02.27.03

89843150

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:57 am by Anne

Ah. Here is some information on the VCUG.

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89843084

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:56 am by Anne

Woke up this morning to the sound of my cell phone ringing. It was Lily’s pediatrician, apparently her urine culture came back positive for an infection. This is not good news but fortunately if there is a problem we’re catching it early enough. Because she is so small there is danger that her kidneys might be affected so in addition to 10 days of oral antibiotic, I am trying to schedule two tests at Dallas Children’s Hospital ( a VCUG and a renal ultrasound). The pedia said there is a chance that her ureter (tube from kidney to bladder) is immature and not functioning properly, in that the valve which keeps flow going only one way is not working. This leads to urine backing up to the kidneys and causing infection which can result in kidney damage and the need for transplant in the future. Scary. If there is a problem, they’ll put her on some medication to speed up the growth of that ureter valve.

Now I am wiating for the dang children’s hospital to call me back and Lily is back on top of the dryer. You’d think we keep her there all the time but that’s really not the case.

You know, an hour before the dr called I was laying in bed with a stuffy nose and a sore throat and was seriously considering staying in bed today. Too bad Shan has to go to work! It’s still icy out but less so and I guess the roads are a lot better. This is good since I’ll be driving to the pharmacy and to my office today. I have to finish writing my sample protocol. sighhhh.

Lily seems as fine as frog’s hair. She’s not unusually crabby and doesn’t show any kind of indication that she’s ill, so I guess that’s good. The poor little thing is going to have to endure another catheterization for the renal ultrasound, because they’ll inject dye into the ureter and track it’s progress. I’m not clear on the VCUG test but will report when I know more.

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02.26.03

89792076

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:25 pm by Anne

Something is totally off with the entenation message thingy. I know two of you wrote nice things yesterday but now it shows there is nothing there. That is just lame. sigh.

Today we took Lily down to the pediatrician’s office (less than a mile away). It was still iced over since we didn’t get on any of the main roads and I was glad Shan was driving. When we got ther, the Dr. met us, she was the only one working in her office today and yesterday and we were her only clients so far. She weighed Lily (9 pounds and 3 ounces woohoo!), checked her eyes, ears, and throat, and listened to her chest. She couldn’t find anything wrong with her. the cultures from the hospital came back negative but she was going to let them grow for another 24 hours and call us back tomorrow. It looks like Lily might have had a virus but no urinary tract infection after all, which is good I guess. Then the Dr. gave her another antibiotic shot, just in case, and we went home. Well, first we stopped by my office (no samples, but one invoice) and I checked email and grabbed a folder or stuff I needed. The sidewalk leading up to the front door was totally iced over and someone had strung yellow plastic warning tape along it and beneath the eaves of the building. A very treacherous day to get up and around but I think it’ll clear up by the end of the week.

Last night around 1AM Lily fed for awhile but then kept stopping to cry a little. Shan took her to walk around with her but she didn’t stop crying, not until he pulled her out of her ’sleeping sack’ to change her diaper. When he zipped her back into the sack she started crying again and voila, Shan figured it out. She was too warm. It’s so hit or miss with little babies during this time when they can’t tell us the problem in so many words, or any words for that matter. I was just glad Shan figured it out. He brought her back and she ate like normal and we both went to sleep. Shan slept in the living room again because his neck was swollen. I wonder if we sould consider turning in the queensize bed for two twins. (i’m thinking like the Dick Van Dyke show. ) yuck, I dont think so.

This morning I woke up to the smell of the eggs Shan had made himself. Lily nursed and while I burped her Shan made me a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs with diced ham, toast with my homemade black and blueberry jam, sliced orange and sliced strawberries, and a glass of orange juice. Lily capped everything off by somehow spitting up down my shirt . It was truely very lovely. What a huge relief she doesn’t have a fever anymore!

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02.25.03

89717017

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:07 am by Anne

S0 around 9 tonight I asked Shan if Lily felt warm to him and he said yes so we took her temperature at the armpit and the reading came back as 101.9 so we called the pediatrician who said we could either take her to the ER where they would take blood and urine tests or wait until the morning and see the pedia. but that she could only do the urine test at her office and we’d still have to take her to the ER for a blood. So we took her to the ER. Keep in mind that the streets are covered in an inch or more of sleet. In fact the weather is so crappy that all the schools in the surrounding area are closed tomorrow. Ice trucks have been out since noon. To sum: it’s shitty outside.
So they took a blood test which made her cry, and they inserted a catheter to test her urine and that made her cry, hey, I leanred about the catheter from my last visit to the hospital, not fun. But the WORST was an antibiotic they injected simultaneously in each thigh since they couldnt inject all the fluid in one because her body is too small. That made her wail unlike any I have ever heard come out of her so far. It was just awful. She couldnt catch her breath at first she cried so hard, poor little Leetahtee. There is nothing worse than seeing your baby in pain. I dont know how Mom and Dad did it with 3 kids, Jesus, I am wiped out. The dr on call suggested a spinal tap since none of the tests vcould explain the fever but we are waiting to see what the pedia thinks when we take her in on wednesday. They gave lily enough antibiotic for 24 hrs. She does have a slight urinary tract infection but not enough to explain the fever. Oh I forgot to mention the chest xray. This also made her cry. They sat her on this little stool like protrusion and had a face plate for her to clean against (it was like one half of a piece of clear pvc pipe) and Shan had to hold her litlte arms above her head while they took chest xrays. That was horrendous because it placed her in a really unnatural position. So thats about it. Lily was tortured mercilessly. We just got home and it is almost 2AM.

