"Sometimes these things just happen."

Having a new baby in ones house is like having a little piece of heaven in your home. Nothing compares to having a new little being around who has just come from her heavenly home. We have all enjoyed these new moments with Megan over the last couple of weeks.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we took all extra cautions we could think of in keeping our new little one healthy. After a week, we were all still healthy despite a devastating sweep of the flu through our neighborhood. We felt very lucky we had somehow missed its path of illness. The only issue we were currently dealing with was Megan's jaundice and high bilirubin counts. After three days of enduring the light bed, Megan's bili count was not coming down very quickly, so her pediatrician advised me to pump for 24 hours and feed her formula to see if we could bring the count down quicker.

We started feeding her formula, but within the next 12 hours, she stopped eating and had not produced any wet diapers. I quickly got her into the doctors office and was devastated to hear the doctor ask me if Megan had been around anyone sick as she had some lesions on the back of her throat. It was obvious to the doctor that Megan was not eating because she was currently fighting an infection of some sort. I was completely distraught as we had done everything possible to keep Megan protected from illness.

Megan was immediately placed in the NICU at the hospital where she began a a series of icky tests and treated for dehydration. I could not stay to watch the tests as the first test - a spinal tap - was done. I spent the next 2 hours in the waiting room thinking about how we had come to this situation despite all of our best efforts.

As I discussed my concerns with the doctor later, she informed me that sometimes these things just happen no matter how much prevention we do. Since Megan has completely recovered and has since come home from the hospital - thanks to all of the prayers and thoughts sent our way from many of you - I have thought of the doctor's words many times as we continue our efforts to keep our family healthy. It occurred to me that sometimes we do everything we can to protect our children from harm or pain. However, no matter how much we do, sometimes our kids will have to go through hard things and we as parents have to sit back and watch. I can see now why Heavenly Father had to go to the far corners of the heavens rather than watch his Son suffer in the Garden of Gethsemene just as I could not watch my week old daughter endure some very painful tests.

I have learned in just a few short weeks that our kids are most precious and sometimes things just happen no matter what we do to try and prevent it. Thankfully we have a loving Heavenly Father who is there to help us when we need support as we watch our kids endure something painful.

Megan Beth Rimington

Megan Beth Rimington

Born: October 13, 2009
6 lbs. 3 oz. - 19 inches

She's Here!! She's Here!! After a week and a half of on-off contractions making life very unpleasant, I finally went into real labor on Tuesday morning and delivered this darling girl on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Megan arrived 2 1/2 weeks early, so she was rather smallish. She has since lost weight like all newborns do and was 5 lbs 13 oz. at the last weigh-in. She is so tiny!!

We are both home, albeit hermits now after being given very strict instructions by her pediatrician and the other hospital staff that we are not to take her out for at least the first month or two - possibly longer with the swine flu quickly turning pandemic in our area. Our older girls will get to wash their hands and change their clothes the instant they get home (yay, more laundry for me) and if they have been exposed to anyone with the swine flu at school - it's a shower for them too. Lucky girls.

I was amazed at how quickly the swine flu has became such a big deal here just in the last week. The IHC hospitals in the state of Utah have implemented strict policies now - No visitors allowed under the age of 14 - so no, the girls haven't seen their new baby sister yet! It became more serious yesterday when they started allowing only 2 visitors total per patient - period. They get a wristband that allows them in, and only if they pass the strict screening procedures at the front door where everyone is checked for a fever and questioned extensively to see if they have any flu like symptoms or have been exposed recently. I was told by the nurse today that hospitals are starting to turn people away because they are quickly filling with serious cases of the swine flu. Currently Weber County has about 15 percent of the population with the swine flu, according to their numbers. If it reaches 30 percent, it will be considered pandemic.

Needless to say, I could hardly sleep last night worrying about my new little one and the health challenges we face in the coming weeks trying to stay healthy. As my nurse put it this morning, usually winter babies run the risk of getting RSV, which is serious, but very treatable. This year, not only do we face that risk, but now with the swine flu, babies have very serious complications - the number one risk is that they stop breathing. I am trying to stay calm and not panic too much, but it is going to be a very interesting couple of months as John and I take turns staying home with the baby. I haven't even begun to think of all the logistics it will entail. We have canceled all plans to attend any parties, and only one of us will be attending Alicia's 2nd grade program in a few weeks, I will not be able to attend their Halloween parade at school...and the list goes on.

