5 Months Old!

Here's the birthday girl!

Lyla's first pedicure. :) 

The toes must match the outfit of course!

Saying her morning prayers. :)

A few of the things Lyla's been doing lately:

• Chewing her fingers like crazy!
• Squeaking, talking, and smiling.
• She brought a play ring to her mouth by herself for the first time.
• Rolling from her tummy to her back a lot.  She's really close to rolling from her back to her tummy.
• She's all done with her antibiotic--on Thursday she'll be checked to make sure the infection is all gone.
  
• She's going to be dedicated at church on Mother's Day!
• Just being herself--a joy and a blessing.  We thank Jesus every day for her. :)

"You turned my crying into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.  O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." Psalm 29: 11-12

Happy Birthday Lyla Jane!  We love you SOOOOOOOO much!!!!

PS--Today is also my Grandma Anita's birthday!  The 28th is a good day to be born on. :)  Happy birthday Grandma!

Fun Pics

A few pics from the last week or so...

Grandma Carol and Grandpa John: Loving parents, adoring grandparents, constant prayer warriors, faithful babysitters.

We love you!!!

Our friend Craig came for a visit. :)

Cutie-Pitootie

Not sure why this one is so small.  My friend Katie took this while Lyla was still in the hospital.  She was still smiling, even with everything happening to her.  What a trooper.

Squeaky Girl

Lyla's latest favorite thing to do is squeak.  Here's some video of our little squeaky toy. :)

  

And here she is having some fun with Great-Grandma Nita.

Lyla in her strawberry outfit

Her first pair of sandals

Lyla and Daddy chillin'

Home Again

We got to bring Lyla home yesterday. Yay! We thought we were going to have to be at the hospital until at least Monday, but Lyla made such a great comeback that we got to go home on Saturday instead. We know it's because so many are praying for her! We thought she may have to come home with a special IV called a PICC line to finish her antiobiotics, but, again, she is doing so well that she only needs to take an oral antibiotic for 10 days at home. Praise! After her course of antibiotics is complete, she'll get another urine culture done just to make sure that those bacteria are all clear. Then at the end of May she'll have a few tests done to check her kidney function. Please pray for her kidneys! Pray that the infection will clear completely and that her kidneys will be functioning normally! Thank you so much to all of you prayer warriors who are keeping Lyla in your heart and prayers. She (and Joel & I) send our love and heartfelt thanks. God is so good. We are so blessed.

Lyla recently received an Easter card from a dear lady who loves Lyla and prays for her even though she barely knows her.  She reminded us in the card that God is still Jehovah Rapha--the mighty God who heals.  He surely is. 

 

Enjoy the pics from the last few days. She had some special visitors. :)

Our friends Katie & Drew came for a visit--they were on vacation in the Midwest from LA.

Pastor Corey & Lyla Jane

My sweet baby girl.

PS--And an extra special thanks Sarah and Russ who put Lyla's IV in.  It lasted for her entire hospital stay, which is really amazing for a baby!

Hospital Pics

Well, Lyla gets better every day! She is totally back to her normal eating schedule and she's just a happy-dappy girl. :) She had another urinalysis done and it looks very clear and normal. All her blood counts are back into normal range, so the antibiotics are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Praise the Lord! Thanks for your prayers. Here are some pics from in her hospital room yesterday. Enjoy.

Uncle Faz and Auntie Bryana

Victory!

Happy Girl  :)

Doing better...

Well, today Lyla seems to be feeling better--she's even more like herself and up to her little Lyla antics--smiling and talking, and definitely eating better too. Her blood cultures are negative after about 48 hours so the infection most likely did not spread to her blood, which is very good news. It's basically contained to her urinary tract and possibly her kidneys. She no longer has any fever and her weight today was 11 lbs 1 oz. She's getting her IV antibiotic twice a day and they've reduced her IV fluids so that she will take more by mouth. We're still anticipating she'll need to be in the hospital until at least Monday so she can finish her course of antibiotics. The results of her kidney ultrasound were that her right kidney (which was the one we thought was non-functioning due to blockage and dilation) has become less dilated which is good, but her left kidney is more dilated, possibly because she has the infection. But her kidney function lab work still came back totally normal. Yay! After the infection is all cleared up Lyla will remain on some antibiotics by mouth prophylactically until she has some tests done to further examine exactly how well her kidneys are functioning. She is more prone to getting urinary tract infections because of some abnormalities in her bladder and urinary tract. :( We will try to avoid them as much as possible! It's sometimes hard to not feel like it's my fault though that she got the infection. Anyway, thanks for the outpouring of love and prayers and emails and encouragement. We know the many prayers for Lyla are being heard. And I'll continue to update daily!

Photo update!

Happy belated Easter!  HE IS RISEN!  

John 3:16 "For God SO loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  What an amazing promise--that is what Easter is all about.  Praise the Lord! 

 

Lyla in her Easter dress.

Do you like my pretty new bracelet?  (Thanks Millers!)

What an Easter angel. :)

I came home for a little bit to pick a few things up to bring back to the hospital, so I thought I'd post some pics from the last week.  Enjoy. :)

A few more pics...

