We're Home!!!!

Kate and I have been staying with Grandma and Grandpa Roper for the past 2 1/2 weeks while Bryan was in South America. We had such a great time in Fillmore, but it is nice to be back. I was worried how Kate was going to adjust to a new environment, but she did great. We only had a few mishaps. The first couple of days we were there, Kate's oxygen levels and heart rate seemed to drop below normal levels. It made me a little concerned that it had something to do with her heart, so I ended up bringing her up to American Fork for some tests. After an EKG and a chest x-ray, it showed that Kate had a little pneumonia.......great! So, she was put on Amoxicillin. We were also sent a holter test to monitor Kate's heart for 24-hours. We don't have the results back from the test, but her congestion is gone she seems to be feeling much better. She's doing so well with her feedings. She is now over 16 lbs. We've started to ween her off breast milk (yes.....all that pumping has paid off) and are just giving her straight formula, which she really likes. Oh....she is also soooo close to sucking her thumb. It's so funny watching her try and keep her thumb in her mouth.

It's so nice having Bryan home. It was quite a trip for him, but he had a great time. They visited many countries including Brazil, Argentina and Peru. All in all, they took 17 different flights. He was definitely jet-lagged by the time he got home. This trip was a foreign business excursion he took with his MBA group. He has 1 more class, which will end on June 28 and will graduate in August. We are so glad to finally (almost) have him DONE!!! I have to say, it's not been the easiest thing having him in school and working full-time, but it has definitely been worth it. I have included some of the pictures from his trip. Also, he brought Kate back some fun things including this Inca doll.

Proudly showing off her new Inca doll!

Ancient Temple near Cusco, Peru
Machu Picchu, Peru

Christus Statue - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
LDS Temple-San Paulo, Brazil
Iguazu Falls - Argentina
Some locals on the hills of Cusco, Peru
Making friends with the llama!! What a natural!!!!

Our First Real Family Photo!

We had family pictures taken this weekend. Other than some candid snapshots, we really haven't had a real family picture taken. Kate is always interested in other things than looking at the camera. What can we say......we tried : ) Rosenvall's May 2007
Not a big fan of kisses from Mom & Dad!!!

Lions and Tigers and Bears....Oh My!!!!

Kate had a play date up at Hogle Zoo today. It was such a perfect day to go because it was overcast and not too hot. We had a lot of fun. Kate is still trying to get over the cold I gave to her. She has been pretty congested, so we had to put her back on oxygen....Ahhh!!! Hopefully, not too much longer.

We got to see the elephants....
...And the giraffe's.....
....And even got to ride on a train!
We are having too much fun!!!!

Seven Peaks......Here we come!!!

We are counting down the days until Seven Peaks opens for the season. We got a season pass this year, so we will be spening a lot of time there this summer. We had to test out Kate's bathing suit. I was a little worried it would be too big for her (it's 12-18 months), but it fits her perfect. She loves the water, so we're looking forward to spending a lot of time out in the sun.

Happy Mother's Day!

I got the BEST Mother's Day gift. Kate gave me the biggest smile yet. Too bad she doesn't like to smile for the camera : ) It was such a great day. We spent the day in Fillmore and later that night, we got to talk to Uncle Jordan, who is serving a mission in Texas.

Kate's Buddies!

Tyson, Tanner, Kate, Emma & Rylee

We celebrate my friend, Teresa's, birthday last week at Mimi's Cafe. We had so much fun. Kate is becoming a little stinker when it comes to eating away from home. She recently decided that she only likes to eat in the comfort of her own home. If it's noisy or things are going on around her, she loses her focus really quick. That's going to have to change....quick :) I took her in to be weighed on Friday and she has only lost 2.5 oz. Not too bad. The GI specialist is going to be calling today to discuss some options and what he thinks about her progress. I have a feeling that he is going to suggest that we keep doing what we're doing for a few more weeks. I'll be okay with that. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

This weekend, Christian and Abriel stayed with us while John & Michelle hiked Bryce Canyon. Kate loved having all the attention from her cousins.

Kate & Maddy

Kate and I spent the afternoon with my friend, Lacey, and her cute little daughter, Maddy. They must have both been really sleepy, because they were fast asleep before we got back from our walk.

