Monday, January 30, 2012

Cody Joseph Cluff joins the fam-damily!!


Since I've waited so long to write about this, you will be getting the
condensed....lack of sleep from a new baby version.

For the most part of this pregnancy, I felt great! I worked at Kanab High School in the Special Education department until just a week before I had baby Cody. He was very active, especially in the evenings. The girls loved feeling him kick and watching my tummy as he did somersaults and kicks.

Here is one of the few pregnancy pictures I have, this was taken about a week before getting to hold him in my arms.
The last month was a looong month! The day after Christmas I came down with a horrible cough. I had wheezing in my lungs and was coughing so hard I was gagging/dry heaving. Those of you who have had babies and then jumped on the trampoline know what happens out the other end. Well, each time I coughed/gagged I had a similar experience. I had all the symptoms of pneumonia without taking the X-ray to prove it. Being pregnant, there wasn't much we could do about it. I did get an anti-biotic and thanks to my SUPER HUSBAND, Ben, I was able to get lots of sleep during the days. After a couple weeks of this, It started to ease up. However, I had been having random contractions and they started picking up during and after the cough.

On THURSDAY Jan. 19, I woke up and as soon as I was out of bed I was having contractions every 3-5 minutes (The tues. before I had an appt. and I was dilated 3 cm). The contractions weren't too painful, but we thought we'd get out and walk and see if we could help them progress. The contractions did cause a lot of pressure along with the cramping. We made arrangements for the kids and started walking. It seemed to be working. By 4 in the afternoon they were very regular and starting to get more uncomfortable.
So, we decided to go check in the hospital. With Kimber we were at 2cm in the morning and had her that night. Well, we checked in and I was still only 3 cm. They gave me the first IV dose of the antibiotic for the Group Strep B and told me to walk another hour then come back and they'd check me again. We did, they were still regular, every 3 mins now. I went back in an hour later and Dr. Ott checked me again. Still just 3 cm. I was a little frustrated. They monitored me and yep, contractions every 3 minutes. We still thought we were going to have a baby soon, so Dr. Ott gave me the second dose of the IV antibiotic. Then we were given the choice to stay at the hospital or go home and come back in 4 hours. By then I should be closer and more dilated. We opted to go home, get the girls settled do Kimber's treatment etc. then come back.

That is what we did. I still had contractions every 3-5 mins. We headed back up to the hospital that night and everything was prepped for the baby/delivery when we arrived. The nurses were waiting for us and ready to get us going. Well, they hooked me up and checked me, I was STILL 3 cm. and still having steady contractions. UGGH!

Again, the Dr. gave us the option to stay and watch the monitor or go home. We again opted to go home and try to get some sleep. He gave me some ambien to help me get some rest and we were instructed to come right back up to the Hospital if

1-The baby's movement slowed
2-My Water Broke
3- The contractions got much harder


We went home and everything continued to be the same. YES, the Ambien nocked me right out and I got the best night of sleep I had in months! But as soon as I was up the contractions continued. You could feel my tummy get hard as a rock!

I was miserable, but did NOT want to go to the hospital until this kid was ready to come out!
So we continued to monitor the contractions....they were hard but I could still breath through them. The kid kept moving and my water didn't break so we just kept on waiting. I had an appt. scheduled for the following Tues. I didn't think I'd make it that long, but turns out we did.

To add a bit to the mix. SUNDAY Jan 22 came and that night Kimber was rolling on the floor in pain. She was holding her tummy and just acting miserable! Ben listened to her tummy and felt it. Her CF concerned us because of the complications that come with it and the digestive system. We decided to take her to the ER. Ben ran her up and I stayed with Holdyn. Kimber had an X-ray taken and she had a serious impaction clear up into her small intestine. Poor gal had an enema and then had to drink some powder the next couple of days to help get things moving. She was miserable and that night she slept next to our bed, running to the potty all night long. No sleep for momma or dad that night.

MONDAY came and things continued....my contractions included. Just after lunch Holdyn's teacher called from school and said she was not feeling well. We ran and picked her up. Half of her class of 12 students were home with the 'throw up' flu. Holdyn had caught it! For the next 24 hours she walked around with a bowl and her hair tied back. She slept next to our bed that night...again, a night of no sleeping for mom and dad.

TUESDAY had arrived. I was still having contractions regularly, and I was sure hoping to have some progress after 5 DAYS of regular contractions. We dropped the girls off at Crazy Grandma's and we went to the appt. I was exhausted, frustrated, and hoping for some good news at this appt. The Dr was as surprised as we were that we didn't have the baby before the appt. We had just sat down in the exam room when I started to sweat. I then started to shake and the Dr. walked in just in time to say looks like you caught the flu!! They grabbed me a little barf bag as I laid there in mysery. They quickly gave me a shot and a Rx for anti nausea. Then checked me and yep, still 3 cm.

Dr. Ott looked at me and I think his words were, "You look like ...pause...." he wasn't sure what to say, or what was appropriate to say. Then he said we need to help you get feeling better. Go home and get some rest today so you are ready to have that baby tomorrow. Come in the morning as soon as you are up and ready and we will get you started!
THE BEST NEWS YET!! I was 38 weeks exactly! He didn't want to do anything to hurry things along until 38 weeks unless it was medically necessary.

