My girls are getting so big! Iyla is doing Bella's hair! I love my girls!!
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31 January, 2011
26 January, 2011
Is this the Last Baby for us???
I have my second to last doctors appointment today. One more next week and then it's baby time!! The baby is doing great and the heartbeat is around 130 bpm (beats per minute). I am doing well. Still have kidney issues but if I can keep the baby from kicking my kidneys or sitting on them I might just not have as much pain. I am also retaining fluid... big surprise right?! But not to worry.... this baby is coming in 11 days so whatever I have going one will resolve itself by then. Weight wise I am up a whopping 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. WOOHOOO!!! At least all of this nausea is worth something! So after I come home from the hospital I will weigh less then before I had the baby and if I get breastfeeding going, well that could help get my weight down even faster.
This being my third C-Section, my Dr and I talked about the chances I have of being able to carry another baby. She said that they will be able to tell the condition of my internal stuff when I have the baby and will let me know then. She just wanted to warn me that there might be a chance my uterus might be too thin for another baby from all of the scar tissue. And we talked about my options and about how many children I want to have. I told her that I do not under any circumstances want my tubes tied, But if my uterus can not withstand another pregnancy Jacob and I are more then willing to adopt to complete our family. We have never set a cap on the number of children we want. There is no magic number in our heads that we will say "OK that's the number...we're done". We both feel that 4 children would be wonderful. I had such a hard time even getting pregnant this last time that even if my uterus is able to have another baby there is no telling if I can even ovulate. That is kind of important to having a baby!
Adopting a baby is something that Jacob and I knew we were going to do at some point in our lives since before we were married. There are so many children that need a good home and I know we have enough love to go around. We of course will cross that bridge when we come to it. I feel very at peace with whatever the doctors say. I can't say the idea of never getting pregnant again is thrilling, but the idea of giving a baby a good home is exciting. I know most women who are as far along as I am are not thinking about going through ANOTHER pregnancy again! I am sure you think I am a little crazy for even talking about it. Us C-section mama's have to kind of think ahead a bit more. There is no way I can have 8 sections (no would I want to) and my Dr said the most she has ever done on a woman is 6. I would love to have just one more baby but who knows. That's what all those mom's who have 5 and 6 babies at a one time say "honey, let's just try for one more" and BAM... Sextuplets!
These next few days are going to fly by and take forever at the same time. Oh well!!
This being my third C-Section, my Dr and I talked about the chances I have of being able to carry another baby. She said that they will be able to tell the condition of my internal stuff when I have the baby and will let me know then. She just wanted to warn me that there might be a chance my uterus might be too thin for another baby from all of the scar tissue. And we talked about my options and about how many children I want to have. I told her that I do not under any circumstances want my tubes tied, But if my uterus can not withstand another pregnancy Jacob and I are more then willing to adopt to complete our family. We have never set a cap on the number of children we want. There is no magic number in our heads that we will say "OK that's the number...we're done". We both feel that 4 children would be wonderful. I had such a hard time even getting pregnant this last time that even if my uterus is able to have another baby there is no telling if I can even ovulate. That is kind of important to having a baby!
Adopting a baby is something that Jacob and I knew we were going to do at some point in our lives since before we were married. There are so many children that need a good home and I know we have enough love to go around. We of course will cross that bridge when we come to it. I feel very at peace with whatever the doctors say. I can't say the idea of never getting pregnant again is thrilling, but the idea of giving a baby a good home is exciting. I know most women who are as far along as I am are not thinking about going through ANOTHER pregnancy again! I am sure you think I am a little crazy for even talking about it. Us C-section mama's have to kind of think ahead a bit more. There is no way I can have 8 sections (no would I want to) and my Dr said the most she has ever done on a woman is 6. I would love to have just one more baby but who knows. That's what all those mom's who have 5 and 6 babies at a one time say "honey, let's just try for one more" and BAM... Sextuplets!
These next few days are going to fly by and take forever at the same time. Oh well!!
