One last post for 2009

Okay, I know I said you wouldn't hear from me until next year but had some good news to tell everyone about. Yesterday at our appointment with Dr. Nichols (pediatrician), Riley weighed in at 12lb 12oz! That means she has gained 12oz in 2 weeks! This is great news, since the weight gain is our biggest obstacle to getting off the oxygen. He went ahead and had us start mixing in a formula supplement anyways to make sure the weight gain continues. Just have to mix in a tablespoon of powder with each feeding to add a few extra calories. 2 more weeks and we'll be back to see Dr. Riva, let's pray this weight gain keeps going.

Happy New Years!

Riley's first Christmas, and the end of an amazing year

Riley's first Christmas was an exciting one. Started out on Christmas Eve with dinner with Pam's family. Her sister, Laura, turned 21 on the 24th so we had to celebrate that (along with her engagement!!!) with dinner at Kobe's Steakhouse. It was Riley's first trip to a restaurant, and also her first experience in a blizzard. We rushed from dinner to Christmas Eve Mass so we wouldn't have to stay out in that bad weather any longer than we had to. She did good all bundled up.

Christmas morning we had Pam's family and my parents over for breakfast. Santa skipped our house this year since we knew Riley would be overly spoiled by the rest of the family. Once she is old enough to understand it all we'll probably ask him to start coming by, haha. We hung out here after breakfast and opened presents and played a little Wii. Then we headed over to my parents' house in the afternoon for dinner and presents with all of my side of the family. And just as expected Riley was spoiled and got all kinds of wonderful toys, clothes, books, etc. Thank you to everyone for the great presents!!

Saturday, I spent the morning working with my brother-in-law in the basement getting the bar finished while my sister and her kids hung out with Riley and Pam upstairs. Makena read Riley books and Landon was elated to get to hold her for the first time. We went down the street to the Erwin's house to celebrate Koelton's 1st birthday that afternoon (Happy Birthday K-Man!), and then headed back to my parents house in the afternoon for the "big" Skach family Christmas. Unfortunately it was a much smaller gathering than most years due to the weather and other travel issues that kept all the out-of-towners from coming. We still had a good time though hanging out with everyone and playing games. And of course, everyone was thrilled to see Riley and she enjoyed meeting more family members.

I'm off work this week, burning some vacation time at home. Hoping to get some projects done around the house but so far after Day 1, the only thing I've accomplished is setting some new high scores on Wii. Oh well, still have a few more days. Tomorrow Riley has an appointment with the pediatrician to check her weight. Hopefully she will have gained a little bit, but either way there's a good chance he'll have us add some formula to her diet to help boost the calorie intake and therefore help the weight gain. Need to get her packing on the pounds like before so we can get her off the oxygen!

Thursday Riley will get to celebrate her first New Year's Eve. We decided to stay in again this year rather than carting her out anywhere. So if you aren't doing anything, come on over! Looks like we'll have the "usual" crowd hanging out here, and now that I have the bar downstairs done it really helps with the gatherings.

I'm guessing this will be my last post of the year, so I spent some time reading back through everything I have written so far. Hard to believe this is my 70th post. But going back to the beginning it is amazing how far we have come since our tiny, fragile, delicate gift from God came into our lives and changed us forever. 12 months ago, we had just found out we were pregnant and were trying to keep it from everyone while we figured out how to tell our families. Who would have thought 1 year later we would be the parents of a 7-month old. Despite everything, I wouldn't change a single thing and am so grateful for everything that has happened this year. 6500 visitors in less than 7 months shows how much love and support we have out there, and for that I am truly grateful. I know that without all of you, we couldn't have gotten through everything okay. I hope you all have had a great year as well, and wish everyone the best in 2010. Thank you for being a part of our journey this year and please stick around for the ride next year.

On a side note, I encourage everyone to click on the "Journey to Me" blog link to the right. Please keep Heather Moore and her son Eli in your prayers. Although a few years apart, Heather and I grew up across the street from each other. Her son is only a month old but is fighting through some major health issues and desperately needs God's intervention. Check out her blog for their story.

