A Week We Hope Never to Repeat

All right, I've already written this and it is much too long. 

Spoiler alert... here is the short version:
Paige has a cold
Shayne has a double ear infection
Madi has a hacking cough (and probably a sinus infection)
Kristen has a diseased gallbladder and needs a D&C because some placenta stuck around
Kevin has a sinus infection and bronchitis

Wahoo!  Don't you want to hang out with us?
 and surgery is Friday morning for Kristen.

Where to begin?...

This has been a bit of a rough period for our family... almost to the point of comedy.  But I am sincerely grateful now that I have been given the gift of optimism.

We begged to get ourselves out of the NICU and soon after that we all got sick... surprise :o)

The day we went home I went to the ER dying of a gallbladder attack but the stone passed or moved or whatever happens with those pesky things so I went home after wasting several hours there.

Then life settled for a few days.  We played with Grandma, life was perfect.  Then she went home.  That's when the terror began :o)

The colds started which is no big deal, everyone gets colds.  But then colds turned to sinus infections and ear infections and Kevin even has bronchitis. 

Saturday I had another rotten gallbladder attack but I didn't want to go to the hospital just to be sent home again so I fought through it at home for as long as I could but gave in as it peaked again after 6 hours.  I went into the ER again, this time the Doctor did an ultrasound and found a fat inflamed gallbladder full of stones.  The lab results also showed high billirubin levels (jaundice) and all the other things that indicate that there was stone blocking my bile duct.  But once again, the stone moved and pain stopped.  Because there wasn't immediate pain, they once again sent me home and told me to schedule surgery to have my gallbladder removed in the near future... oh, and come back if the pain starts again. 

Within a few hours it was back.  It wasn't as intense but the pain was increasing and now it was late at night so I didn't want Kevin to have to load the whole crew and take me.  I wanted to get into the ER before it got too bad to drive but when I knew it was going to hang around, I was tired of going in and the pain leaving.  The pain was bad enough I couldn't sleep but not so bad I was sure it wasn't just going to leave again.  I tinkered around the house for a while then drove to the hospital.  Surprise! I got there and the pain was less.  I hung out and tried to sleep in the car for a bit to see if it was real or not.  Eventually I checked in (by now it was Sunday morning) and the pain was pretty bad.  They decided to admit me for an ERCP where they put me under and sent a scope down my throat into my small intestine to find the bile duct and hopefully remove the stone.  Well, surprise surprise the stone was gone so now I just got to stay in the hospital for a day of monitoring.  But on the bright side a surgeon came to visit me during my stay and we got the surgery scheduled for Friday.

Kevin is my hero.  He had the kids and everyone survived.  In fact, everyone was even bathed and happy.  His new preceptor was also kind and let him come in late Monday as we waited for me to be discharged.  I got home just in time to scoop the kids up and go see Paige's surgeon.  It was a crazy day, but at least everything checked out well at the surgeons and Paige was up to a whopping 6 pounds.  That was the YAY of the day!

I wish that was the end of the story... this post is getting much to long, and so was our week.

Well, Tuesday I went in for my postpartum checkup (and the plot thickens)... turns out I need a D&C too.  My surgeon said it was simple and it could be combined with the cholecystectomy the problem was that he could only do it at the downtown hospital and I was scheduled at the one closer to us.  Well thank goodness for an amazing doctor who treated me like his own daughter and immediately got on the phone to find another surgeon and a time when they could both do the surgery.  There is a lot more to be said about that, but truly I am grateful for him and the surgeon that will be doing the gallbladder surgery.  The Lord watches over us and they found a time and the one slot that was open for surgery Friday.

This post is way too long, so I won't go into any more detail, but I just want to record here how grateful I am that we don't live somewhere rural, that I have an amazing husband that can handle a 4 year old, 2 year old and new baby (even through the night), a ward that is VERY on top of our needs and doctors that are really fantastic.  The situation may be less than ideal, but truly God is watching over our family.  That may sound strange, but with all the details and from my perspective I really do feel blessed and protected. 

Now I need to head to bed and try to rest before surgery in the morning. Oh, one more thing...

Don't feel like you need to say the right thing now, we really are okay.  Rough patch, but this experience has been empowering for our family and really brought Kevin and I closer than ever.  I'm grateful for the priesthood, an amazing husband and a Creator who knows my needs, my mind, my family and even my body.  No need to get too personal here, just wanted you all to know we are alive and this is why I haven't been returning phone calls :o)  Chaos will be under control soon... maybe :o)

Thanks for enduring the length of this post.  That just saved me a lot of time explaining it to everyone individually on the phone!

