Welcome to the World: Anna Karen Miner

Our beautiful girl Anna came to us as a bit of a surprise yesterday (January 22nd) at 8:29 p.m. at a tiny 5 lbs 4 oz and 19.5 inches. It all started when Heidi went for a routine visit for a non-stress test (to monitor the baby's condition). Well, it turned out that Heidi's blood pressure was too high, and after a quick visit to her doctor's office, he promptly told her that he was going to induce her immediately. Imagine my surprise when I got THAT phone call from Heidi! The delivery went well (epiderrals are great) and she was born after only about 20 minutes of pushing (Heidi was a trooper). Anna has been incredibly healthy, and so far all is well. We later found out how much of a miracle baby she was: when the doctor took out the placenta and examined it, he found that the veins were stretching out all along the membrane wall, instead of being tucked inside the placenta where they'd normally be. What this meant is that if we would have waited until closer to full term and Heidi's water would have broken, there would have been a good chance that one of those veins would have torn open as well. If that would have happened, the baby very likely would have bled to death before we could have delivered her. It's amazing the way the Lord works in her having to be induced early because of high blood pressure. That very likely made it possible for Anna to still be with us today.

Here is a cute shot with Anna holding mommy and daddy's fingers. She's a tiny one!

And here are the proud parents with Anna wondering what in the world she's gotten herself into.

Ode to the "house-husband"

Well it has officially been 20 days that I have been on bedrest. I feel like my body shape will forever been indented in our couch! Though I have to say I like the schedule of waking up whenever I want, watching any TV show I want, reading books, taking baths (or not showering at all), writing notes, making phone calls, getting on the internet... All things that I wanted to do "if I had time" and never could. Though bed rest does have its "down sides" too. I seem to look at the same wall everyday, look at the beautiful weather- but cannot experience it, have to try to stop our "toddler- aged" dog from getting into everything, watch as the chores get put off, want to get the baby stuff all ready, but don't have the strength. It is so weird, but I am making it.
On the other hand... someone else is having to pick up the slack.... and I have to say,
MY HUSBAND IS THE BEST! He is doing so much for me all the time...including making me lay down when I "feel like" I'm okay to get up and I do too much. He has also been keeping up the house, working, washing dishes, laundry, working, watching sports (he can have a break... i guess), cooking, taking out the garbage, washing dishes, taking care of his prego wife, watching sports, and getting the baby room ready. I feel so blessed, it is time like this that you realize the blessings you have!!!

A quote from one of the books I am reading right now:
"The receiving in life to me is one of the greatest gifts that we give another person. And it's very hard. Because when you give, you're in much greater control. But when you receive something- you're vulnerable."

Taken from: Life's Journeys according to Mister Rogers Things to remember along the way

2007 Year in Review

Snowed In

Here's a shot of Mt. Olympus on Christmas Day. I forget how spoiled we are to have such beautiful mountains all around us. It seems to be snowing here almost every other day, something that is a nightmare for driving, but fantastic in every other aspect. I love my winters to be snowy, so I'm loving life right now (so is our dog, Mia)!

I'm not sure if Heidi will be thrilled to see that I've posted this or not, but in my opinion, she's a pretty cute pregnant lady! This is here "belly shot" as of December 30th. The reason the title of this blog is "snowed in" is because Heidi has had the truly joyous opportunity to be stuck on bed rest for the past week or so. She just had another doctor appointment today and he said she needs to stay on bed rest for at least another week and a half due to toxemia. Both mom and baby are doing very well, though Heidi does get bored every now and then. As long as I have two good-looking, healthy females in my life come February, I'm happy!





As for my personal update, I'm currently doing real estate full time, Spanish interpreting for Intermountain Medical Center and LDS Hospital part-time, and parenthood prep whenever I can. I also sent in applications to six different universities to go to school for a Masters in Health Administration. One school is the University of Utah, and the other five are out of state (Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Washington, Arizona State). I'm still up in the air as to which school I'll go to (if I get accepted to all of them). Interviews will begin in February, so we'll see what happens! It's a big step that we weren't sure we would take, but we're excited for what the future has in store.

Thanks for all of your well-wishing, etc. We love you all and hope that life is treating you well!

A different way to celebrate 2008

Well, I am sitting here on the 1st day of the new year thinking about 2008 and what is to come. It seems that the baby has already started to make things different and Dave and I have begun the new year off on the wrong (swollen) foot. I have had a lot of swelling lately, my eye sight has decreased and last night I got a horrible MIGRAINE (which I commend those who get them often, because I rarely get them and it was miserable. I had talked to my mom about it and she told me these were signs of PIH or Toxemia and I HAD to rest. She even made me give the phone to Dave and told him the same. So I did.

