In Aven's news

As far as our sweet baby girl goes, the docs have narrowed down the infection to two places. She has an infection in her urine and in her lungs which the docs for now are just generalizing as pneumonia. Her blood pressures are stable and there isn't really anything else of note to report. She is still on dopamine and epinephrine, but they have started to ween her off of both these medications in very small amounts. They are doing x-rays two times a day to make sure that nothing is growing or acting up in any other way. No new news in the head bleeding department and her bruised abdomen is starting to look very good and fill in with color. More news as it comes in.

And the straw that broke the camel's back

So last night around 10:45 pm we received a call from my father-in-law saying that our car, which had been parked legally on the shoulder of 35th avenue, had been smashed by a drunk driver. Needless to say this was the best news we've had all week, Aven being the exception. Luckily we had up to date insurance information in the glove compartment and so we didn't have to do anything. This morning we went to the towing company's yard and found that our Saturn had indeed been totaled. The rear windshield had been completely smashed out and the driver's side rear door had bee smashed up to the driver's door, almost. The trunk had been pushed almost completely up to the back seat. Nobody was in the car when it got hit and nobody was injured, not even the retarded drunk driver, too bad. Here is some eye candy that we took today when we saw the car to get all of our belongings out of it.

Forgot about Dre... I mean Isis

Hey everybody. Just thought I would update the blog for everybody to know what's going on. I got a call last night from a doc at the hospital and they told us Aven's blood pressure was really low and had been all day. The doctor told us that she wasn't responding to any medications and asked how far away we were. Needless to say, when you hear a doctor ask you to come to the hospital it really freaks you out. Brandy and I left immediately after the phone call and headed straight towards the hospital in Denver.

The trip down there was very nerve-racking and full of confused emotions. You can't help but think the worst when your kids are on the line. Brandy and I got there and my parents arrived about 15 minutes later. Aven was on a dopamine drip and now a constant epinephrine drip as well, not good. My dad and brother in law Chris gave her a name and a blessing for the sick. Her blood pressure immediately went back up into a more desired range and stayed there all night and into this morning.

When Brandy and I woke up from sleeping at the hospital her numbers were looking great! How marvelous a feeling to have your baby doing so much better from modern medicine and the power of prayer. The doctors know that she has an infection and now we are just waiting to hear back from them as to where and what type it is. We have been checking in with her nurses all day and our precious baby girl is doing great, thanks for everything that everybody has done in this time of confusion and heartbreak for us.

In Isis news, we think he is suffering from some sibling rivalry... already. So a few days ago we bought him some new toys. One of them is a remote-controlled indoor helicopter. Isis and daddy have a balst playing with it and it is a good tool to use to teach him patience, yeah right, and sharing since daddy thinks it is just as cool as Isis. Here is a video to show what Isis and daddy do during flight time, enjoy:

NO HEART PROBLEMS

So one of the issues that the doctor had told us about was that their is a duck in the heart that sometimes does not close in babies this early. Not knowing if it would close on its own or how bad it could really effect her we worried a bit as that her heart is the size of a marble. Well they did an ultra sound yesterday and her heart has closed properly. Isis really likes to go and see her. He gets really mad when he can't hold her or take her to her room. He really is being so sweet with her right now and I know he will be a good big brother. Aven has also been taken out from under the lights as her color is so much better.

An update

So there isn't really a whole bunch to say as far as an update goes. Aven was placed on an oscillating breathing machine on Wednesday and was taken off of it yesterday. That particular machine breathed 300 times a minute for her and she responded very well. They also did an ultrasound on Wednesday and found some bleeding in her head, which could be from her ventricles or it could be from an infusion that they gave her. They are supposed to do another one today to see if the bleeding has gone down or if it remains constant. That is all the major news as of now, stay tuned.

Bying time...

