ALMOST 5 months and recent fun

This beaming boy will be 5 months old on December 21st! How can that be? 

No, who are we kidding. It definitely feels like 5 months :) 

Since I last posted, Dylan has made some MAJOR improvements. Half the time I am actually feeling normal these days. 

He still only poops every day or two or three, but he doesn't seem to be in nearly as much pain anymore. And he mostly sleeps in between his night feeds now, which is such a relief. He's had many 5-6 hour stretches at night in between eating, but that sleeping through the night thing still eludes us. And it seems like whenever he gets close and I think, *maybe* tonight is the night he'll do it, he seems to take major steps backward and wake up 4-5 times again. GAH! It frustrates me to no end. But then I wake up with him and he eats and gets so smiley and makes the most adorable gurgling sounds that of course I can't be mad anymore.

He now weighs 12 lbs, is 24 inches long, and has really been packing it on lately! I don't have to fortify his bottles anymore because he regularly eats anywhere from 4-6 oz per feed. I've given up on breastfeeding and am exclusively pumping. I've tried a few times but he is set on the bottle, and we've got our routine down. Truth be told though, I absolutely hate pumping and it takes so much time, but I'm in it for the long haul. I plan to do it for the full year because Dylan does not stomach formula very well. 

Dylan loves to smile, loves to stand up, loves to suck on his fist and stick his tongue partly out. He is not quite laughing yet and not rolling yet. But we'll get there :) I have to remind myself that he was early with complications and he needs time to catch up. But I'll admit, I get really jealous of all these babies born after/at the same time as Dylan who seem to be way ahead of him. It's hard to be a mom. All the sudden I have so much to worry about! But it is most definitely worth it and I couldn't be more blessed to have Dylan in my life.

We blessed him the first Sunday in November, and Taylor gave such a sweet blessing. I recorded it on my phone (is that bad?) and Taylor typed it up so we have it. He is such a special little baby and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for sending him to us. The amount of joy he brings to our home is something I just couldn't fully anticipate.

 I was a dummy and didn't get a good picture of Dylan by himself in his blessing outfit. But Taylor was blessed in the outfit Dylan is wearing...isn't that so cool?! He was a little angel and kept quiet during the blessing. I think he charmed everyone in the circle with his smiles before they started.

The support we've had from both our families has been so wonderful. I can't say enough how blessed we are to have such amazing families! 

The classic 4 generation picture. They all look so alike. Minus Dylan, because I think he is totally a mini-me. Except when he smiles, then Taylor comes out in him. 

The whole Burnham side of the family went to Colorado Springs for Thanksgiving. We all stayed at my brother Craig's home, and it was a party! So fun to be there with all my siblings. I was worried how Dylan was going to do, but he was SO good. Like the best he's ever been, all week. I think he loved having so much going on and so much to watch. And he was an angel in the car. He slept the whole way there and back almost, and when he did wake up he loved having Taylor and I in the back seat with him (we drove with my parents). 

Taylor, my daddio, Mark, and Judson ran a turkey trot and it was gigantic! There were 4,000+ participants. Taylor got 3rd! He won some money to a running store and he got some new shoes, so that was awesome. It is a bummer not getting those free from BYU anymore... At the rate he wears through shoes, that money could really add up fast. 

The girls went on our annual "Girls Shopping Trip", an event we all look forward to all year long. We've done this like 5 times now, but my mom is extremely generous and gives us all money to go shop at the outlets with. We usually go to Park City, but there are outlets close by in Colorado, so we went there this year. Seriously my mom, she's the coolest. I used to get excited for this event, but now that I'm married and extremely poor, I was ecstatic. It's the first time I've bought clothes for myself in ages. Woohoo! We went on Black Friday, so we got some great deals, and it wasn't terribly crowded either.

In December we've enjoyed work parties, ward parties, riding the Stringtown Polar Express Train, and we can't wait for Taylor to finish up his finals so we can head up to Pocatello. I love December. 

