Momma to be

We celebrated my first Mother's Day this year. It was the first time I didn't wake up to make my mom crepes because my dad and Johnny did it for the both of us :) Johnny gave me a present everyday over the weekend. Friday he let me open one and it was the new The Band Perry cd. It's really good! Then on Saturday I got a super cute necklace.  Then on Sunday he gave me a necklace, bracelet, and earrings. I have such a great hubby! I had such a great day and I was glad to spend it with Johnny and my fab family.

Johnny's 28th Birthday

Last Wednesday Johnny and I celebrated his 28th birthday.  We started off the evening going to Tucanos. mmmm soooo yummy. We usually go twice a year because we are part of the birthday club and you get a free meal during the month of your birthday. Such a good deal. Just go to their website to sign up!

After our yummy meal we saw Oblivion. We really liked it. *Spoiler Alert* The ending reminds me of Eagle Eye & iRobot. After that it was pretty late so we made our way home and zonked out.

Sunday we celebrate with the family. We made homemade Cafe Rio pork salads. mmmmm!

Happy 28th Birthday :)

Disney Themed Movie Nights

So as you all may know....I. LOVE. DISNEYLAND. Now that I am prego, I am SO excited to one day take our little kiddos there and experience the magic :) On pinterest I found some SUPER cute ideas for a "Countdown to Disneyland"

One of the things I want to do is have "themed movie nights", where we eat fun foods and then watch a disney movie. Here are some fun blogs I found with this fun idea:

1. Follow my Disney Pinterest board HERE
2. A blog with alot of fun ideas HERE
3. The Fancy Shack Blog Disney Countdown  HERE


So I thought I would start at the very beginning and start with, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

As of right now I have come up with:
Drink: Evil Witches Poison Apple Juice
Treat: The Seven Dwarves Rock Candy

*So I just need the main course and a side....so now its up to you to help me with ideas...please leave some comments!!

Another Year Over...and a New One Just Begun...

Wow. 2012 just FLEW by. I can't believe it's already 2013. One of my goals. Blog more. It's really my only journal so I really need to keep up on it!

The holidays were super different this year. For one, I had a new appreciation for good health. 2011 the holidays were hard and I was not in the best spirits because of my health. This year, Johnny was gone for a week from the 15th to the 21st. He was at the BYU bowl game. (For those of you who don't know, the hubs is the head Defensive Manager at BYU for the football team) That was hard for me. Especially because it was right around the holidays! I also started another new job which kept me extremely busy. More to come on that later... Christmas was so much fun. My sis, her hubby, and kids live at my parents house now and so they were there with us for Christmas. It was so much fun the see the excitement and wonderment in their eyes. I miss Christmas as a kid. So I am excited to have kids in the future and hopefully can make Christmas enjoyable for them.

Every year I feel like a miss out on too many Christmas movies. I LOVE THEM. But can never seem to fit them all in! I was able to watch:
-Christmas with the Krank's: hilarious. If you haven't seen it, you need to!
-The Bishop's Wife: I had never seen this movie, I really liked the message that it sends. Don't take the things you have for granted. Figure out what is truly important in life.
-It's a Wonderful Life: Classic.
-Scrooge: If you haven't seen this version, you are missing out! It is my favorite along side, Muppet's Christmas Carol.
-A few shows from the Hallmark channel, can't remember the names!

A year in review: 

January 2012:
  Johnny started his 2nd semester at BYU & switched his major from exercise science, to physical education. Instead of Dentistry, Johnny now wants to become an Athletic Director, which I think is an awesome fit for him! I was still working part-time and regaining my health/strength to get back into my normal crazy busy routine :)

We had a fun bowling night with friends and sang some karaoke 

We saw Brian Reagan.

The big yellow one is the sun.

Take Luck!

February 2012:

 We took a trip to St. George over President's day weekend which was a lot of fun. Also Valentine's day was fun with the hubs!

Dad & Roury's birthday celebration!

