Andrea's Doing Better

This morning we went to our family doctor, for a follow-up to Andrea's hospital stay.

Dr. H. listened to Andrea's chest and said she sounds really good. She told us to keep using the puffers for about 2 more weeks, and to finish the antibiotics as directed.

Andrea is much better. She still has a nasty sounding cough, but it's a lot less frequent. She doesn't sound wheezy anymore.

Her personality is fully restored (little stinker!) and that's our best indication that she is getting well quickly. :))

It's Time for Some GOOD NEWS

In light of how tough this past week has been on our family, Rod and I decided it was time to share our good news, and add a little bright spot to the week.

ANDREA IS GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!

And for those of you who thought I couldn't keep up two blogs, hah:

My Little Bud was created within an hour of my first positive home pregnancy test (on November 18)! For more information on Baby #2,

please visit the My Little Bud blog. :))

Andrea's First Hospital Stay

Well, we finally got home around 5:00 p.m. this evening, and having had some time to rest, I'm ready to post about what's happened over the past 48 hours.

***

Sunday Night: Andrea had been unhappy all day with a bad cough and runny nose. We had spent part of the afternoon at the funeral home, but left early because Andrea was getting so miserable. She didn't nap that afternoon, and was so exhausted by the time we got home, that she had a late nap, at about 5:30 p.m. Of course, that meant getting her to bed at 8:00 was a struggle. On top of that, her cough had worsened considerably; we were up all night, rocking her and comforting her.

Monday Morning : Andrea was irritable and coughing terribly from the moment I got her up. She cried and cried, and nothing would console her. We had already made plans to leave her with the babysitter while we were at Uncle Mick's funeral, and she seemed to perk up a bit when we dropped her off at the sitter's. When we called to check up on her around 11:30 a.m., she was doing okay. No naps, but eating and drinking.

Monday Afternoon: We went to pick Andrea up from the babysitter's after the internment at the cemetery, to bring her to the luncheon with us. She seemed okay, until we got her out to the car. Then she started to cry uncontrollably again. About 5 minutes after we headed out, she fell asleep, but I could hear she was breathing rapidly and was really wheezy. We decided to head back to Windsor, and take Andrea to the walk-in clinic.

As soon as the triage nurse saw her, they put her in a room. She was lethargic, and labouring to breathe. All she would do was cry. When the nurse and doctor came in, and looked at Andrea with her clothes off, they immediately contacted the hospital pediatrician who was on call. Andrea's oxygenation level was low, and she was breathing so hard and so rapidly that you could see her little ribs sucking in and out (there's a technical term for that, I forget what it is. Some kind of "retraction"). Anyway, they hooked her up to a machine to give her a Ventolin treatment (like an oxygen mask, but mixed with meds to open the lungs). She perked up a bit after that. Then they sent her for x-rays, which they said were (strangely) okay. However, they diagnosed her right away with Bronchiolitis, and then took her to another room to give her an oxygen mask. Each mask seemed to perk her up a bit; by the end of this one, she was talking and trying to get into stuff, and was more like herself. But because she was still sounding wheezy, and still doing that "retraction" thing (although the braething rate was better), they called the hospital and set up a direct-admission for her. And because they wanted her to stay on the oxygen, Andrea and I got an ambulance ride to the hospital, while Daddy drove along behind us.

Throughout all this, Andrea was so good. She kept her masks on, and once she had perked up, was making chit-chat and flirting with everyone. She enjoyed the ambulance ride; they attached her own car seat to the stretcher, and she sat up and looked at all the interesting lights and equipment in the ambulance.

When we got to the hospital, we by-passed Emergency and went straight up to a room in the Pediatric ward. Andrea and I hung out on a bed, answered a ton of questions to several doctors and nurses, and finally settled in when Daddy got upstairs.

Monday Night: Poor Andrea, not only did she have to put up with oxygen/Ventolin masks and constant poking and prodding, but all kinds of other irritating procedures. She got an ankle full of hospital bracelets, a blood test, and a huge IV board put into her right hand. Her right hand was so taped up that she couldn't use it.

Even with that, she was constantly picking/biting at her IV line (not because it hurt, but because she wanted to play with it), so they tried putting a sock over it. She looked like a little amputee!Well, that lasted all of 15 minutes. She just pulled it right off. So, they had to tape right over her IV line, and remove it when necessary.

