#NICUhumor

We got to the NICU that afternoon. The NICU is about 20 mins from our house. When we got there Lyla was in the "open" room where there is room for 7 babies and they keep the most critical babies there. Only 2 people were allowed to see her at a time and one had to be a parent. Rem and I went back and left mom in the waiting room. I hated seeing my precious little girl with monitors on her. As we held her we had to be careful with the cords. We stayed till 6pm which was shift change. Every morning and evening the NICU would go on lock down from 6-8 during shift change. That meant either we had to stay there and be stuck or leave and couldn't get back in till 8. We decided to get dinner. At 8 Rem's parents met us there. Lyla had been moved to a private room by this point. They went back first so Rem and his father could give Lyla a blessing. I've always been thankful for the knowledge that I have about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I've also been blessed to have such nice in laws. That night my gratitude grew even more for my faith and especially my father in law and my husband. Not every child is born into a stable, loving family. But Lyla is one lucky girl! Rem and I stayed the night at the NICU that first night. That place is not meant for adults to be comfy! But we didn't feel like we could go home.

The next day we didn't learn much about Lyla's status. We thought we'd just be there for a day or 2. But our nurse that day told us it looked like Lyla would need antibiotics for 5-7 days. Worst case scenario was she might have meningitis and she'd need to be treated for 21 days. We debated whether we would stay the night again. I didn't want to leave her. Breastfeeding wasn't going well but I wanted to be there to try. Our sweet nurse that day kindly told us to go home and rest. So we did. I hated it. As I laid in bed that night trying to fall asleep, I could hear Lyla crying. It felt like torture. I cried myself to sleep that night as Rem held me. As I cried, I pleaded with my Heavenly Father to let Lyla stay with us. I couldn't handle losing Lyla. I got some sleep that night. But all I could think about was how I didn't understand why our little girl wasn't home with us yet.

(Now I'm kicking myself bc its 6 months later and I'm finishing this- Ok well now it's 7 months later)

The next morning (which was Saturday by now - my dad came on Friday afternoon) Rem and I went back to the hospital and left mom and dad at home. We spent time with Lyla, even though she mostly slept and attempted to eat. It was so strange that our little girl was in the NICU. She was, by medical standards, a term baby. She didn't look sick and to us didn't act sick. Why couldn't we just take her home? The empty car seat taunted me every time we got in my car. Mom and dad brought us lunch and hung out for a little bit till Rem's parents got there. In the NICU only parents and immediate grandparents were allowed. A max of 4 adults could be in the room at one time (annoying bc we had to make our parents take turns). We did have the option to put 4 additional visitors on our visitors list but we have several family members on Rem's side close and then friends. We didn't know how to narrow the list to just 4 people. We didn't want to offend anyone. So we said forget the list of additional visitors.

Thankfully that evening, we had been invited to a surprised birthday party for my prego twin, Courtney (Sara you were my prego twin too! Courtney's baby Audrey shares the same bday as Lyla. Sara had Mavrick about 36 hours after I had Lyla- in the same hospital! ;) Court and I traded late night texts the night after our babies were born. If only we could have waddled to the nursery at 2 am together!). Since Court had a baby (by c section!) the same day as I, I couldn't help but wonder if she really wanted company. At first I dismissed the invite bc my parents were here. Then the more I thought about, I decided I needed something to lift my spirits. Rem and I went to dinner with my parents and then to visit Courtney. I remember getting ready that night. My emotional state was just a tad unstable (thick sarcasm) and a 3 day post baby body is not fun to dress. I must have changed a dozen times. I needed to get ready quickly but I kept wandering back into my closet trying to find something else to wear. (Sorry if you just think I'm vain --which I'll own up to. But my blog is kinda my journal so I like to capture details I know will make me laugh later.) Finally I said forget it and decided I was wearing my jeggins that Rem hates with a passion. Honestly, those jeggins should not be worn in public, but I had to stop caring so much or I would have never left the house that evening. Also side note-- our dear friends Mark and Renee asked if we wanted to have a date night that evening. Even though we didn't go, it meant a lot to me that they thought of us. We ditched my rents and went to Court's. I was still in pain and so was Court. But we celebrated not being prego with a hug and pain meds. Lol. I'm really glad we got to see some of our friends that night. I really needed it.

The next morning (Sunday) we decided we'd play hookey from church. We were thankful for all the love we had been shown, but we didn't want to answer the same questions a hundred times by different people. Plus we knew my dad would have to head home that afternoon. Dad came down to the hospital with us that morning. I think this pic is from that day. 

 (Guess I'll add that one later too..)

