Pictures of my two babies

Our good friend David Bunting came over to take some pictures of my sweet children. Wow what a statement, "my children". I am so blessed to have the two that I have and I love them both so much. Well these are some of the beautiful pictures that he got of them. I wanted pictures of Elena in her blessing dress before she was too big, and I thought it would be a sweet thing for her to be blessed in the blessing dress that both me and my sister Sara were blessed in. Arent these pictures beautiful. We are going to have him take family pictures when Elena gets a little bigger.

Fair Time again

I had been debating on whether or not we should go to the fair this year. When Patrick was born, he was only a week old when the fair started and with him being my first I was very paranoid that he would get sick from the animals or the crazy people there. So this year I wasnt as worried about Elena getting sick. My biggest concern was how am I going to walk around the fair when I cant even walk around my apartment without hurting and getting tired. So the idea was formed that we should rent a wheelchair when we got to the fair, so thats what we did.

Does Jesus look happy or what??

You'll have to excuse me from looking so terrible. I havent really been up to making myself presentable because it can take a lot of time and I have to stand up for a while to do my hair, so instead I went to the fair with minimal make up and my hair looking like poop.Aunt Sara holding Elena.
Gotta love fair corn!!
Nursing at the fair, very attractive.
Cute couple.
We laughed so hard at this picture because she wasnt looking up and she had a squishy face.

Eating cinnamon rolls, mmmmm......

Patrick and cow butt (butt is not a bad word when you say it like this Mom)

Patrick eating fries, really healthy.

The Randall baby

I just thought I would update everyone on Cory and Stephanie and their new baby. She will probably be taking care of this today but in case she doesnt, Jocelyn Delgado posted the basics, Born at 11:16 pm Wednesday night weighing in at 9 pounds 12 ounces 21 inches. And she does officially have a name but I will let Stephanie tell everyone on her blog. They got home last night and they are doing fine. I never got to see her eyes because she was sleeping but hopefully she will be over the brand new baby thing and sleeping all the time and she will open her eyes.

4 Men and a Snake

Anyone who is a lover of animals, do not read the following.
As Jesus was coming out our back door to help us out of the car, this is what he encountered. Yes thats a rattlesnake. So he went back inside and called me and told me to stay in the car while he called animal control. He then came out the front door and got us out of the car.

So he was told by animal control that they dont take care of that, but they know of a group of people that will take care of it for 250 dollars. So we said no thank you and Jesus called his friends Dave Bunting, Oscar Delgado and Mike McGee. And between the 4 of them this is what happened to the snake.

Jesus was just nervous about anyone getting bit so he felt the snake needed to die. So they chopped its head off.

These are pictures I got of Elena and Patrick that I thought were pretty cute.

How we're doin

I just want to thank every one for your prayers and thoughts. It made me feel so loved to know that so many people were concerned for us. I am feeling much better this week and I am able to get around and get my butt off the couch. Elena and I were finally on the same feeding schedule and I found out that I had a small infection and had to be put on antibiotics for 3 days and I was told to discard my breast milk. So for the past 3 days and nights I have been feeding Elena formula and then pumping to keep my milk up. It has been really difficult not to breast feed her when I can tell she would rather have that than a bottle. Plus it means I am up longer with each feeding so Im pretty tired. So physically I am doing better and emotionally I am doing better as well. I have been busy checking things off in the positive column that make feel better about not being able to have any more kids. We have actually come up with a lot of positives, number one being alive to raise my two children. My mom has been awesome helping me while Jesus is at work since I cant lift Patrick for 4 more weeks. I honestly have the best mom in the world. I also had my wonderful friends, Katy and Lindsey, come over to help me and have some girl time with me. I love you guys, honestly. I cant wait to do the same for you when your babies are born. I plan on having pictures taken this week so I will soon have some to post, maybe even family pictures (wink wink Dave). Stephanie will hopefully be having her baby this week so maybe even cousin pictures. Too bad Lucia and Elena arent together so we could get pictures of those cute cousins together:(

Papa Randy says it best

Joy in Our Posterity

Our internet is down at our house so I am now having to wait until I can go to my moms house to update our blog. I have started taking some pictures of Elena because I dont want to miss anything. I want capture all of these moments while she is small so that I dont forget anything. I got this picture of Jesus holding both of his beautiful children for the first time, I have yet to do this because Patrick is a little squirmy and it doesnt feel very good on my incision.

