FOOD!

Yesterday they started feeding Bode! We enjoyed his face free from tubes for about a day and now he has one down his nose. :( BUT it means he's getting to eat a bit, so it's ok. They have him on a constant drip of 1.4 ml every hour. It's hardly any at all, but they have to be careful of his healing tummy. They started yesterday around 3:30 p.m or 4 ish and at midnight they had to stop because the residual in his stomach was light green. Green means bile which is not good. After the surgeons did their rounds earlier this morning, they said poor little Bode is always going to have green stuff coming into his belly, but that his body should be able to pass it. They told the nurse to stop checking it and to keep feeding him. This morning around 11 a.m. they put him back on the 1.4 ml an hour. So far so good! We are just waiting to see if it's able to be digested and come out ok. He slept most of the day today just as peaceful as can be. Grandma Cozette holding Bode yesterday before they put in the feeding tube. The tube. We watched the nurse put it in, and Bode hardly fussed at all! It was crazy. 1.4 ml of breast milk. Close up. Clint is such an amazing dad. I love watching how he acts with Bode. We both feel so weird because when we are at the hospital we feel like parents, but when we leave we don't. Normal new parents don't go anywhere without the baby, and it feels so strange to not have him with us all the time. We can't wait until he gets to come home!

Bode's Cute Face

They took out his suction tube today! We had no idea they were going to take it out, but we are so happy! The surgeons told us they were going to turn the suction off and just see if he passed the stomach fluids on his own and if he did then they would take it out, but they were confident enough this morning to just take it out! Clint and I did his cares tonight and he had a pretty nasty poopy diaper. I know this is normally too much info, but THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!! He hadn't had one in 3 days. Clint was about to throw up, but I know he was happy too. Even more happy I changed it. Here is a picture of his face without anything going down his throat! He is already so much cuter. Clint and I feel like we practically live at the hospital. This last week and a half has been EXHAUSTING! I just feel in major need of a nap all the time. Clint is back to work half days and works from the hospital whenever he gets a chance. Thank heavens for internet, work laptops, and understanding employers. Poor thing never gets to sleep though. He took a snoozer with Bode and I thought it was just adorable. One of the NICU dad's saw me taking that picture of Clint and Bode, but couldn't see that they were sleeping. He told me to get in the picture and he would take it. Poor Clint gets woken up by me saying, "Wake up we are taking a picture!" This is what we ended up with..... Poor Clint. He hates pictures. I am sure he hates them even more when he is trying to sleep. Hopefully Bode can start having milk in the next day or two. It will be hardly any, but we are anxiously waiting.

Bode Loves Visitors!

Today we got a visit from Grandma & Grandpa B, and my cousin Sara. Thanks for coming guys! Here is a picture of Bode and Gramps. Kelli hung out with me at the hospital all day long on Sunday. Here are some pics of Bode and Auntie Kelli. She was the first to hold him besides Clint or I. She was tickled pink about that! Bode had a good day today. He still can't have milk, but is still perfectly content about it! I am just waiting for the day when I go in and he is just fed up and screaming for milk. Day 9 and so far so good. He is such a good natured baby. I just love him so much!

Babysitting

Aaron and Kelli have been watching our dog, Gunner, while we have been staying at the Ronald McDonald house. We are going to owe them FOREVER seeing as how it's already been one week and could be 3-5 more. Thank you so much Thurgoods! They asked if we would watch Kaylan while they went to the Jazz game. It was nice to get away from the hospital and have some fun with Kaylan. Clint's mom hung out with Bode tonight so he wouldn't get lonely. :) Thanks Cozette! Here are some cute pictures of Clint and Kaylan. She just loves her Uncle Clint.

Big Yawn

Here is a video of Bode just because he is so cute.

