Little April Rose Issue

**Update**
There is an article all about it here.


I follow a few blogs. It's kind of an addiction really. I like to see how other moms do things and I like to get ideas for activities and dinners and whatever else I can find. It's kind of fun. I LOVE Jennifer's blog, aka MckMama, and have been following it for quite a while. Back in February I was lead to Angie's blog, Bring the Rain. I seriously spent the whole of two days reading her story from the beginning and crying and wanting to get to know this loving, sweet lady. I was pregnant at the time, which made it ten times worse because I could relate to a lot of what she talked about, and yet my heart went out to her because of what she had to bear. I cannot imagine knowing the child you were carrying was not going to be yours for long and would return to Heavenly Father. So I started reading more blogs about similar situations and mothers whoes babies had been diagnosed in the womb with a terminal disease and the mothers chose to carry baby for as long as they could. It was touching and thought-inducing and I cried a lot.

There was a blog about a woman who was pregnant with a baby, April Rose, that was diagnosed with full trisonomy 13, among other things. Docs told her to terminate early - she refused, wanted to put it in God's hands. She had thousands upon thousands of readers. She was always talking about her Christian faith and love of God. She had t shirts made for the cause and people bought them to wear proudly, all proceeds I assume going to April Rose. There were addresses for donations and gift cards, gifts, whatever else. Very sad stuff, her feelings all along were heartbreaking. Fast forward to a could days ago. April Rose was finally born, being 41 weeks, and was only 4lbs. Updates went on for about a day, but the details were a bit sketchy. Things weren't adding up. People began questioning her and leaving comments, some quite nasty. Then there were posts about her heart rate declining and her breathing slowing. A pic was posted of April, then removed. A letter from the baby daddy was posted saying things about how they are hurt that so many people would be so rude and blah blah. Then the whole blog disappeared.

So come to find out it was all a hoax. Beccah Rose Beushausen, the "mom" made it all up in a shady way of getting people to send her money and whatever else, perhaps maybe she just needed attention. I guess that she had a website for her art that has since disappeared, as well as her twitter, facebook and myspace accts. The picture she posted that was supposidly April Rose was actually a doll. There are a few blogs that explain a lot more of the details here and here and here.

It just breaks my heart. I read her story and felt for her. But what really makes me upset is the fact that there are actually women who experience this kind heartache like Angie and Raechel and she preyed on that to earn their comorodary and trust and then exploited it. Not to mention all the people who prayed for her and sent donations and kind gifts. She had us all fooled and it makes me so incredibly sad that this all went down. I actually feel really bad for this lady, she is obviously in need of some mental help and I hope that she is able to get the real help she needs.

I guess it just goes to show that you can't always believe what you read. We need to be careful who we trust. I feel really bad for those people who sent prayers her way and now feel hurt, maybe even a little embarrassed that they were mislead. I think that perhaps this lady needed those prayers more than we know and for different reasons.

Poor Sweet Baby!!

Ian had his frenetomy yesterday. I have never cried more in my life. We drove to Casper and I nursed him a tiny bit before we went in to see the doc. He was calm and happy and had no stinking idea what his parents were up too. The doc came in, asked what we were there for. We explained Ian is tongue tied. Doc looks in his mouth, confirms with a "yup" and had us move to another room for the actual surgery. For the five minutes he spent with us, $219. Nice.
So we're in the new room with a table. They swaddled Ian really tight and Thom and the nurse held him down and held his mouth open and I held Izacc over by the door, out of sight. I'm not sure who had it worse, me or Thom. The screaming and crying and gurgling were too much and I didn't even have to watch it. Izacc kept asking what that noise was. It was horrendous, such a sound you would never expect out of an infant. I have never heard such a horrible noise and it will haunt my dreams for awhile I'm sure. I couldn't even talk, it was tearing me up inside. My poor baby. They numbed it and then clipped it and then to stop the bleeding, he used some silver nitrate, which burns apparently. Whatever, all I know is when they handed him back to me his mouth looked like death. It was a bloody black mess!
I took him out to the lobby/playroom and nursed him and it was like a dream, I must say. It didn't hurt at all! So I suppose it was worth it. It was actually really fast and the doc did a good job I assume. He should be healed in 10 days. But I'm convinced that I am in the wrong profession. For an unnecessary "consultation", mr doc made $219, and the surgery was $390. We were there MAYBE 15 minutes with the doctor, surgery included and BAM $609. That's why he's a specialist I suppose. Whatever, all for the greater good, right???
Ian's "wound" looks about the same today, except it's all white now. It looks like a big, sore gash under his little tongue. Hope ten days goes by fast...
...although today has been pretty rough...

GIVEAWAY!!

So I posted about this little lady awhile back and she is doing another sweet giveaway! The prize on the line is a FREE session, 20-30 pictures edited and put on a CD with copyrights to print, 11 x 14 picture of choice, and also some vintage conversions of your pictures included on the CD as well! You have until June 7 I believe, so go check it out here! She does AMAZING work! So cute with kids!! Good luck!

