Landon's Blessing

Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged...I've got several posts to catch up on, so we'll start back a few weeks. The day after we were released from the hospital for Landon's infection, both sets of his grandparents flew into town. We had a great weekend spending time with them! It was so fun to be able to introduce them to Landon and let them play with Carter. That Sunday, November 7, we blessed Landon. We didn't feel comfortable going to church with all the germs around since Landon had just gotten over being super sick, so we were able to rent out the cabana at our apartment complex and blessed Landon there. We had a nice turnout: my parents, Tyler's parents, my Aunt Sherie and her family, my Aunt Millie and Uncle Terry, and the bishop. The blessing was beautiful and we were able to enjoy the time with everyone with a lasagna dinner afterward. It was a great weekend even though we were still so tired from spending so much time in the hospital. All the grandparents left on Monday, and we were sad they couldn't stay with us longer.
I didn't end up taking any pictures while everyone was here since both grandmas are so good at that! I haven't gotten the ones from my mom's camera yet, but I stole the pictures from Grandma Kim's camera. Here are a few:

Landon with Grandpa Dan

Landon with Grandpa Dan and Grandma Kim

Carter going on a walk with Grandma and Grandpa

Right after the blessing

3 generations

Our little family

We're Home...Finally!!

We're finally home from the hospital!! Landon finished up his antibiotics today and we headed home! I realized that in the last 3 1/2 weeks we've spent 15 days in the hospital, and Landon has thus spent more of his life in the hospital than at home. Sad! Luckily we're all officially healthy and aren't planning on going back anytime soon. We're looking forward to the rest of the grandparents coming in town this weekend and then settling in to a routine with our little family next week after everyone leaves. We're sure grateful now more than ever for our health and our 2 sweet boys. We're also soooooo grateful to all our family and friends who have sent thoughts and prayers our way, as well as helping us out in so many ways! We feel incredibly blessed!



I was a little anxious on the way home that I can no longer press the "call nurse" button and get help whenever I need it, so I turned my train of thought to realizing the good things about this hospital visit. First, we were able to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Landon that we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. Second, it helped Landon GAIN WEIGHT! Most hospitalized babies lose weight but Landon is officially up from his birth weight of 5 lb 14 oz to now being 7 lb 6 oz!!! He must've had nothing else to do but eat ;) We're pretty sure he'll be a tank like his brother Carter!

Landon's in the Hospital

I know most of you are aware of what we've been going through the last few days, but I figured I'd write an update and let you all know exactly what's happened. On Friday we noticed Landon was really warm. We took his temp and it was 101.0, so I called his pediatrician who saw us immediately. He said Landon was really sick (his temp was coming in at 102.6) and that we needed to be hospitalized at Seattle Children's Hospital. After packing up a few things, we took off and checked in at the ER. It was really scary at first. They brought him back immediately and hordes of people came in to assess Landon. He was septic, had a very high fever, was breathing much too quickly (around 100 resps/min) and his heartrate was way too high (around 210). His belly was also hard and swollen. They proceeded to do some blood and urine tests, but had to wait until he was more stable and in the NICU to do his spinal tap. He had an NG tube placed for feedings that first night as well, since he was breathing too rapidly to eat orally. They also started 3 different kinds of IV antibiotics immediately.

After a night in the NICU, Landon was doing much better. His fever and heartrate were down and he was able to eat on his own. We were transferred to a regular hospital room where he has continued to improve. Test results have come back as positive for parechovirus, but they're pretty sure he has a bacterial infection as well because of the severity of his initial symptoms. They haven't been able to determine what kind of bacteria he has and most likely won't be able to, but he has responded very well to antibiotics and is back to his normal self as far as anyone can tell! We'll still have to stay in the hospital until this Friday to finish up his antibiotics.

We've had a pretty difficult time with all this. It's been really hard seeing Landon being poked and prodded so much. It breaks my heart every time they've had to place a new tube or IV (he's on his 3rd IV now) and I couldn't bear to stay in the room when they did his spinal tap. Luckily my mom's been in town and has been able to watch Carter for us while we've spent most of our time at the hospital. Tyler was able to take most of the week off work and has been helping out a lot at the hospital and commuting back and forth to home to spend time with Carter and get some things done. I've been fortunate enough to be able to stay the nights at the hospital and Tyler has spent a couple here with us, too. I've gotten just about no sleep and that's been rough but somehow I've had the strength to do what I need to do.


We're so grateful for all the love and support we've received from family and friends and can't wait to get back home! I realized the other day that between all 3 of these recent hospital stays, Landon will have spent more of his life in the hospital than at home!! Hopefully the next month or so will be a little more uneventful.

Here's a few of the pictures of Landon before we came to the hospital. Yup, he's pretty cute!! These are at about 2 weeks old...he's now 3 weeks :)

I couldn't help taking this picture...he's so cute when he cries!

All of his clothes are WAY too big on him...we didn't think to buy any that were preemie sized!

Smiling in his sleep

Landon always raises his eyebrows to look around and gets all those creases on his forehead

Re-Hospitalized/My Birthday/On TV!

