Hadley Jean

It has been a long time since I last blogged, though I have thought of blogging, I promise. I just have not had the urge to do it. With the sudden time off of work, I now have some down time to blog.

Over the last year, we have bought a new house, had some work promotions and had received wonderful news that we were expecting our 2nd child after over 2 years of disappointments. That is the main reason I am blogging today. I want to jot down our 2nd child's birth story.

We got the exciting news that we were expecting, back in October of 2014. Though with all the disappointments, miscarriages and waiting, I decided to not let anyone know that we were expecting until I was about 14 weeks along. It was hard to keep it away from others. I literally did not go over to my parent's house like I usually did fearing that my Mom would be able to tell. With this pregnancy, it was different than my first born. I was extremely sick with sinus infection symptoms, in which 3 rounds of antibiotics could not cure. With that I had lost 10 pounds in the 1st trimester.

The timing of the 14 weeks gestation, brought us to around Christmas time. I was able to develop a family Christmas card announcing the pregnancy. I got all the family cleats and bought our 2nd child's their own pair, lined them in a row at the indoor soccer facility field. It fit my personality well.

Now came the waiting game. We found out in January of 2015 that we were having another girl. As well, that she was measuring small (surprise, surprise) and that they wanted to move her due date back from June 11th to June 22nd. This was not the first time we had been told that. When I was about 8 weeks along, I had a little scared and had an ultrasound. With that ultrasound they wanted to move my due back to June 22 from June 11. Then when I have my ultrasound at my 12 week, they moved my due date back to June 11th from the way she was measuring. It seems that my due dates get predicted incorrectly.

With this pregnancy, I did well with the weight gain. I did not gain more than 5 pounds, even after losing the 10 pounds during the 1st trimester. I was in my 3rd trimester as of March 23rd and for some reason, things seem to drag on from there. We were planning a baby shower for me because with 5 years apart of the girls and both being born in a different season, I didn't have much. Plus, after a few miscarriages, I gave up on everything and gave some things away. My shower was scheduled for May 16th and my amazing sister-in-law was hosting it for me.

Here comes the good parts. . . on morning of Thursday, May 14th, 2015 I started to have really bad cramping. At first I thought it was constipation, so I called my Mom and she brought me some miralax. Of course that did not help, since it takes up to 2 days to work. My Mom took Natalie to school and then was going to call me to see what I decided to do. I called the on-call doctor to see what they wanted me to do. They told me to go to Labor and Delivery just to be safe. Mom came back to take me to L&D. I get there and they put me in Trauma Room 1. I do not think they were expecting to keep me. Well after many tests, pain medication, monitoring and waiting, they tried 2 different medications to stop the contractions. Well one seem to help it. They then sent me home with a pill form of the medication plus a paid medication. I get home, my Dad picked up Natalie from school. I was able to get her ready for bed and was able to fall asleep. The night I felt like I could sleep other than I did wake up every hour.

The morning of Friday, May 15th, 2015, I decided to take another day off of work to rest. My Mom picked up Natalie to take her to school for me. Well ever since I woke up to get Natalie ready, I started to have actual contractions. These ones were different from the day before. They were not continuous, but actual contractions. They would begin and stop and the pain was go away fully once they stopped. Thursday, they did not act like that. I then get out my notepad, pen and new watch to track the contractions. Mom had asked what I wanted to do before she left with Natalie. I told here I do not know. So she left with Natalie and I went to the bathroom. That was when I found blood. I called Mom and she came to pick me up and take my back to L&D.

