Just because he is so adorable!

Holding...Holding...Holding

Jeff keeps asking me why Lukas fusses when we lay him down. Does anyone know why? Because my other kids keep holding him. Lukas was a little ticked (look at his face and the color purple he turns). So kellsie is comforting him.

Kellsie playing with him and letting the INDIRECT SUNLIGHT take away the jaundice.

Jakob kissing him...again

Logan holding him before church. Right after he combed his hair, so he would look good like his brothers.

Jakob said Lukas needed to turn around, so he could watch TV with him. Whatever works!!!

First Times

Here is Lukas's first Church outfit. I had bought all the clothes in 3-6 months (because my boys are usually that big), so I didn't have anything that really fit him. I guess I need to go shopping.

First time Lukas slept in his play pen. I love this outfit. Michelle bought it for him. Kellsie says the peace symbol is what Lukas stands for.

First time in his swing. He loves his swing!!!

Second, first day of school

Here are the kids on their first day of school at Horizon Academy West

Chargers Rule! Bills Suck!

I made Lukas a Buffalo Bills blanket. Well, I really made it for Jeff. Every time we take him out, Jeff grabs the Bills blanket. But every time I take him out, he gets the charger blanket. We even took it to church today! Go Chargers!!!

Jacks and the movies

Jeff was off work on friday and the kids were off school. We all went to Luka's first dr apt and then went to lunch at Jack in the Box and the dollar movies to see "UP". Lukas slept the whole time. Lukas at the dollar movies with mom

Lukas with a taco wrapper

Lukas with a french fry wrapper

The man I married

So last Sunday we were really craving hamburgers. So Jeff tells me that he will be down stairs in 10 mins to start the grilling. In 5 min the rain starts pouring down. Of course we still HAD to have the hamburgers, so Jeff grabbed a towel to keep himself dry. He didn't even notice it was pink at first. Well, not until he heard us laughing and saw me taking pictures.

He is suck a man!

Lukas's first Dr. Apt

Lukas has his first (of many) Dr's appts today. Jeff is off work and the kids don't have school today, so it is going to be a family event.

Nothing is better than the looks I get from people when they see I have 4 children. "Wow, you sure have your hands full" "Wow that is a lot of kids" I want to tell, "Well, I wanted 13!" or "And We pay for everything ourselves too".

Yesterday Lukas still looked yellow, so I am hoping that he is looking better today. I took him to the Chiropractor on Wednesday (that usually helps) and we have had him in the indirect sunlight everyday since he got home. Something has to work. Plus, yellow is just not his color...

First Day of the New School

I took the kids to their new school today.

Jakob- I was worried he would not go into class (He had prev told us he would not go to school. With any other kid I would not have worried, but this was Jakob). He went right in, met his teacher (who is totally nice) and sat right down. Jeff and I gave him a hug and then we left. No drama!

Logan- He had already met his teacher on thurs afternoon. He went right into class without any crying or worrying.

Kellsie- She was up most of the night stressing (she must get that from Jeff's side, because I never stress over stuff like that). Her teacher is a man (first time for a male teacher) and he is hardcore math (which we love). He does not teach everyday math, does not even know what that is. Kellsie did not want us to leave and I was afraid she was going to start crying. Then two boys came up to her and started talking (of course she would attract the boys, that is when I didn't want to leave). She said I could go. I wanted to stay there and help her through the hard day, but she is strong.

Then I got a call from Brandi (she works at the school and is a friend of mine). Logan went down the slide at recess and it was all wet from the rain. He had to go to the nurses office for new clothes. Then I got a call from the office saying they couldn't take my blessing certs (like every other school does) and they needed birth certs (which I went online and ordered). Then another call from Jakob's teacher ( I was afraid he already got kicked out of class) letting me know I needed to pick him up at a different location (very cool of her to call).

So three calls from the new school in 1 hour. Must be a record.

Lukas is finally down for a nap. I need to eat lunch (2pm, so sad).

Funny Stories

With all the craziness that has happened this month. I am excited to let you in on the stories that bring our family blog back to the normal humor that is our family. This morning Jakob got ready for church so he could hold Lukas. He was holding and hugging and loving...then Lukas started pooping and peeing... Well, Jakob didn't wear these clothes to church. Lukas leaked all over Jakob and he had to change his clothes. Just more Laundry for me. I forgot how many clothes and sheets and blankets babies can mess up.

Jeff got a new Buffalo Bills Jersey from his sister Kim. I thought it was funny that Jeff fell asleep with Lukas wearing his Bills shirt and covering Lukas up with a Cowboys blanket. Funny? I think so. I have like 15 pics of this.

