Cabin fever

 Dear mom,

It has been so nice to have Betsy here. She is great with the kids and has helped out so much around the house. We will definitely miss her Shadow especially. We aren't sure what Betsy did to encourage her but Shadow is convinced they are best friends and won't leave her alone, it's been obnoxious. Today Jonathan dug up the back yard in preparation for the excavator to come really dig it up and put in the new water main line. I am excited to have this done even if we have to go without water again for a day or two. I've decided that being mentally prepared to have your water turned off is the biggest battle. Anyway Jonathan's boss and co-worker came over this morning to help and in just a couple hours they were done however it was hard work and Jonathan has the blisters to prove it . His hands are so sore it even hurts to type. He wore gloves too but it was just that difficult. 

The doc told me that if Emily gets sick in the first 3 months she will automatically admitted to the nicu. I thought having a baby in the summer meant we wouldn't be stuck at home as long. I think this is because she spent time in the nicu because that wasn't the rule with any of our other kids. I'm really looking forward to getting back to our schedule and everything. I am excited to clean the house and go to the store and go back to normal but I still have to wait a few weeks before I can do any major cleaning and now I have to be careful with Emily too. It's a little disheartening but I guess I will just get used to it. We love and miss you tons and it was so good to see your faces a couple days ago. SLY!

Emily Kristen Baird

Sweet Emily was due on the 2nd of August. I had been having quite a bit of false labor in fact I called my parents telling them it was time to come and they came but then the baby didn't. Sound familiar? The same thing happened with Nathaniel but then he came for real like 36 hours later, this little one didn't. We thought for sure she would come early or at least not too late because of all of my false labor. On Wednesday the 6th I really thought it was the real deal which would have put me 4 days past due, that was what Nathaniel was when he finally came. Looking back I wonder if my body was ready and tried but she was just too big. Anyway I went in for an appointment on Tuesday the 12th, 10 days overdue. They did an ultrasound and told me my baby was 12 lbs 12 oz. At first I laughed because I knew she was a big baby but as the day went on I started to get nervous. We really wanted to have another unmedicated VBAC, but then I got nervous at the thought of squeezing out an almost 13 lb baby. After talking to my husband and mother in law I got some much need comfort and we figured that if my body went into labor on my own and started progressing that meant my body was ready and could do this but if not I would just have a c section. Because I am a VBAC induction is not a great idea because of the forced labor and we all (midwives included) felt like it wasn't a good option. The doctors told me to just schedule a c section for the next day because Wednesdays are when they try to schedule all of their c sections because it is the day they have the OR scheduled for them and it's just easier. Even though I knew I would have been 11 days overdue if I did that I had to wait until the last moment or else I would have wondered the whole time if I had just given her one more day if she would have come. So I asked if I could wait until Friday which would put me 13 days overdue and at that point heavily encourage anyone to be induced or have a c section because placentas aren't meant to last forever and mine was getting old. I had a couple contractions randomly a few days before but I think she was just too bid, who knows. 

On Friday morning we showed up to the hospital and spent 2 hours filing out paperwork and getting all set up and ready to go. We went in for the c section and the whole Time I was impressed how little pain I felt even the shots from all the anesthesia, getting poked over and over again was very painless. It is so nice have a planed C-section verses an emergency one. Everything is so calm and happy and not rushed. I didn't really feel anything during the c section which was good Jonathan and I talked to the anesthesiologist and just chatted while everything was going on and then the doctor said "are you ready for delivery dad?" So Jonathan looked over, they pulled her out and the doctor said "wow, you did not want that coming out of your vagina!" We all giggled and they lifted her up so I could get a quick glimpse and all I saw was a wrinkly forehead, but it was a cute one.

I was very conscious this time around and after they took Emily away I chatted with Jonathan for a little bit and then they sent her back over so we could hold her. Because I was laying down and still had the drape just below my face it was kinda awkward to hold her. She basically laced her on my collarbone and I used my hands to try to keep her from rolling over my face. I did ok for a few minutes but then one of my arms started going numb so I told Jonathan he should take her. He looks so good holding babies it was a great just to watch him hold her.

