A Year Ago

I originally give Millie and Brooke's adoption story here.  Today I'm more journaling my thoughts, feelings, experiences, and realizations over the last year.  My thoughts jump around a lot, so bear with it.

I remember one day seeing a blog post in an adoption Facebook group from a mom who adopted newborn twins.  I'm not typically a jealous person, but I remember having a covetous moment thinking "how in the world did she get so lucky?  I would give anything to have healthy newborn twins!"  Little did I know that just a few months after this I would be in a similar situation.

One year ago I was a total mess.  We were in Arizona waiting for Millie and Brooke to be born any day now.  Other adoption opportunities had come and gone, but this was the farthest we had ever gotten.  My anxiety and emotions were definitely getting the better of me.

We met Tuesday the 22nd with our future birth family at Cafe Rio after A's doctor's appointment.  The amniocentesis came back that the girl's had developed lungs, and a C-section was scheduled for the next day. I don't think I slept at all that night. 

Now this next part I actually feel extreme guilt over.  Typically one support person is allowed to accompany a mother into a c-section.  A added to the selflessness of already placing her children with us by allowing me to be that one person. The babies were born fairly quickly (a whole 17 seconds apart), and per A's request were immediately taken from the room.  I followed the babies out.  Fast forward nine months later as I'm laying in my own c-section.  I realized how hard this all was, and I wasn't even placing my child for adoption.  I dang well left A all alone in surgery!  If I could do it again, I would have someone who could have stayed with A the whole time.  I could have waited a few minutes to meet my babies.  I left her high and dry!  So, I'm sorry A.  Please forgive my selfishness.

That the babies were so healthy was nothing short of a miracle.  After being part of several twin mom groups for the past year, I've seen the complications that can come from twin births: preterm labor, twin to twin transfusion, several moms have even lost their twins in freak health conditions.  Due to life circumstances, A didn't receive prenatal care until about 32-33 weeks.  The girls were born just a few weeks after that.  Besides blood sugar issues from gestational diabetes, there were no complications.  No low birth weight, no jaundice, nothing.  The Lord was looking out for these girls in a big way.

Those initial moments in the hospital were so surreal.  I couldn't believe my dream of two years was actually happening, and in the most ideal way I could have imagined.  Honestly it was a dichotomy of emotions.  Here I was overjoyed for my own blessings, but seeing A's difficulties in placing her babies completely broke my heart.  Not to even mention that she had gone through major surgery that ended up not going as planned and had to have several transfusions and such.  Such a physical and emotional toll, and knowing I was partly the cause of it was very difficult.

Newborn twins is no joke.  I thought I was prepared for twins, seeing as I was a teenager when my younger twin siblings were born and how my first two children were a year apart.  Boy was I wrong.  Two babies at one time is a whole new dimension that I was not prepared for.  Sometimes I would feel such guilt over wanting to sleep so badly knowing how much I had prayed and yearned for these babies. 

We have a fairly open adoption worked out. I post pictures a few times a week to our birth family Facebook page and often give updates on the girls.  We have gone to visit a couple of times.  I love that if there are ever any questions that Millie and Brooke have, I can direct them to their birth mother to ask.  People will often ask me how A is doing, and truthfully I don't know.  Our relationship is primarily superficial and only involves Millie and Brooke.  I do wish it was stronger in that regard, and now that my energies are not so spent on newborns and pregnancy, I would like to strengthen that relationship.

People now will ask "How did you do it.  How did you manage to adopt two beautiful, healthy babies?".  To this day I have no answer for that.  For all intents and purposes, we weren't an extremely desirable couple.  We had two small children already--both a boy and a girl.  We lived no where near the birth parents.  But I feel like the Lord had a hand in the whole endeavor.  

For some reason whenever I go out in public with my children, people always say "So you're done, right?"  Thank you for making that decision for me.  Here's the deal. As far as pregnancies go, we are definitely done.  This last pregnancy broke me down in every way possible: physically, emotionally, mentally.  And while it wasn't as deadly as predicted (doctors said I would be lucky if I made it to viability, and we made it all the way to 37 weeks), it was definitely one of the most difficult things I have had to endure and I did, indeed, end up with pre-eclampsia a third time.  Those nine months were awful and I am never putting myself through that again.  The only redeeming factor is that we did end up with a healthy baby at the end, which is much more than many can say.

