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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

SHE'S OUT!!

Notice anything missing???


No more harness!!!

We had another doctor appointment for her hips today and we were totally shocked when they told us she was done! 
DONE! 
Ahhhhh, I'm so excited!! 
I will write more later but I just wanted to share our exciting news.
Thank you God for healing our baby girl so quickly!
Now it's time for some harness free snuggles. :)

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Chopped

Today my baby boy doesn't look so much like a baby anymore. :(

We talked a little bit about getting his hair cut short last week because he gets so sweaty and now with it getting hot out it's even worse. I called my sister in law and told her we had to come over and do it now otherwise I would probably change my mind. I really really didn't want to cut it but I knew he would be more comfortable with it shorter. Besides, it's just hair, it will grow back...right!?

Before




After


Doesn't he look like a totally different kid??
People keep asking what HE thinks about it and honestly...he really didn't care at all. I'm not sure he even knows we cut it. Such a boy. :) 

Friday, June 17, 2011

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Callie Update

Last Thursday we had Callie's 2 month check-up.
(How is she two months old already!?!)
Anyway, the doctor said everything looks great and that she's perfect.  We agree. :)
She also experienced her very first crying episode with real tears.  He was looking in her ears and apparently she did not like that and started bawling. :( And then as soon as the poor little thing stopped the nurse came in to give her shots.  Thankfully Matt came with (actually I always make him come with when there are shots involved) and stayed in the room with her while I stood out in the hall covering my ears. 

Here's the stats on our sweet girl at 2 months (and 1 week) old.

Weight: 15 pounds (99 percentile)
Height: 23 inches (68 percentile) - Although I think our pediatrician's nurse was a little nervous to push or pull on her legs too much because the next day at Gillette they measured her at almost 24 inches.
Head Circumference: 16 inches (87 percentile)

Perfect indeed!!


And now the hip update...

Friday Matt and I took Callie back to Gillette for our first check since getting her harness.  When we got there we went straight to the ultrasound room.  It always seems to take such a long time but I'm sure they need to get very accurate pictures of the joints while they are moving them around.  Callie did great though, at one point the girl doing the ultrasound stopped and said she needed her to not be moving around so much.  Hello lady, you just took her harness off, of course she wants to be kicking her legs!  They eventually got what they needed and then started looking and measuring and whispering.  I told Matt that I hated them standing right in front of us whispering about all these numbers.  He said even if they weren't whispering I would have no idea what they were talking about.  Good point...but still.  After more discussion they left to go talk to the radiologist.  Waiting, waiting, pacing, waiting.  It was probably only a few minutes but I was so nervous and anxious to hear what they found.  Even though it had only been 3 weeks we have been praying that there would be progress, any progress.  Just something to let us know that things were going in the right direction.

They came back in and one of the girls said she was making amazing progress.
Amazing progress!!
I instantly teared up and I think I almost hugged them.  This was more than we were expecting!  Her measurements (not exactly sure what that is, I think the angle of the bones???) are in the normal range on both sides!  There is still some movement in the socket when they push down on her hips but even that is so much better than it was.
Amazing.
Progress.

So for now we keep doing what we have been doing and we will go back in another 3 weeks.  I am trying really hard to not get my hopes up after such a great visit but I keep thinking that just maybe she will be out of this thing before Summer is over and she can wear cute little dresses and swimsuits and be able to put her little toes in the sand and sit in the pool.  If not, it will be fine because we need to do what we need to do to get this fixed, but if so...how wonderful would that be!! :)

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Then & Now

April 6th, 2011


June 6th, 2011

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Monday, June 6, 2011

Callie - 2 Months

Thank you for all the sweet comments on my last post!  I feel like I came off a little bitter and I really didn't mean to, I usually try to have a much better attitude about the whole thing.  I know people mean well when they talk about Callie in her harness and I definitely know I have said the same thing to other people in similar situations.  I guess some days I just have a harder time than others.  (I will have to remember to blog more on the better days.) :) Not that I don't want to share my honest feelings, I plan to continue doing that but I just don't want to sound ungrateful when people are just trying to be supportive.  We are very thankful for all the support!!

On to the fun stuff...

