So, Charlotte's "underdeveloped hip sockets" are not just underdeveloped, but actually hip dysplasia, confirmed by x-rays today. The good news is that I trust my doctor; the surgery he performed on me 7 years ago was one of the best things I have ever done (hard, yes, but worth every bit of it). The bad news is that since her tendons are really tight, success in correcting the problem decreases if we use the harness, which is usually the first step. This means we are now getting ready for her to have surgery the Monday after Thanksgiving and go into a body cast (also called spica cast). They will run a test while she is under before placing the cast, and there is a small chance that will indicate she doesn't need the cast, but we aren't counting on that. She'll have to be in the cast for 6 weeks before its removed for a bath and then a new cast for an aditonal 6 weeks. I googled it and came up with this website, which seems to have a lot of comprehensive information. http://www.hip-baby.org/spica.html
At first I was okay - I mean, my mom had to go through all of this with me, so surely I can do the same for my daughter. Not to mention the side effects of it not being done right early on for me meant seriously invasive surgery for me at 19 - I don't want that for my baby girl.
Once home I realized how much things are going to have to change around here. She won't learn how to sit up at the age when most kids do. She will no longer be able to use her legs to make the music play on her bouncy seat or floor gym. I won't be able to curl up and snuggle as much with her. Who knows how we'll work out breast-feeding, but I'm sure we will. At least I have 4 weeks to cope with this before it happens. Any prayers would be appreciated :-)
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
2 Months (9 Weeks today)
So Charlotte turned 2 months old on the 26th! How crazy is that?
Just so we can all see how much she's grown in that short time:
This week has been busy and fun. Charlee and I are getting much better at getting out of the house as we fall into a good routine. Just to get out of the house, I make sure we have something to go do every day - something as "simple" as grocery shopping. Actually, all week I found myself wishing that I already had my new Hotsling, because she is so much happier when we are out and about when she isn't in the stroller. Not only that, but my hands are then free to push a cart, carry a basket, or whatever. This also means I can step away from the cart without having to worry about stepping away from Charlotte. I talked to my friend Laura on Wednesday, (who's little boy is only a week younger than Charlotte) and she told me about a woman who tried to take a baby just by walking off with the mother's shopping cart while her back was turned. Scary stuff!
Anyway, the new Hotsling finally arrived in the mail yesterday, and I plopped Charlotte in it so I could trim the hedges and water the front flower (what flowers?) beds. Today she went to church in it. After an *incident* as we were leaving church, we couldn't use it for our trip to the Farmer's Market, so I used a borrowed ring sling (http://zolowear.com/). Even the hard to use ring sling seems to make more sense now that I understand the Hotsling. But I still love the Hotsling best - it is SO easy for me to get her in and out of there, and she loves it.
I did however, learn the hard way how NOT to use my sling - for walking Maddie. I am not quite sure what happened, except that we only made it to the corner. Maddie stepped over her leash and I leaned over to untangle her. Maybe I was still leaning a little forward, or maybe it was the uneven spot at the curb, but when Maddie tried to dart into the street she pulled me into the street with her. Off balance, I came crashing down onto the asphalt with Charlotte in her sling. By some miracle of God (or Charlotte's Guardian Angel) she came out totally unscathed. Of course, I still haven't figured out the extent of the damages on MY body as I tried to keep from landing on her (which I still think I did, a little). She cried for only a moment after we hit the ground, but was completely content as a couple of neighbors walked me home. Actually, the experience seemed to make her sleepy (OK, so it was almost bedtime anyway), and I put her down to bed half an hour later. All in all, I cried the most - heck, I'm fighting a lump in my throat just thinking about it. No more of that. Sorry Maddie.
On a more pleasant note - Beta took us shopping on Friday and along with a bunch of precious outfits we came home with this:
Fred and I laughed so hard putting her into it. She found it less amusing but tolerated the bulky costume better than expected.
I keep trying to catch pictures of her smiling, but as soon as I pull out the camera she looks right at it with a very serious face. I got this one by sneaking up on her!
