CLOSURE SURGERY -12 DAYS OLD

I'm sitting in waiting room while my little boy is in surgery. You would think that I would be a mess. Quite, the opposite.

First we have been planning on this surgery for a couple months. The doctors were quick to reduce his silo (squeeze the bag of frosting). However last Saturday, when they told us the surgery would be the following day I wouldn't have been so calm and ready (excited). Last saturday (7 days old) Mr. Bridger wasn't looking so good. He was so swollen and looked pretty rough. In the days to follow we had some setbacks so each day they told us, "surgery may be Wednesday or the next day."  The last 3 days he has been heavily sedated and medicated, they have also had to up his respiratory support dramatically.

Today he looked good! His body definitely seemed ready for this closure surgery. He was scheduled for surgery at 1:30 (12 days old), but as surgeries go we have been on the "in 45 minutes" list for 3+ hours. That wait time proved to be awesome. Mr Bridger decided to wake up and just hang out with us for about 45 minutes. These really are my favorite moments with him and he really hasn't had any the last couple days. So it was a special treat for me. 

While he was awake the call came the the OR was ready for him so his nurses, Dr, and the Respiratory Therapist got him all ready to go and then we all headed down to surgery.

Jordan and I are now waiting in the OR waiting room. We know that the days to follow our little Bridger will look pretty sick. He will be intubated and on a ventilator, he will be swollen and he will be heavily sedated. We don't look forward to seeing him like this but this is one very important step in our little boy's adventure.

In less than a week we will be able to hold our sweet little Bridger. We wish that meant that we could take him home right then but it doesn't.

We will now have the opportunity to learn some more patience. It will take a couple weeks for his digestive system to start working. So for those of you who have been praying for us, start praying that his digestive system will be quick to jump into action.

Our next big milestones are
#1 holding him
#2 hearing bowel sounds
#3 introducing food
#4 teaching him to nurse
#5 TAKE HIM HOME!!!

Bridger's Progress Thus Far...

Day 1:

Day 5:

Day 12:

We will keep you posted on his progress. Thanks for all the love, support, prayers.

Much love,
The Taylor Family

One Week Down!

I can't believe it's already been a week, it seems to have gone very quickly. I love sitting and stroking his hair while he is asleep, but, my favorite moments are when he is awake and happy. These awake moments usually last about 45 minutes and I just love it.

Closure Surgery- 1st big step on the long road.

(Cute dad with his little guy. 3 hours old, waiting for them to put the silo on)

They put Bridgers Stomach and intestines into the silo within 4 hours after he was born. 

Then each day or 2x each day the surgeon would come around and squeeze the contents of the silo back into Bridger's little body then tie off the silo just above the remaining amount.

I cannot believe how quickly that whole processes has gone. There is only a half inch left in the silo.
Unfortunately, It makes for a very uncomfortable little guy. He is very swollen and they have to watch his circulation, his little feet and legs are so puffy. With all the pressure inside he is needing more oxygen to help his lungs.
They are planning to do the closure surgery on Sunday or Monday, after the closure surgery they will put him on a ventilator to assist him a little more with his breathing. Hopefully the swelling and pressure will go down with in a couple days. And then we should be able to hold our little boy.

(The transport team brought him into see me before they took him to PCH)

We are sure impressed with this whole process. Bridger has some really great nurses and we are so lucky to live so close to a hospital as awesome as Primary Children's.

 (Doing what he does best.... Sleeping)

Time to restart the blog. Introducing Bridger!!!

We are excited to introduce the newest member of our family. Bridger Lee Taylor Born today at 8:37 am on Sunday July 27,  2014. He weighs just 5 lbs 7 oz and is 18.5 inches long.

(Right after delivery)

Little Bridger has Gastroschesis.

(My hand on Bridger...look how cute and tiny!)

Back in March (19 weeks) when we went in for an ultrasound to find out the gender we found out that our little BOY was a little "inside out". Our ultrasound tech explained that our son had Gastroschesis. He has a hole in his abdomen next to his umbilical cord. Some of his digestive organs were on the outside of his body instead of the inside of his body.

