Check It Out!

My cousin Trevor created a family board game.
It really is quite awesome.
I can't wait to get a copy and play it.
He needs some help getting it published.
Check it out at....
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trevorcram/force-of-fiction-the-story-board-game

Awesome Baby Blankets

My friend Nalani makes the most adorable baby blankets!
Check out her etsy shop!
They make for a great gift.
Just click the link below...

www.hipbabybyna.etsy.com

Update.....SVT

So Berrett was in the NICU for swallowing muconium and an infection. He couldn't hold his temperature and his glucose was low. The first few days he had a feeding tube, oxygen, and an IV. We were there for 8 days and about to be discharged in one hour and his heart rate shot up to 300. That is like 5 beats per second! The alarm went off the doctor kicked me out of the room. I watched through the window as all the nurses rushed over. I heard the Dr say get me the cardiologist and ice! Then they covered his entire head in ice. He was screaming and I was freaking out. Then I heard the dr say his chest collapsed! It took 30 minutes to get his heart rate down. But luckily the ice worked . If it hadn't they have a medication they use.

The reason this occured is because of a disorder called (SVT) Supraventricular Tachycardia. It is when the electrical current in the heart that makes it pump gets messed up and makes the heart rate go up. The scary thing is that you can not tell that it is happening. When he gets older it will be easier to notice and he will be able to tell me his heart is racing.

Sometimes with SVT there are heart defects that are causing the SVT, but the ekg and the echocardiograph came back negative for any. So that means Berret's is because he has more than one pathway for the electrical current to travel on. And you should only have one.

So I have to use yhe stethoscope every few hours and check his heart rate. If it is up to high I go right to the ER. If he has one more episode they are going to put him on the medication. I will have to administer it to him 4 times a day. With SVT it is completely random. He might not have another episode for a week, a day or twenty years.

If an episode goes unnoticed and I don't catch it after 8-12 hours he will start to go into heart failure. This obviously causes death, brain damage, liver and other organs start shutting down. They told me he will start to turn grey, tummy will swell, tired, out of breath, ect. Pretty much things that are difficult to notice in an infant. Those things show up if they have a tummy ache or anything. They said if I am even questioning it I need to come in.

 Needless to say I am very nervous. I really want to buy a monitor but the dr said it would make me more nervous beeping all the time and I will be fine with the stethascope. WHATEVER! If he has one more episode I am going to get one.

Today he was hooked up to a computer to monitor his heart for 24 hours. Normally in this situationI would be a walking disaster but I can literally feel the spirit and everyone's prayers getting me through. 

So thanks to everyone that is praying for us. Please continue to pray that he won't have any more episodes.

Berrett Lavern Blanchard

This is ashlee again...just wanted to update you all.  Baby Blanchard was finally given a name!  Yay! And it's a great one too!  After both his great-grandpas. 
Berrett is still in the NICU.  He has an infection and will have to stay there until it's gone.  Michelle is doing great. . .she is such a champ.  She is already taking care of all her boys at home and traveling back and forth to the hospital to feed the new guy every three hours. 
Keep him in your prayers!

baby boy BLANCHARD! (we are anxiously awaiting his name)

 

This is Michelle's sister...since Michelle neglects her blog now (and since she is still in the hospital) I thought I would give you all a glimpse of the newest Blanchard edition.  He arrived last night at 6:05 and weighed in at a whopping 6lbs!  He is absolutely adorable and is sure to be a heart breaker just like his brothers. 
Mom and baby are doing great.

family and pregnancy pics

My Sister Ashlee did these awesome pictures. She is so talented! Thanks Ash! The kids just wanted to play in the dirt and hunt for animals. There are lots of cute ones she still needs to edit. I tried to hide my belly in most of them. I am 6 months and feeling pretty good.

Big News...

IT IS A BOY!
I am so excited to have three boys.
Crazy.
Just crazy.
It is going to be so cute and fun to have 3 little blonde boys following behind me.
I always wanted a bunch of boys.
Any name ideas?
I feel like it has to be 1 syllable like the other two.
Weird huh?
And he already looks beautiful in his ultrasound pics.
I cried a little.
And really enjoyed DeLoy's huge smile and constant leg shaking and foot tapping.

