Sunday, July 26, 2009

URGENT!! PRAYERS NEEDED

ORIGINAL POST:
As I posted yesterday, little Stellan needs prayers. This is a photo from his mom's blog. He's not doing very well at all. Right now he is getting new medicine in his iv that will stop his heart for a moment. We're praying fast and hard here in our home that this sweet little boy pulls through this. Please venture over to his mom's, MckMama, blog and read his story. It will truly wrap you in!!

UPDATE:

Stellan's medicine didn't work for more than 8 beats and he is back in SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia...a very rapid heartbeat). This little boy and his family are in serious need of prayers.


UPDATE #2:

Stellan and his parents will be heading to Boston soon. They live in Minnesota so they'll be taken by air ambulance. From what his mom has posted, it sounds like last night was a very rough one for poor Stellan. I left her Twitter page up on our computer and woke various times throughout the night and refreshed it to read if there was anything new. The last time Stellan was in Boston having his ablation, which was April I believe, we took one of Troy's orange (Stellan and his mom's favorite color) shirts and over his heart drew Stellan's name with a heart around it. Troy is wearing that t-shirt today. The rest of us are sporting orange today in his honor also. I don't personally know this family or little boy but I feel like I do since I've been following MckMama's blog since Rylee was in the hospital. Please pray long and hard for this little boy. He and his family need it more than anything right now. Give your kids extra hugs tonight for Stellan's brothers and sister who don't have their mommy and daddy to tuck them in tonight.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Pictures finally!

We had terrible storms tonight! It was crazy. We had tons of hail while I was at work. It was half dollar sized hail. It covered the ground and looked like snow. It put some truth to Christmas in July. The first hail lasted about 5-10 minutes. It was a long time. I was at work at this time. We believe we got the tail end of a tornado. It did a crazy amount of damage throughout Platteville. By the time it reached Cuba City and Benton, it had lost momentum to just rain.

The second half hit right as I was going to leave work to head home. I dashed out to the car and started driving. I got to the stop lights by the bank and it started to hail a little. I kept going. I got out to the airport, still hailing, listening the weather radio guy say a tornado is in Georgetown expected to be in Cuba at 6:20 and it is currently 6:12. What is a girl to do? I kept trudging. I was screaming at the woman infront of me, whom I work with, to drive...30-40 miles per hour is just not okay in a situation like this. I called Kris and told him to get the kids and dogs to the bleep bleepin' basement! It was the scariest thing ever! By the time I reached Cole Acres in Cuba, 6:21, it had gone completely still, other than the light sprinkles, and the sky looked like the freakin' Northern lights. I knew that by going 70-75 in a 45 was very against the law but figured no cop in his right mind would pull me over so I did make it home, shaking like CRAZY mind you, right before the rain and wind pounded us. While we were in the basement we danced to the nice weather radio that we got for christmas from the Klauer's and everyone was all smiles including Rylee, excluding our 2 dogs who just wanted to go where they felt comfortable and hide!

We're not sure how much hail damage is done to the car. We've assess that in the morning. Kris did run outside and felt the car as he was getting something out. He didn't feel anything. Keep your fingers crossed that that's the case because we just put in a huge comp. claim to the insurance company last month, we don't need another!

At 8:30 I took these photos of the sky! Amazing!

Other than the exciting evening we had, not much has happened around here lately. We did have a meeting with Tammy, the Lafayette County Birth to 3 program coordinator on Thursday. The Birth to 3 program is a state assistance program that helps assist families such as ours that has or may need assistance such as occupational or physical therapies or speech therapies. We have decided to meet with Tammy again as well as the occupational and physical therapists for the county. She is doing well right now other than not holding her head up during tummy time. We're having the consultation because of Ry Ry's chromosome deletion. We don't know what this means her future looks like so we want to stay on top of things! This is a great program that hopefully our insurance covers. Otherwise, it based solely on income which is a maximum of $30 per month. We can handle that.

We also talked with Tammy about Troy's speech. He talks really muffled. We can understand what he is saying and what he wants because we're his mom and dad. Troy has had tons of ear infections. We have not put tubes in his ears because Dr. C feels that since they don't seem to bother T until they get really really bad that we should hold on tubes. However, T has a textbook case of having water in his ears and hearing everything we say muffled. In return, he speaks everything to us muffled. She suggested we send him to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist to have his ears checked and converse more about tubes if needed.

