in the driver's seat

Elder Australia Gremmert has done most of the driving in his companionships since he has been there.  I can tell he is glad he is in the driver's seat here... but then again, he likes being in charge.  I have a friend in Australia (well, actually, she is my friend Ronda's friend but I have adopted her after a shared mini roadtrip.  Aaron actually met her in Australia and then I got to hang out with her here in the US) anyway....who has a single daughter.  We made a little arrangement last Spring and now she is writing me to let me know that her daughter has been seeing someone else!  What nerve!  It is all in good fun - but poor Aaron when he gets home.... I will have to stop asking all the nice, intelligent, cute 20-something gals if they have a boyfriend before he gets here.  We got a bunch of emails from Aaron tonight - he sounds like he in lovin' being a district leader again and not having all the responsibilities (and meetings) of a zone leader.  He gets along with his companion and they sound busy - and he said he is sending me Cadbury!  Maybe this isn't a good time to have given up white sugar?

Elder MTC (OK...New York) Gremmert

Seth sent us his SD card... there were some pretty amusing photos but this is one of the favorites.  It looks like he just loves all the paperwork that goes along with being a zone leader in the MTC.  Don't worry, Seth, there will be paperwork for the rest of your life....  Doesn't that look remind you of how most of us feel when it is time to do our taxes?   He and another missionary from our ward, Brady Paxman, are both in the MTC right now.  They are actually in the same dorm, on the same floor and Brady was just made a zone leader too.  What are the chances of that?  Carnation has turned out some pretty amazing young men! 

You can't see it here, but his nametag has Elder Gremmert on the top line and then "American Sign Language" just below it.  He graced us with a crayon rubbing of it on one of his first letters home -

He will be off to New York in just a couple weeks.

Elder Japan Gremmert

Jacob sent us this shot in June 2008.  It is one of my favorites of Jacob - his is grinning even though it looks soooo cold there!  I am sure that it was actually taken in March or April.  He wrote us describing the snow.  We always think of snow as being beautiful even if we don't want to deal with driving in it, but when it hangs around for months in a city it can get pretty dirty.  He is lovin' that REI jacket and boots - no wonder they call Sapporo missionaries the frozen choosen!

Elder Australia Gremmert

Here is one of my favorite pictures that we have gotten from Aaron while he has been serving in Australia. He sent us this in June 2008.  Besides that it is a great shot in front of the temple, he just looks so happy.  Can't you just see the differences in personalities between him and his companion?  Just look at the way they are standing.  Maybe I feel kinda sorry for that companion... I wonder if they got along?  Aaron is older than many of the missionaries that he serves with, but it sounds like he has gotten along with all his companions.... maybe we will hear more stories after he gets back!

where to start?

These are a couple of the oldest pics on my laptop, so it is as good a place to start as any...  We decided to fly Seth home for a 3 day weekend October 2008.  We had dropped him at BYU Provo the end of August, it was our church's conference weekend which has always been a big family weekend for us and we were really missing the parts of our family that were gone.  We felt bad for Eli, who had lost all the other bigger (or at least older) members of his pack.  Darren and I decided that we COULD fly him home, but that it wasn't an option for Aaron and Jacob.  We also knew that he would most likely be gone by this year's October conference on his mission - and we were right.   As you can see, we had tons of fun and Noah loved having his Seth back and not just seeing him on Skype.  Noah is obviously a good tongue catcher at 10 months!  Ryan and Tiffany were in Seattle that weekend too, so we all got together.  I am so glad now that we spent the time and $$ to have the memories now.  We can't take that $$ with us, but the memories are forever.

Snapshots in time

I decided to look back at this blog from when I was pregnant with Noah and can't believe that it has been almost 2 years since I last posted.  This is a lot like my life's attempt at keeping a journal... I do great for chunks of time and then just forget about it.  Still, a snapshot in time is better than none at all, right?  I would like to think that I will keep this blog current - that family and friends can stay connected this way.  But really - I like snapshots... so I am sure it will be more like that.  Did you ever wonder what missionaries do in the MTC in their spare time? (photo by Elder Seth Gremmert)

December 19 - 3 weeks & 2 days

Where does the time go? I know...eating every 3 hours, changing diapers, changing sleepers, changing Mommy's clothes, changing diapers and sleepers again, finally getting to sleep and starting all over again! Oh yeah... and don't forget running to the Doctor's to check that Noah is growing. Whew!

