Its a long one!

So I am finally catching up with the blog and my new year resolution is to get back on top of everything, even if it takes getting up at 5 AM to accomplish it! To finish our Halloween post I finally found our picture with our costumes this year. Kaden was the next All American playing for BYU and we were his crazy coaches from the 80's. Doesn't Jimmy wear the 'stash well?



Shortly after Halloween Jimmy went into surgery. It was a routine exploratory surgery, since we had exhausted all avenues to find out what was this lump in his abdomen causing back pain. After checking in, getting in a gown, an IV and shaved 2 hours later the surgeon came out to tell me that his appendix was bad, and was infecting some of his surrounding tissue and organs. Turns out he had Chronic Appendicitis for the last 3 years. Crazy, I know, but if you would like you can look it up here.

It was the worst recovery we had ever experienced together. They drugged up Jimmy so much post surgery that I had to wait an additional hour after surgery to go in and see him. He still doesn't remember the first 3 days after surgery, and is a little foggy of the two week period. Many people stepped in and helped me during the recovery, thank you all that helped us out during that time.



My brother Thomas came for a visit. It was so fun to see him and Kaden finally got to see his uncle Tom! (If you include Skyping, then I only have 7 more siblings who have yet to meet Kaden)

On the 11th of November, I celebrated my 25th Birthday! Quarter of a century. Looking back I've loved the past 25 years and am thoroughly looking forward to my next 25. I've always wanted pearls, and Jimmy got me a beautiful set of pearl earrings, necklace, and bracelet. We had a family party and enjoyed my favorite Coke Cake!!



We had a very yummy Thanksgiving with some of Jimmy's family and loved having a bit of a break from school. Some how I didn't get a pic of the family and the spread, but Kaden really wanted to eat his blanket for his Turkey dinner.



The day after Thanksgiving Jimmy's friend Michael Skarda got married! We drove up to Salt Lake for the wedding, and dinner. It was beautiful and they are so happy and in love. It was great to be a part of their happy happy day!

The Newly Weds!


Kaden wishing his congratulations and request for a new friend soon!


All the High School Buddies

The same weekend we had a bunch of family in town and had Kaden's baby blessing. It was a beautiful blessing. After, we had a brunch at our house and it was packed! Thank you so much to everyone that braved the blizzard and an early morning to make it out for Kaden's special time.


The Whole Gang


The men in his blessing circle


Happy Mommy, Daddy, and Kaden

Kaden also turned 3 months on December 6th. He is getting so big! He is wearing 6 mo. footsie pj's cause he's just so stinking long! He loves playing with his toys, laughing, smiling, sleeps a wonderful 8-10 hours every night. We are so blessed to have this wonderful kiddo!


Kaden and Mommy at the wedding


Kaden and his cousins (L to R Maybree (10 mo.) Kaden (3 mo.) and Nadia (6 mo.))

Smiling, Smiling, Smiling!


Kaden's first real snowfall with Daddy

Well that's all for the update! I'll be blogging more again soon!

Coming soon!

I have been super busy being a mom to my baby, nurse and wife to my hubby, housekeeper, and teacher all while trying to get back into shape and some sleep.

This break I will do my best to update you with Halloween, Jimmy's surgery, Kaden's 3 month, almost 4 month, Thanksgiving, my birthday, Kaden's Blessing, and Christmas. Don't worry I haven't forgotten you all, I'm getting there, I promise!

Growin' like a weed!

Kaden had his 2 month check up last week. I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast! He got all his immunizations :( He did really well until a couple seconds after they stuck him...then he realized what was going on and did not like it. He calmed down quickly and was only a little uncomfortable from the effects of it for a day or so.

Kaden now weighs 11 lbs and is 22 1/2 inches long! I always thought my babies would be huge because of my sisters, but I like my little guy. Doc says that he is developing, and growing great and that is what we like to hear. Kaden now is more attentive and tracks with his eyes really well. He loves to look at fans and lights and of course his toys. He goes to sleep around 8pm and wakes up at 2 am and then at 5 am right on time to wake me up to go work out.

We love his smiles and funny faces, and can't wait to see this little one grow!




Hanging out with dad is my favorite thing to do.



Uncle Tom came for a visit and we had a ton of fun!!


I really like my froggy on my carseat, and I love going for walks!


All ready for church!



Practicing my fist pump to stay busy while we waited at the hospital for dad to get out of surgery.

Halloween!!

My favorite holiday (besides Christmas) is Halloween! It was so fun to dress up as a family this year. We were having a hard time coming up with something but ended up with Kaden as a football player, and Jimmy and I were his coaches from the 80's :) Kaden and Jimmy came to school and we walked in our school's Halloween parade on Friday. Sadly they didn't last for the party but Kaden was pooped and went home. Kaden and I went to my sisters for a Halloween party that was awesome, and Saturday was filled with carving pumpkins, dressing up, going to a ward party, and trick or treating (we just walked with Kaden's cousins) and visiting family. That night we It was really fun and we can't wait for next year!

First Photo Shoot!

Yesterday we had a family photo shoot :) A friend of ours is starting her photography business and offered a photo shoot as a baby gift! We loved it and had a fun time taking pictures. We'll get the CD of pics soon but in the meantime she posted a bunch on her blog. Check it out if you want to see the pictures. And if you are looking for an awesome photographer call her up, we were very impressed!

http://elementalimagesphotography.blogspot.com/

One Month Birthday!

