CDH "Oakley Elissa - Mae Irvin" God Blessed us with a Miracle.

Update in pictures May 2011!!

2011-05-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

Oakley playing in the dirt at the baseball field

Oakley throwing mommy a kiss

Watching Big Brother Christopher play baseball

It sure is hot out here

another day watching Christopher play baseball

Watching Peyton play baseball, Go Peyt!!

Go Peyt!!

Nothing like cooling off with a dirt bath!

Oakley's first Pony ride

Playing with my baby

I Love you this much!!

Easter 2011

We have gone a whole month with no antibiotics and Oakley is doing great. After being on them from October til mid April it is a relief to finally have her all well. She is growing and learning so much. She can say and identify her ABC's ,count from 1-10 and we are working on writing her name. She loves to dance,sing, color, watch Dora, watch her brothers play baseball and putting puzzles together. She is saying so much that it is hard to write it down. We are so Blessed to have Oakley in our lives!!

Oakley turns 2!!

2011-02-18T21:27:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Oakley's 2nd Birthday Saturday Febuary 12th. Many family and friends came to
help us celebrate, the wonderful gift that God has blessed us with. I ask Oakley Saturday, if she
know it was her Birthday. She said " yes, me Oakley eat Bell cake". Oakley loves Tinker Bell and
even thinks that she is a fairy and when not a fairy she is a princess. She refers to herself as "ME Oakley".
The Fairy Cake turned out great and Oakley even enjoyed eating it.

At the party Oakley found some flowers, that had been left over from a wedding. She kept taking the flower around to everyone wanting them to smell it. Ummmm smell so good, she would say. Her favorite gifts had to be a Tutu, from her Uncle Matt and Aunt Kim and then princess dress up shoes from her aunt DeeDee.

Oakley has worn the Tutu and the Dress up shoes everyday.

On another note we went back to Egleston for Oakey's annual check up with her surgeon. The x-rays she that Oakley has a weak spot on her Diaphram. Dr. Bhatia said the the weak spot has always been there. when she went back an looked at Oakley's previous x-rays. Dr. Bhatia, also told us that the weak spot is causing a bulg, which is a sign that Oakley is trying to reherniate. This was not at all what Brian and I wanted to hear. We also have always known the there is/will be a chance of reherination. All we can do is pray that God will continue to watch over our sweet little girl.

Oakley, is doing an learning so much. She loves the book" Brown Bear Brown Bear". She actually helps me read it. This book has been a wonderful source, for helping teach Oakley her colors.
When I ask, Oakley how old are you? She say, "Me,Oakley 2". She is saying so much that it is hard to keep up with everything. I keep telling myself that I am going to write it down as she does it so that I don't forget anything. I just don't have time. Between Oakley and her 3 brothers there is no time for writing down every little thing.
Here is a cute Oakley funny, last Sunday she took her baby doll to church with her, during the service Oakley looked at me and said mommy, real quite and put her finger to her mouth and said shhhh. Then very loud she said "BABY CRY, BABY CRY" I looked at her and said shhhh, she shhhhh me back and then very loudly once again said "BABY CRY, BABY CRY." Mommy ended up taking Oakley and her crying baby out of the service.
Here are a few of her favorite things to play with, She loves to play with her doll house, she loves to dance to any beat of music, she loves playing with her kitchen and setting her own little dinner table. Loves playing with her dolls, loves putting puzzels together and reading books.

The weather has been beautiful here this week. We have been able to get outside and play some.

Today is was 74 degress out so Oakley and I got lots of playing time in. The Johnnyquils and Camillas are

blooming in our yard and Oakley found them today. She loves flowers, she went over and picked a Johnnyquil and brought it to me. She first smelled it, then said "look mommy flower, yellow". She is so smart and such a joy. I also realize that I may not have very many flowers, this year.

Blessed to have such a wonderful 2 year old.

Love Sheree (Oakley's mommy)

1 month away from being 2!!

2011-01-13T16:37:00.000-08:00

Oakley is now 23 months. Only 1 month away from being a 2 year old. It is so hard for me to believe that it has been 2 years since we welcomed her into our lives.

Our family had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. This had to be the best Christmas ever for our family. Watching Oakley and seeing the joys of Christmas while still knowing the true meaning of the season was such a Blessing for us.

It has been a quiet few months at our house, which was a much needed time for the boys to rest. They have all been so busy with school and sports that they needed some down time.

Baseball starts back up in just a few weeks and we are ready!!

Oakley is talking in sentences using 4-6 word phrases. She is so funny. She got a small Leap frog lap top for Christmas. The other night I was on my Laptop and she got her toy one and came an sit beside me. She looked at me very serious and said "Mommy, here you use mine. I use that one!" She loves for us to pull up
Disney World on the computer and let her see Tinker Bell flying from the castle. She loves Tinker Bell. She actually thinks that she is Tinker Bell. Brian ask her the other day if she was his baby doll and she told him "No I'm your Bell"! We are hoping to take her to Disney World soon. It will all depend on weither we get a spring break or not. We have been out of school all week with 9 inches of snow. The boys had fun it it the first two days and then had enough of it. The old saying is if it lays on the ground for more than 3 days it is waiting on more. I really hope not, this has been plenty.

Oakley, is singing her ABC's, matching colors, counting, coloring, writing or scribbling. She is just doing and saying so much that I can never remember everything. Her favorite thing is music, it doesn't matter what kind of music just music. She loves to dance and is always stoping to dance if she hears music.

She loves our dog Jake, she will come to him and say come on Jake lets play and take off running. He is old so he doesn't chase her but she would love for him to.

