Goin' Green

O.k., w/my new laptop in hand (actually on my lap, usually w/me falling asleep w/it there) I have been researching ways our family can become more green. We already recycle, shred our paper & give it to my parents to use in their garden (or we put it out in the recycling), always do full loads of laundry, try to limit our shower lengths (no easy task for me w/Scott & Riley in the house)...anyway, now I am trying using cloth napkins instead of paper, making my own cleaners w/"safe" for kids ingredients, installing an aerator on our kitchen faucet, and now (I'm so excited about this one!) using gDiapers instead of disposables. I'm so nnnnooottt a cloth diaper person, but this, I can handle. They are awesome & cute! A bit more cost than my Target disposables I was buying, but much more friendly to the environment. Just a bit higher cost than the Huggies Supreme. I think its worth the cost. Hopefully, by people like me talking about how great they are and turning on others to them, the company can lower their cost. Enjoy the pics of her in her little g's! I'd love for people to sign my guestbook w/suggestions of their favorite going "green" thing!
Also, Avery is 1 week into a milk challenge. She had allergy testing that came back negative so we are to slllooowwly add whole milk to her diet. She is up to 2-3 oz. in each bottle. So far, so good. And, she is our little carnivore. Ham, ground beef, turkey - she loves it all!


By the way, in 6 days she'll be 1! Wow!

Look what I can do now!

I pulled myself up in my crib! Watch out everyone...here I come! Big sisters, better put your toys up higher. Mommy & Daddy, no more moving things up on the couch out of my way. I can reach now!

Easter Beauties

Happy 6th Birthday Shelby!

March 21, 2002 I woke around 8 a.m. Riley and I had spent the night at my parent's house because Scott had to work late the previous night. I just wasn't feeling the best, so we all decided it would be best for Riley & I to be there. Earlier, the evening before we had taken Riley to see Bear in the Big Blue House Live at the Coronado theater and then Scott went back to work. My Mom had a meeting at the church in the morning and kept asking me to get up out of bed if I wanted to shower before she left. Riley was just 2 then and needed supervision; no showering while she played or watched TV. Finally, I mustered up the motivation to get out of bed. As I sat up my water broke and thus, our journey into our life with Shelby began. About 5 hours later she entered our lives. She came out of me as fast as you see her run around these days. We took our baby home a few days later, clueless as to what the next week would bring. Oblivious to what inner strength we all had that was going to be needed very soon. Shelby's first 10 weeks of her life were hell for us as her parents. We spent alot of that time crying, researching, asking questions of doctors and wondering if our baby would make it or not. "Transplant" was a word introduced in to our vocabulary that we only thought happened to "other" people. Not us; not anyone in our family.

Fast forward to 2008. Skip over all those awful memories that no parent wants their child to have of IV's, "sleep medicine," countless x-rays, blood tests, hospital stays, taking daily medication, broken bones, and more doctors visits in 6 years than 10 people have in their lifetime. Let all those wonderful memories of fun, joy, and excitement flood over you. Shelby is so special. I feel so honored that we were chosen to be her parents. She's not an easy kid by no means; challenging, yes, wonderful, yes, brillant, yes, beautiful, yes, a gift from God, YES. She is so strong, brave and very forgiving of all that she has had to endure. She knows no other way of life. All these experiences I wish she never had to know have and will continue to form her into the person she is. Tough as nails with a gentle, HUGE heart. God has big plans for her. She already is a child of our church congregation. Everyone's faith has been poured into that child. It has lifted her through many tough times and continues to hold her up in the good times. Quoting the African proverb: "It takes a village to raise a child," is so true of Shelby's life. Thank you to ALL who have been a part of that.