When I came home the first time from the hospital I had to pump. Jakob thought this was amazing. And he asked if he could try it. OF COURSE!!! That was too funny to pass up. He was a little bummed that nothing came out. He is under the impression that men have choc. milk in their boobies. I don't know where kids get this information, but I love it!

Here is Lukas when he was under the billy lights in the hospital. He has both arms up like he is suntanning at the beach. Lisa, one of the nurses, drew the eye lashes on the glasses. She said they try to keep things as light as they can, so parents don't get so bummed. It worked! Every time I saw the glasses with the eyelashes, I giggled. The kids thought it was funny too!

Walmart on a saturday???

So procrastination...

The kids are starting a new school on Monday. I didn't send them with their school supplies for the other school because I was holding out hope for this new school to take them.

I got the new supply list. I didn't stress because I figured I had all the supplies already...NOT EVEN CLOSE!

I have to take back 2 full bags to walmart and one bag to staples to return. Then I have to buy a whole bunch more stuff. All the stuff I need to get is cheap and the stuff I have to return is the expensive items, so it works out in my favor, except I didn't do this yesterday or thurs, I waited until 4pm on Saturday.

Walmart on Saturday's suck! And I get to go out with a newborn.

On the bright side. I will pick myself up a candy bar and eat it without getting sick!!! I LOVE EATING!!! Thank heavens I'm not prego!

Home at last

We were able to take Lukas home yesterday moring. We got home about 9:30am. It took us a little longer than we thought to leave the hospital. We put Lukas in the carseat and the straps were too small. So we had to bring out the instruction book and find out how to redo the whole seat. Funny!

He is home! The kids are happy! I am happy!

Today I have to go to the kids school to disinroll them and then take the paperwork to horizon acadamy west . They start school there on monday! YEAH!!! Things are going great! As long as I can keep him nursing. He is not that thrilled about it!

IV

so I guess one IV is not suppose to last more than a couple of days. Lukas' lasted about 5 days. They had to take it out because it stopped working. they wanted to put another one in. Jeff and I told them they had one shot to put it in, or we would wake up the dr and make him give us the rest of the meds in a shot form.

i am sure glad that they got it in the first time. fighting with dr's at 1am was not my idea of fun. Especially when i would have had to wake him up for the fight. Also, I was able to stay in the room this time and I didn't cry once! i am getting stronger with all this stuff.

I am a little worried. i know our life experiences help us grow stronger for the next problem or situation that comes up. so the thought has crossed my mind...What is coming up?

Ok, let's stop thinking about it. Back to happy thoughts about care bears... My favorite was the pink care bear, but I can't remember what she had on her tummy. A bday cake?

I love it when I'm right!!!

Everyone keeps telling me that the antibiotics will be done on thurs afternoon. I keep telling them to recalculate them because my times are late on wed night. So finally one nurse listened to me and relooked at the paperwork. Someone had mislabeled the times and the last dose of the antibiotics are thurs mooring at 2am. I'm right! I'm right! I'm right! Well, not really wed, but still earlier than they thought, so it still counts as my win!

There are no dr's here, only on call that early in the AM. The nurse today, said she would have everything done on her side for me to go home. I have already watched the CPR video and the hearing test should be done tomorrow. that leaves only the dr. she said I could talk to him and see if he could work some magic and discharge me that early in the AM. If not, I would have to wait until about 8am or 9am to go home. I just don't want to be here any longer than I have to. and the longer we are here the more at risk he is for getting sick by someone else. and I also want him to see sunlight and the world outside a dumb room that is sectioned off by curtains.

Also they are doing construction on the other side of the wall Lukas is on. So we keep hearing hammering and drilling. I moved the crib away from the wall. That helped some of the vibration. And he can sleep through most of it. Some of the other babies keep waking up. I feel really bad for them.

So good news!!! I will be going home on wed night to get the kids ready for school. Jeff will spend the night here. So I only have 20 more hours in this place before I am outta here! and another 8 or so hours for Jeff. count down begins.

I learned my lesson...I hope

So remember that story about the couple who didn't have a car, but was on state aid? Well, I talked to them for a while last night. it turns out that the reason they don't have a car is because they are not from around here. they live about 4 hours away in 4 corners. she had preclamsia and they brought her down here because they don't have a hospital there that could accomidate her. They have both been down here since the start of July. she had to quit her job, so she could be with her baby. and he took a leave of absence so he could be with her and his baby.

They are living at the Ronald McDonald house and have to take the bus to get here everday. And they have been here everyday for each of her feedings (except for overnight). They are super nice people and I feel very bad for judging them. Bad! Bad! Bad! Katie! And to make me feel even worse, they offered me one of their doughnuts. of course I refused (mainly because I felt guilty and partly because I just eat a pack of doughnuts from the vending machine).

