Thoughtful Friends

With a new baby come lots of visitors, this might be one of my favorite parts to being a new mom. I have always loved having lots of friends, and lately everyone comes and visits and I am enjoying their company. I wish I took pictures of everyone that has either came to the hospital to see him, or stopped by the house.

Amanda and Victoria stopped by the other night and we had lots of fun playing with Bowdy. As you can see in the picture below we put Bowdy in his stocking, this was his dads idea!

I know I talked about Janelle in an earlier post about how "pushy" she can be or maybe she just knows how to get what she wants! There is a loving side to her as well, she is super supportive, just like Danielle and she was one of the reasons I was able to get through the first two weeks spent at the hospital. Since Janelle had some free time she spent a couple nights with me at the hospital and woke up with me at every feeding to help.
As mentioned above we have had many friends visits, but another amazing part to having good friends is that they have cooked dinner for us as well. Below is dinner Natalie Jones made for Clay and I on our 2nd night home. This picture doesn't show how amazing the food was. She made us a pasta dish, french bread, and some good tasting cookies. The cookies seemed to disappeared throughout the night during feeding times...
As everyone knows- hospital food sucks! Tasha and Chrissy came to visit us at the hospital and they brought us an assortment of desserts made made themselves and Natalie. This is a good change from the boring food we had been eating. Somehow treats brighten your day!

Our Little Man

Our Precious Boy

So as most of you know we got home from the hospital yesterday around 11 am and as exciting as it was to be going home, the excitement was overshadowed by my nerves. As crazy as it sounds I was actually scared to have Bowdy taken off the monitors and wasn't sure if taking the feeding tube out of his nose was a good thing or not. I hated the sight of all the wires hooked up to him, but found peace knowing that when I had a doubt about is stability I could just look up and see his heart rate, pulse, and oxygen levels. I was so consumed by the numbers, that a nurse told me to stop focusing on them and just pay attention to his color and the way his chest was moving, but do you blame me for wanting the numbers on the monitors to always show great numbers? I mean, do the nurses really pay enough attention to your child...

Here is the story of my (lack of) labor and delivery that started on Wednesday December 9th around 11 pm. I went in for my 38 week appt with Ginger at Dr Stokes office around 4:15 thinking that everything was going to be fine. I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable and wanted him to come soon, Janelle volunteered to come along to the appointment to apply some pressure in order to get me induced. I am more reserved than Janelle and I would never think to ask any questions at these appointments and wold just go there, get weighed/checked and be on my way. My appointments usually only took about 10 to 15 minutes, sometimes less and consisted of no more than an average of 3 sentences spoken by me. Needless to say Janelle wanted Bowdy to come and she knew that is what I wanted also, so she came along with me to ask the questions I wouldn't dare to. About 10 minutes into the appointment Janelle took over explaining or elaborating ever symptom I had and when I would say they weren't that big of deal, or explain that they might be due to sleep deprivation, she would give me the eye. I think I was just trying to be tougher than I am. At that particular appointment I had high blood pressure and protein in my urine, which hadn't been the case at any of my other check ups, so the doctor seemed a little concerned, but said she wanted me to go to the hospital in the morning and do a 24 hr urine test. I said okay and we were almost on our way, when you know who said, "can we go to the hospital tonight instead of waiting till tomorrow, that would make us feel more comfortable." The doctor said sure, so off we were to St Joe's. Once we got there I called my mom and Clay to update them and told then it was no biggie, and we should be home shortly(about 1 hour). A 1 hour hospital visit turned into a six hour visit, but I still wasn't concerned. Janelle and I just hung out (I got her hooked on NCIS) and waited patiently for the nurses to tell us we could leave. Around 1130 the nurse came in and said that she was going to send me home and wanted me to do a 24 hour urine test, then about 5 minutes later she came back in and said that something wasn't adding up and she was going to order an alternator. I called my mom and Clay and said they should come in because i was getting an ultrasound. I was excited because Clay hadn't got to see any of my past ultrasounds so this would be the first time he could see our son.

