~Welcome to the World Carter Michael!~

On January 28th at 10:20pm we welcomed our precious new son Carter Michael into the world. Hearts were crushed, smiles flew around the room, and an enormous sigh of relief was breathed by both Randy and I simultaneously. A.healthy.baby.

How did we get to that moment? Stick around and read more if you want to hear his birth story. (I promise nothing tmi).

For the week prior to Carter's birth I had a few false starts, contractions that would start and stop and get me thinking that today was the day. Poor Randy was sick of me calling him at work and saying I think it's time! When I woke up on Monday morning and went to the washroom I *knew* it was the day. (Told you I would spare the gory details). The contractions started at 8:30am. They were mild and I carried on as normal around the house. At 10am I let Randy know it was definitely time to pack it up and head home from work and I hopped in the shower. He got home, showered and started loading our hospital bags and Ethan's overnight bag in the truck. He went downstairs to get something and let out a war whoop, Ethan had set up a 'washing station' for his trains and had virtually flooded the whole basement.(On our new flooring to boot). So a slight delay while they mopped up the mess and we were off to drop Ethan off at daycare.

We made it to the hospital around 1pm and I was sent to OB Triage where they hooked me up and tracked my contractions, I was having them about every 3-5 minutes. So she checked me and I was only dilated 3-4cm. I was shocked, I had been dilated 3cm for two weeks already, the all morning contractions didn't do much for me obviously. The nurse tells us to get up and start walking around to get it moving along. So I walked, and walked, and walked; for 2 hours! The contractions were getting pretty painful with me having to stop walking with every one and grab the wall rail. We headed back after 2 hours to see where we were at...no change. What?!?! I almost cried. So go home or keep walking...I didn't want to go home, I was already there and obviously it was going to happen that day. I asked about inducing me as I was scheduled to be induced the next morning anyhow. Nope, not happening. So we walked for another 2 hours and had supper before going back again to be checked. The contractions were VERY painful at this point. I actually scared some guy in a hallway when a particularly tough one hit me and my hip snapped out and I almost fell in the hallway. Randy caught me and braced me against the wall but the guy came running thinking I was dying or something...poor guy!
So we head back to triage at 6:30pm and guess what? Now I'm at 4-5...whoopee...so again I ask to be induced and again they decline. I asked for my OBGYN to be called but they wouldn't because there was an on call OB to take me. On a side note, this is my most frustrating part of delivering a baby in Grande Prairie, you don't get your OB for delivery, you get whoever is there and on call. So again she tells us go home or keep walking here. By this time I'm exhausted and Randy is frustrated so he convinces me to go home. I really, really didn't want to...I was having monster painful contractions but I went. I popped a Tylenol when I got home and crashed on the couch; I even snuck in a cat nap!

At 9:30 I got up off the couch to use the washroom and *knew* we needed to get going to the hospital. We arrived and I was rocking some seriously painful contractions that on a scale of 10 were an 8. Into triage we go again and guess what? I was 6cm..what the heck! She said my waters were bulging though so they gowned me up and sent me to delivery.

The delivery nurses asked me what I wanted for pain and I asked for an epidural and refused all narcotics (morphine etc). They make me feel stoned and I didn't want that. So she heads out to call the Dr and person for the epidural and to prep to give me an IV. She comes back a couple minutes later and tells me my worst nightmare...no epidural. The person that gives it was gone for the day and wouldn't make it back in time so the Dr refused to call them back. They offer me phentenol (sp?) and I agree, the pain was unbearable. So she tries to start the IV and misses, fml! So the Dr comes in, breaks my water and proceeds to try to get the IV. He had Randy help him hold my arm and put pressure on the other IV spot. I have almost perfect finger mark bruises on my wrist as a result...





Apparently it's been awhile since the Dr put in an IV because a) it took like 10 mins, b) he spewed my blood all over the delivery room when he screwed up the first try. So by the time he to the stupid IV in I was screaming in pain and begging for drugs and then felt the need to push. So what does the Dr do? He crossed his arms on his chest and said 'well then push, no time for the drugs now'. I died inside at that moment...there was no turning back now.

I won't lie. It was the most excruciatingly painful thing I have ever felt and I hope to NEVER feel that kind of pain ever again. Thankfully I only endured about 30 mins of active labor and he was delivered in 3 pushes in under a minute.

