Lucy Beth Crump

Kylie on delivery day - 

The anticipating parents having lunch - Kylie's was ice chips.

Friday, September 11, 2015.

This was not going according to Kylie's plan. She had decided that she wanted her last baby to be a 'natural' delivery - no meds - no being induced - no anything artificial..  Oh, AND she wanted to have the baby before her due date, because her OBGYN would be going out of town on her due date.

All doctor appointments leading up to due date had Kylie only progressing slowly - gradually - not rushed.  Kylie tried everything - acupuncture, massages, long walks, spicy foods; anything she could to get this baby here on it's own and early. But then her doctor tells Kylie she's now going to be gone the Saturday before due date and so to come in and start things on Friday at the hospital.

Kylie was still sticking to her plan - they started her on pitocin for only a jump start - she was  having some contractions, but doctor could not feel baby's head when she went to check Kylie, so doctor ordered an ultra sound. It showed that baby was still high and in a position that doctor felt she couldn't break Kylie's water and needed to have baby drop before she could.  The ultrasound also showed that the umbilical cord was also in the way and that if it dropped before the baby's head did, it would cause an emergency c-section situation.  Kylie had been adamant that there would be no c-section if she could help it.  So, the wait began for the contractions to encourage the baby to drop into position. 

About an hour later, doctor came in to check Kylie.  That's when all hell broke loose.  Yes, baby had dropped down  but the ultrasound showed that the umbilical cord was there too - and according to doctor, Baby's head was laying right on top of the cord, cutting off the oxygen supply to the baby.  Exactly what Kylie did NOT want to happen, was happening right before her eyes.  Del, me and April, Kylie's friend, were asked to leave the room.  

Apparently, at this point, the doctor has her hand in Kylie and is holding the baby's head up off the cord while the rush Kylie to the operating room to do an emergency c-section.  Because Kylie has to be put to sleep, Mike is not allowed in the room to watch the birth.  The c-section takes about 5 minutes, mostly because they give Kylie NO anesthesia to numb her, they just cut her open and remove the baby...Lucy Beth Crump is born.

By this time, I insist on going back to Kylie's room, where we find Mike sitting in there alone, having just been told by a nurse that Lucy is born and there are some complications and concerns. He's got a blank stare on his face and I can tell he's been crying.  I hugged him.  Few minutes later, a doctor comes in.  Not Kylie's doctor, but a neurologist - saying he has been with Lucy and there is a very strong possibility that she will have some brain damage due to lack of oxygen, but they will not know to what degree until they get her to a Dallas hospital where they will do a special 72 hour treatment called 'Cooling' .  He tries to explain the procedure, but my brain turned off at the mention of brain damage and Lucy being taken to another hospital.  

It's at that point that my mind goes back to 33 years ago. Del and I exchange glances and we can read each others thoughts - we're both remembering Michael's birth.  But we both understood to not make this about us...but about Mike and Kylie.  Kylie was in recovery - Del and Mike went to her to let her know what was happening. The ambulance was on it's way from Dallas to transport Lucy, and they took Lucy in to see Kylie before she had to leave - Kylie couldn't even reach Lucy to touch her or really see her before Lucy was swept off to leave.  My heart broke for her as I knew her exact feelings. Del and Mike went down to Dallas with Lucy and I stayed with Kylie, remembering how it felt to know I had just had a baby, but I had no baby, I had no husband and I had no family.  I wasn't going to leave Kylie to feel the same.

Now, during all this time, there are back stories to be told because there are miracles happening.  Del and Mike had attempted to give Lucy a blessing but had been made to stop when they took Lucy from them because she was 'crashing' - Back in the NICU, there is a specialty nurse that gets called in to do some procedures on Lucy that later, when she relays this story to all of us, she shares that some things were done because of divine intervention and promptings.

Kylie is in pain and on a morphine drip.  She is put in a room where she starts getting updates from Mike and Del about Lucy.  There are a few pictures taken and sent to Kylie so she can see her baby.

 The 72 hours were touch and go.  Kylie was released from the hospital on Monday and immediately went down to Lucy to be with her. That week was long - the cooling procedure was 100% successful, and days later, she was pronounced clear.  No brain damage, no problems...completely perfect.
Of course, I just summed up about 50 miracles in a few sentences instead of taking three days to express every emotion and miracle that happened.  I just can't do it all.  I would never be able to give it justice.  But miracles happened...and lives, many many lives were touched by those miracles. There were hundreds of people praying for our sweet Lucy, especially from our ward.  The Primary children had been asked to pray for 'the Bishop's grandbaby Lucy', and days later, I received SEVERAL texts and messages from mothers in the ward who would share stories of prayers being offered for Lucy from their children. Every prayer from our ward members included Lucy.

