5.31.09

The campout was a complete and total bust, to say the least. In a nutshell, it was just really bad!! We may still try camping this summer, as a family of 3, without the crazy family whose house we were at for the campout last night. Ay ya ya. Did I mention it was bad?!

We did manage to have a fantastic weekend though!

Friday Lilly went to school looking extra grown up in her blousy coral top with butterflies and stylish jeans.


She was very smiley and showed off her teeth for all to see. It seems she is working on a 3rd tooth this weekend, on the bottom... how wierd is that?? She might be part pit-bull.


Saturday morning, Daddy dressed Lilly in this precious little number. If that's not a collar then, boy, I don't know what is. (This dress was a gift from a teacher at Matt's school. I thought it was a joke. The man informed me it was not.)




The three of us went out to lunch and sat on the patio, where Lilly sported shades for the first time. To my surprise, she loved them!



We came home and she and Daddy lounged on the couch. Life really is good!


All that resting caused Lil to work up an apetite, so into the high chair she went for the very first time. She's not quite big enough and hasn't mastered sitting well enough, so we'll stick with the Bumbo and the bouncy seat for now. She did enjoy her snack of pureed peas though. Mmmm. Today we are going to try avacado!



After a heck of a night, it was time to kick back and enjoy some sunshine in her new Ducky tub/pool. I slathered her in Water Babies sunscreen and can't stop breathing her in. She smells soooooo good and babyish! I love it.



The sunglasses made another appearance.

5.29.09

And we're back.

Feeling better on both ends, phew! Death warmed over this household for a while there, but we are back in action now! Soooo much has been happening, it's like a circus around here.

Lilly:

Turned 5 months old... but wasn't feeling so hot on her big day.




Rolls belly to back and back to belly... all in a day's work!

Is eating 2 solids meals a day. Oatmeal at lunch and peas at dinner. YUM!

Sits in her high chair to eat at home and at the table at school. She's officially a big girl!

Her 2 teeth are absolutely precious and she likes to chew on our fingers with them. It feels funny, but I'm so proud of her toofers.

Has a new Fisher Price Jumperoo. Much better than the doorway jumper and easier to get in/out of. She's a hoot when she gets going with all the bouncing!

Is going on her first campout tomorrow. I'm stressed, nervous and not looking forward to it. But if all goes well, it'll be nice to know we can go camping this summer.

Is a flirt at school, with girls, boys, men and women. It makes no difference. She'll lure you in and make eye contact and then once she gets your attention, she locks you in by repeatedly smiling. She *almost* successfully avoided naptime this morning by doing so, but unfortunately for her, her mother was the one putting her down. No budging there!

Took a brief cloth-diapering hiatus during all the illnesses in the K-Tell household, but is back in action now!



Is experimenting with a sippy cup in the coming days. Mommy gets cotton mouth watching her eat oatmeal with nothing to wash it down. Any recommendations on sippy cups? Do the Dr. Brown's ones do anything special? They need to have 2 handles.

Tries to blow raspberries, now that she knows the "b" sound. I fear she may blow a gasket one of these days, as she gets awfully tight-lipped and can't quite figure out how to get the air out.



I:

Lost 7 pounds on the "Can't Eat, Can't Breathe, Can't Swallow" diet. So far, it's still gone!

Am unofficially no longer seeing Dr. S for anything. We'll all see Lilly's doctor from now on.

Was awake in bed from 10pm-3am last night, until finally giving in and taking 2 Benadryl, which worked fantastically until Lilly woke up at 5am, right smack in the middle of my coma. Love it!

Am 100% delighted today is Friday and the month of May is over, for all intents and purposes. I am no longer a single parent!!!

Matt:

Did not leave us after all. We love him:)

5.21.09

Lilly: Still throwing up as of last night

Me: Strep throat

Matt: Ready to leave both of us!

5.19.09

Welcome to my day:)

Notice the two teeth? Aren't they cute?!

5.19.09

Happy 5 month birthday, Lilly. You get to spend the day... sick!

Yesterday she threw up again, about 3 hours after eating. I was hoping it was because I gave her teething tablets and she kind of gagged (she has such a sensitive gag reflex!), which led to throwing up. I kind of knew it wasn't that though, just by the way it smelled and the way she threw up once, caught her breath and then threw up again.

At 5:00 this morning, she was moaning and stirring in her crib, so I picked her up to calm her back down. She fell right back asleep. I laid her down, climbed back in bed and heard choking a couple minutes later. Matt groaned and I said "That doesn't sound right" as I ran to her room. Sure enough, vomit everywhere. I stood her up in the crib and more came.

