Ayla pictures and quick update

Hello everyone, this is Big Chris. I want to thank all of you for all of your prayers and encouraging comments throughout the pregnancy.

Quick update on M: She just called and said that they will be doing a D&C on her tonight. She is still having some bleeding and they want to make sure they get any left over tissue to get everything under control. Please continue to keep her in your prayers so the proceedure will go smoothly. I feel bad because I can't be there with her right now as she has to go through this alone.

Quick Ayla update: So far everything is going perfectly for Ayla. She is doing great, and already has had three bowel movements. There is no bowel obstruction which is wonderful news. Still won't know the CF outcome for probably 2 weeks when the newborn screening tests come back. All in all she looks and sounds great.

Here are just a few pictures of Ayla and of Lil' Chris meeting his sister.

Baby Ayla is here!!!

Hooray!!

Lil Chris' new baby sister, Ayla Christi, made her arrival this afternoon at 2:52pm! She weighed in at 7lbs 14oz and was 19.5 inches long.

M is doing great & was thankful for a quick labor & delivery! She'll fill you in on the rest of the details of delivery day when she gets home from the hospital. I do know that it will probably be about two weeks before they get the results of Ayla's CF screening. M will also announce the contest winners so they can begin exercising their bragging rights. =)

I'm thrilled to have brought you this news & M was anxious to know that I posted it for you. She is so grateful for the friends she's made through Lil Chris' blog & considers you part of the family! Thank you so much for your thoughts & prayers today for Ayla's safe delivery!

Sorry I only have one picture of Ayla to share with you but Big C will hopefully be posting a slideshow for us soon!

On Our Way to the Hospital

My water broke....FINALLY!!!! We are about to leave for the hospital, I already called and told them I was on my way!

My water was CLEAR....YEA!!! So far, so good. Clear is a good sign of NO CF, YEA!! Keep praying that we don't have any problems and that she doesn't have CF!

I'll have my sister D update later, hopefully with some pics of Ayla:)

Congrats to Charmaine!!! You are the winner!!! YEA!!! It was fate that you won, b/c you were my first blog reader and have been a faithful reader for almost a full year now!! Thank you so much for always being there for me:)

Any last minutes guesses as to what time and how many lbs and height??? Charmaine never said, she just guessed the date. So.......... keep your guesses coming!!! :)

Keep praying for us,
M

Due Date...YEA!!

Finally the day has arrived...only...she still isn't here:'(

I'm sure Ayla has her reasons for not wanting to come out yet:)

Well, it looks like Tracy Liberto and Mommom C. are out of the competition. Sorry gals:(

If I end up having Ayla today, then Charmaine will win!! I'm routing for ya Charmaine:) I think you're right...1/29/09 sounds pretty good:) I'll take it;)

I was/am getting some pains this morning. Hopefully she'll decide to come around noon. That's when the sitter is planning to come anyways;) Did you hear that Ayla??? LOL

It's not supposed to snow today like it did the last couple of days...thank God!! We have about a foot of snow right now! I even got stuck pulling into the driveway yesterday! My husband had to come dig me out. It was my own fault...I tried to drive through about 3 feet of snow thanks to the snowplow trucks:) LOL

Wish me luck, I'm off to work yet another 8 hour day:(
M

New CF Blogger Friend

I love this...every day I am meeting new CF blogger buddies!!!

Please go to Sherry's blog and drop her a comforting comment. She just found out through Amnio that her baby has CF. She isn't due til April, but we all know how devastating the news can be.

I look forward to her becoming part of our lil' CF blogger community here:)
M
PS. No baby yet:( I gotta go to work in 6 inches of snow today:( And we are supposed to get another couple of inches today too:( Wish me luck!

OB appt Update and new blogger buddy:)

Well...no Ayla AGAIN:'(

I didn't even change! I'm still at 3+ cm and 50% effaced! She did say that I could go any day now though...so that's a plus...although, I should hope that I would go any day now since my due date is only a day away!!

