All Is Well

"Life isn't always easy. At some point in our journey we may feel much as the pioneers did as they crossed Iowa-up to our knees in mud, forced to bury some of our dreams along the way. We all face rocky ridges, with the wind in our face and winter coming on too soon. Sometimes it seems as though there is no end to the dust that stings our eyes and clouds are vision. Sharp edges of despair and discouragement jut out of the terrain to slow our passage.

'...Occasionally we reach the top of one summit in life, as the pioneers did, only to see more mountain peaks ahead, higher and more challenging than the one we have just traversed. Tapping unseen reservoirs of faith and endurance, we, as did our forbears, inch ever forward toward that day when our voices can join with those of all pioneers who have endured in faith, singing, "All is well! All is well!"

'We are inheritors of a tremendous heritage. Now it is our privilege and responsibility to be part of the Restoration's continuing drama, and there are great and heroic stories of faith to be written in our day. It will require every bit of our strength, wisdom, and energy to overcome the obstacles that will confront us. But even that will not be enough. We will learn, as did our pioneer ancestors, that it is only in faith-real faith, whole-souled, tested and tried- that we will find safety and confidence as we walk our own perilous pathways through life."

M.Russell Ballard

Conference Report. April 1997

3 Weeks

Little Miss at 3 weeks old

Here is her growth progress so far:

Birth weight: 7 pounds

Weight leaving hospital: 6 pounds 9 ounces

5 days old: 6 pounds 15.5 ounces

17 days old (2 week appt): 8 pounds 11 ounces

Yep, she's an eater! The first couple of days home she thought she needed to eat every hour to hour and a half. Then it was every two hours...on the dot! The last day or two she has stretched her feedings out to every 3 hours.

She's also grown 2 inches since birth. Right now she's 95th percentile in height and 75th in weight and head circumference. She's following in Jaxon's footsteps.

Some how Ryker got some very recessive genes in the weight/growth department.

My Saving Grace

This kid rocks. Really rocks. Not only does Jaxon adore his little sister, but he takes good care of her too. He is her guardian from the other older brother who at times misses the memo on what not to do with a newborn....like jumping on the bed the baby is laying on :) He has been my right-hand man in everything. There were a couple of mornings where I physically thought it was impossible to open my eyes let alone get up and make them breakfast. He very happily got cereal ready for Ryker and himself, said prayer on the food helped Ryker out of his booster, and then cleaned up Ryker and the table when they were done.

He will even change Ryker's diaper (only the wet ones) and help him get dressed when I am busy feeding Taylee and Ryker won't wait.

He came pre-wired on how to be the oldest and it's a good thing because I didn't get the owner's manual when I became a mom.

Christmas In July

July 3rd
We were going through some boxes of baby things the day we brought Taylee home from the hospital to see what we could still use for her. Ryker found a pair of mittens and ran to his room. He came out wearing his snow boots and said he wanted to go outside to build a snowman. I told him there wasn't any snow so he couldn't build a snow man. That didn't seem to matter. He wanted to build a snowman right now. I told him he could when it snowed. He went to the window, turned to me and said "Sunshine day?" Yes, it was a sunshine day. There was no snow to build a snowman. He then said "Snow fall down?" Yes, when the snow falls down you can build a snowman. He watched out the window for a few more seconds and then said "I'll wait."

For days he was attached to those snow boots. He would take off his shoes and socks and replace them with his snow boots. We eventually had to put the boots out of his reach. He's pretty determined and typically wants the opposite of what we suggest. When it snows he'll probably want his swim suit.

This and That

Miss Taylee, the day after we brought her home, being festive on the 4th of July. Girl clothes are so stinking cute! It's a good thing I'm not a big shopper or we could be in serious trouble! Taylee meeting her great-grandparents for the first time. Here she is with Brian's grandma, Grandma Jensen.
And here she is with his grandpa. He's turning 94 (or is it 93?) next month.
Taylee's umbilical chord fell off when she was 9 days old. Yea for getting a real bath!! She LOVES the bath! Sometimes she'll squawk when she first gets in the water but shortly after she goes to her zen place and just chills in the water.

