Ella's Room

Ella's room is almost complete. We just have to put up a chair rail and it should be done. I had my friend, Tisha, make this bedding for Ella. She did an incredible job! You need to check out her website at http://www.catywhompus.etsy.com/ to find all the awesome items she makes. She's really, really good!

BOOMER SOONER!!!!

Great win today Sooners!!!!! Isn't she so darn cute with that big bow?

BAKING COOKIES WITH GRANDMA CONNIE

He wasn't too happy with me taking this picture!

Happy Thanksgiving

Ella showing off her "Turkey" bow that April made her

Ella rode in the car to and from the Estep farm for her 1st Thanksgiving. Jason got to play in the Estep family Turkey Bowl. This is a tradition that has gone on for close to 30 years. I stayed home with Ella while Jason played football, and then I drove out to the farm so I could eat. Shows where my priorities are, huh? Ella stayed in the car while everyone got to take a quick peak at her, and then Jason brought her back home. Carson and Cooper had a great time playing with their cousins. (thanks Amy for letting me steal these photos :)

We take this game seriously!!!!! Jerseys and all!!!

My cute nephew, Reid (Mark and Tami's son)

Cooper Charles

Carson

I think Santa might have to bring us a trampoline for Christmas!!!!

Happy Due Date Ella!!!

Today is Ella's official due date. We were going to induce on Nov. 19th to keep consistent with her brothers. Carson's birthday is January 19th and Cooper's is December 19th. Oh well! I think October 2nd is a pretty cool date, too :) The picture posted is of all the kids at or around 6 weeks old. Ella is actually -2 days old in her photo. There is definitely one thing consistent in all 3 of them....check out their bellies. I love it!!! Ella has the shortest skinniest legs. I tell my Dad that she is built like him. Big belly and little legs. I guess that probably isn't the best compliment to Ella :) Yes, I put Ella in her brothers' onsie, but doesn't putting a bow on her head make it okay? I think so!!!! I promise this won't happen often.

Ella continues to be doing awesome. She must be going through a growth spurt the past 2 days. We haven't had to wake her up once to eat. She is actually wanting to eat about 30 minutes early. She starts crying and boy does she get loud. Jason and I just laugh because we are so happy to hear her get mad. She loves watching and listening to her brothers play. Hopefully we'll get a real smile out of her soon....maybe a "cheesy" one like Coop's below!

Photos

Ella and Dr. Hager
Carson and Cooper thought Ella needed to hold their "puppies". It was really cute!

I love this girl!!

Our pediatrician strongly recommended that we stay at home for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year due to RSV and flu season. I teared up a bit, but I know it is for the best. We'll have many more Holidays to celebrate. She also recommended we keep Ella out of church through these seasons, too. So, we're officially hermits! Ella will meet everyone in April!!! :)

HALLELUJAH!!!!

We saw the neurosurgeon for a total of maybe 5 minutes today. He said Ella won't have to have a shunt! Hallelujah!!!! Her head size has remained the same for over 3 weeks now. So, he doesn't think she has hydrocephalus at all. He literally just had his nurse check the circumference of her head and he felt her soft spot. She doesn't have to return for any follow-up appointments with him unless her head did start growing at an abnormal rate. There is no pressure on her brain, so there is no need to treat her.

After leaving the doctor's office, I just cried and cried. This was the last big hurdle it seems we had to jump. She passed with flying colors. It is such a relief! I am filled with so many emotions! I am so thankful, grateful, hopeful!! We totally know that Ella is God's miracle! He has blessed us beyond measure.

Ella also visited her pediatrician today. She weighs 6lb 4oz and is 20 inches long. Ella's pediatrician was quite impressed with everything she is doing! It's hard to believe that it is STILL not my due date. After everything we have gone through, I can now admit that I'm not a big fan of being pregnant. So, today I can smile and say, thank you God that I'm not pregnant and I have a healthy little girl! We have had a journey, but we have grown so much during this journey. Thank you God for increasing our faith!

Quick Update

Everything is going well at the MacKinnon household. The boys had an incredible weekend getting spoiled by their grandparents. I think their grandparents now need a little R&R after keeping up with those 2! I went back to work yesterday. I'm really going to overexert myself and work 1 weekend a month :) It was so nice having adult conversation!!! Ella goes to see the neurologist on Tuesday. We're praying for awesome results. This appointment will probably determine the necessity of a shunt or not. I'm very optimistic that no shunt will be needed. She seems to have matured so much over the past few days. She is focusing on her toys and playing on her little play mat a couple of times during the day. I'm enjoying her so much!

