Prayer for baby Christopher

Please pray for baby Christopher.
Prayers for his family as well.

In order to protect his privacy I will not share anymore, but the Lord knows.

Michelle

Holly Bug and Mom Update

Well, it looks like Holly and Mom are going to be coming home today. I am soOo excited!

Holly is doing well. She has pooped four times today. Yay for poop!! God has really blessed her and us. I am just so thankful.

For those of you able to make it to the New Years party we are hosting tonight, would you please let us know if you are coming? So we can get some idea of a head count. Also, would you please bring a snack or drink to share? That would be wonderful.

I thank you all for your prayers!

Amandolin

Mourning the loss of dear Sue

Sorry I didn't update with details, I was tired and really in a state of shock.

If you read around Thanksgiving I posted about losing our dear friend, Mark, on Thanksgiving day. Yesterday his wife, Sue, passed away very unexpectedly.We are all in shock. I can only imagine how devastated Mark and Sues' children and grandchildren are. I cannot believe that I spoke to her only a couple weeks ago when she offered help with Hollyse. Sue was a nurse who cared for her husband for many years. Professionally she worked in pediatrics. My heart goes out to her children who have in a month lost both their parents. The depth of grief is unimaginable. Please keep this family in your prayers. They need us to carry them with our love, support, and unceasing prayer.

One correction for yesterday...Hollyse was on pedialyte until 1 a.m. yesterday. She was to have nothing by mouth until the had a bowel movement or today (Tuesday) after the Dr's. removed her packing.

I will back track a bit....

Surgery went well, but took longer than we expected. They took another biopsy in the OR and had pathology have a quick look to be sure they would remove enough colon. Pathology could not be certain so her Dr removed more than planned. Pathology is doing more thorough testing and if they can't be certain the sample will be sent to St. Louis, again.

She came off the ventilator fine. She looked awful, be did everything they hoped. They also were able to get a second I.V. while she was under. She did not go to the PICU, just went right up to her room after leaving recovery. Her pain seemed to be minimal as she did well after given Tylenol. She slept most of the day after surgery. She fussed very little but was agitated when we would handle her much.

She was just given her first bottle of pedialyte since yesterday early A.M. So far, so good. In a couple hours I will be able to nurse her. But naturally, we are all praying for...you guessed it, POOP! So, please pray she begins having regular movement today. We are waiting for that. Do not even ask me "What if...." I just don't want to go there yet. One bridge at a time.

Please also pray for Holly's little friend. He is 10 weeks old and the Dr's are not sure what is going on with him. He has a wonderful mommy and daddy who we are becoming great friends with. I will not share more than that in order to protect their privacy but God knows all the details and we hope you will join our family in praying for him. I asked his mommy if I could ask you all to pray and she said yes.

Thank you prayer warriors. We appreciate you keeping up with Holly's condition.

Many blessings,
Michelle

Out Of Surgery

Hello all,
Holly is out of surgery and doing well.
She is still on the Pedialyte. However,
if she is doing great, she could be breast
feeding this evening.
That is all that I know as of now.

We will keep you all updated.

Amandolin

Hollyse's Big Day

Well, our little girl is in surgery.We are excited and relieved to finally be here.

Yesterday she was on Pedialyte all day. She took it very, very well. I was actually very surprised at how happily she took it and didn't fuss what so ever. She is gold! She took her last bottle at 1 a.m. and then slept until 5:30 a.m. Then she fussed some, but we held her off with the pacifier well.

Although she did well with the eating situation, it was still a pretty rough day for her (and heartbreaking for mommy and daddy). Holly has 'valve-y' veins (not sure what that means) but it makes it tough to get an I.V. going. It took an hour and a half, eight sticks, and lots of crying to get her an I.V. last night.I told then they should go for her head before they even tried and they didn't want to. So, seven sticks later, they gave up on her arms and hands. They had the same problem in the NICU. Her head always seemed to be the one place they could get one. This morning the surgeon said they might try for a second I.V will she is under. We laughed, and wished them luck.
I never, ever hope to see the look in her eyes when she was being stuck over and over again. It broke my heart into a million pieces. Dean could hear her screaming a hall and two closed doors down. He was crushed to have to let his little girl cry like that.

But, that was yesterday. We thank God her brought her through.

The Peds Unit encourages parents to sleep at the bedside and provide much of the general care. Her Dr. allowed me to give her the enemas he ordered every eight hours. I was glad I could since I know her and we have a little routine that works well.


We don't expect her out until noon. Amanda will probably post a brief update. I will try to update tonight with more detail.

We are both tired. We all thank you for your prayers and support.

Blessings,
Michelle (& Dean;)

Cottage Bound

Hello,
It has been a while since I last posted. Today, Mom, Dean, and Buttercup (a.k.a. Holly, a.k.a. Hollyse:) left for the Cottage Hospital. Buttercup will be on Pedialyte for all of today, starting at ten. tomorrow as well, up to the surgery. I am not sure when she will be allowed to eat normally again.

I have to say, I am having mixed feelings about this whole thing. I am so excited for Holly to be better, and not to have to have these enemas every day. I know that she will feel so much better... It's just all so nerve-racking. I am not worried about the surgery, as much as I am thinking about today, and the trial that my mom will be going through. She will be sitting by knowing that her little baby will be hungry. Also, my knowing that she will be hungry and that she can't eat upsets me too.

We have all thought about that^. We just have to keep telling ourselves that after this, it will all be over. That we need to be thankful that God gave us a way to fix this.

They just left not long ago. I am already missing them all.


In Christ,

Amandolin

Mom's Birthday on the 17th of Dec.

Mom kissed everyone after opening their gift. She didn't really want to kiss Dean. He didn't really want to kiss her either.

Dean's gift to Mom, Ugg Boots.

Kisses for Me

Mom opening my gift to her.

Jake didn't want to take a picture. He didn't really have a choice. hehe

Jake's gift to Mom.

Mom kissing Elle after opening her gift.

Carter's gift to Mom.

As you all know, for mom's birthday, we were in Santa Barbra for Holly's doctors appointment. However, we did do gifts once we were all home.

Here are a few pictures from the gift opening:


Amandaolin