Thanksgiving Month Challenge

Two things have inspired me today. It's the first day of November so many people have been posting what they are thankful for on their Facebook statuses. The next thing that inspired me was this picture:

The sign says "We have power. Please feel free to charge your phone."

I think it is wonderful to count your blessings and I'd like to challenge everyone to take it one step further and spend this month being a blessing to others.

I don't think any of us wake up and think, "I'm going to ignore someone in need today." But too often we do.

We are advised to make up our minds before a situation actually occurs. For example, some decide before they are put in a sticky situation to refuse alcohol and when that time comes they are prepared to say no because they already know they don't want that. This technique can apply to more than just refusing things. Someone once pointed out to me that we should decide before hand to DO something.

How many times have you been walking down the street and see someone who might need a hand and you argue with yourself if you will stop and then you pass and end up not doing anything because you haven't made up your mind? If you decide now to always stop, then you only have to make that decision once.

I made that decision a few weeks ago: when I saw someone I could help I would do it without rationalizing myself out of it. This came in handy just yesterday driving home from work there was an accident and there were 2 kids and 2 adults fully dressed in awesome Halloween costumes. I pulled over as their car was being towed and asked if they needed a ride. They did.



How do you change the world? By Acts of Random Kindness.

Please spend this month making an extra effort to go out of your way to make someone's day. Be grateful, give others a reason to be grateful too! Feel free to leave comments about what you've done or how someone has helped you!

Eliza's birth story

My labor story starts at 38 weeks. Sunday, July 8th, I was in the hospital thinking I would have my baby. Saturday night when we were driving home from the Payne's I felt a slight gush of fluid. I thought it might be my water but I decided I would watch it for a bit. When I woke up on Sunday morning I'd felt a few slight leaks throughout the night and my underwear was damp. So I called the doctor and they said the only way to know is to get it tested. He said that the more I walked around the more it would leak if it was amniotic fluid. I have never been so sure of anything in my life. I knew my water had broken and I was going to have a baby that day. I was TERRIFIED! I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things I hadn’t done yet and I really doubted my ability to be a mom. I tried to sleep but I was way too freaked out and anxious.  I showered and got ready and we went to Sam's baby blessing and listened to Daniel speak. I was having contractions often and they were harder and felt more pushing than tightening. We went to the hospital and they checked me. I had progressed to a 1 and was effacing and softening (I'd had zero progression on the previous Monday). But it wasn't amniotic fluid. Not even close. By that time I had come to accept the fact that my baby was coming and I was really excited to have her. When they told me it wasn’t amniotic fluid I was absolutely devastated. But because I was progressing they told me to walk around for an hour to get things going. It didn't do enough to keep me but they were pretty sure I'd be in again that night or the next morning. When they saw my address was a Logan address they advised me not to go back. So for three weeks I waited and waited and felt contractions all the time but nothing ever progressed. Each doctor appointment was disappointing as I found out I had no progression and that even worse, my cervix was posterior so he couldn’t even sweep my membranes. Tuesday night after Wicked and Wednesday morning I was having decent contractions so I was surprised and disappointed that there still less than no progress.  At my 40 week appointment he finally set up an induction date. I had to start Sunday night though because of my weird cervix.

Sunday arrived and I hadn’t had the baby. But I did get to see the new Batman and Wicked! So Sunday night (1 week over due) I went in about 9:30 and they got me started on Cytotec. It’s different than Pitocin because its main purpose is to ripen the cervix, not cause contractions. But contractions are necessary for progression, they just aren’t as intense as the contractions you get from Pitocin, if that makes sense. But it sure is painful still! By 2 AM I was ready for pain meds. They gave me a drug that does nothing for the pain but makes you not care. It worked for me, I felt great and regretted not asking for it sooner. I got that at 2:30 but by 3:30 it had worn off (which apparently was faster than usual). They gave me another dose and said next time it worse off they would give me my epidural.  The second dose didn’t work and I was in pain again quickly. I kept waiting for them to come in and give me a second dose of Cytotec but they never did because I was having contractions so often. I told myself at 4:15 I would ask for the epidural. Luckily for me, the nurse came in right before I was about to call and by 4:30 the anesthesiologist was in giving me my epidural. I was having contractions constantly and because they were induced and not natural there was absolutely no break or relief in pain.  The pain lessens for a few seconds and then it goes right of the charts. It’s really not fun.  Because I was in so much pain the epidural was hard. I was shaking, crying, and my teeth were chattering uncontrollably. The nurses were so great and nice to me! But once it started working relief was amazing!

The epidural slowed the contractions so the nurse decided to try the Pitocin at 6:10. By 6:45 she was in again because the baby’s heart rate dropped and didn't go back up immediately. She rolled me to my other side and the baby’s heart rate went back up to normal but she took me off the Petocin since I was progressing just fine. She mentioned that if the baby’s heart rate hadn’t gone up she would have put an internal monitor on the baby and that would mean breaking my water.  At 7:30 the doctor came in to break my water.  Because the baby’s heart rate had dropped before, he wanted to put the monitor directly on her so he broke my water and put a monitor on her head.

