Finally! New Pics!!!

Yes, its been a while! We finally were able to get both Jimmy and Jenna out and sitting still long enough to have their pictures taken. Jenna is still gaining weight, although still spitting up. We have several appointments this month at the Cleveland Clinic, so hopefully we will be getting to the bottom of it soon. She has started cereal and seems to be tolerating it well. Keeping our fingers crossed!!!

Enjoy the pics and we will update after her appointments later this month...

Riding The Referral Merry-Go-Round...

One of my smiling moments...

Lucy's exhausted...

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a happy and safe New Year!

We have been on the Clinic tour since the last post. We are calling it the referral merry-go-round to figure out why Jenna continues to spit up so much after each feeding. Unfortunately, we are no closer to an answer than we were with our first appointment.

We have had an Upper GI, which was normal, seen the ENT specialists, normal except for swollen adenoids, the Gastroenterologist- twice, a neurologist and a nutritionist. She has a hearing test scheduled and they ordered the big chromosome test which will take 6-8 weeks for the results.

The chromosome test we had done to show that she has Turners was the simple test. As it was told to us, they line up the chromosomes like books and there should be 46 "books" on the shelf. This test now looks at the paragraphs of each book to see if there is anything else missing.

We have now added "failure to thrive" to her chart. She lost an ounce in weight over a month's period, which gives her the designation. What's amazing was at her last appointment in Cleveland with the neurologist, I finally had enough and said we know she is not gaining weight because she is spitting up, and asked what in the battery of tests they ordered will tell us why she is doing this. The answer-nothing! They just want to rule out everything else before they tell us it could be she just spits up more than other babies, but nothing physical or metabolic is wrong. The research we have done suggests that most Turners babies spit up and other families have had little success with doctors on the subject. We'll give it a little bit longer...but patience is wearing thin.

Jenna is now on Prevacid and a formula that we have to order. We're going to try this for a month and see if her gut will relax. The formula is very broken down and easily digested. We are hoping this is going to help and she can go back on another formula once this calms down.

Below are some pictures from our Christmas. Jimmy had a blast although he is afraid of Santa in a big way! We are still cleaing up from Christmas aftermath! Enjoy!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Mommy & Jenna, Christmas Morning

Jimmy with his new tool set...

NO!!! I'm not excited!!!

The Family...Jenna acting like Jenna!

Upper GI And ENT Visit...

Hello again everyone!

Jenna has been on a few journeys to the Cleveland Clinic since the last post. As you may have read, she has been spitting up quite a bit and very irritated when eating and at different times of the day. Some is obviously normal baby stuff, some is her father in her coming out, (like he does when watching a Council meeting!!! UGG!) and the rest is just Jenna.

She had two upper GI's done this month. The first...well, let's just say she didn't like to much. The second went perfect. Nothing abnormal to report. While we were up in Cleveland, she also saw an ENT. (Ear, nose and throat doc) Jenna's nose is slightly pushed back, which makes for a smaller nasal cavity and sinus area. Because of this, she has been snorting while eating, which we thought could be a reason for her spitting up. They did a scope on her, through the nose and down to the voice box...parts of my daughter I do not care to see again. The verdict: swollen adenoids. Turns out, the reflux is agitating her adenoids, and if she is upset this causes mucus to build more rapidly. With the smaller sinus cavity, this leads to the snorting. Believe it or not, we are giving her eye drops in her nose to help rid the swollen adenoids.

Jenna also has a geographic tongue. We always wondered what the heck that was in there...this girl is still a mystery to us! Every visit to Cleveland brings something new. I don't think we should visit anymore!

She got to spend her first night in a hotel...next to the Clinic, of course. We headed up last Thursday night to avoid the ice, rain and snow we got Friday.

Of course, the ENT we were suppose to see at 9:45 a.m. was in an emergency surgery, so we saw the nurse practitioner instead. They said we had to do this and that and reschedule; at which point dad nicely stated it needed to be done today while we were here. All of the sudden, we had an appointment for an exam from a partner ENT and the scope at 3:45 p.m. We headed down to her upper GI at 11:20 a.m. This lasted about 35 minutes. Surprisingly, Jenna loves barium. She normally takes 2-3 oz of formula...she took almost 4 oz of this stuff and kept it down!!! Of course, the next bottle of formula came racing back at us. Yet another mystery, but leading us to believe there may be a food allergy going on here.

We were able to spend some time with a few friends not in the best of circumstances. John Buskirk, one of my assistant football coaches and a great friend since high school, is on his third battle with Leukemia. He is an amazing person and one of the strongest people I know. I have set up a blog for his family as well. They did it by e-mail the last two times and this has been easier for them. His wife, Jessica, e-mails me the info and I get it up for them. The blog is www.coachjbuzz.blogspot.com. Please keep him, his wife who is expecting twins, and his family in your prayers.