The Dr let Randy announce that it was a boy and he was immediately placed on my bare chest. They no longer do suction at all or take baby away to be weighed etc right away unless you want. I wanted tummy time right away and to be able to breast feed right there. 10 fingers, 10 toes and everything else just right, Carter Michael came into this world at 10:20pm, Jan 28th weighing 7lbs 6oz and 20 inches long. A full head of dark hair; no doubt the cause of my endless heartburn in the pregnancy!

We stayed in the hospital till the 30th before being able to go home. He was checked out by Dr Odaibo who was Ethan's pedeatrician after his surgery. He did find that one of Carter's hips may be out so we are scheduled for an ultrasound at he end of Feb to see. If it is he will need to wear a leg brace for around 6 weeks to correct it and prevent a permanent limp. I'm not worried at all about it, it isn't life threatening so I can handle it!

It's been almost three weeks now since his birth and we're getting to know each other. He likes chest time with both Mom and Dad and has trouble sleeping between 10pm to 3am.  He thinks it's party time!  He is gaining weight like a champ and we're pretty confident he is going to be a very active, rough little boy...not at all like Ethan.  One thing's for sure, there will never be a dull day in this house with 2 little boys running around!  Here are my cute little guys!

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~Hospital Scary Time~

So we got hospitalized for the first time a couple of weeks ago…I knew that it would happen sooner rather then later but it didn’t make it any less scary for Ethan, Randy or I…

He choked on a piece of a Nutragrain Bar and it got stuck in his esophagus…I’m sure you can piece together the rest of how that went.  So he couldn’t eat anything and everything came up that we tried to give him.  So after 6 hours of nothing being able to go down I took him to the emergency room to get checked out.  They consulted with our specialists at the Stollery Childrens’ Hospital and decided to hospitalize us for observation.  If it worsened then we would be transported to Edmonton…

So we checked into room 329, right outside the nurses station, and settled in for the weekend.  We found the play room and the movies and the little kitchenette and got comfortable with our little environment.  They put Ethan on an IV and took blood to check him for infections and did Xrays to see if they could see anything stuck.  None of which were easy or fun for Ethan or I.  He was traumatized by the whole experience and it broke my heart to watch him have to go through it…

I stayed at the hospital with Ethan;  Randy came back and forth with the coffee and food for me…

It took until Saturday night until Ethan was able to eat anything and that was a Danino yogurt.  We were so happy!  From there we switched his hospital diet to a puree diet which he ate for two meals, then we switched him to a minced diet which he ate without problem the rest of the time we were there. 

We met with the Paediatrician on Saturday followed by the surgeons from Grande Prairie.  They all thought that he had suffered something being stuck and that it was likely now swollen or bruised and thereby difficult to eat.  The surgeons told me that they could do a scope to see what is going on but I told them that I would rather be sent to Edmonton where they deal with paediatrics if that was the course of action…

Long story short, he made a good recovery and we got discharged on Monday morning after meeting with our family doctor.  They made us an appt at the Stollery for Thursday for a check up and meeting with the specialist.

I had to fly to Saskatoon on Tuesday for work and Randy and Ethan headed to his Moms’ house in Vegreville until the appointment.  My boss (in my DREAM JOB) let me change my flight to stop in Edmonton so that I could be with Ethan during his tests.  Unfortunately my flight didn’t get in until 10:20am and his test was at 8:45am and I missed it…but I did get to go to the appt with the specialist in the afternoon.  

I have to say that it was the best meeting we have had so far with a specialist in regards to Ethan's’ care.    He gave us concrete “what to do in this scenario” actions and how to deal with different situations.  I’m very happy with the information that he gave us and feel better about what we can do when he chokes…that being said, we are going to get in touch with someone in GP who can teach us children's’ first aid.  It is time to educate ourselves…

We are all home now and Ethan is doing okay…we are cautious and keeping his diet pretty simple…I’m hoping that we gradually aren’t scared and feel okay with feeding him normal again…but I’m not rushing it!

So that was our excitement/scary time with Ethan…poor little guy!  Thank goodness the hospital had 1 Max & Ruby VHS tape, it kept us sane when Ethan was tied to an IV and couldn’t run around the playroom! 

