Team Hellyer

Link to New Blog

2009-06-28T12:11:00.002-06:00

Please visit Charlotte and myself over at our new blog at www.mandiandcharlotte.blogspot.com

Hope to see you there!

My Favorite Tribute Yet

2009-02-10T19:18:00.003-06:00

I know everyone is probably wondering what's going on with our little Charlotte. She's doing fantastic, and I PROMISE to sit myself down VERY SOON and give y'all an update. But right now I want to share with you a special tribute that was made in honor of our boys, Jake and Gus. I found this website http://www.namesinthesand.blogspot.com/ where this family in Australia, who lost their son as well, will write the names of angels in the sand. I don't know what's more amazing - how amazing these people are to take the time to do something so beautiful, or how many names they've written.

Those are two of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen. I miss my boys.

Jake and Gus's tribute can found at http://namesinthesand.blogspot.com/2009/02/jake-and-gus.html, but please also go their home page and have a look.

I'm Sorry I Failed You

2009-01-25T20:14:00.003-06:00

The other day my mother brought over a few bags of miscellaneous stories, drawings and what-nots that she had collected during my school years. I guess this is the magic moment in one's life when your mom no longer cares to hold onto that crap for sentimental reasons, and it was determined that I should be the one to go through it. To be honest, I didn't really find much that's worth saving. I mean, of course I'm going to save the cottonball snowman I made in 1st grade, and the self-portrait I drew in 7th grade. But what really peaked my interest was an essay I wrote in the 8th grade. It was an essay that won the 1989 LaGrange VFW Essay Contest, where I was awarded a $50 savings bond that would later buy a few rounds of beer in college. I'd like to share that essay with you now.

What Can I As A Young Catholic Do To Help Prevent World Terrorism?

The first and major things that I, as a young Catholic, could do is pray. God hears and helps with our problems. We have brought this sin upon ourselves and we need to ask for God's forgiveness. If we talk to God and pray then maybe he can help us.

After praying then I could send a letter to my Congressman and maybe if I was lucky then something would happen and one letter would make a difference in the world.

I could also form a group of protestors and demonstrate at the Town Hall telling the dangers of terrorism and what we are doing to our world. This could open the eyes of people to our world and what we stand for.

One thing, which anyone, Catholic or not, can do to prevent world terrorism is to be honest and set an example for others in the generations ahead of us. We are the future and we must prepare it for the people to come.

The next time that anyone is tempted to do anything that he or she knows is wrong and can hurt someone, that person should stop and think. That in itself is terrorism.

Little things like not pushing someone or stopping yourself from stealing something can all help to fight world terrorism. What I as a young Catholic do in my actions today, effects the way I will live when I am an adult. If I act as a Catholic should then I will have a happy life when I am older, but if I live with sin then my adulthood will be one of hatred.

These are some of the things that I, as a young Catholic can do to eliminate world terrorism.

I don't even know where to start. The other essay entries must have been REALLY BAD. But I do know one thing, I didn't do a very good job at stopping terrorism, so for this I apologize. I'll be hosting a rally at the Town Hall tomorrow if anyone would like to join me.

Some Dates for Your 2009 Calendar

2008-12-26T20:01:00.002-06:00

2009 is going to be an exciting year!

First of all, does anyone want to run the Shamrock Shuffle on March 29th with my neighbor and I? The Shamrock Shuffle is, correct me if I'm wrong, the world's largest 8k race and they cap the race at 32,500 participants. That may sound like a lot, and surely it is while you're running elbow-to-elbow with 32,499 other people down the street, but the race fills up fast and I want to make sure that everyone knows that registration starts on January 1st. I love this race and I've participated in the last 6 out of 7 years, missing only last year because I was too cheap to pay the entry fee. But I did go to the gym that day and run the full 8k. There were just a lot less people there and no one gave me a t-shirt. Needless to say, it wasn't the same and I'm gonna be there this year! C'mon Kari ... whadda ya think!?

I feel as though it's kosher for me to discuss an event that will somehow be incorporated into next year's goals because I ACTUALLY FINISHED ONE OF MY GOALS FOR 2008!!!! As of Saturday, December 13th, I officially finished my 500th mile for 2008. Currently, I'm 18.5 miles over budget, but there are still 5 days left to the year - who knows what I might do. Maybe I should focus on my other goal, a sub-7:30 minute mile. Hmmmm ... I don't know about that one. The people at the gym probably don't want to see me puke.

Another important date for 2009 is the next Chicago installment of the Great Urban Race taking place on August 1st. Registration is already open and if you register before January 1st you'll save at least $5 per person (I should be getting a kick-back for my promos). The race is going to be limited to 500 teams, so I just want to make sure that no one misses out on this awesome experience.

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and that 2008 was good to you. If it wasn't, then 2009 is just around the corner and new days are a comin'. I'll post more about Christmas just as soon as I figure out how our new camera works. I haven't even unpacked the USB cable yet.

Let's All Sing Together Now

2008-12-20T19:06:00.002-06:00

The video quality may not be there, but the musical abilities are shining through! Taken on Brian's cell phone so please excuse the fuzziness.

Baby Jesus, It's Cold Outside

2008-12-19T14:43:00.006-06:00

People who know me know that I'm not a religious person. And for the benefit of those of you that don't know me .... I'm not a religious person. However, having grown up in a Catholic household I still have a fascination with religion, specifically the Christian faiths, and it is because of this fascination that I have collected religious mementos, books and other trinkets over the years. Take the Wall of Faith for example:

Located just outside of our bathroom, the Wall of Faith is made up of crosses from all over the world, and I think each one is beautiful. In fact, I love crosses so much I would actually like to get one tattooed on my back. Unfortunately the pain of the last one is still very fresh in my mind, so it may be a few years before I forget. But, if you're ever on vacation and can't think of what to bring back for me, then how about a nice cross? I only ask that you make sure there's no one on it. Too morbid for me.

I also have a special place in my heart for Pope John Paul II, which I believe is adequately conveyed through my pope candles, snow globes and most importantly:

My Pope-On-A-Rope
(handmade by my dear friend, Kari)

The current pope, Benedict something (?), is on the other side of the soap, but let's face it, we're all just waiting to see who the next one's gonna be, so I don't count him.

There are many other items in my collection - my Mother Mary night night (which I don't use because it kind of creeps me out), my Last Supper lunch box, and I even have a Last Supper serving plate (thanks, Kim). Then there's Christmas ....

Every year my favorite part of unwrapping and putting out the Christmas decorations is finding all of my nativity sets. I only have a few, but each one has it's own story and comes from a special place. This year I added my grandmother's nativity set that she handmade back in '82. It goes without saying that it's my most special nativity set.

But the most EXCITING ONE was added this year and I got it FOR FREE on Freecycle. I don't know which part is more exciting - the fact that it was free or the fact that it LIGHTS UP and is currently in front of my house, nestled in a 5'x3' wooden stable.

If you were to ask Brian he would probably say that the fact that it's in front of our house is not that exciting. But if you asked Charlotte she would say to you, "Baby Jeshush .... Outside .... Cold .... Blanket". Yes, the little baby Jesus now sports a small blanket because Charlotte was worried that he was cold in the snow. That's all she talks about now, from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed.

Now I may not be a religious person (my miscellaneous collections aside), but I do have to thank baby Jesus for helping teach my daughter an important lesson ... Compassion. I knew there was a reason I put those nativity sets out.

Drunk on Vegemite

2008-12-18T13:49:00.005-06:00

Can you get drunk on too much yeast extract??!! Look at this poor child. She can't even hold it up the right way! I think it's time for an intervention.

He Sees You When You're Sleeping (isn't that kind of creepy?)

2008-12-07T21:17:00.012-06:00

This weekend marked Charlotte's first experiences with Santa Claus. Yes, Santa -the man that all children fear. Yet, somehow, they don't seem to mind the whole toy thing. Yesterday we went over to a local park expecting to see Santa arrive in a helicopter and greet all the good little boys and girls. But, alas, the weather was not cooperating and Santa's reindeer must have been resting up for the big night, so instead of a grand, wind-sweeping entrance Santa arrived via antique firetruck.I was a bit anxious to see how Char would respond to the man in the red suit. We talked about him for the whole week prior, looked at pictures and even played with little Santa figurines. All in the hopes that maybe she wouldn't be like every other kid and she wouldn't cry when he came near her. And for their first meeting she did pretty good! No tears, just that typical toddler look of, "and WHO are YOU??!!"

For Char's 2nd meeting with the big guy we attended her first big Christmas party with Easter Seals today. It was a nice event (except for the fact that it started at 8am) held at Neiman Marcus before the crowds were officially let in to buy their overpriced non-necessities. Char was introduced to a "princess" when she got to meet Miss Illinois. But, honestly, Brian and I were both a little upset when she decided to show some little girl how the crown was held to top of her head with a crazy hodge-podge of bobby pins and tape. C'mon!! She just killed the allure of the perfect beauty queen for me. I thought it was held up by magic and the lack of cellulite. Luckily Charlotte didn't see that. Phew!

And then it was time for SANTA ......

And, it turns out that she is in fact just like every other kid. Char didn't want to have a quaint visit with Santa. BUT she was happy to take the baby doll that he was handing out. Typical. Thanks Easter Seals for a great first Xmas party and thanks for the baby doll Santa!

And now I, like I'm sure a lot of other parents out there, wonder how long it will take until I get a nice pic of my daughter on Santa's lap. It took 18 years for my mother to get one of me. And even then I was still a little afraid of him.

The Long and The Short of It

2008-11-26T19:54:00.008-06:00

It's been a couple months since I let you in on our lives, so I thought I would give you, the viewer, the choice of two options to get you back up to speed - a short synopsis or the long version. Proceed as you wish ...

The Short Version
Charlotte is doing great - lots of therapy, crawling, sitting by herself, talking up a storm. My classes are good. I'm all done with my Computer course and only a few weeks left of Anatomy. I love dissecting dead people. Brian is good. He's been working hard to make his end-of-year budget and he was sad when it got cold cuz that means no more motorcycle rides until the Spring.
The Long Version - And I Mean LONG
(Disclaimer - if I forget anyone's birth, wedding, or any other major event that has occured over the past few months, I apologize. My brain is not what it used to be. And that was NOT an open invitation for jokes!)

First, let me just say that Charlotte is doing AMAZING! It seemed for awhile that she had started to plateau and we felt that we weren't seeing the physical gains that we had hoped we would achieve from all the therapy she was receiving. I'm not saying the therapy was bad, it was just that I felt she could have been further along then she was. Well, I don't know what exactly has happened, but in the last few months she has been hitting milestone after milestone. Charlotte can now sit by herself on the floor (which helps A LOT when I need her to play by herself for a bit), she can crawl around on all fours, she can talk in mini-sentences, she knows her colors, sings her ABCs and even knows her left from her right! I know some adults that can't even get that down! In the last few months she has really gone from being a little baby to being a little toddler (yep, she's still on the small side, but I'll get to that later).

In late-Aug/early-Sept we had to say good-bye to some therapists that had been with Charlotte for quite awhile. We lost Jen, her speech therapist at Child's Voice, and Michelle, her physical therapist since March '07. We were sad to see them go, but they're going on to new chapters in their lives and we wish them well. As the saying goes - when one door closes, another one opens - and that was true in this case. We have been very lucky to find Charlotte's new individual PT, Laura. Laura is not afraid to challenge Charlotte and push her just that little bit more. I really think that having Laura's fresh, new perspective on Charlotte's abilities and potential is a huge part of the recipe to Char's recent successes. Oh, we also lost Char's pool PT therapist, but that was due to the pool therapy building burning down. A little ironic, I know, but thankfully no one was hurt. There's not a lot of places around here that have pools warm enough to do PT, but some new friends we have made are building a new house nearby and they're putting in their own therapy pool for their son, so fingers-crossed that we get invited over for some playdates!

Char also gained a new teacher at Child's Voice, Miss Brandi. In Sept. Char joined the toddler group at Child's Voice, which meets 2 mornings a week for 3.5 hrs of intensive speech therapy and auditory training. There are 3 other toddlers in her class and she is doing awesome! I can already tell that she's saying certain sounds much clearer and her vocabulary is increasing exponentially. She's even made friends with the other kids in class - especially Jeffrey. As soon as we get to school she says, "Where's Jeffrey?" She's already becoming a little flirt. That's my girl!

We decided that the Center for Independence, where Char went to Summer Camp this past summer, was such a great program that we enrolled her for their school year program as well. So, two mornings a week (alternating with Child's Voice) Char goes to the Center for 2.5 hrs of PT, OT and DT in a classroom with 4 other little girls with CP. I really like the fact that she gets the experience of being around kids that are like her at the Center, but she also gets to be around "normal" kids at Child's Voice. Yes, the kids at Child's Voice have hearing impairments, but they can all walk, run, climb, etc. I think that balance we have created for her is going to benefit her and the other kids in the end.

Now, about that thing called eating .... with the help of a new speech therapist at Easter Seals we have gained a minute bit of ground in that area. Char can now chew VERY SMALL bits of graham crackers or other easily-dissolvable foods, as long as the food is placed directly on her back teeth. I think this is the part that people have a hard time understanding. And to be honest, we have a hard time grasping and dealing with it ourselves. She still mainly eats purees, she's still on the special, super-expensive casein and soy-free formula, and she still gags a lot of the time. But this new speech therapist is taking a different approach than what we've tried in the past and we're going back to the basics - breathing. Through massage therapy and PT work we're all (and by all, I mean ever single therapist she has in on board with this focus) we're working to expand and strengthen her rib cage to allow her to breathe properly. The thought is that if you can't breathe, how are you going to be able to do anything else, including eating. And, thankfully, I've already seen changes. A few weeks ago Charlotte's ribs had no spaces between them and she took very shallow breaths. Feel your own ribs - you have spaces (muscles) in between each rib. Now, imagine that there's no muscles there and your ribs are stacked on top of each other. It would be pretty hard to breathe, right? Well, a few weeks later I can clearly see that Char's rib cage is expanding and she's taking deeper breaths, which means she's taking on more O2 and her trunk is stonger, which means she can do EVERYTHING better. As soon as we feel the rib cage is where it should be we're going to start focusing on teaching her to chew. I always thought that chewing just came naturally, but that's not so. I'm very interested to see how THAT goes!

So, in some respects, our lives over the past few months have revolved around taking Charlotte to and from therapy sessions. I'm my own version of a "soccer mom". Four mornings a week Char is at "school", then we come home, have lunch, nap and then we have 1 or 2 individual sessions in the afternoon. Fridays are Charlotte's day off. Absolutely no therapy on Fridays. I think it keeps us both sane and it gives her time to goof off and just be a kid.

Actually, our lives haven't been all therapy. In Sept. Brian and I took part in the Great Urban Race. It's just like the Amazing Race, but on a smaller scale. And for those of you who don't know what the Amazing Race is - it's a scavenger hunt where teams of two compete to be the fastest to solve clues and perform certain tasks. It was one of the best experiences of my life! I have been wanting to take part in the Amazing Race since it started and this may well have been the closest I'm going to get. There were about 200 teams that started and we were given a list of 12 clues. We were allowed to skip 1 of the clues, but if you skipped more than 1 then you were a given a 30 minute penalty when you reached the finish line. For example, one of the clues was that there were 2 guys dressed up as the Blues Brothers walking around a four-square block area in downtown Chicago and you had to find them and get someone to take your picture with them. Most of the tasks involved taking a picture as proof, but there were a couple occasions where we had to find a physical item, like a sparkler. That damn sparkler proved to be our downfall. Unbeknowst to us, the city of Chicago banned the sale of sparklers a few weeks before the race and we wasted time trying to find one, never did find it and then had to take a 30 minute penalty cuz we didn't have one. Oh, we will vindicate the name of Team Hellyer next year and we're determined to be in the top 25 (we came in around 150, ouch)! I'll let you y'all know when they've picked the date for next year and hopefully we can recruit some more people to race against!

