Being home sure is nice!! We've already been on a couple outings- one to see Josh at school during lunch, and last night we went to the head coach's house for dinner with the other coaches and their families.

Nights are getting better too. We have to work on our swaddling technique- if Brecken gets his hands out of the blanket he will wake up. That happened several times the first two nights home. Last night we must have done a better job because he only woke up to eat. We also have to work on our diaper technique. The first night, Brecken peed through 3 sets of jammies and 4 blankets. The second night he peed through 2 jammies and 2 blankets. Last night, he got to wear the same set of jammies and the same blanket all night long, so we must have done a better job at securing those diapers! :)

This afternoon we're going to Brecken's first football game- Saratoga vs. Burns. Josh's mom is coming this afternoon, his brother Jeff is coming this evening, and Josh's dad is coming on Sunday. Jeff has never met Brecken so it'll be exciting! I'm also super excited for Lennie to bring my dogs back to me. I miss them! It's so quiet in the house without them!

Here's picture of my little guy with no tubes or wires!!

we're FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NO MORE HOSPITALS!!!!!!!!!!! BRECKEN GETS TO GO HOME!!!! The pediatrician released him from the hospital this morning. WHOO-HOO! I'm so excited. I haven't gotten very far yet since I don't have my own car here in Laramie. My brother-in-law David is on a business trip this week though, and I have his car to drive around, so we got as far as my sister Kristen's house. (I had my car seat here and used my nephew Ryan's base that is in David's car.) Josh will come get me after work tonight. Then we'll be home for real. YAY!!!!!

I also had my doctor's appointment this afternoon, my 2-week post-c-section check up. I'm within 10 pounds of my original weight, and I'm excited about that! My incision healed great. And the nurse saw Brecken and gasped, then said, "He looks like Josh!!" She couldn't get over how much the little guy looks like his daddy. No mistaking who this kid belongs to! :)

Come on, clock, hurry up! I want to go home!!!

Here he is, my beautiful little boy!!

Nothing TOO too exciting to report today, besides Brecken getting to have visitors. He got to come to a hospital room where they let us stay during the day with us today. That meant his 3 month old cousin Ryan got to visit and they got to meet for the very first time. They had matching football outfits on, it was pretty cute. He also got to meet Josh's Uncle Bryan and Aunt Anne this afternoon. It was nice to have him in our own room. He's off all his monitors and oxygen so we got to pick him up and walk wherever we wanted with him! That is a nice feeling.

His last bottle of the day got eaten all by him too. It took FOREVER but he was a trooper and did it. Daddy was a trooper and got him to finish it too.

Kara

in laramie

Well, here we are in Laramie. Yesterday morning we got Brecken loaded up in the ambulance isolet (he looked so cute in real clothes! An outfit daddy picked out for him.) and got out of Denver about 9:30 or so. We got here just in time for him to eat lunch. Brecken was a great rider- slept the whole time! He was a good eater in Laramie, too- 40 ml at noon, 32 ml at 3:00, 50 ml at 6:00, and Daddy got here just in time to feed him his 9:00 bottle, where he ate 46 ml. He must have a stomach irritation though, he keeps puking. One time was projectile. Gross. I'm wondering if it's the fortifier they put in his milk to give it more calories to gain more weight.

We saw the doctor yesterday too. I asked him why Brecken can't be like the other babies, eating what they can when they're hungry, instead of this 58 ml every 3 hours thing. He said we have to make sure Brecken knows how to eat well enough to gain weight. He's a half ounce away from hitting his birth weight again, so maybe it won't be TOO long before we can finally go home!!

They took his oxygen off yesterday too! Surprised all of us since Laramie is at such a high elevation! But when we left the hospital last night he had been off it for 5, almost 6 hours and was doing great! Hopefully they were able to leave it off overnight.

He also had to have a new feeding tube put down his nose- somehow, the one he had fell out. Hopefully, we won't need that for long either.

It snowed here in Laramie! Good thing Josh was able to make it over for the weekend. His football team won! Against Southeast! The score was 20-8. HOORAY!

