Alayna and Olivia

We welcomed Olivia Jolene (Baby A) 6lbs 1oz; and Alayna Kathleen (Baby B) 7lbs 7oz into the world March 24 2010! I was so happy with the delivery. My doctor, Dr. Thomas Judd, was out of town this week on a family emergency, but we still had his partner, Dr. Nick Weibell. I trust him just as much as I trust Dr Judd. The girls were born at 7:06 and 7:10 pm. Doctor Weibell could not believe how big they were for 35.4 weeks! The delivery was amazing to watch, probably the coolest delivery I have ever seen. We put TLC to shame!

It was an eventful couple of days leading up to the delivery. Sunday was full of hard contractions. We decided to head down to the valley to Mom’s house that evening to be closer to the hospital in case they decided to come out. By about nine that night the contractions completely went away. We stayed the night and went to a doctor’s appointment the next morning. Everything looked great to Dr. Judd and he said we could probably make it another week; maybe more (kill me now). Then we ran over to the perinatologist’s office to have their fluid levels checked. Baby B was still showing low at 1.9 cm. Other than that, they still looked great so we went back home to Heber.

Tuesday is when the adventure came to a head. I freaked Tyson out pretty good at work. He had just started a meeting in Midway when I called him in full labor. Luckily his boss was there to finish the meeting. He came home and we loaded up the car and headed down to the valley, again. The moment we got to the hospital the contractions stopped, again. We sat there with mom and looked at the hospital for a half an hour before deciding that nothing was going to happen. We went to Burlington for a little walk (a very long one involving 3 full tours of the Baby Depot in the back of the store). Then we hit up the India Palace for our last supper and then headed back to the hospital. It was 9 pm when we got back to the hospital. I decided to get checked before heading back up the canyon. They admitted me and the contractions were strong enough to change me from a 4 + to a 6. It was enough for the doctors to let me get induced. They wanted to wait until morning for the perinatologist’s to have another look at the fluid levels.

So, morning rolled around and my perinatologist, Helen is out of town this week too. Go figure. The peri in her place finally looked me over and after about 10 minutes worth of disclaimers and reasons I shouldn’t have the babies, said that B’s water was low enough for me to be induced. YAH!

1:00 pm, Wednesday afternoon, the pitocin drip started and the contractions soon followed. They start the drip at a rate of 4 ml per hour and increase it by 4 every hour. They say that 12 is the magic number. It’s not. I was at 16 when the Dr. Weibell showed up at 5:00 pm and still wasn’t feeling the painful contractions they said I should be having. They got the epidural in, after stabbing my spinal sheathing. They wanted to break my water, but decided to wait before they got an operating room ready. I was dilated to an 8 and they didn’t want them to fall out right there. The wait was on to get a clean operating room.

The broke my water the moment we got into the room and everyone was scrubbed in. We had me, of course; Ty, Mom, Dr Weibell, RN Kathryn, and the anesthesiologist. After pushing for 4 contractions, Baby A popped out. The poor girl looked like she’d been sat out for 8 months. Right after she was out and rushed off too another room for cleaning, Dr Weibell had his hand up me looking for Baby B. She was kicking squirming to avoid his grip, but he managed to get her. She was half way out before Mom and Ty came running back in from looking at the first one. B slid out after one more push and it was all over. What a relief! Dr Weibell could not believe how big they were. Especially Baby B.

We are all hanging out in Labor and Delivery now trying to recuperate. The girls are nursing amazingly well for their gestational age and I feel like I had a rail line just run through my middle section. Also, because of the mishap on the epidural, I got to do a spinal patch to stop the leak of fluid from my spine (I don’t recommend that). All in all, we have been blessed with a wonderful delivery and a beautiful pair of girls. Thank you everyone or the love and support through this long pregnancy.

Love Jolene (and Tyson for typing this for Jolene!)

35!

I am 35 weeks! Well 35 weeks to me, if you ask the Perinatologist (Helen) would tell you I won’t be 35 till Tuesday. I go off my first ultrasound and those three days make all the difference to me!

I always wanted to make it to 34 weeks or 36, and I’m so excited I made it that far! I do have to say my mom and Helen are right behind me on being excited! Helen has told me she is so happy she has kept me pregnant this long, she thinks I should now go to 38 weeks, now that is a little mean!

