Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Coming soon!

Well, I've been slacking off on the blog keeping...again!  I just need to find my groove with these 2 kids and get all the pictures from the holidays.  I promise to post very VERY soon with tons of pictures.

Our family is doing GREAT and Jet's baby blessing is coming up this Sunday.  This will be a first since we didn't do Kailyn's.  Good luck, Babe!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Delivery #2

As promised, here is what happened when Jet was born:

My due date was November 9th.  On Tuesday, November 8th I saw my OBGYN for a check up.  He told me that I was dilated to a 2 and that Jet still had to drop and turn a little bit more before I would be ready to deliver.  I was concerned about being overdue and having a huge baby but he said, based on my ultrasound the previous week, that Jet was just under or over 7 pounds and not to worry.  He told me he would be out of town over the weekend and let me know about the doctor on call for him.  We scheduled an appointment for the following Monday so we could do some monitoring after my due date.

Daniel really wanted to have the baby on Friday, November 11th (11/11/11, Veteran's Day) but I could tell early on in the day that it wasn't in the cards for us.  But after we had gone to bed that night I woke up several times with strong contractions.  They weren't painful but they were strong enough to wake me up.  I just went back to sleep each time thinking it was nothing.  So when we woke up in the morning (about 5:30) I started having mild contractions about 2-3 minutes apart.  Regular, mild contractions aren't exactly a big deal when you're 9 months pregnant but Daniel decided to start keeping track on my phone app. He knew I had contractions through the night and was convinced that I was going into active labor.  We kept track for about 2 hours and they were still the same, only getting stronger.  Again, no pain, just uncomfortable.  Then they started to shift.  They were becoming a tiny bit painful and 4-5 minutes apart.We called my parents and let them know I would probably have the baby that day and that they might want to start thinking about when they were coming down. 

We didnt' tell Daniel's parents until about 10 am.  We were on our way to our water store to put a sign up letting people know we were going to be closed that day.  We called his parents on the way there to ask if we could hang out at their house during the day (they live closer to our hospital).  My mother in law offered to take Kailyn to our water store and work it for us so we could stay open.  We all agreed to meet at the hospital since it was in between our homes.  I'm not exactly sure who made the official decision but it was decided for me that I would go into triage and see how close I was.  I knew I wasn't ready and really didn't want to get undressed, hooked up, lay around for a couple hours, and then have them tell me to go home but that's exactly what happened.  We got to the hospital at 10:30 and we left at about 12:30.  I was dilated to a 3 and wasn't "progressing".  My contractions seemed to be less regular at that point, but they were definitely becoming more painful.

We got to the Wray home (just the 2 of us), had lunch, and watched T.V. while my contractions continued to get stronger and more painful.  I used my breathing technique and sometimes moaning to get through them.  And then, just as I lay myself down on Danny's lap to try and sleep, Daniel's dad came home.  I thought that I would be super irritated by anyone else's company but he actually lightened the mood.  He made jokes and kept conversations going.  He even made me a dessert.  Eventually my contractions became so uncomfortably strong that I had to get up and walk around and THAT was amazing.  I labored with Kailyn in the hospital bed but walking around a house I'm comfortable in was so much easier.  I was able to rock around, sway my hips, brace myself against the wall...it was SO much better than being in the hospital.  Just before 4 pm and started feeling like I needed to have a BM.  I told Daniel that it was time to start thinking about heading to the hospital.  3 contractions later I got the impulse to push.  I told Daniel it was time to go. 

We got in the car and headed over to the hospital.  Danny is such a trooper when it comes to being supportive.  On the way to the hospital, while I was moaning and groaning through the intensity, he was saying things like "Look. Warm Springs (street the hospital is on) goes all the way through.  That's convenient, right?" and "I'm so proud of you for laboring at home" and "Good job breathing".  I know he was consciously thinking of things to say, but they were all heartfelt and that's what made it perfect.

When we got to the hospital Danny signed me in while I went to triage and changed into the hospital gown.  I went to the bathroom and lost my plug.  The nurse waited for Danny and then checked to see how far I was dilated...8-9!  WOOHOO!  That was so good to hear.  It was time and I was ready for it!  So they move me down a couple rooms and I continued my labor there. 