I started the new year hearing people celebrate while I tried to sleep (but still getting a kiss from my high school sweetheart), then when the party left our home, Dave and I packed up and went to the hospital. We celebrated the first 3 hours of the 2008 listening to our baby on a monitor (that I didn't mind), while I got poked and checked for Toxemia. Well, as it turns out labs showed that I didn't have it (yet), but my doctor is worried that I might be on the beginning stages. So as I type I am on bed rest for the next 3 days until I see my Doctor again. I pray that things will be alright and the baby will be safe!

As far as bed rest goes, I have to admit I am not the best at making myself stop (hence the blog while I am suppose to be resting). But at least I will have time to do the sorts of things I have been wanting to do but haven't made time to sit down and do them. So few things I hope to accomplish in the next few days... 1) loose the numbness in my hands so I can actually type! 2) write thank yous 3) blog about the last year 4) YW calendar 5) read books I have put off. We'll see what I get done if I am not sleeping the whole time.

I am definitely thankful for a supportive and loving husband who has already helped me so much today! He just made me a yummy grilled cheese sandwich. MMMM!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Well we made it to our favorite time of year again and we finally decided TODAY that it feels like CHRISTMAS. I thought we would be more prepared because of all the snow, our HUGE Christmas tree, listening to Christmas songs 24-7, etc. But alas it seems like Christmas comes and leaves so fast! We are excited to spend the next couple of days with our families as we close our last Christmas as just a couple! It is crazy to think we will be shopping for a 10 month old at this time next year. WEIRD!

Yesterday I was lucky to see some of my favorite people. You girls mean so much to me and have truly shaped me to who I am today. Thanks for the "mother-to-be" advice and for the updates! Then we spent the rest of the day shopping, getting home stuff done, and delivering presents to neighbors.

Today was great. The spirit was very strong at Church as we focused the day on our Savior's birth. I played the role of Mary in our YW lesson... I couldn't imagine what Mary went through as she rode a donkey for days while being 9 months pregnant! And I thought the commute home, in the snow, was horrible! I am amazed at Mary's humility and wonder what it would be like to give birth to the Savior of Man! I wonder what went through her thoughts as she prepared. I am thankful for the this time of year and the chance we have to focus on our Savior.

After church our fabulous friends and neighbors came over. Jason helped Dave set up Wireless internet (the actual reason why I am blogging tonight... I can now sit anywhere in my house.) It is fabulous. While the boys were busy Mary and I chatted about preparing for our baby girls.

Then we spent the rest of the night at the Miners for a Danish tradition called "little Christmas Eve." I have to admit I laughed so much tonight I could write novels about the funny things that our family does. One of my favorite is the nativity scene that our family creates. You can see from the pictures that it gets quite chaotic, but it is fun. Dave was even lucky enough to be one of the wise men. He said he was wondering the whole time what they put on him!

We feel very blessed this year. Hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas!

CRAZY TIMES!!!

Wow, as you can see from the missing blogs that life has been a bit insane. For one, Dave has taken on a second "on-call" job as an spanish interpreter for hospitals nearby. It was going to be a few times a week for a couple hours, but he has actually worked 10-15 hours a week! That is on top of the real estate business. I continue to work my normal shifts though picking up toys and running from patient to patient seems to be a bit harder with a bigger belly. I also think I will get so much done each week and the energy is just not there.

We have 10 weeks until the baby's proposed birth day. I am freaking out. I think February sounds far away, but with Christmas and all the things we have to do, she will be here before we know it! Also, because I have a two vessel umbilical cord the baby could come earlier if I am favorable. CRAZY!

We have tried to begin to get the baby's room put together. Dave has to move his office downstairs. He has worked on it quite a bit, but we had a "miner" set back with our dishwasher leaking into our basement. It seems like we just do what we can and know that things will get done when they can.

I love Christmas time! IT makes me so happy, but I haven't felt complete without a Christmas tree. so we finally got one yesterday... though I laugh at it every time I see it. Turns out it was a lot bigger than we thought. It takes up our whole living room. We cannot even see the front door from our couch (that is the front door behind it) or the TV from our other couch. Dave named it Goliath! It was so much work yesterday (especially keeping Mia our "toddler" puppy away from it) that we only got lights on it... It is amazing how little things can wear me out so quickly these days! Though I did make a delicious Turkey dinner yesterday. Perhaps I just try to do too many things! Oh well that is me.

I have so many other things to write about, but time is not my ally today. We are going to visit a new baby, go to a homecoming, go to the miners and then the extended Kinnersley Christmas party. I'll try to post more later!