6! Wow! What a huge accomplishment with all this kid has been through!!! SIX, SIX, SIX, SIX!!! Cool! We celebrated at Coco Keys with Shelby's best friend Kate, our friends TeriJo & Anika, and, of course, me, Scott, Riley and Avery. Lots of fun was had by all and, thank goodness, baby A was in a great mood. We kept getting compliments on what an adorable baby we have! She didn't like the water much, but liked watching all the action going on. She was a trooper especially since we were there during her prime nap-time. In the evening Shelby picked out a birthday supper of mini corn dogs, french fries and garlic bread. She also chose chocolate ice cream and the most chocolatey cake there was at the store. I think I still have a sugar buzz going this morning! We also watched the movie, Enchanted, per her request.

Enjoy the pictures of my beautiful 6-year-old's birthday.

Definite Improvement

Yesterday Shelby had clinic in Chicago. The ultrasound showed no change in the cyst (yea!) and her labs are much, much better. She went back to school today b/c her immune system is working again! WBC in the 6 range! Woohoo! They are trying her on a new med for the re-occurring tummy pain. I don't have the name of it in front of me b/c I had my Mom drop off the script today at the pharmacy. Hopefully it will work. They were very impressed w/her growth and energy. They know that we had a rough week last week, but are very happy to see that she's bounced back, even if it did take a dose of Neupogen. She goes back in May to see cardiology and hepatology. Let's pray, hope, knock on wood, that no more icky viruses hit our house anytime soon!

Thank you Mom!

For those of you who have followed Shelby's hospitalization this week, you know that my Mom did an excellent job of updating. THANK YOU MOM! Behind the scenes, she was also juggling the care of Avery, Riley and my Dad (and sometimes me) and trying to stay sane. She became a grandma again this week, too, and spent some time loving up her new granddaughter. SHE ROCKS! I am so lucky to be her kid!

Shelby's labs yesterday looked pretty good. Her WBC is up to 3.1 and her ANC is just about 1500. Is it the Neupogen or her immune system doing it on its own? Only time will tell. We head into Chicago on Tuesday for an ultrasound of her cyst and for liver clinic. We'll see if her labs hold steady. Please continue prayers for her.

The "bug" is making its way through the rest of the Martin 5 as Riley and Scott are now coming down with it. I hope its stay is brief.

Here are some pictures my brother took of Shelby when he could pry himself away from his new beautiful daughter.

Shelby being admitted

(I'm home right now for a few minutes gathering up some things before heading back to the hospital. This post is copied from my Mom's prayer e-mail group for Shelby.)

Dear family and friends,
Shelby is being admitted to Rockford Memorial Hospital this evening through the ER. Yesterday all day, she had a low grade temp, but it went away. It was the third time since she had strep throat in January that this low temp thing happened. Jenn emailed Chicago. Shelby has an appointment March 11th for an ultrasound and clinic visit, so they said to wait until then. Then this morning temp was back and went up to 103. She complained of her tummy hurting and her throat being sore. Of course, it's Saturday. Fortunately, both her pediatrician and ped gastro dr. are on call and suggested some tests at the ER. Several liver numbers are elevated, although Jenn said her bilirubin number was OK. Warrants an admit, so they are waiting to go "upstairs" to a room. Lots of "things" are going around, but with Shelby, you never know. Avery and Riley are here with Thomas and me tonight. Please keep Shelby and Mommy and Daddy in your prayers. Remember her sisters too. Grandma's is nice, but it's not home! I will post updates on Shelby as updates are available on my blog www.tchardwick.blogspot.com
Thanks,
Grammie Cori

Sick again

Last night we spent about 3 hours in the ER with Miss Avery. She went to bed just fine, but woke up right before midnight crying, wheezing, barking and running a low-grade temp. Yup, its croup. They gave her a breathing treatment and a big dose of steroids in the ER and then sent us on our way. Mind you, that took about 2 1/2 hours, but it made a big difference. Today her temp is gone, but she's not quite back to her old self.

