Etta's Journal

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANA!!!!!

Well... Daddy felt MUCH better today! Whew! So far Mommy and I haven't shown any signs of being sick (fingers crossed). Daddy wanted me to mention that his temperature went ALL THE WAY to 102.02! Poor guy.

Today Mommy and Daddy took me to Home Depot. Mommy wanted some new flowers and Daddy needed some twine and some bird seed. We have a new BIG family of finches that happily hang out in our back yard and they eat A LOT of bird seed. We're happy to have them! We didn't see much wildlife last summer, so Mommy and Daddy are trying really hard to attract some birds to our yard this year. chirp, chirp!

Oh! Poor Daddy! He's caught a nasty stomach bug. UGH! It actually seems like the exact thing Mommy had three weeks ago. He's also running a bit of a fever, so Mommy won't let me near him and she's been running around like a crazy woman spraying everything with Lysol! We're even going to sleep out in the living room tonight so Daddy can keep his germs to himself!

Today was my second outing ever (not counting the trip to the pediatrician on Monday)... Mommy took me to Publix! I slept through the whole thing, of course. But the new thing today was the Peanut Shell sling that Mommy used to carry me around the store. I was getting sleepy on the way to the store and I don't seem to like falling asleep in my car seat (or anywhere that isn't on Mommy or Daddy's chest). So, I was getting fussy as we pulled into he parking lot. Mommy got me out of the carseat and put me in the peanut shell and I was asleep by the time she walked into the grocery store! I LOVE my Peanut Shell (thanks again Stewart family)!

I was happy that today was Friday. This meant that when Daddy got home, it was officially the weekend! He held me most of the night and gave me my 2:30am bottle (which Mommy was grateful for). I just love my Daddy and he loves me a lot too! I catch him staring at me sometimes with a grin on his face. Soon, I'll be able to smile back!

Well, Mommy and I didn't do much today. We mostly just ate and slept. Actually... it's 6:45pm and she's still in her pajamas! Oh, and I got a bath today! My hair is sticking up all over the place because it's so clean!

Tuesday, I had a bunch of visitors! Becky, Grandma Marsh, Jill, and Matt came over and passed me around. When they left, Mommy's friend, Ms. Mollie, came over to see us. Mommy was excited to see Ms. Mollie, since she moved really far away a year ago and was in town visiting.

On Wednesday, Mommy's friend, "Auntie" Rae, came up from Huntsville to see us. She spent most of the day here and she got lots of good sqeezes in!
When she left, a lady (Yolanda) from TEIS (Early Intervention) came to do an intake. Soon, another person will come out to do an assessment to decide which services I may require.

Tomorrow, Mommy's thinking about taking me on my first trip to the wonderfulness she calls Publix.

I had my first visit with my regular pediatrician today. She was very nice and already knew a lot about me!

I still weighed 5 lbs 13 oz (what I weighed Wednesday night), but Dr. Hood wasn't too concerned with that yet. She thinks that there could be a difference in scales and she's happy with the amount of milk I drink every day. She also listened to my heart and my lungs with her stethoscope and said I sounded good.

She wants me to come back in one week to weigh me again and to draw some blood (ouch!) for the Tennessee early screening AND to check my creatnine level again (since the number was still a little high when I left the hospital).

Then, after my appointment, Mommy and I came home and relaxed for the afternoon. Later in the evening, I had some mroe visitors! Amanda, Daniel, Katelyn, and Kevin came over to see me and they brought me presents! I was awake for a little of their visit, but then I got cozy in Amanda's arms and I fell asleep. As they were leaving, I woke up again because I was ready to EAT!

Tomorrow should be an easy day at home. On Wednesday afternoon, Tennessee Early Intervention Systems (TEIS) is coming over to do an assessment. Also on Wednesday, Mommy's friend Rae may come up for part of the day so she can squeeze on me! I can't wait to meet her!

Today was a big day! I had very long wakeful times and VERY long sleepy times. I got to meet Pop for the first time today! I also saw Granny Z, Grandmomma Mel and Granddaddy Rick when they all came over to visit me today!

I was asleep for most of their visit, but decided to wake up just as they were leaving. I was awake for a good hour and a half before Mommy and I crashed on the couch for a nice long cozy nap. When we woke up I was HUNGRY! I was sleeping so hard that I let myself go four-and-a-half hours between bottles!

