Hannah update and a little more.

Thursday I took Hannah to her cardiologist for the first time in three months.  I think that is the longest we've gone without stepping foot in his office since my first visit last March.  When he walked into the room he asked if we missed him, I think Hannah did a little, it's no secret she loves all the attention.

She weighed 13 pounds according to their scale, and if you're more into kilograms she gained a whole kilo since her last appointment, not to shabby.

The ECHO was a little hard to do this time.  Hannah loves the tech that does the ECHO so she was talking up a storm and trying to roll around and help her with the ECHO, you know, grabbing the wand thing and her hand, eating the cord, kicking.  So the images they got weren't the best, but we tried.  Dr. Christensen says the tricuspid valve still leaks, it was kind of hard to see how much because she was so wiggliy.  We just have to wait and see if the valve stops leaking as she grows.

Dr. C wants to see her in 5 months.  They don't schedule appointments that far out, so we will be getting a reminder card in the mail about a month before she's due.  I cheered a little, we have reached the "reminder card" stage!

Hannah is ten months old, she is dragging herself all over the house.  Her newest favorite thing to do is "crawl" around the coffee table in the family room.  She is eating really well and loves to stuff fruit puffs in her mouth.  Her physical therapist and I are trying to get her to crawl on all fours and teach her how to sit up from lying down.  She loves bath time and swimming, splashing in the water is awesome!

Can you see her scar? Yup, it's pretty faded and hard to see in person too!

Kindergarten graduation

Eli is still my busy little guy.  He loves Legos, I have yet to step on one in the middle of the night but I'm sure it's coming.  He is a typical three year old, one minute he is my sweet little boy who is so helpful and the next he's throwing a fit on the floor.  Good thing he is so cute.

Abby is loving summer so far, although last night she asked me what day school starts.  Jeremiah bought her a razor scooter for finishing kindergarten and she loves riding around in the cul-de-sac with the other kids.  This summer I think she may grow gills, or at least 2 inches.

I have almost fully recovered from my hand foot and mouth disease, I'm just dealing with peeling hands right now.  I'm still working on spring cleaning and purging the house.

Jeremiah is getting the hang of the working at night/sleeping during the day cycle.  It was easier before we had kids.

My birthday is on Wednesday, we're planning on going to the zoo.  I like Starbucks cards, I'm just saying. :-)

My Epic Battle with Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

According to the CDC website, "hand, foot, and mouth disease is a common viral illness that usually affects infants and children younger than 5 years old. However, it can sometimes occur in adults."  I also read in more than a few places that it's mild.


Mild my itchy, blister covered right foot.


Hannah was the first one to get HFM, she was covered in blisters, I don't think they itched.  She didn't seem much different than usual, a little fussier and needier, she wouldn't eat food, only drink bottles.  The blisters scabbed over and now they're almost gone.


Abby and Eli barely developed any symptoms.  Abby had itchy feet one night.  Eli had a fever, itchy feet and a very sore throat for a few days.  


And then there is me.


Tuesday I had a fever and was so achy I wanted to cry.  Wednesday my throat started to hurt as blisters popped up in my mouth and on my hands and feet.  Thursday the blisters got worse and the itching became intense.  Thursday night I was in tears, the itching was awful and it alternated with pins and needles feelings.  Friday morning I woke up with less itching more needles of fire and twice as many blisters.  

Spotty hand blisters. This picture doesn't really do them justice, my fingers look like a topagraphical map.

Itchy feet suck! Walking on pins and needles is no fun.

My arsenal against HFM.

I called my doctor's office on Thursday morning asking for anything that would help, the advice nurse said it's really rare for adults to get it, yeah, thanks, I know, I read that too.  She told me I could take zytrec, really?  I took 50 mg of benadryl and the rest of the day is a blur.  My plan from there on was to remain as drugged as possible so that I would sleep thru most of this.  Thankfully my Mom and husband were both around to help, well, do everything.  And have I mentioned how much I love Motrin, Benadryl and my big gun pain killer!? 


This morning I woke up and the itching is greatly resolved, the needles are gone too.  The latest development is that I have lost feeling in the tips of most of my fingertips.  


