Daddy's Girl

Her daddy loves her!
I love watching Jer hold our daughter.
He is so tender and sweet with her.
I just know already that he will be the best father.
Here are some pictures of Jer and Jessica.

She loves him.

Sweet, sweet Jessica

This is my favorite picture of Jer and Jessica so far...

I Am Yours To Keep
by: Mike www.familyfriendpoems.com

You are a princess in my heart,
and I care for you so much.
I love the fondness in you eyes
and your tender little touch.

I looked at you when you were born,
and knew then straight away,
that I would be forever here
to watch you grow and play.

You bring to me a heart of joy,
and memories so great,
and a powerful sense of fatherhood
that no one can debate.

I watch you sleep and dream of things
that I can only wonder.
That innocent look upon your face
just makes my heart grow fonder.

I see you run and jump and shout
and calling out my name.
No love that I have ever known
could ever feel the same.

No suffering or tragedy
nor deeply seated pain
could ever over shadow
the bond that we retain.

And so my little princess
before you go to sleep,
Remember I am your daddy
and I am yours to keep.

One More Day...

Well, one more day in Jessica's first home. :)

Jessica's poor little body just gets so tired from breathing, eating, heart beating, etc. Despite her 8 lb frame (she's lost 12 oz of weight...ok so far but if she keeps losing weight we'll have a whole new concern...) she really is a 35 week old preemie.

She had several episodes last night and this morning where her heart rate dropped and was followed by a drop in oxygen levels. Her respiratory rate is steadier but still erratic at times. Thankfully, she no longer needs blood draws to check her sugar levels and her jaundice is going down. Mostly, she just needs rest and sleep. The nurses moved her from the regular nursery into the official Level II Nursery today (even though she has always been a "Level 2 Nursery" baby). They think that it has been too noisy and busy for her. When she gets that stimulated it wears her out quicker which contributes to the vital signs dropping.

The pediatrician also thinks that she is having acid reflux issues which could be a major factor of why her vital signs keep dropping. They started her on medicine for that this morning. Hopefully that will solve a lot of the issues. We still need a solid 24 hours of no vital signs dropping. If it continues to be a problem, the doctors will try another route which is to give her caffeine. Apparently, it is a teensy-weensy dose but it helps stimulate preemie's issues. The nurse I talked to today said it has really helped turn around previous preemie's quickly. Again, we'll see. If neither of those work, the pediatrician said that they would send her home but she will be on a portable oxygen tank for awhile. What that means "for awhile" is still uncertain. So, we are still in the waiting game...

In the meanwhile, 

here are some more DARLING pictures of a DARLING girl! :)

Mom and Daughter

I'm trying to wake her up so I can feed her.

I have been DYING to get a picture of her yawning... 

Here is the beginning of one...

Here's the yawn!!! Look how cute!!!!

Again with the fingers by the face!

 

Even though she is my angel, the blue light is not a heavenly manifestation of that. :) It is the phototherapy lights from underneath her. It does give off an angelic glow...

Look how alert she is! Such a beautiful baby.

Does she look like me?

On the Road Again

I'm sure, as with all mothers, I just cannot seem to get enough of holding and talking and playing and cooing and looking and loving my daughter. She just looks so peaceful!

I didn't realize that this picture is sideways, but you can see that she is MUCH more alert than she has been up to this point. I just LOVE how she always brings her hands up to her mouth! She looks like a little lecturer in a debate, just about to make her point! :)

Another sideways picture...

This is one of my new favorites! Look how adorable she is! Alert AND in the beginning of a yawn!

Ok, now THIS is my new favorite picture of her! She grabbed my shirt and wouldn't let go for all the tea in China!

There is a Utah law that states that newborns who are premature, low in birth weight, or having any type of oxygen or breathing problems, MUST pass a car seat test. Here is how the test works:

the infant sits in his/her car seat, buckled, strapped, and "ready" to go home. They are to sit there while being monitored for 90 minutes. If they make it without any problems (heart rate or oxygen level dropping) then they pass. If they have problems, then they fail.

• Passing = home sweet home!
• Failing = one more try
• 2nd Failing = infant goes home with an oxygen tank (which they wear only for the ride home)

I'll give you one guess as to whether Jessica passed or failed...yep. Failed. :) Which I kind of expected considering everything else that has been going on. So, they will try it again sometime today. If she fails again...oxygen tank. When we strapped her in, it was painfully obvious that she HATED the car seat! Completely HATED it! She only cried for a few seconds and then settled into her mad cooing sounds. She also kept making the CUTEST angry faces. Some of them were completely new. I was surprised at how adorable I found her mad faces! While taking the car seat test the nurse had her stay under the bilirubin lights...see how cute she is?!?

Yep. Definitely not liking the car seat test.

That HUGE cord coming out from underneath her? Quite the catheter!
(J/K) It connects to the phototherapy lights that get her backside...

Grandma Heath has been down here and that's been fun. Grandma said that she wanted Jessica to call her Grandma Skinny & Beautiful. Here are some pictures of Grandma S&B feeding her...

Look how alert she is for Grandma S&B!

She LOVES her Grandma Skinny & Beautiful! :)

Day 3...

