Christmas at the Blakes!

So this Christmas was SO much better than last year. Last year we were finally discharged from the peds unit at the hospital on Christmas Eve because Jayda stopped eating and got a bunch of tests and a feeding tube. Needless to say that year sucked. This year was SO much better.

On Christmas Eve we went to the NICU to drop off baskets for all the poor families that have to be there on Christmas worrying about their sick babies. I was so grateful that my mom helped me sew the carseat covers for all of them and that Chase's parents contributed $100 to help with buying everything. It was very stressful getting everything ready but so worth it. In each basket there was a carseat cover sewed by my mom, burp clothes that my mom sewed, a dvd that I made of a whole bunch of success stories of preemies, homemade sugar cookies, candy, hand sanitizer to put on your keychain, hand lotion, crotched hats that Chase's grandma Blake handmade, and different odds and ends. We also baked a bunch of cupcakes for the staff. It was so awesome to see all the nurses that took care of Jayda and they were so glad to see her. We went during shift change so we didn't get to hand deliver it to the families but I'm sure they were very grateful (I know I would have been!). There were some sick babies in there too...a 24 weeker and a 14oz baby!! My goodness that is almost HALF of what Jayda was! My heart broke for that family and I pray that baby makes it. He is in good hands though! They are miracle workers down there!

After that we attempted to look at lights but we learned early on that that doesn't work with a cranky toddler that doesn't like to sit still so we went home opened one present and then put her to bed. Chase set up her little kitchen that night.

Then when I woke up the next morning we had her open presents from us. We got her a few small toys, a leap frog lab top, a kitchen set, and some clothes.

After that we went over to the Blakes and opened presents with everyone. Jayda got some clothes, some little toys, books, and the big present was a little 4-wheeler. She liked to climb on it but I don't think she fully understands it yet. She will love it when she gets older though. His parents also got us a nice video camera which we will definately use! Cason got Chase a dehyrdater which we will DEF use! And Cait got me an Aero sweatshirt and an aero purse. Then we had breakfast over there.

Then after her nap we went over to my parents house and opened presents. She got ALL kinds of toys, clothes, cute head bands/bows. Her favorite was the baby stroller set and this toy my Aunt got her that shoots balls out in the air. She got tons of books which is great because she LOVES me reading books to her.

We also got to meet my brother Travis's girlfriend. We only got to hang out for a bit because we went over to teh Blakes for dinner (although we werent hungry :/ ). We stayed there a short time (by that time I was pretty much done and ready to go home I was so tired). We left Jayda for a sleepover and went back to our place to play games with Travis and his girlfriend. She is way cool and it was nice to get to know her. She seems like she will fit right in. Then we went to bed and watched Storage Wars. It is actually a way cool show. Then night night! :D

Christmas was pretty fun but next year we won't be doing as much back and forth. Next year will be relaxing instead of stressed about sharing time between grandparents. Other than that it was great to see Jayda so excited! She's had a busy couple of days and has been sleeping pretty much all day! She even fell asleep on Chase's lap today and he was THRILLED because she NEVER cuddles! She was just THAT tired!

My little girl is growing up! Tear :(

Jayda is getting to be such a big girl! She turned 17 months old last week! Here are some of the things Jayda is up to these days:

-She is FINALLY taking a sippy cup!

-She is weaning off her bottles and eating mostly table food (when she is hungry she'll go whine next to her high chair).

-She is starting to really talk! She now says mama, dada, bye bye (as she waves), hi, gama (grandma), puppy (more like puppa), baby.

-She is running everywhere (old ladies stop and comment on how cute and little she is, they get a kick out of how small she is).

-She has 6 teeth and working on 2 more.

-She can sign poo poo or pee pee by putting her hand over her nose.
-When you ask her where her nose, eyes, mouth, head is she will point to it.

-She can kick and throw a ball (underhand)

-She LOVES chocolate and suckers

-She loves to play with her baby and will give it hugs and kisses. She'll take it across the room and just play with her for awhile.

-She is very social and isn't afraid of people or other kids.

-She loves grandma's house because of all the fun stuff there.

-She loves ciara (Chase's sister). She always wants her to hold her.

-She's not liking the time change thats for sure!