In Sept. I also helped organize the 1st annual Blanchan Ave. Block Party! And wouldn't you know it, after a very dry summer we had a monsoon that weekend. No bouncy castle, no firetrucks, and no Officer McHottie with his don't do drugs or crap like that for the kids (I put in a special request for him). But we put forth a valiant group effort and gathered in a neighbor's garage for great food and even better sangria. We never had block parties on my block growing up and I was so excited about it, so next year the bouncy castle is on me!

In Oct. Charlotte went to stay with Yia-Yia and Papa and had her 1st weekend away from mom and dad. Or should I say, mom and dad had their 1st weekend away from Charlotte. So, what did we do with all that free time? For some god-awful reason we were up at 7am, so I cleaned the house and and Brian winterized the outside. We also managed to fit in a nice sushi dinner, a movie and my 15-year high school reunion. I think we all felt a little refreshed after that weekend and luckily Yia-Yia and Papa have offered their services again in the future. Next time - Peru.

I'd like to take this opportunity say welcome to baby Samantha, my friends Mel and Sean's daughter, who was born in August, and baby Kennedy, my friends Chris and Ed's daughter, who was born in September. I get a lot of joy watching Charlotte get all excited about seeing the "BABY!!!!!". What she doesn't know is that in a few months these kids are going to weigh more than she does. I guess some of us are just destined to be petite.

October also brought Charlotte's 2nd birthday! Up until then I could always just tell people that Charlotte was 1 when they asked, but now when I tell people she's 2 they give me a weird look. She's still pretty small, and she just broke the 20 pound mark. Basically she's the average size of an 11-month old. It's always funny to see the looks on people's faces when we're in a store and they start coo-ing at her like she's a baby and then she talks to them. I've had a couple people say, " Your baby can talk?!" "She's 2". Blank stare. But back to the birthday. Char got lots of presents and had a nice evening with her parents and grandparents. One of her highlights was getting her first baby-doll. Truth be told, I'm looking forward to the parties when all the little girlfriends come. I'm all about the themes and the games.

I am truly grateful that I took Charlotte down to Florida to meet my grandmother in August. Almost 2 weeks after my grandmother's 90th birthday in Oct. she passed away. My grandmother was a huge role model in my life and taught me how to be a stong, independent woman. Something that I strive to pass along to my daughter. Gram never wanted to be in a nursing home and once she was there it seemed that she decided it was time to go. But I have tons of memories to pass on to Charlotte about time I spent with my Gram - like the time she let me have sugar cookies and cheese slices for breakfast, or the time we stayed up late debating topics like abortion and euthanasia (and crazy enough, she changed my mind), or the Christmas I went down to visit her and we went through all her old photos together. When I was younger I was her granddaughter, but as I got older my Gram treated me like a friend. I will miss her.

I'm almost done with the fall semester. I finished all the coursework for my computer class last week and I'm pretty sure I ended up with a 99% in the class. There's a couple more weeks left to my Anatomy class and I CAN'T WAIT until it's over. I've loved learning anatomy, and I've loved the cadaver section of class, especially dissecting (believe me, I'm more surprised than you are), but my teacher doesn't teach and she keeps changing the way she tests us, grades us, everything. In some respects I would have been better off taking this class online cuz I've ended up teaching everything to myself. Everyone in my class is frustrated and worried about their grades, and unfortunately this is one of the classes that nursing schools really look at, so I really have to get an A. I just have to make it through 2 more tests, finish my dissection and then it's over.

I can't forget a quick "in Mandi's mind" politics update. As you all know I was definitely a Hillary fan, but when she lost the Democratic nomination I whole-heartedly put my support behind Obama. And as I watched the election results on Nov. 4th, while on the phone with my good friend Kari in New York, I had never felt so proud to be an American. Yeah, it's cheesy, but I really feel that now when I tell my special-needs daughter that she can do whatever she wants to do, I feel that I can really mean it. We all have so far to go in respect of tolerance and equal-opportunity, but now there's that much more of a sense of knowing that if you work hard enough you CAN achieve your dreams. And my dream is to get a full 8 hours of sleep.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Miles to go in 2008: 20

Days in Office Bush : 55

Someone To Look Up To: ABC Person of the Week

2008-11-15T14:33:00.003-06:00

Check out this story of an amazing man who followed his dreams and overcame the odds. Makes me realize how truly insignificant my "problems" are. And even though Char teaches me every day how lucky and blessed I am, I still take so much for granted. If we could all be half as motivated as D.J. Gregory imagine what we could accomplish.......

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/PersonOfWeek/story?id=6254778&page=1

Charlotte's First Set of Wheels

2008-09-21T20:37:00.004-06:00

We had every intention of encouraging Charlotte to save her own money to purchase her first car, but seeing as she's been so good lately, and we're still celebrating the fact that she's sitting up by herself, we decided to fork over the 5 bucks and buy her first used car. So, there you have it, Charlotte, mommy and daddy bought you your first car. You want anymore and you're on your own, kid!

Charlotte the Globe-Trotter ... Well, Maybe Continent-Trotter

2008-09-11T20:32:00.012-06:00

Are my posts too few and far between? Well it just may get worse!! I may have finally stretched myself too thin. My Anatomy & Physiology class is SO MUCH MORE than I thought it would be. True, it's all memorization, but finding the time to commit all of that info to memory is proving to be very difficult. Thank god some of Charlotte's therapies are more peer-oriented now and I don't have to be in the room. That gives me a couple mornings a week to cram. So, I apologize now if you don't hear from me in awhile. But first let me tell you all about the end of our summer!

Charlotte got to do some major travelling in August. First we all spent a week in Wisconsin with tons of friends and were able to partake in some much needed R&R (especially Brian, I think he really needed some lazy beach-and-beer time). During our stay Charlotte amazed us with a new 1st .... she pushed herself up to a sitting position all by herself!! Granted it was followed by an immediate fall back and a head-slam to the floor, BUT she pulled herself together and did it AGAIN!! I was such a proud mama.

Basically our entire week consisted of eating, sleeping, golfing, hanging out on the beach, drinking beer and wine, and then some more sleeping. I've been going up to White Lake Beach Resort in Montello, Wisc. with my friend Patty's family since I was 13, and we've made lots of life-long friendships with the other families that go during the same week. It's so cool to see that now we've all grown up and we're bringing our own families up there. It may not be the most posh place to stay, but it's got lots of charm and really good happy-hour specials. Here are some great pics taken by my friend Linda.

Did you see the beer can in each pic? It's just like Where's Waldo.

Charlotte's next trip took her down to Tampa Bay, Florida, for a visit with my Grandma Teeling (my father's mother). My grandmother recently moved into an assisted living facility and I thought it was a good time for Charlotte and I to take a trip down to see her and for the two of them to meet. I wasn't about to drive down to Florida with a toddler, so Charlotte got to take her first flight!! Thank god grandpa and yia-yia (my mom) came with us and helped keep Charlotte occupied on the flight, cuz I would have probably gone crazy trying to take care of all of the logistics by myself. I can't believe how good she was. She was actually a better companion on the plane than some adults I've sat next to. I'm happy to report that both Charlotte and grandpa were very well behaved and took naps on both legs of the trip.

We only spent one night in Tampa, but during that time we were able to spend lots of time with my grandma, see where's she's living, and even frequent her favorite restaurant. And, of course, all the ladies at my grandma's new home were doting over Charlotte. And now that I know that Charlotte is better at flying then I am (I'm one of those people that will scream that the plane is going down) then we just may take another trip down there soon. I'd like to place a shout out to my Aunt Joan, who hauled us to and from the airport and took great care of us while we were down there. It was great to visit with her as well and we really appreciated all of her hospitality!

There's more to tell .... saying good-bye to some therapists, meeting some new ones, therapy buildings burning down, Brian and I run the Great Urban Race all around Chicago .... but, I gotta go to bed. I'll write more soon. I swear.

Miles to go in 2008: 122.5

Days in Office for Bush: 124

I gotta go with ..... Obama for Prez! Don't get me started on Sarah Palin!

Does This Tub Make My Butt Look Big?

2008-08-17T08:09:00.007-06:00

The other day Brian found Charlotte's first bathtub that we used back when she was in the hospital and a few months after she first came home (See 2/16/07 post for old bathtub pic).

Now Char has graduated to the bigger Duck tub. Not too long, and I think she'll be ready to take the full-on-big-bath-plunge!! I wonder if Ozzie is willing to take that plunge with her?

Cheap Laughs

2008-08-10T20:41:00.001-06:00

Summertime in Chi-town

2008-07-22T12:53:00.023-06:00

Ok, so maybe three months is too long to go without posting on the blog. I thought I had outgrown procrastination, but I guess I was wrong. There's a bunch of stuff to catch up on .... so let's get to it!!

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored Team Hellyer in the March of Dimes March for Babies. Even though we all didn't get to walk (I'll get to that shortly), we raised over $1200!! That was really exciting for me and it was fantastic to see how many people out there were supporting us. Unfortunately, Charlotte was unable to attend her first fundraising walk. That weekend she came down with the stomach flu and spent the night before the walk in the ER because we were a bit worried that she was dehydrated. She was fine in the end, but it was an easy decision to have her stay at home and skip out on the walk. Brian, being the martyr that he is, graciously offered to stay home with Charlotte and let me walk the 6.1 miles (convenient timing, eh? Makes you wonder if they didn't plan this whole thing out). But lucky for me Patty and Olive came along and we met up with our friends Anne, Bob and Tommy. We all had a good time and we're looking forward to next year's walk. Although, I gotta say, next year I'm getting to the front of the pack. I can't get over how SLOW people walk. I know it's not a race, but there were points where I didn't know if we were going to be finished that same day or not.

May brought a nice Mother's Day for our little clan (see pic above of the women-folk in the family). It also meant the end of my Organic Chem and Human Growth and Dev. classes, which I both aced, by the way! They were two classes that I enjoyed very much, but since I decided to take Microbiology during summer school I didn't get much of a break in between semesters. Microbiology took up most of my June, but now it's OVER and yep, you guessed it, I got an A! Wooohoooo! For the month of July I've been school-free, but in a few weeks I start Anatomy and Physiology I and Intro to Computers (nope, I can't test out of it - I guess running a software helpdesk doesn't count for computer knowledge). A&P scares me a bit - lots of memorization and we actually have to work on cadavers. I just might need a little liquid courage before class the first time we cut into one. Uggghhh!

Charlotte finally got her AFO's May and the difference in her standing and walking (supported, of course) is amazing. So much that we now refer to them as her Super Shoes. It's almost as if she's a little super-hero when she has them on. And she doesn't seem to mind them at all. Char also started her summer camp classes at the Center for Independence. There were 7 kids in her class, all with varying degrees of cp, but they all had a blast (well, maybe not the youngest one who cried the whole 5 wks, but she'll catch on eventually). The summer camp met 3 mornings a week for 2 hours each time and no matter what every morning all of the kids would walk into the classroom with either their walkers or gait trainers and they would leave the classroom walking. I love the symbolism behind that. It's great that they put such a strong focus on the goal of getting these kids to walk independently. Actually, the whole program is based on teaching kids with cp to do things on their own. Char got to experience and learn so many new things and they even taught her how to take off her own shoes and Super Shoes. This new found skill can be a bit annoying when she takes them off in the back seat of the car all the time, but it's exciting nonetheless that she can do it by herself. Summer camp ended last week with a field trip to the Shedd Aquarium downtown, complete with front row seats to the dolphin show (there definitely are some perks out there for these kids). Classes will start up again in early September and then she'll be going two mornings a week, alternating with two mornings a week at Child's Voice. I feel like I'm going to have a kindergartner on my hands here, but she's not even 2 yet!!

Feeding time hasn't really gotten much better as of late. Char's still only taking puréed foods, but I got her to put a couple Rice Krispies (Rice Bubbles) in her mouth yesterday, so maybe we're nearing a turning point. I'm currently trying to get her into a "feeding clinic" where speech therapists, nutritionists, OTs and GI doctors work together with kids in a group environment. I'm hoping that the peer pressure of seeing other kids eating might help her a bit. However, I still run into the problem that she's NEVER HUNGRY. That's so hard for me to wrap my head around. I think about eating food even after I've just finished stuffing my face at an all-you-can-eat salad bar. Charlotte is still gaining weight, albeit very slowly. She's up to a whole 19 pounds now! The good part is that she doesn't grow out of her clothes too fast and she gets good use out of them.

So, maybe eating is not her strong point, but that kid is hitting milestones like crazy! Charlotte is now a professional army crawler and can get all over the house, much to the dismay of Bart and Amy. It's wonderful to see her finally getting the chance to explore things on her own. From what I've gathered from other parents, children with c.p. tend to have delayed speech due to the low muscle tone in their faces, trunks, etc. In fact, at summer camp I didn't hear any of the other kids say anything. But not our Char. She's talking up a storm and just yesterday she said her first two-word sentence, "Bart outside". When I heard my little girl say that I got a little verklempt and said to myself, "She's gonna be just fine"!!!

Now with all that crawling comes the occasional bump and bruise. Here's a pic of Charlotte's first boo-boo (under her nose), a result of a small yoga accident. Don't let those yoga instructors fool you into thinking it's perfectly safe (just kidding)!

Luckily our lives haven't been all therapy and school lately. Over Memorial Day weekend (late-May for those who don't reside in the U.S.) we drove out to Syracuse, NY to see our friends Kari, Teddy and Isabella. Yes, you read that correctly, we drove. We took the northern route through Canada on our way there and stopped at Niagara Falls for a quick peek. It was 6 a.m. when we got there and the only other people out were the joggers. It was Brian's first time seeing the Falls and we were both impressed with it's power. What we were not impressed with was the absolute insanity that is all the commercialism surrounding the Falls. And I literally mean SURROUNDING - on one side there's a Hard Rock Café, then there's a big resort with an indoor water park facing the Falls, and on the other side you've got plenty of casinos to choose from. Way to ruin one of the wonders of the world, Western Culture!! So, thank god, we were there super early and we were able to enjoy the experience without all of the chaos that probably erupts somewhere around 8 a.m. when the first bus arrives. Our visit with the Avramovs in Syracuse was fantastic - good food, good wine, good company, and Isabella and Char got along great. Unfortunately, Char and I came down with some nasty colds and we ended up having to leave early. We took the southern route back home through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. And while it was not quite as exciting as getting our passports stamped and venturing through international lands, I gotta say that Char was quite the trooper during the 14 hour drives there and back. If she cried once, then I don't even remember it. I think Brian and I complained more than she did. "Are we there yet??????" Kari, we'll definitely be back, but next time we're flying!

In June I got together with some of my gal pals from college for a long weekend of R&R in Lake Geneva, WI. Having that time away with no house to clean, no kid to watch after and no books to study was AWESOME!!! Thanks to Brian and Char for letting mommy have that time away. This was our group's 4th annual weekend getaway and each year we've gone somewhere different - Seattle, St. Louis, KC and now WI. I can't wait to see where we're going to go next year!

Around home we've been taking some trips to the zoo, hanging out in the pool and seeing some local parades. At the LaGrange Pet Parade we got to meet Hogan, a Great Dane who is just shy of being the world's tallest dog. He was sooooo sweet! Brian, can I have a Great Dane?

The answer is probably no ..... but Brian did let us get a kitten!!!! Meet, Ozzie, the newest member of our family. Ozzie was living in the neighbor's shed for a few days and after it was determined that he was either abandoned or lost we caught him and brought him over to our house of horrors. Within a week this cat managed to completely take over the place. He has absolutely no fear, the dogs stand at attention when he walks by, and Charlotte and Ozzie are now best buddies.

Brian has been keeping himself busy with his new motorcycle. A few months back he sold his motorcross bike and then just recently he bought a road bike. He finally got his motorcycle license yesterday, so I have a feeling that every spare moment Brian has will be spent on that bike. Which is fine by me - it gets good gas mileage and it keeps him out of the pubs.

I don't think I ever got around to addressing the results of the poll I had on my blog a few months back. I can't believe that "Mr. or Mrs." won as the best way for children to address adults?! I'm wishing I had a bit of demographics on the pollsters, cuz that just blows my mind away. After careful consideration I think I'm just going to have Charlotte address everyone as, "Hey, you!"