Our baby girl is still in the hospital. Our pediatrician said that there were a few issues which, if by themselves wouldn't be as big of a deal, but put all together (and since she's a preemie) added up to staying one more day in the hospital. *Sniff* Which is ok. It all means we will have a completely healthy baby to take home when the time comes. :)

Here are the things we are looking for so she can go home:

• Her jaundice needs to go down (she's doing the phototherapy here at the hospital. Apparently the same rules for a full term baby with jaundice definitely don't apply to a preemie with jaundice...)
• Her blood sugar levels need to stay stable. They took her off the IV for the first time early this morning.
• Her heart rate and oxygen levels cannot drop at all. She's having moments where she forgets to breath. Poor thing, mom isn't doing all of that for her anymore. She's working hard to do it all on her own now!
• Her feeding is ok but could be more "robust" (as the doctor put it). The more mL's she drinks during feeding the better.
  

The Lord has been with us throughout this entire pregnancy so I am not worried about the end result. He is with us and we have been so blessed. There is something to be learned through this experience and I am eager to find out what it is. :)

Here are some more pictures of the cutest angel ever. Some of them are hard to see because the bilirubin lights have been on (hence the Nacho Libre mask...).

She loves to sleep with her hands up by her face. I love watching her sleep. Her little personality is becoming very distinct. :)

Even though 8 lbs 12 oz is big, she is still tiny. Here is her little foot next to my hand. The purple stuff is covering where she has had her blood draws. Her poor little foot looks like a pincushion. When the nurses have to do a blood draw she cries for a few seconds and then screws up her little face and tenses her body. She just deals with it. My heart aches every time that happens.

Funny story: Jessica was on her back and suddenly, without any warning, pushed herself over on her side. She tucked her hands under her head and went on sleeping just as happy as could be! The nurse saw Jessica roll over as well. Jer and I asked if that was normal for a 4 day old to push herself over on her side. The nurse said, "No. That was pretty unusual." There have also been times where she has put her head up. It wasn't the normal baby-arching-the-back-with-no-control movement. It was a controlled movement! Pretty awesome. (Also, it definitely could have been a fluke! :)

Isn't she the absolutely cutest!!!!

I just can't get enough of this daughter of mine!

It's not very noticable, but when she arches her back there are the CUTEST wrinkles ever!

Pretty much, we have the most beautiful baby in the world!

Hopefully our next blog will be about our journey home. If not, there will be more fun Nursery News! :)

Drugs

Just say no.

Unless,
your hospital offers you a prescription for Percocet and Motrin. Take it. There's a reason. Don't forget to get your refill before the hospital given dosage runs out. Why? Well, there's a reason you were put on those two drugs to begin with...

Doctor's First Words

after Jessica was 2 seconds old:

"Whoa! That's a big baby!"

Yes. The largest preemie known to man...she is a keeper! :)

Actually, she has lost a bit of weight.
A fair amount of her 8lbs 12oz is/was fluid.
Today (well technically yesterday) she weighed 8lbz 6oz
She just gets cuter by the minute!

Day 2 of My New Life...

This is my all time favorite picture of Jessica so far.
She is an angel.

Day 2 brought many changes and updates with it. Jessica continues to improve in so many ways. Another chest x-ray today showed that her lungs look great. She is still breathing a little shallow but her monitor shows that her respiratory rate falls where it should. Her heart beat is steadier and her oxygen levels continue to stay in the safe zone. She is getting healthier and stronger every minute.

In the morning during feeding, I commented to the nurse that her face looked more yellow. I wondered if she had jaundice. They drew her blood and, sure enough, she was high risk for jaundice. When we met with the pediatrician who was on-call, Dr. Connor said she wanted to start a procedure where Jessica is placed under special lights that help with getting rid of jaundice.

*Cough Cough*
*Ahem*
Attention Class:
I can now tell you that jaundice means there is a high level of bilirubin in her red blood cells. The lights break it down into another form of "rubin" which she can pass easily through her urine. Bilirubin apparently has something to do with pigmentation of the skin (hence the yellow color) and can make her not want to eat as much, sleep more, and become dehydrated. Apparently, there are different levels of jaundice, but most newborns get what is called physiological jaundice and is pretty normal to get. Thankfully, that is what Jessica has. Class dismissed.

Her treatment is called phototherapy and works pretty rapidly. Especially because she is a preemie and working on staying stable in other critical areas, we began her phototherapy very quickly. She lays on special pads that produce a blue light underneath her and then there are 2 different lights above her. Because the lights are so bright, she has to wear what is called a "shade" to protect her eyes. You can see in the pictures at the bottom that it makes her look almost like a burn victim. I had a really hard time watching them put her shade over her eyes (she cries every time they take it on or off) and I had to step out of the Level II Nursery for awhile. At midnight, after several hours of being under the lights, she is beginning to look better. The hospital is going to draw her blood this morning and should have the results by the time we "wake up" (although - look at the time...can you tell I'm a slightly nervous 1st mother? :) we should know whether the phototherapy is working or not. She sure is special.

