Tim is one month!

My cute boy recently had his one month birthday! Devin and I sang him a little "Happy 1 month Birthday" song as we held him. The 9th (day before his 1-mo. b-day) we had a friend come take pictures. I was actually really sad it was that date because I had rescheduled the pictures from a few weeks earlier because he was on the ventilator and we wanted him back on high flow for his pictures. He was put on high flow, but then only a few days before (7th or 8th) he was put on the c-pap (just another respirator). Devin and I refer to the c-pap as either Magneto's helmet or an elephant nose. I'm sorry you can't see his face very well in the pictures and that his stoma bag is a little gross looking. He's still SUPER cute though!

 

Here are his one month stats:

Weight: 2 lbs. 15.6 oz

Length: 15.5 inches

He actually got an infection right around his 'birthday' and had to be put on the ventilator again. They gave him lots of different antibiotics until they could get the results of the tests to figure out which specific antibiotic he needs. He started to improve really quickly and is now looking and feeling much better. 

Here are a few things we've noticed about him:

~Likes to have his hands up by his head

~He can actually be a little feisty -- story on this farther down

~Has quite the talented tongue -- see story below

~Prefers to sleep on his left side or on his tummy

~Will usually wake up when we come visit and look at us -- we LOVE this!

~For the most part he is very calm and sleeps a lot - which is good

~Really likes his pacifier

Timothy gets really squirmy when the nurses try to change his IV's or his nasal cannula and feeding tube tapes. He'll turn the other way in protest and let out the cutest cry. Recently he's learned that he can move his head around and cause his breathing tubes to come out of his nose. To counteract this the respiratory  therapist had to tape it down tighter and he was not happy. I had to hold his pacifier in his mouth and hold his arms and legs down. It was sad, but cute and funny at the same time. 

He also loves to move his tongue around whatever is currently stuck down his throat. On the 15th while on the ventilator he pushed his tongue around the tubes so much that he gagged himself and the ventilator tubes came out. The nurses weren't planning on taking him off the ventilator yet, but he actually wasn't in too much distress so they put him on a different respirator called the NIPV(?). He's been doing GREAT on that and they've even turned him down on that too. Hopefully it will be back to High flow soon.

Timothy Paul Andersen

Warning! This might be a long post...

On July 10, 2013 Devin and I welcomed our new baby boy Timothy Paul Andersen into the world. We were definitely not expecting him to come so soon. Here's the rundown of what happened. 

I had a dr. appointment scheduled for the 17th, but as of the 5th and 6th I was suddenly not feeling very well. I just felt a pain in my lower chest/upper stomach that would just not go away and it was making it difficult to breathe, especially at night. I also woke up Saturday the 6th and my face was a little more puffy. I could tell I most likely had pink eye in my left eye because my eyelid was all pink and swollen. My feet had been pretty swollen for about 2 weeks, but Devin and I just attributed it to the heat. Little did we know that these were all signs of something more serious going on. I looked up online and read a little bit about preclampsia/toxemia and was starting to get a little concerned because I had so many of the symptoms. Early Sunday morning I called the nurse who was on call at my obgyn and she gave me the suggestion of using a hot pad and tylenol to relieve the pain in my chest. This worked great and I was finally able to get some good sleep. The pain in my chest would come and go, but overall the hot pad seemed to be working so I didn't think much of it. What I was worried about was the fact that Devin would be gone on a High Adventure with the priests and teachers from the 10th through the 13th. I just felt really worried about being home alone for those days and really felt that I needed to get checked out before he left. I kept trying to push it aside, but the worried feeling remained strong. Finally, Devin being the great husband that he is, pushed me to call the dr and we rescheduled my appointment to the 10th. Poor Devin was about to exchange going on the high adventure with the scouts for his own "Life's High Adventure."

All throughout my pregnancy by blood pressure has been a little bit high, but nothing out of control or too alarming. At my June appointment the doctor was a little more concerned with it so we did a urine test and the results came back normal. When we arrived at the dr on the 10th I was not surprised when they checked my blood pressure and it was high, but I was surprised with how high it was and the reaction of the nurse. Looking at her face was a little disconcerting as she said, "That can't be right! Let's check that again." My blood pressure was 180/130 and the nurse was really surprised that I wasn't showing any major symptoms such as blurred vision or headaches. A nurse practitioner came in and talked to us and said she would need to get another urine sample, but that most likely she would just need to send us straight to the hospital. Just hearing this of course made really nervous and scared - I immediately started crying. When the urine sample came back showing protein she told us to quickly go over to the hospital and she would call them to let them know we were coming.  

