Friends and Family,

With full hearts and abounding joy, we are excited to finally share some details!

First off, Landry is adorable!  She has such perfect little features!  As we adoringly look over her, sometimes just simply staring at her, we can't help but admire the work of God's mighty hands.  We occasionally catch a few of her smiling moments on camera, trying to decide which features belong to me, and which belong to Kacee (we're certain she has my nose!).  Her facial expressions truly warm our hearts.

It is so nice to finally be home!  After spending three months in the hospital (5 weeks with Kacee on bedrest in Antepartum; two months with Landry in the NICU) it's easy to recognize and appreciate the simple pleasures associated with being home.  We have been home now nearly two weeks and it has been so many things... amazing, overwhelming, hilarious, enriching, busy, humbling, fulfilling...and so much more.  More than anything, we feel content and grateful to have made it this far, this soon.  Landry is precious and is so patient with us as we try to figure out our new routine.  As we move her around the house, from one room to the next, while trying to avoid getting tangled up in all the chords, she just looks up at us with her big blue eyes and conveys a feeling of contentment...we can't help but laugh at her disposition during our comedy of errors.

Our living room has turned into our own version of an at-home NICU.  Many of you know that Landry came home with a few machines.  Four to be exact.  At all times, she is connected to an oxygen machine that provides a 1/2 liter flow thru a nasal cannula.  About half the day, she is connected to a "pulse/ox" machine that monitors her heart rate and oxygen saturation.  Each time we feed her, we load her milk into a bag that hangs from a mobile pole and is delivered to her at a designated feeding rate, by a machine, thru her G-tube.  Lastly, twice a day we give Landry respiratory therapy treatments, lasting 10-15 minutes each time.  Altogether, it looks and sounds overwhelming, but we are very familiar with how they all work, and all the noises, beeps, alarms, etc.  Before we left the NICU, our nurses taught us well, and now we feel like we're getting the hang of it!


It's amazing how God meets us just where we are, and gives us ALL we need to get us through the days.  We've had a few overwhelming moments, but just when we need it most, we will read the perfect devotional...as if it were written specifically for us.  Or Landry will give us a big smile and melt our hearts, reminding us how great our life is.  We are embracing each day with joyful hearts and trying to not take for granted the fact that our family is finally under one roof.  We are happy to hold her, console her, or give her a feeding when we're tired and it's 2:00am.  We praise the Lord (and Landry) each time she fills a diaper, assuring us that everything is working just right.  And just like all new parents, we are trying to find balance in our new roles.


Thank you for all the encouraging texts, emails and phone calls.  We wish we could take Landry everywhere we go so she can meet all her friends and family (all of YOU), but the reality is that we need to be extrememely careful for the next few weeks and months to keep her strong and healthy.  Especially now that kids are back to school, we must steer clear of RSV and flu season.  The absolute last thing we want to happen is for our June Bug to end up back in the hospital because she is sick.  As for now, she has officially met aunts and uncles (except for Aunt Krista and Uncle Jody, that will hopefully be before too long).  We have limited her vistiors to only immediate family.  We will continue to post pictures and keep you up to date on how she is doing.

I know we have said it so many times, but THANK YOU for walking this journey with us.  It means so much!  Please join us in praying that she will thrive here at home, that we are able to meet her needs as parents, that she will continue to tolerate faster feeding rates, that she will progress with her speech-pathology treatments, and that we can soon begin to wean her off of oxygen.

We love her more than ever and can't wait for you all to personally know sweet Landry.  She is such a sweet gift from God!

Love you all!
Kacee & Kyle

Landry's surgery went great!  Praise the Lord!  In addition to a successful procedure, they were able to extubate her immediately, allowing her to leave the OR with only a cannula!  Today they started feeding her small volumes of breastmilk thru her new fancy G-tube.  We are hopeful that she will do well and, over time, tolerate an increase in volume.

We are amazed by this little one and so grateful that she is ours!  We will give a more in-depth update soon.

