Yes, we are offically “Those” parents.
Category: Family Life
30 Weeks
Kayla and I have been looking forward to this nice long weekend. We’re going to get started on Addy’s playroom today. We received the floor tiles in the mail and now we’re going to go shopping for some storage solutions. Our house is already being overrun with stuffed animals and teething toys! Before we hit the road though I had to take a few pictures of Adalyn playing in the area we’re about to transform. I just love the one where it looks like she’s rocking the air guitar! JAM!
Home Video: Teething
I just wanted to post this short (about a minute long) video of Addy chewing on one of her most favorite toys, the Sophie Giraffe. There’s not a lot going on with this home movie but I think this, and future videos, will be a great addition to the photos on this site to remind Kayla and I of what Adalyn was like at this time in her life. If you do decide to watch, be sure to catch the last 5 seconds…hilarious.
Going to the Chapel
The Crew took a trip up to Tennessee this past weekend for a beautiful wedding at Harbor Mountain Inn. Before the ceremony I looked around for a nice little nook that would make a great father-daughter portrait and asked Aunt Courtney if she would take a few pictures of Addy and I. I love what Aunt CC was able to capture. Mucho thanks to Courtney for the image below. So good.
Snuggle in the Sun
This moment between Mommy and Addy warms my soul. I love before-bedtime snuggle sessions.
Visit From Uncle William
My long-time friend, William, stopped by today for a quick visit and to meet Adalyn for the first time. Gosh, I’ve known William since I was just a wee lad back in Elementary school. While the military has kept us from seeing each other as much as we’d like, when we do get a chance to hang out, it’s like picking up right where we left off. Life-long friends like him are a rare treasure.
27 Weeks
Addy is sitting up all by herself! I’ve read that this means crawling is right around the corner. We’re SOOOoooo not ready.
6 Months Old
First of all, Kayla and I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for the love and support we’ve received from our wonderful friends and family these past few days. It’s certainly been emotional times at our house as we handled our first sick baby. But we’re happy to report that Adalyn’s follow up visit with her Pediatrician went very well today. She is no longer running a fever, her lungs sound good, and all of her vitals/measurements came back normal. We’re so thankful that things are starting to return back to normal around here. We even took some time out to take a picture or two of our 6 month old! Can you believe it?
Normal
It’s easy to forget our angel has a serious disease. She plays, laughs, and looks so normal and healthy. Sure, we supplement each meal with enzymes, we administer Prilosec twice a day, and we perform Chest Physical Therapy (CPT) in the morning and before she goes to bed. Oh and she also takes fat soluble vitamins daily. But it’s all just become routine for our family…Our “Normal.” We feel blessed that things aren’t worse than what they are. So many families have much more difficult challenges than we do. However, the past few days have been a wakeup call for us. If you read the previous post you know that Adalyn came down with her first fever Thursday night. Since then we’ve had a roller coaster of events take place that have rocked our world. A chest x-ray found that Adalyn has a mass in her lung that could be pneumonia or mucus. She’s been put on an antibiotic, more strenuous CPT, and a nebulizer therapy. Seeing Addy with her nebulizer mask on makes this disease feel so much more real. In my mind, the mask (and vest) have always been the face of Cystic Fibrosis. Most websites, pictures, and marketing materials show these devices when referring to CF. However, if you look at the past 25 weeks worth of posts on this site, you won’t see any of that. But, we’re going to do whatever it takes to keep Adalyn healthy and happy. It was with great anxiety that we followed doctors orders and administered the Albuterol via the nebulizer. But before we did, we called our wonderful mentor family, Allan and Tabitha, to calm our nerves and get some advice (thanks guys! you’re the best!). Adalyn surprised us though. We were expecting a battle. But, she took the new therapy like a champ (she even fell asleep!). Almost as if to show us that this is nothing more than adding something else to our “Normal.”
Don’t Panic
Our baby had her first fever tonight. She’s doing better now, but we’re keeping a close eye on her. Kayla noticed Adalyn was acting pretty grumpy and felt warm to the touch when she got home this afternoon. When things didn’t improve after I got home, we knew something was wrong. We took a quick temperature reading from the pacifier thermometer just to get an indication of whether or not her body heat was above normal limits. When it read over a hundred we decided to call the doctor. The doctor had us verify the temperature…rectally (sorry Addy)…and it confirmed our little princess did in fact have a fever. The doctor told us to go ahead and give her some infant Tylenol and to check her temperature again after an hour or so. Since then, Addy’s fever has been reduced to a much lower grade. She’s sleeping now but we’re keeping our eyes open and ears listening for any signs of complications. I’m sure we’ll look back on this moment and laugh at how concerned we got over a little fever, but for now we’ll just do our best to not panic. 🙂
