Woes of Pregnancy

Colleen Melven

One of the most influential people of my life passed away Saturday morning after battling Melanoma cancer. She will be greatly missed.

This picture was taken this last summer.

About a month ago her son, who I was great friends with all through High School, emailed me and asked me to send some of my memories that they would compile into a book and give her as a Christmas present. Although I am not a great writer, I sent the information, and here is what I wrote:

One of my first memories is visiting Brother and Sister Melven when they lived in Ft Worth. I don’t remember where they lived, but they had a great back yard. Their lot seemed to be narrow and deep. I also remember they lived in a somewhat older home. My next memory goes to a long, long, long drive clear out in the middle of nowhere, maybe Arkansas (not really that far). They found some property that was in the hill-Billie country that they wanted to buy. It was very pretty but so far away. They did not end up buying that property because we both moved to Weatherford. One day I would like to know where that property is and if it really was that far out.

When I was twelve, Sister Melven became my Beehive advisor. She taught every Sunday. She really loved the girls in her class. She always had a great time and allowed us to enjoy ourselves while teaching the lesson. I always felt the spirit, I knew what Sister Melven was teaching was true, and I knew Sister Melven really did care about me. When I finished Beehives, I guess I hadn’t learned everything I was supposed to because Sister Melven was called to be my Sunday school teacher. She also taught again in Young Womens, she was always called to be some kind of teacher to me. I am a better person because of that. Sister Melven always was a part of my youth. I always respected her and loved her presence. I still have the high school graduation card they sent me. Even before Sister Melven got sick, I cried every time I read it because of the love and support they always extended to me. If I listed the five most influential people in my life, Sister Melven would be at the top. I really believe because of her willingness to serve throughout my youth, because her testimony that she shared, her love of the Savior, and her love of me, I was married in the temple and have been able to grow my testimony and truly be happy. She let me feel the spirit time and time again so that I recognized how precious it was and I desired to have it with me. She was always there encouraging me and lifting me up when I was down. I love sister Melven and I am so grateful the Lord used her as an instrument in my life.

One of my funniest memories was staying at the Melven’s home when they were out-of-town. I was in college and home for the summer. After finishing up at the snow cone stand, I went over to the Melven’s home to house-sit. They had a pet iguana. I am not a big animal person because quite frankly animals scare me. Yes, the iguana scared me. Not only did I not like the iguana, but one evening it managed to get loose in the house. There was no way I was going to sleep with that thing running around the house. I tried to capture it without getting to close, but to no avail. I finally called some guy I knew that lived in Ft Worth to come all the way out to Weatherford to catch the loose reptile. I think I might have even waited outside for my friend to come because I was so afraid of being in the house with that thing loose.

Another memory I have is of “TP”ing the Melven’s home. We set off with rolls and rolls of toilet paper and headed towards the Melven’s home. I guess my brother, Michael, was mad that he was left behind, and he called the Melvens and gave them a heads up that we were coming. Brother Melven was waiting on the front porch with the watering hose. I can’t remember if he got us wet or not, but I do remember getting in the car and taking off like a mad man down their narrow road in reverse. I accidentally touched the brakes too hard and did a 180 right in the road without touching the edges of the street. The front of the car magically spun around and I no longer needed to use reverse. I was scared out of my pants! I had never driven like that before and have never driven like that since then.

I have so many more memories, but just fragments of little things here and there. What stands out most is the influence this remarkable couple had on my life. I am a better person, a happier person because of Greg and Colleen Melven. I will miss Sister Melven so much.

On the first day . . . .

I received this email today and thought it was pretty funny. I hope you enjoy it:


On the first day, God created the dog and said:"Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years." The dog said: "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?" So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said: "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span."The monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?" And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said: "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family For this, I will give you a life span of sixty Years." The cow said: "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?" And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said:"Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years." But man said: "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?" "Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves.
For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family.
For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.
And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you...

My Little Penguin!

Last week I had my first ultrasound. The heart beat was strong and look at my little baby! It still is maturing and developing all its vital parts and has a long way to go, but how fun to be able to see it.

My Birthday

Last Friday was my birthday, over a week ago. Yes, I'm just now writing about it, but it us worth writing about. I live in a fantastic neighborhood and Ward with amazing people. Thursday night before my birthday, my friend Nichole, arranged to take me to the movies. She invited many of my friends and we went and saw PS, I Love You, the 10pm show. This didn't interfere with bedtimes so the husbands didn't mind. Nine of us ended up going to the late movie. It was a tear-jerker (and being pregnant didn't help)and a lot of fun to go out with the girls. We got home after midnight.

The next morning I was served breakfast-in-bed. My girls enjoyed helping Evan make pancakes and scrambled eggs with oranges and milk. Later that day my brother, Dan, showed up from out-of-town. He was only able to stay a short time, but I enjoyed seeing him. Nichole brought over some peanut-butter M&Ms, which I was actually able to eat. I had many happy birthday phone calls. Around 5, three of my other friends showed up with supper and a cake. Another friend dropped by banana bread and then Saturday night my sister-in-law, Becky, brought over supper and a gift card for a pedicure and movie. Friday night I called it quit right after dinner and went to bed. The kiddos stayed up and watched a movie with Evan while I snoozed away.

With as yucky as I have been feeling, I had a wonderful birthday. I live amongst the most wonderful people and I feel so blessed everyday to have such great friends and family. In the 33 birthdays that I have now had, this one will be remembered the most because of the kindness and generosity that was given in so many ways. Thanks for giving me such a great birthday!

