1 week old

Phillip is now 1 week old and home from the hospital. We were lucky to get discharged from the NICU just shy of being there 1 week and we are so happy to be home as a family.

Strong Man pose


Avery and Phillip getting to know each other


Bonding in chair time - yes I know he's in pink but the chair was free and that's the smallest sized blanket we own


Still on oxygen but doing really well




Shortly after turning 1 week old Phillip was able to be weaned off of his oxygen and we are all so happy.

Phillip's happy to not have something in his nose that he was constantly trying to take out, and Phill and I are happy not to have to carry the oxygen tank everywhere.
Our handsome little man.

Avery's Birthday Party

Avery stayed the night at Grandma and Grandpa Waken's house the night before her birthday because we were still in the hospital with baby Phillip, but Phill and I were there bright and early to surprise Avery in the morning with her birthday gifts. Phill bought Avery this giant Disney Princess balloon that actually sang "Happy Birthday" to her - coolest balloon ever! We also bought her 2 Zhu-zhu pets that she thought were funny, a Princess memory game, and Phill found her Mack and his trailer from Disney's Cars that you can put Lightning McQueen in the back and Avery loved it!

Later in the evening we had a birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa Toth's house and Avery was showered with gifts from her Grandparents, Great Grandma and Grandpa Hull, Aunties, and Uncle Kyle.




She also enjoyed her cake that Daddy decorated for her with Cars.


What a great day! Happy 2nd Birthday Avery!!

Avery is 2!

Avery turned 2 on February 20th. I can't believe my little girl is 2! She brings so much joy into our lives and we love her so much. Here is what our 2 year old is up to:
Weight 25lbs, Height 33 inches tall (25% for both which is where she usually is)


Favorite Foods: chicken nuggets, cheese, fruit - Avery is a fruit-a-holic and will choose fruit over any other food to eat. Cheerios - her favorite cereal and she eats it just about everyday.
Favorite things to do: Avery loves to dance. Anytime music comes on she runs to the middle of the room and jumps around, spins in circles, rocks side-side, and at the end throws her hands in the air and shouts "Yay!" then claps her hands. She also loves to color and uses every crayon in the box. She also is into acting out movies as she watches them and she's pretty good at acting out scenes from Finding Nemo, Princess and the Frog, Despicable Me, and Madagascar 2 (So cute to see her dance to the "Alex on the Spot" scene). She also likes to jump on the trampoline and loves to be outside. She also loves baths and washing her hands.
Favorite toy: Lightning McQueen, Mater, and Sally cars. Avery loves Disney's Cars and has quite a few but these three are her favorites and she carries them everywhere.


Favorite movie: Disney's Cars, Madagascar 2, Winnie the Pooh's Christmas, 101 Dalmatians. These movies she never seems to get sick of and she cycles through them weekly.
Favorite things to say: "Where is it?", "Where did it go?", "What a mess", "Hi Baby!" (too baby Phillip), "More". Avery learns new words and sentences every day and I'm always amazed at the things she says. She's pretty good at her colors and likes red, blue, and green. She also likes to sing and make up songs. Her first song was, "I like cheese" and she'd sing it over and over to different tunes - so cute! And in church she just belts out something. Others may see it as she's yelling but really she's singing to her own tune!
Avery has also taken an interest in potty training which we have been taking slow. She knows the routine and what to do, but hasn't quite mastered telling us everytime she needs to go. She'll get there though she's a smart cookie.


Avery we love you and are so blessed that you've been in our lives for the past 2 wonderful years.

Life in the NICU

February 17th = Hours after birth Phillip was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and placed on CPAP - positive air pressure to keep his lungs open. An IV was placed in his hand and started on 10% Dextrose to keep his sugars within normal limits because he was not allowed to eat. An orogastric tube was placed down his mouth into his belly to help remove air that the CPAP was pushing into his belly.




February 18th = Phillip's first feed was through the orogastric tube and they started him on 4ml of colostrum/breastmilk.



