Caitlyn's Upcoming Surgery

Since November Caitlyn's had constant fluid in her ears.  Her tubes fell out sometime between her 2 year check up in September and the beginning of November.  So she's getting another set of tubes in her ears.  And while we're at it they are taking out her adenoids.  The ENT thinks that taking out her adenoids will also help the tummy issues she's been having.  We thought maybe it was her reflux acting up again...but it could also be drainage into her tummy making it upset and making her not want to eat.  Praying this is it because the reflux medicine doesn't seem to be doing the trick.  Please say a prayer for our little girl this week.  Her surgery is the 17th.  I'll post more after to let you all know how she does. 

Baby Making Train

I just realized I hadn't posted an update about our appt with Dr. M!  We met with her on Friday June 18th.  Let me just say first that I love her!  She is wonderful and I am so grateful that she is our Dr and the one helping us get pregnant again!  She is very confident that since we know what it takes to get us pregnant that it won't take us long this time.  We have a few tests that we have to do but she thought we should wait for at least two months after my surgery before we commence with the testing and then the procedures.  I had asked her if she thought I could put the surgery off until after we have another baby.  I really didn't want to have this surgery so I was trying to get out of it.  Even though I knew what her answer was going to be.  She didn't want to chance me getting another infection while I was pregnant.  I wouldn't be able to take the drugs I would need to fight the infection and the infection could spread to the baby.  We definitely wouldn't have wanted to take that chance.  I hadn't even thought of that possibility.  So I called Dr. O that Monday and they scheduled me for surgery that Friday.

So in September Jared and I will go in for blood draws and I'll also have a sonohysterogram done to make sure that my tubes are nice and open and ready to conceive a baby!  As long as all our test results come back normal we'll start the IUI process in October!  It's actually perfect timing because we'll be taking 2 long weekend vacations mid September and early October!  It's all falling into place very nicely!  Hopefully it keeps going this way!     

Mama's Surgery

In May I started having tailbone pain.  I thought maybe Caitlyn had bruised it while we were playing on the floor or something.  Even though I couldn't remember doing anything that would cause this pain.  By the end of May the pain was getting worse and I was starting to bleed back there.  So then I was self diagnosing myself with hemorrhoids.  On Sunday May 23rd Jared finally started googling and was convinced that something much more serious was wrong with me.  So on Monday May 24th I made an appt with a Dr. who I had never met before.  I've never really needed a family Dr. I just have my OBGYN.  So a co-worker recommended a couple of Drs. to me.  Dr. A was able to get me in that morning.  I had made the appt under the assumption that I had horrible hemorrhoids.  Turns out that wasn't the case.  She diagnosed me with a Pilonidal cyst.  She prescribed an antibiotic to get rid of the infection and she referred me to a surgeon.  I had my first appt with Dr. O on May 25th.  He finally prescribed me pain meds.  He stated it looked like the cyst was draining on it's own at the time.  I had 2 more follow up visits with him to make sure that happened completely.  If it hadn't drained on it's own I would have had to have 2 surgery's.  One to drain the cyst and then another to have it removed.  Thankfully I only had to have the one to remove it!  

I scheduled the surgery for Friday June 25th (Jared and I's Anniversary).  When I scheduled the surgery I didn't even put two and two together that is was our anniversary.  Oh well.  I just wanted to get this done and over with!    The cyst was on my lower tailbone.   The Dr. warned me that depending on how much tissue and muscle he had to take out he may not be able to close the wound.  He may have to pack the wound and we'd have to let it heal from the inside out.  This was my biggest fear.   We went in Friday morning.  The nurse was wonderful!  The IV didn't hurt and wasn't sore afterwards.  I think that's the best IV I've ever had!  Dr. O came and talked with me.  Then they wheeled me back.  The first thing I asked the nurse when I woke up was if they were able to close the wound.  Of course she didn't know.  I had to wait and ask Jared when they let him back to see me.  I couldn't believe how quickly they had me get up and walk and try to sit / lay in a regular chair.  I was so nauseous.  The nausea medicine wasn't working real well for me.  We had to stay quite a bit longer than we would have had I not been so sick. 

The car ride home was horrible.  I slept the rest of the day while Jared went to pick up Caitlyn and took care of her. 

The first week I was miserable.  I was sick to my stomach all week.  I thought it was the pain meds.  The nurse thought it was constipation.  So I started taking different laxatives.  Going to the bathroom didn't really help.  When I finally saw Dr. O on July 1st he thought it was the pain meds.  So I switched to Ibuprofen.  Much better!  I was still feeling depressed.  I couldn't go anywhere.  I was cooped up in the house.  I couldn't sit in a chair.  I could only lay in bed or on the couch.  It sucked!

I went to Beth and Josh's on July 3rd for a bbq.  I was really uncomfortable.  I laid down after dinner in Beth's bed before we left. 

I finally started feeling good enough to sit with my blow up donut on July 8th.  Beth actually got me out of the house this day too and it was wonderful! 

July 9th I started bleeding a little again.  I thought something was wrong.  Turns out this is normal.  And can keep happening for sometime.  I saw Dr. O again on July 13th.  He basically said he's my cheerleader for the next few visits.  To let me know that I am getting better even though I'm still sore.  And it probably doesn't feel like it's getting any better.  Wonderful. 

I start back to work next Monday on the 19th.  I'll do half days next week and then go back full time the next week.  I'm nervous about sitting for that long a period of time.  But it has to be done.

Caitlyn's 1st Surgery (And Hopefully Her Last!)

