Joshua Michael NixBorn 9:50 p.m. May 9, 2008
Birth weight: 2 pounds 13 ounces
Birth Length: 16 inches
Gestational Age: 28 weeks 5 days
Hospital: American Fork Hospital
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Joshua's Birth Stats
Joshua Michael NixBorn 9:50 p.m. May 9, 2008
Birth weight: 2 pounds 13 ounces
Birth Length: 16 inches
Gestational Age: 28 weeks 5 days
Hospital: American Fork Hospital
Joshua's Birth
As I was entering the third trimester I was excited. Tax season had ended and I soon would be able to start cutting back my working hours and would have the time to start doing some projects that I wanted to do before the baby was born. It was also spring so the weather was getting better which always makes me happier. And Brian had graduated and we walked together in April. Everything seemed to be going perfect.
On May 8, 2008 as I got ready for bed I noticed that I was bleeding a little bit. It was hardly at all, so we decided to call the doctor in the morning. The next morning we called the doctor and they did not seemed to concerned since I was on blood thinners and everything on my ultrasound from seven weeks ago looked good. They even specifically said my placenta was high on my ultrasound so unless I was having contractions it shouldn't be an issue. I wasn't so I went to work.
Later that afternoon I started having weird pains, but I looked up braxton hicks and they sounded exactly like that. They weren't too bothersome so I just ignored them. This was my first or second day of reduced hours at work so I was glad to leave an hour early. I wasn't feeling well so I went home and laid on the couch until I went and got Brian from work. We were supposed to go to the temple that night, but I didn't feel like going, my stomach hurt and I wanted to lay down. Brian came out from work and said he didn't want to go to the temple that night he wanted to clean our bathroom. I thought it was random, but our bathroom did desperately need to be cleaned because we had recently booted our cats outside, but before then, they would be put in the bathroom when we were gone and the bathroom was covered in cat hair.
We then rented Hairspray and ate dinner. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable and started watching the clock to see how close together my pains were. I was in total denial that I could actually be in labor, and I didn't want to be one of those people who go to the hospital when they aren't actually in labor. I also started kicking Brian every time I had a bad one. (I might have been in a bigger hurry to go to the hospital but my bleeding had pretty much stopped). After watching the clock I realized that these could be contractions and told Brian and he called the doctor but we just got the answering machine, and so then we called my mom. My mom and dad were at a play and we just happened to call during intermission. My mom told us not to wait for the doctor to call back but to go to the hospital right then.
Well I refused to leave without brushing my teeth because something we had for dinner had a lot of garlic in it. Brian was a little upset, but I wasn't leaving without brushing my teeth. I brushed my teeth and then used the bathroom and started bleeding heavily. We then rushed out the door to the car.
Brian drove to the hospital as fast as he could. He wasn't worried about the police, he figured if we got pulled over we might get a faster ride to the hospital. We never did, but Brian did have to slam on the brakes a few times really heavy which made me have really hard contractions. We made it to the hospital and my parents met us there. I walked to the emergency room where I was promptly put in a wheel chair and taken up to labor and delivery. When we got up there I was excited to see my doctor was already there. He was the doctor on call that night.
At this point I wasn't actually too worried because I knew there was medicines that could be used to stop labor. I was convinced they would just give me the medicine and I would either be on bed rest in the hospital or at home for the next few months but there was no way I was having that baby that night.
They hooked the monitors up to me to look for contractions and to watch Joshua's heart beat. The contraction monitor must have been placed wrong because I was early because it wasn't picking up the contractions. That was frustrating because I thought if they would realize I was in labor they would give me the medicine and everything would be okay. I just thought that as long as Joshua wasn't born they could stop the labor and make me just wait to have him. I was also annoyed with the pain of being in labor because I didn't see the point, I couldn't possibly be having the baby that night, so why didn't they just stop it. (I have since figured out that stopping the labor wouldn't have done anything for my case anyway, and the drugs are not a cure all, and talking to friends that have been on them, the drugs are quite miserable to take).
The doctor was quite absent, he said he was waiting to be able to send me up for a ultrasound. Later when I went in for my 6 week check-up he said he felt like he shouldn't send me up for an ultrasound, and after the birth he realized that Joshua would have been born up in the ultrasound area, and would have probably died. So I was quite grateful that he hung back and waited, even though it was annoying at the time.
During this time they did give me a percoset for the pain. It didn't really do too much, my labor had picked up quite a bit by the time it kicked in. I was also feeling a little nauseous, and often I will cough when I feel nauseous and it makes me feel better. I was coughing quite a bit and my mom was convinced I developed a lung infection in the last hour. By that point I was almost in transition or in transition so I wasn't able to tell her why I was coughing I just told her I was fine and she didn't really believe me. She was also trying to teach me Lamaze breathing while I was in labor, I never did pick it up.
