Siblings - Hermanos

Francesca's first valentine from her big brother

Mateo signs "juice" as they watch Baby Signing Time

A cow says muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Mateo and Francesca love to read together.

Clowning around

Show me how!

The Slinky ... endless entertainment

Ride 'em cowgirl!

We are so glad that Mateo and Francesca love each other so much! It's evident in their daily actions and endless smiles. When Francesca hears Mateo's voice, she looks around the room until she finds him, and when she does her face brightens into a wide smile. Mateo loves Francesca so much that sometimes he can't contain his enthusiasm and will tumble her backward in a big hug. It is so good to know Francesca has a loving older brother and that Mateo has an adoring little sister. There is much laughter and love in our home.

Francesca's First Haircut

Francesca got her first haircut on Saturday, February 20, 2010 (2/20/2010). Since she was born she has been growing a crop of hair off the crown of her head - it's gotten longer and longer, and it was finally time to give it a little trim. Mama cut her hair while she sat on the countertop in the bathroom. Just like her brother, Francesca didn't make much of a fuss. Now she looks darling! BEFORE ...

AFTER ...

Her first lock of hair

Chewing on an O

Francesca is home!

Francesca is 14 months today and on this Sunday afternoon we got to come home with Francesca!  After 9 long days in the hospital ... it has been quite a ride.  Francesca was released from the pediatric ICU on Thursday, and we received good news that the pneumonia had not spread, rather her scary episode was due to her airways closing up from not have had as many breathing treatments on Wednesday.  Wednesday night was the longest night of my life, but some interesting good has come from our stay there and the extra attention from the medical staff.

As a result of being in the PICU, Francesca was also given an ecocardigram, was attended by a pediatric specialist and pulmonologist the night we were admitted, and had a PT/OT consultation.  There are two concerns that have arisen: 1) the eco revealed some fluid surrounding her heart, and 2) the recurring pneumonia suggests that Francesca may be aspirating while feeding.   Although the fluid surrounding her heart is not serious, it is often an indicator of hypothyroidism, a common health concern for people with Down syndrome.  Of more concern is the recurring pneumonia for which we hope to quickly find the cause.  

The doctors at Children's have scheduled a Swallow Test for Monday to check whether Francesca is aspirating while eating/drinking.  Depending on those findings, we might undergo one or two other tests.  We also have an appointment with an endochrinologist on Tuesday regarding a probable hypothyroid diagnosis. Our hope is that we will be able to begin to resolve some of these health concerns and continue to get better.

Please continue to pray for our little angel.

At the hospital

Well, here's the scoop... Francesca was diagnosed with RSV on Tuesday and then admitted on Friday to Children's (we even got an exciting ambulance ride from the ped clinic to the hospital). Turns out she got pneumonia on top of the RSV. Bad news because it is the 3rd time since December 6 that she's had pneumonia! She was making little progress after 4 days they started her on steroids. Made better progress until last night when she couldn't get her oxygen sat above mid 80s even with 10 mL of oxygen. Scary stuff. We ended up in the PICU with an oxygen mask and 15 mL of oxygen most of the night. Jose was Super Daddy and held her until 5:45 in the morning since she couldn't/wouldn't sleep on her back. By 8:00 she was down to 10 mL again and then after a breathing treatment she quickly went back to a nasal canon and is now holding her own on 2 mL. We THINK the source of our problem may be that she is aspirating while eating/nursing or that she has reflux causing the recurring pneumonia. Of course this could just be something that happens while she has a cold and that is what turns it to pneumonia so often. Good news is she is stable and we are moving back upstairs to the regular ped unit later today (once a room opens up). Thanks for praying for Francesca guys. We have a long recovery road ahead of us.