Happy Mother's Day!

It was this time last year (May 11th, the day after Mother's Day), that Pam's water unexpectedly broke at 24 weeks and this whirlwind adventure took off.  It's hard to believe it has been that long, and yet at the same time it does feel like it was forever ago.  We have been through so much over the past 12 months.  Although it's not something we wished for or would want to go through again, I am forever grateful to have someone as great as Pam to have had by my side throughout this.  She is an amazingly strong person, and has proven to be a wonderful mother to Riley.  Happy Mother's Day to Pam and all the other Mothers out there who don't always get the recognition they deserve.

We spent a weekend in Manhattan with my family, attending the KSU Open House and celebrating birthdays (Nikki, Eric, Landon, and Makena's are all within a month of each other).  We didn't end up making it to K-State's Spring Football Game, but had a blast hanging out at Nikki's instead.  We also got to spend some time with Pam's family a few times in April, as her brother John was home from Korea for a few weeks.  They took a trip to Botanica and had a nice photo shoot with Riley, Benjamin, and the rest of the family.

These past few days have been a little more hectic around here.  I had my knee surgery on Friday and have been laid up on the couch since then.  I know this isn't how Pam was wanting to spend her first official Mother's Day, waiting on me hand and foot, and for that I am even more grateful.  I've done my best to help watch Riley while she gets other tasks done, but unfortunately I can't help with much. 

Tonight my family will be coming over to celebrate Mother's Day.  We will get to break in the new BBQ grill, but I guess I'll have to let someone else do the cooking.  Pam's mom and sister have been out of town, so will have to celebrate with them later. 

Riley is really growing up lately.  She is a super-happy baby and loves to smile and laugh - especially at Baxter.  She is sitting up on her own very well, and has even started army crawling!  We are holding out hope she'll get a real crawl or two in before her birthday at the end of the month.  She is eating much better now, and loves to "gum" on cookies, carrots, and anything else we give her.  We have been working on waving "bye-bye" and clapping to "patty-cake" as well.  She seems to be getting the hang of it, and usually gets a giggle or two in when we play.  We should find out in the next few weeks if we can discontinue the night-time oxygen and unplug the monitor.  We will probably have to do another sleep study first, which should get scheduled sometime soon.  Her weight is holding steady at about 14lb 6oz.  Even though she is eating much better, she is also a lot more active and therefore burning more calories.  We will likely have to switch her to formula soon since Pam's milk supply is depleting from this new pregnancy.  Those hundreds of bottles of milk in the deep-freeze are surprisingly disappearing pretty fast.

With her birthday coming up in just a few weeks, we are working to finalize the plans for her party.  Looks like we'll have it Saturday, May 29th from 2pm-4pm, followed by our annual "Skach-a-Palooza" summer bash.  Everyone is welcome to attend, so please contact Pam if you can make it.

Here are a few photos from the past few weeks.  Again, click on the links to the right to see many more pictures.

April Showers Bring...Another Baby?

Another exciting week for us.  Last weekend my family came over for a BBQ after my mom and sister took her kids to the circus.  Took a walk after dinner and played at our neighborhood park.  Riley seemed to like the swing a little better this time.  Tuesday Pam's family came over for a BBQ as well.  Pam's brother, John, is home from Korea for a few weeks so they wanted to come hang out.  It was good to see him - he hadn't seen Riley since last September, she has grown a little since then!

Thursday was a busy day.  Started out with a doctors appointment for me - found out I will indeed need surgery on my knees.  Going under the knife on May 7th to get torn cartilage fixed in my right knee, and an inflamed plica band removed from my left knee.  I was hoping to avoid surgery, but at least this will hopefully end 10+ years of knee pain. 

Wednesday was Riley's upper GI, so after my appointment on Thursday we headed over to Dr. Nichols to get the results.  They couldn't see anything unusual, but at the same time Riley wasn't being too cooperative with drinking the Barium.  They had to feed her while taking the x-ray, so Pam couldn't be in there to help (since she is pregnant).  They said she drank enough for them to get a decent look.  So either there isn't a problem, or there could have been and she outgrew it (which is likely with a hiatal hernia).  She has been eating a lot better and spitting up less so that is possible.  Still would like to see her gaining more weight - she's currently at about 14lb 5oz.  Even though she is eating more now, she is also more active so is burning more calories.

