Calm before the storm (in a good way!)

Just briefly...

My family starts arriving tomorrow. Gram first, then everyone else on Christmas day.

I am starting to feel a little bit stressed. You should really see my house. I'm not even joking, it almost looks as though it's been shaken upside down. Not good. I might have to work on that tonight. I pick Gram up early-ish tomorrow.

What have I signed myself up for?

Again, briefly: I am tired. I haven't been this tired since the "newborn" days. I don't know what it is, either a mix of Piper being sick/getting shots/teething and then a bit of stress in there, too, but I am seriously bagged. I don't think I've slept a continuous 4 hours in days now (I think that is how they torture people in some places!). Half of it is Piper waking up more in the night, and the other half is me not being able to sleep most of the time. Ahhhg!

This is making me old.

I am really am excited for Christmas, I just need to find some energy to really really feel it.

Wah-wah-wah for me. Sorry. I'm just going to have a very quiet melt-down in a minute...

I truly do wish you all the bestest of Christmases. It is an adventure every year.

Stickered up.

Poor child. Four shots in 2 days. Her little thighs are all poked. So far, she seems to be coping alright.

Yesterday she was given her 6 months shots (she missed them because she was sick last time) and then we H1N1 shot (dose #1). Anyways, nothing too exciting. No reaction, a little fussier at night time, and not eating as normally. She had a bit of a temperature this morning, but nothing crazy.

At noon today she received the first of 5 doses of her RSV shot. This was done at Surrey MH, at a special little clinic that they maybe hold on certain days? Not sure. The room the nurse put us in had little instruction posters up for oncology patients... Hmmmm...

We ended up waiting around in our little oncology room (which looked kinda like the room you deliver your baby in, but a little smaller. And there was an awesome lazy-boy in there that Piper got rocking on, and she thought that was pretty funny) for a while. Piper got weighed, and she had to be naked, as the medicine is dictated on weight. After 15 pounds, it is given in two needles, opposed to just one shot. She was a perfect 16 pounds (oh man, and I am feeling it!) so she had to get two needles. The kinda cool/crazy/sad/smart part is that they actually get two nurses to inject one needle each, one in each leg, at the same time. Really, it makes sense, it just looks like some strange form of torture.

Imagine, Piper is laying on a hospital bed, with me at her head, kinda restraining her arm, and then two nurses at the legs, each poised with a needle, hastily swabbing and unpacking things and glancing at each other as if to count "one, two, three?". I took a quick peek at the needles and there as a good amount of fluid in there! x2! Ya.

They injected the needles and Piper cried initially, as these shots actually took longer to inject as there was quite a large amount of stuff to go in. I've found that she is fairly easy to settle after it's all done. There were two new little sticky band-aids and we were good to go. (well, after waiting our 15 mins, of course)

Once I was home (Piper fell asleep the moment I put her in her car seat- no joke), I looked at the appointments coming up for her shots. It looks like this little girl will be getting 1-2 shots a month until she is a year old. Oh my. That kinda hit me.

Her next RSV shot has to be 21 days apart from this one, and then the subsequent ones are all 28 days apart. She also needs the second hit of her H1N1 shot, so, the first week in January, we'll be doing the same thing, with a few shots within a few days.

Alas, this is all the name of prevention. Wow. I guess we'll never really know if it's worth it, that's the funny part.

Well, that's not entirely true. We spent that one evening in the emergency room, and if she got the flu or RSV, it would be something like that, but much more serious. And I don't want to have to go through that again.

But we're home now, all well and happy. I bought a new baby Tylenol (grape!) and we should be good for the evening. As I am writing this, Piper is "baabaabaa, aaabababa, aa-waaa-ba"-ing with Matt in her bed, playing peek-a-boo and rolling around. They've just had a bath, which I think they would both admit is their favorite part of the day. I know it is for Matt (he told me so tonight), and Piper is just so content in the water, either lying down, or sitting up splashing or even sticking her tongue into the shower water. She really loves that water.

Anyways, this picture below is one of my favorites right now. Personally, I think Piper looks a lot like baby-me in this one, and I know she is so happy to be beside the Foos, both looking out the window watching the birds and cars. For the most part, she is a fairly happy baby, really. There are certainly days that aren't splendid, but I guess that's part of it.

I am realizing more and more, talking to more people with kids and life experience, that I am really a glass-half-full kind of mother, and person in general. Yes. And I am ok with that. I don't think that is me being naive to possible scenarios, or always trying to be blind to the negative things, I just think that there is enough garbage going on in our day-to-day lives that I don't need to stress over things that don't warrant it (ie. baby poop on my fingers, laundry coming out my ears, an ever-changing baby etc...).

