Our Own “March Madness”

 

I'd like to think that this posting once a month won't stick, but here I am at almost the end of the month in retrospection on our own "March Madness".

Thanksgiving Point

Macie's dance competition went great! When her group walked on-stage, ooh's and aah's could be heard from the crowd. The girls had so much fun and they each got a medal afterwards. We left soon after she was done, but found out the next Wednesday at practice that Macie's group won 1st place in the mini-miss division and they each received a ribbon!

Brinnlie didn't know what to do with all the goings on around her!

Cousins Alisha, Annika, and Adlyn came to watch and say hi, too!

Broxton had a blast running around the whole time, as did Trevor who had to chase him ;)

(Annika posing for one of the kids.)

We had never been to Cabela's and since we were right there, we decided to check it out. It was pretty neat to see the stuffed animals and we especially loved the walk through aquarium. We happened to be there at the time they were feeding the fish so we watched as they dumped the goldfish in, and the 'big' fish gulped them up! Macie and Broxton were fascinated to see it, especially the fact that the fish were so huge! It was fun to go and see what the hype was about...we're still enjoying the famous pretzel sticks :)

 

Vegas

Trevor and I made the trip to watch the Aggies play in the WAC Tournament. It's kind of a tradition for us to go and since we didn't make it last year, as our priorities were with a certain resident at PCMC, it was especially good to go this year and have some together time while catching up with long time friends Angie and Red. It was tough to leave the little ones behind initially, but we knew they were being well taken care of and by the time we reached Vegas Wednesday night, we were ready for our vacation to begin. After checking in, we walked down the strip to find some grub and then headed back for some sleep.

Thursday brought on some walking that led us to new heights...the Stratosphere and it's rides atop the tower. We would visit the rides again that night to experience them in the dark...fun, but I could only do it once and I was done. I can't handle as much as I used to :)

 

One thing on our list to do was to visit Gold and Silver Pawn...yes, we are fans of Pawn Stars so we continued our walk to their shop in hopes to see some stars. Unfortunately, we didn't see any big stars, unless you count the guard at the door, as they were busy filming in the back. It was fun to see some of the items that were on episodes that we'd seen and to be "on the set" of the show and to talk to some of the employees about the guys. One lady said that the "Old Man" has had the hardest time adjusting to the new found fame as he's bothered quite a bit everywhere he goes. He even has one of his employees get gas in his vehicles to avoid getting harassed. After a bit they kicked everyone out so they could continue filming up front, so we took a quick pic as we headed out the door.

The famous Little White Chapel.

Our journey continued up the strip, following the crowd, taking in the free shows outside the hotels. I think that the fountains at the Bellagio are so pretty and are my favorite by far!

We were ready to eat so we drove to the Rio hotel and found the World Buffet. Yummy food, and lots of it! Afterwards, we headed back to the Stratosphere.

Friday morning, Trevor and I attended a timeshare presentation, then met up with Angie and Red. We headed to Mandalay Bay, ate lunch at the Mexican restaurant there, then went to the Aquarium. It was really neat to see the ocean life and walk through the underwater exhibit with the sharks, turtles, and other marine life!

On our way back, we went to New York New York to ride the roller coaster there. Yeah, once is enough! It's really fast and extremely intense, but at the same time, very rough! We all had bruises on top of our shoulders the next morning! We then headed to the Aggie game and afterwards ended up at Circus Circus for food and a little gaming.

Our main thing to do on Saturday was to go to the Bodies exhibit at the Luxor. It was very informative and neat to see it in person and learn things about the bodies functions. Kind of gross if you thought about it too much, but intriguing. Definitely something you should check out if you have the chance. No picture taking was allowed.

We also went to the M&M's store for a bit before the game, then headed back to buy souvenirs afterwards.

The Tournament was great...the Aggies won the WAC Championship!

We were hoping Cameron would get a chance up the ladder at the net, but they never brought it to this end.

Way to go Aggies!

 

Cardiology & NICU Follow-UP

Brinnlie had her check-up with cardiology on the 15th.  We made sure to get there early so we could meet up with Laurie, Brinnlie’s “other mom”.  She was with Brinnlie from the very beginning and came to grow close with our little one and has a special place in our hearts forever.  It was wonderful to meet up with her again since we hadn’t seen her since before Brinnlie came home.  It was touching to see the excitement and love she has for Brinnlie.  Laurie gave Brinnlie the cutest fluffy white bear that she loves to snuggle with at night.  Brinnlie was a little out of it for being so early in the morning, but you could tell she ‘knew’ her surroundings and those who came to see her.  We’re looking forward to meeting up again soon!

