We are having a grave side service for Owen on Tuesday at 11am.  We would appriecate your prayers during this time as we say our goodbyes and lay him to rest.  Thank you.

Owen Joseph

First of all Brad and I would like to thank everyone who has been praying for our family during the past few weeks.  We are so grateful to be covered in your prayers.  And thank you to the many of you, some of you we don't even know, who lifted our little Owen up to God in prayer. 
     Friday afternoon I began to feel some discomfort and pain in my lower belly, so I took a shower and laid down to rest for a while.  By the time I got up the pain was getting worse and feeling more like contractions.  Brad got back soon after that, so we talked and decided to call my doctor's office.  We were still at my parents house for the holiday, so we were told to go to the nearest hospital, if I got worse.  By this time my contractions had gone from about every two minutes to back to back, so Brad loaded our bag in the car and talked to Lauren, and we headed for the hospital.  Which is a 30 minute drive, but we made it there faster.
     My parents called my sister-in-law's dad who is a doctor, so he was going to meet us at the hospital (Thank you Dr. Early).  By the time we arrived my water had broke and I was ready to deliver.  (My mom got there a couple minutes after us and my dad kept Lauren at the house.)  They got me up to a room and Brad ran back down to do paperwork.  Although they called him right back up, because Owen was ready to be born.  At 6:50pm Owen Joseph was born. 
     The room was filled with doctors and nurses working on Owen.  His heart beat was very low and even though they did get a tube into his lungs he was unable to ever breath and his heart stopped beating.  They all worked on him non stop for over 30 minutes.  After sometime and having no sign of life, Dr. Early talked to us and let us decided what we wanted to.  We had to make the hardest decision, that I wish noone ever has to make.  We have continued time after time to put our little boy in God's hands, and Brad and I felt that it was time to give Owen completely to God.  Brad went over beside Owen, held his tiny hand and prayed over him one last time.  The doctors and nurses stopped working on him, and at 7:35pm our baby passed away.
     We were able to hold Owen and spend as much time as we wanted with him.  He was beautiful, or as Lauren already nicknamed him, he was a "handsome boy". 
      Owen Joseph Brimmer was born on November 26, 2010 at 6:50 pm.  He weighed 2 pounds 4 ounces and was 13 1/2 inches long.

We already miss our little Owen so much.  At times it seems too much to handle, but we find comfort in knowing that our child is in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father, who loves Owen most of all.

We thank everyone, and most of all our families for all the love, support, and help given to us during this time. 

  

Deer Season and Thanksgiving Vacation

No baby appointment this week.  We decided to take some vacation time and spend the week at my parents .  Brad got to hunt some more on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  And the big news of the week...  After not hardly seeing anything for three days,  an hour before sunset on the last day of the season he got one!  It was a really good 11 point buck.  Brad was pretty excited and Lauren was proud of her daddy.  We might be getting this one mounted.

Lauren has been staying busy since we have been here.  She has gotten up early enough every morning to go out with her Papa and help feed the bottle calves.  She has even been brave enough to help feed the big calves with feed buckets.  It, of course, makes me really glad to see her showing an interest in helping around the ranch.  And a little hard work is always good for you, even when you're four years old.

Lauren was waiting in the truck with her Granny last night, while we took care of Brad's deer.  And by the time we were back home, Lauren ran up to me and said she could count all the way to 30.  Which she did, and then to my surprise kept going and counted all the way to 50!  Granny is a pretty good teacher.

We have had a good week so far.  Tomorrow we are having Thanksgiving with my side of the family.  (HAPPY THANKSGIVING! to the Brimmer side, we love and miss you all)  We also have two birthdays to celebrate this week,  Lauren's cousins.  Ashlyn is turning 2 and Ellie is turning 4.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Veggie Tales, Hunting, and Owen Update

On Friday we took Lauren to see Veggie Tales Live.  It was fun and Lauren really loved it.

Lauren sang herself silly.  She sang along with most of the songs and at one point laid down and relaxed while watching the show, which was funny with other kids dancing and jumping all around her.

After Veggie Tales we headed up to my parents.  Saturday was the first day of deer season, so Brad wanted to go hunting.  He did see a couple bucks but nothing worth shooting.  It was very cold and windy and I think Brad froze, but at the same time enjoyed be out there.

This was at 5:30am.  I took his picture and went back to bed, while he went out and braved the cold and wind.

Lauren got to spend most of the day Saturday playing with her cousin Ellie.  They played non stop and had fun with the new makeup that Granny got for them.

I'm pretty sure this is why Lauren only has makeup at Granny's.  The more the better, right?

