Jessica Lee Biada

Yesterday was the passing of my older sister Jessica. She just had her 31st birthday the week before.

Jessica has been suffering from gastroporesis for the last 2 years, and as a result she had a central line going into her blood stream so she could administer anti-nausea drugs and IV fluids to herself at home. Through this central line she developed Sepsis, or an infection in her blood. They think she might have had endocarditis, or an infection in her heart as well. She went into the hospital last Sunday with a small fever, and over the course of the week she continued to deteriorate from the infection. Her lungs filled up with fluid as she laid in bed, and her heart struggled as the infection took over. She was very uncomfortable, and had a bi-pap breathing machine on that breathed for her. As a result of her discomfort, they had to keep her heavily sedated to prevent her from pulling her equipment off.

Every morning this week I woke up thinking she wouldn't have made it through the night, but Jessica has always been a fighter, and her body wouldn't give up. We laughed as we called her "stable in her critical condition." I don't know how many people can live that long in such critical condition. I had the wonderful privilege of visiting her on Thursday. My sweet siblings watched my children, and I got to spend some time with my parents at the hospital with Jess. Her eyes were closed but she still had some form of consciousness at that point. My Mom told me what to do, so I leaned in close to her and said really loud, "Open your eyes, it's me Erica, your sister." Jessica often said, "It's me Jessica, your sister." when she called me, so I thought it was kind of funny that that was what came out of my mouth. Anyway, she opened her eyes for a brief second to look at me. She couldn't really talk, but she whispered/mouthed to me, "I love you." What a sweet experience that was for me, and what a wonderful last thing to say to your sister. I'll never forget that, and I'm so grateful I was there that day.

She progressively got worse, and on Saturday the Dr.'s and nurses called my Mom in for a meeting to talk about what to do. It seems that she wasn't gaining any ground on her infection, and they couldn't do anything more for her breathing without putting her on a ventilator. She was left without any chance of recovery at this point

My mother called us and we quickly packed and drove to Bountiful. It was snowing and raining, and we ran into traffic, I was worried we wouldn't make it as her heart was really struggling. We dropped off our children again, and made it to the hospital in time. My dad and Dave gave Jessica a priesthood blessing, and released her from this life. She died shortly after.

I was very worried about being there when she died, but it was a very neat experience. One of the most sacred things I have ever witnessed. As special as it is to witness a baby take it's first breath, it is special to witness a person taking their last. I felt so much peace to know that she was relieved of her suffering, as she has had so much throughout her life and especially this week. I am grateful to have shared that moment with her, Dave, and my parents, and it is something I will never forget.

Although many tears have and will be shed, there is still a feeling of peace in our family. There are still smiles much of the time, even though we break down and sob while we hold each other at other times. We still expect her to come walking out of her room at any time. I don't know how we could have been more prepared for this experience, yet it still seems like kind of a shock. It will take time to heal, and time to sink in fully. But we will be okay. We wish she could have stayed with us, but we know it's okay for her to go. We can't forget how much better she is now.

The funeral arrangements aren't complete, but we are tentatively planning on having a viewing Thursday and funeral Friday morning. All are welcome to come, if you would like to, please do. I will post the obituary and details when we get them.

Update on Henry and I

Here I am at almost 32 weeks (always round up when you're pregnant!). Every time I see a picture of myself I think my face is as pregnant as my belly! But it's all good as long as it comes off quickly right? I am feeling a lot better than I was a few weeks ago. Henry spends most of his time head down now, so I can breathe a lot better, and I can tolerate his movements more. He's also slowed down as he runs out of room. In fact, I don't think I've felt him move much at all today, which DIDN'T used to happen. I've figured out how to sleep better, I now sleep with 4 pillows. And a little bit of Benadryl never hurts either!

I'm getting excited now, I've even watched TLC's A Baby Story a few times. I'm super nervous about delivery. After having such an easy delivery with Dawson, I imagine I'm due for another hard delivery. Hopefully I'm wrong. It's still looking good for the new women's center, which makes me VERY happy. I'm excited to be in a brand new facility, and to have a bed for Dave to sleep in. I'll just tell you all now that I love visitors or phone calls. You can call my cell or the Logan Hospital and ask for me. PLEASE DO! I was SO bored when I had Dawson. Don't worry about disturbing me or waking me, anything is better than the hospital boredom. I have to stay for 2 full days because of the maternity insurance I am on, otherwise I think I would walk out of the hospital as soon as my epidural wore off. I'll try to post "I am in labor" when the time comes, so you know when this little guy is coming. That is if I know I'm in labor this time, last time I was in denial.

