big girl bed

Today little Kelly girl got to move to a big girl bed! Slowly but surely she is making progress. She does have to maintain her temperature in an open bed and so far she is doing good, partly because she gets held most of the day!

She is hard to see but yes, Kelly is in her bed right now!

The nurses have found some cute clothes for Kelly to wear. Fun to see her all dressed up and the hat just tops off the outfit. Sadly her outfit was very appropriate for today, as it was snowing here. 

 Kelly was pretty happy to see daddy tonight! Daddy may have been a little more happy to see his baby, he has missed his snuggle time with her. So tonight he is making up for lost time. And tomorrow the big girls are coming to see their sister again! Jennifer is pretty excited about getting to come see "her" baby but I am pretty excited about getting to see my bigger babies, I have missed them!

 Tomorrow morning Kelly will have a contrast study done to make sure everything is healing after surgery. If everything looks good we will get to start feeding her! So pray that all is healed and that when we start feedings all goes well. Also please continue to pray for the adoption part of this journey. Thanks for lifting our family up to our Father during these days.

the crazy mom

Another day is underway here at Children's Hospital. It is a cloudy, rainy day here. On a day like today what better is there to do than snuggle in with a sweet baby girl?
I began thinking this morning while I was riding the elevator that I wonder if I am the crazy mom of the NICU. We have been here almost a week now, that is crazy to think. And each day I get here before 8 and I don't leave until almost 11 each night. I basically stay until I can't keep my eyes open any longer. I leave to grab some lunch and again for supper but I am not gone long. Even if Kelly is just sleeping it is just good for me to just be in her room. Other parents are coming and going all day long but here I sit. Some babies have been here a while and their parents aren't here much, I wonder if some of them have to go to work or live farther away or have other kids to care for. The little girl in the room beside us has been here for seven weeks.  I heard her mom tell one of the nurses she had been work or school, I didn't get which. So I wonder have I become the crazy mom that won't leave! I suppose I don't really mind if I am. I don't really have any where else to go so I might as well be here, loving on my baby girl.  And I am thankful that I can just be here. I have an amazing husband who is caring for our big girls at home. He is trying to work while getting the girls were they need to be, get the laundry done, make meals, and just have things normal all while having his mind wonder what is happening with Kelly. And we have an amazing support system of family and friends who help us out at even given moment. All so I can be here. So I will continue to be the crazy mom for as long as we here.
In other news: Kelly had a little sponge bath today. And girlfriend hated it! Oh how she cried and cried. She has now been sleeping the afternoon away from all that crying. And we had been praying for her to poop as well. They did give her a little something to help her poop and it worked. She had two poopy diapers.

My goal was to take pictures while Kelly had her bath but I ended up helping with her bath and she was so mad about the whole thing I just couldn't take any! So here she is getting ready.

 What an ordeal! She got a new shirt on and was out. She has been sleeping since!

 There is a student with our nurse today and she wanted to take a picture of me with Kelly girl. So here we are hanging out!

another day down

Sorry for lagging behind on the updates. It is surprising how quickly the time passes when you aren't really doing anything. I guess I wouldn't say I'm not doing anything though, I have been spending lots of time snuggling with Kelly.
There is really no news to report as far as health issues go. Kelly has pooped a couple of times, which is really good. It means things are starting to work after surgery. For those of you interested in medical stuff, Kelly had Duodenal Atresia, or double bubble. Double bubble is much easier to say, ask me at any given moment and I will probably not be able to pronounce Duodenal Atresia the right way. Basically that means there was a block between her stomach and small bowel. If they do not fix it she cannot eat because she would just throw everything up. Kelly still has a suction tube in her mouth, which is sucking out junk from her stomach. We need that to lessen and become more clear in color before they will take that out. It is looking better tonight. Friday they will do a contrast studying on her to see if everything is working properly and they will decide if she can eat or not. The poor girl is starting to realizing she is hungry. She was sucking on the tube in her mouth today and frustrated nothing was happening. So medically we just find ourselves waiting, with the next few days probably just being the same.
On top of caring for a sick new baby we are also walking the adoption road. Yesterday I found myself simply exhausted, I had not done anything all day but just beat. I am realizing that there is just a lot happening with not only a sick baby but with adoption. So we just continue to take it day by day, or hour by hour sometimes, knowing that it will all work itself out.
Bill went home yesterday afternoon so the girls could have some normalcy in their lives. It is hard to have them almost five hours away while I am here. I don't like being away from my girls and I hate even more being away from my husband. But for a time this is just how it needs to be and there is a peace that comes with that.

