I'm a Slacker!

So its been brought to my attention that i've been slacking in the blogging department! I honestly can't believe its been since Landon's 1st Birthday that I blogged last. Not alot has been going on in the Hul's Household. Jonathan is on the road pretty 3wks at a time, which leaves me running around the house cooking and cleaning and chasing Landon around. He is now 17mons old and is catching up very well for his developmental age. He is not just walking but running...his big thing these days is us chasing him. He will talk you head off! Wonder where he gets that from!!!!!

We have been so blessed this year to have only had one hospital stay and that was less than 24hrs when we got the stomach bug. Other than that, we are still doing breathing treatments daily and have an appointment scheduled with GI on Jan 26th to see why our reflux has started acting up again. We cannot wait to see what 2010 holds in store for our family!

Birthday Party!

So sorry for it being almost a month since LBH's Birthday Bash! Lots has happened since then, and I am just now getting to where I can get things done.

Landon had an awesome birthday and got ton's of clothes and toys! Looks like we will be set on both toys and clothes for awhile. By the time it came for him to open his gifts he was so exhausted and didn't want to really have anything to do with it. But as soon as you put food in front of him he forgot all about that.

We went for our one year well visit and drum roll please.......We are a whopping 24lbs 29ins long! We are in 18-24 mon clothing and wearing a size 6 shoe!!!! Where did my baby go? We are not sitting unassisted and slowly starting to figure out the whole crawling thing. TEIS has also up'd out schedule from twice a month to once a week so hopefully soon we will start seeing alot more improvement in some areas. Landon also now thinks that he can feed himself at all times, which makes for a big mess!

My heart is breaking

So many people have been praying for the last year for Princess Payton to get to go home KY. She may have not gotten to go home with her mom, but she did go home to be with our Lord. I know it doesn't make it any easier but I know she is in a much better place, watching over all of us now. I had gotten to know Nikki while Landon was in Centennial and become instant friends. When I got the news this morning, it was the most devasting news. Payton was to come home today to celebrate her 1st birthday! This was not how it was supposed to happen! I still can't believe she's gone. Please hold tightly to your children. I know that sometimes being a parent can be difficult and especially when your little one doesn't feel good or is ill, but we at least still have them to hold and to love and we should never take that for granted.

Dear Lord, please take care of Nikki during this time. Hold her closely to you and give her peace during this time.

The Big Day is Close!

So its hard to believe that in just 4 days my little sweet baby boy will be 1! It just seems like yesterday I was doing everything I could to keep him in just alittle longer and praying for just one more day. I also think about everything that Landon has been through and just can't believe how it doesn't seem like it every happened. We are planning such a massive Birthday Party for this Saturday which is his actually birthday so we are looking forward to Sat.

Landon's having a horse themed party that is going to be the talk of the neighborhood im afraid. There were close to 150 ppl invited and while I know most of them won't show, just the thought of that number makes me laugh now. We are also going Friday for our 1year pictures with MacBrown. I am so excited about these because I know he is going to be so cute now that we are where we can do more poses. It used to be that they could only sit him propped up because he couldn't on his own. We are also going to do some new family pictures in one of the outdoor settings. I will be sure to post an updated blog after Saturday with pictures and the excitement that went on during the day.

Work Update

So we are closing in on the 2nd month of my new job and while I can say I love being back at work. I do still hate leaving Landon everyday from 7:30 to 5:00 everyday. Thankfully if something evercomes up and I'm needing to take him with me, work is pretty cool about me taking him there. We are quickly approaching our 1st Birthday in just 3 short weeks and I just can't believe that its already been a year. I am amazed at how well he is doing after everything that his sweet little boy has went through the past year. He is slowly starting to catch back up physcially and developmentally. We are now rolling all over the place and starting to pull up on things as well. He jabbers non-stop and I can't wait to figure out what he is really saying. We are hurriedly planning his birthday party and I can't wait because it is going to be so much fun!.

We are also currently planning the 1st Annual Ronald McDonald House Dinner. This year we are fixing lasagna, bread, salad, drinks and I plan on having Birthday Cake for dessert. We are getting excited about this event since the Ronald McDonald House was our home away from home on two seperate occasions.

As for me, I had surgery today to remove some cancerous cells from my cervix. I should know sometime next week if they got it all and if we will need to go any further with treatment. I am praying that they got it completely and no other treatment will be needed. As for now I will try to get too behind on blogging.

Behind again!

Wow, I didn't realize just how long it had been since I last posted. Not alot going on in the house, and pretty much we leadjust a normal boring life these days. I am still enjoying my new job and can't believe its already been a month since I started. It makes it alot easier when everyone is just incredibly nice and it makes it easier to leave Landon everyday. Landon is doing so many new things these days and it just makes me want to sit down and have a little pity party because of how big he is getting. Physical Therapy has really made a difference for Landon, we are not rolling over regurlary now and we are even able to sit up un-assisted for alittle bit of time. He has moved up to a big boy car seat and saving mommys arm from breaking from carrying him in the carrier. He is talking all the time, and the only thing you can really understand is Dada and when he is real upset he cries for momma. Landon has also finally broke the skin for his 1st tooth! I really honestly never thought this day would come because he has been working on this tooth for quite sometime now! Hard to believe that in just alittle over a month Landon Bryce will be 1 year old! Its old to believe that this time last year I was on bedrest and didn't know if today would be the day or not. Now I am crazily working on planning the perfect 1st birthday party for my sweet Landon Bryce.

Going Back to Work!

