Crostreet Updates!

Wow, it’s been a long time since I have blogged!! It has been an absolutely CRAZY two months, so I had better fill you in on our family’s adventures!! We moved into our new house at the beginning of September, and we absolutely LOVE it here! We spent a few days painting before we moved in, and now that we are all settled in, it really feels like home. I had so much fun decorating Addy’s room, and she really seems to like her big girl crib.


Daisy is really enjoying running free out in the country. She chases birds and deer and tractorsn5. We also recently added a new member to our family. His name is Oscar, and he is a yellow and white kitten. He loves to catch mice and loves people…he acts pretty much like a dog (except for the whole mouse catching thing). However, he doesn’t really care for Daisy too much, so we‘re still in a little bit of an adjustment phase there.

Ben has been working at Remington since we moved here, and he is really enjoying his job. Since the farmers are harvesting now, he has had lots and lots of overtime, which is always helpful for us. I absolutely love being a stay at home mom, and I will be finishing up my first class of the semester this week and starting new one. Addy keeps me incredibly busy, but I can’t imagine a job I would rather be doing!

Addy is growing and changing every day. She is almost 5 months old (can you believe that?!?!), and she has the most amazingly sweet personality. She is so beautiful, and I never get sick of her precious smile. She is a great sleeper (12 hours per night for the last couple of months), and she is a very easy going, happy baby. She has been rolling over for a while, and her doctor says she is very strong for her age, and even though she was a month early, she is ahead of all of her developmental goals for her age. So…she’s pretty much amazing!

We have been trying some new things in our home including using cloth diapers, making our own wipes, making/using recycling bins, making homemade baby food, and I am planning to try making my own laundry detergent. I plan to blog later on about all of my adventures, but for now I will just close in saying that life is wonderful and God has really provided for us. We miss living close to family, but we really feel like we have made a great home for our new family. I will definitely have more to come!

Providence

It’s hard to even start to explain the last week to you. Ben has been looking for a ministry job for months now. He has put out over 40 resumes, made countless calls, done a few interviews, and preached a few trial sermons, but nothing has worked out. We have been praying everyday that God would lead us where He wants us to go, and last week we started thinking we should try something different. Ben said that he was thinking he might really want to go to seminary to get his master’s degree. If he goes now while I’m in seminary, his tuition is half price, so we thought it might just be an ideal time for him to go. So last week, we started praying about whether we should continue seeking a ministry position or move back to Lincoln and pursue more schooling. We laid out our needs before the Lord. If we would move back to Lincoln, Ben would need a full time job that could pay our bills since I would stay home with Addy, we would need a house or apartment with three bedrooms (so we would have an office space for school) that we could afford and would let us have Daisy, and we needed the money to pay our costs of rent and deposit on the place. It seemed like a pretty tall order, and since every other door had closed on us, I figured either this would as well or God would move in a big way…and move He did. Early last week, we heard from yet another church that said they wanted someone with more experience—something hard to do when you are right out of college. Discouraged, Ben decided to call his old boss at Remington to see about getting a job there. His boss said he had just been writing up a newspaper ad for a full time position opening up and they would love to have him back whenever he wanted to start. What a relief after so much stress!! Right after that, Ben called about some houses available in the Lincoln newspaper. The very first two he called were reasonably priced and would allow a dog outside. So yesterday, we went to Lincoln so Ben could “officially” put in his application at Remington and so we could look at houses. In the end, we fell in love with a small house out in the country with three bedrooms, two garages, and plenty of space for Daisy to run. The landlords are very easy going. They said we could paint if we wanted and we could have a garden and pretty much treat the house like ours. And the big plus is that rent was VERY reasonable, about $50 more than if we moved back to our little two bedroom apartment we had before. The biggest problem we had was that they wanted us to move in by September 1st, and we didn’t’ know how to get the money for our first month’s rent and deposit. We figured that if God had provided this far, He would get us the rest of the way. We got home late last night, exhausted from our weekend, and in the mail was a check from my Grandmother for almost EXACTLY the amount we needed for our rent and deposit. She said that she had been praying for us and that God had led her to send that check….how incredible! God has blessed us so much! So now we start the packing process. We are planning to go over on the first of the month to spend a few days painting and cleaning and then finish moving in that next weekend. It will be crazy, but I am so excited to finally settle down for more than a short time. God is good!

Providence

Since I was in high school, I have had times that I really struggled with prayer. I enjoy spending time with the Lord, but I am all too easily distracted. One thing that really helped me was to write down some of my prayers in a journal. It tends to keep me focused, and it is great to be able to go back and read some of my prayers from the past. I have gone through several journals, but a few years back I bought a HUGE one, and I have been writing in that for a while off and on.


So today when I was doing my devotions, I took some time to read back through some of what I had written, and I was simply amazed! The very first entry was from the fall of 2006. I had really been going through a rough time, and wasn’t sure what God had in store for me. I was at a spiritual retreat that weekend, and I met a guy who caught my attention. Little did I know, that guy would one day become my husband. God had this whole amazing plan for my life, and I had NO clue!!