But the pot smoking mom is still a funny story (just not for the baby)

Still going...

Lukas is still doing great! they keep trying to draw blood, so I told the nurse not to and made the dr come talk to me.He has no idea why they were drawing blood, so I told him to write that order for his file that they were to take NO more blood until before he goes home. Why would they just take blood like that? Fun? besides the fact that it hurts the baby, I have to pay for part of each lab they do? Maybe that is why? They must be getting a kick back from the labs.

It looks like thurs afternoon he will be discharged. I am assuming after school. I am totally bummed. I was hoping during school or on wed. Jeff has off, so I will take them to school and Jeff will pick them up.

That's the update. Nothing really new.

Still Going strong

So everything is still fine with Lukas. Still just waiting on the antibiotics to finish. Still hoping for wed, but we will see.

my sister came in last night and Jeff brought her over to see Lukas. She was able to hold him. since she is over 14 she can visit as much as she wants and stay as long as she wants. Kellsie says that's not fair, but that is the way it is.

since it is Sunday, the kids were able to visit this morning. Logan was first. he didn't want to hold him because of the IV in his head. He was worried that it would come out while he was holding him. But we convinced him we would be right by his side watch and helping. After about 2 min, Logan relaxed and hugged and kissed him the whole 15 min. He did a wonderful job.

Now Jakob on the other hand...he came into the room saying" Hi Connor, i missed you". I told him he couldn't hold Lukas until he said his name right. Jakob really wanted to name him Connor (which we couldn't because my brothers named his son that) or Mohawk. I know Jakob knows his name, but I don't like the little game he thinks he is playing. Jakob had no problem with the IV. Just dove right into holding him and kissing him. He even sang him a song. We couldn't hear it, because he sang it in Lukas' ear.

then Kellsie got to change him. of course Jeff was trying to help her with all the wires (for the monitoring) and Lukas went pee everywhere (of course not on Jeff, because he NEVER gets peed on). we had to change all of his bedding. then I had to get involved cleaning the whole mess up. But then Kellsie got to give him the bottle and rock him back to sleep. She is such a good sister. We already knew that, but still nice to see.

Susan came into hold him for a while.

Jeff is going into work until 6pm. the kids have already planned out the day with aunt Susan. Wii, Twilight (maybe twice if Kellsie gets her way) and pop sickles. then Jeff will come home, make dinner and come up to the hospital for a visit. We are going to try and sneak the kids in again. The night shift will be one, so we are hoping they will not notice the kids have already been here today. I know telling lies on Sunday, the Lords Day is not the best way to keep the Sabbath day holy, but I am hoping for forgiveness. I would have had the kids go to church with Susan, but it is stake conference and it is over 1/2 hour again. Too much stress for the first day with susan.

YES! YES! YES

So this morning Lukas' jaundice level was 8,75. Lower than the 12 hours before and he was off the lights for 12 hours. THIS IS AMAZING!!! They took him off the lights for good!

Then last night the dr came over and I talked to her about the oxygen. she took it off and did a test all night to see if he would be strong enough without it. And he was. Of course we are still keeping an eye on it as that could always pop up again. It also might be related to the fluid in his lungs.

speaking of that. The xray this morning showed the lungs clear. So the only reason we are here now is to finish the antibiotics. the Dr said on thus they would be done, but by my calculations is should be wed.

the kids start school on thus, so I would really like to be home on wed to help get them ready and all that fun stuff.

I have to watch a baby CPR video before they discharge Lukas. i think i will get that out of the way today.

So great news! Thanks for the prayers! They totally worked!

Ever feel like a bad mom??? Read this!!!

Story #1
So yesterday I overhear a conversation the dr is having with a young girl on the phone. He is telling her that there is something going on with her baby and they think it is realated to recreational drugs. But she keeps telling him that she didn't do any. finally she tells him that she only did POT because the midwife said it would help with Morning sickness. HA!

i totally should have tried that! I was trying so hard not to laugh outloud. i don't know if the midwife really told her to do that or not, but still..and either way... Makes me feel like a better mom.

Story #2
Then this couple comes in everyday to feed their kid. But they can only come in once a day (they would like to come more), but they don't own a car! And they are grateful they have state aid, because they can't afford to feed the baby unless the state WIC pays for it.

What is going on with the world, when you can't afford a crappy car, but the state will pay for you to have a baby.

