Taylor Time

My newly reupholstered rocking chair - Thanks Great-Aunt Linda! 2/22/07 - Zach is home from the hospital! He is doing great. Ashley and Shawn have to give him antibiotics 3 times a day through his PICC line. Thank you for your prayers! Now no offense, but Taylor is taking back her blog! =) We'd like to say a BIG THANKS to my aunt Linda for reupholstering my (Tabitha's) old rocking chair. The chair was actually my mom's when she was little so it has been in the family for over 45 years! Linda, it looks great! As far as milestones go: Taylor is trying SO hard to crawl but she hasn't quite figured it out yet, her third tooth is bulging in her gums, she has eaten her way through Gerber's step 1 & 2 selections, and we have lowered her crib so that she doesn't topple over and out when she stands against the rail.

Zach and Amanda 2/18/07 2/18/07 - My sister, Amanda, just sent us an email with the latest Zach update so I'm just going to copy and paste it! After many, many tests the doctors have finally narrowed down exactly what has been wrong with Zach. He has had three different things attacking his body which are: Sinusitis Orbital Cellulitis (the infection that has attacked his eye) Bacteremia (bacteria in the blood) Even after pin-pointing these three things, the doctors were still unsure of the exact bacteria that had gotten into Zach, they now know it's MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). This is a bacteria that is actually fairly common (20-25% of us carry this in our noses), but most people never show any signs of being a carrier of it. Unfortunately Zach was of the approximate 1% that it did affect. He has been treated by an antibiotic that has not become resistant to treating MRSA, and has been progressing ever since. (unfortunately MRSA is a bacteri...

2/16/07 - They have diagnosed Zach with a staph infection called MRSA or Mersa. The "surgery" went okay, but they found another abscess between his cheek and gum so they cultured those and the results will take a couple of days. They also discovered that he does not have an upper respiratory infection so that is great news! He will have another cat scan done tomorrow but they are pretty sure the sinuses are clear now. The doctors are also concerned that the left side of his face is still drooping. Basically they have to wait until the swelling goes down to see what it does. Ashley said they think it may be a side effect of the abscesses. So pray for that as well!

2/16/07 - Sometime before 10AM this morning they are taking Zach in for "surgery." There is an abscess on the roof of his mouth so they will be sticking a needle in that and draining the fluid. They will put him out and then the procedure should only take about 15 minutes. They will also take skin cultures. Shawn and Ashley said Zach seems to be feeling much better, he's back to his happy self playing and having a good time.

Zach at Children's Hospital yesterday 2/15/07 - Zach update - The latest news is good news! The doctors switched antibiotics on Zach and these seem to be doing the trick. The swelling in his face has gone WAY down, he can almost fully open his eye now. They believe he got a really bad sinus infection which caused an eye infection and then the infections turned into a bacterial infection in his blood. He also has an upper respiratory infection. At this point he has not had surgery to drain any fluid. Please keep praying for the little guy! Ashley and Shawn thank you all for your prayers and support!

2/14/07- Quick Zach update - He is now at Children's and they are running a bunch of new tests. They are taking a sample of his spinal fluid, doing a urine test and they want to do another cat scan. So surgery is on hold until some results come back. The doctors are also very concerned about his vision. Right now it is okay but they are keeping a close watch on it.

Taylor and Zach captivated by the ceiling fan! 2/14/07 - Prayer Request - My nephew, Zach, needs prayer. He came down with a fever this last Friday and on Monday morning the left side of his face swelled drastically. His eye is swollen shut and his cheek was hard. They immediately took him to urgent care where the doctors originally thought he had meningitis. He was transported via ambulance to the hospital and admitted. Yesterday his fever spiked to 105 and the eye doctor didn't like the way his eyes were responding so they ordered a cat scan. The results showed the entire left side of his sinus cavity was blocked and no air was getting through. The new diagnosis was no meningitis but a severe bacterial infection. So they started antiobiotics. As of this morning the swelling wasn't going down and the sinuses weren't draining and his fever was still over 100 so they decided he needs surgery to drain the sinuses. Today he is being transported to Children's Hospital...

2/11/07 - Taylor's First Trip to the Zoo Taylor is thrilled to be at the Zoo Tabitha, Taylor and Emily get swallowed by a shark at the aquarium

Taylor gearing up for her first Super Bowl Sunday Taylor testing out her new toy 02/05/07 - Taylor is six months old! Wow - time FLIES!!!! At her six month check up she weighed in at 17lbs 13.75oz and she is 27" long. She survived her SIX shots (poor thing) with minimal fussiness afterwards. The doctor said she's doing incredible. Our pediatrician confirmed again what a little miracle Taylor is. The doctor was telling me how she used to be an ICU nurse and she said it was very rare that they were able to save a diaphragmatic hernia baby so it is so amazing for to watch Taylor. We can't say it enough, Praise God! Some milestones to note: Taylor got her 2nd tooth a couple weeks back - not that she needs two anymore than one right now, but letting her suck our finger is getting a little more dangerous. She finally rolled over from her back to her belly and now has perfected the art. This week she had her first chance to grab and eat food off her tray. She thought the banana ...