A Rollercoaster of a Day!

Well, as you can probably tell, I'm catching up on blogging. This will be another long post. : ) (I can never make a long story short!) Today has been an emotional rollercoaster! At work I was caught up on everything and started reading a blog of another 9 month old. She was eating spaghetti, drinks sweet tea and eats cheese. She was also crawling a MONTH AGO. Given, she is not a preemie But I felt like Avery was months behind her. Avery only eats Stage 1 baby food and drinks milk! So then I went over to the Gerwer Quads blog and they were born the same weeks as Avery, the same size. They are all sitting and one is crawling now. Avery is not sitting at all longer than a few seconds. All of a sudden, I just felt so sad. It's easy to logically understand that developmentally Avery will be behind. That for those first two months, we shouldn't have been looking at her and changing her diaper - she should've been growing inside of me! BUT, knowing and understanding all of that, it is still very hard not to feel like if I just do enough - get her enough therapy, spend enough time with her, know enough to help her, feed her the right things, etc. that she will grow and catch up to all the normal 9 month olds. I had this overwhelming feeling that I was failing her as a mother. So, I started to type my mom an email because she is who I always ask for advice and sitting there at work I started to cry. I quickly realized I needed to get my mind off things for a little while before I had a meltdown at Chase (lol), so I had lunch and started looking for the perfect vacation spot for the millionth time. (More on that later!)

Fast forward a few hours and we are at our first Physical Therapy appointment. Walking in the door I was immediately impressed. I watched a therapist work with a child and kept wondering if it was her mom or her therapist. You could see the love and genuine interest she had in helping this precious little girl. (Btw, she was the therapist - not the mom!) There were encouraging scriptures posted everywhere and everyone was super friendly. Avery's therapist, Karl, came out and I knew I recognized him. Turns out, he is a life group (a.k.a. Sunday School) leader at our church -First West! He spent some time with Avery and listened closely to all of my concerns (wow, this is starting to sound like a commercial!) and determined that her flexion (sp?) has not developed. He said he spent a long time working in a NICU with the positioning of babies so he realized that this was not done in most NICU's and I know that Avery did not have a Physical Therapist at St. Francis. He explained that because she was 2 lbs she never got very squished in my belly. Then she came to the NICU and was sprawled out in her Isolette 24/7. Because of this, NICU babies tend to like to 'sprawl out'. I have noticed lately that Avery's arms are constantly back and half the time she is laid all the way back when she eats her bottles. The best way I can describe it is being completed 'sprawled out'. As you can imagine, babies can't learn to sit if they like to constantly lean back and stretch out. He showed me some techniques of how to walk around the house with her to discourage her from leaning back and also to build the muscle tone in her abdomen. Then he sat her down. I thought to myself "she's either going to fling back as usual or if he forces her to sit she'll throw a fit." Neither. Avery sat. She just sat and played. While I freaked out. I only had my cell phone and these are the best pics I could get. Again, I almost started to cry - happy tears this time! God knew that I needed that today. Reassurance that I halfway know what I'm doing, that Avery is normal and that everything will come with time. Thank you Jesus! And thank you Melanie Massey Physical Therapy! When she was doing that I said quietly "Thank you, Jesus!" as I so often do not even realizing I'm saying it because it is 2nd nature. Karl looked at me and said "Thats right...Praise the Lord...give him the glory...thats what I pray every morning." Isn't it amazing when you can find a staff of people who's prayer every morning is to help babies and children like Avery and not so they will be honored, but so He will. Isn't that what it's all about? So, once again I will say it. THANK YOU JESUS, FORGIVE ME FOR WHEN I QUESTION THINGS....I GIVE YOU THE GLORY FOR THE MIRACLE YOU HAVE GIVEN US!!!

Here are the pics of the miracles I got to witness today:

Avery and Karl, this is the technique of how I need to hold her - see her arms inside? And he lets go little by little so she is supporting herself!

And then a miracle happened, she sat and played, no crying, just sitting!

Did I mention she leaned FORWARD and sat and played...to most of you that is perfectly normal. To me that is a miracle!

She loved this Tigger~!

Even mommy learned how to help her sit!

Doesn't she seems so proud of herself?

