Finally!

I know it's been awhile and I will update more soon, so I have a record of her hospital stay, but thought I should at least let you all know... SHE'S HOME! we got to bring Elenor home Sunday December 19th. After 40 days in the hospital I've never been so happy. No monitors or anything had to leave with us. We have been busy enjoying our little girl and it made for a fantastic Christmas. We're on lock down for the next 5 months but it's totally worth it to have her home.

In the car on our way home.

Almost Four Weeks

Monday November 29th:
She made it! Three and a half pounds! It was just another milestone for our little Ele. I'm starting back to work today. It will be a little stressful but if I work it right then I can take a few days off when I bring Ele home. She's doing great the crib test didn't go perfectly she was a tenth of a degree too low to stay in a crib. So we are just going to wait until she's 1800 grams which isn't too far off. She has been gaining about 50 grams a day. Sometimes she has a lower day but in general she has been gaining about 50 grams which is above average. :)

Tuesday November 20th:
Today was an good day. I worked and went and spent time with my baby. Nothing mush to report other than she is so ridiculously cute.

Wednesday December 1st:
Ele had a hard night and morning they said she had been a little screamy and just wasn't feeling good. She had been 'swinging' which means her oxygen saturations were dropping. This is normal for a little girl her size and gestational age. Basically because she is so little and has been doing so much she just forgets to breath deeply. What with growing and learning how to eat and everything. So they put her on just a trace of oxygen. When I got there she still wasn't happy, as soon as I held her she quieted right down. It was nice to be able to comfort her. but as I needed to leave the nurse took her from me and she immediately started to scream, it tore me apart. I want to be with her, I want to comfort her. But being at the hospital 24 hours a day just isn't an option. It was really hard leaving her today, I just can't wait until she can be home with me

Thursday December 2nd:
3 lbs 11 oz, she did much better on her saturation levels last night. They even turned her back onto room air. They are leaving her cannula in just in case. Today was a very funny day at the hospital. Our little girl had a firm belly, I asked the nurse what could cause that and she said most likely poop. So I changed her diaper to see if she was constipated but it was poopy. So I said could it be anything else? The nurse told me it was still probably gas and poop. So I asked if we should give her a suppository. Well with as firm of a belly as she had the nurse didn't want her to have to wait for a Dr's orders to do the suppository, so she tried to help herself... Well within a few seconds Ele pooped all over our nurse. It was such a surprise that she even screamed a little. I started to laugh and I told her I was sorry but it just was too funny. The nurse laughed too and said that's true it was pretty funny. On a good note that nurse happened to be enamored with our daughter so I think that helped the situation. She thought she was so cute, and how can you be mad at something that cute? Ele felt much better after that and had a really good day.


Friday December 3rd:
Today I had to go into work to handle month end. It was a big ordeal and I was training a girl just in case I am ever gone over month end. But because it took so long I didn't get to see Ele until the night shift. I was going to see her at her 4 o-clock feeding but when I called to tell them I was coming they let me know she would be having her optamologist appointment and that they like them to only sleep after they are done because it can be a little upsetting to the babies. On a high note everything looked great they said. And she won't need to have any follow ups! Such exciting news. We snuggled our girl and then we went home to prepare for a long Saturday to-do list.

Saturday December 4th:
Today we went to see our baby amid many errands, it was fun to see her and hold her. I just love to look at her beautiful face. She is doing so good. Then we decided that we needed a date night with everything that has been going on we hadn't really taken a lot of time for just Nate and I. We went on a double date, went to Tepanyaki for dinner, then headed up to Salt Lake to look at the lights. It was really rainy when we got to Salt Lake so we didn't stay too long. On our way home we decided to stop for pie and hot chocolate. It was a lot of fun, while we were there I just really missed my baby so I called the NICU to see how she was doing and our baby weighs 3 lbs 14 oz! I was so excited I had to call my mom to let her know. She promptly called me back and said, 'Sarah (my sister) wanted me to point out that she is pi,  3.14' I laughed so hard at that. I should have seen it coming I mean I'm the math major but I'll take what I can get. My baby is pi!

Sunday December 5th:
Our baby is the cutest, she had a great morning, they turned her oxygen on for a bit until she pulled her cannula of her face, so they decided to just see how she did. We are now headed to my Mom's to enjoy some pie in celebration of Ele reaching her pi weight. Almost to 1800 grams and an open crib test. I can't wait! Oh and did I mention that I seriously love my baby? If not I do. She is beautiful and sweet and I love to just look at her,

More little updates

Saturday November 27th:
Our baby gained two ounces from yesterday. 3 lbs 4 oz These increases are phenomenal! We are approaching the mark of 1500 grams, this is the point when things are supposed to pick up pretty quickly. The doctor is having them test Ele tonight to see if she can hold her body temperature without any extra heat circulating around her. If she can hold it through the night they might graduate her to a crib! This is big news because a crib is one of the 2 requirements she has left before getting to come home. I'm hopeful she will do awesome. Oh and we got to give Ele her bath tonight. It was so much fun, partly because it helped with bounding, but mainly because it was fun to see how our little girl has her Daddy firmly wrapped around her little finger. As we started to go through the process of weighing Ele and then getting to start the bath he was so concerned about her getting too cold or not liking it. He kept wanting to hold her and it was really cute. In fact as I put her down to start changing her he kept on almost pushing my hands out of the way because he wanted to hold her to comfort her and let her know he was there. So note to self, he is totally smitten by our little girl and I might have to make sure he doesn't spoil her too much.