1 month

We took little Ian to his 1 month appointment today. He's getting so big! He is up to 9 pounds 11.6 ounces, which is awesome! That means he gained more than a pound and a half in a little over two weeks. Yay, always good to hear! And he grew almost 3 inches, which is fabulous. He is doing so so well. Plus he's practically the cutest baby ever!!

So...

...I've decided I need one of these.


Pretty sweet no? You can enter to win one by clicking here

Happy Anniversary!

Oh Thompson.

Six year ago today we were getting ready to become man and wife. Six years ago today I hung out in the basement of that church, by myself, while you took care of EVERYTHING. Six years ago today, I tried to keep it together when I saw my Daddy in a tux. Six years ago today I walked down the aisle and watched YOU try to keep it together. Six years ago today I sang the Spongebob Squarepants theme song in my head while you were saying your vows to TRY and keep it together. Six years ago today I said I do. Six years ago today YOU said I do. Six years ago today I married this handsome, skinny kid who worked at a tv station in Cheyenne whom I had been with for three years.(I had been eating a candy cane, hence the red teeth.)

Today we are learning how to handle TWO kids. Today I hung out at my parent's house, with our boys, while you drove 6 hours to get here after working all weekend to try and make some extra money to take care of EVERYTHING. Today I tried to keep it together when both babies had poopy diapers at the same time. Today I wondered why I was so worried about keeping it together. Today I wondered how we ever got along WITHOUT these two kids. Today I STILL say I do. Today YOU still make me happier than I've ever been. Today I'm married to this handsome NORMAL (sized) man who works at a tv station in Riverton, with whom I've now been with for NINE years.

Yikes. A lot changes, but a lot stays the same. I am still just as crazy about you as I was six years ago, even nine years ago. I could go on and on, but basically everything I want to say I already said here. So here's to us and our amazing nine years together, our amazing six years of marriage, our amazing two boys, and our amazing life. I look forward to seeing how this all plays out along with you. It's been, well, amazing so far. Here's to us, baby. I love you.

3 Weeks, Baby!

Sweet baby Ian,

you're three weeks old today! My goodness it has gone so fast! I can't even believe it.
You were born so beautiful. Your hair was almost black and your eyes were a color like I've never seen before. They were a dark silvery color with a brown ring around your pupil. Your arms and legs were so long, as well as you fingers and toes. In fact, the nurse that took your footprint couldn't even get your foot to fit on the ink pad and the print itself was so long that it extended up into the wording of your birth certificate.

You have the cutest little "old man" wrinkles on your forehead and every time you look up or are upset, they show.

You have the same little birthmark that your brother did, right between the eyes. (I think you get that from daddy's side because your cousin had it too...)You have been sneezing since the hour you were born. Sheesh! So many sneezes. And you do that cute thing where you almost sneeze and then don't but still make a "ahhh" sound.

You lost your umbilical cord stumpy thing on Monday, the 18th and Izacc was so excited that you could now take a bath with him...or so he thought.You have started to make lots of cooing noises and I just love your little voice.

You have taken to nursing like a champ, though it has taken a lot of work to get you there. You were born with ankyloglossia also known as being "tongue tied" and the Dr didn't think you needed any surgery because he said your tongue would grow out and be fine. But then we started having problems nursing and you wouldn't take a binky and had a really hard time with a bottle. So we talked to the Dr again and we decided it would be best to get it clipped. You are scheduled for surgery on June 1st in Casper and hopefully all of our "issues" will be resolved. Let's hope you'll be able to latch on better and get a full tummy in one sitting instead of nursing all day long. You are so loved and we are so so happy to have you here. Izacc adores you and can't wait to really play with you. (For now, he's totally content just to nap with you.) Thanks for being such a good baby and bringing so much love into our home and hearts.

All my love, Mommy

It's true!

**WARNING** FREAKIN LONG POST AHEAD!!!


Oh such a busy week. This is seriously the first day I've been able to sit down to the computer and announce the news! So last week, when I thought I was contracting, well, I was! It was actually a really funny thing that it all happened when it did.

Let me go back. This was me on the 25th, my original due date. When we were trying to get pregnant, I was on clomid and calculating everything, so when they set my due date back to May 8, I kinda knew that I wouldn't last that long.



On Tuesday the 28, I was cleaning the living room and told Thom that I kind of thought I would have had the baby already. I was helping Izacc get ready for bed and decided that I needed to take a bath as well. I shaved my legs and put on some yummy smelling lotion and just took it easy the rest of the night. I had a Dr. appt the next day at 11:45 and I knew he was going to check me to see if I was dilated, so I figured I'd better at least shave the ol' legs and be presentable.

We went to bed and put in a Friends dvd and at about 11:30 pm I started noticing some crampy pains. I didn't really pay much attention to them until about an hour later when they were still going on. They were about eight minutes apart. I started to panic a little because, of course, it would be in the middle of the night and I had no local babysitter lined up for Izacc, just my in-laws who were two hours away, and I wanted my mom to be in the delivery room and she was a good four hours away.

I tried to relax and just go to sleep. I figured that maybe I could just make it to my appt the next day and talk to the Dr then. I fell asleep around 1 am, but then my beautiful son Izacc woke up at about 2 and wanted to come get in our bed with us. I'm almost positive he knew something was going on because he was wired and would not sleep. He laid there with me and we talked and read stories and I was contracting away. Six minutes apart.

