Prayers Please

Urgent prayers are needed for my Uncle Steve (the one dressed as Santa in the pix with Luke).  He has lung cancer.  In the month since those pictures were taken his health has declined rapidly and he is having trouble breathing and sleeping (because of the breathing).  He and my aunt are en route to Houston to go to MD Anderson in hopes that they can treat the cancer and provide him some relief.  Because of his health, they had to abandon many of their Christmas job duties (He was the Santa at Bass Pro in Olathe, KS) which will be a big financial difficulty for them.  Please pray for quick healing and comfort for him and for the strength and comfort for my Aunt Carol as they walk this journey together.  In the weeks ahead please pray for their finances.  We love you Santa Steve!!  We know you will get your strength back and feel better soon!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Luke is home now!!

The doggie in the uniform

Luke is ready to catch the football!

Luke is wondering what this is all about...

Every costume needs a hole for your tail! :)

Here is our little Cowboy!

Luke came home with us on Friday!! Yay!! He is such a blessing!! We roomed in with him at the hospital on Thursday night as a trial run. We have been home 2 days now and have been having so much fun with him! Grandma and Grandpa Morris came to visit yesterday and helped us get settled. Mimi and Papa came to visit in the evening. Keli, Rocky, and Landon came today and Katie is on her way over. Other than the sleep deprivation - life couldn't be better!! :)

Knowing my husband could you really be surprised by Luke's Halloween costume? :) One of the nurses suggested that we go to Build-a-Bear to get a costume that would fit - so we did!! We got the doggie to go with the costume for Luke when he gets a little older. :) Isn't Luke the cutest thing? :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!!

My sweet beautiful niece turns one today!! I wish we could be there to help you celebrate!! We love you bunches and bunches!! Hugs and kisses from Aunt Jen, Uncle John and Luke!! See you soon!!

Luke is one month old!!

Where has the last month gone? I seriously feel like I am in a time warp. I have one more week left of leave before I have to return to work. I'm saving a few more weeks for when Luke comes home. We are hoping that we are able to have him home soon! He is up to 4 bottles/nursing sessions a day - just have to double that :) This may be TMI for this but it's my blog so I'll say what I want. I am really struggling with not getting upset about my milk production. It has gone down significantly in the last couple of weeks. I'm trying everything that the lactation consultants recommend...I'm really hoping that we can get it going and that we don't have to move to formula. I want him to get the benefits of breast milk as long as he can. Plus as much as I know it isn't - that feels like a failure on my part. John's being really sweet and encouraging. I know he is frustrated too that he can't help me not feel like it isn't my fault. Please keep me and my ta-tas in your prayers!:)

Luke is now 4 lbs 4.1 oz and is in a big boy bed (the bassinet - not the incubator). He did good on his eye test. They will keep increasing the amount of his feedings (thus the reason for my stress about the milk quantity) and the number of times that are bottle/nursing until he is completely off the feeding tube. All in all he is doing great!! We love our little punkin!!

2 weeks old!!

Well at 2 weeks old he now weighs 2 lbs 13.6 oz (getting very close to that 3 lb mark!!) His cord fell off leaving a cute little belly button. He is 15.1 inches long .6 inches longer than he was when he was born. Our little cutie is doing so great!! We love you sweet baby boy! :)

Luke Olen Week 1

Luke is 1 week old today!! He is doing so good!! He is breathing great, digesting great and is surpassing his birth weight now at a whopping 2 lbs 9.3 oz!! They removed his iv today because he is able to get all his nutrients from me now. Yay!! I know he is much more comfortable without that in him!! He is just so cute!! We started being able to have kangaroo time with him this week. Me in the morning, daddy at night. That is my favorite part of the day. He curls up and is just so snug against you - the best natural high ever!! Here are a few updated pictures. For those that follow me on facebook - there are more pictures there. Love my little punkin!! :)

I'm a MOMMY!!

