Sarah lately

Sarah is at such a fun age!  We definitely have our share of "terrible two" moments, but mostly I think she's just discovering the boundaries and figure out how the world works.  I just wanted to give a random update on her life.

She has developed a huge sweet tooth, and her absolute favorite is ice cream.  She's really enjoying oranges and grapes for fruit.  She likes crackers, dipping her food into sauces, soup, and string cheese.  She really loves helping in the kitchen which is a lot of fun.  She specializes in dumping in ingredients, stirring, shaking spices, and taste testing.

She absolutely adores Mittens.  It's pretty cute, and Mittens puts up with it well.  Sarah will come home and declare, "I missed you baby Mittens!  I love you!"  Sarah made her a picture the other day and said, "I made this for you, Coco.  Do you like it?"  She enjoys brushing Mittens and giving her treats every day.  She gets sad that Mittens doesn't always want to participate in her ideas like taking a bath with her. haha!

Sarah has always enjoyed listening to books, but her interested has really increased lately.  She enjoys filling up her basket and checking out books at the library.  She enjoys curling up in someone's lap and reading a good book.  She's also started "reading" books by looking at the pictures and telling stories.

She enjoys art: coloring, painting, Play-Doh, , singing, playing her guitar and the piano.  She usually has a song to sing even if it's just, "I'm looking for my shoes.  Where are my shoes?"

She frequently comes up to us to say she loves us and that she wants to give us a hug or a kiss.  It's the absolute best!

She absolutely loves bath time and could stay in there for hours if I would let her.  She likes her foam letters, cups, bath Crayons, and bath baby so much.  She likes to go "swimming" in there, too.

She enjoys playing with Barbie's which must be hereditary because my mom and I both loved Barbie's.  They really hold her attention, and it's fun to see her imagination really soar.

Sarah is an extrovert and gets energized at play dates, playing with family members, and play with her friends (students at church).  She lights up with a group of friends and gets so silly.

She stays dry at nap time about 90% of the time, and we've started letting her wear underwear then.  Just have the night time diaper left! 

She went to the allergist recently.  In summary she's allergic to the whole world other than cats. ;)  Seriously though, she was allergic to everything except for three things: the two types of trees that we have and the one type of pet that we have.  Kinda cool, huh?  The doctor was great with Sarah, and we have a treatment plan to try to give her some relief.  She was very brave and a trooper!

Sarah's First Sickness

Remember when I said Sarah has never been sick?  Well, her first sickness was quite the initiation into parenting a sick baby!  On Thursday the three of us decided to go out to lunch at Dublin's Pass in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  When we got there Sarah started crying and wouldn't be satisfied with her pacifier, toys, or even a straw.  I thought maybe feeding her would take care of it.  I had formula but...no bottle!  Ugh.  Our house is only about 3 minutes away, so Robert and Sarah ran to the house while I waited for our food except that our food arrive 30 seconds after they left, so I went ahead and ate by myself, and Robert started on his cold food when he returned.  It really was tasty though.  While Robert ate I gave Sarah the bottle, but she really wasn't enjoying it and fell asleep after 2oz.  She slept for about 5 minutes, woke up, sat up, and exploded with barf all over the place!  She and I were both drenched, and the table, bench, and floor got hit, too.  It even managed to go across the table onto Robert.  After a second of being stunned I picked up Sarah and ran outside while Robert cleaned up and paid.  We got Sarah home, and Robert tucked in Sarah while I took a shower, and then he headed to the hospital for a work-related visit.  Sarah only napped for 30 minutes and then woke up crying.  I brought her into bed with me in hopes that she would go back to sleep, but instead she throw up in our bed.  I took her temp and it was about 100.  I started to get a bit concerned, but I knew my parents were going to be here at 1:00, so I knew I could hang on until they got here.  They were on spring break and wanted to spend the afternoon with us.

My mom snuggled with Sarah while Dad and Robert did some yard work.  They tore down the old vegetable garden and moved some pavers and concrete blocks.  They moved the pavers that were randomly in the back yard by the deck up to the front yard to go under the bench swing.

