His Daddy's funnies and his momma's good looks!

Weston has just been cracking us up lately! He is so fun - even when we were in the hospital. So here are some pics...some with stories....some without, but may not need any explanation... ENJOY!

My little swollen Asian baby! They pump him so full of blood and fluids, that he was so swollen and fat! & we are not used to having a fat baby!













Needless to say, the swelling went down....in fact, he lost weight. Now he fits into his 3-6 month clothes again. Well, the pants anyway. He is too tall for most of his onesies. It's driving me crazy. Nothing fits. These pics were just verrrry interesting ways of falling asleep and we thought they were quite humorous!


















Soulja Boy! Weston really likes his buckethead. He gets mad when we try to take it off. I don't know why, but I thought he looked like a soldier here with his weapon of choice. Also, I included one with his trademark crossing his legs. Sometimes, he even crosses his legs with one ankle on his knee like a grown man, if that makes sense? Even the surgeons were dying when they walked in and he was laying like that. Here again, you can see how skinny his legs are.























Time with Daddy! This is what happens when I leave Doug alone with Weston. This is Weston's fort at the hospital. Can you blame me if I am slightly terrified? And I just love how cute Doug & West look all cuddled up.

The Actual Transplant

Here are some pics from the actual transplant... It is pretty jarring to see you're baby so sedated. This is when we first saw him after his transplant. He had two drains in. Then a week later they went back in and stitched up the muscle and came out with another drain. It was still too tight to sticth everything together, so they had to include a piece of synthetic muscle. It won't ever have to come out unless it causes him any trouble as he develops his muscles. Now, he only has one drain in that we came home with. We're not sure when that one will come out.

















It's like having a baby all over again. This is when they removed the ventilator. It was actually worse when they have the ventilator in. He tries to cry and he is actually crying, but you can only see him crying. You can't hear any noise because the ventilator blocks the air from passing the vocal cords. So sad! And I was really strong and held my brave face until I heard him cry after they took the ventilator out which was 2 days later. His voice was raspy and I couldn't hold him yet. I just felt so helpless.










This is first time I got to hold him after the transplant which was about 4 or 5 days after.










And this is the first time he smiled after the transplant...which was ironically after they took all of his tubes out of his nose and mouth. I won't even begin to tell you about all the tubes and lines he had in. It will just become too confusing.

Home Again!

I'm well aware that I need to change my Valentine's themed background on our blog...however, my house still has Christmas and Valentine's decorations up. As we are approaching April soon, I am realizing not only has February slipped away from me, March seems to be blending in also. We came home from the hospital on March 17th, St. Patti's Day, yeah! I thought the next few weeks would be difficult with him waking up at midnight and four (when they usually take his vitals at the hospital). That is what has happened every time we have come home from the hospital. First, in October, it only took 2 weeks to get him to sleep through the night. But then in December, it took two months. This time, he slept through the night that night! I didn't sleep that night, though, because I was nervous or excited, I don't know. Last night he woke up screaming bloody murder. We think he was having a nightmare though. But needless to say we are so happy to be home!

We are due to go back on Wednesday, though. Weston has had bleeding left over from his old liver. So they will scope and inject chemicals to scar off the veins in his throat. To explain this, the blood is still backed up from his old liver and so some of his veins are still swollen. On average, they have to do this 5-7 times. We've already done it twice. We will have to stay at least one night for the procedure.

I give him medication 6 times a day, but only orally. And a nurse comes three times a week to draw blood to check the level of his anti-rejection medication. But we could not be happier to be home. So here are the last 5 weeks of our lives!

Pre-Transplant

Happy as can be all the way up to his transplant, which really is miraculous in and of itself considering he hadn't eaten in 9 hours!

Mad Computer Skills... WEston loves this website: http://disney.go.com/characters/pooh/index.html It is Winnie the Pooh and he loves the funny hunny tree. The two bandaids on his arms are exactly why Weston has the picc line now...so he doesn't have to get poked three times a week to draw blood.













And some pre-transplant comparison pics for the size of his belly and his coloring. Don't shoot! It's just a camera Weston.

Really, who do you think he looks like?

Guess who this beautiful baby is? That's right it's me! When my mom was out here, nurses kept asking if we were Greek or Italian. My mom said I looked like none of her other babies when I was born and sent me this picture for comparison. We have received comments like, "If you didn't know Stef, you wouldn't know where Weston came from." or "Are you sure Doug's the father?" Yeah, pretty sure. That's ok, Doug says he prefers that Weston looks like me...maybe we'll have another one in ten years that will be a mini-Freshness. I tried to find a picture of Weston scowling because he does have that same scowl that he wears often, but in most of the pictures, he is smiling! Obviously, I am a chubbier baby, but I had a good liver!

