Rosann & Pete Family

Aubrey Rose Owen-8

2011-03-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

The day of discharge, we left the U-Hospital around 2:30 PM. From Rosann: “I woke-up many times during the night to go to the bathroom. I had so much fluid in my body and now it is all coming out! :) I woke-up around 4:30am and couldn’t go back to sleep. My breasts are in a lot of pain. Around 6:30am a doctor came in and said that I would most likely be able to leave today!!! I am so excited. Around 8am I ate breakfast. My appetite is completely back. It feels good to be recovering. Later that morning the Head OB came in and talked to me about my future. She says that there is a 50% chance that I will get severe pre-eclampsia again if I get pregnant. I don’t like the sound of that. She is doing a research study to try to find a treatment/cure for pre-eclampsia. I want to have more kids, but Pete and I decided that it is too risky on my health. It looks like we will be adopting. I hope they find a treatment for pre-eclampsia. The OB told me that I will need to be on blood pressure medication and that I need to monitor my blood pressure everyday. I will need to visit with my OB in Ogden weekly for the next month as well. The rest of the morning we waited around until I could be discharged. We watched a couple episodes of Saturday Night Live. Then we ate lunch and they took my IV out!! I feel so free! Pete then started to pack up our things and to load our car. My nurse gave me information of how to take care of myself at home. Then when she saw how much pain I was in due to my breasts lactating she said we should pump the milk out to relieve the pain. I wasn’t so sure about this because I know that if you pump them, then that just encourages the milk to come in more. But she didn’t want me to be in that much pain. It felt good to pump. Then we were finally able to leave. After we left the hospital we wanted to go visit the Mount Olivet Cemetery, where our Aubrey will be buried. Pete and I decided that it would be best to have her cremated and have her ashes buried with the other infants who died. The cemetery was so beautiful! There was a nice grass area where Aubrey will be buried.

There is a very sweet poem on a plaque there too. Apparently deer live in the cemetery. We saw one in the distance. There is a very sweet spirit here. I cried a lot. You never picture yourself leaving the hospital after delivering a child to go visit the cemetery where you will have to bury that child. Trials are a part of life, but losing a child is the hardest trial I’ve ever had to endure. I miss my little Aubrey so much already. I was so excited when I found out that I was pregnant. Pete and I have wanted children so badly. We have a daughter now, but she only lived an hour before returning to heaven. I can’t wait to see her again. When we arrived home, we found that our friends had helped pack our things! We are moving in a week and were stressed about how we were going to get everything packed. We also found that several people had dropped off cards of comfort and support. It really made us realize that when other people go through hard trials, that it is so important that we are there for them. It really meant a lot to us. We knelt down and prayed, thanking our Heavenly Father for our many blessings.

Aubrey Rose Owen-7

2011-03-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

From Pete: “Rosann was on the magnesium until 4 AM this morning. I woke up and was feeling really woozy. I couldn’t put my finger on what was making me sick, I had to leave the room. So, I went for an early walk. After the walk I still felt terrible, my head was nauseated… so I took a shower. On another subject, in the shower, I broke down crying about the loss of my little girl. It took me some time to stop… I was really sad at her loss. When I finally stopped, I asked myself, ‘is this how it’s going to be? Am I going to just break down at random moments?’ I accepted the fact that I probably would and I assumed Rosann would as well. I knew I needed to be there for her when that happened. After the shower experience, I was still feeling a little sick, so I went downstairs and typed a lot of this experience in this journal. It didn’t last too long before I knew I needed to throw-up. I ran down the hall and into the public bathroom and let it all go. I, physically, felt amazing the rest of the day. For Rosann, the rest of the day was mostly recovery; however, her personality started to recover quickly. That was nice to see her ‘coming to’ from the mag. That medicine is so important and was preventing her from going into a seizure, but at the same time, that was horrible stuff. I was glad to see her recover. Meanwhile, we were both recovering emotionally, from what we had just experienced. We talked a lot about it. We kept reassuring ourselves in the plan of salvation and that we would see our little girl again. In the meantime, many people sent beautiful flowers for Rosann and our room was starting to smell like a flower shop :).