A Wonderful Day!

Well, I had a WONDERFUL birthday! When I got to work my GREAT coworkers, Niki & Jules, had decorated my cubicle. That was so sweet of them. It was super cute.! They also threw me a little part with chips and dip and cake! That is a lot of work for 2 people...and it was so nice. They also gave me a Visa Gift Card! I had scheduled 4 hours off so that I could spend the day with Charlie and Avery - my bday happened to land on his day off. I figured we would let Avery have one last hoorah before the official start of house arrest - Nov. 1st! There weren't many people out shopping in the middle of the day on a weekday. And we shopped till we dropped! She was a precious angel the whole time and was even smiling at everyone she saw! I was also convinced by some lady in the mall to take her to an Olan Mills portrait session - for $15 I'm getting a 10x13, 1-8x10, 2-5x7, 16 wallets and 6 greeting cards. I figure if they're great, I'll buy more and if they're terrible I only wasted $15! I think I'm going to let her wear her LSU Cheerleader suit. I just can't pass up a good deal. Did I mention that I bought the cutest purse from Charlotte Russe for $1.25...yes one dollar and 25 cents. You can't get a Coke for that these days!!! That really made my day. LOL.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Jules asked what kind of cake I liked and I said "I like all kinds of cake" So she bought me all kinds of cake! German chocolate, red velvet, chocolate and carrott cake! YUM YUM!

Niki made my FAVORITE - Spinach Dip! Oh, it was SO good. Too bad birthday's only come once a year! :O)

In Avery news - we found a sitter! YAY! Kelly, who went to school in Vidalia and now goes to ULM, is going to come over Tuesday because Charlie has mandatory training and I have to work until 2:30. I'm going to do a little shopping and then meet Charlie at 4 to go vote. Hopefully, it won't take too long but I'm expecting to be there at least an hour in line. Even though I know LA will go to McCain (I don't think we've ever voted Democrat in the history of our state), it is still important for me to walk in that booth and vote for him.

Avery didn't cough at all today so we're going to do 2 more breathing treatments tomorrow and call it quits. So, I guess she is officially over her first experience with RSV. Thanks for your prayers! Please continue to pray that she stays healthy thru this cold and flu season. Btw, I'm getting my flu shot (For the first time ever) on November 5th and I've made it clear to Charlie that it is mandatory. So whether he knows it or not, he'll be getting his next week too! : )

A conversation we had today...

Me: "Ummm...babe...why is she chewing on a wooden spoon?"

Charlie: "Because she likes it!"

Me: "Where did she get it?"

Charlie: "She was fussy today and wouldn't play with any of her toys, we were walking by the thing in the kitchen with all the spoons and she pulled that out and started chewing on it and quit crying."

Whatever works! : )

100 Posts!

The beautiful necklace from mom for my bday

This is a YouTube video that someone emailed to me. I don't want to make this a political blog -because it is about Avery, but I am very passionate about politics so it's hard for me not to mention it at all in this heated election. Also, in the long run the next President will very much effect Avery! Anyway, this video says it all for me...its about values. Yes, I would love a tax break. But there are more important things than tax breaks I didn't really earn...

Happy 'early' Birthday to ME!

Playing with nonna today...

If you look closely you'll see that daddy gave Avery a mohawk...yikes!

We had a great weekend with my parents! (even though the tigers lost miserably...again!) They came up today and we went to Red Lobster..yum yum! Then I got to open presents...yay! I got a new pair of black shoes (which I really needed), some money -YAY, and a beautiful necklace from my mom. I'll take some pics tomorrow. It is a silver necklace with 2 small silver tags and a pearl. One tag has Avery's name, the other has a heart. It is very special to me and something I'll save for Avery to have one day! I LOVE IT! Joshua got me a 2009 LSU calendar and Mark got me a Laptop Lap Pad that I'm using as we speak!

Avery seems to be doing much better today. She didn't cough very much today. She is getting a fever blister though and I have NO idea how to treat it, so I need to call Dr. Khanfar to find out!

