Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Kate's 1st Christmas





I have been a slacker the last couple of days. It has been a crazy holiday season with Christmas parties, doctor appointments and getting the last minute shopping done.....the Rosenvall's are WORN OUT!!! But, we did have a great Christmas this year. We spent it with the Roper's in Fillmore, as this is Jordan's last Christmas with us for the next 2 years. On Saturday, we had a big get together at the barn with some family friends. It was fun because most have not seen Kate yet. We ate dinner and then Grandpa Roper hooked the hay wagon up to the tractor and drove around town carolling (only in a small town). We didn't go, but it sure looked like a lot of fun. This Christmas was especially fun having Kate with us. We can't wait for next year, as she will understand Christmas a little more. She, of course, got spoiled by the Grandmas!!
Today was a special day as we were able to go see Uncle Jordan off at the MTC. He is going to the Lubbock, TX mission. We are really going to miss him. I love this picture of him holding Kate. It's crazy to think that when he gets home, she will be 2 1/2, walking and talking and will have her heart fixed and her cleft palate surgery behind her. It seems like such a long time from now, but I have a feeling that it will go by really quick!
Kate is continually progressing. She had a check-up with the pediatrician on the 18th. She weighed 11 lbs. 1 oz. and measured a little under 22 inches. She's still not on the charts, but she made the 3rd percentile for her head circumference...WAHOO!!! She is smiling a lot more.....even giggles sometimes. However, I can't ever seem to get the camera fast enough when she is smiling. We have had some LONG nights the over the past week. She wakes up crying several times during the night (which is not typical). Anyway, I think I have come to a conclusion......we think she is teething!!! We're not for sure, but I noticed that her lower gum is a little swollen on one side with a slight bump. So, if it is that she is getting teeth already....we're in for a real treat : ) Much to my dismay, Kate's hair is getting thinner and thinner every day and is getting much lighter. I think she is going to be a blondie!!!
As we reflect upon this past year, we have so many things to be grateful for. We are so blessed to have Kate in our lives and for the many supportive family and friends. We truly don't know what we would've done without this support. We look forward to the starting of a new year.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Merry Christmas!



We went to a Christmas party last night and it was a "Christmas Sweater" theme (hence our festive Christmas sweaters......Yes, those are real lights on Bryan's sweater). We had a great time, but had to check out early because we noticed Kate's feeding tube had come out several inches and we didn't have any tape with us to fix it. Oh well. It was great to get out and be with our friends.
This week has been an adjustment not only for Kate, but for Bryan and I. Kate is still getting used to having the prosthetic in her mouth, but is slowly taking more and more from the bottle. She seems to think that day is night and night is day, so we've had a couple long nights. But, she is continually making progress. She is scheduled for her Echo cardiogram on January 3rd, so the days are winding down quickly.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

My designer hospital gown


After a crazy and tiresome weekend, we are back home and tyring to help Kate adjust to her new mouth. The surgery went really well. It took a bit longer than we thought, but it wasn't too bad. The Dr. thought it would take about 1 hour 15 minutes and it actually took 2 1/2 hours because her mouth is so small, so it was a little nerve racking while we waited.
The procedure consisted of sewing together the soft tissue of the palate and tacking a prosthetic devise (like a retainer) to help protect the sutures of the soft palate and act as the hard palate until the next surgery which will replace her hard palate. This will also prevent food from entering the nasal cavity. During the procedure, they do what is called a "tongue stitch." Basically, they sew her tongue to her lip which allows the doctor or nurses, in an emergency situation, to remove the tongue from the airway quickly. Kate HATED it and was actively batting at her face to try and pull it out. They removed the sutures before we left on Saturday and she is a much happier girl. Her recovery has been very remarkable. In fact, we were feeding her from a bottle just a couple hours out of the recovery room. It's still very foreign to her and we're still working with her to familiarize her with the new changes. Having this procedure has really changed the sound of her cry, so we've had to get used to that. We're so glad that it is over and that everything went really well.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

"O Christmas Tree"


We finally got the Christmas tree up this week. Kate is totally mesmerized by all the lights. When we feed her, she is more interested in looking at the lights than eating! It's really fun to watch her.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day for Kate. Her prosthetic procedure is scheduled for 6:00 am. (Yah, I know it's EARLY)!! The procedure shouldn't take that long......hopefully not more than 2 hours. We're hoping that she won't have too much pain afterward. She will need to stay in the hospital for 24 hours, so Bryan and I will be staying with her tomorrow night. We want to thank all of you who have fasted and prayed for her. We are so blessed!

