Finn Firsts

Not much to report on the Finn front today.  We seem to have hit a plateau.  Things started trending downward with his blood work last Wednesday, and by Saturday he needed a blood transfusion - his 6th.  During the blood transfusion, they hold his feeds, so not only did he get an IV for the blood, but also for IV nutrition as well.  While he was looking kind of cute with a hep lock in each hand poking out over his blanket, I know it’s not comfortable for him.  Typically after a transfusion, Finn perks right up and takes off in the right direction.  But, he has been pretty sluggish since this last one came about.  He is having trouble taking all of his feeds by bottle, he’s lethargic, and he is relying heavily on his oxygen support.  All these things are not getting us home any time soon.  He’s not worse, but he’s definitely not better.  And we’re not moving forward at this point.

All this frustration, plus the holidays, missing my brother, all the cars I use to go back and forth having some kind of issue and grounding me in Stillwater for the next few days, and flat being worn out brought about a massive pity party by yours truly this morning.  Somehow, I managed to drag Britt into it as well, I’m that good.  So, to try to perk myself up, I made a little movie of some of the new things Finn has done in the past 10 days and uploaded it to YouTube:

The blood transfusion also caused him to retain some fluid, so (as I suspected) the declaration of being in the 5 pound club on facebook Saturday night was a bit premature.  He weighed in at 4 pounds 15 ounces last night after 3 doses of Lasix, so I think that is a more accurate representation of his weight.  We should hit the 5 pound mark tonight, though.  Another big milestone, for sure!  Now, if he would just perk up and make some forward strides!  Still praying for a Christmas miracle!

Saw the Doctor

Monday was my first actual visit with my Obstetrician.  I had to meet with the lady in the business office first to set up the payment plan for my out of pocket expenses for the clinic.  Not as bad as I had expected - my insurance is actually better this time than when Jake was born!  Then, it was down to business with the Doc.  After making "old" jokes to Britt then asking how old he really was (he told the doctor he will be 47 when the baby is born), he decided I didn't need a pelvic exam since I just did that in December.  YAY!  I didn't want to have to do that.  Then, he tried to listen for the heartbeat with the Doppler.  He told me it might be hard to find and to not be disappointed - Shocker is still pretty little in there!  But, we were lucky and did get to hear it for a nano-second!  Other than that, it was a brief, uneventful appointment.  I got back in a month!

I have been asked a couple of times in the last few days about the video I made of Britt opening the card revealing his fatherhood fate.  I finally took it off my camera and have uploaded it to youtube.  As of RIGHT NOW when I am typing this, he has still not seen the video.  Several of my family members have - they saw it the day of Papa Les's birthday party when we told my side of the family, but Britt has not.  I tried to show him last night when the upload finished, but he was tired and just wanted to sleep.  LOL!

So, here it is...  Britt Weaver finding out he is a father of FOUR:

A Big Thank You!

A big THANK YOU and a hug of gratitude go out to my friend and fellow OSU employee, Ron King, for helping me put my video from Brian's funeral on the web in it's original settings.  He saw where I had made a change to the song in order to accommodate youtube's user policies, and he said he would be happy to host the video on his website.  He not only put the video up, but he also put the obituary up as well.  It is truly a beautiful thing, and to tell the truth, Ron and I don't really even know each other that well.  He just has a huge heart, and a knowledge base that would help me, and time to share.  We could all use someone like Ron in our lives!  And he's pretty funny, too, so that's just a bonus at this point!

Visit Brian's page on Ron's Website and watch the video again.

I also added a new page at the top  of the blog simply called "Brian" where all the posts relating to this NIGHTMARE are gathering in one place and listed chronologically.  I wanted to make sure those posts were all easily accessible, so that's they way I made that happen.

THANK YOU!!