Saturday, May 14, 2011

Project 365 - Week 19

May 7 - First ever game of hopscotch

May 8 - Enjoying the outdoors on Mother's Day

May 9 - Hanging out

May 10 - Sleepy drive home after a sedation appointment

May 11 - Watching her DVD player while the adults enjoyed a bbq

May 12 - Kisses all around

May 13 - Hanging with her new boyfriend...don't tell Daddy!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day

I should be in bed.  A day full of good food, good company, and finally good weather.  Lilia ran herself silly with cousins and friends outdoors and fell asleep on the way home.  Thankfully, she still went to bed at a relatively early time and as per usual I laid down with her till she fell asleep.  Only, I think I fell asleep first. Two and a half hours later I woke in a daze.  That sort of I'm going to throw up cause I'm so tired daze, but still have drops to give, dishes to do, a shot to take.  ugh.  I wanted to update the books I write in for them, but I didn't want to just scribble something quickly.
And then I did my nightly ritual of seeing if any blogs I followed were updated.  And of course, one of them was.  The one about a baby girl just one week younger than Nicole who was lost to SIDS at 4 months of age.  I don't know why I read about it.  Maybe I feel somewhat connected because Nicole is just the same age.  Maybe to know that no matter how hard things have been I still have my baby girl.
And of course from that blog didn't I find the blog about a baby who lost it's life the first day home, and from there the one about the man who blogged about the happiness he felt that his wife was pregnant after many fertility issues.  Except that she'd passed away in a car accident, along with the baby who lived for 3 days.  I. have.to.stop. As great as the internet is, connecting the world....it also reminds us of all the pain and suffering surrounding us.
I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  But many people didn't.  I pray that some of their sorrow is lessened.  I pray for those women who long to hold a baby and I pray for those women who have held and lost their babies.  And I pray for their families cause everyone feels the pain.  And I pray that I remember in times of exhaustion and frustration that it is a priviledge and an unbelievable blessing to have my two baby girls.  And now it is very late and soon enough my two baby girls will be stirring....

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Project 365 - Week 18

Apr 30 - What a good big sister

May 1 - The first day of Lilia's visit with the stomach flu

May 2 - Found this picture after Lilia and Dad were playing with the camera

May 3 - Our new dishwasher...and the infamous cat

May 4 - A gift from Nono and Baba, aren't we lucky!

May 5 - On our way to swimming

May 6 - The blueberry mesh monster attacks.  At least it keeps her happy during patchtime!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Project 365 - Week 17

Apr 23 - A trip to IKEA

Apr 23 - Nicole loves her new highchair!

Apr 24 - Happy Easter!  (Even Nicole is unimpressed by her dad's love of hats!)

Apr 25 - Cupcakes ready for the EyeClinic

Apr 26 - The girls' new morning ritual

Apr 27 - Patchtime

Apr 28 - Great game dad...great game...and not at all messy!

Apr 29 - You know what I was up watching at 6am!

