Wrap up of a Few Days

 I've gotten a bit behind.  Shuyler was having some acid reflux that was really irritating his throat, and making it swell up.  So they moved his food to being released slower, and had to put him on the CPAP instead of just his cannula.  The CPAP has more gives more pressure to help keep his little lung alveoli working. They also limited the nurse cares to just once every six hours so they are not bothering him as much.

That was a few days ago.  As of yesterday, the CPAP is working really well and they think they have the reflux under control.  They are going to up his feedings and add an even more caloric fortifier to his milk.  He gained some every day but one last week, but I've honestly lost track of how much he weighs now.

We didn't think we were allowed to kiss our little man, but they told us we could.  So the pics above are of us kisses our sweet guy.  I was telling Greg yesterday that Schuyler definitely belongs in our family.  He is responding really well to only having cares every six hours.  Greg and I are both kind of loners, so he fits in great...as ironically as that sounds. lol.   The nurse also told me that he had a blow-out poopy diaper before I got there yesterday.  She said she was wondering how that much poop came out of such a little guy.  Hooray! lol.  One of the concerns with preemies is their digestive system, and a big poop is a good sign. lol.

Greg and I have also each gotten to change one diaper this week - which I never thought would be so exciting, but it really is.  Can't wait to see him today, and hopefully it's another great day.  :) Oh, and he pulled his feeding tube out again.  : / He loves to grab at things, and this is the second time he has done that.  All the nurses say that he is very sweet, but has a little bit of an attitude. 

Schuyler - May 29, 2014

Today was kind of a sad day for our sweet little guy.  He's still doing well with digesting, and breathing with just some assistance from his cannula.  He did get his pic line out today, which is good news, but apparently it really hurt our little man.  The pic line was in his head, and taped down.  He was actually born with quite a bit of hair, so when they removed the tape, it hurt his little head.

The nurses said that they had never heard him cry so loud.  :( I wished I would have been there, but my mom was there helping.  (She's the NICU director, but was there visiting on her day off) She said they used water and were real soft while they gave him some sweet stuff on his binky.  I could tell he was so wiped out by the time I got there.

So still doing great, just a bit of a sad day.  He did also gain 60 grams last night - 2lbs and 6 oz.

Schuyler - May 28, 2014

Our sweet Schuyler had a good and not good, but not super bad day today.  

First; the not good, not super bad - he had quite a few Brady's today (bradycardia - where heart rate and breathing rate goes down), and his oxygen had to be turned up a bit.  They give him caffeine to help with this, and all the nurses basically said that he will do this until he is closer to 35 weeks.  So this isn't super bad news.

The good news is that our tough guy is handling his food very well.  They have added a human fortifier to my breast milk to help boost up the calories.  His little tummy seems to be digesting better and better, and he's even had several poopy diapers (I got to change one today :))  They told me today that he's getting enough nutrition from his food, so they are going to be able to stop the IV assistance, and take the pic line out of his head.  Yea!  

I was also very impressed with my little man today, as he was lying on his belly and lifting his little head up already!  He's proven time and time again that although tiny, he's quite tough.  He was also sucking on his little binky today, which was so cute.  I tried to get a video, but it didn't really work.  Anyway, pretty good day.  He seems to change and grow each day.  So blessed. :) Grateful to my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ.  

G. Schuyler Hodgson

Well, we welcomed our little man into the world a lot sooner than expected.  On Monday, the 12th, I went to the bookstore, and worked as I usually did.  I did notice that I was feeling slightly crampy that day, but had just been reading about Braxton-Hicks, and assumed that was what was going on.  It was not until I closed the store, and hit the bathroom on the way out, that I realized something else was going on.  I was bleeding.  

I called my mom, and headed straight for the hospital.  They watched me for a few hours, and decided that it must be some sort of irritation because I really wasn't bleeding a lot.  I signed the discharge papers, stood up, and blood went every where.  This is when things changed.  I had an IV, steroid shot, and ultrasound immediately.  I stayed at the hospital until Thursday, when the perinatologist discovered that part of the placenta was torn.  They told me I would be on bed rest until August - no cooking, cleaning, nothing except laying there.  

I was home for one day.  I was a bit depressed about having to be a slug for three months, and my sweet Greg decided to cheer me up with some Splinter Cell.  So there we were, lying in bed killing terrorists, I went to the bathroom, and found much more blood, and this time I could feel some pain in my lower abdomin and lower back.  We both freaked out, called my parents, and headed back to the hospital.  We were there for about 10 minutes when my water broke, and started having constant hard contractions.  I was given medications, and an epidural, and we slept for about 4 hours until the doctor came in to check me and said "7 centimeters, we're a go.  We're going to have a baby in about half an hour."

