Update on Riley

When we came home from the hospital Riley's bilirubin test was looking really good so he came home without lights. I had to take him in for another test the next day. Unfortunately they jumped extremely high so he has to be under the lights now. Thank goodness for the invention of in-home bili lights. He actually sleeps better in this suitcase than he did in his crib the first night home. When he is awake we can take off the mask as long as we watch him to make sure the blue shield stays in place. That is our fun "play time" with Riley. It is great to watch him as he looks around at his surroundings. We took him to the doctors this morning. He is looking great other than the jaundice (bilirubin). We found out that the jaundice is related to the E antigen in his blood. I still can't believe we made in through nearly the whole pregnancy without any complications. I am very grateful for the modern technology that gave us the information we needed to know there was a problem and then verify that his lungs were developed so it was ok to induce labor. It is much easier to monitor now that he is born. We have been very blessed. He is such a good, patient little boy. It is amazing how quickly you can't imagine life without your new little one.

November 21st, 2008

Time to go home. Dave promised me a name but we were still having trouble picking it. I tried taking votes but that didn't work. The nurse came in asking for the birth certificate information. She was well aware of the debating going on over the name. Dave told her to go ahead and take it like it was. I couldn't believe he was going to leave the hospital without a name. The nurse looked at the sheet and I could tell it had a name written on it. I asked her what it was and she said Marten Aaron Anderson. Dave said that way we keep everyone happy. (Collin really wanted Aaron which I liked better than Marten but all of the other kids have a maiden name from our families for their middle names. This just didn't seem right.) The nurse walked over to me and said I lied and showed me the paper. Riley White Anderson. I was so relieved. Riley was my favorite of the names we had discussed and White is Dave's grandma's maiden name. Why do people like to tease at my expense so much? I thought it was very clever of the nurse to get in on the action. Now we could go home.

November 20th, 2008

Today we learned that our baby's bilirubin levels were too high so we had to put him under lights. I was so sad that I couldn't cuddle with him all day long. I only got to see him when he needed to eat. Two of the nurses told me that he is the best bili baby ever. The first time I saw him he had his fingers in his mouth sucking away. With Brianne nearly 4 and nowhere near giving up sucking on her fingers, I do not want another finger sucker. I asked if he could have a pacifier which he also loves. They ended up putting socks on his hands because he kept scratching himself. I think he looks like a little super hero with his biliband mask.

Still no name, we tried Ian, Kaden, Aaron and Riley. I am getting frustrated and Dave thinks it is very humorous.

November 19th, 2008

Once midnight hit things started happening. All went well and at 1:45 we had our handsome baby boy. He was 7 pounds 2 ounces and 18 ½ inches long.

My mom walked in to the room 8 minutes after he was born. She was able to hold him before they took him to the nursery to check him out. Dave went to the nursery with the baby. When he came back he reported that the baby was mad and that he liked his fingers. Dave helped me move to a new room and shortly we had the baby back with a clean bill of health. Dave went to my parent's house to get some sleep. I enjoyed some bonding time with the baby. I was in awe this whole time, not quite believing it was real. Amy came back at 5:00 as promised and was surprised to learn I had already delivered. She enjoyed some quality cuddling time before returning home to her family. I slept a couple hours and was happily awakened by my other children. They were so excited to meet their brother. It is amazing how one little baby can make so many people so happy.

This is the boy who one week ago thought he wanted a dog more than a baby. His excitement over our little guy has been the biggest surprise for me.

Everyone knew Brianne was excited to have a baby brother. No surprise here, she is as cute as can be with her little brother.

It is fun to have a baby and a big boy. Collin was walking around carrying the baby, helping Torin and Brianne hold him. It was scaring my mom to death. It was very cute when Collin figured out that the baby could hold on to his finger.

Dave started calling the baby Marten. It means "dedicated to Mars". He thought it was fitting given the baby's "alien" after birth look. I didn't like the name and thought Dave was just kidding but the longer he called him Marten the more nervous I got. The boys started calling him Drake and Brianne was voting for Luke (she is really in to Star Wars lately). It was hilarious that night as they were saying goodbye they each called him a different name.

November 18th, 2008

Business as usual today. Brianne had computer class and after class a couple friends came over. I was feeling the need to get to Walmart before my Doctor's appointment at 1:30. I made the friends go home earlier than I had planned. I made it to Walmart but had to go straight to the appointment.


First a technician did an ultra sound. It was extremely uncomfortable having her push so hard on my stomach. Then the doctor came in and she continued doing an ultra sound. She finally decided that we should do an amniocentesis to see if the baby's lungs were developed and check for the E antigen. (Can you believe they can do that?) I had an amnio with Brianne about 32 weeks along. It was not bad at all. This time there wasn't very much fluid around the baby. I was scared to death watching the ultra sound. I couldn't see the needle but I could see that there wasn't much fluid and my baby was everywhere else. I had to close my eyes. They were only able to get enough fluid to check for lung development. After the amnio they put me on a stress test. I was cramping up from the amnio. I thought they were contractions but the machine wasn't picking them up. The baby's heart rate was fine from what I understand. The doctor came in to talk to me. She said she hadn't noticed that I was "older" and she hadn't addressed the possibility of the baby having downs syndrome. I was really appreciative to her for giving me one more thing to worry about. While she was there the test results came back saying the lungs were developed. She told me she wanted me to go straight to the hospital in American Fork to deliver the baby. Even though I had thought this might happen I was shocked when she said it. I was not ready. I had things I needed to do the next two days. I tried to convince her to wait but she said no. I asked if I could go home and drop off my groceries. She said no. I asked if I could go pick up my boys from school and she said yes. I called Dave but couldn't get a hold of him. I called my mom and started crying. She told me she was coming to take me to the hospital. I decided that was a good idea since my stomach was cramping. I called the boys school and asked them to have the boys walk home. That way I would make my one stop at home. I sneaked and emptied my car while I was waiting for my mom. When Dave called back I was so hysterical he had no idea what I was saying. The second time I explained it a little more in control. I was so worried because Dave had a work meeting that night and I didn't know if he could get out of it and neither did he. He told me he would call me back. My mom came and we all loaded up to go to the hospital. Dave was able to get out of his meeting and soon we were all at the hospital just waiting... My mom took the kids to her house to get to bed. I had an epidural so I was chilling in bed numb but pain free. My good friend Amy came over to see how things were going. She was disappointed when the doctor checked me and I was only dilated to a 3. My dad stopped by to say hi. When he was leaving Dave told him he could come back in the morning he was sure we would be in the same spot. Amy decided to go home and get some sleep but promised to come back at 5:00 am. I decided to try and rest while my body worked.

