MacKinnon Madness

life is busy

2011-01-26T07:43:00.000-08:00

We have been a busy gang. I really need to update with a lot of pictures of our happenings the past few months. But, for now this is all I have. These were taken by our friend Shane for our Christmas card. It was so cold and windy that day! All in all the kids did pretty well. Ella couldn't take anymore of the cold after about an hour (neither could I!!!!) so we left the boys and let them take some more cute pics.

Cooper turned 3 on Dec. 19th and Carson turned 5 on Jan. 19th....photos to come soon! I think I still need to update with Thanksgiving and Christmas pictures, too. Oh, and we went to Great Wolf Lodge in October. Excellent vacation! Carson asks on a weekly basis when we are going back.

Other than a few sicknesses, we have been doing great. Carson had a perferct 1st report card in pre-k. He is growing up way too fast! Cooper goes to preschool one day a week and is finally getting close to being potty trained (beginning yesterday :) Ella is as sweet as ever! Still not walking yet but she is getting closer. She weighed in at 19lb 1oz for her 15 month appt. so she is still in her carrier in the car facing backward :( Jason is training for the full marathon for the OKC memorial and I'm training for the 1/2 marathon. So, running is keeping us BUSY! Life is good!

more photos

2010-11-21T20:33:00.001-08:00

(all the above pics were taken by our friend, SJ - thanks bud!)

At the request of Auntie Deana, I decided to post a few more photos of my beauties and some of their friends. I am so in love with my kids right now!!! (maybe it's b/c all 3 of them are asleep right now). They are just so precious. I've heard too many heart wrenching stories lately that have just brought me to tears. Life is precious. I praise God for my beautiful family, and I pray that He will always be glorified.

Today, is Ella's actual 1st birthday. I've been a little emotional and thinking back to that scary day. The more I recall, the more I realize how much God brought life to Ella. She came into this world not breathing - she was a blue baby and it took several minutes for her to be resuscitated. She had Apgar scores of 1, 1, 7 (that is bad!). Then she had a seizure from a grade III brain bleed. Then possible hydrocephalus and she had to have 3 spinal taps things to remove the excess fluid. We were told that brain damage had been done, but it was unknown how much. She went on to have a couple EEG's, MRI's, CT scans and several ultrasounds on her brain. Ella finally got to come home one month later and on an apnea monitor for 6 long months. But, after all those months, this little girl is a miracle. She is still little, but is doing amazing things. Dr's can say one thing, but we have a Greater Physician who is beyond all modern medicine. I praise the Lord Almighty!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY ELLA!

2010-11-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

Best Friends!

I'm finally back to the world of blogging. It's been a busy past 3 months. Jason and I did the dreaded p90x. We're finally done, so I have a small period of time to blog tonight. By the way, p90x was totally as unenjoyable as it sounds, but 100% worth it!

Ella turned 1 on October 2nd. We had a huge birthday party for her with lots of friends and family! Thank you to you all! Ella is such a joy. She is crawling and pulling up to everything...but not even close to walking. I love this girl so much! Carson and Cooper are so precious, too. Carson is doing so well at school. He loves to sing, sing, sing. Coop goes to preschool once a week and is loving it. Coop is learning a lot of songs, too from hearing his big bro sing :)

11 months

2010-09-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

11 Months this picture depicts all (Ella bugging Carson...Cooper bugging Ella.....)
Party of 5!

Baby Dedication at church (Daddy picked out her dress)

Boomer!

Sooner!

My 3 JOYS!

sleeping beauty

one day I know I'll miss all these cars randomly on the floor, so I had to take a pic of them

Cooper - 2.5 years - 1st day of preschool 2010

Carson - 4.5 years - 1st day of pre-k

Carson - 1st trip to the dentist

I totally missed updating with Ella's 10 month post. And, the pics are somewhere on some hard drive that isn't my laptop. So, sorry baby girl, no 10 month pics on this blog :( Ella started officially crawling about 2 weeks ago. She is a busy girl and into EVERYTHING! Her brothers are starting to think she is a tad bit annoying. But they still can't keep their hands off of her. She says "bye-bye", "baw" (ball), and an occasional momma and daddy. I think she spouted out "uh-oh" today. Ella loves to clap, especially when her brothers sing "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands..." She also gives us a nice Boomer Sooner touchdown here and there.

Carson started pre-K a few weeks ago. He loves it!!! I was a little concerned that he wasn't going to get out of the car, but he is a big boy. He loves to learn. He finally went to his 1st official dentist visit on the first day of school. He was a pro! We found out he has a loose tooth along with an extra tooth. Dr. M. said that just means he's that much smarter :) We were supposed to go to the dentist on the day Ella came home from the hospital back last November. Obviously we chose to take her home instead of getting our teeth cleaned.

Cooper started back to his preschool one day a week. He's still trying to get back into the groove of it. I have enjoyed spending a little one on one with Coop when big brother goes to school and little sis is taking a nap. It's a very special time that I'm soaking up making memories!

Carson asked the other day how much longer he has to go to school. It's so weird! We are officially in school......forever!!!! I know you Mom's all understand. It's sad, but it's so fun watching them mature so much. The days are long but the years are short! (stole that from my friend, MB)

We have started planning for Ella's big 1st Birthday! Can't believe it's almost here!

pics

2010-07-17T13:23:00.001-07:00

9 months....hard to find a good pose
2 legged race (Carson in blue, cousin Reid in red, Uncle Mark coaching)

doing a great job! CRASH! this was hilarious!

she doesn't quite like her bows these days He loves his sister
His Dad is #1 potato sack race (Jason came in 2nd b/c the guy in the blue cheated)

turtle race - thanks James for the turtle....which didn't move an inch!

Grandpa and Ella. I love this pic!

9 months later - the room is finally complete

Girly!

Aunt Deana painted this. Amazing!!!!

All boys!!!! Carson, Cooper and cousins Reid and Parker

Redhawks GameBowling with Auntie Deana

I'm trying to get Domestic!!!
My 1st cake

Homeade cinnamon rolls

Delicious pretzels that are fun to make with the kiddos

(I stole the idea from here: infarrantly creative)

9 Months +

2010-07-08T04:49:00.000-07:00

Ella turned 9 months on 7-2-10. I'm starting to get a little teary eyed that my baby is one.....but not so teary eyed that I want another one. We are officially finished (as of a year ago thanks to my good ole hubby). Enough of that! Ella's stats (as of 7-2) weight: 15lb 7oz (3%) height 26.5 inches (10-25%) head 50%. She's sill on that same growth curve. What's with my big headed kids? Big brains!!!!! Ella is finally 100% sitting up, except when her brothers knock her down or she decides to tip over in the bath tub. She absolutely loves taking a bath with her big brothers! She also has started pulling up to standing. Once she stands up, her legs turn to jello and she crashes. She's not crawling yet. Jason keeps trying to encourage her, but I'd rather her not crawl/walk for quite awhile. She has starting babbling and sounds like she is saying "Dada" quite often. She said "bye-bye" last night over and over. The boys still are begging to wake her up every morning. I wonder if they will ever get tired of their little sister.

Carson finished up the t-ball season and had a lot of fun. So did I! We were definitely ready for a break, though. We got papers in the mail yesterday that he is enrolled for pre-k for a morning class. Oh my did the tears well up in my eyes. My babies are growing up. Cooper is back to his good ole cheerful self. I've missed his precious personality. That boy definitely brings joy to my soul. If you ever need a good laugh, come hang out with Coop a bit. He always makes me smile.....even when he is in trouble.

I'm taking a cake decorating class in hopes of making those cute little cakes for my kiddos. We'll see how it goes. I probably should learn to make dinner before skipping on to the desserts. Jason is busy, busy, busy keeping our yard pretty.

We are a busy bunch of 5 these days. In a small way, I'm ready for school to start so that we can hopefully get ourselves into some kind of routine around here. Ella still sleeps so well. It is the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Now it's about 14 hours a night with at least a 2-3 hour nap during the day plus a couple of 15 minute naps while we're driving in the car.

Whew! I'm done rambling for now. Pictures will soon follow!!!

8 months - this is a long post!

2010-06-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

MacKinnon Miracles (March of Dimes walk)

T-Ball rivals but best buds (Carson is making the best face here) T-ball buddies

He had to wear brother's t-ball socks (always making us laugh)

Eating

Estep cousins

Brotherly love :)

Last day of Mother's Day Out

MacKinnon Cousins

Miracles - Ava and Ella

First Day of Church

Sweet little Ella is 8 months old today! We are having tons of fun with our little angel. She weighed 14lb 9oz on June 1st. It is so nice to be able to get out and about! We have been to church twice now. The 2nd time, we gave in and took her to the nursery since she tends to get a little talkative in church. It was tough letting her go, but I did survive. I've also managed to drag all 3 kids to the grocery store. The comments have begun "Whew, you've got your hands full....glad its you and not me......how old are they....." They are all 3 such a blessing to us. Some days are overwhelming, but at the end of the day, I can't help but feel incredibly thankful for them all!!!

2 weeks ago, Ella got her first ear infection. She had no symptoms. I had taken her to the health department for a hearing screen (custom screen for preemies that stay in the NICU). Well, she flat out failed the test. The audiologist did another test that showed Ella had fluid behind both eardrums which would make anyone fail the hearing screen. So, off to the doctor we went. That weekend (May 23rd), I discovered our little girl got her 1st tooth! What a surprise. The boys were like 9 months before they started sprouting teeth. She was only 7.5 months....or really 6 months. I guess she likes to do everything early. She is the happiest baby ever. An ear infection and teething and no complaints!!! We are super blessed.

We had a huge group of family and friends join us walking for the March of Dimes. Our team name was "MacKinnon Miracles". We walked in honor of Ella and her cousin, Ava, born at 33 weeks (she is now 2 years old). I had some college friends come up to walk with us. I feel so honored to have the support of such good friends and family! Thank you ALL for walking with us!!! It was a lot of fun!

