December 1st Update

Okay, so it has been a bit, so I wanted to give you a quick update on things here.

Denise's last blood test really has us all confused. She was off her prednisone for one week after tapering down over what seemed like eternity, and her platelet count actually went up into the 160,000 range. What is up with that (got to keep with the recurring theme). So, she will have another blood test this week and we will see.

We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with Denise's mom on Thanksgiving Day, and that is where the above picture of Libby and Lucas comes from. We had to take it and send it to Grandpa Curt, who got out of the cold of Minnesota early and headed to Texas. He will be back at Christmas time and then he and Grandma Rosemary will both head to Texas until April.

On Sunday, we headed up to Verndale to have Lucas baptized at the United Methodist Church. This is the church Troy grew up in and where he and Denise were married. It was also the church where Libby was baptized and Pastor Jill has been able to officiate all three ceremonies. All of us feel blessed to have her be able to do that for our family! After the ceremony, family headed over to the Verndale Community Center for a little Sunday Brunch and socializing. It got to be a long day, but was well worth it.

December looks to be a busy one for our household as just about every weekend we have something going on. But tis the season, and spending time with family and friends is very important. We hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year if we don't post more before then.

Troy, Denise, Libby and Lucas

What is up with that?

I had my platelets routinely checked last Friday. While on 5 mg of prednisone every other day they dropped from 97,000 to 60,000. I am now suppose to be prednisone free (yeah..no more hot flashes!!), and was suppose to have platelets checked in 2 weeks, but since they are getting close to the "worrisome" level (50,000) I am suppose to have them checked again this Thursday. This is getting frustrating because I dont know whats going on and what is causing this!! I guess that is what Dr's are for, right?

Denise

Our little buddy is doing great!!!

Dr Hennessy (the hematologist from Childrens) called me last Friday and recommended we have Lucas's platelets checked yet one more time. This would be like heel stick number 439?? Poor little guy!! Yesterday I took him to the clinic (they know us by name there), and today the clinic called with the results. Lucas's platelets were 269,000!!!! WOW!! I think we can officially say he is a healthy boy now!! He constantly wants to eat and is gaining weight like crazy. Cant wait to see how much he weighs at his 2 month check up later this month.



Denise had her platelets checked last Friday and they dropped from 158,000 to 97,000. The oncologist continues to ween her off the prednisone while re-checking platelets. We will see what happens to them when she is off prednisone altogether. The oncologist is pretty sure Denise has ITP, and it just happened to be uncovered during pregnancy.



Hope you all have a great week! We will keep you posted of any updates!



The Mills Family

Latest Update

Well, we got great news this week. Both Denise and Lucas had blood tests and both of them came in at an excellent number. Lucas' has risen to 158, 000 while Denise's are now up to 148,000. Childrens' in Minneapolis seems to think he is out of the woods, but would like to do a couple of more tests in the next month just to make sure. Denise has an appointment with her doctor next Friday and we will know more then, but all signs look good there as well.

We will keep everyone updated! Thanks!

Troy, Denise, Libby and Lucas

GREAT NEWS!!!!

Just a quick update....Lucas's platelet level rose from 97,000 last Monday to 148,000 today.
This is GREAT news for our little guy and hopefully it means the good antibodies are finally winning over in his body. The medical team at Children's recommended we have them checked again (here at home) in about a week and a half to make sure the level is holding steady. Pray for excellent numbers again next week!!

Monday's Lab Results

Well, Lucas had another blood draw on Monday and this one did not come back as good. His platelets had dropped from 191000 last Thursday to 97000 on Monday. And with Lucas' pediatrician out sick, Denise and I didn't see this as a very good sign.

But Denise called Children's Hospital and spoke with the team that we dealt with when we were there for the IVIG treatment. They were not too worried as they don't start getting concerned until the levels drop below 50000. Then today, Lucas' pediatrician spoke with them and they said that for 3 months after IVIG treatment, his platelet levels are going to look like a roller coaster. That was reassuring at least from the standpoint that this is all normal.

So, the little guy will have another blood test next Monday and we will see where he lands!

Thanks everyone!

Troy, Denise, Lucas and Libby

A Quick Update

Hello Family and Friends!

Just a quick note to give an update on Lucas and Denise after yesterday's tests.

Lucas' platelets were up to 194,000, which is EXCELLENT! He will have a couple of more tests in the coming weeks, but it looks like the IVIG treatment he had worked and he will not have ITP. Our fingers are crossed.

