- Toodaloo, TONSILS! -

Thanks to some VERY VERY loud snoring [like old obese man type snoring that disrupted the sleep of the remaining 4/5 of our household most nights], our sweet Scarlett girl earned herself a referral to an ENT in March...

...which revealed a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea...

...which landed her a spot on the doc's surgery schedule for tonsil and adenoidectomy in May! We learned so much over those short months about obstructive sleep apnea in children and learning and behavior-related issues associated with lack of normal sleep thanks to v. v. large tonsils -- even decreased I.Q. in children with untreated sleep apnea! So! To the O.R. it was!

I only cry/sobbed for about 10 minutes after she walked back to the O.R. in her little puppy hospital gown, hand in hand with the RN and CRNA; wahhhh! There's something about being a nurse AND a mom that allows you to be stronger and tougher in some situations but so much more vulnerable and nervous in other situations..... Sometimes I'd just rather NOT KNOW so many details of the way medical treatments and things go down, ya know?!  But about 45 minutes after the surgery began, we were called to the PACU area and happy to see she was alive and well! She wasn't in any mood for photos as she didn't wake up from anesthesia in much of a chipper mood, but I snapped this one behind her back as she got to pick a toy from the nurses' treasure box...

...and then this one as we snuggled in the back seat of the van on the way home!

Arabella knew immediately that something was "off" and rarely left Scarlett's side [or, the floor by wherever Scarlett was sleeping] for the next several days!

Recovery went MUCH SMOOTHER than expected, a lot in thanks to administering around-the-clock meds for the first 4 days!  The nurse-mom in the house stayed quite busy passing meds at the 3am hour and keeping a fully detailed MAR for every other non-medical person in the house to reference. ;) :)

By POD #3, our strong girl was coloring, FaceTiming anyone who would answer, watering all the house plants with her empty med syringes, entertaining visitors, and running circles around her primary caregiver [ME]! Surgery can't keep a determined girl down! 

 Finally after dinner, she took a little break!

POD #4 and #5 were completely uneventful; I often found myself wondering if she'd really just had surgery or if the ENT lied to us and in fact didn't take anything out at all? LOL.  We painted "thank you" papers for the school staff and delivered them to the office on the last day of school [for the big school]!  

Scarlett continued accepting treats from classmates and her sweet cousins ^^. Thank you so much to all who remembered her; I am truly touched by your thoughtfulness, and I know she loved seeing a few familiar faces while she was supposed to be home and laying low!!! 

By POD #6, there was a noticeable setback in the recovery as she had lots of ear pain. Apparently this is a very normal part of recovery and the timeline seemed to follow suit with what the PACU nurse had warned us about.  The recommendation was to hold a warm towel over both ears; however, after having our dryer constantly running to keep a towel warm, we decided to whip up some heated rice packs. Scarlett was so attached to these a) because she sewed them herself, and b) because they really really helped the ear pain! 

She used the rice packs frequently on POD #6 and #7 ...

 

...and by POD #9 when I thought to look at her throat, the scabs were completely gone and she was feeling SO much better!  We continued the STRICT soft diet x 2 weeks as the doctor instructed, and then started eating everything crunchy in sight! [Although, I have a feeling someone will be petitioning hard to keep the "ice cream for every meal" portion of the diet going strong!]

SO PROUD of this strong, brave girl for handling surgery and recovery like a champ! She is also pretty proud of herself for being inducted into the tonsil-free club with her momma; we're the only ones in the house in this very cool club!

 Cheers to sounder sleeping, quieter nighttimes, and maybe even a higher I.Q.!!! ;) :)  

- Ear Jewelz -

Ok, so BLAST FROM THE PAST, and #tbt [which instead of throwback Thursday, I actually mean throw back the TABLES because holy hot minute!] to Harper's ear piercing in December 2020!  Before allowing her to go through with this, I had done some research on ear piercing with sterilized hollow needles at a tattoo parlor vs. with a piercing gun at the mall and 1000% wanted to go the hollow needle route for the boasted benefits of "less tissue trauma, shorter healing time, and overall more hygienic piercing procedure"... 

...so off to the local tattoo parlor we went!  Harper wanted all of us to watch her, but upon arrival we found out Brian and Scarlett had to wait in the car because of COVID restrictions.  But! After signing her life away and being a super brave 5-year-old...

