Happy 4 Months, Miss Emmi!

It's so hard to believe that Emmi is already 4 months old as of the 25th!  She's a good baby.  She's happy most of the time.  She's basically happy unless she's hungry and then she turns to Angry Emmi.  She goes from Happy to Angry Emmi in about 60 seconds.  Which is kind of funny because she doesn't eat much.  She's still only eating 4 oz at a time.

Here's Happy Emmi:

 

We went to the doctor for her 4 month well visit and so the girls could get their flu shots.  Here's Emmi's stats for the month:

Weight 13lb 2oz

Height 24.5in long

 She loved all the attention at the doctor's office.  She smiled and cooed.  She even rolled over on cue.  This kid is a pip.  She did great with her shots too.  Her reaction was delayed enough that I wasn't even sure she was going to cry.  She was just smiling and staring at me for about 30 seconds before she started screaming bloody murder.  Poor thing.  At least it was just her.  I got smart this time and sent the two big girls out of the room while she got her shots so they didn't cry and get scared with her like they did last time.  (No shots for them, they got the nasal mist for the flu shots.)

Disclaimer: That is not dirt on her blanket, it's shadows.  I just realized the shadows and the filter from instagram make it look like it's dirty.

Goodbye Adenoids

Olivia said goodbye to her adenoids today. They were almost completely blocking her nasal passage. They were giving her a lot of trouble - constant congestion, snoring, sleep apnea. It was time for them to go.

Check out my cool PJs.

Take my picture!

Livi and Daddy

Mommy and Livi

Right after this, Livi got to drink some "silly juice" and wait for the doctor to get there. She was so silly and loopy. The nurses were cracking up. As soon as the doctor got there they took her for her surgery.

We met her in recovery about an hour later. They had given her something to help her sleep off the anesthesia since she started screaming when she woke up. She looked pretty pitiful with all her montiors and IV. She did great though. She did whine a lot as she was waking up. She finally really woke up and kept saying she wanted to go home and she wanted to take all the stuff (IV and monitors) off of her.

We had to hang out there for 3 hours. She had some ice and a popsicle while we waited. She was much happier when we were able to hold her. Overall she did pretty good. She was glad when we finally got home and she was able to get comfortable.

Livi's ER Visit

100/365: Livi's ER visit, originally uploaded by sanboogie.

Livi has had fevers off and on for the last few days. She ended up waking up with blood in her mouth so we took her to the pediatrician. She thought it was coming from in a tooth coming in, since she didn't see anything else. We went home and after nap she had more blood pooling in her mouth. We scooped her up and ran right back to the pediatrician. She thought her tonsils looked large and like there may have been a spot on them that could have been bleeding. We have already been to the ENT so she thought it best to send us to him. She called the office and sent us over. When we got there, they told us they had gotten him on the phone and he wanted us to go right to the children's hospital that he is associated with and have her observed.

We grabbed Juli from school, dropped her off and my mom's and headed to the ER at St. Christopher's. Livi was poked and prodded and tested and watched for what seemed like forever. Eventually all the tests came back as normal. We had a few ENTs look at her. In the morning our ENT came in and got a good look. He wanted her to eat food to see if it would cause any bleeding. She ate with no problems. He came back later and diagnosed it as hemorraging tonsilitis. He saw no places for the blood to come from and said they usually heal quickly without treatment. We were discharged by lunch the next day and able to go home and get some rest.

St. Christopher's has this cool thing in the lobby. When you look at it, it looks like a fish tank in the ground. When you walk on it, it ripples like you stepped on the water. Livi was loving it! Obviously she was also feeling a little better.

Update on Juli and her tonsils.

We went for Juli's follow up yesterday. We had ordered her the book "Goodbye Tonsils" in which the little girl is named Juliana (spelled differently). Juli LOVED the book and we read it to her SO many times. Well last week out of the blue she told James that when she went back to Dr. Isaacs (his name is really Dr. Isaacson, but that's what she calls him) she wanted to give the book to another kid getting their tonsils out so they can be brave like she was. So we took her book with us.

When we went in she was holding the book and Dr. Isaacson said, oooh Goodbye Tonsils, what a great book. I told her told her to tell him what she wanted to do with it and she said, "Give it to someone else to make them brave like me!" (Awww) He said to her, "That's a GREAT idea! We'll put it right in our office where everyone can see it!" She was all smiles after that!!