-She is weaning off of 2 naps and some days will only take one (NOOOOOO!!! I love her naps)

-She loves just wearing a diaper or being in the nude. :D

-She loves puppies!

-Oh and she loves to climb on things. She has gotten up on the couch a couple of times but she is mostly too short haha!

Thats about all I can think of now. She is busy busy though that is for sure and learning new things ALL the time. I'm sad how fast she is growing up though. :(

Snow Canyon Half Marathon

So this past Saturday I ran my first half marathon! Yes that is 13.2 miles and I ran every one of them! I have been training for the past few months and had been looking forward to it so much.

I woke up around 6am that morning. I didn't get much sleep the night before because I was so nervous. I had my alarm set for 6:45am but I just couldn't wait so I got up and started getting ready. I made myself a PB&J sandwich, had a vitimain water, and a banana. Then I woke Chase up so that he could drop me off at Snow Canyon High School. Then I made him take my "before" picture.

I was SO nervous as we drove there. I got out and immediately went on the bus that would take us up the canyon to our starting point. I sat in the school bus seat by myself until a girl I recognized from high school came and sat next to me. Her name was Hailey Caplin (I forget what her maiden was). She was so nice and calmed my nerves. She had just ran the St. George Marathon (her second) so I thought it was crazy that she was running a half about a month later! It was nice to talk to her though.

So when the buses dropped us off (a little before Diamond Valley) I stood in line for the potty. It could have been that I was just really nervous since being nervous can make you pee a lot but it wasn't even 15 min after I peed that I needed to pee again. BUT the line was SO long I couldn't because we had to start lining up at the start. I was toward the front probably about 1oo ft from the start. As I had my Goo Goo dolls playing I noticed a girl in front of me that had a shirt that said "Runners Rule". I was like YEEEEAAAH. I was SO pumped. Then all of a sudden it started and I couldn't believe I was FINALLY running in the half marathon! My feet were so cold it felt like they were asleep, but soon that went away.

The weather was perfect. Not too cold not too hot. And the scenery was BEAUTIFUL! They also weren't kidding when they said to train downhill because a lot of it was downhill. I was FLYING in the beginning. My adrenaline was pumping, plus the downhill was pushing me hard. I kept passing people although there was the occasional person I secretly paced myself with. One thing that did hold me back was that I had to PEE! I thought there was going to be pottys along the way but they were lieing! I neared the 4 mile mark which was the first aid station and yup NO pottys. I was pretty upset. As we passed the 6 miles mark I was about to burst so yup.....I found a big bush and peed behind it (plus my shoe was untied). You wouldn't believe it either but about 1/2 a mile later there was 2 porta potties. GRRRR! When I came behind the bush this girl looked at me knowingly and laughed.

At around mile 7 is when I started to really count down the miles and it seemed like each mile took SO long. It really wasnt until mile 10 that I really felt like I was crashing though. At this point my hips and my knees were killing me! But I pressed on. I walked through practically all the aid stations (except the beginning ones) and at mile 7 I had some vanilla gu (which almost made me vomit the texture was so gross but I knew I needed something).

Toward the end of the race I was dying but as we neared the crowds and the little kids cheering us on it helped. I think I really made some of those little kids day when I slapped their hands in a high five. I wasn't moving very fast but I was secretly pacing myself with this girl and I think she was doing the same because she would walk periodically and then I would pass her and that was her cue to start running again. She would sprint (at least it looked that way) past me and then walk again. Yeah.....she ended up beating me. I wasn't moving fast but I had to keep moving no matter what because I knew if I stopped I couldn't keep going.

When I saw the finish I just wanted to collapse but hung in there. In my pics I really look like i am in pain....and I was. But once I hit the finish I felt so accomplished! I finished in 2hr s and 6 min which is averaged a little under 10 min a mile and great for a first half marathon. It was a great experience and I would love to do it again.....once I am able to walk without gimping again. :)

Purple is the new Pink!

So with October fading away along with the pink I see on every product and every tv commercial, November begins with no purple at all.

Pink is everywhere. Purple is never to be seen. Purple is the awareness color of preematurity.

I'm not asking for a sob story because I'm sure those that started pink never did. They got out there and got results! I plan to do the same thing. So if I start to sound like a broken record....then stop listening cause SOMEONE has to sing that tune!