Thursday afternoon we went to Pam's first OB appointment for baby #2.  Dr. Depew was a little shocked to see us again so soon!  Was able to hear the baby's heartbeat and see it on their mini-sonogram for the first time.  Baby was 0.80cm long, measured about 6 1/2 weeks he said.  Heartrate was at 127bpm, a little slower than Riley's first one (she was at 154bpm, but was also 7 1/2 weeks).  At this point, they are guessing the due date around December 4th.  Have sonogram pictures, but the scanner isn't hooked up right now so I'll have to post them later.  Dr. Depew said at this point he wasn't going to restrict us from doing anything and doesn't plan on it since we really don't know what caused the premature rupture with Riley.  Guess we'll just watch everything closely and play it by ear.

Spent this weekend working outside, got some yardwork done, finished my lattice-work under the deck, and cleaned out the garage.  Went to dinner at Pam's mom's house tonight.  Hope to get to see John a few more times before he leaves at the end of the month.  Next weekend we are headed to Manhattan to spend a few days with my sister's family, go to the K-State Spring Football game, and celebrate Makena and Landon's birthdays.

A few photos from the past two weeks (more are in the "Spring" album, click on the link to the right):

Oops! Here we go again...

Well folks, I guess the cat is finally out of the big.  After dropping some major hints around, I guess I should just announce it to the world - Riley is going to be a big sister!  Found out last week Pam is due with #2 around the end of November.  Pam had planned on telling me after her doctor's appointment on Thursday (April 1st), but I stumbled across something on the computer that I thought was an April Fools Joke (see Riley's shirt below).  Turns out it wasn't a joke!  Was quite the shocker to us both, as it certainly wasn't something we were planning or trying for - but we are very excited!  Assuming this one goes full term, the two kids will be 18 months apart - so we are going to have our hands full.  We surprised our parents on Sunday by hiding the shirt Pam made under a jacket and had them take the jacket off to stumble upon Riley's secret.  Needless to say, everyone was very surprised and excited. 

After all that we went through with Riley, we are expecting some extra restrictions and precautions during this pregnancy.  Not sure exactly what, but I would assume she'll be put on some physical limitations as time goes on, and probably more sonograms than normal to watch for the placenta previa (which we are pretty sure caused the amniotic rupture with Riley).  We go see the OB/GYN on April 15th, the same day as Riley's GI follow-up, and my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon about my knees - going to be a busy day!  Will post details after that with any news we get.

March Madness

Sorry for such a long delay, we've actually had a pretty busy month so lots to tell but haven't had the time to get on here.  Kind of ironic after my last post commented on how boring things were around here.  Spring break was a busy week for the whole family.  I got the opportunity to go to the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament in Oklahoma City, and while I was gone Riley got to have a few more "firsts."  First, Pam took her to the indoor pool at the YMCA with my mom, sister, and niece/nephew.  They had a blast, but Riley didn't enjoy it that much.  It was pretty crowded and VERY loud.  Now she seems to have developed a fear of water.  But I have no doubt that this summer she'll turn into a fish just like her cousins.  The next day they all went to the Sedgwick County Zoo.  This was the first time she got to sit upright in her stroller (rather than in the car-seat), and seemed to enjoy being able to look around.  She was pretty indifferent to all the animals, and at the petting zoo she actually passed out pretty quickly.  We'll have to make a regular thing of this, as I know by her love of dogs she'll really enjoy seeing all the bigger animals.

This past week was a little rougher on her.  We hit a few birthday parties last weekend, and as it turns out there were about 4 sick kids total we encountered.  Not sure who started it all, but we all had to endure the aftermath.  Riley came down with a high fever late Monday night and wouldn't sleep or eat for a few days.  Went to Dr. Nichols (pediatrician), and he said it was "just a cold" and she would get over it in a few days.  Fever was persistent but with lots of Tylenol and Motrin she was over it by Thursday.  Wednesday was my birthday, so Pam's mom came over to watch her while we went to dinner and a movie.  Unfortunately, I didn't get the present I was hoping for - as that was the day we were to hear back from Dr. Riva on the night-time oxygen.  We got the call, but she said we've got to go another 6-8 weeks with the oxygen at night.  She said during the sleep-study we did, her saturation dropped a few times down into the 70's, so she wasn't comfortable taking her all the way off yet.  Let's just hope she gets rid of it by her 1st birthday!