From there, I had written about our relationship and the journey that we started together. I wrote about our joys and our adventures, our struggles and our stresses. I was even able to read about the night I realized I loved him (I told God before I told Ben!). I had written at different points during our engagement, and then right before we got married. It was so incredible to remember back to exactly what I was feeling and what I was praying about during those special times in my life. In a way, my prayer journal chronicled my love story!

Later on, I wrote about a really difficult time in our marriage. We prayed for healing and renewal, and God blessed us beyond what we could have imagined. I prayed when Ben lost his job and we had no idea how we would pay our bills, and God provided a job that paid better than his first one within a week! I prayed about Ben finding an internship when his first choice fell through at the last minute, and God opened up the one in Catlin AND provided a free place for us to live.

Last summer I started praying about a baby. When Ben and I decided that we wanted to try to have a baby, I went to the doctor for a routine checkup. During that appointment, I found out that I had a problem that might make it difficult, even impossible to have a child. While I started treatment, I prayed so hard over the next few months that God would give us a child. In October, I found out I was expecting our little miracle, and she was born two months ago. Despite a rough start, Addyson is beautiful and healthy, and we are SO blessed beyond belief!

I had been so worried lately because we have no idea where we are going to end up. After 40 resumes and a few interviews, Ben still doesn’t have a job, and we need to move soon. We have enough money to pay the bills until the end of this month, and then we don’t know what is going to happen. This is even scarier now that we have a child to provide for. I had really started to worry and doubt God, but after reading though my prayer journal, I can see the incredible ways that God has ALWAYS provided for us. He has always met our needs, and I have no reason to start doubting his providence now! It has blessed my heart so much to be able to look back today and see how beautifully God has written the story of our lives, and I can’t wait to see where He takes us next!

Diaper Drama

My child has a unique talent.  She can go through more diapers than any other child on the planet!  When she was first born, this talent extended only to her "sneaky" peeing whenever we changed her, but for the last week, she has perfected this talent.  My daughter has been able to poop out of her diaper EVERY day this week!  In fact, yesterday, Ben woke me up saying he needed help.  When I went into Addy's room I found her with poop up her back, down her legs, and all over her stomach.  And to top it off, she had peed while he was changing her, and that was all the way up into her hair.  Needless to say, we had to put her in the bathtub to get her all cleaned off.  Then, when we went into the living room, we realized that not only had it gotten all over her, it was all over the couch where she had been sitting next to Ben in her boppy.  What a mess!  We have tried a few different types of diapers with no success, so I'm starting to think this may be a fact of life for us.  I guess we will just have to make sure we keep some spray and wash on hand at all times and bring LOTS of extra clothes and cleaning supplies wherever we go!

Feeding Miss Addy

From before I knew I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to breastfeed my kids. I had read all of the information. I knew it helped with immunity, it was more easily digested, it was always handy, and most importantly, it was FREE!! While I was pregnant, I made sure to invest in bottles that made it easy to switch back and forth, a really cute nursing wrap, and found out my insurance would pay for a nice pump. I thought I was all ready to go.


Unfortunately, things didn’t exactly go according to my plan. First of all, Addy was born early, and since she had some breathing problems, she was taken to the NICU before I even had a chance to feed her, and she was given formula in bottles before I was even able to see her again. So I started pumping every 2-3 hours starting the night she was born (which was extremely difficult to work in between feedings in the NICU). We were only able to nurse occasionally because the NICU staff was worried that it was tiring her out since she wasn’t getting much, and I was told that if I nursed more than once a day, it would take longer before she could come home. My milk was very slow coming in, and after pumping around the clock for over a week, I wasn’t getting more than half an ounce per time.

Naively, I thought that once we came home and she was able to nurse full time, we could stop the bottles, and I could get my supply up for her. Unfortunately, there were two problems with that plan. 1) Addy was so used to bottles that she had no interest in the slower process of nursing, and 2) my supply would never increase more than it was.

I have tried everything I can think of to increase the amount of milk I can produce. I have pumped around the clock as much as once per hour. I have taken several different kinds of herbal supplements meant to increase production (none of which have helped significantly). I have tried a supplemental nursing system (a device which feeds her formula while she nurses). She screamed like I was killing her the entire time we used it, and we ended up with formula all over her and me.

I finally decided to call on some professionals. I called my doctor to see if they could help, and they basically told me there was nothing they could do. I called a nurse from the WIC office, and she told me that Addy wasn’t really hungry after nursing, and that I should stop giving her formula and only nurse. I tried to explain that I only produced about 4 ounces per day, but she insisted that if Addy were nursing I would get more. Finally, I went to the breastfeeding clinic at the hospital. The lactation consultant there spent about half an hour trying to get Addy to nurse to no avail. She told me that the most likely reason I was having trouble having enough was that I’d had PCOS before I got pregnant. She said that about 1/3 of women who have PCOS will have trouble breastfeeding. She told me that I was doing everything I could and that I would probably never get more than I was getting now, and that I needed to decide what was best for us. She said that as long as nursing was beneficial for both of us, we should continue, but that if we wanted to switch to formula, that was ok too.

In a way, I think that was just what I needed to hear. I needed to know that I was doing everything I could and that it wasn’t my fault I couldn’t feed my child. After that day, I decided to keep pumping as long as I could, and I would give her as much as I could each day. I even read that when a mother has a low supply, the antibodies in the breast milk are more concentrated. So I figured that if I could even give her a little bit, that would benefit her. My plan was to keep trying for 6 months.