Also to the right are links to my Facebook photo albums. You don't have to be a Facebook member to view them, so browse through and check them out since I don't post very many photos on here.

Here's a few photos from this past week...

Asleep in her swing...it never fails, if she is being fussy and won't calm down we can put her in there and she'll fall right asleep. Best babysitter ever!


Happy baby in her Christmas outfit. She's really smiling a lot lately, and every time is better than the last. Love it!

Merry Almost Christmas!

Only 4 more days til Riley's first Christmas, woo hoo! Unfortunately, we didn't get the early Christmas present we were hoping for last week. Because Riley isn't gaining much weight, Dr. Riva opted not to take her off the oxygen yet. I don't really agree with the decision, but alas I am not a doctor so I have to live with it. Even though Riley has been able to go without the O2 for long periods at night (when the tubes come out of her nose) and her saturation remained high, she explained that she might be taking extra breaths to make up for it, which burns more calories, which keeps her from gaining weight. So she needs to show that she can gain weight on the O2, so that if they take her off the O2 they'll know if it is the reason she isn't gaining weight. Dr. Riva wanted to go another 2 months, but after my objecting we are going back in 1 month. Hopefully with Pam home now, and the possibility that Dr. Nichols will put her on some formula next week, Riley will start to pack on the weight the way she used to.

She also had a follow up vision screening last week, and passed with flying colors. We'll have to go back in 6 months (and probably every 6-12 months throughout her childhood). No more appointments this week, and only one planned next week is the pediatrician to check her weight and discuss adding formula to her diet to help with calorie intake. We've also been mixing in a bit of rice cereal to get her used to having stuff in her mouth. She seems to do okay with it and actually swallow it sometimes not just play with it.

Pam was told she didn't have to serve out her remaining two weeks at work, so she's started her SAHM (I guess that's the acronym for Stay-At-Home-Mom) status sooner than planned. She's been keeping busy with Riley and today even got lots of holiday baking done. This next two weeks should be fun for us. Already had one Christmas on Saturday night, since Pam's sister-in-law and nephew will be out of town when her family gathers at our house on Christmas morning. We'll head over to my parent's Friday afternoon, then back over there again on Saturday for the extended Skach family Christmas. Will be exciting for everyone to see Riley, some were able to see her in the hospital but many haven't ever met her. Then next week I'm taking some vacation time so will be able to hang out at home all week with my two ladies. Hope to get some projects done around the house, and get some good relaxation in. Then we'll get to celebrate our first New Year's Eve as parents! I'm told that usually results in going to bed before midnight, but we're hoping to keep that from happening.

We took our Christmas photos last week, and finally got our cards out in the mail today...after many takes (never realized how hard it is to get 2 adults, 1 baby, and a dog to all look and smile at the same time) this was our best shot:
Also included with our cards this year, Pam finally got Riley's birth announcements done and included them. I think they turned out great! Being married to a graphic designer really has its perks sometimes...

Here's another cute one from the yesterday. Riley doesn't enjoy laying down anymore, but loves to sit up and check out the world around her. She'll sit there and look around wide-eyed for long stretches of time. Can't wait to see what her inquisitive mind does once she becomes mobile.

Stay at home mom

This week marked another major event in our lives. After much discussion, and surprisingly few arguments, Pam turned in her notice at McCurdy and as of Christmas will officially be a stay-at-home mom. She tried returning to work a few days a week at the beginning of December, while my Mom watched Riley, but it wasn't working out very well so we decided this was the best option. My Mom did great, but Riley still is having trouble feeding, and with all her doctor appointments and everything else it just seemed Pam would not be able to fully concentrate on work and return full time for quite awhile. She is looking forward to being at home to attend to Riley's every need, but will definitely miss all the great people at McCurdy she has worked with over the past 2 1/2 years.

No major appointments this past week, but coming up on Tuesday is the one we've been looking forward to for awhile - Dr. Riva, the pulmonary specialist. We are hoping that she will tell us we are done with the oxygen and the saturation monitor. It is likely we will still need it part of the time, probably during the night and maybe feedings as well, but we'll find out for sure in a few days. On Wednesday, she has a follow-up with Dr. Whitfil, the eye doctor. Because she has been on oxygen so long, there is still the posibility of retinal damage, but unlikely because of the low levels she has been on - plus throughout her NICU stay she had several tests and always passed with flying colors, so we are expecting positive results there as well.

