4 Years

Four years ago after 20 days in the NICU Cheltzi Lynn was able to come home to live with us. It was Easter Sunday! The hospital doesn't normally do discharges on Sunday, but I pushed for it. I was so ready for her to be home and I think she was ready to be home.

March 7, 2005 Cheltzi was born at 33 weeks. As soon as I had her the dr. layed her on my tummy. The first thing I saw was her tiny grey bum and lots of dark dark hair. I wasn't able to see her face. As soon as they cut the cord they rushed her away and her daddy went with her. I cried and screamed for my baby. It was the worst feeling in the world to me. Kevin came back in the OR with me and told me that she was breathing and wiggling around. I found out later this was a HUGE lie and he only did it to get me to quit crying. Her first Apgar score was 2 because her heart was beating. Then it was 7, and then 9. I don't know the exact time frame that she was on the vent. She was on it the first time I saw her and off it the second time I saw her. I am guessing anywhere from 8-12 hours. She was so beautiful. She looked exactly like me when I was a baby. (was that a little conceited?) After she was off the vent she wasn't even on oxygen. She had to be under the bililights. The biggest hurdles we had to cross were getting her to eat and getting rid of the infection that I passed to her in utero. The infection was the reason I went into preterm labor. I had been uncomfortable the whole night before, but I thought it was just part of being pregnant. My back was killing me. My aunt had even asked me if I was okay and I told her no not really. I hurt so bad. I was the last one to leave my aunt and uncle's house that night. I cried all the way home and I had to drive myself. When I got home I think I just went to bed. I woke up around 4 because I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. I went to the bathroom I sat on the toilet for so loooong. I finally decided that I just couldn't go and I would try to get more sleep. As I stood up to pull my pants up I gushed. I freaked out and woke up my dad. He told me to take the truck to the hospital (we had just gutted the bathroom and the truck had a toilet in it.) My mom had taken my car to work because her car wasn't registered. After I talked to my dad for a few minutes and deciding he wasn't much help in my situation I woke Kevin up. He jumped up and put his shoes on and one of his nice button up shirts. He had his sweat pants on. If you knew Kevin at this time you would know that was not normal for him. I sat down because I was hurting so bad and "water" was gushing everywhere. Kevin came into the kitchen and asked me if we could just fix it. Oh my poor husband. We finally decided to call my mom at work and had her come home early to take us to the hospital. There was NO way I was going to the hospital in the truck. We got to the hospital and into L&D. The nurse said she had to check me to make sure that my water really had broke. I was irritated by this because what else would be gushing out of me like that? They got their tape thing out and it confirmed that my water had indeed broke. They called in Dr. S and he talked to me for a minute and told me I needed to decide which hospital I wanted to be transferred to because I could not have Cheltzi at the hospital we had gone to. We chose Mckay-Dee because my dad had done clinicals there and he said he thought it would be the best hospital to take care of Cheltzi. I never really panicked about having Cheltzi early until the nurse told me while in the ambulance that the medicine they were giving me was so that I wouldn't have her in the hospital. SCARY!! My labor was pretty much uneventful. The epidural was amazing and my nervous husband wouldn't let me sleep. He said I couldn't sleep while I was in labor!? My mom and Kevin would tell me when I was having a contraction and then say ooh that was a big one. My dad thought he was funny by being "Johnny Bench". If I would have been able to move my legs he would have gotten kicked! It was nice to have my family there with me. Kevin, Mom and CJ were there pretty much the whole time. Dad was in and out because he had classes. CJ got to miss school. Lucky Ducky. When I was finally ready to push and have Cheltzi they took me into the OR. We were in there for..E.V.E.R! I wasn't dilated as much as they thought so we had to wait, but they didn't take my legs out of the stirrups while we were waiting and the doctors and nurses were cracking jokes. GRR. When Cheltzi was crowning the doctor commented on all of her hair. Kevin was so excited he wanted to see his daughter born, but didn't want to leave my side. He held my hand and stretched so he could see her. He went with her while they worked on her. I had a few problems after I had her and I was in recovery for 2 hours instead of one. I was so out of it I can't really remember the first time I saw her. I have absolutely no idea what the Neonatologist even said to me.

Cheltzi is now happy and healthy. And she has quite the attitude. Some days she makes me laugh and some days I just want to scream and pull my hair out, but I am so grateful for her. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to have her here on this earth. I love her so much. I have loved watching her grow and learn.