He told me she still sounded a little nasular (spelling?) and he had her say a few words like Candy and some others I can't remember. He said that when she said those words and worked on pronunciation she was able to overcome it, so it should fade in a few weeks. I asked about the high pitch of her voice and he said it's hers and it's here to stay. He explained that we are just used to hearing her sound so nasal and blocked up, but this is her voice. He asked if she was still snoring and I told him that she doesn't even make a sound when she sleeps!

He asked how long she had to take the tylenol with codeine. I told him 2 days, we stopped b/c she was really fighting us and she did much better with the regular tylenol. He said that was great. He said, "his kids" don't have that much pain anymore since he uses tonsillar coblation (spelling?), the way they used to do it before they had to be on the narcotic pain killers for AT LEAST 10 days! EEK! So glad we didn't have to deal with that! He said everything looked great and her ears looked good too! I asked if she could eat whatever she wanted now or if she was still restricted in anyway and he said "nope, she is a free woman!"

After seeing him we headed in for a hearing test. We went into the sound proof booth and Juli sat in a chair and I sat behind her. The audiologist put headphones on Juli and told her to repeat whatever she said, then she left the booth. It was actually pretty funny. The booth was dead silent and then I would just hear Juli say, "BASEBALL!" "ICE CREAM!" "MAILMAN!". I could tell when the audiologist would say things lower because Juli would whisper them too!

After that the audiologist came back in and "played a game" with Juli. They put another set of headphones on and she gave Juli a bunch of wooden blocks and a basket. She told her to put the block to her ear (whichever one they were working on at the time) and when she heard beeps to throw them in the basket. Every time Juli heard a beep and threw a block the audiologist cheered for her. She was loving it! I was watching her finger on the button and I think Juli got them all. She said she did very well.

We have to go back in October for a follow up for her tubes. Other than that she is free to eat whatever she wants including red stuff and crunchy scratchy stuff. Last night she had a little treat, and I don't think I have ever seen anyone so happy to have a potato chip!

Goodbye Tonsils

Juli finally got those horrible tonsils out yesterday. Here she is getting in the car to go to the hospital. Yeah, that looks like a nervous smile... can't say I blame her. I'm sure mine wouldn't have been much better right then.

After what seemed like forever we were finally in triage. In our bed area, they had a video game system. Juli was excited and wanted to play a game. Unfortunately football was the game that was on. She lost interest quickly!

She got to change into some hospital issue PJs.

James and Juli just waiting around.

Sandy and Juli.

They gave Juli some "silly juice" to help relax her and sedate her in order to ease the separation anxiety and help her when she went back to the operating room. She fought us on taking it, but once it was down, she was happy. Actually she was downright silly.

Everything was funny and she kept giggling and playing around. After a while she did get tired and just layed down and smiled a lot.

Here is her message to the doctor, while hopped up on "silly juice."

This is what Juli looked like when I found her in recovery, although this picture was taken when we first got to her room. A nurse was getting us settled when another one walked in. The second nurse goes, "Oh look, she's got T&A". James says, "T&A?". The nurse laughs and says, "Yeah, T&A Face, tonsils and adnoids..."

Thankfully that face went away and although still puffy and having a hard time talking Juli got progressively better as the day went on. She even found the energy to get on playhouse disney for a few minutes.

Later on that night she even ate a few bites of bread and some vanilla pudding.

I guess that was the boost she needed. Shortly after she wanted to go for a walk. Every nurse we passed loved her froggy robe and slippers with the little bells on them.

Juli had a pulse/oxygen monitor that they put on her toe. The light from the monitor made her toe glow bright red. We kept calling her rudolph the red toe girl or "glow-toe."

Later on we had some fun with play-doh. We made faces and pirate ships and tons of other stuff. She had a great time and it kept her mind off of her throat.

Just relaxing before bedtime.

This pretty face is MUCH better than the T&A face!!

She ate a little bit and drank enough so they let us go home this morning. I think being at home will be good for her. The nurses woke her every 4 hours for her medicine, which we will have to do also. They also woke her to take vitals, etc. in between. So needless to say Juli, James and I did not get much sleep last night!

We were discharged early this morning and with the exception of fighting us on medicines, Juli is doing good! She drank plenty today. She also ate a bunch. Tonight for dinner she wanted pizza, so we got her a white slice from Peace a Pizza and she ate 1/4 to 1/2 of the slice. She also had a full container of yogurt, some ice cream and plenty of other soft stuff. She also played outside for a while and had a great time watching thousands of bubbles, thanks to the bubble machine Mom Mom bought for her.