Later that afternoon, the nurses said Rosann could go for a short walk. That was an amazing experience. She walked slowly, but we had a good time walking to the edge of the U-hospital’s property and looking at the view. During the last few days, there were times where I thought I might lose her. At the same time, the thoughts kept running through my head that I would have to make a decision between her and Aubrey… that decision came and I had Rosann. I was extremely happy to have her and even happier to be walking with her. I don’t know what I would have done, had I lost both her and Aubrey. I have no idea how I would recover from something like that. Later that evening, we watched a movie that our friends had dropped off. That was very thoughtful and nice of them. Overall, today was emotional, but a wonderful day with my recovering wife.” From Rosann: “I was so happy at 4am when they took me off the mag! I really want to go home today. I just want to be in my own bed. I ate a good breakfast and then around 10am the CNA took out my catheter. It is exciting to think that I can use the toilet again. I am still really fat looking from all the fluid trapped inside of me. I still look pregnant too. The nurse comes in a couple times a day and pushes on my stomach area. This helps my uterus contract and to return to where it should be. It is really painful when they do this. The 2^nd counselor in our Bishopric, surprised us with a visit. It was nice of him to travel all the way from North Ogden to come check on us. We told him about our experience with losing our daughter. We are grateful for the gospel though and the peace that it brings. Then Pete and the counselor went out to lunch and I ate lunch in my bed. That afternoon, Pete and I watched a movie. He sat in my hospital bed and watched it with me. It was so nice to sit so close. It was fun to do something to get my mind off everything that is going on. Then the nurse gave me permission to go on a walk. I got dressed (it felt so weird wearing normal clothes and not wearing the hospital gown with my back all exposed). I am very, very slow at walking. I held onto Pete’s arm the entire time. It was my first time seeing the hospital. It reminds me of an airport. It felt good to go outside. I felt like everyone was staring at me. I look like I’ve been in a bad accident. I have so many bruises from them taking my blood so often. Plus I was walking like a 92- year-old lady and I look fat and pregnant. :) Then we ate dinner. My blood pressure for the most part has been high today. They are going to keep me at least one more day. I can tell that I need the recovery time from being on the mag. Then that night Pete and I watched “Catch me if you can”. I love watching movies with my husband. My breasts are starting to lactate. I didn’t sleep too well that night because of the lactation. It is painful. The nurses just have me wrap them with ace bandages and put ice packs on them. It is hard to sleep when you have ice packs on your chest!

Aubrey Rose Owen-6

2011-03-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

Aubrey Rose Owen was born 10.6 oz, 9” at 3:43 AM. Her heart was beating around 32 bpm, but she could not breathe. Her heart continued to decline in beat to about 8 bpm, until the time the nurse noticed no beat at 4:43 AM. From Rosann: “Right after Aubrey was born, they cleaned her up and then I got to hold her. She was so tiny and cute. I was so tired and numb from the medication. I had a hard time holding her because of this. I handed her over to Pete to let him hold her.” From Pete: “When Aubrey was born, the nurses briefly cleaned her up then handed her to Rosann. I could tell the medication they gave Rosann beat her up and after a short time of holding her, Rosann handed her to me. I looked down at little Aubrey and gave her a name and a blessing. Even though the plan of Heavenly Father provided Aubrey with all of the blessings of this life, I felt prompted to do this. She was so light and fit nicely in my two hands. She was a baby, just a very tiny one. I began to look at all of her features and the first thing I noticed was that she had the ‘Owen nose’. She had the little slit in the nose that we all have and I found that to be very cute. I looked at her wrists, arms, and legs… she had inherited those from her mother. Even though she wasn’t completely developed, she had a ‘Goode shaped face’, that she got from Rosann’s mom’s side of the family. I imagine our little Aubrey as looking like her mother with my nose. That was a little weird to imagine. After thinking about Aubrey’s features, I pondered upon her going to the celestial kingdom and I thought ‘she is already there, we just need to get ourselves there’. After these thoughts, I wondered if she had died in my arms. A few minutes later, our nurse came into the room and took Aubrey from me to measure her heartbeat. It had decreased significantly, but was beating at about 8 bpm. Once the nurse left, two nurses came into the room to take pictures of our little family; they were somber pictures as one might imagine. After the nurses left, I knew Aubrey had a little heart beat and I felt like I should give her a father’s blessing. This would be the only one she would ever receive from me. I blessed her that her future husband would be an amazing person. I told her we would look forward to rearing her in the millennium and that her family was so blessed to have her. I also blessed her that her passing would be completely painless. After the blessing, I held Aubrey for a little while, I cannot remember all of my thoughts… but I do remember that many of them were focused on the Savior and his atonement. Shortly after these thoughts, the nurse returned and checked Aubrey’s heartbeat while in my arms. She used the smallest little stethoscope I have ever seen. The nurse checked for two minutes and could not hear the heartbeat; our little Aubrey had died in my arms. She was now in the celestial kingdom. The nurse declared the time of death at 4:43 AM. After this, the nurse went to get the other two who would complete moldings and dress her up.

Rosann was not coherent, due to the medication, and I pondered more upon the experience. I never once asked why, I always asked ‘what does Heavenly Father want Rosann and I to learn from this experience? What does he want us to understand?’ I then began to think… so many people go through similar struggles and you have been blessed by all of the support, thoughts, and prayers from others. I knew we needed to be more conscientious of others from this point on. I knew we had the capacity to help others who were in mourning, I knew we could pray more for them, and I knew we could give back and be a support to them. Lastly, I again thought to myself. We need to make sure we are ready to return to the celestial kingdom. I want to be with my little Aubrey again.

