Pizza Party!

Jon went grocery shopping yesterday and bought ingredients to make pizzas. He thought it would be fun to let Olivia help. I think she enjoyed it, but see for yourself:





It's been so nice to be back home as a family this weekend! Hope you all enjoyed your weekends as much as we did!

Dr. Olivia

Ady, Carter, Leah, and Lainey sent Olivia the best get well gift! It is a doctor kit with a sick puppy. She can take the puppy's temperature with the thermometer, blow his nose with the tissue, give him a shot, give him medicine, and listen to his heart with the stethoscope. She LOVES it!! It is what has been done to her all week, so she is having fun being the doctor.

Opening the present Ady, Carter, Leah and Lainey sent her:


Giving the puppy medicine:

And blowing his nose:

Loving the stethoscope:

Listening to the puppy's heart:

Looking at the cards her friends "colored" for her:

Thank you Sandy, Kathleen, and Carrie!!!!!

Hospital Stay In Pictures

This was taken right after we got into our room:

First night in the hospital:

Poor Baby:

Eating (Although she always asked for "Daddy's pancakes" instead):

Coloring:

Every time she took her medicine well, she got a prize (at first, until she had gotten so many):

With all of her prizes:

Talking to Ady on FaceTime:

Playing games on the ipad:

Sitting on the blanket she got as a prize and playing with some toys:

Playing with the blocks she got as a prize:

We were both ready to go home by this point:

Such a big girl... now she holds the mask all by herself:


Jennifer, my friend from college sent Olivia a teddy bear and some balloons. She was having a rough day, from being exhausted and locked in a small room for so long. The expression on her face when these arrived was priceless! She kept saying, "Oh, WOW". Jenn- Thank you soooooo much for making her day!


Our room (packed up for us to leave):

Ready to go home:

Home Sweet Home

We made it! After stopping at the drug store and picking up Olivia's four (very expensive!) medications, we finally arrived home. I gave her a breathing treatment, another medicine, and a much needed bath. Jon arrived home just in time to kiss her goodnight. I was then able to enjoy an also much needed shower. By the time I finished, Olivia was sound asleep.

She seems to be doing great and was so excited to see Jon and the dogs. I just wrote out her schedule of treatments for the next few days, and it's enough to keep us busy. The main one is the breathing treatments every 4 hours, even through the night.

Thank you again for all of your prayers, calls, texts, etc. They have been very encouraging. We love you all!

Going Home!!!!

We're going home! They're getting everything together now. I'll update later. THANK YOU for the prayers!!!!!!

Friday Midday

Dr. Caruthers came in this morning shortly after I posted. She was impressed with the minimal oxygen Olivia required during the night last night. She also said that her lungs sound good. She was hopeful that Olivia wouldn't require oxygen while napping today and that we would go home today. She changed the breathing treatments to every 4 hours, and stopped the constant oxygen monitoring. At this point, we are only doing random oxygen checks.

So, after breakfast and running up and down the halls for a few minutes, I put Olivia down for a nap. As soon as she feel asleep, I turned on the machine and she was at 88-89. I called the nurse, and she came in with another machine to try to get a higher reading. We were eventually able to get a 90, but no lower. Olivia woke up while we were trying, so we gave up. We just had lunch and another breathing treatment. I'm hoping she will go to sleep soon so that we can try again. Pray for a 92 or above sleeping!

I'll update after this nap.

Friday Morning

Olivia had a GREAT night! She finally got quite a bit of sleep. More importantly, she stayed on 1/2 liter of oxygen all night with her levels NEVER dipping! This is huge because usually no matter how much oxygen she is on, the levels dip off and on. And even better? They turned the oxygen OFF at 4:00am and her levels continued to stay up!!

So, I'm very hopeful about the possibility of going home today, or tomorrow at the very latest. When they started talking about sending us home a couple of days ago, I was skeptical because I didn't think she was ready. Now, I'm confident that she is.

Dr. Wu should be by shortly, so I'll update after.

Have a great day!!

An Afternoon in the Hospital

I've been jotting down what's happening here since lunch today just to give you an idea. Please excuse the punctuation and brevity, but I was trying to get her to sleep as I did this. Also, keep in mind that today didn't seem so bad with interruptions, etc because the oxygen machine rarely went off. It usually goes off 40+ times per day and even more at night.

