Nora Emily Jones

                    Since it's been a while I figured I should play a little bit of catch up. In the beginning of 2014 I started getting baby hungry. I knew I was going to lose my health insurance on my 26th birthday that year but I didn't really care. I figured since I was going to lose it anyway I should get my IUD removed while I still had the insurance. So on April 4th I got it removed. Fast forward to August 4th. I wasn't exactly "late" yet but I wanted to take a test anyway. Well it was positive! To say I was excited is an understatement. I had been telling myself for months that this pregnancy would be different. I wouldn't be as sick, my body wouldn't hurt as bad, labor would be just peachy, etc. Oh how very wrong I was.
                   The first few days I was sick were bearable. But then I couldn't even drink anything without puking it up. I lost 8 pounds in one week from how sick I was. I went to my Dr at Old Farm a couple of different times to get different anti nausea meds. I didn't have health insurance so all the medicines she gave me I had to pay for myself. One of them was 200 dollars just for a month supply, and of course it didn't work. I was starting to feel like this Dr wasn't very sympathetic to my situation.
                  After about a week I was still not feeling any relief from the nausea so I finally had my mom drive me to an Instacare to get some fluids because I knew I was dehydrated. After 2 bags they sent me home. A couple of days later I was dehydrated again. This time I had my mom take me to the emergency room thinking they would put a feeding tube up my nose. Nope. They sent me home with home healthcare. So 2-3 times a week, a nurse would come change my IV.
               

                   I was laid up in bed for almost 2 months. I had Zofran in my IV but that did not help with the nausea at all. I was still throwing up every morning. Those 2 months were very hard on my family. I was crying every day because I couldn't stand feeling that sick. My boys were not happy and my husband was even less happy. My mom would come in the morning before Rusty left for work, and she didn't leave until he got home from work. They both told me several times that this was my last baby. I couldn't agree with them more. There were times that I thought Rusty would leave and not come back because he was so stressed out.
                    Somewhere in those 2 months I decided to switch Dr's. The emergency room at Riverton recommended a Dr located in the hospital. So I started going to her. I did not have a good first impression. She told me she didn't like how much I weighed. Well thanks! I decided to tough it out with her to see if she would get better over time. My next appointment she told me she wanted me to have an ultrasound at I think 12 weeks to determine my due date. She told me that the IUD I had could throw off my actual due date, which I had determined to be April 8th. I ended up cancelling the ultrasound because there was no way I could drink 32 ounces of water with how sick I still was. My Dr basically chewed me out at the my next appointment for not doing it. She said now they didn't know when my due date was and she wouldn't be able to induce me because I didn't get the ultrasound. The word NAZI was starting to form in my head more and more at each appointment.
                    The last few times homehealth came to change the IV, they had a very hard time finding a vein. My body was so tired of being poked. The only time in my life I've ever come close to passing out was from them trying to find a vein. The last time they came he couldn't find one at all. At that point I was able to drink some water but not the amount my body needed. I finally just told him to leave and not come back.
                    The next 3 months were better. At 15 weeks we went to fetal foto and found out we were pregnant with a girl! This was one of the best days of my life. I kept asking if they were sure and to double check and kept reassuring me that she was definitely a girl.

                    Around 17 weeks the nausea was pretty much gone but my hip was really starting to give me trouble. There weren't very many times that it didn't hurt. So my Dr recommended physical therapy. I went one time and the exercises I did while there really helped. And then I got my shoes on and walked to my car and the pain came back. I did the exercises at home but it wasn't helping at all so I just had to tough it out. I ended up buying a heating pad to lay on at night so I could actually sleep.
                    At 20 weeks I had an ultrasound at the Dr's office to check her size and make sure she was developing like she should be. They measured her 5 days ahead of where we thought. So they moved my due date to April 3rd. I was pretty excited about an earlier due date.
                    28 weeks. Time for the dreaded glucose test. For the first time with any of my pregnancies, the nurse told not to have any sugar the night before or the morning of the test. Just an egg and a piece of toast. It was hard but I did it. So I came in, drank the lemon lime glucose drink and went in for my appointment with the Dr. The nurse came in and asked if I was getting the pertussis vaccine. I asked her if I had to and she said no, we can't force you. So she left it at that and left me waiting for the doctor. The Dr comes in and immediately asks me how much weight I've gained so far. I said around 25. She then told me she didn't want me gaining anymore weight. How is that even possible when I'm 28 weeks?! By this point I was pretty mad. She then says, okay the nurse will be right in to give you the pertussis vaccine. I said, ummm I thought I didn't have to get it? She said I didn't HAVE to get it but that it was very critical at this point that I get it. She didn't even let me get another word in. She just sent the nurse in and forced me to get it. The only reason I didn't want it is because I hate needles and was tired of dealing with them. After I got it and noticed it didn't hurt I was glad I got it to protect my baby.
                     Later that day I got a call saying I failed my glucose test. I didn't understand how I could have failed. So I had to go take the 3 hour test. I had a feeling I would fail that one too. Well I did. It was still a huge shock to me and felt like a death sentence when they gave me the diagnosis. I had Gestational Diabetes. After that phone call I cried for a couple of hours. After I calmed down I had a feeling I needed to get a second opinion.