Dr. Rees was the doctor from my obgyn clinic on call at the hospital so he met with us as other nurses frantically drew blood, got an IV started, gave me a steroid shot to help Tim's lungs, and started me on a medicine to prevent seizures and other affects of high blood pressure -- magnesium sulfate. I loved what Devin wrote about it in his journal -- "They put her on a drug that should be banned in all countries except maybe Russia, because Russia would deserve it. The drug is “Magnesium Sulfate”, but the nurses all call it “Mag” for short. If I had a name for it, I’d probably call it “the devil”. That way people would truly understand how horrible it is. “We’re going to be giving you ‘the devil’ now… that’s right, it’s called ‘the devil’ – buckle up.” Basically it has side effects you’d probably only expect to see in a harry potter book. Spontaneous combustion of fluids from every orifice, migraines like jack hammers in your brain, swelling of your entire face, and hives - just to name a few. However Sarah took it gracefully, and even though it made her somewhat irritable, she managed the next 48 hours of it all right."

As time went on and my blood pressure wasn't lowering the toxicology reports came back showing my liver wasn't handling it well and that Tim's heart rate was starting to drop. When the doctor said that the best solution would be to get the baby out I immediately felt a little frantic. Could my baby possibly survive? I was only 27 weeks exactly - that's way too soon to have a baby. I was so worried about things and was quite the emotional mess. I asked Devin to give me a blessing and immediately felt comforted that somehow things would be okay. 

I was prepped for a c-section and delivered Timothy Paul Andersen at 1:17pm. He weighed 1 lb. 13.5 oz or 830 grams and was 14 inches long.  With a C-section (and Tim being so early) I wasn't able to see him right away. That was probably the hardest part - lying there not knowing if he was alive or was going to be okay. Devin was by my head was kind of giving me a play by play of events. We both had the same question on our minds - Is our baby going to live? I heard the faintest of cries before he was whisked away to the NICU. We were told he had a 95% chance of survival so that helped both Devin and I feel a little better about things. 

Finally after I was all stapled back together they wheeled by bed through the NICU and I got to see my precious boy for the first time. He was SO tiny and seemed like a little doll. Besides just being really, really small everything seemed to be fine. I was just amazed with how minuscule he was. The only part of him that I could touch were his super tiny feet which were about the size of just half my finger. He is so precious and I immediately felt so much love for him. It's amazing how quickly something can capture your heart. 

So far Timothy has been a real fighter and has been doing great. He did have one little set back which I'll talk about later, but overall he's doing awesome! I will update more soon about our cute little family.

Getting prepped and ready for the C-section

My cute hubby who slept through the whole thing -- just kidding, he just happened to close his eyes right at the moment of the picture.

Seeing Timothy for the first time

Fruit Pizza

One of my all time favorite things to make, especially during the summer, is fruit pizza. I have been dying to make some for quite a few weeks, but we just never got around to buying good fruit; or else we'd buy it and eat it before I could make this delicious pizza. Finally last night I was determined to make some. I've made it several times, but never with the glaze that the recipe calls for and I really wanted to try the glaze. Well as I was letting the crust cool, I started the glaze and because it was taking so long went into the other room.

COOKING TIP: Never get on pinterest while you are cooking something on the stove!

I totally forgot about my delicious glaze and pretty soon found myself caught up in pinterest. It wasn't until I smelled burning and smoke that I remembered -- I was cooking!! Actually my first thought was, "What smells like it's burning? The crust is out of the oven. I don't have anything cooking...OH WAIT! I DO!!" I rushed into the kitchen while yelling at Devin to help me dissipate some of the smoke. I'm really surprised the smoke alarm didn't go off. My precious glaze was burnt to a crisp!

By this time I was pretty sad because I really wanted some fruit pizza, but it was getting late and I was tired. Devin, being logical, calmly told me to go to bed and that we'd make it tomorrow.

So today I finally got around to finishing the fruit pizza. IT IS DELICIOUS!! I think I'll go have another slice right now :)

The glaze on the left is what it is supposed to look like. 

