The Addy Mac Pack - 2009 Raffle

The Addy Mac Pack - 2009 Raffle

Buy a ticket today to win The Addy Mac Prize Pack-age

*All proceeds from the raffle will be donated in full to the March of Dimes*

Tickets:

1 for $ 10

6 for $ 50

15 for $100

The Addy Mac Prize Pack-age is valued at OVER $1,000!

The lucky winner will receive the following items and more!!

Diamond Pendant

Teeth Whitening

Multiple Massages

Nambe Candle Sticks

Tattoo & Piercing

Baby Girl Gift Basket

Bicycle Tune Ups

Fashion Jewelry

Oil Change

Variety of Restaurant Gift Certificates

& multiple other prizes!

Our family team, The Addy Mac Pack, has joined thousands of compassionate teams across the country that support March for Babies. We are walking in memory of Riley Parker and to support the continued health of Addison Mackenzie, as well as all other babies.

The March of Dimes champions the needs of moms and babies in our community and across the nation. The money we raise for March for Babies will support lifesaving research, services, education and advocacy that help babies get a healthy start. Please help us exceed our 2008 fundraising efforts to help these little ones have a fighting chance.

Don’t delay… buy your tickets today!

Thank you to our 2009 local sponsors for their generous donations of prizes and gift certificates…

Helzberg Diamonds – Crystal Lake

Alkali Tattoo – Janesville

RidgePoint Dental – Lake in the Hills

Clix – Crystal Lake

Books in the City – Chicago

Barnes & Noble – Crystal Lake

First Institute School of Massage

Red Robin

Massage Envy – Schaumburg

Village Cyclesport – Barrington

Bone Fish Grill – Algonquin

Crystal Lake Ski & Bike

Jackie Kohl, Student Massage Therapist

Little Villa – Mt. Prospect

Richard Walker’s – Crystal Lake

Jiffy Lube

Famous Dave’s Conscious Cup Coffee Roasters – Crystal Lake

Any Nails – Mt. Prospect

Benedict’s La Strata – Crystal Lake

Peep’s – Arlington Heights

Designs that Shine

Doodles by Dee Dee

Can you spot what's missing???

For those of you who don't know, Addison came home after her shunt revision surgery the very next day - WITHOUT OXYGEN! She only needs to use her oxygen at night when she's sleeping. She's been doing fantastic without it! Addy has been doing pretty well post operative. She did have another stay in the hospital last week due to a fever however she was released after one night. Her Neurosurgeon didn't want to take any chances after just having surgery. We still have no idea what the fever was from however signs seem to be pointing to her teeth. She has FINALLY cut a tooth - just a very small part of it. I can't wait until it's poking out so you can see it when she smiles! Addy did go to the doctor today because she has a cough/runny nose however he said she's doing fine with it - her lungs sound clear and she isn't requiring any oxygen so we're just supposed to keep an eye on her and let it run it's course! In other exciting Addy news - she laughed for the first time last week! Full on laughter - it was great. Shelly was tickling her and she started giggling. Then today, I got her to laugh! It's the coolest thing to hear. Addy has an MRV this week to check on how her shunt is doing since the surgery. We're assuming well since she's back to her old self again!

I wanted to take another opportunity to remind everyone that we're walking in this year's March for Babies which benefits March of Dimes. Without March of Dimes and the research it has done - Addison would not be with us today. Please consider donating to March of Dimes via Addison's page at www.marchforbabies.org/addisongile3. The money raised will help other babies, like Addison, get their chance. Believe me, I know times are tough - even if you can donate $1, it helps.

Love to all...

Guess who's back???

That's right! This is a picture of Miss Addy about 2 hours post op. Addy went in for shunt revision surgery around 3:30 today. The surgery went pretty quickly. The Neurosurgeon let us know that the portion of her shunt that goes into the ventricles of her brain was completely clogged and that this IS how Addy reacts when she is having a shunt malfunction. He let us know that they were just finishing getting her back into her room and that the nurse would let us know when we could see her. He was very pleased with how surgery went.

The nurse came and got us shortly after and we walked into Addy's room where our little squirt greeted us with the biggest grin. I instantly started crying that our girl was back! She was smiley and talking. You could tell she felt SO much better.

Big, BIG thank you to all of you for sending positive vibes to Addy today. It obviously paid off.