24 January, 2011
I've Been Given What I Need
I have been sitting in my living room with the girls today, looking around at my house. At the moment there is a bunch of ponytail holders all over the couch, thank you Iyla, the couch pillows are lined up in front of the TV because they make an awesome gymnastics mat, thank you Bella, and Iyla is sitting in the middle of the room eating Bella's breakfast that was not finished and left on the counter. There are books on the floor that have been looked at for maybe 30 seconds and the morning newspaper has already been torn apart to find the funny pages. So why do you ask am I just sitting here looking at all of this, well, for one thing, I am exhausted! I am 38 weeks pregnant and boy do I feel like it! And for another thing, I am trying very hard to look passed the temporary mess to see beyond that. My kids are happy, my home is not dirty, just a tad messy, and I am one amazingly blessed lady.
I have been thinking about all the things I would like to have, I would like to have a serger, I would like to have a new porch for the front of the house, I would like to have a new, non leaking sink, in fact there are a lot of things that I would like... but I don't need them! All I need is right here in this messy living room. My girls are amazing! They make me laugh, they teach me daily about true love and compassion... and patience! I have a husband who means everything to me. Who works so hard for our family. Even after a long day at work he somehow has the energy to take up the slack for me with the end of this pregnancy looming. I have a network of friends and family that are so supportive and I know love me as much as I love them. I have a home, a real home in which to raise my family in the faith of our choice. I live in a town that I feel we were lead to, that really needs us. I live in a country where I have more freedoms then anywhere in the planet and most importantly I belong to a Church that contains in it the eternal truths that will help me and my family to attain our goals here on earth and in the life to come.
In comparison to all that a serger and an sink are nothing to all that I've been given. I've been given what I need. There is a song that I have been singing in my head all morning. It's from "The Forgotten Carols" here are the lyrics-
As we come into this season of huge change in our families lives with the arrival of our new bundle of cuteness, It's nice to look around this messy living room and not see the mess, but see the blessings.
I have been thinking about all the things I would like to have, I would like to have a serger, I would like to have a new porch for the front of the house, I would like to have a new, non leaking sink, in fact there are a lot of things that I would like... but I don't need them! All I need is right here in this messy living room. My girls are amazing! They make me laugh, they teach me daily about true love and compassion... and patience! I have a husband who means everything to me. Who works so hard for our family. Even after a long day at work he somehow has the energy to take up the slack for me with the end of this pregnancy looming. I have a network of friends and family that are so supportive and I know love me as much as I love them. I have a home, a real home in which to raise my family in the faith of our choice. I live in a town that I feel we were lead to, that really needs us. I live in a country where I have more freedoms then anywhere in the planet and most importantly I belong to a Church that contains in it the eternal truths that will help me and my family to attain our goals here on earth and in the life to come.
In comparison to all that a serger and an sink are nothing to all that I've been given. I've been given what I need. There is a song that I have been singing in my head all morning. It's from "The Forgotten Carols" here are the lyrics-
What I Need
All I ever wanted,
All I ever dreamed of,
Everything I hoped and all the things I prayed for
Couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given,
I've been given what I need.
A mansion on the hill or love like in the movies
Perfect little lives, where no one has a problem
Instead of all those things I thought I really wanted
I've been given what I need.
Even when I didn't understand,
When I thought you had no heart,
Thank you for rejecting my demand
And always giving me the better part.
All I ever wanted,
All I ever dreamed of,
Everything I hoped and all the things I prayed for
Couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given
I've been given what I need
As we come into this season of huge change in our families lives with the arrival of our new bundle of cuteness, It's nice to look around this messy living room and not see the mess, but see the blessings.
22 January, 2011
Pregnancy Update
I realized the other day I have not blogged about this baby in quite a while and I thought I would give you all an update. We are about to hit 38 weeks! The baby will be here in about 2 1/2 weeks. Our C-section is scheduled for February 8th and I am really excited to meet this little bundle that has been kicking me like crazy!
Health wise this past month has been a little challenging. I have been hospitalized two times. The first was on December 10th. The whole family came down with a nasty tummy bug and I got the brunt of it. The girls got over it within 24 hours and I thought I was not going to get it until a few days later when it hit... BIG TIME! I was throwing up and having "bathroom" issues let's say. I got so dehydrated that I could not even tear. Jacob took me into the hospital and they gave me an IV with lots of fluids and some anti-nausea medication. It took over 2000 cc's of fluid, or liquid ringers, before I could pee! Luckily the baby ws doing just fine so I as able to be sent home. It took another few days to feel better. My loving visiting teacher brought us dinner that night so I would not have to worry about it. It was a good thing too because a little bit after we got home the bug hit Jacob. He was bed ridden for 2 days! Which was very sad for him since he was in the middle of his run with "The Forgotten Carols" He played the innkeeper and had to bow out of the final performance since he couldn't stand let alone act and sing.