The other update is that the nurses had to change the position of Jess's IV. The one in her right hand had been there for so long that it was leaking fluid into her hand tissues. So, they put an IV into her head. Jer and I decided (before we knew about the IV change) to ask my brother, Derrall, to come up and help Jer give her a blessing. I went to the bathroom while we were waiting, and when I came out, Jer wasn't in our room. I wasn't sure where he went but I didn't stress about it. I called his cell phone. He didn't pick up but called back quickly. When I picked up the phone he didn't talk right away but I could hear the background noises and knew he was in the nursery. I started panicking thinking that something was wrong and he wasn't able to talk for some reason because of it. After about 2 seconds (yea - 1st time mom) he answered and told me he was feeding Jessica. He told me about the IV change and I freaked. He assured me that it looked worse than it was. Apparently, when he showed up at the nursery to feed her, there were 3 nurses huddled around her bed finishing the IV change. He got panicked because it looked like something bad was going on. Thankfully, we had a fantastic day nurse (Carolee) who explained the situation to him.

Derrall showed up and we went down to the nursery. I walked through the door and Carolee said, "Stop! Before you come any further I want you to know that there is an IV in her head. It looks worse than it really is." I smiled and told her that Jer had already prepped me. I walked over and was so grateful that I knew because, it really was a shock at first. Had I written this blog right after I saw it, I would be over-dramatizing it because it took me a couple of hours not to be freaked out and to stop crying.

Derrall and Jer gave Jess a blessing. She really is going to be fine. I'm so grateful for the power of the priesthood.

Summary of all this typing: we are very hopeful that she will get to go home with us tomorrow (which is technically later on today...) We meet with the pediatrician either this morning or afternoon and I am praying that she will be stable and healthy enough to make it home. If not, that will be ok because it just means she will have one more day of getting healthy while in the hospital. We shall see.

Here are a couple of pictures from today...

I believe that I have an adorable, cuddly, darling, wonderful, amazing, fantastic, beautiful...ok we'll be here forever...cuddly angel. She loves to snuggle with me and I love to snuggle back.

Jer is one of the most supportive husbands ever. (Compared to all of my other husbands? That statement sounded silly...let me try again...)

Jer has been amazing through this whole thing. Pregnancy, labor, delivery, post-delivery. He is my best friend and there is no one else that I could do this with. I am eternally grateful that he is my husband and the father of our child (as well as any subsequent children...am I really thinking that I'll do this again?!? :) Anyways, here are some of my favorite pictures of him holding and bonding with our little girl...Jer feeding Jessica...

She's a daddy's girl!
I think that Jer is already willing to buy her the world!
Don't let her know...

Isn't he the greatest?

Such a proud daddy!

This is Jer just hanging out in our room on his "bed"

I waited for quite awhile to get that cute tongue sticking out!
I'm sure in a little while, when she does it for behavioral reasons, it won't be so cute! Until then though...

My angel

I know that she doesn't really know that those things attached to her are her arms, hands, and fingers...but it is SO DANG CUTE to watch her act like she knows what she is doing with them!

You can see the IV at the top of the "shade" she is wearing.
The pictures are easier for me to look at but still make me cry.

What a brave little trooper!

I have to keep reminding myself that it is worse than it looks and will help her get better. Again, without Jer I don't think I could handle this. It's just extremely hard to see your child in this position (the medical IV-sticking-out-of-her-head-underneath-the-shade position, not the laying-on-her-back-with-her-head-turned-to-the-side position. Just thought I'd lighten the mood of the blog... :) Jessica is such an amazing kid already. I'm glad she will be going home as a healthy baby when this is all over. Onward and upward to day 3...

I love being a mom. I love my daughter.
I love being a wife. I love my husband.

Proud Parents Of...

Jessica Lynn Workman!Jessica made her debut on Sunday, January 11th, 2009.
She weighed 8 lbs and 12 oz.
She was 21 inches long.
She came 5 weeks early!

I love my little girl!
Isn't she the most precious thing you've ever seen?!?

Here is a close-up...in this picture she is 20 hours old.

She has the cutest chubby cheeks and little chin! Look at that hair!!!

Jessica is only an hour old (maybe even that) in this one. How adorable!!!

Here is the story of how she came into this world:

My cousin Barbara and I went to the Utah College of Massage Therapy located in Lindon, UT. They offer pregnancy massages. Of COURSE we decided to go get one. So, we check in and we get our fabulous massages. (Let me just tell you - those are AMAZING! The first time I felt completely comfortable in months!) I get done with my massage and the attendant, Sarah, steps outside so I can get dressed. I'm putting on my pants (which was my last article of clothing) and WHOOSH! fluid is gushing. When I say gushing, I mean GUSHING! I've been to Niagra Falls once in my life and this was definitely a mini-version of that! I remember just sitting on the massage therapy bed/table thinking, "No way. No way!" I knew I wasn't going to the bathroom because I had gone just an hour before and there was so much liquid. I called Sarah's name and asked her to get my cousin because my water just broke. I explained that my cousin was a nurse and would know if that were true. Barbara came in and checked me. "Oh honey, you need to go to the hospital!" I called Jer to come and get me. Barbara had to walk me through what I needed. Here's how the conversation went:

Amy to Jer: What are you doing right now?
Jer to Amy: I'm online with my sister.
Amy to Jer: My water broke.
Jer to Amy: What?!?
Amy to Jer: My water broke.
Jer to Amy: Uh...what do you need?
Amy to Barb: What do I need?
Barb to Amy: You need him to come get you.
Amy to Jer: You need to come get me.
Amy to Barb: Now what?
Barb to Amy: He needs to pack you a bag.
Amy to Jer: I need a bag.
Amy to Barb: What goes in the bag?
Barb to Amy: Change of clothes
Amy to Jer: I need a change of clothes...in the bag.