So here we are now. Addy is 2 months old. I’m still pumping every three hours, and getting maybe ¼ of an ounce each time (lately it’s been even less). She does nurse at times (if she’s not too hungry and impatient). Whether she nurses or I pump, it typically takes almost an hour to feed her when all is said and done, and with the recent decrease in what I’m getting, I’m starting to question whether it’s even worth it anymore. It is completely exhausting, especially at night when I have to feed her and then pump, and it seems like I get less every day.

I’m just not sure I’m ready to stop. I’m struggling feeling like I’ve failed my child. Parenting is such a big job, and I’ve failed her already on this most basic thing. There is so much pressure to breastfeed coming from every direction. I’ve read articles comparing formula to poison and even saying it should have a warning label on it. I’ve even read that breastfed babies have higher IQs than those that aren’t. So am I limiting my child’s intellectual abilities if I give up on breastfeeding? I know that breastfed babies are sick less often. So am I causing my child to suffer more illnesses if I stop? Am I just being selfish? It’s just such a heartbreaking thing for me, and I’m struggling to know what the right thing to do is. Being a mom sure is a hard job!

Naptime Fights!

When Addy was about a month old, we moved her into her own room.  This was the best decision for us since Addy is an extremely noisy sleeper (she grunts ALL night long), and she would wake up everytime we moved or made noise.  Since about a week after we moved her, she started sleeping from 12-6 and then goes back to sleep until 9 or 10.  Its been wonderful!  She absolutely sleeps like a champ.  We lay her down after feeding her while she is still awake, and she goes to sleep on her own.  She rarely fusses, and if she does, it rarely lasts more than a few minutes.  Nice right?

Well, that is night time, but naps during the day are a completely different story.  My child will not sleep in her bed during the afternoon for ANYTHING.  She can be totally exhausted and asleep in my arms after eating, and as soon as I lay her down she screams.  And I don't mean she cries, she screams like a banshee.  She cries so hard she sweats, her face tuns red, and once, she even became hoarse from crying so hard.  I have tried everything I can think of.  I have tried swaddling her and turning on a cd.  I put up a blanket on the window to make it darker, and I tried leaving the light on since she is fine sleeping out in the living room.   Nothing has worked.  Finally, we just started letting her cry it out.  She screams so hard, I can hardly stand hearing it. 

Now, understand, I worked in daycare in Lincoln, and I am very convinced that it is important for babies to learn to put themselves to sleep, and I am completely ok letting her cry it out.  The problem is that she gets SO hysterical--and it can last FOREVER.  I hate to hear her cry so hard, but I think it is SO important for her to sleep in her own bed, and I have WAY too much to do to hold my baby while she sleeps everyday.  Besides all of that, she gets overtired and extraordinarily fussy all evening when she doesn't get good naps in her bed.  So what's a mom to do?  The last few days I have been letting her cry for 5 minutes and then going in to comfort her and then laying her back down.  We do that cycle for 20-30 minutes and then she usually sleeps--for a while. 

I'm just kind of at a loss as to what we should do.  Why will she sleep at night with no problems but not during the day?  I don't want my daughter to have abandonment issues because I've let her cry for too long at such a young age (or so say the parenting magazines), but she needs to sleep in her bed so that she is not super cranky all evening...my goodness!! 

Who would have ever guessed that MY child would be stubborn??

Doctor's Appointment

We went for Addy's 1 month appointment today (even though she is over 7 weeks now).  The doctor was VERY impressed with her development.  Even though he usually goes by gestational age (how old she would have been if she had been born on her due date), she is right on track for her chronological age (how old she actually is) that they are just going to treat her as if she had been full term.  She has gained 3 pounds and 2 and 1/2 inches since she was born, she has met all of her developmental milestones (and even some that she wasn't expected to meet for some time now), she is sleeing through the night, and she is very strong and healthy. 

That was the good news.  The bad news was that since she was doing so well, they treated this appointment as her two month appointment, and that meant SHOTS!!  They were pretty rough.  She cried a lot and had real tears (broke me heart), and then she slept and/or cried for most of the rest of the day.  Poor baby.  Hopefully she will sleep well tonight.  We are just happy to know our little girl is healthy and strong after the start she had.  Praise God!

Life These Days

Wow!!  Its been almost seven weeks since our beautiful little girl entered our lives, and my, how things have changed!!!  Addyson is doing amazingly well, and she is growing like a weed!!  We can't believe how big she is getting, and it seems like she changes every day.  She still has her crazy dark hair, and we aren't sure what her eyes are going to do. Sometimes they look very blue, and sometimes they look more grey. She has the most adorable chubby cheeks that I just love kissing!  At about 6 weeks, she started outgrowing her newborn clothes, and is now wearing 0-3 months (some are still a little big).   She is eating very well, and she has started sleeping about 6-7 hours at night (yay!).  She is starting to develop her personality.  She is a super sweet and easy baby, but she is not shy in letting us know when she's not happy!  Ben and I feel so incredibly blessed by Addy, and we cherish all of the time we have been able to spend with her.