Dad and Robert ran to Lowe's to buy some lawn equipment, and when they returned Mom and I headed out to shop while the boys hung with Sarah.  We wanted to find an Easter dress for me and some white shoes for Sarah's baby dedication.  We went to the Uptown Boutique, and in the future I want to go back for some casual stuff, but there just wasn't anything that was Easter dress material.  We planned to go to Target to get some shoes for Sarah, but then we both realized we'd missed calls and texts from Dad telling us to call him ASAP.  I was scared!  I called and he said Sarah was shaky and we needed to come home.  We swung by Sonic to grab everybody dinner, and we also went to Walgreens to pick up some Pedialyte.  By the time we got home Sarah had thrown up again after they had tried to give her Tylenol.  Dad was snuggling her while we ate.  When Sarah woke up she perked up a bit and enjoyed playing with the four of us.  Mom and Dad left right before bed time, and we tucked Sarah in after a small 4oz bottle.  We expected her to wake up in the night since she hadn't had her normal 8oz.  She did wake up around 3am, and we fed her 4oz.  She slept til the morning and had a small puke stain in her crib when she woke up.  She still had a low fever of about 100 or 101.  Side note - we became expert rectal temperature takers during this sickness, a skill I never knew I'd need.

On Friday we hung around the house and cleaned up in preparation for Ray and Terri (aka Papa and Babi) to show up.  I called the pediatrician to tell them what had happened on Friday, and they said to just keep giving her Pedialyte and Tylenol.  The nurse said that as long as the fever was controlled by the Tylenol that things should be okay.  They got here in time for lunch, and they could tell Sarah just wasn't feeling like her normal smiley self.  She wasn't very interactive and didn't enjoy eating.  I tucked her in for her afternoon nap, and she woke up with a temp of 103.4.  I now realized that the fever wasn't being controlled by the Tylenol.  I called the pediatrician again, and since it was a Friday at 4:00 and they were closing for the weekend in an hour and Sarah's doctor wasn't even there that day they suggested going to pediatric urgent care.  I immediately got numb and tingly.  I walked in to the living room and told Robert we needed to pack up and head to UC.  I was terrified, but Ray and Terri agreed that it was the right decision.  Terri is a nurse, and I fully believe that God made sure she was here for all of this.  She was a blessing and very helpful during this as an experienced nurse and loving Babi to Sarah.

We got to UC care, and her temp was up to 104 by the time they triaged her.  The nurse gave her Ibuprofen (her first time ever to receive it), and she wasn't a fan of the orange taste.  We went back to the waiting room, and when we were called back we got the sweetest doctor named Dr. Raj.  He gave Sarah a physical exam (ears, tongue depressor down throat, stethoscope, etc.).  He didn't see anything wrong, so he said he wanted to test for a UTI.  He said that when there are no other symptoms but a high fever and vomiting there is an 8% chance of UTI in infants.  Have you ever wondered how non-potty trained babies provide a urine sample?  Through a CATHETER!  I had the displeasure of receiving a catheter after Sarah was born, so I knew this wouldn't be a great experience for her.  They cleaned the area three times, inserted the cath, and 30 seconds later it was over.  It actually wasn't that bad.  Next came the blood draw.  It was awful.  Imagine any horrific adjective and that's what this was.  Two female nurses came in and tied a tourniquet around her left bicep.  It was so tight and her arm turned purple.  The couldn't find a good vein.  Switched to right bicep.  Nothing.  Back to left bicep.  Two pricks and lots of digging but no blood.  Squeezed around wrists and ankles.  Nothing.  I asked them to stop and give her a break.  She had been crying, and we were trying to reassure her, but after that long you just rung out of comforting things to say.  She stopped crying and just looked up with  the saddest eyes which was even more pitiful than the crying.  They brought in two phlebotomists from the hospital lab to try again.  It took some time, but they got it with just one stick.  They were very nice, and complimented Sarah on her ravishingly beautiful good looks and blue eyes.  When they finished we fed Sarah and snuggled.

Dr. Raj informed us that she had a UTI and gave her an antibiotic shot in her left thigh.  We had to stick around for 20 minutes to make sure she didn't have an allergic reaction, and she took a bit of a nap.  She didn't have a reaction, and the CBC blood work showed elevated white blood cell counts which is normal during sickness.  They sent us home and told us to return the next day for a follow up.