Wonderful Day!!!

Paige was released from the hospital this afternoon and we couldn't be happier!

To celebrate our sweet pumpkin coming home we had a pumpkin pie party.

There is more to say, but not tonight.  Thank you for all who have been praying for our family!  We have needed it and we have seen those prayers answered.  We love you!

1 Month

Paige turned one month old yesterday and of course she is as sweet as ever.  Not much has changed since the last post, but I couldn't skip the month post.  We're still just waiting for her to prove she can gain weight consistently so that we can go home.  This last week she had a poor start and lost weight from Saturday to Tuesday, then gained Wednesday, lost Thursday, gained Friday.  She is getting "fortified" breastmilk which just increases the calories in the breastmilk she has from bottles.  We started that on Tuesday and are increasing the calories even more today so hopefully we can see some consistency.  (For those who are interested, average breastmilk is 20 calories per ounce, we upped her to a 22 cal Neosure and today is a 24 calorie.)  Her system is just not quite mature enough yet to use her calories to grow, instead she uses them to keep warm, digest, grunt, hiccup and be cute.  Hopefully soon she'll be willing to eat more so she gets more calories naturally, and her system will be a little more efficient at digesting so she can just nurse and doesn't need the extras... but until then we are just trying to beef her up so we can go grow at home.  Overall she is doing great.  This is just a little waiting game we get to play to help us learn patience.  We love this girl.  We're beyond ready to be at home, but we are so grateful for the tender moments we have shared here.  The big kids (and their amazing Grandma) come back from Washington today and hopefully a visit from the kids to the hospital will convince Paige that she really wants to be home. We're crossing our fingers and saying our prayers.  And don't worry, we'll keep you posted when we head home... That will be a postworthy day!  Thank you for thinking of us and praying for Paige and our family... and for checking in through the blog.  

Almost 4 weeks

Miss Paige will be 4 weeks old tomorrow and here's the scoop.

Saturday Paige got to start nursing and also had her PICC line (like an IV) removed.  She is no longer on any medication or supplemental fluids. WooHoo!!

The only thing that stands between Paige and going home at this point is weight gain.  She has been teetering around the same weight or losing a little in the last few days and if she doesn't start gaining they will put the NG tube in her nose again to get more calories to her tummy.  Her current problem is that she is burning more calories than she is consuming so she needs to increase her efficiency and intake.  She's as cute as ever and we just can't wait to get her home so if you need a purpose for prayer you can keep praying for this sweet miracle.  It's such a joy to be with her and I feel so blessed that I have had so much time alone to snuggle Paige in the NICU but I miss my kids and I miss being home.  I'm grateful for competent care and a safe place for Paige to learn to thrive but I also miss home and family.  Her recovery has been amazing and much faster than anticipated by me or any medical professional and as a family we are tremendously grateful.  We are so grateful for her health and growth and speedy recovery... now we're just hoping her appetite and efficiency will improve. We're so proud of Paige and what a trooper she is!

3 Weeks

 Paige is 3 weeks old today and boy has she grown, changed, and done some amazing work! 

I am so behind so here is the update timeline... (mostly for my record)

Fri Sept 28 - X ray of belly shows she isn't quite ready for "food"

Mon Oct 1 - Re X ray of belly, still not quite ready

     (we're looking for air bubbles through the entire coarse of intestines)

W Oct 3 - Re re x ray of belly shows enough air that Dr decides to start Paige on 15 mls (1/2 ounce) of 

      Pedialyte every 3 hours to see if her tummy can process it - with the intent to move to half Pedialyte, half 

      breastmilk Friday

Th Oct 4 - Tummy is bloated so she continues on Pedialyte with no milk

F Oct 5 - Tummy looks better so she gets the go ahead for half and half (still 15 mls)- does great all day

Sat Oct 6 - Gets the go ahead for full strength breastmilk- does well most the day but then has a choking 

       incident so she gets demoted to half and half again

Sun Oct 7 - Half and half - does great

Mon Oct 8 - Full strength breastmilk and because she's been doing so well with her previous feeds and 

       taking over 95% by mouth they remove the NG tube!!

Tues Oct 9 - She tolerates so well they up her feeding to 20 mls of milk every 3 hours

Wed Oct 10 - Up to 25 mls

Our goal is 45 mls so she is making amazing progress.  There are still hurdles, but she is doing really, really well.  We are so proud of her and truly recognize her recovery as a miracle in our lives.

We love her!!!