Snow Mae Relitz Birth Story

Snow Mae Relitz: A Birth Story

          A few days before the Labor Day weekend I was having trouble sleeping through the night due to some seriously itchy skin. I thought it was strange because I had read about itching on the belly due to skin stretching, but I was itchy everywhere else. I was so itchy I would lie awake for hours at night with my skin just crawling. My legs, arms, hand and feet were all just so itchy. I was becoming really irritated and could not figure out what was wrong with me. Spencer suggested I call the DR's office and tell them what was going on and to find out what kind of medication I could take to help. I insisted it wasn't that big of a problem and refused to call. Upon examining my skin I had no rash, bites, or irritations, so I was confused. Eventually I gave in and figured at least I could find out if I could take Benadryl or something to help stop the itching.

          Once I called the DR they said I could take Benedryl and that they wanted me to come in for a blood test. I went in to have my blood drawn and did not think too much of it. Spencer asked me later if I was worried about the blood test and I said If there was a problem the Dr would call.

          Later, at about 5:00pm I got a call from the DR saying they took 2 blood samples for 2 tests; one test showed I had elevated liver enzymes and the other test would show if I had Cholestasis of Pregnancy. The Dr explained that blood test to confirm my diagnosis would take around 4-5 days and it was already after 5pm on a friday of a holiday weekend so the lab would be closed. She explained how serious Cholestasis can be for a baby and asked if Spencer and I could come into the Hospital Saturday morning so she could run another blood test to see if my liver enzymes rose. She said elevated liver enzymes are an indicator of Cholestasis. She said to bring our hospital bags with us because might be saying to have a baby!

          That night we felt a little panicked because our baby girl might be coming sooner than we had planned. WE cleaned the house, called our families and got our hospital bag ready to go.

          Saturday morning we went into the hospital and had my blood tested again. I received an ultrasound to check on baby and They hooked me up to a fetal monitor to make sure everything was looking good. The baby had a strong heart beat and plenty of amniotic fluid, so the only worry was my Cholestasis. The Dr told us she could not 100% confirm a diagnosis but she was pretty confident I had Cholestasis and that delivering the baby early would be the best thing. We discussed it and decided any chance of harm on the baby was just too much of a risk to take so we were admitted for an induction!

          Saturday night the Dr gave me a medication called Cervidel which was inserted inside and would help my cervix to dilate. This medication however made the heart rate of baby too fast so she had to remove the medication. Then I was given an oral pill called Cidoteq which essentially did the same thing. This pill was causing me to have serious contractions which were too close together. The Dr said my body was too sensitive to these types of medications and she would start me on Pitocin( a drug that induces labor) in the morning. I had to be given some pain medication to help me sleep because the contractions were quite painful.

          The next day(Sunday) the hospital was very busy with women having babies the Dr did not get my Pitocin started until later in the afternoon. The medicine was making me contract, but I was only dilated to a 2! I was on Pitocin until about 11:00Pm when the Dr decided to give my body a rest and start again in the morning. She gave me the option to continue the Pitocin all through the night but I did not want to go into Labor in the middle of the night.

          Monday morning the Dr came in early like she had promised, 8:30Am, and got the Pitocin started again and inserted a balloon device to help my body dilate. The Pitocin was making my contractions come pretty hard and fast. By about 3:00PM I was in tears and barely able to speak through my contractions. I begged my nurse for my epidural and she gave in even though I was only dilated to a 3. The anesthesiologist came and I instantly felt 1million times better. I was able to take a little nap. However, after a few hours the pain started to come back really quickly. I was a having a lot of back labor. We had to call the Anesthesiologist back to the hospital to give me some more medication. He had to come back 2 times to give me more medicine because it kept wearing off.

          Finally at around 2:00AM I told the nurse I felt like I wanted to push. The contractions were almost unbearable. The only thing that helped with the pain was to push. I was exhausted from the pains of labor and now the DR was telling me I had to be the strongest now and give it my all. I had thrown up multiple times that day and just had no more energy. The DR told me her head was close to coming out and at that moment I gave up! I told the DR it was too hard for me and I couldn't do it anymore. I begged her to just cut me open. She looked at me and told me I was a strong woman and although it was hard I would be able to see my little girl very soon. She was amazing! I had my Husband on one side of me and my best friend Heidi on the other through this whole process! The room felt like a million degrees and the exhaustion is almost indescribable. Finally at 6:10am she was born! The pain was instantly gone and I was overcome with JOY, I am a MOM! Spencer was beaming and then he asked me what we should call her. I said she didn't look like an Elizabeth ( the name we were highly considering) and I just knew, Snow Mae, It was perfect!

