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Alyson's First Hospital Stay, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:30:00 +0000

This is a continuation of Alyson's First Hospital Stay, Part 1.

For the first night, Casey and I were both able to stay with Alyson since Casey's parents had Emma, Madison and Kaetlyn spend the night. Alyson was required to stay under a baby warmer which means she couldn't be held. It was quite a sight to see our little baby laying there naked with oxygen, an IV, an O2 sensor and a temperature probe. She barely had any awake time, and when she did open her eyes she seemed all doped up (even though she hadn't been given any painkillers). The nurse we got was a contractor that had been a pediatric nurse for 21 years. She had a lot of experience at Children's Medical Center, so that made us feel good. However, she was very intense. It's rare to get a nurse that explains everything, but it's actually possible that she explained more than everything to us. We quickly were overloaded with information, but at the same time it was a nice experience to feel like I was an insider. Alyson wasn't comfortable at all, but we knew they had done all that they could. We got a little sleep.

The next day, Saturday, we woke up when the doctor came in and he said he didn't see much improvement. A little while later though, we finally got the opportunity to feed her and she kept it down! We were told that she seemed to be doing well and that we might go home on Sunday. Alyson had some alert time where she didn't seem drunk, so we were very pleased. That night, I stayed with her so that Casey could take the girls home. She started vomiting again and didn't hold anything down overnight. She woke up coughing at 3 AM and the respiratory nurses came in to help her get out what she could.

On Sunday, we learned that Alyson had gained back most of the weight that she had lost due to being sick. However, because she hadn't been able to hold her formula down overnight she had to stay at least one more night. She started eating and holding everything down again. Casey stayed with her that night, but Alyson started throwing up again. She also had difficulty sleeping due to all of the coughing. The held us over for the same reason on Monday

On Tuesday they held us because of her cough and started breathing treatments. I had a conversation with the pediatrician where he indicated that the pneumonia could be caused by aspiration due to reflux. So, Wednesday morning we had a test called a "modified barium swallow". Basically, Alyson drank stuff that glows on an x-ray so they could see if it was coming back up and -- assuming it did come back up -- if it went down into her lungs. Madison had a similar test a long time ago. The test showed that when Alyson drinks, some of the formula starts to go down her trachea to her lungs. During the test it didn't actually travel all the way down, but the fact that it can go down means that it probably has, which would be the cause of her pneumonia. Per the therapist's instructions we're starting thickener right away (just like we did with Madison and Emma) and all should be well soon! We were discharged with instructions to carry on breathing treatments, chest percussion therapy (which helps her clear her lungs), an antibiotic as well as thickening her formula.

Hopefully we won't see pneumonia any time soon!

Really Cheap Glasses from Zenni Optical

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:45:00 +0000

Madison's VI therapist sent a web site to Casey that has really inexpensive glasses, Zenni Optical. It appears that they design and manufacture all of the frames themselves, and they have a huge variety of designs in various materials. We're really interested in seeing the quality firsthand. Kaetlyn needs new glasses soon since she's outgrowing hers, so this is a great time to spend $50-60 and see if these glasses are good. The great part is that if this company makes a good product, we don't have to pay $250+ for replacement glasses that aren't covered by insurance.

Alyson's First Hospital Stay, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:57:00 +0000

Two weeks ago, Emma got a bad cold. It started rippling through the family, one member after another. My mom was in town at the time, and when she came down with it she said it was horrible. Last Monday, Alyson developed a cough. Since she had to go in for her one month checkup on Tuesday, we asked the pediatrician about it while we were in. He said that she had a bit of a cold, but her lungs were clear so we should just keep an eye on it. Starting early Thursday morning, Alyson started vomiting. She could hardly hold anything down. That night, she started refusing to suck on the bottle and the little bits of formula we could get her to swallow were quickly sent back up. First thing Friday morning, I took her back to the pediatrician. I could tell from the moment I walked in to the room that something was wrong from the look on the nurses face. Each question she asked me seem to have a bad answer and made things look even worse. They checked her out and found that she was hypothermic, had low oxygen saturation and there was definitely something going on in her lungs. We were sent to the ER for a workup.

