Requested Pictures

Family's can be together forever!

Johnny loves to hang out from 2-6 AM. 

This is the reality of having four loving siblings.

Amateur "baby in a basket" photo shoot. 

Here are a few more pictures of this cute baby from our spontaneous, 

sleeping on the bed, photo shoot.

Love At Home

There is nothing like a newborn to make everyone feel LOVE.

Johnny Five

Johnny was born on June 4th at 5:25PM weighing 7 lbs 14 oz. 

I spent a couple of weeks, prior to John's birth, "taking it easy" because of signs of toxemia.  I was so miserable and ready to have a baby.  I made an 8:45 appointment (even though my doctors office didn't officially open until 9:00) on Monday the 4th, the day that I turned 37 weeks in hopes that Dr. Fowers would start me since I was "full-term."  My blood pressure was high, like it had been for the previous few weeks, and my doctor didn't hesitate to call the hospital and see if they could fit me in.  I was at a 2 and 60%.  Not great, but something.  I was all smiles when he asked if I could go over and get started right then.  

By 9:30AM I had my IV and the pit was started but only for five minutes when my nurse realized that I had a positive group B strep test and need four hours of antibiotics before they could start me.  I was disappointed that I had to wait four more hours making things get off to a slow start, but I patiently waited and was started on the pit again at 12:30.  I respond awesome to pitocin.  It doesn't take much to make my contractions right on top of each other.  At 1:30 Dr. Fowers came in and broke my water.  That created a very exciting hour as I carry TONS of water.  I don't want to be too graphic, but they could hardly keep up changing the towels as I soaked through everything.  

Unfortunately it took from 12:30-5:00 to get from a 2 to a 5.  From about 2:00-5:00 was excruciating.  We couldn't get the pit just right and so I wasn't getting the brake that is normal for labor that is not induced.  My contractions were painful and hard, labor was much worse than I remember it being with Ali, but I had my mind set on not having an epidural so I stood by that decision.  Josh was very supportive of natural labor as well.  The best thing about my labor this time was my nurse.  She was amazing!  I felt like I had a doula.  She had a lot of recommendations. She rubbed my back. She was kind and helpful.  Josh was my labor coach, but there is something about a woman's touch that is so soothing.  She and I were both disappointed when it was time for the 5:00 shift change and I hadn't delivered.  

Amazingly, I went from a 5 to a baby in 25 minutes and she was there along with my new nurse.  Dr. Fowers ended up sprinting to my delivery once again.  Luckily he was already in the parking lot when they called him.  He got there just in time to ask me if I wanted to tear of have and episiotomy.  I said, "cut me!"  That is my way of saying, "get this over, I can't do it any more!"  He was out in one push after that.  

I had planned to help wipe him off and was looking forward to recovery time, but it didn't go as planned.  I was quite disappointed.  I spent 15 minutes of his first three hours with him.  I didn't even get to hold him before they took him to NICU.  This may be TMI, but it is interesting to note that my placenta was double the size of a normal placenta.  That was likely caused by anemia (low iron).  I knew I was HUGE, between the extra water and large placenta, now I know why.  

I spent a while recovering and Josh stayed with Johnny.  They let me go straight from Labor and Delivery to NICU to hold Johnny for a few minutes.  It was so sad for me that I couldn't be with him.  It is unclear to me what was going on except that they were worried about his oxygen levels. 

The kids waited to see him that night, but he wasn't released from NICU until after 10:00.  They hung out in the room with me for a while waiting.  They got dressed up, for fun.  I am glad that I had them there to entertain and distract me.  I really wanted to be with Johnny!

They only got to see him on facetime (on the phone) which really worked awesome to keep me in the loop too.  

 And through the window. 

He was finally released but only for a few hours because his blood wasn't oxygenating.  I was so happy to have him in my room.  He was sweet and tired.  I really felt like he was doing fine.

He did get a bath before he was taken back to NICU.  He loved having his hair washed.  

They asked me to send him to the nursery to be observed when I went to sleep.  We sent him with the nurses at about 1:30 AM when Josh left and they came and told me that he was back in NICU at 4:00AM.  By morning he looked like this. They pulled his hand IV when they released him and they missed in the other wrist so they had to put the IV in his head.  The NICU nurses were so nice.  I almost never saw my nurses.  I spent all of my awake time with Johnny.  It wasn't a restful hospital experience.  I really felt like John would be fine, but I was stressed about how much it was going to cost us.  Now, it looks like it will be about $14,000.  Ouch!