 Ben is still looking for a job, and has three churches that he is waiting to hear back from.  Two are here in Illinois, and one is in Virginia.  Although we really want to stay close to home, we have to go where God leads us, and that may mean a big move for us.  This is an incredibly sressful time for us, but I am also really excited to see where God takes us and to finally settle down for the first time in our married lives! 

Although it has been very difficult searching for a job, we feel so incredibly blessed that we have had this time for Ben to be home with us while we adjust to being parents, and  He has provided the finances for us to make ends meet at this time.  We have been able to really enjoy our little girl together as a family, and that is the most amazing blessing!

Now that Miss Addy is home, we thought we could use our blog to talk about our changing lives and our debut into parenthood.  It is an exciting time in our lives, and we are blessed beyond belief!

Beth

Our First Day Home

After rooming in with Addy, we were discharged from the hospital yesterday morning.  Before we could leave, we had to do a CPR demonstration, sign a bunch of paperwork, take pictures, and get a hearing test (she passed!).  Finally, about 2 o'clock, we loaded up our red wagon with Addy and all of her stuff and left the NICU for good!!  Addyson was great in the car and slept the entire way home.  It was so great to finally get our little girl home and lay her down to sleep in her own bed. While we were in the hospital, Addy was on a really nice 3 hour schedule, but she has decided now that she is home, she would like to eat more often (so much for being worried about her eating!).  She seems to be a pretty good sleeper (when she's not ready to eat), and she really loves to cuddle with her mommy and daddy on the couch.  Today we are expecting visits from our families.  Ben's parents will be staying with us for a little while, and they will get to hold their granddaughter for the first time.  Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.  It feels so incredibly good to have our little girl home with us.  We can't wait for everyone to meet our precious baby!

Its Official!!!

The doctor (that we don't like because he has been delaying Addy's release) came around this morning and saw that she had taken over 95% of her feedings yesterday and said she could get the tube out today and we can leave tomorrow morning (as long as she continues feeding like she has)!!!!  We are so excited!  They will be doing all of our discharge procedures today.  We have to do a carseat check to make sure her breathing stays good while she is in her carseat as well as demonstrate that we can do infant CPR and basic childcare techniques.  We will be rooming out with her tonight, and as soon as the doctor comes in tomorrow morning to write the discharge orders we can leave.  We are so thrilled to be able to take our little girl home!

Addyson is doing incredibly well.  She has been more and more awake and alert as her biliruben levels drop, and she is eating like a little pig at every feeding.  We couldn't be happier with the progress she has made.  She is more than ready to get her NG  tube out.  She ended up pulling it out 4 times yesterday herself.  We can finally get some pictures of her without being connected to any machines! 

We thank everyone for your prayers and support.  We couldn't have gotten through this time without you.  We are planning to take a day for ourselves without any visitors when we get back.  We really need some time together as a family.  We want to get Daisy back into her routine and settle into one of our own for the three of us.  Ben's family is coming for the weekend to help us out, and my parents will be in and out as well.  We would love to have visitors to see Addy when she comes home, but we ask two things. 1) Please don't come if you are sick at all.  Addy's immune system is still very delicate, and we want to keep her as healthy as possible.  2) Please call us before you come over.  We don't want to overwhelm her with a house full of people.  She is on a really good schedule, and she is still sleeping a lot, so if you call and let us know you would like to visit, we can let you know when a good time would be.

We will update you on how things go today, and we should be home sometime late tomorrow morning!  Yay!

Finally Some Good News!

While the past few days have been quite discouraging, today has provided a little light at the end of the tunnel.  Addy has been eating really well again today.  Her percentages for yesterday were about 85, and so far today, she is at about 94% for feedings.  Praise God!  She is very alert for feedings, and she is starting to let us know when she is hungry.  We spoke with another doctor this afternoon, and he told us that with the way she has been feeding, we should be able to take Addyson home Thursday (Friday at the very latest).  The hospital has a "rooming out" program here where on the last night before your child is discharged, they let you stay the night with them and their care is completely up to you.  We are scheduled to be rooming out with Addy tomorrow, so that means we only have to spend one more night away from her!!  They told us that even if she does need to stay until Friday, we would just room out with her for one more night.  It is such a relief that after tonight we don't have to leave without our baby anymore!  God is so good, and we are so grateful to see the end in sight.  Please continue to pray for patience and rest for Ben and I.  We are so looking forward to being at home, and more importantly, we are looking forward to having our family together for the first time.
Beth

So Far, So Good

Addyson's percentage of what she took on her own was over 85% for all day yesterday!  She's doing great.  This morning so far she took all but 9 cc of a 62 cc bottle, so she is off to a good start today too.  The doctor hasn't come around yet, but Beth and I are hoping that the NG tube will come out today.  If not today, then if she has another good day it should at the latest come out tomorrow.

Some sad news...I dropped our camera off the arm of one of the chairs last night and it fell right on the lens.  Now the lens is stuck about halfway out and the camera says 'Lens Error' when you try to turn it on.  So sadly enough, no more pictures until we can either get our camera fixed or get a new camera.
Got the camera fixed! I guess I just had to push on the lens a little harder than I felt comfortable with at first.  It is working now so there will be more pictures to come.  When I got it fixed Beth said, "Now you can resume being our child's paparazzi."  I guess it's true, but I can't get enough of taking pictures of my little girl.

