Brooklynn's 9 Month Appointment

Last week, we had a little trip to the Ears, Nose and Throat doctor for Brooklynn to assess the need for tubes in her ears. She has had 5 ear infections (all double) since birth. They checked her hearing, which seemed to be slightly affected (when they did the eardrum wave test, her eardrums did not react the way they should). The ENT doctor felt it was due to fluid in her ear. This along with the amount of ear infections buys her some tubes. We go in about a week to have them placed. The nice thing is we only have to protect her from water for 5 days. I remember when I was little I had to be protected from water the whole time!

We went in to our new pediatrician for Brooklynn's 9 month appointment. She is really nice, and I am really hoping we continue to like her. Brooklynn is getting so big. She weighed 21.10 pounds (placing her in the 87%), length was 29 and 3/4 inches (90th%ile), and her head was measuring 20 3/4 inch (well above 100%) - but that has only gone up 3/4 of an inch since two months ago.

Of course we had to run through all of Brooklynn's history again, which is a pain, but the doctor was very attentive. She is developmentally on point right now, doing the things she should be doing, even though she is not crawling. Brooklynn is army crawling and scooting, just not up on her hands and knees. Her urine that we had drawn a few months ago to test for mucopolysacchridosis (aka the very bad disease we did not want her to have) and for oligosaccharidosis had some abnormal to it that I discovered after I had her medical records sent to me. The Oligosaccharides had abnormal bands which could be indicative of lysosomal storage disease IF there are other concerns and I had some questions as to this. The lab said that a repeat urine might need to be done to confirm this abnormal bands. This might be a normal variant but it also might entail us to redraw her urine. The Doctor was going to call genetics to see what they think about this coming back that way. I am hoping genetics will say it is no big deal.

I also asked about Brookklynn's breathing at night. She is a very loud breather, at times having stridor and acts like she has trouble getting air in. The doctor said it might be that her adenoids or tonsils are enlarged and get in the way, and therefore we should ask the ENT doctor when she has her tubes placed in her ears to take a look. If we continue to have concerns and her adenoids are fine, we might end up doing a sleep study.

Brooklynn seemed to like the new doctor and was clapping and laughing. Izzy was cracking me up because she kept saying "I am sick" "I need a doctor" (a little bit of jealousy that her sister was getting all the attention). The doctor even took some time out to "assess" Izzy which was really nice.

So I am anxiously awaiting the new from the genetics office, as well as what the ENT doctor will say about her adenoids. I know I shouldn't worry but it just is always in the back of my mind until we get the OKAY that everything is fine!

On a positive note - Brooklynn is getting so big and waving "hi" and "bye", she is laughing at things, and is starting to follow directions (like when I say wave to daddy she looks at him and waves). She is eating more solids - she loves green beans, her mum-mums, and Cheerios. Any baby food she gulps down! She is such an eater.

Izzy is getting so big now too. She is really becoming a little girl. She loves playing pretend and making up stories and games. I will post about Christmas with pictures hopefully soon! We had a WONDERFUL holiday season.

Tis the Season...

For doctor's appointments :). Last week I had to take both girls to the doctor due to having a cough, runny nose, and just being irritable. Izzy had "strep" (not sure I believe this one but okay), Brooklynn had another double ear infection, making it 5 since she was born (this I completely believed!). So that bought us an appointment with the ENT to talk about tubes in her ears. We go to this appointment tomorrow (Friday) so we will see what he says at this time.

Next week we go to a new pediatrician. I am a little anxious but curious as to see what she has to say about all of Brooklynn's past medical tests. It will be interesting to know if another doctor will be as worried about her head size as her previous pediatrician, or if someone will tell us it is just a variant that is nothing to worry about (I really hope this is what will happen!).

Izzy is gearing up for Christmas and is super excited for Santa to come bring her lots of presents! Every time she sees a gift she asks if it is for her! We talk about making Christmas cookies and setting them out for Santa and she can't wait! This weekend will be the start of our festivities with Sam's side of the family - his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew is coming into town. I can't wait! I think I am more excited than Izzy, which is really hard to believe.

