Baylee and Owen Pictures

Owen is two weeks old today!

And what a crazy two weeks they have been!
Owen is such a sweet little guy we really could not have asked for a better baby! He sleeps really well at night for a 2 week old! He hardly ever fusses and calms down really easily.

Baylee has been such a good big sister! She loves him and is soooo sweet to him! I think over all she is taking all of the changes really well.

Mark is my hero! He has been the BEST the last two weeks! As he said in his blog post I have been pretty sick since we've been home and he has been amazing! He's taking care of me, Owen, and Baylee!

My family has been awesome! Especially my mom she's been over a lot to clean and help with the kids! Brian has come over to play with Baylee a few times and he's been a life saver! Same with my dad and steph! Marks parents have also been so helpful by taking Baylee over to their house to play so Mark and I could rest when we have needed too!

And as I already said this little guy has been amazing!


Now for the gross stuff. . .
Ok so here is the whole story. As you know I had to have an emergency c section when Owen was born. It wasn't what I wanted but I was already kind of mentally prepared for it because he'd been breech before and I was worried something like that would happen.
After my c section while I was in the hospital I really felt pretty good. I was encouraged to eat a lot and I did eat quite a bit and didn't really have any problems. I threw up a few times at the hospital but they gave me an anti noshia pill and that seemed to help. When we left the hospital on Sunday my stomach was still pretty big and the nurse was concerned I might have a blockage in my bowel. The doctor that released me wasn't worried so I went home expecting every thing to me fine.
On Monday most of the day I was really uncomfortable and bloated so we called the doctors office to see what we should do. They told me to take this stuff to get things flowing so I did. But after that I started having diarrhea. Then I started vomiting which was the worst! I threw up everything! It was really weird and I was pretty sure it was stuff that I had eaten in the hospital and had just been rotting in my stomach because my bowels weren't working properly. I had a slight fever and just didn't feel good. I called my doctors office they told me it was normal but I might want to come in the next day for an IV because I was probably dehydrated. So I was thinking ok maybe I just needed to get all of that junk cleared out of my system and now I'll start to feel better.
I went in for the IV last Wednesday and it hydrated me but also made my diarrhea much worse! (gross I know!) My doctor looked at me and said I seemed fine and he didn't think I had an infection because my fever wasn't very high.
By this point I was so exhausted and my milk had never really come in because of the lack of food and water I could keep down! So I had decided that if I was going to get better I just wasn't going to have the energy to breastfeed. Especially because I would nurse Owen and he'd still need more and we'd have to get him a bottle right after. So it was turning into extra work.
On Thursday I was in bed taking a little nap and Owen was sleeping in the pack n play by my bed. He started to fuss to I got up to get him a bottle when I felt a little blood clot come out. I yelled for Mark to get Owen a bottle while I ran to the bathroom. I was having bright red blood again which I hadn't had in a few days! I called the doctors office and they said if I filled more than a pad in an hour call them back and they probably have me come in. When I hung up the phone I realized I was filling up a pad an a matter of minutes and it wasn't going to take an hour. I ran to the bathroom and blood was getting everywhere. Mark called the clinic back and the nurse put him on hold while she went to talk to the doctor. I was standing in the bathroom trying to keep Baylee out so she wouldn't see all of the blood. Finally I passed a big clot almost the size of my fist and the bleeding slowed a lot. I was calling people in our ward trying to find someone we could take Baylee too while we ran to the doctors office or the er. Mark gave me his phone so I was on hold with the nurse and he started taking baylee out to the car when the nurse came back on the line. She said that the doctor said it was normal and my uterus was just contracting. So we didn't have to go anywhere! It was a pretty crazy few minutes!
Then on Friday I called the doctor and told them that my lochia was kind of foul smelling which I hadn't really realized before because I thought it was just because of the diarrhea. So they didn't have me come in but they gave me a prescription for an antibiotic. Now I thought I would finally be getting better! I just had a little infection and now the antibiotic would take care of it. I had also noticed a swollen red lump above my incision but I figured I'd just see if it went down over the weekend since the doctors office was closed anyways. The antibiotic seemed to be making me feel a little better but my red lump wasn't going away.
So Monday morning I called the nurses line at the doctors office right at 9 when they opened I told the nurse about my lump so she said she's talk to my doctor about it and call me back. I've always really liked my doctor but since I've been home from the hospital this time I've been really frustrated because he just doesn't seem to care that I've been miserable for the last two weeks. I guess post natal care isn't as important to him or something! So about an hour later the nurse called me back and said of course they didn't want me to come in and just to watch the lump for the next week or so and see if the antibiotic would make it go away. But she said if it got bigger then to call back in. Of course!
Yesterday was the first day Mark went back to work since Owen was born and my mom was going to come over a little later in the morning to help me. Baylee had woken up and we went downstairs and she wouldn't eat breakfast so I just turned Curious George on for her and gave her some milk and apple slices and went back upstairs to get Owen. I gave him a bottle and was sitting down in a chair. I lifted Owen up on my shoulder to burp him and I smelled this really nasty smell! It was really strong and I thought what in the world that couldn't be coming from Owen's diaper could it? So I stood up to change him and a realize I have pus coming out of my incision!
This is where I'm really luck Owen is suck a good baby because I just laid him down in his pack n play and he just laid there looking around! He's such a happy little guy!
So I called the doctors office but the nurses line wasn't open yet so I had to wait until 9 to talk to them. I called my mom and she dropped everything and ran out to my house with my brother who thank goodness is home from school for the summer and doesn't have a job right now. So they got to my house in about 20 minutes. Before they got there Baylee had come upstairs looking for me at first she didn't really seem to notice all the goo on my shirt and pants and she just started brushing her teeth and pulling out all of the floss. After a few minutes she looks at me and goes, "mommy what's on your shirt?"
After my mom and brother got there I was able to get a hold of a nurse and they said my doctor was not in the office but I could see another doctor at 10. So I changed my clothes and cleaned up a little. My oozing had mostly stopped by this point. We went to the doctor and he said that I did obviously have an infection and that the antibiotic I was on probably just wasn't strong enough. He said it was a good thing I wasn't breastfeeding because then they could give me a better antibiotic. He also said that they would have to open up the top layer of my incision and clean out the infection and just leave it open and pack it with gauze. So that's what he did yesterday. I actually feel much better. It's easier to get up without all of the pressure from that lump!
So I figure now I'm officially on the mend! My doctors office actually even called ME today to see how I was feeling. I've felt like I've been driving they nuts calling them like some crazy person for the last two weeks. I guess now they care that at least makes me feel good!
Ok well this story has gotten way long and I haven't even touched on how amazing Mark has been! He really has been so good! I think that is experience has brought us closer together as a family and a couple and I'm really grateful for that!

