Today was Flara's nine-month check-up, and we were quite pleased with the visit!
Best of all, she was up-to-date on shots and so did not have to have any! I was really feeling bad for the little girl.
Although Flara has been struggling to gain weight (usually an ounce or two a week... if even), she gained an amazing 8 ounces in the last 10 days! She tipped the scales at 13 pounds, 15 ounces. She also grew one-half inch so now measures 25.5 inches long. Of notable cause, she finally appeared on the real "big girl" growth chart! She's been charting on the preemie chart, but she transitioned over this time. Still adjusted for prematurity, she is about 35% for length (if a 6-month-old baby) and 12% for weight!
With this most recent growth spurt, she is literally eating straight out of our wallets. That's never an easy thing when you're on a super-tight budget! Thankfully, she was given the go-ahead to begin working on stage II foods, then progress to stage III foods within a few weeks. We get to switch off of the expensive preemie formula and start using "normal" formula, plus supplementing her with one bottle of Pediasure daily. Hopefully, this will result in better weight gain and save us a bit of money! =)
Her doc was pleased with the sound of her lungs, so we will not have to be referred to a lung specialist at this time (to follow up on the fast-breathing spells and blue hands and feet). Yay! Our pediatrician's best guess is that she is having some residual effects from scarring from being intubated.
She has been labeled 'delayed onset' in the matter of teething. I believe I've mentioned before that the roof of her mouth is considered 'high and arched,' which is a lovely result of being intubated as a newborn. If she doesn't have teeth erupt before her first birthday, then little Flara will be referred to a specialized pediatric dentist. A series of x-rays would be obtained to see how her little teeth are doing, and to further evaluate her palate, and ultimately, to determine if it's fully closed or would need some sort of medical intervention. Right now, it does not affect her ability to eat, so we can sit and wait.
If anything else happened at the visit, I cannot remember it right now. =)
We will follow up in about six weeks to check on her weight gain.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The death of a soldier.
Mike's Grandpa Veitz died last Thursday evening following an attempt to cardiovert his heart. This is done when the heart is misfiring in a rhythm that won't sustain life, so the heart is stopped, then shocked with the hopes that in the restart, the heart will resume beating with a normal heart rhythm. Unfortunately, the cardioversion was not successful, and Grandpa Veitz's heart never resumed beating. Although he had been in failing health for some time, the news was still unexpected and very sad. Without hesitation, Mike and I packed our bags, loaded the girls, and headed to North Dakota.
I'm writing this story to tell the tale of our military and those who serve in it. Walter Henry Veitz, 82, had served during the Korean Conflict, and from what his brother tells, saw some horrific things. Through the years that I knew Grandpa Veitz, he never mentioned his time in the service. He was always a jokester, and a man I really loved and greatly appreciated for the glimmer he had in his eyes... a tell-tell sign that he was going to trick you at cards or tell some sort of joke. He was a leathermaker, too, of which I had found a kindred spirit having done leather work myself when I was little 4-H'er. =)
Grandpa Veitz was buried in the National Cemetery outside Bismarck, North Dakota. I have never been to Arlington, or any National Cemetery for that matter, so my only idea of what it would be like was from the images I had seen on TV or in the paper. I did know that we had to be prompt on our arrival time as burials are occurring every hour eight times a day. Exhausting. I wondered if the soldiers helping with the service would be walking through the ceremony without much thought as they performed it repeatedly throughout the work day.
The grounds were well-manicured with the rows of headstones. A large area of new gravesites with the metal markers gave indication where the newest were buried. I was a bit taken aback at the number there, realizing how quickly our Nation's veterans are dying. Further up the hill, a small building stood with a chapel. To the left and waiting for our arrival and the ceremony, was a group of retired veterans serving as the Honor Guard, displaying our country's flags. Their faces appeared somber and respectful, and I still wondered how they perceived the number of ceremonies in a day.
We walked into the small chapel with two rows of seats and Grandpa Veitz's coffin draped in the American Flag at the front. This was framed by a series of tall windows overlooking the grounds and was topped by stained glass at the front. No lights were turned on, so the sunlight was casting long shadows in the room, and in my opinion, really added to the effect. At four posts around the casket were three Army soldiers (young, and still active duty, I would guess) and one older gentleman, a retired soldier. Looking through the windows, the Honor Guard stood solemnly. As the pastor walked through the final stages of the ceremony (we had attended a church funeral service prior), I kept watching the faces of all of the soldiers. Inside and outside. Emotions were actually showing on their faces, and it was then that I realized that they do take this seriously and were not marching through another ceremony.
As the service concluded, the sound of Taps played from over our left shoulders, the flag was removed from the casket, the careful task of folding the flag was begun, final shots were fired, a final salute, and then the flag was presented to Grandma Veitz. The Army soldiers had folded the flag with precision, then handed it to the retired veteran, who walked it to Grandma Veitz. Kneeling down, he stated, "On behalf of the United States of America, and our local VFW post, we present this flag to you..." As he said those words, his voice broke and tears welled up in his eyes. He paused for a moment, finished his words, then handed the flag to Grandma Veitz.
It was a beautiful ceremony.
I had wanted to be photographing the whole thing because it was such a thing of beauty, but I didn't know how anyone would feel about someone snapping photos, so I stood behind the row of chairs and held Noël.
It made me think a lot about all of our veterans and our troops currently serving. I thought of my cousin Troy, who has gone overseas two or three times, and how this ceremony will await him one day. I thought of how many families, young and old, are sitting through this as our country moves through a period of war. I thought of all of the heck our military receives... sadly. Many people are willing to risk their safety, lives, and families for our benefit, and many of them end up sitting in a chapel, listening to taps, and watching in slow-motion as the flag that draped the casket is folded up and presented to the surviving spouse or children.
I was really moved by the sincerity and honor and respect shown to Grandpa Veitz's body, and I know it's being played out across the country.
My final thought as we drove away... "I really like the military." All of it.
I'm writing this story to tell the tale of our military and those who serve in it. Walter Henry Veitz, 82, had served during the Korean Conflict, and from what his brother tells, saw some horrific things. Through the years that I knew Grandpa Veitz, he never mentioned his time in the service. He was always a jokester, and a man I really loved and greatly appreciated for the glimmer he had in his eyes... a tell-tell sign that he was going to trick you at cards or tell some sort of joke. He was a leathermaker, too, of which I had found a kindred spirit having done leather work myself when I was little 4-H'er. =)
Grandpa Veitz was buried in the National Cemetery outside Bismarck, North Dakota. I have never been to Arlington, or any National Cemetery for that matter, so my only idea of what it would be like was from the images I had seen on TV or in the paper. I did know that we had to be prompt on our arrival time as burials are occurring every hour eight times a day. Exhausting. I wondered if the soldiers helping with the service would be walking through the ceremony without much thought as they performed it repeatedly throughout the work day.
The grounds were well-manicured with the rows of headstones. A large area of new gravesites with the metal markers gave indication where the newest were buried. I was a bit taken aback at the number there, realizing how quickly our Nation's veterans are dying. Further up the hill, a small building stood with a chapel. To the left and waiting for our arrival and the ceremony, was a group of retired veterans serving as the Honor Guard, displaying our country's flags. Their faces appeared somber and respectful, and I still wondered how they perceived the number of ceremonies in a day.
We walked into the small chapel with two rows of seats and Grandpa Veitz's coffin draped in the American Flag at the front. This was framed by a series of tall windows overlooking the grounds and was topped by stained glass at the front. No lights were turned on, so the sunlight was casting long shadows in the room, and in my opinion, really added to the effect. At four posts around the casket were three Army soldiers (young, and still active duty, I would guess) and one older gentleman, a retired soldier. Looking through the windows, the Honor Guard stood solemnly. As the pastor walked through the final stages of the ceremony (we had attended a church funeral service prior), I kept watching the faces of all of the soldiers. Inside and outside. Emotions were actually showing on their faces, and it was then that I realized that they do take this seriously and were not marching through another ceremony.
As the service concluded, the sound of Taps played from over our left shoulders, the flag was removed from the casket, the careful task of folding the flag was begun, final shots were fired, a final salute, and then the flag was presented to Grandma Veitz. The Army soldiers had folded the flag with precision, then handed it to the retired veteran, who walked it to Grandma Veitz. Kneeling down, he stated, "On behalf of the United States of America, and our local VFW post, we present this flag to you..." As he said those words, his voice broke and tears welled up in his eyes. He paused for a moment, finished his words, then handed the flag to Grandma Veitz.
It was a beautiful ceremony.
I had wanted to be photographing the whole thing because it was such a thing of beauty, but I didn't know how anyone would feel about someone snapping photos, so I stood behind the row of chairs and held Noël.
It made me think a lot about all of our veterans and our troops currently serving. I thought of my cousin Troy, who has gone overseas two or three times, and how this ceremony will await him one day. I thought of how many families, young and old, are sitting through this as our country moves through a period of war. I thought of all of the heck our military receives... sadly. Many people are willing to risk their safety, lives, and families for our benefit, and many of them end up sitting in a chapel, listening to taps, and watching in slow-motion as the flag that draped the casket is folded up and presented to the surviving spouse or children.
I was really moved by the sincerity and honor and respect shown to Grandpa Veitz's body, and I know it's being played out across the country.
My final thought as we drove away... "I really like the military." All of it.
A little scare.
Flara has been having a few problems lately... for the past couple of weeks, really. We had noticed that she had begun to breathe faster at spells, whether she was resting or playing. I kept a watchful eye on it, then began to notice that she was also using some extra muscles above her sternum and clavicles to breathe. To add to that, her hands and feet starting turning very blue and would go ice-cold. I asked the nurse practitioner about it the Wednesday we were in the office to have Noël checked out for a urinary tract infection, and she said we should call the cardiologist.
The very next day, Mike's Grandpa Veitz died, so we loaded into our truck and began the 26-hour long trek to North Dakota. During the week in Bismarck, we noticed she was having more blue spells, so we told ourselves that we would call as soon as we returned to Tennessee. We drove straight through on our return trip, so we basically slept the whole next day and forgot to call. We remembered the following day, so I called the cardiologist and told them what she was doing. Very concerned, I was told to come in for the very first visit of the day. Also, I was very seriously warned that if Flara did anything different or 'funny,' we were to go straight to the ER... no hesitating. A bit concerned, we tried to not get worked up until we saw the doctor, but we were mentally preparing for the possibility of heading to Nashville for Vanderbilt Hospital on a dime's notice.
Flara and I arrived at the cardiologist's at 0745, and were quickly taken back to her first test. She had a post-ductal blood pressure taken (left foot, after the blood has passed through the heart and lungs), and it was normal. Her EKG gave no indication of any additional stress on her heart, and her oxygen saturation was between 92 and 100. Next, we went in for her echo. The doctor immediately noticed that her ventricles were of normal size. Next, he looked at her pulmonary artery, and it was back to normal size from previously being enlarged. The extra fluid in her lungs was looking better, so he declared that her pulmonary hypertension was resolved. He looked at her PDA (that extra little blood vessel that helps the blood bypass the lungs in-utero that is still open in Flara), and it, too, was a teensy bit smaller. Last, he noted that although the hole between her atria was still of the same size, some fibrous bands were criss-crossing over the hole indicating that Flara's heart is attempting to repair itself!!!! He was really pleased with the results, and said that based on his findings and the overall appearance of her heart and lungs, he could officially say that she is no longer in heart failure! We are so, so, soooo thankful for that, and ultimately give all the thanks to God!
As far as the breathing issues and hands and feet, he said that it's not being caused by her heart. He said that she has sluggish circulation, and that's simply a problem of prematurity that will have to be outgrown... like all of those other difficulties. He said that her little lungs are still recovering from missing out on the entire third trimester to grow.
Next on our day was an already-scheduled follow-up appointment with Flara's brain and developmental specialist. I was a bit in odds about this as she is sometimes a bit scolding on needing to work harder. We went into this meeting with the whole crew, and the doc walked in looking very tired. She said she'd had a day of total screamers, and her nerves were certainly worn out. Yikes! But, she assessed Flara and was SUPER pleased with the progress our girl has made, so my new homework assignment turned out to be small. She showed us how to help Flara learn to sit up and how to really get up on her hands and knees for crawling, and then one last exercise to help her learn to move her legs forward to walk assisted. By pressing the one little sitting 'button' as she calls them, Flara sat for a whole 5 minutes! That was amazing! Then, as she showed me the crawling position, I realized that my homework from the last visit was being utilized with Flara just in a different position... simply building off the past. By the time we finished, the doctor was really praising both the girls for being "so lovely" and kept telling Mike and me how much she appreciated how the girls acted. =) Yippee! Both girls have been so tired from the North Dakota trip, I wasn't sure how the office visit would go.
In the end, Mike and I were super pleased with our day. What we were expecting to be a day of turmoil turned out to be a day of pleasantries and our thanking our wonderful Savior for all of the good news!
We are also thankful for everyone who called, texted, or Facebooked us, and the many prayers!
