Birth Story

The last three months have been kind of a nightmare! A lot has been going on and I am relieved that it is over. I found out that I had placenta previa again at my 20 week ultrasound on December 11, 2013. I had no faith that it would move. From that point started planning for a C-section. But was not excited to have to go through one. I hoped down deep that it would move but knew that I shouldn't plan on it. At 26 weeks I had another ultrasound to confirm that it hadn't moved and it hadn't. My parents had just gotten home from a cruise and my mom was having some health issues we were trying to help her with. Then my dad found out he needed surgery. On March 3 I started bleeding, went to the dr and all seemed to be ok, I was put on "modified" bed rest and told to watch for more bleeding, that it would happen and would probably be worse the next time. That night my husband went to a volleyball game by my request that he get out of the house and do something fun to relieve the stress. It was like we were reliving the nightmare after syd was born.  About a half hour after he left I started to hemorrhage. it was about 8:45 and there was so much blood and it wasn't slowing down at all. I called the hospital and they told me to call the doctor on call. I called him and he said that I needed to go in to the hospital to be seen. I called my mom and dad to get a ride to the hospital and someone to be with my kids, then called Andy at the game to have him meet me there. The dr called back after I got off the phone and asked if i was on my way. I explained that I was home alone and was waiting for my ride. He asked if the bleeding had slowed down and I told him no. He said, you are worrying me and I think you need to call an ambulance, now. Terrified I had my mother call an ambulance since they had just arrived at my house. The bleeding had started to slow down a little. I changed my clothes and waited what seemed like forever for the ambulance to get there. I was admitted to the hospital in the women's center and was told that I had to have no bleeding for 24 hours before I could go home. I was there until 3/6. When I got to go home I was on strict bed rest. I had someone at my house 24/7 for the next time I were to start bleeding, which I was told would happen... it was just a matter of when... and again it would be worse. We had the emergency services aware of my situation and ready for it to happen again. My anxiety was through the roof! 3 weeks I felt like I was waiting around for an emergency. I couldn't go anywhere without worrying about it happening again. And because of what happened after syd it felt like I was waiting to die... sounds dramatic, I know. I also had the baby to worry about too. It wasn't just me this time. I started spotting the first monday I was home. Somewhere in there we found out my mother had breast cancer. And needed to have surgery to remove the cancer. SO SCARY! I was an emotional wreck! After 3 weeks of bed rest at one of my very regular appointments I asked when I could be done. My anxiety was getting worse, she said that she was surprised I had made it that long and was feeling more comfortable doing the C-section early and making sure it wasn't an emergency than waiting for the emergency. We agreed. My C-section was the next day at noon. It ended up being a little earlier, Maxx was born at 11:47am. He was 7 lbs 13 oz 21 inches long at 4.5 weeks early!! And I decided that I hate C-sections! They are NO fun! I also hate having a baby in the NICU. His IV kept going bad, the 10 days he was in there, he had 7 total IVs and bruises everywhere! He had a hard time breathing at first, and wouldn't eat. We finally got him eating and were able to bring him home. That was an adjustment too. He was used to it being light all the time and pretty warm too. After a week he started sleeping so good! going somewhere between 5-7 hours between feedings at night. Then he started loosing weight or not gaining enough weight and I started supplementing him. My mom's surgery  was scheduled for the 21st. Then my sister went into labor with her baby early too. Her baby was born at almost 37 weeks on April 24th. The next day we found out the the tests they ran on my mom's lumpectomy that the abnormal cells were not cancer after all! So many prayers were answered! Angie's baby is doing good, they named her Reecelyn Rose Madsen. She was 7 lbs 7 oz had a little bit of a hard time remembering to breathe at first. And thinks it takes too much energy to eat. She is so cute though! 2014 has been a little rough for my family, I hope it gets better.