However, this was our conversation about a week after Ruth was born.

Joseph: So this is probably a really bad time since you're hurting and emotional and haven't slept in months, but I feel like we're going to adopt again.

Me (much to his surprise):  Yeah, I know.  I've felt it too.

Now what this means, I do not know.  I don't know if we'll pursue international adoption in ten years, or be foster parents when our children are teenagers, or heaven forbid something happen to a family member of mine and we take custody of their children.  However the means and circumstance, our family isn't quite finished.  But we're not adding to it any time soon (meaning not within the next decade as far as I can see).

Now while I haven't slept in a year, I am forever grateful for the miracles that are our children.  I could never have seen a year ago where I would be today: with three beautiful little girls added to our family.  Millie and Brooke are such happy souls that daily bring joy to our lives and I feel continually honored to be called their mother.

Ruth Anna's Birth Story

There's so much I want to write about and remember, so I will start with the most recent.  

We welcomed our precious baby Ruth Anna Neary on July 1st at 8:14AM weighing in at 7lb 5.6oz at 37 weeks.

At 35 weeks I got a massive headache and was seeing spots; symptoms that, unfortunately, I was far too familiar with.  After a blood pressure check I was admitted to the hospital for pre-eclampsia.  Medicine and steroid shots were started right away as we waited for lab results to come back.

My 24 hour urine content was off the charts!  The most the hospital had ever seen, in fact. (9.2g if anyone was wondering)  But my liver and kidneys were still holding up strong, and my blood pressure was able to be stabilized.  I was sent home a few days later (at 36 weeks) on strict bed rest with daily check ups and a c-section scheduled at 37 weeks if I should make it that far.  

 One last baby bump pic the night before c-section

We arrived bright and early Friday morning, checking in with a blood pressure of 190/100 (yay!), so they got to delivery pretty quickly.  I'll be truthful and say I totally hate c-sections, especially c-sections with gross medicines, vomiting, and dumb reactions to narcotics.  The only thing getting me through was that beautiful baby at the end.

And boy was she worth it!

(This is Joseph's absolute favorite picture, haha)

Having five children has definitely been an adjustment, especially now that it's almost a month later and all the family is gone and Joseph's paternity leave used up.  Some days I'll feel like a supermom, and a lot others we just barely survive through the day.  In my defense, I felt this way with all my children, even when we only had one, and we always figure it out.  The first two months are always the hardest :)

I wouldn't change how it worked out for anything, though.  All five of our babies are miracles in one way or another, and I thank God every day that I get the privilege to be their mother!

Extreme Problems Require Extreme Solutions

I have a problem, and I’m finally getting around to admitting it.  I’m addicted to sugar.  I’ve always had a sweet tooth, but lately (meaning the last few years), I haven’t had the ability to control what sugar I’m eating.  I vacillate between times of trying to moderate my sugar and binge eating on whatever is in the house.

I finally realized I needed to do something more extreme this past week at Halloween.  I was giving out candy at my mom’s house and thought I was just “snacking” on what was in the bowl and my sibling’s candy bags.  Before I knew it I had eaten about 50 pieces of candy!  50!.  I felt so sick physically, not to mention the emotional toll of feeling bad that I ate the candy and feeling ugly because of the effect sugar has on my body (I’ll explain later).  The next day it happened again, and then the next.  I couldn’t say no! 

I’ve tried every form of moderation in the book: having candy only once a week, once a day, having a cheat day, only a few servings a week, etc…  I’ll do great up until I allow myself to eat the candy, and then my body just can’t say no to more of it, and I end up getting off track just like that. 

Now the normal person would just get sick and de-energized from candy, but I have psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, both of which are autoimmune diseases that in my case are triggered my sugar.  I get scaly scabs on my arms, face, and legs, and I get joint pain that really affects what I’m doing.  You think that would be enough to avoid it!  Then in this last terrible pregnancy, sugar made everything worse.  It made my protein levels go up, my blood pressure go up, and I felt so much more sick and tired, but I still couldn’t stop eating it even though it was killing me and my baby!  Am I sick or what?! 