I am so grateful for the Savior, Jesus Christ, who was born in Bethlehem. I'm so thankful for his life, for his death, and for his resurrection. He truly is the meaning of the season. 

And a few more pictures :)

Merry Christmas from the Farnsworths!

3 months!

Well this post has sure been a long time comin! 

Whenever I sit down to blog I realize, why am I not sleeping instead? And then I go and do just that. But oh my! So much to write about! 

I am SO happy to have Dylan at home with us. I don't miss that drive to the hospital one bit. But it's been an adjustment, for sure. I've never known such exhaustion and frustration, as well as happiness and joy. I spend my days fawning over Dylan and thinking he is the most adorable thing to grace this earth, but also wanting to crawl into a cave and hibernate the whole winter. Dylan has not been the easiest baby, nor is he the happiest baby. However, it's by no fault of his own in my opinion. I think he has a good temperament, but was dealt a crappy hand. 

 

 

I don't know if it's the gastroschisis that causes this, but he has thee hardest time pooping. He poops about twice a day, around 10 AM and maybe 2 PM. And then he goes the whole night without pooping again. By 4 AM he is awake and straining/crying/turning bright red trying to get it out with no success. So he'll go back to sleep for 20 minutes and wake up and do it all over. This lasts until like 8 AM. It is awful! Nobody sleeps and I feel so bad for the poor guy--AND for Taylor and I, let's be honest. The doctor says there really isn't much to be done about it because when it does come, it's soft and normal so we really can't give him a stool softener. It's not just at night that he strains though, it's also during the day. Sometimes it distracts him from eating and I wonder if he associates eating with GI pain and that's why he has meltdowns sometimes during a feeding. It is the saddest thing. Anyone else's baby had this problem? I feel like I'm on my last legs here! 

 

In the hospital, Dylan slept on the boppy for weeks to help with digestion. I think the transition to sleeping on his back has been a little bit hard for him. He has a hard time staying asleep on his back, but if he's propped up a little bit he does a ton better. Car seat, swing, boppy... he sleeps awesome. I'm too afraid of SIDS though to let him do this at night... sooo there's that.

 

Haha here is a picture of his belly. They say it takes awhile for his intestines to get all settled and arranged in there, so maybe that's part of his discomfort? At any rate, he has a pretty sweet Buddha belly. His scar is looking great I think and I still can't believe it's as small as it is, given the way he was born.

As of the 21st, he is 3 months old!! Wow! But since he was 6 weeks early, I have to adjust all his milestones. They tell me to treat him like he's a 7 week old at this point, and he is acting like a 7 week old. He still eats every 2-4 hours and does not even come CLOSE to sleeping through the night, even without the pooping problem. He eats around 10, 1, 4:30, and 7 AM. I mostly bottle feed him and add some formula to his milk so he gets extra calories-- he's had a rough time gaining weight. I wish we could just nurse, it would be so much easier and save so much time-- I seriously feel like all I do is pump, feed Dylan, clean it up, and do it all over again. But I'm so glad I can provide him with breastmilk and however it has to be done, I'll do it. Luckily I have a pretty great supply, so I only pump 5 times a day instead of 8. And I have TONS of milk in the freezer still, even after donating 150 oz to the milk bank. 

Finally getting some chub on his cheeks!

His stats as of 1 week ago are: 

Weight: 8 lbs 6 oz (no percentile yet still off the charts there)

Length: 21.25 in (.04 percentile) 

Head circumference: 14.75 in (1 percentile)

Last Friday he started grinning a bit here and there, but today it has really taken off. Whenever I pick him up from changing him/naps/etc. he gives me a big old grin and it is exactly what I needed to keep my sanity. He's also started cooing and making the most darling noises-- I love it. 

  I've been waiting to put him in this Halloween onesie for ages. And I noticed our changing pad is the perfect orange background.

He is such a sweet boy and I LOVE being his mom. It's been so fun/hard/rewarding and I wouldn't change it for anything. But seriously, send some good vibes over here so hopefully we'll all start getting more sleep at night.

