Noah's 1st Birthday(s)...Party #1

I am truly blessed to have met so many wonderful people this year. Looking back, I know my time spent away from home would have been so much more difficult had it not been for the many wonderful people I met while Noah was at Primary Childrens Hospital. That is why I decided to not only celebrate Noah's birthday here in Idaho, but also in Utah where so many people also love and care about my little Noah! I want to thank each and every one of you {you know who you are!} for your kindness and friendship...I couldn't have done it {without losing my ever-loving mind!} without all of you! :)

P.S. THANK YOU ABBY for all the wonderful pictures! You're the greatest!

Santa

Last week, a very special visitor came to Storytime at the Library! It was so fun to see how different kids reacted to Santa, and to hear what each one asked for! My funny men however, through Santa for the biggest loop I think! Any guesses what they asked for???

Ryder asked for a cow.....a real one. Seriously. :) Not sure how I'm gonna pull that one off. Maybe the old "The cow wouldn't fit in Santa's bag!?"
And Ridge asked for a tiger.....really. Hmmm....just had an Aha moment! How about Ridges tiger must have eaten your cow Ryder.....Shucks. :) I'm open to ideas if any of you think you have a better one!

Oh, and if you're wondering why the separate pictures, I kind of forgot I had three kids! Noah was off somewhere crawling around when the boys jumped in line. Oops! I couldn't get Noah to look at me, all he wanted to do was pull at Santa's beard and take off his glasses. :)

What if....

12/17/09 Noah's Birthday!!!

• Upon arriving at University of Utah hospital, there were numerous ultrasounds, consultations, medications, and monitoring, none of which were very promising. Our first ultrasound revealed a possible Diaphragmatic Hernia...not a good thing. The ultrasound guy asked if I was aware and had discussed it with my doctor, um..........NO! What the heck is a Diaphragmatic Hernia?! How will it affect my baby? What caused it? Is it life-threatening/treatable? Ultrasound guy..."Well, lets not jump to conclusions here, its just a possibility." Then why would you tell a mother {Especially, one dealing w/pregnancy-induced hypertension, i.e. HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE!} anything in the first place?
• So 48 hrs {the amount of time the steroid shots for baby's lungs need to have the best affect} have passed and we are preparing for the c-section, when one of the doctors come and sits at my bedside and gives us about a 10 minute spiel on the problems our baby will most likely face throughout his life. Statistics, probabilities, and timelines for babies born at 25 wk gestational age are NOT GOOD. In fact, they are downright TERRIFYING! And when he wraps it up he looks right at Chase and I and asks us if we would like them to rescucitate our baby. Seriously. What if we had said no??? What if we didn't know God and had let fear make our decision? What if we didn't want to fight the fight we knew was coming? What if?
• And so we said Yes, we would like to give our baby every opportunity to live, because we believe that ultimately it was not our choice to make...Thank you GOD!

So we have a birthday, although I can't say it was truly happy. We welcomed Noah River McBurney. Just 1lb 3oz, and 12 inches long. Not breathing....the fight is on...


P.S. pictures of his birthday party this year are coming!!! {A Happy Birthday!}

A year ago today......12/14/2009

Little did I know, a year ago today our lives were about to be changed forever. Life as we knew it would cease to exist for what would seem like forever. The following is a summary of the chain of events that started a ball rolling that grew bigger and Bigger and BIGGER!

12/14/2009

I had a routine doctors appointment scheduled....that turned into a nightmare.

• Peed in a cup {a normal thing} Doctor McKinlay came in and told me I was spilling protein {4+.....a not so normal thing} He assured me it could be from something else, and lets not jump to conclusions....yet.
• Nurse took my blood pressure......it was high, like really, really high. 155/105 How I was not feeling or seeing any symptoms I don't know.
• Okay, we are starting to jump to conclusions. Dr. McKinlay says lets get labs and an ultrasound scheduled to make sure baby is still thriving and doing well.
• I go down the hall and get labs drawn...
• I have an unscheduled ultrasound next....no ones talking, no ones smiling, no ones happy.
  
• Dr. says while he waits for and reviews labs/ultrasound to go home and get off my feet, take it easy....
• I leave, grab a Chai tea {drive-thru} and head home....never made it.
• Dr. calls and says labs are not good {a gross understatement} and that baby is measuring 2 wks small. Only 4 wks prior baby was measuring term. Dr. also sees a reverse flow in the unbilical cord....also not good.
  
• Dr. says to turn around, drive {very carefully as my platelets were so low he was afraid that if I were to get in an accident there would be no stopping any bleeding} to the hospital, he had already spoken to University of Utah specialists and Lifeflight was on their way to get me.
• Turned around and heading to the hospital, still in complete denial. Make a phone call to Chase and say don't worry, they probably just want to run some tests and send me home, no don't come w/me, stay w/the boys and I'll be home soon. Ha!
• Arrive at Bingham Memorial and strip down to a lovely hospital gown and get the full workup.....IV, Blood Pressure, Fetal monitor, Steroid shots {for baby's lungs} and started on Magnesium. If you have never had the privilege to be on Magnesium, be ever so thankful. It's awful stuff meant to prevent seizures from high blood pressure but it makes one feel positively dreadful! Dr. McKinlay waited and visited w/me until Lifeflight arrived.
  
• Lifeflight arrives and I am transported via ambulance to our teeny, tiny airstrip in Blackfoot.
  
• To be continued......
  

We're home

in pre-op

getting dressed {which he hated...it might have been the worst part!}

killin' time

at the moment....

What a day! We left at 3 am this morning, surgery check-in was at 6:45, surgery at 8:15...

The drive was good, roads were clear the entire way. I left Noah and Ridge with Chases mom {Sheri}... Thank You Grandma!!!! It made the trip nice and easy to only have to get Ryder and I out of the house.

Ryder was amazing! He was so composed this morning before surgery, even in pre-op, where they go through details of the surgery...emotions got the best of him when the Dr. that was performing the surgery {Dr. Randall...who we see a few times every year, so Ryder is very familiar w/him} came to talk to us before surgery. Ryder saw him in full surgical attire, and told him that he looked weird today and that he usually wears gray pants! Ha, so funny! He started to get a bit teary but overall did so good!

Surgery was scheduled to take 1 1/2 hrs, but only took 1 hr....things went very smoothly. Ryder was very sleepy in post-op. I think alot of it had to do with the fact that we left home at 3 am! But recovered quickly and we left the hospital about noon I think...

On the road again

Getting ready to hit the road for Utah {Primary's} again. Ryders surgery is scheduled for this morning, check in is at 6:45 am! We should be in and out fairly quickly. Ryders spirits are high, and I feel he is going to do great!