Livi - Update

I just wanted to type a quick update on how our little Olivia is doing since her surgery. I am SO happy to report that she is doing AWESOME. She is really exceeding all of our expectations. Her surgery was three weeks ago...and just looking at her you would never know what the poor sweetie went through. She is breathing and eating so much better than she was before the surgery.

She used to only eat 1-2 oz. per feeding...but is now up to 4 oz! Since the surgery she has already been able to put on one whole pound!

Her breathing sounds SO much better. Sometimes you can't event hear it...that NEVER happened before!

We are thrilled with her progress. She is scheduled to go in for her second surgery on the 20th of April...but we are confident that that one will go just fine and then all of this will be behind us!

These pictures were taken the morning (well like 3am) of her 1st surgery. Can you see the fear in my eyes?! I was on the verge of tears!!

Bless her little heart...what a sweetie!!

We've got a sleeper!!

Well...I think (hope) that it is safe to say that we have a sleeper!! Blake has ALWAYS been a good sleeper...and now he is in his big-boy bed. It has been three nights.

Night 1 = NOT so good.

Night 2 = still not good..but better.

Night 3 = SUCCESS!!

We put him down at 8, he got out of bed at about 8:45, we said, No, back to bed. Then we didn't hear from (or see) him until 7:30 when he woke and came out all by himself! I am so proud of him. I hope that I am not jinxing this situation by blogging about it already!!

Dont mind ALL of the stuff in his room...what a mess!

What a big boy!

When did my baby turn into a big boy?!

It seems like Blake is REALLY growing up lately. In the past month or so he has really turned into a “big boy.” I think that he is on a growth spurt. He is still a skinny boy….but he has outgrown most of his 18mo. clothing and is in 24 mo. and some 2T’s! It’s about time…since he is 27 months old :)

He is starting to eat more and more. I rememebr not long agao when I was so concerned b/c he never wanted to eat....now he s doing a great job and has a very big appitite!

His vocabulary is also exploding. He talks all of the time. He is using full sentences now, which is awesome. There are still times when we have no idea what he is saying…and that is very frustrating for him. He is starting to talk on the phone to my mom and sister…which is fun. He used to just listen.

He loves to sing and dance while he is watching TV. I just love to watch him interact as he is watching Diego, Dora, Mickey Mouse Club House, etc. He talks right back to the TV and acts everything out.

He is very into hats right now. Always wants to be wearing one (or more). He also thinks that he is very cool when he wears his sunglasses!! He didn’t even want to take them off during church this past weekend.

He is starting to get very concerned with his “sissy.” The other day we were at the in-laws and we were packing up to come home. Ryan carried Blake out to the car first and he was SO worried that we were leaving Olivia there. He screamed “SISSY, SISSY, SISSY…..no, no, no” Until she was safely secured in the back seat with him….then he was so excited to have her there. I LOVE it.

Sunday night was his first night in his toddler bed (well…actually for the second time). He didn’t do so great….but last night was better….I know that it will be a process, but hopefully the transition doesn’t last long. He looks so big sleeping in there!

His “teachers” at “school” say that he is doing very good. He is always happy, compassionate, and a good listener. We still have issues getting out the door in the morning and into daycare. They assure me that once I leave he is as happy as can be. I look forward to the day when he doesn’t get mad/anxious when I leave him!

He is such a sweet, loving boy and I just can’t get enough of him!

Short night….

Or long night…..not quite sure how to categorize this one. Let’s just say, we didn’t get much sleep last night!!

We decided to make Blake’s bed into a toddler bed yesterday. Probably a very silly move on our behalf on a Sunday night. We should have done this on Friday. Oops! This isn’t the 1st time that we have tried this. When we moved Blake over to the big-boy room and made the nursery into Olivia’s room before she was born we made Blake’s crib into a toddler bed. He did OK the first few nights, but then decided that he wanted to sleep in Olivia’s crib. Probably a combination of it being his old room, and a crib. He was just much more comfortable there. We decided to convert his bed back into a crib…a new room AND a new bed was maybe too much all at once. Well, now he is used to his room, and a big boy…so we thought that this was a good time to go back to the toddler bed. This is how last night went:

7:40 Blake in bed and sleeping right away (Ryan and I though…awesome, this is too easy!)

