She's better...she's not...I don't know!!!

Does this look like a sick kid? I don't think so. This was 1 of the 4 days she didn't have diarrhea. I left a message for Dr. Deutsch on Thursday that only said "Its back." More testing is being done now. Hopefully early this week we'll have some answers. Giardiasis is one of the possibilities being looked at as well as IBS. She did make it to school this week 2 1/2 out of 4 days. Not bad considering wednesday she was absent due to a follow-up appointment with the urologist in Arlington Heights. We'll see what this week brings. We're just taking it day-by-day. Please keep her in your prayers.

Enjoy the pictures!

2nd 1st day of school

Hours of entertainment had with the Mr. Potato Head glasses

The tooth finally came out - isn't she cute!?!

Happy 5?th birthday to Grammie September 4th

The saga continues

Shelby has not made it to school yet this week...and she probably won't. Monday included a visit to Dr. Deutsch, lab work, and an abdominal x-ray. Then, Monday evening we received a call that her lab work indicated some type of infection so we headed off to Immediate Care for more labs. Everything came back negative, but we did have some suspicion about her ears so today we saw the Pediatrician. She does have fluid in both ears and is now on antibiotics. So far...knock on wood...there has been no fever today. (Oops, I spoke too soon. I just took it and its climbing back up again.) The diarrhea seems to have gone away, but I think I'll be keeping her home the rest of the week to really get better before she heads back to germ-land next week.

Miss Riley had an appointment this morning with an ENT due to mouth-breathing, snoring, and horrible morning breath. He examined her tonsils and they are almost touching. He decided from everything I described that she has obstructive sleep apnea from them. So...September 12th she will be getting them and her adenoids removed. She has no clue yet. We'll talk to her about it the weekend before surgery. She has had general anesthesia before for an MRI a few years ago so I'm sure she'll do fine, but she's not one for pain, thank you very much! Recovery will be interesting...I'm excited for her, though, as I hear kids that get their huge tonsils removed feel much, much better afterwards.

Oh, and, I have a sinus infection on top of everything. We can't wait to be feeling healthy around here...

First Day of School

Look at them?!?!? They've changed so much in the past year! Can you believe they're in 1st grade and pre-k? I can't! The picture on the left is them waiting down at the bus stop. Yes, I did follow the bus to school and then spent the whole morning there. No, not crying outside of Shelby's classroom. I was talking with the nurse about Shelby's health care plan. They both enjoyed their first day alot.

Then, that evening, Shelby got sick. Yup. Doesn't take much sometimes. So...she missed her first whole day on Friday. She cried when all the other kids got on the bus. I did, too. Poor kid. That's the way its going to be for her. She just wants to be "normal" like the other kids.

So far, tests for c-diff and rotavirus have come back negative. A stool culture is pending. Temps in the 100 range keep coming and going. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Thanks for the inspiration Becca!

So what have we been up to since Shelby's hospital admission? Let me tell you in pictures...

Shelby & Grammie watching Riley's summer camp program

Checking out Uncle Keith's "big" tractor at the Krapf family "Christmas in July"

Riley's first time tubing (can you see her face by Scott's?)
or maybe I should leave the caption as
"Scott trying out his 'new' shoulder that was just fixed in December?")

First lemonade stand

Both of these pictures are just plain CUTE!

That's what we've been doing. The girls have been working hard growing like weeds, especially Riley! They each have their own bedrooms now and I'm working on a playroom for them in the basement. Shelby has remained healthy (so far) this summer since the beginning of July. They both start school in a little less than 3 weeks, but who's counting! We're just trying to have lots of fun!

Take care!

Home sweet home

You must be feeling better when you can act like this with your sister!

Shelby made it home yesterday. There was concern of low magnesium levels and a low white blood cell count that gave her 1 more night at club med. She took a 3-hour nap when we got home and then slept another 12 hours last night! She ate enough supper last night to satisfy us and has drank well and eaten some crackers this morning. She needs to keep up what's going in to compensate for what's still going "out," if you know what I mean, to keep herself out of the hospital. Our house has a nice bleachy-clean smell as I have been trying to kill any remaining rotavirus that might be lingering around. Thanks so much for your prayers for her!

This is how Riley kept herself busy at Grammie & Papa's house while Shelby was in the hospital. She's quite the artist. I can't wait to hang some of her paintings in the playroom!

