Recent Pictures of Michael

Michael Jay Mangum

Michael Jay Mangum
Born: April 20, 2010 at 9:52pm
Weight: 6lbs 13.8oz
Length: 20 inches
Miscellaneous Information: Born at exactly 37 weeks, water broke unexpectedly 2 hours before I was suppose to go in for an ultrasound appointment. Labor was a total of 12 hours, 3 of which was spent pushing. He was born face up and slightly turned, which explains the long time spent pushing. He developed pneumothorax which turned quickly into tension pneumothorax. He had to be put on oxygen and came very close to having a chest tube. He was life-flighted from the Homer hospital to the Providence hospital in Anchorage (5 hours away) where he was instantly put on an oxygen canula and placed under an oxygen tent where he was kept for the next 2 days of his life. He was able to be taken off the oxygen after a few days and appeared to be doing well. The tension pneumothorax resolved itself, he'll be stopping his antibiotics for a possible pneumonia Wednesday (April 28th) at 6pm, and if all continues to go well he should be able to come home Thursday.

UPDATE: We ran into a set back today (April 27th), he has been placed back onto oxygen to help relieve some possible apnea-like episodes that caused his oxygen levels to drop while in deep sleep. Hopefully all will be resolved soon - may your prayers continue to be with little Michael as he heals.

Alaskan Life

I'm so horrible about staying on top of my blog (it seems so much easier plus I seem to get more comments when I update facebook instead) but ... I will try harder especially now that I'm getting closer to one of the biggest changes in my life. I am now almost 35 1/2 weeks along and my ribs and mid back (mainly on my right side) are always aching, the braxton hicks contractions are a lot more cosntant (and of course thanks to my back/rib pain more uncomfortable), and my belly feels like it's going to burst any time lol (I will post pics soon). Aside from my lack of sleep at time (thank you Michael for trying to keep your little tootsies warm under my ribs cage) life here in Alaska hasn't been to bad. I get to see moose and bald eagles on a ragular basis and now that my sister in law is here with her kids I'm outside more often taking walks by the beach and spending time with my niece and nephew. It's been aboiut 2 1/2 weeks since I've seen Jay and still another 10 days (or more depending on the weather while they are traveling) before I get to see him again, we're both handling it a lot better than we originally thought we were going to but it's still torture and I'm counting down the days when I can be held in my sweeties arms once again (FYI it's no fun having to fall asleep alone). Well that's it for now I need to stand up and walk around cause my ribs are KILLING ME!!!! I'll post more updates along with some picture updates sometime this week so stay tuned.

Jay and Britt's Greatest Adventure

We are sooooo nomadic! It appears that we move pretty much every semester either to a new apartment (this is our 3rd one since moving to Idaho) or a new state. As most of you know Jay has to complete 2 construction management internships in order to graduate from his construction/architecture program at BYU-I. We were a bit worried about being able to find 2 internships (let alone 2 that would pay him anything so that we could still pay the bills). We've been praying for quite some time now and it appears that the Lord has heard our pleas. Jay has found an internship in Homer, Alaska for this spring semster (and if all works out accordinly an internship for the fall semster too!). It came as quite a surprise but it appears that we are now alaskan bound this spring. I'll be heading out March 21st (dang pregnancy regulations) and Jay will follow about 3 weeks later (April 8th) once finals are over with. I'll be staying with Jay's parents until he is able to join me. It will be really hard being apart for so long but we're grateful that he has been given this opportunity, especially with the way the economy is. This will be our 4th state that we have lived in since getting married less than 3 years ago ... it should be an interesting life adventure. We hope everyone will continue to pray with us that all continues to go the way we are hoping it does and that there are no unpleasant surprises awaiting us lol.

28 weeks (Already?)

