Trash talk

Walk softly

Oliver's stick

Wes's stick

A boy and his drill

So this is Christmas

Oliver led the unwrapping efforts.

A rodent for the rodent

Winnie the Pooh Legos from sister

Playing with Pooh bear

Her very first teapot

Oliver's electric drill set

The Winnie the Pooh movie
 that we saw in the theater.

Oliver's airport-in-a-box

Emme's roden hat

Christmas Eve jammies

Where we walk

These are from last Sunday out at Edwin Warner Park.  I like this spot because it provides paved paths for 30-90 minutes of walking, which means I can take the double stroller and the dog, and it's really hilly.  That adds up to some serious calorie burning!

From Oliver's point of view

Where do giggles come from?

Dear Husband, Part 55

Behind bars

Eleven months old

Sittin' pretty

Filet o' baby

So here's the very long update on Emme's surgery.

Friday night

Emme had her surgery almost three weeks ago now, and a lot has happened since then.  She recovered from the surgery itself pretty well.  She woke a bit more often the first and second night but then went back to sleeping through the night.  On the fourth or fifth night, though, she started sleeping horribly.  For several hours after she went to bed I would hear her up there, rolling around and banging her cast against the side of the crib.  She would cry this sad, pathetic cry.  She would wail several times.  No one slept well.  One night, I put Oliver into bed with Wes and slept upstairs in the hopes that at least some people would wake more rested.  Downstairs, without me getting in and out of bed, the boys got one solid night. Then we gave Emme a bath and rewrapped the cast and she went back to sleeping pretty normally.  I even took her to the pediatrician's office one afternoon just to make sure she didn't have an ear infection -- she didn't.

We saw the surgeon one week post-op.  She looked at Emme's abdominal incision and since the cast looked like it hadn't moved, sent us on our way.  We went back two week post-op and got the cast off.  And what we found was a relatively healthy looking graft with one spot that hadn't taken.  One big, red, nasty spot on the side of her foot.  At first I thought it was an ulceration from the cast rubbing again it (which happened on her heel after the first and second surgery), but it turns out that for some reason, the graft just hadn't taken there.  Emme was funny getting the cast off.  As soon as it was peeled away, she was wiggling her toes, stretching her ankle and rotating it, and scratching the dry skin under the cast.  Dr. Chester rewrapped her foot with layers of Vaseline gauze (Xeroform), regular gauze, Kerlex, and an ace bandage and sent us our way with an appointment for five days later.  Emme got fussy before we left, but I thought it was just because that sore spot had been irritated by her rotating her ankle around.

Her battle wounds

I dropped her back at daycare with things for the teachers to watch for and headed off for meetings and class.  At 4:30, with more than an hour of class left to go, I got a call from the main teacher, Kendi, who told me that Emme had been fussy all afternoon -- unless she was being held.  I ended up leaving a little early from class to pick the kids up and found Emme in the arms of one of the part-time student workers.  She was a little sleepy but not terribly fussy the rest of the evening.  The next morning, she seemed find.  I  took her to daycare but dosed her before she went in case she was in some kind of discomfort.  I saw her at lunch and she seemed fine.  I didn't even give her another dose of pain medication.  Four hours later, I got a call from Kendi saying that Emme had a fever of 102.6.  I immediately called Dr. Chester, then Wes, and then picked up the kids.  Emme was really got and clearly uncomfortable.  We hadn't changed her dressing yet since we'd decided to do evening changes.  Wes got home, pulled the bandage off, and then called Dr. Chester to chat.  Dr. Chester decided to hold off on any antibiotics until she saw Emme the next day.

Monday night

Emme was clearly feeling very poorly Friday night.  She slept soundly, but when I got up to nurse at 5:30, she was burning up.  Her temperature was 102.9.  She slept most of Saturday morning.  Wes took her to see Dr. Chester at 11:00 AM, then called less than an hour later to say he was taking Emme to the pediatrician's office.  Dr. Chester wanted them to check her over and make sure there was no other explanation for the fever, then figure out what to do next.  Wes saw the pediatrician who was available, not our usual doctor, and was less than impressed.  He said he kind of wanted to send everyone else out and just do what needed done himself.  They saw that her ears were still clear, took a urine sample (with a catheter -- ugh), and checked for any other issues but found none.  They considered briefly admitting her to the Children's Hospital but decided instead to do two intermuscular shots of a broad spectrum antibiotic, one on Saturday and another on Sunday.  Wes and a very tired Emme were home around an hour later.  She slept much of the afternoon and had another solid night of sleep.  She had a long afternoon with no wet diaper, which started to worry us, but then started peeing again late at night.  We switched to twice-a-day bandage changes, using Silvadene on the spot where the graft didn't take.

