Kinzie Update

Let me start by saying that God definitely has a plan and that babies are miracles. My gorgeous, strong little girl has shown such strength, courage, and perserverance. She has definitely developed a coping technique. Any time she hears a doctor or nurses voice, other than her primary nurse, she pretends to be asleep and nothing will wake her up, until they leave at which point she peaks out of one eye to make sure they are gone.

Kinzie had a rough start as you have read below. These two pictures are of her after they stabilized her right after birth. The ladies are the two nurses and doctor that did not/could not leave her bedside. They literally saved her life despite not having the equipment to handle so sick of an infant. They were told via phone what to do by PCH NICU. I owe them the deepest of thanks that could never be expressed in words.

The Air Evac team was able to come in on day 2 during a break in the storm. It is particularly hard because the plane has to fly from PHX to Show Low with the NICU team and then back again, thus requiring at least a three hour window. The blessing was that due to the storm only planes could fly which has room for a parent vs. a helicopter which does not. So I went with her. The isolet above is what she flew in. They also gave her a cute blanket from volunteers. This picture is on day 3 at PCH. We were finally able to dress her. She was and has been super sleepy due to all the trama and medications. Cale and I got to hold her on day 3 finally. So healing to hold your sick little girl in your hands and give her all the love you long for her to feel. We hadn't been able to hold her due to the umbilical IVs through her belly button. They go into arteries vs. veins and bleed too fast if pulled out accidentally.

Upon arriving at PCH, Kinzie had an MRI to check for brain damage structurally and an EEG to check for damage in processing. Both came back abnormal and only time will tell if and how that will affect her. Since then she has had 3 MRIs and 8 EEGs. The top picture is Kinzie in the immobilizer for her second MRI. She was put under for her first since she was still intabated but if breathing on their own, they just put them in this little papoos and suck the air out so they are cozy. The lower picture is during an EEG. These are done at her bedside. They put 20+ leads on her head and then wrap it in guaze so she can't pull them out. I think she looks so cute. We are grateful for her quick progress. We are able to do all her normal cares: change her, bathe her, weigh her and take temperatures.Different therapies come and work with her such as speech to help with sucking and eating and also physical therapy to help with stiff joints. They recommend the boppy pillow seen her and they gave her a little chair. So cute in both. Kinzie has been on a 24+ hour EEG since Wednesday morning to try and catch the episodes that she keeps having. They seem to be seizure like. They start with irritability, puking, pooping, dropping her O2, sometimes dropping heart beat too, then needing bagging (given O2) followed by the seizure like activities. however, they finally ruled them out as not seizures today. This is great news as it means we can take her off the Phenobarbital and the B6.

She has shown major reflux symptoms all along and they ruled it today as most likely severe reflux. Documentation commonly shows all of her symptoms as a result of reflux. So we started her on Prevacid today and will see what that does in the next couple days. The other good news from this is that when off the Pheno she is super awake. She has spent most of her time sleepy and unresponsive to eating, therapy, etc. This last picture shows her wide awake and focusing. Since being off the phenobarbital, she has gone from drinking 2cc at a feed to 45-60cc literally overnight. She has been scheduled for a g-tube surgery that would put the feeding tube currently in her nose diretly into her tummy, for a week now but twice it's been post poned. We are scheduled for Monday but are hoping that this miraculous interest in eating yesterday and today will result in not even needing it. Please pray for such a miracle. A g-tube is not a huge deal and is reversible but is one less thing to put her through if not needed.

We are so grateful for everyones prayers, gifts and help. We are looking forward to coming hom but still don't know when.

PIctures

Check my sister Jamie's link on my blog fo pictures of Kinize. Also, check Brittany's site.

Kinzie Update

As many of you do not yet know about Kinzie, let me take the two spare minutes I am robbing my sleep of and give a quick summary.

I went in for my scheduled routine c-section on Friday Jan. 22nd. Due to the huge snow storm, we left at 5am and made it by 6:15am where we were told the hospital was on back-up power and could not start my surgery. After monitoring my contractions for a couple of hours, we were able to start. Power did go off twice but luckily generators kicked in immediately. The surgery part went fine but as soon as Kinzie was pulled out and shown to me, she crashed. They wisked her to the table where thy had to do CPR compressions fo 45 seconds. Once breathing they wisked her down to NICU to intabate (put a tube down her throat) as well as start IV lines, medications, etc. They are not used to this at this hospital but were unable to air evac her out due to the storm. THus, they were told via phone by Phoenix Children's Hospital (PCH) what to do to save her life. She was kept stable but critical overnight and then with a small break in the storm the next day, we were both flown to PCH. Since then we have had many scary moments but are now improving greatly everyday. She is breathing on her own now, no tube in the throat, she is off the 2 blood pressure meds, both antibiotics, and the 1 anti-viral she was on. She has had high fevers and was on a cold blanket but is now steadily holding a good temperature and is thus off the blanket. She started eating my milk two days ago via a feeding tube but as of yesterday started drinking from a bottle. She started with 5cc every 6 hours but is now up to 10cc every 3 hours and will continue to increase the volume by 5cc daily.

