Saturday=PICU

(sorry these are all cell phone pictures so quality is low-but wanted to share my girl)

Friday seemed to be really good for Aubrey and we thought she was still going in right direction.  Her healing process is very slow and we know that, but she acted better and actually played and ate a good dinner.

At 2:30am she woke up coughing and vomiting.  She had a 102 temp and was breathing really hard.  Her pulse ox was 67-70.  For those who know that is REALLY low, but I don't think it scares us as much since she LIVED int he 70s for the first 4 months of life.  We did rescue inhaler and a nebulizer and got it to 80, but it was clear that she needed to be seen again.

So baby got her BAR CODE back!

They scan her every time they do something, administer something or move her.  Kind of cool and way faster than them having to get out the computer each time and I'm sure it saves them charting time!

They did some suctioning and 1 hour breathing treatments twice to try and keep her stats up.  They repeated the chest x-ray from earlier in the week and drew labs again.  They confirmed a virus from the earlier blood draws and the x-ray looked the same.  The seemed a little baffled by our girl (this is their first rodeo with her, we've been here before).  I informed them that she is a mystery some times, has a slight addiction to oxygen, and is not a rule follower!

X-ray explained:  they think that maybe she is at the beginning of a bacterial infection or pneumonia since it looked the same.  If she had a virus and was mucusy, the spots on the x-ray would have looked different and have moved around.

Once they cleaned out wax in her ear....they found an ear infection as well!  And because when it rains at the Smith's it pours....Emelia came down with an ear infection yesterday too and was running fever.  Sympathy sickness:)

So they admitted her to the PICU and put her on high flow oxygen.  Imagine sticking your head out the car window and driving down the freeway!  They are hoping that the forced (warm and moist) oxygen will help open up her lungs along with some intensive respiratory therapy.  NOT A HAPPY CAMPER and she fought that thing hard for awhile....wouldn't you?

But she is always such a trooper!  And such a pleasant patient.  Her only complaint was that she was hungry and they didn't really want to feed her.  Her request: Juice (every 5 minutes) and sausage and yogurt!  I think she was getting desperate after awhile and was just requesting anything she could think of!  Last night she was finally given food privileges and got sausage, muffins, TWO juice boxes, pasta and fruit!

She had a pretty good night and they are slowly weening the oxygen for her.

Emelia was up three times last night, so it was a good thing that I stayed home instead of Dad-she would have been kind of MAD at him! (still nursing her) Hoping she gets over the hump today since Dad will be home tonight.

Thank you to all who had prayers in church for us today and have been praying all week.  We can't thank you enough.  And thank you to the Sarah and Amelia who are helping us out with babysitting a bit so we can switch locations and get people to school this week.  You girls ROCK!

They don't like to even guess at when she will come home, but the respiratory therapist said he wouldn't plan on anything before Wednesday.  So we are planning out our lives daily til then and hoping she gets better faster.....

Dad will be at hospital all day again, so my updates are limited, but I will be back for a sleepover tonight and all day tomorrow.

In the PICU

In the middle of the night, I had to bring Aubrey back to the ER (fever, vomitting, low oxygen) and she has been admitted to the PICU.  We still don't have many answers beyond, "she has a virus", but they are searching and we feel like we are in good hands again and on the right track for figuring her out.

Please keep our girl in your prayers today.  We will update as we are able.

Happy Birthday.....

to my oldest sister:)  and to Dr. Seuss!!!!  What a cool birthday huh!  My sister used to teach kindergarten and dress up as the Cat in the Hat each year and celebrated!  Wishing I had a picture of that now for my girls who were asking this morning!  (hint, hint)

If you know me well, you know I like to mix it up and do fun Holiday Lunches!  Halloween has always been my best, but Pinterest has fueled the fire and now EVERY holiday is a reason to celebrate!  And my search for non-sweet items is on!  I hate how it is always candy and cupcakes....so I searched long and hard and came up with some of my own too.

It takes a little extra time, but my girls get so EXCITED and they LOVE it!  And some day they won't and that will be OK, but for now I"m gonna keep doing it.  Sometimes I forget how much they sacrifice when Aubrey is sick and they have had a pretty ruff week too....so even though they had hot lunch today (and I could have slept in) I jumped into action for a Birthday Celebration!  (and since I still have three sleeping, I'll blog it really quick and maybe you can whip up a fun snack for your kids today still)

Breakfast:
Green Eggs and Ham Sandwiches along with Strawberry and Banana Cat Hats

"Do you like Green Eggs and Ham?"

"Would you eat them in our house?"

"I DO like Green Eggs and Ham!"

"I WOULD eat them in our house!"

(They were very sceptical at first:)

Snacks:
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (sorry, no blue fish, just gold and Swedish-but you could get the colored kind of goldfish and that would be cool)
Hats for the Cat (cherry tomatoes and cut string cheese)
Thing 1 and Thing 2 (strawberries, string cheese, and blue dyed cream cheese hair, mini choc chip eyes)

Thing 1 and Thing 2 probably won't travel well to school....but we'll see.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to SARAH and Dr. SEUSS!