Mausser Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

How West is doing...

Fabuloso! Seriously, he is doing really well. Dr. Meyers and Dr. Sorenson finished his surgery this morning around 7 AM. We were able to see him at around 9:45 AM. The liver took and started creating bile. His skin already looked lighter. Dr. Meyers said his liver is "pretty and pink". It is a little big, so they did not sew up the muscle, but sewed the skin. Once the liver is out of the donor's body and in an icebox, it swells quite a bit. They will sew up the muscle in a few days after the liver shrinks back down.

He lost a lot of blood this morning, which is to be expected so they gave him some to compensate. Now it is evening time, and this... is the color of his eyes. NO JOKE :) We will try to get an actual picture, he is just very sedated with pain medication so he does not have his eyes open very much. But he looks so good and better every time we see him.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Well, I certainly hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day, however, I am certain I can top you, no matter what you did. Yesterday, at about 2:00 PM, the transplant cooridinators came up to our room with a pager stating we were now listed and for one week we are listed at status one - top priority. Today, shortly after I posted the last entry on our blog, less than 24 hours after we had been listed, Dawn, Weston's nurse from the liver clinic came into our room. I was the only one there with Weston fast asleep. The conversation went as follows:

Dawn: "Happy Valentine's Day!" She said with a grin from ear to ear.
Me: "Happy Valentine's Day. " I reply with a furrowed brow.
Dawn: "Well, I won't give you a heart for Valentine's Day, but would you like a little piece of a liver?"
Me: "Yes, please."

I then cried and and hugged her - she is the best by the way - Weston just loves her. I wanted to wait until we were certain that the liver would work. Until about 40 minutes ago, we had a 30% chance that the liver would not work. We just received word at 1:00 AM that they began to operate at Weston at 12:15 AM. The liver is not even in Utah yet. It is being flown out of state and is coming from an adolescent. That is all we know about the donor. The surgery will be about 8-10 hours long. Weston will be in ICU for about a week and in the hospital for 4-6 weeks.

As tragic as it is for the donor and his or her family, we urge you please please be a donor on your license. You never know whose life you are saving. We are so grateful to the donor's family. We are so grateful for your fasting, your prayers, and for putting his name and our names in the temple.

I did not want to sound scary or be too graphic when explaining what happened on Tuesday. But the truth is, we nearly lost him as he lost a "life-threatening amount of blood". Dr. O'Gorman came in at the exact time she needed to. Weston was listed for less than 24 hours. Most families can wait anywhere from 6 months to a year or longer! We truly witnessed a miracle today.

Our Heavenly Father loves us so much. He loves Weston and has BIG plans for him. I just know it. I have never been so happy in my life and I doubt I ever will be again. Let us know if you have questions, we're extremely happy to talk about it:) You could even venture to say we are giddy! We love you all so so so much! And we love our little Weston to pieces!

Some Birthday Week!

Well, we have had quite an eventful week to celebrate my birthday - not really :) Monday, we went in and scheduled an operation on Weston's hernia. Monday night, we found blood in Weston's stool. We called our doctor and they were pretty much expecting it because we had gone off the vitamin K so we could get a natural time for his coagulation. (Maybe I'm not saying all this in the proper medical terms, but I'm doing my best) He continued to throw up blood and blood clots and to poop out blood in his diaper the next morning. He was looking pale to me, so Doug & I took him to the ER. He had more bloody diapers and threw up more blood while we were there. Luckily, the liver doctor on call came just at the right time and got us into resuscitation to give him blood and fluids immediately before he passed out from losing too much blood. It was the scariest thing that has ever happened, but he is doing much better now. They gave him 30 cc of blood in the 24 hour period so for this week we are bumped up to first on the list for the transplant. Then we go do down the point system again. (This is difficult to explain) But they are doing their best to get the best liver possible for Weston as soon as they can. In summary, unfortunately, things have just taken a turn in a different direction for us. We'll keep you updated! Thank you for all your support and prayers. They are very needed!

Bad Mom!

I'm well aware that leaving toys and stuffed animals in Weston's crib with him makes me a horrible mother. We just had no idea Weston was becoming this mobile until we found him with these toys. I'm willing to admit it for the sake of your enjoyment! The second one, he is actually sleeping with just his little hand on the bear paw. We thought it was so funny!












Finally, 8 months and he is sitting up and sometimes sleeping through the night! Oh, we'll get there and keep hitting those milestones despite that big, bad liver! Even if it is a little later!

Weston y su papi...

