Getting weighed...

Getting weighed was part of Asher's daily routine for almost 7 weeks of his life and then for another 4 weeks after that, it was weekly. He HATES getting weighed, because he hates being naked. Unless we had literally just changed his diaper, he always had to be completely, bare-bottomed, naked!

Having him weighed was stressful for us, because it controlled how much we got to "do" with him. If he barely gained or lost, it meant that being moved around, or even trying to nurse had been to much work for him and he would need to take it easier the next day. I never realized that for babies, nursing is quite a workout. Most days Asher only gained about 30grams which is equal to 1 ounce...It was slow going for him in the NICU. Thankfully, since he got out, he has been "packing" on the grams and is gaining weight well! 4 1/2 months old and around 12pds! So light compared to our friend's babies, but huge to us!

Modern Technology

I have said this before, but I truly feel so blessed by the amazing technology we have so easily available to us. I don't know how I would have survived the pregnancy while Andrew was in Iraq, without Skype!

What I didn't expect, post-Asher, was for Skype to continue being such a blessing. Several times while we were in the NICU, we skyped with both our families. It was so neat for them to be able to "see" Asher and "watch" him grow. Andrew used to do Kangroo care and skype in the NICU, as you can see in one of the pictures. (a multitasking Daddy!) Asher has been fortunate to meet all his grandparents and Aunt and Uncles at this point, except one...Uncle Jeff in Oregon. Thanks to Skype though, Jeff has at least gotten to "see" him. And now that we are moving even further away from family, we are so glad we are going to be able to stay in touch this way and that the family will be able to "see" Asher regularly!

Asher's second "photo shoot"

Our friend Allison came to the hospital again when Asher was 20 days old to take more pictures. It was incredible the difference! Asher no longer looked so super tiny, sick and fragile....He was looking more and more like a "normal" baby and had made huge strides by this time. He was out of the special isolette and in a bassinet, controlling his own body temp, and big enough to wear the smallest preemie clothes we could find. He had also learned how to suck, swallow and breathe at the same time which was a HUGE accomplishment! These pictures were taken Jan 4th, and I would have been 35weeks pregnant, instead Asher was almost 3weeks old!

Never too young to start reading

One of our favorite nurses

Our NICU had amazing nurses! There was literally maybe one or two that we didn't jive with over almost 7 weeks. They all provided such exellcent care to Asher and were really kind to us. He had a minmum of 2 different nurses every 24 hrs. The NICU let us have a primary care team, which meant we got ask certain nurses if they would take care of Asher whenever they were on.

One of our team members was Pat. He had been a NICU nurse at our hospital for over 18years and in his spare time was a National Guard flight nurse. He deployed regularly to crazy places all over the world! He held a special place in my heart, because he was the one that helped me hold Asher for the first time. He also really helped me get over my fear of working with Asher (try not being afraid of hurting a baby that is only 3pds! ) and taught Andrew and I how to do a lot of his every 3hr. "hands on" time (temp taking, diaper changing, feeding tube feeding, etc)

We didn't find out until almost the end of our stay that he was a Lt. Col. I told Asher he got off easy because Pat didn't make him salute him each morning! :) Asher did follow his orders pretty well though! Thanks Pat for your great care and patience with us and Asher!

Asher's first "crib"

This was Asher's first "home/crib". Our local NICU was absolutely amazing and had some of the most advanced equipment including these Isolette's. They are called giraffe's and can do some pretty cool things. Though it was hard to not be able to easily touch him or kiss him, it was a comfort knowing he had the absolute best equipment in the world literally surrounding him.

Candace - our Doula

Candace was our Doula and she was such a comfort and help in all the craziness of Asher's birth. Andrew got to meet her just a few hours before Asher was born. She was with us in the hours leading up to my cesearen, filming, taking photos, answering our questions concerning delivery and nursing and then stayed with me during prep and was there waiting for me in recovery. (they wouldn't let her go into the OR with us because I was in such bad shape) She fed me ice chips in recovery while Andrew went with Asher and was a continual calming presence focused on me and how I was doing. Then she came back 2 days later to help me get started with pumping. She taught me how to hand express so that I could collect the "liquid gold" colostrum that was so vital for Asher. It took us 15min to collect 1cc that first time, but every drop counted. From emails to phone calls to her physical presence, Candace was there for us and helped in every way she could! I am thinking I want to fly her out to wherever we are living next time we have a baby :)

If you are ever pregnant and live in the Co. Springs area don't give birth without her! And if you are ever pregnant and not in this area, most definitely hire a Doula. They are amazing!

