Surgery City!

Well, for some reason, our little family has decided to keep the health industry in business this past 7 months! We've racked up over $50,000 in medical bills over that span, and the number is still growing. As of right now, we only owe about $2,000 thanks to Paul's aMAZing insurance, which we are just so thankful for.

Needless to say, between Johnny's kidney surgery, my emergency C-section with Zach, and my emergency gallbladder removal last week, we are eager to move on to greener (and healthier) pastures! After Zach was born, I noticed I had a really hard time with digestion for a while. I thought it was maybe just part of C-section recovery or something, but then it started getting worse instead of better. I tried not to complain about it too much, but let's just say...I was miserable. The first time I had a real attack, I thought it was food poisoning. Then when it happened a few more times, I realized no one could possibly be THAT unlucky with food poisoning, so maybe I had a food allergy. I started trying to tweak my diet but that didn't help me either. Finally about a month ago, I decided to tell Paul what was really going on. I hadn't been telling anyone, but I would get really sick 3 or 4 nights out of the week. Paul goes to bed early so I didn't want to bug him about it, but then I finally couldn't take it anymore.

I had done a little research and discovered that the location of the sharp pain and all of the other symptoms were indicative of gallbladder disease. I told Paul I suspected it might be a gallbladder problem and that I was going to start eating differently. However, about a week after I told him this, I had a MASSIVE gallbladder attack and almost went to the emergency room. The pain started ebbing a little, so I decided I would wait until morning so we wouldn't have to pay huge ER bills.

First thing the next morning, I called the doctor and scheduled an appointment for 1:45. At noon, it hurt too much for me to wait any longer, so I had Kelsey come watch my boys while I drove myself to the ER. There they told me it would be at least a couple hours before I could see anyone, so I decided to just wait it out until my scheduled appointment. Dr. Roberts decided my symptoms probably were gallbladder problems, but they would have to do an ultrasound to double check. They couldn't schedule one until the next morning, so she sent me home with pain killers. The ultrasound, however, did not reveal any stones. The only next step was to do a HIDA scan (SUPER not fun scan where they make your gallbladder contract and watch it to see if it's doing its job), which they couldn't schedule until the following Tuesday.

SO.....we waited out the weekend, me on pain pills and basically just dying while family and friends helped with the kids. Tuesday finally came around, and I went and had the HIDA/torture scan done. I called the doctor later that afternoon, and (surprise!) she wasn't in that day! The super nice on-call doctor (I think it was Dr. Kohtz) finally called me back and personally contacted all the surgeons in town so I could get the fastest surgery possible. What a relief! It was still 2 days later that Dr. McKain did the surgery, but from a surgeon's standpoint, that's really fast.

I finally had surgery 10 days after my initial ER visit, and what a relief it was to have it done! It's been a rough week of recovery, but I can already tell a difference in the things I'm able to eat. All I know is that I am SO grateful for the medical knowledge we have today. I'm also grateful to a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to teach me patience and long-suffering. If it wasn't for these hard times, I wouldn't be able to experience so much joy during the good times. The law of opposition comes to mind frequently when I'm going through things like this. I know that in order to truly appreciate the beautiful blessings I've been given (and I HAVE been given so many), I have to endure trials. I'm just glad this one's behind me now!

Our Little Miracle - God Has Remembered

Thanks to many prayers and a few miracles, we are now a healthy, happy family of 4! Baby Zachary Allen Young was born on Tuesday, December 28th, 2010 at 2:39 p.m. He weighed 6lbs and 9 oz. and was 19 inches long. We couldn't be more in love with our new little man!

This story is truly miraculous, so I have to share. We were scheduled to be induced on Tuesday morning (because our insurance starts over with the new year), so we showed up bright and early and as excited as two parents can be! The labor was going normally - albeit rather slowly - and we were just waiting for the arrival of our new baby boy. We were planning to name him Miles Alexander, and that's what we'd been calling him for 4 months.

Suddenly it hit me that he might not end up looking like a Miles, and something just felt wrong about the name. I turned to Paul and told him I thought we might need to reconsider. He agreed and we both thought that the name Zachary had a good ring to it. We couldn't find a name book at the time so we weren't sure what it meant, but we thought it sounded good.