We made it through the first two days. The doctor said days 3-5 are usually the worst. Hopefully she will continue to do as well as she has been.

Livi Got Her Tubes

Livi did great. We went in at 8:30 and went back to the room. They asked some questions and I changed her into her gown. They took her back at 9:03 and by 9:20 the doc came out and told me it went well. He said they sucked and sucked and sucked gobs and gobs of stuff out of both ears, so she should start to feel better almost immediately.

The worst part was recovery. I went back and she was screaming and reaching for me. Once I took her she was switching between being calm and screaming. They said that happens b/c they get scared and confused from the anesthesia. Usually they calm down at home. She drank a little apple juice and they let us go. It was VERY fast.

Sick again

Sickness has invaded our house once again. James and the girls are pretty sick.

It started with Juli starting a fever on Friday night, which went away until Sunday night. Actually they both had runny noses for about a week. On Monday Juli's fever was back and she was just laying on the couch all day. So we went to the doctor.
Here's the verdict:

Livi - fluid in ears (off and on, mostly on since October) recommended going to ENT.

Juli - Right ear infection, Strep Throat, Cold. Juli also has large tonsils. I've commented before that she snores and the way she snores makes me nervous. The doctor recommended taking her to the ENT as well.

James went to the doctor later that day and he has Strep too. I'm praying I don't catch any of it!! I think I got lucky with the antibiotics I was taking from my wisdom teeth removal! I really hope I didn't jinx myself with that!

Today, Juli seems to be doing much better. She's eating and playing normally. She's still a bit on the grumpy side, but pretty normal. She's still coughing every now and then, with a few major hack attacks in the middle of the night.

Livi started with fevers last night. Before bed her temperature was 101. I gave her Tylenol and put her to bed around 9pm. She fought sleep and couldn't get comfortable. She woke me up crying a few times, but every time I went in she was still asleep, just whining. Poor thing.

She was up to 102 degrees this morning at 10:30am.I called the pediatrician's office and they want me to bring her back in to see if the fluid in her ears has become infected. So we will go there tonight when I get home from work.

When it rains it pours...

Livi's 9 Month Doctor Appointment

Olivia had her 9 month doctor visit last night. She is doing great. She's 24lbs, 12 oz and 28 1/2 inches long. She had to get her second flu shot last night. For some reason children under 10 have to get 2 the first time they receive it. I don't think we did that with Juli, maybe it's new. Who knows, they change everything so often it makes your head spin trying to keep up!

So Livi is on to the transition to table foods now. She'll still do formula until she's 1, but she'll do more table foods and less baby foods for now. I'm sure she was happy to hear that! She'd take things she can feed herself over baby food and a bottle anyday!

She finished her antibiotic on Saturday, and the doctor said she wouldn't be completely clear yet. She checked and she is still "pink", but not red and bulging. Since it wasn't red, they aren't doing another treatment. Hopefully they will continue to improve and we won't have to do antibiotics again! We go back in a few weeks for a follow up.

Juli 8.20.07

Juli is walking again today. She did say her feet hurt and she is limping or something a little bit, but she is walking around. She seems to get better as the day goes on.

We went back to the doctor this morning for a follow up visit. When we went into the room, as I put my bags on the chair, Juli jumped onto the other chair and then onto the other end of the examining table prompting the doctor to say, "Wow, I guess someone is feeling better!"

She had Juli walk around, then run around the office. She was pleased with the fact that she was walking, jumping, running and climbing. She didn't sit still the entire time we were in there. She still has the ulcers in her mouth, but they should start going away in the next few days. The doctor still thinks it is virus she caught from someone and typically viruses last from 5-14 days. Today is day 4. We don't have to go back unless anything changes.

Juli was happy to get a bubble-gum flavored lollipop. She told me it was yummy and it makes her tongue feel better. :-)

Juli Update

Juli was up off and on all last night with a fever. She vomited a little this morning when she first woke up. She still had issues with walking/standing this morning. I took her back to the doctor and she did walk there. She has been walking off and on today. Mostly resting. She also now has blisters/ulcers in her mouth. She did eat some soup and some jello. She also wants lots of juice. The doctor said it is a virus, and they usually last anywhere from 5-14 days or so. Let's hope for 5. They want to see her back on Monday just to check up on things and see how she is doing.