Christmas

This was a very different Christmas than I ever could have imagined. While Andrew was in Iraq we had been talking about going to Vail or somewhere similar to have a mini babymoon over Christmas week. He was due to get back from Iraq Dec. 18th and I was due Feb 3rd, so we thought we would definitely have time for a little trip. Nope! Asher arrived December 15th and we spent our Christmas with him in the NICU.

Asher's Christmas present to us was graduating out of his Isolette into a hospital bassinet and being able to handle BOTH Andy and I holding him in the same day! It was an incredible gift to be able to easily touch him, kiss him and both get to hold him. We got our first family photo as well. You can't really tell from the picture, but the stocking is about 5 times the size of Asher! We are definitely keeping it and we will have to see next year, if Asher can even fit his leg in it!

My first time holding Asher

I did not get to hold Asher until he was 5 days old. Awful doesn't even begin to describe what those 5 days were like. Neither of us was stable for the first couple days and then when I finally was, he still wasn't because he was having breathing issues. Friday, December 19th was the special day. It took two people to move him from his special Isolette onto me, and I was only allowed an hour, but it was overwhelming and awesome!

First few photos of Asher

Because Asher was so early he had some lung issues and spent almost the first full week of life either on a ventilator or the CPAP (looks like snorkel gear).  The CPAP looks worse, but is actually "better"....It means his lungs were doing a good job functioning.   He also developed jaundice so he is under the special bilirubin lights in one of the pictures.    The tube hanging above his head in one picture is how they feed him.  I am pumping and they put the breastmilk in tiny syringes (1cc at a time - literally)  and use gravity to let the milk flow through his feeding tube, into his tummy.   

My body literally crashed after giving birth to Asher, so it was several days before I saw him and 5 days before I was able to hold him.  Andrew and my Mom would go to the NICU and take photos and videos of him and bring them back to my hospital room to watch/see.  Our good friend Allison was a blessing again, as she came to the hospital to photograph Andrew's first time holding Asher.   

Our Son is Born

On December 15th at 5:26pm our son, Asher David Anderson, was born.  He weighed 3pds 12 oz and was 16.5in long.  He was our little advent miracle born at 32weeks and 6days.  

He was born by "emergency" cesarean.   I went into the hospital on Saturday morning, the 13th with what I thought was heartburn.  Turned out I was having liver pain, because it was about to rupture.  I had developed pre-eclampsia in the month prior and now everything was spinning out of control. By the time he was born, my platelets had crashed, I had blood in my urine from my kidney's not working right, my liver enzymes were super high, my vision was having issues, not to mention the 30+ pds of fluid I had put on in less than a month.  Asher was also having some growth issues because of my kidney's not working right.   I went on to also develop HELLP in the last 48 hrs before his birth, which combined with pre-e, put me at risk for liver rupture, seizures, and a stroke.   They only gave me the 48hrs before the cesarean because they wanted to give me 2 steroid injections that had to be 24hrs. apart.  Because my condition was getting so bad though, it was literally an hour by hour thing for me to make it those 48hrs.    I was praying desperately that Andrew would make it home in time and he did.  By exactly 26hrs and 26minutes.  

Last 24 hours of just "us"

When Andrew arrived stateside, he had no idea I had been admitted to the hospital and that our son would be born 24hrs later.  The only reason we even had 24hrs to go, was because the Dr.'s were waiting to give the steroid injections they had given me at 2pm Saturday and Sunday, the time to work on the baby's lungs. (each shot needs 24hrs for the full effect to take place) Our friend Allison came to the hospital to take some photos of me, Andrew and the belly.    I am so thankful that we got those 24 hrs together and that Andrew got the joy of feeling the baby move and kick inside of me.  