This weekend has been fun - celebrated Easter today with both sides of the family.  Didn't do a whole lot, but Riley got to wear her pretty Easter dress.  Took her to my parents' church for the first time and got to show her off to lots of people.  After dinner at Pam's mom's house we took a walk and played at their park a little bit.  She didn't really like the swings but smiled a little more on the slide.  Guess we'll have to try that again when she gets a little older.

She's starting to roll over more, and likes to rotate in circles while she is on the floor.  Does a lot of "grunting" which I guess is her form of talking.  She smiles up a storm and is starting to hold her arms out when you approach her so you'll pick her up.  There have been many times lately too where she has that attachment to mommy and daddy and cries for anyone else.  Always sucks when it is a close family member, but I know she'll grow out of it.  She still isn't a great eater, but does have her moments where she will suck the bottle down.  Isn't spitting up as much as before, seems like the reflux medicine and mylanta do the trick.  We are getting an upper GI done in a few weeks just to make sure she doesn't have a hiatal hernia.  It is something that has ran in my family (me, my dad, my uncle, my cousin...) so there is a chance that could be contributing to her problem.  Other than that she is developing very normally and has been a very happy baby.

I posted a lot more pictures in the "Spring" photo album to the right, but here are a few of the highlights:

Boring can be good!

I know it has been a month since I posted, but honestly not a lot has happened.  We are in the "boring" phase, as I call it.  Riley is exciting and fun to watch and play with, but nothing noteworthy to log in and type about.  The past month we have only had Riley on the oxygen at night, and even then missed a few nights.  It really bothers her when we tape the tubes to her head, so if we don't get them on her before her last feeding, then we don't want to wake her up putting them on.  However, with the monitor on her at night we've been assured that it isn't affecting her any.  We go back to see Dr. Riva next Monday and hopefully she'll give us the okay to take her off at night as well.  And depending on whether she lets us unhook the monitor, Riley will finally get to wear some of her zip-up outfits.  With the monitor on her foot, she's only been able to wear button-up or foot-less sleepers.

Last week, she weighed in at 14lb 2oz.  Weight gain has slowed down a bit this month, but her reflux and gagging has been become a bigger problem too.  Dr. Nichols put her on some medicine to help it, and it seems to be working.  She's also still on the calorie supplement to push the weight gain along too.  Rainbows is still coming out once a week, and they say she is doing really well.  She's eating lots of peas and sweet potatoes, and occasionally some rice cereal, to go with her milk.  Starting to read her some books, play with more toys, and get her interested in sippy cups.  She's rolling over really well from front-to-back, and every once in awhile back-to-front.

Last week Riley turned 9 months old.  NINE MONTHS!  Wow...can't believe it has been that long.  Doesn't it seem like just yesterday our life got turned upside down?  Its amazing how far she has come.  Looks like its time to start planning the 1-year birthday party.  I have a feeling its going to be a big one...

I've uploaded quite a few new pictures, so check out the Winter and Spring albums to the right (you do not have to be a Facebook member to view them).  Here are a few of the highlights:

I probably won't be posting as often as I used to, unless there's anything noteworthy to tell about.  But feel free to write, call, or stop by any time to check on our little miracle baby.  It is very reassuring to know how many people have followed her throughout this journey and sent their thoughts and prayers our direction.  During her time in the hospital, we were averaging almost 30 people every day on this site checking in on her.  We are very blessed to have such a wonderful support network guiding us through this tough time and now that we are at the end of the "tough" part of the journey, we are forever grateful for all that everyone has done.

Free at Last, Free at Last!

Today was a good day for Riley.  Started off with a visit to Dr. Nichols (pediatrician) for a weight check - she was 13lb 10oz.  Lost an ounce from last week, but still way up from last month.  In the afternoon, we had our checkup with Dr. Riva (pulmonary) - the doctor we had the unpleasant experience with last month.  She was pleased with Riley's weight gain and everything else, so she said we were free to turn off the oxygen during the day.  She wants us to continue to keep her on it at night, and wants us to spot check her oxygen saturation throughout the day, so we'll have to keep the wire on her foot all day, but thats a lot easier than having the tubes on her face and dragging around the oxygen tank.  Riley is now much more mobile and has a much prettier face!  We'll go back to her in a month, and as long as she doesn't back-track on her weight gain, or have problems with daytime saturation, we should be off the oxygen all together.  Immediately after that appointment, we headed over to Dr. Shah (neurologist) for her followup there.  He also was very pleased with her progress.  She has had no signs of any seizures since leaving the hospital, and her development seemed right on track.  He was so pleased, he said we didn't even need to schedule another appointment - unless Dr. Nichols or one of the OT/PT people see something that might indicate a neurological problem.  Both of these were obviously huge to us, and it really feels like we've had a monster weight lifted off our shoulders.

