Wonder Moms

Rya was feeling somewhat better today. I gave her a C+ and thought it would be fun to take her swimming this morning after breakfast...at 11:00am! She didn't wake up until 10:15! What a sleepyhead. Anyway, I guess she wasn't feeling the pool today b/c she was NOT going in her floaty no made how convincing I was trying to be. So, we packed it up and headed home 40 minutes later. After her nap, I was feeling bold again so we headed to Target for some b-day shopping and company coming in town shopping. On the way there I phoned a girlfriend in Tampa whose mom just had surgery to check in to make sure everything went and was going smoothly. I was feeling like Super Mom and was holding Rya in one arm, talking on the cell phone with the other and pushing the cart into the store with my chest and belly. LOL. What a sight, right? I knew what I was doing wasn't the most beautiful maneuver, but I was wrapping up the call and just wanted to get in the store. Anyway, some old bitty stopped me at the door and said "Cell phone, baby on the hip, and cart...you're going to get that baby run over by a car!" I looked at her and I said in my oh so lovely voice "I am NOT going to get my daughter run over by a car, but thank you for your concern!". Funny thing is, I'm sure if Larry was with me, he would've already given me an earful along the same lines. I guess the lady forgot about her reprimand b/c an hour later I saw her in the books section and she was just so excited to see the baby and kept smiling and saying how many babies she had seen in the store. I think she stopped in the wine section before she started her shopping. :) A funny thing happened at the check-out that had me wondering...a lady was with her two children (a boy and a girl, probably around 5 or 6 years old). The girl picked out a candy bar and asked her mom if she could have it. Her mom simply said "No" and the girl put it back. No tears, no "but Mom", no "Please" just put it right back on the shelf. I was in awe. I SO wanted to tackle that Mom and ask her the secret. I know I have a few years to work on that skill, but dang! I was impressed! I guess she was feeling like a Super Mom too!

What a weekend...again! We have been battling Rya's fever since Thursday night/Friday morning! Sunday a.m. it peaked at 103.5. Scary stuff, I tell you! We did the whole sponge bath, Tylenol/Motrin switch-a-roo, light clothing and TONS of love. She wasn't drinking and started showing signs of dehydration (according to the nurses' hotline). They told us to bring her to the ER, but I just wasn't convinced so we kept a close eye on her and called the pediatrician's office first thing Monday morning. We got an appointment set for 2:50pm. After her morning nap ~12:30pm, Rya woke up was some strange coloring and odd behavior. The doctor got us in early, after some forceful persuasion on my part. I swear, some of these receptionists out there need to regroup and get off their high horses. Anyway, the doctor wanted to run some tests so we prepped for a cathater and some blood work. They wanted to do the cathater first because when you take blood the babies usually pee. SOOOO, off we went on the cathater insertion adventure. I held down Rya's arms, the nurse held down her legs (in the ever so lovely frog position) and the lab tech attempted to insert the cathater. She tried for about 15 minutes without success. She couldn't find Rya's urethra. UGH UGH UGH. Rya was pissed! She was screaming, coughing, vomiting, turning red, you name it. I guess I had my knees buckled b/c I started getting REAL woozy real fast. Larry ended up having to come in to relieve me. Yes, he had left the room...he's not a big fan of seeing the baby being held down. Can you blame him? Anyway, the nurse said not to worry she would ask the doctor to do it. While waiting for the doc to come in for his attemept the blood taker came in to draw Rya's blood. Her and I didn't mix too well, but I'll spare you the details. Let's just say she got an ear full. So, now that Rya was even MORE upset, the doc came in to insert the cathater. It took him about 9 minutes and we went through the whole screaming, vomiting, coughing, etc. routine again. He collected his sample and off we went to the hospital to drop the urine and blood off at the lab. We headed back to the doctor's office and he informed us that Rya's white blood count was real low and that her urine looked abnormal. Due to these two things he wanted to give her a shot of the super-antibiotic, Rocephin. The drug is viscous so they put Lidocaine in with it to ease the pain of the drug going through her system. She took the shot real well...she was just worn out. We set up a follow-up appointment for today b/c the urine and blood cultures need to "cook" for a few days. Since Rya hasn't had ANY interest in drinking we had to syringe feed her a pedialyte/gatorade combination...1cc(mL) every 30 seconds for one hour. Larry did an awesome job of this! He's a wonderful dad and excellent nurse. At the follow-up appointment today the doctor told us that there wasn't any growth on her urine or blood. Good news! He will monitor the blood for 5 days and the urine for 2 days. He'll call with any changes, but he feels like we are at the tail end of things. Rya did get a full body rash (including her head and face) that isn't too pretty. Doc said it was from the shot or the infection...most likely the infection. Good times. Mommy and Daddy are just ready for some rest and relaxation. Our month has been hectic and I'm suprised my hair hasnt' fallen out. LOL. Thanks for reading!

Friday Night Fever

I took Rya to the doctor and she has a virus. Not really much we can do except Tylenol. After the appointment we went to see Mimi and I actually stepped away for 2 hours for some MUCH needed retail therapy. I feel 100% better and I hope this feeling lasts. I was in a major funk and I hope it's behind me this time. It's amazing what a little shopping and driving with all the windows down and the music turned up will do for me. Anyway, Rya's fever is responding somewhat to the Tylenol. We can give it every 4 hours and right at 3 hours it starts spiking back up again. I gave her a cool bath last night and Larry went out and bought some Motrin. That seemed to help b/c she finally fell asleep around 11pm and is STILL sleeping at 11am!! She has gotten up a few times in the middle of the night, but nothing too long lasting. I hope to get her to the beach today for a little while. It's gorgeous out and the fresh air will do her some good.