We said bye to my dad around lunch time and mom came down. After Rem's parents got out of church, they came by too. And we broke the NICU rules! We had 5 adults in Lyla's room. We were such rebels (thick sarcasm again). At that point, we thought Lyla might get to come home the next day. But info was coming very slowly. We kept asking the same questions- did the culture come back negative? What about the head ultrasound results? The replies we got were along the lines of "Let me check and I'll get back with you" LAIRS! It seemed no one could give us answers and that was so frustrating. Sunday evening it was apparent Lyla wasn't coming home yet. We decided it would be best for Rem to go back to work since my mom was here. And my MIL said she could take off to keep me company.

Monday Rem went to work and mom and I packed a lunch and headed to the hospital first thing. I always tried to be there right at 8 so maybe I could catch Lyla's first morning feed. Even when I called before heading down, it always happened that I never made it at the right time. The last 2 days Lyla was in the hospital, I decided I'd sleep in bc I wouldn't be doing that once Lyla got home. It was nice not killing myself trying to get to the hospital early only to discover Lyla had just finished eating. I believe it wasn't till Tuesday, I finally got confirmation that Lyla's head ultrasound was normal. But we were glad and were told Lyla would be released Wednesday! Finally someone explained to me that Lyla had originally shown signs that she was septic but she wasn't. My dear SIL Abigail understood this because she's a nurse but she didn't say anything because if that wasn't the case she didn't' want to be wrong. I refer to Abigail as "Nurse Abigail". I call her a lot with questions! Lyla had some unknown bacteria infection and ended up treating her as if she were septic. I really loved the nurse we had Monday and Tuesday that week. She was kind enough to make sure a lactation nurse came to see me again. She also answered my questions even though I know that's probably not typically part of her job. The nurse we had Wednesday was sweet to (for the record- all the nurses were helpful but the ones that checked on us more frequently were our favs.) us and was ready to get Lyla home. Which we really appreciated. Rem left work a little early to come help pack up Lyla. Putting her in real clothes for the first time was fun. I felt like I might break her tiny arms! The nurse sent us home with literally a trash bag full of formula, diapers and wipes.

I let out a big sigh of relief when I made it home with her safely. Our little girl was home and healthy!

7 months later, she's still healthy and growing like a weed. She learned how to army man crawl a couple weeks ago. Lyla's biggest crawling motivator- trying to catch Izzy or play in Izzy's food/water bowls! :)

Oh and the reason for the title of this post. When Lyla was in the hospital, Rem thought it was so funny to call the NICU a very expensive baby sitter. He even went so far to say that the next time we needed a sitter, we could just take her to the hospital and say something was wrong. Wrong- there is something wrong with Rem's brain! Who says stuff like that?! My dear husband. Who I still love with all my heart.

DM

D day or should I say B day

I decided I'd better break up everything I want to blog about into a couple different posts. Or else I'd have one insanely long post. As of these aren't long enough...This is Lyla's birth story so there may be a few details you don't like...You've been warned.

8 days before my due date, I woke up and started getting ready for work. Little did I know I would be so lucky to have our little girl Oct the 10th. 8 full days early! It was literally a dream come true. As I was getting ready for work, I started having contractions. It was about 7 when I realized they were starting to hurt. As Rem was getting into the shower, he heard me saying "ouch!!!" pretty loud. He asked if I was ok. I assured him I was but that I wasn't sure if I'd be making it to work on time. I thought for sure the contractions were just a tease. Another 10 mins goes by- another contraction. I fixed my hair- another contraction. Did most of my make up- another contraction. I picked out clothes for the day and another contraction. By 20 to 8 I decide I better tell work I'd be late. I thought surely the contractions would stop. I told Rem to go ahead and go to work. That way he could prepare for a sub just in case. I started texting my doula Cori. I wanted to go for a walk for distraction but she suggested a bath instead. If my labor was false, the bath would relax me and I'd stop having contractions. 45 mins later in the bath, I let Cori know the contractions were still coming and now were closer together- about 7 mins. Oh boy (girl would actually be more fitting)... Cori was enroute to our home and I told Rem he should come home.

We went for a walk but couldn't go too far bc I constantly needed to go pee! I tried to eat some breakfast... And it came right back up. Rem asked if we needed to go to the hospital but I told him I wanted to stay at home as long as possible. My doula, Cori was awesome. I was soooo glad to have her. When I asked Rem if we could hire Cori he was indifferent. Needless to say after all was said and done he was very glad we'd hired Cori. Cori helped me by timing my contractions, suggesting different things to do to maintain control and most importantly she could handle the vomit! After hanging out in the family room, we decided I should try another hot bath. The bath felt awesome. I felt so much better. I lasted in there a while before the pain started to get bad again. Finally a little after 1 Cori made the call we should head to the hospital. I say she made the call bc by this point I wasn't talking very much. So when Rem asked again if it was time to head to the hospital, Cori answered for me. Again, I was so glad she was there!