I dragged Jason and the kiddos to Watonga this past weekend for some alumni fun. We watched football on Friday night and then spent the night with JC, Amy, Tucker and Mason. The boys had a blast!!!! Then on Saturday we went to a parade and afterward they loaded up to watch me play basketball. The gym was somewhere around 100 degrees (how could I forget that this gym had no A/C?) Anyway, I had a great time playing with some great friends!

Carson is still loving playing t-ball. Its crazy how much I can get into a t-ball game. I love it!!! He is being such a good big brother to Cooper and Ella. He also has discovered his neighbor friends on each side of our house. We have a neighborhood loaded with little boys. It's going to be so much fun! Carson has been inviting them over daily to play. Cooper has managed to have 2 ear infections in the past month also....he, as opposed to his sister, has been a grouch!!! I can't decide if it's the infection or just being a 2 year old. In between his grouchiness, he is a lot of fun. Always making us laugh. He's still my baby boy....always will be!!!!!!!

7 months

2010-05-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

Time is a flyin'! This blog post has lots of pictures since I haven't posted in forever!Ella is learning to sit up. It's a slow process, but we're getting there. It's hard for her to have any personal space since her brothers are constantly in her face calling her "baby girl, sweetheart, Elwa, etc.)". Having a baby sister is still so much fun for them! Carson is loving t-ball and is playing great. He also loves playing the Wii. Cooper is just enjoying hanging out with everyone. He is always bringing laughter to our family. He's the jokester and is constantly cracking us up. Ella is just a sweetheart. She is such a joy to be around and is my saving grace from these rowdy boys :) Our last appointment with the neurologist went perfect. She has been released from seeing all specialists. Praise God!!!! Dr. Hille said her risk of having any more seizures is slightly higher just because she has had one before, but he thinks she is pretty much out of the woods of having anymore. She also could be at risk for developing cerebral palsy, but she would probably already be showing signs of that, too, if she had it. So, we're pretty much in the clear for that. She doesn't have to do any more MRI's/cat scans either. Dr. Hille was more than impressed with her muscle tone and her alertness. We feel so blessed with this precious angel!

She's got enough hair to hold a velcro bow

Look how much she has grown! This was one of her 1st preemie sleepers

Small group friends

We do a lot of this at t-ball

stats

2010-04-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

We went for Ella's 6 month appointment on Friday. She weighs 12lbs 8oz (3%) 25 inches (10-25%) head circ. 42cm (25-50%) = one skinny little girl with a big noggin :)
She is FINALLY off of her apnea monitor. The company forgot to upgrade the monitor AGAIN and so it hasn't been recording any data as of January 1st. Oh the joys! We decided she was safer without the monitor since we found the cord of it up by her neck a couple of mornings. One other bit of big news....she is officially nursing! Don't know how that happened, but I'm beyond excited!

BUSY

2010-03-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

I think she's a little angry with me (probably b/c I forgot a bow) 6 months! Standing at the Incrediblock
BFF's Ella and Abby!
Again! Aren't they the cutest?

Just us girls! (Note to self: make-up is always a good choice)

She loves her food!

It has been a busy few weeks in the MacKinnon house. Carson got enrolled in pre-k. His Daddy ran so fast that he got 3rd in line. We only signed him up for 1/2 day. Hopefully that was a good choice. Carson had his first t-ball game on Tuesday. He did awesome. He hit the ball and then tried to chase after it :) He also fielded a couple of balls, too. It is a lot of fun to watch! Cooper fell out of the Explorer last week and bumped his head pretty good. Then this week, he pulled his basketball goal on top of himself and busted his lip. He's our accident prone child that likes to live life on the edge a bit. Jason flew to California on Monday to be with his family and just got home on Saturday evening. His Grandpa's kidney's are failing and he's not expected to make it much longer. Ella started rice cereal and sweet peas. She is a BIG fan of both. She grabs my pinkie and pulls the spoon into her mouth. I'm hoping we'll see a huge increase on the scales this month for her. We had Jon, Lori and Abby come for dinner last Saturday and they finally got to meet Ella. Lori and I have been best friends forever and now our little girls are going to be, too. Abby is 4 months older than Ella. Cooper REALLY enjoyed playing with Abby. He's a fan of the ladies! PapaMac and Grandma Connie came for a visit and brought us all a ton of candy! Yum-my! The Easter Bunny hasn't been mentioned much in our house, but he did come for a visit this morning. Carson told me that Santa left him a basket full of goodies. I explained that it was the Easter Bunny. He said, "oh, well Santa told the Easter Bunny to bring it." Oh these kids keep me smiling! I love them all so much. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! Remember the real reason! He IS risen!

FUN! FUN! FUN!

2010-03-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

I made her a tutu!

this expression cracks me up! Getting ready for a walk

We have ventured out a bit the past couple of weeks with Ella (shh, don't tell our pediatrician). I figured we would take advantage of the nice weather. Ella has been to our favorite winery twice (the gift shop of the winery) I hate to admit this since she hasn't been in church yet (in May we'll be there!). We also took her to get our new outdoor playground! Yea!!! We FINALLY got a playground. We're ready for friends to come play! She also got to go to Home Depot, the mall and to get yogurt. Her absolute favorite outing was the zoo! She slept almost the whole time!!!! The boys have been so excited to finally get out of the house and loved seeing some friends. I have to admit, I'm excited too!!!! Bring on Spring!!!! Goodbye RSV season!

Sleeping at the zoo!

Finally woke upDouble Trouble

Carson started t-ball this past week. He has just had two practices but he LOVES it! I can't believe he is old enough to play. I'm sad but excited all at the same time! It will be so much fun.

5 MONTHS

2010-03-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

can you see the orneriness?

new toy!

5 months!!! It's really already been 5 months since Ella decided to surprise us with her early arrival. We have been through a lot in those 5 months, but this little girl is developing with leaps and bounds. She is still petite at only 11lb 0oz and 23 1/2 inches as of February 28th. She is developing quite the little personality and I love it!!! Ella has officially been moved to her crib. She still sleeps 12+ hours at night until those big brothers go and wake her up. I was afraid that with her being in that big bed and not being swaddled that my restful nights might soon disappear. Boy, was I wrong. I think she sleeps even better. Ella also eats 8oz of milk when she gets up! That is crazy to me that such a small baby can eat so much.

crazy boys!

Carson and Cooper still adore Ella to pieces. They can't get enough of her....neither can Jason or I. We are all smitten!!! Mr. Cooper is back to himself and I am so thankful of that! I thought he was full out in his terrible 2's. But, being the nonobservant Mom that I am, he went a month off and on with double ear infections. Poor little guy! He's back to smiling and laughing ...especially when Mommy is getting on to him. I'm afraid this little guy is going to get by with murder. I can't get mad at him without laughing. He's so funny!

Growing Kiddos!

2010-02-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

She loves sucking her thumb! She can finally wear these cute little leggings

Look at this double chin!

I took Ella and Carson to the pediatrician on Friday for their well child checkups (with the much appreciated help of my parents) and they both are doing incredible. Carson weighs 47lbs (97%) and is 41 inches tall (75%). Ella weighs 10lbs 13 oz (3%) and is 23.5 inches (25%)....She's on the charts!!!! Carson got to do some fun tests. Unfortunately, there is nothing to do about is orneriness! Ella is doing so well. Our pediatrician was very pleased. She is right on track doing everything a 4 month old should be doing (even though she's really only 3 months). She is beginning to compete with her big brother Cooper on who can smile the most....and that's a lot! We are so incredibly blessed! She is just perfect! God is so good!

She is STILL on her apnea monitor. It is a bit of a funny story. The company that monitors her basically had a Y2K when the year changed to 2010. She had a download done that showed her last apnea episode was 11-10-09. The download recorded events from 11-03-09 to 12-31-09. She has to go 2 months without an episode to be able to come off of the monitor. So, she went 1 month and 21 days. Then the monitor company lost everything from 1-1-10 on. So, we have to start over from square one and go 2 months without an episode. We basically now just hook her up to the monitor at night. She still has to wear those sticky LED's under her arms and they are causing her to break out :( But, better to be safe! We've made it this long with that little monitor....I don't think a couple more months will be that bad. She just can't wear any zip up jammies at night, but that's ok. This is just another little bump in the road of inconvenience, but that's all!

Carson has thrown us for a loop the last few weeks. Disobedience is becoming the norm. Yesterday I found a book he had stolen from Mother's Day Out. He had hidden it in his sleeping bag. He also has began telling a whole slew of lies. How are we ever going to survive the teenage years? Super Nanny, where are you????

Jason recently introduced me to wine....good wine. I never knew there was such a thing as good wine :) It's sometimes nice to just have a glass after a long day (you know what I'm talking about). We also went on our first wine tasting adventure last weekend. We had a good time and tasted some really good wine. Here is where we went http://www.strebelcreek.com/. If you are interested in ever trying some good wine, you should definitely check it out! Invite me to come with you!!!

Happy Heart Day

2010-02-12T21:18:00.001-08:00

I had the best time taking these pics of the kids (as you can tell, so did they). It was so hard getting the boys to cooperate, that I decided to join them in the madness. (These are familiar photos to some of you but they are definitely some of my most cherished pics).

I had been delaying this post in hopes that Ella would be off of her apnea monitor. They did the download last Friday and we never heard any results. I called her pediatrician today and they had no record of the download. I called the company who downloaded and it got lost somewhere. So, hopefully we'll know on Monday. And, she is officially off of her seizure medicine!!! WooHOOOOOO! Praise God!!! And another praise, she is still sleeping through the night!!!!!!

