5/29/22

 Update on Annelise, the almost birthday girl!

We decided to take her to the ER last night, but we're now home watching her closely.❤🙏

We first noticed a high heart rate of up and down from 130's to 150's (her resting baseline is 100-110's) when we hooked her up to her pulse oximeter for her nap.  I was really surprised since she had been acting like her normal self. I didn't have any idea that something was going on.

She didn't have a fever then, but the next day on Saturday, her temp slowly crept up and her heartrate was still staying high, so we called the on-call urologist, thinking that it is likely a UTI. The resident we spoke with recommended a trip to the ER just to get more eyes on her and more tests available.  We like to catch things early if possible, and definitely don't want to miss anything important if we can help it, so we thought that was a good plan.

We had to wait for an ER bed, they were very busy, but so thankful they had us wait in an inner hallway instead of the regular ER waiting room.  

The did a urinalysis and viral panel.  Both of those came back negative.  There's a chance she could still have a UTI, the lab will continue to test for a couple more days.  That's what happened with the UTI she had at 6 months old.  Initially it said no problem, then we went to the ER that weekend and she was positive then.

Since we don't have a real direction to point any antibiotics at.... we agreed with the ER doctor's plan to send her home, and watch her here.  If her symptoms get worse, we can always go back, and worse symptoms would hopefully also give us more help to determine where the problem is in her body.  Already today, she has been sleeping a lot, but is more playful and smiley than she was yesterday. Heartrate is still elevated, but not nearly as high as yesterday.  She actually started to perk up while in the ER.  She started reaching for toys again, and smiling again. That was just after one dose of tylenol.

We are grateful for the improvement and praying she'll kick whatever it is without more intervention needed.❤🙏

Thankful for easy access to medical care.  Grateful for healthcare providers that treat Annelise so well and show up to do these intense ER jobs!  Blessed to have family praying for us while I was too busy being the only parent allowed in the ER to update fb at the time.  Kevin waited in the parking lot even though he couldn't come in.  He is the best! Wanted to give you all the run down of our day!  I'm hoping she will be back to her 100% long before her birthday party.  We'll do whatever she needs to get better. If we end up back in the ER, that will be ok too.  God knows all of our days, and like He has every time before, He'll provide what we need everyday.

I hope you all are staying well!

5/10/2022

 Today brings Annelise's last month of being 2! It was also a great day because she got a super upgraded chair delivered! It was time, since she can nearly rock herself right out of the old reclining high chair that she has used up until now. She loves it! She's 34 inches long now, and nearly 23 lbs. The Lord has blessed us big time with this babe!

May 1, 2022

 Here are some photos of our antics lately.  The video shows Annelise playing with a switch operated drum that Kevin made for her💖 The drum was a cool idea, it lights up and Annelise enjoys it, but it wasn't easy to make it turn on. Annelise wasn't strong enough to play with it how it was, so Kevin connected a switch to it, and now when she pushes the button, she sees the lights!  

We went in to get her hearing aid size adjusted as she is getting bigger, and while we were there, they faxed the records from her hearing test to UCLA so that we can schedule our first consult with a doctor to discuss getting a cochlear implant for Annelise to hear with, since this hearing aid doesnt seem to be giving her the ability to hear voices. 

Exciting and a little scary! I'm praying that we honor God and His plan for our family with the decisions we make for the care of this amazing kid! 

How has so much time passed since she was born, that this is the last month of her being TWO?!🤯🥰🥳

4/17/22 Happy Easter!

 Happy Easter!  Resurrection day is the day to celebrate!! I can't understand how Jesus rose from the dead... but I can understand that He did it for you and me!💗 The greatest gift!

Here are some photos of a different kind of blessing that God has given us!

We also spent some time this weekend trying out Annelise's new stroller wagon!  It is pretty neat!

We met up with the two trisomy families that are most local. They are the ones we connected with before I had Annelise. So it was an extra special outing and the first time all 3 kids have been together!

4/10/22 34 Months!!

 We have a 34-month-old in the house!

Big picture for this month....

She is getting better at, and becoming more interested in playing with both hands at the same time.

Her favorite "toy" is the suction machine🤣.

Her smile can blast away the stress of a thousand unfinished tasks.

God is so good. 

Thank you so much for praying for and loving our family❤

4/3/2022

 I've not been great at updating the blog this month. Here is a photo dump of our days :)

Annelise is back in her stander! Not more than 15 minutes at a time right now, but every little bit helps, and we'll increase the time little by little as she gets stronger.  These are the days that seemed sooooo far off when she was just a tiny baby on a roller coaster NICU ride.  We didn't know then what amazingness God had planned for her life, and we don't know now what the future will bring... but we know the same God loves us through it all, can be trusted with all of our tomorrows, and has blessed us with today❤😍

We still have a ridiculous sleep schedule.  Not entirely all Annelise's doing. Her parents are trying to get started with her bedtime
routine earlier.  Goal is much earlier bedtime by the time she is 3!🤩