Sunday November 28th:
Another 2 ounces! And passing the 1500 gram mark. 3 lbs 6 oz 1525 grams. She held her temp through the night so they removed her little water bed and she has been holding steady all day as well. So this afternoon they will test her in the crib! If everything goes well then she can stay in the crib unless for some reason she stops holding her body temp. Which could happen but I have a feeling with how much she is gaining each day, if she can handle it these first few hours she'll be able to stay in her crib. We are going back tonight and can't wait to see our little girl graduated to a crib. Mainly I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone that is praying for our family and especially little Ele. She is so strong and has done so well and we know we are being blessed and many times carried by the Lord and the prayers being offered in our behalf. We are so grateful for the support that has been given to us and for how understanding everyone has been. Thank you so much for everything. I'll try and keep everyone posted with updates on this blog. Hopefully in the next little while things will really pick up and before we know it we'll have our little girl home.

Friday November 19th:
Today we started non-nutritive breastfeeding. This is more of a training for Elenor. I pump off my milk and then she can practice without having to get suck, swallow, breath all at once. Ele did wonderfully. The Occupational Therapist was impressed Ele did so well.

Saturday November 20th:
We just hung with our little lady who keeps gainng weight and doing awesome. Continued with the non-nutrtive and she's doing awesome.

Sunday November 21st:
Same thing today, there aren't many updates which is pretty much awesome, If the only updates we need are that she is doing fantastic and just needs to gain weight we are totally okay with that.

Monday November 22nd:
Ele is gaining weight and started actaul nursing today. She did really good. She's still learning but she is amazing.

Tuesday November 23rd:
Elenor is two weeks today. I can't believe it's already been two weeks. I miss her so much when I can't be with her, but I realize she is where she's supposed to be. I just hope she won't need to be here for much longer. I just want to be able to hold her more often and just love her. She is 2 lbs 14 oz today.

Wednesday November 24th:
My Baby is 3lbs today! Since she lost 2 oz right after birth she has technically gained 50% of her birth weight. I'm so proud of her and I am so surprised at how different she looks. Her little face is so 'chunky'. I realize that it's only chunky for her and she's still half the size of most babies but I am still so excited and proud to be her mom.

Thursday November 25th; (Thanksgiving)
When we went in today there was a sweet present waiting for us on Ele's crib. It was a cute handprint from Ele turned into a turkey with a poem that said:

This isn't a turkey
As anyone can see,
I made it with my hand.
Which is a part of me.
It comes with lots of love
Especially to say
I hope you have a very Happy Turkey Day!

It was great to see her and to get this present, but it was hard to have this Thanksgiving and not be able to have her with us. We went from the hospital to our family dinner and then back to the hospital. It was a great but hard day.

Friday November 26th:
Today is basically the same as most just Ele sleeping and being adorable while Nate and I visit. Shes up to 3 lbs 2 oz every ounce counts. They measure her in grams and she is at 1425 she was born at 1015. They say the magical number is usually 1800 grams. This is when they start to really hold their body temp and start to really nurse well. So we are hoping she'll continue to get bigger so we can bring her home. Though we'll be on lock down until April or May because of RSV season, so we can't take her many places and won't be able to have many visitors, it will be amazing to have her home with us.

Elenor's Birth Part 4

Saturday November 13th: Convinced the doctors to let me go home.
I wanted to go home so badly. I knew i wouldn't get to take ele home no matter how long they had me stay, and so i just wanted to go home and be able to sleep next to my husband and just have some sense of normalcy. My blood pressure was still high so they were concerned but I won out. :) I went up that morning and held Ele and then we went up again at 4:30 to have Nate hold her before we went home. Our nurse in the NICU today was Carolyn Stone, she is in my parents ward and watched Ele for a few of her shifts. She was and is fantastic and then Nate and I left the hospital. It was and is always hard to leave Ele but I was so excited to go home that did help a little. We ran up to my parents house to grab a few things we needed and ate dinner with them. Then we went home and I slept wonderfully in my own bed.

Sunday November 14th:
This was a pretty lazy day as well, I slept and relaxed and we went to see Ele. We get to hold her at least once a day now and it is so exciting. Our wonderful neighbor Jan Brimhall brought us dinner and it was really nice. Apparantly I have really been wanting to try her wonderful smelling pot pies because she came to visit me the day after Ele was born, the day I was on the Mag and couldn't even open my eyes, but i was aware enough to ask her for a pot pie on Sunday when she asked if there was anything she could do. :) And then the sweetheart that she is she said absolutely.

Monday November 15th: Monday was my first day I could go and see Ele but would have to go by myself. So I did, I woke up and drove over and was there by about 8 in the morning, held Ele and just stayed by her because I missed her and liked just sitting around her. I went and ran a few errands and then went home and picked up Nate, we went to hold Ele and then came back to another wonderful dinner provided by our awesome ward. We had an early night because we are just started to get used to this new schedule.

Tuesday November 16th:
I stayed with Ele the whole morning, Then went to my Doctor's appointment. They said I healed amazingly well. My blood pressure is still a little high so they are monitoring me and I am not quite cleared to go back to work. I went home and rested for a little while, then came back with Nate in the afternoon. I really do enjoy watching Nate hold our little girl. He is the most amazing man and is a great dad.

Wednesday November 17th:
Ele's heart rate started to drop occassionally, but she is still their star student in the NICU. Stayed with her for the morning, got my hair cut, went back with Nate.

Thursday November 18th:
I went this morning to spend time with Ele and they let me hold her for an hour and a half. It was so amazing, we sing together and have little chats, I love that time with her, it is so precious to me. I went home and worked on these blog posts. ;) and then headed back last night at 7:30 with Nate. As we walked in and turned the corner our abby was no where to be found. I said, 'Oh, our baby is missing.' and the nurse Cory jumped up and said, 'oh she got moved across the hall they didn't tell you?' We said no but were so excited. We figured she would be moved soon since she was doing so well, but they usually like for the kids to not be on an IV, any breathing help, and as close to 4 pounds as possible. She hasn't been on any breathing help basically since she was born, and her IV will be complete Friday night. And since she was doing so well they decided to move her over anyway even at her very petite 2 lbs 8 oz. Nate enjoyed about an hour and twenty minutes. She was so awake and just looked beautiful. I sat there and just cried repeated times because I was so proud of her. We've had talks, Ele and I, about how we want to get her home by Christmas, and I feel it's totally doable. And after her graduation I couldn't have been a more proud mother.