Anyway, there are pictures from today in my photo album.

Etta had her first outting today!!

We got her started out right... we went to Target!

YUP!! Etta has COME HOME!!!!

Keith and I spent the night with her in the hospital last night. I got about an hour and a half of sleep. So, please forgive me if all I do is attach links to photos from today.


~HUGS~

Tiff, Keith, AND ETTA!!

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More steps in the right direction today!!

They discontinued her feeding tube AND they discontinued her oxygen today!!! YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Etta did a really great job taking all of her feeds by mouth and didn't require the NG tube! She still has a little trouble falling asleep half-way through a bottle, but we've been able to encourage her to stay awake by swabbing her face with a damp cloth. They have also added a high calorie formula to the breast milk in an effort to have her put on more weight. She's down to 5 lbs 13oz.

Also, her Echo from yesterday showed some improvement! The cardiologist was happy with the progress and did not think she required any additional medication... Just time. They would like to see her again in two months for a follow up. So, they took her off of the oxygen and she held her O2 saturation in the high 90's-100% all day today!

So, attached are links to photos of little Etta WITHOUT tubes/tape on her face!

Oh, and they think she'll come home Thursday or Friday....

Much love,
Tiff, Keith, and Etta

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Just a quick one...

Etta's attending physician went off rotation today and a new doctor came on. The new guy spent a while in her room this morning trying to understand Etta's treatment plan. He ordered another Echo today to take a look at her pulmonary hypertension and we'll know more about that at rounds tomorrow. He would like to see her weaned off of the oxygen and he is also interested in getting Etta off of the NG tube before sending her home. So, we're not sure if Wednesday is still the magic day, but it still sounds like it should be this week. They will probably still put her into a "Step-down" unit (when there's a room available) because she's ready for it. I'll be able to stay up at the hospital with her when they step her down.

She had another good day today. We were only there for the morning because I had an appointment with my OB at 1:00. Etta's been moved from the isolet to a crib! She was also wearing a little t-shirt today! Etta only took 2/3 of her 9:00am bottle and had to have 10mL's fed to her through her NG tube (it's tough to stay latched when you have the hiccups). BUT she took ALL of her bottle at her 12:00 and 3:00 feedings today! That was 49mL's!! She spent some time (about an hour) being alert and looking at me after her 9:00am bottle.

We'll know more about her treatment plan tomorrow after morning rounds. I'm packing an overnight bag incase they step her down tomorrow night.

~Hugs~

Tiff, Keith, and Etta

Happy Father's Day to all of the Fathers out there!! Today we celebrated Keith's first Father's Day! Etta gave him a sweet card and a few pictures of herself in a frame for him to take to work with him. Then, Keith and I headed up to Vandy and spent the day with our little one. She's doing really great, by the way!

Her kidneys aren't really an issue any more. Her Creatnine numbers are dropping and her urine output is officially in the "normal" range. So, YAY!

Etta's TSH came back high, so we're getting a consult from Edndocrinology tomorrow. She will probably require medication to keep her thyroid in check.

They have increased her feeds to 42mL every three hours. They have discontinued her TPN (the nutrition she received through IV), and have removed her PICC line (like a long term IV). So, she is only receiving nutrition through expressed breast milk!!! She hasn't actually taken to the breast, but I'm okay with that as long as she's getting breast milk. We'll keep trying. She still has the NG tube in her nose (the feeding tube). They aren't ready to remove it because Etta has been having a hard time staying awake for her whole bottle. There tends to be a little bit at the end of each feed that we have to put in the tube because she's just fallen asleep. In an attempt for more wakeful times during the day, the Dr's put her on a continuous feeding pump at night (this is given to her through the NG tube). It HAS helped in that she's more alert during the day, but she's alert at the wrong times and then has worn herself out by feeding times. It's a scheduling thing that we'll get worked out! Because of all of this, they will probably send her home with the NG tube.