The fact still stands. Your chances of getting breast cancer is 1 in 8. But did you know your chances of having a preemie are also 1 in 8? That effects not only you but a helpless baby. Billions of dollars are spent every year on saving preemies and most of the time they can't even tell you why you had them early.

Did you know that Stevie Wonder is blind because he was preemature? He was born in a time when they didn't know that giving preemies too much oxygen could cause blindness or ROP (rentinopathy of preematurity). Now that they know this though, the rates of ROP have greatly declined.

That was my facebook status today. Everyday this week I am going to post a fact about preemies to educate those that don't know very much about preemies in honor or Preemie Awareness month. My hope is that one day purple will be the new pink. In that everyone will see purple and think preemie. Maybe one day....

Halloween!!!

Ok so I have been slacking in the whole blogging department! Halloween was a lot of fun and luckily we made it through the weekend without any sickness! In fact Jayda hasn't been sick for like 3 weeks! It's seriously a miracle and a much needed break for her and us! BUT she is cutting 4 teeth so she is pretty fiesty! She's evil with those choppers too. She even bit the crap out of my friend's baby Summer the other day and even made a bite mark! Poor little baby! :(

On Friday we dressed Jayda up in her costume. She was a cheerleader. A couple of months ago my parents went to Hawaii and got this little cheerleading outfit for Jayda. So we decided it was perfect for her costume for Halloween and she looked so darn cute in it! So after I got her all dressed in it in the morning we went to Walmart to go visit Chase and to pick up some things. She had been eating candy, half a string chees, 8 oz of milk, a cracker, a kit kat, and half a cookie. She was just chomping! Well on the way to Harmons to pick up some stuff she threw up EVERYWHERE. I was super pissed but then had to laugh about it later because lets face it kids are supposed to eat so much crap on halloween that they throw up. It's just what they do. :P

So later after we got home and had her clothes cleaned we took her to Karen's work (the Washington school district) for a trick or treating thing they had for their kids and grandkids. We dropped her off and it was fun to watch her getting candy. Granted next year she will really start to understand the whole trick or treating thing she still got a kick out of it and got to reap her spoils with us. :P She had a lot of fun thats for sure.

Later after her nap I took her to a trunk or treat at my parents ward. They had games and chili but she mostly just ran around being crazy. She got too tired and we had to take her home before she got to trick or treat but she didn't know the difference. Next year will be a lot more fun to take her out. It was still fun though.

Then on Saturday I dropped Jayda off at my mother in laws house and I went and ran my last big run before my half marathon this Saturday. I ran 10.5 miles! I was so proud of myself! Then later that day we went over to our friends Bret and Sandi's house for dinner. Then Jayda had a blast going in their back yard to watch their doggy. She loved that dog. Then we went to our house and played games. We had some friends Melissa and Ryan and their cute baby Summer stop by too. She was the poor baby that Jayda bit hehe and she was dressed up as a bee. Too bad I didnt get a pic of them together. Aw well.

Anyways that was practically our weekend. Here are some pics!

A little bit about Chase and I

So everytime I write on my blog its always about what jayda is doing...which is great since she is such a fun little girl but I noticed that I haven't mentioned anything about what Chase and I have been doing.

For the past few months I have been training for the half marathon that I am running on the 6th of November. I started running a little bit after Jayda came home but even a couple miles killed me. I would run every now and then to try to lose the baby weight and I ended up losing 25lbs! Wahoo! I would still like to lose 10 more pounds before we get prego with #2 (hopefully we will be this next year!) but we shall see since my cycle has been all over the place with training for the marathon. Anyways, now I am up to 9.1 miles! It took me 1:34 to do that. So I'm not very fast but hey 9 miles aint too shabby so no complaints here. :) The one stupid thing that I did today though was I forgot to stretch before i ran so now I am SO sore and am limping. Not so smart. One thing about running to that is nasty is I have these nasty blisters on my feet. After I run my marathon I'm gonna go get some serious pedicures (poor person that has to do that haha). I am really getting nervous but excited though! Can't wait!

