Sunday, July 06, 2008

Lunchtime, progress, and other little tidbits

Today for lunch I made scrambled eggs with cheese. And guess what? ALL SIX OF US ATE THEM! Yep, for the first time ever, we had all 6 members of our family all eating at the same time, eating the same thing! Of course, Emma's and Micah's were sent through the babyfood blender with a jar of Apple Delight thrown in along with some formula and served in a bottle... BUT :) They ate it! I've attempted this route before- giving the kids whatever we're eating blended up and in a bottle and up until now they've refused every time. I now have two empty bottles to show the success this time though! YAY!

Emma is making GREAT progress since my post a week or so ago about how she cried when she saw me. In fact, last night I checked on everyone before going to bed myself and found Micah with a messy diaper- changed that- then realized Emma just didn't sound great breathing and she was still awake at midnight. So I picked her up and laid in the twin bed in there with her on my chest and she went to sleep within about 5 minutes. Her breathing slowed to a slumber and her harshness in it disappeared. Her HR went to a good 'sleeping' number and she was totally relaxed. "How sweet" I thought, then laid her back in bed and went to my own bed. I read for a minute and laid and listened. Her breathing didn't sound great again. I knew I couldn't sleep if I was listening to her instead so I went back to her room again and patted her back and she quieted some. I went and sat on the other bed and waited to hear her when she fell asleep. She didn't. She just looked at me.

So I picked her up and again laid her on me and we relaxed- and we both fell asleep. I woke up about 20 minutes later, put her back in her bed, and I returned to the twin bed to sit for a minute. My little girl that wanted me far far away just a week ago and didn't smile for 2 weeks after her T&A surgery and I wasn't sure would ever be happy with me ever again... she wimpered for me. She rolled to where she could see me and she waited for me to come get her. Of course I did! She was back asleep within 2 minutes and I, too, went to sleep. Finally, at 3:30 in the morning I knew I wasn't sleeping good and that she wanted to roll and couldn't, so I returned her to her crib and went to my bed. My sweet girl wanted Mommy. :) :)

Other little things... Brianna is standing up all the time now although she's still only up a few seconds at a time. Micah is doing great with going to sleep in his bed instead of the swing. Which is great because he's going to be too big for that swing soon! I've also started mixing his bottles different. Instead of 8 oz of formula and 2 of babyfood, I've started giving him 6-8 oz of babyfood and just 2-4 oz of formula, then giving him another 4 oz of formula/juice of which he'll just take a few sips, after. I know the babyfood is more sustaining and also is lower in calories (often 60 cal/4 oz instead of 20 cal/oz). Also, i want him used to the thicker textures and able to manage them better so that he can learn to negotiate them off of a SPOON! I'm making the new mixture only at meal times and his other 2 bottles are made the 'old' way.

Emma has regained a bit of her desire to eat and had 4 bottles again one day. She was down to 2-3 bottles for quite some time and just the past 3 days has begun to pick up again. If I can get 2 in before nap and 2 in after then I feel like she's doing ok. Less than that it just doesn't seem like she's getting enough. She and Micah were both drinking 5 bottles/day before her surgery.

I got an odd call from the cardiology group in St. Pete on Wednesday and I haven't been able to get back ahold of the surgeon's office to find out what's up. The cardiology office was calling to schedule a cath for Emma... but I didn't know that the surgeon wanted another cath. They had their wires crossed a little and it's possible that the cardiac surgeon doesn't want one, and that the orders are from the previous attempt at surgery which was predicessed by a cath... but I don't know! So... please pray that Emma does not need another cath before her open heart! I really want her going into it with all the strength and gusto that she's building back up and not to be 'down' after the cath for surgery. But... all in God's will and way...

5 comments:

  1. Isn't it good to rejoice in the little things? Glad to hear that you are in good graces with Emma again! I hope you have a great week.

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  2. Very happy that it seems that emma is back to her "old self". YEAH! Very sweet story about bedtime. :)
    As always, praying for your little one.
    Debi

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  3. So glad to hear Emma is much happier now and happy to be with you...all in time, God's time. Loved the pics in previous post Emma does looks so happy and way to go B start walking little girl! Sounds like your weekend is much better than last praise God. Have a great week.
    April

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  4. So your blog caught my eye because we are in the process of adopting a D child here in FL. We are so excited, but trying through others journeys to get a taste of reality. It will come in time. Thanks for being real.

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  5. So glad that Emma is reaching out and connecting again- she must be feeling better.

    Micah is looking like quite a solid little guy these days! Have you thought about starting feeding therapy so that he will eat solids? The oral motor movements required for eating solids are thought to help with the development of language too. If he resists for a while he has that extra padding...:)
    Jess

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