Just a few recent pics:

Garrison is doing great and LOVES to sleep really well during the day! He does pretty well at night too, but definitely uses the day to deep sleep! I am amazed that he can smile at 3.5 weeks old. I know they always say they are just gas, but I have video to prove they are not! These are real smiles! Fischer did not smile until he was 8 weeks old, so this has been a real treat! Enjoy...minus my annoying baby talk :)

This video is definitely being sent to America's Funniest Home Videos! The funny part is at the end he says, "I wanna see!" What a ham!

Here are my look a like babies! Garrison is on the bottom and Fischer is on the top. We had Garrison's picture taken today in the same outfit that Fischer wore. Fischer was one month in the picture, Garrison is 2 weeks. They look so much alike, however Garrison's hair is really red! Fischer's hair was red too, but not like Garrison.

Tired Papa?

What a wonderful blessing to be at HOME...Garrison is thoroughly enjoying the comforts of home. You can tell that he knows there is a difference...no one is poking him, prodding him...he just gets to sleep, eat and poop! He is sleeping really well at night, last night he only woke up one time. Of course I know this can change, so I am counting my blessings for now!

Fischer is adjusting to a new little one in our home too. He loves to hold his new baby and wants to help whenever he can. Tonight he is enjoying his new Superman pajamas...running around the house saving one stuffed animal at a time. Apparently one of those stuffed animals landed in daddy's lap...I think he is so tired he forgot it was there...football and Tigger...what could be better?

Thank you everyone for your prayers for Garrison! He had a doctors appointment yesterday and had gained 4.5 oz!! The doctor concluded that he had Hyaline Membrane Disease(also called Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome) and Pulmonary Hypertension. He also had a collapsed lung, which was the result of his labored breathing. Dr. Kerr said that premature babies would not have been able to collapse their lung as easily, but since Garrison was so big and strong he worked too hard to breathe. Dr. Severson(his pediatrician) said that it is rare for a baby at 39 weeks to have IRDS. He has only seen one other case where a full term baby had this disease.

John F Kennedy had a son, Patrick, that died of this disease two days after birth in 1963. This sparked an interest in research and treatment of the disease. If the Kennedy baby had been born today, most likely he would have survived.

We are thankful to our God for healing our baby boy, thankful for the doctors and nurses, and thankful for all of you and your continous prayers.

THIS IS FISCHER WHEN HE WAS A BABY: I THINK THEY LOOK SO MUCH ALIKE!!!!

The infamous burp pose: Garrison

Sorry for the lack of updates, living in the NICU has offered me little chance to come home and check my email.

div>Garrison is doing GREAT! He has been off of his oxygen since mid-morning. He has to be off for 24 hours before they will let him go home. He is eating well and likes to be up all night :) He sleeps REALLY well during the day though!!

He had his first bath today and I know it felt so good to him. He slept for hours afterwards! He has a lot of red hair!

Last night Garrison and I were moved to a "skywalk room." It is a room for babies that are stable and will be going home shortly! What a blessing that has been. They are brand new rooms and have a bed and bathroom. One of the respiratory therapists said, "You are moving over to the the Hamptons!" She was right! Just to have a little quiet at night has been nice, plus sleeping in a recliner is not fun! The other blessing is that Fischer can be in our new room. He finally got to hold his little brother today! His eyes lit up SO big and it was a very special moment!

Dr. Kerr said we may be going home tomorrow night or Thursday morning if he continues to do well w/out oxygen. Pray that he just chugs along tonight and doesn't have to go back on O2!

Don't have time to write much: just a tid bit of good news!

The doctor came in this morning and said Garrison will probably be going home within a few days! He was able to nurse tonight for a few minutes and so I will be going to "live" at the NICU for the next couple of days. I will have 2-3 hour windows where I can come home, shower, or get out and see Fischer. Pray for Garrison's recovery and my strength!

More baby foot fetish: Definitely Franklin's toes!!