Shelby has been looking not quite right lately. Kind-of pale, pasty-looking. Yesterday I called her GI doctor and he ordered labs. They look pretty good except her platelets, hemoglobin and hematocrit have dropped a bit. She woke up today with a low-grade temp so I took her in for him to have a look at her. We're just going to watch her for now and repeat labs in a week.

Otherwise, we've been getting along great here. Avery finally figured out in the past few days how to crawl forward and is everywhere! Last weekend we all traded bedrooms so that Avery could move out of our room. That went well, but was exhausting for Scott and me! We still have to finish painting Avery's new room (Shelby's old room) so she's sleeping in the portacrib in our new room (Riley's old room).

Here are some cute pictures of our girls taken recently.
Enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!Riley in Audrey Hepburn shirt looking way too grown up!

Avery stuck under the dresser

One day Avery decided to nap a bit earlier than usual.

Riley and Shelby at High School Musical on Ice

On the way to High School Musical on Ice

Strep & Colds

I'm the latest victim. About a week-and-a-half ago, Shelby woke us at 2 a.m. with a temp of 105.6!!! Of to the ER we went. Thankfully (only a liver parent could appreciate that comment) she was diagnosed with strep. No liver issues and no need to head up to the Peds unit!!! Yea! About 4 days later Riley started complaining of a sore throat so our Pediatrician automatically treated her for strep. Everyone was well enough for our Coco Keys visit, part of the big girls christmas presents from us. Later in the week, both big girls developed colds and now I have strep. Fun, fun, fun....

Enjoy the Coco Keys pictures!

Coco Keys

Back to the grind

Nothing much going on here. The Big Girls went back to school today and I will be back to work this afternoon. All is going well, but we are very BUSY! Enjoy the pictures!

Xmas Day - Early Jan

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas...

Go Packers!
Unfortunately they lost, but aren't these people cute?!?!?

Going to see Santa

Hardwick Christmas

Check this out...

Enjoy!

'Tis the season...

Look at our little elf!

Putting up the Christmas tree

Ho, Ho, Ho!


Hope your holiday season is coming along nicely. I'm sure everyone has more shopping done than me (presents purchased so far=0)! Oh well, I'll get it done. Everyone here is healthy (knock on wood, PRAISE GOD!, Yippee) and we are praying it stays that way. Just wanted to share some cute pictures! Take care!

Avery's 1st Thanksgiving

Just enjoy this little beauty!!! She's come a long way and we are very THANKFUL for that!

Thanksgiving

Kicked out...

Shelby's Nov RMH stay

...of club RMH, that is. Literally Shelby didn't want to leave. I think its because she was scared of getting her IV out. She asked a great question, especially for a 5 1/2-year-old. She was concerned about what would happen if she got sick again. Would there have to be another IV? The answer was "yes" so she thought just keeping this one in would be fine. Not so. I finally got her convinced to come home, the IV got removed and then she was very happy. She's still not "Shelby" but this stay was much more emotional than the past ones have been. She's much more aware of what's going on and what's going to happen. Very scary stuff for a little girl. Hell, most adults are very scared of the things my little girl just had to endure. Its a hard notion to wrap your little brain around that IV's suck, but they are very helpful and we need them to make you better. She's hanging in there, though. We are just trying to re-adjust to life at home. Thank you for the thoughts and prayers. Let's hope we can go at least another 11 months before this happens again.

By the way, her Dr. in Chicago still just wants to leave the cyst alone. So the cyst saga continues...

Happy Thanksgiving! May you all overstuff yourselves and take a nap on the couch.

Still there

Yes, my dear Shelby is still in RMH. Today was the first time since Sunday night that I broke loose from there. She is improving and it looked like she was going to bust loose today, but we are waiting on Dr. Deutsch hearing from Chicago for the all-clear.

What did you do this weekend?

