Livy's unexpected hospital stay

      Well, as you all know Livy has been on the Inderal for about 3 wks for her bump.  She has been doing great on the medication up until now and her bump had reduced in size by at least 50%.   We planned on going on a camp-out with my family and we even rented a trailer, but plans changed when Livy started having a little cough (croup like) and maybe a slight runny nose.  I called the doctor and told him, but he said it was most likely upper airway problem and to just watch her.  The day before we were to leave, I gave her the Inderal and put her down for her nap.  When she woke up something was not normal and I could tell she was struggling breathing.  She was acting a little lethargic, breathing fast, and also getting retractions in her chest (which is where her ribs cave in to help compensate for her lung restriction).  I gave her multiple breathings treatment that morning and each one did almost nothing.  Within an hour her breathing got pretty bad and I ended up in the car in tears rushing her to her doctor.
      My friend Holly, who works there at the clinic, took one look at her and got her back without even signing in.  At this point, we could see the retractions through her clothes.  They gave her a breathing treatment there, but decided they wanted to admit her to the hospital because the Inderal, which was in her system was restricting her lungs and was prohibiting the breathing treatments from working.  She was admitted to the same floor as before to be observed and have steroid therapy.  I guess the mixture of her asthma, the medication, and then a cold on top was too much for her little body to handle.  They did an IV to give her steroids and did breathing treatments every 2 hrs, even through the night.  She ended up with oxygen, because her saturation level dropped to a low of 82%, which it should be in the high 90's.
      It was very difficult for me to see her in the hospital going through so much and I could not help feel guilt for it.  I understand I did the right thing, but as a nurse I feel like I should be able to fix everything that happens to her.  She is my girl and I want her to never have to feel any pain, but of course I can't stop the inevitable...she is going to get sick, she is going to go through trials.
      After about 48 hrs, her oxygen finally started rising and she was improving.  I was exhausted physically and emotionally from a weekend of work to 2 days of this hospital stay with Livy.  We were finally able to get  our munchkin home and have her sleep in her own bed.  She was so happy to be home and especially in her bed, when we laid her down she spent at least 10 mins just rubbing her hand across her soft sheets and didn't make a sound.  Here are some pictures from the hospital:
  

      Livy loves her grandma and grandpa and it was so nice for them to come see her and make her smile.  Grandma even bought her this adorable little giraffe, who we can "Jane, the giraffe" Livy loves it!

    

      We have decided to take her off the Inderal for the winter and both feel like her breathing status is much more important right now.  Her bump is starting to grow back, but at a much more slow pace and is definitely not as big of a risk for bleeding as it was before.  We love Livy more than words can describe and we are glad she is doing better and in our home to recover. This experience was tough for us, but overall we know this is what parenthood is all about...Living and learning! 

I love to Bake!

      Since Livy has been sick and I have needed to stay in a little more I have found a love for cooking.  I  especially love baking pastries/sweets.  Someday I would love to own a little chocolate/treat shop, but for now I am just enjoying making them and perfecting all the recipes.  Here are some holiday goodies I have done the past couple of weeks:

Yummy.... Chocolate cupcakes with cocoa buttercream frosting and a touch of sprinkles on top

      This may look like ordinary banana bread, but I promise it is not.  I have been on a banana bread kick lately and I have gotten stomach aches from downing almost a whole loaf in one sitting.  This recipe is simple, but has a very warm and sweet flavor that is unforgettable!

      Who can pass up doing carameled apples for halloween? I can't, I have made this a tradition at my house and have added a few twists to it.  I have always loved plain carameled apples, but I have enjoyed fixing them up even more.  I used a creamy caramel as the first coat, then dipped it in gourmet white/milk chocolate, coated them with my favorite candy bar and then finished them off with drizzles of the white/milk chocolate. 

      I am taking a cake decorating class from UVU and have enjoyed getting out once a week and being free.  No offense to Livy, I just need me time sometimes and this has been the perfect thing.  I am learning about fondant, icing, layering, flowers and all around how to succeed with cakes.  So far I have done 2 cakes and look forward to the many more ones to come. Here is the first cake after the first class:

      The 2nd cake I made was for my sisters birthdays.  I wanted to push myself so I did a 2 layer cake with fondant flowers. The bottom layer was 12 '' followed by an 8 '' on top.  I did a rich chocolate cake with honey chocolate mousse Icing with fondant flowers and pink buttercream frosting to add some color.  I wanted it to be very tasty and fondant tends to look amazing, but not tasty so I used mousse frosting over the entire cake.