The very next day, Mike's Grandpa Veitz died, so we loaded into our truck and began the 26-hour long trek to North Dakota. During the week in Bismarck, we noticed she was having more blue spells, so we told ourselves that we would call as soon as we returned to Tennessee. We drove straight through on our return trip, so we basically slept the whole next day and forgot to call. We remembered the following day, so I called the cardiologist and told them what she was doing. Very concerned, I was told to come in for the very first visit of the day. Also, I was very seriously warned that if Flara did anything different or 'funny,' we were to go straight to the ER... no hesitating. A bit concerned, we tried to not get worked up until we saw the doctor, but we were mentally preparing for the possibility of heading to Nashville for Vanderbilt Hospital on a dime's notice.
Flara and I arrived at the cardiologist's at 0745, and were quickly taken back to her first test. She had a post-ductal blood pressure taken (left foot, after the blood has passed through the heart and lungs), and it was normal. Her EKG gave no indication of any additional stress on her heart, and her oxygen saturation was between 92 and 100. Next, we went in for her echo. The doctor immediately noticed that her ventricles were of normal size. Next, he looked at her pulmonary artery, and it was back to normal size from previously being enlarged. The extra fluid in her lungs was looking better, so he declared that her pulmonary hypertension was resolved. He looked at her PDA (that extra little blood vessel that helps the blood bypass the lungs in-utero that is still open in Flara), and it, too, was a teensy bit smaller. Last, he noted that although the hole between her atria was still of the same size, some fibrous bands were criss-crossing over the hole indicating that Flara's heart is attempting to repair itself!!!! He was really pleased with the results, and said that based on his findings and the overall appearance of her heart and lungs, he could officially say that she is no longer in heart failure! We are so, so, soooo thankful for that, and ultimately give all the thanks to God!
As far as the breathing issues and hands and feet, he said that it's not being caused by her heart. He said that she has sluggish circulation, and that's simply a problem of prematurity that will have to be outgrown... like all of those other difficulties. He said that her little lungs are still recovering from missing out on the entire third trimester to grow.
Next on our day was an already-scheduled follow-up appointment with Flara's brain and developmental specialist. I was a bit in odds about this as she is sometimes a bit scolding on needing to work harder. We went into this meeting with the whole crew, and the doc walked in looking very tired. She said she'd had a day of total screamers, and her nerves were certainly worn out. Yikes! But, she assessed Flara and was SUPER pleased with the progress our girl has made, so my new homework assignment turned out to be small. She showed us how to help Flara learn to sit up and how to really get up on her hands and knees for crawling, and then one last exercise to help her learn to move her legs forward to walk assisted. By pressing the one little sitting 'button' as she calls them, Flara sat for a whole 5 minutes! That was amazing! Then, as she showed me the crawling position, I realized that my homework from the last visit was being utilized with Flara just in a different position... simply building off the past. By the time we finished, the doctor was really praising both the girls for being "so lovely" and kept telling Mike and me how much she appreciated how the girls acted. =) Yippee! Both girls have been so tired from the North Dakota trip, I wasn't sure how the office visit would go.
In the end, Mike and I were super pleased with our day. What we were expecting to be a day of turmoil turned out to be a day of pleasantries and our thanking our wonderful Savior for all of the good news!
We are also thankful for everyone who called, texted, or Facebooked us, and the many prayers!
Monday, May 31, 2010
The end of May.
The end of May already... it's hard to believe.
This month has brought forth a lot of improvement with Flara. All at once... just as the 'brain doc' had said, Flara would begin to flourish.
We have still been meeting with Tennessee Early Intervention, a program for at-risk infants and children. They are great. I have a case worker who comes to our home, and she sends other folks to our home to help work with Flara and teach me more of what I can do to help her develop. Part of their program is assessing Flara's progress. Upon completion of her initial tests, she has a 25% delay in gross motor skills and a 25% delay in verbal communication skills. Based on these two delays, she would qualify to attend the Trula Lawson school at the age of 3 (if we so desired). The Trula Lawson school is here in town, and is a school geared towards little kiddos with delays. Although I ultimately plan on homeschooling my girls, it is nice to know that these programs are available to help little Flara.
Part of homework with Flara has been attempting to teach her to roll over. She finally mastered rolling from her tummy to her back, but just could not get the final 'oomph' to roll over from her back to her tummy. Finally, in the past week, she has made it over! Only a few times, but she has done it! Of course, she can only roll in one direction... towards her dominant right side. I think it's that darn brain bleed slowing her left side down again. Boo. But, we keep working on it. Eventually, I think she'll get there. =)
She also figured out how to hold a toy and pass it from hand-to-hand! I know it doesn't seem like much, but that one little task has been the big one that everyone has noted as indicating her miscommunication in her brain. Also, as she has become more body-aware, she still had not been fully realizing that she has little tootsies. This week, she found them! I have been more apt to let her sit in a diaper and leave her feet bare so she can find them and pull on them. She seems to be very pleased with their discovery. I'm tickled because that little foot grab tells me that she now knows that she owns feet. Amazing!
She had an unplanned visit to the ped's office this past week. She had water blister looking bumps pop up on her booty. I feared staph, so I called the office. We went in, and they confirmed that she did have a staph infection. We've been treating her with topical antibiotics, and after a week, her bottom looks much better. Poor little girl. In visiting with her doctor, we did get to put big girl on the scales. She is now 13 pounds 3 ounces! So, she is up 2 pounds from her last doc visit over 2 months ago.
She is really becoming interactive, and her love for Miss Noël is really blossoming. Well, between both of them, actually. Noël is really appreciating that her little Sis will laugh at her, so Noël does her best to ham it up for little Sissy. I am really enjoying watching the two of them interact, whether it's Noël sharing a book with her or bringing her toys or feeding her or kissing her... she's an excellent Big Sis. Noël holds Flara's hands, too, and makes her 'dance' and really enjoys having splash parties in the bath together. They both really light up over that.
As Noël's love for Flara grows, so does her gentleness in caring for Flara and her two baby dolls. Yep, Noël has three babies. =) As she scurries around changing diapers on all of them (although she gagged hard on real Sissy's 'shooooo.... poo poo' today) and arranging them in swings and bouncers, I can't help but think that she is really turning out to be a little Momma Hen... like her own mommy was as a little girl. It really tickles me because I sit and think that she is really stepping into the role that God designed her to be. Her love is selfless, really. She will even leave her supper because one of the babies needs something.... And, trust me... the girl loves her food!
I am really thankful for my little family. Mike, me, the girls, and ole stinky Dogg. Life can and has been really, really tough, but I look at our family and am filled with pure love and appreciation.
This month has brought forth a lot of improvement with Flara. All at once... just as the 'brain doc' had said, Flara would begin to flourish.
We have still been meeting with Tennessee Early Intervention, a program for at-risk infants and children. They are great. I have a case worker who comes to our home, and she sends other folks to our home to help work with Flara and teach me more of what I can do to help her develop. Part of their program is assessing Flara's progress. Upon completion of her initial tests, she has a 25% delay in gross motor skills and a 25% delay in verbal communication skills. Based on these two delays, she would qualify to attend the Trula Lawson school at the age of 3 (if we so desired). The Trula Lawson school is here in town, and is a school geared towards little kiddos with delays. Although I ultimately plan on homeschooling my girls, it is nice to know that these programs are available to help little Flara.
Part of homework with Flara has been attempting to teach her to roll over. She finally mastered rolling from her tummy to her back, but just could not get the final 'oomph' to roll over from her back to her tummy. Finally, in the past week, she has made it over! Only a few times, but she has done it! Of course, she can only roll in one direction... towards her dominant right side. I think it's that darn brain bleed slowing her left side down again. Boo. But, we keep working on it. Eventually, I think she'll get there. =)
She also figured out how to hold a toy and pass it from hand-to-hand! I know it doesn't seem like much, but that one little task has been the big one that everyone has noted as indicating her miscommunication in her brain. Also, as she has become more body-aware, she still had not been fully realizing that she has little tootsies. This week, she found them! I have been more apt to let her sit in a diaper and leave her feet bare so she can find them and pull on them. She seems to be very pleased with their discovery. I'm tickled because that little foot grab tells me that she now knows that she owns feet. Amazing!
She had an unplanned visit to the ped's office this past week. She had water blister looking bumps pop up on her booty. I feared staph, so I called the office. We went in, and they confirmed that she did have a staph infection. We've been treating her with topical antibiotics, and after a week, her bottom looks much better. Poor little girl. In visiting with her doctor, we did get to put big girl on the scales. She is now 13 pounds 3 ounces! So, she is up 2 pounds from her last doc visit over 2 months ago.
She is really becoming interactive, and her love for Miss Noël is really blossoming. Well, between both of them, actually. Noël is really appreciating that her little Sis will laugh at her, so Noël does her best to ham it up for little Sissy. I am really enjoying watching the two of them interact, whether it's Noël sharing a book with her or bringing her toys or feeding her or kissing her... she's an excellent Big Sis. Noël holds Flara's hands, too, and makes her 'dance' and really enjoys having splash parties in the bath together. They both really light up over that.
As Noël's love for Flara grows, so does her gentleness in caring for Flara and her two baby dolls. Yep, Noël has three babies. =) As she scurries around changing diapers on all of them (although she gagged hard on real Sissy's 'shooooo.... poo poo' today) and arranging them in swings and bouncers, I can't help but think that she is really turning out to be a little Momma Hen... like her own mommy was as a little girl. It really tickles me because I sit and think that she is really stepping into the role that God designed her to be. Her love is selfless, really. She will even leave her supper because one of the babies needs something.... And, trust me... the girl loves her food!
I am really thankful for my little family. Mike, me, the girls, and ole stinky Dogg. Life can and has been really, really tough, but I look at our family and am filled with pure love and appreciation.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Funny Tall-tale of the Day
Noël has been really tired this week from lots of missed naps and late bedtimes. Apparently, we've been having just a bit too much fun in the Veitz household. =)
Around 4 this afternoon, she really started to rub her eyes. "Are you sleepy, Noël?" She looked at me, still rubbing her eyes, and gave me that long-drawn-with a funny inflection in the middle, "noooooooo."
Me: "You're not sleepy? You're rubbing your eyes."
She looks at me with a concerned face and stops rubbing her eyes.
She brings one finger to her face and points to her eye.
Noël: "Mammy, mys eyes outsie."
Me: "Your eye is ouchy? What from?"
Noël: "Mammy, mys eyes outsie. Is bock-bock." Translation: My eye is ouchy from a chicken.
Me: "Noël, a bock bock made your eye ouchy?"
Noël shakes her head very seriously yes.
Me: "So, a bock bock made your eye hurt?"
Noël: "Bock bocks mys eyes outsie." (Starts rubbing again).
Me: "Okay, you're rubbing your eyes not because you're sleepy, but because a bock bock hurt you?"
Noël: A very big nod 'yes.'
Then, she falls backwards dramatically on the couch with a really funny grin on her face.
The girl is a nut!
Around 4 this afternoon, she really started to rub her eyes. "Are you sleepy, Noël?" She looked at me, still rubbing her eyes, and gave me that long-drawn-with a funny inflection in the middle, "noooooooo."
Me: "You're not sleepy? You're rubbing your eyes."
She looks at me with a concerned face and stops rubbing her eyes.
She brings one finger to her face and points to her eye.
Noël: "Mammy, mys eyes outsie."
Me: "Your eye is ouchy? What from?"
Noël: "Mammy, mys eyes outsie. Is bock-bock." Translation: My eye is ouchy from a chicken.
Me: "Noël, a bock bock made your eye ouchy?"
Noël shakes her head very seriously yes.
Me: "So, a bock bock made your eye hurt?"
Noël: "Bock bocks mys eyes outsie." (Starts rubbing again).
Me: "Okay, you're rubbing your eyes not because you're sleepy, but because a bock bock hurt you?"
Noël: A very big nod 'yes.'
Then, she falls backwards dramatically on the couch with a really funny grin on her face.
The girl is a nut!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Rolling with laughter...
Okay, not necessarily together, but both are happening with FlareBear now!
I discovered the roll-overs when I put her in Noël's bed-formerly-known-as-Crib for a nap a couple of days ago. I think we have it established through pictures that my babies sleep in manners not kosher with the current campaigns... thanks to reflux issues gone mad. But, anyways, I put Flara in the crib and walked away. Some period of time later, she was awake and crying. When I went to retrieve her, she was on her back! And, she looked SHOCKED! Hooray! Big girl rolled over!
It has happened several times since, and many times today! It makes me happy and a bit proud to know that our 'homework' is paying off! She's also leaning hard to the sides when we're playing with her on her back and starting to get the motions down that she will need to learn to roll over from her back to her tummy. Oh, how fun!
During bath time a few nights ago, she let out a short little chuckle when I washed her neck. That little chuckle delighted me, but that was all she would offer. Well, today, I was playing with her, and tickled that little neck, and she really got to chuckling! It was so cute! So, over and over again, like a meanie, I kept tickling her neck and making her laugh! It was great. =) I can't describe her little laugh. It's really funny... not a traditional laugh or chuckle that I normally hear from babies. It is just distinctively Flara.
Those little milestones sure brighten my day. It makes me feel like we're maybe starting to get somewhere!
