Nicely settled in at the Children's Recovery Center...

It actually happened!! The EMT's arrived to Mia's bedside around 10:20am and we were on the road around 11am! I was so glad that Peggy was able to be the nurse to go with Mia - they know each other very well! =)
(EMT guys, Peggy, transport resident, me, and the transport RT.)
The CRC is very nice and the staff are all so sweet and the kids are adorable! Mia has a roommate - Sophia. She's 18 months old and loves to smile! Her former 2 year old roommate loved SpongeBob, so now Sophia gets so excited when she hears the theme song! She was watching it this afternoon when Mercedes came to visit Mia, so Cedes was a little distracted! =) It's so cute seeing Mercedes with Mia... she walks in and uses the sweetest voice and says "Awww, baby Mia Amornay is so dute!!" (Her "c"'s are "d"'s)
(Mercedes is reaching through the tubes to hold Mia's hand.)
Back to yesterday... I drove up right before Mia did and there were my parents, sister and Mercedes waiting for her arrival along with a dear old friend, Kerry, who couldn't miss this big event!! It was such a sweet surprise to see her!! I don't even remember how many years it's been!

Mia is transitioning pretty well. Today her Co2 was pretty high, so she was knocked out for the morning until they put the Co2 monitor on. They got it down to the 40's and then she was much more alert. It was so cute... when I came in to visit this morning, it was time for the kids to socialize with everybody, so all the kids were in the hallway either in highchairs, on the floor with toys, in swings/bouncey seats.... and there was Mia!! She was so ADORABLE in her little bouncey seat!!

Today was the first time that I actually felt like I had two daughters. It was a different feeling! I've really only been a mother to them one at a time, but this time they were together! It was really nice! =) Seeing them side by side, I now see that they DO resemble each other!

Today Mia got lots of visitors! Papa and Grandma Adamis, Great-Grandma Marion, Uncle Beau (my brother Robert), Auntie Jen, Nana, Mercedes and Auntie Nae! =) Mercedes and I were able to go out for lunch with my in-laws to a great Mexican restaurant, so that was great! =)

Tomorrow Robert arrives for the weekend to see us and we're also going away for a day for our wedding anniversary! It's been 5 weeks since he's seen us girls, so it's definitely going to be nice! Mia has changed so much and is doing many more things now - even Mercedes is talking SO much more! Some of the words she says amazes me because I've hardly seen her these past 16 weeks! I think we're going to take Mercedes mini-golfing tomorrow night. She's never been and I've never gone with Robert, either! So that'll be lots of fun. =)

Well, I wanted to be asleep 2 hours ago, so I need to get to bed. Some of the pictures I wanted to add need to be rotated and the computer isn't letting me do that now, so I'll have to add them later on.

Continue praying for Mia!

With love,
Rachael <3 style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdt9MjDiAyycStIJjEt9LdypzB7dDQkPIYr4ut-PrI3K3ej_VPe2I9V39YW_4_mugjmyHnn0ZL_5w8JTRxkZC3UC6lXurhyphenhyphentelyc4Vdr_69DgSeuFl-RaYFTxkDqR7fhKX6qa2gh43CPg/s320/CIMG8918.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340763462571771570" border="0">

About 12 more hours!

Hi everyone,

What a wonderful trip my sister Renee and I had at Spirit West Coast Del Mar!! I'm so glad she was able to get the time off work - we hadn't spent this much time time together (just the two of us) in about 6 years! We were able to split our travel down to San Diego and spend the night with our cousin and his family in Azusa. He's one of the main guys in the theatrical department of Azusa Pacific University and he took Renee and I to the show he products - Once Upon A Mattress (the princess and the pea). It was hilarious!! We had a great time!