In other events, Taylor is running the Haunted Half marathon this weekend as well as his dad, two sisters, and their husbands. It will be so fun! I ran it last year and it is beautiful. I love living down here so close to the beautiful mountains. And it's almost never windy. I do NOT miss that about Pocatello. 

Taylor and I happened upon another pair of BYU tickets, so we enjoyed another date night to the game against Nevada. It was pretty disappointing though... BYU has kinda fallen apart since Taysom got hurt. Date nights have become so much more exciting now that every night doesn't feel like date night. 

 

 

I'm so grateful for my sweet little family and both mine and Taylor's family. We are so blessed. 

Happy Thursday!

Dylan Tracy

"Honor your fathers and your mothers. Honor the names that you bear, because some day you will have the privilege and the obligation of reporting to your ancestors (and to your Father in heaven) what you have done with their name." 

-George Albert Smith-

When we were deciding what to name Dylan, we talked about it for months. He was close to being Timothy James, or Dylan James. Or Dylan Taylor. But ultimately we decided to go with Dylan Tracy, for a number of reasons. Dylan doesn't have any special meaning.. we just liked Dylan :) But the middle name was the tough part.

There are 4 grandkids on Taylor's side of the family, they are ALL boys, and they were all born within 17 months of each other. We all teased Taylor's dad, telling him sorry..but we aren't naming our boys after you. Tracy is just too girly! 

As Taylor and I got talking about it though, we realized that Dylan didn't sound so bad with Tracy after it. And we started imagining his dad's reaction if we told him Dylan's middle name would be Tracy. And I always wanted Dylan's middle name to be meaningful, not just some random name we thought sounded good. And all the sudden, we couldn't not name him Dylan Tracy. If Dylan gains half the wonderful characteristics that Taylor's dad has, he will be a pretty awesome person. We hope he will live up to his names. And Tracy's reaction did not disappoint. He was so pleased and excited, and we are so excited too. 

I love my little Dylan Tracy!

He is 4 weeks old today. I can't believe how fast that went. My life has definitely turned upside down since he was born (well let's be honest, even before that). I had no clue what being in the NICU entailed. 

First off, I'm glad that Dylan is my first baby. I don't know any different, so it doesn't seem so odd to me that I go home at night and he's not with me. In fact, it WILL be weird when that does happen! But I can't wait. I can't wait to take care of him at home, and have my little buddy with me all the time. I dream about Dylan at night, and think about him all day long. Earlier this week in the middle of the night I said to Taylor,

 "Hiii Dylan!" 

And Taylor replied, 

"No.. I'm Taylor, not Dylan."

"Yeah.... but you're with Dylan!" 

And Taylor just started laughing. All I remember from the encounter is Taylor laughing at me, but I was totally asleep for the rest of it. But seriously...I need my baby at home.

 Happy boy! A lot of the nurses comment on what a good baby he is. I don't think I've ever heard him cry for more than 5-10 seconds. He'll let out a squawk and then calm down usually. He does NOT like having his diaper changed because the wipes are cold. But other than that, he's really good to put up with being poked, prodded, having tubes in his mouth, an IV in his arm, getting bile suctioned out of his tummy, and getting tons of enemas.

They told me to plan on him being in the NICU until about my due date (August 30th) but it's going to take longer than that I'm pretty sure. They tried feeding him some milk through a tube in his nose a couple weeks ago to see if his intestine were starting to work, and he threw it all up. Then he threw up bile for 3-4 days. It was really sad, just nasty green bile coming out his mouth and nose randomly. So they didn't try again until Saturday, and this time he kept it down!! So they are currently feeding him less than a teaspoon of milk every 3 hours, and it's all staying down. So his intestines are definitely starting to move things through, but he hardly ever poops unless he's given an enema.. so they aren't fully functional by any means yet. Once he starts pooping regularly, they will start feeding him a more normal amount of milk for his weight/age.