From the research I’ve been doing, I’ve finally had to admit that I have an addiction to sugar.  Apparently sugar stimulates the same part of the brain as addictive drugs, and I need to treat my addiction the same.  So I’m here to announce that I am cutting sugar cold turkey.  Basically my guideline is I’m not eating anything in which sugar is in the first three ingredients (except fresh fruit).  I’ve realized I am physically unable to have sugar in moderation, so I need to cut it out completely.  I’m setting a goal right now to last a year with no refined sugars.  Honestly, it’s going to be one of the hardest, if not the hardest, thing I have ever done.  This is why I’m telling the whole world, so I have someone to be accountable to.  So please, ask me how I’m doing!  Text me, call me, facebook message, whatever.  I need to be accountable to as many people as possible!

I know in my mind that this will be amazing for my body: the psoriasis, the arthritis, the preeclampsia (not even a chance of having another baby if I don’t change my diet drastically), losing the baby weight, my energy, my skin, etc…  I just have to physically make the choice every day to do what’s best for my family and me.  I’ll be doing updates each month on how I did.  In the meantime, feel free to ask me.  Thank you all for your support!

p.s. Joseph is doing it with me, which will help a lot, thank goodness!

Hyrum Joseph Neary

 I was admitted to the hospital for the 6th and final time on September 27, at exactly 35 weeks.  The pattern was always the same.  I’d go to my appointment, have 4+ protein and really high blood pressures, they’d send me to the hospital, I’d be fine after 24 hours, then they’d send me home.  This time, however, my protein count had gone up to 6.5 grams (7 grams is complete kidney failure), and we were fast approaching the time when my body went to severe preeclampsia with Lydia.  Knowing my condition could change within hours, they decided to have me on full time monitoring at the hospital.  

Most of my day consisted of blood work, 24 hour urine labs, monitoring the baby constantly, getting steroids for his lungs, and trying to not die of boredom.  I felt like I was in a constant state of emergency.  Every morning it would be “well you’re getting worse, maybe we’ll deliver you tonight”. And every night it would be “well you’re getting worse, but we can push you off a day.  Maybe we’ll deliver you in the morning”.  It drove me crazy, but I was extremely grateful for every extra day that Hyrum was able to cook in there.

 Finally the morning of October 4th they decided to deliver me.  I had been on several blood pressure medications, which had been working great until the night before when my blood pressure was dangerously high despite the medication.  Also, my platelets were dropping.  They knew I’d go to severe preeclampsia within 24 hours, so we decided to deliver Hyrum that night at 36 weeks.  

Because of my last C-section experience, I was pretty fearful for what lay ahead, but a blessing and some calming techniques helped me get through all the needles and pain.  I walked into the OR, they numbed me up with a spinal block (which felt amazing my the way--100 million times better than an epidural).  Then they went to work getting little Hyrum out.  It actually took about 30 minutes to get him out because his head got stuck on my innards (that’s how the doctor described it).  They pushed and prodded for about 10 minutes before they finally got the vacuum and suctioned him out.  I didn’t even know a baby could get stuck in a c-section.  Hyrum Joseph Neary was born 5:32 pm on Friday, October 4th weighing 6 lbs 11 oz and measuring 19.5 inches.  I can’t imagine how big he would have been had he been full term.

 My recovering was nothing short of miraculous.  My blood pressure remained elevated for just a few hours after the delivery.  Last time it took about a week in the hospital for that to happen.  Hyrum suffered from low blood sugar and jaundice, and just barely managed to stay out of the NICU, but he pulled through as well!  The c-section experience was night and day compared to my last one.  I was up and walking within 12 hours, I’ve felt fabulous physically and emotionally, and now just a week later I am able to do things that took me about a month to do before.  The lord sure has blessed us!  

Hyrum is a very low-maintenance baby.  Because he is a preemie, he sleeps most of the day, and only wakes up to eat.  I’ve been able to get great sleep, only waking up every three hours to feed him for 30 minutes, and it’s allowed me to give Lydia lots of attention as well so she doesn’t feel quite to jealous.  Actually, she loves Hyrum.  She smiles and laughs whenever she holds him, and most of the time she doesn’t try to poke his eyes out.  He looks 100% like his father, and almost nothing like his sister.  You can barely even tell they are siblings.

