Sunday, March 30, 2008

Easter Pictures

The Lord blessed us with a wonderful homecoming gift. About a month ago our night nursing hours were cut, making it difficult to get a full night's sleep when we had a night nurse. Well, He must have know just how exhausted we were because Monday night we found out we were going to be getting our hours reinstated and now sleep is a reality. We are finally catching up and I must say that sleep is wonderful, and God Is So Good.
It has taken a few days to get our routine back but we are now in the groove of being home so I can get blogging again. When we got home from the hospital the Easter Bunny had visited and left a little basket for Emma. Here are a few pictures of Emma and her Eggs. She has learned to open them and loves to find little prizes inside. Of course the little prizes are for Mommy & Daddy since she doesn't eat candy.
Look What I Found...
Bug Eyes...or.. are they Egg Eyes?
What a Silly Girl.

Just keep Smiling..

Sunday, March 23, 2008

It's Great to be HOME!!!

Yes we are home. Emma was ready to be discharged yesterday but came down with croup. She sounded like a baby seal, so her Doctor had us stay last night just to be safe. She came in early to check up on Emma this morning and was pleased to see she had improved since the day before. We got our discharge papers and came home. Emma, Mommy & Daddy are all so happy to be home together again. This was an incredibly long 2 weeks but it was a wonderful Easter present to be home as a family. We are so thankful for Christ's sacrifice for us and for helping Emma recover from being so sick. Emma is still trying to regain her strength and is slowly improving her stamina. Being sick was very hard on her this time. When we got home she smiled and lounged on the couch before taking a nap with Mommy and Daddy. Yes, being home is wonderful. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support through this last hospital stay and always. We were comforted in knowing we were thought of and prayed for.


Let me out of my cage...
I feel better I promise!


Sittin' pretty in her crib with her piggy tails


Emma really took to holding onto the rails of her crib and asking to get "up!"

Looking out the window wanting to go outside, at least the sun was shining in the room and warming our hearts.

Ok, No more pictures Please, Mommy. The Paparazzi must go...

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day From the Hospital Leprechaun

Well today marked yet another holiday that we celebrated with Emma in the hospital. Weeks ago we purchased a St.Patty's Day dress for Emma to wear today so, since she was up for a bath we dressed her in her shamrock dress and danced the jig. (just kidding about the jig part, though she did smile for the camera) Last night we were transferred to the pediatric floor, which is a positive step towards home. So far the doctors still don't know what caused Emma to be so sick and we may never know, which is very frustrating. Today her feeds have been increased with the hopes of getting her closer to her home regiment. She has tolerated the change so far and hopefully she will continue to tolerate the increase tomorrow. Emma's next hurdle will be to come off the oxygen that she is requiring during the day before we can go home. She normally needs it at night and may continue to for a while. All in all it has been a very hard and tiring 8 days, but the light of home is coming closer. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.




Saturday, March 15, 2008

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

Sorry about the delay in update, but there has not been much to report on Emma as of late. The Doctors still don't know exactly what is making Emma sick. More tests have been run to gather more information and try to put more pieces to the "Emma Puzzle" together. She has been very irritable and agitated over the last couple of days; which is an improvement because this means she has been awake more through out the day time. Her temp has been close to normal since yesterday, only having 2-3 spikes in temp since then. They are usually at night or early morning which is causing her to be uncomfortable and not sleep as well as she needs to. Because of this, she was given Chloral Hydrate which takes the edge off and relaxes her, so she can get good healing rest. It acts a bit like Benadryl and Tylenol together. Her feeds were started again yesterday but she is slow to tolerate them because her gut hasn’t been pushed to work since we got to the hospital a week ago. It is very hard to see Emma this way. I feel so helpless, especially when she feels so sick and grumpy and all I can do is be patient and love on her. I just wish she was healthy again and we could get back to living life and having fun together as a family. We are still in the PICU and don’t know when we’ll get to go home. We (Emma & I) have really missed Daddy, as he has been home sick and has had to stay away to get well ans prevent any further trouble for Emma. Thank you again for your prayers and kind thoughts. You all are such wonderful support.


Below are a few pictures of Emma and some of her visitors.



Emma is half watching her DVD player and half Sleeping...