She asked if we wanted to induce on Thurs, but she is still leaving it completely up to us. She told us to think about it and call to make the appt if we decide that is what we want to do. Chris is all for it!! But he is leaving it up to me. I kinda want to see how far she will go;) I wouldn't mind a February baby:) The amethyst birthstone is my favorite;)

I said a long time ago that it would be neat if she went on 2/2/09, b/c lil' Chris was born on 6/6/07!! So, again, I don't know what to do. I'll just pray about it and see what kind of plan God has in store for us.

Thanks for all the comments on my last post though:) It was fun reading them while we were waiting in the dr's office. My husband can get them on his phone;) I hope you all keep them comin when I go into labor! It will keep my mind off the pain and will put a smile on my face to know so many people are thinking and praying for us:)

On another note...a new CF blogger friend found me today!! I love new CF blogger buddies=) It's actually a young couple. Kellee is 21 and is insanely in love with her best friend Michael who is 24 and has CF. Click here to go check out their blog and to encourage Michael to go to the dr's to try to get rid of this cough he has right now:) Tell him I sent you to bug him:) LOL LOL

M

PS. I thought that was funny that a lot of people thought the new header pic was a purple bean bag or ball at first:) But nope...it's just Ayla chillin in my big belly;) It must be pretty comfy in there, b/c she sure doesn't want to come out! =)

Going to Last OB Appt Hopefully

Well, we are on our way to hopefully our last OB appointment:)

I was having little pains this morning, but they went away. I feel like over the last couple of days Ayla has dropped more or something. So I am curious to hear what the dr. has to say today.

Who knows maybe Ayla will come today=) If so, then it looks like Mommom C will win the contest:) She is the only one who picked today!

I'll let you know if I go into labor. I'll either have my husband post it or my sister D.

For now, I'm going to attempt to change the header to a pic of Lil' Chris peeking over my big belly (his lil' sis:) That is if my laptop doesn't freeze up on me like it has been lately:(

Wish me luck,
M

Lil' Chris' First Time Bowling

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Last night my work finally had our Christmas Party(December is too busy for us to have it then). We had it at a bowling alley, which was a lot of fun! Lil' Chris got to bowl for the first time!! He did a great job too!! Everybody was cheering him on like he got a strike every time:) He started copying everybody cheering after the first time...so after he would roll the ball, he would come running back screaming with excitement!! It was the cutest thing EVER!!

I even tried bowling a couple to see if it would make me go into labor:) No luck:(

So those out of the running now for guessing when Ayla will be born are:
1. Cindy(Reilly's mom) with 1/24
2. Christy(Color Me Healthy) with 1/24
3. Opa(FIL) with 1/24

Those still in the running are:
1. Mommom C with 1/27
2. Charmaine with 1/29 (my due date:)
3. Greg(BIL) with 1/31

GOOD LUCK!!

I thought I was going to go yesterday, b/c nobody picked the 25th=) But...I didn't:(
So, if I go today...Tracy Liberto will win! She is the only one who picked 1/26! Good Luck Tracy=)
M

A Very Special Song

I saw this song on Phenny's site and had to put it on our blog.

It touched me in a special way. I teared up in the middle of the song when it said "I need answers, help and a miracle or 2 wouldn't hurt" and "It's not the life that I have chosen, but it's the life that has chosen me" and the last line "I need a miracle!"

This song I'm sure touches any parent of a child with special needs. We all need answers to "why" and we all need God's help to guide us, and we all want a miracle for our special children.....A CURE!!!

I hope this song touches you as it did me.
M

Contest Update and Thanks for all the advice:)

Only 5 days left...hopefully:)

A few more people are no longer in the contest of guessing when Ayla would arrive, they are:
1. Chris(my hubby) with 1/21
2. Steph(SIL) with 1/21
3. My 3 Sons with 1/22
4. Me:) with 1/23 @ 3:33am

And soon to be out of the contest if I don't go tonight:
1. Jada(Zoe's mom) with 1/23 @ 7:35pm 8 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches

Those still in the running are:
1. Cindy(Reilly's mom) with 1/24 @ 3:21am 8 lbs 9 oz and 21.5 inches
2. Christy(Color Me Healthy) with 1/24 @ 5:30pm 8 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches
3. Opa(FIL) with 1/24 @ 10pm 7 lbs 14 oz and 19.5 inches
4. Tracy Liberto(Melissa's mom) with 1/26 @ 8:30pm 7 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches
5. Mommom C with 1/27 @ ??? 6 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches
6. Charmaine with 1/29 (my due date;) @ 00:01am =)
7. Greg(BIL) with 1/31 @ 2:47 7 lbs 3 oz and 19 inches

Good Luck Everyone!