This was the day I got the call about the GD. These 2 could see how upset I was and never left my side.

                     So I switched Dr's again. This time I went to a Dr that a friend had gone to. The first appointment I had with him I knew I finally had the right Dr for me. He made me feel so good about everything and had talked to me about my GD diagnosis. He told me that the numbers were borderline so he just wanted me to watch my sugars. I didn't need to change my entire diet. This was such a relief. So I got a glucometer and kept a record of all of my sugars. At each appointment I brought him the numbers and they were just fine every time. No need to get on insulin pills. At 36 weeks he ordered an ultrasound. They determined the baby to be 8 pounds already. They also said that could be plus or minus a pound. I was getting really antsy about having this baby. I was so excited to meet her and yet scared at the same time. It had been almost 4 years since I had a baby.
                    A week later we scheduled the induction date. I thought it would just be a week before but when he was March 24th I was beyond excited!

This was 5 days before my induction date.

                    The night before my induction they called and told me I was first so I needed to be there at 6 am. I had Rusty give me a blessing for we went to sleep so I could actually sleep and have my mind be at peace. Rusty's mom had driven from Delta to our house the night before so we didn't have to have a member of my family come over at 5 am. Rusty and I decided to stop at McDonalds on the way for breakfast so we didn't wake anyone in our house up. When we got to the hospital we said a prayer in our car before going in to put our minds at ease. At about 7 am they got me hooked up to the pitocin. After a while I started feeling some contractions but they weren't too bad. Just a little uncomfortable. I can't remember if I got the epidural before or after my water was broken but I think at like 10 the Dr came and broke my water. That's such a weird feeling. At around 11:30 they gave me the epidural. I don't remember it hurting so bad with my boys but I did not like getting it this time around. Makes me shudder just thinking about the popping and the stinging.
                  At some point my sister-in-law came with some treats for Rusty and I and to stick around for the birth. She was there for Adam's birth too. I'm sure some people think I'm crazy but I like having a lot of people there for the birth. It's never been just Rusty and I. My little sister was there for Zeke's birth but had expressed she didn't want to there for Nora's birth because she was too traumatized from watching Zeke's. When she showed up with my mom I was a little surprised. Especially since my mom was with her. She had always said she didn't want to be there for any of the birth's because she had already been through the birth of her own kids.
                 I was starting to get more uncomfortable so I had the anesthesiologist come to numb me up some more. After a while I noticed that didn't do anything so he came back and put in a double dose. I immediately got light headed and felt like my legs weighed 10,000 pounds. I was too numb and didn't like it. I tried to have everyone move my legs to a more comfortable position for the top half of my body but that didn't work. After I was completely numb the contractions weren't as strong and things kind of slowed down. The nurse came to check me and said she could feel a body part and would be right back. She brought in an ultrasound technician and they saw that Nora's arm and hand were around her head and her fingers were through my cervix. They went to get Dr Froerer and he told me if he couldn't get her arm to move back down then I would need a c-section. Thankfully he got her arm to move and she never moved it back so now we just had to wait for things to progress further.
                At about 4:45 my mom got a call from my Uncle saying he locked his keys in his truck and needed her to bring him the spare key. She said she'd be back in a while and that I would still be in labor when she got back. About 10 minutes later the nurse came and checked me and said I was fully dialated and effaced. It was time to push. We were all in shock because the contractions weren't very strong but they were very close together. At this time they also noticed I had a fever but the Dr didn't feel that antibiotics were necessary so the pushing started. All I could think about was how hungry and tired I was. They wouldn't let me eat anything all day except flavored ice chips. They kept checking my sugars throughout the day too so it's not like I could sneak any food.
               After 20 minutes of pushing my little girl was born at 5:22 pm.

It was so amazing. Rusty and I were both crying we were so happy. She had lots of dark curly hair and was covered with lots of vernix. They put her on my chest and we both just laid there for about a half an hour before I fed her. After I was done feeding her they weighed her. 8 lb 4 oz. She definitely would have been closer to 9 pounds if I had waited to go on my own. We love our baby girl so much!

How to Train Your Child

               I am by no means an expert on parenting. These are just my views and opinions on how kids, (mainly babies and toddlers) should be trained. 

Yes I say trained. Babies are like dogs, they need to be trained so they know how to behave. Nobody likes annoying dogs that crap all over, jump on you, wake you up in the middle of the night to play and tear up everything in site. So who would like a kid that does that? A lot of people, won't agree on many of the things I will say in this entry. I don't care. I think they are right and yes I think everyone should do these things.