I get admitted to a regular L&D room this time. They put the baby on the monitors and talked to my doctor. I was given the contraction stopping medication again to see if that will help. This time it didn't stop them but stretch the time between each contraction. Even though they were monitoring me, I was still keeping track of the contractions. I was only put on morphine and fetatine for the pain. This time, they didn't seem to help at all. Well after another entire day of them trying to stop the contractions and testing, they decided to put me on 23 hour observation. I was moved up to the maternity floor to be monitored at about 4pm. During that time, my contractions got closer and closer together and were a minute long. I could no longer sit or lay down during them. The pain meds did not help and with all of this, I was no dilating at all!! When they moved me up to observation I was a 1+. At about 11pm I was contracting one minute apart and one minute long and still only dilated to a 1+.  I was hurting so badly, I was screaming from the pain and could only stand during each contraction. About 11:30pm I started to bleed down my legs. The charge nurse on the maternity floor made the L&D floor take me back because they were not equip to take care of me in case of an emergency. So I was taken back to the L&D floor. At that time they were only giving my the pain meds that were not working.

At 1am in the morning of Saturday, May 16th, 2015, my Mom had had enough. She went out into the hall and made the doctors give me an epidural. I was relieved that I finally got it. My doctor was able to come and check me once I got my epidural, that is when they found I had a blood clot behind my placenta. It seemed to be detaching my placenta from the uterus. She gave me 2 options. They could either slow down my contractions and keep me at the hospital for another week to give the baby more time in the womb. But that it could possibly make either myself or the baby develop an infection and risk our lives in delivery. OR they could proceed with the delivery and put the baby in the NICU. I wanted Jon to be in on the decision with me. I was able to get him on the phone even though he was on the pad at work in Wyoming. We got a NICU doctor in with my OB to discuss what is going on and what our options were. Jon and I both decided that it was better and less of a risk to deliver now than later. So Jon got  ready to leave work and to head home and they gave me some pitcen to help along the delivery.

I was able to sleep some and they came in to check my progress ever couple of hours. Jon called me about 6am to tell me that he was on his way from Pinedale. We were still trying to go for a VBAC delivery because I did want to experience it. Though I did say if we needed to do a c-section for the health of myself or the baby, we will do it. Around 10:45am we called Jon to see where he was and he had pulled over to sleep because he wanted to make it home alive. Well about 11:00am the baby's heart rate jumped up to the 200s and they decided it was better to do a c-section than to wait. I said okay and asked my Mom to called Jon. He was in Park City when we called. My Mom got dress for the c-section since Jon was not there yet. They prepped me and took me into the operating room.

The physician that did my c-section was my OB's partner and she was amazing. She saw I was having anxiety about something and it was about having my arms tied down. She said she would not tie them down as long as I do not touch my stomach. I knew I would not do that.Plus I was worried about the shaking the drugs will give me during and after. I though had found out that if I breath deeply throughout the procedure and after the shaking would decrease. During the entire time I was concentrating on my breathing and it worked! It was nice not having that bad of the shakes after the procedure.

Jon did arrive while I was in the operating room. They got him dressed and he got there 2 minutes after they got our daughter out. She was handed to the NICU through the window to be evaluated. They did take him to the NICU to see her and they did let my Mom go even though grandparents are not allowed. I think they let her because she had been with me this entire time.  

Hadley Jean Whitehorn was born at 11:43am on Saturday, May 16th, 2015 (34 weeks and 5 days) weighing 5lbs 9oz measuring 18 inches long. She came 5 1/2 weeks earlier than her later due date. . They only had her on oxygen for 5 minutes and never had to be put back on. She did end up in the NICU for 8 days. It was hard to not have her in my recovery room with me. I was not able to see her until about 2 hours after she was born. They had to wait until I was be transferred up to the maternity floor. Then if I wanted to see her I had to ask someone to wheel me down to the NICU.

The NICU experience was better than I thought. They respected my wishes and help me establish breastfeeding with her unlike my experience the first time with the nursery and Natalie. There was never a time that they were not updating me on Hadley and what the physician's decided to do. Hadley had to be on photo therapy for 3 days due to her hyperbli count. She had an IV in for 6 days to help with her fluids and lipids. She had done so well with eating that they took her off the fluids and lipids earlier than expected.