I am thrilled though. These are the first signs of life these intestines have given and it's a big relief. Plus, we have milk coming out our ears. Or at least out of our freezer for sure. 

The milk is stacked 2-3 high and goes all the way to the back of the freezer. Plus I have probably 50 bottles at the NICU, and a bunch of milk in Taylor's grandparents freezer also. It is out of control! Start drinking this baby!

So all in all, Dylan's doing great. He's taking his time, but that's okay. We adore every little thing he does. Taylor finishes his first semester of PT school this week, and I am so pumped. He's done an awesome job and will end with very good grades. I can't imagine how hard it was to stay focused on school during my whole hospital stay and all the birth drama there was. He only missed school the day Dylan was born, but otherwise he's been there and managed to get all the studying/homework in to still get good grades. I am so proud of him! And we are really going to enjoy his 12 days off before fall semester starts!

Sorry for the hairy chest picture- Daddy likes his skin on skin time too :) But I think Dylan looks like a little angel in this picture. SO sweet.

Sunday afternoon with my babe.

That little scab is the only physical evidence of everything Dylan has experienced his first 4 weeks of life. His belly button definitely won't look like a normal belly button, but isn't that amazing?? When I think of how much intestines were outside, and what his belly looks like now, it's just a little miracle. He now weighs 5.6 lbs too, so he's gained about 2 lbs since he was born. Yay Dyl! 

Dylan's birth story and first week of life

 I have been married for 15 months now, and every day I spend with Taylor, the more I love him. This is SO cheesy, but I feel like that Brad Paisley song is the story of my life. The one that goes, "And I thought I loved you then." I thought I loved him when we got married. And I loved him more as we started sharing our lives. And now as I watch Taylor with Dylan, and with me as I recover from my c-section, it just keeps growing. My heart has been so full all week and I figured I better blog for Dylan's 1 week birthday. Holy cow it's been a week already!! 

So here we go with the birth story. Sorry for the long post... but there's lots of pictures at the end, I promise!!

Since I'd been in the hospital, I had regular contractions every day. Nurses were constantly asking me if I was in pain and saying it looked like I was in labor, but I wasn't feeling any pain. Last Sunday around 7 PM though, they started getting a little uncomfortable. I took a bath and relaxed and thought it was nothing to worry about. The nurse told me if I decided I needed pain meds, then they would check to see if I was dilating. I made it til about 2 AM. And then I couldn't take it anymore. So she brought me pain medication and checked me, and I was dilated to a 1+. She said they don't get too excited about that yet, and told me to try and sleep and to let her know if it kept getting worse. 

So, I did get pretty sleepy and the Percocet did help, but not totally. This time, I made it until about 6:30 AM, and the contractions were definitely getting stronger now. I got up to use the bathroom, and was shocked when my water broke. And I mean, it broke. Just like the movies. It was everywhere and just kept coming! It was such a weird feeling. I thought all along that I wouldn't really experience labor... that the doctors would just tell me when my baby needed to come out and I'd go have my c section and never deal with contractions and the like. But oh my. After my water broke my contractions got 10x worse and I was ready for him to be out of me. I didn't really have any time to be worried. They had a c section scheduled ahead of me, but they bumped it back and took me right in. But when I say right in, it really was at least 20-30 minutes later. I was dying by the time the anesthesiologist gave me the spinal block, but ohhh pure bliss afterwards. Couldn't feel ANYTHING from my chest down. Taylor got to come watch the whole thing, and he was quite fascinated. 

Here was his get up.. 

This picture kills me. He looks just like Mario. 

I felt pressure leave me when they took Dylan out, and Taylor sounded so excited when he told me, "He's out Jill! He's out!" He was immediately handed off to the NICU team to get him to start breathing and cleaned up. Taylor was able to go watch all that too, and came back to tell me that all was well. I didn't even see my baby at all. And after that, it is such a fog. I was so out of it, I vaguely remember throwing up at some point right after surgery, and my sister holding the bag for me. A few hours later, they wheeled my bed up to the NICU and I got to see Dylan for the first time. Judson was there to document and I'm glad he did, because I have very little recollection of it. I remember being sad that my tiny 3 pound baby had what looked like a huge bag of intestines suspended over his body, and he was laying there so still. Here was my reaction to the first sight of Dylan..