Callie's first bottle.
Since Braden never took a bottle we wonder if we missed our opportunity with him because we didn't try to give him one until he was almost 3 months.  So we decided we would try a little earlier with Callie and see what she would do.  I pumped and put it in a bottle and Matt fed her.  She had absolutely no problems with it!  She finished the whole thing in just a couple minutes.  We were laughing so hard because she finished, Matt burped her and she instantly fell asleep on his shoulder.  It must have been hard work! :)


I really wasn't too worried if she would use a bottle or not since I am home, but now that she has the harness on and isn't suppose to be in her car seat for long periods of time it's nice to be able to run to the grocery store or wherever by myself and know that if she gets hungry Matt will be able to give her a bottle.  I'm also happy to know that all the milk I have pumped will get used!


Callie has also become quite the smiley girl!  She started giving little smiles around a month but they were so random.  Now we can actually sit and talk to her and she will smile at us.  I forgot how much fun it is when they start doing all this new stuff!  Is there anything better than a cute little baby giving you big huge smiles!?


2 Months


*Still loves baths (Probably even more now that that is the only time she is out of her harness!)
*Loves to be held.  Thank goodness for slings and Baby Bjorns!
*Has been sleeping GREAT!  She slept through the night (9pm-6am) last week (May 30th) and has done a few 8 hour stretches since then too.
*Usually naps in the swing or on the couch...or in my arms. :)
*Loves watching Alexa and Braden talk to her.
*Just moved up to size 2 diapers (after a few too many blowouts it was time!)
*Likes to be rocked.
*Is trying to be a thumb sucker, but thankfully she is not very good at it. :) (I think it's adorable when babies suck their thumbs but not so much a 3 year old and since I can't take her thumbs away I'm just hoping it doesn't become a habit.)

We go in for her 2 month check this Thursday and back to Gillette for an ultrasound on Friday...hoping for some good news!!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

2 Weeks Down...

Hip Dysplasia: The abnormal formation of the hip joint in which the ball at the top of the thighbone (the femoral head) is not stable within the socket (the acetabulum).


We went into Gillette Children's 2 weeks ago to get information and figure out what we needed to do to fix Callie's hips and all the sudden there was several people in the room talking to us and putting her in a harness.  I honestly don't even remember what was said because I was concentrating on not crying or grabbing her and running out of the room.  Thankfully it wasn't a complete surprise.  We had (mentally) prepared that she would be leaving with this thing on, just in case. It didn't make it any easier though.



So we are taking things one day at a time and figuring out life with a baby in a harness.  The first couple days were the hardest.  Callie did not like being confined and just wanted to be held.  I felt so bad for her, we could tell she was just trying to get comfortable but couldn't.  She has been a lot better the past week or so.

We were told that she could be out of the harness for about 30 minutes a day, basically long enough to change her onesie in the morning and give her a bath at night.  Some nights I skip a bath and just cuddle her harness-free for a few minutes.  I miss being able to do that.

I thought I would take every chance I could to get her out of it but usually at night I put on a cute onesie she can wear the next day because I hate taking it off her.  Not so much taking it off but putting it back on.  When we take it off she always stretches so big and will get a cute little smile.  It breaks my heart putting it back on after that. (I usually make Matt do it.) :)

I am getting better at doing our "normal stuff" and getting out of the house.  I am not doing as well with people staring and asking about it.  Before she was even in it I was already sick of hearing that she will be okay and that it could be worse.
I know that.
I tell myself that every day.
But right now this is what we are going through and no matter how severe or not something is, it is still heartbreaking watching your kids go through it.  Yes, I am so thankful that she WILL be okay and that it COULD be worse but I'm still sad that she is going through all this.  I just hate seeing her in this thing.

I am also very thankful for a friend whose son had hip dysplasia.  It has been so nice having someone else understand what's going on and know how I feel, not to mention I have asked her a million questions.
Thank you Sonya!! :)


So for now we are making sure we follow all the "rules" and do everything the doctors told us to do because we want this to be done as soon as possible.  As of right now we have no idea how long she will need to be in it, all we know is that is will be at least a couple months.  We go back every 3 weeks for ultrasounds and adjustments and hopefully good news each time.  There is a very high success rate with this harness so we are praying for complete healing!!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

I Love It

Yesterday while Alexa and I were having our daily conversation about how she is growing up too fast she says to me, "Mooooooom, stoooooop! I have told you for months and months and months that I will still be your baby girl even when I am a wife and a mommy and a doctor."
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

A Quick Hello

I have so much to say and lots of updates but just don't have much time these days, and the time I do have I am busy holding my baby...or my little man...or my 4 AND A HALF year old. (yes, we are in the stage in life where the half really matters.) :)

Anyway, I am working on an update post about Callie...for only being 7 weeks old she sure has had a busy life.  Thank you for the emails/texts/calls asking about how she is doing, she sure is loved!