Well it seem's like that after a year off of work I am officially going back. I am however not going back to where I was before bedrest and having Landon at 28weeks. If you've been following my blog since the beginning you'll remember all the trials and obstacles Landon has had since birth. Well with everything that has been going on with him, Tennessee Early Intervention felt it necessary for him to be seen by a Physical Therapist. Fast forward to last Thursday.....This was our first apt, and I knew that they were looking for an Office Manager since they had previously offered it to Jeremy, but with the way things in the economy are going he felt it was safer for him to stay where he was in case of layoffs. I really wasn't expecting anything to come of it, since I had applied I don't know how many times at the Hospital and never even got a phone call. Well while the physical therapist was working with Landon I just threw it out there and said that I was interested if it were still available and it was an immediate YOUR HIRED! Thats it! So here I was with a new job and on the search for someone to keep Landon. Just knowing that Landon was not going to be with me daily made me sick to my stomach. He has never had anyone other than family and rarely do they watch him. Thankfully, I do not have to send him someone that has dozens of children and I won't need to worry so much about him. The lady who is watching him goes to church with us, and knows just how sick he was and how long its taken us to get back to where we need to be health wise. I know she would never comprimise him in any way and that makes it easier to leave him. My first full day should be Thursday! Part of me can't wait because that extra paycheck will make life easier, but I sure don't look forward to leaving my little guy!

Exhaustion!

So the last 24 hours have really run me down. Last night around 8:00pm I get a call from Jonathan informing that he was taking himself to the ER. If you know Jonathan you know that something really has to be wrong in order for him to do this. He had been saying for a few days that his arm and back hurt and now he was complaining of not being able to catch his breath or take a deep breath. When Jonathan had his wreck back in 2005 and collapsed both of his lung, we were informed then that he could sneeze wrong and it could collapse them again. He said he was in so much back that he was afraid that might have happened. After a 5hour ER visit he was diagnosed with inflammation of the lining of the lung and it also showed some fluid build up. Thank goodness it wasn't collapsed because I really didn't feel like driving to Ohio with Landon at 10:00pm. They sent him home or shall I say his home away from home with a Z-pack, inflammatory meds, and Vicodin! Who in there right mind gives a trucker Vicodin! He is feeling so better today, but still in some pain. Hopefully he will get some rest this weekend on the road somewhere. On to Landon......He had his monthly pulmo appt today and unless we need them again for anything, it was our last!!!! They said that Landon looked AWESOME!!!! and to keep up the good work. His weight today was 19lbs 9oz and was up from 19lbs 4oz from last Friday. Dr. Austin did change his albuterol and pulmicort nebulizers to inhalers now, which makes life so much easier. Now instead of having Landon sit with a mask that he hates for 15mins, we do 2 puffs and done. After our apt that lasted 3 hrs in which 2 1/2 hrs of those were us waiting. By the time Odessa and Dr. Austin came in to see Landon he was beyond ill. Afterwards, Landon and I met up with Nikki and gave her a break from the hospital by taking her to lunch. She has been there since July between her and Payton's hospital stays and is looking at at least another 2 months before thoughts of going home. Please continue to pray for Nikki and Princess Payton. Landon is ready to play with Miss P! Also continue to pray for Laura and Conner, Mollie and Tyler, and Tiffany and her little peanut! Well tomorrow is a big day for us. Tatum has her 1st dance recital! I can't wait to see how cute she is. I just wish her Jon Jon was here to see her!

My 1st Mothers Day

So yesterday was my First Mother's Day and I had to keep myself from crying just about the whole day. I just kept thinking about how long the road was for me to become a mom and then all the obstacles Landon went through to stay here with me. Landon has given me so much strength with everything he has went through. Being a mom is probably the best gift anyone could have ever given me. Each time Landon smiles, or laughs at me melts my heart. I know he loves me and depends on me for everything and that makes being his mother that much more special. I know as he gets older that his dependability will grow less and less and that we will have our ups and downs because that's what mothers and their children do. But in the end no matter what I will still be his Mother! I love you Landon Bryce and I am so Thankful to be your mother! On another note....Landon had his 9month pictures with Mac Brown Thursday and unlike our 6 month these did not go as well. Landon had just woke up and was not in the mood to smile at anyone. At one point he even took up growling to try and get them to stop. We however did reach a milestone while we were there and that was we found our toes. Up to this point Jonathan and I had to put Landon's feet to his mouth but he found them himself and only wanted to play with his feet the rest of the time. Hopefully they got some good ones! We then on Friday went to Dr. Clifford for our 9month check-up. Landon is now up to 19lbs 5oz and 28in long. Overall we are very healthy! The Dr could not hear any wheezing for once and was very pleased with that. We however still have fluid buildup in our ears so we are yet on another round of antibiotics to try and clear that up. Hopefully it will work along with some different things we are trying at home will work. The Dr. did mention that if we continue to have this problem then we would have to discuss tubes. I know tubes are not that serious, but the poor boy has already been through enough and could really use a break from it all. On a negative note.....Landon has figured out that they nurse is not his friend and that she is the one giving him the shots! The poor boy took one look at her and started screaming. Jonathan and I could not put him down the entire visit at the Dr. So not what I wanted to happen. Oh well....We have our monthly visit to Vandy Pulmonology on Friday and can't wait to tell them how well Landon is doing.