I already loved him so much, and I wasn't crying over the intestines. I was crying because I was so happy to finally see him. I won't post the pictures of his intestines because the doctor warned me that a lot of people aren't prepared for that and to be careful about it. Plus, it is not the prettiest sight. But to me, it's wonderful to see the before and after. I honestly just can't believe it all fit back in him and am SO grateful for modern medicine. 

Over the next few days, I recovered from my c-section (I was pretty dang sore, I won't lie, but pain meds are a beautiful thing.) and visited Dylan upstairs 3-4 times a day. Our surgeon only had to do one official surgery. Most of the intestines went back in by themselves because of gravity. Then the surgeon would twist the bag and make a little more go back in, slowly, so that his stomach would stretch out to fit the new additions. On Wednesday afternoon, they did his official surgery to close him up and it went very well. His little tummy looked reallly stretched and red, but it's gone down now and he's been so stable that they moved him from the more critical side of the NICU to the less critical side. So yay for that!! 

 On Thursday, July 24th, I was released from the hospital and went home. It was this day that things got really hard. I'd done very well at the hospital and loved going to see Dylan whenever my little heart desired, but now all the sudden he was 15 minutes away and going to see him was such a chore because I was in a lot of pain, and just walking out to the car seemed overwhelming. Plus I was sore from pumping, and I had to plan every outing around that schedule of pumping every 2-3 hours. And I was sad, because breastfeeding is such a good bonding moment and I couldn't do it since Dylan is being fed through an IV until his intestines start to work. So I would pump, but I was sore, and I was already in pain, and I wanted to be with Dylan but I couldn't be at the hospital all day because I needed to recover myself, and yeah. It was rough there for a day or two.

But then this happened... 

I got to hold him for the very first time on Friday. I got to the NICU and found that he was off his ventilator!! Still hooked up to so many cords and lines and IV's, but once he was off the ventilator I could hold him. As soon as the nurse started picking him up to put him in my arms, I started bawling. I was so overwhelmed before, but that changed everything having him in my arms. I bawled through the first 5 minutes of holding him actually. He looked so sweet and so peaceful having that huge tube out of his mouth. I am absolutely in love with this strong, sweet little baby. 

Sometimes the nurses will swab his mouth with some of my milk. He likes it :) He licks his lips and calms right down. 

This is my favorite picture of him so far. He just looks so content!

Things are much better now. We are just waiting for Dylan's intestines to start working (it can take up to a month sometimes) and he has to learn to eat and poop before he can leave the hospital. They told me to plan on him being there until my due date probably, which is August 30th. But I am getting less sore every day, and visits to Dylan are much easier now. 

We have been so overwhelmed by love and support from everyone. Our ward, friends, family, my dental offices, nurses, doctors... it has been so humbling. My mom and  Taylor's mom and grandparents came right down to Provo from Pocatello when they heard I was in labor, and Jan and Judson were the first to the hospital to be with me before I went in to surgery (besides Taylor of course- who slept at the hospital every night with me). As I type this, there are so many people I want to thank and then I get scared I will leave somebody out. But really, we are so grateful to everyone for their service and charity towards us. 

OH and here is my new do! I had a hair appointment scheduled for a month and a half and it was supposed to happen before Dylan came, but it didn't. And I was not about to miss it... it's been 10 MONTHS since I cut my hair. That is so so bad. I love it though! I haven't had my hair this short since 3rd grade! 

Alright. The end.

becoming a momma

Today, I really thought I was going to become a momma.

It's been a huge week of ups and downs. 

One minute baby is lookin good, the next minute they've told everyone I'm having a c-section.

