November 8, 2008

Good afternoon!

I had to take Riley to urgent care this morning because she broke out in a rash all over her little body. :( After an hour spent there, they determined that she has a viral rash. After urgent care, Riley and I went to the hospital where I went in to see Bree with Uncle Rick, Grandma Minard, and Andrew. Aunt Shrrene was awesome enough to hang out in the waiting room with Riley because she couldn't go in because of her rash.

Lots of big news! Bree ate 8 cc's out of a bottle yesterday for Courtnee! What a big girl..woo hoo! They will try to give her a bottle every shift. When they tried to give her a bottle last night, she was too sleepy and didn't want anything to do with it. However, when we were there today I got to give her a bottle. She ate a whole 6 cc's for me, which is a lot for such a little girl! It takes a lot of work for her to eat from a bottle. Every little bit that she drinks is good stuff... :)

They no longer have to weigh her diapers to measure her output. She does such a good job of peeing and pooping that they no longer have to chart exactly how much is coming out. They just have to chart that she had 2 wet and 1 poopy (or whatever the amount is).

She does seem to have a bit of acid reflux (which is SUPER common with preemies), so they have put her feedings onto a pump. This means that she still gets her 24 cc's every three hours, but it is on a pump that delivers it over a period of a half an hour. Before this, it was given to her in a time period of five minutes. The extra 25 minutes allows for her tummy to not get so full so fast and it helps to reduce her 'attacks' of acid relux.

Today is a really busy day for me today...so I feel a bit overwhelmed and overworked. However, I am sure it will pass. No matter if I feel this way or not things still need to get done and there is no one else to do them but me.

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and in love with life.

November 7, 2008

Hey hey hey! We are all having a wonderful day today! Riley got to have a playdate with Chelsea and Cheri while I went and saw Bree this morning. Cheri took the girls on a bike ride (she has one of those awesome little buggies that go on the back of your bike) to a local park and they both played for 45 minutes! After they got back Riley took a two and half hour nap!

Miss Bree is now three pounds, two ounces! They switched her from the high humidity nasal cannula, to just regular oxygen. So she no longer has any poles by her bed. The oxygen she uses is the one that they have in the wall....here's a picture:

The less equipment on her bed and on her, the better. It is plain proof to us of the power of God's healing upon her little body!

I got to give her a bath this morning. Afterwards Courtnee and I dressed her in her new pj's and wrapped her in her new blanket. My grandma's friend Stacy made Bree this adorable blanket with a little bee on it, and it is so precious!

Because of her bath, Bree was very tired and needed time to rest. Later this afternoon, she gets to try nippling! This means that they are going to try and feed her out of a bottle! SO exciting!! Tomorrow Riley, Uncle Rick, Aunt Shrenne, Andrew, Grandma Minard and myself are going up to see her and Courtnee said that if Bree does well today with nippling that I may get to feed her a little bit...now, learning to eat that way burns way more energy than the way she is fed now so she will only eat 5 cc's of so out of a bottle. She gets 23 cc's per feeding so what she doesn't nipple will be put down her feeding tube. This is a huge step forward for her...

I feel like I am missing something I had wanted to tell everyone, but I am sure I will remember later! Riley is cutting her top teeth so we have had a few days of excessively grumpy, yucky diapers, sleepy kid syndrome. Right now she is resting her head on my lap as I am typing!

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and in love with life!

November 6, 2008

THREE POUNDS!!! Yup, that's right, she has hit the three pound mark! She is actually exactly three pounds even. Slow and steady weight gain is what we want to see. She is down to 1/2 liter and 30 to 40 percent oxygen. Bree's favorite nurse, Courtnee, is working today so I am giving them some bonding time. (Actually, I have a TON of stuff to do today!!) However, tomorrow I am going to see Bree in the morning while Cheri watches Riley for me. Our new house is exactly 6 minutes away from Steve and Cheri's house. (I timed it today on my way over..hee hee!)

I have something to confess! (Okay, really Riley does but she doesn't know how to type). Riley gave kisses to Daniel last night during their playdate/my girl night with Carrie Fay last night! It was actually very sweet and nice, and of course adorable to see. I bet I won't be saying that in thirteen years though...

Adam and I were able to pick up Bree's furniture today (big thanks to Cheri for letting us use her van). It looks great! I will take pictures tomorrow if I can get the time.

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy, and in love with life!

November 5, 2008

Good afternoon!

Riley is down for her afternoon nap so I am getting in some computer and school time while eating lunch. (The life of a mom...multi-tasking everything!) I was able to go up to the hospital today. I went very early in the morning to meet up with Kate to see how Annika was doing. She seems to be doing a little better each day. They may have a diagnosis for her as well. She is 90% likely to have Celiac's disease. Here is a link that helps to explain it: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/
They are starting Annika on a gluten free diet, and hope to see her getting better soon.

