The update twice a month goal. I will try harder next month. It seems like we've been really busy, although I can't remember specific things we have done. I think I will try a list approach this time.
Bennett
1) He has been getting speech therapy every week for about a month now. The therapist is really in his face and it is taking him some time to get used to it. She will do things like take his blanket and say "mine" and then wait for 10 seconds hoping he will also say it. That was one of those things I was trying to avoid, but he has such an emotional reaction to it, that the approach might be a good one. I heard him use the "m" this week when she did it. It's frustrating to keep going without much noticeable improvement. We just need to remind ourselves that it is a long-term goal.
2) Feeding therapy/OT will begin this week.
3) Bennett is such a love bug lately. He still loves to snuggle, hug, and read books.
4) We watched my aunt and uncle's guinea pig this week. Bugsey was a hit with Bennett. He spent a lot of time watching and wanting to feed her.
5) He has been loving long showers just like his mom. He would sit in there until the water got cold if we let him.
6) Still obsessed with the laundry and anything that moves in a circle. The new loves of his life are power lines. We search for them every day when we are in the car.
Vivian
1) Rolls easily both directions off of her tummy. Can roll onto her right side, and almost to her tummy.
2) She grabs absolutely everything. I forgot how razor sharp those little baby nails can be!
3) She seems very interested in eating. I let her mouth my banana or apple some days, but still hope to hold out on the solids for a few more weeks. She was five months old yesterday.
4) Sleep continues to be difficult. She is now out of the pack and play and into the crib about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time she is in bed with me, so I can you know, get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. Naps last 20-30 minutes. I knew she was going to be a challenge because Bennett was always a pretty good sleeper. Karma just works that way it seems. Maybe that will work out into Vivian being a better eater? I will hope.
5) Her personality is shining through. Vivian smiles easy but laughter is a real challenge. In fact, I have yet to hear that first belly laugh. She is a bit of a drama queen and is not afraid to let me know when she doesn't like something.
General Life Stuff
1) Melanie's quick visit was a good time. We did a little shopping, eating, and zoo-going. It was nice to spend longer than an hour our two with them for once.
2) Bernie's parents will be back through in April. My mother plans to come out again as well.
3) I bought our onions already! The garden should be up and running in the next 5-6 weeks.
4) The run is progressing (we have raised $3900 as of tonight), although I have run out of steam for the moment. I need to regain some motivation...we only have one cash sponsor and I am really hoping to get at least a few more. I have a co-coordinator now and she is fund-raising crazy so that helps. I am super pissed that my MFM group didn't sponsor. They deal with PE every day and couldn't be bothered to even send $50. Never mind how much money they made off of Bennett's birth and Vivian's pregnancy.
5) The mini-van is coming. I will probably be driving it the first or second week in April. No making fun.
6) It's spring!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
What is happening
Vivian had her four month appointment yesterday. All was well with her stats: 14 lbs. 11 oz. and 24 3/4 inches, all in the 75th percentile. Her doctor encouraged us to start solids at five months, but I'm undecided about it at the moment. I think it will more likely be around six months. We are gravitating towards a daytime sleeping schedule that is not at all rigid. She usually sleeps until 8:30am or so (after being awake multiple times at night), naps for 30 minutes during our daily outing, and then takes a longer nap in two spans while Bennett sleeps in the afternoon. Then she needs another 30 minutes or so before dinner and is usually out for the night by 7:30. I wake her to eat again before I go to be between 9 and 10. It doesn't seem that she is even close to sleeping through the night, although I don't really expect her to at this point anyway. She sleeps much better at night when swaddled, but she is old enough now that we are trying to wean it. This has led to very frequent waking that we are going to have to tough out. Her room will hopefully be ready in the next few weeks and we can begin that transition.
Speaking of transitions, Bennett has been going through a couple of his own recently. He is in his big boy bed all the time now with little trouble. We just left it in his room until he was ready to go in it himself, which only took a couple of weeks. He absolutely loves it and jumps in whenever he is in his room. He hasn't gotten out of bed yet, which probably has something to do with the darkness of his room. We haven't had to introduce a night light yet, so he can't see anything to get up for. He is also out of the highchair and we are all eating meals at the actual dining room table. That one was very easy...it just took awhile for me to get his seat ready. I suppose potty training will be the next transition. I don't think we are even remotely close to that.
