What does $760,023.50 get you?...

So I decided to add up all of London and I's medical bill statements that have come so far. Yes...the grand total, so far, has come to...

$760,023.50!!!

So...what does $760,023.50 buy you ask?...

-a 3 day hospital stay in the high-risk labor and delivery unit
-a 10 day stay in the high-risk labor and delivery unit
-a 61 day stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
-numerous blood/laboratory tests
-4 blood transfusions
-tons of x-rays and ultrasounds
-exams by neonatologists, perinatologists, OBGYN's, surgeons, anastisologists, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, gastrointestinologists, audiologists, opthamologists, cardiologists, neurologists...
-a fleet of nurses to attend to you
-1 emergency C-section
-1 epidural (which they put in the wrong place so they then had to pump me up with double the normal amount of medicine)
-tons of iv's
-oxygen/breathing aids
-lots of incubators
-all of the medical equipment
-lots and lots of pain killers and other medicines
-mass amounts of saltines and graham crackers and apple juice....oh wait that is free...
-"other charges" of $54,288.50...whatever that is...
-fetal monitoring 24-7
-the cleaning crew to clean up all of the yucky messes
-oh wait...and the pillows are free....how nice of them!

I know...pretty impressive...I am going to wait like another month before I call the final total to see what other statements we get.

However, I am going to save some of the really impressive statements, the ones in the hundreds of thousands, for London's scrapbook.

All i can say is...thank heavens for good medical insurance!!!

A day at Zoo Atlanta...

At the beginning of April, about a week before London came home from the hospital, our ward play group took a trip to Zoo Atlanta. We decided to make it a family outing and spend some one-on-one time with Brayden before his whole world was changed when London came home.

Brayden and dad at the Panda exhibit.

Mr. Panda Bear eating his lunch.

Brayden's favorite part of the whole trip was the petting zoo where he got to get up close and personal with goats and sheep. He liked being able to touch the animals and chase them around. However, the petting zoo was where Brayden's allergies started really going down hill. We started off with Brayden's nose and eyes running like a faucet and so we gave him some children's clariton right after we got inside the zoo gates. After the zoo, Brayden's face was swollen, blotchy, and he was miserable. By that afternoon, not only was Brayden's face swollen but his eyes were almost swollen shut. He looked so bad that I called the pediatrician to see if I needed to take him to the ER but because he was not wheezing we didn't have to go. We also discovered that Brayden is allergic to something in sunscreen. We have tried numerous brands all on different occasions and he still gets a rash and swelling from it. In the end, all of this led to an epi-pen prescription from the doctor and a trip to the allergist for allergy testing. Yep, the poor kid has allergies.

All in all, we decided that Brayden might need to be a little older to fully enjoy the Zoo more.

Boating with the Benson's...

Two Saturday's ago, we went boating with our friends the Benson's. They have a son who is almost 4 and then a daughter who is 2 weeks younger than Brayden and so we get together often so that Brayden and Ellie can play together as well as Joe and Jason because lets face it....they are kids at heart too. It was the first time on a boat for the kids and they were a little nervous at first but they ended up having a blast.

Benson family playing in the water!

Don't you love this picture Dawnelle? Your face and the tube in the air says it all. Good thing you took your glasses off and couldn't see that one coming.

By the end of the day, the kids were exhausted and both fell asleep in Dawnelle's arms and Jason and I were tubing. See Dawnelle, Brayden and you are friends!

London's baby shower...

This past Thursday, my sweet visiting teachers and the Bishop's wife, threw me and London a baby shower. This is London and I before we left. London got an adorable green party dress from Grandma Rupp that she wore to the shower....(and of course as soon as we arrived she spit-up all over it. But not to worry...we cleaned it up and she looked great again.) London enjoyed being held as she was passed around and everyone got to check her out (well all the healthy people did). Everyone was so sweet! London got a cute assortment of clothes and blankets and got Baby Gaped, Cartered, and Gymboreed out! The ward was so sweet and went in on a gift for us and got us a double stroller. I am really excited about it because not only is it a double stroller for 2 kids but it converts to a sit and stand stroller so it grows with you as the kids grow. Thanks to everyone for being so sweet and thoughtful!

Our first picture as a family of 4...