Just so we can all see how much she's grown in that short time:
Her first night home from the hospital:
Yesterday sitting in her Bumbo seat:
This week has been busy and fun. Charlee and I are getting much better at getting out of the house as we fall into a good routine. Just to get out of the house, I make sure we have something to go do every day - something as "simple" as grocery shopping. Actually, all week I found myself wishing that I already had my new Hotsling, because she is so much happier when we are out and about when she isn't in the stroller. Not only that, but my hands are then free to push a cart, carry a basket, or whatever. This also means I can step away from the cart without having to worry about stepping away from Charlotte. I talked to my friend Laura on Wednesday, (who's little boy is only a week younger than Charlotte) and she told me about a woman who tried to take a baby just by walking off with the mother's shopping cart while her back was turned. Scary stuff!
Anyway, the new Hotsling finally arrived in the mail yesterday, and I plopped Charlotte in it so I could trim the hedges and water the front flower (what flowers?) beds. Today she went to church in it. After an *incident* as we were leaving church, we couldn't use it for our trip to the Farmer's Market, so I used a borrowed ring sling (http://zolowear.com/). Even the hard to use ring sling seems to make more sense now that I understand the Hotsling. But I still love the Hotsling best - it is SO easy for me to get her in and out of there, and she loves it.
Sporting the new sling - its reversible!
I did however, learn the hard way how NOT to use my sling - for walking Maddie. I am not quite sure what happened, except that we only made it to the corner. Maddie stepped over her leash and I leaned over to untangle her. Maybe I was still leaning a little forward, or maybe it was the uneven spot at the curb, but when Maddie tried to dart into the street she pulled me into the street with her. Off balance, I came crashing down onto the asphalt with Charlotte in her sling. By some miracle of God (or Charlotte's Guardian Angel) she came out totally unscathed. Of course, I still haven't figured out the extent of the damages on MY body as I tried to keep from landing on her (which I still think I did, a little). She cried for only a moment after we hit the ground, but was completely content as a couple of neighbors walked me home. Actually, the experience seemed to make her sleepy (OK, so it was almost bedtime anyway), and I put her down to bed half an hour later. All in all, I cried the most - heck, I'm fighting a lump in my throat just thinking about it. No more of that. Sorry Maddie.
On a more pleasant note - Beta took us shopping on Friday and along with a bunch of precious outfits we came home with this:
Fred and I laughed so hard putting her into it. She found it less amusing but tolerated the bulky costume better than expected.
I keep trying to catch pictures of her smiling, but as soon as I pull out the camera she looks right at it with a very serious face. I got this one by sneaking up on her!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Buggaboo
So my sweet daughter and I play a new game that I just love; it's called stick your tongue out. She sticks hers out and I stick mine out back at her and she smiles. Sometimes if I stick mine out first, she copies me. :-) We have fun. What a polite little lady I'm raising...
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Poopy Explosion
I just had an experience today that I never thought I'd have and thought I'd share. I am amazed at the things that no longer bother me - namely spit-up (often in massive, vomited quantities), pee, and poop.
Since the weather turned colder today, I decided it would be fun to dress Charlotte in a long sleeve shirt (not onesie!) and pants. About halfway through her meal this evening, I put her on my knee to burp her. Maybe the way I held her had something to do with it, but suddenly I felt something warm on the hand I was using to pat her back. I looked down to see poop spewing up from the back of her pants - landing on my jeans, the glider, the ottoman, and the remote control. My solution to minimize the mess? CATCH IT IN MY HAND! What on earth has my life come to? The worst part is that I didn't even think about how gross that is until after I had everything cleaned up.
I've become such a pro at cleaning up such messes these days - I just stuck Charlotte's little rear end, fully clothed, into the bathroom sink as I stripped off her pants and socks. Then I grabbed a towel from the rack to protect the changing pad cover (rather wash the towel) so I could put her down and take off my soiled jeans. You'd think she would have found this all traumatic, but she just chilled through the whole thing - even as I left her on the futon while I threw everything into the wash and cleaned the glider.
So, this is my life. I think I am going to try to keep my baby girl in onesies whenever possible as those help contain these kinds of up-the-back-of-the-diaper kinds of messes!