The night was a blur. Doctors and nurses were constantly coming in and out to check on her, and give her medication. Andrea slept fitfully; she had a really hard time going to sleep, and woke up a bunch of times because of her coughing. Her cries were heartbreaking. A volunteer had brought in a rocking chair for us, and Daddy rocked and rocked and rocked her until she would fall back asleep. Mommy got to sleep on the hospital bed across the room (thank goodness, we never ended up with a neighbour, although it was close--they also needed a crib, but we were using it). Poor Daddy slept on two regular chairs, sitting up, with his head propped on a pillow against the wall.

Tuesday Morning: Andrea was awake around 5:00 a.m., so they came and did her vital signs check-up, gave her another Ventolin mask, and we also went and did the RSV test. It was really nasty. They stuck a little catheter in Andrea's nose and sucked out a bunch of mucous. Goodness, did she scream. It wasn't that it was so painful, but it feels weird, and kind of takes their breath away for a second.

Around 9:00, we got a chance to take Andrea down to the Playroom. It was really nice. There was a great range of toys. Some Clown Doctors happened to stop in, and Andrea was intrigued by them. She wasn't scared at all when they came and talked to her; she just smiled, and kept on playing. I didn't take any pictures of them, because Andrea had some other little friends she was playing with at the time; but I sneaked a couple pics of her playing with the toys, later.

Unfortunately, later that morning, we found out that Andrea's test was positive for RSV, so she couldn't leave her room. This was tough for all of us, because as her medicine kicked in, she got restless, and wanted to GO, whereas Daddy and I were taking turns napping! So, this was a familiar scene:

"Hello? Is anybody there? Please, let me out!"

Tuesday Afternoon: Finally, around 4:00 p.m. or so, a nurse came in with our paperwork and said we could go home. We were so happy. I have never seen Daddy pack so fast before!

***

Here's the latest/summary:

• of course everyone fell in love with Andrea, especially the young resident doctors, who wanted to stay and play with her :))
• the doctors say Andrea probably has asthma, and she may contract Bronchiolitis again
• they gave us two puffers (one steroid, one Ventolin) for home use for the next week or so, as well as a liquid antibiotic
• Andrea will see the family doctor later this week
• right now she is sleeping well, and we hope she will continue to have a good night
• Mommy is taking the rest of the week off to fuss over Baby, and recover from the last 48 hours

Here's a video I got of Andrea, as she had one of her Ventolin treatments: http://media.putfile.com/Ventolin-Mask

***

Finally, a special thank you to Gram and Grandpa G., who spent a couple of hours with us last night; Grandpa G., for stopping in again this morning; and Gram G. for having supper ready for us when we got home tonight. We know it's been a difficult week for you, too, so we appreciate your efforts all the more. :))

Progress!

We are beginning to see some progress in Andrea's efforts to walk. It's nothing dramatic, but every little step (no pun intended) is encouraging.

Just this past week, she has finally begun to ENJOY walking around with us. When we take her hands, and help her to walk, she actually thinks it's FUN! She still takes huge, clumsy steps, and tires easily, but it is so great to see her showing interest in walking now.

Also, as Daddy was laying on the carpet tonight, letting Andrea crawl over him, she PUSHED HERSELF UP TO STANDING, with no help. I don't think she even realized what she had done. She pushed herself up on her legs, then took one hand off Daddy's back, then the other . . . and voila! She stood and looked around for a few seconds before dropping onto her bum. I was so excited! She hasn't pulled herself up like that before.

(What's disappointing is this: I captured her moment of standing on video--then accidentally deleted it, while fiddling with the new camera. No fair! ;p)

Good-bye Uncle Mick, We Love You

Very early yesterday morning, our Uncle Mick passed away after battling lung cancer for about a year and a half.

Uncle Mick was especially important to this family, because, well, without him, Mommy and Daddy might never have known each other!

You see, Mommy and Daddy met at Uncle Mick's 40th birthday party, 13 years ago; and it was love at first sight for both of us.

Uncle Mick was Grandma Linda's older brother; his wife, Aunt Claire, is Grama Marty's younger sister. So, it is a doubly painful loss for Daddy and I; both of our families are grieving.

Uncle Mick was a private, pretty quiet guy, but he loved his family, and he loved to play tricks! He had a great sense of humour.

And he thought Andrea was so cute. :)) Here is a picture of them from about a year ago, when Uncle Mick was going through his first rounds of chemo. He was a good sport about losing his hair, and people kept comparing his and Andrea's bald heads! He got a kick out of that. ;))

Uncle Mick with Andrea, Christmas Eve, 2005

Bubbles at Bathtime

Last night, Daddy was in charge of most of Andrea's bath-time, and he thought it would be fun to blow some bubbles for her! If you're going to blow bubbles in the house, the best place is in the tub, right? :))

***

This gave me a chance to test out our new digital camera. It is a bit more sophisticated than the old one, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa G. for making this purchase possible! :))

"Gama"

With Daddy out of town today, Andrea's Grandma Gagnon gave us a ride to and from the babysitter's/work.

