Our crazy amazing new life as parents!

Milo

Morgan

Sage

was born

September 18th, 2010

8:09 pm

4 pounds 14 ounces

18 inches long

On Saturday morning I was induced at 9:30 am.

I was in labor for 10.5 hours!

I got my epidural a whole 10 minutes before I was shipped to the delivery room!

After 14 minutes of pushing, I saw my baby boy..

And he screamed so loud!!

I couldn't believe how instantly my love for him multiplied..

I couldn't believe how instantly my love for my wonderful husband multiplied!

Never before that moment had I felt so much love in my heart.

After seeing him for 2 seconds, the doctor from the NICU had to take him right away. :(

It seemed like an eternity waiting to be able to see him again and know how he's doing.

Mike went with the doctor to see him get cleaned up and then he came back to me.

We were greeted by a huge group of our family in my room to congratulate us.

After getting all cleaned up, the nurse took us to the NICU to see Milo..

This was the hardest part for me..

He was hooked up to all of these machines, he had foam coming out of his mouth..

He looked like he was so out of it.. It was so heartbreaking to see..

From that moment on, I have adopted what I'm sure every mother has which is a built in worry security system.. I feel like I'm constantly thinking about Milo. Is he okay? Is he awake? Is he in any pain? What can I do to help?
The never-ending worry definitely takes its toll on me and also Mike.
Can I just say that no other person in the world would still love me after this past week and a half!!
He never slept anywhere but at the hospital with me..
He sat by my side as I demanded back rubs and ice chips and barf bags during labor..
He sat and watched me be in tremendous pain and never once got mad at me for being touchy..
He held me in his arms when I got my epidural..
He held a bag up to my face as I puked..
He watched my give birth!!
He helped me walk everywhere I went..
I could go on and on.. But you get the point!
He saw things he probably wish he hadn't and he still was so loving and caring to me. I am so blessed!
So its been 9 days since Milo was born and he is still in the NICU.
BUT here is all of the progress he's made!!
1. He didn't need additional oxygen, he can breathe room air on his own!
2. He maintains his own body temperature and doesn't need to be under heaters!
3. He digests breast milk and poops like a champ!
4. He absorbs all of his nutrients from milk so NO MORE IV!! :]
5. He had jaundice but got over it in 3 days!
6. He can suck on a binkie and hold it in his mouth without anyone's help! (This is a sign that he's ready for breast feeding)
7. He moved from the Intensive Care Unit to the Well Baby nursery! (Still in the NICU but the last step before going home!)
8. He is now in a big boy bed, no more incubators.
9. After working with an amazing occupational therapist, he is now breast feeding!! He is only getting small amounts because he's not used to it yet.
10. The past 3 times he's breast-fed, he's DOUBLED his intake! :]
All he has to do to go home is:
1. Breast feed 75% of his normal feeding every 3 hours for 48 hours.
- He ate HALF of his feeding today! Progress! :)

He so knows how to make me happy! If I'm stressed about a feeding or whatever the case is, I hold his little hand and its like my own guardian angel that completely comforts me. I am so blessed to have a perfect baby to call my son. I can't wait to take him home with us and never come back to this hospital again!

The last night of "normal life"

It feels like tonight is the last night that my life will be the norm.
It feels like life after tomorrow will be so drastically different.
I'm really nervous about that!
But more than that, I'm so excited and ready!
I feel like I was born to be a mom and I can NOT wait to meet my baby boy.
Today has been a wonderful day of pampering and relaxing with my mom.
We found the cutest nail polish in Cosmo and she ventured out to find the exact color.
And guess what??
She found it!
AND it looks so cute!
Thanks mom!
Once the pampering was over, it slowly set in that I'm going to see Milo TOMORROW!!
I really can't believe that I've been here for almost 4 weeks..
My daily routine has been the same day in and day out.
Breakfast at 8:30
Reading the scriptures/whatever else I wanna read
My mom coming over and hanging out around 11 or 12
Deciding if I want my lunch and going to the cafeteria with my mom to get ice cream
Going on a wheelchair ride with my mom outside and sitting in the shade, talking.
Renting a movie from the hospital version of a redbox
Mom going home
Watching the news until Mike gets here
Waiting for the nurses to trade shifts so I can go on another wheelchair ride
Go down to the cafeteria with Mike to get him/both of us dinner
Come up to the room and eat
Watch America's Funniest Home Videos or Whose Line is it Anyway?
Put baby on the monitor
Go to bed!
I kid you not, my routine has been almost exactly like that every day, or almost at least!
I can't wait to WALK!
I'm talking about walking farther than from my bed to the bathroom...
Tomorrow while I'm in labor I can walk around the hospital!!
Isn't that weird that I'm stoked to be in labor for that reason? haha
Of course having Milo here is another perk. ;)
I just wanted to talk about the crazy feelings of today while they are still fresh in my mind.
I want Milo to know what it felt like knowing the exact day he would be here and how excited his Mommy and Daddy are to see his beautiful face!
I need to get some sleep, I have a feeling I'm gonna need it tomorrow! :)

