Adoption is Love - PLEASE READ!

This post is dedicated to the best friend I had growing up, Amy. We lived across the street from each other since we were born until we grew up and moved away for school. She is one of those golden people, of which you only meet a handful during your lifetime. We had so many wonderful adventures while growing up. I won't name them, as I am sworn to absolute secrecy... but every day was exciting and crazy with my best friend Amy!


Amy and her husband Steve have been trying to have children for years. They have recently decided to become parents through adoption. When you have a moment, please go to their website: Adoption is Love


Many times someone who knows the couple is able to connect them with a birth parent who would like to place their baby for adoption. I'm trying to help spread the word for my dear friend. If you know of anyone who is considering placing their baby for adoption, please remember Amy and Steve. Also, please help spread the word (either on your blog or by keeping a watch out). If you would like to get in contact with Amy and Steve, you can go to their blog or contact me and I can get you their information. Thanks so much for your help!

Lots of news!

We have a lot going on in our neck of the woods. But before we get the all the details, enjoy these cute pictures of our girls!

Little Laurie is all smiles these days. In just the last couple of weeks, she has increased her physical strength in leaps and bounds! She can hold her head up straight and she is even putting weight on her legs when you hold her upright.

Our bedtime ritual of reading stories on Haili's bed. Laurie loves to look at the books with us.

Haili loves to sit and play the piano and sing. She will do this for a solid half hour at a time - which I think is pretty amazing for a 2 1/2 year old. She will play a note on the piano and then match the pitch with her voice... she's even managed to hit a high G!

Since Laurie has been put on Miralax, she has tolerated solids much better. She loves her oatmeal and is sleeping better at nights because of her yummy oatmeal dinners!

Now for the news:

One of the perks of not posting often is that when I do finally write a new post, there is a lot to tell! First off, Kevin will be graduating on May 2^nd! We are extremely excited for him to be getting his electrical engineering degree. He’s worked incredibly hard and we’re so proud of him. We also feel blessed that Kevin has a job lined up after graduation. He’ll start work about 3 weeks after he graduates. We feel fortunate that he was able to find a job so quickly given the difficult employment situation that so many are currently facing.

Right after Laurie was born, she was extremely sick. Not only was she 16 weeks premature, but her severe pulmonary stenosis made her situation even more bleak. We were told several times that she wouldn’t make it and before they took her to the children’s hospital they wheeled me into the room so that I could tell her "goodbye". Kevin overheard some of the nurses saying that there was no way Laurie would survive. When she had her valvuloplasty procedure done on her pulmonary valve, the odds were not in little Laurie’s favor – as the smallest baby they had ever performed it on was over 3 lbs. and Laurie was only 1 lb. 7 oz.

During the course of our 3 month hospital stay last summer, I asked Kevin several times if we should bless and name little Laurie at the hospital. Kevin has unwavering faith. I admire him so much for it! He kept telling me that Laurie would be coming home and she would be OK. We didn’t bless her at the hospital and we decided we wanted to wait until our family and friends could be there to share this occasion with her.

We are planning on blessing her on Sunday, June 7^th. This could change, however, depending on if the neurosurgeon wants to put in a shunt to drain the excess fluid in her brain. We’ll keep you posted.

Our other big news…we are building a house! Yikes! Yes, it’s true. With all the recent government incentives on purchasing a home ($8000 from the federal government and $6000 if you buy a new home) we have been seriously considering buying a home for a while. We came across a builder here in town who is willing to give us the home at a GREAT price and will let us do some sweat equity! Kevin is going to be taping and texturing, painting, and tiling. We can use the equity to either lower the purchase price of the home or get upgrades. It was too good of a deal to pass up, so we put in an offer and he accepted! The home is 2800 square feet and on a third of an acre. It’s here in the valley, so Kevin’s planning to take the vanpool to work every day – which is about a 45-50 minute commute. The great part is that it doesn’t cost anything and he doesn’t have to drive it! They should start construction within a week – as long as the weather cooperates. The home should be done by the end of July if everything goes as planned!

That is our family news! Hope all is well with you and your family. Thanks again for all your continued love and support!

Haili got a new "do"! We took her to Dollar Cuts on Monday morning... it was mainly out of my frustration, as she REFUSED to let me even brush her hair out. I decided she needed a hairdo (is that how you spell it?) that didn't require a lot of brushing and pulling. Haili did pretty well during the haircut, all things considered. Here's a pic of her new "do" (she wasn't really happy to be getting her picture taken - sorry!)

Kevin also broke his glasses in his badmitton class on Monday. His new glasses wouldn't be ready until this afternoon and he's pretty much blind without them. So yes, he used ductape to fix them!


