Hey there! So lots has been going on! I guess we could start with Christmas.
Christmas. Ben had to work the day before and the day after, so we were not able to go home. But we had a lot of fun making our own family traditions. We had a wonderful bread bowl and soup Christmas eve dinner with candle light, which Katey had way too much fun blowing the fire out. After dinner we let Katey open up her first gift of Christmas, which was Elmo pjs. She loved them! I am loving the age she is at because we see so much more excitement in her! She seems like she is starting to understand things more. The next day was full of opening gifts, smiles, laughter, movie time (Brave-We love that one!) And lots of baking and cooking! We had a dinner full of appetizers, mashed potatoes, gravy, ham, rolls, salad, and for some reason I can't remember what we had for dessert, but I am sure it was yummy.
The next day we had good friends come into town to see us, because a friend of ours got married in California and they were all on their way out there. We were sad we couldn't go with them, but we had plans to go up north to see our families up north. We had a great time with them! We had game nights and got to see all of the people we care about. It was an exhausting trip, but totally worth it. Our friends, Bret and Bekah asked us to house sit for them since they were in California, and it was fun to stay in a new place with just our little family. They have the cutest little house. I am so happy they found a house that fits them perfectly.
While we were up North we explored the campuses of Utah State, and U of U to get a feel of where Ben would like to go to school fall semester. Both places seemed great, so it really was hard to make our decision. After a lot of research, prayer, and pondering we believe the U is where we need to be. He would like to go into social work or something medical to work with behavior. He would make a great counselor and we are really excited to see how the next few years of school will go.
Katey's birthday was awesome! I had so much fun planning it and putting it together. I didn't really want to go with a theme because I wanted her to just be able to help out as much as she wanted with it. I set her loose in all a dollar and she found some cute plates and decorations. We made some cute cupcakes and had friends over face book We played some fun games, opened presents, and just had a ball! It was so fun and we are so glad some of our friends around here were able to come. I kind of already did an overload on pictures on facebooking, so I won't post any here.
My pregnancy has been really difficult. I don't know why, but my body just doesn't accept pregnancy like I wish it would. With Katey, I threw up all the time, every day until she was born. Around 35 weeks I started getting a lot of contractions and started hospital trips. We made it to 37 and a half weeks before she was born... This time around has been a different story. I haven't been as sick as I was with Katey. I did throw up, but not nearly as much as I did with Katey. My second trimester was really great! I did feel a little crummy at times, but I was still able to do everything I wanted to do. Go to school, keep up with the house and Katey, and still find time to do fun things with the hubby. I started to get Braxton hicks contractions a couple of weeks before Christmas. For some reason I started to feel like that wasn't a good sign. With Katey the Braxton hicks didn't come until 28 weeks. Over the weeks they were getting stronger and stronger and some were getting painful. They were really starting to worry Ben and I. We mentioned it to my midwife this last Wednesday and she decided to check me to see if anything was happening. We found out I was dilated to a 1 and 65% effaced. That night I had some stronger contractions, so I got a hold of her and she prescribed me some medications. We went to get them, trying to avoid going in to labor and delivery. My insurance refused to pay for them though. Something is wrong with Medicaid lately. They want to make sure you actually need something before they pay for it. So I called my midwife and she said to just go home and get some rest and she would see me in the morning. The next day we went in to get a steroid shot to help the babies lungs develop in case she does come early. I was then dilated to a 2. The doctors office called medicaid, and tried to figure out how I can get those pills. The pills are actually a blood pressure medication, but they are suppose to help reduce contractions as well. Even after all of the arguing with my case worker for medicaid, my prescription was delayed. That night the contractions were still coming and getting closer together. I had 5 in an hour. I finally called the pharmacy and told them to just let us pay cash for a few days supply. I took the medicine, but I was still having contractions, and the baby wasn't moving as much. It got us a little worried. Ben made me get in the car and we drove to labor and delivery. My midwife was there doing a delivery and she checked me and found out I had dilated another centimeter and I was 70% effaced. Not a good sign. They decided They wanted me to stay hooked up to the monitors over night. My sweet husband took our 2 year old home to get some sleep, even though he probably only got 3 or 4 hours. Over the last 3 and a half years of marriage we have never spent the night apart. This was the first night and it was rough on both of us. I know that is silly to complain about, but when you are use to a warm body next to you it is hard to sleep! I woke up every half hour and had to put myself back to bed... He said he stayed up way too late playing x box and woke up quite often through the night worried he would have to rush back to the hospital at any minute. I know Katey slept a little, but not as long as she usually does. That morning the doctor above my midwife came in to my room and woke me up around 730. He decided to check me to see if I had made any progress or if the medicine was working. I was still at a 3 and 70% effaced, so he sent me home and said I now have to see him because I am high risk. I am also sentenced to bedrest. No lifting, no cleaning, no getting up unless i have to use the bathroom, shower, make a quick snack, or move from the couch to my bed. Let me tell ya, life is fun for all of us. Ben actually got laid off a couple of weeks ago. It was a big surprise for us because they had just promoted him. But now that we are having pregnancy issues, we are seeing this as a blessing so he can still have some income from unemployment, focus on school, and take care of Katey, the house and I. He doesn't think he is doing a great job, but he really is! We are feeling so blessed to have all of these wonderful people around us helping in any way they can. With meals, taking Katey for a few hours, doing my dirty dishes, or just calling, texting, facebooking coming over to give Ben and I blessings, and just stopping by to chat. We feel so much love and we are overwhelmed by how much people care. It has been wonderful to see so much kindness!
We know these next few weeks are going to be rough, but we feel confident that everything will be okay. The baby seems to be doing great with her movements, and her heartbeat is doing wonderful. It is just my body that is having issues.... It is hard to imagine doing this again after all of this. But we know the Lord loves us and he will guide us into doing whatever we need to do. My contractions have slowed down, I still get a couple every hour, even with rest and more so when my medication is starting to wear off. Katey, Ben and I have all caught colds as well.... This morning we were all feeling so miserable! It is nice to have some cuddle time with my cute family, but I hate that we are all sick.
Ben recently bought me a nice camera that I am always so excited to use! I have been having a blast taking pictures. He also kind of got it for him, since he is in an art class that he will be using it for. He is going to take my Maternity photos. I am so excited to see him work his creative magic. So we will plenty of awesome pictures coming soon! Stay tuned!