Holding hands with Mommy


Throughout the day they had been weaning his CPAP down to 21% and then switched him to a low-flow nasal cannula on 100ml of oxygen to see how he'd do. Since he was off the CPAP I finally got to hold my little boy with joyful tears.

First family picture - minus Avery. Avery wasn't allowed in the NICU to see Phillip but she came daily to see Mommy.


Unfortunately, after Phillip had been weaned to 50ml of oxygen he started to increase his work of breathing and had to be placed back on CPAP.

February 19th = Phillip was weaned from the CPAP to a high flow nasal cannula on 2 liters and 35% of oxygen.


February 20th = Phillip's bilirubin level was 15.7 and increasing so he was given sunglasses and placed under phototherapy to help lower his level. They pulled his orogastric tube and placed a nasogastric tube down his nose into his belly and he was started on larger tube feeds that were increased by 3ml every other feed for a goal of 36ml.


February 21st = Phillip was weaned from the high flow nasal cannula to a low flow nasal cannula starting at 100ml of oxygen and by the end of the day he was on 35ml of oxygen. His bilirubin level was rechecked after being under the lights and his level as still 15.7 which was good that it didn't increase but it didn't decrease either so they added another light.

His tube feeds had been changed to an increase by 3ml every feed for a goal of 48ml and by the end of the day he had done so well with his feeds that we were able to start bottle feeding him for a goal to take 50ml, but whatever he didn't take was put into his feeding tube.

The 21st was the last day that the hospital allowed me to stay so after feeding Phillip we said our goodbyes and left for home. It was so difficult and emotional to leave the hospital without him.

February 22nd = at 11:00 am the Neonatalogist called us and informed us that Phillip was doing great he was only on 25ml of oxygen which is 1/32 liter and could go home on the oxygen. His bilirubin level was 12 and he was taken off the lights, his IV was removed, his nasogastric tube removed and he was eating great from the bottle. And the best news of all - he would be discharged from the NICU and we would room in with him on the mom baby unit before being officially discharged from the hospital on the 23rd.



February 23rd = At 12:00 pm after checking his weight and another bilirubin level we were finally discharged from Good Samaritan hospital. Phill and Avery came to pick us up and Avery was finally able to meet Phillip. She and Phill bought Phillip a balloon and Avery was excited to give it to the "baby" as she calls him.


Finally home!!

The Birth Story

Well, after reading my 38 week post, the baby came much sooner than I thought. At the doctor's she stripped my membranes and said that they usually do that at 38 weeks and it can help the baby come a few days early. For me the baby came 12 hours later!
At 2:00am I woke up with contractions but they were irregular - one would be 10 minutes, then 3, then 7, then 5 minutes apart. So I thought it was just false labor caused from the doctor stripping my membranes. I tried to relax and see if they would go away. Well I waited longer than I should of. At 5:00am I was still having these irregular contractions so I got up to go to the bathroom and noted that I was bleeding. Not just spotting I was bleeding quite a bit. I went back to the bedroom and Phill woke up and asked if I was alright and I told him, "No, I'm having contractions and I'm bleeding." He got out of bed and started packing to go to the hospital while I called Kaiser to let them know what was going on. Phill's sister Amanda arrived at the house to watch Avery for us. We said goodbye to Avery and took off.
We arrived at he hospital around 7:00am and the nurse checked me and I was 8cm and 90% effaced. Several nurses ran into the room to start my IV and get everything ready. The anesthesiologist came in and placed the epidural about 8:30am and roughly 9:30 I called the nurse to tell her I felt the need to push and that the contractions were right on top of each other. She came in and checked me and I was fully dilated and fully effaced. They called the doctor in, prepped me, and told me to push. Well I pushed 3 times and he was out! Phillip James Waken III was born on February 17th at 9:51 am, 6 lbs 5 ounces, and 19.2 inches long.