Etta's still on oxygen, but not much. She went from 50mL yesterday to 25mL today and her O2 sats stayed in the 90's. So, the next step is to bump her down to 12.5mL and see how she handles it- then to take her off of the oxygen completely. They said that they would also send her home with oxygen if she still requires it, but we're hopeful that she won't. Her Echo on Friday showed that she still does have Pulmonary Hypertension, but that it's getting better. Her heart isn't as enlarged as before and they don't hear the heart murmer on physical examination. They may repeat the Echo before sending her home (or at least very shortly after they send her home).

So, I keep talking about Etta getting to come home. When might that be?!? Well, Dr. Carter said "next week" and I jokingly said that Wednesday would have been her due date and he said that Wednesday wasn't an unreasonable target. So, things have already been set into motion for a Wednesday release. Yahoo! She should get to "step-down" to Pod A (she's in Pod D) on Tuesday and I'll get to stay the night with her in the hospital before *hopefully* bringing her home on Wednesday. She's two weeks old today and has spent all of that time in the hospital away from us. We just can't wait to finally have Etta home with us!

We hope everyone had a great weekend!

Much love,
Tiff, Keith, and Etta

More pics!!

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Things are lookin' up! Etta had a really great day today. Her doctors are all very positive about the progress she's making. Her urine output is almost "normal" and her Creatnine levels are dropping. So, her kidneys are on the mend. Whoo Hoo! (Must have been Tammie and Jeanne's "Pee Pee" song!)

Etta has been weaned off of her Nitic Oxide and is only on about 30% oxygen. They plan to gradually wean her down to 21% (room air). She has been doing a really great job holding her O2 Saturation in the high 90-100%. This means that *hopefully* the NO has helped with the pulmonary hypertension. I asked Dr. Carter when he would repeat the Echo (so we would know that this FOR SURE worked) and he said "sometime before she goes home". So, I then asked, "and when do you think that might be?" He kinda half smiled at me and said that he would like to focus on getting her to only take her feedings from the bottle and not her NG tube and not the IV. He said her nutrition is about 50/50 IV and breast milk right now. He feels like she'll come home in 5-7 days. So, fingers crossed that she only continues to have better days!

She was very alert today, which actually made her too tired to finish a couple of her feedings by bottle. She wakes up hungry about 30 minutes before it's time for her to eat and by the time she gets her bottle, she's worn out and falls asleep half-way through. We ended up having to give her the last bit of two of her bottles through her NG tube today. BUT, we got some REALLY great pictures of her with her eyes open!

Happy clicking! ;)

Love,
Tiff, Keith, and Etta May



A photo of her room with all of her equipment:
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Well, there's nothing like a stomach bug to help shed that baby weight!! ;)



Here are a few new pictures. The first one was from Saturday and the rest are from today. enjoy!

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Hey guys!
Well, I caught a stomach bug sometime yesterday. No one else got it, but I guess I'm the most run-down of the group. I was up all night and this morning with diarrhea and vomiting. UGH! So, (obviously) I stayed home today and my mom went up to Vanderbilt to see Etta . She's been calling with updates. Keith has gone back to work, so I have to call and relay the updates to him.

Mom says that Etta looks great. They have weaned her Nitric Oxide down to 3 (they started at 20 yesterday) and her O2 Saturation continues to be stable. They plan to get her down to 2 and leave her there for a few days and repeat the echo toward the end of the week. It's great that she has kept good O2 saturation with the decrease in the Nitric Oxide. It seems to be a positive step forward.

Also, in the "positive step forward" category, they have increased how much milk she can have at each feeding. She's up to 15 cc's a feeding. The dr. wants her at about 45 cc's a feeding. She's latching and sucking like a champ and seems to still be hungry when she finishes her 15 cc's. So, they will probably increase her intake some more tomorrow.

Mom also said that Etta has been very alert today which could also indicate that the nitric oxide is working because she had been a bit sleepy/ lethargic the last couple of days.

Speaking of sleepy... I'm exhausted... time for a nap.

I'll post some more pictures soon!

love,
Tiff

Okay, we had a better day today. Glad I didn't have to spend my birthday on the brink of tears all day like I did yesterday!

When Keith and I arrived the kidney doctor was in the room examining Etta. She spoke to me for a while and basically said that she believes that Etta is on the mend. There are some numbers that are still high, but she thinks that they will peak and go back down again soon. She says her kidneys look good on ultrasound and she sounded very positive.