After a while the doctor came in and said that the baby wasn't handling the contractions well and that they were going to do an emergency c-section. I thought they were going to do a spinal block and I was scared because I didn't know how I was going to be able to hold still long enough for it. I later found out that they were probably just going to knock me out. They took me back to the operating room and Brian was waiting to see if he could come in and be with me. The doctor asked me if anyone had checked me, and I said no. He checked me and popped my water. He then told me to push, I pushed twice and Joshua was out and handed to the team of nurses.
The doctor went out and told Brian that he had a baby, but he didn't know if it was a boy or a girl because he handed the baby off so fast. Brian fortunately knew that Joshua was a boy from the ultrasound and was able to come back with me. While the doctor was gone I was just laying there in shock telling anyone who walked by that my baby wasn't supposed to be born yet. One of the nurses working on Joshua told me if I listened real carefully I could hear him crying, and I could. -I later learned from a nurse that was working in the NICU that was one of the nurses that took care of Joshua the night he was born that Joshua was almost able to breath on his own (hence the crying), but he did end up having to be bagged and then put on a ventilator for a while.
Brian came back in and they sewed me up (Joshua came so fast they had to cut me a little bit), and starting pushing blood out of me. They told me I had a placental abruption which basically means my placenta tore off from where it was supposed to be. It made me bleed a lot, so they had a lot of blood to push from me. They then took me back to the labor and delivery room and hooked me up to pitocin to try to slow the bleeding. My mom stayed with me while my dad and Brian went down to the nursery to see Joshua. They were getting ready to take Joshua down to Utah Valley Medical Center (we were at American Fork Hospital). My dad has a camera phone so they took some pictures and brought it up to me.
They wouldn't let me go down to Mother and Baby where Joshua was because I was still bleeding too heavily and there are less nurses down there to take care of you. My dad said that Brian was going to go down to give Joshua his name and blessing. I was really upset because this was something I was really looking forward to, and now I was going to miss it. I asked my dad if he thought Joshua was going to die, he said probably not, but we shouldn't wait for the blessing just in case. I was quite upset. Fortunately the nurses worked it out with the transport team to bring Joshua up to my room before he went down to Provo so I could see him and I could be there during his blessing.
When I first saw Joshua I realized that everything was going to be okay, he looked a lot better than I expected. 
I was able to touch him for a minute, and then Brian gave him a beautiful blessing. Then they took him down to UVRMC. Brian rode down in the ambulance with him, and my dad drove down to our apartment to get some things for us including our camera. My mom stayed with me and they gave me a shot and my bleeding finally slowed enough to take me down to Mother and Baby.
I was able to touch him for a minute, and then Brian gave him a beautiful blessing. Then they took him down to UVRMC. Brian rode down in the ambulance with him, and my dad drove down to our apartment to get some things for us including our camera. My mom stayed with me and they gave me a shot and my bleeding finally slowed enough to take me down to Mother and Baby.Brian went down and made sure Joshua was settled and taken care of and took a few more pictures and then came back to be with me.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Pregnant with Joshua
I want to blog about Joshua's birth and NICU experience before the new baby is born. But since I am so slow at this blog I thought I should skip ahead and talk about his birth, and then go back and fill in the years in between. So here is the story of how Joshua got here.
Brian and I had wanted a baby for a while. We had been trying for a while and I was going through school as fast as I reasonably could. The main problem for us getting pregnant is that I wasn't having periods....at all. I don't really know why, and the doctors said it wasn't worth the time and money at this point to figure it out, they just put me on drugs to make me have periods. Those drugs were miserable, I felt so much worse than I do when I am pregnant, and I gained weight faster than I do when I am pregnant too. Well the drugs finally worked (the drugs also make it harder than normal to get pregnant), and Brian and I were so excited. We even went to the DI and bought a crib. (Which after reading all the recalls on cribs was probably a bad idea, we donated it back to DI before Joshua was born.)
But 4 days later I miscarried. That was devastating because we had been trying for so long, and the timing seemed perfect I would have been due after I graduated and not long before Brian graduated. Looking back we are grateful that Joshua came a little later, because if that pregnancy had carried out just like Joshua's the baby would have been born over my finals, and Brian would have had a semester with a baby in the NICU. Having Joshua in the NICU was stressful enough when we were both done with school.
The doctor said I needed to wait a few months to try again, and I went off the devil fertility pills. Amazingly I started having periods without the pills. As soon as we could we started trying again. I was late so I took a pregnancy test right before Thanksgiving. It came back negative, I thought I would have to go back on the pills, but didn't have time to deal with it right then. We went down with my family to visit my grandparents in Hurricane, Utah. We had a lot of fun, but I was a little sleepy, I took a 3 hour nap while everyone was playing around me. I don't usually nap.
