November 18, 2011 - 258 Days Old

Wow, I can't believe how much time has passed since I last wrote. My new job and school has me so busy that the days pass way too quickly. A couple of people who are regular followers of the blog have contacted us and asked if we are alright, so I figured it was probably time to post again.

Our little Aiden has been fighting off sickness for about the past month and a half. He caught a cold from his brother and sister and it took him a long time to get over it. Then, just as he was getting over it, Skylar and Jasmine generously passed along yet another cold. I swear, Skylar is like a walking petrie dish! He gives it to Jasmine and then she promptly coughs or sneezes in Aiden's face. We do our best to keep them away from Aiden when they are sick, but they sneak in while we aren't watching and pass their germs along. Aiden struggles so much with colds because his immune system is so weak and it takes him a long time to get better.

Aiden is still on oxygen. His breathing doesn't seem to be getting much better. Hopefully he will gradually improve and we can get him off of oxygen before long.

Halloween was fun for the kids this year. Skylar dressed up as Iron Man and Jasmine was a butterfly. They were so cute. I dressed up in my typical Halloween costume, my traditional Mongolian clothing, for our work Halloween party. Amaraa brought Skylar and Jasmine to trick-or-treat around the office and then they had cupcakes and drinks. I took the kids around our neighborhood trick-or-treating. They were so excited. They tired out after only a handful of houses and wanted to go home, so that suited me fine. We still accumulated quite a lot of candy that we had to promptly ration to prevent rotten teeth.

Skylar has really been enjoying school this year. He loves his teacher and comes home saying he had a great day at school every day. Jasmine still misses him when he goes to school, but I think she is getting used to the idea. We have our little morning ritual we go through. Jazzy eats breakfast with Sky and I and sees us off to work and school. She then takes her warm milk in a sippy cup and goes downstairs to watch the latest episode of Sesame Street. She is at such a cute age, but she can be a "terrible two".

Work has been okay. I am still looking for other opportunities that are a better fit for me, but until I find one, at least I enjoy the work I am doing. It's not ideal by any means, but it is a job and I am grateful to have it for now.

Amaraa and I have both caught the cold the kids have had and it has been miserable. Luckily, it affected me pretty lightly, but the dry throat and coughing has not exactly been pleasant in a job where I have to be on the phone all the time. Amaraa has been hit much harder with her cold.

Well, I'll try to be better about writing on the blog. If you hear of any great job opportunities, send them my way.

September 15, 2011 - 194 Days Old

Well, today has been a crazy day. I am into the groove of things at work and have started consulting with my clients. That has been going pretty well so far. I'm grateful that my supervisors are letting me start off slow. Normally, I would have about 55 customers to work with each week, but I only have about eleven right now. I'm sure they will give me more soon, but I'm glad I am able to ease into it.

After work, I went to my two on-campus classes at UVU. Both of my teachers are really good, but it makes for really long days. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I leave the house at 7:30 AM and get home at about 9:00 PM. While I was in class, I got a text from Amaraa that said she didn't think Aiden's baby formula was working for him. We have been giving Aiden preemie baby formula a couple of feedings per day to help him gain weight. The Enfamil for preemies has been working really well, but today Amaraa got some Similac formula from WIC. I texted back that I would pick up some more Enfamil on my way home.

I had no idea what had been going on that prompted the text message...

Amaraa mixed the new formula for Aiden early in the afternoon. After giving it to him, Aiden got a lot of phlegm in his throat. He started coughing and couldn't clear the mucus. A few minutes later he threw up. With all of the phlegm in his throat, throwing up just aggravated the problem, and everything seemed to get caught in his throat. He started choking and couldn't breathe. Amaraa turned him face-down and slapped his back to try to clear the garbage out of his throat. Aiden started turning blue and his monitor was alarming as his blood oxygen saturation began to drop. After trying everything she knew how to do to get him breathing again, she finally called 911. She kept working on Aiden as she waited for the ambulance. Aiden began doing a little better and his color started to improve. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was breathing much better. The EMTs wanted to take him to the hospital, but Amaraa wouldn't let them. By then, he was breathing normally again and was not in distress. The EMTs were worried because his breathing appeared labored, but Amaraa knew that was normal for Aiden due to his reactive airway disease. She explained that to them and they left. The ordeal was pretty scary for Skylar and Jasmine. Amaraa apparently handled it like a pro. I didn't find out about all of this until I got home from school. Anyway, everything is OK and Aiden is doing well tonight.

Well, that's about all the excitement for today. Here's hoping for a little less excitement in coming days.

July 1, 2011 - 118 Days Old

Well, we're at the beginning of another month. Crazy. I can't believe how time flies. This has been another week of ups and downs. It has reminded us that we are still on the preemie roller coaster and probably won't be getting off for a while. Aiden was doing really well until Wednesday when he had another little setback. His lungs weren't doing very well and they had to increase his oxygen flow rate to 4 liters. He had been down to 2 for several days, and we were very encouraged by that, so it was disappointing that they had to increase it again. He also didn't eat very well at feedings and the nurse had to supplement his feedings through his GI tube. He struggled for a few days and they kept him on 4 liters. Fortunately, he seemed to be doing a little better yesterday. Today, they felt comfortable decreasing his flow rate to 2.5. He seems to be doing well so far, but he still isn't eating like he should, so we're cautiously optimistic. Of course, all of this info is coming to me second-hand. I'm in Price working again.

We have mostly been working on our other building projects this week, so progress on our house has slowed. We did work there part of yesterday and all day today and we were able to get some of the exterior walls finished and stood. We will work there most of the day tomorrow as well, so we should be able to get most of the exterior walls up. This is a fun point in the construction process because daily progress is very noticeable. We have decided there's no point in rushing the project since we won't be able to finish in time to get Skylar in school anyway, so we're probably looking at getting in around Christmas. That will allow me to get a few more classes in at UVU in the Fall and will also keep us closer to UVRMC for a while, in case Aiden has any problems after he comes home -- KNOCK ON WOOD.

Well, I'll write more when I get back home this weekend. I don't usually write when I'm in Price, but I had a little extra time, so I thought I would post. I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!