Milestone...4 months old today!

As I sit here typing this, I am still unbelieving that today Jillian is 4 months old! Time has flown by so fast! Christmas is rapidly approaching, and before I know it, she'll be crawling and walking and talking!

Today was a fun day at home. We got her all dressed up and took pictures in her new "ballerina" dress. She loved playing with the skirt. She's really starting to discover things around her and she's discovered her paci and loved holding on to it. Her hands are a constant facination and now, it's the skirt!




Hope you enjoy the pics!!

Love,
MommyCurlee

I Can Do It!!

JILLIAN IS A GENIUS!

Tonight she decided at her dinnertime that it was high time to start doing things for herself.

Well...LA-TI-DA!! Little Miss is holding her own bottle...and wouldn't give it back!!

What a girl!!

Enjoy the pics!










mmm....rice cereal....yummy!!












"This is MY bottle. You can't have it!"

Precious Moments by Jillian Curlee

You know, as a parent, it's easy for us to get caught up in our own lives that we don't capture those "kodak moments" often enough. We tend to put our children on the backburner and keep saying, "Just a minute...Mommy will be there in a minute" when in a minute, that moment is gone.

Well today, Jillian had a moment.

She was SO upset about wanting to go "nite'nite" so bad that even when I put her in her bed for that nap, she was still upset. So, I asked Jayna, "Jayna, where's sister's baby?" She immediately said, "I know, Mommy. I'll go get it for Jillian Garrett." And she did. She came back with Sister's bear in hand and we gave it to her where she immediately grabbed onto it, turned her head and went to sleep!

WOW! What a moment!

I took this picture and want to share it with you!

What's the moral of this story?

Your children grow up too fast for you not to cherish ever moment...even if it's something little. Remember, when their infancy is gone...it's gone. Forever.

Enjoy!

Reach out and touch someone!

All I gotta say is, SHE'S A GENIUS!

Tonight as I was holding Jillian and winding her down for the night, she reached out and touched my face and just held her hand on my cheek for the longest time...time enough for Dave to go find the camera, take pictures and video! A LONG time!!

While she was touching my face, she was cooing and "talking" to me...gazing into my eyes. Such a sweet moment. One I hope to never forget!

Wanted to share the picture with you. It's so precious!!!

Love, MommyCurlee

Fresh air, a car ride and a trip to Wal-Mart!

After a long 10 days, we FINALLY got out! I had a make-up delivery so we ate dinner, loaded up the minivan and headed to Arlington to Ashley's house! Then, we came back to Grand Prairie and went to Wal-Mart to get a few necessities and visit the holiday section to see what ornaments we wanted to put on the tree we want to get!

Jillian loved the trip. She slept some, and then at Wal-Mart, coughed one time and wanted Mommy to hold her. I held her facing outward so she could see what all was going on and she loved it. At one point, I looked down and she was smiling. Then, when it was time go to home, she wiggled her way to lay down in my arms and dozed off. I promised her we'd be home by 9:00 (her bedtime) and sure enough, we turned off the van in front of the house at 9:00 exact!

She had her BT and went down with no problems at all. Sleeping soundly.

I have to ask for you to keep us in your prayers. As most of you know, she has battled Thrush (a yeast infection of the mouth that looks like milk residue on her tongue and inside her jaws and lips) and it's finally making its exit. However, it has passed on to me and I'm in extreme pain when she nurses. So much so that it makes me rethink if I'll continue to nurse if it doesn't go away soon. I want to nurse her as long as possible, but the pain is far more than I bargained for.

I don't usually get that personal via my blogs, but I need prayer and I need relief quickly. Please pray that the Lord stops this and that my body heals quickly. It's hard for it to heal when she eats every 2-3 hours...8 or more times a day (depending on if she hits a growth spurt).

Thanks for your prayers...
MommyCurlee

P.S. - Have I told you lately that I love my girls? My heart melts....

Shocker....NO MORE RSV!!

Today we made our weekly visit to the doctor. Why? Two-fold actually...1) to see how the RSV was going...was it getting better or worse, 2) why is she having a hard time nursing?

The answer to #2 was a gassy tummy. She had a build-up of gas in her stomach and her thrashing and screaming was the pain it was causing. Makes sense!! I'd probably be doing the same thing!