Below is a picture of Addy's incision. They obviously had to shave her gorgeous hair (which they saved for "Addy's first haircut") but it's right above her original incision which most of you know is completely covered by her hair! :o)

Surgery Number Nine

Addison was admitted into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Wednesday. About 2:30 p.m. Addy woke up from her nap very irritable and lethargic. We called the Neurosurgeon on call at Children's Memorial who told us to bring Addy in immediately. Luckily, Dr. Bowman - Addison's usual Neurosurgeon was working. After a ton of blood work and a CT scan, it was determined that Addy would have emergency surgery to determine if she was having a shunt malfunction. Unfortunately, her labs came back that her Potassium was a bit low so surgery has been rescheduled until this morning so the doctors are able to get her Potassium back to where they like it. Please keep baby girl in your thoughts. We all know she's a trooper but can always use the extra love! I'll keep everyone posted.

Teeth Are Overrated

So, I figured since I'm having a little insomnia this morning, what better time to update the blog? I've been horrible at keeping this up to date, I'm so sorry!

Addy has been doing amazing the past couple of months. She's now 18.2 pounds and 28 inches. She's long and skinny. Definitely don't know where she gets it from. LOL Her hair gets longer and thicker by the day - it's a perfect mix of brown and blond - too cute. We've started giving her little "palm tree" pony tails with her bangs. We've definitely had some cabin fever over the past couple of months. RSV season is WAY too long! We're doing our best at keeping Addison in the house and only taking her out when she has a doctor's appointment. Our Pulmonologist told us at our last appointment before winter to not be surprised if Addy ended up in the hospital a couple times this winter and that this will be her toughest one. If this is her toughest winter - we're good to go. Addy has had one cold all winter thus far (knock on wood!). Her cold consisted of a runny nose and a little cough - lasted about a week and a half. She never whined, nothing. Such an awesome baby I tell you. Well I'm sure you're all wondering the latest with Addy's therapies and appointment updates, so here goes:

Speech Therapy: Addy continues to do well with eating by mouth. Her cold did provide her with a bit of a setback though. No one wants to eat when they have snot running out of their nose and down their throats. She's slowly progressed back to where she was by eating about 2-5 tablespoons of baby food per day. Prunes really seem to be her favorite. Followed in a close second with pears. We've started giving her other things in those little mesh bags as well. We've put bananas, oranges, etc in them and she really seems to enjoy it. Her all time favorite though is pickles! She LOVES them. Addy did recently switch from her formula to Pediasure. Pediasure is now her primary source of nutrition until she is able to eat by mouth for nutritional value.

Occupational Therapy: She's doing really well with her OT. She's begun doing more grasping of her toys and reaching out for them. She really gets into her cause/effect toys. Robin is pretty pleased with her progress.

Physical Therapy: Delores continues to work on Addy's gross motor skills. Addy is still not holding her head up. She's definitely made progress but her upper body is just not as strong as her lower portion. Plain and simple - Addy does things when she's ready. I just hope she's ready soon! All of her therapists have said that they think Addy will really excel once she keeps that noggin of hers up!

Early Intervention: I'm not sure if we've discussed EI with all of you however EI is basically all of the therapies above that Addison is receiving. We had our second EI meeting a couple of weeks ago where all of her therapists along with Addy's case worker meet with us about how Addison's been doing, what their goals are for her and also determine what tools they need to help Addy get to where she needs to be. During the meeting, each therapist provides us with a report of Addy's improvements since the last meeting. Addy's first meeting was shortly after she came home. She has made improvements with each therapy which is awesome. Delores (PT) still has Addy placed in a 0-3 month category but this is primarily because of the issue of Addison not holding her head up. When Addy came home she could not move her head from side to side while laying down and she now does it with ease. The big success story is with Gail (SLP) who has placed Addy in a 3-6 month category with her oral skills. She even hit a 6-9 month on a category. All in all, Addy continues to improve. Although it's slow, it's an improvement. The therapist have decided on a few things they'd like to get for Addy. One is a Benik vest. Addy has been using a 'loaner' Benik vest for about a month. It's a vest that provides trunk support so Addy has to use her upper body muscles more. It's awesome. If you 'Google' it - you can check out a picture. They've also recommended a Wombat chair. A Wombat chair is a positioning chair that provides stabilization and sitting support. It will allow Addy to sit unassisted. It's kind of like a stationary wheelchair. She also may be getting AFO braces. Delores has mentioned a bit of tone in Addy's feet which we continue to work on however the AFO braces will help Addy keep her feet flat instead of curving. The most interesting part of our recent meeting was when we asked what happens after Addy's 3 years with EI is complete. EI services are provided until a child turns 3. We almost fell off our chairs when our case worker let us know Addy would then go to preschool. It's hard to think of our little 1 pound 9 ounce nugget going to preschool! Addy will actually be picked up on a school bus and taken to school where her preschool will actually consist of therapy all day! The school apparently takes over Addy's therapies. Both Robin and Delores did let us know that they feel a wheelchair will be in Addy's future. They think that Addy will most likely be just learning to walk around the time she'll attend preschool so it will be more of an issue that Addy will not have enough stamina to walk around school. We're definitely excited to see how Addy progresses with EI this year.