Since the weather turned colder today, I decided it would be fun to dress Charlotte in a long sleeve shirt (not onesie!) and pants. About halfway through her meal this evening, I put her on my knee to burp her. Maybe the way I held her had something to do with it, but suddenly I felt something warm on the hand I was using to pat her back. I looked down to see poop spewing up from the back of her pants - landing on my jeans, the glider, the ottoman, and the remote control. My solution to minimize the mess? CATCH IT IN MY HAND! What on earth has my life come to? The worst part is that I didn't even think about how gross that is until after I had everything cleaned up.
I've become such a pro at cleaning up such messes these days - I just stuck Charlotte's little rear end, fully clothed, into the bathroom sink as I stripped off her pants and socks. Then I grabbed a towel from the rack to protect the changing pad cover (rather wash the towel) so I could put her down and take off my soiled jeans. You'd think she would have found this all traumatic, but she just chilled through the whole thing - even as I left her on the futon while I threw everything into the wash and cleaned the glider.
So, this is my life. I think I am going to try to keep my baby girl in onesies whenever possible as those help contain these kinds of up-the-back-of-the-diaper kinds of messes!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
8th Week Happenings
Okay, I have a ton of pics that I will upload tomorrow - we're staying with my parents because our AC is out. Luckily we hadn't unpacked anything from our trip to Baton Rouge, so it was easy to load everything up and come on over!Charlotte has been a little sick this week with a mild cold (I think). She was spitting up more than usual, but I was eating more dairy than usual and think that might be the culprit so I've decided to cut it out for a while.
So Sleepy:
While I've tried out every borrowed sling, I can't seem to get the hang of the "ring slings." I never feel as though they keep Charlotte safely tucked inside, even if due to user error. Although I hate to admit it, I am a message board lurker and have seen many posts raving about the "Hotsling" (http://www.hotslings.com/). Target actually carries them, though not in the same fabrics as the website (and for a little less $). I decided to pick one up before leaving for LSU this weekend since I could easily buy and return it without any wait time if it didn't work out. After two tries I had Charlotte in it as snug as a bug, although I did think that I could use a little more practice because it wasn't quite perfect. The sling seemed a little big, but I figured that I'd purchased the right size based on their sizing charts. I played with it all weekend before noticing that the tag on the inside of sing itself says TWO sizes larger than the size denoted on the packaging. No wonder it seemed big! I will go to Target tomorrow to see if they will let me exchange it even though I've used it a few times. If they don't take it I will either try to shrink it a little in the dryer or wash it and give it to a friend that it might fit.
Charlotte in the too big sling - but she liked it anyway! Looking at the photo, I'm surprised I didn't realize how much this sling was too big. They don't have a pattern I like and in my size at a nearby Target, so I am going to order one online -. Thank goodness Target took it back!
Otherwise, we had a great time in the Red Stick. Charlotte went to her first tailgate party and met all of Michele and Helen's friends. Just look at our cute little family all decked out in purple!
Fred went to the game, but Charlotte and I cheered the Tigers on from the hotel room. He said the seats were awesome in one of the best games he ever attended as LSU came out on top with a touchdown in the last second of the game. We had such a great time that we will go back again in three weeks when LSU plays my Mom's alma mater - Louisiana Tech! Maybe then I will get to go to the game.
8 Weeks Into My New Life
My baby girl is getting big so fast! I'd say she's growing like a weed, but weeds grow up tall and skinny and she grows short and round! As much as I've tried to remember every moment, when I look back at the pictures we took of Charlotte when she was only a few days old I can hardly remember her being so small. While I marvel and celebrate each and every one of her developing baby achievements as she interacts more with the world around her, I am almost saddened by each new development that seems to lessen her dependence on me. In the womb her life depended completely on me, and with her birth started a journey that will slowly take her away from that dependence and into a world where she takes care of herself. Even now she can entertain herself (if she knows it or not) with her toys for a while and no longer likes me to hold her in the cradle position. She likes to be held looking out at the world and not at my boring face!
