Week 5 and Gallbladder surgery

Just some recent photos of our new little family. Jaymee is now 5 weeks old. Crazy. We cannot imagine our family without her now.

Jaymee is making those cute cooing sounds and smiles more often now. She is gaining weight and growing too. She is so funny because she loves to turn to the right side always. When we try and turn her head to the left side she gets mad. As a result her head is a little misshapen at the moment.



Soon I will have to go back to work and I really wish I could just stay home and be a mom. But we do what we have to do.

I also had my gallbladder removed on the 28th of Sept. It's been a little over a week now and I am so happy. Not having the gallstone attacks is really worth it. Apparently there were 2 stones inside the tube trying to be passed so I was in a lot of pain and having attacks often. Thanks to a good surgeon. Now my life will be much better 'stone-wise'.

Thanks to all our family and friends who have helped out during the surgery and for those who brought us food. It is very much appreciated.

Baby Grow is finally here!

After 25 1/2 hours from start to finish, Jaymee Grow was born on September 2, 2009 at 10:41pm. She weighed 6lbs 12oz and was 19 2.5in long. We are so excited to have her with us and we love each new day with her. Of course we are still adjusting to feedings, etc. but we could not have asked for a more mellow baby. She sleeps through the night and doesn't really cry unless hungry. She loves to be sung to at night and cuddled. She loves sleeping on mom and dad's chest. She loves having her daddy whistle to her and loves being held in his strong arms. She is already turning on her right side when we put her down on the floor to change her diapers. She has a strong grip and loves to sleep with her hands by her face. She is even holding up her head already too.

We love Jaymee and thank Heavenly Father for the opportunity we have to be her parents. We are going to need His help even more now. Welcome to our family Jaymee!

Reunions, Baby Showers, Belly Shots, Heat and the Countdown!

Well, another set of adventures has finally wrapped on our end and more are yet to begin. Our July was so packed when I look back on it now. It's crazy.

All Day Birthing Class- July 11, 2009
Jason and I attended a Super Saturday on the U of U campus through prenatal education. It was very informative and we had a great nurse who was our teacher. We learned a lot of what to expect in just about every situation you can think of. I am glad to know what will happen instead of worrying from what I've heard from everyone else. We also got a tour of the U hospital Labor and Delivery rooms, and recovery rooms. Looks like I'll be able to watch my LOTR marathon as we wait for the baby to come. :o) I am going to try and do this without drugs. We'll see how that goes but I am not going to feel like a failure if I have to have an epidural.

Mom comes to visit- July 13, 2009
Finally the day arrived for me to go and pick my mom up from the airport. She flies out every other year for a month or so to visit with her family. I am so glad she does as I have not been able to get to England again since being married. I hope we can travel over there sometime in the next year or so to visit with family and friends. We had a great time together. We went to lunch with a dear friend and her mom and sisters for a girls lunch. She was able to come to one of my doctor's visits and meet Dr. Rose which was great. She got to hear the heartbeat of the baby. It's been hard not to share in this with her as she lives so far away. I miss my mom. We had dinner with dear cousins Lynn, Phillip and their Meghan who live really close. We watched a great movie together. She made us some yummy breakfasts and a great dinner in the crock pot. I always wish her visits were longer. I dropped her off mid-week to her sister Linda and then met up again at the reunion in Price.

Baby Shower #1- July 18, 2009
Today was the hottest day ever. Got up to 100 degrees. Insane. Susie, my awesome neighbor and fellow Cure devotee, put on the best shower ever. The room was so cutely decorated with her daughters toys, etc. Purples and greens and yellows. The games were fun and the food was great. A big shout out to my in-laws and their help with salads and take down. Thanks to Jason for bringing in the fans to help cool us off and set up the big tables. It was so much fun seeing all of my friends and just enjoying the afternoon with them. Everything we got from the shower was so needed and I feel very blessed. Jason was teasing that our daughter can wear a different outfit each day and still not go through all the clothes. :o) But I know she will go through them but most likely 4 or 5 times a day. A highlight was seeing a dear friend Tiffany from 7th grade. We haven't seen each other since 1996 and it was so sweet to meet her little daughter. Love to all who came. Thanks for everything! The only thing we forgot to do was take photos. :o( But the memories are still there.

