Potty Chair Challenge

Okay, here's the scoop on the potty chair. We haven't been doing it. Well, consistently anyway. We have had a few hit and miss instances. I didn't want to really start it until after our baby arrived, but then we were back in the hospital and life seemed so up, down, back and forth for Georgia I didn't want to push it. But now I feel like it's time.

But Georgia is allergic to the potty chair; she hates it. Once in a while we can get her to sit on it without crying. And occasionally she'll actually go potty (never #2 though).

But today I'm trying something new. Recently I bought her some big girl panties, hoping that would be good incentive and today we're trying them out. (They are huge, by the way. The smallest size was 2T/3T and Georgia is still wearing 18 mo. Can we say saggy-bottom droopy drawers?) I keep reminding her that she is not wearing a diaper and so she has to tell me if she has to go potty. Of course I do plan to take her on my own too. I'm kind of nervous and a little skeptical as to how she'll do. I know we'll have some accidents along the way, and that's fine, I can live with that. (Which, by the way, how do you clean pee out of carpet? Suggestions, please.)

It'll be nice to have only one child in diapers. On the plus side, I imagine that all the running back and forth will help me lose some of this baby weight.

What do you know...before I can even hit 'publish post' there's pee on the floor...

Bedtime Blues

In the last week we have had a difficult time with Georgia falling asleep at night. She'll still go to bed okay, but she lays awake, sometimes for a couple of hours. Is this a normal phase that toddlers go through?

We can hear her through the monitor, sometimes singing songs to her 17 stuffed animals that she HAS to sleep with or she spends her time fake crying and trying to get me or Andy to come and talk to her or bring her milk.

The other night was the same scenario: bed at 8:00 and we read a story, sing a few songs, say prayers and lights out. After just a few minutes I heard the singing begin and the chatting with her stuffed animals. Then the fake crying, "Mama-uh-uh-uh-uh..." The fake crying stopped and then started again (as if she was pausing to think) and I heard her say, "Waaaa-uh-uh-uh, 'smy birfday-ay-ay-ay-ay!" She must have thought that would make me more likely to check on her even though it wasn't her birthday. It didn't. It did, however, make me laugh.

Funny Faces

I have this weird thing. I don't know what else I can call it. Ability? No. Gift? Ha! It's just a thing. You see, sometimes I look at my daughters and see the expressions of famous people. It's true! Surely I can't be the only one this happens to, right? It only seems to occur when they are newborns. It happened with Georgia and I thought it was a fluke - but it has happened with Lola, too. And you won't believe who I think they look like...

When Georgia was born I saw two expressions on her face that reminded me of someone famous: one reminded me Bill Cosby and the other was a strong resemblance to Emilio Estevez. Are you cracking up? Me too! But it's what I saw. Now, I didn't think that she looked like either of these guys all the time, but it was just fleeting expressions that made me think of these actors. Tell me, am I a cruel mom for thinking that my daughter looks like a black comedian or the son of Martin Sheen?!

Now for Lola: I definitely saw Christian Bale once and Patrick Swayze another time. I know it's so weird! At least these two guys are good looking. However, I will even go so far as to say that when Lola is crying her demanding "feed me now!" cry, she totally reminds me of Chunk from the Goonies - the part where they are threatening to put his hand in the blender if he doesn't talk and he tells about the time he made everyone in the theater throw up on each other.

You don't have to tell me, I know this is crazy talk. :) But why is it that on my beautiful girls' faces I see the expressions of men? Who knows?!

One Month Old

taken tuesday, march 22

Doctors Orders

We took Lola in last Thursday for a follow up appointment after being released from the hospital. She's not contagious and she's doing really well. The doctor said her lungs sound clear and her color is better. I told him she still had a cough and he said it could be weeks before that goes away and it can take months for airways that small to reconstruct. Yikes! Her cough is minimal now, just a few days after her appointment.

However, just because she's better, doesn't mean she can't get sick again. It's so serious in such a little one because she hasn't had her vaccinations yet and people are germy! So the doctor told us we need to keep her away from people for another six weeks. That's a long time! There are many that haven't even met her yet and probably won't until Easter. Thankfully, two sweet women from church have offered to come over on Sunday mornings so I can still go to service. I did take one of them up on their offer today. I haven't been there in almost a month!

It also means Andy and I have to take turns running errands. It's actually a nice break to get out for a while without my arms full. But we both enjoy the one-on-one time with our daughters so it works out quite well. Before we know it spring will be here in full force and we'll all be out and about again.

Our Little Mermaid

Can you tell we've been watching The Little Mermaid a lot?

Home Sweet Home

Yes, finally we are home! I am so thankful to be in my house, with my things, in my bed, but most importantly that Lola is doing well! We have an appointment in a few days just so the doctor can monitor her progress.