Our little miracle girl is doing great today! She is up to 2 pounds 15 ounces. So she is hanging onto that two pound mark...let's hope she bumps up to three pounds tomorrow! I got to hold her for a bit, and after about fifteen minutes of grunting, squirming and a bit of fussing, she fell right asleep! I took some pictures and I will put one or two up here after I get them downloaded to the computer.

Riley and I went shopping this afternoon and we got Bree her first frame for her room. It says "The moment we saw you, we fell in love". It is pink with white polka dots and has three places for pictures. I am going to put one picture of Adam holding her, a picture of Riley touching the isolette, and then one of myself holding her. I can't wait to hang it all up in her room!

We are going to be picking up Bree's furniture from Babies R Us tomorrow so maybe we'll have it put together by this weekend and we can put some pictures up!

Hope this finds you happy, healthy, and in love with life!

November 4, 2008

Mornin mornin!

Bree is doin well today...no weight gain yesterday, but due to the bath and being moved around a lot it was expected. As long as she doesn't lose weight they are a-okay. :) No news is good news, pretty much! Nothing else to report on her. Adam went in to see her on his way back from dropping Mama off at the hospital and he happened to see our friend Kate there...her daughter, Annika is in the PICU at Phoenix Childrens. Can everyone please pray for Annika and her family? Here's an update that Nick (Annika's Dad) posted on myspace a few days ago:


soo Annika was admitted to the hospital last night. we noticed that she had a bruise on her back that ran along her spine. She also developed a bruise on her feet from having shoes on. She has also started to regress developmentally. She wont walk or try to that much any more... she wont play with her toys anymore... she is tired all the time ... and she wont talk anymore. the doctors at urgent care said that she needs to go to phoenix childrens hospital immediately. so that is where she has been since saturday night. they are currently running tests for everything they can think of. also she has lost five pounds..down to 19 pounds and you can see it from the extra skin on her arms :(. the doctors do not no what it is... at least that is what they are telling us. the earlest she will be home is tuesday. it takes 48 hours for most of the results to get back :-/. there testing for everything... rsv...valley fever...infections...cystic fibrosis...cylacs desease... etc.keep our daughter in your prayers :(
-nick

Lord,

We thank you for today and we look forward to what tomorrow has to bring. We lift up Annika to you. You know that she is hurting, and we ask that you heal her of the bruises, energize her and restore her to the loving, snuggly Annika that we know is within her. She is just so tired, and does not feel well at all. We know that you are a good God, and one of miracles and healing. Bree is a testament to your goodness! We ask that you lay your healing hands over Annika. Surround her in your love and your goodness.

We also ask that you be with her parents (and little brother) during this hard time. It is a stressful and mentally draining situation to be in. Please give them the clarity and peace of mind to be at their best for their kids. We love you and we thank you for all that you do...

In Jesus' name we pray...

Amen

As you can tell from the picture at left, (taken with Mama's phone) she was able to give Bree a bath today! Bree did remarkably well and even got to wear some real clothes. The outfit was a bit big, but it is the first 'preemie' clothes that she can wear. We got her all snuggled in and happy and then Mama got to hold her for a bit. Bree is now 14 and 1/2 icnhes long so she is just a little growing machine!

Riley is chillin in her high chair and is eating up her lunch. We are leaving within the next ten minutes (EE! type faster!) for her twelve month check up. We were suppose to have it last week, but due to parking issues we were 13 minutes late and they can't see you after 10 minutes of being late (Stupid rules!). So, we are trying again today! Wish us luck....

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and in love with life!

November 2, 2008

Good Evening...

After much fiddling and setting up, Adam was able to get our internet hooked up in the house! (I used Mama's laptop and internet card last night). So now I am officially typing on our computer at our house, at our new desk! Woo Hoo!

Today has been a busy, shopping, unpacking and organizing day. I am sure that the next week or so is going to be the same way (minus the shopping). The only other thing I know of that we need to pick up might be a new house phone. The one we have rings when someone calls, but we can't answer it when it rings. You push the button and nothing happens. :( It is as though the phone is frozen...

Miss Bree is having a great day! The isolette is doing her wonders for the gaining weight aspect. She is now 2 lbs, 14 oz!! We are almost in the three pound arena!! Yee Haw! Pack on those ounces girl! With the weight increase she is up to 23 cc's every three hours. Mama and I are headed off to see her tomorrow morning really really early...we are going to leave the house at 630 in the mornin. We have to be back at least by 1130 because we need to pick up Riley for her twelve month check up.

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and in love with life!