he's doing great!

This is Channing's favorite toy by his bed...he loves music! we are going to have to invest in this one when he comes home because he calms right down when these songs are played. he's so sweet!

He looks so great without the oxygen cannula on his face. he was getting perturbed with me yesterday trying to take pictures with his eyes open, and the flash made him mad...:)

He's sleeping here, or at least looks really content.

being held by Papa John.

being held by Grandma Julie.

This kid loves to be held and doesn't lack for people willing to hold him all day....:)

Grandma and Channing in front of the bilirubin lights because he was a bit jaundiced.

I love those goggles on him! he looks like a little bug, so cute!

Our last few days...

We got to hold him!! i was so excited, since this was the first time i was able to hold him since he's been born. Kevin had gotten to hold him briefly on Tuesday, but not since, so we were very excited. He is so sweet and just loves to be held. they had to keep turning down his oxygen levels because he was so happy!

He is down to 1 liter on his oxygen, which is good; he got his staples out today; he's been off the ventilator since yesterday morning; he's a bit jaundiced, which is normal since he hasn't been eating, and so he's been under the bilirubin lights today, but he's pink again, so he looks great!

All of the nurses and doctors say he's doing remarkably well, and are very happy with his progress. we got to hold him last night, and also this afternoon with my parents. I'm posting a ton of pictures so that Channing's grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins can see lots of him. Thanks for all the prayers, and he's doing amazing! we are very grateful to Heavenly Father for how well Channing is doing, and we hope Channing just keeps up the good work!

our little beach bum

Kev's favorite part of visiting Channing is his little grip on Kev's finger. He never seems to want to let go of his daddy...:)

Channing and Kevin.

His tummy looks so much better, and he's doing great healing from the surgery. My dad said he looked like a little beach bum under his lamp today and was sprawled out sleeping. apparently he loves to have his hands up by his head when he's sleeping and doesn't like it when the nurse tries to move him around at all.

My hangout place for the past few days. that's a cute little blanket someone gave us the night he was born in the NICU. it's super cute, and i like having it by me while i'm here away from Channing.

We got so spoiled from family and friends sending us beautiful bouquets of flowers that smell so good! it really livened up my hospital room and i love them all.

Here's Channing sprawled out and sleeping. He really is doing well.

He has gained some weight since he got there, which is surprising especially after his surgery. he now weighs 7 lbs. 7 oz, which a lot could be due to the fluids he's getting, but he looks great. they've taken him off the blood pressure medicine which is good, and are working on weaning him off the pain meds a little at a time. he is also almost off the respirator and hopefully, if he keeps doing well, he will be off the respirator this weekend and breathing on his own. he's been fine breathing, but it has made him more comfortable to be on the respirator.

Apparently the nurses all want to be assigned to him, and ask if they can have an "easy" assignment so they can be by him. they all think he's so cute and special, and love to be his nurse, which i think is cute.

i'm excited to get to see Channing tomorrow night when i get released. i'm anxious to be able to spend time with him each day and to be with Kevin again. it's been weird to be separated, but soon we'll be together as a family again each day.

we will post more pictures and videos later, but for now, here's a video of Channing sleeping, i think. thanks for all the continued prayers and support!

Channing David Griffin Update

Our baby boy was born on Tuesday, March 24th, at 6:51 pm via c-section. He was 7 lbs. 3 oz, and 20 inches long, which is pretty big considering he was 3 1/2 weeks early.

On Sunday night, Channing wasn't moving like he normally did, which was very noticable since he usually kicked for two hours at night right before i went to bed. So we called the doctor and they told us to go get him checked out.

We went to Labor and Delivery about 12:30am on Monday morning, and got admitted. I didn't even know i was having contractions, and Channing's heart rate wasn't fluctuating like it should normally. So they kept us over night and about 5am they told us he'd have to come some time that day, they weren't going to send us home, even though he was almost a month early.

They decided to proceed with a normal delivery, and hold off on a c-section until they could see how he would tolerate contractions. It took 18 hours to get my body ready for Pitocin, which would induce my contractions. Luckily for some reason, i had very little pain at all and couldn't even feel the contractions. the most annoying thing was being so tired, and having my back hurt from sitting in the same position all day. I slept about 3 hours that whole day and it was really disappointing to not be progressing at all.

about 8:45am on Tuesday morning, i started with the Pitocin, and they were trying to be aggressive with it, but Channing wasn't responding well to the contractions, his heart rate would dip instead of increasing after contractions so they were worried about him.

eventually, they broke my water, and he was still distressed, so about 6:30pm i went in for a c-section. It went really well, and Channing was stubborn there too and didn't want to come out...:) The NICU team was there to check on him and he was having a bit of trouble breathing at first, but then he did fine, and was very pale from the lack of oxygen during labor.

so he went to the NICU and by the time i got there to see him, he had tubes all over him and he was in quite a bit of pain. His stomach was swollen from something being wrong in his intestines, but no one knew what was causing it. So he got taken to the children's hospital in Salt Lake by ambulance about 8:30pm, and Kevin followed the ambulance there and has been with him since.


