Well, it looks like a 2 night stay for Audrey at Evergreen. The good folks there think it would be best for her to remain on the IV fluids and also get one more round of IV antibiotics over night. Audrey is a long ways away from being able to eat enough to get the green light to go home. She needs to get to about 24 oz. in a 24 hr. period and today she got to 10. The tests on her urine came back faster than usual because of how bad the infection in her kidney was. We are also waiting for the results from her blood work to rule out any spreading of infection into her blood stream. However, the nurse said that becasause Audrey is not acting too sick, any spreading of the infection is highly unlikely. So, it looks like Karissa and I will be spending the night with Audrey tonight. Although we will be in the room, I am not sure how much sleep we will actually get. The three big kids get to stay at home and sleep in their beds, so that is good. Karissa and I are grateful for all the support and prayers we have received. You guys are amazing! Read this and thatfor all the Audrey news.
I just got back from the hospital and Audrey was looking much better (if you don’t know what is going on make sure you read here). She is still on IV fluids and is not eating well. The times that she does eat, she is taking a bottle. It is good that she is getting fluids from a bottle, but her mama would prefer that she goes back to nursing. The lactation consultant was saying that Audrey is on a “nursing strike.” Just one more thing not to like about unions. I think her great grandpa who was the President of National Right to Work for 35 years,might have something to say about the little strike that she is on.
She is not her usual smiling self, but I was able to get a bit of a smile out of her while holding her today. Karissa got some rest last night with the help of dear friends and family. Audrey will get to come home when she is able to stay hydrated sufficiently on her own without the aid of the IV fluids.
Thank you to all who have prayed. We are hoping she comes home tonight but it is likely that she will stay one more night. Please continue to pray that her body would fight off the Kidney Infection with the aid of the antibiotics and that she would begin to nurse again. Also pray for continued rest for Karissa.
That’s what happens when your little 6 month old baby gets a kidney infection and decides not to eat for over 8 hours. The infection, most likely due to the fact that she was born with some reflux in her kidneys, is now being treated with IV antibiotics. After 30 minutes (3 different nurses and five attempts) of trying to get the IV started they took a break and called in the resident expert. During the break Karissa called as many people as she could in that brief amount of time to pray for a successful next attempt. God answered the prayers of those who prayed and the 6th time was the charm. The last I heard Audrey was doing better and was even taking a bottle, which she has never done before. Karissa is weary, not only with everything that happened today, but also because the night before Audrey was up all night (now we know why) and only got a few hours sleep while I took a few shifts. Thanks for any prayers for our little one and her mama. This was not how we would have chosen to celebrate her half birthday today, but we know she is in the Lord’s hands.
Rylee read her first book by herself-so exciting! Here she is sounding out a BOB first reader book.
Rylee and Audrey took their first bath together
We did patterns today with foam shapes, I love that with the instructions “see what kind of pattern you can make with your shapes” they both did totally different things….and Caleb’s more turned out to be a collage
I am attempting a dairy free day, we made hummus together for lunch it was so fun. The kids never will eat store bought hummus. So imagine my shock when they devoured it at the park today when we drove to meet Daddy for a walk. We ran out of crackers to dip in it, Caleb suggested a spoon, if only we’d had one.
A sweet nose kiss from my second born…who informed us that though the trees were nearly naked “they aren’t quite naked, that one has on a hat and underwear”
Rylee enjoying her favorite thing in the world-Audrey (who is, by the way, wearing a size 6 diaper because I forgot the diaper bag, had to use an old washcloth in the car for a baby wipe and could only scrounge up a Kyler-sized diaper in the parking lot while everyone waited for us)
Christmas card photo? Maybe, if I hadn’t changed the exposure level on the camera earlier today for indoor photos and forgot to change it, leaving this one a tad overexposed, bummer.
And thank God for a sweet big sister who patiently helped Caleb get all the dirt out of his shoe when he asked her for help ( I was on my way back to the car with Kyler who had a leaky diaper down his legs….thanks honey for feeding the kids over a pound of grapes last night for snack while I was gone-Kyler had but one word for me-“Dia-wea”).
A much better morning than yesterday…all six of us at the pediatric dentist-it was a nightmare…today we are pleasantly at home, enjoying some new activities from a book I am reading “Teach me to do it myself: Montessori activities for you and your child” by Maja Pitamic. It has some very practical and inexpensive ideas that we are loving. I was struggling to keep Kyler engaged and out of trouble and also needing some activities to appeal to all the senses (for Caleb). It is a good starting point for me.
Caleb’s paper chain, he loves scissor time. It is “C’ week. I really upset the kids yesterday by telling them cheese starts with C. Since it doesn’t make the typical C sound, they did not believe me and Rylee ended up sobbing about it. Mental note for next time…
Rylee doing one of activities from the book, pipe cleaners in a salt shaker. She made me several different ‘flowers’ with different patterns.
Kyler also doing a new idea from the book, clipping clothespins to a basket then unclipping them all.
Rylee trying to read to Audrey. I listened and she was saying “Now Audrey, this is a library book, don’t grab, we need to be extra careful….now can you count the dots with me? Good job, no grabbing, one, two, three, four…”
We are so blessed to have grandparents who keep traveling out here to see us despite age and distance. The visit with my grandparents was wonderful. It was the longest my grandma has ever been here-two whole weeks. She enjoyed lots and lots of time with her ‘great grands’, all five of them!
On an unrelated note, Audrey wants to know “Nana, thanks for the pants but do they make my bum look big?”
For those of you who read our blog but may not read our friend Kim’s blog…here is a fantastic opportunity to buy a custom handmade (by Kim and Justin) sign for someone this Christmas season. Last Christmas when we exchanged gifts, I saw my present and instantly (secretly) hoped it was what I thought it was-and it was:
We continue to get compliments on this every time someone new is at our house. It is one of my favorite things hanging in our home. If you you want more information on how to order these, visit Kim’s blog for more info.
Northshore’s annual Daddy Daughter Dance is upon us once again. Each year they use the opportunity to have Dads bring their daughter’s on a date for dancing and dessert to raise money for two great causes. This year’s causes are a Safe Haven in Cambodia to combat the human trafficking of children and the Havilah School in Nicaragua. Rylee is so excited to go she has had her dress picked out for about a week. It has been hanging that long on the side of Audrey’s crib. The other day she told me she had even picked out the tights. She said the only thing she needs to do is have mama straighten her hair. Tomorrow is the big day and I can’t wait to take my little girl (who is just about to lose her first tooth) on a dancing date.