She also had a heart ultrasound done - came back normal - and an EEG and MRI. They both came back abnormal. That's expected for an EEG due to her age and size. An EEg reads activity of the brain. THe MRI shows structure. Thus, abnormal means she suffered some damage and they think that happend early in pregnancy. Baby brains very commonly are known to fix themselves or at least compensate for areas of deficieny. We are praying for either or both with Kinzie. We would appreciate anyone's support in a fast this Sunday that her second EEG on FEb. 1 and second MRI on FEb. 5th show improvement and/or normal.

At this point, they have ruled out bactieral, viral, and genetic disorders. THus, damage occurred at some point. Why, they do not know. But now we are working on recovering what we can. So far Kinzie has blown the doctors' away with her improvement. Cale and I did receive many blessings over this week and pregnancy that Kinzie will be healthy and recover fully. We are trying to find faith to trust these words of our Lord. Please pray for us to have strength, faith, and trust.

Currently, we are staying in the Ronald MCDonald houses along with my mom, sister an EMma. As of Sunday, Krista and I will stay here with Kinzie. Cale will return to work on Monday and come down on weekends. Emma and my mom are flying back to Texas on Sunday and Emma will stay for 2 weeks. THe timeline fo Kinzie has changed often but the best case scenario is now 2 weeks. We are praying for this.

I will post pictures later but wanted to at least update and notify all of you who have been so concerned and already spent countless hours in prayer and fasting on our behalf. We truly believe that your faith along with ours is bringing these miracles to pass each day. THank you, thank you.

P.S. Zellwegers came back negative for those of you who were worried about that with us.

Finally!

Tomorrow is the day! I can't wait literally. I'm going crazy being pregnant still. :-) I'm so glad they do planned c-sections 1 week in advance! We have to be at the hospital by 6am for prep and the surgery starts at 7:30am. We may be leaving super early in the morning due to another huge snow storm that is moving in on top of our current one. We will post pictures as soon as we can. The plan is to come home Saturday night or Sunday morning. It's totally up to how I feel. I"m actually reluctant to come home so soon and start being a mom of two! I still can't get Emma to go down easily for a nap! She will eventually go and doesn't try to get out of her bed much as long as I am sitting next to the bed but she'll play and talk and throw her cup, etc. Any more ideas moms?

I also know that i'm behind on posting christmas pics and will try to get to that next week too!

Waiting...

We are just waiting now for little Kinzie to come. I wish she'd come early on her own but I"m pretty sure she won't. So Friday the 22nd is the date at 7:30am. The doctor said today that she is measuring full term and that the fluid is just making me uncomfortable, but is not dangerous. In fact he said it may cause labor if it increases but that we'll just ride it out for a week. My feet decided to swell this week. With Emma, they never did, at least I didn't notice, but these bricks are hard to miss! lol I'm definitely sore and ready for her to arrive.

Kinzie Update

Well, we went to our appointment this week and they did another ultrasound. They found that I'm so very uncomfortable due to there being almost too much fluid in the sac. Basically Kinzie is a pee-er as the doctor put it. So anyway, she has created a very large swimming pool (I gained 23 of my 24 total pounds in the last 3 weeks) to swim in and is staying up very high under my ribs with what seems no intention to move down. So if she continues to build up her swimming pool we may have to move up the c-section date and get her out even earlier (oh darn...). We will probably bieng doing an amniocentesis (sp?) next week to make sure her lungs are developed though. I know I shouldn't complain because I have an amazingly easy 8 months but the last month seems to be a doozy! Anyway, we hope to see her healthy and happy and as soon as possible!

7th Anniversary

It is hard to believe that 7 years of marriage have already flown by; however, it also doesn't feel like yesterday that we got married. Too much has happened in between then and now and it's amazing how much we've come to depend on each other. To recap a few of our accomplishments, we each graduated with BS degrees, we paid off one car and bought another, we had our first child and are about to have our second, we made a permanent move to Arizona (at least for 5+ years) and bought a house....and guiding us through each choice was our Heavenly Father. I'm so greatful that I know who I am and why I'm here on earth so that I can keep perspective on all the worldly "grown-up" things we seem to "have" to do.

