Poor Little James :(

Poor little JJ caught some sort of virus that has pretty much kept him in my lap or in the bed since earlier Thursday morning. He threw up Thursday morning and had a fever, I gave him Motrin for the fever and lots of fluids (which he threw up) and he slept for most of the morning. Ned stayed home from work Thursday, so I could take Lottie to her video swallow, he told me James seemed fine in the afternoon while I was gone. When I got back he looked like he was feeling better but he felt warm again when I put him to bed so I gave him some Tylenol. He woke up at 2:30am Friday and threw up again and was running a temp. Around 11am Friday morning he still had a fever (even though I was giving him medicine) so I decided to be extra cautious and call the doctor. They told me to bring him in that evening so I did. By the time I went to leave for the doc, James was acting totally fine and I almost called to cancel but thought since I had the appt I'd better just keep it (can't be too careful with Lottie in the house). He still felt and acted fine when we got to the doc but as we sat there waiting to be seen he started getting lethargic and feeling really warm. First thing doc did after asking me what his symptoms where was check his temp. He looked at the thermometer with a shocked face and showed it to me and it read 105.8 degrees! He thought maybe his thermometer was broken so he tried another and it read the same! He shot out of the room to get his wife to run a tepid bath, got Tylenol in him and ran him to the back to get his fever down. I stood in the back of the doctor's office for 30 minutes pouring cold water over poor James' head. We were able to get his temp down to 99.0 (thank God). After it was down doc told me that was a record for his office. He was very happy to find that JJ's little body could handle a temp that high! We still need prayer though...we've been fighting this fever all day today and have given him 2 cool baths already when it shot up too high. He hasn't thrown up since yesterday morning so that's good. Right before I started this post I took the picture attached, he was feeling really good, but now he's sitting on my lap and I can tell his fever is back again.:( Thank you all again for your prayers!

Quick update on Charlotte: The speech therapist got back to me late yesterday afternoon and said I did the right thing in putting her back on the nectar. She suggested I keep her on nectar for another week or two and try taking her off again this time more gradually. Thank you for your comments! It's always sweet to see people are reading this.:) Love you all!

Charlotte's Video Swallow Update

This morning I took Charlotte to Fairfax Hospital for her third video swallow since she was born. A video swallow is like a live x-ray to make sure she's not aspirating her food. Since the feeding tube was taken out in the NICU Lottie has been on Nectar (a thickener for her formula). Before she left the NICU in March speech therapy did a video swallow to see if she could go home on regular formula. The study showed she was aspirating thin liquids. It's pretty interesting to watch actually, they mix what they call a barrier in her formula which is like a white powder, this allows them to watch the liquid go down into her stomach through the x-ray machine. In Lottie's case, some of the thin liquid she swallowed was going into her airway. Anyway...she had another one done the middle of May and they said the same thing, she was still aspirating thin liquids. I went back again today hoping and praying we'd be done with nectar forever! They tried her formula in a few different bottles with thin and thick liquids and we watched her swallow it down great! The speech therapist noticed just a little penetration in her airway but no aspiration yay!! They said I could feed her regular formula without the nectar but that I should just watch for signs that she might be aspirating again and to call if I had questions. I made my way home very happy! I had to stop on my way back to feed her (her first full bottle with no nectar) she drank it down like a pro, so I put her in her car seat and made my way back to the car, before I could get outside however she started choking really bad and I frantically tried to get her out of her seat. Just as I was lifting her out she projectile vomited all over herself and her seat! So...I'm going to call the speech therapist tomorrow to see what I should do but until I hear back from her I guess we're back to the nectar. I was pretty discouraged earlier, but after a nice talk with my mom, I feel so much better.:) We have so much to be thankful for when it come to our little girl! Having to put nectar in every bottle is just a reminder to me of where we came from and how blessed we are that nectar is the only thing she is on due to her prematurity. We are still so grateful for your prayers! We can't believe she is going to be one year old in just 3 weeks!

Nathaniel and Charlotte

A very serious Charlotte waiting to be fitted for her second DOC Band

Lottie hanging with Daddy

Baby Food!!

The last couple of weeks we have been trying to introduce Lottie to baby food but she hasn't wanted anything to do with it until today. She ate every bit and licked the bowl!! The proof is in the pictures.:) I took these with my phone so that's why they're a little fuzzy.

Summer Fun!

The last few weeks have been very full for us to say the least. On the 3rd Ned's twin brother Drew, his wife Becca, and their two little girls Skye and Lily came for a visit and stayed almost 2 weeks. Ned and Drew had a week long running camp in Gettysburg (which Drew heads up) starting July 5th and ending on the 10th. Drew's Becca and I held down the fort here at home with the five kiddos. Our plan: 1. Keep the kids happy (mainly Lily who has a history of puking on you when she gets upset). 2. Wake up early every morning to run and do yoga every afternoon while the kids sleep. 3. Stay up late watching movies and eating junk.:) What actually happened: 1. I really wasn't keeping track but I think Lily puked about 5 or 6 times...help me out here Bec. We learned that Skye needs personal space and Nathaniel doesn't know what that means. Also Nathaniel likes pushing Skye's buttons i.e. sitting down right in front of her while she's watching a show (she's very serious about her cartoons) or touching a toy she has repeatedly because I told him he can't take it from her...even worse, sitting on her blankie! I could go on and on...I was having to get after Nathaniel so much for stuff that Skye caught on towards the end of their stay and started blaming him any time something happened even if it wasn't his fault...smart girl.:) 2. I think we woke up early to run once the whole week and didn't do yoga at all! 3. We were able to keep ourselves awake one night to watch a movie all the way through...we were so exhausted from taking care of five kids 3 and under that going to bed early always sounded better than staying up late watching movies. We did eat LOADS of junk, I think I must have put on 5 pounds in the 12 days they were here!! It was crazy but fun!

All the fun ended on the 14th when they headed back to TX. In other news, Charlotte had her last appointment for the first DOC Band on the 15th. They had told us she would probably be in the first band 3-4 months before she outgrew it. She is growing so fast that she was only in that helmet for 5 weeks!! She is due to go in this Wednesday to get her second (and last) band...hopefully she will get through this one as fast as the first! She is going to be 9 months on August 4th and is developing beautifully! She is wearing 9mos clothes and #3 diapers! She's such a chub and happy most of the time.:) She loves her brothers and they love her! Nathaniel helps her with her exercises (holds her toy rings above her so she learns to reach for them and grab onto them). She is rolling over and holding her head up great! I started feeding her some solids but she doesn't like it too much yet. James loves to help feed her! We have to watch him like a hawk because he's been known to find old bottles around the house and try to feed her! He did this with Lily too when Drew and Becca were here...I guess he just wants to make sure the babies are getting enough to eat.:)

I wanted to share a picture of Charlotte with Jackie (one of her primary nurses from the NICU). We got to visit with her at the hospital for a little while a couple weeks ago when Charlotte went in for one of her appointments. Hope everyone had a great weekend!