Denise met with an oncologist yesterday and her platelets were up also. We really don't know if that is from the prednisone she has been on or the ITP weakening, but they are going to wean her off the prednisone and she will have another blood test next week. It could turn out that she has/had gestational ITP and not idiopathic ITP. Gestational would be just pregnancy related while the idiopathic would something Denise would have to live with from now on.

All the reading we have done on ITP, it is not all doom and gloom. It looks like most people live with it with very little ramifications. The oncologist yesterday basically said they don't get concerned until the platelets get below 20,000. So that was reassuring as Denise's platelets have never been that low.

Hopefully we will get more good news next week! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Troy, Denise, Libby and Lucas

MONDAY'S LAB RESULTS!!!

Lucas had his followup in Alexandria today and everything came back excellent. His platelets were up to 161,000 (120,000 is the benchmark) and his billirubin was down to 11! It doesn't mean we are out of the woods yet, but right now it looks like the antibodies are left over from Denise and not some he has been producing. He will have another blood test Thursday and probably be followed closely for the next few weeks.

That is all from here. I will post more when I know more. Thanks everyone!!!

Troy, Denise, Libby and Lucas

One Week Checkup - Off To Childrens We Go!

Well, what an eventful last couple of days we have had around here!!! For those of you that know we got sent to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis on Thursday, sorry I haven't updated this sooner with this information.

On Thursday, Lucas had his one week checkup. Everything was fine when we saw his pediatrician, but he had to have some blood work done also. That is when things started to get a little "hairy".

When Lucas left the hospital, his billirubin was 9 and his platelet level was at 90,000 (they like them to be around 120,000). But with Denise having low platelets, the level he was sent home with was more than acceptable and had actually rose since birth. Well, after two rounds of blood tests (the second just to confirm the numbers), his platelets had dropped down to 10,000 and his billirubin had risen to 17 (jaundice). Well, we were sent to get a "billi-blanket" for him while the pediatrician called Children's to see what should be done with that low of a platelet count. They basically told us we had to get down there that day. They were concerned with blood that thin and unable to clot that Lucas could have a bleed somewhere and we would not even know it. So, after quickly packing a few things, we were off to Minneapolis to see if we could get to the bottom of this.

After a stressful ride down there (massive rain storms with several spin outs on the Interstate), we made it safely and made our way to the Specialty Clinics. There, we were seen by a team of three hematologists and they did their blood draws. After some consultation, we were then admitted into the hospital where Lucas would receive an IVIG treatment (IV Immune Globulin).

Lucas has preliminarily been diagnosed with ITP, or Immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura. What that means is that he has an antibody that is attacking his platelets, causing his levels to drop. He more than likely picked this up from Denise during pregnancy, and we are not sure how she got it. It seems to be something that just shows up and no one really knows why. By giving Lucas IVIG, they are hoping to confuse the antibodies and get them to attack each other until his body gets strong enough to fight them off on his own.

So, after a fairly sleepless Thursday night at Children's Hospital, they did some more blood tests on Lucas. His billirubin had dropped to 12.9 and his platelets were up to 45,000. They were surprised that his platelets had risen that much in that short of time after the IVIG, as the peak is usually not realized until day three after treatment. So they were more than happy to discharge us and we were more than happy to go.

Tomorrow (Monday), he has a follow up appointment at the clinic in Alexandria where they will do another blood draw and check his platelets and billirubin. The results will be sent to Children's and they will coordinate with Alexandria on treatment/follow ups.

So, what does ITP mean for Lucas? Well, we don't know as he is only a week old. Best case scenario, his body fights it off and there will be nothing for us to worry about. Worst case scenario, he will have the condition his whole life, which isn't a bad thing. It just means we will have to monitor his platelet levels and watch for any abnormal bruising. But for the most part, he will have a normal life.

Denise will have an appointment with a hematologist on Thursday to try and see what the reason is for her low platelets. More than likely her diagnosis will be the same thing. If it is, it is something you can live a fairly normal life with. We actually had a nurse at Children's that has had it for 23 years. She got it in her third pregnancy. She said she gets tired from time to time and has to watch what medicines she takes, but otherwise, she hasn't really had to change her life style. But, if it is worst case scenario, they would have to remove Denise's spleen. But that is the extreme and hardly happens.

And now, a few pictures for you!

Here is what was waiting for Denise and Lucas when they came home from the hospital!



Troy, Libby and Lucas, all asleep in the chair one night! That is Libby's teddy bear, not daddy's!

And this one is from today, Libby and Lucas sharing daddy's lap during the Vikings game.

That is about all from here. We will update more as we know more! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers everyone!

Troy, Denise, Libby and Lucas

The Kiss

Just had to get this picture up tonight! Libby giving Lucas a kiss goodbye and see you tomorrow!!

