Open House

Two more sleeps until we head home to Iowa to see family and friends. This is going to be a fast trip packed full with places to go, people to see, and calories to consume at our favorite restaurants. To make it easier for people to meet Willa, my Mom is having an "open house" on Saturday afternoon. Nothing formal about this. We are just going to hanging out at the house with people coming and going as they can. The start time is 1pm and I really hope I can get Willa to take a long morning nap so she can show off her rather loud personality.

Magic Number

The magic number, as determined by the nutritionist, is 26 calorie fortified breast milk. This should have Willa gaining half an ounce to an ounce of weight per day. I'm not so sure Willa likes that magic number.

Not surprising, but it took a little bit to get Willa to take full feeds after her surgery. Without having charted the feeds, we estimated she was drinking around 3 1/2 - 4 ounces per feeding.  A typical day was five feedings with a small topper bottle before bed (she sleeps through the night). This means she was roughly taking 19 - 21 ounces of 24 calorie fortified breast milk.

Friday was the first day of our new feeding plan. Daycare Sharon knew what we needed to do and was ready to pump Willa full of calories. I guess we forgot to relay the plan to Willa.

Friday - 20 1/2 total ounces
Saturday - 14 1/2 total ounces
Sunday - 18 total ounces

Saturday had me worried. We had four consecutive feedings of 1 1/2 ounces or less. I freaked out and called our medical friends for advice.  At their urging, I called the advice line of our pediatrician. Essentially, Willa was not showing the signs of dehydration because she was still producing wet diapers. The advice nurse said we could bring her in but wasn't sure there was anything they could do. Also, there could be two reasons for the drastic drop in feedings -
1. Increased amount of formula meant a change in taste and texture
2. The four month shots

We started having success when we dropped the amount of formula added to breast milk. We want to slowly increase the amount of formula as we get closer to her full feeds of 4 ounces. We are encouraged by how the feedings went on Sunday.

On Saturday evening I was reluctant to join friends for a bachelorette party at a local karaoke establishment. I convinced myself to go because I could make a quick run to Babies-R-Us before joining the ladies. I was shocked when I saw our nurse from the pediatrician's office out shopping with a friend. I explained to her our situation and she gave me reassurance that it was probably a combination of the shots and increased formula which put Willa in her feeding funk. It was the reassurance I needed. After that I was able to go and have a fun evening with friends.

I realize running into the nurse doesn't seem like a big deal to most. For me, it was an example of God's love and care. Right now I want to selfishly ask for you to include Willa's feedings in your prayers.

Post-Op Visit

Waiting for the doctors

Thursday was a morning of doctor's appointments. First up was our post-op visit with Dr Adamson at UNC Hospital. The omphalocele repair portion of the visit was great. Dr A is very happy with the current state of the repair. Cosmetically, Dr A says he will do some touch up if Willa isn't super model ready. Honestly, for us, this isn't a big deal at the current time. We are just pleased we have a happy and healthy baby.

 With that being said, we did have to meet with the nutritionist a second time. Willa is still not gaining weight. I'm starting to feel like a broken record. Willa is weighing 9 pounds 3 ounces at almost five months of age. We've had no weight gain since the surgery three weeks ago. Currently, we are fortifying my breast milk with formula to make it 24 calories per ounce (breast milk is 20 calories per ounce).  The nutritionist has increased the amount of formula per ounce to where we are now giving her 26 calories per ounce. We also have a goal of giving her 22-23 ounces per day. WHEW! The short version is this kid needs to eat more!

I did snap some pictures of some very special people who have been with us throughout our journey at UNC. Maya is our case worker who has helped coordinate our appointments, attended our appointments, tracked down doctors and answers, and has been a good friend. Incidentally, Maya's due date for her first baby is today! Maya asked Willa to talk to her little one about making his/her exit sooner than later.  Second up is Dr Adamson sporting a beard. Dr A has always been very giving of his time during out appointments. He makes sure all of our questions are answered. He doesn't try to rush us... this might also be why he is never on time for appointments.

I would say the four month appointment at the pediatrician was uneventful. I'm not sure Willa would agree since she got three shots.  And yes, I did turn away when Willa got her shots. Daren was to scoop her up for consoling.