Riley's been getting out and seeing more of the world these past few weeks. We've taken her shopping a few times, but have done our best to keep her from being exposed to too much. She has also been to a few more of my basketball games, and really seems to enjoy all the lights, sounds, and action.

I'll try to post again later this week after the appointments, with hopefully some very good news. In the meantime, here's this month's "Riley and Baxter" photo...she hasn't gained much weight, but is definitely getting longer!

Happy half-year birthday!

As of 8:49pm tonight, Riley is officially 6 months old. It's been such an adventure, hard to remember what life was like before!

Yesterday was Riley's BAER hearing test. It was supposed to get done before she left the hospital, but kept getting delayed. They had to sedate her to do it, so it made for an interesting day for Pam and Riley. They had to get there at 7:45am, even though the appointment was at 9am, and didn't end up leaving until 2pm - and Riley wasn't able to eat the entire time! Just like her Daddy, it took a whole lot to knock her out, and even then she woke up during one of the last tests so they weren't able to get all the results they wanted. They want to see her again in 6 months just to make sure she continues to do okay.

Tomorrow morning is her 6-month appt with Dr. Nichols, the pediatrician. I think she'll be getting her 6 month shots, and another round of RSV. Hopefully they'll be able to help with some of the feeding problems we've been having. Latest issue is Riley's hatred of the bottle. She'll be doing just fine, but as soon as the bottle touches her lips she starts screaming. Made feeding time not very fun, and she's not eating near as much as she should since she fights it so much.

Not much else to tell, but wanted to make sure we recognized this great milestone. Only 6 more months and we can throw a big party!

Thanksgiving and Riley's baptism

It has been another very eventful week for Riley. She celebrated her first Thanksgiving surrounded by tons of family. Both my family and Pam's family went to my parents house here in Wichita for an afternoon dinner. She had tons of visitors on top of family, with all the neighbors stopping by to see the little miracle baby they have heard so much about. It was great to be able to show her off, and she handled all the attention really well.

Today we (finally) had Riley's Baptism. We would have like to have done it sooner, but for obvious reasons it took awhile to get around to it. My younger brother and sister, Michael and Jill, are now officially her Godparents. Thank you to everyone who were able to attend and help celebrate the occasion. Despite having tons of visitors and all kinds of attention, she did very well. One of the gifts we received was from Pam's mom and sister - a professionally bound book with photos and excerpts from this blog! It is really neat, and helps tell Riley's story and documents her amazing journey. Very touching...

Pam and Riley did pretty well without me during my trip to St. Louis the week before last. 4 days alone with each other, I figured Pam would have gone insane but managed to hold it together. Next week starts a new chapter in our attempt to return to life as normal, as Pam is going to return to work a few days a week. My mom has graciously offered to come over on Mon/Wed/Fri to watch Riley so Pam can phase herself back in at McCurdy.

Rainbows hasn't been out in a few weeks to work with her, as the therapist was sick the week before last and then the holiday created another week off. This coming week she'll have them out here, along with an appointment to see the pediatrician and get her 6 month shots. She has been progressing well, but feedings have become a bigger pain - she isn't fussing near as much but even though she is "sucking", she still barely manages to get 3 oz. down in 30-45 minutes. She has also started to throw up a lot more - usually a few times a day. Given that I had a hiatal hernia as an infant, and threw up just about every feeding, this is de-ja-vu for my mom! Hopefully the speech therapist and/or pediatrician will be able to help with this, since her weight gain has slowed down quite a bit. She has started to roll a little bit more, and is smiling a lot. It is very rewarding when playing and talking with her to get a little smirk or grin - but we've already figured out it is nearly impossible to catch it with the camera! Have been lucky to catch a few, but none of the "really good" ones.

