Easter 2009

        * The girls in their Easter dresses. Sorry for you having to tilt your head, I am still learning iPhoto :p *

We had a very quiet and peaceful Easter at home. It was the 1st Easter at home, by ourselves in several years. It was not too bad, but I do enjoy being around family more on big Holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. The reason for staying home this year was due to the weather. It was nasty for a good portion of the day. Therefore, "Easter with the family" will be celebrated next weekend. The kids seemed happy anyway. We got up very early that morning and went to Mass. We were out of the house by 6:45 am in the rain. Mass was at 7:30 and by 9 we were home. The kids played and Cory and I watched movies and washed clothes. O well, not too exciting, but we did have a great Easter dinner. Shelby did the Easter prayer. She enjoys having that role. She prayed so sweetly for her preschool teacher whom had surgery earlier that week on her leg. Then went on with her prayer blessing the food and all her family. We closed the day with Cory going to work that night and the girls in bed.

Moving on, Shelby is having her last appointment today concerning her surgery and hospital stay, a post-op appointment. She is not happy. She does not want to go, can't say that I blame her! But this will finally put a close to that chapter!!

Rhiannon is doing good! School is still going well for her. 

Last week she was complaining about her foot being in pain. We shrugged it off, b/c Rhiannon is VERY dramatic! But after a few days of this "pain" we decided to take her in and see if it was anything. Well, turned out she sprained her foot. Not that big of a deal, she is already fine. All weekend we wore an ace bandage. She wanted to wear it to school today, I think for attention of course! I said no, only b/c she has been running around and acting normal all weekend, and not complaining of pain at all! So, I was the mean one today and did not excuse her from p.e., nor allowed her to wear the ace bandage! :)

Well, coming up in a few days, Cory and I will be married for 10 years!! Wow, 10 years!!

Since we already had our 10 year anniversary vacation for 16 whole days at our presidential suite in a very well known place, where the service was great and the food was not too bad. We are going to have a quiet kid free date, a dinner and maybe a movie this Friday. 

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter weekend. We did and loved every rainy minute of it! 

Keeping it up.....

So I think Cory and I decided that we will try to keep this blog up. It is a good way for family to get a peek into our everyday lives, well the stuff we want you to see or read about :) ! 

Well, Shelby is doing great since we have been home. The first week being home was full of constipation! Always fun! But she and I got a chance to rest and get back to normal. The following week was getting back to the swing of things. We both went back to preschool. That was very stressful and hard for me, but after a while I was good. Shelby was weary a bit. The next day she had dance. She took it easy, but I think she enjoyed it. Then preschool again, and I can safely say she was getting back to normal. Now, she is Shelby!! Goofy, silly, sassy, sweet Shelby! We are glad she's back.

Rhiannon is doing great too. She seemed to handle Shelby being in the hospital well. She never missed a beat. She is doing good in school. She is getting great help in the areas she needs and it's helping her grades!! She passed the TAKS test! We are so proud of her. That test put a lot of stress on her and her folks. She is also doing great in her power tumbling class. She has a lot of power in her, she just needs to control it better. She is learning to do a back hand spring by herself. After being in this class for only 2 months, she is doing them by herself on the floor trampoline. We were very impressed! She is learning fast! And she is listening to her coach! Go Rhiannon!

Cory and I are good. We are taking one day at a time as far as the medical bills go. We have listened to several people, and their wonderful advice regarding bills. So right now, I am not worried! Also, right now I can safely say we are all happy and healthy! I love the spring. It's the start of something fresh and new. Soon it will be the summer. It will be here before we are ready I am sure. Looking forward to it none- the- less. 

After a long day.....

   * She really was excited to go home, looks can't tell, but she was tired of me taking pictures :)

Well, yesterday was a long day. We were waiting for Shelby to poo. She never did and the doctor was ok with that. But it took FOREVER!! We were so ready to leave, finally at 5 pm we were given our walking papers. Then, an hour of going to 2 different places for her meds to get filled during rush hour in a very busy area. We ate and went home. That was around 7:30 pm!! Home at last!!! How sweet it is!! Thank you all for following this blog and all your thoughts and prayers!! This has been a journey we hope to never walk again! But thankful and blessed none the less!!

The last night.

