Pediatrician follow up appt!

Well, I am happy to report I have a nice, healthy, non-fevered baby. ; )
The Dr. said she is thriving, 10 lbs. 4 oz. now, and looks great. We told her about our error with the thermometer, she agreed that's probably what it was, but that Ellorah may have still had a touch of fever, and that it's better safe than sorry. One good thing that will come out of this, besides Norm and I knowing how to read our thermometer is that the Dr. said from now on she will ask her patients about their thermometer and if they have it on the correct mode or not. So, maybe we can save some other new parents all this trauma. Ellorah did great at the appt, next week she has go back and get shots though, 5 of them! So, not looking forward to that appt. I feel better about the whole ER experience though, now that we've followed up with the dr. I still worry about her catching something from being up there though!! From Mr. "hey, I've been stoned all day and made myself so sick I'm throwing up in a bucket and passing out in the wheelchair.." or Miss "let me hack phlegm all over your precious new baby..." or Mr. "hey, I can't walk, but I sure can sneeze germs all over the place" and other lovely ER visitors we encountered. Hopefully all will be good. We'll watch her closely for anything, and will definitely know how to read the thermometer next time...hopefully it will be quite awhile before a "next time"...however, tomorrow's thursday, her first "trial run" at daycare. Egads!

Ellorah's first ER visit!

Well, last night was eventful. Had to end up taking Ellorah to the ER at Presby!
After her 9:30 dinner, she started fussing and spitting up, and seemed pretty warm, so we took her temp...it was 100.5..not too bad, but still elevated enough to call the dr,so we did. Dr. said take it again, and after fumbling with the thermometer, it read 101.1!!!! Dr. said to get her to the ER, that they needed to check her out, get blood work, she even mentioned a spinal tap. LOVELY! : ( So, we headed out the door, the ER was PACKED and everyone was being very impatient. I thought SURELY we'd get precedent over all those other people, mind you, this was MY BABY..she should get to go first!!!! But, of course, she didn't. : ) We waited for over an hour, then realized it was about feeding time, and we had ran out of the house without nipple shield or bottle, so I started to panic! She does like to take it off the tap, but not directly, but we tried, and she did for a bit, and then it just pissed her off. haha. Luckily, Norm, the ever wonderful provider, ran upstairs to the Labor and Delivery area and sweet talked the nurses into giving him some Enfamil. Whew. Disaster avoided. Daddy is a good provider!!!! So, finally we got into our room, more waiting, they had to put in a little tiny IV in her little tiny hand...NOT FUN, and take blood...now, I'm sure you all know my love of needles and blood, but I held it together. Then they tried to do a catheter to get a urine sample.....oh that was about the most horrible thing I had to witness. My poor baby!! The nurse tried several times, but could not get it, so they just tried putting a little bag on her to collect the urine. We got chest xrays and more poking and prodding, and finally some urine in the bag, plus a little extra - POO! So, couldn't use the sample. So frustrating. Then, while the nurse was trying to get another bag ready, Ellorah just peed all over the place, but of course, the nurse wasn't ready, so all that went to waste!! AAGH! Anyways, this went on for several hours...get a new bag, it wouldn't work, then finally they tried catheterizing her AGAIN, still couldn't get it...mind you, this whole time...the child has had NO FEVER. So, the ER doc kept telling us our pediatrician wanted the urine sample before we left, just to be sure, since all the other tests came out normal. But after another failed bag attempt, we told them we were done, that we were leaving. That was at 6:15 this morning. We had been there since 10:15 the night before!!! Norm and I were both exhausted. He had to run back up to the L&D floor and got some more Enfamil, those nurses are so nice. So, finally, Dr. Armstrong let us go...we had told him that maybe we had just read the thermometer wrong, and he said he agreed that since she had not had any fever in 7 hours, plus seeing the way she was acting, eating, peeing and pooing, she wasn't exhibiting any signs of sickness...he agreed to let us get out of there, if we would just call make an appt. with our pediatrician. So, we did that, it's tomorrow at 9 a.m. Anyways, we got to looking at the stupid thermometer...what we didn't realize is that it has 3 modes - oral, under arm and rectal...the high reading was taken rectally, but on the under arm setting!!!!!!!!! I did a little test with some warm water..by switching modes, from under arm to rectal, it changes 2 degrees. YES...2 degrees!!!! So, I really think, that she was all worked up and may have had an elevated temporary temp of 100.5, and then we screwed up the mode on the thermometer and that's why it read so high the second time. I didn't even know the stupid thing had 3 modes. AAGHH!! So, did we put our little one through all this trauma for nothing? Well, that just makes you feel horrible!! So, we've got our first big dose of parental guilt, plus exhaustion. My mom came down today, and let us have a little rest, so that was wonderful. Hopefully, little baby girl will sleep good tonight and let us get a little more sleep. I know Norm is exhausted...he didn't get an afternoon nap like I did, since he was doing some work. Anyways, that's all for now...be sure and check your thermometers mode! : )

Almost all together...