Just as she was walking out, the cardio tech walked in to do the Echo. I noted at that time that Etta's color looked really good and that her O2 saturation levels were 97-100%. She was still on 100% oxygen so that was keeping her stabilized.

Soon after the ultrasound, the doctors made rounds and we talked about her and I made better sense of what was going on with her heart. So, let me go back and add some more to my explaination of what's going on with her heart/lungs. When they did that Echo yesterday they discoverd the PDA was still a little open AND that she has pulmonary hypertension which is causing the right ventricle in her heart to work overtime. Here is some info I got off of a website (http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/UVAHealth/peds_hrnewborn/pph.cfm)

"Persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) is also known as persistent fetal circulation. In this condition, a newborn baby's circulation changes back to the circulation of a fetus, where much of the blood flow bypasses the lungs. The fetal circulation sends most of the blood supply away from the lungs through special connections in the heart and the large blood vessels. When a baby begins to breathe air at birth, this fetal circulation changes dramatically. The change in pressure in the lungs helps close the fetal connections and redirect the blood flow. Now blood is pumped to the lungs to help with the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. When a baby has lowered oxygen levels or difficulty breathing at birth, these changes may not occur and the baby's circulation returns back to the fetal system with blood directed away from the lungs. The lung pressure stays high. That is why this condition is called persistent pulmonary hypertension."

So, basically, she has some vessels in her lungs that have not fully dialated and they are causing her right ventricle to pump harder to get the blood through. It turns out that the fact that her PDA is still open is a good thing because it helps relieve some of the pressure in her heart.

So, to treat this, they tried pushing Oxygen last night and this morning. They compared today's Echo with yesterday's and found that there wasn't really a change. But the oxygen WAS keeping her O2 sats at about 100%. So, the doctors have decided that the next step is to put her on Nitric Oxide ("laughing gas") which should help dialate the vessels in her lungs. Yesterday they told us that they might have to intibate her if nitric oxide was required, but today they decided that since she was stable with the oxygen and she breathes on her won, they wanted to just give the nitrous through her nasal cannula. WHEW! So they started her on that today and they are going to keep it on her for two days and then do the Echo again. They seem pretty hopeful that this treatment will do the trick and open up those passageways. So, I'm hopeful too!

We hope everyone had a great weekend! Keith heads back to work tomorrow, but I'll still be spending my days up at Vandy with Etta and my Mom. Once again, than you for all of you thoughts and good wishes!

Love,
Tiff, Keith, and Etta

So, Etta didn't have such a great day today. When Mom and I arrived this morning, Etta looked pale and she had been put on oxygen. Her Oxygen Saturation (which should be about 100%) had taken a few dips into the 40's, 50's, and 60's during the night last night and had continued this morning. The oxygen helped the number hover in the high 80's to 100% today with a couple dips into the 50's throughout the day. Her lungs sounded clear and the doctor ordered a chest x-ray which also showed clear lungs.

Next, they ordered an Echo to check her heart. First of all I'd like to reassure everyone (as this news reassured me), the results of that ultrasound showed that her heart is structurally sound- that was good news. What they found was that her PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosis) was still slightly open and it was allowing fresh oxegenated blood to mix with old blood that was on its way back to the lungs to recieve more oxygen. So, she has been sending only partially oxygenated blood out to her body. Basically, all babies have a valve that usually closes when they take their first breath after they are born and Etta's didn't. Here is a link that has great info on PDA. http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/info/heart/diagnose/pda.htm The way they plan to treat this is by pushing more oxygen tonight and hoping it will close on it's own. They will do a repeat Echo in the morning to see how her PDA looks. If it still looks open or hasn't shown significant improvement, they will intibate her (put her on a ventilator) and give her nitrus oxide which *should* encourage the valve to close. They believe this will close on it's own if we give it time. If it doesn't correct itself, or if the intibation doesn't work, they may need to perform a surgery. This has only been presented to us as a slight possibility.

We did have some positive things happen today. Etta had a repeat ultrasound of her kidneys. They showed the kidney's to also be structurally sound. Tehnically she's in renal failure, but they feel that she's about to turn the corner. She still has not had much urine output, but it seems to get a little better each day.

Also, Etta took all of the bottles we offered to her today. She's doing better with her latch, but she still needs help getting that tounge out of the way so she can latch.