I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

I guess there is a pretty good outbreak of HRM this year.  It's contagious when the person has a fever, before the blisters ever appear, so you don't know it's coming.  Awesome.  Wash your hands, a lot.  In case you get it here is what I found helped and didn't help.

*Epsom salts soaks in tepid or even cold water.  Heat aggravates the blisters, a lot.
*Motrin and Benadryl round the clock.  The night I was so achy the Motrin didn't touch it so I added a big gun pain killer I had leftover in my cabinet (yes I save my meds and I'm glad I did).
*Hydrocortisone cream, this helps for about 30 seconds, the best part is rubbing it into my hands like lotion let me kind of scratch and rub them without my husband or Abby noticing and yelling at me not too!
*Sore throat spray stung, a lot, but it helped a little.  I just kept cool water with me at any time, it was the only thing I could swallow that didn't burn my throat.  Also, it was the only way I could swallow.
*In desperation I tried using tucks pads and dibucaine ointment (I told you I was a med keeper, these were leftover from having Hannah).  They're for swollen, itchy tissues, the dibucaine is a topical analgesic, it didn't really work, but it was worth a try.
*I didn't like the calamine lotion, it made my hands and feet to dry and it didn't help the itching.
*The neosporin works to soothe the blisters if you accidentally scratch them open, I did this with a few on my legs.
*I put vaseline on the blisters around my lips and nose that are itchy and dry.

The lessons I've learned from Play Doh

I like Play Doh, I really do.  I love the way a new can smells, I love the feel of brand new Play Doh squishing through my fingers, I like to make stuff and I love the Fun Factory thing.  Most people like Play Doh, but a lot of Moms say they hate it.  I used to be one of those women.

Long ago (it seems like forever) when Abby was still a tiny infant, a wise mother gave me some advice.  She told me "let the kids play with Play Doh."  She was pretty adament about it.  The point of her advice was that I shouldn't be so worried about keeping my house perfectly clean, but instead I should play with my kids, and spend my time making memories with them.

Okay, I thought, I am going to be the best mom, we will play with Play Doh.

Then kids happened.

Somewhere along the way, I learned to hate Play Doh.  But I didn't really hate it.  And yet, every time my kids asked, "can we play with Play Doh Mom? Please?" I cringed.  But I would hear that mother's voice in the back of my head, "let the kids play with Play Doh."  Begrudgingly I would dig out the Play Doh and set it all up, then fight with them, "no, no, don't mix the colors! Oh, don't let it go everywhere! Pick it all up, it's going to dry out!"

About 6 months ago I had a revelation, it's just Play Doh.  Does it matter if they mix the colors?  Not really.  If it falls on the floor I can just sweep it up, my floor needs a good sweeping anyway.  When it finally dries out there is more at the store, or I have the recipe to make more home made (doesn't smell as good).  There is no wrong way to play with Play Doh, so what if they aren't using the right colors for the pretend food.  Thankfully they are past the eating it stage, but it says non-toxic anyway.

This was like a light bulb moment for me.  It was so freeing.  Now we have tubs of blueish-green Play Doh and I probably throw out a small can's worth from sweeping up the crumbs off the floor every time we play with it, but we have fun.  I can sit down with my kids and make green elephants and purple spaghetti with the Fun Factory.  Now when I see Play Doh on sale at the store I get excited.  I love Play Doh again.  And more importantly, my kids do too.

When my kids are grown and have kids of their own hopefully they will still love Play Doh too.

Bye Bye NG tube! and other things.

Well it's actually been a few weeks, but Hannah is officially done with her NG tube.  She had a weight check at the pediatrician's about 2 weeks ago and she was 10lbs 11 oz, over a pound of weight gain in a month.  Thanks to tips from her physical therapist and with some time and patience she now finishes a whopping 4 ounces at a time.  She has decided she will eat carrots, and so far only carrots, but it's a start.

Not having to drag around all her feeding tube stuff made our trip to Omaha this last weekend so much easier.

My Grandmother (Big G) turned 90 last week and my Aunt Kate and cousin MaryAnn planned a surprise party for her.  They pulled it off wonderfully, she was truly surprised and so excited.  My parents and husband and our kids came in after the party had started, she was so surprised.