~No more Surgeries!!!~

We are so happy to let everyone know that Ethan will NOT be needing any further surgeries at this point.  He went through a camera scope of his esophagus and a dilation of his esophagus on Monday and when we spoke to the specialist afterwards he told us that everything is as good as it can be.  So it is a mixed result.  In one hand we are relieved because we won’t have to go back and forth to Edmonton and put Ethan through a series of procedures.  On the other hand, how he eats is as good as it will get.  So we will have to watch him eating and be careful at least until he gets a little older and gains some understanding.  He is already improving leaps and bounds from where he was and rarely chokes anymore.  He is learning already how to chew and swallow his food to make it easier to go down.  It also helps that he has a mouthful of teeth now too!  So we will just carry on and love up our little guy just as he is!

So we can carry on making plans for the summer now that we know that everything is alright.  So we are going to put Ethan into a Gymniks class and swimming lessons for next month.  He loves to tumble and jump so we thought he would love a gymnastics type class.  I’m so excited and now am looking forward to summertime and all the fun it will bring.

~My Little Guy is Sick~

Send some love his way!  He is just feeling rotten like you would not believe.  He is allergic to the amoxycillin they gave him to clear up his ear infection and is covered from head to toe in huge painful hives.  To top that off he has some type of an infection he’s fighting off because he’s had a fever for 24 hours and threw up twice last night.  We went to the Dr today and got all the meds changed and had him checked over.  We are just to give him Bendrayl to help with the hives.  Then we went to the hospital for blood tests to see what kind of infection he has.  We go back in 7 days for follow up… We are only 11 days from our next visit to the Stollery…things are not looking good for that test!  I hope he’s feeling better by then!!!

Anyhow, I’m exhausted and heading to bed.  Tomorrow I was going to go to Slave Lake for audits but I’m sticking close to home instead and working in town.  I will have to do them on Tuesday I guess.  I have until next Friday to do them.  I guess worse case scenerio we could go that way to Edmonton next Friday…

But I will update how little guy is feeling and maybe post some pictures tomorrow.  He looks just horrid the poor bugger…but that’s it for me, take care!

~Little Things That Make me Happy Today!~

Well I’m blogging today after being knocked out on some strong drugs and having a minor surgery so excuse me if I sound like I don’t make sense.  I’m blogging today because I received a complaint that I never blog anymore.  (Yes I mean you Mother)  So to appease the masses I am writing a little post today with some pictures!

So these are a few pictures of what made me happy this afternoon!

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So we have Ethan in his new PJs from Christmas, I love these PJs, so nice a warm and soft and they glow in the dark too!!!  Then in the top left and bottom left picture you see Ethan’s push and ride toy with Elmo hanging on for dear life.  Ethan saw me stick him there one day and ever since then that is where the Elmo goes.  Its a giggling Elmo so every time they round a corner and he gets bumped he giggles or says Yahoooey!  It is freaking hilarious.  Carrying on, in the middle left picture is the Herald Tribune paper, my Friday tradition.  I pick up the paper and read all the relevant local news and upcoming events, read the careers section and go through all the flyers.  That’s what you will find me doing every Friday night!  Then in the top right picture is a picture of MY new PJs, comfy and soft flannel bottoms….so cozy!  Then underneath is my cup of Timmys that I’m enjoying tonight.  That one is self explanatory!  Then bottom right are my new shoes that I picked up from Purolator today!  New Naturalizer loafers for work!  I am so glad they are here because I’m sick of sore feet at work!!!

So that is what it looked like for us today!  I promise to get a post about Mom’s birthday party up real soon as well!  I’m off to get some sleep and hopefully I won’t feel so stoned in the morning!!!

~Another One of Those Days~

Yup, it was one of "those" days today. You know the kind where you want to rip someones head off and shit down their throat because your day is so bad?

Well, it started with Ethan screaming at me non stop for an hour for no apparent reason other then he hates me I guess. Then as we are leaving the house I set my coffee cup down on the stairs while I threw my coat on. Of course Ethan picked it up and launched it across the entry with coffee spewing everywhere! So I mopped it up while seriously considering selling him on the black market and we headed to Marys house.