Emme woke up the next morning with a fever, somewhere around 101.  She was still pretty sleepy, went for her second shot, but then, according to Wes, was a little more active in the afternoon (while I was finishing my last paper for the semester in anticipation of her being home on Monday).  She slept fine Sunday night.

Monday morning she woke up much more normal.  She still had a 100 degree fever, but not even high enough that she'd be sent home from daycare.  She was very active and just seemed much closer to normal.  Dr. Chester said her foot looked much improved from the weekend and felt that, even though it didn't entirely make sense, the fever must have been from the graft.  She's on Keflex orally three times a day for the next week.  She still isn't at 98.6, but she's close enough.  She went back to daycare on Tuesday and did fine.  Dr. Chester thinks the spot the didn't take will be small enough to scar over and not need another graft, which was a consideration for a short time.  She'll have to wear the bandage until the scar forms.  We're hoping there's enough healing by Friday that she can get a bath!

At this point, it seems like Emme's graft will be okay.  She will put weight on her right foot, but the bandage is thick enough with all the gauze that she won't try to stand independently or take steps (though she will walk while holding on to my fingers).  We're really happy that this small bump didn't necessitate any hospital time and that Emme seems to be feeling better so quickly. 

Hospital charges for one skin graft: $31,993.40.  A happy, health baby girl: priceless.

Quoth the Oliver

Things Oliver has said recently.

Translation required:

• Wes and Oliver were getting ready to outside one day, and Wes was helping him put on an extra layer since it was getting cool.  Wes came upstairs with Oliver pretty confused and asked if I knew what Oliver's "planet shirt" was.  I wracked my brain -- he used to have some planet pajamas, but no planet shirt.  Wes said that Oliver kept asking for his "planet shirt."  I thought and thought and thought.  And then it hit me.  Oliver was asking for his flannel shirt.  
• One morning Ollie and I were sitting at breakfast eating our cereal.  Apropos to nothing, Ollie asked me what goes in the sky.  He started the list: "Airplanes, helicopters, blinks."  Ah, yes.  Blimps.  
• Ollie, Emme, and I were driving somewhere in the car one day -- maybe on our way to school -- when Ollie asks for the umpteenth time what the glove box is.  I told him what it was, and then he told me that "chains for the zoo" was in there.  Chains for the zoo, chains for the zoo, chains for the zoo? Ah-hah!  The change for the zoo -- the tokens that we use to go on the carousel.

Funny:

• When we went to Emme's first post-op appointment, Oliver came with us because it was early in the morning and he really wanted to see Emme get her cast off (which, of course, ultimately didn't happen at that appointment).  He had been to one or two of Emme's pediatrician's appointment before and on one occasion, saw Emme get some shots and then got a sticker from the check-out nurse for being well behaved.   As we were entering the plastic surgeon's office, Oliver said, "Emme will get her cast off, and then I will get an Elmo sticker."  Seems fair, right?

Sweet:

• On the way to the plastic surgeon's office, we drove past a construction site.  It was exciting for Ollie, who got to see several pieces of construction equipment at work.  When we passed it again on our way out, I pointed out to Ollie several long tree trunks that had been saved from what had been removed from the site.  He asked about the trees, and I explained that they had removed the trees because they were going to build something there.  Later that afternoon, on our way home from daycare, he asked if they were going to take out more trees, like the ones near our house.  I told him they weren't going to take those trees out -- that we like trees and they're good for us.  Ollie suddenly got a very serious look on his face and said, "But if they cut the trees down, where will the birdies go?"  Sweet boy.

Anticipation...is keepin' me waitin'

Wes and I have completed our holiday shopping.  Yes, I know, it's November 29.  I only very recently lamented how early the Christmas season had arrived in our local shops, and now I'm already done with Christmas shopping.  There's several reasons for that.  One, it's an outstanding distraction from my final papers.  Googling "cool toys for 3-year-old boys" on Amazon is way more interesting than "teacher education for English as a second language" on Google Scholar.  Second, I usually shop online and wanted to leave plenty of time for shipping.  And third, we do light presents, so there wasn't a lot of shopping to do.  The kids are each getting four items plus new pajamas for Christmas eve.  I have something in mind for Wes and have it in the works, but the plans are done.  Woosh -- holiday shopping done.

But now that the shopping is done and items will be here in the next 7-10 days, I have to decide what to do with the presents.  We aren't going to have a full-size Christmas tree this year because Emme is so mobile and not yet discerning about what to touch and leave alone.  I also don't think Oliver would leave alone wrapped items that sat unattended for weeks at a time.  Wes and I had a conversation last night about whether to put them out, perhaps on our mantel above the Christmas stockings, or leave them put away until Christmas morning.  This might make the most sense in the long run since we don't do Santa in our house and so it might be fun to just have things appear on Christmas morning.  My biggest concern for this year is that having wrapped gifts out for too long would be a huge tease.  But maybe next year.

