A visit with Momo

I love our visits to Momo's house in eastern Washington.
Great Aunt Sally was making Reed crack up!

The quilt on the chair was made from Papa's plaid work shirts.

Reed making Sally laugh! I love it. Ultimate favorite picture

Rylan had to ride a tractor (sshh, don't tell him its a lawn mower)

I have permanent wrinkles from squinting the entire time we were there.

So Sunny!

The neighbor farmer was feeding the cows. This whole field was full of mama and baby cows. He let us ride in his pickup around the field while they pushed hay out the back (5 of us in the front cab). In addition to the cows, we saw mama and baby goats, llamas, and cattle with great big horns raised for roping and rodeos.

On this trip I learned that a "Steer" is a male cow that has had his man parts removed. The farmer laughed at my questions a few times.

Every baby gets a sink bath at Momo's

New Videos, "Look ma, no hands"

Baby Blessing

Reed Quentin Evans

Name and a Blessing

Feb 7, 2010

Happy Valentines Day

My mission is to perfect the apple pie. My family is estatic I've taken on the challenge. Here is my latest. It was delicious by the way. The pink sugar sprinkles were Lilly's idea. This post is late. We all got RSV last week, and Reed spent his first Valentines Day inpatient at Children's. We are on the mend, doing well.

A slow learner

I just figured out how to publish people's commets on my blog. Or even view them myself... I must be a slow learner. Thanks for all the supportive messages during our tough times with Reed. He is doing so well now. We got some darling pictures of his hands and feet, thanks to my dear friend Sara. Thanks Sara! My sister LeighAnn knitted the blanket he is wrapped in. Thanks LeighAnn!

You know you've been watching too much Idol when...

... when your kids fight over who gets to sing into the vacuum hose. hilarious.

The Bike Lesson

I learned a lesson last night I’m going to share with all of you. It reminds me of my favorite book as a child. It is an early edition of the Bernstein Bears book called “The Bike Lesson”. Papa bear comes home with a brand new bike for brother bear. But papa won’t let brother ride the bike until he teaches him a comprehensive bike lesson. The story is great because papa ends up doing everything wrong, crashing, getting scraped up, chased, and tells brother “Let this be a lesson for you, something you should never do”.
Anyway, I went to bed at 10:30 with a major head ache. I thought I’d sleep it off, but at midnight when I got up to feed Reed, my head hurt even worse. By 1am, Reed was finished and we both went back to sleep. By Reed’s 3am feeding my head felt like a bomb went off inside. So without thinking I took two extra strength Excedrin. The caffeine must have affected me because by 5am I was still not asleep, and very frustrated. Desperate for sleep and without thinking again I took two Benadryl. WoW, if you want to feel like a drunkard take Excedrin on top of Benadryl. By 5:30am I’d close my eyes and felt like the room was spinning. The Benadryl did the trick and before I knew it my girls were in my room. The clock said 7:30. I got up to feed my three kids, the Benadryl was still in full effect. I was dizzy and felt numb. I almost fainted in the kitchen. The Bike lesson… taking Excedrin and Benadryl is something you should never do. Sum total I got 5 hours sleep all chopped up in one to two hour increments. Oh the joy!

Reed Three Weeks Old

We are home! Reed was discharged on New Years Eve, and has been home now for three days. I've been so busy ever since I didn't get to update until now. He hardly ever cries, and is so cuddly, it's nice to carry him around the house.

Reed has high caloric needs, his work of breathing takes up a lot of energy. We are working with him on feeding, stamina, and gaining weight. We feed him my expressed milk, with added formula to increase the calories. He has to eat 2.5 ounces every three hours around the clock in order to gain weight. Reed has a feeding tube, often he can't finish his bottle, and we put the rest down the tube. This whole process takes up to an hour, and I have to pump on top of that. I get 2 hours before starting the whole process over again.

In the meantime my beautiful perfect daughters get away with murder, because I'm so focused on Reed. Their room is an abomination, like every shelf and drawer threw up on the floor. Somehow Anisten unpotty trained herself, has been pooping and pottying in her panties. Lilly tattles and fights with Anisten. The girls love Reed, want to hold him, and "help" me with everything. They have had to become very independent, and are taking all this pretty well. I keep telling myself that this won't be forever. Rylan has been amazing, we trade off feedings when he is home.

