2.27 Ear Surgery

February 27, 2012

Lily,

Today is our first day back to regular schedule after a week off together. Although it was a really busy, hectic week, we loved being home together. Last week I had a week off for Mardi Gras holidays! Your school was closed part of the week, and we were able to hang out together and really have a great week in spite of your having surgery.

Your surgery was scheduled for 5:15am on Wednesday morning. It was to have tubes put into your ears and have your adenoids out. You have had 5 major ear infections since mid-December and there doesn’t seem to be any way of clearing your poor baby ears! Of course, you come by this innocently. Your Dad and Nanny both had terrible ear problems  too.

I was pretty nervous about this surgery as you have never had anything like this done before! (Although, even if you had it done a lot of times, I would still be worried.) I woke up very early Wednesday morning and got our things together. Nana came over at 5:00 and we got into the car to go to the surgery center. As you were the youngest patient of the day, you were first.

First we went back and you were check over by the admissions nurse. She was exceptionally sweet and helpful. Because you’ve recently had bronchiolitis, the doctor wanted you to have a little breathing treatment. We sat together while you breathed in the medicine. You didn’t mind at all. You were very curious as to what was happening, and very cute as always. All of the nurses came over to ohh and ahh over you and your beautiful eyes.

After being checked in, we went back out to the main waiting room. I thought that we’d be there a while, but our wait was very quick and very soon you were called back again. We met with the anesthesiologist and Dr. Hall, the ENT. After we spoke to them, the surgery nurse came for you. She smiled and spoke to you and said, “Mom, I’m just going to sweep her away!” She took you and before you could get upset, took you to the surgery room. I was so emotional. I trusted the doctors, but you are my baby!

I went back out to the waiting room and immediately texted your Dad, Meme, and Nanny. That was 6:00 on the dot. Nana and I chatted and tried to keep our minds busy while you were in the back. I was expecting a wait, but eleven minutes later, 6:11am, the desk nurse told us that you were all done and that we could go to the doctor conference room to meet with Dr. Hall. Minutes later he appeared and told us that your poor little ears were absolutely clogged with thick infection. He said that they never would have cleared on their own and that we made the right choice to get tubes. He also said that the infection was definitely impeding your hearing and that he would not be surprised if you began talking very soon now that you can hear! Dr. Hall said that the adenoids came out very easily and that you did great. We were directed down a hallway to the waiting area outside the recovery room.

I flew down the hall in extreme anticipation of being reunited with you. I waited for a minute or two and could hear you crying. Oh, this was hard! There were two doors, one to my right and one to the left. I felt like a caged animal waiting to be admitted through those doors. Very quickly, the doors were opened and I could see you!!! You looked sleepy and a little disoriented. You were crying and you were confused as to what was happening.

There were two nurses who guided Nana and I through the doors and into the baby recovery area. I was directed to sit in a recliner and you were handed back to me! What a wonderful feeling! You calmed down once I had you in my arms. I had brought Wubby and you were very happy to see him as well! We rocked and cuddled for a while. Every now and then, you would cry and push the gas from your lungs. You sounded hoarse and I could smell the gas on your breath.

I was reassured that you were not crying due to pain, but from the confusion of the anesthesia. As it wore off, you relaxed more and more. Finally, after about ten minutes, you sat upright and seemed to be over it. The recovery nurse came over and checked your vital signs. You did not like this! You are a lot like me in that you don’t like to be messed with. She listened to your heart, took your temperature, and checked your pulse-oxygen level. None of these things are intrusive, but you did not like it! Sadly, she did have to remove the IV that the doctor had put in once you were asleep. This was a little sadder because the tape hurts when removed. You were a trooper though and calmed down soon after. As soon as the nurse was done, we were released!

Nana went to pull the car up to the door and I brought you out. In under ten minutes we were home and you were excited to have breakfast! You devoured a waffle and cup of milk in no time! You seemed really alert, but I wanted to make sure that you were taking it easy, so we went upstairs and into our rocker. I sang you one of our songs and you fell soundly asleep!

I, too, took a nap and we got up later in the morning. I was up by 9:15 and you at 10:15. When you awoke, you had a balloon bouquet and stuffed puppy waiting for you! You were thrilled!!! You ran around and around with the balloons and kissed the puppy until his nose was wet!

You have been happier these last few days than in the two months prior. You feel better without that gunk in your ears. You babble more excitedly and have regained your balance! The doctors both say that you should begin speaking soon and I am so anxious to hear your little voice! You did say, “Bye” this weekend to Nanny and I want to badly for you to say more!!! We are waiting for your every word! You are so loved!

