November

I can't believe it is November!  Tomorrow it is forecasted to be the first big snowstorm.  I kind of hope it snows...it is so pretty.
Not much has been happening around our house which for us, is good news!  Evelyn is now 18 months and really moving around.  She isn't walking yet but she is pulling herself up and cruising around the coffee table and other furniture.  We go to Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy about once a month and I always leave kind of mad and discouraged.  We just had an appointment on Thursday and Wally was able to come with.  I was glad for that because I always complain and I don't think he knew/understood why.  He was able to see at the appointment why they are so tough for me - they are always in her face!  She is stubborn (nothing wrong with that!) and will do it in her own time.  For instance, they have a small set of stairs and they place a toy on the top stair.  What she is supposed to do is climb the stairs and get the toy.  My Evelyn is much smarter than that!  She scoots on her butt around to the back of the steps, reaches up and grabs the toy!  She is too cute!  I think we will continue through the rest of the year and then maybe quit after that.
Evelyn was just approved for Synagis (RSV vaccine for little kids that get sick easier) for the second year in a row.  We were grateful for that!  We will have a nurse come out once a month to give her the shot.  It will start sometime this month (hopefully next week).
That is about all from us....I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!! 

Helmet Therapy

On Wednesday we had an appointment for Evelyn to look at helmet therapy because of her flat back of her head.  I wrote about it in her Caringbridge page for today (see first post for web address). 
Tomorrow we are off to the Twins game.  We are very excited! 
We are also looking for a new bed.  The one we have is way to firm for me and I am having back issues so I think we need to take the plunge and buy a nicer bed.  The one we looked at tonight is nice and each side is different.  We may go in tomorrow and buy it - we will see.
I am traveling a lot more for work right now.  I don't really like that but not much I can do.  Hopefully it doesn't last to long (it shouldn't).  We are going to Austin, MN which is a pretty boring town. 
Not much more going on in our household.  That is definitely a good thing!

Vacation!!!

So far we've had a wonderful family vacation.  It is really the very first one Evelyn's had with just mom and dad.  We started on Friday at Grand Rapids.  We left Friday morning driving through St Cloud, Brainerd, eating lunch in Cross Lake (somewhere mom used to spend lots of time!) and up to Grand Rapids.  We checked into our hotel and decided to drive around a bit to look for somewhere to walk.  We drove to Coleraine which is where my (Amanda's) grandfather grew up and found a little park.  It was windy and cold so we headed back to the hotel and had dinner, baths and bed.  The bathroom was amazing at this hotel!  A huge jetted soaking tub and a huge shower!  I loved it!  The next morning Evelyn thought it would be fun to get up at 4:30 - the rest of us weren't as happy but ended up finally getting out of bed at 6.  We showered, got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast.  We were done by 8am and drove around some more and headed to the Judy Garland museum and the Children's Discovery museum.  It was lots of fun!  This is where we found out how much Evelyn likes to play with toy cars and trains...she even makes lots of noises while she plays.  We had some lunch at Zorbaz and then back to the hotel for nap time - and yes, all of us took a nap.  After naps were done, we got dressed in our swimming suits and headed to the pool.  There was a nice kiddy pool for Evelyn and a big water slide for Wally!  We only swam for a little bit and then got dressed and headed out to Sugar Lake Resort for some very good food right on the golf course and lake!  It was beautiful!!  Then it was back to the hotel and bed.  The next morning (today) we woke up in Grand Rapids and headed to Duluth where I was born.  We had lunch at The Blackwoods and went to our hotel.  We decided to walk along the lake a little and go to some shops.  One of those shops was a toy store.  We went in and found a table with toy trains on it.  I got Evelyn out of her stroller and let her stand at the table and play.  She fell on her butt and then pulled herself up!!  We have been trying to teach that to her for so long!!  How exciting!  She was able to do that quite a few more times to.  We had dinner at Grandma's and then back to the hotel for baths and bed.  Evelyn is sleeping soundly in her playpen as I type this.  She is certainly tired tonight!