The ultrasound tech said it would be quick, just a couple of minutes, but as she started to give me the ultrasound, I noticed she was taking a long time and what should have taken a few minutes turned in to a 15-20 minute ultrasound, I started to panic. Then she told me that my amniotic fluid was at a 2 and a 10 is normal with a 5 being dangerously low. I was very worried along with everyone else that was there. Dr Koch was oncall and he seemed worried, he called a Dr in San Francisco to see what he should do and then called the ultrasound tech back in to get some measurements of the baby. Due to the low fluid the tech could get any measurements so Dr. Koch decided to induce my labor using cervidal. About two hours into the induction the Dr told the nurses to remove the cervidal because the baby couldn't handle contractions. Ever contraction I would have cause Bowdy's heart rate to drop dramatically. It was now around 3 am and the oncall Dr and surgical team didn't want to do a c-section because they were tired and might not be able to preform at their optimal levels. At 8am Dr Ajamani came on and she asked if I wanted to try to be induced again or if I opted for a C-section, I chose a c-section because I didn't want to risk hurting Bowdy just to have a natural labor. The doctor said it would be about 3 or 4 hours before they could get me into surgery so I called Clay and told him the plan and that he didn't have to rush to the hospital because it would be a few hours. About 5 minutes later the Doc came in and said they had a slight change in plans and I would be ready for the c-section in about 10 minutes. Oh no I said, the father isn't even here and just about then I saw Clay walk by the window. As he walked through the door they were dressing him for surgery and had me walking down the hall to surgery. It took them about 10 minutes to get Bowdy out and about 1 hour to complete the whole c-section. When they took Bowdy out they briefly showed him to Clay and I and said that he was a tiny one, they guessed 5lbs. They rushed him to ICU along with Clay so they could check him out. After they weighed him the nursery called the OR and said he was 3lbs and 14 ounces. The doctors were shocked and asked why no one knew he was that small. Needless to say he did great outside the womb, passing most of the test they ran on him.

As the hour passed all I could do was lay in the hospital bed and wait for the medicine to wear off before I could get to see my little baby. This was so hard for me, everyone who was there took pictures to show me him, but I wanted to see him for myself. I finally had enough energy to get out of bed, get into a wheelchair and go see him in the ICU. This is when I lost it, I saw him all hooked up to wires and an IV and was so upset that I couldn't help him. All I could think about was how I was responsible for him laying there. How could I not have known something was wrong, I felt horrible, I sat there and bawled. After a couple minutes of holding the little guy I went back to my room extremely emotional. The next few days were just a blur, I was recovering and didn't get to see my baby often, Clay was too sick to hold him... It felt like I had a child, but I had no connection with him, did he even know who his parents were?

On Sunday night I got discharged from the hospital, but there was no way I could leave my child there alone so the hospital staff allowed up to stay in our room until they got busy. This was so nice because it allowed me to go into the nursery and hold/feed him every three hours, I don't know what I would have done it I have to stay home and not be with him. On Monday I tried to go home and get some rest and I told the nurses to just feed him at 11 and I would be back to do the rest of the feedings. When I got home I was okay for about 1 hour, then I got emotional again and couldn't believe I left him. My dad had to take me back to the hospital.

I could write a novel on the time spent at the hospital, but honestly it makes me tear up thinking about everything that happened in the last two weeks. I know that what my child went through doesn't even hold a candle to what other parents go through with their kids, but when something happens to your child and your not sure if they will be okay, it seems like the biggest heartache that can happen. Now looking back on the past two weeks I can say now the one thing that got my through this (besides my family) is trusting the God had a plan for Bowdy and no matter how much I wanted him to eat and come home, God had a plan for him. After a week long emotional roller coaster ride, we went to church to watch Cole in the Christmas program, then the Pastor gave his message. One thing he talked about was that God has a plan for everyone--- after this message I prayed and told God I would trust him to take care of Bowdy and I would rely on him to heal Bowdy. After church I went back to the hospital, were the nurse made me nurse him. I was frustrated, because he hadn't been successful at nursing and that would set us back if he ended up getting tube fed because he wouldn't nurse. I just closed my eyes and prayed. The feeding wasn't successful, but that was the last unsuccessful feeding we had. From that time forward, Bowdy excelled, eating all by himself for the next 48 hours and we were able to come home! Trust the lord, because you can't do anything without him!

So we are home now and after 1 successful night on our own my nerves have calmed and I know that we are going to adjust to having a little newborn quickly! We have had lots of fun talking, smiling, and playing with him!

BOWDY DANIEL HICKS

Born 12/10/09 9:18 am weighting in at 3lbs 14 oz standing in the right corner of the NICU.

Bowdy made his appereance into the world 6 days ago. To everyones surpise, including the doctors he was tiny! Because of his size and his inability to eat on his own he has spent the last 5 days in the NICU. We talked to the doctor today and he is making progress, but still has to be in there until at least the end of the week. We wish he could at least be in our room at the hospital, but I guess we can wait a week:( The hardest part of having him in the NICU is that Clay is sick and can't go in and see him. He has only been in the room once with him. Poor guy!