One Colorful 17 Month Old

Update: I took Dominik into the doctor today (March 24) because when he woke up the entire white part of his left was was completely bloody. He has a bruise on his eye and pink eye. We don't know what caused the bruising on his eye, but we do know that it is not from him falling down the stairs. Dr. B also checked to make sure his skull wasn't damaged. She said that since he isn't acting like anything is wrong she is pretty sure he doesn't have a concussion or any major damage to his head. We are treating the pink eye with antibiotics and the bruise should go away within 2-4 weeks.

Dominik fell down the stairs on Friday (March 20). We were getting ready for our ward party and I had just done his hair. I had the computer with me because Kevin and I were texting back and forth. I put Dominik down and was getting the computer. I didn't have the gate up because I was going down with Dominik. He can go down the stairs very well, but I am always with him when he does. Well he usually waits for me at the top of the stairs and we go down together. This time he didn't wait. I am assuming he was distracted by a toy and fell backwards. I heard quite a few tumbles so I know he fell down from at least the 3rd or 4th stair. Luckily all he got was a black eye and a scratch on his back. The scratch is already better. I felt like the worst mom in the world. I am still feeling pretty guilty. Today He woke up with an infection in the black eye. I texted Kevin and told him his eye looked terrible. I was afraid that something was going deeper than just a bruise and it some how got an infection. So Kevin came home and we were going to take him to the doctor. But about an hour later we noticed that the infection was in the other eye also. We are guessing he has pink eye. We have been giving him antibiotic eye medicine and Tylenol. He has been such a trooper through all this. He is a little more fussy than usual, but not as bad as I expected him to be. We will see how tomorrow goes!

Just the black eye

Black eye and Pink eye

Happy Birthday Uncle Bubby

Today is my younger brothers birthday. He is 22!! I can't believe it. In my mind he is still in elementary school I just can't get over it. Here are a couple of pictures of him. One was 4 years ago and the other one was taken quite recently.

Uncle "Bubby" and Cheltzi

Cheltzi was of course still in the hospital.

C.J. and his beautiful daughter Aubrey.

We miss you so much and can't wait until we can see you again. We love you

Sealing Day Anniversary

WOW!! I can't believe we have been sealed for two years. We have definitely had our ups and downs. And right now I am feeling as though we are somewhere in the middle and getting better everyday. I am so blessed and I want to share my experience of that day.

We actually made a fun little family trip out of going to the temple. Kevin took Friday off of work so we could have a fun relaxing family day. I really wish I would have written this all down right after we did it. My memory is pretty bad! I think we headed to Salt Lake Thursday after Kevin got off work. On Friday we spent the day together. Cheltzi got her hair cut. I think for the first time in her whole two year old life. We went to The Gateway Mall and did some playing and shopping. Cheltzi got new clothes for her "Lami". We played in the fountain. I honestly can not remember all we did that day. We went to the Aquarium and Cheltzi LOVED it. She wouldn't let anyone touch the sea cucumbers or anything that we were allowed to touch. Kevin tried so hard and she just threw a fit and smacked his hand. We got a hotel room so it would be easier for everyone to get ready. My mom and dad lived in Taylorsville at the time, but we thought it would be fun to get a room.

One thing I forgot to mention here was that I was pregnant with Dominik. Up to this point and even on Friday I felt GREAT. I didn't have morning sickness. I may have been a little more tired than normal, but I felt awesome. I was so excited that I was going to be feeling well for our session. Boy was I wrong. I woke up pretty early Saturday morning and wasn't feeling well. I couldn't get back to sleep, my stomach hurt, and I was so nauseous. I went out of our room and into the dining area because I didn't want to wake up Kevin and Cheltzi. After a while I went back in the room and tried to get back to sleep. I couldn't. Ugh. And then the throwing up began. I was so upset. I didn't want our day to be ruined. Finally it was time for all of us to get up and get dressed. That is basically all I did. I was so sick I couldn't even do my hair. We went and had a little breakfast. And then packed up our stuff and off to the temple we went.

We told my mom and dad that we would meet them in front of the temple. Kevin's best friend and his wife met us in front of the temple, but no one else was there. Finally we decided we would go in. I had no idea that there is a separate entrance! I'm glad we had John and Erin there. My parents were waiting at the actual entrance. Our session started late because of us. Just as we were finishing up our paper work I threw up. The room was hot and I was sick to my stomach. I pretty much threw up the entire time. At one point a sweet little lady asked if I was going to make it. In the Salt Lake Temple they do live sessions and you have to walk from room to room. So that made the session even longer. We weren't able to be in the Celestial room for very long because we were late and they needed to take us aside to talk about a few things. The temple workers were so sweet. The funniest thing was that they gave me a WHITE throw up baggy. I chuckled about it. I am still giggling about it. They even brought me juice and crackers. I was amazed that they were prepared for things like this.

