Ever so slightly

Inch by inch, Tyler is progressing. He had his post-op MRI which revealed no changes as compared to the preoperative hematoma (a collection of blood beneath Tyler's skull). That being said, it appears the surgery didn't affect his brain circulation and that the formation of the hematoma was due to child birth. Tyler has been learning to feed from a bottle and his bowels are working, so when he gets really fussy, we suspect he has left some treasures in his diaper.

His skin looks great and when he wakes up, he looks all around. Today, they'll teach us how to insert the nasogastric feeding tube in case Tyler pulls it out. He is still having some drug withdrawal issues.

Scott is gearing up for Tyler's arrival by pushing around a doll in the stroller, making sure the doll has his binky. If things continue to go well, Tyler could come home on Wednesday. Thanks for all your comments, prayers, cards, and support! Tyler has been a positive influence on many.

Tyler's Second Home

Tyler moved from the PCICU to the transitional ICU yesterday. His heart is doing well and his irritability is getting better. He is trying to learn how to feed from a bottle which is a little difficult. Starting to feed at 3 1/2 weeks results in mass confusion with swallowing, breathing and sucking all at once. He spit up most of the food yesterday, but I am sure he will get it little by little. We are so proud of our little fighter. He is doing so great and his oxygen is in the 80's where they want it to be. Grammy has been taking good care of Tyler, which has allowed me to spend some time with Scott who I really missed when I was at the hospital so much. They will be doing the brain MRI tomorrow, which will be really informative to see the differences from his post-operative MRI. We are keeping our fingers crossed it comes back normal. He appears to be very responsive and alert which is great. The doctors are hoping he will be able to come home early next week. Keep us in your prayers! We are so grateful for your constant support and love.

Rockin Tyler

Tyler is rocking the PCICU (pediatric cardiology ICU) and rockin away in Grammy McMillan's arms. It is so great that Danny's mom could come out this week. It has given me some time to be with Scott who has missed and needed his mom and dad after a 2 week absence and get the house in order before Tyler comes home. We now have clean carpets and now in my closet I have clothes that fit me instead of maternity clothes. Tyler does great when he is rocked and held and as soon as you put him down gets fussy. Scott, Danny, I and especially Tyler are so grateful to have Grammy's help!! He is off his methadone even though they think he might still have some drug withdrawal, up to 12 cc/hr of milk, on room air oxygen levels and doing great! They are planning on moving him to the transitional ICU soon and if all goes well will probably be home in about 1 week. We will be celebrating having him here for 1 month. He has been such a joy to us and such a little hero to so many. It is amazing how many people have told us that their entire congregation has been praying and thinking of him. We are so grateful for everyone's help...the Bogners, Heather O., Mardee C., Grandma & Grandpa, Elena P. for babysitting Scott, Robin P. for the great cookies, the Hiltons for great chili, Heather and Jason for their visits and heart walk efforts and everyone who has been supporting and praying for us and our family! We couldn't have done it without you!.

Update

My mom is in town from Utah. She spent the night at the hospital last night and has been holding Tyler quite a bit. He really enjoys being held, so he's less fussy and has responded well to the weaning of the oxygen. He's on regular air, but I guess it's still the high-flow to keep his lungs inflated. He's up to 9 cc's of food per hour, an improvement over yesterday's 2 cc's.

The picture is of Betty and Bob Maddox (Heather's in-laws), Jacquie Lietz (Heidi's mom), Heather Maddox (Heidi's sister), and Walt Lietz, Heidi's dad. They did a 5K walk to raise money for the American Heart Association. Thanks to all who donated on behalf of Heather and Tyler!

