The Show Must Go On

Last week was the absolute pits. I was sick with an upper respiratory infection (nope, not the swine flu), and I felt horrible. This is the worst I've felt since I've had Scarlett I think, and her little 17 month old mind just didn't understand why mommy was laying around for days.

The first day, she liked laying on the couch with me to watch her shows while I snoozed on and off, but that didn't really last long. Luckily Chris stayed home from work two mornings, but when it was just me and Scarlett, it was really hard! I remember back in the day when a "sick day" from work meant sleeping on the couch and watching movies for hours and hours. Well, those days are LONG over to say the least!

I had to make myself get up (pounding head, throbbing ears, burning chest, sore throat and all) to play with little miss. When she would actually play alone in her room, I would go peek in on her to find a complete mess. Drawers emptied, toys everywhere, and clothes pulled off of hangers. She was rebelling I think! It was so sad when she would literally try to pull me up off the couch. She would cry and plead, "Outside!" (Because that's all she wants to do these days.)

Well, thankfully I'm feeling so much better now, and things are getting back to normal. Here's two pictures I was able to get of her during the rebellion!

Everything came out so she could go in...

I found her just standing in front of the mirror like this...perhaps she would like to be a ghost for Halloween!

Fun Times

Scarlett is feeling a little under the weather. She has a cold and 4 teeth are all pushing through on top, yikes! Poor Scarlett.

She has not slept for 2 nights in a row either. I'm the kind of tired I was when she was brand new. Poor Mommy.

Last night at midnight we could NOT find her suction bulb so Chris had to run to the store in the tornado weather (Poor Daddy) we were having only to come home and have her freak out when we tried to use it on her, and believe me freak out is an understatement! And at the doctor today she threw a royal fit while Dr.Lanman checked her throat and ears.

But before I start feeling sorry for myself I need to remember that there's many sweet babies out there who are a lot sicker than her, (like Stellan who still needs our prayers!) but it would be nice if I could get some sleep tonight...

RSV

Scarlett has had what I thought was a "little cold" for about a week now, but I should have known with her bad luck, it was something worse. It started off as a nasty runny nose, and now it has progressed into her chest. Her cough sounds horrible! She hasn't had a fever with it, but we went ahead and took her to the pediatrician today to make sure it's not serious, and we found out she has RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) which apparently is really going around strong right now. Since there's no meds for a virus, it just has to run its course. She's been doing great considering. Mimi has been here for a few days which has helped keep her mind off of being sick. All the new Christmas toys are a great distraction too!

Mimi's bubbles were so funny!

Havin' fun with a new toy

This one is SO cute but still a little scary I guess!

See it's not so bad!

This one is a big hit!

This chair from grandma & pa is getting lots of attention!

Tear Duct Surgery

As if the jaundice for the first week of her life wasn't enough, there was the meningitis at 8 weeks, and of course then the plagiocephaly which led to the helmet. Our poor baby has put up with so much in her short little life. And today it was a needle in the eye. I like to joke that we're still getting all her kinks worked out. This child has had needles in the worst places that's for sure...needles in her tiny ankles to test the jaundice, one in the spine for the spinal tap during meningitis, and today, one in the eye.

Scarlett's tear duct has been clogged since birth. Our pediatrician said they usually clear up themselves by a year, but Scarlett's eye seemed to be getting worse so we were referred to an orthopedic ophthalmologist. A clogged tear duct actually makes the eye water almost constantly and it also tends to get goopy often as well. We decided to go ahead and have it opened up now instead of waiting for it to maybe clear up on its own. The procedure was actually quick. They strapped her into a little papoose contraption and probed her eye with two sharp objects, one being a needle. I was horrified to see that her eye and nose were bleeding quite a bit right after and vaguely remember the doctor telling me this was normal...NORMAL?

We call Scarlett's bad cry her "hospital cry" because we learned to dread this type of cry when we she was in the hospital with meningitis. We haven't heard the hospital cry in a long while, but we sure heard it today. At least the procedure was super quick because just as I was about to lose it myself, it was over and I was able to hold her and console her and wipe away the bloody tears and nose. She actually did very good, and only cried for a few more minutes after it was all over.