It was so hard for me to truly feel the spirit and the purpose of why we needed to go through, but I know the purpose now and I am still learning. I felt it in the Sealing room. I felt it when Kevin and I knelt across the altar from each other, and I felt it when Cheltzi's tiny little hands we were placed on ours to be sealed for Time and ALL Eternity.

I am so happy that we chose to be sealed. That we chose to make better decisions with our lives. I am grateful to that man that I married. We may have our ups and downs, through everything I am learning to be a better wife. I am learning to care for Kevin more deeply. (I am crying now) Sometimes it is really hard. But I know it's going to be worth it. I can't wait until Kevin and I can go back to the temple. I want my kids to know how truly important it is to be sealed to your family and to have the blessing from going and learning. I love my family. I am even grateful for Dominik and what he put me through while we were at the temple. Maybe it was his way of letting me know that he was a part of our family too. I am so grateful that Cheltzi came to us when she did. It (getting pregnant on our honeymoon, the pregnancy, and birth, 3 weeks in the hospital) was one of the hardest things Kevin and I have gone through together, but she is a very special part of our family and I am glad that she was able to be at the temple with us.

After we went to the temple we went to Sizzler. I LOVE Sizzler, but I was so sick I couldn't eat anything I was so mad. After sizzler we went to my mom and dad's house because I was still sick. They watched Cheltzi and Kevin took me to Urgent Care because I couldn't stop puking. Urgent Care wouldn't see me because they wouldn't accept Baby Your Baby. How lame is that? I could rant, but since this is a possitive post I won't!. We finally found a hospital. We didn't know the area. They did an ultra sound to make sure that baby was where he was supposed to be and he was. He had a perfect little heartbeat. Since I was in so much pain they gave me morphine. WooHoo! Kevin wasn't happy because I was sleeping and out of it and he couldn't sleep. Before they gave me the morphine they asked me if Kevin was the person that was going to take me home and if I trusted him. I said yes and they gave me the morphine. Then we discussed the reasons why they asked me. I don't know if it was funny because the drugs had started kicking in or because it really was funny. But I remember laughing a lot. I guess druggies go in to the ER to get meds and then end up being taken home by complete strangers. Anyways the drs concluded that I had a cyst full of pregnancy hormones and it burst causing the puking and the pain.

Feeling Crafty

Cheltzi's birthday post is to come. I am still waiting for some pictures from my mom and dad.

For Dominik's Birthday I appliqued a big number "1" on a onsie. For Cheltzi's birthday I wanted to do the same thing. I tried and tried and it just wasn't coming together. I recruited my SIL to help with some creativeness. Between her ideas and mine this is what we came up with.

I actually made the flower to put on a clip for her hair, but the little flowers we had, just didn't go with the shirt and way too small. So I put the flower on her shirt and made hair bows for the first time. They definately are not perfect, but it was my first time what can I say. I think they still turned out pretty cute.

My Boy

Cheltzi's birthday pictures are to come, but I had to post this picture that my SIL took at the park on Sunday. I love love love it. Thanks Jess.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl

It's getting late and I need to go to bed, but I just wanted to to tell everyone that we had a GREAT day. Cheltzi is such an amazing little/BIG girl. Sometimes she drives me bonkers, but she just amazes me everyday. I love her so much and I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with such a beautiful daughter.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELTZI

The Most Expensive Dinner

*I still need one more person for my pay-it-forward!

On Friday Kevin wanted to eat out which is fine with me. No cooking! Well he seemed to be taking a looong time. I was getting a little worried, but I had no way to get a hold of him. The internet is down and my phone is still shut off. So we waited and waited. Finally he got him and he chuckles. I asked him what was funny. He said that our dinner cost $350.00. I gave him a weird look and asked how that happened. He proceeded to tell me he got pulled over! Not good. Our insurance lapsed so we didn't have proof of insurance. The only good thing about Kevin being pulled over was that it was the sherrif that pulled him over. If it had been the city cops they would have impounded the car. I was happy that Kevin actually laughed about it. I love him so much.

We had a lot of fun on Saturday. Kevin didn't want to sit home all day so we went to Grand Junction. I got a few things to make Cheltzi's birthday shirt. It's not coming together like I had hoped, but I am hoping I will be able to get it done before her birthday, NEXT Saturday. I am having a REALLY hard time with this. She is going to be 4!! I can't believe it. She already knows what she is getting for her birthday, but I am not going to reveal it until we bring it home.