Day 10-Fun!

We had a quiet morning, with not much happening! Tyler and I decided we needed to spend some time with our other kiddos so my mom came and "babysat" Jake. We had LOTS of fun taking the kids to Rainforest Cafe,

Costco, then to Build-A-Bear. They had so much fun picking out their animals that they stuffed and dressed, then we decided to make one for Jake, complete with Cardinals outfit! It was so cute! We each kissed a heart and put it in the bear and named it Amazing Jake! I don't have pictures of the kids bears/animals, so I will have to get that posted.

The kids also picked out beanie babies so that the nurses could use them to prop up Jake, or prop up his ventilator.

Here's Jake checking out his Cardinals bear! He is ready for the game tomorrow!!

Go Cardinals!!

All of his animals and bears! His bed is FULL! :)

While we were gone they took out his umbilical line! Yeah!! One more tube gone! They also started feeding him breast milk through the tube in his nose, at 1cc/hr, and he was tolerating it well! at 10cc/hr I can start bottle feeding him!! Yeah!!

I don't know if I posted this already, but they got the results back of the chromosome testing and it was all negative, which we suspected since the amniocentesis came back negative as well. They are sending out for a micro test as well as more testing for some rare genetic syndromes as well.

Day 9-Baby Steps

Today was another quiet peaceful day, thankfully!! They didn't do anything with his Oxygen, but he did get his dressing removed and now you can see the whole scar! I thought it looked WAY better than I expected, so here it is. Sorry if it is too graphic!!

Then, they came in and took out his Foley (sp?) basically his urine catheter, and also his chest tube. That is the tube at the base of the incision that drained any extra fluid and blood after surgery!! 2 tubes down!! I told you, baby steps, and anything without excitement is GREAT!! They let him start eating breast milk, through a feeding tube in his nose! They also gave him a much more comfy blanket underneath. I was going to use a pretty one, or a nice one my mom or friends gave me, but they warned me it might get really stained or ruined, so we opted for a store bought one from my mom. They told me he would have plenty of time to use the comfy ones without ruining them!!

Day 8-Post Surgery

Last night was kind of crazy. Not anything terrible, thankfully, but lots of monitors kept going off, and our fabulous nurse, Maria, did not leave his side for more than 10 minutes! She warned us that post surgery, usually night time, is when they have the most difficulty regulating their stats because of all the drugs and medicine and anesthesia that might be wearing off. Needless to say, I did get some sleep, but I think it was because I was so exhausted! Luckily, after about 5am he stablized and didn't have nearly as many beeps. Otherwise, today was pretty uneventful, which is PERFECT for the hospital life! They did try to slow down how much oxygen he was getting, but he didn't tolerate it very well, so they put him back on it. They will try and ween him off over the next couple days, so he can get his breathing tube out!!

BEWARE-the following pictures might be hard to look at, so don't worry if you don't want to look at them! As you can see, he was pretty swollen from the surgery's, and still pretty sedated as well. He still has all of his monitors and tubes that he had from yesterday. Baby steps, literally!! :)

I love how the nurses try to use the beanie baby to keep him comfy, or to prop up the breathing tube, or just to let him snuggle with! It's really sweet.

Day 7-Surgery Day!!

This was an e-mail we sent out, just to keep you updated!
Well, today was surgery! It all began to get ready last night. They took lots of labs and did lots of prep work. I was holding him around 12:30am and the Dr came in and said that his breathing was really labored and that his Co2 levels were rising, instead of falling, and that they wanted to intubate him. He would have to be intubated for the surgery in 7 hours anyways, but this way he would be able to rest and relax and be a bit more stable before surgery. At about 1am they made Tyler and I leave the room so they could intubate. After they intubated he looked much better. He didn't seem to mind the tube as much as they thought and actually liked sucking on the tube! Wierdo!! It was a long night because they had to keep doing more labs and prepping him for surgery. I think I slept about 1 hour total. My dad came up at about 6:30am and he and Tyler gave Jake a beautiful blessing. They took him down about 7:30am and made us say goodbye. Then, they brought us back upstairs and we got a bigger room! YEAH! Upgrade! Actually, it is because they needed more space to put all the equipment. So, Tyler and I spent an hour moving rooms and getting settled, which was a great distraction! They started surgery a little late because Jakes blood pressure kept rising and falling with the anesthesia, but he was back in the room around 12:30'ish!! He will be heavily sedated for the next couple days while he recovers and we aren't sure how long he will be intubated. About every 15 minutes there was a different Dr that came in to check up on him and update us. He is being really well cared for, which we love. The Dr's are happy that what they wanted to accomplish they did, and they did an echo and everything looks to be working well. We have never seen so many dr's in one day!!
Things are going pretty well and he is stable!! Thank you for your prayers and thoughts!! We love an appreciate all of you!! It is amazing the blessings and outpouring of love and support. We love you all. Thank you for everything.