Yesterday morning I woke up to nurse Lola and was waiting for a respiratory therapist to come and give her a breathing treatment. After that, the nurses had their shift change and I met our nurse for the day. Lola had spent all of Sunday and through Sunday night without oxygen. Her levels were a little low, but they remained consistent and her lungs were clear, so the doctor was not worried about leaving her off. However, Monday morning, the new nurse decided she needed to be back on. I was frustrated. Lola was in a dead sleep which often means lower oxygen levels. So all the nurses left our room and I went back to sleep. When it was time to feed Lola again, a nurse came in and told me that Lola had removed her oxygen tubes after about a half hour of having them in and had been doing fine without them. I was very relieved!

We were visited by the doctor again and he said that Lola sounded good, she looked good, and if she kept it up, there was a good chance we'd be discharged. As the day progressed they checked her oxygen twice and both times she was at 93%. We continued to wait and finally, they let us go around 5:30 pm. Woohoo! I was thrilled that Lola had done so well for two days without oxygen and she did well here at home last night. We have to prop her up a little in her basinet and put a rolled blanket under her neck to keep her head up. I think that now she might actually prefer to sleep that way.

So we'll see what the doctor says this week. We're still asking for prayers and good health for both of our little girlies.

Lola News

Ok....so we thought we might be going home today, but we are not. This isn't really bad news though, because Lola is making really good progress. The doctor wanted the nursing staff to wean Lola off of the oxygen yesterday. They tried, and every time they took her down to .1 or .2 liters of oxygen, she would dip down to 87 or 88%. They want her to stay at 92% or higher. So we still needed the oxygen through the night. But as of 8:30 this morning, the nurse informed me that Lola had been off oxygen since 7 am. And she's doing really well at holding her own. At this very minute she's at 94%! Every now and then she'll take a little dip, but they don't worry too much about it if she comes back up and so far she has been doing that.

Plus it's kind of hard to know what is standard for each person. 92% is an average and no one is at 100% all the time. Some people function just fine at 86%. It's only when someone gets down into the 60s and 70s that they get super worried. But for Lola, they have to take into account that she is sick and so they aren't as lenient.

So the plan is to keep her off of oxygen today (they even took the tubes out of her nose) and they'll finish giving her the antibiotic. Tomorrow morning they'll do one more blood count and make a determination from there. The doctor is hopeful that tomorrow will be the day we can leave.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. We know they are being heard!

What's Really Important

Ok, so I'm reading another book that I love! It was loaned to me by a friend and it offers great insight to how having kids/becoming a parent isn't for our own happiness (though of course our kids do make us incredibly happy), but how God uses the journey of parenting to make us more holy, more like His Son. It's called Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas. Here is a portion that moved me today as I read:

Having been in lowly situations and having done less than glamorous work ourselves (changing diapers, mopping up vomit, and so on), we are set free to notice those whom others ignore. We've awakened to the fact that glamour misleads and that worldly "significance" isn't all it's cracked up to be.

In this sense, kids can teach us what truly matters and what is, in the words of Ethel Kennedy, "really important." Indeed, children actually help us grow up, put away our own childish things, and see in the mirror more clearly who God wants us to be (1 Cor. 13:11-12). We act out of reverence for God instead of what Vogue or GQ tells us is the latest hot trend in glamour.

If you're a new stay-at-home mom, don't you dare look down on yourself because you've traded spaghetti-strap dresses for sweats, extra-large shirts, and towels draped over your shoulder to catch your baby's spit-up. In time, you'll be able to go back to those dresses (though you may have to upgrade to a couple sizes larger). Hold your head high as you add parenting to your resume. Though the superficial around you might look down on you, the process to which you've given yourself closely mirrors the most profound movement of all:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,

taking on the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humblesd himself

and became obedient to death -

even death on a cross!

Good News

Lola and I have been here at the hospital since late Monday afternoon. I think it's really starting to wear on both of us. I didn't realize until this morning when they wheeled us down for another chest x-ray, that that was the first time I'd left our little room. I needed some good news today and praise the Lord, I got it.

Right around lunch time we got a visit from a NICU doctor. Our pediatrician had asked him to come and check Lola's condition to determine whether or not she might need to be moved to the university hospital in Iowa City. He took a few minutes to check her over and determined that because Lola was requiring only a small amount of oxygen and only had small indentations around her rib cage when she took a breath, that she didn't need to be moved and could continue to be treated in Davenport. He also said that the worst stage of RSV is between days 5 and 7 and he believed that we had passed the worst of it.

Hallelujah!

Then later in the afternoon one of the nurses reported to us that Lola's pertussis test came back negative.

Praise Jesus!

Our pediatrician came in after that and told us that the x-rays show no pneumonia.

Glory to God!

So now they're continuing to give her antibiotics to prevent infection and breathing treatments to keep her comfortable. They have to suction her nose every now and then to clear out the mucus so she can breath and eat more easily. Tomorrow they'll remove her IV (she can only have it in for four days) and depending on how much more antibiotic she needs, they'll either leave it out or put a new one in her other hand. I hope to avoid that.

The goal now is to wean her off of the oxygen. When she can go a night without it and still keep her levels up where they want them, they'll feel more comfortable about sending her home. I'm glad we're here and she's receiving such excellent care, but I'm praying that'll be soon because I really miss my bed!