Noah went up to 6 lbs 9 oz at his two week check up. Everyone was so happy that he had gained more than his birthweight. The doctor gave us the OK to try on-demand nursing (but still wanted it to be every three hours...huh?!?) and said that we could drop the supplimental bottles and see how he did. 24 hours later, Rosie was ready to quit. You can only stand so many feedings trying to get a preemie to latch on for 45 minuteseach time. So...we spent a week using some guards that make it easier for the baby and still weighed him every 3-4 days. At 3 weeks he was 6 lbs 14 oz, which is OK....but not the 7 oz per week that they want to see. We got to be weighed again today - still 6 lbs 14 oz. We see the Doctor again 12/26 and if he doesn't really catch on to nursing and gain, we will need to go back to supplimenting with bottles.

Rosie also found a "bubble" on the back of Noah's head last weekend. It is probably a hematoma or a cyst and we will have a cranial ultrasound on the afternoon of Christmas Eve at Children's Hospital. It is about the diameter of a peanut M&M but the Doctor can feel bone underneath it, so that is a great sign. I guess that this is just another thing that is common with preemies.....

We can't believe how much has happened these last few weeks... we didn't even expect Noah to arrive until sometime between now and the 29th! We spend a lot of time marveling at how amazing Noah is and considering all the times that we thought the pregnancy had terminated and all the close calls with his delivery. Thanks for the dinners, rides for our kids and extra concern and prayers. We are so grateful for our friends and family, especially during this holiday season.

Here's some more pictures for all you self pronounced "cyber-stalkers" who have been emailing me wanting more pictures. We are glad that you like the weblog. We are not sure when we will stop.... but for now, everyone seems to enjoy it.

Aaron and Noah are spending some quality male bonding time. Noah looks so tiny!


Noah cheers on Seth at his first wrestling tournament (Sedro Wooley) in style with hoodie, hat and sweats made from big brother Jacob's old sweat pants


Even the preemie outfits are a little too big, but he loves his "soothie"


Here's all the "brothers" and Zoey posing for Mom's Christmas photo

December 6, 2007 - 10 days old

Noah weighed 6lbs 2 oz yesterday...he is doing great. Rosie's doctor said that she is healing well also and to just remember to not carry anything heavier than Noah. She can't wait to be back to doing everything. Here's some pictures from the last few days:


Eli trying to wake Noah


Jacob and Noah catchin' some zzzzz



Nothin' like a warm brother


He is so tiny compared to Jacob's hand


Fast asleep in the sweater knit by Aunt Eva

11-26-07 through 12-1-07

Our busy first 5 days....

Meeting "the brothers"

Our first evening and night were full of tests and times when Noah was doing just great (like how his 1 minute Apgar score was a 9!) and others where there was serious concern. By morning, we realized that he needed to have higher calorie formula and that it was too much effort for him to try to nurse. His blood sugars were all over and he could be very lethargic. We were able to get him to keep 30 ml (which was great!) of formula using a special preemie nipple that requires no sucking on his part at about 6am. It took an hour to get that amount in, but it was a step in the right direction. We also started the Jaundice game that morning and learned how to be sure to measure everything that went in and came out of Noah. We check his temperature every hour also. Bruising on Noah and Rosie from how aggressive the c-section was starts coming to the surface. Again, we are thankful for miracles and for how well things are going.