Thank you all!
Kacee & Kyle

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.  Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life."
Psalm 143:8

Expedited Surgery Date

Landry's surgery has been scheduled for tomorrow around 11:00.  Originally, the August 9th surgery date was the first available time, so we were surprised to get the call today that tomorrow is the big day!  Our doctors were eager to get her surgery moved forward so that she can start healing and we can work toward bringing her home.

Please pray for our bug. Specifically that:

- surgery runs smoothly

- she is quickly extubated

- her reflux issues are resolved

- her oxygen saturation is much more stable after this procedure

Landry is one loved little girl and we are grateful for all of you lifting her up in prayer!

Landry has many prayer warriors, even all the way from Pagosa Springs, CO. The blanket on the left is the prayer quilt that Uncle Buddy and Aunt Siri sent from St. Patrick's Episcipal Church.  This blanket means so much and is a reminder of all of those that are calling out to God on Landry's behalf.

What's Next?

Our sweet little June Bug is almost 7 weeks old and is continuing to grow and gain weight.  She is around 20 inches long and 7.7lbs.  We continue to fall more in love with this little girl every day.  She is darling!

On Tuesday, only one day after her swallow test, she was bottle-fed approximately 30ccs and did well (from what we could see). Upon further discussion with several of our doctors, we all agreed that it would be best to take it slow.  Although she performed much better than her first swallow test, we're still not sure if she's ready for prescribed oral feedings every three hours.  She did not prove herself in feeding without aspirating, which convinces us to error on the side of caution.  We appreciate our doctors' conservative suggestion of "less is more".  We DO NOT want to accelerate her feedings and cause any negative ramifications.

Knowing that the preservation of her lungs is a priority, most feel as though Landry would benefit from a g-tube.  In addition, to mitigate her issues with reflux, they will sumultaneously perform a Nissen Fundoplication.  

Benefits of a g-tube include:
- She will benefit from a full belly with each feeding
- They will do a Nissen procedure that will help reduce her reflux.  This will be wonderful and could have a positive effect on her oxygen saturation levels (which would speed up the removal of the cannula).
- Lastly, this procedure will allow Landry to come home sooner.  We can't wait to bring our little bug home.  She will continue to work on feeding with a speech therapist and our hope is that the g-tube will not be needed for long.  The goal is for Landry to get bigger, stronger and more efficient with her feeding.

As of now, the procedure is scheduled for August 9th.  That's right, surgery.  We are not looking forward to her having another surgery, but (thankfully) this one is less invasive and yields a much easier recovery.

Please pray with us....
- Pray for a successful surgery that goes smoothly.
- Ask for a speedy recovery and that she can get back to her feeding schedule in a timely manner.
- We hope that this procedure will help her oxygen satuturation levels and that she will come off of oxygen altogether!  We know she is sick of having tape on ther face and we can't wait for her to be independent of any wires or tubes.

Thank you for all of the love and support.  We continue to be amazed and humbled by all of you walking this journey with us!
Kacee & Kyle

Swallow Test

Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts as our little bug had her second swallow test at 9:00 this morning.  We are pleased to report that she did MUCH better this time around!  They fed her with the thickest formula they can make (which can be a better consistency for babies when they tend to aspirate).  She did well until she eventually wore out and did aspirate.  At that point we stopped the test.  In total, she had about 35ccs.  Because of the progress, the NICU doctor approved for Landry to have one feeding a day, by mouth, given by the speech therapist.  This will allow her to practice on safely eating while also working to be more efficient.  Unfortunately when Landry does aspirate, she doesn't always cough as an indicator.  The concern is that we aren't able to know for sure whether or not she is aspirating when we can't watch it on screen.  We will proceed with caution.  The last thing we want to do is compromise her breathing or lungs by pushing it to far.  We will give a more in depth report when we learn more about what the plan will be from this point forward.  In the meantime please pray for wisdom and discernment for the doctors and staff that will be making difficult decisions in the days to come. 

We love you all!