Count Your Blessings

Today was another good day for Bode. He has been so content the last few days! He should be screaming since he probably feels so hungry, but he isn't! I had a total eye opener earlier today. I was in the waiting area checking my email and another parent asked me how my baby is doing. I told him Bode is doing great and things are going really well. I asked him how his baby was doing, and he said that she was probably going to pass away sometime today or tomorrow. I felt awful. I had no idea what to say and it really made me feel lucky that Bode will be just fine with no long term side effects. Every Wednesday they have a lunch and presentation for all NICU parents. Today was our first one and we watched a presentation about Children with special needs. None of this presentation applied to us and again made us realize how lucky we really are. It's easy to think why did this happen to us? How are we going to afford this? Why is this so hard? But after today, I am feeling So grateful and so humbled. During this lunch they had a drawing for 6 little outfits. Three were girl ones, and three were boy. Clint's name was drawn for the last outfit. The lady said, "Is your baby a girl or a boy?" Clint said, "boy." The lady was relieved her last outfit was a boy and brought it over to us. Clint said, "That is supposed to be a boy outfit?!" I was so embarrassed and told him he shouldn't be making comments like that!!! Here is the outfit and Clint just being disgusted. He told me that Bode will never wear it because it's for a girl. Everyone in the room got a good laugh. People donate hand made hats and blankets and things for NICU babies and we got this cute little hat. He is just adorable with it on. It's a bit big, but he is a giant for being in there with all the other premies and all the other hats were way too small.

The Bodester

Today was pretty rainy and dreary, but I spent the majority of it holding Bode! His nurse today had a student in training and the two of them were hilarious! They nicknamed him "the Bodester." When Clint went to work, and I was away pumping they took turns holding him. They just said he was too cute! None of the nurses usually hold him. He is such a cuddler. He is going on 7 days without food and he is starving! The Ivs give him all his nutrients, but he feels hunger pains. The surgeon said he probably can't have milk for 3-7 more days. :( Poor kid. He just wants to eat! He is a pretty good sport about it. As long as he is being held he is not fussy. Maybe that is why his nurses held him today. He is pretty lucky too because he has a lovely view of Salt Lake City right out his window. OH and he graduated to an open crib instead of an open warmer!

Very Informative

Ok friends... What Bode had was called a Small Bowel Atresia. His was a Jejunal atresia which just means which part of the intestine it was located in. Instead of one obstruction, the little guy had 3. So they had to repair 3 different spots which can mean longer recovery time. The surgeon said that it was probably caused by a mini stroke sometime while he was developing in the womb and there was a loss of blood flow during the time intestines were forming. NOTHING else is wrong with him though. He is a perfectly healthy little boy, just with this atresia thing. I found out it occurs in 1 out of 5,000 babies. I found this on the Internet googling Small Bowel Atresia and it was the first link that popped up. I can't remember the website to give credit, but I am on the Internet at the hospital and can't have two windows open. We had no idea anything was wrong with him until after he was born and he was throwing up green stuff and his stomach was the size of a basketball. This was really helpful for me to understand what the heck is going on.. so read on! Sorry no cute Bode pictures this time. I have plenty though so maybe I will blog again when we get home tonight. What is small bowel atresia? Small bowel atresia is a birth defect that affects a part of the small intestine, the tube that connects the stomach to the large intestine. The small intestine, which helps digest food, has three parts: the duodenum, ileum and jejunum. A child who is born with duodenal atresia has no connection between the duodenum and the ileum. Ileal atresia is when the ileum and the jejunum aren't connected. Jejunal atresia is when the jejunum and the first part of the large intestine aren't connected. How is it diagnosed? Doctors may suspect a fetus has small bowel atresia if a pregnant woman has too much amniotic fluid. (Let me just tell you, I had enough fluid when my water broke to make up for 3 women. It actually broke 3 times.) Duodenal atresia may be diagnosed on an ultrasound before the baby is born. Doctors may also notice the problem on an ultrasound or X-ray after the baby is born. Newborns with small bowel atresia vomit frequently, which is also a sign that something is wrong. About the operation Small bowel atresia requires immediate surgery. Before surgery, a small tube — called a nasogastric (NG) tube — will be placed through your child's nose or mouth and down into the stomach to drain excess fluid and air. During the operation, the surgeon will make an incision in your child's abdomen so that she can examine the stomach and intestines and locate the blocked part of the small intestine. She'll open up the blocked end of the intestine and connect it to the area of small bowel just past the blockage.

