A Better Day

Charlotte had a much better day today.

I called the doctor's office and didn't have much luck on the car seat thing. You'd think they deal with this often enough to have something setup for infants. They did say they could order me a special car seat that I would have to purchase - I already know those run anywhere from $400-500, so I declined. Instead my Mom went to Target for me and bought a Britax Marathon convertible car seat that is good from 5 to 65 lbs. This way it we can use it a long time before she outgrows it. I have to stuff some small blankets behind her to make it work, but it will work. Better than nothing, anyway.

Aside from not wanting to let me put her down, she was back to her usual, cheery self today. We were playing on the changing table and I took some pictures. She loves the changing table - I think because as a newborn she hated it and I've always worked so hard to entertain her while she's there.

Pink Sumo Wrestler

At least that is what Fred says Charlotte looks like with the newly applied cast. She has been a very unhappy camper today, so I decided to decline to take a picture of my poor baby until her spirits improve. The hot pink cast extends from her ankles to her belly button, and indeed spreads her legs like a sumo wrestler's stance.

She tolerated not being fed better than I thought she might, and I almost cried as I handed her off to the anesthesiologist at the point in the corridor where we could go no farther. I kissed her on her head, with her pink bling "princess" pacifier in her mouth, and returned to the waiting room.

The longest one and a half hours of my life later, a nurse (someone) escorted us back to the recovery room where she cried a hoarse cry until a dose of morphine kicked in and she fell into a troubled sleep. The medical team must have had a hard time getting an IV into her little hands and arms - they are bruised from the attempts and the IV ended up in her tummy. Thank God they put her to sleep before setting up the IV.

She cried a horrible cry off and on for about an hour - probably my fault because I wasn't quite sure how to hold my baby to soothe her with the cast and monitoring cords everywhere. Finally, they released us. A grumbling pregnant woman (32 weeks, she said) did everything in her power to act pitiful as she lead us out of the maze of corridors and to the parking garage. I'm afraid that I didn't have much sympathy.

The next part makes me mad, still. I asked the assistant at the doctor's office SEVERAL times about car seat arrangements for the spica cast. She told me that the hospital would provide a special harness. True, except today I learned Charlotte is too small for the harness, and she had to ride home in my arms, under the lap strap of the backseat seatbelt. I didn't know a hospital could legally let you leave that way with an infant, but that is what they told me to do. Maybe I shouldn't have done it, but I just wanted to get home. What else could I have done? I won't do that for 3 months (probably not even another short car ride), so we must figure something else out soon. Of course, I never used a car seat as an infant, and I survived, so I can't feel that bad, I guess.

She's cried all day, every time we move her from one position to another - just because she has tiny incisions doesn't mean they don't hurt. It's an awful kind of cry that just breaks my heart. I can't tell if the pain medicine helps or if it just makes her feel out of it and fussier.

I'm thankful we started a bedtime routine a long time ago; she actually fell asleep in her crib only an hour later than usual. We'll see how long that lasts.

But now, while it does last, I am going to bed.

God Bless you all and thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Surgery Day

So tomorrow is the big day.

I finally spoke to the lady at Dr. Gerow's office this afternoon. She isn't scheduled to go in until 10 AM! That wouldn't be so bad, but the lady told me nothing by mouth after midnight. Are you freaking kidding me? She's only 3 months old, for crying out loud (which is what she does when not fed promptly!).

After working myself up with thoughts of her waking up at 2:30 and crying from hunger for 7.5 hours (worst case scenario, this week she has been sleeping 8 pm - 5 am), Fred called the OR at Texas Children's who said she can eat up until 5 hours prior to surgery and have pedialite until 3 hours prior. Right now my plan is to get her up for a 3:45 am feeding, just in case they take her earlier, and hope she sleeps until 8 - right before we walk out the door to the hospital.

Keep us in your prayers!

