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.

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.

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.

"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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!

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!!

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 :)

Are those not the cutest little feet you've ever seen??

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!!!

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!!!

There's a little smile!!!

Daddy's Girl!!!

Kate loves it when Daddy gets home from work!

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.

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.