Best Christmas Present

The best present ever = We got to bring Erin home from the hospital on Christmas Eve!!  Her oxygen levels were staying normal as she breathed on her own.  She really made a quick turn around in one day.  The doctors who were making their rounds on Friday morning were not expecting to see Erin feeling so well.  Erin was happy and having fun playing in the exersaucer and playing with the toys in her crib.  It was so nice to see her smiling face again! 

As we were being discharged from the hospital, we were filling out paperwork and one of the nurses came to us with a great big garbage bag full of wrapped presents for Erin.  We were so shocked and were not expecting to receive anything at all.  We are so thankful for the wonderful care & support that we received from all of the staff at Childrens.  What a great hospital!

After leaving the hospital, we met Emmy, Deb, Jerry, Scott, Missy, Ellie & Will in Wayzata.  Emmy was so excited to see Erin.  She asked if she was all better and then gave her a kiss. What a sweetie.  She's so motherly.
We had a quick bite to eat and then went home to rest. 

Erin's been doing fine all weekend.  She's been so happy you wouldn't even know that she had just gotten out of the hospital.  We are so thankful that she is healthy & happy once again!

Erin's Update

Tuesday night Erin's breathing seemed to get worse so we called the on-call doctor at our clinic.  She asked us a few questions and then asked us to put the phone up close to Erin so she could hear her breathe.  We then had to count how many breaths she took within one minute.  Anything above 40 breaths per minute is a concern.  Erin was at 72 breaths per minute.  The on-call doctor advised us to take her to the ER right away. 

I gathered a few things and then took Erin to North Memorial at 2:00 am.  They checked her oxygen levels and then took an x-ray.  After three hours the doctor came back and confirmed she had pneumonia and then gave her a steroid along with a neb treatment and some tylenol and ibuprofin.  She said Erin seemed fine since she was in good spirits, so she sent us on our way.  (frustrating).

I made it home at about 5:30 am and decided to stay up instead of going back to bed for an hour before getting ready for work.  Ouch.
By the time I got to work and sat down at my desk, my eyes could barely stay open.  It got better as I got up and walked around. 

We decided it was best that we keep Erin's follow up appointment with her Pediatrician at 9:00 am Wednesday.  Brad brought her to the appointment and they tested her oxygen levels right away.  Her levels came back really low so the doctor gave her a different breathing treatment and then tested her oxygen levels again.  Her levels were still pretty low so the Pediatrician put a call into Children's hospital to do a direct admit. 

I met Brad and the girls at home - packed a quick bag - diapers, wipes, formula, clothes, etc. and we quickly headed to Children's Hospital.  We got her admitted and then they showed us to our room. 
Throughout the day Erin's oxygen levels went from the mid 80s to 90s and then they dipped down to 79.  Obviously 100 is perfect...so the doctors like to see anything above 90.  When the levels dipped that low, they hooked an oxygen tube up into her nose. 
She has a lot of crud that is stuck in her nose/throat.  The nurses come in periodically to suck the crud out by sticking a small but powerful suction tube down her nose.   Erin hates it, but it makes her feel so much better after it is done. 

Yesterday was a rough day.  She was pretty sick and just layed in her hospital crib.  She didn't have much strength or energy to do anything and could barely cry.  Every time the nurses would suction her or fuss with her, she would poop her pants.  Poor thing got so upset! 
It's so hard to watch this poor innocent baby, who is usually so bubbly and such a mover, be so sick. 

She's currently on antibiotics through her IV and they are giving her Tylenol every so often. 
Today, she seems much better.  This morning the nurse removed her oxygen tube so she's been breathing on her own and maintaining good oxygen levels.  Her pink eye is pretty much cleared up. 
She's been up and smiling throughout the day and even played in an exersaucer for a while.  If her oxygen levels stay above 92 for 24 hours, there's a possibility that we could be discharged tomorrow. 

The hospital is absolutely amazing for children.  They even spoiled Emmy a bit the first day we were here.  It was like Christmas came a bit early for Emmy.  They kept coming with brand new gifts.  She was quite entertained.  They have such great entertainment going on at all times of the day - bingo, animals, clowns, magicians, musicians and even carollers. The staff has been great and providing us with diapers, wipes, formula and food for Erin.   
Emmy was only able to be here for a little while yesterday.  They don't allow children under the age of 5 to visit because of the cold/flu season so she is spending time with Grandma Debbie & Grandpa Jerry. 