My War Hero comes home!

December 14th at 3pm Andrew walked into my hospital room, home for good!  So much emotion and sweet relief!  Thanks to the Red Cross International, they got Andrew home in less than 60 hrs.  The call was placed by my OB on Friday morning to get him home and he landed state side Sunday at 5am (mtn time)  We had a minor snow storm that day, that delayed him a little bit getting into the Springs, but God was good and Andrew made it home before the baby came!

Here goes....

SOOOOO much catching up to do....Let's hope I can do it.

Only 12 more days!

Hopefully, Andrew will be home Dec. 18th.  Neither one of us can wait!  

23 yrs. old and still going strong!

My Mom bought this coat in 1985!!!!  I don't think she thought she would still have it in 2008 or that I would be wearing it.  Maternity jackets aren't one of those things you think of as heirloom pieces traditionally :)   I love it though! Wonder if I should keep it and pass it down to my future daughter ;)

Tea + Wine Glass?!?

      When my Mom came to visit, I took her to this delightful tea house I had been wanting to try in Boulder.   It was built in Tajikistan by hand and then taken apart and shipped here.  Boulder has a sister city in Tajikistan and the two cities decide to "exchange" culturally beneficial things. We got the beautiful work of art, that is the tea house and they got an Internet cafe/town hall building of sorts.    To see inside photos and learn more about the tea house click here: The Boulder Tea House

      Anyway, I decided to order a blooming tea....Which means my "tea" came tightly bound together and as the water permeated it, the tea "bloomed".   The cooler and more unusual thing was that the tea was served in a long stem, red wine glass!   In all my tea drinking years, I never thought to try tea or serve tea in a wine glass!    The glass was a little warm to the touch, but otherwise it was quite enjoyable to watch the tea bloom and sip it out of the wine glass.  I might have to try this at home!   

Clean car...for a day

One of my "nesting" projects was getting the car professionally detailed.  Between the amount of fur that Boots releases by the minute, 10k miles of driving this summer and all the kids I drive around with nannying, my car felt more dirty, messy and lived in, than I was ready for.   I understand that this goes out the window once you have children of your own, which is why, just once I wanted to know that it had been deeply cleaned!  It managed to stay almost fur free for an entire weekend!   It was a lot of money, but the growing "mom gene" is thankful that every time I get in, I know that it was super-duper clean once and when I take it to a car wash/vacuum place now, it cleans up better than before.

Grandma-to-be, comes for a visit

       My Mom came for a week, at the beginning of November.  It was so fun to have her here and to get things more set-up for the baby.  She literally brought 50 pds of baby boy clothes. (bonus for me, in having all these brothers!)  She actually had 71 pds packed but when the airline told her it would be $160 more for being over 50pds, she decided to mail the rest :)   Since the day she found out we were having a baby, she wanted to get us a bassinet, but we decided to go with a Pack and Play that had the bassinet feature, instead of a traditional bassinet.  I had been having trouble finding a Pack and Play I liked (can't they come up with better patterns!?!?!) but the week before she arrived, Graco debuted a brand new pack and play with new features and a great pattern.  The day she arrived we went out, bought and set it up.  I love it, but I still stare at most mornings in disbelief that there is soon going to be a little baby using it!   We also finalized all the baby shower details via phone with Sharon (The grandmother's to be are co-hosting) and got the cutest invitations ordered.    

       I loved having my Mom come, but I think Boots loved it more!  Since I have been limited this whole pregnancy in how much I can walk, he has been a little deprived of his normal exercise amount. My Mom though, is a huge walker and takes him out every morning she is here, for at least 5miles!  He is usually awake and waiting for her to come down the steps by 7am!   And then after she leaves, he always goes back to waking me up that early and wanting to walk.  (I think this last time he was depressed for a couple days after she left!) 

