The last few months have been a whirlwind!  Oliver was in the hospital for about another month after my last post...he picked up bottle feeding really quickly and loved it.  He continued growing and developing with only one major setback - he had laser eye surgery on 4/30 to remove the enlarged blood vessels threatening to detach his retinas.  The surgery was successful, but Oliver had a hard time coming out of recovery and ended up back on the ventilator for a short while.  But within a week or so of the surgery he was back to himself.

His due date was May 13 (Mother's Day), and we received a phone message that afternoon saying his eyes looked stable enough to send him home on oxygen so we should talk about discharge!  What a great day that was!  We stayed over at the hospital the night of the 14th so we could take care of him during the night and get used to his oxygen equipment.  He had all his final tests and exams and was discharged mid-day on Tuesday, May 15 after 100 days in the NICU.  It was a bit of an emotional day for all of us...especially witnessing Kate's reaction to meeting her little brother for the first time.  So sweet...several tears shed. :)

 Oliver came home from the hospital at 6 pounds exactly...a gain of over 4 pounds from his birth weight.  And now he weighs over 10 pounds and is getting bigger, stronger and sweeter by the day.  He has started really interacting with his smiles and his eyes...he is getting more of a personality and had really become a wonderful addition to our family.  He is still on oxygen day and night since his lungs were so badly damaged from the ventilator and the pneumonia...we've been having regular doctor and physical therapist visits and have an appointment with a lung specialist at the end of August...hopefully we'll be able to get him off soon.  We'll all be so much happier!

The girls love him!!

Although it hasn't been quite a normal summer for us, Kate is still finding fun things to do...we've been playing a lot with her cousins who recently moved back from Colorado (hooray!), lots of sprinklers in the backyard, even a couple trips to the zoo and once to the water park.  She had a few sessions of summer preschool, plus gymnastics once a week.  She's getting to be such a big sweet girl and is already showing us that she'll be a great big sister to Oliver.  Hard to believe that we've been blessed through adoption with two amazing children - we love them so much!

Oliver Update

Oliver has been progressing well over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd post another update about what's new with him!

Since my last post, it was determined that the ventilator had contributed to a spell of pneumonia and he was pretty sick there for a while. It was really scary! But he finally pulled through and was strong enough to be extubated on March 17. He had the ventilator tube down his throat for a total of 32 days before moving to CPAP, a pressurized air flow. Unfortunately, the ventilator was a necessary evil which allowed him to breathe, but also caused quite a bit of lung 'disease.' It will be a while still before his lungs fully recover and he'll be able to breathe entirely on his own.

But, on to the positive news! He started growing really well once he got back up to his full feedings (fortified with extra calories, protein and vitamins), and now he's up to 4 pounds! He started regulating his body temperature really well, so he graduated from the enclosed isolette to an open-air crib last Friday. Now he wears tiny preemie clothes and gets wrapped in blankets! We were able to do the kangaroo hold several times with him (see the first photo below: skin to skin contact), and now we can hold him even more often since he's in the open crib. His lungs were finally strong enough to get off the extra pressure, and now he's on high-flow oxygen instead. He started on a volume of 5 L per minute about a week ago, and has weaned down to 3 1/2...once he gets down to 2 L, we'll be able to start trying to bottle feed!

So overall, we're pleased with how he's doing...he has definitely had a rough beginning, but hopefully all that is behind us now. He'll still be in the NICU for at least 3 or 4 more weeks, likely more...and we can't wait to bring him home!

Kate has been handling the transition well so far...it's tough that we go to the hospital so often, but she always has fun while we're gone. Hopefully the hospital will lift the RSV restriction soon, and she'll be able to go inside to finally meet him in person. :)

Kangaroo hold with his eyes open (also with the CPAP breathing apparatus)

In his new open crib with new tiny PJs

His first sponge bath (he didn't love it...)

Sleeping sweetheart...

Introducing Oliver!

On February 6, 2012 at 9:20pm, we were blessed with the arrival of our new baby boy, Oliver Micah James. His birthmother Rebecca was only 26 weeks along when he was delivered...he weighed only 1 lb. 13 oz. and measured 12.5 in. long! He is currently in the NICU and will be for the next several weeks, but he is doing well and we can't wait to bring him home!

So here's the LONG story of how he came to be ours...Rebecca selected us to be his parents in November. We were thrilled, and were very much looking forward to his due date of May 13. We attended her ultrasound, where we found out he was a healthy little boy, and stayed in close contact with her. Then in January she started having some complications with her pregnancy...she was in the hospital twice for excessive bleeding, and the ultrasound she had was a little bit concerning, but the doctors just advised her to take it easy and get as much rest as possible.

