9 years ago
November 10, 2009
Way Too Long....
Well, it's been WAY TOO LONG since I did a post...life at the Clinton house has been anything but normal over the past 2 months.
In late August/early September, Avery started having some issues with her formula...her tummy seemed to hurt constantly as she would scream and cry after every single bottle. So, we worked with our pediatrician in trying to figure out which formula was going to work for her....we went from regular Enfamil to Gentlease to Alimentum (which is an expensive hypoallergenic formual) to Nutramigen (another hypoallergenic formula). During this time, the pediatrician also put her on Zantac because she felt that with Avery's symptoms, there was some reflux issues involved. Things progressively got worse for Avery and she was screaming not only after each bottle but also during the bottles...she was also gagging and choking on the liquid. The pediatrician decided to refer us to a pediatric gastroenterologist to make sure there were no other major issues going on with Avery. So, in mid to late September, we went to see the gastro. She spent a lot of time with us and with Avery and decided to switch her off the Zantac and onto Prevacid, which is a more powerful reflux mediciation. She also heard a swallowing issue while observing Avery and decided that we needed to thicken her formula in order for her to be able to swallow it correctly. So, that week we began using rice cereal to thicken the formula. Turns out she is allergic to the rice cereal so we had major tummy issues and the screaming/crying continued for the poor baby.
On September 29th about 10pm, she was having a particularly bad night and was screaming in pain when she suddenly couldn't breathe....she was trying to take breaths, but was just gasping and couldn't get any air in or out. It was the most terrifying moment of my life. John was holding her and we tried blowing in her face to try to get her to catch her breath, we tried putting cold water on her...we tried it all...I got on the phone and called 911 while John put her over his shoulder and started patting her back forcefully...FINALLY she took a breath. This was only a matter of less than a minute, but it felt like about 10 minutes. She was very lethargic at this point....the EMTs got to our house very quickly and they looked her over and gave her some oxygen...they then wanted to take her into Childrens Hospital to be checked out. So off we went....I rode in the ambulance with Avery while John followed us in the car. We ended up being in the ER at Childrens until sometime between 2-2:30am. The ER doctor did some bloodwork on her and after checking her out, he decided that her episode was caused by the reflux. Basically, all the screaming she was doing caused the reflux to flair up and she tried to force it back down and when she did, her throat basically shut down. The next morning, I called the gastro doctor's office and left a message telling them what had transpired the night before...once the gastro doctor heard this, she called us and was very concerned about what was going on with Avery. This lead to her wanting to admit us to Childrens Hospital in order to have some testing done. She also wanted us to see a pediatric ENT at the same time. So, on Friday, Oct. 2nd, we went to see the ENT and then went inpatient until Monday afternoon. The ENT did a scope of nasal passage and whole throat area. He diagnosed her as having laryngomalasia, which basically means the little "flap" at the top of her voice box is "floppy" or not completely matured...meaning that it was allowing small amounts of liquid to go down the wrong direction. Also, when she cries hard, it wanted to "collapse" on her...which is what happened on the 29th. He ordered a swallow study to be done while we were in patient and also wanted us to meet with the speech path team to see about using a thickener with her formula. After this appointment, we went inpatient...the gastro doctor switched her to a prescription only amino acids based formula called EleCare...basically it is impossible for babies to be allergic to this type of formula. We also have quite a bit of testing done...EEG, EKG, Apnea monitoring, etc. There was no evidence of seizure activity (a slight worry after the episode on the 29th) and no signs of apnea. We were so grateful! We met with speech path and did the swallow study...the ENT's observations were right on...she was having limited penetration by the liquid, but no full aspiration...but it could possibly happen. So, she was put on SimplyThick, Nectar consistency, which is a no calorie, no taste gel thickener that we have to add to each bottle.
