Spilling the beans and spreading the news

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Sarah

Telling people you are pregnant is a really interesting exercise in tactical maneuvering.

It’s nothing like engagement. Oh no my friends, some people get offended. Or at least in your hightened hormonal state you are paranoid that everyone will get offended.

We opted for the slow boat approach. David found out when I came out of the bathroom, pregnancy test in hand, went into the office and stuttered “Ummm, I think I’m pregnant.”  Pretty sure we were so shocked that after the initial hug, he went back to studying and I went back to writing. It was one of those moments that you can label and file away in the “What the Crap Just Happened” drawer.

It got a little more real when we told the immediate family. Here’s that story. Then the grandparents got a call, then the aunts and uncles and cousins. Then the besties. It stopped there.

For my own sanity, I put a gag order on everyone up this affrorementioned chain until I hit 12 weeks. You see, like any realist, I knew that there was a chance of miscarriage. And frankly my criteria was if they couldn’t deal with me sobbing hysterically in the event of a miscarriage, then they didn’t get to know.

Then came 12 weeks and one beautiful, healthy ultrasound. After that I would just bring it up in casual conversations.

“Oh yes, it is rather warm today isn’t it? By the way, I’m pregnant.”

The lid was off anyway at that point so we hoped that, as juicy gossip usually does, the news would spread from there.

But of course, nothing is official until it is Facebook official. So without further adieu, making it’s 15 week debut, here is baby Glenn! Wave hello!

BabyAnnouncement

 

Categories: Baby Glenn | Comments Off on Spilling the beans and spreading the news

12 weeks of hell

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Sarah

Nobody warns you about what happens to you body with a baby.

OK, maybe they do but there is no way I was prepared for it. For those who are weak in the stomach, or have any sense of propriety at all, you might want to skip over this post.

How can I paint this picture accurately … imagine having a violent flu for 12 weeks. In addition to this flu, you are a person who has trouble vomiting. It is painful and does not come naturally. Prior to pregnancy, I could count on two hands the number of times I had needed to “toss my cookies”. Oh how my stats have changed since that time!

For 12 painful weeks, a day when I could keep down only my prenatal vitamin was a victory. That’s 84 days and 2,016 hours of gastrointestinal purgatory. Between that and child birth itself, I should have plenty of material for plenty of guilt trips.

Muwahahahahaha.

But I digress.

All of this time, I was in the running for a newspaper reporters position and was doing small freelance stories to improve my chances and make a little needed money. So life must go on and community news must be covered – even when the story involves touring a pungent organic food business. The fact that I kept it together until I got home that day was a small victory I am incredibly proud of.

Many things happened during this little parasite’s first 12 weeks of life on planet earth. But for the sake of brevity – and because you are already probably shaking your head after this TMI moment – I will just end my tale there.

A few things I learned though this rough patch:

  • Zofran is mommy’s best friend. For realsies.
  • Even if you are laid up on the couch from pure vomit-induced exhaustion, feel alright that baby is getting all the nutrients he/she needs. The little parasite will suck it straight from your soul if needed. From now on, your body doesn’t get first priority when picking off nutrient stores – baby does. Let the lifetime of giving begin!
  • Check your purse-stashed plastic vomit bags for holes ahead of time.
  •  It will get better.

 

Categories: Baby Glenn | Comments Off on 12 weeks of hell

A Christmas Surprise

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Sarah

Santa sure had a few surprises in store this year. And by Santa, I mean Sarah and Dave.

We had been hiding a little secret since just after Thanksgiving and thought that Christmas would be the perfect time to pop the news to family.

There was a little gift on the way that would turn moms into grandmas, brothers into uncles and flip our lives up side down forever.

My sweet husband drove almost all the way from California up to Utah (10 hours) because I was entering the violently ill stage of pregnancy. So began my attempts to fake it like a pro when all I really wanted to do was curl up, vomit and die. Somehow I held it together even through after-dinner conversations about the nitty, gritty and gross of childbirth. Ironically through this conversation, no one still had a clue but when you get a bunch of fresh moms together the “war stories” come out!

I even managed to successfully BS an answer when Andy asked me point blank, “So when are you guys having kids?”

The wait was worth it though and Christmas morning was a priceless memory.

On New Years Eve, as my brother opened his “Certificate of Uncleship” and my mom opened her grandmother’s bracelet, I was also glad I had waited to tell her in person. The rest of the family mostly expressed shock, but in true mother fashion I got a huge hug and a few tears.

Christmas provided an especially poignant time to reflect on the feelings of a mother. As I looked at the Nativities that sat on tabletops and listened to songs about the Savior’s birth, Mary’s feelings became very raw and very real to me. Her strength and courage took on a whole new meaning as I pondered what she had gone through. It was a great way to start out my experience as a mother, realizing how sacred the responsibility really is.