Then on February 1 we attended another ultrasound with her and the doctor told us we needed to take her to the hospital immediately where she was to be admitted for the remainder of her pregnancy! She had leaked most of the fluid from the baby's gestational sac, but didn't realize it because of the bleeding. They hoped to monitor her and keep her there for 8-9 weeks before inducing her at the end of March...but she didn't even last a week!

Monday night, Feb. 6, she started having contractions at 5:45, we texted a couple times that evening while she was waiting for the doctors, then at 8:30 we told her we were coming to the hospital to make sure she was OK. Her adoption case worker called us back a minute later to tell us that she was going in for an emergency C-section in 10 minutes! We rushed to the hospital and arrived after she had gone into the operating room, but I was able to quickly get dressed and enter the delivery room just minutes before Oliver was born. What an incredible experience to be in the room and see him come out...then to watch him immediately passed through the window into the NICU. I was in a bit of shock. :)

We got to see him later that evening and couldn't believe how tiny and perfect he was. The nurses were all amazed at how well he was doing with his breathing and he didn't seem to have any obvious problems!

Rebecca was discharged from the hospital 3 days later, and we all signed the adoption paperwork at that time. She's been back to the hospital to see him a couple of times, and we'll likely do some sort of formal placement once Oliver is released from the NICU. Oliver is doing fairly well...he had an infection in his second week of life that required him to be on a ventilator, receive a couple of blood transfusions, a few antibiotics, steroids, etc, but nothing too scary. He's been digesting his milk well, and his brain, heart, and lung ultrasounds & X-rays all look good! He passed the 2 pound mark a few days ago...so now we just hope that he will continue to grow and develop into a healthy little boy!

Quite a life-changing experience for us...we're so excited to have him as part of our family, and even more excited to bring him home as soon as possible! Kate still hasn't been able to see him since she's too young to enter the NICU, but she's excited and we know she'll be a great big sister.

SUCH a long post...I'll try to keep updating the blog every week or two if there are new changes. :) Welcome, Little Oliver!!

Busy Fall!

(Quite) A few photos from the last 3 or 4 months to catch up!

We visited California over Labor Day weekend and Kate made friends with a little boy at the beach who was jumping off a sculpture onto the sand. It was a pretty tall jump, and I caught her mid-air. She's a crazy one! :)

We went with my parents to the Utah State Fair...by far the best part is the kids farm area where kids can complete several farming activites and trade in their collection of goodies for a treat at the end - Kate loved it!
This photo made me laugh...at a trip to the Discovery Gateway children's museum, Kate dressed up as a cow. She looks like she's going to beat me up for taking the picture!
Back to California in October...unfortunately for my grandmother's memorial service. She passed away one day after her 89th birthday. She lived a long, wonderful, happy life and will be missed by all of us. We love you, grandma!

The cousins had fun at the beach, as usual...just hangin' around! :)
We were able to get (almost) all the cousins together for a visit...it was great to see Spencer & Parker.
Our sweet Grandpa after the memorial service...we love you too, Grandpa!
We also visited Colorado in October just before Halloween. We made ghost cake pops
and carved pumpkins! These girls have so much fun together...can't wait to see them again for the holidays.
We got a new kitten! Kate chose him from the litter and named him Frisco. He was 7 weeks old when we got him, and we've had fun having him around!
Kate chose to be a ghost for Halloween this year! I found this cute ghost costume idea online and my sweet sister helped me make it. Turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. :)
We tried Disney on Ice...
And had a chilly trip to the zoo...check out the cutest turtle ever!
Kate's 4th birthday came on December 1. WOW! Four seems so old. :) She got to go to preschool that day and came home with this fun paper birthday crown.
She chose to go to the new Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaur bones to celebrate her special day. Then we went to Temple Square to see the pretty lights, followed by Macaroni & Cheese at Olive Garden. It was a great day!

We celebrated her birthday on Sunday with our family, and William made her another incredible cake...this year it was Rapunzel's tower! So cute...and Kate loved it.
Katers the blue-nosed reindeer...we love you so much and can't believe we were chosen to be your parents. You're such a special girl...Happy 4th birthday!

Summer!

As usual, the summer has gone too fast! Here are a few things that we've been up to...

On the 4th of July we walked in my parents' neighborhood parade. Kate helped decorate her tricycle with plenty of "stripes and bright stars flags."

Kate's cousins came to visit in July...we had lots of fun with them, swimming and playing outside and camping! Here's a photo of the girls at our campground.

Our favorite thing to do this summer was going to the water park! We don't have a photo of it, but Kate Loved the wave pool, the big tube slides, holding her breath under water, etc...She's a little fish!