Kara

we're moving again!

Brecken ate all 58 ml's of his bottle this morning. Hooray! Then he was scheduled for an echocardiogram (news to us...) to see if the heart murmur they've been hearing is a "real" one or what they call a PPS one, which will go away on it's own. The person that did the echo said it was the PPS one and not a "real" one. So that's good. Of course, it was scheduled during his feeding time so we missed his window of opportunity and he only ate 15 ml's. Frustrating. And that was after we had a visit from the child developmentalist who came to visit, I think our nurse told her to visit with us since we were *heaven forbid* feeding Brecken in bed sometimes to help him stay awake. She then proceeded to stand over Brecken and analyze every movement he made, like after he was unswaddled, he streches, and she said that wasn't stretching, it was "searching for his boundaries". Whatever, lady. After you were all bundled up and you couldn't move, wouldn't you want to stretch, too?

And I'm less than impressed with our nurse today. I pumped some milk at 11:00 this morning and I could not find her again until 1:00. She said the milk was still OK, but I'm not too sure. She did pop in at 12 to give us Brecken's milk for his feeding, but she just put it on the counter and left and with the developmentalist and the echo going on and on, I couldn't give her the milk I pumped. She hasn't been too helpful.

The GOOD news is though, we get to transfer! We're pretty sure we're transfering to Laramie, but it might be Cheyenne. Last I knew, they were checking with Laramie to see if they could handle a baby with oxygen and a feeding tube. I'm pretty sure they can since they were talking about a feeding tube while we were there the first time. While the developmentalist was jabbering at us, I heard the nurse pick up the phone and go get the nurse practitioner because a Dr. DeHart was calling, so I wonder what was said. We haven't heard an update. But I know we get to go, because Josh called our insurance company this morning and asked if we could, and they said, "Sure. We cover up to $1000 for ambulance rides so just tell them where you want to go and we'll get you there!" HOORAY! It would be so much better for us to be in Laramie, because Josh has to go back to work tomorrow. So being in Laramie would be much, much more convienient. I don't know if we'll get to go this afternoon or tomorrow, but it's going to happen! Yay! If we go tomorrow, I'll just ride in the ambulance with Brecken.

The insurance also said they cover 100% of Flight for Life trips, so that is excellent!!

So that's the news for today. I'll keep you posted about moving.

Kara, Josh, and Brecken

another new record!

Almost a full bottle!! Brecken just ate 53 ml's out of 58. (They upped his feedings again and are putting some vitamins in my milk to try to boost his weight a little- he's at 6 lbs 3.5 oz right now.) WHOO-HOO! Another new record! We tried the naked in bed thing again and it seemed to work! He's pooped from it but he stayed awake for about a half our after he was done. He was just sucking on his binkie and looking at us. He spit out his binkie a few times, but one of those times he grabbed it with his hand and put it back in his mouth! Don't know how he managed to do that!

The nurse wasn't going to even tube feed him the rest of his feeding, he only missed out on 5 ml's. I think we'll tube feed him at 6:00 to give him another break (the nurse said he slept right through the noon hour) and try again at 9. If he does this good every other feeding, that's great. Then tomorrow we can start adding more feedings in with his bottle.

I keep forgetting to say that he had his hearing test the other day and passed. That's good. :)

what a trooper.

We decided last night that we want to put in for a transfer back to Laramie since Brecken's only real problem is his eating now. That way, Josh could go back to work and I could stay in Laramie and it's much closer to home and I can stay with my sister. She said she'll go call the people she needs to call and let us know. It will be up to the insurance people, if they think they'll be saving money or not. She said they'll ask her best guess on how long we'll be in the hospital still and she said her BEST guess is one more week. Obviously it's up to Brecken but that's what she's guessing. So if the insurance thinks it's in their best interest, we'll get to transfer. If not, we're stuck here.