My Grandma has met Hannah before, but this was the first time the rest of the family got to see her.  She did not disappoint.  She was bubbly and smiley and was very busy blowing raspberries and chewing on her toes.

Showing Big G her giraffe. 

After the party we had an Easter Egg hunt for all the Grandkids, it was a big hit.  

This is the best we could do.  There is a stupid sunspot on my Mom's face and Eli wouldn't look at the camera because it was too bright (he has freakishly sensitive eyes.)
 

We also took Hannah swimming for the first time.  This happens to be the same hotel we stayed in with Abby when she was about 4 months old and took her swimming for the first time.  Hannah is actually 8 months old, but about the same size, and she took to swimming a lot better than Abby did.  She was smiling and kicking and splashing in the cold water.  I think we are going to have so much fun this summer as the pool!  She just needs to learn to sit up. 

Hannah did really well on the trip.  It helped that we broke up the driving into two days each way.  I wish we could have spent more time seeing all our family, but I guess for now Facebook will just have to do.  Thanks to my Aunt and Cousin for some of the pictures.  

"Fuuu", blow the dust off this blog.

So I'm lying in bed one night about to fall asleep when I hear a tiny little voice somewhere in my house.  It's so quiet I think I'm the only one who hears it.  It sounds like,

"hello? hello Jill? are you still there? it's me, your blog. I miss you, please come write something on my virtual pages."

Oh blog, I'm so sorry I've neglected you, I will try to be better in the future.

So let me blow the dust off this blog and wipe the cobwebs out of the corners...

I'M BACK!!!!

For the week of March 25:

Abby is on Spring Break this week and next, she is already bored.  In the last day and a half she has asked to go to Chuck E Cheese, the zoo, Target, swimming, a friend's house, play in the sprinklers and do her nails (among other things.)  She and Eli play really well for a little while, leaving a trail of destruction in their path, then fight.  This sibling thing is something new for me, I'm just kind of winging it.  She is looking forward to a tea party birthday party this week, my little social butterfly.

Eli is potty trained (daytime only) with about a 96% consistency rate, sometimes he gets a little distracted and wets his pants.  It's funny when he yells, "I haffa go potty!" from across the room then runs to the bathroom with his pants and underwear around his knees... wait to pull them down until you get to the bathroom boy, that's not going to fly in Target son.

Hannah has physical therapy tomorrow, the therapist comes to our house and spends an hour with her every week giving me a few exercises and tips to try and help Hannah.  She has really developed a lot of strength in the last few weeks and is close to sitting up.  She rolls everywhere and has started to eat better.  Thursday we visit her pediatrician for a weight check.  I'm really hoping this time he says the NG tube can come out for good.  Oh yeah, and she's getting her first tooth.  Doesn't seem to be bothering her much.  I'm a little bummed, I love big gummy toothless smiles.  Oh well, it had to happen eventually.

Jeremiah spent this afternoon in our garden.  Last year we had a huge weed problem, and since I was hugely pregnant I wasn't much help.  I have no excuse this year, so I guess I will be out there working on our veggies again.  

I have been inspired by lots of different stuff I've seen on Pinterest (worse than crack) and so I've got a few crafts and projects and such in the works.  Depending on how they go I may post my successes here.  Lately I've been working on a plan to keep our house picked up and somewhat in order.  I've divided our house into several zones and pick up each zone on a certain day, sometimes I even have time to clean that zone, but not always, kids happen you know.  

It's Sunday night, which means breakfast for dinner.  Time to plug in the toaster for frozen waffles, tonight is not a recipe-from-pinterest night.  

What's everyone else been up too?  Anyone doing anything fun for Spring Break?