Ok, so i decided to get my act together and update the blog since the Grandparents did not like that I had gone so long without updating...Last Sunday, we took London to church for the first time and we decided to take a family picture...lets just say it was a challenge. We tried to get a picture of just Brayden and London but he kept trying to push her away and off the couch. We then took a family one and Brayden tried to push me out of the picture because I was holding London. This was our best attempt which needs improvement...good thing we have lots more family pictures to go to practice.

London in her cute Sunday dress!

We survived the first week!...

I know that officially, I have had 2 kids for over 2 months now but it hasn't truly felt like until this past week since London has been home from the hospital. The good news is that we all survived the week...that means that Jason and I survived a week of severe sleep deficit, London survived Brayden, and Brayden survived his many temper tantrums that he threw because he had to share mom and dad and the spotlight of all the attention. I won't lie...on more than one occasion, I found myself thinking, "Oh my goodness, what did we get ourselves into. We are crazy." or "Heavenly Father certainly wants me to learn patience doesn't he?!" However, regardless of all that we love our two children and wouldn't have it any other way!

I have to say that Heavenly Father must know my limits because he made London such a good baby...maybe that is just for now or until I have this all a little more under control but I'll take whatever I can get! London never really cries, she grunts and groans, and does a little 2 second cry here and there but she has yet to come out and full out cry yet. She is a very easy going baby that is content to sit and look around, eat, and sleep. Thank heavens because Brayden makes up for both of them right now...not that he is bad...he just wants to check out everything and investigate it all. Brayden's problem is that he is so smart he figures out how everything works and in order to do that he takes it all apart and then tries to put it back together. He is a very mechanically inclined little boy. We have had numerous strangers who have been stranding by us in line at the store or somewhere tell us that they thought Brayden was going to be an engineer when he grows up.

London is getting to be a little chunker these days...5 lbs. 11 oz as of Wednesday. I am very grateful for insurance because I went and got a months worth of London's formula at the pharmacy...i couldn't believe how expensive it was....$47.60 for a 14oz can...with a months worth of formula totaling $856.00!!! Yikes! Thank heavens for medical insurance!!!

Of course, I didn't take any pictures this past week. There was either no time...I was too busy protecting London from Brayden, or Brayden from himself, or I was too tired...however, I have resolved to do better this week.

London is finally home!!!!

Today, London came home and we are so excited! I am also relieved and feel like I can somewhat relax...that is for about 5 seconds until I realize that I have 2 babies!!! I had to laugh at myself because when we got home I told Jason that I was crazy for thinking I never got things done with 1 baby...ha...now I really never get anything done with 2 babies!

We found out yesterday evening that London was going to come home. I was all ready to camp out at the hospital over night to make sure she took all of her bottles but the doctors went ahead and wrote the orders that night so I went home because I knew she would come home. Before going to bed last night, Jason told me to enjoy my last night of good sleep...I said yeah right and that is about how it turned out because Brayden decided to wake up multiple times last night. Oh well. The doctors also pulled the feeding tube last night and it was finally nice to see London without anything taped to her face.

We took London home about 9:30 this morning and, due to hospital protocol, they had to wheel me out of the hospital in a wheel chair. So there is my big picture before we get in the car to come home. When we got home, we were finally able to introduce Brayden to London. He wasn't quite sure what to make of her and was way more interested in his new toy that we gave him at the same time. He got a toy workbench and toy power tools. He is already carrying his hammer and cordless drill around everywhere....he must take after his dad!

London has been a breeze so far...all she does it eat and sleep and then eats again. It made me wonder why I was in such a hurry for Brayden to grow up when being a new baby is so much easier! I have learned my lesson and am fully enjoying London just being a little ity-bity thing.

As the day progressed, Brayden decided that he did not like sharing mama and did not like when I held or fed London or showed her any attention. Lets just say that he has a bit of an adjustment to make now that he is not the center of the world anymore. Thank heavens for Grandma today! She helped to distract Brayden so he wouldn't be so upset. He also did not like that I wouldn't let him steel London's bottle and drink it. I told him that he couldn't have London's bottle and drink her "liquid gold", as this formula is nicknamed since it is the most expensive one out there. The house has turned into Babies 'R' Us with all of Braden's toys, the diapers, bottles, and now the baby swing and bouncy seat to add to the collection. Thank you mom and dad for putting up with us and all of the stuff that is seeming to take over the house!

