Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Big scare...

When Caroline was two and a half weeks old, she gave us a pretty good scare. She was such a good baby, ate and slept as well as can be expected from a newborn and was hardly ever fussy. She had just had her two-week check up and everything was perfect. Then one day I started to notice that she was seeming to sleep more than normal, and she didn't want to eat as much. Then by the evening she was getting really fussy and just wasn't acting like herself. As the evening went on she started to feel a little warm to me, and she just wanted to be held close, anytime I had to move her she would start screaming. I kept taking her temperature but could never get a consistent reading. I started to get more and more worried and was up the whole night with her wondering what I should do. I knew that fevers in newborns were really dangerous, but I wasn't sure if Caroline really had a fever or not. And I knew that if I took her into the ER that they would run all sorts of tests on her, and I didn't want to put her through that unless it was absolutely necessary. But by the time morning finally arrived I knew my little baby was sick, so I called her pediatrician's office as soon as they opened and they told me to take her to the ER. Luckily it was Brannick's late start day at work, so I left him home with Ella and headed to the hospital. Caroline's temperature in triage was 101.2, and the ER doctor explained that because of the fever Caroline would need a lumbar puncture, blood cultures, catheterized urine sample, chest x-ray, and would be admitted for IV antibiotics. The doctor asked if I wanted to be in the room while he did the lumbar puncture, and I decided that it probably wouldn't be a good idea. I went out to the waiting room and completely lost it, my brand new little baby was very sick. I called Brannick and told him what was happening. He made a few phone calls and found a wonderful family in our ward to watch Ella and also got a hold of our stake president and his wife who had called me while I was on my way to the hospital wanting to stop by to visit. They came right over to the hospital and I was so grateful to have them there as a support. I was finally able to go back into the room and Caroline had done great with the LP, and the nurses got her IV in with the first stick. By then Brannick had arrived and Caroline's pediatrician had gotten there too. It was her day off and the ER doctor called her while she was grocery shopping. She said she dropped her groceries off at her office and headed straight to the hospital. During her exam she found that Caroline was very tachycardic (fast heart rate) and her fontanelle was bulging (pressure in her brain). During the whole night she had been sick I kept checking her fontanelle to make sure it wasn't depressed, because I was worried about her being dehydrated, it didn't even occur to me that it was bulging. The ER nurses (while very excellent) weren't moving fast enough for the pediatrician, so she said, "we're going to the nursery," so I picked up my baby and we walked through the hospital to the nursery. Once there they immediately gave her an IV fluid bolus, hooked her up to all sorts of monitors, and started three different IV antibiotics and one anti-viral. Once things settled down a little bit Brannick and our Stake President were finally able to give her a priesthood blessing. And then we started to get some test results back. The results from the LP showed elevated white blood cells, which was indicative of meningitis. This was a really scary diagnosis at first because we didn't know if it was bacterial (very dangerous) or viral (not as serious) meningitis. Then we got the first blood work back and it showed that it was more likely viral meningitis, but the doctor couldn't be sure yet. I absolutely love our pediatrician, and she told me that at this point she felt comfortable taking care of Caroline at our small hospital, but if that changed, or if I at anytime wanted to be transferred to a larger more specialized hospital in Eugene she would do it. And if it came back that Caroline had bacterial meningitis, or if any of her cultures came back positive, we would be sent to a larger hospital. Luckily we never had to do that. The first cultures came back negative, and Caroline began to stabilize. One of the hardest parts for me was that I couldn't hold her or feed her at all that first day, and it broke me heart seeing my brand new little baby so sick. The night nurse finally kicked me out of the nursery and ordered me to get some sleep, since I hadn't slept at all the night before. The next days all blur together as I watched my baby slowly improve, and cultures continued to come back negative. I was finally able to feed her small amounts and I would spend my days in the nursery holding her and visiting with the nurses, all of whom were fantastic. The interesting thing was that Caroline continued to have a fever the whole time she was in the hospital, I think the highest it got was 105.1. But the pediatrician said that it was a good sign that she continued to have a fever with all the antibiotics she was on, it was another indication that it was viral meningitis and not bacterial. I stayed in the hospital the whole time with Caroline. Brannick would take Ella to the Davis Family's house in the morning and would go to work. Then he would pick her up in the evening (along with a meal from our people in our ward) and they would come to the hospital for a few hours. I would then spend time with Ella and Brannick would go to the nursery and hold Caroline (Ella wasn't allowed in the nursery). It was a terrible stressful time for Brannick and I, but Ella had lots of fun playing at the Davis's. Finally after four days in the hospital Caroline was well enough to go home. All of the cultures and blood work remained negative, which meant that Caroline had viral meningitis, which isn't contagious and isn't too dangerous. The pediatrician even gave us the okay to take Caroline on an airplane and go to Arizona the next weekend for my brother Nate's wedding. I am so grateful for the wonderful doctors and nurses that took care of Caroline, and I know it was the power of prayers and priesthood blessings that helped our beautiful little Caroline get better so quickly. I am also so grateful for wonderful friends and members of our church who took such good care of our family during this time. And most of all I am grateful for my beautiful and healthy baby Caroline!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Growing Family