Overdue Update

So I am so behind on updating Landon's Blog. Not much has been going on in our house. We had a great Easter and the Easter Bunny brought Landon's lots of nice things. We went to the lung Dr. about two weeks ago and they were so impressed with Landon that they discontinued his use of oxygen all together! They did tell us to keep it around for awhile till we know for sure if he is going to need it again or not. We also went to Centennial this past Friday for our post NICU evaluation and although we are behind on a few things like rolling and sitting they are very impressed with him and feel he is not very behind for what he should be. At this appointment Landon weighed in at 19lbs 9oz and is 28in long. Whew no wonder my arms hurt so bad after toting him around. Afterwards we went up to the 7th and 8th floors to visit with the awesome nurses who took care of Landon while we were there. They could not get over how much he had grown and were so pleased to hear how well he was doing since his scare with pertussis. It is always so nice to visit with them because they get so excited everytime they see one of their babies doing so well. Other than that, we are just enjoying this wonderful weather and the chances we get to go outside now.

Quick Update

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Not too much going on in the household these days. Landon is doing very well. We just can't seem to get rid of that nasty cough but I have been reassured by the pediatrician that he is fine and that he is just going to be a wheezy kid till he out grows the trachmalcia. We went to the Pulmonologist on Friday and even though he hasn't been wearing his oxygen for quite sometime now the Dr has officially discontinued the use of oxygen at home. He asked us to keep all the equipement till our next apt in May just to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. That is fine with us, we are just so glad that we are finally back to where we can go without it now. Other than that Landon is just trucking along. Current weight is 18lbs 9oz and 26 1/2 in long.

I got the results from my biopsy and unfortunately it didn't come back as they wanted it so I will be going in May to have surgery. The reason we are waiting till May is so that I can have insurance and won't have to pay out of pocket for it. I am so frustrated with this news because I had finally gotten to where I wanted to have more kids and with this new development its not looking very promising.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. We are so excited about Landon's first Easter. Will post pictures tomorrow on facebook of Easter.

Trip to ER

So just when you think things are going smoothly and the Drs feel comfortable with us getting out, Landon has to show off. Wednesday Landon started having alittle bit of a wet cough but it was very sporadic and not a sickly cough. He fought sleep the entire day and between me and Aunt LuLu only got about an hr worth of a nap. Thankfully he crashed about 7:30pm and I crashed soon after. Around 2 I woke up to what sounded like a barking dog, but was really Landon trying his best to cry. We were up pretty much the rest of the night from 2 with this barking cough. Yet it still was very sporadic and only happening while awake pretty much. By the grace of God Landon never required his oxygen to be turned on and was not huffing and puffing for air. Landon's normal pediatrician was not in today and I knew that I would be explaining to another doctor about 7 months worth of history on Landon before they can even get to where they can examine him. The Dr. we saw was very nice and honest. She informed me that she just did not feel comfortable sending him home being as she had never seen him and that she would be calling Vandy's ER and Landon's lung doctor to let them know we were on our way. Ughh the frustrations! Finally at the Er they do a very thorough workup and informed us that by looking at him he looks great. They said his lungs were pushing good air, he was not retracting and was satting 99-100 on room-air. They said that the only thing saying he was sick was this awlful cough. The only treatment they did for us was deep suctioning which he hated and a breathing treatment which he wasnt too fond of either. I am so thankful it wasn't anything because the last time we were in Vandy's ER I thought it was going to be some of the last moments with Landon. Pray for our lungs to heal!!!!

Cardiology Apt

Well we made that long unpleasant trip to Nashville to the Cardiologist today. My nerves were so shot last night and this morning that I couldn't sleep and ended up being overly tired once we finally got home. Thankfully this appointment was anything but disappointing. Dr. Doyle was highly impressed with Landon and said he really couldn't hear what he saw on the Echo. So the plan for now is to follow up with them in a year and repeat the echo and if the PDA is still there then we will discuss medical options. He then proceeded to tell me that this did not mean surgery and that it can be treated other ways. The Dr. then proceeded to ask why Landon was still on his O2. I told him my thoughts about it and he was like if you feel comfortable with him off of it then let him stay off of it. We will see how tonight goes without it on if that stays the case or not. Other than that our little guy is now up to 17lbs 12oz and 26in long. He is such a little porker!


On another note, just s a few people to keep in your prayers. Laura of course! She has officially beat both her and mine record for the longest time being pregnancy. Nikki and Payton. Payton is doing good, she is still having her days but she is getting stronger. Mollie and her pregnancy, Tiffany and her medical appointments.

Echo Update

Sorry its taken so long to update the results of his ECHO. Dr. Austin called on Monday and informed me that the Pulmonary Hypertension did not seem evident, however the PDA and hole is still there and that he would be referring us to the Cardiology Department. He did say that since both this issues are rather small, they may just tell him Thanks for the referral and to just watch. As of today we haven't received a call from them so im not sure if they will have him come in or if Dr. Austin will just watch it.

BPD and Echo

So we had two appointments at Vandy today that were two pretty big appointments. But as soon as the day started I knew it was going to be a rough one. First of all, we needed to leave the house by 8am no later and well I woke up to the clock saying 7:52am. So from there im pretty much in a panic. If my mother had not been here, we would have never made it. So we get out of the house by 8:15am and we are on our way. We get about half way when boom my tire blows! Holy crap, this can not be happening today of all days. I immediately get on the phone to get roadside assistance out to change it, because Lord knows me nor my mother can change it. Thankfully and luckily this nice State Trooper pulled up behind us and helped us change the tire. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Bad thing about this is my tags expired at the end of Feb and I just realized it. But we explained where we were headed and he never mentioned it. We called Vandy and explained what was going on and they told us they would make a note and to get there when we could. Surprisingly we were only 30mins late. Landon weighed in at a whopping 16lbs 11oz and was 25 1/2in long. Odessa said his lungs were clear and he sounded great. Not too many changes with his O2, we are now going to start room-air trials at night and we are to document his saturations when he is in a deep sleep to have for his next appointment. Next we went to have our Echo and by what the tech said, she didn't see anything alarming he still has the PDA but that its so small that she didnt see them doing anything with that. Once we left there, we ran into Dr. Austin again downstairs and talk to him for alittle bit. He said that he just couldn't believe how great Landon looked and once he spoke with the cardiologist he would give me a call and let me know how it looked. We got to spend some time with Nikki today as well. She came down and had lunch with us. She said Payton is doing so good and that the trach was probably the best thing for her. Hopefully I will be able to post an update about his Echo later on tonight.

