Chris & Shawna Parks

Its finally official... NO MORE OXYGEN! She seems to be enjoying not having thos

2011-04-21T01:20:00.000-07:00

Its finally official... NO MORE OXYGEN! She seems to be enjoying not having those prongs up her nose as much or more than I am enjoying not lugging it around and trying to keep it on her! We are headed to Burlington for Easter so its an extra relief that we dont have to take it with us :) We havent been home since Thanksgiving so it will be fun to see everyone- hopefully healthy.

Oxygen?

2011-04-14T19:45:00.001-07:00

We had Mylie on a recording oximeter last night. She did really well while I was watching it, so now we are just waiting for official word from Dr. Granum that we can get rid of it for good! The oximeter did not have an alarm on it so I was a little nervous about putting it on her right before we went to bed. I put it on about 7:30 so I could watch it for a while first. She stayed around 97 the majority of the time. When she did drop she would always come right back up & I'm not certain that the drops were not just poor signal because it was always while she was moving. So unless something drastic happened in the little time I was asleep I think we should be able to get rid of it!

New Born Photoshoot

2011-04-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

Mylie was not super impressed with being photographed, but she did cooperate some of the time! THANKS RACHAEL!!

Things are still going well here. Mylie was weighed last on tuesday (3/29) She weighed 4lbs 13 oz. She is starting to look so much bigger. Her cheeks are filling out & she is getting a lot more vocal...almost even cries sometimes. Her billi levels were down to 11.7 last time they were drawn (a week ago today) We did another 24 hours on formula & she seems to be fine now. (We opted not to poke her heel) She looks good and isn't showing any signs of it being elevated.

2011-03-30T22:12:00.001-07:00

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¦Shawna¦

2011-03-30T19:37:00.001-07:00

¦Shawna¦

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Catching up

2011-03-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

A few things we have missed getting on here....

Preston turned 8 years old!!! All of his cousins on the Parks side were here for state basketball. They went to Rango & we had pizza & cake.

Kacey was student of the week & got to share Piggie Pie with her class. NO ONE had ever read it before! Not even the teachers!

Mylie got a real bath!

Holding on for dear life!

Look Mom! No stickers on my face!

Preston got to start boy scouts (Thanks to Ginger for getting his scout shirt & putting all the patches on it!) He turned 8 just in time for the pine wood derby... pictures to follow. They are finishing the car tonight.

We have a new self-appointed Head of Infection Control Nazi! No one gets within 10 feet of Mylie without Kacey reminding them that they have to wash their hands!

Melinda, Darcy & Cheyenne came to visit for the weekend. I don't think Mylie was in her bed once (other than a little bit at night) We have had "extra" people here for so long- It feels a little strange with everyone gone!

Hanging out at home

2011-03-23T09:27:00.001-07:00

We are enjoying being home! We went back to see Dr. Granum yesterday (3-22-11) Mylie weighed 4lbs 10oz. That's almost a whole pound since she was born! Her billirubin is still a little high :/ We are going to try giving her just formula for the next couple of days (the formula binds to the billirubin & helps her get rid of it). They will draw labs again on Friday to see if it has come down. If the formula doesn't work she will have to be re-admitted for phototherapy & testing on her liver. She seems to be more alert and is not showing any of the other signs of her levels being high, so hopefully it's still just from her liver being immature! Otherwise everything is looking good!

WELCOME HOME MYLIE!!

2011-03-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

We got to bring Mylie home on Wednesday. I have been meaning to get pictures up ever since! She has been doing great since we got home. I must admit it was nice having the nurses feeding her in the middle of the night, but even that hasn't been too bad. She gets better at the bottle every day- so she is eating a little quicker than she used to. She is still on the oxygen and increased calories. We go back to the doctor Tuesday for a weight check & some labs. (She is still jaundice, so we are mostly watching that.) The hardest part about having her on oxygen is keeping her from pulling it out of her nose. If her hands aren't wrapped up & she is awake she has a hold of that tubing. (not that I can say I blame her- those prongs look sooo long going up that little nose!)

2011-03-15T17:26:00.001-07:00

We get to go home tomorrow! Who cares about 4# 6oz) We are taking the oxygen home- not convenient, but not a big deal.

2011-03-14T13:36:00.001-07:00

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2011-03-14T13:35:00.001-07:00

*Shawna*

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Just waiting...

