Happy Halloween

We're home just in time for Halloween!

It's been a whirlwind over the last few days but we are delighted to announce that we are home!  Josie's Impedance and PH Probe study did not show evidence of reflux and her swallow study did not show signs of aspiration.  Results notwithstanding, we were instructed to take precautions to avoid reflux.  Josie was also put on Zithromax which has many benefits that could help her lungs going forward.  We will honor our commitment to implement the strict winter quarantine and Josie will follow up with her pulmonologist in a month.  She still requires a small amount of oxygen when she sleeps so don't be surprised to see those little brown stickers on her cheeks designed to hold the cannula in place. 

In honor of Josie's first Halloween, we decided to model our pumpkin duds (thanks LC!) and do a photo shoot.  Why I ever thought I could get a baby and a dog to simultaneously cooperate is beyond me!  I guess this is why you don't see many dogs featured in Anne Geddes photos...

Synchronized yawns

Lillian needs a 10 minutes nap break

This would be cute if Lil wasn't sporting her best mug shot face

Josie benevolently offered to wear the hat so Lil could be off the hook

I'm exhausted and we haven't even began the Halloween costume photo shoot!  Something tells me Lilly will go on strike before the weekend is through.  Stay tuned! 

Josie is 7 months old today!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Josie update

Greetings!  Special thanks to everyone who voiced concern over my mom's hasty dip in the Mississippi.  As it turns out, my mom did take a bus trip with her fellow teacher friends, and there was shopping and eating involved.  However, she refutes the allegations that she joined the Polar Bear Club; contrary to prior claims issued by Aunt Leanne. 

Come on Mama Hop - live a little! 

On to the Josie update: Miss Thang is doing better day by day.  Her oxygen has been weaned down to 1/32 L, which is a negligible whiff.  She is in excellent spirits and is happily modeling her Halloween attire...

 ...while cuddling her get-well-aphant from Aunt Leanne.

Mama Hop, this one's for you:

 As the dietitian observed, "She's used to drowning in a sea of pink.  These Halloween colors are really throwing her off."

What the heck is going on with my feet?!  Someone get a doctor!

Right now we're working with pulmonology, cardiology, and gastroenterology to try and figure out the source of her repeated respiratory distress episodes.  It's far too complicated to get into, but if anyone has any experience with Atelectasis, please email me.  Let me take this opportunity to voice my sincere appreciation for the encouragement, insight, and prayers.

 Josie is getting stronger by the day.  She is so full of life and promise. 

The general consensus is that we just have to make it through this winter and then we can exhale.  We've made the decision to quarantine her until Spring with immediate family being her only visitors.  While it may seem like an extreme reaction, desperate times call for desperate measures and 3 hospitalizations in 3 months epitomizes desperate times.

No worries - Travis has assembled an arsenal of supplies for our self-imposed isolation:

...and that's just my share.  It should get me through next week. 

Just in case you haven't had your daily dose of cuteness, check it out:

An Email of Encouragement from Aunt Leanne

Josie (Catfish with Ketchup) was the recipient of another one of Aunt Leanne's famous emails this morning...

dear josie catfish ketchup



glad you are feel


bettter


praying for you


mom trip to jump river


mom road on the bus


and eating


shoping


stay at


stephaniie


we


had fun


saturday


lunch two pancake buutter sryup


bacon


last night pizza vegetbalbe


and orange juice



sunday make the bed gott


dress


take medcine tyorond


e viatuins


and choesrtoll pills


love lleanne

 
 
Hmmm...I'm kind of confused as to why my sister stayed at her friend Stephanie's house while my mom took a bus trip to jump in the river.  I better go call and check on her.
 
More on Josie later!   

Farewell PICU

Someone woke up on the right side of the PICU crib this morning.  Josie must have had her Wheaties because she was chipper and raring to go!  While we waited for the doctors to round, Josie decided to show Nurse DeeAnn how well she can sit up. 

You can see how much heartier she's become.  That extra reserve has really helped her fight this time around and we are so glad!

Woo Hoo!  Look at me!!!!!

Rounds brought good news: Josie's chest x-ray had improved overnight and she received clearance to leave the PICU in favor of the regular pediatric floor. Josie packed up her things and we were off!

Adios PICU!  Good luck to the other kiddos! 

And just like all the other patients you see being wheeled through the halls of the hospital, Josie had her legs in the air.  Everyone knows that's the most comfortable way to travel.  Actually, I tried it and I do not recommend it unless you're chromosomally enhanced or Mary Lou Retton circa 1984.  My hip still hurts...