Tomorrow, we begin the frequent journey to all the many doctors. We kick it off with a visit to the pediatrician tomorrow morning in fact. It has been a bit of a challenge with London home because Brayden has a cold so we are trying to keep them apart so that London does not catch Brayden's cold.

For now, all is well and we are just happy to have London home and to begin a new chapter in our lives. The Lord has blessed us tremendously along this journey and we could not have done it with out all the help from friends and family...especially Grandpa and Grandma Rupp who spent hours and hours babysitting Brayden. Thank you so much.

Brayden with his new toy...his consolation prize for having London come home.

Can you believe that 13 months ago, Brayden looked the same as London does in this car seat? Now he barley fits in it!

My little "Lolly Dolly" London...trying to hold off a nervous breakdown...

This past week has been extremely long and frustrating and I am glad that it is over! London is getting big...4lbs. 14oz! A lot has happened and as my dad calls it, "I had to put on my mama bear hat" and get some action from the doctors and nurses. In short, London did not like her new formula and Jason and I had to fight to get her put back on her old formula: Neocate. She is getting 6-8 bottles a day now and just has to get to where she eats all 8 bottles for 48 hours until she can come home. London also passed her car seat test...she had to sit in it for an hour and not drop her oxygen or heart rate. It was the longest hour of my life becasue every ding on the monitor, weather it was her or not, scared me and made me think she had failed the test. We had to do the test twice becasue the first time the doctor came in and looked at her and then she started wiggling all over. So...this means that we have jumped through all the hospitals hoops so far...only a few more to go. It was a long week because London was not making progress on the formula she did not like and we had to force her to eat it. Also, the doctors kept giving me estimates of when London would be going home and it went from the beginning of this week, to the end of the week, to in about 2 weeks. Lets just say I was near a nervous break down. I told the doctors that if they really didn't want to see me have a nervous breakdown she better be coming home before 2 weeks. We got the GI doctor to approve her to go home with her feeding tube in but the neonatologists wont even consider it until next week. I am trying not to get my hopes up because they keep getting dashed but I cant help it. For now...no discharge date...but we will see how it goes. 8 1/2 weeks and the count continues....

She looks so tiny in her car seat! She barley fits in it!

London's latest...

I had some cute little pictures of London I thought I would share. Her hair is getting so long and is so cute so of course, I had to see how the bows and headbands look today...cute, cute, cute...but a little big still on her tiny little head. London is doing great. She is 4lbs. 9.5oz and up to 5 bottles a day. Her formula got changed and she seems to be doing well on it. And the most exciting news of all...the doctors think that she will go home next week!!!

The end of this long haul may be in sight?...

It has now been 7 weeks and this long haul is starting to feel very much just like that....a long haul. But, we are hoping that the end is in sight and that London can come home within 2 weeks. London is doing terrific! She is 4 lbs. 8oz as of last night. She currently gets a bottle every other feeding (4 times per day) and is doing well at eating them. We are hoping she can advance to 5 bottles today. She has to be able to take 8 bottles and drink the full amount for a couple days before coming home. Today, London gets her final head ultrasound to make sure she has no bleeding in her brain (the last one they did she did not have any but they have to do a final one to make sure) and she gets seen by the GI doctor for her milk protein allergy. The doctor may switch her formula, they may not...we have to see what he thinks about the severity of her allergy first before any decisions are made. It has been a long haul and I am so ready for London to come home. I feel like I have been living at the hospital as I have been going down 3 times a day to feed London her bottle at 8am, 2pm, and 8pm. The nurses were having trouble getting her to eat her whole bottle and I was the only one that could get her to drink the whole bottle, which she has to do to come home, so, I would go down and feed her so she could advance. However, for the past couple of days, she has been eating better for the nurses so that is good. I come home in between feedings instead of staying at the hospital because I don't want to neglect Brayden either. It's been a big balancing act. We are so glad that London is doing so well and I am so excited for her to come home although for as tired as I am now...its only going to get worse. Oh well...such is life with a newborn.
London makes the funniest faces...here are some of them. I don't have a lot of great pictures since the feeding tube makes her nose look funny but oh well. She is still cute to me!