Make-Over

"I feel like I just walked outside and am missing some of my clothes." -that was my mother-in-law's take on what she saw a week after the wind storm hit. Two day's into their tropical vacation to Hawaii they got the news that their beloved pine trees that had acted as a wall to the outside world, aka the street, for the past 40 years were all missing but a few lone stragglers. It felt like we were living in a war zone after the 18 pine trees fell to the ground.

Before: you used to not be able to see the street at all!

Now: Hello Neighbors!

But luckily life goes on, and I look at it as a new yard make over! My mind seems to wander into design mode every time I drive through the driveway. New landscaping here we come!

Coming soon Spring 2012

"my oh my you're so good lookin"

My Miss Meg at 6 weeks old has....

Her daddy's eyes....

her mommy's hair...and unfortunately her nose too...

her daddy's big lips...

...and the cutest smile in the whole wide world!

Meet Meg

2 weeks ago on Sept 16th our lives changed forever! Our sweet little Meg (yes just Meg- not Megan) decided to grace us with her presence here on earth. Thursday night at 10:15pm my water broke...totally not expecting that to happen- it just so happens that I was in the middle of my nightly stretches (the splits to be exact) when I looked up at Matt and exclaimed- "Either I totally just peed my pants or we're guaranteed to have a baby within the next 24 hours because my water broke!"

I immediately called my mom and asked what we should do. She told us to head on into the hospital, but we didn't need to "rush" right in...therefore I took a shower and figured I'd get "all fresh" knowing who knows when I'd have my next shower. We arrived at the hospital just before midnight and went straight into my room where the nurses had been waiting for us (one of the many perks to having a mom that works on Labor and Delivery :)

Our last picture before heading into the hospital

After 12 hours of labor Meg joined us at 7.4lbs and 20 1/4 inches long. She had lots of hair and and a perma-scuz because she missed her warm ball she has been in the last 9 months.

The proud Daddy!

One tired mommy!

The proud grandparents- I love all of their expressions


Sunday we were discharged from the hospital and headed home, not knowing we would be back in 24 hours. Meg had her check-up with her pediatrician on Monday to check her bilirubin levels. Her check-up was going well-she was passing with flying colors- that was until the doc checked inside of her mouth. The doctors expression all of the sudden turned grave and very serious. The next thing we knew the doctor was asking us to sign a paper stating that we would take Meg immediately back to the hospital and that a room was waiting for her with the doctors. Of course I start balling my eyes out- dang hormones! The doctor had found some bumps in the back of Meg's throat that she wanted to make sure wasn't meningitis. As soon as we arrived on the 5th floor of the hospital the doctors and nurses took Meg away from us to perform a spinal tap, cultures/blood work, and start an IV.

Matt and I were completely blown away with what was going on. The doctors return to tell us the bad news that the spinal tap was a "no go." Meg was too dehydrated that they couldn't draw any spinal fluid. Over the next 4 days we spent every hour in the hospital next to our daughter watching her go through 3 FAILED spinal taps, 5 IV placements (2 hand, foot, head, and anticubital), and numerous blood draws. The poor thing has been poked and prodded more in her first 6 days of life than Matt and I combined. She was such a trooper and I am SO thankful that she wont remember any of it-hopefully!

Meg's first bath

I hated this IV most of all

Thursday morning the doctor finally gave us the ok to discharge from the hospital. After consulting with specialists at Primary Children's they felt that Meg was ok with the test results they had received. So whatever those bumps were they weren't meningitis and Meg is doing great! She is happy, healthy, and gives her parents so much joy :)

SOOOO happy to leave the hospital!!!!!

One door closes, and another opens

Changes are about to occur in the Dorius Household...this next week.

1. Matt graduates from the U of U with his Masters of Accountancy :)

2. I will be all done with any nursing pre-reqs, no more school!!

3. We get to skype with Charlie (aka Elder Van Dyke)

4. And last but not least we get to see our cute BABY GIRL once again for my 20 week (which will be more like 21 weeks) ultrasound.

We are pleased to announce that we're adding baby girl Dorius this September to our family.

So as you can see changes are about to occur. We get to close one chapter of our life and open another....goodbye school, hello parenthood!

Events that shape us

My how time flies...last post I had just graduated and now I'm back to grind in school at the U of U. Matt will be done with his masters in May (woot woot!) and will start his job with PwC in September. I have applied to the U of U's accelerated nursing program to get yet another bachelors. The real test will be to see how many times I have to apply before I get in!

Our holidays were a blur going from one family party to the next. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with my family this year, and Christmas Eve with the Dorius clan. It was nice to have all of our siblings in town and we enjoyed spending time with them.

Grandparents

Quinn and Ian

"Christmas Chaos"

We started off this year with a bang- literally! Matt and I invited my parents to go snowmobiling new years day up to Monte Cristo. The day started off well and we had an enjoyable time riding to the top of Monte in the 3 degree weather! As we were just about to reach our lunch/rest spot my parents hit a rather large bump that was hidden in the shadows. My mom was on the back of the sled and was jolted upward. As she came hurling down, the sled came rising up and they collided rather hard. Matt and I were behind them and watched them get bounced around, amazed that they stayed on the sled.

Little did we know that that "collision" came with a large consequence. My mom had hurt her back and we knew she needed to get off the mountain quick, although we had no clue as to the extent of the damage. After a 45 min ride going 2mph (taking precautions) we made it back to the car. An hour later we had my mom at the ER where she calmly walked with the help of my dad and waited her turn. After a quick evaluation they sent her into fast track (meaning "we'll get you in and out as fast as possible") were she received a shot of muscle relaxer and waited for x-rays... "just to be safe" as the doctor put it.

Two hours later my mom got the new that she had a broken back (T12) and would need a CT scan. Two hours later she got the CT scan and found out her break was not stable and surgery was needed immediately. Yet another three hours after that she got her MRI results that her back was indeed very unstable. Bone fragments were pushing into over 50% of her spinal column. At around 10pm that night we met with her neurosurgeon and were informed that she now had to wait 3-4 days for surgery because there was too much blood and swelling in her back.

Talk about a domino effect day. Things went from bad to worse in a matter of hours. It was so surreal getting more bad news after another- I don't know how my mom held herself together! Four days after the accident my mom had massive surgery to remove her vertebrae, disk, and rib. Yes she lost a rib in this whole process. Because of the location of her break the surgeons had to do what they call an anterior approach to surgery. The surgery began with her cardiovascular-thoracic surgeon going in her side taking out her 10th rib, cutting her diaphragm, deflating her lung, and moving her heart and kidneys. Then the Neurosurgeon was able to go in and remove all of her bone shards. Seven and a half hours later my mom was a new women! They replaced her vertebrae and 2 disks with screws and a titanium mesh box that they filled with a paste consisting of her 10th rib and all of the back bone fragment. Eventually the bone paste will grow over her box and cover the metal.

What a miracle! The surgeon was amazed when he saw my mom's first set of x-rays. The doctor informed us that 50% of patients with this type of break are paralyzed immediately and some become paralyzed over the next day or so. Everyday the doctor came to check on my mom, expecting to see her state go downhill. This whole experience has shown me how prayers can go a long way! I have been amazed and overwhelmed by the support, generosity, and kindness shown to my mom through family and friends. She is getting better everyday and glad to be home and out of the hospital!

After getting the news of needing surgery

Post surgery close-up

walking the halls of the hospital after 7 days of being bed-bound

Mom's new sweet set up in the family room