My next OB appt. is on Tues 1/27 at 11:15am. That is if Ayla doesn't decide to come any sooner;)
Thank you everybody for all your great advice about inducing or not. It really helped:) I think we've decided to wait it out until my due date. Then go from there. Hopefully she will come before than so we don't have to worry about it=)

Again thanks for all your help,
M
PS. I'll leave you with this pic my husband took and sent to my phone while I was at work. He loves to wear his safety goggles that came with his weed wacker toy that he got for Christmas =)

Don't forget to check out Phenny's site and say a little prayer for him. One of these days I have to figure out how to put Phenny's button on my blog. If you know how, can you explain it to me?

Also please keep lil' Olivia in your prayers, and lil' Reilly. I wish I could help out Olivia's mom, but we haven't gone through any sinus issues yet(hopefully we never will). So, check her blog out and see if you can lend her some good advice.
Thanks,
M

Update on OB appt.

Well....no baby today:'(

My OB appt. went well. She said everything looks and sounds great still. I am now 3+ cm (which means 3 to 4 cm) and still 50% effaced. She said with second pregnancies, 50% is normal at this time. I never would have guessed that you efface quicker with your first child!

Anyway, we did talk about inducing. She didn't insist on it or anything. She just left it up to us. All we would have to do is schedule the appointment. So basically I could pick who wins the contest:) LOL Just kidding:)

My main concern was ....If she does have CF, would it be better to let her stay in there as long as possible to let her lungs fully develop?? She said that if I don't go by my due date, she recommends me getting induced and it wouldn't hurt her in any way. If I decide not to, they won't let me go past 41 weeks. She will definitely want to induce at that point. Which will probably be fine with me at that point:)

So, I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any good advice for me??? Isn't Ayla telling me that she is not ready to come out yet?? Or should I induce?? Is inducing bad?? I know they give you pitocin which is a drug to make you have contractions, but is that good for Ayla?? Although, I did get pitocin with lil' Chris and he turned out fine! I don't know.

My husband thinks we should induce, b/c we are expecting visitors to fly out on the 5th. He's leaving it totally up to me though, since it is my body;) I think he's just anxious;) We thought that we would've had her by now, that's why we said the 5th would be okay, but now it looks like we might not even have her by the 5th!

So, again...I don't know. I don't really want to force her to come out if she is not ready yet. I'd rather it just happen naturally. Again, I don't know what to do:(

Please pray we make the right decision for Ayla,
M

On our way to OB appt.

We are on our way to the doctors for an OB appt. She said before that if Ayla didn't come by 39 weeks that we would talk about inducing. Wish us luck!!! If you don't hear from me tonight, then I may be giving birth....YEA!!!

Keep us in your prayers,
M

Marcus-Respiratory Therapist Blogger

I've met a new blogger friend, Marcus, who does not have CF, but is raising money for a cure! He is studying to be a Respiratory Therapist, which he will most likely be working with CFers. I think it is wonderful that he is raising money and is going to walk in the Great Strides near him in NC. He is doing a raffle to raise money, so check out his site here. I've also added him to my blog list under "RT Student Blog" so we can see his progress.

Thanks Marcus for all that you are doing for all our CFers out there=) It means the world to us!
M

Culture Correction & Ayla Game Update

My bad!!!

In my last post, I stated that lil' Chris cultured Staphylococcus areus sensitive to Oxycillin (MRSA). Thanks to Jada(Zoe's mom), I double checked the paper they sent and I had typed the wrong thing. He actually cultured Staphylococcus areus sensitive to Oxycillin (MSSA), not (MRSA). Sorry, my bad.

