The Oh-so-adorable not-yet-named new baby girl!!

Hi peeps!! I don't have time to do a long post and tell the whole story, but our baby is finally here!!! She was born today, Dec. 9, 2010 at 1802 (6:02 pm). She weighed in at 5 lbs 14 oz and 18 in. long. She's super cute, and actually has hair!! Imagine that! :)

Unfortunately, she inhaled some meconium, so she's in the NICU now, and I'm about to go see her. I'll write more later. I tried to upload some pics, but it won't let me!! ACK! I'll figure it out when we get back!

Later all!

chelle

How sweet it is . . .

I absolutely love conference. Every year I look forward to the spiritual feast that conference is. Today's sessions were fabulous. I think my favorite talk from today would have to be Elder Richard G. Scott's talk about character and faith. He talked about how character and faith interact to strengthen each other. I never really thought a lot about character and how it relates to religion, but it really sank in today. My favorite quote from the talk (and the day really) was this:


"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become."

I loved this. It really hit home for me.


A few other quotes I liked are listed here (in no particular order - oh, and I'm not sure who said each one, I just wrote down things that impressed me.) Some of them aren't direct quotes, but rather the impression I got when listening.


"The road of discipleship is not for the faint of heart."
"The bedrock of character is integrity"
"Sometimes things go wrong, even when we've done our very best."
"Pornography is a weapon of mass moral destruction."
"Your testimony, when nourished, will keep you safe."
"The decision to chose faith is yours and yours alone. No one can make that choice for you."


A few conferences ago we started having Jenni sit and listed to 2 talks, and write what she heard/felt. This year, Jenni had a hard time at first. She was trying to write exactly what they said, and complained that they were going too fast. I told her she didn't have to write what they said, but write what she thought about what they said. Here's what she came up with- all by herself by the way. She had no help from me (except asking how to spell some words) and I was once again very impressed with how well she listened, and how spiritually minded she really is!


Here are her notes:




In case you can't read them for some reason, here's the text from her notes (I didn't correct her spelling mistakes 'cause I thought they were super cute!)


"I will choose faith. I will choose to repent. I will choose trooth. I will not choose to follow Satan! I will follow Jeses."


This is another testament to the idea that by small means great things can come to pass. Out of the mouth of babes- truly she never ceases to amaze me! I am looking forward to seeing what kind of girl she will become (although the thought of raising her in this world still terrifies me. I wish the Savior would come now!)


Well, it's super late, and I'm super tired. I don't want to have to doodle during the sessions tomorrow like I did today to keep myself awake, so I'm off to bed. Good night all!!!


k, thats all. Later cyber sisters!


~chelle

just a quick thought . . .

I came across these quotes today and really liked them. I wish I could post more, but I have to go get ready for a job interview! Wish me luck!

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

"The happiest people don't always have the best of everything; they make the best of everything that happens to come their way."

I have no idea who said either of these quote, but I really liked them!

K, thats all!! Have a wonderful day all!! I'll get to see my newest little niece later today (assuming my sis isn't going to be in labor all day!)

Peace out!

I'm looking . . .

Hey all! Can't post a whole lot right now since I'm still getting Jenni ready for school, but I have time for a few quick things.

First, a quick update- I (finally) got the cortisone shot for my tailbone! I was super scared cause everyone I talked to said it hurt super bad, but I guess they didn't get the lidocane shot first, cause it really wasn't that bad. (And I'm a wimp, so it REALLY must have not been that bad!) My back was really sore for the next day but apparently thats normal. It has really been a liesaver. It takes a few days for the cortisone to start working, but it has really helped. I'm hopeul that my life will get back to normal! What a blessing modern medicine is!

Jenni is loving 2nd grade, and seems to have a really good teacher this year. Joe-joe is still so very ready to go to school, and tells pretty much everyone he meets that he'll be going next year! (ACK!) He's also determined that this baby is a boy, not a girl. He told me the other day that he wouldn't love her if it was a girl! Silly kid! Steve's doing good. He's currently taking a math class that is going SO much better than the last math class he took at UVU. I think the lowest score he's got on a test is like 96%. So thats awesome!

Other than that things are going great. We're just plugging along! I've been looking for a crib (ours got destroyed one of the times we moved) so if anyone has a crib they don't need, or knows someone who has a crib they don't need, we'll be glad to help give them more storage space! We're also looking for a car seat, but I'm super picky on this point. I won't use one thats over 5 years old, and I won't use one thats been in an accident. But if you know of a carseat that isn't old and hasn't been in an accident that the owner doesn't need, let me know!!