Just because the kids are too young to really look forward Christmas Day, doesn't mean there's no one waiting in anticipation.  I, for one, can't wait for them to see what Wes and I picked out.

Oasis

Emme, it seems, is a little water bug.  She loves the bath -- and has been missing out on it for the last week because of her cast (the little stinker).  She is instinctively drawn to the dog's water bowl.  Several times in the last few weeks, we have found her splashing happily in it, requiring an outfit change.  If she gets away before she gets changed, she leaves a little wet trail behind her on the kitchen floor.  Last night, after a splash-around in the water bowl and subsequent outfit change, she followed me into the bathroom where, while I was washing my hands, she stood up at the toilet and proceeded to reach into the bowl after the water.  

Maybe she's thirsty?

Look

It's Oliver with himself from two years ago (here and here).

In parts

Today is Emme's second surgery for the large nevus on her right foot and leg.  It's 8:55 AM now, and she's been back in the operating room for almost an hour.  I woke her last night around 2:30 AM to nurse her as late as I could (no breast milk after 3 AM for the anesthesia), then was back up shortly after 5 to pump and get ready.  I woke her around 5:45 -- she was not appreciative but came around when I offered her a pacifier.  She was generally agreeable for most of the morning.  Everyone in the waiting room was watching her crawl around, push the train car I brought for her, cruise along the chairs, and stare at the other kids and their parents.  We did lose a shoes somewhere along the way, but after retracing our steps here at the hospital to no avail, I'm hoping it's somewhere between her room and the garage at home.

We were one of the first ones to go back around 6:45; I think they take the infants first thing.  She climbed all over the crib in the room, played with her duck, and flirted with every male that came by (I swear -- it really is just with the guys!).  She was fairly even tempered until around 7:30 AM, by which time she was clearly getting sleepy and probably wanted to eat.  She rocked with me a little and went happily to the nurse anesthetist (who said he had an 18-month-old girl at home and was enjoying a "little baby" in his arms) around 7:45.  Caroline Chester, our fantastic plastic surgeon, checked her out shortly before that.  She was surprised to see how much Emme had grown since her last appointment in July.  She was also pleased to see how much elasticity she had in her calf and decided, if time permitted, to do another staged excision on the ankle in addition to the graft today.  Emme will end up with donor site on her abdomen, plus the excision and graft on her ankle under a cast -- a lot of healing, but hopefully not too much limitation to her movement.

Note the purple X on her leg to mark
what limb is being worked on.
Dr. Chester said they make her do it,
though we agreed that in this case it
seem unnecessary!

I am in the waiting room for the duration.  Wes, who is on Ollie duty today before and some time in the ER enrolling patients for his studies, will come over once we hear that Caroline in on her way out.  I will update this post when I hear anything, but if last time is any indication, I'll (hopefully) just hear that things are progressing.

10:24 AM: Karen, a nurse from the operating room, called to say that Emme is doing fine.  Dr. Chester is working on getting the graft onto her foot.  She anticipates probably another hour, at least.  Will either be called back or get another update by then.

12:47 PM: And home.  More updates later, but generally all went well.  Right now, I'm going to hold a pretty pathetic baby.

8:58 PM: Emme's been pretty sad this afternoon.  She has a huge incision on her abdomen from hipbone to hipbone, and we don't even know what things look like under her huge cast (on for ten days).  Dr. Chester decided not to do the excision on the top of the nevus because she worried it would be too much at once.  Emme has been very still for the most part this afternoon.  She cries these sad, half-hearted little bleats, then falls asleep for a few minutes if I rock her, then bleats again. I got her to sleep a little in her swing (which we kept out past its regular use for this very reason), and we put her down for the night around 6 PM.  She's cried a little -- always the sad, tired, moaning cry, nothing serious -- but has mostly slept since then.  If she can make it through most of a normal night, I think we can get her back on her schedule tomorrow.  She had very little baby food today, so I think she's going to be really hungry tomorrow.  She also hasn't nursed a whole lot.  I gave her small bottle of water when we had dinner just to see if she was interested, and she did drink an ounce or so.  Wes and I are both worn out from poor nights of sleep last night, a generally irregular schedule for him the last few nights, and a cold and cough for me.  I'm not sure what tonight will bring, but we do have four days off all together.  And Oliver has just been fantastic this afternoon.  He is clearly very concerned about Emme's well-being and wants to know why she's so sad.  He also really wants to see her boo-boo.  He brought her pacifiers and toys throughout the afternoon and looked through a magazine to find "slippers and jammies" for her.  He's definitely been a good big brother.  Wes did manage to get a faint smile out of her at dinner, and Aunt Margaret and Uncle Ben sent flowers (with a teddy and 3 Musketeers bar!), which I'm sure cheered her up.