Bennett will be getting speech, feeding, and play therapy which will hopefully start this or next week. I got a call asking about our insurance on Friday so I know things are in the works.
Wow! Exciting kid talk.
In more exciting news, Melanie and Gwendolyn are coming to visit in the middle of March. They will stay with us for two nights and with Melissa for two nights. I'm very excited to have them! It's always nice to have guests to break up what can be a boring routine some days.
Bernie is getting his truck ready to sell this week. We are going to become a mini van family in the very near future. It's a little bit sick, but I'm excited. It will be nice not to cram all of our crap in the Prius with the dog for traveling. Our road trip up north should be a lot more comfortable this year.
I suppose I should update on the Missoula job situation. About a week after Bernie applied, he checked on his application. Apparently it did not get forwarded to the Missoula office because he did not sent in a piece of paperwork proving that he works for the government (seriously?). He had never sent this in when applying for a job before and it had never been an issue, but this time it was. Since the application deadline had passed, he was unable to turn it in and was deemed ineligible. We were disappointed to say the least, but it turned out fine in the end. After the selection was made (someone from the Missoula office got the job), Bernie talked with the boss there and got feedback on his application. He wouldn't have gotten the job or an interview, but wasn't far off. So we got all that we would have if the application had gone through and Bernie will be able to make his resume that much better for the next opening-wherever that might be.
Oh, and spring is coming! We don't have it nearly as bad as you Montana people do, but I'm very ready anyway. Parks, walks, and regular play in the back yard...here we come.
Speaking of transitions, Bennett has been going through a couple of his own recently. He is in his big boy bed all the time now with little trouble. We just left it in his room until he was ready to go in it himself, which only took a couple of weeks. He absolutely loves it and jumps in whenever he is in his room. He hasn't gotten out of bed yet, which probably has something to do with the darkness of his room. We haven't had to introduce a night light yet, so he can't see anything to get up for. He is also out of the highchair and we are all eating meals at the actual dining room table. That one was very easy...it just took awhile for me to get his seat ready. I suppose potty training will be the next transition. I don't think we are even remotely close to that.
Bennett will be getting speech, feeding, and play therapy which will hopefully start this or next week. I got a call asking about our insurance on Friday so I know things are in the works.
Wow! Exciting kid talk.
In more exciting news, Melanie and Gwendolyn are coming to visit in the middle of March. They will stay with us for two nights and with Melissa for two nights. I'm very excited to have them! It's always nice to have guests to break up what can be a boring routine some days.
Bernie is getting his truck ready to sell this week. We are going to become a mini van family in the very near future. It's a little bit sick, but I'm excited. It will be nice not to cram all of our crap in the Prius with the dog for traveling. Our road trip up north should be a lot more comfortable this year.
I suppose I should update on the Missoula job situation. About a week after Bernie applied, he checked on his application. Apparently it did not get forwarded to the Missoula office because he did not sent in a piece of paperwork proving that he works for the government (seriously?). He had never sent this in when applying for a job before and it had never been an issue, but this time it was. Since the application deadline had passed, he was unable to turn it in and was deemed ineligible. We were disappointed to say the least, but it turned out fine in the end. After the selection was made (someone from the Missoula office got the job), Bernie talked with the boss there and got feedback on his application. He wouldn't have gotten the job or an interview, but wasn't far off. So we got all that we would have if the application had gone through and Bernie will be able to make his resume that much better for the next opening-wherever that might be.
