Kohen J. snow
8/10/12
4:49 pm
7 lbs 13 oz
19 1/2 in.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Birth Story
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Quick catch up
It has been awhile since my last post, but what can I say life has been a little bit busy with this new bundle of joy we have! I will have our birth story posted soon, but I wanted to have a quick catch up of the last few weeks before Kohen came into our lives!
Here we are at 35 weeks. I didnt know how I could get any bigger, but of course i got much bigger by the end.
Melissa and the kids came down for my baby shower and JK was nice enough to make Carter his very first longboard because he has been wanting one for ages! it is the cutest little thing ever. I cannot wait until JK can make Kohen one!
Can't believe I made it to 37 weeks. only a week and a half later I had the baby. At this point I was already dilated to a 2 1/2 and felt like I was going to have this baby any second!
The Journey
**Warning this is a long and probably boring post! I am only documenting it for the purpose of using my blog as my own journal. I don't think I will ever forget all that we had to go through, but I know that I need to write it down for the future.
JK and I had been married for about 3 months before we decided to start trying for a family. We had prayed about it and just knew that this was the right time for us. I knew that it would take me a few months to get back to normal from going off birth control, but I never thought it would take as long as it did. I felt that if we had felt that it was the right time, then why would there be any problems? Little did I know, one year later we still wouldn't be pregnant. I had so many thoughts go through my head. I was so confused, so angry, and so hurt. I couldn't understand why we would feel that we should start trying and have to go through all this pain and hurt and still have it not happen. I know that I was looking at it all wrong, but in those moments I was selfish, and I was hurting. My whole life all I ever wanted to be was a mother. I thought I would grow up, get married, and start a family. It all seemed so simple to me. I felt like I was some sort of failure because I couldn't get pregnant. I never knew that so many complications could come into play. Life is hard sometimes and I wasn't prepared enough for it. So here is the how our life has been of trying to conceive this amazing little guy now growing inside of me.
I went in for my yearly appointment after we had been married a year, and had been trying for 9 months. While I was there I decided to ask my dr. about it. He recommended that I have some blood work done to test my hormone levels. He also thought that I should have a HSG test done, which is a test where they shoot a dye up into your uterus to see if your fallopian tubes are blocked. I was so nervous about getting the results for the tests, but wasn't sure if I wanted to know the results. When I went in to the dr. a week or two later I found out that one of my fallopian tubes is blocked, and my hormone levels were way out of wack. I have something called (PCOS) polycystic ovarian syndrome, which causes your hormone levels to go crazy, and can cause infertility. I heard those words and felt like my whole world was caving in on me. I couldn't move, couldn't think, could barely breathe. This wasn't happening to me. It couldn't happen to us. We wanted a family. I couldn't stop crying. My heart hurt. After I calmed down the dr. told me that he was going to put me on some medication to try and regulate the PCOS. He also was going to have me take a fertility drug called clomed which is a pill form of fertility and it supposed to help you ovulate. You take clomed for 5 days out of the month, and they can make you crazy. I felt so bad for JK for having to put up with me. But I could not have done it without him. He is my rock. My whole world. He kept the faith when I didn't think I could go on anymore.