Baby is crying; here's hoping she has an okay night.

(Last night, with the surgery finally imminent, I spent some time reading about skin grafts and treatment options for congenital nevi.  I sometimes feel like we're going through all this for no reason, but then I remember the high risk these large/giant nevi carry for melanoma, especially before age 3, and I figure the relatively mild inconvenience and discomfort caused by these surgeries is certainly worth it to, hopefully, avoid skin cancer in the future.  For more information on congenital nevi, including the risk factors for large or giant nevi, go here.  Note that Emme's large nevus has a 1:500,000 occurrence in infants.  Add that to the incidence of aplasia cutis congenita, with 500 reported cases since 1767, and maybe she should play the jackpot.)

It's 8:00 AM. Do you know where your children are?

My daughter -- she's asleep.  Not still asleep, mind you.  But down for a nap.  Oliver was up at 5:45 (that's what I get for an early bedtime, I suppose), and Emme woke up or was awoken shortly thereafter.  She got very fussy around 7:45, as she often does just before we're getting ready to go to school (normally around 8:30).  I guessed she was tired and put her in her crib while I took a shower.  And now -- sleeping soundly.

Oliver -- he's everywhere.  

Bed bugs

Ten months old

Sleeping through the night

I am very happy to say that for several weeks now, Emme has been sleeping through the night.  More importantly, for the last several weeks, I have been sleeping through the night.  Now lots of baby sleep books say that a baby is officially "sleeping through the night" when they go six hours or more at a stretch.  Emme was doing that by probably 12 or 16 weeks.  When I mentioned to a classmate recently that Emme was finally sleeping through, my professor said, "Oh, our kids all did that really early.  My wife would just bring them to bed and nurse them there."  That, my friends, is a man talking.  A man who does not understand that waking to nurse a baby, even one in bed with you, is not consecutive sleep.  And I, for one, never slept well when the baby was actually in bed with me.  So to me, "sleeping through the night" means that baby goes down to bed at night and doesn't wake up (or wake me up) until it's time to get up in the morning.  For both my kids, that's meant 12-hour night.  Down at 7pm, up at 7am, or thereabouts.  And it's happened for both around 9 or 10 months.  Not as early as I'd like, but I made it with both of them.  And I do mean me.  Wes helps a little as he's able, but he'll readily admit that 99% or more of the times that a kid got up, I was the one to get up with them -- to nurse, to rock, to soothe, or whatever.  I don't think I could ever do the hard core sleep training, so it's a gift to me that they both finished night waking around the time that I was really read to be done, too.

Emme has been occasionally sleeping through the night for a few months, but sometimes she would get up much more often -- especially when sick or teething.  A few weeks ago, I made an effort to let her fuss a little longer when she woke up, and she made the turn and the full night became a consistent thing.  I would go up if she woke up screaming loudly -- something that came with her two bottom teeth -- or if she was still crying after several minutes, especially if it was escalating.  But usually he night cries were almost half-hearted.  Like maybe she wasn't even totally awake.  So I let her go, and she's learned to either find her pacifier (which she only uses when sleeping) or go back to sleep.  She slept through a few nights before our trip to Chicago and then did it for two of the three nights my mom was here with her.  I cannot tell you how much better rested I feel.  How I can stay up a little later at night to work because I know I'll get at least eight hours in a row.  

I have been relatively lucky where sleep is concerned.  I've done better with the lack of sleep than I thought I would when first pregnant, and that seems to be something that varies by chidl.  The kids would be up every 3-4 hours, but it was extremely rare that I was up for any reason other than to nurse, and they were usually back down within 10 minutes.  I did go through a period when I rifled at people who said to me, "Well, if she only gets up once at night, that's not bad."  I mean seriously -- who gets up every single night in the middle of the night and thinks, "Well, that's not bad"?  No one.  It's not fun.  Especially after a fairly restless third trimester.  That's like a full year of inconsistent sleep. Without any real naps.

I'll gladly do it again when the time comes.  Much as I like my sleep (especially in my recently redecorated bedroom -- pictures soon to come on the other blog), I don't mind sharing little bits of that time to snuggle with warm, cuddly bodies who immediately calm down when momma picks them up.

In the mean time, though, I'll be in bed.

Jammin'

Oliver on the wall

More from family photo day

A little bit of Emmeline in my life

I'm not sure if the boogers came before
or after the tissues.

"So this button gets me Sports Center..."  (Note: remote upside down.)

Per Aunt Laura's request