Hospital visits

I decided to write down what has been going on with this pregnancy (and since I can't get up to get my journal a blog post will do).  Brent and I wish we would have written down what happened with the preterm labor with Hannah so we could compare between this time and then.

First I want to start by thanking my wonderful family because without them I would be unable to do what needs to be done for this baby.  I am so thankful for the love and support that they give me.

At 29 weeks I started having contractions about 20 minutes apart.  The doctor checked me then and thankfully nothing was happening yet.  He put me on Procardia 20 mg every 6 hours.   Not always fun to have to take because of headaches and lightheadness, but worth it if it keeps the baby in.  It definitely helped.  I tried to not do too much.  The contractions slowed down a lot.  It got to the point that I could tell when it was almost time to take the medicine because the contractions would start picking up.

On Friday the 29th, I started having more contractions again.  At this point I am just over 34 weeks.  (I started having preterm labor with Hannah at 34 weeks.)  When I called the doctor's office the nurse told me to go up to the hospital since the doctor was in surgery that day.  The contractions were about 10-15 minutes apart at this point.  I was checked and dilated to a 3 and 70% effaced.  They gave me a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions and betamethatsone for the baby's lungs.  The first shot helped, but not as much as was hoped so I was given a 2nd shot.  I had to call Brent to come pick me up since I wouldn't be able to drive myself home.  The medicine makes you very jittery and shaky.  The second shot did the trick.  The contractions were knocked out almost completely.  I only had 1-2 an hour the rest of the night.  I was put on complete bedrest, with instructions to go back to the hospital the next afternoon for the 2nd steroid shot for the baby's lungs as well as to see my doctor on Monday.

Woke up Saturday morning (Hannah's birthday) and the contractions started coming about 6 minutes apart.  So we called Grandma Palmer and asked if they would come to pick up the birthday girl and her siblings while we went to the hospital.  So we left Kayley in charge and headed back up to McKay Dee hospital in Ogden.

Thankfully when they checked me there wasn't any change.  But the contractions started coming every 2-4 minutes.  So they gave me another shot of terbutaline.   It helped a little but not much.  After watching what the contractions were doing they decided to give me another shot of it.  It took the contractions to 10 minutes apart but it only lasted about 30 minutes and then they started getting closer.  So the nurse went to call my doctor again and see what he wanted done since it wasn't helping very much this time.  While we were waiting to hear back from him I was given the second steroid shot so I wouldn't have to come back the same day.  The doctor decided to give me a shot of morphine and phenergan so my body would relax and I could get some rest and hopefully that would knock out the contractions.   Well it worked.  I went home and laid on the couch all day and night moving only to go to the bathroom.  Thankfully it helped with the contractions as well.

Today (Sunday) they have been there but as long as I drink plenty of water and stay down they have only been coming about 1-2 an hour.  So I am hoping and praying that this will continue and that the baby will stay in a little bit longer.  The doctor thinks we will be lucky if we make it through the rest of the week without having the baby.  But I know the Lord is watching over me and the baby and that whatever happens it is what He wants.

Dentist

I wish I had taken the camera to the dentist with me but since I didn't I wanted to at least record how Kenzie did.  When I took her to get her teeth cleaned back in April, she did not have a good experience.  When I took her back to get her cavities filled she wouldn't get in the chair and just went hysterical (to put it lightly).  So that dentist office said they would have to do IV sedation to get it done.  It would cost $350 up front for the anesthesiologist(?).  They were very pushy about, but I just didn't feel good about it.  So I called another dentist and got an appointment for a consultation.  They would less than a third as the other one and said they try to do conscious sedation before they put them under completely.  I felt much better about that.  But when we set up the appointment they said that she had to have an empty stomach so nothing to eat for at least 4 hours before her appointment.  Kenzie loves to eat so I have been stressing over this for the last month and a half.  When I reminded her last night that she couldn't have breakfast or anything else to eat or drink before the dentist she started crying and said, "But I HAVE to eat breakfast."  Brent said it sounded like she was going to die if she didn't get breakfast.  Well her AWESOME brothers and sister volunteered to not eat breakfast either.  That helped so much.  (I am so proud of them for showing their love by sacrificing for her.)

This morning I had to go in and wake her up to go.  Normally she is up before 7 am.  I woke her up just before 9 am so we would have time to drop the other kids off at Grandpa and Grandma Palmer's house before we had to be at the dentist 10.  So the Lord blessed me with not having to have her worry about eating.  She never even asked once.