On Big Sister news... she is still doing great in her big girl bed. I think that has to be the smoothest transition ever. She's so good at big girl bed, that on the third night, she started crawling into bed by herself! She is big enough (in her eyes!) to not need her mommy or daddy to put her in bed. =)
Tonight, she is sleeping with a pillow for the first time. REALLY big girl!
On the name news, she has renamed her mommy. No longer does she call me by 'ma ma' or 'mom mom' or 'mommy.' I am now a short and forceful "MAMMY." That really cracks me up!
I discovered the roll-overs when I put her in Noël's bed-formerly-known-as-Crib for a nap a couple of days ago. I think we have it established through pictures that my babies sleep in manners not kosher with the current campaigns... thanks to reflux issues gone mad. But, anyways, I put Flara in the crib and walked away. Some period of time later, she was awake and crying. When I went to retrieve her, she was on her back! And, she looked SHOCKED! Hooray! Big girl rolled over!
It has happened several times since, and many times today! It makes me happy and a bit proud to know that our 'homework' is paying off! She's also leaning hard to the sides when we're playing with her on her back and starting to get the motions down that she will need to learn to roll over from her back to her tummy. Oh, how fun!
During bath time a few nights ago, she let out a short little chuckle when I washed her neck. That little chuckle delighted me, but that was all she would offer. Well, today, I was playing with her, and tickled that little neck, and she really got to chuckling! It was so cute! So, over and over again, like a meanie, I kept tickling her neck and making her laugh! It was great. =) I can't describe her little laugh. It's really funny... not a traditional laugh or chuckle that I normally hear from babies. It is just distinctively Flara.
Those little milestones sure brighten my day. It makes me feel like we're maybe starting to get somewhere!
On Big Sister news... she is still doing great in her big girl bed. I think that has to be the smoothest transition ever. She's so good at big girl bed, that on the third night, she started crawling into bed by herself! She is big enough (in her eyes!) to not need her mommy or daddy to put her in bed. =)
Tonight, she is sleeping with a pillow for the first time. REALLY big girl!
On the name news, she has renamed her mommy. No longer does she call me by 'ma ma' or 'mom mom' or 'mommy.' I am now a short and forceful "MAMMY." That really cracks me up!
If you Facebook, then these are old news, but here's a smiley Flara! She makes it hard to capture grins on camera, but if her Mammy sings, she lights up! Her favorite song is "In Christ Alone." =)
This is big stuff Noël practicing her modeling poses! ha! She was sporting all sorts of funny stances, so I kept snapping. Here, I asked her to 'give me serious.'
Friday, April 16, 2010
A triumphant day. =)
Today has been an official 'big girl' day for Noël. I know many of you know that Noël's potty-training has been an ongoing thing in our house. I have always stated that my way of raising my kids is very 'laissez faire.' Thus, I tend to generally allow Noël (and now Flara) to do things when she is ready... at her own pace. Of course, I add some directing, but I don't push.
So, with my laissez-faire approach, potty training has just been hit or miss. She has days where she strictly wants to go on the big girl potty, and days where she only wants a diaper. I'm fine with that. Today, though, she decided from early morning that she needed to use the big girl potty, and use it she did! In the entire course of her waking day, we only had one booboo on the floor that resulted in a very loud "ooooooohhhh" from the disappointed Noël! I was quite proud of my girl!
The next big success was that she is sleeping for her first night in her big girl bed!!!!! She's had her bed set-up for months, but I've been allowing her to play on it and get used to it, but haven't pushed her to sleep in it. Some days, I might ask her, but she always tells me that she's not ready and attempts to climb into her crib.
Tonight, however, she sat in her bed with the owl pillows pulled over her. She told me she wanted to sleep there! After getting her all-ready for bed, I started bringing all of her little buddies and blankies into her bed. "Noooo, noooo, nooooooo" she told me. I think she was beginning to feel just a bit nervous about leaving the safe confines of her crib. "Oh, honey, you'll be fine. You're such a big girl. I know you're ready! Plus, all of your little friends are sitting here cheering you on!" She smiled. Then, she looked worried. "And, you can leave your bowl of Cheerios right here, and in the morning, if you make it, your daddy will give you the biggest high-five ever!"
Well, that did it! She smiled really big and rolled onto her tummy. I kissed her goodnight one last time, prayed with her that she would feel peace and comfort in her big girl bed, assured her that I would keep her door propped open for a while so she would feel okay, tucked her in, turned out her light, then walked out of her door holding my breath in anticipation of the little girl running after me in tears. Did it happen? Nope! I heard one little word from her, and it's been quiet since! I am so proud of my big girl!
I waited one hour, then pulled her door shut. Nothing. =)
Big girl day has been a success!
So, with my laissez-faire approach, potty training has just been hit or miss. She has days where she strictly wants to go on the big girl potty, and days where she only wants a diaper. I'm fine with that. Today, though, she decided from early morning that she needed to use the big girl potty, and use it she did! In the entire course of her waking day, we only had one booboo on the floor that resulted in a very loud "ooooooohhhh" from the disappointed Noël! I was quite proud of my girl!
The next big success was that she is sleeping for her first night in her big girl bed!!!!! She's had her bed set-up for months, but I've been allowing her to play on it and get used to it, but haven't pushed her to sleep in it. Some days, I might ask her, but she always tells me that she's not ready and attempts to climb into her crib.
Tonight, however, she sat in her bed with the owl pillows pulled over her. She told me she wanted to sleep there! After getting her all-ready for bed, I started bringing all of her little buddies and blankies into her bed. "Noooo, noooo, nooooooo" she told me. I think she was beginning to feel just a bit nervous about leaving the safe confines of her crib. "Oh, honey, you'll be fine. You're such a big girl. I know you're ready! Plus, all of your little friends are sitting here cheering you on!" She smiled. Then, she looked worried. "And, you can leave your bowl of Cheerios right here, and in the morning, if you make it, your daddy will give you the biggest high-five ever!"
Well, that did it! She smiled really big and rolled onto her tummy. I kissed her goodnight one last time, prayed with her that she would feel peace and comfort in her big girl bed, assured her that I would keep her door propped open for a while so she would feel okay, tucked her in, turned out her light, then walked out of her door holding my breath in anticipation of the little girl running after me in tears. Did it happen? Nope! I heard one little word from her, and it's been quiet since! I am so proud of my big girl!
I waited one hour, then pulled her door shut. Nothing. =)
Big girl day has been a success!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
A big *sigh*
What's the point of living if your life isn't being lived out for Christ?
That's the big question I've been pondering today. Why? Ohhhh, I'm 'circulatating' (don't ask, just read) through a myriad of thoughts, a myriad of emotions...
Why?
Well... let's see... most of my blog followers, if any of you exist anymore, know that the past three years have been incredibly difficult for Mike and me. If it could happen and be extremely difficult, it has happened.
In the midst of that, Mike and I have had to make a lot... I mean, A LOT of big decisions. Decisions and change are never easy. I've posted in prior postings (much prior, like months prior) that we've been prayerfully considering a lot of different things (sorry so vague, but I didn't specify then, nor will I specify now). Some of those decisions have passed us by, some are still in the far future, but some of them are upon us now.
It is the 'now' decisions that have me pondering my big question of the day... As I think about the decisions that Mike and I make regarding our family, the big thing [ugh, sorry... I keep using 'thing' and I hate its simplicity... but, I'm too tired to use a big and pretty word] that jolted my thought processes was that in making decisions, we have to be making decisions not out of want for self, but out of want for Christ. Does that make sense?
I was reading through a mailer we received for Moody alumni today. It's more of a booklet of updates on Moody grads. Always when I read through this, I am quite intrigued. The ministries of brand-new grads and the bios of those who have recently died are amazing. Paragraph after paragraph of folks who, upon graduating from Moody, are out working the front lines of the Silk Road, India, the Congo, China, Iraq... places I can't spell or pronounce... places that are just downright scary to me.
I'm sure if I could see myself read, I'd see that my eyes are big and my mouth gaping. My thought... what drives these people??? Obviously, or perhaps not obviously, but these people have come to realize that life isn't for living about themselves. Our lives and our bodies are Christ's. If we're truly devoted to Him, then we wouldn't be seeking to advance 'our kingdom' of materialism, fancy-schmancy supersized homes, sports, our image, and just plain (sorry) silly pursuits that we in our culture put on such an idolized pedestal.
I'm not saying I'm leaving for the mission field, folks. =) I'm just saying that I've been in a lot of thought lately, and my conclusion is that, even if I don't like some things, I'm going to go with what I feel Christ is calling me to. Why? Because, today, again, it was revealed to me that my life is not my own. I need to stop trying to do what I want and do what I need to do to pursue Christ's Kingdom... the REAL Kingdom.
This probably makes no sense. But, I'm thinking when I need to be sleeping, and rather than have these thoughts run circles through my head all night (because that's how my brain works... it doesn't shut off no matter how hard I try), I'd just type my thoughts out. So, here they are. =)
That's the big question I've been pondering today. Why? Ohhhh, I'm 'circulatating' (don't ask, just read) through a myriad of thoughts, a myriad of emotions...
Why?
Well... let's see... most of my blog followers, if any of you exist anymore, know that the past three years have been incredibly difficult for Mike and me. If it could happen and be extremely difficult, it has happened.
In the midst of that, Mike and I have had to make a lot... I mean, A LOT of big decisions. Decisions and change are never easy. I've posted in prior postings (much prior, like months prior) that we've been prayerfully considering a lot of different things (sorry so vague, but I didn't specify then, nor will I specify now). Some of those decisions have passed us by, some are still in the far future, but some of them are upon us now.
It is the 'now' decisions that have me pondering my big question of the day... As I think about the decisions that Mike and I make regarding our family, the big thing [ugh, sorry... I keep using 'thing' and I hate its simplicity... but, I'm too tired to use a big and pretty word] that jolted my thought processes was that in making decisions, we have to be making decisions not out of want for self, but out of want for Christ. Does that make sense?
I was reading through a mailer we received for Moody alumni today. It's more of a booklet of updates on Moody grads. Always when I read through this, I am quite intrigued. The ministries of brand-new grads and the bios of those who have recently died are amazing. Paragraph after paragraph of folks who, upon graduating from Moody, are out working the front lines of the Silk Road, India, the Congo, China, Iraq... places I can't spell or pronounce... places that are just downright scary to me.
I'm sure if I could see myself read, I'd see that my eyes are big and my mouth gaping. My thought... what drives these people??? Obviously, or perhaps not obviously, but these people have come to realize that life isn't for living about themselves. Our lives and our bodies are Christ's. If we're truly devoted to Him, then we wouldn't be seeking to advance 'our kingdom' of materialism, fancy-schmancy supersized homes, sports, our image, and just plain (sorry) silly pursuits that we in our culture put on such an idolized pedestal.
I'm not saying I'm leaving for the mission field, folks. =) I'm just saying that I've been in a lot of thought lately, and my conclusion is that, even if I don't like some things, I'm going to go with what I feel Christ is calling me to. Why? Because, today, again, it was revealed to me that my life is not my own. I need to stop trying to do what I want and do what I need to do to pursue Christ's Kingdom... the REAL Kingdom.
This probably makes no sense. But, I'm thinking when I need to be sleeping, and rather than have these thoughts run circles through my head all night (because that's how my brain works... it doesn't shut off no matter how hard I try), I'd just type my thoughts out. So, here they are. =)
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Doctor, doctor, give me the news...
... I have a little kid's hand that is turning blue...
From bruising? That's what we were thinking...
Yesterday, in our blustery yet wonderful 90 degree day, Mike and I and little Noël had quite the pool party. Sunburns, yard work, any reason to not go inside. Little Sis came out a few times, but since she's still a heavy sleeper, she missed out on most of the fun.
Our plan was to play hard, then grill steaks, get the girlies to bed on time (since we decided to forgo naps for play time), then Mike and I would watch a movie.
Steaks were done, on the plates... I was just finishing mashing the taters, brownies were done, lemonade made... then, it happened.
Noël was helping Sissy with her toys. Sissy was in her bouncy seat, having just finished her applesauce. She threw her toy over onto the floor, so Noël fetched it for her. In getting the toy back to Sissy, a terrible thing happened... a wrist injury.
Noël usually is a tough cookie, but she was bawling and bawling and was hanging her arm limply at her side. I was feeling everything from her shoulder (checking her clavicles, checking her wrist bones) to her hands to see if I felt something awry. And, I did... on her left wrist, there was a funny bumpy area that didn't match the other wrist. Touching it resulted in screams. I had Mike feel it and confirm what I felt. Yes, he felt it, too. We were so afraid she had somehow broken a bone.
In a mad rush, I flew through the house grabbing things we would need for an ER visit. I tossed all of our yummy food into the fridge, hustled the dog out the door and into his box, and prepped some bottles for little Sis. Mike held onto the screaming and sobbing Noël. I wrapped an ice bag around her wrist, which made her cry more (any little movement sent her into a bigger fury).
And, out the door we went. The car seat was a disaster. Poor Noël. I was trying my best not to move her wrist, but it was impossible. Mike drove quickly to Knoxville to Children's Hospital ER. I was afraid of a long wait time, I was afraid of broken bones. I was just very, very sad for my little Noël.