 Overall life is really good right now.  The after baby hormones never really came.  I’ve been really happy and emotionally sane.  I hope it lasts!  I want to thank everyone who has helped us these last few weeks whether it be through babysitting, meals, gifts for Hyrum, visiting, or anything else.  Know that it has been appreciated!  I love being a mom of two and have felt more love this last week than I though possible in my little heart.  

Week 34 Update

Thursday afternoon brought another doctors appointment (like I’ve been having 2-3 times a week).  It was a routine non-stress test and check up.  Truthfully it was the first doctor’s appointment in a while that I was going to not feeling completely icky and sick, so I was positive everything was fine.  I go in, they take my blood pressure, 140/90.  I wasn’t worried because it had been that high many times before.  

During the non-stress test they come to inform me that my protein level was at 4+.  For those who don’t know what that means, it’s bad.  I had been at 2+ for most of this pregnancy, which is already well into the danger zone.  To have that double meant my body was not doing well.  I was sent over to the perinatologist next door to run a few tests, and my blood pressure was at 150/100, high enough to be concerned.  After checking out some things, they decided to send me to the hospital on a blood pressure medication and to do a 24 hour urine sample all while they were watching me to make sure I didn’t go into full pre-eclampsia mode.  If I had been past 36 weeks they would have delivered me then and there, but since the baby still has a lot of growing to do, they were hoping to keep me at bay for a few more weeks.  

Well miracle of miracles, everything worked exactly as it should, and I had low blood pressures for 24 hours straight along with okay labs (okay enough that I didn’t need to be monitored at the hospital anymore.)  The blood work continues to get steadily worse, so they still are doing labs every 1-2 days.  My protein levels have gone way up, but my kidneys haven’t failed completely and protein level alone is not enough to hospitalize me.  For now I’m on super strict bed rest at home (I literally can only leave the bed to go to the bathroom and the occasional short shower).  And I have to go in to the hospital again tomorrow to get yet more blood work done and some blood pressure monitoring.  Hopefully it is just short term.  

 I am way more than ready for this pregnancy to be over.  If it weren’t for the fact that I love my son much more than lots of needles, hospitals, and three months of bedrest, I would have begged them to deliver me yesterday.  I am incredibly grateful that we have made it this far, and I know each day I make it is days less in the NICU for Hyrum.  On the plus side, I have almost complete conquered my phobia of needles.  Only 2-3 more weeks to go!  Though honestly I’m extremely skeptical that I will make it another week the way things are going.  Any bets on when he’ll make his debut?  It’s between now and October 11th at the latest.

What would it be like to have a normal pregnancy?

Well we’re at 33 weeks, another milestone I didn’t think I’d make it to.  On Monday things started going bad again where my blood pressure shot up and I was having all the preeclampsia symptoms (headaches, nausea, swelling, etc…)  I had gained over a pound a day in between then and my last appointment—all fluid.  I went into the doctor and they ran a lot of labs again, but they all came back normal which doesn’t make any sense, but who can argue with blood?  My protein level in my urine has gone up to 1.2 grams, but they won’t deliver me on high protein alone until I’m above 5 grams, which is complete kidney failure.  

I was sent home on very strict bed rest and some more labs to do at home.  The next day I went in and I had lost 5 lbs overnight and my blood pressure had returned to normal for me.  Basically the prognosis was that modified bed rest was not working, but apparently strict bed rest was.  The doctor gave me an ultimatum.  I could go home on strict bed rest (only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom), or she would check me in to the hospital right then and force me to.  I obviously chose staying at home.  I hate hospitals.  

The problem is that I have a one year old at home who needs a lot more attention than a mom on strict bed rest can give, and my son needs the attention of a mom who doesn’t put his life in danger by getting out of bed.  We made the difficult decision to send Lydia to my mom’s house in Utah for a few weeks.  My mom is the other person in the world she is most familiar with, I want her to have a normal schedule and not be at a different stranger’s house every day, and I trust my mom more than just about anyone to make good decisions for my daughter if something should come up.  Lydia would be able to have the attention she needs and the love of my siblings.  It was just best for her.   She and my mom left this morning and I’m trying to stay positive (*sniff*).  In other news it’s national positive thinking day.  How appropriate.