Jonathan left with Emily to run all the other tests while they finished stitching me up and moving me to the room. They both came back pretty quick and Emily latched right on and nursed for 40 minutes. I was blown away! It didn't hurt at all it was like I had already been nursing her for months I was very surprised but pleased. We cuddled a little and then she nursed for another 20 minutes. This girl knows what she's doing! Aside effect of the anesthesia I was on was that it made my face super itchy. I kept trying to dose off while holding Emily but every 3 minutes I had to itch my face and it would wake me up, it was so obnoxious. The nurse came in and asked to hold Emily because she looked a little "dusky" which I wasn't sure what they meant but she was grey. They got her pink again and Jonathan started cuddling with her while I tried to sleep with my overly itchy face. We all kinda dozed but the nurse came in and took Emily because she was really grey again and they couldn't really get her to cry. They came back and said they needed to monitor her for a couple hours in the nicu. My parents were just about to bring the boys over to meet their sister but we called them and said you better wait she is being monitored. No one was happy about it but it needed to be done.

Emily has stayed in the the nicu since then. Because Emily was so big her arteries are having a hard time opening up enough to get oxygen to her lungs. We can visit her as much as we want but we can't hold or nurse her or really stimulate her in anyway because that makes her breathe harder which is only bad because she starts to expel a lot of carbon dioxide which alters the ph of her blood and is bad. So we can sit by her and put our hands on her and that's about it. It's been very hard to not have her with us in the room and to not be able to hold her. They did call us down when it was time for her to eat and they let me hold her while we bottle fed her my pumped milk plus a little formula which I really appreciated. Just holding her for those 15 minutes or so lifted my spirits a lot. She has only been in the nicu for 26 hours or so but it seems like she has been gone forever. The oxygen she is on is helping her a lot she is showing a ton of improvement. We are hoping by Sunday night she will be off oxygen but we will just have to see. I feel like I am in the middle of that marshmallow experiment where they say you can eat one now or wait 5 minutes and then you can have 2. I want to hold her so bad and nurse her now but if I wait for her to get better then I can take her home and have her be healthy as opposed to delaying her progress and keeping her here longer by holding her now. 

I have been feeling great my pain was like a 2 or lower this whole time so this afternoon when they came to give me pain meds I asked for a half dose but then I showered and walked around for the first time and now I am feeling it so I am back on full doses :) I have to remind myself that even though I feel really good I am not super woman and I still need to take it easy. 

The boys have come to visit me but still haven't met their sister because we need to keep her calm and not stimulated. Little Jon is doing well Nathaniel doesn't understand why we don't come home and has a hard time. I think he is realizing life is changing but he isn't quite sure how yet he hasn't seen the whole picture. It will be good when we can all be home together again.

Overall we are all doing well, just tired of being separated.

 13 days overdue

 Going in! Can you tell I am excited?

 First picture before the took her away

In the nicu

 Holding our sweet baby girl

Wedding!

Dear Mom,

Ok I will try to do this whole experience justice but it's been like a week and I'm lazy. The boys and I met grandpa at the IF airport and headed out to Denver on Monday(?) night, yeah that sounds right. Packing for a week for the two boys and I  required a fair amount of luggage. Anyway the flight wasn't bad. The flight the next morning to San Francisco was way worse. We had to get up at 4 am so we had cranky boys. Nathaniel screamed most of the 2.5 hour flight until finally grandpa got him to sleep in his arms. I actually started crying in the plane I was so frustrated. When we picked up the rental car we had a minivan which was fine except the car seat anchors took up 2 seats so we then didn't have enough seats, and we only had one set of anchors so I insisted we get another car. We got a Yukon however that SUV doesn't have any anchors in it. I was so mad and cranky improbably wasn't very nice but we just dealt with it because they didn't have anything else so we buckled them in which I don't like doing because it isn't as secure but whatever. I took my parents to the temple so they could go through the temple with Paige and then I turned around and went to the oakland airport to go pick up Whitney and Hannah. We then went back to the temple to get grandma and grampa.we finally got to the house we were renting and it was awesome. The house way like 1.5 hours away from the temple and like anything else we had to do so we did a lot of driving but it was the only place big enough for all of us. It was an awesome house with amazing views the master suite was the size of JT and I's first apartment! It was also full of antiques which were amazing but not very kid friendly. We spend a lot of the first day baby proofing and we still ended up having issues. They had room outside to run around but lots of random ledges so it was hard but nice. Overall I think it was our best option. Anyway we spent Wednesday in San Francisco. We went to the Golden Gate Bridge, china town Andi think someplace else but I can't remember. My dad will have to fact check this whole thing and leave changes in the comments lol. Then we picked up JT from the airport. He had a miserable flight so he wasn't in a great mood. The other thing about the house we stayed in was that it's like 20 minutes off the highway in the boonies and the road to get there is narrow and windy(?) JT said it was the worst road he has ever been on. It was dangerous so many blind corners and hairpin turns. So that didn't help at all, he also had homework to do and it had to be in by midnight rexburg time which we realized was 11 California time, so that made things more difficult. I really wished I could've taken JT with our to sight see in San Fran but we will just have to go back again. Thursday Steven flew in and the boys had their bachelor party. There were horses at the house we stayed at. JT tried to work with them but when he went into the field to get them and go burs(the pokey plants) all the way up his garments they called it quits. We spent 5 minutes pulling them all out and ended up just throwing out his socks. So the boys ended up seeing a movie, going to Dave and busters (it's a big kids chuckie cheese) and then out to dinner, so we didn't see them until late. I think that was the day we went and did flowers for the wedding. Not sure what happened friday(I know I am such a great record keeper ;) Saturday was the wedding and it was beautiful. That night was the reception and it was a nightmare lol. Receptions just aren't for kids. The reception in California was the ultimate Pinterest reception . It was super nice and beautiful. It was all pastels and classy. Sunday we went home and he flight was pretty good.