Story #3
There is this girl that looks about 16 ( I am guessing because she likes to wear these pants that say bootielicious). she comes without her ID bracelet and the nurse keeps making her go home and get it before she can see the baby. So yesterday her daughter was getting discharged. The nurse called her 3 times to remind her to bring her id bracelet and to bring the car seat. The nurse told her she would not get to take her baby home if she came without those.

guess what? she came without both of them. Her mom had to come down and bring her id bracelet and the car seat. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see her smoking outside the hospital when i was going to eat dinner. Poor little baby!

Story #4
another baby was being discharged yesterday. The parents were suppose to be there at 12noon. They called at 12noon to say they wouldn't be there until 2pm. They really didn't show up until after 4pm. the baby had been in for over a month. I know I would make it there early, just to get my baby.

So, do you feel like a better mom. I know I sometimes feel like smoking pot would make my day better (just kidding in case you were wondering) but i don't do it and i totally wouldn't do it if I were prego. and the car seat thing just cracks me up. so next time you consider if you even can do the job...just remember the stories and feel better about your life.

Back to school

I took the kids to walmart this morning to get the rest of the things they needed for school. The crayons and stuff were that much money. but the paper towels, plastic bags, sponges, etc were the ones that added up. Where are all our school dollars going? I already know they are not going to the teachers or to the education process in Albuquerque. But i thought at least they would be going to the art projects. Oh, well. I am not going to rock the boat this early in the school year.

When i got to the hospital Jeff day this day nurse is really good. she is older and just seems to know more. she already turned the oxygen down a little and she is trying to find a dr to let her take him off it completely.

she told Jeff and i that the light sensor on his foot (that give the oxygen reading is effected by the billy lights. if you cover the sensor up with a towel, the numbers go higher. If it is exposed to the light, then the number drops making it seem like he needs oxygen. i asked her why the other nurses didn't know that. She told me she has been around longer. NO EXCUSES! Putting my baby on oxygen. People need to know what they are doing! i am sure I am paying massive amounts of money for this!!!

So things are still looking good today. We are keeping him on the lights until tomorrow morning (sat) and hopefully we can get the oxygen off too. Then we just have to hang out until the antibiotics are done and we are OUTTA HERE!

Good things

Jeff came and spent the night at the hospital last night.I came home and went to bed with the kids. I slept 11 hours. Boy do I feel good. I slept more last night than I have the past 7 days.

I am taking the kids to walmart to get the rest of their school supplies and pick up food for the hospital. They have a fridge there, I am going to keep some frozen dinners and breakfast stuff there, so I can eat without going to the cafeteria. Gross food, plus it costs money and it's starting to add up really quick.

Jeff said the billy level is 9.75. They wanted it to be at 10 before taking him off the lights. Jeff is talking to them about leaving him on the lights for another 24 hours, just so we make sure it doesn't bounce back up. We have the time and I don't want to mess him up again. Jeff said he is back to drinking 2 bottles, which means he has more energy and he isn't as exhausted from taking all the blood and iv yesterday. Great news! I am excited!

IV

they had to put an iv in so he can start taking his antibiotics. his left arm is totally bruised because they had a hard tme taking blood this morning (he keeps clotting) and the other arm had week veins. So they put it in his head. I know this is nothing too major, it just looks really really horrible!

my sister had one in her head after she was born. i remember seeing it and it freaking me out! The nurse who put it in is the best one here at puttin in IV's, so it went in easy, but I had to step out of the room.

Just another update...

Tests back

The blood work came back fine. He has enough oxygen levels in his blood ( I really don't know what that means, but it is good).

The xrays came back. Everything good except for he has a inflammation and they think it is Pneumonia. They are treating it with a 7 day antibiotic through an IV. I hate IV's. i wish he didn't have to have one, but the dr said their is no other way to give it to him. but at least there is no heart murmur or anything like that.

they did have to put a cathitor in and collect his pee for a culture, but he didn't even cry for it. i thought that was good until the nurse told me he was just too tired from earlier to cry. AHHH! Poor baby.

I do think he is strong enough to carry the name Stone. I called Jeff and told him I was going upstairs to see if we can change his name on the birth request sheet. Jeff said maybe for a middle name, he doesn't want to change his first name now. Good because I like it!

did I tell you Lukas' nurse today is named Joe? he is amazing and I already love him. He is aggressive at treating jaundice (about time) and he is cool. I know Jeff is going to like him.

so we are here at least 7 more days.

Thankfulness...Check!

funny, i just taught a Sunday school lesson on trials and how our heavenly father wants us to handle them. he wants us to have faith, to know this is just a small moment in time, that these things will work for our good and to continue with thankfulness. And the last thing was (and I personally think it is Heavenly fathers sense of humor showing) that we are not yet like Job (we still have our friends, when Job's left him). Meaning that there is always someone out there worse off than you. Man, I hate lessons like those!