Mine and Landon's Apt

So over the last couple of days I have been having alot of lower left quadrant pain and today I finally decided to call Dr just to be on the safe side. Well come to find out the pain is being caused from a cyst on my cervix and a cyst on my left ovary. There is really nothing medically they can do to fix this, but they did put me on BC to try and shrink them. If this doesn't work then they will go in and drain them. With having Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome I am always going to be high risk for getting cysts but this is the first time I have ever really been able to feel the effects of having them. On to Landon. We go Friday to both the Lung Dr and the Cardiologist. I am both nervous and excited about this apt. Excited because Landon is doing so well and I can't wait for the Dr's to see just how well he is doing and nervous because we go for an Echo and this will determine whether or not we can come off our oxygen completely or if we will have to go onto further treatment for the issues we have with our heart.

On another note, im sure most of you have read Laura's blog and know that these next few weeks are going to be an emotional rollercoaster for our family. Our family really needs a break for once. Conner needs to stay cooking and one of us really needs to experience what its like to have a full term baby. I have been there through both the NICU experiences with Tatum and JD and then my own NICU experience. But with Conner, if he decides to come early, im not sure what im going to do because I wont be able to be there for Conner, Laura and Jeremy like I was with Tatum and JD. So keep us in your prayers over the next few days and the next few weeks.

Things that make you go hmmm...

I'm laying in here in bed when I really should be going to sleep, but sleep doesnt come easy for me at night just simply because I lay here and try to make every sound possible freak me out. But as I am sitting here I have been thinking about what someone said to me the other day at Wal-Mart. I was asked "How do you do it with a sick child". My answer to them was...I have always wanted to be a mother and God knew that I would be able to handle it otherwise he wouldn't have made me a mother. Having a sick child is no different than any other child, you still care for them the same way you would any other, you just get to care and love on them just alittle bit more. Having a child in the home with medical conditions does have its moments but our children still smile, babble, laugh and steal our hearts just like the next. Landon has given me more strength that days and days of working out at a gym could ever have given me. When he smiles that beautiful toothless smile I know just how close I came to never getting to see that smile and it just makes me fall even more in love with him. Landon is pretty in love with his momma too!!!! Just ask anyone in the family! Ok so enough about that....

We went today to get our montly synagis shot and as Aunt LuLu calls him....Our little Piggly Wiggly weighed 15lbs 8.5oz. It's hard to believe he is already 6months and weighing that much. If his cousin JD doesn't get on the ball Landon is going to pass him in the weight department. Landon is already wearing his clothes that JD wears now! Our 6month pictures couldn't have went any better. If you remember when we went for our 3mon pictures, Landon was put in Vandy the same day so I was nervous going in hopes that history did not repeat itself. Well Landon was so happy and I can not wait till we get the proofs back! They are going to be soooooo good!

On another note....Please pray for Payton and Nikki...Payton is going into surgery tomorrow to have a trach placed and they are also going to be reattaching her retina. It is going to be a busy day for her. Pray for the Drs. who will be doing the surgery and pray for Payton that her body will be strong and that Nikki and her family will also be given strength during this time as well.

Busy Week

There are so many things going in this week that are both exciting and scary all at the same time. For starters Landon has his 6mon pictures at MacBrown on Wednesday. I am so excited about this because Landon has the cutest little dimples when smiling and I can't wait to see how these turn out. I also hope this is a much better experience than the last. The day we had our 3mon pictures was also the day that we were put back into Vanderbilt with whopping cough. I do have to say that I think this time it is going to go much smoother and we wont have any road blocks. Then on Thursday I will be going to Murfreesboro to have a biopsy done due to cancerous cells being found again on my cervix. If you all remember a few years ago I had surgery to removed part of my cervix due to the cancer cells found. I am hoping that once again it will be nothing and that can either do the surgery again or it will be nothing. It just seems like its a never ending challenge in my life. I just wish that I could go one year without having something test me. On another note Jonathan and I have decided that when we get our income tax money, we are going to let Landon stay the night with the grandparents and we are going to go stay somewhere in Nashville. I am excited about this because it meants SHOPPING!!!!! Landon is outgrowing all his clothes so fast so most of it will probably be for him. Other than that, Landon is doing great, still has that horrible whooping cough cough....They told us its called the 100day cough so we are drawing in on that soon. Jonathan will be home tomorrow night for most of the week. He is going with us for pics and will be driving me to have my biopsy done. I am excited about him being home,because it means Mommy gets to sleep and Daddy gets to get up in the middle of the night! Wahoo.