       

Inspiration to be better

     Spencer and I like to have the missionaries over for dinner a lot. It's really fun and Spencer gets to reflect on his mission, which he LOVES! WE also end up talking about the ward and the different callings a what not. I recently got a new calling as the Second Counselor in the Primary Presidency.  This new calling/ and change has inspired me to try and be the best Primary counselor I can be. ( Not that I was going to do a bad job, but the new calling is going to be a challenge. It is also nice when you seat fresh in a calling).

     This calling also came a great time because if you know much about what is going on in my life right now, I am going to need more stuff to keep me busy, and this will do just that. :) I am excited to get to know people at church better then I have been, and just magnify my calling.

     I am working with a great President and 1st Counselor, I know they will lift me up and help me.
With this new challenge ( which will include the ward Halloween party!!! eeek).

pros and cons

Things I love about where I live

- the trees! It's basically a forrest

- all of the local produce

- the Hudson River

-the beautiful scenery 

- living by historical places

- fireflies

- the Culinary School

- NYC being so close

- exploring new cities

- great food

Things I don't like about where I live

- not knowing anyone : /

- family being so far away

- having a small ward

- the 2 lane roads

- the crazy NY drivers

- that it takes at least 25 min to go anywhere

-not making as much $ as I used to

- living in an ancient tiny apt

- the fact that my husband will be gone at the end of the summer

Washington for the weekend

     Spencer and I recently went to Washington State for the weekend for his brothers wedding. It was a whirlwind trip. WE flew from JFK to Seattle and then to a small town called Walla Walla Washington. Justin got married on Saturday and the reception later that evening at a local restaurant. It was really nice to be with family again. When we arrived at the wedding Spencer's parents began to cry. It was really nice begin able to be there for Justin on his big day. I know how important it was that we were there and I am so happy we were.

     While being there I couldn't help but think of my wedding day! It really doesn't feel that long ago but the truth is it has been 2 1/2 years! That really was the happiest day of my life. One thing we both had at our wedding was a guest sign in book filled with engagement photos. I guess this si the new thing to do and i agree it is a lot better then a book just filled with names or writing. But this is so special to be because in my guest book my little brother, who is no longer with us, wrote something very special to me. I can't remember it word for word and I don't feel like looking at it any crying right now but he said something like, " Ashley I will look back on this day with pride. I love you. Your little bro Alan $pjute"
As you can imagine this entry is the most special to me at this time. So i made sure that Spencer and I both wrote in that guest book because you never know what might happen, and its never a bad time to tell someone you love them, especially in writing. Those things will last forever.

Living the Dream

At least once a week I have a moment where I think, "I can't believe I live in NY!"
 It's crazy to me to think Spencer and I are HERE and he is in culinary school. I can hardly believe we drove the whole way here. It was a crazy long trip of 6 days of driving. And NO I would not recommend an across country trip. It wasn't too fun, but we made it.
Somehow we managed to meet nice enough people to help us get our two feet on the ground until we found our own place. And all of this started with a though, just a thought.

"hey Spencer maybe you should look into culinary school, you seem to be interested.."
and Bam I've been in NY for 4 months!

I was talking to my dad and he teaches at a college and he said on the first day of class he talked about Spencer and me, mostly Spencer. He hold me he told his class that his son-in-law is living his dream and making it come true. He told them he found a career that he LOVES and makes him happy and he is pursuing it!

I really believe you can be anything you want to be if you want it bad enough and you try hard. Spencer has already finished his first chunk of classes and he got good grades and next week it will be the second career fair since he started. He will be looking at potential extern sites for his 4 month extern, and I could not be more proud of him.

If you have a dream, you can make it happen, just don't be afraid to take the first step. Having a spouse with you helps a lot  :)

Just a thought. <3

Birthday Bash!

I had a wonderful birthday! Spencer took me to NYC for the day and I had a blast. Here a ton of pictures of our adventures

This is the entrance to the central park zoo. * we actually didn't go in just walked to the entrance.

There are tons of these yellow bushes in NY! So pretty.

Central Park

The dry fountain in central park

The Museum of Natural history

Yes these are real dinosaur bones! 

This is the highest frog I've ever seen! I hate frogs

Mr T.... T Rex

Toy Shop in Times Square

Yes I am Spider Man

I made Spencer take this picture because when I first came to NY with my family Karen and I took a picture in here. :)

the apple store inside Grand Central

I was playing a game..lol

A shoot of the central park zoo. It looks just like the movie Madagascar 

inside Mast brothers chocolate. This is where they make chocolate bars straight from the bean in Brooklyn 

cocoa nibs

a cocoa pod

He was so excited

Just taking pictures on broadway, we didn't see one yet

Times square

Birthday Cake with Friends

Ughh trick candles..