But a full weekend in bed soon set him to right and we are off with our Christmas merriment! Fast forward to the 28th of December... I woke up in the middle of the night (around 2:30-3:00) with the worst pain in my side. My right kidney to be exact. I tried to keep sleeping but the pain just got worse. At about 4:00 the contractions started. at first they were every 5 to 8 mins then by 4:25 or so they were slamming every 35 seconds! At this point I was in so much pain I woke Jacob up with my rapid breathing and thrashing in bed. He called the neighbor lady to sleep on the couch to be with the girls and loaded me into the car for the drive to the hospital. I was so scared I had no idea what was going on but I tried to focus on my breathing and getting through the contractions which were really painful. I was nervous that the Dr's would not get the contractions to stop and I did not want the baby to come since at the time I was only 34 weeks and the baby was not done growing.
we got to the hospital at about 5:00 in the morning. We didn't think the main doors would be open so we parked in the ER parking lot. I slowly walked, with Jacob's help, into the doors of the hospital and who do we see standing by the desk but our good friend, Steve Ellis! Steve is one of the nurses at the hospital and it was so comforting to see a friendly face. His family goes to our Church and we love them all very much. He got us a wheel chair and escorted us through the back way to the family birth center. Which cut our trip about in half. Thank so much to him. he was able to talk with us on the trip and really helped us feel at ease. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends.
We had called the hospital so they knew we were coming. They had my paperwork and my bracelet all ready for us. We got back into the room and they did a pee sample and found a lot of blood in my urine. that coupled with the pain got the diagnosis of a bleeding bladder infection and a kidney stone. all of which had thrown my body into pre-term labor. I was given an IV and lots of medications. They admitted me so they could continue monitoring the baby and control my pain and get the contractions to stop. The pain meds were doing there job and I was starting to feel much better. we called our good friend Spencer Beard and he came right over to the hospital to help Jacob give me a blessing. I knew something was going on and that Spencer was there but I was on some pretty powerful pain meds so I really don't remember the experience too well. Spencer later told me that I was really loopy and kept saying "thank you for coming... I love you Spencer!" By the afternoon I was taken off the major IV pain meds and was taking oral vicodin which helped my head to get out of the fog. The contractions didn't stop till that evening. I had a hard time sleeping in the hospital bed. Jacob was amazing, he helped me go potty, which I did a lot since they were trying to flush my system. I had 6 IV bags in one day! He stayed with my all night. .. what a trooper. Jacob's cousin Cari, took the girls overnight for us. What an angel!
By the morning the pain was gone, the contractions finally stopped and I had gotten about 3 hours of pain free sleep. I was so glad when they said I could go home right before lunch. I was super glad to get home. I missed my girls.
I am still having a bit of pain every once and a while with contractions but they are not progressing and I have been getting checked every week by the Dr. and I am not dilating so the contractions are not putting me into labor so I just get to deal with it for now. I still have blood in my urine so the DR thinks the kidney stone is still there. There is not much you can do about kidney stones while you are pregnant so I have to wait until the baby is born to deal with that.
We are having a baby shower this next week and I am really looking forward to it. The crib is all up and we are just bout done setting up the nursery. These next few weeks are going to take forever but I am just going to enjoy my girls and try to relax.
Health wise this past month has been a little challenging. I have been hospitalized two times. The first was on December 10th. The whole family came down with a nasty tummy bug and I got the brunt of it. The girls got over it within 24 hours and I thought I was not going to get it until a few days later when it hit... BIG TIME! I was throwing up and having "bathroom" issues let's say. I got so dehydrated that I could not even tear. Jacob took me into the hospital and they gave me an IV with lots of fluids and some anti-nausea medication. It took over 2000 cc's of fluid, or liquid ringers, before I could pee! Luckily the baby ws doing just fine so I as able to be sent home. It took another few days to feel better. My loving visiting teacher brought us dinner that night so I would not have to worry about it. It was a good thing too because a little bit after we got home the bug hit Jacob. He was bed ridden for 2 days! Which was very sad for him since he was in the middle of his run with "The Forgotten Carols" He played the innkeeper and had to bow out of the final performance since he couldn't stand let alone act and sing.