Oakley got her 4th synagis this week. The last 2 months she has broken my heart, when Nurse Fran comes in to give her the shot, Oakley will grab hold of me and start crying saying "NO Mommy No"! I know that the shots are for her health but boy does it just kill me. . She came to me this morning and told me "mommy leg don't hurt anymore" and took off running. I thought to myself only one more to go.

We will return to Eagleston on Feb. 11 for Oakley's 2 year check up. I always look forward to these trips because I know that we are returning with a Miracle. We are one of the lucky families that do get to go back.

We are BLESSED!!
Love, Sheree-Oakley's mommy

2010-12-05T13:32:00.000-08:00

Since my last post we have been very busy, yet that is nothing new for our busy family.
Oakley is doing great now, she had a fight with the flu and pneomonia over the Thanksgiving
Holidays. She is finally starting to act more like herself, which is a huge welcome.
Oakley, is at the fun age this Christmas. She loves Santa so much and loves
Christmas music and dancing to the Christmas music. She loves the Christmas tree or
should I say the ornaments. Our tree is a little top heavy now, everytime Oakley takes an
ornament off I put it back at the top of the tree, so that she can't reach it. Needless to say
there are very few ornaments left on the bottom of our tree.
We took her this weekend to meet Santa. She was a little unsure at first but ended up loving
him. Santa sat down in the floor with Oakley and played. She liked that and gave him a hug before
leaving. Afterward she skipped away saying"Bye HO HO"!!! We also went to the county Christmas
Parade this weekend. Oakley waved and said Merry Christmas to everyone that past by.
Oakley is our 4th child, I don't know that I have ever taken the time to slow down and watch the innocence and joy that this age brings to Christmas. Maybe it is knowing the Miracles that happened that first Christmas and knowing that each day, we have had and will have with Oakley, are an amazing gift and Blessing from God. We are truely Blessed.

Oakley's favorite movie is "Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy rescue".Oakley would watch this
the whole day if she could, over and over.
She is talking and saying so much. My favorite thing that she is doing is, she will come to me or her daddy and say "come on mama/daddy lets play"!! Oakley is so smart and is learning so much so very fast. She already knows her ABC's and their sounds and isn't ever 2 yet. I am amazed at how very smart she is. She loves to color and I love coloring with her. She still loves her brothers. We got to go watch her brother Peyton and his travel ball baseball team. Get Championship rings a few weeks ago. The Georgia Hitters are the #1 team in the state. Oakley loves watching all of her brothers play ball.

Over the last 22 months I have tryed to stay in touch with Sky and Carla. We come to know this amazing family while Oakley and their Joseph were both fighting CDH at Eagelston. Joseph lost his battle to CDH but was such a Warrior. Sky and Carla are expecting a little girl in April. There are no signs of CDH or any other birth defects. Please pray for Sky,Carla, and their family.

From our family to yours, May this Christmas season bring you and your family much happiness and joy.
Love, Brian,Sheree,Auston,Christopher,Peyton and Oakley

A Blessed Fall

2010-10-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have had time to post. Oakley and her brothers are keeping us very busy.
Oakley is now almost 21 months, she is an amazing little girl. Oakley is still in love with her 3 older
brothers, she keeps them busy. She knows that she has all of them wrapped around her fingers.
She is starting to count and learn her ABC's. She loves to be read to and her favorit book is still
"I Love you Stinky Face".
We found out that Oakley was approved by our insurance, to get the Synagis shots again this year. What a Blessing it was when we got the call confiming she would be getting them.

Oakley is talking so much and is able to tell us what she needs/wants. She is so sweet, at night when saying her prayers. She has memorized the main parts and when we get to GOD Bless, she starts saying all the names of our family.
Oakley's favorite movie right now is" Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy rescue". She will bring it to us and say
Bell please. Her favorite saying is "come on play"!
Oakley is still on the small side at 18 lbs and 27 in, she is negative 25 % on the growth chart. Her doctor is
not concerned because she is healthy and there is nothing negative about her.

We know we are Blessed to have such a Miracle in our lives. October 3rd 2008 ,was the day we found out that we would be Blessed with a daughter and that she would come into this world fighting for her life. Today no one would ever know that our Oakley was given only a 20% chance of surving CDH. She has had no complications in the 20 months that we have had her home with us. Every child that survives CDH is a miracle. I know that without in debt that God has held my daughter. He held her when I couldn't and he gave her the breath of life. Our lives are forever changed by our precious gift from above.

We have had a great Fall. Peyton,our youngest son's team, won the championship/mini bowl in Football.Brian coached Peyton's team and did an amazing job. His travel baseball team "The Georgia Hitters" are placed #1 in the state of Georgia.
Christopher, is wrestling on the high school wrestling team. This is new for him but he is doing great and enjoying doing something new. Auston is doing great, he doesn't like sports much but loves his video games.
He is also the #1 brother for Ms. Oakley. She loves her Auldi>

Oakley and Peyton went Trick or treating and were Captain Hook and Tinker Bell, they both had a lot of fun and just adorable.

We are looking forward to the up coming Holiday season and some down time. Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday, I love being with family and friends. We have so much to be Thankful for.

Hope everyone has a great November and Holiday season.

With lots of love,
Sheree Irvin

2010-07-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

Oakley and I decided to have some fun this afternoon or I did anyway. I love taking her picture. Not that I don't love taking pictures of her brothers because I do. They are just at ages that they don't want to take the time for me to torture them. Oakley does seem to love it as much as I do. Today she was dressed in Red, White and Blue and I thought why not, lets go take some pictures.

Oakley is growing so fast. I can't believe that our little Miracle will be 17 months in just 11 more days. She is still small compared to other babies her age. When we went for her 15 month check up the first of June, she weighed 17 lbs 2 oz and was 24 inches tall. Still -10% on the growth chart but Dr. Rosenberry said "you wouldn't know that she had anything more than a hiccup when she was born"! I told him that was GOD and that we are Blessed!!

