Cardiology appointment

Olivia had her cardiology appointment today, when we got there she was running around the waiting room. I couldn't even sit down because I had to chase her around the whole time. She was not happy about getting her blood pressure taken, that put her in a cranky mood. Too bad that was only the beginning, during her echocardiogram she was crying on and off for the entire half hour. Luckily they had the same Dora DVD from last time we were there so that distracted her just enough to get it done. Right as Dora was ending, the echo was finished. The technician who did it was the same one who did it when we brought her to the ER at five days old. She has seen Olivia a few times since then and we talked about how tiny she was and how far she has come. I was surprised at how much she remembered, she even knew which room we stayed in. After the echo, she had to have an EKG done, the lady who did it was really nice, she was great with Liv and basically played with her the entire time she was doing it so Olivia barely noticed what was going on. After she was done, she gave Liv a cute little princess sticker and Liv didn't want to put it down, she walked around with it while we waited for the doctor. She was also messing with everything in the office, mainly the computer keyboard and mouse. Her last appointment was six months ago and not much has changed since then. That's not a bad thing, her VSD is still small and her ASD is as well, her coarc is still open like it should be. She's still on her own curve for weight and height. I asked a few questions, I wanted to know if she would have any physical limitations and they said no, besides being a body builder (I doubt that will ever be an issue). We wont know if she will need her ASD closed until she is between three and five. Her next appointment is next December, she will be almost three at that point so I will be extra nervous at that visit. The doctor was confident that even if they do need to close the hole, it can be done by a cath procedure and not open heart surgery. When we walked back out into the waiting room, there were some clowns (part of the children's hospital, not some random crazy people) blowing bubbles, playing a guitar and singing songs. Olivia ran right over and started popping the bubbles and dancing to the music, it was so cute. I guess the clowns didn't see me because they asked Olivia where her adult was so I had to yell across the room. There were some older kids watching the clowns too and one of them almost knocked Liv over but she didn't care at all, she just kept playing. It was a pretty long visit (over three hours) so she fell asleep on the way home. I wasn't happy about that because I knew she wasn't going to nap once we got home. I was right, it's only a twenty minute ride home so obviously it wasn't long enough to get the rest she needed. She had a meltdown around 7 so I ended up putting her to bed earlier than normal. I'm happy that we don't have to go back for a whole year. I'm hoping that next year she will be able to understand better, she was scared today because she obviously didn't know what was going on. It was a long day and I'm exhausted so it's off to bed for me!

Her cheeks were so red from crying during the echo, my brave little girl.

September favorites

Another month has gone by (very quickly) and since tomorrow is my birthday, I decided to post my September favorites today!

Mommy & baby favorites for September.

Heartbeat necklace - I got this necklace from one of those discount sites (either Zulily or Plum district, I cant remember which one). Obviously I thought it was perfect since I have a  little heart baby toddler. I wear it all the time and I love it, the heart on the side is my favorite part. When Liv is older, I plan on getting one for her too.

Vtech Safe & Sound video & audio monitor - The video monitor we had previously ended up breaking after 5 or 6 months and I hated not having one. Olivia gets her legs stuck in the crib slats sometimes so it makes me feel so much better being able to see her on the monitor. Also, the paranoid heart mommy in me always wants to make sure she is breathing okay. I didn't think video monitors were really necessary at first but now I don't want to be without one, I love it! I like this one better than our last one because the screen is portable. There's also a zoom feature and it doesn't pick up much background noise. We can press a button and talk to Liv through the monitor but I haven't tried that yet because I think she will want me to get her out of the crib if she hears my voice. This was one of the less pricey monitors but I'm happy with it.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3: Kids edition - Okay, I just got this and I already have a love/hate relationship with it. I can't really use it for what I intended. I was hoping it would be sort of like a mini laptop that I could use for email and blogging but it's very difficult to type on (even with a Bluetooth keyboard). It's also pretty small, I wish I picked one with a bigger screen. On the other hand, it's potentially a great tablet for Liv. It's kid friendly, actually it's a kids tablet. In parent mode it can do everything a normal tablet can, I figured it would be perfect to share with her. It says for ages 3 and up but she plays games on my phone so I'm sure she will be able to figure it out. I've been playing around with it and there seems to be some cute apps for kids, I'm still not 100% sold though. I don't know if I should keep this or return it and just get a laptop. I'm very indecisive when it comes to big purchases, I'm going to let Liv play with it and then I'll decide.
*My decision: Retractment of a favorite.