Holding Tyler

Tyler is continuing to do well. He got out 2 more chest tubes and they will probably take out the last tube tomorrow. They removed the line going directly to his heart which allowed us to hold him today. Yeah!! It was so wonderful holding him and he loves being rocked. His lungs started to collapse which is common for inactive babies who have been on a respirator for long periods of time. The doctors placed him on high flow oxygen again and started respiratory physical therapy that usually helps the lungs expand. His lungs looked better on an x-ray in the afternoon which is great. They stopped feedings when they took out his tubes and lines and will hopefully start them up again in a day or so. Overall he is doing well. The major concern is getting his lungs and breathing more normal. Thanks for your prayers and love. He looks so good without all of his tubes. Nothing compares to being able to hold him again. All our love.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Onward and upward for Tyler. Today we visited him in the afternoon and he was on regular oxygen at one liter/minute. He began taking Heidi's milk at one cc/hour through a nasogastric tube, which is about the volume of game dice. Three of his thoracic drains were removed and his breathing appears normal. He looks great! And he looks really long. He has lost most of his fluid which makes him look very skinny compared to before. Hopefully he'll be able to start eating a little more each day and gain some weight. We enjoy hearing all of your comments on the blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Extubation

A big word for taking out the breathing tube. It's an even bigger step, though, because Tyler looks much better. Now he's on high-flow oxygen at 35% (air is 21%), and the high-flow is to pump up the alveoli. He's breathing at a normal rate, so today, they'll wean him from the high-flow oxygen to a regular oxygen machine. One of his thoracic drains was removed, and the others aren't filling up as much, so they'll remove those soon too. Apparently, he's been in some drug withdrawal since morphine and fentanyl were stopped, so they'll give him methadone to help him cope. I think they give heroin addicts methadone. In medicine, you never know anything for sure, but it looks like we may be in the home stretch of the pediatric cardiology intensive care unit. Yeah! Ah, and they mentioned that he might not be able to cry because of the breathing tube. I asked if his larynx was damaged, and the nurse acted like it may or may not be permanent. I thought, "Great! Now I'll have to learn sign language in Spanish too!" But he whimpers now and then, and I think he'll be alright.

They are hoping to to wean him from epinephrine, a cardiac contractility drug. Scott is okay. I worked on Heidi's root canal yesterday, the upper left second molar, way at the back. Woof. Heidi went back to work on Monday and is enjoying it. Everyone, thanks for your kind words, prayers, and support. Bye.

Life goes on at home

While Heidi was with Tyler at UCSF, Scott and I went with Walt and Jacquie to Tilden Park where we rode the merry-go-round, the train, and fed the animals. You'll see all of those pictures on pics from the didge at the end of the month, but here's a little preview.

Chest closed

They closed his chest Monday from around 5:30-6:30. The surgery went well. Danny and I got to the hospital around 9 and he didn't look too good. He was very blue/grey and there was a lot going on to try to stabilize him. Everyone seemed very concerned, as were we, since his heart was having a hard time pumping to his body. His oxygen saturation was in the low 70s. We weren't sure if he was going to make it, but hopeful that he would fight through this. I saw him around 3 AM and he looked sooo much better. The nurse said that she felt he was on the fence earlier, but was much more stable now. It is a hard surgery to recover from and hard for his heart to get used to pumping against his chest instead of it being open. They said that the surgery begins the recuperation all over again. One step at a time. He is precious. Looks just like Scott through all the tubes when he was a newborn which is fun to see. Scott is doing well. We are SOOOO grateful for everyone that has helped and offered to help with Scott. We are especially thankful to grandma and grandpa Lietz, Robin, Jim, Luke and Max Bogner who have been taken such good care of Scott. We couldn't have gotten through the hardest days without your help and love. We are so blessed to have so many people praying for little Tyler and willing to do so much for us. We are so lucky to have you as friends.

Sunny Sunday

Tyler is a fighter. We visited him today and he perked right up at the sounds of our voices. We took some pictures, then let him be, because he likes to squirm when we're there and that's not too good for all of his tubes. He's urinating, and they're optimistic about that because they want him to lose fluid so the chest can be closed tomorrow. Dr. Azakie has another Norwood procedure tomorrow, and then he'll close Tyler's chest. We feel very blessed to have him in our life. Thanks for your continued support and prayers.

Made it through the night

First night off the circuit went well. No major updates which is a good thing. His heart made it through the night without major assistance, so that's great! They will probably start weaning him off the heart meds. We will see. Thanks for your prayers and love.

