One Week Old!

Today is a big day for Callan! If everything goes as planned he will get his central line out and be able to get dressed and move to an open air bed! He will be out of his cage, yay!

He has been doing really well still. He lost some weight throughout the week and was down to 4 lbs 4 oz but started gaining again last night. We were so proud of him. He is tolerating is NG tube feedings well and has started trying to nurse. Mostly he just sleeps while I try to nurse him which is frustrating and I'm prepared for it to be a long process.

Easton has been having a harder time with the situation for the last couple days. He has always been very good at expressing his feelings. It makes it so hard when he cries to me on the phone saying, "Mom I'm really sad. I don't want to leave you at the hospital. I want to stay with you." It's really the very worst part about this whole thing. My Easton is so sweet and I hate that I can't be with him. On Saturday we tried to give him some extra attention. When we woke up we made Mickey Mouse pancakes with our new thing Katelin brought us from Florida.

Easton had already had several time outs by breakfast time and was in a bad mood.

Then Tyson and I went to the hospital while he napped. We came home after a couple hours and took Easton for pizza and bowling. He was really excited about his bowling shoes.

He had fun rolling the ball down the ramp for maybe 2 rolls. All he really wanted to do was run around on everyone elses lanes and make new friends which resulted in us getting frustrated chasing after him all over the bowling alley for an hour. I would say it wasn't very successful, but we tried:)

We wanted to give the little ones who can't come to the hospital a tour. This is where we go inside the hospital.

We go through 2 guarded doors. For the first one we type in our secret code to get it to open. For the second one we have to push a button and tell the lady on the intercom who we are and she opens the door for us. Once we're inside that door we sign in on a sheet of paper. Then we have to roll our sleeves up to our elbows and wash and this sink for three minutes. We use those yellow baby hair sponges to wash.

Then we go through more doors until we get to the "B pod."

You can see Callan's room right when you enter the pod. His is B21.

That's about it for now! Hoping today will be a great day!

Holding Baby Callan

We finally got to hold our baby! We had never even seen him outside his little isolation bed so it was so nice not to look at him through plastic!

He loved to be held. He was so content and just slept peacefully. He seriously loves that binky. I love it because it should really help him catch on to nursing.

They started having Tyson and I help out with his "cares" when they change his diaper, brush his hair and gums, and take his temperature. After that I got to hold him and Tyson just got to help transfer him in and out of his bed. We were nervous to hold him because they just wrap up all his IV lines in the blanket with him so we have to be so careful! Hopefully Tyson will get a chance to hold him today! We can't wait to go back!

Soaking Up the Sun

Callan is spending some time under the bilirubin lights lately. Today is his second day and they said his levels are already back to normal but they'll leave them on until tomorrow and check again just in case. So he's been wearing this mask 24/7 to protect his eyes and he just looks like he's loving life laying out by the pool.

You gotta check out these chicken legs. They are so dang cute. They have this snuggly thing they tuck his feet into and he ALWAYS kicks them out and flops them over the edge like he's sitting in an intertube. His right leg is always twitching and kicking while he sleeps and it makes me laugh:)

Last night he had an "event" which basically means an alarm went off for more than 20 seconds and they had to intervene. He has to go 7 days without an event before they'll let him go home. This was his first one and it was just his oxygen alarm. It wasn't really his fault either, his nose was full of snot and needed to be sucked out. They said his mask was also pushing down on his nose and closing it off a little. So we're not really too worried about it because it's not like he just stopped breathing. Also he had some trouble tolerating his feedings last night. They increased it to 11ml of milk through his tube and it made his stomach huge I guess. So he's back down to 8ml for now and they'll try 11 again later today.

My little Easton has turned into such a big boy this week! We can't believe how well behaved he has been. He has been "potty trained" since September, but has never really gotten the concept of telling us when he has to go so we would just take him every hour. Suddenly this week of all times, it clicked! He has made A LOT of funny comments about me "punting milk" but we won't go there. He loves talking about when Callan gets big and will come home and play with him.

Also, yesterday we all took on new titles: Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin! Tyson's sister, Amanda, had her baby boy, Crew about one and a half weeks early. It's funny to think that our due dates were 6 weeks apart and our babies were born 3 days apart! We haven't gotten a chance to see baby Crew yet, but I understand he is also spending some time in the NICU for his blood sugar. We just can't wait to get these 2 little cousins home!