At the ER they drew blood, put her on oxygen, did a lumbar puncture (otherwise known as a spinal tap), did an x-ray and started antibiotics. As it turns out, she had pneumonia, exhibited some apnea and was very dehydrated. She was admitted to the hospital and began respiratory therapy.

To be continued...

New Site Layout

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:33:00 +0000

It's that time again -- time for a new site layout. I still have a little tweaking to do, but I couldn't stand letting it sit behind the scenes any longer!

Trust and Information

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:47:00 +0000

My current job responsibilities are solely concentrated in "Information Security". Basically, it's my job to identify what the people in our company need to do and what technology we need to implement to minimize potential threats to our assets. Part of this is putting together a bunch of documents that let employees know what things are ok to do with our data and what things are not ok. Essentially, these documents establish trust between companies, employees, partners and customers. For instance, employees are told that if information is marked "restricted", they can't let anyone else know that information without their manager's approval. Before approving, that manager has to ensure that it's ok that other person (such as a customer) receive that information. The way the manager knows if it's ok is by verifying that the recipient has also accepted the rules for what things may be done and may not be done with that information. After that, the manager checks to ensure that the way the information will be sent to the recipient will be secure -- so that someone else can't eavesdrop and also get that information. It's complicated and sounds like it's a big pain to work with, right?

Outside of geekdom, this kind of exchange happens every day between friends. If something happens to me that I don't really want to share with the world, I may still tell a close friend about it so that I can get advice or moral support. I'm supremely confident that you can relate, since this is just human nature. We need each other. Close friends don't need a 300 page information security manual, a manager and an information security team that tells them not to gossip... Ideally, they just know what's right and what's wrong. Unfortunately, the ideal isn't always the case and as I found out today, it wasn't for me and my family recently. I'm disappointed that someone that Casey or I calls a close friend would betray our trust. It's damaging from multiple perspectives and uncalled for. That's all I have to say about it. I'm finished now.

Croup Stinks

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:15:00 +0000

On Thursday, Kaetlyn was diagnosed with Croup. She hasn't completely recovered but is doing much better. Unfortunately it's making its way through the family. Even my Mom (who stayed with us the last couple of weeks) got it just before going home. My symptoms seem to be improving, so hopefully I'll be "all done" soon. Poor Casey and Alyson though, they sound awful! I don't think Emma has had it yet... We'll keep our fingers crossed.

I Love Shrimp

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:10:00 +0000

I have a very vivid memory from summer vacation when I was about 10 years old when my grandparents took me to Captain D's for all you can eat peel-and-eat shrimp. We walked in and my grandfather asked the cashier if he was sure they should charge me the kid's price because he knew how much I loved shrimp. The cashier laughed of course, but 80-something shrimp later I bet they wished they had charged more!

Emma loves them too, although she's gravitated towards the fried variety. Certainly it's unhealthy to consume anything in incredible amounts, but besides the huge quantity it's always been my assumption that there was something that was unhealthy about shrimp (well, at least since I've been old enough to think about such things). Kinda like eggs I guess... they're good for you to eat occasionally, but most people will tell you that eating a three-egg omelet every morning will do you in. Well, I'm not sure I agree with that either, but I digress. Anyway, I was surprised that I hadn't been let in on the secret that eating shrimp is actually quite healthy! For a truly unbiased source, check out the USDA. Shrimp has an incredible amount of protein with no carbs and almost no fat. The only negative is the cholesterol... but compare it to eggs and you've really got a winner.

<nerd alert>
Egg has a cholesterol-to-protein ratio of .034:1, while shrimp is .01:1. Case closed, and I didn't even do ratio for fat!
</nerd alert>

In case you're wondering, lobster and crab are in the same boat (no pun intended), although some varieties of crab can have a good deal of sodium. Shrimp does seem to have the greatest concentration of protein though!

Young Parisian

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:25:00 +0000

I sit here feeding Alyson, watching Emma and Madison color together and chat quietly at the counter and listen to Kaetlyn as she wanders the house trying to figure out what she's going to do next... and I can't imagine people like this 20-year-old guy who shot and killed himself [Free link, but you have to open the PDF] just over 100 years ago just because he was bored. There's some very interesting stuff in the free online archive of the New York Times.

Alyson Kathlleen Kolb

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:22:00 +0000

Alyson Kathleen Kolb was born on October 11, 2008 weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces. She and Casey are doing great.

