Thursday, February 17, 2011
Emma's 1 Month Old Photos
We had so much fun styling Emma for her 1 Month Old Photos. Thank you Kelly Ferguson Photography for making the vision a reality. They are beautiful!
Monday, February 14, 2011
A Great Week With the Doctors
We had a great week with all the doctors.
Emma had her one month check-up and passed all her milestones. She is looking at faces, tracking with her eyes, focusing on objects about a foot from her face, displaying the startle and grasp reflex and is cooing, grunting and making all types of noises. She can even move her head from side to side when laying on her tummy. Last week she had really discovered her hands, and now she has further discovered her fingers (they end up in her mouth mainly, sometimes the full fist) and reached for her feet the other night when we were changing her diaper. She is even learning to hold in her binky with her hand!
I can't believe she turned one month old. We had Kelly back out to take her professional one month photos and we can't wait to share them with you in about a week's time. But here are some pics I took (definitely not professional).
She is 18 inches long and weighed in at 6 lbs 2 oz.
I had a busy week last week with my second to last chemotherapy session and a MRI.
I was much more nervous about the MRI than I thought I would be. Because I couldn't have a MRI while pregnant this was my first one and a lot of things began to race through my mind: what if it spread? where could it have spread to? what if the lump is bigger than they could feel during the exams? what about the lymphnodes? was the chemo successful? what is the path ahead of me?
There was a lot of quiet alone time during the 30 minutes of the MRI test that I was able to think through the above questions and reflect back on the last 5.5 months. I am confident that I chose the right doctors and the right course of action for me and I had to rely on higher powers to take this one into his hands.
It was an agonizing 48 hours but when I got the call from the doctor's office it was great news! My medical oncologist and my surgeon both reviewed the MRI together and called to tell me...the chemotherapy was a complete success and they can't see any remains of the lump. What a relief! This further validates that the choice to have the lumpectomy vs mastectomy was the right choice. My surgeon, Dr. Yazdi, will go in to remove the dead cancerous cells and remove a clean margin of healthy cells that once surrounded the lump. The MRI also showed less inflamed lymphnodes than originally thought meaning we will only have to remove 6-10 vs the original plan of 10-20! Thirdly, the MRI showed no sign of the cancer spreading elsewhere in my left breast nor to my right breast!
Tomorrow, I celebrate the completion of my chemotherapy (before surgery). After 5.5 months and 16 chemotherapy treatments my body is ready for a three week vacation! No chemo and no doctor's appointments. I am ready to have a break from the side effects and the weekly grind of a 3 hour chemo session. The side effects have begun to add up and were getting quite annoying. My bloody noses persist, my face is broken out like a 13 year old's and my legs and feet have a tingling sensation like diabetics get neuropathy. We will celebrate with a Valentine's theme and say thank you to the nurses that have cared for me during my chemotherapy. And we plan to take a trip to the NICU to drop off some sugar cookies too!
Here are some other photos from the week:
We hope you all had a great week as well!
Love,
Jenna, Rett and Emma
Emma had her one month check-up and passed all her milestones. She is looking at faces, tracking with her eyes, focusing on objects about a foot from her face, displaying the startle and grasp reflex and is cooing, grunting and making all types of noises. She can even move her head from side to side when laying on her tummy. Last week she had really discovered her hands, and now she has further discovered her fingers (they end up in her mouth mainly, sometimes the full fist) and reached for her feet the other night when we were changing her diaper. She is even learning to hold in her binky with her hand!
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| Hand in our mouth |
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| 1 month old |
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| My cheeks get fuller every day. |
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| Happy girl! |
I had a busy week last week with my second to last chemotherapy session and a MRI.
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| UNO! One more left! |
There was a lot of quiet alone time during the 30 minutes of the MRI test that I was able to think through the above questions and reflect back on the last 5.5 months. I am confident that I chose the right doctors and the right course of action for me and I had to rely on higher powers to take this one into his hands.
It was an agonizing 48 hours but when I got the call from the doctor's office it was great news! My medical oncologist and my surgeon both reviewed the MRI together and called to tell me...the chemotherapy was a complete success and they can't see any remains of the lump. What a relief! This further validates that the choice to have the lumpectomy vs mastectomy was the right choice. My surgeon, Dr. Yazdi, will go in to remove the dead cancerous cells and remove a clean margin of healthy cells that once surrounded the lump. The MRI also showed less inflamed lymphnodes than originally thought meaning we will only have to remove 6-10 vs the original plan of 10-20! Thirdly, the MRI showed no sign of the cancer spreading elsewhere in my left breast nor to my right breast!
Tomorrow, I celebrate the completion of my chemotherapy (before surgery). After 5.5 months and 16 chemotherapy treatments my body is ready for a three week vacation! No chemo and no doctor's appointments. I am ready to have a break from the side effects and the weekly grind of a 3 hour chemo session. The side effects have begun to add up and were getting quite annoying. My bloody noses persist, my face is broken out like a 13 year old's and my legs and feet have a tingling sensation like diabetics get neuropathy. We will celebrate with a Valentine's theme and say thank you to the nurses that have cared for me during my chemotherapy. And we plan to take a trip to the NICU to drop off some sugar cookies too!