Fatback tells Oakley all the time that she is such a "GIRLY GIRL" and as you can see from the picture above I do beleive he is right! Even with 3 big brothers I think she will still be a GIRLY GIRL!! She loves all of her brothers so much an they are all wonderful with her.

It has been a very busy summer for our family. Our youngest son Peyton keeps us going with Baseball.

Since the first of June he has been practicing and playing Little League All-Stars. His team finished up the tournament going 4-0. Winning the District Championship! We are so very proud of him. God has Blessed Peyton with a gift to play baseball. I love watching him as does our whole family!

Papaw and Nana were able to make it up to watch 3 of the 4 games! Including the semi-final and the Championship games!! Peyton was so happy that they were there to watch him play baseball. Peyton pitched in 2 different games giving up only a combined 3 runs. His team scored 66 runs in the tournament giving up only 9!! So proud of him and his team!

Oakley was happy to get to spend some time with her Papaw and Nana also!

Peyton thought he was the man, getting to walk Oakley in to one of his games!!

Such a GREAT Big Brother!

Auston got to go visit his Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Peter for a week this month.

This picture was taken the day he came home. Oakley loves her Audy so much.

She loves for him or anyone to read to her, she walks around the house with a book saying "Read me the book". Auston has always been a book worm also, looks like little sis may follow in his footsteps.

Auston also turned 16 this week, wow I am starting to feel really old!!

Christopher or as we call him "Fatback" ( in the middle) has been busy in June also. Everyday he will get out in the yard and hit grounders to Peyton telling him that he is getting him to the next level! So funny. Well Fatback you did it Peyton won District this year!

Fatback loves Football he has been going to weekly summer workouts at his school getting ready for Football season to get here..

Well I know that this has been a long post but I just wanted to let everyone know what our June had been like. I don't know where it has gone it sure has flown by. Hope that everyone is doing well.

Happy Birthday to Babies Kamryn and Brooke, I know that your mommy and daddy are as Blessed as we are to have you.

With love,

Brian and Sheree

Oakley 15 months

2010-05-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

Oakley and her brothers have been keeping us very busy!! Oakley is going every where, into everything and learning so much so fast. It is hard to believe that she is already 15 month old. She has almost mastered all of her animal sounds her favorite one being the dog (woof woof). As soon as she sees a dog she starts going woof woof, so cute. She loves to read, She will get her book with her doll and sit down and read the book to her dool. So CUTE!! She is always following me around with a book for me or her daddy to read to her. She is saying alot of words. Words that she is saying are:
Mama
daddy
gma (grandma)
papa
Auston
Fatback
Peyton
Baba's (for brothers)
bite bite
look
get it
eat
bankie
baba
baby
want that
dog
woof
baa
meow
ball
mow
neigh
no no
quite
out tide (out side)
abc
book (She loves to read)
up
baah (for bath)
hey
bye bye
tank u (thank you)
Amen

I am sure that there is more that I am forgetting.
We are so proud of our CDH miracle she amazes us each and everyday.
My mom cried yesterday when I picked Oakley up, she has been keeping Oakley for us this school year and yesterday was the last day that I had to go to work until August 10th. My mom and dad are going to miss having Oakley every day:( We will be visiting alot this summer:)

Peyton's baseball team finished up the regular season 14-0. Great job GRASSHOPPERS!!! We will start practicing for All-Stars June 5th. We are excited. Oakley does very well at the ball park.
Auston finished up 10 grade and is now a Junior 11th grade. Fatback finished up 7th grade and is now an 8th grader. Peyton is now a 4th grader and finished up 3rd grade with Honor Roll all year. I have worried about Peyton and we really puch him hard because he plays ball at least 4 days a week and when he isn't playing he is practicing.

We hope that everyone has a great Memorial day holiday. Thank you to all the men and women that serve our country and to all those that have.

Love Sheree (Oakley' mom)

Oakley is walking!!

2010-04-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

Oakley started walking about 3 weeks ago. She is now nearly running!!
She has really amazed me at how fast she has gotten in such a short period of time. She is also climbing our stairs, she has been doing this for months, I just keep forgetting to put it in my updates.
We are spending alot of time watching her brothers play baseball right now and she doesn't seem to mind. She really likes seeing all the kids running around. She tells them all HEY! and if they don't say Hey back she just keeps telling them HEY HEY until they finally tell her hey. She started saying PAPA this week and is trying to say Grandma it comes out GMA.
My mom is loving it because she is at least trying to say Grandma. MY dad loves the fact that she is saying PAPA. Both say that Oakley brings them so much joy just having her stay with them during the day. We are very Blessed that my parents are able to keep her so that we don't have to send Oakley to daycare.
Oakley loves to laugh especially at her brothers:) I couldn't even start to say if she has a favorite because she seems to love them all sOOOOOO much!!
I hope that everyone is doing great, we are counting down the days til summer break.

Love to all,
Sheree (Oakley's mom)

Spring is here!!

2010-04-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

The weather here this week has been Beautiful!! We have been able to get outside everyday this week. Oakley loves being out with her brothers and cries when it is time to go back inside. She loves picking my flowers! She goes to each pot picking the blooms off. I showed her how to smell the flowers and not pick them so she has finally started just smelling and not picking. She is amazing each day she is learning so much and each day we are more and more BLESSED to have her.
This time of year is a time of renewal in our lives. For God gave his son
for us and Easter is a reminder of this. I thank God for giving us our daughter and not letting CDH take her from us.
WE PRAY THAT EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU HAVE A BLESSED EASTER!!

