Remember how I keep telling you that there is so much exciting going on in our lives and oh won't it be great when I actually tell you and wow what a creative way of sharing news and oh aren't we happy about it? Apparently my internal hype about the amazing post I'm going to write keeps me from actually writing anything. Which gets us nowhere. Welcome to my life.* So I'm just going to very mundanely tell you what's going on with me.
First off, I am done working at the March of Dimes, which is kind of sad. It would be really sad if I weren't going to continue to be involved with them and their wonderful staff, but of course I will be. Remember my kid whose life they helped save? Yeah, that one. I'll be around.
It would also be really sad if I were stressed out about being unemployed. But I'm not. 'Cause I'm not. Unemployed that is. At least not for long...because as of July 1, I will be the Minister to Children and Families at Christ UMC! What's that you say? That name sounds familiar? That's because I waxed eloquent about it in this post when SuperDad was appointed there as the Associate Pastor! That's right; John and I will have the pleasure (mostly pleasure, at least) of working at the same church again! And what a church it is! Over the past year, I've come to love it more and more, so much so that when I began talking with the district superintendent about taking an appointment at another church, I cried real tears. I'm THRILLED to be working with children again, and now that I'm a parent, I think I have an even greater understanding of the role a church can play in a child's life. When Becca first sees the church come into view over the hill, she points at it and says, "Dere's da church!" She's so excited every single time she sees it. And as a double pastors' kid, she sees it a lot. :) My prayer is that she always sees the church as a place of welcome, love and fun, like she does now.
The downside to all of this is that the reason there is an opening for me on the staff is that our dear, dear, dear Ms. Kristin (our current children's minister, who is better known in our house as "Miss Sissen") is leaving to take another appointment as the Associate Pastor at another church in town. So the good news is that they aren't moving moving, just moving churches. The bad news is that we won't get to see as much of Miss Sissen and Crazy Uncle Brady, both of whom Becca adores. I haven't actually broken the news to Becca yet. Imagine hearing that one of your good friends is moving, and your mom is taking her place...I mean, I know Becca loves me and all, but I am no Miss Sissen. I do have visions of playdates with Miss Sissen and her little baby, due in December!
And speaking of babies, that's the other bit of mommy-related news. We will soon be beginning and cycle of IUI - intrauterine insemination. I'll be on a few meds and will go in frequently for monitoring. The day after I ovulate, they will do the procedure and voila, 2 weeks later, I pee on a stick and get a plus sign. Or that's the goal, at least. Because I've been on fertility meds for so long, we're not going to get many chances at this (probably only the one), so please send any kind thoughts, prayers, well-wishes, you-can-do-its directly to my uterus. We really want this to happen. I really want a baby. I know there are other ways to have another child, but I really want to have one this way. I mean, not necessarily in this manner, but I would like to carry and birth my child. If it doesn't happen, we'll be okay and will move on eventually, but we really, really, really want me to get pregnant.
I think that's about it. Sorry there are no cute pictures, but I doubt you want pictures of that last bit anyway. We do have lots of cute pictures of Becca at the beach, but alas, they are stuck in the camera at the moment. Someday, though, you will see photographic evidence of Becca tolerating sand on her hands without "signs of distress," as we call it in therapy-talk. See, the beach is healing for all of us. Not sure why I can't get I prescription for that.
* Have you heard the bit about how procrastinators are actually fairly often perfectionists? We get so caught up in worrying about whether or not our work is going to be perfect that we avoid doing it. And that would be me in a nutshell. Cue Austin Powers in a nutshell.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
What What??
I know, two posts in two days - insanity! But I just looked at Becca's clinical record on myhealthatvanderbilt.com, and for the first time ever -- FIRST TIME EVER! -- EVER EVER!! -- she doesn't have a < symbol in front of her weight percentile. She's actually, genuinely on the growth chart, right on the 3rd percentile line! Woo-damn-hoo!
And that is all.
Oh, okay, I'll go ahead and tell you what the GI doctor said this afternoon. Most interestingly, when I told him that she qualified for the special ed program (more on that later), he laughed and said, "We'll see how long that lasts -- she's really smart!" She had, after all, just showed him where her liver and esophagus are.
