Newest Addition!

Born October 29th, 2010 at 7pm! 7lbs. 13oz. After a few days, much turmoil and agony on the parents part, we finally decided to name him Jett Thomas Harrison. I have liked the name Jett for quite a long time now, but hesitated because ONE: a good friend recently named her baby Jett and as it is an uncommon name I wasn't sure if I should do it as well, although the two boys are very likely to never even meet. When I was early in my pregnancy and didn't know the gender yet, this friend had her baby and when I saw she named him Jett, I actually kind of hoped that our baby would be a girl so I wouldn't have this dilemma :) Reason number TWO: a lot of people had really negative reactions when we told them Jett was on our list of names. Funny though, ever since we officially named him Jett, everyone LOVES his name!

We feel so blessed to have Jett, and can not wait to bring him home. He has been in the NICU, and on Tuesday, Nov. 2nd, he was transported by and emergency transport team to Baltimore to the University of Maryland Med Center. He has Hirschsprung Disease, as well as Ichthyosis. The Ichthyosis is more towards the milder version, and has improved since birth, as he has been slathered every few hours with Aquaphor to keep his skin hydrated. It seems we will be able to control this aspect of his health quite well.

Hirschsprung Disease, on the other hand will ultimately be okay, but he requires surgery which will take place on Monday. Part of his colon will be removed and the good part will be reattached. Last Tuesday when he was transported to Baltimore his belly was so huge from not being able to pass stool (or two suppositories) that he was at risk or rupturing his colon. He was very fussy and looked so uncomfortable. Since then, the doctors have been cleaning out his colon and his belly has gone down more than 5cm in girth.

A long time ago this diagnosis was lethal. We feel very blessed that there is a procedure now to fix this and that he is expected to live a normal, healthy life. We thank our Heavenly Father for the opportunity to live at this time when there is so much medical knowledge. All of the nurses and doctors have been absolutely fabulous!

Every night when we leave the hospital, I feel like I am forgetting something, and I look around at what we are carrying, and know we have all our bags, jackets, etc. and then realize the feeling must be that we don't have our baby. We are expecting to be able to bring him home next weekend. We.Can't.Wait. Please keep him in your prayers tomorrow!

P.S. In the picture, we have crafted his hair into a faux hawk. It is always so greasy from the ointment, we like to style it :) Also, he doesn't have the tube in his nose anymore... it is now in his mouth, going down to his belly, to suck out anything and everything in his belly (mostly just gastric juices now, he hasn't eaten since Tuesday morning and is on IV's.) The bandage on his hand is for his IV.

Last Friday

See the membrane? It covers the baby like saran wrap.

We went last week to the Perinatologist again, and it was an encouraging visit. The baby still has no abnormalities and is growing good. We feel like we understand a little better what is going on. We are still nervous and can.not.wait. until our next appointment, but feel a little less stressed. We are confident that we will be bringing our baby home, and that he will be in overall good health. We do feel very blessed that our situation is not worse, and that the outcome looks very good. Thanks for everyone's prayers! We love you all!

Mom Wins!

Tage said a few things today that surprised me. First, (my favorite) when she came in the kitchen for lunch, she was holding a Book of Mormon, she handed it to me and said "Mom, we haven't read the Book of Mormon yet today. Will you read it to me?" And when I read it, she would even make comments about certain words and go off into tangents about that word in a separate gospel-oriented topics, such as baptism. It was great lunch conversation. She seemed so focused!

Then at dinner, she was done eating, and I made myself a salad and was about to start eating it. She pulled a chair up to me, and said "Mom, I want to sit next to you, and will you share your lettuce with me?" I began sharing it, and then decided to give her a plate of her own. She ate it all, and then said "Mom, will you please get me some more lettuce?" I was SHOCKED! She'll usually eat one or two pieces of lettuce, just so she can make horse noises, but never a plate full, and never asking for more! Yay!

Besides those two incidents that really stuck out, the day was really great with the kids. They were both so fun today and got along great with each other. It was a great fun-filled day for all! (Except Kevin, who has been at class all day, and won't be home until 10:30 tonight. Poor guy!)

P.S. Thanks everyone for your kind words and prayers for our family and baby!

Because I Can't Tell Anyone Else....

What I write here today is only because I know no one that I see on a regular, weekly basis reads our blog. I am not ready for people here to know, I don't want to see them at church or other social functions and get the "pity" look, or answer questions, or comments. But I need to get it out. My friend left me a voicemail last week, after my ultrasound, to see what we are having (IT'S A BOY!!!) and also, asked if it had all it's fingers and toes. I have avoided calling her back.

Rewind. Last week at my ultrasound the tech found an unusual membrane lying on top of the baby. I was referred to a Perinatologist, who wanted to see me immediately, despite the fact that their schedule was already booked, double booked, and even triple booked. We waited a long time, but were not very nervous about the appointment. When the doctor saw us, he did another ultrasound and told us that the membrane was from the amniotic sac, which has partially ruptured. He said it is very serious, and that I am considered extremely high risk. Actually not me, but the baby.