HAPPY EASTER!! LOVE SHEREE (OAKLEY'S MOM)

13 months 3 days

2010-03-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

Oakley is 13 months 3 days old. She is doing so much. Her favorit words are uh oh. Anytime she drops something or if someone else does something that she thinks is a no no she will say "uh oh". She is always so happy.
It is like she knows that she is a little Blessing. Oakley took 15 steps across the kitchen floor this week but still hasn't just let go, we know that she can but we are not pushing her. Brian and I know she will walk on her time. She loves being outside we had a few pretty days where we could enjoy the sunshine but then the rain came and the weather turned cold again.
Oakley would stand at the window and cry outtide.
I have been trying to teach Oakley some baby signing.She can do the sign for Thank you and More. I work with special needs children at school and Oakley has amazed me at how fast she has picked up on these in such a short time.
We have weathered the winter without any major sickness, we have faught with the dreaded ear infections and one cold. (Knock on Wood)!!
Oakley had her last RSV shot the end of Feburary so we are trying to stay out of crowed places until after Easter (per doctors orders). We do take Oakley to church every Sunday but our congragation is great they know to admire her from a distance because they know what she has gone through.
We are Blessed that my mom and dad are able to keep Oakley for us. I'm not sure who spoils her more Grandma or Papa.

Christopher and Peyton are playing Spring Baseball, Peyton also plays on a Travel Ball team. His team is ranked #1 in the state of Georgia for their divison "GO HITTERS"!! Christopher got Braces today. I think that he is in a little more pain than he ever thought that he would be.
Auston had them 2 years ago and has really enjoyed aggravating him.
Auston is a sophmore in high school so school work and video games are keeping him busy. All 3 boys love Oakley so much and she will light up the room when she see's any one of them.

Sheree (Oakley's mama)

Oakley's One

2010-02-24T06:29:00.000-08:00

On February 12, Oakley turned one year old. Oakley is doing great with no complications from her CDH. She had her one year check up with her surgeon and everything is fine. She is taking four or five steps at a time now and has great balance. We took her to Baby Land General and she adopted her first Cabbage Patch Baby for her birthday, the doll is bigger than Oakley. Oakley still weighs around 15 pounds and is very petite. Oakley loves all three of her big brothers very much and is very much spoiled by each of them. We have to keep an eye on Oakley at all times, because she is very curious and is into everything. She likes to help her Mommy do laundry as Mommy folds the clothes and puts them in the basket Oakley pulls them out and inspects them. Oakley loves music and loves to dance. We are very blessed and we know this everyday with Oakley. Every morning when she wakes up she has the most beautiful smile on her face, she is the happiest baby that I have ever seen. Sorry we haven't posted more, but finally we did get a new computer yesterday so Sheree can start back keeping everyone posted. We are greatful to each one of you that have prayed for and continue to pray for Oakley, may God bless each one of you.

11 Months Old

2010-01-14T13:09:00.000-08:00

Oakley is now 11 months old and is doing so good. We are enjoying watching her grow so much. She is getting very close to walking. She will hold on to things in the living room and walk around, she does very good, but still hasn't got the nerve to turn loose yet. As far as health Oakley is still doing great, she goes for her 1 year check up next month. She is still very small and petite, but we were told when she was born that she probably always would be. Sorry it has been so long since we updated, but because of our computer crashing at home only able to update this at work when I have time and lately we have been very busy. Hope to have new pictures coming soon. Hope everything is going well with each of you that keep up with Oakley's Blog.

Oakley 9 months of pure Joy!!

2009-11-18T12:23:00.000-08:00

I haven't post in a long time Brian has been trying to do up dates every now and then.
Our home computer is shot and Oakley and her brothers keep me so busy that I just haven't had time.
Today is the first day that I have taken a few minutes to look at all the babies that I have followed for
so long to see how they are thriving. NAYELIA continues to be an inspiration.
I still can't believe that the survival rate is 50% it seems like it should be so much lower. I see so
many sad out comes over the miracles.

It is without a doubt that each day that I wake up I know that we are blessed with a miracle in our lives.
We went for Oakley's 9 month check up last Friday. She only weighs 14 lbs 2 oz she actually dropped off
the growth chart. The pediatrican assured me that she is healthy and not to worry. That she is just
going to be petite. He told me that in all his years he has never seen a CDH baby do as well as our
Oakley. He also said that he hoped that we knew this Holiday season we have a true Miracle.
Oakley is pulling up and starting to cruise around the furniture holding on. She is not crawling but her
brother Peyton never crawled, I don't think he ever walked he just started out running and hasn't stopped yet!
All three boys are such a huge help daily. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving next week.
I promise to try and post some pictures soon.

With Love,
Sheree (Oakley's mom)

8 Month's of pure joy

2009-10-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

Oakley continues to do well, she amazes us each and every single day. She was very hyper this morning playing with her big brothers. She is still very small for her age but this was expected. We estimate that she weighs around 14 pounds, I could be off a little. She enjoys being read to and also loves the TV show sesame street. Our boys love her so much and she loves each one of them and she will just laugh at them when they are playing with her. As far as the CDH we have had no complications since Oakley has been at Home. We still are very thankful to all the Surgeons / Doctors / and Nurses that helped take care of our little miracle and we know that each one of them played their own special part in helping our little girl become healthy. We are very thankful to have our little blessing and never will forget the ordeal that we went through. So always keep faith you never know when you will be blessed.

Brian Irvin
(Oakley's Daddy)

Still Doing Good

2009-09-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

Oakley is now 7 1/2 months old and is doing great. She is around 13 pounds which is small, but the doctors say that she may always be small and petite. She likes to lay on a blanket in the floor and she rolls all over the place trying to get things. She had to go for her 6 month checkup a few weeks ago with her surgeon and everything continues to be fine. We have had little to no complications with our little miracle. We had to attend my Grandfathers funeral this past week and we had many people that just wanted to meet Oakley, because she had been on there prayer list at Grandads church, but they had never met her. We thank God first for our miracle and everyone that said a prayer for our blessed little girl. She is proof that prayers are still answered. Our computer at home crashed so it is very hard for us to keep the blog updated like we should, and we apologize for this. If you are new to our Blog and you are going through the CDH nightmare our hearts are with each of you and we pray that you never give up hope and that you stay close to God and believe in the miracle of prayer. May God bless each one of you and your family.

