Change of plans!

Adam and I decided on a change of plans yesterday for celebrating our anniversary. I didn't see the point in driving my stepmom to the hospital, then driving back home to have lunch, then driving all the way to the hospital again. (it's a 45 minute drive one way) So, thanks to Pat and Danielle giving us some free zoo tickets, we spent three hours at the zoo with Riley. The zoo is only ten minutes from the hospital so it worked perfect! There's nothing we love more than to see Riley laughing, running and learning! There was no better way to spend our anniversary!! For without our marriage, we would not have had our wonderful beautiful little girls! (Big thanks to Grammie for watching Bree for us)

Happy three year anniversary to us!

Monkey Riley

Eating a sucker...she loved it and did great with it! (Very little mess!)

"WOW!" She was looking at a boa constrictor...which is NOT a future pet in our house...

This statue scared the crap out of me...it was hidden back around a corner and I thought it was real when we walked around the corner...Adam found it was hilarious! (It's okay I got him back, I scared him with a hose that was laying on the ground...he thought it was a snake!)

So proud to be running around, free of the stroller!

Early Morning Update!

Adam informed me this morning that Bree had a rough night. She pooped through her clothes again...diarrhea poop. :( She also pulled her nasal cannula out of her nose, which caused her oxygen saturation to drop considerably and cause her oximeter to alarm. Once the nurses came in and fixed her oxygen (this was in the middle of the night) it took her over five minutes to recover her oxygen saturation above ninety percent.

Today is Adam and my wedding anniversary, so my step mom is going to stay at the hospital with Bree today while Adam, Riley and I go out to lunch at the new Tiburion Aquarium Resturant that is by our house. I am hoping that we will have a good time!

Going... on the go!

Tonight I am home with Riley and Mindy while Adam is at the hospital with Bree. As I was getting Riley ready for bed, I was undressing her in the living room to change her diaper and get into jammies. Well, I had taken off her socks, pants and diaper when she wiggled, got up and ran away. (This is a little game that as of recently she and I have started to play. She runs to the back of the couch to hide and I crawl around and "scare" her, she screams and laughs, and I grab her and she finishes getting dressed.) Well, she ran away so I started by going "Riley???Where's my Riley??" and I crawled over to the back of the couch, peeked out and said "BOO!!" The usual screeching and laughter did not commence. All I got was "Uh-oh". (me) "What's Uh-oh?" (Riley)"Uh-oh." So I went to go scoop her up and make it fun again when I noticed a small little puddle, then another, and another...apparently she was going...on the go.

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

Hump day!

Happy Hump Day everyone!

With Bree sleeping peacefully in her bed, I figure I would do an update for everyone out there in "internet land". Ha ha! I have to admit I have been a bit of a slacker this morning. I found this cheesy game on our computer called "Alabama Smith and the escape from Pompeii" and I got sucked into it. I have been playing it off and on since 730 this morning!!!!I just completed the whole game without even exiting out of it....I NEVER sit and do things like that, so it was nice for a change.

Bree update: If it's not one thing, it's another! Her lungs sound clearer, but she is running a tempature today. If that does not go away within twenty four hours they need to test her urine and her blood to screen for meningitis. Since her immune system is compromised from being sick there is a possibility she may have contracted it while being here. Ugh...I PRAY that that is not the case!

Bree also coughed hard enough that she threw up this morning (while on my shoulder)...poor kiddo. She is breathing harder today from the swelling in her nose and her little head bobs everytime she breathes, in additon to the retractions she is having. (Retractions are when she is pushing her little belly in and out to help her breathe and you can see her ribs when she pulls in..or retracts)

Our littlest monster did get a bath today, so she smells much better right now! She was starting to smell a little on the ripe side from all the sweating, and just general laying in bed. I know that I always feel better after a bath, so I hope it did the same to her.

A few people have asked me if Bree had gotten her Synagis shot. She has gotten one dose already and is due for her second one on February 17th. She qualifies for it automatically because of her super duper low birth weight and early delivery.

Adam is on his way here to relieve me, and he is going to stay the night here with Bree tonight. He was able to take the 10-day leave reg that the Air Force has, but he mentioned he thinks this is the last time they will let him use that reg for quite a while. (as if we use it excessively because we think it is fun to have our child in the hospital!) I am looking forward to being at home with Mindy and Riley tonight...I miss my "bub-bulllll" loving toddler! (Her favorite new word and thing are bubbles...)

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

Quick update!

Mindy aka "Grammie" is here...and just in time too! With Bree getting worse they are starting a new method of treating her RSV. She now gets Pulmocort (I think an inhaled steriod??) every other time with her breathing treatments. She is also receiving an oral steriod. The nurse told us that the steriod will help to reduce the swelling and inflammation in her lungs. It will not "cure" her RSV, but will make it easier for her to breathe and for her body to start to heal itself.