Good News!

On Friday, we took Kate in to be weighed. It's now been over a week since we took the feeding tube out. The good news is that she hasn't lost any weight.....she just stayed the same ( 15 lbs. 10 oz.). She has her good days and her bad days, but even though all the reflux she has been doing, it's great to know that she isn't losing a significant amount of weight. We will be taking her in this Friday to be weighed again. The plan is to keep her off the feeding tube as long as she is not losing weight, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Grandma and Grandpa Roper had a big party out at the barn on Friday night, so we spent the evening in Fillmore. It was a lot of fun. Grandma and Grandpa sure do know how to throw a party!! We also got to see the 3 new colts that were born a few weeks ago.

Christian is a Natural.......

Tube Free!!!

Kate has this new fixation with mouths and noses. It's so funny because we will be feeding her and she will reach up and just grab onto our noses and won't let go. She also loves to have her fingers sucked on too. You'll notice that she is "tube free" YAY!!!! We went and saw a GI specialist last week who encouraged us to take her feeding tube out for a few weeks and see how she does on her own. He said she's a little "overweight" for her height....hmmmm who would've thought.... : ) He said it won't hurt her if she lost a few lbs. Kate turned 9-months last Sunday and is now fitting into size 12-18 month clothes.

We took the tube out on Thursday and she has done awesome. She isn't taking all she's supposed to, but we have added formula to the milk to concentrate it and up the calories. She'll reflux occasionally, but has seemed to do remarkably well so far. We take her in to be weighed this Thursday to make sure she isn't losing weight. We're hoping that she will take off and be done with all the tubes for good. She's still off oxygen for the majority of the time, but we still monitor it closely and will put her back on it if she needs it.

Bryan is getting really good at balancing her with one hand!

Sleepy Girl!

Kate had so much fun trying out her new "jumping" toy that she wore herself right out.

Whoa....those are some chubby cheeks!

Yesterday, Kate pulled a naughty trick and pulled her feeding tube out. She is getting too smart for her own good. We left it out to see how she would do. She took her whole bottle, but then the next feeding she didn't do as well. We ended up putting it back in before she went to bed. She got this little parrot for Easter and she LOVES it. She likes to grabs its beak.

We've been really working with Kate to get her strength up, as she is still a little weak where her scar is. However, tonight she did it.....she sat on her own for the first time. We couldn't be more excited. She also had her RSV shot today. Apparently, there are still quite a few RSV cases in Utah. We thought this may be the last shot she will have to have, but it just depends how many reported cases there are by next month. We're hoping that this is the last.

Happy Easter!

Well, we are going on almost a week without oxygen. We never thought this day would come. It has been so nice not having to lug around the oxygen tank where ever we go. Plus, we have noticed that Kate thinks it's pretty cool to not have to have the cannula stuck up her little nose all the time. We are still keeping her on oxygen at night (mainly for peace of mind), and her sats are staying really close to where they should be. The problem is trying to keep the cannula in her nose at night. Because we don't use the stickers on her cheeks anymore to hold it in place, it's much easier for Kate to pull it out. In fact, this morning we woke up and the cannula was on her forehead.....so much for that. I think eventually we will just leave her off it for good.

We had such a great Easter weekend. Yesterday, our neighborhood put together an Easter egg hunt. We have a ton of kids that live in our cull-de-sac, so it was a lot of fun.

We spent today in Fillmore with Grandma and Grandpa Roper. We hid eggs in the backyard and before the hunt began, it rained and poured. But, that didn't stop Gavin from going out, getting his treasure and getting soaked. After leaving Fillmore, we went and saw Grandma and Grandpa Rosenvall. It's a tradition for Grandma to hide all the kids' Easter baskets.

We hope you all had a Happy Easter!!

No Oxygen for Today!!!

So, we finally decided to give Kate a break from her oxygen. She seems to be keeping her sats around 80% when she's on room air (which is fairly good). She has been off it all day and has done really well. We are going to keep her on it at night because she typically low-sats when she's in a deep sleep. We're keeping our fingers crossed that she will continue to do well and we can eventually take her off it for good.