The ultrasound they had done the night before showed the baby was head down, so they said I should be ok to delivery vaginally.  We pushed for a while, but the doctor kept saying that something wasn't quite right.  The "head" felt very squishy, and a foot kept trying to come down.  Once he realized it was not the head, he had to push the baby back up.  I had an epidural, but I have never experienced pain like that before, and after that, I could feel everything.  The babies heart rate dropped also.  They were going to have to do an emergency c-section.  They wheeled me down the hall, and I can remember feeling cold down my spine over and over from the epidural, but I could still move my feet.  They had to just put me out after that.  

I woke up in recovery with some woman saying my name and asking what my pain level was.  My family was waiting in my room when I was wheeled back to recovery, and told me how great our baby boy was doing; breathing on his own, and everything.  Greg had gone down several times to visit him, but I was not able to until I was considered stable.  They finally wheeled me down on Wednesday to meet my baby boy.  I did not even see him before I burst into tears.  

The doctor told us that there was some calcification on the placenta, which is normally a sign of infection.  Had the pregnancy continued, it would have put our baby Schuyler and myself at risk for more serious complications.  They also found something on my ovaries that has been sent to be examined.  

While all of this was happening, we felt doomed, lost, and confused.  We now see what a blessing it was.  The steroids I was given on Monday and Tuesday were in my system the perfect amount of time to help open Schuyler's lungs.  Our little guy is doing better every day, and has already filled our lives with love and hope.  I know he was meant to be born at this time.  It has also shown me how great people really are.  I don't know what I would have done without my mom and dad during this time.  They were there with us the whole way, and Greg's family has been such a great support.  We love and appreciate all they do for us from miles away, and can't wait to see them. We have been given things we really need, and been given rides and meals by great, amazing people.  

I also know now more than ever that I married the right person.  I'm so lucky to have Greg for my partner.  He was so patient with me, helped me to the bathroom, helped me shower, brought me things to do and eat, and really made the hospital as much of home as it could be.  

Heavenly father really does take care of us, and has a plan for us, even when it looks like he is no where to be found; this I know.  

And the star of our show!  From now on this will be all about our tiny tough guy.  :)  

Coming to a close

Well, I got the newsletter in the mail last week.  The one that says all the dates and times of meetings that start next week, info on Back to School Night, and the first day of school.  I can honestly say that I am both excited and sad.  Summer has been such a good break for me, however, it has been a different story for Greg.  He has been working his tail off, and now it's his turn for a break.  He has been going to school for only a year, but is a Junior.  That's my hubby!  He puts his shoulder in, and doesn't stop pushing until he's done.  I wish I could be more like him.  Only two more years, and he will be done with school. 

The last day of Greg's internship is Friday, and then we get Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday completely together!  We are going to party it up.  We still need to figure out what to do about another car, but I know it will work out.  The countdown is on. 

Hooray!!!

School's out for summer!!!

Spring "Break"

So this week has been spring break from my teaching job.  I got a few extra hours at Pioneer Book, but all in all, things were pretty low-key.  I had a list of things that I haven't had time to catch up on for the break.  I got them all done on Tuesday so that I could have a relaxing rest of the week.  However, I have discovered something - I no longer know how to relax. lol.  I'm so used to having to use any down time that I have wisely, that it was just too weird to simply sit and do nothing.  So, I present to you a list of all that I got done, because that is now what makes me happy.  (the only things on the original list were the bathrooms, and laundry)

All 3 bathrooms perfectly cleaned
All laundry done and put away
Dishes all done and put away
Cookbooks sorted and each recipe that we've cook rated 1-5 (yes this was fun to me, in case you didn't know yet, I'm a nerd. lol)
Floors mopped, and vacuumed 
Meals for the week cooked
Bills paid
Meals planned for next week, and shopping list done
Rice, lentils, quinoa, etc sorted into little plastic jars in my cupboard instead of annoying bags
Garage cleaned and swept
Dump run - tree that had been cut down and old couch now gone!
Rose bushes trimmed
Front yard mostly cleaned up
Leaves racked up and put into pile until garbage day, because my can is already full from the junk in the garage.  
Drew out our garden plan for the front yard
Fixed my bike's flat tire and went on a bike ride
& Put in my order for school

Which leads me to today.  I have decided that it would be an absolute waste if I did not take at least one day to relax a little bit.  So, I got my bowl of oatmeal, watched "The Notebook" with my cuddly kitties in bed, read a little bit, and now... the twitch has started to come back. lol.  Greg and I are going to my favorite restaurant this afternoon, and then both going to work after that.  So I'm just trying to decide if I should give into the twitch, and add to my list, or really just make myself relax... We will see.  I'm actually kind of excited to get back to school, and really not at the same time.  Only 6 more weeks for me, and then it's time for summer!  I'm ready to get in there and get it done.