It was really hard to leave the hospital tonight. I am so exhausted though, I knew that I needed to just come home and rest. Franklin went back up and usually does the late evening shift. Garrison's 2:30 x-ray and blood gases were normal. They haven't been able to ween him off of 35% oxygen today. He needs time to heal his lungs...time that seems to be ticking by SO SLOWLY.

I wish I could describe to you the NICU. It's a whole different world: dark, sadly quiet...but noisy at the same time...with alarms going off continously. I know it is a place of healing, but emotionally it is exhausting. As much as I wish that I could just pick him up and march right out of there, I know that he is receiving the best care he possibly could.

Franklin may have more news on his blog later tonight: http://www.youthministryhilarity.blogspot.com/

Thanks again for the prayers!!!!

I know, I have a foot fetish.

Garrison is doing well today. His chest tube was taken out about 11am. He had an x-ray at 2:30 to see if all was well with his lungs...on my way to the hospital here in a minute so we will find out the results. I got to hold him today for a long time. He was SO content. I loved every minute of it. Will post more later after visit this afternoon.

Garrison was determined to get off of the vent today. He pulled it out on his own at 4am. He has been on approximately 30% O2 all day. They did turn his high flow from 2 to 1. I don't really know what all of this jargon means, but the nurses reassure me that he is SLOWLY getting better. I imagine it will be next week sometime before he can come home. Leaving him at the hospital was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. It feels so lonely to leave the hospital without the one you intended to bring home. Of course I could stay up there 24 hours a day, but I feel like I need to be home. Fischer needs me here...even if it is a false sense of normalcy...he needs it. I will go back up tomorrow morning.

I was able to hold him today...which was good...but a little stressful...with all of his wires. He gets agitated when you move him around a lot...and I don't blame him.

Thank you again for your prayers and love.

It's been a long day...I am tired and emotional. Fischer is doing pretty well considering the situation. It breaks my heart that for 9 months we have been telling him he could hold his little brother, and he hasn't even seen him but for a few minutes. He either has really bad allergies or a cold and he isn't even allowed in the NICU waiting room. He sometimes asks, "Where's my baby?" My mom shows him pictures and we reassure him that he will get to hold him soon. Today he went putt putting with Franklin so I know he had a good time.

Garrison continues to be stable. The doctor said this morning that he would possibly be weened off of the vent today or tomorrow. I don't think it will happen today, but I want them to take it slow and be cautious. They weened him off of his sedation but continue to give him morphine for pain. He was given some of my milk through a tube in his nose. This of course made me extremely happy...knowing that he at least won't be hungry. They will give him this every 2-3 hours. Thank you for your prayers.

Franklin and I are sitting in the hospital room waiting for our dinner...the room's walls are closing in on me. I imagine I will live in the NICU for the next week or so after I am discharged tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who has visited and sent flowers. We love all of you and can't wait to share Garrison with you!!!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers, calls, and concerns. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

Garrison is doing well right now. He is stable and resting peacefully in his little isolate. His white blood count is down to 15, which is within the normal range! Yesterday it was 35, so this is great news. His blood gases are also great and have been for most of the day. The nurse said that tomorrow I may be able to hold him. This has to be the hardest part of this experience. I long to hold him, feed him and be his mommy. It is really hard to watch all of the other moms walking around the hospital with their babies in their arms. I was sure that this time would be different...that Garrison would be in my room with me. It would be so easy to take that for granted...it's easy to even take my situation for granted. There are SO many babies in the NICU that are sick and some that have to be there for weeks and months. The little guy next to Garrison has been there for 8 months. When I try to wrap my brain around that, it is nearly impossible.

Thank you again for all of your prayers. God is good and we are thankful that Garrison is slowly getting better.

Please continue to pray for Garrison. He struggled all night to breathe, so this morning they put him on a ventilator. His lung collapsed amd they had to put in a chest tube. The dr. thinks he just had immature lungs and it may take a few days for him to catch up. He looks peaceful right now, b/c he is not having to struggle.