Remember a while back, I talked about a little boy named Stellan. Please pray for this little guy as he is back in the hospital with his SVT. Click on the Praying for Stellan button on the right side of the page to read his mom's blog!

This weekend started off with nothing to do but that has changed!

My Grandpa Dodds' headstone has been placed on his grave. I went and bought some artificial flowers to put out there! Grandma said they vases look smaller than she thought so I hope I didn't too many. Since, Troy and the other great grand kids have something in with Grandpa, I got a bright pink Gerber Daisy for Rylee. Though she has never meet him, he's been watching over us, especially her. He would've loved her! So tomorrow, I am going to our and arrange those! As well as clean up and empty the vases after tonight's storm!

Sunday, we're headed to Cassville for lunch with Kris's parents and his brother and family. Grandma Klauer just had a birthday last week so birthday cake is in order! Rylee will also get to meet her Uncle Nick for the first time. We hope to get home early for baths and cleaning!

DadD fixed the uploading photos problem. I am really not sure what was wrong but enjoy them regardless!

First trip to the zoo

One of the last pictures with oxygen on!

Oxygen free! June 29, 2009
Best 5 month birthday present ever!

Happy Father's Day 2009

Sibling love!

Baby wearing Momma! I love the Moby D!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Another week GONE!

Today has been the laziest day for us. I finally just got my behind up and moving and it's 8:30pm!

This week was rather uninteresting. Except we did go see Dr. C! We got put in the room right next to his office which he happened to be in! **SIDENOTE: He is quite popular around our area so you can often see his face on the billboards in town. He has little replicas displayed in his office. Too funny!** He popped in quick before visiting another patient before us. (It takes a while by the time we get Ry Ry undressed, weighed, try the pulseox which never works on her there for some reason while trying to keep T occupied) He wanted to see for himself that the oxygen was really gone! Ry Ry weighed 9 lb 12 oz! Not to 10 yet. Ry Ry weighed 9 lbs even on June 11th. So it's taking a consistent month plus a little to gain a pound. (Which means when she at her 1 year birthday she will be 15 to 16 pounds at this rate...Troy weighed 16 pounds at his 6 month check up!) Anyway, he is very very happy with her progress. We see him again in the beginning of August for her 6 month well child check up. Which is 2 days after our follow up with IC. We have our fingers crossed that apnea monitor goes that day!

I wanted to let you know what life is like now that the oxygen is GONE! We still have portable tanks for an emergency. We have officially retired the handicap parking pass to above the visor in the car. And some little tidbity information about her that astonishes me.

When Ry Ry was attached to a big, bulky O2 tank, we were limited to where we could take her. Now, we can just scoop her up and take her where want. Getting ready to go somewhere used to take a minimum of 15 minutes. Now, it's a matter of sticking her apnea band on, putting her in her carseat and going. It's so lovely.

Ry Ry has become a completely different girl in the last 20 days as well. I think she feels better not having a tube in each nostril and air blowing in. She is so smiley. She is happy always. Her personality is starting to show. She definitely has a temper like her brother. When she wants something, like a bottle perhaps, she wants it warm and right now! Other than all this garbage that we've dealt with the last 5 and half months, we have the easiest baby ever!!

She is also tiny! She is no more than 21 inches long and not quite 10 lbs. She is still wearing newborn clothes! It's amazing. She fits in them perfectly. I am so sad because I see her closet loaded full of summer, girly 0-3 month clothes and there is no way she is going to get to wear them. (Especially if the weather continues like this) I was just going through some of the clothes this afternoon and came across an adorable outfit I got her that is 0-3 months. She can wear the top as a dress. It saddens me. My family is going to have to have more girls born in the summer so these clothes can be worn sometime.

Ry Ry is also holding her head up more on her own! Wonderful news!

We're going to try a new thing at bedtime and naptime from now on. Ry Ry is missing a huge portion of hair on the right side and back of her head. So we're going to try having her wear a hat when she goes to bed. We'll see. I would love to be to put bows and barrettes on both sides her head!

Tomorrow Ry Ry and I are headed to Barneveld to my friend Dana's house. We're having a ladies day! I am so excited I could burst! I need the girly talk, stuff your face with junk food kind of day. The last time there was one, I couldn't go. So I am excited to see my bestest friends ever!

I am now going to frost my cake, put Troy to bed (because DadD isn't used to doing that and is losing his patients right now) and get ready for tomorrow.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Oh happy days!

