Update on Kylee

Unfortunately after Saturday's trip to the Urgent Care, Kylee did not seem to be doing much better. Sunday she did not nap at all, and getting her to bed was a nightmare. She was coughing so hard she kept waking herself up. I don't think she fell asleep until after 1am, and even then every 10 minutes or so she was disturbed by her coughing.

I decided yesterday that it was probably best to make an appointement with her pediatrician. When we got there they took her O2 sats were only 75%, which is not good at all. They immediately gave her a breathing treatment and that brought them up right away. The Dr. agreed that she does have bronchiolitis, but she also found that she has a pretty bad ear infection in her left ear. The Dr wrote us a prescription for 5 different medications, including a nebulizer so we can give her breathing treatments at home.

Today she seems to be doing a little better, so that is good. The Dr. said that this illness can take up to two weeks before it starts to get better. So far Kaylyn seems to be doing OK. She does have a cold and some coughing, but not nearly to the degree that Kylee has it.

Through it all I definitely consider us incredibly fortunate. For the girls being 28 week preemies, each one of them has only gotten really sick once. So in that aspect we are very lucky. Hopefully in the next couple of days, once the medications have time to fully work their way into her system, Kylee will start to be back to her old self.

Kylee's Turn

This time it was Kylee's turn to get sick and scare the heck out of her Mommy!

For the last 3 days or so, the girls have both had chest colds. As Kaylyn's seemed to be getting better, Kylee's was getting significantly worse. This morning she was very "crackly" with every breath she took. I called the after hours nurse hotline, and she suggested I put her in the bathroom for 20 min with the shower on HOT so she could get a steam treatment to hopefully clear her up. So we did that, and although the steam seemed to work for the Crackles, she was now wheezing pretty bad. UGH! So I called the nurse back, and she told me to take her to Urgent Care. So off we went.

We got there and we were seen within 5 minutes, which was very nice. The Dr. listened to her lungs and initially was concerned that is was pneumonia, so he ordered a chest x-ray. He told me up front that if it is pneumonia, she would definitely have to be admitted to the hospital. "Oh great, here were go again", is what I thought to myself. Well they did the chest x-ray and thankfully she doesn't have pneumonia, but she does have bronchiolitis (not bronchitis). Bronchiolitisis an illness of the respitatory tract caused by an infection that affects the tiny airways, called the bronchioles, that lead to the lungs. As these airways become inflamed, they swell and fill with mucus, making breathing difficult.

They gave her a breathing treatment there at the Urgent Care, and wrote us a prescription for an oral steroid that she will need to take for the next 5 days. The breathing treatment made such a difference, and she started to sound better immediately. I am going to call the girls primary Dr on Monday and see if she can arrange to get us a nebulizer for us to keep at the house so we don't have to run out and get these breathing treatments all the time... it seems to be a rathercommon need for us.

Right now she is in bed for the night, and I am hoping she is able to get some rest so she can start to get better. These girls are going to give me gray hair before I am 30!

The Results are In!

So the Dr called today with the results of Kaylyn's MRI and everything is Normal!! There is a little extra fluid around her brain, but all of her valves are working properly and apparently that is normal for kids and doesn't indicate any problems! I am so incredibly relieved! Apparently she just has a huge head!

We have had such a busy week! Aside from the MRI, we also managed to make it to the Zoo and Sea World. The weather has been gorgeous, and it just wouldn't have been right to waste it by sitting at home. I have lots of new pictures to share from our adventures, but we are still at Keith's parents house and my camera cord to upload the pictures is at home, so those will have to wait.

Next week Keith will start a new schedule at work (he is going from a 56 hour work week to a 72 hour work week), and he will also begin the month long fire academy. After the completion of this academy he will officially be a Paramedic/Firefighter. Although the money will be better, this also means that it is more likely that he can get called away on strike teams whenever a big fire hits (possibly for weeks at a time). The academy is going to be 6 days a week, and he will also still be scheduled his normal work days. Unfortunately that means in that month long period, he will only have 2 days off! I am glad that we got some good family time in before this starts.

Thank you so much for all of your kind words and positive thoughts in regards to Kaylyn's situation. It definitely paid off!

Hurry up and Wait

Today was the big day of Kaylyn's MRI. We had strict instructions that she was not to have any solid food after midnight, but she could have clear liquids up until 3 hours before her procedure. I had this great idea to stuff her FULL of Jell-O before that 3 hour mark so that she would not get hungry awaiting her procedure. Well, my plan backfired and apparently the 4 containers of Jell-O that I gave her caused her to throw up not once, but 4 times! Resulting in several outfit changes. So at that point, she was no longer able to have anything to eat or drink, and there was nothing left in her stomach. Way to go Mom!!

Every time we go to Children's hospital I find it to be an incredibly humbling experience. It is extremely hard to see so many kids and parents that obviously have a lot going on and so much to deal with. It really makes me feel extemely fortunate to have such healthy kids, despite everything we have gone through.

Thankfully, they we had a fairly early appointment, and they were running on time. They got us checked in and took her back to the MRI center. We got to be with her as they put her out, which involved giving her some gas via a mask. Once she was out (which only took about 1 minute), we had to wait in the waiting room for the duration of the procedure which only took about 30 minutes or so. Once the MRI was complete they wheeled her over to the recovery room so that she could fully wake up.

Apparently Kaylyn really likes being high. The nurses said that most kids her age freak out when they come out of the anesthesia, but she was as happy as can be gorked out of her mind. She could hardly hold her head up and her eyes were all glazed over, but she was very content in such a loopy state.