She is quite talented, as when I would try to move the DVD player thinking she was asleep she would grab my hand to keep the DVD player there.

Silly Girl....




Emma getting loves from Grandma Julie



Reading Curious George with Nana




A Visit from Coco, a pet therapy dog...


Oh what fun, one of Emma's first smiles in a couple of days.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

3/12/08

The Infectious Disease Doctor came in today to see Emma. After looking at the test results, he changed her antibiotics again and is hoping for an improvement within the next 48 hours. It is now a possibility that she could have a pneumonia type infection. So, hopefully she will improve with these new meds. If no improvement is made then the antibiotics will be stopped so we can get a culture that has not been treated with antibiotics to see if anything else shows up. Yesterday she had an echo cardiogram and it showed no infection of Emma's heart valves which is a huge blessing because that could have the potential to be life threatening. Praise God that Emma's heart is doing well through all of this. She continues to spike fevers close to 103 degrees so she is getting Tylenol and Motrin around the clock. Emma is still exhausted and is sleeping about 19-20 hours a day right now. We have been reassured by Emma's doctor that he is seeing small improvements and is looking into other treatments to continue to help Emma heal from this. We thank you for your prayers and hope that Emma recovers soon.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

3/11/08

Today the doctors are running more tests on Emma. They are a bit concerned and consulting infectious disease. She is having an echo, trach cultures, blood cultures, and some other things. Despite being on Tylenol and Motrin around the clock, she is still spiking temps up to 104. Hopefully they will be able to figure out what is going on soon.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Update for Monday 3/10/08

Emma is still not feeling well. This morning her fever spiked up to 104.2 again and we were able to bring it down with cool wet rags and a lukewarm bath. At this point it looks like she has a bacterial infection, but we don't know much else. We will be in the PICU until at least tomorrow and then possibly get transferred to the Peds Floor. Emma has been sleeping a lot and continues to have a horrible cough. It is hard to see Emma so miserable after she was doing so well. Thankfully, Grandma Julie was able to spend the night with Emma at the hospital so Mommy could get some rest. We were also pleasantly surprised to come home to a clean house as Nana and Papa straightened up our house and did some laundry while we were gone. We are so thankful for our parents.

Emma resting on Mommy in the PICU

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Last Night and EARLY This Morning...

After a great week, Emma suddenly had a turn for the worse last night. While checking on her before we went to bed, we discovered she was running a temperature of 101.8 degrees. We gave her Tylenol and brought her into our room so we could keep a close eye on her; after she started vomiting and was having a bit of trouble catching her breath. The night was very rough as she was having more and more trouble breathing and keeping her oxygen levels above 90 with the support of 100% oxygen (she normally sats 98-100 when she is healthy). Her fever spiked to 105.7 degrees and we did our best to bring it down with cold wet rags, without much success. After reaching the on call Doctor at CHOC at Mission, the decision was made to call 911 and transport Emma via ambulance. She was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, where they ran a bunch of tests. She is still consistently running a temperature over 100 degrees and has been given Tylenol & Motrin to try to bring it down and help her discomfort. So far the only thing we know is that her white blood count is elevated and that she is pretty sick. She is requiring oxygen support and IV fluids. We are waiting for additional test results to come back. We are bracing ourselves for an extended stay. Please keep her and us in your prayers as we wait on the Lord to give the Doctors and Nurses the wisdom to heal our little girl again.

The Week Leading Up To Yesterday

This week we had some fun activities. First we went to Nana & Papa's house so Emma could practice her walking skills with her physical therapist, but she ended up taking a leisurely bath in Nana's sink. Oh what fun...


Emma loves playing in the water

Lounging in the sink
Next we bought bikes and a trailer so we could get out and enjoy the bike trails as a family. This has been so great for us as we not only spend time together and getting exercise, but we will eventually save money on gas...as Daddy now rides his bike to work every day

Emma loves sharing her new trailer with her pal Pooh Bear...


Here We GO!

Yesterday we went on a nice bike ride to the lake to feed the ducks. The weather was warm and breezy as we enjoyed being out side. Our bikes have become the best investment for our family because we can actually get out of the house with out being in crowds of people. Sitting by the lake watching the ducks


Eskimo Kisses


A family photo before riding back home