Ok. Off to watch a show with Matty and Piper in the basement: she plays with her "downstairs toys" and we get a little entertainment in. It's usually a lovely way to spend an evening.

Family photos!

Here are some of the family portraits we had done by a friend of mine (karenhantke.com). I won't stop singing her praises:) These are only a few of the vertical ones to enjoy. We are so happy with all of them. The film one's are coming and I can't wait to see them! I"ll have to get one framed. But then I would have to narrow it down to one! Ahk!

Enjoy!

ps. Piper still has a sniffly nose, which usually requires a morning swooshing with a saline solution. But then she is usually ok for the rest of the day. She was up so often last night, just coughing like crazy. I think it was hard for her to be horizontal, as everything just wants to come up. This might be a combo of cough+teething, which isn't great.

Oh well, we'll see how today goes! Yesterday she napped for almost 3 hours (unheard of, really), so I think she might actually be sick and just needs more rest. Today as well, she is napping longer than usual, so maybe her body is trying to get as much as possible when it can. Hmmm...

Still, she has her 6 months shots tomorrow, and I'm not sure if they'll let her have them. The RSV nurse at BCCH said that she usually still will if there is a runny nose, and just gets a second opinion from a Dr if there is a fever. Piper doesn't have a fever, just a mean ol' cough.

Poor kiddie. I just want to get these vaccinations over with! I am sure she doesn't mind avoiding them for as long as possible.

We'll see how tomorrow goes! Maybe I'll try calling the clinic...

Happy Tuesday!

Sniffle, sniffle

Alas, is this the story for all babies? Are they just constantly getting sick, then getting better just to get sick again? Not fair. Not fun.

Piper has had a severely runny nose for the past few days, which comes with her cough coming back and some not so glorious nights. She'll rub her little face with the back of her hand, thus spreading snot all over her face, and somehow, that seems to make it worse for her.
The other morning, I tried nursing her, only, she couldn't breath through her nose! I think that made her quite upset/nervous, so she just screamed louder. Her attempts consisted of her mainly just biting me in frustration. Yeah, not great for momma-bear.
I had to lay her back down in bed, get some warm saline water and shoot it up her nose to loosen up the bad green-guys. She hates that part. So would I. Things should only come out of your nose, not go back in.
Anyways, once the water had softened everything up, I had to use another syringe (yeah, we've got a decent collection now) to suck all that snot out! What a fun way to start the morning.
She did nurse just fine after that, and I think she was happy I put her through some minor torture to get her on her way to a full belly.

Still, her being sick is not great, because, once again she is due for some shots! This is the second attempt at her 6 month shots (she will be 7 months tomorrow), which includes her H1N1. Bleh.

Oh, and then the next day, she is scheduled for her first RSV shot. So this poor baby is due for a lot of punctures. But maybe none of them will happen at all due to her being sick again.
That part is getting really frustrating.

So far, she hasn't had a fever and she has been eating really well (milk+solids, both), so I am not really worried that she is anything other than "wintertime" sick, but still. I don't really want to start having to reschedule these again. And I don't know if anyone else has had to reschedule with Fraser Health, but it only takes about a month and half to get your appointment! So then she would be much further behind on her vaccinations... again.

Still, in other news, Piper is on the whole, a fairly happy baby girl. She loves to watch the cat, and get a handful whenever she can, or she loves looking outside and watching the birds. She helps me in the kitchen, by sitting in the sink and pulling all sorts of things in there, while admiring the faucet (she will figure it out one day... I'll cross that bridge when we get to it).

Piper is eating solid foods really well now, much better than a few weeks ago. So far she's tried, sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes, peas, pears, apples, banana, blueberries, pumpkin, acorn squash, sugar squash, zucchini, cantaloupe and avocado. This week we're going to try parsnips, green beans, butternut squash and buttercup squash, oh, and asparagus (ok, maybe not all this week, but that is what I am making).
So far, I am really enjoying this feeding process, and the prep part. I love diving into the freezer and picking out little cubes of this or that, or making a mix and seeing how it goes. She certainly likes the blander tastes, like squashes and cantaloupe, opposed to pears and apples. She seems to be a veggie girl more than fruits. I sneak the fruits in her cereal (imagine that, eh? Sneaking in the sweet stuff! Hmmm).
I feel great that I am still making her food myself, even if its not directly from my body, like breast milk is (though she is still nursing lots and well). There is something fulfilling about it. Though, this is the easy stage, when there aren't really any recipes yet, its just mushy fun. We'll see how this changes as her appetite evolves.