Kacee & Kyle

Quick Update:

After an impressive streak of strong performances and personal milestones, Landry has run into a speedbump.  Her oral feedings have seemingly gone well, but our doctors were wanting to make sure everything was functioning as it should.  So, they administered a swallowing analysis in which Landry was orally fed a Barium solution.  We were quite certain she was doing just fine and never expected any problems.  Often times, while being bottle fed, she would literally guzzle it down so quickly that we had to slow her down and give her a chance to breathe.  On other occasions, we would have to give her a short break from feeding because she would cough, or get a little choked up.  Altogether, we thought she was doing a pretty good job handling the transition to being bottle fed for the first time in her short 5 weeks of life.

The swallow test results were not what we had hoped for.  They confirmed that she was aspirating, and any attempt to adjust the thickness of the milk/formula solution never made a difference.

As of now, our NICU neonatologist has opted to give her another chance on Monday to see if she shows signs of progress.  We appreciate her conservative approach in giving Landry an opportunity to improve.

WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS!!  Please pray that Landry could miraculously pass her test on Monday.  And not just "pass" the test, but instead leave no doubt in our doctors' minds that she is capable to safely continue feeding by bottle.  Because of her lungs being compromised prior to surgery, it is imperative that we proceed with caution in regards to aspiration and the negative effects it would have on her.  We would never want to set her up for failure.

If she does not pass her upcoming test, she might require a "G-tube" for safe feedings until her swallowing reflexes are more fully developed.  Regardless of what happens, please pray that we could continue to fully trust God's will and sovereign control over all the details of Landry's life.

Thank you for your continued support and love for Landry.

Kacee & Kyle



 

Progress Report

Here is glance at Landry's first ever, official, progress report:

Behavior:  A-

• Comments: Though Landry may be fussy at times, it is never without a cause.  She does a great job communicating with us when something needs to change (ie- dirty diaper, she has lost her paci, or she is hungry).  

Academic Performance:  A+

• Comments:  In the same way that the annoying kid sitting in the front row of your 6th grade Pre-Algebra class receives constant recognition from the teacher, Landry continues to impress her doctors and nurses.  They have been so impressed with her progress and delight in bragging on their little "student".  Landry has had a HUGE week! She has been extubated, she is 1 month old, her oxygen flow is slowly being weaned, her picc line is removed, chest drains are removed, she is now sleeping in a crib (not the isolate), feedings have increased in volume and frequency, she is wearing onesies, she loves her swing (well, her best friends that she hasn't even met yet, Jacob and Claire's swing), and she is working hard to reduce her oxygen concentration down from 25% to 21%.

Attendance:  A++

• Comments:  Landry's attendance is flawless!  She hasn't missed a day in the hospital since 5 weeks prior to birth.  Not only is she present physically, but mentally as well. In between short snoozes our little bright-eyed bug loves to look around and observe her surroundings.  She likes to gaze and make eye contact with all her "visitors" in the NICU.  She has even been called "nosy" by one of the nurses who felt like Landry was watching her every move and wanted to know what she was up to. 

Participation:  A++

• Comments:  Landry has been a good sport with all of her less than desirable treatments. Like it or not, she continues to participate.  She has breathing treatments 3 times a day, which really work her up, but consequently lead to some of her best naps.  She also has blood gas assessments taken twice a day. This is when they prick her heel to draw blood and check her levels.  On more than one occasion a nurse has asked Kyle if he is ok to stay and watch this procedure :)  Overall, these treatments are not Landry's favorite part of the day, but she perseveres. She is truly an inspiration.  We are so proud of her!

Additional Comments:  In Landry's 4 weeks of life she has already out performed her father in terms of outstanding progress reports.  Specifically in Behavior and Participation.  His reports may or may not have referenced his class disruption and sleeping habits, respectively.  
Landry already has more of her "teachers" rooting for her than Kyle ever did.  A worthy note...contrary to popular belief, and your subjective assumption, Kyle was twice named to the Dean's list at the TCU College of Communication...an accomplishment that marked the turning point in his academic attitude...the very last two semesters of his educational career.