The monitor that had been tracking her heart rate before magnifies the heartbeat’s sound so it’s like listening to it through a stethoscope (what you hear at every doc appointment). This new monitor beeped and was kind of annoying so I just tuned it out. Her heart rate was about 150. Go to http://www.metronomeonline.com/ and listen to how fast 152-160 is and imagine that a high pitched beeping and you’ll understand why I quickly ignored it. The doctor was happy with my progression to a 4, especially since the last time he’d seen me, about a week before, there was less than no progress. He told me that he was hopeful we’d have her here by dinner time. He left the room to check on another patient and the nurse still needed to ask him something so she told me she was going to step outside so she could catch him before he went down to his clinic. I was laying there relaxed, half asleep, and very drugged when everything changed.

All of a sudden four nurses came running in and started throwing me around the bed and put me on oxygen. I asked what was going on and they said the baby’s heart rate was dropping. Before, shifting my position got her heart rate up again but it wasn’t working this time. I started listening to the beeping and was terrified at how slow it was. Her heart rate had dropped to 80 and the beeping was getting slower.  In order to try to understand my panic go back to that metronome and listen to the difference in speed imagining that it is the sound of your child's heartbeat. The doctor was in the room again and he had his hand inside me jiggling her head which actually helped (definitely glad I was completely numb!) for a bit. I don’t remember exactly what happened, mostly because I wasn’t even sure what was going on then. All I remember is a lot of nurses running around and talking to each other. I could feel the panic in the room, the nurses were panicking and I could tell they were scared for me which only scared me more. The oxygen mask took up a lot of my face and I didn’t have my contacts in or glasses on so everything was really blurry. I remember looking over the mask at Dave who was sitting on the chair by the window. As I listened to the slow heart rate and tried to figure out what was happening I started crying and getting really, really scared.  They don’t tell you a lot- they just try to fix the problem. I remember him saying he’d need the vacuum but I was only at a 4. I’m assuming they would just get her out as soon as possible if they could keep her stable but not too long after he asked for that I heard him say, “We have to get her out immediately.” I wish I was a better writer so I could really portray all my emotions going on in that moment. It's really difficult to get across the pure panic, fear, and hysteria I was feeling. My baby... I want my baby... was all I could think about. What if they couldn't get her out in time? Then they gave me a clipboard and said “We’re giving you a C-Section. Sign that it’s OK.” I asked if it was absolutely necessary because it sounded like her heart rate was going up. But that was with a lot of constant work from the doctor jiggling her head and the nurses rolling me around. It wasn’t staying up so I signed it. The anesthesiologist was there to give me a large dose of epidural and morphine then they wheeled me away. By that point I was hysterical. I couldn’t stop shaking or crying. I have never been so terrified in my life. I wasn’t sure what was happening or what was going to happen to my precious baby.

In the operating room they took a wipe and rubbed it up my belly and asked me to tell them when I could feel it was cold. I was numb enough so they started surgery and 7 minutes later Eliza was here! She was born at 7:55 and was totally fine.

I guess the contractions stressed her out too much and she also had a bowel movement and might have swallowed some meconium. If I had started labor on my own I would have had no idea that the contractions were stressing her out and I might have lost her. The nurse could have broken my water before the doctor got there but she didn’t and I’m so glad that even at the end of a 12 hour night shift she was alert enough and able enough to get Eliza’s heart rate back up and take me off the petocin. I’m also grateful that when my doctor broke my water and everything went downhill, the shifts had just changed so everyone was fresh and alert.  Everyone who was needed to perform a C-section was there too so there was no delay.

There were a lot of little miracles to get my sweet daughter here and I am grateful every day for each of them. Sometimes I think about how if just one thing had gone differently that I might not have her and I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I realized how lucky and blessed I am to be able to have her and I hope I never take it for granted!

(I like to imagine she's praying, thanking our Heavenly Father for her safe arrival into this world)

A girl should always look good

In my Teen Living class we are talking about gender. I had my students answer these questions: A girl should always… a girl should never… a boy should always…a boy should never…

The boys were more vocal about their expectations of girls, but eventually the girls pulled through for me. Both genders had a say in the expectations. Here are my results:

A girl should always

·         Look good (at first they said wear makeup but when girls protested that some look good without it, the boys compromised and said they should look good and if that means wearing makeup- wear it!)

·         Be clean (shower etc)

·         Be happy

A girl should never:

·         Be openly overly emotional

·         Wear boy’s clothes (this was my cooperating teacher’s input and everyone agreed with her)

·         Wear a lot of make up

A boy should always

·         Be funny

·         Look fit (they don’t need to be athletic, but they need to look buff)

·         Be respectful

·         Use his manners

·         Be tall

·         Be kinda messy (it’s too weird if they are too clean)

Boys can be gross. 