Baby Shower #2- July 24, 2009
My oldest sister Victoria and my mom put on a great shower with the help of Rik, Jason, cousin Colleen, Terry and Annette. Terry ended up as our photographer for the day and took lots of photos. Thanks Terry. The table decorations were great and Victoria did an excellent job as usual with her presentation. While Jason and I ran to the store to get the drinks we ran into my piano teacher and great friend of my mom's Tama Gordon. It was so good to see her. I invited her to the shower to visit with my mom and come and hang out if she could. I haven't seen her in a long time. We had some family members on my dad's side who were unable to make it but brought gifts by. That was really nice. One of my adopted mom's was able to come, Beth Gotfredson and I just cried and we got caught up on life. I love that family. Wonderful people. My cousins and Aunts came and we had some cute kids who enjoyed playing around and having fun together. My grandmother and Annette's mom were there too. It was a great day all around. A highlight, which I should've known was coming, was that Rik sang to us as he played his guitar. He played 5 songs. The last one was the one he sang to Jason and I at our reception. Move over Wedding Singer it's the Baby Shower Singer!! Thank you Rik. It was wonderful. Once again we felt very blessed. Jason came just in time to help me open presents.

Wheeler Family Reunion- July 24-25, 2009
We had such a good time at our reunion. The Ice Cream social on Friday night is always a blast. Cousin Randy makes some yummy homemade ice cream but I still miss it when Aunt Linda made it. The best raspberry. I was so excited to see my cousin Janeyl and Todd. I look forward to seeing them every time. And Renee's boys are growing up so fast. My Uncle Scott had some photos out for us to look at and they were really cool. I enjoy looking at old family photos. I am glad Grandpa was having a good day and that he came out to the social.

On Saturday we headed up to Price Recreation Canyon and had a great catered lunch. It rained a little but it was okay. The breeze up on the mountains really cooled off the heat. The food and company was wonderful. We took a lot of photos. I hope to post more on here. Jason was excited because he won the fudge that Aunt April made for the auction. I was hoping to win this crocheted baby outfit but my cousin Britni did. She is getting married on the 28th of this month. Congrats! I also found out that my cousin Mindy lives a few blocks away from us. I enjoy having cousins around. Parting is always the hard thing and Jason and I needed to get on the road to get back home. My mom came up the next day to stay with us until we brought her to the airport on Monday.

Breast feeding Class- July 30, 2009
I ventured to this class on my own as Jason had shirts to do. I was excited to have the same nurse as my instructor. I really like her and two couples from our Super Saturday were though so it was like a mini reunion. I never knew there was so much good about breast feeding and I felt happy to be informed. I cannot wait to have this bonding opportunity with my daughter.

The Countdown- 20 more days!
Well... I am sure you don't want me to say anymore as I have rambled on enough. I've been washing baby clothes and getting stuff put away. I should have our suitcase packed by the end of the week so we are ready if she decided to come early. I suspect my next post will not be until she is born. Until then...

Updates: gallstones, camping, etc.

I am coming to you live from my office at work. I am in our consultation room with my swollen ankles elevated on two chairs as I look outside at green grass and two little chipmunks. I know it has been a long time since I have updated this site. I have not been very diligent in keeping it up. Time seems to be flying by rather fast these days and before I know it the baby will be here.

We've had a great summer so far. My neighbor Amber went flower shopping with me and helped me plant them. I bought a bunch of perennials so the front yard was easier to manage. They are all blossoming rather nicely now. I just need to get some added mulch in there and fill in where some of the pansies just died most likely from over watering. We had so much rain there for a month that the flowers got saturated. I decided I really like the look of snapdragons. They are beautiful.

Our camera sort of died back in February so I haven't been able to take many photos but when we do get a new one or get one borrowed I will post the flowers and other photos.

My mother-in-law gave us a wee little tomato plant which I was grateful for as we don't have the raised beds made for the backyard to do some real gardening this year. I am so excited because we have a tomato growing and the plant itself is just blossoming very quickly. Yummy! I do so love tomato's.

