluded that I had passed most of my baby, placenta, etc except a little blood matter near my uterus lining.  The doctor ordered another round of cyotec to clear the rest out and I made another appointment for the following week.

On July 16, 2012, I saw my doctor again. I reported that I bleed a little bit then stopped and he seems to think I am done.  I should get a period in 4-6 weeks after my miscarriage.  My blood pressure was still high 139/98.  He is very concerned about it but not ready to put me on blood pressure pills yet since I haven't had a history of high blood pressure in the past.  He encouraged me to lower my salt intake, exercise, and watch my calorie intake. I am also going to try doing Yoga DVDs to help reduce stress.  He strongly recommended that I should try loosing some weight which would make a huge difference in lowering my blood pressure hopefully.

Although I was absolutely devastated and heart broken about my miscarriage, I am trying to trust in the Lord that it happened for a very good reason.  Something must have gone horribly wrong while the baby was developing, it wasn't the right time for me to be pregnant due to medical issues (high blood pressure etc), or other unknown reasons that I may not ever know or understand.  During my emotional meltdowns of grief, I felt my sweet mother with me.  Even though she passed away a year ago, I know deep in my heart that she is always with me especially during difficult times during my life.