And of course I can't post without at least one picture, so here's one of Braden rocking Callie while he sang to her one morning.  A moment that melts a mommy's heart for sure! :)

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Project 365: Days 66 - 72

Day 66


Day 67 - MN Zoo


Day 68 - Braden's first time at Lowe's Build and Grow workshop.  He loved it!


Day 69 


Day 70 - My mom got me a strawberry plant for Mother's Day.  Isn't it cool!?


So the kids were all excited about growing strawberries but my mom told them that that first red one was suppose to be mine and after that they could eat the other ones that grew.  They did really well not touching it the first day but then the next day they were out playing on the deck and all the sudden I hear Alexa yelling something about the strawberry.  I went out to see what was going on and Braden looked right at me with the biggest grin on his face and says, "I ate that strawberry. HA HA HA"  No remorse whatsoever. :)


Day 71 - 5 weeks


Day 72

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

My Best Mother's Day Yet


I can barely look at that picture without getting tears in my eyes, I can't believe I get to be the Mommy to these 3 amazing little people. (I still can't believe we have three babies...I LOVE it!)

Callie gave me my first Mother's Day gift by sleeping for 7 hours again the night before. She's too good to me. ;)  Then Matt let me and her sleep in while he got up and watched a movie with the big kids.  I think I got almost too much sleep because I felt more tired than usual. HA It's crazy how you get used to such little sleep.

When I came upstairs I was greeted with lots of hugs and kisses and "I love you Mommy"s - it was awesome.  And I even got flowers that Alexa picked out all by herself. :)


We hung out at home all morning and then went to my Grandparents house for lunch and relaxed some more.
It was the perfect day.

Here's my Mom...isn't she beautiful!? 
We love you Mom!!


And my Grandma and Mom with Callie.  So sweet!


I hope all you mommies out there had a wonderful and relaxing day also!!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Hip Update

Yesterday we took Callie to her hip appointment at Children's.  They did an ultrasound on both sides and she was so good during it.  At one point she even fell asleep.  The lady said she didn't think that she had ever had that happen before...that's our sleep lovin girl!

We found out that she does have Hip Dysplasia in both hips.  Basically that means there is a problem in the formation of the hip joint.  On a mild-moderate-severe scale, we were told she is mild to moderate on both sides.  Of course this is not the news we were hoping to hear, however we are very thankful that this is something that can be fixed. 

Today we heard from our pediatrician who referred us to a Center for Pediatric Orthopedics.  We called them and should be hearing back tomorrow to let us know the soonest we can get her in.  She will be fitted for a Pavlik Harness that she will need to wear to help properly position her hip joints.  All the details on that (how long she will be in it, how often she will need to wear it, etc.) we won't know until we meet with the ortho. 

Like I said before, we are so thankful that this is something that is treatable and that she is young enough that she won't even remember going through it.  I will document her progress here as we move forward with everything.  Thank you for the prayers, emails and phone calls the past couple days. 


Day 65

Project 365: Days 61-64

Day 61 - She's official!


Day 62 



Day 63 - Alexa making sure Callie looks "fancy"


Day 64

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Callie - 1 Month

Our little peanut is already a month old today!
She is still such a sweet, content baby. 
Barely cries, sleeps great...we couldn't ask for more.


At 1 month:
*Starting to coo and "talk"
*Sleeps 3-4 hours at night
(although last Friday night she threw us for a loop and slept for 7 hours straight...we haven't had it happen since, but it's nice to know she can do it)
*We have seen a couple little smiles in the past week :)
*Loves napping in the swing
*Enjoys baths
*Starting to stay awake a little longer during the day
*Still doesn't really use a nuk
*Mama's girl :)
*Loves the Moby wrap
*Nurses about every 3 hours
*Is holding her head up pretty well

Tomorrow we will be going to Children's Hospital for her hip check.  I will try to post something after we get home about how it goes for those of you who have been asking about it. Would you keep her in your prayers?  And maybe her Mommy too...I am feeling a little anxious about going.  Thanks!


Happy 1 month, Sweetie Pie.
We love you!!