Well I horribly missed my marathon goal for this year - I will admit that it was crazy ambitious with the emphasis being on crazy. Oh well, there is always next year or the one after that. It's on the bucket list. Ben is quite pleased that he will not have to go tutu shopping, this year at least.
Sadly I will be leaving my position with Loblaws - the commute from the new place is just too far to be practical. I don't make enough to cover the gas I don't think. I will have to look for something part time when we get to where we are going. I think.
I am finding it challenging without Ros as the madam is still waking several times per night. I have reverted to 'new mother strategy' and am trying to nap when she does to somehow end up with enough hours to cope in a reasonable manor. It seems to be working but lots of things are not getting done as I had planned - oh well, I am sure it will come together soon.
I got my blood work back and my MCH is low and my RDW is high but the doc never called so I am assuming that its nothing major. My cholesterol is fantastic and all the rest of the results were within normal limits. The dietitian printed me off a copy when I was there last. We see a family medicine teaching unit for our family physician care so there are a bunch of residents and different professionals working in the same office - its brilliant - a one stop shop.
Well that's it, I am going to bed. As I proof read this post I am noticing it's particularly lack luster - having sat through it, that's 2 minutes of your life you will never get back - sorry about your luck :)
Friday, April 24, 2009
Finally growing again!
Down to Sick Kids again this week for the latest checkup and Olivia is holding her own. We are now on a trial of NO medication. Its very odd - each day I feel like I am forgetting something. She has been medicated since she was a week old.
She is drinking less but eating more and I think I mentioned in the previous post that we are adding whipping cream or canola oil to all her solids now. It's all a little backward but it seems she is as stubborn as both Ben and me. She should still be mainly drinking and practice eating at this point but she is mainly eating and barely drinking. Shes gaining and not dehydrated though so we're going with it. At this rate she will be on finger foods in no time.
She is standing now and on the brink of cruising. We are going to be lowering the mattress in her crib/cott this weekend as she has almost figured out how to get up to standing on her own using the bars - clever devil.
She is now closing in on 17 lbs or 7.7 kg having gained just shy of a pound in 1 1/2 weeks - holy crapinoli! Phenomenal progress considering she gained two measly ounces in the whole month previous. (A great big thank you to the dairy farmers of Canada!)
These days we are wishing she came with a volume control as she exercises her voice from morning to night. Not words yet just babbling and lots of dadadadadada which is her favorite. Ben is so pleased LOL. She has even learned to gargle and can manage it at full throttle in any pitch you can imagine. That's always good for some crazy looks from strangers.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
April goings on
Hi All,
Once again, life has been moving at a rapid pace and this wee blog has suffered. I have been pretty wrapped up in Olivia these past weeks as she has not been putting on weight. I have been hoping that she would make a turnaround and I would be able to blog on like normal but the longer I wait to post an entry, the more its getting away from me. So here is what I have been up to....
We have been having discussions with Sick Kids twice a week on average over the past 4 weeks trying various things to get her progressing again. She has put on 2 oz in a month which is crazy - she should have put on a pound to a pound and a half. We were told that it was either reflux (which she seems to be past - has been doing fine without any meds since January) or her cardiac condition is slipping and shes heading for heart failure again. Neither of these explanations made sense to us but we had to investigate both.
She has now been on Prevacid (for reflux) for the past 3 weeks which seems to be making absolutely no difference and after several doctors appointments and the final word from her cardiologist 2 days ago it turns out its not heart related. Her heart sounds like it is holding its own and she is not exhibiting the other classic signs of failure. She is however experiencing swelling/puffiness in her face when she wakes up in the morning which wears off as the day goes on. She had more blood taken this week to check for some rare syndromes that could be causing this but so far no word on that.
She is eating better these days as she becomes more accepting of solids. She is up to about 2 1/2 jars a day now of various foods that are mixed in with whipping cream or canola oil to boost the calories. Her formula quantity is where we are having problems. On top of the solids, she should be eating 24-32 oz per day and she is eating between 15-20 oz. They have been adjusting the strength of it weekly to try and get her to drink more but nothing is working.