Now, here we are several weeks later and she is doing well...she is doing great on the EleCare formula and with the SimplyThick. She also is still on the Prevacid for the reflux, which is helping tremendously. We had a follow up appointment last week with the ENT and he said that she is looking great. He REALLY feels that she will outgrow all her issues by the time she's 1, if not sooner. He could already see some improvement in her just since the first visit. HOPEFULLY, we are finally on the right track with our sweet baby...she has had a rough time of it over the last 2 months and so have mom & dad! :)
In late August/early September, Avery started having some issues with her formula...her tummy seemed to hurt constantly as she would scream and cry after every single bottle. So, we worked with our pediatrician in trying to figure out which formula was going to work for her....we went from regular Enfamil to Gentlease to Alimentum (which is an expensive hypoallergenic formual) to Nutramigen (another hypoallergenic formula). During this time, the pediatrician also put her on Zantac because she felt that with Avery's symptoms, there was some reflux issues involved. Things progressively got worse for Avery and she was screaming not only after each bottle but also during the bottles...she was also gagging and choking on the liquid. The pediatrician decided to refer us to a pediatric gastroenterologist to make sure there were no other major issues going on with Avery. So, in mid to late September, we went to see the gastro. She spent a lot of time with us and with Avery and decided to switch her off the Zantac and onto Prevacid, which is a more powerful reflux mediciation. She also heard a swallowing issue while observing Avery and decided that we needed to thicken her formula in order for her to be able to swallow it correctly. So, that week we began using rice cereal to thicken the formula. Turns out she is allergic to the rice cereal so we had major tummy issues and the screaming/crying continued for the poor baby.
On September 29th about 10pm, she was having a particularly bad night and was screaming in pain when she suddenly couldn't breathe....she was trying to take breaths, but was just gasping and couldn't get any air in or out. It was the most terrifying moment of my life. John was holding her and we tried blowing in her face to try to get her to catch her breath, we tried putting cold water on her...we tried it all...I got on the phone and called 911 while John put her over his shoulder and started patting her back forcefully...FINALLY she took a breath. This was only a matter of less than a minute, but it felt like about 10 minutes. She was very lethargic at this point....the EMTs got to our house very quickly and they looked her over and gave her some oxygen...they then wanted to take her into Childrens Hospital to be checked out. So off we went....I rode in the ambulance with Avery while John followed us in the car. We ended up being in the ER at Childrens until sometime between 2-2:30am. The ER doctor did some bloodwork on her and after checking her out, he decided that her episode was caused by the reflux. Basically, all the screaming she was doing caused the reflux to flair up and she tried to force it back down and when she did, her throat basically shut down. The next morning, I called the gastro doctor's office and left a message telling them what had transpired the night before...once the gastro doctor heard this, she called us and was very concerned about what was going on with Avery. This lead to her wanting to admit us to Childrens Hospital in order to have some testing done. She also wanted us to see a pediatric ENT at the same time. So, on Friday, Oct. 2nd, we went to see the ENT and then went inpatient until Monday afternoon. The ENT did a scope of nasal passage and whole throat area. He diagnosed her as having laryngomalasia, which basically means the little "flap" at the top of her voice box is "floppy" or not completely matured...meaning that it was allowing small amounts of liquid to go down the wrong direction. Also, when she cries hard, it wanted to "collapse" on her...which is what happened on the 29th. He ordered a swallow study to be done while we were in patient and also wanted us to meet with the speech path team to see about using a thickener with her formula. After this appointment, we went inpatient...the gastro doctor switched her to a prescription only amino acids based formula called EleCare...basically it is impossible for babies to be allergic to this type of formula. We also have quite a bit of testing done...EEG, EKG, Apnea monitoring, etc. There was no evidence of seizure activity (a slight worry after the episode on the 29th) and no signs of apnea. We were so grateful! We met with speech path and did the swallow study...the ENT's observations were right on...she was having limited penetration by the liquid, but no full aspiration...but it could possibly happen. So, she was put on SimplyThick, Nectar consistency, which is a no calorie, no taste gel thickener that we have to add to each bottle.
Now, here we are several weeks later and she is doing well...she is doing great on the EleCare formula and with the SimplyThick. She also is still on the Prevacid for the reflux, which is helping tremendously. We had a follow up appointment last week with the ENT and he said that she is looking great. He REALLY feels that she will outgrow all her issues by the time she's 1, if not sooner. He could already see some improvement in her just since the first visit. HOPEFULLY, we are finally on the right track with our sweet baby...she has had a rough time of it over the last 2 months and so have mom & dad! :)
September 3, 2009
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words....
Hanging out in the bouncy seat
Sleeping in Mema's arms
Getting some loving from Great Granddaddy & Great Grandmother
Sweet girl... 
"big sister" checking things out 
"talking" to Daddy
Snoozin....