On the way home, in the car, Grandma was helping Andrea practice her words. She said to Andrea, "Say Dada," and Andrea did. Then she got her to say Mama. Then, she tried to get her to say,"Grandma," and Andrea said, "No" (her new favourite word).

So, Grandma tried about two more times, "Dada . . . Mama . . . Grandma . . ."

And finally, clear as a bell, from the back seat, Andrea said: "Gama!"

***

I think Andrea has only said it once since then; and again, it was for Grandma, herself . . . who is obviously thrilled. :))

Remembering Great-Grandpa M.

(Just a little note--the next 2 or 3 posts are dated when they happened, although I am just putting them in now. It's been a busy week for us.)

***

Tonight our Church held a Memorial Mass for all of its parishioners who had passed away within the past year. Since that included my Grandpa Maurice (Andrea's Great-Grandpa), and we weren't able to attend his tree dedication ceremony at the end of September, we really wanted to attend this Mass.

I had qualms about bringing Andrea, knowing that it would be a solemn and reflective sort of service; but we couldn't find a babysitter. So, we brought her along. You can guess how that went. It wasn't that she was bad, or even very loud; the problem was, it was such an intensely sober and silent atmosphere (except for a few sniffles) that you could hear EVERY LITTLE SOUND SHE MADE echoing through the Church. I am not exaggerating. And I swear, for some reason, she got extra talkative when Grandma when up to light the candle in memory of Grandpa. I was SO embarrassed, and upset. Some people were looking around in curiosity, to see where the baby was; some people looked over their shoulders at us, with outright hostility; behind us, people were laughing! I was nudging Daddy and hissing, "Take her out!" but he wouldn't move. (Later, when we discussed it, he said, "She wasn't being bad!" and I said, "I know she wasn't being bad, but that's not the point . . . ")

Anyhow, there was a little get-together in the Church hall after the Service, and people were just talking about how cute she was, so I think they forgave us. The mood I was in, I still didn't know whether to laugh or cry over the incident (which Daddy still says was not an incident).

***

After that, we all went back to Grandma's house to help set up her Christmas decorations. It was so great to be together with so many of the Maurices, especially on this night when we were remembering Grandpa. Sometimes it was kind of sad, because Grandma would say, "Grandpa used to do that" (in terms of arranging certain decorations), and we all thought of how much he loved these special celebrations.

But overall, it was a happy evening. Andrea kept us all entertained by showing off all her little talents (counting, saying words, singing, etc.), and she was amazingly well behaved, considering we were there until about 10:30 p.m.! She didn't cry at all, and she went from relative to relative, enjoying all the attention. Mommy's job was to keep Andrea out of the decorations, while Daddy helped put up the tree, and do the outdoor lights.

Andrea was particularly attracted to a snow globe which showed the Nativity scene. I held it for her, turned on the music, and shook the snow up; she was mesmerized. It was the most adorable thing. I wish you could have seen her face: how sweetly and intently she studied that snow globe, you know, with that childish wonder shining in her eyes. :))

***

I don't know how else to describe it. It was an especially poignant night, with remembering and family and holiday fun all mixed in together. :))

Mommy's Getting Stressed Out!

Andrea is just under a week away from being 16 months old.

And she's still NOT WALKING.

She is doing great, and making progress, in all other areas: eating, drinking, talking, socializing . . . she's pretty much age-appropriate in all those areas.

But walking? Uh-uh. Nope. Nothing.

We're pretty much where we were 3 months ago--she'll stand up for a while if we stand her up, and we give her something to hold on to. But she doesn't try to cruise (walk hanging onto furniture), and she doesn't pull herself up. She gets on her knees, and she's content with that. I've even seen her trying to walk around on her knees a few times lately (very odd looking--is it a sign of progress? I don't know . . .).

When we try to walk around with her, holding her hands, she will take steps, but they are very big and awkward. I've noticed she has a tendency to walk/stand with a wide stance, and her feet kind of turned inward, like she's standing on her inner arches. It doesn't look as bad as it sounds; it's probably only noticeable to me, because I'm getting paranoid. And when we do get her to walk with us, she'll maybe get halfway across the room, then she'll plunk herself down and refuse to move, or at worst, she'll start to cry. You can't really make a baby walk.

(Her newest trick--sticking her tongue out at me, when I stick my tongue out at her!)

We don't carry her much, so that's not a problem; she's just too content with crawling! She crawls everywhere.

