June 4, 2007
Mom is torturing me. 
She isn't supposed to pick on me. 
Getting Ready for Baby Contest. Mom is torturing me. She isn't supposed to pick on me. So I'm going to go to Sleep. My Mom (Jennifer) made my outfit.For Father's day, John finished scanning in a book for his Grandpa and put it on CD for him. Then we went to dinner at the park with his mother's side of the family as her Father is the only living grandfather between John and I. Then we went to my Dad's to say hello while I feed Hyrum and pumped.
I get to sleep every once in a while. My girls are actually pretty good about letting me nap...mostly because that is the only TV time I let them have, so they would let me nap all day if I would. In fact, sometimes they will come ask if I should go take a nap...just so they can watch TV:)
We had a wonderful time at the Bunker reunion. The water park on Friday was twice the size I was thinking it would be. My oldest daughter (age 10) asked me how many of the people there was she related to. I pointed out that she was related to everybody but the lifeguards. Her jaw hit the ground and her eyes got really big! We have been telling her that her family is very large, but I guess she didn't believe me. The whole thing went by so fast that here it is Monday and I sit in shock that it is over. But the 3-year-olds olds sunburn reminds me that it really did happen!
But now it is time to get ready for Johns (my husband) family reunion for the next few days. I hope that someday we will be able to meet up with each other. My mom tells me that you and John would have a lot in common.
I didn't pass Hyrum around very much at the Family Reunion. My mom has a cousin that helped at the hospital for me. He held Hyrum a lot and I was comfortable with that as he knows Hyrum and his various conditions.
John's reunion was with only his siblings. So it was a very small group. They went camping, so we spent the first night in a very run down motel and the second night in John's sisters empty home. We went to a very nice parade on Wednesday and then drove home to enjoy the Fireworks very close to home.
July 10, 2007
I think the hardest part is being on the sidelines, watching his veins explode from being pricked to much, and having him in so much pain and not knowing why. Or overdosing on medication that he has to have. And yet he has a mild temperament. He attracts people to him just by his happy disposition. And they are amazed that he is so happy after all that he has been through. The most calming thing for me is that by the time he is 4-5 he won't remember the first year of his life other than the pictures that have been taken
He goes in on Monday for a quick test to find the end of his intestine and see how out of place it is, then on the 2nd of August, we go in to schedule his next surgery. I will be glad to get it over with!
Dad Feeding Hyrum.
Kids eating Lunch.
Hyrum taking a snooze in his pouch!
June 9, 2007
Next week Hyrum has a Baby Contest that I have entered him in. The winner gets a 4-year college scholarship! I doubt I will win, but you never know, can't hurt to try!
I feel like I was a walking mummy!!! Hyrum has been fighting a cold for the last few weeks and finally got bad enough I took him to the dr. He had an ear infection and a red throat. so they gave him a shot of an antibiotic and then put him on an asthma medication to open his airway and then another to clear him up. Hopefully, it will work. Other than this we are enjoying the summer of sleeping in and staying up late. Though yesterday I was so tired that when Hyrum fell asleep at 9 pm I went to bed myself knowing that he would be up at some awful time in the middle of the night...and he slept until 4 am!!!! And then again until 7:30am....so today I feel Great.
June 10, 2007
Hyrum being sick and on medication has its bonuses. This new medication makes him sleepy, so at night I give him a dose of the medication at 8-9pm and he sleeps until 4 am! I have gotten more consecutive sleep in the 3 days than I have since before he was born! I finally feel caught up and do not need to take a nap today! I'm sure it won't last, but I'm enjoying it while I can.
Rachel is 10 and is GREAT with Hyrum. I only have to watch her semi close when she gets frustrated she starts bouncing a bit more than acceptable.
June 11, 2007
When Hyrum is not in the hospital, I usually go to church. There have been a few times like Mother's Day I went to take a little nap before church(1:00 session) and I woke up at 2:00pm. When I first went on Bed rest in January, I called the primary pres. and asked to be released. I knew I wouldn't be going to church from then until he was born and we weren't sure what we were dealing with after he was born, and at the time, John was going to go to India for April and May. But with the problems, we have had with Hyrum his work brought a few people from India to John instead. He still needs to go, but they won't send him until Fall if they do at all. Until school let out, John and I would sit in the overflow of Sacrament meeting and when it was overrun, we did a coin toss to see who would take Hyrum home for the rest of the meetings. With school over, RSV season is also over, so we go to church. It has been nice to be together as a family at church. They finally gave me a calling as a Visiting Teacher Supervisor. They figure I can do this from anywhere, but still help me feel included in the ward. I like it because I still can attend Relief Society. It has been years since I have done that, though I miss the kids in Primary.
June 12, 2007
I'm tired!!! Hyrum is back to not sleeping, so neither am I. He is still stuffy. If he is still stuffy by Thurs or Fri I am taking him back to the Dr. He has a baby Contest on Saturday. My kids are enjoying summer; we go swimming about every other day.
June 17, 2007
Hyrum was entered into a baby contest. He won 2nd place for best costume! After much searching. I finally found some fabric on Friday and got home about 6 pm and started to cut and sew. I finally got the overalls done about midnight. I woke up about 6 am on Saturday and started to sew again and got the hat and shoes done about 9:30....just in time to get ready to go to the Contest. He slept through the whole thing or he would have won other things also! Oh well...It was fun and it is over!
Getting Ready for Baby Contest.
June 18, 2007
Sunday I died!!! He slept pretty well on Saturday and on Sunday nights...that helped. John also did everything with the kids from Friday night until Sunday to let me sew, and recoup!!
