Christmas Pictures!

These were taken by our new friend Clare at Celestial Park in Addison! She was wonderful! They were thankfully taken the day before Laney was admitted into the hospital.

Highchairs!

After months in the closet both highchairs are finally out!

Laney tries rice cereal and the jumparoo!!

Laney wasn't too excited about the rice cereal at first!

But then she decided that she liked it!
She liked it so much she even wanted to help with her spoon!

She didn't get nearly as messy as her brother does!!!! :)

Laney loved the jumparoo...she just couldn't touch the ground so we improvised with the boppy!

Awww...so cute!

Laney hasn't actually jumped in the jumparoo but she has fun sitting in it and looking at all of the toys!

Delay #1

Today Laney went for a hearing screen and blood work prior to starting the second round of chemo. Kevin said she cried through the hearing screen so I'm not sure how much info they could really get out of it. We haven't noticed any hearing differences so we're thinking she's doing ok! Then they did the blood work needed to start round 2. Her white blood count was too low and she won't be able to start right after Christmas. This also means that she's at a higher risk of infection right now. Please keep her in your prayers...we really don't want to spend their first Christmas in the emergency room. We take her back on the 31st to see if the counts are high enough to start then. The good news is that her red blood counts were up a bit so no transfusion for now! Hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!!!

10 Months Today!

Bryce and Laney are already 10 months old! Time flies! There hasn't been a dull moment yet...and we wouldn't trade it for anything! We've missed a few month pictures with Mr. Bear so we were sure to get this month.

Laney at 10 months:

*Weighs 11lbs 8oz

*Wears size 0-3 clothes, diapers size 1-2

*Eats about 3-4 ounces every 3 hours, takes lots of naps a day since she's tired from chemo

*Favorite toys- books, Lily and her lovey

*We try not to give her very heavy toys...she hits herself in the head with them and starts crying!

*She reaches out to touch everything...toys, your hands/face, anything really.

*Since her surgery she has really started becoming more active- kicking her feet, scooting on her back.

*Loves riding around the house in the umbrella stroller (since she can't go for walks outside)!

Bryce at 10 months:

*Weighs about 17 lbs
*Wears size 6-9 or 9-12 month clothes, diapers size 3
*Eats about 8 ounces every 4 hours, takes 2 or 3 naps a day
*Favorite toys- Al the Alligator, the musical jukebox

*We call him our Wild Child...he's very active and needs entertainment!

*He loves the exersaucer and is starting to figure out the jumparoo.

*He's sitting up by himself for a short amount of time and easily rolls from his back or tummy..he also really wants you to hold him so that he can stand.

*He's eating rice cereal as long as it's mixed with his prune juice and has tried carrots and sweet potatoes.

*He wakes up about 5:30 and talks to himself until about 6 or so...then falls back asleep until 7:00. Poor Laney!

*He also loves riding around the house in the umbrella stroller now that it's getting colder!

Bryce and Laney's Week...

Bryce:

He seems to be recovering from his procedure well. The pain medicine seemed to do the trick. He went for a check up and the Dr. said he's healing just perfectly. The only thing is that he still has to stay out of the jumparoo/exersaucer/etc. for at least 2 more weeks. Wow! Wish us luck!

Laney:

Right before we left for chemotherapy on Friday...

She had a pretty good week with lots of happy times. She had some fussy periods and times at night that she had trouble sleeping. It might just mean that she needs a blood transfusion...we're going to continue to watch it. She went for the last session of her first round of chemotherapy on Friday. The good news is that she gained 3 ounces (11 pounds 8 ounces)!! She also took it much better than last week and hardly even cried. We haven't seen many side effects at all...mostly she's just a little extra tired. Her blood count went slightly lower to 7.9 which just also means she might need a transfusion (not a big deal though).

Dr. Slone explained that the final pathology report came back and they found a rare type of tissue in the tumor (small-cell). Her cancer is still completely curable but it means that there is a higher chance that it will come back (32% instead of 8%). So, worst case we'll just have to do more chemotherapy in the future if it comes back. But, she assured me that since Laney was Stage 1 it is curable. If she had been a higher stage that might not have been the case.

Laney goes back for a hearing screen on Tuesday to see if the chemotherapy has caused any changes yet. Then we'll be admitted back to the hospital probably on Friday after Christmas (for 3 days) for the next inpatient chemo. This starts round 2!

Carrots!

Bryce's first bite of baby food! This week we're trying carrots!

He wasn't so sure about carrots at first... And by the end he liked them!

What a weekend!