I hope each and every one of you has a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. We are certainly counting our blessings. Have a safe and relaxing time with your loved ones. Hope to have some Christmas pics up this week.

A Little Baptism, A Little Heart Burn...

My Pretty Baptism Outfit...

Pre-Baptism In The Cry Room...
(Big Brother In The Background)

Godmother Auntie Jamie, Godfather Jim Severino, Mommy and Daddy

Hello again everyone!

On November 23, 2008 we baptized Jenna at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church. Father Ruggieri performed the ceremony and unfortunately for him and the rest of us, Jenna's time in the cry room before the baptism was the only time she wasn't crying. It was a great day regardless. We all went to my parents house after for a great party.

Jenna has been a little under the weather. Not with a cold, but some digestive issues. She has been spitting up constantly and in large amounts after eating. She is not losing weight, but not putting it on as she should. You can tell she is in some pain during these episodes.

We took her back to Cleveland to see another "gist"- the Pediatric Gastroenterologist. There are links to some issues with digestion related to Turners babies. They want to do an upper GI to see if there can be something going on in there causing this. She is on Pepcid, and it has been doubled with little relief. It has been frustrating, especially for Janice who has had to deal with her all this time, to see Jenna like this. The procedure is scheduled for the 16th, but we are trying to get in sooner. Also going to try the chiropractor this week. It has helped others we know.

As you can see by the pictures, she is smiling and happy some of the time. When her tummy is bothering her...look out! This girl has strong lungs.

Janice went back to work Monday and Jenna has been going to Grandma and Papa's house while we are at work. Jenna gets an earful from Grandma all day, we're sure. They have been a huge help through all of this and Jenna is going to continue to go there until after Christmas break.

Yet another hurdle to jump over in her short 3 month life...but life goes on! We will check back when there is more to report.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and spent money...LOCALLY! (That's the Chamber of Commerce talking again!!!)

Just a note on this terrible economy; The National Retail Federation reported:
"Though the holiday season is far from over, retailers across the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief after shoppers headed to stores and websites in droves over the weekend. According to the National Retail Federation's 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey, conducted by BIGresearch, more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 147 million shoppers last year.*

Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 this weekend*, up 7.2 percent over last year’s $347.55. Total spending reached an estimated $41.0 billion."

Not too shabby!!!

I'm Still Kickin'...

Big Brother and Jenna playing on the floor...

Halloween Outfit #1...Ladybug

Halloween Outfit #2... Pumpkin

Yep...I'm Smiling

Hello again everyone! Two months down...and still growing!

Sorry for the long departure from the blog. Dad and Mom have been busy. Jenna is now on her 4th formula. We've been spitting up quite a bit over the last month, so now she is on pepcid and this special concoction that seems to be working. No Frank's Red Hot for a while.

Jenna is hitting all the milestones she should be at this point. Holding up her head, smiling, making eye contact, still working on the baby talk. She continues to be the feisty one...very demanding! Wants to eat when she wants to eat. Wants to sleep when she wants to sleep. Wants to be held....well, all the time!

All her appointments have been going well. She just started the rounds of vaccinations for the two month mark which always make us nervous. I am especially not a big fan of vaccinations...no flu shots/mists this year! Just too many unknowns, and too many things being ignored as "one in a million chances." Many of you may recall my niece had a life-threatening reaction to the MMR shot, which has revealed so many things about vaccinations to us. So lots of holding our breath coming up...

As the snow falls today, and Jimmy insists we head outside, I thought we would check in and let you all know how we have been...and it is going great! (he fell asleep in our recliner so Dad's off the hook for now!) Still getting used to two baths, two kids waking up at night, two diapers to change...Jimmy wants no part of the pottie yet.

Enjoy the snow, I we'll check in again with new pictures.

Happy Birthday Big Brother!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Jimmy!!!

Yum...Cake!!!

Did someone say cake???

Happy 3rd birthday to Jimmy! This big brother has been through many adjustments this year and has passed with flying colors. He's going to be a great big brother through the years and we are so blessed to have two beautiful children to share our lives with. Just had a cupcake he picked out at the store with Mommy today and the family party will come shortly. Grandma and Grandpa stopped by as well to wish the big guy a happy birthday along with his cousin Raymond.

Jenna continues to do well, she is over 8lbs now and it seems she is getting bigger each day. Thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers. Since the article about Jenna was in the paper, we have received so many letters of support, cards and e-mails with wonderful thoughts. Don McCormack did an outstanding job on the article. If you didn't see it, here is the LINK to the article in the Star Beacon.

Above is a recent picture of Jenna, with Grandpa (can't see much of Grandpa, but it's him!)

Thanks for checking in and we'll see you all soon!