Tuesday, 11-27-07

During this day Noah increased his feedings to 40 ml every 3 hours. We still had 2 times where he lost the entire feeding and his blood sugars dipped, but each time that it was the “determining test” that would send him to the special care nursery if they weren’t up, his numbers would be just above the cut-off. We feel so blessed that he gets to stay with his mom! The doctors have no idea when he could go home; it just depends on the blood sugars and his temperature control. He still is in the highest range for jaundice that a baby can be before needing the lights. He has a knack of being right on the edge of needing more intervention so he keeps getting test after test after test. His poor heels! Darren has no vacation or sick leave time until Friday, so the days are long until he can show up in the late afternoon each day. We again were grateful that Noah could still be in the room with Rosie so we could spend some family time with our new little miracle. Test results came back for Noah and Rosie: Noah’s hematocrit was good at 47, but Rosie’s only 27. It is another indicator that the Lord blessed us during the c-section. Our visitors are a little limited to minimize Noah’s exposure. We are told to spend a few weeks being careful… visitors can come, but need to wash with anti-bacterial soap and just look – not to “pass him around”. Grandma Doherty and her friend Billy came to visit today as well as Lori and Coleman Oviatt after an ER visit for Coleman, Aaron visiting for lunch and Kimberly Kosorok, who popped in long enough to drop off a bag of clothes from her baby that was early. Noah is soooo tiny that even the smallest hospital tops look like dresses on him. We will have to get new baby clothes since we had gotten things that were all for the 8-12 lb range. We had an idea that Noah might come early with all the pre-term labor, but we figured that 8 lbs was tiny compared to his brothers’ birth weights (9-4, 10-4, 10-3, 10-8… all at 38 weeks)

Wednesday, 11-28-07

Rosie’s doctor cleared her in the morning to come home Wednesday night with directions to be checked the next day. She drew lines on Rosie’s stomach to show how far the bruising had spread so anyone checking her could see and track the changes. Noah is now keeping 45 ml at each feeding and we only had 1 feeding that all came back up. His blood sugars dipped after that, but were still 1 point above the cut-off! He is doing better with his temperature but it still flexes all over the place. He weighed 6lbs 2 oz today which was great. The nurses keep saying that Rosie’s “mom-experience” is what is keeping him out of the special care nursery. Each feeding takes about 1 hour and you have to be very gentle and patient with burping, or he loses everything. They had him try to nurse at the start of every 3rd or 4th feeding. He can latch on and suck for 2-3 sucks, but then he just relaxes and falls asleep as if to say “This is sooo exhausting!” We saw a rooting reflex once today… yea! He definitely does not like anyone touching his feet…. Too many pokes. (sad face) The process begins to test Noah and see if he could tolerate going home. One thing is to see if he can sit in his car seat without aspirating of stressing his heart. Aaron came at lunch again and brought our car seat. He is too small!!! Aaron saves the day by running to Babies R Us and getting a car seat that has extra adjustors for preemies. They hook him up to an EKG and to an oxygen meter and take him and his car seat to the special care nursery to sit and be observed for an hour and a half. He passed! Another miracle and we are so thankful. At about 5:00 it is decided that we can go home, but with follow-up appointments for 9am the next morning. Aaron, Jacob and Darren pack up all the stuff that can accumulate during a long stay in the hospital, we go through another round of checks and just after 8pm we are headed to the car. Because we don’t have all the necessary things for a “half-size” baby, Noah has his first trip to the store on the way home. Luckily, Target has a wheelchair and Darren pushes Rosie and Noah to get tiny diapers, formula, and a few other necessary items to get through the first day at home. It was the quickest Target shopping in history… we were back in the car in 15 minutes. Needless to say, Rosie and Noah were both asleep before the car left the parking lot!

Thursday, 11-29-07

We need to wake Noah and make sure that he eats every 3 hours. We still track everything that goes in and out. Aaron drives to the follow appointments which take 2 hours! His jaundice is still too high so we are off to the lab for more blood work. He weighed 5lbs 12 oz so we are still above the cut-off for losing 10% of his birth weight. He passed his hearing screening and Aaron gets us back home for some rest. We wait all day for lab results and finally at almost 5:00 get a hold of the results. He doesn’t need lights today, but see the doctor again tomorrow. Rosie is so grateful for friends who have brought dinners in… it is so nice to just heat things up for lunch. This whole bottle feeding/pumping thing is time consuming! We can’t wait until he can just nurse. We watch to see if the yellow moves to his legs, monitor his temperature and try to rouse him several times between feedings to check for lethargy. Noah had his first bath at home….everyone got involved except for Seth who amazingly slept through the entire circus on the couch that is about 10 feet from the kitchen sink. Noah looks like a little doll…We have never seen such skinny legs in our family!