We met up with the group from the Nellis AFB Chapel down at SWC on Friday afternoon - it was so nice seeing several of my dear friends again!! I also knew several others who were there and got to know several that I had never met before. It was a good group - around 30 of us made it! One of my friends, Sierra, and her family was there. Their youngest baby girl is just 2 weeks older than Mia, so it was so nice to get my baby cuddle time in!! =)

One of the highlights for me was hearing Nick Vujicic speak. What an amazing man!! I believe he said he's 26 years old - and he was born without arms or legs. His ministry is called Life Without Limbs. I would encourage you to search for him on YouTube and listen to him - he has such a great heart and a great sense of humor, too! I was able to talk with his cousin who was there and share with her how Nick's message touched my heart. I told her briefly about Mia and her situation and she was just so sweet! She said that she and Nick will be praying for Mia. =) I bought Mia a little t-shirt that says "Nick Says I'm Beautiful" on the front and on the back it says "Jesus Says I'm Beautiful"! One of these days, my beautiful Mia will be running around wearing this adorable shirt!!

Tomorrow's the day!!! Mia is FINALLY, after 10 weeks, being transfered to the Children's Recovery Center at 10:00am! We are so grateful for the 10 weeks that we were at Sunrise Children's Hospital in Vegas, and the 6 weeks here at Children's Hospital in Oakland. The care and both places have been excellent! Just as we miss the nurses we've become friends with in Vegas, I'm going to miss my new friends here at Oakland! I'm very excited that Peggy will be joining Mia in the ambulance tomorrow! She's one of my very favorite day nurses! =)

My baby's becoming a little chunky monkey! I can tell she's gained weight since Thursday just by looking at her!! I asked the nurse how much Mia weighs and I was right - she's gained 9 ounces! She's about a half-ounce shy of 11lbs now! =) She's so sqeezable! I love it!

I must get some sleep now - thank you all so much for your love, support and prayers!

Blessed,
Rachael <3
(I'll add pictures to this blog tomorrow)

Dear friends and family, It's been a while since I've updated the blog. It's now been close to a month since I have seen Mia, Mercedes and Rachael. I can't say it has been a very pleasant time for me as I'm pretty much just focusing on work and trying to get moved. It's been pretty hard coming home to an empty house every night and wishing that I was somewhere else. However... all is not lost, there has been some good news these past couple of days!

The first good news is that the Recovery Center, Tri-Care and Medi-Cal were able to come up with a plan! In fact they were actually going to try to move Mia today but I decided it would be best to wait for Rachael to get back from her trip so Mia will be moved on Tuesday. We are very excited that Mia will finally be closer to where Rachael and Mercedes are. This will also be good for Rachael because now she can come up with some consistency in her routine.

On the job front things are still moving along. Nothing definite has come out yet but the rumors are that an ROTC instructor job at Sacramento State is the most likely spot that I will be moved to. The time frame is up in the air but we are hoping that I will be moving within a month or two. All of this depends on me getting orders so things could very well change on us. I am definitly going to miss working at my current job the 53rd TMG, DET 4. My co-workers have been very supportive and my boss has really been taking care of me. I'm going to be sad to be leaving a work environment that I was so happy to be at.

Well, to change things up a little... You probably heard from Rachael that I went backpacking a couple of weekends ago. I try to go every summer to get out into the mountains and see God's creation. There is nothing like falling asleep listening to the sound of a rushing stream just a few hundred feet away... So my two co-workers Christian and Matt as well as my old college roommate Chris and I headed to the Los Angeles National Forest for a 3 day backpacking trip. I will spare all of the details and just leave you all with a couple of picture from the trip.

Thanks again for all of your prayer and support.

Robert

Just to fill you all in...

Not to much to update. We did get some details about what happened last week, though. I'm not sure if I even wrote about that.

Last week, we got an email saying that the Children's Recovery Center was certified, only to find out that it was the wrong certification/authorization the following day. Yesterday we got more details about it (but probably not all the details). It came down to dollars and cents - Marla told Tricare how much the care would be a day and the insurance company gave a low-ball counter offer of what they'd pay and Marla just couldn't accept it.

Marla has had so much trouble with Tricare in the past and knew this wouldn't be any easier this time. We did sign Mia up in Medi-Cal (as much as we hated to do that), so that's typically a 30-60 day wait to find out of she's been accepted. They said they know she will be, so they're going to see if they can do retro-active payments so they can get Mia moved in to the CRC sooner.

I'm going to Spirit West Coast Del Mar this weekend (in San Diego), so we're hoping she doesn't get moved while I'm away because that'll cause a few more problems!!