Ever since Tuesday when I first was admitted to the hospital, I've had these monitors on my belly 24/7 measuring baby's heartbeat and my contractions. It's called "the tracing." And once a day, they've been taking me down to the maternal fetal medicine clinic in the hospital where they take ultrasounds, do biophysical profiles, and where my high risk doctors work (found out they are actually called perinatologists, not neonatologists.. those are the doctors for AFTER the baby is born). 

I would get biophysical profiles done downstairs daily, which is where they pull the baby up on an ultrasound monitor and watch for 2 things... movement in his legs and arms/hands, and fetal breathing, where his chest rises and falls for at least 30 seconds. If they see these things, his maximum score on the test is 8/8. If they don't see all of these things, they score the test based on what they're seeing. On Tuesday and Wednesday, my baby scored a 6/8, but only after they poked and prodded him and used the buzzer noise to wake him up. 

Yesterday, they did another biophysical profile and he only scored a 2. He barely moved at all. I would get anxiety before going down to have these tests done, because it is so hard to watch a baby on the monitor that looks so lifeless! My perinatologist came in and told me she was very concerned about him and a baby that scores a 2 or 4 needs to be delivered. They said a vaginal birth would be too distressing for him at this point, and told me to get ready for a c-section. She called the surgeon and my doctor to let them know it was happening, that night! Then she asked the nurse if she would repeat the test one more time just to be sure. So, she redid the test. This time, he decided to fight. They buzzed him and tipped me on my left side, and he scored a full 8/8! So the doctor came BACK in and said okay, let's wait one more day. We'll repeat this tomorrow and see how he does. But all the signs are pointing that it's going to be soon.

So yesterday was hard. I was worried all evening and trying to wrap my head around the fact that today I'd probably have a baby. One that I hoped would be alive and fighting. The doctors told me my little guy's bowel and stomach are both pretty swollen and there is still a higher risk of stillbirth in gastroschisis babies. So we did a lot of praying and geared up for today. I had my test at about 10:45 this morning, and what would you know...

he nailed it! Passed within the first 5 minutes. He was wiggling and kicking as soon as they pulled him up on the screen, and did 30 seconds of the fetal breathing movement right off the bat. (That's usually what he missed points for). I was THRILLED.

My doctor came in and told me she was pleased. She does not feel comfortable sending me home anymore since there have been so many scares, so I'm on hospital bed rest til this baby arrives. She said personally she is hoping for another week or two until he comes, but if he does somehow make it longer, than the max time he'll go is 37 weeks before they deliver him. Tomorrow I will be 34 weeks and I am feeling great about that! I am scheduled for a full ultrasound on Monday so we'll see how he's doing then, but for now I can relax a little and don't have to be on the monitors quite as much. I am so relieved/happy. I want him to have the best chance for a smooth delivery/surgery and the later the better. 

But I am also SO excited to see him for the first time. We've got our names narrowed down to 2.. either Timothy who would go by Timmy or Tim, or Dylan. We have a frontrunner but we're waiting to see him first probably, so it's a secret between the two til then :)

I ordered a dresser, my nails are painted, and I've eaten three non hospital meals now. I am feeling fantastic :) 

Thank you all for so much love and prayers and support. It means the world to us! 

Here is what my hospital room is decorated with.. cute little cards from my nieces. 

Here is my card from Lyla- she is 3. Contrary to what it appears, this is NOT a picture of a ladybug. This is my baby at the park. Hahahaha.

And this is the card from Addie, who just turned 6. She is so wise for her years... "Dear Jill, baby's births are so hard. Love Addie" ....mmm adorable. I especially like the arm coming out of my baby's head. 

a wild week

It has been the wildest of weeks for me.

I've been wanting to blog so I can remember what's going on, but literally haven't had any time. Right now I address you from my hospital room at Utah Valley… I'm back for the 4th time this week! And I have all the time in the world all the sudden, so here we go.