I was on clomed for 4 months, and no luck. dr. Lunt recommended I see a fertility specialist by the name of Dr. Faulks. He comes to St. George once a month to do consults. We went and saw him and I happened to be on my last day of clomed for that cycle. Dr. Faulks decided to do an ultrasound to see how my eggs were developing. When he did an ultrasound he found out that my eggs were not growing at all, and the clomed wasn't doing anything. While doing the ultrasound dr. Faulks also found yet another problem, he found polyps on my uterus, which prevents a fetus from being able to implant. Once again another big rock fell in the way of us getting to our dream of starting a family. dr. Faulks was so great though and helped to keep the calm. The following week JK and I headed up to SLC so that I could have surgery to remove those polyps. I was scared to death to have surgery, but I knew it was just another step that we had to take to start a family. The surgery went great and really wasn't as bad as I thought. When I woke up from surgery I was very loopy, and had some major cramping, but it only lasted a few days. While I was in recovery from the surgery the dr. came in to talk to us about what the next month would have in store for us. The next month would be the start of our fertility cycle, full of shots, and lots of ultrasounds. I would start the month off with days 5-9 of clomed, then days 10, 11, and 12 would be given with a shot in the stomach of brovelle (fertility drug to help my eggs grow and get ready for ovulation). I went in for an ultra sound after day 11 to see how the growth was going, and my eggs still weren't growing as much as they should have in this point in the cycle. I was so frustrated I didn't understand why this was happening. The next day was thanksgiving, and I took my last day of brovelle. I went in the day after thanksgiving and saw a new dr. (dr. Chalmers) because my regular dr. wasn't working over the holiday. When we went in to see dr. Chalmers we were hoping I had grown enough and that we could have artificial insemination done down here in st. George by dr. Chalmers. Lucky for us my eggs had grown a ton!! Unlucky for us, they had grown to much and I had 9 eggs that were ready to drop for the insemination. Which I thought was great, but dr. Chalmers informed me that it was to dangerous because my chance of quads or more was to high. So he then told us that we had to hurry up to dr. Faulks office in SLC to have some eggs removed before the insemination could take place. Before we left St. George I had one more shot of HCG to take which would cause my eggs to drop in 24 hours. We headed up North and were in dr. Faulks office Saturday morning at 8 am. They collected the semen sample from JK to prepare it for the insemination that would happen in a few hours. We then went in to have my eggs removed. Dr. Faulks decided to remove 5 of the 9 eggs, for my safety. I won't go into details of how they do it, but it was the most painful thing i've been through! I could feel them draining each and every egg. Lucky for my that only took about 20 minutes or so. After draining those extra eggs, it was time for the insemination. That was quick and painless. We were told that there was only a 20% chance of it working the first time. The odds were not in our favor.
We were then told to just wait and not worry. I was to go in on Dec. 9 for a blood test to see if I was pregnant. Those next few weeks were the longest weeks of my life. I went in first thing in the morning and waited to hear from dr. Faulks. When I got the call I couldn't believe what they were telling me. It had worked. Out of that 20% we were the lucky ones. I immediately drove to JK's work to tell him the good news. We cried tears of joy. After all the tears, the hurt, and the pain it was finally happening. Our prayers were answered. Since then it all seems like a dream, we have been lucky enough to have lots of ultra sounds due to the high risk of the pregnancy and every time I see this little boy I am reminded how blessed we really are.
That is our story of how this little miracle of ours came to be. I know that there are many people out there who have it much harder than we did and my heart goes out to all those people. Looking back at the feelings I had throughout this experience I know that a lot of the time I was negative and felt as though I was being picked on in some way. I couldn't understand why heavenly father would want us to go through this? It just didn't make sense to me. But as I look back now I know it was just one of the many trials we will go through in our lives. Maybe we felt to start trying early because heavenly father was giving us the time it would take to conceive a child. I got so depressed at times, and the only thing that kept me going was JK. My absolutely amazing husband. He means the world to me. He kept me going when I didn't think I could stand another day. He was strong for me when I couldn't. I am so grateful that I married such an amazing man. I cannot imagine my life without him. I am so exited to start a family with this amazing man I get to call my husband. He is going to be the best father in the whole world. Our son is truly a miracle and a constant reminder of the blessings that our heavenly father has blessed us with. I do not know why we were chosen to go through this trial, but I do know now that we can make it through anything if we do so together. It has helped my testimony grow so much and has made us even more grateful for this little boy of ours.
JK and I had been married for about 3 months before we decided to start trying for a family. We had prayed about it and just knew that this was the right time for us. I knew that it would take me a few months to get back to normal from going off birth control, but I never thought it would take as long as it did. I felt that if we had felt that it was the right time, then why would there be any problems? Little did I know, one year later we still wouldn't be pregnant. I had so many thoughts go through my head. I was so confused, so angry, and so hurt. I couldn't understand why we would feel that we should start trying and have to go through all this pain and hurt and still have it not happen. I know that I was looking at it all wrong, but in those moments I was selfish, and I was hurting. My whole life all I ever wanted to be was a mother. I thought I would grow up, get married, and start a family. It all seemed so simple to me. I felt like I was some sort of failure because I couldn't get pregnant. I never knew that so many complications could come into play. Life is hard sometimes and I wasn't prepared enough for it. So here is the how our life has been of trying to conceive this amazing little guy now growing inside of me.