A few minutes later, the nurses came in and we said goodbye to Aubrey. The staff planned to clean her up for some additional pictures and make some moldings of her feet and hands. When they finished, Rosann was still not feeling well, so I went into the room and took some pictures with Aubrey all dressed up beautifully. I am so grateful for the nurses and their being so sensitive to us throughout the experience.” From Rosann: “Right after I gave birth to our little angel, the nurses put me back on the magnesium. The first 6 to 12 hours were the worst. I felt very hot and nauseated. I was also very sensitive to light. I wanted a cloth over my eyes at all times. They also gave me oxygen. Apparently my breathing was slowing down. Even though I was exhausted, I was afraid to fall asleep, I wasn’t sure if I would wake up. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to leave Pete all alone. I said a lot of prayers to help me overcome my fear of dying in my sleep. I was able to fall asleep. Then around 9am the nurse woke me up. I asked for the oxygen to be taken off. Then the nurse told me that they would be moving me to a different room. She knew that there was no way I would be able to get up so they wheeled me out on the bed and transferred me to the new bed and the new room I would be staying in. This room would only be temporary though because it was near other rooms with mothers and babies and the nurses didn’t want me to have to hear babies crying. I was so hungry. Pete fed me some Italian ice and I ate as many graham crackers, saltine crackers, and jello that I could. These food items are the only things that I can keep down while I am on the magnesium. I also had the experience of using a bedpan this morning. I never hope to use one again. It was very uncomfortable on so many levels. I was very dizzy and was seeing double. We had a social worker come talk to us. I haven’t even started the grieving process. All this medication makes me feel numb. I am sure that I will cry about all this one day. Pete has had an emotional time today. It is so opposite of how Pete and I react to things. I am usually the one who is crying uncontrollably about whatever and Pete is so strong and never cries. The social worker told us that it is ok to cry. We should have special traditions to remember our daughter. Pete and I will always celebrate her birthday. This brings joy to me. Around 5pm they moved me to a different room. Each room seems smaller and smaller. It is starting to make me feel insane. Also I feel like I am in a coffin. I am constantly lying down and I haven’t sat up since yesterday afternoon. I am getting a lot better care though in the new room. They check on me every hour. They take my blood pressure and they check my reflexes to make sure that they aren’t giving me too much magnesium. I love it when they check my reflexes. It feels good to have someone touch my arms, legs and feet. They will continue this all night, until 4 am when they will finally take me off of the magnesium. All of my family and Pete’s family came to visit tonight. It was exhausting. I only had one person in the room at a time. We talked about how I was feeling and I wanted to know what thoughts they were feeling as well. We keep getting more and more flowers. Our room is starting to smell like a floral shop. That night I had a hard time going to sleep. I just want to leave this hospital. I am losing my mind. I just want to sleep in my own bed. Pete did a great job to distract me. He gave me a back massage and he also made finger puppets that he portrayed on the ceiling with the flashlight on his phone. I love my husband. He is always there for me. I was finally able to calm down and to go to sleep.” From Pete: “I showered while Rosann was on the mag and the shower was amazing! I hadn’t taken a shower since Sunday. The other thing that happened later was they gave me a steak and eggs breakfast. I guess it is tradition for hospitals to give new fathers a steak meal… I didn’t know this was the case until later that evening when our families visited. While our families visited I spent time with them. The nurses were so nice and set up a waiting area for all of us in the hospital’s old nursery. They brought us a complimentary snack cart for both families. It really was just nice to have that family support there. While my father visited Rosann, I told my dad I was having a difficult time with the whole situation and he gave me a father’s blessing. I was so grateful for my dad and his being worthy to give me priesthood blessings. It was a blessing of comfort and I felt a lot of peace. Also, while our families were there, I showed them the moldings the nurses made of little Aubrey’s feet and hands. They were so adorable.”

Aubrey Rose Owen-5

2011-03-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

From Pete: “Rosann had a difficult morning, we slept pretty well that evening, but Rosann had some difficulty with the restroom in the morning. I felt so bad for her and I knew she was embarrassed, so I left the room to use the restroom myself. A little later I went to get some breakfast. I’ve been eating in the cafeteria and the food has been ok. It’s much more expensive than the cafeteria at Ogden Regional. I relaxed down there for a while and then I returned to the room. Rosann was feeling much better and had fallen back to sleep. I decided to go downstairs and to pay some bills online and take care of some other items. After I returned, the head OB on duty for the week dropped by to visit. This would turn into one of the most difficult conversations at the hospital. She made a bit of small talk, then proceeded to tell us the entire story. She knew our OB from Ogden and had conversed with him about the situation, she reviewed all of the lab work and other charts the nurses had been keeping track of, and saw the most recent blood work results. She explained that the picture was grim. I already knew the picture was grim and that we’d have to make a decision sooner or later, I just didn’t expect her to come in and that be the first thing for her to speak with us about. She told us Rosann’s health was life threatening, the results she was seeing could lead to liver and kidney failure, pretty quickly, and she thought the only reason the results seemed in any kind of stable state was because of the steroids Rosann was given on Saturday. Basically, we needed to deliver the baby or Rosann could die. We asked if we could see the results of the amniocenteses, but she said they had not arrived... she was trying to follow up with them as we were speaking. We also asked her if the results would make a difference in the decision. She said regardless of the results. Rosann’s health was at stake.” From Rosann: “This morning didn’t start out too great. Yesterday I tried to get up to use the bathroom but was too weak to leave my bedside. This morning I called the nurse and told her that I needed to use the bathroom. She said she needed to check with another nurse to see if I would be ok to get up. When she came back however it was too late. I waited in the bathroom while she cleaned up my bed. I felt like a 90-year-old lady. Later that day we met the U’s head OB. Up to this point I have always put our baby Aubrey’s health first. I wanted to keep her in me as long as possible, even if it meant that I would be on bed rest until her due date. Unfortunately with the results of my blood test, I wouldn’t even be alive that long. Pete and I had to make the hardest decision of our lives. Pete told me his greatest fear would be to lose me. We made the decision to have me start going into labor that evening. My family came up to visit along with my aunts and uncles who live in SLC. I bore my testimony to them of the power of prayer and the power in the priesthood. I am grateful that God allowed me to get pregnant in the first place. Being pregnant these last 24 weeks has been the happiest time of my life. In the last 5 days I have felt the prayers from family, friends, and ward members. I have felt more at peace and loved by my Heavenly Father because of this power of prayer. Also in the last 5 days I have received a priesthood blessing everyday. I have never felt so close to my Savior. I am so grateful that Pete is able to give me a blessing anytime I ask for it.” From Pete: “At 7pm they started Rosann’s delivery. They gave her some medicine to loosen up her cervix. They said that labor could take up to 24 hours and that they would be giving her this same medicine every 4 hours. We knew that Aubrey wouldn’t survive and because of this the doctors said that there was no reason that Rosann had to be in any pain during labor. They would give her all the pain medication she wanted.” From Rosann: “I felt slight cramping up until midnight. Then they gave me more medication to loosen the cervix. I started to feel more severe cramping that lasted for 30-second intervals. I asked for more pain medication as well. Then I decided if the pain got any worse, I would need an epidural. A doctor came in around 3:15am and explained the epidural process. By this point I was starting to feel the pain medication really working and decided to hold off on the epidural. It was a good thing too. Around 3:30ish my water broke. The nurse taught me to breathe correctly during the contractions. Then I felt a wave of 2 painful contractions and the baby came right out.

