The little time we have...

Elliot already has many silly faces that she makes.  Like this one... I think she is already practicing the clueless look of "I didn't do it!".  I don't know how I am going to scold a cute face like that.  I am sure when I have crayon all over my living room wall it will be much easier. This is the look of, "Mom, that flash is way too bright!".   This next one is one of my personal favorites...  It says, "Yeah, I'm cute.  So what?". And last, but not least... "Listen to me scream!"  Gee, I wonder where she got it from?

At Elliot's 3rd well baby visit her pediatrician discovered a click in her left hip.  He said that it could be nothing, but we should get it checked out and he referred us to an orthopedic surgeon at a children's hospital 3 hours away.   We had our first appointment with the orthopedic surgeon at the end of July and sure enough he diagnosed her with left hip dysplasia.  He assured us it was a common thing and can be treated.  The first step in our treatment plan was a Pavlik Harness.          This is the actual picture shown on the packaging of the harness.  Me and my husband thought "well that baby is happy, it can't be that bad"...wrong!  The nurse put it on her and she screamed her head off the whole way through!  Then they decided that one was too small and took it off and put a bigger one on her.  Oh, it was terrible she was screaming, I was crying.  The doctor and nurse kept telling me that it wasn't hurting her, that it was just different and she won

Hello again blogger world! I have been in hiding for some time.  Elliot is now 7 months old and changing everyday.  The other day I picked her up and she just looked so different from just the night before when I laid her down to sleep.  It is crazy how fast they change.  She does something new every week! In the first days of having Elliot home I couldn't imagine her being any different or doing the things she does now.  Today, I have a hard time remembering what it was like when she was so fragile and I had to support every part of her.  Now, she is a wild woman throwing her toys and practically feeding herself!  We are eating peaches, pears, peas, sweet potatoes, prunes, well you get the point, anything pureed and found in the baby food isle.  Her favorite is bananas and oatmeal for breakfast! She loves to cuddle with blankets when she falls asleep and she always has a smile on her face (except when she is hungry!).  This year on Darcy's birthday we all 3 went to her grave

The last few months have been crazy! As you all know by now, I had my darling little girl.  She came about 7 weeks early on April 25th and has done wonderful every since.  At 33 1/2 weeks my water ended up breaking and I was admitted to the hospital.  Two days later she was brought into the world after emergency c section.  Three weeks later we both got to come home.  She did great.  Never needed help with breathing, just needed to be on BiPAP for a few hours after birth.  Had a little issue with jaundice, but that cleared up after a few days under the light. At birth she weighed 4 pounds and 5 ounces and was 18 inches long. Me on the other hand did not handle things very well.  My water broke around midnight Friday the 23rd and things progressed very slowly through the weekend.  Sunday evening they decided that I needed to be taken back for a c section.  The c section went well and little miss Elliot came screaming into the world.  It was the greatest sound I have ever heard.  I had

So, you all are probably wondering where I have been. Taking care of a baby, that's where I've been! I will tell the long version of the story when I have more time and am not so tired. The short, short version is our daughter came early at 33 1/2 weeks. We are home now and doing just fine.

My 30 week appointment went well yesterday. I actually lost weight this time! Don't know how I managed to do that. I made a batch of cookies last week and I pretty much polished them off myself. I'm not complaining! Today I'm going back to work for the first time in a whole two months. I don't really think my doctor was too fond of my going back, but I really have no choice right now. If I didn't feel like I could do it, I wouldn't, but I have been feeling pretty good and he seems to think I am doing great this go around. My FMLA is almost up and I need to hold onto my job as long as I can until this baby is born. I'm pretty sure my boss has an evil plan to let me go as soon as she is legally able to. So, as you can guess I am looking forward to going back! It's just for about 7 more weeks or so. I can do that. I actually got up at the first buzzer this morning when the alarm went off. Wonder how long that will last? It probably helps that falling as