I went in for my yearly appointment after we had been married a year, and had been trying for 9 months. While I was there I decided to ask my dr. about it. He recommended that I have some blood work done to test my hormone levels. He also thought that I should have a HSG test done, which is a test where they shoot a dye up into your uterus to see if your fallopian tubes are blocked. I was so nervous about getting the results for the tests, but wasn't sure if I wanted to know the results. When I went in to the dr. a week or two later I found out that one of my fallopian tubes is blocked, and my hormone levels were way out of wack. I have something called (PCOS) polycystic ovarian syndrome, which causes your hormone levels to go crazy, and can cause infertility. I heard those words and felt like my whole world was caving in on me. I couldn't move, couldn't think, could barely breathe. This wasn't happening to me. It couldn't happen to us. We wanted a family. I couldn't stop crying. My heart hurt. After I calmed down the dr. told me that he was going to put me on some medication to try and regulate the PCOS. He also was going to have me take a fertility drug called clomed which is a pill form of fertility and it supposed to help you ovulate. You take clomed for 5 days out of the month, and they can make you crazy. I felt so bad for JK for having to put up with me. But I could not have done it without him. He is my rock. My whole world. He kept the faith when I didn't think I could go on anymore.
I was on clomed for 4 months, and no luck. dr. Lunt recommended I see a fertility specialist by the name of Dr. Faulks. He comes to St. George once a month to do consults. We went and saw him and I happened to be on my last day of clomed for that cycle. Dr. Faulks decided to do an ultrasound to see how my eggs were developing. When he did an ultrasound he found out that my eggs were not growing at all, and the clomed wasn't doing anything. While doing the ultrasound dr. Faulks also found yet another problem, he found polyps on my uterus, which prevents a fetus from being able to implant. Once again another big rock fell in the way of us getting to our dream of starting a family. dr. Faulks was so great though and helped to keep the calm. The following week JK and I headed up to SLC so that I could have surgery to remove those polyps. I was scared to death to have surgery, but I knew it was just another step that we had to take to start a family. The surgery went great and really wasn't as bad as I thought. When I woke up from surgery I was very loopy, and had some major cramping, but it only lasted a few days. While I was in recovery from the surgery the dr. came in to talk to us about what the next month would have in store for us. The next month would be the start of our fertility cycle, full of shots, and lots of ultrasounds. I would start the month off with days 5-9 of clomed, then days 10, 11, and 12 would be given with a shot in the stomach of brovelle (fertility drug to help my eggs grow and get ready for ovulation). I went in for an ultra sound after day 11 to see how the growth was going, and my eggs still weren't growing as much as they should have in this point in the cycle. I was so frustrated I didn't understand why this was happening. The next day was thanksgiving, and I took my last day of brovelle. I went in the day after thanksgiving and saw a new dr. (dr. Chalmers) because my regular dr. wasn't working over the holiday. When we went in to see dr. Chalmers we were hoping I had grown enough and that we could have artificial insemination done down here in st. George by dr. Chalmers. Lucky for us my eggs had grown a ton!! Unlucky for us, they had grown to much and I had 9 eggs that were ready to drop for the insemination. Which I thought was great, but dr. Chalmers informed me that it was to dangerous because my chance of quads or more was to high. So he then told us that we had to hurry up to dr. Faulks office in SLC to have some eggs removed before the insemination could take place. Before we left St. George I had one more shot of HCG to take which would cause my eggs to drop in 24 hours. We headed up North and were in dr. Faulks office Saturday morning at 8 am. They collected the semen sample from JK to prepare it for the insemination that would happen in a few hours. We then went in to have my eggs removed. Dr. Faulks decided to remove 5 of the 9 eggs, for my safety. I won't go into details of how they do it, but it was the most painful thing i've been through! I could feel them draining each and every egg. Lucky for my that only took about 20 minutes or so. After draining those extra eggs, it was time for the insemination. That was quick and painless. We were told that there was only a 20% chance of it working the first time. The odds were not in our favor.