Today we went to find out how much they weigh! Baby A is 6lbs 6oz they think, her head is so low it is really hard to get the right measurements, she could be bigger! Baby B is 6lb 5 oz and she looks bigger than A, but the measurements looked a little goofy so they said she could be bigger as well! I went off the medicine today that I have been taking forever and I am happy to be off it, it has a lot of side effects I am happy to be done with!

So now we are just waiting to see what my body does, I have noticed over the past week that I don’t feel as much pressure as I usually do( so nice!). I think they have gotten so big they aren’t resting on my cervix anymore and are just wedged in there really tight! Also baby A has her face sunny side up so I will be curious to see if she turns (anyone out there have this happen?) I did find out that my OB will be out of town all next week (family emergency) so Tyson wants we to have them by Monday!

I get asked if I am ready to have them, I am, but I’m not. I am so big, its hard on my body, I can’t breathe, I have stretch marks on top of stretch marks, I get really dizzy and see wonderful spots, but I want them to be ready to come out. It was good to see my sister have her babies last year because it inspires me to keep them in longer. One baby is hard, but two babies with complications and two boys’ is harder! Am I ready? I don’t know, ask me after I’m in more pain and have more stretch marks! 

Rachel's babies, Fritz and Finn after they had been in the Hospital for a few weeks. They were born at 34 1/2 weeks. 

Last Post

This is for the last post. I put pictures up on with Tyson’s computer while I had it, and now I can’t write on that post. 
The first two pictures are of Isaac and Ethan loving the slinky the nice ladies at the hospital gave them. 
Next picture; 33 weeks!!
Next picture; the boys in Tyson’s new project, the Samurai. A cheep little SUV Tyson and Branson bought to fix up for hunting.
Next picture; 34 weeks and feeling it a lot more.
I finally was sent home again at 34 weeks; they had pushed the babies around until they got the water they wanted, when I went in for my fluid check. Also, I am past the point of being stopped if I go into labor, so I hopefully won’t go back into the hospital again until I have them. Even though they won’t stop me, I still have to take the meds every three hours that are supposed to keep me from going into labor. One of my doctors want me to go off them at 35 weeks and one wants me to go off them at 36, at this point I might hope for 35 weeks. 
Rachel, stretch marks are not fair! I had a lot from Isaac and I thought I was good. Oh no! They are coming again, dang it!

Fun times!

Hospital

28 weeks! I am  fashioning a wonderful hospital gown and pressure pump leg things!

  

Isaac and Ethan having a good time drawing on the window! They loved the Hospital most days, by the end of our stay they new the nurses and loved to go with them to get cookies and milk!

  

Isaac reading to Mommy and Ethan. They loved my bed and wanted to push the buttons.....that didn't work for Mommy!

  

30 weeks!

31 weeks!

 

Ethan took a picture of Daddy!

I am grateful for all the wonderful nurses and staff at UVRMC. They have such a great support team at this hospital! I am also so grateful to all the friends and family that came to visit, I think I laughed way to much!  Thanks Mom for coming and sitting for hours! Thank you Honey for coming to see me with the boys almost every night!

Thank you to Jeanette for taking care of everything while I was gone....even though you thought the hospital was so gross!

Going Home!

I am going home today! I think I am excited! Mom, Tyson and Rachel and everyone else want me to stay here.
I went to the peri doctor yesterday and they did an ultrasound. I will be 32 weeks on Saturday, Baby A is weighing 4lb 12oz, Baby B is 5lb 3oz. I have been lying down so long my cervix is now posterior and it has regained some thickness, so I am now 50% effaced. I am 4cm dilated but the doctor isn't as worried about that because of my history. I get to go home on the same bed rest and the same medicine with the understanding that I have to go to the Heber Hospital and get transferred down here if I am in labor. I hope to get to 34 or 36 weeks so the babies are as healthy as possible and don't have to stay in the NICU for very long.