12:30 lunch
1:00 nurse in to check vitals
1:30 asleep
2:00 breathing treatment (wakes up)
2:25 back to sleep
2:35 housekeeping (wakes up)
2:37 back to sleep
2:40 nurse comes in to ask how she ate (wakes up)
2:45 back to sleep
2:48 machine beeps and beeps (wakes up)
2:50 dozes off
2:55 wakes up for diaper change
Toss and turn and fight going to sleep for 45 min bc she's s exhausted.
3:45 fall asleep
3:55 delivery of balloons and teddy bear (so worth her waking up for. Look on her face was priceless!) THANK YOU JENN!!!
Gave up on sleep and decided to color and play until dinner
4:45 nurse checks vitals
5:00 breathing treatment
5:15 medicine and dinner
6:15 sleep
6:25 call nurse to give her a little oxygen (she wakes)
6:30 back to sleep
7:30 nasal cannula out so ox levels dip. Wake her to put back in.
7:35 back to sleep
7:40 breathing treatment (with LOUD nurse whose pager goes off in the 2 min it takes her to hook up treatment)
7:45 back to sleep
7:50 loud nurse back in to remove treatment (wakes up)
7:55 back to sleep

And, that brings us to now. Could this be why we're so tired?!? ;)

Good night!

Thursday Evening

Today has been much the same as yesterday. She has been without oxygen while awake, but still needing a little when sleeping. She's gotten very little sleep over the past couple of days and is becoming a little restless. She just went to sleep for the night and she is currently getting 1/2 liter of oxygen to keep her levels at 93. So, she's definitely improving, albeit slower than we would all like.

Jon returns home tomorrow (thank goodness!) so please pray for safe travels for him as you pray for Olivia.

Thursday Morning

Olivia stayed on 3 liters of oxygen last night. She had another pretty restless night due to so much going on. I tried to keep a record of our night on here, but it didn't save. Let's just say that there were about 10 wake-ups between 8pm and midnight. I was so tired after that I lost track. We were able to get 3 hours or so of straight sleep early this morning, though.

Dr. Wu came by and said the same as yesterday. If she is able to nap without needing oxygen, we can go home. After staying off oxygen while awake this morning, she just fell asleep. Her numbers dropped once again to 88-89. I called the nurse and asked her to suction her nose good. This hasn't been done since Monday because her nose bled when they did it then. We woke her up to do that, in hopes that it would clear her up to breathe better. She just fell back asleep and is back at 88. Keep praying for improvement!

I'll keep you posted. Have a great day!

Wednesday Night- part 2

Well, just when I get excited about how well she's doing during waking hours, we have a little setback at night. She's currently needing 3 liters of oxygen again to keep her levels up. I don't know if it's even possible, but I'm hoping this is because she is so exhausted. She has had very little sleep last night and today. I'm praying that a good night of sleep will make her stronger.

Hopefully I'll have good news to report tomorrow morning. Good night!

Wednesday Night

Olivia is asleep for the night... Well, minus the 18 times she'll be woken up between now and morning, but you know what I mean :). She didn't need oxygen all day while she was awake. We were able to sit on the floor and play with her stuffed animals (which, by the way, she has acquired quite a collection of them over the past week) and built with Legos. We read books and watched more Sesame Street than I care to admit. She has had an exhausting day because she didn't sleep well last night and every time she went to sleep today, she was woken up for one reason or another.

She is on a little oxygen now because her levels dropped a little when she went to sleep again. I still don't think this is unexpected, though. I'll update in the morning on how she does. It's time for another breathing treatment now. Hopefully she can stay asleep for this one.

If you would like specific prayer requests, we'd appreciate your prayers for her to be off of oxygen while sleeping and to get a good night of sleep. Thank you for all of the thoughts, prayers, and sweet messages. Love you all!

Wednesday update

Olivia did great all morning with no oxygen. Her levels stayed above 94, and mostly were around 98. What a HUGE improvement! However, when she fell asleep for a nap, the levels dropped to 84. So, she continues to need the oxygen when sleeping. As I mentioned before, levels are always lower when sleeping so this is not a big surprise. This does mean that we won't be going home until tomorrow. (And, that is assuming she is able to sleep without oxygen by then).

Although I hoped to go home today, I really didn't expect it... So, no disappointments here.