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Kate's Blessing






Today was such a special day for our little family. Kate was blessed in our ward and Bryan gave her such a beautiful blessing. It was a very spiritual meeting.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Surgery.....Here we come!


Much to our surprise, we got a call on Tuesday from the surgery department at Primary's and we scheduled a date for Kate's heart surgery. The surgery is scheduled for January 18th and it's going to be here before we know it. It's been a little stressful trying to make appointments for her immunizations and Synagis shot. She cannot have her immunizations within 6-weeks of her surgery and she cannot have her Synagis shot within 3-days, so we've had to rearrange her appointments a little. We're going to have a pretty hectic schedule the next couple of weeks. On Tuesday, she was fit for her prosthetic device. She did so well. Her mouth is so small that even the tiniest mold was too big, but it ended up working out just fine. It looks like she's all set for next Friday.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Dad's already teaching Kate the love of golf!!!


Kate's as big as a 10 lb. Turkey!



We spent Thanksgiving this year at Grandma and Grandpa Roper's house. It was quite a process packing for 2 days, but we did it. We pretty much took everything but the kitchen sink. We had a great time. While down in Fillmore, we had family pictures taken at Grandpa's farm. It was such a beautiful day.


Kate had her appointment with the Cardiologist last Tuesday. He couldn't believe how much she has grown. She weighed in at 10 lbs. 1 oz. and measured 22 inches. We talked about the time frame for her surgery. She will need to get an Echocardiogram before Christmas and it looks as though her surgery will be a couple weeks after that. We discussed the surgery and what to expect. The procedure will take about 6 hours. After, she will go to the Pediatric ICU where she will be there about a week and then she'll recover in the infant unit for 2-3 weeks. It's going to be a very trying time, but we have so much love and support that we will make it through it.


Kate also had her Synagis shot Wednesday(the RSV vaccine). She is such a little trooper. She cried when the nurse initially gave her the shot, but was just fine the rest of the day. She will continue the shot each month until March.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Dad's a pro at this feeding stuff!!


Because Kate has been doing so well with her bottle feeding, we were so encouraged that we were going to be able continue feeding Kate and drop the NJ tube. However, I called the pediatrician on Monday to talk about her feeding and what to do next and the doctor was a little concerned about her eating that high of volume. Basically, she is using up so much energy while eating that it's putting stress on her heart. So, he would like us to keep her on the feeding tube for the majority of the day with occasional bottle feeding....Booo!!! This is definitely teaching us patience :)
Kate took her first trip to the car wash on Friday. As we drove through, she just stared at the water and bubbles. She loved it......she takes after her Dad!!
On Tuesday, Kate has her appointment with the Cardiologist. I think that we will talk about scheduling her heart surgery. Also, she was approved through our insurance for the RSV shot. She is eligible starting December 15th. Kate has a lot going on the next couple of weeks. Uncle Jordan's mission farewell is the same weekend Kate will have her prosthetic procedure. We're hoping she will have an easy recovery and be able to make it down to Fillmore.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

I'm a little snow bunny!!



We still have Kate off the feeding tube and she is doing so well. Since we've started feeding her just from a bottle and getting her on a schedule, she has been sleeping so much better. She sleeps great through the night and she has been taking longer naps during the day....yay!!!! We're going to continue what we're doing until Tuesday and see how she does and then we'll call the pediatrician and see what he would like us to do. I would love to take the thing out completely, but I'm sure he is going to want us to keep it in until after the prosthetic procedure. We'll see!!

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Kate loves to smile!


We decided to shut off the feeding tube all day today and see how Kate does just from the bottle. She did AWESOME!!! In fact, a full feeding is 60 ML or 2 oz. ever 3 hours. Well, she exceeded that. Also, we took her off Reglan (1 of her reflux medications). So far, she has done really well. Her last feeding of the night, I think she was too tired and she ended spitting EVERYTHING up. Oh well. We still keep her on the feeding tube at night. We're going to see how she does through the weekend. If she continues to do this well, we are going to consider pushing her feeding tube back to her stomach. She will have to have it at least until she recovers from the prosthetic procedure in December. We are so proud of her and the progress she is making. She is such a happy baby and we get so excited over every new little thing she does!!