This past week has went by super fast yet so slow at the same time! Work...slow! Life...crazy fast! It never seizes to amaze me how fast my babies are growing. T is constantly doing something new. Rather, he is constantly saying something new. The trend around here lately is learning words for all of the things near and dear to T. For example, this morning while getting dressed (for the first time) today, T and I had a conversation about his shirt. When I said that he needed to put his shirt on before he could go outside, he pointed to his belly, realized he didn't have a shirt on, said "uh-oh", I held up his shirt and said "shirt" and he point to it and said "shirt." This process is repeated a million times throughout a normal day. I love it!

We are also working on finding body parts. If we ask him where his nose is he points to his nose then says "Mommy" and points to my nose. When we ask him where his hair is, he runs his hands through his hair as if he is washing it. And since it is summer and T sweats like CRAZY, showers are done daily for him now. This gives us some extra time in the shower to work on cleaning all the dirty body parts. He does a great job washing his hair, bellybutton, legs and arms. As many boys do, he knows where his boy parts are and makes extra sure they are still there at every shower and every diaper change.

This past monday marked Ry Ry's 79th day home (the 3 day stint in Mercy hospital is included as well as the 2 days we were in IC ER). You are probably thinking, who cares if she has been home for 79 days, right?! Well let me explain. Ry Ry was in the hospital for 79 days. So she had been home as long as she was in the hospital. I will definitely tell you one thing, it went a lot quicker once she was home rather than down there!

Ry Ry has been oxygen free since June 29th. It has been pure bliss! She is still on the Neosure at 30 k/cal. Last time that she was weighed she was 9 lb, 6 oz. Though, we'll get an up to date weight on Tuesday because she is going to see her 3rd favorite man in her life (DadD is first and T is second of course!), Dr. C for a weight check and a full look over! We used to going to see Dr. C every week at least once if not twice. Now, we haven't seen any doctors since June 29th when Ry Ry and I went to IC. We are adapting rather nicely to our new, little more comfy life!

On Friday, my niece J came to stay with us for 2 whole nights! We had a blast. Friday, T kept throwing his arms around her and smiling. I brought home KFC for dinner which was ok if you don't count the bug in my mashed potatoes and gravy. Yes, a bug was packaged up in my potatoes, died and was almost eaten by me. GROSS! I promise to never, ever eat at KFC again. I will stick to my Mock KFC recipe.

I had to work from 8 to noon on Saturday so J came with me. My co-worker Brenda is big into stamping and making cards. She brought a few of her supplies to make a wedding card and anniversary card. After she was finished she had some leftover paper and plenty of time so she helped J make a card for her mom and her dad! They turned out lovely. J was very very excited to give the to her parents. She made me promise and cross my heart that I wouldn't tell her mom when she called. I kept my promise!

Saturday after work, we headed to the $100 store, aka WalMart, to pick up a few groceries and such. We spotted some cute pj shorts. She had a hard time deciding whether she should get pink or orange. Pink ended up in the cart with a matching top of course! We stopped by Subway on our way out and ate our subs in the car on the ride home since we spent a little too much time and money in the store.

We had decided that we would go swimming! As luck would have it, T was sleeping when we got home. We rounded up beach towels, swimming suits, sunscreen, snacks, juice boxes, extra clothes, diapers, wipes, Cozy car seat shader...the lists goes on! We made it to the pool, loathed the kids up with sunscreen, sent everyone on the their marry way. I layed out on a towel, reading and rocking Ry Ry while DadD accompanied T and J swimming. DadD and I switched places after a while. J wanted to go down the slide. We got all the way to the top and she decided that maybe she didn't want to go down. I ended up walking back up the stairs and going down the slide, giggling like a little girl as I went down. J decided she really didn't want to go down. Maybe next year. Towards the end, everyone was ready to go home. We had to make another trip to WalMart for a few things. One of which included a t-ball tee that T has shown extreme interest and talent in at his babysitter's house. WalMart doesn't carry t-ball sets. We ended up stopping at Hibbett sports and buying a t-ball tee, bat and ball for $50 so this kid better play t-ball in 2nd grade and be a pro at it!