Bill's mom came yesterday morning to see Kelly. (She was also Bill's ride back home!)

 In case you are wondering, this is not what this is suppose to look like. Kelly has a lot going on with tubes, iv's and leads she is hooked up to. After moving her from her bed to the chair and back to her bed, this is the mess I am left with. I just put the side up on the bed and let the nurses untangle it all.

 The nurse this morning decided that Kelly needed some clothes on so she found this cute little onesie for her to wear. Kelly was awake a lot more today, which was fun. She just trying to check everything out that was happening around her. 

After being awake for almost an hour the sweet girl needed a little rest. 

  It is getting late so I better spend a few more minutes snuggling with my sweet girl before calling it a night!

the journey

Adoption is a journey. Anyone how has gone through the process would probably say that. From start to finish, it is a journey. It is an exciting, happy, joyful journey but yet it is a hard, painful, emotional journey as well.
Yesterday Jennifer and Mikayla arrived to see their new sister. Jennifer could not have more excited. She wanted to love and hold her new sister. Even this morning Jennifer could not get here fast enough, she just wanted to hold Kelly. Mikayla on the other hand is very confused. She wanted nothing to do with Kelly. She did not want to get too close to her. And she didn't want a whole lot to do with me. When they walked in yesterday I was holding Kelly and I think she wondered what in the heck I was doing. Her sweet little heart and mind are processing a lot. But it is hard for me as her mom, especially when later in the day she wanted nothing to do with me. I have missed my girls horribly since Thursday and it was great to see them. But it was even harder this afternoon to say good-bye. Bill walked them down with my parents to the vehicle but I had to stay back, pretty sure I would have cried the whole way. I want to be here with Kelly, caring for her but yet I want to be at home too, giving my bigger girls some normalcy. My heart is torn in two. This is part of the journey. Part of the journey that we knew would be hard and difficult. This is part that I knew would bring tears to my eyes and keep my mind up at night. It is a part of the journey that we have to face and have to walk, taking it one step at a time. And in it ALL I know that God has us, all five of us, no matter where we are or who is caring for us, He has it ALL. And all though the journey is hard at times and breaks my heart in two, we would hate to not walk this journey because we know without a doubt that this is right where God wants us to be.

My mom took Jennifer to the store so she could pick out a gift for Kelly. She was so very excited to bring it to her. She of course opened it and then "showed" Kelly what she had brought. Very sweet to watch her excitement and joy of giving her sister a gift.

The one thing Jennifer had on her mind this morning was holding her sister. We got her all set up and snuggled in. It was pretty sweet. When I tried to move Kelly's head I was informed, "Go away mom, I got her." She is going to take great care of her sister!

 She kept kissing her forehead and whispering, "I loves you, I loves you." (Yes I wrote an "s" on the end of love, that is how she says and sorry to my friend Sara who does speech with her but I don't really want that to change any time soon!)

 This was about as close as Mikayla wanted to get. She just wanted Kelly in her bed to sleep. She did reach in and touch real quick.

 Bill, "Kayla do you want to see the baby?"

Kayla: "NOOOOOO!"

 We tried for a quick picture of the 3 girls together, not so much. Kayla wanted out of there as quickly as possible!

 The girls are on their way back to mama and papa's for the night. Tomorrow afternoon Bill will head home to spend the rest of the week with them. They need a little normalcy in this whole process. As for now Bill is snuggled in with Kelly just relaxing. Praying that soon enough we will all be home together and these days in our journey are just a memory.

Big sisters visit!

Today my parents brought Jennifer and Mikayla out to meet their little sister. Oh, Jennifer could not have been more excited! This morning Bill called my parents house and Jennifer happened to answer the phone, just helping mama out a little bit. She was so excited to talk to Bill and the first thing she told him was that she was coming to see her sister and she had a present for her!