I hope and I pray that this works! I am gettin Bree all snuggled in her bed and comfy as she has been up since four thirty, which is a while for her. She is not having it though, she is just being wiggly, fussy, and doesn't seem to know what she wants. My poor love...I hope that this is not a prediction of what our night is going to be like....

Wish me luck!

Tuesday!

Seven pounds and four ounces!! That is how much Bree weighed today. She is doing okay, Adam stayed with her overnight while I went home with Riley. The doctor did say today that her lungs are beginning to sound congested (NOO!). We were hoping that it would just stay up in her sinuses because her lungs are so premature that they can't handle much. Her lungs are at a disadvantage because of two reasons: 1. just from being premature they weren't fully developed to begin with, and 2. being ventilated as long as she was (1.5 months) made her lungs have some scarring, which leads to compromised lung function. Besides that, not much has changed with Bree. She sleeps almost constantly, waking up for ten minutes or so when we change her, but that's it. Let's all hope and pray that it is a healing sleep...

Last night, Riley and I had a few errands to run, then went home to play and then after Riley went to sleep I cleaned. Our house was a disaster zone! I did four loads of laundry (wash, dry, fold, and put away), swept, picked up toys, took out garbage and recycling, did dishes, and cleaned out both of our cars. Unfortunately, there is still a couple things left to do. Thankfully (!!!) my stepmom is flying in today to help us out with Riley and all this stuff we have going on right now. She will be here until Saturday evening so that should give us enough time to make it close to when Bree will be coming home, hopefully. Riley will love seeing her...last time she saw her Grammie she took to her right away!

With Bree being sick the past two weekends I haven't been able to work (I only work on Sundays) so I am not getting paid, which we count on that little amount of money. Riley still can't go to work with me, because we don't need her getting sick since you can get RSV more than once in a year. (She would have to be in the nursery around other kids if she went with me) The last thing we need is revolving hospital visits...so hopefully this will resolve soon and I can get back to work.

Please pray for Bree's healing of RSV. Pray for easement of her pain and suffering, our peace of mind, and the strength of our family to withstand these trying times. Thank you so much!

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

Monday monday...not a fun day.

Bree is not doing so hot today. Her nose is swelling on the inside from all the suctioning, which means they can't suction as often as she needs. So, she kinda has to suffer through it and she coughs hard about every three minutes now. She is so tired, and it breaks my heart to see her struggling to breathe. However, all we can do is watch her and be here for her to comfort her.

RSV does not respond to antibiotics or any other type of medicine so all they can do is supportive care. Suctioning (when her little nose allows it), , breathing treatments, and fluids if she needs them. Luckily, she has her feeding tube so we do not need to give her fluids. Most kids end up needing the fluids because they have a poor appetite and aren't able to suck on a bottle from all the congestion, which then leads to dehydration. (hence the needing fluids)

Someone just brought Bree in a mobile for her bed, which plays music for her. It does not spin, but she will love the music whenever she wakes up. She is so tuckered out that all she is doing is sleeping and coughing. Maybe subconciously she can hear the music....we can hope, right?

Info on RSV

Follow this link to find out more about RSV: http://www.cdc.gov/RSV/

Our day at the zoo...in pictures!

On Saturday we went to the zoo with Pat, Danielle, Aidan and Ivy...we had a blast! We plan on getting a membership to the zoo one way or another so that we can enjoy all this fun as much as we want to!

Just call him Farmer Aidan!

Riley DID NOT like the petting zoo...she cried the whole time!

Feed me Mama, I am a baby bird!

I am a little angel..do you like my halo?

When it rains, it pours...

Three letters: RSV.

Seriously, Bree has RSV and we have been admitted to Phoenix Children's Hospital. Now we are in room 302, bed B. At least we keep getting bed B, because those are the beds that are by the windows. I prefer to see the sunshine, and to let Bree see it as well. It lifts my mood. :)

Last night Bree slept on Adam in the recliner while I slept on the couch. At 3 in the morning we switched and I held Bree while Adam slept. From 430 to 530 in the morning Bree had three apnea episodes where her monitor alarm went off. Now, mind you, she has to not breathe for 20 seconds for it to go off. So, after a breathing treatment for Bree, quick breakfast for Riley, and a short call into work for me, we headed off to the hospital. The rest, is history! We have been told that the shortest amount of time we could be here would be a week....

Bree is having a hard time with breathing, she is having retractions (pulling and pushing out her tummy while breathing), coughing, just yuckiness! So, I am here tonight...Adam has PT in the morning while our friend Danielle watches Riley for the day. I will go pick up Riley tomorrow night and stay the night at home. I will drop Riley off with Danielle in the morning, spend the day at the hospital, and Adam will go pick up Riley and so on and so on until Bree gets to go home. Since we have a child in the hospital, the military gives Adam ten days off for free (including weekends). This is a HUGE help!! I am reaching my limit on stress so to just have someone here with me will help.