Post Already Chris

noreply@blogger.com (Casey) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:16:00 +0000

Gosh don't you all think that Chris should blog and put up new pics. IT isn't like he is busy taking care of the whole household or anything...HEHEHE

I love you babe, thank you for all of your hard work while I am on bedrest!

The Great Catch Up

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:50:00 +0000

Casey has blogged most of this already, but it just seems wrong to have such a giant gap and then randomly start blogging again with no warning.

Our new car's gas mileage is so much better than our last one that we're saving quite a bit of money on a monthly basis as a result. I'm thrilled of course!
Arkansas was great and we have already put down a deposit to go back next year.
Despite some drama and personnel upheaval on my team at work, three major projects have wrapped up in the last 7 weeks and all have been big successes due to the help of a close friend/co-worker. One of those projects was to move the office to a brand new building which has shaved 10 minutes each way off of my commute!
My mom came to help out for 11 days last month and it was a really great visit. The girls are still talking about it and Casey and I got a great break due to all the help.
One of the drains in our kitchen sink broke and after hours of trying to get it off (to replace it) using brute force and chemicals we finally broke down and bought a whole new sink. Best part is that I actually got it installed myself and all of the plumbing has worked great.
According to a child psychologist that we've been taking Madison to, it seems she does not have anything on the autism spectrum. Instead, it's likely a strong case of Obssessive Compulsive Disorder, which has to be handled very differently on our side -- so we're relearning our habits quite a bit.
I'm feeling uncomfortable about the heap of unprocessed photos I've taken over the last several weeks and am anxious to get them online but may not have the time soon.
Madison started school and is reportedly the best mannered child in the class. When she asked repeatedly to ride the bus we were nervous about the idea, but she really loves it.
We're in the home stretch of pregnancy with baby #4 but aren't yet sure what name we like best. It's been a rocky, painful and uncomfortable journey for Casey, but at the moment we're coasting along ok.
I'm sick today with a stomach bug, and while snoozing this morning we got a call from Madison's school saying that she was really sick and needed to be picked up. She's home and everybody seems to be hanging in there. Hopefully this one doesn't hit the whole family.

Let's Compare

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:19:00 +0000

In some ways, northern Arkansas looks a lot like Colorado. Hopefully I'll have pictures soon to show.

Chris's PIctures

noreply@blogger.com (Casey) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 07:19:00 +0000

I am surprised Chris didn't blog about this. He posted some new pictures!!!! He posted in each of the girls albums under the Family category and he posted pictures from our trip to Fair Park under the Holidays, Vacations, and Family Outings category. He got some great shots and I just love his pictures, he takes amazing pictures! I am in awe of his pictures actually!

Anyways, go check them out and let him know what you think!

Pink Horseys

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:42:00 +0000

E: Daddy, I want a pink one, not a black one. Black isn't my favorite color but pink is my favorite color.
Me: What do you mean? Pink or black one of what?
E: The horsey! The horsey I'll ride on vacation.
Me: Oh, honey God doesn't make pink horses. I'm sorry.
E: Well, who makes pink horses?

*sigh* :-)

Fair Park

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:27:00 +0000

As you've heard, we're a fan of the Dallas World Aquarium and have been several times. Apparently there's a much older and lesser travelled aquarium called the Dallas Aquarium at Fair Park. We heard about it on the news because the City of Dallas is looking at budget cuts in the fall and is considering closing it. After looking at their web site and seeing how cheap it was, we decided we needed to go. We weren't sure what to expect and certainly thought it'd be much smaller, but last weekend when my mom was in town we loaded everybody up and went down to Fair Park. We were really happy with the whole trip. It is tiny compared to DWA, but I got better fish pictures there than I ever have. The girls got to touch a horseshoe crab and see a baby turtle up close. After we left there, we got snow cones at a stand just outside and wandered around. It's been so long since I have been down there I had forgotten how cool of a place it is to go to. We wandered around the pond and then went in to see the IMAX projector get prepped and started. Emma was very excited to see the huge reels of film start moving and watch the giant projector slide all the way up to the ceiling to start playing the movie.

I think we'll be going down there again soon. Maybe the museum will be our next stop!