Brecken was a trooper this morning. Overnight, not so good on feedings. He only ate 2ml's at 6:00 this morning. But when we fed him at 9:00, he ate 45! WHOO-HOO!! Best ever! He only had to eat 10 in his tube. He's going to get it all in his tube at noon since this morning really tuckered him out. The nurse said he wouldn't do anything probably at noon, so best to give him a rest and try again at 3. Josh and I are going out for lunch outside the hospital, we figured if he's eating through his tube at noon it's a good time to go out. We don't want to miss any awake time if we don't have to, but he'll be sleeping through his noon feeding.

During his 9:00 feeding, he didn't start out so well. He fell asleep after 15 ml's. He had made a mess in his new diaper though, so we undressed him to change his diaper and change his jammies. He ate the rest of that while laying in his bed with only his diaper on. So maybe he needs to be a naked eater to eat so much! :) We'll try it again at 3:00- sure doesn't hurt!

hurry up and wait.

Still a slow day- we switched to the VentAir bottles at lunch to see if that would help. His other nipples seemed to be a little too fast and overwhelming. Plus, when he stopped sucking, it kept going in his mouth and he ended up wearing a lot of milk. These new bottles seem to help him control his intake better. The most he's had on his own though is 25 ml today. That's out of 55. Almost halfway there. Some day, he might realize how to eat the whole thing, since that's what he has to do in order to go home! The hurry up and wait is really trying my patience.

They started the check-out process with us today though. We had to watch 3 videos- one on carseats, one on oxygen at home, and one on CPR. We have to watch them before we go home, and I've seen several sets of parents have to wait around for forever before they go home after being told they get to, just to watch the videos. So I'm glad we got those out of the way. That will save an hour or two on the real check-out day, whenever that will be. We were also told we could get our carseat check done any time- we just have to bring the carseat up, put Brecken in it, and for 30 minutes they make sure his breathing is good and stuff. We didn't want to go out to the car to get that today but we'll bring it in with us tomorrow morning when we get here.

not too much new

We just saw the doctor, not much new from yesterday. He took 30% of his milk orally yesterday. It would've been more but his nurse last night put two of his feedings down his tube and only one with the bottle, and he hate 44 mls with that one! Hooray for the 3:00 a.m. feeding!! His 9:00 one this morning wasn't AS good but still not too bad- he took 27 out of 60 mls. He just gets so worn out from eating. I wish he'd wake up a little so we could be on our way!!

Well, Brecken had a pretty good weekend. He was weaned a lot from oxygen, he's down to 25 ml of oxygen in his nose tubes. As one nurse put it, it's "Barely a whif of air". :) They tried taking him off his oxygen today though and he didn't do that great- his numbers went down pretty low, into the 80%s, so they put him back on the oxygen. So as soon as he can prove he can do alright if he pulls the nose thing off his nose in the night (he's very good at doing that), that's one problem down.

His other problem is still eating. He was doing great at the bottle feeding by Saturday night I think it was, and then we started nursing again. I think we lost ground by doing that, because it was just too much work for him. This morning, I decided I wanted to concentrate on bottle feeding him my milk and getting him going on eating. He hasn't done so great today, he's a lazy eater! He stayed awake for over an hour this morning, a new record, but didn't eat much. When I fed him at lunch, he didn't eat a thing before he fell asleep. They had to put it all down his tube. So be praying hard for the "feeding fairy" to visit- the doctor and nurses keep telling us that it's like the lightbulb goes off in these kids and all of a sudden they start eating like pros. We're really, really hoping his feeding fairy will visit very very soon.

Other than that, he's a healthy little boy. He's got a heart murmer but the doctor today wasn't worried about it, she thinks it's going to disappear on it's own. We'll just keep an eye on it. So as soon as he can be OK without oxygen for an hour, and eat like a champ, we'll be headed home. MAYBE at the end of the week, they are now telling us. Keep your fingers crossed. Four babies got sent home between yesterday and today, so we're hoping it's our turn soon.

Love,
Josh, Kara and Brecken

moved

Lots of moving yesterday! Brecken's x-ray came back perfect- no more air bubble around his chest at all. That's great news! At 5:00, he got moved to the Infant Care Center, where the healthier babies are. We're relieved about that. The nurses here are fantastic. As soon as a beep goes off on a baby's monitor, they are right there finding out what is wrong. He finally got the hang of eating last night about 9:00. We figured out that he will not wake up enough to eat unless we change his diaper and get some cold air moving down there. Then he'll wake up enough to chug his bottle instead of take an hour to get half of it down!