JT went to school and I did the laundry and the Wednesday we left for Denver. The flight attendant was a nightmare. She insisted that Nathaniel stay in JT's lap almost the entire flight because he was a lap child even though there was an empty seat right next to him. JT spent all of Thursday building the reception he really did almost all the work he was amazing. He spent most of Friday doing it too. Our stay in Denver was much nicer, it is amazing what being in a familiar place with toys and a place to run will do for kids. Friday night was the reception and it was amazing it came together beautifully and we had a babysitter so it was very enjoyable. Saturday we hung out at the house with everyone. It was so nice to just relax. That night we all went out to dinner with out kids and then the young couple went to the movies. The boys saw an action flick and he girls saw The Fault in Our Stars. It was pretty cute. I am experiencing an interesting phenomenon. Any time I watch a chick flick now it's all about JT and I. It reminds me of us and our story etc it's really sweet. And then Sunday we all went home.

It is so nice to be home and kinda back in a schedule. Little Jon's new thing is he says "I got you mommy" he always says it to me after I've pushed him over though, it's pretty funny. 

Last night was rough.we went to bed late and then I tossed and turned waiting for JT to come to bed and I though I kept hearing the boys opening their door so I kept expecting them to come into our room. JT finally came up just before 3 (I had gone up at 12) and at some point something fell in the bathroom that knocked over a cup it was super loud and I shot up in bed and JT was like it's just me I am here and I said did you knock over a cup? And he was like what? He was totally out of it but kept reassuring me that it was just him lol he was no use so I just went to bed and figured I would sort it out in the morning. Then at 4 Little Jon woke up and came into our room as I got up JT "woke up" and said just let him snuggle with us in bed. Which is really weird for JT I really wanted to just put Little Jon back in  bed so I could get some sleep but JT insisted so I waited until Little Jon was asleep and then I put him in bed. I would get him to sleep and then as soon as I would get to the door he would wake up and scream for me. When I finally got Little Jon totally asleep, Nathaniel woke up. By then it was like 5 so I just got up and started working in my lesson for Sunday. I fell asleep sitting cris cross applesauce in a chair and Nathaniel fell asleep across my knees. When we woke up like an hour later we were both stiff uncomfortable and cold, which is impressive because I get so hot at night now no one is allowed to touch me more or less cuddle lol. The fans go full blast and I wear as little as possible and I still wake up sweaty. Yay summer pregnancy! Anyways everyone was cranky and tired today. Hopefully tonight is better. 

It was so nice to FaceTime you last night. I forget how much I miss you until I see your face and then I remember. 

I carry a camelback around with me all day to quench my thirst which the kids are great at using too the problem is getting Nathaniel to not chew on the  bite valve, it's a struggle it already has a small hole because of him and we bought it like 2 months ago lol.

Well this post is way more than long enough, I hope you made it through without falling asleep. We love and miss you dearly.

SLY

Uncle Paco

Dear mom,

Paco left a few hours ago and I must say in the 36 ish hours we saw him we had a blast! We don't talk about Paco much at home because we don't FaceTime him and so Little Jon just isn't familiar with who he is but he walks around and talks about Paco all the time. When Paco showed up Friday night around 11 the kids were in bed but Jonathan, Paco and I stayed up talking and didn't go to bed until 2, it was so late. Then of course the boys woke up at 630 so there I was up and at 'em. We started making breakfast and getting things going and around 8 I took the boys down to wake up Paco. We threw them in his bed and they freaked, they couldn't get off fast enough. We had crepes for breakfast and they were delicious! Jonathan's boss was moving into his house Saturday so they went over for an hour to help. Jonathan made sure Paco took it really easy with his should, which means Jonathan over did it a little. He told me he carried a chest freezer all by himself! Afterward they went on a bike ride together with the boys, while I mowed the lawns. 