Roury's 25th Birthday. Celebrated in St. George

The hubs is adorable. He got me this cute bear (he gets me a new stuffed animal every year) and a cute card.  We had a yummy dinner and I think we went and saw a movie?? Can't remember now...its been a year...haha.

March 2012:

 Johnny was invited to Spring Ball practices so he could start learning everything about his new position.

Rylee & Katie came to Utah to visit, and to have Ailia's baby blessing. It was so good to see them and meet my little niece! Love these pics of the girl cousins meeting for the first time

Some friends and I threw a baby shower for one of my bestest buddies

April 2012: 

For Easters we went to Alpine Country Club with my parents and my sis and her fam. Johnny got me The Band Perry CD. And yes...that is my Harry Potter wand that is pointing to our Lego Harry Potter game. :)

Johnny turned 27! We also celebrated my sis's bday and Mother's day. 

One of my bestest buds, Allyssa, had her baby boy Finn! He is the cutest!

May 2012: New York Here We Come!
  We took our FIRST trip to the Northeast to the lovely state of New York. My brother was graduating from NYU Law, so it was the perfect time to go and see him graduate. It was so much fun to see the area where my bro, sis-in-law, & niece lived for 9 months. We did a LOT of site seeing. It was epic. The whole time I was stressing that my best friend would have her baby while I was gone, but Viv waited for me to get home! :)

Shake Shack is DIVINE mmmmmmm.

Ailia....adorable!

I like to think she was crying in this pic because she missed us so much ;)

Georgetown cupcakes yummmm

Empire State Building. 

Breathtaking

The Big Bro had to stay home and study for some finals, so Katie took us out to do some site seeing! We hung in Washington square Park for awhile and watched some dudes putting on a show. 

The Statue of Liberty.

Fun ferry ride over with lots of little kids going on a field trip (um, way cooler than any fieldtrip I ever went on)

Kinda chilly

Awesome experience

Speaking of The Statue of Liberty, this video is funny...click HERE

(Watch it from the 3:00 min mark where I have already set it)

We HAD to see a broadway musical. So ofcourse we picked Spiderman! It was awesome!

Excuse my lovely flash on the Playbill, I am NOT a pro photographer and I had to hurry cuz they didn't want cameras out!

Vivien was born :) 

June 2012: 

My awesome mommy won $100 for winning the literary contest for South Jordan City!

July 2012:

Fun with family on the 4th of July!

August 2012:

   On August 1st, we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary! Crazy how fast time flies. Still so much in love and happy as ever :) Johnny started his manager position at BYU has Head Defensive Manager.

For our anniversary we went to St. George & Vegas.

September 2012:

I went to a BYU game and watched Johnny do his job!

October 2012:
  I started a fun costume blog and got over 3,000 views before Halloween! Halloween was celebrated with family.

November 2012: 
  We celebrated my 24th birthday!

December 2012:
  Had a wonderful Christmas with the family

The end!

Why can't I breathe? Surgery Part 3

10 days after I was home from my surgery, something no bueno happened. I sat up one morning after a somewhat good nights sleep, and couldn't BREATHE. It was the scariest feeling! I called my doctor and made an appointment to go see him. (I waited the whole weekend because I didn't want to go to the ER) So monday rolls around, I go to work in my pj's :) During my lunch I head to the hospital to get an Xray. While I was there I chatted with the surgeons assistant and asked her if there was any possible way for me to get a wheel chair for my New York Thanksgiving trip. (because I was NOT planning on cancelling it) So they did the xray and I went back to work. I got a call from the receptionist telling me I was admitted back to the hospital, my lungs were full of fluids. After I hung up I instantly broke down into tears. I called Johnny and told him that I needed to go back to the hospital so he came and got me.