Monday, November 06, 2006

Somebody's tired!!!

Am I chubby or what??


Kate has started to recognize her tongue. She loves to mimic Bryan and I when we stick out our tongue at her. She has also started to roll (with a little help from Dad). But, she is getting stronger and stronger by the day.
We haven't set a date for her first RSV shot, but it will be sometime this month. She also goes to see the cardiologist on the 21st. Time is just flying by.
Kate is going to be blessed on December 3rd. We debated whether or not we would bless her at home or at church. We feel like it would be best to bless her at church. That way, we can bring her in right before she is blessed and then take her home right after. We're a little disappointed that we won't be having an open house with all our family and friends, but it's really important that she stays well before her surgery. Once she has recovered from her heart surgery, we are going to have a BIG party :)

Friday, November 03, 2006

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Kate's 1st Halloween



As you can see, this was not the most comfortable costume. We were able to get it on, snap a few shots and then take it right off. Unfortunately, it didn't last long enough to make it to our Halloween party : ( Maybe next year!!!

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Go Cougers!!!


Kate is the biggest little Couger fan, and she doesn't even know it yet. She loves to spend Saturdays with Daddy watching footbal. Let's go BYU!!!

Friday, October 27, 2006

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Daddy's Girl!!!



Kate loves it when Daddy gets home from work!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

All Tuckered Out


I can't believe it has been almost a week since the last posting. Kate has been doing AWESOME. She had an appointment with the pediatrician yesterday. She is now up to 8 lbs. 9 oz. and 21 inches long. Wow!! She has finally doubled her weight. She did have to have her first round of immunizations.... : ( She did great, but I am the one that didn't do so great. It was very hard to watch, but we know that the immunizations will be good for her. She seemed to do okay until last night (we had quite a wild night). She was up pretty much all night and we're not really used to that, so Bryan and I have been zombies all day long :) It's totally worth it though. I guess Kate qualifies for the RSV shot, Synagis, which she will get every month during RSV season. I wasn't aware of this shot, but apparently is only given to babies that are "high risk" and Kate qualifies for it. It's supposed to be a very effective shot to prevent from getting the virus......it better be for $1,200 a pop!!! So, she will begin those shots in November.
Kate is scheduled to have the pallet procedure on December 8th. We will take her in on November 27th to be fit for the device and the 8th is when she will go in and have it tacked to the roof of her mouth. We're hoping that once she heals from that, she will be able to do better with the bottle feeding. She's still dealing with the reflux issue though. What a pain!!!! We've been experimenting with soy-based fortifier and milk-based. She absolutely HATES the soy-based and tolerates the milk-based better. However, it seems that she has been refluxing more since we've switched. If we had it our way we would just feed her straight breast milk, but it doesn't have enough calories.
We have been so blessed and continue to receive blessings each day. This month, our ward did a ward fast for Kate and we have felt each and every prayer. We have such wonderful, supportive family and friends who love Kate so much.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Kate's having a BAD hair day!!!


Well, it has been quite an eventful week. It seems like the days and weeks go by so fast. Yesterday was especially eventful. We woke up and noticed that Kate's NJ tube has come out yet again. SERIOUSLY!!! Well, at least it wasn't mommy and daddy's fault this time :) Anyway, Kate had an appointment with her cadiologist yesterday at Primary's, so we were able to get her into Radiology to have have it put back in. I think our biggest challenge with having Kate home is monitoring that darn feeding tube. Anyway, things went well and we were even able to meet one of Kate's nurses for lunch. Nurse Katie was amazed at how much Kate has changed since she left the hospital.
Kate's cadiology appointment went really well. She is now up to 8 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches long. She has almost doubled her birth weight and has grown 4 1/2 inches. It is so wonderful that she is growing and making progress each day.
Today, Grandma Roper came up and we took Kate to her appointment with the plastic surgeon. He seems to think she is ready to have the prosthetic devise put in to close off the gap on her cleft pallet. The procedure should only take about 1 hour, but Kate will have to be sedated :( It should be a quick recovery though....just 24 hours she'll have to stay in the hospital. By having this procedure, it will allow Kate to be able to better suck from a bottle and it will act as a retainer to help close the gap. That way, by the time she has the major surgery to fix the pallet the gap will be much smaller and easier to close off completely. The doctor thinks she will be ready by the first of December.
After Kat'e's appointment we went down to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Christensen in Orem. They were so excited to see her.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Check out my cute new booties.....

