Going under

I went to see the surgeon today and I was lucky to get the last spot for surgery this Saturday. If I didn't get it, it would have been another 2 or 3 weeks before I would have been able to get it done. So on Saturday I am getting my gall bladder removed. It isn't that bad. It is a 30 minute procedure and I get to go home the same day. I think I can handle that. I told my mom that I just wanted to check out all the hospitals in the great Phoenix area-West Valley, Banner Estrella, St. Joe's, and now Arrowhead. I should write a review on each one.

It will be nice to be able to eat something other than cold meat sandwiches and chicken. I think I have had my fill of chicken for awhile. They said the recovery time is about a week so here's hoping that is right. My mom and sister will be helping us take care of Duncan. I do like having people here, it makes the confinement to the house a little more bearable, and I'm totally paranoid about Duncan's lungs so only certain people can come over-which is sad because I just want to show this little cutie off. I'm really glad that my family lives close because I have just been so paranoid that I will have another attack in the middle of the night with Duncan home. He can't go to the hospital. So my sister and Aubree spent the night Saturday and my mom has been here the last two nights. Thank goodness for family that's willing to help out.

Duncan is doing better. He seems to be getting adjusted to being home. I think I am getting a better handle on things as well. The lack of sleep is a little more manageable. I really wanted to have my next baby close to Duncan, but I think I need a couple of years to recover from this one. Maybe even 3.

So long, Going home

Duncan had to say bye to Brooke -his primary nurse the entire 3 months he has been there.

Dr. Nasar had to say goodbye as well.

Going home-FINALLY!!

Sorry it has taken so long to get this up, but it has been a few restless days around here. Last Thursday Duncan was released from St. Joe's where he has been for the past 3 months. He has had a long road and it isn't over yet. Justin and I spent the night at the hospital with him Wednesday night, that is an interesting experience. I'm glad we did it because it allowed me time to ask questions and figure out what he is like when he sleeps. He is one noisy sleeper. He grunts and grunts all night, but he is asleep. When we came home my parents were here waiting. It was so funny, they brought their video camera and camera and as we were walking in my dad tried to start the video camera, well the battery was dead so my mom grabs her camera and the card was full. It was funny.

Duncan is doing well. He is still trying to get adjusted to being home. Each night is a little better. He just wants to be held all the time. Even to sleep. So it has been a little bit of a struggle at night. Last night was our first night alone with him. My sister and mom have been staying the nights with us. Which I highly recommend the first few nights because you really do need sleep. He did come home on oxygen just 1/8 of a liter which is just above room air, so it really isn't a lot. He is also on an apnea monitor. He doesn't have apnea, but the dr. wanted to send him home on it. So far so good.
I didn't think I would cry when he left, but it was harder to say goodbye than I thought. Dr. Nasar was crying as she came to do her final eval of him. She said he is her miracle baby. Brooke was pretty sad as well. Her last day with him was Tuesday so she had to say bye early. Tears were shed, we left at 7pm so she could have a little bit of time with him. Not that she won't ever see him again. She lives about 10 min. from us. She even came over Thursday after we got home. We call her too. Justin called to ask about some medicine-she just knows Duncan and we trust her. She was so great with him and he loves her too. I really loved the hospital staff there. There were a few nurses that were less to be desired, but overall they were great. We loved Dr. Nasar, she was so great with us and Duncan. She is a very, very good Dr. I feel blessed that we got her.

Duncan isn't done with the Dr.s not by a long shot. He already went to his pediatrician the day after he came home. I really like the Doctors and their office is really nice and close. Everyone says he looks really good. He looks like a normal new born. The movie they had us watch about preemies at the hospital was interesting because all the babies still looked so tiny. Duncan is not tiny. He is growing and doing what he needs to do. I just pray that he continues that way. He weighs 7lbs 9oz. We have to be very careful about who we let over because he does have lung disease; so please don't take offense if we can't let you in the door.

I will continue posting and let you know how Duncan is progressing.

What a Change

This little old man was so tiny Justin's ring fit on his arm. He had tubes and wires attached all over. Can you believe that baby is the same as

This baby! He looks so different. In the first picture he looked just like my Grandpa Cothrun, now he looks like my brother Ben. It is amazing what modern technology can do. It isn't how I imagined having my first baby. I didn't want to watch him grow on the outside of the uterus. I told him that when I said I couldn't wait to see what he looked like I didn't mean it literally.

