Second trip to the ER

Yep.

She was really lethargic all day, then spiked a fever. I called the nurse and she suggested taking her in again. This time the doctor was MUCH more helpful (different doctor.) He said it's most likely a viral infection and that we were doing a good job keeping her hydrated. He said the Zofran probably caused her lethargy today, and suggested that we only give her 1/2 of the dose only if she throws up again. He said really try to keep her hydrated and give her some pedialyte. He said that it's horribly contagious, so it looks like I'll be taking a few days off - I don't want the girls to get it.

She is SO exhausted and was really scared when they were taking all her vitals and giving her an exam. It was sad.

First trip to the ER

Madeleine was up ALL night throwing up - she would sleep for an hour and then wake herself up gagging, poor thing! When she didn't have a wet diaper this morning I called her doctor's office and spoke to a nurse, who told me that we needed to take her to the ER for IV fluids. Luckily, she didn't end up needing an IV - they gave her some Zofran, a tablet that just dissolved in her mouth, then she was able to nurse and keep it down. They let us take her home and she's been pretty much sleeping all day. Poor thing! I hope she feels better soon! Say a little prayer for her if you get a chance :)

And Thank You

She only woke up once or twice! I'm feeling very refreshed :)

Maybe I'll even be able to make a coherent contribution to the Bible Study discussion this morning.

Please

Let this kid sleep tonight. I've never met a kid who sleeps this little. She takes about two twenty minute naps a day - what is up with that? And she's been getting up every two hours at night. Anyone make Tylenol PM for babies?

GREAT NEWS!

I'm going to have a nephew! My brother and his wife had their ultrasound today, and they said 100% it's a boy! (Just what every dad would like to hear, right?)

I'm so excited, I can't wait to go shopping (for yarn, probably!) He'll be here in late February so he'll need a few little handmade sweaters by his Aunt Beth for sure.

Ken's Solo

He approved!

Sarah and Chris wrote the song (it's a crowd favorite), and Ken wrote the solo!
Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Nails on a Chalkboard

We just got back from Mass. It was in a big amphitheater. I really tried hard to just pay attention and I had to keep reminding myself that it was still Mass and the Eucharist! First I saw a lady with a name tag that said Sister Tess. Good thing she had a name tag because with her white capris with flamingos on them and pink shirt, who could tell?! She was sitting behind me and said the responses with all inclusive language, like ".... for the praise and glory of God's name, for our good and the good of all God's church." Then the communion meditation song was THE WORST I have heard. The first line was "Share healing" and it just got worse from there. It was the most watered down crap I have ever HEARD at Mass. I guess I'm very blessed not to have to deal with any of this stuff at our church. (Sorry I used the word "crap," Mom. I can hear your "disappointed click" from here! But it was necessary in this case!)

Sorry, just had to vent! We're all going to bed now :)

We decided to come!

She did GREAT on the drive this morning. We went to the concert and I got a great video of Ken playing guitar. He said he has to approve it before I post it on here, but I think I'll post it anyway. You want to hear him, right?!

It is REALLY hot here. We spent most of the concert trying to find some shade. We're going into St. Louis for dinner tonight with a few other band members.

Madeleine is taking a nap on the hotel bed and I'm enjoying free Wi-fi.
We'll be back home tomorrow with pictures and videos!

Should I stay or should I go?

Ken's going this weekend to play a gig with Sarah. It's in Belleville, IL, which is just outside of St. Louis at The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. We can either leave tonight after work and get there really late or tomorrow morning EARLY.

Should we go with him? We wouldn't get back until late on Sunday evening. I think Madeleine's getting a little cold too. I would like to go see the Shrine. But I would also like a nice relaxing weekend with my baby at home. We were going to get her 6 month pictures taken tomorrow. Hmmm... decisions. What do you think?

Up all night AGAIN

But this time it wasn't ALL Madeleine's fault. Sure, she was up at 11pm, 2am, 4:30am, and 6am. But I was up anyway. See, I watched a show that I don't watch TOO often (I'm not thrilled with her anti-marriage viewpoints.) However, this particular show my mom told me to tape and watch. Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete were talking about their sons with autism. It was really really scary, especially because they are both convinced that vaccines gave their children autism. Also, the CDC used to say that vaccines didn't cause it, but now they have changed their statement and they say they don't know if vaccines cause it. They're doing more tests.

Vaccines have worried me from day 1. I've asked her doctor about them every time (she's had 3 rounds of shots.) He's reassured me that the benefits far outweigh the risks. She hasn't had the MMR shot yet - that is the one they call the "autism shot."

Then I read this post from A thorn in the pew.

Can I in good conscience allow my child to have these shots while they're undergoing testing like this? Should I wait until she is older? Autism rates are up to 1 in every 150 children. Something's happening here and I'm worried about it.

Uh Oh

Madeleine is trying to get up on her knees. Better start babyproofing!