I was no discharged until the follow Wednesday, May 20th. When I had the c-section, my uterus was contracting so hard that they had to cut me vertically perpendicular to the first cut in order to get Hadley out. Because they had to make this extra cut, I will no longer be able to have a vaginal birth. If I get pregnant again, I will only be going as along as 37 weeks and go in for a scheduled c-section. Also, I was told I am also not allow or extremely warned to not get pregnant again until 18 months after the c-section. It does make me sad that I am no longer able to have a vaginal birth. I really did want to experience it.

The day I was being discharged, I woke up to a major headache like a migraine. Every time I would sit up it would come on full force. But once I laid down it went away. Come to find out I had what is called a Spinal Tap Headache. It is more common with a Spinal Tap but can also occur with an epidural.  When they go in with the needle they accidentally nick your spinal fluid cushion causing a leak. It could take up to days for the effects to come out. Basically the spinal fluid in my spine was linking out and was not able to cushion my brain as I sit up. They gave me a couple of options. I could go home and rest for a few days and it would heal itself. Well, I couldn't rest for a few days because I still had a daughter in the NICU. I went with the Blood Patch. He had to do the Epidural needle hole again then draw out 20cc's of my own blood and shot it down the epidural hole to create a patch and the spinal fluid would stop leaking and refill. When he did the hole again, he was surprised and said I was leaking so much fluid that if I did go home to have it heal on it's own, it would not have done it. The bad part was that he had to try and find a vain to take 20cc's of blood out of. He seriously poked me like 5 times. It really looked bad. After he shot the blood down my spine I had to lay there for 45 minutes. The downside to the blood patch, I would have back pain for a couple days after. On the good note my headache went away once the hour was up. Another thing that sucked, after the hour was up I had to pack up to leave. It was really hard not leaving with Hadley and leaving her there.

I was back a couple hours later for Hadley's cares and to feed her. For the next 5 days I was compute back and forth from home to the hospital to take care of my baby girl. Jon was amazing and took care of Natalie and surprised me with getting Hadley's crib together. I came home from the hospital on Thursday, May 21st, Jon took me into Hadley's room and had set up the entire room. Crib, crib set, clothes and all. That definitely got me crying my eyes out. He has been amazing during the time this has all been going on.

With Hadley being so early I also didn't have anything ready. My Mom, Dad and sister-in-law, Amanda, were amazing and went shopping for me and Hadley to make sure we had what we needed when we both got home. We had to postpone my baby shower and we are still going to have it since Amanda still has all the stuff for it.

This pregnancy and birth was a event to remember and I do not think I will ever forget. We are extremely blessed and thankful that Hadley arrived safe and sound and is now home with us. Can't wait to see her grow with our family.

Catch up on the new life

Wow!! It seems like I only want to update the actual blog once a year. . . haha! As usual I will try to do it more often but this time I am not going to make promises.

Updates: *Sorry if I miss any details. I didn't read my last post to see what was actually happening then.**

Jon:
Still works for Halliburton.
Recently "inherited" his Mother's truck. He is slowly making the updates/enhancements to his dream vehicle.
Fixed a lot of our plumbing problems. We help of his Dad.
Loves when Natalie and I are able to go up and visit him at work.

Marissa:
Recently got promoted to Cerner Core Trainer for Intermountain  Medical Group. Intermountain is moving to a system where all programs are integrated with all facilities, hospitals and clinics. This is a 2 year process because it is going to rolled out to each hospital region one by one. I was chosen to travel from region to region as they roll out the new system, to train the Medical Group side of the patient account follow-up, charge corrections, charge entry and review and cash posters. I have been doing this for about 2 months now and I love it!
Coaching Natalie's soccer team.
Season Ticket Holder to Real Salt Lake. *Jon comes when he is home.*
Still playing indoor soccer every weekend.
Working on the yard little by little.
A good amount of passion for gardening.