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

Good news, Bad news

The good news is that our first full day home as a whole family was spent with friends at the Phoenix Zoo. We had a great time! I will post pictures when I get to them (probably in a few days). We learned that Riley is a very independent little girl, wanting to run everywhere herself. She also DOES NOT like the goats in the petting zoo. (Daddy was very proud as he hates petting zoos...they are too dirty for him!)

The bad news is that on Friday night Bree started this weird coughing thing. Neither of us slept very much because every twenty minutes it sounded like she had something go down the wrong tube and she was trying to cough it up. Up until this evening we thought it was just from her acid reflux. However, this evening it started to sound very tight and after a quick listen to her lungs with a stethoscope (and hearing crackling in her lower left lung) I made a call to the on call doctor for our pediatrician. After a quick talk with Dr. Malik, she prescribed some albuetrol treatments with the nebulizer. We are suppose to give them every four hours, so we gave one at 6, and will continue at 10, 2, and 6.

If Bree does not get better, or get relief with these treatments we will be taking her back into the ER at PCH.

Some more bad news is that Riley is cutting her first molar and is having a hard time of it. We have kept her "tylenoled" up,but everytime I get a chance to peek in her mouth that poor little gum is swollen and bleeding with a bit of tooth poking through.

Please pray for Bree's healing of her lungs so that she does not get any worse, for Riley's easement of pain, and for our sanity and clarity of mind so that we can both be there for our girls as much as possible.

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

Home!!!

Home home home! We are home! We got sent home last night at 545, and we were home around 7. We were sent home without oxygen, and with a feeding tube. Our friend Danielle watched Riley for the night and I went and picked her up this morning with Bree. It is crazy how much I missed that smiley, whiny, beautiful little girl! You could tell that she missed me, she wouldn't let me even put her down once I picked her up for a hello hug! :)

Today has been full of hugs, playing outside, and Riley saying hi and giving kisses to her sister. :)

Thursday, thursday, thursday!

"Good morning, good morning, the sun says 'Hello!' ...Today is a new day...let's all come and play!... Good morning, good morning, good morning TO YOU!" I was being silly and singing this to Bree this morning and this is the response that I got! At the end ("TO YOU!") I would touch her little nose with my finger and she would break out in a smile. Isn't it the best? She is so cute...however, I am a bit biased.

So good news and bad news this morning. Bree did gain weight today. She is now 3.17 kg, which is 6 pounds 15.8 ounces. ALMOST seven pounds! However, she did require a suppository last night so we are up in the air if we are going home today. Normally I have seen at least two doctors by now, but no one has come by so I am still waiting in our little half of a room watching Regis and Kelly while little monster naps in the bouncer.

I will update when I get news of anything new!

GO CARDS!

The Cardinals football team donated "Go Cards!" cupcakes to the Phoenix Children's Hospital so one was brought to my room. Guess what kind they were?? You guessed it! RED VELVET! So cool!!

Wednesday Update!

Bree had a weight gain of .02 kg (now 3.08 kg), which translates out to 6 lbs 12 ounces! So tomorrow if there is a positive weight gain we will be going home. She has had two normal poops all on her own two days in a row so we are waiting for today's poop to explode out of her tiny little body. I have never been so happy to clean up a nasty explosive poop in my life!

Changes, changes, changes! We have changed rooms in the hospital. We are now in 315B because all of Bree's blood tests finally came back as good and clear. So, she is not contagious! Another change is that we got doctor orders from our pulmonologist to try Bree without oxygen. So she is sleeping right now with a heart rate of 135 and her oxygen saturation of 95%!!!! WOO HOO! So, it looks like we will be going home without oxygen. I cannot tell you how excited I am about that.

(Doesn't her little face look so beautiful without oxygen??)
Once again I am one very VERY proud Mama!

Weight issues

Bree is once again at a standstill with her weight. She did not gain any weight yesterday, which she should have. The GI doctor and the nutritionist consulted with each other and they upped her feeds to 55 cc's every three hours. So, hopefully she will gain some weight tomorrow...I will update as soon as I can in the morning!

Acid Reflux

Bree had a rough night, and a rough day today. This is the first time she is resting comfortably since she woke up this morning. She had just been fussy from 600 to 900 last night. Stiffening her body while she cries, screaming and flailing...you name it. The same thing happened this morning and afternoon. At time, she would go to sleep for about three minutes at times, but would wake right back up and go at it.

The GI doctor came in about 1130 and took one look at her and said "Well, I think it's time to bump up her Prevacid because it looks like her acid reflux is bothering her a lot." At the same time the nurse and I said "She's not on anything!" To that, he replied "I think it is time to start some..." I was told that this medication is one that needs to build up in her system for it to work most effectively. However, fifteen minutes after her dose she started drifting to sleep and you could tell that she got much needed relief.