Here's for a couple of clarifications. This is really Traci's blog. Jason just likes to steal it and put it on his facebook page :) Jason doesn't like the bows, its me!!! And, I love, love, love the big bows and flowers (obviously, huh?). The bigger the better!!!! Now, when I bought some of these bows/flowers, I thought my child would be a tad bit bigger based on the size of her brothers. So, I didn't think the bow/flower would be bigger than her head :) Oh, well! When Carson was a baby, many friends from church had their little girls in these big bows. I personally thought they looked really goofy. Boy was I wrong!

Please keep our appt. on Tuesday in your prayers. We go to the doctor at 3pm that day.

Whoa! Do We really have 3 Kids???

As I looked across my living room this morning, I realized it resembles a daycare! 3 kiddos 3 and under! Craziness, but I love it!!! I think I posted previously that we are all adjusting well, but I don't think Carson got the memo! He loves his baby sister, but he hates the lack of attention he is getting. He is getting really good at throwing some major fits. He also had learned to go potty in many new places....the bathtub, the bathroom rug, his bedroom and the sandbox. I asked him why he pottied in these places. His response was "I couldn't find the potty". So, we are trying to find ways to give him more attention. Jason took him to a Thunder game on Sunday and my parents kept him overnight on Tuesday. He came back to our house on Wednesday like a new kid! The boys are going to stay with Papa Mac and Grandma Connie on Friday and then spending the night with Grandma Susan and Grandpa Jim on Saturday. They are taking them to cousin Ava's birthday party on Saturday. We love grandparents!!!! Cooper has been an excellent little boy. His fits are few and far between. He is an ornery little stink if you haven't already noticed from his pictures. He likes to smile a lot. Especially when he is in trouble. I'm trying to keep the boys occupied and not watching TV all the time, but I'm not being very successful. Isn't educational TV ok? I would let them go play outside, but they would end up in the sandbox....we have to stay out of it until we get new sand since Carson decided to use it for another purpose :)

Somehow, I have managed to get all 3 kids to nap at the same time. Carson and Cooper still haven't realized that there has been a time change, so after getting up at 6:30am, they are ready for a nap. I'm not sure which is worse, getting up at 6:30am or no nap! Ella is the best baby. She sleeps all the time, and only whimpers when she is hungry or wants to be held. She is getting a little spoiled and likes to be rocked to sleep. This surprises me a bit because she comforted herself back to sleep in the NICU for 31 days. I will spoil her all she wants, though! I think I was rocked by my Daddy to sleep until I was 10 or so :) I said Ella was going to be a Daddy's girl, but he's going to have to share! I'm smitten! She is just precious!

Yet Another Praise!!!

These bows are way too much fun!!!

God keeps amazing me of His awesomeness! I took Ella to see her neurologist today (Dr. Hille). She had a great report. He thinks that the hydrocephalus is correcting. In his opinion, he doesn't think she will need a shunt. Her sutures are correctly forming which shows that the hydrocephalus isn't misshaping the skull. Her reflexes were right on track, too. Her head size has remained the same and is only about 1cm larger than a full term baby (he considers her full term now). He said if I brought her in to see him and he didn't know any of her history, that he would see that nothing was wrong with her. She will have another EEG done in January and if it shows no more seizure like activity, than she will come off of her seizure medicine then. This is incredible news. Especially since I'm totally against giving/taking medicine :) haha! Just kidding! I just have a hard time remembering to give/take medicine. Now our goal is to get the neurosurgeon to call us back. The neurologist can't officially say that the hydrocephalus is "cured". We might have to take her to see a neurosurgeon in Fort Worth if we can't get the one here to cooperate. Dr. Hille said he is relatively optimistic that everything is going to be okay with Ella. He does want to order one more MRI to ensure that no particular brain damage was done when she was still in my womb. With every blessing God has provided us, I believe that she is going to be perfect! Perfect in every way that God has made her. Thank you all for praying for our sweet little Ella.

Bath Time!!!