We all know how much I love my job so that was the next chapter of my day. Of course on Friday I had taken a spill on my foot that I hurt this summer so today it was throbbing like crazy. So I decided to go to the Emergency Room to get it checked out. You guessed it, I sprained my foot. So hobble foot me then had to go back to work to finish my shift. The Dr put me on sedentary duty for a week, that is laughable when you work retail. There is no office position for me to put up my foot up while doing work...we can't afford for me to go on WCB to heal from it either. So I guess I'm stuck hobbling around selling clothing.

So then I come home and there are peeping tom tracks around all my windows. I'm pretty freaked out that someone was looking in my windows and I would sure like to know what the hell they were doing. They came through my back gate, walked around the back of the house and onto the deck and looked in the patio door. I totally freaked out and called Randy to tell hime and kept him on the phone while I walked around the house to make sure no one was in the house. Then I found a metal rod and put it in the patio door runner. Now I'm jumping at every noise and cursing the creaks of this old house.

I put Ethan to bed, with more of the screaming from the morning. So much pent up frustration in him...what a turkey. He needed to go to sleep.

Speaking of sleep, I need some too! I am off to High Prairie in the morning. Can't wait to hobble my way through an audit!

~Appointment Update~

Well we had a good trip to Edmonton last week. We were able to combine the appointment with some fun time and had a great time with some old friends. We drove up to Edmonton on Wednesday and hit West Edmonton Mall for some Vietnamese Food (shocker eh?) We went to Walmart to pick up a few things I needed for Ethan and then headed to Ft Saskatchewan to stay with Chantel, Cory & kids for the night. We had such a great time and it was so nice to have time to visit without a deadline of needing to go somewhere. We sat around and visited with Chantel until Cory came home and after a bit he BBQ'd us up some burgers and we had a yummy supper.

After supper it was bedtime for all the kids...haha as if Ethan was going to sleep!!! He ended up going to bed around 9:30pm the little sneak. Anyhow we sat around shooting the breeze and at 9:30pm Randy, Cory and Coby went with the neighbours to watch the fireworks, it was Canada Day after all. Chantel and I lasted until 11pm visiting and despite neither of us wanting to end the great conversation we were having we knew we needed to get to bed. She was starting her daycare the next morning and we had Ethans' appt.

In the morning we got up and headed to the University Hospital for the first part of our tests. It was a clinical test were she simply observed Ethan eating. He was hungry so he ate like a little trooper for us. He didn't have any problems while she watched so it was a little discouraging since she didn't see what we normally deal with. She did however make observations and asked sooo many questions that I really felt that she understood and legitimatized our concerns.

We had time for Randy and I to have a quick bite of lunch before the next part of the test. This was an MRI where they laced his food with barium and I fed it to him (while wearing this massively heavy and hot lead apron!) We had the same specialist in the room with us as well as a couple of radiologists. Randy got to sit in the room with the monitors and watch as Ethan's food went down.

Ethan was a trooper though and did so well on that test as well. I didn't have high hopes going into it based on the set up. They have a little chair seated next to the machine and the Xray thingy comes up beside him. It had stickers all over it and they wanted Ethan to look straight forward...I was like, then why did you cover that thing with stickers. So we had a few minutes of convincing him to look forward but in the end he did really well and they got the views they needed.

So the long and the short of the whole experience is that he does have a problem with the muscles of his esophagus. They don't move food as quickly as they should. Also liquids are pooling at the top of his throat and when there gets to be too much they go into his airways. So there is nothing they can do medically for it. It is what it is. So we are just to feed him slowly and keep his food minced for him until he gets teeth and can break it down himself. As for liquids the bottles are gone and he has to drink from a sippy cup. I'm still trying to figure out how to wean him off the nighttime bottle though (if you can help, let me know, I'm ready to go around the bend!!!) A bottle is a continuous flow and he can't have that because it doesn't go down fast enough and it overflows into his airways. So now we know why he was coughing and choking so much at bedtime. It also explains all the little colds, the ear infection...

So he is on a sippy cup now most of the time and if he still has problems with that then he will need to drink thickened liquids. This would be as thick as honey. Mmmmm sounds thirst quenching doesn't it? So we're hoping (and so is the specialist) that it doesn't come to that.

I'm guessing that we will have a follow up here with our Neonatologist specialist and he may order more tests based on the esophagus not moving food very well but we don't know.