A dear friend of mine called me up the week of the 4th of July and asked me what I would do if I had a big tent and a queen-sized mattress 2 feet off of the ground. Would this entice me to go camping? TOTALLY! I was sad as we couldn't do any REAL hiking this spring/summer and go camping. I wasn't really sure how big I would be at this time. Well, Jason and I went camping with Lynnette/Charlie and Jodie/Aaron and their kids at the Ashley National Forest campground. We had gone last year with them but over the Labor Day weekend. We had a blast. I slept so good. Jason got to go fishing and I don't think he has done that for at least 4 years. It was just so nice to get away. Thanks Lynnette for a super few days. We totally needed it. We made hats and had a parade around the campfire on the 4th of July. On our way home that night we were able to see several shows of fireworks along the freeway. I enjoyed that a lot.

Three weeks ago I had some major abdominal pain and I had Jason take me to the insta-care. The doctor there said she thought it was gallbladder related and wanted to send me to the ER to get checked and make sure the baby was okay. She knew my doctor was at the U of U but she didn't want to risk anything by having us drive 20 minutes. And because I was concerned for the baby and my pain we went to the Davis hospital. Well we should've really just drove to the U. We waited forever just to get into the ER. Jason was great massaging the part of my back that was on fire. As soon as we got in the nurse came to give me an IV and then she took some blood to run tests if there was an infection. She also came back to give me some pain meds. Morphine and fen (?) something. Because I had never had morphine before she gave me half the dosage. I could still feel the pain pretty good about 20 minutes later and then I felt it coming on. I had Jason rush to the cupboards in the room for a bucket or something because I was going to throw up. And multiple times did I. :o( Then the nurse came back in and gave me the rest of the dosage so perhaps this could go down. They wheeled me to get an ultrasound and on the way there, just as we got in the door I had to beeline for the bathroom. Boy I hate to throw up but it sure made me feel better.

I was sort of out of it by now. I guess the drugs were kicking in to make me feel groggy but the pain was still there. The technician said that indeed I did have gallstones and a lot of little ones with some bile built up in there. I don't know how things went that next hour but the next thing I knew I was going for a ride on my gurney to a room in the labor/delivery unit. I was being admitted for an overnight stay. They hooked me up to a monitor so they could see the babies activity and then I was pretty much asleep. Jason was so good to stay by my side on the hard couch. :o) I was visited in the morning by a nutritionist who suggested a very low-fat diet for the next 2 months and then the doctor said I may have to have surgery to take my gallbladder out but that I would need to talk to my doctor about that.

Boy, we just never know what is going to happen to our bodies once we get pregnant.

It is now three weeks later and I have lost 15lbs being on this lovely diet. My doctor was concerned yesterday so next week I get to have another ultrasound to make sure the baby is gaining the weight that she needs to. I am kind of happy about this as I want another chance to see what she looks like. I will be 35 weeks. I am pretty sure she is gaining the right amount of weight as her kicks or hits are starting to hurt. Plus the baby is breech although the doctor thinks she may have turned but this will tell us for sure as well.

I feel starved. Truly. But it is so worth it. Anything to get my baby into this world full-term and healthy. The gallbladder attacks only hurt me and I can deal with that. I miss my chocolate cravings but I guess in the long run that is better for the baby.

I also survived camp mid-June. It was a blast but the cankles came to see me everyday and all day long. I drank so much water. I just wish I would've been comfortable sleeping but I was glad I was able to be there all week and not have to go home. Camp Hobe' rocks.

Ok. I may have just rambled on way too much. I'll post again tomorrow I think. I have some baby shower's coming up, my mom is in town for our reunion, etc.

Until then...

Ultrasound #2

Today I had a follow-up ultrasound to get a closer look at the heart valves. Jaymee was not laying in the right position for them to see clearly. We got to see the heart and it was cool. It was beating and we saw the valves and watched them move and work. Truly cool. We saw her bladder and kidneys. We confirmed once again that yes, she is a girl. :o) Had to make sure.

We saw more of her profile today although the technician said she was being shy. She had one of her arms curled up to her head/face. I did almost faint there at the end. I guess this is common. Crazy stuff. Out of the photos we got today this was the best one. You can see her profile. So cute!