So we had a couple of conversations with doctors about me and the baby today. Aven has a small bleed in her head - very common for a baby at her age. They will monitor it and if it starts to effect her we will relieve the pressure and if there is no effect it will just go away as needed - Just need to wait and see. She is also having a small problem releaseing carbon dioxide from her body - so they have her on a new ventalator to help - it is tad on the uncomfortable side so she is sidated currently. But all in all she is so tough and holding her own. It will be a long road. She is perfect.

I am having some different hormones and kidney levels tested - to see maybe if there is an underlying factor to my kidney issues or still just the effects of the preeclampsia.

Thanks again for all of your support - prayers and care that you have given. I am glad that my husband can go to dinner at members house to have a semi normal night - and that everyone has sent us their best.

Still hanging out

Well Aven is still hanging in there doing great - They came and got permission for a transfusion if she needs it at any time - she is anemic and does not produce well at this stage - of course she is my daughter I am anemic as well. Of They are taking her off of some of the anti-biotics and she is looking to have an ultra sound on her heart just to make sure that it is all closed right - if not she could have to have this anytime in the future but we dont know that it will even be an issue yet - my sister had this fixed at lit age two - so we wont stress it till we are told to. It turns out that they are waiting on a few of my levels to stablize a bit better to make sure my body is coming back to normal. I will be here for today as well and maybe on my way home tomorrow. Thank you again for all your prayers - Love you

By request of the mother...

Here are most all of the pictures we have of our sweet baby girls as of now. I had to get creative with photoshop with one of them to be sure it was 'modest'...

So I talked to my sister in law this afternoon and promised an update - I also told Ethan to put up the pictures from the camera -

So really what is new - Not much - I am feeling well and will be on my way home tomorrow - Aven will be here a while as she continues to grow and get big. However she is a TROOPER - everytime we talk to the docs they give us a heads up on some the the bad scarythings that they will check her for - but she is yet to have any - THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS- as I KNOW that this is why - GOD is GOOD. They will check her to see if her heart murmur is closing tomorrow and we will know tomorrow night - other that that if it does not we really just have to see how much of an issue it will be as far as fixing it - but as of now she is a healthy girl. I will post again soon adn get some updated pictures. Love you all and thank you

Some minor details about the delivery...

We were moving rooms last night and when we got settled into the room the nurse strapped on the monitors to listen to Aven's heart. About 7 minutes later a team of about 7 docs came in and rushed to Brandy. Needless to say I was freaked out, no joke the most scared I've ever been in my whole life. They were able to find the heartbeat again and it was back up around 148 bpm. She dropped twice again in a matter of 15 minutes and on the third drop they came in and told us that they had decided to perform an emergency c-section. From first drop to her being born all happened in about 45 minutes. They took her to the NICU immidiately and I was with her the whole time. She has 2 IV's and all sorts of thingys hooked up to her. She is doing GREAT and everything about her is in excellent condition, for a 25 week old baby, she still hasn't opened her eyes though which is too bad because I am very excited to see if it will be another brown-eyed Brandy baby. More info as it comes..

Avendesora Haylen Mondy

Hello everybody. Our daughter was born at 10:53 pm @ University Hospital in Denver. She weighs 1.5 pounds and is 13 inches long. Her body is in perfect condition and lungs and everything else is working at 100% so far with absolutely no complications to speak of. It's late, Brandy and I are exhausted, here is some eye candy for now. A special thanks for everybody that prayed for us, I KNOW that it helped.

Ethan

Back on the roller coaster

We just got the new test results back and the level is now at a 1.43 wich is the biggest jump since we've been here but on the flip side she is still below the 1.5. So we don't know if she will be back on the 6 hour test yet or not. We haven't talked to the doctor yet but if there is anything of note to report I'll post is asap.

So my 6 am 4-18 results took a while to come back but down still further to a 1.33- they dropped my observation to 12 hours instead of 6 so no more test till 6 pm on 4-18 - I will just keep trucking away and let god do as he knows best.