This time around they gave me a hospital suite haha it was a HUGE room. I waited around and some nurses came in and told me that I needed to get and IV. JOY. ugh. I told the nurse NOT to use my right arm in the crease because I had just given blood there that day and it was sore. BUT she decided that was the "best" place for it...and it DIDN'T work. Awesome. So she tried ANOTHER time. Didn't work. Then she decided to try my hand. WORST.IDEA.EVER. The vein "infiltrated" and I had a huge bump which instantly turned into a bruise. She than began to tell that my veins are really "valvey" I then began to tell her she just sucked at giving IV's (ok I didn't really tell her that but I wanted too!) At this time I voted for a new nurse to come in and give me an IV. They brought in this lady who was socially awkward, but she did end up getting the IV in my arm. And then she asked me what they had planned for me. I told her and I had to get a chest tube. She then began telling me that chest tubes are THE WORST, and that I would feel miserable. Wow. you are my new best friend. NOT. I wanted to strangle her.

So right as she left I started balling!! I was not excited for another painful experience :( Not long after that my  PA came in. (LOVE ALL OF THEM) She noticed I was crying and came in to give me more info on what was going to happen. I had told her what the evil nurse had said. She then began to tell me what REALLY was going to happen and that the pain would not be unbearable.

Before I went to bed they decided I need another IV in my arm...really? Ugh.
 They brought in this guy and YAY it worked after like 2 tries.

The morning came and it was time to get my chest tube...here is what a chest tube looks like:

They make a small incision on the side of your chest, under your arm and guide the tube into the lung.

Before they took me down, they gave me a calming drug, because I was so so nervous that I wasn't going to be put to sleep for the surgery. It worked great :) They took me down to radiology. Then they put me on a CT scan bed. They put this sort of stencil thing on my side and then they would slide me into the CT chamber  and slide me back out, make adjustments, in and out, etc. Then they gave me the drug. I remember saying to the doc, when am I supposed to start feeling loopy? (Which I am 100% sure I already was haha) So then he told the nurse to give me more. The only thing I remember is the doc telling me he was going to numb the area and the shot may hurt a little. Then I swear I was eating food out of the sky haha and then it was over!

They took me to a recovery room where I slowly came out of the loopy state. When I had finally come to it, I realized they had me lying flat...which I hadn't done while I was at home, and I went into panic mode, I had a spasm in my back, and I couldn't breathe right. I started coughing and blood started flowing through my chest tube. YIKES! Johnny hurried and ran outside to grab and nurse and they hurried in. They sat me up and gave me some morphine. awwwww. They said that after they drain your fluids your lungs can get sticky and it makes it hard to breathe, which is what happened. During the surgery they drained over 2 liters of fluid.

They moved me back to my hospital room on the lovely 10th floor of the IMC.  My PA told me if everything went smoothly I should be outta there in a few days, and ready for my NYC trip! So after a couple days my output of fluid was minimal. So they took me to get an xray, and whaddya know...my lungs had filled up with fluids again :( which meant that my tube was NOT draining properly. JOY.

They tried using a syringe and squirting some water up in there to try and unclog it. Didn't work. So for the next few days I just waited and waited until they thought of what they should do next.

You know what word I hate? Phlebotomist. They came in everyday at like 4 in the morning to draw blood. And after a few days I was running out of good veins. I HATE getting pricked.

The day came when they told me I wouldn't be able to make it to my New York trip. I was very sad, and by this time I had been in the hospital longer than I was there for my actual surgery. :(

Here was my daily routine:
-8 am the surgeon would stop by to make his daily rounds, I was usually half asleep still so he would usually say, "I'll come back later when you are more awake." haha
-8:15 am get my vitals checked
-8:30 am an old LDS couple would come say hi to me (and on sundays bring the sacrament)
-8:45 am try to go back asleep, but then someone from radiology would come take me for my daily Xray
-9:30 am eat my breakfast that had been sitting there since 8:00 am
-9:45 am SLEEP :)
-10:00 am check chest tube and vitals again.
-10:15 am go on a walk around the hospital floor.
-10:30 am watch tv
-12:00 pm eat lunch
-12:30 SLEEP :)
and the rest of the day is basically the same, get vitals checked, watch tv, eat, sleep. Oh the joys of being lazy :)

I was so sad I wasn't going to be able to go to New York with my family :( AND I was going to have to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital.