What?  It's comfortable!

We greeted Nurse Tracy who was Josie's nurse the night she got sent up to the PICU.  Tracy was so delighted to see Josie doing better.  She checked Josie's vitals, weighed her (12 lbs, 7 oz), changed her clothes and gave her to her Mama for a nice, long cuddle.

 With all that activity, it was time to settle in sprawl out for a peaceful slumber. 

Goodnight Baby Wonder. Here's hoping tomorrow brings even more strength and recovery!

Breathing Easier

While her chest x-ray remains unchanged from yesterday, her sensational saturations tell a different story.  Therefore Josie was able to graduate from the high-flow cannula...

 ...to a regular cannula today!  Miss Super Sensitive Skin has the bright red welts on her face from the tape removal compliments of Nick ("Black Olives"), the RT.  But he inquired about Aunt Leanne so we'll let it slide. 

While Josie screamed (and held her breath) all the way through the tape removal, she was 100% sunshine and smiles when it was over. 

 We are so proud of her progress and we are hopeful that we can leave the PICU soon.

 She has received superb care from some of her old friends, namely Nurse Juliana who loves Josie like she's her own.  We are extremely grateful that Josie has so many caregivers here in the PICU who are cheering her on and doing their best to make her well again.  Even nurses that are not assigned to Josie come in to dote on her. 

Sweet Dreams Jelly Bean!  We pray that you wake up to clear, healthy lungs!

One Tough Tot

No more CPAP!  Woo Hoo!  Josie traded it in for a high-flow cannula which is much easier to tolerate.  Things are improving and Josie was definitely more content today.

Having sassy red toenails to stare at when she kicks her legs into the air always helps to lift a girl's spirits! 

 Being CPAP free allowed Josie the freedom to to practice her "skills and abilities" but all that sitting up, reaching for toys, and shaking rattles is exhausting. We need this tough tot to get her rest so she can continue to recover. 

Goodnight Little Lollipop.  You make us so proud!

Another Hospital Visit

I hate writing posts on this subject but last night Josie was admitted to the hospital with breathing difficulties.  Our little bald cherub was requiring more and more oxygen to maintain her saturation levels and she had developed a pretty severe retraction in her chest.  In other words, she was working really hard to breathe and not really succeeding. 

Her chest x-ray showed cloudiness in her lungs, particularly her right lung.  At 4am this morning, the doctors concluded that the high-flow nasal cannula was not cutting it anymore and they moved her up to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and put her on CPAP. 

Later this morning, she seemed to be quite spirited and active.  During rounds, we learned that her chest x-ray had improved overnight and they decided to wean her CPAP a little bit.  As the day progressed, she appeared to be on the mend.  She was maintaining her oxygen saturations as the CPAP was gradually turned down.  She proceeded to showcase her chromosomally enhanced flexibility. 

 Despite the short supply of smiles (hey - would you smile with that tube shoved down your snout?!), we concluded that her acrobatics meant that she was hanging in there and showing us there's certainly a fight in her!

 If she continues to recover - and let's pray REALLY hard that she does - she may be able to go back to the high-flow nasal cannula tomorrow.  While we're still awaiting results from her lab cultures, the physicians have told us that this is likely another respiratory virus - perhaps something as simple as a cold.  The problem is that a minor illness that would give the average kid the sniffles, just steamrolls sweet little Josie. 

Prayers are certainly appreciated as are suggestions for how to avoid germs during cold and flu season.  Travis actually asked the doctor if we could get her fitted for a bubble!  So if anyone knows any good bubble merchants, please let us know! 

The best part of my day

7am - Josie's food pump lets out the most shrill beep when it's done administering the continuous overnight drip.  It makes the pulse ox alarm sound like Mozart's most eloquent concerto in comparison.  I stumble into the kitchen, searching for three syringes and I fill one with Lasix, another with Prilosec, and a third with water.  I stare longingly at my Keurig knowing that it will have to wait, because I am a mother now and the baby comes first.  I think about that first morning diaper that frequently requires an immediate bath and the pajamas and sheets that may require immediate laundering (the joys of Lasix).  The cup of coffee will have to wait a little longer.  Then I see this face...

...and I can't wait to do it again tomorrow.