So that is our weekend so far.  We head home tomorrow.  Wednesday is her appointment at the orthotics for the helmet therapy and then Saturday we go to a Twins game!  We are really looking forward to that!

I hate fevers!

Evelyn has been sick the last few days.  It started Thursday when I noticed she was tired but I knew her molar was coming in so I didn't freak out.  Thursday night she had a low-grade fever so we gave her some ibuprofen and hoped for the best.  She seemed ok Friday morning so I gave her some more ibuprofen and sent her to daycare expecting to get a call to come and get her.  Her fever ended up going up so Wally picked her up.  I had called her doctor earlier to discuss the helmet therapy that the ENT thinks we should do so I mentioned the fever to the nurse and she said bring her in right away.  Wally did that and they did a chest xray, blood test, strep test and UTI test - all came back negative so she has a virus.  Her fever is up and down and she is super tired.  I hope she wakes up tomorrow all better!
As for the helmet therapy....her doctor recommended we do it.  He had a point in that we should try and do everything we can for her when we have the opportunity - in a year it will no longer work (helmet therapy is when the child wears a cap to try and reshape her head.  Since she was in the NICU so long laying on her back, her head is very flat in the back).  We have the first appointment September 1st.
We are planning to head up to Grand Rapids this weekend!  I can't wait!  It has been quite a long time - 21 years to be exact - since I have been there.  They have a Judy Garland museum that I can't wait to visit.  It will also be so nice to go somewhere and not worry about work or the house or the dogs - just Wally, Evelyn and I!  I still have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that we won't get to go because Evelyn is still sick - hopefully I am wrong!

It's been a while!

I think tons has happened since I last posted.  If I remember correctly (I suppose I could look it up!), it was just before Evelyn's first birthday and we had her party coming up soon.  Nothing could have gone more opposite then that.  Evelyn ended up in the hospital on her birthday and was there for 2 nights with respiratory distress.  Her party was supposed to be the Saturday after her birthday so we ended up cancelling that to - I was also sick so that would have been a tough party to host!  The March of Dimes Walk was supposed to be the day after her party and we decided to not go to that also. 
Health-wise - Evelyn has been getting much better!  She had tubes put in at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis June 8th.  That made a worlds of difference!  All of a sudden no runny nose, no respiratory problems at all!  She was diagnosed with pneumonia just a week before her surgery.  She was able to kick that to the curb and still have surgery.  The latest and greatest with Evelyn is during the ENT follow-up appointment I mentioned her head was tilting to the side.  I was concerned there was something more wrong and the doc thought so to so Evelyn had a head CT scan.  The concern was the skull bones were fussing together to quickly.  Thank god that is not the case although now the ENT thinks we should look into having Evelyn wear a cap on her head to reshape her head (very flat head in the back).  We aren't too inclined to jump to this so we will see the doctor and what they say but may not go that route.
For Evelyn's birthday party we ended up doing a two years home from the NICU party on June 19, 2010 instead.  She got tons of presents and had a great time!  We also did do the March of Dimes walk in Marshall, MN with some friends.  It was lots of fun!
Now we are just realizing how quickly the summer is going!  Evelyn is really into feeding herself now and loves Chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, cheese, ice cream, milk, roast beef - just about anything but doesn't seem to love fruit yet.
I hope I can start doing a better job keeping up with this.  I have been writing lots in Evelyn's Caringbridge page just because of all the medical stuff.

Evelyn is sick...

Today we ended up taking her into the doctor because she really wasn't feeling good.  I just love doctor Swanson - he always takes my concerns seriously - or maybe because she is always so sick.....  He is concerned because she keeps getting sick with respiratory problems.  He wants us to see the pulminologist again ASAP so we are going Monday at 1 pm.  I am so glad this doctor come to Willmar once a month.
Tomorrow is Evelyn's first birthday!  I will post some photos then!