On again, off again

Sooooo...Bree is back on her oxygen. The main doctor on staff here did not feel comfortable taking her off of the oxygen (even though she was doing great!) because she needs to use her energy for growing and not putting extra effort into breathing. I asked if we could have pulmonology called in for a consult on her since she already sees them and she is here and the answer I got was this : "I do not want to call them for a consult because it just creates a lot of paperwork for them."

HELLOOOO???!!!! Isn't that what doctors are suppose to do? If they aren't sure about a situation, or if it is not their area of expertise, aren't they suppose to consult with colleagues who are more experienced in what ever it is they are looking at? So, tomorrow morning, I am walking over to pulmonology and requesting that they come and see her. They will probably want to do a sleep study, which if we can do that in the hospital, that's great!

I agree that she needs to be using her energy as efficiently as possible, but I do not want her on oxygen if she does not need it.

Family update!

Okay, okay, Bree first! I know you are all secretly dying to know how she is doing. She was at least smiling and wiggling this morning when our old NICU nurse (and friend) came by to visit. Jo-Lynn absolutely is in LOVE with Bree and Bree loves her too...you can tell by all the smiles she gives her.

Bree's feeds are up to 50 cc's every three and she is doing pretty well with that. The speech pathologist came up this morning and watched her eat, then had me try a few different things that will help her to eat more efficiently and not waste her precious energy. Also, the GI doctor came by and we are now waiting for her to poop on her own. He is thinking that maybe there was a partial blockage and with her diarrhea issues she had been having, that it may have flushed it out. If she is still not able to go on her own, we are going to proceed with some tests.

Riley is hanging out with our friend Danielle and her kids Aidan and Ivy right now. Adam was not able to take work off this week, so we are lucky to have friends willing to help us out. I am sure that Riley is running around and playing good and hard as I am typing! Danielle already told me that every time a jet flies over their house Riley says "Uh-oh!". Silly girl!

Adam has a BUSY week! Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday he has a class he has to go to. Thursday he has a meeting with the commander of his squadron because he failed his PT test, and Friday he has to go with his jet to depo...(don't ask what that is because I can't remember right now!) On top of that he is taking care of Riley himself this week. Hopefully, he is able to manage a-okay.

As for me, I am hanging in here. It is actually not that bad. Bree still sleeps a TON so I am able to run down to the cafeteria and grab food while she is sleeping. Once she is down for the night (after her 5 o'clock feeding) I meet up with our friend Anneke who is staying at the Ronald McDonald House here on campus. We share dinner together, and I am able to take a shower and freshen up a little bit before heading back to Bree's room to relax and watch a movie. Don't get me wrong, I miss Riley terribly, but it is for Bree's well-being that we are here.

As a family, we may be miles apart...but we still love (and miss!) each other in our hearts!

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

Trial Run

Right now, my sweet Bree is resting. She is fast asleep, with just her NG tube! That's right...NO OXYGEN! We are trying it out to see how she will do. She has been off of it for about two hours now and is at 94% with a heartrate of 135. She is sleeping so she is allowed to let her oxygen saturations drift a little bit. She can go down to 90% with no worries, but she has only been drifting down to 93% so far. The real test is how long she can maintain this. However, this is the longest she has ever gone so I am proud of her!

It should be illegal to be this proud of a child.

Picture Post!

Some of these pictures are from Bree's Christmas Eve dedication all the way to her hospital stay...this first picture was taken less than half an hour ago. She is still in this same position sleeping away. The sunglasses that Riley is wearing were given to her by Anneke. Riley LOVES them! I thought she would be tearing them off, but she even asks for them when in the car. I love my girls and my wonderful, understanding, and silly husband! Without his support, and sly ways to make me laugh, I would go crazy during these stressful times....thank you for being you Babe!

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

Another day, same stuff

So we are still in the hospital with Bree. No fever today! They said that they don't count it as a fever until it reaches 100.4. That seems a little odd to me, but they know what they are doing!

Bree recieved her feeding tube yesterday and is getting 60cc's every three hours (at 8, 11, 2, and 5 around the clock). During the day, Bree gets to try eating from the bottle for 15 minutes then whatever she doesn't eat gets put down the tube. At night she just gets her feeds through her tube so that she is able to just sleep and get her rest.

Right now she is resting and Dr. Elliot just came into the room so I will update a little later in the day.

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

Three wires, two 'tubes', and one tiny baby

So Bree has been admitted to PCH. We went into the ER last night (at 6pm) because Bree was not making tears anymore, was getting to be inconsolable and extremely fussy again. After three hours of sitting in an initial exam room we were put into an ER room to wait to talk to the Doctor. Dr. Hanson came in, took our info, and went to go consult with a colleague. His colleague came in, talked with us and they then decided we were going to be admitted to the hospital.

