Reunification...

Baby Love is doing excellent.  Completely recovered from VSD*repair back in September. She's slowly gaining weight and is up to 10 pounds 3 ounces (last weighed).  She is still very tiny for 10 months old. Visits with bio mom are going well.  Last week at court it was decided that Baby Love will be transitioning home these next few weeks.  While we will miss her, I know that she will be safe with her mommy.  Grandma admitted to medical*neglect by still has a great relationship with Love and her mom.  Preventive*services will be in place for at least a year after she is home with her bio mom. Therapies will continue and they cannot 'fire' someone or change therapists without the consent of the judge.  In this situation, foster care has done exactly what is was set up for.  

Plan of service review...

Baby Love is doing well.  She regressed a bit and had to put her back on the continuous feed at night because she wasn't waking up to eat and could not be stimulated to suck on her bottle.  Overall, her recovery was a text book case.  I attended a meeting regarding the future of Baby Love's case plan.  Bio g-ma and g-pa were there along with the baby's lawyer, 2 agency workers and a county worker.  When bio g-pa stepped up to ask what the meeting was for the county worker explained that this meeting details the goals of the next 6 months of Baby Love in care he piped up real fast "well, bio mom is released next month and the day after that is court and Baby Love will be home".  The county worker had the deer-in-head-lights look in her eyes.  She slowly explained that they didn't know what the judge was going to do in this case and that we make these plans so we are all on the same page regarding Baby Love's care.  He truly thinks that she is going to be returned to her bio mom the after she is released from jail.  I think it's kind of funny that they think that they can use foster care as a baby sitting service. 

VSD repair and update

So Baby Love had her surgery on September 5th.  The surgery was 6 hours long and it was the longest wait ever!  Even though there were updates from the cardio thoracic surgeon's nurse every couple of hours, we didn't get to see her from 8am until almost 5pm.  It was so hard to wait. The surgery was a success and she is recovering well. She was discharged only 4 days after her surgery.  I brought her home with steri strips over her incision and a packed chest tube incision.  Her tiny feet were bruised and her groin had many holes from the IV's and sensors.  She was very happy to see us all and was all smiles...until we got home...the morphine was still in her system.  About 4 hours after we got home she was miserable!!! I went back and forth giving her Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours to help alleviate her pain.  It seemed to help some.  The nurse sent her home with strict orders of 3 ounces of formula every 3 hours.  She did so well in  the hospital and they want her off the feeding tube.  First, her belly was only used to taking 2 ounces every 3 hours and second, she is not hungry enough to take the full 3 ounces.  It has definitely been a challenge getting her to eat and I have cheated and put her on the tube or given her a gravity feed with a 60 ml syringe.  The Dr's keep telling me to make sure her pain is under control before I try to feed her.  She has already had her follow-up appointments with the surgeon and the cardiologist and her repair looks great. 
She already has more energy and is moving so much more.  I am looking into trying solids with her in the near future.  I was a bit surprised when my case worker handed me a gift certificate to the Chees3 Cak3 Fact0ry.  The note inside the card was touching.   Bio mom will be released next month and I'm sure things will be changing. As we wait to see what the future holds for this sweet girl, we are loving on her and watching her grow.  Hoping things are a bit more boring for a while. 

Countdown... 9/3/13

Waiting to see if Baby Love's surgery will be sooner than later.  Her infection is cleared up and she is looking great!  Visits have been consistent with g-ma and she is doing well with physical therapy.  My older kids go back to school this week and I'm sure that Sprout will be lost without his buddies.  It's been a quiet last week before the chaos of sports, dance, cheer and riding start up again.  The kids are getting anxious to see their friends again and I am just about ready to get back into the day to day routine.  The preschool that my older kids attended contacted me about sending Sprout.  They are excited to get to know him.  Not sure if I'm ready to send him.  He is only 2.  He is such a smart boy and I know he'd do great but I don't think I can send him off 2 days a week.  Clearly, I have issues.  I just think there's plenty of time for that. 

Holding off...

Took Baby Love for her pre-op visit for what was SUPPOSED to be tomorrow morning.  Everything was great until the nurse practitioner came in to check Baby Love's Mic*key button.  We are holding off on the surgery until later in the month because they want to treat her for a possible yeast infection around her tube site.  I also found out that the surgery is 5 HOURS long.  Please keep her in your prayers.  She is up to 8 pounds 15 ounces!!! She seems to be tolerating oral feeds MUCH better than she did when she was first placed with us.  She is still only taking 65ml's every 3 hours but we have begun to use the feeding pump less and less.  It only takes her about 20 minutes to finish her bottle and she doesn't even break a sweat. While I'm feeling a bit stressed that the surgery date has been changed...I'm happy that I have an extra few days at home with my big kiddos before they start school.  Looks like some school shopping is in the near future!   (Bio b-ma did not show up for pre-op testing). 

Fostering special needs...

A bit surprised at how fast I'm falling in love with this sweet baby.  I guess making sure her every need is met is helping us bond a bit better.  People's reactions to the fact that Baby Love has Down*Syndrome has been mostly of pity.  I can only imagine what reactions biological parents of children with special needs get.  Some people are bold enough to tell me that 'they screen for that early on in the pregnancy'.  Don't get me started on my reaction. I recently heard someone say that babies in utero who are diagnosed with Down Syndrome are targeted for extinction.