One year ago today....I was sitting in my hospital bed anticipating the birth of my first born.  I was excited, nervous, scared and lots of other emotions.  Earlier that day the nurse took out my IV and allowed me to walk around.  Wally and I took off and went to a restaurant down the street.  It had been the first time I had left hospital grounds in almost 3 weeks!  It was weird because just 2 days earlier the C-Section had been scheduled but since her head was down we decided to do an induction.  I was so glad because I was so nervous for the C-Section.  I almost felt at peace when the second C-Section was scheduled April 20.  It was like I knew I needed to keep her for just 3 more days.  Life is full of what-if's and this is one of the big ones for me.  Everything happens for a reason....

Fever and birthday

It has been quite a weekend here.  Saturday while Wally worked Evelyn and I went to Sheri's studio to have her first year pictures taken with a cake.  Turns out Evelyn was not in the mood to have her picture taken and cried the entire time - a first at Sheri's Studio!  We will see in a few days how they turned out.
Evelyn was certainly crabby Saturday and once we got home and I realized how warm she was I figured it out.  She had a temp of 102.  I kind of freaked out and decided we needed to go to urgent care.  The doctor at the urgent care seemed nice but not really concerned at all.  Apparently a fever of 102 that just started that day isn't a big deal.  We went home and I tried to remain calm and rational but still called the ask a nurse at about 11:30 Saturday night because I was still nervous.  The nurse ended up making me mad because she told me things I have already heard before (I frequently call the Ask a Nurse line) and managed to calm down a little.  I brought Evelyn into bed with us and kind of slept all night.  Wally, on the other hand, slept all night so when she woke up at 6:15 am I told him it was his turn and I slept until 9am.
Throughout the day Sunday she kind of got better.  Her temp was more normal after I would give her Motrin but then it would spike again.  Her breathing got kind of funny to so I started prednisone and we had already started the pulmicort and albuterol nebs 4 times a day.  She napped ok this afternoon and then totally passed out at about 8:30 tonight.  She is now sleeping but has whinned a few times.  Wally gets to stay up with her tonight. 
Evelyn's first birthday is on Tuesday!  I can't believe how big she is getting!  It is so much fun to have an active little girl.  I am sure I will post some pictures on Tuesday of Evelyn in her special birthday shirt.  Her party is this Saturday at my dads and stepmoms and then the March of Dimes walk is on Sunday.  We have so much going on this coming up weekend.  It should be fun though. 

Weekend!

I just wonder why I spend the whole week waiting for the weekend....  Now that it is almost here I am so glad to have a chance to relax a little before our lives get very busy.
Our plans this weekend are fairly simple - the only thing we have planned is to get Evelyn's first year pictures done destroying a cake!  I have always wanted to do this for her birthday so I am going for it.  Unforteanetly Wally has to work Saturday morning so he can't come with but we will have plenty of pictures for him to look at.
Evelyn's first birthday is Tuesday!  We are having a birthday party for her at my Dad and Stepmoms house in the Twin Cities on the 24th.  I sent out 30 invites but have only had a few people RSVP.  It makes me sad that it seems like not many want to come to such a wonderful day for Evelyn. 
The 25th is the March of Dimes walk.  We look forward to doing this since it affects Evelyn so much.  I hope we run into some people we met at the NICU while we are there. 

I love Saturdays!

Today we had a busy day.  We desperetly need new windows in our house.  The windows are rotting and thre is actually mold growing up the glass.  Pretty gross.  We had a friend of my dads out to our house this morning to measure them and give us a quote.  He is very reasonable and told us what windows to order so we have started to look for new windows.  I hope in 3 weeks we will be on our way to new windows!  We have a great view of a lake and a golf course so new windows should make the view that much better! 

We also ordered the new pictures we just had taken a few weeks ago.  I can't wait until we get them back!  Next Saturday we have Evelyn's 1 year birthday cake pictures done.  That will be so much fun!

It is late but our dinner is almost done.  I have decided to make a Fall-like dinner - roasted chicken with mushroom/leek stuffing and apple crisp for dessert - because the dessert has apples it makes it more healthy, right?

Evelyn's birthday party is in 2 weeks!  I can't wait.  The next day will be the March of Dimes walk.  I am hoping for nice weather just like we had today.

