Thanks for your prayers

Uncle Brandon meeting Weston
Aunt Laura meeting Weston

Weston had his first stable night last night!!! That makes me super happy because all the other nights have been rough for him, especially Tuesday night. They told us he was very critical and fighting very hard, so they didn't want us to touch, or even talk to Weston and they turned the lights down as they wanted him to be as unstimulated as possible. We were with him late, but went home to sleep after the nurses encouraged us to go. (He is in such good hands at the hospital and I feel like he's in the best place he could be.) When we got to the hospital in the morning yesterday they told us that his lungs had collapsed, his heart was stressed, he had needed 100% oxygen, and we saw he had more IV's, tubes, and a catheder, sedation had not been enough so they had given him a medicine to paralyze all of his muscles (with the exception of bowels and heart) so that his lungs could relaxe so that the tears in them could start to heal, and that the air pocket near his heart had not gone down.

Yesterday we were allowed to touch him (we hold our hands on his head and it's supposed to make him feel secure) and we talk to him. I read him a cute book called angel babies. By evening his chest x rays (the air pocket) and blood tests (acidity and oxygen in blood) seemed to stable if not slightly improving although he did need a blood transfusion. Dad came late at night and he was given a blessing and we all prayed for him. He is so loved and I felt much better. I felt so much better leaving the hospital that night and when we called this morning to see how his night was. Also, his oxygen is down to under 50% rather than the 100% which can be scary over time.

We went to this little meeting for the parents of the NBICU parents last night so it was nice to meet other parents. Weston is a giant in the low birthweight intensive care unit, that's for sure! Also there usually aren't babies in there that are over 34 weeks and he's 35. But because he was so sick, that's where he needed to be. The other babies are like 1 to 3 lbs and Weston was born at 6 lbs 1 oz. They weighed him today and he's 6 lbs 11 oz (although they say the weight gain is really just due to fluid).

A few more pictures from yesterday:

He has big feet and long legs!

My best friend lovin' the new baby!

It's Official! We're family now!!!

The newest happiest family photo we took after we found out birthmom had signed papers!

We are greatful to Weston's birthfather who had already signed the paperwork so that Weston could become our son. Weston's sweet angel birthmom struggled through the process of signing her parental rights to Brett and I (and LDSFS fro the 6 month legal waiting period) yesterday afternoon. I heard she was really struggling, as you can imagine. She saw him only for a moment to say goodbye after life flight had gotten ahold of him and he was decorated with monitors and cords literally from his head to his toes. His color was not great like it is now- it would have been a very heartbreaking scene as she said goodbye, unable to hold, or even touch him through his incubator.

After Weston got life flighted to the hospital in UT, Brett and I quicly drove to meet him but were met with red tape as at first they said they could not allow us to see him or let us know how he was until the papers were signed because we were not his parents and did not have any legal rights until paperwork had been done. The hospital called the birthmom and she told them to treat us like any other parent. I am so greatful for that, because we felt so helpless in that moment. They also said they weren't going to let him allow any visitors, but after talking to Jessica, they said we would be treated like any other parent and have the one hand and arms scrubbed down visitor at a time. Good thing because he had a grandpa and uncles dying to see him. They allowed his uncles to go in and give him a blessing and I stayed to listen and cried (I've been doing a lot of crying!) as I felt the love that Heavenly Father has for this very special child. Dad was so greatful to Jessica and wanted us to say a prayer for her. So he said it and it was very sweet and sincere and full of gratitude asking that she and Weston's birthparents can have strength and be blessed for allowing us to have this wondeful baby. My brother Troy says he has not seen me this happy since I was little and got "Webigail" for Christimas! I truly am so happy!!! We anxiously await Weston's progress for when we can bring him home, but are loving every moment and one thing is for sure, he is growing cuter every moment and all of the nurses from WY to SLC ooo and ahhh over how adorable he is!