Reverb10 - Stolen from a Friend's Site

One of the other blog mom's started doing this Reverb 10 and it really seems to be an excellent way to reflect back on my year, so I am starting it now. (Not to be a copy cat but man it is pretty amazing).

December 6th: Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noise
s, colors)

The one moment I felt most alive this year was when we brought Brooklynn home from the hospital and her sister saw her for the first time!! Izzy was so excited. I remember seeing her run up to meet us and give us hugs. I remember seeing her edge over to her sister in her carseat, lightly touching her hand, with a HUGE smile on her face. Asking to "hold" her. Smelling the new baby smell while I pick Brooklynn up from her carseat. Seeing their daddy's face as he watched his oldest girl holding his newest girl. Seeing her smile and slowly explore her sister by holding her hand, touching her face, rubbing her hair, giving her little kisses on the mouth, her forehead, her hands. NOTHING is better than seeing the love between my two daughters!

I never felt more alive in my whole life than in that moment and every moment after.

What it Means to Be A Mother!

Lately I have been doing some thinking...about what it means to be a mother. My world changed so much in July 2007 when we found out we were pregnant with Izzy. It has been a whirlwind, and I have learned so much about motherhood (and I know there is lots left to learn).

1. My days of nonworry are completely over. From the time I first got pregnant, I was worried about having a miscarriage, to delivering early, to having a terrible labor, to having a baby in the NICU, etc etc etc. Now I worry about every runny nose, cough, fever, fall. And before I know it, I am going to be worrying about every heartache, every tear, and every boy that my girls have to face.

2. I learned what it means to love unconditionally and completely!! No matter what, these girls are my world and I would do anything for them! My heart swells every time I lay eyes on them!

3. I can never have a completely bad, rotten day as long as I see my girls. I might be stressed, I might have the worst day at work, but when I come home and hear my girls laugh and see them smile, all the terrible things melt away.

4. I am one of THOSE moms! One of those moms who show off all the pictures, and talk about all the crazy things my kids do, from pretending to be a princess, to jumping around like a monkey, to how many times Izzy goes potty in the big girl chair. And honestly, I am not ashamed!

5. I am also a mother of one of THOSE kids - a child who throws a tantrum in the middle of the store because she doesn't get the candy bar she wants, or one child is running away from the cart at Target while the other one is screaming her head off in the cart because she has not had her much needed nap. Also, the child who runs around the restaurant, or runs out of the bathroom in the restaurant yelling at the top of her lungs "I WENT POTTY!!!" And I am okay with that.

6. I have learned the true meaning of sacrifice. I sacrifice my time, my money, my life so my girls can have the best that I can provide them. Could I sacrifice more?? Probably, but as I learn more about this motherhood thing, I will learn the true meaning of balance (I hope!)

7. I can be a selfish mom - selfish in the way that I want to spend as much time with my girls as possible. That I deep down hate when my daughter asks to stay at Nana Cash's house for the weekend when I have worked 40 hours away from her, or when my daughter cries crocodile tears when I pick her up because she wants to stay at Nana Sugar's house. Don't get me wrong, I love that she loves her Nanas and Papas and that she has them around, but I have a little jealousy bug deep down.

I am also selfish in the fact that while I love spending time with my girls, spending ten minutes to myself in the shower with no sounds around can be the most relaxing 10 minutes of my life. Forget paying hundreds of dollars at the beauty salon - all I need is my hot shower once a day!

8. Motherhood also means being the bad guy every once in a while. I am the one who has to say no sometimes, and I can't give them everything that they want. But I am also the one who gets to help heal their hurts and be the one to spoil them every once in a while. I prefer to do the latter, but I guess the former is part of my job description.

I learned what it means to be a mother by watching one of the best - my mom! So thanks to her!

Parents as Teachers

It has been a while since I have posted, so I thought I would write a quick update. Things have been going extremely well for all of us. Brooklynn started sitting up on her own right about a week before she turned 8 months. It was crazy because the day she did it, I almost called her doctor, but decided to wait a day.