First Laugh

2010-02-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

Ella gave us her first official laugh tonight!! Where is the video camera when you need it? I guess we better leave it out all the time. She is doing all kinds of fun stuff! I'm amazed at how much her laugh sounded like Carson's when he was a baby. Gosh, I can't wait for everyone to meet her! She is a doll!!!!!

On another note, can someone give me back my one year old Cooper? He was much more fun as a cute little one year old than a whiny two year old!!!!

4 months old

2010-02-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has been 4 months since our little miracle arrived! We are so blessed!

grow, grow, grow!

2010-01-29T14:50:00.001-08:00

Baby Girl is now up to 10lb 1oz! She is still little (at almost 4 months old) but remember she started at a whopping 4lbs 13oz. :) As you can tell from the pic above, she is a happy baby!!

She still sleeps a whole lot! 12+ hours straight almost every night.....then quite a few cat naps during the day. She is still hooked up to her sleep apnea monitor. We finally got a download from the monitor and her last apnea episode was on Nov. 10th. She is supposed to go 2 months episode free, but her pediatrician wanted us to do one more download at the end of the month before she takes her off of it. I have to be honest. This monitor is a pain in the butt having to carry it everywhere she goes, but it has become a "crutch" for me. It gives me one less worry!

Her Synagis (RSV) shot wasn't approved by the insurance this month....yet! I'm still praying that it will get approved quick! The Dr's office is supposed to be arguing it! So, we decided to go on and pay it out of pocket for this month.....YIKES!!!!!!

Other than the couple of "road blocks" above, we are all doing great!!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Carson

2010-01-21T09:04:00.001-08:00

Carson turned 4 on the 19th. I can't believe he is 4 years old!!! My eyes teared up looking back at his baby pictures. I also can't believe how clueless I was back then. All you 1st borns get to be the guinea pig :) I love to watch Carson grow. I love to watch his mind work - and I tell ya, we are in TROUBLE! He can argue everything and he is sneaky! His favorite color right now is red and we try to convince him that orange is "ugly"....brainwashing! His best friends are Avery and Zach. I always update with Ella's weight and height, so I thought Carson needs his included, too. He weighs 44.4lbs and is somewhere around 42 inches tall. I don't think I included Cooper's, so here it is. 32lb and is around 35 inches tall. (once again, these are probably uninteresting facts to you, but it's my only documentation). Carson loves watching movies and he likes superheros a lot right now. He and Cooper are the best of friends 90% of the time. The other 10% they are just brothers and Coop annoys the heck out of him! He enjoyed his 4th b-day going to a movie with Daddy. We'll have an official celebration this weekend with family.

Here are some of my favorite photos of him growing up

more pics

2010-01-13T15:12:00.001-08:00

Amber N., the above pic is for you!!!!
SLEEPING

SLEEPING IN THE BUMBO....I TOLD YA SHE LIKES TO SLEEP

(I was giving the boys a bath and this is what she did)

King of the Wild Frontier

(Christmas present from Aunt Sandy)

They are getting quite the exercise playing the Wii :)

YIPPEEEEEE!

2010-01-12T20:16:00.001-08:00

Most of you already know our good news that sweet little Ella is seizure free, but for those of you who didn't know, her EEG from last week came back normal. We get to start tapering her off of her phenobarbital (seizure medicine) as of tonight. We'll taper it for a month and then no more medicine. Yippeeeeee! Ella is about the best baby I have ever been around. She sleeps so much! She cries when she is hungry and that's about it (except for the occasional grouchy evenings she has with Daddy). She does love to be held and got spoiled pretty quick, but I think that's okay :) I know the phenobarbital made her sleep a lot, but I'm hoping she'll continue to be a great sleeper once she's off the medicine. She sleeps typically about 9 hours straight a night. Oh, it makes me so happy!!! And she takes like 5 or 6 naps during the day. I am truly blessed. Thank you God for blessing us with this miracle - Your miracle!!!!!

For other family news, Cooper had his 2 year doctor's appointment. He is in the 75% in height and weight and 95% in head size. My kids have big noggins :) It's going to be weird having a baby not even on the growth charts after having these big boys.

I will post pics soon. I charged my camera all day and just realized that it was never plugged into the wall :) So, hopefully you'll see some photos tomorrow! Thanks so much for all of your prayers. I'm counting the days when we can bring her out and about and everyone can meet her!

3 months old

2010-01-02T18:46:00.001-08:00

I can't believe our baby girl is 3 months old today! Time is flying by. She is turning into a bucket full of smiles, except when the camera comes out :) She looks so thrilled below! She goes on Monday for another EEG. Then, we'll meet with the neurologist the next week for the results. We're hoping this will show no seizure activity and she'll be off of her seizure medication in as little as a week and a half. Wooooo-hooooo! Then probably one last MRI and her testing will be over. She got her 3rd RSV shot yesterday with no hassle. Only 3 more of those to go. I see I made an oops in the pic below. Should be 1-2-10. Is it really 2010? Time goes by way too fast. I have heard many friends say "the days are long but the years are short". It is so true!

Rooting on our Sooners !!!

Now that's a BIG bow!

Little Miracle angel outfit

Little Carson or little Jason - they all look identical (I got out a couple of Jason's baby pictures tonight - exactly like Ella and Carson's baby pics....I'll have to post them sometime)

2009 Blizzard

2009-12-29T08:41:00.001-08:00

snowball fight!!!!!!!!!!

so much fun!!!!!!!!!

8lb 10oz

2009-12-29T08:19:00.001-08:00

Ella supporting Momma's work

She's a growing!!!! Ella weighed in today at 8lb 10oz. She's still not a big eater, but I think she is growing quite well. She is sleeping great, too. This Momma has no complaints. And, she rolled over from her belly to her back twice today!

We had a wonderful CHRISTmas. I wanted a white CHRISTmas and boy did I get it. I'm not sure if I'll wish for one of those again. Carson and Cooper got pink eye and decided to share it, too. We'll see if the rest of the family gets it :)

Look at those poor little eyes :(Gingerbread Fun!
My personal "OU" touch-up
Daddy and Ella playing the Wii

Daddy reading the true CHRISTmas story

Happy 2nd Birthday Cooper!!!

2009-12-20T20:29:00.000-08:00

Cooper had a wonderful 2nd Birthday! We kept it simple with just Grandparents and one cousin, Skyler. He thoroughly enjoyed his day and stayed up until almost midnight with no nap. He was falling asleep standing up!

Finally a post!

2009-12-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

SO CUTE, HUH?

I am turning into a bad blogger! I have chosen sleep over blogging.....so tonight I'm multi-tasking in order to get it done! We are all doing well. Ella is still a really good baby. She occasionally gets cranky in the evening for her Daddy. Jason and I have a nice little routine going. I try to be in bed before 10 and then he gives Ella her last bottle for the night. I don't want to brag on her sleeping because as soon as I do, she will be up all night. So, I'm not bragging, I'm just going to use this blog as a baby book one day, so I'm documenting it. Anyway, back on track, Ella has been sleeping anywhere from 5 to 7 hours straight at night. If she does wake up to eat, she goes right back to sleep after eating. She has finally turned into an efficient eater, so I'm usually back to sleep after about 30 minutes. She is starting to get the hang of nursing, but I'm still not optimistic about it. Until then, pumping it is (multi-tasking duty above).

Carson and Cooper still adore her. Carson always wants to hold her and help feed her. Once Ella gets a little bit bigger and gains head control, Carson is going to be a great little helper with her. Cooper wants to hold her but gets bored after about 30 seconds and basically throws her at me. He is not a gentle child by any means. But, he is so sweet and loving. He loves to give hugs, but hasn't conquered being gentle. He loves to tackle everyone, too. Speaking of Coop, he turns 2 on Saturday. It makes me so sad. He's my baby. I know, Ella's my baby, but Coop IS my baby (he has me quite smitten). I'm not looking forward to the 2 year old personality he is developing. Hopefully it won't last long! I had some totally insane moments today. I think I need like 48 hours of straight sleep :) My parents are vacationing in Florida. I am so ready for them to get home! I have totally taken advantage of their availability and I am missing them big time!

This was an outfit of Coop's. I think it fit him when he was 3 days old :) She kinda fills it out

I think he loves her!

Auntie Deana made all of these cute hats! If only I had half of that talent!Christmas Outfit #1Christmas Outfit#2

Time for Some Pics

2009-12-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

It's been too long since I posted some photos of the kids. It's been way too long since I posted one of Ella with a bow :) I decided to take one with a big bow and one with a little bow....see, the little bow is so cute, but there is just something even cuter about the really realy big bows!

Had to include this pic. Rough life huh?

Smiles :)

2009-12-05T22:11:00.001-08:00

Ella showed me her 1st official smile tonight. I thought she gave me one last night, but she was a bit gassy so you never know :) But, I know she smiled for sure tonight....twice!!! Oh, made my heart melt!

Jason and I went to his company Christmas party tonight. It was really neat. It was a formal masquerade party at Red Rock Canyon Grill. Super nice! I had a great time but tuckered out early. So, Ella and I are just chillin' tonight. Jason stayed at the party and the boys are at Nana and GPa's.

2 month doctor update

2009-12-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

Ella had her 2 month appointment today. She weighs 7lb 2oz and is 20&1/2 inches long (I just thought she was long for some crazy reason). She is in the 3rd % for weight, height and head circumference. She's on the charts!!! I checked Carson and Cooper's weight at 2 months. Carson was 11lb 13oz and Cooper was 12lb 8oz. She has a lot of growing to do to catch up with those big brothers!

After being on the phone for many hours the past week, I got her Synagis (RSV) shot scheduled for tonight. So, sometimes you have to be very proactive, but it is totally worth it!!!