When we get to the hospital, I go in the wrong door- awesome. Someone brought a wheelchair for me. I had pre registered with the hospital so the check in process would go smoother and quicker. That was a waste bc the computers were down- awesome. Someone asked me how far apart I was- as I'm in the middle of a contraction. Cori answered "3-5 mins" See, I told you I was glad she was there! After dramatically filing out paperwork in between contractions and stating my name, date of birth and address half a dozen times downstairs, we headed for the elevator. And here comes another contraction. I remember pitifully screaming "stop stop stop" bc with every contraction I'd jump out of the wheelchair, turn around and brace myself by gripping onto the arms of the wheelchair. We make it upstairs and the nurses check me. "you're about a 5/6." "sweet!!!" I thought to myself. And we quickly shuffled across the hall to a labor and delivery room while I was in between contractions. The nurses I had were awesome (Sorry I'm using awesome way too much in this post). They let me position myself in the bed how I wanted so I could get comfortable. At one point a doc came in and said I absolutely had to be on my back so they could monitor the baby's heartbeat. Ughhh. Loser. Fine but only bc it's for my little girl. Her heart rate was doing fine. And I stayed on my back as long as I could. I tried being on all 4s again. Which I ended up w my face buried in the bed and my bum in the air. By this point I was getting really tired. The contractions were close together and longer and I no longer could relax in between. Where are my drugs???? I wasn't set on going natural but if I could do it I'd have bragging rights. But I was really in pain at this point. But first we needed my blood work to come back before I could get an epidural. The pain was so bad I was thinking "THIS IS WHY WOMEN GET THEIR BABIES CUT OUT!!!" Mentally I was not handling well! I wanted my drugs. Where the flip are my drugs???? After what seemed like an eternity, I got my drugs. And they started working instantly. Insert huge sigh of relief here. Cori had told me to get checked before the epidural but did I listen? No! I didn't want to wait another second before I got my drugs. After the epidural they checked me- an 8! HOLY CRAP! That's only 2 from a 10! The nurses and Cori told me I'd made it through the worst of the labor without meds. Um yeah right, don't lie to me. They assured me I really had. So maybe I could have made it natural. I'm still in debate. But those drugs were my best friend in that time and place- not gonna lie!

Since the pain was gone and I mean GONE. For the first little bit after the epidural was put in I could feel the pressure of contractions. That went away. I asked my for my phone back for entertainment. Oh and when I started having consistent contractions that morning, I text a few friends. Ok more than a few, more like several. Well since I was a little busy, I hadn't written back. Cindy and Gretchen even text Rem wanting to know what the heck was going on! haha. I also text my friend Courtney who was my prego twin along with Sara. Courtney had her little girl Audrey that morning. "I think our babies are going to share a birthday." That was my text to her. :)

 We waited a little while for my doc to get there before I started pushing. After about 30 mins of pushing little Lyla Jane was here! They blooped her on my belly and she immediately pooped on me! Thanks child. I'm sure that won't be the last time that happens. We snuggled with Lyla and shed a few tears of joy. It seemed as if time stopped as we loved on our baby girl. Everyone says those moments are so precious and they truly are. Cori took lots of pics for us and even a video. Did I mention she was an awesome doula?!

(Guess I'll finish adding pics later b/c they won't upload! GRRR!)