Keeping It Light

It's good to laugh. Andy and I had to giggle as we were sitting in the hospital room yesterday. He was reading and I was watching HGTV, when I heard the nurses outside our door say something about Lola's name. Next thing I know, one of the nurses is breaking out in song in the hallway while Andy and I are laughing quietly inside. The conversation between the nurses went something like this:

Nurse 1: Oh, her name is Lola...just like in the song!

Nurse 2: What song?

Nurse 1: You know, Copacabana.

Nurse 2: I've never heard that song. (At this point I'm imagining that one nurse is middle-aged and the other is pretty young.)

Nurse 1: What? Seriously? You know...Her name was Lola; she was a showgirl; with yellow feathers in her hair and her dress cut down to there...

Nurse 2: Nope. Don't know it.

We really enjoyed hearing this exchange, all started by our daughter's name.

Then today, the bright and overly cheerful student nurse who bounced her way into my room at 7:00 am reported that as soon as she saw Lola's name she just had to sing "La la la la Lola..." She claimed that she must be old for knowing that song, though I'm pretty sure she's younger than me.

It really helped break up the monotony of the day and I'm thankful for the comic relief!

In the Hospital

Last week Georgia got sick. Fever, cough, runny nose. We weren't worried, it's happened before. But then we started to notice that Lola was coughing. We waited a few days and then decided we couldn't wait anymore and called the doctor. Her coughing and mucusy nose were enough to convince the doctor she needed further testing and he told us she needed to be admitted to the hospital.

This was a blow to us. We were both afraid that would be the next step. The grave seriousness of our normally lively doctor alarmed us. After packing a bag and leaving Georgia in capable hands, we brought Lola to the hospital where they immediately took a few chest x-rays and settled us into a room.

Shortly after, she had an IV put in, which was very emotional for me. There is just something that pains a mother's heart to watch her child hurt. Though she handled the IV relatively well, she screamed while enduring three nose swabs; but who wouldn't?

Next she was hooked up to a monitor to watch her heart rate, breathing and oxygen level. After a few hours they decided that her oxygen level was too low and so she is currently on oxygen. The doctor came in to visit in the evening and report that Lola does, in fact, have RSV, a respitory virus. This was heartbreaking, though not surprising, news to us.

They've given her a couple of different antibiotics to prevent infection and she's had two breathing treatments to make her more comfortable. She has to have her nose cleaned out frequently so that she can breathe easily enough to be nursed. Thankfully I am still able to do that, though at this point, she'd rather sleep than eat.

Andy keeps me company during the day at the hospital and goes home to spend the evening and night with Georgia. We don't know yet how long we'll be here; still waiting to get test results back for influenza and pertussis (whooping cough). We really covet your prayers that she wouldn't have either of these and that she'd recover quickly from the RSV.

Adjusting

"How is Georgia adjusting to life with a new baby?" is what everyone wants to know. Wait, I have to check on a crying baby and then I'll tell you...

Ok, I'm back.

It's difficult for me to give an answer. Each day is so different. It doesn't help that Georgia came down with a coughing, sneezing, runny nose cold only days after we were home from the hospital. I wonder if the transition would have started differently if she was feeling better.

Shortly after we arrived home with Lola, Georgia was very excited to see Andy and me, but she was very clingy to her Nana. Later, she was okay with Andy, but it took her a while to warm back up to me. Some days she didn't want anything to do with me; others, she wouldn't leave my side. I think she was confused about seeing a baby in my arms non-stop when normally I would have been holding her. I'm so thankful Andy's parents were here to distract her during the times I was unable to hold or cuddle with her.

As far as her attitude towards Lola - she really seems to love her. She likes to look at her and pat her head and say, "Oh, Lola" when Lola cries. She wants to know where Lola is if she's not in the room with us. She likes to sing to her and she makes sure that we bring her in from the car. :) So far, she's a very compassionate and loving big sister.

As for Andy and me....well, we've forgotten a lot about what it's like having a newborn. Our biggest struggle right now is sleep. Lola is a good sleeper, but it seems that the time she doesn't want to fall asleep quickly is about 11:30 pm. When she does fall asleep, she'll stay asleep and I'm only up once in the night with her.

And the diapers! Oh my, did Georgia go through that many??? I aim to start Lola on cloth diapers at about 6 weeks old. And I REALLY need to get Georgia trained so that I don't have to do double diaper duty.

All of this to say we are adjusting well as we continute to...adjust.

And The Winner Is...

Lori Wiseman....my mom! She won the baby guessing game simply because she was the latest guess. She guessed for February 17 at 9:00 am and Lola wasn't born until the 22nd. Though she has won the prize (start watching the mail, Mom), there are a few honorable mentions.

The following guessed the correct gender:
Sarah H., Ivy M., Nicole S., Becca F., and Jessi K.

My sister-in-law Jenny guessed the closest weight at 9 pounds.

My friend Melinda got the length perfectly right at 21 in. long.

Good job everyone and thanks for guessing!