Parents as Teachers came last week to assess Brooklynn and see how she is doing. The lady thought she was doing pretty good. Said to still watch out for milestones because she did sit on the later end of normal. But she was happy that she brings her hands together, she passes toys between hands, and brings toys together to make noise. She has a good pincher grasp. She also started scooting towards objects by going from one side to the next. She moved across half of our living room.

Brooklynn has been eating everything we put into her mouth! It is so different having a child who eats what I give her. Izzy always was a struggle (and still is) to get any type of solid into her body.

Izzy is doing really good! She has been really expanding her vocabulary and sentence structure. I can hold conversations with her while on the phone. Sam and I went to Fort Worth TX for 4 days and I was grateful I could talk to Izzy and find out about her day. It was hard because my mom came to pick her up before we left, and as they were driving to her house Izzy called me and said "I want you!! I miss you!" It was good to see her when we came back (and of course Brooklynn too).

Not too much new on our homefront! Gearing up for the holiday season!

Brooklynn's Neurosurgery Appointment

Brooklynn had her Neurosurgery appointment on Wednesday. After Dr. H. looked at her MRI, he said that there was no hydrocephalus!! He said her head is well off the charts (51cm or 20.1 inches) which we knew. He also said there was mild ventriculomegaly which could just be a normal variant for her brain size. He said she acts too normal for there to be any hydrocephalus (which is really good). He does want us to come back for a CT scan which we will have done in January just to make sure there is no change. As of right now that is the only plan of things to do. So hopefully we can now relax and not have to worry about any more tests results until that January appointment.

She weighed in at 19 pounds 5 ounces (I couldn't believe it - she is getting to be such a big girl!). I am so happy that we are done with that step! Now we just have to work on that sitting up on her own thing :).

Brooklynn's MRI

Today was Brooklynn's MRI. After a month of anticipation the date finally came and I am SOO grateful for it to be done. We arrived at 1230 in morning at CMH. First I took my mom to see the unit in which I work which she has not yet had the opportunity to see since she babysits my daughters. People at work were able to see my little B - Sister was at school today (it was her first full day and she seemed to really love it! I am thinking that we might have to rethink her only being there for 1/2 days...)

Anyway, we arrived at 1230 and were pulled back into the sedation room about 1pm. They started her IV which she cried but was really a great champ and calmed really fast. She kept wanting to pull at the IV. Around 1:20pm it was time for them to take Brooklynn back into the MRI...they asked if she would cry if they took her and I said it was a high possibility....especially since she was tired and hungry (she was not able to have formula after 6:30 am and only clears until 10:30am and after that nothing). So they gave her a dose of versed and let me tell you it was the funniest reaction to the medication! She went from crying, to dazed, to a little sleepy, to completely hysterical - and by hysterical I mean laughing the biggest belly laugh I had ever heard!!! She was laughing all the way down the hallway. I wish I would have known that cause I would have had my mom record it! (my mom went with me because Sam could not get off work).

I had to go sit in the waiting room. They told me it would take about 45 minutes for the MRI, and than radiologist would look at it, and if needed they would use contrast. They took her back at 1:30pm and my eyes watched that clock! When it 3pm I was SOO scared! Finally they took me back to see my baby girl and she was sleeping. They had to use contrast...which makes me a little nervous wondering if they saw something or what. Luckily no doctor came in to talk to me so that means if they found something, it could not have been that bad!! We should find out results in a couple of days. So it will be a waiting game yet again.

They ended up giving her 2 doses of versed, 2 of fentanyl and one of some other sedative due to the length of the test. She tolerated it well, and never dropped her oxygen. I guess it is protocol to put nasal cannula on them any way so she had that on during the test (or at least that is what I was told!!) She did wake up and start coughing a little which did not surprise me - she gets congested when she lays down on her back every once in a while. When I was able to see her it took her about 15 minutes to wake up and than she started to drink. Now she is rolling around playing like always! I am glad this test is over and just can't wait to hear from her pediatrician to hear the results. Either way it will be relief to have it done!