So Ethan has been doing great with the updates here - he is now sleeping and I am up so here goes....
We were very worried that my creatine level (Kidney function) was going to cause me to have this baby early. We checked at 6 pm on 4-17 and I actually dropped from a 1.45 to a 1.39 the danger level is a 1.5. I was checked again a midnight and fell yet again to a 1.36. I AM keeping this baby in there as long as possible and want to let everyone know that is praying - THANK YOU and I KNOW that God has ANSWERED our PRAYERS. We are currently waiting for our 6 am 4-18 test results and wanting this backward trend to keep up. I and or Ethan will post any thing we know as we know it. I do get to shower today - which has me so every excited - I kinda feel the funk.

Down again!

Brandy has a new protein level of 1.39! So this is great news, as every day and hour the baby can stay in is a blessing. We want to thank everybody again for keeping us in your prayers and thoughts. Not too much else is going on so more info as it comes in.

Protein levels

Brandy has a certain protein that is really high at the moment. I'm not sure what scale is used to measure it but if it gets as high as 1.5 they will be delivering the baby. Right now it is at 1.45 and 6 hours ago it was at 1.42. The Neonatoligist came in and spoke to us about what to expect from the baby as well as what some possible complications could be and the medications and tests to find and fix them. Of course, learning disabilities are increased being so premature. She has a good weight, and is a girl which helps for survival. There isn't anything else that the docs can do and I'm being told that Brandy also has developed an infection just now so that's obviously not good. Thank you to everybody who is keeping us in their prayers and thoughts. The next protein test is at 6 p.m. and I'll let mom know what the results are.

Some good news...

The docs came in and talked to Brandy and I about the overall situation and gave us some hope. Overall there are many things that they are looking for. Those include blood pressure, protein level, and much more. They said that she has elevated levels overall but she is still manageable. There is a possibility that the baby could still come anytime but right now Brandy's body is taking it all in stride and doing the best it can. If we can hold out even for 2 more weeks the survival rate more than doubles so we're hoping and praying. Right now we're looking at about 45-80% survival and next week we will be looking at 60-90%, so obviously the longer the better. Baby is doing great, with a good heart rate and is still moving a ton, which we're told is VERY good. Her Bp is 140/93 currently and everything else is doing ok. More information as we get it.

Headaches, it's always the headaches!

So the latest is the Brandy has developed some headaches and this could potentially be very bad. Basically a headache with this disease can lead to spotty vision and blindness. Not permanently, but it can cause serious damage to mom and in turn baby. So as of right now, we are potentially being delivered in the next few hours, assuming the headache does not go away. Brandy is convinced that it will, as she states that she talked to the baby, and she will be grounded. But kids will be kids and will do what they wish. More updates as we get them. See this link to learn more about Brandy's condition. http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/understanding-preeclampsia-eclampsia-basic-information .

At University Hospital in Denver

Hello everybody. I figure this might be as fast a way as any to update everybody as to what is going on with Brandy and the baby. As of right now, the doctors are hoping to stabilize her position for at least a few more weeks, but they don't think it'll be much longer than that. Brandy had pre-eclampsia with Isis too but not until much later in the pregnancy. They were doing an ultrasound yesterday and Brandy found out, all by herself, what we were having. So we lucked-out and are having a baby girl. Brandy is pretty sensitive to one of the medications that they are giving her called magnesium sulfate. It helps prevent seizures and acts as a muscle relaxant to lower her blood pressure, which at one point yesterday was around 169/111. This morning I checked on it again and was back down around 130/86, so it is good to see that it is going down. The blood pressure is really important to watch because that is what will cause her to have seizures. As far as baby goes, she is very healthy, for a 24 week old, and is also being monitored. Heart rate and movement we are told look even a little advanced for a baby of her gestation. So all of those things are very comforting to know, that she will be as best as she can when it's time for her to come. We arrived at the hospital around 3:30 p.m. They started Brandy on a 24 hour urine test to measure her protein levels and right away they noticed it was VERY high. As far as tests and status goes, that's about it. Nothing to excited to report, but that's okay because that means that mom and baby are doing as best as they can. If any new tests or events happen I'll post them here as soon as I can, so subscribe and stay posted.