The Nose Hose

Well, we're back in the hospital. We took Hannah in for a weight check on Friday afternoon and she lost more weight so the cardiologist decided to admit her. I have to say I'm actually relieved. It was so stressful feeding her and she wouldn't finish a bottle and I knew she wasn't taking in enough calories or fluids and then the weight checks every four days, I think it was time. We tried, we really tried, to give Hsnnah as long as we could, the docs and I both kept thinking she was about to break out any minute and just start guzzling down formula but no deal. So here we are, on the pediatric unit at PSL for the weekend. We're hoping to go home on Monday. Hannah has an NG tube in her left nostril that runs down to her stomach, a nose hose, as one of the cardiologist calls it. She still nipples as much as she wants from the bottle but then the nurse just runs the rest into the NG. It's nice to not worry about how much she's eating. The hope is that we can stretch out her stomach and help her grow with enough volume and calories and then she will take over and start finishing her bottles. Now to just get Hannah to follow the plan. She will be going home with the NG tube. I'm excited to play with it. Did I really just say that? She has tolerated the NG pretty well so far, she did throw up after two separate feedings today. Big dramatic, retching, crying and choking episodes, it's hard to watch and I'm sure it's even more unpleasant for Hannah. I pray as she gets used to the larger volume she does better. That tube sits in her stomach and holds the sphincter open so I'm not surprised she vomits when she does. Overall she is still the smiley happy Hannah who charms all the doctors and nurses with her smile and personality. We had only been here for about two hours when one of the PICU nurses came over to say hi! Hannah has a fan club here. Much love to all, and thank you for all your prayers and well wishes!

Top Ten of 2011

So it's the end of the year already (how did that happen?) and everywhere there are year end recaps and best and worst lists and so on and so on.  So what's one more?

Our top ten (in my opinion) Not in any particular order (except for number 1):

10. Abby playing soccer in the spring.  She played so much better this year and had more fun.  She scored a lot of goals (not that anyone keeps score!)

9. Watching/listening to Eli playing by himself.  He sings about what he's doing, he uses voices for the toys, he has sound effects, it's adorable.

8. Visiting my Dad's side of the family in Kansas City in June.  I love when all the little cousins (our kids) get together to play, they are hilarious.  I love seeing my Grandma.  I love the excitement of a road trip and staying in a hotel.  It just makes me wish we all lived closer together.

7. Getting the chickens.  There, I admit it, my husband was right.  I LOVE the chickens.  They were adorable as chicks in a box in the corner of the kitchen.  They are hilarious to watch in the backyard.  I love when the neighborhood kids show up at my door in the summertime with a grasshopper in hand and want to feed it to the birds.  I love getting fresh eggs.

6. Abby starting Kindergarten.  She is so adorable with her little backpack on.  I love hearing about what she's learning about and her new friends.  I love to watch her learn to read and write and do math and learn about the world.  I'm a little sad she is growing up, but I'm learning to embrace it.

5. The fall women's Bible Study at church.  We read "Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney.  I got to know some other women at our church a little better.  I only wish I could have made it to more of the actual discussion groups, but I loved the book.  I hope we do more studies like this in the future.

4. This one is for the kids: Abby and Eli going to Disney World with my parents and my Dad's side.  Boy do I wish we had been able to go with them, I really looked forward to it all year long.  I know they had a great time because I've heard all about it.  I'm happy whenever my kids are happy.

3. My third and final pregnancy.  I know I complained a lot about being hot and uncomfortable and a lot of the pregnancy was bathed in worry, but I have always really loved having a little life growing inside of me.  The anticipation and excitement of "what are we having?" "when will she be here?" "who will she look like?"  Yes I'm huge by the end of my pregnancies, but I love having my big preggo belly and feeling and seeing the baby moving around.  And I learned to trust God more so than ever before during this last pregnancy.  My husband and I grew closer together, I learned to appreciate my family and the little things more.  My extended family, my church family and my work family rallied around me and encouraged me.

2. The birth of Hannah Joy.  I love giving birth.  Is that weird?  This one was particularly exciting, the doctor almost didn't make it!  I have only experienced that unbelievable rush of love three times in my life as I held my newborn for the first time.  I cannot explain it, but I will always remember the feeling.

1. Bringing Hannah home from the hospital for the second time!  I am so thankful for the surgeons, cardiologists, intensivists and nurses that cared for Hannah during her surgery and hospitalization.  I was thrilled to bring her home for her first Christmas.  And that first Christmas with my whole little family was wonderful.

Happy New Year everyone!  Here's to an exciting 2012!