Once we got home, preparations started for dinner! T, J and DadD went over to J's house to let their hounds out, tend to the kitty cat, and load up J's bike! For supper, we had BLTs, corn on the cob, freshly homemade potato salad, watermelon and fried bell peppers. It was GOOD! Since all the kids smelled of sunscreen, all the kids received baths. T showered with DadD while J helped me bathe Ry Ry. Next I accompanied J while she showered to pretty much just help her with washing her hair, she had the rest covered! As DadD pointed out to me, we did NOT put any sunscreen on. He is rather fried with this strange white spot with 4 lines that resembles an arm, hand and fingers on his shoulder. I captured a photo of it this afternoon but we still can't upload any photos.

Today, we broke out the t-ball set. J and T took turns hitting the ball while DadD ran after it. I sat comfortably in a patio chair while Ry Ry slept in the Moby (which I love love LOVE by the way, thank you again Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jeff). After a minor almost accident incident (T in the way and almost losing his head) we decided to set some rules to t-ball. That of which only included one, making sure everyone was way far away before swinging the metal bat.

DadD brought out J's bike and took off the (gulp) training wheels. He walked with J around the backyard for a while to get her used to riding without any and then when she didn't even know he let go. She did great. And it was quite hilarious when she was peddling and he was running (he was REALLY running) along side of her to which she turned and looked at him. I could laugh right now thinking of that. While this was going on, I started shouting "Go J.." and T shouted "GO". LOVE IT! I was practically jumping up and down which didn't faze the snoring Ry Ry in the Moby the slightest. She did great. Our yard is bumpy and we lived a downward sloping hill so it was kinda hard to learn how to ride a 2-wheel bike. Her mom called shortly after. Her brother J wanted to talk to her so she told him not to tell mom and dad but that she rode her 2 wheel bike without her training wheels. His response, I believe, was a shriek of amazement. I think he was impressed! She then had to tell her mom and then her dad. They were all excited for her too!

At about 1, right after my eyes somehow drifted closed while watching cartoons, I awoke to my sister, her husband and J's big brother J pulling in our driveway. J immediately gave her parents their cards which they loved! She had already packed up her belongings and then she went home.

After a couple hour nap for all, we headed back outside. DadD pushed T around on the scooter which he loved. We ate dinner. T spilled an entire container of Cool Whip on himself and the carpet and proceed to slip on it. Back to the bath it went! He changed clothes, I believe, a total of 5 times today. He was that MESSY! It ranged anything from watermelon to ice cream. What a mess!

Since, I worked on Saturday, I am not due back to work until noon tomorrow. That means sleeping in! T has been doing that lately so fingers crossed it continues tomorrow.

And tidbit of Ry Ry news...she is completely sleeping through the night! We love being able to do this. We were given the ok to let her at-lib her feeding through out the night. She sleeps from 8 to 5 or 6. AMAZING considering that T didn't sleep through the night until 13-14 months old. She continues to eat 2 ounces every 2 hours. She takes on average 14 ounces a day. (I know this because the powdered formula is normally 1 scoop for every 2 ounces but we have to make it with 5 scoops for every 7 ounces to get the 30 k/cal so we normally make a double batch which lasts us an entire 24 hours!)

Well ladies and gentlemen, I am going to tie up my stinky garbage next to me, take it out and head to bed with the rest of my family. Good night all!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Have a few

Well I have a few minutes to spare before normal life sets back in!!

Unlike most people, I actually had to work an entire day of Friday but Friday night we did a redo of our date night from the week before. Last Friday night, it didn't go very well because Troy was a bear. So it was do-over time. Still not great but oh well. We bought Troy a new life jacket because he out grew this one from last year (that he only wore once!). We ate at Applebee's. That was a mess in itself! Literally a couple walked in after us and seated themselves at our table. So we had to wait for another table. Then they dropped our chicken on the floor so we had to wait extra long. *SIGH* On the way home, we decided to just head home and not stop to watch the fireworks.

On the fourth, we headed to Bagley on the rainy early afternoon. By that evening it was gorgeous. We spent most of the time at my dad's lake front cabin. It was awesome! Before eating supper, my dad took Troy, Kris, Scott and Aubrey for a ride on the boat. Troy loved that. He got to drive it. They told me they did a half circle before someone stepped in and helped him out! Rylee chilled all afternoon. We enjoyed walking around with her all day with no strings attached. It is so nice!!

Today, my sister Carmen and I hung out all afternoon. We went and ate at Olive Garden for lunch. Then we stopped over at Target to get soda and snacks. Then headed to watch the movie My Sister's Keeper at the Star Cinema. Take you tissues for that one folks. Even the book is sad one. We had a fun sisterly trip!