Aubrey Rose Owen-4

2011-03-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

From Pete: “I woke up from a difficult night of rest and prepared to travel down to the U hospital to see Rosann and attend church. I decided I would fast and pray for Rosann, so I didn’t eat breakfast, and I decided I would break my fast at 5 PM. I finished getting dressed and traveled to SLC. Again, this was a difficult trip for me. I listened to Classical 89 and made it down there around 9:30 AM. Rosann’s mom was ready for me to take her place. I felt so bad, she was unable to completely pull out the couch-bed and she had to sleep diagonal on it. It looked uncomfortable. I spent the next half hour with Rosann just holding her hand and tryin g to help her with whatever I could. I helped brush her teeth :).

At 10 AM I went to the U sacrament meeting. It was a half-hour meeting for the employees, patients, and their visitors. It was a beautiful little chapel called the Hope Chapel; many different denominations use this chapel for their services. The service was great and taking the sacrament was a really touching and meaningful experience for me. I had a hard time singing the opening hymn because of all the thoughts running through my head… mainly the thought that I may lose my little daughter. If all of the things threatening Rosann continued to keep up, we would have to make a decision, and Aubrey would not be able to survive. I felt a little alone and I tried to remember my Savior. After the service, I pulled aside a Senior Missionary Elder and I asked if they could bring the sacrament to my wife. They introduced me to a young married couple and said that they coordinated all of the sacrament delivery throughout the hospital. The husband looked familiar to me and I asked him... ‘Greg, I know you from somewhere. Where do I know you from?’ He said, ‘yeah, you look familiar as well. Are you from Bountiful?’ I told him, ‘No, did you wrestle?’ he said, ‘yeah, I did and I graduated in 2005.’ I told him, ‘hmmm, I am a little older than that. Did you ever attend WSU?’ His eyes then lit up and he said, ‘wait, your name is Pete. I knew you in the Purple Pak!’ Many memories came flooding into my mind and I responded, ‘oh yeah, that’s right!’ We continued the conversation and he was now attending the U of U and had been married. He loved this calling. Anyway, that was nice to see a familiar face and I no longer felt lonely. Heavenly Father truly sent me one of his “tender mercies” as Elder Bednar has said. After I had arranged with them to bring Rosann the sacrament, I walked back to her room, No. 2404. When the people came to bring Rosann the sacrament, the young couple gave us a thought and then blessed the sacrament in our room. It was a beautiful experience and I was full of gratitude when they provide the emblems to her. The rest of the day was wonderful. I napped and served Rosann most of the day. At some point, I tried to help her get up with the nurse and that proved to be extremely tiring for her. She was worn out the rest of day. My family came to visit later that evening, mostly because my youngest brother was unable to see her… he had been in Las Vegas for his spring break. They arrived around 9 PM, briefly visited Rosann, and then waited in the Surgical ICU waiting room with me. Another brother and I played Angry Birds on our phones and watched some of Ironman. My youngest brother finally arrived and I told him the whole story. He visited with Rosann as well. I am so grateful for my family and all of their support.” From Rosann: “I woke-up in the morning and talked a little with my mom as she packed up her things. Then Pete came @ 9:30 and I was so grateful to see him. He was dressed up for church. He looked incredibly handsome. I love being married to him. He went to a sacrament meeting in the hospital. Then he came back and told me that a couple would be stopping by to give me the sacrament. I was so happy about this. They came and shared a beautiful message about Heavenly Father’s plan for us and about Jesus Christ. Then I took the sacrament. The sacrament has never meant so much to me as it did today. I thought about Christ and him suffering for our sins. Partaking of the bread and water was so symbolic. If we are always putting Christ first in our lives, all things will fall into place. We will have no reason to fear. He is the bread of life. The rest of the day wasn’t fun. I was dizzy all day and I was seeing double as well. The nurses wouldn’t let me eat until they had found out the results of my blood tests and the phlebotomists were all having a hard time taking my blood. I am swelling up so much that they can’t find my veins.

