Shuper Duper

Swallow Test & Eating Update

2010-11-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

Blake had a follow up swallow test last week and the results were both good and bad. The good news is that he is doing excellent on liquids from honey-thick through purees to pudding-thick. The bad news is that he can no longer have thin liquids, including his absolute FAVORITE - Water. How sad! We tried thickening it this week but it was a no go. Somehow water looses its appeal when it is the consistency of slime - haha! He still gets it through the feeding tube and sneaks a few drops in the tub (I have to get video of that to share it is hilarious...he dips his fingers in and then licks off the water. Super gross but funny!) so no worries about deyhdration.

He has been a rock star at the feeding clinic though. He now gets two meals a day by mouth. We have made it through all kinds of fruits, pudding, yogurt and a few grains -yipee! But he is not a veggie fan. Looks like he has his mama's sweet tooth! Sweet potatoes, carrots & squash I can easily mix with the pudding to make a yummy (really) mix that he likes but I was at a loss with the green stuff. If any of you have picky eaters out there I learned a trick...mix them with applesauce or pureed pears!! It sounds quite discus ting but it seems to work. Today he had a vanilla,(since that is the flavor of his formula)applesauce, and peas shake. I would never have ordered it in a restaurant and could not believe it when he downed 4 oz - a new record!! When I tasted it it was surprisingly not that bad. Tomorrow we are going to try pears & green beans. Wish us luck!

Preschool!

2010-10-27T07:34:00.001-07:00

So Blake started preschool on Monday. It is amazing what a difference 6 months can make because when we started talking about preschool around his birthday I thought there was NO way that he or I could take it! But as it turns out by the time all of the forms got approved and he actually started we were both more than ready :) Here is a photo montage of the morning:

8:00am - "Why Mom, why so early?" Haha - like Mama like son!

8:15am - All dressed, backpack packed, ready for photos. It took a few tries to get a smile, but well worth the wait. This picture might be one of my very favorites now!

8:20 - Bus is here! He was not quite sure about the lift.

8:23 - "Ok, this might be fun. I can see much more from here than in the Jetta!"

8:50 - Making the walk into the classroom with Miss Cathy.

9:05 - Settled in, ready for a day of play!

Miss Cathy said that he had an excellent first day and the bus attendants kept saying that this could not be his first day because they always cry on the first day. Not our Rock Star!! For his art activity he painted a pumpkin and it was so cute to see the blue and red paint stuck under his fingernails when he got home. I think the most suprising thing was that when he got off the bus at 12:30pm I thought for sure he would be asleep or close to it - not so! He was so wound up that it took me almost an hour to get him relaxed and ready for a nap. Such a Champ!

Lucky Seven

2010-10-11T06:08:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Bryan and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary!! Amazing how time flies. We had a great day. During the day we took Blake to a nearby outdoor nursery that has a small fall festival to look at pumpkins, etc. Then since it was pretty warm outside (yeah for October weather in VA!) we picked up an icecream cone before heading to the park. Blake went down the slide for the first time by himself which was a big step for all of us. Blake's nurse came to watch him for the evening and Bryan took me out on the town for dinner and a movie. It is tradition that we go to P.F. Chang's and it did not dissapoint! We got to stay out until midnight which is a first for us in the last few years and it made me feel like a teenager again. Simple pleasures.

Thanks baby for a great day and a wonderful life together. I love ya tons and tons!!

Spring sprung

2010-06-16T10:40:00.001-07:00

If a pic is worth 1000 words then does 64 pics make up for not posting anything for 9 months? Well it can't hurt, right!! So, here is a link to our picasa site with pics of the things we have been up to since the blizzards blew out this February.