8:30 Olivia in bed

10:00 Ryan and Annie in bed

11:30 Olivia up to eat

12:00 Blake whining in bed (rub his back and back to sleep)

12:30 Blake whining in bed (rub his back and back to sleep)

1:00 Blake whining in bed (rub his back and back to sleep)

2:00 Blake whining in bed (rub his back and back to sleep) (at this point I was JUST about ready to bring my pillow in his room and sleep on the floor)

2:30 Olivia up to eat

4:00 Blake, standing by my bed…”is Mouse on?”….”No Blake, it is too early for Micky Mouse”…waaaaaaa, waaaaaaaaaaa

4:20 Olivia up to eat

4:40 Ryan's alarm off

5:30 Blake FINALLY sleeping again

6:30 Annie's alarm off…snooze

6:45 Olivia up to eat

7:00 Get in shower….LATE

7:30 Blake up and out of bed by himself

8:30 out the door to daycare/work 30 minutes LATE

SOOOO….as you can see not much sleep. We are NOT going back to a crib for Blake, so hopefully this transition doesn’t last long. Olivia used to wake up just once at about 4:00 before her surgery. Now she is up every couple of hours. Since we are really trying to get her to put in weight, I can’t complain right now….but I am hoping that this is just a phase as well. This mama needs some sleep!!

It’s a good thing that they are so cute :)

Liv playing under her play gym...she gets the BIGGEST kick out of it!

Blake sporting his new winter coat from nana and papa...this was supposed to be for NEXT year...but at this rate it may not fit!!

Cuteness

Just a little cuteness for the day....Liv looking stylish in her baby beanie! She has has this one since we was born...but is just now fitting into it! Luckily (or not really at all) for us, we just got another massive snowstorm...so it looks like she will get plenty of use out of her winter duds before we can enjoy the spring/summer ones!!

I feel like I haven't posted many pics of Blake on here lately...but in my defense he is HARD to photograph right now. He will not sit still...or smile...or look at me when I have the camera in my hand for that matter!! Olivia is a much better subject since she cannot run away right now. I will try to get some pictures of both of them this weekend! We do not have any major plans, and I am SO glad!

Winner Winner!!

I got home from work yesterday to find a little package in the mail!! Who doesn't love that! It was my recent giveaway win! I won a $30 credit from Treasured By Holly of of Jen's blog Tatertots and Jello! How exciting. I check out Jen's blog often and just dream that I am as crafty as her! Oh I wish :)

I was able to pick anything that I wanted. HARD decision because Holly has tons of cute stuff. Check out her Etsy shop here! I ALMOST picked something for myself...but dressing up my baby girl is so much fun, so she won :). These flowers are clips...so they are interchangeable. I can switch the pink flower to the hat....SO cute!

(via)

I will get some pictures of Olivia in her new goodies soon.

Snow day!!

Yes, you heard that right…we had a snow day….yesterday, March 23rd….4th day of Spring….snow day! All of our snow had melted and we had a brief taste of spring, and then bam, winter is back in full force! The snow started to fall at about 3:00pm on Tuesday and never stopped until about 3:00 pm on Wednesday. I was *hoping* for a snow day…but did not think that I would actually get one. The university has already had 3 this year, which is way more than usual. They hardly ever call for a snow day since most students live on campus. When I woke up with Olivia at 4am to feed her I check, just in case. No such luck. All of the local schools were cancelled, but not CMU. We went back to bed. When I woke up again at 6:30 I thought that I would check again on the slight chance that they had since made the call…SCORE! No work! I was so excited that I couldn’t go back to sleep :)….I felt like a kid on Christmas.


This is our front yard yesterday...you could see the grass on Tuesday afternoon...now this again!
It was SO nice to have a day off without a sick kid…or tons of plans. We stayed in our jammies all day and never left the house. I let Blake rock this awesome bed head. All day long. :)

And I got this done....not that you need to see it....but this is just 4 of the 6 loads of laundry (mostly Ryan's...b/c he changes 3 times per day) that I did. It builds up so fast...but it was nice to get it all done in one day!

Welcome to Spring-time in Michigan!

Our Little Lucky Charm!

This is a bit late...but I just uploaded pictures of Olivia from St. Pattys day. This is the same outfit that Blake wore 2 years ago. I guess we got 2 days wear out of it instead of just 1 :)

Just had to add a bow for Livi to make it a wee bit girly :) She didn't get to go anywhere to celebrate in her St. Patty's day outfit....but she looked cute relaxing at home!!

Getting to know You!!

This is my first time playing Getting to Know YOU....here goes!!

1. if you won the title of miss America, what would your platform be?
hmmmm.....this is tough....probably "Volunteering for something that you are passionate about"...can that be a platform?! Everyone should get involved with a cause that is close to their heart!!!

2. outdoorsy or indoorsy?
Depends on the season...I am pretty much a hermit during the winter, but LOVE to be outside in the summer!!