Just an everyday Update

This is just an update of how things are going at our household. Landon has decided that sleep is overrated and that he doesn't feel the need to do so at night. Which means no sleep for me,which leaves me to be a DEVIL to all others around. I have tried different techniques such as cereal in his bottle before bed and even tried keeping him awake for longer periods of time to see if that would help. Still he thinks he doesn't need to sleep. The night before last we were up every hour and each time he acted like he was starving and ate a whole 5oz each time. So today we introduced cereal and he ate quite a bit of that. And then later on tonight we are going to try some baby food to see if that helps fill him up. I am hoping that tonight we will have a much better night and Landon will sleep so much better tonight....FYI if anyone has any suggestions that have worked for you with your children please leave me a message I am willing to try anything at this point.

Take 2

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile and I apologize now for the lengthy message ahead....
Well for started Thursday night we decided to give the whole crib thing another try since the land lady finally came and fixed the doors. Well I wasn't as nervous this time as I had been the last just simply because I was getting myself in trouble with him being in the bed with me and knew it was time. The plan is to always have Landon in the bed no later than 9pm so that I can get stuff done around the house that I couldn't during the day. But instead we put him to bed at 9pm and then went to bed ourselves. It had been a long day for all of us with the passing of my grandfather and spending the majority of the day at the funeral home. Well at 2:37am to be exact I woke up in a panic because I had not heard Landon yet and was afraid something was wrong. So I sent Jonathan in because im afraid if I go I will be tempted to bring him back to bed with me and then we would be right back where we started. Jonathan comes back and all is well, Landon is still sound asleep and so we go back to sleep ourselves. Landon ended up sleep for well over another hour and ate just enough to put him back to sleep and was back out. So his first night is a success. Night 2, go to bed at 8:30pm Jonathan and I start some housework, Jonathan does his laundry to go back on the road and we get into bed around 12 thinking that we will have to get up in about an hr or so to feed Landon. Nope Landon slept till 5am this morning! Took a bottle and was back out and sleep till around 8am. So we arenow two nights in and doing very well I might add. If I had know he would sleep this well in his own bed he would have been in there a long time by now. But when I think about it I think most of it is my own selfishness. Not wanting to lose any sleep or having to actually get out of the bed and walk across the house. But at any rate, Landon is now is in his bed and sleeping better than ever. Landon is now weighing 14lbs 3oz and wearing anywhere from 3months to 6 months and even in those some are too short for him. We are just upgraded to size 3 diapers! Thats a big step from the very first diaper we ever wore. We are still on our O2 at night, but are still going during the day without it and so far so good.
I am so proud of him~!~

Day of Rest

So just as Landon gets the praise from Dr.s that he is doing well and that we are making progress he decides he wants to put me back on the edge by acting ugly. Around 4a this morning Landon's monitors started blaring on both his oxygen Sat's and his heart rate. At first make I thought the monitor was just not picking up and so I just hit the silence button and went back to sleep. Well after the 2min silence it gives you it was still going off so I then woke up enough to see what was going on. Landon was still and sound asleep but I noticed he was breathing really hard so I then realized that everything was picking up like it should. The monitor was saying that Landon's O2 was between 89-92 and his heart rate was between 180-190. Both of which are not good when you have lung issues already and heart issues. I turned Landon's O's up hoping that this would fix both problems but it only fixed his O2 and even then we were hovering the line of where we needed to be. Our heart rate on the other end was still running in the 180's. Keep in mind that on Friday when we went to the Dr. and learned about the heart issue that he has(but we are just finding out) they stressed to us that a high heart rate could mean that he is getting in trouble and if not fixed soon than could lead to much worse things. Well I'm on pins and needles by this time, I can't fall back asleep because he is constantly going off so I try to correct the problem by picking Landon up and holding him. He seemed more comfortable this way but still only dropped his HR to 160-170. I finally decided to call Vandy Pulmonolgy around 9a to have the on-call Dr to see if they felt like I needed to bring Landon in. They informed me to watch him for 24hrs and to keep him on the oxygen for right now (reminder that on Friday we were informed us that we could go during the day without it) and if he still seemed to be having issues in the morning to call them back and they will let the ER know that we were on our way. The Dr. also informed us that this could be Landon's way of telling us he is getting sick so we are to monitor his temp and things for the next 24hours as well. So for right now, I am just hoping that Landon is just having a bad day and just needs a break. Right now we are sating 99 and our HR is 131 and he is asleep. So lets pray and keep our fingers crossed he continues to stay in that general area.

BPD Clinic

Well we just got back from out Dr.s apt at Vandy and not alot of changes but we are def in the right direction. Dr. Austin said his lungs sound awesome and no noises that shouldn't be there and that he is passing good breathe sounds. While we were there, they let him have a room air trial so that they could see how well he holds his sats up. Well of course Landon showed off and stayed at 100 the whole time. You would think that would be conviencing enough to say that Landon is good to come off of it, but they they had to throw something new in as to why he doesnt. Which by what I gathered today he had this PDA and hypertension in his heart when we were in Vandy last but it was all new news to me today. Needless to say that didnt set well with me. So for the time being Landon is allowed to go during the day without his O2 but will still need it at night and on March 6th we will be going back to Vandy to meet with the lung dr.s again and at this time they will also be doing a Echo of his heart to see if the PDA and hypertension is still there. Dr. Austin did say that if the Echo showed PDA then we would have to then talk about what needed to be done from there. He mentioned that it didnt mean surgery but that it would be a possibility. So now we are enjoying our free time during the day and will continue to listen to that soothing sound of the oxygen concentrator at night. We also were up 10oz today so that now makes up 13lbs 14oz! Landon is becoming a chunker and I love it!

