Thursday, December 24, 2009

1st Christmas Eve

Well for Christmas Eve, we spent time at Texas Children's hospital waiting for Haley to get out of surgery. Her retinopathy of prematurity had gotten worse and she did have to have more eye surgery, but this time on her right eye. Right now her retina in her right eye is attached, but her vision will be worse than we thought before. Things can get worse with her right eye just like the left did, but we are hoping that won't happen. The doctor is hoping that Haley will at least have enough vision in her right eye to be able to get around. She will also need glasses for the right eye. Haley of course tolerated the surgery well. She again came out of the operating room on a nasal cannula. She is such a trooper! This surgery was her 7th surgery. That is a lot of surgeries for someone not even 5 months old yet. Haley's updated weight today is 6 pounds 9oz. Haley will get to start back on feeds in the next day or two.
Our Christmas eve with Rachel was spent holding her and loving her as usual. Rachel loves to be held and she would love it if someone held her all day. She is a cuddle bug. I wish I could hold her more than I get to now. Today we got the results back on Rachel's gastric emptying scan and it showed her gastric motility is on the border of normal to fast. This means her gastric motility is good. Her formula is moving through her GI tract well. We have not gotten to talk to the GI doctor yet about the results, but we are pleased with the results. Rachel's weight is 7 pounds 5 oz. We don't think this weight is accurate because yesterday she weighed 6 pounds 13oz. I don't believe she could have gained ~9oz in one day. Rachel and Haley are weighed every night and it always seems they gain some weight one night and the next night they lose weight. So we will see what Rachel weighs the next night...

Rachel with all the tape and tubes off her face. This picture is a spitting image of me when I was a baby. Rachel is also giving us the longhorn sign. Go Longhorns!






My best friend Melody and I with Haley on Wednesday Dec 23. This was the first time she had gotten to see the girls.



Melody holding Haley

Posted by

8 comments:

  1. twinsplus3December 25, 2009 at 2:19 AM

    Happy Christmas beautiful Stansel family !! sending all the love and prayers in the world all the way from ireland to you all so very far away.... love shirley, joshua, finn and francesca

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christina McKinneyDecember 25, 2009 at 8:49 AM

    Sounds like a great way to spend a Christmas Eve, with family! Sorry to hear about Haley's eyes, I am still hopeful for you that they will be able to help her. I hope yall have a great Christmas!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mommato4miraclesDecember 25, 2009 at 9:02 AM

    Oh those cheeks! So adorable. Praying for you as always. Pryaing for healing of sweet Haley;s eyes, and so happy to hear about the gastric emptying:-) May God continue to work wonderful miracles:-) Merry Christmas

    ReplyDelete
  4. gramDecember 25, 2009 at 8:04 PM

    how darling can you get! kisses on those sweet cheeks... lucky melody to get to hold Haley! she was probably all aglow! What a Christmas Eve gift.

    i truly believe that Haley will be just fine, sighted or not. of course we pray for sight, but mostly for a wonderful life for her.

    Rachel would love Eva's gram, i could just sit and rock her and hold her...

    Merry Christmas Dear Stansel Family!
    love, Erma

    ReplyDelete
  5. ClaudiaDecember 25, 2009 at 8:43 PM

    Stansel family, Merry Christmas!
    I am very pleased to know about Rachel's gastric mobility. She made so much progress, and that's so good! Rachel looks beautiful with the tubes and tapes off her face, and yes, she does look like you! Please let me know if you need help with the little "cuddle bug." I would love to hold Rachel whenever I can.

    I continue to say special prayers for Haley's eyes; however, I trully believe she will have a happy life (regardless of what happens to her eyes). She is part of a special family and has loving parents. This is such a blessing in the life of a child!

    You are always in my heart. Love, Claudia

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kay JonesDecember 25, 2009 at 9:54 PM

    I follow your blog each day, and am so impressed with the love and faith you parents have in our Heavenly Father and his love and plan for your little family. I'm sure Haley and Rachel have other siblings rooting for them on the other side of the veil. Much love to each of you. Love, Kay

    ReplyDelete
  7. MicheleDecember 25, 2009 at 11:11 PM

    Beautiful photos!!!

    Praying for your beautiful girls...

    ReplyDelete
  8. HeatherJanuary 1, 2010 at 5:37 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for the comments! We love to hear from you! If you prefer to not leave a comment on our blog you can email us at stanseljourney@gmail.com.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)