I am thankful for a husband that can calm me when I am a basket case. I am thankful for friends who help out with kids and emotional support. i am thankful for nurses and dr's who are tender and caring to my child. who talk to him and touch him like they are family. i am thankful that with the delivery our deductible is paid and that most of this ( I hope) will be taken care of by the insurance.I am thankful for Kellsie who has picked up the slack while i have been gone. She is an angel and I love her so much. i am thankful for Logan and Jakob. they always run to hug me and tell me they miss me. It helps more then they will ever know. I am thankful for prayer. That I can talk to Heavenly Father anytime of the day or night and know he is listening to me. And I am thankful for the priesthood that my husband and friends have that can give Lukas blessing of comfort and healing.

so thankfulness is done. I just have to work on the rest of the list. Keep our family in your prayers as we try to figure out what is best for our family.

thurs morning update

is it thurs already? This morning while we were waiting for the billy count to come back, Lukas' oxygen levels started getting a little low. not emergency low, not a hart time breathing, but he did need to go on 21% oxygen. that is basically room oxygen with a little more. he is going to be on it for 24 hours, then they will take him off and see how his levels are. If they are fine for 24 hours, then that problem will be solved.

the other problem is that the billy count came back and it is the same 11 that is was 12 hours ago.

then he has had a low platelet count since we got here. the first dr we saw, said it was not a problem. She thought it was from a virus I had while I was prego. Something he would grow out of.

But with all those things put together and the fact that I have had so many miscarriages, i'm Rh neg and that I am old (I was grateful he threw that in there, because I wasn't feeling bad enough) he thinks it has more to do with the pregnancy and lukas just needing more time to get over feeling bad. he says it is like a virus, he can treat the symptoms, but we just need to wait it out. he says it is not me, but all the reasons he listed for my baby being in the hospital seem to have everything to do with me.

we are in here another 48 hours at least. maybe 10-14 days. Maybe more. the new dr. just has no idea. They are taking more xrays and more blood. they want to rule out a heart mummer and infections. The dr does not think he has any of these, but he still wants to rule them out.
The problem is that with the platelet count being low that Lukas clots really easy or really fast. making it really hard to get blood. they had to take it from his veins this morning and he kept clotting, so they had 3 nurses in trying to help. not a situation that I am comfortable being in. that is why Jeff always takes the kids to the dentist, i don't handle situations like that well. maybe that is why another nurse had to walk me out of the room. i totally suck at this! Maybe we should have named him stone. Lukas is totally handling this better than me.


So bottom line is that we have no idea when we will get him home. Jeff is going to call work to see what they can do on taking some time off. My sister is coming in Saturday night (we were suppose to bond and spend time together), so that will help.

Lukas just got the oxygen 1/2 hour ago. The dr said it will help him feel better and sleep better. That I will see a good and happy difference. he goes back under the billy lights. And we just wait.

sorry to sound all over the place. I am still trying to understand it all and we are trying to figure out how to work our family around this situation.

Gotta love boxes

Today Kellsie called me all excited because they got two boxes in the mail. One from grandma joan with gum, stickers, garlic and cards for the kids. they each got 5.00 and were already thinking of the fun things they could buy. Kellsie was planning on buying some cool pens for when school starts.

aunt Kim also sent a box. a basketball for Lukas, Buffalo bills socks, and according to Jeff, some dumb charger thing. thanks kim. I love charger things. I can't wait to get home to see what they sent.

The kids just love getting cards and boxes from grandma and aunt kim. thanks guys for making the day fun and exciting for the kids. We sure love you and appreciate everything you do for us.

I ran out of titles

This number came back at 11.4. We needed 10. so he is under the lights again all night until 5am when they draw his blood again. same game plan, kind of. At 5am if his count is 10 or under, they will take him off the lights for 8 hours (not the 12 that they usually do). then if the count is under 13, they will discharge us. that should be about 2pm or 3pm that we should know if he can come home. She already did the discharge orders as long as he falls under the right category of numbers.

jeff had to go into work today. It is back to school for Los Lunas and they got swamped. The neighbor girl came over and played with the kids until Jeff got home. on his way home he got information that one of his managers (who was suppose to stay all night) went home early. Boy the stories i could tell...

It ended up that Jeff drove back home to pick up the kids. Feed them a quick dinner and take them back to los lunas to watch a movie in the back room at staples while Jeff helped with customers. Did I forget to tell you he had to stop by his managers house and pick him up to finish the night shift. Again there is more to the story, but...

Tomorrow Jeff has to go back into work. the neighbor girl across the street will watch them for a while. then she will walk them down to Kara's house to feed them lunch and watch them. Then her mom Vicky will pick them up and watch them until Jeff gets home.