Doing Well

Tyler is doing well.  They started bridging him off the circuit at 9 and took him fully off about 4 hours later.  He has done well and his labs look good.  They are keeping him paralyzed to relax and not move much with his chest.  His heart meds are pretty high and they are going to leave everything how it is through the night.  If he has a good night and everything looks good, they will start to wean him tomorrow from some meds and allow him to wake up a little.  If everything continues to go well, they hope to close his chest Sunday or Monday.  It depends on the swelling.  Hopefully shortly thereafter they will be able to wean him from the ventilator.  All the nurses and doctors are telling me how sorry they were for the other night.  Tyler gave everyone in the ICU quite a scare.  Hopefully no more of that.  We are optimistic that things will go well.  He is hooked up to a lot of sensors on his brain that a neurologist will look at to see how his brain function is doing from the other day as well as being on a heart/lung machine.  Right now, everything looks good.  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.  

Bridging from the circuit

The surgeon and team have been optimistic about Tyler coming off the heart/lung machine. They wanted his heart on the machine to get the rest it needed, however, not too long that it became a crutch. The staff started a bridging process from the machine, such that the blood still cycles through the machine, but the heart does all the work. Tyler has been maintaining his heart function for the past hour and the bridging process will last for a few more hours. In case his heart does fail they have the ability to quickly have the circuit take over. The staff will be taking blood gases and labs to see how his body is responding, so hopefully his heart will show that it is stable enough to work on its own by the end of the day. Once he has been weaned from the machine is a little scary because there is always the chance that his heart could stop again. We are optimistic that it just needed a rest and he will be on the road to recovery. We are grateful to realize that it is out of our hands and in the Lords. We are assured and at peace that whatever His plan is for little Tyler will come to pass. Tyler is such an example to us and we are so proud to be his parents and feel so blessed to have him in our family. He is teaching us patience, love, faith and reminding us how precious life is minute to minute. He will probably never comprehend the impact that he has on our family and what he is teaching us. He truly is a very special little guy. We are so blessed to have him in our life.

Hours Later

Tyler was doing great. Danny and I went to visit with my mom and sister after work. They said his heart meds were down which means his heart was doing most of the work. Everyone was so impressed with how strong his heart was and how well he was doing. I stayed with him and everyone went to eat and he flat lined around 7pm. It was really scary to see the baby have no pulse and no blood pressure. Chaos broke out in the ICU yelling for surgeons and meds that I didn't even know what were for. It was so scary and I felt so helpless to see my child go into cardiac arrest and be able to do nothing for him. I got Danny and we just stood there realizing it probably wasn't good for us to go through this, so we left to wait in the waiting room. For the first time, I thought what would I do if he flat lined when I was home....I don't know if I can do this. Danny and I didn't know if Tyler was going to make it and this might be it. We wanted more than anything for him to just be comfortable and whatever was meant to be would come to pass. We knew he was in the Lord's hand and would fulfill his mortal mission, whatever that might be. A case manager came and talked to us that they were working on putting him on a heart/lung machine. We knew that wasn't good since they told us before the surgery they have about a 90% chance of survival if the baby is able to pump on his own and about 50% chance if they are put on life support. Doctors came out a couple hours later. They said they have no idea why this happened. It could be the result of so many things including infection, medication, hormone level. The heart is so sick and fragile after surgery and at 1 week old that anything can trigger it and they would examine everything through the night to try to find the cause so it doesn't happen again. When a child loses life they are concerned about the organ functions (brain, liver, kidneys) which they will be watching. They said the good thing is that his chest was open so CPR was started right away by being able to directly press or hold the heart and he responded very fast to that. They don't know what damage it might have done to other organs, but hopeful it was minimal. The heart lung machine is never good for the body system. It allows his heart to have a rest which it needs right now, but is also harder to wean these children. However, they think that Tyler's heart is strong enough that hopefully in 1-2 days they will be able to wean him from it. The recovery of these children is often more difficult than the surgery. Their little bodies go through so much and he just has such a sick heart right now. Last night was a tough night, but we know that things will work out how they are meant to work out. He was too small of a guy to close his chest cavity up which turned out to be such a blessing so they could preform CPR directly on the heart last night. Although it was so hard to see him go through this and we were pretty rattled, we are at peace this morning. We are grateful for an eternal perspective, each other and our family and friends' constant support. We take things minute by minute, day by day. Today is a new day which we are grateful for. Thank you, everyone, for your love and support. As my coach from BYU said, we are remembering that the details are in the Lord's hands. How grateful we are for the peace to know that he will be ok no matter what. We love you all. We will keep you updated.

