She has a name - finally!

We are pleased to welcome: Hailey Grace Bowen

What a Trooper!

Here are more pictures of our sweet baby! I left the hospital yesterday evening and even though it was hard to leave without her, it's good to be home. The kids did really well, but it was definitely time for mom to get back home. How can I ever thank Jon, my mother-in-law, my siblings, our families, our friends & our ward enough ??!! Holy Cow! The baby is now off of all IV's, feeding tubes, oxygen and is getting all her calories through bottles with breastmilk & calorie enhancers. They only had to put a little feeding tube down her nose for about 24 hours, but she'd done so well with sucking and keeping awake long enough to get the milk down, that they took it out. They're going to see how she does with room temperature (outside of her isolette) tonight. They've been letting us hold her twice a day - for about 1/2 hour. We get to feed her and burp her and then they like to let her rest and sleep peacefully. The kids haven't been able to see her in person. We've been able to get the nurses to let us hold her up to the window so they could take a peek, but they are still waiting to meet their new sister for the first time. They've been such a good sports about it and so understanding. Thank you again to everyone! Oh, how we love you!

Becky holding the baby (she's got an IV in her head underneath that hat).

Maybe only a mother could love this little face, but it cracks me up. She reminds me of a little bird that has just hatched. The little tube from her nose was the feeding tube.

Sunday morning - April 10, 2011 - Grandma Bowen

Birth Story

***Warning...rantings of a new mom...this is long and I can't get the spacing to work!!*** What a week! One that we will never forget! We are thrilled to welcome our sweet, little baby and have instantly fallen in love with her. We're figuring out her name, but here are the things that led to her early arrival: * Prenatal Visit (32 weeks) - Tuesday, March 29th - Up to this point, everything had been great with our pregnancy. I felt really good and am someone who loves being pregnant - especially feeling the baby move, etc. At this visit, I was measured at 31 and the baby's heart rate was great. BUT, there were traces of protein in my urine. This was disappointing, but not shocking (as it's happened with the last 4 pregnancies). Dr. Brown wasn't overly concerned because "trace protein" in and of itself is fine. I asked for a few dipsticks to take home and then scheduled my 34 week check. * Wednesday, March 30th through Sunday, April 3 - We took a family trip to Union, OR to visit Jon's parents while the kids had spring break. We had a wonderful, relaxing time! * Sunday night/early Monday morning - April 4th - When we got home from Union, I dipped a urine stick and could easily tell the protein level had increased. During the night on Sunday, I didn't feel the baby move around very much, so I called my doctor's office on Monday morning. They told me to go to Labor & Delivery for a non-stress test. Jon & I headed over there after getting kids to school/preschool & Hannah to play with Heidi (Alisha - thank you again so much!). (Although, we did take our neice, Brooklyn with us. I watch her on Mondays and she's still at such an easy age, that we just took her. She was really good and Jon took care of her. I know hospitals see all types, but I'm sure they wondered what we were doing there 33 weeks pregnant with an 11 week old). The NST went fine and they felt like the baby was doing well enough to send us home. But, they wanted me to collect 24 hours of urine and then come back on Tuesday for another NST. I was so grateful to have the chance to go home and spend the afternoon getting things put away from our trip and clean a little bit. I also packed a hospital bag, just in case... * Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - My sister Becky came over to work from our house (how tricky that must have been!) and watch Hannah (and later all the kids when they got home from school/playdates). Jon and I went in for the NST. They hooked us up and over the course of a few hours, put an IV in, took blood work and watched the baby. They weren't thrilled with what she was doing on the NST. Every once in awhile, when I'd have a contraction, her heart rate would dip low and would take longer than they'd like to get back up. The protein level from the 24 urine came back really high. Normal is right around 100, mine was over 600, which probably means the protein level was near a +5. My doctor came in and we decided to start a course of 2 steroid injections (24 hours apart, ideally), have an ultrasound done to determine fluid levels & size of the baby, and to keep me in the hospital on monitors and watch her heartrate. Our goal at that point, was to make it to Thursday and then do a C-Section (unless she suddenly had absolutely perfect heartrates and the protein seemed to be controlled). They did the steroid injection (in the bum), which hurt! Talk about thick serum! The ultrasound went well and the fluid levels were still great. The baby looked good and they estimated she'd be about 4 lbs. 7 oz. (although they told us it was give or take a pound). We made the decision to fly Jon's mom in from Oregon and looking back, everything fell in to place for that to happen. Jon's sister Anne had gone up to Oregon with us and was already planning on staying about a week and a half longer. And then, his sister, Rebecca, ended up helping a co-worker by taking a couple of weeks off. Those 2 great sister-in-laws, were willing to let Diane come and help us, while they stayed to take care of Jon's dad. Jon went home around 6 to finally relieve Becky & John from our kids. He gathered them up and brought them to the hospital, mostly so they could see that I was fine and that everything was calm and okay. They didn't stay very long as they were exhausted. As, I settled in for the night around 10:30, everything seemed fine on the monitors. But, as soon as I would doze off, the baby's heart rate would drop during contractions (or non contractions) and they'd come in and have me shift around to try to get her to happy again. It was a really long night, with not more than a few minutes of sleep. The nurses talked with my doctor (who happened to be on call) on and off during the night and then came in at 7:00 a.m. and told me that Dr. Brown felt it was better to do the C-Section that morning instead of waiting another 24 hours for the steroids. They did give me the 2nd steroid shot and then I called Jon to tell him to come over. We were so blessed that my brother Mike could watch the little kids at our house, so as soon as he got there, Jon came over to the hospital. They had me all prepped for surgery, so as soon as Jon was ready, we walked back to the OR. Jack's C-Section was much more emergent (I walked into the hospital and an hour later, he was out), so this one's prep was much more calm. I had a really great anesthesiologist, my own doctor was there to do the C-Section, and I had a really great ER doctor at my side!! That doctor was the one who knew right when to slip me his hand (during my spinal block) and what to tell me during the surgery. The surgery went well and our sweet baby was born at 9:50 a.m. and came out screaming! What an incredible blessing! I was so happy to hear her screaming over and over (probably more than any of our other kids have screamed). Jon said she was quite blue when she first came out, but pinked up really quickly. The doctor also said she was quite tangled in her cord - it was around her leg, her arm and and her body. They weighed and measured her and she was 3 lbs. 15 oz. and 17 1/2 inches long. Jon went with her to the NICU while they stitched me up, but he was back by the time they finished. He said that she was doing really well - including breathing completely on her own. They immediately started an IV on her, and hooked her up to the normal wires (heartrate, oxygen levels, etc). She is perfect in every way - just a miniature version of a healthy baby. She has really long fingers & hands (like Lindsey), blonde eyebrows and a little blonde hair at the front of her head and a little darker hair in the back. Having a baby in the NICU is full of highs & lows. One visit to peek at her is uplifting and positive and the next can be emotional and tough. We are eternally grateful for each and every thought and prayer that have been sent out way. We feel them, those prayers are being answered, they strengthen us and we are excited to watch this sweet baby grow!