Hi! I'm Kaden, and I turned one month old on October 6th. Mom was busy at parent teacher conferences but we celebrated when she got back! I really liked the cake (a few hours later). I've been busy growing, eating, eating, and pooping! We've visited family and friends, and had a lot of people come over to help us out. You guys helped Mom and Dad so much, Thanks! We've gone to see my doctor and he says that I'm healthy and growing great! We even went to visit the doctor who delivered me. He rocks! At home I really like baths because I like to go swimming! I really like my brown blanket that is really soft, so much that sometimes I sleep for 5 hours at night. And I always make sure to say my prayers! I eat a lot! Sometimes I get a little gassy after and it hurts, but then I'm happy again. Mom thinks that it's really cute when I smile or laugh in my sleep. I've given her a couple smiles when I'm awake too, but not a ton yet. I'm really good at pushing up with my legs and swinging my arms when I'm mad, and I really like to hold my head up for a little bit and look around when Mom or Dad is holding me. Sometimes when I'm eating from a bottle I can prop the bottle up myself! I especially like walks in my stroller so I can see outside too. I can't wait for Halloween. We're still trying to decide my costume this year, because Mom and Dad want to dress up as a family. Do you have any ideas? I just had my first photo shoot today and we are excited to get the pictures back soon! I sure am cute!

He's Here!!!- The Stats

Kaden John Brown was born a little early on Labor Day, September 6th at 3:47 AM. He weighed 6 lbs, 6 oz, and was 20 in long. We are grateful and happy he is here! He gave us a couple of scares, but after a week in the NICU with some wonderful doctors and nurses we are happy to report that he is healthy, happy and home! I would write you the story now, however, it's not your typical delivery story so it's gonna be a book. See the upcoming post for the detailed story :)



Baby Kaden with Mama after he came into the world!


Hooked up to all his monitors.


With Daddy after he came into the world. (Daddy got to hold him first :))


Happy Mama with Kaden in the NICU.

He's Here!- The Story

THE APPOINTMENT:
My pregnancy has gone pretty darn good up until my appointment on Aug 31st. My blood pressure was just a little higher than normal. Because of this we scheduled another appointment for the 3rd for a non stress test, fluid level check and re checking of the blood pressure levels. That Friday at the appointment, the non stress test went great. My blood pressure was borderline, and my fluid levels weren't dangerously low, but still lower than the doc would have wanted. So, he said "We can induce you today or wait the weekend and check everything again on Tuesday. Even still you're not going to last to next weekend." HOLY MOLY! I was not expecting that. We weighed the pro's and con's and agreed that the baby could benefit from cooking a little longer in the oven. We left the appointment, ran to Walmart to get some last minute baby items, ran to school and finished up some sub plans and headed home with the warning to keep my feet up and if I had a headache that would not go away with Tylenol, to go in and get checked.
Alas, I didn't follow doctors orders exactly and sure enough that headache came on and after the BYU game we headed to the hospital to get checked.

THE CHECKING: We went to the hospital at 9:30 (after the game ;)) All the tests came back great except for my blood test which was 7 points too high indicating the comings on of preeclampsia. So I was admitted to the hospital at 12:30 Sunday morning to be enduced.



THE LABOR: I had the cervadill for 12 hours and then they started pitocin at around 1:30pm.

Me and my 6 IV's


My contractions weren't bad but were getting worse so I called in for the epidural and in the meantime, since I was only at a 2, the doctor broke my water, which sent my contractions soaring!!! The baby didn't respond too well to that and his heartbeat dropped dramatically and we lost it for a couple of minutes. Their was an all call and they were ready to take me for an emergency c section when my doctor saved the day, stopped the contractions and all 6 IV's I was on, put a probe in his head to mark his heartbeat and went in there with his hands and manually stimulated the baby to get him back. Thankfully his quick acting worked and we just left progressing the labor on hold for 2 hours till baby got stronger and stable. When they did put me back on pitocin, they started it and progressed it a lot more slowly (and I had an epidural by then) to make sure that the baby wasn't in distress. I progressed well and there were no problems and so when I got to 10 I started pushing. 30 min later baby was out! He wasn't breathing for several minutes but the respiratory therapist worked his wonders and got our baby breathing great!
I didn't tear like others do, just slightly internally. My doctor even chuckled when I asked if I did, and responded, "not really". He was amazed that for my first baby my labor went so well (with me anyway).

THE RESULTS: So Kaden John Brown was born on Labor Day, September 6th, at 3:47 AM he was 6 lbs, 6 oz, and was 20 inches long!




After he was out he went to the nursery to get cleaned off and fed (I fed him a little when he came out) so we could rest. After eating 30 ml his blood sugars were still pretty low and they were concerned.

THE HOSPITAL STAY: Kaden's levels stayed too low and this kept him in the NICU for a week. He had a slightly high CRP level (thick blood) but after testing it twice it was in an ok range to not thin out his blood. He was put on an IV of dextrose to get his sugar levels in the 50+ range. He did great at first so we started weaning him off the IV, but on his last test the levels tanked so he went back on the IV, we weaned him off more slowly and keep him feeding. During this his biliruben levels were too high so he was sent under the blue lights to break down the biliruben. After a day and a half of lights they got back down to normal and after slowly weaning the IV his blood sugars stabilized so we were finally able to take him home on Saturday morning. It was a tough week emotionally and physically for all of us. He was poked, prodded and had blood drawn in every way. He even had to have an IV put in his head after he pulled it out of his arm, but he was a trooper the whole time hardly cried at all compared to the other non NICU babies in the nursery, and has recovered well.



We are grateful to have this little guy with us and will always love and appreciate all of the doctors, nurses, therapists, and staff that were with us through this time. And thank you for reading our very long story!