The Shayla Dance

Finally, an update!

Well, we made it into our new place. After a week of no power thanks to Hurricane Ike, the movers showed up to take our furniture over to our new apartment. It's been a crazy due to the move. On top of all the packing/unpacking, on Wednesday, I have to return to work. I'm not really looking forward to that at all.

Shayla had another cardiology appointment the other day. There was no EKG this time, but Dr. Wolfe did update us a little bit more on her condition. It's almost like he tells us more information every time we talk to him. Like he thinks we can handle a little bit more as time goes on. He told us that we are in whats called the "Honeymoon" phase. Things are good right now but they will get worse soon as she continues to grow. Shayla is very suseptable to infections. Not that she can get sick easier than any other kid, just that due to her heart condition, it makes it harder for her to fight off sickness like a common cold. She is going to have to get several shots to protect her from RSV come winter time. He also mentioned that by late winter he should have a better idea on where we are headed as far as getting her tetrology surgery.

In the meantime, Lori and I have been experiencing how difficult and all consuming it is to have a newborn. It's near impossible to get anything done. If we are able to unload a box we consider ourselves lucky.

On the bright side, Shayla has started to become a little more alert. She is able to look at contrasting colors with interest and hold her head up on her own. There are brief positive signs in between the crying. We think she may have colic because she has been very fussy as of late. At the very least, we think she gets a tummy ache that causes her problems. The pediatician says she may have slight reflux and may have a little colic as well. Here are some pictures that we have taken over the past few weeks. I have also updated the Hurricane Ike post with some photos from our neighborhood.

Enjoy and we will update again soon.

Hurricane Ike is coming

Hurricane Ike will be making landfall here in Houston soon. Not to worry, though. We are a good 75 miles inland and are safe from the 20ft storm surge that everyone is predicting. We are going to get a lot of rain and some strong wind, but we should be just fine. The worst that could happen is that we lose power and if that happens, we'll be on the road to Austin or San Antonio on Saturday to stay cool.

Updated from my blackberry.

Okay, friday night this monster storm hit us hard! We thought for sure our windows would blow out. Who knew they would actually be able to withstand 110mph winds. Holy cow, what a scary night. We lost power at 2am Sat and have not had it since. There Is lots of destruction around us. Huge trees that have been snapped in half, flooding, all types of debris. Crazy stuff. We are okay, just waiting on the power to come back on. We have fresh water and several MRE's that I saved from my Army days for just such an occasion. We'll update you all as soon as we can.

Proof that Shayla has frog legs!

We found this stuffed frog and it looks very familiar...can anyone see the resemblance?

Shayla gets some gifts

Papa Mike and Grandma Lois sent Shayla some nice new baby gifts today. They got Shayla some new outfits and socks as well as her very first doll! Shayla loves her new clothes! Shayla also inhereted her dad's very first book and his fist baby blanket. What thoughtful Grandparents!

Grandma and Grandpa Hall

Well, here are a couple of photos of Shayla with her Grandma and Grandpa. Lori's parents have been fantastic and have taken a giant weight off our shoulders. We actually feel like we have been able to get Shayla on some sort of schedule, so it's been good.

Shayla's first week at home

Shayla has been at home for 4 days now and she is starting to adjust to life outside the hospital. One thing Lori and I keep saying is why didn't the nurses at the hospital give us an instruction manual? The first two nights were pretty tough. She likes to sleep all day and then stay up all night. Sleep was very hard to get...

On Monday night, we had to rush Shayla to the Emergency room because her temperature was low and she was having Tetrology spells. She was having labored breathing, turning blue around the mouth, and was sweating on the brow. The on-call pediatrician told us to go to the hospital and have a doctor take a look at her. After several hours of observation and consultation phone calls with the cardiologists at Texas Childrens Hospital, it was determined that she could go home. They explained that Shayla was experiencing Tetrology spells and we did the right thing bringing her to the hospital. We see the cardiologist tomorrow so hopefully we can get more info on what to look for and maybe we can find out when we can get the surgery. We'll update you all when we get more info.

Here are some pictures of Shayla's fist bath. Everyone told us that she would get really upset durring this process, but she handled it like a pro. Lori's parents also came into town on Tuesday. What a relief that was! We were finnaly able to get a little sleep. Yesterday we slept for 6 hours! We felt so refreshed. We'll get photos posted with Shayla and Grandma and Grandpa soon.

Check back soon for more photos and info...