It is the last night here at the hospital.  Shelby is so ready to run right out of here. 

We should be out by the afternoon. 

We want to thank everyone for the support and prayers.

Gettin' Close.....

Well, so far the nurses slowly took her off the nutrients and fats, and as of 9:30 last nite she is completely off!! The doctor is going to come in this morning, hopefully, and take her drain out. She will still have her PICC line in for her antibiotics through tomorrow, and she will go home with oral meds.

 The nurses are coming in one by one saying good bye to Shelby, b/c their shift is up and when they come back to work she will be gone. They all have been so great. For the last 2 weeks they have been like family. Those poor nurses, Shelby has been real mean to them at times. But the last several days they have got the opportunity to see the "almost normal Shelby".

Well, this has been a great hospital!! We are truly blessed and amazed we ended up here! A hospital most didn't even know was here or even opened yet!!

Picture of the bag of nutrients and fats. She has been on it for over a week.

MONDAY!!!!!

We have a date. This Monday, if all goes well we will be out of here!!! Sunday they will pull the drain and make sure no pus leaks out. They will also take her off her nutrients and fats, and see how she does eating on her own. They are going to wait and see about the picc line, if she will go home with it or take liquid antibiotics. We will know more as the days tick away!! Finally, we all get to sleep in our own beds come Monday! Hooray! 

Shelby playing "cards" with daddy and eating mac & cheese :)

Picture of the PICC line

Picture of the "pig tail" drain

Chicken minis

This morning a nurse stopped by and brought Shelby Chicken minis from chick -fil -a. Shelby has been wanting them for so long now. Because she is doing so much better she is on a regular diet. She enjoyed them very much. We still have a few days of recovery but she is getting better each day. 

Thank You.

Visitors welcome

Shelby is doing great. We are hoping if all goes well, we should be out in a few days. Fingers crossed. We are going to try allowing visitors. But please call Cory or I before coming, so we know at that time she is doing well enough for company. Also, with all do respect, afternoon is best. Morning is slow for her and evening is tiring. If it seems too much for Shebly we will close doors again. Just depends on how she is and does. Seeing friendly faces other than doctors, nurses, mommy, and daddy might be good for her. Thank you for respecting our wishes the last several days!!

We are back :)

The ambulance ride was fun and bumpy. The other hospital was loud, busy, and depressing. She got her picc line and drain. Good news, the "bubble" was not pus, it was medical fluid. She should be much better now. She didn't like the recovery room at the big hospital. It was so depressing. You were cramped in a super small space with 13 other kiddos recovering from their surgeries,  crying and making all kinds of noises. But soon after the ambulance came and got her to bring her back to the nice quiet little hospital. :) Now we are here for a few more days. They are going to let her "drain" and recover like she is suppose too. That should be all the procedures she should have. What a long road...........

St. Patty's Day

Well, we are waiting for the ambulance. Everything starts at 12:30 pm! Thoughts and prayers at that time please. All the doctors and radiologist have looked at the ct and talked. They said that there is about a  softball size pus pocket in her belly. The radiologist thinks she should get it no problem. And all the little pus pockets will get taken care of by antibiotics. She will getting a picc line too. That is because her i.v. in her arm is tired. The picc line is way better and they can draw blood from it, so no more poking!! We will see how it goes today. We are hoping for the best. We could still be in the hospital for 5 days to weeks. Slow process, but if it gets her better, let's do it! Hopefully we will get to come back to the hospital we started at. Thank you all for gives us our space right now. We are hoping Shelby will be feeling better soon, and we will allow visitors again. 

CT results and action.

Shelby had a CT today. The results showed a few abscesses. So we will be making a trip to another hospital where she will have a procedure done that will allow the abscess to drain out through a catheter. This will allow the abscess to drain out so she can get better. She is having a great day today. She is excited to ride in the ambulance tomorrow. Shannon will take pictures and ride with her. We will know tomorrow if we will come back to the hospital we started at or stay at the "new" hospital.

We Thank everyone for their support and prayers.

Rhiannon and the pictures SHE took....

Today was a busy day with the family.

