Kangaroo Care

Today I got to hold Brannick for the first time! (I held him before but he was a bundle somewhere in blankets and it was only for 3 minutes-but I loved that time too!) We did a kangaroo care which is skin-to-skin contact. I held him for about 30 minutes! It was wonderful! I loved everyminute of feeling his little body in my hands pressed up to my skin. I LOVE being a mom!

The long awaited post

Sorry it has taken me 8 weeks to post about our new little addition to our family: Brannick!
I'll start with the short story and get onto his life for the past 2 weeks. On Sept. 8 (Wednesday) I went to my regular OB appt and while she was doing the ultrasound she said that the baby looked small and she wanted me to see a highrisk OB just in case. Thursday morning I had a really fun appt with the ultrasound tech and we got lots of pics of Brannick in the womb. My mom was with me. The tech told me she couldn't tell me if anything looked abnormal since she wasn't the dr. When the dr came in he sat down and said "I'm not going to sugar-coat this. We are in a very critical situation here. Your placenta isn't giving your baby enough oxygen or blood so we are admitting you to the hospital right now and you might be delivering your baby within the hour." How do you even respond to that? Well, I was in shock and was trying to wrap my head around the prospect of delivering a baby like RIGHT NOW! Well, we walked over the family birth center at Ogden Regional Medical Center and they got me in a room. Justin had arrived by this time and my mom had to go pick up my dad as he had just come out of surgery that morning. (It was a man's area surgery that older men often have to have. He did great and is better now.)
The doctors wanted to wait at least 2 days so they could give me steriod shots and another medication to help Brannick's brain. On Saturday morning they wheeled me into surgery.
Justin watched the whole thing from the spinal tap (numbing) to the delivery to the stapeling me up. As they pulled out little Brannick he let out a little yelp and she popped him over the curtain so I could see him and off he went for 3 hours of resuscitation as I went to my room (suite). His weight was 405 grams (14 ounces). His abgar(?) numbers were really really low and they wanted to get me and Justin in to see him in the NICU as quickly as possible before he left this earth.
Here he is now 8 weeks old and still kicking! He has had a very very very hard life thus far. He has had kidney failure 2 times and barely escaped with his life both times. I firmly believe that it is due to the prayers and priesthood power that he is still here. He has been very strong! The right side of his diaphragm is paralyzed so he is only able to breathe with his left side. Eventually they'll do a surgery to tack the right side down so he can use his right lung also. He is still on a ventillator due to this problem, but is doing great lately and if he ever has the chance to grow he will get those little lungs bigger and get off the ventillator. On November 1st Ogden Regional was unable to get in a pick line (a deeper IV to deliver meds) after 5 hours of trying and he had to be life flighted to Primary Childrens Medical Center. That has been his new home for almost a week. We loved ORMC, but this is where he needs to be now because he has had so many complications and Primary's has so many doctors and specialists on hand to help our little prince. He weighs almost 2 lbs now. It will probably be Feb or March before he can come home, but we are so lucky to still have him with us and we love him to pieces. Thank you to all of you who have loved and supported us through these past two very long months. Here are some pics of him for you:
Brannick's little foot in my hand:

My wedding ring around his foot:

A cute little beanie donated to the NICU:

Brannick just being cute!

Where does the time go?

Well, a lot has been going on this summer so I thought I'd give a recap post about all of the festivities.

July 12-17 we went to Yosemite National Park with my mom's brother Larry and his family. It was awesome! We hiked, slept, ate, played, swam, hiked and ate some more. Cami, Lloyd, Justin, Larry, and his father-in-law went on the half-dome hike. If you haven't ever heard of this-it's pretty much one of the hardest and most ambitious hikes on the planet! It's a 16 mile hike with a 4,800 foot elevation gain! So, pretty much uphill the whole way! They 7 miles up and because of a traffic jam at the cables to get to the top (and the fact that their bodies were pretty much giving out) they turned around and came back down with every intention to train better and go again! I am so proud of them! We didn't directly see any bears but in our campsite (Toulmne campground) they have had 85 injuries/deaths from bears THIS SEASON!!! Sheesh! So, we were very careful about locking up our food in the bear boxes they have in each site. Justin and I were in a tent and we thought we heard some bears a few nights, but we were safe. And the staff at Yosemite always has their radar on the bears so I felt that we were safe. Mom and I decided on day that we were going to wash our hair at camp. That was a hilarious and very chilly experience! The things we do for beauty! We took the chance to go to Mammoth and ride the gondolla up to the top of the Sierra's. There was still snow up there! It was so beautiful and amazing to be at the top of a mountain! What a great vacation!!!











July 28 was Mom's birthday! We had a great party celebrating her. We LOVE birthdays in our family and we usually go overboard, but isn't that what celebrating life is all about? Happy Birthday mom!



August 7 marked our 1 year anniversary! We took the opportunity to go to the Bountiful temple to do some sealings as the Ogden temple was closed-and we were sealed in the Bountiful temple! We were able to do sealings for some from Justin's family and some from my mom's family. We then went to Tempenyaki for dinner. It was a great weekend! How happy I am to have such an amazing husband who works so hard for us! He is the best!