Other than that I am going to school. I am taking 2 classes: American Government and Sociology. I particularly like my gov class because I have learned so much and love that my teacher is very impartial in his views. These classes are pre-reqs for my degree. I am getting my associates this fall (could have gotten it a long time ago but was slacking). I was majoring in intergrated studies: psychology and communications but they recently brought the U of U degree in social work down so I want to do that. But I think I may just double major since I am already half way through that major. I still need to go talk to my counselor though. My end goal is to be a social worker in a childrens hospital. Its good because I already have connections since we lived at the hospital for 3 months and already have talked to the social worker in the NICU about an internship. She told me that she will have me rotate and be not only in the NICU but high risk, MFM, antipartum, postpartum, PEDS, etc. What a dream job!!!

Chase just got promoted to assistant manager at State Bank of Southern Utah. He is also going to school through University of Pheonix majoring in business aminstration. His end goal is to get into commercial lending if he can. He should be done around next december. Its really nice because he can do most of his homework online at work so when he gets home he can spend time with Jayda and I. Chase has also lost 20lbs just from eating better and cutting portion control! He wants to lose more but I think he looks good! If he could have his way he would be golfing or playing softball everyday. He really got into his work's softball league this past summer. He is SOOOO competitive! haha like me!

Chase is such a good daddy and Jayda just loves him. She gives her daddy hugs so much and when he walks in the door she just beams from ear to ear. She loves her daddy!

NICU reunion

So I am a little late posting this but figured I should for our "records" :P. So wednesday we went to the NICU reunion at Stalehi Farms. There were farm animals, swings, and a cow train. We had a blast seeing all the nurses, drs, and other families that we were in the NICU with! The only crappy part is now Jayda is sick AGAIN! Poor little girl gets EVERYTHING! The first pic is of Roylaine and Brynlon. They were our roomies for about a month and she was also a 26 weeker. Then we have Maci and her mom (cant remember her name!) she was a 23 weeker who had a twin sister that did not make it. She is doing amazing though. Also in that pic is Emily. She was one of our primary nurses and I love her! Then the guy in the hat and plaid shirt is Dr. Eggert who was one of Jayda's Neonatologists. Then the other pic is of Chase and Dr. Riddout. He was another Neonatologist of Jayda's and one of my faves. He is a character thats for sure!

ER fun!

Well yesterday was a BLAST! Jayda had been sick since about wednesday/thursday just throwing up but otherwise her normal happy self. We figured that she just had allergies and some post nasal drip so she was just trying to get rid of the gunk. Nope. We dropped her off at my parents house Saturday night because my mom wanted to see her since they hadn't for awhile and it was going to be a nice break since this week was rough for us with the puking 25 times a day. Needless to say I was D-O-N-E with puke.

We went to pick Jayda up yesterday from my mom's house and she looked HORRIBLE! She wouldn't stop throwing up and she just was not her normal looking self. Her eyes were all red, sunken in, she was lethargic, fussy, etc. So we decided to take her straight over to the urgent care. They took one look at her, took her back right away (even with a whole waiting room full of people) and the nurse looked her over for a minute and said "she is WAY too sick for us to take care of. You need to head straight over to the ER and get some fluids in her". So we did.

We got there and we went back and they said she is definatly dehydrated because of how lethargic she was and her eyes were so sunken in. It took 3 or 4 IV pokes (not sure because I left I couldn't handle seeing her in so much pain...I've been through months of that to last me a lifetime thank you!). They finally got the IV in her and she was PISSED! I guess she puked she was so mad. Poor thing.

They took blood labs and wanted to get stool samples to see if she had c-diff again but her stool was too liquidy and wasn't enough so they sent us home with a cup (fun fun stuff!!). The Dr. came in and said that he had gotten about 10 kids just today with the same thing and that its just a really bad virus going around that should last anywhere from 7-10days. He said of all the kids that had come in there was probably only 1 that looked worse than Jayda. We waited a few hours for all the blood to come back. They wanted to check to see if the acid levels in her blood showed she needed to be admitted. Luckily it was normal but he said she definatly needed the fluids and that her kidney function levels showed that she was very dehyrdated. He said he almost ordered a bone needle she looked so bad (a bone needle is where they have to drill a hole in their bone and deliver fluids straight to their bone marrow).

The one good thing about how sick she was though was that we got tons of cuddles from her. She just snuggled right in and feel asleep in her daddy's arms (which she HAS NEVER done willingly). Then after they put the IV in she was mad at her daddy because he helped hold her down (took 4 people), so she cuddled up to me and fell asleep on my chest. And anytime a nurse walked in she would scream. She was SO tired though and finally just let her poke her foot without even waking up! Poor thing.