August 21, 2009
Finally Home
We finally made it home Monday evening around 8:00pm. Avery ended up getting jaundiced Sunday afternoon and had to spend all Sunday night and most of Monday under the bili light. She was rechecked at 4pm Monday and her levels were well within the normal range, so we were finally cleared to go home. Monday night, I had a reaction to the antibiotic I was given to take for the epidural site infection and so I spent all Tuesday & Tuesday night fighting off the reaction with Benadryl every 4 hours. NOT FUN! My mom and John were WONDERFUL in taking care of me, Avery, meals, & the house...I don't know what I would have done without them. I'm still having issues with soreness and some swelling in my back at the epidural site, but we are hopefully on the right track for healing. Overall, I'm feeling better, but still not 100%...I'll be so glad when the knot/soreness go away. Avery is doing so wonderfully. She is eating and sleeping like a champ. She's up about every 3-3.5 hours like clock work ready to eat. John brought Gretta home Tuesday evening and she has done remarkably well with Avery. We were a little worried! :) Gretta gets very concerned when Avery cries and will run to wherever Avery happens to be at the time. She also wants to sniff Avery quite a bit and is just very curious about her overall.
August 16, 2009
She's HERE!
Avery Elizabeth arrived on Thursday, August 13th at 5:16am. She weighed in at 8lbs. 8ozs and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is doing wonderfully!! We originally had hoped to go home Saturday morning, but an infection around the spot where my epidural was placed has delayed us. After an MRI, I was placed on 48 hours of IV antibiotics and we hope to be going home Monday sometime.
We are completely in love with our sweet girl and already cannot imagine life without her. She is a blessing from above and we can't wait for everyone to meet her!
August 5, 2009
Baby Steps...
We had our weekly checkup this morning and we are starting to make some baby steps in the right direction. 1 cm dilated and starting to efface was the final call from Dr. Sellers. He could tell a big difference from last week's check, he said. She is head down and has "dropped" into position. Hopefully we are on the right track! We head back next Wednesday @ 1:15.
August 4, 2009
Nursery Pictures
Here are a few pictures of the nursery. It's a pretty small room, but I think it turned out well. Thanks to Aunt Sassy for the paintings over the bed! :) We go to the doctor tomorrow morning...hoping for some progress this time!
July 30, 2009
Quick Post...
Nothing new to report from the doctor yesterday. No progress, but honestly, we weren't really expecting any at this point. She is measuring right at 37 weeks, which we will be tomorrow. We go back next Wednesday at 10am!
July 27, 2009
36 Weeks & Counting...
Well, here we are at 36 weeks...I feel like she's grown a BUNCH over the past week or so. Here's a picture taken before church yesterday:
Last week marked my last week of work at Immanuel. I'm going to miss my co-workers there a lot! On Thursday, they did a "good-bye/baby shower" luncheon for me....it was so nice of them to do that. The food was yummy, the cake EXCELLENT, the table decorations adorable, and the fellowship with my co-workers priceless! :) John was able to come and we had fun visiting and opening gifts. Once again, we are so blessed to have such wonderful, loving, giving friends. The IBC staff went in together and got us our pack & play....this is above and beyond anything I ever expected! Here's a picture of it:
Here's a few other pictures from the shower @ IBC:The yummy cake--it was strawberry, my favorite! :)
Getting Avery's book collection started
One of the cute diaper cakes (there were 2!) and some fun "accessories" for Avery!
We head to the doctor Wednesday morning, so hopefully I will be able to update after that with something new! :)
July 15, 2009
August Babies Bring July Showers!
We are getting closer and closer to Miss Avery's arrival!! On Friday of this week, we'll hit 36 weeks and we are now on weekly visits to the doctor and on this past Monday's visit, he told us that she is in the head down position, but that's about all the progress we have at this point. We go back next Wednesday, so we'll see what he has to say at that appointment.
We've been busy around our house trying to get things ready for her arrival...we are nearly finished with her nursery...just have a few more things to get on the walls. I think my "nesting instinct" kicked in and so I've been cleaning things out and getting rid of stuff we DON'T need! I even got J in on it this past weekend and he helped me clean out all the kitchen cabinets and re-organize them....I'm sure he was "thrilled", but he never complained about it! :)
On July 11th, some of my dearest friends threw a shower for Avery. It was WONDERFUL! I had so much fun and really enjoyed visiting with everyone who came. We received lots of great things for Avery--bathtub, bottles, lots of diapers, stationary entertainer, and LOTS of other stuff. Here's a few pictures:
We've been busy around our house trying to get things ready for her arrival...we are nearly finished with her nursery...just have a few more things to get on the walls. I think my "nesting instinct" kicked in and so I've been cleaning things out and getting rid of stuff we DON'T need! I even got J in on it this past weekend and he helped me clean out all the kitchen cabinets and re-organize them....I'm sure he was "thrilled", but he never complained about it! :)
On July 11th, some of my dearest friends threw a shower for Avery. It was WONDERFUL! I had so much fun and really enjoyed visiting with everyone who came. We received lots of great things for Avery--bathtub, bottles, lots of diapers, stationary entertainer, and LOTS of other stuff. Here's a few pictures:
Opening presents
LOVE this frame!