How tiny are his diapers!!
Mommy and Luke right after delivery

Papa's arm along the side of the incubator to show length

Daddy's hands on Lukes head and feet

What a week this has been!! Friday I had a headache that continued to get progressively worse during the day. I haven't taken any medication my entire pregnancy. This was so bad I decided to try some Tylenol which dulled it slightly but not really. I ended up taking a 2nd dose in the middle of the night which still didn't work. Saturday morning the nurse talked to my ob who decided he didn't want to wait any longer to deliver. The headache was a symptom that my blood pressure was escalating and combined with my other symptoms - it just wasn't safe for Luke or me to wait. This was the first time I was scared about how things might impact me. Before I was mainly worried about Luke's health and development delivering so early. It's hard to keep from being panicky! They prepped me for my c-section and wheeled me back to the operating room. It was so surreal. I didn't know what to expect and was scared out of my mind about everything that was going on. The nurses tried to get me to calm myself down and breathe normal. The epidural was very painful going in. It was such a weird feeling after it was effective. After I was all situated they brought John in the room. He sat up near my head as they delivered our little Luke. We asked ahead of time if there was a possibility that he may not cry because he was so early - just so we wouldn't freak out then if we didn't hear it. Turns out we didn't have to worry at all. He was crying up a storm! He sounded like a little kitten!! John went over to where they were so he could see them doing their testing. He scored between and 8 and 9 on his APGAR test - which is AMAZING for this little earlybird!! Praise the Lord!!! He is breathing on his own and not even on oxygen anymore! They have a ventilator there with room air just in case he needs it. I got to hold him today while they cleaned his little sheets. I look at his little face and wonder how someone cannot believe in the awesomeness of our Almighty God. It's just AMAZING!! I'm so blessed to be Luke's mommy and I know his daddy feels the same way!! Thanks to everyone who has lifted us up in prayer along this journey!!!

We may have an earlier birthday than we thought....

I was informed that I am horrible about keeping up with this blog. I know I am. Sorry!! Well the latest news is that I have been in the hospital since Monday. I went to a specialist appt Monday morning and have been at the hospital for observation since. Everyone thought I was going to have to have a delivery today based on my numbers but this morning the labs came back ok. That is kind of a relative term because the only cure for preeclampsia is delivery - so ok means simply that I'm not getting worse at the moment. Baby Luke is healthy and happy right now. It's just about monitoring my levels so that it doesn't become too toxic for me or him. At this point we are waiting for Monday and get to relax the weekend. We are 29 weeks and 5 days today so hitting Sunday's 30 week mark is the first big milestone. Every day he can stay in the womb is another day he gets to continue to grow stronger. Please keep us in your prayers! Those prayers are what is helping to keep me sane right now. I'll update as I'm able either here or on facebook.

My beautiful little Taylor!!

My beautiful little niece is 10 months old! Where does the time go? Here are some pictures of her adorable self!

So Funny!!

The foot by the face helps with digestion!!

Such the little flirt!!

Who is that pretty little girl in the mirror?

Beautiful Taylor Morgan Hart!!

I miss you baby girl!!

I'm still here....

I don't know if anyone still reads this - but it's been harder for me to keep as updated since they blocked it at work. It was fun to do in my downtime... Baby and I are doing good. Doctor was concerned about protein in my urine that could possibly lead to preeclampsia but thus far I don't have any of the other symptoms. I went to a specialist and he said that we will probably be fine - we'll just keep monitoring it to be sure. I have my follow up appt with the specialist on Monday.

I just learned this Monday that I will need to find a new ob. Mine decided to close his practice. We are supposed to be getting a letter telling us why and what to do about our records blah blah blah. So now we are trying to find a new one. Something I really didn't expect to have to deal with - espc with 13 1/2 weeks to go. Trying not to stress because that isn't good for anyone - but I can't get it out of my mind. Whose recommendation should I take for a doctor? I have many from friends and family. The ob is supposedly sending a few in that letter. What a mess.

I'm at home this morning because the apartment people are supposed to come do an inspection. Gotta love it. I'm sooooo ready to be in a house. I'm hoping that when our lease is up in March that we can seamlessly move into one. It was too optimistic to hope we could be in there before the baby. That's fine with me at this point. There is no way I'd have the energy for a move right now.

I've been feeling Luke wiggle around for a while, but on Saturday I felt him move with my hand. He hasn't done it like that again to where John would be able to feel it yet. I'm sure if he did it once then it will start becoming more frequent.

So anyway - that's the update.....

IT'S A BOY!!!

We are so excited and can't wait to meet our little Luke Olen!! :) Olen was John's grandfather. We are halfway there!!! Yay!!! :)

The baby moved!!

I guess I haven't been maintaining this blog very well.  Life just seems to be so busy.  We are now 17 weeks pregnant and things are going well.  I felt the baby move a couple times yesterday which was a weird, wonderful feeling!  Last night we went out in the 100 degree heat for John to pitch his first ever shut out softball game.  We find out July 10th whether we are having a little boy or a little girl!  We can't wait!!  17 days!!   The baby's bones are solidifying into bone from cartilage right now, which must explain my undeniable craving for milk! 

Our adorable little niece will be 8 months tomorrow and has already mastered the art of crawling and is pulling herself up to a standing position as well!  Yay Taylor!! :)  I love that little munchkin! 

We are getting our ducks in a row to be able to move into a house.  Our lease is up in March, so most likely it will be after the baby is born - but who knows!! ;-)  We are both so tired of this apartment complex. 

Well that's the update from us....I'll try to be more regular with updates :)

Pro Wedding Album Pix

Here are the pages of our wedding album :) I thought it would give a better variety of photos than having to upload tons of them. Enjoy! :)