We have a small break from more doctor's appointments. We go back to the pediatrician in two months for her six month appointment. We won't see Dr A until September.

Jerry Lee Green

Borrowed from my older sister's Facebook page -

It was 10 years ago today that we lost our dad to prostate cancer. 10 years seems like an eternity ago, and yet I can remember some of the tiniest details of his last few days, making it seem like it's only been a few years. So much has happened, and I guess what I wish for the most is that his grandkids would have been able to meet him. He passed away before any were born, but he lives on through all five. Stella has his quiet, caring personality, Avery and Regan were blessed with his curly hair. Gabe has his dare devilishness, and Willa has his strength - even at the young age of four months. Cancer sucks, and has taken away a great man. Dad found out he had prostate cancer in August, and we lost him seven months later. A simple blood test done at his yearly physical may have warned us the about the cancer, but they were never done.

I implore all my friends out there to
1. give your dads a hug! and 2. encourage them to get their prostate checked yearly after the age 50 and get a PSA test. It could save their life.

God bless you Daddy! We love and miss ya, but we know we have a guardian angel watching over us!

A Year Later...

That is the last picture taken of me before I found out I was pregnant. It is sad that my little bean isn't visible since I'm toward the back of the group. I believe 2012 was my 9th time playing at the Hi Neighbor Tournament in Asheville, North Carolina. Nine tries and only one tournament championship. Is it presumptuous for me to say that my pregnancy made the difference?

It is one year ago today that we found out I was pregnant. It took eight months of trying, five pregnancy tests (which were all positive), a bit o' blood work and around 1:30 pm on 3/20/12 my doctor let me know I was pregnant. The next morning, Daren and I headed to UNC for my first ultrasound. It turns out I was just over six weeks.

Little did we know the journey we were about to embark upon.

Tall and Skinny

Throw in some sugar free vanilla and you have my latte order. Unfortunately, I'm not asking for a latte even though I could use one. Tall and skinny refers to Willa. At 4 months, 2 weeks, & 6 days my little girl is just over 9 pounds and 23 inches long. Disclaimer - I only know how old she is because of TheBump.com.

My friend Layna showed me the promised land of shopping - consignment sales. I've been to three of them and Willa's closet has grown exponentially.  We are all set for cute dresses for this summer. Unfortunately, I'm struggling to find bottoms that will stay on due to her lack of "junk in the trunk." I was hoping that tights with jean dresses (from consignment sales) would be my easy fix but they aren't working either. Willa falls within the weight and length suggestions for these tights from Target. I don't think Target is going to be calling me up anytime soon for Willa to model their product.

I guess it is my mission in life to find bottoms that Willa can wear.  This just means I have reasons to go shopping.

Thankful

Tomorrow I return to work after being away for a week and a half. I am so thankful for how understanding everyone has been with our situation. I also have an amazing job which allows other to donate their sick time when coworkers don't have enough time banked.  I was that needy person who received donated time. I was paid for my entire 10 weeks of maternity leave and seven days for Willa's surgery.  Donating leave time is supposed to be anonymous but I know some of the folks who donated and I will be forever grateful. I cherished the time I was able to spend with Willa. I doubt the anonymous folks read this blog but I wish they could know how much I appreciated their generosity.

Willa and I did a whole lot of just hanging out this past week. I'm very happy to report that she is consistently taking three ounces per feeding.  Also, those little hands are always searching for something to grab.  She is starting to hold our fingers as we feed her.  I'm all about her starting to contribute to this relationship and start holding the bottle herself.

Willa has also dropped her pacifier habit. She is a definite thumb sucker - or fingers, or palm, or arm. Willa was even chomping on the tape securing her IV while in the hospital after the closure surgery. They say sucking the thumb leads to needing braces. I figure this kid is doomed to have bad teeth since Daren and I both had braces so keep soothing yourself.

I was a bit hesitant to jump right back into tummy time so soon after surgery. Instead, we work on head control while Willa sits in our lap. I also thought maybe I could use the boppy to strengthen her neck muscles. Well, it didn't work out quite as I had planned. That little tushy slides down. You can see the end result. She went from sitting up like a big girl to reclining like a lady of leisure.