Bryan's B-day
Visit from my sister
Maymont Park in Richmond
Harper's Ferry
DC National Zoo
Blake's B-day
Garden
OBX with Friends
Etc.!

http://picasaweb.google.com/bcshupe/2010Spring#

Two more down

2009-09-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

We spent another full day in the hospital, but we are making progress. B had a double dose with two procedures today. The first was to get tubes for both ears - a really basic surgery that should help with both his hearing and chronic infections, yippee! The second was to replace his feeding tube because he has already grown out of the one we did a month ago. It was really good timing too because when they went to put the new one in they found out that the old one had slipped almost completely out and was nearly back in the stomach which may have been adding to the increased reflux he has been having. It was not as slick as we would have liked, but this time he was sleeping soundly and should have no memory - thank goodness! So in a few days when his ears feel better and the outside and inside of his tummy aren't bothering him, if he can't get a good night's sleep, I don't know what will do it:) Since Grandma gets him all next week we are keeping our fingers crossed that he is an angel so that she will volunteer to give us a break again soon!

August?

2009-09-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

So, I am not sure where the past 2 months have gone. Looking back, it seems we spent half of the time having fun with family and the other half on dumb doctors...

Blake and I took a trip to UT at the end of July for a family runion and had such an awesome time seeing everyone. My family celebrates with all sorts of fun and silly activities like archery, a fly-off, a pinata, watching movies projected on the garage door, skim boarding in the canal, etc. and I love it all! We also got to go swimming at aunt Jill's so it was great to catch up with the Shupe side as well.

After we got back to VA B had a procedure to switch his G tube to a G/J tube (which just means that they add extra tubing inside that allows the food to bypass his stomach and go straight to the intestine). I have to say it was one of the WORST things we have ever had to do to/for him. First off, they did not use anestesia - who does that?? It was suppose to be a quick 5 minute thing, but after at least a half hour of him screaming they stopped to get another doctor to assist and we were finially able to get them to relent for at least some local numbing. I can't even explain how angry I was. I just kept thinking how they would never do that to an adult, so why to a poor kid who has already been through so much? I don't know if I can blame it all on that incident, but it has really effected his behavior. He is now scared of EVERYTHING - vaccum, hand mixer, a fan. He just freaks out at the drop of a hat and it breaks my heart everytime. To add to his challenges, his digestion has gotten worse instead of better. First they thought it was a new food intolerance, then it was a bug, then the medicine used to treat the bug, and on and on. I frequently wish that I could just explain things to him, but then again I have a hard time understanding it myself and it is hard not to loose hope that SOMEDAY this will all be managable, if not gone!

On a more positive note - we did have another miracle come out of all of this. When we had to change his formula, it was of course to one that was even MORE expensive. Our insurance denyed our claim again (since he does not have a "specific inherited metabolic disease" - how lame is that? He can't swallow - how much more inherited does it get? anyways) and we honestly could not see any way that we would be able to afford it. I know most people might not post the details, but as you will see it is outrageous. A case of the food costs $169. Seriously. AND a case only lasts us 6 days. So, we were looking at almost $850 per month for this stuff. What?? So, on to the miracle. We found out that Nestle is the manufacturer and they have a program where you can qualify for up to 2 free cases per month. They do it 6 months at a time, so two days later UPS delivered 12 cases of formula to our front door ($2028 worth!) THANK YOU NESTLE!! All I could think of was "like Mana from Heaven".

1/4 Century

2009-07-19T18:41:00.001-07:00

Its not very often that you get to celebrate turning 25, but I have to say this has been a great way to do it. We had a bunch of friends over yesterday, more celebrations today, and tomorrow I get to have another party with the whole family - Yippee!! Thanks to everyone for making me feel so loved. I have to admit that it was a pretty shameful attempt at the candles though, I guess there just are too many :)

Bad habits start early!

