Medical Mysteries....

Well, we've made it to the 3 week mark!! I can't believe how much Aubrey has changed all ready. I promise to post some recent pics tomorrow of her!! I think she looks less like Madelyn did every day and is definitely proving to me that she is not just like her sister!! The antibiotics seem to be helping her ears and her eyes. She's such a good baby thus far! We rarely hear anything out of her besides her squeaking sounds, which we love. She has been going to bed at nioght around 9:30, waking up to eat around 2:00-3:00. then sleeping again until anywhere between 5:00 and 7:00. We finally got Madelyn back to her normal sleeping routine, so I feel very well rested - especially considering I have 2 young ones at home!

On another note, I went to the pulmonologist last week and had another CT scan to look at the mass on my trachea. I went today to talk to the doctor about the scan, and was happily surprised with what he told me. Basically, he said that the mass hasn't grown any and looks exactly the same as it did in August. He explained what caused it. It appear to be a remnant of the mycobacteria fortuitum infection that I had in my lung in 1998. He said that because the infection is not active and causes me no symptoms, he would NOT recommend having it surgically removed. I was mistaken all this time thinking that the mass is in my throat. it's actually down in my chest, and I feel that the surgery would be quite a big deal. So we've deiced not to move forward with surgery and to monitor the mass like we do the one in my lung and make sure it doesn't cause future problems.

Unfortunately, we've had some scary health issues with my nephew, Colton. He turned 1 in February and the last few weeks he had suddenly stopped walking and crawling and was whiny a lot. Clay and Kelly took him to the doctor, where they couldn't find anything wrong with him. They then sent them to the hospital for blood work, which turned up nothing. Finally, this week he had a bone scan and a MRI which revealed the culprit. it appears that he has an infection in a pocket surrounding a disc in his spine. The good news is that it doesn't look to have started in his bones, as cancer does. Today Colton was sent to LeBonheur where he will have an "aggressive antibiotic drip" for at least 5 to 7 days. Hopefully this will fix everything and he will be able to go home as soon as possible. Please pray that he will recover quickly and that Clay and Kelly will find the strength they need to care for him and the other kids.

I've also been thinking about making my blog private to view. I'm just not loving putting pictures of the girls online for the whole world to see. Anyone who reads this regularly, send me your email address to sbuchanan25@bellsouth.net so I can add you to the list of approved viewers.

I'll post pics soon!!

2 weeks!!

Well, we had our big 2 week check up this morning. Aubrey's definitely eating well!! They want babies to be back at their birth weight by 2 weeks, which would be 6 pounds, 8 ounces. She came in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces!! That made mom feel very reassured that the nursing is going well after all :) Aubrey's in the 25th percentile for weight and height, so she's doing well! I wanted to talk to the doctor about the congestion problem we've been having. But when he looked at her ears he informed that she she all ready has a double ear infection!! I've never heard of such a young baby having that problem!! The doc said that it means we may have some real issues with her ears - great!! She also had an infected tear duct. SO, we're trying antibiotics all ready and go back in 2 weeks!

We determined that Aubrey was allergic to the bassinet. I'm not sure why, but everytime we put her down in it she would get so congested that she would choke on gunk. But when we took her out she would breathe fine, so she's been sleeping in her crib for the last 3 nights. We borrowed the bassinet from my friend Erin who has 2 cats. I asked the doc if she could be that allergic to cats at such a young age, and he said it's a possibility. Either way, she does fine in the crib. She's been getting better about sleeping, and only got up 2 times last night. I can't believe how quiet and content she is, especially considering the ear infections!! We're still crossing our fingers that she stays this happy!

I"ll post some new pics soon!

A Week Old

Well, we're through the 1st week and so far things have been really good. Thus far Aubrey is a very content baby and hardly makes a sound. We're hoping that will stay the same!! She is still eating well. We took her Monday to get a weight check, and she was all ready above her birth weight, at 6 pounds and 13 ounces, so we were really excited about that! She's waking up 2 or 3 times at night, which isn't bad because she eats for a very short period of time then goes right back to sleep.

Here are some of the latest pics.

Her first bath at home...
The one outfit we had that fit her....
Asleep in the bouncer...And of course, big sister!!

AUBREY KAITLYN BUCHANAN

We finally welcomed the newest addition to our family on Wednesday, April 9th at 10:37 am. After 9 months of a not-so-pleasant pregnancy Aubrey decided to make her arrival into the world easy as can be. I got to the hospital about 5 in the morning, and was in my room and on the iv by 5:30. When I arrived I was all ready 3 cm dilated and 60% effaced. The started the pitocin about 6:15. I had a wonderful nurse, which I was very appreciative for! About 7:30 I rated my pain as a 2 and the contractions weren't regular at all. By 8:30 they were coming every 2 minutes and I was HURTING!!! I couldn't believe how fast and strong it was all happening. The doctor came in to break my water and I was all ready 6 cm! About 10 minutes later I kept telling the nurse I felt like I HAD to push. She just laughed and told me I was fine and it would be a while before I pushed. After 20 minutes of my complaining about the need to push, they checked me again and I was 9 cm. By the time the dr came in I was 10 and ready to go!!

Mom was going to come to the hospital about 10:00 as she didn't want to sit there and wait all day. Clint called her at 9:30 and told her to hurry. She got there when I started pushing and Aubrey was here 10 minutes later!!

She seems to be perfect! So far the nursing has gone well, which is an answer to prayers. We came home yesterday about 12:30 and our first night home was fine. Madelyn seems to be doing really well and likes to "hold" Aubrey and give her kisses on her head.

Thanks to everyone who came to see us and for all the prayers!! Here are some of my favorpte pics so far, but I'm sure we'll have many more coming soon!!

Update

Let's see, what's happened since last week? Well, the weekend was a pretty uneventful one. We stayed close to the house all weekend and got some things done around here, which was nice. Madelyn finally seems to be back to her old self, so that's nice!!

After my last appointment I kept having bad pains in my left pelvis area. Tuesday I called the doctor's office and they told me to come in. When they took my blood pressure, it was pretty high, but they think it was probably assocaited with the amount of pain I was in. Basically they did an exam and determined that Aubrey was sitting on a nerve that was causing the pelvic and leg pain. They took my blood pressure again, and although it had gone down it was still a little high, so they asked if I would consider being induced next week. Umm, YES!!

So basically I'm going to be induced next Wednesday, the 9th. I'm super excited to know that she'll be here in less than a week!! I went back today for an ultrasound, and everything looks perfect. She's moved more into position for birth, so I'm not having the extreme pain I was last week. My blood pressure was still high today, so they basically just told me what to look for in the next 6 days. Based on the ultrasound, they think she's about 6 pounds, 7 ounces right now, so my doctor estimated her to be around 7 pounds at birth. Of course, I''m not sure how accurately they can predict that!!

So, we have one more weekend to get the house clean and get things taken care of. I am also trying to soak up all the 1 on 1 time I have with Madelyn and really enjoy it. Last weekend we bought an upright freezer for the garage, so we'll go to Sam's this weekend and stock up on things. I'm also hoping to cook and freeze some meals this weekend.

Well, I hope everyone has a good weekend!! I'll try to post again before I'm a Mommy of 2!!!