Another day in the NICU

It's been so much fun to go and visit Bode now that we can hold him! He is much more alert and I love it! His suction tube in his stomach was sucking out clear liquid all day yesterday which is GREAT since it was green before. They were going to try and feed him today, but earlier this morning the liquid turned to a dark yellow color. Not good. Yellow is better than green though! His poor intestines are trying their best to clear every thing out and get it to go down, but had a rough time. It's already starting to change back to clear and as soon as we get 24 hours of clear, they can try to feed him. Hopefully by Wednesday! One great thing is that he is pooping now! I never thought I would be SO happy for poopy diapers. He is also able to maintain his temperature on his own now. He doesn't need to be in a little bed warmer. Now he is just wrapped up in a blanket. Look how cute he is!!!

Halloween

My Halloween wasn't like many of yours, but my little guy was able to get off his ventilator at 11:30 that night! So it was a great day for me. :) The first few pictures are from my dad's camera. He just emailed them over, so it's from a few days ago. He is doing MUCH better now, but I will post new pictures after the old ones. :) Me doing my makeup the morning after he was born. My sister couldn't believe it so she took a picture. It was hard the day after I had him because I didn't want to discharge myself from my hospital, but since I didn't.. I could only take a 4 hour leave. We waited until surgery was over and then we had to wait an hour for them to do shift changes, and then I got to see my little guy for the first time after his surgery. This picture just breaks my heart. My mom and dad took this picture and got him this cute outfit. It was the closest thing to Halloween since we couldn't dress him up! His face is so much less swollen now, and looks so much better without all that stuff on his face. Daddy and Bode Our first family photo! He was trying so hard to wake up and say HI mom and dad! It was so cute. November 1st, getting to hold him for the first time since before surgery. Ventilator is gone!! Woo hoo! Isn't he cute? His face is still a bit puffy, but much better! And he's also jaundice just a little. They aren't worried about it though. It seems to be getting better everyday. Clint is such an amazing dad! Hopefully more great updates to come!

Things I love about Bode

-His feet and toes are so long! They are just like his dad. :) -When we touch his little body he flinches. -His hair is so blonde. -He sleeps with his hands sprawled out in the air just like his mama. -Even though he has a ventilator to breathe for him, a lot of times he is able to breathe on his own. They hope to ween him off his vent soon! -His head is perfectly round and so cute. -When Clint whispers in his little ear you can tell he is trying to open his eyes to say hello. -Every few hours they do what are called "cares." They let us help with changing his diaper, moving his oxygen monitor from one foot to the next, measuring his belly, and taking his temperature. The first time Clint and I were able to help change his diaper he peed all over us! -He is super strong and recovering so well. -His face is so chubby! (We can't tell if he is still swollen from the medicine, or if he really is just chub face. :) -Every time I take a picture he reacts to the flash. -He is actually pretty skinny! When he was first born his stomach was super inflated, but we just thought he was fat. :) I love every little thing there is about my cute cute baby boy!!!