3. pajama's out in public..classy or tres tacky?
Tacky, tacky, tacky. You will not find me in jammies in public. I work on a college campus and it just baffles me how many students I see walking across campus in pajamas....seriously, put some jeans on. It is NOT a good look on anyone!!

4. what's your favorite room in your house?
bedroom....mainly b/c we just got the most comfortable new KING size bed....ahhhh, heaven!!

5. nook, kindle, or book?
Book!! Specifically from the local library. I love my library :)

6. would you rather wear the same outfit for a week or not brush your teeth for a week?
ewwwww....but if I had to choose, I would have to go with same outfit for a week!

7. what's your favorite blog at the moment?
Don't have ONE favorite....I have lots :)

8. lately i've been daydreaming about.........?
Spring/summer....and our upcoming trip to Florida! I can't wait!!

It's our Anniversary...

Not our wedding anniversary.....but the day that we started dating! 4 years ago today Ryan and I met, and we have been together ever since! I knew "of" him a bit before that, but we had never hung out. We met up on St. Patty's day in 2007 when we were were both out with friends...and the rest is history! I blame it on too much green beer....lol!!

This is from our 1st St. Patty's day together....we look so young!! (and I look nasty...but remember....this is after a full day of drinking green beer :)....crazy how things have changed in just 4 short years....we will be staying in and having green Popsicles with our babies instead of going out and drinking green beer tonight....but we wouldn't have it any other way!!)
Happy Anniversary Ry...love you!!

Olivia is 3 months old!

Today my baby girl is three months old. This past month has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. The poor girl has been through a lot. I think that it is safe to say now that she is quite the little trooper. I am so proud of her! She is doing so well.

When I posted her two-month post I had no clue what month 3 would have in store for her. Hopefully things will only be on the up-and-up from here on out!

Olivia weighs 9 lbs. 10 oz. now. She measures in the “less than 5th percentile” bracket…so we will be trying hard to put some weight on during this next month. She is already eating better since her surgery…so I am hopeful that we will be able to do that.

She wears a size 1 diaper.

Wearing a size 0-3 month. Her size 3 month outfits are still a bit too big.

She is eating about 3 oz. every 3-4 hours. Hoping to increase that now.

She sleeps from about 10p.m. to 4:30 a.m., wakes quick to eat, and then sleeps again from 4:40-8:30.

She started daycare, but only made it for 3 days or so until we had to pull her out for her surgery. The days that she was there were great. Her teachers said that she never made a peep!

Her hair is getting a bit lighter, and she is losing a patch in the back where she is rubbing it off.

She smiles ALL of the time. Her eyes light up when she smiles.

She loves to lay under her Baby Einstein play gym and look at the lights and colors.

She is SUCH a joy, and we are so lucky to have her!

Please forgive the jammies today...we are still in post-surgery mode:

A little IV poke mark is the only trace of surgery from the outside...

Recap of the past 72 hours….

1st off let me say THANK YOU for all of the thoughts, prayers, comments, and support. We have felt so much love!!

Olivia did SO great. She far surpassed any expectations that the doctors had and that we had. She is a strong little cookie!

Friday morning was an EARLY morning. We were up at 3, to get on the road at 4. Of course we hadn’t slept at all worrying about what was to come. My parents came over to stay with Blake and Ryan, Livi, and I took off. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I literally felt sick to my stomach the whole ride down. We got to the hospital at about 6:40, a little early for our 7:00 check-in time. Olivia slept the whole way down, but once we got there she woke up and she was MAD! The poor thing couldn’t eat anything after 2am, so she was just so hungry. It is terrible not being able to feed her…knowing that was all that she wanted. We had to wait for about 30 minutes before they could take us back to the pre-op area. She screamed the whole time. It is SO unlike her to cry, so it is just painful for us to hear.

Once back in the pre-op area she continued to cry and fuss…but then eventually nodded off. We were in pre-op for about 1.5 hours and we were able to be with her until they took her back. During this time we had to answer all sorts of questions. We talked to nurses, anesthesiologists, and our doctor came and told us what his plan was. There were LOTS of kids waiting to go back for surgery. The whole environment is so scary! During this time I was thankful that Livi was so young, b/c she didn’t know what was about to happen. It was terrible to listen to the older kids (3-4 years) as they had to leave their parents :(

The doctors seemed very optimistic that things would go well…but again wanted to talk about the possibility of the tracheotomy. He told us that we would keep us posted as much as possible during surgery. He thought that when she came out she would have a breathing tube, so wanted us to be prepared for all of this. I don’t know how “prepared” you can be…but we were aware at least.