It broke my heart.  

I have a hard time believing that just because she has an extra chromosome she is not 'worthy of life'.  I truly believe that God created her in His image and has a plan for her life...just as He does for you and me.  She is truly a treasure.  Her smile is amazing and just this past week I am seeing her personality blossom.  She is desiring more contact and telling me by crying when I put her down and following me around the room with her eyes.  Her heart surgery is scheduled for later this month and I am praying that her recovery time is fast.  She is truly a fighter.  She has a such a 'spicy' personality.   The pediatr!c cardiolog!st has assured me that after the surgery she will be a 'typical child with Down Syndrome'.  She will grow and gain weight like any other child.  Her heart is working in triple time right now and she is burning way too many calories to gain weight.  Please pray with me that God will guide the dr's hands and her recovery time will be swift. 
Trusting in a God who loves her more than I do... 

So it starts...

Hubby is in law enforcement and has a hard time leaving his job at the station.  He usually follows the paper to see who has been arrested for what and knows some of the people who have been arrested.  On Friday, he called to tell me that Baby Love's grandfather has been arrested.  It's kind of ironic that Baby Love's family is not from this area.  They recently moved here.  Doesn't sound like they're making a very good first impression...just sayin'.

She can't OR she WON'T!

Today was our 2nd visit with Baby Love's g-ma.  Last week I left her with a 2 oz bottle and her feeding pump, tube and supplies. When I went to pick her up after the visit I expected her to have eaten about 30 ml's from the bottle and 35 ml's from the pump.  The dr's orders are to feed her from the bottle ONLY until she tires (around 20-30 ml's) THEN put the rest on a tube feed.  G-ma either can't or won't use the pump BUT she won't admit she doesn't know what she's doing!! Baby Love is burning too many calories drinking from the bottle but they don't want her to lose her desire or ability to suck.  Today, after the 2 hour visit, she told me again that the baby finished all of the bottle.  I already told the agency worker...now I have to figure out how to explain to g-ma what she's doing wrong!

Busy...

This precious baby girl is stealing our hearts.  Caring for her has been a full time job but she is such a joy.  Her smile is just beautiful and she is so social!  It seems that she is eating very often.  Her feeds are every 3 hours but it's taking anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2 hours to feed her.  She has very low muscle tone so I expect she'll qualify for speech, occupational and physical therapy.  At the last consignment sale I sold all of my baby equipment so I have had to shop.  We haven't had a baby girl here since 2009 (Daisy) so I have had to shop for clothes too.  I forgot how much fun it is to shop for pink!  The agency worker has set up visits for Thursdays so we'll how that goes. 

Impromptu visit...

I forgot about the last minute visits with foster care.  Yesterday afternoon at around 2:30pm the phone rang.  It was the supervisor from the agency (who is under staffed and happens to also be Baby Love's agency case worker).  She wanted me to bring the baby up for a visit with the bio family for 3:30.  I guess they were at family court and the lawyers were fighting for a visit TODAY!  I asked her if they could make it for early this morning but she called back to say that it HAD to be done yesterday.  We weren't even showered!! So, I met the grandparents (only g-ma stayed for the visit) and left Baby Love for an hour.  The g-parents will be working the case plan.  The visit was supervised my the agency AT the county building.  G-pa left right after I got there.  Grandma is my age (mid to late 30's) and has a one month old of her OWN.  Baby Love is her oldest daughter's daughter.  Just when I thought foster care couldn't get any more Jerry Springer...  :)

Busy week...

Trying to get any info on Baby Love is next to impossible.  The med center PICU was very helpful with some of the supplies for her feeding tube and heart meds.  I have already followed up with her pediatrician and he is wonderful.  He has seen her since birth so he really knows her and the whole staff at his office was wonderful and SO thankful that she's in care!  The ped gave me permission to put her on continuous feed at night via the pump so the last 2 nights I've gotten more sleep :)  This makes for one happy mama.  Sprout LOVES this new baby (so do my other children).  She really blends in with our family.  Today we got started with W*I*C  and finally met the county worker (who is new).  We had a home visit too and our agency worker happens to have a son with the same heart condition.  Sounds like maternal grandparents will be working a reunification plan. What ever happens, we are trusting that God has a plan for sweet Baby Love. 

This sweet Baby Love

She is SO tiny!  I spent most of Saturday afternoon in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. I was re-trained in feeding tubes, pumps how to dose and distribute meds via mic-key button and what red flags to look for and complications of VSD.  Baby love was born at 33 weeks gestation and was only 3.7.  She is a special needs baby.  We have made it through 2 nights waking up every 3 hours to feed first by mouth and the rest by tube.  No caseworker has been assigned to the case yet.  Her pediatrician is wonderful and she is in VERY good hands. Our goal is to grow big and strong so she can have her heart repaired.  We're at 8 pounds today.  More soon!

Baby Love

Later this morning I will be heading to the hospital to pick up a sweet baby girl, Baby Love.  She is a 5 mo old with very special needs.  We are so excited to love on her and watch her tiny 8 pound 3 ounce body GROW and GROW!  Praying God goes before me and trusting that others will see HIM in all I do.