They had to bring in an ultrasound machine and do an ultrasound on my arms to locate veins. They said that they have to do this on really obese people to find their veins- that made me feel really fat! The phlebotomist couldn’t find success in taking my blood, then two nurses tried and finally a doctor had to be called in and lucky he was about to successfully take my blood with the help of the ultrasound. Then I had to wait for an hour for the results. A doctor came in and said that the results were horrible. She said that if it weren’t for the medication that my heart wouldn’t have been able to beat by itself. Finally they brought me food after I asked them so many times. Pete feed me and it was so good. We tried to have me sit up on my own and this made me really nauseated and I lost all the food I had just eaten. I was really bloated. Then we tried to have me stand so that I could go to the bathroom. I was only able to stand. This drained me of all my energy and I decided to just take a nap. Pete’s family came to visit that evening and I could only handle one person in the room at a time. It was too overwhelming otherwise. It was nice having Pete stay with me this night. It is comforting to hear him breathing in the same room and I am even starting to appreciate his snoring because it is the only familiar sound in the room. His being here for me has kept me sane.”

Aubrey Rose Owen-3

2011-03-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

From Rosann: “I was hoping today that we would be able to go home. When I woke up they took a blood test. The morning was pretty nice, my sister visited and we watched How to train your dragon. That was a cute show. It was nice to think about something different than what we were going through. At 12:30 PM the entire day changed. My nurse came in and told us that they were life-flighting me to either the University Hospital or to St. Marks in SLC. The helicopter was already on its way. I asked Pete for a priesthood blessing. In the blessing he reminded me of the atonement and that it was very important that I focus on my Heavenly Father and my Savior during my helicopter ride. They later confirmed I would be sent to the University Hospital (U), because of the proximity to Primary Children’s Hospital.

They prepared me for the flight by putting me on a catheter and gave me magnesium sulfate through IV. Magnesium Sulfate would prevent me going into a seizure, it also made my temperature rise and I felt hotter than I have ever in my life. When life-flight arrived they put me on another helicopter friendly bed. They put an ice pack on my forehead and dabbed the sweat off my face, sadly it was not enough, I threw up the omelet I had for breakfast. It was a gross time to throw up, because I was strapped into the new bed, with blankets wrapped around me, and nurses surrounding me. All of the nurses kept reassuring us that the U was the best place for me and that I and my baby would be best cared for there. My dad arrived while they were strapping me up and said he would drive to SLC to meet me at the U when I arrived. One nurse told me that I would be delivering the baby in the next 2-4 hours!! Pete thought they said 24 hours. We are still not sure what the nurse said. That really made me aware of how serious my condition was. Pete was with me the whole time. He took some pictures to remember the experience. Once they were ready to go, Pete walked out to the helicopter with me.

It was scary being wheeled into a helicopter. I felt like I was going to die. They hooked me up to oxygen for the ride. I focused on the blessing that Pete gave me. I tried to take deep breaths and to focus on my Savior and the atonement. I also thought of my grandma Rosa Lee who was in heaven looking down on me. I only looked out of the window once. I saw the mountains. The ride was incredibly short. They said the ride would be 15 minutes, but it only felt like 10. Once we landed, they quickly wheeled me out and into the hospital straight to labor and delivery. I was once again surrounded by tons of nurses and doctors who were explaining things to me. My dad arrived at the same time. Then my mom and brothers arrived. I really wanted to see Pete, but he wouldn’t be arriving for another 30 minutes or so.” From Pete: “I am going to talk about what I experienced from the moment we were told Rosann was to be life-flighted to the U. Rosann’s sister seemed scared and I asked her to go and call her parents to let them know. I walked out of the room to call my parents as well. I then started frantically packing the room. I also gave Rosann a blessing. I hadn’t been emotional until this moment, but I just started to cry as I gave her the blessing. I felt very in tune with the spirit as the blessing continued to have the same theme as the others I had given previously. Once the blessing was over more nurses came in and they gave Rosann magnesium sulfate (Mag); I could tell it was really affecting her. She was sweating and it didn’t seem like we could keep her cool. I felt so sorry for her throughout the experience. After the blessing I took everything out to the car. I honestly was so scared of all of the uncertainty that was attached to being life-flighted. People who were in serious states and those who were about to die were those that were life-flighted, right? I must have underestimated the seriousness of the situation. I just thought they were going to keep Rosann in the hospital a long-time until things got better. However, things were not getting better; apparently they were getting worse. I was scared and I kept thinking to myself… my greatest fears have come true… I might lose both my wife and my child! I followed Rosann out to the helicopter and took pictures and video to remember the experience.

