In honor of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness Month, Brian and I are putting together some bedside craft kits as well as collecting items to be distributed to kids in the NICU, PICU and pediatric floor at the University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital. I can't tell you how many times we would be sitting in the hospital with Noah during any of his hospitalizations and a book cart or toy cart would stop by his room to drop off a brand new book or toy. It was was an amazing pick-me-up for Noah as well as so many of the kids who received these. We would love to be able to give back to the same service project that made those long days a little brighter! We will be collecting these the entire month of March. The hospital does require the items to be new, but no gift is too small!
A few ideas from the U of M wish list.
Craft Items - markers, crayons, coloring books, pencils, paper, any craft item will do!
DVD's - Any kids movies
CD's - Nature sounds, lullabies
Toys - Actions figures, barbies, Hot Wheels, Beanie Babies, baby rattles and teething toys, etc, etc.
Gift Cards - Walmart, Gas Cards (for parents traveling or staying far from home)
Games - Card games, Apples to Apples, Candy Land, any board games!
Monetary donations can be sent to:
C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital
Office of Community Relations
1500 E. Medical Center Dr.–F2519
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5253
Please contact me if you wish to donate an item! I can't tell you how much the kids will appreciate these gifts!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
One year ago.....
Elliot celebrated his 1st birthday yesterday!!!! This past year has been a whirlwind! After everything we were told throughout our pregnancy and his prenatal issues...he is now a healthy, happy, bouncing, walking, talking, demanding, 1 year old!! His personality is starting to shine and he is slowly learning to fight back and hold his own when it comes to Noah taking his toys. He of course eats anything you put in front of him and he is hitting all of his milestones as he should. After he started taking his first steps a few weeks ago, he hasn't stopped since! He loves his brothers (most of the time) and they both just adore him. He is short and stocky and has perfectly chubby, perfectly kissable cheeks!
We had to move his birthday party because of his recent RSV, but hope to be able to share lots of cake pictures soon when we can reschedule!
Happy Birthday Elliot! We love you!
Friday, February 5, 2010
A little excitement
(I actually wrote this last weekend and haven't had time to finish it and post it)
What an eventful week! Both Noah and Elliot came down with colds the beginning of last week and by the weekend, Elliot was showing no signs of improvement and spiked a high fever. I took them into the Dr and come to find out, they both had RSV. Elliot was by far the worst, his breathing was very wheezy, high fever, and refusing to eat. The pediatrician listened to Noah and thought that he sounded the same so rather than test him, just to go ahead and treat them both the same. We started breathing tx every 4 hours, but Elliot's fever got all the way up to 104.7! The pedi then started him on an antibiotic as well. Since then he has been fever free, but the respiratory issues are still bothing him. He is eating and drinking much better and overall, improving. I question as to whether Noah actually had RSV or not, because he did great with it. I know that he's older, but I still expected with his chronic lung issues, he would have struggled with it. We are fortunate that he did so well! Of course he is not without his own drama though! The day after we went to the Dr, he woke up in the morning dangling his mic-key button in his hand saying "uh-oh". We tried to put anther one in and found that the hole had almost completely closed. We were barely able to put a foley cath in to keep the hole open. They weren't able to get us in to see a surgeon in town for a week, so we went ahead and took him to U of M on Wednesday. They were able to use some topical lidocaine and had to dialate the hole quite a bit, but got a new button in. Since Noah has been going through mic-key buttons every couple of weeks they put a different type of button in that does not have a balloon. His high stomach acid east through the balloons so quickly, so we are hoping with this balloon free button, it will last longer. We also noticed strange red bumps on his face and eyelids a few days ago and they discovered an infection in his g-tube site. It appears as though his talents are getting better everyday, because apparently it is quite difficult to get an infection inside the site. My little overachiever...I felt horrible and guilty. His site is always red and irritated due to his high stomach acid, so we really didn't notice much of a difference until the tube was out and we could actually see down inside. They started him on a strong antibiotic and we are hoping it will clear up soon. I felt so bad for him, I know that whole experience was so traumatic, not to mention painful. I tried to woo him back by stopping at the gift shop on the way out and spending a little time with Big Bird....