Pictures!!

So, here are some pictures of this beauty!!!

This was about 10 hours after she was born. She needed a little extra oxygen, so they gave her some. This was the first time I got to hold her. (The other little tube by her chin is an IV that's in her right hand).

I love this picture because it shows some of her blonde-ness. Her eye brows are really light and the front part of her head. The back hair (the little bit she has), is much darker.

Proud Mom!

This picture was taken this morning. She's just hanging out in her little isolette. They had taken her off oxygen during the night.

Sweet, little face!

She's here!!

Baby girl Bowen is here!

Born @ 9:45 this morning via c-section.

3 lbs 15 oz

17 inches long

I will let Jeannette go into more detail later, but the baby didn't do too well overnight and her heart rate kept dropping, so the doctor decided to get her out. The cord was wrapped around her little arm and leg and she came out screaming. Jeannette and baby are doing well.

Enjoy a couple pictures I got of her below:

She is so sweet and petite!

Update on the little lady

This is Becky (Jeannette's sister).

Just an update on the baby...Jeannette and Jon have been at the hospital most of the day doing tests and monitoring the baby's heart rate. The doctor is going to give Jeannette a steroid shot to help the baby's lungs develop quicker and will do an ultrasound after to check size, amniotic fluid, etc. They will do another steroid shot on Thursday and most likely do a c-section after that. Jeannette will stay in the hospital until the baby is born.

I will keep you all updated!

Little Lady's Lung Development

Well, here we go again!! Protein has started to show up in my urine (just like the last 4 pregnancies), so I spent a couple of hours in Labor & Delivery this morning doing a Non-Stress Test. Thankfully, the baby seems to be doing okay so far, but the protein level has increased substantially over the last several days. I'll go in again tomorrow for another NST and we'll go from there. Thankfully, we are 33 weeks along, so further than we were with Jack. We're praying and hoping that her lungs will have the time they need to be ready for life. Thank you to everyone for your love & support!

Weekend in Worland

A little over a week ago, my sister Becky & I took all 6 of our kids and went to Worland for a couple of days. She was finishing up her maternity leave and it was the last time we could all fit in our van (it's an 8 passenger). We left on a Thursday morning and had a great drive. The weather was perfect the entire time and the kids were great! Hannah commented as we'd get out of the car for a break "Brooklyn never cries."

Aunt Claudia & Uncle Bruce were absolutely wonderful to us! It's such a treat to go somewhere and be taken care of. They made us yummy dinners, set up the trampoline and Wii for the kids, and let us relax and enjoy their company!

Some of our highlights were:

* all the little girls taking a bath together every night

* sewing with Becky - we were able to get an entire quilt done in just 2 days!

* going to Maverick for diet pop, candy & frozen yogurt several times a day

* playing Super Mario & Just Dance on the Wii

* exerising with Becky in the mornings

* Taco Johns

* Becky teaching Emily & Lindsey how to make bows

* visiting with Uncle Bruce & Aunt Claudia after the kids went to bed

* having Uncle Bruce & Jon talk over the phone and figure out what caused some water damage in our house

It was wonderful and we were so grateful to be able to go! We love having our place of paradise and can't wait to go back!!

"My Mom Made it for Me."

These are Hannah's famous words! Whenever someone compliments her on her clothes, shoes, jacket, coat, etc., she said "My mom made it for me." Today, it was the clerk at the store. After she told Hannah that her red shoes were cute, Hannah told the lady that I made them. I'm very flattered by her thoughts and secretly wish that she'd always think of me so highly. I'm sure that she will soon realize that her little friend Heidi gets compliments like that all the time because her mom really IS a great seamstress (skirts, Halloween costumes, etc.). Hannah, on the other hand, will never be cold, as her mother is only good at making quilts!