Hospital Stay

About a month ago I spent quite a while typing this story out, when I was done it wouldn't post.  The next day I got back on to see if it would post just to find that it had all somehow been deleted!  It was devastating after spending all that time working on it to see it gone.  So it has taken me a while to want to come back to type it up.
As most of you know, Logan had to stay a few extra days in the hospital after he was born.  This was due to low blood sugar levels.  We are grateful that the issue was discovered and taken care of.  On Saturday afternoon we were getting all ready to be discharged, they had taken Logan to do his screening in the nursery to make sure he was ready to go home.  They don't normally check blood sugar levels, but the wonderful nurse noticed that Logan was shaky every now and then and decided to check them.  Sure enough they were low!  This has the potential to cause a few problems and was something that needed to be monitored in the hospital.  I was still discharged, but was able to stay in my room with Logan while he was still there.
They didn't know what was causing the low blood sugar, sometimes it just takes babies a while to figure out how to regulate it on their own and they think that's what was going on with Logan.  So to begin they had me feed Logan every two hours instead of every three hours.  That was exhausting, especially doing that all through out the night.  I don't think I got more than 3 hours of sleep that night, and it was all broken up.  Along with feeding him every two hours they had me try to top him off with formula, at this point I honestly don't remember their reasoning for it.  During this time they also pricked the bottom of his foot every three hours to check his levels to see if they were going up.  After 24 hours of this Logan blood sugar levels still were not going up so the doctor had them put him on a glucose IV.
So on Sunday afternoon they took Logan back to the nursery and hooked him onto an IV.  It was very sad seeing him hooked up to an IV, but I knew I had to keep it all in and stay strong otherwise I would start crying, and with the sleep deprivation and crazy hormones who knows if I would have been able to stop!  (I did let myself have a good cry after leaving the hospital)  The plan was to have Logan on the IV for 24 hours and at that point slowly start weaning him off of it and see if he could keep his blood sugar levels up on his own.  All the while they were still pricking the bottom of his foot to check his levels.
It was a very hard time for me watching my newborn baby not doing as well as he should be.  On Sunday night Louis was able to call his coworker Mike, who lives nearby the hospital, to come help give Logan a blessing.  I am very grateful for the healing power of the Priesthood.  The blessing was able to give me some peace with the whole situation.
The IV was doing its job and brought his levels up.  Monday afternoon they started lowering the dosage and late Monday night they took the IV out.  After that Logan just had to keep his levels up for three consecutive readings, so over the course of 6 hours.  Thankfully he did keep his blood sugar levels up, and he was able to be discharged from the hospital Tuesday morning after 4 long days!  It was so good to finally be home with my family and to have Logan there with us.

He did look pretty cute in his hospital gown

Logan's sad little feet after being poked and poked to check his levels

Heading home

Logan Phillip Brandley-Birth Story

Friday morning I had a doctor appointment, I was hoping hoping hoping that I would have progressed enough for him to send me over to the hospital to be started. I had been at a 4 and 90% effaced the week before at my appointment. My doctor had mentioned that if I progressed any more he would probably send me to the hospital to be induced so we didn't chance me having the baby at home! That is what got me through that last week! Prayers are answered and I was to a 5 at my appointment! I texted Louis at work and told him to meet me at home and we would head over to the hospital. 

We got to the hospital around noon and got admitted around 12:30. I was group b strep positive so I needed to get 2 rounds of antibiotics given 4 hours apart before the baby was born. With my history of fast labors they decided to hold off on pitocin and just get the antibiotic started for now. I figured since we'd have the time and I'd never had one before, I'd ask about an epidural. The anesthesiologist came and talked to us telling us how everything worked and possible side effects and what not and I decided to go ahead with the epidural. (remember how I tried to get an epidural with Wyatt, but he came too fast?) I got the epidural done right before the pitocin was started just after 2:00. It went really well and it was amazing being able to rest the few hours before Logan arrived. My blood pressure did drop and it affected the baby's heart rate, I was put on oxygen and it did help. I was put on oxygen when I was in labor with Avery as well, and honestly it helps me relax more and helps the labor along. 

Just after 4:00 my doctor came in to check me and I was at a 9. He broke my water at 4:15 and left to fill out some paperwork. With the epidural it was harder to feel when the baby was coming, but we knew it was going to be pretty quick. After a few minutes I could feel the pressure of the baby coming and called the nurse in. Sure enough I was complete and ready to push. My doctor had just started heading out of the hospital and had to be called back. If I hadn't had the epidural, I'm not sure if he would have made it. It was a totally different thing pushing with an epidural compared to pushing unmedicated. I couldn't tell if what I was doing was effective or not. The nurses and doctor were great with coaching me though and after about 10 minutes of pushing (it would have been shorter, but Logan's shoulder got stuck) the baby was here! Born at 4:35, 7 lbs 15 oz, 21 inches long. He was a bit purple, but I was still able to hold him right away while they suctioned him and tried to get him breathing better. They took Logan to help him a bit more and get his coloring looking better. He was brought back to me and I was able to cuddle and nurse him.