Elenor's Birth Part 3

Wednesday November 10th:
At sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 AM I woke myself up called the nurse and told her I needed to see my baby. I sat my bed up, I pulled myself over and with the will power of awesomeness I somehow managed to get myself turned around and into the wheelchair. I had my trusty bag with me in case I got sick, called to Nate to get his camera and come with me because I wanted to see my baby. I remember being incredibly shakey and feeling sick, but I wanted to see my baby more than anything. They wheeled me upstairs and into the NICU, Ele was in an open bed at this time and I couldn't really stand up very much, so I couldn't see her incredibly well. But I touched her little feet and was able to handle the heat from her warmer for maybe 5 minutes. Then I started to loose it (puked) and had to leave. I got back into bed and don't actually remember the act of getting back into bed. For most of the day I was incredibly out of it. I literally couldn't open my eyes. I remmber being nauseated still so they gave me some medicine. I wanted to see my baby and I kept asking Nate to turn on the TV or things like that to try and help me wake up but the Mag was so strong that I couldn't. With in seconds I would drift off again and couldn't wake mself up again. That evening some family stopped by. My sister Suzy and her family came right when they turned the Mag off and for the next 45 minutes I could literally feel it leaving my body. It was so nice to start to feel better. I was able to actually drink some water and keep my eyes open for longer than 5 minutes. Suzy said that the difference of when she first got there and her leaving was crazy. I finally was able to get up again and went to see my baby at about 10:00 PM. I was able to stand up for a little bit and touch my baby. It was so surreal, but she was just so darling. I absolutely loved getting to see her. I was still pretty sick and incredibly tired because of the Mag so I went back down to sleep.

Thursday November 11th:
Today I was finally awake and was able to walk a little. I took family members up to see the baby, and started to feel a little overwhelmed. I could tell Ele was getting a little overwhelmed and I felt like to protect my baby I couldn't touch her very much because I didn't want her to get overstimulated. So I started to get nervous and I started crying. Margaret our nurse that day told us Ele was getting a little overstimulated, so she suggested that we come back that night at 7:30 and try skin to skin, and then we would put her in an enclosed isolette, to help keep out some of the noise and things like that. I was so excited at the prospect of holding my baby. I was counting down the time until we could go back up. I started to get nervous but was still oh so excited. We headed up stairs and they took my precious little girl  out and handed her to me. I got to hold her next to me and for the first time I felt a little relief. I just hugged her and cried because I finally got to hold my baby. It was the most amazing moment. I just sat there and relaxed, loved that I got to finally hold my 2 day old baby. I think every mother longs for the moment when they get to hold their baby. I wanted to hold her so badly and couldn't for those first two days. I think that's why it was the most amazing feeling ever. It was so hard to leave her and have her be taken away from me. Even though I knew it was what she needed I just wanted to be with her. Later that night I was pumping and just wanted to be nursing my baby more than anything. I cried for an hour straight and just missed her and wished I could be next to her and nursing her.

Friday November 12th:
Today was a little bit of a lazy day. I had to start my recovery as well and I was working on getting my blood pressure down. So I went to see my baby twice today inbetween naps and recovering. Then Nate came in after work and we went upstairs for his first time to hold the baby. I was so exxcited for Nate to finally get to hold her. It was the most precious thing to watch him hold her and see how she just snuggled into him. I was just beaming the entire time. She was so small and Nate felt like a Giant compared to her. Nate is such a good Dad, he is seriously amazing and has been so good with Ele and I through all of this. I am so grateful he is mine and that I get to go through this with him. I don't know if I could do this without him.

Elenor's Birth Part 2

Monday November 8th:
Monday morning they took me in for my ultrasound, ironically I had an ultrasound scheduled for that afternoon, so I told them they shouldn't plan on me coming in later on. They just went through and measured Ele and thought she would be around 3 pounds which was spot on for a 31.5 weeker. though they are only accurate within about a pound or so. They discussed with me that they felt she would be alright and they have many kids that early do incredibly well. They also said since I was now closer to 32 weeks than 31 was a huge benefit. Most babies born at 32 don't have developmental issues, and they tend to do incredibly well. It was really comforting to hear that. They sent in a NICU consult to tell me what I should expect. Basically they said lungs were the main concern and it's great it looks like I'd be able to get both steroid shots before she would be born. There were a few other concerns but nothing they felt they couldn't fix. That was Dr. Stoddard, and he is the sweetest man ever. They then started talking to me about what would be happening tomorrow, first they would try to soften my cervix tonight so I could try for a vaginal birth. Then they would start pitocin tomorrow and see how it went. They told me I needed to be aware that a c-section was a real possibility, again I felt a huge peace about everything I knew I was in good hands. I had a few friends and families come and visit throughout the day and it was going well. Apparantly I wasn't incredibly coherent or didn't realize I wasn't explaining well because Nate didn't realize that Tuesday was baby day. So I settled in for another long night, sent Nate home but told him to come in as soon as he woke up.

