Christmas Eve (and more from yesterday)

I forgot to mention that we went yesterday to see Santa and get a picture with him and Little Miss.  She fell asleep as we were in line and woke up right as I was placing her on his lap.  She didn't cry, but she wasn't super happy either.  This year, we had a grumpy Santa picture, but as my mama says, "all Santa pics are good ones".  I thought he was a pretty convincing Santa though.  :)

Before the Santa pics, we ate with Pops at Red Robin and then headed to Babies R Us to pick out a new carseat/stroller combo.  The one we have is definitely better than nothing.  It was one we got at a garage sale (which I guess is a no-no to start out with), plus the stroller is terrible.  It's difficult to steer and there's not room underneath for our diaper bag.  Before I had a child, I never thought about such things, which is apparently why I didn't pay attention when we got it at the garage sale...LOL  

Lordy mercy!!  I was NOT the only one who waited until the last minute for shopping!  It's crazy out there!!!  :)  Thankfully, I'm finished and have even finished the majority of the wrapping!!  I know - I'm terrible!  I'm so excited about this being Rossleigh's first Christmas.  I really wish I had been nicer to myself so that I wasn't so stressed/tired and could enjoy it a little more...Live and learn!  At least she is feeling MUCH better!!!  I cannot be more thankful for that.  

Finally, tonight was Rossleigh's first Christmas eve church service.  Mom and I've been going to the Christmas Eve service for as long as I can remember, and after Lance and I married, it remained a tradition.  This year, our number increased from 3 to 4 when Miss Rossleigh went with us.  She did GREAT!!  

On the way there, I mentioned to Lance that I didn't think she had pooped yet (oh, how your topics of conversation change when you have a child), and joked that we would probably wait until a quiet point during the church service.  Boy, was I right!!  About 5 minutes into the service, the oh-so-familiar sounds of the loud grunting started, so I took her out to change her.  LOL  Other than that and a little fussiness towards the end, she did really really well.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Sickness, Shopping, & Birthday

Rossleigh is pretty darn close to being back to 100%, but Megan is still in the hospital.  My hope is that both of these sweet girls are back to feeling like their spunky selves by Christmas.  :)

I was horrible this year about doing ANYTHING in advance for Christmas.  I should have done things before I had Rossleigh and underestimated how busy/tired I would be right after she came home.  WHEW!  I will be doing some running around for gifts both today and on Christmas Eve.  Horrible!  I will be much nicer to myself next year.  :)

Pamps was Lance's grandfather, Ross, and was one of Rossleigh's namesakes.  When he was living, his family celebrated his birthday with a shrimp cookout.  Ross taught Lance the secrets of shrimp boiling and Lance has been the chef since his Pamps passed away 10 years ago.  Every year, on December 23rd, the family comes over to our house for the shrimp cookout, but for various reasons, they/we decided not to do a shrimp cookout this year.  In remembrance of Pamps, happy birthday!!  :)

More sickness

Miss Megan is back in the hospital.   For those of you that don't know or remember, Megan is my 14-year-old niece who had a kidney transplant this summer.   We've been so grateful for her amazing recovery (and her donor daddy's), but with the anti-rejection meds she's on, she catches just about every virus that she comes across.  

Apparently, Megan had been at the mall yesterday with some friends and began throwing up, plus she had a high fever.   My sister took her to the ER in the wee hours of the morning today (as they've been instructed to do for this first year post transplant).  She JUST got moved to a room late this evening.   Every time Megan was sleeping, her blood pressure would drop significantly, so the staff at the hospital did not want to move her to a room until her blood pressure stabilized.  

Her blood pressure seemed to be doing better, she was keeping food down okay, plus her temp had dropped down, but then suddenly spiked.   Poor baby!   :(

I'll keep you updated on Miss Megan.   She was sick the weekend before Thanksgiving and was hospitalized, but pulled through in time to spend the holiday with our family.   Please pray that the same will happen before Christmas.  

Sick family & Birthdays!

