Happy Thanksgiving!

There are so many things we are thankful for this year...
our Lord and Savior who has us wrapped safely in his hands even when we question him
our 2 sweet girls
our family and their support
our friends and their support
the love and support of our church
Lauren and Alli's teachers and school, who have bent over backwards for us
our home
our neighbors
our jobs
our health insurance
the list could go on and on..
Since Lauren's birth and diagnosis we have been overwhelmed with prayers, love, and support, and we couldn't thank everyone enough!

With all of that being said, things are going well in the Sielicki Household.  Surprisingly, we have all managed to stay well amongst all those who have unfortunately come down with colds, flu, and stomach viruses so far...that has been our prayer to keep us all as healthy as possible to keep Lauren healthy.  We received some of Lauren's blood work results.  The CBC, metabolic panel, and vitamins A, E, and K levels were all good.  Her vitamin D level was on the slightly low side, so the doctor is consulting with the nutritionist to see what, if anything we should do.  We should be getting her genetic mapping back early next week.  On a good note, I weighed Lauren last night and she's up to 13lbs!!  I had to weight with her 3 times because I couldn't believe it myself.  She's gained about a pound and a half in 2 weeks!  I guess increasing her calories is really helping!
Within the past week, she's started being more vocal, can sit up (assisted), is grasping toys, and is starting to get the hang of rolling over!  We also let her try a little rice cereal...she's not so sure about it.
Alli is doing great.  Now that Lauren can do a little more, she enjoys playing with her.  She has become quite independent.  We're starting to work on tying her own shoes.  She now has chores she does for an allowance.  She loves clearing the dinner dishes and making her bed...I'm sure that won't last!!  She only has 2 weeks left of gymnastics this semester.  I think we'll let her continue in January since she is enjoying it so much. 

Quick doctor's visit update

Lauren went for her big appointment on Tues.  She's doing well.  She weighed 11.29lbs (with clothes on), and was 23 in. long.  She's still in the 10th percentile for weight, so they've changed the way we mix her formula so that she gets more calories.  They also added Xantac in to her drug regimen.  She also had a routine throat culture done, her first Synagis shot, and blood work.  It was a long morning!  Lauren was quite the trooper through it all. 
I was really anxious about the blood work.  I have heard that sticking infants is very difficult, so heard many horror stories.  Luckily, that wasn't our experience.  They did have to stick her twice, but that wasn't because they missed her vein, it was because the one they hit was a slow bleeder, and they had to fill 3 purple cap tubes.  If they wouldn't have stuck her the second time, we probably would have been there 20 minutes.  Instead, we were only there maybe 5.  Lauren fussed when they put the turnicate on her arm, but as for the actual stick, she didn't even flinch...that was probably because my job was to dip her binky in sugar water, and she loved that!
We should start hearing back from the routine blood work (cbc, metabollic panel, vitamin levels) this week.  We aren't anticipating anything out of the ordinary for that.  It should be a baseline for her.  The genetic testing will probably take 4-6 weeks to get back.  Once we know the mutation(s) she has, we can get an idea of the severity of the cf.  The drug companies are also tailoring drugs for mutation specific cf cases, so will know which drugs she will be eligible to take.  Although, that won't start until age 2 at the earliest.  All of these drugs are so new, they haven't yet been tested in the infant population.
Thanks so much for your prayers!

Birthday Week, Skating, and Happy Halloween

So, last week Chris and I both turned 35 (and Lauren also turned 3 months old)!  We can now run for president.  What a milestone!!  We had quiet birthdays with dinner at home with the girls.  The Buzzell's came over on Thursday for Chris' birthday and to watch the Wake Forest game.  Luckily, we won!

Alli went to a skating birthday party for twin girls in her class at school.  It was most of the kids first time skating.  The song "Another one bites the dust" comes to mind...  Actually, Alli did a good job, and it wore her out.

 The girls had a great time trick-or-treating last night.  After I picked them up at school, I changed them into their costumes and first we went trunk-or-treating at First Baptist Clemson, then we walked to downtown Clemson and trick-or-treated at the stores/restaurants, then we headed home, had dinner and Alli headed out to a few of the neighbors.  She got a bucket full!  Daddy even decided to dress up.  Alli decided to be Tinkerbell and Lauren was a bumble bee. 

Lastly, an update on Lauren...she's doing well.  I weighed her last night and she's around 11lbs.  It looks like she'll be in 3 month clothes a little longer (she's long and lean)!  We got good news on Wed.  The Synagis Vaccine (RSV) was approved through the insurance!  She will get her first dose on Tuesday when we go to the pulmonologist for a check up.  Tuesday will be a rough one... not only will she get the shot, but they will also be drawing blood for a cbc, metabolic panel, vitamin level check, and the genetic mapping.  It's hard enough to have to watch her get shots, I'm not sure how I'll do having to watch her getting blood drawn too.  I'm praying that it'll be easy on her.

As for milesones, she's doing really well holding up her head, she laughs and coos. She's not too much of a fan of tummy time.  We're working on that to get her to start rolling over.   Here's a picture we got of her "reading."

Can you tell which one is Alli and which is Lauren?