Silent Night

My Christmas wish was actually granted last night...a silent night. Emalee slept from 9pm until 7am! She is doing MUCH better! Today is her last day for the liquid steroid and we are starting to taper off her breathing treatments. She is a VERY happy little girl and loves to look at Christmas lights. I hope you all have a happy holiday as we celebrate our Savior's birth.

Roller coaster ride

We are on such a roller coaster ride right now...more downs then ups though! It has been mad craziness since we have been home. Emalee is improving, but not as quickly as I had expected. We actually had to have a suction machine brought to our house to use until she clears up more. She has started taking oral steroids in addition to all of her other meds. The poor girl takes four different things 6 times a day plus breathing treatments every four hours. Being her "nurse" is more then a full time job! The boys are happy to be home but are having some trouble adjusting to the fact that I can't play with them or give them a ton of attention...but at least we are all home together. My mom watched Emalee this afternoon so the boys and I could go play at the park. We had the BEST time! I was a little surprised that Izak could out score me in soccer...I was actually trying!! I think it was the first time that I have been outside the house or hospital since Thanksgiving so I truly treasured the park time! Kevin is working a lot right now considering he has had to be off so much the past three months (all of our medical drama!). We figured out that in the last 2 1/2 months we have spent over THREE weeks in the hospital-that is WAY to much time. Thank you for the continued support and prayers. I can feel them...if it wasn't for our faith I don't know if we would still be going strong at this point!

We're going HOME

Great news...Emalee did so good the last 24 hours that we get to go home!! She will continue on breathing treatments, meds, and thicken feeds but at least we will be taking care of her at our house....with MY boys!! Christmas came early for me! We will by laying very low for awhile...no public places or crowds until 2009. Thank you all for the prayers and well wishes. We are so grateful to everyone who helped us during our 8 night hospital stay. I have a feeling things are going to be crazy for the rest of the day so no updates means no new news. God bless!

A great 24 hrs

Our 7th day in the hospital has been a GREAT one (considering!). Emalee slept last night from 11pm to 6:30am without a coughing episode!!! She has only had minor coughing episodes today, nothing that has made her turn blue. She has only had to been suctioned twice, and best of all...she has been completely off oxygen since 10am and her stats are staying high!! Our wonderful Dr gave us an hopeful report this morning...we should be home sometime this week! It could be as early as tomorrow or as long as the end of the week BUT we will be home for Christmas! I am delighted!! Emalee has eaten more today and slept more today then she has in a month. She smiled and cooed at her daddy for almost an hour this afternoon. She was smiling at him with a HUGE grin when all of a sudden her eyes just closed and she was sound asleep. That's how Kevin and I feel...we are so happy but exhausted! The boys are having so much fun at Kevin's parents house. There is "Christmas magic" everywhere there! Izak is starting to have trouble not being home and is really missing his mommy and daddy. He understands Emalee is sick and we are taking care of her but is ready to be home. Jax is so "go with the flow" that he is happy where ever he is...but lights up when we get to see him. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. I feel such a huge sense of peace and relief. God is in control and is helping us every minute! Our praise to Him for a wonderful Doctor, nurses, therapists, friends, family, and the strength to endure.

Blessed

We are so blessed. Today was a wonderful day! Emalee is doing great! She has been resting, eating, and trying to get better all day. We are still in the waiting period of the illness. We have to just wait it out until her lungs clear up and she is able to breathe on her own. They tried turning down her O2 but she still isn't ready. For being so sick, she is really a happy baby. Her reflux is definitely under control therefore we have had NO aspiration since Thurs. This should help her lungs clear up and heal. Still no word on how long we will be here...God only knows!
I went home for a few hours this afternoon and saw my boys. They are SO awesome and precious. I can not explain how difficult it is to be away from them and how much I look forward to having my family under one roof again.
Uncle Chris, Char, and Tyler surprised us and went over to our house and put up and decorated a Christmas tree. The boys were SO happy. Then they helped Izak and Jax make Christmas cookies. They loved putting sprinkles on the cookies. Jax would sprinkle on a spoon full and then eat a spoon full of the sprinkles. Thank you guys for giving my boys a wonderful morning!!!
My best friend Tami surprised Emalee with a Christmas tree for her hospital room. It is a small green ceramic tree covered in gold glitter with big bright lights. Emalee's eyes are the size of quarters as she watches the lights light up.
Thank you to Chandi for a wonderful dinner for my entire family.
This entire ordeal is much easier with great friends and family that show so much love and support.
Please continue to pray for my baby girl. She is SUCH a fighter and I know God has great plans ahead for her.

Dec 13th, 12:30pm

Emalee was baptised! Thank you so much to Monsignor David for baptising our baby girl today. My mom, Kevin, and I were present for the very simple but absolutely beautiful baptism. Amazingly, Em was awake and alert the entire time.

Exhausted!

Precious Emalee is exhausted, as is our entire family! We have not learned a ton of new info. Emalee is being treated for the whooping cough, RSV, reflux and pneumonia. The hope is that the illnesses will not get any worse and eventually she will begin to heal. Her lungs are FULL of junk! We will be in the hospital, here in Rogers, until she is able to breath room air (not straight O2 which she is on now), able to eat well enough to sustain herself, and not choke during coughing spells. I asked the Dr if he thought days or weeks or what and he just shrugged his shoulders. Time will tell. I am very grateful to be here because the Drs., nurses, and therapists are wonderful! The hard part is that it is impossible to rest here. Every two hours someone comes in...either to give medicine, breathing treatments, or access the princess. Emalee is getting used to all the rustling around and sleeps through a lot of it.
Today's Prayer Requests:
-Complete and quick recovery of all illnesses for Em
-A smooth, uncomplicated day tomorrow.
-Thanksgiving to everyone who is praying for us and helping us in anyway. Thank you for all of the encouraging emails. It is extremely hard to be able to write the blog let alone email. I am getting the messages and they do really cheer us up, so THANK YOU!
I hope to things are smooth enough tomorrow that I can go and see the boys for a little while. I miss them SO much. We are still in isolation so no visitors for us.