Surgery

Tyler's surgery went well. I brought him down to pre-op with the nurses and he was looking so good and so cute. The anesthesiologist went over everything with me again. All the risks and complications. With that being said he also said that Tyler was in his opinion with the top surgeon in the world for Norwood procedures. He was in surgery until 4:00. The surgeon called and he said that everything went well. His heart rhythm and function was looking good after surgery. They reconstructed the aorta through donor tissue since it was too small. They placed a synthetic conduit from a hole that they made in his heart to I believe the PA. He was excited that there weren't heart fibroid in the way that allowed him to make the tube go directly into the heart which isn't always possible. He felt really optimistic. Surgery went well.

Blessing for Little Tyler

Danny gave Tyler a blessing this morning with two of his dental students from UOP. It was quite touching and I know will help him so much. He blessed him with a fast recovery, adequate monitoring of his hematoma before, during and after surgery, that his bowels would resist hunger, his limbs would stay warm, he would be still during recovery, understand that the pains he goes through are in his best interest for a good long term prognosis and that he will be a beacon of faith and hope to all. We are so grateful that the Lord is able to bless Tyler through the priesthood. He has been doing really well today.

Day 6

Tyler is almost 1 week old. He has become cuter and cuter each day and is looking so much like Scott as a baby. He is precious and we feel so blessed that he is at such a great hospital with the opportunity to have surgery. I was talking to a cardiologist visiting from Turkey yesterday who said that almost anywhere else in the world wouldn't have surgery options. In Turkey they don't even have PGE let alone pediatricians qualified to care for them after surgery. It sure makes you count your blessings of where you live. Tyler is doing well and we are excited for his surgery which will be tomorrow morning around 9. The doctor has 2 surgeries today that he won't postpone because Tyler is very stable. He wants him to have 1 more day for his lungs to strengthen and his subdural hematoma to be monitored. They are a little concerned about the hematoma. The neurosurgeon said that although it is very common from childbirth it is the largest he has seen which is a concern for surgery. He said it should be fine, but just in case anticoagulants cause more bleeding a neurosurgeon should be able to easily go in and stop it. We are lucky that they found it on the MRI since it didn't show up on the ultrasound. This and the diagnosis were both caught from something else. We meet with the surgeon today and should have a better update on the Norwood as well as how they will enlarge the coarctation in the aortic bridge. We feel good about the surgery and are excited Tyler is close to his days of recovery. We know that it will all work out. Thanks for your emails, prayers and love. Mom and dad are doing well.

Day 5

Tyler is doing well! Yeah. He loves being held and we love holding him. He is a little uncomfortable from the pge and not being able to eat but calms down quickly. The most important thing is that his heart and lungs seem to be doing well. We accepted to participate in a study that tracks neurological effects from infant cardiac surgery. Since cardiac surgery is so successful UCSF is starting to look at other effects of surgery. Tyler qualified due to a level 1 hematoma and the doctors were most likely going to do an MRI today to see the location, size and implication of his hemotoma prior to surgery. In this study they will do a pre-operative and post-operative MRI as well as developmental tracking at 1 year and possibly sooner if needed. I didn't have my camera but they have an infant mri incubator that was quite a futuristic looking large bed. The neurologist will be able to give us a good sense of how, if any, the surgery affected his brain as well as how he is doing in the future. Danny and I both felt good about participating and feel lucky that neurologist will be tracking and intervening with his developmental levels if needed. We figure the more information we can receive from how his development and brain is doing the better. These children are usually slightly delayed but do well considerably well neurologically considering all that they are put through. The surgery will most likely be Tuesday or Wednesday. The surgeon will probably meet with us today. I have a feeling it will be Wednesday. Whatever is best for Tyler. I am feeling great. I received a blessing at church yesterday for my high blood pressure and pain from child birth. I have felt so great since and am certain my blood pressure has lowered. I am so grateful for our many blessings especially Tyler and Scott. They fill us with more joy and love than we can describe. What a blessing it is to have them in our lives. We thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers. They are definitely being felt and heard. Yesterday night Tyler was having a hard time falling asleep and uncomfortable when I went to the room around 12. I said a little prayer that he would be able to sleep and be comfortable and the nurse said that he slept peacefully the rest of the night. Little miracles that we are so grateful for.