2009-07-06T13:50:00.001-07:00

Do we have another crazed dewzer in the family? Hahahaha

Happy Independence Day and more

2009-07-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July. Not because we did anything extraordinary, but because we were able to sleep in, get some paint at a good deal thanks to HD's sale, and enjoy a BBQ and of course fireworks with friends as we counted our blessings for living in such a wonderful country and enjoying all of the freedoms that we have. We were afraid we were going to have to watch the fireworks from our hospital window or on TV, but luckily we got Blake out late Friday night - yep, that makes 3 stays in 3 weeks!! I hope we are not going for a record. This stay was more frustrating than some in the past as they decided that he needs to have a certain procedure done (move his G tube to a J if that means anything to anyone else!) but because his Gtube is less than the required 3 months, he has 3 more weeks of being in limbo before they can do anything. We have spend the last week with several doctors trying all of the alternatives and each one has been less helpful then the one before and none are doing the trick to protect his lungs until he can get over his mysterious illness. Let me just get it out - AAAHHHHHHHHHH! Poor little guy. I think he is starting to get bugged as well by all of the tubes, monitor sticker, pokes, and beeps but again I am amazed at what a good baby he is and how he can always smile and giggle afterwards.

We did also have a bright spot in the last few weeks. Two of our good friends from Germany came and spend last weekend with us. It was so nice to see them and spend some time hanging out at the pool and having dinner with them, etc. Hopefully you guys were not too bored with us!

No Summer Break from Hospitals :(

2009-06-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

Well, we almost made it two months. Then we had 2 back to back trips to the ER. Blake always keeps us on our toes, that is for sure! Two weeks ago on Thursday his G-tube started leaking (of course it was at 11:00PM just when we were ready for bed) and so I had to take him in to make sure that the placement was still good via x-ray. It was very interesting to me that it was so light out when we started our drive back home at 5:30 in the morning. Who knew? The second trip happened last Wednesday morning when he just kept getting sick to his stomach over and over (to keep it clean!), normally this would of course be worrysome, frustrating, and just plain gross, but Blake does not do normal. He can't get it all the way up and out so he ends up caughing and crying and choking and turning blue so we had to get him to the ER quick for oxygen, antibiotics, and another xray to make sure that his lungs were ok. ahhhhhhhhhhh. To add to the drama, Bryan was out of town for some training in Chicago so he had to take a flight back in the middle of the night to come and rescue us. THANKS AGAIN BABY! We still are not sure what exactly triggered the episodes - food intolerance, minor ear infection, teething - but the combination sure did it, poor guy. Luckily we were able to bring him home Saturday afternoon and he is doing SO MUCH better. We also have some awesome friends and ward members who stopped by to visit and bring us meals - thanks a ton to everyone!!

Sitting Up

2009-06-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

My little Boo is all grown up - today he sat all by himself!! Isn't it amazing how they just learn these tricks over night? We are SO excited.

Teen-Monther

2009-06-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

Blake just turned 13 months and we have coined the phrase "teen-monther" to describe his new attitude. Hopefully he will mellow before the terrible two's hit! He definitly knows what he wants now and is not afraid to fuss until he gets it. Spoiled? Probably. But who can say no to this little guy?

Luckily, he still takes time out for naps, especially after a hard day of watching sports with Daddy.

OBX

2009-06-08T13:50:00.001-07:00

We were so lucky to get invited to spend a week down in the Outer Banks with some friends for Memorial Day weekend. We had such a wonderful time and since our cell phones did not work in the house and our wireless internet went out for a few days we actually relaxed!! We learned some new fun card games (thanks Smiths), got a little pink, and spent most of the time down at the beach.

Here Bryan and Blake are just keeping it cool in the shade:

Blake is chillin' with his new fried Lilly:

Some crab hunting with the guys:

And Cindy helping Blake kick it in the pool:

We definitly should make this a tradition!

2009-05-22T10:40:00.001-07:00

Blake 9-11 Months

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

2009-05-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Blake celebrated is 1st Birthday last week. He loved the Chocolate frosting on his cake and made sure that he got it EVERYWHERE! He says thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Shupe and Manning and Aunt Jill and Familes for all the rockn' gifts - although the wrapping paper and cards were his absolute favorite of course!

