AlIyA hAs HiT 8 PoUnDs!

Aliya has officially hit 8 pounds. As of yesterday she is up to 8lbs 9oz and doing well overall. She will be getting a g tube next month which I have heard will be so nice. To be honest I am scared to death! We have been so lucky not to have had any surgeries where she has had to be cut. Yes she has had the pressure in her eyes checked under anesthesia, but that hasn't required any cutting. She will have to stay at Primary Children's for a week, so we will be living the hospital life for a bit. Aliya still doesn't cry much, but every now and again we will hear her make a peep. She is just oh soo sweet. Its amazing the things she tolerates! All the poking and prodding, sometimes doesn't even phase her. We are so thankful for the warmer weather to be able to just get out of the house! We still have to be so careful so most of the time she is bundled like an eskimo in her car seat with her cover kept over her. I have been able to take the girls to the park a couple of times but Aliya and I are usually found in the corner as far away from people as possible.
Here are some of the sweet moments of our girls that my friend was able to capture! She did a great job and got such cute pictures! Our girls just love Aliya and are eternally bonded!

We Have Been Chosen!!!

This is what we have been chosen for:

Braveheart 5k/10k
March 31st, 2012 @ 9:00 A.M. Nelson Field House

Welcome to Utah State University’s Det. 860th Cadet Wing’s second annual Braveheart race! This year we have teamed up with Arnold Air Society and Army ROTC to help raise funds for Baby Aliya, the daughter of Shane and Tarasha Haslam. Aliya was born October 24, 2011, with Wolf Hirschhorn Syndrome, a condition caused from a missing part of the 4th chromosome. To learn more about Baby Aliya’s condition, please visit http://www.wolfhirschhorn.org.


To excite you all for this years’ cause, we just wanted to let you know what we as a community accomplished last year:
Over 500 runners showed up on race day!
Raised over $7,000 for the family of Baby Mason!
Over 20 local clubs and businesses enthusiastically donated, sponsored and volunteered in the race, starting a new community tradition!


The Braveheart Race has been established to raise funds and awareness for community members in need. Each year Utah State University’s Det. 860th Cadet Wing will recognize a need here in Cache Valley and will dedicate the race and ALL proceeds to that cause.


Registration Price is $15 with all proceeds going to help Baby Aliya, anything above that amount will be considered a donation. Pre-registration packet includes: Race Day shirt, bib number and a raffle ticket. Same-day registration packet includes a bib number and a raffle ticket.

Registration Packet Pick-up: Friday (March 30, 2012) from 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. at the Military Science Building (located to the East of the Nelson Field House (800 E. 700 N.)

Same-day registration will be on Saturday (March 31, 2012) at the Nelson Field House (800 E. 700 N.) on USU's campus from 7:00 A.M. to 8:45 A.M.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the cause, please contact Joann Wade at (435)797-8723 or atjoann.wade@usu.edu.

Here is the the link for the facebook page also: http://www.facebook.com/braveheartrace

We are so lucky to be a part of this and so lucky to be working with such great people putting this on! Thank you for all your support!

Happy Valentines Day!

Well it's been a long time so here is a little update...

First I wanted to thank my sister for starting this blog and for keeping up with it. I think things have settled down enough now that I will be taking over and I will do my best to keep it up to date.

Second I wanted to thank everyone for coming to Texas Roadhouse to support my family! What a great turnout we had. Also thank you Jen and Emily for putting it together and for everyone else that helped!

So Aliya is doing well. We had a rough time after her meds got changed and she had a hard time keeping what little she ate down...but we have it under control now and she is just doing the occasional spit up/throw up that a baby usually does. She is definately getting bigger. She has reached 7 lbs 2 oz and is now big enough for a g-tube which is a button put into her stomach and that will be how she eats. I'm a little nervous for the procedure because it is major surgery she will be having...but we have heard only good things about it.
She has had another hearing test since coming home from Primarys and her hearing isn't as severe as they told us it was. She will still need her hearing aids which we are so grateful for because we don't know if and how well she will be able to see. We live in a great place for resources. We have her enrolled in Early Intervention and we have great people come to our house to help us work on different things with her. We are going to do all that we can to make her the best she can be!!

