Ava... Back in Familiar Territory

Well, we are home from the hospital. We were there for a little over 24 hours and it really wasn't so bad. We left for the hospital at 8:30 am.We drove for an hour and a half to All Children's Hospital, got there at 10am for registration and then went upstairs to get suited up, and wait for the doctor. Ava is dressed and ready to go....................is Mommy? Mommy sure does put on a great fake smile doesn't she? " What's going on? Why am I strapped to this board." "Hi everyone! Sugar water on a binky sure tastes good, but I'm no dummy! This has happened before"
"Owww, Mommy that hurt! I don't want any more needles!"

The doctor was running a little late and Ava started to get a little hungry, cranky, and tired. She wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight and by this time it was 11:30. So, Daddy and I were trying to find ways to occupy her and keep her happy!

Daddy decided to play Peek a Boo! " Wow Daddy...This is Fun! Do it again!"
She got a little cranky and wanted Mommy to hold her......I took it all in and loved every minute of it because she is so independent and doesn't ever want to be held. She is so active!

She loves to suck her thumb. She finally fell asleep for about 15 minutes!


Hi lady! What's up? Who are you?

" Where am I going Mommy? Are you coming with me?" "I'm getting what done? You're going where?" Daddy...Don't go!" Finally the doctor came at about 11:45am. Time for the endoscopy and they'll put the PH Probe in while she's under.
All done and it is only 12:25pm. Wow! That didn't take long at all. The nurse called her very busy...those are nice words for, over active! She had to wear these things on her arms called "No Nose". It kept her from bending her arms trying to pull the probe out of her nose. We called them her hospital swimmies.

X-ray time. They had to double check to make sure the probe was in the proper place.
Finally, time to eat something. A little apple juice will do. No formula allowed yet! "Yummy Mommy...I'm starving!" At this point, she probably would have drank anything that was in that bottle!
"I'm so happy to see my daddy!" "I'm getting a little sleepy." She finally got to have a bottle, but of course only ate four ounces. The PH probe had a switch on it that I had to turn on when she was eating and then hit the button every time she started to freak out. She finally went down for a little nap. I had to rock her to sleep. She was not comfortable with her surroundings just yet. Daddy ate lunch and is napping too. He seems to feel quite comfortable with his surroundings. Ava is awake and ready to play.


Press pause on the music to hear the video!

Finally down for the night. She was so exhausted! Doesn't she look like she is in a jail cell? I can see why she was so uncomfortable in there.

Doesn't she look so beautiful and peaceful?
Can you tell she is happy? She is ready to go home!

Where are my shoes Mommy? Can you put on my Jellies?

Let's go! Let's go! I'm ready. I miss my sisters and my brother! I want to go home and play with them!

"Yay! Mommy is signing papers to get me out of here!"

"MAN! I thought I could sneak out before they took the IV out. This is gonna hurt, but I'm not gonna cry!"

" OWWWWW! Mommy this hurts! Help me!"
"That didn't hurt one bit, right Mommy? I'm not looking at you Daddy!"

One last stop to visit Mary, one of friends that helped take care of Ava when she was in the hospital after she was born. We stopped to see some other people, but everyone was off! We also had a lot of visitors (nurses) stop by to visit us and wanted to see how Ava was doing. They saw her name up on the board and wanted to make sure she was o.k.

So everything is done. The results of the endoscopy showed that there is no obstruction in her esophagus or anywhere all the way down to her stomach. There is no scarring from all the tubes that were in her from her extended stay in the hospital and her throat is not real irritated, but he said that you wouldn't see that in a baby. You would have to have reflux for years to see that kind of damage. The PH Probe study results will not be ready until next week sometime. Most likely the doctor said he will call on Tuesday and then I'll have a follow up visit in a few weeks. I'll continue to keep you all updated...Check back later! I'm going to try to get to PART 4 of our trip up north tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Kelly

Ava's Going In

I just wanted to let everyone know that Nick and I took Ava to the GI doctor yesterday for answers about why she is still having problems drinking her bottle. We've been having issues with her feeding. She does horrible with her bottle feedings. She has reflux, but nothing seems to be helping. She's had plenty of appointments and they've kept telling us that she has to eat at least 24 oz. and that we have to try any way we can to get her to eat ......well, she won't... and when we force her, she throws up. We're so frustrated and stressed out about the whole situation. The GI doctor said "Well, we could change her medicine and then wait a couple of week and see what happens... ". We stressed that we would like to get to the bottom of it......and get her the help she needs to help her eat, grow, and mature. So,.....Ava will be going into the hospital tomorrow morning. We are scheduled to register at 10am. She is having an endoscopy and a PH probe over 24 hours to see what is going on. They are also going to take a tissue sample. I hope they find out what is going on! She's always happy....until you feed her! It's a sin. Please pray that the procedures go well and that we get to the bottom of it. We'll let you know what happens soon!