The following pictures are kind of graphic, so only look at them if you have a strong stomach!!

Day 6-Quiet!!

I don't have my camera right now, so I will post photos of today after I get my camera back.

After the terrifying day yesterday, I had a talk with Jake and told him he had to be calm and quiet and good all day! And, he was! Tyler went back to work today so he could have more time off after the surgery, so my mom spent last night with me, and all day with me too! She even got to hold him for 1 1/2 hours and he was PERFECT for her! All of his stats were great! He loves Grandma Treats!! My brothers and their wives came to meet their new nephew, which, of course, they thought he was adorable! All through the day they told us the surgery was scheduled for Thursday at 7:30am. Around 5:30pm the head surgeon came in to talk to us, and guess what?? He changed the surgery to Wed at 7:30am!! YIKES!! He said it wasn't any reason in particular except that his 7:30 patient was too sick to have surgery, so he was bumping Jake up! So, Tyler brought the kids up to spend a little time with Jake, my parents came, and Tyler's mom and sisters came as well! Carlene got to hold him, then my dad did too! It was really sweet for his grandparents to be able to hold him before his surgery! We also took another family photo, so I will post that soon!!
So, surgery tomorrow bright and early! I don't think I will sleep at all!!

Ok, here are the photos!

Our latest family photo!

Grandma Treats

Grandma Dennison

Grandpa Palmer (look how small he is compared to my dad's hands! So cute!)

5 Days Old

Today was supposed to be a very uneventful day, mostly just sitting around, but then a CT scan for the afternoon. We knew for the CT scan he would have to undergo his first time of having general anesthesia, so we walked down to the CT place with him. Here is the whole set up (2 nurses and Tyler) to get all his stuff down there.

Here we are in the CT lab. Pretty amazing technology!! It looks like it will shoot you into space!

Here we are saying goodbye to him. It was hard because he was wide awake and it was the first time I had to say goodbye to him and put him in someone else's hands. We couldn't even stay to watch! We went back to the room to wait..........

1 1/2 hours later we was wheeled back into his room! It felt so good to have him back! They had taken out the tubes to his nose and throat so I snapped a quick picture

He looked so sweet and peaceful! The anesthesiologist told us that he did great and left, and I was leaning over him while his nurse (Jamie) started re-connecting all the monitors and was going to put his oxygen tubes back in his nose. All of a sudden his heart rate started to drop to 100, then 85 then 65 then 55 and 45 and I told Tyler and Jamie his lips were turning blue. I started trying to jostle him to help his stats come back up but nothing was happening. Jamie ran out of the room and said something and within a matter of 15 seconds 6 nurses were in the room, somebody hit the code BLUE button and within another 15 seconds about 20 people were in the room and the crash cart was in here as well. Tyler and I were standing in the corner by the bathroom and we still felt in the way! I cannot begin to tell you how helpless I felt as I watched my baby being given CPR, meds, and people yelling out what they needed. It felt just like the movies, except I was living the horror. Tyler and I sat there crying, not sure what would happen. I think it was only a matter of 2-3 minutes and he let out a cry, but it felt like an eternity. They still had to work at him for about 15 minutes, but they finally got him stable and I was able to go stand by him while they finished up. It was terrifying. The nurses and staff were great, and it made me realize how blessed we are to be in such an amazing unit. It was really hard to be here and it still makes me cry thinking about it! That is one image I don't think I will ever get out of my head! We are so blessed that he came back to us, and that he is doing ok now. He was pretty stable most of the night. He had a few problems when they would take him off of the drugs they had given to him, but for the most part he was ok. Tyler and I realized how blessed we are to have every minute with him! We also grounded him for life for scaring us! :)

Luckily he is doing great, now! That was our way too eventful evening!!

Day 4-Blessing Day!!

We blessed Jake today. He is officially Jake Alan Dennison-yes, just Jake, or baby Jake, as we like to call him! He couldn't get dressed, so this is what he looked like for the blessing. My mom made this beautiful little blue and white afghan, and my friends had this SOFT, sweet white and blue minky blankie for him (on the bottom). It was perfect!