This time they sedated Brinnlie to do an ultrasound and EKG.  She did very well with it and the IV team was super impressed by how well she did while they placed the IV.  She didn’t even flinch!  The worst part was holding her still so they could do it.  All the cardiology team members we met were amazed at how well Brinnlie is doing from where she started.  A couple of the nurses and the NP had been in the NICU before and said they’d never seen a 24 weeker that has done so well and overcome the odds for the many possible risk factors being born at that gestation.  She’s quite the wonder!

The findings:

Improvement!  Her Pulmonary Hypertension is within the ‘high normal’ range, so Dr. Day decreased the dosage of Viagra to twice a day from 3 times a day;  still O2 at night, 1/4 liter flow to get her through the ‘tough’ season.  He’s pretty confident that by the time she sees him again in June, that it will be completely resolved!  (Cross our fingers).

The NICU Follow-Up Program is a program in which the staff from PCMC follows NICU graduates from the surroundings hospitals up to a certain age, depending on their situations, etc. to monitor their development.  This was Brinnlie’s 2nd appointment with them and it made for a long day.  It is held at the Ogden School For The Deaf And Blind, so at least we didn’t have too far to travel.  At this appointment she saw the following, with the following results for her adjusted age of 9 months:

Nurses: 

Height--- 26 1/2 inches = 5th percentile

Weight--- 14 lbs = –3rd percentile (yes, negative…but 14 lbs!!!  She had been hovering around 13 8oz for the past little while, this was what she weighed at the cardiology, so not even a week later---14!  I was excited.)

Nutritionist:

Not too happy with her weight gain since last appointment, so recommended intervention with the Up 2 3 OT…who we’ve seen before and stopped because Brinnlie was doing awesome at eating.  Then those darn teeth!  Said she wouldn’t be surprised if Brinnlie would be on Pediasure in the next few months.  We’ll just see, she’s started eating better again.

Hearing:

Normal, with the exception of failing the tampandrime (sp?)  where they stick the thing in her ear and measure the ‘bounce’ off the eardrum…so the pediatrician had to check for inner ear problems.

Ophthalmologist:

Good to go.  Follow-up in 3 months.

Neurologist:

According to his chart of cognitive developmental things, she’s age appropriate on most things, but he’s concerned about her gross-motor delay and muscle hypertone (tightness).  She’s at about 4-5 month level with these.  He was curious to see what her brain looked like and said his concern would be that she had some form of a brain injury because of being so early and tiny, which would suggest Cerebral Palsy that’s very common with prematurity.  He’s confident and gave her the next few months to see where she goes, and then decide from there whether to do an MRI to see the picture.  The positive is that it’s a one time incident, and that from the point of injury on, she’s able to grow and compensate for the damage.  There’s nothing that can be done, it’s done and we move forward.  

Pediatrician:

Overall, great…the ear thing = fluid in the ear, amoxicillin Rx.  (She didn’t seem too concerned about the weight thing.)

Psychologist:

Very impressed with her cognitive skills.  Age appropriate cognitively, gross-motor wise, not so much.  He said to help her to not get so frustrated at things by talking to her and showing her muscles how to do things.  She will get frustrated because her mind is there, but her body won’t follow when she’ll like it too.  Make the best of each situation and continue working with her.

She’s coming along, at her own pace…she’ll get there, when she gets there. 

I have to keep telling myself. :)  

 

 

Other Happenings

Trevor went to get his cast off last week and I wish I could say that he’s off to a good start with therapy and recovery.  But, unfortunately, that’s not the case.  The Dr. called in sick that day so his teaching fellow saw Trevor and after removing the cast, saw that it wasn’t right.  An x-ray confirmed that the wrist had moved and hadn’t healed correctly.  The next day after the Dr. looked at the x-ray, he scheduled surgery for next Wednesday.  They’ll re-brake and put a plate and screws in.  Trevor’s a bit discouraged to say the least, it means another 6-8 weeks of splint/cast…starting from the beginning.

The kids have been keeping busy; making messes, playing outside when the weather cooperates, and bringing smiles to our faces.  It was fun to get away for a week…I do admit that it’s total chaos most of the time at our house, and sometimes can be a bit overwhelming… 

 

   

But, it’s good to be home.