I know that some of you are waiting to hear what is going on with little Garrison. I wish I knew...the doctors are trying desperately to figure out what is wrong with our little guy. They have ruled out TTN(don't even ask me what that stands for), a common illness with babies born via c-section. His white blood count was elevated today more than yesterday so they are concentrating more on an infection. He had a spinal tap today to check for many things including meningitis. It is absolutely heart wrenching to watch your baby go through all of this. I am trying to heal myself and rest but am finding it hard to do. I just want to be in the NICU with him at all times. His O2 levels are MUCH better when someone is holding him. I think Franklin will probably spend most of the night in the NICU with him. I will try to get some rest in my room, but will probably find myself down there checking on him.

Please keep our family in your prayers as this is a stressful time. I had such an uneventful pregnancy, and I really thought that we would just have the baby and go home. I am desperately wanting to breastfeed and I can't feed him right now. It is breaking my heart. I know that God knows best and that we will all pull through this. Thank you for the prayers on our behalf that you have already said.

What ever happened to health CARE?

Sorry if I got anyone excited about the one contraction I had yesterday. Today's OB visit was a waste of time. My OB never even showed up. She kept calling to say that she was on the way, but never showed. So, I had to see the Nurse Practioner, who kept referring to Fischer as "she." Just proof that she knows nothing about me and I would prefer to see the person that is cutting me open next week!

My hip has really been bothering me so I ended up calling her back this afternoon and she just prescribed some crazy medication that knocks you out. Uh, can't really be knocked out with a three year old. Anyway, my mom is coming this Saturday to help...THANK GOODNESS! I can barely walk and feel so guilty about Fischer watching TV all day. Plus I wasn't sure how Franklin was going to survive 10 more days with all of my crazy mood swings and crying! Last night he just looked at me and I started bawling...lol...poor guy.

I think I just experienced a real live contraction...it was painful. :) I am sure it was just one of those Toni Braxton(I know there not really called that) things. Anyway, it was pretty exciting. Now I can tell my OB that I actually had a contraction...maybe she will check me tomorrow. Don't worry...I haven't really had any other signs of labor.

Funny Story: Well, it was funny to me anyway.

We went up to the hospital tonight to check things out and find out where the L & D rooms were, etc... When we got to the 9th floor, out popped my OB from behind the counter. Her eyes became as big as saucers and she looked like a deer in headlights! I'm pretty sure she was thinkin, "OH GREAT, now I am going to have do a c-section." I reassured her that I was not there to deliver! She seemed a little agitated to be at the hospital on a Saturday night...hey, she chose this profession :)

Today we went to an Award Ceremony for the Boy Scouts that displayed such heroism during the Little Sioux Tornado on June 11th. Sam was given the Spirit of the Eagle Award. I will have pictures soon!

Is it just me or does it seem strange that the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses has this sign in front of their building?


Just curious because they come by my house every Saturday.

Farmer's Market and Cosmic Bowling

Just a few pics from the last couple of days:

Yes, that would be my three year old tied with me...

Well, apparently this little guy is going to be able to beat up his older brother one day. He's an estimated 6lbs, 14 oz already! YIKES!

I had an appointment today and my OB was concerned that I was measuring too far ahead. So, she sent me right to ultrasound, which I was excited about! It was fun to see him, however he is so squished in there right now it was hard to tell what was what! One thing is for sure...he is still definitely a boy!

My c-section got moved back 4 days...trying to be positive...this gives me 4 more days to prepare! So at this rate we might have a 9lb baby on our hands...so when they hand him to me they will say, "Congratulations...here is your toddler!" Fischer was 5lbs 15 oz so this will definitely be a different experience!

Here is an ultrasound pic from today...it is hard to make out. You can see his nose and lips and his hand is over his eyes and forehead.