Thanks Jada for catching that=) I probably had everyone worried and didn't even realize it.
On another note...I'M STILL PREGNANT!!!!

So those who are out of the running to try to guess her due date are:

1. Angela(Phenny's mom) with 1/17
2. D (my sister:) with 1/18
3. Julie (Seamus' mom) with 1/19
4. Christi (sorry...Aunt Christi;) with 1/19
5. Oma (MIL) with 1/20 (well today is half over and I don't feel like I'm going into labor)

Those still in the running are:

1. Steph (SIL) with 1/21
2. My 3 Sons (Carson's mom) with 1/22
3. Jada(Zoe's mom) with 1/23
4. Opa (FIL) with 1/24
5. Christy (Color Me Healthy) with 1/24
6. Cindy (Reilly's mom) with 1/24
7. Tracy Liberto (Melissa's mom) with 1/26
7. Mommom C with 1/27
9. Charmaine with 1/29 (my due date;)

So when do I think Ayla will arrive you ask??? I say Fri. 1/23 at 3:33am 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 21 inches long. We'll see if I'm right;) My dad says 1/22 and my husband says 1/21. Watch it be February something=) LOL!! Nobody picked February so Charmaine would be the closest if that happens;)

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE=)
M

PS. I'll leave you with this lil' pic that my husband took today and then sent to my phone so I could see it at work=)




BTW, those are Mr. Potato Heads glasses. Too cute;)

Throat Culture and Snow Montage

We finally got lil' Chris' throat culture back...he grew the bacteria Staphylococcus areus sensitive to Oxycillin (MRSA)...whatever that all means???? All I know is that he tested this once before when he was just a lil' baby. This kind of bacteria does not need treatment. They said to just keep doing what we're doing. This is the first time he has cultured something in a while, but he did just get over a cough 2 days before he was cultured. He's not coughing now, so we are not worried about it. I just pray that he stays healthy, b/c we are going to have lots of visitors coming soon to see him and Ayla.

We have had lots of snow here recently and of course we couldn't resist taking lil' Chris out to play in it=) Here are some pics and video of our first venture out into the snow in 2009. This year he could walk! Well, let's say he tried to walk;) All together I think we might have about 10 inches or so. Maybe that's why Ayla decided not to make her debut this weekend;) Hopefully it stops snowing soon so she'll come out =)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh yeah, at the end of the montage, Daddy is playing with his new toy. He's getting a lot of use out of it already!!! It's snowing as I type this...OH NO!! Will Ayla EVER come out to play?????
M

One Lovely Blog Award

YEA!! Phoenix's mom gave me a blog award!! I'm so honored!! Thanks Angela!!
She says the award was for those who step out of thier comfort box and make new blog friends! So, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to pass this out to some of my blog pals. So I pass this award to:

1. Christy @ The Jobe Family
2. The Smithson Family
3. Jada @ Zoe for Life
4. Kelly @ Kelly's Korner Harper's Mom(please click on the pic below and say a prayer for lil' Harper.)

The Kids New Rooms:)

Here are the pics and video of the kids new rooms. We moved lil' Chris into the guest bedroom and put Ayla in lil' Chris' old room. Tell me what you think=)

I'm doing the guess Ayla's arrival date, time, height, and weight game at work too. I was surprised as to how many people voted!! I can't wait to see who wins on the blog and who wins at work:) Don't forget to vote if you haven't already, time is running out, hopefully;) LOL

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I have a prayer request for a new blogger friend I found...kellyskornerblog.com. She just had her baby yesterday, but baby Harper is not doing well. She had to be flown to a Children's Hospital, b/c of her breathing and her heart. Please keep them in your prayers.

