Kennedy has been smiling more and more as the days continue to pass. She is starting to talk to us a little bit in her own special language...and she prefers to tell us stuff first thing in the morning. We finally have someone in our house that is a morning person...lol...Kaylee, Larry, and I are not morning people at all!
Kaylee went to her grandparents house in Ohio a few weeks ago, so I have missed her terribly. When she first left, I noticed Kennedy looking around a lot more almost as if she was searching for her sister. Kaylee tries to talk to her over the phone from time to time, but all of us are looking forward to her coming home next week. She has had tons of fun, and has gone swimming almost every day since she went to Ohio so she has loved every minute of her visit.
Well, we cleaned out our garage, sold what we could, and took the rest to the rescue mission. Late last week we filled up our nice clean garage with all of our junk that has been sitting in our basement! Needless to say, you can't even walk in our garage now, and it wouldn't even fit everything! The remainder of the stuff had to go in my dining room...so you can hardly walk through it. Our plan is to go through everything box by box and get rid of the items that we don't really need anymore.
YEAH!!! Our insurance is finally starting to pick up some of the medical bills. We were told that our insurance would cover 80/20...but that is not what's happening at all, so I have to make lots and lots of phone calls to see what's going on. So I have told myself that every extra hour I have next week will go to making all those dreaded calls. If in fact they are supposed to pay 80% and if I can get them to pay that portion, then we are estimating that our responsibility of the bills will be around $70,000. That is what we have figured so far...but I just got another bill from my C-section so who knows what else will be coming in the mail. lol. Every day there is at least one bill or one insurance claim in the mail...and they make my head spin. I will be glad when all the insurance is completely taken care of, and I am guessing that will take a few more months.
I got certified in CPR/First Aid today at the American Red Cross. I need both the certifications to be qualified to open a daycare in my home. I was shocked to learn all the changes that they have made with CPR since I took it 5 or 6 years ago. I feel so much better knowing that Larry and I are both certified in CPR in case something would happen to our children. I am definitely an advocate for parents being prepared for medical emergencies with their family.
We are waiting for Kennedy to give us some baby giggles, but she hasn't laughed yet. I think she laughed for me one time a few weeks ago, but I haven't heard one since...so now I am thinking she was just talking. You can tell that she wants to laugh so bad, so we are on our toes thinking she will laugh really soon.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
July 8, 2008 New Pediatrician
Larry and I met our new Pediatrician this morning, and we really like the man. He is a very family oriented man, and was very nice to Kennedy during the visit. He was not intimidated by Kennedy's medical history and even sat down with us in his office after the examination.
I told him that Kennedy had a pretty bad diaper rash from having rice cereal and apple juice, and he told me that we shouldn't even consider giving either of those unless she is at least 12 pounds. I felt better knowing that he could give us weight and age guidelines to follow so we don't give her too much or too little with her premature size. So we are not going to try that again until she gains a couple more pounds.
She weighed in at 9 pounds 12 ounces today, so she gained 3 ounces in just one week! We just can't get over how fast she is growing and how long she is getting! The nurse said she was due for a few shots, and I had to leave the room because I was choking up with just the thought of it. I know it sounds crazy that I could see all that other stuff happen to her while she was in the NICU in DC, but I didn't want to see her in pain this morning! Larry stayed with her to comfort her, and boy oh boy was she unhappy!
The nurse even gave us some free formula before we left, so that is going to be a big help to us in the weeks to come. We were very thankful for their kindness and generosity. We scheduled another appointment for next month to get a checkup and another shot. Larry will be working day shift, so I will have to go by myself for that appointment. I will have to prepare myself for the shot, lol!
So Kennedy has been smiling a lot more lately and she even gave me a little laugh the other night. I have been trying to get her to laugh since then...but she won't give me one. The smiles are pretty often now, but not as many as we want. I try to get her to smile all day long!!! lol
I told him that Kennedy had a pretty bad diaper rash from having rice cereal and apple juice, and he told me that we shouldn't even consider giving either of those unless she is at least 12 pounds. I felt better knowing that he could give us weight and age guidelines to follow so we don't give her too much or too little with her premature size. So we are not going to try that again until she gains a couple more pounds.