Natalie:
Can write and spell her name.
Loving her new school.
Playing soccer.
Signed up for swimming lessons this summer.
Signed up for dance, starting this fall.
Loves going on bike rides with Daddy.
Loves to help Mom in the yard/garden.
Has her own flower pot she waters and takes care of.
Is Mom's little helper.
Loves baking and eating any pastry. But her favorite is cupcakes.
Makes up her own songs.

Family Events:
October was our month of vacations. We had the opportunity to take Natalie trick or treating in Disney with Family. Then Jon and I went on a much needed cruise. Natalie stayed with Jon's Brother Shawn. We had a week break of vacation. Jon had to go back to work. Then at the end of October my Aunt and Uncle were renewing their vows in Hawaii. So my side of the family took advantage of it and made a family vacation of it. Unfortunately, Jon couldn't get the time off for it, so it was just Natalie and I that went. We loved Hawaii. We went to 2 islands, Kauai and Maui. I like Kauai better, mostly because the accommodations we were in we AMAZING!! It was little condos right on the beach. The wedding for my Aunt and Uncle was beautiful. Only thing was missing was my hunny. After that entire month of vacation, I, myself was ready to be home and back on a schedule. Let's just say we would do vacation that close together again. Even though the Hawaii part was more spontaneous than planned.

There you have it. All the updates I can think of right now. hahahaha! I will try to keep this a LOT more updated and more interesting.

Loves,
Mo 

365 days and more

As I look at the last time I had blogged, it made me kind of sad that I have not kept on it. What can you do when you are busy and have a hard time picking one thing to write about. So I will give you a hopefully brief update to what has happened in the last year in our family. 

Jon is still working for Haliburton and is currently located in Pinedale, WY. He comes home every 4 weeks and stays for 2 weeks. So far he likes his job but does miss us. He is hoping to get a different position in the company where he will be home more often. Other than work Jon inherited "Blue" from his Mom. She had promised Jon that he could have "Blue", which is a Chevy Truck, when she passed or such. Well it came a time she couldn't use "Blue" anymore so gave it to Jon. He is sure in love with this truck. It has had some running issues but is good when it works. The next time Jon is home he is hoping to get it in full working condition that we wont have to worry about it breaking down for a while. 

Natalie turned 3 this last January and you can definitely tell she is loving how independent she is. Makes me proud and sad at the same time. She is willing to help me out cleaning the house, doing laundry and making dinner. She loves going to daycare and to her grandparents. Give her a movie and her Grandpa and she will stay there all day. Both of them. :) 

Myself. I am still working for Intermountain Medical Group in the billing department. About 6 months ago I was promoted to Team Lead and I am loving it! Let's just say I could be a lifer in this job. hahahaha! I have adjusted to being home with Natalie most of the time without Jon. Most of the time though I do miss him. Other than Natalie does take over his spot of the bed while he is gone so it is not as bad at night. :) I am still currently playing co-ed indoor soccer at Let's Play Soccer complexes. Working on making 2 quilts for my Mom and many other small projects around the house. My main focus this year is getting my flower beds, gardens and backyard all finished by the end of the summer. It has been a challenge but I will overcome it in the end. 

We bought season tickets again to RSL. We love being able to go and watch a game as a date night. Something that Jon and I have always love doing together. We also purchased tickets to the World Cup Qualifier on June 18th, USA vs. Honduras. Both of us have become more and more involved in the world circuit of futbol/soccer that our DVR has more games than actual TV shows or movies. 

Family:

This past year or so we have dealt with many changes in our extended family. Jon's Mom and Stepdad moved down to Moab for a job opportunity. My Brother got a new job with Wells Fargo and moved him and his family to Denver, CO. We have done all we can to go and visit them as much as possible. Natalie and I were able to go and spend a few days with my brother and his family in their new home over Easter weekend. It was Natalie's first time flying and she did great! It made better that she was in her car seat but it was awkward having to carry it around with me through security. The airport security was amazing with Natalie to get her through the metal detectors.

