Today's Update

Well not much has happened since the last update. Sierra has not been put on a ventilator yet so that is a huge praise. We are praying that she won't need it.

She was miserable today. :-( It is hard to see her like that. They stopped giving her one of the strong antibiotics that they were giving her because meningitis has been ruled out.

She is still on the oxygen mask and her breathing is labored. She is on 60% oxygen right now. They are trying to lower it gradually. She has to be able to handle it at 30% and be breathing easier before they can think about taking it off.

They think she might have a viral infection.

She got a blood transfusion today because her blood count was rather low.

We have an AMAZING night nurse! I wish we could clone her. :-) She came in the room and started talking to and caressing Sierra. She said to the resident on staff, "Can we give her some pain medication? She is hurting." (We have been asking that question since yesterday) At first he said no, because he thought she was talking about a sedative. She asked for Tylenol and he said that was fine. THANK YOU!!! Now my poor baby has some relief!!! Next, she changed the bedding (which she discovered was wet because the heating blanket under her had leaked), gave Sierra a sponge bath, put Lavender lotion on her, and put a little dress on her. As I type this, Sierra is sleeping peacefully and her stats are good. What a difference some pain relief and loving care makes!

I will be able to sleep tonight knowing that Sierra is in such good hands.

The prayer requests are pretty much the same as last night. Thanks for your prayers, calls, visits, etc. We are so blessed to be surrounded by the love and support of so many people!

Prayer Request Summary List

We are sitting here in PICU. At the moment things are okay, but we have learned that things can change quickly. Here is a list of some specific requests.

1. Right now they just have an oxygen mask on her. They are hoping that this will help here and that they will not have to put her on a ventilator. Please pray that tonight goes well and that her stats stay good so that they will not have to ventilate her.

2. Pray that her liver would start working properly.

3. Pray that Sierra (and parents) would get some peaceful and restful sleep.

4. Pray that God would be glorified through all of this.

PICU Friday

On Thursday they gave her lots of fluids because she was really dehydrated. That perked her up a bit but then she started getting really fussy.

On Friday her lungs started having some problems. It is possible that she aspirated and has the beginnings of pneumonia or they could have given her too much fluid and that could be affecting the lungs.

They put her in PICU so that she could have more oxygen. Please pray that she won't need to be put on a vent. Also keep praying for her liver. Thank you for your prayers.

Admitted Thursday

We took her to the ER on Thursday and she was admitted to the hospital. They did the spinal tap and ruled out meningitis.

The lab results for her liver were abnormal. They have given her plasma. We are praying that the liver will start doing what it needs to do.

Sick on Wednesday

On Wednesday, I noticed that Sierra was not herself. She was just sleeping and would not eat. I took her to the doctor and he thought she might just have an ear infection. He gave her a shot of antibiotics.

The next day she still was not doing well. We took her back to the doctor. He had an xray done and checked her urine for a bladder infection (which she did not have). He was worried about meningitis and recommended that we go to the hospital.

Please Pray for Sierra!

Please be praying for Sierra. She is pretty sick right now. Yesterday she was sleeping all day and didn't want her bottle. We took her to the doctor. He said that it is possible that she had an ear infection. She got a shot of antibiotics. He said to make sure that she gets enough liquids and is wetting her diaper. If she stops doing that, then she will need to go to the hospital. She has another doctor's appointment this afternoon and will get another shot of antibiotics.

Please pray for her!

Family Fun and New Therapy Toys

Sierra had fun this week. Her Grandpa and Grandma Fedelem came to visit for a week. She enjoyed spending time with them. Our only regret is that they live so far away.

Her Uncle Joshua also came to visit and will be here for a few more weeks.

Sierra also got some new therapy toys. They aren't specifically made for therapy, but they work. :-)

This is a little rubber keyboard that I found at the thrift store. It is very sensitive to the touch so her slightest touches make it play. It is good to help her become more aware of her movement and develop more purposeful movement.
The glowing red thing is a Twilight Ladybug. It lights up in red, blue, and red. I'm not sure if she is able to see the light or not.


And last but not least......



....I am still having a hard time believing this one. Here is the story. My mother is by no means an animal lover. Growing up, we would always have to convince her to let us get another animal. Anyways, she was at my house the day before Christmas. We were chatting about Sierra and she mentioned that it would be good for Sierra to feel movement. She thought of crawling around with Sierra on our backs. Then out of the blue she said, "What she really needs is a little horse." I was so shocked! She said, "You could get her a little horse and he could stay in the pasture with Miracle and Cocoa." (Miracle and Cocoa are my horse and my sister's horse. They live at my parent's house.) After she said that, I jumped on Craigslist and found the ad for this little guy. We called up and made arrangements to go see him on Christmas day. The people selling him had received about 30 e-mails about him, but I was the first to call. We went to see him and bought him. :-) Horse therapy is SOOO good for disabled children. I am going to try to have Sierra ride him at least 2 times a week. My mother named him Praise. I call him, "Lil' Praise Pony."