She is feeling a lot better today....just sleeping a lot. They gave us so Zofran for us to give her so she doesnt throw up as much. Then only give her 1 oz of fluid every 15 min. so she doesnt throw it all up. Now the poor thing has horrible diaper rash again so today we are going to the dr to follow up and will have to get some more of that magical butt cream. Hope she feels better soon though, Luckily Chase is taking off today and tomorrow so she'll have both her mommy and daddy! That girl just needs a break and we wouldn't mind one either from all this sickness!

15 month dr appointment

Well we went to the doctor a few days ago for Jayda's 15 month appointment (one year adjusted). Before we went though we went to Red Robin for lunch. Jayda was going at the fries! She ate like 3 fries! And Red Robin fries are huge! Then she took several bites of Chase's hamburger! She was eating like a pig haha! The workers thought she was so cute and they brought her a balloon to play with and she thought it was pretty awesome. :D

So then we headed over for her appointment. She got 2 immunizations and has done pretty well with them except she is a bit cranky and really tired but thats worth it to me! She was 16lbs even and 27 1/2 inches long. So she didn't gain anything in a month. I'm not worried though at all and neither is Dr. Cain. He wants her to come back in a month to weigh her again just to see if she is gaining. Then if she isn't then we will have to do something. But we think that its just because she started walking and she is burning a TON of calories and plus she had C-diff twice and a cold sooooo I didn't expect her to gain too much. Plus like Chase told the dr. thats 16 times bigger than she was when she was born :D.

We're really trying to push the solids now and she has actually done really well. She ate like a pig yesterday so I don't think she'll have a problem gaining weight. When she started walking she stopped eating as much and was on the go constantly because it was something new for her, but she's calmed down a lot. Plus I love her being little. Its so cute! Here is some pics of us at Red Robin. She is starting that phase of starting to throw temper tantrums. Yes we are that family now where their little kids are screaming and kicking their feet in public. Such a FUN part of development....

Then here is a picture of Jayda and Dr. Cain. He is the one that helped deliver her!

My little climbing monkey

Her new thing...climbing everything she can! Crazy little girl!

These shoes were made for walking!

So today we took Jayda outside today wearing shoes! Last time at the reunion when we tried putting them on her she just stood there looked at her feet like what the hell are these things and then sat down and did a stink bug crawl. So today I thought it was going to be a complete failure but it wasnt!! She was SO happy to be outside walking around! She loved it! I held her hand down the sidewalk for a few minutes and then she wanted me to let her do her thing! She is definately independent! She also does this really funny thing with her arm and just hangs it there in the air like the pic on the right. Its so funny!

We took her to the park too and she walked around the whole park. It's so funny people at the park were looking at Jayda weird because she was so small walking around. She loved it though. When we got home and I let her walk outside our apartment and she got so ticked when I brought her back inside. She kept pointing out the window and then I let her on the ground and she flipppppppped out! haha So I took her out for some more and she probably would've walked around the neighborhood if I had let her! ha She is too funny!

Oh and I tried to upload a video but it just wont work dang it!

Family Reunion & Jayda being home 1 year!

Labor Day weekend will never be the same for our family again. I'll always remember it as the weekend I should have had Jayda instead of the beginning of June. BUT it is also the weekend that we brought Jayda home from the NICU so it has some good to it too. So to celebrate we went to our Barney Family Reunion in Junction, Utah. It was a lot of fun but at the same time was so hard because all of us had colds and Jayda did not want to sleep. The last day she was throwing up all day and night. It was not fun! But it was great to see all my family and spend some time with them. Most of them had never even met Jayda yet so it was great to introduce her to everybody! I thought Jayda was going to be the smallest baby there but she had some competition! haha My cousin's baby boy was SO cute! His name is Matt and he has been through a lot in his life too. He is 2 months older than Jayda and was born at 36 weeks (I think they said he's like 15-16lbs right now). He had several surgeries to correct a few birth defects. But he is such a trooper and is walking and running everywhere. It was so funny to see both Jayda and him running around. It looked like 2 newborns running around everywhere. It was also interesting to talk to my cousin because I found out that he had the same blockage as Jayda when he was born and also his brother (my other cousin) was also born with the same blockage (he was also preemie and was 2lbs 6oz when he was born). It was kinda freaky when he lifted up his shirt and showed me the exact same scar that Jayda has because it makes me wonder if it really is genetic and whether I should see a genetic counselor with my next pregnancy. We shall see. The up side though is my Aunts next pregnancy at least went full term even though her second baby had that same birth defect. So that gives me a little bit of hope. Just something interesting to think about. Anyways now I am rambling. Here are some fun pics!

