Sample t-shirt

We got our initial t-shirt order in and our supplier, "A Personal Stitch", got us a sample today. The t-shirts are exactly as I pictured. Yay!

Just a little more detail on the t-shirts now that we've decided on the actual shirts. They're Hanes, 100% cotton, tagless t-shirts.

Here's a close-up of the logo on an actual t-shirt.

This first order is scheduled for delivery on Monday (10/5). Order yours today!

--
Sent from my mobile device

The lottery you don't want to win

Ella Kate has been discharged from the Children's Hospital today. Yay! Yet, as always, good news for Ella is almost always tempered with something less positive.

The bacteria cultures came back today and showed that the bacteria from the UTI that hospitalized her less than two weeks ago was not the same bacteria as what brought us back this time. In fact, the bacteria she had this time is an extremely virulent type that responds to only two different antibiotics. The good news? One of the two antibiotics that this particular bacteria responds to is the one the hospital started her on yesterday. Yay!

Dr. Campbell, the urologist not the cardiologist, finally stopped by to see Ella today and declared her able to go home, but said he because she got this strain of bacteria he expects to see her back again within a couple of months and that if that happens he will definitely recommend we proceed with the surgery at that time. We're hoping for the best and that this course of antibiotics and the new one they've prescribed as a prophylactic will keep her happy and healthy enough to get through the year, but he's not holding his breath.

It's her smile that helps. She's such a good natured baby. The nurses and staff at Children's Hospital were happy Ella was able to go home today, but were also sad to see her go. She brightens up every room she's in.

So it's back home we go. Back to having our whole family under one roof. Back to hoping we can keep our beautiful little girl healthy for as long as possible.

--
Sent from my mobile device

It's official we're in the hospital AGAIN

Ella's been re-admitted to Children's Hospital for her fourth time in her short five months of life (she actually got the same room we just left nine days ago). The UTI from last week either never fully cleared up or has represented. Urology has been contacted for consultation to determine if we're going to try to treat with antibiotics again or if now it's time for surgery.

As long as her fever's under control, Ella seems happy and unaware of anything being out of the ordinary. I, on the other hand, am working on not being angry and bitter about Ella having to go through all of this still/again. If you're following me on twitter or Facebook, you'll see my ranting.

We'll keep everyone posted on new developments. Thanks for your love and support.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Heading back to Children's

Ella's fever spiked to 103.3 so we are heading back to Children's Hospital. We gave her tylenol and it went down a little but not much. Please pray its something simple and not another UTI...that could be bad news for us. We will keep everyone posted and have our phones on us. Little Ella doesn't deserve this.

Keep your fingers crossed

Ella has a fever again this morning. 101.2. We've given her a small dose of Tylenol and are going to monitor her, but we're probably going to end up at Children's Hospital again tonight.

In the meantime, we're trying enjoy the beauty places only like Colorado have to offer. We're headed up to Mt Evans for some fresh air, a nice walk near Echo Lake and to see the aspen trees turning. Hopefully, Ella's fever will abate and we won't have to spend another evening at Children's Hospital.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Buy Now Button Update

Looks like I've got the button updated to handle shipping correctly now. If you are ordering from somewhere in Colorado, there is no shipping fee (we'll hand deliver it to you), but anywhere else in the lower 48 will cost $2 per t-shirt. Don't forget if you order through PayPal, although tax is included in the cost of the t-shirt, we're using the tax function of PayPal to offset the 2.9% + 30¢ PayPal charges per transaction.

We had hoped checks could be made out to "ellafan fund" but the banks are being a pain in the a$$ about that. So, until we work that out, if you're going to pay by check, please make checks out to Ella directly and we'll be able to submit them to our account on her behalf.

Thanks again to everyone for your support.

So grateful!

I just want to take a moment to thank everyone that has either purchased a t-shirt through the buttons on the left here or made a donation. Your love and willingness to help us support our darling baby girl means the world to us.

Just a couple of quick comments about those buttons on the left.

I have a personal business account with PayPal (got the debit card and everything), but that means that to receive money, especially through buttons like those on the left, PayPal charges us a nominal fee of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction. So, the $16 for local orders or $18 for out-of-state orders does include tax, but the 2.9% "tax" the form shows when you order is to help cover that transaction fee.

Also, for some reason, if you are ordering just one shirt it's charging you a $2 shipping fee on top of the $18 (which was different from the $16 local fee to cover shipping). I understand that sometimes just making the effort to purchase the shirt to begin with was a stretch on your budget and we don't want to take advantage of your generosity. So, accordingly, if you would like us to refund that extra $2 we will gladly do so. Just let me know here or in response to the e-mail we're sending everyone affected.

Thanks again everyone. Your support means the world to Amanda and me and Ella.

Have I got a story to tell you!

Hi there. My name is Ella Katherine. I was born on April 26, 2009, coming 6 weeks early after deciding I was done staying in Mommy's tummy. When I was 3 days old, Mommy and I were getting ready to go home when a Doctor noticed I had really weak femoral pulses, so decided to be safe and got a scan. It turned out that I had a problem with my heart, called Coarctation of the Aorta. That same day Mommy and I got to ride in a cool ambulance across town to Children's Hospital. When we got there, we talked to a lot of Doctors, who told Mommy and Daddy I needed surgery really fast to fix my heart. The next day I went to sleep and the doctors made my heart work better.

I got to stay in a really cool room in the NICU for almost a whole month. Before the doctors fixed my heart, bloodflow to my lower body was slow, so I got what is called necrosis in my bowels, so I didn't get to eat for two whole weeks! Finally, I got to go home for the first time. I loved being with my 2 brothers, Jack and Josh. Then a couple of weeks later, Mommy and my Aunt Beth noticed my heart scar looked red. I went to the Doctor and I had stitches that were supposed to dissolve but didn't. So the doctor pulled one out. I went home, but still didn't feel good. Mommy took me back to the hospital the next day. Turns out I had developed a pretty bad staph infection in my wound. They had to put me to sleep again and get the rest of the stitches out and redo my scar. I stayed in the hospital again for another week. I missed my bed and my brothers. We finally got to go home!

Just last week I started feeling bad and running a high fever. Mommy took me to the Doctor and he couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. We went back to the hospital and they did a bunch of tests on me. I had a urinary tract infection, but the doctors thought something else was wrong. They did more tests and found out my bladder wasn't working right. I have what is called VUR. It is a reflux disease where my bladder pushes my peepee back into my kidneys. I have level 4 to 5, which is the worst kind to have. My kidneys can get really sick if I don't get my bladder fixed. The doctors wanted to wait a little while before doing my surgery so I can get bigger and hopefully a lot healthier. Sometime next year I will probably have my surgery to repair my bladder and kidneys. I know the doctors will take good care of me. Please ask God to keep me safe and let me grow big and strong so I can play with my brothers...
they are so much fun!