Sheppard Family News

Well it looks like it will probably be tomorrow that we are able to go home - Mackenzie is feeling much better - her best time is in the morning - by the end of the day she starts to get very tired.
I'm including a video so you can all see her smile...

We spoke to the Pediatrician this morning - Mackenzie is feeling much better as you can see in the picture, but we will be here at least until tomorrow and probably until Friday. The Doctor wants to wait until the urine and blood cultures come back before they let her go home. Below is a picture of the view from our room - we can see the helicopter bringing people to the hospital and landing on what looks to me like part of an aircraft carrier - obviously it is just an extension of the main hospital.

Mackenzie was admitted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital today at noon. She developed a high fever over the weekend and became more and more lethargic as time went on. This morning her Doctor (Mark Andrew Lee) examined her and did a few tests - he was able to determine that she has a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) - we don't yet know the definitive cause, however the preliminary look at her renal ultrasound indicates that it is possible that she has renal reflux issues just like Madalyn did. This means after her UTI is cleared up we will return to the Vanderbilt imaging center for a test called a Voiding Cystourethrogram (VCUG). When we get the results from this test we will know if she has a reflux issue and to what extent.


Mackenzie is being an angel. When we arrived in the hospital I was holding her before they came in to examine her and she gave me some very big smiles. Smiles I very much needed to see. Soon after the nurse came in and put an IV in her leg to give Antibiotics and fluids - being poked at was definitely Mackenzie's least favorite part so far - they also have given her tylenol to keep her fever down.

We don't know when we will get to go home but it should be Wednesday or Thursday and will depend mostly on her fever.

I will continue to post updates as I am able.

Thank you for all your prayers!

Hello Everyone - I hope you all got your invite so that you can create your own posts on this blog. If you need any help with it please let me know. Earlier today Annie caught Mackenzie on video so we decided to share it here...

(Copy of an email Kathy sent out last week.)

Hello Everyone,

Some of you have been asking me, "what is it like living in new
Orleans?", and so I thought I'd give you all a run down of what it really is like down
here (and for those who have not really considered the question, well, I
hope that you at least find what I say somewhat interesting).

To begin, it is wonderful to be back at my home university. There is a
lot of excitement in the air, the students are all happy to be back and to see
old friends, and the campus looks pretty good. With each day, there are new
stores and restaurants that are opening back up, or they at least have signs
that say "opening soon." people are coming in and out of the city to work on
their houses and many have now completed the grunt work on their homes and
are now waiting on insurance to help them do the finishing touches.
as there is always good news, there is always the reality to a situation, and at
times it can be bad. Stores, such as grocery stores or Walgreen, are
few and far. Most of the students go to the wal-mart about 15 minutes from
campus, but even there we wait in line for about 30 min to an hour to check out. A
lot of our facilities on campus are not open (such as coffeeshops or food
stands).

Also, there are no mail carriers--well, I take that back, I think that
they are delivering once a week, but we go to the post office to pick up our
mail. And oh, I don't expect any packages or any other sort of mail to be sent to
me, but please do not send any to me because I most likely will not get it.
Tulane, my university, is also having some problems. During the hurricane, a lot
of their resources were damaged (for the library alone, they lost $15 million
worth of resources), and so they will not be able to fund a lot of programs that
tend to have expensive research and facilities, so they will be cutting
engineering as well as many phd programs, and they continue to cut faculty. I know
that the university doesn't want to do these things, but what I can configure
from the decisions made is that they rankly don't have the money at this time,
and they may not have it until a few years later. Many of these decisions don't
affect me as a student, except for one, which is that the university will be
restructuring itself entirely and so it will be eliminating the coordinate men
and women's colleges. It's a bit complicated, but basically for students at
Tulane university, all women of arts and sciences are enrolled at newcomb
college of Tulane university and all men at Tulane college of Tulane
university. The changes thus mean that newcomb college will disappear,
and so it is the end of the nation's first coordinate women's college--how
that affects me is that I am now on a committee that will present a proposal
to the president of the university on how to preserve the traditions and
endowment of newcomb college ($36 million is a lot of money). There will be a lot
of decisions and changes at my university during the next few months so we
will see how it goes...

okay, I know that this email is quite long, but you may now be asking,
"well, why do you stay in new Orleans if life is not quite normal but rather a
bit bizarre and inconvenient?" yes, it's true that my neighborhood still
has damaged homes and fewer people, and yes, it still somewhat bothers me
to see the markings on homes of when they were searched and how many people
were found alive or dead. Yet, in spite of all that, I enjoy being in new Orleans
during this time because it takes people being there to help being back. The
reason for scarce open stores, no mail service, etc. is because there are not
enough people here to do he jobs--many most likely want to be here, but they
can't because they have no home. In sum, it may not yet be a normal, typical
American city with all the conveniences that we Americans enjoy (and
take for granted), but there is an optimistic and joyous attitude that exists
among those here, and with each day, the city keeps on improving.