Tuesday November 9th:
They gave me the last dose of medicine before the pitocin, and then waited until noon to start the pitocin. I was starting to progress slowly but after every contraction Ele's heart rate was dipping. This is a sign of distress and so they had to turn off the pitocin. I was only dilated to a 1, so in last efforts to have a natural birth they broke my water. And we were able to get a heart rate monitor on Ele's head. I went into natural labor and didn't need any pitocin. After about four hours I was only dilated to a 3. Ele's heart was still dipping after each cotraction and my blood pressure wasn't looking good. We discussed it with our doctor and decided that a c-section would be the safest option for both Ele and I. So I received my epidural a little before 7PM. I was taken into the operating table and I still had a very calm comforted feeling. I remember feeling relaxed and not even nervous about the surgery I was about to go through. As they told me there would be a lot of pressure as they delivered her, I started repeating, 'everything is going to be okay, everything is going to be okay.' Nate said, 'Don't worry honey it will be alright.' And out came our baby screaming away. ( 2lbs 2oz , 7:39PM) It was the most amazing thing to hear her lungs working so well. Nate got to stand up and take pictures or her, and because she was doing so well they even held her over the curtain for me to see. The NICU respiratory team took Ele into the next room and Nate went with them. Doctors Dayton, and Gamette were closing me up and told me how vigorous she was, I found out later that vigorous is a medical term that means her heart rate was above 100 and she was breathing on her own. He continued to close me up and was so impressed that he could hear her crying for the next room, he commented again saying, 'Seriusly listen to her go, she's so strong.' It made me so happy. As they got me back into the bed to go to recovery they raised my dose of Mag (Magnesium Sulfate) and I started to drift off pretty quickly. They admitted Ele to the NICU and put a precautionary CPAP machine on here to help keep pressure in her lungs so they wouldn't colapse. They didn't need to use it but felt it was better to be safe.

I don't know how long I was in the recovery room before Nate came back, because I was pretty out of it. they then switched me down to the 4th floor. I remember that they got the bed and IV stuck going into the elevator. As they shook the bed around I started to get sick and threw up everywhere. I thought it was weird because they just kept shaking the bed around while I puked my guts out. I also don't know why but they didn't take me through the NICU like they normally do. I don't remember much after getting into the elevator. I know that Nate and my Mom went up to the NICU to got everything taken care of.

Elenor's Birth Part 1

Nate has been asking me to write this for awhile now and I agree it needs to happen. I want to make sure what I'm feeling is written down and recorded so that some day I can look back at this with Ele and tell her how she was born. So I'm going to do a day by day. Some may be longer and I might break up this post, but I am going to start with Friday November 5th. Also please note that I'm going to put in some of my personal feelings as I went through everything so there will be some personal things inside these posts.

Friday November 5th: 
Today I woke up and had just bought a bunch of cute shirts from the Shade outlet closing. I wore this super cute striped shirt that made me look ridiculously cute and pregnant, so I took a picture and uploaded it to Facebook. I had just hit my 31 week mark the day before, so I had 9 weeks left. Nate was heading to California for his Grandma's 90 birthday party. I wasn't allowed to travel so I was going to be without a husband for the weekend until Sunday afternoon. This wasn't very long especially since we went to lunch together before he left, but I was having a really hard time with him leaving. Before I left work I stayed late because I wanted to get more cauhgt up, for some reason I kept thinking, what if I can't come in on Monday? My little sister Sarah came and spent the night on Friday just to keep me company. I had a hard night and really missed Nate and for some reason I just really wanted him home, I cried a few times and even told him I didn't know why I was having such a hard time, I sort of feel now that it was because my body knew what was coming and knew I would need him.

Saturday November 6th: 
I really missed Nate today, seriously cried and called him a few times. I just wanted my husband back. I went over to my mom's house and did some homework and relaxed because I wasn't feeling well. It was kind of a lazy day. I went home, went to bed, slept horribly and missed my husband lots.

Sunday November 7th:
This morning I woke up and was getting ready for church. I walked into the bathroom and noticed my face was really swollen. I knew this was a sign of Pre-Eclampsia, it made me nervous. I called Bro. Black (we do Primary Music together) and told him I wouldn't be able to make it because I thought I needed to go in for a non stress test. He was understanding and concerned and told me to take care. I called Nate and told him through the now streaming tears that I felt something was wrong and I just wanted him home. He told me when his flight was supposed to land and I called my mom to tell her my symptoms. She told me to lay down and drink water and she'd come to get me after church. So I waited and was doing alright, when she came to get me my blood pressure was incredibly high but we thought we might be able to bring it down. I really was just waiting for Nate to get home. So I looked up the other symptoms of Pre-Eclampsia and started watching for them. Nate got home and I felt so much better just knowing he was there. I got a headache (symptom) and then started to get nauseated (symptom). We went down the street to my sister's house for a family birthday party and I just started feeling worse. My brother and my dad both said we should go to the hospital, so I called my midwife and she said she felt I should go in as well. So my dad and Nate gave me a quick blessing and we jumped in the car. I know it sounds weird but as we drove to the hospital I knew I had pre-eclampsia and I knew I was going to have to have the baby. Though I thought they might be able to hold off for at least a week or something like that.

We walked into the Labor and Delivery at Orem Community Hospital and they started watching my vitals. Almost immediately they called the midwife to have her come in and she confirmed I did in fact have Pre-Eclampsia. And it wasn't just Pre-Eclampsia but severe Pre-Eclampsia. For people who don't know what this is, basically I was having a reaction to the placenta. It raised my blood pressure incredibly high and I was at risk for seizures (Eclampsia) I didn't think I was at that point already but they confirmed I was in fact in the danger zone for having seizures. They started me on Magnesium Sulfate which is basically a strong muscle relaxant to help me not have a seizure. The only way to fix Pre-Eclampsia is to end the pregnancy. So I needed to have the baby for my own safety. They also started me on a blood pressure medication, and gave me my first steroid shot to help Ele's lungs to develop faster. They called for a paramedic transfer and got me ready to be moved to UVRMC because they have an amazing NICU Newborn Intensive Care Unit. They work with babies as early as I believe 24 weeks. Dena Walker was the midwife that came in to talk with me. She started to tell me what was going on and that the baby needed to be born. I just had a peaceful feeling and told her I knew Elenor needed to be born because of the Pre-Eclampsia and that I trusted the Doctors to do what needed to be done for both of us. I just kept smiling and tried to talk with all of the nurses, Susie and Donna were the two that had run my labs. As the paramedics took me out I had a farewell party waiting, they all waived goodbye and the paramedics were very impressed. Nathan followed us down so that he would have his car at the hospital. They took me into Labor and Delivery, I called Nate to tell him what room I was in and got ready for a very long night. I had Nate stay for a little while but then told him to go home (remember he hadn't been home yet since his trip) We needed him to go to work and so I told him to go home sleep and go to work and that I would call him if I needed him.

