Friday, April 29, 2011

Easter Family Photos

On Easter afternoon we went and took some family photos. I loved all the bright colors of the season! Here are some of my favorites.










Enjoy!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Emily's 2 Week Appointment, 2 Ambulance Rides, and 2 Night Hospital Stay ;(

On Monday, April 25th Emily had her 2 week doctor's appointment.  Everything looked really good.  She gained back most of the weight she lost after she was born.  Here were her stats:

weight: 5lb. 12 oz.
height: 19.5"

The doctor was very happy that she was back up (basically) to her pre-pregnancy weight.  We had been working on that the week before.  She is eating and sleeping well.

Monday night everything seemed to change.  It was around 8:30pm and Danny was already asleep.  Kenneth and I were in the living room, me on one couch and Kenneth on the other.  I had fed Emily at 8, and she feel asleep, so I was going to see if she would eat any milk from a bottle to fill her up before going to bed for the night.  She was awake, and I tried giving her the bottle, but after just a few seconds I took it out because she didn't seem interested.  As soon as I took the bottle out, I knew something was wrong.  Emily was unable to get any breath in, and you could tell she was distressed because her entire body was seized up, and she was arching her back and was trying to get air in but was unable to.  At first I started rubbing her back thinking that maybe some milk had just gone down the wrong way, but she still would not breath.  Kenneth came over, and took her, and tried to see if there was anything in her mouth - there wasn't.  Her little face started to turn purple.  I called 911 while Kenneth tried to get her airway to open.  While checking to see if there was anything in her mouth he put his finger in, and when he did so, it opened her airway a little bit so she could get a tiny half-breath before her throat closed up again and she stopped breathing once more.

While on the phone with 911 they had Kenneth attempt to clear her airway again, but nothing worked.  She was basically choking on a ton of mucus that was in her mouth and nose.  We knew this must be the case because when the dispatcher told Kenneth to give her rescue breaths nothing went in.  It was so incredibly scary.  It was the scariest moment of my life.  Seeing my precious little girl not breathing - with her eyes so big and wide - you could tell she could see mom and dad and was just thinking, "someone help me!"

The paramedics arrived probably about 5 minutes after this all began.  After evaluating her they suctioned out her nose and mouth really well, which helped tremendously.  Afterward we headed to the hospital so that tests could be done.  Emily and I went via ambulance to the local Redlands Community Hospital.  Kenneth took Danny over to our friend/neighbor's place and then followed.  Once at the hospital Emily was doing much better.  They did some blood tests, x-rays and pulled some mucus samples from her nose.  There was no fluid in her lungs, but from the other tests they determined that she has RSV.  She most likely got it from someone in the family since we've all been sick the last 2 weeks.  RSV (which is a respiratory virus) leads to increased secretions - hence the mucus, and they think that she choked on some milk plus the mucus plus her lack of gag reflex is what led to her not being able to breath.

We stayed in the ER from 9pm (Monday) to 4am (Tuesday).   We were then transferred to our Kaiser hospital in Fontana so Emily could be admitted for observation.  Emily and I then took our second ambulance ride.  Once she was admitted to the Kaiser hospital, they reconfirmed that she did, in fact have RSV.  They also determined that she suffers from apnea (where she randomly stops breathing for a given amount of time).  That wouldn't have helped with her choking incident.  Because of the apnea they decided to administer oxygen and to monitor her for a day longer.  The oxygen seemed to help her with her breathing - as long as she didn't pull out the nasal canula, which she did several times.  We'll have to compare pictures of our two kiddos with their oxygen tubes...

After monitoring Emily for a day and a half or so, the doctors felt she was stable, and good enough to go home.  We were officially discharged Wednesday around 4:30 pm.  We are grateful to be home now, and are happy that Emily is doing so much better.  I must admit, however, that last night while sleeping, I was so worried every time Emily would make a noise.  I am so grateful for the service our wonderful friends here in Southern California have done for us, with watching Danny, and providing meals.  Also, thanks to all our family and friends who have been praying for our little one.  And lastly, thanks to Kenneth and our friend Bennett who gave Emily a wonderful Priesthood blessing while she was in the hospital.  It provided much needed comfort, and I know it made a difference.  Thanks again to everyone.  We love our little Emily so much, and we are so happy she is home.    

Monday, April 25, 2011

San Diego

Since Emily was born while we were in San Diego, we kind of skipped over the pictures from San Diego.  So, here are some photos of us at the beach.  We had a wonderful time!

Our first day in San Diego.  We walked out on the Pacific Beach pier to watch all the surfers :)
The sky was beautiful that night!

Kenneth loves to watch the surfers to pick up tips.  They were amazing!

Our second day at San Diego.  Here is a photo of Danny with the Noyce grandparents.

It's kind of weird to see pregnancy pictures now that Emily is here! Here is our family photo on the pier.

Danny LOVES birds!  He follows them around every time we go to the beach.

...and Kenneth is obsessed with taking pictures of birds!

The Noyce grandparents showed Danny that he can see the ocean between the wooden slats.  So, naturally, Danny liked to stop in the middle of the pier, lay down, point down through the slats and say, "ocean!!" over and over again.  It took awhile to finally get him to stand up again...

While there, we spend a lot of time taking walks up and down the boardwalk.  Danny typically fell asleep during these walks...as seen above!

More walking!

Here we are on the beach...I love Danny's face.  He is so excited by everything he sees.

Danny and his shovel.  He filled up his bucket with water, and then would dump water onto the sand...or onto my foot.  ;)

Playing with grandma in the waves.  It is amazing how much warmer the water is in San Diego compared to LA.