Friday, April 29, 2011

The Glaucoma Saga

So much has happened since my last update.  So, where did we leave off...yes...Nicole was booked for a goniotomy (a surgery to open up natural drains in the eye) to help relieve her glaucoma.  They took Nicole into the OR and realized her cornea was too hazy to complete the procedure even after trying to clear it with a corneal scrapping.  Memories I kindly would like to leave behind.
We had always had issues feeding Nicole...fussy, gassy, crampy, vomiting.  It was all chalked up to reflux which she was on medication for.  Numerous times we had brought up our issues to doctors who subsequently always reassured us that our baby girl was just fine.  Feeding problems were explained by reflux, colds, photo sensitivity you name it. After this OR however it became utterly unbearable.  Nicole would scream and scream and scream.  Again, we were told she was fine...look at her she's growing beautifully.  Except that in 2 months she had only gained 200 grams.  We were given higher doses of meds for reflux.  It had reached a point where my baby girl refused to be fed.  I had to wait till she was asleep to give her a bottle. Finally I had had enough and picked up a can of lactose free formula.  First bottle she was a different baby.  She downed bottles while wide awake and for the first time in 6 months actually fallen asleep on a bottle!!! Needless to say we were thrilled!!!  We stopped the reflux meds and low and behold...no issues!!  Looks like the reflux was caused by lactose issues....
OK, so why am I telling you all this? Well, Nicole was rebooked for surgery.  This time to insert a valve in her eye to control her glaucoma.  To make a long story short she showed up the day of surgery with a horrible cold and we were sent home.  At the time we were upset.  It takes a lot to get to the day of the surgery so needless to say we felt disappointed.  What we didn't know is that it was the best thing that could have happened.
She was rebooked for the same surgery a week later.  We showed up that day with a different baby.  We had been using lactose free formula for a week.  No longer pale and listless, she was happy and energetic....and...her eye had appeared to have cleared.  I mentioned it to the doctor when she came to see us in the OR waiting room.  She took a peak at Nicole's eye and said...hmmm...then went to get her instrument to measure her eye pressure.   It appeared to have fallen.  She said, let's take her in and see what pressure readings I get and I will come and talk to you before we go ahead with anything.  Fine.  Off we went to wait....and wait...and wait.  We didn't even go eat because we thought the doc would be out so quickly.  I mean, how long does it take to sedate a child and get some pressure readings?  Finally I'd had enough and took a peak at the info board.  It had been updated and said Nicole was in recovery...huh??? Then around the corner came Dr. T.  She took us into the little side room to chat and told us the pressure had improved so much they did not feel it necessary to do anything.  What?? Huh?? For real??
The only thing we could all figure happened was that with the change of formula Nicole was better absorbing her meds.  Unbelievable!! Needless to say we are super happy.  Frustrated but happy.  And the lesson here is go with your gut feeling.  We knew something wasn't right even though the doctors kept telling us there was nothing to worry about.  Push push push and be your child's advocate!!  Be that crazy parent...who cares....no one is looking out for your little one but you!!
We have had our follow up appointment and it appears that Nicole's eye pressure is under control for the time being.  Wonderful news!!  We are now back to patching (and as a side note her third contact lens prescription in 4 months $$$). 
Isn't this a testament to the fact that prayers are in fact answered!!?? Thank you to everyone who prayed for our little girl!!!  Someone was definitely listening!!


Super happy on my new formula!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Project 365 - Week 16

Apr 16 - This is definitely not Mommy

Apr 17 - Snow...in April!

Apr 18 - Trust me I don't need a nap

Apr 19 - A surprise for me!

Apr 20 - Hanging with Baba


Apr 21 - First time she fell asleep on my shoulder

Apr 22 - Yum yum, Good Friday fish!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Project 365 - Week 15

What a crazy few weeks we have had.  Ups and downs like you wouldn't believe.  I will sit down and write about it but we seem to have finally found a groove and I'm just enjoying it for the moment.  In the meantime, here are some snapshots of our last week.

Apr 9 - Finally a nice day outside!


Apr 9 - Taking down the Christmas lights

Apr 10 - Too many colds in our house

Apr 11 - Yup, hotdogs wrapped in pastry.  Who said dinner had to be healthy?

Apr 12 - Having lunch at IKEA

Apr 13 - Yup, I finally see the resemblance

 
Apr 14 - Yeah, parktime again!



Apr 15 - Dolled out in hospital PJs waiting for the OR



Apr 15 - We thought we'd be nursing a post-op baby, but instead we enjoyed the Baby Show!






Monday, April 11, 2011

Project 365 - Week 14

Apr 2 - Popsicles with her fav cousins....Nicole just barely made it in the pic =)

Apr 3 - someone put her tooth through her lip...yuck

Apr 4 - Love rainy days and puddles

Apr 5 - Doesn't everyone wear a helmet to clean potatoes?

Apr 6 - Lilia is sick with a cold...and according to Baba butter is a great decongestant

Apr 7 - the cold that Nicole caught

Apr 6 - Early morning drive to SickKids for Nicole's surgery...followed quickly by a drive back...cancelled due to a cold

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Project 365 - Week 13

So, needless to say it has been an absolutely crazy week leaving us to wonder if the universe is really just playing an April fool's day joke on us.  Lots to write about.  For now...here are some pics.

Mar 26 - A year later all the squares are done...how long till I get them put together?

Mar 27 - Fancy new toothbrush...lights up and all

Mar 28 - Ugh

Mar 29 - Not a happy camper

Mar 30 - Lilia hangin with Mickey at SickKids

Mar 31 - Who was watching her?

Apr 1 - what I found in the Nutella...leftover blueberry jam care of yesterday's fiasco