As for the answer to #1...all we can say is, the Lord heard all the prayers and felt it was time she be healed of this horrible illness and get well NOW! The RSV is GONE. GONE, GONE, GONE!! Her lungs are CLEAR (they listened for a few minutes both in front and back), her throat is perfect, her ears are perfect...NO MORE RSV. The doctor was shocked and looked her over twice. She said it was all the prayers because they've not seen a case of RSV last this short a period of time. Usually, as are most cases here in the DFW area, it lasts a month. NOT FOR THIS CHICA!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your prayers, cards, emails, instant messages, and encouraging words. We give 100% credit to the Lord for her complete healing. She's so happy now and the gas is quickly leaving too...she had a massive blow-out at the doctor office that caught us all off guard and we had NOTHING to change her into (last minute diaper bag change)!! So, we changed her, and she had to leave the doctor's office in nothing more than a diaper and receiving blanket!! LOL! You'd think that with this being my 2nd child I'd know better...guess not!!

We'll keep the blog updated daily for milestones and other funny stories.

We love you all...
MommyCurlee

One more entry tonight...

We have so many blogs...you'll want to check them out.

Check out these sites:

Dave's blog - Jedi Wanna Be
I'm not sure how often he updates...but he has one!
www.jediwannabe.blogspot.com

Jayna's blog - Jayna's World
I update her blog all the time. Funny stories, etc.
www.jaynasworld.blogspot.com

Jillian's blog - Jillian's World
Health updates, milestones, etc. Keep checking this one
www.jilliansworld.blogspot.com

The Curlee Family Website
When Dave has time, he'll update pictures!
www.thecurlees.com

HAVE FUN VIEWING!
MommyCurlee

What is RSV?

I've spent all day online researching the definition of RSV. The best website I refer to is www.babycenter.com which proved once again to be the website that gave the most helpful information.

What is RSV and what does it do to babies?

RSV is the abbreviation for Respiratory Syncytial Virus or Bronchiolitis. For adults, we know it as Bronchitis.

This is what Baby Center says about RSV...

"The most severe cases of RSV are in babies under 6 months old because their lungs aren't fully developed yet and the damage from these infections can linger. Premature babies, twins and other multiples, and babies born with respiratory problems or congenital heart disease are at particularly high risk for contracting a serious infection. Research suggests that babies infected with RSV are more likely to develop asthma and other respiratory problems later in life. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the United States, RSV results in 126,300 hospitalizations each year and more than 4,500 deaths annually from respiratory failure in infants and young children. RSV isn't as serious a health concern for school-age children and adults because their immune systems are stronger. Adults and older children will simply get an upper respiratory infection characterized by a sore throat or cough. "

It also notes...

"...it's also the most common cause of two lung disorders, bronchiolitis and pneumonia, in babies between the ages of 2 and 7 months. Bronchiolitis (a disease that swells the smallest airways of the lungs and fills them with mucus, blocking airflow) and pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs, can be dangerous — even deadly — for very young babies. RSV can also lead to ear infections. "

As you can see folks, RSV is not a disease to play around with. It's very serious and can put a baby in the hospital very quickly. If you could only hear her cough, you'd be just as concerned as we have been. The look in the doctor's eyes when she heard her cough last Friday and heard her left lung, led me to believe that she was quite concerned and noted how serious it was. She put her hand on my shoulder, closed her eyes and said, "Katherine, it's RSV." That was enough to put me shaking in my boots. I had just heard a few days before that my sister's baby, Aubrie Faith, had RSV and hers was worse than Jillian's. Praise God, both babies are recovering. Aubrie is almost fully recovered...Jillian's almost there.

We are homebound for the next 7 days and treatments will continue through the beginning of December. She's so cute...she takes her breathing treatments ...well...with protest...and her meds are a sinch if we have her paci close by!! Shoot some meds in the side of her jaw...cram the paci in...shoot more meds...cram the paci...etc, etc, etc!

We'll continue to take it one day at a time.

Keep coming back to check our progress. We'll continue to post!