Well I hope these pictures show what a great time I had.

Plus the week after my birthday my parents came and bought me tons of house stuff for my birthday! BUt that is for another post. 

Dear __* Letters

Dear ____*

* Body- please stop being so sore. I would like to move again

* Kitchen- I wish you would do the dishes all by yourself

*Money- stop causing me such headaches

* CA- how I miss you :(

* NY- Thank you for having such a mild winter with almost NO snow, but please be sensitive this summer as well. Not too hot and humid ok?

*Neighbors- please don't be upset if I am jumping in the morning, Im trying to exercise

* Spencer- I am so proud of how hard you are working in school. Keep up the good work. You are an amazing husband and my absolute Best Friend

*Alan- I think about you all the time and miss you so much. I hope you are well. You can visit me in my dreams any time. I enjoyed that :)

Living with a food snob

Last week I had a really good money week at work so I asked spencer if we could go out that night for dinner. We decided to go to this new place called the Everready Diner

Anyway as you can see it is a very retro place we both wanted to check out. We didn't expect it to gourmet food or anything close. 

I ordered a pasta which came with a salad and Spencer ordered a Barbecue Chicken sandwich. 

When my salad came out all spencer could do was criticize everything about my salad. The onions were sliced but still stuck to gather. The mushrooms were cut very uneven, some were thin and some were practically in a half. Then the tomatoes were not ripe. lol. Now all of these complaints were kept to ourselves because we are not those people to be complaining about everything. I mostly four the whole thing funny. Now that spencer know the Right way to do things, he notices when its done wrong. 

Then the pasta was mediocre, and his sandwich tasted, "like it came from a bag," his words exactly. 

WE still ate and gave a reasonable tip but decided that we would probably not go back there. The milk shake we had was yummy, and the atmosphere was fun. :)

Spencer just chuckled and said the only was he was probably going to impressed with a meal is if we spent about $100. LOL well let me tell you, this is NOT happening anytime soon. :) But, I'm sure it will, just not yet.

We laughed at how Spencer is becoming such a food snob. It doesn't help that he eats gourmet meals at school everyday.

Food education in schools

     With Spencer being in Culinary school there is a lot of food talk at our house. The subject came up about nutrition and cooking and how it is not something we are really taught in school.

We began to wonder why. Why is Health something you only take for a semester in high school and all they really talk about is STDs, but  PE is something required to take all though school?
      It has been proven that exercise is not to only key factor to staying healthy or fit, but a good diet also. If food is something we need everyday from the time we are born to the day we die why are we not taught this in school.
O it's up to the parents to teach their kids. Well that is a load of crap because we all know it doesn't really happen. I am not saying everyone is a bad parent but it is something over looked by many people. I think children should be exposed to food education from the time they enter school. I already have a system figured out too.

When the kids enter school. k-3 they spend 45 min a week with a nutrition teacher or chef teacher and go over basic fruit and vegetable identification. The teacher would work with the whole school alternating days kind of how the music programs are run now. The kids would be able to see the different foods and try them. It would be really fun and educational. no homework involved just exposure to food. Them when they get older like 4-6 grade they could have a co-cooricular club that is a cooking club to get these kids using ingredients and learning how to cook things for themselves.

In jr high and high school they could require a nutrition class or some kind to accompany the PE education. There nutrition class would also introduce healthy recipes for kids.

My plan might have a few bugs in it but i think it sounds pretty dang good.

I mean I don't understand why the states have put so much emphasis on art or music education  and 0 emphasis on food education when like i said previously food is essential.

I am happy my husband is learning all of this stuff now so when we have kids we can teach them. Part of it is the health benefit but also just being able to be self sufficient and making things from scratch even if they are brownies ( which by the way I am about to make by scratch and I never have).

I really feel like my eyes are being opened to me in the world of food. I am infer more eye opening experiences since Spencer just started school, but I am enjoying my second hand education. I think learning about food is very important and it is fun too.

A Short Bit

People think this is where I live....

This is actually where I live. ( picture taken from the internet. Its not actually fall now so all I see are tree twigs.)

This is where Spencer is going to school

And this is where I work.

Well that is the quick tour of NY. Spencer and I are living apprx. 1.5 hrs away from the Big Apple but we have only been once so far. It cost about $35 per person to take the train to the city. We are saving up so we can go again maybe in April or May.