When Lily Sleeps ~ October 11

When Lily sleeps...
. . I could look at her forever
. . I don't want to put her down
. . I know that I should be productive, clean the house, wash clothes, etc., but I don't want to
. . I kiss her little face and neck and inhale her sweet baby scent
. . she squirms and wiggles until she crams herself into the corner of her crib. I worry that she will hurt her  tiny head and pull her back to the center of her bed, but when I go back in to check on her, she is always cuddled back against the rails! Thank goodness for the breathable crib bumper!
. . I pray over her and thank God for the enormous piece of my heart that lies there sleeping

She is the most amazing, intoxicating, lovable, all consuming little person and I could not adore her more!

Seperation Anxiety ~ October 10, 2011

Poor lil baby girl! Separation anxiety has set in. The books all say that it is normal for my baby who, one week ago, was calm, confident, and self-assured to have turned into a different baby altogether! She cries when I leave the room. I can't put her down to go to the bathroom without her bringing down the roof. Cooking dinner, getting dressed, and ALL other human activity has come to a huge halt as I now have a 20 pound suction cup attached! Today, Tara and I wanted to decorate the outside of the house for Halloween. I put Lily in her infant carrier (on the front) and proceeded. She was perfectly happy for over an hour! It was amazing that she was so happy. It was also kind of weird. She normally is straining to get down and crawl around, but was completely pleased to be in my arms.
Other than turning into a baby spider monkey, Lily is changing and growing in many other ways. While she was laying back, lounging in her baby carrier, this afternoon, I saw three more teeny baby teeth!!! She does not like us looking in her mouth and will clamp down when we try. It was amazing to see those tiny pearly whites!
She is also making huge strides in mobility, pun intended! Last Thursday she took a step from coffee table to sofa. Friday, she did that many times and then took three steps from Leah to her Daddy! Unfortunately, I was not home. They swear that it happened though! This weekend, she cruised all over the furniture and tried to walk without holding on to anything and seemed genuinely surprised when she would fall. We have to be on our toes and right under her! She fell Friday and scratched her nose pretty badly. We DO NOT want anything like that happening again!
Oddly, her babbling has taken a backseat the last couple of weeks. With the other milestones - walking, teething, etc - I suppose the babbling is quieting down for a while. She still babbles each day, just not as much of a chatterbox as usual. 
This weekend, we are taking her to the Falgout's for a weekend away! We plan to take both babies to the aquarium! So exciting!!!

September 23 ~ Mommys Worry ~ Random Thoughts

I never thought that I would be the worrying mommy. I thought that I would remain a level-headed, calm person. WRONG! The instant that I found out that I was pregnant, I began to worry. Would she "stick" and carry to term? Would she be healthy? Would labor be as bad as I thought it would be? Would it be worse?? Could I be a good mother? Could Eric be a good father? What is she had no hair? What is she was full of hair?? How long until the next ultrasound? And on and on...

I, naively, thought that when she was born that it would be over and I wouldn't have to worry as much! Ha! That was just the beginning! As soon as she was born and began to scream (yep, the very first night) with colic, I began to worry more than I'd ever thought possible. I worried about her crying, not crying. I worried about her eating enough, eating too much. I worried about her weight. Most of all, I worried (nearly to the point of obsession) about the risk of SIDS. I would check the thermostat to make sure that the room was a brisk 68 degrees. I would check her crib sheets to make sure that they were snug. Were her pjs too loose? Were they too tight? Would she be sad if she woke up and I wasn't there? I anxiously awaited the six month mark, the time when the risk of SIDS is reduced to almost nothing. When she hit that milestone, I threw myself a mental party! I thought, "Whew, worries over!"

For a smart person, sometimes I can be really dense! Worries . . . not over! Although I do believe that I am beginning to calm down (although don't ask my hubby if he thinks this is true!) I have learned that being a mother is part sheer, blinding love, part exhaustion, and part worry. Now instead of worrying about her survival, I worry about her learning to walk and getting into things not meant for babies. I have locked down everything possible. To go the the bathroom in this house, you have to basically be McGuiver. Jokes aside, I have also learned that to worry is to be a good parent. I know that when My little baby girl is grown and has her own little baby girl, I will worry. I will worry about her and love her. I will even teach her how to lock her toilet!

September 15 ~ Very Busy Lily!

At one week shy of eight months old, we have a VERY BUSY LILY on our hands!

