I got myself an edge-a-ma-cation

That's right. I graduated. FINALLY! I now have a bachelors in science- Dental Hygiene. My name is now Jennifer Kelly RDH BS. Weird.
These last 5 years have been pretty crazy. I've gotten married, made some amazing friends, and have a baby on the way! The last 2 years in the dental hygiene program have definitely been the Hardest 2 years of my life. But it is totally worth it. My husband has been my strongest supporter. He's been there through everything, the tears, late night studying, and the ranting and raving. My family has been amazing also by coming in and being my patients, I'm so grateful! There have been times I have just wanted to give up. My friends and I have even joked around about getting hit by cars or having a freak accident that would make us unable to go to school anymore. haha. Of course we only kid! ( i question that sometimes).  A few weeks ago I took my national boards ( a written test that took me 4 1/2 hours) and last week I took my local anesthesia and process of care tests. I found out I passed the local anesthesia and process of care, but I'm still waiting on my results for national boards! My next step to getting licensed is my clinical boards. I have to find a patient with very heavy tarter and clean part of their mouth in timed setting, and then do injections on a patient ( my brother willfully agreed to be my patient ) It's pretty hard to find someone that qualifies to be my patient, so if you know of anyone who hasn't had their teeth cleaned in a long time, send them my way!

Picture overload..

 <--- We have been through everything together! These girls have become some of my closest friends and I wish them all the best in the future, I'll miss you! 

 <--We have become such close friends, I'm glad to know we'll always be in touch! I love ya!

 <-- My Grandma is so funny. When I went over to her house to give her the graduation announcement, she would just tell me over and over again how I am the smartest girl in the whole wide world and she doesn't know how I did this and how she was so proud of me. She's adorable. I wish I felt like the smartest person in the world!

Funny thing about this dress.. haha Nick had to help me zip it up! Probably the last time I can wear it as a preggo lady!

My best friends. We have been through everything together! Sometimes I feel like we know a little too much about each other but it's better that way haha =)

My graduation present from Nick. It's a band I can wear to work because I can't wear my wedding ring. It's beautiful!

We sold our car! =( Time to get a mommy car!

Sorry for the crappy picture.. Our new car! I quite like it. The best part about it? We OWN it! Wahoo!

28weeks

30 weeks

The dental hygiene girls through me a baby shower. They are amazing and it turned out so cute!

Kambree and I.. She's 17ish weeks pregnant and I am 31 weeks pregnant here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

32 weeks!

This pregnancy has flown by. Now I am busy trying to get the baby room done. We bought a crib and dresser and I'm in the process of refinishing them. I'll post pictures when I get done!  Only 8 more weeks and I'll be a momma!

Whew!

Nick told me I better update my blog because people keep asking him how everything went in salt lake. So here it is!

So we had our appointment down at University of Utah Hospital a few weeks ago. It is SUCH an amazing hospital and excellent staff. ( Including free valet Parking!) Anyways, during the ultrasound the tech re measured everything and it was completely normal. She thinks it was partially a technique error on the previous ultrasound tech making the Cisterna Magna larger that it really was. THAT was a relief! We met with the specialist and she said everything with the little guy was perfect and healthy. She felt bad that we had to drive down there. I was kinda irritated also, but hey at least we know for sure now right? A bonus was we did get to see our little guy again and know for sure it is a BOY. We got a good picture this time haha. We spent some time shopping in Salt lake, and also got to stay with my brother Curtis and got to spend some time with him which was nice.

We haven't officially decided on a baby name yet, but were almost positive it will be Madden. I really love this name, but Nick kinda wants to see him before we officially name him that.

He has been moving around and kicking like crazy. I absolutely love it, it reassures me that everything is going good and he is healthy. Nick actually got to feel it for the first time 2 weeks ago. He's adorable.  I haven't been getting much sleep lately ( partly because I can't lay on my stomach anymore and that drives me CRAZY) but I'm staying up later.   If I push on my belly, Madden pushes back. I just love the feeling. So I don't sleep haha.

It was really funny the other morning. For those of you who know Nick, he loves to pick on me. That's his way of showing me his love haha. Well the other morning I was able to sleep in an extra hour or so ( which is huge when you have to be at school by 7:30 Monday through Friday) and I had to go pee so so bad. I didn't quite want to get up yet so I was trying to ignore the urges. Well Madden had different plans and he was kicking my bladder and I was complaining to Nick about it. So Nick starts poking my bladder and laughs. He said I am getting a double dose, Madden can pick on me from the inside and he gets to pick on me from the outside. He's a butthead.

