Welcome Miss Ally Ray

Wow, where do we start? It seems like the past 6 days have been a whirlwind! Let's start off with Saturday.  It was just like any other Saturday other than it was Colby's birthday.  So he went fishing, and then came home to a surprise breakfast and treats from me and Deegan. We got ready and headed to Logan to get him a gift and also take Deegan to the jump zone and lunch.  We figured we might as well get in all the jump zone fun we could before the 18th. We stopped on our way home to get some balloons so we could celebrate Deegan's birthday the next day, since we thought we would not be home for his real birthday! We got home and were just relaxing and playing with Deegan. I got up and went to the bathroom but when I stood up, I felt a whole bunch of stuff come out.  At first, I didn't think anything about it, but the longer I sat there, I began to worry.  After a few minutes of trying to figure out if my water broke or if I just had to pee and didn't know it, we were in the car and on our way to Logan Regional.  They checked me in and my contractions were only 3 minutes apart and my water had broke. We started to freak out! They started talking about life flighting me to the U, and we might not make it so we would have to deliver there, then they would life flight Ally to Primary Childrens. Finally my doctor came and told Colby to start driving to the U because LifeFlight was on their way. I was a wreck. I didn't want to go on LifeFlight alone, and I sure didn't want to get to the U and have to deliver alone. But there was not anything we could do about it.

 The flight was only 20 mins, but it sure felt a lot longer than that. My contractions were getting really bad and I was worried we were not going to make it. We finally landed and they wheeled me down. They were all ready for me, except Colby was not there still. There was so many people in the room doing so many things that I dont even know what was going on. Right when they were getting ready to take me back, Colby came running in! Phew! He hurried and put his scrubs on and off we went.

 Miss Ally Ray Balls came at 11:48 pm. She weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 inches long. Colby was so excited to have her for his birthday, it was the best present he has ever had. I dont know how I will ever top this one! We didnt get to see Ally after she was born.  She was passed through a window straight to the NICU. That is probably one of the hardest things.  We had been waiting all this time and we never got to see her.  They wheeled me up to my room and we stopped in the NICU for about 2 mins to see her. It was so hard because I was in the bed and she was covered up so we couldnt really see her.

 It was a long long night of waiting to see or even hear anything about Ally! Finally at 10:00 sunday morning they brought her to our room so I could see her before she was transfered to PCMC. Once again I could not hold her or kiss her.  I just got to sit and hold her hand. It was so hard to see her go, I felt like I had not even had a baby.

Colby was able to take her over with the nurses to PCMC, we are so grateful that our parents were there. my mom stayed with me while they all went with Colby and Ally. Not even an hour after they left Colby called to tell me they were getting her ready for surgery. we were not expecting it to be that soon, but her lesion on her back was bigger than they thought it was going to be. Her surgery was almost 3 1/2 hours and went really good. They had a really hard time closing her back because some of the skin was bad, so they had to go in and cut the muscles along her ribs to her shoulder blades to stretch the skin to try and cover up her back. She has around 50 stitches in her back. She did really good during and after surgery. She was very bruised and very swollen.

 At about 6:00 sunday night I was finally able to be wheeled over to see her....

 And the best part was I FINALLY got to HOLD HER!

As I sit here, I was going to write about our day to day activities.  But I honestly cannot remember.  Everything  and every day is running together.  I wish I could have blogged everyday or even wrote down a few things here and there, but  I was too worried about taking care of Ally and myself, and going back and forth from the U to PCMC. So if I repeat myself, I am sorry. I think lack of sleep is catching up to us.  Poor Colby has been all over the place, between both hospitals and all the doctors and specialist, he is really has been the rock holding our family together. I don't know what I would have done without him. I honestly don't know how he has kept everything straight and been so calm. I am so grateful for him all he does for our family.

It has been a challenge trying to learn how to take care of Ally. We do all the normal baby things but upside down. She is not allowed to be on her back or sides. If you look close enough you will see that even her diaper is on upside down. I know that is weird but you have no idea how much easier it is to change her. It is a challenge just to hold her. She has so many cords hooked up and you can only pick her up certain ways to not hurt her back. It takes two of us, but hopefully it will be a lot easier when all the cords are gone and when she is cleared to even lay on her sides.