Beth is doing well today and is getting at least 10 cc of breastmilk each time she pumps, so we're hoping that will pick up and we can get more milk for Addy soon.  We will post if anything changes.  Keep praying!

From Beth

Hey Everyone,
I figured that since Ben has been doing all of the updating so far, I'd  give one myself since I seem to have lots of free time waiting in here for Addy's next feedings.  As Ben said before, Addy is doing really well today.  Today is the first time that she has really acted hungry before feedings, and she sure does let us know she is ready!  She has only had one low amount for bottles, but she has taken more or less all of the rest of them. Yay!!  Please pray that she keeps this up throughout the night.  The nurse thinks that if she does, they might remove her ng tube tomorrow.  She has been a lot more awake and alert today, so I have really enjoyed seeing her beautiful eyes.  I knew she would be beautiful, but I never could have imagined she would be this perfect!
Ben and I are surviving, but its getting harder and harder.  It has been really tough on me to have to recover away from home, and we aren't getting much sleep so that makes things that much more difficult.  It is hard to hear so many different estimates on when we will get to take her home, and as each predicted departure day comes and goes, I get more and more frustrated.  I am just trying to keep in mind that we WILL come home, and we won't be here forever (even though sometimes it feels that way).  We are surrounded by so many people that have been here for weeks and even months, so I know we are blessed that we don't have to endure that agony.  But even though things could be worse, it is still really hard, and we appreciate everyone's prayers for us.  It just seems so wrong to walk out of the hospital every night without your child.
Areas that need your prayers:
  Please pray that Addy will continue to eat as much as possible and that her biliruben levels will continue to drop.
  Please pray that Ben and I will be able to get some more rest.
  Please pray for patience and perserverence for us as well.
  Pray for all of the other families who have babies here--some of them for months.  I can't imagine what that would be like.
  Finally, please just pray that we can come home soon!!
We really appreciate everyone's prayers, and we can't wait to come home so you can meet our beautiful little girl!
Beth

A New Day, A New Doctor

Addyson is doing awesome today!  She took all of her first bottle at 8 am and all but 2 cc of her 11 am bottle.  She was also more alert and awake today than she has ever been.  She was awake from her first feeding all the way until she was done with her second.  Her bilirubin levels were at a 12.1 as well, which are down from yesterday as well.

But...

The doctor that has been seeing Addyson is on vacation this week, so she saw a new doctor today.  When he came around right before her 11 am feeding, he said that he wants her to be eating 80% of her bottles for two days before they take her off her NG tube, as opposed to the 75% for one day that we were hearing.  We were also told likely one day after the tube comes out, but this doctor is saying two now.  Our other doctor said that if he got a third bilirubin level that was lower then he wouldn't worry about it anymore and just call the 13.9 her peak, but this doctor is saying it's still something to be concerned about.

It is most likely just a case of differing opinions, but you can imagine how frustrating and a little disheartening is is for Beth and I to hear.   Keep praying for Addy, she is doing so well and your prayers are much appreciated.  Keep praying for Beth and I as well, as this news is not so fun to hear, especially when it feels like she could be doing this at home just as easily.  Pray for the doctors to decide that she can come home soon.  Thank you all for your prayers and support.

More Progress

The doctor came by today and told us that Addy's bilirubin levels were about 12 this morning, which means that she is on the downward slope and will not need the treatment for her jaundice.  He also said that for a kid her age and weight, the cutoff level for bilirubin is now 18 instead of 15, so there's even less of a chance of her needing the lights.  They are going to check her levels again in the morning, but he said he fully expects them to be down again, and if they are it will be the last time they need to check them.

Addyson got her first bath from Beth today, other than the initial one that they gave her in the nursery the first night.  She doesn't like being naked (which is a good thing, at least from my point of view) and really didn't like her bath.

The doctor also boosted her feeding amount to her full 60 cc.  She took all but 5 cc the first time, only 24 the next, and 48 at 8 pm.  I checked the numbers for all of her feedings so far today and they were just over 75%, but they measure them by day, so if she keeps it up overnight, then she should have a pretty good percentage tomorrow.

Please be praying for Beth and I.  This whole thing is really beginning to take a toll on us, and our sleep, and even though things are looking way up, it is getting harder and harder to leave her in the hospital each night, even though we are right across the street.

Also pray that Addyson feeds well tonight.  Getting her eating percentage up to 75% is her last task before she can come home, so as long as she can do that consistently, she has a good shot at coming home really soon.

Thanks for all the prayers and support!

Addyson Noelle

Pictures of Addyson are now on Picasa as well!!

Pictures are up!

Pictures of Addy are up on snapfish.com! From Snapfish you can order prints if you would like.  You can get to them here or you can click on the link on the sidebar to the right ===>

Addy is doing well this morning.  She took 50 cc of her 55 cc bottle this morning and Beth was able to get 9 cc of breastmilk to put in her bottle this morning.  Addy's bilirubin levels were down again this morning, but for some reason the nurses can't tell us what the levels were until they ask the doctor if they can.