On Thanksgiving morning Johnny went to play football with Nick. Courtney came over to hangout with me. Oh how I love her. She helped me shower, washed my hair, blow dried and styled it. Shaved my legs, and put some makeup on me. She is the best :)  Later Cami and Chris came over and brought me Thanksgiving dinner and hung out. So nice of them, their food was MUCH better than the hospitals thanksgiving dinner. Its so great to know that I have friends that love and care about me, I am so blessed!

And then, something I thought I would never have to do, spend my birthday in the hospital. I am glad that Johnny, my family, and friends could be there to celebrate with me...here are some pics:

The daily vitals (more like every 2hrs vitals)

yay for bday gifts! Too bad whats in there is pumps and clothes, can't wear them!

Rylee and Katie sent me these for my birthday :) 

My friends that came to visit me on my bday! (I had to hold that stupid tube like a tail haha)

They brought me a bundt cake mmmm and lotions from Bath & Body works!

Balloons!!

The doctors finally came up with an idea...the decided to put in this stuff called TPA...Tissue plasminogen activator (abbreviated tPA or PLAT) is a protein involved in the breakdown of blood clots. It is a serine protease (EC 3.4.21.68) found on endothelial cells, the cells that line the blood vessels. As an enzyme, it catalyzes the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin, the major enzyme responsible for clot breakdown. Because it works on the clotting system, tPA is used inclinical medicine to treat embolic or thrombotic stroke. Use is contraindicated in hemorrhagic stroke and head trauma.  

They found out that I was clotting on the inside so they shot this stuff inside me with a syringe, then they would clamp my tube off, and let it sit for an hour. IT WORKED. My tube started flowing properly! So they had to do that  every couple of days to keep the tube from clogging.

One day my IV started leaking...nooooo! I was so angry! I did NOT want to get pricked again. But when it came down to it, they had to re-do it...they were actually surprised out how long my vein had been working, usually with the type of antibiotic I was on, they have to redo IV's every couple of days. Thank goodness I have tough veins! The nurse that re-did the IV did an amazing job. He rocked. 

A few days later they decided that I was NOT leaving anytime soon and that I should get a PICC Line:

I was soooo nervous to have this done. When I was there for my original surgery, they put in a central line AFTER I was put out...and this time I was going to have to be awake.

They had two nurses come in. One to watch the ultrasound monitor and one to put the catheter in. It was way weird.  So first they do an ultrasound on your arm to find the correct vein. Then they do about 4 numbing shots around the area, that's really the only thing that hurt. Then they told me to hold my breath as she injected the catheter and guided it to my heart. And honestly, I COULDN'T even feel it! Crazy! It's because your bigger veins don't have touch sensors.

That procedure went well and I was now able to have my blood drawn through the PICC line instead of  getting a million pokes daily! yay!

(sidenote) When I was getting ready for the PICC line, a nurse from a different department came in and said she was there to remove my chest tube...um WHAT?? I had just discussed with my surgeon that day that I would need it longer. So that's exactly what I told her. It's good to pay attention to your own health and know what is going on. Apparently that detail had slipped through the cracks and no one had told her I was going to need the tube for a longer period of time.

So after the lovely month of November I was hoping I would be able to go home and enjoy the Christmas season. Not happening sista!  I missed our work Christmas party, so my mom came to the hospital and I watched the Polar Express (we do a movie trivia every year) and then I took the quiz. NAILED IT.

Johnny and I had "date nights" where I would go with him down to the hospital cafeteria and watch movies in our room. Its so nice to see new scenery rather than the lovely 10th floor at IMC. But after traveling that far I was always so exhausted...so sad. We watched alot of fun movies & tv shows while I was in the hospital. Mostly Glee, Modern Family, and Friday Night Lights (thanks to Ashley for giving it to me to watch).

