How I've Spent My Morning So Far

Woke up at 6:00 with only 4 hours of sleep
Got Tyson out of bed
Received phone call from Braden asking for a ride to work (he got his license suspended for 30 days for receiving 2 tickets in 2 weeks)
Got a text from Morgan telling me she will also need a ride to school
Amazingly made it out the door on time
Forgot to take the garbage can down to the curb
Go back and take down the garbage can
Get to Bradens, Braden is not ready, wait 20 minutes for Braden
Braden makes everyone late
Get Tyson to school only to realize he doesn't have any lunch money
Go give him lunch money
Take Braden to work
Get a call 5 minutes later from Braden, telling me he left his bag in my car
Drive back to Bradens work, give him his bag
Go pick up Morgan who is already 15 minutes late for school
Get informed that she hasn't eaten
Go to Einsteins Bagels
Leave only to realize they got the order wrong
Go back to Einsteins
Leave and realize they got the order wrong AGAIN
Destroy the bagel in anger
Go back to Einsteins AGAIN
Get to Morgans school and cry in the parking lot
Hear Ruffles throwing up in the back of the car
Cry some more
Drive home
Almost get sideswiped by some stupid lady trying to change lanes
Amazingly make it home in one piece
Clean up doggy throw up
Take my Prozac and go back to bed

Sundance

One thing I've always wanted to do is go up to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City. When the time of year comes, it seems that I'm too busy to get there, or it's bad weather, or I don't want to drive home late at night. This year, we decided to get a hotel in Heber (Park City hotel rates were outrageous)and go for it. I was so tired because I had to work Friday and Saturday nights so I came home and slept for 2hours and then went to lunch at my parents for Breanne's birthday dinner and then we (Carisa, Morgan, Breanne and Carisas friend) drove up there. We didn't see anyone that night but on Monday we saw a few stars. Next year I'm going to get tickets to some of the premieres. They are pretty cheap and there are a ton of stars in the audience. The kids had a great time. I think we just started a tradition.

Since Rielly is doing so well, Morgan was able to hold him today for about 45 minutes. He loved it. His sats went up as soon as they put him in her arms and stayed up the whole time. I can't get over how cute he is. His hair is getting so long, he's going to need a haircut soon!

More good news!

Rielly is breathing on his own! He is getting supplemental oxygen but the ventilator is no longer giving him extra breaths. He is an amazing little baby!

Rielly is still doing great on the cpap, they haven't had to reintubate him. His oxygen level on the ventilator is even less than what they started him on yesterday. Woo hoo!

Big Day

Today was a big day. Good news everywhere. Rielly is 2.12 lbs, 15 inches long. He had an eye exam and his eyes look good. No conditions present that some preemies can get which can lead to blindness or vision loss. He was extubated today at 3:00 pm and doesn't have a big tube down his throat anymore. He does have a small tube down his throat which they are using for feedings. He is now on cpap. It went better than I thought it would. I didn't think he was ready, I thought they would have to re-intubate him but so far, he is doing well. We got to see his face without any tubes and we also got to hear him for the first time. He grunted some but didn't cry at all. They said most babies will be on the cpap for about a week and then will just have a nasal canula. Hopefully that is the case with Rielly.

Today is my dads birthday! Happy Birthday to my Dad!

Funny story

I was reminded today about a funny story that happened to my dad a couple of months ago. He loves his little car and only parks out in BFE so that he doesn't get door dings from other cars. He was getting his mail, which he has to get at the clubhouse in his neighborhood. He came out to get back in his car and noticed a ding on his door. He got all upset and went to try and see if it was dirt or an actual ding. He licked his finger and was rubbing the spot, getting really upset now. Suddenly he felt like someone was watching him, he looked up and noticed there was a woman sitting in the drivers seat, just staring at him and wondering what the heck he was doing. He then realized that it was not his car, but someone elses who had parked right next to him. He stood up and walked to his car. I'm sure the lady thought he was nuts. That's my dad for ya.

I didn't see Rielly today but I know that they have ruled out NEC. They think his infection is in his lungs or his blood. They have started feeding him again but will have to start out slow. He is gaining again and is 2.9 pounds. Morgan said he looks better today. I'm going to see him tomorrow.

I went to the Draper Temple open house today with my parents and Breanne and Tyson. It's a nice temple. Very pretty.