First of all, who came up with this crap that says if you let your baby cry it out they will have emotional damage when they are older? Seriously? Who comes up with this stuff!! How could anyone possibly know that emotional damage can be linked to crying as a baby?! I am all for letting my babies cry it out. Of course if it's for longer than 30 minutes then something else it wrong. But sometimes if your baby just won't stop crying and you are going to go insane, you just have to put the baby down and go into a different room for a few minutes so you can breathe and gain some sanity back. I've had to do this several times.

Let's face it, when you first have a baby, they will not have a schedule right away. You have to make that schedule gradually. From the very beginning, I put my kids to bed at 8 pm. Even if they had just eaten an hour before, I would feed them again right before bed so they would sleep longer. By 6-9 months they would be sleeping through the night. It wasn't easy, but to do that, I had to let them cry it out. 

Babies wake up during the night to eat, because they don't get enough to eat during they day. So I always made sure my kids got plenty to eat all day. If they did happen to wake up, I would go in there, rock them for a minute, then put them back to bed. If they would cry again when I walked out, I just shut the door and let them cry. After 20-30 minutes they would give up and go to sleep. Same thing would happen for the next couple of nights, only they would give up sooner. Usually 5-10 minutes. After that they always sleep through the night. (Unless of course they are sick.)

 I don't know how people get any sleep or sanity with kids who wake up multiple times a night. Or with kids that don't go to bed at a decent time. I have people in my life who will say "I couldn't get my kid to go to bed last night until 11." I just want to smack them and say "Who is the parent here?!" Get a child lock and lock them in their room! Sure they will probably play for a while but eventually they will go to sleep! I have done this with both of my kids several times.  

I'm sure we all know people who have kids that rule the house and get whatever they want. To those parents: Stop it! You are turning your kids into self entitled spoiled little brats and nobody will ever want to be around them! Another thing, don't baby your baby. Kids are tough and can get over things quickly if you let them. But if you baby them whenever anything happens to them, that's what they will be their whole life. A baby. 

Welp, there's my 2 cents on this subject. These things have been on my mind for a looong time. Not sure why I never wrote them down until now. These are my opinions so no need to get all angry and judge mental on me. This is how my parents, some of my siblings, and how I have done things with kids. It's what I know is right and what works right. 

Realization

I have come to the conclusion that I write like a junior high student. I talk about stupid meaningless things that I'm sure nobody cares about. I don't write on here that often but I've noticed that when I do it's not that good. I really should go to college. Someday I will. I'm also terrible at taking pictures. Zeke will be 2 in two months and I think I've taken 10 pictures of him in the past year. That makes me sad. Here are some pictures from the last nine months.

                                                               Disneyland November 2012

                                                                  Halloween 2012

                                                               Camping September 2012

                                                                        August 2012

                                                                       Zoo July 2012

                                                                         June 2012

                                                                         May 2012

New Things

       We got a new car! Yay! It's a 2004 9.3 Saab. It's so nice and I love it. One of my favorite things about it is that it's a stick shift. In heavy traffic stick shift is not so fun but for the most part I love driving it. Since I drive around more, Rusty will be taking the Jeep to work everyday. He won't be getting home until 5:30 everyday so that means I have to get a babysitter for an hour on the days I leave for work at 4:30. I also have to take the car seats out every day that I work. I think I might have a babysitter figured out though. I am hoping that I will be able to quit my job in a month or two so that I don't have to keep paying for a babysitter. We have the money for it, but I will hardly ever see Rusty. Plus he will be making more than at his previous job and so I won't need to keep my job. With the new car we do have another car payment but I think we'll be ok if I quit.
       I got the 2000 dollar hospital bill figured out. After Zeke was born we got CHIP for the boys but they originally told me that they would only go back to the 28th instead of the 26th which is his date of birth. After I got that ridiculous bill, I called eligibility since the boys are on medicaid at the moment, (They automatically put us on medicaid when Rusty was laid off from Build) and they told me that it actually did go back to his date of birth so they had me call the hospital to rebill. Hooray! I am still paying for Adam so I really don't want to have a huge bill for Zeke as well.
       I think me being baby hungry just lasted a day. 2 kids is plenty for me right now. Especially since my kids are probably more crazy than others. Zeke's birthday was so fun. He got lots of toys and some books and clothes. I still can't believe he is that big. Time goes by way too fast. Adam will be 3 in 3 weeks. That is even crazier to me. He acts like he is so much older than he is. A lot of times I have to remind myself of his age. He is just too smart for his own good. :)
       I don't think I have documented this yet but it has been almost a year since we got new carpet and a new couch. We also painted our living room and our house looks a million times better. We also have grass! It took us over 2 years but we finally did it. If we have known the first summer we lived here that KSL always has free sod listed, then we would have put grass in a long time ago! It looks kind of like a quilt right now with the three different kinds of grass but eventually it will all blend in. :) Our backyard has improved a lot too. We got free cinder blocks so we put them half way in the ground around the trampoline, swingset, and sand box and then put lots of bark underneath them. It looks sooo good! There are still some weeds where there should be grass but it still looks pretty good. We're just going to keep looking for free sod and hopefully get that back there some time this summer. So on my list of things to do for house almost every one of them has been completed. Now we just need an air conditioner and a new furnace! I am hoping we can do it this year but if not then hopefully next year!