Our weeks are spent going to school and going to work. On the weekends we grocery shop and clean house and usually watch a few movies .:)

This huge transition has been adjustment for both of us. Spencer is having to get used to having homework again and going to school everyday. He is doing a great job. He has already finished 2 classes! ( food safety and math) and is half way done with his other classes. He is really enjoying it. He does say it is very tough and not like regular school. But he is having fun and really learning a lot.

My parents are coming to visit next month and I could not be more excited to see family! I do feel some pressure because they want us to show them around but I don't feel like I know much, so hopefully we can figure it out by the time they arrive. 

I talk to people all the time about the different things i should visit while on the East coast and I get so excited to see so many new things but $$ is the key, and sadly we do not have any extra right now. :(  Nut i know eventually we will be able to do some sightseeing and I look forward to that.

But I do miss California everyday. I never really knew how much I was a Ca girl until I left! :( and who knows if Ill ever move back but we will try to get closer for sure. :)

Changes.

     Spencer and I made the 6 day drive from CA to NY! We have been here for 2 weeks now and starting to get settled. WE are currently living with another couple who have been so generous to take us into their home when we have no idea what is going on.

     Spencer is going to school at the Culinary Institute of America, or CIA as people call it. He has only been in school for 1 week but is very excited. The first week was mostly orientation stuff and bringing home supplies everyday. He brought home 15 text books, 5 sets of uniforms, and a backpack full of kitchen gear! He is meeting people and eating great every day! On tuesday he starts his REAL classes and I think he is a little nervous.

     I found a job!!! *sighh of relief* I got a serving job at the Tavern at the Beekman Arms. Apparently it's the oldest INN in America! I start work on MOnday, which I am a little nervous about.

I am excited to meet some people and start making more friends! hopefully. :/

 

Alan

Alan.... I almost don't know where to begin. At the beginning?? NO that is too hard. How about the end? Wait I don't like the ending.. :( NO matter how I slice it this is  hard thing for me.

Alan was so strong and he fought so hard. I am SO glad I got to see him before he left us.

...


It was really hard seeing him in the hospital struggling with his health.


...

I wish I new he was sick before I went to Europe, I would have given him huge hug. I know he knows that now.

....

I am proud to say that I was there for him in him in his time of need I stood by that bed and held his hand.

....

I was there

....


Some days are hard for me and I just cry for him. but there have been blessings from this.
I know how can she say that?? Well trust me I know Alan fulfilled his purpose on this earth. Do I like it?? NO

.....

My husband is being my rock and my foundation to lean on. My family has gotten stronger because our trials. But I still want it to go away....

...

It won't!

Alan I love you.

....

This is too hard for me.

Summer in Europe!

Summer has finally come!

     I have officially been out of school for 1 1/2 weeks. It has been so nice to sleep in and relax. Although, there hasn't been too much relaxing going on because Spencer and I are trying to get ready for your bog summer trip to Europe. There is so much stuff to think about and remember to do before we leave, and to remember to pack. We will be gone for 2 weeks and we will be visiting 6 different countries( Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Italy)! I am so excited. I have been trying to work as much as I can at the restaurant before our 2 weeks off and we have been trying to clean the house so we can come home with ease. My in-laws are already in Europe and I got to Facetime with them on our Ipad last Monday. It was so cool and it made me even more ready to go. Here are the things I am really excited about. ( not in any particular order)

1. Being in Paris
2. The mona Lisa/ Louvre
3. Eiffel Tower pictures with my Love
4. Crepes!!
5. German castles
6. Belgium chocolates
7. awesome architecture
8. Swiss fondue
9. Swiss alps
10. Rome/ colosseum/Vatican
11. Venice
12. Authentic Italian food
13. Being in Europe with my handsome husband

There are some things I am not really excited about ( also not in ay particular order).
1. The long flight
2. getting pick- pocketed on the train( i really hope this doesn't happen but I am worried)
3. The over night train to Italy
4. Waiting in long lines
5. getting lost

Well when I type it all out it doesn't seem so bad, lol.
This is going to be the trip of a lifetime and I am so grateful to mu in-laws for helping us be able to go on such an amazing trip. I know I will remember this for the rest of my life and it will totally be worth the money. Get ready Europe Mr and Mrs. Relitz are headed your way Monday June 27!!!

Mega Allergies

I have lived in the Central Valley my entire life and had never had any allergies until the last year and a half. Tons of people in the Valley suffer from allergies and I had always enjoyed NOT being one of those people.