All our love...
MommyCurlee

Turning Point...Day 7

Today was a turning point in Jillian's illness with RSV. She had minimal fever, minimal coughing and her attitude was so much happier than in days past. We are so thankful. We are so fortunate that she wasn't hospitalized becasue a lot of children that I know that have it right now have been hospitalized and it's a very traumatic experience not only for the child, but for the parents and family as well. Again, we are so thankful.

We thank you for your continual prayers, emails, cards, phone calls, and instant messages checking on her and Jayna too. You will never know how much it means to us knowing that our family and friends love us so much to pray for our little family.

The only significant problem that Jillian has had today has been eating. She'll nurse for a little on one side, then thrash backwards and scream her head off. That tells me that it's either bad gas, or an ear infection. The doctor told us not to be suprised if she got an ear infection...so we have to go back to the doctor tomorrow to have her check. It's our 3rd visit in 7 days...but well worth it if we know how to treat her and handle her illness.

The Lord has been so faithful to us. He has given us a sense of peace and comfort in our times of stress and uncertainty. We never had any ultra "horrible" days with RSV, but the days that we had that were bad were followed by good turning points that made it all seem so quick. Jillian is very fortunate. She is blessed, loved, and such an inspiration even in her 15 weeks of age.

We have been blessed with an angel from Heaven. She's so precious.

Day 6 from hell....

Sorry....had to be a little blunt there...

Jillian had a bad day. Not sure what her little problem was, but she cried in hysterics almost all day long. Nothing consoled her...she didn't want her Mommy, she didn't want to eat, she didn't want her paci....NOTHING consoled her. NOTHING.

I about lost my mind!

She had her meds, did her BT's and by the time Dave got home and the evening rolled around, she was a completely different child.

Was the sun and moon out of alignment? Was the barometric pressure off a little...or a lot? No clue.

I find that blogging helps me clear my mind and helps me sleep. Of course, I was up from 1:30 - about 5 am this morning. BAD allergies...Jillian not sleeping well...Dave snoring...

Keep praying...I know there's a light at the end of this tunnel...I'm just ready for it to end now!!

Oh...the wheezing is GONE!! PRAISE GOD! Her coughing is lessened....so we're almost done! Still...BT's continue through the beginning of December (which she HATES!).

OHHHHH! Miracle happened today.... Her first morning BT was given a little later than usual because a lot was going on, but she was so tired that she slept through it!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!! That was a good thing!

We're praying for a better day tomorrow....

Love to all...
MommyCurlee

Day 5...a much better day!!

Wow! Today (Tuesday) was a MUCH better day!!

Jillian's breathing was so much better today although her napping suffered quite a bit. She cried most of the day always wanting me to hold her. Of course, if I did that, I'd get nothing done! At one point I looked at Jayna and found her covering her ears to muffle the sounds of Jillian's screaming for me. Now, don't take that as I let her cry forever without tending to her...I never let her cry longer than 5 minutes.

She got 2 breathing treatments yesterday rather than 3 and she did really well all day. Her coughing was at a minimum...so I think we're starting to see recovery around the corner!! She's really so much better. She watched Blues Clues during her morning treatment (not sure how much she can see at this point...but she can see movements!) and then screamed her head off during the evening treatment at 7:00 last night. She was in absolute hysterics! Once I held her, she calmed down a lot but I'd have to stand up.

We got out to go vote last night (although while Dave sat in the car with the girls waiting for me to vote, they closed the polls and were rather rude about letting Dave come in) and took her. She cried a little then went to sleep. We were only out for about an hour but that seemed to do her some good.

Hoping she's much, much better by the end of the week!!

Keep Praying!!

MommyCurlee

Day 4...what a day!

Jillian had a rough day today. Coughing was every few hours of about 3-4 minutes of solid coughing and struggling to catch her breath. Sounds horrible, but it wasn't as bad as the past few days. She has had a fever all day ranging from 99.9 - 100.1 and although that might not seem horrible to us, it's not good for an infant this young. She's had a rough day. When Dave got home he ran an errand for me and then when he came home, he got a "taste and see" of what my day has been like when Jillian screamed and cried while I was letting "calgon take me away."

Once we got her calmed down, we fed her a little cereal through a serenge and she ate about 2 teaspoonfulls before falling asleep. We gave her a bath and she had what we call a "Meltdown" and then immediately fell asleep. She's simply exhausted...no doubt about it.