I'm feeling a little blah today. It's beautiful outside and I am stuck indoors. Maybe I will go sit out on the porch for a little bit this afternoon. Technically it is indoors since the porch is glassed in, right? This is going to start to get hard now since it is getting so nice outside. My Aunt loaned me her full disc set of all the seasons of the show "Friends" a few weeks ago. I didn't realize there were so many of them! I'm a little halfway through and have made it a personal goal of mine to get to the end. Then next on my list is "Desperate Housewives", which another aunt loaned me. I've moved away from my reading phase. I don't know what it is, but I have always been like that. I will read like crazy for a straight month or so and then stop cold turkey for who knows how long. Hopefully the baby bedding comes in tomorrow like it is supposed to so we can, well more like so Chris can go get the paint for the walls in the baby's

I'm 28 weeks along and seem to be doing great. My doctor still has me on bed rest, which I am bummed about. I would really like to go back to work. At this point I'm not sure if I will have a job to go back to, but my little growing girl is what is important to me. I can always get another job. In a way the weeks have flown by. I have put so many weeks behind me as I look at what I have accomplished. Then I look to the weeks ahead and it still looks like a long road. I have 9 weeks until my cerclage comes out, but then break that down into months and that is still a little over two months! I am sure it will fly by though. I went to the doctor today and he said everything looks great and I am doing great. The baby's heart rate was around 150 where it usually is. I return in 2 weeks for another check-up. My shower is 3 weeks from Saturday! I am really getting excited! I escaped from the house a few weeks ago (shhhhhh) to buy a couple dresses for her on my birthday. Hey,

Being on bed rest has made me a reading fanatic. I usually read, but in the past week I have went through three books. Well, I am almost done with my third. As I mentioned last post I had been reading "Behind the Bell" by Dustin Diamond. I was a big "Saved by the Bell" fan in the 90s and this book supposedly told the "backstage secrets" that nobody knew about, told by nobody other than Screech himself. If anyone took the time to watch Dustin Diamond on the VH1 show "Celebrity Fit Club" they could tell what kind of treat they would be in for with this book. The stories he wrote about were pretty bogus and hard to believe, but maybe I'm wrong. You can always pick up a copy and decide for yourself. I just find it a little far fetched that he has been with over 2,000 women as he claims in one of the later chapters. To each her own I guess. I am now reading the newest release in my favorite series of books. "U if for Undertow" by Sue

  Tuesday I woke up to a lovely visitor named spotting. ugh what the heck? I really wasn't too worried. I have a cerclage in, stuff like this isn't supposed to happen, right? So, I argued with myself until about 10:30 on if I should call the doctor or not. The thing that convinced me was this is how it started with Darcy. I spotted the week before I went into full blown labor. Here we are, a week before I hit that date and look what happened. So, I called. He had me come in that afternoon to check things out even though he thought it was nothing. So, about 2:30 my husband and I found ourselves at the doctors office. We love our OB. He delivered Darcy and knows what we have been through. He is so sincere and wants the best outcome for us. You can tell he really loves what he does and cares about his patients. He said he sees nothing wrong with my cervix or any signs of bleeding or labor starting. Since it's a critical time in my pregnancy (week 21, I went into labor wi

I am happy to say that I am home! I have been for about a week now, but I haven't had enough energy to sit in front of the computer and try to put together something interesting for you all. Florida was fun, a bit chilly, but way better than the below zero temperatures home, here in Illinois. Before leaving for Florida everyone insisted on informing me that "it's going to be cold down there". Now, why would you not just want to be happy for someone going on a vacation? Why would you want to try and convince someone that they are going to have a terrible time? I just kept saying "warmer than here!" and called them jealous under my breath. Despite all the comments about the weather I had a great time sleeping in every morning and taking my time getting around and not having to worry about anything except what I was going to eat that day for a whole entire week! It was in the 50s during the day at the beginning of the trip and gradually warmed up through

Sorry, I haven't been udating much. We are in Florida with some friends enjoying the warmer weather. Everything is well and when we get back we have our appointment that will let s know boy or girl! I have wanted to started buying things already! I've picked out a few green and yellow things at the stores we have been arond to down here, but I end putting them back after Chris reminds me that we are so close to finding out girl or boy! lol Well, this is a really quick update and I hope to post some pictures when I get back!