http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee recent pleonast.com entries by user neenee en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=600620 Ok, so we might have made a big mistake last night. Last night it was snow-flurrying and we *both* (don't let him tell you other wise) felt sorry for the little frozen fur-balls outside. So we warmed them up in the laundry room. Well, Dan thought they might get into too much stuff in there, so he suggested putting them in the spare bathroom. First, Dan went down and completely gutted the bathroom. We walk in with the kitties and the room echoed! I told him they wouldn't get into just regular bathroom stuff. (And they don't eat soap!) But he was hesitant to put the toilet paper back on the roller. I have never had a cat play with toilet paper before. I made them a little litter box while Dan brought in their food and water. We gave them a little basket with towels to sleep in. We had to block the bathroom door as Chloe could crawl underneath it. They started playing with each other and seemed perfectly happy. (Except for the fact that Lola would really rather us just stay in there.... 2008-11-18 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=598156 Please pray for Mackenna Mae today. She gets to go home (if all goes according to plan) sometime this afternoon! Thank God for answered prayers. 2008-11-11 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=597709 I kept telling Kristopher, "Before you know it, you're going to have that little girl in a car seat headed home!" Well, Lord willing, that time is near. They're talking about letting her go home on Tuesday! Her O2 levels have been great (except for a brief bout on Saturday) and she has no supplement to help her breathe. Her biggest struggle is taking her feedings by mouth, but she has been drinking about half of it by mouth! The rest has to go in through a tube because she gets so tuckered out, so she will be going home with that. Kristopher and Tiffany have been taking turns practicing putting it in and out. We are so thankful for what God has done for our little baby. We're also very thankful for all the prayers going up on her behalf. Our Christian friends have show that the fervent prayer of the righteous avails much. Sugar, spice, everything nice, and answered prayers. That's what our little girl is made of. :) Mondays are always hard for me. I get to spend more tim... 2008-11-10 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=591867 I talked with Momma after evening services and they took Mackenna back off the ventilator!! She is doing pretty well. She is doing some breathing treatments and VapoTherm (a continual flow of moisturized warm air through her nasal cannula). It makes it a little easier for her to breathe. They also took her off her sedative medications. They will give her a dose periodically if she gets rather rambunctious. Kristopher also said that her color is looking wonderful today. Pretty pink, just what babies should be! Praise God! Every now and then you hear a sermon that can positively change your life. Now, will you let it? Sometimes life changes are difficult to make. We think, "Oh, when things get better" or "When I have more time" or "When we pay this off I can cut back my hours at work..." etc. When will we stop dreaming about how we want life to be and just DO IT ALREADY! Two souls were brought to the Lord today. Both are Christians repenting of past sin... 2008-10-27 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=591594 I received a couple calls this afternoon from my daddy and my brother. Mackenna has taken a step back today. She went into cardiopulmonary crisis probably due to pulmonary hypertension. Now in English for those of you who don't speak Medical terminology, ;) her blood pressure got so high in the blood vessels that go from her heart to her lungs, that her heart stopped pumping effectively. She started fussing, then sweating profusely, then started turning blue. Their nurse was EXCELLENT in catching the signs and called the team in immediately. The result: Mackenna is back on the ventilator, on oxygen and nitric oxide, and sedative meds again. The cardiologist said this is an "expected" happening after pediatric heart surgery. However, after her surgery in about 6 months, it shouldn't happen again. We've known for a long time that Mackenna's progress would be two steps forward, one step back. Even though we expect the steps back, they are still hard for us to watch. Please ... 2008-10-25 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=591313 I have had a day with quite a few ups and downs. My biggest UP was that Mackenna was taken off the ventilator today and she is doing excellent! She was a bit fussy after they took it out, so they let Tiffany hold her and she calmed right down. She just needed her Momma. They were going to resume her breast milk feedings sometime today (they had to hold them for a few hours before they removed the vent tubes). GREAT news! This baby is our little Blessings Baby. We can see so many Blessing from God through her! My biggest DOWN was being chewed out for 20 minutes by a patient that didn't know what he was talking about - and it was about nothing I could control. But boy, he deflated me. this is dan cutting in: i love my wife!!!! and now back to your regularly scheduled programming... Another UP. ^^I love my husband. :) DOWN - I'm sick. I'm not sure with what. I have nothing but vague symptoms. All I know is that I have a fever of 100* and I won't get to walk in the 5K race tomorrow. ... 2008-10-24 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=589743 Since it's been a while since I've posted, you can safely assume that Kenna is doing well. :) She is off of oxygen and nitrics at this point, though she is still on a ventilator. They hope to wean her off of that this week. The vent (even though it is just supplying room air) is giving her lungs and heart a bit of a rest while they heal, which she needs very much. She is completely off her blood pressure medicine and is doing just fine! They have weaned her off the paralytic medications that made her so limp and out of it. She is awake sometimes now and will open her eyes. If she frowns or if her BP starts to go up, they'll give her pain medication. She is receiving *excellent* care. Question: What is the most ridiculous holiday and why do you think so? My answer: Columbus Day. Congratulations! You landed on the wrong continent! Let's have a day of celebration in honor of your big boo-boo! I mean, really - do we really need to close the banks on this day? What's the big deal?! But ... 2008-10-21 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=587845 I talked with Momma this afternoon and Kenna is stable. Her little chest is still open. The surgery caused enough swelling of her heart that they could not close it. They hope to do that in a couple of days. After she is closed back up, she'll be moved to the NICU (she's in PICU right now). So far, all things are positive. Praise God!!! 2008-10-15 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=587166 Kenna's surgery went well. The surgeon said it was what he *hoped* for, not what he *expected*. Read that through twice if you need to. That was GREAT news. She didn't have to stay on the heart and lung machine for as long as was anticipated. They did not have to use any "outside" tissue to patch her up. (So there is no chance for rejection. GREAT news!) Her 02 was a little low at first after the surgery, but a resp. therapist was working with her to get that back up. This is all great news and we thank God for His loving care for our Baby Girl!! We also must remember, that this next 24 hours is especially crucial. Please keep praying. I was so blessed to be able to see her, hold her, and even change a diaper! I also had a blessing of being able to take some pictures. Not everyone likes pictures of babies hooked up to tubing, so if that makes you squirm, you might avoid my galleries. The nurses in the NICU really encouraged Tiff and Kristopher to have a "photo shoot... 2008-10-14 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=586831 Momma just called and said they took Mackenna back for surgery. Please PRAY PRAY PRAY! What is so comforting for me is that no matter what happens or how the surgery goes, I know God is holding her in His Almighty hand. We got home around midnight last night. I wish we could have stayed for the surgery. I have some pictures, but haven't been able to upload them to Pleo yet, but don't worry, pictures ARE coming. 2008-10-13