Oh, and spring is coming! We don't have it nearly as bad as you Montana people do, but I'm very ready anyway. Parks, walks, and regular play in the back yard...here we come.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Sigh
We have been having a rough week around the Meier household. Everyone has been sick with a nasty head cold/upper respiratory. Bennett had a high fever for a couple of days followed by the hacking and snot factory. Bernie had a milder version. Vivian and I were last but were both miserable for a few days. Both kids ended up at the doctor just to be sure it was nothing serious. Bennett and Bernie are basically better. Vivian and I are still recovering. I felt the worst for her. She's so little and helpless. Hearing those racking coughs and hoarse voice were almost enough to drive a mommy over the edge. She even puked up what little food she had in her belly a few times after a coughing fit. I rented a damn pump and everything so my supply wouldn't dip while she was busy eating hardly anything and I was getting plugged ducts.
Blah. But now we are feeling better and I really really really hope we can avoid having anyone sick for even a week or so.
And then there was Bennett's speech eval. We were referred to Colorado's early intervention program because he will likely qualify for free services due to him being significantly speech delayed. Vivian and I felt like crap, and it had just snowed a bunch, and it was cold, and can I complain a bit more about it? Anyway, we went into a room with lots of toys so they could do the eval while watching Bennett play. There was a speech pathologist, a social worker, and a psychologist (and a physical therapist about halfway through). They were asking us questions from every direction. These were questions I really could have used some time to answer. Keep in mind that I had to fill out a huge written evaluation before the meeting. Why can't you include these questions in the paperwork so we can think about it a bit? Grrr...
Vivian was absolutely pitiful and whined a hoarse whine the whole time. I was overheated and overwhelmed. I actually told Bernie that I felt like checking into the psych ward for a few days after the evaluation. I'm feeling much better today, but that was tough.
It seems that Bennett's speech delay is bleeding into other areas of his development, most importantly, his play. He doesn't seem to have much imagination or pretend play yet. Instead he is very cause and effect oriented and seems to have some compulsive behavior (must "drive" everything he picks up). So, he will be getting speech therapy as well as sessions with a feeding specialist (his eating habits are very texturally controlled). They mentioned another kind of therapy that I can't remember.
So this is all very difficult. Just when you think your preemie may have come away unscathed, they don't. I just hope we can get things back on track.
Blah. But now we are feeling better and I really really really hope we can avoid having anyone sick for even a week or so.
And then there was Bennett's speech eval. We were referred to Colorado's early intervention program because he will likely qualify for free services due to him being significantly speech delayed. Vivian and I felt like crap, and it had just snowed a bunch, and it was cold, and can I complain a bit more about it? Anyway, we went into a room with lots of toys so they could do the eval while watching Bennett play. There was a speech pathologist, a social worker, and a psychologist (and a physical therapist about halfway through). They were asking us questions from every direction. These were questions I really could have used some time to answer. Keep in mind that I had to fill out a huge written evaluation before the meeting. Why can't you include these questions in the paperwork so we can think about it a bit? Grrr...
Vivian was absolutely pitiful and whined a hoarse whine the whole time. I was overheated and overwhelmed. I actually told Bernie that I felt like checking into the psych ward for a few days after the evaluation. I'm feeling much better today, but that was tough.
It seems that Bennett's speech delay is bleeding into other areas of his development, most importantly, his play. He doesn't seem to have much imagination or pretend play yet. Instead he is very cause and effect oriented and seems to have some compulsive behavior (must "drive" everything he picks up). So, he will be getting speech therapy as well as sessions with a feeding specialist (his eating habits are very texturally controlled). They mentioned another kind of therapy that I can't remember.
So this is all very difficult. Just when you think your preemie may have come away unscathed, they don't. I just hope we can get things back on track.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Lesson learned the hard way...
We got back from our 10 day trip to Phoenix on Thursday. On Friday, I decided it was time to get the pictures off of my camera and update the Flickr page. As soon as they were finished transferring off the camera Iphoto closed. And then it wouldn't open. It just kept coming up with an error message telling me that I needed to restore from backup. I have over 2500 photos on that program. I started to go into panic mode because I haven't backed up my computer since the middle of October. I spent most of the day trying to figure out what to do since all of Vivian's pictures have been taken after the back-up. In the end, I did have to restore to the October version of Iphoto. For some reason my computer kept all the pictures from the Phoenix (some fine, others very fuzzy for some reason) trip but all the others are gone. Granted, I have a decent number on Flickr, but I'm heartbroken that the rest of Vivian's pictures up to this point have vanished into computer limbo.