Wisdom teeth and birthdays - the conclusion

Sorry it's been so long since a new blog post appeared.  The wisdom teeth removal was a huge success with minimal discomfort.  As the anesthesia was wearing off, several people were the lucky recipients of drug-induced text messages like this:

I am done!  Leanne & Travis are pharmacy getting medications.  I am on car.  Travis wouldn't let em going in on account of I can't walk.

 Next time I go under, somebody take my phone away from me!  Overall, the recovery was wonderful.  In fact, it was almost like a vacation; I laid around while Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne did the laundry...

...Made the beds...

(Bed made by Aunt Leanne.  When she doesn't know where the pillows go, she throws them anywhere -in the closet, under the bed...wherever!)

...and most importantly, they took excellent care of Josephine Leanne!

There was lots of girl time.  Here's Leanne getting ready for her pedicure:

Aren't these the cutest toes you've ever seen?!

We even enjoyed the beautiful weather with a trip to the park!

Leanne ballet danced all the way home!

Overall, we had a wonderful time!  Travis, Josie, and I cannot begin to express our appreciation to Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne for being so helpful and for keeping this household running!

This is the soft launch of our campaign to convince them to move closer to us...like down the block.

On Friday night we celebrated the birth of this handsome young man by driving around to several local restaurants before finally settling on his favorite pizza place this side of the Mason-Dixon...

Hey, he's a Libra.  We're notoriously indecisive creatures! 

Happy Birthday, Travis.  I love you!

Update by Aunt Leanne

Leanne blogging

hy leanne
this mornng
pull theeth
canit pull theeth sister
becase  for  breakfast
ice cream vallllana
so came home
try again
tororrow
no food
no liould drinks
no eat
sister starveng

love
leanne cheesebugerhead

In summary, because I had ONE bite of ice cream this morning, the oral surgeon refused to put me under to remove my wisdom teeth. So, she sent me home with my tail between my legs.  We will try again tomorrow but as Leanne stated above, there will be absolutely NO food (aside from the egg on my face), liquid drinks, or eating whatsoever.  Essentially, "sister starving". 

Leanne demonstrating the dental drill before we go in for our appointment

Other highlights of today include when we were on our way to the oral surgeon's office, we passed a Starbucks...
Leanne: Ooh Starbucks!
Travis: Yes, but we're not going to stop right now because Elizabeth can't have anything to eat or drink before surgery.
Leanne: I have an idea; sister can't have anything to eat or drink but I can! 

We had to laugh...

This afternoon when we were pulling OUT of the car wash, Leanne announces "I'm all wet!"  Her window had been open the entire time but she waited until after we were done to tell me about it.  Wonderful!

Thanks to my little ice cream slip up this morning, we'll have at least one more day of Aunt Leanne's antics.  You're welcome :-) 

Birthday Fun Compliments of Mama Hop & Aunt Leanne

We're winding down from a fun-filled weekend.  On Saturday, we got to bask in YaYa's infinite smile and infectious laugh when we met for lunch and shopping.  I'm just kicking myself because I brought the camera but forgot to get it out of the trunk.  Ugh!  Take my word for it, we had a sensational day with YaYa. 

You'll never believe who showed up at our door today...

My big sister!

Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne were kind enough to make a special trip to our house to spend a few days caring for Josie while I recover from my dreaded wisdom teeth removal tomorrow.  Even though the procedure is going to be a drag, we look forward to any excuse to reunite this crazy bunch.

Mama Hop brought Josie her first pumpkin to celebrate fall.

Speaking of celebrations, we are celebrating a couple of birthdays this week.  Mine is today (10-10-10 - good times!) and Travis' is Friday.  Libra love, baby!  As previously mentioned, Mama Hop enjoys a good birthday celebration and she and Leanne came prepared to host an extravaganza complete with balloons, cake, and gifts. 

Notice the little white fluff ball just dying to get in on the action...

Just in case you'd care to take a glimpse into our chaotic merriment around here, I took a little video footage this afternoon.  Notice how benevolently Leanne serenades me.  But in fulfillment of a fundamental sibling duty, she ensures I don't get too carried away on my birthday high horse...

 

Happy Birthday you Wolfman Ogress!  Now get in the kitchen and make me a snack.

Imagine the thrill I experienced as I realized that I share my birthday with a well-known superstar whose charm and pizazz has illuminated the lives of everyone she encounters: PUDGE!  I am humbled to be in such esteemed company.  Happy Birthday, LC.  Today we celebrate YOU!