I didn't feel so guilty for putting her through all of that when the doctor told us it was one of the most difficult tear ducts to unclog that's he's ever done, and there was no way it would have cleared up on its own. There is a 15% chance it will have to be done again, and knowing our luck, she'll be one of those few, but that decision won't be made for 3 more weeks. For now, she's doing great, sound asleep for the night, and I promise to keep her away from any needles for the rest of the month...well after the flu shot on Saturday that is......

6 Month Check-Up

Scarlett's 6 month check-up was this past Friday. Of course I dreaded the 4 shots she had to get but was glad to hear that there won't be any vaccinations at her 9 month visit.

At this stage Scarlett weighs....drum roll please...... 20 pounds and 7 ounces! No, your eyes aren't deceiving you and that was not a typo! She is 27 1/2 inches long which apparently is really long for her age as well. These numbers place her above the 95th percentile for her age which means you would have a hard time finding a bigger 6 month old than her! Dr. Lanman says there is no concern; she's just a big baby! Especially since her length is keeping up with her weight. I think it's quite a hoot!

One of Scarlett's biggest recent developments is her ability to sit up unsupported. She also loves to hear her voice and has this high pitched scream that she loves to hear most of all...yippee for us. And you won't believe this, but she really can make the "d" "m" and "b" sounds so some of her babbling sounds a lot like "dada" and "mamma."

This is a fun, fun stage, and we are just in awe of our little angel. I never imagined that parenthood would be this rewarding.

STRESS!

Stressed out is my middle name this week. I've been sick, Scarlett has a runny nose, we're moving Saturday (I'll explain in another post), and with seeing Chris less as he comes home just as I leave for work most evenings, it's just a tad bit crazy around our house. And today we had to get up early so that we could be at our appointment this morning for Scarlett's helmet/doc band fitting.

After fighting lovely Dallas traffic, we arrived 7 minutes late. The helmet fitting process is very quick. They placed this little stocking mask over her face that looks like pantyhose (you know like when you see a scary movie with a burglar wearing them over his face as a disguise?!). She did cry during this, but I think it was mainly because she has started this thing about seeing strangers. If a face is unfamiliar to her, she juts out that bottom lip and tears soon follow. Anyway, they took pictures of her with special equipment that produces 3-D images of her head so that they can make a helmet just for her. The helmet takes 2 weeks to make so she will have it soon. Oh, and the insurance has denied coverage, and we can appeal, but quite frankly, I don't know if I have the time or the energy to fight them anymore. Plus our policy states that they do not provide coverage for banding unless it's post operative...but that's all another story.

Anyway, we then came home to our tornado of a house, and I had to work on packing. Later this afternoon Scarlett was getting very bored with watching me pack so we went outside in the shade on a blanket. She loves it outside. It makes her very calm and relaxed. She was laughing and babbling and very interested in grabbing handfuls of grass. It's the wonderful moments like this with her that makes it all worth it. Ten years from now, I won't remember the stress or the messy house or the exhaustion as much as I'll remember just being with her and watching her grow. Ok, so I'll probably never forget how tired I am, but you get my point! : ) Here's Scarlett enjoying the shade!

4 Month Check-Up

We took Scarlett to her 4 month check-up appointment this week to find out that she weighs 17 pounds 13 ounces!!! For those of you who don't know anything about babies, let me tell you this is big!! She is above the 95th percentile for weight. She's my little chug-a-lug! She is 25.5 inches long which puts her in the 90th percentile for length.

She's right on track for her development at this stage. For example, she can hold her head upright and still when in a supported sitting position, she can grasp small toys, she reaches for objects, she notices moving objects, she can bear weight on her legs, and she babbles!

And of course, the shots she received were traumatic for her, Chris, and me! UGH!!!!

Also, we were referred to Cranial Technologies Inc. so they can check out her head which is flat in the back. This is common these days because of the huge push for babies to sleep on their backs in order to help prevent SIDS. She may have to wear a little helmet for a period of time in order to round out and reshape her head. My niece, London, had to wear one too so I guess flat heads run on my side of the family! : ) Anyway, more to come about this later.....our consultation appointment is this Wednesday. Please keep baby Scarlett in your prayers!