Easter 2009

We had so much fun Easter morning. Mimi and PaPa had an easter egg hunt for Samuel and Rya. Rya found a lot, but Samuel found more. :) Thank you Nana Net for the Easter Baskets! Rya loved the grass the most. LOL.

Rub A Dub Dub...Mommy & Rya in the tub

Last night I thought it would be fun to remove the infant tub and give Rya a bath in the big girl tub...and it was! We had a blast. Rya was getting a kick out of the no-slip mat and couldn't figure out how it was sticking to the bottom. She would try to pull it up with a grunt. I think it felt funny on her bum too. LOL. She liked having all the room and moved around quite a bit. I made sure I was close by in case of an accident of course. We have quite a few toys in the tub and she is really getting good at finding the ones I ask her to find. She can find the duck, the boat, the cup and the "shake-shake-shake" a.k.a. her rattle. :) We are working on the pelican, the alligator and the triceratops now! (I think it's just fun to say triceratops) There is a Wonder Pets episode (which Rya is in love with) that saves a triceratops so whenever we ask her to find the three horned dinosaur we sing the song to her. She just laughs. What a goof. We are so fortunate to have a water lover. Our baths started out lasting 5 minutes when she was younger. Last night we were in there for almost 40 minutes!! I knew it was time to get out b/c her little toes were like prunes. Usually the bath helps relax and soothes her to sleep. Last night was a rough one though. I went to bed at 11 and she was up around midnight fussing. Not really crying, just kind of whining. I thought she was just looking for her paci and ignored it. It went on every couple of hours, again, not enough to fully wake me up and go in. At about 4:30/4:45am she full on was crying and so sad. I went in to her and she was BURNING up. We took her temp, gave her some Tylenol and didn't end up back to sleep until after the sun was up, whatever time that was. She didn't want to be out of my arms. I finally brought her into our bed and she slept between us for about 2 hours. I set an appointment with Dr. V just to be sure nothing crazy is going on b/c it's the weekend. It just upsets me to know that she was probably telling me at midnight that she wasn't feeling good and I missed it. I'm usually so quick to know if something is wrong and it breaks my heart to know that she was suffering in there. And speaking of weekends! It's going to be wonderful weather so we are going to enjoy it. I have a race in the morning that I'm still on the fence about, pending Rya's doctor's appointment. We are watching Samuel tomorrow night and are SO excited to spend some time with him. Sunday is church and then stamp camp. :) We are going to beach and pool it up between those events and enjoy much needed family time! ♥

Walkin'...for your love!

We are literally days away from an independent walker!! I don't know what I fear more: chasing her around ALL the time or a broken back from carrying her. I swear it's TIME for this girl to be on her own b/c she is HEAVY! I have a dull ache in my side that I'm assuming is from not switching sides more frequently when I carry her. I hope my muscles don't permanently stay like that...that sure would look funny. Her favorite thing to do right now is to stand up, drop whatever is in her hand, bend down to pick it up, stand back up and repeat. Over and over. One of the funniest things I've witnessed lately is the time she did this in her crib with Lovie going over the side. She stood up, dropped Lovie over the side, looked down and went "Unh!" Like, "That wasn't supposed to happen, now what do I do?!." I cracked up. I guess I get my kicks from the video monitor these days instead of the TV. It's nice to see her personality coming out more and more.

Daddy's Little Girl

Although Rya is happy most of her days with me, I can tell she definitely gets more than enough of her fill of me and is ready for a break. She LOVES spending time with her Daddy and they share a lot of laughs together. Since I have stopped nursing we have changed our bedtime routine around a little. She has adjusted to winding down and falling asleep with one of us (usually me) on the couch. After a kiss on the head, the other one carries her off to her bedroom. The other night, Rya didn't want to have ANYTHING to do with me. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch. She ONLY wanted Daddy. I have to admit, it kind of hurt my feelings, BUT it was so cool for Larry to feel so wanted. :)

Flu Season?

This past weekend we had our first dance with the stomach flu. Rya woke up vomiting on Thursday morning. It scared us to death so we called the doctor and she got us in within the hour. She put Rya on a Pedialyte diet for 24 hours and warned us that diarrhea would be the next phase. Rya weighed 20.2 pounds and had a slight fever...nothing of concern. She didn't enjoy the Pedialyte too much, but she was able to keep applesauce down. Friday morning she was feeling a little better and by the afternoon she was back to 100% fun! Unfortunately I started feeling really crummy and the vomiting started for me shortly after 6:00pm. I have never experienced such stomach cramping, pain and discomfort in my life. I was literally blacking out on the toilet while heaving. Poor Larry didn't know what to do. He started feeling the effects at 4:00am on Saturday morning. At 8:30am I called my mom and asked her to take Rya. I loaded the car...barely...and off she went. They kept her until right before bedtime. Saturday was the worst day of our lives in awhile. And to top it off, it was supposed to be our first weekend away together. Larry had bought concert tickets and a hotel room in Orange Beach for us for my birthday. At least we got the day together. LOL. I'm so thankful to have family close by!! They are such a blessing and we are fortunate to have the help when we need it most. The past few weeks have definitely been a test and we just couldn't of done it without them! Rya got sick again last night and had major diarrhea in the middle of the night. It's now 2:00 and she just went down for her first nap. I'm still in my PJs and have a TON of sanitizing to do, so off I go!