Our First Few Weeks with Marley Jeene

On Friday, December 11th at 1:45pm, Marley Jeene Morgan made her entrance into this world. She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 20 inches long. Marley has added more love to our family than I thought possible in the short 17 days that she has been with us so far.

I look like a zombie in this picture
because it was taken at 11:30pm the night before
Marley was born. I was 41 weeks and 2 days
pregnant and completely exhausted. But, for the
sake of remembering, I included
this awful super flattering picture.

I'm going to write out my experience at the hospital simply so that I have it written somewhere. If you don't like reading this kind of stuff, simply skip the next three paragraphs.

I was due December 2nd. My due date came and went with nothing to get excited about. I went to an appointment the next day only to find out I wasn't dilated any further than I was the week before. At my appointment a week later I was dilated a little more, but not much. Being already eight days late my doctor wanted to induce me. I was set to receive a phone call from the hospital the next day as early as 4:00am telling me to come in. That night I made sure my phone's volume was all the way up and set to an incredibly obnoxious ringtone (I am a really heavy sleeper). I woke up at 4:30am to the most awful sound, fumbled around for my phone, and answered it. It was the hospital and they wanted me there at 6:00am! I was so excited. After a shower and some breakfast, Derek and I headed to the hospital. My mom was going to meet us there a little later, and my dad was all set to drop Reece off with my sister-in-law.

We checked into the hospital at 6:15am and they started me on pitocin at 7:30am. The anesthesiologist at the hospital was scheduled to be in a C-section at 9:00am, so my doctor called and said that I could wait until the anesthesiologist was done with the surgery, but by then I might have progressed too far to get an epidural. So we decided to get it before he went into surgery. Getting the epidural was painless and easy, however it only worked on one side. My right leg was completely numb. I couldn't even lift it off the bed, yet my left leg felt completely normal. I still wasn't feeling any painful contractions, but they were about 3-6 minutes apart and I was dilated to a 6. My doctor got to the hospital and broke my water at 12:20pm. At that point I was dilated to an 8, and still not feeling painful contractions. But once they broke my water, the contractions came on strong.

By 1:00pm I was feeling full labor contractions all on my left side, while my right side was still totally numb. Marley's heart rate was dropping with each contraction and taking longer to recover than they like to see, which made my nurse wonder if the cord had wrapped around Marley's neck when the water broke. My doctor came back at 1:30pm (she had been in surgery for the last hour) to check on me. I was fully dilated, but Marley was still up really high. She hung around, watched Marley's charts, and told me to let her know if I felt the need to push. Five minutes and a few more contractions later, and I felt like I wanted to push. A few minutes later my doctor was gowned and had everything she needed to deliver the baby. After just a few short minutes (they didn't feel very short to me at the time) Marley was born! She had the cord wrapped around her body and neck. The nurses laid her on my chest immediately  and started checking her vitals. Because the cord had been wrapped around her neck her heart was having a hard time recovering. So they took her to a little table in my room to monitor her until her heart recovered. Derek stood next to her the entire time holding her hand. I loved that their first priority was getting Marley skin-to-skin and that when they needed to keep a closer eye on her they kept her in my room where I could see her. I was in complete relief once she was born. And when they laid Marley on my chest I was just in awe at how beautiful and perfect she was.

Me and Marley just seconds after she was born.

That night we had so many family members come visit us, it was wonderful! I loved getting to see them all and I love that they all got to meet Marley when she was less than a day old. Family is such an amazing blessing, and I count myself even more blessed to have most of our family members so close!

The bili-bed model Marley was on.

The next day we found out that Marley had jaundice, like Reece. We left the hospital that evening with Marley's bilirubin levels at a 9. The next morning when we took her to the lab to get her levels checked again she had jumped up to a 14.4. A company that provides in-home phototherapy for infants came to the house that night and brought a bili-bed for Marley to use. Essentially, it's a platform with a clear top that has ultraviolet lights that shine on the baby as they lay on it. There is a blanket that covers the top of the platform that has a sleeper sewn onto it, however the back of the sleeper is mesh so that the lights can shine through and be on her skin. Marley was on the lights from Sunday evening until Friday morning. It was a challenge for me because she was only supposed to be off of the lights when she needed to be fed, and they wanted her to be off the lights for no more than 30-45 minutes at a time. We couldn't just hold her and snuggle her any time we wanted. I felt like I was being robbed of the sweetness of the newborn stage. I was pretty negative the entire time Marley was on the lights, just waiting and waiting for her bilirubin levels to go low enough so she could be done with phototherapy. However, I realize how blessed we were to have her be treated in our home instead of at the hospital, that her bilirubin levels never got dangerously high, and that she handled being on the bed so well. She hardly ever fussed at us when she was strapped in there.

Once she was able to come off the lights I felt like I got to live the normal life of a mom with a newborn. It was so nice to be able to sit and snuggle with her for as long as I wanted! Marley hardly spent more than a few minutes in her swing or bouncer seat before Derek, Reece, or my parents went over to hold her. She has been spoiled with so much love!

