Update

So it seems like forever since I have updated, which I know it has been, but really dont have anything to update about except the fact that Andrews stone has finally come in. It is very beautiful and I am very happy with how it turned out :). I dont have pictures but will take some soon and post.

I also have changed jobs and it is the best decision of I have made. I used to work for the federal governement and left that job after being there for almost 8 years. Some people might say I am crazy leaving a government job, but after I have left I am not seeing the benefits of working for the government. Ironically enough, my new boss is Vicki Jensen who is Jack's mom. Many people know Jack Jensen and his miracle story. If Andrew wasnt diagnosed with CDH, I would not have met Vicki and probably would not have gotten this oppurtunity to work where I am today!

We have been very blessed this year and am looking forward to the many more memories my kids give me in the years to come!

really long and overdue update

Well the holidays have come and gone once again and I am just now getting around to posting on the blog. Actually diagnosis day and delivery and everything that came with it has come and gone, two years ago. The holidays were good. The kids were spoiled as usual. Nik's first christmas was cute although he was not into much it that much. He did rip the paper now and then off his presents though. Tara doesnt really get excited. She takes her time and once done unwrapping poses for a picture and then puts whatever it was back properly before moving on to another gift. She is not a messy person! We celebrated Tara's 6th birthday (can't belive it has been 6years where does the time go?) by going to disney world. We were there over Andrew's second birthday as well. The trip was from February 22-26th. We bought a balloon and left it go down there on Andrew's birthday and joes dad took out his balloon we purchsed before we left to him. Tomorrow (March 31st) is CDH awareness day. Please wear turquoise in memory of Andrew and also for all the other children that are affected by this nasty defect, whether earthly or heavenly!

Holidays

The Burdette household is in full mode for the upcoming holidays. We decorated on Thanksgiving Day. Tara was very excited (considering she has her very own tree in her bedroom), but Nik didnt really seem bothered by the fact that we have a lighted tree sitting in our living room. My mom bought Nik, just like she did Tara, his first ornament for the tree and we put it on and took pictures of course. As I was decorating I was missing Andrew, as he would be at the age where he would be into everything and decorating might have been a fiasco! I can not believe that Nik is going to be 7 months old tomorrow! He is so BIG!!! Hope you enjoy the pictures and wishing everyone a happy holiday season!

Halloween

The cold and flu season has completely invaded our house. Started with Tara and then everyone else including Nik came down with it. It is on its way out finally, although Nik is still fighting the occasional stuffy nose during the night. Thankfully the worst part was over by Halloween so it was enjoyable. I had a very pretty witch and a handsome spider if I do say so myself!

This is Nik's girlfriend, Riley. She is our bestest friends little girl, the ones that were with us through everything with Andrew. She is exactly 2 months older than him, although she should be 4, but Nik couldnt wait to come out and see her! Nobody is going to mess with her man, just look at that face! Thanks for checking in!

Late Post/Update

Long overdue update in the Burdette houseold. Nikolas got to come home from the hospital on June 2nd, 2009. It was the best feeling in the world. He was brought home on a sleeping and eating schedule that helped out alot with the transition from 1 kid to 2. He quickly changed his schedule and began eating on demand which was more often, but thankfully was not like that through the night. I got to be off all summer with him and Tara and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! He did have a gradeII intraventricular hemorrhage in his head while in the NICU that we have had to have several follow-up ultrasounds for and will for quite sometime to see that it does not get any bigger. It should resolve itself, but is a stressor for me. Other than that he has been doing well. He is so big. At his 4 month checkup at the beginning of September he weighed 13lbs and was 24 1/2 inches long. I know he is even bigger than that now. It is hard for me to keep in mind sometimes that he was 2 months early and that I need to adjust his age for this, but because he is so big I assume he should be doing the things a 5 month old should. He laughs all the time and has recently found his voice and just talks away. He has no desire to roll over or sit up though. He holds himself up very well, he is just not interested in the two. He has always been a stomach sleeper so why would he want to roll onto his back anyways. The doctor is not concerned with him developmentally so I guess I am not either.