Sunday Update

Just a quick note here to give everyone an update.

Denise will be released from the hospital on Monday. She was put on prednisone to elevate her platelet level and will be following up with a specialist in a clinic setting.

Lucas continues to improve. He has been removed from the IV and is now nursing and being supplemented with bottle feedings. He has a slight case of jaundice, so they are doing photo light therapy to help his body break it down. They are not sure when he will be discharged, but it will not be Monday. Depending on his billirubin tests and his eating, it should be this week sometime. He is able to now come out of the nursery and visit us for 15-30 minutes at a time for feedings, so that is a plus. It allowed both sets of grandparents to see him up close last night, as did big sister Libby.

Once Denise is released, she will be able to become a "boarder". What this does is allow us to rent a room at the hospital to store our things, sleep at if we wish, and just stay close to Lucas. She will get meal service and use of the "facilities", but no nursing care.

So that is it for now. More to come later!

Troy, Denise, Libby and Lucas

Lucas and Denise Update

Good afternoon and happy Saturday. I figured I would throw up a couple of new pictures of Lucas and give an update on mom and baby.

Things continue to progress here, just not as fast as we would probably like. Denise's platelets continue to fluctuate, so much that we met with and Internal Medicine doctor today. He is going to run a battery of more specific blood tests and see if we can't get to the bottom of this. Her blood pressure has risen some, but not nearly as bad as it was, so he is going to look into that more also. But she is not bleeding and there is no bruising, so that is a great thing. Right now, they are looking at Monday as her discharge.

Lucas was taken off his oxygen on Thursday night and his stats are doing very well without it. He is on IV nutrition and has been supplemented with breast milk as he will take it. His platelets are low also, around 90 and they would like him 120-130 range. They are thinking it is probably just a bi product of what Denise had going on and will come out of it as his body keeps maturing. But they are monitoring it just to make sure. He hasn't been out of the nursery yet, but we have been able to go in there and hold him.

These pictures are from Thursday night, when Denise was able to get up and go see him for the first time, about 12 hours after he was born. He did also open his eyes for the first time during this visit, and of course, they are blue! Go figure, huh????

That is about all for now. I will keep everyone updated. Thanks!

Troy, Denise, Libby and Lucas

HELLO Lucas Troy Mills

Well, what an eventful couple of days it has been. When I did the previous update, we did not see coming what the last couple of days has brought us.

On Monday, Denise had a visit with her OB/GYN. Her blood pressure had spiked and they put her on bed rest ASAP. Then, later in the afternoon, they called back and said they needed to admit her to the hospital Monday night as her platelets had fallen to 31, where they should be up around 100. They were not sure what the problem was, but were concerned with pre-eclampsia or HELLPS disease. Basically two things that can happen during pregnancy. But Denise's kidneys and liver were fine, so that ruled out pre-eclampsia and left us with HELLPS disease. This basically happens with 8% of pregnancies, and if caught, there should not be any problems in the future.

On Tuesday, they ran some tests and with meds, Denise's platelet had risen from 31 to 44. So, they planned the C-Section for Wednesday morning. But when Wednesday rolled around, the anesthesiologist didn't want to do the C-Section with her platelets only at 69. So, we had to wait until Thursday.

Thursday morning rolls around and the platelets were at 89, so the C-Section was a go. They had to give Denise some platelets to get her through the procedure, but she got through it with flying colors. Her blood pressure has dropped back down to normal, so now it is just monitoring that and watching her platelets to make sure they are coming back up. In most cases of HELLPS, platelet levels get back to normal with 2 to 4 weeks.

So, onto Lucas. Being 4 weeks early, there were some concerns with him also. Basically, all concerns revolved around the lungs. Boys lungs tend to develop a little slower in the womb compared to girls. But, he came out screaming, which was a relief! And at 8:39 am, here is what joined us in the world!

I had to get a picture of his foot as he was just putting in out there!

Here he is while being looked over in the OR. He doesn't look too happy, which I guess I can't blame him as his life has been turned upside down!

Here is Denise and Lucas seeing each other for the first time. It was then off to the nursery.

Kind of a blurry picture, but Lucas weighs in at 7 pounds and 9 ounces.

Lucas did not like the oxygen in his nose at all. But his crying is a good thing as it helps clear his lungs out.

Here he is a little more relaxed with daddy in the nursery with him.

Ahhhhhh..... peaceful!

The next couple of hours and few days for that matter, will be important. They figure Denise won't be going home until Monday as they want to monitor her vital. Right now with Lucas, everything is still up in the air, but the first three plus hours have been great for the little guy.