(insert cute, adorable, yet somewhat sad and pathetic picture of Noah next to the 10 foot Big Bird in front of the Children's Hospital that would be here for your viewing enjoyment had Noah NOT pilfered the usb cable for my camera and stashed it. I have now searched the entire house for its whereabouts, and still nothing!)
Zane is still healthy as a horse, all of these germies passed him by. He came in second place last weekend at the Pine Wood Derby! We had a great time watching him! (again, with the mental photo inserts of Zane proudly displaying his 2nd place ribbon and cool pics of his car in action)
He's been bringing home more and more homework these past few weeks and I am embarrassed to say that I have a hard time helping! I have had to google his math on more than one occasion! Of course he thinks it's hysterical when he has to teach me how to do it. He is counting down the days till spring break and then summer vacation. I think we could all use a little warm sunny weather after the 10 inches of snow we got the past two days! School has been cancelled for two days and we are under a level 3 snow emergency right now! (Thank the Lord, school has since resumed!
What an eventful week! Both Noah and Elliot came down with colds the beginning of last week and by the weekend, Elliot was showing no signs of improvement and spiked a high fever. I took them into the Dr and come to find out, they both had RSV. Elliot was by far the worst, his breathing was very wheezy, high fever, and refusing to eat. The pediatrician listened to Noah and thought that he sounded the same so rather than test him, just to go ahead and treat them both the same. We started breathing tx every 4 hours, but Elliot's fever got all the way up to 104.7! The pedi then started him on an antibiotic as well. Since then he has been fever free, but the respiratory issues are still bothing him. He is eating and drinking much better and overall, improving. I question as to whether Noah actually had RSV or not, because he did great with it. I know that he's older, but I still expected with his chronic lung issues, he would have struggled with it. We are fortunate that he did so well! Of course he is not without his own drama though! The day after we went to the Dr, he woke up in the morning dangling his mic-key button in his hand saying "uh-oh". We tried to put anther one in and found that the hole had almost completely closed. We were barely able to put a foley cath in to keep the hole open. They weren't able to get us in to see a surgeon in town for a week, so we went ahead and took him to U of M on Wednesday. They were able to use some topical lidocaine and had to dialate the hole quite a bit, but got a new button in. Since Noah has been going through mic-key buttons every couple of weeks they put a different type of button in that does not have a balloon. His high stomach acid east through the balloons so quickly, so we are hoping with this balloon free button, it will last longer. We also noticed strange red bumps on his face and eyelids a few days ago and they discovered an infection in his g-tube site. It appears as though his talents are getting better everyday, because apparently it is quite difficult to get an infection inside the site. My little overachiever...I felt horrible and guilty. His site is always red and irritated due to his high stomach acid, so we really didn't notice much of a difference until the tube was out and we could actually see down inside. They started him on a strong antibiotic and we are hoping it will clear up soon. I felt so bad for him, I know that whole experience was so traumatic, not to mention painful. I tried to woo him back by stopping at the gift shop on the way out and spending a little time with Big Bird....
(insert cute, adorable, yet somewhat sad and pathetic picture of Noah next to the 10 foot Big Bird in front of the Children's Hospital that would be here for your viewing enjoyment had Noah NOT pilfered the usb cable for my camera and stashed it. I have now searched the entire house for its whereabouts, and still nothing!)
Zane is still healthy as a horse, all of these germies passed him by. He came in second place last weekend at the Pine Wood Derby! We had a great time watching him! (again, with the mental photo inserts of Zane proudly displaying his 2nd place ribbon and cool pics of his car in action)
He's been bringing home more and more homework these past few weeks and I am embarrassed to say that I have a hard time helping! I have had to google his math on more than one occasion! Of course he thinks it's hysterical when he has to teach me how to do it. He is counting down the days till spring break and then summer vacation. I think we could all use a little warm sunny weather after the 10 inches of snow we got the past two days! School has been cancelled for two days and we are under a level 3 snow emergency right now! (Thank the Lord, school has since resumed!
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