Princess Payton

Just talked with Nikki Payton's mom and Payton has been on the nasal cannula for around 4hours now and is doing great. She said that if she continues to do good they will let her try a bottle soon. I cannot even begin to tell you how big this is for Nikki, Payton and her family. They have been through so much with Payton and have had so many doctors telling them there was nothing else that could be done. But with lots or prayers Payton is sailing right out the door to go home. Keep praying for Payton and her family because there are still many obstacles they will need to overcome before they get to go home.

Dr.s Apt

So Landon had a check-up today with his pediatrician and he is very impressed with how he is doing. Landon weighed 13lbs 4oz and was 25in long today. Dr. Clifford did change us back to 22 cal since we had gained almost 3lbs in 23days. He said he was gaining too much too quick. So that's a plus we wont be going through so much formula now. Next week we have appointments with the lung doctor and we are hoping they decide that Landon is doing well enough to come off the oxygen.

We also heard from Nikki Payton's mom and she is still on CPAP and if she continues to do well, then they are going to try to put her to nasal canula tomorrow or Sunday. Praise God for that news!

These are the times I hate being ALONE

Well we received a call this evening informing us that my mother had been called to the Nursing Home and that my Grandfather wanted to see all of his daughters right away. I'm sure it might be premature to say this but my grandfathers health has taken a dramatic decline over the last few weeks and my grandfather has shown that he really is just ready to give up and he is tired. I watched him go down hill since MawMaw died and I guess i feel like once he passes away then thats the last thing that keeps me close to her. I mean she will never be forgotten but with both of them gone means that my two favorite people are gone forever. On a better note, Baby Payton has been on CPAP since around 11am this morning! So far she is doing well and I want to thank everyone for there prayers! Payton is strong and is proving that to us daily.

Been Awhile

So its been a few days since I've last updated. There really isnt much to update for right now. Jonathan is on the road and will probably be home within a week or so. Most nights its ok, but some nights I get pretty freaked out at night. Landon is still doing good off his oxygen but we talked to the Lung Doctor today and they want us to put it back on him till they can see and re-evaulate him. That is fine and all and I don't want Landon to take any steps backward but I know he is doing so well without it and its just frustrating because I just don't want the doctors thinking his sicker than he really is. They always seem to make things worse than they really are and im just afraid they will think that he isn't doing as well as good as he really is. I know Landon more than anyone else and know when it he requiring more assistance. He is still hooked up the monitor so that he doesnt get into a situation that could get worse. Oh well I guess I will just do as the Doctors say since they are the ones with the degree and we will see them next Friday. Hopefully they will see just how strong my little guy is and will send us home free and clear of O2.

The results are in......

Well Landon did a whole lot better than his stinking mother last night. He slept from about 8:45pm to around 2am and that's when he woke up ready for a bottle. He went right back to sleep after his bottle and more than likely would have stayed in there the rest of the night but.......You see Landon's bedroom door does not latch and you can just easily push it open.(Don't ask me why we are trying to get in touch with Landlady to fix) Well We have just recently inherited my grandfathers cat who also thinks that Landon's crib is also his bed. We have tried everything to keep his door closed to placing his oxygen in front of the door to placing something behind it to keep it closed. All those are fine ideas, but freaked me out knowing that if something were to happen and i needed to get there right away I would have to move all this stuff instead of just opening the door and going in. And then there's the cat. I'm afraid if I find him in the bed with Landon that he may go flying out the door and this cat would never survive outside. So it looks like until we can get the door to Landon's room fixed he will remain with me in our bedroom. Oh im such a wussy momma!

Nervous Momma

So tonight we are going to try and let Landon sleep in his crib for the first time. This has struck up so many emotions. I'm so stinking nervous about this. He is still hooked up to the monitors and he will sleep with his oxygen on but he will still be all the way across the house and won't be within arms reach. I'm also kinda expecting failure with this because we have already put him town asleep and he already back up. Well I will blog more about the outcome tomorrow.

Improvements

So I woke up this morning to Landon having is O2 down under his chin. During that moment I kinda panic thinking OH NO did I not hear him go off and check the monitor. Its reading 100% and everything looks to be working so I take a sigh of relief. I had to take the dots that hold the oxygen tubing off his face yesterday due to him developing large red whelps where the dots were. After this time time I had tried to tighten the tubing enough to keep it on his face but apparently I didn't do a good enough job. Well im still not able to put the dots back onto his face since the whelps are still there and since he seem to be doing so well without the oxygen, it is still off and we have had no problems at all today. It is so good to see his face again and not have anything taking up any of that cuteness. I do believe that we are on the right path to come completely off the O2. WAHOO!!!!!! On another note, since they have increased Landon's calorie intake to 28 cal per oz I have been noticeing rolls! Yep thats right, Landon's got rolls now! He has really become alittle chunker. Im real anxious to see how much he weighs the next time we go to the doctor. Well over the next few weeks we are bombarded with doctors apts right after left so im not looking forward to getting Landon out so much but hopefully we will have good results and won't need to go so often after that.