3 Months!

So Charlotte turns 3 months old tomorrow. Is that not the craziest thing ever? Actually, in some ways, this week she turned a year old! A year ago she was a few little cells dividing and growing inside my body, not yet implanted in my uterus. I did not yet know of her existence, though I certainly found myself hoping that nine months would bring a little bundle to my arms. For all my hoping and anticipation, I never imagined the joys pregnancy and bringing my child into the world would bring.

As I posted on Tuesday, her pediatrician said all things are looking pretty good. She was a pretty good sport throughout all of her illness and finally sounds a lot better. We gave her vapor baths to help with the congestion - you can see how much she loves a bath!


She also sat patiently through MOST of her breathing treatments. Here is a picture of her "helping" daddy.
After an additional couple of days of recovery, Charlotte's first Thanksgiving was a success! Since my side of the family was in Roma, Italia for my cousin's wedding, Fred and I went down to his parent's house for the holiday. For the first time since we started dating, we relaxed all day! Usually we trek across town to see one family and back across town to see the other. Even though we also celebrated Aunt Fiona's birthday, Charlotte stole the show! I hardly saw her all afternoon as relatives handed her off to each other until she started crying for a meal. I forgot our camera, but included a picture Aunt Fiona has:


We also had a blast this week because three of my best friends - Elizabeth, Caroline, & Jill - from my childhood and adolescence were in town for the holiday. Wednesday night we had them all over, some with a significant other, for dinner at our house. Finally an excuse to bust out the china and crystal that usually only sparkles in the hutch! We really enjoyed hosting everyone. Charlotte did not know what to make of commotion. We met up with them as often as we could to take advantage of the short holiday. We can't wait until they come back again!

Charlotte and Daddy after all of the excitement:

Follow Up

So, after all of Sunday's drama, Charlotte and I went back to the pediatrician today. He said her lungs sound better than he thought they would sound. I also had him peek into her ears because she recently started pulling on them; they look fine, so I guess that means she just discovered they are there!

He also said the RSV test came back negative. Good news, I guess, except it doesn't change anything. We keep with the nebulizer until Friday, but now only every 6-8 hours instead of every 4.

Thanks for everyone's concern - our little girl should be back to herself soon!

Redundant

So, this afternoon (by now YESTERDAY afternoon!), after 24 hours of breathing treatments, Charlotte's breathing sounded pretty much the same.

Saturday, I asked the pediatrician if she should be better by Tuesday (her follow up) and he said, "hopefully she's better by tonight." I took that to mean NOT that she would be well by that evening, but that she should be better. As we were leaving, he said "I'm here until Monday morning at 5 am, so call me if you have any additional concerns." So concerned that she did not sound better after 24 hours, Fred and I decided to call the office to make sure we shouldn't worry yet. He left a message asking for him to call us.

Instead, a nurse calls. I tell her the WHOLE story, including that she sounds THE SAME (not better, not worse), she has normal coloring, eats fine, good spirits, etc. She asks to listen to Charlotte, tells me it sounds really bad and to give her another treatment and she will call back. She calls back after the treatment and says that she doesn't sound any better, we need to go to the emergency room.

Now, I never called expecting to go to the emergency room - I just had a question for the Dr. that I thought I was going to speak with. I try to give her my reasons that I don't really think she needs to go to the emergency room, but she keeps insisting. A phone call to Fiona confirms we should do what the nurse says, so I flip out, and off we run to the TCH emergency room, where we expose our already sick child to who knows what other germs in a waiting room overflowing with sick kiddos. When I learned that the wait could be around 6 hours, I told the registration lady that her breathing treatments were every 4 hours, and she needed one in three. If that hadn't called us back before then, we would have come home. No way was I going to sit around that long NOT tending to my child's illness while waiting for someone there to do something.

Three hours later we leave the hospital with the same instructions as from the pediatrician and finally an answer to my original question - it could be a few days before her breathing sounds better. Thats all I needed to know!

There has got to be an easier way to get the information I need instead of running off in a panic to the ER.

SHEEZ!

On the other hand, if something ever happened to Charlotte because of my failure to act, I could never live with myself.