In the same way, I feel as though my life no longer belongs to me but exists in my little girl. How could I have ever conceived the strength my motherly instinct to protect my child? My life lacks importance compared to hers. I steam at every reckless driver on the road who endangers my precious little girl's life. Heading to Baton Rouge on Friday, a huge 18 wheeler (Budweiser) changed lanes at the last moment as it came barreling up behind us; as he flew past us I thought, "If he'd hit us, I'd have killed him." Saturday we watched a train carrying dangerous chemicals and flammable gases amble pass, and I could only think of how close my little girl was to such deadly things.
In the same way, I feel as though my life no longer belongs to me but exists in my little girl. How could I have ever conceived the strength my motherly instinct to protect my child? My life lacks importance compared to hers. I steam at every reckless driver on the road who endangers my precious little girl's life. Heading to Baton Rouge on Friday, a huge 18 wheeler (Budweiser) changed lanes at the last moment as it came barreling up behind us; as he flew past us I thought, "If he'd hit us, I'd have killed him." Saturday we watched a train carrying dangerous chemicals and flammable gases amble pass, and I could only think of how close my little girl was to such deadly things.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Play Time
Charlotte really loves the Baby Einstein floor gym:
"Tummy Time," not so much, but last night she
managed a smile while on her tummy as well:
"Tummy Time," not so much, but last night she
managed a smile while on her tummy as well:
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
7.5 Weeks
So this is like the third post I've lost since Charlotte was born - and I don't have much time for posting these days! Honestly, I can't even remember what I did yesterday, let alone last week! I did go ahead and change the post title to 7.5 weeks instead of just 7.So my favorite new trend of Charlotte's - SLEEPING 6 HOURS in a ROW! Sunday and Monday night she actually slept closer to 7 hours. Its SWEET! Of course my new concern now is that she is getting enough to eat since she is basically missing between 1-2 feedings that she used to get. Of course, she is a chunky little monkey at 13 lbs, so I guess I shouldn't worry too much ;-).
I had a total freak out moment last Wednesday. I had finally lulled Charlee to sleep in her bouncy seat ( it took almost an hour!) and she actually stayed asleep for more than half an hour. She was still sleeping and it was almost time for us to leave for dinner with our friend James, so I had to break my "never wake a sleeping baby" rule to feed her before we left. I picked her up but she didn't seem to move at all so I panicked! Jiggling her in my arms, I cried "Charlotte, Charlotte, wake up!" (Imagine a extremely dramatic reenaction.) From behind me, Fred calmly said, "she's fine, she's fine." Charlotte moved three fingers and blew some bubbles out of her mouth, not enough of a response to satisfy me - I needed a crying baby at this point - so I jiggled (okay so it was more like a frantic shake, but much softer than "shaken baby syndrome!") her again and got a half flicker of her eyes. So she was totally fine, just sleeping like a rock, and I'm a crazy, paranoid mother. Of course, she DID wake up fully to scream about how badly she needed dinner right that very second.
Thursday a friend of mine from high school, Sunida, brought us lunch. We had a great visit and Charlotte was a sweetheart! Afterwards, we went over to Beta and Granddad's house to see Michele and Helen who where in town from LSU. Charlee loves to visit with her Aunts who where excited to see her. I dressed her up in her little LSU outfit that Christy bought her and will take pictures of her in it at this weekend's football game.
Saturday night we left Charlotte with Michele at my parent's house and she gave them fits! Even though she's been taking a bottle almost daily and guzzled one on Friday, she decided Saturday night that she didn't want one. Poor baby and poor Michele (and everyone at the house)! Fred convinced her to take 2 oz on Sunday, but not before she threw a fit at Dad's birthday lunch at Carrabba's. So Monday I finally got her to drink from a bottle, but it was from the SOLITARY Dr. Brown's bottle that we own. Grrr - I have EVERYTHING Avent, including a sterilizer that the 8 oz Dr. Brown's bottles won't fit into. I picked Avent in the first place because the nipple seemed like it would be the best for maintaining breastfeeding, and the Dr. Brown's bottles have more parts to wash and keep together. I'm going to keep trying to get her to take the Avent bottle, so keep your fingers crossed.