Deegan came to spend the day Tuesday afternoon. We were SUPER excited to see him. We ate lunch with him then he just wanted to play on the escalators and elevators and watch LifeFlight come and go. Of course he was more excited to see his dad and did not want anything to with me. That is until I told him goodbye so I could go feed Ally... little stinker! Deegan and Ally have not met yet. We have talked about him coming to see her, but there are a lot of kids here with RSV and we just don't want to get him sick or Ally sick. He has seen pictures of her and he just gets a big grin on his face. Ally even got Deegan the movie Cars for his birthday. She was so nice to bring that to him! :) He was so excited about that.  Colby went home Tuesday night to spend some time with Deegan.  He was starting to get a homesick. They had a great time watching Cars and playing.  Wednesday was a busy day. Ally had a ultrasound of her head, bladder, and kidneys and later a chest x-ray. Between all that and doctors stopping by and me trying to get checked out, it was crazy. Luckily, I had my mom and sister to help so I didn't miss any of the doctors.

Colby came back Wednesday afternoon a little refreshed. We stayed in Ally's room that night and we thought we would get a little bit of sleep, but Ally had a bad night. She had to be put on oxygen. So the next morning our "team" (these are the middle guys of all her doctors) came to talk with us. They wanted to get her tested for RSV and other repository viruses. Also her blood culture came back with a bacteria in it so they had put her on antibiotics since they day she was born and now they thought they were getting worse. We were so upset that all of this was happening after we had just had great results from all her other tests. So Thursday was a long day of waiting for results. they finally came in and told us that everything from her tests turned out great. she was taken off oxygen and watched closely and she also able to get rid of all her antibiotics, which also meant she did not have to have to have an IV in. One less cord to work around! They were still a little worried about her oxygen so they were going to watch it over night and see what happened. She had been fine all day and not needed any, but as soon as Colby and I were getting ready to leave to catch a few hours of sleep, she started doing it again. They watched her and we even put her on her side to see if it would change. It was decided that it was not a issue since it would not stay down it would just dip a little and come back up.  Also since she is always on her stomach its hard to push her lungs all the way out to take deep breaths. This made us relax and feel so much better.

We got into the Ronald Mcdonald house last night. We are so thankful for all the people that put this program together.  Families are going through such difficult things with their children at this hospital, and to have a home away from home at a low cost is wonderful.  The organization and all the sponsors that fund this, are truly amazing people.  I have no idea who they are, or where they come from, but I get teared up writing about them.  So thank you whoever you are.   We made it to our room late last night, but it was nice to catch a couple of hours of sleep. Now we are back with Ally waiting for all her doctors to stop by and visit and see how she is doing. They are talking about sending us home on Saturday. but it still unclear. The only thing holding us back right now is her back. Her opening was bigger than they had thought, so the bottom part might not stay closed. There is nothing they can do about it at this time but sit and wait. If it does come apart, it should only be a spot the size of a half dollar at the bottom of her back, and only the top layer. So the plastic surgeon will have to go back in and fix it.. All we can do now is pray that it heals correctly and she wont have to go through another surgery.  

We are ready to go home and have all four of us together. We have missed Deegan so much. I know he is having lots of fun with his cousins, aunts, and grandma and grandpa. They send us pictures and just seeing his happy face makes us feel good but also makes us want to go home and be with him. He is coming down today so we can take him and play.  We cannot wait!!

We are so grateful to all of our families and friends for all their help, love, and prayers.  It has been amazing to have people from all areas of our community tell us they are thinking of us and that their families are praying for miss Ally.  We are truly grateful for each and every one of you.  And we know without a doubt, that your prayers are being heard and answered.  We are seeing those blessings showered upon our beautiful girl.  God bless you all.  We love you! 

When we got into our room last night, there was a quote on the wall that said... "Promise me that you will always remember: You are BRAVER than you believe, STRONGER than you seem, and SMARTER than you think."  I cannot wait to tell this to Ally as she grows up facing the trials and tribulations that she will.   She has shown us strength, courage, and so much love in her short life.  She is a true miracle and blessing.