Daily Peep: Giddy-Up, Cowgirl!

Health Update

We've had a busy week here, doctor-wise.

On Monday, as I've already said, we got Peeper's weight checked and saw that she's still gaining nicely since she's been breastfeeding exclusively.

On Tuesday, we saw the metabolic specialist at the Children's Hospital in BigCity, and yesterday we saw the cardiologist in CapitalCity.

Monday evening, I was sitting around thinking about what a pain in the ass it was going to be to drive to CapitalCity on Tuesday morning, catch the train to BigCity, have the appointment, train back to CapitalCity and drive home - just to turn around and go back to CapitalCity the next morning for the other appointment.

Then, I had a brainstorm!

I was waiting for Peeper to allow me the use of both hands at the same time, so I could email Shrike about my idea, when the phone rang and it was her say, "Mom tells me that they're calling for nasty weather tomorrow. What should we do?"

"Well, it's funny you should ask. . . ."

So, we spent the night in CapitalCity, which worked out great, because the weather was mostly okay Tuesday morning on our way there, yucky that evening while we were safe and snug in a hotel, and fine yesterday on our way home.

To find the hotel, I went to the Amtrak website and searched for ones close to our station. I chose the one that was th best combination of close, cheap, and a chain that I recognized (Econolodge).

As luck would have it, it's about a block and half from the cardiologist's office . . . where we usually see him . . . but not where our appointment yesterday was.

Of course.

Yesterday, we were seeing him at the office that's twenty minutes down the road, farther from home.

The trip was stressful, but we managed. This time, we had to take a cab to the hospital, because it was cold and sleeting / snowing, so we really didn't want to make the eight-block walk with little Peeper.

(Although, for me, it might have still been better than making the same walk in decent weather, at eleven days post-partum!)

Peeper continues to pretty much shut down and go to sleep when out in public, which makes her fairly easy to travel with, but it's not so good for the eating.

I tried, a few times, to nurse her in fairly publicish, busyish places (the train, the train station) and she was really having none of it.

(Of course, she also seemed to be pooping at the time, which really interferes with her desire to settle down and eat, too.)

When we finished her appointment, we went to the lactation room (same one where I'd pumped three times during our last visit) and she was happy to nurse for thirty minutes, when it was nice and quiet and just the three of us.

She was also fine once we got to the hotel (several times, over the course of the evening/night/morning) and nursed great in the car after we finished with the cardiologist.

I took the pump along, and used it once in the wee hours of the morning, when I was awake and full, but she was asleep and, evidently, also full.

I also ducked into bathrooms to hand-express a few times, just enough to get some relief, especially after she's acted like she might nurse, got my milk all let-down and then quit and went to sleep.

("Fine," I told her, "if you don't want it, I'll just feed it to the choo-choo train!")

I suspect we'll have a similar experience when we fly to Texas next week.

(Next week!!!)

But, about the medical stuff . . . .

The metabolic doc still says that the most likely scenario, by far, is that Peeper just had "transient neonatal tyrosinemia" and we'll see that her tyrosine level has come down, and it will all be a big nevermind.

If it's gone up, it would mean she has Tyrosinemia Type II, which is a genetic metabolic disorder, and would have to be managed throughout her life.

If not controlled, tyrosine builds up in the corneas and causes eye problems, but it's (relatively) easily managed, with a low-protein diet.

For now, that would mean feeding her a special tyrosine-free formula, in addition to nursing. (Formula first, then breastmilk.)

I know that, in the grand scheme, that would be a very small part of the management of the disease, over the course of her life but, given all that we've been through to get her to the point that she's finally nursing (exclusively!) that would really add insult to injury and I think would have a very difficult time with it.

But, that's all very unlikely, because it's a very rare disease, and we're almost certainly going to find out that she's just fine.

They were hoping to get the lab results by the end of the day, and they should call us about it tomorrow. In fact, they said that if we don't hear from them by the end of the day tomorrow, we should call them.

Of course, no matter how reassuring the doctor was, I have still managed to get myself worked up into a state about it, and I won't relax until we've gotten an answer.

Of course, again, visiting the Children's Hospital, and seeing the kids and families whom they serve really helped to put things into perspective for us.

Even if Peeper does have Tyrosinemia Type II, it's something that's controllable, and something that's not incredibly awful even if it's not controlled, and there are much, much, much worse things that could be wrong with our kid.