On Friday morning we took Bryce to Medical City for a minor hernia surgery. It was supposed to be a super quick day surgery and no big deal. They called us half way through and said that things looked differently than they had on the scans. In addition to the hernia, he had a "boy" issue that needed to be fixed (I'll spare you the details!). That meant that they had to do an additional procedure that would make the recovery more difficult. It also meant that we would have to spend the night at the hospital since he was having more done. Overall, he'll be just fine with no long term effects. Kevin had to leave to take Laney to chemotherapy so thankfully my parents could bring me some things! Bryce had a pretty good night considering. The heavy pain killers sure helped...poor little guy!

Laney was not too excited about chemotherapy and apparently cried through the whole 2 1/2 hours they were there. The procedure itself isn't painful so she must just be getting a little tired of all of this! I don't blame her! She came home and slept for the rest of the night. Unfortunately she had lost weight (she was 11 pounds 3 ounces). They changed the recipe we use to make her formula to give her more calories. I hope it helps so that we won't have to give her nutrition at home through her port. She's seemed pretty happy and fairly comfortable this weekend since the treatment!

They called about her blood counts and they were right on the edge of low. If they were under 8 she would need a blood transfusion and hers were 8.1. So, we'll be watching for a few things this week. Also, right after Bryce and I got home on Saturday I noticed that Laney seemed to be a little warm. We took her temperature and it was 100.5 (if it's 101.5 we would need to go to the hospital). So, we started getting us packed up just in case we needed to go...we knew it would be a minimum two night stay. I was just praying that her temperature would go down. Kevin and I were both so worn out after a week of not sleeping much, chemotherapy and then just having Bryce in the hospital. Thankfully, as the night went on her temperature starting going down.

Sunday was a better day considering. Bryce is quite the challenge to keep entertained when he's supposed to be taking it easy. He's certainly missing the exersaucer and jumparoo! Mom and Dad just aren't near as fun. We go back for a check up on Friday so we'll know then when he can get back to his normal activities. Laney was pretty content as long as someone was holding her. :) That's about it for now... As always, thank you for all of your calls, notes, emails, prayers, etc. They help more than I can say!

50/50

I don't have any new pictures but I thought I would post a quick update on Laney so that everyone could know how things were going. It's been a 50/50 kind of week. She's been happy and feeling well about 50% of the time and not doing as well the other 50%. We've tried a new medication for nausea that hasn't been too promising. She's gotten sick multiple times since we started it. I think there are other options that we'll be looking at, though. She's having trouble sleeping at night so that could be part of the reason she's been more fussy. We'll all be excited to get back to sleeping through the night. The good news is that she's continued to eat...even waking up to eat twice during the night. She goes for her 2nd chemo treatment of this first round tomorrow. We're hoping that it will be uneventful, that her blood counts will be high enough and that she will have gained weight. We're doing pretty well staying positive and remembering that this is all short term. Adjusting to seeing Laney struggle at times, being back to work full time and being up several times a night has been a bit challenging at times, though. :) More updates to come...

Bryce Tries Rice Cereal!

Bryce was officially cleared to start trying baby food at his 9 month check up this week! First we're supposed to try rice cereal. Here's Bryce in his high chair for the first time! He was so excited!

Then came the rice cereal... Here's the first bite!

He wasn't so sure what to think!

He was so funny! He would open his mouth like he wanted some but then act like it tasted horrible. He didn't eat much this time but we'll keep trying! Next on our list is carrots.

Bryce also has a new favorite toy...it's Al the Alligator from Leslie & Al!

Laney Update

Laney had a pretty good weekend back at home. We started seeing a few side effects but nothing too bad. Friday and Saturday she was fussy but she had a happier day on Sunday. Now she eats every 3 hours (instead of every 4) since she doesn't seem to be able to eat more than 2-4 ounces at a time. Last night she also woke up at 2:30 am needing a bottle. I'm hoping this doesn't mean she'll need one every night at 2:30! We'll see. It also makes things a little crazier since Bryce and Laney are on different schedules now. Luckily all of this is short term and things are much better than we thought they might be! One cute thing is that all of Laney's toys seem new to her again. She's having so much fun with them when she's feeling well!

We're Home!

Laney did great with her last 2 chemo medications yesterday and we were discharged around 3:30!!!! She's still eating pretty well...but we're hoping she'll start eating more soon. Here she is getting ready to go home!


We were both so happy to be home and back in our own beds! Laney slept well and has had a good day so far. These pictures are for you Amy B.! :)

We're Going Home!