Thank you from Danny

Thank you to all who have supported us through prayer, thought, and kind words. It's Danny talking now--I have been humbled by all of your goodness. Heidi, Scott and I went with Heidi's parents to UCSF today to spend some time with Tyler. He's doing well, and they don't have too many updates. When I came home, I read your emails and your comments on the blog and it made me feel good. True, this is a tough time, but we feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many caring people. I know that Tyler is a bringer (is that even a word?) of hope. We feel so lucky to have him in our lives.

Danny

Day 3 & 4

Danny and I left the hospital Thursday afternoon not being able to do much for Tyler who was having a hard time which was so hard. We just needed a break and needed to spend some time with Scott. We came home and Scott lit up our day. He and Danny washed the motorcycle, which was the cutest site! Scott would take towels and scrub every little part of the bike. He loves doing whatever Danny does. I see the future ahead of me with boys (Danny included) doing all the boy things that were non-existent in a girls home growing up. We went back to the hospital Friday afternoon and were welcomed with a peaceful, happy little guy awaiting us. Tyler was taken off his breathing tube and not struggling with his breathing. He loves being swaddled and it was so great to see him resting. The nurse commented on these little noises he makes when he is sleeping which was exactly what Scott did. They are so cute. We were able to hold him which was the best feeling. I just treasure having him in my arms and seeing him in Danny's arms. Nothing compares. You just want to do everything you can to comfort him. He is doing great. His duct is wide open which is great. A little girl just arrived next to him who wasn't pre-diagnosed and is having a hard time because the heart condition wasn't caught at birth, her duct allowing hypoplastic babies to breathe is really small and she went into some heart failure. The surgeon has 3 hypoplastic babies he needs to do surgery on right now. No surgery date has been set, but from the sounds of it, it appears that Tyler is a little more stable because his duct is so open, so he might be Wednesday. We will see when Dr. Azakie gets back in town on Monday. The nurses just keep saying what a blessing it was they caught it ahead of time. I am so grateful for this little miracle. I know it was the Lord watching out for us. Tyler has a level 1 hematoma on the back of his brain which was detected in an ultrasound. This is seen in some newborns and usually not an issue, except for the fact that it could be an issue with his surgery since they lower his body temperature significantly for surgery and regulate a lot of blood flow. The neurologist said that it shouldn't be an issue, but we will have to find out more about the situation. So Tyler is doing great. He was a little more agitated Saturday compared to Friday, which is expected from the pge medication and not being able to eat. At times I feel so helpless having a child that you know just wants to eat and is crying and you can't do anything about it. Makes you realize what a blessing it is even to feed your child. I just try to comfort him, but know he is so hungry and jaundice because of it. We continue to rely on the Lord to give him strength and are grateful for our many blessings, mostly having two boys that fill our lives with joy, purpose and love. The nurses and staff is the best. They just want to help, are so friendly and there to do anything and everything to make it easier on us. We spend so much time with them and are so grateful for all they do. My blood pressure is still fairly high. I have 15 stitches which is uncortable so am going to be more proactive about advil to see if that will lower my pain and blood pressure. Thanks for your prayers and love.