One bright little moment from the visit there - We saw the same attending physician and fellow that we saw before, plus a nurse (who will be the one to call us with the lab results, I think).

Last time, both doctors told us how. . .

Breaking News:
The nurse from Children's Hospital just called. They don't have the blood back yet, but her urine is normal and "shows no tyrosine metabolites" which is a very good sign.

She said, "It looks like she had the transient," and when I asked if this is an indication that they would expect we'll see her blood tyrosine level down, she said, "Most likely."

She also said, "We usually don't call with the results in dribs and drabs, but knew you'd want to know about this. You can expect to hear back from me around this time tomorrow about the blood."

Of course, I still won't relax until we get the blood back, but that does make me feel a little better.

So, as I was saying . . . .

Last time, both doctors told us how beautiful Peeper is and such, and the attending probably said it three or four times before he even started examining her.

Of course, we think so, but we still always have to wonder if they say that to all the parents.

This time, though, as he was looking at her, he turned to the nurse (who was just meeting her for the first time) and said, "See what I mean? I told you she's adorable!"

Which means that he a> remembered how adorable she is from over a month ago and b> was talking about how adorable she is, before we arrived.

Aw, shucks.

Her appointment with the cardiologist yesterday went pretty well, too. He said that her breathing is better (not as rapid), but he did increase her medication again (but we knew that would happen over the first couple of months).

We told him that she seems a bit congested (a bit of snot in her nose, and her chest is a little rattley), but I seem to have (knock wood) fought off the cold that I was fearing last week, and it doesn't seem that she's gotten it either.

He didn't really seem concerned at all about any of that, which is good.

We'll see him on Tuesday, and again on January 7. He said that he'll probably do another echo at one of those visits, to see if the hole is starting to get any smaller yet.

It seemed to be iffy whether we can expect to see any changes yet at this point. Obviously, it's possible, or he wouldn't bother with the echo, but I got the impression that it's not necesarily a bad thing if it's not changed yet.

I did ask how long we wait for it to start shrinking before we have to look at surgical solutions, and he said that if he's seeing restriction by four months (end of February) that he'd "drag [his] feet on surgery" because he'd expect it to continue to close up more, but if there's no change (or no significant change?) by that point, then "we'll have to close it."

So, while the thought of her possibly having open-heart surgery within the next three months is
pretty terrifying, I was actually kind of relieved to hear that we're looking at a resolution (surgical or, hopefully, otherwise) within the next few months, rather than within the next few years.

Of course, we are hoping that the hole will close (or at least shrink) on its own, because we certainly don't want her to need surgery, but if it has to happen, I think we'd just as soon it all happen sooner rather than later, and then we'll be done with this.

Of course, at the moment, the #1 item on our Christmas Wish List is to get the all-clear on the metabolic stuff tomorrow.

Then, if we could see a good weight gain at her two-month (!) check-up on Monday, and have an echo on Tuesday, showing some shrinkage of the hole in her heart, that would just be the best gift imaginable.

(Of course, just having her is already the best gift imaginable!)

Once again, we sure would appreciate your thoughts, prayers, positive energy, good vibes, and normal-tyrosine-having-weight-gaining-heart-hole-closing-healthy-Peeper mojo, as we continue to deal with the questions and fears and uncertainty that seem to be the norm for this kid.

Daily Peep: That's My Baby. . .

. . . the one with the wrinkly pantyhose!

Daily Peep

Shopping Trip

This morning, Shrike took the dogs on a long-overdue and well-deserved walk, while Peeper and I went to the doctor and Target on our own.

Of course, after her great weigh-in, I was feeling very confident in my parenting abilities, and ready to tackle anything.

I'd planned to wear her in Target, now that I've got the wrap more or less figured out, and she seems to be pretty happy in it (unless I try to stuff her in there when she's fully awake and in a mood to wiggle).

However, I probably should've heeded DoulaK's advice to put it on at home, and have it all ready to stick her in when I arrive at my destinayion, rather than doing the origami part in the parking lot.

As we shall see . . . .

When we arrived at Target it had been about an hour and a half since she'd nursed, so she probably wasn't really quite ready yet, but I knew she would be before we were done, she I changed her diaper and got her awake (that always works - and she always needs it anyway), and she nursed for a little while.