Just when we think we have things figured out and feel like we are on the road to recovery, we come across a bump in the road.......like getting teeth!!! Kate was doing great with her feedings until a few days ago and now doesn't even like the bottle in her mouth. However, she loves to bite down on our finger, which is about all that will alleviate the pain for her other than Tylenol (of course). It's interesting because she is getting her 2 "eye" teeth on the bottom, which is not very common. It will be interesting to see how it changes her looks. She has also been up a lot during the night, which we haven't been used to.

On Saturday, I ran the Rex Lee 10k in Provo. I had planned to push Kate in her stroller, but it was a little bit chilly when the race started, so she hung out with Dad. I'm hoping to do a few more races this summer so she can be my running buddy.

Out for a walk

Kate has had 3 appointments this week, so we have been busy going back and forth to Primary's. We absolutely love the weather. It has been so nice to finally be able to take Kate out without worrying so much about her getting sick. It still takes her awhile to get used to the sun and the wind, but I think she really likes it.

This past weekend was a first. I took a trip down to St. George with some friends for a "girl's weekend." It was really hard because this was the longest I have been away from Kate (even when she was in the hospital). It was a nice change for her being with just Dad.

Devin, Drew, Kate and Gavin

We're Back!

It seems like this week has gone by way too quick. We had a great time in Fillmore with Grandma and Grandpa Roper and the cousins. Bryan left for Florida early Monday morning. Kate had an appointment to get her Synagis shot that day, so we planned to just leave right after her appointment. Well, we got the car all packed up and ready to go and were on our way. I got about 1 mile from our home when the car ran out of gas.....ahhhh! Are you kidding me??? I called the doctor to let them know the situation and they couldn't get Kate in until later that day so I just decided to drive to Fillmore and scheduled to get Kate's shot on Friday instead. well, I got a call the next day from her doctor and they are out of the office on Friday and wouldn't be able to give the shot until Monday (today). She strongly urged us to bring her in because she didn't want to take any chances with her getting RSV. So....Kate, Grandma and I drove up to American Fork on Tuesday to get her shot. I'm so glad I did, though, because I would feel horrible if she did get RSV. It's a good thing that Kate likes to travel : )

Bryan flew in last night and was so glad to be home. He bought Kate this cute little Disney outfit from Orlando. He loves to spoil her : )

Grumpy Pants

Not a fan of "tummy time"

Lately, we have been trying to get Kate to have more tummy time and she absolutely HATES it. So instead of just putting her flat of her tummy, we will prop her up against the cushion of the sofa and let her use her hands. She will tolerate it for a few minutes but will throw a fit. She's really getting a strong personality. I have to say that Bryan and I have spoiled her by not allowing her to get used to it from the start. So, we have our work cut out for us : )

On Wednesday, Kate had an appointment with her cardiologist. They were really impressed with how well she's doing. In fact, her heart is not requiring any additional oxygen.....which is great. However, her lungs are still recovering and trying to get stronger so she will need to be on oxygen until they can completely heal. We were a little disappointed that she couldn't go off of it sooner, but we look at it like we have done this for 8-months now so I think we can handle it for a bit longer. We are encouraged, though, because Kate's cry is a lot stronger which is showing signs that her lungs are getting more healthy. Unfortunately, we had to put the feeding tube back in on Tuesday. She's still not taking enough from the bottle to justify taking it out for good. However, with all of the experimenting we have done over the past few weeks, she still manages to gain weight. She is now up to 15 lbs.

Today we took Kate to church. She made it through all 3 meetings. WOW!! It's been so nice to be able to take her, especially now that the weather has been so nice. Bryan is leaving for Florida tomorrow for work, so Kate and I are going to Fillmore for the week. We are really excited.

We went to Peyton's 1st birthday party this weekend. Peyton was Kate's roommate in the NICU and he is doing so well. He was born at 24-weeks and weighed only 1 lb. 7 oz. It was fun to see him because we haven't seen him since we left the NICU 6-months ago. It is absolutely amazing the things that can be done to save a baby that size. It looks like Peyton is trying to make a move on Kate already :)

We also took out Kate's feeding tube this weekend. When we took it out, we changed her cannula and snapped a quick shot of her with no attachments. So, it was fun to see what she looks like without all those tubes. So far, she has done really well and we want to see if how she will do without it. We're hoping that she will be able to handle it. Basically, she just needs to continue gaining weight. I guess we'll find out when she goes up for her Cardiology appointment on Wednesday.

