our little london's progress...and a funny boy named Brayden...

I know that I have not been so great about updating everyone on London's progress but here it is finally!...
London is doing really good. She is 2 lbs. 14oz now! She went down to 2lbs. 3oz and has been making the climb back up and has gained 4oz above her birth weight. Her oxygen is slowly getting lowered and we are hoping to have all her breathing aids off this week possibly. The dr. stopped her IV's today since she is finally eating enough to get the needed nutrition for her weight (about 1/2 oz of food every 3 hours) . London is still in the isolete and will be there until she is about 3 1/2 lbs. She still has her feeding tube through her mouth since she has oxygen so we haven't tried giving her a bottle yet. She is coming along slowly but surley. All of the nurses tell us how feisty she is and how much personality she has. She is always trying to pull out her tubes and "escape out of her isolete" as the nurses call it. She pushes off her bedding and scoots herself around. One nurse took a picture of it one night for us so we could see what they kept talking about. We are still hoping that she can come home by the end of May but who knows....

Grandma Rupp made this blanket to go over London's isolete. She even embroidered her name and her birthday on it also.

London is just like her brother and likes to sit and grab her ears or her hat.

I know that London seems to be getting all the attention on the blog but I have to say Brayden is not lacking for attention. He now has grandpa and grandma, mom and dad, and now aunt lizzie to keep him occupied. We couldn't do everything without your help. Thank you so much mom and dad and lizzie! Brayden is growing like a weed...a loud little thing who seems to be a true boy more and more every day. Brayden is always making everyone laugh and has really become a happy little boy. His smile is contagious and it is hard to be upset with him when he looks and you and smiles and laughs. He gets it from his dad! Brayden took his first real steps when I was in he hospital but the best part was that he did it while Jason and he were visiting me one night so I got to be there for it. He is doing better and walking between people and will take about 5-8 steps in a row. He wont attempt to walk if no one is around though...he likes to know that someone will be there to catch him if he needs it. He certainly keeps us busy but we love him!

Brayden with Dad's hat on. He likes to play with hats but hates to wear them now.

Holding London for the 1st time and an update...

I know that everyone has been asking for an update on London and new pictures. I have been too sore and tired and am just getting around to an update. London is doing great! She dropped down to 2lbs. 3oz but is gaining the weight back slowly and is now at 2lbs 6.5oz. She got put under the blue lights for jaundice for a couple days but she got them turned off yesterday afternoon. Today, she tried to pull out her CPAP breathing aid and so the doctor switched her to a nasal canola where she has the regular nose tube. Now we can actually see her face! She is still having trouble getting her intestines to work and hasn't been allowed to eat for 3 or 4 days now and has just been iv fluids. The doctor is hopeful that she can start eating again as soon as tomorrow. We finally got to hold London for the first time on Tuesday night which I was so excited about! I was feeling sad that after 4 days, I still hadn't been able to hold her yet and so it made my whole day to be able to. We are so proud of our little London and happy that she is continuing to do well.

Brayden wearing his I'm a big brother pin.

Em holding London for the first time. She is so ity-bity! Such a change from holding Brayden who is like a solid bag of bricks!

Jason the proud dad! He already calls London his princess...she has him wrapped around her little tiny finger already.

4/16/09 The first picture of London where you can actually see her face. She has dark dark hair...almost black, and it's curly! I know she looks big in the picture but without her CPAP on she looks so much tinnier. We determined that her head is the size of a baseball and her diapers are the cutest little things there is. They are special made for hospitals and about 2 inches by 2 inches...like a little doll diaper (smaller than a regular preemie diaper!)

Baby London Taylor Sessions...

At 2:15pm on Saturday, April 11, 2009, London Taylor Sessions was born. It has been quite an eventful week and we are grateful that everything has turned out ok so far...well as good as can be expected.

Jason, Emily, and London before London was whisked away to the NICU

I got to give London a little kiss before she was taken away. I didn't really get to see her since she was all wrapped up and had the CPAP on. I then had to wait 16 hours before I could see her in the NICU.

Seeing London for the first time in the NICU. She is so inty-bity...tinier than most play baby dolls.

London has a full head of dark hair! We got the nurse to move her CPAP and little hat so we could see it.