We were meeting the ultrasound tech at a birth center. Before this news we had been debating doing a home birth or a birth center delivery as we had done with Carter, our first child. At this point we realized things would change and we would need to be seeing doctors for high risk pregnancies (Perinatology/Maternal Fetal Medicine).

Jordan and I were sad to learn this news but we were able to do a little google research and learn more about the condition and the positive outlook for our baby.

I spent the next couple days on the phone with our insurance trying to figure out what this meant for our family and our finances. It turned out God works miracles in ways we don't necessarily expect and often times before we even know to ask for his help. The ultrasound appointment had been bumped up one week early. At the time we had been ignoring all the commercials about open enrollment for insurances under the Affordable Care Act.  Now with just a few days left to enroll in this insurance we decided to look into these other insurance options available.  We found a plan through Select Health (with high monthly premiums) that seems it would really help us out with the forecast of upcomming hospital bills. So the health care system that I have only heard negative things about because an answer to prayers not yet said.

Over the next couple weeks we found a great Doctor, (a leading researcher of Gastroschesis). Dr Bryne at University of Utah. We learned that University of Utah would be the best place for me to seek care since it is attached to Primary Children's and our little guy would need surgery and to spend some time at Primary Children's once he is born.

Having very little experience with the hospital world we have been very impressed with all the people we have worked with. During the weeks/months of planning for this we have met the Perinatologist, Neonatologist, the Neonatal Surgeon, and taken a tour of the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit). I see my doctor weekly, get ultrasounds every 2 weeks and do Non Stress Tests 2x/week).

We are lucky to live so close to an amazing hospital that is all ready to help us through this.  We are also very blessed to have so many friends and family close and ready to help when we ask.

Both Grandmas (Jordan's mom and My mom) have opened up their schedules to be able to assist with Carter while we spend time at Primary Children's with our new little boy.

Little Bridger will have the organs on the outside of his body put in a silo (a plastic bag) hanging over his abddomen. Gravity will help as they slowly allow this organs to make their way back into his belly. After a few days to a week they will do a closer surgery. After that surgery comes the real patients. It can be a long processes getting the digestive system working. We are hoping that he will be a strong fighter and that his body will adjust and begin working quickly. We are hoping to bring our baby home within 4-6 weeks. However our doctor has prepared us to not be surprised if he has to stay in the hospital till the end of October (3 months).  The nice thing about Gastroschesis is that most children have little to no problems long term.  Just a funny looking belly button.

(Bridger with the silo)

You may wonder why we didnt tell the world about this news back in March when we found out. We decided it was best to just tell our closest friends and family members. It has been so nice to be able to celebrate pregnancy and our wonderful little boy. Over the past couple weeks we decide to start telling more people and we are grateful for all of the support, offers to help, and the prayers that are being said for our family.  We know our Heavenly Father is aware of us and our situation and we are so grateful to live in a time when the medical world is ready and capable of dealing with this.

(He sure is a sweet little guy)

If you would like to get updates on our family and little Bridger's progress you can check back on this blog.

Much Love,
The Taylor Family
Jordan, Jennie, Carter, and Baby Bridger 

The Wish List

People, the most exciting day of the year is fast approaching.

My Birthday!!!

 I know you must be very excited.
Birthdays are great for many reasons. One of which is PRESENTS!!!! Most years I hum and haw not knowing what I want for my birthday. Well friends this year there is no humming or hawing.

Here is the list:

A Tomato Corer

These things are just so awesome

A Garlic Peeler

A Cute Shirt

I need something cute that I can wear while nursing and still feel cute in.

Michael's or JoAnn's Gift Card

Hey, I am a stay at home mom, I have to be crafty.

A Pair of Jeans

Ones that fit, my post pregnancy body is fine but I don't fit very well into any of my cute jeans. And winter is fast approaching. 

A Day Pass for Skiing

Yes, again winter is coming. 

Someone to Wash My Car

It really needs a good clean.

New Comforter  and Sheets

A cute one with a pattern so you can't see spit up stains.