        The good news for us both, is she is coming back Dec 10th for almost 10 days and bringing my two littlest siblings. Boots loves playing with them, and then Andrew will be home hopefully by the 18th.   If all goes according to plan, Boots will have a few weeks with Andrew back before his whole world is turned upside down and the baby comes ;)

So close, but not

Andrew and I have spent the last 170 days+ talking through Skype.  I feel so blessed to live in this generation.   When I think about women going through this kind of absence and having only letters for communication I realize how good I have it.   I plan on showing our son these photos when he is older, of how his Dad was "there" to watch him grow inside me, though he was thousands of miles away.

Rachel....Our Colorado College International Student

Last year, Andrew and I "hosted" Jannes, a German exchange student.    CC has a ton a of international students and it turns out that as a whole, 85% of international students studying here in the US, will never see the inside of an American home.    CC decided to set-up this program where local families can "host" a student for the year and help them experience American life.    Basically, you and your student get to decide what you want to do together and how often you hang out.  Jannes dog sat for us, stayed with us over holidays when the dorms were closed, met our friends, came over for meals and became a good friend.    

       This year, we were paired with Rachel.  She is a freshman from the island of Malta.  She got a full 4-yr scholarship to study at CC.  It has been awesome to hang out with her and get to know someone from a country I had barely heard of!   She is very excited to meet Andrew, as she wants to be an aero or astro engineer and is incredibly gifted in math. (definitely my favorite subject as we all know :)   Through her we have gotten to know other international students as well.   Judy is her friend from Swaziland in the picture above.    And in case you are wondering, the Maltese dog is from Malta, but not the Falcon! 

First snow

Well, we have been blessed with an incredible Fall.  The colors have been awesome (for CO, nothing compares to New England!)  and unseasonably warm weather.   Picture 60's and 70's for almost all of October!!!    True to form though, we did get snow before Halloween.    I wasn't as excited for it, as I had been in years past (maybe that has something to do with nannying and realizing that play time outside, helps keep everyone sane!)    Boots was thrilled though!   Thankfully the snow was gone in a day and the temperature went right back up!   

Haircut....again

My hair had been driving me crazy for several months now.  I thought I would love it because everyone raves about their pregnancy hair, but that wasn't the case for me.  Becoming a Mom and having Mom hair are two totally different things in my mind!  One, I am okay with, the other is a source of nightmares as I try to sleep.  :)  

   Anyway, Paul Mitchell opened a school down the street from my house and you can get haircuts there for $8!  For that price, I figured I would try them out and if they screwed up, I hadn't wasted a lot of money and would have my normal guy fix it.  Thankfully, they did a great job.  Though the cut was great, I have decided that my hair is a work in progress and will take longer to figure out exactly what I am wanting.  Any suggestions?  (remember I am working with dry, dry air and soon a newborn...simple and no product use is very necessary!)  

Kate Moves In

In mid-September, while walking Boots at the dog park, I got a call from Andy's cousin, Kate.   Things with her job were ending and she needed a place to rest and just be away from everything for a while.  She asked if I could use a roommate.....I had been considering getting a roommate this whole time Andy had been gone.   I had emailed several random people, talked with different friends, etc.  I didn't have a peace about anyone.   Over the summer I had decided to not continue trying to find a roommate and would just let the Lord bring someone who would need a space for a random amount of time.   Little did I know, who he had in mind!!!  :)    Kate moved in at the beginning of October and it has been awesome to have her here.   She has fit right in with our friends, church, small group and just being apart of our community.    And instead of a temporary stay, it looks like the Lord is leading her to move her.   She just needs to sell her house back in IA and find a job out here (2 small details :)    

 

Christina came to visit

One of my dearest friends came to visit back in Oct. (so I am little behind in blogging) She planned the trip back in July when the Dr.'s thought I would be going on bedrest by mid-Oct at the latest. Thankfully, I have not had to go bedrest and hopefully won't ever! I was so excited as the time drew near for her to come, that I was going to be able to do stuff with her and not just sit on the couch and watch movies all weekend. The weather was horrible, but we had a great time. My mother-in-law Sharon even came down from WY for a night and we went out to the Broadmoor for cocktails and girl time! I love sharing my life with my friends and it was a blessing to have Christina here and share with her! Thanks for making the journey out here dear friend!