Still Here

We had our Perinatologest appointment last Friday. I had tried to get it at a time when Tyson and mom could be there, Tyson’s birthday was on the 4^th and as a present I was hoping that he could see an ultrasound for the first time in a long time. It turned into a mess, they hadn’t schedule the appointment at all and decided to fit me in on Friday, I asked to be fit in at the end of the day and they said okay. First thing in the morning a lady came in my room with a wheel chair and said I had to go now. I was so disappointed the whole time I didn’t get to enjoy the ultrasound and because they were fitting me in I didn’t have my doctor and didn’t have any of my questions answered. I was so upset (don’t mess with the pregnant girl, and I have been doing a good job keeping my emotions in check) everything went crazy and I ended up having another consultation on Monday with my doctor. It was wonderful, but sadly I didn’t have an ultrasound so Tyson still didn’t get to see the babies.

In the end, the decision was made to have me stay in the hospital until I am 32 weeks. The big factors are that I live in Heber; my cervix looks like it is staying the same but has shown that it can change in an instant. I also had a really bad day last Thursdays and broke through my meds and contracted regularly for 5 hours and had to be stopped with two tocolytics. That can be really bad for my heart, so the first Peri was not happy about that and doesn’t want it to happen again. My meds have been upped and I am doing better, so we will see how it goes. At 32 weeks they said they will reassess the circumstances and see what my body is doing, if it is changing I might have to stay longer. If I go home at 32 weeks I have to go to the hospital in Heber and be stabilized before being transferred down to Provo if I start contracting again. If I were to go home before 32 weeks and have the babies at that hospital, they would have a really hard time with them and it would be really dangerous.

Right now I am 29 ½ weeks, Baby A is 2lbs 13 oz (they think, her head is so low it is hard to get the measurement they need) Baby B is 3lbs. They look wonderful and everyday their hearts sound stronger and they kick harder! I want to put a picture up of my bigness but this poor old laptop is too old to have the card insert thing!

My wonderful Honey comes to see me with the boys a lot, and I have had wonderful visits from friends and family!

I have been very impressed with UVRMC, they have so many support groups, and wonderful nurses that know when to stay and just talk. I was always worried that the Labor and Delivery was too big, but they do know what they are doing!  

Some of the funny highlights this week have been my introduction to heavy sleeping pills! They give Ambien to you at night if you can’t sleep. Well it kicks in right away with me and I can’t remember what I am doing. Tyson said I can’t talk to him on the phone after I take it, because I start going crazy. The nurses are only going to give me a half because they have had to help me to bed and last night I got up and started wandering the halls looking for a snack! Today I got to hear the fun Ambien stories form the nurses! I did try to not take it one night and it was the worst night ever, so I don’t think I can do that again.

I have a lot of people ask me how I am doing. I am fine; I would rather be pregnant right now than have babies in the NICU that I would have to leave here for weeks, if not months. I hope to get as far as possible and have nice healthy babies. I do miss Tyson, Isaac and Ethan A LOT, but I think I would be a bigger burden at home right now anyway.

I’m so grateful to my wonderful friend Jeanette who has moved in and taken care of so much. I am also grateful to my wonderful neighbors and family that have put me at ease taking care of my family. I love my wonderful husband that has done so much for me, I wish I could put him in bed for a few weeks so he could sleep and rest. He always has done too much, but I think it is finally catching up to him. I love him so much and wish I could do as much for him as he has done for me. I love you Honey!  

More bedrest.

I have been on bed rest for a while, and I think I have been doing a pretty good job of staying in bed and not doing anything. The reason I have been on bed rest, is that this nice doctor that is in charge of the babies while in utero, doesn’t like what my cervix has been doing the last month. I can say that I warned them for months that this was going to happen and to be prepared to be stunned, I also kept asking for the medicine that I knew could slow to progress. Well they didn’t get what I was saying and they were stunned. The problem is that in the past month my cervix has been shortening or effacing, form 24 weeks to 28 weeks I went from 3.5cm (like 20 something % effaced) to 1.2cm (80 something % effaced). Because of that, I am now in the hospital just in case. They don’t like that I am doing this a month earlier than I did with my boys. They are also concerned that with the extra baby and stuff (I am measuring 37 weeks singleton) I might progress further. Some other factors that are against me are, this is my third pregnancy, I live far away, and I am only 28 weeks. Because of this, they don’t feel that is in the babies’ best interest for me to be at home right now.

So for now, I get to get my meals brought to me in bed at the local Hospital Hotel! I think Tyson, Branson and Jeanette are at this moment celebrating that they don’t have to take care of me anymore!