On to my question for all of the computer genius people that read this blog. I want to get the photos I have uploaded to Flickr back into Iphoto. When I try to just drop them in, they are not very good quality. Any advice on how to make this work?
I now vow to back-up my computer every time I upload new pictures. And I might not ever erase another memory card.
Enough dwelling on the depressing photo issue. Our trip to Phoenix was great. I'm glad we went for longer than the week trip this year as two days are spent mostly in travel mode. Both of the kids were so amazing on the plane. I was seriously psyched up to have the most awful experience. We got compliments from people around us about how pleasant the flight was sitting near two small children. We didn't even have to go through many snacks. Vivian is generally quite happy, especially if someone is holding and talking to her. And Bennett seemed to be in a comfort zone while in his car seat. The Mickey Mouse DVD's certainly didn't hurt.
We spent most of the trip at my SIL Crystal's house. She was there with her two kids and my mom stayed with Bernie's parents. Many margaritas were consumed. Many many Patron margaritas. Bernie got to go golfing a couple of times and lost some money at the casino. I did a little shopping. We didn't get out to eat much at all because my mother is anti eating in a restaurant.
Bennett had a difficult time with all of the chaos going on around him. His cousins are two and five and FULL of energy. Those two run around screaming and playing most of the day. He did not have much interest in running with the pack and mostly clung to Bernie or I. He would play near them only if one of us was with him. He is going through some kind of phase where he wants one of us with him to do everything. I'm sure it has something to do with Vivian. I just hope it's now some larger social issue. Still hardly any understandable talking. A mother can't help but worry. Hopefully the speech therapist will be able to help.
Now I have laundry in the dryer from yesterday to fold and a diaper blowout mess to clean up. Come on, I know you're jealous.
On to my question for all of the computer genius people that read this blog. I want to get the photos I have uploaded to Flickr back into Iphoto. When I try to just drop them in, they are not very good quality. Any advice on how to make this work?
I now vow to back-up my computer every time I upload new pictures. And I might not ever erase another memory card.
Enough dwelling on the depressing photo issue. Our trip to Phoenix was great. I'm glad we went for longer than the week trip this year as two days are spent mostly in travel mode. Both of the kids were so amazing on the plane. I was seriously psyched up to have the most awful experience. We got compliments from people around us about how pleasant the flight was sitting near two small children. We didn't even have to go through many snacks. Vivian is generally quite happy, especially if someone is holding and talking to her. And Bennett seemed to be in a comfort zone while in his car seat. The Mickey Mouse DVD's certainly didn't hurt.
We spent most of the trip at my SIL Crystal's house. She was there with her two kids and my mom stayed with Bernie's parents. Many margaritas were consumed. Many many Patron margaritas. Bernie got to go golfing a couple of times and lost some money at the casino. I did a little shopping. We didn't get out to eat much at all because my mother is anti eating in a restaurant.
Bennett had a difficult time with all of the chaos going on around him. His cousins are two and five and FULL of energy. Those two run around screaming and playing most of the day. He did not have much interest in running with the pack and mostly clung to Bernie or I. He would play near them only if one of us was with him. He is going through some kind of phase where he wants one of us with him to do everything. I'm sure it has something to do with Vivian. I just hope it's now some larger social issue. Still hardly any understandable talking. A mother can't help but worry. Hopefully the speech therapist will be able to help.
Now I have laundry in the dryer from yesterday to fold and a diaper blowout mess to clean up. Come on, I know you're jealous.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Twice a month
That's my goal for blogging. If I can update twice a month, I will be happy. It's always on my mind, but never the primary thing that needs to be accomplished. We'll see if it's a realistic goal. Judging by the date of my last post, probably not.
