Sorry For the Delay!

Wow! I'm so sorry I haven't been updating like I should! I just realized I haven't sent you an update since March! Again, many apologies! Gosh where to start...

Laura's lungs have healed rather well. They wanted to make sure she was eating well and eating with a little speed. She was a bit pokey! LOL! It did surprise us that the Doctors wanted her to be eating 5-6 oz of milk! Usually most newborns eat between 2-4 oz. We were told that everything here is done by weight and with her birth weight, that was the amount she should be consuming. Poor baby, she looked so miserable but if that's what it was going to take to bring her home, then that's what we were going to do! So as most of you know we brought our beautiful daughter home on April 1st. She isn't quite out of the woods. She has physical therapy appointments about once a week. Her reflexes on her right side are a little slow. Her therapist said it will just take a little work with her and lots of help at home to get her back up to speed. Hopefully by the end of the summer, she will be as good as new! Her next major appointment is with a Pediatric Neurologist. All babies that go through the NICU here need to be evaluated at their 4 month checkup. They want to make sure she is developing mentally and makes sure she is right on track. So far she is! She can follow objects and almost completely turn over on her side without any help. She knows all our voices and faces. She also loves to smile and giggle! If you get something close enough within her reach, she will try to swat it away. She's also pretty good about holding her head up. She is such a joy to watch! The change in her since we brought her home is just amazing.

But we have all been trying to adjusting to Laura's schedule. Between her doctors appointments and the boys activities, sometimes it's kind of nice to have a lazy day at home. We haven't had many since the sun has been out most weekends. Our travels have resumed. We are holding off on our travels outside of Germany due to the fact that alot of the places we want to go would probably require us to stay overnight and traveling with a newborn is not easy; especially here in Europe. Some of our travels include Keukenhof Netherlands for the tulip festival(that was the only exception traveling 3 hours out of Germany), Achel, Belgium (we visited a Trappist Monastary that brews beer) and Tongeren, Belgium (a great place to see a lot of antiques markets).

The school year is almost over. Summer is almost here! Todd will be away for a large chunk of it but that won't stop me and the boys from getting out and about. If it's a beautiful day, you can bet we will be out there enjoying it! I'm not wasting one minute of our time here in Europe! Logan is doing really well in school and is still enjoying choir. He has two final concerts; one one the 1st of June at AFNORTH High School (it's the international school in the Netherlands) and on June 10th at his school. He said he loves it alot and it really shows! He has been rehearsing so much that Landon knows his music by heart too! Landon is really excited to be going to his big brother's school this fall. I'll be working with him this summer to make sure he is ready for his first day of kindergarten.

I have posted many pictures to our photo website. I have now attached the link here to my blog page. Just glance to the left side of the page under our picture. Click on "view our pictures" and it will take you right there. The new albums posted are: Laura, Landon, Logan gets to hold his baby sister, The Boys love their Laura, Laura's 1 month pictures, Achel, Belgium, Landon's 5th Birthday, Keukenhof, Laura's 2 month pictures, Logan's 9th Birthday, Logan, Tongeren, Belgium and Fields of Gold. As you can see, I am a bit behind!

I will try to do better on getting news posted on here. I know several of you have sent me many emails wondering how everything is going. I did get your emails but responding has taken a backseat to a lot of things. I have so much email to catch up on. Let's just say, I'm now mailing my April birthday cards out. At this rate, I should be caught up by Christmas! LOL!

Thank you so much for your continuous prayers and support. We love and miss you all! Until next time....

One Step Back, But That's Okay...

Laura is still doing ok. Last Thursday, they had to put her feeding tube back in. She wasn't eating as much as she should and not as fast. She didn't have to work for her food her first week of life. So actually sucking it out of a bottle is a new concept for her. But she's adapting well. She has come a long way but to step it up a notch, they are trying the "tough love" approach. Today they took out her feeding tube. Instead of letting her drink what she can and then the nurses give her the rest through her tube; they will be letting her drink what she can and then that's it. By the next feeding, they are hoping she will be hungry enough to want to eat more. Giving what she's been through, I feel she is doing so well. We still have no word as to when she will be coming home. Hopefully as soon as she can eat her entire bottle in one sitting. Thanks so much for your continued prayers and love. They mean so much to us. I have posted new pictures on my photo website (kayjayjohn.slide.com) and Facebook. Much love to you all.