My wonderful hostesses and some of the best friends a girl could ever ask for: Amy (& Evie); Mary (& Caleb); Alicia; Allison; Jennifer (we missed Michelle & Elizabeth!)
On July 15th, John's co-workers gave him a "Daddy" shower. I got to go and be a part of it, but since I've been doing all the present opening, I let him do all the opening at this one! :) He also received some good "Daddy advice". :) It was a lot of fun and we had some YUMMY strawberry cupcakes! Avery received lots of fun presents--a stroller, diaper bag, cute outfits & bibs, and quite a few other things.
Opening presents
The wonderful diaper bag we received--I love it! 
Umbrella stroller--this was my pick on the registry! :) 
A fun picture from the shower on the 11th...my friend, Mary, is due with little Caleb, on July 3oth--We can't wait to meet Mr. Caleb, Avery's future playmate & nursery buddy at church, next week!! 
We are so very blessed to have such wonderful family & friends who are supporting us and praying for us during this new transition in our lives!! Avery is already one very loved little girl...we can't wait for her to get here so we can physically love on her! :) I promise to update next week after our doctor visit...maybe we'll have some new info!!
June 23, 2009
Sneak Peek...
Yesterday, we had a checkup with the OB...After measuring, he said that Avery was measuring about 1.5 weeks ahead of schedule, but everything is looking great as we head towards week 32. We go back in 2 weeks for our next appointment, which will be July 6th.
After our OB appointment, we headed over to BabyViews to have a 4D ultrasound done of our sweet baby girl. I was hesitant about doing the 4D to start with...mainly b/c it's not a medical necessity and so of course insurance doesn't cover it, but oh my....I'm SO glad we did it! We spent nearly an hour with Shae, the ultrasound tech, and she covered every square inch of Miss Avery. Shae measured her leg bones, spine, head, etc and based on the measurements, we might just have a chubby little girl on our hands! According to the 4D, Avery is already weighing in around the 5.25lb-5.5lb mark...putting her at somewhere close to 34 week size. So we might just have a "sooner than Aug. 21" arrival, if she continues with this growth pattern! :) After doing lots of measuring, Shae looked at many of her internal organs...kidneys, lungs, heart, & brain to see how things were functioning...everything looked perfect. Avery already likes her hands...she had her right one not far from her face pretty much the whole time. She would suck on her hand and/or fingers occasionally. At one point, she stuck out her tongue at us! :) Pretty stinking cute! We have lots of pictures...both printed and on CD and we also received a DVD of the entire session, so you can actually watch her moving around. Pretty amazing! Like I said, I'm SO, SO, SO glad we did the 4D! :)
This past weekend we picked up our Chicco car seat/stroller travel system from Pickles & Ice Cream. Nana Linda & Papa Bart got this for Miss Avery...she will be traveling in style now! John got it all put together Sunday...Gretta's not too sure about the stroller...makes her very nervous! HA After seeing the ultrasound yesterday, I'm really glad we already have the car seat...I'm starting to think we might need it sooner than Aug. 21! :)
Here's a few pics from our session yesterday:
A little bit of a smile!
Telling us what she thinks about being disturbed by sticking out her tongue!
Fingers/Face shot
June 1, 2009
No Longer Nameless....
I've been told I'm taking too long between posts...Guess I'll have to do a better job!!! :) We've been busy over the past few weeks.
First and foremost...Baby Girl now has a name...Avery Elizabeth! We had it narrowed down to two names with Elizabeth being the middle name for both, but when it came down to it, we both had fallen in love with Avery, so Avery it is! :) It's nice not to have to call her baby girl all the time.
Second, we took Avery on her "first vacation"...or as some people told us, the easiest vacation with a child we'll ever take! ha! We spent 6 days in Destin the week before Memorial Day and it was wonderful. Destin is one of our favorite locations and we made the most of our "babymoon"....resting, being beach bums, shopping, and of course EATING! That's by far my favorite thing to do in Destin! We even got to see those sweet Spicer girls (and of course their mommy & daddy too!) while out shopping.