Miss Shelby is still in RMH. Some of her numbers look better, but some look worse. They want to give the IV antibiotics at least 48 hours in her. Tomorrow at 6 a.m. she'll have labs again and then we'll go from there. Her fever has been gone since this morning and her tummy pain seems better. She is more active, but very tired. She's had lots of visitors so that has made her very happy. If you want to come visit, please call first. I'm home for a few hours with Avery & Riley while Daddy hangs out with her. We'll make the switch around 8 p.m. and I'll pull the night shift at the hospital. Keep the prayers coming please.

Riley had her Libby Lu birthday party & sleepover last night. We wanted to keep things as normal as possible around her even though Shelby's in the hospital. WE ARE ALL EXHAUSTED and poor Avery's schedule is all off whack. I feel like I am living a split life. The hospital one & the "normal" home one. I just want us to be all at home together again.

Sick Shelby

Last night Shelby was admitted at Rockford Memorial Hospital for severe abdominal pain and fever. Her biliruben and wbc are elevated. She is on two IV antibiotics and feeling sort-of rough. Please keep her in your prayers. On Tuesday at liver clinic we found out that her cyst is now the size of a lemon. Could this be causing her pain & fever? We'll see soon....I'll update when I can.

More pictures & videos

More October Fun

Look what I can do now

Yes, I'm feeling pretty smart! Now I just need to figure out how to improve the video resolution on our camera. One of these days... This post is going to be our life lately summed up in pictures. Make sure to read the captions! Enjoy!

ALF Walk

Zoo Day

Busy, busy, busy!

Thank you to those out there who faithfully still check to see if I do updates. We have just been BUSY since the school year started and I began working. I thought I would give you an update on our family starting with the oldest and working down to the youngest...so, here we go!

Scott:
Daddy Scott works his tail off at Carpetmill Outlet (anyone need new flooring?) almost every day. His schedule changed recently so that he is picking up 10 hours of overtime every 2 weeks. Now his days off have changed and he never has 2 days in a row off. We miss that! Unfortunately, I always have things around the house that need to be done when he is off work, so I keep him too busy. He's a trouper, though, and keeps marching forward. The Packers being 4-0 is helping quite a bit! No one call our house Sunday night. It the BIG Packers/Bears game! GO PACK!!!

Me:
Ah.....where to begin? Having a 3rd child has thrown my life into a whirlwind. Not that I wasn't busy before, but 3....yes, its just a different kind of crazy now. I began working through Burpee Museum September 17th as a program instructor in their after school program at Westview. This job is Monday-Friday from 2-5, but I have the same days off as Riley & Shelby do, so that's really nice. My wonderful, wonderful, giving Mother has been watching Miss Avery and then picking up the big girls at their bus stop and watching them until I get home. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Mom! Yesterday I woke up with a terrible headache on the left side of my head only to be diagnosed with an ear infection! I thought those were for little kids! No wonder they get so grumpy when they have them - they hurt! The doctor thinks its from my wonderful (grrrrr) allergies. I'm ready for the first frost.

Riley:
Uh...I think Riley is already smarter than her parents. She is amazing in school and sometimes you forget that she is only in 2nd grade until she throws a very age-appropriate temper-tantrum over something very minor then you are snapped back into reality. She is still devouring books and has taken up "teaching" Shelby in math and reading skills. She is awesome with Avery. She asks if she can change her diaper and Avery adores her! It is going to be a lot of fun watching their relationship over the years.

Shelby:
Shelby is enjoying being a Kindergartner. School seems to be going really well for her and she is reading some simple books already. She so wants to be like Riley! She does have a fear of dogs that has really escalated out of control so on Friday we are taking her to Chicago to speak with a psychiatrist that is very experienced in dealing with children with health issues, especially surrounding transplant. Shelby's fear has spread into a fear of being around people she doesn't know and bees. I think her fears are really her becoming more aware of her health situation and they are just manifesting through dogs, crowds, and bees, but we'll see what the good doctor has to say about all this. On the health front, she has dealt with an infection in her foot that required a visit to the ER, a shot in her foot (ouch!) and a round of antibiotics and, most recently, intermittent tummy pain that has doubled her over. That, too, required a visit to the ER. Nothing has been found, but there is concern with the cysts on her liver, so we are just keeping a close eye, as usual, on her. She, too, loves her baby sister so much. Avery just lights up when she sees her.