Then, I stuck her back in the carseat, while I got out of the car and did the origami thing and got all wrapped up.

I'm actually getting sort of good at it, except for the part where it gets tangled around my feet mid-way through the process, which I've not quite figured out how to avoid.

Then, I got back in the car and started to put her in.

From my wrap-training session:
DoulaK: It's better if you're sitting down when you put her in.
Whozat: So, when she falls out, she doesn't have as far to go?
DoulaK: Yeah, and a softer place to land.

(No, don't worry; she didn't fall!)

I got her little butt tucked into the pocket that she actually sits in, and that went quite smoothly (no complaints from the peanut gallery) but when I started to pull the other side over her, I realized that I'd criss-crossed it backwards, so that she was going to have to sit on my right side, not on my left, where I had her.

(She sits in whichever side is on bottom, and the top side goes over to secure her.)

But I didn't want her on my right side, because that just feels wrong, wrong, wrong.

So, (for some reason) rather than getting out of the car, taking it off and starting over, I untied it, unwrapped both ends from around my waist, untied it in back, pulled out the misplaced end, tucked it under the other one, and under itself, and around back, knot, back to the front, square knot, and - whew - done!

All while seated in the car.

Then, I finished getting her secured and we were ready to go.

She wasn't sitting quite as high as I really would've liked, but she wasn't going anywhere, and her little head wasn't bobbling, yet her face was uncovered enough to get fresh air (that's a bit of a trick) and that was good enough for me.

It was relatively warm today, so I just ditched my jacket (more on that in a bit) and tucked a blanket over her, grabbed the diaper bag, and we were off!

We ran into a friend (who was at the party yesterday) in the baby aisle and chatted with her for probably way longer than she wanted, then actually got a bit of shopping done.

Well, sort of.

We didn't find the diapers we wanted, (Don't know what we want, but we're not thrilled with either Pampers or Huggies in the newborn sizes.) but we did get a Christmas bib ("Dear Santa, I've been good. Mostly.) and a Baby's First Christmas outfit. In pink. Because she doesn't have one of those.

Also, a pair of wrist rattles, which will be from Santa.

Shhhh!

(The bib and outfit may get wrapped up, too.)

I found one small thing for Shrike, and one thing for me.

For myself (or Shrike, sometimes) I bought a sweater-wrap, which I totally just stumbled upon, displayed right on the aisle.

(I usually don't even look at the grown-up clothes when I'm at Target!)

It's a lightweight sweater, but instead of fitting and buttoning up, it's got a ton of material that you just wrap around yourself. It's kind of like a poncho with arms, and open in front.

It's perfect for baby-wearing, and I'm thinking it will be very handy for nursing, as well.

I actually put it on and wore it out to the car when we left, and it fit right over her poerfectly!

I'm thinking that when it's colder, I'll put her in the wrap, throw a thick blanket over her, then put on the sweater-wrap over that. It's thin enough that I can probably wear my actual coat over it (unzipped) so I'll be nice and warm, too.

I didn't do as much shopping as I would've liked (was hoping to find more for Shrike) but it was a good test-run of wearing her out and about.

It went really well, and I'm definitely planning for that to be our standard operating procedure from now on.

Thanks, again, DoulaK!

Weight Check

We got Peeper's weight checked this morning, and she's now at 6 pounds 10.5 ounces, which is a gain of seven ounces in the past six days!!!

(I guess that's what the extra-fortified-with-Christmas-cookies-and-Hershey's-miniatures breast milk will do for you.)

The nurse showed the weight to the doctor, and told me that she was, "very impressed."

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who takes this so personally.

I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah, growth is important to her health, and all, that may be why they say we're tracking it, but, really, I know that it's just a way of quantifying my worth as a mother.

Even more so, of course, now that I'm not only making all her food but feeding it all to her, too.

After all, if she doesn't grow as much as they want, it's obviously all my fault, and I'm the Worst Mother Ever, right?

On the other hand, when she gains more than an ounce a day, over the first full week of exclusively breastfeeding?

My boobs totally kick ass.

Daily Peep: Clothing Conundrum

Peeper owns more clothes than any ten babies could possibly need, and yet, she has nothing to wear.

The problem is that she is between sizes at the moment.

She's outgrown (!) the preemie outfits - several are too tight, and they are all too short, so she can't stretch out in them.