Love, Brian Irvin

6 months old

2009-08-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

Oakley turned 6 months old today and she is doing great. She is the queen of the house and I think that she knows it. She loves to lay on her stomach, when we lay her in her baby bed she immediately roles to her stomach and then just stares at you. She has been a blessing and we know this and we thank God for all of it. We know that without him none of this would be possible. Oakley continues to amaze us each day at what a wonderful baby she is. Oakley is still very petite and probably always will be, she weighs a little more than 11 pounds now. Oakley is a wonderful sleeper and only cries when it is time to eat. Our family has been blessed and we all know this and will never take our little miracle for granite. We thank each one of you that have read about our child and have prayed for her. We continue to pray each day for any of you that are going through CDH with your child, may God bless each one of you like he has blessed us.

Brian Irvin and Family

5 Month's Old

2009-07-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

Oakley is now 5 months old and is doing great, between Oakley and her three brothers we are staying very busy. Oakley is growing, she is now around 11 pounds and is the happiest baby that you have ever met. She has the most beautiful laugh and the greatest personallity, we have been truly blessed to have such a wonderful daughter. For the people that read our Blog that are going through what we have with CDH, our hearts go out to you. The one thing that you cannot do is give up, we were very lucky with Oakley and blessed that we got through this as easily as we did, but the one thing that never changed was our faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We prayed and prayed everyday, along with friends and family, our church and church's that we don't even know how they new about Oakley prayed for our daughter, and we were blessed with wonderful doctors, but without God, none of this happens and we know this. May God bless each person that reads this, and thank you for your prayers

Sincerely, Brian Irvin and our Family

Happy Father's Day!!

2009-06-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's day to all the wonderful Dad's out there.
Oakley went for her four month check up this past week.
She is now 10lbs 8oz. Oakley's doctor said that she is very
danty and that she will most likely be a very petite
little girl. We are ok with this as long as she is
healthy. She also told me that Oakley is right where
she should be developmental wise except for talking
and that she was above her age for that. Oakley talked
the whole time. She is saying HEY to everyone that
says hey to her. It is sooooo sweet.
Oakley got her second round of shots and this time
it wasn't as bad as it was at 2 months. She didn't
cry near as much so I didn't either. It brakes my
heart to see her hurting.
We are truely blessed to have our little Oakley
she is our piece of heaven along with her 3
awesome brothers.

Peyton's finger healed very nicely (Thanks for all
the prayers and well wishes) and he was
able to pitch in 3 All-Star games. His team
lost in the semi finals but they had a nice
run for the district championship, Peyton
told everyone that the winners better
enjoy it because next year his team was winning.
Peyton would play baseball 24/7. He just
loves the game.

Christopher has started All-star practice
and will start playing July 6th.
Our summer has been very busy this far and
shows now signs of slowing down.

Auston will start an internship at a local
funeral home next week. This is a great
opportunity for him. He has talked about
wanting to be a mortition for years and this
will give him the opportunity to see if it is
really what he wants to do.

Brian and I are loving every moment that we have
with our family. We have been blessed as parents
and thank GOD dailey for our daughter and our 3 sons.

May God continue to Bless you all. I will post some
new pictures soon.

Hard to keep up!!

2009-06-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to keep up with posting on the blog.
Oakley is doing great she is weighing around 9 1/2 pounds.
She is talking (baby talk) alot, she is laughing out loud
everyday and loves to be talked to. She is amazing. She will
be 4 months old on Friday and it doesn't seem like it. Time
sure does fly.

Oakley isn't the only one that has been keeping us busy, now
that school is out our three wonderful boys are keeping us on
our toes. They are wonderful helpers.

Peyton our youngest son is 7 and this is the first year that
he has been eligible for All-Stars in baseball. They announced
the players on June 1st and he was so excited about making the
team. He told me he had waited his whole life for this.

Friday night while at practice Peyton went to the bathroom, the door
is a big metal door with a spring that makes it close really fast.
Well Peyton wasn't able to get his hand out of the way before the
door closed and it cut the end off one of his fingers (only a little
skin held it on). It cut it so bad that you could see the end of the
bone. The doctor told us that if it had been a hair more it would have
been much worse. They were able to stitch the end back on but are unsure
if it will hold. We have to take him Monday to see an Orthopedic surgeon to
make sure the finger is healing. Peyton has done great. He hasn't complained
any. He is only worried about being able to play baseball. Please
keep him in your prayers. He is a tuff little guy.

I will post again soon.

Our Miracle is 3 months old today!

2009-05-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

Oakley turned 3 months old today. We have been blessed
beyond words. Oakley is a Little Miracle and we tell
her this every day. As she grows we will tell her of
all of her CDH Friends that are now Angles in Heaven.
Oakley weighs 8lbs 14oz and is growing so much. We can
really tell that she is getting longer.

This year Mothers Day was the best that I have had in
my 14 years of being Blessed as a mom. I was able to
celebrate with my 3 wonderful sons and my beautiful
daughter. Sunday was also BABY DEDICATION at chruch.
Oakley along with 7 other babies were dedicated to
the Lord and the Church pledged to help guide our
precious babies in the way of the Lord.