And we even had to call the police!

I was so tired tonight that around 6pm I decided I needed to go to bed. I immediately fell asleep until I heard Camie crying because Danielle had pinched her. Evan was gratefully cooking supper and told Danielle to come downstairs so he could talk to her. Of course she wouldn't and he was in the middle of cooking, so the matter would be dealt with later. I fell back to sleep. About 20 minutes later Evan woke me up and said he had searched the entire house and couldn't find Danielle anywhere. I got up, searched closets, under beds, in stacks of laundry, under blankets, everywhere. Remember back to my blog entry titled "While you were sleeping" and Danielle had fallen asleep in a laundry basket in the closet? She has a terrible habit of hiding when she does something she knows she shouldn't, such as hurting her sister. She has scared me a few times before, but we were always able to find her within a few frantic minutes. This time Evan was really worried. I emptied the closets, ripped apart beds, and Danielle was no where to be found. We even turned on the fire alarm in hopes of waking her up so she would come out of hiding. Evan noticed the front door unlocked, and we always keep the door locked. He immediately started his search outside while shouting at me to call the neighbors and really start a search. I called a few friends and then 911. This whole time I was still searching my house. And my house isn't that big! The dispatcher kept me on the phone while I searched. Two of my neighbors came inside my house and were searching. Finally Evan came back home and told us that she had to be in the house. He walked behind the couch downstairs and under a few folded blankets, Danielle was sleeping. She is so small that she hid so well. We had checked there, but because the blankets were so thin and still folded, she was missed. Right as we found her, four police cars showed up outside. Several of my other neighbors were frantically searching outside. She scared us all so bad. I thought I had it in her head before that she should not hide from me when she thinks she is in trouble. I had her talk to the police to emphasize this point. Hopefully she doesn't scare us like this again. I was so grateful to have all the people that were helping look come over to me afterwards and hug me and Danielle and cry and tell us they love us. We have some pretty great neighbors and friends. Thanks to all who helped in the search!

Danielle learned to write her name!

We have been working on Danielle learning her name. I started teaching her to spell her name with a little jingle. I think I sung that song over one hundred times while we were running errands around town until one day I caught her singing it. She was so stubborn that she refused to sing it. Once she sang it completely, she got a cone from McDonalds. Since then I have been doing different activities to help her write her name and recognize the letters. About a week ago I used a big heart paper punch and punched out 8 hearts and wrote a letter from her name on each heart. She had to put them in the right order by herself by singing the song. I bribed her with a Strawberry Shortcake Movie, and she learned to write her name (still using the hearts, but arranging them without my help). She earned the movie. Over the last few days Danielle has learned to write her name without the use of the hearts and spent most of Sacrament Meeting yesterday writing her name.

Well done, Danielle!

Is my memory really that bad?

I don't have any fancy pictures or video clips. I also am way behind on new posts. What I am doing is a lot of laying around on my couch trying to eat crackers and ice chips in hopes of not throwing up. We are expecting baby number five and couldn't be more excited. I was hoping to be pregnant by December so that the baby would be born before Sept 1, thus not putting more then a year in between Spencer and the baby. All my children will be two years apart in school. Perfect timing, right? In the planning of it, yeah. But things happen. I sat through Sacrament Meeting today listing to all the comments about how the Lord refines those He loves through trials. I think I am very loved. I am blessed. I really am excited to be having another child, but the stress of circumstances around me are a bit overwhelming.

The stress started when Evan called me late in November and told me his company was laying off 260 employees, including us. At the time of planned pregnancy our insurance covered us 100% with no deductible. Free baby sounds great! Well, now that has changed. Baby just went from free to $12,000! I just had one eighteen months ago, I'm pretty confident on the price. Not to worry, right? So a week after Evan was layed off we found out we were pregnant. Very excited, but also very worried. Christmas came, as did a new transmission in my van. Evan was on the way to pick up my brother and his family for the holidays at the airport when the transmission suddenly went out and he had to turn around and come home. The tow truck took the van to the transmission place. OUCH! I'm back and running, just a little thinner.

Now to the title of this post. I have had four pregnancies before. I should remember what the first trimester is like? You'd think. As I remember, morning/all day sickness didn't start until week 7. This one started at week 5. With my others I could have used a nap, but it wasn't necessary. This one I lay on the couch all day. I swear I am not being lazy, but my body is sooo tired. I have no energy or motivation. I also have no appetite. I don't remember that part either. Evan and I got a sitter last night and we went out to dinner (yes, I was in my comfy pants) at a favorite Mexican restaurant. We never go out to dinner so this was a real treat. I was practically salivating as I was ordering. The waitress brought me my dinner and I took two bites and couldn't eat any more. I was so nauseated! I started crying! I wanted this food so bad and I couldn't eat it! I know my memory isn't that bad. This pregnancy is being just plain hard. It is all of my pregnancies combined times 10! I want this baby bad, but I think I have a lesson or two to learn before it gets here.

And a side note, who shows at 7 weeks? Not just thinks they're showing, but really is? All my normal clothes are snug and uncomfortable. The only thing that fit for church today was an elastic waist skirt!

And here I am adding to my blog because this is a place where you can learn all about me. Actually, I was trying to sleep but Evan has this horrible snore that regardless of how hard I try to ignore it, I just can't. If he rolls over, he stops snoring. When Evan initially falls asleep he isn't too friendly, so regardless of how persistent I was, he refused to roll over and I refused to lay in bed getting mad, so I came downstairs to vent on my blog. And Evan won't remember a thing when he wakes up in the morning!