One final result from my time home with Willa was that Daren and I kicked her out of our bedroom. She was starting to outgrow the bassinet with her squirming. Night #1 was a success. Willa went to sleep around 9pm and slept until 630am.  Hoping tonight goes just as well since we are both back to work in the morning.

Ta Dah!!! A Belly Button!

On Friday we were told to pull off the dressing covering Willa's incision and new belly button. We decided to enlist the assistance of a professional and asked our neighbor Natasha to join us. Not only is Natasha the mom to two amazing kids, but she is also a physician's assistant.  Oh, and I also called her after I made my daughter gag and spit up when giving her tylenol. I'm sure glad Natasha keeps taking my phone calls because it seems I need help a lot.

Anyway, back to the belly button. The first picture is from Friday and the next two pictures are from this morning after Willa had a big poop! Why an exclamation mark? Well, I think Willa is finally getting back on her "normal" schedule of bowel movements after all of the pain meds she received in the hospital.

Natasha, I hope things are looking good b/c I don't plan on calling you. Happy Tuesday everyone. I hope you also can have a big poop. 

The Third Month

It is once again time to compare Willa's tricks and skills with the three month milestones found in the book What To Expect The First Year.  To recap, Willa didn't hit many of the two month milestones. I am confident that she is catching up to her peers.

What your baby may be doing -

...should be able to:

• on stomach, left head up 45 degrees We have graduated from the licking status from the second month. A week prior to the surgery I saw some space between Willa's head and the blanket.  We probably will wait another week or so before going back to trying tummy time. We want to make sure she is healed up and pain free.

...will probably be able to:

• laugh out loud Daycare Sharon claims that Willa has giggled on multiple occasions. Daren and I have yet to hear to hear it. Maybe Willa realizes that her daycare family is a bunch of dookies and she is actually laughing at them. (Go Heels!)
• on stomach, lift head up 90 degrees Nope, haven't accomplished this in the two minutes it took me to write about the 45 degree lift. 
• squeal in delight Yup
• bring both hands together She brings her hands together and tries to shove them both in her mouth
• smile spontaneously her smiles are freely shared. 
• follow and object held about 6 inches above her face and follow it from side to side Yup

...may possibly be able to:

• hold head steady when upright Willa continues to excel at vertical head control.
• roll over (one way) Daren saw her roll from her back to her stomach last week Monday. No, he didn't get it on video. We have all seen her kick her legs so high that she goes from her back to her side.
• grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers Willa will hold her Sophie the giraffe and sassy ball. 
• pay attention to an object as small as a raisin What is with this raisin question?

...may even be able to:

• bear some weight on legs when held upright No sure if you call it bearing weight, but she will attempt to push off  your leg when you try and burp her. Daren doesn't like this trick.
• reach for an object Inconclusive 
• keep head level with body when pulled to sitting Nope. Maybe we can hit this one in a few weeks.
• turn in the direction of a voice, particularly mommy's Yup we hit this one early. Not sure it is because Willa has mad skills or because I'm loud.
• say "ah-goo" or similar vowel consonant combination We agree with Daycare Sharon and Willa is a talker during the day.
• make a wet razzing sound Makes the sound and blows the bubbles. We have yet gotten to the drool stage where we need to bib. I fear we might be heading in the direction. 

Four months!

Hi again everyone, it's Willa. I'm back to celebrate being 4 months old. Sorry I couldn't post anything on the actual date, but I've had a lot going on... so let's get started.

I was ready to celebrate being 4 months old!

I really thought that mommy and daddy would have something special planned. Even on the eve of the day, I thought that maybe they would start the big party. If what happened was their idea of a party, they probably don't have very many friends.....

It started earlier than I expected! They woke me up at 4am - to give me a bottle. That wasn't much of a party and didn't seem too exciting to me, but whatever. At least they were getting things started. And then they brought me back downstairs... for another funky bath! What gives? That was not my idea of a party. And then back to bed again? Mommy and daddy don't know how to throw a party.

So, after a little nap they woke me up again at 6:30am. Another bottle, but this one was different. It wasn't milk, it was this weird pedialite stuff. I drank a little, but it was not my favorite. Maybe this was supposed to be the party punch? I don't know, but I continue to think that mommy and daddy don't know anything about parties.