A couple New Pics

Update

Callan is doing so well! I'm sitting here with him and I took the cutest pictures...but I forgot the dang cord to put them on the computer! So for now you'll just get a little update. He is now OFFICIALLY breathing on his own. I misunderstood before when I was still at the hospital and someone told me he was breathing on his own (like I said in the last post). They just meant he was making the Surfactant and didn't need to be intubated. He had a CPAP for the first day and yesterday afternoon they changed it to just a normal nasal cannula with just a little bit of oxygen. Today when I got here the nasal cannula was out! He looks so much better without all the tape and tubes on his face! He has one little orange tube that goes through his nose and straight down to his belly to feed him. This tube doesn't seem to bother him at all. He also got his hair washed so he's looking even more soft and fuzzy.

Lots of people are wondering why we can't hold him and it is because of an IV line that he has through his bellybutton. He used to have two and they were able to take one out yesterday. The one that he has now they use to give him his fluids and lipids and antibiotics. As they increase his milk feedings (through his nose) his fluids and lipids through that line will decrease and then they will be able to remove it. They make it sound like it should be any time now, but no one can really say. Also, he is really liking his binky which is a good sign he will be ready to nurse soon.

Thank you to everyone who has been helping us out! We have been so well taken care of. We were able to have mom, dad, and Easton all home together last night and it was really nice to feel somewhat back to normal. All of our parents and siblings have helped so much with Easton since Tyson is still working until Callan comes home. My mom had my house all clean when I got home and Arlene has been searching for all my baby stuff in storage in Payson. My cute visiting teacher (who I just barely met) brought some delicious dinner and our home teacher stopped by to make sure we had his number and everything we need. It's a wonderful thing to have the support that the church provides us through our ward members.

We just feel so blessed! Check back tonight and hopefully I'll have those pictures uploaded.

Well...

Some of my co-workers have commented lately on how far I've come in my ability to "wing" things. I've always been quite a planner but since marriage and children I've definitely learned to roll with the punches. Today baby Callan decided to throw us a curve ball and come to us 7 weeks early! I've always had a feeling he was going to come early. This pregnancy has been weird altogether and has been full of strange aches and pains. I mentioned to a few people that I thought he would come early, but figured it was just nerves.

Yesterday at church I thought I was having contractions for the last 2 hours. I told Tyson afterwards that I was either having some crazy gas pains or contractions. Of course with over 7 weeks left, I figured crazy gas pains. We went to my parents', ate a delicious dinner, and hung out for a while. Easton started getting naughty so we took him home and watched "Despicable Me" in his bed and got him to sleep. I laid in bed for a while wondering if the pains were going to come back. Of course right after Tyson fell asleep, they did. I didn't think much of it and I've never had Braxton Hicks before so that crossed my mind. I got out of bed and watched TV for a bit. The pain started getting worse around 11 and I got in a bath. I went back to bed around 11:30 and I think I actually got some sleep. Around 2 I woke up just so confused about why I was in so much pain. I woke up Tyson and told him my stomach hurt bad. He got me a hot pad and rubbed my back, but I started to realize the pains were becoming regular every 3 minutes or so. For some reason I still refused to believe I was in labor. I told Tyson to go back to bed since he had to get up early for work. I went back out to the couch with the hot pad and felt ok, just had quick pains every 3 minutes or so. Tyson got up for work around 4:30 and got us some Smacks. I scarfed mine down in 3 minutes so I wouldn't have a contraction while I was enjoying my Smacks. I sent Tyson to work at 5:15 and got in the bath again. The contractions started coming every minute. The bath didn't help at all so I got out, got dressed, and went outside (since we have no service) and called my dad. I couldn't call Tyson because he had left his phone for me to use since I can't find mine. My dad was on his way to play basketball (this was around 6) so he was able to get there fast and bring me to the hospital.

I went into a room and my dad got me checked in. He saw the nurses reaction to how little and early I was and said they seemed like they didn't believe I was contracting:) He mentioned to them that this was my second baby and then they believed me:) They checked me right away and I was dilated to 4cm and 100% effaced. The nurse said it in kind of a scary tone so I asked her right away if it was too late to stop labor. She said it probably was but they'd do their best.