If my mom and Nat and Bry and Cindy read this: Don't worry!!! He's going to be just fine!!! You'll see him soon and he's in wonderful hands! (When they found out about all this, I heard they were out to eat in England and were all bawling by the time the waitress brought out their food because they felt bad they weren't here.)



Here's Brett's update to his friend, which I thought explained the medical aspect better:



Weston is actually doing really well considering. The only problem is that his lungs weren't opening up like they should, when he first came out, so he fought hard for air. Because he was so strong and fought so long before they could fix it, his lungs got a tear and have been leaking into his chest. This is causing difficulty for his lungs, which would otherwise be working properly now, to do their job. There is a little pocket of air close to his heart, so they can’t go in and release it with a chest-tube. They have him sedated so that he doesn't do much breathing on his own allowing for the tear to heal and the pocket of air to be absorbed. When this is done, he should, theoretically, be a healthy, strong baby and we will be able to take him home as soon as he learns to bottle-feed.
Thank-you for your prayers.

We were finally able to adopt our baby yesterday when our wonderful birthmother fought through the emotions and signed the release form. It was hard for her because she was so concerned about little Weston's well-being and wished that she could've held him. We signed our papers and paid the fees shortly thereafter and are now the proud parents of Weston Jay Rich.
Our legal status as parents will be finalized in 6 months when we go to court. We will then be blessed with the opportunity to take him to the temple and be sealed to him forever. Also at that time will be finally be able to bless him in the church.
What a great day we had!!

We've already started reading to him. Since we can't hold him we want him to be able to recognize our voice.

Welcome to the World Weston Jay!!!!

A VERY QUICK UPDATE OF THIS VERY LONG DAY AND A FEW TEASER PICTURES:

Born 9/8/08 @ 4:17AM

6 lbs 1.3 oz

19" long

35 wks along

Weston- icky new. Nicky cut the cord! Weston's birthmom did an excellent job bringing him into this world! She is such an amazing person that we will forever be grateful to her for her loving quest to do with this baby what she thought was best, even when it was hard. Weston is so perfect and very handsome SO cute, I must say!
First time Weston held Brett's hand. To die for, ADORABLE!!!
As you can tell, I was a blubbering idiot when they handed Weston to me. Unfortunately, this was the only time I've held him since he started having breathing complications because his lungs weren't fully developed. =( He will be okay, but they life flighted him from the hospital in WY to the NICU in UT where he is now with his incredibly stylish mohawk as seen below. So, he's going to be okay, but he did have a very busy first day of life being poked and prodded and being attached to machines and cords and taking a flight on a helicopter. The good news is that we are back in our home city and my family has already come to visit, and Brett, my dad and brother's gave him a blessing. The bad news is we can't hold our sweet baby. He may be there for a few weeks, but there's really no way to tell, just whenever he is ready. We want to spend every possible moment with him but have slept very little within the last 48 hrs and so came home to sleep even though it's so hard to leave his side. We will be spending a LOT of time in the NICU.
My Dad is very fond of the little guy who decided to come on my Mom and Dad's 47th Wedding Anniversary! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

A Random Review of the last couple weeks

Everyone with kids tells us, "Do everything you can now, before you have kids!" I think we're living up to that advice and have had a very fun, eventful summer. It's funny though because this summer whenever we have done something fun I've thought about how fun it would be to do that with kids also, although I know nothing will ever be quite as easy to do. With that in mind we took off on a spontaneous getaway (after dealing with a towed car which is a whole other story in and of itself that I'll skip for now) Decided only minutes before getting in the car, we started driving towards Logan Canyon & planned to go to Bear Lake, but first Brett talked to his old friend Jess who lives in Smithfield near Logan (Jess is the one who told Weston's birthmom about us) and since we got a late start she invited us to stay there on Friday night, which I gladfully accepted because A) I really wanted to meet her finally and B) I didn't want to put the tent up in the dark.