New Family Member

It is official, we have a new family member.

Pancho Villa is a little guy that was a stray that we got from the pound.

He loves Sierra.The three Musketeers.

Staying Busy

I guess I'm overdue for writing an update. We have been so busy lately, I feel like we don't even have time to breathe!

Sierra is getting physical therapy 4 times a month, developmental delay therapy 2 times a month, and blind services 1 time a month. She is also going to the chiropractor in Austin (75 minutes away) two times a week. On top of all that, we have been doing fundraisers. Our next fundraiser will be in Burnet on Dec. 13. That will be a fun one. We are going to have an arts and crafts booth set up and sell wooden things that I made with the scroll saw and also homemade soap.

We went on a 2 day camping trip to Pedernales State park about 2 weeks ago. We took Sierra and the two dogs. We all had fun and really enjoyed it. We hope to go camping again sometime.

Yesterday, Sierra, Daisy, and I went to the swearing in of our state representative. I got to take pictures of Sierra with lots of important people so that was fun. It has been about a year since I have been able to go to any political events so it was nice to be able to do that again. I'm hoping to gradually start becoming involved again.

Here are lots of pictures from our camping trip and our trip to the capitol.

Camping

Swearing in of State Representative Ralph Sheffield

Sierra with State Representative Ralph Sheffield, State Speaker of the House Tom Craddick, Former Rep. Dianne White Delisi, and State Representative Jimmie Don Aycock

Sierra with State Senator Troy Fraser (and Mr. J. Brown)

Sierra with Justice Bob Pemberton (3rd Court of Appeals)

Sierra with U.S. Congressman John Carter
(this one was actually on election night, not at the swearing in)

Sierra with Governor Rick Perry

Accident and Vacation

I will be adding pictures to this post in a day or two.

Last week was a whirlwind of activity. We were planning on leaving on the 23rd to go to California for a week to visit Jason's parents. On Monday, Sierra and I were out doing some last minute errands when we were rear-ended. It turned out to be a 4 car accident. I won't go into details because the insurance claim is still open. Thank God neither of us were seriously hurt! Our car is in the shop right now, so we are using a rental car.

On Tuesday, we flew to San Francisco. The flight went okay but we had some issues with luggage. Our luggage didn't make it when we did. That wouldn't have been so bad, because they said they would deliver it, but the problem was that our car seat was with the luggage. They said they would lend us one. So they took us over to where they have their loaner items and pulled out an ancient 10 year old car seat that didn't look safe. FWIW, car seats expire after about 5 years. We said that there was no way we were going to put Sierra in it and that they could face major legal problems if they ever loaned that out to someone. Since we wouldn't use their car seat, they told us to wait at the airport for 3 hours till ours arrived. Finally, after asking to speak to a supervisor, they suddenly came up with a solution and found a safe car seat for her to use.

On Wednesday, we drove to Grizzly Flats to visit with some long time friends of Jason's. After a nice visit with them, we drove to Galt, to visit my KIRABO!!!! =) Kirabo is the wolfdog that I owned before Jason and I got married. I gave him to a lady in Galt, because I knew he wouldn't be happy in a house with a small backyard. It was wonderful to see him! After visiting Kirabo, we drove to Salinas.

On Thursday, Sierra got to hang out with Grandma, while Jason and I celebrated a late 2nd anniversary. We went to Monterey and Carmel. It was fun seeing the Sea Lions so close up and in the wild. Carmel is a very picturesque town with beautiful little houses. At Carmel, we ate dinner at a restaurant. We did feel rather out of our league there. Then we walked down to the ocean. We enjoyed our day very much.

On Friday morning we visited the couple that fostered Jason from 3 days old until 6 months old. This was the first time in about 21 years that Jason had seen them, so it was really neat for all of us. Friday evening we visited with some other friends.

On Saturday we went to the airshow. Sierra hated wearing the ear protection that we bought for her. She looked very cute though! She got her picture taken with one of the best aerobatics pilot in the world, Sean Tucker. I'll add the picture soon.

On Sunday, we went to church and then had a meet and greet after we got back.

On Monday morning, we went to visit some of Jason's other friends. That afternoon we took a ride in FIL's 65 mustang and then had pizza and watched movies. (Well, I fell asleep during the second movie! Opps! )

Overall, we had a good time and enjoyed seeing Jason's parents and friends. Sierra enjoyed it, except for traveling. She didn't like being held for that long and wanted to be on the floor doing her army crawl.