Great Giveaway for all you Mommies

I am feeling lucky this week, so I am entering for a chance to win a mommy mystery bag! You can enter too: http://babyhalfoff.com/blog/2012/08/17/mommy-mystery-bag-giveaway/comment-page-4/#comment-131063

This is a great blog with many great deals!!

A New Blog

I wanted to let you all know that I deiced to move our family blog to a new platform. Please update your bookmarks to http://elmerfamilyblog.wordpress.com/ This is where you can find the latest and greatest Elmer family news. It's a fun new format that I find easier to use and I like the results better. So come take a stroll over that way with me! See ya there!

RSV

This has been the 6 weeks of sickness! Shortly after Dakota was born, Ethan got strep. Then a few weeks later he had  his second round of ear tubes put in due to repeat ear infections and problems hearing. Seems  poor Ethan likes to build up fluid in his ears. Then got strep again. Overlapping with that last strep, Annie got what seemed like a cold and her right ear became infected, then there was Dakota. He started being congested. Being so small and young we were on top of this. Took him to the doctor. He was fine at that point and the doctor told us what to watch for to come back (fever or trouble breathing). Last weekend he developed a cough. I took him to Urgent Care as it was the weekend to make sure we were not getting worse. We knew that a could co go bad fast on new little dudes and it would mean the hospital. He again checked out fine and the couch was just post nasal drip. Wednesday I call our pediatrician's nurses line to see how long can this cold go on for. She heard him cough and said she should bring him in that day. After work I headed in with all three kids. My Mom met me there to help and boy was that good!

Loading him up in the car was the first time I had really seen him that afternoon since I am back at work. I noticed he seemed a bit pale but did not think much of it. The appointment started like any other-we took off all his clothes and they weighted him in his little diaper. They took his temp and then wanted to see what his oxygen saturation was. It was 74. The gal kept it there for a little while as sometimes it's a fluke and they come up. His did not. She got the Nurse Practitioner we were seeing that day. Before I knew it there were several staff members in his room. They were getting oxygen, a blanket, calling the doctor on call and listening to his lungs etc. The verdit was that we needed to go into the American Fork Hospital just a few blocks north of their office. He needed to be admitted. We loaded him and an oxygen tank into the van and headed over. Brandon called in sick to work and met us there.  

Right as we got here they took us to X-ray. They wanted to get some chest X-Rays. Then up to the Peds floor. We were checked into a room-here unlike the NICU I could stay. I have a bed and get meals. That was nice to hear. They started an IV and suctioned out his little nose and stuff. They sent blood work and what they sucked out to the labs. The next day we got the results-RSV. They have not seen many cases of this since April-guess nobody told Dakota RSV season was over! RSV is a virus so there is nothing you can do but wait it out. While we wait they have him on oxygen and suction him out before each feeding so that he will get the most out of the feeding. He is doing much better than when we came in. At this point they think he should be able to come home this weekend. I feel like I am having the post delivery experience I never did with him-just the two of us most of the time hanging out in the hospital room watching TV and eating hospital food.  It's fun to bond with him.

He is feeling better today-I even got smiles!

He has a cute little gown

 and colorful bed

 and look at our view! Cannot beat that!

Dakota in the NICU and the Road Home

I wanted to start this this beautiful tulip that was in bloom at Orem Community Hospital when Dakota was born. Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. After a winter of necked trees and cold, its so nice to see blossoms on the trees and tulips and daffodils in bloom. When I looked out my room at the hospital where I had Dakota I could see these mountains and the beauty of spring. I know I went backwards for a sec there but just had to share the flowers. Now back to Dakota and the NICU at Utah Valley. They discovered that his cortisol levels were low. Your body creates this hormone when in stress and it is part of what controls your sugar levels. They found out this was what was causing him to have issues. His body was in stress and was having sugar issues. So they started giving him hydrocortisone to help. They had to give him a high dose to stabilize his sugars. He was also placed back on pushed room air (so not oxygen but room air given thought an oxygen tube at a faster rate than he would breath without it) as his respiratory rates were not staying as they should.