I was panicky, shaky, and extremely in shock! Obviously I had no idea what I was doing at this point! Thank you Barbara for stepping in! It was so crazy! After I called Jer I called my mom. The beginning went like this:

Amy: Mom, my water just broke.
Mom: Nuh-uh!
Amy: I'm serious! My water broke!
Mom: No way!
Amy: Mom! I'm not kidding!

Can you tell my family likes to play jokes and tease? :) Then I called Jer's mom to break the news to her (no "breaking" pun intended...) After I got off the phone with those 3, the manager of the Massage Clinic poked her head in and said, "We've had a couple of complaints from other clients about the noise level. I explained that you were in a different situation but could you keep it down please?" I think I just stared at her. 'Different situation?' Right. It's called Labor. I think I went into a different kind of shock after that. One of disbelief. I guess there was a part of me that felt bad about the fact that my going into labor was inconveniencing everyone one around me. At the same time, like this was a 'different situation' that I had control over...oh well. What did I do? I stole a towel. I wish I was kidding but I'm not. I did inform them on the way out (after Jer got there), that I stole a towel from them. I offered to pay them for it but they just told me to keep it and go have my baby. I think they were relieved to get the hysterical pregnant/in labor woman out of their clinic. :)

We got to the hospital, got admitted, and settled in for a grueling, tiring, activity-driven labor. Yea right. I was a little uncomfortable for a few hours, but no real painful contractions. Then, it started getting uncomfortable. So from 2:30pm (when my water broke) till about 11:30pm I was ok. I finally had the nurse call the guy for the anesthetia at 11:45pm. His name was John. The epidural was a little scary but mostly because I had never had one before. I was pleasantly surprised at how well/easy it was. There was one tingly jolt at the end when he hit a nerve, but nothing major. I LOVED having an epidural. I loved it so much, in fact, that Jessica ALMOST became a John. That would have been a little wierd though...So Jer and I slept on and off through the night. In the morning things weren't progressing as quickly as the hospital staff wanted and it almost went the way of a c-section. Finally though, things picked up and at 12:3opm I began pushing. Holy cow is that a different type of labor!

Two things that made this a sacred experience (other than the fact the a new life came into the world): we received the sacrament and I received a blessing. The sacrament was given by 2 older men who were accompanied by their wives and (one couple) was accompanied by their grandson. They knelt right there on the floor in the hospital and offered the sacrament prayers. They passed the bread and then the water to Jer, myself, and 2 nurses who came in to partake of it. The Spirit was very, very strong during that 2 minute sacrament meeting. The Lord has been with us. Then, we had a very good friend come in and help Jeremy give me a blessing. Again, the Spirit was very strong. It was absolutely the most amazing blessing. I was blessed to have the strength to endure and we were promised that Jessica would be fine and perfect and healthy. The Lord has truly been with us.

Up until the pusing, Jer and I both thought that labor was pretty boring. We had talked, emailed, played cards, had visitors, etc...It was truly uneventful. Until the pushing.

The first hour or so was pretty easy. I mean, it was hard work, but not bad at all. At about 1:45 it started getting even more tiring. Finally at about 2:15 it was beginning to be much harder. I could feel a lot more pressure. At 2:30 the nurse called for the doctor. People started coming in droves! There were 2 nurses, 1 doctor (a Dr. Haskett who is the nicest man and did such a great job!), a nurse from the Nursery, and a Respiratory Therapist. It was busy and crowded. The last 15 minutes were super hard and I was super tired, cranky, and hysterical. That last 15 minutes is when I was crying and telling the doctor in no uncertain terms to get the baby out! I didn't swear or say anything awful, I just demanded that the baby be delivered! :) She was and she is beautiful! My brightest spot during the "dark 15" was Jer smiling and giving me the thumbs up. He was the best coach. The best husband. The best supporter. The best leg holder. (If you haven't been a part of a delivery that last one sounds wierd. If you have, then you know exactly what I mean...). Basically, he was awesome!

Anyways, she is here. She is beautiful and I am still trying to take in the fact that I am a mom. I have a daughter. A living, breathing, beautiful daughter! I can hardly believe it. It doesn't feel real and I feel like I am playing house. A very sore, tired kind of house. :) Thank you to everyone who has been supportive and wonderful. We have some great friends and family members. Everyone has just made this experience one of the most positive ones of my life. Next to getting married to Jer, this has been the best experience of my life!

Pregnancy is an opportunity to...

