So there is a rumor going around that Gracie may be able to come home tomorrow! They took out her NG tube and have been letting her eat whenever she wants to and she is eating about every 2-3 hours and she is eating enough to keep her tube out! They took her NG tube out last night to see if she can keep up her eating and so far she has.

Mike went to visit her tonight and the nurse asked him if we had a apt with her pediatrician set up yet and Mike told her no we can't really do that until she is dicharged. Then the nurse told him there is a great chance that could be tomorrow if she keeps up the good work or Friday at the latest.

Gillian is very excited to finally get to meet her sister. She has seen pictures and video, but I don't think she fully understands what is going on yet. So when we bring her home it's just a family day. Mike, Gillian, Gracie and myself. Gillian needs some time with her sister by herself.

Lets pray that Gracie keeps up the good work and she comes home tomorrow or Friday without that NG tube!

Gillian's lab results came back great. BUN 21 and Creatinine was .5 where is should be!

Grace is still in the hospital. It's to the point where we are going to have to put our foot down. The only reason they are keeping her there is for eating purposes. I talked to STL today and they informed me that if that's the case there is no reason they can't teach me the NG placement and send her home. A kidney patient expecially kids never eat what they are supposed to and they also have problems with vomiting. I dealt with Gillian vomiting for 3 1/2 years at least once a day. The hospital Grace is in does not understand that we have been through this before even though we have pointed it out MANY times.

Not that I want to learn and have to do a NG tube, but I have complete confidence that I can do it with everything I have been through with Gillian. Heck what's one more thing. I'm pretty sure I could pass nursing school at this point in a minute! ;)

That's all for now!

Gillian is doing well. Still not drinking near enough. Which is ok because it's nice having her G-tube during cold and flu season. She had her monthly labs drawn today. We should get the results tomorrow. We have scheduled her one year kidney evaluation. It's on December 10th. She will be getting an IV hooked up and some purple stuff ran through her every so often. I don't remember what the test is exactly called, but I do know radiology does it. I guess the purple stuff going through her kidney can tell her function. They talked about doing it before transplant but decided it would be to hard on her old kidneys. There is no biopsy scheduled unless this test comes back funny. We are hoping for great results and I really have no doubt that they wont be because we have had absolutely no problems but a few hydration problems.

Gillian is still loving school once she gets there. It's still a chore to get her up and going. She goes on and on about how she's going to miss me. Then when we get to school the teacher has to peal her off of me. LOL.. Once I leave though the teacher has told me she is fine. She is still in her swim class too, but I have to say she has failed her first class 3 times now. She's on her 4th try now. She has a fear of putting her face in the water. I think grandma and grandpa Irons have decided if she fails again they will take her out and put her back in dance class. Which I know she will love. That was one of her favorite things. I hated taking her out of it, but money was tight. I'm sure most of you know how that is.

As for Grace, she is still in the NICU. All we are waiting for is her to start eating. She loves sleeping and doesn't want to wake up long enough to eat. Her goal is 2oz every 3 hours and she takes anywhere from 20-45ml's. Usually on the lower side. Although today she did take all but about a teaspoon at one of her feedings. She has to start taking 75% of her feeds at least 2 days in a row before they will discharge her. Right now they are putting all the extra milk in through a NG tube.

She had some labs ran this morning for her kidneys. Her electrolyts looked good and her BUN was 22 her Creatinine 1.2. Not really what I was hoping for, but better than a 2 which it was at when she was 3 days old. Once she is discharged we will be taking her to STL children's where Gillian goes. We will probably have a apt for Grace on December 9th the day before Gillians one year exam. They will do lab work and an ultrasound of their own. The Dr. in STL isn't convinced that she has polycystic kidney disease. I'm told by STL that when you do a ultrasound as early as they did on Grace her kidneys are so small that polycystic kidneys disease is misdiagnosed quit often. So he's pretty sure they are dysplastic just like Gillian's, but only time will tell.

That's it for now. I will let you know how Gillian's labs are and when Grace gets to come home. :)

I was discharged from the hospital on Friday. Unfortunatly Gracie had to stay. She isn't eating enough to leave the hospital yet.

She is in the NICU and sleeps all the time. I finally saw her open her eyes for the first time today. She is a bit jaundice so they are checking her bilirubin level tomorrow. They are thinking the reason she is sleeping so much is because of her level.

I have been keeping in touch with St. Louis Children's since Gracie does have some kidney issues. The hospital she is in right now have diagnosed her with Polycystic kidney disease. STL., myself and my Maternal fetal medicine doctor are not convinced that's what it is. It would be strange for her and Gillian to have 2 different kidney problems. STL told me when the kidneys are small it is very easy to misdiagnose polycystic kidneys.

Right now the plan is to try and get Gracie eating so she can come home. Then Mike and I will be taking her to STL for another ultrasound there and some blood work. They ran some kidney levels the first couple days she was in the NICU and they were not that great. I was hoping for better. They were worse than what Gillian's were when she was a baby. I am hoping once she is a week or so old and peeing more they will go down some. We did so well avoiding dialysis with Gillian I really don't want to put Grace through it. The word Dialysis is more scary to me than transplant.

I will let you know if anything else comes up.