Now that road that seemed never ending is finally coming to an end. The Dr.'s and nurses are about 99% sure he will do fine with his eye exam tomorrow and we are in the discharging phase. As long as all goes well, we will be spending the night at the hospital tomorrow and then on Thursday our baby will finally be at home with us. Then it will be real. Then the sleepless nights will begin.

More baby shower

I wanted to show a couple more pictures I forgot. Two of my sisters-in-law couldn't be there because they live out of state so I wanted to show a couple more. This is probably Justin's favorite gift Duncan got. Superman pjs. He got a lot of blankets, clothes and toys. He will have to be changed 3 times a day to get through all the clothes that he has.

This was the dessert table. The 'D' in the back, my sister painted it to match Duncan's bedding. It will be hung in his room soon. See those cookies on the platter? They were sooooooo good too. I seriously was so excited for all the food. Those cookies were lemon and oh soooo yummy. I was very impressed with my sister and her baking.

Baby shower pt. 2

My SIL Elisabeth made some of the decorations and then mailed them. These onesies are so cute. My favorite one is the tie. Too cute. They hanged them up like a clothes line with more 'd's.

My sister Suzi and my niece Aubree-their so pretty.

Lots of gifts. The cradle is from my mom.

The other decoration that Elisabeth made, this cute banner made of fabric. I love it. This is only half of it and it is still hanging in my dinning room. I'm going to hang it in Duncan's room.

I will put pictures up of Duncan's room next.

Beautiful Baby Shower pt.1

My sister threw me a beautiful baby shower. There was a lot of really yummy food and lots of my friends and family. We had a really nice time and the decorations were so cute I couldn't take them down for days. (one is still up). My sister came over one Sunday and I taught her how to use the Cricut paper cutter that I have (love it), and she made all the cute 'd' decorations with it. The mini chocolate cupcakes were soooooo good. Butter cream frosting is the only kind of frosting in my book. All the food was delicious. My SIL Heather helped with some of the food and made my favorite, apples with apple dip. And the salad my mom made was yummy.

Update

Okay, a bit of sad news, Duncan had to go back on oxygen on Sunday. I even waited over 24 hours to share the news because I thought he might go back on it. But when he made it through Friday night and all day Saturday, I thought for sure he might just make it. But then Sunday morning he bradied (heart rate dropped) in the 60's which isn't good. He recovered and was doing okay and then did it again. His nurse decided to put him back on the oxygen. So now he is on oxygen, still just above room air, but he just needs that little bit a little longer. However, this is not going to keep him in the hospital and pending his eye exam on Wednesday, as long as all goes well and he doesn't need any type of laser eye surgery he will be going home on Thursday. His Dr. is 95% sure he will NOT need any type of surgery. Justin is going to give him a blessing again tomorrow because I just don't know if I could handle another week in that hospital. I am just done with being there and done with leaving my baby at night. So please pray for him that his eye exam will go well and that he will be able to leave on Thursday.

no more face gear

Duncan is OFF the oxygen!! They just took him off yesterday and he made it through the night without having to go back on it. This is a huge step. I am so grateful for his Dr. that pushed so hard to get him off, but at his pace. I think he is ready to get out of there. I know I am ready for him to come home. As long as he stays off he should be coming home this next week. I'm not sure if he will have to stay until his eye exam on Wed. or if they will let us bring him back for that.
He is taking formula now. I dried up. I tried so hard not to let it happen, but I just couldn't pump enough at work, even with people watching my class for me. They ran out of milk and I had no more to give them. Remember when I was thinking of getting rid of it? Well, I'm really glad I didn't. I am sad about it, but I did get to breastfeed him a couple of times. My sister and I talked about it and we think it just might have been too much if I tried to breastfeed him. He got 3 months worth and that seems like a good amount to me and the Dr. and his primary nurse were supportive.

This little baby that started out at 1lb. 12oz. is now 6lbs. 4oz. He is a chunky little man. He snores which is too cute and he is a noisy eater. I love him and can't believe that he is so close to coming home. I don't feel like motherhood has really started for me. When he is here at home is when I think it will finally start to feel real.