 They fed him my pumped milk through a feeding tube that went down his nose. When your sugars are low you are very tired and do not have drive or energy to much even eat, but without food you cannot help your sugars. So it's a catch 22 that they helped get him out of with the feeding tube. He dropped weight, from the 10th percentile to the 3rd. All newborns lose weight the first few days of life but when you are sick and little to start they do not want you to drop to much. So they started fortifying my milk with some formula made for preemies. It has extra calories to bulk them up. All of these things helped him turn around. Not even a week old the jaundices issues were solved. He was taken off the lights and we could hold him for longer period of times. He could also spend time in swings and out of his bed.

 I also could start to try nursing him. I needed to be there for 3 feedings and not back to back feedings so that he could rest and regain his strength in between. The route from my house to the hospital became a very familiar 15 minutes each way. At times he would nurse great and others it was a real struggle for him as he would tire easy. We got down to a routine before each feeding. We would take his temp, change his diaper, the nurse would prick his heal to check his sugars. Then we would have to weight him before feeding and then after to see how much he got and if he did not get a certain amount they would give him the rest through his tube. They needed to make sure he could a certain amount to keep the sugars up.

 

They had to place a PICC line in a vein in his head to administer the fluids, meds and anything else they needed to give him. The PICC line gave them a good vein that they did not have to worry about blowing or compromising.  It looks painful but they assured us it was not.

 Soon he was able to not have the oxygen tube, and keep his respiratory rates where they should be. Then the sugars were stable. They waited a day and decided it was safe to take out the PICC line. He started to look less like a sick little baby. He was feeling better and more interactive. He would cry when they pricked his heal to check his sugar and knew when I was around.

 Next we decided to try bottles for the feedings I was not around (which was all but three), he took those very well and got to loose the feeding tube. Around this same time he was moved to the Level 2 NICU or NICU B as it was called. Here he got a different set up. Less machines. He got got what they called a "big boy" bed and got to wear clothes.  It was so exciting! They also started slowing weeing him off the hydrocotisone. The thing with cortisol is that your body has to recognize the need to make it, so they have to ween slow to trigger this response so the body will make up the difference as needed. This was the last hurtle and a long one. Sunday May 1st we were told this process would start and depending on how he did it would depend on when he could home, but they never promise a date until it's in view.

 The other nice thing about NICU B was he was near a window and people could come and see him though that window. Annie and Ethan got to come see him for the second time since he was born. The NICU area at Utah Valley is nice. They have a lounge with couches, chairs, a playhouse for the kids, snacks and drinks, places to eat and a pumping room for Mom's. This was a lifesaver for when the kids came. After they saw him I would sit with them in the lounge while Brandon spent time with Dakota. Brandon's Mom also came into two Dakota's second week of life to help. It was such a blessing to have her at our house all the time. Brandon got to come with me more and it gave my family some time off from watching the kids at night while Brandon was at work.

We had many fantastic nurses thought his NICU stay. Whenever possible we had the same nurse when they worked several days (or nights) in a row. It was fun to get to know them and see their love for each child and family. Towards the end of his stay one of the nurses wanted to do a little photo shoot. It was a blast! She also took molds of his hands and filled them with plaster for a great keepsake. On Saturday May 5th we found out that Dakota would be heading home the following Tuesday. We were so exited to see there was an end in sight! He was doing great with the weeing and keeping his sugars up. He was still in the 3rd percentile but was not loosing more weight so that was a good thing also. We got to give him a few of his baths in the NICU and spend as much time with him as we wanted. It was hard to balance time with all the kids and between home and the hospital. We are so grateful for family who helped us with this.

 Monday the 7th at 8am he took his last dose of hydocortisone and when I went in that morning I got the best surprise ever! The doctor decided that if his sugars were fine before his 8pm feeding he could be discharged. Brandon called in to work and told them he was not coming in. He went with me that night and we celebrated with that last heal prick when the number was a normal level. The discharging process started. An hour and a half later were were on our way home! It had been a long 3 weeks! He looked so small in his car seat! The best news was that as far as they could tell there would be no lasting issues for any of the problems he had the last 3 weeks. Perfectly normal baby!

 We did not have time to get some of the baby supplies needed so our first stop was Target!

