A Wedding

Last Saturday Ann Marie got married.  I still can't believe it's come and gone so fast.  I suppose I was a little preoccupied with other things which is why it seemed to happen so quickly.  I wasn't sure if I was even going to make it to the wedding in light of recent events.  Somehow, through strength other than our own, Ryan and I made it to the wedding.  We weren't able to attend everything as we would have liked, but we made it to the temple and that's the most important part.  We went to the reception for an hour or so as well which was really nice.  Ryan's family came to our rescue and watched Andrew for us so we were able to attend at least part of the wedding. 

The wedding turned out beautifully.  The couple was happy and glowing, as they should have been.  We're glad to welcome Brett to the family.

I love the boots.  She had a brown leather jacket she wore part of the time too.  Very cute and warm!  It was freezing!

Home Sweet Home

Andrew was able to come home last Friday, so we've had him for a week now.  We are in love with this little boy. He's already starting to focus more on our faces and to show personality, plus he rolls onto his side.  I don't think it will be long before he's rolling over.  He doesn't like bubbles in his tummy and he's already a hungry little man, but he does have a big body to fill up.

My body is continuing to heal, slowly, but surely.  Patience has never been my strong point and I keep feeling like I should already be back to full strength and have this baby thing all figured out.  I don't have it all figured out (far from it in fact) and I am not at full strength, so I try to focus on the things I am able to do each day and to remember that with time I will heal and I'll figure out how to take care of this little guy.

Here's a few more recent photos of our cute Little Mr:

Our first family photo.  This is just before we left the NICU.

A Short Video

Sorry it's sideways and small.  I've never loaded a video before.

Little Mr.

Andrew Ryan Holmes

November 2, 2010 @ 2:29 p.m.

11 pounds, 23.5 inches long

Our infant toddler

Isn't he beautiful? 

     His birth and the time since then haven't gone exactly as we thought or hoped they would go.   Part way into labor Andrew's heartbeat dropped drastically and the Dr. and nurses were unable to get it back up.  Within a 5 minute time period I was in the operating room having an emergency c-section.  Since it was an emergency, Ryan wasn't allowed in the room with me.  It was one of the scariest experiences of my life.  However, I am very grateful for modern medicine and for Dr.'s and nurses who know what they're doing.  I am also grateful for my testimony.  I was never alone through the entire thing.  Despite the urgency and the unknown of it all, I knew everything would be okay.  I was able to remain calm, mostly, and felt as though there was someone beside me throughout it all.

     Andrew was taken directly to the nursery following his birth.  He had aspirated some fluid into his lungs and was having difficulty breathing.  They were able to get him pretty stabilized, but were unable to calm him down.  They weren't sure what else was going on or if he had other injuries or difficulties they were unaware of.  At 3 a.m. he was taken by helicopter to another hospital with a more advanced NICU.  In the NICU, they were able to put him on a ventilator and oxygen which helped him greatly.  They called us with an update around 5 a.m.  The irritability and crying was caused by the fluid in his lungs, but they had found no other problems.  We were told the irritability was a good thing, that most babies acting that way made a full recovery.

     My Dr. gave me leave on Thursday to go down to see Andrew.  However, we weren't able to hold him until Friday.  It was wonderful to be able to hold my baby.  I had been able to touch his knee twice and see him for only a few brief moments up until that point.  He woke up when we held him.  We finally got to hold our sweet little angel.

     Andrew is still in the NICU.  He is improving everyday.  He is off the ventilator, off the oxygen and he is taking all his feedings by mouth now instead of being fed through an IV.  He is still under jaundice lights and is on antibiotics to fight off a possible pneumonia.  He is active and much more peaceful.  We hope to be able to bring him home soon.  Please keep him in your prayers.

Daddy holding his son the first time.

The first time I held him.

Our sweet baby boy.