From Aliya

I'm almost 6 pounds! I'm weighing in at 5 lbs. 15 1/2 ounces and doing well! I have found my voice and like to cry on my mommy's shift at 3 am...but I don't cry on daddy's shift :-) I am becoming more alert and I love to wiggle around. I just got fitted for my hearing aids. The picture is below of the mold. Overall things are good and I'm loving being home!!!

No eye surgery for Aliya

Aliya was supposed to have eye surgery Thursday night but the pressure stayed the same so no eye surgery at this time. Her oxygen levls kept dropping so she had to stay at Primarys for two nights to make sure she is stable enough to go home. Taya made Tarasha promise that she would bring Aliya home with her. So thankfully she had a good night and she will be coming home today!

I also wanted to let you know about a benefit lunch at Texas Roadhouse in North Logan. It's January 18th from 12-1 p.m. Tickets for meals can be purchased for $10 a plate for Adults, and $2 a plate for kids. For more information about purchasing tickets you can contact Jenn Jackman at 801-703-1956 and jackman jenn@msn.com or Emily Bezzant 435-890-5473.

It was definately a Merry Christmas!

Aliya is doing well, as of last Wednesday she was 5 lbs. 2 oz.. Tarasha and the family are all loving having her home and her sisters can't get enough of her. They were so grateful to all be under one roof. Aliya will see her pediatrician on Wednesday and is scheduled to get her eyes checked January 5. She will have to be sedated because she is too wiggly now. There will be lots of follow up appointments soon to check up on the various medical conditions she has.


Dean and Betty, Shane's parents
Christmas Eve

Update

Aliya was able to come home on December 21st. What a great Christmas present that was! We all just can't get enough of her. We just love holding and kissing her! Since we have been home we have been able to meet with our Pediatrician here in Logan who is following Aliya very closely and has fallen in love with her just as we and many people have! She is still on oxygen and who knows how long she will have to stay on it. She has hearing aids but is still a newborn who sleeps all the time so we really haven't seen the benefits yet, but we know they are there. Who knew Shane and I would become nurses without going to school for nursing? We have learned a lot and I'm sure we have much more to learn! Aliya is the light of our lives and she has definately blessed us in oh so many ways! Don't get me wrong some days I say to myself...can I do this? I know with all my heart Heavenly Father chose us and trusted us with this sweet spirit. Who knows what the future holds, but we are ready. We are so lucky to have all the support we have had, and we can't thank all our family, friends and our community enough!

Aliya is coming home!

Yes that's right you read it right, Aliya is coming home Wednesday. They are trying to do all the things they need to do to pass off to come home such as CPR training with the fake baby below (the fake baby is bigger than Aliya LOL) and changing out her feeding tube, giving meds, and the normal cares you do day to day. She is doing really well! She will come home on oxygen and a feeding tube. All Tarasha and Shane wanted for Christmas was to have their baby home with their family and their wish came true. What a wonderful blessing to have her home for Christmas!

Thank You just isn't enough!!!!

WOW! What an amazing day Saturday was! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I could say thank you a million times and that wouldn't even be close to how grateful we are to everyone who organized,donated,and attended the fundraiser for Baby Aliya. Thank you for all your donations and for all your time you took away from your families to make this day such a wonderful day! We are so blessed and there are many angels watching over our little family! I can't wait until you all, one day, meet our sweet little angel! She has been such a blessing not to only our lives but to everyone else's lives. Thank you for loving us, caring for us, and for letting us into your lives! We are forever grateful! Love, Shane and Tarasha

Aliya is in a crib

Aliya is in a crib!! Yipee! That is just another step closer to her coming home. Taya and Kiya keep asking when their baby is coming home. I keep telling them soon. The doctors haven't given us a date, but we know every day we are getting closer. She is up to 4lbs 8oz. It's crazy she has almost gained 2 pounds since we have started this adventure. We just love her and are so grateful and blessed to call her ours!!!!

No eye surgery!

Aliya is not having surgery at this time. Her eye pressure is being controlled by drops which is good news. She is still having apnea which means she doesn't breathe when she sleeps. So the ears nose throat specialist came and did a scope down her throat to see if there is obstruction and we are waiting for the results. She is still growing like a weed she is up to 1980 grams which is about 4 lbs. 6 oz.. We're trying to wean her out of the isolette into a crib which is a step closer to her coming home. Tarasha was able to give Aliya her first bath and she didn't cry/squeek during it.