But he also said that he wants a new, formal feeding evaluation and another scope to check out the inflammation in her esophagus. It's been a year since we did either of these, and he just likes to repeat them every so often, which works for me. The scope will involve withholding the second half of the nights' feeds, but he's going to make sure she's the first case in the morning so she (hopefully) won't revisit the hypoglycemic seizures we've seen in the past.
And speaking of feeding and evaluations and therapy, we discussed weaning from the g-tube. Becca's current feeding therapist is all about it - she wants to change her continuous feeds to bolus feeds (a lot at once instead of a slow drip) so that Becca gets hungrier and is more likely to eat. I'm very much opposed to this plan right now - we are simply too dependent on the tube for her basic nutrition still. I mean, it's not like she's exactly caught up in her growth and weight or anything, and we're pushing as much milk down the tube as possible in order to gain every gram possible - and it's FINALLY working. And she's ever solids better than ever. (Though still nowhere near getting most of her calories from solids.) I think this therapist doesn't fully appreciate how bad her feeding issues initially were and how far she has come in the past couple of months. My biggest goal for feeding therapy right now is for them to work on desensitizing her gag reflex so that she throws up less and keeps more food down. Seems like that would help her grow AND make eating more pleasant. I mean, throwing up every day doesn't exactly make food appetizing. I guess some parents want to start weaning as soon as the tube gets put in, but, really, I'm in no hurry to get off the tube. We got the darn thing, surgery and all, to get food into - not to immediately start treating it like the enemy we have to root out. For us, it needs to go side by side with learning to eat solids.
And the doctor agrees. He REALLY doesn't want us to work on weaning or even condensing or decreasing tube feeds AT ALL yet. For heaven's sake, today is the first time she's legitimately ON the stupid growth chart! Give the kid some time to chunk up before taking away her main source of nutrition. If she can learn to like McDonald's hamburgers (yes, it's true - she'll eat an entire patty!) while still getting tube feeds, surely the g-tube isn't disrupting her hunger and feeding patterns too much. What it is doing is giving her the nutrition she needs to grow and develop into the big, strong, SMART and FUNNY girl that she is becoming!
So there. No weaning pressure. I feel validated. We're still on the "get as many calories in her as we can" plan*. That feels better. Now eat up, little one. I'll take you to "Old McDonald's" whenever you want.
* One caveat: we really used to feed her absolutely anything she would eat because we really needed every single last calorie that we could get in her. I'm still VERY flexible with her menu, but we are being intentional about making sure that she's offered a balanced meal each time - at least one protein, fruit or veggie an starch. I'm fine with that protein being ridiculously processed hot dogs, etc, but we are steering away from meals that consist solely of chocolate chips and M&M's, because that's what responsible parents do AND because, ironically, Becca is actually at a very high risk of developing diabetes and becoming obese in adolescence and adulthood, so the healthy patterns we are (slowly) working on instilling in her will be even more important than for her peers. I'm even getting used to eating a few more real meals myself. :)
And that is all.
Oh, okay, I'll go ahead and tell you what the GI doctor said this afternoon. Most interestingly, when I told him that she qualified for the special ed program (more on that later), he laughed and said, "We'll see how long that lasts -- she's really smart!" She had, after all, just showed him where her liver and esophagus are.
But he also said that he wants a new, formal feeding evaluation and another scope to check out the inflammation in her esophagus. It's been a year since we did either of these, and he just likes to repeat them every so often, which works for me. The scope will involve withholding the second half of the nights' feeds, but he's going to make sure she's the first case in the morning so she (hopefully) won't revisit the hypoglycemic seizures we've seen in the past.