Etta did "pink up" and became more alert by the end of the day which told us that the increased oxygen was having a positive impact on how she was feeling. In addition, Etta seems to be getting better at maintaining her core tempurature so they left the top of the isolet popped up all day today.

It was an emotional day, but I felt better knowing that she looked pinker as we were heading home for the night. We hope tomorrow brings more positive steps.

I know several of you who live nearby have indicated that you'd like to come visit. While we can't wait for you to meet Etta, we ask that you please give us a few days to get her stabilized. We appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers you have sent our way. The outpouring of love and support has been tremendous.

Much love,
Tiff, Keith, and Etta

Hello everyone!!

So, day by day Etta gets better and better! Her kidney issues have been attributed to the antibiotic they were giving her and it is slowly leaving her system and she has been peeing more and more. Her output is about 1/3 of what it should be, but it has been improving daily.

We started feeding her bottles of expressed breast milk- which she's been doing for two days now (ever since we found out her bowels were fine). The amount she gets increases every day and she's up to 10 cc's at each feeding, with the ultimate goal being about an ounce and a half at each feeding (about 44 cc's). Tomorrow we're going to start trying to get her to latch on to the breast. As is common with DS babies, she has a large tounge and likes to poke it out a lot and also likes to stick it to the roof of her mouth. But she's doing really well with sucking (once she latches), which can sometimes be a DS problem.

After her kidney's clear up and after she masters feeding and as long as nothing else comes up, they'll discharge her. Not sure how long that will be, but there IS an end in sight! She'll be home before we know it!

Here are just a *few* more pics! ;)

Much love,
Tiff and Keith and Etta

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I was discharged from the hospital this morning!! We got up to Vandy around noon today and I was just SO ready to hold my new little baby! When we arrived, we learned that Etta had not urinated since about 5:00pm yesterday so there was a sonographer in her little room doing an ultrasound of her kidneys. There wasn't enough room for us to go in while they were performing the ultrasound so I had to wait EVEN LONGER to see her. It was excruciating and I was SO emotional! Finally, we were able to go in and see her. It took me a while to stop crying AND there was a doctor in there who was trying to update us and I am grateful that Keith and my mom were there because I didn't hear a word he said. I was too focused on touching Etta for the first time since her birth.

We spent some time with her until she had to go down for an Upper GI to look at her tummy issues. We went and ate while she was having her test done (I FINALLY got to have that turkey sandwich I had been craving for the last eight and a half months!!). When we got back up to her room, we met with a doctor from her "team" and got the update. Here's what we have learned today:

First of all.. her SURGERY that was scheduled for tomorrow has been CANCELLED! Yup! You read that right! They performed an abdominal ultrasound and then an upper GI and they have decided that there may not actually be an issue with her bowels at all! They have been able to see gas below the stomach and Etta has been pooping. So, they took out the tube that was going to her stomach and they are going to let me give her a bottle tomorrow and we're going to see how that goes. We're hoping she'll keep the breast milk down and digest it properly. FINGERS CROSSED!!

Secondly... her echo came back NORMAL!! No heart problem detected!!!!! Whoo Hoo!!

Third... Her kidneys look normal on ultrasound. They think the issue MAY be with an antibiotic she was given just after birth (it is given to ALL babies) that has a reputation for sometimes giving the kidneys a hard time filtering it. This is not a DS issue. They took her off of all of her nutritional supplements and are only giving her sugar water. They also started giving her a diuretic and she peed a teeny tiny bit just before we left his evening.

SO... All in all... we got a lot of great news today. We're hoping that this kidney issue is figured out and resolved and we hope she easily digests her milk tomorrow. I know we can't let ourselves get TOO hopeful, but maybe she'll come home sooner than we thought!

We took a TON of pictures today and it was REALLY hard to narrow it down... so I'm sending along A LOT of links! Happy clicking! :)



Me being discharged!
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=DSCN2523.jpg

Mommy and Daddy just can't stop touching her!
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=DSCN2535.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2882.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=DSCN2532.jpg

I finally get to hold her again
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=DSCN2538.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2893.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2900.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2915.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2925.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2924.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2905.jpg

I actually let Daddy hold her for a bit
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2935.jpg

Her "V"
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2883.jpg

Just Etta
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=DSCN2550.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=DSCN2560.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-03-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2962.jpg

Hello everyone!!