Danny had so much fun in the water!  Kind of shocking, because usually he is scared of the waves!



And lastly, a gorgeous sunset photo Kenneth captured...

Well, those are most of the photos we got before I went into labor (besides the ones in a previous post showing Emily on the beach too).  Hope you enjoyed them!

High Heels, Mohawks & Weird Sleeping Positions...

Here are a couple of funny pictures we've taken of Danny lately.

Danny has been all about the shoes lately.  He is constantly putting on different shoes and tries walking around.  He found my high heels most recently and was having so much fun walking around!

My friend Heather, who has 2 little girls, lives vicariously through Danny until she has a boy of her own.  Danny's hair was looking crazy with his long hair, so we decided to cut a mullet - which didn't really work - so we changed it up into a mohawk instead!  It was so cute, and I actually kind of love it.

Side view of the mohawk

Lastly, Danny has been a little sick lately.  One evening he was really cranky, and Kenneth finally got him to sit by him to cuddle.  Danny initially was laying on Kenneth's chest, but eventually turned himself around and completely fell asleep in this position.  It looked so uncomfortable, but apparently he loved it!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Story of Emily

I've had some requests for the birth story of Emily, so here it is!  It starts with us going down to San Diego on Thursday the 7th to meet up with Kenneth's parents for a week at their condo on Pacific Beach.  We had a wonderful time hanging out on the beach and taking walks along the boardwalk. On Saturday night Kenneth's dad became ill.  Sunday morning around 12:30 a.m. I woke up with contractions that were pretty strong.  Kenneth ended up vomiting that night, and so did I around 2 a.m.  It was pretty lame having that on top of the contractions!

I was finally able to fall asleep around 4 a.m.  I woke up at 6 a.m. and timed my contractions at 3-5 minutes apart.  They stayed that way for several hours so we decided to head to the hospital.  I was planning on delivering in Fontana (closer to home), but I was definitely not attached to my midwife there, so we decided just to go to the San Diego hospital.  Also, we didn't want to drive all the way back home just to have them turn me away.

Once at the hospital they told me I was 2 cm and contracting every 3 minutes.  The midwife told us to go and walk for about 2 hours, and also told me to try to eat some soup or something since I hadn't eaten anything since the night before.  We go out, and start walking, and stop to get soup - which did not settle well with my stomach!  I felt much better after getting that out!  Nasty, I know.  We head back to the hospital 2 hours later and I was about 3.5 cm.  I was given the option of either being admitted and getting pictocin to help out, or to go home.  We decided to be admitted.  Not only were we anxious to meet out little girl, but it was also VERY convenient timing.  Kenneth's parents were there and were able to watch Danny for us, and this way they would also be able to see her before heading home to Utah.

After being admitted I was given antibiotics for 4 hours and then was given Pictocin at 6:15 p.m.  Kenneth and I hung out and slept for a little bit.  I was having lots of contractions, but couldn't feel them! Apparently I have a higher pain tolerance than I ever thought I did.  The nurses thought I was weird because I was always smiling through these crazy contractions. :)  Around 1 a.m. on the 11th I was feeling a little uncomfortable so I opted to get my epidural before it was too late!  I feel back asleep until 4:15 a.m.  At that point the midwife came to check my progress and I was 4.5 cm and my water broke.  Just about 10 minutes later I started feeling more and more pressure.  A nurse came in to check my vitals and I let her know.  The midwife came back in the check me and I was already at 10 cm!  Talk about progressing quickly!


I ended up pushing only 3 times and Emily was out!!  I was very happy to finally find out that she was, infact a GIRL!  Haha!  It was also amazing to be able to hold her after she was born.  With Danny he was taken pretty much immediately to get worked on, so it was quite the experience being able to hold my little girl, and to spend that immediate family time together after her birth.

Emily's final stats are as follows:

*Born 2 weeks early*
Weight: 5lb. 13.2 oz.
Height: 20 inches 
Head Circumference: 12.5 inches
Belly: 12.5 inches

She was born to tons of dark hair, and she reminds me a lot of Danny when he was born - especially her nose and mouth.  She is a great eater and sleeps pretty well!  Hopefully that continues to get better and doesn't head in the other direction.  Here are lots of fun pictures!







Emily with Grandma Noyce

Daddy & Daughter


Emily & Grandpa Noyce

My 3 kids! ;)

Emily's first outing (the day we came home from the hospital) to the beach!

as
First family photo!

When we were released from the hospital, Emily's weight was down to 5lb 6oz.  At her doctor's appointment this last Friday she was down to 5 lb. 5.7 oz.  They weighed her again today and she was 5lb. 5.2 oz.  Her doctor is watching her closely because by 2 weeks old, she needs to back up to her birth weight.  Well, I think that is all of the updates so far!  Look back here for more info and pictures!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Baby Emily

For those of you who haven't seen the few photos on facebook yet, here are a few. I'll let Amy fill in all of the details later, but here are the stats; Baby Emily was born at 5:03 AM on Monday 4-11-2011, she weighs 5lbs 13oz and is 20 inches long.




Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Danny & Friends

The other day I was hanging out with my friends Heather (and daughters Ella and Rachel) & Asia (with son Romney). They were having a blast playing in Heather's blow-up pool and running around in the grass. Kenneth came home from work and came to join us. We were watching the lizards that crawl everywhere around our complex, and Kenneth (being the man he is) went over to catch a lizard to let the kids play with it. It was so funny to see Danny and Romney enthralled by the lizard while Ella ran away screaming! Here are some fun photos from the day.






Trying to be brave






Romney wasn't happy in the beginning...



Love this photo!















Danny's friend Ella.






Me & Baby Rachel (Ella's sister)