In other WONDERFUL news, I spoke to Blue Cross Blue Shield Friday and Avery is APPROVED for Synagis. I felt like I had won the lottery. If she had been denied I would have literally felt like I couldn't afford to keep my child healthy. The Synagis shots she will receive will total over $12,000 from now until April. This should protect her from RSV. This is such a HUGE relief .Watching her sick just breaks my heart. Avery has been through enough in her short life, I really hate it when she has to deal with any unnecessary pain! So thank you Blue Cross and thank you GOD...it was nothing short of a miracle that they approved the shot. Please continue to keep Avery in your prayers as she recovers from RSV.

Also, Avery will start Physical Therapy on Friday for the tightness in her muscles. Hopefully, she will start to sit really soon. Well, I guess thats all for now! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Happy Birthday Avery

HAPPY 9 MONTH BIRTHDAY AVERY!

She's so sweet...smiling even though she doesn't feel good!

Breathing treatments : (

RSV STINKS!

Holding her own bottle!

Nonna reading to Avery...

What are you lookin at?

Bloomers from her mamaw

Almost too big for the Moses Basket!

Other than the 'x-ray drama' Avery's appointment went well. She is 15 lbs 12 oz which puts her in the 5th percentile for 9 month olds. WOW...I can't believe I have a 9 month old! In 3 months we'll be having a birthday party...amazing! Time is FLYING by. Dr. Khanfar wants to keep Avery on the high calorie formula to continue to help w/ weight gain. He says she can have solids 2-3 times per day. The only thing he seemed a little concerned about was her tight muscles. I think that is a preemie thing. I will continue to work on her muscles and I'm sure she'll sit as soon as she's ready! He also told me to finish out her antibiotics and continue breathing treatments for the RSV until she doesn't cough anymore. Thanks for your continued prayer that this RSV will be short lived and she will quit coughing.

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ALREADY ANSWERED!

Whew! That was fast!

Dr. Khanfar just called...yes, at 7:30 pm...isn't he the best pedi anyone could ever ask for?

He wanted to say the xrays are normal.

Thank you Jesus for normal!!!!

Thanks to all who saw the blog and prayed in that short amount of time...isn't prayer amazing?

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

I only have time for the short version, and sorry about typos, I'll try to write more asap

Today at Avery's 9 month appt Dr. K was stretching her leg muscles and noticed they were extremely tight. Long story short he wanted us to have an xray immediately. We had the xray and the xray tech and doctor were looking at the xrays saying "Hmmm...." and "Is that...?" They were looking all sideways and they really scared me. We will have the results sometime tomorrow and I will post them asap.

I called Denise, Avery's therapist to see if she knew anything. She said he was looking for hip dysplasia. She said sometimes it can be corrected with physical therapy called traction, other cases need surgery. She said this would explain why she is 9 mos and not sitting. Please pray now and as often as possible that we will get good news tomorrow.

Thanks for your prayers about her RSV - he said it is a mild case and we will continue breathing treatments and antibiotics.

RSV : (

Despite my greatest efforts, Avery has RSV. I got pretty sick, it is going around at work but I thought I was doing a good job at washing my hands and not kissing her, etc. Apparently it was not good enough. I had been sick since about Tuesday and I noticed she seemed sick on Thursday. Charlie said he heard a rattling noise when she was eating. On Friday she was running a temp so I gave her Motrin before she went to bed and Tylenol in the middle of the night but she still had a temp Saturday morning and a cough. I called the doctors office to see if I should continue the Motrin but they said I should bring her in. It was the last thing I felt like doing, but I knew I had to go. And thank God I did! The doctor saw her and did a blood count. She said her numbers weren't too bad and that it was probably a virus. The nurse had mentioned they may do a nasal swab for an RSV check. The doctor wrote the rx and seemed to be wrapping things up so I asked about the RSV. She (it wasn't Dr. Khanfar b/c he swaps Saturday's with the other doctor in his clinic) said that she really didn't think it was RSV, because her lungs sounded clear. I told her I would feel better if we went ahead and tested for it. They did the nasal swab and we were packing up. I just wanted to hear "Its negative!" so we could go home worry-free. Unfortunately, the doctor walked back in and said, "The RSV test is positive." Even though I insisted on the test, we were both shocked. Avery very rarely goes anywhere, and hasn't been around anyone but me or Charlie for weeks now. We're very careful about where we bring her. Anyway, sometimes life just happens. RSV is common in adults, just not deadly. I probably picked it up at work and b/c it can be airborne, Avery picked it up from me. I believe it is the number one reason for infant death or possibly 2nd to SIDs, but it is very serious. Thankfully, she did not want to admit her to the hospital b/c it was not a bad case. We had to pick up a breathing machine, a humidifier and some medicine. She didn't run a fever (or if so, very low grade) yesterday. She does well with the breathing treatments, she just sits and closes her eyes. It is so sad to watch her get them though. I guess this is one of those things I'm not used to, since we didn't have them when I was little. It just makes me feel like she is so sick.