They didn’t give me any “nevers”

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Today I Woke up at 4 AM

Today I woke up at 4 AM. I have no idea why. Probably because I was subconsciously anxious to start this new trimester. All new students, 3 different classes, and not getting nearly as many plans done as I should have this weekend (meaning I planned one day instead of 2 weeks). I told myself if I wasn't asleep by 4:30 I was going to get up and do something productive. So of course I just got more and more awake thinking of what I could do. I was very productive for about an hour but then I had to get ready for the day. Because I was so awake the whole process happened a lot faster so I had time for scripture study before I left. I do try to do it in the mornings but sometimes I need my extra 20 min of sleep. I read a fantastic article in last month's (January 2012) Ensign by Elder D. Todd Christofferson called Recognizing God's Hand in our Daily Blessings. This might have been the real reason I was wide awake at 4 AM. In it he tells the story of his mother who survived radical cancer surgery and went through rigorous, painful radiation treatments. "She recalls that her mother taught her something during that time that has helped her ever since: "I was so sick and weak, and I said to her one day, 'Oh Mother, I can't stand having 16 more of those treatments.' She said, 'Can you go today?' 'Yes' 'Well, honey, that's all you have to do today.'

My first hour wouldn't say ANYTHING. Not a word. It was so uncomfortable and really discouraging. I ran out of stuff fast and was making up games on the spot... 2nd hour was worse. They talked... but the students were terrible! I definitely wanted to cry after that one. I'm so excited for a seating chart tomorrow! They were being so inappropriate (well just 5 boys) and totally ruined an activity I thought was going to be fun... turns out 8th graders aren't mature enough yet. 3rd... I was already feeling overwhelmed from the first two and again, people were having a hard time talking. I felt so incapable and like I was a terrible teacher. Instead of imagining what a terrible trimester it was going to be for those first 3 hours (which felt like an entire day) I just kept telling myself, "this is all you have to do today."  I got through it! I had a prep, lunch, another prep, and then an amazing 6th hour! I left feeling great about classes and I'm ready to try again tomorrow!

Recycle: Redesign

I like to sew. I'm not amazing, but I do ok. I like to make things for my nieces but I can't afford fabric right now. I learned from my mom to keep everything and I I do keep a lot of things, most fabric/old clothes under the pretense I'm going to make a quilt. Well when my jeans just got too worn out and I finally found an inexpensive pair to replace them, I couldn't stand to throw away all that denim! So I decided to use it for a project.

I started out with a worn out pair of jeans

Then I cut the legs off and sewed the bottom together

Then I cut out a strap from the leg.

I stitched that on to the sides

Added a bow to close the bag so everything wouldn't spill out.

Sewed on a yellow flower

Added my niece's initials to the pockets

And then I couldn't wait until her birthday so I gave it to her the next day! 

Looks like she likes it!!


Moral of the story: get creative with old stuff :) 

Someone Was Watching part 2

A few years ago I had a frightening experience driving on the freeway. I hit something in the road and my tire blew out. I luckily didn't roll and nothing went wrong. To read the whole experience, click here.

Well yesterday I witnessed another automotive miracle. I was leaving work to go meet my dear friend Julia. I was disappointed that I had barely missed the light to turn left but since I was going to be early to our meeting I didn't care. I waited for the light cycle and the light turned green. Well I love to rush into the intersection. As soon as the light turns green my foot is always on the gas peddle instantly so I can reach my destination 3 seconds faster. But since I was relaxed and not rushed I slowly took my foot of the brake. Oddly enough though, the light wasn't a green arrow as it usually is, it was a yield. So I waited even longer to leave the line. Right as I was about to put my foot on the gas and move into the intersection I looked left (something I learned from my defensive driving class I was required to take for work) and I saw it. Some guy in a huge car speeding down the street. I kept watching him and he didn't show any sign of slowing down. The light had been red for his direction for quite some time- 2 cars had already gone through the green light and he kept going straight. I had my foot firmly on the brake watching the constant flow of cars go through the green light and I knew there was going to be an accident. I watch a gray car move into the intersection just as the color blind (I'm assuming he was red-green color blind) man crossed into the intersection. Somehow the car was able to speed through the intersection and barely didn't get hit and luckily again the car behind him slowed down. I'm pretty sure he couldn't see the speeder so I don't know what prompted him to slow down. But the most lucky and miraculous thing was that I didn't move into the intersection when the light turned green. I would have had nowhere to move to and the car would have hit the driver's side of my car and probably the driver (ME!).

I am so grateful that I had to take that class and that I wasn't in a hurry because who knows what would have happened to me! As I related the story to my co-workers one of them reminded me, "Someone's looking out for you!" I'm definitely grateful to be alive right now!

Goodness is something you don't have to chase because it's following you

I LOVE Vanessa Carlton. Her song A Thousand Miles inspired me to go out and meet my wonderful amazing husband!!! But this song is so amazingly beautiful. I wanted to be a dancer when I was younger. In fact I would dance up in my room all the time. When I hear this song I wish I could dance. I wish I was a ballerina so I could express what this song makes me feel. Her lyrics and meanings are so beautiful and deep (in all her songs generally) "To all you broken hearted lovers lost, go find another one." "Love comes back around again, It's a carousel, my friend"