In addition to my Heavenly Father's help, I owe much to my loving husband who has helped to teach me patience, balance and how to relax a little more. So the following is for you honey!

C - C is for a compassionate husband who knows me in and out and tries to be one step ahead of my moods!
A - A is for always working hard in all his many roles: husband, student, teacher, father, provider, and church member.
L - L is for loving me and Emma...and Kinzie unconditionally.
E - E is for his excitement to be a dad and in the way he plays with Emma!

L - L is for looking for better and more effecient ways to provide for his family.
E - E is for educating me more each season on the rules of Pro-football and why the Cowboys Rule!
E - E is for the entertainment we share together whether it be a movie on the couch, a night out, a trip to the temple or watching people at the mall.

A - A is for asking questions courageously in new situations.
L - L is for loving his job and stiving to do it well.
L - L is for leaning on the Lord even when it seems he doesn't hear and never giving up faith that he guides us.
E - E is for his example to all around him. He is always the favorite employee or person in the group due to his laid back manner and sense of humor.
N - N is for never failing to forgive his wife for her imperfections!

I love you honey! Happy 7th anniversary.

Calling all Moms!

Ok, so I knew that going into the terrible two's could be difficult but I didn't prepare myself for the added switch from crib to big-girl bed in preparation for Kinzie's arrival. Emma loves her bed (as long as the mattress stays on the floor) but she doesn't like to sleep in it! Actually she probably does like the extra room; she just doesn't 1) want to take a nap anymore and 2) want to stay in her room now that she has freedom to get out of bed.

So mom's, what do I do?!! How do I make nap time easier. We made sure to keep the routine the same: 2-3 stories, 2 songs, kisses...but this is what the last three days looked like.

Day 1 Nap - Spent the 2.5 hour nap period continuously putting her back in her bed. We also tried laying down with her but she just wanted us to play with her.

Day 1 Bedtime - Same bedtime routine but then immediately laid down with her for 5 minutes until she wanted to play. Then we left her alone. Had to put back a few times but was asleep in 15 minutes.

Day 2 Nap - Same routine, still tried laying down with her, but then sat outside her locked door while she cried herself to sleep. It took 45 minutes of her playing with her toys and crying off and on until she put herself in her bed and put her blankets on her.

Day 2 Bedtime - Same routine, laid down with her until she feel asleep. It took 1 hour but she didn't try to get up or play; just wanted me to stay by her.

Day 3 Nap - Same routine, still tried laying down with her but ended up locking her door again. She cried herself to sleep in 20 minutes.

So, as I type it sounds like it might be getting better slowly but am I a bad mom for locking her door to keep her in. People suggested baby gates but she would just knock it down. I feel it is the same. Is it or am I cruel? Any other suggestions?

TIme Flie!

I can't believe how fast time goes bye while at the same time moves so slowly. I can't believe it's only been a week since we got home from Mesa. So much has happened. Our cute little town began it's 12 days of Christmas events and we attended the first night consisting of the light parade, the outdoor concert and the dreaded wait in line to see Santa. We also went to Show-Low last night for their light parade and finally put up our tree and decorations. We were going to put up lights outside but got hit with a really cold wind this weekend so we'll see.

anyway, my point is that just when life starts to get so hard or so busy or makes you so tired that you start to wonder when will I ever get time to myself again or time to sleep in past 7:30am, it is inevitably the same child who seems to drain your energy that also fills your sould with incredible light and love.

My little echo continually amazes me with the way she thinks and the things she says whether it is echoing my "oh shoot" in her cutest little voice or her ability to be so fascinated with one thing for so long....the lights on the tree or an airplane in the sky. My little 21 month old definitely stresses me out at times but when I stop to think how many more times she puts a smile on my face, I remember that it is all worth it....and then she spills the milk again and I start counting down until her little playmate arrives (Kinzie) all over again.

Thansgiving or not...

I planned my Thanksgiving meal to the t. I even included low fat items for my sensitive gallbladder. I went shopping Monday afternoon, bought a nice big 20 pound turkey and was going to make pies with a friend Wendesday afternoon. And then...

the pain came back Monday night. Two Lortabs and one hour later I fell into an exhausted sleep unitl midnight, woke up and was able to sleep the rest of the night. I went to work and was hit an attack after lunch....and then again that night. This attack started at about 8pm and by 11pm was extremely painful. I caved in and took 1 Lortab...no relief. I took the second and finally Cale convinced me to go to the hospital at midnight. It was dejavu!