Josh and I also moved yesterday. A room at the Ronald McDonald house opened up so we moved over there. It's right across the street from the hospital. It's lots different than I pictured it, it's much like a hotel. Our room is big, it has 2 double beds, a tv, a nice dresser and mirror, and it's own bathroom. Hooray! No more walking down a long hallway to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night! :) And it's really cheap which is nice, only $15 a day and we get to stay there until Brecken comes home. The sleep room at the hospital was a day-by-day thing, we never knew if we could have it the next night. So the assurance that we have somewhere to stay for sure is nice.

This morning we got to the hospital and the nurse asked if I wanted to start nursing. Of course I did! It's quite a process, we have to change his diaper, then turn off his monitors for a few minutes, then unhook all his tubes, then put him on a scale to see how much he weighed at that moment, then hook everything up, then he can be passed over to me. He latched on right away but doesn't have much interest in eating at this time. He likes snuggling much more. He's a great snuggler. After eating, we're supposed to weigh him again to see how much he ate, but he hasn't eaten enough to ever bother weighing him again. So he gets fed in his tube. I asked why we can't do the rest in his bottle to practice sucking and the nurse said it takes too much energy to nurse and take a bottle and he needs to conserve energy. That makes sense. So his next feeding, we'll do a bottle instead to make sure he can maintain eating that way. It's all my milk so it really doesn't matter how he gets it.

The doctor came to visit him today and he said Brecken is doing great and he hopes we can go home by the middle of next week. Brecken will probably go home on oxygen, but we can deal with that. He has to keep getting his oxygen lowered (which is going really well, he's maintaining 100% oxygen levels in his body and his intake gets turned down every hour!) and prove that he can be OK if he pulls out his oxygen tube from his nose in the middle of the night when we can't notice it, and he has to get his feedings up. Then we can go home. Right now, we're increasing his feedings by 4 ml every 3 hours. His last feeding we were at 17 ml, and we have an ending goal of 40 ml. Hopefully that won't take too long!

The family with the baby next to us in the NICU has a rough day today. They are taking the baby off his life support today. He was born on Wednesday and never got any better. Josh had talked to the dad a little bit. Keep that family in your thoughts since they had such a rough day today. That's any parent's nightmare and I can't imagine having to make that decision.

So that's the update for today- we'll keep you posted in what happens!

Just a quick update for the afternoon, not much has changed. Brecken got fed by Daddy and took about half the bottle, the other half had to be put down his tube. He'll be getting a chest x-ray this afternoon sometime to see how the air bubble around his lung is, and if it's doing alright without that chest tube being in, he'll probably get moved down the hall. Hooray!

We got asked to be in some photographs the hospital is doing for a calendar- we got our first professional family pictures taken. :) I guess Children's is putting together a day planner type calendar and it will have pictures of the kids here in the hospital. So we got our picture taken with Brecken in his bed while we're looking at him. That was pretty neat. We'll get a copy of the calendar mailed to us and of course Brecken's grandmas are wondering where they get to buy their copies.

Other than that, not much new. Brecken's had a stable morning and is sleeping sometimes, awake other times. He's now been held by both parents so we're happy about that.

Later gators,
Josh, Kara, and Brecken

more good news

Things are improving all the time here with Brecken. Last night, we got to feed Brecken his bottle. I did half, Josh did the other half. He was still in his bed because of the chest tube, but it was nice to get to feed him ourselves. The nurse had to turn off his heat on his bed though, since he was so nice and cozy he wouldn't wake up to eat. Once he got a little chillier, he woke up and was awake for a long time! Everyone got to see his eyeballs. What was really special was when I was all alone with him for about 20 minutes, and he just stared and stared at me. We chatted for a long time about how he was going to love going home and meeting his puppies, and seeing his room, and seeing Daddy's football games. He just stared and listened. He loves to hold hands too, so that was fun.