Sarah was more interactive when we returned home.  I think having the fever more under control helped a lot.  She didn't have the best night's sleep ever, but that's totally allowed after you've been through the wringer like that!  Robert got up with her once just to snuggle and re-tuck.  I got up with her and gave her an outfit and diaper change as well as a bottle.  Robert remarked, "Sarah, Mommy and Daddy aren't used to waking up at 3am so this is really hard for us."  God, thank you that we aren't used to waking up at 3am!  I know that isn't the norm for all new parents.

She woke up without a fever on Saturday morning and we got ready to go to UC for the follow up.  I called beforehand just to make sure it wasn't packed and the receptionist said, "We're a walk-in clinic so I can't guarantee that 16 people won't walk in the door in the next minute."  Okay, duh, but could you just tell me if it's packed right now?  We got there and there was one other family waiting.  Another family came in with a girl about 5 years old and a boy about 2 years old.  The little girl came up and touched Sarah, and Robert pulled her away.  The girl's mom said, "Don't touch that baby!  She's sick!"  I don't know why, but this was funny and insulting to me.  While I was sitting there thinking that girl was gross and sick, the other mom was sitting there thinking the same about us.  We got called back, and Sarah didn't have a fever still.  Yay!  They gave her another antibiotic shot which I wasn't expecting as well as a prescription for an antibiotic and told us to pick up a probiotic.  We got both at the hospital pharmacy and headed home.  What do you know, Sarah wasn't a fan of the antibiotic.  We've figured out the most successful method which is to let her suck on the bottle a bit, give her half of the syringe, bottle, syringe, bottle.  It's a two person job.  The probiotic was supposedly tasteless and to be mixed into food.  It was bitter and gross, and Sarah wasn't having it.  The antibiotic made every single diaper have the most disgusting poop ever.  Yay.  My friend Emily suggested Florajen4Kids as an antibiotic that her baby likes.  Terri and Ray looked for it, but every CVS and Walgreens in town was sold out.  Walgreens overnighted some to be picked up the next day.  Sarah doesn't mind it one bit.  I'd recommend it to anyone with kids of any age needing a probiotic.

Anyway, Sarah did quite a bit better on Saturday and didn't have a fever or throw up.  One of the biggest bummers of this whole things was that Sarah was supposed to be dedicated at church this weekend.  That's why Ray and Terri were in town.  Saturday was supposed to be a family brunch, and then Sarah would be dedicated at the service on Sunday.  We made the sad but obvious decision to not attend Saturday, but since Sarah was doing so much better we went to the dedication on Sunday.  Thankfully almost everyone was able to come to the dedication on Sunday even though they had planned to come Saturday instead.  Ray and Mark, Gary and June, Mom and Dad, Jim and Taylor, and Ray and Terri were able to come.  Memaw and Pepaw couldn't come due to commitments at church, but we're planning to do a little something special with them on Easter.  I skipped Sunday school and only took Sarah up for the dedication and then left the service immediately.  She had a good nap, and then everyone else joined us at the house for lunch and celebrating.

The UC called that afternoon with the results of the blood culture and urine culture.  The blood culture showed no growth which was good, but the urine culture showed that the UTI had been caused by E. Coli.  I was terrified, but after doing some research I learned that everyone has E. Coli in their poop.  It's just that when it comes out and goes back up into the urethra it causes an infection, and then UTI's in children cause high fevers and vomiting.

Once everyone left Sarah took a nap and Robert headed back up to church for his evening activities.  Sarah woke up and played with Ray and Terri, and then they left to see Robert.  About 2 minutes after they left I discovered Sarah had a fever again, gave her Tylenol, and she had the biggest throw up ever.  Green beans + formula.  You can imagine it.  I text Terri and asked for Ibuprofen.  She picked some up and came to spend the evening with us while Ray and Robert were at church.  Sarah officially like Ibuprofen better than Tylenol.  Good to know.

Ray and Terri left early early early on Monday morning.  I called the pediatrician at 8:30 to request a follow up, and they got Sarah in at 9:00.  So thankful for that!  Dr. Toth reassured me that we hadn't done anything wrong.  It wasn't caused by pooping in the bath tub or using cloth diapers.  It's just something that happens when you are a little girl and wear diapers.  However, she was still concerned and wanted to do a renal ultrasound to rule out VUR or any concern with the kidneys.  This was the moment where I lost it and started crying.  I didn't have Robert there as my support system.  Sarah had already been through so much with the catheter and blood work.  It was a weak moment.  I'm glad that Dr. Toth has a baby just a month older than Sarah so that makes her more empathetic.  We got an ultrasound scheduled for 8:45 the next day at the diagnostic center.

