2 months old

Kira is 2 months old today, and we had her 2 month check up today as well. She is doing very well with her growth and development, and we talked about her exposure to chicken pox. So far no chicken pox spots, but I will keep watching her for a while. If she gets chicken pox I can let our doctor's office know about it and we can give her some medicine to make to a little easier on her. Hopefully, Kira won't get chicken pox though. It was just bad timing for Ben to get Shingles, but that isn't something that you can control. Also now that Kira is 2 months old we don't have to worry about taking her in for a fever anymore. We can just use our own judgement. Anyway, Kira's weight was 11 lbs. 2 oz and her height was 23 1/4 inches. That puts her at the 59th% for weight and 83rd% for height. Also, Kira got her vaccinations and she did really well. She was sleeping so peacefully by the time the nurse came back with the shots, so she was woke up with a needle poking her leg. Not the nicest way to wake up. She got 3 shots in her legs and then an oral vaccine, which must taste pretty good. After Kira calmed down a little from the shots, drinking the oral vaccine got her to calm down the rest of the way. Overall, she cried very little. And, she was happy and smiling during her exam. She is such a bright and cheerful little girl, and we love her so much.

Eye Exam

Gabe had his annual eye exam on Monday. He did well with his appointment which was great considering how long we were there and that I had Kira with us. Good news is that the range of movement in Gabe's eye is still staying consistent. So, 3 years and about 5 eye exams later we are still in the best case scenario. If things continue this way when Gabe is about 8 or 9 we could start doing eye exams less often than once a year. But, for now they still want to catch it quick if something does change. This is the first time that Gabe got upset about having his eyes dilated though. He started crying on the way home, because one of his eyes was "foggy."

Dentist

Carissa and Gabe had the dentist appointment yesterday. I was so nervous about it, because over the past few months I have been completely slacking. I haven't been flossing their teeth regularly or helping Gabe brush his either. And, since they have both had cavities in the past I was really worried that my being tired/busy the last of my pregnancy and since Kira was born was going to show up at this appointment. Great news is that they have no cavities or problems to treat right now at all. Yay! And Carissa is doing an excellent job taking care of her teeth by herself. Gabe isn't quite ready to take over brushing his teeth though. So, now I just need to get back in the habit of helping with flossing and helping Gabe brush better.

Kira's hospital stay

This is probably going to be kind of long. Last Monday evening I got really sick. I was achy and had a fever of 102 and 103, and my right breast was sore and red. Tuesday I was diagnosed with mastitis and started antibiotics. Wednesday Kira started getting fussier and spitting up more often, normally she doesn't spit up at all. Thursday, she threw up and continued to get fussier. Friday was about like Thursday including throwing up once. Then Saturday she was still even fussier. I was thinking that the antibiotics I'm taking has been upsetting her stomach and tried talking to my doctor's office Saturday morning to see if there was something different that I could do. But, they didn't get back to me and closed. Then Saturday night she got a stuffy nose. We were up most of the night together, and Sunday morning when I checked her she had a temp of 99.5. I was told anything over 99.4 for an underarm temp was reason to take her to the doctor. So I took all 3 kids to the instacare because Ben was already at work. There she got her nose cleaned out, her eyes checked for scratches, a catheter for urine, and generally checked out. They couldn't find anything wrong but she had a rectal temp of 100.7, so they sent us to Primary Childrens. My mom took Carissa and Gabe for me, and I called to let Ben know what was going on. Carissa and Gabe did well at the instacare, but it was better for them to not come to the hospital. They were both actually having a hard time watching Kira scream during tests at the instacare. And, of course they would have more fun with Grandma than sitting at the hospital.

Ben met us at the ER room right as I was getting told all the tests that needed to be done. I was so happy to not be by myself. Between the Instacare and the ER Kira has had 3 catheter attempts/2 of them successful, 5 IV/blood draw attempts/1 successful, 2 spinal tap attempts/1 successful, and a tube that sucked the junk out of her mouth/nose (I couldn't see for sure how they did that one). She was then given a dose of antibiotics as a precaution. Then, we are checked in for a 24 hour observation while getting test results back. All results so far have been good, and the junk that was sucked out came back saying that she has the parainfluenza virus.