How About 5 Updates in 1??

Many, many apologies on the lateness of this update. It has been so crazy around here since my last update via email/Facebook on Friday. I know a lot of you have been worried since my last post so here is the scoop...

On Saturday, they did an EEG on her brain. The reason for this was to make sure she isn't suffering from any seizures. We have not received any word on the results of this test as of yet. They have sent them off to a specialist to review the scan and hopefully we should be hearing something soon.

Sunday I was released from the hospital. I was happy to be going home but so sad to leave our Laura behind. All of my boys came to pick me up about 10 and we had lunch at their favorite place; McDonalds! It was so good seeing them! After lunch, we all went to visit with Laura. This was Landon's first time seeing her. He thought it was pretty cool to get to be near her. I was the last to visit with her. One of the nurses was changing out Laura's tubes and usually that is our cue to leave. I was surprised when she told me I could stay. She explained most parents do not like watching this process but I told her I could handle it. I just wanted to be near her. Laura was such a trooper. The only part that bothered her was putting her breathing tube back in. My heart ached for her but as soon as it was in, she settled down. The nurse then asked me if I wanted to help feed her. I almost wanted to say like, DUH??? LOL! I was just so ecstatic just to be able to interact with her. So, I had to dip a Q-tip in some of her formula and put it around her lips. It took her awhile to realize what it was but oh boy! Once she realized it was food, she started sucking on it. Then after that, the nurse let me apply a special "chapstick" type lotion to her lips. The reason for this is, when you are getting oxygen, it really dries you out. So this was to help prevent her getting chapped lips. Man her little lips were so soft!

Todd and I have a schedule worked out so at least one of us is visiting with Laura everyday. I take Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and Todd takes Tuesdays and Thursdays. Weekends are our Family Days where the boys will come up with us to visit her as well. Monday, we had a lot of paperwork that needed to be processed so we all went up to visit. Todd went in first so he could talk to the doctors for an update. It seemed like only 10 minutes and he walked right back out. I'm like, oh, they must be having a shift change huh? He said, no, they wanted me to come out here and ask you if you wanted to hold her! I'm like what???? You have never seen a woman who just had major surgery move so fast in her life! OMG!! I get to hold me baby! It took a second for me to get myself together. I was so excited! The nurses told me that it would be best if it were a skin on skin contact so they gave me some hospital clothes and they set her on my chest. It was so amazing being able to hold her. There was no better feeling in the world! I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was just so beautiful! It was amazing just to feel her breathe on me. Todd took the boys in so they could finally get to see their little sister up close. They had to wear hospital masks but they didn't mind. They thought that was pretty cool!

Yesterday, Todd was eager to get up for his visit. He didn't get a chance to hold her on Monday so now was his chance to hold his daughter for the first time. Maybe after an hour of him leaving I get this text message from him. It was an attachment. It was a photo of our Laura; without her tube from the ventilator! She just had an oxygen tube in her nose for puffs of air!! I was in tears! What a wonderful sight! And you want to know what else? Her eyes were open! I have never seen them open before. Oh what a beautiful girl she was!

Today was my day. I couldn't wait to see her. I went to her room and the doctors were working on other babies so I knew I wasn't allowed in. So I peeked in the window and gasped. There was no baby crib where she normally was. My heart sank. Where was she? What was happening? I tried to see if she was just moved and one of the other doctors were working on her. Nope. My heart started beating so fast. Then I heard Johnson. Mrs. Johnson. I turned around and looked at the nurses station and there she was! No oxygen tube, no feeding tube. Just my Laura, getting fed with a bottle! I burst into tears. It was as if all my prayers have been answered. The nursed finished feeding her and burped her and handed her to me. She was then getting very sleepy. Guess she had a good eating! The nurse then told me to follow her. She was no longer in the "critical" room. She moved her to the main room in the NICU. She got me a seat and said enjoy! I held her for 2 whole hours. Just watching her sleep and gripping onto my fingers. You have no idea how good it felt to just stare at her, to kiss her cheeks!

Now even though she has made tremendous progress in this last week, she still has a ways to go. We have no idea when she will be released. We understand that the doctors just want to be sure that she is absolutely 100% before they will let us take her home! But please keep all your prayers coming. They are working! She is a true testament to that. I'll update again as soon as I can.