Fast-forward about 15 minutes. Everything was still going great, and I was dilated to a 5. I had asked for a priesthood blessing, so Paul called our brother-in-law Ben and they gave me one. Paul blessed us that the doctors would know what to do when the time came, and that we would both be fine and healthy. I remember being concerned with the "when the time comes" phrase, but I hoped it didn't mean there would be any problems.

About 15 minutes after that, we did start having problems. Every time I had a contraction, the baby's heart rate would drop more and more. The lowest we saw it was at a 48 (his normal heart rate hovers around 140). Everyone was becoming more and more concerned, until finally the doctor came in and said we were going to do an emergency C-section because something was obviously wrong.

That was at 2:20. They wheeled me out of the room at 2:30, and we heard the first cry of our baby at 2:39. The cord was wrapped around his neck and he was completely blue. When they showed him to me, they said,"Congratulations, you had a smurf!" He pinked up very quickly thanks to Aunt Amanda, our amazing NICU nurse!

Part of the miracle of this story was how scared I wasn't during this whole procedure. I had received a wonderful blessing and I knew deep down that everything was going to be okay. I kept crying on the c-section table because I knew the blessing was working.

We heard later on that if we had waited 15 or 20 more minutes, our Zachary could have strangled. It is truly a miracle that we have our baby boy with us. Paul brought him over to me and we decided that his name was definitely Zachary, and we decided to use Allen for a middle name after Paul's dad. It wasn't until a few days later that I discovered what the name Zachary means - "God has remembered." He did remember us that day, and I know He loves our little Zachary just as much as we do!

Johnny's Birthday and Halloween!

• Johnny's birthday was September 22nd, and it was a blast! We went to eat at Golden Corral and he went crazy. He absolutely LOVES food, so Golden Corral is like Johnny's little heaven on earth! Then on the 25th we had a big birthday bash and he just loved it! We had lots of family there and Johnny got spoiled rotten. And once again, his favorite part was the food - here's the aftermath:*I have to say he definitely takes after his mommy when it comes to chocolate cake!*

• Our Halloween was so much fun! We dressed up as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Lion. Johnny is old enough this year that he got to trunk-or-treat with Daddy! SCORE! I think baby Miles ended up consuming more sugar than Johnny did. :) Here's our little get-up:

*I always knew Dorothy and the scarecrow had something going on - you didn't hear it from me though! :)*

• We've been keeping pretty busy in between these exciting festivities! Our fall has been a little interesting what with Paul taking 14 credits and working 50 hours a week, while I'm chasing after a 13-month-old Johnny and also taking 8 credits. I'll be graduating 2 weeks before baby Miles is due - HALLELUJAH!


• Johnny is going to be having surgery on his kidney on December 7th. That falls 1 week before finals, 2 weeks before Christmas, and 3 weeks before the new baby. He will have a tube coming out of his back for 2 weeks so we probably won't be taking him out much during that time. Needless to say, our December might be a little crazy! I guess it'll be nice to have some distractions though, just to keep me from going nuts during the last month of pregnancy (I pretty much lost my marbles during that month before Johnny!).


• Speaking of Johnny, his latest little phase has been constantly "redecorating" the house :) I've found the most interesting things in the most interesting places. For example, here's a tennis ball that he obviously thought would help the bathroom decor a little:

• We've also found my cell phone in the toilet, a spatula in the bathtub, a little truck in my favorite plant, a bathtub whale in the drawer under the stove, and squishy rubber balls in Paul's shoes. I have to say one of my many enjoyments is finding all the fun surprises around the house every day!

Well, I think that catches us up for now. We're having so much fun being parents and can't wait to meet our new little boy at Christmastime! We hope you all have a fantastic holiday season!

It's a.....BOY!!