P.S. I think he looks like my brother Ben

Even more updates

Okay, so here is the latest. I went to the Dr. I do have to have my gall bladder removed. Yay for me!! I don't know when it will happen, I have to call the surgeon's office and find a time to go and meet with her. Then here is the bigger news. I went to the hospital tonight to see Duncan and they are talking about discharging him on Sat. maybe Sunday. They can't justify to the insurance company keeping him, he is doing all he is supposed to do and he can go home on oxygen. This could change by tomorrow, but he is close to coming home.

Stayed tuned.

When it rains it pours. . .so when does it stop?

No more picture, no more pictures.

So cute in his "little peanut" onesie. Gymboree makes the best onsies.

Aubree finally gets to hold Duncan. He loves his cousin. (the oldest and youngest Grandchildren). Aubree is getting her licence soon so she can drive over and visit anytime.

Okay, I know it has been a few weeks since I updated so here is what has been going on. . .

The last week of July I had to go back to work. Boo hoo! But I had to go and get my room in order. Since I had Duncan 7 days before school got out, other teachers packed up my room and I had no idea where anything was. It took me a while to sift through it all and throw out a lot of trash. I also had to get desks arranged, posters up, copies and plans made for the firs few days of school. So I was going to work in the mornings and then I was going to the hospital in the evenings. I was very busy and I was very tired for a few weeks there. During that time Duncan was moved to intermediate room for a week or so and then on Aug. 4th he was moved to the annex. This is his last stop before going home. He is doing wonderfully and the great news is that his Dr. called me today and told me that pending his eye exam tomorrow he should be able to go home Monday or Tuesday next week!!! We are so excited. He is on the a setting of oxygen just above room air. They are going to try to ween him off the oxygen altogether this week and observe him without it for a couple of days. I was so shocked and excited when she called me today. She said it wouldn't be worth the time and effort to get the oxygen set up at home since he wouldn't need it much longer. Not a problem with me. He weighs 5lbs. 13oz.

So the other news is that I woke up Monday at 5am to really bad pain. I was throwing up and just not able to walk very well. It felt like labor again, just not as bad. I had to call in sick-I was so mad. I thought it was Acid reflux, but it just didn't feel the same. It didn't burn like it usually does, it was more a stabbing pain. I told Justin to go to work that I was sure I would be okay. I couldn't have been more wrong. I called him at about 8:15 and told him to get back home he had to take me to urgent care. They gave me a GI cocktail to numb the pain, but it didn't totally work. The Dr. told Justin to take me to the ER. So off we went to Banner Estrella ER. We were there from 9-3:30pm. They took blood, gave me an IV, and did an ultra sound. Guess what they found? Gallstones!! Yep, so now I have to meet with my Dr. and find a surgeon and have my gallbladder removed. This couldn't have come at a worse time. If it had been a month ago it would have been better, but no, just as Duncan is ready to come home. Every year there is at least one or two teachers at my school that this happens to. It is very strange.

I know this is long, but I wanted to give an update.

Grateful for Family

These last few months I have come to realize how very important family is. I have had to lean on my family for so much during this time, and I am so grateful for them I can't even put into words how much I appreciate all they have done for me.

I am the type of person that I try to do everything myself as best as I can. I have been trying each day to clean a little bit of the house to get it ready for when Duncan comes home. Not to mention that we still have his nursery to get finished. I also had to start going back to work this week, so I have been trying to get my classroom back together as well. I finally realized I couldn't do it all myself so I asked my parents to come and help me with my classroom (which they do every year), but they also asked if I needed them to come and help clean my house. I tried to say no, but I just realized I couldn't do it all myself. They came this week and on Wed. we spent a good 5 or more hours cleaning and decluttering and organizing everything. Then my dad came back on Sat. and worked on our yards and helped Justin finish painting the baby's room. Then he is coming back again this week to finish cleaning some more things as I have to go back to work and the kids come back on Thursday and I go to the hospital in the evenings.

I can't imagine having gone through any of this without my family near by. I am beyond grateful for all they have done for me. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing family and parents that, even with so much do themselves this last week, took time to come and help me when I needed it.

Thank you mom and dad for all your help. I love you both so much.