I will update everyone on the Labor and Delivery of mister Bowdy in the near future!

49er Game

On Saturday, after Thanksgiving, Jason and Jessica flew into Redding and we picked them up, had lunch and then went to the lights parade in downtown Red Bluff. It was amazing all the pretty lighted floats, I think there were 50 or more. On Sunday the four of us drove down to San Fransico to watch the 49ers play. The game started at 1, but we arrived early and tailgated, which was fun and entertaining. The weather was perfect, it was 70 outside and not windy at all, Jessica and I came prepared for the cold weather, but were excited to know we could actually not bundle up. The game was exciting and they ended up winning, which was shocking giving the way they have been playing all year. We had awesome seats only 7 rows from the field and you could see everything, it is crazy how much bigger and fit the players look in person. Clay and Jason even got their picture taken with Sam the mascot, they were so proud!

A Much Needed Break

Why doesn't it seem like vacations are long enough? We just finished our week long Thanksgiving break from school and I swear I seemed to have more things going on during the week of "vacation" then when I'm not on vacation. I did enjoy sleeping in and just one responsibility during the week, which was working! Sometimes I day dream of just having to get up each morning and working 8-5. That seems like the luxury life, but I'm sure I'll never have a job that is that simple.... Enough blabbing, we have a fun Thanksgiving week and one of the nice thing about being married it that you get to enjoy almost double holiday party's.








My Dad has been on a diet for almost two months and has lost 25 pounds so you can imagine that Thanksgiving dinner would be a struggle for him to control himself. Here is a picture of him making his hungry satisfying shake in the morning so he could control himself. He did GREAT!







This year Uncle Clay was chosen by all the kids to be there playing friend, he is so good with all of them because he is a kid at heart. He spent a couple hours playing football, Frisbee, and baseball with them, until he was worn out. They all had a blast and there were no major injuries, expect when Carly through a dirt clod at Connors face, he wasn't the least bit happy!




This year my side of the family celebrated Thanksgiving on Wednesday, so all of us could be together. It was lots of fun and the weather was beautiful, which makes it nice for everyone to be able to hang outside. My mom was in charge of the Turkey and stuffing because she doesn't trust any of us to be in charge of the main part of dinner. Last year she let Travis and Danielle deep fry the turkey and they showed up to cook it when we were supposed to have dinner(the turkey only took 15 minutes to cook) needless to say that threw her schedule off and I think she will volunteer to do the turkey cooking from here on out. Secretly us girls were hoping the turkey this year would not be on time, but of course if was perfect, just like she planned... Danielle was in charge of candy yams(connors new favorite, probably because he heard the word candy associated with them) and mash potatoes. Janelle made the best rolls and we elected her to make them each year for every holiday dinner since they were phenomenal. I made the desserts, which weren't that good. I made Carmel Apple cheesecake bars, but they were way too rich, Janelle couldn't even finish one!



After dinner on Wednesday Clay and I headed over to Red Bluff to spend the rest of the week with his family. We have Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night with his parents, sister, grandma and uncle. It was a very relaxing dinner and we had another huge feast. It is always nice to go to his parents because they are exceptional hostest and make sure you are well taken care of. Clay got to spend lots of time with his dad. They went bowling, played endless amounts of horse shoes and pool games.

Well we had a good week and I hope you all did as well. We are now in the final stages of this pregnancy and can't wait for it to get over with, wish he would come already. Janelle has mentioned taking castrol oil, but I'm nervous because I have read some scary stories online and don't know if I should take the risk. She has been making me drink "bring on the birth" and it is so nasty, but I guess it makes her happy:) Maybe next time I blog I will be able to introduce everyone to Bowdy!

No Rhyme or Reason

Well I was all excited to get a blog, but I find myself not having anything to blog about or any pictures to share. This is a random post to let everyone know what has been happening in our lives...