We also had the opportunity the Sunday after Easter
to tell Oakley's story to our whole congregation.
I can say that there wasn't a dry eye in our whole
chruch. There is around 500 people each Sunday at
our service and if each of them tell at
least one person about CDH, what a Blessing that
will be.

We continue to pray for the families that we have
met through this journey and we are so greatful
for the friendships we have made.

May God Bless you all

Oakley is 11 weeks old

2009-04-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

Oakley is now 11 weeks old. She has really started coming out
this week. I stopped giving her the reaglan on Monday. So far
she has had no signs of reflux but she is still taking the
Zantac. She is staying awake a lot more and is able to interact
with us. One of the side affects of the reaglan is drowsiness. Oakley
was sleeping 18 hours a day and when she was awake she was eating.
Now she is talking (baby noises) and she laughed out loud for the
first time today.
Oakley is a little spoiled but I tell everyone that she isn't that
she is just LOVED a whole lot, which is very true.
We are so Blessed to have a little girl in our lives to go with
our 3 wonderful boys.
Christopher and Peyton finished CRCT testing this week and Auston
is getting prepared for end of year finals. He will be getting his
learners license this June. It is scarey having a new baby and a teen
age driver all in the same year.
Brian has been having to go out of town on Tuesday for work, It hasn't
been to bad the boys are all great helpers. It is only hard on the
weeks that Christopher or Peyton have ball games.

Warm hugs and Love to everyone. May God Bless you all

Love Sheree

10 weeks 3 days

2009-04-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Oakley is now weighing in at 8lbs and we starting weaning
her off of the reaglan today. Since she has had no
signs of reflux we thought that we would try her off of
it to see if she would be able to go with out it. On the
reaglan she is sleeping around 18 hours aday. She spent
much more time awake with me today. It was nice being able
to play with her more and seeing her beautiful smile.She
is such a wonderful baby.

Last Sunday we were asked to tell Oakley's story at church.
Brian and I were both nervous but when we had finished I don't
think there was a dry eye in the church. Everyone had been
praying for our Oakley but not everyone knew what CDH was.
We are praying that telling 400 people that they will each
tell at least one other and so on.
Our youngest son was saved last Sunday also. So it was another
Blessed day at the Irvin home. God has and continues to Bless us
in so many ways. Our paster made a statement at the end of the
service that I have really thought about all week. He said that
Brian and I could have easily have turned our backs on God and
said how could he have done this to us but instead we turned to
God and ask that he guide us through. I can't imagine how anyone
can get through life without turning to God. He blessed us more
than we will ever deserve with giving us our Little Oakley. God
gets all the Glory for Oakley being here with us today. I thank
him everyday for her and our three wonderful boys.

Christopher and Peyton are both playing baseball and it was a beautiful
weekend for ball. Both boys pitched in their games Saturday and both had
amazing hits. Christophers team walked away with a win and Peyton's team
lost. Both had a wonderful time and that is what matters both.
Auston doesn't play baseball anymore but he likes to keep score for his
brothers.

Please continue to pray for all the families that are suffering from the
loss of their little angles. So many babies do not survive CDH and it has
to be less than 50% that do survive. I have followed 6 CDH Babies that were
due around the same time as Oakley and other than Oakley Baby Davis is the
only other survivor. This breaks our hearts,for those that are expecting CDH
Babies do not give up Hope.

Oakley's two month check up

2009-04-14T15:07:00.001-07:00

Oakley had her 2 month check up today and the doctors remain in shock at
how well she has done. She is still on the small size, Oakley weighed in today
at 7 lbs. 14 oz and is now 20.75 inches long. She still isn't as big as anyone of
our boys at birth. Oakley also got her first round of shots today and I don't know
who it hurt more Oakley or me. The Doctor went ahead and put in for Oakley to recieve the RSV vaccine's this fall.She said that it is really hard to get children
approved for these shots because they are so expensive. She does feel that they will approve Oakley because of the CDH. Brian and I really do pray that this will happen our youngest son Peyton had RSV as a baby and it was hard enough on him and is had to healthy lungs.

Please continue to pray for baby Kaden, he came off ECMO yesterday but still has a battle ahead.

Thank you to everyone that continues to pray for our little Oakley she is a Miracle and we Thank GOD everyday for her.

Love Sheree

Oakley is 8 weeks and 1 day old.

2009-04-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

Oakley is now 8 weeks and 1 day old. We have been home for 4 weeks today.
Oakley continues to do wonderful. Being our fourth child she is by far the best
baby that we have had. She sleeps well, eats well and is just such a joy to be with.
She does sleep most of the day and wakes up around 8pm and stays awake until 12am. She is starting to makes lots of noises and trys really hard to coo but nothing
has come out just yet. Oakley's brothers think that she is all that and then some.
Peyton our 7 year old calls her Oakley Doodle Bug and he tells her all the time that
she is a little miracle. Christopher or Fatback loves to play with her and loves to wake her up to talk with her. Auston our oldest thinks if she crys that someone is hurting her when all she needs is a diaper change or a bottle. I never would have thought that they would all be so wonderful with a little sister. All I can say is the boys will never knock on our door with these brothers.

Brian and I had prepared ourselves for so much, when we found out that our baby had CDH. I say this knowing that I never prepared myself for the worse, which would have been loosing her. We never concidered that to be an option for us. Some how we knew that she was going to be ok and God gave us that peace.

We pray for all CDH babies and their families daily. We have met some wonderful people through this whole thing and we know each day that we are amoung the few that are truely Blessed.