It's been a busy few days since I posted last. While I was finishing up my last post I suddenly got a horrible pain in my abdomen. It kept getting worse and worse until I could barely move. Then I started getting some flu-like symptoms: chills, muscle aches, sore throat, feeling feverish. I got to the point where I couldn't bear the pain any longer and called the hospital and they told me to come in immediately. At 10pm Saturday night we dragged Carter out of bed, packed up the kids, and headed to the hospital where I was re-admitted. It turned out I had endometritis, an infection in my uterus. Landon and I stayed in the hospital until Monday morning. It was really rough for our family to be apart again and it was hard to be in so much pain! Luckily after 4 rounds of IV antibiotics I was feeling much better and they let me go home a day earlier than they'd planned. Good thing, too, because Monday was my 26th birthday! For my birthday I came home from the hospital, showered, sat around in my pajamas, and took a nap. Tyler did get me an Oreo pie and some beautiful flowers, but I think this year's birthday falls to the bottom of the list.

I found out a couple days ago that the documentary I was a part of will finally be aired on TV! We did all the filming way back in May or so, and it was supposed to air in June, so I was beginning to wonder whatever happened to it when I got an email saying it will finally be on UWTV. For those in the Seattle area, it will be airing tomorrow, Oct 21st on UWTV (channel 27 on Comcast) at 2pm and 7pm. The official title is Minimally Invasive Cardiac Care. I haven't seen it yet so no promises and I will probably be embarrassed I announced it to everyone once I do see it. For those not in the area, you can view it online at http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=32284&fID=854 . It also lists additional air dates at the bottom of the page. They are also sending me a few DVDs of the program.

Here are some more pictures from the past few days:

My 3 favorite boys

Carter loves to give Landon hugs and loves

Lots of hugs

Landon's first bath at home

I walked in on this scene today...apparently Carter was making himself quite at home on top of his Daddy while watching the Price is Right

Landon's Birth Story

Now that I have a free second (Carter's running errands with Tyler and Landon's content in the bouncer) it's time for the birth story! *WARNING* It will be long...this is more for me to have a record of the event since I'm not so good at writing in my journal at the moment. We went in to my last doctor's appointment on Monday afternoon and as I told the NST nurse and my doctor's MA that we were getting induced that day, they all seemed to think I didn't know what I was talking about...luckily the doctor confirmed I was getting induced that night. We then went out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was so nice to have a "last meal" and have a little date with Tyler! Then we headed in to the hospital to get induced at 7pm...well, apparently they forgot about us so when we went to ask what was going on at 9pm they were like, "Ohhh sorry!" Let's just say we were not happy. Then as the myriad of doctors came in, we realized no one knew what the plan was for my induction! I was extremely frustrated and felt like everyone was putting us completely last. Finally around 12:30 at night they decided they'd start with some cervadil to try and shorten my cervix...well, the cervadil stays in for 12 hours, so the next afternoon (after only getting 1 1/2 hours of sleep) they took it out and we had to wait around AGAIN to switch rooms. They finally started the pitocin at 5pm. They'd originally told me I'd have my baby by midday, but since the induction didn't start until 5, they predicted I'd have Landon by about 3am. I did NOT want to wait another day for my baby. Luckily, the pitocin kicked in really quickly and I was only in labor for 4 1/2 hours!

During my contractions Landon's heartrate was continuously dropping. It'd be fine and then as my contraction picked up his heartrate would drop dangerously low, but then recover after the peak of my contraction. We were all really worried and my doctor was watching things really closely. Fortunately I dilated from 4 cm to 10 cm in about an hour and was finally ready to push. Even though I had the epidural, the pressure and pain at the end was pretty extreme! It was really cool, though, because I got to watch the entire birth in the mirror. I know I had my reservations about this doctor but he was AMAZING. He really helped coach me through the pushes and after just a few easy pushes Landon was out! We were so lucky that he didn't have to use the forceps or vacuum like he was planning. It was so amazing to see everything and I only ended up with a very minor tear. I really credit my doctor with that and helping the whole thing go so smoothly. The whole thing was just incredible! I even said after he was out, "Man, that was fun!" and the whole room just laughed...I don't think they hear that from many laboring mothers. My doctor even made the comment that I was "born to birth" which I never would have guessed after my experience with Carter :)

Landon John Wallo was born at 9:43pm, weighed only 5 lbs 14 oz, and was 19 1/2" long. He's super little but really healthy...I found out later he got an APGAR score of 9/10! Good job, Landon! Carter has had a little bit of a rough time getting used to things. He refused to go near Landon or me at first, but is now more interested in him and likes to try and say "Landon" and has been really gentle touching him, too. He's going to be a great big brother!

Tyler's sister Jamie and our nephew Connor just went home today. They came out to watch Carter while we were in the hospital and we appreciated their help a lot!

Here's some pictures from the past few days. I decided not to add all the rest of the ones from the birth/bath since the ones I have on the last post sum things up pretty well. Enjoy!

My last pregnancy picture...almost 40 weeks!

Aunt Jamie, Landon, and Cousin Connor

First family picture!

Daddy having bonding time with Landon

All ready to leave the hospital and head home!

Showing Carter the new baby after we got home

Carter did very well at being gentle

I'm bummed this one turned out a little blurry...but it's me and my boys :)

I realized after this one uploaded that I have almost the exact same picture of Carter

All of our newborn size clothes are HUGE on Landon...we bought him some premie diapers, too, and he's swimming in those as well!

Mommy/baby cuddle time

Carter was really excited to see Landon this afternoon