Holub Christmas 2007...

This has been such a wonderful year for our family!!

Much to Brad's liking this year we have been able to spend Christmas at home! For Christmas Eve I made a huge meal and by the time we were half way thru dinner none of us could even finish our food! The apple pie still is sitting on the counter! We are blessed to have Dylan's uncle Chase here with us now and he joined in the festivities. Starting our own family tradition's is such a fun ordeal. Dylan very much got into opening his Christmas gifts this year. He made it very clear also that he did not want daddy's help in opening them. It was hilarious! He still though has gone back to some of his old toys, so now it comes time to wean out the baby baby toys and have the new big boy toys get some time in with him.

Last week Dylan went in for his 15 month checkup and the discovery was he has ear infection once again. This made mommy feel terrible that I did not pick up on this sooner. He has also had a nasty cold that we are trying to do anything we can so it does not progress further. So treatments every 4 hours with CPT and now the antibiotic for his ear infection, the combo seems to be working and he is a little better and definetely not any worse.

Dylan's daycare had a great Christmas party last week for the holiday. Dylan came home with a very fun toy and even a gift he made for mommy and daddy!!! It is very fun having Dylan come home with little crafts with his picture on it, we love to see our sitters creativity!!

So Christmas day brings a very fun day of relaxation for our family this year!! Christmas morning breakfast with the parades on TV is my favorite, Brad can't wait to play his new video games and eat leftovers and Dylan just army crawls from noisy toy to noisy toy and Chase has an afternoon flight out with his girlfriend to visit my mom for a week and a half!

We are blessed at what God has given us this year, a happy healthy family and the ability to share our love with each other at home this year. Quite different then the holiday we spent at the hospital last year. Just looking at the pictures from Dylan last Christmas brings tears to our eyes, we are soooo thankful that God has answered our prayers. Our little man has come so far and it is almost unimaginable for some people to even begin to try and understand what he has been thru. Christmas traditions have only just begun for our family and we look forward to continuing them year after year.

We are reminded of the birth of Jesus today and the wonderful joys that that birth brought to us. Celebrate with your loved ones and cherish your time together, it is all to valuable!!~

Arizona Pics...

Arizona...

Over Thanksgiving we took Dylan on his first vacation out of state!!! We went to Phoenix for a week and enjoyed the wonderful warm weather. Dylan went on his first plane ride and did great. He never cried a bit and enjoyed the flight attendent walking him up and down the aisle in mid-flight! Despite flying into and over the mountains the altitude didn't bother him a bit.

The weather was 72-75 degrees and sunny. It was nice to take Dylan outside in the dry heat and not have to worry about wheezing 10 minutes after we were out there. We did take on the trip his nebulizer and an oxygen concentrator just incase of emergency, but thank goodness we didn't have to use it at all.

On vacation Dylan was able to enjoy dinner out at restaurants with his mommy and daddy. But I should mention that his first dinners out, both Thanksgiving and the evening after, he slept thru both meals!!! Nice for mommy and daddy and thank goodness for the Baby Bjorn we strapped on us and he slept on our laps. But with the entire state being smoke free, we never had to hesitate taking him out for breakfast, lunch or dinner because we didn't have to worry about cigarette smoke keeping us away!

We also took Dylan to the Phoenix zoo. It was fun seeing all of the animals we don't usually see around here. We even went back to the zoo at night for Zoo Lights, the entire zoo was covered with Christmas lights, and music and it was fun to see the animals while they were asleep and hiding, or trying to hide.

Dylan's grammie and aunt Britni met us there for a few days too. It was great to lounge by the pool and have Dylan play in his stroller, and just hang out and RELAX!!! We got a much needed getaway, Brad, I and Dylan needed a change of scenery and some warm weather to enjoy. We are now ready to book our next vacation now that we know that things went so good and we have a new little traveler in the family!

Now its time to get ready for Christmas! Our first Christmas with Dylan at home and we will enjoy every minute of it!~

Happy Thanksgiving...