I finally bought some diapers today, I still have nursing pads from Dawson, I have the clothes ready, and I got out the Bundle Me to wash and put on the carseat. After that I think I will be ready, it's really quite easy this third time around. There is so little to buy, and everything is still fairly handy from Dawson. It's great. Maybe I'll even have a hospital bag packed and in the car this time a little earlier. I just never thought Dawson would come so early, but now that I know it's quite possible, I can be prepared.

I'm having tons of contractions, but what's new? I have been an excellent contractor through all three of my pregnancies, so I'm used to it. But they are fairly strong a lot of the time, and sometimes (like last night) I have too many and I need to take a bath or lay down to get them to stop.

So that's the update on the pregnancy. We are all healthy and happy, and excited to meet our new little boy. Now comes the countdown. At least 5 more weeks, hopefully not too many more!

My innocent little boy

Yesterday I turned on the news for a minute, watching the breaking news about Warren Jeffs. Isaac walked over, sat on the couch and complained that he didn't like this show. I told him I really wanted to watch it for a minute- he still complained. So I told him that I wanted to watch this because this really bad man was going to jail. I told him he did really bad things.

"Oh, he didn't wear his seatbelt?"

I wish I were that innocent, that the worst thing I could think of was not wearing my seatbelt.

Homecoming 2007

This weekend it was Utah State's homecoming. The weekend started out with the first Cheerleader/Aggiette reunion since 1980. Every cheerleader or aggiette from Utah State EVER was invited to come. It was really fun to see my old team, and get updated on their lives. It was also fun to see who else we knew there.... Like Linda Champlin! Trisha's mother-in-law. We also saw a lady from our ward, and several other people that Dave knew. My wonderful stunt partner Dave Ratliff was there, I literally haven't seen him since the last game that I cheered at. It was a fun evening, and we had to get a picture of the 3 freshman from my first year. Chaney, Kurstin, and I really bonded that first year as everything was so new to us. Here we are

Then on Saturday we went to the parade in the morning. It was fun to see the band and the cheerleaders. It got even more fun when Isaac got the hang of picking up all the candy. My purse was overflowing with tootsie rolls when we left. Dawson loved the action in the parade, and he was just pleased as punch with the candy. It was SO fun!

Here is Daws enjoying a tootsie roll and the fire engine driving by.
Isaac's best friend- Big Blue!

Here comes the band
We wanted to go enjoy the tailgate party before the game, but it was raining, so we went to the Olive Garden instead. Dave invited his parents and we had both forgotten that it was their anniversary. So we had them bring out a cake and sing to them. I got the never-ending pasta bowl, but I was totally full after one bowl. I got penne with the new sauce- sausage and peppers... IT was to die for!

We showed up at the game about an hour late, so we were actually able to make it through the game to watch the fireworks at the end. We totally should have won this game, they lost it in the last 2 minutes. It was embarrassing! Poor aggie football, they really need help. But it was really fun anyway. Here we all are at the game, except Dawson, he was in the backpack.Here is Dawson enjoying the game from the backpack.
Isaac and Dawson were surprised with an early Christmas present from their grandparents. The aggie apparel was on sale, so Grandma Low returned with football jerseys for our boys. Isaac was so excited as he had outgrown his aggie shirt. He might just have to be a football player for Halloween. Isaac could not have been happier, and I was quite pleased too to be off the hook on shopping. Thanks grandma!

Pictures

Here are some random pictures from the summer that I wanted to post. We took a little

This picture is so amazing because it was taken with Josh and Carrie's camera which is REALLY slow. How they caught that sand mid-air I'll never know! Click on this picture to make it bigger, it really is classic!Dawson and Cara are competing for the dirtiest child award. They both won!
Isaac and Caleb "hangin loose"

20 week ultrasound pictures.... Only 10 weeks late.

For information on pregnancy and children visit www.preggot.blogspot.com

Finally I got around to getting my 20 week ultrasound pictures on cd. So here they are. Now you can see little Henry George. He is SO cute!