We had a blast! Their family is so cute! Brett and Colin talked about their book ideas and planted trees and played with Kenner. I had fun talking with Jess and playing catch with Kenner and actually getting Lilly to let me hold her! Thanks to Colin, Jess, Kenner and Lilly who gave us a great weekend! They even took us to the Gossner Cheese factory (Brett's favorite food in the world is cheese!) Then we headed up to Bear Lake and camped. It was really nice!

The big boys

This was the view from our tent. Our tent has big netted windows so we can lie our back and look at the stars. WE LOVED LOOKING AT THE STARS! Our next door camp neighbors were playing Mexican music and you can't tell in this picture, but there were boats sailing with lights on them, and you could see little lights on the other side of the lake. It kind of felt like we were in Mexico and overlooking the ocean. Brett skipping rocks in the morning
Our kissing reflection in the clear lake water.
We had the best pizza and a bear lake raspberry shake! Mmmm, it's making me hungry thinking about it!

No lie, we went snorkeling in Bear Lake. There was a sign where we were camped that said people come there year round for scuba diving, so we thought we'd be adventurous and try out the clear blue water. We almost hyperventilated getting in, but after that it was super refreshing because it was such a hot day. I didn't have my contacts on, so I really couldn't see anything, but Brett did see one school of fish. I thought Brett was crazy when he packed our snorkel gear, but I must admit, it was pretty fun.

On Sunday we visited my parents. This is the new 3 yr old horse Shammy that lives in my parent's field (Someone else owns her but my parents let her live in their field because she helps the field from being overgrown and they get the benefits of having a horse without owning one) She loves Dad and follows him around him around everywhere like a puppy, it's so funny. She's good with kids and has such a cute personality.

Nicky's first ride on Shammy

On Tuesday, Brett turned 28!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY! To be honest, that sounds kind of old. I mean, we met when you were 22- how could we have possibly gotten 6 years older since then? Ha,ha, But, I do know you are more wonderful than the day I met you! I planned a short notice birthday dinner at Marie Calendar's and we had the private room and a nice turnout thanks to Brett's family and a couple of his best friends who showed. We are so good at last minute in this family!



My work took us out to the Bees game! It was a great summer night for a ball game.


Brett with Aiden at Andres's Birthday party. It was Equadorian style fun with a BBQ, (of course) and dancing (of course!)



So, we were sitting at our brother in law, Anderes's Birthday party after food and dancing when Brett gets a call and the world seemed to stop as I heard his side of the conversation with things like, "Are you serious? No way! You're going to the hospital? Her water broke?!" and I immediately filled with panic and excitement all at once, only to find out he was talking to his brother, not Weston's birthmom. Still very exciting news, but not quite as exciting as I was thinking as my heart stopped that second when I assumed it was *J! We went to church only to make sure the sunday school class Brett was preparing to teach was covered, then headed to the hospital. Juni was born at 5AM and weighed only 5lbs 2oz. but is healthy and doing very well even though she came a month early and surprised everybody! So, all the sarcastuc banter between Brett and Jarod about who will beat whom to be a first time parent, first since we were expecting around the same time- Jarod and Christy win- CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Unfortunately Brett's mom wasn't doing well enough to make it and Christy's mom's airplane ticket wasn't scheduled until Sept 10th, and Christy's sister was out of town. Lucky for us though, we got to be the first visitors and Nicky got to hold Juni for a long time at the hospital while Christy attempted to get some sleep.

(Jarod and Christy's new baby, Juni: SHE IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!!)



After we left the hospital, we went on a walk in the mountains and went to Bridal Veil Falls where we cooled off by wading around in the water that felt like freshly melted snow.



And tomorrow: it's back to school for Brett. He's taking "just" 2 classes at the U. Hope he's a smarty pants like he usually is at school and can get away with missing as much school as he needs to when the baby comes.