It's not my fault I have a hot husband. I just really liked these pics of Doug and Weston. Here, with Weston wrapped in the blanket is Doug's lazy way of preventing Weston from getting a cold in this horrid Winter we are having. If Weston gets so much as a cold, he is ineligible for a transplant. In related news, Weston has an ultrasound and an appointment with the surgeon on Monday for some swelling in the area down under. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm not sure if it's a concern or not, but at this point, I prefer to be paranoid about everything. Also, at West's doctor appointment on Monday, he weighed 15 lbs. 5 oz. He has gained a little less than a pound in one month! We are stoked! Dr. Book gave us a time frame of 3-4 months to be able to have the transplant from a living donor. We found out it will probably have to be me since my liver will be at least 50% smaller than Doug's. Nothing is final yet, but we're pretty sure Doug's liver is going to be too fat. Not fat, I mean, uh, just too big. Anyways, here is Doug trying to pass his under armor shirt off as a regular shirt. Sound familiar Pablo (my dad)? Just kidding, he worked out once like a month ago.












Quite often, we forget or try to forget our other pest of a child, Mooja. Here he is in time out by the fire. Not really, but we caught him completely engaged by the fire. It took quite a few attempts to capture this image. And here is Doug taking Mooja outside. I just thought it was funny how he looks like Rocky in his gray sweatsuit.

Happy "I Love Roo" Day!

My fellow Tigger & Pooh fans will understand the title (if there are any). This year I made homemade valentines for my friends and family. If you did not receive one...better luck next year. And really the only reason I did is because Doug worked the outdoor retailer convention and I was single for the week with a LOT of time on my hands. I even made my Dad his birthday card. My mom asked if I made it and I replied, "Yes, we make our cards, we can't afford to buy them." :) But each Valentine had its individual poem. So I hope you enjoyed them! Doug & I were up late trying to rhyme valentine 50 different ways. Doug says I am becoming very crafty.A friend told me she didn't know how her little boy could compete with how cute Weston is. I was going to say no need to compete, let's all enter the Regis & Kelly cutest baby contest! But the deadline is already passed. And Lisa is really mad at me for not entering. It would have been the easiest $125 grand I ever made. It took Weston a while to find his toes because of his belly, but he has found them and he is in love!

Celebrity Sighting!!!

Years ago, I scrapbooked this newspaper clipping knowing one day it would come in verrrrry handy. And indeed it has! There is an uncanny resemblance of this little girl to my oldest sister Lisa as a child. Do you agree???

Weston's Status

Time for another update on Weston. I've gotten a lot of questions about how Weston is doing so I thought I would tell you all. Last week, Doug and I went to Primary Children's Hospital for an educational meeting on receiving the transplant. Weston does need a liver transplant and we are in the process of getting on the list at Primary's. Last weigh in, he was 14 lbs 8 oz so he is getting bigger. The downside is that most of that is fluid retaining in his belly. Before Christmas, Doug and I got our blood type tested. It was quite a blessing to discover that Doug, Weston and I are all A+. So both of us so far are eligible as living donors. Ideally, we want Weston to be at least 18 lbs before we do a living donation. We hope and pray every day that he reaches this weight before he gets too sick.

He is doing considerably well for his situation! We just think he is so fun and cute still! He is gradually learning to sit up more and more by himself. These things, like crawling, walking and even sitting up will be delayed. His belly just sets his balance way off. You can tell sitting for too long in one position causes him pain. Being in the hospital so much has really affected his attention span. But after the surgery, we have been told, you will see the yellow drain from his skin within a matter of hours and days and he will catch up very quickly developmentally.

He has a lot of difficulty pooping and throws up quite frequently. The doctor cut down the medications because I was worried that he is just throwing up all of them and, thus, they weren't benefiting him at all. This decrease has helped out tremendously and Weston is so patient and wonderful about taking all his nasty meds night and day! He still doesn't sleep through the night at 7 1/2 months, but oh well! He LOVES baby food!

He has been so silly lately and he is getting really good with his hands. A few weeks ago, he started waving his hand back and forth and now it is his whole arm flailing around. He loves to read and he loves music. We just love him!

As I mentioned our meeting last week, we had quite an eye-opener. We saw pictures and discovered all the risks and lifelong problems Weston will have. I won't go into detail, but it was the first time in a while, we were a little scared. But on the way home, we knew this isn't something we can think about a month from now or even a week from now. All we can do is go from day to day and have faith that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us, because we know he does. And Weston is worth every bit of this trial.

We love you all and are so grateful for all your prayers and support! Let us know if you have any questions!

Weston's New Toy

Catching Up

Weston slept about 5-6 hours during the day when we got back home. All that attention really wore him out!