Update on our Little Squeaker

1st off thank you all for all of your prayers & support!!! Your messages, comments, texts, and calls have meant the world to us and been such an encouragement throughout all of this! I wish I had the time to respond to everyone individually, but right now that is impossible with all that is going on. So thank you all!!!

2nd I am not even going to waste any time talking about the few days Makenzie was in the hospital as I had originally said I would do. Honestly the whole thing just frustrates me to know that things were not done that could/should have been. So as Carl keeps telling me there is nothing we can do now so I just need to get over it and move on plus everything happens for a reason. So moving on...

Monday we spent the morning at Duke meeting with Dr's and their nutritionist. The Dr's were great and really took their time with us going over Makenie's history and records. They truly were concerned with everything, getting answers, and figuring things out.  Basically they have come up with a plan of tests to run to try and get to the bottom of things. So tomorrow morning we go back for the first round of tests. The first thing is going to be a sweat test  to (hopefully) rule out Cystic Fibrosis . I truly do not think that she has CF especially since she passed the CF screening when she was born. Long story short though based on her history and symptoms they just want to be safe and test for it because evidently there are many different forms of CF and the screening does not test for them all. Then she will have a Gastric Emptying Study done afterwards to test some of the GI issues she has. Then we will wait for the results of these tests for a few days (LONG few days of waiting I am sure). Once we figure these results out we will find out the next step or just move on to the next round of testing. The next round would include having to put our sweet little girl under anesthesia  which I really hope we don't have to go through with, but if we do we will face that then.

Tomorrow the girls turn 9 months old which is unbelievable to me!!! Poor Makenzie gets to celebrate by going through a bunch of tests, but hopefully we can figure things out and get her growing again and healthy! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for the tests tomorrow (especially having to starve her for them) and hopefully a simple diagnosis/treatment. Thank you!

**I realized I never even got around to sharing their 8 month photos so here are our beautiful girls (I'm actually impressed I am posting them in the correct month considering how crazy life has been...gotta give myself some type of credit even if it is on the last day my babies are 8 months old)**

Here is a recap of why we ended up in the hospital with our little squeaker for those that have been asking and wondering ...

For as long as I can remember Makenzie has been a major vomiter. When I say vomit I don't mean spit up...full on large amounts of serious vomit and half the time it is projectile. Around 2 months was when it got pretty bad and by this time she was already trying her second reflux medicine. They even at one point thought she may have a dairy allergy so I was told to cut dairy completely out of my diet to breastfeed and even tried her on some hypoallergenic formulas as well to see if it helped at all. After 4 weeks of that and no difference with her puking the Dr's told me I could start eating dairy again which I was happy about but not that she was still getting so sick. I even met with a lactation consultant several times throughout all of this to see if that had anything to do with it, but still nothing helped. Because she was still gaining weight although it drastically slowed down (were talking from the 8th to 1st percentile in a short period of time) they continued to just blame it on reflux and said she will soon grow out of it. We even changed her to a 3rd reflux medicine after more issues and by 6 months and still no difference the Dr's told me to actually stop giving the meds to her. Since she was eating more solids at this time they thought her getting sick would settle down and not be so bad...boy were they wrong!!! She began having these spells of projectile puking every night for like 3 days in a row and then she would have good days where she kept everything down with just a little spit up here and there. Oh did I mention she was also constipated throughout all of this and when she would go it was like hard rabbit pellets?! Well she was and we tried many things for this as well. Throughout all of this thankfully she has remained the happiest and sweetest little baby no matter what.

So how did this lead to the hospital? Well Back on Wednesday March 7 Makenzie began with another one of her spells of serious projectile vomiting. Long story short she was sick throughout the afternoons and evening and after many calls with the Dr and not keeping anything down after trying all we were told to do we ended up at the pediatrician on Saturday morning. I think they thought she might have a stomach bug because they prescribed her some Zofran. I assured them she was not sick and this has been happening for months off and on so the Dr looked back through her records and finally started to take things seriously. She also realized she had barely gained weight in the past 6 weeks and then got concerned. We had had issues with her weight in the past but never this bad. She said if this does not pass and things get worse we will schedule a head and abdominal ultrasound this week and sent us home with the Zofran. Well things did not get better in fact it took a turn for the worse and she started getting so sick it was coming out of her nose. It was awful!!! Sadly I even started taking pictures and video of the after effects so I could show the Dr's that were not taking me seriously as proof that it was not spit up!!! So Monday morning they called and scheduled her for a head and abdominal ultrasound Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning came and I had to starve the poor baby for the ultrasound so it was not an easy exam to say the least!!! They finally let me feed her part way through and the rest of it went much better. The radiologist came in to let me know her head looked great and there was some minor stuff on her abdominal u/s, but she would send the report to the Dr asap. (The reason they were checking her brain was because when I was pregnant there were signs of possible hydrocephalus on the ultrasounds (they checked when she was born though and it was fine) and often projectile vomiting can be a sign as well so they wanted to double check.)