I have also added new pictures to our photo site/Facebook. She has changed so much in the last 9 days. Thank you guys again for all your thoughts and prayers. We love you all so much!

And The Magic Eight Ball Says....

Well we have a new due date...It's not this week but on March 8th! In less than 2 weeks, we will be welcoming our daughter into our hearts and home! It's been a busy week. I've done nothing but wash all her new clothes and Todd put the crib together as well as her new play pen. I just need to add some finishing touches to her room such as hang pictures and get her closet ready then, we are pretty much done. This blog is short and sweet. We just wanted to update you on her new due date. I guess my next update will be just after the 8th of March; and yes, I will make sure to post plenty of pictures! Oh, and I guess her name will finally be revealed.... :)

Much love to you all!

Alright, Who Pushed The Fast Forward Button???

Wow, it sure has been a busy week! Where do I start? Well, first off, last Friday Todd flew out to the Canary Islands. It's hard to explain exactly where it is. I know it's near Africa and it's owned by Spain. Google it! :) The temps have been in the 60s and 70s for him and he has had the pleasure of going to his first nude beach! Apparently, the average age was 65+ so it definitely wasn't what he was expecting! :)

Sunday, of course was SUPER BOWL! I hosted a quiet get together here at the house with Zzch and Amber. It aired live here in Germany at midnight (Feb 8th) so during pre-game, we stuffed ourselves silly with wings and jalepeno poppers as well as Amber's awesome tortilla roll-ups that were filled with ham, cream cheese and chives! Man were they good! We also played some games during half-time. I had to ignore the docs orders in order to stay awake. 3 cokes and a cappuccino later, the Saints won. It was so much fun! For those of you who have never been stationed overseas, we are not allowed to have commercials aired here so AFN (Armed Forces Network) had people mail in their own home made commercials. It could either be a great message or something really goofy. Needless to say, they were way out there! Definitely was not the same as watching Super Bowl commercials! By the time I had everything put away, I had 45 minutes before the boys had to be up for school. Yeah, I was hurting on Monday. Landon was a sweetheart and let Mommy snooze while he watched a movie. He did promptly remind me at noon that it was lunch time! :)

Well today has been the craziest day of all! I had an appointment with my diabetic specialist. He says everything looks great and he sees no reason to put me on insulin at all. 20 minutes later, I was in with my OB. They ran the fetal monitor on Baby Helga. She sure was on her best behavior because they actually got 30 full minutes of her heartbeat and didn't have to chase her down every 2 minutes. Well my doc got to looking at the ultrasound and starts shaking his head. "Too big" he says. He changes the screen to the growth chart and her measurements are way above where they should be. I was like "Wow" and he said "Yeah, wow." So, I'm like asking him what do we do now? He changes the screen and he's determining her weight. As of today, she weighs a little over 7 and a half pounds. The weight to me is fine but there is something about here in Germany that anything over 7 pounds is huge. Yeah, whatever. We grow them big. But I think he is more concerned how long her legs are. She has herself folded in half. And she is still ready to come out. She is positioned head down and she has her arms wrapped around her legs. So ready to hear my doc's solution???? He's going to see me on the 23rd of this month. In two weeks, if she is still on this upward climb in size, he's inducing! A February Baby!! I was in shock. Things start going through your mind. I have always carried all my babies to full term; even with gestational diabetes. The thought of having her a month early really scares the heck out of me! What if she's not fully developed all the way? Is she gonna have to be in the NICU? I mean, we aren't even close to being ready for this baby to come! We still have stuff to buy and now we are officially running out of time! To top it off, Todd tests for promotion that same week! Man are we both going to be a wreck or what?

Thursday, Logan has his first choir concert. He is super prepared and has all his words memorized. I'm so proud of him. Singing has become his passion! He continues to excel in school. He had a great 2nd quarter report card. Just this past week, he received Good Deed of the Week for always opening doors for his classmates and teachers without being asked. What a good boy! Landon continues to amaze me everyday. He still enjoys going to preschool and loves to play on the computer in his classroom. I think he knows how to use the computer better than me! He knows how to start up the computer and shut down properly! How many 4 year olds can do that? This week in school he is learning about emotions so he shows me sad, happy and his favorite; grumpy face!