Then a nurse came to get Lyla so they could finish checking her out and give her a bath. After Lyla went to the nursery a few friends and family members showed up. I was sad for them bc Lyla wasn't with us. A nurse came in to help me go to the bathroom for the first time post baby. I tried telling her my right leg was still really numb. When I couldn't stand she said we'd try later. I was moved to a post pardon room and family had left but we still didn't have our little girl. The nurse from the nursery said she was having problems keeping her temp and oxygen levels up. It wasn't until almost midnight the nurse came back and said she'd finally warmed up and had given Lyla a bath. Sadly, Lyla needed to stay in the nursery bc she was in a heated bed. Rem and I went to see her. She had a couple cords on her to monitor different vitals. As I held Lyla and attempted to breastfeed for the 2nd time, her vitals were great. I couldn't help but think that she just needed her mommy to feel better. I got up again around 3 to see Lyla but left Rem out like a light in the room. We went back to the nursery again around 7 am. This whole time it hadn't dawned on me they might keep Lyla in the hospital longer. The on call pediatrician met us as we walked into the nursery. This is when things got real fun... The doc starts out "so the left ventricle issue from the ultrasound in the brain..." Huh? What? Her ultrasound was normal. Brain? What the frick? I informed the doc I had NO IDEA what he was referring to. He proceeded to tell us Lyla needed to be transferred to the NIUC. She needed a few tests including a head ultrasound bc of the supposed issue from the ultrasound. Rem asked a few questions and that's when I tuned the doc out. I didn't want to hear possible "worst case scenarios". I'm a first time mom- I was already freaking out before I was told my child needed to go to the NICU and that there was possibly something wrong with her brain. The doc went to go double check her chart and Rem went to check in with school. Mom showed up to keep me company and the doc came back. Apparently he had confused Lyla with another patient. ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME DOC?!?!? What the (insert whatever dirty word you please here) were you thinking telling me my child has something wrong with her brain when you weren't even sure she was the right patient?!?! Needless to say I was VERY angry and somewhat relieved at the same time. The doc said she would still need an ultrasound on her head bc it was bigger than what it was when she was born but that could be her head rounding out, which is normal. Just as Lyla was being packed up to be transported Rem got back. The nurse from the NICU explained we would need to wait a few hours before coming. I saw my OB and he let me go home early. Even though I was dying to see Lyla again, I took a nap. I was so out of it those first few days.
post. Ugh and there are going to be a lot of details I leave out.

DM

All DINKS must come to an end...

DINK - dual income no kids. Maybe it's just term that Mormons use. Since its kinda rare a married couple in the church doesn't have kids. We Mormons, we make babies. It's just part of what we do!

It was early Feb and I had a fever so I stayed home from work. I slept in late bc I felt like poo. I knew I was a couple days late but that had happened before so I didn't have my hopes up. I'd promised myself I'd wait one more day to take a test. Oh forget it! I crawled out of bed and took a pregnancy test. I'd taken several pregnancy tests before hoping for positive results. When they came back negative I'd convince myself that enough time hadn't passed for it to show positive. I'd wait a few mins and come back to look at that little stick only to find the same negative result. But this time was different. Whoa that says pregnant! It only took a few seconds for clear- blue- easy to make a decision this time. Holy crap! No way?! I'm pregnant?!? Next I did what every woman does. I ran to the store to buy another test. I bought the digital one that actually says "pregnant". That way there would be no mistaking. Whoa that one says pregnant too! OMG! It was only around lunch time and Rem wouldn't be home till after 5. That meant I had to keep my mouth shut all day...

We had been shopping for a kitchen table. When Rem got home I told him I'd found a table on Craig's list I wanted him to look at. But on my computer I had pulled up a crib. "Ummm???" was his initial response. Then I showed him the test. We'll just say Rem wasn't as excited as I was. Oh well! It was too late! Haha. This was ironic bc when we first got married, Rem was ready to start a family and I had NO interest- I mean literally none- only paranoia that I would get pregnant. Funny how we had traded places 3 years later.

Oh and my fever- turns out I had some unknown virus. Bc of it, my doc recommended a level 2 ultrasound for my 20 week ultrasound. The level 2 is a more detailed scan so we could make sure my virus hadn't effected the baby. And sure enough our little girl was fine! Plus I was elated to be having 

 a little girl I could dress in pink everyday!

We waited to tell our families until I was almost 12 weeks. I was so scared of telling everyone and then coming back and saying "actually I'm not pregnant..." Thankfully this didn't happen. We knew my parents would come to visit for my birthday at the end of March. That same weekend was the Bentonville half marathon, which meant all of Rem's siblings but one would be in town.

I racked my brain for weeks trying to think of a cute way to make the grand announcement. Finally, (with a suggestion from my friend Cindy) I decided to make Izzy the vehicle for the announcement. When people would ask if we had children, I'd respond by saying "Yes- she just has 4 legs!"

On that Friday night my parents got into town and Rem and I went to dinner with them. By this point, I was constantly sick. This particular evening, I was feeling pretty bad. So bad, I got sick in the restroom of the place we were eating. I was so afraid mom would notice I wasn't feeling well and figure me out. I couldn't stand keeping the exciting news from mom and dad so I talked Rem into letting me tell mom and dad that night. I showed them a pic on my phone of Izzy with her shirt on. Mom instantly squealed and burst into tears. Dad was a little slow. Lol but they were excited. Mom immediately began calling family members. It was her first grand baby so she had to tell the world pronto! The next afternoon we hosted all our family for lunch. And I put Izzy's shirt on an let her wander around as usual. It only took a few minutes for my BIL Kurt to spot Izzy's shirt. He and my SIL Abigail figured out the good news instantly. Then Izzy wandered over to my FIL, who just like my father, was a little slow. But everyone was excited!