When we got back to Provo we decided to take another pregnancy test before I got back on the pills. It came back positive, but Brian and I thought the test was broken because of the way the lines came up, so I sent him back to the store for more. The next day I took another test, and I thought I was pregnant, but Brian was still not sure. So the next day I took another pregnancy test and we decided that I was indeed pregnant!
We called the doctor and set up an appointment for an ultrasound to get a due date. We went in and the doctor looked and said well you are pregnant there is the egg sack, but there is no heart beat. It is probably too early, so we will take some blood now and some in a couple of days to make sure your hormone levels are rising, and we will do another ultrasound next week.
So they took my blood and my hormone levels were way up, they were high enough that there should have been a heart beat. The doctor said not to worry yet, it should double in the next two days, and if it does it means your body is still keeping the baby and things are developing. In the meantime Brian flew to New York to interview with his current employer KAPL. He flew out on Sunday and then I went to the hospital to get my blood drawn again. After that I went to my parents house for dinner. My mom was out of town visiting her parents so it was just Emily, Nathan, and my Dad. On the way there the doctor called me and told me my blood hormone levels were going up, but not enough so I probably would loose this pregnancy. I was devastated, but went to my parents house and ate dinner without saying anything. I did take a cry break in the bathroom.
I left rather quickly and was finally able to get a hold of Brian on the phone and bawled all the way home. I was so upset I didn't even lock the door that night. Amazingly after that Brian did really well at his interview and got the job. Brian wasn't quite sure that everything was lost, and when we went back in for the ultrasound that week, there was Joshua's heartbeat. I guess my body was really excited about being pregnant and so I had high hormones or something. We went in for another ultrasound just before Christmas and everything looked good then too.
We decided to tell our family that we were pregnant over Christmas, which was really fun because everyone was so shocked. We made homemade frames that said World's Best Grandpa on them and gave one to my dad, and emailed one to Brian's dad and step dad. (It would have cost $50 to get it to them in time for Christmas, so they got digital gifts).
The rest of the pregnancy was pretty uneventful up until Joshua was born. I took Lovenox almost everyday to keep from getting a blood clot and worked full time, while Brian was going to school. I was lucky because I didn't have to work tons of overtime even though it was busy season, which was good because I was pretty tired.
We were convinced Joshua was a girl and called him that up until the ultrasound. I guess he was sick of it because there was no mistaking him for a girl. He was also a jealous little kid. The beginning of May my friend had a baby and Brian and I went to visit her. I never got kicked so hard by Joshua as when I was holding her baby. I think he was upset she was here and he wasn't because he came four days later.
Well that's the story up until Joshua was born.
Brian and I had wanted a baby for a while. We had been trying for a while and I was going through school as fast as I reasonably could. The main problem for us getting pregnant is that I wasn't having periods....at all. I don't really know why, and the doctors said it wasn't worth the time and money at this point to figure it out, they just put me on drugs to make me have periods. Those drugs were miserable, I felt so much worse than I do when I am pregnant, and I gained weight faster than I do when I am pregnant too. Well the drugs finally worked (the drugs also make it harder than normal to get pregnant), and Brian and I were so excited. We even went to the DI and bought a crib. (Which after reading all the recalls on cribs was probably a bad idea, we donated it back to DI before Joshua was born.)
But 4 days later I miscarried. That was devastating because we had been trying for so long, and the timing seemed perfect I would have been due after I graduated and not long before Brian graduated. Looking back we are grateful that Joshua came a little later, because if that pregnancy had carried out just like Joshua's the baby would have been born over my finals, and Brian would have had a semester with a baby in the NICU. Having Joshua in the NICU was stressful enough when we were both done with school.
The doctor said I needed to wait a few months to try again, and I went off the devil fertility pills. Amazingly I started having periods without the pills. As soon as we could we started trying again. I was late so I took a pregnancy test right before Thanksgiving. It came back negative, I thought I would have to go back on the pills, but didn't have time to deal with it right then. We went down with my family to visit my grandparents in Hurricane, Utah. We had a lot of fun, but I was a little sleepy, I took a 3 hour nap while everyone was playing around me. I don't usually nap.
When we got back to Provo we decided to take another pregnancy test before I got back on the pills. It came back positive, but Brian and I thought the test was broken because of the way the lines came up, so I sent him back to the store for more. The next day I took another test, and I thought I was pregnant, but Brian was still not sure. So the next day I took another pregnancy test and we decided that I was indeed pregnant!
We called the doctor and set up an appointment for an ultrasound to get a due date. We went in and the doctor looked and said well you are pregnant there is the egg sack, but there is no heart beat. It is probably too early, so we will take some blood now and some in a couple of days to make sure your hormone levels are rising, and we will do another ultrasound next week.
