Better?

Well, I'm hoping that Hope is better. She tolerated her first bit of formula this evening and even tolerated a sponge bath. The antibiotics definitely helped and the fever went away. So, we're going ahead with our plans to travel to the farm tommorrow. We're excited to help with harvest.

still puking...

Yep, she's still puking. I've only given her pedialyte for two days now, and she was doing fine. So I thought I would try a bit of formula and she immediately started vomitting. I guess she's not ready for food. The antibiotics must be helping, the fever has come down.

Hope hasn't vomitted since yesterday at noon, which is great. Unfortunately, she has cloudy urine and some 'pus' in her diaper, which indicates a urinary tract infection. So we're starting the antibiotics and that should help with the fever. Hopefully the antibiotics take care of the UTI and that's the end of this.

Thank you so much for the supportive comments. I just sat down to give a quick update and was warmed by the thoughts that were passed our way.

Hope hasn't puked since noon today, although we have given her no food. She has kept her meds down since noon, which we give over a two hour time period, and now I've started a very slow drip of pedialyte. She has a fever right now, but it's not too high (38.1) and I'm hoping the tylenol keeps it down. She's sleeping and looks comfortable.

It's midnight and I'm going to get some sleep.

Hope is sick

Well, the girls were doing well, then Hope decided to switch it up! I guess we got our trip just in time. Hope started vomitting today at 12pm and hasn't stopped heaving all day. Even now I'm suctioning little bits of blood tinged puke every 10 minutes or so. It doesn't matter that I have not put anything in her stomach she still manages to find little bits of stomach fluids to spit up. Poor thing is having cold sweats now, she looks miserable. I haven't been able to get her meds into her since this morning, so I'm a little worried about the seizures. On top of that, I can't help wondering what type of flu this is...

So we decided the best thing to do was make brownies!

A good alternative to worrying I would say.

Chicago

Well, I'm finally getting to catch up on things around the house. We went to Chicago on Friday (yes, we drove), and came back late on Tuesday night. The girls had fun at their 'sleepover' and thanks to my Friend Julie we had an extra night to enjoy our vacation. She took the girls for one night and dropped them off. These photo's are all out of order, but I'll show you a glimpse of our trip. Brodie and Alex went to a football game the first night we were there. Brodie's been asking to go to a football game for a while, so he was pretty excited. We went to Navy Pier and enjoyed some rides (we even convinced Alex to go on the ferris wheel), then we went for a bike ride. You can see the quadcycle below...

This is Brodie enjoying the ride home. The guard at the border was pretty impressed with his set-up (movie's and chips).

Brodie's favorite part of the trip, "The lego store and mini-golf".

We also went to the aquarium and the museum to see the pirate exhibit. The best part of that day was the 'waterfall', that Brodie found to run around in. He didn't mind that he had to get his clothes wet! It was a hot day.

This is the submarine Brodie played in at the aquarium (his favorite part).

All together, it was a fun trip and a much needed time of relaxing and enjoying each others company. The girls are doing great.

Weekend

We're packing up today. The girls are going away for a weekend respite, we like to call it their sleepover. I know they'll enjoy all the cuddles they will get. Brodie is excited for the plans Alex has made for us. Alex is on holidays starting tommorrow and he's made some good plans for us. I'll let you know more when it actually happens.

Joy!

Look at that smile! How can one, not be joyful when met with smiling eyes like this. I took this photo during Ashley's Saturday morning bath-time. She looooves getting her bath and hair wash. She's always calm and happy for the rest of the day when she's had her bath.

Enjoy!

Visitors...

Our visitors from England left for home today. The girls had some wonderful cuddles from Cousin Emily and Aunty Julia, and Brodie had A LOT of fun with Cousin Collin. Ashley smiled the whole time she was being held of course. Hope started opening her eyes a bit more after we made a very tiny decrease in her Clonazepam. We were all very happy to see her a bit more alert these last few days.

Reflection

The girls are doing well and life has a nice rhythm right now. Summer has been good to us and I've been grateful for many blessings, but I always wonder what's around the corner. Although the girls are not expected to live a long life, there is no imminent worries, and we are able to relax a bit. This week has been one of reflection because a little boy named Noah, went home to Jesus.



Noah had a beautiful, bright smile and his joy was contagious. Reading his blog, and the comments from others, one can tell that he touched many people. I know from a friend that his passing impacted the staff at Children's hospital, where he spent a lot of his life. I wanted to mention him, because he is significant. Children with special needs are sometimes seen as a burden, but as a parent of 'special' children, I hope that people can see past the work involved. The child still deserves a hug or a smile or a cuddle, the same as any other child. It is encouraging when others recognize the 'gift' in our children and the value of their presence.



Thank you, Nichole for sharing your journey over the years. I imagine the emptyness you must feel with Noah gone, as I have often wondered how it would feel for me, when the girls pass on. I've placed the link to Noah's blog on this page.