This Thanksgiving is very special for our family. Not only can we be thankful that we have been blessed with so much this past year but we are blessed with the ability to take our first family vacation for the holiday. We are celebrating our second Thanksgiving with Dylan in Phoenix, AZ!!!! Although the past month has been a little rough for Dylan, being hospitalized 2 times with Pnemonia, we have had several re-checks with his doctor and got the "all clear" to still travel with Dylan. Most recently Dylan's bought was with bacterial pnemonia. This landed him 5 days in the hospital. Poor little guy, luckily we caught it in the very early stages and were able to get a handle on it before it got worse. It started with a very low grade fever, our sitter called us the afternoon after Halloween and said Dylan had a temp of just over 100 degrees and just was not acting like himself. But no cough, runny nose etc, so we kinda associated it with teething as he is getting 3 on the top all at once. Well later that evening his temp got up to 103.8, very scary, he would not drink anything or eat. So we took him in and got a CBC and chest x-ray, and the x-ray showed the pnemonia all over. So after IV medications and religious breathing treatments every 4 hours we were home 5 days later. He did not require oxygen at all during his hospital stay which was very encouraging to us and the doctors!! Dylan still has a lot of mucus he needs to get rid of, in his chest. But by doing the treatments every 4 hours and CPT, this is helping. Unfortunately it will just take him a little longer to get rid of it this time. He is now getting a 5 day steriod burst which will hopefully help with the wheezing. He was previously on the antibiotic for 15 days.
So on with the vacation and hoping that the dry heat will really help Dylan out. We are also very excited because the entire state of Arizona is SMOKE FREE!!!! This means that we are finally able to take Dylan out to dinner and the mall, places we were unable to go here because of the smoking atmosphere, which is just not even a possibility for Dylan to be around. We have never taken him to a restaurant, shopping center or anything because we will do whatever it takes to protect him and we are strongly warned by the doctors for him to not even come close to smoke. So this will be a new experience for us on vacation and we are excited!!
We just have so many things to be Thankful for this Holiday. We are thrilled that our little miracle baby, the little fighter who steps over anything that stands in front of him, is here with us. God has definetly blessed us with a family bond that we are very much in love with! May God's blessings be with you and yours and be thankful this day that we are able to be with family and celebrate each other!~

Happy Halloween...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Dylan celebrated his second Halloween today, and the best news is that we were able to celebrate this year at home! Looking at the pictures, it is amazing how much has changed in a year. From a 1 month old preemie last Halloween to a thriving little man that is now 13 months old. It is crazy how much time seems to have flown by, even though at that time last year it seemed as though time was standing still. Dylan went over and wished his Great Aunt Ellie a very Happy Halloween birthday and had his costume on with his cousins, then was asleep in the car and out for the night by 7:30, typical bedtime for the little man! Next year will be much different I am sure with him actually knowing what candy is and probably wanting to eat some I am sure. Our neighborhood was so crazy with kids, it seriously reminds us of the "Bowman Woods of Springville" we call it!! So our little "pea pod" had a great day and was very festive in his attire besides his costume, we love the Halloween spirit!~

Graduation day, bouncing back from illness...