We are looking forward to bringing our peanut home for Christmas (crossing our fingers). She can't wait to see her sister!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Under the Weather - Pneumonia

Our whole family is under the weather at the moment.  Brad got us all sick - yes...I'll blame it on him.  Well...who knows where we picked this up, but Brad was the first to get it.

I started out with a sore throat last week, which turned into a little flu bug and then I got socked with a massive chest cold which has now turned into bronchitis.  Both of the girls have the same symptoms that I do.  Emmy is starting to get over her ear infection and still has a bit of a cough.  But my poor little Erin has PNEUMONIA!!
She has had a fever that has been coming and going for about three days.  I was going to take her into the clinic yesterday, however she seemed pretty happy during the day and her fever was down.  Last night she took a turn for the worst.  Her breathing started getting more heavy and rapid.  She certainly wasn't her bubbly self...that's for sure.  All she wanted to do was cuddle. 

Brad brought her into the clinic this morning.  Right away they checked her oxygen levels which came back really low.  They gave her a nebulizer treatment and then tested her again.  This time her levels were better but they still wanted to do an x-ray. 

The doctor came back into the room just as I arrived (I hurried over to the clinic from work).  She explained to us that it was pneumonia and she also has a double ear infection and pink eye.  The doctor gave us a prescription and sent us home for the night.  We have another appointment in the morning where they will check her oxygen levels once more.  We will know more in the morning if she will have to be hospitalized or if we will just continue our home care.

Erin is in pain most when she coughs or sneezes.  But she seems to be most comfortable sleeping in my arms.  She doesn't have much of an appetite so I am giving her some Pedialyte for now. 

Hopefully we find out some better news tomorrow.

Counting

Little miss smarty pants has learned to count to 20 already.  She's just a little sponge.  I've noticed that she definitley picks up on things very quickly.  Yesterday, I was telling her that mommy and daddy have names too.  She was so excited to tell daddy his name when he got home from work.  I think Brad was a little surprised that she said it.  Although, she actually calls him, "Bad."  My name, however, comes out crystal clear!! :)

Shapes

Emmy has mastered her little Tupperware Shapo Ball.  She loves to play with this ball and find each shape's corresponding hole.  I was really surprised that she knew all of the shapes! 

She could play with this thing for hours.  She usually gets all of the shapes in and says, "AGAIN!"

Movie Critic

Little Miss Emmy has developed into our very own movie critic lately.  She loves movies and loves to tell us which ones she wants to watch or doesn't want to watch, etc.  She knows how to load the DVD player and push play...Some of her favorites are:

• Toy Story 1, 2 & 3
• Monsters, Inc
• Shark Tales
• The Little Mermaid (she calls this Meemer)
• Finding Nemo
• And her all time favorite...Annie!  (I used to LOOOOVE this movie when I was little.) 

She also loves to watch Mickey Mouse, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny, and anything involving Elmo.

Chompers

Erin currently has four teeth on top & two of her bottom middle teeth.  There is one on the bottom which will be coming through any day now.  Her gums seem a bit swollen.  She doesn't mind having them brushed. 

9 Month Pictures

What a little Ham...

Crawling Up Stairs

Erin started crawling up the stairs a couple of weeks ago.  I snapped a couple of pictures when she was in action.  Just the other day, I was upstairs helping Emmy go potty on the potty chair and all of a sudden I heard the baby gate clanging away.  Erin had crawled all the way up to the top of the stairs (from the basement to the main level) which is about 6 or 7 steps.  As soon as I heard the clanging, I ran down to grab her.  She was so excited...I was more frantic.  I was excited for her, but worried at the same time.  I would hate for her to fall all the way down.  Yikes.

Erin's 9 Month Stats

I brought Erin into the clinic for her 9 month check up last Wednesday.  She's such a doll and has come a long way since she was born.  What a trooper...She weighs more than Emmy did when Emmy was 9 months old.  Emmy wasn't even a preemie!! 

Erin weighs 18 lbs 10.5 oz and is 27 inches long.  She's in the 25-50%ile for height & weight.  Her head measures 45.1, which is 75-90%. 