We were then told to just wait and not worry. I was to go in on Dec. 9 for a blood test to see if I was pregnant. Those next few weeks were the longest weeks of my life. I went in first thing in the morning and waited to hear from dr. Faulks. When I got the call I couldn't believe what they were telling me. It had worked. Out of that 20% we were the lucky ones. I immediately drove to JK's work to tell him the good news. We cried tears of joy. After all the tears, the hurt, and the pain it was finally happening. Our prayers were answered. Since then it all seems like a dream, we have been lucky enough to have lots of ultra sounds due to the high risk of the pregnancy and every time I see this little boy I am reminded how blessed we really are.
That is our story of how this little miracle of ours came to be. I know that there are many people out there who have it much harder than we did and my heart goes out to all those people. Looking back at the feelings I had throughout this experience I know that a lot of the time I was negative and felt as though I was being picked on in some way. I couldn't understand why heavenly father would want us to go through this? It just didn't make sense to me. But as I look back now I know it was just one of the many trials we will go through in our lives. Maybe we felt to start trying early because heavenly father was giving us the time it would take to conceive a child. I got so depressed at times, and the only thing that kept me going was JK. My absolutely amazing husband. He means the world to me. He kept me going when I didn't think I could stand another day. He was strong for me when I couldn't. I am so grateful that I married such an amazing man. I cannot imagine my life without him. I am so exited to start a family with this amazing man I get to call my husband. He is going to be the best father in the whole world. Our son is truly a miracle and a constant reminder of the blessings that our heavenly father has blessed us with. I do not know why we were chosen to go through this trial, but I do know now that we can make it through anything if we do so together. It has helped my testimony grow so much and has made us even more grateful for this little boy of ours.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Summer fun...
This summer has been filled with fun times. Two of my best friends got married a few weeks apart. First was Summers and her wedding was a country theme and oh man she looked absolutely beautiful. I am so stoked for her and her new husband! The next wedding was my best friend Alli's wedding. Alli and I have pretty much been friends since birth. She knows me better than anyone and I am so glad I was able to attend her phoenix wedding and see her sealed to her great husband. That wedding was a total blast. JK and I also used it as a little anniversary getaway since it was just 3 days before our 2 year anniversary. The only downfall to Phoenix was that it was so freakin hot all the time. We got there about 11pm and it was still 100 degrees outside. Phoenix is not a good place for a 7 month prego lady to go and hang out. We got home from Phoenix on Sunday and on Thursday we packed up again and headed out to Lake Powell for the week. We usually go to Powell over the 24, but because that is like 3 weeks from my due date my fabulous in-laws changed the date so that JK and I could make it. Lake Powell has got to be my favorite place in the world. It was so much fun to be able to spend time with family and just relax. Towards the end of that trip is when my feet swelling set in, and hasn't left since. Its pretty funny when you look at them, JK just sits and laughs at them because they are so dang fat all the time. Oh well this precious baby of ours is totally worth it.
Alli and I at her bridal shower. So happy I got to see her!
Abby, me, Maddy waiting outside the temple for Summer and Brad
Summer and I at her reception in Pine Valley. She looked amazing!
JK and I outside after Alli's wedding in the Mesa temple
Best friends for life. She looked stunning!!
Bahama bucks. Best snow cone ever.
JK teaching Preston to wakeboard.
And he is up! cutest thing ever!
This will count as my 33 week picture. I couldn't resist getting one pic. No worries I let go as soon as they took the picture.
JK made friends with the houseboat next door, and they built a huge bike jump. He had so much fun playing on it.
JK came home from work one day and decided to chop his Bieber hair off.
Man he has the thickest hair.