Dylan had a great couple of checkups today despite his weekend in the hospital.
We had the followup appt with the Odo Doctor, (ear, nose and throat dr) and his appt went great. They were rechecking his left vocal chord for potential paralysis due to his PDA ligation (heart duct closing surgery) and re-checking the size of his trachea/windpipe since last time they checked the opening was inflammed. For the test they have to place a scope with a camera on the end, up his nose and down to the area they want to check. We anticipated a not so happy baby after this procedure as he is much more active then when he previously had the test this past April. So this time they sprayed a decongeatant/numbing solution into his nose whereas before they just put some vaseline on the end of the scope. And the numbing solution must have really worked. We were really nervous when 4 doctors walked into the room to assist with the procedure but they let Brad hold Dylan again and they didn't even need any other assistance, he didn't cry even one bit, or squirm for that matter. We were totally shocked and very happy with our little man. HE once again showed us just how strong he really is. The test went great, there is no vocal chord paralysis and his windpipe looked great. They do not need to followup with Dylan anymore, we have graduated from the Odo Doctor, yea!!!
So then onto the High Risk infant followup with the NICU doctor to recheck him and his stats since he has been off oxygen, and developmentally see how he is measuring up. This appointment also could not have gone any better. His stats were great, they were very impressed especially since he was just discharged from the hospital yesterday. He is growing great still and especially so being he is off the oxygen. Developmentally he is doing exactly what they want him to do and more!!! So Dylan has graduated from the High Risk infant followup with Dr. Seager beings he is off oxygen and doing wonderfully, yea!!!!! He will still followup with the nurse practitioner until the age of 2 for developmental followup but we have been cleared until March for our next appt!!!!
We are so so so happy with Dylan and his will to fight thru everything that comes his way. He never ceases to amaze us, every day we are reminded one way or another of the trials and tribulations he has been thru and how he steps over each one and just keeps thriving! We are very happy that we do not have to take him back to another doctor appt at the University until the beginning of Spring. This winter no trips to Iowa City!!! So we got our flu shots today to try and stay extra healthy this winter. Dylan will have his next week, it got postponed because he got sick. We have the wonderful in home nurse again this winter who will check him out and administer his shots for the Synagis and influenza vaccine. This is very nice especially since we do not have to take him into the doctor which can be germ haven especially this time of year. So this Friday we will take him in so Dr. Collins can recheck him since he had pnemonia and then we should be clear of doctors for awhile, knock on some hard wood with our fingers and toes crossed!!! In the pictures you can see how happy he was, just playing at home this afternoon and in one of the pics you can even see his 2 bottom teeth!! We will be praying like crazy that he stays healthy, growing strong and breathing great!~

In the hospital and home again..........

Dylan has had a great past few weeks. We went away to Lake Red Rock a few weeks ago and had a blast. It was a nice getaway with friends not too far from home but a beautiful cabin on the lake. As you can see from the pics what a nice place it was. Then he got a bug that didn't settle so great with the little guy.

The week before is when Dylan had his 12 month shots. Well about 8 days later he got a fever and had a reaction to his Chicken pox vaccine. So we took him in and were told just to watch him and he could have a reaction for 5-29 days post vaccination. So he also developed a runny nose which can be a side effect of the vaccine also, and a rash on his cheek, leg and back.

The runny nose then turned into a horse voice for about 4 days and fussy baby. That then turned into a cold. We took him into the Ped Dr here last monday for a checkup. No meds were needed they said, just breathing treatments as needed and we tried a oral steriod in the nebulizer as well. They also checked his stats and he was breathing great without the oxygen.

So Friday we were to take him back for a re-check on the breathing etc. all precautionary. So Brad decided he would take him to his first appt by himself and get him all checked out, no problem. Well at the appt they checked his stats and they were definetely lower than they should be. So after several attempts to check him at different places on his body they decided he needed to go to the hospital. Upon arrival his stats were perfect, reading 97 which is normal. But at the doctor they could not get him above 92. RSV test was negative and his Complete Blood Count was within normal limits. The x-rays though did show a couple spots on his lungs of Pnemonia. Bummer deal..... so we were definetly there for the night. They started him on Prednisone and Zithromax with treatments every 4 hours along with the CPT, something they do for kids all of the time this time of year. The RT has a hand held device used to try and loosen the crud up in his lungs. It works great. But during the first night in Dylans' stats dropped considerably during the night requiring him to be put back on oxygen......... But as soon as he woke up his stats were fine and we could take the oxygen off. So this put us in the hospital for another night automatically.

Last night he did great, requiring no oxygen at all while he was asleep or awake. His stats during the day were 97 and even reaching 100 for the first time ever since he has been off oxygen. So this morning we were finally able to come home.

Dylan did great being hooked up to the monitors etc. He didn't ever try and pull anything off himself, he just wanted to chew on everything, not a good idea. The nurses and RT's loved his happiness and a few of the nurses and RT's definetly remembered him from when he was there when he was first born. One of the RT's was assigned to him the night he was transferred to the University. They treated Dylan so good this weekend and thank goodness he is better now. As you can see from the pictures, he didn't even come close to acting like he was sick.