Sorting and Matching

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:25:00 +0000

Madison likes to match and sort. Today she matched the colors of the crayons with the sugar packets at lunch. She also pulled out all of the white packets and lined them up end to end, ensuring that all of them faced the exact same direction.

Baby iPods?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:39:00 +0000

Responsible Parenting

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 25 May 2008 21:23:00 +0000

Just in case you ever have the urge, please remember...

Chris's Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Casey) — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:48:00 +0000

I know Chris said he posted pictures but if you haven't looked at them, you need to NOW!!! They are so cute and I love them! Of course I want prints of all of them. It may take him forever to get them on his site but he puts a lot of time into each picture and it is well worth it! Thanks honey for capturing great memories of our girls!

We are off to Shawnee, Oklahoma later today so I hope everyone has a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend. Please remember to say thanks to all of those who have served for us!

New Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:50:00 +0000

It's probably hard to believe, but I actually posted a few new pictures tonight in each of the girls' albums. Granted, they're from October, but I've got some catching up to do.

Free with Purchase

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 19 May 2008 03:33:00 +0000

We were driving through one of the nicest parts of Denton this evening on our way home. After we passed the jail, we saw "County Bail Bonds", advertising their latest special on the marquee: "FREE T-SHIRT WITH EVERY RELEASE"!

Don't Cook!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:24:00 +0000

While Casey was cooking dinner tonight, I walked in to the kitchen.

Madison: No! Don't cook Daddy!
Me: Hey now, I'd like to think that I've cooked a number of successful meals for this family.
Madison: No! Don't cook Daddy! Go cook upstairs. (In the play kitchen)

Well ok then.

Appreciation

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:18:00 +0000

I've been thinking often about the concept of appreciation lately. I don't think I've ever really "gotten it". It's not that I think I'm some kind of ungrateful jerk, but most of the time my journey to "thank you" doesn't take me quite so far out of the way as it does other people. I usually see the things people do as a token of their appreciation as something that they feel like they should do -- as if their mom would show up and nag them about it if they didn't do it.

However, something clicked in me recently. I think I got it. There are a lot of reasons to show your appreciation. Naturally, the best reason would be selfless, genuine gratitude, but I sometimes wonder if that's something that humans are honestly capable of deep down. It's interesting, because that's a topic that the book I'm currently reading, Blue Like Jazz, addresses. I digress. Tonight was "Leader Appreciation Night" at Awana. I got a surprising number of gifts. Not from every student, which made it feel like they weren't doing it out of obligation. I'd been spending some time thinking about this topic, and seeing these parents come in today with these gifts one after the other made me realize that they really do care. Only one more class, and then no more Awana Cubbies until the fall.

I think I get it now... and I realize that although I feel I've been grateful for the things that people do for me large and small, I haven't been good at showing that appreciation.

Emma's Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Casey) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:01:00 +0000

Emma spent the night with my parents last night and after everything that happened last night/today they decided they would keep her for the weekend, what a blessing because she would see and understand that mommy was upset where Kaetlyn and Madison don't really understand that yet. My nephew had baseball games today and has one early in the morning tomorrow and since the town where the games are is far from my parents house they got a hotel room. When we talked to my parents tonight they said Emma has been excellent and actually ate her whole dinner, which Emma hardly ever does when eating out! She was very excited to be staying in a hotel room and had a lot to tell me tonight! I think this weekend was good for her. For once she got to do something by herself! She sounded so happy!

I do have to say I miss her like crazy!

Four Year Olds Understand Transitive Relation?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:46:00 +0000

Tonight after putting E in bed, I read her the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den. After we finished the book:

E: "Daddy, Jesus was in the story."
Me: "No E, Jesus wasn't in the story because Jesus wasn't here until after Daniel lived."
E: "Who saved Daniel?"
Me: "God."
E: "But Jesus is God!"
Me: "Ok, yes you're right, I guess Jesus was in the story."

Wow. I didn't know that four year olds could grasp the concept of transitive relations. She must be a genius. We should enroll her in a preschool Calculus class or something. Now, if she had quoted John 1:1 to me to prove that God and Jesus were one even during Daniel's time, that would have been really impressive! Maybe we should work on mathematical proofs next and then ease into the Calculus...