First picture taken with all tubes removed.

By Saturday, Mike and Kylie finally got the okay to bring Lucy home.  She had been pronounced a miracle from the doctors and the nurses.  It was an exciting day

 Preston and Madi were thrilled beyond words.  They had waited for over a week to meet their new sister.  It was a beautiful family moment.  And now, 4 weeks later this Friday, life is perfect.  Lucy is thriving - the family is together and happy.  All of us recognize the blessings and miracles that have happened.  We are changed people from this experience.  We are different - forever different.

This is our sweet Lucy.

Born 9-11-15

weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces

21.5 inches long

We'll Go Just With the Highlights

I don't know how to do three months worth of catch up when those three months involve some of the most life changing events to have happened to our family.  So, I'm going to have to go with the highlights, eliminating a lot of the details and emotions I would have normally shared about our garden, our chickens and our day to day living.
Last entry was July 7th - right in the middle of our chicken raising and collecting of eggs, our garden and harvesting of our season - and all the weekly fun we were having with our grandchildren.  We were down to 6 chickens - but within a 3 week period, we ended up feeding the local wildlife, and all 6 chickens were gone by raccoons, coyotes and bobcats.  I was pretty disappointed, mostly because of the cost of eggs at the grocery store and I had become quite attached to the chickens, as had  our grandchildren.  This happened right at the same time our garden had quit producing and had become completely overcome by weeds and over grown grass.  It's like we had lost everything we had spent months and months working on.  Discouraging.
The second week in July, Del went with a large group of youth and adults in the ward, to Nauvoo on a week long trip to Carthage jail, and the Nauvoo pageant.  It was a wonderful experience for him and the rest of those who were able to go - an experience shared through testimonies and Sacrament meeting talks for weeks to come.  The event brought a special spirit to our ward as those who went would share the emotions and spirit they had with the rest of us.  It was wonderful.
The end of the month brought our 33rd anniversary and Kylie's birthday, both of which Del spent in Boston on business.

Del sent me flowers for our anniversary.

He was still in Boston on August 6th, which day was a life changing experience for me.  With Del gone, I turned to Alana, my dear friend , for help in taking me to and from the hospital where I had my surgery done - yes, I had a tummy tuck and lipo suction surgery, both of which were huge for me. I had planned to have it done in December, but then got anxious and more and more excited about it, and decided I really didn't want to have it done during the holidays, so I moved it up to August, when Dr Henao was out of the office for two weeks.  So, I took my vacation at that time and had the surgery done.

The skin removed from my tummy - football size and from hip to hip.

The fat removed from my sides and top of my hips

The compression wrap I have worn for the past 8 weeks

It was painful, but SOOOO worth it.  I can't tell you how happy I am - the surgery went well...the healing went perfect and the results are perfect.  I went from a size 16-18 tops/dresses/skirts - to a size 12 top and dresses and a size 10 skirt and pants.  I feel wonderful and beautiful.  I've waited over 30 years for this.  And even though I moved the plans up by 6 months that put a little financial crush on us, Del is pleased with the results too.  He teases me that I look like I have been cut in half, but when I wear the pretty skinny dress to church, and he sees me from across the room, I can see his smile and reaction to my new figure.  It makes me finally feel beautiful. Since the surgery, I have lost an addition 13-15 pounds and continue to try and lose a little more.

My new Sunday dress

Del keeps me grounded though and reminds me to not be prideful...and that we're going to be paying off the surgery for the next 3 months.  I'm humbled...and grateful.

I was out of commission for about the whole month of August - no church, no driving except to dr. appt's...I worked, but very lightly and very slowly.  The healing won't be complete until at about 6 months post surgery.  Right now, the hip to hip scar is not painful at all - in fact, it's still fairly numb. But my stomach muscle, which he sutured back together and repaired, is very sore whenever I don't wear my compression wrap.  Dr tells me I am supposed to re-introduce myself to my stomach muscle and become friends again.  I haven't had a stomach muscle in over 23 years.  I don't want a six pack, but I do want to keep things nice and tight.

After I was finally up and around, it was time to address the over run with weeds and grass garden, doing more canning and getting new chickens to raise - this all happened the first week in September.

Plus, we had MULTIPLE fun visits from the grandchildren with lots and lots of memories...those are the pictures I have posted first...