School has been going OK, I'm going crazy trying to find a mock board patient ( it's the practice patient before the actual board patient). Well none of my current patient's qualify for it because they don't have enough deposit ( tarter) to clean off. If I don't have a patient by next Friday, I get a -5 % off my grade. Soooo, if you guys know of anyone who hasn't had their teeth cleaned in like 6+ years, send them my way! (seriously lol)

Originally I was planning on taking my National Written Boards (which is an 8 hour test over everything I have learned in my 4 years of college, focusing on dental hygiene) over Spring break, however I was pretty sick over Christmas break and have been so super tired lately, I haven't studied as much as I would have liked, and don't feel completely ready. So I'm gonna take them May 8th. So pretty much this spring break is consisting of studying, cleaning, studying, sleeping, studying, and well maybe some more studying. BOOOOO!

Here are some updated baby pictures!

 Painting Madden's room!

 The finished product. I love it!

 22 weeks pregnant

 24 weeks

 24 weeks

Some Good, Some Scary..

This last month has gone by so quick! Valentines day came and went, it wasn't too exciting but very laid back just like I like it. It was nice because Nick's evening class got cancelled, so he was able to be home. Nick got me the prettiest flowers and my favorite candy, and I made him a candy bouquet with his favorite candy, a card, and a balloon (which is still floating around our house BTW!). I had origionally planned to cook a really nice dinner which consisted of these cute red and yellow heart shaped raviolis from costco and candles and such....BUT.. I was stinking tired after class/clinic that day and didn't feel like cooking. So wewent out to Costa Vida and came home and watched a movie. I love this guy quite a bit. I'm glad I get to keep him forever =)

On the next order of business.....
The Good News!
We went to the Dr. For my 20 ish week check up and Ultrasound. I was super nervous for some reason, not for finding out the sex, but was worried something was wrong. Well our little baby kept their genitals hid and tucked away but finally towards the end sprawled out and we could clearly tell that it was a ................

                                                                       BOY!!!!

We kind of expected this. I'm not sure why, I just had a feeling. We had the Dr. guess and he thought it was a boy, according to the Chinese calendar it was supposed to be a boy, the ring trick said it was a boy, pencil on a stick said it was a boy, and all my symptoms pointed towards a boy ( I have been craving fresh fruits/veggies, and not so much sweet stuff). I am still getting sick at times, usually it's because of smells ( I have to plug my nose when walking through the rendezvous) or thoughts about something gross ( haha like MENS PEE ON THE TOILET SEAT...maybe I'll tell this story later), or in the morning if I don't eat right away.

Now the scary...
What came next was a little unexpected. We were so happy and giddy about just seeing our little guy that we were surprised when my Dr. came in so serious. We said everything looked good on the ultrasound except one thing that was a little concerning. He explained that his Cisterna Magna (the space between his cerebellum and back of his skull, which contains cerebrospinal fluid) was very close to being abnormal. I guess under 10mm is considered "normal" and our little guy's was at 9.7 mm. He recommended that we see a Perinatologist down in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah and possible genetic counseling.

My heart sank. I was trying to be strong and not ball my eyes out, but I know the Dr. could see that I was getting teary eyed and tried to make me feel better. Then I just let it out. I knew I had a nervous feeling for a reason. He said that it could just be his own variant of normal, or it could lead to more serious situations like Dandy Walker Syndrome or even Trisomy 18/19 and might not be able to survive outside the womb. ( but usually these had like 15mm+ measurements). Doing some research it was just plain scary. I found things online that said their child measured at 13mm, and it came out just fine and developed normal. After walking out of the Dr. office and as soon as we hit the car I lost it. The stress of school, hormones, projects, and now this was just too much to handle.

I have an appointment Tuesday down in Salt Lake for a complex ultrasound and whatever else they have planned.

Since then, I have struggled with thinking something could be wrong, but after a while I have come to be OK with it. No matter what happens, my love for this lil guy won't change. Since then, I have felt him kick and be active it just confirms that he is OK, I know Heavenly Father is putting us through this for a reason. I know other women have gone through more than I have such as miscarriage, not able to get pregnant etc. I am so grateful that this is it. I got a priesthood blessing from my Nick and my dad tonight and I immediately felt comfort. Our lesson today in church was to cherish the little moments, and I definitely have little moments I need to be cherishing. It was exactly what I had needed.

I found this video and I think it applies not only to adversity but life in general.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=relmfu&v=tVNYhcYEwIE

Updates..

Well.. I guess this whole blog thing didn't work out. I am too busy to blog everyday! Here are some updates since I wrote last ( warning.. its long!)

Thanksgiving came and went. We spent it with both of our families which is always so nice.

Christmas was fun too! I didn't get any pictures from Christmas, I'm kicking myself for it. For a few reasons. My husband got me the most amazing gift ever! An I pad! Although I'm kinda mad he spent so much money on me (he always spoils me). I shouldn't complain right? We got another really good present to each other....

Yupp.. That's right! We are having a baby! Due 7/13/13. We told both of our families at Christmas. It was kind of cute, but kind of thrown together. I really wanted to do Christmas cards that had pictures of us ( see above). Well I was being stingy and had to have snow in the background for the pictures (what kind of holiday pictures don't have snow in them??!) Well it finally snowed like 4 days before Christmas. So I had my friend Tiffany take some pictures of us. I think they came out so cute!