As for me, I'm doing great besides all the aches and pains and no sleep;) My next OB appointment isn't until Thurs 1/22 at 3:15pm. I know, I know, it seems so far away:(

I really wanted her to be born this weekend, but it is SOOOOO cold outside, that I changed my mind. Everyone at work has been SO great not letting me do anything. Last night at 10:30pm, when we were leaving work, 4 associates insisted on scraping my car off for me. I felt so bad, b/c it was -10 degrees!! They even had to scrape the inside of my windows!! Weird! That just goes to show you how cold it is out. I'd hate to have to take a newborn baby out in this cold. So, I guess I'll keep her nice and warm inside me for a lil' bit longer =) Like I have a choice;) LOL
Thanks,
M

Say "Cheese" Video

Here is a video of lil' Chris saying "Cheese" and just being silly=) Sorry it's dark, it was taken with my husbands cell phone. He had the light from his phone on, but the only thing it did was shine bright in lil' Chris' eyes:)
Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

As for me, I'm still hanging in there. Everybody at work says that I am wobbling now:)LOL Less than 2 weeks til my due date...YEA!!! We are all ready for Ayla to come now. Our bags are packed, her room is all ready, and the car seat is in the car! I'll post pics of her and lil' Chris' room soon =)

Have a GREAT day!
M
PS. Don't forget to vote for Ayla's birth date, time, height, and weight if you didn't already:) I wonder who is going to win=)

OB appt, "Slide" Show, & Game

I just got back from my OB appointment. I only have 2 weeks left now and I did make a little bit of progress this past week...I am now 3 cm and 50% effaced! I know that some of you were waiting to hear my progress before guessing her birth date, time, height, and weight. So now guess away!!!!! I'm curious as to who will win and be the closest!!! :)

Here is a "Slide" show that I said I would post. It was from the day we had our CF clinic appointment and the Level 2 ultrasound. Lil' Chris was such a good boy the whole day, that we decided to buy him his first slide! He needed help the first couple of times, but then he got the hang of it and started doing it all by himself! Sorry if the video is a little dark, it was taken with my husbands cell phone.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

M
PS. Don't forget to vote for Ayla's arrival:)

Ayla Update and Game Time!!

Well, no baby yet:( Soon I hope, I can't wait:)

I have another OB appointment tomorrow(Tues) at 4:30pm. I wonder if there is any progress???? I'm kinda bumbed since my husband can't come with lil' Chris and I. He has to work all day and night on Tues and Wed. Hopefully Ayla doesn't come too soon. Also we are supposed to get MORE snow!! We already have about 6 inches from this weekend!! At least it is comforting to know that we both have 4 wheel drive vehicles and the hospital is less than 2 miles away:)

We are almost all ready for Ayla to come. My husband brought up the bassinet last night and it is sitting nice and cozy next to my side of the bed, just waiting for precious Ayla to come home:) The only thing that still needs done is to move lil' Chris' car seat and then put Ayla's in. Oh yeah, and finish her room. The furniture is all in there, but it's a mess. Oh yeah, lil' Chris' room is all done now! I'll post a pic of it soon, it's SO cute!

Ok, so who wants to play a game??? Make a guess as to when you think Ayla will arrive. In the comments, leave your name, the date you think she will come, and the time you think she will be born. Whoever is the closest will win!! Remember...my due date is Jan 29th;)

My sister D had a great idea! Let's take it one step further and see who can guess the closest height and weight that Ayla will be! So, there could be 2 winners, or if you are that good and guess both the closest, than there will be one winner!

Good Luck! I can't wait to see what everybody thinks:)
M
PS. We took lil' Chris out in the snow yesterday for the first time this winter! I'll post the pics soon:)

3 cm!!!!

I had my OB visit today. She said I am 3 cm dilated and 25% effaced(or however you spell it;) I am 37 weeks, which is considered 9 months pregnant!!

She seemed pretty surprised as to how far along I am! When I was pregnant with lil' Chris, I was 2 cm at this point and ended up having him 1 week early! So maybe I'll go 2 weeks early with Ayla!! I wouldn't mind;)

She thinks Ayla will be between 7 and 8 pounds. Same as lil' Chris, he was 7 lbs 9.5 oz. She said I could go any day now, I am considered full term.