So tomorrow we go back to the University for a couple appts we already had scheduled. One for him to have a scope procedure to check his windpipe, a followup apt from the on he had in May. The other appt is for his normal "high risk infant followup" to see how he is doing and growing without oxygen. So I plan on updating again after those appts.

The lord was definetly with us this weekend, helping Dylan get better and stay strong and fight. We are so lucky to have him with us today and we will do whatever it takes to keep him healthy!!~ p.s Brad already told me he will not attempt taking Dylan to another Dr. appt by himself, I think I can see why....~

Big Announcement....... no more oxygen!!!!

Well, last Wednesday Dylan went for his 12 month check-up with his local Ped. Dr. At that appt. the Dr decided that she would be willing to test him off his oxygen vs. waiting another month until we go back to the University. So we took him off 7 hours before the appt which is what the University requested for their next appt. He did great!! We got to the appt and tested his stats, they were right at 96-97. We kept him off the oxygen and re-tested him after his 3 shots, again he stated 96-97, this was wonderful news!!!! So Dr. Collins called down to the University to relate the great news.

The nurse practitioner intercepted the message for the doctor and called back the local Dr here and told her that they were going to leave him on his oxygen and re-test him themself at his Oct appt. So the NP called me and I asked to talk strait to the Dr. at the U. I talked to him and found out the NP told him that Dylan was off oxygen for 2 hours when he was in-deed off for 7 hours just as they had requested. I told him of Dylan's stats of 96-97% even after 3 shots, he then was very encouraged!!! He then said they would temporarily take Dylan off his oxygen and re-test his stats in October. We would still then leave a small amount of oxygen in the house in case we need it.

But you guys have no idea how much happier that Dylan is. We did not think that the little guy could even be happier, but we found out, he definetly can be!!! He has been off his oxygen since last Thursday morning and loving, loving, loving it. He talks all of the time now, he talked a lot before but now he talks non stop on the way to the sitters and he is just about ready to crawl. It won't be long at all and he will be crawling all over the place. Dylan is still eating great, taking 5 ounces every 3 hours and eating baby food, cereal and Xango at night. He is a little piggy!! He is sleeping all thru the night, going down about 7, we wake him at 9 to eat again and then he is back asleep until 6 in the morning. This is a great schedule for him and us both. He is getting a great restful night of sleep which in-turn helps him grow!!

Dylan now has two teeth on the bottom. He got his first tooth the day after our last Dr appt in August. The second tooth just showed up on Saturday. So as you can imagine, drool covers every outfit and toy in just seconds! Dylan has an eye appt on Thursday this week and then the Respiratory Therapist is coming over to do an evaluation on him to see how great he is doing!! Then it is off for our first weekend getaway with the little man, we are so excited. Lake Red Rock here we come!!

So we are just estatic that our little one year old is just happy as can be, breathing so well without his oxygen and just growing like a weed!! Enjoy the pics of him without his oxygen and also the 1st pic is him napping face down on my arm after his birthday party, he was really pooped out that day! (Still had oxygen in that pic)

The lord has definetly blessed us with such an amazing little man, strong as can be. He fills our lives with unending love that is just unimaginable.~

Our Miracle is 1 year old today...

Our little miracle, baby, Dylan is one year old today!! WOW, has a year went by so fast. Just thinking back to last year at this time, how uncertain the future was for us. But deep down within our hearts, we just knew the future would bring great things for our family and the most wonderful gift is our baby Dylan. Dylan definetely beat the odds, showed many people his great strength, and fought like crazy to be here with us today. It is very easy to look at our little man who is perfectly healthy and growing like crazy, and put in the back of your mind what he came from to be here today. But to us, we know. We were just talking tonight, remembering how last year we just prayed and put our hearts in Gods hands and told him to just take care of our baby. He did just that! The power of prayer and the strength that we have had to have to go thru such a life changing experience is unimaginable. Some days we just have no idea how we did it, but then we think about it and we figure it out, we did it for our baby because we believed in him.