My AMAZING Husband

Something AMAZING happened tonight!!
Mike received his Melchizedek Priesthood!
This was one of the big things I was worried about missing while being here on bed rest..
BUT where there's a will, there is definitely a way!
The Bishopric and Stake Presidency agreed to ordain him here at the hospital!
I am just so excited and happy that I want to cry..
This means that Mike will be able to give me a blessing prior to me being induced into labor
AND if something should go wrong, I have a built in blessing giver! Amazing!
Not to mention he can give Milo a blessing once he gets here to help him be as strong as he can be.
Words really don't come close to my feelings right now...
We are really doing this!
We ARE going to be together as a family forever.
We ARE going to raise our new little family in the gospel.
I love that :)

Milo's Halloween Costume!

I found all of these cute things on Etsy! 

Can I just say Etsy is the best thing I've EVER discovered? :]

So this is what I found for Milo's first Halloween costume!

What do you think?

LOVE? Hate?

September 11th

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, I was living with my dad and step-mom in Santaquin.
I was in 7th grade, going to Payson Middle School.
I was also going through the worst year of my life.
This day was before the hell-ish year though, more like the beginning.
I was actually still going to public school and so I walked into my first period Health class where my teacher walked into the classroom with tears streaming down his face.
It is a little weird to see a grown man cry, especially in front of the whole class.
He looked right at the TV in the front left corner of the classroom and said,
"There's something you guys need to see."
The first image I saw was of a reporter talking really fast and with tons of anxiety and worry in her voice.
The next thing I saw was the first tower, completely on fire with huge pillows of smoke surrounding the building.
Then I sat and watched the second tower as a plane that seemed to be going as fast as it could go, flew straight for the second tower of the World Trade Center.
I never knew what the WTC was before, why should I? I was 12 years old..
I think a lot of people learned what the World Trade Center was after this..
I distinctly remember learning about the Holocaust in History and it being the most interesting and scary thing I'd ever learned in school. I learned about Anne Frank and how her family hid within the walls of their own home from the Nazis.
I remember thinking "Oh my gosh I feel like a modern day mormon Anne Frank!"
Obviously the attacks on 9/11 had nothing to do with mormons, but the fact that someone could intentionally kill so many people, reminded me of the Holocaust and the Nazis killing people with no feeling or remorse.
A girl has to go through enough emotional confusion at the age of 12, so having such a national tragedy happen definitely is hard to handle maturely.
But I remember coming home from school, doing my housework, and watching the news all night after that..
I wanted to understand what had happened and why.
I didn't understand a lot of things but one thing I did understand was that there were very selfish men that had no value for human life, and there were completely selfless men and women that sacrificed their own lives because they valued others' lives above their own.
I will always have a deep-rooted appreciation and love for local firefighters, policemen, soldiers and volunteers because of my unique experience on September 11th.
May we always remember how we felt on that day!

My Testimony

I'm reading a book called "21 Days Closer to Christ" for those of you who didn't read my last blog.
Its a book that has daily readings and challenges to help you establish a relationship with Christ.
Today the end challenge was to write down your testimony of Christ and I wrote it down in my journal.
I'm not the kind of person that is good at getting up in sacrament meeting to bear my testimony so this is the next best thing.
This is kinda hard for me to do.. but I feel really strongly that I just need to share it with someone, even if it is just my blog.
To anyone that is interested.. I want to share my testimony with you.