This morning Josh and I got downstairs just in time for the doctor to visit, after a quick chat with the nurse. She said twice overnight, Brecken's heart rate went way down but self-corrected and they don't know why it did it. Hopefully his heart will quit that, because it scares me! Anyway, small world- the doctor is from Gillette and graduated 7 years ahead of me. Crazy that your child's doctor at Denver Children's Hospital went to the same high school as you! Anyway, she came to take the chest tube out. Thank goodness! He's still hooked up to dozens of wires, but I was able to hold him and feed him a bottle. He wasn't interested in the bottle much, he was too busy playing with it with his hands. He wasn't interested overnight either, I guess, because they put a tube down his nose to feed him. We ended up having to go that route for his breakfast. But we got to rock and chit-chat for quite a while this morning. I feel bad for Josh, he still hasn't held him yet. If Brecken didn't have so many wires, I would've traded spaces with him in a heartbeat, but we were afraid to move him with all the wires! So the next time we go up, Josh will get to hold him. We're just taking a quick break for breakfast right now.

The even better news is that Brecken will be moving "down the hall" sometime today. That means he'll be out of the NICU he's in and into the "step down" nursery. If he does great there, we'll be on our way home soon! That is a big sigh of relief!

Thanks again for all your good thoughts being sent our way- they are working and we are thanking each of you from here in Denver.

Love,
Josh, Kara, and Brecken

what a great day!!

WOW, Brecken had a great afternoon! We left him around 10:30 and went outside the hospital for a change. We ran to Target to get some supplies (since we didn't know we'd be spending time in Denver this week!) like shampoo and stuff, then ate lunch outside the hospital with my mom, dad, and Josh's mom. We were pulling into the hospital parking garage and Brecken's nurse called. My heart stopped for a minute, until she said, "He's OK! We just wanted to see when you'd be back to talk to the lactation consultant." WHEW! So I went straight there and oh, my gol. I had to check to make sure I was visiting the right baby! He no longer has his big ol' machine in his nose, his hat was off, he only has a little oxygen tube in his nose, and he was laying on his back again. I hardly recognized him!! The nurse came and told me he was able to breathe pretty good now so they took the big machine off and just put a nose tube in. Because of that, his eye swelling is much less now. They also did not put another chest tube in as planned. They'll see if getting that big machine out of his nose helps any. He hasn't had any pain meds today so that's great too! They did change his IV- his hand was getting sore so they put it in his head. Owie. But he doesn't seem to mind.

They ALSO told me that they were ready to start feedings this afternoon. So I pumped and prayed and what do you know- I got a full feeding for him! I was really hoping that would happen so they didn't have to start his feedings with formula! He's allowed 10 ml every 4 hours. I didn't get to feed him but I did get to change his diaper. The nurse fed him and it took him a while to get the hang of swallowing with a bottle but he finally got his 10 ml down. What a great boy!! I was so excited. As soon as his chest tube comes out, we can hold him and I can feed him myself instead of with a bottle, if he'll take it. Hooray! The nurse was talking like that might happen tomorrow because she was talking about getting Brecken dressed as soon as that tube comes out, too. So be praying that happens sooner than later!

So, a great afternoon! Hopefully tonight and tomorrow will bring more good news!

Love,
Josh, Kara and Brecken

We went to see Brecken before we went to bed last night and had a great nurse. She explained everything to us, kept his blood pressure cuff on his stuffed cow that we brought down for him, and was just really neat.

Brecken had a pretty good day yesterday. They tested him for infection and he didn't have any, so they stopped antibiotics. They were also able to bring his oxygen level that was being given to him down from 38% to 35% when we left. His poor little eyes are super swollen from his nose thing that he has in. It's like the mask that people with sleep apnea have, but it's the tiny baby version. It's really doing a number on his face. But the nurse let me wash his eyes and mouth and change his diaper, so that was super exciting for me. They also put in an OG tube yesterday to let the overflow of oxygen back out of his stomach. He's spending a lot of time laying on his belly to try to get the air bubble out of around his lung.