Miss Rossleigh has been sick with her upper respiratory infection, but is getting over it, I suspect.   No more fevers, thank goodness!   Thanks be to God!  As I'm sure you mamas out there know, it's such a helpless feeling when your baby is sick. :(

In addition to Rossleigh, I have a sinus infection.   I rarely get these because with my asthma, infections usually like to settle in my chest and hang out for a bit.   I think I caught this one before that happened, thankfully!  

Ironically, I'm on antibiotics for a measly sinus infection while Rossleigh just has to "wait it out"  with her upper respiratory infection.   No sense!

Today would have also been my dad's birthday, so while I've had a moment or two of sadness today (he passed away 8 years ago), I've also experienced happiness because Rossleigh is 12 weeks today!!  :)  I think Daddy would have liked that if he was still here - his youngest grandchild experiencing a "birthday" of sorts on his birthday.  :)

Prayers please that everyone is well in time to enjoy Rossleigh's first Christmas!!

Sicky girl

Sunday and yesterday, Rossleigh has been VERY fussy, not too interested in sleeping, a really high-pitched cry, and has had some diarrhea.  I didn't think too much of the diarrhea on Sunday because on Saturday, Lance had her out and about and was giving her the ready-made version of her formula, which tends to upset her digestive system differently (sometimes giving her diarrhea).  Also, when she's been out a lot and her nap schedule is thrown off, it usually causes her to be overtired and fussy even the following day.  When she started feeling warm yesterday, was sounding a little congested,  AND she was still having the diarrhea, I knew something was going on.

I took a rectal temperature and she was 99.8 degrees.  I know that this normally is not considered worrisome in an infant, but she normally runs a little on the lower side (usually around 98.2 or 98.3).  I gave her a dose of Infant Tylenol and then called the doctor's office.  I really figured I was just being a new mama, but after speaking with the on-call nurse, it seemed that combined with her heart problem and age/size, there was some cause for concern.  She felt like it was possible she had an infection and told me to take her to Cook's ER.

I told Lance what was said, called both grandmothers, and made a plan to leave.  Lance decided to stay home since he worked today and I didn't, so my mom went with me so that I wouldn't be there alone (THANK YOU, MAMA).  They listened to her, did a chest x-ray, and because I jumped the gun with the Tylenol, she no longer had a fever.  They diagnosed her with an upper respiratory infection.  :(  They told me to let her sleep upright (like in a car seat or swing), have a cool-mist humidifier blowing on her, give her saline drops in her nose, and use the bulb syringe (what Lance calls the brain sucker).

Here's a pic of my little sweetie in her hospital gown.  You probably can't tell from this picture, but her poor little eyes were rimmed in red and her little cheeks were flushed.  After some good sleep last night, she has been feeling MUCH better this morning, but is still a little cranky and congested.  I'm keeping a close eye on her temps in case I need to call her doctor again.

Thanks for the prayers (for those of you who knew about it from Facebook).

Who turned out the lights?

Apparently, we're going to have to start removing the hats when Rossleigh is napping.  It doesn't seem to matter how much you roll the hat up; with the way she warts around in bed, they tend to end up over her eyes.  

Kiddos in nommies

I thought this was pretty cute!!  Both of the kiddos were in their nommies (pajamas) and Bean came in my office and plopped down right next to Rossleigh.  Unfortunately, he moved his head right as I took the picture.  After that, some rogue paper bag was blowing down the street and Bean had to protect us from it, so there was no opportunity for a re-shoot!  ;)

Little Owl

I have been WAITING for Rossleigh to be big enough to fit into this sweet outfit Nicole gave her!!  The little hat just makes the outfit.  I'm normally a bow mama, but the hat is pretty darn cute here.  :)

I put it on her today and she was in such a good mood, I thought we'd have a little photo shoot (although you can't really tell her great mood from the expressions on her face).  My favorite is the last one.  Ha ha!!

Reindeer butt!

Rossleigh received a little 3-pc Christmas outfit from Agnieszka.  How cute is she with her little reindeer butt?  Ha ha!!