Dylan is such an amazing boy, growing and developing into such a little man with seldom a frown on his face. He is so happy all of the time and seldom sad, he has such a will to live. He know what he has overcome, he showed many people exactly why you have to believe in miracles!!! To all of those parents out there, just please hug your little ones a little more tonight and really thank the lord for your beautiful children. We are so lucky to have them here with us. We had a long journey ahead of us last September 15th, 2006. We traveled along that windy and sometimes bumpy road but we never gave up and neither did Dylan. We will do what ever we need to in order to protect him and keep him safe and healthy. Thank you to those of you that support us in this!!

Our little man has come so far, fought such a battle, and defied the odds. From 1lb 5 ounces just one year ago to now over 17 pounds, over 26 inches long and busy as can be. Thank you lord for the blessings you have given to us, our family is forever greatful that you have chosen us to be parents. Dylan, buddy, mommy and daddy love you more than words can say. We are so proud of you and who you have become. Never give up little man, you have taught us to many wonderful life lessons. We are stronger people because of you, you fill our lives with unending love! Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet miracle, Dylan Joseph Holub!~

11 Month Check-up...

We took Dylan today to the University for his 11 month checkup. He did GREAT! He is doing everything that they would want him to be doing and more! He is starting to sit up on his own, rolling over, saying a few words and eating like a little piggy. He did though within the past week get another ear infection and a pretty good wheeze. So after the antibiotic and steriod boost he is definetely feeling better!
We also had his room air test today. He did wonderfully. He had been off of his oxygen for 5 hours before the appointment. When they checked his blood oxygen level he was reading 94-95 which was wonderful. Unfortunately they wanted him to be 95-97 consistently. We were pretty disappointed because we did not get the OK to discontinue the oxygen even though he did great. They said they definetly could take him off today but they still want to give him a little more time. He is right there they said. So we of course want what is best for Dylan but we are feeling that he definetly could have come off today but we will give it some more time. They want to see him back in 2 months, we are thinking more like 4-6 weeks so we will see.
He was soooo busy for them, it was hilarious. He is such a busy body, all of the time. I think he gets that from his daddy! But he is just really studying everything that is going on around him and not missing a beat that is for sure. He is sleeping through the night and he is loving the solid food he is getting. We have had him try a wide variety of Organic food as well as made him some of our own. There is still though plenty out there for him to try!
So we are doing great and so is Dylan. He is almost a year old, so hard to believe what we have come thru within the past year. How our lives have changed, for the better I may add. And how much stronger we are for overcoming what we have. We definetely have a miracle to atest to that!~

10 month pics...

We surprised Brad with these pics. He loved them and was very happy! Dylan is doing great and getting bigger every day. He is very busy, rolling over, scooting and we are really working on sitting up. He is eating great and loves the food we make for him. Most recently we tried Organic Chicken and rice and he loved it. We go back for his follow-up on August 22nd, more to follow then!~

A little something that makes a lot of sense....

I recently got this in an e-mail from another preemie mom that I know. I have struggled since I lost Dalton asking many questions why did God choose me to have a preemie baby. I don't struggle as much with it now that Dylan has come home and everything is fine, but every now and then it is really something that boggles my mind. I guess you just need to have the faith in God that he had this planned for us for a reason, and he has pulled us thru it. We still try and answer the unanswered questions we have as we talk of possibly having another baby in the future. But this really makes a whole lot of sense.....to me that is.~

How Preemie Moms Are Chosen

Did you ever wonder how the mothers of premature babies are chosen? Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth, selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger. "Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron Saint Matthew. Forrest, Marjorie, daughter. Patron Saint Celia. Rutledge, Carrie, twins. patron Saint...better give her Gerard. He's used to profanity." Finally he passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a preemie." The angel is curious. "Why this one God? She's so happy." "Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a premature baby to a mother who knows no laughter? That would be cruel." "But does she have the patience?" asks the angel. "I don't want her to have too much patience or she'll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off she'll handle it. I watched her today. She has that sense of self and independence so rare and necessary in a mother. you see, the child I'm going to give her lives in a world of it's own. She has to make it live in her world, and that's not going to be easy." "But Lord, I don't think she even believes in you." God smiles "No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just the right amount of selfishness." The angel gasps, "Selfishness!? Is that a virtue?" God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't know it yet but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says momma for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see - ignorance, cruelty, prejudice - and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work." "And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in the air. God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

Pics...