Bode Clinton Romney

We had our beautiful baby boy October 27th at 11:36 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs 10 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. He is just so cute and it was such an amazing experience. The Dr. was worried during labor he had a bowel movement in the cervix and had a NICU team waiting to suction out his nose and face before he inhaled any of it. After he came out they started suctioning out his stomach and took out 40 ccs of bile fluid. Everyone just thought he took a big swallow of the fluid at birth. Things seemed to go great after that. It wasn't until the morning around 8 he started spitting up more green fluid. They pumped his stomach again and this time got 60 ccs of it out. He didn't stop throwing it up and they ended up putting a tube down his stomach to constantly drain it for him. At this point they realized it wasn't a bowel movement, he wasn't able to hold anything down. The amount of fluid that kept coming to his stomach was not normal and they decided to do x rays. After some xrays they decided he needed to be rushed to Primary Children's hospital for surgery because his intestines had some kind of blockage and his upper intestine was a big dialated bubble of gas and then it ended on the xray and they couldn't tell why nothing was getting past this bubble. During surgery they found more problems with his intestines. There was one main blockage holding everything up, which is the one we could see from xrays. They also found after that blockage the intestine just ended and one piece wasn't connected and floating around in his belly. They were able to attach it to the appropriate end to complete his digestive system. Surgery was 2 hours and Drs are very confident things went well. Now is a waiting game to see if his digestive system will work. He is in the NICU recovering and will probably be there for a least another month if not more. He is strong and doing great so far. This is all probably very confusing and I am sure there is a better way to explain, but I was a wreck of emotions the entire time this was happening, and probably have some information off. It's been so hard on Clint and I feeling so helpess. I just sat in my hospital room (at a different hospital) crying and wishing I could just hold him and see him, while Clint waited all day at Primary Childrens to be with Bode. It's not the first 24 hours we had hoped for being new parents, but we are so blessed that he is ok so far. We just love him so much and pray that he will continue to get better. Thanks so much to family and friends who have helped us get through the last day or so. It is so great to be getting so much support. 

 

Before the delivery

The Nursery is done!!

Yay! Every thing is ready for baby Romney to be here! I can't wait!! Here are some pictures.  

This is me almost 37 weeks thinking, "Dear little baby: You are killing my back and I am ready whenever you are!"

 

I took this picture standing in the door way and the next few pictures are me just going in a big circle around the room until I am back to the door way.  

This is my changing table! THANKS Ron and Bonnie! I love it!

 

Ok so the empty frame above the diaper stacker is for a casting of his little feet! I know I am a dork, but I had to decide where I wanted to hang it. And all of the black furniture is from the set Clint grew up with. It used to be green and brown. After begging Clint to throw it away and buy all new failed, I decided to paint it! He helped me a little on the big dresser, but I mostly primed and painted it all myself. I am so glad that we did because I think it looks like new!  

Stuffed animals are so cute! I bought a bunch of cute ones thinking I would give them away as shower gifts, and so far I have kept them all. I really need to part with some. I also got some at my own shower. I'll probably end up keeping them all. :)

 

I love my crib. Thanks Mom and Dad! I picked out the fabric I wanted and had a lady make all my bedding for me. She did a great job and I got a really good deal. I ordered some extra fabric and my Grandma K. made me a beautiful quilt! It's the one hanging on the back. We also used to extra fabric to make curtains for the windows. I say we, but I really mean my mom. Every thing turned out so cute. I also have 12" black wooden letters that say his name to go above the crib. I took the picture before we hung those since his name is a secret!

 

And here we are back to the beginning. Thanks to every one who came to my shower, I have a closet full of cute clothes! My Grandma B. got me that cute little hamper and it matches perfectly! I cleared out most the closet for baby, but unfortunately I have nowhere else to put my shoes! Clint was shocked when I actually used the little shoe rack to tidy up the closet. Well, there you have it! I can't believe a baby will actually be using all this stuff in a few short weeks. Wish me luck, I am terrified. The Dr. checked me and so far I am only 1cm and 40% effaced. I thought I was going to cry just having that checked... I really don't think I am cut out for labor. AHHH.

Bad Idea...

Has anyone been driving around, got stuck in traffic, and noticed the car in front of them had their ENTIRE family in stick figures on the back of their vehicle?? I have seen flip flop decals, stick figures with mickey mouse hats, action stick figures w/ the kids favorite hobby .. pets.. you name it. Some of these also have the names of all the children in the family under their corresponding stick figure. I have even seen a last name, like "We're the Johnsons!" I think that is so dangerous! Not only can strangers look at the car and tell how many kids are inside it, but they have an estimate of the ages, and names right there! People are so stupid these days. They are just asking for some murderer to snatch their kids right up. Am I just being pregnant/going to be first time mom and irrational here?