Some of the memorable moments of the day are when the Perinatologist told me “You are the bane of my existence!” She and another doctor she works with are the only two people that get grants from the government to study the cervix, and my cervix is beyond her understanding. She asked me and my mom to be scanned for her study.  

Christmas

Christmas Eve Tyson's Family came over in the afternoon and hung out all day. We had a nice dinner and a bunch of treats! It was nice to get together and just take it easy. I hope we can do the same thing next year, only maybe start earlier.

 

Christmas morning we slept in, I think this was the first time we haven't  had to wake the boys up! They got a few toys, a sled, blankets Tyson and I made them and some much needed clothes!

Tyson suprized me with the rest of our central vac and he also got me a bed set. I was a slacker this year and didn't get Tyson anything special. He had just bought a TV so I figured that was good with some pants and some softwere he ordered. I also gave him a silverware set...he wasn't amused!

After our house we went down to Dad and Laurie's. They had a wonderful breakfast and all the kids got to open new toys for grandmas house! Tyson just made the boys some beds, so Grandma and Grandpa  are getting us a mattress for one of them!  The boys have slept in the same twin bed forever! Laurie also went all out and had a bunch of little girl matching outfits! It is so strange to see pink and purple baby clothes!  

 

At the end of the day we went to Mom and Jim's for a wonderful dinner and opened more gifts. Grandma and Grandpa Lindshiled and Grandma and Grandpa Smutz send their gifts to moms, so the boys are even more spoiled there! Mom went all out again and caught me by surprise a few times! Rachel and I got new serger's! I think Mom was done with us using hers all the time!

We were very spoiled this year, but the thing I love most about Christmas is spending time with family and remembering the true meaning of Christmas.

2009 was a long year of both blessings and trials. Some I have shared and some were to personal to share.

I thank our Father in Heaven for all he has given us this year, because even with the trials, I have had the blessing of feeling my Savior beside me, stronger than I ever have before.

My mom wrote a paper in college about her exspereance when my sister had childhood cancer. Something she said at the end of the paper has been in the front of my mind all year. She said something along the lines of  " There are moment in life when time stops and nothing of the world matters anymore" I can say I have had those moments this year.

I am so grateful to my Savior that has carried me and comforted me and my loved ones this year. I hope I will remember and feel his peace this coming year

Some reasons we love living in Heber!

People ask me what I love about living in Heber, after looking at these pictures I thought I would write down a few reasons!

I love that Tyson can come home whenever he wants to. Log Craft and Park Engineering are right down the road. Before we moved here, Tyson would have to leave at 6 am and wouldn't get back until 6 pm or later most days. These are pictures of the boys in the shop at Log Craft helping Tyson make their beds. They really love having Daddy near by!

Daddy and the boys had a lot of fun decorating for Christmas this year. Tyson did such a good job, I need to get some pictures of all the decorations he put up. It was rewarding to see the house we worked so hard on decorated for Christmas!

Snow! I love the snow here! It is so pretty when it comes down and we got a ton of it when it did snow. It seems to just stay in the right spot once it is cleared. 

Some other things I love....

not having the inversion, the sky is always so clear up here.

The wonderful ward, I have already learned so much from these wonderful ladies!

Having a house that can handle company, and my kids.

Wonderful neighbors.

The little town that you and drive through in a jiffy!

The nice library (I need to go there more!)

The wonderful people that Tyson works with being able to stop by!

Not having to pay a ton of money for Tyson to go to work.

Being able to enjoy the canyon drive with my honey!

Ethans Birthday!

We had a little family party for Ethan’s Birthday this year. Tyson decorated Ethan’s cake too, such talent! Branson has been living at our house, so he was there. Grandpa Ed had just stopped by and joined us as well.

Ethan is such a sweet boy, and we are so happy he is a part of our family. He is very shy and quiet, but underneath that he does have a very stubborn and strong personality. He can be quite a brute, but he takes criticism into himself and deals with it eternally. He loves to use his strength when he plays. So unfortunately for Isaac, Ethan wrestles him to the floor all the time! I am always so surprised with the different ways Ethan and Isaac go about doing things. They both love the same things but, Isaac will just use his hands and Ethan has to use his whole body. Isaac loves to be with new people; Isaac would rather be with his family. I love that they have come to an age where they love to be with each other (when they are not fighting!) and find new things to do. Ethan loves his Daddy; he has to be doing everything he does. He loves to cuddle both me and Tyson; he is such a cuddle bug! Ethan still loves his naps and will let you know when he it done and needs rest. Ethan has big growth spurts. He will eat everything in the house for a month when he is on a growth spurt. He also has discovered that he loves sushi this year, and so now I have to contend with him and Isaac when I make a sushi roll! I worry about how we are going to feed these boys when they are teenagers!