She leaned to crawl two weeks ago. She was at her Meme and Pappy's house and just decided to go for it! Renita got it on video and sent it to us! What an amazing moment! We were anticipating her to do it at any moment, but it was still amazing! Few couple of tentative "steps" on Friday night grew into the Nascar racer version of crawling! She is fast, precise, and proud of her little self! She continues to have a knack for going after what she is not supposed to have! Mommy, Dadda, and all caretakers are really on toes now!

She is eating "meals" now. She has baby food at breakfast, lunch, and dinner with milk and snacks in between. My favorite feeding is when I get home from work. By that time, she is worn out from playing and ready to nurse and snuggle! We crawl up into the recliner and cuddle for about 45 minutes each afternoon. Amazing! My favorite part of the day. We both unwind together and love on each other.

One of Lily's new loves is paper! Newspaper, magazines, junk mail, etc are her favorite new interest! She loves to crinkle it and wave it about. We just have to watch closely as she'd also like to put it in her mouth!
Another love continues to the bath time! Now she even sits in the tub for awhile after I bathe her. She thinks that this is really top notch! She bangs her little hands and splashes the water all over! I sing to her while she splashes! How Much is That Doggie, Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Ants Go Marching, etc...
Also, she loves her teething baggie. Its mesh and she loves ice or bananas inside it. She will eat nearly a whole banana by sucking it out of the baggie.
She has also discovered that waving her arms, squealing, and thrashing about will keep her awake. The lets-fight-sleep game is a new discovery, much to Mommy's chagrin.
Meme and Pappy brought her a stuffed penguin from their vacation in California. Its beak is a favorite target of Lily's tiny teeth!

Speaking of teeth, Lily's two bottom pearly-white are precious! The top two are still working hard to make an appearance! I can feel them and see them right at the surface, but am still waiting for them to break through.

Being back at work has been both easier and harder than I expected. It's easier as Lily is with people that love her and she loves. I think that it is good for her to be exposed to all of these people who love her to bits: Meme, Pappy, Granny, Grampy, Jeanne, and Leah. It's hard because she is at the age where (just this week), she is developing some mommy separation anxiety where she cries when I leave the room. Heart. Breaking. I also get a little bitter that I have to leave my baby to go teach other peoples' babies. I just don't want to miss a moment!

Each stage of Lily's development I think is the most amazing, most precious, most enjoyable. My mom friends have told me that this happens, but it is another thing entirely to experience! She is AMAZING!

August 29. Teething = Upset Lily and Tired Mommy!

 Ahh teething. The one surefire way to ruin a good night sleep for both Lily and Mommy! How frustrated I feel today over this teething thing. How cruel it is that a baby has to literally CUT teeth. Its so sad! She is on a great schedule with her sleeping. Nearly every night she is asleep by 7-7:30 and stays alseep all night until the 5 o'clock hour. Unless she is teething. At the present moment, I can see two tiny teeth trying to show their pearly heads on the top front of her mouth. As soon as they come through, I am sure that my tiny little lady will be back to normal and sleep will resume!
     In other news, yesterday she showed a new skill! Ahead of "normal" predicted time, she is showing the ability to use her pincer grasp to pick up tasty treats and place them into her own mouth. This is both amazingly good and a little scary! If she can put small things in her mouth, she can put small things in her mouth! Food - good. Tiny rocks, dust bunnies, etc - decidedly bad! Although I already watch her like a hawk, I'm going to have to step up my game! LOL!
     Crawling continues to elude her. She gets up on all fours and crawls her little legs off! She can move her legs like Fred Flintstone in his prehistoric car. Unfortunatley, she has not yet discovered that she must move har arms as well. This almost crawl inevitably leads to a belly flopping, inch-worming type crawl that does get her around, but also frustrates her! Additionally, she can spin around and around like nobody's business! She loves to maneuver herself all around and can get quite far inch-worming and spinning about!
     Unfortunately, this also happens in her sleep and a couple of times a week, I am awakened by her plaintative cry. I go to her room only to find that her precious little head is squished up against the corner rails of her crib. As soon as I pull her back to the center, she drifts back to sleep head ache free!
     She continues to love to watch everything around her. She is curious to no end! I think, secretly, that this means that she is really smart! She always seems to be taking in and absorbing all that is around her. She likes to look out of windows and really studies new people.
     She continues to be a master of her walker. She is FAST! She runs so swiftly and can get through the smallest spaces. She likes to run an obstacle course in the dining room - around all the chairs and under the table! I had to remove the table cloth as that was just much too interesting for her!
     It is clear that Lily and Mommy have a special bond. She now reaches out to me when she wants comfort. This is the most amazing thing that I have ever experienced. There is nothing in the world like your child holding her arms out to you. Sometimes when I take her, she buries her little face in my shoulder and neck. Ahhhh, priceless. She is breathtaking. She doesn't nuzzle for long - she is way too independent for all that - but when she does... sigh!
     She has recently decided that she likes to flirt with her daddy! Her face lights up when Eric comes home and comes to speak/play with her! She cooes and smiles! She plays peek-a-boo and laughs. Its his reward for waiting out the months of colicky crying!
     Another fascinating thing that she does is look to us for reactions. When she is unsure of a person or situation, she will look to see our reactions. If we seem comfortable, she puts on a brave face. That is amazing to watch. You can nearly see the wheels in her head turning!
     If you want to see the saddest thing in the bathroom, take her toothbrush away! When I bathe her, I always brush her teeth. After Mommy does it, Lily does it. When it is time to get out, I take it away, rinse it, and put it up for the next bath. I have learned to immediatly have some sort of distraction available as the moment I try and take the toothbrush away, her face crumples into a giant frown and she begins to cry! It is the saddest thing! I don't know what it is about the toothbrush that she is so in love with, but taking it away is heartbreaking!
     In very exciting news, Lily was baptized on August 14th!  It was a very nice ceremony. Lily was so well behaved. There were nine babies and, not that I'm biased or anything, but Lily was the cutest! After the church ceremony, we had a big party here at home. Everyone came over and enjoyed a meal and hung out. Lily was really hilarious! She zoomed around the guests in her walker and was very cute and entertaining. Everyone was impressed with how nimble she is in the walker. She zoomed around like a tiny racer! Eventually she was worn out and took a nap. While she was napping, Cayman wanted to know when the "birthday party" would start. AKA, he wanted to know when I would open Lily's gifts! He was so charming that I asked him to help. He was amazing. So kind and helpful. A special thanks to Granny who made the Christening gown, Nana who made the cake, and Meme who took pictures and made a bunch of food!