(I don't normally bad mouth my dear husband on my blog, but I just have to vent-- as you can probably tell I'm frustrated with him-- when I saw that she was sick I said out loud, LOUD enough for the monitor to pick it up, "Ohhhh, did you throw up again???" So who keeps snoring away? Yes, the same person who just moments ago was able to hear her coughing and groaned with annoyance. Oh yes, and WHO then woke up and hopped in the shower to get ready for work while I stood there with a dripping, vomitty baby? Yeah. We normally do not take Lilly out of her bedroom for any reason once she's down for bed, but this morning I was fired up. We marched to the bathroom and "kindly" (not so kindly) asked Daddy to hurry his butt up and lend us a hand as were in the middle of something big! Five minutes later, he came sauntering out to help me get the darn safety seal of the pedialyte while juggling a wobbly, sick baby. I swear the man shaved, plucked his ear hair, flexed his pecs and shook his booty in the mirror while we shlepped around in the kitchen, puke soaking further into the mattress by the second.

Feeling better... thank you for that moment.)

Dr. A says to give it 48 more hours.

There hasn't been a dull moment in this house since I was 31 weeks pregnant.

5.18.09

Due to technical difficulties, I have to hold off on the biggest fun news until a later date when I can figure out what on God's green earth is wrong with my video uploader.

So we'll start with other fun news. The big switch!

Starting tonight, Miss Lilly's bottom will be clothed in the softest, most supple, most fuzziest diapering materials her momma can get her hands on. She has suffered through enough diaper rash and I'll do whatever it takes for her to not suffer any more. A few days ago our Jillian's Drawers trial arrived and I've been waiting anxiously for the diarrhea/incessant urinating/diaper rash to calm down before initiating these positively delightful little numbers. In colors like clementine, celery, butter and melon, and names like bumGenious, Fuzzi Bunz and Thirsties, what's not to love? There are so many different styles, I can't wait to see what works best for Lilly.




After getting my hands on these, and then putting Lilly in a disposable diaper, the disposables feel so scratchy and papery. I understand the addiction now-- if you love shopping for clothing for your little one, then cloth diapers are just one more thing to drool over! Originally, this was intended to be a bedtime-only deal, and it may still, but I can see falling in love with cloth and never going back. I even ordered all neutral colors so Future Little Beansies #2 has a fair shot at using them.

If you are interested in the 21-day trial, click on the link above. Here's what you get and you can choose from Boy, Girl or Neutral. It costs $110 plus s/h and you can either keep everything and be done, return what you didn't like for a refund of that amount or return it all and be refunded $100, so you're only out 10 bucks. Pretty good deal for getting to try everything for 3 weeks. Unless your child comes down with a stomach virus, thus limiting your trial period to about a third of that time.

5.17.09

In a nutshell, Lilly is doing MUCH better. Thank you for your prayers!! We went to her pedi Friday afternoon and saw him and the new Nurse Practioner (who I LOVE). They felt that it was not a UTI because babies don't get UTI's unless they have a much bigger underlying problem, like a kidney issue. Unfortunately, this meant doing another catheter to get a good sample (the ER really did a crappy job, and I mean crappy literally, at getting an uncontaminated sample, despite trying twice), but Lil's bladder was empty, so it was for nothing.

They decided it was better to NOT have her take an antibiotic unless she spiked a temperature of at least 100 (btw, they said to add a degree if taking it under the armpit-- some say yes, some say no, but I thought I'd pass that along anyway) since antibiotics can cause diarrhea, which is exactly what we were trying to avoid! The diaper rash was already horrible enough and diarrhea is helacious on baby skin.

Dr. A was pretty irritated with the ER doctor's lousy diagnosis and prescription for an intense anti-fungal creme (overkill for diaper rash) and Amoxicillan, which is ineffective for UTI's in the first place. This guy was a cook and after talking to our neighbor who works at the hospital, we aren't the first to think so. She wants us to file a complaint to get help get rid of him. We're doing so gladly. (He kept numbing Lilly's gums with lidocaine and we never even said anything about her teething being a problem. She couldn't have cared less about her teeth. I wish I would've spoken up because I really wasn't comfortable with him doing it, but we were desperate for relief so I just let him.)

Anyway, she never spiked a fever and we've been working her back into her regular diet and she seems to be doing great. Her sleeping is another issue, but we'll work through that as she feels better. Matt's mom and dad are coming for a day this week and my mom is hopefully coming this weekend, so sleep (for mommy and daddy) is on the way!! Dr. A checked on her at church this morning, which reassured me that she is on the mend and we did the right thing by not giving her the antibiotic.