One of Bryan's co-workers made these cute little booties for Kate. We love them.
Kate is really starting to take on a personality of her own. She is a happy, mellow baby. She really likes to blow bubbles, grab on to mommy's hair and she still loves to pull on her canula.....the little stinker.
Yesterday was her 3-month birthday. We can't believe how fast time flies. She has been home for 7-weeks tomorrow. We are getting more and more used to her and have taken her off the monitor during the day. It's been so nice not having that thing beeping all the time. We do, however, turn it on at night for our peace of mind. We have also tried taking her off the oxygen a couple hours a day to get her used to not having it all the time. She does really well and we're hoping that it won't be too long before she is off it completely.
Kate's doing really well with her feedings. She is not quite up to full feedings yet, but we try to push her a little more each day. It's interesting because some days she does really well with the reflux and other days are not as good. We think she is starting to outgrow it.........we hope!!!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

All dressed up....No place to go!!


Kate is changing day by day and it is so much fun now that she is filling out her clothes. This outfit is one of our favorites. In fact, Kate's little friend, Laney let her borrow it. Even though she doesn't get out much, it's fun to dress her up and take pictures :)
Kate continues to make progress. She is now 7 lbs. 10 oz and every ounce counts. She's going to be ready for heart surgery in no time. She has a follow up with her cardiologist a week from today. We're hoping at that appointment we will be able to start planning for the surgery.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

We deserve the "Parent's of the Year" award!!!!


Putting Kate to bed is quite a process, as we have to transport all of her equipment with her. Bryan and I are quite a team though. However, as we were taking her into bed from the living room last night, we failed to disconnect the feeding tube and ooops....the feeding tube came right out. Since it was so late, we decided to wait for the next morning to take her in. So, we took her into Primary's this morning to have it put it back in. Kate is such a little sweetheart and did so well. We are hoping that this is the last and final time this happens :)

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Kate's new friend


Our good friends Elizabeth & Brody came to visit and brought their new baby, Shawn. He was born almost 4 weeks after Kate. They were both pretty grumpy that night : )

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Oooops....She did it again!!!



Kate is constantly keeping us on our toes. This morning I noticed that Kate's feeding tube had been pulled out a couple inches. It's hard to know if it's been pulled out from her intestines into her stomach. So, to be safe I took her in to get an x-ray. Lucky for us, it was still there....but just barely. The radiologist just pushed it back into place. Kate is such a good baby!! We have been so lucky. It's fun to see the many changes from day to day.
As we mentioned before, we ended up taking a little trip down to Fillmore on Sunday. It was a lot of fun, but A LOT of work taking all of her equipment. It might be a while before we do it again : ) But, she did great with the long car ride. Kate's a lot like her mom........she loves road trips.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Got Milk?


Okay, so I had to post this picture because I think it is too funny! Let's just say that Kate will be set for life : ) And that's not all. We had to get a deep freezer because we started to run out of room.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Love My Daddy - and my FOOD as well!!


So far, the feeding experience has gone pretty well over the last couple of days. As I mentioned in the last blog, we have taken Kate off the feeding tube and just been feeding her from the bottle. She has taken to it really well. In fact, yesterday she was up to 180 ml for the day whereas, she only took 65 ml on Monday. We do hook her back up to the feeding tube at night, so she can get more calories (and she sleeps through the night!!!). She is getting stronger and stronger considering the effects of her cleft pallet. The only obstacle we have run into is that she is only taking in 1/3 of what she should be getting for the day. Plus, we haven't been fortifying the breast milk, so she is getting less calories. We had a follow-up appointment with Kate's pediatrician today and she only gained 1 oz. since Friday, so that was a little frustrating. Anyway, we are going to start fortifying everything that we give her and see how that goes. With Kate's heart condition, it makes it more difficult to gain weight because her heart is working double time and therefore, expending more calories. We are hopeful that once she has the surgery that she will be able to grow at a steadier rate. We are looking forward to the weekend and are thinking about taking Kate to Fillmore for the first time. It's a good thing she likes to ride in the car. We'll see how it goes : ) We are starting to get more and more comfortable with her oxygen levels and have been using the monitor less and less. We hope to get her off the oxygen ASAP!!!