Mike dropped us off at the door and I took Noël in. Thankfully, the ER was quiet so we were taken back to triage, then within minutes, were going to an actual room. I was shocked the doctor came in right away.
She was wonderful and amazing. The way a kid's doctor should be, especially in a scary place like an ER. Noël didn't want anybody to touch her, but this doc was so good with her. She quickly assessed her and came to the conclusion it wasn't a broken bone. Thank you, Lord! She said it was an out-of-joint elbow, something called 'nursemaid's elbow' and would be a simple resetting the joint. Ouch. As she reset it, the elbow popped in immediately. As she was moving down her forearm, suddenly Noël's wrist popped, too.
The sound that came from the doc was interesting. She looked alarm. She stated, "oh, my goodness... I have never had that happen. Honey, you're going right away for an xray. Oh, my." And, again and again and again. She told us wrists in children don't come out of joint. She said she had NEVER experienced that and it was freaking her out a bit. Gotta love honesty, right? =) She told us, "sorry, guys, I just can't hide things on my face." We really didn't mind.
'Par for the course' is what we were thinking. Our family has had our fair share of things the doctors have never seen... from Mike's omentum infarction to my cyst intertwined in the roots of my front teeth. It would only be right for Noël to make herself a medical mystery as well.
Noël and I went off to xray, Noël with exam gloves on her feet (a fav thing to do of hers, and quickly became the talk of the ER staff). The brave little girl was so good and laid very still for all three 'pretty pictures' of her wrist. I was a proud momma of my sad little thing.
By time we got back to our room, the doc came in and said the xray looked perfectly. Thank you, Lord, yet again! Noël was back to her normal self by time this was all done, and was using her hand again. It was quite impressive how easy the fix was and how quickly she recovered.
We left the ER in about 90 minutes time and headed home. Noël was covered in stickers, had her gloves on her feet, a glove on her hand, Buckles kitty in tow, as well as a new bear one of the police officers gave her on Easter, and was dancing along with the radio. Our girl was back to her little zany self!
Little Sis was great, too. She was up waaaay past her bedtime, and was a very good girl about it. I think she was intrigued by all of the people and the colors of the ER.
Once home... we re-grilled the steaks and reheated our taters and finally ate our supper... four hours behind schedule.
It was so good. =)
From bruising? That's what we were thinking...
Yesterday, in our blustery yet wonderful 90 degree day, Mike and I and little Noël had quite the pool party. Sunburns, yard work, any reason to not go inside. Little Sis came out a few times, but since she's still a heavy sleeper, she missed out on most of the fun.
Our plan was to play hard, then grill steaks, get the girlies to bed on time (since we decided to forgo naps for play time), then Mike and I would watch a movie.
Steaks were done, on the plates... I was just finishing mashing the taters, brownies were done, lemonade made... then, it happened.
Noël was helping Sissy with her toys. Sissy was in her bouncy seat, having just finished her applesauce. She threw her toy over onto the floor, so Noël fetched it for her. In getting the toy back to Sissy, a terrible thing happened... a wrist injury.
Noël usually is a tough cookie, but she was bawling and bawling and was hanging her arm limply at her side. I was feeling everything from her shoulder (checking her clavicles, checking her wrist bones) to her hands to see if I felt something awry. And, I did... on her left wrist, there was a funny bumpy area that didn't match the other wrist. Touching it resulted in screams. I had Mike feel it and confirm what I felt. Yes, he felt it, too. We were so afraid she had somehow broken a bone.
In a mad rush, I flew through the house grabbing things we would need for an ER visit. I tossed all of our yummy food into the fridge, hustled the dog out the door and into his box, and prepped some bottles for little Sis. Mike held onto the screaming and sobbing Noël. I wrapped an ice bag around her wrist, which made her cry more (any little movement sent her into a bigger fury).
And, out the door we went. The car seat was a disaster. Poor Noël. I was trying my best not to move her wrist, but it was impossible. Mike drove quickly to Knoxville to Children's Hospital ER. I was afraid of a long wait time, I was afraid of broken bones. I was just very, very sad for my little Noël.
Mike dropped us off at the door and I took Noël in. Thankfully, the ER was quiet so we were taken back to triage, then within minutes, were going to an actual room. I was shocked the doctor came in right away.
She was wonderful and amazing. The way a kid's doctor should be, especially in a scary place like an ER. Noël didn't want anybody to touch her, but this doc was so good with her. She quickly assessed her and came to the conclusion it wasn't a broken bone. Thank you, Lord! She said it was an out-of-joint elbow, something called 'nursemaid's elbow' and would be a simple resetting the joint. Ouch. As she reset it, the elbow popped in immediately. As she was moving down her forearm, suddenly Noël's wrist popped, too.
The sound that came from the doc was interesting. She looked alarm. She stated, "oh, my goodness... I have never had that happen. Honey, you're going right away for an xray. Oh, my." And, again and again and again. She told us wrists in children don't come out of joint. She said she had NEVER experienced that and it was freaking her out a bit. Gotta love honesty, right? =) She told us, "sorry, guys, I just can't hide things on my face." We really didn't mind.
'Par for the course' is what we were thinking. Our family has had our fair share of things the doctors have never seen... from Mike's omentum infarction to my cyst intertwined in the roots of my front teeth. It would only be right for Noël to make herself a medical mystery as well.
Noël and I went off to xray, Noël with exam gloves on her feet (a fav thing to do of hers, and quickly became the talk of the ER staff). The brave little girl was so good and laid very still for all three 'pretty pictures' of her wrist. I was a proud momma of my sad little thing.
By time we got back to our room, the doc came in and said the xray looked perfectly. Thank you, Lord, yet again! Noël was back to her normal self by time this was all done, and was using her hand again. It was quite impressive how easy the fix was and how quickly she recovered.
We left the ER in about 90 minutes time and headed home. Noël was covered in stickers, had her gloves on her feet, a glove on her hand, Buckles kitty in tow, as well as a new bear one of the police officers gave her on Easter, and was dancing along with the radio. Our girl was back to her little zany self!
Little Sis was great, too. She was up waaaay past her bedtime, and was a very good girl about it. I think she was intrigued by all of the people and the colors of the ER.
Once home... we re-grilled the steaks and reheated our taters and finally ate our supper... four hours behind schedule.
It was so good. =)
Friday, April 2, 2010
Brain drain?
Nope! More like brain overload!
Flara had to meet with her developmental specialist whose focus is the brain and its development. Let me say... wow, that was a lot of information in a short period of time! But, I LOVED it! I like it when people explain everything... in very full details... to me. I want to learn. Plus, when I do very occasionally work, =) it will give me more knowledge to pass on to parents.
In all my years of NICU nursing, I have never heard of the effects of extreme prematurity on the 'corpus callosum.' The what? I'm sure that's what you're thinking. I labeled many of my posts NICU 101. I think this could be a 300 level course on the brain.
The 'corpus callosum' is defined as "a broad band of nerve fibers joining the two hemispheres of the brain." Key word: BROAD. As with many body systems, when babies are born as extremely early as little FlaraBean, the development of the corpus callosum seems to come to a screeching halt at the point in which baby is born. Thus, at barely third trimester ages, the CC (as I'll now call it) is very THIN. Had Flara stayed in her 5-star hotel, this band of nerve fibers would have continued to thicken to the point that full communication between the hemispheres would be occurring before she entered the world.
Yes, full communication. The CC band has to be thick and broad to fully communicate between the two hemispheres. When it is thin, the nerves are sending messages to the two hemispheres, but not all of those messages are making it to the other side. Sad, huh? It makes me think of the former treatment for epilepsy and mental illness... severing the two hemispheres so communication could no longer take place. It's not that bad in Flara, though. I'm just trying to paint a picture of what is going on in her brain.
It would make more sense to explain it in terms of what Flara is or is not doing to illustrate this defect. She has trouble bringing her arms together at the center of her body. She keeps her thumbs tightly drawn into her fists. She's all-over very stiff. She doesn't roll over. When we sit her up, she doesn't automatically reach her hands out to stop her from falling forward. As our pediatrician noted, and now this specialist, she is lacking in upper body strength.
I'll use the thumbs to explain how this miscommunication is affecting Flara. Because the two hemispheres are not communicating properly, Flara's brain does not recognize that some of her body parts exist. That's partly why little early birds lay splayed out rather than tucking into that nice little 'fetal position.' With her thumbs, her brain simply does not know they are there. Crazy. Thumbs are at the end of the bundle of nerves running from the fingers and hands up through the body to her brain. If we don't actively push and stimulate these body parts, her brain won't get the message. It's through pushing her and stimulating her that we can cause the CC to 'awaken' and begin recognizing that it needs to continue to grow and thicken. If we don't push her, the CC will stay thin.
At this point, she doesn't seem so bad off. She is, after all, still a baby. But, left undeveloped, as she grows we would begin to notice things. She wouldn't be able to coordinate tying her shoe laces, she wouldn't develop balance to ever learn to ride a bike, she would have difficulty balancing and coordinating walking, learning her ABC's would be difficult, colors would be trouble... I could go on and on...
So, when Flara is awake, we are doing lots of activities to send messages to her little growing brain to tell it to thicken up the CC. We are firmly taking her thumbs and circling them in both directions, we are pushing little 'buttons' that trigger her to quickly flex her legs and draw her arms midline (towards the center of her body), we are using those and other buttons also to teach her to tuck in and roll over, we are doing funny little John Travolta maneuvers (that's what this doc calls them) that involve pointing her arms above her head and bringing it down across her body and touching her opposite side... yes, I sing 'Staying Alive' to her when I do this and she smiles. =) We are patting her hands on her opposite cheek, rubbing her upper arm with the opposite hand, working on 'elbows in' when she is on her tummy. (This is beginning to sound like a full-time job in itself!). There is lots more, but I'm getting exhausted typing it all out!
Anyways, every little thing that we are doing is awakening the nerve sensations that are occurring in her body to awaken her brain to realize that it needs to finish what it had set forth to do while still in the womb: thicken up that corpus callosum to its normal 'broad' self.
In two days of work, Mike and I can already see improvements. When she wakes up, I have found her up on her elbows twice now as she attempts to peek out and above the confines of her port-a-crib. When I lay her on her back to change her diaper or start her exercises, she is holding her little hands together and gnawing on her fingers (usually, her arms would be laying out to her sides and rarely come together). It's really been quite exciting! The doctor had said that when everything begins 'clicking,' the progress would move very rapidly. I am so thankful that this information came when it did!
On the flip side, I did see the very ugly reality of not working with the babies. The office waiting room was full of Noël-sized kiddos sitting limply in their strollers. Heads rolled to one side, eyes empty and gazing off in the distance, limp little legs, arms hanging loosely at their sides. I know some of this is also caused by degrees of brain bleeds, but it was a sobering reality to take everything that I learned seriously. It made me quite sad, actually. Flara was sitting up in my lap, head upright, cooing and babbling. These much older kids sat quietly, smile-less. Their parents looked overdone and exhausted. I just can't even imagine.
One thought that kept overplaying in my mind was that this is the side of NICU babies I never see. Once they leave the nursery, I really don't know what happens to them. Flara is allowing me to experience the NICU world in a whole new light.
The other thought I've repeatedly had is... how amazing is our God that He created such intricacies within our brains. It really just dazzles my mind to think how complex we are, and that God set forth every single perfect little detail. Who ever would have thought that tucked thumbs in a preemie would indicate brain dysfunction? The other amazing side is that not only are we so complex, but God's design is so perfect that we can manipulate the body to trigger an organ as amazing as the brain to fix itself.
Wow. That's all I can say.
God is just amazing.
Flara had to meet with her developmental specialist whose focus is the brain and its development. Let me say... wow, that was a lot of information in a short period of time! But, I LOVED it! I like it when people explain everything... in very full details... to me. I want to learn. Plus, when I do very occasionally work, =) it will give me more knowledge to pass on to parents.
In all my years of NICU nursing, I have never heard of the effects of extreme prematurity on the 'corpus callosum.' The what? I'm sure that's what you're thinking. I labeled many of my posts NICU 101. I think this could be a 300 level course on the brain.
The 'corpus callosum' is defined as "a broad band of nerve fibers joining the two hemispheres of the brain." Key word: BROAD. As with many body systems, when babies are born as extremely early as little FlaraBean, the development of the corpus callosum seems to come to a screeching halt at the point in which baby is born. Thus, at barely third trimester ages, the CC (as I'll now call it) is very THIN. Had Flara stayed in her 5-star hotel, this band of nerve fibers would have continued to thicken to the point that full communication between the hemispheres would be occurring before she entered the world.
Yes, full communication. The CC band has to be thick and broad to fully communicate between the two hemispheres. When it is thin, the nerves are sending messages to the two hemispheres, but not all of those messages are making it to the other side. Sad, huh? It makes me think of the former treatment for epilepsy and mental illness... severing the two hemispheres so communication could no longer take place. It's not that bad in Flara, though. I'm just trying to paint a picture of what is going on in her brain.