 Right now the goal is 36 weeks, so I’m looking at another three weeks at least in bed.  The headaches and nausea are still very much present, so I feel very sick a lot of the time.  Luckily I can just sleep it off most of the day.  Besides that I’m just lonely.  Joseph’s been working 12 hour days, so I’m alone all day.  So far I’m through six of the nine books in the Work in the Glory series (highly recommend!), and on level 215 of candy crush (I’m actually ashamed to admit that one).  If absolutely anyone wants to come and visit, please do not hesitate.  A thirty minute conversation lifts my spirits so much.  The same invitation goes for skype dates.  I have a lot of time on my hands.

 I’m afraid I’m still a bit in the “woe is me” stage of this, but give it a day or two and I’ll be in the “come what may in love it” stage.   Only 21 days to go!  I keep remembering that his is all for my son who I love more than anything!  And truthfully the bed rest is working.  I went to my appointment yesterday and my blood pressure was at 120/80!  I haven’t been that low in months!  And I had lost another couple of pounds of fluid, haha.  If only I could do that after the pregnancy, right?  

Lydia's birthday and a pregnancy update

I’m blogging from my phone again, so all the pictures are at the bottom of the post.  Sorry!   

Lydia’s first birthday was pretty laid back.  With me on bed rest and Joseph in intense training, we didn’t have a huge party.  We mostly made the day all about Lydia: we opened presents (all clothes), went out to lunch at McDonalds, and then had a few friends over while Lydia dug into her birthday cake.  It was just a simple family day.  

Now for a pregnancy update:  We’ve made it to 32 weeks!  A month ago when I was first put on bed rest, I never thought I would make it this far, but here we are!  Every time I go to my doctor, she’s amazed I’ve made it this far too.  She thinks I’m just lucky, but we all know better.  It’s all the prayers and fasting on Hyrum and my’s behalf.  The doctor’s decided that the latest they will let me carry Hyrum is 37 weeks.  At that point she feels it is safer and healthier to have him out of me rather than in me because of the strain I’m putting on his development.  October 11th is our scheduled C-section.  

 I really wanted to go VBAC, but the nearest hospital with the required capabilities is over an hour away and it would put a lot of unnecessary health risks on Hyrum right now, so we opted for a repeat C-section.  I love the fact that I can plan and prepare for his arrival, but I really am not looking forward to all the pain.  My OB assures me that a scheduled C-section is a different experience entirely than the emergency C-section after 24 hours of labor I had with Lydia.  Is anyone else able to vouch for her claims?  I’ll just have to see for myself.  
I’m still on bed rest for now, because apparently it’s working.  My doctor still thinks I won’t make it until October, but that’s our goal for now.  That does mean another five weeks on bed rest (no fun!), but it means no NICU for Hyrum!  I’ll take that over being lonely and bored at home any day.  

If anyone in California is ever wanting to, feel free to come and visit us!  We don’t get out often and I would love to have some adult interaction (as much as I love talking to Lydia all day).  Thanks again to everyone’s faith, prayers, and service on our behalf.  We know that is why Hyrum and doing so well, and we couldn’t be more appreciative!

Update On Our Life

 We made it to 29 weeks!  Every week that passes by I count as a solid victory.  Luckily this week was uneventful.  Besides the routine OB visits, I just stayed at home on bed rest.  There were no blood pressure scares and my protein levels haven’t gone up.  All the prayers and fasting must be working.  I’m trying really hard to be a good little bed rest mama so I don’t cause something to go wrong.  I couldn’t live with myself knowing I did something deliberate to hurt my child.    

I feel like Lydia is handling things well.  She mostly plays with her toys all day, and we watch veggietales together.  I’m hoping these few months of little outside interaction won’t permanently harm her development.  My mom has assured me I’m just being paranoid.  