2011-03-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

Mylie has done well enough eating that we have not had to replace her feeding tube. She is slowly gaining weight-actually, she is doing well it just feels slow because that's all that is keeping her here now. She gained almost another half an ounce since yesterday- she is now a whopping 4lbs 2.3oz. Dr. Granum still thinks she will be able to go home by Thursday or Friday... Hopefully she will be close enough to 4lbs 6oz by then. Chris comes to eat lunch with me every day- he was holding her when they brought her bottle in so he fed her & she did great for him. He might have to come take the night shift- she never eats as well at night.
Kacey is dying to get her home. She asked every day if Mylie is big enough yet. Preston hasn't even wanted to hold her yet. I can't quite tell if it's just because he got the male Cook gene that he thinks its not ok to act excited about anything or if he is just not sure about her yet. Maybe he is just ready for life to go back to normal like the rest of us!
Preston turned 8 yesterday! (I can't believe he is that old already!!!) He says being 8 is sooo much better than being 7. I have yet to spend enough time at home to get any pictures on the computer... Coming soon (I hope)

2011-03-12T12:22:00.001-08:00

Looong skinny legs :)

No more feeding tube!

2011-03-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

For now...Mylie has been bottling pretty well- Dr.Granum still thinks her feeding tube could be contributing to her oxygen needs. He wanted us to strictly bottle her for the next 24 hours to see if we could get rid of the tube- So the nurse suggested we pull the tube since we were not going to use it (smart nurse;)...obviously there is a chance that we will have to put it back but she will atleast get a nice break from it if that ends up being the case. She weighed 4lbs 1.4 oz today. (4.6 oz to go)!

2011-03-10T12:27:00.001-08:00

2011-03-09T21:11:00.000-08:00

We had another good day today. We tried turning off Mylies oxygen & she did fine until she fell asleep. Atleast her little nose got a break! She did pretty well with the bottle today- she will eventually have to bottle everything but right now they have been tube feeding her at night and trying to bottle during the day. As if tonight the nurses are going to try to have her take the bottle at night if she seems alert. If she doesn't have enough energy to finish we put the rest through the tube so she still gets the volume she needs. Dr. Granum said he anticipates her being ready to go home by the end of next week if things continue to go well.
My mom brought Preston and Kacey home today. Preston was not very happy about it. She brought them up to see Mylie. Preston was ready to leave after about 5 minutes & Kacey was refusing to leave. She was so excited that she FINALLY got to hold her!

2011-03-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

2011-03-08T14:40:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was kind of a rough day for Mylie. They switched nostrils for her feeding tube & then Dr. Granum came in & thought that her oxygen might be low from one side of her nose being occluded. He had the nurse switch the tube from her nose to her mouth. It didn't help her sats any & she was miserable with the OG tube. Every time it would move she would gag & she couldn't eat from the bottle because she couldn't get a good seal on the nipple & just get air. Dr Granum came in again yesterday night & let us switch the tube back to her nose. Her nostril is really crammed full with the oxygen tubing and the NG tube, but it is still better than gagging on it all the time.

Today was a much different story. I took her in my room & kept her there all day. She seemed to enjoy being held all day & she did pretty well bottle feeding. We were able to increase her feedings up to 35cc. She also gained an ounce since yesterday, so she is up to 3lbs 11.6 oz. The fortifier must be helping... Dr. Granum said he will let us take her home a 4lbs 6oz as long as she is eating completely on her own by then.

2011-03-08T14:36:00.001-08:00

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2011-03-08T14:35:00.001-08:00

2011-03-07T10:26:00.001-08:00

*Shawna*

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2011-03-07T07:24:00.000-08:00

Mylie had to go on some oxygen last night. Dr. Granum said she sounds good, but he is going to do a chest x-ray and some more labs just to make sure there isn't something else going on. Her feeding tube completely occludes her nostril, so he thinks that could be contributing- or just that she is finally starting to get tired. Her billirubin was back up to 12.9, so she will have to go back under the lights for another day. They are also going to start adding a fortifier to her feedings to increase the calories and see if we can get her gaining some weight.