I asked him if he was excited to be a brother and he said he was. And I asked him if the baby was going to come today and he said "Yes, Baby Dude will come a see us today when the sun is up." And I said really? The baby is coming today? And he said "No not the baby, Baby Dude. Baby Dude comes when the sun is up."

So we sat there and we watched more Friends and Daddy grumbled and told us to go to sleep and threatened to go sleep on the couch. Five minutes apart.

I got up at about 4 am and walked around the house, tidied things up, picked up the couch cushions that Izacc had lined up on the floor, cleaned the kitchen and still the contractions were coming. Thom got up and got in the shower around 4:45, I called my mom and then the hospital. They said I should probably come in and at least get checked. By this time they were three minutes apart. Thom then called his mom and let her know, she was going to come down from Casper and watch Izacc for us. We gathered a few last minute things and got dressed and headed out to the hospital.

It was about 6 when we got to the room. Thom and Izacc sat there patiently while they did all the hospital duties, you know, gown, iv, blood pressure, blah blah. I actually had a minor anxiety attack apparently. My pulse was racing and I was a little dizzy so they had me hooked up to oxygen for awhile. Weird because I didn't necessarily feel like anything was wrong, I was just a little dizzy. Anyway then she checked me and I was dilated to a (drum roll please) seven! I couldn't believe it!

Izacc was going a little stir crazy and so Thom called his parents to see where they were at and they hadn't even left yet! Nice. So we had to think quick and thank goodness for our friends Mike and Christine. Mike's parents live in Riverton and have watched Izacc a couple times. It was Martha to the rescue! She was the first one we called and she said she could take Izacc until the in-laws got there. Whew!

So Thom left to take Izacc to Martha's and I was all alone, chillin watching me some VH1. It was funny because the nurse came in and asked me how far he had to go because when she checked me I was at a nine. A NINE! It was all going so fast! I called my mom to tell her and see where she was at, she was still going through Teton Park and had at least two hours to go. I really wanted her to be there for the birth, but I didn't think I could hold this kid off any longer.



Thats me at 8 am. It all went really fast from there. They broke my water about 8:15-ish and it was go time about 20 minutes later. I really only had to push a few times and Ian Reed was born at 8:50 am. He weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 21 inches long. He was a carbon copy of his older brother, it was weird to look over at him and see Izacc's little face!



Like Izacc, I had him completely natural, no pain meds or anything, but with Izacc I was induced and the whole experience was COMPLETELY different. I could actually rest a little between contractions when pushing. With Izacc the Pitocin makes them come right on top of each other. It was such a great experience! (No I'm not on drugs right now!) No tearing, no stitches, and I was really grateful to get the majority of it over with at home. It was simply amazing and a lot more comfortable!

Ahh brothers. Izacc is NUTS about his little brother, always wanting to touch him and love on him and carry him around...

So sweet looking up at Daddy.

Almost a sweet little smile

Ha ha! This face cracks me up!

Izacc had a shirt that said "I'm the BIG brother" and Ian's jammies said "Baby Dude", that's what Izacc called him.

Look at them both, already annoyed with Mamma's picture taking.

So as I said before, i think these two kids look so much alike. I'm sure all parents think that, maybe, but honestly.
Izacc, six days old.

Ian, 3 days old.

Izacc

Ian

Thanks everyone for all you well-wishes and happy thoughts! So sorry it took so long to get these up. I've been kinda busy...

Business Time?

Could it be?



I think I MIGHT be in labor here...not sure...last time I was induced, so I didn't go through the first part, really, you know? But I'm sitting here not able to sleep and I THINK I'm contracting away...



Well, I'll definitely keep you posted either way... yikes!!

37 weeks and counting...

Whoo-hoo! I am really excited to be almost done. Not that I haven't enjoyed being pregnant, but man oh man am I about really to be done.

Oh an PS have I mentioned that I am not 100% that it's a boy floating around in there? Yeah, I'm not. It is just such a different experience from last time! I know, I know, there was a little wiener on the sonogram picture, but I had a dream that it was just the cord. Not to mention...

WITH IZACC:
I had a little, if any, morning sickness.
I craved Mexican food and chilli dogs.
And all things sweet, especially chocolate, gave me heartburn.
I gained a whopping 60 lbs.
I carried him low and I have the amazing stretch marks to proove it.
I got wider, like a lot wider. He was all tucked inside.

THIS TIME:
I was SO stinkin sick! All day long. It was awful.
I have craved nothing but sweets, like gummies and Dr Pepper and, believe it or not, Chocolate...and a lot of it. Wow.
With this one, so far, I'm not even up to 20 lbs yet.
I am carrying this one super super high. So high in fact that my ribs have popped out. (More on that little wonder to come...)
This one is all out in front. I mean ALL OUT in front.
Not to mention I just don't "feel" like it's a boy in there.
I don't know. I will take whatever I can get, don't get me wrong, but, well, we'll just see come D-DAY what comes out!PS: How long is my hair! I am so excited! It's about time!