We are so amazed that we have had our little cutie guy for so long already! He has such a kind heart and funny personality. We are so blessed that he is such a trooper and has already overcome so much. He is so forgiving and never misses a chance to flirt - even with the nurses who just had to give him a poke! Bryan and I can't believe how much more we love him every single day. We are excited for all the cool stuff we will get to show him this next year!

Paperwork Reduction??

2009-05-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

Our government is so inefficent sometimes it is just too funny. At work I do a lot with hiring paperwork and one form is the I9 - employment eligiblity form. It just got updated for 2009 and in the process it went from 4 pages to 5 pages. When I saw the reason for the extra page, my co-workers and I could not stop laughing. The reason? The paragraph about the "Paperwork Reduction Act" got pushed to its own page!! Hahahahaha

Mannings in DC

2009-04-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

My parents and 3 of my siblings were able to come out and spend spring break with us - we had so much fun! We did a mini tour of DC and also went to Mt. Vernon. My sister Christina and my brother Brian and I also snuck away and spent a day at Kings Dominion which was a blast. We had really good weather and no crowds so we got to ride all of the good rides a few times in just a few hours! Blake especially loved having the extra attention. We had an awesome Easter egg hunt -unfortunately we found more than we were looking for ;)- all in all it was a great time and hopefully they will come back soon!

Haircut

2009-04-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

Blake got his first full-head haircut last Thursday. It was sad to see the curls go, but they were getting a bit out of control plus with the weather finially getting warmer it was time to say adios!

He was a really good sport about it until it was time to trim around the neckline - but we got the job done and he looks cuter then ever!

Surgery Success

2009-04-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we took Blake in for his G-tube surgery and Diaphragm scope. Normally the G-tube is combined with a Nissen to eliminate the reflux (as mentioned in an earlier post) but after researching we decided not to do it because in Blake's case it seemed it might cause more problems than it would fix - if anyone wants the details let me know. We were pretty nervous going into the surgery and the extra 3 hours of waiting did not help ease the tension but luckily once we got in it only took about an hour and a half. Everything went as planned with the G-tube placement and we had a small miracle with the diaphram scope. They were expecting to have to repair a hole based on the CT scan and MRIs, but when they got the camera in there (they did it through his belly button, how cool is that!) they could not see anything wrong. The surgeon even showed us some pictures that they took and everything looked healthy and perfectly intact. Amazing. They had marked his chest showing where the incision was going to be and we are so glad they did not have to use it - just look at the pic below and you will see why! We stayed in the hospital until Tuesday when we were able to get his feeds back up to the right level. He was so glad to get back home to his own bed! He slept most of the next day (which was TOTALLY needed since we shared a room). Now he is back to his usual kicking and babbling and hopefully the site will continue to heal quickly. Thanks again to all for your thoughts and prayers for Blake!

Townhouse

2009-04-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

We got it!! Yipee!

After 5 long months of waiting and negotiating we finially signed all of the paperwork for our new house on Monday and now we are busy getting things ready so that we can move in this Saturday (with some help of some very generous friends - thanks to all). We are very excited. It is going to be a bit of work to get it spruced up, but will be well worth it.

Silly Sleeper

2009-03-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

So, Blake has a funny habit. He likes to cover his face when he sleeps. If it is not totally covered (like at night when we wrap his arms up so he can't pull out the NG tube), he has to at least have is blankie (aka birpcloth- thank goodness we have 12 of them!) tucked under his chin and a binkie in. The combo is MAGIC! He also either sticks his legs in the air or likes to turn to the side (usually so his toes touch the crib railings). I snapped some pics to share....enjoy!

Happy B Day

2009-03-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

This is a little late as another birthday has come and gone for Bryan! Happy Birthday Baby! It was a bit of a humble affair as he had to work some long hours :( but he was a really good sport about it. Thanks to all who shared their well-wishes!