Well it is officially winter and as I look outside I'm not sure the rain is ever going to let up. I usually don't mind the rain except when I have to hike up the hills on campus and manage to get soaking wet and then be stuck inside with people who smell like wet dogs. The worst part of being pregnant while it is raining is that none of my coats will zip up and so when I mange to stay dry I end up having a huge wet strip down my belly where I can't cover up. Let me tell you that is attractive! Enough about the rain... Clay is unemployed and as much as he hates it I don't seem to mind it at all (a huge change from last unemployed season) I do wish he was collecting a pay check but it is so nice to come home at night and have dinner made for you and the house cleaned, laundry washed and put away. And best of all he sleeps on the couch at least half the week so I can be comfortable at night. (I miss him next to me, but sleep is priceless) He has been such a huge help especially since all I want to do is sleep. I really couldn't ask for a better husband, well okay maybe he could be a little more empathic when the whole pregnancy emotions happen, but he tries to not laugh at me when I'm being completly ridiculous.

Now on to the pregnancy! I am getting ready for him to be here in about 1 month, but it still doesn't seem real, I feel like I am playing pretend, until of course I wake up every 30 minutes to an hour to use the restroom, don't sleep at night when Clay is in bed, and feel like a huge whale ready to explode. I have seemed to manage a pretty normal pregancy and have enjoyed being pregnant, but as of a week ago I have swelled up and its hard to find anything comfortable to wear beside PJS. I guess if this is the worst I have to deal with then I'll survive!

Last weekend my mother-in-law and clays aunt threw me a baby shower in Red Bluff, and it was super fun. My mom, Janelle and the kids, Jessica and Alissa all made the trip over from the coast. We had lots of guest and gifts, now I just have to find some where to put it all. I was excited to see my Aunt Penny and her girls and of course Sashelle's twins. The twins are so adorable and I can't believe how big they have gotton. Sashelle is a trooper and I'm still not sure how she does it all with two newborns, but i think it has something to do with her mom and sister always being there to help! All in All it was a fabulous weekend, I always love getting to see the in-laws and have a relaxing weekend. One of Cindy's friends took lots of pictures and Ill post them as soon as I get them.

A random picture of Connor today

Here is a picture of me at 36 weeks (Janelle didn't realize how big I was until she took these, you got to love her for the truth)

I finally finished the leather on my baskets and my mom put the straps in on one of them.

It's Shower Time

As my due date draws near, it seems like things in my life are getting busier but I'm sure that it's about to get even crazier in a few months! Last week my mom, sisters, and some friends threw me a baby shower at my moms house. I think the party was a hit, but I may be a little bias. We had about 30 people there and the food was catered by Perfect Palette, which is always the best part of a party!

Our menu consisted of:

pepperoncini cheese spread
sun-dried tomato spread
caramelized onion spread
turkey and basil sandwiches with scallion cream cheese
sesame crusted asian chicken sandwiches
roast beef with shaved apple and horseradish cream sandwiches
homemade potstickers with hot and sour chili sauce

Great, I'm starving thinking about food! Anyway everything turned out great that day and I just finished organizing and putting all the gifts away. My challenge with the gifts is that we are going to be living in a one bedroom apartment and trying to get everything to fit it becoming quite the ordeal as we keep stockpiling more and more stuff!

Thanks to everyone who could come to the shower! I will be having my another shower hosted by my mother-in-law in a couple weeks and I think we will be anxious to get the little guy here to enjoy all his new things!

Joined the Club

There have been many exciting changes this past year, but I think the most exciting of them all is that we are going to be first time parents in a couple of months. I found out I was pregnant at 3 weeks and I was kinda bummed that I knew so soon because I thought 9 more months seemed like forever. Well here I am now only a couple months from the delivery and wondering if we are ready, I guess we are going to have to get ready!

This past summer has been filled with lots of activities, but the most recent trip we took was to Shasta Lake . My mom basically kidnapped my sisters and I as well as the kids and took us on a weekend getaway to Shasta Lake. It was a lot of fun once we arrived and figured out where we were going. My mom is so funny because she likes to be in control and that usually doesn't happen because all three of us girls also want to be the boss, so in order for her to be in charge you has to fool us.... So this is the short version of how the trip came to be.

She rented a 12 person van ( the one that you took in high school to all the games) We all were humiliated at first, but got use to all the room it provided. I especially loved it because all the kids were in the furthest seat back ( 3 rows to be specific) so I could barely hear them!

We stayed a lovely vacation rental that had a beautiful view overlooking the lake. On Saturday we went to the Shasta Caves and they are pretty amazing once you get done hiking up and down the hills and stairs ( I tried hard to have a good attitude) next we went and took naps, but they didn't last long enough because we had to catch the pumpkin train in McCloud. All in all it was a very relaxing weekend and I'm grateful I have a thoughtful mother who is always trying to surprise us! In the end we all the love the surprise.

Here are some random photos from the trip...