So, I noticed Etta was having a sluggish day yesterday (Sunday, June 1st) and we spent some time hooked up to a monitor in labor and delivery watching her heart rate. Her fetal activity was very low and the OB was concerned enough about this that we were rushed into an OR and Etta was delivered by emergency C-Section at 9:00 PM on June 1st. She weighed in at 5lbs 14oz and 18 inches long. Her APGAR scores were 7 for the first minute and 8 for the five minute (these were actually pretty good scores. It's out of 10). I got to see her for a brief second before they took her off to the nursery for some evaluations. Keith went with her while I stayed in surgery for about another 40 minutes getting all closed up.

Shortly after arriving to my room, Keith and the pediatrician showed up. The pediatrician told me that Etta does, in fact, have Down's Syndrome. There are many birth complications associated with Down's and it looks like Etta has one of them... but it looks like she only has one of them, and it is a very treatable one. Etta has a problem with her little bowels. The official name for it is "Duodenal Atresia". Basically when they did an x-ray, they found that no air would pass her stomach, but they found fecal matter PAST the site of the blockage. This indicated that the passageway was (at one time) open but it has somehow become blocked (either by an internal blockage or an external "tightening"). They won't know the cause until they are actually in the midst of the surgery.

I got to hold her for about five minutes before they took her back to the nursery to be prepped for her journey to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital up in Nashville. I got to see her again for about 3 minutes before they took her in her special "Angel" ambulance. 20 minutes later, Keith and his mom (a.k.a. Grandmomma Mel) went to Vanderbilt to be with her. After meeting with doctors, Keith went back home (at about 3:30am) to get some sleep and care for the animals. My mom and Bill arrived at the hospital a little after 2:00am and mom (aka V) stayed with me while Bill (aka Grandfather) went with Keith to stay at our house. I stayed awake all night, unable to sleep.

Today Keith took mom and Bill up to Vandy to meet Etta. They say she looks really good. The doctor noted that there could have been MANY things wrong with her as a result of the Down's, but was very pleased that there was only this one (very fixable) complication with her bowels. We are tentatively scheduled for surgery on Wednesday to diagnose and correct the problem. I say "tentatively" because we are waiting on the results of her echocardiogram. If there is a problem there, the heart trumps the bowels in need for surgery. But the physician didn't think there would be a problem.... we'll find out tomorrow.

I am being discharged first thing tomorrow morning so I can go to Vanderbilt and see Etta and hold her and bond with her. I've been pretty emotional about the fact that I have been separated from my baby and my OB recognizes the importance of being able to bond with a newborn. So, she's decided to release me a day early if I promise to take it VERY easy. ... I promise I will... SCOUT'S HONOR!!!

Anyway, I have typed this whole e-mail under the influence of Ambien (and 37 sleepless hours)... So, I'm sure I have left out some details and what-not. The one thing I promise NOT to leave out... PHOTOS!!!

I have had positive feedback from linking photos instead of attaching them as files. So, here are some of the links.

Thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts and words and prayers and sweet gifts that have been coming our way. We really do appreciate them!

Much love,
Tiff, Keith, and 26-hours-old Etta May Wenzler


PHOTOS:

Keith prepped for OR
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-01-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2810.jpg

Tiff on her way to the OR (the "thumb's up" is all an act. I'm really shaking uncontrolably from the nerves)
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-01-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2813.jpg

Screaming Etta- Just born
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-01-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2816.jpg

Granddaddy Rick, Grandmomma Mel, and Aunt Jessica look on as New Daddy holds Etta
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-01-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2819.jpg

Etta and her Daddy
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-01-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2820.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-01-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2821.jpg

Tiff gets a chance to hold Etta
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-01-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2822.jpg

The whole new family
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-01-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2825.jpg

Etta getting ready to transport to Vandy
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-01-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2826.jpg

Some pictures of her from today:
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-02-08/?action=view¤t=DSCN2506.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-02-08/?action=view¤t=DSCN2509.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-02-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2841.jpg
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/evans3007/Etta/06-02-08/?action=view¤t=IMG_2871.jpg