So i tried to feed her and then she and i went to sleep in bed with Shan. Maybe an hour later I woke up and she was much hotter than before.. This alarmed me and I woke up Shan and we took her armpit temperature again and it registered 103.5. I was scared but Shan thought it was because Lily had been sleeping on top of me with covers pulled over. The sheet the hospital said to not overdress them or cover with blankets when feverish. So I got up and me and lily went into the nursery and gradually her fever went down to 101.7 and we went back to bed. Shan slept on the couch and so we had the bed to ourselves. Atr first we slept perpendicular to the way you sleep on a bed and I covered up while keeping her near me ubt not touching really. She went right to sleep. Then she woke up a few hrs later and I fed her and changed her and we went to sleep the right way on the bed. Then we got up at 9AM and I think her fever broke. She was back down to 99 something, poor thing.

I have never experienced sleet like this, theres an inch or so of it covering everything and the roads are slicker than vaseline. We arent going no place today.

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02.24.03

89662324

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:17 pm by Anne

Today was the first time I took Lily to ther gym with me, it was too much of a hassle waiting to go and expect one of Shan’s parents to drop everything for an hour to watch her. I was a little anxious about it, and obsessed over it all night long, but it turned out really well and I’m looking forward to continuing. I had always been one of the afternoon gym people and there is a completely different subculture going on there than with the morning people. Afternooner’s tend to be younger and in better physical shape but they are also less sociable, I admit to not being very chatty at the gym, in general. Morning people tend to be a bit older, I’d say 30’s and up, with a few teens or twenties here and there. Most of the morning people have kids in the daycare. Lily and I got there by 10:45 and a loud aerobics class was in progress. I glanced over to the machines and of course all the ellipticals were taken (no surprise) but the ski machine was open and that thing also kicks my butt so I wasn’t too perturbed. We went back to the daycare room where there weera couple of older women in charge of about 10 kids of various age, I signed Lily in, and handed her car seat over to ‘Cherie’. Before handing her over though, I started to unbuckle her from the seat so that she might be more comfortable and the dang strap got stuck and whiel I worked at getting it out, Lily of course started crying. “I’m sorry she’s crying.” I mumbled to Cherie but something tells me Cherie was used to it. She asked me if Lily liked to swing and I had to tell her that she’s never been in one, so Ididn’t know. The swing apparatus we have listed the child needed to be 6 months old or something so we have it packed up in the garage someplace. Then I went to work out. For the next hour I peeked into the video footage on the tv screen of the daycare room (a nice idea ) every so often and sweated alot. I’m telling you, that ski machine is awesome. I burned at least 400 cals before working on my legs. My legs are in such sad shape and I’m not even going to talk about my bum. My bum is off limits until I can fit back into my old jeans.

After an hour I went to get Lily and skipped the situps, I was almost excited to retrieve her and figured I could so crunches and whatnot at the house later. We’ll see if that happens, I may have just tried to pull as fast one on myself.

I went back to the room and there she was, fast asleep in the baby swing. I am just relieved to know that the two of us can handle an hour at the gym’s daycare. I used to be really pissed off with Lady of America because I felt like I had been shanghai’d into a 3-yr commitment, for some reason I was under the mistaken impression that I had signed up for a 1 year membership but found different on the actual contract. So I had a beef with them, whether or not I had any right to be pizzed is not the issue, but know that I can take Lily there I am done being mad. This should be a big help in getting me back to normal…

I hope.

Buying those girl scout cookies surely will help things.

HAH.

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02.21.03

89506251

Posted in Uncategorized at 11:23 am by Anne

So. After a particularly harrowing day with Lily in which I was unable to complete any of the tasks I had planned, Shan came home to pick me up for the mold seminar in Dallas. He was alittle late, it was pouring down rain, and I was stressed out. Before he came home, I had to put Lily in the crib and let her cry continuously for about 10 minutes while I got dressed and ready for the mold show and tell. While he got changed out of his work clothes, I prepared Lily in the car seat and she went right to sleep. Unbelievable. It was then that Shan appeared and suggested we go to a movie instead. Well, who was I to argue? We dropped Lily off with her Gramma and went to see ‘Daredevil’, neither one of us were looking for anything too serious meaningful and it was the perfect movie at the time. And let’s be honest, Ben Affleck is pretty easy on the eyes and what can be wrong with that? The movie was entertaining but equally good was the perfect movie popcorn. mmmmmm.