It would make more sense to explain it in terms of what Flara is or is not doing to illustrate this defect. She has trouble bringing her arms together at the center of her body. She keeps her thumbs tightly drawn into her fists. She's all-over very stiff. She doesn't roll over. When we sit her up, she doesn't automatically reach her hands out to stop her from falling forward. As our pediatrician noted, and now this specialist, she is lacking in upper body strength.
I'll use the thumbs to explain how this miscommunication is affecting Flara. Because the two hemispheres are not communicating properly, Flara's brain does not recognize that some of her body parts exist. That's partly why little early birds lay splayed out rather than tucking into that nice little 'fetal position.' With her thumbs, her brain simply does not know they are there. Crazy. Thumbs are at the end of the bundle of nerves running from the fingers and hands up through the body to her brain. If we don't actively push and stimulate these body parts, her brain won't get the message. It's through pushing her and stimulating her that we can cause the CC to 'awaken' and begin recognizing that it needs to continue to grow and thicken. If we don't push her, the CC will stay thin.
At this point, she doesn't seem so bad off. She is, after all, still a baby. But, left undeveloped, as she grows we would begin to notice things. She wouldn't be able to coordinate tying her shoe laces, she wouldn't develop balance to ever learn to ride a bike, she would have difficulty balancing and coordinating walking, learning her ABC's would be difficult, colors would be trouble... I could go on and on...
So, when Flara is awake, we are doing lots of activities to send messages to her little growing brain to tell it to thicken up the CC. We are firmly taking her thumbs and circling them in both directions, we are pushing little 'buttons' that trigger her to quickly flex her legs and draw her arms midline (towards the center of her body), we are using those and other buttons also to teach her to tuck in and roll over, we are doing funny little John Travolta maneuvers (that's what this doc calls them) that involve pointing her arms above her head and bringing it down across her body and touching her opposite side... yes, I sing 'Staying Alive' to her when I do this and she smiles. =) We are patting her hands on her opposite cheek, rubbing her upper arm with the opposite hand, working on 'elbows in' when she is on her tummy. (This is beginning to sound like a full-time job in itself!). There is lots more, but I'm getting exhausted typing it all out!
Anyways, every little thing that we are doing is awakening the nerve sensations that are occurring in her body to awaken her brain to realize that it needs to finish what it had set forth to do while still in the womb: thicken up that corpus callosum to its normal 'broad' self.
In two days of work, Mike and I can already see improvements. When she wakes up, I have found her up on her elbows twice now as she attempts to peek out and above the confines of her port-a-crib. When I lay her on her back to change her diaper or start her exercises, she is holding her little hands together and gnawing on her fingers (usually, her arms would be laying out to her sides and rarely come together). It's really been quite exciting! The doctor had said that when everything begins 'clicking,' the progress would move very rapidly. I am so thankful that this information came when it did!
On the flip side, I did see the very ugly reality of not working with the babies. The office waiting room was full of Noël-sized kiddos sitting limply in their strollers. Heads rolled to one side, eyes empty and gazing off in the distance, limp little legs, arms hanging loosely at their sides.
One thought that kept overplaying in my mind was that this is the side of NICU babies I never see. Once they leave the nursery, I really don't know what happens to them. Flara is allowing me to experience the NICU world in a whole new light.
The other thought I've repeatedly had is... how amazing is our God that He created such intricacies within our brains. It really just dazzles my mind to think how complex we are, and that God set forth every single perfect little detail. Who ever would have thought that tucked thumbs in a preemie would indicate brain dysfunction? The other amazing side is that not only are we so complex, but God's design is so perfect that we can manipulate the body to trigger an organ as amazing as the brain to fix itself.
Wow. That's all I can say.
God is just amazing.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Hooray for FlareBear!
Today, little Flara had her 6 month checkup. Of course, this means that the poor girl had shots... three to be exact (because she's still getting her RSV shots) ... but, she received some really, really good news!
Even adjusting for her prematurity, Flara has not been making it onto the growth charts. But, this time, she did! Not only did she make it, but she bounced onto the chart with flying colors. Her pediatrician was just tickled with it, and kept commenting on how happy and impressed and amazed he was at her growth. Yay! Thank you, Lord!
So, what are Flara's amazing numbers? Well, if you know our family, you know we have big heads! Flara had lots of NICU days of concern over her not-growing-fast-enough head, but today she hit the 80th percentile! WOW! She was above the 50th for her length, so now measures 22.5 inches. She was just below the 50th for her weight, so the big girl weighs 11 pounds 1 ounce. I knew she was getting heavy!
Also, her pediatrician was very well-pleased with her developmental progress. With the exception of two things... passing a toy from hand-to-hand and 'planing,' which is when babes push up onto their forearms and tippy toes, she is doing things that 4 month old babies do. Thus, she is ahead of the game!
Her heart murmur also appeared softer, so there is hope that the problems are improving on their own. =) The pediatrician felt it sounded more like the extra in-utero blood vessel and less like the hole between her atria. That is GREAT news! If the hole would continue to heal, that would save her a trip to the heart cath lab. The PDA (that little extra vessel) only requires a tiny incision between the baby's ribs, so it would be a much easier procedure (plus would not require entering into the heart). We will keep praying these things resolve!
Flara did have a couple of areas for improvement and concern. One, the palate in her mouth (the roof of your mouth) is very high and arched. This we knew, but hers is so high he feels it might cause her some troubles, so he has suggested we do get involved with Tennessee Early Intervention. How much trouble it could cause, I don't quite know, but I have the same palate, and Noël has a very high palate, too, and we seem okay. =) Her other area to improve on is in her upper arm strength. Her leg strength was adequate, but she could do better, so this is also an area with TN Early Intervention will help. Nothing we can't handle!
So, we are thankful for all that God is continuing to do in our sweet girl's life.
I do have a special prayer request... as I type, a couple at my church are heading into surgery to deliver their 30 1/2 week baby boy. I am extremely thankful that she is beyond 30 weeks and she has had her steroids (helps with lung development). But, no matter the gestational age, having a baby early is risky and an extremely scary thing for the parents. So, please be lifting this family up in prayer.
God's blessings. =)
Even adjusting for her prematurity, Flara has not been making it onto the growth charts. But, this time, she did! Not only did she make it, but she bounced onto the chart with flying colors. Her pediatrician was just tickled with it, and kept commenting on how happy and impressed and amazed he was at her growth. Yay! Thank you, Lord!
So, what are Flara's amazing numbers? Well, if you know our family, you know we have big heads! Flara had lots of NICU days of concern over her not-growing-fast-enough head, but today she hit the 80th percentile! WOW! She was above the 50th for her length, so now measures 22.5 inches. She was just below the 50th for her weight, so the big girl weighs 11 pounds 1 ounce. I knew she was getting heavy!
Also, her pediatrician was very well-pleased with her developmental progress. With the exception of two things... passing a toy from hand-to-hand and 'planing,' which is when babes push up onto their forearms and tippy toes, she is doing things that 4 month old babies do. Thus, she is ahead of the game!
Her heart murmur also appeared softer, so there is hope that the problems are improving on their own. =) The pediatrician felt it sounded more like the extra in-utero blood vessel and less like the hole between her atria. That is GREAT news! If the hole would continue to heal, that would save her a trip to the heart cath lab. The PDA (that little extra vessel) only requires a tiny incision between the baby's ribs, so it would be a much easier procedure (plus would not require entering into the heart). We will keep praying these things resolve!
Flara did have a couple of areas for improvement and concern. One, the palate in her mouth (the roof of your mouth) is very high and arched. This we knew, but hers is so high he feels it might cause her some troubles, so he has suggested we do get involved with Tennessee Early Intervention. How much trouble it could cause, I don't quite know, but I have the same palate, and Noël has a very high palate, too, and we seem okay. =) Her other area to improve on is in her upper arm strength. Her leg strength was adequate, but she could do better, so this is also an area with TN Early Intervention will help. Nothing we can't handle!
So, we are thankful for all that God is continuing to do in our sweet girl's life.
I do have a special prayer request... as I type, a couple at my church are heading into surgery to deliver their 30 1/2 week baby boy. I am extremely thankful that she is beyond 30 weeks and she has had her steroids (helps with lung development). But, no matter the gestational age, having a baby early is risky and an extremely scary thing for the parents. So, please be lifting this family up in prayer.
God's blessings. =)
Monday, March 8, 2010
I'm wondering what's new?
Hmmm... it seems my mind cannot seem to come up with anything much to say. The weather is perking up this week, and it makes my heart happy. =) The forecast is suggesting 67 on Thursday with an 80% chance of rain. I won't mind the rain, though. I've always been a fan... especially in warm weather.
Oh, I do know something! My oldest sister Cara and her husband and young'n are heading into the area on Wednesday to celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary and take a little family vacation!!!! I am so super excited to see them all. It will be their first time meeting our little Flara, too! While in the NICU, Flara could not have visitors outside of Daddy and Mommy and grandparents to control germ contact. So, sharing our girl with family has been a long time coming!
Mike is recovering from the flu. Yuck. He had it last week, and thankfully, the rest of us avoided the bug. We were really praying against the girls and me contracting it, and it seems we'll be fine. It did make for some rough days because we basically quarantined Mike away from us, which meant I had to wrangle completely unassisted two babes and a Dogg for half of a week. EXHAUSTING. I was feeling ultra crummy one day as well, so that made it even more difficult. It took a lot of strength and prayer that God would get me through the days.
Speaking of me... dealing with my disease is not my favorite thing to do. I am nearly one year and a half out from my diagnosis, but I still do not feel fully up to par. During the worst phases, my muscles completely atrophied away (if you knew me before, you know how strong I was... parallel squatting 235 pounds!)... this happened as a result of the malabsorption issues. As my body could not absorb nutrients, my fat was eaten away, when that was gone (not that I had much to start with, no thanks to the stupid disease), it then feasted on my muscles. Poo on that. But... alas! Basically every body system was affected and I deal daily with the repercussions of that. I think my biggie is anemia. I recently read in an article that it takes 11 years on average for people with Celiac disease to begin absorbing iron at normal levels. That's a long time to be tired and run-down. One thing I particularly hate about it is that I can never get warm. If I could describe how I feel, I would say that I feel like ice water literally pours through my body. I will wear three layers of shirts, sweat pants, socks, slippers, a big bathrobe, and bury myself under three layers of blankets on my bed and STILL feel no relief from the ice water blood. It's just plain miserable! Add to that one baking hot Snoop curled up next to me. Still cold!
That's a long-winded way to reintroduce mentioning how much this long winter is killing me. Really, the only time I feel okay is when the temperature is 85 or above with at minimum 90% humidity. I really loved my Indiana summers. Hot, muggy, disgusting = me in heaven! My Tennessee summers, since moving here three years ago, have not quite lived up to what I'm used to. I definitely didn't get that when we lived in Chicago. I think I can recall maybe 3 days where I felt it 'hot' enough to walk my booty to the beach to lay out, then upon getting there, would think, 'good grief, it's freezing.' Needless to say, I never got a tan!
My mind did trigger today to a beloved lost doggy pal of mine... little Sassy Sue. It's been two years since we lost her to total heart and lung failure, and it still makes me sad. She was a real gem of a rascally little Jack Russell. Thinking about the day we received the news, and the very rapid decline in her health, and those final days with her... not fun. Mike and I had taken the girls to some fields across the river to us today to get some sunshine and a stroll in, and it made me think of little Sassers. That field was one of her favorite places to go and run full steam away 'til she was just a little streaking white blip on the horizon, then come racing back with her little brown ears pinned to her head. The old Snoop Dogg would be lagging waaay behind yipping like a girl dog because he was getting left behind. (sigh) Just good memories of a great little girl. =)
There, I said I had nothing to say. I think when I review my blog, I probably have some of the longest blog posts of most people I know!
Oh, come to think of it! One last story... I have a great affection for gnomes. =) Apparently, so do my sisters and my cousins. Many gnomes roam in our family. But, I have never owned, er, caught my own gnome! Honestly, Mike thought they were a bit silly and could never understand why I desired to have a little gnome hiding in my landscaping....
So, Saturday afternoon, I was laying in bed dreaming of eating a Klondike bar. Okay, almost ready to eat a Klondike bar. But, I woke up... or was woken up! So disappointing. I got up grudgingly to let Snoop out to potty, and there on top of my steps sat a GNOME!!!! A happy springy gnome with flowers in his hand. Think me weird, but gnome told me his name is Bob. =) I was quite delighted and snatched him up. I have good suspicions who set a gnome loose on my property! I texted a picture to Mike to show him. I'm sure he was quite thrilled.
Fast forward to evening... it was dark out, but my outside lights were on. I looked out the office window, and I saw something light colored peeking above the grass next to my mailbox. It was too dark and too distant to fully tell what it was, but I thought it was trash. Upon further squinting my eyes, I thought perhaps it could be the pointed top of yet another gnome! Surely not! I ran outside, and it was a gnome! With that gnome in my hand, I turned and walked up my driveway, and jumped because I caught another set of gnome eyes peering at me from inside my landscaping. Oh, purely delightful! I caught that gnome, too, and thought I had caught the whole gang. As I headed into the garage, I laughed out loud when I saw a FOURTH gnome hanging from my trash bin! All I can say is 'wow!' I haven't managed to get the names out of the other three gnomes, but I'm sure it'll come soon. Happily, I can report that Noël loves her little gnome family as much as I do. She carries them all around the house. Proudly.
