A Night at Blank

As you know from my last post we had quite a scare on Thursday with Trinity. There were still some tests that had not come back yet and on Friday we got a call from Blank saying that the culture had come back positive and that she has Urinary Tract Infection. This is probably what caused her to breakout into hives. Because we are still doing the catheter once a day and they took her off of the antibiotic last week this is probably what caused it and probably something we will deal with until we no longer have to do the catheter. They then wanted to admit her into Blank and start her on IV antibiotics. It just happened that Kathy and I were already in Ankeny so we drove right over to the hospital to get it started. They did one dose on Friday night and then did another Saturday morning. After the second dose we got to go home. They started her on a antibiotic that she will take orally for 9 days twice a day and then when that is gone she will be on another antibiotic that is given once a day until we are done with the catheter. They also did an ultrasound of her kidneys and they both look good.
Of course this is not how I thought our trip to Iowa would go, but at least we caught it and she can be treated for it.
Hopefully the rest of our visit will be a little less eventful.
Make sure to check out the poster on the side of the blog for Trinity's benefit. We will be back for that and can't wait for all of you to meet Trinity!

Hospital Visit in Iowa

As most of you know last Friday we traveled to Iowa to visit our family and friends. Our week has gone really good up until yesterday afternoon. A good friend of mine, Caprice, took me to Des Moines for a girls day. My mom watched the girls for me and gave me some time to myself. On our way home and about to pull into my mom's driveway she calls me and says that Trinity is very lethargic and has some welts on her face. By the time I got inside the house Trinity was covered in welts and was not waking up. I immediately called Shannon, who is in Michigan, to see what he thought we should do. We called Trinity's neurosurgeon and she wanted us to get her to a children's hospital right away. My Aunt Robin works at the Medical Clinic in Monte and had us bring her in there first to make sure she was okay to travel. Before leaving for there we were real close to calling the ambulance. Dr. JB Paulson checked her over and thought that it looked like she had hives. We then took her on to Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. Normally something like this they would have just treated at the Medical Clinic with some antihistamine, but because of Trinity's situation we have to be very cautious of her shunt.
When we got to the hospital they got us right into the ER and got Trinity checked, drew some blood, and started an IV. The doctors ran some tests of which all came back normal. They are still waiting on the culture that could take about 48 hours to get back. As the night went on Trinity's hives got better and she was acting a lot more alert. They gave us the option that we could admit her into the hospital and wait to get the rest of the tests back or we could go on home. They felt like her shunt looked fine and the swelling had gone down around the shunt. I felt comfortable with how Trinity was looking and that she was improving so we chose to go back home (Lynnville).
Trinity slept really good thru the night and when she woke up this morning she didn't have any hives. We are not real sure what caused this it could be a number of things. Because she has a latex allergy it could also be that she came into contact with that and we just didn't know it. Aubree was also diagnosed on Wednesday with the Hand, Foot, Mouth disease. Part of me feels that it is a little ironic that she broke out with that a day before Trinity breaks out in hives, but the doctors don't think it has anything to do with Trinity.
Please continue to pray that the rest of our stay in Iowa goes a lot less stressful and no more visits to the doctors or hospitals. I guess Trinity just wanted to see what Iowa hospitals were like!!
I hope you enjoy this beautiful weather and have a great weekend. Thank you for all your continued prayers.

5/7/08

Hopefully everyone is having a great week! We have been enjoying the sunshine by going to the zoo and the park.
Yesterday Trinity had a doctor appointment with the neurosurgeon. The doctor was very pleased with how well her back looks. She also checked her shunt and talked to me about the hearing test that Trinity failed. She looked over the report and felt that by reading it she feels that Trinity has Chiari Malformation II. She said that 90% of Spina Bifida babies end up with this and it is not unusual. She really don't want us to be concerned right now, but that they will check her again when she is around 6 months and see what things look like then. She will also probably do an MRI sometime between 6 months to a year of age.
We also met with some people from Early On. This is a program through Rochester Schools that will help Trinity with Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. They will also work with her on Visual Reception and Fine Motor skills. We can start as early as tomorrow, but with leaving on Friday we will probably wait until we get back from Iowa. The class will be twice a week in the classroom. There will be sometimes that they will come to the home and work with her also. We are really excited to have this opportunity for Trintiy.
We are getting really excited about coming back to Iowa. It will be a long trip for both the girls, but especially Trinity since she has never been on her back for that long. We have had many requests to see us when we are back and we hope that we will get to see everyone, just know that we also have to think of Trinity and that she can't have too much stimulation. There will probably be some days that we just hang out at our parent's homes. Shannon will not be joining us until Memorial Weekend.
Love~The Arthur's

Trinity Makes Progress!!

Sorry we haven't updated in a week, but we wanted to wait until after we seen the doctor on Tuesday. Monday Trinity had her two month checkup and shots. She has grown a lot and weighs 12lbs 12oz. Unfortunately she had her two month shots and she didn't feel a thing. I never imagined that I would want to hear my daughter scream in pain, only to know that she felt something. She didn't even flinch, but we are not going to let that get us down, she has shown us so much strength and determination, that we know she WILL have feeling there and she WILL walk someday!!
On Tuesday she seen the plastic surgeon. This was one of the best days we have had since Trinity was brought into this world. He removed her stitches and the glue and I am sure you can tell by looking at the picture it has stayed closed, HURRAY!! The doctor was ecstatic as were we. Finally we feel like things are looking up and Trinity can continue to move forward towards the goals ahead. She can lay on her back as much as she likes (which isn't much) and we can make our trip to Iowa (with a lot of stops).
My family is here; my mom, sister, Kodie, Shaye, and Grandma Shearer. It has been great having them here and meeting Shaye for the first time. She is adorable and looks just like her brother. They will follow me back to Iowa.
We really appreciate all of your support and prayers. This has been a trying past couple months for us, but God is faithful and loving. Trinity's life has had a huge impact on so many people and it brings a lot of joy to Shannon and I knowing this.