We had to sign the girls in when they arrived, kids under 14 are not allowed in the NICU, unless they are siblings. So the girls got these cool stickers to wear, letting everyone know they were big sisters! 

 The second Jennifer walked into the room she was climbing onto my lap. She could not wait to see her sister! Oh how I loved it! The joy flowing out of this girl for her sister was so sweet.

 Mama even got a chance to love on Kelly a little bit. As you can see Jennifer is on the lap of however is holding her. She did get a little nervous when one of Kelly's medications was done and a machine starting beeping. But we told her what was happening and then she was good. She is worried about her little sister!

 Mikayla on the other hand was overwhelmed by the whole thing, which did not surprise us. There is a lot going on in that tiny room. And she has not seen us for a few days and when she does we have a little baby. I think her sweet little mind has no idea what is happening. She did not want to get to close to Kelly, this was the closest Bill was able to get her. She kept saying and signing "baby" and then pointing to her bed saying "sleep". She just isn't sure what to think of this baby yet. And Jennifer keeps telling her that Kelly is just "her" baby sister!

Our first picture as a family of 5!!!!!

 Kelly has had a good day! Expect for her little episode this morning when she thought she didn't need to breath for a second, she has done well! She does not want to keep her eyes open much so we try to capture  ever moment they are. Hoping in the next few days she wants to be awake a little more. Just had a text from Bill that Kelly is of course awake as he is getting ready to leave for the night, pretty much she may have just kept her daddy a little longer!

Friday Night and Saturday Morning

Friday Night
Kelly is out of surgery. The poor girl has had a long day. At about 1:30 we made the trek over to a different part of the hospital, where her surgery would take place. They took her back shortly after 2:00 and told us they would let us know when they got started. It took a while for them to get back to us. They were having a hard time getting an IV in and ended up putting a central line in her neck. Around 3:45 they came out and said they had just started surgery. Around 5:45 they came and said surgery was complete and all had gone well. The only part that didn't go well was the placing of an extra tube through her intestine that would have helped to speed recovery by feeding the intestine sooner. Not a major deal, but we'll have to wait until next Friday before they start any oral feeding. They also placed a G-Button (feeding tube) just in case she doesn't feed well, when we are finally able to start.

Saturday Morning
Kelly is doing great. They took her off the vent around 4:30 this morning and she hasn't required any extra oxygen. Her oxygen level is generally low, we believe because of the heart issue (VSD for you knowledgeable heart folks!!!). We won't know about anything about repairing the heart issue until Monday, when they run some more tests (Pray that if she requires surgery it is months down the road and not necessary in the next weeks!). They have taken her off the jaundice (hope that is spelled correctly) lights for now and Kristin is getting some snuggle time in.

On a little "road" trip to surgery. It was quite the journey. 

Just got back from surgery. What a rough day! (I know I look big, but I'm really only 5.13oz.) 

 

Hanging out in my cool sun glasses after surgery!

 I decided to stop breathing for a brief moment this morning, so my mom got to help me sit up and get a better tan on my face.

Smiling for my dad!!!!

Loving getting to hang out in my mom's arms!!!! 

The girls are on their way out this afternoon and we can't wait to see their reaction to Kelly. J is over the top excited about her new sister, and it will be fun to see what Kayla's response is. Thank you all for your prayers! Continue to pray that all the paper work goes smoothly.

off to surgery

This morning when we got the hospital Kelly girl was basking in the lights, getting a little tan!

 She is stylin' in her purple sunglasses.

Kelly was a little restless this morning. Which is very understandable, she has all kinds of wires coming out of her and she has had nothing to eat. Poor baby girl. She got to spend some time on her tummy which made her happy, for a while.

 We haven't gotten to see Kelly with her eyes a whole bunch, last night before we left we thought we were going to chance but she decided to go back to sleep. Of course in the middle of the night she was awake! Our night nurse was sweet enough to take a picture for us.

 And this afternoon Kelly's day got even busier. She was wheeled off to surgery. They had to "pack" her up and move to her to another part of the hospital for the surgery. We just got word that surgery started around 3:45. They had a hard time getting her iv's in, so that took a while. Surgery will be about two hours. We will up date later tonight after she is out of surgery and know how things go.

Thanks for praying for our sweet girl!