Papa Don't Preach

Are you kidding me? Let me repeat myself. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!


Yes, it's true. My darling Father skirted around an old near and dear promise. The promise as I have previously mentioned in past posts was that there were to be no secrets. The promise contended that we would not edit/delete/sugar coat any of life's happenings. For years he has held true and has told me the straight and very direct truth as life has unfolded.


For instance, while I was in the Missionary Training Center he wrote (there are no phone calls) and told me about my Grandfather's heart attack. This is the kind of thing that people neglect to tell others thinking that they are doing them a service of some kind. The intent is to spare stress and worry which is believed to be in the best interest of another. I get it...I just don't agree...at all.


While the intent is pure it doesn't do anyone any good to hide the elephant in the kitchen. I do not like secrets and let's face it, eventually information of this nature is generally given to everyone in these types of situation or found out just by nature. So while my Father has fared extremely well and held true over the course of many secret ridden years he has alas faultered!


He was in the hospital yet again this week. He spent much time in the Telemetry unit given some iunexpected and unknown issues with his heart. HIS HEART. Now it wasn't all that long ago that he was in the hospital with lyme disease that took some time to diagnose and the reality is that we almost lost him last year while he was in the hospital with complications.


On the B Side: I am so grateful that he is doing well now. He has received excellent care and is now home safely resting. While I am sad that I didn't know while he was going through everything I let him know how I felt and hopefully despite his best intentions this won't happen again! Communication is everything and I firmly believe this. The other thing to consider is that if people don't know you are struggling or ill then they can't pray for you! Just say no to secrets.

38 Weeks!

Baby girl is gaining as much as one full ounce of weight per day now. While she continues to urinate and practice breathing, she is also storing meconium in her little intestines. Her lungs are continuing to mature and her grasp has become even firmer then before. She is approximately 20 inches long and weighs about 6 ½ to 7 pounds. Almost all babies born now will live with little medical intervention. YAY!

I've never carried this long before. Dayton was born at 37 weeks and 3 days and Ellie was born at 37 weeks and 4 days. I had fully expected to have our little one here with us before now. I am happy to report that I feel great and am just extremely tired. We have all of the details worked out for the kids while I am in the hospital and tomorrow will be my last day of work as well as the last day of school for the kids.

We're as prepared as we can be and we're all super excited! We're waiting in the wings and keep reminding myself of the words from Dayton and Ellie's Great Grandma Voorhees; "Each little one comes with their own little loaf of bread"

On the B Side: I know that we are incredibly blessed and I am grateful for all of these blessings! There are so many people who love us, support us and pray for us. I can't tell you the countless acts of service that have helped us and these are the things that stick out in my mind as we move forward.

Baby Update

I met with Doc again yesterday. He was out of town last week so I was anxious to get into his office this week. For whatever reason I lost weight again but the baby continues to grow so he isn't concerned (wahoo!). My blood sugar, blood pressure and proteins were all in check so I was super excited about that. Her heart rate was a little sluggish compared and she hasn't been moving as much so Doc sent me to the Antepartem department.

I had the nicest nurse there who explained everything! She was wonderful and so informative. It really changes the whole experience to have someone like that caring for you. She measured the amniotic fluid in all 4 quadrants of my belly and monitored the baby's heart rate as well as my contractions. Baby girl didn't want to move or react until she put this crazy noise maker on my tummy and that woke her right up!

Because everything went so well yesterday we can rule out the possibitility of having a C-section (unless there are unforeseen complications that arise). Now it's just a matter of time until these contractions become more regular! Thursday will be 38 weeks so it's right around the corner! I am soooo excited!!!

On the B Side: I am so crazy grateful to have medical care. I love that so many of the people who dedicate their lives to this field are doing it for the sake of caring for others and making a difference. I feel so lucky to have such a great doc and so many wonderful others who make this who experience so much better!

Manic Monday

Today's theme is STRIPES.

Stripes reminds me quickly of the band White Stripes, which reminds me instantly of the movie Napoleon Dynamite, which reminds me of my goofy little two year old who was extremely impressed by the dance scene at the end. He use to watch it closely, try to mimic it and I'm sure if he could have talked he would have asked for a pair of his very own moonie B's!

"We're Going to Be Friends" is the name of the song by White Stripes that is in the movie; however, "Canned Heat" is the Jamiroquai song that Dayton loved to dance to!

He also use to love the one liner, "but my lips hurt real bad" and would his best to say this little phrase from the movie knowing that it always got a huge laugh filled response!

On the B Side: While it's a random association to the word stripes it does make me smile thinking back to our little D man dancing! The time passes quickly but there are some things that even my forgetful mind cannot forget!