Ellie's Hands

I've become a little obsessed with Ellie's hands. She does the cutest things with her hands, all on her own. I'll look down at her and she'll be posing like a little hand model.

Baby's First Christmas

Ellie's bilirubin levels had been a little high when we left the hospital, so on Christmas day we had to go into the clinic to have it tested again. To our shock, it had jumped up again to pretty high levels and the doctor had her admitted to the hospital. The hospital wouldn't admit her into the NICU, so she was put in the cardiac telemetry wing. All of the nurses commented that she was their first baby patient. She had to spend almost 24 hours under the strong bili lights, but the worst part was they put an IV in her head. They stuck her 6 or 7 times in her hands and feet, but since she was dehydrated, they had to put the IV in her head. I'm not sure if the nurses were just trying to make me feel better, or if this is really true, but they said having the IV in the head is the best place for babies. So anyways, it ended up that the clinic where we had her tested, gave us a falsely high bilirubin result which made everyone panic and she probably would've been ok without going to the hospital. But, better safe than sorry, right?

Little Miss Ellie

Our Little Miss Ellie Sachiko Trowbridge came into the world on December 20, 2009, and what an adventure it was! The day before she came, we had moved out of our apartment in Provo and moved in with my parents in South Jordan.

Around 6:00 am, I started having some contractions, but after having a really long bout of false labor a few weeks earlier, I didn't think much of it. So we got up and started getting ready for church. But the contractions started getting stronger and longer and instead of going to church, we went to the hospital instead. We delayed going as long as possible, because my worst nightmare was being sent home from the hospital. And since we were living in South Jordan, and having the baby in Orem, we really wanted to be sure this was the real thing.

Everything about the experience was a surprise. We got to the hospital at 1:30 pm and to everyone's surprise, I was already dilated to a 9. Surprise #2 came when it came time to push. The L&D nurse was helping me push through a contraction when all of the sudden she yelled, "Stop pushing!" and then "Mike... go get the doctor NOW!" Her head had popped out all of the sudden without the doctor being there. Luckily, our doctor was just outside in the hallway and was able to hurry in and finish delivering her. Surprise #3 was how much hair she had!

My Man & the "Man Meal"

My family threw a baby shower for me, and while we were celebrating the guys decided to go out to Fuddruckers and try their hand at the "Man Meal." This consists of a 1 lb. hamburger, an order of chili cheese fries/bacon & cheese fries, a soda, and 3 scoops of icecream with a brownie. *GAG* Of the 4 that tried, only 2 were able to finish the monstrous meal. I'm proud (?) to say that my husband was among the 2 that finished. Way to go Mike! He was rewarded with a free t-shirt, his picture on the wall, and most likely a few clogged arteries.

The Proof

My brother was the other one to finish, but note the extreme discomfort showing on his face. Mike was nothing but smiles!

It's just not the same...

Mike and I were out running errands the other day when we passed an Oriental Market. Not being able to pass up the chance, we stocked up on some of our favorite goods. That night I tried making a few Korean dishes from my mission. It was fun. It was messy. And it wasn't nearly as good as I remember it being in Korea.

Duk Boki

Jap Chae

Kim bap!!!

And the finished product! I've got to take Mike to Korea so he can taste the REAL versions of all this stuff.

H1N1 Haiku

Coughing and Sneezing

Why is it so contagious?

I dislike piggies.

Two more victims of the swine flu! Mike got it from work, and so graciously brought it home to me. Although he had it a lot worse than I did, I was the one who ended up going to the doctor due to the fact that pregnancy is considered high-risk with the swine flu. I went to the doctor's office, and they sent me to the hospital to get tested to confirm the H1N1 virus. After going to 2 hospitals and waiting for over an hour in the waiting room, they stuck a swab up my nose and sent me home. The results came back positive. Since I work at a hospital, I was restricted from going back to work for an entire week, which wouldn't have been so bad, if I didn't spend almost the entire week in bed. I also had to talk to the infection control nurse at the hospital so she can track the spread of the virus. She told me that the interesting thing is that everyone who gets the swine flu has wildly different symptoms. Some have very mild symptoms, and others are hospitalized. I sure got off lucky! All in all, it wasn't the worst thing I've ever dealt with. The worst part was paying for the Tamiflu, which was quite pricey. All for the good of the baby, I guess, who is kicking away quite happily still. And that's what matters most.

Back in the summer of '09

As Mike and I were reminiscing on this past summer, we realized that instead of just going to school and work, we actually had quite the eventful summer. Here's a summary:

You never thought it'd happen, but I finally graduated from BYU in Clinical Laboratory Science. I finished up my internship at Timpanogos Regional Hospital, where I've worked ever since.

In May, we went with Mike's family to Washington DC to see Mike's older brother, Zeke, graduate from medical school. We saw the sights and spent a lot of time with family.

In July, I left Mike at home and flew to Washington for my dearest friend's wedding. Duckie has talked for ages about the beautiful San Juan islands, and I finally got to experience it first hand!

Our next adventure was to California to visit Mike's family. The trip included visiting the Jelly Belly Factory, San Francisco, Ghiradelli Square, and Alcatraz.