My water broke and the pushing sensation came fairly quickly after that.  I was having a hard time controlling my breathing so they got me an oxygen mask.  The lead nurse was AWESOME!  The doctor was in the parking lot, but I was already about to crown so the nurse just gave me directions that were surprisingly helpful.  With Kailyn they just kept telling me to hold back on the pushing and wait for my doctor.  And when the doctor got there is was just "Push! Push! Push!"  This time my nurse did the exact opposite.  She told me she knew it was natural to push when my body was ready and to let it happen, but she also, very calmly, told me when to "hold it" so I didn't tear as much.  Also, we had discussed having Danny help assist in the delivery but since my doctor wasn't there we were afraid he wasn't going to be able to be involved.  But our Super Nurse came to the rescue again and let him participate.  Not as much as he would have liked to, but he was still able to help receive Jet.

A few pushes later he was out at 5:05 (about an hour after getting to the hospital).  He had the umbilical cord pulled across his neck but nothing life threatening.  They cut the cord and whisked him away because he lost his coloring really fast and they wanted to make sure he was ok.  It seemed like forever until I was able to hold him.  Finally they brought him.  I didn't get to have any skin on skin contact because they wrapped him up to try and bring his color back in.  After holding him for a bit they took Jet to the nursery to, again, do some tests and to try to get his coloring back.  GRRR!  So frustrating.  They were gone for about 45 minutes.  But when he came back he was healthy and had his color.  He was such a beautiful newborn and he has the cutest hair color I've ever seen.

Well, the rest is history.  We went home the next day and started the real work.  He's very healthy and happy and his sister loves him to bits!  He cries more than Kailyn did and he always wants to be held but for the most part he's an angel.  We love you, Jet!  I'm so happy you decided to stick with us for eternity!


Friday, November 18, 2011

Joseph Jet Wray

Joseph "Jet" Wray was born on 11/12/11 at 5:05 pm.
He weighed in a 8 lbs 5 oz and measured 21 inches long.
I labored at the Wray home and got to the hospital an hour before delivery time.
I'm proud to say I delivered naturally with a lot of help and support from my husband.


THE SMILE


 THE SCOWL

He is such a beautiful baby boy!  I'm so happy that we have him in our family.  He's a perfect addition and brings such happiness to his father, mother, and sister.  I promise to post more soon but he's about to wake up for a feeding.  Duty calls :)

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Quick update

I'm still pregnant...that's pretty much it. Or at least that's how I feel. I feel like the ONLY thing going on is that this baby is still up there. Heaven forbid he's trying to get to be his daddy's birth size (10 lbs)...I think I'll die if he's any bigger than 8 and 1/2 lbs. Well, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and hopefully I'll know a little bit more about size, due date, etc.
Other than that Danny was promoted to an assistant manager at his job. He's in charge of making sure school lunches get made in the morning at Papa John's. His job and all the employees around him literally have the hardest job there for the least amount of pay. It may not sound like a big deal, but when they have to make 400 to 500+ pizzas Monday through Friday it takes a toll on your attitude and body. I feel so bad for him. He wakes up at 5 am everyday and is spent by the end of his shift but still runs errands for me. He's such a sweetie!

Anyhow, because of his schedule and my work schedule here at our water store we don't get to spend tons of time together. And lately I've been working to get my house cleaned, my hospital bags packed, getting insurance information all lines up, and just trying to get through this pregnancy that the time we do have to spend together is not really spent together. But, a bit of good news, I was called to be Daniel's teaching companion in his primary class. YAY! So instead of going to Sunday school all by myself and then Relief Society where I don't know anyone I get to sit all three hours with my husband and then spend the rest of the day with him. And it's perfect timing with the baby coming, too, because he was worried that he won't be able to see him ever.
Oh, and for Halloween I "dressed up" as a pregnant pumpkin and Kailyn wore her Korean dress (I forgot the name of it). Well, she actually dressed up as a ballerina at the water store because I didn't want her to ruin her dress, but when she put that dress on she was a princess and acted like it. Everyone loved her outfit. We only went to maybe 15 houses or less, but she learned to say Trick or Treat and was pretty good and remember to say thank you before she left the doorway. Sometimes the decorations distracted her too much to remember to say anything.
One house we stopped at was Holly Madison's. For those of you who don't know who she is she's an ex-Playboy Bunny who moved to and now has a show on the strip called Bo Peep...or Peep Show. Normally we wouldn't care but she's lives in the same gated community as Daniel's parents and lives almost right across the street so we stopped there. Holly wasn't there (she was probably performing a show or at a party) but one of her friends was there and was taking pictures of the cutest costumes for Holly. He LOVED Kailyn's costume and asked for her picture. After he took it we turned to leave and he realized I was pregnant and had a pumpkin belly. He asked to take my picture, too. So, as silly as it is, Kailyn and I got our picture taken for a Playboy Bunny to look at. Haha. It still made us feel a little special.