But a full weekend in bed soon set him to right and we are off with our Christmas merriment! Fast forward to the 28th of December... I woke up in the middle of the night (around 2:30-3:00) with the worst pain in my side. My right kidney to be exact. I tried to keep sleeping but the pain just got worse. At about 4:00 the contractions started. at first they were every 5 to 8 mins then by 4:25 or so they were slamming every 35 seconds! At this point I was in so much pain I woke Jacob up with my rapid breathing and thrashing in bed. He called the neighbor lady to sleep on the couch to be with the girls and loaded me into the car for the drive to the hospital. I was so scared I had no idea what was going on but I tried to focus on my breathing and getting through the contractions which were really painful. I was nervous that the Dr's would not get the contractions to stop and I did not want the baby to come since at the time I was only 34 weeks and the baby was not done growing.
we got to the hospital at about 5:00 in the morning. We didn't think the main doors would be open so we parked in the ER parking lot. I slowly walked, with Jacob's help, into the doors of the hospital and who do we see standing by the desk but our good friend, Steve Ellis! Steve is one of the nurses at the hospital and it was so comforting to see a friendly face. His family goes to our Church and we love them all very much. He got us a wheel chair and escorted us through the back way to the family birth center. Which cut our trip about in half. Thank so much to him. he was able to talk with us on the trip and really helped us feel at ease. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends.
We had called the hospital so they knew we were coming. They had my paperwork and my bracelet all ready for us. We got back into the room and they did a pee sample and found a lot of blood in my urine. that coupled with the pain got the diagnosis of a bleeding bladder infection and a kidney stone. all of which had thrown my body into pre-term labor. I was given an IV and lots of medications. They admitted me so they could continue monitoring the baby and control my pain and get the contractions to stop. The pain meds were doing there job and I was starting to feel much better. we called our good friend Spencer Beard and he came right over to the hospital to help Jacob give me a blessing. I knew something was going on and that Spencer was there but I was on some pretty powerful pain meds so I really don't remember the experience too well. Spencer later told me that I was really loopy and kept saying "thank you for coming... I love you Spencer!" By the afternoon I was taken off the major IV pain meds and was taking oral vicodin which helped my head to get out of the fog. The contractions didn't stop till that evening. I had a hard time sleeping in the hospital bed. Jacob was amazing, he helped me go potty, which I did a lot since they were trying to flush my system. I had 6 IV bags in one day! He stayed with my all night. .. what a trooper. Jacob's cousin Cari, took the girls overnight for us. What an angel!
By the morning the pain was gone, the contractions finally stopped and I had gotten about 3 hours of pain free sleep. I was so glad when they said I could go home right before lunch. I was super glad to get home. I missed my girls.
I am still having a bit of pain every once and a while with contractions but they are not progressing and I have been getting checked every week by the Dr. and I am not dilating so the contractions are not putting me into labor so I just get to deal with it for now. I still have blood in my urine so the DR thinks the kidney stone is still there. There is not much you can do about kidney stones while you are pregnant so I have to wait until the baby is born to deal with that.
We are having a baby shower this next week and I am really looking forward to it. The crib is all up and we are just bout done setting up the nursery. These next few weeks are going to take forever but I am just going to enjoy my girls and try to relax.
17 January, 2011
CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!
"He came he came! Santa came to our house!" Isabella yelled at the top of her lungs. She was so happy! The first thing we did when we woke up was make sure Santa got his treat! Yep, he did!
Here is the tree stuffed with presents! I know it looks like we went crazy and spent a ton but we didn't! We buy a little here and there throughout the year and you never remember everything until you go to pull it out and... Well, let's just say we had a great time opening presents!
The gifts
Isabella was so excited she was shaking, Iyla was still trying to wake up!
First we got into our stockings! Iyla just HAD to eat her candy cane!!