Also, since my job hunt isn't going well . . . or rather isn't going at all pretty much, I've decided it's time to start teaching piano lessons again. So if you're interested, you can see my ad on craigslist at by clicking HERE. It's got all the info you may need. Alas, since my family is so big, I cannot offer free lessons to my Nieces and Nephews. I would love to be able to, and maybe someday I will, however since I'm doing this to support Steve's income I just can't give free lessons. I hope everyone understands!

Anyway, I've got to get Jenni out the door. Have a wonderful day all!!

K thats all!

chelle

Elective Epidural?!?! ELECTIVE?????

(disclaimer- if you're male, you might not want to read this! I'm just saying!)

So, I'm kind of a newspaper junkie, and since I can't do a whole lot right now (due to a broken coccyx) I read a lot! This morning I'm reading the paper and I notice the headline "To save on Medicaid, cut elective childbirth procedures." My interest was piqued since I have worked closely with many many childbirths. So I'm reading the article and it's basically saying that because there are so many college students in Utah having babies who are on medicaid, we should cut elective childbirth procedures such as 'elective epidurals and elective c-sections.' I was dumbfounded! I had to read it again to make sure I read it right. I was sure it was a misprint until I read further. I was not at all surprised to see that all the people in support of this bill were men. I mean, I get cutting elective c-sections because they are twice as expensive as vaginal births, besides most ob's won't do 'elective' c-sections. (I know. I asked when I was pregnant with Jenni because, really, the idea of something that big going through a hole that small just never really appealed to me!) Some ob's consider a vbac elective (vaginal birth after c-section) but luckily for me, my most wonderful ob did not consider a second c-section 'elective' for me since I have a dysfunctional cervix.

Anyway, I was talking to Steve about this beyond stupid idea that epidurals should be considered 'elective.' It reminded me of my first (and only really) labor experience. Jenni was 10 days late. I was at my brother's house playing games when I noticed a little trickle 'down there'. But it was so small I didn't think anything of it because everyone I had talked to had said 'Oh if your water breaks, you'll know! It's like a huge gush!' My brilliant beyond brilliant sis-in-law (props to Janelle) told me that it really isn't always like that and maybe I should call labor and delivery just to see what they thought. I did so and was told to come in and be checked out. Turns out it was my water breaking, and they started me on pitocin. I told the nurse I wanted an epidural, but she told me I had to wait until I was dilated to a five before they would do an epidural. Me, not knowing any better, figured that was just the way it was. I started contracting at midnight, and by 8 am I was only dilated to a 2, and that was only because the nurse came in and stripped my membranes, basically making me dilate. (dumb old dysfunctional cervix) anyway, around this time I was bawling because it hurt so bad, and I was throwing up from the pain. This is what my wonderful ob walked in on. He asked me why I hadn't asked for an epidural, and I told him what the nurse had said. He got SO upset with that nurse, basically saying "how dare you try and push your own belief's on my patient. This is absurd!" Needless to say, about 5 mins later, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me an epidural. What an amazing blessing modern medicine is!!! Seriously!!! It was good that I did finally get an epidural since we ended up doing an emergency c-section (still wasn't dilated to a 5 btw.) If i had waited until I was dilated to a 5 Jenni probably would have suffocated. From what I have read, the idea that you should wait until you're dilated to a 5 is a really old practice, and my nurse was fairly old. Note to self: you are in control of your health care, and if you don't like what is happening, SAY SOMETHING!!! Almost every nurse I've ever had (and I've had a lot of them!) has been more than willing to work with me when something isn't going like I want it to. As much as I love my doctors, the nurses are really what make a health care experience good or bad. I've been blessed to have had (mostly) great nurses!

The idea that an epidural should be 'elective' is ludicrous. Seriously. So I say to you Sen. Dan Liljenquist R-Bountiful, you are OUT OF YOUR MIND!! Steve called me a while after we talked about it to say that Doug Wright was talking about this on his show, basically saying the same thing I am saying. He said something along the lines of "Husbands, don't even try and mention being able to save money by going naturally. You'll probably get kicked in the face."

Seriously. Elective Epidural??? ELECTIVE????? crazy.....

well, ALAS!!! this post is long enough. I've had my fill of venting. I'm going to go see if I can fix the backgrounds on my blog and my mom's blog.

k, thats all!

later cyber-sisters!

chelle