With her Aunt Helen at Carrabba's before
Charlotte took out her fury on the Avent bottle:
Charlotte took out her fury on the Avent bottle:
Monday we had lunch with Jeannette at Texas Children's before Charlotte's ultrasound appointment. Apparently, hip dysplasia tends to run in families, so our pediatrician ordered an ultrasound, even though Charlotte's hips do not make any of the tell tale clicking noises associated with a dislocated hip. While the ultrasound confirms that her hips are indeed in place, they also show that she has shallow hip sockets, so now we will see a specialist. Hopefully he will say that we just need to monitor it as she grows, but otherwise she'd need to be in a special harness for a while to ensure that her hips form correctly as she grows.
In the last week and a half, Charlotte has really started to coo and smile a lot. Between feedings and her 30 minute naps we often play on her Baby Einstein floor gym. There is a star on top that flashes different colors as it plays music. One of the settings allows the music and lights to play when the gym jiggles, so I lay her down with her feet touching one of the support bars. When she kicks her feet and then the bar, the star comes on. She smiles and coos at the star - she loves it so much that she goes from fussy to happy in a heart beat. I love playing with her, but since she can entertain herself as well, it gives me up to half an hour to take care of whatever (but who can stay away from something so cute for a full half an hour!?). I'm working on catching the cuteness on video and hopefully can post that soon.
Ahhhh, pretty lights!
Fred and I have also been reading to Charlee since birth, but not really children's books since we thought her too little to make a difference. (I have been reading Sense and Sensibility to her.) However, I just realized that the colorful pages of children's books will hold her interest for a while. So cute!
Charlotte pondering the rhymes of Mother Goose:
I hope you all hadn't given up on me posting! Sorry they don't come as frequently or as consistently as they were.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Road Trip! 6 Weeks old!
Mary Charlotte is 6 weeks old! She is getting so big! We had a doctor visit today; she is 22 inches long (50 percentile for her age) and 12 lbs, 2 oz. She is off the charts as far as her weight for her age goes, but the doctor said she'll fall back into a normal range after she's around 6 months old. She also got her first vaccines today. I played with delaying them longer, and still haven't given her the Hepatitis B vaccine, but we started with just two and are going to space them out instead of giving 4 at a time. I just want to make sure there is not Mercury in any of the vaccines and maybe split up the MMR and wait until she turns 2. Autism freaks me out!
After spending the week with Beta and entertaining ourselves by doing things like shopping at the Galleria (Charlotte was good until she woke up and couldn't go back to sleep) and supporting Uncle Ernest at his NHS inductions, we drove up to Dallas for the Texas OU game.
Charlotte and Beta giggling together when we stopped at Sonic
and she was allowed out of her car seat.
Ahhh - NICE hotel room! So soft!
Uncle Ernie holding Charlotte on her first visit to The Capital Grille
Four Generations of Hotzes
After spending the week with Beta and entertaining ourselves by doing things like shopping at the Galleria (Charlotte was good until she woke up and couldn't go back to sleep) and supporting Uncle Ernest at his NHS inductions, we drove up to Dallas for the Texas OU game.
What Charlotte thought about having to be in her car seat for a 4 hour drive:
Charlotte and Beta giggling together when we stopped at Sonic
and she was allowed out of her car seat.
Ahhh - NICE hotel room! So soft!
Uncle Ernie holding Charlotte on her first visit to The Capital Grille
My two favorite Longhorns (though I'm still hoping she'll end up in Maroon!)
Our little family at the Petroleum Club for dinner after the game.
Four Generations of Hotzes
Me and my baby
Our weekend started with a little bit of a headache, as Fred flew into Dallas from his business trip. We were supposed to pick him up from the airport, but we were longer on the road than we'd hoped and there was bad traffic as everyone drove in for the big game. I sent him a text message before his plane landed so he'd know to just catch a cab. Unfortunately, it wasn't until we got all checked into the hotel (and his plane had already landed) that I realized Verizon service was down. I had no way to tell him we weren't coming to get him, so poor Fred sat in the heat until he finally decided to catch a cab; he was an unhappy camper. We were pretty upset with Verizon, though they have never given us problems before.
Friday night the three of us ate dinner with Mom, Dad, and Ernie at the Capital Grille. We hadn't dined there in a while, so it was nice. The crowded restaurant worked in our favor too - no one could hear Charlotte fussing for her dinner!