Random story (Please don’t judge!).  I’m not sure whether I should laugh or be mortified.  Right now it’s towards the latter.  I’m sure I’ll laugh at it one day.  We were at an Air Force function.  Joseph and I were talking with some couples and letting Lydia crawl around with the other babies.  Before we know it, she’s climbed up to the table, and is reaching for someone’s cup.  Before we can stop her she takes a drink, spilling some on her.  It turns out the cup was full of beer!  I felt AWFUL and TERRIBLE and like the WORST mother ever.  Truthfully it will take me a while to get over the fact that I let my daughter have beer.  Everyone else just laughed.  I will too…someday.  

Thanks everyone for all your prayers on our behalf. We have felt their power and know that the Lord is helping us so much right now.  Here is a big thank you to our ward too for bringing us meals every day this week!  You guys are amazing!

Complicated Complicated

     I finally went to the OB here in California after not seeing one for 9 or 10 weeks with our lapse in insurance and the move and everything.  At my first appointment the protein level in my urine sample came back too high (a 2+ if anyone cares to know).  So they sent me in for some labs and tests to see what was up.  Now with Lydia I measured at a 2+, then did the labs, then I delivered the next day with severe preeclampsia.  So obviously I was freaking out since I was only 27 weeks at the time.  After a 24 hour urine lab, my protein count came back at 900mg.  Anything above a 300 is the preeclampsia zone, so I’m very much at risk, but it’s still nowhere near the 5000mg I was at with Lydia when I delivered.  Basically at this point we are just waiting for the rest of the preeclampsia symptoms to show up before they deliver me (mostly waiting for my blood pressure to rise dramatically).  It’s a bit scary knowing that my baby could be delivered any day (I’m at 28 weeks now), and I don’t have any control over it.  There is a small chance that it could never show up, and I make it full term.  It would take a miracle, but miracles happen!  For now my OB would be thrilled if I made it to 34 weeks (I would be too!).
      Right now I’m on bed rest to try to keep the rest of the symptoms from coming up.  It’s a modified bed rest thankfully so I can still take care of Lydia meaning I can feed her, change her, and bathe her, but that’s pretty much all I’m allowed to do. We did have one scare last Friday where my blood pressure went up too high and I got sent to the hospital for some tests and such, but luckily during the hours I was there it went back down and the tests came back looking awesome (no kidney failure yet!), so I am in the clear for now.  It’s really unnerving to have to be prepared and packed to have little Hyrum delivered anytime from tomorrow to 12 weeks from now.
     We have been incredibly blessed to have such help.  Our families are praying for us, which we can feel the blessings of already.  Ward members have babysat and brought over meals.  Best of all the Air Force has given Joseph permission to go on extended medical leave if something very serious comes up.  That’s a huge relief right there.   
     Probably the hardest part for me is that if the preeclampsia does show up, this will most likely be our last biological child.  The chance of preeclampsia in a third pregnancy after these two is nearly 100% and the chance of it showing up much early and more severe, resulting in fetal or my death, is about 50%.  Those statistics are way too high to even mess with.  For a couple who wanted 6-8 kids, this news had been devastating, but I’m always hopeful that something will happen that could allow to us to bring more children into our family somehow.  
       The person who has been most amazing is my dear Joseph.  He’s balancing training, being young men’s president, and now doing everything I used to do like cooking and cleaning.  The poor guy is always moving, getting things done, and doesn’t have a moment to himself.  But he’s taken it really well, and is willing to do anything to keep this baby healthy.  I could not have done any of this without him.
     In other news Lydia turns one in less than three weeks!  Wow time has flown!  She probably will just get a cake for her birthday since neither Joseph nor I are in any condition to plan a party, but luckily she’s one and couldn’t care less. She took her first steps last week and is very close to walking. She brings us so much joy and we love her to pieces!
     Overall we have been really blessed, and ask you all to keep Hyrum in your prayers.  We want him to last at least a few more weeks!

Lydia Eve Neary

Lydia Eve Neary was born 6:36 pm August 31. She weighed 6 lbs 4 oz, has beautiful blonde hair, a cute little pixy chin, a little button nose, and is, in the eyes of her parents, perfect in every way. Lydia has taught us from the very beginning that the Lord has his own time table. What will follow is a day by day sketch of how Lydia made her debut

Tuesday, August 28, 2012
We went in for our 36 week appoint and found out that Melissa had a tinge of protein in her urine sample. To make sure it was a fluke, Dr. Savage put Melissa on a 24 hr urine collection. This was slightly amusing considering she had to go to school. We won't bore you with the details, but Melissa was pretty creative in her efforts to covertly walk on campus with her urine-capturing apparatus. Though, it was fun in a weird way to see how much she peed each time.