Bree was given every type of blood test imaginable, and even had a urine sample and stool sample taken. They started her on fluids and we all laid down to rest for the night (at midnight). At four in the morning we were awakened to be told that there was a room for us. So we packed up, and moved to room 310, bed B. We have the bed by the window so we have a lovely view of the roof of the other part of the building along with the new construction area. I am sure that during the week it will supply me with some sort of entertainment. Bree has three wires (two on her apnea monitor, one for her oximeter), and two tubes (oxygen, and then I.V.).

So far this morning, we have seen Dr. Elliot, the social worker, and the dietician. We are waiting to see the GI people (gastro intestinal). We are probably going to make a choice on where we are putting her feeding tube. Our pediatrician expressed concern over having it in her nose since she is already on oxygen. Babies are very much nose breathers and having just another thing blocking her nose is likely to make it hard for her to blow off the CO2 her body creates. So, we are going to be making a decision on what to do. I know that they can put one surgically into her stomach, but the idea of another surgery, no matter how small, just freaks me out.

HUGE THANK YOU to Cheri and to Aleasha for helping us out with Riley. Cheri watched Riley last night, and Aleasha is taking tonight. Obviously, if I had to do this alone I would, but it makes it easier to have Adam here for support and to be able to consult with him in person rather than over the phone. Without the friends that we have, we would be lost and floundering in this whole ordeal (and ones past...and experiences to come). We have truly made friends here that are like family to us. You know who all of you are....from the bottom of our hearts: thank you.

Small update: The nurse just came and took Bree's tempature and it was normal this morning at eight. It is now 99.7, so she now has a fever. :( Please be praying for healing of her little body. Our God is a big God of miracles...we love him and thank him for all that he does!

Hospitals = Help...right?

Once again, we are in a position that I wish upon no parent. The Phoenix Children's Hospital is so full that they do not have a bed for Bree so we are stuck waiting until one becomes available.

As you all know, Bree has never really been able to "do her doody" on her own. She had to be given suppositories every three days for her to go. Well, Saturday night (at 1:30 am!!) she pooped all on her own...everywhere. We were elated and didn't even think that she could be sick. Well, she pooped Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. All diarrhea. :( Starting Wednesday morning, she was throwing up everything that was given to her. She kept one bottle down in the afternoon so I decided to go grocery shopping (or we were eating ketchup and mayo for dinner).

Our AWESOME friend Aleasha, was brave and watched Riley for us while I went shopping with Bree. Normally, when I go grocery shopping Bree is lulled by the motion of the cart and sleeps the whole time. Not this time. She SCREAMED!!! The whole time. No matter what I did. At first the pacifier was soothing her, but towards the end it was't even working. I paid for my groceries and pushed the cart out to the car. I loaded the groceries then sat in the front seat with Bree trying to feed her, since I thought that was the issue.

While feeding her she looked extremely pale, so I bumped up her oxygen from 0.1 to 0.3 to see if it would make a difference. Nope. Didn't make any difference at all. So I called Adam and upon his recommendation I called the pediatrician. We were told to high tail it to PCH. I called Aleasha, she agreed to watch Riley for us overnight and Adam left work and we headed home to drop off groceries and to get formula and what not for Bree.

Upon arrival at PCH there were a TON of people there. Standing room only type of busy. Upon seeing us sit down with such a small child, a nurse came and took our information and took us back into an exam room so that Bree was not exposed to any of the sicknesses in the waiting room. For that, I am truly grateful. It just went down hill from there. I told them all of her symptoms and to make a long story short all they did was take her blood, test for electrolyte balance, give her fluids and sent us home with a diagnosis of diarrhea. Are you serious??? Never mind that she spits up whatever you give her, or that she doesn't stop crying unless sleeping...she just has diarrhea. UGH!

We followed up with Dr. Pham the next morning and he did not seem pleased that the hospital hadn't even called him. (he was on call with them) He told us that if they had called him, he would have had them keep her. He said he was calling the hospital to have her admitted. We were told to take her home, try and get as much fluids in her as we could and to wait. Wait for the hospital to call us and let us know when to bring her in.

That is where we are now. We might be going into the hospital tonight to get her fluids, but that's all they will do until they have a bed for her. I am very frustrated and angry, even though I understand there are other sick kids. It is scary to see Bree going from extremely pale when sleeping, hard to rouse and when she is awake, she is crying, flushed (like when you have a fever), just not happy at all. She does not have a fever, but is not eating well at all. She isn't putting out urine well at all. (one wet diaper in 12 hours) We are waiting, hoping and praying...because that is all we can do right now.

PCH here we come!

Prayers please! Miss Bree is going back into the hospital...she has had significant problems with weight gain since coming home and now she is spitting up whatever she is fed, is having diarrhea, and is EXTREMELY fussy! Our pediatrician is calling Phoenix Children's Hospital as we speak to try and get her admitted. Luckily, Danielle is willing to watch Riley for us during the week so that I can be at the hospital with Bree...(THANK YOU DANIELLE!)