How time flies. I am now 28 weeks along and aside from the ever growing belly I've been feeling pretty good. I'm so thankful that my pregnancy has been so easy and I hope that it continues to be so for the last remaining weeks. The only downfall to my pregnancy is the fact that I was just diagnosed with gestational diabetes (LAME!) so now I have to start on a specific diet to help keep my sugar levels in check (oh well, I needed to start eating better anyways lol --- those 20 years of sweets were so worth it though). Well I gotta go start dinner and finish cleaning the house so I'll end with a few maternity pics, along with a few misc. ones. Enjoy!




Jay fell asleep petting Bella

Bella's favorite spot to sleep (on my pillow!)

School can be so tiring

I'm really bad with updating this blog (can't you tell)

Dear Blog,
Wow so much has happened since last I wrote on you. So many changes, happy and sad, that I don't really have time to write everything up in detail so I will just summarize.

December 17th - My last ultrasound for the year 2009 --- WE'RE HAVING A BOY!
December 18th - Left for our two week vacation visiting family
December 19th - In Vegas now visiting my mom's siblings (it's been over a year so it was really good seeing everyone)
December 20th - Got to see my grandma for the first time in a little over a year, not to long ago she turned 93, her short term memory is fading fast but thankfully her long term is as sharp as ever (so she was able to recognize me when I stopped by) - sadly Jay was sick so was unable to go with me. Grandma looks good (for her age) but you can definitely tell she's getting more frail with each passing year, it was a real treat being able to see her again.
December 25th - Back in utah with all of Jay's family - it's been a while since we've seen his whole immediate family so it was a fabulous Christmas visting with everyone
December 28th - Had papa's 80th birthday celebration today (big gathering), we all pitched in and made him his very own "money tree" --- it was really cool
January 1st - drove back home from St. George (long and tiring drive), when from 40 and 50 degree weather bck down into the negatives with at least a good foot or two of snow on the ground in Rexburg
January 2nd - Tom was looking pretty sick when we got home late last night so we took him to the vet this morning - Kidney and Liver failure - Decided to spare him any more pain and suffering so we graciously put allowed him to sleep peacefully (Good bye Old' fat we will miss you dearly - you lived a long and good 18 1/2 years)
January 2nd - went to the pet adoption place and got Socrates a new friend so he wouldn't be lonely when we're not home (Her name is Bella, she's a long hair orange tabby)
January 5th - Jay started school again (been a long and tiring week for him, his classes are already proving brutal, but at least he says he's going to enjoy all of them)

That about sums everything up --- below is a side shot of little Michael from my last ultrasound.

It's been awhile ...

Well it's been almost two months since last I updated our blog and I figured I'd better findt he time to do so. Still in school (until Dec. 15th when we get our Christmas break), works been tiring but the paycheck has been good so not to many complaints there, stress in running our life but we're beginning to get a hold on things and are now just taking one day at a time. Aside from all that life is actually pretty darn good. Tom is still alive and Socrates is getting pretty fat (both have the funniest personalities EVER!), had my first doctors appointment last week and got to see our baby for the first time via ultrasound (I must admit it was pretty darn cool, I think I'm going to have a big baby though lol ... after the ultrasound it feels a lot more real and I can actually start saying I'm pregnant). Below I'll be posting some belly pics of me at 12 1/2 weeks (I'm already noticing a HUGE change in my body but after taking the pics they don't appear to be as noticeable lol go figure right... guess my eyes are playing tricks on me). Looking forward to feeling to baby kick for the first time and of course finding out if its a boy or a girl. I was kinda upset at how quickly I seemed to be showing (doesn't seem right lol) --- so I've been weighing myself (thankfully still the same weight that I've been for the last 6 or so years --- though my belly seems to say otherwise, oh well) :-) Well gotta run and get back to studying (math exam this monday - yuck!)

This is what I looked like about 2 or so months ago (I'm really sucking my stomach in right now - not to awful comfortable let me just tell you lol)

This is me relaxed and normal

(sucking in my stomach again -- my stomach was empty so not very comfortable)

(Completely relaxed)