1. Be a mom
2. Learn patience
3. Appreciate ankles (take a second to look down at yours...I bet they look fantastic!)
4. Appreciate the ability to move your body
5. Appreciate and desire the chance to regularly exercise
6. Learn humility
7. Appreciate (and desire!) a clean home - soon I will be able to clean my entire home again in 1 day! :)
8. Appreciate sleep - in any form really
9. Prepare for motherhood
10. Bond and develop a very deep love for my daughter
11. Learn more about my sacred role as a wife
12. Learn more about my sacred role as a mother
13. Learn more about my sacred role as a daughter
14. Appreciate my husband - all he does for me & how much he really does love me
15. Enjoy laughter
16. Begin to learn how to rely on my Savior
17. Pour my heart and soul out daily and often with my Father in Heaven
18. Look around and realize how many kind, kind people there are in this world
19. Enjoy feeling my daughter move inside of me - a daily miracle
20. Wonder at the Plan of Salvation and how true and real it is
21. Reflect and appreciate my own mother - I'm just beginning to realize all that she sacrificed for me
22. Reflect and appreciate my dad - watching my husband I realize that dad's sacrifice a lot too
23. Appreciate my mother-in-law. She sacrificed for my husband like my mom did for me
24. Appreciate my father-in-law. Ditto on the sacrificing part - he was, and is, a great father to my husband
25. Enjoy my husband talking and singing to our daughter - I love it when he leans down and says (in a sing-song voice) "Hello baby! This is your daddy!"
26. Realize what is truly important in my life
27. Appreciate temples on the earth. My daughter will be my daughter forever thanks to the amazing blessing of Jer and I being sealed together
28. Enjoy food - it's amazing how food sustains my child and myself!
29. Appreciate stretchy clothing
30. (this one might sound silly but...) appreciate skinny fingers - I miss wearing my wedding ring
31. Enjoy having a kingdom that consists of 4 regular pillows, 1 super fluffy pillow, and 1-2 smaller couch pillows - without those there is no hope for sleep!
32. Really appreciate water! I have become part fish because of the amount of water I drink!
33. Learn more about the miracle of life
34. Learn how to control my panic - it seems that every time we have a doctor's appointment I find something new to worry about. I think it's the first time mom syndrome...
35. Grow stronger in my testimony
36. Grow closer to my husband - can I mention it enough about how amazing he is?!?
37. Appreciate the ability to fit inside a booth at a restaurant - I no longer do...one day I will though
38. Buy adorable, cute, teensie-weensie baby clothes!
39. Hold a cute little infant diaper in my hands and think about the cute little tushy that will fit in it! (I ignore the idea of what will come out of that cute little tushy 10-12 times a day though!)
40. Sit in my rocker/glider in the baby's room and think about the time (which will be soon) that I get to rock my daughter with her in my arms
41. Learn from wonderful friends the secrets of motherhood

This list could go on and on...and it probably should. Yea for motherhood! Yea for an incredible eternal plan that is so perfect and sacred!

“Yours is the grand tradition of Eve, the mother of all the human family. … Yours is the grand tradition of Sarah and Rebekah and Rachel, without whom there could not have been those magnificent patriarchal promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob which bless us all. Yours is the grand tradition of Lois and Eunice and the mothers of the 2,000 stripling warriors. Yours is the grand tradition of Mary, chosen and foreordained from before this world was, to conceive, carry, and bear the Son of God himself” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “ ‘Because She Is a Mother,’ ” Ensign, May 1997, 36).

Skinny and Beautiful

Ok in the blogging world, for me, when it rains it pours...meaning I am posting 3 (yes 3) different posts all on the same day. All within the same hour! :)

I told my class this week that I have the superhuman ability to go from happy to bawling in about .2 seconds. I warned them that it probably wasn't them but if I did start crying, to just be super nice and smile. One of my kids asked, "So, when you start crying should we just pull out a book and read until you are done?" I had to laugh. I told them no, to just keep working on whatever their assignment was. I told them that all they needed to say was, "Mrs. Workman - you are so skinny and beautiful!"

Now, all 3 of the 6th grade classes rotate between us teachers (in order to prepare them for junior high) so I see all 3 classes for one subject or another. I told the other 2 classes the same thing. The funny thing, is that this whole week I have had students from all 3 classes come up to me at random times during the day to say, "My you look skinny and beautiful Mrs. Workman!" The other 2 teachers have told me that the kids are now starting to say it to them too! Have I mentioned how much I love 6th graders and teaching them? :) This is really a fun, fun, fun, fun, fun age to work with! :)

Doctor's Visit

So, we had a doctor's visit yesterday. Long and short of it is - I'm still pregnant. :) Even though we weren't supposed to be on weekly visits for 2 more weeks, because I've been feeling so much pressure down in the pelvic region and because my measurements are bigger, Dr. Smith decided to begin weekly visits yesterday.

I am dilated about 1cm, Jessica is sitting head down, and we are scheduled for another ultrasound / doctor's visit next Tuesday in order to see what is going on with her. I've been gaining so much water weight that Dr. Smith isn't sure if my measurements are water, amniotic fluid, the way Jessica is sitting, or (*sniffle*) just me or Jessica gaining weight. Hopefully we'll know more on Tuesday! If she is bigger, I'm praying that she'll hurry up and get here. I guess we'll see.

Now, I know that 1cm is nothing to scream about or begin frantically throwing my hospital bag together for BUT it feels like the beginning of the end of pregnancy. To me, the 1cm is more of a way to put on my mental pregnancy game face. You know? Or, maybe this is just all the rantings of an almost 8 month pregnant gal. You choose. Either way my baby is coming and I am SO excited!