I love you Ethan Boy!

October Fun!

Being the wife of Tyson Munford, I can’t finish up a year without pictures of Hunting Season! This year was different for us, because we had the Deer hunt in October and Tyson’s family Elk Hunt is going on right now. Usually it starts after deer season and goes until the end of December. This year Tyson’s family got to choose one month that they wanted to hunt. I am very grateful it was after the holidays!

I didn’t think I was going to be able to go on the deer hunt (being 13 weeks pregnant) but the road on the property was really good this year.  We stayed up at Colton for a week and had lots of fun with the family. Tyson didn’t get anything, but I didn’t have a hard time with that, I don’t like deer meat!

At the end of the week we had a Halloween party at the store. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and have a good time.

We spent New Year’s up at Colton.  Uncle Chuck and Jesse came up and it’s always fun when they show up! There was so much snow all the boys decided to chain up their trucks and see how far out and how stuck they could get the trucks! I think they scared off all the Elk in the mean time! The whole week end they had fun digging each other out of the snow, while Linda and I had fun making candy and sitting in the warm house! We still have into next month the get an Elk and I hope we do, it is nice to have all that meat in the freezer!

Living with my Mama!

This past summer we lived with my Mom for about four months while we were working on our house. It was crazy, and we really put a dent in Allen’s social life, but overall it was a lot of fun! Some of the biggest highlights were. Staying up late, laughing hysterically. Isaac and Ethan cuddling up next to “Grandpa Jim” whether he liked it or not! The backyard was wonderful; the kids were out there as soon as they woke up, until the sun went down! Playing with Sadie. Growing a garden, and making salsa with the stuff we grew. Canning Mom’s peaches. Isaac and Ethan wanting to go home at night to see “Gwama” “Nason” “Awen” ”Sadie” and “Gwampa Jim”. Play dough, Isaac asked Grandma to make this for him every day; I think we went through all the salt in mom’s house! Cramming a family of four and all their stuff into the smallest room in the house!

I love you Mom, Jim, Allen and Nate! Thanks for letting us stay with you for so long!

Isaacs BIrthday!

Daddy decorated Isaacs Birthday Cake this year, Isaac told him what he wanted and Daddy put it on the cake! Such a talented Daddy! 

This is Ethan's set of pictures form Isaac's birthday. It’s my belly, an upside-down self portrait, Isaac on the stove, his foot and Branson. Good job Ethan!

Isaac has grown up so much this year, he still loves to do everything with Daddy, he go to work in his shop at  Log Craft building furniture, he also helped us build the house. If we needed something he could run and bring it to us.  Everyone in the neighborhood knew who Isaac was before they knew who we were.  Everyone that came to the public park behind our house would hear “Oh, do you want to play at my playground?”  He had a lot of friends be the end of the summer!  Isaac loves to learn, he has been doing really well with his reading and math. He is always drawing and making things with his play dough.  He has a very active imagination, you might hear Ethan saying “Dad” this and “Dad” that around the house when Tyson is gone, but he isn’t talking to Tyson, he is participating in the father- son adventure outing Isaac has created for them to go on!  Isaac is very outgoing, he loves to talk to people and will tell a story a mile long, he does have a sweet spirit and it brakes my heart to see his little face when a friend is mean to him. He doesn’t understand cruelty and his feeling's get hurt very easily. Isaac is very excited to be going to school this year, I can’t believe it has come so soon! He has been asking to go to school for the past two years!