5 Weeks Old

Ella is 5 weeks old today. Time is flying by! We are all adjusting well having her at home. The boys love their baby sister. Carson has to have her in his sight at all times. I really thought Cooper would be jealous, but he isn't one bit. He just says "Baby Ella" all the time. She is a loud sleeper, so she has already been booted from our bedroom. She is eating well and sleeping well (especially during the day). She was already on a schedule in the hospital, so that makes her a pretty easy baby so far. Jason and I are trying to adjust getting up every 2.5 hours once again. Whew, we're tired! I took her to the doctor today for a weight check and a head check. She is up to 6 lb 1 oz. Her head actually measured 1/2 cm less than it did in the hospital. Praise God! We're still praying for no shunt. Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days. It's hard to keep up with a blog and 3 little ones. We're having too much fun!

The picture above is of the prayer quilt my Aunt Sandy surprised me with. Actually it is for Ella. She made the quilt and then had people tie the knots who prayed/continuing to pray for Ella. This quilt will be forever cherished! Thank you Aunt Sandy.

Home Sweet Home!!!!

We are now home with our little Ella. She slept all the way home and is still sleeping. She opened her eyes briefly to take a peak at her brothers, but she wasn't too interested. Carson and Cooper are so proud of their baby sister. The nurse took Ella for a minute while Jason went to get the car and Cooper started crying and saying "no". He thought the nurse was taking his baby sister. It was so cute!

Ella's Coming Home!!!!!!

Ella gets to come home tomorrow!!!! (as long as everything goes well tonight) She had her last lumbar puncture today, so the doctor wanted to keep her overnight for observation. Her ventricles have remained the same on the ultrasound for a week now and her head size has stayed the same. Since she is eating all of her bottles, she gets to come home!!! We're so excited. I think my biggest excitement is that her big brothers finally get to meet her (and so Cooper quits calling my breast pump "baby sister" :). She'll come home on a sleep apnea monitor for a little while. She will also have follow up appointments in a couple of weeks with both the neurosurgeon and neurologist. She'll go to her regular pediatrician once or twice a week for head measurements. And, she'll have another ultrasound later on in the week. We will definitely be in and out of doctors' offices, but it is so worth it. So, there is no need for a shunt right now. Hopefully these LP's did the job. It's just a waiting game.

Ella turned 1 month old today. I can't believe it has already been a month. I'm so happy we're going to have her home before her due date (November 21st). It's going to be such a transition taking care of 3 kiddos. But, I'm ready for the challenge.

Thank you again everyone for your prayers. God has truly blessed our family. We give Him all of the glory. I will definitely keep posting updates on our precious baby girl. Love to all!

Cuddle Time

Papa Mac and Ella (left)
Grandpa and Ella (below)

Grandpa (Larry) finally got to hold Ella today until I rushed him off. I think between her Grandpa and Papa Mac, this little girl may never get put down. Ella is now on her own feeding schedule. If she's hungry, they'll feed her. If she wants 60cc, she gets it. If she wants 35cc, she gets it. It will be so nice not having to force an exact amount down her within their 30 minute time limit. She pulled out her NG tube today, and they said there was no reason putting it back in! So, she is tube free!!!! I totally forgot to take pictures of her beautiful face! Maybe I'll remember tomorrow.

We talked again to the doctor about these lumbar punctures (LP). I asked if it was a temporary fix, then why don't we just go on with the shunt. Anyway, I guess the LP removes excess fluid but won't correct the hydrocephalus. The doctors are hopeful that the fluid won't accumulate anymore after a few LP's. If they think that the fluid is stable and not accumulating anymore, then she will be home with us soon. Everything in my life is so "black and white". This area is so "gray". In my mind, the fix is either temporary or permanent. The doctor today said it is temporary, but yet she might not need a shunt. Jason's understands it. I'm trying to understand it, but I think I still have pregnant fart brain. My brain doesn't work quite as well as it used to :)

Jason and I were able to get out of the house a few times this weekend kid free. We had a great time at a birthday party on Friday (Happy B-day Terry), and we finally made it to church this morning. It was so good seeing familiar friendly faces! We're trying to keep the boys away from germs as much as possible, so they got to play with grandparents all weekend. Jason, Shane, and I took the boys trick-or-treating to 4 houses last night. Yes, just 4! OU was playing football, and we had to get back to watch the game. Boomer Sooner!!!!