Jer just makes me laugh because every night (and at random intervals in between) he puts his face right by my belly and talks to Jessica. Last night, he began singing to her. Oh, how I love that man! He is going to be such a great dad. I can't wait to see him in action. No really. At 2 am I can't wait to see him in action! :)

More info as we get it! (and I promise to post a picture of my and my Shamu-sized belly soon!)

The Flight Home From Texas...

turned out to be pretty awesome! When I booked our tickets, I had us riding side by side with me in the aisle seat. When we printed out our tickets at the airport, we were sitting rows away with neither of us in the aisle. Um...for anyone who has seen me - not going to work. So, at the counter by the gate, we went up to talk to the 2 gals who were at the counter. We walked up and before we could say anything one of them says, "Girl! You look so tired! I'm only 2 months pregnant and I'm tired. How are you hanging IN there?!?" Jer and I just smiled. The other girl said, "She is always trying to play the pregnant card - shoving her work off on me..." I just laughed and said, "Sorry. I'm on her side. The pregnant card is a TOTALLY valid card!" You could tell that the 2 gals were friends. So we all laughed and then Jer and I explained our situation. They said they were overbooked by 10 but would see what they could do. We thanked them and sat down.

About 10 minutes later we got the call, 'Workman's to the counter. Workman's to the counter.' We decided that I looked the most pathetic so I would go up (just in case extra sympathy was needed). When I got up there, it was just the gal who wasn't pregnant. She looked at me and said, "Now, you weren't on my side earlier so I was hesitant to do this for you. But, you look like you need it..." and she showed me our tickets. At first, I couldn't figure out what was going on. Then, I looked closer and saw "Elite Pass" at the top. She had bumped us up to first class!!!! I tried not to cry and said thank you. She just smiled and said, "Merry Christmas!"

First class is awesome! Real glasses! All the water I could possibly want! Wider seats! Seats that go so far back that, compared to coach, I thought I was going to hit the guy behind me! They hang up your coats! Free headsets for movies! No moist towelette but I'm sure if our flight was longer they would have had them! Two, count them, two snack packs of the FANCY pretzels! It was pretty fun to fly that way. :)

All silliness aside - I was so grateful for what was a miracle / blessing / tender mercy of the Lord to me. Some might call it luck. Others might call it chance. Me? I have no doubt in my mind that it was absolutely one way that the Lord showed He is looking out for me and He cares for me.

Merry Christmas

It has been a LONG while since I have posted anything. Sorry to all you avid Workman Fans out there who have been dying for something new to read about our lives. :) Pregnancy and teaching have completely wiped me out in the 3rd trimester!

Jer and I are in Houston, Texas for the Holiday Season to spend time with his family. We were nervous about flying and not sure if our doctor would let us fly. It was funny because when we talked to the nurse she was very adamant that we NOT fly after 32 weeks. Jer and I decided to talk to our doctor about it directly. When Dr. Smith walked into the room and we began talking about the possibility of flying she said, without any hesitation, "Ok. Come in for a checkup the morning your flight leaves but you should be fine." We chuckled and said, "Ok."

THE FLIGHT

I was nervous about the flight. 3 hours in a cramped plane with not a lot of leg room and a seat that won't recline? Hmmm....no brainer. We got in, got going, and it turned out to be relatively comfortable. I was pretty surprised. Dr. Smith (I promise that is her real name) asked that I get up 1/2 way through the flight and walk the aisle. We were at the back of the plane (right next to the bathrooms...smart airline...) and I got up to walk the aisle. Let me just say this: a man without any thoughts to pregnant women designed this particular airplane. I kept bumping and jostling the poor passengers - "Excuse me, pardon me, oops! I'm sorry! Excuse me..." I got to the front, paused, turned around, and headed back. I think a couple of passengers just sighed as they saw me coming. Poor passengers!

CHRISTMAS

Jer's family has several traditions that I love and that we plan to incorporate into our own family traditions.

First: as the kids got older they drew names for stockings. So, everyone has someone else's stocking to "help Santa" fill. Then, sometime on Christmas Eve, you sneak your stocking down so no one else see's and put it somewhere in the living room. It's pretty fun.

Second: on Christmas morning everyone takes turns opening a present. The dad (DeVon in this case - Jer in our family) is passing out all the presents but nobody just dives into them. We're sitting in a circle and we start with one person and go around. I LOVE it because the focus and excitement is seeing what other people got for Christmas. Timewise you are spending 90% seeing what everyone else got and only 10% seeing what you got. Much more selfless than just "digging in". It takes a long time (it took us about 3 or 4 hours) but it's great because there is lots of laughter and talking and it's just great.
Third: on Christmas Eve the women make a treat called Cinnamon Twists that take all night to rise. In the morning you pop them in the oven and then frost them. That becomes the treat (with Egg Nog of course) that everyone eats. They are SO good! Definitely going to become one of our family traditions! :)