For our eventful week here is the run-down of what happened. On Saturday April 4th, after the 1st session of General Conference, I started hemorrhaging and so we rushed to the hospital. The bleeding finally calmed down after 9 hours and luckily, we were able to avoid a blood transfusion for the moment. Because I was doing better, I got moved to the high risk, long term stay room. My blood count continued to drop and on Wednesday, they had to give me a blood transfusion. They gave me 3 units. It was an interesting experience...kind of gross to watch all that blood hanging there on the IV line and then going into me. It did make me more grateful for blood donors. The blood transfusion helped and my blood count went up. I stuck it out until Saturday when I started to hemorrhage again. The doctor decided they needed to do a C-Section because if my blood count dropped again it would cause too much distress to the baby. The minute the doctor told me they were doing the C-Section, I called Jason and told him to get to the hospital now. The doctor was not messing around and within minutes they had given me an epidural and were prepping me for the surgery. I was afraid that Jason was going to miss everything but luckily, they had more of an emergency C-Section to do and it bought Jason enough to time to walk in, get dressed and we were on our way. Within minutes, they had the baby out and it was all over. London weighed 2 lbs. 10oz and was 15 inches long. Jason was able to go up to the NICU with London while they let me recover since I was all druged up and really out of it. They made me wait at least 12 hours before I could see the baby but it turned out to be 16 hours before I got to see her. She is so tiny! The doctors think that it will be 6-8 weeks before she can come home. She is doing great so far and we are so proud of her and love her so much. We definently have to buy her some premie clothes and even those are going to be huge on her! We will keep everyone updated on how she is doing. We havn't been able to hold her yet but are hopeful that we can within the next day or two.

Brayden's 1 year old pictures

For Brayden's First birthday, we decided to get some professional pictures taken. I had not gotten any taken because I wanted to make sure that he would smile in them and they would turn out good. We went on the afternoon of his birthday and here are some of the pictures that we got.

What a little cutie pie! I can't believe how big Brayden is getting and how fast he is growing up!

So proud of my future bulldog....

I wanted to spread the good news because I am so excited for Jason. This week, he found out that he was accepted to The University of Georgia for their professional mba program. We were both excited as this is our first choice in schools. We are going to wait until we finish hearing from the other schools to make or final decision about which school to go to but so far at least we have one option! Jason even got a little scholarship from UGA because he did so well on his GMAT! It was a nice piece of news to get. It gave us both some hope that things will be ok and work out in the end. Congratulations Jason!

Hopsital stay #2...an indefinent one....

I missed the hospital so much that I decided to come back from a second stay with this little baby....J/K!!! After being moved to the "longer term" room today, I guess it is inevitable...I am stuck in the hospital until this baby is born. We had quite the scare on Friday afternoon when I started hemorrhaging out. We rushed to the hospital where things have been crazy...however..they seem to be slowing down now. My case seemed to have caught the attention of every high risk nurse, doctor, noenatologist, and perinatologist here at the hospital and everyone wanted to get in on the action of what was going on. We thought they were going to have to give me a blood transfusion and then a possible C section but so far we have been able to avoid it. My blood count doesn't seem to want to go up but it isn't dropping so for now we are ok. The baby is doing great though so that is good! The doctors have come to the conclusion that I have a placental abruption (a tear in the placenta) and it doesn't help that I keep "going into labor" with contractions and then stopping. I am currently 28 weeks pregnant and they are trying to keep me so till about 30-31 weeks...so for a few more weeks. Although they won't stop me, if i do go into labor due to the placental abruption. And lucky us....they are telling us that there is a 90% chance this baby will be born a C section due to complications and risks.

With all of my free time and just sitting here, I couldn't help but count my blessings and see the silver lining to all of this going on. First, it has been a huge, huge, huge blessing living with my parents. With all of this going on I know that Brayden is in great hands with dad and grandma and grandpa. Thank you mom and dad for all you guys do and for all of your help. We couldn't do it with out you! (My parents had left the day before I went into the hospital this time, to go on vacation to Panama City FL for a week. When they found out what was going on, they turned around...after only being in FL for 1 day, and drove back home to be here and help with Braden) I have such terrific parents and I love you both! Jason, my sweet husband, has also been a huge blessing. Of course, marrying Jason was the best decision that I ever made and it continues to be and will always be! Jason has been such a sweetheart through all of this. He so selflessly has taken on the role of caring for Brayden and is such a great father! Not only that but he takes such good care of me...calming my worries and and doubts, giving me extra hugs and kisses and being the sweetheart that he is! I love you Jason! You are my everything! I couldn't do this without you nor would I want to. Another silver lining has been all of the wonderful doctors and nurses here at the hospital. With Brayden, I constantly felt like I was being belittled and felt stupid by the doctors and nurses. Here, all of the staff is so nice and helpful. Not once has anyone made me feel dumb for asking a question.
I'm not thrilled about being here in the hospital for so long. I feel horrible that I am not at home with my family and that I am not with my Brayden. I also know that this is where i need to be also. I am grateful, at the moment, that Jason is unemployed so that he can be there to help with ever thing going on.

I will keep you updated on any exciting developments!