Tonight, Kris and I are scrubbing our house down!! We have a woman coming on Tuesday that works for the state to assess Rylee to see if she needs any help. Most likely, we'll end up with some kind of therapist coming into our home to help with developmental things.

That's the end! Have a great week!!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

And she speaks after 24 days..

Many people have asked me why I haven't posted in a while. I am going to be straight forward and not beat around the bush. The answer is that a few people have told me they thinks that it would be to my benefit to seek "professional help". To this I would like to briefly discuss as there are much more interesting things that have/are happening in our lives than "professional help".

I was told this blog is like my diary. It is. I am just like any other person who has ups and downs in my everyday life. I am not a saint by any means. I have had my fair share of down days this year. And as you will find out later in this post, lately I have had quite a few up days. This blog is simply to keep each and every one of you, whom are our dear family and friends, up to date with our family. It is a zillion times easier to write it to a shlew of people instead of having to answer every email and every phone call. I barely have time to do this let alone all of that. But ultimately the main reason for this blog is for memory. I print these out and someday my kids will be able to read what they did when they were 5 months and 18 months old.

I am in no shape or form "depressed." I am sad with what we've all had to deal with the last 5 and a half months. I am uncertain of what the future holds for my beautiful baby girl. I am happy for both of my growing, striving children. But I am not depressed. The last time I posted, I was mad. I was mad because our car was smashed by a deer. I was mad because I had reached an all time high of my stress level. I was unsure of where God and I stood. I am still, though many think I'm nuts (obviously), re-evaluating my relationship with Him. I am having my own personal struggle with God because I don't understand the things that he has thrown our way. I don't understand why he has done this to our baby girl. I don't understand why he thought that Kris and I are strong enough to handle all of this.

My precious little girl was born premature. With that came trials and tribulations. With that came sadness. Every emotion and feeling that I have expressed has been real. I am entitled to the way that I feel. This is MY blog. I am insulted that I was thought to be emotionally unstable enough for more than one person to think that I need to seek "professional help." Not one of those people have ever had a similiar situation to compare me to. Not one single person that I know has went through anything like what we have. It is easy to pass judgement. I know that each of those people care about mine and my family's well being and only said those things because they care about us. To those and everyone else, I would like to express that this blog IS mine. I invited you to read it because I care about you and wanted to keep you updated on us. With this blog, you will read raw emotions. It's not always happy because I am not always happy. If you have a problem with what is wrote, don't read it. I know that those who said those things, didn't mean it to be hurtful and I am trying hard to not make it be. In my opinion, "professional help" will only stir up the emotions and memories that I have buried. I lived them once, I don't want to again.

Now that is all cleared up, onward!

Last time, I talked a little bit about our very long appointment with Dr. Julie. Since June 5th, Rylee has gone to visit Dr. C for her 4 month check up. She weighed in at 9 lbs, which she had been at for exactly a week, and he was happy with that. He was concerned about her flat head. And wanted us to talk to Dr. Julie about it on our next visit.

Dr. C also looked at T for his 18 month well child checkup. T looks like a large 18 month old child. He showed signs that he is advanced in some parts of his development and spot on in others. For example, he throws the ball over hand, most of the time is falls behind him, but Dr. C said that doesn't normally start until 2 years. We were most concerned about his speech. He doesn't say many actual words. He jabbers all of the time but only says a few words. Dr. C would like to wait and revisit his speech when he is 2. If we are still concerned, Birth to 3 will come in and set us up with a speech therapist. However, Dr. C says that T's "problem" is an easy fix whereas RyRy's aren't. Overall, he was happy with both children.

We spent Father's Day with the grandpas. I have pictures but the computer won't upload them right now. It's being a little nutty. DadD is going to have to monkey with it later. At Grandpa and Grandma Klauer's he got out Grandpa's boots and tried to walk around the house in them. They're a tab bit too heavy and big for his little feet.

We also took Troy and Rylee to the zoo for the first time. It was a zoo at the zoo that day. (I have pics of that too but there again, won't upload!) We went with Kris's sister-in-law Katrina and our nephews Isaac and Noah. Isaac liked the giraffes because he thinks they are chewing gum. Overall, I think that everyone had fun. T is still a little too little for the zoo. He didn't realize he was suppose to be looking at the animals. He was more interested in running around. Boys will be boys.