Rielly did not get extubated, instead Morgan received a phone call at 6:30 am yesterday telling her that he has an infection and they think it is NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis, an infection in his bowels). They have had to stop his feedings and suction everything out of his bowels. He is pale and lethargic. He has dropped down to 2.5 pounds. They had to increase the ventilator settings (from a breath rate of about 20 to now 40). They sounded pretty concerned. This freaked us out. I wasn't able to see him yesterday. We went up today, he still looks sick but they said he is doing much better. He is receiving a blood transfusion, at least his third since being born. I started crying when they poked his little foot for a blood sample. I have not seen him cry before today. We can't hear him cry because of the tube down his throat but when I saw him cry, I lost it. It was so sad. He seems to be getting better and I hope they can get this infection cleared up, they won't be feeding him for about a week, he will be on antibiotics again for 7-10 days. They will try to extubate him when he gets better. Check out the photos

He's crying =-(


He just doesn't look himself

Depending on Riellys blood work this morning, they are going to try to extubate him. I can't wait to see his face without that big tube going down his throat. It might be just briefly, they might have to reintubate him (let's hope not). They have stopped giving him morphine, which they were giving for anxiety, they are still giving him Ativan though. He was back down to 2.8 today but I'm sure it's because of the diuretic they gave him the other day to try and clear his lungs of some excess fluids. After we go see him, we are heading up to Park City for the Film Festival. It should be fun and a nice little break from work. I'll let you know how it goes.

Haven't seen Rielly in two days, have to go to work tonight and again tomorrow night, can barely keep my eyes open now as it is, not good.

I went to see Rielly today. He is doing about the same and they are going to try to extubate him next week. It will be the first attempt at it and chances are they will have to re-intubate him. At least it's a step in the right direction. He is getting pretty chunky. He is 2.11. When they told us last week that he was 2.8, the nurse was wrong. He was only 1.14. I don't know why or how they got it wrong. Made me kinda mad though. Here are some pix:

They put Rielly on a different ventilator that is a step down from the oscillator he was on. The oscillator was giving him 500 breaths a minute to make sure that his lungs stayed open and didn't collapse. The new ventilator is only giving him 34 breaths so it is more like what his normal breathing would be. He isn't breathing much on top of that, which is what they would like him to do. He likes the vent to do all the work for him. Once they have him stable and he starts breathing more on his own, they can wean him from this vent and put him on a bipap, which is another step down, and then a nasal cannula, which is probably what he will be coming home on. It's a ways down the road, but it is at least in sight now. Yay! He weighs 2.8pounds now. He is getting huge! Yay!

I must be getting old

Tyson was watching me put on my makeup (I have no idea why he decided to do this at his age)and was asking me about what the different things are for. He saw one that was a moisturizer and read it. It said it was for wrinkles. He hurried and handed it to me and said "this is for wrinkles". Apparently, I'm looking pretty old lately and need to use this product every day. :-(

Happy 14th Birthday Breanne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not only did Breanne get to sleep in this morning, she also woke up to this...




breakfast in bed, well in this case breakfast on my floor, where she fell back to sleep after she woke up this morning. I was still asleep and I heard Tyson come upstairs and start cooking but I thought he was making himself food. Ten minutes later, he came in with a tray of food, french toast, chocolate milk, eggs, toast, a birthday card, and some reeces pieces. What a guy. And Happy Birthday to Breanne! (Don't you love the drunk look on her face)

To answer your questions, he is doing about the same on the vent. His setting is right around 32%. When the setting gets down in the 20's they will be able to start weaning him. I can't wait for that day.

To give you some perspective on how much he has grown, compare the two photos. The first one, Riellys eyes look huge compared to his face. You can't see any of the whites of his eyes. When I went to see him last night, his head looked huge. I have always thought his head looked small compared to his body. The second photo which was taken last night, his eyes don't look so huge compared to his face and you can see the whites of his eyes now.

Every time I see Rielly, he looks like a different baby. Look at how fat he is getting!

Kinda Sad

I'm a little sad today because they told us that Rielly has chronic lung disease which I guess alot of preemies get. The sad part about it is they said they have had to turn up the oxygen on the ventilator to 60% vs around 30% where he was before the pneumonia thing. They have concluded that he didn't have pneumonia because his lungs still look bad on the xray even after the antibiotics, plus he doesn't have any secretions from his lungs like he would if he had pneumonia. The bases of his lungs have either collapsed or are not getting enough oxygen because they are totally white on the xray. They said if they have to keep turning the ventilator up and they eventually have to get up to 100% on the ventilator, then there is nothing more they will be able to do. It will be up to Rielly whether he gets better or not and Morgan and Austin will have to make a decision on whether they want to continue or withdraw care because it's not good for his brain if his oxygen level is low. I know they have to prepare us for the worst possible case, but I wish they wouldn't tell us these things. I don't want to know all the bad things that can happen, I only want to know what is actually happening with Rielly. They gave him albuterol today to test and see if it helps him. They said it did help him because they were able to turn down the vent settings from 51% to 30% after he received it. It's time for some more prayers.

The Disadvantage of Working Nights

I wake up and the house is dead silent. I vaguely remember kids asking me while I am sleeping if they can go here or go there with such and such person. Apparently when I sleep, I say yes to everything the kids want. But then I wake up. I search the house, no one is around. I have no idea where my children are and I have no idea what I've agreed to. Hmm, maybe that's why the kids ask me for so much when I'm sleeping. Yeah, they have this routine mastered ...