My night was spent with a wonderful nurse named Cynthia, she and I became fast friends since they had to have a consistant monitor on my babies heartbeat as well as checking my blood pressure every 10-20 minutes. I felt much better about having Nate go home because it would have been a miserable night for him and I knew the next few days would be interesting to say the least. The nurses learned quickly that I wasn't exaggerating that I had a very active baby. Every hour or so they had to come in and move the heart rate monitor because they would loose her. Nate said he pictured her kicking the monitor and then swimming away and hiding while she laughed at her own cleverness. It became part of the shift change briefing that my baby would be swimming everywhere. So each nurse came in and introduced themselves and then said, 'we hear we have an active one.' I laughed and told them absolutely. The best part of this is that normally the Magnesium Sulfate really affects the baby, but it didn't seem to touch Ele.

One Week

Carrie was released from the hospital on Saturday and is doing great. Elenor is still in the NICU but she has gained 4 ounces! She is starting to look around and recognizes us. The nurses say Carrie has a very calming influence on Ele.

Carrie bought a monkey (its a stuffed animal) to announce to me that she was pregnant and now it is Ele's companion since we can't be with her all the time. The monkey and Ele are about the same length so I figure it will be fun for comparison down the road.

Click here for more photos.

New Gross Baby Photos

Click here for some more pictures of Elenor Marie Gross.

Click here for Pictures posted on Facebook of Elenor.

New Baby Gross News!

Some people may have missed parts, so I'll start with the important stuff:

First, Carrie was pregnant and due on or around 01/06/2011; our baby (her name is Elenor Marie) was delivered 11/09/2010 at 7:39 PM and is doing great. For those who are not mathematically inclined, that makes Elenor about 2 months early.

On to the story:

This past Sunday Carrie was not feeling well, went to visit her mother. Carrie had a headache and her blood pressure was well beyond the threshold for inducing seizures we found out later. This condition is known as pre-eclampsia and as Wikipedia simply states, "Apart from Caesarean section or induction of labor (and therefore delivery of the placenta), there is no known cure."

I was travelling from California most of Sunday so once I arrived at my mother-in-law's I took Carrie to Orem Community Hospital to see how severe her condition was. Once we arrived she was immediately put on Magnesium Sulfate (and others) to prevent seizures and to try and bring her blood pressure under control and preparations were made to transfer her to UVRMC in Provo. Before the transfer, Carrie was given a shot of steroids to help with the development of Elenor's lungs.

Carrie was transported in an ambulance and I followed in my car; admittedly, I got a little lost because I thought Carrie had been admitted through the Emergency Entrance. However, after a minute or two of running around I found the correct room. The hospital staff told us the baby would have to be delivered soon, one way or another. They wanted another day for the steroids to take effect before inducing labor or preparing for a c-section. On the plus side, our room had a nice view of Mount Timpanogos.

On Monday I went to work so I don't know all the details but the nurses/doctors gave Carrie shots, more meds and possible scenarios of delivery - there were also many visitors and encouragement via text message and Facebook... thank you for your support and prayers.

I was in the hospital on Tuesday and I thought it was going to be more of the same: shots, waiting, monitoring etc. However, around noon-ish, they started Carrie on Pitocin to try and induce labor. We had high hopes and after a few hours it looked like avoiding a c-section might happen, but she was not progressing fast enough. Around 7 PM we were told to expect a Cesarean Section delivery within the next half hour. Carrie wanted to go natural but not at the risk of losing the baby and with the combination of medicine Carrie was on and the effect it was having on Elenor, the doctors did not want to risk a longer labor.

Carrie got an epidural and was taken into the operating room. Elenor was delivered in a matter of minutes and started crying immediately.

Carrie only saw her for a moment as Elenor was lifted over the surgical curtain.

I followed Elenor into post-op while Carrie was being stitched back together.

Elenor was as ready as a 2 month preemie could be under the circumstances. Her APGAR scores were 7 and 8 which basically means she was (and still is ) doing awesome! After some initial measurements and tests were completed (2 lbs 2 oz and 15.5 inches), she was taken to the NICU.

The NICU doctor explained some procedures and what to expect in regards to a release date. Basically a preemie is expected to be in the NICU until the initial expected delivery date. I expect/hope Elenor will be coming home well before January 6th. :-)

I was woken up by Carrie's maternal desire/iron will to see her baby at 3AM Wednesday morning. Me and a couple of nurses took Carrie in a wheelchair to the NICU. I barely remember the event but Carrie wanted to see her baby.

Wednesday was thankfully uneventful, Carrie was recovering from surgery and mostly incoherent due to the lingering effects of the medication she had been on. Around 2 PM The NICU doctor called us to give us an update, Elenor was breathing without any assistance! Which is frankly amazing because she had been born only 18 hours earlier and 2 month preemies do not typically have well developed lungs.

In short Carrie and Elenor are doing great.

Thank you for your love, prayers and support,

Nathan and the Gross Girls ;-)

Amazing Man

I love this guy so very, very much. and I would like to take a moment to talk about a few of the reasons why.

• He never judges me for my shortcomings.
• He helps me in so many ways.
• He is loving.
• He is understanding.
• He is considerate of my feelings.
• He listens to me when I'm talking.
• He never would purposely hurt my feelings.
• I can be completely vulnerable with him, which I love.
• He picks up my slack.
• He has done the laundry for the majority of our marriage.
• He does the dishes.
• He helps me clean.
• He puts up with my mood swings.
• He comes up with ideas to relieve some of my stress.