I have some cool, fun stuff to share tomorrow. But for now, I need to get the babe's "dinner" ready. I'm flying solo tonight and am scared to death of how things are going to go. It's been rough enough with Matt here, I can only pray that God will bless this girl (and me) with some sleepiness in about 2 hours!

5.15.09

If we could ever use some extra prayers, this is the time.

After Lilly got progressively worse over the course of yesterday I noticed her urine started to have a very foul odor. She'd been on Pedialyte for almost 24 hours, so when it first started I thought it was related to that. She was also urinating every few minutes (which I thought was a good thing since I was so worried about dehyrdating), however, bless her heart, she was also practically doing the same thing from her bottom. Everything was running straight through her.

I kept thinking if I could just get her through the day, she'd sleep well at night. Well, she was awake from 5pm to 4:30 am crying almost non-stop. Every time she'd stop long enough to fall asleep on one of us, we'd lay her down and the crying would start-- but not the usual fussy/don't put me down cry. This was a painful, at-her-wit's-end cry. Matt drove her around to calm her down, but as soon as they got home she was awake and crying. I even had her in the swing, in front of the television at midnight, which worked for about 15 minutes. And then the pain-cry came back. She'd been arching and writhing all day, unable to get comfortable in any position, until finally she'd just give up and lay limp in my arms staring in the distance. Finally it just dawned on me-- I bet she has a UTI!

We took her to the ER, which was a comedy of errors (minus the comedy), but after 2 catheters, they were able to confim that it is a UTI. She also has a terrible diaper rash as a result of all the diarrhea and non-stop urinating. Holding my baby girl's legs down so the nurse could insert the catheter was probably one of the worst moments of my mommy life. And they had to do it twice. But thankfully they were able to get a good sample and see that it was an infection. I was so relieved that help was on the way!

They had me give her the first dose of Amox. there and she spit most of it out, which made me feel terrible bc they wouldn't give her more. I'm waiting on the pharmacy to open so I can get her next dose in her, while somehow figuring out a way to get to my u/s (10:15), get her into her doctor (they close at noon), drop-off & pick-up prescriptions and let her get the sleep she needs.

Poor Matt got about 45 mins of sleep before getting up for work. His school had a second bomb threat yesterday (2 in one week, for pete's sake) so he absolutely couldn't take the day off. Instead, one of his teachers did! So she's coming to watch Lilly during my appt.

Please send Lilly happy, healing thoughts and prayers. My poor girl has been through the wringer in the last 24 hours. I can't believe she'll even let me near her after all this. It's hard being a parent and having to stay calm and collected while watching your child go through painful experiences. I'm already a little uneasy about today's ultrasound and the possible outcome requiring another hospital procedure and being back in the hospital with Lillian last night was just another reminder of the scary side of having a child.

5.14.09

Lilly's still sick, but finally drinking Pedialyte from a bottle vs. a syringe. her doctor also suggested getting flavored (we were giving her unflavored) and she really likes the grape! Matt likes it too.

At her doctor's appt, he checked her for strep because the symptoms of strep throat are sometimes vomiting/diarrhea in an infant. It was negative, but when he brought up the possibility, I thought "Well, wouldn't that make sense?!" I'm glad to know she doesn't have something I gave her. And thankfully she hasn't given Matt or me her stomach bug! It's not pleasant, that's for sure.

So for now she can only have Pedialyte until her tummy troubles subside. Until then, I've got the floors covered in blankets because I am at my carpet-scrubbing limit! Hopefully she'll be able to sleep a little better tonight.

5.13.09

Update from my appointment with the neeeewwwww Dr. L!

He thinks I either still have remaining placenta in my uterus or I'm not fully shedding my lining properly. I have an u/s Friday to determine whether there are remaining "products of conception" still there. If so, I guess a D&C is next.

If not, he prescribed Provera to take at bedtime with each of my BCPs for the next month. I'll take 5mgs for the 1st week and 10mgs the 2nd and 3rd and that should help full shed the lining and get me back on track.