NG Pic

2009-03-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the infamous NG tube (and updated docband stickers since his Dino retired). With the combination people on the street really think something terrible happened to him. It is funny to me that the least of his problems are the ones on the outside! Just another life lesson about not judging.

It has been amazing what a difference it has already made. He is much more active and alert and picking up new skills everyday! He also is getting some thys that you can actually hold on to. Pretty soon he will be our little chub!!

NG Tube

2009-03-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

For all you Blogstockers out there (you know who you are!) here is the update of our latest hospital visit.....

Wed 02/26 - went to urgent care because Blake was choking frequently.
Wed 02/26 - sent directly to the ER.
Thurs 02/27 - started an ND tube which feeds through the nose, down the throat, past the stomach, directly into the intestine.
Sun 03/03 - moved the ND tube up into the stomach - now called NG tube.
Tues 03/05 - redid swallow study and as we were afraid, Blake aspirated a little bit of everything he ate, so no more oral feeds :(
Wed 03/06 - came home with a brand new NG tube, pump, and a bunch of info.

So, we could have saved another month's rent by staying at our second home! Luckily it looks like we are making progress and starting to get a better picture of what is causing most of the issues. Stay tuned for the update because we will be back in the hospital in about 3 weeks for the surgery for the permanent G tube and Nissen fundoplication!

Just Kickn' It

2009-02-19T16:37:00.000-08:00

Our little guy loves to kick - check him out!

Happy V-Day

2009-02-19T16:22:00.001-08:00

These pics were too cute not to post. The balloon is from Bryan and the Valentine is from G'ma & G'pa Manning. Happy first Valentine's Blake!

660 Calorie Champ!!

2009-02-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

Blake has never been a good eater. Try as we may, he especially has never been fond of the bottle. He was eating enough just to scrape by at the 5th percentile though until about a month ago when he decided to wean himself completely (hense one of our latest hospital trips for dehydration!). Since then we have been able to coax about 10 oz per day of 30 calorie formula (normal is 20) into him. That along with his two cereal with fruits/veggies meals have given him a total of almost exactly 550 calories per day. Yes, we have to keep track and log everything! Anyways, we were told that to catch up he needs a bare MINIMUM of 600 calories and that we should have a goal of 650 -900 calories per day (yeah right!) and if he does not show significant weight gain in one month then he will have to get supplimentation through a feeding tube. Since we are trying to avoid that at all costs, I was finially able to meet with an infant nutritionist yesterday. Here is a sample of some of the changes we made:

Normal cereal mix (cals)
1/4 c. oatmeal cereal (60)
1/2 tub squash (15)
1 1/2 scoops formula (60)
2 oz water (0)
= 135

New cereal mix (cals)
1/4 c. oatmeal cereal (60)
1/2 tub sweet potatoes (35)
1 1/2 scoops formula (60)
1 oz water (0)
1 oz apple juice (15)
1 t. chicken&gravy (20)
1/2 t. veggi oil (20)
=210

So, by switching to a high calorie veggi (or fruit), making the formula with 1/2 apple juice, adding chicken and veggi oil (gross) we added 75 calories to this meal!! I tried it for both of his meals yesterday and he CREAMED his goal with 660 calories - the highest ever!!

Who Needs a House When You Have a Hospital?

2009-02-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

Looks like our Not-the-best-week-ever week has turned into a month. These are the times that you can look back at in a few years and think "how did we ever survive that?" Here are a few of the not so high highlights:

* 2 hospital stays for Blake - one with a ride in the ambulance and one that lasted a week
* My dear grandma had a stroke
* Bryan and I both got food poisoning (dang Chipotle)
* We STILL have not heard back on our house so it looks like another month in Hagel
* My work computer broke down
* Several urgent care visits
* Bryan was gone for a week in Columbus (maybe good for him!)
* Our truck broke down
* The Steelers won

