Proud brother

Doesn't Patrick look so proud of his sister's progress? Lucy is getting so big, holding her head up. Of course, the instant I laid her on the floor he was down there with her.

Engineer Patrick

Patrick loves his engineer cap! It's amazing what a difference 2 months can make -- he's able to keep the train on the track as well as keep the track together for quite a bit longer than at Christmas. Other fun indoor activities today including coloring (yum-markers are delicious) and building a tent with blankets. Come on springtime!

First checkup

I brought Lucy in to see the pediatrician yesterday afternoon after enduring much irritability and sleeplessness at home, concerned that maybe her medicine was not agreeing with her. We made some adjustments on her inhalants, so hopefully that will help her to rest more easily. The report was good -- her lungs sound great! We return next Wednesday for a second check, and with any luck we will be scaling back her medicine even more.

Helping with breakfast

Things are slowly getting back to normal in the Bretz home, or as normal as they can be with two under two! Patrick loves to help in the kitchen, the biscuits were extra buttery for breakfast this morning. Lucy is doing better each day, though she has had to get used to the noise level in the house again. Unfortunately her meds don't really agree with her belly, but we only have one more dose today.

We are home!!!

We are home as of lunch time today! Thank you God! Lucy made it through the night on room air, which was the last hurdle we had to overcome. Doesn't she look GREAT in this picture we took just prior to discharge?? We are going to be doing breathing treatments at home for a while, pretty much the rest of the cold season, but that's okay. We will do it. Thank you all for your prayers and support over this week. We are blessed beyond belief....

Making progress...

To add to the early blog by Brian, Lucy has now been on room air for about 4 hrs and has maintained her levels just fine. Yesterday's attempt at getting off the oxygen was unsuccessful. The pediatrician said that Lucy was the sickest baby she had seen this season. Not exactly something to be proud of! Her lungs are sounding better each day, but we are prepared for doing breathing treatments at home for the rest of the winter. Come on spring!!! She seems to be feeling better, smiling at us today and being content just sitting in her bouncy seat. We are anxious to hear what Dr. Goldman has to report tomorrow, maybe we will be able to go home on Friday. I did get to spend some time with Patrick today, which was wonderful. Brian and I traded duties and I took him to play at the mall (don't worry -- I completely changed his clothes after we left and sanitized his hands like a mad woman) and out to lunch. He is such a trooper, content playing quite a bit at Grandma and Grandpa's, but also wondering where Mommy and "We-we" are. :)

Wednesday Update for Lucy

Last night they pulled her IV because it collapsed. We thought we were finished with it and she could receive the rest of her med's orally or via shot. Sadly not the case and she had to have another IV put in.

Lucy is getting better, but we are most certainly stuck at St Mary's through the rest of this week.


Thank you everyone for your prayers.

The Bretz Family

Doing better!

Last night was a little challenging, being that Brian had to head home for Patrick and I was here alone. Lucy was fussy, irritated with all the lines and simply not feeling well. Dr. Goldman said she sounds better, we may be able to go home on Thursday. Lucy has been on room air, off the oxygen, for about 2 hrs and is maintaining her levels well.

Later in the evening we were given a bouncy seat, which she liked sleeping in a lot better than the 1920's crib that came with room.

Hospital Pictures

Well,

She is looking a lot better than when we brought her in. She is hooked up to a few things, but she is not fighting it too bad.

Update

The pediatrician was in earlier and felt like Lucy was doing much better, although still facing a long road to recovery. She stated that the progress is usually very rapid in the beginning, as we have witnessed, and then slows for a few days. In a nutshell, she didn't anticipate Lucy being able to get off the oxygen until later in the week, so we will most likely be here until Friday. Unfortunately, Patrick was most likely the bearer of the bug, so he isn't allowed to be up on the floor. Brian returns to work tomorrow with grandparents assisting the rest of week with Patrick, and Lucy and I hanging out here.

New home for the Bretz family blog!

We have decided to move the family blog. Yahoo 360 is still in beta and it is a pain to load albums with the change from Yahoo Photos to Flickr.