After 4 different people and several failed attempts, they FINALLY got my IV line in. They gave me a shot of Terbutaline to slow the labor and checked me again in 45 minutes. The medicine made my contractions much more mild and spread apart, but when they checked me again I had already progressed to a 5 and they realized there would be no stopping this kid. This also meant they would not be able to transport me to IMC (in Murray) in time so I could deliver where the baby would be. I got a shot in the hip of Betamethasone to help develop the babies lungs quickly. In the next hour I progressed from a 5 to an 8. Tyson came, Arlene came, and my mom came. My mom went to be with Easton when he woke up then took him home to Aunt Kate and came to the hospital. I got my epidural at an 8 and things slowed down a bit. I'm sure things could have been sped up, but when I first got there the Dr. on call was Dr. Smith who was in my ward growing up. I babysat his kids and went to him for a GYN checkup once so I knew him and trusted him. He was not on call after 7 but said he was going to be in and out of surgeries but he would deliver the baby if I wanted him to. He came in after each surgery and broke my water, checked me, etc...

Here I am still in shock that I'm having this baby.

The pediatrician on call came over and told us that the Life Flight crew was already here waiting to take him. She pretty much prepared us for the baby coming right out and being whisked away. Just before noon Dr. Smith had a break from surgeries and they had me start pushing. After a few short minutes and 3 sets of pushing he was here at 12:02! He came out looking very healthy. They laid him on my chest, told me to give him a kiss, and he was off.

4lbs 13oz 18in

They took him to the NICU and checked him out. I think his Apgar was 8-8 which was great for my little premie. He was breathing ok but required just a little bit of oxygen. They prepared him to leave for IMC, and were able to take him by ambulance (relief for the wallet:).

They brought him in to say goodbye to me in his little incubator. He was so sweet and helpless. I wish he could have stayed, but I really just wanted them to take him and do whatever they needed to do.

The Life Flight crew was so cute and had a disposable camera that they kept with him the whole time to document the trip. He got a little Life Flight t-shirt to take home too:)

Tyson went home to pack me a hospital bag-so unprepared! My sweet Easton came to visit and informed my that there was poop on my pillow (don't worry it was just iodine). As if the concept wasn't confusing enough, now baby Callan is out of my tummy and no where to be found. Easton will not be allowed to see him during his entire stay at IMC and that is breaking my heart. They don't allow visitors under 14 during RSV season.

Tyson went to be with the baby at IMC. While he was driving there I kept getting calls from Callan's doctors asking for permission for various things. Placing a line in his umbilical artery so they could give him some dopamine for his low blood pressure. Intubating him so they could help him make the Surfactin his lungs needed. But every time they called for permission he would start doing better while they were talking to me. They did end up placing the umbilical line, but so far he hasn't needed any intubation. Tyson just got back and said he's breathing on his own now and is doing great.

So here I am just sitting here in a hospital bed alone and baby-less. Nothing is how I would have imagined. I am at a completely different hospital, with a different doctor, 2 months early, and all by myself. Also-I don't get TLC at the hospital which I'm a little bugged about. Hopefully I can get out of here tomorrow morning and go see my little one! I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to hold him, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

The House

I've been putting off posting pictures of our new place because of all the finishing touches I have in mind. But I've come to the conclusion that there's always going to be one more thing I want to get done. So... here it is.

The view when you walk in. (the door to the upstairs people)

Our adorable little drop-leaf table that is just the right size.

The kitchen.

The living room.

I especially love my temple picture that I made at a party thing Tyson's cousin hosted.

Our bedroom/Callan's bedroom

The corner nook/Bathroom (yes, that is a wooden toilet seat)

And last, but not least, Easton's room. You might remember that Easton's furniture has been an ongoing process for a few months. I had the idea of refinishing Tyson's old bedroom set that we used when we got married. I wanted to sand it all down and paint it black. Tyson ended up doing almost all of the sanding because I got too impatient (not to mention huge) for the job. And our brother in law, Thomas, jumped in and took over from there with his cabinet-making expertise. He sprayed and lacquered the bed, dresser, desk, and book shelf for us. We owe him big time!

These are the pillows I made Easton for his birthday with the extra fabric from his crib bedding that I made 2 years ago.