Nursing School

I am way behind... but I don't have any current pictures. I will one day post pictures of our basement. Not entirely sure when that day will be. But to update on school... it is really hard! I keep getting down on myself for not finishing school before having kids. It would have been so much easier!  But one thing I have noticed is that I have a lot more life experience to help me in school. I am doing better now than I ever did before.  Our schedule has been nuts! We both have 3 tests each week that have to be done by a certain day, plus assignments, quizzes and reading up to 9 chapters each week. I am trying so hard to keep my head above water with my homework, his homework, our house, laundry and kids. I am actually doing pretty good at juggling it all. I try not to think about it so much.  We are 4 weeks in.... 9 tests down... 3 more before thursday & drum roll please.... I have an 86% average on my tests!!! I am so surprised! Even better.... I have A's in my classes!! No way I could be doing this alone! I am so grateful for all the help we are getting! From family, friends and upstairs :)

Family Pics

I am one lucky girl!  Thanks to my uncle Randy for taking such great pictures!

Look Alike?

 So I kinda think that our kids look like us as kids, what do you think?

Melissa at 4

Kyler at 5

Andrew at 2

Aiden at 2

Melissa at 5 months

Sydni at 4 months

Our kids' pictures

Can't get enough of these kids! I may be partial.... but they are all so dang cute!!

Thank you to Natalie Williams Photography! She did such a good job, I just wish Sydni would have smiled!

4 Months!

Time is going by way too fast! Sydni is 4 months old & has us all head over heels! The boys love her so much and are always wanting to hug, kiss or even just see her! Tonight they were helping to feed her, her bottle & it was so cute! I am so blessed to have such great kids!  Here are some fun facts about miss Sydni:

She is 14 lbs 10 oz.
25 inches long
her head is 16 inches
She wears size 2 diapers
Inbetween sizes 3-6 & 6-9

She absolutely loves her blanket! She won't sleep without one of her fuzzy blankets, and when she is fussy she likes it in her face, with her binkie in her mouth.

She is on Cereal and veggi's now & loves them! She eats so good!

She is sleeping from 7:30-around 7ish,

Nap time isn't scheduled really, she gets fussy and wants to go to sleep, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, occasionally she won't sleep long and will be awake for a little bit and go back to sleep later.

She is loving the jumper and swing she likes to play and put everything in her mouth.

She nurses 3 times a day and 1 bottle before bed.

She loves to play! She is starting to giggle and smiles all the time!

She loves her brothers and smiles at them a lot, but she prefers them at a distance and not really in her face :)

She does not like getting her hair done!

She has been so fun! I love all her fun hair and that I get to do hair now... She has only gone a few days in her little life without bows or her hair being done! I'm so proud of myself for doing so good with that!

She is pretty particular, and not really very patient... but we love her so much!!

Thanks to Natalie Williams for taking these pictures.... I wish my daughter would have smiled....

I love this girl so much!! We didn't get any smiles.... but still SO cute!

Blessing Dress

3 Months old!

My sweet Sydni Sue is 3 months old! I cannot believe it! I love this cute little girl to pieces!! Some things about sydni

* She weighs 12 lbs 14 oz

* Since her tongue was clipped she SLOBBERS EVERYWHERE!! & blows lots of bubbles in the slobber! :)

* She loves to play and is very smily.

* She loves her brothers... but doesn't love them in her face.

* She Sleeps so good!! Last week she went 12 hours.

* She likes to have a bottle (4oz) at 8 pm, regardless of when she ate last, and go to bed.

* She loves her swing

* She doesn't like you playing with her feet, and has to be in a good mood to be tickled, but is very ticklish.

* She sleeps on her belly

* Nurses every 4 hours

* She HATES whiskery kisses

* She is ok with the jumper for a minute

* She hates having a wet diaper

* She loves her mommy... not a good thing.... and wants me to hold her.

* Size 2 diapers

* Likes her blanket in her face when she is tired

* In size 3-6 clothes... some 6-9 fit

* If I don't do her hair in a piggy tail it goes crazy and stands straight up!

she has been so fun! Its a little crazy at our house with 3 kiddos... but I am trying to love every minute of it! some days are harder than others :)

1 Month Old!!

My sweet baby is 1 month old!!