Laney is doing so well that we get to go home today! She has tolerated the chemo so well and hasn't gotten sick even once. The doctors are amazed at what a tough little girl she is. They said that if they gave an adult that same medication they would've been extremely sick. Thanks for thinking of her and keeping her in your prayers. So far she's eating well enough that we won't have to go home on IV nutrition. But, she's just on the edge so we'll see how it goes. A funny side effect is that she's had the hiccups about 10 times since we've started chemo! She's been very happy and playful...even talkative. It's been a relief! She's even started doing new things like reaching out to touch my face or hold my hand. So cute!!

The plan is to get the other 2 chemo medications this morning. As long as she keeps eating and doesn't have any reactions we'll get to go home. The next two Fridays we'll go for outpatient chemo. Just after Christmas we'll check back into Children's to start round 2. Then we'll start the cycle of 3 days inpatient, 2 weeks outpatient all over again. She'll do a total of 4 rounds that will hopefully only take 4-5 months. There can always be delays if her blood count doesn't stay high enough or if she gets sick.

The hospital has gone over all of the new rules with us. Until she's done with chemo we will need to pretty much keep her at home. She won't be able to have visitors...especially kids...except for people taking care of them. Bryce will need to do the same so that he doesn't get sick and pass it on to her. Chemo impacts the white blood cells that fight off infection and they can get extremely sick quickly. Even if she gets a low grade fever we would most likely have to be admitted to the hospital for a minimum of 2 days. So, we're going to try our best to avoid that of course!

Laney will start loosing her hair in the next 8 days or so but it will come back in about 2 months once she's done with chemo. Aunt Amy and Courtney already have a head start on adding to her bow collection! Other than that you can just pray that 1) she continues to tolerate chemo well 2) she stays healthy and 3) that she won't have any significant hearing loss (this is a possible side effect of they type of chemo she's getting)

Wish us luck getting Bryce and Laney used to sharing our time again!! As Anne put it...they're both used to Platinum level service and will have to adjust! :) We can't wait to all be back together again!

Laney is one in a million...literally

In the past two and a half weeks Kevin and I have experienced: surprise, fear, thankfulness, sadness, prayers answered, compassion, the amazing love and support of our parents, wonderful encouragement from our family/friends/coworkers, peace, exhaustion, joy, frustration, hope...and so much more. It's impossible to know what to write or how to sum it all up accurately. But anything negative that we've gone through doesn't even come close to comparing to what sweet Laney has endured...

Monday, November 17th

Laney had a 8:45 appointment with Dr. Kim to check out this hardness that a few of us had been feeling on her stomach. The occupational therapist had also noticed it and encouraged us to get it checked out. Dr. Kim checked her out and decided to admit us to Plano Presby for a CT Scan. After some troubles getting Laney to take the contrast (they finally just gave it to her through an NG tube), the scan was complete. Thankfully Paul and Vickie jumped right in to take care of Bryce at home.

About an hour later Dr. Kim came to our room to tell us that the scan showed a cancerous tumor on Laney's liver. It's called hepatoblastoma and is very rare...only one in a million babies get it. He assured us that the cure rate was very high for this type of cancer. I just cried but told him that I knew Laney was going to be ok. He transferred us to Children's for further testing and treatment. Laney got her first ambulance ride...and so did I.

Tuesday, November 18th

Laney had a CT scan of her abdomen and lungs to see if the cancer had spread. She also had an MRI and MRV (to check placement of the veins for the surgeon). It was a long morning holding her off from eating since they didn't take her until 1:30...but she made it! Lots of family came to the hospital to visit. And poor Granddad...it was his birthday.

At about 6pm we had results. The scans showed that the tumor appeared to be attached to both the left and right lobes of the liver. This would be considered Stage 3 since they would not be able to remove it. The plan was to do 4 rounds of chemo to hopefully shrink it small enough that it would unattach itself from the left side. Then do surgery and 2 more follow up rounds of chemo. If that didn't work then our only other option was a liver transplant.

Wednesday, November 19th

Laney waiting for surgery...

Holding her lovey from Aunt Renee...

Laney went to surgery at 11:00 to insert the port for the chemo and most likely biopsy the tumor. Again, we had so much family support at the hospital...and friends calling and coming by too. That helped us so much...thank you! They called about once an hour from the operating room and there was no news the first hour. They second hour they said the Dr. Meggison was still checking things out but thought he might be able to remove the tumor. It wasn't as attached to the left side as they originally thought. By the fourth call we knew that amazingly he had been able to remove the entire tumor (along with half of the right lobe of the liver, a small portion of the left, the lymph nodes and her gallbladder)!!!! And as a bonus they repaired her belly button hernia. We were so thrilled and thankful for the answer to our prayers. We all did high fives in the waiting room! I still get goose bumps thinking about what a blessing we were given. Dr. Meggison said that the surgery went as well as it possibly could have. Just amazing...