Afterwards we ate dinner at Grammas and brought Lily home. She slept a lot, it was great. We put a load of wet laundry in the dry, turned it on, and placed her entire baby carseat on top (This was a trick reccommneded by Shan’s sister.) I picked up the house and cleaned and organized things while Shan plinked around in the office, until we all went to bed. Lily woke at 3AM to eat and finished by 4. Soonafter, Shan got up, complaining that he felt like he was coming down with something, and he left to sleep in the living room. Once he left, forget about it, Lily was awake until 5AM! She woke me up again at 8, making little sounds and kicking her feet and arms. I reached over to picke her up and notied she was almost completely wet. I don’t know how but the diaper failed to contain her pee and it just got all over her and left a nice wet spot on the sheet. So I stripped her out of the wet clothing, finished feeding her, and promptly took her into the bathroom for a washing. Thankfully, this was a morning in shich Shan didn’t have to rush off to work and he took care of her while I showered and got dressed. Shan is pretty big on the Baby Bjorn and he spent some time teaching her the finer aspects of Frank Sinatra. nice.

Today I am going to the Dr at 3AM so hopefully Shan will be back by then, we’ll see. yay it’s Friday!

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02.20.03

89439135

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:21 am by Anne

I set Lily in the Boppy pillow, there in her crib and have her mobile spinning around and round and playing the Brahm’s Lullabye. She was fixated for a few minutes but now I think she’s just humoring me. We’ll see how long it lasts.
…
oh. It’s over now. It is a bit difficult typing with her resting in the crook of one arm so this will be a short passage.

Things planned to do today (other than constant feedings):
1. grocery shop
2. Go to the bank
3.Do lots of laundry
4.Attend a mold seminar in Dallas put on by an insulation company for local homebuilders. Since Shan was invited Im going to go with and it might be a place to get rid of some business cards! (3-6PM) Gramma said she’d babysit again!

Now I need to eat some banana bread.

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89416635

Posted in Uncategorized at 12:10 am by Anne

So I have two loaves of banana bread baking away in the oven right now. Yes, it IS late but my plans to utilize the ripe bananas earlier today didn’t work out. Let’s do a quick rundown of my day. hmmmmm.

Lily woke me up to feed at 12AM, 3AM, 5:20AM, 7AM, and then after the 9:45 AM feeding (Keep in mind these usually run at least 45 minutes to an hour) I placed her, wide awake, in her crib so I could shower. The bathroom door gets left open so I can listen to her crying (which nearly always happens to some degree or another), and so my showers are not really enjoyable due to baby anxiety as well as the inherent chilliness of leaving the dang door open. After dressing I snagged her from the crib and washed her in the tub on that superspecial spongemat. She peed again in the water. After grabbing some fruit salad for breakfast (I skipped the tea this morning, it was just getting too late) and dressing her, it was nearly time to nurse, which I did. This put her to sleep and after trying to put her down 3 times without waking her up, she finally sytayed put and I was able to look at a few samples and print out the reports. Then she woke up. Nursed again. Slept. and so on and so forth. I don’t know how women get anything done!

Thankfully Shan came home around 3 and I was able to make it out to the gym for an hour. That is such a perfect time to go. If only I had a Nanny-in-the-Bottle that could spell me an hour every day.

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02.18.03

89333842

Posted in Uncategorized at 5:10 pm by Anne

Note to self:

While breast feeding, do not eat stir-fry heavily laden with cabbage, for supper or any subsequent leftovers. Baby will not be happy.

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89320179

Posted in Uncategorized at 12:51 pm by Anne

No matter how much time I devote to burping the little miss, it seems the collar of every outfit remains damp and smelling of sour milk. Do all babies have this?

I got smart this morning and in light of the usual crying in bwetween morning feedings, I kept nursing until she would nurse no more. So far the results have been excellent. Lily has not spent the last few hours wailing and sleeps instead. After she was born , I timed the feedings, 10 minutes on each breast, following the dictates of some of the books and hoping that she’d become efficient quickly. The problem is she didn’t and although I wasn’t starving her (she has been growing after all), more recently I don’t belive that method has kept her satisfied. I have noticed that after 9PM and until the 8AM feeding, those nursings inbetween tend to be shorter, as she falls asleep sooner so I guess by 8AM she is famished and requires extra. I don’t mind this at all, as it gave me plenty of time to shower, make tea, and prepare a lunch for Shan before feeding her again.

I think she really smiled at me today!
-a girl can hope, can’t she?

One of my most favorite things to do nowadays is to fall asleep with Lily right next to me. It is undescribably good.

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