  

We had settled on the name Marley a while before she was born, but we didn't settle on a middle name until just a few weeks before. We kept it a secret because we knew that we wanted to be able to tell our moms first once Marley was born. Marley's middle name is Jeene. Jeene is a combination of my mom's name (Jerri) and my mother-in-law's name (Dorene). You take the first two letters of Jerri and the last three letters of Dorene and you get Jeene! It was maybe an hour after Marley was born, and it was me, Derek, my mom, and my mother-in-law in the hospital room. We told them Marley's middle name and they both looked happy. But when we explained why we chose the name we did, they both got tears in their eyes. It was a really sweet moment. We love that this little girl is named after both of her terrific grandmas!

Marley is the sweetest little thing, and I can't imagine life without her! I love seeing Reece as a big sister. If Marley starts making any kind of noise, Reece rushes over, pats her cheek and says, "It's okay Marley, your big sisters here. She's right here." It melts my heart.

These two little beauties are my whole world. I love being their mom. It has been interesting adjusting to the demands of a three year old and a newborn, but I think we've found our rhythm. We love our Miss Marley!

Making Life More Joyful

This past month my Facebook feed has been flooded with statuses of gratitude. Some people find this annoying and complain that we should be thankful all year long. Similar to how some people find Valentine's Day a silly holiday because we should show love, affection, and appreciation to those we love every day of the year. While I agree with being thankful and showing love every day, I also think that these holidays simply serve as reminders for us. They help us to remember to show love. They help us to remember to be grateful. How many of us have a spotless record when it comes to remembering everything that needs done? I can tell you with absolute certainty that I do not. Remembering things is actually something I have a really difficult time with. Just ask Derek how many loads of laundry have been forgotten in the dryer. It's pretty bad.

As I was driving home from the store this morning I glanced down at the external temperature reading on the dash. It read 30 degrees. Yet that didn't bother me one bit because I was inside my car, with my seat warmer turned on, and the climate control set to a perfectly comfortable temperature. I didn't have to walk home in the cold because I'm fortunate to have a dependable car. I had a smile on my face because I have been blessed with a funny, smart, and sweet little girl who loves to sing and says the funniest things. And it made me think of all the statuses I've been seeing this month, which reminded me of all the things I have to be grateful for. My car, my daughter, my husband (who fixes said car when there's something wrong), and employment (which allowed me to go to the store and get what we need for our family). My list could go on and on, and tonight I plan on making my entry in my journal full of the things I am so grateful for. But in that moment, driving home from the store, I felt incredibly happy. I felt fun, light, and joyful.

"There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious. We can be grateful!" 

-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

We can live every day with gratitude in our hearts. It is this Thanksgiving season that has helped remind me, once again, that being grateful is one of the greatest things we can do. Our lives can truly be joyful, even though we once again forgot about the load of colors that are sitting in the dryer waiting to be folded. And we can make our lives sweeter, more joyful, and even glorious by remembering (or at least doing our best to remember) to be grateful every day.

As this Thanksgiving season ends and we come into the Christmas season, it reminds me of how grateful I am for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I give thanks to Him and to God for all of the blessings in my life. 

"That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you."
Alma 34:38

11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Luke 17:11-19

36 Weeks

I am now at the point where my doctor's appointments are every week. I feel like I just barely transitioned out of the monthly appointments, and now here I am with weekly appointments. You know you're one of the regulars at the office, when:

1. The receptionists have been calling you by name for the past couple of months.
2. You and your doctor have inside jokes.
3. You know the names of the medical assistants, the nurse, the RNP, and the receptionists.
4. You recognize two or three other expecting mothers who are often at the office at the same time you are.
5. You no longer get confused trying to find your way to the front desk upon leaving your exam room.

My pregnant belly really pops once I hit around 32 weeks. Now, at 36 weeks, I feel HUGE. My maternity shirts aren't loose anymore, they actually fit. What?! What is that?

I'm not sleeping very well at night. If Reece wakes up and needs help in the bathroom any time after 3:30am, I will be awake for at least two hours afterward trying to fall back to sleep. I'm constantly waking up because I'm no longer comfortable. And I'm having really weird dreams that keep waking me up.

The other night I had a dream that I looked down at my hand and my wedding rings were gone. Then, I tried to find Derek and couldn't find him anywhere. And then all of these random guys kept coming up to me, proposing, giving me a ring, and demanding that I marry them. I refused because I desperately needed to find Derek, but kept getting so angry because he was nowhere to be found and my hand was full of these awful engagement rings from all of these awful guys. What spurred that dream? No idea. But it was frustrating! My heart was pounding when I woke up, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I looked over and saw Derek sleeping next to me. My dreams have been especially terrible this pregnancy, making it even more difficult to get a decent night's rest.

But, I have to say, my favorite thing right now is being able to go out in public in sweatpants and not have people give me funny looks. Don't get me wrong, I go out in public in sweats even when I'm not pregnant, I just get funny looks from people. Looks that say, "Jeez, doesn't she have the time to put on real pants?" Anyways, when I go out to the store now in sweatpants, people don't look at me like that! They see my giant, pregnant belly and immediately they understand why I'm wearing sweats. Because let's be honest. No pregnant woman can stand jeans for much longer than an hour or so once they hit 32-36 weeks.

Life has been a little crazy lately, but I love Friday nights. And while I love the night once Reece is in bed, I get the most joy out of being home with Derek and Reece. Seeing them play together and just being together as a family brings me more peace than I ever thought it would. Yes, there are those wonderfully joyful times when Reece is in the throes of threenager-hood, but most of the time being together as a family is everything I need it to be. I am so excited and anxious to see how our family grows and changes with the addition of this next little girl.

Four more weeks!