 The kids were in bed-we did not tell them the great news as we did not want them waiting up. We were not sure if or when we would be home with him. So after some time with Grandma, Dakota met Molly. Molly gave her the sniff over and decided he was a keeper.

 The next morning the kids were so excited to see Dakota and get to hold him for the first time. We had to go to Salt Lake City so decided to stop at Ruth's Dinner in Emigration Canyon for breakfast and lots of holding time with pictures of course.

 Back at home we worked on settling into the routine of having a newborn around.

 Of course we did take lots of time to hold him. After all we had 3 weeks to make up for. Both Annie and Ethan love holding him and helping Mommy and Daddy getting diapers and stuff.

 As of last Monday, Dakota was 7 pounds 2 oz and is now in the 5th percentile. We are so blessed to have this little miracle in our lives. It is amazing how Heavenly Father blesses us and looks out for us. I am still shocked at how his body took the situation and make it thought. The placenta was not giving him the oxygen needed so he created another way to get it. Doctors and nurses being in the right place at the right time and being lead to get the answers they needed to help him as his issues were not at all text book issues and all the minoring we had while pregnant. All amazing!

 Here are some picture colleges I created while he was in the NICU to share with family and provide  a way to see the many faces of Dakota at anyone time.

Welcome Dakota Jack!

Monday April 16th was the day! We had an appointment at Orem Community at 6:30am for an induction. With the pregnancy we had and all the swelling issues and what not we decided being induced at 39 weeks was a good choice. Soon we would know what a good choice that was!

The induction started around 8am and the water was broken about 9am.Progress was slow similar to my labor with Ethan. I would dilate and then stall and then dilate and stall. Also Dakota's heart rate would drop here and there. They thought that he must be laying on the cord so they needed to give some cushion.So they placed a catheter up to cycle fluid around him. This did the trick!

 Finally after a few episodes of "American Pickers" I was 6 cm. It was 1pm. I called my mom to give her the progress. My parents had Annie and Ethan with them and were waiting excitedly to come see the baby. No sooner had I told her that I was a 6 cm that I started feeling pressure. I knew this was it. I hung up, called the nurse and told her I was sure i was complete. She could not believe it-sure enough I was complete! She told me to keep my legs crossed and she ran to call the doctor and they set up the room.Before I knew it, Dr. Young was there and was ready for me to push. 1 and a half pushes later at 1:59pm, Dakota was born! The first thing I noticed was how small he looked (compared to my other two). We knew he would be small, but I thought that meant in the 7 pound range. He was 6 pounds, 5 oz and 19 inches long (the other two kids were each almost 9 pounds each). 

While they got Dakota cleaned up and ready, Dr. Young delivered the placenta. Everyone wanted to see what was up with it as it failed and then seemed to correct its self. Well I do not think it ever corrected its self-it was fragmented and almost shredded. Dr. Young had to manually remove parts of it as it would not come out on it's own. The cord was also in an interesting state-very long and twisted. We understood why his heart rate would drop-no matter where he laid he was on the cord. 

They noticed that his breathing was a little funky. They wanted to take him to the NICU just to keep an eye on him for an hour or so. Soon the nurse came back in and said there was another issue. His blood sugar level was so low they almost could not trace it. Had labor been any longer he would have had some major issues and would have crashed due to low sugar. He would be in the NICU for longer, maybe days while they get them stable. Each day it seemed there was a new development  and most pointed to the placenta as the cause.  Dakota's levels kept going up and down on blood sugar and bilirubin. He was under the lights to correct the jaundice. They diagnosed him wit ha few issues, Coombs Positive (caused the jaundice issues) and Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia ( results from maternal immunization against specific platelet alloantigens paternally inherited by the fetus)  Wednesday they had a neonatologist from Utah Valley Medical  in Orem  teaching a class. The nurses waited for him to drive in and right away told him that he needed to come look at Dakota. We talked about the pregnancy and the issues he has had in his 4 days of life. He feel he had Polycythemia (Dakota's body created more red blood cells to give him the oxygen that the placenta was failing to give) which would cover all his symptoms. Soon the pediatrician was there doing a blood reduction,  taking some blood out and replacing it with fluid. What happens is that not only is it so hard for his little body to push it all around but the red blood cells eat sugar and when he already has a low amount that does not help. He did great during the procedure and it did not phase him at all!