CDH Awareness day

2009-03-31T19:02:00.001-07:00

While Oakley was at CHCA Egleston, we met many wonderful people, nurses (Kelley we will always remember what wonderful care you gave to our daughter) and doctors.
We had the honor of meeting one family that have left a lasting impression on our lives and in our hearts, Sky, Carla and warrior Joseph, I can not even start to say what amazing people Sky and Carla are and the support that they gave Brian and I. Joseph lost the battle against CDH after 23 days of life. There is not a day goes by that we do not think of him and how hard he
fought to live, as Oakley gets older she will know about her first friend in the NICU and how hard he fought to beat the CDH monster. In honor of Joseph our family released 23 ballons today in memory of the 23 days that Joseph had here on earth and in memory and honor of all the CDH Angels here on earth and now in heaven.

With love the Irvin Family

Another Great Week

2009-03-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Oakley was 6 weeks old yesterday and had another fabulous week at home. She is eating great from her bottle and is just a wonderful baby. She had another check up this week and everything was fine, she now weighs 6 lbs. 14 oz. We are very proud of her and of all of her accomplishments. She has had allot of people come and visit her, and check up on her this past week. Oakley's brothers have all fallen in love with their little sister. We wondered how they would all take having a baby in the house, but they have all been wonderful and they all love to sit and hold her and they all talk to her all the time. Oakley loves to be held and talked to, she will just stare at you and make little sounds. She loves to stick her tounge out, and we think that this is from the feeding tube in the hospital. Since the tube was removed she sticks her tounge out like something is supposed to be there. She is truly wonderful and we are blessed as parents to have a healthy child that went through CDH. We pray everyday for the babies with CDH and the parents of babies with CDH. May God bless each of you just as he blessed us. CDH is a long journey and we pray for each one of you, and we hope that in someway we can help families through this, even if it is just with encouragement. Our hearts and Prayers are with you.

First Visit to Church

2009-03-23T07:48:00.001-07:00

Oakley attended her first Church service yesterday, and everyone was so happy to see her. She slept through the service and after the service was over she met allot of people that have been praying for her. We are blessed to have a wonderful church family and a God that answers prayer. We also attended the evening church and I think that even more people came to see her after that service. She was so beautiful in her little dress and her bow in her hair. We are very lucky people to have went through what all we went through with her. We know that allot of people pray for our little girl everyday and we want to say thank you to each one of you. God has blessed us more than our family deserves and we are very thankful. May God bless each one of you as much as he has blessed us.

Thriving At Home

2009-03-20T06:11:00.000-07:00

Oakley has been home a week today and she has thrived since arriving. She is doing so good with her feeds, and is a wonderful little girl. She has to go back to see her surgeon today and we are expecting nothing but good things from this visit. Oakley scars from her surgery are very small and unless you were a person that new what all she had been through you would think that she was just as normal as any baby. She is the best little baby, she very seldom cries and loves to be held and talked to. Our three boys love there little sister and are so happy to have her home. She has everyone wrapped around her finger, just like it is supposed to be. We have truly been blessed with this little miracle and we thank God everyday for this.

Oakley's Home

2009-03-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

Friday March 13th Oakley Irvin went home, and God has answered our prayers. Sorry we didn't post this until now, but we wanted to try and have the weekend to ourselves so that our family could enjoy being all together for the 1st time in 29 days. We didn't tell the boys that Oakley was coming home so they were so shocked when Sheree walked through the door with her. She came home with a feeding tube and Monday the feeding tube was removed because she was doing so good with the bottle. She is a true miracle and we have been so blessed. Oakley just looks around at everything, she knows that she is in a new place and she seems to be so happy. It is very nice for us to look at our daughter without any tubes or wires hooked up to her, nothing beeping or lighting up letting you know that something is wrong. We are very appreciative to all the doctors and nurses, but we are so happy to be home. Thank you to everyone that is praying for our family and please continue to pray for us, we are examples of how much prayer does work. We thank God for all our boys and our miracle little daughter. God bless each one of you.

Playing the Waiting Game

2009-03-13T05:59:00.000-07:00

We have now been at Egleston for a month and are just waiting on Oakley to get well enough to come home, we have never went through anything as humbling as this. Oakley has been strong throughout this entire process and continues to get stronger and stonger and her big brothers had better watch out because she is going to be something else when she gets home. We have been so proud of Oakley throughout this entire CDH journey and now we are ready to move forward. We hope that through this blog some how and in some way we can help someone who's child has CDH. When all this started we knew nothing about CDH and had never heard of this killer. Through other peoples blogs we found comfort and my wife used to keep up with about 10 babies and check on them everyday. I know that our faith has grown stronger during this. We have truly been blessed with a miracle Daughter and we are very thankful to all of you that are praying for our daughter and our family.

Visiting a Miracle

2009-03-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

I got to go and see our little Miracle girl yesterday, and I enjoyed every second of it. We sat around alone just enjoying each others company. Oakley loves to be rocked and she did so good with her bottle. She is only taking her bottle every other feeding, and this is our hold up. We need to get her strong enough to take the bottle all of the time. She has done so good and we are so proud of her, we are just very ready to get her home. The nurses in the A side of the NIC unit did a great job and we have nothing but good things to say about all of these people, the B side is more laid back and not exactly what I expected most of this I am sure is from being on the A side for as long as we were and I am not knocking the B side it is just more laid back because the babies are more healthy. Oakley continues to excell and we are so proud of her. We thank God everyday for our little Miracle girl and the blessings that he has done for us. We also want to say thank you to each one of you for the prayers keep up the good work, God does answer prayers.

Brian

No more Vent

2009-03-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

Oakley came off of the Ventilater on Sunday. She has been doing great since. She is up to 45 ml on feeds (via feeding tube). We will start trying to bottle feed tomorrow. Please pray that she does well with this. She loves her paci, I hope that is a sign that she will love the bottle as well.
I was able to dress her for the first time today and yes she was wearing pink!
We are now waiting for a room to open on the B side of the NICU. This is a huge step closer to the H word. The doctors keep telling us not to tell Oakley how well she is doing that she doesn't know and that we don't want to tell her.