I apologize if this email was a bit too long for you, but thanks for
listening.

Love,
Kathy

I committed my first - at least I hope it was my first - offense in blogging this week when I forgot to mention Sheppard's birthday - for this I apologize and hope to make it up to you by posting this fantastic picture of a birthday cake. You will have to pretend your name is Jon...

Seriously though - I will try to remember everyone and their Birthday - if I forget please send me an email and I will post it promptly...


Garrison

I had a run in with a celebrity today that might be of interest to the blog. I am sure you know of the new beginning of the show the bachelor on Abc. Well he is a doctor at Vanderbilt in Nashville and he also happens to workout at the Greenhills YMCA. Well I had not closely followed the show and just happened to catch the first episode last night and realized that I recognized him. Well upon talking to my boss today she confirmed that it was indeed him that worked out at the facility that I work at. Well it turns out that when I worked there in high school before I left for college I talked to the bachelor every night that I worked. Well as fate would have it I saw him today and had a brief conversation about the show and life. He did not reveal any information. Another bit of information is one of the women that is on the show also works out at the Y but unfortunately I have not met her yet but maybe I will.

Madison

I don't have much time to write at the moment but I wanted to give you an update about our pregnancy. We went to the Doctor today and Annie's amniotic fluid level has risen from 8.5 to 11.3 - a very good change. The non-stress test showed that everything is progressing well. We will go back next Wed for another non-stress test (this will be a weekly occurrence until the baby arrives) and in two weeks we will have another ultrasound. Thanks to everyone for their prayers - we will keep you updated.

Garrison

Good Afternoon,
Are there sites you visit everyday? It seems that most people have a few sites that are their favorites - so please share them with us! Just send me an email with your favorites and I will add them to the list. Of course every time you find a new favorite or you find a site that you think someone else might enjoy send it along...

You will be able to find these links to the right under the heading Links - additional links.

I look forward to seeing what kind of list we can get together.

[Please also include websites for any business or school you are involved in.]

Garrison

Here is a story from today about the Largest Group of Soldiers Returning Home courtesy of WTVM in Columbus, GA.

Garrison

Last week while riding in the car maddie asked the question - What sound does a giraffe make? (Click on the link to watch the video.) Annie told her that we would try to look it up on the internet - which we did, however there is very little information about it so I told Maddie she could pose the question to the family on our website. What we did find said that a giraffe may sound like a goat or a cow - until recently the scientific community thought they made no sound at all. We asked our friend that worked at the zoo and she confirmed that it does sound somewhat goat like. If anyone has a recording of such a sound or can replicate it please let Maddie know!

Garrison

Gale received news from Ross last night (January 6) - he is on his way to Kuwait with his friend Nate. In order to use the phones or internet they must wait in lines for up to two hours so he is not able to communicate often. He is scheduled to land at Fort Benning on Monday January 9th if all his connections go as planned. Gale thanks everyone for their interest and support!

Garrison

Art and I went to see Wu Man play the pipa with the Nashville Symphony last night. This is a very interesting Chinese Lute which to us Southerners sounds like a cross between a banjo and a washboard. The music is very beautiful so I wanted to share it with you. Wu Man's website is WuManPipa.org. Click enter to hear the music and follow the links to find out more about the pipa.

Gina

We went to the Doctor on Wednesday for our 32 week ultrasound. It is always incredible to see our little girl moving around as we watch on the screen. We didn't get any pictures to post so I am attaching a picture from the last ultrasound we had (18 weeks) - I imagine most of you haven't seen that one. She is so big that it was hard to make much out and she kept her arms over her face most of the time, but for just a moment she peeked one eye out from behind her little arms. She is now 4 pounds and is doing very well, however there were two findings that will result in us returning to the Doctor next Wednesday.