We didn't get into the recovery room until about 7 that night so we waited until the day after Logan was born for the kids to come meet their brother.  I was most surprised with how interested and excited Ethan was about meeting him.  Ethan walked in the room first and came right over to me holding Logan to check him out.  The girls were of course excited, Mary said "He's so cute I just can't look at him anymore!"  Wyatt mostly liked exploring the hospital room, but did check Logan out for a little bit.  They all love their little brother though and I know it's going to be lots of fun having him in our family.

This labor/delivery was different from my others in a few ways. I'd never been induced before, I'd never had an epidural, and I've never had a baby in the p.m. all my others have been in the a.m. hour!  We all love Logan and are grateful he came to complete our family.

Click here to read Avery's birth story

Click here to read Mary's birth story

Click here to read Ethan's birth story

Click here to read Wyatt's birth story

Easter 2019

We started our Easter celebrations a week before Easter with the annual Pugmire Easter Egg Hunt.  They moved to Ephraim last summer and it was our first time being able to visit them there.  The kids love this tradition and I'm glad we were able to make it!  Especially because the majority of us had all been sick the majority of the week.

The night before Easter we slept at our new house for the first time!  The upstairs bedrooms are set up, the two basement bedrooms still need fixing up, but we made it work!  It was fun to wake up and get ready for the day in our own home.  It was also really special to see two rabbits in our front yard on Easter morning, the kids thought it was so awesome!  After church the kids were able to go look for their Easter baskets.  Louis told the kids that if they needed a clue they would owe him a piece of their candy.  Avery was the only one that ended up needing a clue. 
Easter evening Avery taught a special lesson about Jesus Christ and His last few days earth and ending with His resurrection.  We are so grateful for our Savior and all that is possible for us because of Him. 

Turning 30

It was my birthday over the weekend, and I am now 30!  People seem to make a big deal over turning 30, but it really didn't feel like a huge deal to me.  We did have a fun time celebrating though!  A week or two before my birthday Avery and Mary started getting really excited about my birthday and would talk secretly with Louis about what we should do to celebrate.  I guess the excitement got to Mary, because a few days before my birthday she told me they were going to have a surprise party for me!  Whoops! 
The day of my birthday we headed over to our new house (we're (aka-Louis) still fixing things up in the house so we're not actually living in our house yet, only a couple more weeks to go!) and got things set up.  Louis was such a sweetheart, he planned a Harry Potter themed party, and had several things planned for the night.  We started out eating dinner before heading downstairs for the party.  Downstairs there was a movie, quidditch pong, wand making, photo booth props, and Harry Potter trivial pursuit. 
The beginning of the party was crazy town with everyone pretty much showing up all at once.  There were approximately 50 kids, okay only 14 kids, but they pulled out about every toy we have.  A lot of the people who came hadn't been to our house yet, so they wanted to be shown around.  It was just overwhelming for a bit there.  Thankfully once we headed downstairs it calmed down a bit, the kids went outside to play in the backyard and the adults went around to the different stations Louis had set up. 
It was a fun night and I'm so grateful for Louis for all he did to help me feel loved on my birthday.

Boise Trip

My kids had been asking for awhile when we were going to go visit Grandma Donna again.  That told me it had been too long! (It hadn't even been a year) I called up Grandma Donna and asked if we could come visit during our Spring Break.  We set it up, prepared our things, and headed up to Boise!  The kids were so great on the drive up, it was amazing!  I think most people who know Avery, know that she loves Paris and the Eiffel Tower, so we decided to stop in Paris, Idaho for a quick picture!  She can now officially say she's been to Paris!

The first night we stopped at the hotel to get our things dropped off, then grabbed some dinner to bring to Donna's apartment.  We ate dinner and chatted for a bit, then headed back to the hotel.  Wyatt doesn't sleep in cars so while he was still happy, he was also very tired. 
The next morning we headed back to Donna's and picked her up to go to the arcade.  We went to the arcade last year when we visited and the kids loved it, so that's what they wanted to do again this year!  We got to the arcade just after it opened and had a great time running around from game to game earning points.  Once we were done, the kids split the points and picked out some prizes.  Then we got some lunch before dropping Donna off then heading back to the hotel so Wyatt could take a nap.  While Wyatt napped Louis did some work for a few hours and Avery watched some TV because she had a fever and her throat was hurting.  Mary, Ethan, and I went to Target to kill some time.  When nap time was over we picked Grandma Donna back up and went to dinner together. 

 Louis helping Mary with the jump rope game

They got to do this awesome ride on the way out!

Ethan seemed to have a good time, but afterwards he said it was scary!

Mary couldn't get her salad with one fork so she used two!

Friday morning we packed up the hotel and checked out, then went to Donna's again.  We just sat and chatted until it was time to go home.  We headed out a little early because Donna had a doctor's appointment so we decided to stop in Twin Falls on our drive home.  We first stopped at the Falls which we had never been to before!  Out of all the kids Wyatt liked it the most, the other kids were a little afraid!  We also stopped at the temple to walk around the grounds.  Avery was still not feeling well, she was actually in her pajamas the whole day, but I think she still enjoyed our stops that day.

Two years ago when we stopped at the Twin Falls Temple

The rest of the drive home was once again great!  I was really impressed with our kids and how well they did for the whole trip.  It was a nice time away as a family and we enjoyed getting to spend time with Grandma Donna.