Tomorrow is my favorite day of the week - I get to work from home! Ava comes over to my house all day because they have a housekeeper that comes on Thursdays. I get laundry done, cleaning, etc. Never thought I'd be excited about THAT. But we have an extra crib for Ava upstairs, and Madeleine gets to sleep in her own bed instead of in the pack and play.

And since it's almost 90 all week, we might have one more day of swimming....

Ava says lots of words, but today she shocked me! We were taking a walk and I asked her to tell me how many bikes she saw. Then she counted to 10 - by herself!! She's paying attention to everything.....

The Jehovahs are out

The Witnesses are around the neighborhood. I invited one of them in and accepted their reading materials. We had a nice discussion and she wants to come back next week.

She told me they are totally anti-war, and they refuse to vote for anyone. They don't take stock in any human being because they are going to die along with their ideals, they just promote God's Kingdom. I told her that I thought doing nothing isn't helping anyone.

I am SO out of practice with my apologetics. Anyone have any suggestions of books, CDs or websites I can go to so I will be prepared next week?

Game Day

At Grandma and Grandpa's house. Thanks Angi for the great jersey!! (Of course, she had to wear the blue bow in her "hair" so people wouldn't think she was a boy!)

Go Colts!!!

Dirty Jobs

We watched Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe on the Discovery Channel last night. All I could think was:

That's nothing, Mike.

Pray for this kid

A good blog friend of mine has GREAT NEWS!!! Go take a look at the little lima bean and then say a prayer for their family.

I remember when I first saw Madeleine at 5 weeks. It was unreal. Then at 8 weeks we could see her heartbeat. And it's unbelievable how she grew from that little black speck on the ultrasound machine to this beautiful, amazing, perfect little person. What a gift they all are.

Tired

I went to bed very hopeful last night. After all, I kept her up almost 2 hours past her bedtime (we went out for sushi with a friend who's been out of town all week.) I thought for SURE she'd have a good nights sleep.
Oh no. I went to bed at 10, she was up at 1. She would not go back to sleep. Finally at 2:00 I decided to change her diaper. She chose that exact moment (after I got the diaper off) to poop. Of course we had no wipes upstairs. I had to call Ken to get me a washcloth while I was trying to catch it in the old diaper (a tad unsuccessfully.) After all that, she was wide awake. Finally I laid her down in our bed and moved her back to the crib when she fell asleep around 3. The she woke up again to eat at 4:30 and came in our bed for the rest of the night. Now she's asleep upstairs and we need to be at work in 15 minutes. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Tagged!

By Diana. What 5 Saints would I like to invite for dinner?

I think I need some good parenting tips. So I will invite:

St. Anne and let's not forget St. Joachim
St. Monica
St. Gianna
Pope John Paul the Great
and Mother Teresa.

In fact, they can all come for breakfast and stay the whole day! I need lots of advice :)

It finally happened!!

She slept from 7:30pm - 5am!

PRAISE GOD!!!

(of course, I didn't sleep through the night - I was up wondering why SHE wasn't up!)

Today I learned

That if I'm in the Panera bathroom changing the baby into her jammies because we're going to be out later than usual and I want to be able to just take her out of her carseat and put her in her crib when we get home, and someone makes a loud noise with the towel dispenser and the baby screams her head off, my husband will run into the ladies room to make sure she's ok.

I didn't know he was that kind of guy :) Good for you, Ken.

We were at a retreat and she slept through about two hours of Adoration. Once I heard a speaker say that even if you don't "feel" anything in adoration, there are effects, like if you are on the beach on a cloudy day. You don't feel like you're getting a tan, but you find out later you did. So she got a little "Son tan" today, even though she slept through it.

Thanks for all the co-sleeping comments. We did do that earlier in her life. I actually resort to this every night between 3-5am, depending on how many times she has woken up by then. I just can't get any good sleep with her in the bed. No matter where I put her, she rolls over and buries her face in my shirt, and somehow I end up on the very edge of the bed (or stuck in the middle between her and Ken, and he doesn't have any room.) Also if she is in the middle, I put her head up between our two pillows because I'm worried that someone will pull the comforter over her head. We only have a queen bed. When we slept in the hotel, she slept with me and it was fine, but with three people in the bed it gets pretty crowded. How do you guys do it?

6 month stats

15 lbs 13 oz
27 inches

I asked the doc when she was going to start sleeping through the night. He said to read this book by Dr. Ferber. Anyone have any suggestions? If it's letting her cry herself to sleep every night, I don't want to do it.

And you see what my husband is doing to my baby already.
Yesterday was her first Colts game on the outside. (She slept through it!)
Of course she had lots of Colts games on the inside last year.

Mother Teresa

I wish I could have met her. Twice in my life I missed meeting her by less than a week. The first time was in 1995. On our trip to Rome, we stopped for the day at Mother Teresa's home for the dying. We served lunch, gave the people scapulars and rosaries, and had Mass with them. Mother Teresa was coming to that house a few days after we left Rome. We were all SO disappointed we'd miss her but it was still a positive experience - especially the Mass. The second time was in 2000 at the convent in Mexico I went to every year. Madre Maria and Father John were good friends with Mother Teresa, in fact, she helped Madre found that order - the Missionaries of the Cross. She had visited the convent the week before we were there one year. She sat at the fountain in the courtyard and admired the goldfish. So I got to sit in the same spot she did, but we still really missed meeting her.