A few things about Miss Sydni:

* She LOVES to cuddle
* Nap time needs to be in her bed
* She has SO much hair, she had pig tails this week!
* She is SUCH a good baby!
* She is on an every 4 hours schedule, has gone 5-6 hours at night, but not consistently.
* She HATES when her daddy kisses her cheeks... because of his whiskers.
* She HATES having a dirty diaper. Wants changed immediately
* She Loves to ride in the car, she falls asleep shortly after
* She loves her brothers and is starting to stare at them.
* She is awake a lot more
* Starting to coo and smile a little bit.

Sydni -- 3 Weeks!

The last three weeks with our little princess has been SO FUN!! She is such a doll and we are so in love! Here are some pictures from the last few weeks!

Too close for comfort

On Tuesday, May 15, at 1:30am I got up to feed Sydni. While I was nursing her I felt like I was bleeding. I had been bleeding on and off heavily for the previous few days so I didn't worry about it. I finished feeding her got a drink of water and went into the bathroom to check the bleeding. That is when I realized that I was bleeding a lot more than I thought. There were two clots the size of small lemons and I was bleeding very heavily. I knew that I needed to get into the shower to at least clean up the mess. I went to get in and dripped blood all over the floor I knew I was in trouble. I got in as fast as I could but got blood on the wall and on the tub. I started to panic and called for andy. When he walked into the bathroom I started to feel light headed and felt myself start to collapse. I laid on the floor of the shower with a steady flow of blood while I gathered myself enough to stand up. Sydni started to cry and andy left to go get her. Two more clots the size of lemons and several that were smaller. After 20 minutes and the blood wasn't stopping I hollered at andy to get my phone so I could call the hospital. When I told them what was going on they told me I needed to go to the ER.  We took Syd to JaNae, downstairs & explained what was going on and left for the ER. On the way I bled through the new pad I put on, my garments, my pants and the sweatshirt I was sitting on. We got checked into the ER, at about 3am, they had a room for me, but no bed. I sat on a towel in a chair while we waited for a bed. We then waited what seemed like forever before a doctor came into see me. When he did, he put a speculum in with a light and tried to suction the blood out. He pushed on my abdomen feeling my uterus and tried to push blood out? Is all I could think he was doing. It hurt so bad that I couldn't hold back the tears. At 4:30 they told me that I was going to have to have surgery, but never explained what kind of surgery. They needed to get ahold of the OB that was on call, which just happened to be Dr. Robison. I was then taken to ultrasound. The tech told me that there was a lot of gunk inside my uterus causing the bleeding. When I got back they told me my surgery was scheduled for 6:30 and they were going to move me to the 3rd floor to wait. When I got to the 3rd floor they told me my surgery was moved up to 6 and they were going to be on their way to prep me soon. I had barely gotten checked into my room when surgery came to get me. Outside the operating room Dr. Robison came to talk to me said the procedure would only take 15 minutes and they showed Andy to the waiting room. An hour later Dr. Robison went to talk to Andy and told him I lost a lot of blood that there was a "satellite placenta" in my uterus that had caused the hemorrhaging. (they think I had more than one baby at one point early on). They had to suction it all out, have ultrasound check to make sure he had gotten it all and then my uterus didn't want to contract back down and they needed to give me 3 medications to get it to contract.  I was very out of it when I got back to my room. I remember hearing voices but don't remember seeing anyone. Andy & my grandpa gardner gave me a blessing. At lunch time I ate a good amount of my food and started to feel better. My grandparents came back to check on me and brought me a strawberry shake. I was feeling good! I told the nurse I needed to  get up to the bathroom.  I was doing really good, except my blood pressure, it was really low, I think the lowest reading was 65/34. Andy went to grab lunch. When sitting in the bathroom I started feeling nauseous and shortly after started to throw up. Mom went to grab the nurse when I started to feel light headed & very dizzy. Andy got back and was holding me up on one side and mom on the other keeping me from falling. Mom, Andy and the nurse tried to help me back to the bed, as soon as I stood up Andy said that my eyes rolled back and I went stiff, Mom said that all the color drained from my face and I went a scary grey color, I was unconscious. The nurse ran to get more people to help. The charge nurse did a sternum rum to get me to wake up. I don't remember any of it! They had 2 male nurses, my nurse and the charge, plus mom and andy trying to help me back to bed. At that point my nurse called the doctor to see if I needed to have a blood transfusion. At that point it was decided that I needed blood...I got 2 liters of blood, it took 6 hours to transfuse. The doctor told me that after I got the blood if I could get up and walk the halls without getting sick, dizzy or passing out again that I could go home. I was determined to get out of that place! I ate as good as I could, and waited patiently for the blood to finish. When I got up to walk I was in quite a bit of pain, but was determined to walk!  I never felt sick or dizzy & I wanted to go home! It was 10 O'clock pm. The nurse came and asked how I was doing and if I wanted to go home, she started getting all the paperwork ready. I was out of there by 10:30. The next 4 days were, for lack of a better word, HELL! I was so sick, VERY weak & so exhausted. I could barely get dressed without feeling like I had run 100 miles! My family came to my rescue. They took the kids, helped me clean my house, made meals for us and made sure that I was never alone. On Saturday I finally started to have a little energy, but the smallest of tasks would wear me out. It was Monday before I started to feel somewhat normal. 