Miles left to run in 2008: 196.5

Days left in office for Bush: 181

Hillary for Veep!!!!!!

March Came In Like a Lion and Just Kept on Roaring!

2008-04-25T14:35:00.010-06:00

Yes, it's been awhile. We've had quite a few wrenches thrown in our lives lately, so it's been a bit difficult for me to find the energy and sit down to type everything out. Plus, I wanted to give myself time to digest some things.

In my last post I mentioned that we were scheduled to see a physiatrist (remember? the physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist). We went to see her in mid-March and I'm still not 100% sure I understand what she does, but she (and her team of what seemed like at least a dozen med students, interns and residents) asked us every question you could possibly think of and watched Charlotte do a variety of movements and tasks. And yes, paper crumbling was again a desired skill. I hope that one's on my Chemistry final, cuz then I've got that one in the bag! Even though the doctor was impressed at how far Charlotte had come considering how premature she was she gave us the diagnosis that I was not expecting ... cerebral palsy (c.p. from here on out). I had had my suspicions, but I kept telling myself that we'd dodged that bullet. So, it turns out that Charlotte has c.p., which affects her legs, trunk and possibly her arm. We've been told that it's a mild case and that she has a very good prognosis. Eventually she should be able to walk unassisted and there's even a chance that she will "outgrow it". Now, when I say "outgrow" I don't mean go away, because c.p. doesn't ever go away. But she may be able to find ways to compensate for it where it doesn't have a huge impact on her day-to-day life.

For those who may not know much about c.p. (that included myself up until last month) it is basically brain damage that affects someone's ability to control movement and to maintain posture and balance. This is why it's been so difficult for Charlotte to sit upright on her own. She actually has the strength to do it, but there's a communication breakdown between her brain and her muscles. And similar to the autism spectrum the range of severity of c.p. is vast. Someone could actually have c.p. and never know it because they've just learned to compensate for whatever part of the brain has been affected, while another person might be in a wheel-chair for life. We'll probably never know exactly what was the actual cause of Charlotte's brain damage, but it was something that resulted from her prematurity. The damage occurs either in utero or at some point during or shortly after the birth, and it is quite common in premature babies, especially micro-preemies like Charlotte. There is SO MUCH information I could share with everyone, but I'll do it a little bit at a time. It makes my head spin, too. But if anyone wants to look a little further United Cerebral Palsy has a good overview.

Since the diagnosis I've been going through different emotions - sadness, denial, a little guilt - in some ways it's a bit like mourning. Perhaps mourning the loss of what I thought our life with Charlotte was going to be like. As selfish as it is, as soon as I had children I had a certain picture in my mind of what I thought the rest of our lives were going to be like. But life decided to teach me a lesson - my daughter is her own person and I can't expect her to fit inside the image I've created for her. She needs to do and be what she wants. I've definitely reached a point of acceptance with Charlotte's c.p., and now I'm back to focusing on raising a happy, stong, independent girl. The part I can't quite get over, though, is knowing that whatever it is she wants to do in life is going to be that much harder to achieve. And don't we all just want things to be easy for our kids? I've said it before and I'll say it again ... I'm a mom and I can't help but stress.

While the diagnosis has brought mixed emotions, as well as some clarity, it has also opened new doors for Charlotte. A couple of weeks ago we started pool therapy, which we will attend once a month. Brian and I are planning to take what we learn there and then apply those techniques at the local YMCA pool. Although, that therapy pool we went to was NICE!!! If I ever win the lottery, first thing I'm doing is putting one of those in my house.

It's also been a bit easier for us to order some equipment for Charlotte. Next week she's going to be fitted for some orthotics (AFOs) that will help her to stabilize while standing and to keep her fleet flat. We also got ourselves a pair of these cute little biker-type shorts (see pic below) that help keep her legs together when standing. I think they're hysterical on, but they seem to do the trick!

In July we are also going to start an intensive physical/occupational/developmental-therapy-all-rolled-into-one regiment at a local place called Center for Independence. This place offers group sessions where all of the children do their therapy together and they sing songs, stretch, work on different positions and even play with play-doh. We watched a session a few weeks ago and we were very impressed. We spoke to some parents and they had all gave us glowing reports. Basically, the program aims to create new neural pathways in the brain to facilitate control of movements through many repetitions of the same movement. Their main goal is to make sure that kids with physical disabilities can do as much independently as possible. I definitely think it's worth a try.

Brian went home to New Zealand for 10 days at the end of March. His grandfather passed away after battling cancer, but Brian was able to make it back for the funeral. While I'm sure he would have preferred to be home under different pretenses, he was finally able to meet his 8-month old niece, Abby, and fit in a much needed visit with family and friends. I can't wait until we can bring Charlotte over to meet everyone in NZ, but I'm definitely not looking forward to that flight! Ugh!

This coming Sunday Charlotte is going to partake in her first fundraiser walk for the March of Dimes. She thought it was fitting that her first walk help raise money to educate about and prevent prematurity. We'd like to thank everyone who has already donated to the cause and helped us reach our goal!! If anyone else would like to make a donation you can do so through our Team Hellyer March for Babies site. We'll let you know how Charlotte does. I don't know if she's going to be able to army crawl all 6 miles. I'll keep the stroller on stand-by.

Let me brag for moment and tell you about all the cool things that Charlotte does ..... she says lots of animal sounds, she can hi to Bart, Amy, her dad, and her ya-ya (grandma). I'm hoping mama is just around the corner. Maybe for Mother's Day?? Hint, hint! She's becoming a pro at army crawling and is even starting to push herself up into the crawling position. She know where most of her body-parts are and she recently learned to drink from a straw, blow kisses and she gives fantastic hugs. Isn't she awesome?! Who ever thought this kind of stuff would excite me??

Now, I'm estatic about the fact that Charlotte has finally broken the 18-pound mark, but check out this picture. This is Tommy, our friends Annie and Bob's son. Guess how old he is? 6 months!! He's almost bigger than Charlotte! Start eating more, kid!

My chemistry class is actually coming along pretty well. I had an A at midterm ... YES, an A in ORGANIC CHEMISTRY! And I don't want anyone saying under their breath, "Oh, it's just a community college," ... It's hard, man! And, unless I really mess something up over the next few weeks, I just might get an A overall. At the end of May I'm going to start a 5-week intensive Microbiology course that meets M-F from 6-9pm. I may just regret that choice.

Sorry if this post was a bit on the serious side, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. I'll post again soon, cuz I still need to address the poll results and figure out who all the old people are reading my blog .... how could "Mr. and Mrs." win?

Miles left to run for 2008: 328.5

Days left in office for Bush: 370

And Hillary's still in the running! Yeah, Baby!!

Happy Day Before Leap Day!

2008-02-28T21:40:00.008-06:00

First of all, many thanks to everyone who offered up their food processor(s) for the cause! I was very lucky that my friend Kathy didn't need her mini-processor, so now Charlotte is enjoying the wonderful world of purees! Thanks, Kathy! Or should I say "Miss Kathy"?

Which brings me to what I think is an interesting question .... given the way society is today, what should we expect from our children when they address other adults? And I'm mainly talking about family friends or other caretakers here, not the elderly couple down the block. Obviously, Mr. and Mrs. We Remember When the Titanic Went Down deserve to be called by their last name. I feel like I'm having a little dilemma here. Let's take my food processor friend, Kathy, for example (Kathy has many more wonderful qualities, but I'm trying to simplify here). I feel like having Charlotte call her "Mrs. Carr" is too formal, but "Kathy" seems disrespectful to the age difference between them. But I feel kinda geeky when I say "Say hello to Miss Kathy". I don't know, something about it just kind of wigs me out. And I'm torn between the fact that I understand the world is different now then when I grew up, yet I don't want to lose the concept of respect for elders that I grew up with. I'm curious what you folks out there think. Please feel free to vote over to the right as to how you think kids should address adults. And if your answer isn't there then I welcome comments, too!

The past month has been kind of boring. We've had lots of snow in the midwest, and in fact tonight we're scheduled to have our 35th measurable snow of the season. I love snow, so it hasn't bothered me one bit. We pulled Charlotte around the backyard a couple times in a sled, but since she's still not sitting up so well it looked more like a rescue mission. I think she'll enjoy it much more next year.

Last week we had our first Early Intervention annual meeting where all of Charlotte's therapists get together and discuss her progress and what they want to focus on during the next year. She had glowing reports from everyone. In the weeks prior to the mtg, each therapist did an official evaluation to see where her skills are in comparison to other children her age. And, even to my surprise, she tested pretty much on track for her age bracket for everything except gross motor skills (crawling, walking, etc.). Now, did you know that taking a piece of paper and crumbling it up is a skill? Apparently so! Just a little something to add to your resume. No, seriously, she was doing things during the evaluations that I didn't even know she could do. For example, they took a spoon and pretended like they were stirring something in a bowl, then handed her to spoon to see what she would do. I thought she was going to eat it, or stick it in her ear, but she pretended like she was stirring! We have all totally underestimated this girl! So, the gist here is that she's got it going on up in her noggin, but the physical side is holding her back a bit at the moment. Because of that we decided to increase her PT to twice a week to challenge her a bit more and we're scheduled to see a physiatrist in a few weeks. A physiatrist is someone who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation. I knew you were going to ask that. I'll let y'all know what the verdict is after that visit.

To continue my Charlotte update, I'm going back to the food processor for a second. Another thing that's keeping Charlotte behind a bit is her eating. She definitely has some oral sensory issues when it comes to food with texture. Hence the food processor. But she also doesn't seem to be interested in food very much. This has become the issue that keeps me up at night. I can understand that she'll crawl and walk when she's ready, or that eventually the time will come when she'll say "mama" instead of "dada" and realise that at that point I will make sure that all of her dreams come true, but I'm really having a hard time with her not eating and not gaining weight. We do have a wonderful nutritionist and speech-language therapist helping us out with her feeding issues, but I just can't help but focus on the fact that if she's not getting the nutrition she needs then it's going to be hard for everything else to fall in line. But I guess that's what moms do ... we worry. She has been doing better over the past few weeks, and with some oral stimulation and some other methods we have been able to increase her food intake, just not the consistency. Fingers crossed that at the next weigh-in she's gained some weight!

But even stuff like feeding problems don't come without a little comic relief. Check out this chair that her PT brought over for Charlotte to use while feeding! Now, anyone who is involved in rehabilitation will probably have seen something like this, but for simple folk like us, it looks like our little girl is strapped to an electric chair! Luckily, I was able to find something else at Babies R Us that not only keeps her in an upright position, but is more comfortable. I just couldn't take her seriously in that thing!

In late-January I started my new classes for the spring semester - Organic Chemistry and Human Growth and Development. Believe it or not, I am actually enjoying Organic Chemistry. So far it's been kind of fun. I remember in college everyone would groan whenever anyone mentioned that class, but so far I haven't been able to determine why. Maybe that's next chapter. Human Growth and Development has also proven to be very informative, but it's a bit different because this is my first online class. Yes, it's easier but there's still work that has to be done in a certain timeframe. Every week I have to read the text, answer discussion questions and take an online test. The hardest thing to get used to is the fact that when you're "discussing" something online with your peers you have to make sure that what you're saying is valid and that you can back it up. It's not the same as being in a classroom where the chances are no one is listening or no one cares if you speak up. Here, all my responses are written in stone as soon as I hit "SEND" and anyone can call me out on it.

Pretty soon I'm going to have to start looking into what nursing program(s) I want to apply to. I'm just starting to get into taking these classes, so I'm kind of procratinating getting out of my new-found comfort zone and looking at new different schools.

That's it for us. I'm thinking the next post should be a bit more interesting. Hopefully we will have been able to get outside and do some CRAZY stuff. PLUS, the little Peanut has recently started trying to pull herself forward, so hopefully soon I'll have some video of Charlotte crawling around the house driving me nuts! I welcome the insanity! :-)

Miles Left To Run for 2008: 421.5

Days Left In Office For Bush: 327

Go .... Hillary???

Calling All Food Processors!

2008-02-05T22:47:00.000-06:00

Does anyone in the greater Chicago area have a food processor or handheld blender that they could let me borrow that is very good at pureeing food? We're (and by "we", I mean "the little one") are having some issues with any food that is any thicker than applesauce. I've been researching reviews on different baby food makers and food processors and the ones that are really good at pureeing are pretty darn pricey. So, I thought I'd try you good folks first. And I wouldn't be using it for a long time, because if I try it and I think, "Man, this is a great food processor", then I'll return it and go and by my own. Please email me at teamhellyer@gmail.com if you can help. Thanks!!!!
I'll be posting more very soon about the latest with Charlotte. Can I just say, she's a rock star!!!!

350 Days Until Bush is Out of Office
Go Hillary!

Good Times, Good Times

2008-01-10T19:49:00.001-06:00

Happy 2008 to you and yours! Last year was just CRAZY! I'm hoping that 2008 turns out to be a laid-back, yet prosperous year. Here's a picture of my family together on Christmas Eve. Aunt Lynn, Uncle Gary, Cousin Alex, Grandma and Grandpa all came over for the traditional Christmas Eve chop suey. My grandmother used to make chop suey every year and we've kept that tradition alive. Christmas Day took us out to Valparaiso to my parent's house where we hung out with the Keanes (family friends), ate a lot and put back a few glasses of wine. It was a fun, relaxing Christmas.

Our New Year's Eve was a bit more of the same. Due to an icky snowstorm that night our plans fell through with some friends of ours, so Brian and I were left to fend for ourselves armed with nothing but some wine and a Scrabble board. Now, keep in mind that our Scrabble board is personally signed by the 2001 World Scrabble Champion (jealous?). So, of course, I won. Unfortunately my good luck quickly ran out and I fell asleep at 11:44pm, missing the chance to celebrate the New Year with my husband and partake in the pots-and-pans parade with our neighbors. There's always next year.

I should probably back-track a bit and give you a quick synopsis of December's happenings. One of the highlights of the month was when I got an A in Chemistry! Whoop! Whoop! It turns out that going to class, doing the homework, studying, not going to the bars 5 nights a week, and actually CARING really does make a difference. I wish I could go back in time and talk to 20 yr-old Mandi and tell her that the rumors are indeed true. Truthfully, I'm just glad that I proved to myself that I can actually grasp something related to science. Next semester I'm taking Organic Chemistry and Human Growth and Development. The 2nd class is online, so it will be nice to be able to do the classwork when I have "extra" time, however years of perfecting the art of procrastination might be a detriment (in fact right now I should be working on a health insurance appeal, but this is more important, right?). Classes start on the 22nd of Jan., so I gotta start living up the last days of my Winter Break. Maybe I'll stay up late and read an extra article out of Newsweek tonight. I'm crazy!

For the past few years Brian and I have been driving out to The Christmas Tree Farm in Belvidere, IL to kill a real Christmas tree, and this year we were able to share that tradition with Charlotte. It was a fantastic family day, complete with snow on one of the windiest and coldest days of the month. We all went out for breakfast, drove out to the farm, went on the hay ride, cut down our tree, picked up some great bargains at the local Farm and Fleet, and made it home in time for an afternoon nap. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Charlotte's helmet came off for good on December 23rd. I'm so happy that it's over. In the end she only had to wear it for 12 weeks, but I really missed kissing her head, smelling her hair, and snuggling up to a helmet-free head. We see a huge difference between the before and after shots and we're very glad we decided to go through with the whole process. If you ever run into anyone who thinks their child might need one, or is contemplating getting one please feel free to give them my info and I'll be happy to talk to them. The window of opportunity for correcting any head shape abnormalities is pretty small, so waiting it out really isn't an option.

The best part of the whole helmet experience (besides the obvious fact that Charlotte's head shape has changed) is that we got to keep her "Head on a Stick". This is what the facility made from the initial mold that was taken (see "Peanut Piñata" 9/22/07 post), and each time we went back they would compare her real head to the head on the stick to see how the changes were progressing. And each time I would ask, "I get to keep that at the end, right"? I haven't decided what to do with it yet. Any ideas?