We have another appointment at Sick Kids on Wednesday so we will see what they have to say about how to proceed then. If you have been keeping track, she was born on the 50th percentile for weight and after her first go with heart failure she slipped to the 25th. We managed to get her back up to the 50th in Jan/Feb where she stayed until early March. She is now at the 25th again. The pediatrician says she is burning through any reserve weight that she had built up early in the year. We need to find a solution in short order.
Our dear friend Roslynne who has been Olivia's Nanny since October has moved on. Her last day was Friday. She was never a Nanny by trade and stepped in for this temporary assignment when I was in rough shape last fall. She has been a friend of mine since I hired her to work at my bar which seems like 100 years ago now. She has been the most wonderful caregiver and support for us all during the time she spent with us and our friendship will continue as we see Ros on a regular basis. Olivia's "Auntie" will continue to be involved in her life as we are moving 2 minutes down the street from her next month :)
We found our next rental home. Can you believe we have already been here a year and our lease is almost up? Boy time flies!! We are moving up to Brampton to a lovely brand new semi. It was just built and has never been lived in. It's gorgeous, bigger and much better laid out than this crazy townhouse and get this - its cheaper! We move mid May and I will be sure to post pics when we get set up.
Well I guess I better get to bed....still been having trouble with insomnia but morning comes early around here so I think I should go and try to find sleep.
Once again, life has been moving at a rapid pace and this wee blog has suffered. I have been pretty wrapped up in Olivia these past weeks as she has not been putting on weight. I have been hoping that she would make a turnaround and I would be able to blog on like normal but the longer I wait to post an entry, the more its getting away from me. So here is what I have been up to....
We have been having discussions with Sick Kids twice a week on average over the past 4 weeks trying various things to get her progressing again. She has put on 2 oz in a month which is crazy - she should have put on a pound to a pound and a half. We were told that it was either reflux (which she seems to be past - has been doing fine without any meds since January) or her cardiac condition is slipping and shes heading for heart failure again. Neither of these explanations made sense to us but we had to investigate both.
She has now been on Prevacid (for reflux) for the past 3 weeks which seems to be making absolutely no difference and after several doctors appointments and the final word from her cardiologist 2 days ago it turns out its not heart related. Her heart sounds like it is holding its own and she is not exhibiting the other classic signs of failure. She is however experiencing swelling/puffiness in her face when she wakes up in the morning which wears off as the day goes on. She had more blood taken this week to check for some rare syndromes that could be causing this but so far no word on that.
She is eating better these days as she becomes more accepting of solids. She is up to about 2 1/2 jars a day now of various foods that are mixed in with whipping cream or canola oil to boost the calories. Her formula quantity is where we are having problems. On top of the solids, she should be eating 24-32 oz per day and she is eating between 15-20 oz. They have been adjusting the strength of it weekly to try and get her to drink more but nothing is working.
We have another appointment at Sick Kids on Wednesday so we will see what they have to say about how to proceed then. If you have been keeping track, she was born on the 50th percentile for weight and after her first go with heart failure she slipped to the 25th. We managed to get her back up to the 50th in Jan/Feb where she stayed until early March. She is now at the 25th again. The pediatrician says she is burning through any reserve weight that she had built up early in the year. We need to find a solution in short order.
Our dear friend Roslynne who has been Olivia's Nanny since October has moved on. Her last day was Friday. She was never a Nanny by trade and stepped in for this temporary assignment when I was in rough shape last fall. She has been a friend of mine since I hired her to work at my bar which seems like 100 years ago now. She has been the most wonderful caregiver and support for us all during the time she spent with us and our friendship will continue as we see Ros on a regular basis. Olivia's "Auntie" will continue to be involved in her life as we are moving 2 minutes down the street from her next month :)
We found our next rental home. Can you believe we have already been here a year and our lease is almost up? Boy time flies!! We are moving up to Brampton to a lovely brand new semi. It was just built and has never been lived in. It's gorgeous, bigger and much better laid out than this crazy townhouse and get this - its cheaper! We move mid May and I will be sure to post pics when we get set up.
Well I guess I better get to bed....still been having trouble with insomnia but morning comes early around here so I think I should go and try to find sleep.
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