Okay so this is a small list of the many amazing things Nate does for me, but I needed to write down how fantastic I feel my husband is. I have been nesting lately and have been an insane person. :) Not really, but I have felt that our incredibly clean house is disgusting. I wanted to de-junk and organize everything and Nate was excited. We have a schedule and we are getting through everything. I want to have things pretty much done once the baby gets here. Anyway a few of the things on my list that Nate hadn't thought about were things like washing the baseboards (see a little insane). Well to my surprise I came home last night walked in and the Living Room had been dusted and vacuumed, the dishes were done, everything in the kitchen had been wiped down and was oh so clean and he had cleaned out the 4 things that were in our garage that had been driving me insane. Then to my great enjoyment he said, 'You'll never guess what I cleaned, you've been complaining about them for awhile.' I thought about it and I believe it was the second thing I guessed, it was the baseboards. He had gotten down and gone through 4 rags scrubbing them clean for me. I can't explain how thoughtful this was. It's a hard task and though our house isn't huge it's still an undertaking. After he told me I looked at them and they looked fantastic, seriously fantastic! I sat down to dinner, and then to do my homework with a greater sense of peace and relaxation knowing that my house was so clean. and he had done it for me. Because he loves me and wants me to be happy and he thought about it and didn't want his pregnant wife to have to crawl through the house. What a fantastic man I have married, who will not only love me unconditionally, but will clean my baseboards to help me feel more comfortable.

A Little Update with a lot of Good News

First off, I love my life. I really truly do. Everything seems to be gong swimmingly. I am very blessed. The pregnancy is going incredibly well. Little Ele's kicking so often and I adore it. I woke up in the middle of the night last night to her just kicking away and I was so excited. I haven't slept well in the past anyways so I'd much rather wake up to my little baby kicking me than severe back pain or something like that. I have also been doing great in regards to my health throughout the pregnancy. I am almost 25 weeks along and I still have yet to gain weight in fact I am continually getting smaller. I love this fact and even more importantly so do my midwives. :) They are so proud of me for eating really healthy and enough for the baby. (I would never try and lose weight while pregnant) But when you have more to loose and your eating habits change because a. I want to be healthy for my baby, and b. because that's what the baby likes and wants, It basically threw me into fantastic eating habits. Multiple meals a day lots of lean protein, fruits, and veggies. I am loving every moment of it.
I for the first time in a very long time looked at myself in the mirror and was excited about what I saw. I felt beautiful and that hasn't happened in awhile. I am slowing transforming, I would say getting smaller (parts of me are) but basically I'm transforming from an overweight person into a beautiful pregnant woman. I love that my belly is starting to truly look like a pregnant belly instead of a fat belly. I wanted so badly to look pregnant and be a cute pregnant lady and I truly feel I'm getting there.
My sister Anna got married and it was a wonderful sealing. I cried like a baby (again pregnant remember ;) ) She looked wonderful and I really like Matt he treats her the way she should be treated. It was a nice relaxing day and I got to do the flowers. I'll try and get pics up later... I'm also working on getting my website up and going. If you know anyone who would like to have me do flowers for their wedding or small funeral arrangements, I'm looking for some to do, at cost, to build my portfolio.
Alright so this isn't the shortest post ever but there's your update. Oh and as far as my nesting is going. We have officially finished our main floor. And we're on to the bathrooms and bedrooms next. Our pantry looks amazing! and so does our front room. :)

Month at the Museum

Post #2 for the day, I'm on a roll! I have to put in another little plug. They have extended the deadline to notify the semi-finalists. there were so many applications. So we are waiting patiently... well I think Nathan more than me. I want this for him SO bad! I can't even explain it. So I'm crossing my fingers and praying that we will get notified in the next few days. He would be so good! Seriously I can't imagine someone who would have more fun doing this than Nathan. And I would have a celebrity for a husband.

We Finally Know!

We are having a little GIRL! I'm so excited I can't even explain it. We will name her Elenor Marie Gross, but we'll call her Ele (Ellie) for short. I have such a greater connection with my baby now. I have cried all morning every time I call her by name and tell her I love her. It's such an amazing thing and I'm so grateful I have been given this opportunity. Also a big thanks to my wonderful husband, who is so supportive and excited about this baby. I love you Nathan, you are SO amazing.

MATM! Month at the Museum

Alright there is such a cool contest that Nathan has applied for. I mentioned it in passing but I really want to go in depth and send you over to his blog posts about the contest as well. To read about it from his point of view check it out here and here. He would get to live in the museum for a month! Seriously what a fantastic job. And it's perfect timing, we don't have kids yet, it's well before my due date, and I haven't seen him so happy about something in a long time. I'm not going to go into the details because his blogs do it so well but I am going to say why I think he'd be perfect and why I want this for him.

Nathan always wants to learn. He is always reading, for example that's how he found the contest in the first place by seeing it in Popsci online. Where they show you new and cool things in the science world. He is so personable and truly has a love for helping others and being friendly. When we started dating he asked me if I was an introvert or an extrovert... we both had the same answer, we are introverts by nature but extroverts by choice. And that pretty much sums it up. Nate chooses to go out and meet people. And he has become very good at it.

I have married the most fantastic man in the world. Nathan is incredibly giving and loving and I know that this would be perfect for him. So when people ask if I can handle not having much to any contact with him over a month I won't lie I know it will be hard because he is my best friend. But he has never wanted something more than this, and honestly I have never wanted something more for him than this. I think it would be the most amazing experience and I couldn't let him pass it up. In fact I was the one that told him to apply. I hope that somehow this blog might make it to the decision committee so they can see that even though Nathan does have a wife at home that I am so supportive of his decision to apply and that I have been praying that he will be allowed this opportunity. So if he becomes a finalist and needs votes for his video you had better believe I will be calling out the reserves to get him every single vote I can.

Good Luck Honey! I want this for you more than anything!