Keep praying! :)

Good News!

For the first time since we've been here, I heard the word 'home' today! Dr. Wu said that if Olivia can tolerate being off oxygen while awake AND napping, then she can go home THIS AFTERNOON!! Otherwise, it will probably be tomorrow! Either way, I am extremely thankful that the end is in sight.

She has been off oxygen for an hour or so this morning and is doing well. She will nap soon, so I'll keep you posted on how she does.

We also had the chest x-ray this morning. She didn't cry or anything, which is impressive considering the machine they use for little ones. We just got the results back and the pneumonia is (pretty much?) gone, but there is some bronchial swelling. This is common with rsv, and will probably take a little while to clear up.

Thank you all for the prayers!

Wednesday Morning

Olivia stayed on 1 liter through the entire night! That is such an improvement! In fact, they just turned her down to 1/2 liter and she's borderline. Her numbers are from 88-92 right now, which is lower than ideal, but not low enough to sound the alarm and move her back up yet.

This is a huge blessing, and it is just what I was needing to see. I feel like she's finally starting to improve!

I'll update again soon.

Tuesday Evening

Olivia seems to be doing much better. They haven't tried taking her off of oxygen again, but she's been on 1 liter all day! Including during her nap! This is the first time she's stayed at 1 while sleeping since we've been here. Her levels weren't quite up to 94, but they weren't low enough to make the alarms go off, either. They were staying right around 90.

She is sleeping now (on 1) and her levels are once again staying around 90. She may end up having to go up a little during the night, but even if she does, this is a huge improvement!

She is having another chest x-ray tomorrow morning (not fun!) to make sure everything looks ok. The doctor is assuming it will, but she just wants to be sure.

In other news, one of the nurses told me today that everyone in the department wants to take Olivia home! :) They all love her and can't believe how much she talks. I have been SO proud of her (and that's a huge understatement) since we've been here. She has taken her medicines so well, and some of them smell horrible so I can only imagine how bad they taste. She has left the nasal cannula alone. She has never fought a breathing treatment. She has just been such a big girl and made it all a little easier on me.

Thank you again for all of the prayers. My hope is that we'll get to go home on Thursday, but there's no way of knowing yet.

Good News?

We received some reassuring news this afternoon. Olivia has RSV. Most people wouldn't consider that good, but at least we know the problem now. That's why her oxygen levels aren't improving. And, according to the nurse, she is doing just how she should be, considering what she has. So, although I would never hope to have RSV, I'm thankful that we know. Our plan of action doesn't change at all based on this information... It's more of an explanation.

Olivia has been on 1 liter of oxygen most of the day today. She stayed on 2 when she slept earlier. She's about to fall asleep now, so we'll see how she does. Based on these numbers, it is highly unlikely that we will go home tomorrow. Let's pray for Thursday!

Tuesday Morning Update

(I'm posting these from my phone, so please excuse any spelling and/or grammar mistakes)

We saw the doctor this morning. She informed us that we will be in the hospital for "at least one more day". The goal today is to see if we can get Olivia off of the oxygen while she's awake. She started the morning strong, so they turned the oxygen off at about 8:15am. She was tolerating it well, so we got to run around the halls and play a little. After a few minutes of that, she started coughing pretty badly and was ready to rest. (The coughing is good, though because it means the gunk in her chest is moving.) Well, shortly after (around 10am), we had to turn the oxygen back on. We tried for 1/2 and 1 liter, but it wasn't enough to get her levels where they need to be. So, she's currently at 2 liters and holding steady (at 93-94). She is about to fall asleep, so it may have to be increased at that point, but we'll see.

Keep praying!

Hospital Stay- Day 3

Unfortunately, we are still at the hospital. I may get a little technical here, but I thought I'd try to explain what is happening right now. Olivia is still on oxygen through a nasal cannula. She has been at 1 liter of oxygen for most of the day. However, when she sleeps, her levels (which need to be at least 93 or 94) always drop. In fact, she's sleeping right now. Her levels were at 96 before and when she fell asleep, they dropped to 85. So, the oxygen had to be turned up to 3L to get the levels where they need to be. Again, this is the first step in her going home is getting those levels up all the time with no oxygen.

In other news, the nurse let us unhook things and walk (and run) up and down the halls. Olivia was so glad to get down and move around a little.

