The Mitchells: 15th of the Month

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

15th of the Month

Thought it might be interesting to see Ella on the 15th of the Month for the last 4 months....here they are in order:

May 15th, in the NICU...5 days after she was born, but 4 days since she got sick. it's amazing how far we have come from having to look at our daughter in this way.

June 15th... Here she is after she'd been home for about a week.

July 15th:w/ Great Aunt Carole after a bath. Looking good w/ those baby blues open.

August 15th...here she is with her daddy...just sleeping and hanging out after a night of laughter and cooing...God is so good to us!!

3 comments:

Christi said...: Really cool idea. It is wonderful to see her progression!

Christi; 9:42 AM
Chris Moore said...: Joe and Andrea,
I just wanted to say thanks for the picture you sent. I'm excited for you and this great news!

Chris Moore; 2:57 PM
Anonymous said...: She is so beautiful. I can't wait to see my niece. Tell her, her uncle is in China having a dress made for her, and tell her, I love her. And she will soon have a second aunt who will love her.
Josh; 3:18 AM

Post a Comment

Ella's Story

Elizabeth "Ella" Hope Mitchell was born on May 10, 2006 at 3:45pm...by 5am the following morning the whole world turned upside down. The doctors came in to inform us that while Ella had been resting in the Newborn Nursery, she began to have irregular breathing and seizures. It was touch and go for the next 3 days. We were told several times that she probably would not make it alive through the ordeal. She had contracted Group Beta Strep which had resulted in meningitis. Due to the seizures and the infection we had no idea what the long-term effects would be. After Ella spent a long and trying month in the NICU we came home to see where the effects of her illness had left us all.

A few months later, almost a year, we had an official long-term diagnosis...Ella has Cerebral Palsy. She is a happy and loving child. She struggles with physical delays, cognitive delays and all sorts of things that have come and go.

2-eye surgeries to correct lazy eye
3-EEG's to check for siezures
5-MRI/MRV/MRA to check actual brain damage
3-CT scans for brain stuff
1-G-button/feeding tube surgically put in (and then Ella removed herself)
10 (approx)-Swallow Studies
1-Scoliosis Study
2-Kidney Reflux tests
2-Upper GI tests
1-24 hr reflux test
8-hearing tests
countless UTI tests
seemingly a million developmental tests
a hand splint
bath chair
adaptive stroller/wheelchair
stander
gait trainer
AFO's

ha, not to mention all of the therapist...currently: OT 2X/week, PT 3X/week (2 land, 1 horse), ST 3X/week (2 oral motor, 1 speech), develomental 1X/week, vision 2x/month, and we are about to start ACCDAT camp.

As of 4/8/2009.