So they took my blood and my hormone levels were way up, they were high enough that there should have been a heart beat. The doctor said not to worry yet, it should double in the next two days, and if it does it means your body is still keeping the baby and things are developing. In the meantime Brian flew to New York to interview with his current employer KAPL. He flew out on Sunday and then I went to the hospital to get my blood drawn again. After that I went to my parents house for dinner. My mom was out of town visiting her parents so it was just Emily, Nathan, and my Dad. On the way there the doctor called me and told me my blood hormone levels were going up, but not enough so I probably would loose this pregnancy. I was devastated, but went to my parents house and ate dinner without saying anything. I did take a cry break in the bathroom.
I left rather quickly and was finally able to get a hold of Brian on the phone and bawled all the way home. I was so upset I didn't even lock the door that night. Amazingly after that Brian did really well at his interview and got the job. Brian wasn't quite sure that everything was lost, and when we went back in for the ultrasound that week, there was Joshua's heartbeat. I guess my body was really excited about being pregnant and so I had high hormones or something. We went in for another ultrasound just before Christmas and everything looked good then too.
We decided to tell our family that we were pregnant over Christmas, which was really fun because everyone was so shocked. We made homemade frames that said World's Best Grandpa on them and gave one to my dad, and emailed one to Brian's dad and step dad. (It would have cost $50 to get it to them in time for Christmas, so they got digital gifts).
The rest of the pregnancy was pretty uneventful up until Joshua was born. I took Lovenox almost everyday to keep from getting a blood clot and worked full time, while Brian was going to school. I was lucky because I didn't have to work tons of overtime even though it was busy season, which was good because I was pretty tired.
We were convinced Joshua was a girl and called him that up until the ultrasound. I guess he was sick of it because there was no mistaking him for a girl. He was also a jealous little kid. The beginning of May my friend had a baby and Brian and I went to visit her. I never got kicked so hard by Joshua as when I was holding her baby. I think he was upset she was here and he wasn't because he came four days later.
Well that's the story up until Joshua was born.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Blood Clot
The winter semester I was surprised to find my leg was sore. I tried to walk it out and tried to stretch it out. A couple of days later I was trying to shave my legs and found when I put my weight on right leg it got really swollen and turned purple. For some reason I had it put in my head that I had a blood clot (I don't know why I knew this except for inspiration, because I thought a blood clot and a clogged artery were the same thing and didn't know anything about either of them). I didn't want to go to the emergency room, so we went to an instacare center. The instacare center said they couldn't do anything and sent me to the emergency room.
At the hospital they took me and did an ultrasound type thing on my right leg. The technician was super confused because she saw all these veins without blood in them, she decided that I had an extra vein system in my leg that wasn't being used and she couldn't find the normal veins. The doctor said that I had a blood clot in my leg called a DVT. I said great give me some pills and I will go home. He said I couldn't go home because those kinds of blood clots are dangerous because they will break off and head to the lungs. I had some already in my lungs (I can't remember how they knew that though, if they heard me breathing funny, or if they looked at my lung somehow). Anyway he said I would have to stay in the hospital for a day until my blood started to thin to make sure I would be okay. Then a nurse came in and gave me a shot of Lovenox in my stomach.
I was super upset about being admitted to the hospital I had it in my head that I would be going home that afternoon. I had been at the hospital all day and that was enough for me. Brian went home and got some stuff and stayed the night with me. Poor guy slept in a bad recliner every night he stayed at the hospital. I was on orders not to get out of bed except to use the bathroom, and I had to beg for that concession. They were worried that me moving around would dislodge the blood clot and send it to my lungs. My parents were also in and out of the hospital and brought us better food than hospital food.
The next day the doctor came in and said that there was a new procedure that they could do where they would go in and put a filter in my vein to protect my lungs, and then break up the blood clot. He said it was better on the vein and the filter would eliminate the risk of the blood clot hitting my lungs. He said it would make me stay in the hospital a little longer. After I talked to Brian we decided to do it. They did it the next day.
They put me under conscious sedation and gave me some painkillers, and they also gave me some medicine to make me not get sick from the painkillers, the last medicine also made the painkillers work better. Then they put a hole in the underside of my knee and drilled out as much of the clot as they could. Then they put a catheter in my leg and put heavy duty blood thinners onto the rest of the clot. The catheter would hurt whenever I moved my leg, or whenever I was moved. But as long as I laid still it was okay. They also put a giant IV thing in a vein in my neck. It allowed them to put in all the medicine they wanted without having to move IVs.