Here is gorgeous Elena, I feel like I need to change her outfit every hour just so I can get everything on her before she grows out of it. I also really enjoy dressing her up in bows and cute little dresses.
I cant neglect Patrick, becoming a big brother has been a little difficult on him and he doesnt really understand why I cant pick him up and hug him whenever he wants. He did hold Elena for the first time last night. It was very sweet but I didnt get a picture. I was afraid he was going to push her off his lap when I turned to get the camera. He has said I wanna hold her then he holds his hands out and says give her to me, then he chickens out.
I got this one of her pretty eyes open. I love when she's awake.


We had our good friends come visit and see Elena and Tyler was a professional at holding her I think he is ready for his son to get here. Katy and Lindsey we should have a got a picture of the three of us as the train of pregnancies.

The birthday boy

Well last night we had a small birthday party for Patrick, Grandma and Grandpa came over after dinner, the Randalls would have been here but Caleb and Stephanie arent feeling well and didnt want to get the baby sick so we didnt get to celebrate with them, I know Patrick would have loved to have Caleb play with his new toys with him. Well we kind of over did it with presents but we were kinda making up for the fact that he isnt the only child anymore and he hasnt been getting as much attention. I feel pretty bad because I cant just pick him up and love him right now so it has been difficult on both of us. Plus he had to get a shot today at the doctor and he has a cold so multiply everything by 10. He had a great time ripping his presents open and playing with all his new toys.Jesus made him a yummy cake and we sang happy birthday and he blew out the candles.Even Grandpa had a great time helping Patrick play with his toys, and Elena just kinda hung out.

Finally home

Sorry for the wait but we have needed some time to adjust to having two kids around here and I am discovering that it will not happen quickly. Elena was released from the hospital yesterday and I was so excited to go over and see her and be able to dress her in a cute dress and bow. It was wonderful feeling bringing her through the door and showing her to Patrick. I only have car seat pictures so far. Last night was a little rough because our schedules are not quite in sync yet so she was hungry and I had nothing to give her. Luckily I remembered the breast milk I have been pumping and saving in the fridge. By 4 am I got her tummy full and she slept until 7:00 am. We took her to the doctor along with Patrick for his 2 year check up today and everything is looking good. Her doctor said I was lucky to be here and to have the children I have and I know she is right.
Also, today is Patricks second birthday!! I cant believe he is two! It seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. I love him so much and I am so thankful to have such a smart active little boy. He certainly keeps us on our toes but he keeps us laughing at the same time. He is quite a talker, anyone who has met him must know. He loves to try out new things and his loves are motorcycles, driving, learning his letters, playing outside with Caleb and hopefully his new love is his baby sister. P.S. we are up for visitors if anyone wants to come by. I dont really look that great but you are welcome.

Not Today

I received a call from Elena's doctor this morning telling me that she is looking really good and that she is eating well and the plan is to wean her off of her IV so that she can eat on her own. So she wont be coming home today unfortunately but he is almost sure tomorrow is the day. I called the doctor today worried about the way I was feeling and the doctor that performed my surgery heard I had called and asked me to come in to make sure everything was alright. I was told everything is looking fine and that he expects me to be a little worried after all that has happened. I was given a few more blood tests which I have found out are all in the normal range. After leaving the doctor we made our way over to the NICU to see Elena and we made it just in time for lunch time. I was able to breast feed her for the first time which was wonderful because I was so worried that it had been so long that she might want a bottle instead. She latched on really well and ate really well. It was a wonderful moment. Jesús has been absolutely amazing taking care of me and things around the house. I hate that he had to be so worried for me and I love him so much.