Avery:
My fat, chunky baby is doing wonderful! Last week was rough as she was getting ready to get her 1st tooth. Thankfully (for her and us) it came through on Friday. She also rolled over for the first time on Friday. BIG DAY! She is a very happy baby, quick to smile and laugh! We just love her to pieces. She is a cuddler, a lover, and....what did we ever do without her!?!?!?! We still haven't started solids, but maybe after her 6-month check-up we can try to begin rice cereal. The longer you wait to start solids with someone with allergies, the higher the chance is that they'll outgrow them. Let's pray and keep our fingers and toes crossed. Allergies can be such a hassle, especially food allergies. We gave her infants motrin last week for her teething pain only to have her break out in hives. It was a pretty tense hour or so around her while I watched her like a hawk to make sure the reaction didn't progress into anaphylaxis.

O.k., I think that's the end of the line....oh yeah, our beta fish Dash:
He's doing well despite having a very swollen eye for about 2 weeks. Anyone know how to take care of that?

Just look how chunky she is now!

Just wanted to show everyone how CUTE Miss Avery is & how she figured out how to GROW!

I'm so horrible...

...at asking for prayers and then not updating. I'm sorry to keep everyone hanging! Shelby's scope went great. About 45 minutes after the procedure she popped right out of the anesthesia and said "Is my test done?" and was hungry. She snarfed down an entire cheeseburger Happy Meal from McDonald's and we were on our way. Her varices are the same they were in December of 2005. Just some grade 2's hanging out in there, looking pretty innocent. Dr. Alonso did see some white plaque in the upper 1/3 of her esophagus which would explain Shelby's frequent throat-clearing and was initially thought to be thrush, but the tests came back indicating that it is NOT that. We are now to see an ENT to get to the bottom of this.

Avery had her 4-month check-up on Friday. She now weighs in at 15.6 pounds -yea for the baby who had a horrible time initially gaining weight!!! I'll try to post pics tomorrow night. Good night!

Prayers for tomorrow please

Shelby is having an upper endoscopy done at Children's Memorial tomorrow at 9 a.m. Please hold her in your prayers that nothing has changed since her last scope in December of 2005. I'll update more tomorrow when we have results and are home. Thank you.

July Happenings

I know, I know, real exciting title, eh?! There seems to be so many things going on that I just can't wrap it up in a cohesive title. Let's see where to start....Riley is doing wonderful. If she could live under the water or grow gills she would be one happy girl. She is swimming amazingly well and seems so grown up for only 7 1/2. Where did my baby go?

Avery is growing! She has a beautiful smile and once you get her talking she seems to have alot to say. She is really an easy-going baby and has been sleeping 8-9 hour stretches at night for about 7 weeks now. Trust me, we know how lucky we are to have a good sleeper. The other two didn't seem to value sleep like Avery does. She still has her milk protein allergy, but is feeding much, much better than she used to. Her doctor probably won't even start to see if she's outgrown that until she's about 9 months old.