We are headed to Phoenix on Saturday for almost two weeks. Bernie's entire family will be there (minus the brother-in-law) and so will my mom. It should make for an interesting group of people, especially with my mother in attendance. I don't think we have any really exciting plans. I would like to get up to Flagstaff since there is a weather service office there...need to check out possible future locations after all. Speaking of weather service jobs, one of Missoula's management positions is coming open. I'm 95% sure Bernie is going to apply, and we're also 99% sure he won't get it. But it will be good for him to keep his resume up to date. We hope he at least gets an interview so we know how close (or not) he is to a promotion.
Vivian had her two month MD visit over two weeks ago now. Everything looked great. Last week at the weigh in I take her to she was 12 lbs. 11 oz. I looked back at Bennett's adjusted growth and they are fairly close. We'll see if Vivian keeps up with him.
I need need need to get some exercise in my days when we get back from Phoenix. I think I will try some stroller strides with just Vivian when Bernie has days off during the week. I enjoyed that with Bennett. And maybe some Wii fit if I can find a game that gives a decent work out. The one it comes with is a joke.
Whoever said breastfeeding takes the weight off is a dirty liar. I keep waiting, but the scale never goes down.
We took Bennett for his speech eval last week and were not surprised by the results. She felt he was "significantly delayed" and needs to have therapy. In fact, she thinks he will qualify for free therapy through the school district because he is likely below the 8th percentile in his speech. So we have an appointment set up for that when we get home. If he does qualify, they will come to the house until he is three and then he can get therapy in the pre-school in our district. It hurt a bit to hear that, but I'm glad we are going to get some help with it. They may be able to help us out with some issues that seem sensory as well (especially his eating habits).
I am in the thick of organizing the preeclampsia walk. It is quite the undertaking. We're hoping to raise $10,000. To that end, I am compiling lists of sponsors and sending out the letters. Then we need a route map, mileage chips, portable toilets, trash cans, entertainment, food, etc. The list seems endless at the moment. We did get a great location at a park in downtown Denver, so that big part is out of the way. I'm really excited to have the opportunity to do this.
The winter is long. Even though the weather hasn't been too bad, I will be excited for spring and getting outside with the kids more.
We are headed to Phoenix on Saturday for almost two weeks. Bernie's entire family will be there (minus the brother-in-law) and so will my mom. It should make for an interesting group of people, especially with my mother in attendance. I don't think we have any really exciting plans. I would like to get up to Flagstaff since there is a weather service office there...need to check out possible future locations after all. Speaking of weather service jobs, one of Missoula's management positions is coming open. I'm 95% sure Bernie is going to apply, and we're also 99% sure he won't get it. But it will be good for him to keep his resume up to date. We hope he at least gets an interview so we know how close (or not) he is to a promotion.
Vivian had her two month MD visit over two weeks ago now. Everything looked great. Last week at the weigh in I take her to she was 12 lbs. 11 oz. I looked back at Bennett's adjusted growth and they are fairly close. We'll see if Vivian keeps up with him.
I need need need to get some exercise in my days when we get back from Phoenix. I think I will try some stroller strides with just Vivian when Bernie has days off during the week. I enjoyed that with Bennett. And maybe some Wii fit if I can find a game that gives a decent work out. The one it comes with is a joke.
Whoever said breastfeeding takes the weight off is a dirty liar. I keep waiting, but the scale never goes down.
We took Bennett for his speech eval last week and were not surprised by the results. She felt he was "significantly delayed" and needs to have therapy. In fact, she thinks he will qualify for free therapy through the school district because he is likely below the 8th percentile in his speech. So we have an appointment set up for that when we get home. If he does qualify, they will come to the house until he is three and then he can get therapy in the pre-school in our district. It hurt a bit to hear that, but I'm glad we are going to get some help with it. They may be able to help us out with some issues that seem sensory as well (especially his eating habits).
I am in the thick of organizing the preeclampsia walk. It is quite the undertaking. We're hoping to raise $10,000. To that end, I am compiling lists of sponsors and sending out the letters. Then we need a route map, mileage chips, portable toilets, trash cans, entertainment, food, etc. The list seems endless at the moment. We did get a great location at a park in downtown Denver, so that big part is out of the way. I'm really excited to have the opportunity to do this.