Pictures from after Kira was checked in to stay:




Then this morning we found out that Kira most likely has a UTI in addition to the virus. So, she had an ultrasound to check out her "plumbing" and that looks good. Now, it looks like we will be here for 36 hours instead of 24 hours and Kira will get more antibiotics today. Hopefully, everything continues to look good and we can go home in the morning tomorrow.

I know that things can go really bad really fast with such a young infant, and that all of the tests were needed to make sure that she was okay. But, it is so hard to watch your 4 1/2 week old get poked over and over and listen to her screaming and not be able to make it all better for her. At least she will have no memory of all the awful tests that she has had and hopefully she won't have any more problems in the future either.

Pictures while waiting to be discharged:

Gabe's hair

Over Labor day weekend, Gabe decided to use his scissors and cut his own hair. I thought that his hair was short enough that he wouldn't ever feel the need to try cutting it, but I was wrong. He cut a stripe in his hair. Then we went to see Grandma the next day and she buzzed it for us to even his hair out again. Hopefully, we won't need to do that again.

Before buzz:


After buzz:

Kira's 2 week check up

Kira's 2 week check up ended up being the day before she turned 3 weeks old. Everything checked out well at the appointment, Kira is healthy and doing well. She weighs 9 lbs. 3 oz. now, so she gained all of her birth weight back plus more. Also, they measured her height at 21 3/4 inches which is a 1/4 inch less than her birth height. So, someone measured wrong somewhere, because I don't think that she is shrinking. Kira got her second PKU, so she was very unhappy about having someone poke and then squeeze her foot. Also, I talked to the doctor about Kira's umbilical stump and he said that it all still looks healthy and he said that she is on the long side of still having it, but it is ok for now. He also said that if it is still there when she is 2 months old that he would do something about it at that point. It is very unusual for that type of thing to happen, but since my youngest brother had to have his removed at 2 months old I know that it can happen. Next appointment will be at 2 months when Kira will be getting some shots, and hopefully her cord stump falls off long before that appointment.

Kindergarten

So, I was really hoping that Gabe wouldn't be sick for his first day of school, and that didn't happen like I wanted it to. On Monday morning he got up to get ready for school and I checked his temp. and asked how he was feeling. He was in that in between phase of not sick enough that he needs to stay home, but he still wasn't better yet. I ended up letting Gabe make the decision of whether or not he wanted to stay home from school, after all it is only 2 hours 40 minutes long. Gabe really didn't want to miss school so I let him know that if he changed his mind or felt worse to tell his teacher and I would come get him. Drop off didn't go at all the way I would have liked it to that morning, but I tried to not let it get to me too much. Traffic at the school was crazy and we were in the drop off area right as school was about to start. Carissa got out of the van and ran to make it to her class on time, while Gabe wanted to get his backpack on so that he would look like buzz and he could show off his new backpack. Well, he couldn't get to work for him and I was worried he would be late and we ended up with a small crying fit in the back of the van. Fit stopped and he got out, and then stood by the van crying that he didn't know where to go. At that point I decided to put the van in park and walk over to Gabe to talk to him and point him in the right direction again. That is when a lady from the school scolded me about being out of my car and told me that I was holding up the line (by that point the kids were all almost in the building). I more or less just told her too bad, and I wouldn't be causing this problem in the future. She apparently thought that I should leave my kindergarten crying outside of the school on his first day and just drive away. I told Gabe where to go again and he was still having a hard time, so I told him to go back to the van with me and I would park and take him in. Only he didn't follow me, so I figured he could just wait there until I parked and came back to him. Another mom started talking to him and then asked me while in my car where he needed to go, and she said she would walk him in. I said okay, and went to park. I wanted to be certain that he ended up where he was supposed to be. When Kira and I got in the school I couldn't find him, he ended up in another class in the first day shuffle. I found him and got him situated with his class and then left. Throughout the drop off I told Gabe a few times that he could just go back home with me, because he wasn't all the way over being sick. But, he wanted to stay and he had a very good first day at school after the drop off issues. It turns out the big issue he had with drop off is that he knows that his classroom is a portable on the big playground, and that is where he wanted to go. But, his teacher gets his class from the kindergarten playground and takes them all to the bathroom in the morning before heading to their classroom. I think that is all straightened out now.