The first bath was a big deal and the boys had to have a front row seat. They pretty much need a front row seat to everything she does. They think she's neat stuff. It's easy to see why :)

Taylee Hope

For some reason, which is completely unknown to me, this is a difficult post to write. The entire pregnancy with this little princess had been a unique experience. It was an emotional journey. It brought me closer to my family, to my Heavenly Father, taught me a lot about myself, and created a bond between Taylee and I that I hope will sustain us through the difficult teenage years! My initial intentions were to share the entire experience on the blog, mostly because so many were involved in helping get her here safely, but I can't do that. There are some things that are just too special to share. There is something about this sweet little girl that I can't put into words and to try would be to fail miserably.

Here is the very plain, and probably boring, story of her birth.Last pregnancy picture taken right before we left for the hospital. 38 weeks and 1 day!

We got checked in to the hospital at 8 in the morning. I was considered a high-risk delivery because of the VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and the cerclage. Since that was the case my nurse and doctor were there solely for me. I didn't have to share them with any other patients! I was also the only induction that day. All the others had been canceled because there were so many babies (12 total by the end of the day), they wouldn't send us home since ours was a medical induction.

My doctor came in around 8:45 and removed the cerclage. I had heard so many terrifying stories about this and was prepared for serious pain. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised! Seriously, no pain!! As soon as my stitch was removed I was dilated to 3cm. My doc checked me again 30 minutes later and I was dilated to 5 cm.

The epidural was ordered (even if I wanted to go natural...which I didn't...because of the situation it wasn't an option) and lucky for us, the amazing Rock was on epidural duty that day. I had heard he was the best and he didn't disappoint. I had control of my legs the entire time and I could walk very shortly after delivery. The only downside to the epidural was the itchy sensation I had and how tired it made me.

I was given a lot of IV fluid and some pitocin to keep things moving. Both of these fluids, along with 4 months of being off my feet, is what I blame my insanely swollen feet and ankles on. For days after delivery I suffered from puffy appendages.I couldn't seem to keep myself awake, so I took a few little cat naps while we waited for the big moment. It didn't take too long before I was completely dilated and ready to deliver. The whole process from stitch removal to her being born was 6 hours.I'd never had any desire to actually watch a baby be born, but when my doc asked if I wanted a mirror to watch, and I knew this would most likely be the last of our children, I said yes. I'm certainly glad I did. It was pretty incredible.

It took 4 contractions....2 if I had had more strength, and 3 if we all didn't stop for a good laugh. Laughter is definitely good medicine, but it doesn't help birth a baby :)

In the above picture, Brian is getting ready to cut the umbilical cord. Jaxon's cord had to be cut before he was delivered (it was wrapped around his neck) and Ryker was a c-section, so Brian didn't get the chance with either one. He looks pretty excited, don't you think?

Here she is! At this point her name was still undecided :) She came out showing off a good set of pipes. We were all making guess at how big she was. No one was prepared for a 7 pounder! Her official weight was 6 pounds 15.6 ounces....rounding up makes it an even 7 lbs.

We meet in person at last! This delivery was one of the sweetest and most spiritual experiences of my life. She is beyond precious.Look at all that hair! One of the highlights for me was to see that she had so much dark hair!! I haven't pull out all the baby pictures of Brian, me, and the boys, but it's pretty safe to say that she got my hair. Lucky for her, she also got Brian's eyelashes. Seriously! It is so soft!! I'm afraid I'm going to rub it all off with as much as I rub her head.

Brian and sweet baby Taylee. At this point I'm pretty sure I had agreed to name her Taylee. That could explain Brian's grin?!? Or, it's probably because he's one proud daddy. He's already making plans to move to Montana where he will build a large fortress to keep her locked up. Don't worry, I'm sure it will also include a helipad :)Three handsome men and a pretty little lady. Yep. I'm officially the luckiest girl in the world.

I shouldn't post this picture mostly because it's not the most flattering (at all!) of either me or my doc, but he's been a big part of our lives. I don't know many docs that make phone calls to their patients to check up on them. He has been such a great provider for us. I remember when we had Jaxon I asked him if he wanted to move in with us. I was a little bit serious, too. He's been such an amazing support over the last 7 years and helped deliver our 3 beautiful children. Besides all that, he took an entire day to be with just me, Brian, and our baby. Not many would do that.

I can't say enough how grateful I am for modern medicine. Without it I don't think we would have any of our children. Each of our kids has struggled getting here. Each of them have needed something that the pioneers certainly didn't have. Some women are built for having babies...I'm not one of them.

She's here and we're so very happy!