Dr. Stack - Addy's "seizure" doc. Addy continued to have seizures after being put on her Phenobarb. It was decided to put Addy on Topamax which is a common migraine medication for adults. Addy has not had a single seizure since going on the Topamax! Dr. Stack is slowly taking Addy off of the Phenobarb at which point Topamax will be what Addy stays on as long as it continues to be beneficial. Only long term side effect with taking Topomax is a potential for Glaucoma which is why it's awesome that Addy sees Dr. Yoon quarterly.

Dr. Yoon - Addy's "eye" doc. We actually saw Dr. Yoon yesterday. Addy's prescription did not change which is a definite bonus for us because glasses are damn expensive - especially for kids! We were a bit surprised to hear that Addy's vision will not be getting better. Addy is extremely near sighted. She can see well with her glasses but without she needs to have things right in her face to see them. Dr. Yoon also indicated that Addy is still at risk for retinal detachment so he will continue to monitor her closely. He also let us know that he would like for Addy to be seen by a "low vision" doctor. Lucky for us - she's new to the staff at Children's and was shadowing Dr. Yoon yesterday! She's going to be going over Addy's chart and contacting us for an evaluation. Addy will then participate in low vision therapy - basically PT for her eyes! This will help her not have to 'strain' so much.

Dr. Bowman - Addy's "brain" doc. No updates here! Shunt is working awesome! KNOCK ON WOOD for sure with this one!

Last but not least, Addy had another NICU follow up appointment last week. It's basically to check to see where Addy is developmentally. Addy has unofficially been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. This was not a shock for us. Cerebral Palsy is such an umbrella diagnosis. The reason it's been unofficially diagnosed is because yes, Addy has Cerebral Palsy due to her delays however it's too early to tell the type or how severe. Regardless of the outcome of her diagnosis, we are SO proud of Addy. She continues to prove all of her Neonatologists and Neurologists wrong - which I know makes them happy, as it does us. :o) More to come on this topic as we learn more!
I think that's it for the updates on Addy! To sum it all up - she's a miracle and is the coolest kid I know! :o) She continues to amaze me every day. I am SO honored to be her Mommy.

As for Dee Dee and I, things are pretty much status quo. Only new news is that I decided to step down from my role as a manager for MetLife. I'm still working there, I just went back to my position I was doing prior to my promotion. In a nutshell, I wanted more time with my family. I was working holidays, weekends and long hours during the day. Although I loved my job, I love my family more and they will always come first. :o)

We've decided to spread out our vacation this year and take little trips here and there. We'll be going to Atlanta in May to see my brother, Matt and his family. We're thinking of taking some long weekends in Minneapolis, Des Moines, Wisconsin Dells, Door County and still looking for some other places to go to. We were going to go to Vegas again but we decided we just can't be away from our girl! On the way to Atlanta we will be stopping in Nashville to visit one of Addy's NICU nurses, Michelle, who moved there shortly after we left. We're so excited to take Addy to some new places.

The last thing I wanted to bring up is that we will be walking in the 2009 March for Babies on April 26th. We would love for anyone to join us in the walk or if you can, to sponsor us. Think about how the research that March of Dimes has done that has allowed Addison to be a part of our family. Only a few short years ago, Addy wouldn't have stood a chance with her extreme prematurity. Please think about donating today, even if it's only a $1. Here are our webpages for the walk:

www.marchforbabies.org/addisongile <--- Dee Dee's

www.marchforbabies.org/addisongile2 <--- Greta's

www.marchforbabies.org/addisongile3 <--- Addy's

Well, I think that's it for our most recent update. Don't be surprised if it's another month or so before I update again. Once RSV season is over, you'll be seeing a lot more! Lots of love to all!