Baby Laughter & Body Tricks

Rossleigh has this rocker chair that we call "the mouse chair".  Why?  Because it is a baby chair with a picture of a mouse princess on it.  Anyway, the mouse chair pretty much stays in my office so that she can hang out with me while I am working on stuff from time to time.  She doesn't sit in it often, so she usually is not a huge fan and when she does sit in it, it doesn't last long.  Today, however, she was rocking out in the mouse chair!  THEN, when I pulled the little flower on the toy bar for the music to play, her face lit up in a smile and she would coo!!  She did it every time!!  Watch the video to see what I mean.  :)

I think I mentioned yesterday or the day before that Rossleigh breastfed for the first time and that my friend, Nicole came over.  So while she was here, she was trying to teach me about the art of hand expression.  I just couldn't master it (it truly is an art, and one that can only be appreciated if you need to know how to do it).  So I have been trying unsuccessfully ever since, but failing miserably.  What's worse is that I haven't been able to get Rossleigh to breastfeed anymore since that day - until today.  I watched YouTube videos per Nicole's suggestion and FINALLY mastered it - on one breast anyway! When you can do this, you can literally spray milk from your breast across the room.  It truly is a sight to be seen...or not. 

FUNNY STORY - So I was so excited, I ran downstairs to show Lance my new trick!!  I went to express the milk...and accidentally sprayed him in the eye!!  Needless to say, he was not amused.  Nope, not one teeny tiny bit.  I apologized and tried to comfort him by letting him know that he should really be thanking me.  After all, breast milk does have healing qualities.  What if he had an oncoming eye infection he was unaware of?  I probably just healed it!!  He smiled, but still wasn't too impressed with my new trick.  I'm pumped though (no pun intended).  :)

Christmas cards

Soooo, I'm a little behind but I'm so excited that we ordered our holiday cards today!!  We should have them by tomorrow and then can start mailing them out!!  :)

Success!!!

Mark this date down on your calendars - December 11, 2012:  the day Rossleigh Dewey breastfed for the first time!!  Okay, so probably not something you'll want to mark on your calendar, but definitely something to go on ours!!  Since we've been home from the hospital, I have periodically attempted to get Rossleigh to latch on so that once she was able to tolerate the consistency of milk, breastfeeding wouldn't be a foreign concept to her.  I would always wait until after I'd emptied my breast via pumping and also tried to wait until after she was satisfied from eating (but still wanting just a little more) so that she wouldn't get too frustrated.  She's latched on before, but lost patience and unlatched.  This wasn't a huge deal in the past because she wasn't physically ready for milk consistency anyway.

Anyway, since Rossleigh tolerated milk consistency well at the swallow test, but did have those "flashes", they suggested we wait about 3-4 weeks before making the full switch to breast milk/regular formula.  Since the last swallow test, I've been having her practice a few times a week (well, it's only been a week, but still).  She would lose patience easily so I was feeling a little discouraged.  I started feeling like I was sentenced to a year or more of exclusive pumping...I won't lie - pumping EXCLUSIVELY really kinda sucks, but I'm still thankful that I have milk coming in so I would do it if I needed to.

So today, we were practicing again...except this time I was a overdue for pumping (so I was full of milk) and she was pretty hungry.  Wait for it....she latched and continued to feed from the breast!!!!!!  Yippee!!!  For those who have never dabbled in pumping or breastfeeding, this probably seems like no big deal (because I know I probably would have felt that way before I had RSD), but I assure you that it is HUGE!!  :)

On top of it, my friend (and one of Rossleigh's Godmothers), Nicole came over this evening to help us out with latching on correctly and gave me some tips to get me to increase my supply.  We're so lucky to have her in our lives!!

Self-inflicted blindfold

With the weather turning chilly, I dressed Rossleigh in a sleep sack this evening (with built-in mittens, since we've established that she won't keep her hands covered) and I put a little hat on her to help keep her head and ears warm.  She likes to spend her time by flailing her arms around every which way and rubbing her face with her fists.  This was what she looked like post-flail - she had a self-inflicted but unintentional blindfold!  LOL  Afterwards, she was moving her head all around and cooing as if she was saying, "Hey!  Who turned out the lights?"  Silly girl!