Then, I booked it to SLC; it was an emotional trip to make. I cried most of the way down. I made it to the U and all I knew was that labor and delivery was on the second floor. I went up and couldn’t figure out exactly where her room was located. I stopped a nurse and she pointed me in the right direction. I checked-in at the desk and told them my wife was just life-flighted down. The showed me the room. It was right by the desk. I walked in the room; Rosann was set-up, with her parents, and brothers nearby. I was happy to see Rosann just relaxing there.” Later in the afternoon, a representative from Newborn Infant Care Unit (NICU) came to visit. She told us that our little Aubrey (300 g) was just too small to survive in NICU. Their threshold was 600 g. She also, jokingly, told Rosann 'we’re going to try to keep the baby in there as long as we can and you need to eat a bunch of Hägen-Daze.' The U’s main goal was to keep the baby in Rosann as long as possible. They were going to continue to monitor her blood pressure, urine protein content, and blood for low platelet count. Peter went to eat dinner with Rosann’s family at 5PM, because Georgiann was breaking her fast for Rosann. After dinner, Pete’s family arrived. From Pete: “when my brother and father arrived, we decided to give Rosann another blessing. That was an emotional time for me after the blessing. I was just so grateful that I had additional priesthood holders in the room and I was grateful that my father and brother were worthy and ready to give a blessing. I cried in my brother and fathers arms while giving them a hug. I think I was crying because I feared for Rosann, but I was so grateful for my brother and father’s support. There was a sweet spirit during that blessing and I felt it so strong.” A short-time later Rosann’s two sisters and their husbands arrived; additionally, our close friends came to visit as well. We were grateful for their visits. From Pete: “Around 9:30 PM Rosann’s mom decided she would watch over Rosann for the night and give me a break. I was a little worried about other things in the back of my mind. I knew we still needed to move and there was plenty of packing to be done. I also knew my moped was sitting in the middle of Downtown Ogden, with little security. The moped was parked in kind of in a dark spot as well; not really well lit. I would return home in the morning to take care of Rosann and go to church. I didn’t really want to leave, but I did so at both my family and her mother’s encouragement. I was worried things might change quickly while I was gone. My brother was kind enough to help me with the moped. We drove home together, stopped by his apartment to gather his motorcycle gear, and went to the moped. He drove the moped home and I the car. I packed up some office supplies and other personal items at the house then tried to go to sleep. I had a difficult time sleeping that evening; many things were on my mind, the most concerning being Rosann and Aubrey.” From Rosann: “I was so overwhelmed by everything that was happening. I was glad that my mom would be spending the night. Every 6 hours a phlebotomist would come in and take my blood. I am starting to look sore with all the needle pokes in my arms. I didn’t sleep well. My back is so sore from being in a hospital bed since Thursday. Plus the room seems so bright with all the monitor lights for the IV machine and blood pressure machine. My head was so hot from the Magnesium and so I slept with a fan on my head. The rest of my body felt cold though. I had my mom turn off the fan in the middle of the night, because the cool air was a bit too much.”

Aubrey Rose Owen-2

2011-03-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

Our OB doctor came over to the hospital early (2 AM) in the morning to explain everything to us. Rosann had Pre-Eclampsia and they feared her going in to Severe Pre-Eclampsia. The Pre-Eclampsia and hypertensive pressures were such that they had the potential to cause life-threatening harm to the liver and kidneys. On Friday we experienced more of the same situation, the Ogden Regional nurses and phlebotomists continued to monitor Rosann for pain in the upper-right portion of her abdomen for pain in the liver, her blood for her platelet count in the liver, and protein within the urine to monitor the kidney function. From Rosann: "The funniest phlebotomist explained to me that she passes out when she gets her own blood taken and when she stuck me she was breathing deeply to complete it." From Pete: "I spent the day calling people to inform them of the situation, rearranging our plans (I called our friend who was getting married to explain we would not make it, and canceled the dentist visit. Additionally, I spent a lot of time just hanging out in the room with Rosann and watching the NCAA Tournament. During lunch Rosann ate a chicken sandwich and was unable to hold it down. Later that evening I gave Rosann another priesthood blessing. The focus of the blessing was that her blood pressure would return to normal.” From Rosann: “I was starting to realize

that we might not be going to St. George this weekend. I was trying to relax and not to stress out anymore about what was going on. They gave me my second steroid shot in my hip to help the babies lungs develop in case I would be delivering it anytime soon. It was scary to think of going into labor when the baby was at only 24 weeks. I have never taken any birthing classes. Our OB doctor was great with explaining all of the options. Right now it looks like the baby will have to be delivered by what is called a “classical c-section”. There is nothing classy about this procedure. Since the baby is position horizontally my doctor would have to cut me open vertically. This means that any future pregnancies would have to be delivered the same way and I would never be able to carry a baby full term.” Later that evening two members of the bishopric visited, Bishop and his counselor. They came to offer support and ask if we needed anything. We told them we were not sure how long we were to be in the hospital and that the only concern on our minds was that we needed to move from our apartment to another down the street on the 30^th. They told us they would get the Elders’ quorum involved and that we shouldn’t worry about it. They asked if Rosann needed a priesthood blessing; we told her that she had already been given one earlier and yesterday. The bishopric was very empathetic and they said we would be in their prayers. Our OB doctor again visited while the bishopric was there and mentioned that her protein levels had again risen “above 3000”. We later found out that the normal value is less than 150 mg per day, or less than 10 mg per deciliter of urine. He mentioned this was definitely serious and that we would need to be in the hospital for them to monitor the situation. Later in the evening, Rosann’s mother came to visit.