There is a lot more to this story than I am telling, and I will tell it when I have the time. Right now I am trying to get meals laid out for next week (so Adam and Riley aren't living off of Mickey D's), Bree packed, and myself too....along with five hundred other things I have running through my mind!

Riley's message to all

hhbhbyghhghgyhyhgy,jj
kjbvxs jjnhhggg Svvccccccccxccc gbvv

Family

Our family is doing pretty good. We are having the usual bumps and surprises that come up, but besides that we are holding it together.

Bree will be getting a feeding tube again this week. She should be taking at least 60 cc's a feeding now and she is on average taking 45 cc's. So, we are going to let her eat what she can out of the bottle, and when she runs out of steam, we are going to put the rest into the feeding tube. So, during the day we will let her feed on demand like we have been (about every 2.5 hours) and then at night we need to get her back on a schedule of every three hours. This will continue until she is gaining weight appropriately and eating her feedings all by bottle. We will be having a nurse come to the house to put the tube in and to teach us about it. Hopefully this happens sooner than later, but I will find out today when the pediatrician calls.

Bree also got her synagis shot yesterday. This is a shot to help prevent RSV. Hopefully it works and we do not have to go through what we went through with Riley last year. (For those of you who don't know, Riley had RSV last year and was hospitalized for a week with it!)

Riley is growing and expanding her vocabulary like crazy. She now says "E-tan" (Ethan), "reeeee" (Bree), "eat" (no explanation needed), and so many more! I can't think of them off the top of my head. She is also starting to 'talk in sentences'. She is just making up goobly gook noises to make it sound like she is making sentences. She does this most when she is sitting down looking at books and reading to herself. After "reading" her book she exclaims "ALLLL DOONE!" and gets out of her rocking chair to get another one.

Since she is showing interest in actually reading books we are starting a bed time routine of bath, (ONE) book, prayers, and bed. Quick and easy, but it allows her time to settle down.

Speaking of routines, Adam and I have gotten together and even made a schedule for ourselves. It feels like we have just been co-existing as of lately. We take care of kids, get them into bed, veg on tv, then not too shortly after the kiddos, we hit the sack ourselves. So to help us feel more connected with one another we are starting out small with a game night on Fridays, and a movie night on Mondays. (Movie Monday, Fun Friday) We hope to continue this even until the girls can start to participate.

Our anniversary is coming up as well (FEB 5TH!) and we have had some friends offer to be brave and watch Bree and Riley for us so we can have a few hours to go out and celebrate our 3 years of being married. A lot has happened in those three years! Moving states (twice), and two kids later we are still holding strong. We have our issues just like everyone else, but it is our love for one another that brings us back together and we work out whatever the issue was.

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

"Rules"

I have had many friends ask who can be around Bree, and what our expectations are for those who do come to visit so I wanted to clarify them here for everyone:

Because her immune system is still not mature it is super important that we take extra precautions to make sure she doesn't get sick at all.

1. So if you have been sick at all, please wait at least a week before you come visit.

2. Also, no one under the age of 16 can handle her until after RSV season ends although they can visit as long as they are healthy.

3. And last, but not least, absolutely everyone has to wash and/or sanitize their hands often.

I hope that helps to answer any questions, and if there are any more please feel free to ask! I would rather have someone ask and receive an answer than to wonder in silence....

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

"Adult" movies

No, you sick minded person...not that kind of adult movie! I am talking about anything that has a bit of scariness or action in it. We watched Hancock this weekend, and prior to this Riley paid no attention to what we were watching. She would go about her business playing, jumping and running like a normal toddler.

Not this time.

She firmly planted her little booty on the floor and stared up at our TV while Will Smith was crashing through the hospital walls bleeding and fighting bad guys. The whole while she would turn aroung, look at me and go "Mama! mama!" She would turn back to the TV and say "Oh, WWWOOOWWW! Oh no....UH OH!" This repeated until that scene was over. Anytime there was crashing, yelling or any remotely exciting Riley would repeat that process.

I guess we have to start being a little bit more careful about when we watch our "adult" movies....I guess a lot of Disney movies are moving closer into our future.

Picture Post!

Update, update!

Our girls are doing well and thriving! As I speak, Bree is swinging in her swing very much asleep (mouth wide open), and Riley is suppose to be sleeping but is instead screeching and laughing in her crib. Bree has started this new 'thing'...she cries unless she is being held. Once she falls asleep, sometimes (SOMETIMES) you can lay her down and actually get some stuff done. Today I am getting a sling from my friend Lindsey so hopefully that will help me to have some extra hands. :) With a toddler at home, I can't very well be sitting all the time with Bree.