Emmy weighed 18 lbs 2 oz and was 27 inches long at 9 months.  They are pretty close, but Erin seems to be filling out her clothes more than Emmy did at that age.  I can barely get these 6-9 month clothes on her anymore.  I usually have to stand her up and lift her into her jeans like a sack of potatoes.  She definitely has a little muffin top when she wears her 6-9 month jeans.  I've been putting her 12 month jeans on her recently, but rolling the pant legs...they work just fine.

Both of the girls received their flu shots.  Emmy got the nasal mist and Erin got the shot in her leg.  She barely cried.  Thank God that was the only shot she had to get.  I just hate shots.

Development wise, Erin is doing well.  She's crawling on all fours (really fast), she does "SO BIG" all the time and is starting to wave.  She loves to wave when I say hi to her.  She sticks her whole arm up in the air and then her little wrist just goes up and down.

She understands what we are saying to her most of the time, but hasn't said mama, dada or baba just quite yet.  I'm sure it will be coming soon.  She definitely knows what the BABA is and she knows her name when we say Erin Lynn.

She pulls herself up and cruises around all of the furniture.  She is able to pick up her little puffs and put them into her mouth.  She loves putting EVERYTHING in her mouth.  She likes her rice cakes & biscuits.
She loves to play peek-a-boo and we are teaching her pat-a-cake.
She reacts to strangers with caution and fear.  She's mostly afraid of men and deep voices.
She loves to sleep and is usually comforted by her satin/fleece woobie and I can't forget...her thumb.
She hates when I leave the room and is really unhappy until I say her name or come back into the room.
She loves to eat all foods and has been eating all stage 3 baby food.  I usually have to mix it with rice cereal though because it's still too runny.  We are also giving her some table food which she really enjoys.  She always wants to try what we are eating. 
We've been teaching her how to use a sippy cup, but she just likes to chew on it right now.
She doesn't like to sit still EVER.  It's a challenge to just change her diaper.  I have resorted to holding her arms down with my legs. 
She doesn't like to miss out on anything and wants to be in with all the action.  At daycare she plays with the big kids instead of being in her own "infant" section. 
She's just a healthy, happy girl and is such a joy to our family.

Family Thanksgiving

I'm behind on my posts again so here it goes...I'm going to get caught up again with a bunch of posts all in a row...
We celebrated Thanksgiving with my mom & Scott and Rachel in Monte on Thanksgiving day.  My mom had the table all set up with her fine China.  You would have thought that the Queen of England was coming for a visit. 
The turkey was cooking in the roaster in the basement so she went down to check on it...Emmy followed right behind her.  They came back upstairs to the kitchen and Emmy said, "Mama, there's a tookie down nere."  She's such a cutie.  We spent the whole afternoon and evening with my mom and had a really nice time.  We shared lots of laughs reminiscing about the old times.
That next day we spent a few hours with my dad before heading out to St. James for Brad's family Thanksgiving/Christmas.  The men spent many hours playing cribbage.  :)  The cribbage board, which is usually a fine handmade board by Jerry, is always out at the table in this family.  Jerry has tried to teach me how to play, but I just don't get it.  All is here is, 15-2, 15-4, 15-6 and two for 8 or something like it.
We celebrated with the whole family on Saturday by eating our annual prime rib dinner.  It was so yummy!
After dinner, we opened presents and then played bingo.  Emmy won and she chose to pick out a package of cookies that were on the prize table.  Goofy kid...there's a bunch of toys on the table and she chooses cookies. 
Brad's grandparents made special pillow cases for all of the great grandkids.  Emmy sleeps with hers every night.

I wasn't very good about taking pictures this weekend.  I need to get better at it again.  I only got this one photo of Emmy eating her olives.  She LOOOOVES olives. 

Pain Free

I am happy to report that I am pain free.  Somehow, this steroid injection magically took away my knee pain as well so, I'm going to go ahead and cancel my orthopedic appointment which was scheduled for tomorrow.  It feels so nice to be able to move around like normal. 
It makes me wonder if these two problems were linked together??  I have no idea.  It seems odd though.
This injection was supposed to target my discs only.  What the heck...I'm not going to complain. :)
Now...hopefully I can get back to working out at the gym again soon.