This morning we went in before breakfast and found he had a pretty good night! His oxygen level being pumped in is now down to 25%!! Hooray! Normal air that we breathe is 21%, so he's almost there! They did another x-ray though and found that the chest tube isn't quite getting all that air out, so they'll either put another tube in this morning, or re-do the one that's already in there. Hopefully if they can get that all cleared up, he'll be on the road to recovery super fast. From the NICU, he'll go to the "Step-down" nursery to see if he can handle everything on his own before coming home. We're very encouraged by the 25% oxygen though, that's great. It's great to know he can keep his breathing pretty good with that little help.

Also today they started a nutrient IV. It will give him vitamins and stuff he needs since he hasn't eaten anything yet in his short little life. He's only been on glucose since he has been born. Hopefully soon my milk will come in and I can get that pumped and they'll feed it to him. They have a nice mommy pumping room for me to use whenever I want and they gave (we'll probably find it in our bill later!) a nice Medela Symphony pump I just hook up to their motors. They are super accomodating here, I really appreciate that! The room Josh and I are staying in is on the 3rd floor. It's just a room with a bed, but that's all we need and it's only $1/day. :) Hopefully soon we can get into the Ronald McDonald house and start staying there for the rest of our duration.

Thanks for your emails, it's nice to hear from people we know and love. It lifts my spirits for sure, as I'm sure it does Josh's as well. Keep them coming and we'll keep this webpage updated as much as possible!!

Love,
Josh, Kara and Brecken

it's a boy!

I'll post a birth story when we get home and things settle down, but I want to use this site right now for info regarding our little guy, Brecken Levi. We are now at Denver Children's Hospital with him, he was flown in the Flight for Life down here from Laramie last night. Josh came with him, which I am grateful for! I got released from the hospital this morning, one day early, so I could be here too. My mom came down from Gillette last night just in time to meet Brecken before he was put on the airplane. So she drove me down today and Josh's mom came also. My dad is on his way and should be here any time.

Brecken will be OK. His official diagnosis is TTN, which means the fluid that is in a baby's lungs while in utero is supposed to be absorbed by the body during the first big cry after birth, and his wasn't. It was stuck in his lungs. He also has immature lungs due to being born early. His breathing was scary in Laramie yesterday- about 130 breaths a minute, they were pumping 60% oxygen in him at all times, (that's too high!) and his chest would really cave in at each breath. I asked if I could hold him for the first time ever before they put him on the plane but he only tolerated being without his oxygen for 10 seconds. So my little boy is 2 days old and I've only held him for 10 seconds. He was under a breathing thing I called his Tupperware bowl, as you saw in a lot of the pictures my sister sent out.

Today however, he is much more calm. He's not grunting all the time to work at breathing, his breathing is down to about 45 breaths a minute which is fabulous, his own oxygen level is in the high 90%s which is also fabulous, and the oxygen they have him on is only 38%. MUCH improved from yesterday. He's also sleeping finally, he's not having to work so hard to breathe so he can sleep. I haven't seen his eyes yet today, in fact! They're about to do some x-rays on him to see how things are. Right now, he has a feeding tube in him because he cannot suck and breathe at the same time. I'm pumping for him, but my milk hasn't come in yet. Hopefully soon. He also has a chest tube since an x-ray this morning showed an air pocket around one of his lungs. They got that deflated and his breathing is SO MUCH BETTER.

Like I said, he's in the Denver Children's Hospital NICU and will be for a week or so. Josh and I are staying here at the hospital for a couple nights and then we'll go from there. Our families are going to find a hotel.

We'll keep in touch through this website- feel free to email us!!! I'd love to hear from everyone.

Love,
Josh, Kara, and Brecken

we have a birth date!

