Benefits of Blogging http://ournewfamily052411.blogspot.com/

Project 5 Task 1: The benefits of having your students blog.

Students of any age are able to publish information online through a blog. Blogging can be used like a journal where students can write about news, ideas, rants, announcements, and ponderings. Students that utilize blogging have become better writers. Students are starting to write more, write in greater detail, and take greater care with spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Students are able to open up their thoughts to their classmates where they can all exchange their thoughts, ideas, and opinions. When students are blogging and sharing on others blogs they have to learn what it means to truly be respectable of their peers. 

**Click on the link below to access PDC.**
Professional Development Courses

2 months later

Wow! It is crazy to say that Camden is almost 2 months old. Where has the time gone.

A short overview on the last 2 months of Camden's life. Once he was born on May 24th he was sent to the NICU in Topeka. While he was in the NICU he was on a breathing machine, feeding tube, and in an incubator. About a week later he was able to get off of the breathing machine and on a little oxygen tube, and out of his incubator. He slowly got released off of his oxygen and the feeding tube. Once, he was able to start drinking from a bottle Brandon and I were able to feed him. This made us both very happy, but also sad because he was so little and struggled drinking that ounce of milk. Over the 2 weeks he grew stronger and was finally able to come home. When he was released he weighed 5.02 pounds.

We were so happy to finally bring Camden home. That was truly the longest two weeks of my life! Brandon, Camden, and I all started to bond together as a family. It has truly been amazing to watch how much Camden grows and changes in a weeks time. At one month he was up to 6.12 pounds. The doctor wasn't real impressed with his weight. She would have liked him to weigh a little more. Now at 6 weeks Camden was up to 8.02 pounds! This made the doctor happy!

Over the last 6 weeks Camden has met many people and been a few places (Abilene, Wamego, Manhattan, and of course Emporia). He has really gotten strong over these past few weeks.

On July 20th we will be taking Camden to the Children's Mercy for a minor surgery. He has a little hernia that is causing him some discomfort and needs to be removed.

Here are a few pictures of Camden over the past couple months.

 coming home from hospital

 Camden with cousin Hayden

 playing at nanny's

Camden's first day in NICU

When Camden arrived in Topeka on Wednesday May 25th he got hooked up to oxygen, IV, feeding tube, and was put in an incubator. Unfortunately Camden's breathing rate was way to high and they couldn't get it to go down. They ended up hooking him up to a C-Pap breathing machine.

When looking over his lab results, Camden's protein level was higher than the normal level. At that time they suspected he may have an infection and started giving him an antibiotic for 5 days. He was also a little yellow so they tested him for Jaundice. He did have Jaundice but it was not severe enough to be treated.

Camden has been able to keep his food down and digest like he is suppose to.

Tuesday May 24, 2011

The Greatest surprise came to me today! My little boy, Camden J Depew,  was born at 10:16 a.m. weighing 5.03 lbs and 17.25 inches long.

For the last 8 months we have been wondering if this little bundle of joy was going to turn out to be a girl or a boy. We are so glad to have brought Camden to this world. 

This Tuesday morning I woke up with pretty decent blood pressure readings, so they decided to move me to the regular floor and just have me be on bed rest. Shortly after moving rooms my blood pressure shot through the roof... 203/107...at this moment I was pretty sure something was going to happen. We waited a little while and did a few more readings. Blood pressure came down a little, but not nearly enough. 

Doctor walked in with some machines and said, "It is time to meet this baby." I knew it was the right thing to do, but I was scared because he really was not ready to meet his mommy and daddy. Brandon asked the Doctor what our time frame was and she said, " I would like to be done with in the next hour." We frantically started to call our families to let them know so they could come down. I was so scared, but I knew in my heart this was the right thing to do for both our safety.

It was not long after all of this when doctor announced, " ITS A BOY!" That is when we met our new baby boy Camden J Depew.  

Camden had to go straight to the nursery because he was a premie so they needed to check him out. Like most babies that are 5 weeks early, their lungs are not fully developed yet. Camden got put on an IV and oxygen. He was breathing really hard and fast. They ended up giving him some medicine to try and help his lungs. This seemed to help for awhile, but unfortunately it was not enough. 

I then experienced the hardest moment of my life around midnight when the doctor came in to tell me that Camden's breathing had got worse again and she felt it was best for him to be transferred to Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, or KC.  This was an extremely difficult decision for Brandon and I to make.

I was so glad to get the chance to hold him before he left. It was truly the greatest feeling to hold my son for the first time. 

Watching my newborn baby get transferred away from me was so difficult. Camden left for Topeka at 2:30 Wednesday morning.

Monday May 23

On Monday May 23, 2011 I found out that my life was probably going to change.

It all started when I looked down at my feet at the end of the day and saw them extremely swollen. I posted a comment on Facebook about how swollen my feet and legs were. Very quickly all of my friends told me I need to go get my blood pressure checked, and they were correct!

I went into the doctors office and found out that my blood pressure was 160/110...HIGH!!!! They sent me up to the Labor and Delivery floor. A few hours later they admitted me, took some blood test, and were talking about possibly having to do a c-section if blood pressure did go down.  It was a hard night. I was not real sure of what was going on and I was by myself. The only thing I new was that I didn't want to have a c-section because this baby is 5 weeks early.

By morning pressures had gone down some, but were still pretty high. Looked like I would just be on bed rest for awhile, laying on my left side, with few visitors allowed. UNTIL....