Super Bowl Baby #1: Alex Joshua (AJ)

AJ Turner 2/4/08

Sunday February 3, 2008

I woke up to a very cold, windy, snow storm. Church was canceled, and my mom and I spent most of the morning preparing food for our Super Bowl Party. We made some awesome spicy food, sweet food, tons of dips, appetizers. I don't remember who won, let alone who was playing. I just remember the food was delicious.

Starting around the 2nd quarter I started to experience back pains and stomach discomfort. I would constantly try changing positions, using Alex as a back brace or massage. They would last about a minute or two every 5 minutes. I didn't think much of it, I was pregnant with twins there was bound to be discomfort.

My dad on the other hand did not agree. I think he spent more time watching me than the game. He kept telling me that I was in labor and needed to go get it checked. I would push it off telling him "Dad, I am not in labor." A few minute later he would say "I really don't think you should be eating that.....(spicy meatballs)" and of course I would tell him I was fine.

The game ended, but the pain continued. Around10:30 I noticed something was wrong. Spotting. A LOT of spotting. It was time to concede. My dad was right, I needed to go the hospital to get checked.  After asking my to watch Lydia we headed out into the snow storm to the hospital. We had always talked about when I went into labor we would use the toll bridge and get to the hospital 5 minutes earlier. For some reason we didn't. It was a very slow, scary ride with almost no visibility.

By the time we arrived at the hospital it was close to midnight. We were going to a different hospital and I wasn't sure which entrance to use for Labor and Delivery I tried 4 different doors. Once I finally was checking in and answering the normal questions. When asked when my c section was scheduled for  I told them I wasn't, Dr N said I was going to labor. They didn't say anything but I did see their sideways glance at each other.

After being roomed we waited to hear from the doctor. I was told that he wanted to try my on an IV medication to stop labor to see if we could keep them in a few days longer to give their lungs a better chance. I was told to get some sleep and they would check on me in a few hours.

Waiting for the okay to stay.

Monday February 4, 2008

Around 6 am they checked on me and I was still laboring despite the medication and was at 5cm. I was finally officially admitted and was put on pitocin to help my contractions start back up. My epidural this time went much better. This anesthesiologist numbed my back first, so even though it did take him 4 tries I didn't feel a thing.  I was finally able to relax and get some rest. They broke my water about 9 am but trying to kick my labor back to where it was the night before.

11:30am. I was only 6 cm dilated, I was very anxious. I was about to increase my family size from 3 to 5. How can I do this? I was worried about how the delivery would go. I was so anxious I started to make myself sick. the nurse came in and gave me something for the nausea that would also make me a little drowsy. She told me not to worry that it was still hours away and to get some sleep so I could have my energy.

Alex ready for delivery, and my nurse.

 12:30pm. She wakes me up to check me. To which she then informs me that I am at 9.5cm and that it was time to move me to the OR. (It was a requirement that I deliver in the OR in case of emergency) My reaction was one of shock, what?!? Wait?! you said I had hours left to prepare. I am not ready for this. The doctor was called and they started wheeling me down the hall. I started vomiting again. I was shaking so bad! And it was at this point I realized that I could feel that my leg was asleep. Not like the feeling from an epidural but like the pins and needles from sitting on them to long asleep. I told this to my nurses and they told me that was normal. To which I responded, no you don't understand. My epidural is worn off I can feel everything.

They transferred me from the nice comfy bed to the hard operating table. As they did this I felt the most unusual pressure. I told the nurses this and they told me it was my body telling me it was time to push. Dr N was there and had me start to push.

It was the most awesome experience feeling him move through my body, painful, very painful, but amazing. I pushed though the pain and the next thing I know after only 3 pushes Alex Joshua was born. He weighed in at 5lbs 2 oz and was 18.5 in long at 1pm.

He didn't cry at first, but by the time the cord was cut he was howling. He was beautiful.

I remember Alex saying "oh that isn't normal is it"

Dr N: Call anesthesiology and get them here now we are going to have to put her under general. Get him out of here.

General? Wait, why general what is going on? Why won't any one tell me what is going on? The operating room became a flurry of activity. Nurses running, taking my baby with them and telling Alex he had to leave. He turned to follow AJ without question. My heart ached to go with them, or at least have my husband by my side.

Nurse: We can't find the anesthesiologist.
Dr N: Well find him get someone here now. We need to get this baby out quick.

More running of nurses, no one answering my questions. I knew what general meant. They had to put me to sleep. Something had gone wrong. But why won't anyone tell me what is going on? They started to prep me for my C section. I could feel the coldness of the beta dine and the roughness of the razor against my belly. This brought on a whole new fear. Please don't let them cut me open when I am still awake. I can feel that.