Laurie's MRI was on Friday and basically it came back as abnormal. Her ventricles are enlarged and it did appear that there is extra fluid as well. However, there isn't an increased pressure from the extra fluid. I'm pretty frustrated that we can't get in to see a neurosurgeon for 3 weeks (that was the soonest they could "squeeze" us in). Laurie will need a helmet (for her head shape) but only after the neurologist says that it's safe for her brain. So in a nut shell, there is something going on in her brain... but we won't know for 3 weeks what the game plan is. AHHH! I hate waiting. But better late than never, I suppose!

MRI

Well, we survived a couple of crazy days... Laurie's echocardiogram was on Thursday with Dr. Cowley. I set up the appointment at the health clinic in Orem. I was sooo glad that I did! We were the only people in the waiting room and we only had to wait maybe 30 seconds (yes, seconds!) before we were seen! It was the fastest doctor appointment we've ever been to.

Laurie's heart looks great. She has some leaking of the pulmonary valve - but that's to be expected, as it was ballooned open. The great thing is that her valve is growing with her! We won't have to see Dr. Cowley for 9 months!

Laurie had her MRI on Friday. They gave her a general anesthetic and everything went well. It was Laurie's first time getting an IV since being discharged... and I have to admit that I started to panic a bit when they wheeled her off. It seems so silly because she was just getting an MRI, but I guess the memories of earlier days will never completely fade away.

The doctor called us back with the results that afternoon. It's good/inconclusive news. They didn't find an excess of fluid in the brain, but there still is an area of concern in the front of her head... I am thinking that it has to do with her plagiocephaly (flat spot) on the back of her head - which is pushing her forehead forward. We'll meet with a neurosurgeon in a couple of weeks and he'll tell us exactly what's going on. But in my mind, everything is OK.

Kevin went on a bike ride with one of his biking buddies this morning. It was 5 degrees outside! Needless to say, he froze. When he got home, I asked if he had fallen in the snow - because he had snow on his hat. I was shocked when he told me it was his sweat that had frozen! He didn't even get to take a drink from his water bottle because it was frozen solid. We can't wait for Spring!

X-rays, CT scans, and an MRI...

Well, we had a wonderful 2 months with nothing but the "normal" doctor and physical therapy visits. I think I took it for granted...On Thursday I took little Laurie down to Primary Children's Medical Center for a visit at their physical therapy/rehab unit to take a look at her torticollis (tightening of the neck muscles on one side, resulting in a tilt of the head). When the doctor came in to see us, she did her routine examination and question asking and said, "Laurie doesn't have your normal case of torticollis..." There were several areas of concern. I'll name all the ones I can remember:

1. Her neck muscles are REALLY tight and slightly enlarged on her right side.
2. She has plagiocephaly (flat head).
3. She has "flexible scoliosis". Her spine curves when she's in a resting position. If we don't fix it by doing stretches, exercises, and positioning - then it will result in permanent scoliosis.
4. It appears that the scoliosis starts in the same area as her PDA ligation surgery... they're not sure if that is a coincidence or if it means something.
5. Laurie's head circumference is large for her adjusted age/size. Her forehead also is larger than normal. Her eyes are not "set back" inside her head like normal, either. But then again, when did Laurie ever do anything normally?!

We stayed at Primary's for a while longer to get some x-rays of her neck and hips and for a CT scan. The x-rays turned out completely within normal limits, but her CT scan revealed some extra fluid in her brain. (Darn!) It could be nothing. But then again, it could be something. So next Friday Laurie will have a sedated MRI. We also had to make appointments with a neurosurgeon (so they can tell us about the MRI results), neurology, craniofacial clinic (for a possible head helmet), and genetics. Oh boy! Just when life gets comfortable... I guess that's how we keep life exciting, right?

All in all we are doing well! We've taken advantage of the nice weather earlier in the week to go on some great stroller rides. I can't wait until it heats up! Gotta love our lovely Logan winters...

March is here!

We are so happy that Spring is just around the corner! Our family is suffering from cabin fever and we can't wait to be able to go outside and get out of the house.

Laurie now weighs 11 lbs. 11 oz! Her growth is actually not very good, all things considered and Dr. McKenna doesn't think she's getting enough milk during the day. We're giving her a stool softener with the hope that it will help clear out her system and increase her appetite. She's also been having pretty bad reflux lately so we got some medication to hopefully help with that. Laurie's torticollis has gotten much worse in the last couple of weeks. We're going to visit a specialist at Primary's to hopefully get her on her way to having a strong, flexible neck! She is five months adjusted age, but her neck strength is about at a 2 month old level. We've been giving her TONS of tummy time, but she still won't pick her head up on her own. Silly girl.

Here are some pictures I thought you would enjoy...



Haili and Laurie with my sister, Marian.


Sticker mom! Haili had a little too much fun decorating me with stickers....

Cute Laurie with her favorite toy.

Pray for Gracie

One of our sweet heart friends is going through an extremely difficult time right now. Her name is Gracie and she recently received a new heart. However, things are not going as planned and Gracie, her family, and the doctors are in need of prayers. Her blog is: thegledhillfamily.blogspot.com. Please remember them and pray for sweet Gracie!