We have an end in sight. We went to the doctor yesterday and ended up scheduling a c-section for Friday, September 29. My placenta hasn't moved any, it's still right on the edge of the cervix. We could try a natural delivery, but then when Dr. Keeler did his cool color image thing, he found a bunch of blood vessels that he bets are covering the cervix, which is dangerous. Put that together with the fact that the baby is breech as breech can be, there's virtually no chance of having a natural birth! Dr. Keeler won't even try to turn the baby, for two reasons: One, with the placenta that low, there is no room for the baby's head down there. Two, if he tried turning the baby, all those blood vessels could rupture which would make it very dangerous for both of us. So, a c-section is the way to go. He wants to deliver about 10 days before my due date to lessen any risk of me going into labor. So Josh and I will go over that Thursday night and have our last quiet meal together and stay in a hotel for our last night as just me and him before we bring something noisy back home with us. :) It will work out nice with the dogs, too. We can drop them off Thurs. afternoon at the kennel and then go pick them up Monday morning. Dr. Keeler said I'd be home by Sunday night.

The baby looks good though- heartbeat was 146, he was moving around a LOT, and his estimated size is still only in the 40th percentile, but he's at about 5 1/2 pounds according to the ultrasound. My belly, however, is measuring two weeks ahead! Dr. Keeler had to measure again to make sure. But yep, it's measuring at 37 weeks and I just hit 35 on Monday!! I also gained 5 more pounds in the past two weeks. Oops. :) I'm up to 155 now- 33 pounds heavier than when I started.

Our dog Hogan is hurt- he has a big gash on his side. He got it yesterday sometime. I think the dogs must have been wrestling and he got caught on something. He whined a little last night, but I think he had bumped it and it hurt. He lets me touch it with a cool paper towel though, and it's not bleeding. But it's about the size of a quarter so Josh is calling the vets in Rawlins today to see if I can bring him in after school because we think it might need stitched up. Poor dog. He's walking fine and acting fine, so I don't think it hurts, unless he accidentally bumps it.

a nice, quiet weekend

Josh went home to Lingle this weekend to play in a tournament with his dad and Uncle Bryan, which he does every year on Labor Day weekend. I decided that riding in the car for that long just didn't sound like any sort of fun for me, at 35 weeks pregnant, so I opted to stay home with the dogs and cat. It's been very relaxing. I got very worn out at school last week, so it's been nice to sleep in, take a nap when I want, etc. I've got a tiny bit of housework done, too. Not nearly enough, but it's a start until Josh can get home to help me. I have a load of baby sheets and stuff in the washer right now, then will start with our adult laundry. I really am wanting this house to be totally cleaned before the baby comes. Hopefully we can get that accomplished. I get super exhausted doing it though. Even this morning, just getting the jammies that are too big for now put into the dresser in the baby's closet, and clearing some things out of the closet to make room for the baby things, wore me out. Phew!

I'm looking extremely lovely today, in Josh's athletic shorts and one of his sweatshirts. They are a lot more comfortable than my own clothes! Too bad I can't go out in public looking like I am. :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

back to the grind...

I've been having teacher work days since last Thursday, but today is the kids' first day of school. They are all quite excited to see my big belly since in May, I was much smaller! On Saturday at Josh's football scrimmage, I saw one of my now-2nd graders. She told me, "Man, you got bigger!" I said, "Yes, I did!" To which she replied, "But only a little bit. I don't want to hurt your feelings." I told her that was very nice of her while I was fighting back laughter. :)

My day hasn't been too busy, but I have only had two classes so far. My mornings will start off with 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd and 4th grade, and then kindergarten. During 3rd hour, I have two students learning new instruments. They're great kids and on Josh's team, so it's going to be a fun class. Then I have my prep time and lunch until 12:30. 5th hour, I'll have my high school choir, then my 5th and 6th grade class during 6th hour, and then last hour of the day will be Jr. High, alternating between band and choir depending on the day. I didn't have my elementary kids today (except for kindergarten, she still brought that class...) since they do their big "Back to school rules" thing in the mornings. I'll see them first thing tomorrow morning.

So, we're back to the grind. I have it in my mind that I only have about 6 weeks and then a nice long "vacation" (aka maternity leave), so it's kind of hard to get back into the swing of things! Especially when you're used to eating whenever you want to during the day and now that's reserved for when I have breaks. That's a bummer.