THE PREGNANCY

Ok. I am officially large. My mom called, asking for sizes for Jer and I so she could send the traditional Christmas PJ's (which were Wii pajama's this year! So cute!) and I said, "Jer is a large and I am a whale." Needless to say, mine were an XL this year. :) Our daughter is so adorable! I cannot wait for her to get here! I am beginning to notice regular sleep patterns. She is definitely active when she is awake. She really is a night owl and is her most active between 9:00pm - 1:00am. I can already tell that she loves her daddy because EVERYTIME Jer puts his hands on my stomach she will ALWAYS move to where his hands are. Everytime. It's so awesome! She loves music and will usually always react to it. If she's really active and I put quiet or soothing music on or I play the piano she will calm down. If she's been calm and there is music that is not so calm (go Jackson 5 or Queen's) she will begin moving or kicking. The more I learn about her online the more I realize that we really are getting closer to having her here. My favorite gift this Christmas season (well there are 2) came from my mother-in-law. With the help of her sister Elaine, she made this beautiful baby quilt. It is gorgeous. (Pictures to come). Then, I got these cute blocks that are painted pink and green and each have a letter that was decopaged (spelling?) on them. They spell Jessica's name. I'm not sure how to describe them so I'll post a picture when we get home. They are so adorable! My favorite though, was definitely the quilt. I had a hard time not crying all Christmas Day about it. It is something beautiful that her Grammy made her that will last her whole life. Another favorite was actually something Jer got. He got a baby outfit for Jessica. It was green pj's that said "Daddy's Girl" on one side. So cute!

THE MOTHER

I remember about 2-3 months ago I was talking to my friend Tawna about how nervous I was for labor and deliver. Freaked out actually. She, being the good friend and wise mother of 2 that she is (really and truly she's amazing), said, "You'll get to the point in your pregnancy where you are so uncomfortable and large that you won't care. You'll do anything to get the baby out." Well, Tawna. I'm at that point! :) I know it will be scary (mostly because it's new and unknown to me), I know that it will hurt (hopefully until the epideral kicks in) and that recovery will be sore, but I don't care. Get this baby out! Safely and when it's right...which hopefully will be a week before she's due...maybe 2? I mean, if she's ready then why not? Right? :) The swelling in my feet has not gone down much and it has expanded into my calves. Pretty much you can push my ankles all the way around and create a moat at least 1/4 inch deep. Sometimes 1/2 inch when it's really bad. (I wish I was joking about the dimensions...). My feet get tender in some places and at the end of the night, but for the most part they don't really hurt. Which is SUCH a blessing! I also now have more appreciation for those who suffer with carpel tunnel. My arms and hands have begun swelling so every morning I wake up with numb and/or tingling fingers. When I try to make a fist, my hands look like the witch Muriel from Fablehaven - they become claws that lock into place and I can't move my fingers. It's so wierd! I massage them out and can finally make fists. It's interesting. Lately, (and if anyone has any thoughts/experience/suggestions/info on this, please share), I have had a lot of pressure on my pelvic bones. You know that feeling of soreness after you have been riding a bike for a long time? It's that with extra pressure attached. It's only been in the past 2 days that I've felt it so I'm not sure if it because of how Jessica is sitting, or she's growing, or my body is getting ready for labor, or am I in some kind of pre-labor? I don't know. We have a doctor's appointment on Jan. 8th so, unless it gets worse, I'll check with her then.

THE FATHER

Excited to be a daddy and very, very, very, very, very patient with the mother! Jer massages my waterbed feet every night (sometimes 2 or 3 times a day if needed!) and he is really wonderful with me.

CONCLUSION

In spite of all of this, I have truly had a healthy pregnancy with a very healthy baby. I am so grateful. I have known so many women who have had miscarriages, gestational diabetes, fetus problems, etc. and I'm not sure why I haven't. I know that the Lord gives people the trials that will help them grow. I think mine has been to work on a positive attitude and to really learn how to rely on the Lord regardless of how easy or hard life is. He has blessed Jer and I tremendously and I am still working on trying to genuinely show Him how grateful I am. 7 weeks to go!

High On The Mountain Top

Last night Jer and I went to ward temple night. As a ward we met in a room on the ground floor of the temple with a member of the temple presidency. President Daines spoke to us about how this temple is literally an "abode" or home of the Lord. The Lord has been there. He has walked the floors. He has been in every room. The Spirit was so strong while he spoke to us. We then, as a ward, did an endowment session.

As Jer and I sat in the Celestial Room, I was so thankful to be married to him. I love him so much. Love truly grows. I thought about our wedding day almost 2.5 years ago and how much I thought I loved him then. My love has truly grown for him as we have grown closer together. He is my best friend. I love him. I was so thankful that we were sealed in the temple. We are a forever family! Our beautiful daughter Jessica will be coming to us and will be our daughter forever! Last night I felt like I had a tiny glimpse into the grand eternal purpose of being linked together through the work we do at the temple. I know that Heavenly Father loves us. He knows me, He knows my trials and what I need. He wants me to be happy. He wants me to succeed. As I approach motherhood I am confident that He will be with me. He loves me. I AM a child of God. :)

Permission To Come Aboard Captain?