This is a 3-d profile of his face. His eye and nose are on the left, and his mouth is open.... Can you see what I'm talking about? It kind of looks like he's smiling.
This is the same profile but he is covering his mouth with his hand.
Here is the picture of his boyish parts. The cord is coming out from behind them, don't worry. It's not really the best picture of a boy, but it certainly isn't a girl is it?

And the labeled pictures for you Trisha! ;)

Some interesting things about our week

- My three year old tilted his head, clicked his tongue, and winked at me. I about fell over laughing.

- Somehow our baby got put to bed without a diaper on. He slept the whole night without a diaper, and surprisingly wasn't very wet when he woke up.

- Isaac got the croup and had a fever of 104.5, but if you asked him he wasn't sick! He refused medicine, even when I hid it in chocolate milk-- I think he's gone 2 years without taking ANY medicine. What kind of a healthy kid does it take to go 2 years without medicine?

I may add more later if I remember something else... It was quite a week.

He made it

He made it past preliminaries. Here is a link to the Herald Journal's Election Blog http://www.hjnews.com/blog/index.html They typed in the number of Dave's votes incorrectly. He got 374. But there were over 40 provisional ballots, and I was one of them, so I know he'll get at least one more vote :) I had to vote provisionally because I was still registered at my Cobblestone address.

I'm a little overwhelmed at the thought of the campaigning ahead. He has to get a lot of new votes in order to make it into that top 3. But I think he can get a lot of people registered to vote, and they'll vote for him. I think it's really important for him to get in to City Council for the sake of Providence. There are only 2 out of the 6 candidates that aren't trying to pass the water bill that will stop all development. If all 3 of the new council members are trying to stop development, they have the majority, and goodbye development. This is crazy! I may very well have a newborn in that last week before the election, and that's the most important time to campaign. But maybe I won't go as early this time.

Oh I just thought of a good one!

Have any of you had Zucchini Chowder lately? This recipe came from my friend Jocee, and I have no idea where she got it from. Tis the season to be making this soup, and it is to die for! Grab some zucchini from your garden, or your neighbors garden, and make this soup. MMmmmmmm!

Zucchini Chowder

2 medium zucchini, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 Tablespoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/3 cup margarine
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 can corn
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Pinch sugar
14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
12 oz. can evaporated milk

In soup kettle, sauté zucchini, onion, parsley and basil in margarine until veggies are tender. Add flour, stir in the water. Add bouillon and lemon juice; mix well. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2minutes. Add tomatoes, milk and corn; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Just before serving, stir in cheeses until melted. DOES NOT FREEZE WELL

Today is the election!

Today is the day, tomorrow morning the results will be posted in the Herald Journal. There have been so many people scaring Dave about it, I think he'll be sick if he makes it past the primaries. But I'm really excited either way. I just think it will be fun to see how it goes.

Changing the subject... I'm sick of being pregnant! People are always asking me how far along I am, and I never quite know what to tell them. I don't pay attention to that, I just sigh and say, "I'm due in November." And then I remember just how far away that is. I think this baby will be about 10 pounds, I feel huge! And I'm tired, and uncomfortable, and he had the hiccups for 20 minutes in the middle of the night last night which made me realize that he is NOT head down since the hiccups went side to side. Could that add to my discomfort? I think it could... Mom? Were you uncomfortable when Kate was transverse?

The only thing keeping me out of the psych ward is the knowledge that I haven't made it past 37 weeks before, and the hope that this kid will be born the very day that his lungs are mature, and not a day after!

Here is my pregnancy ticker if you want to know how far along I am. Personally, I don't!

The only problem with not wanting to be pregnant anymore is I want this child to be born sleeping through the night. I'm too tired to be up all night nursing. What are we going to do?

Okay, really, it's probably not as bad as I'm making it sound.... But it is really fun to complain to so many people at the same time! I've just started having fun buying things for the baby. I just made an order at Gap.com for a few outfits that are up to 7 pounds, because nothing fits my scrawny little babies when they are born. Hopefully Henry doesn't REALLY weigh 10 pounds, but I'll keep the tags on them anyway. I ordered him the cutest little brown velour track suit to come home from the hospital... Should I post a picture of it? I probably should...

Now picture a little 6 or 7 pound Low baby in it... Cute huh? Maybe I should post a picture of my other babies to help you imagine it...