Last spring i started showing signs of allergies so I stated taking an allergy pill and everything was fine. This spring things are not working out for me so far. I have been taking an allergy pill every day but it seems to be doing nothing. The sneezing, the runny/ stuffy nose, the ITCHY eyes, I just can't take it. All the while my husband is having no allergy problems. Great! I talked with my school nurse about what else I can do to help my allergies so I recently bought some over the counter eye drops for itchy eyes. They clear up the redness in my eyes a little but they are still itchy!

This morning I woke up and was convinced I had pink eye now because some people from work had it and it is very contagious. My eyes were so itchy, red, and there was goopy in my eyes. I called in sick to work and headed over to urgent care ( ya for having insurance now!) I saw the doctor and she said it was just allergies!

I Hate Allergies!

She wrote me some different prescriptions for a nasal spray and some other eye drops that should help a little but she didn't' give me any guarantee. When I went to wallgreens to pick up my medications the pharmacist said, " O you have allergies? You must not be from the valley." Weird because I am from the valley! I also decided to buy allergra. I am hoping this allergy pill will work better. It was a much higher dosage of antihistamines.

I told Spencer I am done with Fresno and I want to move ASAP to get out of this crappy air. December can;t come soon enough ( the month were are planing on moving out of this place to who knows where. maybe NY?? I hope)

Napa and the CIA

          Spencer and I just got back from a quick trip to Napa. NO we were not wine tasting but this was a very food related trip. The reason for the trip was so Spencer could attend an open house for the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

          We left Tuesday late afternoon when Spencer got off of work and drove to his grandparents house in the bay area. We made  aside trip to Gilroy and bought a few things, of course! WE then drove to the grandparents house and slept on a twin air mattress together.
** Funny side note. - Spencer rold me to pick up the air mattress from his parents house before we left. I went over there and his mom handed me a mattress in a bag. when we got there and filled it with air it was so small. We laughed about it and AFTER the trip we asked his mom why she gave us the small one. She didn't know it was the small one but his dad told us that the large one was already at Grandma's house in the same room we slept in. haha O well

          The next morning we had to be at the open house at 9:30 and it was still another hour drive from the bay area.  The school was so beautiful.

The school was an old winery.

WE then  got a complimentary breakfast of muffins and fruit and we we went into a large conference room/ kitchen demo area.

WE got front row seats

a view at the other seats looking up

Spencer watching the intro video about the CIA 

In this room an admin person gave us the background information about the school and it was opened for questions. then we had to chefs, one from the culinary side and one from the baking and pastry side, give us some demos. 

The first chef gave us a mini class on taste vs flavor. How taste is just what your taste buds do and how flovor is more of an experience on taste and smell and the combination of different things together. She said there are 4 basic tastes; sweet, sour, bitter, salty. We all had a mat in front of us with a cantaloupe wedge and a red lettuce leaf called redicio. Then we had on the side some sugar, salt, lime, and cayenne pepper. 

She had us add different combinations of these things to see hoe it affected the flavor.

After her mini class we had another chef come out and make peanut brittle and answer questions about the pastry bakery program. He talked about his life in this career. It was  cool. We all got some samples of the brittle too. Amazing!

These Tv allowed us to watch what he was doing

He is stretching the candy

After this we went on a guided tour of the school with a current student.

This was the view right when you entered the school.

This was a classroom where we saw students studying different types of lettuce leafs. So cool

Those white trays had the different lettuce leafs on them 

This was one of the student kitchens

another view of the same kitchen

The chocolate room where they make cakes and chocolates

The student store

A hall where they hold events

The large Student kitxchen. They said they can have up to 4 classes going on in here at the same time

The bakery kitchen

The student herb garden

It was so cool!

They even have a student run restaurant where the student spend 12 weeks  doing all of the jobs in a restaurant including designing and king the menu. 

After the tour we went to italian cafe in the town and split a yummy panini and fries ( the fries came with a delicious basil pesto to dip it in...yummmmmy) and then we had some gillato. We hit the road back home and came across the Jelly Belly factory!

So we had to stop and go on the free tour! It was really cool to see such a huge factory for something so small like a jelly bean!

As we were leaving the factory we saw a sign that said Olive Oil Tasting, so we followed the signs until we found a small shop near the Jelly Belly factory they sold fancy olive oils and balsamic vintagers. We talked with the owner and told her how Spencer is planning on going to culinary school and she pulled out this large tray with tons of different grades and flavors of olive oil. They talked to us about the different health benefits while we sampled the oils and then the vinegars. yummy. 

It was a lot of fun. Then we headed home through the rolling hills of Napa! Beautiful. 

It was such a fun trip.We loved the school we HOPE he can be accepted. The application is done and the transcripts are sent. Now we wait.