Anisten fell asleep like this the other day........ HaH!

Reed 17 days old

Today the doctors said Reed can come home tomorrow, New Years Eve. What a way to celebrate the New Year! Reed is going great, gaining weight. He has a goal of taking in two and a half ounces per feeding. They take my expressed milk and add more calories to it, so the calories are high, yet the volume isn't too large. He gets tired easily during feeding, and falls asleep. We help him finish off the rest of the bottle by infusing it slowly through a naso-gastric (NG) tube. He may need to have this tube for a month or longer. In the mean time, I'm still pumping.
We are being sent home with a bunch of equipment to help take care of reed. He's on a medication to reduce stomach acid, sleeps in an incline position on a wedge, we are renting a scale, and have a service that delivers the supplies we need for the NG.
I want to thank everyone that sent positive emails, brought over dinners, watched my kids, and family that stepped in and helped out. Rylan and I couldn't have survived without you.

Reed 13 days old

The doctors came in this morning and asked if I had any questions. I said Ya, Reed is 13 days old, when can he have a bath? So today he had his first real bath in a tub of water. I loved it and took pictures ( I am saving the nudy ones to embarrass Reed as a teenager). The bathing quickly ended with potty in the tub, party foul. These pics below are after his bath, lotion, and comfy sleeper. I took lotion and spiked his hair, uncle Andrew would approve. His hair is going to be super blond.

Reed was admitted to the Medical floor at children's on Christmas Eve. I have been rooming in with him ever since. He is learning how to eat, and tires out easily. He is getting stronger and better at eating every time, and they are turning his IV nutrition off today. He is taking expressed milk from a bottle, and has to be fed a certain way. Rylan is going to stay with Reed tonight, and learn how to take care of him. I'm looking forward to needful rest at home!

Visits are OK, text me if you want to come by. We still can't use our cell phones for calls, but texts are OK. The girls are in love with Reed, and Lilly cried today when we had to leave him. She wanted to bring him home with us. My best guess is that if Reed continues to progress like he is, he may come home by Wednesday next week. I feel like all my problems/worries will disappear the day he comes home.

I love Reed.

Reed 10 days old

Reed was extubated yesterday morning and taken off the ventilator. This morning the report is that he is doing great, breathing on his own, very comfortable chomping on a pacifier. I think he is hungry. He finally pooped yesterday twice, so they may start to feed him today or tomorrow. These kids have lots of trouble with reflux, so they are building him a custom fit wedge, to keep his head up and make use of gravity during feeds. He is also on a medication to reduce stomach acid.
It's great to be able to see his little mouth and face. He yawns, sneezed, licks and smacks. I put a onsie on him for the first time, and he looks like a real baby boy. Watch out Rylan, I'm in love with another man:) I got to hold him and rock in a chair for an hour and a half yesterday. He fell asleep on me, so peaceful.

Reed 8 Days Old

Reed is 8 days old today. The last 8 days feel like a blur. I have felt a whirlwind of emotions, and feel numb at the same time. It seems I'm unable to think about or plan more than one day at a time. I spent a lot of time with Reed today. It helps me deal with the guilt I feel, having a sick baby when I am perfectly healthy.

Here is the update.
Reed had fevers yesterday. They are testing body fluids for bacteria; urine, blood, lung secretions, nasal cavity, and eyes. So far the only culture back was his nose, and it showed he does not have the flu or a cold. So that's good. The others will come back tomorrow. No results back yet on his echo-cardiogram. Reed is still on the ventilator, thick lung secretions having to be suctioned quite often. His skin looks creamy now, instead of that fake tan jaundice look new babies have. He had two IV lines removed today, and his arterial line, so both arms and legs are free! Yay! He is still getting his nutrition through a PICC line in his scalp.

I cannot thank everyone enough. We are so blessed to know the good people we know. Help with babysitting and dinners has made it so I can spend time with Reed. We get emails with positive messages and prayers everyday. My mom being here was such a help for me emotionally. I can't wait for the day we bring him home. I told Rylan that I'm going to carry him around all day, and not share:) Can you blame me?