Summer canning of chicken and chicken noodle soup - our shelves are full of storage!!

And then on September 6th, Del came home from the supply store with 20 new chickens - baby chickens...and he and the boys moved the chicken coop over to a new area by the swing set and then Del built a temporary cage for them to stay in the garage for about three weeks - we just moved them out to the coop this past weekend (October 3-4th). The grandchildren LOVE the new chickens - sometime they even skype Papa, just so he'll move his phone to where the chicks are so they can see them. Several of them have been named - Sunhine(by Madi, who can't say the 2nd 's'), Smokey, by Preston...and a few other names I haven't quite caught...  But little Emerson can't say 'chick', so he just goes around the house making the sound, meaning he wants to go see them.

BYU football started the beginning of September also, and so I have been a very happy camper.  I love the football season, especially BYU games - BUT, our Heisman trophy hopeful quarterback, was injured the very first game and is now out for the season.  That dampened things a little - but we won our first two games against ranked teams, then lost two games, and then won last weeks game. The beginning of September, I also celebrated my two year anniversary at Bliss Orthodontics.  I love my job - I love the people I work with - just a fun place.

Another important thing to mention - is that during the past three months, we have had three of our 12 Apostles pass away - President Boyd K. Packer, Elder L.Tom Perry and then Elder Richard G. Scott.  All three had beautiful funerals and are terribly missed.  This past weekend was General Conference and three new apostles were called to the quorum.

The last thing to document or write about, is probably the most significant of all.  But it will merit having it's own blog post and so I will close this one and start the new one titled

Lucy Beth Crump.

The Great 'Come Back'

I know.
It's been a long time....days, weeks, and yes, even months...
This is to advise you that, I'm back.  And have a LOT of catching up to do.
So, stay tuned in the coming days, weeks and yes, even months, for my 'come back update'.
There's LOTT's to share and LOTT's to remember....

A Little Harvest is Better Than Nothing

I've had mixed emotions about our garden this year.
First, we planted it differently than last year - as far as where everything was planted, and how much. Del did most of the planting with me helping with the big stuff.  And then...the rains came - and came - and came some more.  Our potatoes rotted in the ground - our strawberries were overtaken by grass and weeds.  The tomatoes flooded and our green beans looked hopeless.  I lost interest in all of it when Del had to prematurely dig up the potatoes - and we had a poor showing for so much work put in to it.  The onions then got dug up - the peppers never really gave us anything more than 2-3 green peppers - the chickens got to our tomatoes before we could - squash never produced - and now, the green beans are finally starting to come on.  But even our several rows of green beans had several plants that never even grew - so the rows look very sparse and spread out unevenly.  But, we've had enough for me to share two nice pickings of potatoes and green beans to give to our neighbors and to members of the ward -.
And now that I have finally promised Del I won't give away any more of our garden, I finally saved up enough pickings to can some green beans tonight!!!  YAH!!! We didn't can ANY last year, so I'm pleased with anything this year.  I'm hoping to get maybe even one or two more pickings to actually can another night.  I would be thrilled with that.
The rest of the garden is lost - weeds and grass have over taken the whole thing.  Between Del and I, and our busy schedules, we have not had the time or energy to keep up with having it look nice...it's embarrassing -.  Still producing, but embarrassing.
But...I have green beans up on my shelves.
I call it a successful year.

Ten Second Litter Box and Kitty Cottage

How do I even begin to explain this??
Del has started a business with a man in our ward, Micheal Jackson - (yes, really his name).  Mike had this idea of a kitty litter box, Del had the funding and the smarts for putting it into a business...and now, 5 months later, they officially launched their new product on the fourth of July.
It is a disposable kitty litter box - and it's brilliant.  And everyone that has tried it out, literally LOVE it - and so, they have a website, a place they can be ordered - and they are placing it into certain stores.  Of course,, we're hoping it make us millions...but I would be happy to just have my husband back. It has taken literally hundreds of hours to get this adventure up and running - and he has been more than extremely busy.  But it's been very important to him - and I'm trying to be very supportive and helpful when I can.  But I have mostly been in the background watching everything come together.
I hope it's everything Del wishes it to be...and more.

Fourth of July

Mike and Kylie hosted a family barbecue the night before with shishkabobs.

Emerson loved watching t.v. 

Our Patriotic Madison

swimming fun

getting ready for the fireworks

Emerson wanted to help his daddy light the fireworks

front row view

sparklers!!

She's adorable 

Add caption