But here's the good stuff... he's in the same practice as my old OB, the one who delivered Lilly and is a bit cooky. They are in different buildings though, so I don't think they interact that much. When we went through my history I mentioned that Dr. S had consulted with him a few times and he said he remembered me from reading my chart and that he felt something was off about my care. He ALSO said he was alarmed to see that she never documented a single conversation they had about me. He seemed pretty ticked about that. (understandably)

I thought he was very thorough-- I mean he wrote down everything and wanted very specific information from me. (like how many hours between tampon changes... when I said "normal amount" he was like "I need an exact number." My old doc was ALL about generalizing and using the word "Normal")

He asked if Dr. S ever sent me for a pregnancy test to make sure I'm not pregnant... when I said "no" he seemed a little annoyed. So after my appt. I went to the hosp. for b/w.... a pregnancy test and an u/s all in the same week... it's almost exciting! But then again, it's really not!

He asked if we want more children and how soon and he said we could start TTC whenever we're ready, we don't have to wait. He did say that with Pre-e, it usually comes back with each pregnancy and the symptoms come on earlier and stronger. Thankfully he has lots of experience with Pre-e (he said my old doc did not... surprise!)

So I think it was a good switch. He's very informative, kind of all business (never even noticed Lilly was sitting right there), and overweight... so he can't say anything to me about my weight!!!

I'll leave you with this humorous bit. So I was all worried about taking Lilly with me and that was silly... the nurses loved her and she was a smiling machine. She was great.

EXCEPT...

Right, and I mean, right after I got undressed (pants only, so it was just a drape on my lap), I sat down on the crunchy paper and Lilly started making throw-up noises. She's been vomting for 3 days and I was so worried that she was going to throw up if I took her out in public. So I'm sitting there debating whether to get up, bare my booty towards the door and hope that the dr. didn't come a knocking (or that he would at least knock before entering), and willing her to not throw up. I honestly prayed "Please God, no barf. Please God, no barf." and of course... BARF! So I shimmied off the table and barely got that little drape around my waist, quickly found a burp cloth and kind of wiped her up and gave her the cloth to "play with" (aka: catch any more vomit).

She did not throw up again, but hiccuped the rest of the appt. I was so sure the hiccups would make her throw up again! Ay ya ya...

5.13.09

Three teeth today!

Just kidding. Still just two. But I wouldn't be surprised if Lilly's dental duplex turns into a triplex soon!

She woke up this morning with a barely-damp diaper, less apetite, sleepier than usual and took 3 sucks of her second bottle and threw up everything from her first bottle. I always wondered how you can tell the difference between spit up and throw up (or reflux throw up vs. sick throw up) and now I know. Real throw up STINKS! And it is much thicker than spit up. The dog shows no preference. He licks it off the floor just as happily either way. Ack!

So after my appt. this morning we'll come home for a bottle and a nap and then we'll head off to her appt.

You know how people joke about new moms going out in public with dried spit up everywhere? My how true that is. Lilly threw up down both legs of my dark jeans this morning, but I was already showered and looking so put together, that I grabbed a handful of wipes, rubbed them around the mess and out the door I'll go! I figure I'll be in a gown before long anyway:) And I didn't even bother shaving this morning-- that's a first on a gynie day! At least I didn't try to clean my pants with mom spit. Yet.

5.12.09

Scratch that, we now have 2 teeth:) Neighbors, side by side.

That, on top of Day 5 of Lilly's stomach bug and you can probably understand why I feel pretty bad for this little squirt. But she's a trooper and has smiled her way through most of it:)

Tomorrow I'm taking her to the doctor to make sure this bug isn't hurting her (lots of vomitting... out the nose, ack!) and she's not dehydrated. Her soft spot doesn't appear sunken so that is a good sign. And lots of wet diapers still.

Mommy also goes to the doctor tomorrow. I'm finally seeing the OB/Gyn who helped a little with my pregnancy. I'm anxious to find out why he thinks I'm still bleeding nearly 5 months after Lilly's birth, but at the same time I have a feeling he's going to order an ultrasound and D&C. Both make me uneasy. Watching an ultrasound with no baby in my belly will feel eery and dark... and having a D&C, a procedure that many women have done as a result of a miscarriage, will certainly not put me in a stable frame of mind.

That's just my guess. Maybe he has a different idea. MAYBE he'll tell me I need to get pregnant again!

I think I can


I think I can


I think I can



I THINK I can!



Wait, what is this?


My tooth!


That didn't take long... 1 week later and we've got a toof!

5.9.09

I have a prayer request this morning for a Kindergartener at my school. His name is Riley and he was born with a very rare disease that resulted in being born with a birth mark covering most of his body. His mother struggled with infertility for years and never thought she'd be able to have children, so when she found out she was pregnant with Riley, she felt like she had been blessed with a miracle. (I believe they have 2 younger children, perhaps adopted) She and her husband were shocked when Riley was born with this disease, as it isn't something that is detected by u/s, so it was a complete surprise. He also has neurofibromatosis 1 (NF 1, a disease that causes tumors to grow on nerves everywhere in the body, especially the optical nerve)-- my cousin's son has NF 2, so this is hitting close to home for me. Riley is also battling other problems.