Reflections of 2008

So yeah I'm alittle late on this considering 2009 has already been in swing for a few weeks now but I sat in bed last night thinking about everything that had happened during 2008 and how I hope 2009 is much better for our family. 2008 started out like any other year did. Jonathan and I went to the annual New Years Eve Party at a good friend of ours house but unfortunately this year I only got to stay till 12 because I had to be at work at 7am the next morning. A few days later on the 4th came my 23rd birthday and we spent it here in Pulaski with my family. The next day when we had just went to bed, we received a phone call from Jonathan's parents informing us that Tammy our really close friend had just passed away so we quickly rush to get our things together and make the trip to Manchester. That trip to this day is still a blur to me. Over the next few days we are at the funeral home with family for this difficult time. The rest of January is spent trying to take in the fact that Tammy is really gone. February starts out good, Jonathan receives his settlement from his wreck and we are able to pay some much needed bills. We also decide that we are going to move back to Pulaski and start looking for a place to call home. We move February 15th and after a long long night we get a call in the am that Laura is at the hospital with what they think might be HELLP again. So here we go again! Laura is then transferred to Centennial for the remainder of the pregnancy(which we aren't sure how long that will be) and I become the official surrogate mother for Tatum. Laura is stable this time and the HELLP is not as severe as it was in 2005 with Tatum. She delivers a beautiful little boy on February 23rd at 3:32pm. Joel David weighed 1lbs 12oz. Fast forward to Feb 26th, Jonathan and I go to Nashville Fertility to start the process of InvitroFertilization and while there we found out that we are pregnant and will be having a family of our own soon. The excited is overwhelming for the fears of Laura's history haunt me. Pregnancy is going smooth except for my worrisome self. We found out we are having a boy and decide that his name will be Landon Bryce. Everything is going smoothly up to my 25wk apt and this is when my world crashes around me. I am starting to dilate and sent straight to the hospital to be monitored and giving steroids to help with Landon's lung development. After two days of hospitalization I am sent home on strict bedrest. After two weeks of bed rest and another 2day stay in the hospital my water breaks and we know that Landons coming whether we like it or not. Thankfully they are able to hold me off for about a week before have to start me on pitocin and on August 8th, 2008 Landon Bryce Huls entered the world at 12:10am weighing in at 3lbs 0.6oz and was 16in long. After a 8 week smooth sailing stay in the NICU we bring Landon home at 5lbs 14oz. Everything is going well for about a month and then Landon develops this cough. Being a preemie mom you worry about everything. Because what could be normal for us could be deadly to them. We take him to Hillside, they send us home. He is still no better than Saturday and so we take him back. His O2 is in the high 70's low 80's and they proceed to life-flight him to Vandy where we are diagnosed with double pneumonia and stay about a week and come home. Everything seems to be going well till I notice that these coughing spells are getting much worse and he seems to quit breathing when having them. I call my sister who is working and inform her that I am bringing Landon in and that something is just not right. I get there and she then see what I mean and rushes him back to the doctor. They really dont even do anything for us there, but call an ambulance. We are on our way back to Vandy! We get to Vandy, Laura is with me the whole time and they inform us they are going to do a pertussis test because it seems that he may have this. What? Are you kidding me? While still down in the ER Landon decides to have one of his coughing spells only this time it is much worse, they proceed to jerk him from my arms and throw him in the bed. Thankfully not other interventions had to be made at that time because he came out of it, but this would be the start of horrible things to come. We stay on the regular hospital floor for about 24hrs before they decide that Landon needs to be someone where he can be monitored more closely and they were changing him from just regular O2 to a nasal cp. They did inform me that if he continued to have this spells that they would have to intubate. I knew that this would happen because Landon was wearing himself out and getting weaker and weaker with each spell. After about 12hour on CP they are then forced to intubate and my little Landon is now on a vent. The next few days are a blur to me, because Landon was just getting worse and worse and every Dr who talked with us had that look of fear in their eyes. No mother ever wants to see that look. After a two week stay on the vent, they feel Landon can come off and they move him back to nasal canula. This last for about 12hours and then he is moved back to nasal CP and we are told they may have to intubate again. AHHHH! Thankfully they are very aggressive with treatment over the next few days and are able to get that right lung back up and we go back to nasal cannula. We are then moved out of the PICU and onto the floor. We are then referred to the Pulmonology Group and have test run to determine why Landons lung doesn't want to stay up. They come to the conclusion that Landon has Trachamalcia(Floppy Airways) and that he will grow out of this. They did inform us at this time that if Landon continues to require hospitalization and ends up in the PICU then we may consider placing a trach. A mothers nightmare. We are released the next day Dec 17th. Landon went home on oxygen and butt load of medicines but He came home. We got to spend out first Christmas at Home and couldn't have been happier. We did nothing for New Years and were asleep pretty much as soon as the ball dropped. Although 2008 brought our family so many trials and test of strength I can't help but be blessed that I have the family I have.

Lonely oh so Lonely!

Well Jonathan has only been gone less than 24hours and I miss him more than any other time he has been out on the road. I'm not sure why this is different than any other time with him being gone but it is. With this company comes changes. He is no longer able to say when he goes home and how long he is going to stay. With his other company he was able to say when and how long he would be home and now it looks to be close to a month before he comes home. I'm not particularly worried about me during this time because I know we will be able to just pick up right where we left off, im more worried about Landon and Jonathan's relationship. Landon is getting older and starting to recognize familiar faces. Now this company does have so many more incentives than the other company Jonathan was working for. With the other company taxes were not taken out he had to pay for his own fuel and the people he encountered along the way were some of the rudest people. With this company comes more pay, fuel is paid for and the biggest one of all FAMILY INSURANCE! As many of you know our lives have been anything but normal the last few years and we are hoping that with Jonathan's new job things start getting back to normal. On another note, I went to the Doctor for my yearly check-up. While there I discussed with my doctor about getting my tubes tied. I don't even think he thought about. He told me that he really preferred not to and he gave me information about another procedure that last for 5years and if after that time we still wanted to go that route he would. So within the next few weeks I will be going in to have that done. Growing up, I wanted to be that one who pop kid after kid out but now after everything it took to have Landon and everything Landon has been through I am just blessed to have the great child I have. Well enough ramblings. It's time to get Landon ready for bed, and then its my turn!