Yesterday, the Rainbows speech therapist was finally able to make it here to look into Riley's feeding issues.  She has shown signs of getting better, and at times eats very well, but still gags quite a bit and regurges a lot as well.  She had Pam make a few small changes to the way she gives the bottle, and also to how we do the solid foods.  Overall, it seems the main problem is reflux.  She called Dr. Nichols and today we have started her back on medication for the reflux.  Hopefully this will settle her tummy a bit and make all the feedings go a little smoother.

One more milestone, about an hour ago she rolled over on her own for the first time!  We had her on her tummy, and she pushed her elbows up and rolled to her left and onto her back.  Way to go Riley!

Riley and Mommy:

Riley and Baxter:

Riley with a clean face, no patches, and no oxygen tubes!!!

8 months old!!!

Today Riley is 8 months old.  I know I say it over and over again, but holy crap time has flown by.  I can't believe it has been that long since graced us with her presence.  She was just a little over 4 months old when she came home from the hospital, so that means here in another week or so she will have been home as long as she had been in the hospital.  Great news!

Pam has continued to take her into the pediatrician every week for weight checks.  The doctor wanted to do this to make sure her weight gain was significant and consistent, and to chart it all, so we won't have a repeat at Dr. Riva's office next week.  So far each week has brought good news.  As of last week's appt. she was up to 13lb 6oz!  This is a great jump from where she was 3 weeks ago.  On Thursday we had our follow-up with the Wesley Developmental clinic, not really sure what it was for since it is redundant with what Rainbows is doing.  They said she is doing great, is behind in a few small areas but nothing major and nothing to be concerned about.  Rainbows will be out again this Thursday to check on her as well.  The Dr. Riva appointment is a week from today, and also have our follow-up with Dr. Shah (neurologist) that day as well.  We are praying for great news from both.  Could be a really good day, or a really bad day... 

Last weekend we did end up making the trip up to Manhattan to see my sister, Nikki, and her family.  Took Baxter as well, made for a very fun trip.  Both Riley and Baxter did very well on their first road trip.  It was amazing the amount of stuff we had to take though just for a 3 day trip...filled up a minivan!  But we had a great time hanging out with Nikki, Eric, Landon, and Makena.  Got to see Makena's first basketball game, and I gotta say 6-7 year olds playing basketball is hilarious!  I was even able to score some last minute tickets to the KU/K-State basketball game on Saturday.  Wow, what a game!!  Since I should be going up there for work at least every other month, we may have to make this trip a regular thing until Pam goes back to work.  I think Nikki and family would enjoy that...or maybe not?  Haha

There's never a dull weekend in our lives, it seems like.  This weekend we'll have a house-full of people over on Sunday for the Super Bowl (or Skach-Bowl IX as we are calling it).  Everyone's invited, so let me know if you can make it!  Then we'll have those two big appointments next Tuesday, so I'll be sure to post updates after that...everyone please pray that I'll have good news to pass on.

For some reason, even with all the excitement of this weekend we didn't get any good pictures.  Nikki took some of Riley decked out in K-State gear to root on the Cats Saturday, so here's one of hers.  EMAW!

13 pounds and some yummy peas

I know its been a whole two weeks since I posted, but not a lot has happened.  I went on my "guy's weekend" to Omaha last week with a few friends.  Pam and Riley had a good time without me but were glad to see me when I came home.  This week, Pam went to see Dr. Nichols on Monday and despite our argument against it, he wants us to continue to see Dr. Riva.  He is having Pam bring Riley by once a week for a weight check though, and last week she tipped the scales at 13lbs 2oz!  Sure makes Dr. Riva's scale look even more inaccurate.  She'll get checked again tomorrow and we hope to see more gain.  I think she is looking more "chunky" again after thinning out a bit the last few months so thats a good sign.  Nothing much said from Rainbows, other than "she's doing great."  So I guess no news is good news there. 

She has been "eating" a little bit of rice cereal by spoon the past few weeks, but Pam is now hitting her hard with solids.  This week was "peas" week, and next week will be "sweet potatoes".  She takes them pretty well, doesn't eat a whole lot but is able to get them down.  Before long she'll be snarfing down steaks like her old man!