Bryce was not feeling well so Mom and Paul left to take him to the doctor. Turned out that he had strep along with both of his cousins! What a day! They tested Laney right away and thankfully she didn't have. Kevin and I didn't either.

Laney went to ICU that night because she had trouble coming off of the ventilator. They put her back on and she spent the next few days there recovering. Through all of this our parents took care of Bryce (and so much more), we had many visitors, tons of calls/emails/people praying for us, etc. We couldn't have made it without all of you...especially our parents that dropped everything to do whatever we needed.

Over the next few days...

Laney was pretty sedated and things were relatively calm. We were moved to a regular room just in time to watch the OU vs. Tech game. On Sunday I got to go home and see Bryce for the first time in a week. It was so fun to see him but also very hard to leave. He was handling all of this really well. By Monday Kevin went back to work, Laney was getting back to normal and had fun visiting with all of the Grandparents. She loves her touch and feel book from Grandmom and Granddad as you can see in these pictures!

The pathology reports came back Monday afternoon with more good news! The margins and the lymph nodes were clear of any cancer which made Laney in Stage 1! Another huge blessing and answer to our prayers. This meant that the chances of her being totally cured were even higher...although it sadly didn't mean that she would have to do any less chemo. They just want to be absolutely sure that they get any left over cells that might be there.

Tuesday, November 25

Unfortunately over night things started not going so well. I'll spare the details but she was spitting up, having some internal bleeding, couldn't sleep, etc. After several people checked her out they decided that the only way to be sure there were no major complications from the surgery was to do surgery again and look. I was glad they were checking it out but so sad that Laney would have to go through that again. After a few hours of surgery they told us that the bleeding had been coming from her esophagus where the NG tube had attached itself. Other than that everything looked good. Laney was given a blood transfusion and came back to the regular room. We were so happy that she didn't have to go back to ICU.

Wednesday, November 26

Laney was recovering well so I went home to stay with Bryce that night. Kevin stayed with Laney and she kept him up all night pulling her NG tube out. Every time she did it they had to call the XRay people to make sure it was going back in the right place!

Thursday, November 27- Thanksgiving

Vickie was so sweet and made tons of yummy food for us! Her and George brought it to the hospital and my Mom and Bryce came too. Laney was having a good day and Bryce had a ball. Here they are seeing each other for the first time. They were so cute talking to each other.

Bryce was entertaining us in the exersaucer and making sure that we were all looking when he did anything funny.

Since then...

Laney got her NG tube out and was taken off oxygen. She's done great! She doesn't sleep well at the hospital and had only been taking about 30 minutes of a nap all day. She does better at night. She was able to start eating again on Sunday after 11 days...poor girl! She did well and didn't spit up once. As she was able to eat more over the next few days she started acting so happy! She was laughing and smiling every time you looked at her. She had a few more tests on Monday before she could start her chemotherapy.

After her first bath...finally getting to wear pj's!

With lovey again!

We wouldn't have made it without Grandmom & Granddad's travel swing.

Tuesday, December 2

Laney was so happy and making tons of friends around here! Nurses come in just to hold her. They don't get many babies. Around 2:30pm they were ready to start chemo. She was hydrated all day and give anti-nausea medication before we started. It ran over 4 hours through her IV port. It's been close to 24 hours now and so far no major side effects!!! We've had to give her some extra medication as it looked like she was not feeling well but we've controlled it so far. This last feeding she only ate 1/2 once but they said that they'll supplement with nutrition through her IV so she'll be ok. We may have to do that at home too if her appetite doesn't come back. It doesn't seem like a big deal in the scheme of things though. She's been smiling and playing at times so she doesn't always feel bad so far!

We appreciate everyone checking in on her, praying for her and just supporting us in general. It helps more than I can say...thank you!!!!

Laney with Grandma right before she started her chemo.

Bryce is ready to play football!

Bryce got his head shaping band on November 3rd. The first night was very rough and he was really upset but it hasn't seemed to bother him a bit since then. He's making good progress and should be out of it in the next month or so. Several people have asked me why he needed the band. It's something called plagiocephaly...basically his head was a different shape (mostly from being premature and laying flat so much longer than full term babies). One side of his head was pushed forward from always laying on the same side. It would have caused jaw problems (and other problems that I can't remember) as he got older. He goes once a week to have it checked and adjusted. We think he looks so cute with it...like a little football player!!

I thought Bryce's eyes in this picture were so funny!