Elf or Yankees Fan???

Grandma and Grandpa Roper brought this cute little outfit back from New York a few months ago. We are so excited that she finally fits into it. By the way things are going, she will probably grow out of it quick (her thighs and cheeks are a good indication)!

The last couple of days have been awesome!! Kate has been reflux-free since Sunday. She is a much happier baby and sleeps so much better now. We think that she is finally on her way to outgrowing this reflux.

Get me outta this thing!!!

I don't think Kate is a big fan of the Bumbo??? We spent the day in Fillmore on Sunday. Kate loves her Grandma Roper. Also, we celebrated Bryan's "32nd" birthday on Friday......yes he's getting OLD!!!

We actually feel like things have gotten back to normal again. Kate is continually getting better with the bottle. We have stopped her continuous feeds and are feeding her a bottle every 3 hours. Whatever she doesn't take, we bolus feed her through her tube. This is actually helping her to recognize hunger. She is doing really well. In fact, she has had no reflux in over 48-hours..Yay!!
We've also stopped fortifying her milk, so she is just getting breast milk now. Her weight gain doesn't seem to be an issue anymore, so we're going to see how she does for awhile.

Kate's getting stronger day by day and we've been able to turn her oxygen down at certain times during the day. She has been on 1/4 of a liter since her surgery and her sats have been staying up in the 90's lately on an 1/8 of a liter. This is great news because it is showing us that her heart is starting to heal and become stronger. She has a followup appointment with her cardiologist next Wednesday. It's going to be interesting to see how he feels about her progress (we've learned, we never know :)

Kate loves her Great Grandpa Rich

Well, we feel like Kate's ready to start bottle feeding again. Yesterday I fed her about 40 ML (a little over an ounce) and she did really well. I then fed her later on that night about the same and she threw everything up. It's kind of frustrating because it's never consistent with her. However, she has done really well today and hasn't had any reflux. She is also off the antibiotic (which we think it made her sick) so that could make a difference. We'll cross our fingers and see. She has an appointment with a speech therapist next week.

Today, Great Grandma and Grandpa Rich came to visit. They are absolutely amazing. Kate is their 34th great-grandchild. At 92-years-old, they are as active as can be. In fact, they just got back from a road trip to Denver to see their 36th great-grandchild blessed. I hope that at 90, I am doing as well as they are.

When it rains.....IT POURS!

Life with the Rosenvall's wouldn't be complete without a little excitement. Kate was released from the hospital last Wednesday and we're really excited to have her home. Well, I ended up in the E.R. on Thursday as a result of a kidney stone. Bryan and I have to laugh because we must have some kind of attachment to hospitals : ) Anyway, it turns out the stone is about 3 times the size of a normal stone and I had to have it surgically removed. So, I spent the weekend drugged up on Percocet and had the surgery yesterday. Everything went well. Grandma Roper came up and stayed with Kate while Grandma Rosenvall and Bryan were with me in the hospital. In a way, it was kind of nice because we have been so nervous to leave her with anyone so this is the first time and she did great.

Kate is doing much better since she came home from the hospital. We've come to realize that her main problem is her eating. During her stay at the hospital, we did some experimenting with her feeding. She still has the NG tube (in her stomach and not her intestines) and seems to be doing fine. We've decided to give her a little bit of a break from orally feeding her because she still seems to be pretty weak from her surgery. The great thing, though, is that she is gaining weight. On Friday, she was weighed at her doctor's appointment and is up to 14 1/2 lbs. She is finally on the charts with her weight and is in the 10% percentile....WAHOO!!! We are so grateful that her heart is functioning as well as it is. We've really noticed that she has much more energy now than before her surgery.

Back to Primary's AGAIN!

Well, unfortunately Monday afternoon brought an unwelcome change for us. Kate has continued to have coughing, choking and throwing-up spells and our pediatrician wanted us to check her back into Primary's. He wanted to get a bunch of tests run and make sure her heart is still OK and find out why she seems to continue having these spells, which are tough on her healing body.