And an update on me.
I am eating, proudly and happily, eating food.
They ordered TPN for my feeding tube a week and a half ago.
And then I started holding down a little bit.
I still have not gone 7 days (that is my goal and dream)
without barfing.
But I am getting close.
I am back to showering,
playing, laughing, and enjoying chocolate.

Thank You Sooo Much!

To everyone who has brought in meals, cleaned my house, taken my kids, done my laundry, let me cry to them, visited me in the hospital, and prayed for me...I love each of you with all my heart. I feel so much gratitude and love.
My pregnancies are oh so difficult. But my Heavenly Father has been helping me through every day. The power of prayer is so real. And I am so thankful for it in these hard times.
This pregnancy is going better than M's. Which is all I could ask for. I honestly don't know if I could handle that again. Each week got worse with M. It got to the point where I was 35 pounds lighter at several months prego and vomiting 40-50 times just during day light.
My doctor(Dr. Harter) literally an angel here on earth. My hero is what I call him. He had me get a PICC line inserted in my arm that goes to my heart. It has helped so much. And now with fluids I won't damage my kidneys even more. Yeah!!!
My blood vessels and swelling have gone down in my face and eyes. Sorry to all those who saw me look like a monster.
I am actually starting to eat food. Thank the heavens. It had been 3 weeks without eating before my hospital stay. It really is such a blessing. With M I did not eat or drink for 4 months. I am counting my blessings.
If you would like to read more about people with my condition. Hypremesis Gravidarum is what it is called go to http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/women-hellish-morning-sickness-elect-abortion/story?id=11043146  or go to beyondmorningsickness.com
I know the first time I was fighting this illness I turned to blogs and forums with people who had it too. When I was well enough to keep my head up and look at the computer.
So if any of you have gone through this or are experiencing this, I would love to chat.
I have reconnected with a friend from my childhood who has gone through this once before and she has helped me just with emails. Thanks friend!
This time around is sooo much better, but I am praying it stays that way. I really don't want to have to be fed through a tube.
So please pray for me and my kiddos.
I know this is hard on them. I feel like my relationship with them suffers so much. And it makes my heart break. But I am trying to be positive.
When you have HG you never think about a baby in you. It never even crosses your mind. You miss out in every joy of pregnancy. You just want it to end. I know that sounds crazy. But it is the truth.
Starting on Monday night my nausea level dropped to about a 4! And it has stayed that way. So far...fingers crossed.
And since the nausea was down I slept through the night, I ate, I held and kissed my kids, and I thought about the little baby in my tummy.
It was a huge blessing.
Please pray for me. I know the power of prayer works and is real. I have felt every single one of your prayers.

M and G thought this was sooo cool!

The BIGGER the Better,

My tummy and family that is.
We are expecting number three!!
I am very excited and a little nervous about getting sick.
I think I am only about 6 weeks.
Which means 7 days until the vomitting starts.
Wish me luck.

M says we are having twins.
And he wants the girl to be named Mark-ella (get it? So clever he is)
He also said he would like the baby in my head instead of my tummy so my head could get fat.
And then he busted up laughing.

Father and Son #2

This was M's second time on the Father and Son's camp out.
D wanted to take G too.
But I said...
"no way dude, one of them will walk right into a fire
while you are chatting away"
I was close.
M came home with a burn across the top of his left hand from his marshmallow roasting stick.
And the right hand had a huge blister on the inside from touching something hot.
Awesome.
I am glad that I was right.
I am always right.(half joking)
Would you let your husbands take a 2 and 4 year old?

M had the time of his life.
Until he started screaming from the burn and D decided to call it a night.
D said he didn't want a hot dog. So 2 apples and marshmallows was dinner.
There was a bear hunt.
And he really hit it off with a pretty little girl named Harper who went.
When M was narrating the pics of his "boys only you're not allowed to come mom" trip,
He said for this pic, "I was trying to talk to them but they weren't listening".
Kind of made me sad.

Can you tell how cool he thinks this special spot for his sippy cup is?