Friday was Pam's 28th birthday, so we finally got her out on the town for the first time in awhile. She even had a few "adult beverages" - her first since before last Christmas! Pam's mom and sister babysat Riley so we could get out of the house and we are very grateful, Pam really enjoyed getting out for a bit.

This Wednesday (Dec 2nd), Riley will be 6 months old. We are parents of a 6 month old. Riley is halfway to 1 year old. How is this possible? Has it really been that long? In a few weeks, it will be a year since we got pregnant. Wow, life has really changed in the last 12 months. We have grown so much as people, as a couple, and as a family. And we have the gray hairs to prove it, haha!

Here's a few pictures from Thanksgiving and Baptism...check out more at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7231&id=100000166685595&l=343eb9eba1

All smiles lately! She's learned Mommy and Daddy's voices and lights up when she hears them.

Me and Riley with her cousins Landon and Makena at Thanksgiving...all 3 Skach grandkids!

Getting baptized by Fr. Orr

So cute in her baptism dress. She did real well and didn't cry at all!

Godparents Michael and Jill with Riley at Baptism.

With my parents and Pam's mom at the Baptism.

24 weeks old

This past week has made us realize how much our life has changed since Riley came home. Instead of hustling to get home from work, eat dinner, and get to the hospital - as was our routine for the first 4 months after Riley was born - we now are very lazy and don't do a whole lot in the evenings. But yet time flies by just the same...I can't believe how quickly bedtime comes even though we don't really do anything.

Riley got her first RSV shot this week, handled it pretty well too. We were expecting her to at least be a little fussy, or something, but it was business as usual for her the rest of the day. Rainbows came out a few times again this week, gave a few tips to Pam to help the feedings. Trying a few different things since Riley can still be a real pain when eating sometimes. I've all but given up on giving her bottles myself, its become more evident that only Pam has the touch.

This next week will be a challenging one for us. I'll be gone on a business trip from Tuesday to Friday, so Pam and Riley will be all alone for 4 days/3 nights. Other than another Rainbows appointment on Wednesday, should be a pretty uneventful week for her - and luckily we have tons of friends and family closeby should Pam need anything. And with snow looming over us the first part of the week, I'm sure Pam won't mind being stuck inside the whole time.

We did finally set Riley's Baptism date - will be Nov 29th, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, at Resurrection Catholic Church here in Wichita. It will be immediately after the 11am mass, and everyone is welcome. Afterwards, we are probably going to have some sort of small reception at our house for the family. My brother and sister, Michael and Jill, will be Riley's Godparents.

I know I like to throw out dates and milestones, but here's another one for you - 6 months. It's been that long since Pam's water first broke and this whole adventure first started. It's been such an eventful half-year, I can't imagine what the next 6 months will hold...

Pam's been wanting to create birth annoucements (yes, just a little late), so she took a few black-and-white photos for a design she was working on. Here's a few of the best ones...

5 months old, and Happy Halloween!

I know there's probably several of you out there that are upset with me...2 weeks without a blog post is a first. And judging by the fact I'm still getting 20-30 visitors a day on this thing, there are a lot who have been hoping for an update over the past week. But rest assured, I didn't forget about you - our lives have just been pretty boring...and yet busy at the same time?

Halloween weekend was a fun one for us. Started off on Friday with some trick-or-treating at my office. We have a tradition where all the employees bring in their kids (and grandkids, etc.) to try and score some free candy from all of us, so after some begging from a few in the office we decided to go ahead and bring Riley in. Kept her in my office and didn't take her around to everyone in the building to keep from exposing her to too much, but everyone got to poke their head in and meet the little miracle they've all heard so much about. Didn't do much on Saturday (Halloween day) since she is still a little young to actually hunt for any candy - and no, we didn't really have a costume for her, just a cute jack-o-lantern onesie (see below) for her to wear. Sunday (Nov 1st) was my dad's birthday, and also our turn to take the gifts up at Church so we opted to take Riley to Resurrection for the first time and had my parents tag along to help escort us up. I didn't get a good picture of Riley in her Sunday dress, as we were rushed both before and after mass. She did really well during Church though, in fact slept through the entire thing.