When he came out they put him on my chest but he was blue so while the doctor was stitching me up - I had a stage 2 perineal tear - they took him over to the warmer and suctioned him out. The doctor told me that when my placenta came out it appeared to be partially abrupted (hence the bleeding) but during labor my vitals and the baby's vitals were stable and the baby did not appear in distress. She said it was good that I pushed him out quickly due to the abruption but that because I pushed him out so fast he didn't have time to squeeze the amniotic fluid from his lungs so that's why he was so blue at birth.
At he warmer Phillip's color was a little better but they called a NICU nurse to come see him.


They let me hold him for maybe 5 minutes until the NICU nurse came and he was still blue and grunting.


She took him in the warmer and ran to the nursery to check him and Phill went with them. When they arrived to the nursery the nurse reported that his oxygen saturation was in the 70's so they would place him under a humidified bubble dome for a few hours.


While Phillip and Phill were in the nursery my OB nurse helped me move over to the mom-baby unit and get settled in. My parents and Phill's parents arrived and shortly after Phill and the Neonataologist came in the room. Phill hugged his mom and began to cry and the doctor told me that Phillip's color was better but he was still grunting and working to breath and so they were going to admit him to the NICU and place him on CPAP.



They only allow 2 people at a time to be in the NICU so Phill and his dad went and gave baby Phillip a blessing. The nurse, Ruby, later told me that the blessing was so beautiful that she teared up a little bit. What a blessing for the power of the priesthood.
Although being quite the emotional day, we are so happy, excited, and blessed that baby Phillip is here!!!

Valentine's Day

This year since Valentine's Day was on a Monday and Phill would be working we expanded Valentine's Day over the weekend.
Friday night: Phill, Avery, and I went to the Armadillo for dinner. We had gift certificates and thought it would be fun to go as a family. Avery loved the music and spent most of dinner dancing in our booth. So cute to watch. She even did a tap dance to the Mexican Hat song. My girl's got rhythm! She was so excited when they brought out the chips and salsa, and scarfed down almost and entire taco. After dinner we walked over to Borders and looked at books and drank hot chocolate.
Saturday: We exchanged gifts. Avery received purple snow pants and a little heart shaped box of M&M's. I gave Phill a Star Wars T-shirt and Reese's hearts, and Phill gave me Valentine's hand towels for the bathroom and Dove Milk Chocolate hearts. Later that night Phill and I had a movie night and watched Inception.
Sunday: Unfortunately we were all sick with sore throats, coughing, chest congestion, and body aches. Avery actually felt the best out of all of us thankfully. So we rested all day but did go over to my parent's house for dinner. My Dad gave us a little heart shaped box of chocoltes and we enjoyed a lovely chicken dinner.
Monday - Valentine's Day. Phill was at work but came home and surprised Avery with a big soft puppy with hearts on it, and red tulips for me. We had a large ham dinner with potatoes and green beans and enjoyed with goblets of Sparkling Red and White Grape Juice.
I love Valentines!

38 Weeks

I am now 38 weeks along and the baby is still kicking strong. On an exciting note at my 36 week appointment I was 2cm dilated, 50% effaced, and the head is down at -2. At my 38 week check I am 3cm dilated, still 50% effaced and the head is still at -2. I am so happy and grateful that the baby is head down and not breech. Also, at our 36 week appointment we finally found out what the baby is. It's a ..... BOY! We are so excited. We thought about just waiting until the baby was born, but Phill really wanted to know and this time the doctor could actually see so we took advantage of it. To be honest I was so nervous before if the baby was a boy and not being prepared. But now that we know I am so excited to have a little boy. Plus, we've been so blessed with friends and family offering to give us boy clothes. I guess we really lucked out that two of our family members are done having kids and they both have all boys so plenty of clothes for us. What a blessing!! Phill and I waited until Superbowl Sunday to tell our families. The Wakens had a Superbowl Party and invited my family too. For fun I bought a baby boy outfit and had it in a bag. During the half-time show we had Avery open the bag and pull out the outfit. Everyone was so excited. 2 more weeks left, maybe even less!