Waiting in the pre-op area to go back for surgery

At 8:30 they took her back. We were able to walk back to the operating area and then we had to hand her off and head up to the waiting room. We didn’t even see them put her under or anything….which I think is a good thing.

My parents, Blake, Ryan’s mom, and grandmother were all there to wait with us. It was good to have Blake there because he was a good distraction for us and kept us entertained. He was SUCH a good boy the whole time. He definitely knew that something was going on. About 45 minutes into the surgery we got an update that the procedure was in process and that everything was going well. After about an hour and 20 minutes the doctor was able to come up and give us an update. This was a pleasant surprise, because we were told that the surgery would take at least 2 hours. Doctor said that everything went well and that she was in recovery.

We were able to go into the post-op recovery area after Livi woke up from the anesthesia. She looked so tiny in that bed…..BUT she looked way better than what I had prepared myself for. She had no traech…She had no breathing tube! She was pretty uncomfortable, but they were controlling her pain with morphine and Tylenol.

Post op, in her 1st ICU room

She was transferred up to the PICU unit for close observation. Ryan and I were able to sit with her in the PICU unit. Talk about an intense setting! She was on Oxygen to help her breath…she did a lot of sleeping for the first 8 hours. She would wake up in pain every once in awhile, but they were able to keep her comfortable with the medicine. She could not eat for the first 8 hours post op. After 8 hours we were able to try pedialite. They were nervous that she would not be able to swallow since the surgery was on her airway. They told us that there was a good possibility that they would need to insert a feeding tube…..NOPE!! Our little champ took the pedialite through a bottle and kept it down. After 3 more hours she tried formula and was able to do that as well!! GREAT NEWS.

Getting to hold my baby for the 1st time

View from our 1st PICU room w/ Olivia's sign that Child Family Life made her

At 11 pm we were transferred to a different PCIU room. It was a step down from where we were…but still ICU care. We actually had MUCH more room in this second room and it was much quieter. Livi had a good night. She had all of the nurses wrapped around her little finger in no time at all.

At 8 a.m. yesterday (1 day post op) the doctor came in to check her out. He was SO pleased to see how she was doing. Her breathing was already better. She was much quieter and it sounded less labored. She is still swollen, so it will get even better as the swelling goes down. He cleared us to move from ICU to the floor. We just had to wait until there was room for us.

Ry and his girl :)

At about 1:00 we were transferred to a new regular room. We spent one more night there. She had another good night…and they released us this a.m. We were able to leave at about noon. This was much sooner than we had originally planned for…and we could not be more thrilled.

Our nurse today told us that she was reading Olivia’s chart before she came in and thought…”oh no, this poor baby has been through so much, this is going to be tough”…she said that she knew that Liv would be very uncomfortable and in so much pain after an airway surgery at her age/size. BUT, she said that Liv re-wrote the book for infant airway surgery in her mind!! She was such a trooper. Liv was all smiles all of the time.

My parents brought Blake down to see us and to visit twice and that was great. Ryan’s mom drove down to see us twice as well. It was so nice to have some fresh faces there. Ryan and I were able to get a bite to eat when they were there…and get out of the room for a bit for a change of scenery.

We have to go back in 3-4 weeks for (potentially) another surgery. Doctor removed the mass in her throat, which was a cyst, and hopes that it will not return, but we will have to monitor that. In 3-4 weeks he will put her under again and go back in to see if there is more skin to remove from her throat area. The extra skin would be from the laryngomalacia that she has. This surgery would be much more common than the one that she had Friday. There is a slight possibility that she will not have to have anything else removed…but we wont know until he gets in there. He didn’t want to do it all at once for fear that the recovery would be to rough on her. It is sad that we have to go back and do this all again…BUT I think that it will be easier the next time, knowing that she took well to the anesthesia…and that she is such a tough girl!

Cozy in her second PICU room...

Trying to made her feel "at home"

My beautiful little girl...

We were very lucky with how things turned out. Things could have gone WAY worse…but we had the best outcomes that we could ask for. I know that it is because of all of the prayers that were being said…and the excellent care that we received from the medical staff. I cannot say enough good things about all of the doctors, nurses, and staff that were there! She still has the collapsing trachea and laryngomalacia…but will (hopefully) grow out of these as she gets bigger.

Sleeping sound in her third and final room...

Finally ready to go home :)

Being in the hospital there sure does make you thankful for what you have. We are so lucky to have two healthy happy babies! There are so many kids there that have such a long road to recovery.