We've tried standing her up against the couch, the wall, hanging onto the railing, hanging on to her play table, etc., but she won't try walking, even hanging on to stuff. We've tried enticing her with things that usually off limits, her favourite toys, food, etc.--but she either gets down and crawls, or gives up and goes to find something else to play with.

So why this sudden, repeated outburst of angst on Mommy's part?

Well, quite simply, DAYCARE. We're getting more and more pressure from them to get Andrea walking, because she has to move to the Toddler Room in January; and if she's not walking, they won't move her up. They are very nice about it, and say they are really encouraging her to walk on her feet (which is great), but it's frustrating to keep hearing them say, basically, "Make sure you're working with her at home, too . . . " Of course we are! Andrea's probably totally irritated by me lately, because every time I get my hands on her I'm trying to get her to stand/walk!

I've been told by so many people, and read so much information, that basically says not to worry, as long as baby is progressing normally in other areas (which she is), and that I shouldn't be concerned unless she's not waking by 18 months.

So, now the question is, should I make an appointment with Andrea's doctor? I know she will either a) say to wait until Andrea's 18 months before worrying or b) refer us to the pediatrician again, who will likely say the same thing as our family doctor. I don't want to waste time in their offices if they're only going to tell me what I already know.

On the other hand, what if Andrea isn't walking consistently by 18 months of age? What will the daycare do with her? I don't want her to be left behind, or kicked out, because her walking skills aren't up to par. What if this is something we should address now--because really--Andrea's only got about 8 weeks left to learn to walk well, and she's not even pulling herself up yet! I wish I could call my doctor and just ask her, instead of having to go in for an appointment, and see if there's something more we should be doing, or if an appointment is even necessary. But she doesn't work that way (as I know from past experiences). Sigh.

I got some videos last night of some of Andrea's non-walking habits, and some of my attempts to get her moving:

1. The closest thing she does to pulling herself up is kneeling: http://media.putfile.com/Using-Her-Knees
2. She'll move from kneeling to one flat foot, but that's it: http://media.putfile.com/Not-Quite-Getting-Up
3. She's standing at the toy, but won't move: http://media.putfile.com/Standing-at-the-Toy
4. She has such long arms, she can get away with reaching, instead of walking: http://media.putfile.com/Using-Her-Reach
5. Here's a closer look at her stance, and the way she places her foot: http://media.putfile.com/Examining-Her-Stance

Birthday and Baptism

We had some important events in the Gagnon Family this weekend, and of course, we got some pictures of Andrea sharing in the fun.

***

Gram's Birthday

Gram's birthday was actually on Wednesday, but we got together to celebrate on Friday evening. We went out to a restaurant for dinner, where Andrea did really well, until she bit into a French fry that was too hot! Ouch! But a waitress brought her a little tray of ice cream after, and she liked that--although she didn't eat much of it, because she was too full of French fries!

Back at the house, we tried to get the little ones (Andrea and her cousin, Izzy) in on the birthday fun, but I think it they were both getting sleepy.

(You have to love the looks on the girls' faces here.)

Izzy's Baptism

On Sunday, we attended Izzy's baptism. She was so sweet in her beautiful gown, and a very good baby throughout the Mass and ceremony. I love her smile! :))

Andrea behaved very well in Church, too. In between the Mass and the Baptism, and after the Baptism while the family was taking pictures, we did a lot of things to keep Andrea amused:

• Standing on the Pew: I think we need to borrow some pews from a church! Andrea stood up by herself, holding onto the back of the pews, for the longest time, just looking around at everything.



• Reading the Hymns: She also enjoyed flipping through the hymn books with Grandpa.

• Playing with a Doll: The doll actually belongs to Dana, Izzy's cousin from the Hage family. It has the eyes that open and close, and right away, Andrea was poking it in the eyes, and saying, "Eyes?"

• Cuddling: It was actually around Andrea's nap time during Church, so we were taking turns cuddling her, and trying to get her to rest. But she was too curious to ever really settle down! Here's a cute shot of Andrea leaning forward to snuggle on Mommy, who's a pew ahead of her. :))

After the baptism, we went out for a very nice lunch. The highlight of the lunch, for Andrea, was the balloons that were at our tables.

Andrea and Dana had great fun playing with those balloons! In fact, Dana was Andrea's buddy for the whole afternoon. She played so nicely with Andrea. :)) Here's a video from the restaurant, of Andrea (and Dana) playing with the balloons. http://media.putfile.com/Balloon-66-21

***

Later, we went to Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Tony's to visit, and give Izzy her gifts. Izzy got a lot of "baby bling," and she's a precious little gift herself! :))