Around the middle of August we went on a road trip with another couple that we just love! We went to the Vernal temple. Justin and I LOVE to go to temple trips and we are trying to get to all of the temples in Utah-but they just keep building more before we can catch up! The vernal temple is so beautiful and unique! The inside was breathtaking and so original. We had a blast!




A few weekends ago Cami, mom and I put together the crib! I was too excited to get it done! It was really fun to do that together. But we just decided this week that we're going to be moving into a duplex in Roy (rigth next to Cami!) so we probably should have waited, but I just couldn't stand to have the crib in a box and not up-and we didn't know for sure that we'd be moving at that point.....but oh well!

We're having a........

BOY!!!!

Today was our 20 week appointment. Since the baby wasn't cooperating last visit we had to wait till today to find out what we're having. She started the ultrasound and said that our baby was curled up in a ball. So she pushed around a little to help him stretch out. She showed us the tummy, head and legs. As she was moving around she said....OH! I think I just saw "it." I think he's a boy! She was trying to get a good shot of the legs but his legs were pressed together tight and he wasn't about to move. She said he was very shy/modest and stubborn. Perfect combo of Justin and I (you figure out who is what....).
So she snapped a quick shot and showed us a "bundle" next to the leg. If it wasn't his "thing" that she had no idea what it was.

We are So excited! Justin got on the phone and called all of his siblings and mom and I got busy texting away to as many people as I could. We are SO excited! We would have loved anything, but it sure does feel right to have a little Chaffee boy on his way. HOORAY!!! Oh, and happy birthday mom! She bought us our first baby outfit today after the appt (and yes, that is my tummy that got in the way of the picture....)

ADHA in Las Vegas baby!

My friend Staci and I were funded to go to the national Dental Hygiene meeting in Las Vegas and present our research project for judging. It was the funnest trip I've had in a LONG time! We had a blast! We went everywhere and did everything (that we wanted to that is). We didn't go to any shows, but we sure did have fun! We stayed in Ceasar's palace (AMAZING ROOM!) and our room overlooked the bilagio water foutains so we saw about 8-10 of their water shows. We were busy busy and just had fun! We rode in a limo, ate at fancy restraunts, saw Captain Jack Sparrow and Edward, went to a toga party, etc...
We went down with some other students from WSU and our faculty advisor Kami Hanson and her family. It really was a great trip and I am SO glad I got to be there with my buddy Staci!

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all you amazing dads our there! We decided to get my dad a waterpik flosser for fathers day (I know....it's a lame "my daughter is a hygienist" present) but he has been loving it! Since Justin is a father now...kinda...I decided that I'd try to be more supportive and let him get a PS3. I had my first big check come in from temping so I said he could get it-I know I'll regret that! For dessert I made brownie cupcakes and decorated them to look like hot dogs and kabobs on the grill (thanks to my friend Andrea for the idea). It was a great day!

Camping

Our first camping trip of the summer was SO fun! We stayed in the willows just north of Ogden Canyon. We enjoyed warm weather, sunshine, games, food, and dipping our feet in the river. I LOVE camping! This was mine and Justin's first camping trip married! So we had our own tent and a queen air mattress and sleeping bags to share. I've always wanted to have someone to snuggle and sleep with while camping and who better than my heater of a hubby! I was SO warm all night! It was wonderful!

Maternity Clothes

On Memorial day weekend my mom and I went out maternity clothes shopping. It was a blast! My manager at B&BW used to work at Motherhood Maternity and said that we need to go in and ask for April the manager and tell her we want the "grand tour." That is code for show me the stuff I'll actually need, not the stuff you're trying to upsell. So we went over and fell in love immediately! Their clothes are SO cute and really affordable! After April got an idea of the clothes I like to wear and what I'll need for work/church/play she filled a dressing room for me to try on. We told her that we were bargain shoppers so she only put stuff in the room that was on sale/clearance! It was SO fun! Not many other people were in the store so the two girls working there were basically with us the whole time getting this and commenting on that. I felt like a queen! They also had the fake belly for me to put on so we could visuallize what it will look like when I'm more pregnant. So here are some pictures of our day...

Our Miracle

You guess it, we're pregnant! I've been feeling sick for a little over a month now and I thought I should take a pregnancy test. We weren't trying, but weren't preventing. Well, with a lot of emotions, I took the test and sure as day it read "PREGNANT." Well, ok, it was two pink lines....but you get the idea.
With some spectulating we thought that I might be about 6-8 weeks along. I called an OB and scheduled an appt. When we got there I told her when my last cycle was and some of my health issues. She said that she'd be able to tell how old the baby was with the ultrasound. When she got the baby on the screen she said "WOW! You're REALLY pregnant!" What? What does that mean? She told us that we are 11-12 weeks along!

I'm almost done with my first trimester and for 2 months I didn't even know I was pregnant? And of all the 2 months ever to have had, it was before my board exams and during the final semester of college! I feel so blessed that I wasn't so sick that I had to postpone my board exams. I am just in shock at the whole experience still! WHAT?! I'm 3 months pregnant! wow.....
Justin is just beside himself with excitement. I told him he had to wait until after our first appointment to tell anyone and when I came back into the waiting area at the dr's office (I had to have blood work done) he was already on the phone calling all his siblings. Wherever we go he makes sure that I announce our little baby growing. It's so fun to see and be a part of!


So our next ultrasound will tell us the gender of the baby hopefully......