When I was 4 months pregnant, I got 2 callings at church. One to teach in RS once a month- no sweat bc I'd done this before and love teaching. The other- girls camp director- but I only had 4 weeks to throw everything together! Yikes! But I did it! Camp was a success. Getting to know the girls was fun and I had great help from my assistant. Honestly my assistant was better with teenage girls and their attitudes! We had a blast though! My favorite part- building a fire and making s'mores. Those 2 things have always been in my favorite when it comes to camping.

In May we had a little roadtrip to Branson with a few other couples. We spent our time playing games, riding in paddle boats, hanging out by the pool and napping! Here's 4 of us getting some shut eye in hammocks! We also went to Utah for my cousin Becky's wedding. I was 17 weeks at the time. Which was about the time I got over being sick. Thank - good-ness! June was Girls Camp. Then in July Rem and I took one last kid free vacation - a baby moon! We went to St. Pete's beach just outside Tampa. We had a blast! Rem told me it was my vacation and we could do whatever I wanted. Meaning we would do nothing but sleep in late and lay on the beach. You see, Rem likes agendas for any trip/vacation. Typically my type A personality would appreciate this. But vacation means R and R to this girl! Our trip to St. Pete's was perfect. We relaxed and had a blast. We loved just hanging out in the waves. Or should I say my back?! Floating felt like such a relief to take the pressure off my lower back. One day as we were chilling in the ocean, a storm was starting. It wasn't raining so we didn't scramble into our room like everyone else did. We couldn't tell for sure whether it was raining down the beach or not. Well finally we got our answer! Oh crap the electronics! We had several in the beach bag. We booked it out of the water and ran to our room. I remember saying "I can only see out of one eye!" as I was frantically trying to dig the room key out of our bag. That day was so fun.

Enjoying a nap in hammocks in Branson with Nate and Laurel. Photo compliments of our buddy Aimee :)

 At the end of August I took a trip to Branson with a handful of sorority sisters. We get together a few times a year at different places and we always have a blast! Last year Megan announced she was pregnant. The year before Alli announced she was pregnant. This year, Sara and I were 32 weeks pregnant! There was no missing our bellies by this point. We shopped till we dropped (didn't take me long), had a nice dinner (complete with leaving Cathy's number for our cute waiter- without her permission! Hehe) and took a ton of fun pics! Who knew a group of mid/late 20 something's could make Branson so fun?! When I got home, I found a super sweet surprise from Rem. he had finished painting the crib and dresser for the babies room that I had been working on slowly for a couple months. Oh how I love this boy!

From L to R: Lauren, Sara, Lacey, Cathy, Alli and me

Sara and I after opening our gifts. Our lovely bows on our heads came on one of our presents. :)

Ta da! Lyla's room!

By September by bladder wasn't a very good road tripper so that meant Rem and I had to stay close to home. But no worries we had plenty to keep us busy. I was lucky to have 2 showers and receive lots of gifts from friends!

Come October, I was really ready to have this baby! I wasn't officially due till the 18th, but once I hit 37 weeks, I was ready for her to come anytime! At 39 weeks, doc said I was at a 3. Ok that was progress but I still didn't have my hopes up of the baby coming early- even though I REALLY wanted her to. On the 9th, Rem bought a new car! We'd been looking for a few weeks and Rem found one he instantly fell in love with. But first he had to convince me. We do the good cop bad cop thing. But me being the bad cop is so hard bc Rem is so nice and ready to make the purchase. I was on the way home from Hobby Lobby and Rem calls and blurts out "Don't be mad!" "um I'm only gonna be mad if you didn't talk them down that $500." Thankfully he'd talked the dealer down the $500 I had said was too much. Rem is now a proud new owner of a 2010 Kia Forte. And he doesn't have to listen to me constantly complain about his car. It wasn't until 2 months after we bought the car that I actually saw the inside and rode in it.

Also that evening, I called mom on my way home from work. "I'm not saying this baby is coming tomorrow but I need you to have a bag packed. Then when she does, all you'll have to do is grab it and get on the road." Ha!

That night as we were getting into bed I had a contraction. But it was different. It actually hurt. Still I knew I had 9 more days till my due date. Having her early still didn't seem like it could happen...

DM