Oh, one other thing I keep forgetting to post. Ella is getting red hair. In bright light, it is totally red. It's not like mine, but there is definitely some red in there. I'm really excited!!! Maybe one of my kids will finally look like me :)

2 MONTHS OLD!!!

2009-12-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

Sweet little Ella is 2 months old today. She is doing awesome!!! I think she is about to show us her 1st real smile. We keep getting little half-smiles and she is focusing a ton! She still likes to sleep a whole lot (which I have no complaints about). For some crazy reason, her awake time is at 5am.....not good! By the time I get her back to sleep, Cooper decides it's time for him to get up. The boys spent night last night at my parents, so I got some good sleep this morning. I can't believe that I ever thought having 1 kid was hard. Piece of cake! Maybe it's because Ella is a super good baby. Maybe it's because I was clueless the 1st time around. Anyway, you parents of one kid, take advantage of it! The transition of 2 to 3 kids hasn't been too rough. I think the biggest transition is being on "house arrest". I'm a good hermit, but not with 3 little ones. I miss going to the gym, and I miss my weekly trips to Sams for a good hotdog!

I've had a frustrating week with a lady at Ella's doctor's office. Ella was due her Synagis (RSV) shot yesterday. It is due every 4 weeks. Starting last Tuesday, I called the lady and left her several messages which she will not return. Supposedly, the NICU was to set up that shot and never did. Now, the process just started today....and, it is a PROCESS!!! It could take up to 10 days to get it approved. So, I asked if we could just pay out of pocket and get reimbursed. The dang shot is around $1500.... per month. So, I can't risk taking the boys to mother's day out until she gets this shot. FRUSTRATING!!!!

Ella has her 2 month appointment on Friday. I'm anxious to see how much she has grown. She is so long. I think she is about to outgrow her newborn clothes in length. Look at those sweet little cheeks filling out!!!

You can tell in the picture above that Ella has a little birthmark on her forehead. It's called a Stork's bite or Angel Kiss. I prefer Angel Kiss. I think that is exactly what it is!!! Anyway, it will slowly fade away in the next year. Her little nostrils are still so red from the NG tube. I guess it's about time I put something on them. :)

Cooper loving on his sister.

Ella's Room

2009-11-29T20:35:00.001-08:00

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!!!!

2009-11-28T15:18:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-26T20:15:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2009-11-21T07:54:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-17T19:10:00.000-08:00

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!!!!

2009-11-17T18:03:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

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???

2009-11-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2009-11-10T10:57:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

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!!!!

2009-11-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

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!!!!!!

2009-11-02T18:23:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-01T19:20:00.000-08:00

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!!!!

Ella's Making More Progress

2009-10-31T20:53:00.001-07:00

Ella's bottle feedings are now every feeding! Wooo Hoooo! She only has the NG tube just in case she doesn't finish all of her bottle. Tonight after she finished her bottle, she was rooting around for more. This makes me so happy! The only thing keeping us in the NICU now is just waiting to see if these lumbar punctures are going to work. I'm a little confused by the whole thing, so it's hard to explain it exactly. There is a little bit of a language barrier between us and the doctor she has had the past 2 days. She keeps calling Ella a "he"....drives me crazy :) They did another lumbar puncture today and took off a little over 8cc. I'm not sure how many of these they are going to do. I knew one procedure wouldn't correct the hydrocephalus, but I don't know if it's a temporary fix or it they think it will permanently fix it. There are so many different people working in the NICU. We have a different doctor every couple of days and a different nurse every couple of days. Therefore, we hear a different story every couple of days. Hopefully we'll know more on Monday when a different doctor works. Ella's roommate got to go home today. I'm very happy for them, but Ella's room was so empty tonight. I was so sad to leave her alone :) Maybe we'll get another cool roomie soon!

Chester's Party Barn

2009-10-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

Haunt the Zoo

2009-10-31T20:41:00.000-07:00

New Bows

2009-10-30T15:01:00.001-07:00

We received these adorable bows in the mail yesterday from April Shrader. Oh, I can't wait until she can wear them all the time!!!!

There is not much news to report today. Ella keeps eating well. Oh, and she is up to 5lb 14oz. The Dr.'s would like her to gain at least somewhere around 20-30 grams a day. She is gaining about 80 grams. I think it is because when she does eat from her bottle, she gets a few extra cc's at each feeding. So, when she eats, she really eats!!!! Way to go Ella! She will have another lumbar puncture done again tomorrow to drain off the fluid. Please pray that this will work so she doesn't have to get a shunt!!!!

Another Option

2009-10-29T18:53:00.001-07:00

God has proven once again how good He is. The neurosurgeon told Ella's neonatologist that Ella's need for a shunt was kind "iffy". Basically, she is riding the fence if she needs one. Her head size growth has considerably slowed down the past few days. Also, her soft spot remains soft which is a good sign that fluid isn't building up too rapidly. Her CT scan showed once again the increased fluid on the ventricles, but it is growing at an equal amount on both ventricles...another good thing. So, they opted for doing a lumbar puncture today. Ella got a little epidural to drain off the excess spinal fluid. Hopefully this will be a huge success, and then she won't have to get the shunt. Once again it will be a waiting game on the results. We'll have some more ultrasounds and lots of head measurements. The Dr. was able to take off about 7cc of cerebrospinal fluid. Her Dr. said to not be too overly confident about this procedure, but she wouldn't have done it had she not thought there was a chance that it would work. Look at everything else God have proven He can do, why not this? Ella ate fantastic today! The upped her feedings to 48cc, and she can be bottle fed 2 out of every 3 feedings. Her Dr. today was looking at her charts and was totally "wowed" with the things Ella is doing. It's nice getting a good report! Oh, she now weighs 5lb 10oz. I can't believe how much she has grown in the last week. Her cheeks are really starting to fill out. I love it!

On my way home tonight, I realized that Carson and Cooper have never stayed more than 2 nights away from me. My precious baby girl has stayed 27 days away. Maybe a 7 day cruise should be in the works for next summer for Jason and I :)

School Days

2009-10-28T14:27:00.001-07:00

Carson and Cooper go to Mother's Day Out once a week. They absolutely love it! I was so torn taking Carson out of daycare, but I am so glad I did. These are their school pics. I was super lazy and took a picture of the picture (I didn't feel like scanning them in). Family, you'll get the acutal pictures one day :)

Carson 3.5 years

Cooper 1.5 years

I still haven't heard any news from the neurosurgeon. When I went to see Ella today, her oxygen saturation had decreased a little bit. She also has had a few bradycardia (heart rate too low) episodes. This could be due to the ventricles enlarging. If she is going to have to have a shunt regardless, I wish they would have done it yesterday. The waiting is driving me nuts. She is eating so well. I really think we would be home by now if it weren't for the ventricles. The neurosurgeon's office had misplaced the CD of her ultrasound and MRI scans. I was about to drive them over to their office myself until they "found" them. urgh!!! I guess we're the only ones in a rush here. Ella had to have a CT scan today. I somehow managed to go down to the room with her. I saw the machine they were putting her in, and then I had to step out. It sounded like they were putting my little baby in a centrifuge and spinning her around. I about lost it. I hurt for my little girl. Then, I saw her after the 2 minute CT scan. It was like it never fazed her. She slept through everything! Ella has a chart full of papers. She has been poked and prodded on more in her 26 days of life than the rest of our family together. Poor little thing! I know it will be totally worth it, but it is so hard being patient. As my cousin Amy said, we definitely will have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! Thanks for reminding me Amy!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

Papa Mac and Grandma Connie got this Halloween outfit for Ella. I think she looks pretty darn cute!!!!

Ella had another good day eating. She finished 2 whole bottles in a row. Hopefully her feedings will go up tomorrow. We'll see. The neurosurgeon will look at her MRI's and ultrasounds tomorrow. Then, we'll know more about when she'll get her shunt. I'm typing all these big words like neurosurgeon, neurologist, neonatalogist....whew, I'm becoming a doctor wizard :)haha! I have a tendency to look at her charts and try to read them like I know what I'm doing. I'm waiting to get a slap on the wrist :) Hopefully I can post more news tomorrow!

Another Day

2009-10-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

Ella has been eating so well the past few days. She has finished so many bottles lately that I can't remember how many. Her bottle feedings have increased to 4 feedings a day (basically every other feeding). She is up to 46cc. Her weight is 5lb 4oz. From what I've heard we will definitely do the shunt, it is just a matter of when. Her MRI and ultrasound results have been sent over to Children's and we are just waiting for Dr. Mapstone to look at them. Hopefully we'll know something by Wednesday or Thursday. I have had quite a few people reassure me lately about the shunt. My sister-in-law has a student in her class with one, and he is perfect. His only limitations are no contact sports. As most of you know, I'm a huge sports fan. But, this opens my eyes to many new opportunities. Maybe Ella will take after her Auntie Deana and love theater. Ella has really long fingers, so maybe she'll be an awesome musician. Maybe a cheerleader ??? We'll see.

Hopefully Ella will keep up her eating after her surgery. Then, maybe we'll be home within a few weeks. Her due date wasn't until November 21st, so my goal is for her to make it home by then. I can't believe she'll already by 4 weeks old on Friday. The time is going by fast, yet slow at the same time.

I had my 3 week checkup and got to talk to Dr. Hager a little more on what exactly happened. My placenta completely abrupted. It just happened! The only risk factor I had is being a red-head. I guess besides being know for having tempers, we bleed weird :) After talking to her, I realize more and more what a blessing Ella is. Dr. Hager did such an awesome job. She had an angel on her shoulder telling her to get my baby out when she did. I guess I had a blood clot half the size of my head. When she did the c-section, out came Ella, the blood clot and my placenta. My uterus was was black because it was so bruised. I am so thankful for my precious doctor! If any of you are looking for an OB/GYN, get her NOW! She is awesome!

Lots of Love to All!!!!
Traci

Good Eats!