They had not let me eat anything the day before because of the procedure. They planned on taking the catheter and the neck IV thing out the next day. So they didn't let me eat again. Well they let me have liquids, Jello, bad chicken broth and juice. I was also put in ICU because there wasn't enough beds in the intermediate unit for me. Brian couldn't stay the night with me while I was there, but he stayed until 10:00 at night and was back at 6:00 the next morning.
The next day they went to remove the catheter. They found the clot was still there too much to take it out, so they sent me back. Until this point they had only been giving me a half dose of painkillers, but they moved me around too much too fast, and I felt totally out of control (I wanted them to wait just a minute before moving me around all the time, but they were in a hurry to get all the moving and pain over with), so when I got back to my room I got a full dose of medicine and slept for a while. When I woke up there was still more than 24 hours before they were going to take the catheter out, so I got to eat a real meal. You aren't supposed to bring food into ICU, but Brian was able to sneak me in some real food. It was wonderful to eat before another 24 hours of liquid diet.
The next day they took the catheter out and sent me back to a normal room. I was going home the day after! I had been there since Sunday morning and finally on Friday I would be going home. Brian was able to stay the night with me again, which even though the chair he slept in was uncomfortable, he slept better there then he did at home alone. The next day Brian had to go back to school and so my mom came to help me get checked out. While we were waiting for the doctor to come say I could go home my Junior Core group came in and helped me know what I needed to do to get caught up.
When I was finally released they gave me a pass to go get a handicap parking pass for a few weeks while I recovered. My mom drove me from the hospital to the pharmacy where we got more Lovenox and some Warfarin. I had to be on the Lovenox until the Warfarin kicked in. I was on the Warfarin for 6 months, and my body had a hard time regulating it so I had to go in weekly (most people go in monthly) almost the entire 6 months to make sure my blood was in between the 2 to 3 range for thinness. (1 is normal consistency). I got as high as 5 a couple of times, I swear I got more sensitive to that stuff as I went along.
After we went to the pharmacy we went to the DMV to get the handicap parking pass. At that point I was exhausted and looked awful so the lady at the DMV decided I was worse than the doctors thought and gave me a couple extra months usage with the pass. I think I only parked in an actual handicapped spot once or twice and that was the next week to go get the filter removed from my vein. But I did park in professors parking the whole time which was wonderful.
I don't have any adverse effects for the clot now. They decided I got the clot because I was on the birth control pill and they diagnosed me with Factor Five Lieden (the hormones and Factor 5 greatly increase the risk of blood clots), so I am not allowed to take it anymore, and I have to take daily shots of Lovenox when I am pregnant. I also have to be careful on long trips and make sure I move around enough and sometimes I take a baby aspirin to be safe. But other than that I am good.
At the hospital they took me and did an ultrasound type thing on my right leg. The technician was super confused because she saw all these veins without blood in them, she decided that I had an extra vein system in my leg that wasn't being used and she couldn't find the normal veins. The doctor said that I had a blood clot in my leg called a DVT. I said great give me some pills and I will go home. He said I couldn't go home because those kinds of blood clots are dangerous because they will break off and head to the lungs. I had some already in my lungs (I can't remember how they knew that though, if they heard me breathing funny, or if they looked at my lung somehow). Anyway he said I would have to stay in the hospital for a day until my blood started to thin to make sure I would be okay. Then a nurse came in and gave me a shot of Lovenox in my stomach.
I was super upset about being admitted to the hospital I had it in my head that I would be going home that afternoon. I had been at the hospital all day and that was enough for me. Brian went home and got some stuff and stayed the night with me. Poor guy slept in a bad recliner every night he stayed at the hospital. I was on orders not to get out of bed except to use the bathroom, and I had to beg for that concession. They were worried that me moving around would dislodge the blood clot and send it to my lungs. My parents were also in and out of the hospital and brought us better food than hospital food.
The next day the doctor came in and said that there was a new procedure that they could do where they would go in and put a filter in my vein to protect my lungs, and then break up the blood clot. He said it was better on the vein and the filter would eliminate the risk of the blood clot hitting my lungs. He said it would make me stay in the hospital a little longer. After I talked to Brian we decided to do it. They did it the next day.
They put me under conscious sedation and gave me some painkillers, and they also gave me some medicine to make me not get sick from the painkillers, the last medicine also made the painkillers work better. Then they put a hole in the underside of my knee and drilled out as much of the clot as they could. Then they put a catheter in my leg and put heavy duty blood thinners onto the rest of the clot. The catheter would hurt whenever I moved my leg, or whenever I was moved. But as long as I laid still it was okay. They also put a giant IV thing in a vein in my neck. It allowed them to put in all the medicine they wanted without having to move IVs.