They had a blast and so did the boys although it's been a long time since Jonathan rode a bike so he was pretty sore not to mention all the extra weight he was carrying. Afterward we had a BBQ and man it was soooooo good! We made homemade root beer and had a blast playing with our favorite uncle Paco. Who spent a lot of time spinning the boys, they loved it. We came in and we all took naps. Then we had dinner and just hung out. So we weren't expecting Paco to come up this weekend because he and Betsy were going to both come but Betsy texted us early in the week to say she couldn't come, however she didn't tell Paco this. So Friday morning we got a call from Paco saying hey I'm heading out this evening etc. so because it was such late notice Jonathan didn't get his homework done before Paco got her so he spend sometime Saturday night doing that. Jonathan and Paco took a break to look at Lego sets online though. Paco almost bought a Star Wars set for $200. I have a had time believing how that would ever be worth it but whatever. Anyway Paco went to bed "early" which meant like 1130. I stayed up with Jonathan while he finished his homework which means I slept on the futon while he worked lol. At 130 I woke up and asked if he was done and we finally went to bed. Then at 630 the kids woke up again... Awesome ;) We got up and started getting ready for church and having breakfast etc. We had stake conference today and Elder Perry came to speak, it was for like all of southeast Idaho. We decided to try our luck at the BYU I Center instead of our stake center. A friend of mine recently called stake conference the kobioshy maru from Star Trek and I have to say it's completely true. It is the impossible test. We decided that we would just go for 1 hour and be done. It would be I jet as long as a sacrament meeting and then we would be done.  It went ok, we didn't quite make it an hour. It's so hard when Nathaniel's morning nap is during church he gets so cranky. Anyway so we left and came home for naps. I laid down and like an hour into my nap Little Jon woke up and came in to snuggle with me. He always has to have his head on my arm, it's like the perfect pillow for him. Our nap went well and we ended up sleeping for like another 2 hours and at some points our faces were snuggled together which was great because that usually bugs the crap out of me I can't be that close to someone while I sleep but it totally worked and was sweet. When I woke up thoug my arm was so sore from have a child's head on it for 2 hours. It was painful. I knew if I moved my arm he would wake up and so I was debating whether or not to wake him and save my arm. I heard that Nathaniel was up and Paco was too so I figured we should get up and hang out with everyone. We took the side off of Nathaniel's crib so he can get out of bed but he can't open his door yet, which is good and bad. Good because it helps him learn that he has to stay in bed but bad because sometimes I use it as a baby gate and then I go get him finally and his diaper is off and it's exciting. Anyway we had lunch hung out for a little bit and then it was time for Paco to leave. We said goodbye and Little Jon cried as he drove away. Little Jon spent the weekend running around the house yelling for Paco every minute, it was adorable. Jonathan would becoming upstairs with Paco and all Little Jon would say was Paco, Paco? It was like Jonathan wasn't even there lol. Anyways it was a great weekend. We were so happy to have our favorite uncle Paco weekend so now they have a face with the name and memories too. Unsurprisingly my house is a mess but it was totally worth it. I wish Builder Fusion would sent Paco to Idaho for work. Jonathan and I are feeling pretty yucky from all the junk food we ate this weekend. 5 gallons of homemade root beer is a lot of soda for 3 adults to go through, we still have some left. Like I said though it has all been totally worth it, I just hope we find a way to get Betsy up to visit us too because Paco is going to be so busy traveling this summer he doesn't think he will be able to come see us again, we will figure it out though. We miss you tons! SLY

Tough as nails

Dear mom,

Little Jon is tough as nails, he might be more hard core than Ammon which is saying something. Yesterday Little Jon pulled the cutting board out and it landed on his foot. He screamed of course and Jonathan picked him up and checked his toes to see if they were broken because they were purple and they were cut and bleeding. He didn't scream louder so they weren't broken and then he looked at Jonathan got down and walked downstairs to go finish watching Cars. I mean we are talking a total of 2 minutes of tears maybe. His toes look fine today but man I am sure they are still sore. 

Also a week or so ago we were out walking shadow and Little Jon was holding the leash. It had kinda wrapped around Shadow's legs so there wasnt any slack. All of the sudden Shadow bolted slamming Little Jon into the ground. He landed amid rocks and pokey plants. It was quite rough. He cried for a minute maybe two and then asked to finish waking Shadow. I was blown away that fall really knocked him up, I was finding scratched and splinters all over his body for the next several days.