And Addyson has again proven to be a sneaky one.  Beth and I each changed her diaper today and she apparently likes to poop and pee without a diaper on.  I'm pretty sure she was aiming when Beth was changing her, because she hit Beth's hand and got it all over her new diaper, her blanket, her socks, and about 3 feet out of the crib on the floor.

Making Progress

Addyson made some pretty big strides today.  She was taking the 50 cc amount of formula each feeding and today she took 35 cc on her own before she fell asleep and had to have the rest by the NG tube.  She was able to have a full feeding every time but one and did pretty well each time on her own.

The doctors now are concerned about Addy's jaundice.  You can tell by looking at some of her earlier pictures verses her newer ones that her skin tone has gotten much more yellow over the past couple of days.  Yesterday they measured Addy's bilirubin levels and they were just over 13.  At 15 they will put her under lamps to treat it, so they did another blood test tonight and it was 13.9.  The doctors had expected it to be over 15 and were ready to put her under the lamps tonight, but now it looks like they will check it again in the morning to see what it is then.

They said that the bilirubin could be responsible in part for her sleepiness and her lack of desire to eat.  They said once her jaundice goes away, she will be more active and likely take food better.  They told us that the bilirubin levels should be peaking anywhere from four to seven days, so if she doesn't get above 15 she won't need to be treated for jaundice.

When we talked to the doctor she said that she was expecting to put her under the lights tonight and have her off of them by Monday morning and after that they would work on digestion issues.  But now with her levels tonight not being to the point where they would treat it, we aren't sure what the schedule will be.  After her jaundice clears up, the doctor said that it would really be up to Addyson and how well she eats to determine when she would go home.  She said that she expected that some time around Wednesday, but couldn't say for sure.

Addyson is now taking 55 cc of formula every three hours and will have to get up to 62 cc, so she is almost there, now she just has to get to the point where she will take 75% on her own.  She has been digesting what she has eaten fairly well today and is on the right track.

We have also been finding out that Addyson likes to be sneaky when you are changing her diaper.  She has peed while we have been changing her about four times and pooped at least twice.  Today she started pooping and Beth went to catch it, but then she started peeing as well and soaked through her new diaper, her sleeper, her onesie, the blanket, and the sheet on the mattress.  So if you are changing her and she gets you good, don't say we didn't warn you.

One other good thing that happened today is that Addyson was moved from the main NICU to the Stepdown NICU unit.  It is a smaller NICU unit that is on the fourth floor and is for babies who are not serious, but are just having feeding and growing issues, so it is encouraging for her to get moved there.  Everything is the same there, so we still can't have visitors other than our two support people, which now are Lynn and Steve.

All the rules are still the same too, so we have to check in, scrub in, and have the nurses unlock the doors for us to get into the unit at all.

Beth and I left the NICU a little earlier tonight, after her 8 pm feeding, because the nurses thought she needed some extra rest tonight, especially if she is going to be under the lights for the jaundice soon.  She is just overly tired from trying to nurse, bottlefeed, and going through all of the check ups that she has to.

Keep praying for Addyson and for Beth.  We should be able to get some good sleep tonight, so praise God for that.

P.S.

Beth's milk seems to finally be coming in.  She just pumped in our room and got about 3 cc, so Addy will at least have a little breastmilk in the morning.

Settling In For Now

Beth and I got a call at about 4:30 today that Carle's Auxiliary Guest House had an opening that we could stay in.  It is a huge house right behind the hospital that somewhat functions like a Ronald McDonald House.  We can stay here for seven days before Addy is discharged from the hospital and seven days after.  Lord willing we will only need a couple before.

This is a huge blessing because now we are able to stay with Addy as long as possible each night and not have to worry about driving home or gas costs.  It also has it's own free parking lot for guests and Carle security is available to shuttle people to and from the hospital at any time.  In fact, they ask that you call security at night instead of walking.  I guess they're afraid someone will get mugged in the 200 yards from the hospital to the house, but it is reassuring to know that they are so conscious of our safety.  Anyway the house has a continental breakfast each morning and a full kitchen at our disposal.

Addy is doing well.  She is still adjusting to the larger 50 cc dose of formula each time and has spit up quite a bit today, but we have been reassured that it is completely normal and she is taking it well.  She has been taking about 25 cc on her own most of the time before she falls asleep and has to get the rest from the NG tube.

The lactation consultant came and helped Beth try to breastfeed and she said that for Addyson's age, she is doing very well.  Beth's milk is slowly coming in, so hopefully she will be able to start breastfeeding more often now.

Beth and I will probably be going to the hospital for Addy's 8 am feeding each day, if not her 5 am feeding and hopefully staying until her 11 pm feeding each night.

I am still working on getting pictures up somewhere, possibly Picasa or Snapfish, but we will at least put a link up on the blog to let you know where they are once I finish them.  Beth has told me that I am worse than Lynn with pictures now because there are somewhere around 280 pictures of Addy so far, but I'm loving it.

We will try to update again tomorrow sometime and try to have pictures up.
Thanks for all the prayers!!