Merry Christmas!

[oqeygallery id=32]

Categories: Baby Glenn, Family, Heber, Holidays, Home | 1 Comment

When life gives you lemons

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Sarah

To say this has been a crazy week would be a slight understatement.

It’s been full of experiences, but let me share one of my favorites.

It starts on a dark and stormy morning as the clock strikes 4:45 a.m.

David was on his way into the hospital, and just 500 yards before reaching his freeway exit, the car sputters, the lights flicker and then …

Silence.

Yes, little Red just couldn’t do it anymore. Not even a blinking hazard light. Just then, in swoops SuperSarah in her pajamas of awesomeness.

Although David was slightly late for work, I did manage to get the car towed off the freeway shoulder an onto a nice little side street.

Thank you CHP!

I jumped the battery and it got just enough juice in it to go … down the street. Sigh. So yet again, I jumped the car (for longer this time) and with prayer and baited breath I made my way to the nearest mechanic Google could find for me. I could almost see the shop when I heard the chug chug chug of a train. The bells went off and the gate went down and there I was, waiting for the endless train of death to pass so I could go just less than a block more.

I swear little Red ran on pure prayers at that point, because we made it.

An obscene amount of money later, we were the proud new owners of a shiny new alternator.

But getting to and from the mechanic’s shop was a little difficult. I knew it would be difficult for Dave to escape the hospital during sane work hours to help pick up the car. He had somewhat important things to do, like helping the sick or something crazy like that.

Luckily, Tony, the owner of the shop gave me a ride back to my own car (who I will henceforth call Maisey) after I got little Red over there.

Then, once again, Tony came and picked me up when the car was all better. In addition to the rides, he told me all about life growing up in Lebanon and picked a whole bag full of lemons from the tree outside his shop for me to take home.

And that my friends is the story of how life this week literally gave us lemons.

Anyone have a good lemonade recipe?

 

Categories: Adapting | Comments Off on When life gives you lemons

A perfect morning

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Sarah

It’s 6 a.m. I’m sitting at my desk with a cup of hot apple cider while a chilly rain sprinkles outside, reading my dear friend Sayeh’s beautiful stories about growing up in revolutionary Iran.

Life is pretty darn good.

Categories: Home | Comments Off on A perfect morning

The Christmas Card that almost was

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Sarah

Last year I tried taking a stab at designing our own Christmas cards in InDesign. Not being able to see a proof before because we were out of the country, I was a little disappointed in how the one we sent turned out.

It was up against this little gem, which in hindsight, I kind of like.

Categories: Holidays | 1 Comment

Home: It’s where the magic happens

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Sarah

Thanksgiving is over. The turkey has been massacred. The stuffing devoured. The Christmas decorations hung. And the tryptophan hangovers are slowly subsiding.

Now we get to look back on the memories, and oh how thankful I am for them.

We were able to drive the 8 hours up to Reno to spend Thanksgiving with my family. This would be the first Thanksgiving meal we would sit down to with family since David and I were married.

On Wednesday afternoon, David convinced his supervising attending to let him leave the hospital a little early. So with darkness descending we hit the road, laughed at the ridiculous slogans on the small towns we passed and marveled at the middle-of-nowhere’s endless expanse of stars.

Thanksgiving morning, the family’s adorable (OK, kinda a pain) little mutt greeted me with enough enthusiasm to launch a missile. She knew that when I was in town, we went exploring (aka, a run) in the morning.  Then, with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade playing in the background and the Huz enjoying some much-deserved lounging time, I helped mom prepare the feast!

When it comes to Thanksgiving, mom is a homegrown master of epic proportions. This meal is not the can-shaped gloopy cranberry sauce nor gravy from a packet, my friends. I love my mom’s cooking! We scrambled to yank the ingredients out of the freezer for the perfect homemade pie crust, pulverized pumpkin from the garden for the pie filling, peeled and mashed plenty of potatoes and made creamed corn with real cream. Oh, and the orange rolls!!

It is a Cooper family tradition to sneak out and get Jack in the Box for breakfast – basically the most unhealthy thing possible. Victory is achieved when mom has no clue and thinks we have been starving all day. This year, we pulled the wool over her eyes by sneaking out for donuts. I am happy to write that she was shocked. 😉

That night, the older Broski went out to check out the Black Friday madness, but we opted for a lazier night on the couch filled with pumpkin pie and ice cream.

Friday morning came with a flurry of Christmas decorations, Christmas Pandora radio and (admittedly) a little Black Friday shopping. I knocked two names off my list and got a pair of free shoes out of the deal to boot! 🙂

[oqeygallery id=30]

I’ve been trying to think of the right words to express how thankful I am that we can spend these precious holidays with family. But I will probably fall short here. So I leave you with the words of one of my favorite LDS apostles from this most recent General Conference.