This weekend we were out and about again.  Had Pam's mom babysit Saturday afternoon while we went and played a little winter softball, and then my mom watched Riley in the evening while we checked out Wichita's new downtown arena for the inaugural Wichita Thunder hockey game there - quite impressive!  Today we took Riley over to my parent's house all day while we helped them clean, organize, and pack stuff up.  They are putting their house up for sale and needed the kickstart to make the house look good.

Next weekend will be an exciting one for us.  Thursday after work the 4 of us (Pam, me, Riley, and Baxter) are all heading up to Manhattan.  I needed to go up there for work on Friday anyways, so thought it would be a good time to take Riley on her first road trip (and Baxter's too).  We'll stay up there through Saturday afternoon/evening after watching Makena's first basketball game (and the KU/K-State basketball game, of course).

New photos from the past two weeks:
Riley checking herself out in the mirror on her playmat.

Showing off her messy face after eating peas.

Early Groundhog Day

Dr. Riva must have seen the groundhog, because she sentenced us to at least 4 more weeks of dragging this oxygen tank around.  We disagreed with her on a few things, particularly Riley's weight since that seems to be the hang-up.  Their scale didn't match up with Dr. Nichol's scale or our scale at home and claimed she was closer to 12lbs than the 12lb 12oz that we got last week at Dr. Nichols.  Not only that but her claim that she isn't gaining enough weight is comparing her to a what a 7 month old should be, but all of her development has and should be tracked on an adjusted scale, which means she should be looked at as a 4 month old.  She also contradicted some other things that Dr. Nichols had told us and tried to make some changes to her feedings.  We called Dr. Nichols and he told us to leave the feedings alone and asked us to come in Monday to discuss it since he is her primary care physician and its his job to make those decisions.  I'm hoping he'll be able to recommend a different pulmonary doctor since we aren't too happy with Dr. Riva so far.  She is very impersonal and so far has reminded me a lot of our first interactions with Dr. Hsiao in her impersonal "bedside manner".

Other than that, not a whole lot of new news.  Rainbows came out last week and has said Riley's development is right on track.  Her head and neck movement are great, she is sitting up really well, and has started to take the rice cereal better.

This weekend we took advantage of our family's generous free baby sitting and got out of the house a little bit without a baby in tow- went to a Wichita State basketball game and got some errands ran, and then took Riley to the Blessed Sacrament CYO Spaghetti Dinner.  It's an annual event that I helped participate in back in the day.  It was great to see a few old friends there, show off Riley, and eat some good Italian food.

This next weekend I'm back to my "part-time father" routine as I head to Omaha for our annual "guy's weekend".  A few friends and I make the trip to watch Wichita State play at Creighton every year.  Hopefully Pam will be able to get away soon too so I don't feel bad always leaving.  It will be tough to leave them for just a few days, but after the long days I've had at work it is a much needed break.

Riley's been a really happy baby lately and with Pam home all day every day, she's been a bit of a shutterbug.  Check the facebook "winter photos" link to the right to see more, but here's a few of the best:

Happy New Year!

Riley rang in her first new year in style...by sleeping right through it.  She actually was awake at midnight, but slept most of the rest of the night, before and after midnight.  We had a handful of people over to help celebrate, played some games, and put away a few bottles of champagne.  Maybe staying up and playing Wii til 4:45am wasn't the brightest idea though, haha.  I have to go back to work tomorrow; it's been nice staying home the past week with Pam and Riley, but alas I have to find a way to put food on the table since we're starting the new year as a 1-income family. 

This week, Rainbows will be back out for the first time in awhile.  Hopefully they can help with the latest issues - Riley can't stand being laid back while feeding, and has been crying uncontrollably a lot.  She has had a pretty runny nose lately too, so we've had her sleeping in the swing instead of her basinet to keep her more inclined, otherwise she wakes up coughing on the drainage a lot.  We think she might have an ear infection, but Dr. Nichols didn't seem too concerned last week - then again it has gotten worse since we saw him, so Pam plans on calling him in the morning.  Riley is also scheduled to get this month's RSV shot this week.

Other than feeding times, she's been pretty good lately.  Loves to sit up and look around, so we've been propping her up on the couch, recliner, etc.  She's smiling more and more, and when we lay her on her playmat she is getting better at rolling back and forth from her side to her back.  Haven't rolled all the way over yet, but getting close.  Been trying to do more "tummy time" too - her neck is getting stronger and she can hold that position a lot longer than before.

Here's a few of her sitting up like a big girl...