What would I do without my wonderful neighbors. They have been so supportive and amazing!

Laurel came by tonight to see how I was doing. it was a really nice brake. She was there when I got the news that he would not be coming home tonight. I didn't cry much and she took my mind off it. Thanks laurel.

So again, one more day. I hope it is the last one. i miss my kids and I know Jeff is really stressed about work and I want to be home to take care of the kids, so he can stop worrying about them, me and lukas. And I would love to sleep in my bed.

Little light of mine

I just talked to the dr (this is wed at noon) and she said they are checking him at 5pm. If he has 10 or lower, then they will take him off the lights. Then at 5am on thurs morning they will check him again. if he is lower than 13, they will let him go right away ( I asked her to get the discharge papers ready on condition that the numbers come in).

If his numbers are not under 13 in the moring, they will check them again in 5 hours. Let's try not to get that far. The nurse I have today I have not had before. She came right in and put the billy light a whole lot closer than it was. When i told her the position of the light had not changed for the past three days, she was surprised. She said if it is not close than it doesn't really work that well. AHHHHH!

they still have him on formula. So I am pumping like a mad woman. Very fun, I recommend it for anyone with free time on their hands.

I am learning so much. too bad I am not having another kid to put this new found knowledge to work. I should become an advocate for mothers who don't know anything.

Keep Praying!

Forever and ever and ever and ever...

Not a total surprise to everyone but we are still in the hospital. Last night Lukas' blood was 15 (down from 17) and this morning it was 13. Still going down while he is under the lights. but that has always been the case. I just feed him and put him back under the lights.

since he is feeling better he is awake more of the time and he really doesn't like the sunglasses that are on his eyes and he keeps trying to pull them off. that part is a little hard for me. i know his eyes are open and he starts freaking out that he can't see. I just stand there and hold his hand and talk to him until he calms down.

the dr will be in this morning and we will reevaluate the game plan. I think I am going to push a sonogram and see if we can get a jump start on the next process.

tomorrow he will have been in the hospital for 1 week.

and the updates keep coming

Early afternoon the dr asked if we could put Lukas on formula for 24 hours, to see if that would help. Of course I said yes. you see we had already put him on 1/2 formula and 1/2 breast milk for the past could days and just 6 hours before his last test we went to straight breast milk.

So Jeff came to the hospital and I went home to shower and change (didn't sleep, but I got to spend some time with the kids). The Dr called me on my cell phone and said she was sorry that they took me off of breast milk. i told her whatever we could try to help him get home sooner. she then said ( I almost threw the phone, but since i would have to buy another one, I choose to keep listening) that if babies with jaundice are given formula for 24 hours, that they go down in numbers by 50% without the billy lights. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I should have listened more to the nurses and pushed the formula on my own. Hind sight I guess.

I had asked her on 2 other occasions if we should go to just formula and she kept telling me to breast feed. Could we have been out of her earlier? I then asked her/told her that we needed to keep Lukas on the lights longer this time. she said she would keep him on the lights until he hit the number 10. THANK HEAVENS. Now we have a game plan that looks promising. So he has been on the lights since 6am and we will keep them the whole night too. then i don't know if they will let us go home or if they will keep him another 10 hours to see if the levels stay down.

The kids are going to visit tomorrow. We haven't told them yet, but I know they will be thrilled.

Today the kids went to vicky's home to play and it was nice for them to get out of the house and play. then they went to Laurels house for dinner and she took them to Faith in God and Cub scouts at the church. I got to go to the hospital earlier than expected and spend some time with Jeff. I haven't seen him except for an hour here and there with the kids for dinner.

Paul came up to the hospital to help Jeff give Lukas a blessing. Brandie and Paul were able to see the baby while they were here.

Thanks for all the prayers.

more updates

So i am going to put all the updates on the blog. our cell phone mins can't keep up because of all the people we have to call. So if you need updates, check here.


they checked his levels today and they are highter than ever. They started out at 15. then they went to 13. Then the next day they were at 16, then went down to 13.4. Now they went to 17. higher than ever!

when the dr comes in today we are going to go over some issues. I am worried that there is something else other than just the jaundice going on. i am worried there are liver issues. the nurse told me not to stress, that they are sure they will go down today. Yeah, i know. they will go down and then they might go up even higher. I am not planning on waiting that long to see if there are any more issues.

Lukas loves the billy lights! he doesn't cry, he just soaks it all up. I just feel bad every time he gets his blood taken. His heals are so scared up. I don't know if there is any more room for any more pokes.

Still keep him in your prayers.

Hopes up again

while Jeff was at the hospital they tested the jaundice again. The levels came down, so they toook him off the lights. They will test him again in the am and see if they are still coming down. if they are, then Lukas can come home. if they arn't, then the lights go back on and I start pulling out my hair!

