The Big 30!!!!

Jake turned the Big 30 on Thursday. The kids enjoyed making out a celebration of the event. They picked balloons, a present, card, and the best part...putting thirty candles on a Shrek birthday cake. (I was lazy this year and didn't make a cake.) Happy Birthday!!!!

Crazy!

That's the word to describe my life lately. Four kids, WOW! Don't get me wrong though I love all of them. It's just how busy life is and how much each kid demands. We are all happy though. A lot has happened the past week so here we go......This is a picture of Katanya the day she came home from the hospital. She was discharge at 5 pounds 3 ounces. The next day we went to the doctor's for a checkup and she was 5 pounds 7 ounces! Everything checked out fine and they said they would see her in a week.

At nights, since it has been extrememly warm and not windy, we go out to the house and let the kids run around to let their energy out. One night Jake let Axel "try" to drive our old work truck on our large piece of land. No worries though, he didn't ever make it out of first gear. It got him all excited for driving however.







Betsy came to visit us for three days. It was really fun to have her and her kids up. The first night we went out to the temple greenbelt and fed the ducks. We took eight loaves of bread and had a blast.


One of the many geese. Toby and Isaac feeding the geese and ducks. McKay throwing pieces of bread. Not a minute after Aspen left did Mckay ask when we can go visit. She had fun with her cousins. Jake and Cruz and Kirsten. Katanya stayed fast asleep in her caseat / stroller. Betsy and Hazel by the river. Hazel decided that the bread was better in her mouth than the ducks. We also loved her squeaker shoes! All of the kids (except Katanya) on the step. We really enjoy family!

Katanya turned one month old a couple days ago. On Wednesday we had our one-week-from-discharge checkup. She was 6 pounds 1 ounce! She has the cute little "chubby preemie" cheeks and a fat little tummy. The doctor said she was doing really good and everything looked great. She also really enjoys her baths. She has fallen asleep a few times in the warm water.

One of our own little miracles!

KATANYA IS HOME!!!!!! Who would have though 23 days ago that this little miracle would be home and breathing and eating on her own? When we went into the hospital this morning to feed, the doctor came to us and said she was ready to go home. She had eaten all of her feedings yesterday and there was no problem with her oxygen. We brought our carseat in for her "carseat challenge" (this is where they hook them up to the moniters and watch them for an hour in the carseat to make sure they can handle it.) I then quickly began running around trying to get things ready to bring her home. They had told me last night that she would be home by the weekend but I never thought it would be today. McKay made it home and shortly after we picked her up and brought her home. I have gone from two kids back to four. Wow!

The kids are so excited. They all want to be big helpers and hold and feed her. As she gets bigger and a little time goes by, I won't be so paranoid. I sometimes feel like a first time mother with a preemie.Jake and I teased this morning about how we wanted to wait til August to start trying for a baby. Then when things "happened" we had said we would be in our new house before the baby was born. Then more things happened and we were hoping to be in the new house by the time the baby came home. Now we are just happy to have the baby home. Sometimes you don't have control of the situations you are given.

She looks so tiny in her carseat. She looks a lot bigger than when she was first born. She has gained more than a pound in a little over three weeks. When the doctor told us she would be going home today. Jake looked at me and said, "How come you didn't tell me?" I had no idea either. He is a little more nervous than me having her home. I have been with her more in the hospital and seen how well she was doing. I suprisingly wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. Must be the "mother" instincts.

Her is a picture of her dressed and all. Right now the preemie clothes fit perfectly. If she is anything like Kirsten, they won't fit for long! Once again, we are very thankful and appreciate all the love and prayers that have gone out to us! I know that is what helped our whole family. Thanks for all that also came out and helped! WE LOVE YOU!

All in perspective......

Everyone that has come and visited with us has commented on how small Katanya is. Their first words are, "She's small, she looks bigger on the blog." It's true. So after Erika made the comment that we needed to really show how small she is, we took a few pictures to put things into a little better perspective. The first is a picture of her hand with Jake's wedding ring. It's not very clear, but you get the picture. The second is Jake's fist next to Katanya's head.


On another note, Katanya is still doing great. She is up to 5 pounds 3 ounces tonight. Yesterday she took all but 2 of her feeding orally. Today they were hoping for all of them and as of 9 pm they had been. She has been completely off oxygen since Saturday morning and has been holding her temparture just fine.

McKay comes home tomorrow. Kirsten has been counting down the days since 38. And there were only 40. We have missed her and are excited to see her!

You've had a birthday shout HOORAY!

Amalia celebrated her third birthday at our house. We had pizza and cake and ice cream later. She requested a big chocolate flower cake. We loved having Karolina and Amalia come and play! Erika was a life saver and I appreciated everything she did! She was very patient to deal with four kids all the time. Thank you again!!!!

Mommy-daughter date

Today, on Katanya's afternoon feeding, Kirsten and I made a date out of it. She went in with me to the hospital and "helped" me bottle feed her. She was in 7th heaven. She was able to hold the bottle while Katanya ate. She also loved to put a finger in Katanya's hand and let her hold it. Then after she was done, Kirsten was able to hold her, with the help of me, of course....my hands stayed underneath her....It made Kirsten's day though.

On a good note, Katanya graduated from the Isolette today and is now in an open crib. She will begin to regulate her own body temperature. She is orally taking every other feeding. She is continuing to nurse well also. She gained an ounce yesterday making her 4 pounds 13 ounces. Today she only gained 5 grams but that is typical as her body is demanding her to use more calories to keep her body temp up.