She did a Strep B test today, at least I think that is what it was called;) I was still in shock about the 3 cm. LOL :) She said that if I test positive for it, and if they don't treat me right away, then Ayla could have problems when she is born...she listed a few things, but breathing problems is what stood out for me! I was like great, as if I don't already have to worry about possible breathing problems! I'm just going to leave it in God's hands and try not to worry about anything the next couple of weeks. I just want to enjoy it just being me and my 2 favorite boys:)

I'll let you know the results when I get it.
M

CF Clinic Visit and Ultrasound Update

Despite my sleepless night, we had a great day! The ultrasound went quick. We were in and out in 30 minutes! She said that there was no evidence of any bowel obstruction! YEA!!! :) That was a big relief, but it doesn't mean that it won't still happen. She also said that all the measurements looked good and that she is just the right size she's supposed to be at this point! Ayla is 6 lbs. 4 oz. right now! No wonder I look so huge! LOL I asked her what her estimated birth weight would be and she said that they usually grow about 1/2 lb. each week at this point. So I have 3 weeks left, so that means around 8 lbs I guess. Lil' Chris was born 1 week early and he weighed 7 lbs. 9.5 oz. The lady also said that she is head down and face down and ready to come out:) We'll see if she decides to come a week early like her brother=)

Lil' Chris' appointment went well too:) His weight is over 26 lbs. which puts him in the 50th percentile, and his height is 33 inches which puts him in the 60th percentile! His BMI is 60%. The doctor says that's great! He doesn't think we should change anything! So, we are going to continue 3 Creon 5 enzymes for meals, 2 for snacks; 2 ml of Vitamax once a day; one 15 mg Prevacid Solutab once a day; and continue the Vest 2 times a day at 20 minutes each.

We got to see all our favorite nurses on our way out! One nurse asked if we needed any samples of anything, and I told her that we could use more of the Prevecid Solutab syringes. I told her my lil' story of how I put one in the dishwasher...big mistake....and the other one we have been using for months and months now. It just started not working properly. You have to push it real hard, and then sometimes it comes out SO fast and gets ALL over! One day it exploded in lil' Chris' face! I felt SO bad for him! I thought he was going to be scared of it after that, but luckily he wasn't. Anyway, I asked the nurse for more and she said "Sure no problem" and she came back with 4 of them! That should last us a while:)

All in all, we had a great day! We even stopped and picked up lil' Chris a slide since he was such a good boy all day long! I'll post pics of it later;)

Thanks for all the prayers. I guess I was worrying for no reason;)
M
PS. The doctor took a throat culture, but we won't get the results till next week. I'll let you know the results...hopefully normal, but he did just get over a cough.

No Sleep and Susanna Update

Well, I thought I would update before we leave...I have a few minutes since lil' Chris is doing his Vest right now.

I barely got any sleep last night. I guess I'm just nervous and anxious about our Level 2 ultrasound today and lil' Chris' CF clinic appointment. And then when I woke up this morning, I started to get a lot of cramping in the middle of my shower. I thought we were going to have to cancel our appointments today and end up going to our hospital up the road to have our baby girl today! But I laid down for a little and they eventually went away:) So far they have not come back yet.

Hopefully lil' Chris has a good appointment like usual, but you just never know when that corner is going to turn for the worse. His cough is pretty much gone, and his nose hasn't ran in almost a week! But I feel like he should be eating more. I hope his weight is ok.

Please keep us in your prayers today:)

For those who have been following for awhile...here is an update on Susanna's 2 girls with CF, Janna and Chloe. I was so glad to hear from her:)