*Edited to add in those who were sleeping before*

 "Ella....do YOU like green eggs and ham?"
"NO!"
"Do you want just the eggs?"
"YES!"
"They look funny?"
"It's just fun with food coloring.  Just try them?"

 "MOM, I DOOOO like them!"

 "Emelia, do you like green eggs?"

 "NOPE!"  (it all came right back out:)

And Miss Aubrey?

Still sitting on the couch with her thumb!

Home does not equal healthy

Last night was tough and today too.  We came home.....but she is still battling this bug.  I guess I had this delusion that since we had such a short stay at the hospital, that she would be pretty good to go at home....

 I was wrong!  Don't get me wrong, she is in such a better place than we've seen her before.  And we are so grateful that she is home and not in the hospital.  Trying to balance one child in the hospital and 4 other kids is so challenging!

She ran a fever last night and was fussy all night.  I drew the short straw of taking care of her since I didn't have to "work" today:)

 There was not much "up" time.  In every room, every where we went in the house, she just found a comfy spot to lay down.

I felt so bad for her....but at least she didn't run a fever today!  So a small step in the right direction:)

Love this girl and hoping tomorrow is better still.

Home:)

We are still in disbelief....but they let us bring her home!  Her shortest stay EVER!

In the end, I think that catching this early and having WONDERFUL care (at a different children's hospital) really helped her.  We got meds and oxygen on board quickly and that made a big difference.

The biggest thing was oxygen and fever and once her fever was under control, we were just waiting for her nap to see if she could sleep without oxygen.  At 4:30 she FINALLY gave in.  And she hovered just on the edge of needing it, but they didn't give it to her!  They just watched closely.

I also think that he trusted our judgement in her care and knew that we would be very cautious with her.  We don't take her health lightly...that's for sure.  So when he said he left it to us.....we RAN with her.

She is the ONLY one who looked back!

So she is home and happily sleeping in her own bed.  She will have to follow up with her regular doctor this week to make sure she is on the mend and for sure I'll be keeping her home from school.  But we are happy to all be under one roof again:)

Sick again....

Aubrey is sick again....really sick.....hospital sick:(

She started running a fever Monday and by Tuesday morning needed oxygen, so off the the ER we went.

ER upon arrival

Chest x-ray, blood work and nose swab reveal nothing.  So it's a virus of some kind, like usual, that is taking my girl down.  After a good nap yesterday, we were able to keep her off of the oxygen for awhile.  Which is a really good sign and we were hopeful.

"CHEESE"

From 7-10 she was chatty and happy.  Not eating or drinking much, but seemed to be ok.  As soon as she laid down to go to sleep, her stats TANKED.  So she ended up on oxygen last night.  And not just a wiff, but a whole liter.  Doctor said that since we caught it early, she may get worse before better.  Oh so comforting.....She still had a fever this morning, but once we got it down.....

We got dressed and brushed teeth and combed hair and she ate a really good breakfast.  All very good signs that she is doing better than she has in the past and we are hoping this isn't a week long event, but still taking it one day at a time.

playing Ipad

After awhile we took her off oxygen, which is what is keeping us there.  We are trying to keep her off of it while she is awake and only giving as needed.

Watching signing time with Em

Dad is there now and I'm at home with Emmie who is napping, so I'm gonna get something to eat and shower and then pack up for another night there.

I will try to update here as I can for those who keep asking :)  Internet is giving me problems at the hospital and I"m having troubles figuring out how to blog on my phone...

Pray for quick recovery and just one more night there....

Still here:)

It has been awhile....but we are still here!  Life is busy and there are so many days when I wish that the posts that I write in my head while sitting at stop lights or feeding baby or folding laundry could actually appear here for you!

We have been busy every weekend (and week for that matter) since Thanksgiving!  We have had lots of company and usually holiday business.

And because we had relaxed a bit and thought that we were doing so well with Aubrey's health....she decided to throw in RSV and Pneumonia right before Christmas!  I don't think there is ever a GOOD time to have sick kids, but I'm certain that the week before Christmas is the WORST time.  We then spent a week visiting family and friends....home for 4 days, then off to NJ this past weekend for more family and a memorial service for GG Johnson.  I'm home for 4 days then off to MN again!  Just cause the holidays are over doesn't mean we aren't still busy around here:)  I'm just glad that this trip is just me and Emmie and that I don't have to pack up for 7 anymore!

(if you are waiting for your Christmas card still.....this would explain why and I'll let you know that I'm working on them this week:)

I'm so behind on reading blogs and emails and phone calls and I resolved today that I will never catch up and so there is just a need to move on and stop thinking that I can catch up on blog posts and reading and what not.  Hopefully this will give me a clean slate to start just posting again:)  We got a lot happening around here and I want to share....

Potty Training and Thumb Sucking......coming soon!