They had not let me eat anything the day before because of the procedure. They planned on taking the catheter and the neck IV thing out the next day. So they didn't let me eat again. Well they let me have liquids, Jello, bad chicken broth and juice. I was also put in ICU because there wasn't enough beds in the intermediate unit for me. Brian couldn't stay the night with me while I was there, but he stayed until 10:00 at night and was back at 6:00 the next morning.
The next day they went to remove the catheter. They found the clot was still there too much to take it out, so they sent me back. Until this point they had only been giving me a half dose of painkillers, but they moved me around too much too fast, and I felt totally out of control (I wanted them to wait just a minute before moving me around all the time, but they were in a hurry to get all the moving and pain over with), so when I got back to my room I got a full dose of medicine and slept for a while. When I woke up there was still more than 24 hours before they were going to take the catheter out, so I got to eat a real meal. You aren't supposed to bring food into ICU, but Brian was able to sneak me in some real food. It was wonderful to eat before another 24 hours of liquid diet.
The next day they took the catheter out and sent me back to a normal room. I was going home the day after! I had been there since Sunday morning and finally on Friday I would be going home. Brian was able to stay the night with me again, which even though the chair he slept in was uncomfortable, he slept better there then he did at home alone. The next day Brian had to go back to school and so my mom came to help me get checked out. While we were waiting for the doctor to come say I could go home my Junior Core group came in and helped me know what I needed to do to get caught up.
When I was finally released they gave me a pass to go get a handicap parking pass for a few weeks while I recovered. My mom drove me from the hospital to the pharmacy where we got more Lovenox and some Warfarin. I had to be on the Lovenox until the Warfarin kicked in. I was on the Warfarin for 6 months, and my body had a hard time regulating it so I had to go in weekly (most people go in monthly) almost the entire 6 months to make sure my blood was in between the 2 to 3 range for thinness. (1 is normal consistency). I got as high as 5 a couple of times, I swear I got more sensitive to that stuff as I went along.
After we went to the pharmacy we went to the DMV to get the handicap parking pass. At that point I was exhausted and looked awful so the lady at the DMV decided I was worse than the doctors thought and gave me a couple extra months usage with the pass. I think I only parked in an actual handicapped spot once or twice and that was the next week to go get the filter removed from my vein. But I did park in professors parking the whole time which was wonderful.
I don't have any adverse effects for the clot now. They decided I got the clot because I was on the birth control pill and they diagnosed me with Factor Five Lieden (the hormones and Factor 5 greatly increase the risk of blood clots), so I am not allowed to take it anymore, and I have to take daily shots of Lovenox when I am pregnant. I also have to be careful on long trips and make sure I move around enough and sometimes I take a baby aspirin to be safe. But other than that I am good.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
First Married Christmas
For our first Christmas we were really excited and wanted to get a tree even though we would be celebrating Christmas with our families. We wanted to have some Christma
s cheer to help us through the last projects of the semester and through finals. We were able to find a good deal on a little tree that we still use.
s cheer to help us through the last projects of the semester and through finals. We were able to find a good deal on a little tree that we still use. My parents gave us the ordaments that people had given to me over the years and few things they didn't want. Then we made a fruit loop garland and bought candy canes and chocolate balls and hung them on the tree and ate them throughout the season.
We wanted to spend Christmas day with my family and then fly out to Tennesee for most of the rest of Christmas break. We also wanted to come back a few days before the semester started to give us a chance to buy our books and restock the fridge. Well we couldn't get tickets early enough to give us a significant amount of time in Tennessee unless we flew out on Christmas. So we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with my parents and then flew to Tennessee the rest of Christmas Day.
It was really warm in Utah that Christmas Eve. Instead of doing a typical winter activity like sledding we went biking down by Utah Lake because there was no snow. 
That year my parents got us a camping tent as one of our main presents. We thought that was a good idea so we could go camping the next summer. After we opened presents we got on a plane to Tennessee. We made it to Knoxville by 11:30 that night. So technically we were in Utah and Tennessee on Christmas. We made it to Brian's mom's house a little after midnight. Brian's siblings weren't too happy about having Christmas almost a day late. So when we got there we opened presents right away.
Terry and Bob had also given us a really good gift that year. They bought us a tent. 
We got a good laugh out of that one, but we were able to exchange it for some sleeping bags. Along with the camping gear Brian's siblings gave us we were all set to go camping.
Working in Utah
I thought I would dedicate one post to all the jobs we worked while we were living in Utah. That way there won't be multiple boring posts about the jobs we had. So this is how we earned money while going to BYU.
Brian had applied to some nicer jobs on campus when we were still in Tennessee, but he didn't hear back for any of them. (These jobs you usually have to know someone to get the job, but it was worth a try). So when he got back he went to the custodial office and was able to get another custodial job. Fortunately his schedule allowed for him to take an afternoon shift, so he didn't have to work early morning. Unfortunately he was fully awake while he was cleaning and was fully aware of how bored he was.