I don't even know what to say about this picture other than it makes me smile! Take care!

Vacation @ club RMH

Yup, Miss Shelby has been in Rockford Memorial Hospital since Sunday night. She has rotavirus - yuk! Hopefully she can come home early this evening pending some more tests. Please keep her in your prayers.

Great news in Chicago!!!

Yea! Yippee! Yahooooooo! What more can I say?!?! Shelby had great visits with all her doctors in Chicago. On Monday we had labs drawn here in Rockford. That was a treat - not really. I did, for the first time, have to chase her down the hall (man can she run fast) when they called her name, and she did fight hard (through 2 pokes), but was all smiles when it was done. Her liver labs look great. For those other liver families out there her ALT and AST have risen, but her doctors don't care. Everything else looks great and she is growing, growing, growing and feeling very energetic. She has gained 6 lbs. and grown 4 in. since last June! Wow! The cardiologist didn't see any problems and said she didn't need to see her for 2 years unless her liver takes a turn for the worse and....drum roll please.....the Top Dog, Dr. Whitington, said that she didn't need to be seen for another YEAR! Did I type that right? Yes, a YEAR!!!! He projected that at the rate she is going she wouldn't need a transplant until she was 8 - 10 years old. Now, he can be wrong either way. She could need a new liver next year or when she's 20, but that was his guestimate (which they hesistate to give). He said her liver is actually the size of an average 4-year-old, but with cirrhosis. Her spleen is still huge, though. He also took her off 2 meds and, after some labs next week, she might come off 2 more. We're down to giving her meds 3 times a day instead of 6! Can you tell I'm excited? Wow!

We stayed overnight at the Kohl's House and took the girls to Oz park to play. The next morning we visited with Natalie's parents and then headed to see the urologist. After getting very, very lost despite having directions we made it to Westchester. We'll be seeing the urologist again in a few weeks, but nothing too big is going on there. They did do an abdominal x-ray and Shelby was such a big girl. She climbed up on the x-ray table all by herself and laid there very still - cool! As a treat for both girls being so good for 2 days of doctors' appointments we took them to the Brookfield Zoo. Lots of fun was had there and I'm kicking myself for leaving my camera in the van in the parking lot way, way, way from the zoo's entrance! We made it home safely around 9 or so last night.

Please continue to check on us here even though things are quiet on the medical front. Also please continue to pray for Natalie and Annika as they both have tough roads ahead of them.

Fun with Daddy

Saturday, while I napped, Scott and the girls got out the camera and hammed things up. Aren't the girls' smiles just awesome? Enjoy! I'll update more after we get back from Chicago.

School's out for summer...

Yes, the girls do like to sing Alice Cooper. You can thank their father for that! Anyway, school is out for summer here in northern Illinois. Yea! (I think.) When Shelby was sick as a baby I would pray "Dear God, please let her get better. I can't wait until they fight like sisters because then I will know Shelby is feeling well." Well, He heard my prayers and then some. One minute they'll be fighting like cats and dogs and then next minute you'll see them hugging. Gotta love 'em! I thought I would share some of their cute pictures I've taken since the last update eons ago.Here is Riley with her wonderful teacher Mrs. G on the last day of kindergarten. Riley has had Mrs. G as her teacher for the past 2 years and will now move on to a new teacher for the next 3 years at her Montessori school. She's almost a 1st grader...

We take Shelby to Chicago for 2 days next week. She'll see cardiology, hepatology, and urology. Don't worry, she's doing great - its just time for everyone to check-up on her. Watch for an update after those visits. Take care and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Doing fine here...

What else can I say? The girls are doing great and enjoying the warm days swinging and riding bikes. Beautiful Will is growing - check out Grammie's blog for more pics. Everyone take care and enjoy the Spring!

"Big" party pics and Sweet William

We had a super fun party for Shelby on Sunday at Happy Joe's here in Rockford. We had about 25+ people that love her dearly there to celebrate her wonderful 4-year birthday.


Here she is making a silly face waiting to open presents.



Here she is with our little friend Anika (yes, we know 2 little girls with that name, both spelled differently) on the train in the game room.




Giddy-up horsy!