Here are some other photos from the week:
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| Grandpa Jones came to visit |
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| Our new favorite pink hat |
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| Our first walk outside...although there is snow on the ground it was in the 60s |
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| Daddy pushing Emma on our walk |
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| Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! |
We hope you all had a great week as well!
Love,
Jenna, Rett and Emma
Monday, February 7, 2011
Such a Big Girl!
I can't believe that Emma will be one month old tomorrow. Time really does fly!
On Friday, our at home nurse came by to check on Emma and she weighed in at 5 lbs 9 oz (this is 2 lbs and 1 oz more than her lowest in the hospital)! She continues to grow and develop right on track.
She is tracking with her eyes more and more everyday. She will stare directly into your eyes when you look at her. She loves looking at the artwork we have around the house, especially the poster I have framed from Memphis in May from my college days.
She has discovered her hands and is starting to understand that they are attached to her body and that she controls them. She will help me hold her bottle, hold her burp cloth, soothe herself by placing her hands near her mouth and she is beginning to reach out to toys during her playmat time. She even plays with her ears like her Uncle Taylor. We call her "Houdini" as no matter how tight she is swaddled she will work to get her hands free, even if it means getting her arm out of her sleeve of her outfit!
I have started introducing different textures to Emma so she can feel them on her fingers and her cheeks. She loves the soft and silky ones the best- but who wouldn't!? After a couple of weeks of being home, I have begun to learn all of her sounds. Emma will groan when she is eating and wants more, she will sigh out of contentness, she will "laugh" when she is happy and playing and she will only give out one little yelp when she is hungry or needs a change. We have been blessed with a very happy baby; she is sleeping from 8:30 PM to 8:30 AM and wakes only for feedings.
On Sunday, Emma was cheering on the Steelers for a Super Bowl win. Although they didn't win, Emma had fun watching the game with Daddy.
Here are some other pictures from the week.
Love,
Jenna
On Friday, our at home nurse came by to check on Emma and she weighed in at 5 lbs 9 oz (this is 2 lbs and 1 oz more than her lowest in the hospital)! She continues to grow and develop right on track.
She is tracking with her eyes more and more everyday. She will stare directly into your eyes when you look at her. She loves looking at the artwork we have around the house, especially the poster I have framed from Memphis in May from my college days.
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| Emma gazes at the artwork for minutes upon minutes. |
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| Here is the colorful artwork she likes the most. |
She has discovered her hands and is starting to understand that they are attached to her body and that she controls them. She will help me hold her bottle, hold her burp cloth, soothe herself by placing her hands near her mouth and she is beginning to reach out to toys during her playmat time. She even plays with her ears like her Uncle Taylor. We call her "Houdini" as no matter how tight she is swaddled she will work to get her hands free, even if it means getting her arm out of her sleeve of her outfit!
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| First discovering her hands. |
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| Feeling around with her hands. |
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| Beginning to grasp and play with her toys. |
I have started introducing different textures to Emma so she can feel them on her fingers and her cheeks. She loves the soft and silky ones the best- but who wouldn't!? After a couple of weeks of being home, I have begun to learn all of her sounds. Emma will groan when she is eating and wants more, she will sigh out of contentness, she will "laugh" when she is happy and playing and she will only give out one little yelp when she is hungry or needs a change. We have been blessed with a very happy baby; she is sleeping from 8:30 PM to 8:30 AM and wakes only for feedings.
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| Snuggling with a soft pink blanket. |
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| Happy girl after her bottle. |
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| Emma is really developing the muscles in her neck and has begun to prop her head on her hands and strike a pose. |
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| Daddy and Emma cuddling after a feeding. |
On Sunday, Emma was cheering on the Steelers for a Super Bowl win. Although they didn't win, Emma had fun watching the game with Daddy.
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| We have a football fan! As you can tell, she is half undressed due to the fact that we had to dash in to see the play! |
Here are some other pictures from the week.
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| Emma and Grandpa Oesch |
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| Emma and Grandma Charlene |
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| Bath time! |
Jenna
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Count Them...2 More Left!
I don't like high fives. I feel awkward giving and receiving them. But I have given a few high fives lately and they have felt great. Thank you to Dr. Lyss and Dr. Yazdi for providing me with the proper treatment to shrink the tumor to a size that you can't feel (woo hoo!) and prepping me for the best surgery outcome possible. Both doctors received high fives!
I can't believe how far we have come since the end of August. I thought we would never make it to February and to the end of my scheduled chemo treatments prior to surgery. However, after today we only have two more treatments to go!
Then I get to take three weeks off...no doctor visits, no treatments, no scans, no nothing! Three wonderful weeks that I don't have to travel to the hospital and that I can spend with Rett, Emma and my family and friends! I am so blessed to have this cherished time before I am out of commission for a bit after my lumpectomy and lymphnode removal.
