Macy is home, healthy and HAPPY!

Big brother is happy to have her home too. She pulled through and proved what a little fighter she is. We are so humbled and honored at all the prayers that have been sent up for her over the last few weeks. Who knew that such a common virus could be so dangerous? I've learned of so many little ones lately who are battling with RSV. The ERs seem to be very fickle with how they handle this illness. If you have a little one who you think might have RSV, don't relent with their medical care...get a second opinion if you're not satisfied with the first. Macy went from fine, to bad, to worse, to complete respiratory failure in a 48 hour period. RSV is aggressive and can be FATAL!! Trust your Mommy insticts and get the care you little one needs no matter what...they are counting on you to stand in the gap for them. I really can't help but think that the mass recall of ALL infant decongestants has a direct link to the increase in severe RSV cases among infants. I wish I were a medical researcher...I'd be very interested to know if there is a statistical correlation. If anyone has done any type of study on this topic, I'd love to hear about your findings!

Macy - Monday Morning

Macy had a great night for her first night in a regular room. She hasn't been on any oxygen since yesterday morning and she has been bottle feeding throughout the night. The only "drug" she's still getting is Tylenol. The nurse from the night shift thinks there is a good chance she could go home TODAY!!

Last night as I held Macy and fed her, my prayer was that God's will be done for her. He has been so good and faithful to us throughout this whole ordeal. I prayed for patience and energy as I committed the timing of going home to Him. His timing is perfect...not the doctors' and not mine. So although every fiber of my being wanted to pray for her to go home today, I did not. But God is so good. He loves sweet Macy even more than I can. I thanked Him for trusting me with her precious little life and for the privelege of being her Mommy. I know I keep repeating myself, but I just can not thank all of you enough for your faithfulness in praying for Macy's recovery.

As I reflect back on the last 2 weeks, I am amazed at what she has overcome. She was basically in a medically induced coma for 11 days while her tiny body fought off this nasty and aggressive virus. When the nurses on this floor learned that she was on the breathing tube for 11 days, they all said what a strong and lucky little girl she is that she pulled through. I guess in my head I knew that there was a chance she wouldn't win her battle with RSV, but my heart never accepted that as a possibility. With the peace and strength that only comes from God, and with the blessing of having support from all of you, we have emerged from this battle victorious!

God bless you all!

SATURDAY!!!

Macy is off the ventilator and Nick and I have been holding her since we got here this morning. We hope to be in a regular room tomorrow and home by Christmas Eve. I will post pictures and elaborate when we move to a room. For now I'm going to go enjoy snuggling by sweet baby girl. Thank you for all the love, prayers, support and encouragement. You are all such a blessing to me and I appreciate you all more than I can express. Hugs and Kisses...Jenny

Macy - Thursday/Friday AM

Macy had a great day and night. They have taken her off of the sedation drip completely so she in no longer completely asleep all the time. When she is awake she is very calm, although there is a very concerned and confused look on her face at times. She has been on such heavy sedation for so long that it is just taking some time for her to adjust to the awake world again. Her lungs are continuing to stregthen and her vent was turned down significantly overnight. When I left the hospital last night, it was set aon 18 - where it has been for the past couple of days. They can only turn it down 2 settings at a time and each time they take blood and observe her to see how she's adjusting to it. So last night she went from an 18 to 12 this morning! That is awesome news!! They say she has to be down to a 5 or 6 to be ready to remove the tube completely. But we thought Sunday would be the soonest she would be extubated, and now tomorrow is a real possibility! We could not be more proud of her and how perfectly she has been responding to the weaning process. Today we could either see a whole lot more progress, or a return to a "holding pattern". We are praying for progress. Once that tube is out, she will be ready to go to her own room where they will continue to observe her until it is determined that she is well enough to come home.

Dalton and Korbin are headed to Grapevine today with Uncle Lance and Nick to ride the Polar Express and experience a little Christmas together. We all need a little Christmas. I hope to have a few pictures of their boys day out and will post them soon.

Macy Marie - Wednesday

Macy is continuing to gradually improve and is starting to wake up more as she is slowly being pulled off of the sedation. It is so nice to see her sweet face and her beautiful blue eyes again. Last night Nick and I stayed here all night for our first overnight together in a week - one of us usually sleeps at home with Dalton. It was our 3 year anniversary, and the best gift of all was seeing sweet Macy start to look like herself again. She still can not make any sounds because the tube obstructs her vocal chords, but I have no doubt that she was trying to say something to me last night. From the looks of it she probably wanted me to help her break free and get out of that bed! I am ready for her to be out and come home, but she needs just a little more time. She has the sweetest little Christmas outfit, and seeing how she can't wear clothes where she is now, I am hoping and praying that we will be able to bring her home before Christmas. So she can wear it, I can take pictures, and she will have happy memories of her first Christmas...not hospital memories.