It all started last Tuesday, 1 week ago today. Baby had been moving great up until Monday night, but then I stopped feeling him kick. Nothing during that evening or the next morning, so I called my doctor. They had me drink orange juice and lay on my left side and count kicks, but he still didn't really respond. So they sent me to labor and delivery to be monitored. I was a bit of a mess. I was there for about 4 hours and in the middle of it, baby started kicking and moving and everything was ok, so I got to go home. Breathed a sigh of relief.

2 days later, I went to my doctor for my weekly non stress test. In most pregnancies, they don't even do regular non stress tests, but for higher risk pregnancies they do it once a week. Baby didn't pass it, so they sent me up to labor and delivery again to be monitored. In order to pass a non stress test, the baby's heartbeat needs to show good variability and it needs to have 2 accelerations every 20 minutes that go up by 15 beats for 15 seconds. This wasn't happening… so they kept me there overnight to monitor long term. In the midst of this, they also monitor my contractions, and they seemed concerned over how many I was having. None of them were painful, but they were frequent. They checked to see if I was dilated, and I wasn't. I had another ultrasound, and baby was still measuring pretty well but his stomach measurements had dropped to 2.5 weeks behind. 

So, they decided at this point they were going to give me the shots that will develop his lungs, in case he comes early, and sent me home. I went up to Idaho for a day for my baby shower (which was so fun and I loved seeing everyone who came!) I got some really cute stuff that we've been trying to get organized. My mother in law has done most of the decorations and bedding/etc. for baby's room, and I think it's so adorable. I picked out the fabric and she sewed the sheets/bedskirt/window valance, etc. 

We still have a ton of bags and things to clear out of the room, but here's a little taste :) 

Anyway, when I got back from Idaho I had to go back to the hospital and have a test, and baby was doing alright so they let me go home for the night. But they told me they wanted to see me back Tuesday for another non stress test. 

So this morning I showed up for my test, and I was a little nervous because my belly had been ridiculously tight the last 24 hours. Not painful, but so tight I could hardly walk around. And I stopped feeling him move again. So they hooked me up to the monitors and baby was non responsive once again, meaning his heart rate just wasn't spiking up like they want to see. In fact, I had a contraction where his heartbeat spiked down, and that got them nervous. They went to have my high risk doctor, the neonatologist, come take a look, and she came in and basically told me I needed to go right up to labor and delivery and if that happened anymore, baby was coming today via emergency c-section. She called the surgeon to let him know this baby might be coming soon also. 

At this point, I got really scared. The doctors kept saying they wanted him to stay in as long as possible, so that his gastroschisis surgery would go better. It's a lot easier to put bowel back into a larger baby apparently. But, they also are feeling like something may be putting him in distress, and he may need to come sooner. So they're watching the monitors, my contractions, and his movements to assess what to do. Right now I'm having a contraction every 2-3 minutes, but so far baby's heartbeat is responding alright to them. So, I still could deliver today, but most likely they will just keep watching and unless they see something really alarming, I will get to go home again tomorrow. I feel the contractions, but they still aren't painful. 

So there's the scoop! I am stressed out and on the verge of tears at any moment, and yet at the same time feeling calm and alright about everything. Taylor has been at the hospital most of the day with me and gave me a blessing that helped calm me down a lot. And my sister and her husband came for a visit, which was so nice to just take my mind off things for awhile. The doctors are acting like either way, this baby is probably going to be coming earlier than anticipated.. it's just a matter of how early. I am hoping for 2-3 more weeks, but that almost seems like too wishful thinking.

Whenever he comes, he will sure be loved. And Taylor and I really appreciate everyone's prayers and encouragement. It's amazing how much you can love a little life inside you that you've never met. I feel so grateful that I was able to get pregnant and even though this has not been the easiest pregnancy, I'm so glad it's mine. 

In the meantime, I've ordered a car seat and a diaper bag, and the last big purchase I need to make is a dresser/changing table for his room. And then we'll pretty much be ready! I can't wait to meet you baby, but please, how bout a few more weeks! 

The latest and greatest

in the Farnsworth world is a long list today, which I am very grateful for. June has been a perfect kick off summer month, so here's what we've been up to. 