Shelby, Shelby, Shelby....my dear sweet huge-hearted Shelby! Where to begin? As you know in previous posts I have written about her just not being herself and her elevated ammonia level. This past weekend we traveled to Bloomington for my cousin Lisa's wedding. Riley & Shelby were very excited to get all dressed up and stay in a hotel. They did lots of swimming in an over-clorinated pool thus Shelby (as she didn't have goggles like her sister) ended up with red, burning eyes and that was just the straw to break the camel's back. She was tired, her eyes hurt, she didn't get to see enough of her "boyfriend" (my cousin Erich), and things in her world were just not right. The poor little girl cried for about 45 minutes before the wedding and then near the end of the wedding whispered to her Grammie that she couldn't see. Her eyes were burning so bad and that sent her into another crying spell that lasted another 30 minutes or so. Yes, you say, there were lots of factors playing into why she would be so upset, but, trust me, as her Mama, things just aren't right with her and it kills me that I just can't make it all better. We did choose to start treating her with Lactulose for her elevated ammonia level, but I don't know if that's making a difference. We met with her local GI this week and he said that portal hypertension alone can cause mood changes, attention problems, and learning difficulties as her liver is just not filtering out all the toxins in her system and that affects brain function. He suggested we talk to Chicago to see if they want to do testing on her to see if she'll need some tutoring or extra help this year in Kindergarten. On August 7th we'll be in Chicago for her upper endoscopy so we'll have a nice, long talk with them then. By the way, the "gallbladder" seen on the ultrasound really is another cyst. Her surgeon looked back in her records and did confirm that he removed her gallbladder during her Kasai. The radiologist just didn't recognize it as a cyst.

On the right-hand side I have put information about upcoming fundraisers. I will continue to keep that current so please check it out. Please continue to hold my dear Shelby in your prayers. Enjoy the pictures!

July

June pictures & Avery's 2-month check-up

June

Avery had her 2-month check-up on Friday. She is now 11 pounds 5 ounces. She is the smallest of the 3 girls so far, but she has had a really rough start (remember?!). We are still discussing med options for Shelby. That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures!

Sorry for the late update

Geez, I should be in bed right now, but I feel so bad for taking so long to let you all know that Avery's MRI came back normal. All the spots of bleeding that they saw before have resolved!!!! Thank you God and thank you everyone for your prayers for her. She is being a bit stubborn on the whole formula-front, though. No, really, she can't help having a milk allergy. She could not tolerate the hypoallergenic formula so now she is taking Neocate, an amino-acid based formula that is available by prescription only. So far, so good. She will also be starting Axid for GERD. Fun, fun, fun. Another kid on meds. Tomorrow she has her 2-month check-up so I'll post more and pictures after that.

I guess it is up to us if we want to try to treat Shelby with medication for the elevated ammonia. We are discussing it still. Also, her ultrasound mentioned a gallbladder. Uh, hello, we were told that was removed during her Kasai. So what is the radiologist seeing then....the nurse in Chicago is following up on that one.

Riley, Riley, Riley....we went to the library on Tuesday only to have her finish all her books by the end of the day. Did I mention she is reading at a 4th grade level (just a reminder she just completed 1st grade)! Back to the library again tomorrow. She is extra-cute now, too, as she lost another tooth!

Please follow the link at the right to my Mom's blog and watch for updates on my Dad. He just spent 6 days in the hospital with a nasty infection. Please send prayers his way for a full and speedy recovery.

I hope to update this weekend.

Shelby's check-up in Chicago & Avery's newest

Yesterday Shelby had an ultrasound & liver clinic in Chicago. The ultrasound was good. The cyst has not grown since February although it is large to begin with. It measures 5 cm in diameter. They'll just keep an eye on it with regular ultrasounds. Her liver doctor wants to do an upper endoscopy on her this summer to check for varices in her esophagus as she has more spider veins on her face. Those indicate that her portal hypertension is worsening. Her labs looked pretty good, but her ammonia is up. That is of concern because we have seen some rather unpleasant behavior changes in Shelby since March. Could it be new baby in the family or just a phase? Yes, but an elevated ammonia level can cause behavior trouble, too. I'm waiting to hear back from them to see if they want to treat her with medication to try to lower her ammonia.

We found out this week that Avery has a milk protein allergy. Now she is on a hypoallergenic formula, but she does not like it and is not taking it well. It is even more of a struggle now to feed her. Ugh! Today she had her follow-up MRI. She did really well again. Hopefully we'll have those results this week yet.

I'll update when I have more information. Take care everyone !