After Church, we took a calculated risk and decided to bring her to my basketball game as well. There usually aren't very many people there, and she stayed in her stroller the whole time so it turned into a great opportunity to get her and Pam out of the house. She was good luck for me too, as I hit my first 4 3-pointers with my little inspiration in attendance! We ended up losing, but that's not very uncommon for us...

This week was a little less eventful - only thing to report on was her follow-up with Wesley's OT/PT department. Somewhat redundant with the PT she is receiving from Rainbows, but they worked with her a little more and gave us some more exercises to do with her to try and loosen up the stiffness in her legs and arms. They also said to increase the amount of "tummy time" and work to keep her on the back of her head more, so we bought a special head pillow (looks like a donut) to try and prevent her head from going to one side or the other while she sleeps.

The weather has been nice enough these past two weeks that Pam and Riley have taken a few walks during the day. The oxygen tank fits just perfectly underneath the stroller, so we don't have to wheel the cart around with us. So far, Riley seems to enjoy it and sleeps most the time. Its good exercise for Baxter too, since he doesn't get played with or taken on walks as much as he's used to. And judging by the weight he has gained since his last vet appointment (up to 104 lbs!), he could use a few more of these walks.

Next week, we have two more appointments with Rainbows, both PT and Speech therapy (bottling) coming out to work with her. After that, nothing until December. We are going to try and schedule her baptism for the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but haven't talked to the Church yet.

On Monday (Nov 2nd), Riley hit 5 months old. I know I say this with every milestone, but WOW! I can't believe it has been 5 months already. Also, yesterday was exactly 1 month since we finally got to bring our angel home. Looking at this blog, 63 posts so far and over 5700 visitors, it is amazing how much support has been generated by this website. I started it as a way to keep from sending out mass emails to my family, and slowly it has made its way to so many people. It has helped me keep my sanity throughout the ordeal, forced me to pay more attention and ask more questions when speaking with the medical staff, and really been a stress reliever more than anything. I hope you all have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed typing it. I'm thinking of printing out all these posts into a book for Riley, and when she is a teenager and mouthing off we will have some leverage to remind her how much we have gone through for her, haha!

Here's a few pics from the past two weeks:

Sleeping beauty....

Happy Riley! She's starting to smile every once in awhile...hoping to see more and more of it and she grows
Riley and big brother Baxter going on their first walk together.

Riley looking festive in her Halloween outfit. Not a great pic, but she wasn't wanting to hold still for this one.

After another bath...looking so cute without the oxygen! Hopefully only another month before we can look like this all the time.

As promised, here's Riley with Baxter again. Hasn't grown a whole lot in the last month, up to a little over 12 pounds.

To view even more photos, check out these two albums on my facebook (you don't have to be a facebook member to view):
Riley Alexis Skach (photos during her hospital stay)
Riley - album #2 (photos since she came home)

Riley-head the bobble-head

Another week down at home at things are still going great. I'm not kidding when I say she really is an easy baby! Of course everyone keeps reminding me that it will surely change at some point. This week she has been sleeping great at night, going around 7 hours almost every night. Really makes it easy on both of us, allowing us to get good sleep. During the day she is awake about half the time, and usually does pretty good just looking around, staring at different things (the ceiling fan and the painting on our wall, mostly). Her nickname has become "Riley-head the bobble-head" because of her wobbly neck as she is trying to hold her head up and look around. She's getting real good at it, but can only hold if for seconds before flopping over. She gets fussy every once in awhile, which seems that she already has us trained to answer her whimpers by picking her up and giving the pacifier, which she really loves. Bottling is still hit and miss, sometimes she does great and others she really fights and fusses. Her cries are slowly getting louder, as her vocal cords catch up to where they should be at this age, but still pretty hoarse.

Rainbows United came to see Riley this week. For those of you that aren't familiar with them, they are a non-profit organization, mostly funded by government grants and donations from the United Way. We were set up with them from the beginning so they can help follow her developmental progress once she came home. On Wednesday, one lady came by to do paperwork and on Thursday they sent a speech therapist (who also handles bottling), a physical/occupational therapist, and another PT student. After observing her for a little while, they said they would like to continue seeing her on a regular basis, here in our home. She is doing great, but does have some stiffness in her legs and some other slight physical development issues that they will help her work through. As time goes on, they will do other tests to make sure mental development stays on track too. If need be, we'll be set up with them through 3 years old, free of charge.