Well! Today I thought I was getting it all together...since I'll be going back to work next Friday, I decided I better try and get some stuff done in the next few days, so I made some appts. for me, (dentist, eye dr.) and called the daycare to prepare them for Ellorah's "test run". I'm gonna take her in for a half day on thursday and friday...and see how it goes. I thought it best to schedule appts for me on those days, so I can keep myself occupied instead of going crazy with worry at home!! So, got all that done, and decided I better get out and get all the stuff she's going to need for daycare, extra diapers, wipes, etc, etc, etc...so got her all ready and myself all ready and out we went! I thought I was looking all cute too, in my new jeans and smaller size top! Woo-hoo! Well, we had a grand ole time at Michaels (had to get some art supplies) and at Target...had a nice conversation about babies with a lady in the checkout line. And then, back safely at home. Norm came home later...and we were discussing dinner, I thought I had better run out and get some stuff at the grocery store...so I went to put on my shoes I had on earlier that day...they were right under the chair where I had taken them off...and what do I see? Two totally different shoes. Yes, people...I had been out on the town all day in two totally different shoes. And no, they weren't two shoes that looked alike, like maybe two brown ones or two black ones of similar style. They were two totally different styles of slip on shoes...one dark charcoal gray and one light beige. HAH! Maybe I'll do better tomorrow. : )

-Mistie

Valentine's Meltdown!

Well, it was an eventful valentine's day for us all. Started off quite nice, I got a nice bouquet of roses and chocolate truffles! Ellorah got some tulips mixed in with the roses! We got out and went up for a visit to JCPenney to visit Marcella and everyone. First time a lot of them had seen me in several months, so it was fun. Ellorah did great, only fussed when she started getting hungry. Luckily, I had packed an insurance policy...a nice bottle of pumped milk, so we were good to go! That afternoon she was somewhat fussy, not really wanting to take her normal nap, and then, woah!! Last night was the worst! The child would not stop crying! Norm and I tried everything. She's lucky she's so cute. : ) Even Elvis and Annie couldn't help. She even fussed when I tried feeding her. Oh well. So much for the laying down in the bed feedings, she definitely wasn't having any of that last night. And, I mistakenly had psyched myself up for a good night, b/c the night before she slept right in her little co-sleeper bassinet, and only woke up to eat and then right back to sleep! It was wonderful. Silly me for thinking we'd get two nights in a row like that. : ) Even my new "water sprinkler" trick wasn't working! And, no, it's not what you think...it's a little bouncy hold I do, while going "sh, sh, sh, sh, sh....and then shhhhhhhhhhhh, shhhhhhhhhhh...like water sprinkler. SHe usually likes it, norm thinks I'm silly, but hey, whatever works!! She's doing okay today, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed she just got out of her schedule yesterday, we will see what the evening brings!!!

Valentine's Day!

Well! Today is Valentine's Day...and Ellorah has her special Valentine outfit on from Great Aunt Cathy. Things have been going well, Ellorah is getting big!! Check out the new pics! We had visits from Nanny and Pepaw and NeeNee and PawPaw this past week and weekend...and Norm and I actually got to get out and have a nice dinner together on Saturday night! Woo-hoo! It was nice, but it was hard to leave her, even though she was in good hands. I had to resist the temptation to call!
Well, baby is calling...enjoy the pics! - Mistie

Valentines Day

One month and one day!

I can't believe Ellorah is a month and a day old today. The month has flown by. She is growing day by day, I weighed her this morning and she weighed 9 lbs. 6 oz! So, that is great. She's getting nice chub rolls too. We had our first outing today, just mommy and baby. She did great. I took her up to work to visit everyone and she had a good ole time, pouring on the charm...until she got mad. : ) It was about eatin' time, so I guess she was giving me a warning. I had to learn how to work the stroller and carseat combo all myself, and get it all lifted into the car, which is a little hard to do, but not too bad. I'm going to have to lift some weights to build up those muscles! The hardest part is lifting the carseat into the carrier, with my incision still healing, and our truck being so tall, it's a little hard to lift her up so high..so I lift her half way, then support her on the base until I can get it at a good angle and pop it in. You figure it out as you go I guess! After that we ran to the post office really quick and got some stamps, then back home for lunch. She's sleeping now, but I'm thinking we need to get out again and take advantage of this nice weather! I'd like to go for a walk, but not sure Elvis and Annie will let me go without them! Not sure I can handle all three together! I might be brave enough to try it though. We'll see! We've also been doing some tummy time with her playmat that her cousin Seth let her borrow. She seems to like it, especially the lady bug! -Mistie