Upcoming Surgery

We met with a cardiologist who showed us some of the 150 pictures they had from his echo. He said that from his viewpoint he thinks that the left side of the heart would not be able to sustain life and trying to close the AV canal could mean inadequate oxygen to the brain and other major organs. The surgeon who specializes in hypoplastic hearts is on vacation until Monday and has a similar surgery Monday and possibly Tuesday. If Tyler does fine through the weekend, he will most likely have a modified norwood procedure on Tuesday or Wednesday. They like to do these surgeries when the child is 7-10 days which allows the body to get rid of some fluid they have, strengthening the lungs and a being stronger than right after birth. Dr. Anthony Azakie is one of the top surgeons for hypoplastic hearts and we have heard so many great things about him. We feel so blessed to be at UCSF. We asked about down syndrome and the doctor said that AV canals are common with downs but disproportionate AV canals aren't. He said that fixing AV canals is very common and fairly simple and could be done at his second surgery if it looks like his left ventricle could sustain life, but he doesn't think that that will be the case. He said they will look over the echo results as a team, but thinks that they will go ahead with a modified norwood dealing with opening a very small portion in the aorta bridge and small left ventricle. As much as you want to hear that Tyler's heart can be repaired, we remember that it is a miracle that the Norwood procedure is available and these children have such a great survival rate compared to 10 or 20 years ago. For that we are so grateful! We know that the Lord is over all, guiding these doctors and comforting are little one. Danny and I feel so blessed and know that Tyler is in the Lord's hands. You couldn't ask for anything more. Please keep Tyler in your prayers, especially on his day of surgery. We love you all. Thanks for your support!!

Day 2

Danny tried bringing Scott into seeing Tyler and he did much better and just kept waving to him. Scott just wanted to touch his new baby brother which was very cute! We know Scott is going to be a great big brother. Tyler looked great in the evening, even though he was connected to a lot of things. That night, Danny and I stayed at the hospital in a room they have for parents. UCSF has great play rooms for siblings and patients as well as so many great ammenities for parents. The staff has been so great and suppportive. We feel so blessed to live so close to some of the top surgeons and facilities in the world to take care of hypoplastic children. Tyler had a rough night and morning with heavy breathing and some convulsions due to Prostaglandin (pge), a drug he is given to keep his ductus areteriousus open allowing his body to receive oxygenated blood. They had a really hard time putting in a PICC line to replace the lines in his belly button. These lines will stay in for a month, allow him to receive medications and draw blood so he doesn't have to get poked so much. He seemed really uncomfortable today. They are hoping to decrease the prostaglandin to help ease the breathing and help him be more comfortable and hopefully take the breathing tube out. He is becoming pretty jaundiced since he is unable to eat before the surgery, so they will probably put him under lights starting tomorrow. It was a rough day for little Tyler, but he is sticking in there. We are so proud of him. He is such an example to us and we love him so much.

Day 1

Tyler did great in the NICU. They put some lines through his belly button and he was pink and breathing on his own. He looked so great. The cardiologist came and talked to us about 8:30 PM after his echo and said that his left ventricle looked larger than they expected. He said that discussions and decisions at UCSF will be very interesting in the next week as we plan what the best surgery option is for Tyler. He confirmed that he had a hypoplastic left ventricle and aorta as well as other smaller issues including an AV canal and valve problems. There was some discussion that the 3 stage Norwood procedure might not be needed if the left side of the heart can sustain life, which was hopeful but by no means the prognosis. It was great to see him peaceful and resting. The next morning, he was still doing great and they decided to intubate him for the ambulance ride to UCSF in case the medication he was on caused him to stop breathing which is common. He looked great and Danny and I got to hold him for over an hour before he left. He was so peaceful and looked so great. What a blessing. They released me that morning so I could go to UCSF to be with him. It is amazing what your body will do to be with your little one. I went to UCSF that evening with my parents and Scott. Scott was a little scared of the machines and doctors so he didn't get to see him.

A new son to Love

5 PM...The very best part to the day was being able to hold Tyler Anthony for about 10 minutes after he was born. I didn't know if I would be able to hold him and it was the greatest blessing!! I look so forward to being able to hold him again and those few moments make me realize what a miracle he is. I just felt so blessed. I thought about so many parents who chose not to give these little guys a chance and it made me so grateful to have him in our lives. He was perfect. 7 lb 12 oz. 21 1/2". Brown Hair. Calm. It was the best 10 minutes of my life to have my son in my arms so peaceful and doing so well.