My momma finishing up.
28 weeks...
Wow it has been way to long since I posted on here. I have been a total slacker at taking belly pics. My last pic I took was from week 28. I am now on week 35, and I cannot believe how big I have gotten.
How far along? 28 weeks7 weeks
Total weight gain: Cannot remember what I was at at this point.Maternity clothes? Not yet, but getting close
Stretch marks? None
Sleep: Sleeping pretty good other than having to pee a lot. and thank heavens for a body pillow
Best moment this week: feeling him go crazy in my belly!
Miss Anything? being able to eat anything without heartburn.
Movement: Yes especially at night
Food cravings: chips and salsa
Anything making you queasy or sick: Meat, which isn't surprising.
Gender: Boy!!
Labor Signs: Nope thank goodness
Symptoms: lower back pain sometimes, and always tired!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy most of the time, not sure what JK would say though...
Looking forward to: kissing my baby boy!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The Joys of being prego..
As I sit here enjoying the free minute I have now that classes are over, and finals are starting I decided I needed to document a few things about this pregnancy that I haven't yet, so here goes...
-Luckily I did not get morning sickness, i got night sickness. So not fun. I would throw up every night. JK once said, "it sucks that you get sick, but if you were going to get sick I hoped it would be in the morning while I was at working so that you were in a good mood when I got home." poor guy.
- Every ultra sound we've had our little man has been measuring big, maybe that means he will be early :)
- I have had 6 ultra sounds so far which I absolutely loved! I went to my 24 week ultra sound last week and it was the first one without an ultra sound and man it was so not as cool. Getting weighed, and seeing how much my belly has grown was not that fun.
- Every time I hear his heart beat my heart melts for this little man.
- I suck at cooking now, I really do feel bad for JK. I have even stopped baking for the most part which is odd for me.
- I could sleep like 15 hours a day and still be tired.
- I have to pee constantly, but when I go I swear only like two drops come out.
- After about week 14 night sickness got better which was the best ever.
- Not being able to sleep on my stomach is rough, but luckily I got a nice body pillow that has helped me to be comfortable.
- I love salads, but lettuce does not sit well with me, but I still eat it anyways.
- LOVE when JK puts his hand on my belly.
- I have super nose now. Everything stinks to me.
- I was doing pretty good for awhile with not being grumpy and moody, but apparently the past two weeks it has returned.
- My first mental breakdown: JK wouldn't give me any ideas of what to make for dinner, and nothing sounded good so I just started bawling. JK ended up eating something out of the freezer and I made cookies, of course by the time I finished making them they didn't sound good so I didn't eat a single one.
- Second mental breakdown: I was supposed to bring a treat to the youth in the ward who came and helped clean the chapel on sunday, but we didn't get home until late and didn't want to be baking all night so I started bawling once again. JK just kept telling me that we can go to the store and just buy something, but i am so weird and do not like to buy pre-made treats so I just threw a little fit. In the end JK was right and we went and bought some ice cream treats and everyone loved them.
- I finally felt him move for the first time and oh man it is the most amazing thing in the world.
- I have the worst heartburn EVER!
- I have started to realize how hot this summer is going to be with a large belly.
- When we found out it was a boy he somehow got the name of "Fred" so for now that is his name, but that will NOT be his name when he is born.
- Most importantly We love this little boy more than anything in the world and cannot wait to meet him!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
22 Weeks (April 12-19)
Growing by the week
How far along? 22 weeks7 weeks
Total weight gain: 6 poundsMaternity clothes? Not yet, but getting close
Stretch marks? None
Sleep: Sleeping pretty good other than having to pee a lot.
Best moment this week: feeling him go crazy in my belly!
Miss Anything? Cookie dough
Movement: Yes finally!!
Food cravings: chips and salsa
Anything making you queasy or sick: Meat, which isn't surprising.
Gender: Boy!!
Labor Signs: Nope thank goodness
Symptoms: lower back pain sometimes, and always tired!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy most of the time, minus the mental break down I've had due to school
Looking forward to: Meeting our little man!
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