His blood sugar is great now, they are not testing for it anymore. THANK HEAVENS!

So we are just hanging out and hugging and loving. Jeff is home with the kids. I hope he is doing the couple cleaning projects I asked him to do.

When I came home i started getting major swelling in my feet and leggs. Way more then with pregnancy. So I called my Dr's nurse. she told me that it could be normal or it could be blood clots. Blood clots can kill you and normal cannot. I am glad she helped me out with my problem. she also said to drink lots of water and walk a lot. THANKS!!!

I did have a lot of fun today. I went on Jeff's face book account and signed him up to be a fan of some really entertaining things. He is now a fan of hannah montana, Tampoons, Dr. Phil, Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Breast feeding and the list goes on and on.

The only bumer is that he changed his password before I could add more. The real bummer is that he got to my facebook account before i could change my password and now I am a fan of FARTING! I forgot I married a 5 year old.

Speaking of 5 year olds... Jakob tasted my breast milk today! I finished pumping and storing the milk. He asked me what is tasted like. I said he could try it. I expected him to jump away and laugh, but no...He dived right in. he said it tasted good. I told him that he was NOT allowed to drink it. Let's see what happens.

this is getting old

So they took Lukas off the billy light last night. they wanted 12 hours to see if his kidneys would continue to make him better. This morning the count was 1 higher than he started with. The Dr on call said to put him back on the billy light and then check again in the morning 9tuesday morning).

I am waiting for the Dr. that i like to come in this morning to talk to her about keeping him on the lights longer and only giving him the 6 hours to check the kidneys. i heard that was possible and I would rather not waste more time with him not on the lights.

I am taking a great stride in my life. i talked to jeff this morning and he is coming at 11am to take over until 6:30pm. he can stay with Lukas and feed him formula while I go home with the kids and take a shower 9I havn't had one since friday morning at 6:30am). and get some clothes on. I am tired of wearing PJ's and slippers. I might even get a nap in. i can't wait to see my kids and spend some time with them. I know jeff will take good care Lukas and it will give me a little brake.

Please still keep him in your prayers. this is going on way too long and it is getting pretty old.

Info on Lukas

So Lukas was taken to the NICU on thurs night for a high respitory rate. That turned into low temp and blood sugar.

As of Sunday afternoon we are still here. His blood sugar is still a little low, nothing major. They are hoping it goes up with more feedings. Of course he has choosen not to breast feed as of the past couple of feedings and will only take formula from a bottle. I am breast pumping right now and we keep trying to breast feed, but we will see. formula is better for blood sugar from what i am understanding anyway. I just hope when we get home he will breast feed again. I am sure it will be a pain,, but I really don't want to do formula right now.

Also, because I am RH neg all my children have had jaundice. lukas came down with it on saturday afternoon right before they were going to dicharge him. So we choose to keep him here under the billy lights until he gets better. He already when down in numbers but not enough. they are going to check his blood again tonight.

The Dr is still trying to discharge him for the mornig, but it all depends on if we can keep his sugar levels good and get his jaundicce numbers down. please keep him in your prayers. He is tired of being here and so am I.

The nurses and his doctor have been amazing. We are so blessed to be here where they care the way they do. he has been well taken care of.

I was discharged last night. They kept me here one more day, just so I could stay with the baby easier. But last night they made me up a bed (from a chair) so I could sleep between feedings and changings.

Jeff and the kids came down this afternoon. on sundays they let the siblings come in for 1 hour to see the baby. they couldn't hold him, but they could hold his hands, legs and give him kisses. they also brought me lunch and frozen dinners for latter. the nurse wants me to eat more calories. I have no problem with that. I can eat anything right now, it feels GREAT!!!

please keep Lukas in your prayers. We want him to be discharged soon. but he need him healthy to do so. Also, i cannot answer my cell phone in here, so I cannot return calls, i am sorry. Jeff is home tonight, but he plans on watching the Bills game with the kids, so I am sure he will not answer calls. Sorry.

thanks for you well wishes. We will be home soon and then we will have more baby pics.

Lukas David Giras

Lukas David Giras, Born 8/6/09 @ 4:57pm...6lbs 7oz, 19 inches. Lukas had some fluid on his lungs and spent the night in the ICU for observations and tests, his x-rays were clear this morning and are expecting him to be able to come home tommorrow or early Sunday after another 24 hours for precautionary observation...

Baby coming tomorrow!

Just wanted to remind everyone that they are inducing me tomorrow (thurs). I call at 7am to make sure they have a bed for me.