So please pray for us and lets hope Baby Helga continues to stay healthy. Many thanks to all of you who have sent us stuff from our baby registry. You have been godsends! We really appreciate it! In case you missed my last post; we are registered at Amazon.com, BabiesRUs.com, Target.com and Walmart.com. I promise to keep you updated on the 23rd and will let you know for certain if we will be having a February baby or not!

Much love to you all...

Baby Update and More...

Wow, it's already been a month since my last post! Time sure is flying by! A lot has happened since my last post. I'm finally gaining my pregnancy weight but Baby Helga is on a constant growth spurt! My OB had me revisit my Diabetic Specialist last week and even though my blood sugar was good, he wanted to run further tests to see if there was something in my blood that was causing Baby Helga to grow. I was worried but when he called and said all was good, I couldn't be happier. My OB wanted to put me on insulin and bed rest but since the Diabetic Specialist said everything is fine, I'm safe for now. I go back in to see both of them on February 9th. To help ensure Baby Helga doesn't grow more than she needs to, I have been restricted to drink nothing but water and all my foods consumed must contain a fruit or vegetable! No more potatoes, no more rice, no more white bread. In his words, rabbit food! If that's what it takes to keep me and the baby healthy, then so be it! 48 days and counting!!

As for the rest of the family, Todd went on a last minute trip to Beja (pronounced Bay-sha) Portugal. It was a short trip and he got to see a really cool castle that was built in the 1200s. The city itself was founded in 60 BC! Now that is a really old city! We will post pictures soon. He will be going on one final trip to the Canary Islands before the baby is born. Hopefully he will come back with a tan!

Logan has joined Choir! He is so excited. He loves to sing and will be performing in 3 concerts before the end of the school year. His first one is on February 11th during Spaghetti Fest, a fundraiser for his school yearbook. Looking forward to video taping it! :)

Landon is loving Pre-School. He loves going to the gym every Thursday. He's working on recognizing all the alphabet and writing letters. We are going through flash cards and trying to get him ready for Kindergarten this fall.

But we are quickly trying to prepare for Baby Helga's arrival! We have made several trips to Ramstein AFB (Europe's super base, 3 hours away) in hopes to get everything we need but we still need some help! Finding baby clothes, accessories, etc on the local economy has been extremely difficult without having to pay an arm and a leg. The nearby Army base in the Netherlands has a baby section the size of a small bedroom; and we've pretty much bought everything we could. We are registered at BabiesRUs.com, Walmart.com, Target.com and Amazon.com. Also if you have any clothes that the kids have outgrown; girl or unisex, please don't hesitate to send it! The Post Office has special APO flat rate boxes that will help save on postage! We thank you all for your help in advance! It is greatly appreciated!

I promise to give you an update after I visit with both of my doctors on February 9th. Hope this finds all of you well and thanks again in advance for all your help and prayers!

Wow! Is it already 2010? I can't believe it! Well since it's the beginning of the year and time to make those resolutions; I thought I would try something different! Instead of only updating you a couple of times a year and forgetting a bunch of stuff, why not do a blog once a month? Maybe 2 times a month? That way you are always up-to-date with us! We are constantly on the go and there is never a dull moment in our house!

Well let's see...We rang in the New Year with great friends--Amber & Zach and Shannon & Mitch and their girls. We had a BBQ and played board games till midnight and then the neighbors started shooting off the fireworks! The kids had a ball and to make it even better; we got snow!! What a way to ring in the new year?

Yesterday I had another baby check up. All looks well but "Helga" is growing a little too big. Apparently, she enjoyed eating holiday food so much that she is 3 weeks bigger than she should be! Also, my doctor put me on the fetal monitor, since I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions on a regular basis for the last couple of weeks. Now I'm going to be seeing my doctor every 2 weeks and have fetal monitoring for at least 30 minutes every visit. He didn't seem too alarmed but did stress absolutely no sweets or sodas or anything at all with sugar. I have been good but with the holidays it's always hard to say no; especially when you have Belgian chocolates at your disposal! :)

Well I have posted a lot of new pictures on our photo website. Have a look at: http://kayjayjohn.slide.com. (do not add www.) The new picture albums include: Aachen Christmas Market, Bastogne, Belgium, Paris, Valkenburg Christmas Market, Landon, Brussels, Belgium, Orland/Trondheim, Norway, Christmas 2009, and Baby Helga. There should be 9 total.

Hope this finds everyone well. I'll be sending more frequent updates! We miss and love you all.