Jim Beau comes from a family of Alabama and Auburn fans, but we think he will always have a love for UF since he was born there. Here is a cute video I took when he was learning to say "Gator".
Saturday, November 26, 2011
NICU Reunion
Back in August I took the kids down to Gainesville to the Shands NICU reunion. Daddy was deployed and we didn't have anything else to do, so we made a fun trip out of it! We saw several babies, parents and nurses that we remembered from our time there two years ago.
Jim Beau and nurse Andrea!
Jim Beau didn't like the Gator!
Yes, we visited Build-A-Bear, too! :)
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Jim Beau in UF news
Jim Beau was featured in this article along with the Massey triplets. All three were born with the same heart defect as Jim Beau, Tetralogy of Fallot. My favorite part is the pictures! Jane Ritchie refused to be in a group shot that day, so I'm pleased with the ones they chose to use.
Photo by Jesse S. Jones
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
CDH Conference
Back in June May May came down and we all went to the CDH Conference in Orlando sponsored by CHERUBS. We had a great time and learned alot! I highly recommend this conference to parents of children with CDH and even those who are expecting a baby with CDH. We learned about a new technique for babies with severe CDH that is done in the womb. You can read a story about it here, or watch a video story. We also learned about genetic research that is being done to try to determine the cause for CDH. Alot of it was over our heads, but from the smiles on their faces you could tell how amazing their work is! You can read here about the research.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Voting on Facebook!
Please take a few seconds to vote for CHERUBS in this Facebook contest. They are a great organization that helps raise awareness for CDH.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Crazy walk
Here is a video of Jim Beau's crazy walk! It's a little hard to concentrate when Sissy is jabbering on and on about something or other. :)
Monday, April 18, 2011
Lucky
It is taking me forever to get a new post written for this blog! I think because I started writing something really long and can't seem to finish it. So, I decided to start over!
On April 7 we had to take a little emergency trip down to Gainesville to see Dr. Kays. Jim Beau had been throwing up for a couple of days. He was VERY lethargic. All he wanted to do was sleep or sit. When Dr. Kays heard that he was throwing up bile, he told us we needed to come see him. When Jim Beau had the surgery to repair his diaphragm his stomach was not in the correct position. So, they had to rotate it and do a surgical procedure on it to keep it in place. Sometimes this causes scar tissue, which can lead to an obstruction, which can cause major problems.
We arrived at the emergency room at Shands at 10 a.m. The emergency room is in the new part of the hospital and is really nice. They did a stomach x-ray and started Jim Beau on i.v. fluids. We had visited our ER twice and they said he wasn't dehydrated. But, he sure did feel better once he had the i.v. fluids! Dr. Kays said the x-ray looked good and that it was not an obstruction. They admitted us to the hospital just to make sure that he did not continue to throw up.
Jim Beau definitely knows the meaning of the word "no". He did not like anyone touching him and would say "no"very forcefully. It was pretty funny. At this point we knew he was feeling much better because he was hungry. He was eating and drinking everything in sight at the hospital. He was still very weak. As you can see from the picture below, he would put his head down to eat!
Finally around 8:30 p.m., Dr. Kays came back to see us and said we could go. We were very excited not to have to spend the night in the hospital. Jim Beau did not like being cooped up in a hospital room. There at the end we had to take turns walking him around the hospital floor in the stroller to make him happy!
We continue to be reminded how lucky we are that Jim Beau has such a great doctor. Dr. Kays said that when he got our message he wasn't sure if we were at our hospital or not and was trying to figure out how to send the helicopter to get Jim Beau! It made us feel really good to know that Dr. Kays would actually send the helicopter to get Jim Beau. I remember back when Jim Beau was born, I asked Dr. Kays how I would know that something was wrong. He said, "When he is throwing up bile and your emergency room says it is just a stomach virus, you know to come see me!" This experience was a reminder that even though he looks perfectly normal, Jim Beau is not a normal baby and sometimes needs a little more attention. Thank goodness he has such a caring doctor.