The medicine (a pill they crush and put in water) worked great.  Within about 25 minutes I could tell her vision was starting to change and her speech was getting slurred.  When it was time for her to get in the chair she just sat there and let them do everything they needed to.

When she was all done I carried her to their recovery room.  In order to leave she had to keep an otter pop down had have control of her neck.  Soon after she was laid down on a bean bag she started trying to talk (couldn't understand her) and trying to sit up.  So she got a purple otter pop and did really good with it.  She then started reaching out her arms and clapping.  She was trying to catch the fish.  (They had big pictures of Finding Nemo characters on the wall.)  After being in there about 35 minutes she asked me to help her catch them.  She did end up getting one of them but it got away from her.  She was adamant that she needed to catch them all.  Then she noticed that Alvin and Chipmunks was on the TV and she stated, "There are two Alvins and two Daves."  After a second otter pop (at her request) we were able to leave.  She kept trying to catch the fish the entire time we were in that room.  So when it was time to go I carried her up front got her a purple balloon and then out to the car.  She wanted to walk but when I put her down to open the door she couldn't stand up straight.

She is such a trooper.  She was happy when she could walk without "shaky legs".

Girl Birthday's

We got to celebrate Kayley and Kenzie's birthdays while we were in Arizona.

I cannot believe Kayley is already twelve.

For her birthday we watched General Confernce, got lunch from Joe's BBQ, opened presents, and had dinner with friends while the men went to the Priesthood session.  I went to the park and visited with friends before dinner as well.  It was fun to visit with them (too bad I forgot to take the camera with me).

For Kenzie's birthday we went to the Phoenix Zoo.  That is such a fun place.  We always have a good time.  Thanks Pam and Mary for getting us in for free.  We ate lunch there and then had McDonald's for dinner.  After dinner we did presents and cake with the Johnson's and Palmer's.  It is so fun to get together with two great families that we love and miss being around all the time.

(I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of Cameron and only one of Kayley, but they were there with us.)

 What a cute birthday girl.  She really is a special girl that brings lots of smiles into our family.

 Love her smile.

 Her Pinkie Pie cake.  Thankful it turned out looking like this.  At one point it looked more like a pig then a pony.

We had a ton of fun while we were in Arizona.  On one of the days Brent took the four kids (Hannah and I stayed behind and took naps) to a preseason baseball game.  One night we got together with our wonderful friends and neighbors, the Dillon's.  We were able to let the kids do an Easter Egg hunt with friends from our old ward. 

We also went to Tumbleweed Park.  That is a family favorite.

Spring Break

This year for Spring Break we went down to Arizona to visit family and friends.

Brent had to be in Las Vegas for work so the kids and I drove down and met him Thursday night.  The hotel we stayed in had huge rooms. 

Friday while he was working we went to the Las Vegas Temple and took pictures.

Just to warn you though it is picture overload.  When you have several hours to spare what better way then to take pictures of a beautiful building, cute kids and gorgeous flowers.

 Kenzie really enjoyed posing for me.

 She can be so crazy and silly.  But sure is cute.

 This is how most of her pictures ended up.  She was loving running around.

 This is probably my favorite picture of the day.

How can she be so grown up and beautiful?

These are just a few of the gorgeous flowers that were there.  It was absolutely wonderful to walk around and see all of the beauty the Lord has put on this earth.

Catch up time!!

I have decided that I will do a few catch up posts since I haven't posted in several months (time is going way too fast).

On St. Patrick's Day the Palmer's got together for the monthly Family Home Evening at the Church History museum in Salt Lake. 

I took alot of pictures but will just do a few for now.  The kids all had a lot of fun running from one activity to another.

 Cameron and Kenzie fishing off of Nephi's ship

 Kenzie gave up on the fishing pole and just went and got her own fish.

 Cameron and his cousins playing games from the Friend magazine on the computer.

 All of the kids loved the computers.

Kayley had fun with trying the Mexican dancing.   

Kenzie then wanter to join in.

 Hannah really enjoyed seeing herself in the mirror.  I loved watching her give herself kisses.

Cory did a great job at the dancing as well.

These are items that were donated by some of Brent's relatives from the home up in Bloomington, Idaho (Bear Lake).