In mid-August, Kate started pre-school! She's in a class of other kids who are 3, turning 4, and she loves her teacher, Ms. Shayla. I was really nervous about her going (for a number of reasons...), but she's been 4 times so far and really seems to be doing well. She's a big girl!

So excited!!

We took our annual trip to Lagoon where we had 4 adults sitting around watching one little one ride rides to her heart's content. :)

Our only vacation this summer was to Chicago to meet William's family. It's such a fun city! We really enjoy taking the public transportation and walking where we need to go. The waterfront is beautiful, the skyline is awesome, and we got to go to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game on William's birthday!

We haven't seen Kate's cousin Connor since he was 1 month old...now he's 8 months, and so cute! We were pleased to see that Kate treated him so well and actually enjoyed his company. :)

We spent a lot of time at various museums...at least they all have fun hands-on activities for kids. This was at the museum of science and industry...probably our favorite.

And the Cubs game...we deliberately covered up the final score against the Cardinals...we were at the only game the Cubs lost during their 4 game series...

They have these cool self-serve racks where you can rent bikes for a length of time and return them in another location. Don't worry, we didn't really rent them and carry Kate in the basket...

Chicago!

We celebrated William's birthday when we got home...Kate helped me make chocolate cupcakes...

Happy Birthday, Will! And please do notice his hair...it's a bit out of control after the water park. :) All in all, it's been a fun summer!

Springtime Fun

Here are a few photos of what we've been up to this Spring:

Kate took a dance class! She actually didn't love it as much as we thought she would...she'd get really bored and have a hard time following all the instructions -- it was much more fun to run around and play! We never actually finished a class all the way because she kept reaching her warning limit...But she sure looked cute! :)
In early May we had some family photos taken so we could update our adoption profile...plus it's been a while since we had any taken! This was one of our favorites...but we actually got quite a few good shots! After rescheduling 3 times due to weather, we finally got a gorgeous afternoon.
Kate and I took a trip to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point...I had never seen the gardens, let alone the thousands of gorgeous tulips! It was beautiful! On our way in to the festival, we ran into my friend Brooke and her family, and they were kind enough to let us tag along with them. It was a fun day...I think we'll go again next year!
And then, after a year-long delay, U2 was finally here! We had general admission tickets and I was a little bit worried about where we'd end up...but we managed to get in to the inner circle between the stage and the catwalk. It was awesome!! The Fray was the opening act and we really enjoyed their performance...but the U2 concert was fantastic. We were so close! They had these bridges that would rotate around from the stage...here's a photo of Bono crossing over:
It's hard to believe how long they've been around...but their concerts still rock and their music is still great and they always promote such a great message of peace and love...it's fun to be a part of it all! Here's a cool shot of The Edge and Adam jamming together:
Kate always wants to fly a kite, so on Memorial Day we tried out our new bird Kite. After Will and I tried a few times unsuccessfully to get it in the air, Kate took a turn and got it right up there! She was really excited.
Kate had her first real dentist appointment in June and did so great! She wasn't nervous, let the hygienist and the dentist do their work, and had a perfectly healthy mouth. I'm pretty sure that she's getting too big now...she can slow down a bit. :)
We went to Hogle Zoo to check out the new dinosaur exhibit...very cool, by the way! Kate was more interested in the dinosaurs (and the playground) than she was in the animals this time. We had fun...and hope to do lots more fun stuff this summer!

CA & Cousins

In March we were able to travel to California to visit family, and also to meet up with Kate's cousins from Colorado! We had a fun time, despite all the rain, and really enjoyed our visit. The first 2 days it rained constantly, and the little girls got bored inside...so we went out on the back patio to blow bubbles! Don't you just love Kate's outfit?

The third day we got some sunshine! We headed to the beach to play paddle tennis and dig in the sand. It was perfect!
Although the water was very cold, Kate still managed to get herself completely soaked...running away from waves is just too much fun. :)
The next day we tried Knott's Berry farm...the kids had fun at Camp Snoopy and rode all the rides. We didn't get very many 'grown-up' rides in before the rain came...we thought we'd wait it out, but after a while we were soaked! It was still a fun day!
Kate and her cousins really enjoyed the rides...this one went up high, then did little freefalls...Kate was laughing so hard - definitely one her favorites.
On our way home we stayed a night in Las Vegas...the girls were awed by all the lights and the water show at the Bellagio. We were awed by the Bellagio buffet...
Back in Utah, Kate's cousins were able to stay and play for another week! So we had fun hanging out every day and did all sorts of activities...Grandpa took us all to the zoo!
Swimming was a favorite...and this photo in the locker room afterward turned out really cute!
The girls had a great time in the big jetted bubble bath and made some nice Santa Claus beards!
We had such a wonderful time visiting with everyone...we miss you already!