Brian went home to be with our three wonderful boys a week and half ago. The nights get pretty lonely but we both know that we are where we need to be. If anything the whole experience of CDH has brought our family, it has brought us closer to GOD. As a whole our families FAITH has grown so much over the last seven months. The day we found out that Oakley had CDH we had no clue what it was and I remember walking out of the doctors office crying and praying at the same time. God is good we don't always understand why he does somethings but he is always good.

Brian and I are greatful to all that have been and continue to pray for our little Oakley. Please continue to pray for Oakley and our family. GOD is listening!!

Sheree

Day of Prayers

2009-02-27T07:07:00.000-08:00

We were informed by Sky and Carla yesterday that their son Joseph passed away, our hearts and prayers go out to this wonderful family. Sky and Carla are the first people that we met at the hospital that had a child going through the same thing as Oakley. We had read up about CDH and new just about everything we could know we thought, but until you talk to someone that is going through it just like yourself you really don't understand that there are sides of CDH that cannot be taught by reading about it. Sky always referred to Joseph as a Warrior, I don't think that I will ever hear that word again and not think about Joseph. CDH is the toughest thing that we have ever battled with any of our kids and these babies are all miracles that are born with CDH. We also met Joseph's sisters, these are two of the most precious little girls in the world, I have been and will continue to pray for them everyday. Please continue to Pray for our little Miss Oakley and continue to pray for Joseph's family. Our family has been blessed to have met Mr. Joseph and his wonderful family.

2 WEEKS OLD TODAY

2009-02-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

Oakley had a good night last night, some days are better than others and we are being patient. She is a remarkable little girl and continues to be strong. The Doctors are slowly weaning her off of the ventilator. This process has been allot slower than we expected. She is so tough the Doctors have taken her off of the Morphine and I think that this will help her coming off of the ventilator. Oakley has done great considering what she has been through and we know that none of this would be possible without all the Prayers that she has received and we also know that the hands of God are on her at all times and he is guiding her through this tough journey. Please keep praying for our family and especially for our little Oakley. We are truly thankful to each one of you. We are also very thankful to our family members that have visited, called, and been there for our family, we Love each one of you.

Day 12

2009-02-24T07:34:00.000-08:00

Oakley is doing very good as she has been throughout her "CDH" journey. We have been blessed with a great amount of prayer from old and new friends, and even people we have never met. We would like to say thank you to each person that has prayed for our little girl, she is truly a miracle and we thank God everyday for her. The process of being taken off her ventilator is slow and some days she does very good and some days she has minor set backs. We know that in our hearts she is going to be fine, but it is very hard sometimes trying to stay patient as she heals. We are so ready to take her home to see her 3 big brothers, but we also know that she is not ready for that step yet. The doctors are slowly taking her off of her meds now and she is staying awake a little longer each day. Sky and Carla have been great and we are so proud that we met them, as hard as this situation is, it is nice to talk to someone that is going through the same things that you are. We pray for them and Joseph everyday, just like we pray for Oakley. God Bless each one of you that are reading this.

Brian and Sheree

Oakley's Surgery

2009-02-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

Oakley had her surgery today and is really doing great. Her stomach and intestines are all that were up. They were able to close the hole in her diaphram by using her own muscle and tissue. The surgeon told us that the chance of her ever reherniating are very small, since they did not have to use the patch. She had the surgery Laproscopic and only has three small incisions on one of her sides. As she grows I don't think you will be able to notice unless you know what she has gone through. Oakley is a special little girl and has amazed us everyday. The Doctors and nurses here have been wonderful and have given our little girl the utmost attention. We have loved everyone at Children's Health Care of Atlanta at Egleston. This place is full of miracles that happen everyday. We appreciate all the prayers that we have received and please continue to pray for Miss Oakley, because now the healing process will start she still has a long road ahead of her.

Welcome to the world Oakley

2009-02-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

Oakley decided to come and join us a little early. Oakley was born on 2-12-2009 four weeks earlier than expected. She has a head full of hair and is really doing good so far. We give all the glory to God for the health of Oakley and we pray that this continues. We met Joseph's parent's yesterday and we met Jospeph, he is another baby in the NICU with CDH. Joseph's parents are super nice people and Joseph is a little warrior. It was nice to talk to some people that are going through the same things that we are and understand what we are talking about. As far as the Hospital, the Nurse's, and the Doctors where Oakley is located, they are all wonderful. We have 3 other childrem and during none of there births have I ever seen so much care that my wife and child have received as they did at this location. We are thankful to our family and friends that have been praying for Oakley, God bless each one of you. Please keep praying for Miss Oakley and if you are praying for Oakley please say a prayer for Oakley's new little friend Joseph. The 2 of these babies are beautiful and wonderful and appreciate every prayer that they can get. We Love you all and keep praying for us.

Oakely Elissa Mae Irvin due 3-12-2009

2009-01-14T16:46:00.000-08:00

WE have created this blog to keep family and friends updated on our expected baby girl. We found out at our 17 week ultra sound on October 3,2008 that we were having a beutiful little girl.

already having 3 wonderful boys we are so excited. The joy was suddenly shadowed with fear when the doctor came in and told us that they thought that our little girl had CDH (congenital Diaphragmactic Hernia) we had no clue what this was. He then told us that she had about at 20 % servial rate. He sent us home with some fact sheets and told us that he would see us again at 20 weeks to confirm. After leaving the doctors office and getting home I started researching CDH. After reading much information I just cried and cried. I finally realized that If my husband and I didn't have faith and hope how could our little girl survive. I started praying and have been everyday since.
We now know much more about CDH and Oakely is due in 7 weeks. We know that she has a battle ahead of her but we also know that God will get her and us throught this.