The winter is long. Even though the weather hasn't been too bad, I will be excited for spring and getting outside with the kids more.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Home rambling
I thought I should write about how it's going at our house now that we are living in the land of two kids. Generally, daily life is going better than I had imagined. I had myself prepared for a more difficult time than has been the reality. Bennett is adjusting to Vivian's presence. He spends a lot of time pointing, waving, and yelling gibberish at her. He must kiss her 20 times every day. He also tries to rock her much to hard in the bouncy chair and removes her socks constantly. He has only tried to push her away from me once. There are moments of obvious jealousy. Sometimes, he tries to get me to go with him while I'm feeding Vivian. Other times, his mood just deteriorates and meltdowns follow. But, he's two as well, so it's difficult to attribute where these fits come from.
It would make our lives much easier if Bennett could communicate more clearly. He barely says any understandable words at all, instead making his needs known by shaking his head and pointing. We had his two year appointment last week and his pediatrician wants to do a speech eval just to be on the safe side. So I'm working on getting that set up in the next couple of weeks. Bennett's two year stats were: 30 lbs 8 oz and 34 1/4 inches. Both are in the 75th percentile. It's amazing to imagine him being completely off the charts and now almost at the top!
Vivian is doing very well. She hasn't had any formula and is a very efficient nurser. I was worried about her in the beginning because she eats for very short periods of time. Like 5-8 minutes a feeding and then she's done for 1-3 hours during the day. I kept hearing that babies nurse for 20-30 minutes. She's been gaining weight nicely (11 lbs. 8 oz. today), but a mom still worries. I went to see the lactation consultant last week and we did a feed and weigh session. Vivian nursed from one side for five minutes and the other side for two. She took in 5 1/2 oz in that time. So I don't worry anymore...I just consider her a champion eater! Our nights have been getting easier. She sleeps 4-6 hours the first stretch and 2-3 the second. I definitely can't complain about that.
Vivian is a really sweet baby. Her demeanor is mostly calm. She rarely cries for more than a couple of seconds and is easy to calm. She loves to look at Mom and Dad and has begun smiling in the past week. Today she was talking up a storm. It might be cliche, but she is really a joyful addition to our family. She does hate the car seat and lets you know it for the first few minutes.
Bernie has to work on Christmas. We are going to do our celebration on Christmas Eve with some of my mom friends, their spouses, and kids. We are doing a potluck and I am looking forward to it. They have really become like my family here in Longmont.
The in-laws are coming through on their way to Phoenix at the end of the month. Then we are heading to Phoenix on Jan 15th for a 10 day vacation. It sounds like Bernie's entire family will be there. My mom is coming as well, so it should be a wild time. Hopefully, we can squeeze in a round of golf. I've been having withdrawals lately.
Hope everyone has a great holiday.
It would make our lives much easier if Bennett could communicate more clearly. He barely says any understandable words at all, instead making his needs known by shaking his head and pointing. We had his two year appointment last week and his pediatrician wants to do a speech eval just to be on the safe side. So I'm working on getting that set up in the next couple of weeks. Bennett's two year stats were: 30 lbs 8 oz and 34 1/4 inches. Both are in the 75th percentile. It's amazing to imagine him being completely off the charts and now almost at the top!
Vivian is doing very well. She hasn't had any formula and is a very efficient nurser. I was worried about her in the beginning because she eats for very short periods of time. Like 5-8 minutes a feeding and then she's done for 1-3 hours during the day. I kept hearing that babies nurse for 20-30 minutes. She's been gaining weight nicely (11 lbs. 8 oz. today), but a mom still worries. I went to see the lactation consultant last week and we did a feed and weigh session. Vivian nursed from one side for five minutes and the other side for two. She took in 5 1/2 oz in that time. So I don't worry anymore...I just consider her a champion eater! Our nights have been getting easier. She sleeps 4-6 hours the first stretch and 2-3 the second. I definitely can't complain about that.