Poor Mr. Adam....he had his last wisdom tooth pulled on Thursday and has been miserable since. His swelling was suppose to go down in two days and it has not very much at all. He is still taking good old Percocet, so he has been Mr. Sleepy as of lately. He is going into the Dental Clinic in the morning to make sure everything is okay, he is suppose to go back to work, but if he can't go without "perkie" (ha ha we have code names for narcotics) he can't work.

We got a scale yesterday that weighs in ounces so that we can weigh Bree to keep track of her weight gain. It is a two person job. I step on the scale with Bree, get that weight, Adam holds Bree, I weigh myself, then we do some subtraction! As of this morning, Bree weighs 6 lbs, 5 oz.

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

No one ever told me...

Before I had kids, I could watch scary movies about child abduction, or children being sick and dying with few problems. Yes, I would understand that it would be a hard place to be in if I was that person, but come on, it was a movie/show for goodness sake!

Now, my heart breaks and I end up sobbing over a hour long show. Adam and I were watching the latest episode of Private Practice and it hit home! Now, Adam and I do choose to vaccinate our girls and I do not want to say anything to offend those who choose not to. It is just that, it is a choice that one makes with their family's well being in mind. Well, on the show this mother had three boys and the oldest was autistic. She was convinced that it was the vaccinations that made her oldest autistic so she did not vaccinate her youngest two. Well, one of them got sick with the measles and ended up dying at the end of the show. It felt as though my heart had been ripped out as I thought of being put into the same position.

No one ever told me that you would never be able to watch TV the same again once you became a parent. Every child on TV magically will look like yours, and your heart will break every time something happens to them.

Picture Post

Beginnings and Ends

Today was the end of our every week visits to the eye doctor and the beginning of every two weeks visits. Her ROP has gotten better in her right eye...he mentioned that there was a significant difference between what he saw last week and what it was today. MUCH BETTER! Praise the Lord and thank you for all your prayers and well wishes! There is no sign of the disease at all in her left eye so we are over the halfway point...

It was also the END of the "5 pound, ___ ounces" era and the beginning of the 6 pound baby! Bree weighed exactly 6 pounds 0.5 ounces this morning when the nurse came to visit.

For Riley, it was the end of just giving her an 'unclicked' pen to play with and to trick her into pretend coloring. This morning when the state worker was here enrolling Bree into the Birth to Three program I had given Riley an unclicked pen to keep her entertained. Next thing I know I hear...click, click, click, click..and then she is writing on her shirt! AH! The age of discovery is a wonderous thing...

For me, it was the end of pumping and the beginning of safety for my family. To all of you that may sound a little funky, but whenever I begin to pump Riley knows it is a free for all. She jumps on the couch, (and has fallen off a few times, narrowly missing the coffee table), goes and brings me things from the garbage (ew!), and journeys into her room to pull everything out of her dresser drawers, and then tries to climb into them. Not to mention, Bree seems to know when I am pumping as well and starts to wail almost every time! It is very stressful and not a great environment to pump in. I have been trying it for about a month and it is not possible, (or mentally safe), for me to continue.

For Adam, it is the end of loathing our old couches...and the beginning of new couch heaven for him. We had to get rid of our kitties because Bree was definetly allergic. Cat allergies coupled with poor lungs and a need for oxygen does not equal a happy kid (or happy parents). Each of our cats found a new home, so Adam was able to get the new furniture he wanted. (Tipsy was a furniture scratcher). As I am typing Adam is reclining on our loveseat, watching ESPN and feeding Bree...his eyes glazed over in comfort.

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

Pulmonology appt

Yesterday, Bree had her pulmonology appt at PCH. Our good friend, Aleasha, watched Riley for us so that we could concentrate solely on Bree (HUGE thanks girl!)! We met with Dr. O'Hagan, and briefly talked about her oxygen needs and how she has been handling it. Our next conversation was about everything else going on with her: how she cries (loud!), how she eats, how her weight gain has been, and how she has been with peeing and pooping (eh...).

Dr. O'Hagan left the room to go round up our needed consultants after hearing all of our information. So, in came a nurse that was skilled with the oxygen and all those needs. She brought with her an oximeter, and we hooked Bree up and turned off her oxygen. Funny enough, Bree HATED having the oximeter on her foot! (Maybe she figured the past three months was enough to last her a lifetime!) She screamed, kicked and fussed so much that it was hard to get a good reading. No amount of shooshing, jostling, swinging or consoling could calm her down. After the test period, the nurse went to consult with Dr. O'Hagan about what his reccomendations will be.

Next came the dietician. Due to Bree's problems with gaining weight, we discussed all that she was getting. What it was, the frequency she was eating and how she does with burping and "urping". Bree was on a 27 calorie per ounce diet. It is breastmilk fortified with Enfamil Enfacare. The dietician put Bree on an additional fortifier which now makes her 'meals' 30 calories per ounce. The new 'adder inner' is called Duocal, and can only be purchased online. For right now, we have about a twenty day supply given to us. So Bree's cocktail is now 180 cc's (6 ounces) of breastmilk, four teaspoons of Enfacare, and a teaspoon and half of Duocal. We mix that all up and use it as needed for her feeds. We go through about two six ounce bottles every 24 hours. We now have to call and give the dietician Bree's weights after our nurse comes to the house so that her weight gain can be tracked. We need to see if this increase is going to help her gain weight, or if something else needs to be tried.