For the record, I immediately uncovered the hat from her eyes after taking this picture.  Just had to capture the moment and her sweet silliness!!  :)

Great way to end the day

After a long day, sometimes you just want a bite (or two or three) of something SWEET!!  I had exactly that type of day today, but was lacking ingredients to make cookies...or so I thought.  Who knew that you could substitute applesauce for an egg?  I sure as heck didn't, but do now thanks to my sweet friend, Nicole!!  So I made molasses cookies with cinnamon applesauce and they were to DIE for.  I think they are the softest cookies I have ever made.  Who needs eggs?  I think I'm going to always make cookies this way!!  :)

Silly sleeper

I came into Rossleigh's room today to check on her during a nap and this was how I found her.   What a mess!  I promise that she starts out each time covered up, but I can't keep that child's hands and feet covered with a blanket to save my life!   LOL

Photo Shoot

Agnieszka (one of Rossleigh's Godmothers) came over yesterday afternoon to spend some time with Miss Rossleigh.  She happens to be a wonderful photographer, so I asked her if she would mind bringing her camera over to take some family pictures of us, as well as some studio-type pictures of Rossleigh.  Boy, did we get some GREAT shots!!  She ended up taking 367 photos, so these below are just the tip of the iceberg!  :)

Here are just a few of the family shots:

And here are some of Rossleigh:

Which are your favorites?  I'll be posting more here and there over the next few days, but just wanted to show a sample of the poses Agnieszka captured!  How lucky are we to have her in our lives??  :)  

We love Ciocia Aga (Polish for Aunt Agnieszka)!!!  <3

Daddy Daycare

She loves it when her Daddy loves on her!

With me going back to work, it of course means that Miss Rossleigh will be cared for by someone else while I am gone.  It will usually be her daddy, a grandmother, Godmother, or neighbor, but today was Lance's first time to really solely take care of Rossleigh.  He's taken her out a couple of times, but they've only been for a couple of hours at a time (which is still more than what a lot of fathers would do, I believe) - once with her Uncle Willie and once with Pops (Lance's dad).   Today, however, was the first time he'd have her for 9-10 hours at a time with no assistance.  Man!!  He did GREAT!!  :)  

I, of course, checked in from time to time (like I believe most new mothers would do) via phone call or text to see how things were going.  He was just so cool and collected; it was obvious that Daddy had things under control.  The best part is that, in the scenario of caring for a baby all day, I think that most dads would immediately hand the baby back over to Mama as soon as she got home.  You know, like, "Okay, now you're home...it's time for YOU to take over now."  This guy?  Nuh-uh...I had to TAKE her away from him in order to get to see her.  He loved being able to have her all to himself for the day!!  LOL

I'm just so proud!  For a man who never really pictured himself as someone having children, he sure has turned out to be one amazing daddy!  :)

On another note, most people tend to think that Rossleigh looks more like me (but several see more of Lance in her), but she sure does have a few of her Daddy's characteristics.  At this point in her life, they are obviously not learned - just innate habits.  Check out the picture below.  This was taken a few days after we were able to bring her home from the hospital and she was still sleeping with us.  I left out of the room one morning to pump and when I returned I came back to this sight.  I just HAD to capture the moment!! 

They even SLEEP just alike!  Check out their legs - each of them has one hanging off the bed.  Isn't that hilarious??

Nakedness ;)

This child of ours just absolutely LOVES to be naked!!  :)

Swallow Study Adventure

Everything about arriving to the swallow function study appointment was crazy.  Once the actual study was started, things were fine.  When I received the email regarding the appointment, the instructions were to be at the hospital registration for an 11:00am appointment.  We were running down to the wire, but we managed to make it there with a couple of minutes to spare...except that when we went to check in with registration, we found out that the appointment was actually at noon and was at the Specialty Clinics office instead of the hospital.  This ended up being for the best because grunting started coming from my daughter and then a trip to the bathroom's changing table was needed - badly!!  LOL

We then made it over to the registration desk at the Specialty Clinics Building and were then told to go to a different registration desk down on the lower level.  I finally found that one and got registered, then was sent to radiology check-in, where I was told I needed to fill out 4 sheets of paperwork.  Did I mention that I had already filled out the 3 sheets of paperwork that they had already mailed. to me?  Ugh...that kinda thing bothers me.