We go back to the doctor tomorrow at 3:30 and since it just happens to be her 9 month birthday, they are going to do her well baby visit in the same appointment. She weighed 15 lbs 12 oz, which is far from the 17 lbs I was shooting for. Once again, the doctor assured me that she is doing great - since she is almost 8 times her birth weight. Please pray that she recovers quickly and we don't have another RSV scare. We are officially on lockdown though. No church, no Target, no large groups, no small children...I hope this winter flies by! I'm counting down the days til' April!

Avery's First Word!!!

I'm going to need serious therapy - Still no internet at home. What would I do without Chase?I've realized the internet is where I do everything! Even more so, having none of my files - budget, addresses of family members, etc. WOW! I challenge you to go a week without turning on your computer - believe me if you think I'm exagerrating you'll understand after about a week. Thankfully, we took a trip to Vidalia and I finally got to post my babysitting ad on Myspace (and even got a response!) and check my Yahoo mail - yay! My laptop is "In Production" and should be here in less than 2 weeks...the countdown has begun! Also, my camera's memory card is full and I have no computer to upload the pics to so I haven't been taking very many pictures lately either! I guess I just need to go get another memory card!

Last Thursday me, Charlie & Avery went to Vidalia. My mom won an award. I am so proud of her - she was chosen from people across the entire state and she won! WAY TO GO MOM! Her boss contacted me and wanted us to be there to see her receive it. So we packed up Thursday afternoon and stayed until Saturday morning. It was really nice to get away for a few days. Right now we are trying to decide where (or if) we should take a vacation. My vote is another cruise - worry free & affordable! The only problem is that the only cruise going out of New Orleans is the exact same cruise we took a few years ago on the exact same boat. Charlie wants to go somewhere else - and I can't blame him. I would like to keep it under $2000 though, and I don't think we can go anywhere extraordinary for that amount. Charlie wants to go to Washington State "to see the cherry trees and go whale watching". I think he needs to be admitted to the nursing home too, talking like that. I have no interest whatsoever in WA. (Except for the tiny tidbit that Grey's Anatomy is filmed in Seattle - but its not like I'm going to bump into Meredith and McDreamy in Starbucks!) So does anyone have any suggestions? I think for this trip Avery would be staying with Nonna and Poppa and we would be going April 2009 (when nonna has Spring Break).

Ok enough of the babble - now on to the important announcement: AVERY SAID HER FIRST WORD. Just guess what it was? Da-da! Of course, her favorite person! She has been babbling a lot lately and every once in a while I'd hear a 'd' sound, so I've been saying over and over and over "Say da-da". Yesterday morning I was getting ready for work and she was babbling a lot and then she got real quiet for a few minutes and all of a sudden shouted "Da-da!" That was all she said. OMG can I tell you how excited I was??? I picked her up and told her I was SO proud of her and she was SUCH a big girl. Then I woke Charlie up at 5:30 in the morning to tell him! He was pretty excited though. (Wonder if it was the fact that she said da-da first??? Hmm..!)

Sorry no pics for this post. I brought my camera to work, but forgot the USB cord! Maybe tomorrow I'll remember?

Hey guys...

Since my computer is down I cannot check my Yahoo mail. If you send me something, please email me at casey.w.reeves@chase.com

Bonnie - If you check this, I can't get to myspace either. I hate to miss Laura's shower this weekend, but I put a gift card in the mail to go to your house today. When is the wedding? We definitely won't miss that : )