After all the tests etc. we decided that since Ethan had been so good we would take him to Toys R Us and Chapters and get him a toy and book. We got him a sorting puzzle and a wooden block train that he can tear apart and put back together. He also got a great new peekaboo book for bedtime.

We headed to Grandma Maxines' in Vegreville after the bookstore and went for supper and had a visit. It was a short visit but she was sure happy to see Ethan and so surprised at how big he's grown. Ethan got to sit on a horse for the first time at Grandmas' and he wasn't too thrilled about it. He got really scared and freaked out. Poor little man.

Anyhow we didn't get many pictures of our trip because someone forgot to charge the battery on the camera and didn't bring the charger...oops. But I did get a couple of really nice ones of Randy and Ethan at the acreage.






Kizzy the horse did very well being patient while Ethan pitched a fit on her back...

So thanks for the emails and thoughts and prayers while we went through this latest hurdle. We are thankful that it isn't more serious and that it is something that we as a family can deal with. We got some great news in the last couple of days so wait for an update in a week or so as to what it is!

----no I am not pregnant----

~We Got the Appointment!!!~

Well I got the call today and we got booked in for Ethan's Swallow Test at the Stollery Children Hospital for THIS THURSDAY!!! They had an opening and so she gave us the appointment because otherwise we would be waiting until late in August. So now we are scrambling to get it all arranged so we can leave.

I'm a little scared/excited to go as it is a set of tests that will tell us if he has a problem swallowing or if it is all behavioural. It is a two part test where first they watch him eat and see how he eats and then do an xray while I feed him later that day.

So I'll let you know how that all goes, for now, must run and head to work!

~Friday!!!~

I know you know it is Friday but I'm telling you I'm so freaking happy to announce that it is Friday that I could split in two!!! I have a WHOLE WEEKEND OFF PEOPLE!!! Woo-hoo!!! Minimal housework to do, a little shopping and heading to a lake on Sunday with our friends (and Ethans' daycare provider) Aimie, Jeremy and their kids. We're heading out early in the day and doing a weiner roast (smokies for me I hope) roast and to play in some SAND and WATER with Ethan for the first time! We can't wait. So pray for no rain people...pray...

I'm finally getting into the rhythm of work and home life. It's only taken almost three months. But it is freaking hard to coordinate two jobs, a baby, a household and a kajillion Doctors appts!!! Hence why you have not seen much from me lately on here!

I'm on my way to work in about ten so I'll drop the condensed version on here today and upload some pics on a quiet night this weekend. We had the genetics appt a month ago, they are doing some testing, it will take 11 MONTHS to get the results!!! So we won't be having a little bro or sis for Ethan any time quickly :(

Last week we had our year surgical follow-up with our specialist here in town. Ethan has been having some feeding difficulties and has had a couple of allergic reactions so we are being scheduled for another round of tests over the summer months. We had a barium xray on Friday and there are NO blockages in his esophagus, which is very, very good news. However, they aren't 100% that he is swallowing properly so we are waiting for an appt at the Stollery Childrens hospital to do a swallow study to see. It could be 4-6 weeks out. Next we are going for some blood tests to determine if Ethan has allergies or if it was just a couple of one offs. He broke out in hives all over a couple of weeks ago because this stupid mother of his changed fabric softeners...DUH. So the Dr decided to test to make sure.

Other then all that fun Ethan is doing well. He is in the 90th percentile for his height (I know, shocker eh?) 50th for his weight (didn't get that from me!) and is scoring at about a 15 month old in alot of his key developmental indicators. Which is very good considering he was only 13 months old when we went and he gets adjusted back to a 12 month old because he was premature. There are a few things that we were told to work with him on but overall the Dr was very impressed with him.

Randy booked his schooling today for NAIT for this fall. He will be taking his first year of sheetmetal apprenticeship schooling starting Nov 9 to Jan 27. We're so excited for him!!! Now we just need to save lots of money, LOL!

Anyhow, must run to work. I hope I can post some pics this weekend...we made it to the park for an hour last weekend and got some fun pics!

~Giving Thanks~

So it is Thanksgiving weekend and a time to reflect on what we are most thankful for. For me it is obvious...family. Randy and I are so lucky and grateful to have such a large and loving family who have held us up in this last year. With such a slew of personal challenges and scary scenerios I don't know that we could have made it through and continue to plug along without their support.