Saturday we met up with some of my Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandmother for breakfast. Mom, Charlotte and I parted ways everyone else as they headed to the Texas State Fair and the game. We had planned to go to the fair, but because of the rain and heat we went shopping instead.
After the game we all got back together again for our annual dinner at the Petroleum Club on the 39th floor of the Chase building in Dallas. The view is AWESOME and dinner was great. My favorite new trick for heating up Charlotte's bottles when we are out to dinner - asking for a half full glass of HOT water. I just drop her bottle down into it (hopefully BEFORE she realizes that it is time to eat), and let it sit there until she gets hungry. That is a MUCH better idea than hurrying off to the bathroom to run the cold bottle under running water. I don't have to leave the table and the bottle heats up faster.
After dinner we wandered over to the adjoining bar to watch the end of the LSU game. Dad was glad to have at least one winning team! Charlotte and I have plans to go over to an LSU game in a couple of weeks, so we'll deck her out in Tiger gear for that one :-)
Our weekend started with a little bit of a headache, as Fred flew into Dallas from his business trip. We were supposed to pick him up from the airport, but we were longer on the road than we'd hoped and there was bad traffic as everyone drove in for the big game. I sent him a text message before his plane landed so he'd know to just catch a cab. Unfortunately, it wasn't until we got all checked into the hotel (and his plane had already landed) that I realized Verizon service was down. I had no way to tell him we weren't coming to get him, so poor Fred sat in the heat until he finally decided to catch a cab; he was an unhappy camper. We were pretty upset with Verizon, though they have never given us problems before.
Friday night the three of us ate dinner with Mom, Dad, and Ernie at the Capital Grille. We hadn't dined there in a while, so it was nice. The crowded restaurant worked in our favor too - no one could hear Charlotte fussing for her dinner!
Saturday we met up with some of my Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandmother for breakfast. Mom, Charlotte and I parted ways everyone else as they headed to the Texas State Fair and the game. We had planned to go to the fair, but because of the rain and heat we went shopping instead.
After the game we all got back together again for our annual dinner at the Petroleum Club on the 39th floor of the Chase building in Dallas. The view is AWESOME and dinner was great. My favorite new trick for heating up Charlotte's bottles when we are out to dinner - asking for a half full glass of HOT water. I just drop her bottle down into it (hopefully BEFORE she realizes that it is time to eat), and let it sit there until she gets hungry. That is a MUCH better idea than hurrying off to the bathroom to run the cold bottle under running water. I don't have to leave the table and the bottle heats up faster.
After dinner we wandered over to the adjoining bar to watch the end of the LSU game. Dad was glad to have at least one winning team! Charlotte and I have plans to go over to an LSU game in a couple of weeks, so we'll deck her out in Tiger gear for that one :-)
Monday, October 1, 2007
5 Weeks! -Way late!
So we celebrated Charlotte's 5 week birthday curled up in bed. I'm not sure where I picked up the nasty stomach virus , but it was NOT fun. It is also the reason this post is so late in coming. Fred was helping me by taking care of Charlotte and bringing her to me when I needed to feed her; there was no way I trusted myself to carry her when I could hardly carry myself. Early Monday morning, however, Fred had to board a plane bound for Idaho, so we threw some things together and drove to my parents house where someone could help me with Charlee. I've been there ever since.
I also panicked, because I couldn't keep anything in me and was becoming dehydrated fast! I ended up having to supplement her feedings with about 4 oz (overall) of stored milk and freaked out that my milk was going to vanish before I could rehydrate myself. The thought of not being able to continue breastfeeding her made me feel helpless. Thankfully, after guzzling down fluids as soon as I thought my body could handle it, everything is back to normal.
I also panicked, because I couldn't keep anything in me and was becoming dehydrated fast! I ended up having to supplement her feedings with about 4 oz (overall) of stored milk and freaked out that my milk was going to vanish before I could rehydrate myself. The thought of not being able to continue breastfeeding her made me feel helpless. Thankfully, after guzzling down fluids as soon as I thought my body could handle it, everything is back to normal.
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