Picture This

Gobble Gobble Greetings!

We've all had a pretty good couple of weeks! I'll start with Addy. Addison had her 1 year check up with her pediatrician, Dr. Kershaw. Addy is 17 pounds and 2 ounces - 26 inches. OH MY GOSH. She is getting SO big. Addy is officially falling into the percentiles - even at her real age as opposed to her adjusted which is what the doctors usually compare Addy to. Dr. Kershaw was very impressed with Addy and how well she's doing. She gave us the go-ahead to feed her by mouth pretty much any time Addy is up for it. She also talked about changing Addy's formula to an 'older' baby formula however since Addy is still doing so well with the Enfamil Enfacare, she decided not to rock the boat. Especially since we just bought a bunch online! We are so happy that we chose Dr. Kershaw to be Addison's pediatrician. She makes decisions that include us instead of for us. Unfortunately, Addy had to get THREE shots while we were there. She got a flu shot, Hepatitis A and Pneumococcal vaccine. She got her 2nd dose of Synagis this past week and because she's gotten so big - Synagis is no longer one poke a month - it's now two! Poor girl. She's such a trooper though. Those that see Addy pretty regularily know that Addy pretty much NEVER cries. She's just a really happy baby so when she cries from a shot - it really breaks our heart!

Big news is Addy went to see Dr. Bowman - her Neurosurgeon. We were going for the results of Addy's MRV that she had to make sure the dialing up of Addy's shunt made her ventricles a bit larger (which will help her shunt stay in place). Dr. Bowman always starts the visit by testing Addy's tone. Just like the last visit - she was thrilled. No decrease and no increase in tone - it's exactly where it needs to be. She let us know that the MRV was great - the dialing up of the shunt did exactly what it needed to do and her ventricles are back to where she wants them. Dr. Bowman proceeded to tell us she wishes she could see Addison every month because she loves seeing her however at this point - unless Addy has any issues with her shunt - we don't have to go back for another SIX months! Dee Dee brought up that Addy's physical therapist and Dr. Kershaw had asked us to mention a possible helmet to help with Addy's head shape to see if it would improve her neck strength. We had brought this up to Dr. Bowman before - wondering if Addy would need a helmet - however Dr. Bowman saw no reason for it and she continues to have the same thought. She feels it would be strictly cosmetic and at this point in Addy's physical development, you probably wouldn't even notice a change in her head's shape nor would it "help" her hold her head up any quicker. In fact, Dr. Bowman said that Addison's head shape is actually not so much a result of laying on the sides (toaster head) but instead that her brain shape is what has molded her head shape. She said she thought Addy's doing GREAT with everything and being that Dr. Bowman doesn't sugar coat, her thoughts mean a lot to us. Dr. Bowman was most excited by how well Addison is doing eating by mouth. She's impressed that Addy is learning to drink from a cup. She actually said she was really proud of her.

Addy has an appointment with Dr. Stack - her Neurophysiologist - on the 10th. We did call her today to inquire on giving Addy her Phenobarb via her g-tube with water as opposed to mixed in food. Addy absolutely HATES the taste - who wouldn't?! We also let Dr. Stack know that Addy is still having a few seizures so she decided to up her medicine because the goal is for Addy to have NO seizures at all.

Dee Dee and I don't really have anything new going on. Work is REALLY busy right now. We definitely can't complain. We're happy to say that our 10 year anniversary is Thursday. Granny Nan and Auntie Shelly have agreed to watching Addy overnight while we celebrate in the city on the 13th. We're just going to do lunch and get pedicures, hang out at Navy Pier for a bit. We're going to stay the night at the W on the lake. It's going to be our first official night away from Addy since she's been home. YIKES! :o) I can't guarantee we won't pack up in the middle of the night and come home because we miss her!

Thanksgiving was great! My Aunt Shirley has been here for a week. My mom and Shirley cooked an amazing Thanksgiving lunch. We just hung out at home all day and relaxed. Dee Dee and Shelly went shopping at midnight to the Huntley outlets - couple of loons. We had a four day weekend so we did a lot of chilling around the house. Annie came to visit on Saturday night. Sunday we went to brunch then went to paint some pottery! It was a lot of fun!

OH - before I forget, my Mom's friend hung Christmas lights for us this year - it looks awesome. Definitely got us in the holiday spirit. We've started decorating and actually went to get our Christmas tree this evening!

I guess that's all there really is to report. Happy Birthday to Grandma Rose this week!