On the other hand, she's not quite ready for the newborn outfits - they are both very baggy and way too long.

The legless onsies are fine, because the extra length at the crotch is not a problem, but it's December, and even in the house, I'd rather she not be running around hanging out bare-legged.
(But she often does, for all the reasons stated herein.)

The footie outfits that she needs for the weather are a mess, though.

The legs dangle an inch or so past her feet, and when she scrunches around, the outfit doesn't move with her, and she ends up getting her feet stuck in the crotch or halfway down the leg - so she still can't stretch out.

Oh, and the sleeves are like twice as long as her arms.

So, I've come up with two work-arounds.

First, I cuff the sleeves back about an inch before I put them on. This way, there's less sleeve to thread her little hands through, and I don't have to fight with her to do the cuff (which, by the way, goes to about her elbow.)

Second, I put socks on over the outfit. She's got lots of cute little socks that are still too big to stay on her feet. But, with the outfit underneath them, they are snug enough to stay put. And, they anchor her feet into the feet of the outfit and she doesn't swim around in it.

And, she gets to show off her cute little socks - like the pair in these photos, which were a gift from BabyBro and HisLovelyWife. (There are several pairs, in a variety of colors.)

I didn't know I'd have to be freakin' McGuyver just to dress my kid.

Overheard: The Crying Baby Delirium Edition

Overheard yesterday evening, on the phone with Frappa (LadyKay's kiddo #2):

Whozat: Well, I guess I'd better go feed this kid, again.
Frappa: Hey, that's your job, Titty McGee!

Of course, I told Shrike about that when she got home.

Thus . . . .

Overheard around 2 o'clock this morning, as Peeper was crying about a gassy tummy, and we were running the vacuum cleaner for white noise, while slow dancing with her, in front of the Christmas tree, trying to distract her with the pretty lights:

(To the tune of, oh, I think you can figure it out)

My bust ain't flat, in fact it's huge, and my nipples are in pain
I'm tryin' not to drip milk on my jeans
Peeper makes a fishy-face, the milk begins to rain
She nurses all the time, or so it seems

I pull my boob out of my stinky nursing bra,
I'm lactatin' while Peeper sucks the boob, yeah
No more pump a-keepin' time, I'm holdin' Peeper's hand in mine
And we sang every lullaby we knew-ew-ew

Oh, "goody's" just another word for sucking on the boob
And sucking, well that's all that Peeper does t'me, yeah
Feeding her is easy, now that she sucks the boob
Feeding her is easy now for me-ee-ee.
Easy for me, I'm Titty McGee!

Yes, there was an attempt at the second verse as well, but I will spare you.

Daily Peep: Baby's First Christmas Party

This is what Peeper wore to our Christmas party this afternoon.


We're actually quite lucky that she was able to wear it; we had a very close call with a diapering incident just minutes before the party began. Shrike was changing her, and said, "Hmm, this diaper is dry and just the tiniest bit poopy, should I even change it?"

Just then, she peed in it. "Well, that answers that question."

That was fine, but then she peed again, with no diaper under her.

I was standing by her head, and scooped her up as soon as I saw it, managing somehow to get her out of the way before it ran under her back and got her clothes wet.

I was holding her all wrong, and she was dangling somewhat precariously (and peedily!) while Shrike got the changing table cleaned up enough to put her back down, but we pulled it off!

The little label under the reindeer says "Santa's Helper."


Okay, you really can't see the outfit in this one, but she sure is cute!

Reindeer Feet!!!

Yes, she's crying in this one, but the point is to show that she loves staring at the polka dots on the changing table, and the bulletin board above it while she's being changed. Sometimes we just put her on there and let her look at them when she's being fussy. When she's in other parts of her room, she stares at other black and white things. We really did a great job choosing the decor!

And, there was a party going on.

This photo shows how much we toned things down this time. That's all the food that we provided (it was potluck, there was a TON of stuff by the time everyone showed up): Tortilla chips and salsa, potato chips, crackers, store-bought cookies, store-bought pumpkin roll, red/green M&Ms, Hershey's miniatures (A few. I kind of opened the package last night. Oops.) and honey-roasted peanuts.

I didn't cook or prepare anything; all I had to do was open some packages.

Daily Peep: Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

In case you didn't believe me, here's proof. Watch all the way to the end to see her roll over - twice!