Vivian is a really sweet baby. Her demeanor is mostly calm. She rarely cries for more than a couple of seconds and is easy to calm. She loves to look at Mom and Dad and has begun smiling in the past week. Today she was talking up a storm. It might be cliche, but she is really a joyful addition to our family. She does hate the car seat and lets you know it for the first few minutes.
Bernie has to work on Christmas. We are going to do our celebration on Christmas Eve with some of my mom friends, their spouses, and kids. We are doing a potluck and I am looking forward to it. They have really become like my family here in Longmont.
The in-laws are coming through on their way to Phoenix at the end of the month. Then we are heading to Phoenix on Jan 15th for a 10 day vacation. It sounds like Bernie's entire family will be there. My mom is coming as well, so it should be a wild time. Hopefully, we can squeeze in a round of golf. I've been having withdrawals lately.
Hope everyone has a great holiday.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Vivian's Ordeal
Vivian's birth was mellow, but her first week of life was scary. Maybe even more scary than Bennett's, it's difficult to say in hindsight.
We left the hospital Saturday and had a couple of non-eventful days with lots of help from family at home. Vivian seemed to be doing well. When I nursed her on Saturday and Sunday, I would have my hand behind her head. I kept feeling a set of bumps and told myself that I would look at them when we were done. And I kept forgetting. I did remember to show them to the doctor on Monday and that's where the fun began. There was a cluster of fluid filled blister-looking things on the back of her head (I would say there were 5-7 of them). They varied in size from the size of a crayon tip to as big as a dime. Her doctor looked/felt at them for some time and then left the room for even longer. When he came back, he very seriously told us that she needed to admitted to the hospital right away because the blisters could possibly be a herpes infection. I of course started crying almost immediately. It was unbelievable what another one of my babies was going to have to spend time in the hospital.
We went across the street and began the process of admission. I began to realize how serious the situation was when Vivian's doctor explained the myriad of tests he was going to run and that she would need to stay at least a week. She had to be on IV antiviral drugs and fluids the entire time. So yeah, our 4 day old baby had an IV in her hand. Poor baby girl. Give breastfeeding a try with that thing in the way. She had cultures done to her eyes, nose, mouth, as well as the actual blisters. She had blood drawn for a culture and to check her liver function. The worst was the spinal tap. We weren't in the room for any of these tests...I'm not sure if I would have ever been able to get the images out of my head. When a newborn has herpes, it can quickly affect the entire system, which was why so many tests needed to be ran. It was important to see how far the infection has gone. Most of the tests were supposed to come back within a couple of days, but the most important one (the culture of the actual blisters) would take a week. That test would definitively say whether it was herpes or not while all the others would just let us know how far things had spread if they had.
On top of all of this, Vivian was significantly jaundiced, so she had to be under the lights the whole time she was there. She stayed on the pediatric floor and not the NICU. I got to stay with her the entire time and didn't leave the room for more than a moment to fill my water cup.
Some of the test results came back Tuesday. They showed her liver function to be normal and the cultures of her ears, eyes, etc. were fine. On Wednesday, her doctor let us know that the blood culture was negative and that Vivian actually had herpes antibodies floating around in her blood (likely from me since I get cold sores). This was a good thing. The most important thing was that she was not acting at all sick. Babies with herpes apparently become very ill. After discussing Vivian's situation with specialists at Children's Hospital, her doctor surprised us by letting us go home Wednesday as all signs pointed to no herpes infection. We would know Monday for certain when the cultures came back. The doctor was confident there was really nothing wrong.
We took Vivian home and nervously watched her until the next week rolled around. She was fine. She never acted sick (except for the little cold she caught from all of us). She ate well and gained weight. Monday and Tuesday passed with no word. On Wednesday I called her doctor and received some annoying (read infuriating) news. Somehow the culture of the blisters had never been sent. Later we found out that the nurse on the floor had accidentally forgotten to enter the order for it to be sent out. Woops. Now we will never know for 100% certain that it wasn't herpes. But if it was, Vivian would be very ill or dead by now, so we are as close to 100% sure as possible.