Booboo buddies stuffed animal - Booboo buddies is such a great idea! They take gently used stuffed animals that have been donated and they stitch on a zipper (wherever your childs scar is). Olivia's is on the side of course (from her thoracotomy heart surgery). They also stitch on a cute little heart with a bandage over it. All children with heart defects get a Booboo buddy for free (you just have to pay for the shipping). I got this for Liv's heart surgery anniversary (February 27th) so I will be giving it to her then, I'm sure she will love it. If you want to find out more about Booboo buddies, they have a Facebook page you can check out.

Pregnancy & delivery woes

Quick history on my pregnancy:
It took over a year for me to get pregnant so when I finally did, I was ecstatic! I didn't actually believe I was pregnant so I ran to the store and got 3 more tests (it was kind of like the scene from Knocked Up). The pregnancy was actually going well but it ended up being a really bad scary pregnancy. I wasn't throwing up or having back pain so all that was great. I started having issues around 12 weeks when I saw (cover your eyes for TMI) blood. I quickly called the doctor in a panic and his response was to come in the next day (it was the middle of the night) and if I lost the baby there was nothing he could do about it (his exact words by the way) cue the tears. The next day I went in with the mindset that I was no longer pregnant, well I was. I was so happy and I thought that was the end of my little health scare. (lol yeahhhh, little did I know this incident was just the tip of the iceberg) The time came to find out the sex of the baby, I was so so excited for this visit.. they told us it was a... GIRL! I got to smile for about 3.2 seconds and then they told me that she had two soft markers for down syndrome or cystic fibrosis. My heart sank. Please don't misunderstand this.. I would love her no matter what the circumstance. However, I would of course want my child to be healthy if given the option. Her soft markers were echogenic bowel and crooked pinkies, which I have as well ..they are just slighty curved so they said it was probably a family trait. Keep in mind that they never said ONE word about anything being wrong with her heart. Did I say quick history in the title? Thought it would be. I opted for blood work instead of the amnio test for fear of having a miscarriage. Fast forward to two weeks later (by the way, longest two weeks of my life; at this point) I got the call that the blood work was normal. Woohoo! That's the end of my pregnancy scare!! JK! They wanted to have a follow up ultrasound and at that one they told me she had a "duplex collecting system" of her kidney. This turned out to be nothing thankfully but at the time it was just another problem to add to my list and I was pretty much a wreck at that point. Hormones + bad news over & over again = disaster. I also ended up getting a sinus infection right at the end of my pregnancy, that was a splendid time of fun.

 

Little miss trouble maker.

Delivery and NICU:
Me & the hubby decided to go to the movies, it was a Saturday night and we were going to pack our hospital bags the next day (I was due in ten days) so we could be prepared. Olivia said "Nah, I think it will be more fun this way" I started having contractions as soon as the movie ended, I wondered if it was just a stomach ache from all the food I ate that day so I went home and took a shower. (weirdo I know, who does that?!) As I was drying my hair the pain was getting worse and worse. I finally called the doctor and he wasn't sure if it was a stomach ache either until I had a contraction on the phone. He said to meet him a the hospital right away, (during this phone call my husband is running around throwing things into a bag for us) we were not prepared. So on the way to the hospital I was on the phone with my mom (nobody truly thought I was going into labor at this point because we all thought the baby would be late) and all of a sudden a gush. "Okay I know for a FACT that I did NOT just pee everywhere" my husband was so grossed out! ha ha so yeah my water broke and I had no idea that after it breaks.. it keeps on coming out. I mean every few seconds another gush, I could not believe the amount of fluid coming out.. it was like a gallon! That's what it seemed like at least. The first thing I said was "give me the epidural!" after that I was pretty much okay. By the time we got to the hospital I was already 7cm dilated. Another scary thing and probably TMI, the "water" coming out of me was brown. I KNEW it was supposed to be clear from all those Baby Story episodes I watched! That freaked me out but they assured me it was going to be fine. Uhm hello?! My baby is swimming in her own poop, DISGUSTING, get her out!!! (what I was saying in my head) After a few hours of pushing she was here! Another fun quote from the doctor while I was pushing "oh that was a lousy push" gee thanks. So from start to finish my labor lasted 6 hours. Pretty good I think! Then I heard some keywords .."floppy" "lack of oxygen" and I freaked "is she okay?! IS SHE OKAY?!" ugh she had to go to the NICU (I wanted her to sleep in our room so bad but she couldn't) A new all time scariest moment (at that point) After a few hours she was doing much better and her tone started looking normal. She only needed oxygen for one day and after three days of being in the NICU they told us we could go home. Although she wasn't eating much (only about 1oz every three hours) they said it was okay and that her stomach was very small, I thought it was strange but shrugged it off. When they told us she was okay to go home, I must have made a funny face because the doctor asked me what was wrong. I told him I was worried and he suggested having a nurse come to the house in a few days to check on her, I agreed.

 

Olivia Paige - 7lbs, 2oz - 19inches long & a very loud screamer!