And if non of these sound good to you.  I always love

 Amazon Gift Cards

I get free shipping so it is fun to buy stuff... books, etc....

JUST A WISH LIST.... of course you don't have to get me anything. If you do want to get me something these are just a couple ideas. 

Amazing Women

I have such amazing women in my life. I just want to do a shout out to a couple of them.

My Mom- she is always there for me. She is beautiful, talented, and uplifting. She
took me wakeboarding this week, it was a blast. She made me a wonderful dinner and sent us home with left overs.  She is always thinking of others. I have an awesome relationship with her. I admire her parenting skills. I hope I can be a mother like her, she is a mom you can talk to. I love my mom!

My Mother In-Law-  she is amazing. So organized and thoughtful. She is a
fabulous example to me. She keeps the cleanest house. She is always composed.
She is constantly serving others. She is a great cook. She love nature, takes me hiking, and has a beautiful yard. She does so much for me and my cute litte family.  I love my mother in-law.

My Aunt Rosemarie- she is my mentor. Every week she teaches me a lesson. Monday's are our days, she teaches me Self Reliance, how to garden, cook, and preserve food. She is the hardest working woman I know.  I admire her so much. She has been so generous in sharing knowledge, time, and produce. I love my Aunt Rosmarie.

Thanks for all you do! 

THE NURSERY

The main thing I have been worried about throughout the last 9 months has been the nursery. This is an odd concept because you think I would be worried about being a mom or things that actually matter but the nursery took a good chunk of my mind.

For those who know me this seems quite strange because I have done very little decorating over the past couple years but decorating a nursery seemed very important. 

It came together so well, I am so proud of it. 

The whole reason it is cool is because of Jordan. He is my hero.

Jordan made the crib, it looks amazing, it took quite a bit of work but It is dear to us and will be used for all of our kids. 

We went with the theme of old cars. My mom is one of the most talented ladies in the whole world, she makes awesome quilts. The Found this fabulous fabric and made this adorable quilt for the nurery. It is so cute I just want to display it. 

She also made the changing pad to match everything, I wish I had taken a close up picture of it. It is adorable.

I wanted a cute theme for the nursery but something that would be a little different. 

So we based the theme off of these 2 pictures

Jordan took these pictures last year when we went to Mystic Hot Springs in Monroe, UT

  They had all these cool old buses that you can rent to stay in for the night.

SO COOL

The frames from the picture came from the factory Jordan's dad owns in Honduras. 

The dresser was a KSL Classifieds steal. Jordan made the knobs to match the crib.

My mom and I made the window valance with the help of a DIY website. 

The glider was given to us by Jordan's Parents.

What can I say this is our awesome nursery, Thanks to everyones hard work to make it come together so awesome for me I love spending time in there. 

"DOTTIE" the Follow-up Post

On one of my last post I said sit tight I was going to post pics of something my mom and sister made for me.... Well I only made you wait a month or two.

Well TA... DA...

In the prior post I mentioned that had become "Dottie" The Circus Elephant, we'll creative Heather and Mom decided to make this shirt.

Yes, they made it... 

isn't it adorable???

 I love everything about it... 

It was sent with a package of 

Heather and Mom, I love you and I wore this shirt every week through the end of being pregnant. Love it!!

I will now pack it away with the maternity clothes... Because yes, our little man has arrived (Birth story and brag stories to come).

He was born on Thursday, May 31st, 2012.

 

I still feel a little Dottie-ish my faces still looks super chunky, and my stomach is way squishy now. Even my best friend Jenny is a bit freaked out about how squishy I have become.  but I have lost 20 lbs in a matter of days... Yippie... Only 20 lbs left to loose. My goal is to be back to pre-pregnancy weight by my birthday, Sept 6. I think that is an overly reasonable time goal. 134 here I come.

Don't pictures make a blog so much more fun?

 I will try to steal Jordan's computer more regularly so I can post pictures and make this blog more enjoyable.  Isn't it a rule if you have a child and you live in Utah you must become a good blogger?