After much testing at Children's Hospital, from what I understand from his family's Caring Bridge journal, Riley's doctors have confirmed that he has a form of cancer and it does not look good.

I just can't even imagine the pain that his family is going through, but they have hundreds of people praying for them and it looks like sweet Riley is going to keep going to school as much as possible over the next month, so he'll have a great support system of friends and normalcy for a little while. As of last week, he did not know the seriousness of his condition. I'm not sure they've told him yet.

If you want to read more about his story, you can go to his family's journal. Please keep this family in your thoughts, especially tomorrow on what could be Riley's mommy's last Mother's Day with her son.

5.5.09

So you know those creepy, dumb Snuggie robes? Evidently they've found their place in the bar scene these days. Check out the Columbus, OH Snuggie Pub Crawl or the Dayton, OH Snuggie Pub Crawl.

Or find a Snuggie Pub Crawl near you by clicking here!


Kind of ridiculous at first glance, but all of the proceeds go to charity, so at least some good is coming of these stupid things!

5.5.09

My little girl has started teething. We've wondered in the past, but this time it's the real deal and it just breaks my heart. Normally Lilly sleeps 13 hours a night, solid. The last two nights she has been restless all night, whimpering, whining, and groaning. This doesn't provide the greatest sleep, by mid-day she is pooped and trying so hard to stay awake without having a complete meltdown. She normally does a great job of putting herself back to sleep when she wakes up during the night, but with throbbing gums, I'm sure that's hard to do. It usually just takes some rocking in the glider, which normally does NOT cut it, but I think she just needs some extra TLC and reassurance that she is OK and the glider does that for her.

She has two of the tiniest white specs in her bottom gums, so I'm sure we have a ways to go still. She chews on her hands, but doesn't want much of anything else. In fact, when I stuck my pinky in her mouth-- very lightly-- she flinched when I touched her gums, so they must really hurt. For now I'll let her stick with her own hands. I wish this was a one-time deal, but we've only just begun!

5.4.09

Dear Lilly,

You may not realize it, but this weekend you had your third Kentucky Derby experience. Can you believe it? Three and you're only 4 months old. Allow me to explain.

Every year Mommy and Daddy go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the Derby. Even though they live in Indiana, they live right on the border of Kentucky, separated by a little water. The Kentucky Derby is a much bigger deal there than it is here. This was the weekend, last year, when we shared our big news with Grandma and Grandpa-- the news that you would be arriving in January (wrong!). We went out to watch the race and Mommy's winning streak ended. I don't remember who I picked, but I was wrong. The only female horse in the entire race, Eight Belles, got hurt badly and I cried for days! Although very sad, I have a sneaking suspicion that you may have had something to do with all those extra emotions:) You were just weeks-- days-- old.

In June Mommy and Daddy went to Louisville for Christyn's wedding (she is the one who made you the adorable stroller blanket and scarf with the really funny story to go along. It's in your baby book... I'll read it to you someday.) Before the wedding, we put our fanny packs on and took to the tourist circuit. (I kid, no fanny packs here.) Along the way, we stopped at Churchill Downs. You were a 12 week old glimmer, but you were there! Here we are riding the simulator-- it is hard work!!



And here you are watching the Derby all by yourself this year! Dad and I stunk on our bets. We both had 2nd picks in the Top 5 though!

5.3.09

Dads are stone skimmers, mud wallowers, water wallopers, ceiling swoopers, shoulder gallopers, upsy-downsy, over-and-through, round-and-about whoosers. Dads are smugglers and secret sharers.
- Helen Thomson

5.1.09

It's been a long day. Shoot, a long week. By 5:30 Lilly is already rubbing her eyes with her fists, covering them with her forearms, staring off into the distance. By 6:00 she's had plenty of naked play time and we decide it's time for a bath and then off to bed. So relieved that our daughter made it through play time without tinkling on the blanket, we whisked her off to the bath tub, grinning with pride.

Ever so careful not to upset the babe during one her newly-loathed activities, I lower her two feet into the water. Cooing and babbling with delight, I reassure her in her own language that this is a good thing. Daddy comes in and has a seat to help make this a fun time.

Still standing, I decide Lilly is ready to move to a seated position. Tinkle. Tinnnnnnnkle. Tink. Tink. Tinkle.

Sweet relief.

Daddy empties the tub and we start over.