Also, we may have quite a problem retraining her when we get home. She is getting lots of prizes from the nurses, drinking tons of juice, sleeping in mommy's bed, and watching tv all day. Oh boy! But, she's happy and content, so that's all that matters right now.

I'll continue to keep you posted.

First Hospital Stay

What an eventful couple of days we've had. Olivia got sick again last week. She started with just a mid-grade fever. After 3 days of fever and 2 nights of awful coughing, I decided to take her to the doctor yesterday. (And, yes- we've only lived here 2 1/2 weeks and we've already made 2 trips to the doctor. Crazy!)

Anyway, Dr. Wu diagnosed her with bronchialitis. Before we left, though, she wanted to check her oxygen levels to see how well she was breathing. Unfortunately, those numbers weren't where she wanted them to be (She wanted at least 93 and Olivia was 89) and she couldn't get them higher than 91 even with 2 breathing treatments. So, she sent us to the hospital.

After several rounds of bloodwork, swabs, and chest x-rays, it was determined that she has Mycoplasmal Pneumonia, also known as Walking Pneumonia. We're glad that we finally know what to treat and that it is bacterial because that means it should respond to antibiotics.

So, basically, Olivia is getting oxygen constantly, as well as breathing treatments every 4 hours and regular antibiotics. Her oxygen levels are much better today (hovering around 95, as opposed to 81 last night) BUT that is with the oxygen. We need to get those numbers up without oxygen. So, our goal is to get her off the oxygen and decrease the breathing treatments so that we can go home. There is no indication of when that will happen. It could be tomorrow or it could be in a week.

We would appreciate your prayers for her recovery. Also, Jon had to go out of town today for work (for a week). It was extremely hard for him to leave, so if you could lift him up as well, that would be great.

I'll keep you posted!

I have a couple of pictures to add, but I can't get them to upload from this computer. I'll have to add them when we get home.

Happy Valentine's Day

Big Girl

Olivia is changing so much these days. She is speaking in sentences consistently (Thank you Daddy, Good Morning, More Milk Please, Bless You Mommy, Excuse Me Dagny, I Love You Mommy, etc.) and she loves talking about being a big girl. She loves her "big girl room" and she always wants to drink out of a "big girl cup". She wants a napkin in her lap when she eats, and she has completely given up her security blanket. She's even been going pee-pee on the potty at least once a day for a few days now! I love how much she's learning and changing, but I wish it wasn't all happening so fast!

We went to our first playgroup this week. While we didn't make any instant new friends, it was nice to get out of the house and let Olivia play with other kids. We are going to a couple more in the upcoming weeks.

Jon's first week at his new job went really well. He feels good about it and definitely thinks he made the right decision. I have to admit... I am enjoying having him home so early in the evenings!

Play Dates and Date Night

Well, thankfully Olivia's illness didn't last long. Luke, Sandy, and Adelina were in town last week, and we were worried we weren't going to get to see them. But, since O's fever broke, they stopped over for a playdate Friday morning. It was so fun to have them at our new place. It definitely made it seem like everyone wasn't so far away.

We ordered pizza for lunch and the girls sat at their own table:

Afterwards, they both wanted to sit on the potty. They spent the rest of the afternoon trying to dress themselves... and loving every minute of it!


"If my shirt goes around my legs, surely my pants go on my head!"


Jon arrived back in Cleveland on Friday night (from finishing up work in Chicago). It definitely makes it feel more like home when we're all together.

We went over to Sandy's sister's house Saturday morning so Olivia and Adelina could play together once more. Ady's cousins had fun playing with them and thought this was especially funny:

Later Saturday night, we had a babysitter (thanks to Sandy's sister!) and Jon and I went out to dinner with Luke, Sandy, Sandy's sister and husband, as well as two of their friends. We had a delicious dinner and then went to the House of Blues for some music. It was such a fun night and so nice to get out together before Jon started his new job.

Having Sandy and Ady here for a few days during our first week definitely made the move easier.

Welcome to Cleveland

Unfortunately, this is how we've spent most of the week. Olivia has had a fever since we got here, and it got as high as 103.7 on Tuesday night. (Jon was back in Chicago to finish up his last week of work there.) We found a pediatrician, thanks to Sandy's sister. The fever finally broke today, and Olivia is back to her normal self.