Windows!!

We have made the decision to buy new windows for our house but for some reason we are struggling to get someone to come out and measure.  I am getting so frusterated!  I think we have someone to put them in but getting them is another story.  We have had 3 different companies bail on us - I just don't get it.  They don't show up, don't call, don't get how much money they could make on 8 large windows and a patio door!!

I am looking forward to the weekend!!  It looks like it will be so nice outside!  I am so excited to be finished with this cold weather.

Sorry for the boring post - not much happens during the week for us unless there is a doctors appointment.

Forgot to add....

Having a baby in the NICU means you are constantly wondering and worrying about weight.  We still are - almost a year later!  At the doctor today her weight was 15 lbs 10 oz and 26 1/2 inches!  She is getting so big!!  Yeah!!  She is on the 'Evelyn Curve' for weight and height.  She isn't on the charts for her age but she is still growing on her own growth curve which is just fine with us.

Good night...time for me to head to bed.

Bloggin....

I never thought I would get into blogging but now that Evelyn is almost a year old and not having so many health problems I thought I would start this and stop the Caringbridge site (see http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/eveylngracetitus).

Today was a great day! Evelyn was scheduled for surgery on Monday to have tubes put in at the hospital in Minneapolis but since her ears look good and she hasn't been sick we aren't going to do tubes!! We may need to in the future but for now we are good to go!

Evelyn's first real family gathering was this past weekend. She was with my moms side of the family and seemed to have a good time. She doesn't get out to much so meeting all of these new people must be interesting for her. She really seems to like attention (who doesn't)!.

Evelyn will be 1 in 2 weeks! Wow has time flown by! A year ago I was in the hospital on bedrest going CRAZY! I thought while I layed in the hospital bed I could get all this work done - didn't happen - I watched lots of TV and played on the internet a lot. I also had a lot of family visit which was so nice - I can't thank them enough for that (or for all the food they brought in - hospital food sucks!). As I look back at this time a year ago, I was more scared then I ever remember feeling. I didn't know if I would have a baby to take home. It drove me crazy that the doctors couldn't tell me anything much of the time but what they did for us saved Evelyn's life. Thank god for that!! I remember laying in bed wondering what life would be like with our new baby - when could we take her home and how would her health be. I don't think these are thoughts by most parents out there. I have read that having a preemie is like losing a child. I don't know what losing a child is like but I can believe this to be true. Everything that I had dreamed and wished didn't happen the way I had hoped. Instead of working up to my due date I was scheduled to start work the week after my maternity leave, instead of taking my time picking out the nursery colors I had to hurry and ended up with a weird green color, instead of being in the hospital for just a few days I was in the hospital for 2 weeks and Evelyn was in for 9 weeks. Visiting Evelyn in the hospital was frightening to....each time I would arrive at the hospital and say a quick prayer that she would be ok when I walked in the door. There were other babies around us that would be all ready to go home and then would get pneumonia or something else that would keep them in the hospital. I was so scared that would happen to us! It was such a stressful time that I ended up not taking care of myself spending 9+ hours there a day, 7 days a week! I would get back to where I was staying at night and crash just to get up the next morning and do it all again. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving Evelyn alone in that hospital. In the 9 weeks she was in the NICU I only missed 3 days. One Wally went alone and the others no one could get there. Don't get me wrong, I am so greatful for Evelyn! She is the sweetest most laid back baby. I love her smile and how cute she is! I love how great Wally is with her and how much he loves her (we still argue about who gets to change her diaper!). There is still a part of me that is sad that I didn't get what I had hoped for. I was so excited about taking my maternity leave with our new baby - taking walks, meeting other parents. It was hard to see other moms on maternity leave when I had to be at work. In fact, it still is. I guess I am super jealous of these moms. This also makes me think about my job...do I want to be at work all the time and miss my little girl growing up? I am leaning towards no but finances win right now.

That is enough from me right now. I hope to keep this updated as much as I can...life is busy right now so we will see.