The baby is currently OKAY, with no known complications. But that can all change. The risk is that the membrane will tear more, causing "bands" or "rings" that can wrap around the baby's limbs, cutting off circulation and causing self amputation, or limbs may need to be amputated after birth. These bands can also restrict growth, wrap around the umbilical cord (obviously NOT good), restrict growth of other organs, and cause facial deformaties which can restrict growth of the brain and cause mental disabilities.

The doctor told us he this the outlook is good facially and mentally, because he did not see any current deformation, and the brain looked normal, and the skull has already formed, providing more protection. And again, there are no current (as of Friday, July 2nd) visible deformaties or loss of limb. But there is no guarentee that it will stay that way. We can only hope and pray that all will continue to go well with the baby's growth and development. Apparently my condition is pretty rare, and the specialist doctor has only seen 4 or 5 cases in his career thus far. It's really a weird feeling being "high risk" and "rare." There is nothing we can do to prevent it, and there is nothing we did that brought this condition on. It just "happened."

Kevin and his Dad gave me a priesthood blessing, and Kevin's Dad also gave him one. Our families also fasted for us this past Sunday. We feel strengthened, and trust in the Lord, but are obviously very nervous. It is going to be a loooonnnngggg 20weeks. That is if I make it that far. We have absolutely no idea what to expect as far as delivery goes, although I doubt I'll carry until 40 weeks and be allowed to go into labor on my own. The doctor wants a team of specialists present for delivery, to cover every scope of what might possibly happen. One of his examples was an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor incase the baby swallows some of the membrane and cannot breathe. We have so many questions for our next visit, although we know we won't get any real, concrete answers because of the unpredictability of our situation. Really, we have no idea what to expect in these upcoming weeks. Please pray for us!

You can see in the picture below the membrane, lying over top of the baby, kind of enveloping it.

Crazy Driver

I love it!
You're gonna wanna click the picture to enlarge.... it's better.... promise.

Can't Sleep...

As I laid down to sleep tonight, I could not stop the thoughts from racing. So much uncertainty. So much confusion. So many choices.

We have our house for sale, and are anticipating an offer in the next few days. We are fairly certain that the offer will come, but what will the offer be? How much lower than what we are asking? The asking price already requires us to bring a fairly hefty chunk of change to the table... so the thought of an offer that is LOWER, is deeply terrifying to me. We are talking at least over $10,000 that we would need to bring to closing.

At the same time though, how can reject ANY offer? If these people don't buy it... who would? Seriously. For the type of house we are dealing with, these people are probably our only chance. Renting the house is an idea that makes me want to vomit. This is NOT the kind of house we want to rent out. Too much maintance. Too many quirks. Too much liability. As stressful as taking $15,000 to the table would be, renting it could possibly be much, much worse.

The worst part of the thought of taking so much money, is that we haven't even enjoyed this house. At all. Yes, I have been grateful to have a place to live. I'm grateful for lessons I've learned here. I'm grateful for the countless people we have met and friendships that we have forged as a result of being in this house. I am grateful for wonderful experiences that we have had because of the circumstances and situations we have been in because we were in this house. I am grateful for the PRECIOUS memories that we have made with our children in this house. BUT living in this house has been an absolute nightmare. Starting in Feb. 2006, two months after we bought the house, when there was an abnormally warm couple of days that brought swarmer termites flying out of cracks inside the house. They shed their wings, and I would find them EVERYWHERE. It was disgusting. I have not enjoyed the mice. I have not enjoyed paying thousands every winter for heating and still being cold. The drafts. The well. The septic. The inability to flush our one and only toilet when it rains too much. The floor plan. The ONE tiny closet. The being pregnant and having to walk downstairs at night to pee. or puke. So many things that have been so troublesome for us... paying an additional $15,000 to get out of the house is like salt to an open wound. But if I could, would I ask to have never bought this house have have all of those experiences taken away? No. I wouldn't. This house has been such a blessing, and a curse, at the same time.

And yet, I PRAY with all my heart, that these people will make us an offer. Any offer. Please, just give us an offer....

Selling the house, even at a painful loss would be worth it. It would give us the ability to go where we need to for Kevin's schooling. It would give us more options for what we could do if Kevin can't get a job for this next school year. (Which has also been a subject of many tears and questions of WHY??? And wondering what exactly happened that made Kevin's supervisors give him the choice of termination or resignation. If anyone know Kevin, you know he didn't deserve it. No one he works with understands why, especially not us. And we will never know what happened, or why they targeted him, why they made him look like an awful teacher, unfit for employment in that county.... WHY?)

So, sell the house we will. Even at great cost. Even though we don't have that much money. Even though in two weeks we won't know where our next dime will come from.

Despite it all.... despite the stress and feelings of anxiety, and (yes) sometimes feelings of anger... in the mix of all of that, I do feel peace. I know that the Lord has a plan for us. I know that He will take care of us. That I do know. He made that clear to me the week that the situation at Kevin's job began and I was thinking "No way. No. No. It won't happen. He can't lose his job. They can't do that to him. They won't. It's just not possible. No." and the Lord told us "Yes, they will." Kevin and I both had impressions that they would indeed not renew his contract. But the Lord also sent me a beautiful message that week, through the actions of someone else, that told me that He would take care of us. That everything would be okay... eventually. And it is that peace that I reflect upon and carry with me through this stressful time. Things might get worse first, but they will get better.

Awesome.

I'd be the coolest mom if I had this. Click here