Grandma Cathy came to visit for a week--Lyla sure had fun with her as you can see!

Lyla really got into sucking on Grandma's finger--it was so funny and cute. :)

And a few more...

Our little bunny (thanks for the adorable hat Karn!)

Our friend Rich came home from Oregon for a few days and stopped by to see Lyla. :)

Four Generations--Great Grandma Nita, Grandma Cathy, mom and Lyla Jane

Lyla holding her own bottle!

Great Grandma Anita stayed with us for a few days--Lyla really took to her.  We had so much fun!

Update from the hospital...

Sorry about no Easter pics yet--we've had kind of a whirlwind few days. I will get some pics posted when I get a chance--Lyla looked soooooo pretty in her little Easter dress! On Sunday she started to get a little fussy and just didn't seem like herself--not a lot of smiles and coos like usual. It took her along time to finally fall asleep that night and then during the night she woke up several times which was also unusual for her. She felt hot to me so I took her temp and it was 101.9 F. I called her care coordinator on Monday morning and told her about the fever and that Lyla was lethargic and a bit fussy. She got Lyla in to see her doctor that afternoon. She had blood drawn and a urine sample taken. Her white cell count was pretty high indicating infection, and her urine was cloudy indicating a possible urinary tract infection. The doctor said she needed to be admitted to the hospital. She is now in a pediatric hospital room. She was started on IV fluids and antibiotics. They obtained blood cultures to see if the infection has spread to her blood. This morning (Tuesday) they did an ultrasound to take a look at her kidneys, since they are compromised (have been since birth). So far we know that she will need to be at the hospital getting the IV antibiotics for at least 7 days, to be sure that the infection clears up and her kidneys aren't adversely affected by the infection. I will keep updating the blog and will let you know when we get the results of her cultures. She was not a happy camper last night, but she is doing much better today and acting more like herself-- even smiling once in awhile. Please keep her in your prayers. We know that God is watching over her and continues to hold her in His hands. Love, Jenny Joel and Lyla Jane

Cutie Pie

Lyla in her Sunday dress--what a cutie. :)

Rolley-Polley

Lyla was in a rolley mood this morning and I was able to catch a roll on video. :)

The little princess taking a snooze

Check Up

Lyla's check up today went well.  She is now 1o lbs 10 oz!  What a whopper!  She also got 3 shots which she took like a trooper, but she's a little fussy tonight.  Please continue to pray for her muscle tone and development--she's a little behind in that area, but the doctor said that she is really exceeding expectations considering she has Trisomy 18!  We told her that Jesus keeps working on her!  Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, and love.  Enjoy the pics of the peanut.

Lyla's first sink bath. :)

Smiley girl

What a snuggler

Road Trip!

Last weekend we took Lyla on her first out-of-town trip.  We went to Marshfield (where I grew up) for the weekend to visit friends and family.  Lyla did exceptionally well the whole weekend--she was a trooper.  We just stopped once on the hour and 45 min ride up to feed her.  Jerry & Nancy Petcher opened their home to us for the weekend, which was just perfect.  Lyla slept in a pack n play both nights and did great!  She slept from 9 pm to 4:30 am both nights and then went back to sleep after we fed her until 8-8:30.  What an angel!  We arrived on Friday night, then on Saturday morning Joel spent the day with my friend Tanya's husband, Tim, collecting maple sap.  He has a maple syrup business and on that day they collected 700 gallons of sap!  It was a gorgeously warm day and Tim said that was the most he's ever collected in a single day!  It was neat to see how the whole operation works and just fun for them to be outside in the beautiful weather.   While they were doing that, Tanya and her kids Haley and Jack, and Lyla and I went visiting.  It was a very busy but very fun day!  I was just sorry that I didn't get any pics of Joel and Tim and the maple syrup operation or any of Rhoda and Lyla--maybe next time. :)

My friend Tanya's daughter, Haley, with Lyla.  Haley liked pretending that Lyla was her little sister. :)

We went to visit our good friends Paul and Shelly and their two boys Andrew and Colin.  This is Paul with Little L.  We forgot to get pics with Shelly before she went to work.  Doy!

Haley with Andrew--they were instant buddies. :)

This is the youngest Petcher girl, Tammy.  We got to visit her and her fiance Eric.

Eric, Tammy, and Lyla--they're getting married November 7th!

This is the eldest Petcher girl (now Ferge), Tara--she's holding Lyla and I'm holding her daughter Abigale who just turned one.  They came from Manitowoc to visit her family and us. :)

Lyla in her Sunday dress--we went to Tim & Tanya's church.

Jenny, Lyla, Tanya

And onto my Uncle Russ and Aunt Vicki's house.  Here is my cousin Nicole with Lyla.

Lyla was giving lots of smiles to Nicole with her girls Makenna and Avery.  I tried to get a pic of Lyla with my aunt Vicki but my camera's batteries died before I could get it.  :(

PS--We're sorry that we weren't able to visit more family and friends while in Marshfield--there just wasn't enough time!  Next time (maybe summer?) we'll try to visit those we didn't get to see this trip. :)