And speaking of feeding and evaluations and therapy, we discussed weaning from the g-tube. Becca's current feeding therapist is all about it - she wants to change her continuous feeds to bolus feeds (a lot at once instead of a slow drip) so that Becca gets hungrier and is more likely to eat. I'm very much opposed to this plan right now - we are simply too dependent on the tube for her basic nutrition still. I mean, it's not like she's exactly caught up in her growth and weight or anything, and we're pushing as much milk down the tube as possible in order to gain every gram possible - and it's FINALLY working. And she's ever solids better than ever. (Though still nowhere near getting most of her calories from solids.) I think this therapist doesn't fully appreciate how bad her feeding issues initially were and how far she has come in the past couple of months. My biggest goal for feeding therapy right now is for them to work on desensitizing her gag reflex so that she throws up less and keeps more food down. Seems like that would help her grow AND make eating more pleasant. I mean, throwing up every day doesn't exactly make food appetizing. I guess some parents want to start weaning as soon as the tube gets put in, but, really, I'm in no hurry to get off the tube. We got the darn thing, surgery and all, to get food into - not to immediately start treating it like the enemy we have to root out. For us, it needs to go side by side with learning to eat solids.
And the doctor agrees. He REALLY doesn't want us to work on weaning or even condensing or decreasing tube feeds AT ALL yet. For heaven's sake, today is the first time she's legitimately ON the stupid growth chart! Give the kid some time to chunk up before taking away her main source of nutrition. If she can learn to like McDonald's hamburgers (yes, it's true - she'll eat an entire patty!) while still getting tube feeds, surely the g-tube isn't disrupting her hunger and feeding patterns too much. What it is doing is giving her the nutrition she needs to grow and develop into the big, strong, SMART and FUNNY girl that she is becoming!
So there. No weaning pressure. I feel validated. We're still on the "get as many calories in her as we can" plan*. That feels better. Now eat up, little one. I'll take you to "Old McDonald's" whenever you want.
* One caveat: we really used to feed her absolutely anything she would eat because we really needed every single last calorie that we could get in her. I'm still VERY flexible with her menu, but we are being intentional about making sure that she's offered a balanced meal each time - at least one protein, fruit or veggie an starch. I'm fine with that protein being ridiculously processed hot dogs, etc, but we are steering away from meals that consist solely of chocolate chips and M&M's, because that's what responsible parents do AND because, ironically, Becca is actually at a very high risk of developing diabetes and becoming obese in adolescence and adulthood, so the healthy patterns we are (slowly) working on instilling in her will be even more important than for her peers. I'm even getting used to eating a few more real meals myself. :)
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Wednesday/Weekly/Bimothly Weigh In
Hey, do you guys remember me? My name's Nancy; I've got a little girl who used to be a really, really, really, really little girl? And she's super duper cute? Yeah, that's me. I'm still around. Just gone radio silent. For no good reason, really. Or for lots of good reasons. There's been so much exciting happening in our lives the past month or so that I keep avoiding the blog because it will take forever to actually catch you up. (No, I'm not pregnant.) But I've got to start somewhere, I guess, so let me give you your first stats update since March 19. (Craziness, I know!)
March 19: 10.05 kg (22 pounds, 3 ounces), 32.75 inches
Today: 11.20 kg (24 pounds, 12 ounces), 34 inches
11 Weeks' Change: 1.15 kg (2 pounds, 9 ounces), 1.75 inches
Net Change: 4500 grams (115 ounces = 7 pounds, 3 ounces), 5.5 inches
That looks great to me! We go to the GI doc this afternoon, so we'll see what he thinks, too. She's now gained the weight of an average-sized newborn. :)
March 19: 10.05 kg (22 pounds, 3 ounces), 32.75 inches
Today: 11.20 kg (24 pounds, 12 ounces), 34 inches
11 Weeks' Change: 1.15 kg (2 pounds, 9 ounces), 1.75 inches
Net Change: 4500 grams (115 ounces = 7 pounds, 3 ounces), 5.5 inches
That looks great to me! We go to the GI doc this afternoon, so we'll see what he thinks, too. She's now gained the weight of an average-sized newborn. :)
Monday, May 16, 2011
Mommy the Triathlete
"Nancy Hill, from Spring Hill, Tennessee, YOU are a triathlete!"
That's what I heard yesterday morning as I crossed the finish line, right in front of the Parthenon.
It was so. much. fun. I have honestly wanted to do a triathlon for as long as I can remember. Even as a kid, I thought it sounded awesome and like indisputable proof that I was a real athlete. So I guess now I am!