And, now that I'm sure you're all convinced I'm truly crazy... hahaha!!!! Oh, well! I'm me, and that's the way I am! The gnomes were actually a real treat because I was actually having my hardest physical day as mentioned [paragraphs] above. I felt like I could not push through any longer, and I was sad and aching and tired beyond words. God knew I needed a little pick-me-up, so he sent some friends to brighten my day through a funny little group of gnome people.
Goodnight!
Oh, I do know something! My oldest sister Cara and her husband and young'n are heading into the area on Wednesday to celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary and take a little family vacation!!!! I am so super excited to see them all. It will be their first time meeting our little Flara, too! While in the NICU, Flara could not have visitors outside of Daddy and Mommy and grandparents to control germ contact. So, sharing our girl with family has been a long time coming!
Mike is recovering from the flu. Yuck. He had it last week, and thankfully, the rest of us avoided the bug. We were really praying against the girls and me contracting it, and it seems we'll be fine. It did make for some rough days because we basically quarantined Mike away from us, which meant I had to wrangle completely unassisted two babes and a Dogg for half of a week. EXHAUSTING. I was feeling ultra crummy one day as well, so that made it even more difficult. It took a lot of strength and prayer that God would get me through the days.
Speaking of me... dealing with my disease is not my favorite thing to do. I am nearly one year and a half out from my diagnosis, but I still do not feel fully up to par. During the worst phases, my muscles completely atrophied away (if you knew me before, you know how strong I was... parallel squatting 235 pounds!)... this happened as a result of the malabsorption issues. As my body could not absorb nutrients, my fat was eaten away, when that was gone (not that I had much to start with, no thanks to the stupid disease), it then feasted on my muscles. Poo on that. But... alas! Basically every body system was affected and I deal daily with the repercussions of that. I think my biggie is anemia. I recently read in an article that it takes 11 years on average for people with Celiac disease to begin absorbing iron at normal levels. That's a long time to be tired and run-down. One thing I particularly hate about it is that I can never get warm. If I could describe how I feel, I would say that I feel like ice water literally pours through my body. I will wear three layers of shirts, sweat pants, socks, slippers, a big bathrobe, and bury myself under three layers of blankets on my bed and STILL feel no relief from the ice water blood. It's just plain miserable! Add to that one baking hot Snoop curled up next to me. Still cold!
That's a long-winded way to reintroduce mentioning how much this long winter is killing me. Really, the only time I feel okay is when the temperature is 85 or above with at minimum 90% humidity. I really loved my Indiana summers. Hot, muggy, disgusting = me in heaven! My Tennessee summers, since moving here three years ago, have not quite lived up to what I'm used to. I definitely didn't get that when we lived in Chicago. I think I can recall maybe 3 days where I felt it 'hot' enough to walk my booty to the beach to lay out, then upon getting there, would think, 'good grief, it's freezing.' Needless to say, I never got a tan!
My mind did trigger today to a beloved lost doggy pal of mine... little Sassy Sue. It's been two years since we lost her to total heart and lung failure, and it still makes me sad. She was a real gem of a rascally little Jack Russell. Thinking about the day we received the news, and the very rapid decline in her health, and those final days with her... not fun. Mike and I had taken the girls to some fields across the river to us today to get some sunshine and a stroll in, and it made me think of little Sassers. That field was one of her favorite places to go and run full steam away 'til she was just a little streaking white blip on the horizon, then come racing back with her little brown ears pinned to her head. The old Snoop Dogg would be lagging waaay behind yipping like a girl dog because he was getting left behind. (sigh) Just good memories of a great little girl. =)
There, I said I had nothing to say. I think when I review my blog, I probably have some of the longest blog posts of most people I know!
Oh, come to think of it! One last story... I have a great affection for gnomes. =) Apparently, so do my sisters and my cousins. Many gnomes roam in our family. But, I have never owned, er, caught my own gnome! Honestly, Mike thought they were a bit silly and could never understand why I desired to have a little gnome hiding in my landscaping....
So, Saturday afternoon, I was laying in bed dreaming of eating a Klondike bar. Okay, almost ready to eat a Klondike bar. But, I woke up... or was woken up! So disappointing. I got up grudgingly to let Snoop out to potty, and there on top of my steps sat a GNOME!!!! A happy springy gnome with flowers in his hand. Think me weird, but gnome told me his name is Bob. =) I was quite delighted and snatched him up. I have good suspicions who set a gnome loose on my property! I texted a picture to Mike to show him. I'm sure he was quite thrilled.
Fast forward to evening... it was dark out, but my outside lights were on. I looked out the office window, and I saw something light colored peeking above the grass next to my mailbox. It was too dark and too distant to fully tell what it was, but I thought it was trash. Upon further squinting my eyes, I thought perhaps it could be the pointed top of yet another gnome! Surely not! I ran outside, and it was a gnome! With that gnome in my hand, I turned and walked up my driveway, and jumped because I caught another set of gnome eyes peering at me from inside my landscaping. Oh, purely delightful! I caught that gnome, too, and thought I had caught the whole gang. As I headed into the garage, I laughed out loud when I saw a FOURTH gnome hanging from my trash bin! All I can say is 'wow!' I haven't managed to get the names out of the other three gnomes, but I'm sure it'll come soon. Happily, I can report that Noël loves her little gnome family as much as I do. She carries them all around the house. Proudly.
And, now that I'm sure you're all convinced I'm truly crazy... hahaha!!!! Oh, well! I'm me, and that's the way I am! The gnomes were actually a real treat because I was actually having my hardest physical day as mentioned [paragraphs] above. I felt like I could not push through any longer, and I was sad and aching and tired beyond words. God knew I needed a little pick-me-up, so he sent some friends to brighten my day through a funny little group of gnome people.
Goodnight!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Random rantings.
Today is my oldest sister Cara's birthday!!! Happy happy birthday to her!
Not much has been happening around our household. Flara is grinning more and more, and now she makes sweet little sounds along with the smiles. It's so cute! She is pretty much smiling at anyone who comes and looks at her. It seems like it's been forever to get to some of these stages. Having a baby nearly 3 1/2 months early makes for one extremely long newborn phase.
Noël is really upping her vocabulary. It seems each day she pulls out a bunch of new words. Today she added 'sketti' for spaghetti! She said, 'poop' today, which wasn't exactly exciting... but she says it now! She also said, 'shoo' when I changed her diaper. She knows that the white stuff on the ground is 'snow' and she loves to tell me 'no' now for lots of things! TROUBLE! haha! I'll say, 'Noël, please don't step on Sissy.' She tells me, 'no, nooooo.' It's really hard not to laugh! She's also really into Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton right now. She wants us to play it daily on Pandora, and she flat out boogies down!
As our family grows, so do our needs for a larger vehicle. We're currently in the hunt for one. With the car seats in the back of our little Focus, I have to ride with my knees crammed in the dash. When SnoopDogg travels along, he has to travel under my feet on the floor. With his epilepsy and nervous nature, he gets really scared by any bump along the road, which results in his trying to crawl under the seat to the back. Usually, he gets stuck halfway, so there will be two little stubs sticking out and irritated grunts erupting from beneath my seat. He'll give up, then give the most concerted effort to cram his big block head between my knees to sit in my seat. It's a serious battle of the wills! Typically, he's a very obedient dog, but when he's scared, there's no telling that dog to stop doing anything. Thankfully, I always win, but I'm covered in dog hair by time the battle is over. Ugh!
We're still trying to sell our home, only by owner now. We had to let a sale slip between our fingers last year because it happened during the week that Flara was born. The couple ended up buying a house around the corner, but had really wanted ours. It's hard to not sometimes be frustrated by that, but we know that God's timing for all things is always perfect. In our first week now, we had probably ten phone calls of interest. We're going to show the house tomorrow, so please pray for us!
We had a good week of superb weather... up in the 60s! But, we're back to the icky cold and snow flurries. I have not seen a winter hold on or come so early in years. I think since back in 1993, when the Hoosier state got hit with a blizzard. This winter just doesn't want to let up, and it's killing me. I have not felt so much cabin fever ever in my life. I'm sure having a toddler adds to it, because she is constantly telling me she wants to play outside. It's just impossible with little Sis. Thankfully, during our warm weather break, we were able to get up into the Park a couple of days and get in some minor hiking, as well as take a few strolls around the neighborhood.
We also saw that Noël's strawberries have sprouted a few flowers! Oh, spring, please come quickly!
Not much has been happening around our household. Flara is grinning more and more, and now she makes sweet little sounds along with the smiles. It's so cute! She is pretty much smiling at anyone who comes and looks at her. It seems like it's been forever to get to some of these stages. Having a baby nearly 3 1/2 months early makes for one extremely long newborn phase.
Noël is really upping her vocabulary. It seems each day she pulls out a bunch of new words. Today she added 'sketti' for spaghetti! She said, 'poop' today, which wasn't exactly exciting... but she says it now! She also said, 'shoo' when I changed her diaper. She knows that the white stuff on the ground is 'snow' and she loves to tell me 'no' now for lots of things! TROUBLE! haha! I'll say, 'Noël, please don't step on Sissy.' She tells me, 'no, nooooo.' It's really hard not to laugh! She's also really into Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton right now. She wants us to play it daily on Pandora, and she flat out boogies down!
As our family grows, so do our needs for a larger vehicle. We're currently in the hunt for one. With the car seats in the back of our little Focus, I have to ride with my knees crammed in the dash. When SnoopDogg travels along, he has to travel under my feet on the floor. With his epilepsy and nervous nature, he gets really scared by any bump along the road, which results in his trying to crawl under the seat to the back. Usually, he gets stuck halfway, so there will be two little stubs sticking out and irritated grunts erupting from beneath my seat. He'll give up, then give the most concerted effort to cram his big block head between my knees to sit in my seat. It's a serious battle of the wills! Typically, he's a very obedient dog, but when he's scared, there's no telling that dog to stop doing anything. Thankfully, I always win, but I'm covered in dog hair by time the battle is over. Ugh!
We're still trying to sell our home, only by owner now. We had to let a sale slip between our fingers last year because it happened during the week that Flara was born. The couple ended up buying a house around the corner, but had really wanted ours. It's hard to not sometimes be frustrated by that, but we know that God's timing for all things is always perfect. In our first week now, we had probably ten phone calls of interest. We're going to show the house tomorrow, so please pray for us!
We had a good week of superb weather... up in the 60s! But, we're back to the icky cold and snow flurries. I have not seen a winter hold on or come so early in years. I think since back in 1993, when the Hoosier state got hit with a blizzard. This winter just doesn't want to let up, and it's killing me. I have not felt so much cabin fever ever in my life. I'm sure having a toddler adds to it, because she is constantly telling me she wants to play outside. It's just impossible with little Sis. Thankfully, during our warm weather break, we were able to get up into the Park a couple of days and get in some minor hiking, as well as take a few strolls around the neighborhood.
We also saw that Noël's strawberries have sprouted a few flowers! Oh, spring, please come quickly!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Because they are just THAT cute...
Reminder... click on the picture to view it bigger!
Little FlareBear... I'm not sure what she's thinking, but I'm thinking she's just too cute!
A very pretty big girl!
Big Sis is very helpful... she helped change Sissy's 'panties' and is getting her dressed.
I love these girls! =)
I'm getting more and more infrequent about these posts!
So. Noël had her two-year checkup yesterday at our ped's office! I'll admit, I was a bit nervous this time. In all our visits past, the girl has NEVER cried about shots or blood draws. She's just stone cold straight-faced. Yes, she's our stoic little girl. She could shoot a mean glare at the nurses, but no screams, no tears, no tantrums, nothing. I was certain yesterday would be our day.
Prayerfully, I set forth on our adventure and for the 'outsies' coming her way. I prepared her with prayer and telling her that she would be getting two 'outsies.' One for labs, the other for shots. I told her it was okay if she needed to cry and that Mommy would not be disappointed.
Usually, all painful things are saved for the end. Perhaps to break it up, the visit started with the blood draw. EEK. I warned Noël she was getting a quick one-two-three OUCH on her finger. She shook her head 'yes.' I asked her to hold my hand, so she did. She dutifully held out her little finger to the nurse. We counted down, then 'ouch.' The result. Nothing. She smiled, shook her head, 'yes,' and smiled again. The nurse and I just looked at each other and laughed. She got to wear a pretty pink bandaid. She was quite proud!
During the 'regular' part of her visit, we found out that this ugly rash she has had on her bottom is staph. Yuck. It started out as a yeast diaper rash. We treated with Nystatin. Still, after bits of improvement, the rash would reappear and look different and be more vengeful. Well, no wonder! She has been quite miserable with it, and tells me that it's 'outsie' and 'itsy.' That's ouchy and itchy. =) Poor little Noël. She's always such a good girl, even when she's just plain miserable. We were given Bacitran ointment, and in one day, has made a world of difference. Finally, she can sleep again!