Dalton got to come back and see Macy yesterday. She is still in Intensive Care, so he technically wasn't allowed back, but Macy's nurse made an exception. He had to wear a surgical mask and was only allowed to stay for a couple of minutes, and he couldn't touch her. But he was very brave (I would be scared of this place if I were a two-year-old) and so sweet. He talked to her and said a prayer for her, then blew her a kiss on the way out. His resilience amazes me and I am so proud of him. I'm very excited for Christmas with him this year...he finally "gets it" and can hardly wait for Santa to come to his house and leave presents. I had a little talk with Santa about what an extra good boy he's been lately in light of such unfortunate circumstances, and Santa agreed that Dalton should get everything on his wish list this year. How fun it will be to see his little face light up on Christmas morning.

An update on Macy's foot: A plastic surgeon came to see Macy's foot yesterday. He confirmed that the chemical burns are 2nd degree, and he doesn't think it will require any skin grafts. PTL!!! We're still unsure what the future holds for that little foot and how it will effect Macy's physical development. As she gets older, we'll look for signs of nerve damage, but for now I am just relieved that she won't need to undergo surgery once she is over this nasty virus.

Thank you for keeping up with us and continuing to pray for Macy...I am hoping to have REALLY good news in the coming day or two, so please check back soon!

Macy Marie - Tuesday

Over the last 48 hours Macy's lungs have started to show signs of very gradual improvement. It seems the worst of the virus is over and she is slowly making her recovery. We were told over the weekend that she would probably be extubated tomorrow, but we just learned that it will be at least another 48-72 hours before they attempt to remove the breathing tube. It is looking more and more like we will be spending Christmas here at Medical City. We are supposed to meet with a plastic surgeon today to discuss what to do about the burn on Macy's foot and the horrific scar it appears to be leaving. Not that a scar on her foot is of the highest priority right now, but one day it will be a very big deal to her...so we just want to know what the options are. Please keep praying. Macy still needs prayers for strength and healing, and her brother and parents need prayers for peace, energy and sound mind.

Pictures from Saturday

About 4:30am...Jammi and I pulling an all-nighter

Macy Marie - Sunday

It is Sunday morning and all reports so far have been good! My Mom and Nick's mom stayed the night with Macy last night. They have decreased her bbm from 28 to 24, which means she's taking more breaths on her own, and her secretions are continuing to thin out. The doctor told us last night that it will likely be Wednesday before they remove the tube and sedation, so she continues to be virtually unconsious. Yesterday, Nick and I were in her room together for the first time since I don't know when. She opened her eyes for a good long time, but was very glassy-eyed and "out-of-it". They increased her sedatives to put her back to sleep. Still, it was nice to see her eyes! I'm out the door now so I can be at the door of her room when shift change is over. I have a few pictures from yesterday I will post later today. Thank you for the continued prayers and words of encouragement!

Macy Marie - Saturday morning

The past 24 hours have been rough. A 4 week old little girl named Trinity came in the same day as Macy. I got to know her mom and hear her story over the last few days. Long story short: Trinity had a massive tumor on her brain that her parents were unaware of. They were supposed to do surgery to remove it yesterday morning, but when it came time to prepare her for the procedure, the doctors told Trinity's parents that the tumor was inoperable. The tumor was too big and she was just too tiny for the surgery to be successful. Her parents had to make the painful decision to remove her ventilator. Trinity passed away peacefully yesterday at noon.

I haven't left Macy's side since.

Macy had an okay night. We haven't gotten the results from her latest x-rays and blood work yet, but so far she seems no better, no worse than yesterday. Her secretions are still very abundant and thick. So she is still on the ventilator and completely sedated.

More on Macy

Sunday night in the ER

In the ER

At McKinney Medical Center

At the hospital in McKinney

Aunt Jammi stayed up with me and Macy in the hospital all night

Daddy holding his baby girl

Macy's foot was badly burned and blistered by an IV infiltration

She was transported by ambulance to Medical City of Dallas on Wednesday afternoon

This is what she looks like now.

I simply do not have time or resources to keep up with the blog right now. Please check our Facebook group or Jammi's blog for regular updates. I will try to blog something again soon, but for detailed updates, those are the alternatives. Thank you to everyone who is thinking of us and praying for Macy...poor little thing needs as much prayer as we can get for her!

Macy

This post is not a pleasant one to write and is simply to inform everyone of what is going on with our baby girl. Friday evening Macy came down with a cold...not too bad, but she was definitely congested. Saturday all day it was more of the same. Saturday night I was up with her all night. She stopped eating and clearly couldn't breath. Sunday all day was the same...no eating, labored breathing and lots of crying. Sunday night she vomitted and became very pale, so I called the triage nurse at her pediatrician's office - she listened to Macy breathing and directed us to go to the ER. Which we did. They did a breathing treatment, took x-rays and tested for RSV. They said all the test results were okay and we went home. That was about 2:00 in the AM. First thing Monday morning we took her to the pediatrician for a follow-up appt. She had a breathing treatment and got some nasal spray and we went home. Monday night was the worst...she screamed all evening, night and early morning. Wouldn't eat, couldn't breath. So it was back to the ER at 4 AM for us. This time she tested positive for RSV and was admitted right away. We have been here all day and the doctor just said we'll be here at least until Thursday...depending on how she does. Prayers are greatly appreciated and I will try to update the blog regularly as to her progress.