Memorial Day 2012

I have struggled this past year with a lot of loss.  I can't begin to describe the feelings that arise when I start to think of all of the wonderful, amazing, talented and loving people there are in my life and to lose any of them sucks!  I have lost two amazing people in my life within the past month and that is who I wold like to focus this entry on today.

Jamaica.  Where to even begin.  Jamaica is my cousin, she is 6 days younger than I am.  Jamaica is so talented in many different area's.  She played piano, tumbled, danced, cheered, wrote poetry, taught herself different languages and truly loved people.  Jamaica is beautiful beyond description, funny and smart.  I was and always will be jealous of Jamaica and the things that she is.  I was saddened to hear that she died at the young age of 30.  She had so many things in life that she wanted to accomplish and so much that she already had.  I will miss you Jake and all of your passion.

Joel.  I am sad to say that I have only known Joel for a few years.  I met Joel when we were both in graduate school at the University of Utah together for our Masters in Social Work degrees.  He was quiet and funny in classes and would always encourage me and invite me to play basketball with him and a friend (a horrible sight to see).  Joel graduated with me and subsequently got a job at Valley where I work.  I began working with him in February of 2011.  We had so much fun at work.  We would compare notes on supervision, run idea's past each other about treatment options and would talk about our "outside lives".  Joel is an amazing musician, a funny funny guy who would always find the lighter side to every situation and a smart man.  I was shocked and upset when I found out of Joel's passing at the young age of 30 this year.  He left behind a wonderful and beautiful wife and two dogs that he loved dearly.  Joel accomplished so much in his short life and definitely lived life with no regrets.  I learned a lot from him and will miss him.

On this memorial day I am thinking of many that I have lost over the years but most of all I am thinking of these two wonderful people who I lost at 30.  I have had extreme high points during this, my 30th year of life, but the loss of these two have really made this year miserable as well.

Alice Olivia's Birth, Grandma LaDene's story

A PERFECT DAUGHTER FOR MY PERFECT DAUGHTER!!

After never letting my cell phone out of my hearing for a few weeks -paranoid about missing the phone call, the day finally came when Alice decided to make her grand entry!

The beginning of the event

Nathan and VaRonica came to our house about 6 p.m. March 21^st (as we live close to the hospital) to meet so he and VaRonica could go out to dinner one last time before becoming official parents. When they got back to our house about 8:15 VaRonica called the hospital and was told she could now come in for her induction at 9 pm. The “about to be mom”, the “about to be dad” and the about to be Alice’s “Sellers grandparents” all headed for the hospital.. As most of the “paper-work” had been previously completed VaRonica was quickly settled in Room 325 right after her arrival. Her first nurse was Jenna she was friendly and very efficient. Jesse (the sister-in law) and the other part of the support team arrived shortly thereafter and “Grandpa Sellers” went home

The Middle: Somewhat less than a half hour after having her induction medication VaRonica started labor but as the contractions were hard the baby’s heart rate dropped. The nurse called Dr. Thackeray then following his instructions VaRonica was given another shot to slow things down.

At about 3 am VaRonica’s water broke. She knew it did anyway but the next nurse on duty and a fluid test decided that didn’t happen-it really did- the expectant mom knew her body! When the nurse checked her she told her Alice had had a bowel movement and because of that and the heart rate Alice needed to arrive soon or a C-Section would be needed. VaRonica’s body seemed to respond to orders that Alice must arrive quickly so contractions were now unbelievably close together, seemingly not even allowing her to breathe between each long and hard pain. As her mom, I really wanted VaRonica to ask for an epidural for pain, but for once I kept my mouth shut! I was really afraid that as hard and as close as the contractions were that VaRonica would have no energy left to push Alice out when the time finally arrived. I envisioned several more hours of hard labor followed by hours of pushing. Finally, at a little after 7 am VaRonica asked for an epidural! Yea! As her mom it was hard to see her in so much pain but amazing to see how well she was handling everything. The Dr. that did her epidural was quick and professional even though the body racking pains were so close together. About 20 minutes later when VaRonica could again lay still enough the nurse checked her and she had dilated to a 9. Yep- we knew during the last those few hours the contractions had to be doing something spectacular! Dr. Thackeray came in and checked her then told her he would be back in about an hour. It didn’t take that long until she was at the magic number 10 and was ready to push. Dr. Thackeray was again called and came quickly and got everything set up. At that point Jessi and I got to start helping by supporting VaRonica’s legs while she pushed. Both the nurse and the Dr. said she was doing a fantastic job pushing but Dr. Thackeray found Alice was posterior so pushing wasn’t as productive as it should have been. Dr. Thackeray tried to turn Alice about three different times but as she was perfectly comfortable in the position she was in she wouldn’t turn so he said Alice now needed help to arrive quickly. After discussing options with VaRonica they decided on an episiotomy and a vacuum. The nurse then called two respiratory therapists and an NICU nurse to remain in the room. Yea for my strong daughter and her strong baby-a couple of more pushes Alice was out and I was allowed to cut the cord! Alice was quickly handed from the Dr. directly to the NICU nurse then all three of the specialists quickly cleaned her up and checked her out. As everything was great I was then able to carry my new granddaughter across the room to her mom. Alice didn’t need to be taught what to do as she began breast feeding as soon as her mom held her. YEA!

THE REAL BEGINNING

Alice Olivia Little was born at 11:05 am on 3-22-12. She really is a pretty baby. She has dark brown hair long that is long in the back. She found her tongue and started sticking it out and wiggling it right away. She also found her fist and could be heard “slurping on it” very quickly. Her most remarkable features (at a few hours old) are how intently she stares at whoever is talking to her, her long fingers and her long slender feet.

I’m sure I’ve neglected to include a lot of important things so just a few more items:

1) VaRonica has a supportive and caring husband- in spite of his aversion to needles and blood he stayed with her throughout

2) VaRonica is very lucky to have such a great OB. He is very caring, and professional offering her options and alternatives but letting her make decisions. He even gave her a darling pink baby bib that said “Special Delivery by Dr. Thackeray”

3) VaRonica allowed her mom and sister-in law to be part of her support team.

4) IMC has great staff

5) Nathan’s parents who drove down from Montana arriving very shortly after Alice’s birth

6) VaRonica’s dad who, following VaRonica’s wishes, went out and brought back Sushi for VaRonica before Alice was even two hours old!

DIY or Nesting?

Nathan and I have never been what you could call “handy” people. We can do little things here and there, anything electrical Nathan can fix but we are not Do It Yourself people in this Little house. The good thing is that we know a lot of people who are very handy people and have been able to get a lot of advice, help and great idea’s. Here are some picts of our attempts at DIY projects that we have had to undertake as new home owners. I do think that we are getting better and better as time goes on, but if anyone loves to do these types of projects, know that we have lots of them waiting to be done and would love any help that people want to give!

We didn't fix the toilet, that was McKay, but we monitored it like champs!

Nathan and I both worked on getting this room together

Nathan's first wall he ever painted

I have a couple of lists of things that I would like for us to get done before the baby arrives. I am not sure if I am getting more motivated now that I am not as sick and that these DIY projects we just things that were bound to happen eventually, or if this is me starting to nest. Any thoughts?!?!

We have done more than just paint, but they were the only pictures that were decent