sparkly girl

Daryl laughed for the first time yesterday!! it was so cute, and i just kept thinking how nice it was to finally get to hear that laugh! we have come so far from the first days in the NICU, those days were so scary and awful, and we didnt even know if we Would see the day when she would laugh. we are so lucky that to have her home, and every little mile-stone reminds me of that.

smiley girl

she is such a smiley girl, she smiles all time but its hard to catch on camera because she is so wiggly. she loves to be talked to and played with, and she will pretty much smile anytime someone talks silly to her. she has been doing good lately, she sleeps real well and is eating well. she has been gaining some weight on her new formula, so we are still not having to use the g-tube. things have been so good lately that im started think "okay things are too good to be true, anytime now something will go wrong, or shell get sick or something".isnt that terrible, i know, but when you have been through so much its hard to believe things could be so good. but we are having fun with her and we cant wait till christmas.

found a really old one here... that was the day we found out she was a girl. my how she has grown. ha ha

daryl

hi this is daryl, on the computer blogging about my brother since everyone always blogs about me!! the kid in the long hair is my brother a couple years ago. wasnt he punk-rock? and the ones above them are him and my dad playing video games at the pizza place a few days ago!! hes changed alot since then. now he plays with me alot and he does karate and hes a good big brother. he is 5 ft 4 and wears a size 8 and 1/2 shoe. im 1 ft 10 in, and i weigh 10 pounds and 10 ounces. we have a lot in common.

four generations

this is very cute. Daryl, her Dad, his Dad, and his Dad's Mom. super grandma is 91 here, and daryl is almost 2 months

Happy 1/3rd Daryl

Daryl is four months old today. she is very happy to be home where she can be held all the time. she gained about 6 oz last week. she also stopped breast feeding because the gi doc recommended formula only. leanna is very sad about that, but daryl seems to be taking to it well. this will be an interesting week for daryl. she has a wic appointment with mom on tuesday, so she gets to go out. then on wednesday she goes to her first funeral. after that, the brother of her namesake will be signing books in LA, but we may not make it to that. then she gets to get weighed again on thursday. we are so fortunate that everything is going well, and not very complicated for the time being.

cute baby

i thought these pics were cute, me and Daryl on the top, and Daryl and daddy watching morning cartoons, and then just Daryl with a cute look on her face. she is a playful girl, and despite the fact that she isn't growing the way she should, she sure seems to have plenty of energy and is very happy. she is doing well on the disgusting new formula the doc has her on, (she will only drink it if its mixed with breast milk and and i sweeten the nipple for her) and so far i still havent had to use her G-tube yet, but tomarrow she goes to the doc again to get weighed, and if she doesnt gain weight she will have to be on the constant night-time feeding machine. oh well. i just want her to be healthy and happy, and live a good life, and i hope thats what will happen after all that she has been through. she deserves to be happy.

THAT'S MY GIRL

look, Daryl is practicing the air guitar with her pantera shirt on . look how fast her fingers are moving!!!

long day today

today was our GI appt, and for some reason i had a feeling it was gonna be a long day, and i was right... the good news is that Daryl had her long, dangling feeding tube replaced with a small little "button" (a small tube in the same place, only it isnt long so it wont get tugged out as easily). i got to be there for the replacement, and in fact if Daryl has to have the tube in for longer than 3 months then I get to be the one to replace it (the nurses are teaching me how to do it) its not so bad i guess, just weird sticking a tube in my daughters stomach... the bad news is that she has not gained hardly any weight in the two weeks that we have been home, which means that breast milk is not enough and she is gonna start on a special formula called Pregestimil, which is supposed to be easy for her to digest. its expensive as hell and it took Scott and I 6 stores and 2 hours to find a place who sold the stuff... man its expensive... but oh well. we have to go back and weigh her every week, and if she hasnt gained 5 ounces in the next week then we have to start her on a constant flow of formula which runs through her G-tube over night, so she will absorb enough nutrients to gain weight. the doctor also had a blood test for her to see if her liver is functioning better. i got to be there also, to hold her while they stick her foot and draw blood from her.. she did really good though, she hardly cried, she is such a strong girl! now we are home and exhausted, but hey!! at least we are home with her and not still in the hospital.

today was Daryl's apt with Dr. Baerg, her surgeon. it went well, other than the hour and a half wait in the waiting room. Daryl has actually gained weight, which is the most important thing because it means that the bowels that she does have left are working good. she is nursing well and everything seems to be working as it should. the dr was very pleased with her progress, suprised actually, that she is eating and processing so well... this is of course, a great relief to us since in the NICU there were so many setbacks...its hard to believe that everything is finally going smoothly. her next apt is with the GI dr, on thursday, and at that apt they will decide whether or not to keep her feeding tube in or just take it out (she never uses it, never has) so we hope it will just get to come out. im always nervous that im gonna tug on it or something, and pull it out...so far that hasnt happened. so any way, she is doing good at home and we are all happy to have her here, especially for the holidays.

Are you Serious?

This pic was a total accident. if you enbiggen it, you can see that daryl has borrowed my eyebrow. Thats my girl

Daryl Rocks

SLAYERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Baby SLAYERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

The Rudolph Girls

Here are the Rudolph girls.They all are wearing something pink. which is the cutest? haha trick question. I love them all

Grandpa's Home!!

Grandpa finally got home from canada friday. this si the first time he has seen Daryl outside the hospital. both were very happy to see each other.

Look a Peapod!

daryl went out trick or treating with brother and cousin , but only lasted about twenty minutes in the peapod suit. although connor's robot suit was neat, daryl was the coolest thing anybody had ever seen. people would ask "whats his name" and "how old is he" so we would tell them"she is a girl, she is a girl". didn't even bother confusing them with her name is Daryl