So I am not sure if you remember a couple weeks back when we had our pediatrician appointment. We had to have labs drawn for Brooklynn because of the abnormal urine that was drawn back in October and had been lost in her chart! The new pediatrician DID call genetics and big surprise (or not so much), they wanted to redraw her urine oligosaccharides due to it being abnormal and something called transferrin to test for another disorder. And again...we are in the waiting game. It takes 7-10 days for the labs to come back and we are now on day 7 and no news! I know I need to be patient and accept that it probably won't be until next week that I hear anything...but as my title states I am not so virtuous and have NO PATIENCE!!
I look at my daughter and know that she is fine. She is happy, and loving, and doing the things she should (granted a little bit behind others her age but she still hits her milestones at SOME point!). I just want to get the "abnormal" lab out of my thought process and hear the words everything is normal. Or if it is not, than I can at least start the process of understanding what that means. There is a possibility that no matter what the results are we will have to meet with genetics. Why?? To make sure they aren't going to be missing anything with her head and blah blah blah!! Can we not be done with all of this??
Next week we go to her neurosurgery appointment and have another CT to check on her mild ventriculomegaly that they found in the last MRI. I PRAY that this comes back fine and her ventriculomegaly has not worsened and that we can stop seeing the neurosurgeon! There is a possibility that she might have to have sedation medications for the CT, which I hope not. But if she has to have it I hope that I will be prepared and have our video camera ready just in case she starts cracking up the way she did for the MRI.
Than Monday the 24th we will be having her ear tubes placed. We had to wait 10 days after her cough stopped from RSV to be able to schedule her appointment and that Monday is the soonest we could do it. So my poor girl will have to have anesthesia for this procedure. I just pray that she does not get sick from now until than, which might be difficult since this girl gets sick at the drop of a hat. And she has started digging at her ears...AGAIN so we might have another ear infection brewing. Rats.
On a positive note (because I always have to have one after my posts of complaints) is Brooklynn has started going from her belly to pushing up to sitting...and started pulling up to her knees in her crib...and eating more table food. She looks at me and says "mamamama" which I LOVE!
Izzy has been growing up before my eyes! She talks more and more like a big kid and less like a toddler, which makes me tear up about every night. We are starting to plan (gasp) her 3 year birthday and Brooklynn's 1 year birthday! It will be nice to have them together, but it makes me realize how fast BOTH girls are growing and realizing that together is a lot to handle!
I love my girls and every day I love them even more! I thank God every day I have healthy girls in my life!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
RSV...again
The girls started developing pretty significant coughs right after Christmas. I took them into Northland urgent care Monday night and was told it was croup. They were both started on steroids and I feel like it helped Izzy. Brooklynn's cough got worse as the week went on and on Thursday at my mom's she started having some wheezing, so we decided to take her into the ER. They hooked her up to the monitor and her oxygen levels were lower 90s and she was wheezing pretty significantly. After two albuterol treatments, two deep suctioning sessions, one racemic epinephrine treatment and eight hours later with no change in her oxygen levels, they decided to admit her to the hospital for observation. Before admitting her they checked for RSV and guess what....she had it! Ya the thing I was told in urgent care not to worry about because she is older she ended up being admitted for. This child can't do anything by the books.
Thank goodness we were only in the hospital for the night and by the time we were discharged her wheezing was non existant,her oxygen levels were mid to upper 90s, and she required no treatment on the floor! I was very grateful it was only one night because Brooklynn did not want to stay in the crib at all and the monitors were driving me crazy! I feel bad for parents who have to deal with it all the time! Every time I got Brooklynn to sleep and tried to lay her down in the crib, her monitor would ring off because either the EKG patch came off or it was not picking up and it was wake her up! I am just grateful that i was able to stay the night with her, I don't know what I would have done if I had to leave her!!
Thank goodness we were only in the hospital for the night and by the time we were discharged her wheezing was non existant,her oxygen levels were mid to upper 90s, and she required no treatment on the floor! I was very grateful it was only one night because Brooklynn did not want to stay in the crib at all and the monitors were driving me crazy! I feel bad for parents who have to deal with it all the time! Every time I got Brooklynn to sleep and tried to lay her down in the crib, her monitor would ring off because either the EKG patch came off or it was not picking up and it was wake her up! I am just grateful that i was able to stay the night with her, I don't know what I would have done if I had to leave her!!
Monday, December 27, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, December 6, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, November 22, 2010
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!
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!
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