Because I was in the Junior Core I didn't look for a job right away. After I got into the groove of the semester I realized I had some time and energy left and we were getting broke fast, so I started to look for a job. Unfortunately at that point all the good jobs were taken, and I had to work around my group members work schedules so I didn't take up the few times that our group could meet together. Well one day kind of on a whim I saw an add for dish help at the Cannon Center. I got the job immediately and I soon found out why. The work was bad enough, but I could easily handle the disgustingness of food left over, and even some of the creations made by freshman to make out lives harder. The real hard part was our supervisor didn't actually do much and go upset when we didn't finish up early enough. He was the only boss I ever had who made me cry (I didn't cry at work, I managed to make it to my car). The real kicker was at the end of the semester I was quitting, but they were bringing in the new people for the next semester to train, so there was about twice as many people in the dish room. I had an exit type interview and mentioned how relaxed the dish room was because there were so many people there. The supervisor replied that there was supposed to be that many people to have a full crew. No wonder it took us an extra half an hour each night. I was so glad to get out of that job.
After I got really upset that day in the dish room I started actively looking for a new job. I remembered that when I was in high school a neighbor in our ward was impressed by how well I did at an accounting competition and said I could have a job if I ever wanted one. He was a partner in a small accounting firm called Johnson and Associates. I called Steve up hopeful he could make some work for me. I was really lucky because they were going into busy season, and one of their employees had just left. Steve wanted me to work 20 hours and I wanted closer to 10 because I was still in the Junior Core and you had to get special permission to work more than 10 hours, so we settled on 15. I started out doing payroll for his clients and the quarterly payroll reports. I also did the secretarial stuff during the summer when they had less employees. I worked on entering the books for the small companies they did taxes for, and by the end I was putting in the individual returns they did during busy season. I worked there until Joshua was born, part time until I graduated and then full time for four months afterwards. I really enjoyed working there and learned a lot too.
Brian was able to move up in the working world too. He only had to be a custodian for one more semester, and then he was able to get a job as a TA for a low level chemical engineering course. He was able to do his homework if no one came in during office hours, and was able to set some of his own working hours. He only worked as a TA for one semester (that's all they will hire you for sometimes anyway, because the class is over).
For the spring and going forward until we moved away Brian was able to work as a research assistant. He worked on updating a chemical data base that BYU had that commerical companies would pay to subscribe to the information. It was a really nice job because he could work as little as 10 hours a week up to 20 hours if he was in school, or full time when he wasn't in school. He was also able to work remotely from our laptop and choose his own hours almost entirely. It was also a real resume booster, so it was an all around winner job.
I also had one other job. One summer term I was going to school and wasn't taking very many classes, and there wasn't very much for me to do at work, so I looked for a job on campus. I was able to pick up 10 hours a week working at FARMS.(I don't think it is called that anymore). They were totally cool about working around my school and other work schedule and for me only working a term. I entered their income and did a few other secretarial things as needed. Then I trained my replacement and it was done. So there are our jobs for when we went to BYU.
Brian had applied to some nicer jobs on campus when we were still in Tennessee, but he didn't hear back for any of them. (These jobs you usually have to know someone to get the job, but it was worth a try). So when he got back he went to the custodial office and was able to get another custodial job. Fortunately his schedule allowed for him to take an afternoon shift, so he didn't have to work early morning. Unfortunately he was fully awake while he was cleaning and was fully aware of how bored he was.
Because I was in the Junior Core I didn't look for a job right away. After I got into the groove of the semester I realized I had some time and energy left and we were getting broke fast, so I started to look for a job. Unfortunately at that point all the good jobs were taken, and I had to work around my group members work schedules so I didn't take up the few times that our group could meet together. Well one day kind of on a whim I saw an add for dish help at the Cannon Center. I got the job immediately and I soon found out why. The work was bad enough, but I could easily handle the disgustingness of food left over, and even some of the creations made by freshman to make out lives harder. The real hard part was our supervisor didn't actually do much and go upset when we didn't finish up early enough. He was the only boss I ever had who made me cry (I didn't cry at work, I managed to make it to my car). The real kicker was at the end of the semester I was quitting, but they were bringing in the new people for the next semester to train, so there was about twice as many people in the dish room. I had an exit type interview and mentioned how relaxed the dish room was because there were so many people there. The supervisor replied that there was supposed to be that many people to have a full crew. No wonder it took us an extra half an hour each night. I was so glad to get out of that job.