Mother emailed me today to tell me that she was putting Jillian on their church e-ministry prayer chain. Within an hour of her telling me that, I got 2 emails from some dear friends of theirs telling me that Jillian was being covered in prayer and they were praying for better days for us all. I am absolutely blown away by the emails I receive everyday of people telling me that we're in their prayers and are encouraging us. God's Family is such a blessing to us....we are so blessed.

So, so blessed...

Bad night...almost over...

Well, I was too quick to publish our daily report for Day 3...our evening was not a good one.

About 8:00 p.m., Jillian started running a fever of about 100.3 (100.4 is considered an emergency for a baby this young) and she started coughing...enough for her to not be able to catch her breath and cry. We immediately started the B.T. and she screamed her head off while we had her do that...but the more she screams and cries, the more albuterol gets in her lungs and opens up the bronchial tubes! YAY! After that, she got her Triaminic and Orapred (equivilant of Prednisone) and after all the meds, we immediatly went to a warm bath to calm her down using Johnson & Johnson's Bedtime Bath. Works like a charm everytime!

She was grinning and "talking" to me while I was getting her ready for bed, so that told me that her panic and struggle to breath was over. PRAISE GOD!!

I gave her to Dave and he had her lay in his lap at an angle while he watched TV and I started the laundry so she'll have something to wear tomorrow (she's gone through a growth spurt and has like...3 things she can wear!) and when I went back to check on her, she was asleep. I turned on her Lullaby CD and she's been asleep ever since....about 34 minutes now.

It's so weird...one minute (or all day like today) she's fine...no fever...no coughing...and the next, she's in crisis and it literally takes Dave, Jayna and I to get her medicated and settled. Jayna helps get rags, kleenex, etc. She's such a big helper...she gets BIG hugs all the time for her generosity! She also talks to Jilli and tells her how she's her best friend and that she loves her ... you should hear it. It brings tears to our eyes!!

Well, it's over now...things are quiet...Dave's putting Jayna to bed and I'm online updating our blogs and downloading pictures from our bathroom rennovation. All's well....

For now...
MommyCurlee

Day 3...a restful day...

Today is Sunday, November 6th.....Daddy's birthday (he's 33 today)...

Jillian is having a rather down day. Her breathing treatments started today around 6:45 and afterwards, she was able to breath well enough to eat. Lots of phlegm...and choking.

She's been smiling a lot today which is a huge bonus. I've really been on top of her medications so it seems they're starting to work and she's showing signs of improvement.

She's asleep right now in her bouncy seat with paci in her mouth. Daddy and Jayna have made a Wal-Mart run for me while I'm here watching over her. I'm rennovating our master bath and almost ready to paint...check my blog for details!

Your prayers are working...keep 'em coming. She's exhausted from coughing so much. The breathing treatments (we call them "B.T.") make her cough which is good, but it scares her when she coughs so hard. Her afternoon B.T. made her cough so hard that her "birth mark" on her forehead lit up like a fire and her eyes were bloodshot. It took about 30 minutes for her to calm down and after that, she slept for about an hour in her room with the Lullaby CD playing.

More to come later....she's crying...

MommyCurlee

Day 2 of RSV diagnosis...

Well, yesterday was the dreaded day of finding out that our little Jillian has RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus or Bronchiolitis). You can go to Baby Center's website and read all about it at http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyills/babycold/1754.html.

RSV is a very serious disease that affects all babies but can be deadly to infants who are preemie's or younger than 6 months of age. Our doctor let me listen through the stethescope to Jillian's left lung and the wheezing was quite alarming. Her cough is so bad...and the phlegm is in abundance.

We're doing breathing treatments 4x's a day and giving other meds (including prednisone) to help open her lungs and bronchial tubes. Right now, she's miserable. But this only lasts 10-14 days...so we're looking to fight this for a few weeks. The effects can and most likely will last a month so we have to continue the breathing treatments for a month. On top of the RSV, she still has thrush, so we're treating that too. This child is a living pharmacy!

We'll continue to post her progress daily on the blog so that it is easier for family and friends to keep track. Prognosis is good...so it will just take some time being as it's a virus.

Continue to pray for little Jillian.

By the way, when the doctor weighed her yesterday, she weighed 14.2 pounds! Such a big girl!!