Libby will get her first look at her "baby brother" this evening as she will come back with Grandpa Curt and Grandma Rosie! I can't wait to see her reaction!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers! They mean a lot to us!

I will type more and post more pictures later!

Troy, Denise, Libby and Lucas

We Have A Two Year Old

Hello Family and Friends! Summer is winding down and days of fall are just about upon us.

My how the last two years have flown by. Below is one of the first pictures we had done with Libby. This one was within the first month she was born.
Now, here are the pictures we just had done as her two year old pictures. WOW, what a change!

We did have a birthday party this year for Libby with family showing up. Cousins Abby and Maddy were very helpful showing Libby what she is suppose to do with presents!

The next picture is Libby patiently awaiting her cake!

Every morning as we are getting ready to go to work/daycare, we have to watch Mickey Mouse. So we had to get a Mickey and Minnie cake for Libby's party.

Libby got a lot of great gifts that are already being used. We actually had to do a little cleaning out of the toy box to make room for the new ones.

In other news, Denise and I were able to get to a Twins game in late July. Target Field is AWESOME. We went with a tour out of Alexandria, which was great as we didn't have to drive or pay for parking. The game went fast, under two hours, and got done just before severe thunderstorms moved in. They would not let our bus leave the parking area until the storm passed.

The view from our seats in the second level down the third base line.

The other major project that got completed was the swing set. What started out as a two weekend project turned into about six. But once we got it boxed in and the mulch laid, it is great. Libby absolutely loves it and it is a pain to try to get her in the house once we start swinging. We were also able to put her sandbox with it, so all her outside stuff is in one area.

Outside of that, the last few weeks have been somewhat uneventful. We did get rid of the money pit known as the minivan and got a lease deal on a Nissan Murano. Denise loves it and the little bit I have driven it, it is very nice. We lost some seating room (6-7 in the van with up to 5 in the Murano), but with the nickel and diming that was starting to happen with the van, it was time to unload. It is Merlot (fancy name for maroon) in color, not our first choice in color, but we were given a very sweet deal to take one off their lot rather that having them go get one in Glacier Pearl (fancy name for white).

Everything else we have been doing had been revolving around getting ready for Baby Boy. We think we are ready for October 6 to roll around, but I am sure we will think of a thing or two between now and then. Denise is going to take the full 12 weeks she is allowed off while I am going to take about a week of full days off and then work half days for about four weeks. Libby will still go to daycare as we don't want to break her routine too much. We did that when Denise's sister and her family were here from DC, and it took quite a while to get her back into it.

That is about all from here. I hope everyone is having a great September and I will definitely update when our family grows, if not before.

Troy, Denise and Libby

A long overdue update.

Hello friends and family! I know....it's been awhile since the last update, but we have been very busy with summer projects. We have to get these all out of the way before "Baby Boy" arrives in October.

Denise is now 26 weeks along and everything is progressing nicely. Her blood pressure so far has stayed down, which didn't happen with Libby and she was put on bedrest. The baby is going to be a big boy by the sounds of things though, as he is measuring around 32 weeks size wise. Technically, the due date is October 14, but yesterday Denise and her OB/GYN set up a scheduled C-Section for October 6. The way the baby is growing though, it may even be a little earlier than that. Libby was about 10 days early and 9lbs 6oz at birth. We are keeping our fingers crossed that everything will go well the rest of the way.

Here are two of the ultrasound pictures. The first one is of the baby's profile and the second one is for Grandma Vicky..... who doesn't believe us that it is a boy!

Onto the summer projects! We started by replacing the boards on our back deck and putting up a railing on it. There were some boards that were starting to crack, so we decided to replace the whole floor with composite decking. Since we were putting a railing on, we didn't want to have to keep taking the railing off in the upcoming years and replacing boards as they cracked. The deck did not have a railing on it before, so it is a lot nicer for Libby to be out on it. She actually likes the railing and looking through it and waving at daddy as he mows the lawn. We also lost our privacy fence on the deck with this work, so we decided to plant three arborvitae trees and make a natural privacy fence.

Up next was a swingset for Libby. We found a cedar one online that has a glider, two swings, a slide, a "fort" tower and a little picnic bench. Its not a Rainbow, didnt have the price tag of a Rainbow, but still nice and adequate. It isn't completly finished yet as the directions are incomplete on attaching the slide. But, it is useable and Libby loves the swing part anyway. Basically, all that is left to do on it is the awnings and the slide. We placed it in a nice shady area in the yard, but we had to build it up with some Class 5 from the driveway since it is one of the lower spots in our yard. We plan on boxing that in and putting a couple of inches of mulch on top of the Class 5 so it is a little softer.