First off..

Last week we met with the surgeon at Utah Valley hospital. We learned that he came down from Primary Children's about 3 years ago and got the pediatric specialty surgery unit kind of up and running I guess. There are actually 8 surgeons though, and whichever one is on call will perform the surgery. He made us feel pretty confident that any of them will do a great job and they have all the same equipment/etc. as Primary's so we don't need to worry about delivering here. So we took a tour of the NICU and that was nice to know what to expect. 

There was actually a baby in the NICU who has gastroschisis and we got to see him. He's been in the hospital for 2.5 weeks and is doing well. He was hooked up to a ventilator and IV/etc. and he just looked soo small and vulnerable. And yet, there he was, crying and moving and the nurses were comforting and soothing him and it just made everything so REAL! They asked me if I was going to be bringing a baby to them and I said yes and they were so sweet! They said they would take excellent care of him and he'd be just fine. We got to see the baby's scar as well, which was nice cause I had no clue what to really expect. It's not a huge scar, but still decent sized from his belly button down to near his pelvic region. The surgeon told us that about 1/2 of gastroschisis babies don't have a belly button after surgery is all through... but I figure that will be a great "getting to know you" fact in the future right?? At least that's what I'm telling myself in case it happens :)

After our appointment, we went to Cubby's for a little lunch date and topped it off with an ice cream cone at Macey's. I love afternoon dates! 

 I took my glucose test, which seriously was not bad. It tasted like a very sugary orange Gatorade.. although it did burn a bit going down my throat. But, I don't have GD so that's nice! However, I am pretty low on iron so I'm taking lots of extra iron now.

I am starting to feel quite pregnant finally. 29 weeks! Here's an updated belly pic

I've gained about 11 lbs now and at my appointment yesterday with the specialist they were VERY positive about baby's progress. He is measuring ahead in everything, except just a couple days behind in his stomach (which is normal, since half his stomach contents are on the outside...) but they are thinking and hoping not very much bowel is out since his stomach measurements were so close to normal!  I've noticed it's getting slightly harder to breathe and I am constantly uncomfortable when I sleep because I've ALWAYS slept on my back and now I can't really do that. Baby is kicking and moving like crazy and I love it. He also gets the hiccups about once a day which always makes me laugh. It is seriously so fun to have a little life inside you that moves when he wants. It's weird to think he really is ALIVE in there! I watched him yawn and suck his finger on the ultrasound and my tech could even see hair on his head. One thing I like about gastroschisis... I get to have an ultrasound at every appointment!

Two weekends ago, I went to Pocatello for my sister in law's baby shower. We had a great time! Rachel is due on July 5th and her baby shower was so adorable. After the shower we went and got pedicures and either we are super lame because we all got the same thing... or we are just super cool. I think the latter.

I am getting SO excited for the 4th of July! These better last til then!

This past weekend, Taylor ran the Utah Valley 1/2 Marathon down Provo Canyon.  He was a little nervous because he hasn't been training very hard since school and track ended, just running more for fun now. But he still rocked it. He got 3rd place, which meant he won $250 bones! His teammate from BYU who also graduated recently got 1st place, and then the guy who won the Ogden marathon this year got 2nd, and Tay got 3rd. We decided to have fun with his winnings. I don't remember the last time we went to the mall and both got something we want/sort of need...but mostly want :)
Here's what we got:

New kicks! Woo hoo!

Snagged this picture right as he was finishing. So exciting! And Taylor decided he wanted a new haircut for his race, so I did a little chopping on Friday night for him. Here was the result:

Don't worry, that nastiness was gone by Sunday morning. Although it was kind of fun seeing him look all gangster. A little part of me thought it was hot... but mostly gross.

Saturday night we spent with Taylor's extended family at the Orem Summerfest parade and fireworks show, with a BBQ at his grandparents house as well. I am so happy to live in Utah close to so much family and not too far from our parents. We are blessed! 

Happy Monday!!