Then the day after Christmas we headed to The Oregon Coast for a week! Here are some pretty pictures from our trip =)

I have been so lucky with this pregnancy. I found out I was pregnant at exactly 4 weeks. Then the symptoms really hit me over Thanksgiving break, like literally couldn't get out of bed for that week. Then when I went back to school I was totally fine! Then literally right after I took my last final.. started the second part of the symptoms... the puking. All throughout break I was so sick and couldn't keep anything down. Then 2 days before Spring semester started my symptoms eased up. I am still sick quite a bit but nothing like it has been. My Dr. put me on Zofran while I'm in school for when I need it which is a lifesaver sometimes haha. I'm finally starting to show a little (not too much at this point I just feel so fat) but I'm happy because it means I'm progressing and my little one is getting bigger.

Here I am at 8 weeks around Thanksgiving

My husband is the cutest ever. I was super sick and he researched the 

internet for things to make me feel better. He then went and got me yummy

snacks and wrote me a cute note. He's going to be the best daddy.

This is me at 12 weeks when we told our families

 15 weeks.. starting to feel fat haha

 

17 weeks its hard to tell in my yucky scrubs but there's a little something.

 

Other than baby stuff, school is keeping me very busy. I'm finally a senior and it's hard to imagine I will be graduating in just a few short months! I'm trying to buckle down and study because boards are just around the corner (literally, if I plan to take the written boards over spring break).  We have so many community projects and school projects we are working on, I just feel so over whelmed at times. I know it will be worth it and I have lots to look forward to when I graduate. I'm just grateful that I have been given the opportunity to go to school and an amazing husband who pushes me, because let's face it, there have been many times when I have wanted to give up. My family is so supportive and I'm also grateful for them. I'm grateful heavenly father has blessed with with such an opportunity to have a child. It's just kinda crazy to me how it all works out. 

Day 6

Day 6

I am grateful for my extended family ( inlaws). They are all so loving and supportive. My mother and father in law have raised an amazing man. The whole family works so hard, and they set such good examples for me. I never thought having sister in laws and brother in laws could be so amazing. I'm glad the Kelly Clan has accepted me into their family and traditions and treated me like their own daughter/sister.  I love them so much!

Day 5

Day 5

Today I'm grateful for......
School.
Weird huh?
Right now if school had a face, I would probably punch it. HOWEVER.. I'm grateful that I have been able to push myself and get into the Dental Hygiene program. That was the easy part. The hard part is STAYING in the dental hygiene program. There is just always something going on, qualifications you need, tests to study for, discussion questions to do, boards to study for. ALWAYS. But don't get me wrong. I LOVE what I do. I get to see some pretty cool stuff, and some amazing transformations. I'm grateful for all my patients who put up with me and lift my spirit. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have and have yet to learn.

I'm also grateful for these girls ( and boys)

  

They are so awesome! It's great that we all can support each other and lift each other up when we are down. This is one fun dental hygiene group!

 I'm especially grateful for these chicks. They are down for pretty much everything. It.gets.crazy.

 

I know we will be staying friends pretty much forever. We're too much alike to be apart for long haha.

So all in all. School sucks right now but it will be worth it when I'm done.

=)

 

Day 4

The Gospel.

 This includes so much. I love my heavenly father and my savior Jesus Christ with all my heart. It's an amazing feeling knowing that I am never alone. I know God has a plan for me. He see's my eternal plan. I'm excited for what he has in store for me. I love going to Fast and testimony meeting. You may not know this about me, but other than bearing my testimony when I give talks, or at girls camp et. I have NEVER gotten up and bore my testimony. It's definitely NOT because I don't have one. It's because... I'm chicken. So I usually end up bearing it in my mind. I know it's awful, and I know I should be telling people. So how about I tell you now?

I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is TRUE.
I know Jesus Christ lives and he loves everyone.
I know GOD lives, and he is my heavenly father. He knows everything, even things I cannot comprehend. He loves me.
I know we have a true prophet living on this earth ( President Monson) who receives revelation directly.
I know Heavenly Father loves me and KNOWS me. He knows me better than I know myself. I can always turn to him when I am in need or feel like no one else understands.
I know that my family is forever. It's so comforting that I know I will see my grandparents and  generations before that again.
I know the scriptures are true.
I know Jesus Christ died for my sins and I am So grateful that he did so that I may be able to repent and live with my heavenly father again.
I know Heavenly father hears my prayers and answers them.
I have a testimony of temples. I am so glad that I was able to get sealed to my husband for time and all eternity. 
I have a testimony of tithing.

Let's face it.. the gospel is awesome. I think of the lyrics in the hymn "Testimony" ........."My eyes are wet, my soul is full.. the spirit speaks today.."

Yup..
that pretty much sums it up.
Happy Sunday =)