I had another baby appointment today.  Owen's heart beat was good and he weighs 1 lb 8 oz.  They saw the right kidney today, which is good, but the fluid is still really low.  Also my doctor thinks I'm showing some signs of getting ready for labor, so I am suppose to watch for any contractions (hopefully not too soon I'd like him to grow some more).  In two weeks I'm going to start seeing a Perinatologist, which is basically a doctor that specializes in high risk pregnancy.  Now that Owen is getting big enough, we will start looking at options for helping him continue to grow healthy, like any medicines or if and when early delivery is needed.

*Dear Lord, give me patience and quick.*  Being told every week to just keep waiting for a number of possible outcomes does start to wear on me a little (or a lot at times).  But I'm thankful for every step closer to meeting our little Owen.  And we will just keep trusting God to take care of our baby and praying that He does a complete healing in Owen.

A little side note:  Lauren has been so amazing with all this stuff going on with Owen.  She knows that her baby brother is sick and she prays for him all the time, and gives him lots of hugs and kisses.  She is very protective of him too, like she told me the other day to be careful crossing a street, cause baby Owen was with me.  And, Lauren finally got to feel Owen kick for the first time today.  He kept kicking every time she put her hand on my belly.  She thought it was pretty neat.  Brad and I are beyond blessed.

A Quick Update on Owen

Had our weekly appointment Tuesday.  It is always nice to see his little heart beating at the ultrasound.  His heart beat was backup in a better range this week, since last week it was low.  He is still growing well- weighed 1 lb 5 oz.  However there was no change in the fluid from last week and it is still very low.  

I also have had a little bleeding off and on since Sunday night.  I haven't had any pain though and have felt fine, so right now doctor's orders are just to rest a lot and take it as easy as possible and of course drink lots of water.  

So we thank God for his goodness and continue to pray and ask God to heal Owen and that he would be perfectly healthy.  

By the way we are 23 weeks along! 

By

Last week was pretty laid back for us.  Which is good, because the rest of our November is booked.  I love the holiday season!

Lauren's Granny came to visit us for the day on Wednesday.  It is always nice to get to visit with my mom and Lauren was very surprised when Granny showed up at our home.  Lauren's friend Brett was over, so they put on a show for Granny and sang every song they could think of with motions.  They were great little entertainers.

Lauren was very excited this week, because earlier in the summer our apartment place took out the playground and they got a new (and way better one) put in finally last week.  Luckily the weather has still been nice enough to get to play on our new playground.  I'm so thankful  to have it back so Lauren can play out some of her energy.

Thursday I took Lauren to get her picture taken.  I just wanted to pick one pose, but I put her in two outfits, so I "had" to buy one extra picture.  :)

Saturday we ran and picked up Lauren's glasses.  She is doing very well with them so far and seems to like them.  As soon as she put them on she said everything looked so big!  I think she is seeing the world in a whole new, non-blury way. 

A funny little note:  Lauren has never liked me much when I wear my glasses.  I have no idea why, cause other people with glasses she doesn't think anything about.  But when I have mine on she wants absolutely  nothing to do with me; won't look at me, talk to me, nothing.  Well now she thinks I'm not so bad in my glasses now, cause she has hers now too.  It's good to have my kid like me again :) Silly Girl!

Lauren and Brad had a sleep over this weekend.  She has been asking for a while for daddy to have a sleep over in her room.  She had it all planned out that daddy could have her bed and she would sleep on her little bed on the floor.  I think she was happy that daddy finally agreed to what she had planned.  Daddy's are the best!

Brad has also been getting very eager for deer season to start.  My brothers have converted him to the wonderful world of hunting.  He got his deer tag the other day and we have been watching lots of hunting shows on tv lately.  Saturday, Nov. 13th can't come soon enough.  I hope you get a big one, Brad.

Praying for Baby Owen

Well, we had another appointment today to check on baby Owen.  Unfortunately the fluids are down again, measuring at only 3.  A pretty disappointing check up after having such a good one last week, and we were hoping for another increase.  The doctor seems to think the cause of the trouble still has to do with Owen's kidneys not working.  So we continue to put our little Owen in God's hands, wait, pray for healing, go for another check up next week, and pray more.
So glad we have God to walk us through this time in our lives.  I know and believe there is going to be a great testimony of God's greatness and love at the end of this trail.  *We praise you, God in the good times and hard times, remembering how much You have already blessed us and Your mighty hand is still on us.  Give us the faith to stay close to and lean on You.  Thank you Jesus.*

Please remember Owen this week in prayer.  Brad and I are praying that the fluid would increase and that his kidneys are working correctly.  And thank you, to all of you for those prayers.