Happy Birthday Dad!

We celebrated my dad's 60th Birthday yesterday! We had dinner at Temppanyaki in Layton and then we came back to my house to have cake and ice cream after! Love you dad! Happy Birthday!

I love Jen

Jen is so amazing. As many of you know, she's not been having the best of times recovering from her c-section. She has an infection and other complications that have made her less than happy. Luckily I have had a lot of sick leave saved up and was able to stay home with her all last week.

I can't remember which day it was exactly, but she said something to me that made me love her even more than I already did. She said, "Mark, you've been working so hard, you should take a break from taking care of me and go golfing."

--mark b.

Baylee meets her brother Owen!

Good news! Owen got out of NICU yesterday. He is doing really well! We love this little guy so much and we are so grateful to have him!

I have been so surpised at what a good little nurser this guy is! He just latches on and goes for it. It's a big change from feeding Baylee right after she was born! That was a challenge!
Here is Baylee looking at her little brother! She got him that little duck toy as a present!
It's so nice to have Owen in our room with us! It will be nicer when we can go home
Here's our family!
Baylee kept saying how little owen is! She wanted to look at his little hadns and feet!

Baby Owen!

He's here! Owen Mark Berger was born May 12th 2010 at 8:18 p.m. He was delivered via c section after a 12 plus hour labor. His cord was wrapped around his neck and my doctor really tried to get him out without surgery but Owen's heart rate was dropping and it was causing him a lot of stress. So they rushed us in for an emergency c section. Owen weighed 6lbs 15oz and is 20 1/2 inches long!
The good thing was I was already somewhat prepared for the idea of having a c section because Owen kept switching from breech to head down! When labor started taking so long and right from the beginning the nurse was really worried about his cord getting pinched I had a pretty good idea that it would end in a c section.

Poor Mark probably had it worse that I did during the c section. I was knocked out and didn't have any idea what was going on, but he saw the whole thing. He said when they pulled Owen out he couldn't tell if he was still alive. Scary! They hurried and whisked Owen away and soon Mark heard him cry so he knew he was alright! When I woke up I asked Mark a couple of times if he'd been born yet because I couldn't remember the answer.


This is after my c section I hadn't even seen the baby yet! They cleaned him up and took him to the newborn intensive care unit! He's still there now but I go down every few hours to nurse him! He's doing really well they just want to monitor his heart rate because it's a little low. But other than that everything else is good!
This is me during labor. My epidural wore off once and I was really grumpy but after they gave me another dose I was much happier.

Owen's big sister Baylee has a little cold this week so she has not been able to come see him yet. Thanks Grandma for taking such good care of her! We love you and really appreciate it!

Happy Graduation Daddy!

We celebrated Mark's graduation on Friday! He finished all of his classes back in December but the University of Utah only has a graduation ceremony in the spring. Mark has a "man crush" on Jon Huntsman Jr and Ambassador Huntsman just happened to be the keynote speaker at the commencement ceremony. He gave a very good speech!
Here is Mark walking into the arena! I got a picture of the jumbo tron just in time! The students graduating with Masters degrees got to sit on the floor so we had a good view of him. I thought that was pretty cool!

Ok now the pictures are out of order but I don't want to download them again. This was dinner after we left the U. We stopped at Boston's in Layton to eat. My mom and I both got Mark Garmin Nuvi's!

This was during Convocations! The Master of Public Administration program is in the college of Social and Behavioral Science and they had a ton of graduates!

This was Mark with Rick Green the director of the program.
Here is Baylee at the luncheon we went to between the commencement and convocations.

This is Jon Huntsman speaking at commencement!





This is Baylee during the convocation!

He Turned!

Good news! The baby turned! I was starting to get worried because he has been breech for the last two weeks. The doctor said that he thought the baby would turn on his own but if the baby didn't the doctor would try and turn him. That process is called an external cephalic version or ECV and I was not looking forward to that. I had read online that it's performed in the hospital because it can be dangerous and it only works about 58% of the time. If it doesn't work then you have a c section. So I was getting nervous about he possibility of a c section.
Mark fasted for me on Sunday then after church he gave me a priesthood blessing. In the blessing he said that the baby would turn and that gave me a comforting feeling. On Sunday night while I was laying in bed I could feel the baby moving a lot and it really almost felt like he was rolling. I just really didn't want to get my hopes up though because I wasn't sure if he had turned or not. I was still surprised and excited when I went to the doctor today and he said that the baby is now in the perfect position.
I'm just so grateful to have the gospel in our lives. Also to have a husband who holds and exercises the priesthood! It's such a blessing to me and our family!

Baylee Loves Elmo