November 17th, 2008

We returned from Nebraska on the 16th. I had a doctor's appointment first thing on the 17th. The doctor came in a little late and I could tell he was in a hurry. When he came in to see me he was as impersonal as I have ever seen him. I had some questions and he didn't give me a chance to ask them. One of my questions was to find out the results of my blood work. (When I was pregnant with Brianne I had to see a specialist most of the pregnancy because of an antibody in my body that will fight against my baby if they have anti E in their blood. With this pregnancy I had to have blood drawn each month to check for problems. I wasn't worried at this point because the blood work had been fine throughout the whole pregnancy.) Later that afternoon I received a call from the Doctors office. She told me she had set up an appointment with a specialist at the hospital for the next day. I was so confused. I asked her why and she said the last blood test I had done showed signs of problems. I was shocked. In the back of my mind I thought if there are problems they are going to make me deliver early. That night I decided I had better get the baby clothes out of the attic.

Nebraska

Every year our family travels to watch the Nebraska Huskers play football. We have seen them play in California, Kansas, Colorado and a few times in Nebraska. It is always extra fun when we go to Nebraska because then we get to see Dave's family as well. When Dave told me this years trip would be to Nebraska for the game on November 8th I was a little apprehensive. I would be 35 weeks pregnant on game day and 36 weeks by the time we were headed home. The doctors gave me the go ahead as long as we stopped every hour and a half during the drive so I could walk around to prevent blood clots. When I told Dave he said "you are going to wake up every hour and half?" He found it very humorous given I usually sleep most of the drive. We broke the drive up stopping in Cheyenne each way. The kids were so anxious to get to Nebraska they had a hard time sleeping. It made the trip extra long... Torin kept asking how much further every 10 minutes. The kids talk more about visiting Lucky (Granddad's dog) than Dave's family. Torin is a dog lover at heart. The last time we visited Nebraska he cried for 15 minutes when we left because he was so sad to leave Lucky. We finally arrived at Lucky's house Friday evening. The kids were so happy to play with him. They had each other worn out in no time short. This year Dave's mom had a new basset hound puppy named Linus and he rivaled Lucky for the kids attention. They also had a great time hanging out with the family.

Saturday was game day. It was a cold day but it wasn't wet which made it very bearable. The best part was the team played well. They beat Kansas, who was ranked in the top 25 at the time. Nebraska used some trick plays which were fun to watch. Our seats were in the North end zone with a perfect view of the huge replay screen. It couldn't have been better.

See the chair behind Brianne. That is a display of my husbands love for me. We have never rented one of those before. He picked it up for me without even asking if I needed it. I thought it was the sweetest thing ever.

Dave's dad has moved to Omaha. This meant another 1 1/2 hour drive but it was sure worth it. We stayed at a hotel downtown. The kids were happy to swim every day. We were able to go to the zoo, a children's museum, railroad museum, Kanesville visitor center and visit with Dave's dad and girlfriend Lauren. It was so much fun we decided to stay an extra day.

We stopped back to see Dave's mom and Grandad on the way back to Utah. Earlier in the week Brianne had asked Grandad if he and Lucky could come to her birthday party. Suddenly he felt certain that we needed to have a birthday party before we left. I explained that a "pretend" party would work just fine. He didn't agree. He picked up cake and ice cream and he and his friend Minnie had presents for Brianne when we returned. We had a fun little party. Brianne LOVED the porcelain doll and Barbie she was surprised with.

Brianne with Grandma Karen.

Brianne with Granddad McHarry.

The boys with Lucky.

The kids are already talking about going to Nebraska next year. It was a very fun trip indeed. We only wish it were a little closer.

Halloween

Grandma Arnell had trick or treating at her office this year. It was the perfect kick off to a successful Halloween night.

I love this picture of my mom and Brianne.

Grandma with the infamous astronauts.

Carving Pumpkins

We found the best pumpkins this year at a local farm. I was feeling generous that day so I let Collin pick out the biggest pumpkin we have every purchased. He thought he was cool and the other kids didn't mind at all. They loved their choices as well. Carving the pumpkins turned in to a bigger chore than I had imagined. The bigger the pumpkin the thicker the skin and the more guts to clean out . Collin has always had issues touching the slime inside. He did a good chunk of the work but he also recruited Torin to help. I was exhausted by the time we were finished but it was a fun evening.

Brianne obviously has no issues touching the slime.

Torin concentrating on the job.

The face says it all.