Bill brought back BYU shirts.  Kailyn loved hers!


Monday, October 24, 2011

APPROVED!

Well, it finally happened!  We were approved for Medicaid!  I applied (for the second time) at the beginning of August and now, with about 2 weeks to go, I'm approved for insurance so I can have the baby in a hospital.  It is such a huge relief!

I haven't posted very much about what's been going on with my caseworker since my post about Kailyn's head injury, but that's just because it's been up and down the entire time and I didn't have the energy to tell everyone about it.  And right now I'm in too good a mood to tell everyone about it.  Let's just say the squeaky wheel gets the oil.  I was constantly breathing down my caseworkers neck and, even though it kept getting put off, he finally looked at all my information and approved it.  I met with him this morning so he could make copies of Kailyn's birth certificate and immunization card and then he told me I was approved and to expect confirmation in the mail this week.  When I left his office I started laughing and, in spite of being extremely sore, held Kailyn above my head and gave her kisses and whispering, "Yay!" which she gladly repeated. 

More importantly we said a prayer when we got to the car and offered our thanks.  We have been waiting for this since March and, even though I've been fairly collected about it all, it has been a constant source of stress.  We are so very grateful that our prayers were heard and answered.  Thanks for all of your concern and support.  We really appreciate it.

Friday, September 30, 2011

FALL!!!

I know I live in Vegas and it's still summer weather but today it was just a little overcast and now I've got the bug! I've been watching The Cosby Show and the latest episode is a huge Thanksgiving dinner and now I've got the bug! I've been thinking about what to wear for Halloween and now I've got the bug! Kailyn's turning 2 on October 17 and now I've got the bug! Joseph Jet is due the first week of November and now I've got the bug! Kailyn wore tennis shoes today instead of sandals and now I've got the bug!
Does anyone else want to go shopping for sweaters and boots? I'm so excited for FALL! I don't decorate for fall because financially it is way low on my priority list but if I had it my way the house would be decked out in pumpkins, fall colors, leaves, scarecrows, plaid, and spiced scents. I am so excited for the next few months...and then I'll get even more excited for Christmas! I've stopped worrying about everything that has been going on and have stopped worrying about some uncertainties that are fast approaching. I'm going to just relax and remember that this is an amazing time of year. The weather is changing, my family is growing, Kailyn is learning, and everything looks promising. Happy Seasons!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Our incredibly horrible "vacation"

va.ca.tion - noun
1. a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday.
2. freedom or release from duty, business, or activity.

It all started Wednesday at the store. Kailyn was having a TERRIBLE day. I had so much I had to do. I was cleaning the store before we left, doing last minute training with a new girl, taking care of customers, getting deposits to the bank, and just the general day to day responsibilities. But of all the things I had to get done one of them was to talk to my case worker for Medicaid and give him an update from Daniel's employer that was especially important and time consuming. Medicaid is time sensitive. You turn in your application, are given a date to have all your paperwork turned in by (usually a week and a half), and then are given 10 days ONLY to get anything extra turned in whether it's something you missed or you are waiting for someone else to get something to you. Another thing to know about Medicaid is you aren't ever given your case worker's direct contact information. You have to get through to the representatives on their "800" number and leave a message with them to direct to your case worker and then the case worker is supposed to call you within 48 hours.

Well, as crappy as the day was, I had called the "800" number and got through to a representative with all the things Daniel's employer needed from my caseworker. I got home at it was time to pack and clean my house as we were leaving at 5:30 in the morning to head up to Utah. So I was multi tasking packing, laundry, cleaning, and Kailyn while Daniel ran some errands with a friend. Long story short: Daniel and I both pulled an all nighter and were on the road by 6 am. We made the drive to Provo by 1 pm without any accidents, although I did see Danny doze off a couple times when he was driving.