Walking Walking Girl!!!!!

Yesterday Jayda started walking!!!!! I was just on the ground with her and she was holding on to me standing up and just started going like half way across the room (like 6-7 steps). Then she just started walking like all day (got up to about 10-11 steps). Its nuts seeing her walking!!! She is only 14.5 months actual and 11.5 months adjusted so WELL within the normal range even for actual age! What a big girl! I'm not sure if I can load videos on here but I shall try!

Update on Jayda's Clostridum Difficile

SO last Tuesday, Jayda started getting the runs really really bad. I figured maybe she caught a stomach bug or something when we went up to our family cabin, but after about four days of it getting worse not better. She was pooping about 8-10 times a day this really nasty green mucousy poop ( I know TMI right). Well the poor thing got such a bad diaper rash because she was pooping so much it actually started to bleed. So on Friday I took her to the doctor. He said the stomach bug was going around but that since she was getting worse and not better he wanted to tkae some stool samples. Let me tell you how FUN that was....not...all I gotta say is she better freaking know how much I love her because that crap (no pun intended) was GROSS!

So the labs came back on Monday and the Doctor told me that she tested positive for a bacteria in her intestines called CLostridum Difficile. He said it is caused by getting too many antibotics and it kills the healthy bacteria in her intestines and causes issues. It can be life threatening if not treated but it is pretty rare (more prevalent in elderly patients). The ironic thing is that in order to get rid of it they prescribe a very strong antibiotic. The problem is that she HATES it SO bad. Anytime we give it to her she gags and throws it up. It is nasty stuff and tastes like cough syrup. It takes two people to give it to her. One to squirt it in her mouth and the other to distract her so she doesn't gag and throw it up. We have to give her 8mls 3 times a day!! Thats A LOT! Plus we have to give her 4 mls of her reflux meds twice a day! Thats 32 mls of medicine a day! An little over an ounce! But good news is that is it really starting to work! She has only pooped once today (she usually poops 4 times in the first hour that she wakes up) and her diaper rash is already improving. We are also loading her up with probiotics. She is much much happier now though! Poor girl! It seems like its always something!

Meeting Michael from The Biggest Loser!

So Chase is the best! Last week he won on the radio a chance for me to come down to the radio station and not only meet Michael (the last winner of the Biggest Loser) but also be on the radio and ask him a question on air! He is such an awesome guy and is so bubbly! I asked him on air about whether or not he still gets weak moments and what does he do when he sees his favorite foods. And he said that he treats himself to pizza or whatever every now and then but he just works before he plays so to speak. When he eats pizza he bikes to the pizza place or works it off, but that you have to treat yourself every now and then. Here's some pics of us and of me asking him the question on air! It was so awesome!

Also I was talking to one of the DJs and she is a big runner as am I. She was telling me about the half marathon in November and I decided I am going to run it! I am so scared but I still have awhile to train. I am already up to 7 miles which is great. She said that if I run in it too that I will be able to run with some former biggest loser contestants! How awesome would that be! I decided I am also going to run a 5k on September 25th to help train. It also is for something near and dear to me. It will be in honor of the Steps for Hope which is for "pregnancy Hope" which helps women have safe pregnancies and offers support.

Parade

So this is a little late but last Saturday we went to the park for the 24th of July Pioneer celebration. It was a lot of fun. We went to the park for breakfast around 8am and then the parade at around 9am. We met up with Phil and Nicole and their baby Carter (he's 5 months). It was fun but then Jayda started to get cranky and so we took her home for her nap. Later on that day we figured out that she was actually sick. Poor thing! She is so happy in the day time but then at night she is just so sad and congested. Hopefully she starts feeling better in the next fews days.

Here are some pics of the parade.