Last week with Mommy

I have to go back to work next week. I am stressed about leaving her even though I'm sure she'll be okay. We've just been relaxing at home together. We haven't gotten to do much of that. Lydia is still doing great. She's started smiling a lot the last few days. It steals my heart every time. Coal got to come home finally. It's nice to have everyone together. He's done great with the baby.

Swallow Study

Well the surgeon's nurse called today reguarding the swallow study. They are reccomending a feeding tube to be put into her stomach for a while until she can get her swallowing and breathing better coordinated so she doesn't aspirate. We haven't made any decisions yet. Sounds like it wouldn't be for about 6 weeks so we're thinking we should repeat a swallow study before we do it whatever we decide.
We did her sleep study last night. No results yet, but I know she didn't drop her oxygen all night. Which is improved from the last time.
She weighed 8 lbs and 14 oz today. Dr. Brockman said that she's on the lower side of normal, but so far she's still within normal growth percentages and actually gaining at a good pace. She's a strong little girl and I keep praying she stays that way to get through all this.

Didn't Pass

Well Lydia didn't pass her test today. They said she did remarkably better than her original swallow test, but still aspirated some. I haven't heard from the doctors yet. I hope we find something out this week. Otherwise Miss Lydia is still doing great. Has a bit of a cough still, but she's getting better.

Welcome Home Baby

WE'RE HOME!! Last night around 4ish the doctors decided that we could go home. We still have to come back Monday to do that swallow study. It is so wonderful to be home. I think we both slept great and it was really nice for all 3 of us to be under the same roof. 24 days was plenty!!

Pass update

They are going to repeat the swallow study Monday using a passive nipple. This puts less pressure on her jaw and she doesn't have to suck. The speech pathologist said there is still a chance she will aspirate with this and they may have to thicken. Keep those prayers coming!!

PASS

Lydia passed her swallow study!! She had a little trouble with sucking, but the swallows she did take were good. We are going to start trial feedings and see how that works do develop her sucking. Hopefully we get to go home soon. Mommy and Baby are deffinitly ready!!

Another Good Day

Lydia had another good day. She still has just bit of a cough, but otherwise she's doing great. She got some of her 2 month vaccinations today and didn't mind them too much. We're hoping she's been "studying" for her swallow study tomorrow. It would be such a relief if she passed! Either way we'll get some answers tomorrow and know a little better what direction we're heading in. Thank you everyone for all the support and prayers. There is no way we would make it through without you.

Happy Baby

Lydia is doing great today. They turned her oxygen off this morning. I can tell that she is feeling better. She's a happy baby wiggling and kicking again. I even got a couple smiles!! The doctors are planning to repeat the swallow study on Friday. Please pray for a good outcome!

Happy 2 Month Birthday

Lydia is 2 months old today!! I cannot believe that it's been that long. I am excited about all the new things she can do and all the many things yet to come. She had a very good day today. We were moved back to the general peds floor. She's still on oxygen, but they are weaning it down. She's headed back in the right direction!

Good Day

Lydia has had a pretty good day. The result came back that she has Rhino Virus. Just the common cold. They are going to try her off oxygen in the morning and maybe transfer her out to the floor tomorrow afternoon. She's been a little fussy, but I think that's mostly just lack of sleep thanks to the frequent assessments they do here in the PICU. Only 3 more turns of her jaw and we're all finished with that part of things. They put the swallow study off until she's healthy. We didn't want her to have any odds against her.

Surgery to Now

Lydia had surgery on May 25th. She was intubated for 7 days and in ICU almost 2 weeks. We were then moved to the general peds floor for monitoring. After being out there almost a week we have been moved back to ICU because she has got a virus of some sort most likely hospital aquired. She's still doing okay, but they've had to put a small amount of oxygen on her. We are going to push her swallow study that was scheduled for tomorrow back. We don't want anything to stand in the way of her passing!! Hopefully we only have to spend a couple days back here and she can be on her way to full recovery soon. So far the jaw surgery is going great and seemed to be helping her breathing before she got sick. We have 6 more times to turn her jaw out and then the 6 week wait begins. Please keep the prayers coming our way. We appreciate so much all the support and love that we've received through all of this. Thank you all!!

To the Doctor

We went to the doctor the week after Lydia left the hospital. The doctor said she might have something called Pierre Robin Sequence. This is usually found with babies that have small jaws. We won't know for sure until July when we see the geneticist, but the treatment is that same either way. He wanted to do what is called a jaw distraction. Which means they move the jaw forward to make more room for her to breath and hopefully help with the laryngomalacia. The surgery consists of her jaw being turned out 0.5mm several times a day for 15 days for a total of 25mm. After the jaw is moved the pins are left in for 6 weeks for the bone to grow. We will then repeat her sleep study and swallow study and see if she's improved.

10 days old

Lydia's first trip to the hospital was April 25th when she was 10 days old. I found her having trouble breathing and we rushed her to the ER. She was on an ambulance the The University in Columbia soon after arrival. We spent 10 days in the hospital. We found out that she was having touble breathing and she was aspirating when she swallowed. She went home with a feeding tube in her nose and a monitor to let us know if she was having trouble breathing again. The doctors said she has a small jaw and something called laryngomalacia.

Baby Makes 3

Lydia Marie Woods was born April 15th, 2010 at 8:30 AM. She weighed 6lbs 6oz and was 19.5 inches long.