We took a huge step tonight, and left her with my parents while we got to go out to dinner - a first for us since she came home. Since she has been so easy to take care of, and most of our concerns of any major issues happening have been calmed, we figured now was a good time to try it...plus I was REALLY craving some Red Robin burgers, fries, and milkshake all week!

Next week we're going to try a few more things...might take her to my office on Friday for family trick-or-treating in the afternoon. Don't really want to get her around lots of people (and therefore germs), but figure if we do take her, we can stick her in my office and people can poke their head in...don't need lots of people too close or any kids, but I know tons of people are wanting to see her. Jury's still out on whether we will do it or not though. Then on Sunday, we are scheduled to take the gifts up at Church. I've been going to church alone on Sundays, while Pam stays home with Riley, but we might use this as our trial to see how she does in Church so we can have her baptized next month. Again, we really don't want to get her around a lot of people, but we can sit in the back corner where not a lot of people sit so shouldn't have as many worries.

Sorry, don't have any new pictures to post. Only took a few this week, but none that were any good. Will try and get some up by next weekend, will have to get a few of Riley in her Halloween outfit! Thank you again to all who have continued to follow Riley's progress and send their kindness in so many ways.

20 weeks old

Sorry its been over a week since I posted, the evenings have just been going by too quickly and I haven't taken the time. Last Tuesday, we went to see Dr. Riva, the pulmonary specialist. Didn't find out too much new information, but she did say that she didn't foresee any long-term problems with Riley, other than her likelihood to have asthma and be prone to lung disorders as a youngster. She also told us we could shut the monitor off during the day. We turned up her O2 level a bit, as Dr. Riva said she would rather her saturation be high all the time, than occasionally dipping low as it did on the lower setting. Since the monitor misfires more than anything when she is awake and active, she said we are a better monitor than the machine. So as a result, we only need it when we "aren't paying attention" (i.e. when we are sleeping). We will go back in two months to see her and hopefully be able to get rid of the oxygen.

Life at home as been pretty good. She is sleeping well during the night, usually about 4-5 hours at a time - and even went over 6 hours twice this weekend. This has made it pretty easy on us, since we haven't had to be in that "sleep deprived" stage at all. During the day, Pam has found ways to keep Riley occupied in her bouncy seat and swing so she can get other tasks done (laundry, cleaning, pumping, etc.) She has loved laying on her stomach and has gotten real good at holding her head up and looking around. When she isn't being fussy, she'll spend a lot of time just looking around and taking it all in. She has even begun batting at the toys hanging in front of her in her seat. She turns exactly 20 weeks old today, which is about 4 1/2 months and is about 7 weeks "adjusted age". Given her situation, she has a lot of 4 month old traits and a lot of 1 month old traits. It's been fun seeing the balance.

We were able to go through all her clothes and diapers and return a bunch of stuff last week. Found a bunch of outfits that she had already outgrown, and were able to take back all the preemie and newborn diapers that weren't opened. She is already in size 1 diapers, and her clothes are a mix of Newborn and 0-3 months, depending on the brand. Looking at those preemie onesies that we had already opened and washed, they look like doll clothes! Guess we'll try and donate them to the hospital or something.

Yesterday, she even surprised us with another milestone. She rolled over! Pam had her on her stomach with her arms under her holding her up. At one point she kind of leaned to one side and fell to her back. Not sure if this counts as "rolling over" but we'll count it! Proud of her either way.

We also want to say a huge THANK YOU to my cousins Christal and Michelle for organizing the steady flow of home cooked meals for us, and to all our friends who volunteered to help as well. Not having to worry about what or when to eat has been a huge help, and we really appreciate it.
Here's a few pics from the past week...

Aunt Laura (Pam's sister) holding Riley for the first time.

Tummy time...she's gotten real good at holding her head up, such a strong neck!

After bath time...so cute without those darn tubes and patches!

Grandpa holding Riley.