Nurse: We still can't locate him.
Dr N: Well find someone, we have 5 minutes to get this baby out or we lose him.

The Twin Pregnancy Experience: Part 2

"Are you sure that is all that is in there?" I asked the doctor.

After convincing me there was only two, I cried. I cried because I was happy. I cried because I was scared. We were living with my parents. Lydia would barely be two. They were due the day before our third anniversary. Lydia hadn't been an easy baby. I listened as he explained that now I would be considered a high risk pregnancy. I would have to have careful monitoring and that I wouldn't be allowed to be seen by one of the nurse practitioners if he was out delivering. I would have to wait or reschedule. He explained that most twins are born around 35 weeks and that we should prepare ourselves for at least one if not both to be in the NICU for a little bit.

As we left the doctor I phoned my sister in law Heather to thank her for the referral, she was the first person I told. I remember her squeal on the phone. She was so excited. The drive home was a silent one, we were both in shock contemplating what we had just heard. When we got home my mom was the only one there. Everyone else was gone to the Country Fair Days BBQ dinner. She was so excited. My youngest brothers are twins so she has been there and I was/am so grateful for her knowledge and support. The rest of the night is kind of a blurry haze. I remember lots of people were excited. Alex called his mom and asked if she would be okay with 7 grandkids instead of 6. She was thrilled.

My favorite maternity shirt to bad my belly was cut out of the picture

Around 10 weeks I was not doing well at all, I was very dehydrated from vomiting. We were sent to the ER for fluid and a check on the babies. I was so glad to hear they were fine, especially as I could hear the women in the next room telling her mother she was miscarrying one of her twins. As the ER nurse was working on my IV she asked if I had been given anything by my doctor for the nausea. She told me that I didn't have to suffer. It was after that I was given a prescription for Zofran. It was over a hundred dollars for 10 pills but it was worth it. After that my nausea was much better and I only had one episode of spotting but after 12 weeks I felt great most of the time.

I had so much energy! Way more than with Lydia or Taylie. I felt great, like I could do anything. And I looked so cute. I love maternity clothes. But what I loved more was that with this new doctor we got an ultrasound every time. It was so much fun watching them get bigger. Seeing them move, and knowing they were healthy. We were told that one was a boy and one was a girl. That lasted all of one minute when he decided that they were both boys. As funny as it sounds I was a little disappointed, I kind of morned the loss of my "girl" even though I was so excited they were both boys and I could dress them alike.

The shower cake my mom made

 We made a trip to St. George and Vegas when I was 6 months along. We attended a friends wedding. The temple workers were so worried about me going into labor even though I kept telling them I was fine they had someone escort me and always made sure that I had a chair to sit in. Walking the Strip in Vegas was fun and even though I was heavily pregnant I had no problems.

Vegas!!! Kassie, Lydia, Alex, and I Nov 2007

Christmas came and then we were visiting the doctor weekly. We discussed delivery options. I told them I wanted to schedule a C-section because I didn't want to deliver one and then have problems and then have to have once anyway. The doctor and Alex convinced me that since everything was looking so well I should be able to deliver both without problems. (I should have listened to my gut.)

My SIL Kassie, My Mom, Lydia and Me about 2 weeks before Jan 2008
Can't even button the maternity shirt.

Four years ago today, President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away. He was the prophet for most of my younger years. He was the Prophet when Alex joined the church so he was the only one he ever knew. We are blessed to live close to Salt Lake and decided to take the opportunity to go to the viewing. We knew that the wait to get in the building would be long (2+ hours) in the cold winter weather with little places for me to sit but we wanted to go so badly. We dressed warm and explained to Lydia the best we could where we were headed.

The line to the viewing, it wraps around the building

We found our way to the end of the line where we were greeted by a older woman, a sister missionary. She made small talk with us for about 5 minutes. She asked when I was due and since I had reached the 35 week mark I knew it could be any day. Beaming with pride I told her that we were expecting twin boys any day but that we had to come say goodbye. She took my arm and asked us to follow her. She guided us to the front of the building and up a special elevator to where the viewing was taking place. she walked us to the front of the line and congratulated us. We were in and out and on our way home in 20 minutes. Truly a blessing.

3 days before delivery, notice I can't button my coat.

Coming soon.......Our Super Bowl Babies!

@#$%^ Computer virus!

We had a little computer virus last week. It wiped our hard drive.

So now the only pictures I have are the ones I have saved to

Facebook or my Blog.

Ugh.

So unfortunately for my next few posts will be pictureless.(Is that even a word?)