In the past 4 months we've added two new members to our family. The newest member of our family is our baby girl Caroline Marie Adams! She was born September 21 at 12:20am. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and was 19 inches long and had a little bit of brown hair. The labor and delivery went very smoothly (once Brannick and my mom finally convinced me that I was in labor and that I needed to go to the hospital). We got there around 10pm and I was at 3cm. My midwife talked me into getting an epidural (which I loved) because they were hoping to slow my labor down so I could get two doses of antibiotics that had to be four hours apart. So after the epidural was in I was at 8cm, and they got me all settled and comfortable, turned out the lights and hoped things would slow down. But just a few minutes after the nurses and midwife left my room I felt my water break, this baby didn't want to wait around. So everyone came rushing back in, and it was time to have a baby. My midwife and nurses, one of which was a wonderful woman from my ward, were excellent; my epidural worked great, except that it made me incredibly itchy; and of course Brannick was a great support. The midwife didn't even really have me push, hoping to minimize tearing she just let the baby come out naturally with the contractions. And the whole time we were all laughing and making jokes. It was such a different experience from Ella's all natural delivery! And after being in the hospital for two hours our beautiful little Caroline was born. We had the hardest time deciding on a name for her, but Brannick finally gave in and let me name her Caroline. We gave her the middle name Marie after my Grandma Darlene Marie and Brannick's Grandma Mary. The other new member of our family is a cat that Brannick affectionately named "Wimpy" (to go along with our dog named "Tough"). We weren't in the market for a cat, but one day I got a phone call from an employee at Brannick's office, saying that she had found a kitten under the hood of her car that had survived her 30 mile drive to work that day (the cat's mom and sibling weren't so lucky). She didn't know what to do with the cat and asked me if I could take care of it. At the time I was huge pregnant, my brother Jake was in town visiting and was scheduled to get his wisdom teeth out that afternoon, and I really didn't want to deal with a cat! And of course the animal shelter wasn't open that day, so I was stuck with this flea infested sad looking little black kitty, which Ella instantly fell in love with. I decided to take the cat to the vet to see if they could "deal with it", but the cute old man veterinarian seriously teared up when I asked him how I could get rid of it (he kept referring to the cat as the "miracle kitty" that survived 30 miles in a car engine). So he suckered me into testing the cat for various illnesses, and of course the miracle cat was given a clean bill of health. So the cat got treated for fleas and ear mites, and $200 later we had a new pet cat. Wimpy has turned into a pretty good cat and puts up with a lot of abuse from Ella and Tough.

Monday, June 4, 2012

In the 9 months since my last post, We've...