So Shadow has learned how to jump over our fence. She climbs on top of her dog house then hops over. It's really unfortunate and makes it hard to leave the house sometimes. Thankfully our next door neighbor has an awesome dog kennel we have borrowed a couple of times. We are going to put some sheep wire across the top of her house so she can't get on it anymore and that should solve the problem. In the mean time we've has to bring her inside a lot more which hasn't been a huge deal. I feel really bad though because she still escapes and our neighbor across the street has dogs that she likes to play with. We've gotten a couple calls late at night letting us know our dog was at someone else's house. I can't wait to get the wire up so this problem is fixed.

We miss you tons! SLY

Yucky

Dear Mom,

I don't feel well today. We have been having cold cereal a lot for breakfast recently because it's easy, fast and we really suck at getting up on time. I have learned though that cold cereal is not enough for me. I need something more substantial and nutritious. So hubris morning we were running late and my kitchen was a mess so we had cold cereal and then we took JT to school and the boys and I ran errands. By the end of all of our errands I was feeling pretty cruddy. Tired, hungry, nauseous, etc. we came home and put Nathaniel down for a late nap and then I warmed up some left overs for lunch. Eating helped a little but I still feel somewhat nauseous and I am still exhausted. The problem is I don't know if I am really all that tired or because I know my iron is low and I should be tired that I am making a bigger deal out of this then I should. I wish I didn't know my iron was low so then I could just listen to my body and not have to worry about my brain getting in the way. I am also anxious to hear how my blood work turned out so I know if I have this diabetes thing or not, I should find out today. I also wonder if I am suffering from allergies like JT is (he asked me to go buy him medicine today, I almost fainted from shock), at least after talking to dad that what he thinks is up, I hope it is because it would be great to have him well again. 

I think this is the smallest I have ever been this far along in a pregnancy. But I feel like this little girl sure takes up the space well. I don't know if she feels like a big baby because I still look fairly little but she is the most active of any of our children and I am almost always feeling kicks in multiple places simultaneously, which is something I have never felt until this pregnancy. I keep thinking that secretly I am having twins ;) my stomach also feel tight much more often then I am used to. Any kind of bending or physical activity seems to trigger Braxton hicks or just over all tightness. If ever any of our children were going to come early it would be this one. I don't know if I should be worried, I'm not overly worried. The problem is I have been having to have my doc appointments on Saturdays so JT can watch the kids but that means I only ever see the doctors I haven't seen a midwife in a couple months and I really want to because I feel weird explaining thing like this to a doctor they just seem to look at me and go ok. I feel like if I told me midwife though she would talk to me and be interested in knowing that I feel smaller but still full, you know? I don't know if that makes sense, but it did to me. I have a friend that I am exchanging babysitting with now so I can get in during the week and see the midwives, plus I really need to meet the new one. I should probably do that before I deliver :) 

I was really excited to clean my house today because it's messier than it's been in a lie and I just love getting to the end of a Monday and knowing my whole house is clean, but maybe I will take it easy and try to nap instead. Miss you tons!

SLY

Easter

Dear Mom,

Easter was great! We went to see my parents and had a great time. Steven came with his family too. Little Jon loved playing with his cousin Hannah. He especially enjoyed pushing her around in a baby doll stroller. Hannah turns one this month but is the same size as Nathaniel.

It was a busy trip too because we were trying to get everyone's outfits for the wedding. I am embarrassed to say that I had a hard time getting into the real focus of Easter.

We officially had the beginning of the semester melt down and I can't tell you how grateful I am for your talk with Jonathan, it helped... A lot. It is so nice to not have Jonathan working the night shift anymore. He can come home from school or work at 5 the latest and then he can be home. 

By the way your son should be a movie/tv writer. He can guess every plot twist and bad guy from like the first screen it really is a gift ;)

So I had an exciting doctors appointment today. Thankfully I tested negative for gestational diabetes however when I went in my iron level was super low. I guess a normal number is like 13 and I had like a 7 or something ridiculously low. They couldn't find my lab results from the beginning of the pregnancy to compare them too but he is assuming it has always been really low since I am not recently light headed and stuff. That combined with the insane thirst I have been having the last week caused them to test me for something called diabetes insipitus(sp?). He didn't tell me much about it and I haven't looked into it much. It looks like if I test positive I will just have to take some medicine for a while. I will find out Monday if I have it or not. Apparently though this is very rare something the doc hasn't seen in his career and most don't ever see. As I left he said you know I am really excited to see what happens. So I guess for the time being I am a medical mystery, I know just what a mother-in-law that halfway around the world wants to hear. I'm not worried if that makes you feel any better. Anyways that's what's new with us, we miss you tons!

SLY