Doc-Banded

2009-01-21T16:50:00.001-08:00

As part of our Not-The-Best-Week-Ever week, Blake got outfitted with a shiny new helmet today. The technical term is a Doc-Band, but it looks like he either is trying out for little-little league or already cracked his skull. Thankfully neither is true. I guess they are getting to be pretty common, but the purpose is to help his head be more rounded. In Blake's case, he prefers to turn his head to the right, so the goal is to get rid of the flat spot that is forming back there. In about 3-4 months he should be good as new! Below are some before and after pics. It looks less scary when it is all blinged out, so I took a shot at decorating it. Some of them get pretty elaborate but since I am the kind of mom that still has not finished decorating the nursery (yep, 8 months later) I don’t know if it will get much more fancy than this. I do intent to add a big RAWRR on the back, because my bro Brian says that is how you say “I love you” in dino!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

2008-12-03T11:56:00.000-08:00

Our Friends invited us over for a post-Thanksgiving pie party where they served the best pumkin cheesecake ever and were kind enough to share the recipe (thanks again Matt & Ellie!). I am not sure if it is really from the Cheesecake Factory, but it could be!

Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake
Originally posted to recipelink.com by Elly, Ohio:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham crumbs
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. sugar

Filling:
3- 8oz.pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice

Whipped Cream

Mix crust ingredients together, just till coated and crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 2/3 up the sides of an 8" springform pan. Bake for 5 min. at 350. Set aside.

Combine cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl, mix until smooth with an electric mixer. add pumpkin eggs, and spices, beat till smooth and creamy. Pour into the crust. Bake for 60-70 min. or till the top turns a bit darker. Remove from oven and allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate. After it has thoroughly chilled, remove the pan sides and cut. Serve with whipped cream and crushed pecans.

Happy 1/2

2008-11-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

6 months already - how time flies, but I could not imagine life without you! It has been a rough start, but you are such a trooper and always have the biggest smiles through it all. It is amazing to see how strong your personality is at such a young age, and we get so excited to think of how much more there is to come. You are such a sweet spirit and we are so grateful to have you in our family as you bring us so much joy!

Fall Foliage

2008-11-17T20:28:00.001-08:00

I have let it be known that I am not a big fan of the never ending green of the East (Bryan is the exact opposite of course!) but I will admit that when autumn comes around it is breathtaking.

My Boys

2008-11-17T20:26:00.001-08:00

Aren't they handsome!

Beary Happy Halloween

2008-11-17T20:04:00.001-08:00

Excuse the cheesy title, but we did have a great Halloween, even if we did have to celebrate it a few days later (Bryan caught the latest bug going around and was not up for much!) Anyway, here is the highlight - Blake all tricked out.

BFF's

2008-10-19T19:12:00.001-07:00

Blake got to meet his BFF Glade for the first time last week. Actually Bryan and Moe (the dads) are are the real best friends, but in this case I am sure it is genetic. If they could have crawled I am sure they would have pulled out the DEW. The funny thing is they are 4 months apart. Can you tell who is older??

Au Revoir Mon Frère

2008-10-19T19:04:00.001-07:00

Blake and I just got back from a trip to send my little bro off on a mission to Fiji, French speaking. We are so excited and proud of you Craig! See you in a few!!

Five Going on Forever

2008-10-19T18:50:00.001-07:00

These are the flowers that Bryan gave me for our FIFTH ANNIVERSARY!! Amazing how time flies...

To celebrate we took a trip down the East cost to Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA and had a blast. It occured to me that traveling has been a theme of our marriage so far and in the past 5 years we have visited almost half of the 50 states, not to mention several countries. Even more amazing is all of the places we have lived:

Ogden, UT (x3)
Glendale, AZ (x3)
Guadalajara, Mexico
Frankfurt, Germany
Washington, D.C.

What an opportunity! Who knows were the next five will take us, but it sure will be a ride!!

Like White on Rice

2008-10-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Blakester's first try at not-so-liquid foods and we were really impressed - he took to the rice cereal like, well....white on rice!