After I got really upset that day in the dish room I started actively looking for a new job. I remembered that when I was in high school a neighbor in our ward was impressed by how well I did at an accounting competition and said I could have a job if I ever wanted one. He was a partner in a small accounting firm called Johnson and Associates. I called Steve up hopeful he could make some work for me. I was really lucky because they were going into busy season, and one of their employees had just left. Steve wanted me to work 20 hours and I wanted closer to 10 because I was still in the Junior Core and you had to get special permission to work more than 10 hours, so we settled on 15. I started out doing payroll for his clients and the quarterly payroll reports. I also did the secretarial stuff during the summer when they had less employees. I worked on entering the books for the small companies they did taxes for, and by the end I was putting in the individual returns they did during busy season. I worked there until Joshua was born, part time until I graduated and then full time for four months afterwards. I really enjoyed working there and learned a lot too.
Brian was able to move up in the working world too. He only had to be a custodian for one more semester, and then he was able to get a job as a TA for a low level chemical engineering course. He was able to do his homework if no one came in during office hours, and was able to set some of his own working hours. He only worked as a TA for one semester (that's all they will hire you for sometimes anyway, because the class is over).
For the spring and going forward until we moved away Brian was able to work as a research assistant. He worked on updating a chemical data base that BYU had that commerical companies would pay to subscribe to the information. It was a really nice job because he could work as little as 10 hours a week up to 20 hours if he was in school, or full time when he wasn't in school. He was also able to work remotely from our laptop and choose his own hours almost entirely. It was also a real resume booster, so it was an all around winner job.
I also had one other job. One summer term I was going to school and wasn't taking very many classes, and there wasn't very much for me to do at work, so I looked for a job on campus. I was able to pick up 10 hours a week working at FARMS.(I don't think it is called that anymore). They were totally cool about working around my school and other work schedule and for me only working a term. I entered their income and did a few other secretarial things as needed. Then I trained my replacement and it was done. So there are our jobs for when we went to BYU.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Junior Core
The fall of 2005 was the starting of the accounting junior core for me. I was nervous going in because of the stories I had heard about how hard and time consuming it was. Brian and I agreed that I wouldn't work, at least initially, so that I could focus on school and find out how time consuming the core was going to be.
I was excited to find myself in the smallest section of students. That would mean more professor attention and make it easier to know the other students. We were immediately put into groups of five, to be our group for the entire semester, and given the Waren case. I got along very well with my group, it was new and refreshing to have group members that would actually do work. Up until this point most of my school group experiences involved me doing most of the work. I also go to meet someone who became one of my best friends, Suzanne. We were the only two girls in the group and got along right from the start. The case was very time intensive and we spent many hours together those first couple of weeks getting it done. Suzanne and I would joke about how we saw each other more than we saw our husbands. (Later we were able to get our husbands to meet too, and they got along swimmingly).
I think the case was meant to be a group bonding experience because it wasn't especially hard, it covered fairly easy accounting principles we learned in the past, but it was really detail intensive, and took a lot of time. After that case was over we didn't have to spend so much time together as a group, even though we did a lot of our homework together. Our group got along really well and asked if we could be a group again the next semester. But we were told that we couldn't.
I didn't get along as well with my group the next semester. The second semester you could start to see the drift between the people who wanted to get into the MAcc, who continued to be really over achievers, and those who didn't want to get into the MAcc, who were getting tired of the really intense workload. There was no real drama, but we had some group members that pulled more weight than others. They did all pull through for me when I spent a week in the hospital, and even came and visited me there.
It was a good year and I learned a lot, but I was glad when it was over.
I was excited to find myself in the smallest section of students. That would mean more professor attention and make it easier to know the other students. We were immediately put into groups of five, to be our group for the entire semester, and given the Waren case. I got along very well with my group, it was new and refreshing to have group members that would actually do work. Up until this point most of my school group experiences involved me doing most of the work. I also go to meet someone who became one of my best friends, Suzanne. We were the only two girls in the group and got along right from the start. The case was very time intensive and we spent many hours together those first couple of weeks getting it done. Suzanne and I would joke about how we saw each other more than we saw our husbands. (Later we were able to get our husbands to meet too, and they got along swimmingly).
I think the case was meant to be a group bonding experience because it wasn't especially hard, it covered fairly easy accounting principles we learned in the past, but it was really detail intensive, and took a lot of time. After that case was over we didn't have to spend so much time together as a group, even though we did a lot of our homework together. Our group got along really well and asked if we could be a group again the next semester. But we were told that we couldn't.
I didn't get along as well with my group the next semester. The second semester you could start to see the drift between the people who wanted to get into the MAcc, who continued to be really over achievers, and those who didn't want to get into the MAcc, who were getting tired of the really intense workload. There was no real drama, but we had some group members that pulled more weight than others. They did all pull through for me when I spent a week in the hospital, and even came and visited me there.
It was a good year and I learned a lot, but I was glad when it was over.
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