Kevin, Channing and I in the NICU.



Channing about an hour old, very cute, but very much in pain, poor litttle guy.

Channing and his grandma.

Today:

Channing got surgery on his small intestine today and had a good portion taken out that had gotten backed up and had flopped over on itself and cut off the circulation and killed that part of the tissue in his intestine. That part was taken out and his intestines were sewed together in that part and he's now stable and doing really well. He will have to stay in the NICU for about a month to make sure he is healing correctly and able to tolerate food, etc.

We are doing really well and have lots of help from loving family members and friends. Please keep praying for Channing to continue to heal correctly and not to have setbacks so hopefully he can come home soon. He already has had many amazing miracles happen to get him to this point, for which we are truly grateful to the Lord and know that he is being watched over. We had so many amazing doctors and nurses who have taken such good care of us, and are so grateful we were able to be in this hospital I will continue to update as we can. Thanks for all the love and support! Kevin, Channing and I appreciate it so much!

got tagged!

So, i got tagged to put the picture from the sixth folder, sixth picture over on my blog and i laughed really loud when i saw this one. Kevin and I were bored and he was irritated with his stuffy nose, and how often he had to blow his nose, so he just stuck a kleenex in there. so cute!

cute cards i made recently...

I like to use the sewing machine to make fun, new cards, and this was a cute thank you card I made.

This card was for a family in our ward who just adopted two little girls, so i made it girly. Cute huh!

baby shower

So, i had a great baby shower, planned by my friend, Jacque. We had really good food, fun games and then lots of time to chat while i opened presents. Our friends and family who were able to attend were so generous and gave us such cute, useful things. It got us really excited, and it seems a lot more real now that we are actually going to have a kid at some point.


I only have a few pictures, more are coming because my camera died, but other people had cameras. This is a strawberry tree with really good fondue/dip that my friend, Shauna, made. Super cute!

My friend, Kendra, made really good cupcakes with little blue plastic pacifiers on them. They were very cute as well! We had other yummy food that Jacque and other people brought, but i didn't have enough batteries to get them all on film.

Here I am opening presents. Thanks Jacque and everyone who came for a great baby shower! I had so much fun, and Kevin and I are so appreciative of everything that was given to us!

Big Love

So, i got an email from one of my RAs from last year about a show that is on HBO. Apparently, it is about polygamy and is called "Big Love". Well, now they are going to do an episode on the couples going through the temple, even though they claim that the script doesn't say they have anything to do with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". in the TV guide, they show a person in temple clothes, and are supposedly going to send in hidden cameras to the temples as well.

This is what the email said:


"Many of you may have heard of HBO's television show, Big Love. It came out a couple of years ago, and it shows polygamous families. When it first came out, the church came out with a strong statement against Big Love and Polygamy.

You can see the statement here: http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/church-responds-to-questions-on-hbo-s-big-love However, as if the polygamy weren't bad enough, HBO has taken their unscrupulousness to new heights.On Sunday, March 15, 2009, HBO will be airing a segment of their Big Love series titled Goin' to the Chapel. In this segment, they will be showing individuals dressed in full temple clothing (you can see the picture right in the TV guideitself), and they are planning on sending secret cameras in to the temple to show the inside of the temple itself.You can see the advertisement here (on page 48): http://www.tvguidemagsales.com/WeeklyIssues/TVG030909.pdf Please help stop HBO from airing such an offensive show!

You can go to the link below to submit a comment to HBO.
http://www.hbo.com/apps/submitinfo/contactus/submit.do?title=GeneralInformation&questiontype=generalInformation&questiontype=general

It's imperative that we get as many people to voice their complaints as possible before HBO airs the show. Please pass this information on to as many people as you can!If you are not a member of the LDS church, we invite you to learn about our church and our temples from a true source: www.mormon.org."Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart" --Psalm 24: 3-4"



I was able to post a comment about how I feel about this to HBO, and it still left me feeling a bit helpless to this blatant attack by Satan. However, as I was thinking about this, I remembered the Standard of Truth by Joseph Smith:

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

It is comforting to know that no matter how awful this world will get, and how hard Satan may try to destroy the kingdom of God, he will fail and the Lord's work will go forth until it is finished.

If you feel like you should leave a comment for HBO about this show, go to the link above listed in the email that was sent to me. I feel it is a worthy cause to speak up about.

Our March

Kevin's cool picture from his class!

Kevin and I got sucked into books last night...

Kevin's perma-position until he finishes his book. so cute!

almost 34 weeks!

Channing's getting bigger!

My friend, Shayla, came back to visit, and we went out to eat at the Olive Garden in a group to celebrate!