An Angel Among Us

My cousin and friend, Tiffany, found out last Spring that she was expecting their first child. She was very sick during her pregnancy, unfortunately, but she tried to stay positive despite it all as

she and her husband, Jeff, were very excited about having a child. As her pregnancy progressed, she found out that she would be having a sweet baby girl, but she was measuring smaller than expected, so the due date was pushed back. This happened again and again until the doctors looked further into the situation to figure out why this was and that something was definitely wrong.

After many ultrasounds and testing, the doctors discovered that one of the major arteries in the baby's umbilical cord had either not developed correctly, or had clotted over. Thus leaving sweet Lily to only receive nourishment from two arteries vs. the three that should have been there. Although she continued to develop, this left Lily exceptionally small.

Doctors hoped Lily would stay in the womb as long as possible so that her organs could develop, even if this meant she would be small. They figured once she was born, then she would catch up quickly with her growth outside of the womb with the help of modern medicine.

On Nov 20th 2010, at 36 weeks, Tiffany went into labor and Lily was brought into this world via C-section as distress during contractions prevented her from arriving naturally. She was 3lbs 6oz and 15 inches long, but arrived breathing on her own and looked healthy and happy. The doctors were very pleased.

This little angel stayed in the NICU for 3 1/2 weeks while she continued to develop, grow and learn to eat and breathe on her own without the aid of oxygen and was able to be taken home by her loving parents just before Christmas. Greg and I were able to go visit and meet her in the NICU prior to her coming home. I couldn't believe how tiny she was!

Lily has been gaining weight and doing well while staying in her new home. The doctors continued to track her progress and growth after leaving the NICU and Lily had many appointments to attend so that the doctors were able to do this. With the doctors tracking Lily's weight they noticed Lily wasn't growing as quickly as she should.

On January 17th Tiffany and Jeff took Lily to Primary Children's Medical Center to meet with a specialist. The specialist was concerned about her growth and, even though she had continually gained weight, said she should have been growing more. The doctor wanted to perform a CT scan with contrast of Lily's gastrointestinal system to make sure everything was functioning properly. Shortly after Lily drank the barium contrast and the testing was complete, Tiffany and Jeff were informed that the barium was going places it shouldn't have and the doctors wanted to take Lily in to surgery immediately to repair the problem with her intestines.

Tiffany and Jeff trustingly handed their little miracle over to the doctors so that the surgery could be performed. After many long hours of waiting and not knowing, Jeff and Tiffany were approached by the surgeon who reported that the surgery was successful and they would be able to see their little girl in about 20 more min. Apparently a pic-line IV needed to be placed and then she would be transferred over to a recovery room.

Those 20 min turned into 40 min. Then an hour. Then, over an hour and a half someone finally came out to inform Tiffany and Jeff that there were some unexpected complications and Lily

went into cardiac arrest. She had received chest compressions for over 20 min. They were able to revive her and stabilize her, but because of her being without oxygen for so long, they suspected brain damage, but to what extent was not yet known.

Lily's devastated parents were ushered to her room back in Intensive Care where their little girl was being sustained by means of a ventilator and so swollen that it appeared her earlobes rested on her shoulders.

This little one has been a fighter through all of this and after many difficult weeks of battling in the ICU, Lily was able to return home with her parents on Feb 1st 2011.

Shortly before taking Lily to Primary Children's to meet with the specialist, Tiffany and Jeff received the hospital bill for Lily's birth and NICU stay. They have been overwhelmed and stressed about this debt and after this unexpected surgery and the complications resulting from it, they have many more medical expenses.

In an effort to help them out, Greg's business, Tungsten Rings For Men, will be donating all proceeds made, up until Valentine's Day, to Tiffany and Jeff. Please join in this cause by spreading the word to others who may be looking for a men's Tungsten ring, Demascus steel ring, or Rockwell watches, or by making a purchase through www.tungstenringsformen.com. Greg will be offering a 15% discount that you are able to use by entering the promotional code "LILY" at checkout.

Your help and support is gratefully appreciated.