This holiday season really felt like it was Charlotte's first Christmas. Technically, it's her 2nd, but it was her first one out in the real world. It was so great to see her staring at the Christmas lights, playing with the wrapping paper, and wearing a cheesy Christmas outfit with uncomfortable tights. I loved being able to include her in our holiday traditions and coming up with new ones for just for the three of us. I remember last year I kept telling myself, "Next year it will be better". This year, all I thought about was how great it was to be exactly where I was. Life is good.

For some people New Years brings resolutions, but not for me. I don't believe in making any resolutions because they're too easy to break. Instead I make tangible goals that I set for myself for the year. Last year my goal was to run a 1/2 marathon. Unfortunately, I hurt my knee back in July and my road to recovery was a bit long, so the 1/2 marathon turned into a 1/4 marathon. On December 30th (with 36 hrs to spare) I ran 6.5 miles. I know it's not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but for someone who was on bedrest for most of 2006, I'm happy with that. So, for 2008 here are my goals:

1. Run 500 miles (that's 10 miles/wk with 2 wks off ..... very do-able)

2. Run a sub-7:30 mile

3. Get into nursing school

4. Charlotte walks

I'll keep you updated .....

Before we had Charlotte I used to hug one of the dogs and ask Brian. "Does he/she look like me?" Brian would always answer, "No". So, now it's even more fun for me to hug Charlotte close and say, "Does she look like me?". Unfortunately the answer is still, "No". But she's pretty darn cute anyways!

Go Hillary!

The Ms. El Cheapo 2007 Results Are In

2007-12-24T12:40:00.000-06:00

Now, as I'm sure everyone knows, I'm pretty darn cheap. One of my slogans is "If it's fo' FREE, is fo' ME" (courteousy of the Morris clan). So when it came time to take Charlotte's Christmas picture this year I thought, "Why would I pay someone to do what I can do myself at NO COST"? Well, now I know why. What did people do before digital cameras? I must have taken 100+ photos before I even had one that was relatively decent. The picture up above was the 2007 Team Hellyer Xmas Photo Finalist, however I'd like to share some of the runners up with you.

This first picture was just plain rude.
This next one was Brian's favorite, but the judges felt that it exuded too much fear and not enough cheer.

Safety soon became a concern when one of the contestants could not refrain from eating the lights.

This last one lost because of pure cheesiness.

Welcome to the 21st Century, Mandi!

2007-12-01T21:20:00.000-06:00

This is my first post with a video. This one is entitled, "Charlotte and Grandpa Share Their First Drink". It was taken at Olive's 1st Bday party.

More to follow. Hope you enjoy it!

Birthdays and Helmets and Tests .... Oh My!!

2007-11-18T20:57:00.000-06:00

Our little Peanut turned the big "1" year old on October 23rd!! It's hard for me to grasp the fact that a year has passed since we had our triplets. Some days it feels like time is flying and others I feel like I've aged 20 years. This is kind of a bittersweet time of year for us. We were able to celebrate how far Charlotte has come over the past year and how much joy she's brought to us and to so many other people, but at the same time we were missing our boys. Brian and I recently decided to name a star after our boys. So the next time you're looking at the Big Dipper, know that one of the stars up there is called "JakeGus2006". I believe that that light shining down on us is them letting us know that they're happy and that they're watching over all of us. I think eventually that will be a good way for us to introduce Charlotte to her brothers.

For Charlotte's birthday party we had a gorgeous, hot, sunny day filled with family, friends, and lots of food. Thanks to everyone who brought or sent us a donation for the NICU!! We were able to bring them so much stuff - preemie clothes, crib toys, lotions and soaps for the staff, a soothing motions glider, books, CDs and portable CD players with speakers. They were very excited to receive everything and I'm glad that we could give something back to the people that did so much for our family.

For Charlotte's birthday weekend we were very lucky to have Aunt Kari come to town for a visit! We started our weekend off with a pumpkin carving contest, seeing as it was right before Halloween. Brian, Kari and I each carved our own pumpkin and at Charlotte's party we let the guests decide who's was the best. It would appear that our guests didn't know good pumpkin carving when they saw it, cuz Brian's "Witch Holding the Pumpkin" won. He used a stencil, People! How about some points for originality?? Anyways, let just put it this way .... mine was the cool one.

Not only was it Charlotte's birthday in October, but there were many 1st birthdays to celebrate ..... my best friend Patty's daughter, Olive, my college buddy Julie's son, Spencer, and my friend Jen's daughter, Abigail. AND there's been quite a few births lately .... my friend Kathy from high school gave birth to little Terry Jr. a few days ago, and my friend Stefanie in Connecticut had little Mia in mid-October. And remember me mentioning the other triplet mom from the NICU before? We've become good friends over the past year, and while her three angels will never be forgotten, I'm very happy to report that a few weeks ago she gave birth to a healthy, 9 lb 2 oz baby boy. Little Tommy has brought a lot of much deserved joy into his parent's lives!

In late October we went to a Halloween-themed NICU reunion at Loyola Hospital. Charlotte went as a doctor, decked out in her scrubs and stethescope. Here is a pic of Charlotte and Dr. Muraskas, the co-director of the NICU at Loyola. We were very lucky to have Dr. Muraskas taking care of Charlotte while she was in the NICU, and it was great to see him again. Btw, in this pic you can also see what Charlotte's helmet looks like. She's definitely grown to accept it and to be honest, I think she feels weird when she doesn't have it on. As soon as we take it off she's looking for it, as if to say, "Hey! I'm naked!". We still don't know how much longer she'll have to wear it, but I'm hoping that it will be off by the end of the year. We've already noticed a huge difference in the shape of her head. It's amazing how quickly they work. It's also amazing how smelly her head gets! Whew!!! It's like someone opened up a gym locker when she takes it off. I'll be very glad when she's done wearing it.

Not only did October bring a plethora of birthdays, but it also brought Charlotte's first real Halloween (I'm not counting the one in the NICU). On the actual day of Halloween Charlotte was a pumpkin. I didn't take her trick-or-treating because 1. She had no idea what was going on, and 2. we didn't need that extra candy sitting around the house. So, instead of going out, we let all the kids come to us! Brian and I set up some lawn chairs in the front driveway and had a great time seeing all the kids come by in their costumes. We have a lot of kids in our neighborhood, so we had a really good turn-out this year.

Lots of people ask me, "What's Charlotte doing these days?" She's still working on being able to sit up on her own. She's getting stronger everyday, but she still has a ways to go. She now has the strength to sit up, but she hasn't quite caught on to the concept of catching herself when she starts to fall over, so she still needs some assistance. She's also starting to be able to hold herself up on all fours, so maybe by the time she has her "adjusted age first birthday" she'll be crawling. She's still getting therapy in the house three times a week and twice a month we go out to Child's Voice. Charlotte manages to keep a pretty full social calendar. At her last doctor visit she was just shy of 16 pounds and at this point we can consider her lung disease to have healed. Yay!! Although, I'm still going to be careful with her in the winter months when it comes to being around people with colds, etc. Sixteen pounds doesn't offer you alot of reserves if you get sick.

Brian and Charlotte are still going to swimming on Tuesdays while I'm in class. According to Brian all he has to do is hold her head with one hand and she'll float along all calm and just look around. I gotta see this!

TOOT! TOOT! Did ya hear that? That's the sound of me tooting my own horn. My Chemistry class is going MUCH better than I thought it would. I'm probably jinxing myself here, but I got 105% on my first test and 99% on my second one. I don't know if I'll be able to keep that up, but at least I know that at one point in my life, I understood something about Chemistry. I have another month left until class is over and then I can take advantage of the winter break and catch up on my Harry Potter reading.

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all my family and friends for helping me though a long year. Thanks for hanging with me through the rough times, and for cheering along side us during the good times!

Recall Info Directly to Your Email

2007-10-04T22:14:00.000-06:00

If you're like me, you just can't keep up with all the toy recalls lately (I'll refrain from getting on my soapbox about outsourcing and manufacturing overseas), so I wanted to share with everyone that you can go to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website and sign up to receive emails whenever there is a recall.

Not everything is always mentioned in the news, so it doesn't hurt to be overinformed.

Child's Voice in the Trib

2007-09-25T20:51:00.000-06:00

Charlotte's school, Child's Voice, made the front page of the Chicago Tribune the other day. It's an interesting read. Thought I'd share it with ya.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/chi-deafed_21sep21,0,5514522.story?page=1

Peanut Piñata! Olé!

2007-09-22T18:50:00.000-06:00

We thought it would be a good idea for Peanut's 1st birthday party to make a piñata in the shape of her head. What do you think?

Just Kidding! While I hope that they eventually let us keep this cast, it's intention was not to be filled with goodies and smacked with a bat. Instead, Charlotte was casted last week for a helmut that she will have to wear for possibly 3-4 months. As a result of being on her back so much in the NICU, and then add the whole "Back to Sleep" SIDS campaign, you have yourself a case of a slightly misshapen head. We had noticed awhile ago that the back of her head was growing in a slightly off-center, oblong way, but I figured that eventually her hair would just cover everything and she'd be fine. But just in case, I took her to a place where they specialize in these helmuts because I don't want her coming back to me at 16 screaming, "If you had just gotten the helmut then now I wouldn't look like this [slam]!!". Turns out that it's not just the back of her head that's affected, but her facial features as well. So, we didn't hesitate to sign on the dotted line and looks like next week Peanut will have a helmut that she has to wear 23 hours a day for at least 3 months. The total length of time will depend on how quickly she grows. The faster she grows, the less time with the helmut. Basically the helmut stops growth in some areas, while allowing for the other areas to catch up. So, there you have it .... hearing aids and a helmut. Wish me luck. Thank god the eye doctor said she doesn't need glasses!!

But don't worry about Peanut, while she didn't particularly enjoy having the cast made, she was fine once they took it off. I asked the doctor at the place how the babies are with the helmuts and he said, "Oh, they don't like it for about 10 minutes and then they're fine". Yeah, cuz then they go HOME WITHOUT YOU!

Speaking of Peanut's 1st birthday (I mentioned it in the beginning), we're going to be having an open house celebration of how far Charlotte's come in the last year on October 21st from 2-6pm (put in your calendar "free food"). I've sent out an evite to some people, but if I didn't have your email address or you live out of town then I want you to know that you're welcome to stop by, too! This is an open house and everyone is welcome to stop by, eat, drink and be merry! And if you do decide to come over then please no gifts. However, we will be accepting donations (books, CDs, preemie clothes) to bring to the NICU at the hospital where Charlotte was born.

Here are some random tidbits of what's been going on around here lately:

Brian and Charlotte starting taking swim classes together. Charlotte didn't exactly like the first two sessions (i.e. she cried the whole time), but by the third one she actually got dipped under the water and tried to catch a rubber ducky. We do not accept quitters on this team (especially after mom's paid for it)!

I'm hanging on by a string in my Chemistry class. The scariest part is that people are actually come up to ME asking questions in our lab section. Either I've perfected the art of looking like I know what is going on, or the intelligence level in my class is REALLY LOW. I'm leaning towards it's a combination of both. I have my first test next week. Eek!

Charlotte's OT (Occupational Therapy) sessions have been really neat. She started in July and the OT is focusing on the senses in the order that they develop in utero. So the first thing we've been working on is the vestibular sense (motion). Lots of spinning and swinging. The way her OT described the therapy is that since Charlotte missed out on so much time in the womb, we have to go back and make sure that everything that would normally develop in utero is okay now. Charlotte's been loving the spinning and swinging, so we've been having a great time with it!

We found out Peanut's final results from the ABR in August. Her right ear has a moderate hearing loss and the left ear is mild-to-moderate. Basically, according to her DTH, she's at the lowest level that the state will allow for treatment. I think that's great news!

***Final note***VERY IMPORTANT!!! Davy Jones is playing in Hinsdale on Fri, Sept. 28th for only $5. Will anyone please go with me??!!

I've Always Wanted To Fly

2007-09-03T05:01:00.000-06:00

This was a Chritmas gift from Mandi in 2005 which I never got to use last summer. It was a perfect day. 30 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Thanks Mandi

2007-08-18T17:55:00.000-06:00

Lordy, where do I start?! I know ... ok, now I have a glass of wine. Now, let me recap the last couple of weeks, and with the help of my palm pilot, hopefully I can stay in chronological order....

Right around the last time I wrote I was in week 3 of my extensive Hal Higdon 1/2 marathon training program when *SNAP* went my knee. I actually heard it. Luckily, according to the orthopaedic guy, it was only a torn tendon or ligament or muscle, whatever, I can't remember which one. Either way it really hurt, and it put quite a damper on my training regiment. Needless to say, I was unable to run for 4 wks and my New Year's goal for 2007 to run a 1/2 marathon has gone down the tubes. I'm considering organizing the first annual Brookfield New Year's Eve 1/2 Marathon, of which I will most likely be the only participant, but that might even be a stretch. We'll see ... I'll do my best. And if you're interested in joining the Brookfield 1/2 marathon we're accepting applications.

Charlotte spent her first night away from home (since the hospital, of course) when we went out to my parents house for their annual Garden Walk in mid-July. She did really good and it didn't take her too long to fall asleep. It's good to know that should we need to leave her alone with anyone for a weekend (Grandma and Grandpa, perhaps?) that she can adjust to new surroundings. Vegas, here we come!

Brian and I were treated to a day on our own when my parents watched Peanut one Saturday and we did one of those Segway Tours along the lakefront downtown. It was a total blast! I was a little concerned about looking like a geek, and my fears were immediately confirmed when someone yelled, "Dorks!" at us out of their car window, but we were so enthralled with mastering the Segway and trying to maneuver around the busy, weekend, downtown foot traffic that I barely noticed the stares and giggles. Let's face it, people may have laughed at us in our helmets and nametags Segway-ing in a single-file line down Michigan Ave., but I'm willing to bet they were thinking, "Hey, I wouldn't mind trying that." If you ever get the chance to try one of these tours, I highly recommend it! It did take awhile to get used to the Segway and it took a lot more balance than I thought it would, but after an hour we were zipping all over the place.

In late July the three of us had the chance to participate for the first time in a program at Loyola (the hospital where Charlotte was born and spent her days in the NICU) called Operation Homefront where 3rd year med students spend time with a Loyola family in the community during their pediatric rotation. We had the pleasure of meeting two students, Vernesha and Anthony, who we can already tell are going to be fantastic doctors. They spent one evening in our home, observing bathtime and getting Charlotte to bed, and then Vernesha came to Charlotte's NICU follow-up appt and Anthony came to our house a second evening. It was so nice to see the enthusiasm and desire for knowledge in these two students. It totally reconfirmed my choice to pursue nursing. Hopefully, our family will be chosen again for this program, but it was really great to be able to give a little something back to Loyola.

Speaking of going back for nursing ... I finished my Psych class on Aug. 2nd, and I got 362 out of 364 points in the class! Whoohoo!! For everyone who knew my in college, I want you to know I went to every single class AND my paper was done and printed TWO DAYS before it was due. Seriously. I went to every single class. I really hope my Chemistry class that starts soon is just as easy as this class. We had open book tests, people missed tests and were able to make them up willy-nilly, the Final consisted of the exact same questions in the exact same order that were on the previous tests, and to get full credit for 1/3 of your grade all you had to do was show up. I start my next class on the 28th and it goes all the way til December. I'm actually very nervous about it, because I just don't get Chemistry. It doesn't add up.

A HUGE SHOUT-OUT to my Aunt Marilyn, my Mom (aka Grandma) and everyone who was involved in the baby shower that they threw for me a few weeks ago! I thought I was going to my Aunt's house that night to have my fortune read by someone she knew and it turns out ... no fortune-teller, just lots of wonderful family and friends! I had such a great time and to be honest it kind of filled a void. That probably sounds weird, but with my pregnancy and the birth of our children being so unorthodox I sometimes feel like I missed out on so much of what other women get to experience. And while Peanut has made me the happiest mom in the world, it was still nice to have that "rite-of-passage" into motherhood. And I actually had it better. I was able to have some wine.