Aubrey Rose Owen-1

2011-03-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Aubrey Rose Owen-----We never knew having a child would be the most joyful, sad, and emotional roller-coaster of our lives.

From Pete: "It was a pretty normal day at work. It was spring break and a beautiful day, so I decided to ride the moped to work. At 12 PM, our work team was having a St. Patrick's Day Party. During the party, the plan was to go with Rosann to our ultrasound at Ogden Regional, and then she would return me to work right after." From Rosann: "I ran some errands this morning, I got the car's oil changed and went to the post office, and then I picked Pete up for our appointment at 12:15 PM." Once we arrived at Ogden Regional the situation quickly became tense. The ultrasound still showed our little Aubrey was under-grown for her 24 weeks of gestation. She was showing growth measurements of about 20 weeks. Statistically, this was a concern to the doctor. He recommended an amniocentesis and to express delivery of the amniotic fluid to ARUP's Los Angeles Laboratory for several types of tests. Specifically, the tests were for a chromosome test and others to determine the health of the baby. So we went forward with the amniocentesis (Rosann did so good). This was an interesting experience, we could see the needle penetrate, about 1" above the baby's head, on the ultrasound monitor. Additionally, the doctor said he was concerned about Rosann's blood pressure. That was a briefly scary moment. The doctor also mentioned he needed to collect a urine sample and he was going to send us to labor and delivery for this test. So we arrived at Labor and Delivery and we find out they are admitting Rosann to the hospital and that she would have her urine monitored for protein for the next 24 hours. They also gave Rosann a steroid shot in her hip to help speed up the babies development (mainly the lungs) incase they had to deliver the baby anytime soon if the situation worsened. From Rosann: "I was kind of upset they wanted to admit me to the hospital, after all I had a dentist appointment the next morning and we had a fun trip planned to St. George. It was our friend's wedding and we planned to stay at a romantic bed and breakfast, play some golf, do a temple session, go to the sealing, finish the night at Red Robin, then head home." Additionally, her blood pressure had risen to about S:160/D:116. This measurement is considered hypertensive crisis and is off the charts. When we found this out Peter called work and explained the situation; his boss let him take the rest of the day off. From Pete: "I stayed there until about 5 PM with Rosann until her mother arrived. We decided it would be best for me to go home and pack for our trip to St. George the following day (In the event we should be released from the hospital, we were still unsure). Then, I would come back to the hospital to stay the night with Rosann. When I returned that evening, I gave Rosann a priesthood blessing. The blessing was focused much on the atonement and feeling peace throughout the experience. My parents just finished a temple session and came to visit. It was nice of them to visit and to have the support of both of our families today. The nurses and doctors began to constantly monitor her blood pressures and taking blood tests every 6 hours. They told us Rosann had Pregnancy-Induced Pre-Eclampsia. It was a long night; Rosann was in a lot of pain due to the medicine they were giving her. Plus she was starting to swell up." From Rosann:" I have never had an 'IV' in my body; that made the situation very difficult to sleep. Plus each time I needed to use the restroom, I had to carry the IV with me. Additionally, they had added air compression shin-guard looking things to my calves to prevent blood clotting. The other items that made it difficult to sleep were they woke me up for blood tests every 6 hrs and blood pressure checks every hour. Lastly, Peter was snoring and that was bothersome."

Novellette in Fourths

2009-05-10T18:55:00.001-07:00

The Man I Love

2009-05-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Jardins sous la pluie

2009-05-10T18:51:00.001-07:00

Sonata for Piano

2009-05-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

Sonata K. 308

2009-05-10T18:48:00.001-07:00

Sonata K 395

2009-04-25T01:22:00.001-07:00

Grande Valse Brilliante Opus 18

2009-04-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

Nocturne Opus 9, No.1

2009-04-23T21:16:00.000-07:00

Sonatina

2009-04-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

Rosann (Fantasy in d minor by Mozart)

2009-04-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ

2009-04-11T19:58:00.001-07:00

The latter portion of our semester...

2008-12-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Rosann and I have been doing well. I get my diploma for my Bachelors degree in a week! I am working as a Commodities Trading Analyst at Flying J Inc. full-time (they own many retail truck stops/gas stations.) It's been a great learning experience and pays well. I just got my bonus and was pretty excited about that! To tell you what I do exactly... I "hedge" the company's oil inventories. The company holds a lot of oil and that oil can change in value rapidly... it is my job to use financial instruments, kind of like stocks...but called derivatives... to protect the value of their inventory. The company also has me do financial analysis on various projects they are thinking about implementing.