...we were back out to the car boasting a brand new set of ear jewels in no time!  

Then! Weeks went by, and 24/7 masking mandates at school and grocery stores and anywhere we went in public continued, and unfortunately, both of Harper's ears got infected. From the beginning, we had been cleaning the piercings frequently [before and after school and also before bedtime for months!] and kept the mask strings off whenever possible; but, eventually the infection won over and large abcesses formed behind both ears.  Around Easter time, our pediatrician took one look at them and said the earrings had to come out and the holes had to close [and we later found out from the culture she collected that it was staph!].  Harper was not only in a spiraling state of panic and pain anytime anyone came near her ears, but now devastated that she lost her beautiful earrings.  

[Needless to say, through months of this traumatic experience, Scarlett watched wide-eyed from afar and very frequently said she was "NEVA' EVA'" getting her ears pierced!]

More months passed, and Harper began making paper earrings and taping them to her [now healed] ears. She begged and begged to get them pierced again; and finally, Brian and I gave in mid-summer. So! In late July 2021, we gave it a go again...this time at the pediatrician's office [because at least if it wasn't a hollow needle, it was still maybe a better shot at a "more hygienic piercing procedure?"].  The piercing was successful, and a-now-6-year-old Harper was thrilled!  We went to Annie's Frozen Custard to celebrate!

After Scarlett spent 2 years recovering from the PTSD of observing Harper's infected ear ordeal, she had a change of heart and started begging for some ear jewelry of her own!  So mid-April 2023, we went back to the pediatrician's office and did it again!  She invited Grammy Ann to come for the festivities...

...and then out for a treat at Annie's to celebrate!

Loving all the ear jewels in the house! Let the fun of shopping for Scarlett's earrings begin! :D

- ...and settling OUT of September! -

Well Juliette awakened from her nap at just the right time last week, leaving me NO CHANCE to dive into the details of Scarlett's saga. I had mentioned at the end of the last post that she had an ear infection and made it through 8 [of 10] days of amoxicillin before waking up on a Saturday morning covered HEAD to TOE in hives of every shape and size! I talked to our pediatrician via her exchange later that morning, and she instructed me to administer Benadryl every 6 hours as needed for itching and to watch for other more serious reactions/symptoms throughout the day like nausea/vomiting, fever, shortness of breath [and also joint swelling, which would be "more rare but very serious".......................]

So, we gave the Benadryl as instructed and hit the road to celebrate our niece's wedding later that same afternoon.  Excited for the festivities, Scarlett donned her blue frilly dress and silver sparkle heels ready to conquer the world. She made it through the ceremony [pausing many times to scratch her poor hives] and danced her little booty off at the reception [running over many more times to ask if it was time for more medicine yet]! 

 

Around 9:15pm, Scarlett approached me and said she wasn't feeling well and wanted to leave the reception.  She had been taking Benadryl as directed all day, but the hives continued to look horrible and the itching was relentless.  We packed our things and hit the road for Grammy and Papa's house, where we planned to have a sleepover.  By the time we arrived there 20 minutes later, she was fussing for me to get her out of her car seat because "her yegs [legs] hurt."  I figured she was just tired/exhausted from a full day and not feeling up to par, but when I set her down inside she fell to the floor screaming and crying in pain and could not stand or put any weight on her legs!  I noticed that both ankles were red and puffy, so extremely swollen that the "ankle bone" was hardly visible at all.  Her right foot had areas of purple bruising, and she was covered in goosebumps and shivering.  In 10+ years of being a nurse and 7+ years of parenting, I had my first "oh, sh*t!" moment and knew I wanted her seen/evaluated by a physician ASAP.  If the allergic reaction had "amped up" that much in our 20 minute commute from the reception to my parents', what would happen overnight?! Would it start causing shortness of breath while she's sleeping and would she die in her sleep?! ...More realistically though, would she be able to tell me if things were actually getting more intense/more painful if she was asleep?  By then, it was already about 10:00pm; all area Urgent Care clinics were closed and I decided to pack her up and take her to the E.R. back home [45 minutes south of where we were when I noticed this issue!].  To top it all off, the AT&T cell towers were down in my parents' hometown, so I couldn't call Brian [still at the reception with Harper] to tell him what was going on OR get a hold of the pediatrician's exchange [to see if they had any recommendations] from any of our phones! 