2009-10-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

Ella finished her whole bottle tonight!!!!!! She ate 43cc!!! She was wide awake and went to town on that bottle. I have had such a bum day today, but this gave me a happy heart :) I had to give her a mini high five. Papa Mac and Grandma Connie are visiting tonight. They gave us some good eats, too! I love Papa Mac's chocolate chip cookies :)

Ella's ultrasound did show that her ventricles aren't shrinking. I wasn't there when the Dr. explained this, so I'm going on what I heard from Jason and Connie. I guess the bleeding caused scar tissue which is keeping the spinal fluid from being reabsorbed (therefore, the ventricles are swelling). It looks like Ella will probably have to have a shunt put in. Mercy doesn't offer this procedure, so Ella will have to be transferred to Children's sometime next week. I thought I would have to be in a waiting room for 6 hours while my daughter is having surgery, but the procedure should only take about an hour. She'll probably stay at Children's for a few days, and then hopefully she can be transferred back to Mercy. I originally thought that she would only need the shunt for a couple of years, but she might have it for the rest of her life. I wish her ventricles would just shrink, but I'm trying to remain optimistic since there is treatment for her. Our nurse tonight told me that maybe Ella will eat better after she gets some of that pressure off of her brain. She can't eat any better than she did tonight!!!!

Jason went car shopping all day. His little Honda Civic isn't quite big enough for 3 kiddos. I feel sorry for him having to deal with car salesmen all day. I told him good thing he didn't take me. I probably would have punched a few of them :) It would have been a bad day for me to do some wheeling and dealing. He has the car here at the house. The contract was written with a "wife contingency". My contingency is yes as long as I get to drive it :) J/K.

Lots of love!

Blood Type Answer

2009-10-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

I noticed on Ella's chart today that her blood type had been corrected to A+. The nurse practitioner later called me and said that there was an error when her blood type was originally put into the computer. I feel like they kind of blew the whole thing off like it was no big deal. 1st the lab technician stupidly saying there are recessive A/B/O. I don't know exactly what the idiot said :) Then, one of the neonatalogist blew it off and wouldn't request another test. I'm glad I persisted though. Finally one of the Dr's ordered the test "to put me at ease". Urgh!!!! Ella's roomate almost had the wrong bag of IV medication administered to her. Fortunately, the error was caught an hour later! Being in the medical field, I know that mistakes are inevitable. But, admit your mistake and truly be sorry for it! And, don't let it happen again!!!!!

Ella decided she wanted to be lazy last night and only eat 11cc (she's supposed to be eating 42cc) - Mom, that is no where near 5 oz (inside joke). I got her to eat 25cc in about 5 minutes today, though. I think I might have to start feeding her every time. I told Jason he could use this as an excuse so he never has to get up in the middle of the night with her when she comes home. She has been crying a lot more lately. I guess she likes to hear her voice now that she is finally using it! She weighs 5lb 2.7 ounces today.

Jason and I went on a Date :)

2009-10-23T19:13:00.001-07:00

Thanks to this awesome family, Jason and I got to go out to eat tonight for Jason's Birthday. We figured we would take them up on their offer since they are our future inlaws :) (sorry Wes, couldn't resist) This precious little girl is Carson's "girlfriend".
There isn't much to update on Ella. Her only orders today are for another head ultrasound tomorrow and for another blood test (because I keep insisting on it). Ella still isn't wanting to eat much. She had a couple of good days, but she was very sleepy today. I was very hopeful that she would eat well for her Daddy tonight, but she only ate a small amount before she fell asleep. Jason said she was crying quite a bit before he got to feed her, so he thinks she wore herself out crying. Oh, Ella has finally reached 5 pounds!!! And, she passed her hearing test. Her hearing could have been damaged during the brain bleed, so we're pumped that she passed! Carson flunked this test 3 times :)

Keep praying that Ella will increase in the amounts she eats!!!! Then, we can increase the frequency of her feedings! Then we can bring her home!!!

Blood Type Question

2009-10-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, put your thinking caps on back to good ole biology/genetic days. My blood type is A+ and Jason's blood type is O+. Ella's blood type is AB+. From everything I have found from the good ole Internet, this is impossible. To answer your 1st question, Ella is 100% without a doubt Jason's child! AB+ is one of the rarest blood types, so it raised my concerns. We asked for them to recheck her labs to see if this was just a clerical error. The lab said they wouldn't redo it and that blood types have recessive traits. I still see this as an impossibility. I guess Ella has defied all the "medical possibilities" so far, so why not another! Since Jason is O+, I said she could only receive blood from him just in case they did a clerical error.

On another note, we had another good day. Ella is definitely getting interested in eating. She is showing strong signs. Now, she just needs to eat more at each feeding. She also learned to cry. It is sweet music to our ears! (at least right now it is :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

2009-10-21T13:59:00.001-07:00

Jason's Birthday is tomorrow (10-22)

Happy Birthday! We love You!Ella started eating better once we put this hat on her. Her Uncle Mark said something funny. He said "If Ella were a texas baby, she would probably suck better"...haha! I love it!

Ella's Gifts

2009-10-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Good News

2009-10-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday. There was really no news, so I waited for the good news today :) Ella ate really well again for her 11:30 feeding this morning. She ate almost 30cc. She is learning how to pace herself. She was so alert during her feeding, and she looked so darn cute! I'm going to spend the night with her tonight to ensure she gets bottle fed. Yesterday her feedings didn't go as well, but it was because she was sedated from the medication she got for her MRI. Speaking of MRI, we got the results. The blood clots are definitely dissolving. It also showed that there was minimal to no damage done to surrounding tissue on the brain. Yea!!! Her ventricles are swollen more than they were the last MRI, but her head size is growing at an appropriate rate. She has orders for her head to be measured daily just to make sure no abnormal growth is happening. The nurse practitioner made it sound like the swelling sometimes happens and it will correct itself. The worse case scenario would be that she would have to have shunts put in to drain the fluid. The shunts can stay in for 2 years if she even needs them that long. The condition she has is called "hydrocephalus" or "water on the brain". This is not like babies born with water on the brain. Her brain didn't develop this in the womb, so her condition can heal on it's own. And, importantly, it is treatable. All along I thought the swollen ventricles was the biggest issue. I was wrong. The bleeding was the scary problem, but it resolved. God healed her and protected her brain!!! They wouldn't have been able to stop the bleeding, but they can stop the swelling. Ella WILL get to tell her amazing story one day. I am so thankful for all of you for joining us on this roller coaster ride. I am very optimistic that with the way her feedings have been going that we will get to have our baby girl home with us soon!

I have so many people that I personally want to say thank you to. However, if I start listing personal names, I will definitely leave someone one out! So here our my shouts out to all of you! (I feel like I just won an Academy Award and I'm trying to not leave anyone out) Thank you to both of our families. Grandparents have helped us so much with Carson and Cooper and loving on Ella. They've been there at our beckon call. Our siblings have checked on us so much and love Ella just like she was one of their own. Our cousins constantly check on how we are doing and how sweet Ella is doing. Our church family has more than amazed me. We have been provided meals, love, visits and lots of prayers! Our co-workers have checked on us, taken care of insurance issues and provided us meals. We are both blessed with incredible jobs and incredible co-workers! Our friends (everyone fits into this category) have given us more love than we've ever known. We have received so many calls, emails, facebook messages and blog comments that are SOOOO encouraging. We have had so many people offer to do so much for us (including cleaning up our poopy boys). We love you all so much! As I have said before, I know our journey isn't close to being over, but you guys have made the ride so much smoother. Thank you for your constant thoughts and your constant prayers! To God be the Glory!!!!

I Love my Friends!

2009-10-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

I had some girlfriends plan a girls night out last night. We ate at Hideaway and they threw a little surprise shower for Ella. She got some super cute stuff! I can't wait for her to wear it. Thank you my dear friends for spoiling me last night and for planning some much needed Girl Time!!! I love you guys! (I'll be posting pics soon)

Yesterday when I went to see Ella, they had messed up her feeding (bottle) schedule again. She hadn't been given a bottle overnight, so her her bottle times had changed. It stinks because we plan our schedule around Ella's eating so that we can give her the bottle. Once again I insisted that I get to give her a bottle. When I fed her, I had the occupational therapist and nurse hovering over me. Fun times :) Ella started out great, but she just tired out. The occupational therapist said she did a good job. I've decided to try to feed her every chance I get since they don't seem to want to do it overnight. So, I decided to go feed her last night at 11:30. When I got there the nurse had already fed her at 8:30. I was so mad! I asked if I could feed her again since I drove all the way up there. Her nurse said Ella was just so alert at 8:30 that she went on and fed her and she ate almost all of her bottle. I couldn't be angry at that! Anyway, after some convincing, I did get to feed her. She ate awesome! I think she's getting the hang of it!

Ella does have another MRI today. Last time she got so cold and her temperature was already a little low yesterday. Please pray that she stays warm and that the MRI goes well!

Love,
Traci

Frustrated

2009-10-18T17:07:00.001-07:00

Well, all Ella has left to accomplish is to EAT!!! It seems so easy, but yet so hard. I guess our frustration is that the overnight nurses keep telling us that she isn't showing the signs of wanting to eat, so they don't even attempt to give her a bottle. They have some kind of rating. I call it laziness on their part. The nurse told me today that Ella wasn't showing signs of eating and she would advise me not to give her a bottle. I insisted anyway and Ella ate half of her bottle. In the middle of feeding her, I decided to change her diaper and then the nurse wouldn't let her finish the rest of her bottle. They just keep giving her milk through her NG tube. Maybe some of you previous NICU Moms can help me out here. Somebody explain it to us. Jason and I are beyond frustrated. Most of you know that you don't want to get Jason mad! I understand that it is still 5 weeks before she is supposed to be here, and I understand that her condition might delay her a little. She has maintained her temperature and everything else is going well. Her ultrasound showed that the bleeding has stopped and is resolving itself. However, the ventricles are still swollen. The ultrasound did show that they could possible be a little more swollen than before, but our doctor today told us not to worry about it. She said it could have been then angle of the ultrasound or a different person reading it. Ella will have one final MRI before she comes home. They just want to wait to get the best results (they get better results the further away from birth).