We are grateful that Ethan is doing well and growing like a weed. To the doctors, nurses, surgeons, specialists and other hospital staff we are especially grateful. They are angels in the making.

Last year at Thanksgiving is when I told you I was pregnant...I knew that our lives would be totally different this year but I didn't know how full our life COULD be...even despite the rocky road it has been. How nice it is to be able to grow and change and become different but better people.

So I am off to Mary's early today to take her to the hospital...my now thrill seeking sister crash landed in a hot air balloon last night...oh yes, I did type that sentence! Anyhow I went to her house last night and watched Cole while she went to the emergency room for an xray of her foot and knee. No break. But this morning she passed out crossing the room so I'm dragging her to the emergency room again. Well, I'm not going to lie, I'll probably send Randy because she might need to be carried... But then I'll be on turkey cooking duty. So send out some good vibes that they can help her to manage the pain and figure out what is causing the pain...

So time to head out...Happy Thanksgiving!

~Uhhhh We're Home...!

In case it wasn't apparent...we are home! Ethan got discharged from the hospital on Sunday May 11th. He was up to full feeds and the Dr saw no reason to keep him any longer. We decided to stay in Edmonton until Wednesday. We went to Chantel's house on Monday for a visit with her and her kiddos. She gave me a gorgeous mini album that she made for me so I can journal about Ethan. As well she gave Ethan a cute outfit and a toy and a Chicken Soup for the Soul for New Moms' book for me. Very nice of her! On Monday night my friend Jess drove up from Calgary and came over to Mike's house for a quick visit. We made plans for the next day and met her for breakfast at Ricki's and then we went to West Ed for a bit and then joined her and a couple of her friends at Olive Garden for an early supper. A big day for our little guy. Wednesday we left for home nice and early. We made only three stops for our little man, he was a good traveller.

It was so nice to get home and be around our stuff. Mom is here in GP so she came over for a visit to see Ethan. He looks so cute in his crib...such a tiny little one. We went to the Dr on Thursday for a checkup. Mommy is doing good and Ethan is too. He's gained around 6 ozs since we got home. He's eating around 2.5ozs every 3 hours and sleeps most of the other time. He has a wakeful time at around 7pm and 3am where he is up and looking around.

He is so precious and neither Randy or I want to leave his side. He loves his Rainforest Crib attachment that Uncle Mike gave him. It has lights and monkeys that move in front of a waterfall and it plays nature sounds and songs. It soothes him and puts him right to sleep. Mommy is so grateful for it too!

So that is our happy news. We are home. I am really tired though and really have not been smart enough to take advantage of the time when he is sleeping to catch a nap. It's catching up with me though so I'm off to bed early tonight. Randy and him are cuddling in the lazy boy right now so I'm sure I'll be able to catch some sleep and Randy can take care of him. He loves to take care of him...Ethan has peed on him twice today alone...he still hasn't figured out that once air hits him --LOOK OUT! Oh well he will someday. For now I'm drowning in laundry and bottles. I'm sure I'll surface someday soon. Anyhow, hope that everyone liked the pics I put on the other day...I wanted to share cause he is so cute!!!

~Late Update~

Sorry I didn't get on here till today to update on Ethan...the computer has been busy every time I had time to do it! Anyhow, thankfully Ethan came through his test with flying colors! We are feeding him now, he started at 10ml on Wednesday afternoon and is up to 35mls as of his last feed. He needs to be at around 55mls before he can go home though.

He is getting an ultrasound right now to recheck his kidneys after I raised some questions over a previous test. The drs are confident that everything is well since he is having no complications that would lead them to believe there is a problem but they are following up anyhow. Nice to put my mind at ease. We are also doing his carseat test today to see if we can take him off all the monitoring equipment. I hate all the wires and bells and whistles! So they put him in his carseat for 90 minutes and if he doesn't set off any alarms then we can take him off the monitors.

His nurse today said that she thinks that there is a chance that we may be discharged from here and will take him home ourselves. That would be okay with us!