New cowgirl boots











Poor Miss Riley had a sore ear that day and wasn't feeling good. Its turned out to be an ear infection! What a bummer especially since she has Spring Break this week.
And now introducing....William Christopher Hardwick, my gorgeous nephew!
Today Shelby had her yearly check-up with her local Cardiologist. Pending his reading of her last saline bubble echo, she will be released from his care! Yea! Dr. HuYoung is wonderful, but it is nice to get rid of one doctor when you already have soooo many. She still will be seen and tested by the Cardiologist in Chicago in June for Hepatopulmonary syndrome, but otherwise, all is well here! Thanks for checking in!

More birthday and visit with the Tiede's

For those of you who I've try to explain just how orange (jaundiced) Shelby was at birth here is a picture. This was before we all had digital cameras so my Mom scanned this for me. She's come a llllllooooonnnnggg way! Go Shelby!
Here are some more pictures, as promised, of her birthday. Tomorrow is her big party so more pictures will come this week, but I wanted you to see my sweet girl blowing out her candles. She had a wonderful birthday!!!! I hope tomorrow she has even more fun.Thursday night we headed down to Blooomington/Normal to spend the night in a hotel with a swimming pool. The girls have not forgotten how to swim, that's for sure! The pool was perfect for them as the shallow end was 3 ft. and the deep end was 5 ft. Riley was in heaven! She hardly needed to wear her life jacket. Shelby set a world record for getting out of the pool and jumping in (over and over and over again). Then on Friday, Scott headed to a meeting and us girls headed to the Tiede's for a long-overdue visit. All the girls had a wonderful time - us adults did, too! Enjoy the pictures!

Sweet AnnikaRiley dressed upFrankie making one of her silly facesFrankie as Tinker BellShelby dressed up
I know this will be one of my all time favorites pictures.
Me and Annika

Happy 4th Birthday Shelby!!!!

Shelby & Grammie enjoyed a snuggle last night - her last night as a 3-year-old. Upon waking this morning we asked her if she felt older and she said "Yes!" Happy Birthday my beautiful girl! I can't believe 4 years have gone by already! Unreal. Watch for more birthday pictures coming soon...

And...William Christopher Hardwick made his entry into this world last night at 9:56 p.m. He weighed in at 9 lbs, 8 oz. and is 22" long. Mom, Dad, & baby are tired, but doing wonderful. He is such a cutie!

My turn

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. Things here have been fine. Shelby is healthy (knock on wood) and her latest labs came back great! She is her usual full of energy-crazy self. A couple weeks ago we were at the play area at the mall and she took a spill that led to x-rays. They turned out fine and her limp is almost gone. We're thinking it was a sprained ankle. Riley is reading up a storm and her handwriting is beautiful. And she's only a kindergartener!!! She loves school and has been busy the past few weekends attending her classmates' birthday parties.

I turned 30 on the 2nd and have since fallen apart...just kidding! Its just that this week I had some chest pains that led to a doctor's visit only to be diagnosed with a slight case of pneumonia and costochondritis. So, I'm on a whopping dose of antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. I feel fine except for the chest pain. Here's a picture from one of my birthday parties. Yes, I turned 30 and had 3 parties! Lucky girl I am! My Mom had a surprise party for me, my CDO class had a party for me, and Scott & I gathered our friends for a party at a local bar.

Please continue to hold our friends, Annika and Natalie, in your prayers. They are having tough times health-wise again. Also, we are excitedly awaiting the birth of our nephew. We can't wait to meet him!

I'll be doing an update Tuesday as Shelby turns 4 that day! Unbelievable that my baby is turning 4!!!!!!!!

Take care everyone!

Now Strep!

Yes, Shelby does keep things exciting around here. We spent our evening Sunday watching the SuperBowl from the ER. She spiked a temp Sunday afternoon (after being off the antibiotics for pneumonia for only 4 days!) and had no other symptoms other than being lethargic and complaining of a tummy ache. Of course, for us, that means heading to the ER. When you have a child with liver disease there's no time to take the wait-and-see-what-happens approach. Labs were drawn, a flu nose-swab test was done, and a strep culture was taken. And the last one came back positive. So...she's back on the pink stuff (amoxicillan) for another 10 days. She's already back to her wild, energy-filled self, but labs do need to be repeated in a few weeks to make sure her liver is happy again.