It has been a great year full of challenges, happy memories, good times, exciting news, friends and family. Maybe this coming year I will be better at updating the blog. :) 

Loves,

Mo

Not the last. . .

There came a time that I realized that I am not good at blogging. I am not a picture happy person, even though I like the process of taking a good picture. My camera is no where to be found at the moment. I always think I need a picture on my blog post in order for others to want to read it. Also I have not been great at writing. Anyways I guess I will keep trying. :)

To get everyone caught up for the last blog post:

Natalie is now 2 years old. She is talking more and more everyday. The birthday cake we got for her was a lot bigger than i wanted it to be. Her motor skills are improving everyday. 

Jon got a new job working for Halliburton. He is now in Oklahoma for training. He has only been gone for a week and it has been a big change. He is going to be in training for 5-9 weeks longer depending on if they are going to send him out on location before he is off. His schedule will be working 4 weeks in North Dakota and 2 weeks home after training. We are both home sick for each other but know this is the best opportunity for our family right now. Natalie is doing great with the change of Jon not being home all the time. We Skype every night at her bedtime. She gives him a hug and kiss every night. And she has become less shy to talk on the phone with him.

Myself, I am still working for Intermountain Medical Group and loving it. I am adjusting to the change of Jon being gone all the time. I have fantastic people to support me since he is gone for so long. But I have noticed I do get bored. And I get all the chores done in a timely manner rather than procrastinating. I had to get use to sleeping alone again. Don't know if I will ever get use to it but a body pillow does help. And Natalie has occasionally slept on Jon's side of the bed.

Jon and I got REAL Salt Lake Soccer season tickets for a Christmas. Unfortunately, since Jon is gone for most of them I have to find other people to go with. Last night was the home opener for REAL. They played the New York Red Bulls and won 2 to 0. It was an amazing game and loved the STH (Season Ticket Holder) gift. It was a scarf but never got one for they are $50 a piece. That was our gift for buying season tickets and I love them. Taylor and I have a amazing time going together. They had fireworks and every loved the new believe chant. 

Natalie even tries to follow the chant. Last night when Taylor and I got on the Le Bus back to where we parked there was a little boy singing the chant all the way back. It was adorable. REAL so far is undefeated and up 5 goals. Hopefully it is a great season. 

Well if every week for the next 2 months is this way, I will be able to blog once a week. :) Thanks for reading and I lover reading your comments. 

Loves,
Mo

Till we meet again. . .

Before my last blog I didn't know if I should continue on what had happened in order from what had happened. That is why I only have the one blog so far. 


On July 22nd, my sister, Andrea Marie Habel Greenberg passed away in her sleep. Alot of people knew her from her phone calls they got from her or from her smile she gave going down the halls of high school or even when she would just show up at their house to just talk. 


It is sad but true I have learned a little more about my siblings when they pass away than when they were with us. 


Some know that Andrea had a severe case of Spina Bifida, a birth defect in which your spine and spinal cord doesn't fully develop in the womb. Andrea's back was complete exposed when she was born and had to go into surgery right when she was born. From how severe the Spina Bifida was she only had 7 of the 12 nerves to her lungs. One thing I learned from when she passed was that when she was born the doctors told my parents that they give Andrea one year to live from how severe the Spina Bifida was and to just take her home and love her. Well even though I didn't know that till then I am glad that Andrea stuck around for as long as she did cause I would have never meet her if the doctors were right about the time she had to live. 


Andrea was 4 years older than me. We shared a bedroom, clothes and toys. From her being paralyzed from the waist down we were mostly the same size from when I was about 4 to 12. I shared a lot with her up to the time we got our own rooms. 