When we measured her, she is now at 27 pounds 8 ounces. That's 50% on the charts for weight. Her height is 33 inches, which is on the 25% scale. Shorty! Her head. Now, that's big. At 19.5 inches, her head is on the 97%. That's my girl! We're all big heads in this family. And, shorties. She will fit in quite well!
We also had her armpits checked out. She had a month-long period where she kept holding her right underarm and telling us 'outsie.' Admittedly, I was a bit concerned. I would try to let her let me feel her lymph nodes, but she would get too tickled to hold still. The peds checked it yesterday, and everything appears fine.
Also of note, her heart murmur is gone! Thank you, God!
Now, the last bit of the visit. Her shots. =( I warned her again this would be a bigger ouchie. She again shook her head yes and affirmed she is a big tough girl. The first poke took her by surprise, but she held it in, albeit wild-eyed. The second poke, she gasped. Then, so sad.... she cried. For the first time ever! But, to her credit, it was short-lived. As soon as she had on her fancy bandaids and the big sucker in hand that Mommy had hidden in her purse, she was a-ok.
Little Sis got a shot, too. It wasn't even her turn for a visit! Poor girl. Our office was out of HiB at the last visit, so they gave FlareBear the shot this time. Although she wailed and wailed last time, she gave a quick 'ouuuwwwooooo' cry and was done. The nurses declared I had some tough kids on my hand! haha! Monday will be different. Flara has her Synagis shot for RSV prophylaxis. That one is thick and it burns. I know she'll really be upset for that one. =(
And, onto FlareBear. She is doing quite well. Since getting her frenulum clipped, she is eating much better and much more efficiently. She seemed to struggle at first because she didn't know what to do with all of that tongue. She also seemed a big amused at being able to stick her tongue out and lick her lips. It was really cute to watch her explore wide-eyed her new world those first few days.
She was the poster child for Mercy Health Partners in our March of Dimes campaign. I made her a poster, and was quite excited to share her story to garner support for March of Dimes. I hear the poster was a big success! I also donated a cake I made. It was quite purdy, I must say! It sold for a whopping $30!!!
Her hair gets frizzier by the minute! haha! There is no set pattern to the way it curls here and there. It's just plain out of control. Of all the grandkids and great-grandkids, she has the closest 'do to my Grandpa Compton. We will see what happens when all the baby fuzz falls out. It could come back straight, or it might just keep on rollin' up tight. It makes me smile!
And, smiling! She is a grinnin' girl now!!!! Mainly, she smiles for the same boyfriend that Noël smiled at... the ceiling fan. Occasionally, she will smile for Mike or for me, but it's mainly that ole fan. Her smiles start with a lip quiver, then she gets a left-sided Elvis lip curl, then her eyes light up, then she's all gums! I just love it. It seems these milestones have been a long time coming and boy, am I ever happy to finally see their arrival!
It warmed up today... almost back to our normal February temperatures. It made me happy! Noël, SnoopDogg, and I were able to get outside and enjoy some sunshine and fresh air. Aahhhhhh... we really needed to get out of the house.
Blessings!
Prayerfully, I set forth on our adventure and for the 'outsies' coming her way. I prepared her with prayer and telling her that she would be getting two 'outsies.' One for labs, the other for shots. I told her it was okay if she needed to cry and that Mommy would not be disappointed.
Usually, all painful things are saved for the end. Perhaps to break it up, the visit started with the blood draw. EEK. I warned Noël she was getting a quick one-two-three OUCH on her finger. She shook her head 'yes.' I asked her to hold my hand, so she did. She dutifully held out her little finger to the nurse. We counted down, then 'ouch.' The result. Nothing. She smiled, shook her head, 'yes,' and smiled again. The nurse and I just looked at each other and laughed. She got to wear a pretty pink bandaid. She was quite proud!
During the 'regular' part of her visit, we found out that this ugly rash she has had on her bottom is staph. Yuck. It started out as a yeast diaper rash. We treated with Nystatin. Still, after bits of improvement, the rash would reappear and look different and be more vengeful. Well, no wonder! She has been quite miserable with it, and tells me that it's 'outsie' and 'itsy.' That's ouchy and itchy. =) Poor little Noël. She's always such a good girl, even when she's just plain miserable. We were given Bacitran ointment, and in one day, has made a world of difference. Finally, she can sleep again!
When we measured her, she is now at 27 pounds 8 ounces. That's 50% on the charts for weight. Her height is 33 inches, which is on the 25% scale. Shorty! Her head. Now, that's big. At 19.5 inches, her head is on the 97%. That's my girl! We're all big heads in this family. And, shorties. She will fit in quite well!
We also had her armpits checked out. She had a month-long period where she kept holding her right underarm and telling us 'outsie.' Admittedly, I was a bit concerned. I would try to let her let me feel her lymph nodes, but she would get too tickled to hold still. The peds checked it yesterday, and everything appears fine.
Also of note, her heart murmur is gone! Thank you, God!
Now, the last bit of the visit. Her shots. =( I warned her again this would be a bigger ouchie. She again shook her head yes and affirmed she is a big tough girl. The first poke took her by surprise, but she held it in, albeit wild-eyed. The second poke, she gasped. Then, so sad.... she cried. For the first time ever! But, to her credit, it was short-lived. As soon as she had on her fancy bandaids and the big sucker in hand that Mommy had hidden in her purse, she was a-ok.
Little Sis got a shot, too. It wasn't even her turn for a visit! Poor girl. Our office was out of HiB at the last visit, so they gave FlareBear the shot this time. Although she wailed and wailed last time, she gave a quick 'ouuuwwwooooo' cry and was done. The nurses declared I had some tough kids on my hand! haha! Monday will be different. Flara has her Synagis shot for RSV prophylaxis. That one is thick and it burns. I know she'll really be upset for that one. =(
And, onto FlareBear. She is doing quite well. Since getting her frenulum clipped, she is eating much better and much more efficiently. She seemed to struggle at first because she didn't know what to do with all of that tongue. She also seemed a big amused at being able to stick her tongue out and lick her lips. It was really cute to watch her explore wide-eyed her new world those first few days.
She was the poster child for Mercy Health Partners in our March of Dimes campaign. I made her a poster, and was quite excited to share her story to garner support for March of Dimes. I hear the poster was a big success! I also donated a cake I made. It was quite purdy, I must say! It sold for a whopping $30!!!
Her hair gets frizzier by the minute! haha! There is no set pattern to the way it curls here and there. It's just plain out of control. Of all the grandkids and great-grandkids, she has the closest 'do to my Grandpa Compton. We will see what happens when all the baby fuzz falls out. It could come back straight, or it might just keep on rollin' up tight. It makes me smile!
And, smiling! She is a grinnin' girl now!!!! Mainly, she smiles for the same boyfriend that Noël smiled at... the ceiling fan. Occasionally, she will smile for Mike or for me, but it's mainly that ole fan. Her smiles start with a lip quiver, then she gets a left-sided Elvis lip curl, then her eyes light up, then she's all gums! I just love it. It seems these milestones have been a long time coming and boy, am I ever happy to finally see their arrival!
It warmed up today... almost back to our normal February temperatures. It made me happy! Noël, SnoopDogg, and I were able to get outside and enjoy some sunshine and fresh air. Aahhhhhh... we really needed to get out of the house.
Blessings!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Ouchy.
Poor little FlareBear. We just returned from our visit to the ENT. The doctor's assessment matched what we were thinking.... the frenulum needed to be cut. He gave me the option of waiting until she was 10 months old and undergoing general anesthesia, or doing it now... I opted for the now.
It was a quick cut, minimal bleeding, and she didn't cry much at all. =( He asked if I would mind holding her head snugly so he could do the snipping, or if it would make me sick. Thankfully, my NICU nursing experiences came in handy. I held her so it could be done, and I promise it went very quickly!
As soon as I picked her up, she stopped crying, and didn't seem to even act like anything was even done to her. It must be she's a tough little cookie from all she's been through already... that's my little Flara Fighter!
We are hopeful this will help ease some of our eating woes. It comes too late for nursing, but thankfully, we still have tons of milk stored in the deep freeze. Also, I think it'll be nicer on her heart to have one less thing causing her to be tired and work more than she needs to...
And, I keep reminding myself that God is in control. Fully. =)
Keep the prayers coming!
It was a quick cut, minimal bleeding, and she didn't cry much at all. =( He asked if I would mind holding her head snugly so he could do the snipping, or if it would make me sick. Thankfully, my NICU nursing experiences came in handy. I held her so it could be done, and I promise it went very quickly!
As soon as I picked her up, she stopped crying, and didn't seem to even act like anything was even done to her. It must be she's a tough little cookie from all she's been through already... that's my little Flara Fighter!
We are hopeful this will help ease some of our eating woes. It comes too late for nursing, but thankfully, we still have tons of milk stored in the deep freeze. Also, I think it'll be nicer on her heart to have one less thing causing her to be tired and work more than she needs to...
And, I keep reminding myself that God is in control. Fully. =)
Keep the prayers coming!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Birthday pictures
Here are some of Noël's birthday pictures, as well as some Flara pics!
***I've forgotten to mention it before, but if you want to view pictures larger, just click on them!
Noël got a delivery from her 'grangraw' in Indiana!
Auntie Cara sent her a flippin' pony! She's loving on it!
Noël got a sweet new ride and horn for her birthday... she's pumping with the horn!
Blowing out the candle
She loves dresses
A kiss from little Sissy
Sporting a very cute outfit from her Veitz grandparents!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
New Cousin!!!
Last night, at 10:30pm, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law welcomed their second baby into the world! Sawyer Jon weighs a whopping 9 pounds 2 ounces! Good thing he came a week and a half before his due date!
We can't wait to see pictures! How exciting for the growing family!
Today, also, is the second birthday of our beautiful Noël Suzanne! I can't believe she's this much of a big girl already! I love you, Honey! =)
We can't wait to see pictures! How exciting for the growing family!
Today, also, is the second birthday of our beautiful Noël Suzanne! I can't believe she's this much of a big girl already! I love you, Honey! =)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
I should write a million words, but I'll keep this short...
I have so much to report on from the last however long it has been, but I don't have the time right now to explain it all. I'll keep it short, then hopefully make it back later to share some stories and explain things better.
Basically, I want to get this out here so everyone can start praying.... keep praying, I should say.
Little Flara met with her cardiologist Monday... she has a murmur arising from two locations. One, her PDA (helps with in-the-womb circulation) has reopened, and it was discovered that she has a medium-sized hole between her atria. This has caused extra blood to flow out of her heart into her lungs, and has resulted in the the artery being enlarged. She will follow with a cardiologist, then will need surgery to repair it if it doesn't correct itself in the next couple of years.
Without being called congestive heart failure, which conjures up images of really scary and bad things, any time the heart is not working to its full potential, then it is considered to be just that... I hate the words. But, the good news is that it's not bad enough to require a speedy intervention, unless we notice Flara becoming more tired (than she already is), feeding worse, having sweaty spells... a number of symptoms. She won't meet back with her cardiologist for six months, then we'll go from there. The doc did say that the chance of requiring surgery is only 30%. Not bad! If we can get her to the age of two when she's bigger and stronger, she would only have to go to the heart cath lab for repair rather than a full inpatient cardiac surgery. Eek.
On the other side, she also met with her retinal specialist on Monday. Finally!!! Her eyes are fully vascularized and complete! We have been released from his care, and are able to mark one specialist off our list. Yippee!
It was a long day Monday. We spent nearly 7 hours between the specialists before getting home... Flara, Noël, and me. I have some heart warming stories to share about the Miss Noël, but I'll do that later. That kid really amazes me with her sweet spirit and compassionate heart. =)
Please keep praying for us!
Basically, I want to get this out here so everyone can start praying.... keep praying, I should say.
Little Flara met with her cardiologist Monday... she has a murmur arising from two locations. One, her PDA (helps with in-the-womb circulation) has reopened, and it was discovered that she has a medium-sized hole between her atria. This has caused extra blood to flow out of her heart into her lungs, and has resulted in the the artery being enlarged. She will follow with a cardiologist, then will need surgery to repair it if it doesn't correct itself in the next couple of years.
Without being called congestive heart failure, which conjures up images of really scary and bad things, any time the heart is not working to its full potential, then it is considered to be just that... I hate the words. But, the good news is that it's not bad enough to require a speedy intervention, unless we notice Flara becoming more tired (than she already is), feeding worse, having sweaty spells... a number of symptoms. She won't meet back with her cardiologist for six months, then we'll go from there. The doc did say that the chance of requiring surgery is only 30%. Not bad! If we can get her to the age of two when she's bigger and stronger, she would only have to go to the heart cath lab for repair rather than a full inpatient cardiac surgery. Eek.
On the other side, she also met with her retinal specialist on Monday. Finally!!! Her eyes are fully vascularized and complete! We have been released from his care, and are able to mark one specialist off our list. Yippee!
It was a long day Monday. We spent nearly 7 hours between the specialists before getting home... Flara, Noël, and me. I have some heart warming stories to share about the Miss Noël, but I'll do that later. That kid really amazes me with her sweet spirit and compassionate heart. =)
Please keep praying for us!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Finally... the professional pictures!
Little Flara when she first came home at a whopping 5 pounds 2 ounces!