We got out T's pool that he was only in once last year. He was a little timid at first. After the third try to get him in it, I just put him in there. He had a ball. All of us, including the dogs and excluding RyRy, got soaked! He had fun. And once this screwbally weather straightens out, we'll head back out.

T's has been teething. He currently has 12 teeth and working on his 2 i-teeth. This has been by far the most grewling process. My mom told me that the i-teeth are the worst and they are by far! None of his other teeth hurt him. On Sunday, he spiked a fever that got up to 103.4 and was practically lathargic. We knew this was coming as we had taken him to see Dr. C who bravely, stupidly stuck his finger in T's mouth (yes, he got bit...hard) and said that molars were also coming in. Fabulous. Today, he did eat a little of his supper. Mostly, he just hid it under in his rear end. Yes, I know. He has started hiding food under his behind. He did even when I was watching him. He did it even after I told him not too (which is nothing new!).

On Sunday, we had Ry Ry's professional pictures taken, as well as family and Troy pictures! Enjoy them. They are awesome!




On Monday, Ry Ry and I made the treck down to IC to see Dr. Julie. (T and DadD were at home because T was a BEAR!) We had many issues to discuss and many items to check off our list. In total we had 3 appointments scheduled.

The first one was with Dr. Julie and NP Diane. The first issue address was RyRy's flat head and Dr. C's concern. The second issue addressed was an apnea spell that RyRy had on Thursday at her aunt Carmen's house, while I was there and her aunt Carmen was holding her (and scared the living $*!@ out her). The third was the oxygen. I turned the oxygen off at 5:30 that morning. She stated around 98 to 100% the entire time we were there! The last was her weight!

The prognosis:
1. No helmet. Dr. Julie and NP Diane thought her head has rounded out nicely since June 5th. It is still flatter and more protruded on the right frontal than most children but no need of a helmet at this point and time.

2. The apnea monitor will stay. RyRy has to wear it while she is sleeping, down for the night or riding in the car. Since she had a freak spell, Dr. Julie wants to read the print out from the machine and see if there was a misfire in her brain that she didn't breathe for 22 seconds or if she was just holding her breath.

3. The oxygen is discontinued. There are signs that we need and have been watching Ry Ry closely for that says that she isn't ready for independent breathing. As of right now, Ry Ry is having a hard time breathing due to the fact that she has developed a cold practically overnight. Probably the dramatic weather change. However, she is doing well without it and will not put her on unless she needs to be.

4. Finally, she weighed in at 9 lbs, 6 oz. The last time she was weighed at IC she was 8 lb, 15 oz. This is not a huge weight gain. But at this point in time, Dr. Julie has said that from bedtime to risetime we can do at-lib feedings and continue every 2 hours during the day with the 30 k/cal Neosure formula. Someday, we will be able to decrease to 27 k/cal. But not for a while I am afraid.

I asked Dr. Julie when she thought that Ry Ry would be able to eat cereals and babyfood since she is 5 months old, adjusted age is 2 months though. I was just curious when she would catch up. Dr. Julie said the very very very earliest for cereal would be probably November. She may really be the actual age of 12 months before cereal or baby food is introduced. Weight is an issue and always will be at this point. Ry Ry has 2 ages. Her actual age is 5 months and her adjusted age is 2 months. So cereal and baby food is still a long way off!

The second appointment was for her sweat test for Cystic Fibrosis. What an ordeal that was. I sent pictures of her to Kris and Carmen. CRAZY.

The prognosis: Rylee tested negative for Cystic Fibrosis. This is wonderful!

The final appointment was at the eye clinic. She had mean things done there. The hunkered her down with a sheet. It took about 60 seconds total for the actual exam.

The prognosis: Ry Ry's eyes looks great. We have to come back in 5 to 6 months and have a "BIG" girl check up. No more of this hold her eye lids open with funky, painful looking devises.

Overall, Monday was a wonderful day! Life without the oxygen has been scary but awesome! When we got home, I walked around the entire inside of the house without any cords attached. I am still not totally in the mindframe that she is free of cords and I can just pick her up. In due time!

This weekend for the 4th, we will be traveling to Bagley to spend the day with my dad and brother at my dad's cabin! And for the evening events, we will be watching the fireworks that my mom and Rich are shooting off for Bagley. Friday night, we will be going to Dubuque for dinner out and watch their fireworks. It's will be a fun weekend! Enjoy!