So many things...

A lot of things have happened but I never feel like writing anything down until it's something negative or crazy. I know I shouldn't be like that. I want to remember all the good and fun times but I can never bring myself to sit down and type. Sure I have plenty of time but I think it's the fact that I'm just too lazy to do it. It feels like so many things are happening at once and I'm starting to get bad anxiety. First, I've been working at Iceberg for over a month now. It's pretty fun and I really enjoy the break from home. I should be one of those mothers that just loves being home all day every day but I'm not. I go stir crazy. Secondly, Rusty got laid off 2 months ago and just started a new job yesterday. On the way to his first day our little 88 corolla died. Needs a new engine. Now ain't that a peach. I think we have bad luck with cars. Obviously it will not be worth getting a new engine so we are going to try to sell it as is and find some miraculous way of getting another car. Or scooter haha. With both of us working and the fact that we have children, we have to have 2 cars in case something happens when we are home and we need to leave. There will also be days when I will have to leave for work before Rusty gets home.
Zeke will be 1 on Thursday and it just blows my mind that it's already been a year since I gave birth to him. It's just mind boggling to me that he was ever inside of me. Now usually you get a hospital bill within just a few months after the birth but for some reason, CHIP decided to drag it out until just yesterday. I got an explanation of benefits showing what they paid and what they didn't. The portion that's left for us to pay? Two thousand freaking dollars!!! I am not happy. I was wishing and hoping since I still hadn't received a bill that I never would, but alas I did. We are still paying for Adam so now it looks like we will be paying for Zeke for the next 2-3 years too. And I am starting to get baby hungry for a little girl. I really want a baby girl. I am afraid though that since there are so many around me with multiple children, all of which are boys, that my next one will be a boy too. But since now we will have a couple extra bills, I will have to keep my job for a while and hold off on another baby. I'm fine with that, it will just be harder to get up in the morning once we change to our summer hours. Plus I don't think I'm ready to be pregnant again yet. I get fat and cranky and my body hates me when pregnant. I know things will work out for the best, I am just very impatient and wish it would all just magically be better right now.

Dentist... UGH

Today we took trips to the dentist. We had to go to 3 different places since we have 3 different insurances. Adam's went perfectly and cost $0. Went to mine and found out I have to get my wisdom teeth out. One tooth is fused with a top molar. Another is digging into a bottom molar. That will cost $200. Then came time for Rusty to go. They started him on a root canal since it needed to be done right then but they couldn't finish. So he will go 2 more times to have them finish and put a crown on it. Total in the end will be $425 dollars. And that's only one tooth. They didn't even check anywhere else in his mouth. I wish we didn't need teeth. I HATE going to the dentist.

Really need to...

I really need to get back to the blogging world. I need to post once a week so I can look back and remember everything about my kids when they were little. This week we got rid of Adam's binky. He was only using it at night but it really has been a big deal for him that he doesnt have it. It's so much harder to get him to just lay there and sleep. He cries for atleast a half an hour after we put him to bed and wakes up at least once during the night crying and asking for it. I am emotionally worn out. It also doesn't help that rusty is gone 13 hours of the day. I am grateful that he is not in mesquite anymore but I still feel like I don't see him. Adam only sees him maybe an hour out of the say and Zeke doesn't ever see him. It has been really hard on all of us. I don't know who it is effecting more, Adam or myself. I can just tell that something is off in his attitude. I know it's because rusty is always gone. He lights up the second rusty gets home and doesn't want to go to bed because he knows his daddy wont be here when he wakes up. Hopefully his job slows down soon so we can all get better emotionally. I also know it's very hard on Rusty. He hasn't quite gotten over being burned almost a year and a half ago. I know he is stressed out and doesn't like his job very much but I try to remind him that he should be grateful that he even has a job. We have been able to purchase so many needed things because work has picked up a bit. We got a new couch and new carpet in the whole house. I love it. It really has lifted my spirits about our home. It would help even more if Rusty were home more often. Zeke is getting so big. He is 5 months old and growing like a week. He is already almost too big for his 6-9 month clothes. He is such a sweet boy and i am so grateful he is a part of our family. I love my family and am grateful for everything I have. I just need to express it more and not be negative about things that might not go my way.