We went straight to the ER this time. They checked me in within minutes and instantly put me in Labor and Delivery with a monitor on the baby. The pain killers were very slow in coming this time. The ER just keeps them coming. L&D, not so much. After my doctor arrived, who luckily was again already there on call, they decided to send me to Mesa again and make sure the ERCP was done this time. THat is the scope procedure to remove stones and expand the bile ducts.

An hour later, I was in Mesa hooked up to more monitors, IVs and more lab tests were taken. My labs this time were more than double what they were the first time they sent me! The ERCP was scheduled for Thanksgiving morning. No food or drink before it and nothing but clear liquids after it. Some thanksgiving. The hospital did give free Thanksgiving dinners to everyone else that day so Cale got some type of holiday dinner.

The surgery went well. They removed 6 stones that were in the duct. They are unable to go into the actual gallbladder to get any but atleast got all but 1 in the duct. THe 7th stone was unreachable but should pass easier now that they put in a stint to keep the duct open biggger. The gallbladder does keep making stones but takes a few weeks to do so so hopefully we can get closer to term for the deliivery of Kinzie.

We are back home today. Labs are back to normal for except 1 and that one is close. The are 5 times better than what they were last time they sent me home. We considered staying at a hotel to see if my gallbladder would act up again and that way we'd already be close to the hospital in Mesa, but we were already half way home. So I guess we will just have pray that this works for now. THank you again for all your prayers. We'll keep you updated.

Better but Not Out of the Woods yet...

We arrived home about 9pm Sunday night after a very uneventful day in the hospital. They had given me a full meal and I had no pain. Labs had all come down and were closer to normal range so the stone had appeared to have passed. Monday morning we both returned to work, thanks to no sick leave and I was actually feeling great! That is until lunch. I ate my two little wheat rolls, an apple and fat free pudding only to be in pain 30 minutes later. Luckily it was not as intense and lasted only 30 minutes or so. I immediately went to Walgreens got my prescription pain pills, picked up Emma and headed home. The rest of the night proved to be very painful even with Lortab! I fell asleep finally around 8pm to midnight and then slept good the rest of the night. I think this will be a continuous occurence but not necessarily daily. Today proved to be ok, with slight pressure and gas pain this evening. I'm finding that intenstinal gas from being starved in the hospital can be just as painful and set off the pain of the pancreatitis.

anyway, just wanted to update you all and let you know that I'm fine for now and trying one food a meal to see what I can and can't handle. I have pain pills for bad days and the Lord's promise of a healthy baby to keep my spirits up. 8 1/2 weeks and counting!

Update on me!

Well, for those of you who haven't heard or that we haven't been able to contact, this weekend has been a busy one. For two weeks now my gallbladder attacks have been increasing in frequency and intensity. Finally on Friday, I was hit with one during my last class at school. I tried to tough it out till the end of school (I don't have students last hour) but couldn't. Cale luckily got home early and came right to get me. Our OB sent us straight to the hospital to meet him there due to elevated liver enzymes from the blood work ordered the day prior. Upon arrival we were sent to get an ultrasound of my gallbladder which was very difficult due to the excrutiating pain I was in. Finally the ultrasound was done and I was sent to the ER to be admitted and given pain killers. However, it had now been 2 hours in addition to the pain at school and I had to wait in ER to be admitted. An hour later, they admitted me but of course questioned and poked me first, then gave me Morphine. FYI, morphine increases the pain of pancreitis (which is what I was later diagnosed with) and thus did not help. Finally after yet another hour, they gave me Diladid (sp?). Wow, great stuff! I finally found relief and started to sleep while they prepped me for my helicopter flight to the valley. I was being sent to Mesa to a high risk hospital in case surgery was required and because I was 30 weeks pregnant.



Upon arrival, I becam a low priority at a high priority hospital and things moved very slowly. Cale had to drive down and his dad came with them. It's only a 3 hour drive and were supposed to arrive by midnight. Cale was too sleepy though and had to keep taking breaks. They arrived at 3am. I had had another gallbladder ultrasound at 1am which showed the stone blocking my common bile duct had been passed. However, enzyme levels were still not good. Saturday morning they had all come down into better levels for except my Biliruben levels which were still increasing. Thus, more waiting and observing. We were also waiting to hear what the surgeon thinks but he was in surgery all day.



So long story short, we talked to both the GI doc and surgeon last night and this morning. Consensus: The labs all came down today and are continually falling. Good news. Thus, the stone has passed and infection is low. No need for risking suregery at this point. Surgery at this point would not be laproscopic but rather a large incision with weeks of recovery and drain tubes hanging out of me plus general aneasthesia could put me into labor. So once the OB releases me, I can go home (hopefully today).