Grandma Susan came and visited this weekend. She helped take care of these crazy little boys!

I seem to always be talking about Ella and Carson on this blog, so I thought I would share something about my little Cooper. He basically was born smiling. Cooper has the best personality and can cheer you up in a heartbeat with his ornery smile. He is so easy going! He's my baby boy and will probably get by with anything from me! My mom has told me that you love all your kids the same, just in different ways. I completely understand this now! They are all my favorites!

p.s. Pray for our sweet girl to EAT, EAT, EAT!!!!! (from the bottle) & for the ventricles to shrink on their own!

Love,
Traci

Cooper's Room has Turned Pink!!!

2009-10-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

Poor Cooper has been booted out of his room. He and Carson got bunk beds about a month ago. They both seem to enjoy having a roommate now. As you can see from this picture, they are sleeping very well!

I finally bought paint yesterday for Ella's room. The boys enjoyed getting to help out. Jason wouldn't let me take a pic of him just being in his undies painting :) j/k. I'm getting used to the idea of pink...lots of pink. Ella's room is going to be zebra with lime green and hot pink. I'm excited to see how it turns out. I'm the world's best procrastinator. Needless to say, I had nothing ready for my baby girl. I gave my friend, Tisha, the material for making Ella's bedding 2 days before she was born. I was like, I have over 7 weeks :) Jason is not a procrastinator and will probably have the room painted tonight.

I had a great day hanging out with sweet little Ella. I kangaroo held her for almost 2 hours. While I was there for 4 hours today, that girl pooped at least 5 times!! I never had the boys poop during the middle of a diaper change. She ate 25cc from her bottle tonight. I am proud of that. She is officially in a "crib" and out of the warmer. Praise God! So, as soon as she decides to eat more from the bottle we'll get to bring her home. Oh, and she did gain back some weight yesterday. She is 4lb 9oz.

The nurses the past 2 days have both commented on Ella's physical improvements. I guess last week her muscles didn't have much tone. She is responding and moving just like she is supposed to be now! She did have an ultrasound today, but we haven't heard the results yet. I was told that no early results is good news. I feel confident in positive results. I keep hearing over and over how resilient kids are! Our little miracle is beating all the odds! Thank you so much Jesus!

One last thought, BOOMER SOONER!!!

per⋅spec⋅tive

2009-10-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ella got moved again tonight. I think the NICU is moving babies on out so that there is plenty of room in the new unit. I guess my little girl is getting "promoted". HaHa! She now only has 2 neighboring babies. One of the Mom's bought Ella a little Halloween toy. After talking to this Mom a bit, it put things in perspective for me. This sweet little baby was born at 25 weeks and has now been in the NICU for over 4&1/2 months. We are going on 2 weeks, and I'm getting tired. This wonderful mom has been up at the hospital daily for 4&1/2 months and she is working full time. What a trooper she is! She had so much excitement to see her little girl. I just loved seeing her excitement.

Ella was wide awake when I went to feed her at 2:30. She makes the cutest faces all the time. I hope this little personality she's developing stays with her. It really looks like she is laughing at us for all she has put us through. She's like, "that's right, I'm the princess." The nurses up there all think she needs a tiara :) She made a lot of eye contact today which was awesome. She ate pretty well from the bottle. She is using so many calories trying to eat from the bottle that she lost weight yesterday. That's not so good. So, for specifics, prayers for her eating and prayers to keep her temperature up are much appreciated. She is having another ultrasound tomorrow. I thought she was having an MRI today, but I must have made that up. Oh I love Mommy fart brain :)

Kids Say the Darndest Things

2009-10-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a pretty cute pic Jason got of Ella smiling

(I refuse to say it's just gas :) She smiles a lot in her sleep!

Carson and Cooper got their flu shots today. It was interesting to say the least. I had to bribe them with McDonald's. Carson cried a lot harder than Cooper did. I had to hide my smile. I don't know why, but I have always laughed when Carson has gotten a shot (even when he was a little baby). Does this make me mean? He just gets the most dramatic frown, and he cries so hard. I tear up when Cooper gets a shot, though. I guess he'll be my baby boy forever :)

When we were leaving, there was this cute little 4 year old girl in a tie-dyed sweat suit. I thought it was pretty cute, but Carson had to ask "Why does that girl still have her jammies on?" I told him to be quiet, but louder he said "Look, that girl forgot to take her jammies off." Hopefully her Mom didn't hear him :) It was pretty humorous, though.

Jason said that Ella moved on up to Intermediate care this morning. I'm not quite sure why she didn't move sooner. Anyway, she is completely off her oxygen again. They had to decrease her bottle feedings to every 3rd feeding. She was just getting too worn out. She is also still in the warmer to maintain her temperature. So, I guess we won't be coming home this weekend. I'm hoping for next. Jason said Ella was very alert today. She's been so sleepy.

Mercy is opening up their new NICU unit next Monday. I get to go tour it this afternoon. There will be actual rooms for the babies - 2 babies per room. We're pretty excited because Carson will get to come visit his baby sister now! Both of the boys have been looking forward to meeting their Baby Sister!

What a Difference a Day Makes

2009-10-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

Hopefully we'll get some trick-or-treating in this year. The boys are loving playing "dress-up"Sweet Baby Ella sleeping

My spirits are high once again. I had a great day hanging out with my baby girl, and I'm having a great time hanging out with my boys. Yesterday Ella got visits from her Uncle Mark and Aunt Tami. Cousin Reid kept crying to see baby Ella, so Mark and Tami took him to see the "big" babies in the nursery. I think they pretended one of those was Ella :) Today Ella got to meet her Aunt Deana. This little girl is definitely going to be spoiled!!!

I met with the lactation consultant today and Ella latched on well. She didn't eat long, but she tried very hard. She is now eating 34ml every 3 hours. Ella tires very easily from her bottle, but I'm seeing an improvement. I was told today that she will have to eat from a bottle every feeding for 24 hours before we're allowed to go home. So, hopefully by next week. Someone must have been praying for my confidence with taking care of this precious little gem. My confidence went through the roof today. She all of the sudden didn't seem so small and so fragile.

Love you guys!

There's No Crying in Baseball

2009-10-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

There is no meaning behind the title of this blog, it's the only thing that came to my mind. Oh have I had an emotional day. I think some postpartum hormones have hit....hard!! I don't know if I got a bit overwhelmed with the possibility of bringing home a baby that is less than 5lbs. But, then I remembered that I was this way even after bringing home my big ole boys. You poor Daddies dealing with us emotional Mommas. When I got home tonight, I started crying for the 100th time today. Carson asked "are you crying AGAIN Mom?" Then he asked "why?" I said "I'm sad and I want Baby Ella to come home. " That smart little fart said, "Momma, she can't come home, she's too little." I guess I should listen to him more often! He then filled me with hugs.

Ella is totally off of her IV fluids. Her ultrasound came back good today showing what the MRI had confirmed. Ella's doctor said this was good news. She didn't try to nurse today. I'm going to meet with a lactation consultant tomorrow. Nursing isn't a big rush at this point. She did consume about 1/2 of her bottle this afternoon when I fed her. The rest of the nutrition came through her NG tube. She will definitely have to be able to consume a lot more by mouth before she gets to come home. She just gets so tired trying to keep warm and trying to eat. She's missing all that good ole fat to keep her warm! She has had to stay in the warmer to keep her temperature up, so this will have to improve too before we come home. We did get some good cuddle time in today, though.

I definitely want my baby girl home... now! But, I feel so comforted with her being hooked up to all those monitors. I know you Momma's of preemies know this feeling. We are exhausted from all the driving, but at the same time we're getting good sleep at night. I think the doctor might have been a bit optimistic about coming home this weekend. Ella still has a bunch of hurdles to jump over, but not near as many as she's already jumped. I was reminded that she still has 5.5 weeks before she was supposed to be here.

I told a good friend yesterday that I feel like I've matured about 10 years over the past week and a half (spiritually, mentally, physically). I had a couple of flashbacks today of being young and having no worries. A ton of my memories are at my Grandparent's house with Deana, Mark, Cindy, Joe and JC. There were no worries out on the farm! I sure do miss those days!!!!

Found Dog :)

2009-10-13T10:59:00.001-07:00

We got a call this morning that some people a little over 1/2 mile away had our "muddy" dog in their garage. So, there's another answered prayer. I know this isn't near as an exciting update, but we are glad she's home. Thanks to my mom for going house to house asking about Phoebe.

I haven't been to see Ella today, so I don't have any updates on her yet.

That's all for now!

Showers of Blessings!

2009-10-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

God is so good! Once again, we have had an awesome day. Ella got increased to using a bottle every other feeding. And....I got to nurse her. She did a really good job. Its a little different nursing a 4lb 10oz baby versus a 9lb or 8lb baby :) It was definitely a challenge, but she did latch on a bit. She also will be taken off of her IV fluids which means all of her nutrition will come from milk. She's up to 25ml every 3 hours. She is on a little bit of oxygen just to stimulate her only. She keeps having a few little spells where her heart rate will take a dip and we have to remind her to breath. That's a little scary, but I guess its a preemie thing according to the nurses. Her EEG results came back great. She has had no more seizure activity, just a few of those electrical waves. She'll stay on the seizure medication but at a low dose for a few months. This medication makes her a little more sedated than we like, but each day she is getting more and more alert. She is working hard with all these new transitions. I didn't understand how hard a premature baby has to work until now. It's work for them to eat, to breathe, and to keep their temperature up, etc. When Cooper was born, everyone was like, I can't believe you had a 9lb baby. 9lb babies are EASY to say the least.