I can't thank everyone enough for all the continued love and support you have shown to me, Rett and Emma throughout this crazy 7 months. The grocery shopping, the meal delivery, the visits, the well wishes for Emma, the prayers, etc. You all have helped me keep going and keep up with the positive attitude and spirit and for this I am forever grateful!
To continue the trek towards the end, we continued our "celebrations" at chemotherapy:
I raise my hand to all of you for a BIG high five! Here's to ONLY 2 MORE!
Love,
Jenna
I can't believe how far we have come since the end of August. I thought we would never make it to February and to the end of my scheduled chemo treatments prior to surgery. However, after today we only have two more treatments to go!
Then I get to take three weeks off...no doctor visits, no treatments, no scans, no nothing! Three wonderful weeks that I don't have to travel to the hospital and that I can spend with Rett, Emma and my family and friends! I am so blessed to have this cherished time before I am out of commission for a bit after my lumpectomy and lymphnode removal.
I can't thank everyone enough for all the continued love and support you have shown to me, Rett and Emma throughout this crazy 7 months. The grocery shopping, the meal delivery, the visits, the well wishes for Emma, the prayers, etc. You all have helped me keep going and keep up with the positive attitude and spirit and for this I am forever grateful!
To continue the trek towards the end, we continued our "celebrations" at chemotherapy:
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| We (Laura, Jenn, Jenna, Molly and Rett) borrowed a page from the American Cancer Society's book. If we fight cancer we can celebrate more BIRTHDAYS! Laura's mom, Mrs. Stanek, passed away from melanoma and her birthday was this exact day too...so we celebrated with cupcakes in her honor. We also remember Mr.Ross, Molly's dad, whom lost his battle with cancer. |
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| We are "working out" a cure. Thank you to my father-in-law, Rett, for getting me to and from the hospital safely so I didn't have to miss a treatment in this snow storm. |
Love,
Jenna
Welcome Home Emma!
Emma is home! She did such a fantastic job in the NICU and was released after only 2.5 weeks. Rett and I were so excited to bring her home so we could begin our family experiences in the comfort of our own home.
Rett and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary the week she came home...we couldn't have asked for a better gift! Rett was able to take a few days off work so we could enjoy having her home and then my mom came into town this weekend to visit as well as other local friends and family.
The NICU has gotten Emma on a fabulous schedule and routine: she eats every 3 hours, she sleeps in her own crib at night between feedings, she is used to light and noise, and she does a bit of tummy time each day to strengthen her muscles. Because of this great sleeping pattern, mommy has to sneak in some snuggle time but I know that her unstimulated time is needed for her healthy development and growth.
Since Emma is a preemie and we are in the height of flu and RSV season, we have to be very careful with people who visit; we have encouraged all our family to get the flu shot if they haven't, everyone must be 100% healthy and we are currently not allowing other kids to visit. However we can't wait for Emma to meet her cousins.
Rett and I also ventured to our first pediatrician's appointment on Friday. You would think that with how organized I am, I could get myself ready, Emma ready and the diaper bag packed without any issues...boy was I wrong. We had a bottle but no nipple. That makes for a difficult feeding; Walgreen's to the rescue!
Here are some photos from the week:
We have had a great week home and can't wait for many many more!
Love
Jenna
Rett and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary the week she came home...we couldn't have asked for a better gift! Rett was able to take a few days off work so we could enjoy having her home and then my mom came into town this weekend to visit as well as other local friends and family.
The NICU has gotten Emma on a fabulous schedule and routine: she eats every 3 hours, she sleeps in her own crib at night between feedings, she is used to light and noise, and she does a bit of tummy time each day to strengthen her muscles. Because of this great sleeping pattern, mommy has to sneak in some snuggle time but I know that her unstimulated time is needed for her healthy development and growth.
Since Emma is a preemie and we are in the height of flu and RSV season, we have to be very careful with people who visit; we have encouraged all our family to get the flu shot if they haven't, everyone must be 100% healthy and we are currently not allowing other kids to visit. However we can't wait for Emma to meet her cousins.
Rett and I also ventured to our first pediatrician's appointment on Friday. You would think that with how organized I am, I could get myself ready, Emma ready and the diaper bag packed without any issues...boy was I wrong. We had a bottle but no nipple. That makes for a difficult feeding; Walgreen's to the rescue!
Here are some photos from the week:
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| Her nursery all decked out in little lambs |
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| "E" for Emma...she even got her own stationery this week |
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| Lambs! |
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| Getting the house ready for her Welcome Home |
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| Picking her up from the NICU. She wore home the same outfit I wore home from the hospital. |
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| Emma with some of her wonderful nurses- Cathy, Jamie and Denise |
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| She was very alert as we walked out of the hospital...she knew something was happening! |
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| Peaceful and asleep in her car seat on her way home |
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| Look how tiny she is in her crib! |
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| Sneaking a peak from her bassinet |
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| Tiny piggies |
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| Mumsy and Emma |
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| Emma in her glider |
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| Looks at those cheeks! |
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| This is Emma's second snow storm...the first one she could watch out the back door though. |
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| M-I-Z!!! |
Love
Jenna
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