Two in One Year

So I just need to get some of my feelings out. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with some things that are going on in my life and I just need to be able to write them out.

This past January I lost my Grandma Pearson. I've written a few post about her but not enough to do it justice. I love my Grandma so much and I truly miss her. Anytime I see bright colors, or anything with a picture of a cat I think of her. She had diabetes for a big part of her life and was on dialysis for awhile. When it stopped being affective they decided to stop the treatments. That was the Monday before Christmas, and she dropped pretty fast. I remember singing You Are My Sunshine with her, while holding her hand. For the first time in a few days she perked up and sang with me. She sang harmony as she always did, that's one of my favorite memories. I would sit next to grandma during church and she always sang Alto and I thought it was so amazing she could do that. Singing harmonies wasn't my thing until I was a teenager and even then I struggled, but once I was singing second alto in one choir and second soprano in another at BYU-Idaho I learned quickly and I always thought of her. I cried through the song, we ended up singing it at her graveside because it was such a special moment for those of us that were there when she 'woke up' for those few short moments. Somehow I never got a picture with her just before she passed and I'll always regret that a little but I'm also glad my pictures with her aren't of her when she didn't look like herself. After she died I was able to sit by her for awhile. I remember such a sweet happy spirit in the room. When the funeral home finally took her out, there was a distinct change in the room. Her spirit was gone. and I knew that it was my Grandma letting us know that she is happy and okay. She was finally able to be herself because she didn't have the limitations of this life. It meant the world to me and I'll never forget that spirit.

Well as the Title says, this post isn't over. My Grandma Mortimer is about to pass away. She is an amazing woman also and I love her very much. She is also in renal failure. It's just a little too similar. We just had our family reunion which was so much fun but when they brought Grandma she was in a wheelchair couldn't move much and was asleep most of the time. It brought back too many memories and I couldn't be by her for awhile because I didn't want her to see me cry that hard. I held her hand leaned down and told her I loved her. She looked into my eyes and said she loved me too. I could tell she did and that she knew it but she doesn't remember who I am. She doesn't even remember her children which is hard. So I would remind her. I would tell her I'm her son Doyle's Daughter, Carrie, and that I'm having a baby soon which will be somewhere around 169 great grandchildren for her. she always liked the fact that she had a huge family and her kids and grandkids have not disappointed her. :) she would hold my hand and not let go. In fact she would kiss my hand, and sometimes rub her eyes, and I would ask her if she needed me to let go and she said, no. We then gathered around her and all started singing primary songs. Can I just say that music is a miraculous thing. Grandma couldn't remember her children's names but she could sing every Primary song we threw at her. Then my mom suggested singing You Are My Sunshine. I was reluctant because of the memories, but we did and she sang louder than before and loved it. and on top of that about fifteen minutes later I asked her if she would want to sing it again. Normally she would have already forgotten what we had talked about or done or who I was, but she looked at me and smile and said, 'Well I guess we could, it was fun last time.' I got that glimmer of my Grandma again. I think that that song will forever be my Grandma's (both of them) song.

One side note that I have loved for a long time. When I turned eight I was baptized a week later on the 21st, it was a weird day and I was the only one baptized. Both my Grandma Pearson and Mortimer gave me earrings and I was so excited. When I opened them I thought it was so funny because they both had bought me heart shaped earrings. they were the exact same earrings only Grandma Mortimer gave me pink ones and Grandma Pearson gave me green ones. I remember exactly what the earrings looked like and if I can ever find something similar I'll buy them just to have my Grandma's earrings back.

Sorry for this long sappy trip down memory lane. I just needed to get my feelings out and I feel so much better now.

So Many Things, So Little Time

Well there has been a lot of little random things going on lately, so I'm going to try and get my thoughts out in this blog.

First, Today my family went to KFC in Orem. It was a lot of fun. Now I know this isn't every families choice for a get together, but today is my grandma's birthday. My grandma Inez passed away this last January. So to remember her we went to her favorite place for lunch. I really miss her. I've been thinking about her a lot lately and how sometimes when I go over to my parents i still expect to see her in her chair. My heart drops when she isn't there and if someone happens to be in her chair, I get teary eyed. I wish she was still here, I would listen to her same stories over and over again and I miss that. She was loving and sweet and always wanted to be with her family. I think with my other Grandma coming close to the end of her life as well, I am realizing how much they truly mean to me and how badly I want to spend time with them. I wish my Grandma Mortimer wasn't so far away.

Alright enough of my sad blubbering, I need to discuss some of the fun things going on lately. I think a list form will be best. if you get bored I'm sorry but these are all the things lately that have happened that I have loved.

1. I'm in my second trimester!
2. My sister Julie is ready to have her baby in the next few months.
3. My sister Anna is getting married!
4. I'm starting a floral design course and will be a certified florist.
5. Amanda had her baby and we got to go to his blessing. (He's a cutie)
6. We hung out with Brittany and Stephen (getting married in 6 days) at the blessing. I was amazed at how well Stephen and Nate got along, we like them and need to hang out. Maybe they'll meet us in SLC after their honeymoon so we can go on a double date.
7. The fourth of July was amazing. I love parades (I know I'm a freak) but when the veterans went by and they had the parents of some soldiers who were killed I couldn't help but cry with those mothers. I am so grateful for their sons, and families sacrifice. So incredibly selfless and amazing. It was a sweet experience.
8. My nausea is going away!
9. My job is going well.
10. Nate has been playing on a soccer team and it's been fun to watch him.

Alright I'm running out of things maybe I'll remember more later. I just love my friends and family and I am so incredibly grateful for all of you! Oh and I can't wait to have our addition to our family make their debut...

Big Update!

Well it's official we heard the heartbeat and Nate and I get to add to our family! I'm so incredibly excited, I'll be due late December and can't wait to find out what I'm having. It was such a relief and wonderful experience to hear that heart just beating away. It's crazy to think I'm growing a human inside of me but it's so amazingly cool. I can't wait to meet our little one. Which by the way has officially been compared to a gummy bear. :)

Stats+Calculus+Biology+History = NO LIFE!