Labor of Love

I was expecting contractions to begin in about 10 minutes, but they were pretty small and insignificant for an hour. Gave me and Danny time to nap and watch a little Dirty Jobs and America's Funniest Videos. By about 4 the videos weren't so funny to me as the contractions became more steady and painful. I opted not to have an IV of pain meds, since they said it could be hard on the baby, who was already going to have enough health issues. Although I don't use labor drugs, I really don't recommend it to anyone. It was quite painful, but only lasted about an hour. The worst part of the entire labor was when I asked for the doctor to come in because I knew the baby was going to come out and I needed to push and the nurse thought I was kidding. She measured me and told me I was a 7, which I really didn't believe. She tried to tell me the doctor was coming, which I knew she was just telling me, so after being a little more serious and quite demanding, the doctor came in and sure enough I was a 10 and ready to go. Don't mess with someone who has a babies head coming out of her. The worst part was that the cardiologist and specialists weren't there for the baby so I still couldn't push. I thought I was going to die. I think the entire hospital heard me screaming in pain. They got there (it was probably about 10 minutes, even though it felt like forever) and the baby came after about 6 pushes.

MY DUE DATE DOCTORS APPOINTMENT

I went in for my weekly NST (non stress test) and doctors appt and came out with soo much more. My stress test for the baby, weekly monitoring of his heart rate, ultrasound and my contractions looked fine. The doctor checked me and I was dialated to a 2-3, but no sign of the baby. My doctor was concerned that my blood pressure would not go down from the 140-150/ 110 range, so they sent me up to labor and delivery to be monitored. I called Heather Oyler, my saint for the day, who was watching Scott to tell her and she said they sometimes deliver you if it that high. I just felt so lucky that Scott was in such great hands and with a buddy. The blood pressure wasn't going down and the doctor decided to induce me since the baby was 40 weeks, had a heart condition, I have fast deliveries, and was at risk with my blood pressure. She called into UCSF to check on the plan for the baby and when they said that it would be fine to transfer him in the morning. The doctor broke my bag at 3:00 and wanted to see if I would start labor on my own since I was a little dialated.

My Hubby...Jack of All Trades

Landscaper, Paper route, Ivory Homes Construction, Wendy’s Fast Food. Barber Shop Quartet. Only money ever made was on the sidewalk. Cracker Barrel Restaurant. Bussed tables and washed dishes. Seminary President. ESL Teacher. Taught Spaniards how to speak English. Missionary. Photographer. Piano Teacher. C, D, E, F…. Secretary. “I bet I can hang up the phone faster than you.” Audio Visual department BYU. Taste Tester. Mainly tested mashed potatoes checking texture, aftertaste, smell, etc. Driver. IHOP, Top server until fired. Convergys telemarketing. I can't sell. Lofthouse Cookies. Mixed dough in those huge mixers. Chem TA. ICON health and fitness. Factory work making treadmills at 4:50 a.m. Auctioneer. Auto Mechanic.Chem/Spanish tutor. Free-lance brain work making big bucks. Neighborhood babysitter.Day Laborer. Lab technician, Meaningless troll work pouring molds. House-sitter. Some people have mansions. Others houses stink. Pet-sitter. Mute dog, annoying dogs, cats that escaped, birds that got out, chickens, etc. Elderly care. After a while, Dr. Phil got old and I felt like I was in prison. Print Modeling. Heh, you’ll see me on the dog food bag. Highest paying at $500/hour. Extra in movie. Organist. Dentist. Crown and bridge, endo, oral surgery, perio, removable, pediatric. Barber. 2006 Sunday School Teacher. Craigslist seller. Buy junk for less and sell it for more. Transcriber. 2006 Garage demolition. The roof wasn’t supposed to collapse. Dental Educator at UOP. They don’t pay beans, but it sure is fun! Building attendant, aka janitor for Civic Arts. Set up tables, eat food, clean up vomit.

Just keep growing

Both me and the baby. As much as we are excited to meet Tyler and welcome him into the world, we are grateful that he is gaining weight before his first surgery. I weigh the same as I did with Scott at this point. By body has carried both babies about the same. The doctors were really concerned that I was so small with Scott, but aren't worried with number two because of my past pregnancy history with Scott. Yesterday I had a Dr. appt. and was asked what my beginning weight was which I had no idea. He said, "Well, we will just keep it at your 11 week weight so it doesn't seem like you have gained too much. What is another 10 pounds I thought?? Start weight: 110. Now: 144. Still down 15 from my mission. I enjoy being pregnant and think it is fun to have a little guy kicking inside. Even though I have gotten uncomfortable in the past 2 weeks or so. Nothing to complain about.