First Ultrasound! (12 weeks)

Well, we had our first ultrasound today! I had forgotten what a miracle it is to see a little baby squirming around inside of me. It really is amazing that a baby the size of a peach already looks so human! Little fingers, toes and ears are all in place and they're just SO tiny. What with a sweet, beautiful baby boy to snuggle AND a little peach fluttering around inside, I couldn't be more in baby heaven. So, without further adieu, we introduce Baby Young #2! :

The Duck

Jonathan has officially become too smart for us:

We've always had to have a replacement toy ready when we take away whatever objects of general untoyishness (i.e., cameras, cell phones, Mommy's hair, poopy diapers, etc.) have recently sparked his curiosity. The other day I was talking to Paul on my phone. I was sitting on the floor next to Johnny, who was happily eating a big rubber duck. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he shoved his duck in my mouth and took my cell phone away. Then he looked up at me, with a grin full of cell phone, as if to say, "See Mommy, it's okay, you still have a toy!"

It is SO Update Time!

Guess what! We're still alive! And our lives haven't exactly slowed down. Here's some of our most recent news:

1. I'm pregnant! I know I already mentioned that in the last post, but it seems to be the most demanding new development in our lives. I can NOT get enough sleep, especially with Johnny's happy little middle-of-the-night self. Needless to say, I eat a lot and I take lots of naps. And I still feel sick half of the time...but I know it's all for a great cause!

2. We finally moved into our new house at the end of March. We absolutely LOVE it! I can't believe how nice it is to feel settled in a place where we're going to live for a while. And I'm SOhohoho glad that we got all settled before we found out I was pregnant! I probably would have died. Okay, probably not. But still, yuck.

3. We finished yet another semester of school! Only 2 classes left for me and 7 left for Paul. I'll graduate in December and Paul will in May! HAPPY HAPPY day!! Poor Paul has still been working 50 hours a week with school on top of it. I honestly don't know how he does it. He's just a go-getter! Meanwhile, I've still been teaching piano and taking care of a short, fat little man named Johnny. I also make and sell jewelry on the side, which I LOVE!

4. Johnny is now 8 months old (and 21.5 lbs.) and thinks he rules the world. Now that he can move around (well, backwards, but still...progress!) he gets into absolutely everything. Nothing is inedible to that dude. We actually found a full piece of grass in his diaper the other day, and I'm REALLY hoping he put it there with his hands. I guess we'll never really know! He's also been diong a little modeling for a hat company, and our sister-in-law Marie Speirs is greatest photographer EVER!

5. We took Johnny to Boise again for his kidneys, and there's still a little blockage in his left one. They say as long as it stays the same and never gets worse, we won't have to do anything about it. If it does get worse, however, they'll have to do a minor surgery. (But, "minor" or not, it's still surgery, and just typing the word makes me queasy. Well, queasi"er"). This last time they had to put him under to check his kidneys, and as traumatizing as it is to watch your baby lie unconsious on a hospital bed, it's still pretty entertaining to watch him wake up. He was as tipsy as a sailor and kept trying to talk and dance. I SO wish we had a video, but you'll just have to take our word for it: pure comedy.

6. Johnny LOVES his daddy! I guess that's really not "news", per say, but it's still totally worth mentioning. He will NOT go to sleep unless his arms are both wrapped tightly around Daddy's hand. He lights up like a Christmas tree when his daddy walks in the door every day, and he's his happiest self when he's on Paul's shoulder's pulling all his hair out. They are so stinking cute together, and in fact, they're sleeping arm in arm in our new bed as we speak.

7. We got a new bed and it is glorious. It's a king-size pillowtop and we have never spent a better $825. :)

8. We won an awesome gameshow called "Sweet Huge Tax Returns!" We got almost $12,000 back this year, and we really did feel like we'd won a gameshow or something. I guess that's what happens when you buy a house and have a baby in the same year! Don't get too jealous, though. $4750 goes back to the bank for our down payment, and then $4000 more is going into our lawn. But it's still CRAZY cool to hold that much money in your hands at once!

Well, I think that pretty much sums up our lives at the moment. We are as happy as can be, and I feel like we are just so blessed in every way! Heavenly Father wasn't kidding when He said He would open up the heavens and pour out so many blessings that we wouldn't have room enough to receive them. We are living examples of this promise, and we are just so grateful!