One of my preemie mama friends came down all the way from Owensboro, Kentucky to do it with me, and it made all the difference in the world to have a friend going through it with me. Becca's super fantastic physical therapist was the one who got us into it, so she was there as well (cheering me on when I was starting the run after she had finished the whole thing :) ), as was her super sweet husband Kyle.
I finished (note the operative verb) in 1 hour, 19 minutes and 3 seconds. In about the time it takes to watch two commercial-free episodes of NCIS, I swam 250 yards, shimmied into bike shorts, 2 shirts (it was freezing - just over 50 degrees!), socks, running shoes and a bright yellow helmet, biked 8 miles, racked my bike and helmet and wrote a note to a friend, and ran (/walked) 2 miles. If you are interested in such things, I finished 184th out of 227 "competitors."(There was nothing competitive about this race, at least not among the participants like me! Everyone was SO encouraging!) I "placed" (if you could call it that!) 21st out of 30 in my age group. The swim was my strongest section (6:54, including entry, exit and scrambling to the transition area - which was the 133rd fastest swim), the bike was my worst (43:01, #194), and the run was in the middle (23:20, #174). But really, I don't care about these numbers (though they are fun to look at). What I care about are these numbers:
My blood pressure has always run in the 120's over the 80's, even before I was pregnant. Okay, I thought my blood presure had always run in the 120's over the 80's, even before AND SINCE I was pregnant. But I just looked back over my medical records (via myhealthatvanderbilt.com, which is super-convenient), and after I had Becca, my blood pressure stayed fairly high. Unfortunately, they don't have my vital signs recorded (in that system) from when I was inpatient and pre-eclamptic, but I know that at one point at least, my blood pressure was over 160/100 because that's the point at which they told us to go to the hospital. I'm not sure where it went from there. (I'm horrible at remembering numbers, even important ones.) But after Becca was born, the doctors where happy enough with my recovery that I wasn't treated with BP meds, which I thought was great. But now that I'm looking back at the stats they had recorded for me, and all of the BP readings are high - one of them as high as 143/93! Holy crap! (I'm not sure why they didn't say anything about this - I will say that I didn't get the best post-partum care for several reasons, but I won't go into that right now. Needless to say, I will no longer accept, "Well, it's probably up because you are nervous about seeing the doctor," as an excuse not to treat or discuss it!)
Even before discovering that I was in even worse shape than I thought I was, I was motivated to get off my butt when I read this article which reports the American Heart Association recognizing pre-eclampsia as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease later in life - a risk factor of the same magnitude as having FAILED a stress test! Ouch! (The previous thought about pre-e was that once the mom recovered, she recovered. This move indicates that the leading research shows that having had pre-e has lasting effects on the mom's symptoms, which makes sense to me!) I don't know about you, but I think having failed a stress test at age 31 is pretty crappy! I have a lot of life that I'd like to live, and I'd like that life to include running around and chasing grandbabies for a good, long time, thank you!
But 110/72? That's someone in good cardiac health! Maybe not great, but good! And a pulse rate of 71 when pushing a cart full of groceries and little girl all the way through Publix (where I always take my blood pressure) is pretty good, too - average, even! Just think of it...me, average! :) Of course, I'm still carrying around extra weight, but even with the weight, my numbers look good! (I didn't seem to LOSE much weight in the training process, but I've definitely got more muscle and maybe slightly less fat.)
And you know what other numbers I care about? How about the 1 baby that is born prematurely out of every 7 babies born in Tennessee? Or the 236 preemies born in Tennessee each week? And what about the nearly $200 that my Triathlon for Trimesters training raised to fight against those numbers? Yeah, those are numbers that I care about. (And my gracious sponsors will soon be hearing more about those numbers in an e-mail. Each dime you sponsored earned $7.50 for the March for Babies!)
I'm hoping to do another triathlon soon. I'm looking for sprint triathlons held on Saturday. (Most are held on Sunday, when I'm kind of busy...and about to be really busy...but more on that another day!) Now that I'm hooked, I might start caring about that first set of numbers as I work to get my times down...but in the meantime, I'll be proud of what I've done to the rest of the numbers. Thanks for helping me get there.
p.s. Becca can now say "triathlon" (="tiafyon") and knows that Mommy went in the "simming pool," "ride bike," and "did running." Such a great cheerleader - I can't wait to do one with her watching!