Only twice in my life I have had experiences where I felt the presence of spirits on the other side, and both times were when I had a new baby.  The first was when Andy was born, I know that Ali was there with us for a few days.  The second was just after they told me that Johnny had returned to NICU.  I felt the presence of John Gregory, my Great Grandpa, the man that Johnny was named after. I felt him with me for a few minutes.  I felt that he wanted to comfort me and reassure me that Johnny would be okay.  I felt that he did not want his decedents to experience the pain that he endured with the loss of his first three sons.  I asked him to go be with Johnny, and comfort him while I got a little more sleep.  Of course I couldn't sleep very well.  I am grateful for these powerful experiences, and I have no doubt of the post-mortal and pre-mortal lives. 

The best thing is that everything turned out fine and he got to go home with us.  We got "clearance" to leave at about 8:30AM and we were out of there by 11:00.  We were so happy to have Johnny with us and to be united as a family. 

John Gregory - The final stretch

Dear Johnny,

We are so excited for you to join our family in the outside world.  You should know that you are already a special part of our family.  Cara gives you a hug every night before bed, and everyone loves it when you are moving and they can feel or watch your tiny body parts through my tummy.  When Andy asks if he can "squish" you really he just wants to feel you.  (You can worry about getting squished when you are out.)  When Ali hits it is really out of love.  You do like to move a lot, but I am sure you are getting cramped in there.  At 34 weeks my tummy was measuring 6 weeks big so either you are going to be a really big boy or you are swimming in a lot of water.  

You should also know that you are grounded at least until you are 10 for making life so difficult for the last 8 months.  You can make up some of that time by being an especially good baby!  This last stretch is no exception to the problems that have been create by having your sweet body in mine.  At 35.5 weeks my body decided it was time for you to join us.  I have something called Toxemia.  It is dangerous for us both, but I am checking my blood pressure many times a day and going into the hospital to make sure that you are doing well.  I am on strict orders to take it easy so Grandma took Andy and Ali and I am sitting with my feet up so that you can stay in for a few more days, even though I would rather snuggle you on the outside.  At home I walk with a cane because of my back pain; I have given you everything that I can.    

Choosing your name was a fun process.  It is a lot of pressure to decide what a person will be called for their life.  As soon as we found out you were a boy I started brainstorming.  (If you would have been a girl we would have named you Emma Lee after Grandma Romer and Grandma Sharon, but we had to think hard to come up with the perfect boy name.)  All of your siblings have special family names so I wanted to give that to you too.  Dad wanted you to have a J name like him.  We had thought about naming Ali Gregory had she been a boy, but that didn't seem right for you.  We went through a lot of J names but feel great about naming you after my Great Grandpa John Gregory.  We have a full life history for him that you will enjoy because he was a wonderful man.  His life was hard, but he was always faithful and an extremely hard worker.  He loved the temple and family history work, and he especially loved his family.  My Grandma Odessa always spoke of how wonderful he was.  Grandpa Neil's middle name is Gregory and John is also a very special bible name.  We hope that you will live up to the wonderful people you have been named after.

We are so excited to meet you, and to love you, and to have you join us for all of our crazy family adventures.

Forever and Always,

Mom

Proud Mama

It’s hard not to be a proud mom at the end of the school year watching the end of year performances and programs.  I don’t have good pictures of everything that has been going on, but they are worth recording at least for the sake of a family journal.  I must admit that with each event I give myself a little mental “check” that I am one event closer to having a baby.  So here is the checklist of things that have taken place in the last couple of weeks.

1.  Caleb finished a great spring soccer season. (The best part of the season for me was the beautiful, warm spring weather this year.) It is interesting to have an athletic child when Josh and I are so not into sports.  Caleb’s coach has been encouraging me to let him play on a competitive team (rather than the low key recreational soccer we have done.)  I have felt very adamantly “no” because of the time committment but tonight I got an email inviting Caleb to play on a competitive team (something I have not sought out) and I must admit that the pride kicks in and I think, well maybe.  Josh is all for it.  He loves watching Caleb play.  I was beaming with pride at his last game when he scored 3 of the teams 4 goals.  I would say that offence isn’t his big thing; really he is best at defense and is a fantastic goally. In fact, today he came home with his second pair of broken glasses in the last month from getting hit in the face with a ball.  He is willing to do whatever it takes to keep someone from scoring on him, and his heavy big kick is really a gift for his age.  He isn’t a great runner and is almost never in the pack so I question how he can be so good.  His coach just keeps telling me “he has instinct.  He knows how to be in the right place.”

He still really wants to play football, he has even saved up his money all year to pay his portion of the fee to play, but I think I have talked him out of it by offering to let him go to the one day USU football camp and take swimming lessons if he doesn’t ask to play fall football.  (He isn’t interested in flag football, only tackle football, which is a huge commitment.)  When I drove in the driveway tonight there was a soccer ball, a football, a basketball and a Frisbee all of which he has played with today.  How did Josh and I get this kid?!