After an hour or so, after the anesthesia has mostly worn off and she was able to keep juice and crackers down we were able to go home. Now we start the waiting game. The results of the MRI will not be back for 2-3 business days, and the Dr that ordered the test will be calling us with the results. I am so ready to know once and for all if there is anything going on up there.

Macrocephaly

So Kaylyn's official diagnosis at this point is Macrocephaly, meaning Big Head. We went to the Dr this morning, and she agreed that the increase in head size is significant enough that an MRI needs to be done to rule out any abnormalities.

Kaylyn's MRI is scheduled for next Wednesday at 10:30. She will have to be there 2 hours prior to the start of the MRI to get her prepped. As of midnight the night before she will not be allowed to eat anything, but thankfully she can still have clear liquids up until 3 hours before the procedure. The MRI of the brain typically takes about 45 minutes, and she will be sedated and intubated through it all. We will not get the results for 2-3 business days, so it is possible we may not know anything until that following Monday.

I am extremely concerned, but I am trying to remain as optimistic as possible. I keep reminding myself that it is a very real possibility that it may just be genetics. Either way it will be good to know one way or the other so we don't have to worry about it anymore.

Developmental Appointment

The girls had their developmental follow-up yesterday and I am proud to report that they have surpassed everyone's expectations, even the Dr's that have been following them! Amazingly, they are already caught up to their actual age with their size, gross & fine motor skills as well as their vocabulary. The Dr said they are both doing remarkably well, and they don't need to be seen again until after they are 2!!

I don't remember the exact numbers, but the girls are both above the 90th percentile in Height and Weight for 15 month olds. It looks like they are going to be tall and thin, go figure! With a mom that is 5'9", and a dad that is 6'4" I wouldn't expect anything else.

The only concern out of the whole appointment was the size of Kaylyn's head. It is no secret that the girls have always had big heads, but up until now Kaylyn's head was growing on a curve. For some reason her head circumfrence has shot up, and it's now off the charts. Today we are taking her to see her pediatrician, and they will most likely order an MRI to make sure there is nothing going on up there. One of the fears, especially since she was a preemie, is that she may have hydrocephalus (water on the brain). The Dr told us yesterday that since she is doing so well developmentally, the chances are it is probably just genetic but she does just want to make sure. She previously measured both Keith and my head for comparison and Keiths was in the 98th percentile, and mine was in the 78th percentile!. To do the MRI, Kaylyn will have to be sedated which means that she will also have to be intubated, but I am hopeful it will be an outpatient deal and she will be home the same day. I should know more this by this afternoon as to what the plan is going to be.

15 Months Old!!

Don't ask me how, but another month has passed and the girls are now 15 months old!! I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying this age! I love watching their personalities grow and their skills develop on a daily basis.

Kylee has had quite the vocabulary explosion in the last week, and the clarity of her words is just amazing! She does still babble quite a bit, most of which I can't understand. Some of words she has down are:

• Baby (If you ask her where her Baby is she will go retrieve it for you)
  
• Kitty (pronounced "Titty")
• Puppy (If you ask her where her Puppy is, and she is outside she walks over to the sliding glass door to find her)
• Ball (identifies any round object as such)
  
• Uh-Oh
• Daddy
• Mommy
• Pretty
• Papa (for Grandpa)
• Hi
• Bye, Bye (with a Wave)
• What's That?
  

Kaylyn does not have as many words but she is coming along! She is constantly babbling up a storm, and I am certain the words are going to start flowing in no time! Kaylyn's words include:

• Ball (identifies any round object as such)
  
• Uh-Oh
• Daddy
• Mommy
• Papa (for Grandpa)
• Bye, Bye (with a Wave)
• What's That?
  

They both make an effort to mimic you when you introduce new words. I really believe that they understand way more than they can actually say.

Both of the girls are walking all the time now, and they can both stand up without pulling up onto something. They are excellent at maneuvering uneven surfaces. They are definitely on the verge of running! Time to break out the leashes!

We are still doing well with No Bottles! Yay!! I am amazed at how much food they are eating now. Even though the first couple of days were tough, I am so glad that we made the transition to sippy cups when we did. Not only is it healthier for them (nutrition wise), but the longer we would have put it off they would have been that much more emotionally attached to them and it would have made it that much more difficult.

This Thursday the girls will have their second developmental appointment to check on how they are coming along. I know that I probably shouldn't worry, but I can't help it! I am just ready for this appointment to be over, and I can know exactly where they stand. This stress is killing me!

No More Bottles for my Big Girls! :(

I am happy to report that we are starting off 2009 with a new accomplishment! The girls have not had a bottle since Thursday night!! I have come to learn that most of the things you are required to do as a parent are usually harder on you than they are for your little one's, at least that is what I keep telling myself to make myself feel better! I decided to do the "Cold Turkey" approach and do away with the bottles all at once, rather than dragging it on forever. The first day (yesterday) was not an easy day for any of us, but we survived and today has proved to be much better!

There are several reason's I chose to do this now, rather than later. The first being, the longer I wait the more attached they are going to be to their bottle therefore making this process even more difficult. The second reason being now that the girls are completely transitioned to whole milk, they do not need the same volume that they were getting with formula as it does not provide adequate nutritional value. Most of their nutrients need to come from their food, and if they are filling up on milk they are not going to be taking in enough food. Already in just two days the girls food intake has gone up dramatically! Thankfully this process has not seemed to interupt their sleep habits in the least, and they still slept through the entire night last night.

So there you have it! My toddlers are now Bottle Free!

*I posted that picture for you Grandma, I thought you might like to remember the last time you got to feed them their bottles!