Tuesday August 18th, 2009 Caitlyn had her first surgery. She got tubes in both her ears. This girl had 8 ear infections in less than 6 months. The last double ear infection was while she was on a preventative antibiotic. We met with the ENT on August 11th. Jared was pretty much set on this surgery before we even went in to talk to the ENT. He had tubes as a baby (numerous times) so he was comfortable with that decision. It was not that easy for me. What got to me is that the ENT was sure that the infections were keeping her from walking and from talking and babbling more. That the infections could effect her hearing permanently. Once I made the decision to go forward with the surgery I wanted to schedule it as quickly as possible. I just wanted it to be over with. It wasn't the surgery itself that scared me. It was my little baby girl being under anesthesia. I was so afraid that they'd put her under and she'd have some sort of reaction and she wouldn't wake up. Monday afternoon before her surgery daycare called me - she had a fever of 102.5. I started freaking out. I called the ENT and they assured me that as long as she wasn't congested that they would go through with the surgery. The ENT had a sneaky suspicion that she had another ear infection causing this fever. So I went and picked her up early from daycare that day. Tuesday morning we got to the surgical center at 6:30 in the morning. I was really worried because I couldn't give her her morning bottle. But she didn't fuss once about not getting her bottle. This was because she really wasn't feeling good. She basically just laid in my lap watching cartoons (which she never sits still for normally!). She still had her fever, but her lungs were clear so we were going ahead with the surgery. The ENT came and talked to us after the nurse got all her stats. She said it would only take 10 min and she'd come out to talk to us. She carried Caitlyn back to the surgical room. I was surprised that I didn't cry when she took her from me. I was amazingly calm up to that point. We went out to the waiting room. We both went to the bathroom. We sat for a few more min. I was watching the clock. At 10 minutes I was asking Jared where she was at. He thought I was nuts and assured me she'd be fine. The ENT came out a few min later and said everything went well. She had another double ear infection which she was able to clear out while she was in there. She said the nurse would be out to get us soon to take us back to her. They had warned us ahead of time that she'd be cranky (their word) when she woke up. Nothing could have prepared me for the way she was acting when they took us back to her. She was SCREAMING / CRYING. Uncontrollably. They said she was hungry so we made her a warm bottle. It took awhile for her to realize I was trying to give her something she wanted. She did finally take the bottle. And she was calmer after the bottle, but still fussy and seemed uncomfortable. They said she wasn't in any pain, but I don't know how they could know that if she couldn't tell us. They said she was acting totally "normal" from waking up from the anesthesia. She was disorientated and super fussy. I basically just sat and rocked and cried with her. It was the worst feeling I've felt so far as a mother. After about 15 minutes they asked if we were ready to go home. I thought they were crazy for letting us leave before she had totally calmed down. I was so afraid of going home and her not calming down and what were we going to do??? But once we got into the car (I rode in the backseat with her) she really started calming more. I guess they do know what they're doing! I gave her a few graham crackers on the way home. Once we got home I put her in her sleep sack and she went right to sleep. She slept for 4 HOURS! After 2 hours I called the nurse to make sure I shouldn't be waking her to check on her. The nurse laughed at me and told me to enjoy it. That usually babies slept for 3-4 hours after anesthesia. During that 4 hour nap I got most of our bedroom painted! She woke up happy as can be after that nap. Like nothing had happened that morning and she had forgotten all about it! Putting drops in her ears for the next week was a challenge and I'm glad Jared was always there to help me. I don't think I could have done them alone! She's not quite walking yet...but she's now standing on her own without holding on. I think walking is just around the corner!

Now she's working on 2 more teeth!

Caitlyn @ 6 Weeks

Caitlyn will be 6 weeks old on Sunday - I can hardly believe it. Time goes by so quickly! And she's changed so much in this time already. She's a very colicky baby and this has made things a little tough for us. It's just so frustrating to have her cry when you've satisfied all of her needs. She's been fed and her diaper is changed and she should be happy - but she's not. She's getting a little better as she gets older. They say this usually passes by the time they are 3 months old. This makes me a little sad as that's when I have to go back to work. So by the time she's no longer fussy I won't get to spend as much time with her. But I'm also glad that I hopefully won't be taking a fussy baby to daycare. It's one thing for me to be frustrated, but I don't want someone else who is watching her to be frustrated since I don't know how they deal with their frustrations.

We took her to see her pediatrician when she was a week old and found out that she was tongue tied. We were referred to an ENT (surprisingly it was Jared's ENT) to have her evaluated. We took her and were told that it was about 2/3's tied so it wasn't totally bad and since I wasn't having problems feeding her we didn't have to get it clipped. But if we waited she could have speech problems later on and if we were to get it clipped when she was older she would have to be put under general anesthesia. So we decided to get it clipped right there in her office. It took about 15 min and Caitlyn slept through the entire procedure!

I've known since the day after she was born that she was going to be a thumb sucker. I thought maybe I could fight this...but it's a losing battle. She's still trying to totally figure out how to get it in her mouth and keep it there...but she's getting better at it with each passing day. I know she'll be a happier baby and will be able to self soothe more once she totally has it figured out so I'm now praying it happens soon. She very rarely takes the pacifier - even though I try each time she's upset.

She's already outgrown her newborn clothes and has moved into size 1 diapers. They're still a little big for her but she's too long for the newborn clothes. At least she'll be able to wear this size a little longer. She didn't even get to wear some of her newborn outfits. And she won't get to wear some of her 3 month clothes because they're summer clothes and it's too cold for those now.

I go to a breastfeeding support group every Wednesday and get her weighed and as of last Wednesday she weighs 10 pounds 6 oz. We don't go to the pedi again until 2 months so I like knowing that she is gaining well since I don't know exactly how much she's getting with each feeding. I love going to this group as it gets me out of the house and talking with other new mothers. Listening to them I know that Caitlyn and I are normal with the things we go through.

I'm hoping to post more often with news of Caitlyn and how she's changing and growing! I'll be posting new pictures soon - I just need to get them downloaded to the computer!