Dear M,
What a rough night! Aren't these CF kids such troopers though? I'm glad to hear he is doing better.
I know I haven't been in touch for a long time, but I still think of you very, very often. We've had a move, my husband is gearing up for deployment, and of course the holidays are always busy too. I have had very little computer access these past few months, but every time I do, I check up on you guys.
Janna and Chloe seem to be doing ok. Chloe is finishing up augmentin, after a long cold/cough. And Janna is almost 2 weeks into Bactrium because she grew the MRSA bacteria from her last throat culture!!! That really gave me a very hard time at first, because it's so scary and I didn't know what it meant for her, her lungs, for Chloe, for Baby Levi, for those around us... (The short explaination is that they are not as worried about the bacteria as long as they can try to get rid of it, and she doesn't get an Infection with it on board)I really struggled with it at first, and tried to learn and do everything I could, but then I had to put it in God's hands, and He has helped me to rest.
They started both girls on BOOST 1.5 (has 355cal/8ozs) instead of Pediasure (246cal/8oz)! Janna (3yrs, 3mnths) weighed 32 lbs tonight--a record!! I think Chloe(19 months) is around 22-23 lbs. And boy is she turning into a talker! If her words weighed anything, she'd weigh a ton! :-)
Back to you - I can't believe you are soo close to your due date already! That is very exciting. And your baby's name is beautiful.
I must go. Let those who remember us know that we're doing ok:) Email me if you want to. (my husband gets our email on his phone) I'll still check in every time I can. I can't wait to hear all about Little Ayla! Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with your family. Let me know if I can ever do anything for you.
Sincerely,
Susanna

Rough Night:(

Lil' Chris had a rough night last night, or should I say this morning. He woke up at 1:15am throwing up. We think it was either the string cheese he ate earlier or the mac and cheese he ate earlier. The mac and cheese was a kind he never had before. The string cheese he has had lots of times before. But the string cheese was coming out in big chunks that looked like he never even chewed them! It was SO gross and smelled SO bad! He got it all over his crib, bumper, floor, even the skirt of the crib!

While my husband changed the crib sheets and cleaned the floor, I rocked him to sleep...that is until he would throw up again. This happened about 6 times! Poor kid was exhausted after throwing up so much! He would fall asleep, throw up, fall asleep, throw up! I felt so bad for him. Finally about 3:30am, when we thought he got it all out(kinda new the signs from past experiences), we put him down to sleep in his new clean crib. He slept the rest of the night peacefully, thank God!

Today he seemed fine! He woke up this morning with a BIG smile on his face! It was as if nothing happened! He is such a good kid:)

He is only coughing a couple of times a day now. Hopefully it will be completely gone by Monday, b/c that is the last day for his antibiotic(Augmentin). Then he has his CF clinic appointment on Wednesday. Hopefully everything goes well and we get nothing but good reports=)

I'll let you know how the CF clinic appointment goes and the Level 2 ultrasound that I have on Wednesday. We are praying for all good reports, but I'll be ready to have the baby if something looks wrong. Please pray that doesn't have to happen.
M

PS. Please take the time to visit Lil' Chris' CF friends blog, Phenny. He's had a rough few days and could use some prayers right now.

Letter & Video from the CEO of the CFF

Dear M,
As we come to the close of 2008, I want to personally thank you for supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.We have had one of the most exciting and promising years in our history--from our groundbreaking results with a drug that addresses the basic CF defect....to our success in improving quality care, and boosting the median predicted age of survival to 37.4. It is because of your support that these achievements are possible.Please watch this brief video as I share with you some of the advances that I am most excited about. I also share one mother’s passionate and heartfelt reaction to this year's progress. And I talk about what the future holds--for the drugs currently being tested, for the basic research underway, and for the future of our patients.I hope you'll take a few minutes to watch--and, if you can, to make a tax-deductible gift that will allow us to continue the life-saving work that is extending lives of patients with cystic fibrosis.

I am so grateful for your support.With warmest wishes for a happy holiday season, Sincerely,Robert J. Beall, Ph.D.President and CEOCystic Fibrosis Foundation

Click here to watch his video. It is very interesting! This was the first time I had heard that the survival rate had gone up and how much progress they really made this past year with all the money that we all have raised! It's amazing! Hopefully they find a CURE this year:) We just all have to raise as much money as we can, so they can have the tools to find the CURE!! It will be worth it in the end :)

Thank you to all who have donated money towards finding a CURE this past year! Especially those who helped me get to my goal:) I can't thank you all enough! It means the world to us and to all CFers and to all CF parents. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!
M