May 31, day 28 in the Nicu! :)

Here are some pictures to update you on our little baby boy Devon! He is doing really great, only having the high flow nasal prongs and the feeding tube in him, he is a lot better than he was a few weeks ago!! :) He is gaining every day and is doing wonderful! will write more later!!! :)

Day 11 in the NICU

Hello everyone! Just wantd to write out a little update on our sweet little Devon. So much has happened that I dont even know where to start! Well, I guess at the beginning would work huh :)

The first couple of days were a little rough and he definitely has had his setbacks...after day 1 he was put on nitric oxide, an osscilator, antibiotics, 2 blood pressure medications, insulin for his blood sugar, hydrocortizone, and a few others that I just can't seem to recall. He made major progress and was down from the osscilator to a regular ventilator, and as of a day ago, he is off the ventilator and is on what they call C-pap, which is a small mask that goes over his nose and helps him breathe. He is off all medications and the nitric oxide and is stabilizing himself really well. They did just start some more antiobitcs this morning for a possible infection, but otherwise he is doing really well and is stable. He is almost up to his birthweight of 796 grams (1lb and 12 ounces) and he is doing well on the feedings of breastmilk.
All in all what they say is truly true---that it is two steps forward and one step back type of thing. You have good days and you have bad days, but either way, it is another day and one more step forward.
I also got to hold Devon for the first time on Monday, and since than I spend hours a day holding him to me, and just hanging out (and falling asleep a lot of the time) and I absolutely love it. Andrew and I are going tonight so hat he can finally hold Devon. Will post some pics now because he isnt as scary as he was in the beginning (less going in and out of him now)

Welcome Baby Devon!

Well, yesterday on May 4th at 3:10pm, we welcomed Baby Devon james Gibbons into the world!!! We had him taken out by c-section and the whole thing was over within an hour and a half. Devon weighed 1 lb, and 12 ounces and was just over 12 inches long. He has enormous feet already!! :) They dont really match his body haha :)
Andrew was able to be in the room and watch the whole surgery from start to finish!! I was amazed that he wanted to do that, I wouldn't have! haha. But he loved it and said that Devon came out kicking around! The docs said he was "vigorously" kicking when he came out, so that is the new word of the day, VIGOROUS! hee hee.
For now I am still in the hospital and will go home shortly. Devon will be in the hospital for at least a few more months, but he seems to be doing well so far. He gained some weight yesterday, but we're pretty sure it's just liquid, nothing too substantial. He will be great though, we just know it! He was born about 10 weeks early, but is doing awesome. All we can do is wait and see...day by day:)
wish us luck and send us prayers! We are sooo lucky to have such an amazing blessing in our lives!!!

p.s. Yes, I will post picks as soon as I transfer them! :)

Day 11

Okay, well, the day after my last post, I was put into the hospital! Crazy what a few weeks will do to you. I had a feeling I would be going in, I can't explain it, I just knew it. I called my doc to try and get in the day before my scheduld apointment, and while they didnt have me come in for an appointment, they did get me in for a non stress test for the baby.......my doc saw me in the halway, and needless to say, 5 hours later they had me checking into the University of Washington until further notice.
It is my 11th day in the hospital and Andrew just left to go back home. All the docs here are still wondering "what exactly" is wrong with me, and how to fix it. I have been put onto three different blood pressure medications to help it in different ways, but they are having a hard time figuring out a good medium because at first the blood pressure didnt go down at all, and than it was too low! Seriously, have I ever been an easy child? hjaha :)

The first 48 hours were a little rough, I was given steroid shots to help the baby grow quicker, and was put on an insulin drip because the steroids would make my sugar go high, and also on magnesium to help with any seizures in case pre-eclampsia started to develope into severe clampsia. Because of the insulin drip they had to check my blood sugar every hour, and they had to check my blood pressure every 15 minutes as well. They also took blood every 3 hours to see if anything was getting worse or better, and they had to pick a different spot each time. I was put on the monitor so that they could monitor the baby's hartbeat and movements continually, so it was a hassle, and a long night to say the least.

My main nurse Lorraine is great though and I have developed a good relationship with her, as well as with Dr. Allie Lewis and Dr Easterland. Dr Easterland is also a professor here at the University and specializes in "problematic " and high blood pressure during pregnancy. Usually they rotate because it is a teaching hospital but he has decided to stay on my case until the baby comes, and checks in nearly every day whether he is working or not. It is nice because I dont have a new doctor with a new plan all the time. I'm very lucky! They think that everything is going well and that the baby is doing well enough to kep going for a bit longer. I am currently 28 weeks, 2 days along and their next goal is to aim for 30-32 weeks.

We wil see what hapens, it is definitely a day by day thing now. Yesterday they put me on the onitor again for a few hours longer than normal because there were drops in the baby's heartbeat. Dr. Easterland said that when the baby is ready to come out, that is one of the signs that it shows, so we will see today if it happens again. Other than that, just hanging out in my little room here, sleeping lots :)
Wish us luck, and send us prayers, we need them! :)

Wow!~ I can't believe I have let everything go for so long!!! Well here is the general update for everyone :) I am currently just over 26 weeks pregnany, with a boy.......wait no, a girl..........wait no, a boy :) haha. Every ultrasound gives us a different answer! With the many complications that I have had throughout the pregnancy, even though I am due in late July, they plan taking the baby out via c section in mid May, or up to early June.....but highly unlikely anytime after that. So, of course baby will be a premie, but with all of the docs on my tail about this, I'm sure that everything will turn out just fine~ we'll just have a small little baby in the hospital for a while.

Andrew and I have recently moved back in with his folks to help with all of this--I was just put onto strict bedrest with only breaks to go to the bathroom, go to the shower, and go to my doctor appointments which are ranging from 2 or 3 times a week. I have to be on my side as well the whole time to help promote better blood flow. So Andrew's mom is taking care of me, and I just lay around on the couch all day, literally./.............or in my bed, or maybe the hammock if it's a nice day. :)

All in all we are still so happy that we are expecting that little one soon, and are very thrilled and feel very blessed with this little miracle!!! All prayers are welcome for a healthy little baby to come soon~ :)

New year's Eve!

I can't eblieve it's the end of the year already! But dont we always say that every year? Yes, it seems that it goes by much quicker than the last, and is only to go quicker the next year. We have been blessed with so many blessings and blessings in disguise this year, that we are simply in awe a lot of time. Things are going well, no enws to report really.
We went and saw the lights in spanaway, where we drove through miles of lights put up everywhere! They had millions of them it seemed and had everything from a big bradley shooting showballs to make a snowman, to santa doing flips across the road, and giant bears and pirate ships! Here are a few pics, though they didnt turn out too great, you will get the idea :)




this is the big military type thing shooting
the snowballs across to make a snowman across the lawn

a pretty cool looking truck

a thank you to all military

a giant poinsetta archway

It's the Most wonderful time of the year!!!!

Merry christmas everyone! We had a very relaxing and quiet christmas this year, with Andrew's parent's, and brothers Adam and Jacob. It was really nice and was great to be around family. We have had tons of snow the past few weeks and it is totally NOT like the seattle area to have this much! seattle has also refused to to put de-icer and salt on the sidewalks and roads downtown because of the enviroment, so we can hardly get anywhere when we go into seattle. Can you believe it?!?!

We almost didn't even get up to Andrew's parents house yesterday either, a few trees had fallen but Andrew being the redneck he is, just got a chainsaw real quick and fixed it for us! haha

All in all, we had a wonderful christmas today and am excited for the new year to come! We will be putting up some more pictures soon, but today, here are a few :) We love you all!