Noah likes the water on his skin...but what a lovely shade of yellow he is!

So cute and actually awake after his bath at 4 days old.

Friday 11-30-07

Darren’s vacation date has rolled over so he was at home today. He had put in for vacation this day weeks ago, but he was originally going to get some things done around the house…how quickly things change. We went to the doctor and Noah was completely full of milk but weighed 5lbs 12 oz. At the hospital, they take where he is in his feeding schedule into account, but now that we are “on the outside” they don’t take note of it. He was empty and ready to eat yesterday when he weighed 5lb 12oz, so in reality he lost a little more, but it won’t really matter unless it looks like a big drop the next time he is weighed. His jaundice is still right under that upper cut-off and he has switched off of formula and didn’t have a big drop, so that is wonderful. He actually was rooting for food two times today; it is nice to see those reflexes kicking in. We all went to CHS to see Seth in the play…his last one since he is a senior. Noah was a gem and quietly had is bottle and slept through most of the play. We kept him all bundled up and Rosie got settled into a seat early to keep interactions with others to a minimum. We know that everyone is happy that he is here and healthy, but we need to protect him from all those germs out there for just a little while.

Saturday 12-1-07

Noah actually woke up hungry about a half hour before his 3 hour feeding mark! How many people are excited when their newborn wakes up rooting all over his blanket at 2:30 in the morning hungry? That was a great sign. We had a quiet day at home resting after such a busy Friday night. Noah and Rosie are both pretty tired! He has increased the amount he eats to about 50 ml every 3 hours and all his feedings have stayed down in the last 24 hours. He still looks yellow, but has lots of wet and messy diapers, so that shows that his liver is working on processing all that yellow. The rest of the family is spurred on by the snowfall and are putting up the Christmas tree. Our dog, Zoey, has finally gotten used to the baby noises and she doesn’t look like she needs to come and try to help with Noah every time he squeaks.

Sleepy Noah - all wrapped up to keep warm at 4 days old

Monday, November 26, 2007 - 35 weeks, 2 days

The ultrasound showed that almost all the fluid was gone around Noah. That is a sign that the placenta is not functioning correctly since there wasn't a leak anywhere. Noah hadn't really grown in the week since the last ultrasound either. As soon as Darren arrived at the hospital from work, they started discussing delivery options with us. It was clear that Noah was coming very soon and that it would be better for him to be out instead of in. The doctors presented pros and cons of trying labor and of a C-section with the low placenta and past bleeding, but said that they could have things all set to dive into an emergency section if we wanted to try labor.





Darren and I asked for a few minutes to ask the Lord about our decision and we were surprised when all the medical personnell respectfully left the room and told us to take all the time that we needed. We both felt that both Noah and I would be in too much danger if we tried labor and within just a few minutes, I was walking into the surgery area...it was the first time I had walked out of the hospital room in a week. As the surgery proceeded, Darren and I could feel an intensity and focus from the doctors and nurses as Noah just wasn't coming out. Several people were pushing on my ribs and the doctor tried the extractor and ultimately foreceps to deliver him through the incision. As it turns out, the placenta was very low (2cm from the cervix) and had to be cut through for the surgery and the cord was coming out from the edge of the placenta rather than the center, right between his head and the cervix. The doctor said over and over, "This surgery was such a good decision" as she went on to explain that the cord would have just ruptured if we had tried labor. We were amazed and thankful that we were being watched over once again.





After a slight delay, Noah started cryng and pinked right up. We both felt a huge relief and we know that all our prayers are heard. Thank you for yours....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH!!!!!
Noah Dean Gremmert
11-26-07 @ 5:48 pm
6lbs 4 ounces - 35 weeks gestation