Update on Addyson

Sorry for the delay in getting the post up.  We have been pretty busy here coming to as many of Addyson's feedings as we can.  She gets fed every three hours at 2,5,8, and 11, so we only have about 2 hours in between by the time she gets done feeding.

Addyson is doing fantastic!  The doctor has accelerated her schedule because she has been doing so well.  When she was first in the NICU she had to have a CPAP on and was in a baby warmer with lots of monitoring.  She has since been completely taken off the oxygen and had her nasal cannula taken out and her pulse ox monitor taken off, so the breathing problem side of things is over.  Now she just has to work on getting her digestive system up to par before going home.  She has also been moved from the baby warmer to a crib.

They have been slowly increasing the amount of food they are giving her at once and giving her a chance to take it through a bottle first.  Today's 11 am feeding is the first time they have given her about 50 cc of formula at one feeding and the goal is about 60 cc or 2 oz, so we are almost there.

She still has the NG tube in, so each time they feed her they syringe everything out of her stomach to see how much she has digested.  The rule is that if she has digested 70% or more, she gets the full feeding, but if she has digested less than that, then the amount she hasn't digested is subtracted from the full amount.

They had been waiting to start her on bottles or breastfeeding until her breathing rate was down, and now that it is, she has been trying to either breastfeed for 15 min and try a bottle for 15 min, or trying a bottle for 30 min.  After 30 minutes they said that she is actually expending more energy trying to feed than she is getting in food, so anything she hasn't taken by 30 min is given to her in the NG tube, but she generally falls asleep several minutes into her feeding.

The ultimate goal is to get her to 2 oz of food and get her to take at least 75% on her own at each feeding.  After she can do that consistently for some time, she will get to come home.

The doctor won't tell us exactly when she will be able to come home, but he did say Monday at the latest.  Over the last few days the doctor has been very conservative with his estimates of when things would happen, and he is the one that has accelerated her schedule several times, so it could be sooner.

Beth was only able to stay at the hospital for two days after the birth discharged from the hospital yesterday at 3 pm.  We stayed at the hospital until Addyson's 8 pm feeding and then went home for the night.  There is a guest house that Carle hospital owns that is right across the street from the hospital that is kind of like a Ronald McDonald house for parents to stay in.  We have our name on the list for today and should hear by 4 pm today whether or not we will be able to stay there until Addy comes home.  We can stay there for up to 7 days if we get in, so we should have more than enough time if we get in.

We are going to Addy's feedings every 3 hours to hold her and today might be staying in the NICU pretty much all day except for meals and bathroom breaks.  Lynn is here as one of our support people and since Addy got moved to the crib, she can touch and hold her now and is on cloud nine.

Please continue to pray for Addyson and for Beth, as she has been trying to pump every three hours as well and has not gotten much decent rest lately.

We ask that you don't call Beth or I's phones as we cannot answer in the NICU and will be here most of the day.  If you would like to contact us, please either contact us by email at thecrostreets@gmail.com, Facebook, or leave a use the voicemail button on our blog.  If you use the voicemail button, you will be prompted to enter your phone number, and will then receive a call that will be directly connected to our voicemail and will not ring our phones.  For updates on Addyson and Beth, please continue to check this site and we will try to update more regularly now that we have a laptop in the NICU.

Thank you so much to everyone for all of the congratulations and for all the concerns and prayers.  Beth and I are going to focus on spending as much time with our little girl as possible so please don't take it personally if we don't get back to you right away.  We will make sure to let everyone know when Addy comes home and when would be a good time to visit if you would like to.

P.S.
I will be putting pictures online soon (we have lots) so I will put up a post soon to let everyone know where and how to get to them.

Welcome to the World Addyson Noelle!!!

Yesterday at about 7:40 pm the doctor came in to check on Beth and said that she was 100% dilated.  Beth is such a trooper and so strong that she started pushing and what takes some women 2-3 hours, took Beth 30 minutes.  After some of the hardest work of her life, Beth and I welcomed our new baby girl into the world, Addyson Noelle Crostreet!!!

She is beautiful, with dark hair and pudgy little cheeks.  She was born at 8:10 pm Central Standard Time and was 7 lbs 4 oz and 20 in. long.

Beth tore pretty badly during birth, so the doctor had to stitch her up in layers and she has been in a lot of pain since.  In fact, she said that the stitching was worse pain than birth, but again, she is a trooper and is doing great.

Addyson was born a few weeks early, so after Beth and I were both able to hold her for a little while, they took her to the nursery.  She was grunting, or doing what the nurses called 'singing', while she breathed, somewhat like a faint cry with every breath.  They said that this was because her lungs were not quite used to breathing air yet, so they took her to the nursery to give her some oxygen and monitor her closely.  At about 4 hours old they did a chest x-ray on Addyson and soon after took her down to the NICU to watch her even more closely and get specialists involved.

While Beth and I are somewhat disappointed that our little girl can't be with us in our room right now, we were able to go see her in the nursery and will be able to go see her in the NICU soon.  They said that she will have to stay in the NICU until she gets to come home with us.  She has had some medicine to mature her lungs, and she is doing very well.  She slept most of the night and hasn't had to be on oxygen.  They are doing more tests this morning to see how she is doing.