The finished, DELICIOUS, fruit pizza

In other random news, I'm 26 weeks along! Below is the most recent "belly picture" at 25 weeks. I've actually had a really easy pregnancy and haven't really been sick.

Here's another randome tidbit: We love our dog!! He is so cute and always loves to snuggle and curl up with you. He loves to bask in the sunlight, whether outside on the porch or just in the house. We thought it funny one day when we saw him plopped down on the ground when right next to him was his bed. Silly puppy!

I'm blogging...shocking I know!

Please don't die out of shock, but yes, I'm actually posting on my blog! Can you believe it? Hopefully I can make it more of a habit. I honestly just felt a little depressed at that fact that I didn't have new things to say and I wasn't sure if anyone even cared. Anyway, here's a recap (beware it might be long) of what's been happening at the Andersen household in the last few months.

One of the most important news items happened in February. We had actually just decided (in January) that this year (2013) would be the year we would do whatever it took to become pregnant, even if it meant spending thousands of dollars on invitro. Well as it turns out, Heavenly Father had a different plan for us. After more than 6 years of trying and doing all sorts of tests we had a miracle. I was late with my period (which never happened) and so finally after day 40 I took a pregnancy test. The result was positive. I honestly didn't know what to do, that had never happened before and I didn't dare get my hopes up. I was debating about whether or not to tell Devin because Valentine's day was coming up and that would have made a great present. But after trying for so long, I couldn't keep it to myself very long. I surprised him by just randomly holding up a pregnancy test. Here's how the conversation panned out:
Devin: after staring at the test for about 30 seconds (that seemed like minutes) "Does this mean what I think it means?"
Sarah: with a sheepish grin "I think so, but it is an expired test..."
Devin: "Get out!"
Sarah: "What? Why?"
Devin: "We're leaving right now to go buy another test!!"

So about 3 tests later he finally started believing it. I am going to have a baby!!

In the beginning of April I went with my sister Ruth to Georgia to visit our sister Rebecca and her family. It was her kids spring break as well so we had a blast hanging out with the kiddos. Here are just a few pictures from that trip. We did a ton of fun stuff, but I need to keep this recap as quick as possible.

After our Easter egg hunt

With Eliza (I couldn't see if the camera was taking the picture or not - hence the weird face)

With Bryson

Hiking to Anna Ruby Falls (with Allison and Sydney)

At the Georgia Aquarium

In May we had a dessert party to reveal the gender of our baby. We had desserts in pink and blue and had family over to our clubhouse. It was so fun and exciting. We had people vote on whether they thought our little one was a boy or girl and then let the Grandma's cut into a cake where the inside revealed the gender. Here are a few pics:

It's a boy!!

Timothy Paul Andersen will be joining our family in early October!

In the beginning of June I ended my 5th (and probably hardest) year of teaching. I plan on going back again to 4th grade in the fall; especially since our insurance is through me :) I really love my school and the administration is so willing to work with me if our situation changes. With summer things have been pretty low key and relaxing. We just got back from a trip to Cedar City & St. George. Devin was part of an ultimate team that played in the Utah Summer Games tournament. This was in Cedar City and my compromise was that he could play if we would go to Tuacahn in St. George and see Mary Poppins. It ended up being a quick, but fun trip. 

Devin's team: Black Betty

His team played AWESOME and won all their games...getting the Gold medal

It was super hot so if it wasn't too windy I tried to stay under my giant beach umbrella. 

I still got pretty tan and my feet got really swollen. 

We went to one of Devin's favorite places: Nielson's Frozen Custard

Before watching Mary Poppins - which was amazing. 

 Poor Devin was a little sick before playing and honestly shouldn't have played as much as he did. He kept having so much mucus and congestion it was really hard for him, but he had a ton of fun playing and really contributed to his team's wins. Much to our dismay his playing probably made his health worse and now he has acute bronchitis. Things are gradually getting better for him and although he still has a bunch of mucus he's hacking up, he is feeling much better.

Oh, one more thing: we cleaned out and painted baby Timothy's room. I really like the end result and can't wait to get baby stuff.

Before any painting

Marking and preparations

The seemingly never ending job of taping 

First coat finally done

Ta Da! The finished product!!

So there you go. That's what we've been up to the last few months. Life is good and we are so excited for our future and our little one.