Yesterday morning Mom came over after taking the day off, and the three of us took Sarah to her US.  Let me just tell you, this was the least traumatic test of the whole process!  She didn't cry once, and she just enjoyed looking at the US screen and playing with her duck.  I know this was an answer to prayer because no 7 month old should be that calm when a stranger is manipulating your body, your parents are holding you still, and you're having cold gel rubbed around on your stomach.  It took about 5 minutes, and then we headed home.  Robert went to work, and Mom watched Sarah while I got a hair cut.  I couldn't handle Sarah ripping out my hair any long.  I haven't gotten a regular place in town yet, so I just went to Supercuts.  I was a bit alarmed when I lady with blue hair called me back, but I was pleased with the results and we enjoyed talking about motherhood as she has a 9 month old son.

Because we didn't have enough going on (HA!) this seemed like a perfect time to start using Sarah's big girl car seat from Uncle Jim and Aunt Taylor.  Do you think she likes it?

When I got home we enjoyed lunch together and played some, and then Mom came with me to watch Sarah while I had a contact lens fitting.  Mom left from there, and Sarah and I went to have a Sonic drink with Robert.  Then Sarah and I went for a stroller ride with Madison and hung out with her at church for a bit.

Sarah will take the antibiotics for three more days, but she's been fever and throw up free since Sunday.  All of this was scary, and it was so sad to see Sarah in such discomfort, but we're thankful for God's healing and for modern medicine so she can make a full recovery.  It's made me even more empathetic for parents who have children with chronic illnesses and even more thankful that we have a strong baby who is usually healthy and happy.

Sickness and Appointment #5

Robert and I consider ourselves to have pretty good immune systems.  We've known each other for more than five years, and neither of us has had the flu in that time, and we've each only had a cold or two (minus the time I had mono!).  However, in March Robert caught a cold and passed it to me.  It was no fun, but it was still just your standard cold.  I blame my cold on Robert and my weakened pregnant immune system.  I was feeling back to normal until last Wednesday night.  I got home from church and realized I had developed a sore throat and threw up twice through the night.  I just knew I'd wake up the next morning with a cold.  I was right - stuffy/leaking nose, cough, tired.  I had a super low-grade fever of 99.6.  I considered it to be fairly good timing because I had my fifth OBGYN appointment the next day and decided to just mention the cold while I was there.

The appointment went well.  Baby girl's heart rate has slowed down a bit and is now 150 bpm.  My blood pressure and pulse are good.  Everything was good.  I mentioned my cold, and the doctor wasn't concerned at all.  I checked out and made my next appointment.  That'll be the big kahuna: another ultrasound, appointment with the doctor, glucose test with blood work, and a TDAP vaccine.

I felt pretty much the same on Saturday and Sunday, but then on Monday I felt so much worse.  Robert said my cough was "scary" and actually jumped once when I coughed.  I didn't sleep well and woke up several times to blow my nose and hack up a lung.  I woke up with super gross gunk in my lashes and very red eyes.

About halfway through Monday my right ear got clogged up, I couldn't hear well, and it felt like my ear had a little knife in it.  I self-diagnosed myself with an ear infection, took Tylenol, put a hot pack on my head, and decided to call the doctor on Monday morning.  Apparently my OBGYN doesn't take sick patients, and I don't have a primary care physicians here since I've just been going to the OBGYN every four weeks, so to urgent care we went.  I made the remark to Robert that if you didn't come to urgent care with some sort of horrible illness you were bound to have one by the time you left.  Two people wore masks, one lady was laying on the chair with a pillow, and another person was wheeled in in a wheelchair.  Once I got to the exam room the doctor only needed about two minutes to diagnose me with an upper respiratory infection, ear infection, and ruptured ear drum.  While that was awful, it was nice to get a speedy diagnosis that coincided with what I suspected.  According to my mom, I had a ruptured ear drum when I was little as well.  Man, it's not fun.  Got a prescription for an antibiotic as well as ear drops, and within 24 hours I started feeling significantly better.