Santa brought Iyla a padded rocking horse. Iyla was thrilled! She got up on it and stayed there for about 25 mins. She had us bring her the gifts to open. If you look closely, she still has that darn candy cane in her hand! Silly kid!
Another popular gift was the toy food! The girls play with it all the time. i took pictures of them opening all of the gifts but since I don't want to bore you with a million pictures I just included a few for the blog.
In my family we have a tradition of hiding a gift on the tree for the kids to find. This year it was a paper tree that simply said "look outside" When the girls went outside they found a Trike for Iyla and a bike for Bella. even though Santa gave Bella a bike a few weeks ago we were still planning on giving her one on Christmas from Mommy and Daddy. She is excited to have two since the one we gave her is smaller and she can ride it a little bit easier. But she has the nice one from Santa to grow into!
Another popular gift was the toy food! The girls play with it all the time. i took pictures of them opening all of the gifts but since I don't want to bore you with a million pictures I just included a few for the blog.
In my family we have a tradition of hiding a gift on the tree for the kids to find. This year it was a paper tree that simply said "look outside" When the girls went outside they found a Trike for Iyla and a bike for Bella. even though Santa gave Bella a bike a few weeks ago we were still planning on giving her one on Christmas from Mommy and Daddy. She is excited to have two since the one we gave her is smaller and she can ride it a little bit easier. But she has the nice one from Santa to grow into!
After the excitement of Christmas present opening we had a yummy breakfast! Crumpets with butter (Jacob got himself goat butter) and my homemade apple jelly or Nutella, maple bacon and satsumas and orange juice. It was a memorable time. I love Christmas! Especially with my family! My mom was able to stay with us which made the holiday that much more special!
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE GIFFORD FAMILY!!!!
Christmas Eve!
On Christmas Eve we have some fun traditions! we read about the gift of the Savior to all mankind. Then the girls get to open one gift. That is always Christmas jammas!
The girls tore into the gifts! It was pretty funny!
Don't they look cute in the matching jammas!
We also decorate cookies for Santa! Iyla liked eating the candies!
We set out a tray of cookies and hot cocoa for Santa as well as carrots for the reindeer!
On Christmas Eve I always make a Mexican dinner. Every year I make homemade tamales! They are really yummy! But I think if I am pregnant over another Christmas I am going to just buy them!!
After eating our yummy Mexican food and reading "Twas' the Night before Christmas" we all went off to sleep to await the visit of SANTA CLAUS!!!
Our New Christmas Countdown Tradition
We checked out a book from the Library called "101 Best Christmas traditions" we found one that we loved. It is meant to do every Sunday During December but we did it the last 5 days leading up to Christmas since our girls are too little to remember week to week. We made a nativity picture. We hung a paper on the front door that had the creche colored on it. And that night we read about the prophecies foretelling of the coming of Christ found in the Bible, Isaiah 9:6 and the Book Of Mormon, Second Nephi 17:14.
On day 3 we glued on the Shepard's and read about them from the Bible, Luke 2:8.
The following night we did the same for the Wise Men reading from the Bible, Matt. 2:1-12 . The last night was Christmas Eve. We glued on baby Jesus and read about his life and teachings. Then our Nativity and our Christmas was complete! It was wonderful and really helped the girl get excited about each part of the Christmas story.
I forgot to take a picture of the completed nativity scene but it was so neat. I think we will do it every year!
The second night we glued on Mary and Joseph and read about them in the Bible,Matt. 1:18-25 and the Book of Mormon, Alma 7:10.
I forgot to take a picture of the completed nativity scene but it was so neat. I think we will do it every year!
Decorating for Christmas
My Nativity collection! Our favorite part of Christmas. I have 17 so far!
This is the only surviving arched walkway in the house. Jacob made the pine and holly swag. So prefect!
We love decorating for Christmas.I just wish I took more pictures!
Giving to those in Need
This post would be very long if I typed out everything! But I did put all of the photos on Facebook with a description of what we did. Here is the link
It was amazing experience and I am glad we could help out!
Picture with Santa
As usual Iyla was not happy sitting on Santa's lap! But Bella took the time to fill the big guy in on EVERYTHING she wanted for Christmas!!
(I can't figure out how to rotate the pictures on my laptop. Sorry!)
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