     Lily continues to be the light of my life. I waited almost 30 years to have kids and she was WELL worth the wait!

August 10 ~ Lily is a Big Girl

Lily is now 6 1/2 months old. She is amazing!! She is an all star mover and shaker in her walker. She is really funny and will problem solve like nobody's business. If she can't get where/what she wants one way, she will try other ways around. Also, she has the unbelievable knack of getting into whatever she is NOT supposed to have!
She is SO CLOSE to crawling. She can roll over from either direction, pull her knees underneath her, and push up on her arms. Then, she will rock back and forth, move her knees, become too forward heavy and fall! Although she can't crawl just yet, she reaches for toys and will wiggle herself all around to get what she wants. In fact, I just lowered her crib as she is beginning to pull up on my fingers and I just know that she will figure out that she can pull up on furniture any moment now.
Speaking of pulling up, she can pull herself to sitting and standing by pulling on my fingers. So strong! She also likes to hold onto our hands and walk all over the place! She is a beast!
This past Monday she had her 6 months shots. It gave her a fever for two days. This was so sad. Poor baby, she felt just pitiful! She is never a "babyish" baby. She doesn't generally like to be cuddled/coddled. These past two days, however, have been totally different. She's been all over me. It was nice that these were my last two days of summer vacation and I dedicated them entirely to her. The few times that I attempted to put her down, she clung to my legs and cried. Who could resist?!?? Not me! I was happy to cuddle and hold her while she held my hand. I love that precious little baby girl more than I ever could have imagined was possible!
She is babbling her hard consonants like a champ! Her favorite sounds are Dadadadada and gagagagaga. Occasionally a "dadee!" escapes her lips! She also blows razzies! She is really funny with her tongue manipulations.
Bath time continues to be one of her favorite things! I have taken the baby tub out of the bathroom and now bathe her in the seat within the big bath. She is such a big girl! Actually, she is in the top 90th percentile for height. 50th for weight and head measurements.

She has 2.5 teeth now! Two have completely appeared - one of them is really out there! The .5 we can see through the gum, but it hasn't quite peeked out yet!
She is so tolerant of me playing baby dress up with her!! I love LOVE to dress her and take pics. I've attached some here.
So, Lily is 27 weeks old and I have been off of work for 17 of those weeks! What a wonderful blessing! Thank goodness that I am a teacher and get so much time off. I am lamenting having to return to work this week. I have thrown myself quite the little pity party! I am just going to miss her SO MUCH! I want to see everything that she does. I don't want to miss a thing!!!
I LOVE THIS BABY!!!!!! Thank God for her every little piece and part!