Recap of the First 10 Weeks

Scarlett has had a few adventures already. And unfortunately they weren’t all pleasant to say the least. As we were about to leave the hospital after she was first born, we were told she had jaundice. She was able to come home though, and the little photo therapy light they call a “Bili Blanket” was delivered to our house. Her highest bilirubin level was a 19 which is a high enough number to cause concern. She stayed on the light for four days, and her levels finally began dropping. Scarlett never seemed to mind the lit up blanket attached to her, but she hated having her blood tested for 8 days straight. They had to prick her little ankles daily and send the blood off so that the bilirubin level could be tested. It was awful, and little did Chris and I know the worst was yet to come…

Once the jaundice scare was over, the next couple of weeks were great. She has always slept good, usually getting up only once at night to eat. She never seemed to be colicky or unhappy. She loves to eat, and gained her birth weight back in two days after she was born! She began smiling at about 5 weeks and could hold her head up somewhat at about 6 weeks. When she was almost 8 weeks old, I decided to go back to work the last week of school to finish the year up. My mom came down to watch her for us. The first day I went back, I came home, and we noticed Scarlett seemed sleepier than usual and appeared to be a little pale. We took her temperature and were shocked to find that it was 101.4. We rushed her to the ER at Plano Medical Center. They ran tests on her blood and urine and x-rayed her chest looking for pneumonia. When all the tests came back negative, they sent us home saying she probably just had a virus of some kind.

We followed up with our pediatrician the next day who was concerned that Scarlett still had a fever but no other symptoms. She sent us to the ER at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas so that she could be tested for Meningitis. We were horrified to discover they test for Meningitis by administering a spinal tap. This ER visit was probably the worst day of her life and of mine. First, they spent almost two hours trying to start and IV. I felt so helpless seeing and hearing her scream during this. Then during the spinal tap, although we weren’t allowed in the room, I could hear her screaming from down the hall even with my ears plugged. They never did get the IV started. When the spinal fluid tested negative for Meningitis, they sent us home.

Exhausted from our past two days in the ER we went back to the pediatrician the next day for another follow up. To our dismay, Scarlett seemed to be getting worse. Her fever was no longer dropping after Tylenol, and she was becoming very fussy. Her little eyes just looked sick. Our doctor now saw signs of dehydration and admitted her to Children’s. We wound up staying there for two nights. They got an IV started this time, and the women who were able to find a vein were angels. They swaddled her and gave her sugar water while they started the IV. They were clearly experts, and she hardly cried. We were so thankful for this as it was much less traumatic for her than the previous attempts to draw blood and start an IV. And after testing the remaining spinal fluid from the spinal tap for a virus called the Enterovirus, they finally discovered what was causing her fever. She did in fact have Viral Meningitis. The Enterovirus caused her to have Viral Meningitis. Unfortunately there is no medicine to help cure Viral Meningitis. The doctors said she had to just get over it on her own, and that it usually runs its course within 5-7 days. The IV helped replenish her fluids, and they sent us home after two days. We were just thankful she didn’t have the much more serious and life threatening Bacterial Meningitis. After leaving the hospital, her fever did not return, and she began acting like her little self again. We are still baffled as to how she got Viral Meningitis. She’s breastfed and stays at home with me. We’ve never even taken her out to a restaurant for goodness sakes! We are just thankful she is better and did not suffer from any long term effects.

Miss Scarlett will be 11 weeks old on Wednesday. She weighs 14 pounds now and is 24 inches long. She’s in the 95th percentile for height and weight! She’s our little chunky monkey! She began sleeping in her crib/nursery about a week ago, and that is going very well. She’s just growing and changing daily! Here are some pics to recap the first 11 weeks!

First Family Photo



First Car Ride


First Time at Home


First Bath


First Time in Swing

First Pic with Pappa and Pa

First Pic with MiMi

First Pic With Auntie Mandy and Uncle Jeff

First Pic with Cousin London

First Pic as My Little Glow Worm (on the bili blanket)

First Time to Capture Her Smiling

First Time as a Cowboy Fan

First Friend, Baby Alli

First Pic During Tummy Time

One Month Old, May 9

Two Months Old, June 9