Today my class and I went on a field trip to a space simulator located at an elementary school in Pleasant Grove. It is a mission designed around a social studies theme specifically for 6th grade called 'Children of the Perikoi.' To make a long story short, the Perikoi people lived on planet PCX2214 and were similar to the Ancient Greeks in their technology and lifestyle. Every year there was a ceremony called The Choosing where their gods came down and picked the brightest and best of the 12 year old boys and girls. They took them away while the rest of the kids grew up and lived their lives on Perikoi. The gods and the priests in their temples discouraged and hated science. Anyone who "practiced" or did anything with science was considered a heretic and condemned to death. The Federation of Colonization Survey (FCS) had a team of scientists who were studying the Perikoi. They had sent some of their scientists down to Perikoi to try and learn more about The Choosing and what happened to the kids. In the FCS (which is a part of the Federation of Starfleet...hello Star Trek!) there is a very strict law called the Prime Directive which forbids contamination or influence from outside sources on planets and civilizations such as Perikoi which were still developing. My class had a mission with 5 specific objectives:

1) Find out who the gods are
2) Discover if The Choosing is real
3) Go to Perikoi
4) Decide if The Choosing should still continue
5) Return home safely
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Yesterday, in class, we spent about 2 hours discussing and comparing what we knew about the Perikoi (from the space simulator's website) and Ancient Greece. Later on we talked about the specific assignments that students could get and what they were expected to do in those assignments. Each student wrote down their top 3 and I used those to decide who would have what job. The jobs were things like: Captain, First Officer, Ambassador, Right Wing Flight Officer, Engineer, Decoder, Communications Officer, Left Wing Tactical Officer, Flight Controller, Executive Officer, Left & Right Wing Damage Control Officers, etc. Everyone got their assignments and filled out a boarding pass.

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We arrived at the simulator this morning. It was so awesome! The kids were put in uniforms and had to go through these really cool black revolving doors (so that they did not "bring any contamination" from Earth with them onto the ship...). They went up a flight of stairs onto the command deck. As everyone entered they handed their boarding pass to a staff who showed them to their seat. The last 3 to enter the command deck (or bridge) was the Ambassador, First Officer, and then Captain. The staff member who was facillitating the mission said something like, "Officers rise. Captain on deck." The kids looked around, confused, until my student who was the Captain entered. He took his chair (which was set higher up on the command deck). He really got into character by saying, "At ease."

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It was really cool to see my students have to work together to solve this mission. I sat back and just watched them figure it out. A couple of times some of my students asked me a question about their jobs, but I just shook my head and told them it was their mission and they needed to figure it out.

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My favorite part was when my students were talking with aliens. The only person who could talk to them was the Ambassador. My Ambassador asked the aliens about The Choosing. The aliens got mad and said they were going to kill the scientists on the planet as well as any city-states that the scientists had tried to introduce science to. All of a sudden the Ambassador said, "Ok! Ok! We'll do a full retreat!" I tried so hard not to laugh! Unfortunately, this meant a strike against our mission (after 5 strikes, the mission failed...a strike was only given when there was a major blunder. Apparently, retreat was a major blunder!)

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It was tons of fun to watch my kids. I learned a lot about them and they learned a lot about themselves and each other. It was really a cool field trip! If anyone is interested in learning more about this non-profit organization, go to spacecamputah.org to find out more. It is a very cool program. They do space simulations for schools, birthday parties, business corporations (team-building activities) and so forth. I told Jer that I almost want to do a birthday party there for me next year! It was just that cool! :)

Staying Put

God moves in mysterious ways. The house we ended up looking at was great. We decided that if the owners offered it to us for the tremendously low rent, we would take it. They said they would call us by the end of the week and let us know. 2.5 weeks later and they still haven't called us! :) Which, we decided, was better. We do not need to move into the house. We are comfortable and happy where we are at. We can definitely make do with our darling 2 bedroom house. Yes, Jessica's room will also double (well triple really) as storage and an office but she will only be concerned with feeding, crying, and pooping for the first little while anyways so who really cares? :)

Daylight Savings Masquerade

Two Sunday's ago, our bishop challenged the members of our ward to not only be on time to sacrament meeting, but to be 10 minutes early. Last Sunday I was out of town in Cedar City (more info in another blog will be forthcoming...) so Jer was on his own for church. Because he is amazing, humble, and obedient, he took the bishop's challenge and got to church 10 minutes early. When I got home from Cedar City Jer told me all about his Sunday experience. It was incredible. The Spirit was so strong for him. So, we talked about how important it was for us as a couple to get to church 10 minutes early. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. I am the monkey that throws a wrench into the machinery.

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Jer summed it up today by saying something to the effect of, "No matter how much time you are given, you are always ready 5 minutes after that. If you have 10 minutes to get ready, you are ready in 15. Then, when you are given 15 minutes to get ready, you are ready in 20. It's an interesting thing that I've noticed in the last 2.5 years of being married to you."

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This morning, as we got up at 8:30-ish (church being at 10:30), I knew that being early to church was important to Jer and important for us. Jer asked if we could be ready to go by 10:10am so we could get to church by 10:20am. I agreed and we began getting ready for church.

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At 9:00am we began preparing our Sunday School lesson. I told Jer that we needed to finish by 9:45am so I could finish getting ready for church. At 9:45am I began finishing my getting ready for church tasks. Normally we are ready to go either at 10:30am or only a few minutes before. This morning, I was ready at 10:18am. Not 10:10am but better than 10:30am. We knelt down to pray. After the prayer Jer asked, "Can we be ready to go by 10:10am?" I just stared at him, completely unaware of what he meant. I was a little hurt too because I felt like he was criticizing me. I had really tried to be ready on time! Suddenly, Jer laughed and said, "Can we be ready by 10:10? It's daylight savings time so we have about 50 minutes to go."

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What a stinker!