Not much more I can say. My heart is in my throat. My baby is hurting and there is nothing I can do about it.

Julianna's First X-rays

When Juli woke up this morning, I stood her on the floor and she said, "I can't walk."

I said, "What do you mean you can't walk?"

"My foots hurt."

"You can walk, come in the kitchen and get your vitamin." She loves her Flinstones vitamins, so I figured she would come. She started to cry. She said she couldn't walk again. I tried to get her to walk into the kitchen and get her vitamin so I could see if she really couldn't walk. She didn't move. I even offered her m&ms. She never budged. She eventually took my mom's hand and walked into the kitchen. She limped. So she could walk, she just didn't want to because it hurt. I tried to get her to walk some more to see if she was being her usual drama queen self. She kept right on limping. Always on the same foot. She just wanted to sit down. At one point she even tried to crawl to something she wanted rather than walking. This nearly broke my heart.

If you know Juli, you know she is anything but a sit-down type of kid. She bounces off walls from the moment she wakes up, until the second she goes to bed. I knew something was wrong. I called the pediatrician who told me to bring her in at 9 as soon as the office opened. We got there at 8:55 and were taken right back. The doctor (Lynn) came in and checked her out. She watched her walk and she was definitely limping. Juli kept changing what foot hurt and sometimes saying both hurt. I asked the doctor if she thought it could be that she just knows it hurts when she walks and isn't sure where the pain is coming from. She said it's possible.

Lynn thought that since Juli could stand on it and walk on it, it wasn't broken or fractured. The only thing she was concerned about would be if it was a hairline fracture that she couldn't feel from examining her. She said we would have to go get x-rays. She said she thought most likely it was a sprain/strain and that if the x-rays came back negative, we would treat it as such. It could also be from a virus.

So we got the script for the x-rays and off we went. Her are some pictures of today (courtesy of my camera phone - so handy.)

The culprits


Waiting to get registered.


Getting registered


Eating raisins while waiting our turn in Radiology

While we were waiting in Radiology to be called back there was a little boy there with his mom and another family member who was back getting something scanned. I think he name was Kevin. He was 3 years old and he came over and started talking to Juli. He wanted her to get up and play with him. Since she couldn't he danced and did tricks and flips for her while she laughed and clapped for him. Needless to say they kept the rest of the waiting room entertained as well. At one point he came over to hug her and he had really curly hair. She started patting his head and said, "Mommy, look at his hair!" I said, "Yes, Jule, it's curly." She said, "Mine's not curly." I said, "No, yours is straight." At which point the little boy patted her head and said, "It's cute!". LOL, more laughter from the audience. Shortly after that his family was ready to leave, so his mom told him to say goodbye. They both pouted and said goodbye, then he came over and hugged her. {Insert "Awww" from audience here}. Then he leaned in and planted a kiss on her face! LOL {Insert more "Awwws" here}.

Right after that, the x-ray technician came over and asked Juli about her Billy. For those of you that don't know, it's the ratty little lamb (well, one of 6 of them - don't ask) that Juli goes to bed with. Billy is her lovey. She asked Juli if she was ready to get her picture taken and then asked if Billy wanted get his picture taken too. This made Juli feel a little better and this made her like the tech. She was great with Juli! Here they are:

Juli on the x-ray table


Her scared-to-be-up-on-the-table version of cheese

After the x-rays we went back to the doctor's office to wait. After a while the doctor said radiology was so crowded, that even though she ordered the results STAT, they wouldn't get them until like 2pm. While we were waiting I noticed Juli was starting to feel warm. I told the doctor and she said that she wouldn't be suprised, and that it could mean it was viral.

Around 2:30 they called to tell us the x-rays looked good and showed no fractures. They want to see her back tomorrow morning to check on things and make sure she is ok. Hopefully this virus goes away quickly and we have no more walking problems.

Olivia's 4 Month Check Up

Olivia had her 4 month check up last night. Poor baby got 4 shots and an oral vaccination. She did really well with it though. She cried for a minute and calmed down as soon as I picked her up. She fell asleep in the car and when she woke up she was pretty pleasant. The doctor said she looks great and is growing great! She weighed in at 17 pounds 14 ounces! She's 24 inches long.

She did get a little fussy at bedtime, but I'm not sure if it was because she was tired or sore from the shots. I gave her a little Tylenol and she did settle down. I guess it didn't bother her too much since she slept all night as usual. We'll see how she does today.