Isaac at a few days old

Dawson at a few hours old

I can't wait to see baby Henry in it. Hopefully he'll be so cute that I'll be able to make it through all those sleepless nights, and make all my pregnancy woes worthwhile.

Letters to the Editor about Dave

For anyone who cares to read them:
http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2007/09/06/letter/letter05.txt

http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2007/09/06/letter/letter06.txt

Dawson's new dancing skills

We turned on this Hawaiian music, and the boys were dancing like crazy! Daws thought he was a pretty awesome dancer, so I had to catch a little clip of it.

Joy School

Today was Isaac's first day of Joy School. I am teaching Joy School for the first 3 weeks, and then it rotates to the other houses for the rest of the semester. This works perfectly for me because it would be a challenge to teach with Dawson and a newborn around. School is on Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 to 12:30. We feed the kids a snack and lunch. The first day went really well. I think we have a great group, they are a good mix of kids and personalities. We were missing one boy today, he was sick, we will usually have 5 kids. I really had fun teaching, and will enjoy my three weeks, but I will also really enjoy dropping Isaac off for free the rest of the year.

Here is a picture of the kids coloring. They were supposed to color a picture of themselves at Joy School.... I couldn't recognize anything on any of the papers, but they sure had fun!

Henry, George, and Theodore

I'm torn between wanting there to be enough Henry's out there that it isn't weird, and not wanting it to become too popular. But, I do still enjoy meeting someone else who has named or is naming their child Henry. So on to my story....

As we sat in the Honolulu airport waiting to depart, I had my eye on a certain family.... They had three little boys with messy hair, each wearing a matching green Hawaiian shirt. The shirts matched the Dad's shirt as well. Of course I have an interest in families with 3 boys, and I had also just purchased a third red Hawaiian shirt matching Dave's so all my boys can match too. (Really I have my eye on a 5 boy family that we know through EFY. They all have matching blue eyes and dark brown hair, that was the family I dreamed of, but anyway) So I struck up a conversation with this cute mother. I bragged to her that I was having my third boy too, and I too had matching shirts for my boys. She asked me what I was going to name my baby, and when I told her, her mouth dropped open. It turns out her boys are named George, Henry, and Theodore. I told her she has excellent taste.

So what are the chances of finding someone with both of those names in their family? It was kind of fun.

Congratulations Gordon

On Friday we celebrated the retirement of Judge Gordon J. Low. It was a neat experience. There was an open house held for him at the Court House, and then we went and had dinner at the Low's house afterward. It was a great day, I feel honored to be related to such a wonderful man. He is well respected and loved by the community, and has been an exceptional judge.

Isaac with his cousin Annie. They get along really well.

My little stud

My walking boy. And where did that blond hair come from anyway? Several people asked us that at the party. We don't know, but maybe Henry will pull through with some dark hair.

Campaign Update 9/2/07

I am having so much fun with this campaigning. I'm to the point where I couldn't even care less about election day, but I'm having a blast with the campaign. Dave has been working on his flyer, and it has been completely revamped several times. We have been practicing his answers to questions, especially figuring out what his platform even is. It's been neat getting to know the other candidates, and learning about the issues. This week we will be knocking doors and committing people to vote. I got assigned to the Cobblestone area, and I am so excited! I miss my old neighbors terribly, and this gives me a great excuse to go visit them.

One of my favorite things from this week is this Herald Journal article about all the fuss in Providence. http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2007/09/02/news/news01.txt

One of the comments of the article said this:

"So what kind of growth candidates do we have in Providence? Dale Astle: controlled growth. Don Briel: controlled growth. Don Calderwood: planned growth. Sharell Eames: responsible growth. Linda Goetze: limited growth. Diana Hatfield: knock yourselves out growth. Ron Leichty: responsible growth. David Gordon Low: souls in heaven need bodies and bodies need houses growth. John Russel: planned growth. Val Simmons: just loves growth. "

"Souls in heaven need bodies and bodies need houses growth." I almost died laughing when I read that! This person must understand Dave is a seminary teacher and is teasing him about it or something. I think it is so funny! So funny I put it on my blog! I hope the rest of the things said about Dave are good or funny, and not mean. I don't see how people could say anything mean about him, but I guess we'll see.

Anyway, like I said, I am having fun with all this. I am SO glad he ended up running, it has really expanded my mind and made me laugh alot!