Aliya has hit 4 pounds!

Aliya is doing well but while Tarasha and Shane were there last night she had a seizure which followed by a couple more seizures during the night. It was scary but they put her on medicine to either stop the seizures or at least slow them down. She will have an official EEG this week which will look at her brain waves again. The first EEG didn't show any seizures. She will be going in for her eye exam again on Thursday and may end of having surgery for her glaucoma. Hopefully after that everything goes well so she can be moved to a crib from the isolette which is another step to having her home.

Aliya is growing and she loves her belly!

Aliya is wearing clothes now, it's so cute to see her in her onesie. She loves being on her belly, this is her favorite position. She now weighs 1700 grams which is 3 lbs. 12 oz. and is 18.3 inches long. Last night while she was on her tummy she moved her head from side to side which shows she is definately getting stronger! The hospital hasn't had very many cases of RSV so the RSV restriction got lifted for now but we don't know how long it will last. One of the nurses who has been there for 10 years has never seen this happen. So Taya and Kiya were able to see their little sister again last Sunday. They were beyond excited! The Haslam's were able to get a new family picture of which it is updated to the right. Look how cute Kiya is holding her little sister's arm, how sweet!

Happy Thanksgiving!

EEG

Aliya had an EEG done which is a brain scan to see if she is having seizures. The neurologist looked at the scan and said she is not having them but we will have the official results next week.

Comments are welcomed :)

She's gaining!

Aliya is up to 1460 grams which ends up being between 3 lbs. 3 oz. and 3 lbs. 4 oz. so Yay she is gaining weight! The doctors did a echo on her heart and it showed her PDA valve closed which is good because if it wasn't there would've been a possibility of having surgery. Aliya has grown out of her peewee diapers and now is into the preemie diapers.

Aliya is over 3 pounds!!!

Yay Aliya finally hit 3 pounds, she is now just barely under 3 lbs. 2 oz. We are so proud of her! She is having a hard time breathing so the nurses put her back on oxygen. There is a new nurse for Aliya named Travis and she has been wonderful in taking care of her, we are very grateful for good nurses. Taya and Kiya won't be able to see Aliya until she comes home, they miss her dearly but can't wait until she comes home. Thanks for all of your prayers, support and kindness to the Haslam family. They can't express how grateful they are. I am also overwhelmed with gratitude seeing what amazing friends and family Shane and Tarasha have in Logan. It's so neat to see a community come together in times like these. Thanks again!
With love,
Bri

Big sisters held their baby sister today!

Big sisters holding baby Aliya

Kiya's turn...look at that big grin!

Taya's turn...beautiful girl!


All the beautiful Haslam girls!

Nanny

Poppy

Here is Poppy holding Aliya with one hand, you can kind of get the idea with how small she is.

Aunt Bri

Oh my, we just can't get enough of this sweet baby! The best part is when the nurses unwrap her, her legs go wild and go right up to her face. It's like she's free. We love our ballerina baby!

Aliya is off oxygen

Taya and Kiya were able to go see Aliya and even got to hold her with Tar's help. They were so excited to see her and even sang her Twinkle Twinkle and Rock a Bye Baby. Aliya is off oxygen which is great. She is not interested in sucking yet but the nurses and doctors are watching for queues.

Eye Surgery

Doctor Hoffman who is the optomologist examined Aliya under anesthesia last night and decided not to do surgery at this time. She has a lot of pressure in her left eye and he will check her in two weeks because her eyes are too small as of right now. She is having problems with her kidneys which is another thing the doctors will have to watch. One of her lungs partially collapsed on the November 1st but it is doing better now. It didn't even affect her, she was still breathing fine. They saw the collapsed lung in an x-ray. Aliya is on the intubator but will be taken off of it this morning if she is doing well. This is a standard procedure when put under anesthesia. She gained 30 grams and has been stable. Yay to gaining weight! Hopefully she will continue to start gaining from here and out but time will tell. Taya and Kiya were able to see her again. They just love their little sister and can't wait to bring her home.
With her syndrome there is a specialist at the University of Utah for the Wolf Hirsshorn Syndrome. They will be meeting up with him in a few weeks. They have heard wonderful things about him and are grateful to have him looking after Aliya.