2011-03-06T23:10:00.001-08:00

3-6-11
Mylie's IV went bad last night, luckily Dr. Granum said we could leave it out since she was so close to eating enough to not need it. -Hopefully she can keep it up, so we don't have to put it back. She has been doing pretty well with the bottle. We have been bottle feeding her when she is awake & seems interested- if not we just use the feeding tube. We talked today about maybe trying to get her to bottle all of her feedings during the day & tube feed her at night so she can rest- I guess we will see how it goes.
The days seem to be going by fairly fast- Probably because I'm used to bed rest pace. I stay at the hospital all day & just come home to sleep. They have kept a room for me to stay in while I'm there. Chris hung out with me all day today... Darcy & Paul came up to visit & Mylie got to take her first trip out of the nursery! (all the way down the hall to my room).

2011-03-05T22:45:00.001-08:00

Mylie had a pretty good day today- Dr. Granum said we could start trying to bottle feed her. She did great with the first one- She finished the whole thing! We decided we would do every other feeding to try to keep her from getting too tired. She only finished about half of the second one, but then was WIDE awake tonight and was able to finish the whole feeding again. She has still been having some residual, so we have not been able to increase her feedings from 20cc, but I'm sure that will change. She seems to like to be awake more at night & sleep all day. -We are going to have to get that fixed by the time we get her home!

Preston actually talked to me on the phone for about 2 minutes today. He is enjoying every minute in Burlington & is already worried about having to come home before he is ready! I'm glad they are having so much fun up there!

2011-03-04T16:44:00.001-08:00

3 Days Old

Mylie is still doing pretty well. She pulled her feeding tube out last night & had to get a new one... Her feedings have increased up to 20cc. She has been having various amounts of residual throughout today, so we have not been able to increase them. When we get her up to about 35 we can get rid of her IV... Hopefully that's soon- her IV is starting to look a little angry, so I'm hoping it can hold out until we can get rid of it. As you can tell from the picture she started phototherapy today for jaundice. She doesn't seem to mind being unwrapped. She manages to get herself pretty contorted in there! She weighed 3lbs 11oz today.

My mom took Preston and Kacey home with her this morning. They have spring break next week. All they wanted to do was go to Burlington. It actually has worked out well for me. I spend all my time at the hospital with Mylie & it's nice that I don't have to worry about keeping track of them right now too. Kacey just got some new cowboy boots & plans to perfect her roping skills while she is up there- Even though Popcorn is in Oklahoma at the Timed Event. Maybe he won't be too tired of roping by the time he gets back :)

2011-03-04T16:35:00.001-08:00

2011-03-02T21:49:00.001-08:00

Mylie Rae Parks
Born 3-2-11 @ 0330
3lbs 14oz 18inches
So far she is doing well- she is breathing on her own and so far has not needed any oxygen. She does have an IV and a feeding tube. As long as she continues to do well they will keep her here. Dr. Granum said she needs to weigh at least 4 1/2 pounds, be able to eat on her own, and keep her body temperature up before we can take her home. Preston and Kacey are very excited about getting her home. They have only been able to look at her through the nursery window so far & are anxious to be able to see and hold her. I am beginning to feel 1/2 way human again without all the drugs in my system... Chris is a little sleeo deprived, but otherwise doing good. He has been very patient with me through all the misery of the side effects of all the medications and bed rest- which I'm sure has not been an easy task! We are just glad she is here safe & seems to be holding her own. I will post more
pictures after I go home tomorrow.

2011-02-13T08:40:00.001-08:00

This is not the kind of excitement we were looking for. We came in friday night & after tuerbutaline, procardia, and magnesium the contractions finally started to slow down. Yesterday was pretty miserable- magnesium is an awful drug. I did convince the doctor to turn it down, so that has helped a little. The contractions calm down for a while, but always manage to pick back up again. We are hoping to get the magnesium turned off today & that the terbutaline and procardia can keep it under control so I can go home. I spent the first night & all of yesterday on a delivery bed which was horribly uncomfortable (that didnt help matters any) Last night they got me a regular bed and Chris got a cot, so we both got a little bit of sleep. As much sleep as you can get in a hospital anyway- with hourly vitals, drugs, and lab draws. Nothing beats being home in your own bed!

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2011-02-11T07:55:00.000-08:00

Nothing Too Exciting

...Other than we made it another week! I'm officially 31 weeks now. I had another ultrasound yesterday & everything is looking good. He is estimating the baby's weight at 3lbs 5oz. She is in the 17th percentile (down from 42nd at the first ultrasound). So she is small, but it's nothing he's too concerned about. He said she has long legs, a small stomach & a small head... Sounds like she will fit right in :) I also got another progesterone injection (I am SO not going to miss those!) and I guess we will just keep doing a whole lot of nothing until she decides she can't wait any longer. My Mother-in-law came from Star Valley last Sunday, so she is learning the routine with the kids & ready to take over :) Preston & Kacey have kept her busy playing the wii, cards, and doing all their puzzles. I'm hoping that since we are all ready for the baby to come any time she will stay in a little longer!