Here's where we started having issues. We got to Provo to see Daniel's sister who just started at BYU. After that quick stop I decided to drive the rest of the way to my parents house. While I was adjusting the settings I noticed a warning light. Neither of us knew what it meant, but Daniel assumed it was his regular maintenance check light since it was about time for him to go in. So we drove the 40 minutes to my parents house and didn't drive our car until the next afternoon when we went out to get lunch. Before we pulled out onto the busy road the car was making a funny sound in the back. But, instead of checking, we kept heading out and decided to just looked up the warning light symbol in the owner's manual. I couldn't find it so Daniel pulled over and found it: Low tire pressure. Fantastic! We don't know how long the light had been on except for sure in Provo. So Danny changed the tire to the spare and we headed back to the house. After a quick shower we loaded up, went and got lunch at one of our hot spots in Utah, and headed over to Costco to get the tire fixed. Well, the tire wasn't fixable. I new tire cost us roughly $180 and after talking to the Toyota dealership in Vegas we found out that the tire wasn't covered in our warranty so it was all coming out of pocket.


Note that this was all on Friday, the last day that my caseworker could call me to be within his 48 hour time limit. He never called so that added to the stress of the day, especially since Monday was a holiday and we wouldn't even be in town until Wednesday.
The next morning we picked up Michelle and headed up to Idaho for Daniel's family reunion (after making a couple stops for errands that had already put us all in a bad mood). On the way up Daniel was in another car's blind spot and they kicked up a piece of metal that hit the front of our car. We saw something fly up the front of our windshield and assumed it was whatever the van kicked up. When we stopped to get gas about 3-4 hours later Daniel showed me the front of his car and the Toyota emblem was missing. So that was what flew in front of our windshield. Our car is, by the way, 2010. Practically new. GRRRRR!


After another hour or so we finally got to Daniel's family property. It was beautiful. A river runs right next to it, pretty trees on most sides, and a TON of loose dirt everywhere. My allergies went nuts. That dirt was in everyone's eyes, nose, and throat. And it didn't help that the younger kids were all rolling around in it and throwing it at each other. I kept Kailyn away from it even though everyone told me she was going to get dirty. I still couldn't encourage her to go get dirt in her eyes. We got to spend a little bit of time with some of Daniel's favorite cousins but it was cut short since everyone was going to tubing down the river. We all had lunch together and that's when the worst part of the trip happened.


Kailyn starting acting like a wild child after lunch. She couldn't sit still. It's hard for Danny to get around because of his ankles and I can't get around because I'm pregnant. It got super frustrating when we asked Kailyn to do things (come here, don't touch, go see Grandpa) and she flat out ignored us. She's usually well behaved. So finally we set her in a camping chair while we helped clean up lunch. We were both, literally, within 3 feet of her. She tried to lean over the edge of the chair and I caught the chair before she could fall over and warned her to sit still of she was going to fall. We continued helping, still just as close as before and about 5 minutes later she leaned over the edge again and no one could catch her. I saw her hit her head on a cinder block but it didn't look like she hit it hard enough to have anything worse than a nasty scratch. Danny got to her first and when I asked if she was ok he said she was fine. But then he looked at her head and said she would need stitches. He told me afterwards that he could see her skull. She was bleeding everywhere.

After we got her bandaged up we headed to the closest emergency clinic in the area which was only about a half hour away. The staff was great but the actually facility made us a little nervous that things wouldn't get done right. But they glued her up (no stitches!!) and got her a tetanus shot and everything looked great. We don't have insurance currently so we are going to have to pay for that. Still no bill in the mail, but we're hoping we'll be able to get Medicaid by then.

The rest of the trip was great. Kailyn was right back to normal. We stayed in a motel room that night (no camping when I'm 7 months pregnant), headed back into town to spend the day with cousins, went to the Idaho State Fair, drove back to my parents house, Danny went shooting with the boys and I went window shopping with the girls... we were also able to spend time with Kenneth's family our first night in, which was a blast. Anyways, the trip all together was a bust financially and stressed us out beyond belief. Especially because we had seriously considered not making the trip at all. But spending quality time with my family and Daniel's family was great. But we are definitely taking a vacation from taking vacations.


The morning after.

On our way to the motel.


The bear the nurses gave her for being so brave.



There's more blood on Danny's shirt hiding in the folds.



Patched up and tuckered out.