I guess I'll spill the beans for the really good part. The Dr. today told us that Ella can come home this weekend if she keeps up her eating. Yes, you did read that right! I think my jaw is still on the floor at the NICU. I was in total shock....I'm still in total shock! Not sure why I'm in shock after all the awesome prayers that have been lifted up for sweet Ella. My baby girl has made more than strides since Friday. She has made huge leaps. She is a fighter! Carson and Cooper better watch out! They've got one tough sister!!!

We'll have another MRI on Thursday to make sure that the ventricles haven't swelled anymore. It will check for any possible damage that the 1st MRI didn't find. Please keep this in your prayers (I know you will!) In the next few weeks after we're home, our regular pediatrician will be measuring Ella's head size weekly to make sure it is not growing abnormally. We had an occupational therapist work with her today, too. She was doing everything he wanted her to be doing.

I can't say thank you enough for all of your prayers and all of your support! Seeing God work through each and every one of you has been so amazing. Thank you! Thank you! Thank You!

Please sing with me "God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me"!!! I've been singing this all day!

Lots of love!!!!

Lost Dog

2009-10-12T07:32:00.001-07:00

Well, to add to our madness, we have lost our dog, Phoebe. She is a little bitty shih-tzu, but somehow manages to climb our 4 foot fence. I feel so bad, but what can we do? Hopefully someone kept her out of the cold last night. I have a love/hate relationship with this dog :) She was my "first baby". She's one crazy dog! :)

Just some pics

2009-10-11T13:29:00.001-07:00

Sweet Baby Girl!

Maybe a little smile :)

Grandma (Jason's Mom) and Ella

Looks like she's praying

Nana (Traci's Mom) and Ella

Ella eats like a MacKinnon

2009-10-11T13:05:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness we have had a great day today!!! We got a call from the nurse about 10:30am that the doctor gave orders for Ella to have a bottle today. We rushed up there for our hands on time and while scrubbing in, a nurse came up to us and said "I heard you got great news yesterday". I knew we had received good news, but this came as a great encouragement to hear from someone else, too. She said, "see, I told you the radiologist doesn't see the whole picture."

Ella slept all night with her warmer off, and she maintained her temperature. She was wrapped in 3 blankets along with having on a onsie and a sleeper, but hey, she kept her temperature up on her own. Yea Ella! She pooped a lovely diaper when we were there, too. Her bilirubin levels are going up a bit, but I see this as a good sign. Jaundice shows up when blood is breaking down. So, hopefully all that blood on her brain is breaking down and going away.

Now, for the really good part! Ella ate from the bottle (the picture above is her 1st bottle). She ate like a champ! It took her just a bit to get the hang of it (really, it was more me getting the hang of it and not putting the bottle in her mouth far enough). She is only eating 15cc (1/2 ounce) but she did awesome!!! Jason will go back tonight and feed her again. She'll only eat from a bottle a couple of times a day, but this is a huge step! Also, they completely took her off of the oxygen today. Once again, I have to say Yeah God! This is totally His miracle! To Him we give the glory!

Painting with water

2009-10-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

These pics were taken a few weeks ago before this cold weather hit. I stole this idea from my friend Melodie. The boys loved it!! I filled up a couple bowls of water and let them "paint" the driveway. It occupied them FOREVER! Great idea Mel!

Notes from our wonderful nurse

2009-10-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

Here's Ella's update from our wonderful nurse's notes (paraphrased by me with only the important stuff). Ella's EEG on 10/5 was abnormal, but revealed no seizure activity. It was electrical irregularity which could result from blood in the cerebral fluid. Dr. Hille says that the blood would resolve and would go away in a few days to a week or two. The MRI showed that there are enlarged ventricles of the brain, but the fluid is not obstructed. This leads him to believe there is no need for surgical treatment (shunts) at this time. Ella appears better than he expected for today's exam. She moves her legs, arms not as well, she cries, gags, sucks not so well, and withdraws from pain. She will have another EEG on Monday, and a possible additional MRI. Dr. Hille said there was no urgency for the MRI as long as she is stable.

Dr. Hille discussed her prognosis saying that he believes she will do well if this is only a grade III ICH without the need of a shunt. Dr. Hille stated that the question of oxygen deprivation is not so much after birth, but rather before birth. Ella did receive CPR immediately following birth and was receiving oxygen as her heart was pumped. He says that this provided oxygen delivery. His question was how oxygen deprived she was before birth depending on if my placenta completely abrupted/partially abrupted and for how long.

The MRI was suggestive of an acute injury to the brain. He did not see a major diffuse area from the lack of oxygen, rather small localized areas. He stated Ella is becoming more responsive. For prognosis, he said she may have mild to moderated injury. If the injury was only bleeding than he believes that there would be no permanent damage. He doesn't want to speculate on any impairments for the future. He did say we are not out of the woods, and there is a possibility of long term permanent injury.

This is a very medical post. Hopefully it will explain things a little more. Dr. Hille's attitude seemed optimistic to Jason and I, and these results are much better than we (probably more me) expected. Continue praying for Ella's complete healing. God has shown His miraculous healing already. God is so good to us!

A Little Bit of Optimism

2009-10-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

We met with the neurologist today and heard some optimistic news. I'm waiting on Jason to bring back the nurse's notes so I will post some more specifics once he gets back from the hospital. Everything Ella has gone through doesn't look so great on paper, but I guess she impressed the doctor in person. She responded well to his testing, got mad at him and yelled at him ;) The neurologist said we're not out of the woods yet, but he wants to remain optimistic on long term results for Ella. Praise God for good results. We are still full of questions, but we are sighing with a bit of relief.

Please lift Jason and the rest of the MacKinnon gang up in prayer. His great grandpa died this morning. He was such a spunky old man, even at the age of 102.

Kangaroo Hold

2009-10-09T20:19:00.001-07:00

I got to hold Ella in a kangaroo hold tonight. Oh my goodness, it was awesome! They layed her sweet body on my chest skin to skin. She was upset and crying right before they put her on me. Immediately after being put on my skin, she stopped crying. She slept so hard for those 30+ minutes. It was just the therapy mommy needed!

When they took her off my chest, she started crying again. But, she got to snuggle up with Daddy for about 30 minutes. She immediately quit crying when Daddy held her, too. She loves her Daddy time!

I'm missing seeing my boys. I'm so torn between going to see Ella and spending time with Carson and Cooper. I did get some good hugs from Carson when I got home tonight, though! He's such a sweet boy! Coop was already asleep. I'm tempted to go sleep in the bed with both of them :)

2009-10-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

I think I should update my blog each time after seeing my baby girl. My spirits are much higher. Hopefully this will be a more optimistic blog than yesterday's. We still haven't met with the neurologist, so we don't have any news there yet. Ella seems to be truckin' right along with her feedings. She is still getting fed milk through the NG (nasogastric) tube. She is up to 2 teaspoons every 3 hours now. She is digesting all of it!! She can't decide what bed she wants to sleep in. She has moved into a crib a few times, but is having a hard time keeping her temperature up. Yesterday, when she had her MRI, she was in a 60 degree room for 45 minutes. I think I would have a hard time keeping my temp. up too after that. So, she's back under the warmer for right now. I get to give her a pacifier as she's getting fed through the NG tube. She is doing very well learning to suck on her paci. Hopefully we'll get to start on a bottle, soon.

I'm feeling 100% better physically which makes me a better mom. I was beginning to think pain after a c-section and post spinal block headache epidural would never go away. I'm sleeping like a champ....I know, I know, I've always slept like a champ! My milk supply is in full force (this might not be important knowledge to all of you, but it is something that is definitely going well). I woke up in the middle of the night and pumped 12 ounces!! We will have a heck of a supply when Ella gets home.

The boys are adjusting well. They have been so exhausted that they are sleeping incredibly well (naps and bedtime). We decided to put them both in the same bed last night. It worked awesome. They both came running into our room about 8:15 this morning. I consider that a successful night! My parents have been awesome being at our beckon call and taking care of our boys.

Jason is my support right now! I know I could not endure this without him. I knew I married an incredible guy, but he is beyond incredible!

Thank you dear friends for all of your comments and emails. I cry with each one I read. These are good tears. God has given each of you the perfect words to say to me.

I guess that's it for now. I never realized that blogging could be so therapeutic. I should've started this years ago :) Hopefully I'll post some pictures soon. Love you all!

2009-10-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we have our good days and we have our bad days. Unfortunately, today is one of those bad days. The weather explains my heart quite well :( Its a rainy, stormy, cloudy day. We haven't got the full results back from the MRI. There was a radiologist that gave the results to our neonatologist who shared them with us. I heard that the news wasn't so good, so I kinda blocked everything out of my mind he said afterward. 1st of all, Ella's brain did begin bleeding. They think it has stopped but it caused the ventricles to swell in her brain. If this swelling does not stop, they'll have to put shunts in her brain. If this makes no sense to you, it doesn't to me much either. It just sounds bad. Anyway, she has had an intracranial hemorrhage that is a level III. level I and II mean no damage has been done. Level IV means a lot of damage has been done. Level III is a big unknown. There is definitely a possibility that minimal damage has been done, but there is possibly a chance that damage has been done. My doctor, Dr, Hager, came by and gave us much comfort after hearing this disappointing news. She said "Numbers are just numbers. Each baby is different. Don't write Ella's story." We also had an awesome nurse who said she has worked a number of years in the NICU and said to never give up. She has seen these things mean absolutely nothing. We can't go off of these results and be upset. We will have a pediatric neurologist look at the MRI and hopefully he can give us some more definite answers. He'll either read the scan tomorrow or on Saturday.

I'm trying to remain optimistic. Holding sweet Ella lifts up my heart so much. She looks so good and in every other area she is rocking right along. I've had some very encouraging verses and words sent out to me today. Thank you dear friends! I know God will be glorified. I keep seeing this image of little Ella being like 6 years old and telling her awesome story. I see her being loud and spunky ;)

Sorry if I don't answer phone calls or respond to messages. Right now, its not easy to talk about it. Thanks for your continued prayers. Love you all!