Although the day was tiring and scary for Mom and Dad, I think it was the best day of Jane Ritchie's life! :) She got to go home from school with her teacher, Mrs. Ingrid. Then Mrs. Erin picked her up and took her to Chick Fil A for dinner. She keeps asking me when I am going to take Jim Beau to Gainesville again so she can go to Mrs. Ingrid's house!
In other news, Jim Beau went from having a stomach virus, to having a runny nose, fever, cough thing. I'm taking him to the doctor again this morning just to make sure he is ok. Hopefully soon he will be back to his old self. He has started taking 6 or 7 steps on his own, but is not fully walking yet. Last night he was actually standing on his own and taking some steps. We went to Mobile for Spring Break and on our way back he walked alot at the Chick Fil A in Tallahassee. I think it must have been the floor that gave him confidence. Here is a video:
On April 7 we had to take a little emergency trip down to Gainesville to see Dr. Kays. Jim Beau had been throwing up for a couple of days. He was VERY lethargic. All he wanted to do was sleep or sit. When Dr. Kays heard that he was throwing up bile, he told us we needed to come see him. When Jim Beau had the surgery to repair his diaphragm his stomach was not in the correct position. So, they had to rotate it and do a surgical procedure on it to keep it in place. Sometimes this causes scar tissue, which can lead to an obstruction, which can cause major problems.
We arrived at the emergency room at Shands at 10 a.m. The emergency room is in the new part of the hospital and is really nice. They did a stomach x-ray and started Jim Beau on i.v. fluids. We had visited our ER twice and they said he wasn't dehydrated. But, he sure did feel better once he had the i.v. fluids! Dr. Kays said the x-ray looked good and that it was not an obstruction. They admitted us to the hospital just to make sure that he did not continue to throw up.
Jim Beau definitely knows the meaning of the word "no". He did not like anyone touching him and would say "no"very forcefully. It was pretty funny. At this point we knew he was feeling much better because he was hungry. He was eating and drinking everything in sight at the hospital. He was still very weak. As you can see from the picture below, he would put his head down to eat!
Finally around 8:30 p.m., Dr. Kays came back to see us and said we could go. We were very excited not to have to spend the night in the hospital. Jim Beau did not like being cooped up in a hospital room. There at the end we had to take turns walking him around the hospital floor in the stroller to make him happy!
We continue to be reminded how lucky we are that Jim Beau has such a great doctor. Dr. Kays said that when he got our message he wasn't sure if we were at our hospital or not and was trying to figure out how to send the helicopter to get Jim Beau! It made us feel really good to know that Dr. Kays would actually send the helicopter to get Jim Beau. I remember back when Jim Beau was born, I asked Dr. Kays how I would know that something was wrong. He said, "When he is throwing up bile and your emergency room says it is just a stomach virus, you know to come see me!" This experience was a reminder that even though he looks perfectly normal, Jim Beau is not a normal baby and sometimes needs a little more attention. Thank goodness he has such a caring doctor.
Although the day was tiring and scary for Mom and Dad, I think it was the best day of Jane Ritchie's life! :) She got to go home from school with her teacher, Mrs. Ingrid. Then Mrs. Erin picked her up and took her to Chick Fil A for dinner. She keeps asking me when I am going to take Jim Beau to Gainesville again so she can go to Mrs. Ingrid's house!
In other news, Jim Beau went from having a stomach virus, to having a runny nose, fever, cough thing. I'm taking him to the doctor again this morning just to make sure he is ok. Hopefully soon he will be back to his old self. He has started taking 6 or 7 steps on his own, but is not fully walking yet. Last night he was actually standing on his own and taking some steps. We went to Mobile for Spring Break and on our way back he walked alot at the Chick Fil A in Tallahassee. I think it must have been the floor that gave him confidence. Here is a video:
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