Thanksgiving

I am so sad I didn’t get very many pictures taken during Thanksgiving. It was another wonderful time with family and lots of food!  The Sunday before thanksgiving we were at my mom’s house. We ate some wonderful food and played our traditional bingo game. The day of Thanksgiving we went to eat more good food at Tyson’s moms and hang out. Later that night we went to Dad and Laurie’s to more grate food and play nurts. I have learned how to play recently and need to still practice! The pictures are of Tyson’s mom’s house, everyone was laughing in the kitchen. The other pictures are of Tyson practicing holding twins!  Heather and Caitlyn had to join in on the picture taking!  I wasn’t feeling up to par most of  September , October and November so I think these are all the pictures I took those months:(

Babies!

About the end of August we found out we were pregnant! I was sick right away, I thought it had to do with all the work I was doing on the house.  We didn’t want to tell anyone for a while,  because we have always told everyone so early and it makes things drag on and on.  At 5 ½ weeks I started feeling a lot of pain and was worried I had an infection or something .  I went to the doctor and they told me I was fine, but they were concerned that  I could possibly have an ectopic pregnancy because I had the pain in the right spot and I was in the time frame to start feeling pain.  I called my mom sobbing and asked her to take my kids  so I could go to the hospital, she wanted to know what was wrong and I told her I was pregnant and it might be ectopic. Poor mom,  sorry for telling you that way! I went to the hospital and the Tec, that looked like a 12 year old boy,  did the ultrasound.  I couldn’t see the screen  but told him that twins run in the family so he might want to look all over. He had these bug eyes and said “ I don’t see anything in you tubes but I do see two sacs!” He was so happy to have found them, and proceeded to let all the other ultrasound people come see what he found!  I think all of them were surprised by how calm I was,  I think I already knew there were two.  I think I might blame it on Rachel and Dad, they have defiantly proven we can have twins in our family!  Later they found out that I had fluid stuck in my tubes and the pressure form that is what caused the pain. It eventually went away and I was so grateful!

I went back to moms and because the hospital wouldn’t let me have any pictures  (policy that early?) I made a card for Tyson with two little stick figures in bubbles  and under  the bubbles it said “Hi Daddy!” I showed  it to mom and all she said was “Are you kidding me!”.  Tyson finally came home and I gave him the card, it was so funny!  He gave me his blank confused look, than it hit him and all he could do was  laugh and say “Are you serious?!!!”  over and over again!

At 16 weeks we had hoped to find out what they were at the doctor’s office, because they had told us to expect an ultrasound at every visit. Tyson came with me and that was the  first and only time I didn’t have an ultrasound done.  We decided to go have an ultrasound done at the mall in Sandy with mom and Rachel. I was so glad we did, we had the most wonderful  girl from the Ukraine do our ultrasound. Later I was looking at the paper that said what her credentials were, and I guess she has a doctors license in the Ukraine.  I was very impressed, I still think that was the best ultrasound I have ever had!  We had all the little boys with us and she knew we were wondering if there were any girls coming! Isaac was in the back  of the room saying “Beau there are going to be two girls and I’m going to name them Lilly and Grace!” (his friends that are twins names!) Isaac had been saying this from the day we found out that we were having twins, and no one could make him think otherwise!  The girl put the wand on my stomach and right away said “Baby B is a girl!” I had always thought that if one of them was a girl it was going to be Baby B. After looking over the baby and taking measurements, she moved on to Baby A. Right away I knew what it was, and I just watched Tyson’s face. She started with the measurements  first on Baby A and every once in a while you could see that area. The first time Tyson looked confused; the next time his jaw dropped a little and he looked confused; the last time his jaw was on the floor, he was slightly out of his chair and he looked really confused,  than she said “It’s a girl!”. I was laughing so hard at the face Tyson was making,  I have never seen him that surprised!  The whole time Isaac kept saying “I told you they are girls!” I think I took a few days for Tyson to overcome the shock of both of them being girls. Then one day when he was going to work he ran back into the house and grabbed the pictures saying “I want to show everyone at work my baby girls!” I was shocked! He has been so excited, I can’t wait to see him with his girls!

The House

August and September we were working on the house again. All the finish work had to be done and it was a lot of work. I can admit that I am grateful for the skills I learned, but I’m not so sure I ever want to use them again!

These are some of the pictures of Tyson finishing the stairs. If you notice, he had to carve his name and the year into the beam going across the loft. So if anyone ever takes it down they will know he built the stairs (I guess?)!!! He is so funny!

He also finished the fireplace, I was so glad to see that done! I was still painting, and had to hurry because carpet finally came at the end of August!