We did take Nikolas to see his brother for the first time during the summer. I also took Tara and Nik to the aquarium in Baltimore one afternoon. The family has been to Philadelphia a couple times to visit my family and Nikolas even went to his first major league baseball game. The phillies even won that day. We went to Myrtle Beach in August.

I had to come back to work at the end of August. We started interviewing daycare providers and then Joe's aunt volunteered at the last minute, which is awesome. It was very hard to have to leave him with somebody we didnt know. Tara started Kindergarten in August and likes it alot. We continue to be very busy and it are adjusting to life with two kids.

In January it will be two years since we found out about Andrew's CDH. Since then it is amazing how many people you meet with this defect. My brother is taking a biology class at the community college. He has to give a report on a disease and why he picked it. I am so happy that he picked CDH. He will also be able to spread some word and make people aware of this defect that I am sure nobody in his class has even heard of, not even his teacher.

Please remember all the CDH babies out their fighting everyday! Even though I don't post often I do keep up with the updates of the others listed on my blog!

In closing here are some new pictures. Enjoy!

Nikolas Andrew

I guess it is time I update the blog...it is long overdue. I went into preterm labor on the weekend of April 18th. I was put on bedrest and on terbutiline to stop contractions. It seemed to work for the most part, although I would still have them just not as consistent. My high risk doctor put me on procardia because terbutiline makes you feel all funny and I didnt like it. The procardia didnt do anything. I was in and out of the hospital those two and a half weeks getting different types of things to make my contractions stop. On top of all of this I was spotting which I kept being told was normal. On May 1st I woke up with a lot more than spotting and went directly to labor and delivery. I was not dilating anymore but the contractions were consistent and hurt like heck! I was placed on magnesium sulfate around 630 that morning and had to be on there for 48 hours. My contractions immediately stopped. Magnesium sulfate is not a fun drug either! I was pulled off the magnesium sulfate around 830 on sunday morning and my contractions immediately registered on the monitor but I wasnt feeling much. I was discharged from the hospital on May 3rd a little after lunch and 1.5cm dilated. As soon as we got in the car and on our way home they started to be a little painful but still not very consistent. I was told on discharge to call if they got consistent and I could start to feel them. I called around 3:00 in the morning after an awful attempt at trying to sleep. I was told to take 2 terbutaline and a procardia all at the same time and call back if it didnt work. I think they got a little more spaced out cause I fell asleep for about two hours but woke up again to some very painful consistent contractions, like 4 minutes apart! I waited until the doctors office opened at 8 called in and I was sent back to the hospital. They checked me and I was 5.5cm dilated. There was no stopping him cause a half hour later they checked again and I was 6.5cm. I was in for the long haul at this point. I was not given an epidural until I was almost 8cm because the doctor had given me three shots of terbutaline to try and get the contrations to stop. All that did was make them a little inconsistent but they still hurt really bad! I was given two doses of stadal to take the edge off which is stupid and doesnt work except make you dizzy and completely out of it. I finally got an epidural and felt relief. I pushed three easy times and he was out crying! Everyone was so impressed. On May 4th at 6:17 pm, just 32 weeks, Nikolas Andrew was born weighing 4 lbs 15oz and was 17 inches long. He is doing very good except there was a minor setback last weekend when he got an infection and was having some blood in his stool. They put him on antibiotics and he started to get better, but they stopped his feeds which seems to be the biggest issue at this point. That has since stopped and he is doing much better. They started his feeds back up yesterday and he seemed to tolerate them pretty well, it is just a slow process. Patience are not my best quality and I just want him home now! I am tired a living the NICU life and I have only been there for 2 weeks. By no means is he very sick I just want to take him home. I feel like I have to ask permission to hold my own child and do anything with him and it sucks! I will stop complaining now!

CDH Awareness Day

Hope everyone is wearing turqoise today in memory of Andrew and all of the other CDH babies, whether they are earthly or heavenly. I have on the shirt that we made last year for the blood drive. It still fits, even though I am 7 months pregnant!! Tara has her shirt on too. Daddy has his braclet on, but he always has it on. Andrew will send us a sign today to let us know who really participated in wearing turqoise, he will be watching!