We went on with the rest of our day as normal waiting to hear from our Dr yet they never called. Wednesday night was an awful night for our poor little girl. She got the sickest she ever has and it scared & frustrated us. Needless to say there was no sleeping for this momma that night because I could not wait for the Dr to open and get her in there asap which is what I did. We went to the Dr first thing and when they weighed her she had actually lost weight :( I was not surprised after how sick she had been, but I was not expecting it to be such a huge deal. The Dr came in with her intern and I showed them the pictures and videos I had taken and they were in shock. The Dr looks at me and told me "we need to admit Makenzie to the hospital for "failure to thrive"...she went on to say she has lost weight, she has not stopped getting sick plus her history. Then she began to go over the ultrasound results and there was some minor concerns over her kidneys and something with her liver so she felt it best if she was admitted. Honestly after she said "we need to admit Makenzie to the hospital..." I pretty much zoned out due to shock so the rest of the time there was a bit of a blur.

While we were waiting for a room to be available at the hospital I went and got things in order for Makayla and took care of some stuff. We finally got the call that a room was ready for her and off to the hospital we went.

**I will have to write a separate post about hospital, but in the meantime please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we will be taking Makenzie to Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center to see the specialists Monday morning.**


A HUGE thank you to all those praying and supporting us all throughout this...you have no idea how much we appreciate and need it!!!

PS I may be biased but could she be any cuter?!?! I just love this sweet little girl!

This sweet little girl needs some prayers again. Long story short after months and months of issues with weight gain, very large amount projectile vomitting (seriously like exorcist style & it is SCARY & SAD), and several other concerns things took a turn for the worse starting last Wednesday so tomorrow she will have an ultrasound on her brain and abdomen. Hopefully everything will be normal on these scans and then we will go on to the next step which will be to see a GI specialist. I am staying optimistic that everything will check out normal, but because of some of the concerns on our prenatal ultrasounds and symptoms and issues she has been having they want to check these things out first to be safe. I am thankful that they are finally taking this seriously, but just hate that it took a turn for the worse for the Dr's to finally get it and take this next step. There is nothing worse in this world than seeing your child in pain or suffer in any way, but praise the Lord for the most part she is still the sweetest and happiest little girl! We just want answers and to get her healthy and as strong as can be and appreciate any thoughts and prayers!!!

Diaper Cakes

My awesome giraffe diaper cakes from our baby shower in Raleigh last May made by my "chosen Sister" Angela and her family.


Makenzie and Makayla wearing the shirts (and probably the last of the diapers) from the diaper cakes 9 months later.




Who knew how stinkin cute the girls were going to be in these shirts one day and how useful every bit of these cakes would be?!

Thank you Cottles and Leisters for making these awesome diaper cakes!!! We have already used all the diapers too and that was so helpful!!!

Happy 8 months our sweet M and M's

Having a tough time wrapping my head around the fact that 8 months have already flown by!!! These 8 months have forever changed our world and we are so grateful and blessed beyond words! We love you girls!!!
XOXO,
Mom and Dad

*I will post 8 month pictures and updates when we get the chance to do so in the meantime here is a fun one from the hospital

I had to make a picture collage of the girls in their little cheerleading outfits from the last couple of games. They were so tiny during football season and now they have almost outgrown the outfits...make it slow down please!!! Thank you Aunt T and B for the outfits and even though you are die hard Wolfpack fans you were able to buy Carolina to make their daddy happy!

Play Date at Pullen Park

Since the weather has been so beautiful I had the pleasure of finally getting together withKristen for a little play date out at Pullen Park. The girls were great and had fun snacking and playing while we got to catch up and have some adult conversations (which is very rare for me these days). After all that we have been through it was such a surreal & precious moment to see our little miracles here, healthy, and beautiful all together playing. We look forward to more fun play dates in the future together!

The Beautiful Eliana

3 amazing little miracle babies


I thought it was hard to photograph two babies...three is way harder!!!

E is so stylish :)


Makayla would rather eat her sunglasses instead of wear them of course ;)


So special to take this photo together with our sweet girls!!!

Rainy day swinging

This past Saturday was beautiful outside so we decided to go buy swings for the girls with my birthday gift cards. I was so excited for our little M & M’s and could not wait to put them in them…they love to swing! But of course Sunday we were under a winter weather advisory and it was nasty out. The swings were sitting by the back door just waiting to be put up and of course our wild little monkey Makayla was crawling all over them. We decided to improvise…this is how to swing on a rainy day :)

Happy Valentines Day!!!

We hope that you all had a very happy valentines day and yes it's a day late, but I wanted to send a virtual valentines card of our "future heartbreakers" to all of our family and friends! It was by far the most special valentines to date for us :)

7 months old

Sweet and silly M and M's 7 months old

Makayla Faith 7 months Old

Makenzie Grace 7 months old

Don't let Makayla's pretty face fool you...she is a wild one ;)

I get lost in Makenzie's beautiful blue eyes

Typical Makayla look

Makenzie always has that mouth open


The girls turned 7 months back on January 28 (yes I am VERY behind but I still had to share these). I know everyone says this but seriously...how have 7 months already flown by?!?! The girls truly amaze me every single day and my heart and love for them gets stronger and stronger every single day! Makayla is for sure our little wild child and has been sitting and crawling since 6 months old. At 7 months she weighs in at 14lb 13oz. Makenzie is a little behind her sister and just actually sat by herself officially the day she turned 7 months old and is just now trying to crawl. Makenzie is still our tiny lil peanut weighing in at 12lb 15oz, but she is growing so that is what matters! I wish I had the time to go into detail to share much more, but duty calls :)