Last week, we took our first Team Hellyer family vacation up to White Lake Beach "Resort" in Montello, Wisc. For those of you who haven't heard of this place - I used to go up there every year with my friend Patty and her family. Over the years we've befriended lots of other families that go there and now our generation gets the chance to bring our own families up there. We had a relaxing week of swimming, golfing, bean-bagging and gossiping. Peanut slept better than she ever has before and because of that mommy and daddy got to take turns visiting the local drinking-hole. Of course, our little Team can't stay still for too long so for the first time for all of us we visited the Wisconsin Dells . Yes, it's a bit cheesy, but it going to be so much fun when Peanut is older and we can go to some of the water parks and go on the roller coasters. This time around it was more about walking up and down the "boardwalk". Another day we visited The House on the Rock. We still don't know what the story was about that place (some guy built some house on a rock and he had a lot of eccentric collections), but it was really cool and we have already planned a re-visit next year. Above is a pic of Brian and Peanut in the Eternity Room. See how it seems like the room is going on for ever and ever and ever ..... The freaky part was that this room has no support underneath. I got out of there pretty quick when I realized that.
Now for the part you've all been waiting for .... Charlotte's ABR results!!! Charlotte had her hearing test yesterday at Children's Memorial Hospital. We drove down yesterday morning only to find out that Eric and Kathy on the 101.9 morning show were having their annual 36 hour fundraiser in the hospital lobby. It was kind of neat that they were there on the same day, but it was a zoo down there! I had several conversations with the Anaethesiology Attendings at both Loyola and Childrens regarding how to approach Peanut's procedure - sedation or general. It was ultimately determined that general anaethesia was the way to go, but I was still very nervous. She still has BPD and she's still so small, so seeing the doctor carry my baby away into the operating room was horrific for me. But all of my worries were for naught, and Charlotte came out of it only a little hungry and ........... (drumroll please) ....... diagnosed with a moderate hearing loss!!! Peanut will still need the help of her hearing aids and she's still going to need therapy and Child's Voice, but the road will be much easier for her than originally anticipated. She can hear more than we were told after the initial ABR, but it seems that she's missing out on most of the speech sounds around here. I get the impression that unaided she knows people are talking, but the clarity isn't there. Regardless, it's fantastic news for her. And I have to boast, she was such a trooper. She only cried when she first came out of surgery and she was hungry. Other that than she didn't fuss when they took blood, or she couldn't eat for 8 hrs, or she couldn't take a nap, etc. I KNOW I wouldn't be that good. She's amazing.

I have more to tell - itch mites, OT, our yard sale, I'm old, Charlotte meets baby Jesus and tries to give him a high-five. I'll write more after Brian goes skydiving next weekend. Glad it's not me!!!!

P.S. Leah Hillman - thank you so much for the beautiful comment you left last month! If you get the chance, please send me an email at achellyer@yahoo.com. I'd love to hear how you and your girls are doing. Btw, Loyola is planning a NICU reunion on Oct. 27. Put it on your calendar!

Mid-Year Team Hellyer Audit

2007-07-05T14:03:00.000-06:00

Maybe I'll just start doing monthly updates ... how about that? That seems to be the way this is going anyways. I'd like to start out by asking, "Who's been writing letters to the Pope?" When Peanut had her 1st ABR back in Feb. I asked the audiologist if there was a chance that her hearing might get better. He replied, "If you're going to bank on that then you might want to start writing letters to the Pope". So, I repeat, who's been writing those letters, because they just might be working.

Talk about a confusing week! Well, we went to Children's Memorial Hospital this past Monday (7/2) to see if Peanut might be a cochlear implant candidate. After 30 minutes of sound booth testing we were told by the Audiologist that not only is she not an implant candidate, but she doesn't think that Charlotte's hearing loss is "severe", as was originally the diagnosis. She thinks she may have more of a "moderate" hearing loss, which doesn't mean that she's not going to need to wear hearing aids, but it means that she can hear more than we thought and it may be that much easier for her to understand and learn speech.

Now, since she got the hearing aids in mid-May I've tried to have them in her ears at all waking hours, if possible. So, our opportunities to observe her responses to sound w/o the aids has been limited. I've kept the aids out for the majority of the last few days and both Brian and I feel that she is definitely responding to toys, voices and even fireworks (damn those kids across the street!). Where do we go from here, you ask? Well, her hearing aids have been turned down to a level that won't be detrimental to her ears, so our initial concern about harming what hearing she has is no longer a worry. We have also scheduled another ABR for Aug 17th. However, unlike the first 2 where Charlotte was sleep deprived and "slept" through the tests, she will this time be sedated under anesthesia. There was a bit of concern about her needing to be sedated because there is the possibility that she may need to be intubed, which in turn means she would be on the ventilator. Her lungs are so much stronger now, and her pediatrician has already told us that she feels very comfortable with Charlotte going through this procedure, but I'm sure you can understand my apprehension. I do feel comfortable knowing that the ABR will be performed at Children's, so should she need to be admitted for any reason, she's in good hands. I'm going to try and find out over the next month if there's a way she can be sedated w/o being intubated. When Charlotte had her hernia operation they were able to do it w/o using general anesthesia - they used a spinal instead. So, I have some investigating to do. But, the moral of the story is that we really won't know what we're dealing with until we get the results of the upcoming ABR.

Meanwhile, Charlotte has had 2 sessions at Child's Voice and the emphasis has been mainly on parent education. I'm learning that I need to talk to Peanut in a more simple and straightforward manner. So far, it's been very helpful.

My weekend away in KC was fantastic! It was nice to get away for couple days and recharge my batteries. Kara's wedding was beautiful (there's me and Kara in the pic). I got to catch up with some of my college buddies, and I spent a nice relaxing evening in Lawrence, KS with one of my college roommates. And while I didn't get as much sleep as I had hoped for, I did have my share of martinis and bloody marys. Sometimes you just have to prioritize.

Nana, Granddad and Aunt Susan were in town during June and we had a great visit with them. Aunt Susan was only here for a week and now she's off galavanting in Europe with one of her friends. Brian's parents left on the 30th and made it home safely after a short jaunt in San Fran. I'm so glad that Brian's family was able to spend time with Charlotte. Here's a picture of the family in our backyard.

My Psych class has been going well so far. I had my first test last week. I did well, but it was open book, so if I didn't do well then I would have been a little concerned. We have our second test and a paper due in two weeks, so I'm gonna have to start cracking some books! And unlike all the papers I handed in during college (my old roommates will get kick out of this) I don't think I can get an extension on this one. Darnit!

July is looking like a busy month. We're up to three therapy sessions a week now for Peanut. EI added OT (Occupational Therapy) so that should start up in the next few weeks. The OT is going to work with Peanut on things like grabbing objects, holding them, etc. I'm always open for new ways to work with Peanut and to enhance playtime, so this should be interesting.

Charlotte is finally grasping the concept of eating. Thank God, because eating is a big part of being a member of Team Hellyer! So far, we've only tried pears and squash, but as time goes on more gets into her mouth instead of on her face. I always thought that babies just ate. I didn't realize there was this whole learning process they have to go through.

Brian and I are doing a Segway Tour in mid-July. This should definitely be fun! I'll try and get a pic of me and Brian in our helmets and reflective vests. Scary!

The Thrill of the Cicada is Over!

2007-06-05T19:38:00.000-06:00

That constant drone of the cicadas is seriously driving me mad! Luckily, today it was on the cooler side, so they must have taken a break, and they weren't quite as loud. But, over the past week, if I was to go outside I could not carry on a conversation with someone over the phone. They are that loud! Here's a pic of the tree across the street completely covered with the little guys. The bugs themselves don't bother me it's just they're mating call, which goes continuously from around 9am-5pm (I guess they work a normal day). I read somewhere that an entomologist measured their noise to be at 96db - that's similar to a jet engine! Needless to say, I've had to turn Peanut's hearing aids off a couple times during the afternoon.

On a happier note, the cicadas have provided us with some degree of entertainment. Charlotte and I would go outside for "Cicada Watch 2007!" every morning to see how many had emerged overnight. We probably have somewhere between 4-5 weeks left of this. Luckily it only happens every 17 years.

The weather around here has been pretty warm over the past few weeks and Charlotte got to take her first dip in the kiddy pool. She loved it! Unfortunately, we couldn't get Bart and Amy to join her. They just weren't interested. I'm glad she loves the water because I was hoping we could start taking some "swim" lessons in the fall.

Brian and I went to go check out that school, Child's Voice, a few weeks ago, and it was fantastic! One of the staff members took us around on a tour of the classrooms and individual therapy rooms. The kids seemed to really be enjoying themselves and the staff was amazing. Of course, there's always the chance that the whole tour was rehearsed and they shoved the sad kids in a closet, but we're probably going to start going there for therapy sessions in a few weeks, so we'll get a chance to see if it's always such a happy place.

I have really noticed a difference in Charlotte's day-to-day responses to noises since she's had the hearing aids on. She's starting to look around to see where noises are coming from. Sometimes I find it frustrating when I don't get responses from her, but then I have to remember that at this age, I may not get a response from a baby that doesn't have a hearing loss. Plus, sometimes I feel like she's been small for FOREVER! I'm sure very soon I'll be surprised at how fast she's growing.

Isn't this image just horrible? I usually have the TV on at certain points of the day (The View, Dr Phil, etc.) until I noticed that Peanut was actually watching the shows. Brian and I then decided that maybe we should limit her TV viewing to 1 hour/day and try and stick to educational stuff (Baby Einstein, Blues Clues, the occasional Sponge Bob Square Pants). Well then I read this article, that says that "40 percent of three-month-olds watch television for an average of 45 minutes a day". OMG, we're over the average!! So, now it's NO MORE TV! Thank God Rosie O'Donnell's not on The View anymore, cuz then we would have had a problem.

This weekend I'm off to Kansas City for my friend Kara's wedding, and to see my college roommate, Reba. Kara and I were (are, I guess) sorority sisters. I'm excited to see her and the other gals that will be making their way there, but I have to admit that I'm nervous about leaving Peanut for three days. Not that I don't trust Brian's abilities, but he's not me, plain and simple. I have to keep telling myself, "Good Night Sleep" and "Bloody Mary Bar", and that will help me get on that plane! Brian's parents and sister arrive on Friday night, shortly after I leave. So, he'll have some company and some help during my trip.

Now Playing: Charlotte Unplugged!

2007-05-20T13:52:00.001-06:00

Yep, it's true, she's off the O2!! Except for a few nights when she seems to need a rest, we've been able to keep Charlotte off the O2 most of the time lately. And boy, does it ever make toting her around easier! It's so much easier to go for a walk, the store, the zoo, the doctor, etc.

We even made a pilgrimage out to Grandma and Grandpa's place in Indiana for Mother's Day (see the family pics below). I don't think she realized she was in another state, but now Peanut can mark two states off her list.

I hope all Mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. I had a great day hanging out with my parents, Brian, and Charlotte. Charlotte got me a Sponge Bob Square Pants balloon, which is exactly what I wanted.

So, the question I've been getting all the time now is, "How did it go with her hearing aids?!". Well, we definitely got a response when they were first put on. We took Charlotte to Easter Seals last Wednesday and the audiologist was the first one to put the aids on her ears. As soon as she turned them to the on position, without any of us even uttering a word, Charlotte starting screaming and shaking like she was scared out of her mind. Now maybe I'm a bad mom, but it was at this time that I started laughing out of pure joy. Not at the fact that she was upset, but at the fact that the hearing aids were working! Albeit a little too well, which resulted in the audiologist having to turn down the volume twice before we decided that she would be okay with the sound level. When we go back for a follow-up visit in a few weeks the audiologist will be able to turn the volume up if Charlotte seems to have gotten used to the present level. And I think she's already starting to get used to it. For the first couple days she would jump or start crying if there was a loud noise, but now she just furrows her eyebrows. So, we're making some progress.

Tomorrow her DTH (Developmental Therapist for Hearing) comes by and I'm hoping she has some good tips and to how to keep the hearing aids on. I've already heard that some parents use either wig or toupée tape, but since I have to keep taking them off everytime she goes down for a nap, that seems like a bit much. Maybe I should quickly explain what the hearing aids look like. There are several types of hearing aids. Charlotte wears a BTE (behind-the-ear) hearing aid, which has a rubbery-feeling mold that fills in most of the space where your thumb goes if you were to stick it in your ear (don't do this on my account). There is a hole at the end of the mold that faces the inside of the ear canal and this is where the amplified sound comes out. The mold is attached to the hearing aid device that is approx 1.5 inches long. That is the piece that sits behind the ear and holds the microphone on the top, the on/off switch, the battery and her individualized amplification program. Peanut's not a big fan of me physically putting the aids in the ears, but once they're on she's pretty tolerant of them. However, if she's moving her head around a lot and brushing up against blankets or something they start to come out of her ears. Hence, the possible need for toupee tape.

I don't know if you can see them in this picture, or not, but Charlotte is wearing the aids. And I gotta be honest, I don't really think they're that noticeable, unless you're expecting to see them.

We've got a couple exciting things coming up soon:

1. In 3 weeks Nana, Granddad and Aunt Susan are coming over from NZ for a visit! We've been telling Charlotte all about it and she's getting excited! And what's great is now that Charlotte is unplugged she can come along to museums, gardens, restaurants, etc. It's going to be a good time!

2. Coinciding with the Hellyer family visit, the 17-year cicadas are expected to emerge in two days in Northern Illinois and Indiana. For those that have never heard of them check out this site. I've heard estimates of 1 million cicadas per acre. They're harmless, but annoying sources of protein for our dogs. I'll try and get some pics for the next post.

3. On Thursday, Brian and I are going to Child's Voice, a local "school" for pre-schoolage children that are hearing impaired. Their goal is to work with children from birth to around 5-6 and prepare them to enter the mainstream public school system. I'm exciting about seeing their facility and seeing if our family will fit in with their philosophies. If so, Charlotte and I may be able to start "school" in a few weeks!

4. In other school news ... I'll be starting my Intro to Psych class on June 12th. I went for a campus tour last week and it was awesome! I am so stoked about using the library, going to class, writing papers, and not talking about tummytime for a few hours a week! I feel like a giddy college kid again. Only this time my plan is to actually show up for class and read the books.

I do have some sad news to report. A few posts back I mentioned a surviving triplet baby girl that was born a few weeks before Charlotte who was having some persistent health problems that were keeping her in the NICU. Well we've grown quite close to her family, and I found out last week that they lost their daughter, Mari. She was such a beautiful little baby and now she's with her two brothers. If you could keep her family in your prayers I would appreciate it. They've been through more pain in the past seven months than anyone should ever have to bear.

Sorry to leave on a sad note, but someone sounds hungry, so I better get off the computer.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2007-04-30T13:24:00.000-06:00

Lordy, between me and Peanut we had 8 doctor/therapy appts last week. Eight! It would have only been 7, but I had to add a last minute venous ultrasound to make sure the lump on my left leg found by my gyne wasn't a blood clot (it wasn't). How old am I? You know, you think to yourself, "I eat healthy, I exercise, I keep a positive attitude, but does it really matter?" It makes you want to throw your hands up and go to Dairy Queen for a Snickers Blizzard. Enough complaining.

See anything missing from this photo? Why, it's Charlotte's oxygen tubing! We don't know what happened, but over the last two weeks Peanut's lungs have just kicked into high gear! She's on 1/16L at all times now and I've even been able to take her off the O2 a couple times a day for 1 hr intervals. She doesn't last too long without the O2 but I can tell it's getting better everyday. I was able to snap this pic while I was switching out her tubing and she seemed to be doing so well that I left it off for a bit to give her a break. Plus she was pretty mad at me for peeling the tape off of her cheeks, so she needed to cool down for a bit.

Last Tuesday we took Charlotte to the NICU for a visit. Her primary nurse, Jan, wasn't there, but a couple of her associate nurses were there as well as other nurses we met and several doctors. They all commented on how big Charlotte is getting and how great she looks. It's all thanks to them! Of course, I was so busy chatting I forgot to take a picture of the momentous event, but that means we'll just have to take a trip over there again.

However, I did get a pic of Patty and Olive before we all went to the zoo last weekend. Can you believe Olive is only five days older than Charlotte? But give Peanut a few months and she'll start catching up to Olive.