2.  The 2^nd Graders had their end of year program.  The focus of the program was service they have performed throughout the year.  Caleb did a great job.  He refused to wear nice cloths.  He is in a t-shirt and basketball shorts.  His argument is that he would be in the back.  I have to choose my battles very carefully with him or we would be fighting all of the time.  I thought I would die sitting on the bleachers for an hour, but he was cute. Our ward has over 150 kids in the primary and 27 of them are turning 8 this year so it also helped that I know about ¼ of the second graders just from church.

3.  It is the season for spring recitals.  I have been teaching Caleb piano lessons since he was four and I told him that when he got through his third set of books he could have a “real” teacher.  He just started with his teacher about a month ago, just in time to participate in the spring recital.  He is getting to be a good piano player.  Having children who are exposed to music is really important to me.  He is getting good enough that he doesn’t hate it like he did for a while.  He doesn’t love it either.  It is hard and hard things just aren’t that fun for most kids.  He does do it though, and I was proud of him at the recital.

4.  Starting a Suzuki Music School has been fantastic for Cara.  She started for her 6^th birthday mid March.  She has been counting down the days to her recital.  You would think she would have the last day of school marked on her calendar, but no, the big circled day with a Sunshine was Saturday, recital day.  She was adorable and obviously takes it very seriously.  She goes twice a week for an hour and does 20-minute rotations of violin, piano, and recorder/theory.  Then she goes twice a month to a “large group” lesson where they practice performing in front of each other and work on theory.  I am a big fan, and a bonus is that she can ride her bike there.  This recital was all group performances except the short piano solos.

5. Andy had his Joy School Graduation tonight.  He was so happy.  He loved everything about it.  He has really enjoyed Joy School and I am excited to do it with him again next year.  I was preparing him that he would be singing and saying a poem for the program on the way there and he asked if he could play the piano too.

Ali enjoys the refreshments after each program and is a good sport about all of these events.

I seem to cause a scene everywhere I go.  My belly measured 40 centimeters at 34 weeks.  (A pregnant woman should measure the number of centimeters as weeks she is along so basically I was measuring 6 weeks big.)  I don’t think I have ever been this uncomfortable in my whole life!  My back is giving me major issues where my hip joints connect to my spine.  I can hardly walk.  I imagine labor pain to be a relief from the day to day pain of living right now.  At least it will be an indication of the end.  I really don't know how people live in chronic pain.  The only thing keeping me semi sane is knowing that it will come to an end.

The thing that I wanted to blog about though is how everyone has an opinion about how I look.  I have never been offended by what people say, but it amazes me how many people say something.  In our culture commenting on someone’s size is usually considered bad manners, but that rule must go out the window if someone is pregnant.  The most comments I got was when I went to the endowment session with Gabe and Alexa.  Every temple worker said something ranging from, “are we going to have a baby in the temple today?” to “bless your heart.”  I never go out without being asked “when are you due” and I don’t know how to answer because I had better have a baby within the next few weeks, but I’m not due for five weeks!!  I should also point out that I cut off my hair.  It was getting super long and I needed a change.  It is a fun razor cut and so far I really like it.  So go ahead, comment on my size, I won't be offended.  The funny comments are when people say I look small.  It is hard to know how to respond to that.  "Are you blind?"  "Well that's not what the tape measure says." I usually opt with the simple "thank you" and then I waddle away.

Bage and Secka

Gabe and Alexa (or Bage and Secka as Ali calls them) were married last weekend.  Alexa lived with us this year and it has been wonderful being a part of their lives.  They were married in the Bountiful temple. It was the most touching and inspiring wedding I have ever attended.  It has been amazing to watch the changes in Gabe as he has prepared for the temple.  The day was beautiful.  Their photographer literally took thousands of pictures, but here is a little preview of the pictures week took with our phones.  I will post some professional pictures when I get them.  

Ready, Set, Scout's!

Ready or not we have joined the world of cub scouts.  Caleb's first pack meeting was the pinewood derby.  He loved it!  He and Josh imbedded a blue tooth device into Caleb's car so that it could rev and honk.  It wasn't the fastest, but he was proud of it.  His award was "Most High-Tech" which Josh was proud of. 

At his second pack meeting Caleb got his Bobcat and his first bead of progress.  My mom would be proud that I am working on it with him.

Another spring project, somewhat scout related has been polishing some rocks.  The kids have LOVED the process.  Caleb is already adding up all of the money he can make selling the rocks to his friends.