Then when we finally get called back, we learn that Rossleigh's speech therapist, Jennifer, had jury duty today.  So we ended up working with another therapist...

For information on the actual test and results, please click HERE.

Worky Stuff and Appointments

Well, it's official...I returned back to work today (but only part time until the end of the year).  I balled like a baby when I left Rossleigh before heading to work!!!  I stayed pretty busy while I was at work, so I only cried twice while I was there.  Yeahhhh, I know...I'm a wimp!  I just didn't want to leave her.  :(  It will get easier with time, I'm sure.

On top of leaving her for the first time, she had vaccinations at her 2 month checkup this morning (poor planning on my part). Cuddling my little one when she was fussy was not in the cards for today - for me, anyway.  THREE shots in her widdle wegs (that's "little legs" for those of you that don't speak babytalk) plus an oral vaccination.  Poor baby!  She's a little warrior though and she has the pink camo bandaids to prove it!!  LOL

It turns out that she is 10 lbs, 10 oz now, but hasn't grown a smidge in length!  So she's growing, but just in her tummy and cheekies!!  Little stinker!

TOMORROW - swallow function study!  Please pray that she is able to tolerate thinner fluids now.  We're praying for regular milk consistency so that she can finally take breast milk, but we'll even settle for half nectar consistency.  Even if she's still at the nectar stage, it's fine, but we're really hoping that she's had some muscle development and improvement in her throat. I'll give an update tomorrow with all the details of that!!  :)

Saturdays are for friends and family

The Deweys had a BUSY day yesterday!!  We went to a party for Mr. Brody - his 1st birthday, actually.  It was such a cute Dr. Seuss party for an adorable little man!  His mama, Amy, is one talented and creative lady!

Look at how PRECIOUS this sweet boy is while eating his cake!  I'm lovin' the Dr. Seuss hat!

Memorable picture with his mama and daddy!    And I loved the photo wall!!

 How adorable are these decorations!!  Too cute!  

Hanging out with her Daddy at the party.  That yellow sticker on her arm is a Grinch sticker!  Love it!

After we left the party (Miss Rossleigh missed her midday nap and was fussy), we headed over to Gigi and Pop's house.  She took a nap in her Gigi's arms and then played with Pops.  She took another little power nap and then ahem...woke up...to play with Pops.  I wished I had thought to take pics of her with Gigi...  :(

Took another power nap 

Pops is always trying to wake Rossleigh up!  LOL  He succeeded...again!

 What a cutie!!  Such a big girl, sitting up in the corner of the couch!

After we left her grandparents' house, we headed over to Mimi's house.  Lance has been into genealogy lately - particularly following the ROSS line (one of Rossleigh's namesakes).  Mimi is the keeper of the ancestry photos, letters, etc. and was nice enough to let us come over and take a look at things (plus she wanted some good holding time of her great grandbaby).

Rossleigh loves her Mimi!!

After a long day of missed naps (power naps don't really count), we headed home.  Lance and I had a fun time trying to get her to finally sleep for the night!  Whew!  It was a fun day filled with friends and family.  What's more important in life than that?

Looking back...

Sometimes it's hard to believe that Rossleigh is just 9 1/2 weeks old.  When I look back at everything that she's been through in her short little life, it just doesn't even seem real.  It feels like it was almost like a dream?  Fortunately (and unfortunately), I have pictures to remind me of how far she has come...

September 26th, 2012 (just shortly before noon) - Happiest day of my life!!  :)

First time I got to see her - about 10:00pm
the day she was born. It was a LONG day!

First family photo - taken the morning of her surgery (5 days old)

Post-surgery in PICU/recovery.  Swollen, but rockin' the bow!  ;)

Post-surgery...Love the expression on her face!

Happy little bean pod!

Daddy getting to REALLY hold her for the first time after surgery.
  

First time for Nana, Pops, and Gigi to get to hold Rossleigh.  Such happy, happy grandparents!

First time to be able to wear CLOTHES!!!  ;)

Sweet, smiley girl

No tubes or wires!  Last night in the hospital.  Praise the Lord!

Finally at home in my own bed!!  :)