With love,

Greg and Britney

30 Weeks

So here I am at 30 weeks...getting bigger and bigger! I am really feeling uncomfortable now and really looking forward to mid March when this little guy will make his appearance. I'm feeling good other than my burning, aching, trying to expand ribs and not being able to sleep good at night. As soon as I lay down Boston thinks it's time to swim a marathon and kicks and rolls and moves like you wouldn't believe. I think Greg thought I was exaggerating until the other night I made him lay there with his hand on my belly for a good 5 minutes and Boston moved the ENTIRE time! Greg was really surprised and said, "Man, I don't know how you can sleep with that," and then rolled over and went to sleep. No fair! Two nights ago I laid in bed for an HOUR, no joke, while Boston rolled around and kicked and moved. I love feeling him move, but not when I'm trying to go to sleep!

I have finished my "Baby Legs" leggings for him, appliqued some tops, made a nursing cover, and finished the pillows for the boys' room. I will post pics of all my projects together as soon as I am finished :) I started spray painting a bunch of things for their room yesterday (no worries, I wore a mask, opened windows and had fans blowing and then I closed doors and shoved towels underneath to keep the fumes out of the rest of the house while it dried) and have just a bit more to do and then I can start hanging things up. Eek! I have been having a craft fiasco lately with all the projects I want to complete. It's so much fun!

I have to share this story, cause it is just ridiculous if you ask me. About a week and a half ago, probably 2 days after Christmas, I woke up with THIS:

"Whoa!" "Are you for real?", "Yeah, that's pretty bad!" These are all comments made to me that morning. This picture doesn't do it justice. It felt like my lip was swollen when I woke up so I went and looked in the mirror and and AHH! It looked like I grew a beak over night! What the heck is this thing you ask? The nastiest cold sore I have ever had or seen, apparently. It was literally the size of a marble and swollen all the way through the inside of my lip. It was very sore and the next morning it had doubled in size, so I called my family doc and asked if there was anything I could take. I had never had this happen before and don't recall getting cold sores ever, really, so I didn't know I had one coming on and was supposed to take something at that point. I told them I was 7 months pregnant and they said they'd check with the doc and see if there was a prescription they could call in for me and they'd call me back. A couple hours later I got a call back from the office saying the doc wanted to see me that day and could squeeze me in 30 min later. So off to the doc I went...really? For a cold sore? Well it turns out that the doc wanted me to come in because I was so far in my pregnancy and just got this and didn't recall ever having a cold sore. He said the herpes virus could affect the baby and wanted to take a culture of this lump to make sure it was indeed a cold sore (YIKES that hurt!) and also draw my blood to see if I had the Herpes virus in my system already, or if this indeed was a new thing, because if the virus was passed on to my little guy, it could stunt his growth, cause him to have low birth weight, cause me to miscarry, or even have a stillborn. Ahh! I had no idea! He put me on a medication and I took it faithfully and waited the long New Year's holiday weekend to hear back about blood results. Fortunately I had previously built up a strong immunity to the virus and it would not be of any threat or risk to my baby. Phew! But I had to share that...

I didn't want to leave the house and you should have seen the looks I got from people when I DID have to leave the house. Seriously on day two it looked like I had previously had surgery for cleft lip. Awful! And I didn't even get a New Year's kiss this year ;(

But all is well now and the swelling went down, made a nasty scab, and that scab finally fell off yesterday. I had no idea cold sores could swell up like that!

Dax is getting so excited for Boston to come and share his bed with him. I have to keep correcting him by saying Boston will be sharing his bedROOM, not his bed. So funny. Dax even asked me a couple days ago how the baby is gonna come out. Ahh! What 2 yr old thinks of those things already?! I told him he'll just come out of my tummy at the hospital and then Dax responded, "Are they gonna cut him out?" I was very surprised by this question and just nodded my head in response. Oh Dax, you are so inquisitive.

10 more weeks to go...I can't wait to meet this little one!