Here are the pics:
You have to love the rice mustache and goatee!

These are a few of my favorite Youtubes..

2008-09-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad!

This first one I like probably only because I have a kid...the Bumbo facinates me and we have the same wrist toys as the little girl. Plus, the video style is awesome.

Next is a classic, but only if you have recently read Gone With the Wind (one of my fav's). Carol Burnett just cracks me up as this is so stinking clever!

The third one has a bit of political flavor. I am an Independent, but for the record I am so far really impressed with Palin and am waiting for the debates to see how she does, but this is just too funny not to post, especially as it knocks Clinton's desperation!

This final one is probably the funniest in my opinion, but it is also PG-13 so only watch it with that warning! Since seeing it Bryan and I have adoped the phrase "poor Hawaii" and we just can't stop giggling!

My Picasa es Su Picasa

2008-09-09T17:31:00.001-07:00

So, I am a total slacker when it comes to blogging. I am sure that anyone who reads this is mostly interested in Blake anyways, so rather than uploading a bunch of pics of him here, below is the link for our NEW picasa site, enjoy: http://picasaweb.google.com/bcshupe/Blake03Months#
Since he just turned 4 months it is already out of date, but what can you do?

His heart surgery went really well and we are so happy to have it behind us. He still has not gotten his eating back up but we are hoping he will be back to normal within the week. Thanks to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers.

It’s a bird...It’s a plane...It’s a BOY??

2008-05-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

We definitely need a record of our girl vs. boy saga, so here it goes....

When we went in for our original ultrasound at 21 weeks, we were told by the technician that we were having a girl. Truthfully, I was ecstatic and Bryan was slightly disappointed. But, we were both glad that everything looked right on track for a healthy baby.

Then, on Friday, March 24th (32 weeks) I started having strong contractions just after work. We were busy getting ready for our German friend Heike who was coming up from North Carolina for the weekend. Unfortunately, she arrived just in time to join us on our way to the hospital. They hooked me up to a monitor in triage and sure enough, the contractions were steady and getting stronger. They did a zillion tests and were not able to find anything wrong and after a few shots of Trebutaline, the contractions stopped and we were able to go home at 1:00 am.

The real shocker actually occurred some time around 11:00 pm. Bryan had gone to give Heike a ride back to our apartment so she could rest as we did not know how long we would be in the hospital. The doctor came in to do an ultrasound to check on the baby and asked if me if I knew what we were having. I said in my happy/dreamy voice, "yeah, a little girl" and she paused for a second and said, "ummm, no you’re not!" At first I totally thought she was joking, but then she had me look at the screen and...lo and behold...definitely a boy!! Crazy, I don't know how they missed THAT in the first ultrasound! As Bryan was out, I asked the doc for a print out so that I would have some evidence because I knew that he would not believe me at all. The nurses and I had a blast joking about what Bryan’s reaction was going to be once he got back – we were not disappointed! TOTAL SHOCK.

Well, that actually goes for both of us. It took a few days for it to sink in, but it has been quite hilarious telling people about it and the humor of the situation helped to lessen the stress and worry of having pre-term labor. But, I think if the baby had actually been born that day I would have thought they were trying to send me home with someone else’s child! Not to mention that the poor boy would have been dressed in pink and we would have had to do a mad scramble to come up with a name since we had not even talked about boy names. As it turns out, we are much better prepared and most of the PINK has turned to BLUE over the past few weeks (I am still holding on to a few of my favorite things, “just in case”).

So, I hope this little guy has a sense of humor, because he will probably hear this story several times over the course of his lifetime. I also hope he is not offended that his mom was a little more excited when she thought he was a girl – not that I won’t think he is the greatest once he gets here – it is just the superficial daydreams of sugar and spice and everything nice!

Oh the Blog...

2007-10-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Did not think we would get to this point, but in order to keep up with the Jones' (or in our case the Child's and the Petersen's and everyone else) the Shupe's are bloggin' it now!