After that, I noticed daddy starting to take stuff out to the car. Bags of stuff. Several bags of stuff. Maybe we were going on a trip... a destination party, perhaps? Sure enough, they packed my up in my carseat and we were on the road around 7:30am. I was wondering to where - Hawaii, Rome, Paris? The possibilities were endless... in all the excitement, I fell back asleep.

When I woke up, we were in a place that I had seen before. The hospital? Odd place for a party, but I do have a lot of friends there. But we didn't really do much once we got there, we just hung out for a couple of hours without much happening. I was being very patient waiting for my party to start.

Pretty soon things started to happen. A guy I didn't know came to meet us. He asked mommy and daddy a bunch of questions about allergies and reactions to anesthesia and stuff like that. Then he left again. Not too long later, he came back out again and said he was ready to go. Sounds like party time!!! I hopped into his arms ready to finally get my party started. I thought it was a little weird that mommy and daddy weren't following me to my party, but whatever. They hadn't done a very good job with my party up to this point, so I hoped this guy would do better.

OMG.

This was no way to treat a lady that just turned 4 months old. The good news was that I got some pretty sweet drugs. The bad news was that, holy crap, my belly was a lot different now. And I feel like crud! Seriously. Not happy. I am debating not turning 5 months old after this. So after I went back with the very nice gentleman, things get a little fuzzy. All I know was that when I woke up again, my head hurt. And my belly bump was gone - where it had been was a bandage. There was a weird feeling too. It's hard to explain. Muscles felt different. All that and I had an IV stuck in my hand. Did I mention I wasn't very happy?

By this time the "party" had moved into the CSSU. I tried to think of what sort of fun acronym that could be. Cool Super-Secret Uber-party? Maybe. It was a stretch, but I didn't name it. Everything else about this celebration has been lame, so why not the room name? Then I heard someone say "Children's Short Stay Unit". Sound even more lame for a party. Did I mention wasn't very happy?

Finally the night came, and around 11pm daddy left. I started doing my ab workouts and kicked off my blanket, so they put me back in a onesie. They also brought my sleep sheep, but I wasn't fooled. I knew I wasn't at home. Mommy was hanging out in a chair beside my bed. And with that my party ended.

The next morning, daddy showed back up around 8am and I started to see some other folks that I knew as well. Eventually, even Dr Adamson stopped by. He talked with mommy and daddy for a little while and everyone seemed really happy. I don't know that I would say that I was happy just yet, but I certainly felt better than I did on Wednesday.

A few hours later, we were headed back home again. From what I have heard mommy and daddy explain to other people over the last couple of days, I ended up getting a pretty awesome present after all. Looking down at my belly now, I have to agree. It turns out that my "party" was actually my omphalocele repair surgery. And in retrospect, I couldn't have asked for anything better (well, maybe I could have done without some of the pain and drug effects :). Oh, and mommy and daddy did get me a new swing for turning 4 (months). So overall I really can't complain.

Today I am pretty much back to feeling normal with my new, tucked belly and new belly button. Thanks to all the docs, nurses and everyone else at UNC!

Clean Carpets

I got a text message from a friend who was worried about us since I hadn't posted a blog since leaving the hospital on Thursday.  I'm gonna be honest in the fact we have had our ups and downs. I am thankful that we are still able to soothe Willa by the sound of the vacuum...hence the title of the blog. Even so, I do think Willa was ready to be dismissed.  I don't want anyone to think the doctors rushed us out of the hospital.

Tomorrow should be a busy blogging day because we need to catch up and post some four month pictures. I also know Willa is wanting to come and tell her side of the story.  I hope she doesn't blast me too hard for failing miserably when trying to give her some tylenol. I learned my lesson on how to correctly use the syringe so as to not cause her previous feeding to be spit up.

Before I wrap up this late night pumping session I did want to post a picture comparison. The first pic is from the NICU on the evening of Willa's birth. Daren got to hold her when her sheets needed to be changed. The second picture is from the morning after her surgery. Once again this was the first time Daren got to hold her and again her sheets needed to be changed. He is still so full of love and joy... and a lot more hair on his head.