Today was a good day. Family came to see her and more important Rhiannon. Rhiannon has not been to the hospital since last Sunday. Shelby got out of her room and sat in the "family area" for 2 hrs. She walked and blew her bubbles. She laughed at Rhiannon because she was being a silly thing. Then she came back to her room. Aunt Melissa, Uncle Tony and the boys came to visit. The room was loud and busy , but Shelby actually enjoyed the company. I was able to take pictures of the day. Then Rhiannon took it upon herself to take some pictures too. That will be another post, it will help explain why Shelby kept laughing at her all day. Oh, and tonite maw maw is staying the nite with us ( mommy and Shelby). We are hoping for a good nite. We might have to give her some more pain medicine so she will sleep good. But she has not had any since 11:30 last nite. She is still in pain, but hoping that will not last too many more days. She is also afraid to eat, because every time she has in the last few days, she threw up. One step at a time. 

Last night update.

Shelby has not had a fever and that is great. But she is having pain which is expected. 

Last night was rough for her so we gave her pain medicine so she can sleep. She is a trooper cause she has not had to have any pain medicine for the past 4 days.  So that is great. The doctor came in this morning and checked on her. He put her back on the fluid diet so we will see how she does. We have walked this morning and had some water. We are just waiting on her digestion system to get back to normal. 

We thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

A better nite

Well, the evening was rocky. We finally got her to eat 2 bites of bread, when she threw up bile again. So no more food, again, but no fever all nite. She slept all nite. Her tummy still hurts, but no pain killers all nite. Just heating pads. The nurse and doctor are starting to hear a little bit of sounds in her belly, finally. This is day 6, this has been a long road. She is trying to get better. I wish this on no one!

Pictures

And this is her belly today. You can see her 3 little boo boo's. Her belly is still a little "extended".

Things are STILL not waking up a bit. The doctor said this morning that even though we are in 2009, appendicitis  can still be a bad thing, and in this case, it is. He is going to wait day or 2 and if she does not do any better than they will look into doing some procedures. They will look for pus pockets and/ or obstructions. 

Pictures

This is a picture of her I.V. arm. The 1st I.V. was in her hand. It was in there for a while until they decided to put it in the fold of her arm. Her hand after the I.V. was out was 2 times its size, swollen. It's much better now.

Pictures

This is a picture of her right arm. Her "sticking" arm. They have used this arm to get blood every morning. It's all bruised and has little holes up and down it.

Not as successful today as I had hoped.

I know things have to take its time and I am not in control. I hate that. Shelby has slept most of the day, but has not wanted to do a thing. She has been up now for about an hour. Her tummy must hurt because she is not wanting to do anything. I ordered her some broth, rice, and bread because that is what she thought she wanted. The food came an hour ago and she is still not interested. Not even to sip on some water. She has had a fever, but got rid of it on her own ( no meds ). I am not sure yet if I want to have the nurse give her anything for her pain. Right now they are discouraging it. Tonite, if she continues to hurt, I am going to give in. I want her to sleep. But one step at a time. I am hoping and praying tonite and tomorrow will be  better and more successful. As they say, " 1 step forward, 2 steps back". We have been dancing that dance for a few days now, and I am ready for the " get well and get home" dance. She is too. I am hoping to have better news to report tomorrow.

Sleeping

Well Shelby has not got much sleep in the last 24 hrs. But now is resting comfortably. She had a tough night due to pain in her tummy. Everything is "waking up" and because of that her tummy is cramping. It is hard to see her in this pain, but at the same time we are glad she is. She is not wanting to walk, blow her bubbles, or even eat because of the cramping and lack of sleep. I am hoping this will be a good nap she is taking and will be "happy" enough to walk a little. I don't think she has a fever. The nurses are leaving her alone a bit, except for the stuff they HAVE TO DO, so she can rest.  Oh, she is a wake and wanting out of the hospital, so still cranky. I pray for a good night for her!

A Big Thanks to Everyone!!!

We would love to take this time to thank everyone for all the wonderful flowers, gifts, balloons, toys, stuff animals, cookies, and snacks!! I also would like to thank Ms. Heather, Ms. Lori, Ms.  Dea, Ms. Dee, Ms. Sharon, Ms. Tammy, Ms. Erin, Ms. Dawn, and Ms.  Tessa, and all the 4yr kiddos for their kind words. The book was super cute and Shelby loved it! Everyone has been great to our family in this time in which I hope we never have to experience again. Thank you all!!!