Raced... One triathlon, with two great friends and training buddies (both of whom have since moved and left me all alone to get fat). Traveled to... Arizona two and a half times. Nebraska twice (once with the dog). Celebrated... Ella's first birthday. Halloween. Christmas. Easter. Our 3 year wedding anniversary (with a trip to Disneyland and a lobster dinner). Had visits from... My sister Allison (my birthday surprise) My parents and brother Jake. Brannick's parents and sister Kristi, along with Ella's cousin twin Carson. Ella Finally grew enough hair for pigtails. And we found out we will be adding another little girl to our family in September! With a family reunion, my brother's wedding, the holidays, and a new baby coming, the next few months should be just as exciting for us!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Family Fun

Before Ella came along, Brannick and I used to take lots of weekend road trips exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest. And then we had Ella, and life changed in so many ways. But as summer was coming to an end this year, Brannick really wanted to go on a road trip to Washington to see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. So at the last minute we threw the baby and the dog in the car and headed north. Brannick and I learned many things on this little adventure: 1. Dogs are not really welcome in National Parks, so poor Tough spent a lot of time in the car. 2. Ella does not like being restrained in her car seat for long periods of time, nor does she like being alone in the back seat. She is a very smart little girl that needs social interaction and freedom to move. 3. Ella no longer has a sweet little baby cry...now its more of a piercing, make your ears bleed screech sound that you would never imagine coming out of such a sweet innocent looking baby. 4. Its very hard to find a hotel in small Washington towns that allow a dog over 50lbs, and when you finally do find such a hotel, it is the scariest looking collection of rooms an people ever! 5. And most importantly, our days of last minute road trip adventures are over. We are now a family that requires advanced notice and thorough pre-trip planning and research before such adventures.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Newport, OR Marathon

Before I got married and had a baby I set a goal that I wanted to run a marathon in between having children. So after I had Ella last October I set my sights on running the Newport, OR marathon on June 4th. Brannick was crazy enough to let me talk him into running it too. And even though trainging was much harder than I anticipated after having a baby, I'm proud to say that Brannick and I both finished (my 3rd marathon and Brannick's 1st, and he adds only)! I am also happy to report that I have revised my goal to a more realistic half-marathon in between having children.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Home owners

After we got married I moved into Brannick's two bedroom duplex, which he had rented ever since he moved to Roseburg six years ago. It was a very nice place with great views and wonderful neighbors. But once we bought the dental practice and knew we were going to be in Roseburg for a while, we started looking for a home to buy. Our search intensified once we started accumulating lots of baby stuff and quickly outgrew our rental. And finally, after going through dozens of homes, two real estate agents, and three offers we finally got a wonderful home!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Life is Tough...

I grew up with pet cats, I'm proud to say I am a cat person. I thought I wanted a pet cat, quite badly actually, but we weren't allowed to have pets in our rental. And then I had a baby and lost all desire to have a pet cat.

Brannick grew up with dogs. His dog Keogh was his best friend growing up. Brannick has wanted a dog for a LONG time and has done lots and lots of dog research on what the best breed for us would be. After all his research decided that THE dog for us was a German Short Hair Pointer. It's a bird hunting dog (perfect for Branick) that is also a great running dog (perfect for me).

Brannick used to always ask me if he could get a dog, and I told him he could get a dog as soon as he bought me a house. So as soon as we had a offer accepted on a house, he started looking for a puppy and found a breeder only 30 minutes from our house. So we went and looked at the puppies, and yes they were very cute, and I got suckered in. I agreed to a puppy... I had NO idead what I was getting into.

The problem was, the puppy was going to be ready to be taken home before we were able to move into our new home. So we ended up secretly having the puppy for three weeks in our tiny two-bedroom duplex with no yard, not fun!

Tough (or as I affectionately call him Tuffy), is our new German Short Hair Pointer puppy. He is four months old now, weighs 35 pounds, and is quite a handful. Luckily Tuffy is a pretty good dog, most of the time, and didn't have too many accidents in the house, and only chewed up one piece of valuable electronic equipment. But having two babies at home, all by myself most of the day, while trying to move, was not very much fun, and if I had know what a handful he was going to be I would have never agreed to the dog. The only thing that has kept me from killing the dog on several occassions is how much Brannick loves him. So I guess I'm stuck...

Despite my bad attitude, Tough really is a pretty good dog. He is already a great pointer and retriever and can run five miles with me without any trouble. And he is pretty cute, and aren't all girls suckers for a cute puppy?