Seriously school is my nemesis right now. But on a high note I passed my pre-test for Stats 11% points above the cut mark. SO RELIEVED. History is going well I'm hoping my sister will be able to help me study soon, though her BF is coming into town tonight...I guess maybe next week. As for the Biology I'm half way through and now I just get to do an experiment and write about it. We decided we are going to test bubble wrap, because what is better than bubble wrap, breakable items, and dropping things off our balcony? I submit to you, nothing! I'm thoroughly excited, we are going to buy some little vases or something from the dollar store, and then different sizes of bubble wrap and then wrap the item stick it in a box and drop it from our deck. I can't wait! Calculus is going alright I'm just trying to get some of the other classes out of the way so I can focus on just that one and work through it quickly.

Well that about sums up my life as of late. So sorry I haven't blogged or talked to anyone... Work, working out, and SCHOOL have pretty much over run my life.

Oh small shout out to Michelle good luck with the delivery (having a little girl today or tomorrow) I love you lady, I wish I could be there with you!

Funny You Tube...

Biggest Loser!

Alright so I haven't been a huge fan of this show, though I feel it's fantastic that instead of setting up the 'hottest' people they can find; someone is addressing a real problem for our nation in these reality shows. Anyway I like plenty of shows on NBC and the other night noticed biggest loser had just barely started so I thought, why not I'll watch a bit, and I am hooked. As I listened to their stories I felt like most were telling my story and I knew I could do it. I have had a goal to loose weight and it has had many mixed results, but I happened upon the two books of theirs that I wanted to buy in Smith's of all places and decided this was too good to pass up. I bought them and started reading I finished the first one in a day. The second I'm about half way through. I went shopping for the meal plan for the first week, I was so excited and started the 30 day jump start today. I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing but it's only a weekly weigh-in system. Wish me luck I'm going to be the Biggest Loser. Seriuosly I am going to look freaking hot!

3 'You gotta blog about this.' Posts

So over the past few weeks we have had a few moments that we have deemed must blog moments. So here they are.

1) Nate's schedule has been switched up for a month, so he works Saturdays and has Wednesdays off. So we have made Wednesday lunches our date time. Well this last Wednesday we decided to go to The Smoked Apple. And it was soooooooo good. I sat there eating my delicious meal and we realized that we were so glad we decided to go there, with their melt in your mouth meats, and a wonderful selection of sides... I highly recommend their fries, fantastic! They also had apple beer which we loved. And for a heaping plate of food for each of us buying the extra fries and both getting drinks it was only $22. Now granted that is not our normal date of maybe $9 by going to del taco but for a really nice meal it is way better tasting and priced than most sit downs.

2) For the past little while Nate and I have been watching LOST, not the last season but from the beginning, neither one of us made it past season two before we decided we would only watch the incredibly slow moving show once we could watch the entire thing, so now we have started knowing that we will reach the end about when this last season is over. Anyway last night we were asleep (I don't sleep to well because of my back and hip problems) So I was pretty awake when all of the sudden Nate calls out into the night, 'I gotta find Walt...(then mumbles) I should have been the assistant captain.' I started laughing and wanted to know if he was awake so I asked him, 'Nate are you awake?' 'Yeah I'm awake' 'Did you really just say that?' 'Yeah I did' 'Okay' Then this morning I asked him if he remembered talking in his sleep, he says no, I actually slept incredibly soundly it was awesome. I told him what he said and he goes, 'We're watching way too much LOST.' Bwahahaha.

3) We just received a new calling, we will be going on our ward handcart Trek in June. When we first received the call(we're over historical like pictures and stuff) I was so excited. Then I thought of the best joke to play ever... Lately as most of you know I have been getting a lot of pressure to start a family, yes we get it we've almost been married for two years, and yes we are 'old', anyway Julie has REALLY wanted me to get pregnant so as a fun little joke I gave her a call and this is how the conversation went:

Me: Hey Julie, Nate and I have an announcement.
Julie: Oh really?
Me: Yep we're going to be a mom and dad.
Julie: (with contained glee) So how far along are you?
Me: Well we're going on our ward trek in June. (I think she thought I said around our ward trek)
Julie: Well luckily you won't have to go on that.
Me: No we're going to be a mom and dad on our ward trek in June.
Julie: (With sudden realization of what I'm saying) this is the stupidest phone call!
Me: (laughing uncontrollable and trying not to pee my pants)
Julie: No seriously I am so mad at you right now. You had better go upstairs and get knocked up, goodbye. *click*

It was incredibly fantastic and I seriously laughed for 5 minutes afterwards. And that is all. I hope you enjoyed our stories.

coupon Info

For the ladies in my ward (and anyone else) I am finally getting these sites up for you. Sorry it's taken me so long.

Savvy Shopper (Daily Herald)
Online Coupons
Target
Smart Source Online
Red Plum Online

These are just a few of the sites, don't forget to bookmark them, or you can always come back here for the links. :)

I also was wondering if anyone would be interesting in doing another class. We could pick an evening and do it at my clubhouse where I would have internet service and I can show you how to use the site. It would be a little longer and more in depth, but anything to save a little money right? If you would be interested just leave me a message and I'll try and get something together.

Darn Lazy

Sometimes I just struggle. Right now is one of those times. I feel I am not doing everything that needs to be done... and not because I can't accomplish it but because I am too darn lazy to get off my butt and do it. I feel there are so many things I should or could be doing and I'm wasting my life away because I am too darn lazy. I'm sure everyone has these times and I am not alone. I just need to find some new inspiration to make me get up and do it. I mean I know what I want to do and what I need to do and I am just so darn lazy. Alright enough complaining.... I am getting up and going to get done what I want and need to do. :)