Randy and I snuck out of the hospital yesterday afternoon between feedings and hit up some kids stores. We went to Babys R Us and picked up an outfit, a pillow for holding him and some baby sunscreens. His nurse had told us about this store on 170th Street called E Children so we went there next. OH MY GOODNESS!!! What a store! Anything and everything you can possibly think of you can find it there! A little pricey for some things but overall there is a great assortment of things for all price ranges. We picked up a couple of things there as well and vowed to remember to take Grandma Grounds there...she is officially the spoiler of our son...

Anyhow it was nice to get away even for a few minutes. Randy took off to a movie today and to do a little 'shopping' around West Ed. I'm guessing he looked at a billboard and saw that it is Mother's Day this weekend...hahaha something else for him to remember now!!! While he is doing that Ethan and I are having a long cuddle time in the recliner next to his bed. I've got a couple of magazines and he's got lots of sleeping to do so we are a fine pair. His Auntie Melissa is driving up from Hanna tonight to meet him too. She'll probably come by tomorrow to see him but we can't wait to show off our little guy to her!!! He got to meet his Uncle Curtis the other day and they got some pics taken together. I'll post lots of pics once I'm home again and it's easy to do it...

Anyhow that's what is up for us! I'm off to see if my little man is done getting his ultrasound!

~Ethan's Test Today~

So we are sitting in the waiting room right now waiting to hear the results. They took him down at 9:30am and the test was scheduled for 10:15am. He was so calm and happy when he went, we really hope it goes well. Mary and Cole are here with us now for a quick visit so they are keeping us company. We are all praying that Ethan's surgery was a success...I just want to feed my little man!

His PIC line got plugged last night so they had to remove it this morning and put in another IV, this time in his foot. Poor little guy! Hopefully he can eat though and then it will be a distant memory! He also may have the drain tube removed today or tomorrow if the test went well...we really hate the drain tube so we are hoping that it can be removed!

Anyhow, I'm going to go see if he's back from his test, He should be really soon!

~Ethan is 9 Days Old!!!~

So today Ethan turns a big 9 days old!!! Crazy how time flies. We were a little late getting up this morning, Mommy is getting a little worn down and needed a little extra sleep. So we missed the Drs rounds. We talked to his nurse though and she said the only change they made was to increase his fluids so he is getting more nutrients. They are going to fatten him up! Poor little guy has an empty tummy though so he cries in hunger from that. It's heartbreaking knowing what the problem is and knowing that we can't give him anything. We know that he isn't starving though so that keeps our mind at ease. He is still getting regular doses of tylenol for the pain but it seems to be enough so that he is comfortable.

He was crying all night and this morning till we got here I guess. The nurses said they couldn't get him to settle. So I plopped down in a rocking chair and Randy handed him to me and we cuddled for 2 1/2 hours and he was calm and quiet. Then Mommy had to eat something so Daddy got to change his first dirty (and I mean really dirty) diaper, the nurses gave him his dose of tylenol and now him and Daddy are cuddling while I am online. His Grandma Grounds will be in today to see him so she'll be happy that she can hold him. We'll get lots of pics I'm sure!

Other happy news to report! They have moved his contrast dye test ahead! He'll have the test on Wednesday and it will be here at the Royal Alex. So send some prayers up that it shows a total success! We want to feed our little guy and take him home!!!

Mommy snuck away for lunch by herself today. It was nice to get a break from everything...I might have to find a Dr here to check me out. Not feeling the best the last day or so. Not sure if it was dinner last night or if I'm just completely burnt out. I haven't stopped going for over a week. We did finally talk to the Social Worker here today and they don't have any family rooms right now but when I need a mothers room she thinks that one will be available. So I'm supposed to call her when it comes time to start feeding Ethan. We're assuming that he will be bottle fed/syringe fed at the start cause he needs to get used to it so I shouldn't need to be here to breast feed right off the bat. Not that I wouldn't want to be here doing his feeds...

Anyhow so that's all that is new from us today. He is looking really good and I'm finally feeling more positive about everything that the little guy has had to go through. Not that it isn't still hard to look at the 4 inch incision that pretty much cuts him in half...Anyhow, I'm out of here, I'll probably give some of you calls in the next few days.