We all had a great time at the zoo. Peanut didn't have a clue that anything different was going on, but it was good for Brian and I to get out for a bit. Since Peanut's lungs are getting stronger and she's getting bigger we're starting to include her on short trips. Just yesterday we walked over to the local Trader Joe's with her to pick up some sushi and wine. Mmmmm.

Speaking of the zoo, I'd like to send a quick shout out to Aunt Kari, Uncle Teddy, Isabella and St. Louis Grandma and Grandpa who sent us a family pass to the zoo! Thanks to them we'll be hanging out there all summer! So if anyone is ever interested in going give us a buzz. And yes, for those that know me well, I know I said I would never take my kids to the zoo, but things change when you have a Peanut. But I'm still not taking her to the circus!

Charlotte had her hearing aid molds taken last Thursday. We go back on May 16th to pick up the final product. Unfortuately the Easter Seals we are going to is down one audiologist at the moment, so that's the earliest we could get in. But a couple days isn't going to hurt. We were told to not be surprised if she doesn't react when we first put them on. I'm still excited, though. I'm also starting the process of getting her evaluated for a cochlear implant. It will probably be a couple months before we can get in to see the specialist at Children's Memorial Hospital, so now is as good a time as any to start.

Today we had a follow-up appt at Peanut's Ophthalmologist. Her eyes look good and she doesn't have to go back for 4 months! Yay! I did a little dance of joy when I heard that news. Now we can scratch one doctor off the list of regular visits. He had mentioned in the last visit that she was near-sighted, but this time she was far-sighted. I guess babies vision keeps changing for awhile. I asked how soon babies can get glasses and he said now. I can't believe it! But her sight is fine for the moment and we'll see how she's doing at the next appt.

Hope everyone is doing well. I'm off for a run and then I think I'll have a fudgsicle ....

Where's Summer!?

2007-04-16T08:38:00.000-06:00

Peanut's ready for summer, but I don't think summer is ready for Peanut. We had snow here last week, which I guess isn't really all that odd for April, but enough already!

I hope everyone had a good Easter. We had my parents over for dinner so they could visit with Charlotte. No one comes to see us anymore. We just happen to live in Charlotte's house.

We had our appointment with Easter Seals last Wednesday and the audiologist did a little more testing and found the same results that the other audiologists found. So, now we're just waiting for the hearing aids to be approved by the powers that be down in Springfield, and maybe in a week or two Peanut will be able to go back and get the molds done. The hearing aids will be the ones that go behind the ears and then the microphone goes in the ear along with a mold that fits her ear canal. We'll probably have to get the mold redone quite frequently. I've heard estimates from every two weeks to every two months, depending on how quickly her ear grows.

The audiologist at Easter Seals had a neat software program where she could input the ranges that Peanut could hear and then play sounds for us as she would hear them. For example, she played a woman speaking just as you and I would hear it that sounded just like the woman was standing next to me. Then she played the woman speaking as Peanut would hear it. It sounded to me like the woman was a few rooms away and she had a pillow over her mouth - distant and muffled. So, not only does Charlotte need sounds to be amplified, there's also going to be clarity issues that we'll have to overcome. I say "we" because here is where Brian and I and the therapists come into the picture to try and figure what she's hearing and then try and connect that to what you and I hear.

I am so grateful that the state will cover the costs of Charlotte's hearing aids and therapy for the first three years through Early Intervention. It's a fantastic program that the state runs and we have been lucky enough to get a new person as our rep. She's very responsive and eager to learn how the system works. However, they do not pay for hearing aid batteries so if you see any coupons for hearing aid batteries in your local paper can you please send them to us? Thanks!

Charlotte's been doing much better with her O2. I've been able to wean her down to 1/16th a couple of times and she's responding much better. I'm predicting that she'll be off the O2 in 3 wks. Brian thinks I'm being a little overly optimistic and he's banking on 4-5 wks.

Believe it or not, Charlotte has no doctor appts this week! Her nurse will come tomorrow and the PT is coming on Friday, but we don't have to leave the house except to go for walks. Sounds like a good week to me.

Smile! You're on Candid Camera!

2007-04-05T08:26:00.001-06:00

It took me awhile, but I finally got a pic of Peanut smiling! This was taken on one of the nice, warm days we had in March, and I was able to break out some of the cute dresses she has. Now it feels like winter again. There were even flurries yesterday! Oh well, guess we're stuck inside for a little longer.

Medical update ... Peanut went in for her second ABR last week and they found the same results as the first test - borderline moderate/severe hearing loss in both ears. The doctors and audiologists were very adamant about her getting hearing aids as soon as possible so that she doesn't miss out on too much. So, we have an appt with Easter Seals next week to have a hearing aid evaluation. Hopefully by the end of April she'll have both hearing aids. I'm anxious to see her response when she finally has the aids. Will she be scared by all the noises, will she be curious, will she try and turn them off when I talk? We'll just have to wait and see.

One of the big challenges we'll be facing is keeping the hearing aids in her ears. She's getting to the point where she realizes she can pull the tape off of her oxygen tubing, so she's not too far away from being able to pull a hearing aid out of her ear. The state is sending over a DTH (Developmental Therapist for Hearing) twice a month to help us by offering techniques to keeping her hearing aids in and to give us some general guidance on how we can help Peanut to handle all the new sounds she'll be experiencing. The DTH will work with Charlotte for the first year and then a speech therapist takes over for as long as needed. I guess the immediate focus is to work on the hearing side and then later work on the verbal.

This past Monday was another follow-up with the Ophthalmologist. He said her eyes haven't changed so we don't have to go back until next month and that should be our last appt! Yay! Nothing against the eye doctor (he's a very nice man), but I really don't like going to that appt. Neither does Peanut. The doctor has to pry her eyes open and then move the eyeballs around with this wand thing. Granted, they do give her numbing drops, but it's still traumatic for both of us. Plus she's getting stronger, so she doesn't just sit there and take it like she used to. She's starting to fight back. He also mentioned that she's near-sighted, so I'll find out at the next appt when we have to see someone about that. Hopefully not for awhile. I can't imagine they can do anything at this point. But then again I'm shocked at what they're able to do for her hearing so early.

I signed up for the Intro to Psych class, which starts in mid-June at the local Community College. When I went to register online I kept receiving error messages that they had already received my application. I thought maybe I was going crazy - did I already register and just forget? Turns out they had me on their database from a summer science program I did there when I was 12! So, of course, it took me days to get them to change my info on their system and finally get me registered.

That's all for now.

Happy Spring!!

2007-03-23T11:27:00.000-06:00

And for you Southern Hemisphere folks, Happy Autumn!

Remember that skinny little thing in the last bathtub shot? Well, check out this chunky monkey! 9 1/2 pounds, baby!! Look at that gut! Although, it's possible that she was a little gassy that night. She also looks a little more relaxed this time around.

Yes, I've been a bit slack with the posting lately. So let's see what's been going on .....

Charlotte had her Early Intervention evaluation in the beginning of March. There was an Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, Speech Therapist, Developmental Therapist, the Coordinator and myself all scrunched into Charlotte's room at once. The only person who thought she needed some ongoing treatment was the Physical Therapist. Nothing major, just working on keeping her head looking in both directions and getting her neck stronger. Nothing that doesn't affect full-term babies as well. So at some point the state is going to send over a Physical Therapist to work with Charlotte on a regular basis. Luckily I work with her on my own, because it appears that the state doesn't work too fast. Surprize - Surprize.

Aunt Kari came in from St. Louis for a visit in early March. I even got the chance to go out with her for a bit and do a little shopping. You know you've got a crazy life when you're excited about buying yourself pajama pants and slippers. :-)

We finally got to see the GI (Gastrointestinal) doctor about her reflux and he seemed to think that she was doing fabulous; and he said she's much better off than most of the other babies he sees (I'm feeling pretty confident that that was the proper use of a semi-colon. Feel free to challenge me). At least it doesn't appear to hinder her eating and sleeping too much, so in that respect she's doing well. I'm just eagerly anticipating her outgrowing the foaming at the mouth, gagging, and waking up unable to breathe. That will be a good day for Peanut. However, I was happy to find out that the doctors are not going to take away her heart and O2 monitors until we feel comfortable with that change. Personally, I think she's going to have to be "episode-free" for quite awhile before I feel comfortable having her be without them. Maybe when she turns 18 and goes off to college. But seriously, it's comforting to know that I can make the call on that.

The Ophthalmologist saw her again in mid-March and he seems to be under the impression that while the retinopothy of prematurity (blood vessels growing all crazy) is not getting any worse, it also might not get any better, which he has assured me will not affect her eyesight in the long run. So we will continue to go back every couple weeks just to be sure. I'm hoping in the next month or so he gives us the sign-off and then we can cross one doctor off of our list.

Only to be replaced by new ones .... the audiologist and speech pathologist. Or is it speech therapist? I don't know the difference at this point. I think this is where I need to go back and brush up on my terminology, like "frequency" and "tone". Who knew that I should have actually paid attention in Music Appreciation class (or shown up for that matter)? Charlotte had her Audiology follow-up test yesterday. This was the two-hour long ABR (auditory brainstem response) test for which she needed to be asleep. The doctor put several electrodes on Peanut's head that read her brain waves as he played different sounds through little earplugs. As far as he can tell at the moment she has borderline moderate/severe hearing loss in both ears. We need to go back soon for another ABR so they can test a few more frequencies and redo some of yesterday's testing to check for accuracy and/or hearing loss stablilization (i.e. is it getting worse?). At that point it will be determined what should be pursued next. He seemed pretty confident that with an amplification device (hearing aid(s) or maybe implants down the road) she should be able to hear and speak pretty normally. So, it appears that we have a long road ahead of us, but I've been saying for awhile that if this is the worst thing that Charlotte has to deal with then she's pretty lucky. There are a lot of babies that come out of the NICU much worse off than she is. We can deal with this.

Brian's been busy with work and I'm busy trying to figure out what to do with Peanut in between naps and how to get her to sleep through the night. She's still on the O2. We were able to successfully wean her down to 1/8L, but she doesn't seem ready to take the next step down to 1/16L. I've tried it a couple times and she just doesn't respond very well. Maybe she needs to be a bit stronger. No need to push her. She'll come down when she's ready. The weather has been nice lately so we've been able to get out for a couple walks.

I decided this past weekend that I want to go back to school and take a couple of classes to prepare myself for nursing school. I think I'm going to start this summer and take something low-key like Intro to Psych. The hospital where Charlotte was at has an accelerated nursing program that lasts only 12.5 months for people who already have their bachelors degree, but there are 7 prerequisites I have to take before I can even apply. Stuff like microbiology, organic chemistry - all the classes that I made efforts to avoid when I was in college. So we'll see where this takes me, but I'm excited about the challenge! God you'd think that all the stuff I've been exposed to over the past year would count for at least a couple credits, no?!

I'd like to ask a favor from everyone .... There was a set of triplets born at the hospital two weeks before our kids were born and one of them is still there putting up quite a fight. She lost one of her brothers early on, and her other brother passed away two weeks ago. This little girl needs some positive energy so she can get stronger and get home with her parents. So, if you can please keep her and her family in your prayers I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Isn't this a cute picture? Brian doesn't seem to agree, but I think it's just adorable. Whadda you think?

Some people have asked if we are open for visitors and the answer is Yes! Please come over ... just as long as you don't have a cold, anyone you live with doesn't have a cold, you or anyone you live with hasn't had a cold recently, you or anyone you live with or anyone you know has never had a cold ... no, we don't have to go that far, but as long as you and yours are healthy please come on by!

Story Time at the Zoo

2007-02-26T09:19:00.000-06:00

I think the dogs are starting to get into Charlotte a little more. They come into her room once in awhile for story time and to lick her head. One thing that I thought was kind of interesting is that yesterday when we brought Charlotte out into the family room for a change of scenery (on portable O2, of course), Bart was snarling at Amy everytime she would get near Charlotte. But if they're both in Charlotte's room Bart doesn't care what Amy does. Any suggestions on this one? Do I just let them sort it out, or do I reprimand everytime I see a snarl? I have to take Bart into the vet soon, so I'll ask then, but maybe one of you's has some valuable (i.e. free) advice.

Things have been going pretty smoothly around here. We finally finished with that supply of breast milk, so the freezer in the garage is now freed up for ice cream and chicken when it's on sale. Charlotte's reflux seems to have gotten better since we've switched to a strictly formula diet. She's a much happier baby and is even back to sleeping in her crib sans car seat or bouncy seat. Maybe it was that Mexican food phase I went through for awhile?

Medical Update - We went to see the Ophthalmologist last Monday and he said we didn't have to come back for 3 weeks! Yahoo!! Her eyes are looking better and now he just wants to check them a few more times. I'm pretty positive we've dodged that bullet.

Last Tuesday we went to the Neo-natal follow-up clinic, which is run by various members of the NICU staff as a way of checking up on the progress of the NICU babies once they're discharged. There was talk of starting to wean her off her O2 and maybe taking it down a notch this week. If they do decide to go that route I will be curious to see how she does. She's currently on a flow of 1/4 liter of O2. The next step down is 1/8, then 1/16 and the smallest is 1/32.

The final appt last week was with the Otorhinolaryngologist ("ENT") on Friday. They ran several tests on her ears and we really didn't find out too much information. The doctor doesn't think she has fluid in her ears anymore, but she still didn't pass the hearing tests. She is scheduled to go back in the middle of March for an extensive 2 hour test that will see which tones she can hear and which she can't. I'm hoping that test will give us a more definitive answer as to what direction we need to take.

Later this week we have a team of specialists (speech, audiology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, developmental therapy) coming out to the house from the Early Intervention program to determine if she needs any therapy at this stage. I'm interested to hear what they have to say. If they think she needs anything they will arrange for specialists to come to our house and work with Charlotte. That would be brilliant!

See that pic up above of me and Peanut? I just want to point out to you that in the background is my favorite item in her room - Bongo the dirty laundry hamper. He is awesome and I never tire of throwing dirty clothes in his mouth. I think everyone should have one.

How About Some More FAQ's?

2007-02-16T08:57:00.000-06:00

1. How many monitors is she on?

Here's a pic of Charlotte and her peripherals. As you can see there are oxygen tanks to the left of her bed and on top of the purple crates are two monitors. One monitor is connected to her foot and measures her oxygen, while the other has two sensors that go on either side of her chest to keep track of breaths/minute and her heartrate. We don't necessarily need to have the oxygen monitor on at all times. The hospital recommends checking her oxygen saturation 3 times/day, but since she still holds her breath every now and then and she still gags with the reflux, we feel better having it on all the time. There's been a couple times where the oxygen monitor has alarmed way before the heartrate monitor would have gone off, so we were able to catch her having a problem before it really became a problem. The oxygen monitor is going off less and less as the days go on, so as soon as we've had a few days without any problems we'll feel much better about only checking her periodically through the day.

When we leave the house for doctor appts we use small portable oxygen tanks that last up to 6 hours. They're small enough to fit in a backpack. But while we're at home she's pretty much stuck in her room at all times. Even during bath time.

Charlotte's been sleeping in a bouncy seat inside her crib the last few days to keep her elevated to help with her reflux (thanks for letting us borrow that Aunt Patty!). We tried elevating her mattress, but either she kept slipping down or we had to put so many blankets in there to keep her in one place that the bed was starting to look like a SIDS nightmare. She was sleeping in her car seat for a few days, but I just didn't like the looks of that. I couldn't shake the feeling that being scrunched in that seat for so many hours per day was stunting her growth.

2. Did you use all that breast milk in the freezer yet?

Nope, still working on that. We should be done with it in about two weeks. Then it's on to that yummy formula.

3. Is she sleeping through the night?

Nope, still working on that. She 's only getting up once during the night since she's still kind of small to go that long without consuming any calories. Keep in mind that even though she was born in October, Peanut is really still a newborn. Doctors will use what they call "adjusted age" to determine where she should be developmentally until she's around 12-18 mnths. Adjusted age is calculated from my due date, so being that Charlotte was due on January 30th her adjusted age is currently 2 1/2 weeks. Sometimes this can be a little tricky because in some respects she's older than 2 1/2 weeks because she's been around for awhile (i.e. she's already on a schedule and eats more than your typical newborn), but in other ways it really is like she just came out of the womb (i.e. she still has very limited awake time and we get excited when she lifts her head up).