I know that my Redeemer lives.
That is my favorite hymn because of how powerful it is to say those words out loud.
He is my Redeemer. He is my Savior.
I'm not the best at putting into words how I feel about Christ, probably because no matter how the words fall together, they always fall short.
No combination of words is adequate enough to express how I truly feel about the Savior of the World.
But because I'm writing it down instead of thinking out loud, I'll try to make them do.
I know that Jesus Christ is the most loving and selfless person anyone could have as a big brother or a best friend.
He is a constant source of comfort, peace, understanding, love, support, and happiness for me.
I know He thought about me and recognized my personal pain and suffering as He suffered for me in the Garden of Gethsemane so that I could return to my Heavenly Father someday.
I have been through so much physical, emotional and spiritual pain in my life, just like everyone has, and I know my Savior felt every second of it, and that is amazing to me.
He has been there. He does understand me. Probably better than I do myself..
I haven't had a life full of pain and suffering. There are so many people close to me who have gone through much more and worse. They've had more physical pain, or more emotional suffering, or more spiritual trials.
But I know that the Savior loves them and knows them just as deeply as He knows and loves me.
I know that means so much.
Words will always fail me when I try to express the extent of my gratitude for my blessed brother, Jesus Christ.
He is my very best and closest friend.
I trust Him with my whole heart, body, mind and spirit. He has completely healed all 4 when they were broken and shattered.
I am so grateful for his atoning sacrifice and for the moment He knew He was suffering for my sins and how he is still so unconditionally loving.
It is because of Him that I get to have my happily ever after with my Father in Heaven, my husband, my family and loved ones.
I'm grateful to Him and I admire Him for doing the same thing for every soul on this earth, even the ones He knows will never accept it in this life.. What an incredible amount of selflessness and charity and faith.
Being in the hospital on bed rest has been such a huge blessing in disguise.
It was very last minute, very unexpected, and above all very unnerving and scary for Mike and I.
I tried so hard to not overwork myself during my pregnancy or lift anything too heavy and it was so hard because at first I was mad at myself, assuming this was my fault and now I have to deal with this punishment.
The thought of my little precious son being so early and so fragile and not ready for the world yet, and all of that being my fault, made me fall apart at the seams..
I was shaken and felt so alone and hopeless.
But all I had to do was open my eyes and look around and I saw the pouring out of love and support from so many more people we ever could hope for!
I was so overwhelmed by how many people went out of their way to come to the hospital to visit, call us at the hospital, put our names into 3 different temples, pray in our behalf, bring us beautiful flowers, bring us gifts for Milo and also for our entertainment, and give us words of love and support on facebook.
One night after having visitors all day long, Mike and I were alone and we decided to read this 21 days closer to Christ book together.
As we were reading, we were both completely overwhelmed with a tangible feeling of love and comfort.
It felt like the Savior had wrapped His loving arms around both of us, planting hope, comfort and happiness in our hearts.
We couldn't even finish reading we were both so emotional.
We knew this was happening for a reason and that Milo was in good hands, the Lord's hands.
Sometimes we make plans for things to go our specific way, but even if we have righteous intentions, sometimes our plans aren't the same as the Lord's plan for us.
He has a plan for Milo, and He has a plan for Mike and for me. Obviously we needed a refresher as to what that was.
It was then that I knew that I needed to dedicate this time I have to the Lord and His gospel, for my own sake but also for the sake of my husband and my little one so he can have a spiritually sound mother to teach him right from wrong.
My relationship with the Savior is very personal and close to my heart. I hope everyone will have the extraordinary blessing of gaining closeness with the Savior. He is my Savior, but He is yours too. And He's the truest friend you'll ever have. It's worth humbling yourself enough to let Him into your life.
I say these things in my Savior's name. Amen.

Spiritual Rehab

Days like yesterday make it feel like a lockdown in here..

BUT something I've decided is everything happens for a reason.. Brand new concept right?

I'm totally twisting the way I feel about being here and I'm gonna love it every day for the rest of my days here.

I have just checked myself into rehab.

Spiritual rehab that is.. :)

I think that I put off the important things when I had my "freedom" and this is one of the many mysterious works of my Heavenly Father. I'll show YOU too busy.. HA take 4+ weeks of bed rest! That should give you some time.. :)

What's on your list of things you SHOULD do every day but you don't think you have time for?

Read your scriptures? 

Read a book?

Write in your journal?

Well in spiritual rehab, you have all the time in the world to do all of those things every day!

So this is a list of things I am going to do every day:

1. Read my scriptures. Specifically, the Book of Mormon.

My goal is to read the entire BOM before Mike and I get sealed.

If I can do it before the baby comes, even better!!

2. Read "The Holy Temple" by: Boyd K. Packer.

My goal is to have this read before Mike and I go through the temple for the first time.

The sooner the better obviously!

3. Read "21 Days Closer to Christ" by: Emily Freeman.

Every day there's a section to read with a challenge! Perfect!

4. Write in my journal (or blog) about all of the things I read, learn and love about all of these awesome books! Blogging is really like modern day journal writing, only a journal that you don't mind others seeing.. :) I love blogging!

Its not easy being here in rehab.. first you gotta admit you have a problem!
Hello my name is Alecia and I'm a make-an-excuse-for-everything-aholic.
Anyone else care to check themselves in?
Remember! The only way to succeed in this program is to make every minute of the day count and I promise the reward will be worth it. 
But I'm not an expert I'm just a patient! I'll get back to you when I've graduated.. :)