~Ethan on the Move~

Well we went into the NICU on Saturday morning and got a surprise. Ethan was getting transferred to the Royal Alex NICU. They needed his bed at the Uof A so they transferred him. He spent the first day in the A pod for babies who require serious care. While he was there he made lots of progress. He got extubated (removed the breathing tube from surgery)and he was able to cry again. Mommy and Daddy got to snuggle with him for over an hour!!! We were so happy and if I had remembered the camera I would show you!!!

We came in this morning to see him and he was in a bit of pain so they gave him some tylenol to ease it. We got to hold him for a couple of hours again!!! He also got his IV taken out of his hand. Right as we were leaving for lunch they told us that he was doing so good that they were moving him to level 2 care in H Pod. YAY!!! Today he gets rid of the UVC (belly button IV) and they are inserting a PIC line (through his arm or leg to a major vessel) right now. That is so that he can get more nutrients through the IV. The other types of IV's cannot support the amount he will be getting. So although Mommy is freaked out by it and actually hiding right now in the family room so she doesn't have to see it, she is also happy to see progress.

We spoke to his Nurse Practioner today (basically a dr) and she told us that once his dye test comes back successful then they start feeding him orally. Once he shows the ability to handle feeding he will be put on a list to piggyback him up to Grande Prairie. Meaning that if a plane comes down from GP with someone then he will piggy back with it instead of it returning empty. She gave us no timeline...it all depends on him and him gaining weight. He looks great though!

Also we got back all the tests and checks for other abnormalities and so far his back is fine, his heart is good, and his brain is good. I haven't seen the all clear for his kidneys but I know they did the test and no one has said anything so I can only assume it is all well. We are making a list of questions for the neonatologist for tomorrow morning. He has a twisted right foot that we need to have checked out so we are asking about it tomorrow morning. No one has said that it is anything severe so I haven't been too worried about it but I'm guessing that it hasn't been a huge priority given everything else.

So the long and short of it all is that he is looking good, in a little pain but otherwise on the mend. We just can't wait to take him home.

Randy and I had to leave the hostel residence at the U of A because it was on the wrong side of the city from the new hospital. We were at a loss of where to stay so I called my friend Mike and he was nice enough to let us stay with him until we can figure out other arrangements. There are family rooms here at the Royal Alex but we have to wait till Monday to find out if we can get in. It's all so frustrating. Anyhow we are comfortable with visitors now so if you are in the area give us a call so we can show off our handsome little guy!

WOW Suprise

What a day it has been. At 3am on April 26 I (Randy) came home after working and just as i get out of the shower, in comes Wanda "Honey, I think my water broke". Water broke. how could your water break. You still have almost 4 weeks to go before your water is supposed to break. OK so we should get a baby bag ready (one thing that was on the list for this week anyhow). we should get a Wanda bag ready (again another thing that was scheduled for this week. Wait cant get everything that we need cuz its still in the laundry pile for washing. O well just go in some dirty clothes, ill have to come home and do laundry. OK what else do we need. Camera defiantly cant forget the camera. UMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Car seat got to get that to. ( good thing we just got it installed and inspected a few days ago). All right i think we got what we need. (Sleep would be nice seeing how i have now been up for 20hrs now. But who could sleep while this is going on).

Arrive at the hospital and in we go. YUP water is officially broke. (Nurse says so) Get into room and start the waiting game for those wonderful contractions. The trooper that Wanda is holds off for 11.5hrs of labour before taking some drugs (Only cuz they are gona start giving her meds to speed things along as well as make thing way more painful. Pic of stone wanda will follow in future posts, just trying to get the pics of the new one out there.

Hr 13 or so and baby's heart rate drops from 150 to 50 "PUSH THE RED BUTTON". Nurse comes in thinking its just a placement of the thingy that monitors it. does a quick check and i hear "I see the head" WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO

5:46pm on April 26 we are the proud parents of a little BOY.

Ethan Thomas Grounds

6Lb 1.6oz 18cm long

Every thing is good. He has to spend some time in NICU cuz he has a bit of fluid in his lungs from being born so fast. Doc says we can have him down in our room tom if he stays as good as he has been. Doc also says that if everything stays good then we will be able to take him home on Tue.

Mom is doing great also. everything happened pritty fast, shes a bit tired (not to tired to tell me how to get on her blog and post tho). I imagine when she is home she will blog a better blog for ya all.
So this will be the end of my post here. laundry is almost done and i want to be back for the next feeding.