On Monday, my friend Kelsy and I attempted to go to Raging Waters but it was closed because shcool has started! So, we decided to go to the rec center pool... which was closed for cleaning! We finally gave up and just went to Chili's and I ate Chicken Enchilada soup (so good!) and Kelsy bought us Chocolate Molten Lava Cake (sooo good!) It was fun to have a girls night anyway.

34 Weeks Along...BABY WESTON IS COMING SOON!!!

How your baby's growing:Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.See what your baby looks like this week.Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

Well, the dates have been set for 2 different showers in honor of Weston's coming!!! I am so excited to be having a baby shower- it will be so much fun!

33 weeks along [49 days or less to go!]

ALOHA! The little boy should be about as big as a pineapple right now! The birth mom says he's growing big and she and the Dr. would not be surprised if he comes early and estimate he will probably be about 8 lbs!

How your baby's growing:This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

National Families Supporting Adoption Confrence

This weekend was an adventure. We had a series of unfortunate events followed by a series of fortunate events. Car troubles fell into the mix, but we were still able to make it to the FSA confrence in Layton thanks to my new visiting teaching partner and her husband who are considering adoption and just so happened to be going to the confrence and live in our same complex, so we hitched a ride with them. We also got to stay at the Marriott in Layton- we hot tubbed and slept in a very comfortable bed.
The confrence was great! This was our 3rd confrence and we love to go because there's such a great spirit there of people who understand the heart of adoption- how it really is about love and what a spiritual journey it can be and how evident God's hand is in every adoption as I've heard many people share their story. It's one of those things that's hard to explain and kind of hard to really get unless you've experienced it. We LOVE being among and hearing from the incredible birth parent's, as well as adoptive parents and adoptees. We met lots of friends and saw old ones. And best of all, we loved being able to share our good news this time around that we have a baby boy due Oct 1st!!! There are so many fantastic couples out there waiting to adopt, we feel so lucky we'll get to be Weston's parents when he comes.


*If you or someone you know is considering placing their baby for adoption, www.itsaboutlove.org or www.parentprofiles.com is a good place to begin your search.

Just Add Baby

Just wanted to share in all the fun we're having setting up the nursery! Getting ready for a baby is so surreal and exciting! This child truly is growing bigger everyday in my heart, and nervousness hit me the other day, because although the birth mom has been WONDERFUL and has given us the luxury of having the peace and confidence to be optomistic that this adoption WILL happen (and I believe her), the fact that there are no guarantees, can be scary- but there are no guarantees for any expectant parent. Reguardless, I am optomistic and am savoring every precious, dreamed about moment that is our reality right now- being expectant parents. And I am so greatful for Weston's birth parents who are making it all possible... and for God who brings about miracles.


That raggedy teddy bear was mine, I bought the horse woobie/teether, and the football was a gift. The birth parents also plan on getting a teddy bear for Weston- which I think is a great idea!

The crib and bedding set: red, white, tan, baby blue and navy blue with cute stitching.

It's a little cowboy theme. These wall decals are where I got the color scheme from. I've got four walls- and I'm open to painting suggestions before we stick them on!
Weston will be born in Wyoming so this is fitting. I love horses and so does the birth mom's family, so hopefully Weston will too-or at least tolerate it while he's a baby!

This was Brett's soon to be Father's Day Present. We got it for a great deal because it was the floor model at RC Willey. Affectionately called the "Papa Bear Chair" by us. It rocks, reclines, and has a durable, easy to clean fabric. We both love it and can't wait to rock a sweet little baby in it!

Erin gave us this adorable starlight papason swing now that her kids are done with it! Thanks! It makes little stars all over at night and plays music.

PS CONGRATS to Troy and Katie, Brett's best friend and his wife who are expecting a baby in March!!! It's just too fun! Life is excellent right now.

30 Weeks

How your baby's growing:Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

29 Weeks Along

How your baby's growing(according to babycenter.com):Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.