Finally, it was time to redo our driveway, not that our old one was in bad shape. We decided to pour a concrete driveway so that Libby would have somewhere to drive her "wheeled" toys. Our driveway was Class 5 and our cul-de-sac is gravel. It was a lot of work, probably too much for Denise's father, Curtis, and myself (BTW, a big THANK YOU goes out to Curtis for his help). It ended up being a 45 foot by 20 foot slab, five inches thick and reinforced with rebar. Libby absolutely loves it already and it has helped keep our garage a whole lot cleaner.

Our Driveway before "The Project"

Our driveway excavated, formed, rebar laid and ready for the pour.

Curtis and Troy awaiting the concrete. This is when we still had energy.....

Half the driveway is done!

The pour is complete!!!! The concrete kind of got away from us (set up fast), so the brooming didn't quite work.

Of course with all the excavation and pouring, the concrete was higher than the rest of our yard. So we had a load of black dirt delivered to bank up along the driveway and to fill in some of the low spots in our yard. Lets just say that it takes A LOT of wheelbarrows to move 12 yards of black dirt. I didn't think the pile was ever going to end, but after spending most of the day Saturday (we had to break at 5:00 due to tornado warnings) and most of the day Sunday, it got cleaned up and grass seed is planted. Here is what it looks like now! SWEET!!!!

Talking about swing sets, here is Libby enjoying her swing. We usually spend close to an hour a night out there after work, just pushing Libby so she can swing. She LOVES it! Its a fight every night to get her off the swing and back in the house. Alot of coaxing goes on!

Over the July 4th weekend, the Alexandria Airport had an old Bi-plane exhibit, flights and some vintage boats on display. We just had to sit Libby in one and she was driving up a storm! She also had her "ponies" in, which she likes to have in, but then plays with them and they end up falling out after a short period of time.

So, what is on the agenda for the rest of the summer? Well, this Saturday, Denise and I are hopping on a tour here in Alexandria and heading down to a Twins game against Chicago at Target Field. Then, we are planning on having a garage sale so that we can get rid of baby girl stuff and make room for baby boy stuff. After that, it will be time to get things ready for the arrival of "Baby Boy"!

Well, that is about all from here for now. But we will leave you with one more picture of Libby. Here she is in her bathrobe (she calls it a coat?) that Grandma Rosemary made for her. Libby says "Tank-you Gamma!!" I hope everyone has been having a great summer and we will keep you updated as things happen!

Until next time....take care!
Denise, Troy and Libby

Its A Boy!

Good morning everyone and Happy June! Just a quick note here before I get back to work. Denise had her ultrasound last Friday and everything looks great with the baby! We also found out the sex of the baby and it is a BOY! All grandparents were extremely excited, as are we.

Now it is time to sort all the girls clothes out and have a garage sale and shop for boy clothes.

Thanks and we will post more later!

Troy, Denise and Libby

We are happy to announce that the newest addition to the Mills family is scheduled to arrive around October 14! We are very excited and know that Libby will make a super big sister!

At daycare 2 weeks ago they had "baby week". The kids learned about and found pictures of babies. There are pictures of babies from magazines hanging up in the classroom. Every morning when I drop Libby off there...she runs from picture to picture and says "baby". She definetly knows what they are! We were recently on a plane where there was a mom holding a baby sitting behind and across the aisle from us. Libby was SO fascinated with everything this baby was doing. She kept repeating and pointing, baby...baby...baby. I'm sure the 2 men sitting behind us were not to pleased as Libby was standing up in her seat and squealing with excitement!!

April 7-12 we flew down to Texas to visit Grandma and Grandpa Danielson for a few days.

It was so nice to get away and relax! Troy got to do alot of golfing, we went swimming, visited the beaches on South Padre Island, played shuffleboard, sat around and visited, and ate, ate, ate!! Libby got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa, which was great!

Libby also spent the week with her favorite animal...puppy (aka Teddy). Actually, she calls everything a puppy right now! She also learned how to yell at Teddy like grandma does.....TED-DEE, TED-DEE!!

We are looking forward to summer, although we have alot of things we want to get done...new floor on back deck and put railings up, build a firepit out of landscape block, build Libby a swingset and sandbox, and poor a concrete driveway. Summer will be over before we know it and then it will be time for baby to arrive!!

Hope everyone is doing well. We'll update as we know more!

Libby LOVED going for rides in the golf cart around the park!!

Chillin' in the hammock swing that Grandma put up

Future WPGA'r????? Daddy hopes so!

First beach experience on South Padre Island

Sportin' a bikini and splashing in the pool