While I'm writing about illness, I have to tell you about Mittens' sickness.  I can't decide which is worse - being sick yourself or having your pet who can't speak be sick.  If you don't have pets or are a cat hater, feel free to stop reading here.  As a side note, if you are a cat hater, Mittens will convert you!  Anyway, last Sunday night I noticed Mittens going to her litter box every five minutes without success.  She'd hop in, try, kick around the litter, get out, and return five minutes later.  I knew something was wrong.  Then on Monday I realized it'd been 24 since she had a BM which is very unlike her.  I also realized that she'd thrown up a bit through the night.  She was crying a lot, and let me just tell you, this confirmed that her crying for food isn't nearly as desperate as I thought it was.  Her real "I'm in pain" crying was infinitely more pitiful.  Mittens slept on Roberts chest for more than two hours one of these nights which she's never done in her entire life.  We thought it was cute, but as I put two and two together I began to realize that she did this because she wasn't feeling well.  Of course, Robert took it as a sign that she finally likes him.  Doubtful. ;)

So sleepy!

We don't have a vet here locally yet, but I found a place online that was able to see her on Tuesday so we went for it.  The appointment was at 5:00, so we had to wait all day.  She was so lethargic and pitiful.  Sure, she always sleeps a lot, but her sleeping posture was different.  It was more like collapsing than snuggling in for a nap.  She didn't want to play or be brushed which is so uncharacteristic.  Thankfully, she was still eating and drinking normally.  We got her to the vet.  Putting her in her carrier and driving with her is basically the worst and traumatic for all.  The vet was very nice.  Mittens was in a cat-specific exam room.  She loves the high window with the big ledge.  It definitely made her feel safer while she got acclimated.  The vet handles her and examined her little body.  He confirmed that her colon felt good.  She ended up peeing on the exam table which was actually perfect because he just did a urine sample right there and was able to determine that she had a lower urinary tract infection with blood in her urine.  A kitty cat UTI.  How pitiful is that?  He said that the constipation was a side effect of the UTI.  He gave her an antibiotic shot in her upper back and gave her a prescription to relax her digestive system so everything could pass easier.  We had her trim her nails while he was at it.  He made it look so easy.

Scoping out the place

Anyway, Robert went out to the car with her while I paid.  When I got in the car Robert had felt bad for her and was letting her walk around the car instead of staying in her carrier.  I knew just how bad he felt for her because I've asked him before if we could do this and he said no.  Mittens loved it.  So much so that she wiggled herself under my chair and wouldn't come out.  When we got back to the townhouse Robert tried to pull her out by her collar, but now that she's lost one pound on her diet and we haven't adjusted her collar that stinking thing slid right off.  Thankfully, she came out very quickly after that, and it was the perfect time to wash and adjust her collar.  She was sleepy when we came home and lounged even more than usual for about two days.  I know that's because of the shot and pills.

Her new "spot."  I don't love that she sits on the table, but at least her blanky is on top of it, and it's better than her old spot of the back of the chair.

We were to give her a pill at each meal, and she took it so easily for the first two days.  After that, she started to feel better and stopped taking it.  The doctor said that was fine but to still just put one out in the food bowl at each meal until the prescription was empty.  She's so funny!  The princess can't just not eat it.  She has to flick it out of her food bowl as if to declare, "I can't have that in my presence!"

Finally sitting up again

So when we were at the vet on Tuesday he said to come back on Friday if her litter box habits still hadn't returned to normal.  On Thursday morning things hadn't improved so I called to set up the appointment for the next day.  Thank heavens, the needy thing surprised us Thursday and all was well.  She's doing so much better now.  It was awful.  I know she's "just a cat," but with a human you can explain how you feel and what hurts, but you just can't do that with your bed.  Robert said it was good preparation for a sick baby who can't speak yet.  I'd agree.

Sick

Being sick is no fun.  Shocking.  It started Wednesday evening and has carried on to the present.  I'll spare you the details, but the throw up tally is at 12 currently.  I think the worst of it is over.  Now I'm tired and achy all over.  I took a four hour nap yesterday and slept for 12 hours last night which helped.  I've lost 4.4 pounds so far.  Crazy!

I've been thinking about my first summer job lately since it's summer break now.  For two summers in a row I worked 40 hours a week in the SBU physical plant office.  The second summer I got to work with my dear friend Leigha.  Here are a few photos to reminisce:

So mature

Doing the dishes

Watering the bushes

Hopping on the trash with a blown up trash bag under my shirt of course

With our dads :)