Her death was expected but yet unexpected. After my brother Garrick passing away Andrea started to gain weight. And with the weight gain and how fragile her body was for it was a lot smaller than the average women's body is, and with only have 7 of the 12 nerves to her lungs, she had some breathing complications. She had a really hard time to try and lose the weight for she had even less mobility from being in a wheelchair but also from the add weight. Andrea had been on oxygen on and off for a couple of weeks. My Dad was at her house on upgrading the bathroom to a handicap accessible for her. My Dad said bye to Andrea and she said bye back. She had just barely went to bed cause she was tired. He left and came to my house to drop off some pictures from the 4th of July. Then he went home and got a phone call from Carl, Andrea's husband, saying Andrea stopped breathing and the ambulance was there to take her to the hospital. They were not able to revive her. They believe that was gone about a 1/2 after my Dad left. That said he was at my house when my sister had gone. 


The one thing that was hard was that she was closer to our cousins than myself or my other siblings. We had a cousin reunion down at Lake Powell that weekend she passed. I messaged our cousin Jared who was in charge of this years reunion and was down there all ready. The morning after her passing was the day that was somewhat mandatory for everyone to be there if they could. Well they gathered for breakfast and they all found out together. Majority of them made it to her funeral. 

It was a peaceful time for we now know that Andrea is up there with her brothers, Alec and Garrick, running around and walking everywhere she wants to go. 

4th of July

With everything going on and time going by as fast as it can the 4th of the July was a good one this year. Jon wasn't able to spend the entire day with us cause he had to work.
I usually spend the night at my parents house so I don't have to beat the parade traffic the morning of the parade. We decided to do fireworks the night before the parade. Surprisingly Natalie does really well with fireworks. Thank goodness. But that night she would have rather played with her cousins instead of sitting and watching the fireworks.

The morning of the parade I got woken up by my Dad @ 4:45am cause my car was blocking his. He went to go and pick up my sister and her husband. Why that early you ask? Well my Dad entered his 1936 Plymouth into the parade. He had just got it running but it still needed interior work and a paint job. He is so proud of it.  He was a little excited to have it in the parade. :)

 Everyone loved the parade. Natalie got use to picking up candy that was thrown at her real fast. I guess I didn't need my chair cause I was pointing out the candy to Natalie all parade long.
Richard ran the 5k just before the parade and did pretty well. He did though seem to not be use to it cause he does only run on a treadmill each morning. And running on a treadmill and on the street does have differences.

During the parade while the derby cars were passing us the Rocky Mountain Raceway mascot "Rocky" posed with Arcadia and Mekensy for a picture. While Grandma wanted Natalie in it. I pick Natalie up and take her over. The picture that we got was amazing! Natalie was so scared of the mascot that was trying to run away when usually she will just stand there and cry. hahaha! Such a priceless picture. :)

After the parade we went over to my parents for lunch and some swimming. Unfortunately, Natalie went down for a nap and missed all the swimming, though we found out she doesn't really like pools in Delta a month before. My parents got this new gazebo, outdoor furniture, hammock, and table and chairs for the little ones. It was really nice to have a shaded place to sit and watch everyone else swim.

Dad gave us a laugh when we looked over and found him trying to not bring attention to himself as he slowing tips over on the hammock. :)

Natalie and I headed home to pick Jon up for a friend BBQ that night. It had been a long time since we had done something together with everyone. It was a lot of fun. The boys went and got some fireworks. Unfortunately Jon and I couldn't go and watch the Murray fireworks with the others for we both had an early start in the morning. It was a lot of fun and great memories were made. :)  

I didn't realize till now that I didn't get the group photo we took that night. It was priceless. Sindra or Cami if you have it would you please send it to me?

With all the holidays and good times, it is good to have all the family and friends to make the memories and share the great time with.

Why a new blog page?

I decided to start all over cause I got rid of my old email address and got a new for I had too many things coming into the old address. So those of you who have me on your private blog list please add me again with marissalee.mo@gmail.com. Plus revamping the old blog seemed to screw things up on it. I am still going to keep the old blog up for others to see what has happened over the years but if you want recent updates this is the blog you will want to come to. :)