It's hard to take pictures of the furniture because the room is so small, but we just love the way it all turned out.

The original skirt and quilt from his crib bedding. I cut up the skirt to make it fit.

Arlene found these darling handles at Hobby Lobby and they are perfect for his room!

I'm starting to feel like it's all coming together. I've had a few more encounters with spiders and earwigs than I would like, but it's starting to feel like home.

In other news...

Yesterday Tyson was invited to interview at the University of Southern Nevada for the pharmacy program. Yahoo! He was starting to lose hope as the months went by since he applied. Getting an interview was really important for him because he has average grades, but he has an incredible amount of experience that he wouldn't be able to share any other way. He is currently filling in as an OR (operating room) pharmacy technician while someone is on maternity leave and has had some great opportunities to learn and progress. He prepares the IV's needed for the surgeries and checks the anesthesia kits, etc...

On Sunday my mother-in-law arranged for my sister-in-law and I to go get 3D ultrasounds of our babies at the hospital. Amanda got some great pictures of her little guy, but Callan was being stubborn! He is positioned with his head on my right side and feet on my left and is facing in to my spine. There was no chance of getting a picture of that little guy and I'm starting to worry that he's not going to turn in time because he is ALWAYS sitting that way.

Easton is doing well in his big boy bed and is just as funny as ever. I was nervous for the transition because he had been sleeping with us for a few weeks, but he did great the first night! He slept all through the night which he's only done once or twice in his entire life so far. He woke up right after Tyson left for work at about 5:30 and I heard him out in the hall saying, "Ohhhh I lost my mom. I can't find her." It about broke my heart! He has continued to wake up really early, but I figure he'll adjust over time. Last night after we put him to bed we heard his door handle jiggling and he came running out saying there were ghosts in his room. Whoever taught him about ghosts better fess up and tell him they're NOT REAL! He continues to talk about the ghosts in our house whenever he hears the people upstairs walking around. He feels the need to emphasize certain words by repeating them three times in the sentence.

For example:

"Mom! There's ghosts in my room!"

"No, there aren't. Ghost's aren't real, they're pretend. It's the people upstairs walking around."

"No! There's ghosts! It's not and not and not the people upstairs!"

Or

"I'm not going to get dressed! I want to be naked and naked and naked!"

Last week he played a hunting game at Amanda and Thomas's on the Wii. Since then he has been constantly talking about how when his brother Callan is born they are going to shoot a bear and he's going to pull the trigger. He has been very loving to his baby brother lately also. When he jumps right on top of my stomach (which happens frequently) he immediately kisses it and says, "Sorry Callan, it's ok Callan." He's always telling me about the fun things he and Callan are going to do when Callan is born and gets "big like Easton."

As usual, I had a long list of funny Easton lines that I wanted to record, but they've slipped my mind. Maybe they'll come to me for the next post.

January Thus Far

I can't believe January is half-way gone. We moved into our new basement apartment in Sandy on New Year's Eve. We had an apartment in Midvale lined up that was a brand new, beautiful, and, unfortunately, government subsidized. That meant there were income restrictions (meaning you had to make under a certain amount of money.) We didn't think we had any problem meeting that requirement, but Tyson is still listed as an employee at Timpanogos Hospital because he fills in there about once a month. When the apartment place called Timpanogos HR, they reported that he works 12 hours per week (which he doesn't) because that is the maximum he could work at his current employee status. Long story short, the apartment complex was really rude, thought we were being fraudulent, wasn't willing to work with us, told us we couldn't live there, left us with less than two weeks to find a new place.

We found this basement apartment on KSL and it has definitely been a blessing that the first apartment didn't work out. The couple that lived here before had paid through December and wanted to move out on the first of January, but we told them we really needed to move in on Dec. 31st because that's when our lease ended. Tyson mentioned that we would be willing to clean the apartment if it meant getting in on the day we needed... We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into with that offer:)

We are so grateful for all the help we received from our families! We had an $800 deposit at our previous apartment which our ward members warned us we will probably never see again, but we cleaned that place like you wouldn't believe because we want our money back, dang it! After we cleaned there and loaded the truck, we headed up to Sandy. The other residents were still here! We waited for them to pack a few last things and leave. When I walked in to our new house I almost cried. They had a black lab living here in a kennel in the bedroom and the entire house reeked of wet dog! It was terrible. When Arlene filled the kitchen sink with bleach I started to feel better right away. The moms scrubbed and scrubbed until there was hardly anything left for me to do! The smell lingered for a few days, but I think we have it under control now. We burn a lot of candles anyway. Overall, it is turning out really cute and I'm liking the arrangement more and more. We are picking up the last piece of Easton's furniture tonight and getting it all set up. After that I'll take some pictures.