We made in home the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. J then spentSunday & Monday painting the nursery. It looks great! I'm so pleased with the color! We got the furniture arranged and it looks beautiful. The glider/rocker that we ordered from Pickles & Ice Cream came in right before we left for vacation and we finally got it setup and in the nursery after we painted. I love the chair! I imagine I'll be spending a "few" nights in it...it's covered in a super soft chocolate brown fabric. Thanks JuJu and Grampa Larry...I know Avery will love rocking in it! :) When we get all the bedding on and pictures hung on the walls, I'll post some pictures of the finished nursery.
This past Sunday, some of my sweet, sweet friends from Cabot hosted a baby shower for me. I love these women...they are like family to me and I truly do miss working with them each day at CHS. I was so excited to get to visit with all the people who came to the shower...I haven't worked at CHS since December of 07, but my former co-workers are such good friends and have huge hearts. The hostesses truly outdid themselves on the food and Miss Avery got some GREAT presents--a highchair/booster seat, boppy travel swing, bottles, bibs, toys, LOTS of cute clothes, and many other things! She is such a loved little girl already! I'm putting a few pictures from the shower below...you can definitely tell that Avery is growing DAILY! :) haha
The food spread...YUM!
The super cute cake
Getting ready to open presents!
First and foremost...Baby Girl now has a name...Avery Elizabeth! We had it narrowed down to two names with Elizabeth being the middle name for both, but when it came down to it, we both had fallen in love with Avery, so Avery it is! :) It's nice not to have to call her baby girl all the time.
Second, we took Avery on her "first vacation"...or as some people told us, the easiest vacation with a child we'll ever take! ha! We spent 6 days in Destin the week before Memorial Day and it was wonderful. Destin is one of our favorite locations and we made the most of our "babymoon"....resting, being beach bums, shopping, and of course EATING! That's by far my favorite thing to do in Destin! We even got to see those sweet Spicer girls (and of course their mommy & daddy too!) while out shopping.
We made in home the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. J then spentSunday & Monday painting the nursery. It looks great! I'm so pleased with the color! We got the furniture arranged and it looks beautiful. The glider/rocker that we ordered from Pickles & Ice Cream came in right before we left for vacation and we finally got it setup and in the nursery after we painted. I love the chair! I imagine I'll be spending a "few" nights in it...it's covered in a super soft chocolate brown fabric. Thanks JuJu and Grampa Larry...I know Avery will love rocking in it! :) When we get all the bedding on and pictures hung on the walls, I'll post some pictures of the finished nursery.
This past Sunday, some of my sweet, sweet friends from Cabot hosted a baby shower for me. I love these women...they are like family to me and I truly do miss working with them each day at CHS. I was so excited to get to visit with all the people who came to the shower...I haven't worked at CHS since December of 07, but my former co-workers are such good friends and have huge hearts. The hostesses truly outdid themselves on the food and Miss Avery got some GREAT presents--a highchair/booster seat, boppy travel swing, bottles, bibs, toys, LOTS of cute clothes, and many other things! She is such a loved little girl already! I'm putting a few pictures from the shower below...you can definitely tell that Avery is growing DAILY! :) haha
The food spread...YUM!
The super cute cake
Getting ready to open presents!
May 3, 2009
24 Weeks
Well, here's the "belly picutre" I promised....of course Gretta had to get in on the action too!
April 27, 2009
Moving Right Along...
We're now a little over 23 weeks along and things have been going great! We go back to the doctor for our next visit on May 6th when I'll be nearly 25 weeks along. This will be the appointment that I have to do the gestational diabetes test, which I'm not real excited about...maybe it won't be too bad! :) We are making progress in baby girl's room....her crib and dresser/changer came in a couple of weekends ago and J got it all put together. It's beautiful! Once we get the room completely done, I'll post some pictures. For now, here's the bedding we have chosen:
Our baby girl already as a closet FULL of cute little clothes...between her grandmothers, great grandmothers, & aunts she will be one STYLISH little girl. I also have some of the best girlfriends a woman could EVER ask for and they have been extremely generous in passing down clothes (baby & maternity!)...just tonight I came home with a huge arm full of outfits for the baby! Thanks A!
I keep getting told that I need to take some "belly pictures" so that our family in MS & other areas of AR can see the changes...I'm not a picture person, like to take them, just not be in them, but I'll see if I can get J to take some this weekend to post.
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