While going through these tests she has been doing really well. They x-rayed her chest to see if her heart has increased size which is a sign of stress and heart failure. The good news is her heart was pretty much the same as it has been post surgery. The x-ray did show that she has some fluid in her lungs which the doctors are worried about causing serious pneumonia, or sickness from some type of virus. After taking her blood and running the necessary tests everything came back negative, so she isn't necessarily sick either.

Basically, the problem is stemming from her feeding and either issues with reflux or how she swallows. Before the surgery Kate was steadily improving in these areas and we were excited to hopefully pull her feeding tube out post surgery quickly. We think this will still happen, just not on our timeline but Kate's timeline. For now we are going to help her get stronger without dealing with the choking, coughing and throwing up by limiting or eliminating feeding Kate from a bottle for a few weeks until she becomes stronger and can do it correctly without aspirating the food into her lungs.

The good news is, Kate has been Smiling at us, responding to us and playing with her hands much more since Sunday. She seems to be getting back to the old Kate before her surgery. We are very excited to see this and know she will just get stronger and stronger. Thank you again for all your prayers, thoughts and concern for our family. We love hearing from all those who call, we hope to see you all soon.

Home Sweet Home!

It's been a little over a week since Kate has been home. I can't even tell you how nice it is to have her home with us. We've definitely had some ups and downs, but she is doing great. Her oxygen levels are staying where they should be. The only hump we've come across is her feeding issues. I think we've been too quick at pushing her and she is letting us know that she is not quite ready. She still has the NG tube, but we have stopped feeding her orally because it seems that she is still quite sore from having the vent for so long. Well, we can't tell if she is suffering from reflux or if it's her throat is still swollen. We made an appointment for her to have an upper GI test on Thursday to see what is actually going on. The interesting thing is she is being continuously fed into her stomach, so if she had significant reflux you would think that she would be throwing up all the time,which she's not. We really think she just needs more time to heal. She is still a little weak, but is getting much better from day to day. She started playing with her hands again, which we are really excited about. It's going to take some time for her to get caught up, but with small steps she will be there in no time. We are really encouraged with her weight gain though. She was weighed on Tuesday and was up to 13 lbs. 5 oz. That is great, considering all she has gone through the last couple of weeks.

Yesterday, Kate had her "1st" haircut. My friend Charlynn (who happens to be a stylist) came over at the right time, otherwise it would've been a disaster. Bryan wanted to cut it all off, but I had to put my foot down. She cut just enough off to even things up.

We're Home!

Today was a much awaited day. After 17 days in the hospital, Kate came home. She was released from the hospital around 1:00 today. We are so excited to have her home. It is so nice not having her on a continuous feed. We can actually walk around the house with her and not be confined to one area of the house. She is still on oxygen and will be on 1/4 of a liter until she has her follow-up appointment on February 14th. She will have a EKG and a chest x-ray that day and will see her cardiologist. Kate is still quite weak, but with time and a little work she will be back to herself in no time. She is still eating really well. It's amazing to see the changes from before her surgery. Kate would only eat about 1 oz. within 1/2 hour. She is now taking 3 oz. in less than 1/2 hour. We are so proud of her. Even though the last couple of weeks have been very tough and a test of our patience, it has been worth it and we are grateful so for this little miracle.

Closer to coming HOME!!!

Kate continues to progress more and more each day. The last couple of days have been great. She has weened off almost every medication that she was on and continues to use less and less supplemental oxygen to keep her oxygen saturation where the doctors want it. Marcae and the nurses have been feeding Kate from a bottle the last few days as well. She is already taking as much from the bottle as she was before her surgery. Another great thing that has happened is as the doctors watched how much Kate was able to handle from the bottle they decide to pull her feeding from her intestines back to her stomach (NG tube). This is great news for us because it shows that Kate is growing out of her reflux and might be able to come off the reflux medicine soon.

Today was a great day because Kate was transfered from the ICU to the recovery floor. It looks like she is closer to coming home. We're not sure how long she is going to be here, but we're hoping that she'll be released sometime this weekend.