I'm not sure what the 1st prize winner was wearing. Hyrum was so hot that I took his outfit off. I'm sure the other baby did the same. I'm not sure how many participated, but there were about 200-300 kids from newborn to 2 years old. Hyrum only competed with those babies that were under 3 months.
We are doing great. Hyrum is still fighting a stuffy nose...I think it might be allergies. Other than this he is doing very good. He gives us scares every once in a while by crying a lot because he isn't getting food fast enough or he doesn't like his stoma(poop) bag to be changed. He is actually a pretty even-tempered little guy for what he has been through. I think he cries less than the rest of my kids, he just really isn't fussy. He is getting used to having three mommies. My girls love to play with him, but I have to remind them that he isn't a doll. Karl loves his brother and will let him lay on the floor or in his chair and just talk to him and goo at him and tell him how much he loves him. Of all my babies that had a sibling that was three, Hyrum has it the best. Karl has been the best big sibling of all my other kids. He has only picked Hyrum up once and that was because they were down in my family room and Hyrum started to cry and he carried him really carefully around the waist up the stairs to me and told me that "the baby was crying, he can't cry" over and over. My girls always carried the "baby" around their neck and shoulder area. So I was pretty impressed. I told Karl he was not allowed to carry Hyrum and that next time he needs to let the baby cry and come find me. And he has ever since. He also minds better than my girls.
June 25, 2007
The weather here is pretty cool today and tomorrow, but for this weekend we are in the 100's! This weekend my family is having a family reunion. It is for my grandmother's brothers and sisters. We are planning for about 200 people to come. My mom and I have been planning this for about 1 year now. Then next week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we are going about 2 hours north of here to stay in a hotel while John's family camps...this is as close to camping as I am going this year. With Hyrum, it is very hard to go camping. With Hyrum's delicate condition, we don't dare go more than a few hours away. I think this trip with his family will be the farthest from Salt Lake that we will go until next year. We are trying to come up with fun things to do around Salt Lake to help with the kids. We are used to taking at least one major trip every year so this year will be very boring!
July 2, 2007
A Letter to my Uncle:
I am at the sleepless stage. I am told that we prepare for this stage by sleeping in our teenage years. That may have been true through my first child, but somehow the extra sleep didn't make it this far. We had our fourth child this past March 13th. Though he has been a wonderful addition to our family, he has added more stress to both me and my husband (not to mention the extended family that has helped) than all of our other children combined. He has spent a total of 4 1/2 of his 16 weeks in the hospital. He has had 6 surgeries on his intestines, he caught RSV 4 days after he was born and had a collapsed lung due to that. And the best part is he is not allowed to really cry because it causes problems with his intestines. So he sleeps in my room so I can hear him when he starts to wiggle too much. This is when I am grateful for being a light sleeper!
July 4, 2007
I've been out of town since last Wednesday. We had dentist appointments early on Thursday so we went up to my mom's on Wed. Friday and Saturday we had my reunion. On Sunday we went to church with my folks and then came home. And rewashed clothes and left that afternoon for John's family reunion. We got back from that today about 4 and I’ve been sleeping ever since. I've not gone to sleep before 11 since we left. And we have gotten up about 6 am to get going for the day. And of, course I am up with the baby. So I plan on sleeping for a few days!
July 5, 2007
I'm still exhausted. I have slept for most of the day and plan on going back again when the oven is hot enough to put dinner in.
July 9, 2007
I don't ever recall ever being under so much stress as I was those first 6 weeks. Hyrum is doing very well now. He actually smiled while his bag was changed yesterday. I was given as close to sleepless a night as he dishes out Saturday night, so I cleaned the stool off of him and took his bag off, then John (who can't stomach the smell of Hyrum's stool) bathed him while my 10 year old showed him how to apply the bag. John ends up standing in front of the toilet when he smells Hyrum's bag coming off, so I have always done the bag, while his version of helping is giving Hyrum a bath while I get everything ready to put a new bag on. This is a great help, but yesterday morning would be John's first time to apply the bag without me. Rachel has been helping me every time I change the bag since school let out for the summer, therefore I think she knows more about applying the bag than her dad!
In August or September, the Dr. will create his rectum and use a muscle from his bottom for the anal. He will then find the other end of his intestine (they are thinking it is attached to his prostrate) and attach it to his newly made hole. We will use dilators for 3 months to train the muscle to open and close and then they will close up his intestine and see how "things flow." They have revolutionized this particular surgery in the last 20 years. He has a 75% chance that he won't need the bag for the rest of his life. And if he makes it in that 75% chance he has another 75% chance that he won't were a diaper for the rest of his life either. He then at age 3 will have his right ear canal formed in hopes to be able to hear out of that ear. He can already hear out of his left ear. Luckily he has his daddy's hearing and it is off the charts and his potential for his right ear will be off the charts!
July 15, 2007
Hyrum is doing very well and acting like a typical baby. This past weekend, as I've taken out and about, I have been told multiple times what a beautiful little girl I have and how daring I am to take out a newborn. He is small for his age, but not THAT small and if he were a girl, she'd have a bow or something in her hair...more like a pig tail! I find it amazing how people see lots of hair and automatically think it's a girl.
July 30, 2007
Hyrum is still not holding his head up yet. But he seems to be rolling about the same time as Karl. Karl was actually rolling by the time he was 6 months. Being in the hospital so much has slowed down the growth though. He is 4 1/2 months and is about 13 lbs. So he is a very small kid. He is still wearing size 1 diapers and is barely into 3-6 month clothes. It is nice because he is not a heavy kid! I don't feel like I'm lugging a tub of lard around in the form of a baby. He really doesn't have much fat on him. But he doesn't have much intestine to get a lot of nutrients out of his food. I imagine and hope that when he is "all hooked up" that he will gain a lot of weight.Family Hike to Lake Cecret.