That's what I heard yesterday morning as I crossed the finish line, right in front of the Parthenon.
I am a triathlete!
It was so. much. fun. I have honestly wanted to do a triathlon for as long as I can remember. Even as a kid, I thought it sounded awesome and like indisputable proof that I was a real athlete. So I guess now I am!
One of my preemie mama friends came down all the way from Owensboro, Kentucky to do it with me, and it made all the difference in the world to have a friend going through it with me. Becca's super fantastic physical therapist was the one who got us into it, so she was there as well (cheering me on when I was starting the run after she had finished the whole thing :) ), as was her super sweet husband Kyle.
I finished (note the operative verb) in 1 hour, 19 minutes and 3 seconds. In about the time it takes to watch two commercial-free episodes of NCIS, I swam 250 yards, shimmied into bike shorts, 2 shirts (it was freezing - just over 50 degrees!), socks, running shoes and a bright yellow helmet, biked 8 miles, racked my bike and helmet and wrote a note to a friend, and ran (/walked) 2 miles. If you are interested in such things, I finished 184th out of 227 "competitors."(There was nothing competitive about this race, at least not among the participants like me! Everyone was SO encouraging!) I "placed" (if you could call it that!) 21st out of 30 in my age group. The swim was my strongest section (6:54, including entry, exit and scrambling to the transition area - which was the 133rd fastest swim), the bike was my worst (43:01, #194), and the run was in the middle (23:20, #174). But really, I don't care about these numbers (though they are fun to look at). What I care about are these numbers:
Even before discovering that I was in even worse shape than I thought I was, I was motivated to get off my butt when I read this article which reports the American Heart Association recognizing pre-eclampsia as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease later in life - a risk factor of the same magnitude as having FAILED a stress test! Ouch! (The previous thought about pre-e was that once the mom recovered, she recovered. This move indicates that the leading research shows that having had pre-e has lasting effects on the mom's symptoms, which makes sense to me!) I don't know about you, but I think having failed a stress test at age 31 is pretty crappy! I have a lot of life that I'd like to live, and I'd like that life to include running around and chasing grandbabies for a good, long time, thank you!
But 110/72? That's someone in good cardiac health! Maybe not great, but good! And a pulse rate of 71 when pushing a cart full of groceries and little girl all the way through Publix (where I always take my blood pressure) is pretty good, too - average, even! Just think of it...me, average! :) Of course, I'm still carrying around extra weight, but even with the weight, my numbers look good! (I didn't seem to LOSE much weight in the training process, but I've definitely got more muscle and maybe slightly less fat.)
And you know what other numbers I care about? How about the 1 baby that is born prematurely out of every 7 babies born in Tennessee? Or the 236 preemies born in Tennessee each week? And what about the nearly $200 that my Triathlon for Trimesters training raised to fight against those numbers? Yeah, those are numbers that I care about. (And my gracious sponsors will soon be hearing more about those numbers in an e-mail. Each dime you sponsored earned $7.50 for the March for Babies!)
I'm hoping to do another triathlon soon. I'm looking for sprint triathlons held on Saturday. (Most are held on Sunday, when I'm kind of busy...and about to be really busy...but more on that another day!) Now that I'm hooked, I might start caring about that first set of numbers as I work to get my times down...but in the meantime, I'll be proud of what I've done to the rest of the numbers. Thanks for helping me get there.
p.s. Becca can now say "triathlon" (="tiafyon") and knows that Mommy went in the "simming pool," "ride bike," and "did running." Such a great cheerleader - I can't wait to do one with her watching!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Thank You, Itty Bitty Becca's Team!
We're still counting our pennies, but we're over $5,000! Here's our official team thank you card from shutterfly.com. :)
Photo Card
View the entire collection of cards.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Packages
One of the benefits of being a g-tube dependent kiddo: you get lots of packages in the mail every month! When I brought them in from the porch, she immediately said, "Wass in dere?" and then promptly went about finding out.
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