My friend Sara Scott came by and was the first to hold Dakota. 

At the NICU in Orem we were allowed to take any adult in with us. 

Tuesday the kids and my parents came to watch Dakota take his first bath. The kids could not come into the NICU but could watch through the window. They loved seeing their baby brother for the first time.

He was not to sure about the bath

Thursday at 4:50 Am my phone rang. It was the pediatrician calling to let us know that Dakota's sugars just were not getting to where they should and they decided that he needs to be at the NICU at Utah Valley Regional medical Center. I knew this was an something that could happen but it hit me hard. That was serious stuff and meant he would not be coming home as soon as I thought. 

He took his first car ride with some flight nurses.

His new bed at Utah Valley was nice-great view of the mountains and great sunlight. 

He settled right in!

They also wasted no time getting him on the bilirubin lights! They have Nurse practitioner and also doctors on the floor at all times. They work together to set up a plan for Dakota and keep an eye on his progress.We were glad to see him there and felt that we could see some great improvement. It was a rough first 4 days of life but we are so glad to have him in our family!

Dakota 35 Weeks

Yesterday we saw the maternal fetal medicine doctor for the last time. They did a full ultrasound checking every part of him. Its a wonderful blessing that by all accounts he is a normal baby at this point. He is now right where he should be size wise. He is about 5 pounds 6 oz at this point. His fluid was on the higher size of the normal range. His cord blood flow was perfect and he was moving great! Right now he is head down and at the time of the ultrasound-facing my back. Since I will deliver with in the next 4 weeks, and he is looking so good there is no need for them to see me again. Its crazy to think that just a few months ago we were preparing for an emergency c section and an itty bitty baby who would have to spend months in the NICU and now its all different. We cannot wait to meet him and see his personality. We feel that he is already a fighter! We will keep up with the weekly Non Stress Tests at my OBGYN office and fluid checks until delivery.

January-Lets get out!

Here I am 24 weeks along! Looking back I was so small!

This winter was an interesting one. We did not get much snow and the snow we would get did not stay around long. Despite that it was still just a little colder than we would have liked to pay outside. So we did our best to keep the kids busy and also keep me resting. Ethan always keeping us entertained had a phase where he wanted to wear a backpack at all times. He would see Annie take one to preschool each M,W,F and wanted one too. We found the Thomas the Tank Engine one and one day after nap found he had slept in it!

The kids love our pets. They enjoy playing with Molly and Bob (when he will let them). Molly is in Ethan's room each night while he falls asleep. She is a great dog. She will see us getting them ready and will walk in and wait. I let her out once he is asleep but they both seem to enjoy the time she is in there.

One Saturday when it was raining in the valley we decided it get out of the house and see what was going on in the Provo Canyon. We drove up past Sundance and saw snow! Lots of it too! We did not think to wear our snow-bibs but that did not stop the kids from having a blast and playing in the snow. They climbed up the snow banks created by the plows and even did a few snow angles. They had a great time driving past where Mommy and Daddy like to snowboard. Both the kids really want to give that a try-maybe next year when I am back on the snow!

Also this month Brandon used his art skills to paint a tree in our neighbor's nursery. The were expecting a girl (born later in February) and wanted to have a tree with flowers in her room. Brandon designed the tree and then went to work! The kids and I hung out with Melanee and her son who is the same age as Ethan, several days a week for a few weeks while Brandon worked on the tree. It was so nice to sit on someone else's couch for a little while and visit! The tree turned out great! Melanee found some beautiful fabric flowers to add to it and the nursery is adorable! I now see a monkey mural in his feature for the boys room....

Speaking of artists, both Ethan and Annie love to paint! That was another way we passed time this month. They love to water color. Here Annie is painting her favorite animal, a giraffe and I cannot remember what Ethan was painting. Annie does a lot of crafts at preschool-it's her favorite part! I think she has for sure followed after her Daddy on her art skills.

We spend another day at the bank opening up savings accounts for the kids. They took in their piggy banks and deposited all the money they had. They were both very excited to have bank accounts and while I am not sure they fully understand the concept they love the idea!