We celebrated Tyson's 26th Birthday on January 5th. I can't believe he is so old! We weren't really going to celebrate, but I felt like I wanted to do something for him because he has worked so hard getting us moved! He has a Reese's Peanut Butter cup obsession so I threw together a quick Peanut Butter Fudge cake (not my favorite) and got some balloons. My mom and Collette stopped by for the quick party. From Easton and I he got some hair clippers so he can cut his own hair like he's been wanting to and clothes. My family got him a zero degree sleeping bag, and he hasn't decided yet what he wants to buy with the birthday money from his family.

We spent the end of December and all of January so far with this stupid cold. (The sickness kind, not the weather-although that has also been stupid and cold.) Tyson had the worst cough I've ever heard and was up all night every night for a long long time. We just couldn't get over it! I finally got an antibiotic from my OB and we're pretty much better with the exception of some coughing now and then. We went to our new ward last Sunday and were amazed at how nice and welcoming everyone was. People stayed after sacrament to meet us and introduce themselves and it seems like a really great ward. We left after sacrament meeting because of our constant coughing and Easton was so sad he didn't get to go to nursery. Hopefully this week!

I'm still working in Spanish Fork two days a week, and I'm surprised it only takes me 40 minutes to get there. The drive is not bad at all. Yesterday I did NOT want to go to work and I said that to Easton. He started begging me not to go to work and to stay home with him. I HATE that. I told him, "I have to go to work because that's how I get money to buy you new toys." Without missing a beat he responded with, "I have enough toys in my room mom! Stay home with me!" Tear jerker, I know.

All in all, 2011 has brought us lots of blessings so far! Hopefully the next post will be a little more exciting and picture-ful.

Christmas 2010

Sorry about the delay... I finally have some time to do some updates!

We were able to go to my family's for the annual Christmas Eve traditions. We had a yummy dinner and put on the nativity play. Easton was the angel. He did a great job repeating his lines and just had to hold the baby Jesus while he was onstage.

After the nativity we headed home to put out our stockings and the milk and cookies for Santa. Christmas morning was so much fun with Easton! I was shocked that at 6:30, Easton and I were still asleep and Tyson was waking us up to open presents! Easton was so excited to see what Santa brought him and didn't waste any time before devouring the Hershey's kisses in his stocking! He and Tyson got matching PJ's and looked so cute!

Tyson got tons of socks, tons of Cokes, and some electric massagers from Santa.

I got some new boots, sweats, and make up from Santa.

Santa brought Easton just what he had been asking for, a gun. He spent hours "bamming" people that day. I kind of think this is the cutest picture ever. He was pretty proud of his loot.

After the Santa presents we opened presents from each other. Tyson got a photography backdrop and light kit and I got some really nice MAC make up and under armor sweat pants. Easton got a whole bunch of board games.

We headed to Sandy after we finished our presents at home to see what the aunties got from Santa. We had a delicious breakfast that the boys prepared. I got to have my own personal appetizer of eggs from my dad since I was STARVING by this point:) After breakfast we opened all the presents under the Cook tree. We came home with a new Singer sewing machine and food storage! Easton also got lots of fun things like clothes and extra Mr. Potato Head pieces.

From there we headed to Payson for MORE! We got a perfect little table for our new place. I got a Chi straightener since mine recently broke and Tyson got some...warm coverall things? I don't know what to call them, but they have been very useful throughout the move. Grandma Page got herself a new kids 4-Wheeler for all her grandsons to play with at her house. Easton had a lot of fun driving it up and down the sidewalk! He doesn't really have the hang of steering. Or stopping.

We got so many presents I can't remember them all at the moment so I hope I haven't forgotten anything major. We are so blessed to have such great families and everything we need in life!