Best case plan at this point: Stick with scheduled c-section in 9 weeks or as close to as possible. 2-3 weeks later, have my gallbladder out. In the mean time, eat a no fat/low fat diet to avoid passing another stone and use pain killer for gallbladder pain as needed. However, gallbladder pain is intense heart burn not what I went throug the last two weeks. That was gallstone pain combined with pancreititis.

Sorry so long. Just wanted to update you all and thank you for your love, prayers, support, and help; especially Cale's mother and sister for watching Emma and his Dad for coming down with Cale and helping with blessings. We love you all. Thanks!

Baby Girl finally gets a name!

This name has been a hard one to pick. Naming Emma was easy because Cale had wanted Emma Elizabeth for so long...way before he met me and although I like more unique names I did like that name, so we went with it from day 1.

Baby #2 has been harder. My preference for unique names and Cale's preference for traditional names have definitely clashed. I can't tell you how many names we have gone through trying to find the right one. My first choice was Kaylee named after her dad, Cale Lee, but he was not a fan. So finally we have come to a compromise that we both love.

Baby Girl #2 is Kinzie Danielle Allen, a cross between Cale's choice of McKenzie and my choice of Kinsley.

Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year, but due to being sick for the last 4 weeks with the flue, a cold and the stomach flu, I was not prepared. We were however so excited for Emma's first trick or treating experience. She had a party at school on Friday and had dressed up as a little black kitty. For Halloween night though we added the whiskers. The first two houses she went to she was a little confused but after that she quickly caught on. She was so excited to be a big kid, to say trick or treat, take her candy, say Thank You and be off to the next door. She did not want to go home but finally gave up when she was too tired to walk. She went to bed super easy! We were also surprised by the number of kids out this year. We ran out of candy before 8pm and just turned our lights off. We're excited for next year though and hope to start up our annual Halloween parties again.

Cale's mother's birthday is on Halloween and so we all went out to dinner to celebrate. It was great to see them. They love to see Emma and Emma has really taken to them. It's fun to see her recognize them. She threw a fit 2 weeks ago when Cale's plans changed and he decided not to go visit his parents as he had planned. When he said to Emma, "I guess we're not going to see Grandpa today" she threw a full fit yelling "Grandpa, Grandpa." Who knew? He decided to go and when they go there, she ran right up to him saying Grandpa all the way and gave him a big hug.

Painting!

The week we moved into our new house (July) we started painting the living room, kitchen, hallways, and our bedroom. I quickly finished the living room and bedroom but we ran into a few issues with the hallway and kitchen. The color we had picked for the hallway and kitchen was supposed to be a light brown, beige color but when we put it up on the walls it was peach! Bright peach. Our living room has forest green accent walls and it seriously looked like an 80s teal and peach wedding! We spent weeks then trying to find the right color, browns, greys, purple greys, etc. We finally decided on a brown that was what we originally tried for. After months of our dining room wall having test colors on it, we finally finished the halls and kitchen!! It is so nice to finally feel done with the painting even though we actually have two bathrooms and a bedroom to go, not to mention finishing the last bit of Emma's room. During fall break and right before I got really sick with the flu, we painted the top half of Emma's walls purple...her favorite color. The bottom half will stay white but needs a fresh coat and then a chair rail to separate the two. Even with that unfinished project, it feels complete for now...probably since it's not on display for everyone to see.

Pumpkins!

We carved our pumpkins tonight. Emma watched me start by carving off the top of her pumpkin. She was excited to see all the goo hanging from the lid but did not want to touch it. She never did touch any of the pumpkin guts. She was very patient though and waited for me to carve her pumpkin and then mine. She did get very excited to light the pumpkins. It was dark outside when we did and she was so content to just sit on our porch looking at the pumpkins glowing. She would have stayed out there all night.

Pumpkin Patch

We took Emma to the Pumpkin Patch this year to get her pumpkin. She got to pick out her very own pumpkin. She picked one immediately but then insisted on being pulled around the patch with it on her lap in the wagon. We watched people paying to launch their pumpkins for $1 and we also let her take a ride on the train for 50 cents. She loved it all. She is at the age where she claps her hands and excitedly says Yeah! over and over. The day started and ended with a hay-ride from town to the pumpkin patch being pulled by a tractor. She sat so good on the ride and waved to every car we passed and said Hi! as if they could actually hear her. We just love taking her to do new things. She gets so excited but is also so polite...not always that way at home of course. She always says Thank You and Bye-Bye as well as Hi. She is constantly making us smile with what she says and does next.