Other than the breathing issues, they say that our little girl is perfect and healthy.  The breathing issues, although they are a bit scary at this point, are supposedly very normal for a baby born at her gestational age and very treatable.

We are so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl and to have a healthy mom and pretty healthy baby.  Please pray that our little girl makes a quick transition into the world.

Also please pray for all those traveling back and forth to the hospital to visit with Beth and Addyson.  My parents are staying at our house in Danville so they can be closer and Beth's friend Jenni stayed there last night as well and will be coming back to Champaign to see Addyson and Beth before going back home.  Beth's parents will also be traveling back to Champaign to see them as well  Beth's friend Krystle will be coming back from Hoopeston, IL and my sister Sarah will be coming from Valparaiso, IN either today or Friday.

Again thank you for the prayers and we hope you can all meet little Addyson soon!  We will post more pictures soon.

P.S.
She got the cool birth date!! 6-8-10

Looking To Be Another Long Day

The last time the doctor checked, Beth was still at 5 centimeters, but the baby was a little further down.  They have put her on Pitocin and given her an epidural, so she is confined to the bed from here on out.  Her blood pressure dropped quite a bit when they first gave her the epidural, but everything has leveled out, she has gotten some rest, and is feeling much better now.  The doctor broke her water earlier this morning, so we are definitely having the baby within the next 24 hours one way or another.

We have quite a crew here, Beth's parents, my parents, and two of her friends, Jenni and Krystle.  Krystle's four month old daughter Katelyn is here to meet her new destined-to-be best friend as well.

It looks to be a another long day, but praise God it will be the last long day that Beth will be pregnant, at least for a while.  We ask that you keep praying for Beth and the baby and we will keep you updated.


P.S.
Here's hoping that she's born before midnight, because 6-8-10 is a pretty cool birth date. (I know, I know, I'm a nerd)

We're Having a Baby!!!!

Beth was scheduled to have an appointment with her doctor today at 10:45 am, but our little girl had other plans. Soon after we went to bed at about 11:00, Beth began having more contractions that were more intense than before. We tried a few things at home to make them ease up, but they wouldn't stop, so we came to the hospital. The nurse seemed a little skeptical given the fact that Beth had not dilated before, but when they checked this morning she was at 5 centimeters. We're halfway there!

Beth is far enough along and dilated enough to have the baby today, so WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!! Beth says that we have to wait to announce the name until we see her and make sure it fits, but all of you who have been waiting patiently (and not so patiently) will find out as soon as she is born. We will post here and probably on Facebook when she is born and give all the statistics. We covet your prayers for Beth and the baby both.

A VERY long day

Well, we're back from Champaign...contractions are not any better and not any worse, so we will just have to see what tonight brings. We are both going to try to get some sleep tonight...just praying things will either get better so we can rest or we get a baby out of all of this craziness!!

A long day

Well, we got back early (very early) this morning from Indiana because my contractions were getting pretty bad. I have been contracting off and on all weekend, and haven't really slept in 3 days. I woke up this morning at 2, and they have been between 3 and 5 mins apart since then. A bath helped some so I could sleep a couple of hours, but they started getting worse again and woke me up. We are currently planning to go to Champain to walk the mall for a couple of hours hoping they will either stop or produce a baby! Please pray for us as we are both extremely exhausted and just ready for our little girl to be here. Please also pray for our little girl that she is healthy and safe. We will keep you all updated on how things progress!

Beth

A new blog!

Hey everyone! We decided that with everything going on in our hectic lives right now, we would start a blog so that everyone can keep up with what is going on with us. Right now we are living in Danville, IL. Ben just finished his internship at the Catlin Church of Christ a couple of weeks ago and graduated from Lincoln Christian University!! He really enjoyed his internship, and he is now in the process of searching for a job. He has sent out many resumes, has had an interview, and is scheduled to preach at a church in southern Indiana this weekend. Keep praying for us as we are quite unsure where God is taking us right now, but we know He is faithful and are trusting that He has a plan for us! We are also expecting our first child soon. We are having a girl (and no, we are still not divulging her name), and she was scheduled to come July3rd, but now we are realizing that she might just have a schedule of her own. About a week and a half ago, I woke up at about 4 a.m. with contractions, so we headed to the hospital. The contractions continued frequently all day without dilation. They kept me all day and overnight trying to stop the contractions with medications. The contractions finally slowed enough by the next morning that I could be released. They sent me home with medication to take to keep the contractions under control. They also did a sonogram at the hospital that showed the baby was measuring about 2 weeks ahead and was already able to breathe. This was quite a relief to us! After a visit to the doctor yesterday, it was decided that I will be stopping the medication on Saturday when I'm 35 weeks, and the baby can come whenever she is ready. This means we can expect a baby any time in the next 5 weeks!! Needless to say, it is a little stressful not knowing what to expect, but we know our little girl will get here when she is ready. So right now we are relaxing and enjoying this time together before our lives change dramatically. Please keep us in your prayers as life will soon be changing, and we have no idea what is going to happen. Please pray that our little girl is safe and healthy whenever she decides to grace us with her presence, and pray that Ben is able to find a job soon that will allow him to minister to others as he has spent the last 4 years preparing to do. We will try to keep you all posted as things happen for us! Blessings!

Beth