We wish we could have invited my whole family and Tyler's whole family, but the room just isn't big enough for 25-30 people, so we kept it very small. Tyler's Grandpa was there (Jake's Great Grandpa), my dad, Bishop Anderson, and Tyler. We are sorry to all the family, but please come and visit!

Here is Bishop and Sister Anderson

G-Gma and G-Gpa (Great Grandma and Grandpa)

Grandma Dennison (Tyler's Mom)

Grandma Treats and Grandpa (My Mom and Dad)

Our First family Photo!!

Tyler did an amazing job with the blessing. I'm so blessed to have an amazing husband who is also worthy to hold the priesthood. We felt the spirit so strongly in the room, and I'm sure Jake was able to feel it as well. What a truly spiritual experience and a testimony builder!

Thank you for all who are praying and fasted for him. We LOVE you!! Today was pretty uneventful, medically speaking! Jake had a couple of X-rays and blood tests, but other than that we got to sit and enjoy him! Tomorrow he will have a CT scan so they can make a 3-D of his heart so they will know exactly what to expect when they go in for surgery. He has to go under general anesthesia for this, so please pray for him!! They are saying the surgery might be Wed or Thursday, now, but that depends on the meetings tomorrow or Tues. We will keep you posted!!

He's Here!

I know you have all been waiting, but it is OVER! Baby Jake Alan Dennison is HERE!! He was born at 5:33pm on Jan 21st weighing in at 5lb 17"long. He is super cute! (I know, totally biased, but he really is cute!)

Now might be the time to tell you all that he has a heart condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, basically, that means his left chamber of his heart is not developed and will require a series of surgeries. You can read more about HLHS HERE. We have known about it for quite a while, which is why we had to deliver at St. Josephs hospital, because they are one of only 2 places that can take care of his heart in the whole state, and only a handful of places in the whole US. They have found some other things, but we don't know what it all means, so we will let you know more as we get it. For now, it looks like his first surgery will take place on Tues or Wed.

These aren't the best photos, so I will try and get more as soon as I can! My sister YouTubed him coming out of the delivery room with the NICU team. As you can see, All the kids are very excited. Here is the YouTube link.

Thanks to all our friends who are praying for him! We love you all and appreciate it!

THANK YOU!

D-day!!!

So, I am currently sitting in L&D at St. Joseph's, and I have just received my first round of antibiotics, and the pitocin will start soon! So baby "Jake" will be coming today!! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers! We will hopefully post photos and updates after he is born!! Thank you to everyone for your love and support, and for what is to come!! Thanks!!

Here is what I looked like as I checked in

Here is me in the bed

And here is my TEENY TINY room that I am in until I deliver, that I also have to share a bathroom! YUCK!!!! They say after delivery I should have my own-if not, I"m checking out tonight!

And here is my support team!!

Poor guy is going to be spending his birthday in a hospital!!
Happy Birthday tomorrow, Tyler!! I love you!!

I'm Back, sort of!

Hi Everyone, No baby yet, but the GREAT news is that I found my camera cord that plugs into my computer, so I can download photos!

I have TONS to blog about, but don't know when I will get to it, so I will let you know what me and my kids did today, and we will go from there! :)

I was supposed to have a Dr's appt today, so my sister Katie babysat my kiddos. She is on Student Council at Westwood, and they were going to be in the parade, so she had my kids on the truck, all decked out in blue and orange, and they got to be in a parade!

They thought it was the BEST!! My dr's office ended up being closed, so I got to get home in time to see them in the parade! How fun! Thanks, Katie!

When we got home this afternoon, my kids saw the sprinklers on and asked if they could play in them. I looked at our thermometer and it said 81', yes, that is right, 81', so they got in their swimsuits, played in the sprinklers and had popsicles!!

bring on the Summer!

After tomorrow's appointment, hopefully we will know when I will deliver!! (we are hoping for Wednesday!!)

Books, Books, Books

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! I don't have any photos ready yet, but be prepared for LOTS of blogging to come! :)
I need your help! My fantastic husband got me a gift card to Barnes and Noble, and I HATE buying books without great reviews from people I know, so PLEASE give me your suggestions on books that you would recommend. I will tell you, I don't think I will want anything "heavy" or super involved, since I will be reading a lot at the hospital, and I won't want anything "scary." I don't know if that makes sense to anyone, but basically light, reads with good endings. I have already read the Twilight series, The Host, a few Jane Austyn, Sara's Quilt (that series) etc. Give me your suggestions!!
Thanks, You all are the best!!