10/14/08 - A Chance to Give Hope



Aimee's Mom and Step Dad were finally able to hold Ms. Kayleigh. They were so happy to have gotten the chance and they enjoyed every minute of it.

Today was another good day, except for the fact that Kayleigh has not pooped all day. They started her on the fortifier and like all the other times we have dealt with this, she might be stopping up again. They are going to give her a glycerin shave this evening (suppository) to see if that helps. There biggest concern is her lack of growth. She did grow some last night (1565 3.7lbs) which is good, but besides the calories for growth, her little body needs nutrients. While breast milk has been the best for her, it lacks the nutrients an IUGR (Internal Uterine Growth Retardation) preemie needs. If Kayleigh was a term baby and normal size, this would be a different story and I would be fighting for breast milk all the way. We will just have to try different things until one of them works or her bowels will mature enough to handle anything. Hopefully it doesn't take too long or end up in another exploratory surgery.

Other than that, Kayleigh is doing good. Because she seems to be struggling to poop, she hasn't finished her bottles like normal and she didn't last long while breast feeding with Aimee tonight.
Before I share some awesome news, I wanted to let everyone know that more bracelets were ordered. If you want one, click on the buy now link over to the right of the page. Several people asked if we were ordering more and we just put in a new order today. For those who don't know what we are doing, we are putting together a scrap book for Kayleigh, so your photo (while wearing your bracelets) along with a note to Kayleigh will have it's own page. That way she will remember all the wonderful people who prayed for her.

Below is a photo that I just received to add to Kayleigh's scrap book. Alison, Elli and Lukas are triplets preemies who are following Kayleigh's story and have been praying for her. We are so blessed to have these three beautiful children reach out to us. Thank you so much!


Now for the awesome news that we got today!!! You know yesterday we spoke on behalf of The Children's Miracle Network for our hospital at a Re/Max fundraiser event? Well, below is an email from the representative who we met out there yesterday. I will let the letter speak for itself, but it is AWESOME NEWS for all of us who want to share our stories to give people hope.


Adam and Aimee,

Hello! I hope you (and Kayleigh!) are having a good day. I stopped by while I was at the hospital today to say hello and thank you again for speaking at the RE/MAX tournament yesterday. Cindy and her team did a wonderful job putting that together, but you all really made it hit home as to why the CMN fundraising is so important.

I wanted to touch base with you about you possibly sharing your story again. Each year, we have both a Radiothon and a
30-minute television special about Levine Children’s Hospital (LCH). Both are major fundraisers for LCH, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars, and are great avenues through which we can share special stories with the community – to let them see the miracles that are taking place right here!

We would love for you all to be a part of these events and to share Kayleigh’s story. I read your blog with Kirstin who is Director of Communication here at the Foundation (also copied on this email) and we were both so moved by your photos, your videos, and your experiences. You all have certainly been through a lot and are truly inspiring.

Jim and Jen, the morning show team at Lite 102.9 are already scheduled to come to LCH and record interviews on October 30th. These interviews will be used to create montages for our radiothon in December. We also may have our videographer there who will be filming for our TV special. I know you said you get nervous with public speaking, but these would be easy interviews about your family and we would only film to the extent that you are comfortable.

Please let me know if you are interested in helping us with these projects. Kirstin can fill you in with more details if you have any questions or concerns.

Again, it was wonderful to meet you yesterday and we will continue to follow Kayleigh’s progress. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you all.

Thanks,


Lindsay


Without hesitation, we have agreed to do the program and we look forward to seeing it move so many people. We wish you all the best and we are so glad to have so many people pulling for Kayleigh. Your prayers have moved mountains and have certainly made a miracle out of our precious girl. I pray that you all will be blessed by God in so many ways for the love you have given our family.

God Bless,

The Freemans :)

4 comments:

Sarah Suzy said...

I sure hope that the doctors can figure out what is best for Kayleighs growth, I can't begin to imagine the frustration. I will continue to pray for Kayleighs growth. It looks like it might be time to revive the poop dance!! I recieved my bracelet a couple weeks ago, but my 4 year old desperately wanted her own Kayleigh bracelet, so I ordered her one yesterday and as soon as we get it we will write her a letter and take our picture and get it sent to you ASAP. Thank you for taking time out of your day to share Kayleigh with us. Her story inspires me to love my children even more then I already did. No more taking them for granted, that's for sure. You're family is a blessing to us.

what amazing news about the radiothon and television special! I am so glad that so many people will be able to be touched by Kayleighs story.

I have a blogspot blog that is linked with yours..it is
http://www.lainiesmom.blogspot.com
and I have a myspace
http://www.myspace.com/lainiesmom, I remembered you asking for people to link to..I will add a link to Kayleighs story to my myspace page as well.

god bless.

SarahJ.

Waves of Victory said...

I hate that Kayleigh hasn't pooped today. Hopeflly that will be a different story tomorrow!
And that's great news about the Radioathon. They did that last year at Christmas time at the LCH. Carly was still in the NICU at the time. Each baby in the NICU got a Teddy Bear and a book from people who donated. I enjoyed listening to the stories on the radio. It was very touching and inspiring. It's awsome that you are getting the chance to speak! I know you'll say things that will touch the lives of many just as Kayleighs being has!!!! :)

Unknown said...

Adam and Aimee-

What a blessing that our family got to meet you after the golf tournament on Monday. Kayleigh has two incredible strong parents figthing for her! To know that Charlie's Wall of Hope photo brought you some inspiration during a very stressful time of your pregnancy has brought me alot of joy. That validated Charlie's struggle and the reason we did the Wall of Hope. We will continue to track Kayleigh's progress and pray for her everyday.
We have had an opportunity to get to know Lindsey and all her coworkers at Carolina's Healthcare Foundation. They are such wonderful people and great advicates for Levine Children's Hospital and our children! Thank you for agreeing to do the interviews. Your story will definetly be an inspiration to another family in your shoes.
Trisha, Ed, Nicholas, Patrick, Charlie and Jack Riesmeyer
eriesmey@bellsouth.net

P.S. I will be ordering our bracelets today!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad that you guys have had such wonderful opportunities to touch so many lives. Keep up the good work with that!

I'll continue to pray for Kayleigh. She's come so far, I'm sure she can make it past this obstacle, too.

Some day, we'll want to order a bracelet. We can't spare the funds now to do it, but I hope you guys will still have some around when things are looking up for us. :-)