Sunday, September 24, 2006

I'm 7 lbs.....WAHOO!!!


Kate had an appointment with the pediatrician on Friday. She is finally up to 7 lbs. Everything seems to be going great. We discussed feeding options and possibilities for getting Kate off the feeding tube. We decided that we would stop her feedings for 24 hours and just feed her solely from the bottle. We started that on Saturday morning . She did great and hasn't had any significant reflux yet. We kept her off the feeding tube all day today and has been taking higher quantities from the bottle. It is great because she is starting to associate drinking from the bottle to satisfying her hunger. She has never had that sensation because she has been on a continuous feeding. She still has a way to go to get up to full feedings, but this is a start. The main issue, however, is that she isn't refluxing. She will be seeing the pediatrician again on Tuesday to monitor her weight gain. We have just been feeding her straight breast milk without the fortifier, so we're hoping that she can sustain the weight gain.
We were able to get out and take a ride up to Park City on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. It was so exciting for Kate that she slept the entire trip.....oh well!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006


Kate's still a little small for her bouncer, so it's a little difficult to get the "bouncing" effect : )
We have so much to be grateful for. Kate is doing awesome. Today, she had her appointment with the Audiologist to have an extensive hearing test because she failed the first 2 tests. The first test was given August 15th and she had the 2nd test the day she left Primary's. This was very discouraging to us, as it is very common for babies with a cleft pallet to have temporary hearing loss due to fluid in the ear drum. However, Kate passed the test with flying colors. She is such a little trooper.
Kate is also doing great with her feeding. We have started to feed her more from the bottle and she is taking to it very well. We feed her 2 - 3 times a day from a special "Haberman" bottle. The great news is that she is getting a stronger suck, whereas before, we had to squeeze the milk and let her get used to a suck, swallow, breathe rhythm. Her reflux seems to be getting much better as we have been feeding her. Kate has been sleeping really well through the night. In fact, she slept for 7 hours last night. Yah!!!
Kate loves riding in the car. So, our big excitement for this weekend will be going for a long car drive. Our lives have definitely changed, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Sunday, September 17, 2006

We are a Happy Family

Kate Loves Kisses from Daddy

As you can see, Kate loves when her daddy is home and able to hang out. Kisses from daddy are the best.

Bath Time

Kate loves bath time, especially in her "ducky bath." Peyton's mom (Kate's friend from the hospital), gave her this bath tub and she LOVES it!!!

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Uhhh...I think my headband may be a little big?!?!


It's been a couple days since we've updated Kate's blog and a lot has been going on. Tomorrow, Kate will be 2-months-old. We can't believe how fast time flies.
Yesterday, Kate had a follow-up appointment with her cardiologist at Primary's. Things went really well and she is now up to 6 lbs. 8 oz. The cardiologist is very encouraged at the rate Kate is gaining weight. We discussed a time frame for Kate's heart surgery and they are confident that she will be ready by 6 months. That surprised us a little, as we were originally looking around 9-12 months. So, that is what we are planning for now.
Today, we had our consult with the surgeon for Kate's Nissen surgery. As we discussed our options with him, the surgeon felt as though Kate is too small at this point to do the surgery. This put our minds at ease because we weren't 100% set on having this surgery in the first place. Right now the reflux is very manageable with medication, so we're just going to watch her and hopefully she will outgrow it. She continues to sleep well through the night...Wahoo!!! She is constantly keeping us on our toes and are so grateful for her.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Uh Oh.......


Yesterday was an eventful day for us. Kate's feeding tube came out, so we had to go up Primary's to have it put back in. Unfortunately, we had to go to the Emergency Room, but we were able to get right into Radiology. It wasn't a very fun experience for any of us, especially Kate. They had to strap her to a board so she wouldn't move. Luckily, the tube was inserted quickly and they were able to x-ray her to see if it was positioned in the right place. We were glad it went in right the first time. Kate was pretty worn out by the time we got home and she ended up sleeping through the night. Wahoo!!!
Since she has been growing so much, we upped her continuous feedings from 17 ml an hour to 18 ml. We also stopped giving her Reglan (for her refux), so we'll see how she does without that. She is making progress every day. She is starting to do naughty tricks though. She has learned how to grab a hold of her nasel canula and her feeding tube and pull on it, so we have to watch her like a hawk. It's so much fun having her home and watchin her grow!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Kate's First Outing