Evening with daddy and pawpaw.

Shelby had a good evening but restless night. Yesterday evening she walked a lot. She showed pawpaw where the play room was and then we walked to the window and watched the horses. Later that night she let pawpaw and daddy know that she was hungry and tired of this place and her bed is not comfortable. So pawpaw and daddy said lets get up and walk and go blow bubbles. So we did and we had a fun time, she blew bubbles at pawpaw and pawpaw would pop them. During the night she did not sleep well cause her little tummy was bothering her off and on but that is expected cause everything is trying to get back to normal. And she has been off pain medicine for 2 whole days now. Yea! The doctor checked her this morning and he was concerned about her still getting fevers, but she had a fever this morning and it went down on its own without medicine that is a good thing. She is sleeping very good now and she will get to try food today. Yea! 

We want to thank everyone for their support and prayers. 

bubble pictures

These pics did not fit on the last post.

More pictures 3/12

Pictures of Shelby walking and watching the horses outside playing,  blowing bubbles, looking at her books, and her sticker chart.

A picture of Shelby and Cory at preschool, she was sick and we didn't know it yet!

Day 5 starts.....

Last nite was good. The nurse was pleased. She is still running a fever here and there. We didn't sleep too well though. She was up every hour to 2 hours because she needed to go potty. She did throw up again, but it was after taking tylenol. We have already been up walking and blowing bubbles. She also has a reward sticker chart. For every time she gets up and walks or blows her bubbles, she gets to put a sticker on her chart. At the end of her chart she will get a big prize. She is super excited about that. She also got to check out some library books. She is still snappy and mean, but hopefully that will end soon, ugh.... Well that is all to report for now. 

Bubbles.........

This afternoon was filled with rest, whinnies, little fever, little poo, little throw up. But this evening has been good. The respiratory therp. came in and listened to her lungs because she needs to cough more. But she was not concerned. She said she needs to walk walk walk. And cough cough cough!!! So later, after American Idol :), she went potty and we walked. She got cheers and stickers from the nurses. They were pleased and said she looks good. Thats what a  mother likes to hear. I got her to laugh and smile for me. She has been telling me all the restaurants  she wants to eat at after we are out of here! She talked to her sister for the first time on the phone tonite. Lots of small sweet little steps. Then the nurses brought in bubbles!! The bubbles are to help her blow hard and breathe deep, which will help with her lungs and cough. She loved the bubbles, who doesn't!! She thought it was funny that the bubbles she blew kept popping in my face!! We laughed and it was fun!! Thank you bubbles..........

Toot Toot here we come.....

Great gassy news...... she tooted!! lots!! Her tummy must and will start to feel better now!! She got another 101 fever this afternoon. We win some and lose some, but the gas is a big score for the home team. As my sister said, "Team Shelby" :)

some pictures

The Update as of Wed the 11th.

She is doing well. She had a good nite. Better than the past few nites. She still run a fever last nite, but not too high. They are hearing noises in her tummy, thats good. We are wanting her to toot :) If she does then we all know things are good. toot toot toot !! Today she was able to go to the play room here in the hospital! She is getting a new i.v. Tonite she will getting a bag of nutrients. Some things are low in her body so they are trying to get them up. That will help in her recovery process. We are asking folks to hang back for us and not come to visit just yet. We are wanting her to rest and let the doctors and nurses do their thing to help her get better. But if she seems to be doing real good, we will open the flood gates again. Thank ya'll for all the love and support. All the prayers are working and keep them up!!! :)

Shelby

The evening of March  7th  I took Shelby to Acute Kids Urgent Care to get checked out for not feeling well. They had me take her to the ER at Children's Medical Center to get a CT for appendicitis, well she did have appendicitis and it ruptured that evening. They called the surgeon and they set up her surgery Sunday morning first thing. The surgery went great, they removed the appendix and cleaned out the area. She had  a lot of ugly in her little belly as the anesthesiologist put it. We are now in our Presidential Suite here at Children's and watching over our little baby. Her body is fighting hard with the help of the antibiotics to kill any unwanted infection. She will have to be here into next week. We thank everyone for their support and prayers. Shelby wants everyone to know she is ready to go home and that she going to eat all the Chicken minis from chic- fil- a.

Thanks

Shannon, Cory and Rhiannon