Part 3 - A Visit To Aunt Susanne's & More Visitors

On Sunday, June 7th after a long day of visitors and partying, we got up early, got the kids ready and took a road trip from Delaware County, PA to Newark, DE. Thank goodness, our friend, Dan's Mom and Dad lent us their Suburban to use for the week. Thank you! It really helped us out. We now know what we need to buy to fit everyone and anything for our road trips! Now if we could just scrounge up some money.......................all in good time!

Anyway, like I was saying we hit the road to Delaware for another food frenzy! I don't know about Nick, but I must have gained at least 5 lbs. on this trip! We got to my Aunt Susanne & Uncle John's at about 11:30am. What did she have for us to eat for lunch?......Hoagies! Yummy! Some people call them Submarine sandwiches....whatever you want to call them, no one makes them as good as they do in the Northeast. Visitors started arriving around 3:30 pm or so.

Lily & Aunt Susanne (Mom Mom's sister)
Aunt Susanne & Uncle John's oldest son (my cousin), Dan & Luke
Aunt Susanne & Uncle John's youngest son, Sean (my cousin) with Luke, & Ava watching Baby Einstein
Uncle John's mom playing with Sarah
My cousin April and Sarah Cousins Paula & Dennis with Lily Paula and Samantha (her & Dennis' daughter) with Luke...My Aunt Susanne's dog Casey
Me, Dennis, & Ava
Sean & the kids
Dan & the kids

There were many other visitors, but somehow I didn't get every one's pictures....I think I actually relaxed a little bit, sat down, and had a few uninterrupted conversations. I am sad that I missed my other cousin Kyle (Dan & Sean's brother). He was away for the week. Congrats to him for having a great year at Virginia Tech and congrats to Dan for his graduation from Nursing School!
Great Uncle John, Great Aunt Susanne, & the Kids

We had a great time! Thank you John & Susanne for your hospitality and food. Thank you for having us overnight and for letting us take a morning snooze! We miss you already!

June 8th....back to the Trullinger house for more guests!

Great Grandpop (Nana's Dad) & Nick
Nana's sister Larena and Sue
Nana feeding Lily
Luke and his twin, Pop Pop. Do you see the resemblance?
Aunt Tara, Luke, and Pop Pop
My friend Laurie's sister Amy & Luke
Laurie & Sarah having a conversation. "This outfit is adorable, isn't it?"
Amy & her daughter Jenna with Lily & Luke
Aunt Tara and Sarah after a baby massage!
Laurie & Lily playing patty cake

Lily & Ava
One last feed before bed! Nana feeding Ava, Amy feeding Luke, Jenna feeding Lily, Laurie feeding Sarah.

Uncle Teddy (Nick's brother) and Aunt Jackie

On June 9th, we took a trip over to visit my friend, Anna's parents. Her mom recently had surgery and was not able to travel to see us, so we decided to go and see her! Alicia and Sophia came along for one last visit.

Anna & Lily

Anna's dad, Tony with Anna's youngest son Michael and Luke
Anna's mom, Filomena holding Ava, Anna's sister Margherita holding Sarah & Lily, Marg's twins Melina & Tony, and sleeping, Luke!
Nick reading to Sophia and Michael
Alicia & the kids
Luke finally getting to take a nap! He is exhausted!

Back home we go where more visitors come to visit. Aunt Lisa , Jessica, and Kara came over to help us with the last feed of the night! Nick and I got a break!

Great Aunt List feeding Sarah
Luke practicing holding his bottle for the first time
Aunt Tara and Kara
Jessica feeding Lily

June 10th we had a day of rest and not many visitors. I think my camera battery was dead and needed to be charged at this time. We were back up and running on the 11th. My cousin Danielle brought my Grandmother over for another visit.

Sarah is very sleepy, but fighting it!

Daddy & Luke had no problem taking a nap before our visitors came!

Grandmom with who else, Ava! Are you seeing a pattern?

Danielle playing with Lily & Luke

The end of our trip is near. Stay tuned for Part 4 - More Visitors, A Trip to New Jersey, and The Last Day.