Ava Update

Hi everyone. I wanted to let everyone know that Ava has been moved over to Children's, so that she can be near the Ecmo machine. She doesn't need it yet, and it's looking more and more like she won't, as they want to protect her good lung. She's in critical, but stable condition. I spoke with Jennifer late last night, and she sounded good, but tired. We really need to lift Ava, Jennifer, Todd and the nurses & doctors up in prayer. Todd is posting on Twitter, and you can follow his updates there. j_t_dickerson is his Twitter ID. I've never "tweeted" before, but it's pretty easy.

Love,
Stephanie

PS - Pumpkin patch pictures will be loaded later today!

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Ava is here!

Just wanted to let you all know that Ava was born last night around 11:30pm. She weighed 6lbs and 6oz. Jennifer and Ava were able to have a skin to skin moment, but they had to quickly rush Ava over to prep her for the ventilator. Jennifer is resting, and we are waiting to hear back as to how she is doing. As you all know, they don't allow electronic devices in the NICU, and I'm sure they don't want to leave her side, which is probably why I haven't received any more updates. As soon as I hear back from them, I will let you all know.

Stay tuned for Pumpkin Patch pictures with the girls. They turned out cute.

Love,
stef

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Ava Dickerson

Just wanted to let everyone know that Ava is entering the world today. Jennifer's water has broken, and resting. Please pray for this sweet family. Pray that Ava fights through this journey, as well as strength for her parents. Will keep everyone posted throughout the day.

Love,
Stephanie

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Met the Dickersons

Hi everyone! We met the Dickersons last night. They came over for dinner, and they are such a sweet, loving couple! We answered their questions the best we could. They are scared, and have a look of fear on their face. After they left, I told Shawn that I wish I could make this right for them. I wish I could give them a guarantee that everything is going to be just fine. But, I can't. We showed them pictures of Kamryn hooked up to the ventilator, and swollen. We tried to prepare them as much as possible. But, we all know that that's nearly impossible. Today, they are meeting up at Parkland/Childrens to talk to the team of doctors and nurses that will get them through this. They will also get the tour of Parkland. I tried to prepare them that Parkland is what it is, but the team of doctors and nurses there are PHENOMENAL! They were just diagnosed with this condition a few weeks ago, so their brain is on overload, and the stress and tension is visible. My heart is breaking for this sweet family. I'm reaching out to my CDH family to please pray for Jennifer, Todd and Ava. Pray that they find comfort and peace. Pray that their delivery is uneventful, so that Ava isn't put under any more stress than she has to be. And pray that sweet baby Ava finds her will to fight through this, so that she can live a long and eventful life.

Love and thanks!

Stephanie

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Meet Jennifer and Todd Dickerson

Hi everyone! I just wanted to send out a quick post. A sweet couple contacted Shawn and I last week, making us aware that their baby girl had just been diagnosed with CDH. Jennifer's almost 38 weeks, and she was just diagnosed a week ago. I can imagine that since they haven't had much time to prepare their minds, they are feeling pretty hopeless and helpless right now. They are going to deliver in the same hospital as we did with the twins, so I know they will have the best care! But, please please please, pray for this sweet couple, and their baby girl Ava. We invited them over for dinner next Tuesday night to help them through this difficult time! The only facts I know right now are that 17% of the liver is up, and the LHR as of last week is a 1.1. They need your prayers and positive thoughts through this difficult time! I will post more information on them as I get it.

Quick update on the twins! They are walking!!! Finally! I have videos of them walking, but for some reason the blog won't let me post them. But, they think they are pretty cool now that they can walk. Kamryn is saying tons of words. Mama, Dada, night night, bye bye, dog, ball, baby, and a few others that I can't understand yet. Brooke on the other hand, isn't talking near as much. She knows Dog, but she says Dah when she says it. But, she says bye bye, mama, dada and that's about it. We aren't going to get concerned yet, although it's quite interesting how Kamryn is advancing a little bit further than Brooke at this point in time. I'll keep you posted.

Thats all for now. Please pray for the Dickersons!!!

Love,
Stephanie

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Park Fun!!!

I took the twins to the park twice over Labor Day Weekend. It's hard to find a park with two baby swings next to each other, that aren't being used this time of year. But, we found some. The girls thought it was the coolest thing ever! The first time we went, (green dresses), all they would do was look down and giggle. We couldn't stay long at either park, b/c the sun was so bright, and Kamryn was really starting to get some red cheeks (even after putting sunscreen on). Anyway, here are a few cute pics.

Oh, and if you're wondering why Kamryn doesn't have a bow... Well, she screams bloody murder every time I come near her with a hairbrush and rubberband. Taking Christmas pictures are going to be fun this year!!! LOL

I had to throw this one in there. This is Brooke and her Flock of Seagulls hairdo!

That's about it for updates. I'm getting back into scrapbooking (finally), so I will be taking a lot more pictures, and will have more frequent updates!

Take care everyone!

Stephanie

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1st Day of 3rd Grade

Today, Hollie started 3rd grade. I cannot believe I have a 3rd grader. She was nervous this morning and hardly touched her breakfast, but she was soooo excited to walk out the door. When she woke up this morning, I had put signs up all over the house telling her that she was going to rock in the 3rd grade. I put one in the refridgerator and in the pantry even. The note on the door in the picture below says "You are going to SHINE this year! Love, Mom, Dad, Brooke and Kamryn". She loved them, and it eased the nerves quite a bit.

Below are pictures of the twins. These next two are Kamryn. I brushed her hair right after her bath, and the curls are OUT OF CONTROL!!! Look at the second one!!!

Hollie and Kamo

Brookie

The twins still aren't walking yet. They turned 14 months on the 17th, and the can walk while holding onto things, but can't walk on their own yet. Brooke doesn't even like to try, unless she's holding onto your fingers. Kamryn can take about 2 steps, and then just falls face first. Hollie didn't walk until she was 14 1/2 months old, so I give it another week. I'm not worried about it.

Kamryn's favorite word for everything is "Dada". She calls everyone and everything "dada". She loves to point and try to say words. If you say a word, she really tries to copy you. When I ask her to say Brooke, she says "Ka". Brooke has her own language. She still babbles and says, "digga digga" a lot! They say Mama sometimes, but not a lot. When I ask Kamryn to say the word "dog", she says, "dogah". It's cute. They love to watch Baby Einstein movies (especially Brooke). Brooke is still very independent and Kamryn is quite the opposite. Their favorite game to play with each other is "peek a boo" with the farm that my mom got them for Christmas. They get on either side of it, look at each other over the top and through the little door. They laugh so hard, it's hysterical.

As soon as they start walking, we will be sure to post videos of it.

That's about it.

Love,

Stephanie

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