Through is whole experience I learned that I am not ready to go. I had thoughts too many times about leaving my kids without a mom and my dear husband alone to raise my babies. I know that I was never that close to actually dying, but it was close enough for me. I was terrified to think about all the possibilities that could have gone wrong, and there were a lot. I'm just grateful for the priesthood and knowing that everything worked out.

Sydni Sue-- Birth story & picture overload!

On Thursday night May 3rd we went to the hospital, hoping it was the night! My contractions were 3 minutes apart for 1 1/2 hours then sped up to every 2 minutes for another 1 1/2 hours before we went in at 10pm. However when we got there they slowed down. I did dilate from a 4 to a 5 but didn't thin out enough, they sent us home at 7 the next morning. :( They told me if the contractions picked up intensity to come back. I had contractions the whole next day, not consistently and were like they had been the following day. Getting very nervous about doing more than I thought I scheduled an appt with dr. Steve Robison, just to make sure that I wasn't in labor. He checked me out and said that I was in early labor still at a 5 and only 50%. I told him about my worries and how my labors are fast. He stripped my membranes again and told me when my contractions picked up intensity to go to the hospital and he would start me.  Relieved I left the office and went to my moms and walked up and down the road a few times. After feeling like my contractions were sortof picking up I went home to wait. We decided to go back in about 9 O'clock afraid they were going to turn me away again. Dr Robison told the nurse to admit me and he would help me out. At 10:30 he came in and broke my water. I was at a 6 but still not thinning. Her head was not engaged. I got the epidural at 11. At 11:30 I was at a 7 and 85%. At 12:30 I was at an 8 and 95%.  At 1am I felt pressure and called the nurse, I was ready to go! As soon as Dr. Robison came in I pushed through 2 contractions total of 5 times.  The cord was around her neck. As soon as the shoulders cleared a WHOLE bunch of amniotic fluid came out! Almost soaked the doctor and nurse! Sydni Sue was born at 1:14 am. 9 lbs 1 oz and 21.5 inches long. Her head was 14 inches!! Bigger than both of the boys! She cried a little as soon as she came out and they worked on the cord. As soon as they had her under the heat lamp she stopped crying and was content! Barely cried the rest of the night, unless getting poked by a needle!  She LOVED the bath.

She slept the whole next day, not even really waking up to eat. You are one loved little girl, Sydni! We are so grateful for you in our lives! You have been such a joy already!!  Your brothers love you so much too, maybe too much!

Nursery Pictures

I have been slowly getting this nursery ready, and have been having so much fun!  Here are some pictures! I got nursery set for Christmas and have gotten all the clothes from my sister. I finally feel ready! I finished this morning and can't wait to meet this little girl!

Our little monkey :)

We decided on Sydni Sue for her name

Crib is ready to go

My small collection of bows

 

Closet

Lots of Clothes

and even more clothes... don't look in the drawers... you'll find more! She had more clothes than I do!