Hello all

I just wanted to update everyone on what is going on with us. I received 3 blood transfusions last night to bring up my blood count and iron count which brings my total transfusions to 9. My blood level was checked at 4:00 am and at 8:00 I was told that I was at 8 point something when it is normal to be at 12 or 13. So she re ordered a blood check at 10:00 and at 12 I found out it had gone up to 9 point something on its own so I my body was finally starting to catch up on its own. I was released at 2:45. Elena is still in the NICU but they are saying that she will be able to come home tomorrow. They just want to make sure she is eating enough before she leaves. I plan on going over this evening and tomorrow so that I can try and feed her. I cant tell you how you how difficult it was to drive away knowing she was still there. We are doing better and I will eventually feel like myself again and not so weak and light headed which will be good since I will need to take care of a new baby after today. Thank you all for your prayers and calls, I have the best friends in the world and I am glad that I am still here to take care of my family.

The Amazing Story...

Alison wanted me to post something to update you all on our events.

Friday 8/29 Alison wakes up in the morning feeling sick with the flu.  2:30 pm Alison went to the doctor where the doctor agreed to strip her membranes to help move the baby along.  Returning to her mothers house post doctors appointment she began to feel cramping.  At around 5:30pm she started to time these "cramps" and noted they were coming more often and with more impact each time.  We decided to call the hospital after a while and they told us to go ahead and come in when the labor pains were 3 minutes apart and 60sec. long.  Ann Anderson came from Utah to be Alison's birthing coach.  Ann quickly came over after we called the hospital and within a couple of hours we were out the door and on our way to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at approximately 9:30pm (we sped, but only a little bit).  Alison was admitted and we started to watch labor pains and contractions throughout the night.  Previously Alison had decided to go with a natural birth, but unfortunately she had the flu and didn't have the strength she needed to endure contractions.  At 2:30am Alison received a visit from the epidural fairy (anesthesiologist).  Upon receiving the epidural we found out

 that it worked and she was able to rest a bit.  

Later Saturday 8/30 in the morning the doctor decided to break her water and help the dilation process along.  At 8:00am Alison was dilated to a 5 and her water had already been broken.  The doctor decided that she had waited long enough and ordered that Alison be put on pitocin.  Within the hour of receiving this wonder drug Alison was dilated to a 7.  

At 10:30 Alison was fully dilated and the nurses were ready for her to start pushing.  

At 11:18am all of Alison's hard work paid off and we were able to see Elena Marie for the first time.  Elena weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 20'' long.  She was beautiful and had the sweetest cry ever!  Alison was finishing up with the doctor while Elena was moved to the side to get measurements and be seen by the nurses.

During the after birth clean up the doctor noted that Alison was continuing to bleed and decided he wanted to stay ahead of any possible problems.  He ordered that she be given an extra line of IV fluids to help her with the blood loss.  

Within the hour of the birth Elena was taken to the nursery because of a slight fever and Alison didn't feel well.  Alison began to slip out of conscienceness and her blood pressure dropped dramatically.  The doctor became concerned and ordered many different prescriptions to try and stop the bleeding and bring her blood pressure back up.  Unfortunately the orders only seemed to take affect for a moment.  Shortly after this happened she began to bleed again and went unconscience.  The doctor ordered a blood transfusion and stronger medicine to try and help Alison recover.  

Alison received the blood transfusion, however, the medicine didn't help her and her uterus refused to stay contracted.  Finally after 7 hours of painful tummy massages and several blood transfusions the doctor decided it was time to go inside and see what was causing the bleeding.  He ordered an emergency operation (DNC) and explained to us the was going to try a number of procedures to stop the bleeding, however, if they were unsuccessful they would have to perform a hysterectomy to preserve her life.

At 7:00pm they took Alison from the room and down to the operating room.  Time passed SLOWLY as we sat in the waiting room trying to hear what had happened.  At 10:45pm the doctor came to me and explained that he tried everything possible to stop the bleed, but was unsuccessful. When the doctor opened her up to see what was wrong with the uterus, he noted that there was significant bruising on the uterine wall and knew right away that the only thing to do would be to remove her uterus.  At around 11:20pm they allowed Connie and Me to go into the recovery room where Alison was and see her.  

At 1:30am they finally were able to move Alison from the recovery area into a room where both she and I crashed for the night after 2 very long days.  

Currently Elena is doing much better and the doctor believes that if she continues on her course she could go home as early as Wednesday or Thursday.  

Alison is getting better, but has needed a couple more blood transfusions to increase the amount of blood in her body.  We expect to go home Tuesday or Wednesday.  We are doing well and are very thankful for all of your support through phone calls and prayers.