The pulmonology nurse came back in after the dietician visit and since Bree did pretty good with her test. She was able to keep her oxygen saturations above 85 even with the screaming and fussing (which is what they want to see). However, since Bree is having issues with gaining weight, they do not want to stress her body anymore than they need to so we are going to wait on weaning her off the oxygen for a few weeks. We are doing an overnight study on January 23rd. This consists of us hooking her up to oximeter when she goes to bed for the night and taking her off of her oxygen. For a good 6-8 hours, we will monitor her saturations. In the morning, the machine will be sent to PCH and they will pull all the data and it will take about a week for them to consult with everyone to be able to make the best move for Bree.

Time will tell what will happen and all we can do is trust God and pray!

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

Little cutie Riley

So, I need to get these things written down before I forget! Riley has been doing some SUPER cute and amazing things this past week. I am sure you all will enjoy them just as much as I have:

1. "High chair? High chair?" Riley has exploded in language as of lately! She now says high chair, all done, Sissy (as in sister), baby, cookie...the list goes on and on.

2. She now gives Bree high fives. She lifts Bree's arm up, then lets go of it and gives her a quick high five while squealing in delight at the same time!

3. Today, I took Riley shopping with me and after parking in our parking spot I had to find my shopping list. The radio was still playing and on the song it was singing "Baby, baby, bayyybeeeee". Next thing you know I hear "Bay-bee, Bay-bee" coming from the backseat. I immediately said "Aww, are you singing?" (not expecting a response) "YUP!" says Riley emphatically...too cute!

4. Riley will run towards you with arms stretched out saying "HHHUUUUGGGG!" and then tackle you at full force. I am surprised I have not been knocked over yet!

5.This one is the best! Bree has her monitor that if the cord is stepped on, the wires become loose and make a very VERY loud screeching noise. Well, Riley stepped on it today and Adam came to rescue when the noise started. After it was fixed, Riley sat down in front of the monitor, and started lifting it up to look at it all the while repeating "Oh sh*t, Oh sh*t, CAP (crap), Oh no!"

Hope that put a smile on your face...I know it did ours!

Measurements, shots and poop

Both the girls had check ups today with their pediatrician, Dr. Pham. Oldest goes first!

Riley is 23 lbs and about 32'' tall. For weight she is in the 50th percentile and for height she is in the 75th to 80th. He is not at all worried that she is still using bottles and wants to wait a little bit before we start phasing them out since we are having so many changes in our family as of lately. This was the first dr. visit in a long time that during the exam she did not cry. She just sat there and looked at him as he listened to her heart, looked in her eyes and then looked in her ears. I was so proud! She did get her 15 month shots today, which there were three of them. After some tears and crying (and some snuggling with Mama) she was able to walk out of the office on her own steam.

Now onto Bree...she weighed 5 lbs 10 oz and that was only a weight gain of 4 ounces in two weeks. He would like to see her gain at least a half an ounce a day. Since he can't increase her calorie intake (she's already at the max) we are going to be watching her weight very closely. If she continues in this pattern we may be looking at having a feeding tube put in again. She was 19 inches long, and is doing pretty well in all other aspects.

We are having issues with her pooping (every parent's favorite topic of discussion). She is not doing it on her own for some reason. So we have been instructed to give her a suppository every three days. Right now, it has been five days and she has not gone since christmas. We know it is bothering her because she was up over half the night last night (and we were too!). So needless to say, I am exceptionally tired today. I never thought I would say this, but I am excited to give her a suppository today because it means that we will all get WONDERFUL blessed sleep tonight. (Hopefully Riley complies with this too!)

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

Faith Motto

"Trust in God with all your heart
No matter what you do.
Lean on him during hard times
and He will see you through"

Eye, eye, eye!!!

So today we had another eye appt for Bree with Dr. Golub. He is the doctor who did her laser eye surgery for her ROP and we have a standing date with him every Monday. (Okay, so it's not really a "date") Bree's left eye is doing great and he said today that it looks as though there is a complete recession of the disease. Her right eye is a different story. There are some great parts that are healing, while there are other parts that have showed no change for the good or for the bad. There is also a slight retraction of her retina, which is the biggest concern. If it retracts any further, we will be sent to consult with a retina specialist and we will probably be having another surgery of some sort.

Let's all take the time to praise God for his goodness and faithfulness! We thank Him for all that He has done, and we ask that He continue to be with Bree and to help heal her right eye. We would like to avoid all surgeries, but if that's what He has in store for us we will take it and do our best!

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