Ok, so I am just kinda babbling now. All in all, I can breathe a little easier knowing surgery is a little ways away from Christmas and I will do my best to relax in the mean time. I am trying to find the precious moments in some of this mayhem and keep those on the forefront of my mind. I've got a happy baby who smiles at me when I come into the room! (she'll then sometimes start to cry because I remind her of all the things she wants: milk, milk and more milk. Well, being wanted it always nice)

Happy weekend:) I'll get more of our family portraits up soon...

Some good news!

So this morning I called the hospital to see if they could tell me anything about a possible surgery date. Seems simple, right? Well, as soon as I got a nurse on the phone (hooray for direct lines!), all of my words became all jumbled and half-latin and backwards. I couldn't hardly get anything out except for "so, ummm" and "maybe, ummm". Yeah, I sounded like an idiot. And I felt like one. Man, this preggo-brain thing is really lingering.

The nurse patiently listened to me trying to form sentences and finally let me know that she knew that the surgeons were scheduling for January already, though the waiting list is in the process of being "re-prioritized".

So this means, there will be no surgery before Christmas! I do feel really great about that. I wasn't even really aware of how much I wanted it to happen in January until I got off the phone and let out a huge sigh.

Later, the surgery-booking lady (imagine that job, eh?) called to say that, yes, the list is being looked over by the surgeons and cardiologists and there is no new info on her end. She's been pestering them to get her the new list, as she said I was not the first parent to call. She did say "well, I could give you a date if you really wanted me to, but at this point, the likelihood of it changing is quite high". So she encouraged me to wait some more, since getting a date and having the change it is a lot less fun than just waiting.

And now, I really do feel ok waiting. I can relax about having a post-op baby for Christmas time, and I can push all of my worries into 2010! Take that!

Some not-so-great news is that Piper has a runny nose again, and is coughing a bit more today. She had a really "off" night last night, and we had to give her Tylenol (thinking it was teeth?), but I think she might have been fighting some sickness. Bleh. I hope its just a touch of something, maybe the cold weather? She is a bit less forgiving today, and looks like she might need an extra nap. I've got to remember to give her some more attention during these times and not try to push her to get through it. She might just need some more mommy-time.

But she continues to grow, grow, grow! She is sitting all on her own now, all the time, and is almost wanting to scoot places, though she doesn't quite know how. I can tell she wants to move, but is a little afraid of tipping over.

And as always, she is in love with the cat. The coolest thing is to pick Piper up, and ask her "where is the cat?", and she immediately starts looking in all the usual "cat places": where her bowl is, the window, by the stairs... and she just looks and looks and looks until she finds her, and then Piper smiles and laughs and wants to visit with the Foos. The Foos is starting to tolerate her a mico-fragment more these days, but still pretty much just walks away if Piper get too close.

Here they are, both playing with something the love, and enjoying themselves at a safe distance.

Just a sneak peek!

Here is just a quick look at some of the family portraits we had done today!

My dear friend from school, Karen (www.karenhantke.com) came over nice and early and caught some of the lovely light that shines in Piper's room. I wanted to get some great shots of Piper without her top on, to show off her perfect, unmarked chest. It won't always look like that, so I wanted to celebrate while we could, as we get ready to embrace all the changes that come with this crazy future ahead of us... and then we'll celebrate those changes, too.

I am already so in love with these ones, and Karen also took some in film that will blow these ones out of the water! Can't wait (but I will). Thank you so much Karen for a great time!

Anyways, enjoy this one for now... I'll put some more up when I can.

No news

Just letting you know, we haven't heard anything as to when Piper will have her surgery. The cardiologist said to hear something early December, so I'll try calling them this time next week to see how things are looking.

Just more waiting. But hey, we should be used to it by now!

Piper's cough is just about all gone. She is usually a little more stuffy when she first wakes up, and sometimes coughs on her way to sleep. But not so much a nuisance any more.

In other news, we are slowly trying to get ready for Christmas, doing some finishing touches on the house to have it ready for the Coull clan (my family), and we'll see how it goes!

Here are a bunch of pictures, not great quality as they are off my phone, but still fun!

Piper helping with dinner

Playing with the Foos (notice the fireplace enclosure Matt built! Yeah for free cribs!)

Keeping an eye on our hood.

Giggling with Daddy

Eating so nicely for Opa.

Morning time sillies.

Helping organize the pantry (and eat onion skins...)

Happy that Daddy came home!

Loving the play with Mommy's broken keyboard

Smiling for Daddy!