One time in Mexico we got to go to an ordination for several priests in the Missionaries of Charity. All the Sisters there knew Mother Teresa, and they gave us holy cards with her picture and a little piece of her sari. Also the last year I went, 2005, we got to celebrate Mass with them. I asked them to pray that we would be able to have a baby. They got really excited and said that was Mother Teresa's specialty! They promised to pray, and gave me a medal. You know what happened!

Clarification

Mom did not enjoy the pictures in the last post with that "filthy" blanket. She said she couldn't believe I'd put her on a blanket with all that cat hair - and then post a picture of it! I just wanted to clarify for anyone who wants to know, I double checked, the blanket is clean. There is no cat hair on it, it just pills a little in the washing machine and dryer. It is pretty old - I got it on my first trip to Mexico in 1996 (and I talked the guy down to $7 I think!), and it went back with me every year after that. It was on all my beds in college. It was on the high chair because the real cover was in the wash. So it doesn't look the greatest, but I promise, it is clean!

Happy Half Birthday to Me!

Today Mommy told me that I am six months old, and I've been here for half a year. But I don't know what she is talking about. Haven't I been here forever?

I had a great month. Yesterday I learned how to sit up all by myself! I practiced again today, but I accidently fell over and hit my head on the couch. I didn't cry, though. I am SO good at rolling now - I can get anywhere I want to go just by rolling! I especially love to practice my rolling skills when Mommy's trying to change my diaper!


Last week, Mommy and Daddy did something really funny. They put me in this thing called a "high chair" and fed me stuff called bananas and cereal. I didn't like it so much but they kept giving it to me! But last night, they gave me sweet potatoes, and I loved that! I hope they give me more of that tonight.
I also learned how to sit up in a regular stroller, so I can see what is going on now. I used to have to sit in my carseat in the stroller, and I couldn't see much. I love my new perspective!
I love to grab things. Everything Mommy or Daddy is holding, I try to grab. Everything looks interesting and I just have to put it in my mouth! I love playing with toys.

I really like to call to my Mommy two or three times in the middle of the night. Mommy comes and gets me and we sit in a rocking chair in my room. I eat and go back to sleep. Sometimes Mommy falls asleep sitting up too! When Mommy tells other people about this, she says, "Something's gotta give soon." I don't know what this means, but I love it when she comes and holds me in the middle of the night! I don't see myself stopping this anytime soon.

Mommy and Daddy like to take me to church a lot. They say that Jesus is there. My favorite part is when we all walk up to the front. A priest always blesses me. Sometimes after Mass, a Sister comes and talks to us and holds me. Sometimes I let her, and sometimes I don't. I usually like Mommy to hold me. I let Daddy and Grandma hold me, but no one else. I cry and Mommy takes me back, and that's just the way I like it!

Mommy is always trying to make me take these things called "naps." I don't like them. I try not to take them at all. She says she's lucky if she gets a few 20 minute naps out of me during the day. There's just too much fun stuff going on and I don't want to miss anything! Mommy says she needs one of these naps.

I have all new clothes that say 6-9 months on them. Mommy says she can't believe how fast I'm growing.

Daddy plays guitar for me sometimes. I really like to listen to him. I hear that I get to go hear him play with Sarah Bauer for a retreat this weekend. Mommy says she might take me up on stage in a sling because Sarah wants her to sing! I would love that - I love it when Mommy wears me in a sling. Maybe I'll try to sing into the microphone too. I also get to meet some new people this weekend. I'm especially excited about meeting Mary, who introduced my mom and dad. Without her I probably wouldn't be here!

I also want to say happy birthday to my Aunt Lori! We love you!

Mommy calls me her little Angel. Daddy says I'm the most beautiful girl in the whole world. They both say I'm the best baby who ever lived!
I'd say I'm having a pretty good life so far.

Highlights of the weekend

We went on our first hike! I strapped her on and we went hiking in a local park. The trails are not bad at all, and the weather was perfect. We saw a beautiful little creek, lots of flowers and plants, and got some good fresh air. I got quite the workout carrying this kid around too! Any guesses on how much she weighs? We go for her six month checkup on Friday. She was 14 lbs 2 oz at her 4 month. I am guessing she is over 16 now.

Madeleine really enjoyed it - she kicked and waved her arms the whole time. We are going to have to do this more often.
Does her hair look red in this picture?
We also hung out at Grandma and Grandpa's house, went swimming and had a cookout. They have an exersaucer with different toys than ours - she was excited!

We got some good house and garage cleaning done, I mowed the lawn, Ken organized the shed, and I hung up all the 9 month clothes on one side of her closet, and the 12 month stuff on the other. We also bought a baby food cookbook and a food steamer. Sweet potatoes are on the menu for this week!