Bronchiolitis

So yesterday morning Fred and I watched as our little girl struggled to breath and decided to call the pediatrician for a Saturday appointment. Fortunately, the doctor could see Charlotte forty minutes later, so we quickly loaded up and made our way to see the pediatrician on call.

As we packed Charlotte into the car, I felt like the first time mom that I am, hurrying my baby off to the doctor because of a cold, certain we'd come home with a little extra advise on how to make her comfortable.

The nurse weighed her (14 lbs 11.5 oz - she's still gaining weight, that's good!), measured her length (24 inches - 2" longer in 6 weeks!), and confused me by asking if Charlotte had received her 4,6, and 9 month shots. She started talking about doing shots, and I nearly freaked out thinking the doctor was going to pressure me into vaccinating my sick baby on the spot. Luckily the nurse confessed she thought I'd said Charlotte was 12 months, not 12 weeks. Whoa! Too much partying on Friday night or what!? These people see babies EVERY DAY for crying out loud.

So the Doctor came in for 30 seconds, asked what was wrong, placed his stethoscope on her chest, said "she's more than just congested," and walked out of the room. The nurse came back with a nebulizer and hooked her up for a breathing treatment. Of course the doctor came back and talked to us after that, gave us our own nebulizer, prescription, steroids, directions on what to do, and instructions to come back Tuesday and call him if we had any additional concerns.

She's still wheezing off and on, but hopefully the treatments will kick in better soon. We find out tomorrow if its RSV - which apparently is most common between 3-6 months of age & can be deadly. Fortunately, the same breathing treatments apply for RSV( See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_syncytial_virus ).

YIPES!

The Cutest Little Bug Ever

So, apparently, our little bug now loves tummy time so much that she will laugh and coo and smile right at the camera! Of course, I have to position her on the futon (and stay VERY close by to make sure she doesn't propel herself off with those muscled legs of hers) where she has a good view of the whole room, as she does not yet appreciate hanging out tummy-side-down on the floor.

Poor baby has a cold (all three of us have it). Its not very bad, but paired with the congestion from the reflux makes for an unhappy little girl, who still manages smiles for her mommy. I would give my right arm to never see her sick again. It is kind of overwhelming to go from having a beautiful, weight-gaining, healthy baby to a baby with reflux, who inherited my crummy hips - requiring surgery and a massive cast, topped off with a cold. Yet, everything could be so much worse; we have a beautiful daughter who will overcome all of these problems and the support of all of our friends and family. We thank God for all of the blessings He gives us every day.

Loopy? (11 weeks)

So this weekend Charlotte and I were visiting with Michele at her sorority house while I pondered out loud about what on earth could be keeping Fred and Mom. Michele, picked up her cell phone and called Mom, who told her that they were unloading and setting up for the tailgate party. "Oh yeah," I said, "I forgot, I talked to Mom and she told me that." Michele looked at me and told me that I have been so loopy since Charlotte's birth.

When Fred arrived, he agreed wit her.

In fact, I FEEL loopy. It as if my brain tries to concentrate on too many things at once and thus remembers nothing. Sometimes I feel like I can't even hold a normal conversation!

They say breastfed babies have higher IQs; now I know why - Charlotte daily sucks away my brain cells for herself!

Anyway, this week has been quite eventful. Though, loopy me can't remember half of it until reminded :-). Friday Mom and I drove over to Baton Rouge and visited with my aunt & uncle, my cousins, and my cousins' kids. Charlotte took a picture with all of her second cousins:



Last weekend LSU celebrated Homecoming, so we toured Michele and Helen's sorority house and watched the parade from the front lawn. The tailgate party was a blast - our party only lacked Bruce. You'd think that we'd hardly notice the absence of one person from a family of 8, but rather it seems as though more than one of us must be missing.



This time, Fred took our little LSU Tiger Cub back to the hotel while I went to the game. Yay for a night off! I know Charlotte and her Daddy love hanging out without me :-).


