Scarlett at home!

I've been really bad about updating the blog since Scarlett's been home! Sorry about that. But we're so happy the baby's back at home. She left the hospital on March 17 (St. Patrick's Day!) after at 57-day stay. Whew. It was a bit of a rough transition as we figured out all of her new equipment (she's still using her feeding tube for the time being, but hopefully not too much longer, and uses oxygen while she's sleeping), fought with the insurance company over paying for her medication, and got used to life with two working parents and a baby at home. But we're starting to get into a good routine, and really enjoying the times when all three of us are at home.

Here's a picture of my mom and I getting ready to take Scarlett home. I wish you could see the wagon loaded down with all our stuff, but it's behind the nurse who took the picture.

And here are some pictures of Scarlett since we've been at home. She seems to have figured out what the camera is, so she'll be all smiley and then stop as soon as I pull out the camera and refuse to smile anymore. Here's the closest I could get to a smiling picture:


I like this one because it makes her look like she has Angelina Jolie-esque lips:


She has taken a liking to eating her hand, especially when she can't find her pacifier.


She's also cross-eyed a lot these days (usually more than this) as she starts to focus in on a lot more stuff around her.

Here's a typical pose: kicking back with her little bear security blanket.

And here she is hiding from the camera. Hopefully she grows out of that soon!

New room, new baby

Great news: we finally got out of the ICU on Sunday, and Scarlett has continued to do great since we moved to our new room. She's just been so content and happy. There are still a few tests we need to do and equipment and medicines we need to wean her from, but hopefully we're on our way toward getting home.

Just look at this grin! We had some new visitors last night and today, Great Aunt Donna and Great Grandma Millie, and Scarlett was very excited.




She just loved Donna! I think it was her high voice.


Here's a picture with Dad from before we left ICU.


Pretty blue eyes.

She's been sitting up some in this chair from the occupational therapists. You can see her little hands going.

And earlier today, she had her first visit from a musical therapist! She was serenaded with lullabies.

Scarlett was quite enthralled, and loved all the attention.

Happier days

I feel like I might have depressed some people with my last blog post, so to make up for it, here are some new happy pictures of Scarlett from today! She's had a great day. They took her off the CPAP at 9:30 a.m., and then off the oxygen at around 1 p.m., and she's done great all day. And she's been such a happy baby today, just smiling away.

Hospital day 30

Well, Scarlett's been in the hospital this time now for a full month, and we'll probably be in here a few more weeks. So I decided I might as well start documenting our stay better.

First, a look at all her various breathing apparatuses.

Here, she's on the regular oxygen cannula. This is the only thing she was on during our first two visits.


Getting ready to put the CPAP back on ... she looks naked to me with none of it on! And also sad. The tube going into her nose is her feeding tube.

Here's the infamous CPAP. Or, as we sometimes call it, her snorkeling gear.

Most of the time, she hates it, but sometimes she likes it! See, she's smiling! (OK, she's actually just dreaming here. She never likes it.)

Now, this week, she's back on the respirator to give her body a rest and hopefully get over her cough. The breathing tube goes down her throat.

She's heavily sedated and that's why having a tube down her throat doesn't seem to bother her too much here.

Here's a look at the entire respirator machine.

One of the nurses brought Scarlett a new mobile, which she seems to like.

Stuffed animal friends. The nurses in the ER gave her the elephant, and the zebra is a Valentine's present from Jason.

Here's Scarlett working with her physical therapist. She seems to enjoy getting stretched out.

More physical therapy. In this picture, you can see the PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter) in her leg. It's basically like a long-term, extra-long IV line where they can draw blood and give her medications. She has a separate IV on her arm.

Here's one shot of the PICU room where we've been staying.

Little baby in a big bed.

And here's the hated love seat. It's the only thing you can sleep on, and it doesn't fold out!

First stab at modeling

In between hospital stays, Scarlett and I had some photo shoots in her bouncy seat. That seems to be the best place for her to stay calm and happy enough for taking pictures at this point ... she's a pretty big fan of being held most of the time.

These were taken right after her first hospital stay:





And these are after her second stay. She had lots of different expressions to show off this time. I think she's growing up right before my eyes!

Scarlett in the hospital

I'm sure everybody knows by now that Children's Hospital has been our second home for the past few weeks, unfortunately. We are still just trying to get Scarlett breathing comfortably again so we can go back home! In the meantime, here are some pictures for those of you lucky enough not to be here.

My poor baby in the emergency room on our first visit. This was right after they rushed us to Children's Hospital by ambulance, and they immediately hooked her up to all sorts of things. She was under a heat lamp, which made her nice and warm, luckily.

Later, when we moved to her regular room, we got to hold her.

Meeting Great Grandma Semro for the first time! It was not the meeting we'd planned for.



For some reason, I didn't take any photos during our second hospital stay. But after we were released, we drove home in this!


I'm not going to post any photos of Scarlett's early days in the ICU, because they make me sad. But here's one of after she came off the respirator.

This is when I first got to see her off the respirator. I could finally get close!

Mommy and baby reunion.

Scarlett has enjoyed hanging out with her new friend, Mr. BunnyBear.

But here's where we would rather her be -- snuggled up at home. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that it will be soon!