Hopefully all will go well and we will make it through unscathed. At least we get to enjoy this sweet bundle of joy and experience a little piece of heaven in our home.

By Request

by John

So, the bathroom is finally ready for tile. My sister and I were chatting last week, and she was interested in the orange liner you could see here. For those of you not interested in some boring remodeling stuff, you can skip to the end. For the one or two of you left, the liner is Schluter Systems Kerdi. This stuff is the best!

To do a tiled shower traditionally requires 2 - 3 inches of concrete poured at the right slope to create the shower pan. You have to make your best guess at the drain height to match the tile height. Us DIYers don't have the experience to guess right. It's a lot of work, it's not completely water tight, and usually only lasts 15 years.

The Kerdi shower system comes with a pre-shaped styrofoam shower pan that is 1/4 - 1 inch. After that, you line the entire shower (walls and floor) with the orange liner that makes the shower completely water tight, and its guaranteed to last 25 years. It comes with an adjustable drain that is the exact size of 3" tile; no cutting for the drain. I learned from the vendor that you can line a cardboard box with Kerdi, fill it with water, and the cardboard doesn't get wet! Unless you splash water everywhere. ;) Check out John Bridge's website for more details on installing Kerdi.

I learned a few things installing Kerdi that you may want to remember:
1) The pre-shaped corners in the shower kit are inside the drain box. I didn't check and had to do the corners the hard way. The inside corners for the bottom of the shower are not critical; you can overlap the Kerdi band on itself just as easy as the pre-shaped corner. However, outside corners for windows or doorways are MUCH easier with the corners. I found my corners near the end and wished I had used them earlier. You only get two outside corners, so buy as many extras as you need for your doorways and windows.
2) Use only unmodified Thinset. Fortified Thinset is great stuff everywhere but the shower. The vendor I worked with stated that the silica in the fortified Thinset is more vulnerable to mold/mildew. Your shower will last longer with unmodified Thinset.
3) Mix the Thinset a bit thin; think toothpaste. Usually Thinset is mixed to peanut butter consistency, but you want it a bit thinner so you have time to spread it on the wall and squish the Kerdi into the Thinset
4) Buy a J-roller. It took three times as long to squish the one piece I tried with a 12" trowel as it took with the roller. These rollers are used for laminate, but they work great for the Kerdi.
5) The Kerdi system is a bit spendy. The kit comes with enough for a standard 48 x 48 inch shower. Any more, like our tub, and you will need to buy some extra.
6) Consider using the Kerdi all the way through the doorway into your shower. This gives you a "floor mat" under you tile outside the shower that is water tight and will prevent water damage.

I think that's it! Good luck with your shower remodels.

Pumpkin Day

We went to the pumpkin farm on Saturday to get our pumpkins - hay ride included.

What a fun and gloriously sunny day for the activity.
And no, the hay ride did not kick off baby contraction activity.

Who's that hot, sexy guy carrying Kimberly's pumpkin you ask?
Yup, all mine :)

Just Waiting

Here I am just waiting for Megan's arrival.

...still waiting.

The one person in the family okay waiting as long as necessary
for the arrival of her future competition.

I am not a very patient person, so this waiting is driving me crazy! I have been having contractions off and on all week - the not-so-pleasant ones, so every time I begin timing and keeping track just in case "this is the time", but then they eventually fade away.

It didn't help that I went in for my doctor appointment on Tuesday, and was informed I am dilated to a 3 and 80 percent effaced. This of course got my hopes up, but they are quickly fading too.

Being in limbo is not good for my OCD. I like to make my plans ahead of time, so this is making me bonkers not knowing when, where, how, etc. I am obviously learning how to 'go with the flow'.

...the crib is also ready and waiting for it's precious arrival.

Cook for Hire

My ankle is feeling much better. Thank you for all the well wishes.

One thing I discovered from the experience - I have a cook on my hands. Since I was laid up, I asked Kimberly if she wouldn't mind starting some dinner, you know - quick and easy spaghetti with muffins. She was thrilled I trusted her with such a large cooking task since she is always begging me to cook things. It turned out beautifully.

Yesterday she made cookies all by herself for the the first time, and she made her usual batch of waffles this morning. I am so loving having a kid who enjoys cooking.

She's hired!

For some strange reason, I enjoy baking, but thoroughly detest cooking. All of my dinner meals can be cooked in 30 minutes or less. Luckily, my family thinks they are all delicioso (for the most part).