We haven't heard back on the ECHO yet, but the doctor is not as worried as she can hardly hear it now. The nurse this morning could not find it and it often comes and goes. We are not worried until we have a reason to.

Thank you for all the prayers again! I have a strong testimony on prayer and I know that is the reason that Katanya has been so strong and growing steadily. We love all of you and thank you for all the love, help, and support!

Fun with the cousins!

On the night of the fourth, we went down by the greenbelt and watched the "big" firework show. The kids played around on the lawn while we waited for the show to start. It was a big display and lots of fireworks but unforetunately it didn't hold their attention. The kids had more fun riding and playing horsey with Axel. It was a nightmare getting out of downtown in the traffic.

Late the next day, we went out to the house and let the kids play on the Power Wheels Toys. Amalia loved the Bobcat and Jeep. She had on a big smile! Kirsten took the Jeep out in the mud and made Axel come get her. Luckily Axel was a good sport. He also pushed Cruz around in the little Tike car. What would we do without him? Karolina played also but was a 'little' afraid of the kitten. I heard I have Felipe to thank for that....????

Whoopee!!!!

Erika and her girls have been here the past week and we have really enjoyed having them around. On the fourth, we went up to Rexburg and watched the "Whoopee" Parade. The girls loved watching the horses and the 'princesses'. They also loved running and getting candy. Another bonus is they handed out chocolate milk to everyone and anyone that wanted it. It was a nice smaller parade that the kids loved.

Cruz loves his dad! Cruz never has anyone to match so I thought maybe he could match his dad. I saw the shirts on sale at Old Navy and liked them. Suprisingly so did Jake. He never likes anything I pick out for him.

Cruz was more interested in the balloons!

Erika and Amalia watching the parade.

Karolina waiving her flag.
Amalia being patriotic as well.

"Come on Magic Numbers"

These are Jake's favorite words when he goes into the hospital at night. They weigh and take her vitals before her 9 pm feeding. Tonight it was exceptionally true. Katanya is up to 4 pounds and 12 ounces. She has been gaining usually an ounce a day. This is not the BEST news of the day however.

I have started breastfeeding and bottle feeding her occasionally. Usually 2 or 3 feedings max. It takes a lot of energy so they like to take it slow. Yesterday she took 30 ML from me for the first time. She took the remaining 16 by bottle. It was her first entire "oral" feeding. Then this morning she did the exact same. I went in at 3 pm to help give her a bath and she was still alert so she nursed another 30 ML and bottled 18 ML. (Her calorie intake had gone up to 48 ML). She had also taken a bottle at her noon feeding for the entire feeding. This was already 3 oral feedings entirely. So tonight I went in at 9 pm and she was alert and awake again so I decided to try to breastfeed her first. They weigh her beforehand and then weigh her after to find out how many ML she has eaten. So she ate and did her thing and when she was done they put her on the scale. 95 ML was what the numbers showed. They weighed her again. The same amount. Two other nurses came over and weighed her and made sure everything was "zero'd" out. The reading was still 95ML!!!!!! Katanya has never ceased to amaze me. Another good thing was she was still alert and awake. She has usually fallen asleep after her feedings but not tonight. 95 ML!!!!! WOW!!!!

On another note, they discovered a heart murmer about a week ago. They hear it on and off. They did an ECHO on Sunday to make sure she is okay. She has had her oxygen on a really low setting of .025. This could be from eating and starting the nipple, or the murmer, or a number of things they said. They sent the ECHO to Primary Children's and we are hoping to hear back tomorrow. I am praying that it is nothing big.

Oxygen update

So we went in tonight and the nurse in charge Katanya, which was her same nurse last night, said that the only reason she had went on oxygen last night was because someone had left the blowby on in her isolette. This made it easier for Katanya to breath and when the nurse turned it off her oxygen dropped a little. She said to be on the safe side, she put the tubes on for the night on the lowest setting. So basically, it was no big deal and not a set back. She had been off of the oxygen almost all day and the beginning of the night. She had bounced right back.

Tonight, we got to give her another bottle feeding. She took half of it and then was tired. They did the rest thru he tube. She is doing really good. It doesn't feel like two weeks have gone by. The days have just blended together. I never would have thought that she would be this far along in two weeks though. We are very grateful.

Two steps forward, one step back.

This week has been nice to see family. Last night Peter and Amy came up and we got to visit with them and go to dinner. It was a lot of fun just catching up on old times and new ones. My kids loved having them around also. Kirsten enjoyed playing "Hide and Seek", Hungry Hippos, Hopscotch, and making funny faces with them. She is quite the social person.













*Like father....like son* We were walking back over to the restaurant and I though this looked really cute.



We were able to visit and see Katanya last night. They even let us go into the "isolation" room so everyone could see her. There wasn't any bigger babies in there and so it was empty. The kids got to hold her hand and actually see her in Jake or my arms. Cruz had never really grasped the fact with the whole baby thing yet. He didn't understand either that Katanya was in an Isolette now instead of a heat bed. He finally warmed up to her and held her finger for a quick second.

Katanya "nippled" half of her feeding last night. This mean she took half of the 45 ML by bottle. They said this is really good for the first time. On a different note though, when I went in this morning, she was on a tiny tiny bit of oxygen. She had dropped during the night and they put the tubes back on. They said this is normal and that how long depends on the baby. It's hard to see a set back but I am counting my blessings and trying not to let it get me down. It's hard with all the emotions and everything.

Her is a picture of Katanya at 12 days old. Like I said, she is growing and all in all doing really good. Her outfit makes her look twice the size she is. Kirsten said the next time she is in her "Marie" outfit (the kitty on Aristocats) that she will wear her Marie shirt to match.