Keep all the details in your prayers!

On another note, Robert submitted his application to teach ROTC at Sacramento, so we're waiting to see if he'll be accepted there, too. If not, we know God has something better in store for us. =)

Take care!

Rachael <3

"In other news this hour...." heehee

I'm trying to find a new home for my little bunny! As much as love him, I don't have the time to give him the attention he needs and deserves.

He's been at my parents' home in San Jose, so this is for you locals...

When I got him, we thought he was a she, so he has a funny name ... Mindy! Just last year, we found out he's a boy, but I never changed his name. haha

Anyway... he's adorable and loving, but he doesn't get much attention at all anymore, so it's best for him to have a new home.

He's a Netherland Dwarf bunny
He's about 6 years old (I think I got him in Jan. 2003)
He weighs about 2-3 pounds
He's about 10-12 inches in length (about the size of a large box of Kleenex)
He's cute and small and so cuddly!
He's got the cutest white stripe going up his face!
He's got the prettiest blue eyes, too!

We'll give his cage and belongings as well as his food, though his cage does need to get replaced.

Pass this along to your friends in the area, too!

If you're interested, email me at rachaeladamis@yahoo.com

Thanks! =)

Rachael

Just promise you're not going to make rabbit stew, or anything mean like that!! :-P

We're getting closer!

Hi all,

Just thought I'd let you know that we've been waiting for authorizations for Mia to be moved to the Recovery Center and so they can care for her there. Since the facility isn't an approved place, it takes some time to get things squared away. We just got word today that CRC has been certified, so now I guess we're waiting for the Medical Director to see if Mia does need to have that specialty care. So we're a step closer! They're saying that a realistic time frame for Mia to be transported will be next week.

Keep praying!

Rachael <3

When the cat is away.... nothing gets done!

We don't know if all of this is because our insurance case manager is on vacation or not, but it's been such a hassle trying to get authorization for Mia to get transferred!! Before, they said to give them 24 hours to get it all set up, but now they're saying maybe by the weekend they can have the authorizations for us. We'll see!! Marla said the bed is still ours, which is great, so now it's just a matter of time - hopefully it doesn't take too much longer!! We're in a good place, though - Children's Hospital Oakland is great and I basically know everybody who's been taking care of Mia now, so we can't complain! The drive is tiresome at times, but can't complain about that, either. =)

Two nights ago when I called to see how Mia was doing, I was talking to the nurse and I could hear that she was with another baby - possibly feeding little Devin "next door" because there was a lot of grunting going on, but when I asked to see how Mia was doing, nurse Linda said "Well, that's her talking!" I have big eyes, but they must have gotten HUGE because I was completely shocked when I heard it was MIA making all that noise!! She has a little bit of an airleak still, so she was breathing hard enough so air was going past the trach onto her vocal cords so she could make the noise! Linda was holding Mia on her lap so they were facing each other, so they were just chattin' away! =) After I got off the phone, I texted Robert with the number and told him to call to hear Mia, too... he couldn't believe it, either!! =)

I asked one of my dear friends who's a doctor what the cerebellum controls and he said it's basically movements of the arms and legs, motor skills, etc... The MRI that was taken when she was about 3 days old showed that her cerebellum (the back lower part of the brain) is underdeveloped. As most of you know, Mia didn't make any movements or open her eyes for the first 2-3 weeks. You should see her now!!! She's moving so much! Yesterday she did something that I had never seen her do before... She was laying on her right side and she lifted her head so she was looking at the ceiling, then she brought it around to the left side and kept it there for for about 2 minutes! That takes a great deal of neck strength! I'm so glad she's getting stronger! I'm attaching a video so you can see how's she moving now. It's just one arm because she's laying on the other one, but it's still cute! She wasn't moving like this just 3 weeks ago, so it's exciting stuff!!

The sound isn't very loud, but if you can, listen to what Renee says as well as looking at Mia... it's so cute what she does!! =)

I'm going to enclose some pictures from Mother's Day... =) I dressed Mia in a dress for the very first time! She looked so cute. I couldn't just let my baby wear jammies for Mother's Day! Enjoy!