Puppy Love

There is nothing sweeter than getting covered in puppy kisses. There is a reason they call dog "baby's best friend"

Siblings for Life

This is girl is so loved. Not only does she have her "big" brother in heaven watching over her, she has a big sister and 2 more big brothers keeping her safe here. I have never seen this kind of love. Our oldest Luke has had some great quotes about her already. Everywhere from "Mom, why is Taylor Swift singing about my sister?" to "Dad wont have to worry, I'll beat up any boy that tries to date her".  My favorite of all though, was something he said just the other day. I caught him just staring at her with so much love in his eyes. When I asked if there was something wrong, he simply said "Mom, she is so cute, I just want to make sure I know what she looks like in case God wants her back, just like Jacob". No sadness in his voice, just pure joy at the sight of his baby sister home. You cannot tell me children do not understand God. My little 6 year old has a better understanding and peace about what God is doing, than anyone I have ever met. I hope one day I will be like him. But for now, I am just so thankful that Juliet has a big brother like that.

Baby Dedication

 Sunday April 28th, 2013 Brett and I stood in front of our church family and dedicated Juliet to the Lord. We agreed to raise her according the Word with the help of our church family. It was a wonderful day to present her to our family. They carried us through this pregnancy and the loss of Jacob by meals, hugs, and most importantly prayers. Juliet is on loan to us. She is not ours to keep. We are honored God has trusted her to us for this life, and we look forward to sharing her, her story, and Jacob's story for the rest of our lives. God has blessed us so much, and it was wonderful to be able to offer her back to Him. What a blessing she is!

First Ambulance Ride

 While no one likes being sick, you never realize how serious it is until you are being rushed down to the ER by ambulance with your mircro-preemie. All over a fever of 102.9 When Juliet was released from the hospital, they told us that if she ever got a fever over 100.4, we needed to get her seen by a doctor immediately  because of how fast it can progress in their little systems. Well, we learned the hard way how true that really is. Juliet had a fever of 99.1 at 4pm on April 22nd. We called her doctor and they told us to just watch her. If it stayed around that, we could stay home. As you have guessed, it did not.  By 8pm, her fever was the same but she thew up her her meal and was very cranky. We were checking her fever regularly, but when we went back to check it at 11:30pm, it was up 101.5. Within minutes, she went completely limp and begin having trouble breathing. An ambulance was here within 5 minutes of calling, and it took us only 15 minutes to make the 45 minute commute down to Dell Children's hospital. She had numerous blood tests, chest x-rays and a few other procedures to figure out what was going on.

While it was very scary, we tried to find joy in this trip, as we knew there was a reason God was allowing our little miracle baby to get sick. Our nurse came in to see her, whose name just happened to be Romeo. Then came in the doctor: a tall, blonde man who introduced himself as Dr. Kienstra. Brett and I both knew there was no way this was the same wonderful WOMAN who took care of our Juliet for 119 days while in the NICU. It was, however, her husband. We all had a good laugh about it and I wish I could have been at their dinner table the next night hearing the conversation. It turned out to be just a virus and after 5 hours of observation, we were allowed to come back home. It did however take a toll on her, and she managed to catch a nasty stomach bug, not once, but FOUR times within the next few weeks. She is now put back on lock down at the house until the end of May to allow her system time to recover and heal. This means we missed the March of Dimes walk, as well as the next few weeks of church and fun with friends. While its hard to stay at home 24/7, if that is what our little peanut needs, I will gladly do it without hesitation.

Dr. Appointments Galore!!

One thing is for sure: when you have a micro preemie, you spend A LOT of time going to and from doctor appointments. Juliet went back to see her GI doctor, Dr. Rangwalla, on April 27. We got some great news too! While we did not take her off her medication, we did not weight adjust it, which means the weaning process has started. As long as she tolerates it well, we will continue to wean her off both of her medications over the summer. If all goes to plan, she will officially be medication free by August 2013, at only 9 months of age! A week later, we went back to see the HR pediatrician  as well as all the therapist. Juliet is right on track for her development, with a slight delay in speech. Of course, once we got home, she started to babble, which means she was just being stubborn  She still has a very strong right preference, which means she always turns to the right. This could cause issues later as the muscles in her neck may not strengthen and lengthen correctly. We decided to start therapy for her neck now instead of waiting another 2 months for a later evaluation. As much as I wish she was not needing any therapy, I want to catch everything as quickly as possible to give her the best chance. We are hoping to start that therapy in the next few weeks. All in all, she is doing wonderful and we are looking forward to watching her as she begins to get more interactive and mobile.

Finally meeting Nana and Pop Pop

My parents were finally able to get down to see our precious little girl. They came for Jacob's funeral back in  November, but this was the first time since she came home. Juliet was still just a little over a pound when they saw her in person last time. What a difference! Everyone enjoyed the time together and it was great to have a few extra set of hands around the house!

Our Camo Babies

If you have not heard of Duck Dynasty, you may find this as a little odd. Duck Dynasty is a television show about a family business with good christian morals and a strong family. Our church is doing a whole series called "Family Dynasty". It kicked off on Easter Sunday, and anyone who was comfortable, was invited to wear camo to church. I took full advantage of it since it meant I did not have to spend a ton of money on Easter dresses and outfits for the kids. Plus, not having to argue about the dress pants and shoes is always a plus! Everyone enjoyed the camo theme, and they do look pretty dang cute if you ask me!