Today, Kate is 8 weeks old. We are getting adjusted to having Kate home and we LOVE it! She is so much fun. It's been a learning experience getting used to all of her equipment, especially when her monitor goes off and 2:00 am!!! We visited the Pediatrician yesterday and everything went really well. Kate is now up to 6 lbs. 6 oz. which is GREAT. She seems to be gaining weight at a normal rate. Last night, Kate had her first outing. We took her for a walk around our neighborhood. She did really well and loved it. I think she likes being outside, especially after being indoors for the first 2 months of her life. Bryan and I make a great team!!
We did find out some unfortunate news though. We were scheduled for her Nissen on September 18th, however, we called to confirm the date and they had cancelled Kate's surgery because we haven't consulted with the surgeons (which we were unaware we needed to do). Anyway, the first time available for a consult will be either the 19th or 27th. In a way, it may be a good thing to let her grow and see if she can outgrow the reflux. Next week we have an appointment with the cardiology department at Primary Children's. We are going to be busy busy the next few weeks with lots of Dr. appointments.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Welcome Home


Well, the day finally arrived. Kate came home with us on Tuesday. It was such a great day, but we were both a little nervous. Her first ride in the car was great. In fact, she slept the whole way home. Kate has been doing good and has adjusted great!!! We are so happy for her to be home. The first night was a little crazy......she was up all night!!! That combined with the beeping sounds of the monitor....let's just say that we were both very exhausted the next day. But, she stayed awake all day Wednesday and slept the entire night. We finally feel like we are in a routine now. Kate came home on oxygen as well has an NJ tuber(feeding tube into her intestines). The doctors feel like it is too much of a risk sending her home with a feeding tube into her stomach as she still refluxes quite a bit. We are able to feed her a bottle twice a day, depending on how interested and awake she is. So far, she has done pretty good. Each feeding is only about 1/2 ouce, so it's not much at all. She seems to really take to it well.
As for now, Kate is scheduled to see her pediatrition tomorrow. It will be nice to start seeing just 1 doctor from here on out. Also, she hasn't been weighed since Monday, so it will be fun to see how much she has gained. It's amazing to see how much she changes from day to day. She is scheduled for her surgery on the 18th. We are still unsure if we are going to do the Nissen surgery (for reflux). We have had conflicting opinions from various doctors, so it is basically up to us and what we feel is the best for Kate. That is a hard position to be in, but we are praying every day that we will make the right choice. She will still have surgery to have the g-tube put in along with the prosthetic devise attached to her cleft pallet. It is so hard for a parent to see your child have to go through all of these trials at such an early part of life, but know that she is going to be blessed. She is such a little sweetheart and we are so blessed to have her. We have also been blessed with such awesome friends and family and appreciate all the phone calls, visits, meals, gifts and most of all PRAYERS.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Graduated to a Crib



Today was GREAT, Kate gained 40 g, she now weighs a little more than 6 lbs, and is a little over 19" long. She has changed so much since she was born it is incredible. Today Kate held her temp. up the entire day on her own, so she was put into a crib. The hospital is talking about her coming home on Tuesday, the 5th of Sept. This is also amazing news and we are really excited to finally get our little girl home, we just hope that everything goes as planned the next few days so she actually does come home. She still has many surgeries and doctor visits within the first few years of her life that are planned. She is coming home to gain weight and the hospital feels she is stable enough that with a few monitoring devices and training, that Marcae and I can handle her care just fine. We are excited but a little nervous as well. We will for sure have great pictures of that day and update the site with the news when she does come home.

Sleepy Sleepy Sleepy



Yesterday, Saturday the 2nd of Sept., Kate had her first MRI. To get the scan done she needed to be sedated so that she wouldn't move during about a thirty minute time period. This pic is the aftermath..... she is wiped out and it was pretty funny. She slept for several hours. Overall, it was a great day. She gained 20 g and didn't have any spells. The hospital staff did take the NG tube out (the feeding tube to her stomach). They felt she was still refluxing enough to warrant her coming home with an NJ tube, which feeds her intestines directly until she has a surgery, to help her feeding.