The first thing they saw which is what they called a non-issue was an Allantoic cyst on the umbilical cord near the placenta. Of slightly more concern is that the level of Amniotic Fluid is measuring at 8.5 which is considered a low-normal result. When the level reaches below 5 it is considered to be problematic. The good news is that this level will vary from day to day so we may go back next Wednesday and it will be a 12. We are watching more closely for low fluid in this pregnancy because in the last weeks of Annie's pregnancy with Maddie her fluid level went from a 17(32 weeks) to an 11 (36 weeks) to an 8(37 weeks) - the relatively quick drop off and the findings in the non-stress test that Maddie was laying on her cord at times pushed us to induce at 37 weeks. It is important to remember that every baby is different so it is not necessarily bad news that the fluid is at an 8.5 right now, however it doesn't give much room for a decline in fluid - after the ultrasound and the non-stress test next Wednesday we will know a lot more.

Annie is also doing very well, she is starting to tire a bit more and her back is hurting but she is doing a great job pushing ahead. We have almost finished the nursery and since this last ultrasound made us realize how soon we could have a little one we are going to finish it this weekend.

Please pray for us - the longer we can wait to have her the better for our new little girl - we really don't want her to have to spend a week or more in the NICU like Maddie did. Of course just because she is early doesn't mean that will happen and we haven't forgotten how fragile new life (and for that matter all life) can be and how little control we actually have which I believe will help us accept whatever the future holds and wherever God sends us.

We will keep everyone updated.

Garrison

Sadly not all of us were able to make it to the wedding back in August - Elijah has sent me the pictures so that you can look through them and almost feel like you were there. It certainly looks beautiful, and I do wish we (Annie, Maddie and myself) could have made it up there - it was great to meet Melody and spend time with her on several occasions over the last year and we look forward to getting to know her better.

The photos are in two folders - one folder has high resolution pictures in it and one folder has low resolution (for web viewing) pictures in it. If you only want to browse through them look at the low resolution pictures first and if you want to get one printed or do some photo editing to one then go and find the corresponding number in the high resolution folder and download it to your computer. I have also included a single file that has all of the pictures in it. Because there are so many pictures it will take some time to download the single file (9MB)

Follow the links above to find the pictures.

Have a good day!

Garrison

Hello everyone!

Kathy heads back to Tulane next week. We are all eager to hear from New Orleans. You can use this link to see what is going on there: www.tulane.edu. Also our other two seniors will be back in school for their last semester soon. Kelly'’s school link is www.upenn.edu and Mandy'’s is www.vanderbilt.edu.

You may want to check all of these out as graduation is coming up this spring. Mandy will graduate May 12, Kathy on May 13 and Kelly on May 15. Of course you are all invited to attend!

Art and Gina

Mary took these pictures with her camera phone during her visit to Scottsboro over Christmas and wanted to share them with everyone...

In honor of Gale's birthday I have added a link to a list of family birthdays! I know Madison was hoping to have a place to look up this information. Thanks for all the responses so far about the website - please don't hesitate to email me with your own posts to the blog.




Other's born on January 4th are:

Michael Stipe (1960 - )

Charles "General Tom Thumb" Stratton (1838 - 1883) Click here for complete Biography

Dyan Cannon (1937 - )

Jane Wyman (1914 - )

Jacob Grimm (1785 - 1863) Click here for complete Biography

Dave Foley (1963 - )

Patty Loveless (Patricia Ramey) (1957 - )

Julia Ormond (1965 - )

Louis Braille (1809 - 1852) Click here for complete Biography

Floyd Patterson (1935 - )

Below are a few historical events that happened on January 4th:

1896 Utah enters the Union
1974 President Nixon refuses to hand over tapes
1994 104th Congress under Republican control
1999 Single European currency debuts

I hope you have a good day!

Garrison

This year we celebrated Christmas with a Patriotic Theme which included a program from Papa with a brief explanation of how our family has been involved in patriotic duties. Ross sent a note that was delivered through Gail and she announced that he will soon be returning home which we were all very glad to hear. We also listened to a reading of That Ragged Old Flag by the one and only Johnny Cash.

Afterwards Papa handed out Flags for each of us and announced formerly the timber cutting that is being done on Melody Mountain. This has been quite a project - the method used to clear the trees and separate them into useful pieces is very interesting and if you are able take the time to go check it out. Papa and Grandma are putting the money from this project aside to help their grandchildren with education and passed out an envelope that we were all glad to open. The history of Melody Mountain in our family and the blessings it has bestowed on all of us both monetarily and through time spent there is certainly not something to be taken for granted.

I hope that everyone is having a good new year thus far and look forward to seeing what becomes of this site please don't hesitate to send in anything that you feel is worth sharing no matter how big or how small!

Garrison