Wed, August 29, 2012
Technically, Melissa didn't start collecting till 7 am this day.

Thursday, August 30, 2012
We dropped off the sample and got some blood taken at 10:30 that morning.

This is when the magic really started to pick up. Joseph was in the middle briefing Capt. Hart at the detachment when Melissa started calling him. She called him 5 times in a row which is as apparent as a smoke signal in the rain forrest that something was going down. Eventually, Capt Hart told Joseph to answer the phone. When he did, Melissa told him that her 24 hr urine sample had an over abundance of protein in it, which meant she had pre-eclampsia. They usually start worrying if your protein level is above 300, Melissa's was above 5,000.

After getting the phone call to come in ASAP, we drove to Dr. Savage's office (Joseph was told to get goin by Capt. Hart.)  They tested her blood pressure, which was supposed to be under 140/80 for everything to be okay.  It was 152/90.  That mixed with the protein levels got us sent immediately over to labor and delivery in the hospital here in Provo.

Once we got to the hospital they hooked Melissa up to several monitors, a fetal heart monitor, a contraction monitor, a blood pressure cuff, a heartbeat monitor, and other things we just can't remember, iv's and a catheter.  Her blood pressure was steadily rising (171/92), and things just weren't looking good.

They frist started Melissa out on Magnesium, which was supposed to keep away seizures that come from eclampsia, but ironically also can be used as a labor stopper, so we were already fighting against the odds.  Many may know first hand what Magnesium does to you:  severe nausea, hot flashes, sever swelling, etc...  It was NO fun. (and 48 hours from now Melissa is still on it. Gross)

1:30 The doctor comes in and breaks Melissa's water.  That gets the contractions to really start going.

To get the induction going they first started out with something similar to pitocin (like oxytocin, but it started with a C, we can't remember) which was supposed to start things out pretty smooth so she didn't go anywhere too quickly.  The contractions started getting pretty painful about 9 hours into the induction, so Melissa took an epidural then.  It only worked on her left side for the first few hours, but luckily the right side started to kick in by about 6 am and Melissa could get a little sleep (well as much sleep as you can get by having your vitals checked every ten minutes, and lets not even mention the silly IV alarms.  Joseph claims he almost threw it out the window he was so tired of hearing the sound).  At this time Lydia was handling everything like a champ, no distress or problems yet.

Around 6am they checked Melissa and she was at 3cm and 80% effaced.  They started the pitocin to really get things rolling (Friday August 31, 2012).  Melissa was super glad she had the epidural at this point, because the right side was already very painful and it was supposed to be numb.  The cycle for the next 13 hours were constant contractions, throwing up every time Melissa ate too many ice chips, pain in the right side from where the epidural didn't work, and monitoring everything very closely to make sure Lydia was handling it all.

By the time 6pm  rolled around, Melissa was completely exhausted.  After 15 hours on pitocin, she was still only at a 4.  Her body was devoid of energy and just hadn't had a chance to recuperate.  This is about the same time Lydia began reacting badly to the pitocin.  Her heartbeat would drop to dangerously low levels after each contraction.  This is when the decision was made to get Lydia out of there because she probably couldn't handle whatever it would take to get to 10 cm.

6:36pm Friday night Lydia Eve Neary was born: perfect in every way :)

Lydia was quickly cleaned and put into Joseph's arms. He was very excited and glad to see that Lydia was so calm during the whole process.

Post Partum:  It took about 24 more hours to get the high blood pressure to go down and for the doctor to feel comfortable taking Melissa off magnesium.  She now feels a LOT better (besides the incision pain of course).  Lydia has done well except for being jaundice.  She gets to stay under the billi lights full time except for eating.  After all is said and done we have been blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby.  We would do it all again in a heartbeat as long as we got he same result :) (and only if it lasted a heart beat!)