4. How much does she weigh?

I ask every other new parent that question. I think I'm obsessed with weight now. She's around 6 1/2 pounds.

5. How are her eyes?

As of this past Monday they are starting to get better! Yay! So it's starting to look like she won't need the laser surgery. We're not totally out of the woods yet, but the doctor said the blood vessels are starting to recede and maybe we'll only have to go see him three or four more times.

6. How long does she have to be on oxygen?

Depends on how quickly her lungs heal. Her lungs were damaged from both the ventilator and from just being premature. As she gets stonger and has more reserves (i.e. fat) her lungs will be able to heal faster. From what I've gathered from her home nurse, Nancy, she will need to be stable for a few days on her current O2 level before we get the OK from her or her doctor to start weening her down. Brian and I are allowed to go higher than her current O2 level if she's having any problems, but we're not allowed to go lower without authorization from a doctor or nurse.

7. How are YOU guys doing?

Pretty darn good. Loving having Peanut home. We seem to be getting ample sleep. Brian and I switch off on the pm feedings so we each get a relatively decent stretch of sleep. My sleep has been a little weird over the past few days as I'm getting used to my new mouth guard. Turns out that I don't have enough of an overbite and since I clench my jaw when I sleep this can result in cracked or chipped teeth (which actually did happen during labor). Let me tell you, nothin' says SEXY like a mouth guard. I don't know how I feel about it yet, but everyone whom I've talked to who has one swears by it.

I don't think I told y'all, but Brian became a U.S. citizen in January. In the grand sceme of things it really doesn't change much, but hopefully we've got another Democrat voting in '08! And no, he didn't have to give up his NZ citizenship. He had to "renounce" it during the ceremony, but he didn't have to give up his passport or anything. Technicality.

If anyone has any other questions please post them in the comments section and I'll do my best to give you an answer.

There's 6 Pounds of Lovin' Sleepin' in the Other Room!

2007-02-08T16:30:00.000-06:00

She's here, she's sleeping, AND she's 6 pounds! Peanut came home on Tuesday (2/6) and so far (knock on wood) everything has been going great. She's still suffering from acid reflux, but a lot of babies have that and we'll just have to deal with it until she grows out of it. Here's a pic of her sleeping in her crib right after we brought her home.

The doctors did a bit of "fine tuning" while Charlotte was at the hospital. They put her on a few new medications to help the reflux and to help her digest her food a bit faster. They did a scan at the hospital where they put some radioactive stuff in her milk and then took x-ray shots of the milk going down as she drank it. They were able to determine that she wasn't having problems drinking the milk, but she also wasn't digesting it very well. It seems that three hours after a feeding she still had at least half of the previous feeding left in her stomach, which can add to the whole reflux problem. So now she's taking some meds to help her digestive tract move a little faster. Unfortunately, it makes her sound like WW3 is going on in her stomach. I'm just hoping that we're not creating a problem by solving another!

Having Charlotte in the hospital was a good opportunity for me to get my confidence back when it comes to feeding her. She really scared the crap out of me when we had her home before, and even when I would feed her at the hospital I would tense up. I tried to feed her as much as possible over the last two weeks and I think it really helped. Granted, she still holds her breath every now and then, but now I'm more confident that a couple good whacks on the back are going to wake her up. "Wake up, Missy!!"

Charlotte is still on oxygen and needs to be hooked up to the apnea monitor at all times. This can be a bit annoying sometimes because the oxygen confines her to her room. Hopefully she won't have to be on the O2 for too long. I'm thinking maybe 2 months, or so.

It looks like our social life is going to consist of doctor appointments and home nursing visits for awhile. But I encourage everyone to please feel free to give me a call if you wanna chat! I have a feeling that cabin fever might hit pretty soon! I'll post more pics of Peanut in the next few days.

Peanut was in Da House (for a couple days)

2007-01-24T10:11:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's true, she was here! Charlotte came home from the hospital last Friday (1/19). Her hernia surgery went well, and after two more eye exams it has been determined that she still does not need the surgery. We will continue to go to the Ophthalmologist every week for a few months, and hopefully he'll just keep giving us the same verdict.

When we brought her home I was so excited to see how the dogs were going to react to her. They could have cared less. They were not impressed. They gave her a sniff and that's pretty much the last interaction they've had.

Things were going great the first couple of days. She came home with a feeding tube, but we removed the tube on Sunday since she had been taking all of her feedings by bottle. She also came home on oxygen, which comes with an apnea monitor that lets you know if she's a) not breathing, or b) her heart rate has gone above or below predetermined levels. She's also on a monitor that measures the oxygen saturation in her blood. That monitor goes off if her saturation falls below 90% ("desat"). This means that everytime she holds her breath to take a poop (which seems like it happens every few minutes) the alarm goes off. It's reassuring to have the monitors attached to her, but of course we still check her every few minutes to make sure she's OK.

Things started to go not so great on Monday when she began to desat each time I fed her. She never did it for Brian, though. What's up with that? The first couple times her saturation went down to the 80s, then it started going to the 70s. On Monday night she had a bad episode where it fell into the 30s and she turned blue. That's definitely something that no parent should ever have to see. We were able to stimulate her and bring her back to normal without doing CPR, but we were both close to starting. At that point, we decided that maybe she needed a rest from the bottle, so we put a feeding tube in. We gave her a few feedings through the tube and things were going well until I went into her room the next morning and she had the tube in her hand and she was waving it over her head like, "Look what I have!". We took her to the pediatrician on Tuesday and she told us that the desats were classic signs of acid reflux. From what I've heard, acid reflux is common among babies and people used to think it was just gas or colic. In preemies it can be even more of a health hazard because their nervous systems are so immature. When the acid comes up their espophagus their bodies basically shut down - their heart rate slows and they stop breathing. She's on medicine for reflux, but perhaps not enough or not the right medicine. We decided to try a couple different things and see if that worked, but when she had her next feeding at home she had another desaturation to the 40s and turned blue again. So we called her pediatrician and she arranged for us to take her back to the NICU for oberservation. As soon as I heard that she was going back there my stress almost completely went away. I want my little peanut home, but not if she's going to be doing that everytime I feed her. It was getting to the point where I was scared to death to feed her.

She will most likely be in the NICU for a few days. They are going to try and determine if acid reflux is the culprit or if maybe she's having issues with aspiration (aka "going down the wrong tube"). It's already weird not having her here, but I know she's in a safe place and she's in good hands.

Brian went back to work today after taking a couple days off to help get Charlotte settled, and it sounds like he's really enjoying his new position. He seems much busier than he was before, but he's gotta keep busy so we can afford for me to stay at home and eat bon bons. Where do you even get bon bons? Do they still make them?

I think that's enough drama for one post.

P.S. She's 4 pounds, 11 ounces.

False Alarm! No Peanuts Here!

2007-01-19T10:17:00.000-06:00

Nope, Peanut didn't come home on Sunday. Nor did she come home on the next projected date, which was yesterday. I'm going to keep the next homecoming date to myself so I don't jinx anything. Let's put it this way, I'll just let y'all know when she gets here. I've heard from several people that the NICU tends to make parents superstitious, and that definitely rings true for me.

Charlotte's eye exam was fine last week and the doctor even said he thought she wasn't going to need the laser surgery at all. That surprised me. The blood vessels had been growing rapidly, so I was sure she was going to need the surgery. But she had another exam on Wednesday of this week and he still thinks she's doing OK. She will get checked on Monday and every week after that for the next few months. Hopefully the verdict will remain the same.

So we may have dodged the eye surgery bullet for now, but we didn't dodge the hernia bullet .... last Thursday they found a hernia on the left side of her abdomen and she was scheduled for surgery on Tuesday (1/16). The surgery went fine, and they sewed up her right side as well, as a preventative measure. So no tub baths for a few days, but we're all about sponge baths!

Keep tuning in, because hopefully over the next few days I'll have some pics of me rocking with little Peanut in her room!

DISCLAIMER Cross your fingers while reading!!

2007-01-11T12:07:00.000-06:00

***Before you read this post I want you to cross your fingers, knock on wood, rub your belly and tap your head .... anything and everything you need to do to make sure we don't jinx anything.***

Pending the outcome of her eye exam today, Peanut is scheduled to come home on Sunday. As in January 14th. As in three days from now. The doctors have been watching her eyes weekly to make sure that the blood vessels in there are growing properly, which they're not. When they start to grow all crazy they can attach themselves to the retina and even detach the retina causing blindness (that's why Stevie Wonder is blind). If the blood vessels don't stop growing she will need laser surgery on both eyes to stop the advancement. For that surgery she will need to be put on both the paralyzing drug and the ventilator, so she would need to be in the hospital for a few days. Therefore, if they think she is going to need that surgery in the very near future there's no sense in sending her home only to have to turn around and readmit her in a few days. As much as I'm itching to have her home I would rather wait until she's ready. The doctors are also performing a sleep study on her today to see why her oxygen saturation still drops every now and then. They put a bunch of straps and probes in and on her and watch her for 12 hours to determine if she's having problems with acid reflux or apnea. Both of these can be controlled with medicine - prilosec for the former and caffeine for the latter. And yes, I already asked, and no, she can't have coffee. So, in the next 24 hours after her eye exam and sleep study we will know more. Either way, she should be home within the next 1.5 weeks (again, knock on wood).

In the last two weeks Charlotte has been growing by leaps and bounds. Yesterday, she weighed in at 4 pounds, 1 ounce. She's also taking almost all of her feedings by bottle. Getting all that sucking, breathing and swallowing coordinated is difficult. One of the nurses suggested that I try to suck on a bottle to see just how difficult it really is and HOLY COW! Give it a try if you ever get the opportunity. It's really hard! I actually hurt myself trying to get something out of the nipple.

We did get a bit of not-so-good news the other day when she failed two hearing tests. The tests weren't very accurate as far as what she could and couldn't hear, but I was told that she probably had some degree of hearing loss. HOWEVER, after several requests I was able to get a ENT doctor to have a look at her ears and she has fluid in both canals. So, we're hoping that that is the culprit and she's been put on antibiotics and we'll bring her back for a retest in a month. Like everything else, we'll just take it as it comes and keep our fingers crossed.

Brian is going to be starting a new position with his company over the next few days and he's pretty excited about that. His territory will still be close to home, but he's going to be adding some new clients to his repetoire and he'll be focusing more on sales. The plan is for him to relinquish his pick-up for another smaller vehicle at some point, so we're a little bummed about that.

Speaking of vehicles, I have a 2001 Chevy Venture Warner Brothers Edition minivan for sale that seats 7. Let me know if you or anyone you know might be interested.

We hope everyone had a safe and happy new years! We celebrated the new year with Charlotte at the hospital, however we were on our way home to bed by 12.05am. I guess the days of drunken debauchery are over for awhile.

Peanut's First Christmas

2006-12-29T09:51:00.000-06:00

It's sad what the nurses and I will come up with for entertainment purposes. Isn't she cute??

Whenever I see this pic of her and her teddy bear I think of that doll back in the eighties that was called My Buddy and the song that went with it ... My Buddy ... My Buddy and Me!!!! I'm going to be singing that all day now. I hope you will, too.

got milk?

2006-12-26T09:40:00.000-06:00

I do.

Impressed?

I am.

Just hear those sleigh bells ring-a-ling ....

2006-12-26T08:46:00.000-06:00

The last week has been CRAZY!!! Things were moving along just fine (Charlotte was even starting to drink a little bit from a bottle), and then on Friday morning she got ANOTHER infection and they had to put the ventilator back on. She just can't get a break. This one came through her IV line just like the last one, so they had to take it out and put another one in a few days later. One of the nurses explained to me that the blood infections are usually caused by bacteria that live on her skin, however, when those bacteria get into her blood stream her immune system is too immature to fight them off. An adult's immune system is typically advanced enough to handle that little amount of bacteria. Hopefully in a few days her feedings will have increased enough that they can remove that main IV line and there will be one less source for infection to enter her body.

Now that's she's "older" (we just passed the 35 week mark gestationally, meaning she's still 5 weeks premature) Charlotte is treated like any other newborn that gets a fever and an infection - meaning they had to give her a spinal tap to see if she had meningitis. Luckily everything came back normal on that culture.

But there is a happy ending to this saga. Brian and I got a call last night around 7pm and Charlotte pulled out her tube on her own. They weren't even planning to try and extubate her until later in the week, but Charlotte knows best. I went to see her last night and she seemed pretty tuckered-out, but she looked great and more content than she had been over the weekend. And *yay!* today I get to dress her, and love her and squeeze her and call her George (if you haven't seen that Looney Tunes episode then don't worry)!

On Friday, Charlotte received her first haircut due to a failed IV attempt. It sounds horrible, but it's actually quite common. You can see in the photo how her head is shaved a bit on the side. The other side is shaved as well, so she now has her first mohawk. It's never to early to express yourself.

I'd like to send a shout-out to the folks at Ecolab for all the wonderful gifts you sent over! Thank you so much for all the diapers, wipes, outfits, blanket, pillow, bibs, gift card - we appreciate everything you did. Although, I'd like to apologize for my husband who neglected to open the gifts in front of everyone. I told him that he denied everyone their chance to oooh and aaah. But he's a man, so we need to cut him a little bit of slack. In the summer, when Charlotte can get around I will definitely bring her over to the office.

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and that Santa was good to you. My parents got me a jogging stroller so that Charlotte and I can run around the neighborhood next summer. It even has speakers and a hook up for my MP3 player. wow! My best gift of all was being able to hold Charlotte yesterday even while she was on the ventilator. It's amazing what some snuggles and kisses can do for you.

On Christmas Eve my family came to my house to enjoy our traditional Christmas chop suey. Later that evening Brian and I went to the hospital and read a bit to Charlotte. That is until daddy fell asleep. He gave the nurses quite a giggle.

SANTA!!!!!

2006-12-20T09:33:00.000-06:00

Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa stopped by the NICU yesterday for a chat with the parents and a quick pat on the head for all the babies. It was so great of him to come by. For a moment it felt like everything was normal for us parents. No tubes, no incubators, no wires - just us, our babies and the excitement of Christmas. People like Santa are just frickin awesome!

I even got a pic of all of us. This will come in handy just in case Charlotte gets a KrisKringlephobia like I had. Yes, I was scared of Santa growing up. My mother didn't get a decent picture of me on Santa's lap until I was almost 20. Hopefully Charlotte won't have that same irrational fear (but he is kind of intimidating...).

Our family room is complete and over the last few days I have been getting Charlotte's room ready. I have a couple more things to hang on the wall and then it's pretty much ready. Our house is almost back in order. We still have to finish the laundry room, but that's been put on the back burner until after Christmas. It's time to stop for a moment and just enjoy the season.

I went into my work this past Monday and handed in my resignation. Yep, I am officially a stay-at-home mom now. It feels weird being unemployed, but I'm glad that we can do this and that I can be there to take care of my little peanut when she comes home.

Speaking of our little peanut, she is doing great. As of yesterday, she was up to 3 pounds, 2 ounces. We think that quite a bit of that is water weight, which is supposedly quite common with preemies. I'm able to interact with her a lot more now - give her baths, change her clothes and even change her poopy diapers. I still get excited everytime I can change a diaper. I'm sure one day the thrill will wear off.

Here's a couple more pics. The first one is Charlotte showing off her new booties that one of the nurses gave her. Everytime I see this picture I think "Wow, she's getting so big", which she is, but check out the hands of the nurse holding her and that puts things into persepctive. The second one is our "family Christmas picture". I realize that it's not very Christmasy, but at least Brian and I put on a nice top.

FAQs

2006-12-13T10:18:00.000-06:00

1. When is Charlotte coming home?
The doctors don't like to pinpoint a specific time, because they don't want you to hold them accountable to that. However, they do tell you that most of their premature babies will go home sometime around their due date. Charlotte was due on January 30th. There is a possibility that she could go home earlier, but that may require her to come home on oxygen or still eating with a feeding tube. Two options that we are willing to work with in order to have her home as soon as possible. The criteria for allowing her to go home is not a specific weight, but just that she is gaining weight, she's strong and that she is not having frequent drops in her stats (i.e. blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation).