She weighed in at 9 pounds 12 ounces today, so she gained 3 ounces in just one week! We just can't get over how fast she is growing and how long she is getting! The nurse said she was due for a few shots, and I had to leave the room because I was choking up with just the thought of it. I know it sounds crazy that I could see all that other stuff happen to her while she was in the NICU in DC, but I didn't want to see her in pain this morning! Larry stayed with her to comfort her, and boy oh boy was she unhappy!
The nurse even gave us some free formula before we left, so that is going to be a big help to us in the weeks to come. We were very thankful for their kindness and generosity. We scheduled another appointment for next month to get a checkup and another shot. Larry will be working day shift, so I will have to go by myself for that appointment. I will have to prepare myself for the shot, lol!
So Kennedy has been smiling a lot more lately and she even gave me a little laugh the other night. I have been trying to get her to laugh since then...but she won't give me one. The smiles are pretty often now, but not as many as we want. I try to get her to smile all day long!!! lol
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
July 2, 2008 Heart Appointment
Kennedy had an appointment to see a Cardiologist from the Children's Outpatient Center in Frederick, MD yesterday. We were praying for her to be completely healed up, but we weren't that lucky. Everyone in the office were really nice and Kennedy did a great job sticking it out while they ran tests on her. Oh, and not to mention she weighs 9 pounds 9 ounces and is 22 1/2 inches long!!! She is such a big girl!
Our friend Emmie kept Kaylee for us during the appointment so she could be entertained rather than sitting in a Jeep and the doctor's office all afternoon. We dropped Kaylee off at the Rec Center before we left and she got to play there with Emmie for a few hours before they went to McDonalds for lunch. They also went to the pet store to look at the animals and even played Rock Band on her PlayStation 3. Needless to say Kaylee did not want to come home that evening. lol
Once all the tests were completed, we waited for the doctor to come in and discuss the results. The doctor sat us down and drew a diagram of her heart and explained everything in detail so we understood what she was up against with the diagnosis. It is better than it was in the hospital, and she appears to be slowly healing herself...so we were very happy with the news we received. Granted, she is not completely healed but the doctor has high hopes that she is on the road to a complete recovery.
She was diagnosed with multiple atrial septal defects and patent ductus arteriosus. What that means in our language is that she has two small holes in her upper chambers that is allowing too much to go into her lungs and she has a small canal below her two lower chambers that is pumping too much blood to her lungs. This canal normally seals off when a baby is a week old, but hers did not. If it does not seal itself by the time she is a year old, she will require heart surgery. Again, the doctor is hopeful that she will heal her own body...but he did explain that she is on a time limit to do so.
We were very relieved when we left there, and knew that God was taking care of everything in His time. The doctor wants to check on her again in 6 months and then when she is a year old to check the status of her condition.
GOOD DAY!
Our friend Emmie kept Kaylee for us during the appointment so she could be entertained rather than sitting in a Jeep and the doctor's office all afternoon. We dropped Kaylee off at the Rec Center before we left and she got to play there with Emmie for a few hours before they went to McDonalds for lunch. They also went to the pet store to look at the animals and even played Rock Band on her PlayStation 3. Needless to say Kaylee did not want to come home that evening. lol
Once all the tests were completed, we waited for the doctor to come in and discuss the results. The doctor sat us down and drew a diagram of her heart and explained everything in detail so we understood what she was up against with the diagnosis. It is better than it was in the hospital, and she appears to be slowly healing herself...so we were very happy with the news we received. Granted, she is not completely healed but the doctor has high hopes that she is on the road to a complete recovery.
She was diagnosed with multiple atrial septal defects and patent ductus arteriosus. What that means in our language is that she has two small holes in her upper chambers that is allowing too much to go into her lungs and she has a small canal below her two lower chambers that is pumping too much blood to her lungs. This canal normally seals off when a baby is a week old, but hers did not. If it does not seal itself by the time she is a year old, she will require heart surgery. Again, the doctor is hopeful that she will heal her own body...but he did explain that she is on a time limit to do so.
We were very relieved when we left there, and knew that God was taking care of everything in His time. The doctor wants to check on her again in 6 months and then when she is a year old to check the status of her condition.
GOOD DAY!
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