Also, I would like to ask that I don't have any visitors at the hospital once the baby comes. I like to spend that time with my husband and my kids. I don't even like the nurses and dr's there, but they kinda run the place. Thanks for understanding.

And when I get home, please do not come over and bring your kids. As much as I love kids, I do not want germs coming into my home. I also don't want any kids (but my own) holding the baby for a while. Sorry to sound horrible, it's just the way it is. Thought I would be honest.

Jeff will post pictures as soon as possible. Being the proud dad he is, I am sure it will be pretty fast. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he brings the laptop to the hospital. But he is not allowed to check the sports page ( you and I both know that he would try).

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I haven't done this in 6 years...

Cub Scout Pack Meeting

Logan earned his bobcat at the pack meeting in July. He worked so hard for it, we were so proud of him. He also earned some progress beads, but I didn't get them to their leader in time to buy them. He will get them at the Aug pack meeting. He was a little sad that he didn't get them in July, but I just told him it worked out good, because now the baby could see him get awards. That worked!

You can't tell because all the boys gathered around, but Logan is pinning his Bob Cat pin to me upside down. He had to do a little service before he could turn in right side up. Needless to say when we got home he followed me around the house trying to help me, so he could turn the pin right side up. Whatever works...

He helped with the outside flag ceremony. Now he can sign that off too. I thought it was cut that they turned and saluted their pack leader. I reminded him latter that he was suppose to do it to the flag. Still learning.

Getting the stiches out

We went to the UNM Clinic to get the stitches out. They put him in a chair that looked like a rocket. The Dr came in and took out the stitches in 5 min. Jakob didn't cry once. He did say it hurt when they took the last one on the end of his nose out. But he still didn't cry.

The top pic was one he took of himself (one of 20 pics he took of himself)

The dr said he can't do Judo for 10 days and he should be careful not to do any hard playing where he could fall. I tired not to laugh too hard when he told us that.

All is done. Now he just needs to wear a hat until the cut cleans up (about 10 days) and then we put sun screen on him for a year and that should help with the scaring.

Warning! Don't look if you get sick easy

We went to UNM hospital at 1:30 in the afternoon. They didn't check Jakob out until 10:30pm that night. The pictures are all in wrong order, so just start at the end.
This was after he was woken up and the stitches were all in. He still looks a little drugged, but he is ok. He asked for this picture to be taken.

This is how he looked when they knocked him out. I wish he had stayed this calm while they were stitching him up. See the Iv on the left arm. It came out a little during the stitching, so not all the pain med and sleeping aids got to him. Most of them did, but I still think he could feel it. He also asked me to take these.

Here is right when they were done stitching him up. I had promised him I would take pics to show him, so after I was done crying like a baby, I snapped on for him.

Right before the stitches they hooked him up to a heart monitor and he thought that was the coolest thing. They also gave him a gown to cover himself up with because he didn't want the nurses to see him without a shirt. He thought all this stuff was so cool.

When we got to the hospital ER they gave him a name bracelet. You would have thought it was Christmas. He was so happy. They also hooked him up to a heart monitor. He asked what would happen if he took if off. I told him the nurses would think he was dead and come running in. He said we should take it off and he would pretend to be dead and stick his tongue out. What a little turkey. He so takes after his father.

Dog bite fun

So Jakob got bit by a dog last wed. It turned out to be not a big deal. The dog just got his nose and after we wiped all the blood away and got over the initial shock, we were all fine. Here is the pic we took at Urgent Care. Then we were sent to UNM Hospital to see a plastic surgeon to help with the stitches, so he doesn't have a scare. The bigger cut is actually all the way through. You could separate the tissue and skin.

Jakob is registared for Kinder

I called the school at 7:30am and asked what time they were starting. I was told 8am, but to be there asap to start filling out packets. I get there at 8am and they have already changed the time to 9am. So I sat in the swamp conditions waiting until 9am. But Jakob is now in Kinder...officially.

The kids start school on the 20th, but Jakob is starting on the 24th (the lady thinks, she is not sure. I hope someone will know soon).

I am just glad that is one more thing off my plate before my little boy comes.

Big Surprise

So the dr said I should have the baby by 4am on Saturday morning. BIG SURPRISE...It didn't happen. I should just stop listening to her!

She did give me a back up plan. She scheduled me to be induced on Thursday. She said It was only a back up plan, because she knew I was having the baby that weekend. WHATEVER!

The funny thing was that at the last check up, she told me the Dr would not let me be induced just because I have large babies. Then a week latter, she changed her mind. I didn't ask her why, because I didn't want her to rethink it.

She did say that the babies head is really big. THANKS! That is just what I wanted to hear. Maybe we should take bets on just how big his head is and just how much pain I will be in.