Charlotte enjoys tummy time so much more these days. Aunt Fiona bought her this great tummy time play mat and pillow that she loves. Today she played contentedly on her belly for 15 minutes! A record!


On the floor gym today, Charlotte also tried to roll over. She ALMOST did it! She rolled up onto her side (from her back) and managed to get one leg over, but could not quite figure out how to get the top half the rest of the way over (the arm against the floor created quite a hurdle).

I can't believe how fast she's growing!

What a little mess

Fred and I love our little girl, but she sure has changed our lives. Our conversations these days have a whole new focus: poop, spit-up, vomit, drool, and the like.

Our conversation yesterday morning (with all three of us laying on our bed) went as follows:

Me: Hey Charlotte, are those good? (gazing at her as she sucks on all of her fingers)

Fred: She's sucking on her fingers?

Me: (slightly puzzled look) Actually, its like she's gaging on them...

Half a second later - Charlotte's breakfast spews all over our bed.

Me: You aren't supposed to know anything about that until you are a teenager, and even then you better not do it!

Saw the pediatrician today - turns out gaging on her fingers is a sign of acid reflux, of which she has a mild case.

Good to know that my 10 week old isn't bulimic.

That also explains her little persistent cough, which had me a little worried. Apparently it also explains the excess drool :-).

Charlotte's Baptism! - 10 Weeks Old

My how time files! Charlotte is 10 weeks old today and still growing so fast. Our bathroom scale put her at roughly 15.5 lbs this morning! At just over two months old our sweet little munchkin's weight is more than double her birth weight - a goal that most babies reach around 6 months.

Today we baptized our little angel. We were going to schedule a private baptism for last weekend (the 27th), but Ernest, her Godfather, went to the State cross-country meet, so she was baptized with the parish's other babies today. What a wonderful event! Sweet Charlotte, as always, behaved herself - by sleeping through almost the entire thing. As the water pored out over her head, she opened her eyes and gave a "what the heck is going on!?" look but did not make a sound. Her Godparents, Ernest and Christy, did a great job, as friends and family welcomed Mary Charlotte into the Catholic Church.

From the church we came back to the house to celebrate. A HUGE thanks to Beta (my Mom), Christy, Michele, and Helen who helped us get everything together for the party. Without them I wouldn't have gotten any sleep last night trying to get everything together. You think I wouldn't underestimate how difficult it can be to take care of a baby and get anything else done, yet I still do.

As always, I have a bunch of pictures to share:

Charlotte wore this gown today - also worn by her great-great-grandmother at her baptism over 100 years ago. Five generations of my family have been baptized in this gown.

Getting dressed up:

Charlotte sporting the bonnet I wore at my Baptism:

Don't we make a cute little family?

Charlotte sleeping through all of the excitement:

Ernest lighting her Baptismal Candle from the flame of the Easter Candle:

Charlotte with her parents and Godparents (and Aunt & Uncle!):

With everything else happening this week, I never mentioned Halloween! We went over to my parent's house for a Halloween driveway party. Charlotte didn't wear her costume very long - it was hot! But we did manage to get some cute pictures before she snuggled up in the sling for a nap.

Uhhh..What is going on??

Charlotte with Beta:

Charlotte playing & talking to Granddad:

Feeling the Love

Thank you so much for all of the love, support, and prayers that you are all sending our way. We greatly appreciate it in this difficult time. The kind comments, phone calls, text messages, and emails make us feel so lifted up and blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

Thankfully, the surgery will not be invasive - though I don't think I could personally consider any surgery on my baby girl as minor! I think my heart will ache to see her in the cast for the first time, but right now I live in denial and try not to think about it. Earlier this week I thought the wait would be good; now I wish we could hurry up and get this stuff over with! Charlotte, however, doesn't seem to mind.

The good news is that Charlotte is finally noticing that her hands are for more than sucking (though trust me, she likes to suck on them MORE now that she seems to have discovered them). She's started batting at any toys hanging within her reach. So at least we know she will entertain herself without kicking her feet around.