The Story of Baby Fynn

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. -Sidney Mitchell

OBITUTARY

Fynn Riley Alden was born on December 7, 2019, to Sonnee and William Alden, and left this life on the same day.
Fynn was successful at turning his mommy’s bladder into a trampoline, and made her pee her pants. He was also quite the boxer. Generally, Fynn was good at giving his parents a run for our money.
You are our greatest adventure.
Fynn is survived by his parents, Sonnee Osiek and William Andrew Alden, his sibling Madilynn Raeh Alden, his grandparents Donna Alden and John Griffin, Cary and Rayna Osiek, and William Travis Alden Jr., his great-grandparents Leah Osiek, Sharon Willer, and Beverly and Dave Collier, his uncles and aunts Travis and Emeigh Alden, and Nikolus and Kendal Osiek, and many more loved ones.
Fynn was preceded in death by his great-grandpas Robert “Bob” Osiek, Floyd Smuin, and Vernon “Sonny” Willer.

The Happening (Trigger Warning)

The 7th of December 2019 started out as a typical Saturday. Fynn was scheduled to be born by caesarian section the next Wednesday, December 11. We had a few things to get accomplished that weekend; grocery pickup, dogs to wash, bathrooms to clean and food to prep. I picked up the groceries from Smith’s that morning and I felt something was off. Fynn wasn’t moving as much as he had that morning when he woke me at 3 AM to get myself a glass of milk. So like every experienced momma I got orange juice and pancakes to try and get him to do the sugar dance. No luck. I started to panic and went up stairs where Will was finishing his breakfast. I told him I couldn’t feel Fynn and I was panicking.

We got the doppler out and tried to find his heartbeat but nothing would come up. We struggled with that device anyway. We headed to the hospital. Didn’t think anything of it. We were going to let the professionals find his heartbeat and tell us he was fine and we were panicking for nothing.

That didn’t happen. The nurses couldn’t find his heartbeat. Our son at 38 weeks gestation was gone from this world. I look back on it now with the words of my mother still in my ears and heart. “He passed on listening to best sound in the world, the beat of his mother’s heart.-Rayna Willer Osiek”. I will tell you all her story later but know that she helped me keep going in more ways than one.

But that wasn’t what happened for me in that moment. Instead, I asked the nurses, “What did I do?”. They gave me resounding “Nothing”. I was in such shock that I couldn’t comprehend that my baby was gone for the longest time. I didn’t know what I was suppose to do. I even had to ask the nurses…”do I call my parents?”. The nurses said “You call whomever will give you the most support”. At this point, the nurses had taken Madilynn to their nurses station where she was telling them she wanted to be Moana when she grows up.

I video chatted my mother and told her the sad news. Her and my dad immediately assembled the Osiek clan. My brother (Nik) and sister-in-law (Kendal) who live in Wyoming dropped everything and headed our way (7 plus hours to Salt Lake City but when his older sister needs him he is there). My aunt, Rynda, came and got Madilynn and kept her cool (at the threat of my mother) to tell me it wasn’t my fault.

We had to wait about 6 hours while the pancakes I had that morning digested enough for me to go under surgery to have Fynn. While we waited even more Alden/Osiek Clan members rallied. First, I was going to have Dr. Twelves, the on call doctor, preform the surgery. Unbeknownst to me she had called my personal Dr. Nippert and explained the situation. Dr. Nippert came in on her day off to deliver Fynn. How amazing is that!

Meanwhile, I was poked up to 8 times trying to get an IV in me. I have very thick skin and I was very dehydrated from crying. Finally, they called in the big guns(as my mother calls it) and had to use ultrasound to get a good vein. After that is a blur, I went under anesthesia and Fynn was delivered at 4:48 PM.

Lots of prayers and good thoughts have gotten us through this year of sadness. I think it also brought us clarity of what life means for us now and how precious it is. Welcome to Sailboats and Unicorns. I am here to listen and to help you learn that life is worth living and living it to the fullest is the best medicine to heal a broken heart.