The Twin Pregnancy Experience: Part 1

When Lydia was 9 months old we started talking about having another baby. With her being our honeymoon baby we didn't think we would have a problem. But month after month we were disappointed. At this point in time we were living with my parents, Alex was working for a car dealership and I would pick up hours at the doctors office as needed. Lydia was getting bigger and was so smart! She was talking full sentences, telling people about nocturnal animals. I was so proud of her but sad that she wasn't a baby anymore and wanted another one so desperately.

Time went on, in April 2007 Alex got a great job driving a cement truck. He worked mainly nights on the Legacy Highway project. The money was great but we decided to live with my parents a little longer to help pay off bills. I made an appointment with a doctor who told me on average it takes a year to conceive and that we shouldn't be worried until we had been trying for a year.

End of June:
A positive pregnancy test at last! I excitedly told Lydia that Mommy was going to have a baby. To which she responded: No Mama, two babies. I laughed and said lets call Daddy. We called Alex at work and then headed to town. I wanted to find a Big Sister shirt to announce our pregnancy to everyone. I looked everywhere and was unable to find one so I decided to get in touch with my very limited sewing skills and make one. I bought a plain yellow onsie and headed to the craft store.

This is the shirt I made, I added the "of twins" after we found out there was 2
And the shoes.....Uncle Ben's combat boots. Silly girl.

Everyone was excited! I wasn't sick the first week or so and thought everything was great! Being religious, we would pray every night that the baby would grow healthy and strong. But everytime I prayed the word babies would come out of my mouth. I just knew. I think Heavenly Father was trying to prepare me. And Alex too.

And then it hit me. HARD. I couldn't move with out being sick. Couldn't eat and spent much of my time in the bathroom. The benefit of this, Lydia was completely potty trained by 18 months. I took her everytime I went. Worked like a charm. And she was so cute she would bring me towels and say: Mama sick, here is a towel. And would stroke my back. Another benefit: we lived with my parents. My mom was such a blessing, she took care of me and Lydia.

We found a new Doctor, an OB specialist. He is amazing! Loved him from the moment I met him. He walked in the door and asked if we were ready to see our triplets. I told him that was the joke going around with how sick I was. He started the ultrasound and seemed to be concentrating very hard. The next words out of his mouth:
 "Well it's not triplets, but there is more that one. Congratulations you are having twins."
To be continued......

Camping, 'Coons, and Cops: Our 4th of July

We were invited up to East Canyon by Alex's brother Jon and his wife Steph. This would be our first time camping in a tent with all of our kids. We packed the van oh so carefully and were off! As you can see they were so excited!

We got their and unloaded the car and set up the 4 man tent for the six of us. Shouldn't be a problem, 4 small kids and 2 adults, we can make that work. And also our bug net tent to go over the picnic table. After a lecture to the kids about staying away from the fire pit and the raging river we were off for adventure! First obstacle to concur...the playground.

They had so much fun making new friends and running out their energy before dinner. We joined Steph's family up at their RV for a delicious dinner and then a round of miniature golf. No pictures of this as it took all 4 adults to help the kids golf. They had lots of fun.

We were so tired and the kids exhausted that we went to bed just after dark. I asked Alex about the boxes of food left on the picnic table and he told me we would be fine that it was enclosed in the net tent. And so began our long LONG LONG night. Who would have guessed that little miss Taylie would be claustrophobic. She SCREAMED. AND SCREAMED. AND SCREAMED. ALL NIGHT LONG. Out! OUT! OUT MAMA OUT! She finally fell asleep with her little face pressed against the open window. It was so sad. What made it worse though was when the other kids got cold and we tried to shut the window. It started all over again. The next morning we awoke to find that Raccoon's had gotten into our food tent and they love snickers, Doritos's, and pop tarts. I am just glad it wasn't a bear.
We spent the day in the pool and the splash pad. It was so much fun even though the adults did come away with sun burns.

That night we talked long about what was the best way to get Taylie to sleep. Alex brought his hammock and we decided that he would sleep in the hammock with her. The problem with that was the only trees we could find close enough together were about 150 feet away from our tent. But for her sake and that of our neighbors we decided that was best. That night we decided to wear her out so after dinner at the RV with Steph's family I took her on a walk around the RV area. She loved it! She ran and ran her little legs and when she was barked at by a HUGE Doberman. She stopped in her tracks looked at the dog and said: SIT!
The dog was so dumbfounded that he did that he sat. And Taylie just went on her merry little way. It was so cute. And she was so happy not to be in the tent that as soon as Alex laid down in the hammock she was out. We left early the next morning to enjoy the parades, fair, and fireworks.