2. Are you going back to work?
Not at present.

3. Are you moving anywhere?
Not at present.

4. How often do you go to the hospital?
Since I can't get my ass out of bed before 8am, I don't go in the mornings. Between 9am-noon, the NICU is "closed" while the doctors and nurses do their rounds. That's mainly for privacy reasons so that you don't hear the business of the other families around you. This works out pretty well for me because then I can take the morning for myself and get errands done or take care of things around the house (i.e. sit on the phone with insurance companies). Usually I go to the hospital around noon, stay until dinner time, come home and eat and then go back in the evening. So, if anyone ever wants to get ahold of me I would suggest calling me before 11am.

5. How is she doing?
Charlotte is doing great. Yesterday the doctors had planned to take her off of the ventilator again, but the little pip-squeak just couldn't wait and she took it out herself. She starting to wear clothes, which may not sound like a big deal, but anything that brings her into the realm of "normalcy" makes me so happy. And plus, she looks so darn cute in her teeny-tiny onesies. I'll try and get a pic today. She has been diagnosed with chronic lung disease (bronchopulmonary dysplasia to be exact), which means that with her lungs being so premature and her having already gone through two bad infections, she will be easily succeptible to lung infections. The nurses have told me that she can grow out of this in a year, but she will more than likely be left with asthma and will probably get chest colds more easily than other kids. So, don't be surprised if you see us constructing a bubble outside of our house when we get her home.
I read the other day in a book that Charlotte means "little, strong, courageous woman", and that is exactly what she is. Everytime I look at her she gives me strength.

6. Is she eating?
Yes, Charlotte is being fed breast-milk every two hours through a feeding tube. They increase the amount each day as she tolerates. Today she should be getting 6cc every two hours. The milk is supplemented by IV fats and other nutrients. Once she gets up around 13 or 14 ccs they will take her off the IV fluids. Next week they might let her try a bottle. At the moment her mouth is too small for any of the nipples and they don't want her to choke on it.

7. How much does she weigh?
2 pounds 10 ounces. The goal is for her to gain .5-1 ounce per day.

8. Are you sending out Christmas cards this year (no one has actually asked this, but I wanted to address it)?
No. I'm shooting for Casimir Pulaski Day cards this year (http://www.eiu.edu/~insight/pulaski/pulaski.htm). Or maybe just sometime in the new year. So, let me take this time to say Merry Christmas -Love, Brian, Mandi and Charlotte.

Two Steps Forward ... Two Steps Back

2006-12-04T10:22:00.000-06:00

I haven't been on the computer much over the past week. Hence a week with no posts. I was busy enjoying my daughter. Last Monday Indiana Grandma got to hold her for the first time (see picture) and I got to hold her all week for hours and just watch her facial expressions. Unfortunately, Brian got a cold near the end of the week so he hasn't been able to hold her for awhile. But as long as he wore a mask he could go in and see her.

I got some good news from my hematologist last Tuesday and I don't have to take my twice daily blood thinner shots anymore. Hallelujah!! I feel so free. I also received some good news from my OB last Friday at my last appointment, and after seven long months of waiting I can finally do situps again! Seriously, I'm excited.

With her feedings increasing daily last week, Charlotte has started to put on weight. As of the last weigh-in she weighed 2lbs 4 oz (1.02 kilo) and measured 14 inches. Some of her saggy skin is finally starting to fill in. Yay!

But, as we already know, things don't stay smooth sailing forever in the NICU. Saturday night Charlotte started to have hourly heart rate drops and lots of fluid coming up from her lungs, which resulted in her having to be put on the ventilator again. Yesterday the doctors found some bacteria growing in a culture taken in the morning, and they have concluded that she has an infection in one of her IV lines. Why don't they just take it out, you ask? It's not quite that easy. This IV goes into her arm, up her arm, across her chest and ends directly above her heart so that they can get medication and nutrients to the right place quickly. Not the easiest thing to insert. So, in the immediate future, the doctors are giving her a cocktail of antibiotics through that line in the hopes that it will not only get rid of the infection in the rest of her body, but also clean out that line. The doctors are hoping that as soon as the antibiotics kick in they can start weaning her off of the ventilator.

AAArgh! I swear, when I look in the mirror I can see myself aging right before my eyes! By the time Charlotte gets home I'm going to be ready for assisted living, which may not be all that bad ....

Daddy's Little Girl

2006-11-26T12:34:00.000-06:00

Lots of good changes over the last two days!! Charlotte was taken off the paralyzing drug the other day and she seemed quite calm and rested afterwards. They started feeding her breast-milk again - 1cc every 3 hours, and that amount should start to increase soon. And the best one of all - they took her off the ventilator yesterday and she's breathing on her own! Fingers-crossed that she's able to stay off this time!

Right after they took the ventilator tube out and before they put the oxygen tube up her nose I was able to get a pic of what our little peanut looks like tube-less. Man, was she ever pissed off that she had been woken up for this! It appears as though she has my nose, but beyond that I'm not very good at picking out similar body features. (And see that guy holding Charlotte's head? That's Ed, my acupuncturist. He doubles as a Respiratory Therapist at Loyola. Seems quite fitting that he helped us to have Charlotte and now he's helping her get better.)

We were going to wait until today to hold her, so as to not overstimulate her, but the night nurse saw no need to wait. So, last night Brian got to hold his little girl for the first time. I can tell that she's already got him wrapped around her little, itty-bitty finger. Look at her - she's already trying to figure out how she can get daddy to buy her a plasma TV for her crib.

Yesterday was a very good day! I'm looking forward to many more days like that.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2006-11-22T10:45:00.000-06:00

Not too much has changed since my last post. Charlotte appears to be over the pneumonia infection, but her lungs are going to take awhile to heal. On Sunday she was switched back to the normal ventilator, but all her settings have remained pretty high and they're trying to wean her settings down VERY, VERY slowly.
She was off of the paralyzing drug for almost 24 hours, but again she was too fidgety and feisty and they had to put her back on. But I did get a photo of her taking a quick little snooze in between kicking and waving her arms about (more like passed out from exhaustion). She reminds me of her mother after a few too many glasses of wine.
For the next few days she will be undergoing some steroid therapy and we're all hoping that opens and clears her lungs so they can try and wean her off the ventilator again. Hopefully by next week her daddy will be able to hold her. Maybe they can even kangaroo and she can pull out some of his chest hair:-)
I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even though Brian and I have had a very difficult year we still have a lot to be thankful for - our time with our sons, our beautiful daughter, each other, our family and friends. Going through this has really changed my perspective on life and put my priorities in order - life is way too short.

We've Got a Two Pounder

2006-11-17T18:11:00.000-06:00

As of yesterday Charlotte is officially two pounds! That may not sound like a lot to most people, but to us that's a huge milestone. Granted some of that weight may be from waterweight that accumulated while she was immobile this past week, but it's still two pounds!
One of the tests sent earlier this week checking for infection came back positive today and the doctors seem pretty sure that Charlotte had pneumonia. Thankfully, from the start they have been treating her with the antibiotics that target pneumonia , so the infection should be on its way out. The infection has taken quite a toll on her lungs and she will probably have to be on the ventilator for awhile longer. At the moment she's on the "new" ventilator they have, which gives her 600 breaths/minute. Supposedly this ventilator does less damage to the lungs than a traditional ventilator, but because it delivers so many breaths per minute she usually needs to be paralyzed to help her relax. I hate to see her paralyzed because she can still hear what's going on and feel people touch her, but she can't move or respond. I'm hoping that by tomorrow they'll be able to take her off that drug and she'll be back to doing her hourly aerobic routines.
Several people have asked me what she's eating. At the moment just fats and other nutrients delivered via IV, but she has been able to get breast-milk off and on, depending on how stable she is (1cc every 6 hrs - mice eat more than that). There's talk of starting her back on the milk tomorrow and I really hope so because a) she needs to get some meat on those bones, and b) I'm running out of room in our freezer for the milk.

Ups and Downs

2006-11-14T11:54:00.000-06:00

When they told me at the NICU that it would be a roller coaster ride I didn't realize the ups and downs would be so dramatic. I expected a few dips in the road, but not like this past weekend. The middle of last week was great for Charlotte. On Wednesday Charlotte was having some difficulty with her breathing tube - either there was a leak or it wasn't in place correctly, no one could tell exactly - so the doctor decided to take it out and see how she did breathing on her own. With a very nervous mommy standing by they took out the breathing tube, turned off the ventilator and my little girl was breathing on her own! We were warned that it's very rare for babies this tiny to be able to stay off for a prolonged period of time, but every day that she can be off the ventilator means less damage to her lungs. Charlotte was able to stay off until Friday afternoon. Just long enough to be held twice by her mom.

The first time I held her in my arms and I got to really experience how tiny she is, but she cooed at me and had her eyes open most of the time. I have to say that was probably the happiest moment of my life and one of the few times during this experience that I really felt like a mom. The second time I held Charlotte was on Friday and they stuffed her down the front of my shirt so that she could "kangaroo". I don't know how well known "kangarooing" is, but it's a method developed in South America as a way of keeping premature babies warm through skin-to-skin contact. Supposedly it's very effective in keeping their heartrate and breathing stable. It was kind of an odd sensation for me because I couldn't really see her and it felt like someone had put a hamster down my shirt.

Shortly after I held her for the second time she started to show signs of distress, so the staff put her breathing tube back in and put her back on the ventilator. Basically all weekend long she's been fighting a pretty nasty infection and she's been very sick. All of her cultures have come back negative, which sounds like a good thing, but it would be easier for them to treat her if they knew exactly what they're up against. The last 24 hours have been better and while it's going to take her awhile to recooperate from this episode we're happy to finally see signs of improvement.

So, as we have been, we just take things day by day. Actually, more like hour by hour.

Brian and my father have made quite a bit of headway on our family room (formerly the attached garage). Almost all of the insulation is up and they've started drywalling the ceiling. Hopefully by the end of this weekend all of the drywall will be up and Brian can start taping.

Little Kisses

2006-11-10T11:03:00.000-06:00

There is a nurse in the NICU who makes Halloween costumes for all the babies on Halloween and then the other nurses take pics for the parents. It's pretty funny to see some of these kids dressed up. My favorite (after my own children, of course) was this little baby girl that was dressed up as a "little wench". It was hilarious! I hope her parents weren't pissed off. Charlotte, Gus and Jake were all Hershey's kisses.

Two Months Later

2006-11-08T09:58:00.000-06:00

For those that are checking here for updates on the babies, I apologize for taking so long to post something. It's been pretty hectic around here and I haven't had the opportunity, nor the energy to sit down and type. As most people probably know our son Jake passed away last Thursday on November 2nd. Our other son, Gus, passed away on Monday night (Nov. 6). Both of our sons died due to complications from being premature. We are so lucky to have been able to spend the time we had with both of them and we are comforted by the fact that they are now together in a safe and loving place.

Thank you to everyone who has offered their help and support. Brian and I don't really need anything at this point - we're remembering to eat and sleep - and we are putting all of our energy and focus on Charlotte. If anyone would like to make any memorials please send your donations to March of Dimes at www.marchofdimes.com. The March of Dimes donates a lot to the NICUs. Every hat and blanket you see in the pictures has been donated by them.

I'll back up a bit for those who haven't heard what happened over the past few weeks. I went to the doctor on Oct. 10th when I was 24 wks pregnant only to find out that I was 1 cm dilated and having regular contractions. After pumping me full of meds to stop the contractions I stayed at the hospital for four days just to remain under observation and make sure that I didn't start going into labor again. Shortly after midnight on Oct. 23rd Brian and I went to Labor and Delivery because I was having contractions again. At this point they realized that my water had broken, which meant I would have to be hospitalized for the remainder of my pregnancy. I was hoping that the remainder of my pregnancy would be longer than 12 hours, but it didn't turn out that way.

At 9am I was feeling fine, the contractions had stopped, and I hadn't dilated any further. The nurses were even trying to sort out which room to put me in for my "long" stay. At 2pm I was fully dilated and the doctor told me my daughter had black hair. It's amazing how quickly things can change! It's also amazing how quickly the staff moves at L&D. At 2:02pm I was on the phone telling Brian to get his ass over there as fast as possible and at 2:14pm I was out cold and the triplets had been welcomed to this world.

First out was Charlotte Martina, weighing in at 1 lb. 6 ounces. Charlotte always seems to want her hands waving above her head and she just never stops moving around! I think I'm really going to have my hands full with her! :)

Next was Gus Philip at 1 lb. 13 ounces. He was the biggest of the three. However you can see how small he actually was next to Brian's hand.

And rounding out the trio was Jake Lachlan, who weighed
1 pound 9 ounces. Jake had such long limbs. We have no idea whose side that came from.

Life in the NICU is pretty much a roller coaster ride. One minute you've taken a step forward and something good has happened and the next minute you've taken two steps back. But I'm constantly amazed at how wonderful the staff are there. I don't how they do it, but they've created such an open, warm and caring environment.

Of course, I'll still be glad to get out of there when Charlotte comes home!

Speaking of Charlotte, she is doing well today. She had a rough weekend and her lungs were having some problems, but they gave her a few rounds of steroids and she seems to be doing much better!

Tomorrow I'll try and post some pics from Halloween (oh yes, we had costumes) and I'll show you Charlotte's new home (no more saran wrap roof - which for those who might be wondering is actually a good thing because it contains the humidity to moisten their skin).

Visitors from St. Louis

2006-09-12T14:48:00.000-06:00

Last week week we had special visitors come up from St. Louis for a few days - Kari, Teddy and Isabella! Kari took me on an outing to Babies R Us to register for the plethora of baby goods I'm going to need. I can't believe all the crap they need! And everything has so many bells and whistles I'm worried that we're all going to have seizures from being over-stimulated!

Kari was given the rare opportunity to push me around in a wheelchair and she seemed to enjoy having me confined behind the big basket that was in front of me. Do I wander off that much? Am I that much of a handful? All those years of asking people how far they'd go for me if I was in a wheelchair, well now I know Kari would at least push me around. Luckily I did not bring a camera to this event.
That was my last real outing I think. Today I'm 20 weeks along and this is when the real bedrest starts to come into play. Although, I'm going to ask at my next doctor's visit if I can still go to McDonald's for a cone.

Check out the t-shirt I got from Kari and Teddy! I can't wait to wear it out in public (i.e. I'll just go stand on my front porch in it). Dear God, I look like I ate Isabella.

We're closer to getting our permit for the renovations we want to do on our old attached garage. Hopefully by the end of this week we can get the plumber guy in to get rid of our catch-basin and then Brian can start tearing down walls!

More after my doctor visit on Thurs!

Dueling Bellies

2006-09-12T14:33:00.000-06:00

Ok, so it took me awhile to post again, but first of all I don't really do very much and second of all I couldn't get the pictures to upload.

Patty's baby shower was on August 20th. Here's a picture of the two of us in the backyard at her sister's house. Who knew that the BFFs that once claimed they would never have kids (because it would cut into beer drinking time) would be pregos at the same time?!

It was a very cute shower - laid back, good food and plenty of oohs and aaws as Patty opened her gifts. I even caught myself doing it a few times (help!).

Mandi's Bday

2006-08-13T15:01:00.000-06:00

It's my birthday and it looks like this year I got myself a double chin! You'd think I'd already put on those 50 pounds I need to add, but I'm sure in a few months I'll look back at this picture and think I'm skinny.
Brian's been working in the backyard all day finishing off some projects that have been haunting us for some time. Tonight my parents are coming over for Burger King and Dairy Queen. A wholesome meal all around, I must say!
In the end a very relaxing way to turn 31!

August 12, 2006

2006-08-12T14:50:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Team Hellyer site! This sounded like a good way to pass the time while I'm on bedrest. Our lives are pretty boring at the moment, but in the next few months I'm sure we'll have plenty of life-changing events to report.

Brian picked up our first baby purchase this morning - a triplet stroller that we bought on eBay. This thing is HEAVY! But I think it will be practical for family outings.