2011-02-02T08:41:00.001-08:00

One of us is ready

So far, so good- no baby yet :) Although, Kacey is getting quite tired of waiting! Yesterday she created a character on the wii for the baby..."Coconut." She wants to call the baby Coco for short. She got this baby for Christmas & has been "taking care" of her more and more every day. She makes sure that Paul doesn't steal her blanket so she can stay warm & today decided to put her in the car seat so the baby can see better to watch her play Mario Cart & watch movies. I have a feeling she may be A LOT of help soon! Preston is excited, but hoping for the baby to be born on his birthday (March 13). -If we're lucky enough to make it that far (35 weeks) we will not have to go to Denver... We'll keep our fingers crossed!

2011-01-29T10:12:00.001-08:00

29 weeks- Test post from cell

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2011-01-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

NO Rush!!

I know this isn't the best picture, but she was being kinda shy-

the box is around her hose & chin- Looks like Kacey's mouth. You can

also see a little dimple on her cheek, -it didn't show up very well when I scanned it.

We were hoping that the 3rd time would be the charm with this pregnancy & everything would be normal, but that has not been the case. I obviously didn't inherit my mom's baby genes! I'm 29 weeks (& 1 day) now. Kacey was born at 29 & 5 (I think).
Dr. Vigneri has been very careful & keeping a close eye on everything.I went in again yesterday & got more mixed news. He is concerned with how fast things are changing, & with my history decided to start the steroid injections to mature the baby's lungs. He said he is afraid with as far & as fast as things have been progressing that when the contractions hit hard again they won't be able to stop them & we won't have 48 hours to get both steroid injections in. I have also been on weekly projesterone injections and terbutaline which have, so far, helped things stay calmed down. We have only been into the hospital to get things shut down once. -On a good note, the placenta has moved up some- so I just have marginal placenta previa now. So, as of now, it will still eventually be a problem, but the fact that it has move at least a little bit out of the way was great news because I have started to dilate some. We would already be sitting in Denver, if not had to deliver the baby already.

2011-01-25T11:06:00.001-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2011-01-25T11:04:00.003-08:00

2011-01-20T20:13:00.000-08:00

2nd Annual trip to

Water World

Hopefully by next summer Kacey will be a little bit more brave... Amazingly enough our seemingly fearless one was the one crying on the mummy ride & too chicken to go on a lot of other rides. She was very excited about the stuff she liked though & didn't want to waste a bit of time on the play grounds. Preston spent his time on all the big rides- He says his favorite is still Journey to the Center of the Earth.

I'm very sorry if these are people any of you know, but we had a great time people watching as well :)

SLIP & SLIDE!

2009-06-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

I decided I was going to kill two birds with one stone today. I get all these pictures uploaded on here, but nothing done with my scrapbook. So chalk this one up to multitasking-

We were in Burlington for the weekend & Melinda came & surprised the kids with a slip & slide. They were SO excited! It was pretty entertaining watching them. The boys decided to try to surf which was also quite comical! Preston and Kacey have been wanting to go back so they can slip & slide some more. Thanks for the entertainment Melinda!

Track day!

2009-05-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

I can't get these to go in order! Preston and Kacey were so excited for track day! We had some friends over for dinner the night before, so they were out in the back yard practicing races.

The next morning Preston announced that he wanted to have chicken for breakfast so he could have some extra protein to make him extra fast... I talked him into scrambled eggs instead. He made sure he had everything packed & ready to go: water bottle, sun screen, granola bars, sun glasses. (It only lasted 2 1/2 hours). Kacey wandered around singing "I'm ready for track day-yeah! I'm ready for track day!" We got there & Preston & his friend Caden ran a whole lap because they couldn't wait to race! They ran a couple races & then did field events for the rest of the time. It ended up being a long 2 1/2 hours trying to keep Kacey occupied & not wanting to be right in the middle of everything. She spent most of her time "racing" on the lines.

2009-05-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

It's worth a try

2009-05-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much time to work on this, but I thought I would give it a try!