The next day was my work party at a local swimming pool. We had so much fun. Free dinner, free drinks, free cotton candy, free snow cones (my favorite part of summer!) As we were walking to the parking lot to our car both boys had accidents. So we stripped them naked and but them in the Jeep, they looked so cute and we took video and pictures of them. And of the girls, Taylie loved the cotton candy. We joked about getting pulled over and the cop seeing the naked boys in the back and the explaining we would have to do. We pulled out of the parking lot and headed home. Not 30 seconds after leaving the parking lot I hear a Whoop Whoop and look in the mirror and see lights flashing behind us. Alex pulls over, he is just in his swim trunks and sandals. His wallet was in the back by the naked little boys. I am stifling my giggles as he has to get out and find his ID and talk with the cop. Apparently we were going 10 over but because it is an area we aren't familiar with we didn't know. The cop was nice and just gave us a warning, best of all he didn't even notice the naked little guys in the back.

Here is a picture of Aunt Steph with the boys a week before at a local park that was having a fair, the fire department was using their ladder truck to help cool people off.

I've been tagged!

I have been tagged by: I wanna feel that fire

The Rules


1. You must post the rules. (and link up who tagged you)

2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.

4. Tag eleven people and link them on your post

5. Let them know you've tagged them!



11 Fun Facts about Me

 1. I am the oldest of 5


2. 3 of my 4 children share the same birthday

3. I speak Russian. Well not fluently, I can ask for a kiss, tell you I love you, or tell the kids to move it (which sounds so much nicer in Russian by the way)
4. I eat candy one color at a time. M&M's, Smarties, Skittles, or Sweet tarts. OCD.

5. I have to put on new socks before bed

6. I could eat cereal for every meal.

7. I have lived in the same small town since 1986

8. My skirt fell off at my 1st grade dance recital

9. My middle name is a 4 letter F word. Did you guess it yet?

10. When my youngest was born my oldest was 4, that is right 4 under 4.

11. I like watching Phineas and Ferb with my kids. I even watch it after they have gone to bed. Shh.

So did you guess my middle name?



Jenn's Questions for me:

1. Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging to keep a journal of my family and the cute things the kids say/do.

2. What is your favorite season?
Fall, I love the crisp mornings and the crunchy leaves under my feet. I love Pumpkins, the smells of the holidays, and the excitement and anticipation of the holidays.

3. What was your favorite subject in school?
In our high school we had a class were we got to leave for 2 periods and help tutor at and Elementary.

4. Tell me what a perfect date night for you would be?
I nice steak dinner, couples massage, and an amusement park or comedy club.

5. What is your favorite dish to make?
Take out. No probably Sour Cream Chicken Casserole

6. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a stay at home mom, but I am so glad I am a Medical Assistant. I love working at a Doctors office. I call it my Vacation time, my home away from home.

7. Describe your dream house.
A house with more that one bathroom. That is all our current house has.

8. Do you have siblings?
4 brothers, no sisters

9. What is your least favorite house hold chore?
Laundry, never ending. I don't mind starting it, hate folding it.

10. Favorite movie?
Harry Potter, Any of them

11. Favorite TV show
Parenthood 

My middle name is Fern. Did any of you get it right?

My questions for you:
1. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
2. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
3. Where is your dream vacation?
4.What is your most embarrassing moment?
5.What is your least favorite food that you still make your kids eat?
6. Why do you blog?
7. What is your favorite blog post?
8. When do you find time to blog?
9. If married, how long did you date your spouse before you married? If not married, how long would you date someone before your considered marrying them?
10.Do you have any phobias?
11.What is your favorite number and why?

I'm tagging:

Allyson @ http://declerckfam.blogspot.com/

Rindi @ http://1fessfam.blogspot.com/

Sandy @ http://twelvemakesadozen.blogspot.com/

Eli @ http://eligetstobeamommy.blogspot.com/

Jenn @  http://justinjennandnoah.blogspot.com/

Jaclyn @ http://grumpyjax.blogspot.com/

 Lisa @ http://www.twobearsfarm.com/

 Mandy @ http://wonderingsofawannabe.blogspot.com/

Rachel Sue @ http://screamandhug.blogspot.com/

Melinda @ http://bloggyblather.blogspot.com/

Leslie @ http://leslieandaaron.blogspot.com/

Refiner's Fire

Found this article today, it brings me hope that through my trials, each will make me stronger.

....The blessings of eternity will surely come to those who endure refining, as the Lord Himself taught: “He only is saved who endureth unto the end.”  I testify that Jesus is the Christ and the Divine Redeemer. He lives! His are the sweet words of eternal life.



Endure to End. I can do that.