We made arrangements for my parents to come over the next morning to take the girls and we were at the hospital the next morning by 9am and they broke my water. Things have to start happening now! Well, the contractions and walking continued until about 1. They checked me again and I was still 3 cm!! The Dr. decided to add in some pitocin to help things speed up! It worked. A few more hours of walking and I was FINALLY to 6cm. I had originally planned to go all natural, but due to my mental state and physical state of exhaustion from the previous week we went for the epidural. After I had that I was on top of the world :) and by 7pm I was at 10 cm and ready to go! Dr. Ott had Ben dress and ready to help deliver! As we started the pushing
process the Dr. realized the baby was turned face down instead of face up. Next thing I know he is on his knees up to his elbow-quite literally- trying to turn the kid inside me by the baby's head.....THANK YOU Epidural! After pushing for about 30 mins (Which is about 25 minutes longer than the previous two deliveries) we got the kid turned and one more push he was out! Way to go Cody! He had a pretty nice cone-head. I wasn't dilating because of the way he was positioned....his head was pushing on the wrong area....hence the backend pressure during all the contractions. The rest is history! I felt soooooo much better than I had in weeks by next morning. Sore, YES! But overall, I felt GREAT!


Proud Parents of a BOY!


Grandma Baker holding her 27th Grandkid!!
These girls were SOO excited to FINALLY have baby Cody home!



Our first family photo....I look awful but the rest of them look cute as ever!
We are so thankful to have our little Baby Cody monster here! He has survived a week and has proven to be a GREAT baby!
He eats, sleeps, and poops like a CHAMP!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

This weeks Chaos

Okay, so lets get this picture out of the way. I haven't taken my photo much because, hey, who really (Besides my girls) like their picture taken. Especially when you get to this point in the pregnancy. But the girls have LOVED looking back at old photo's when I was pregnant with them so I thought I'd better get a few for baby Cody to see when he gets bigger.
Anyway, there it is....in my comfy clothes and all ;)
In more exciting news....we have two new super-hero's at our house....
The Underwear girls!!!! Who knows where they got this idea,
but Holdyn snuck into her room and came soaring back out with her Dora panties on her head....of course Kimber couldn't resist the excitement and was right behind Holdyn with her Hello Kitty panties wrapped snugly around her head too.
They thought it was Hilarious!


Holdyn also lost her FIRST TOOTH this week! She was SOOOO very excited for the tooth fairy to come! Thanks Grandma Baker for making her Tooth Pillow ;) She loves it!
She had been wiggling it looser and looser over the last couple of weeks and it finally fell out while she was at school.

That's it in news this week, we have an appt. today to check on Baby Cody's progress...hopefully, he will be joining the fam-damily soon!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Christmas 2011

We definitely had a wonderful Christmas at our house!!!
The girls slept in until a bit after 7am, but by then they were
super excited and ready to see what Santa had left for them!

Holdyn made us this framed poem with her hand prints in school....
it made me a little teary ;)
Ben and I SCORED from Santa!!
Holdyn and Kimber were so fun to watch as they unwrapped and saw each
thing that they had been given!
After opening the presents and getting our morning routine QUICKLY done,
we packed up and went to church. Obviously we were in a hurry and I didn't snap any shots of us....I wish I would have. Hey, at least we made it on time to the meetings ;)
Then we went to Grandma Crazy's for lunch and to see them and the cousins!
Kimber was soo excited to see that she and cousin Shayla had received the
exact same pajamas for Christmas ;)





On Christmas Eve we went to my parent's for a lunch and to read/act out the
story of the Nativity. Above, Holdyn and cousin Andi riding the donkey and Cow from Grandma and Grumpa's decorations out front.
Kyle wasn't as excited as Brooklyn to act their parts of Mary and Joseph.
Annie and Holdyn made some GREAT Angel's!
A couple of the shepherds... Megan and Allie.
Annie and the cutest cow ever....KIMBER.


After the Nativity (which could have been the Best Christmas Pageant Ever)
A few of the cousins did some entertainment...mostly on the piano and singing. Holdyn was so brave and sang Jingle Bells in front of everyone all by herself. She ROCKS!
Here are the girls with Nathan....he is a student I have been able to work closely with and he was so excited to come to our house and give the girls their presents from him. The girls were very excited to see him AND get a present. Thanks Nater-Tater...as Kimber would say.

We enjoyed spending time with both families and are so thankful to know the true meaning of Christmas! It is certainly a special time of year!

Let's take a look back at Halloween

Okay, so I just realized I never published my Halloween post from a couple of months ago....oops! Since I'm going to try to get this year caught up print the blog to a book, I decided it was okay, to slip Halloween in here.

We had a super fun Halloween! These pictures are all out of order too...again I apologize.
Our church had an awesome Trunk-or-treat and our girls had a blast!!
Here the girls are begging Crazy Grandma for more Candy ;)
This is our trunk. Notice Kimber hiding inside with her 'loot' of candy.
She got tired of running around the parking lot and decided to take a break.
She handed out our/her candy to other trick or treaters through the spider web.
She loved it!

Our fun punk rocker/super girl cousins McKenzie, Taylor, and Emma.
Here we are getting ready for the festivities to begin. Our girls were so excited to be matching Ballerina's.


We took the chance to get Kimber's vest done before we went to the church...they were both pretty good sports to have to sit there for her treatment....even though kids were trick or treating at our door.
Here are our pumpkins for this year....always fun carving them ;)



Here is the day they got their costumes...a couple weeks before Halloween...they were
soo excited and wanted to wear them all day!
Halloween was AWESOME!