2009-10-07T15:58:00.000-07:00

Today has been a great day. Ella was able to increase her milk intake to 5cc every 3 hours. This is one little teaspoon, but it makes us very happy! Her bilirubin levels have decreased so hopefully she'll be off the biliblanket very soon. It weird how this was such a concern for us when Carson was a baby and its such a minute little detail in the life of Ella. She is going to be our little princess! Wait, she already is our little princess. She has her MRI tomorrow. Hopefully we'll know the results tomorrow evening. This test is going to show if any damage was done to her brain when she was without oxygen. I'm praying so hard it turns out with perfect results. I'm also praying we get the results back fast and that the results are clear and don't lead us toward more questions. Tomorrow is going to be a difficult day for us. I had a hard night last night trying to make up "my" own results. I cried and cried and told God I wanted things my way! I told Jason about it today. Man, my husband has been blessed with wisdom. He told me, "No matter what the results are, God will be glorified." Wow! That has given me total comfort today. God WILL be glorified!!! God has given me a peace that passes all understanding (thanks Daysha for reminding me of that). Think of those words "a peace that passes all understanding"....those are some incredible words!

I also had a couple of other neat things happen today. I was needing to talk to my doctor about some pain I was still having. We went to see Ella this morning, and there was Dr. Hager. Perfect timing. Dr. Hager has been so wonderful to us and is praying for us. Then, I was having a little pain from the epidural procedure. The anesthesiologist had left me a voice mail while I was seeing Ella and gave me his cell phone number to call him back. How often does an anesthesiologist personally call you to see how you are doing? Then, at the end of our conversation, he asked how Ella was doing. And, he told me he was praying for her and thinking of us. God has put amazing doctors in our lives! Christian doctors!

Before Ella arrived, I had began reading into 1 Corinthians 13 on "love". My friends and family have been the perfect portrait of "love" during these past few weeks. Thank you so much! All of you! We're comforted today because of your "love".

2009-10-06T15:21:00.002-07:00

I decided to begin a blog. 1. To keep everyone updated on precious Ella and the rest of our family. 2. It will help me keep a little journal of our journey. 3. It seems to help clear my head to type this stuff out. 4. Peer pressure finally got to me :)

2009-10-06T15:21:00.001-07:00

I finally got my headache fixed by the blood patch this morning. It was an amazing difference that happened very quickly. Praise God for that!

Ella didn’t have a very exciting day yesterday, so sorry you didn’t get any updates on her. She got the tube out of her mouth and is now being fed through a tube from her nose to her stomach. She’s starting on 2ml of milk every 3 hours. It’s such a small amount, but hopefully she will tolerate it well. She had an EEG done yesterday that didn’t give us the results we were exactly hoping for. It didn’t show that she has had seizures, but it showed brain waves that could easily produce seizures. So, they put her on a large loading dose of seizure medication. She’ll more than likely remain on this medication for the first 3 to 6 months of her life. She will have an MRI done on Thursday and hopefully we’ll get some positive results on Friday. This test is to determine if any damage was done to her brain when she had the lack of oxygen to her brain. We’re not sure how long she was deprived of oxygen before she came out of my belly, but it was about 10 minutes or so once she was out. This test has me very fearful. The doctor seemed optimistic and said she bounced back very quickly after those 10 minutes. It’s been so easy for me to have faith in all of this so far, but right now I’m struggling. I keep telling myself that little Ella is our miracle and will continue to be! She wasn’t a planned baby and she’s very lucky to be here! God has provided us with this awesome miracle and He will continue to provide! Please lift this up in your prayers!!

I have totally neglected updating on Carson and Cooper. They are receiving lots of love and are getting spoiled by their Nana and Grandpa, Grandma Susan, and Papa Mac and Grandma Connie! We have gotten to see them about everyday. Carson keeps asking when he can see Ella. He doesn’t quite understand why he can’t see her. He asked me “is your belly not big anymore?” He’s so cute! Cooper doesn’t have a clue of what is going on. He’s been a little scared of seeing me with all my hospital gear on. I can’t wait to see them tonight and love on them.

We are now home. It’s bittersweet. We are so glad to be in the comfort of our own home, but its tough being away from Ella. Praise God we have little Carson and Coop to keep us busy and to cuddle with (as much as 2 little boys let you cuddle). Jason is off of work until the 19th, so that will be nice. Hopefully I’ll be driving soon so we can take turns going to see our baby.

We’ll update soon!

Love,
Traci

2009-10-06T15:20:00.002-07:00

(update from 10-5-09)

Ella continues to be doing well. They are going to do an EKG today to make sure her heart has closed properly. They are also going to do the CAT scan to make sure there is no seizure activity going on. They don’t think there is, but they just want to make sure her little fits aren’t little seizures.

I haven’t posted any updates on myself yet, but I do have a prayer request for me. I’ve been having some pretty severe headaches. We talked with the anesthesiologist today. He thinks I’m having spinal block headaches. These headaches aren’t very common these days, but since the whole procedure happened so fast, I am probably leaking spinal fluid. The first line of treatment is caffeine…lots of caffeine. But, it doesn’t seem to be helping much. So, sometime later today, I get to have a blood patch done. This has been explained to me as taking blood out of my arm and placing it in my spine to keep it from leaking any more fluid. They will do this much like an epidural. There are some risks, but hopefully it will be a quick fix.

I will update you later this evening. Hopefully it will fix it immediately and I can enjoy some precious time with my baby. I haven’t been able to spend much time with her today b/c the only way I find relief is lying down. I’m also anemic, but it’s not severe enough to treat. I could have had a blood transfusion a couple of days ago, but my doctor said I would build the blood back up quickly. It is slowly going back up.

I am so thankful for my incredible husband. He has been right by my side through all of this. He is so selfless! So, continue praying for him and his strength too. He and Ella are getting to bond a lot. She’s going to have him so wrapped around her sweet little finger! I love it!!!

Thanks again for all of your prayers. We serve an awesome God!!!

Love,
The MacKinnon’s

2009-10-06T15:20:00.001-07:00

(update from 10-4-09)

Ella had another awesome day! She is doing great breathing on her own. We got to hold her twice today. She definitely has a little temper. Her face turns bright red and her pulse gets really high. She calms down pretty quick, though. She might start getting feedings through a nasogastric tube tomorrow. They will feed her milk through this. They also took her off of her blood pressure medicine today along with decreasing her oxygen. She is doing awesome with both!

Lots of love,
Traci

2009-10-06T15:19:00.001-07:00

(another update from 10-3-09)

Ella pulled out her ventilator tonight! (this is good news). So, she’s breathing on her own. She is still getting a little oxygen from one of those nose thingy’s. We’ll probably get to hold her tomorrow!!! She has had her eyes open most of the day, and she has the cutest little cry. I love to hear it! Her kidneys worked awesome today, too. I can’t believe she’s not even 2 days old! This email is very random (sorry, too much Percocet :) Oh, when she pulled out the ventilator, she did it with her middle finger and showed it to the nurses….I guess that’s what she thought about that thing!!!

Love ya,
Traci

2009-10-06T15:16:00.000-07:00

Hi all Friends and Family, (this is an update from 10/3/09)

Here’s an update on our precious little girl. She had an awesome night and is doing very well. They are able to keep decreasing her oxygen, so hopefully she’ll be breathing on her own very soon. Her brain x-ray came back good with no bleeding on the brain. Her heart is slowly getting stronger. (I really want to say each day, but I realize she’s not even 2 days old, yet….) Her kidney’s decreased production last night, but the doctor isn’t overly concerned about that. Her blood sugar keeps flip-flopping between high and low, but that really isn’t of too much concern either. So, for specifics, her kidneys are the thing to be watching right now. She is so precious. They’ve had to tie down one of her arms because she keeps pulling on her breathing tube. They also had to give her some medication to keep her still. She’s already working on keeping up with her big brothers. She will have a CAT scan/MRI done sometime next week to check on brain activity. The doctor thinks this will turn out great, too, because she is reacting so well to everything (she went a little while without oxygen to her brain). Thanks for praying for our little miracle! I’ll continue to keep you posted.

Here’s the story on exactly what happened. I began having side cramping on Thursday night about 8pm. We had some friends over, but I dismissed myself to go take a bath to see if it would help the pain. It didn’t ever let up. Then I began having contractions about every 5 minutes apart which made the cramping hurt worse. I called the hospital and my dr. and they both decided it would be best to come on it. I thought I was being a wimp and didn’t want to be “that person” with preterm labor that’s nothing but gas :) My awesome hubby told me we need to go in and just get it checked out. Praise God for my hubby’s wisdom. My parents were able to come over quickly and watch Carson and Coop. Anyway, I got hooked up to the monitor and the contractions were showing up every couple of minutes. I was put on IV fluid and given medication for the contractions. At this point Ella’s heart rate was at 150 but wasn’t fluctuating at all. This became a concern. My doctor talked to me on the phone and realized she needed to come in. Soon it was decided I was going to need a c-section. The Dr. did an ultrasound and Ella wasn’t moving. The Dr. found a blood clot on my placenta. Then, Ella’s little heart rate dropped dramatically. All of the sudden, I was having an emergency c-section. When Ella was born, she wasn’t breathing. I was trying to figure out everything and looked over and saw many people working on my lifeless little baby. Then, I heard a precious little sound. She had responded to CPR and a shot of epinephrine. I don’t remember much from that point. But, I do know Ella is a miracle. My Dr. told me we are very, very blessed after everything that happened.

It’s going to be a journey, but thank you all for walking this journey with us! God has blessed us with such great friends and family. Thank you for all of your support, and thank you even more for your prayers!!! We love you all!

Jason, Traci, Carson, Cooper and Ella