Five Months Old Today

Today is Seren's five month "birthday." The time has really gone by terribly fast. Five months is where I start to really remember G as a "person," when his personality really started to come out and I got to really know him. Its tough not getting to do that with Seren. Its tough to see that she isn't past a newborn stage of development to see a personality shine through. Its difficult to watch days pass and milestones pass her by.

I'm glad Seren is well-cared for and comfortable. I'm glad a place exists where she can receive the necessary medical care and where I can rest easy that Seren, as well as every other child, is loved, appreciated, and taught to thrive in their own individual capacity. Her community is larger than one I could give her, and I know she benefits from all that care. I love how each nurse has their own individual special interest-one delights when she turns her head, one when she pushes a button or reaches an arm, one when she takes a paci-its a special thing to see a group of people, who care so much for her, working with her in various ways. I know it will aid in her development to have so many people working with her in so many different areas. I am grateful to them beyond measure or words. It has taken a lot of people, a lot of work and a lot of love to get us all to this five months point. Even though its a very short period of time, five months is much longer than the doctors told us to expect and quite an achievement. So congratulations Little S! We love you. xoxo, mom

P.S. We have also hit the 500 mile mark just in time for Seren's five month birthday! We are at 513.3 miles-Thank you!!!

Five Days Until Five Months Old

In just five days Seren will hit the big five months-hard to believe it. Here's a current photo-taken this morning while G was in "school." The weather was humid so her hair wasn't cooperating with us but we tried to tame it a bit! S and I hung out and watched thirtysomething on my ipod...she thought the characters were too self involved so she went to sleep. :)

Her seizures are better. Her tummy is better. Nothing is perfect but both have improved. The antibiotics seem to have worked on the infection. She still has a bit of a cough (which is a difficult thing to do with a feeding tube in place). She's about 9 and a half pounds, so she's very tiny for a five month old.

Developmentally she is still just as she was as a newborn so I don't have much to report. I can't brag about her sitting up or rolling over or eating solid foods so instead I'll brag about how much everyone loves her, how well her nurses take care of her and how she is clearly one tough cookie. Seren's five months have been eventful. Her small victories are larger than our large ones. She puts the world in perspective for almost everyone who meets her. She can't see or smile or even drink out of a bottle, but she has a huge impact on everyone who knows her. Not bad work for a five month old.

Miles Tally

Thank you so much to everyone who donated miles for Seren-so far we have 327.5 miles! That is some good progress!!!! My own contribution was sad and pitiful-only 30-- but its a start. Its inspiration to do more next month. The beautiful weather we are having is a great motivation to get outside.

If anyone is interested in a 5k in the Charlotte area-Sat. September 26, 2009 there is a race called the Live Right 5K. Please see Live Right 5K Charlotte, North Carolina 28226 Saturday, September 26, 2009 @ 8:30 AM (Source: www.active.com) One of Seren's mile donor's (and a friend who is actually somehow related to Lance) is running in this event and we would love to have everybody double up their miles for a good cause!

Seren is doing a bit better on the antibiotics but still has cold symptoms. I hope we caught this early enough so that she doesn't have to suffer. There's a lot of crazy illnesses going around these days! My goal for Labor Day weekend is to post some current photos.....

Another Ear Infection

Yesterday I got a phone call from Seren's nurses that she had spiked a fever and was not doing well. Luckily we were able to get someone to watch G and get a doctor's appointment within a few hours so we were able to get to the doctor really quickly. I don't think she seemed as uncomfortable this time as she did the last time she had an ear infection but I'm not sure. She's on a big dose of antibiotics so hopefully they will take care of the ear infection as well as any thing that is going around. She also weighed in at 9lbs, 8 ounces. I think this was more of a function of the scale being wrong last time as opposed to drastic weight gain but I'm glad she's "officially" passed the nine pound mark.

I'm tallying up the miles (there are a lot of them-yea!) and will post them today or tomorrow.