This reminds me of a friend's son who prayed with his mommy one night and thanked God for safely holding sweet little Flara in His hands.
All of us, minus SnoopDogg! Noël picked the socks... she was supposed to go barefooted!
These are the pics that Mike's fellow police officers took for us. I'll have to repost the link to their website. They do an amazing job! Thanks, guys! =)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A prayer request for Flara and 4 month update.
First off, Flara's prayer request. Flara has been receiving Synagis vaccinations to help protect her from RSV. RSV is a nasty respiratory virus that affects most kids before they turn the age of 2, but can be very serious for former preemies. Two weeks ago, we allowed Noël to return to her Sunday School class because she was dying for interaction with her friends. She would run to her classroom every week and try to crawl over the gate into the room. It was sad each time we had to tell her she couldn't join in on the fun. By Tuesday following the Sunday that we had allowed her back in, she had a runny nose. The clear gunk turned to thick yellow gunk, but never seemed to migrate into her lungs. Her pediatrician informed us to give her Mucinex to help her out and to let the bug run its course. This weekend, Flara's nose started running despite our absolute best efforts to keep the house completely sanitized. We found out today at her checkup that Flara is in fact RSV positive. =(
Because RSV is a virus, all we can do is keep close watch over her. We are to keep using the saline drops and bulb syringe to keep her passages clear, but we will have to start breathing treatments should her symptoms change at all. If the bug does get into her lungs, it would be very probable that it would result in a hospitalization for Flara. PLEASE pray against this!
Since today was her 4 month checkup, she did have to get her immunizations. Boo. I never felt bad having Noël receive hers, but then, the girl never cried once during ANY of her shots or blood draws. Yes, she's big stuff! Poor little Flara has suffered enough meanness that I didn't want her to have to go through anymore. Boy, did she ever cry. That really broke her mommy's heart.
As of today, she is 19 1/2 inches long and 7 pounds 7 ounces. She's really doing much better weight-wise, so we are very much pleased! We stopped one of her reflux meds today and are going to keep the Zantac going for a bit longer. Her heart murmur was still present, so we will be following with a cardiologist soon.
One big possible revelation... I've been thinking Flara has a short tongue and a thick, short frenulum (the little rubber band looking thingy attached to the base of your tongue). I was noticing that she never sticks her tongue out beyond her gum line and makes a little 'click' sound when eating. Also, when she does nurse or bottle-feed, she is very ineffective at getting any milk out. It dawned on me a few days ago... the stupid laymen's term of being 'tongue-tied.' If that were the case, it would explain the 'ineffective sucking' I describe her eating habits as, as well as explain the poor weight gain. I asked her pediatrician about it this morning, and he agreed that it does look 'tight.' So, Flara is going to see an ENT doctor to have it evaluated. If that doctor agrees, she will have a very quick procedure to clip it. It will enable her to move her tongue out the way that it needs to, so she would much more easily be able to get her milk!
I think that sums up all that happened today. =)
Because RSV is a virus, all we can do is keep close watch over her. We are to keep using the saline drops and bulb syringe to keep her passages clear, but we will have to start breathing treatments should her symptoms change at all. If the bug does get into her lungs, it would be very probable that it would result in a hospitalization for Flara. PLEASE pray against this!
Since today was her 4 month checkup, she did have to get her immunizations. Boo. I never felt bad having Noël receive hers, but then, the girl never cried once during ANY of her shots or blood draws. Yes, she's big stuff! Poor little Flara has suffered enough meanness that I didn't want her to have to go through anymore. Boy, did she ever cry. That really broke her mommy's heart.
As of today, she is 19 1/2 inches long and 7 pounds 7 ounces. She's really doing much better weight-wise, so we are very much pleased! We stopped one of her reflux meds today and are going to keep the Zantac going for a bit longer. Her heart murmur was still present, so we will be following with a cardiologist soon.
One big possible revelation... I've been thinking Flara has a short tongue and a thick, short frenulum (the little rubber band looking thingy attached to the base of your tongue). I was noticing that she never sticks her tongue out beyond her gum line and makes a little 'click' sound when eating. Also, when she does nurse or bottle-feed, she is very ineffective at getting any milk out. It dawned on me a few days ago... the stupid laymen's term of being 'tongue-tied.' If that were the case, it would explain the 'ineffective sucking' I describe her eating habits as, as well as explain the poor weight gain. I asked her pediatrician about it this morning, and he agreed that it does look 'tight.' So, Flara is going to see an ENT doctor to have it evaluated. If that doctor agrees, she will have a very quick procedure to clip it. It will enable her to move her tongue out the way that it needs to, so she would much more easily be able to get her milk!
I think that sums up all that happened today. =)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Prayer request from a friend...
One of our dear friends in Chicago passed this prayer request on to Mike and me... it was sent on behalf of her good friends. I know that we have been surrounded in much prayer from all of you, so I am asking that you would pray on behalf of this couple and their sweet baby.
Dear friends,
J and I went to the doctor today to have the 20 week ultrasound done. We were going in hopes to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. But the day took a different turn. We did not find out if we're having a boy or a girl. The doctor had a difficult time seeing the brain, and was very concerned. She wanted us to go immediately to a high risk doctor who has better ultrasound equipment, and to determine if there might be an abnormality. We rushed to the high risk doctor, and he determined that there is an abnormality.
Our baby has something called "anencephaly". This means that the brain did not develop properly. Basically, the top part of the brain did not develop, and this makes it virtually impossible for the baby to survive outside of the womb.
Right now we are both in shock, and feel as though we're living in a bad dream. We're just trying to figure out our options. We would appreciate your prayers and thank you for your support.
J and J
J and I went to the doctor today to have the 20 week ultrasound done. We were going in hopes to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. But the day took a different turn. We did not find out if we're having a boy or a girl. The doctor had a difficult time seeing the brain, and was very concerned. She wanted us to go immediately to a high risk doctor who has better ultrasound equipment, and to determine if there might be an abnormality. We rushed to the high risk doctor, and he determined that there is an abnormality.
Our baby has something called "anencephaly". This means that the brain did not develop properly. Basically, the top part of the brain did not develop, and this makes it virtually impossible for the baby to survive outside of the womb.
Right now we are both in shock, and feel as though we're living in a bad dream. We're just trying to figure out our options. We would appreciate your prayers and thank you for your support.
J and J
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
High-risk Clinic and Eyes
Monday, Flara followed up on her eye development. Yuck. Another grueling, barbaric torture fest. My big helper came along. She scored a blown-up rubber glove that tickled her to her core. =)
Sissy's eyes are doing much better. Her right eye is complete and without disease. Yipee! Her left eye has just a teensy little smidgen left to go, and possibly some very mild ROP in it. Again... yipee! The doctor said he doesn't think it will cause her any trouble at all. We'll follow again in two weeks for her left eye, and hopefully be done. That would be grand!
Today, she went to a high-risk follow-up clinic to meet with four different people. A developmental nurse, a PT/OT specialist, a speech therapist, and the PT/OT doctor. Whew! Talk about a whirlwind!
Here is what went down. Flara is officially four months old today and is a big 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19.5 inches long! Two weeks past her due date, she is nearly the size that she should be as a 'normal' newborn. The nurse was delighted!
The PT/OT team was really thrilled with her development. She has 'beautiful' head control, is posturing midline very well (arms and legs in... not splayed out), and has smooth, graceful movements. They were very pleased with her calm demeanor and that she didn't have an overactive startle reflex. God is just so good!
We are going to work a bit on her keeping her little knees stiff and extended. We learned a fun little trick button that makes her immediately bend her knees. We're going to use it on the big girl, too! haha!
We do have some more work to do with her sucking and eating. She has a very good, strong, coordinated suck with her pacifier, but she's very ineffective when it comes to bottles and breastfeeding. We have a paper full of exercises to do to strengthen her cheek muscles, and will be following more frequently with a speech therapist. Out with the eyes and in with the mouth!
We are just so thankful that her checkup(s) went so well today. We nearly wanted to walk out of the office and not go to the appointments, but what a blessing to see how pleased the staff was with Flara, and to find ways to better help her develop. =)
That's it for now!
Friday, January 15, 2010
God is faithful!
This is old... I typed it sometime last week. I'll post what I have, and leave it unfinished. So, yes, it'll come across as ending abruptly! Oh, well! =)
First test... this week. Mike took three weeks off from work to help with bringing Flara home. He was told that he could borrow on his vacation from the upcoming year because he had already exhausted his sick time (thanks to me). Knowing that the hours would be available, we decided to have Mike take the extended break and not worry about a 'vacation' this year. So, I get a phone call earlier in the week from Mike. I missed the call, so I actually received a voicemail. In it, Mike was explaining to me that he just found out that the whole borrowing of vacation wasn't approved, so his paycheck would be 14 hours short. I set my phone down and closed my eyes and simply prayed that God would help me not to worry, and that He would prove Himself faithful. I didn't know where the money would come from, but I knew that I had to trust Him.
Fast forward two days. I was talking to one of my doctor's manager on the phone and found out that we were actually owed a refund. Turns out the amount is almost EXACTLY the amount we were missing on Mike's check. I hung up the phone and tearfully thanked God that He is still continually proving Himself to us. I called Mike and he responded with "Praise Jesus!" God is just so good. We received the check today. Already. Mike was able to deposit it with his paycheck, and I was able to pay our bills.
I anticipate that this will not be the last time this will happen. =) But, it will be okay!
On the baby forefront, Flara is growing like a weed! She can very briefly push herself up on her forearms and can hold her head up quite well. She is a very big girl! She is also finally feeling like she has some weight to her. I noticed my back being a bit sore yesterday, and my arm was getting sore from holding her while feeding her. When she lays on my chest (because she might just occasionally snooze at night with me... maybe), I actually feel her laying there now. Before, it was as though she wasn't even there.
I call her my little FlareBear. She makes funny little sounds like a trumpet, so I call her my Trumpet, too. She's staying awake a lot more during the day, which is very nice. Her staying up until 3, 4, sometimes 5 in the morning was killing me... us. I should include Mike on that! Now, she's up for a few hours in the morning, sleeps all day, then gets up around 7 or 8 in the evening and parties for a good solid 5 hours!!! Last night, after being up so much, she slept 6 hours overnight. That was heavenly!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Bigger and better!
Flara grew a whopping 9 ounces this week, so now she's a big 5 pounds, 14 ounces! Her pediatrician was well pleased, so she doesn't have to go back for 3 weeks... when she gets her 4 month immunizations! We're to continue the same fortification schedule that we've been on, except now we're going to add one additional glob of canola oil to her feedings. She's looking bigger, but as the pediatrician said, "Flara, we still need to see you get fat!"
This little excursion to the doctor's was my first excursion with both kiddos, sans Mike. Can I say I was more than worried? I replayed in my head all the different ways I could tote the crew... Flara in the sling, Noël in the stroller... Flara in the carseat, Noël in the stroller. Flara in the sling, Noël on my hip. Argh! I was afraid to carseat Flara and let Noël walk. I was worried she might be unruly in the office if the wait was too long, or might try to run and play somewhere that I didn't want to go.
Well, the day started off really nicely. We had to get up early to get everyone fed. Mike had to go to court, so he, too, was up. After Mike left, I had to go into ultra-hurry mode to get everything done that needed to be done. Pumping, packing snacks, packing diapers, Snoop out the door (by the way, it's SnoopDogg's 7th human-year birthday!), drinks packed, breast milk packed... too much whatever it all was! I told Noël we needed to go 'bye-bye' so I needed her to help Mommy get everything together. Even though I had everything packed at that point, she ran and grabbed one of her bags, emptied all of the toys, ran and stuffed it full of diapers, then crammed her bubbles blankie and buckles kitty into it. She was set! Admittedly, that melted my heart... and Daddy's when I told him as I was driving back home. =) Even though I had everything I needed, I brought Noël's extra bag of supplies because she had so proudly packed that bag for me. We loaded into the car, and surprisingly, I was 5 minutes ahead of schedule! Yipee!
We made the hour-long drive to the peds office, which gave me plenty of time to negotiate my carrying choices. Ultimately, I decided that I was going to leave Flara in the carseat (it was just too cold to get her out!) and let Noël walk. Unfortunately, no close parking spaces were open, so we parked waaaaay out in the lot. I first unbuckled Noël, then put her in the passenger seat of the car and told her to drive the car. She gladly obliged while I got the carseat out. Then, I coaxed Noël out of the seat, then realized I didn't have an extra arm to close the door. If it weren't so cold, I would not have minded setting Flara's seat on the ground. So, I just one-legged kicked the door closed. Ta-da!!!! We set forth on our long walk. Noël was quite pleased to take a walk, and went everywhere I asked her to go. We've been working on 'right' and 'left' with her, so it could've been mere coincidence, but when I told that girl 'turn left,' that's exactly the way she went!
Thankfully, the wait was short, and only one other mommy+baby combo was in the waiting room. Noël read some magazines, then sat with me until we were called back. She announced 'baby' to anyone who would listen, and enjoyed sitting and eating her snacks 'til we were ready to head back home. That, too, went without a hitch. So, so thankful! It was a good trip!
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