Irritated so to say

I'm not usually one to say something when a person makes me mad, but today must be one of those days. And I hope that I don't step on anyones toes when saying this. It has recently come to my attention that some are thinking that I don't allow Jonathan to take care of Landon and that I do the majority of the work around the house. This however is completely untrue. Jonathan tries his best to allow me time to myself and even let me sleep in the mornings, but after 2hours of a crying baby who by the way still does not feel good you have to intervine. I would love to be able to just hand Landon off to someone and he be ok for just 5mins. He is not only crying when Jonathan holds him, but that goes for anyone else in the family that holds him. You have to understand that Landon come real short to dying and is still not 100% himself so forgive me when its hard to watch your child scream and cry for hours when all he really wants is his mother. Yes, it can be frustrating beacuse you can't just carry him around the house like any normal baby. We only have so much tubing for the oxygen which makes it hard to get anything done. I love Landon more than life itself and if it seems that I am ill that no one else can take care of him then im sorry. And as for doubting Jonathan's ability to take care of Landon, I am positive that everything would be fine and Landon would be well taken care of.

And again I apologize for stepping on anyones toes.

First time with a babysitter

So today Candace who is going to be our babysitter for next Wednesday came over to learn the ropes of what she will need to do with Landon. I hope she didn't freak out when she left. Honestly I don't think she should have any problems with him, the only issue she will probably have is Landon knowing his momma is not here and cries the whole time. I'm pretty sure I freaked her out when I told her to bring clothes to change into for when she got here and another pair of clothes for any accidents. I think she thought I was crazy, but then I proceeded to tell her that I make my spray herself down with Lysol before she gets close to him. I'm sure I will be a nervous wreck come Wednesday that I will probably not even be able to enjoy the Wizard of Oz with Laura and Tatum. Although I am extremely excited to go see this with them since it will probably be the last time we really get to hang out with each other since Laura is going on bedrest the next day. Well over the next few days pray that I say sane and actually make it out the door Wednesday to enjoy time with my sister and niece.

So today has been a horrible day for me. I had been feeling sickly the last few days and when I woke up this morning I couldn't breathe and my throat was killing me. So I have been doping myself up all day with meds and wearing a mask when im around Landon. Which means that I can't breathe even more when I'm wearing that horrible thing. Jonathan tried to let me sleep in this morning since I wasn't feeling very good and like always that didn't get to happen. I just wish that for one day Jonathan could console him and I don't have to get up from what I'm doing to quiet him down. Partly my fault for Landon acting this way, but its really starting to bite me in my rear now. Thankfully Landon and I laid down around 3pm and he was able to take a nap by himself with no help from mommy or daddy. Unfortunately, when I woke up from our nap I woke up with a migraine from....well you know where. And as soon as I get up, I get asked "Whats for Dinner" My reply was...Whatever you fix! So Jonathan is now in there cooking what I laid out for dinner.

On another good note.....After 3weeks of Jonathan not working he is leaving for Missouri on Tuesday for Orientation with Sitton Company. With this company comes steady pay, family insurance and job security. The other company he was with was so unreliable and hardly ever had any work for him and his vehicle he drove was so unreliable that we never knew if he was going to make it to where he went. I am just ready for us to lead normal lives again. I am so tired of wondering WHEN? HOW? or WHERE? the money was going to come for us to pay the bills. Well I'm hoping that Landon goes to bed again at 8:30 because mommy will be following very close behind him. Well I spoke to soon about having a quiet baby... he is pouting now which will lead to a full blown cry if not tended to right away.

Landon's Check-up

Just wanted to update everyone on how well Landon is doing. We went to the Lung Dr today and they were amazed at how well he is doing and how awesome he looks. What a great blessing that is. The did refer us to the GI department to see why Landon is still refluxing with all the reflux medicine he is on. they have him on at least 3 and we are still spitting up sometimes up to 2oz at a time. They said that they could possibly do two things. One which would be an endoscopy and the other would be a PH Probe. They said someone should be calling us within in a few weeks to set this up. They also increased his calorie intake from 22calorie to to 28calorie per ounce to hopefully get him to gain more weight. Since our last apt we have lost 50grams so they are wanting to make sure he doesnt continue to lose but instead gain. We are getting adjusted to have all the wires and tubes attached to him wherever we go it just takes alittle bit of extra time when we are going places. Landon is really tiring us out right now too. We are sure its from him still not feeling the best in the world and they also think that it might be from him refluxing so much. Whatever it is, we hope it gets better soon. We are ready to be able to lay him down and he be content with being laid down. Right now its you get him to sleep, lay him down and 15mins later we have a screaming baby. Jonathan says its because hes so spoiled and that I don't know how to put him down, but if you saw my house before Landon you would know that its never messy and that I HATE a messy house and right now I have clothes that have been washed since we got home that have yet to be folded. LOL! I keep joking to Jonathan that I'm tempted to place an ad to get a cleaning lady. But then I have to bleach that person down before they come into my house and thats just oo much work for me. Well we go back to the doctor on the 23rd and the 30th so I will update again soon.



As for my friend Nikki and her little girl Payton. Payton is doing just remarkable. Dr. Hassle asked today what happened because they were not doing anything for her and she has done a 360. Nikkis mother replied to the Dr that there are people praying for her everywhere in numerous states. Dr. Hassle said that she liked what they were doing and to let the Prayer team know to keep up the prayers. So thank you to all who have been praying for baby Payton and to keep it up.