Rosann is amazing; I love her a ton! She will graduate in May 09! She and I will actually "walk" together for graduation (even though I am getting my diploma next week). Right now she is taking a bowling class, nutrition class, and music classes of course. She loves her bowling class because it provides a break from her stressful schedule. She will also have her final recital, a requirement for her bachelors degree, sometime next semester. Another cool thing, which has happened for Rosann, is that her school piano club was selected to present at a national conference. This national conference is for the Music Teachers National Association... so it is quite an honor! I am really proud of her! Lastly, she is still teaching piano at the Terrace School of Music, a piano studio nearby. She teaches 20-30 students on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Other than that, we've been keeping busy with family events and church callings. I have a new church calling, but can't let you know what it is yet. I let you know once I have been officially set apart.

Back in school and other... from Pete

2008-09-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

So we're back in school now. It's been a while since we've updated this blog. We've changed the format, but we haven't actually written for a while.

For fun, we have been attending Weber State events. They are free dates and we both enjoy them (Did I mention they were free?). The first Friday of school (Labor Day weekend), student government had an AWESOME party! There were seriously about 2,000 people in the main student building (called the Union). The Union has been renovated this year and it’s really nice… really nice. People seem to like the new building and it is fostering an unprecedented social life on campus. It honestly makes me kind of jealous as a former student body president of the university. During my time, our events were never attend that well. So, I have a happy, positive outlook for WSU’s future. You could say that I am a proud Alumnus!

We also went to Bear Lake Labor day weekend. We enjoyed the cabin and went to the beach one of the days. It was tempestuous…weather wise, so we were not able to spend too much time in the water. Other than that, it was great fun! We played lots of "Settlers of Catan" with Logan and Lincoln.

A few weekends back we went to WSU’s homecoming dance. It was fun to take Rosann out and dance with her. She's beautiful and I love spending time with her.

Two weeks ago, we went to Kathryn Parkin’s soccer game. Kathryn is playing soccer for a school in WY and we attended a game she played in Provo. The team lost, but it was awesome to see my sis-in-law! There was also a fight during the game! That was absolutely the craziest thing I have ever seen.

Speaking of sports, each Saturday they have a game, we watched WSU play football. We watched them play Hawaii University in football. It was on TV and a blast to watch. WSU lost 36-17, but played an amazing game against the Warriors. I have great expectations, as a football fan for WSU, this year. They are 3-1 to date and have a tough match this weekend verses Utah.

I am currently enrolled in six credits for school. This is part-time and it is pretty easy to be honest. The weekend we returned home I interviewed with T-Mobile to do retail sales. They made me an offer to work there, a week later, but have been really slow at starting me. It has been literally a month later, they say that I am hired, but they haven’t started my training yet. I would be working at the gateway.

Because I am still out of work, I am looking for full-time work. I have interviewed twice for a commodities analyst position with Flying J Inc. I would really like to be working full-time so that Rosann can focus on preparing for her senior recital. It’s really important that she perform well and I want to make it as easy on her possible.

The Book of Mormon for Families. It doesn’t change the words of the work, but does have much more description in the foot notes. This is helpful with defining some of the words. I can see how it will be beneficial for when we have children. We have a specific spot for a study location and it's honestly something both of us look forward to each night!

Latest and the Greatest

2008-08-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Update from Pete:

We just returned home from Seattle last night at 1 am. It was a long drive to say the least. We had a little adventure on the way back. We were at the southern part of WA on Friday and the U-haul broke down. The Radiator was busted. We quickly called the emergency line and they sent a mechanic within a couple of hours. The mechanic was not able to fix the radiator on the spot, but told us he could fix it on Saturday. So we found a hotel and spent the night. The mechanic was really nice Saturday and fixed the U-haul pretty quickly.

The trip was beautiful and we loved each minute of it. We actually traveled a different route than the one I traveled to Seattle. We went south to Oregon then southeast to Utah. We wanted to stop and visit the Oregon Coast because, we heard so much fabulous commentary about its beauty. The first stop along the coast was a town called Seaside; it was beautiful, full of tourists, and had a gorgeous beach. The next stop was a town called Cannon Beach, south of Seaside 10 miles. This town was more touristy than Seaside, but we were able to stop at a local food place and have some delicious, fresh seafood. I had a scrumptious grilled salmon sandwich and the BEST CLAM CHOWDER IN MY LIFE!!!

I've finished my internship with T-Mobile, USA and we are now in Utah. It was an outstanding experience! The next steps are to purchase all of my schoolbooks, finish registering for courses, and move into married housing. I am only going to be taking two courses this semester… that’s all my scholarship requires… and I will be working full time.

As for work, I will be interviewing for a store representative position. The position would require me to travel to downtown SLC to work, but I would be okay with taking the front-runner or the bus. I am pretty used to traveling mass transit after commuting for 1.5 hours each day to T-Mobile. Anyway, wish me luck. If not, I will be working as a pizza deliveryman or something ☺

Rosann and I are doing well. Our marriage is such a blessing in my life and I am grateful to be able to be with her for “all-time and eternity.”

Oregon Coast Trip Pictures

2008-08-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

Mt. Rainer Camping Trip

2008-07-27T04:13:00.000-07:00

Chilling weekend pics

2008-07-13T04:12:00.000-07:00