If we fail to give our best personal self and undivided time to those who are truly important to us, one day we will regret it. Let us resolve to cherish those we love by spending meaningful time with them, doing things together, and cultivating treasured memories.
~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency.

I am so thankful for my family and for the eternal treasured memories we get to make together.

Categories: Family, Holidays, Home | 1 Comment

Mr. and Mrs. Mud

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Sarah

With storm clouds looking like they were going to burst, Dave and I walked onto Glen Helen Raceway as muddy and shivering crowds walked off after finishing their earlier waves.

Oh boy, this was going to be interesting.

On a whim (and an Amazon Local Deal) Dave and I had decided to do the Mud Factor Run. The week before had been filled with 3 a.m. surgery wake up calls and a wife who was awake all night hacking up a lung with a killer cold that just would not DIE! Our week had been noticeably lacking any and all exercise.

So, hopped up on Dayquil and a decent dose of caffeine, we lined up for our 2 p.m. wave. (*I should note that David is still caffeine soda free. I don’t know how Mr. Incredible does it sometimes).

Pre-Run game faces.

IT. WAS. AMAZING.

The course was extremely hilly and my quads feel nice and accomplished. 🙂 We climbed over walls, crawled through cement tunnels, used a fire hose to pull ourselves up a steep dirt hill, belly crawled under wires and sprinted through many, many waist-deep mud pits. The highlight of the course was a 200-foot makeshift water slide. Really it was just thick plastic on a steep hill as a giddy 10-year-old boy sprayed you with a power hose. Fun!

By the time we were done, the adrenaline had put the kabash on my cold (alas, temporarily) and we were wet, muddy messes. I should note that this is nowhere near as hard as Tough Mudder and my friends who completed that race have still achieved rock star status in my eyes.

Post-run + power wash euphoria.

The final icing on the cake was a human car wash, where the shivering masses were blasted with blissfully warm foam. I was told to stand in front as I was especially dirty (winning!).

The night ended with a free pizza we had won in some Papa Johns giveaway and snuggles on the couch watching The Lorax.   What an awesome weekend!

I love doing things like the with the Huz. Now we just need to get a group together for the next run. Any crazies out there want to do it with us???

Categories: Adventure | 2 Comments

Fall leaves and fun times

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Sarah

Over the long Veterans Day weekend, we wanted a little adventure. There were so many options. Disneyland, Knots Berry Farm, Hollywood, all in our backyard.

Although these things are still on our list, we are both cheap and love the outdoors. So wandering around the stunning Lake Arrowhead was the perfect fit.

It was my perfect day. Wandering hand in hand through the crisp autumn air, admiring the view and checking out the novelty shops in the downtown district (including the little amusement park).

The Huz even indulged my love of cute coffee shops, caramel apple cider and cozy corner conversation.

It only took us about 45 minutes to get up there and David remarked several times that the drive would be an awesome one to do on a motorcycle. Hint hint. Oy.

It was a stunning drive, the views of the valley were amazing and the whole place reminded me of a perfect mix between Truckee, CA and Lake Tahoe.

Happy Fall everyone!

Categories: Discovering Redlands | Tags: , | Comments Off on Fall leaves and fun times

The life of a surgeon

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Sarah

David’s internal medicine rotation is officially over and we are moving on to surgery ––  a whole new specialty with a whole new schedule.

The ability to experiment with different schedules has been nice for me, helping me understand what a surgery residency would be like for our family versus an internal med residency versus …. well, you know.

This time around David’s wake up call comes at 3 a.m. He is at the hospital by 4, writing up notes on surgical patients then following around the resident in his duties. In the first few days of his rotation, he has been able to scrub-in on at least one surgery.  The day finally ends somewhere between 4 and 7 p.m.with an hour of study, then starts fresh and early again the next morning. With the exception of a few on-call nights, weekends are usually ours to relax.

His jaunt through general surgery (mostly Cholecystectomies, appendectomies, gastrointestinal, etc.) will last until Christmas Eve, when he gets a blissful two-week break. After coming back, he will get another two weeks off to study for the surgery shelf exam. Then, he gets to spend the next weeks in the area’s only burn center. Patients from all over will come in for burn surgery, giving him a little glimpse into what he might experience if he goes into plastics.

Three days in, we are still adjusting to the schedule. I am really enjoying the early mornings, finding that time my most productive of the day. David is, well, getting used to it. Although it is tiring, I can tell that he is enjoying surgery and learning a lot.

Here’s to another great rotation!

Categories: Adapting | Comments Off on The life of a surgeon