It was hard, really hard, not being able to hug and cuddle Johnny like I used to be able to. One night we had a genius idea to have him squish with me on my hospital bed and turn the lights off and listen to Christmas music. BEST IDEA EVER.

I don't know if I already mentioned this in this post...but one night I talked in my sleep to my nurse. Nice. So embarrassing!! haha.

It was not easy being in the hospital for almost a month. I felt like my life was on hold while everyone else was still living life and having fun. It was very hard to not be in control of what happened to me. I was VERY needy, and I HATED it. Every time I needed to go to the bathroom, someone would need to help me out of my bed and help me sit down on the toilet. Anytime I needed ANYTHING someone else would have to do it for me. I felt bad that if something I was hooked to started beeping in the middle of the night, that it would wake up Johnny. It was the WORST if whatever it was had a low battery haha. Or alot of times my oxygen level was too low and I had to focus on taking deep breaths ugh.

Finally December 9th rolled around and after my Xray that day, they told me I would be able to go home!! I was overjoyed! So they took out my chest tube. It was a weird feeling. Johnny was able to be in the room with me. My PA began to cut the sutures, (it tickled and hurt at the same time) Then when it came to pulling the tube out I had to hold my breath. It was a WAY weird feeling. If felt like a bunch of air/gas was leaving my body through my side.

After that procedure, they waited a few hours and then I had my final xray, to make sure there was no build up of fluids. When my PA came back with the results, he had a worried look on his face. He said that my fluids had built up again and that they would need to redo my chest tube. My heart sank. But then he put on a smile and said, "Just Kidding"!! oh boy, I was so mad at him!

My dad came to the hospital to come pack up all my things. (Johnny had school I think) and My mom took me home. We had to stop at Walgreens to get all my meds. It was funny because when I went to pay for them, I totally forgot my PIN# haha. Probably because I hadn't used it in over 2 months. I was out of practice! haha.

***I know I am posting this a year late, but what a better time then on the anniversary of my surgery? haha. Its been a good year. I am healthy. My scar is healing nicely. I can't do sit ups yet...grrr..it hurts, but thats really the only downside. I am so thankful for modern medicine and health insurance. I am grateful I have a full-time job and an awesome boss that gives us health benefits. (My final bills were in the $100,000's) It was over $80,000 just for my one month stay at the hospital. That doesn't include my surgeries and all that.  Thank you again to everyone for all the visits, cards, flowers, and FB messages. It is a good feeling to know you are loved and cared about.

Halloween Couples Contest - The Dating Divas

Hey bloggers! The Dating Divas are having a Halloween Couples Costumes Contest. I need to post it on my blog so they can get the pictures!  Don't forget about my Creative Costumes Rock Contest! We have a few submissions so far, but I would LOVE more!

PLEASE VOTE FOR MY COSTUME!!! When I get the info on where to vote I will post it here:
http://www.thedatingdivas.com/halloween-couples-costume-contest/

Our costume is number *18* Rogue-Tiger Woods-Spiderman

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!!

So back in 2009 I was Rogue from Marvel's X-men. Johnny was Tiger Woods. Throughout the night he would tell me he "wasn't feeling good" and that he "thinks he got bit by something" I felt bad but didn't really think anything of it. He told me he needed to go take medicine. But when he came back.....he had "transformed" into your friendly neighborhood Spiderman! It was an awesome surprise, and then everything came together!

***If you want to know how I made these costumes, please visit my costume blog, HERE.
***If you would like to submit one of your homemade costumes, please go, HERE.

4th of July

The 4th of July was a fun day. We started the day out by going to City Creek to do some shopping. Then we ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Delish, as usual. Then we hungout with our cousins, Adam & Ali, and their adorable baby, Cohen. We went out to dinner and then met up with my family and did fireworks. I feel like the 4th of July was funner as a kid. Fireworks were so much more exciting back then haha. 

Happy Belated 4th of July!