27 Weeks

It's crazy to believe that I'm already 27 weeks along with this pregnancy. Things are going pretty good. Just a couple days ago my hips started really aching and feel like they are coming out of the sockets at times. I got up a couple nights ago with Dax and could barely walk to his room! I definitely don't remember dealing with this with Dax. My ribs burn all the time and I have reflux (yuck), but overall I feel pretty good. It's definitely harder being pregnant the second time around when you've got a 2 yr old to entertain, chase, and discipline while already feeling exhausted!

It's so exciting to me that I'm in my 3rd trimester already! I have a doc appt at the beginning of Jan and then my doc said we'll be starting our appts every 2 weeks. Wow! That came really quickly! It's all sneaking up so fast! I have so many projects lined up that I have been working on and I am enjoying every minute of it.

Last night I took a bath and the little guy was moving and rolling around so much that it reminded me of that scene from the movie "Alien". I love how much he moves and the constant reminder of events to come. We finally decided on a name for this boy...Boston Samuel. I can't wait to see what he looks like!

My latest project is getting the boys' room put together. Dax and Boston will share a room...I'm a little nervous to see how that goes. My parents gave us my little brothers' old bunk bed and we got a mattress for it the other day. Dax is so thrilled about having a ladder on his bed and being able to climb up to his bed to sleep in at night. Tonight I converted the toddler bed back into a crib and it made me giddy! Daxton's bed is on the left of the room and the crib is on the right side of the room. I am doing their room in tan, navy blue, a turqoise-green blue color, and orange. I found the cutest fabric and have been making pillows, a blanket for the baby's bed, and will start on curtains soon. Plus a changing pad cover to match. Oh, and bumper pads. Don't worry, I will be sure to post it all when it is complete and put together. I love decorating....Eek!

The Stockings were hung...2010

This is something I wish I would have done in years past and saw on somebody else's blog. They will take pictures around their house of their Christmas decor and compare it to previous years. It's fun to see what Christmas looked like in your home during specific years. So I am doing this for myself, but feel free to take a peek at what our home looks like at Christmas time this year :)

Here is my Christmas quilt that I started last year. I love it and am so proud of it!! It's pretty simple, but I love the fabrics and the way it turned out. This is my second quilt. Sitting next to my pillow I made at Thanksgiving time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Lights on Temple Square

Last Saturday (one week ago) we decided at the last minute to go to Temple Square and see the lights. It was such a nice night and not too cold.

Once downtown we rode the Trax shuttles to the temple gates and that became all we heard about from Dax the rest of the night was "when are we gonna ride the train again?" He could have cared less about the lights...little stinker.

But it was a fun little family outing and something I like to do each year at Christmas time.

Famous Family Fudge

The story goes that Greg's Dad's Mom used to work for United Airlines long ago typing for them. Apparently a new division of See's Candies was opening up in the area she worked so See's was sending across their fudge recipe to the new division. Well Greg's Grandma happened to be the one to receive this to send it on. So she made a quick copy for herself before sending it on. This recipe has been made and revised many times throughout the years to get it just perfect.

Greg's Dad is a pro at making the silkiest, smoothest, best tasting fudge and last year taught Greg just how to do it. The secret is in how long you cook it. Greg makes it for friends, family, and neighbors each year at Christmas time. I love just being able to sit back and watch him work his magic :)

The first batch didn't turn out (still tasted delicious, just the texture wasn't right), but the second batch Greg was so proud of. Way to go babe!

O Christmas Tree

I love decorating the tree and setting up Christmas decorations. This year we were in desperate need of a tree and couldn't seem to find a good deal on an artificial tree, so the three of us went to the Christmas tree lot down the street and picked up a real tree this year. She smells so good! Greg's family pretty much always had a real tree each year growing up, but this was a new experience for me as I have never had a real tree. She's a 6 foot noble fir. Dax was especially excited about setting up the tree when we told him his Daddy has a train that goes around it. Dax is fascinated, thrilled, pretty much obsessed with trains and anything to do with them. He was excited to be able to put the star on top of the tree because that meant we were done decorating the tree and could set up the train track.

It's so fun to have everything set up and ready for Christmas.