I feel guilty for how Bennett must have felt during this whole ordeal. He had his grandma's and his papa, but he must have felt like we abandoned him twice in one week.
I did not know exactly how serious a herpes infection in a newborn could be. I avoided any internet doctoring until after Vivian came home. Google it yourself if interested...it is really scary. These kinds of infections have serious consequences from mental retardation to death, often regardless of treatment. So, it made sense that Vivian's doctor would treat if there was even a remote possibility of a herpes infection. But Jesus, can our babies catch a break??
We left the hospital Saturday and had a couple of non-eventful days with lots of help from family at home. Vivian seemed to be doing well. When I nursed her on Saturday and Sunday, I would have my hand behind her head. I kept feeling a set of bumps and told myself that I would look at them when we were done. And I kept forgetting. I did remember to show them to the doctor on Monday and that's where the fun began. There was a cluster of fluid filled blister-looking things on the back of her head (I would say there were 5-7 of them). They varied in size from the size of a crayon tip to as big as a dime. Her doctor looked/felt at them for some time and then left the room for even longer. When he came back, he very seriously told us that she needed to admitted to the hospital right away because the blisters could possibly be a herpes infection. I of course started crying almost immediately. It was unbelievable what another one of my babies was going to have to spend time in the hospital.
We went across the street and began the process of admission. I began to realize how serious the situation was when Vivian's doctor explained the myriad of tests he was going to run and that she would need to stay at least a week. She had to be on IV antiviral drugs and fluids the entire time. So yeah, our 4 day old baby had an IV in her hand. Poor baby girl. Give breastfeeding a try with that thing in the way. She had cultures done to her eyes, nose, mouth, as well as the actual blisters. She had blood drawn for a culture and to check her liver function. The worst was the spinal tap. We weren't in the room for any of these tests...I'm not sure if I would have ever been able to get the images out of my head. When a newborn has herpes, it can quickly affect the entire system, which was why so many tests needed to be ran. It was important to see how far the infection has gone. Most of the tests were supposed to come back within a couple of days, but the most important one (the culture of the actual blisters) would take a week. That test would definitively say whether it was herpes or not while all the others would just let us know how far things had spread if they had.
On top of all of this, Vivian was significantly jaundiced, so she had to be under the lights the whole time she was there. She stayed on the pediatric floor and not the NICU. I got to stay with her the entire time and didn't leave the room for more than a moment to fill my water cup.
Some of the test results came back Tuesday. They showed her liver function to be normal and the cultures of her ears, eyes, etc. were fine. On Wednesday, her doctor let us know that the blood culture was negative and that Vivian actually had herpes antibodies floating around in her blood (likely from me since I get cold sores). This was a good thing. The most important thing was that she was not acting at all sick. Babies with herpes apparently become very ill. After discussing Vivian's situation with specialists at Children's Hospital, her doctor surprised us by letting us go home Wednesday as all signs pointed to no herpes infection. We would know Monday for certain when the cultures came back. The doctor was confident there was really nothing wrong.
We took Vivian home and nervously watched her until the next week rolled around. She was fine. She never acted sick (except for the little cold she caught from all of us). She ate well and gained weight. Monday and Tuesday passed with no word. On Wednesday I called her doctor and received some annoying (read infuriating) news. Somehow the culture of the blisters had never been sent. Later we found out that the nurse on the floor had accidentally forgotten to enter the order for it to be sent out. Woops. Now we will never know for 100% certain that it wasn't herpes. But if it was, Vivian would be very ill or dead by now, so we are as close to 100% sure as possible.
I feel guilty for how Bennett must have felt during this whole ordeal. He had his grandma's and his papa, but he must have felt like we abandoned him twice in one week.
I did not know exactly how serious a herpes infection in a newborn could be. I avoided any internet doctoring until after Vivian came home. Google it yourself if interested...it is really scary. These kinds of infections have serious consequences from mental retardation to death, often regardless of treatment. So, it made sense that Vivian's doctor would treat if there was even a remote possibility of a herpes infection. But Jesus, can our babies catch a break??
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