 

Halfway home, my cell service resumed and I got in touch with Brian and also with the pediatrician on call. She agreed that Scarlett needed to be seen, and we arrived to the E.R. at ~10:45pm. 

 

Long story short:  checking into and being evaluated at our hometown E.R. was the most underwhelming experience ever!!! I mean, I do realize that I brought in a 4-year-old with an allergic reaction while other people were in there complaining of drug overdoses and severe COVID vaccine reactions, but after waiting for 3.5 hours in the waiting room and observing that her ankles were not getting any worse [though certainly not better, either] and her breathing had not changed, I did consider walking out and taking her to Urgent Care in the morning [which would've only been a handful of hours later by this point!].  Also!  While it probably worked in our favor, this E.R. took patients back IN ORDER OF ARRIVAL, which is kind of ridiculous, right?  Triage, who?!  ...Just saying, if I was the drug OD shivering in the corner or the COVID vaccine reaction with a 104* fever and shortness of breath who couldn't feel his left arm at all, I'd be freaking out that a girl with hives was being seen before me. That's all.

At 2:00 am, we were summoned to an exam room; and 15 minutes later, the attending pediatrician came to the bedside for a grand total of TWO MINUTES. He did not even look at any of the hives on Scarlett's body [just glanced quickly at the ones on her lower legs that were sticking out of her pajamas] OR have her stand on her feet to evaluate our chief complaint.  He gave her a dose of Benadryl and prednisolone right then and a couple Rx's to fill and continue at home.

 

Then! There were two discrepancies in med dosing on discharge papers... Like whhhhat in the world?!  I asked the nurse for clarification when I noticed them, and she just blew some smoke which totally rubbed me the wrong way.  This is what the discharge paperwork said:

 

But since we were seen at 2:15am, it was technically already "tomorrow"...so when do I give these steroids again?!  I read it over real quick when the nurse gave it to me before I signed:
Me: "Benadryl 2.5mL? Is that what he recommends?"
RN: "That’s what he wrote..."
Me: "Well I’ve been giving her 7.5mL at home for the weight based dosing..."
RN: "Well we gave her 12.5mL here tonight."
Me: …..
RN: …..
Me:  "So do you think he meant to write 12.5mL, then, instead of 2.5mL?"
RN: ……………."Probably, knowing him." 

 

SO HOW MANY MLS IS IT??!  Yo' numbas don't add up, dopes. These people better count their lucky stars that I'm a nurse with some common medical knowledge and wouldn't take my kid home and OD/UD her!!!

In conclusion:  1 out of 5 stars, do not recommend this E.R. for multiple reasons!!!!! ...including the filth factor, which was highlighted by a bloody gauze face up on the ground in our exam room when we walked in.  In retrospect, I definitely wish we would've rolled when my gut told me to roll and gone to Urgent Care the next morning for a way better experience with the same outcome and probably 1/8 of the bill!  

But this is life, right?  Live and learn [and try not to die of an allergic reaction in the process!]!

Scarlett and I made it home a little after 3:00, pulled down the blackout curtains, and crawled in bed together.  

What a night! :/

Oh! And to round out the month, Juliette's babysitter gave us notice on that next Friday afternoon that she was no longer able to watch our girl on Mondays, effective the very next Monday [so, you know, like 60 hours later!].  I hate to be a whiner but IS THIS FOR REAL RN, GUYS?!

Sadly, it's real! 

WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS...

...or, maybe just let me get a taste October first and see if I want to sleep until November instead...!

I kid. Sort of. ;) :) 

October 1 was the Feast Day of St. Thérèse who is the patron saint of our beautiful Juliette Thérèse... She is well known for her flowery outlook on life, and I'm gonna cling tight to her ways of living with simplicity and keeping Love at the forefront!  

To God be the glory!   

St. Thérèse, pray [so hard] for us right now, and BRING ON OCTOBER!!!

- Out of the mouth of babes: VOL XXVII -

While looking me up and down after a shower [as I'm 35w pregnant]:
"Mom, you are really skinny...but your belly is HUGE!"

While narrowing down baby names to the final two choices:
Scarlett:  "Well GUYS, 'da problem isssssss:  I don't yike [like] 'dat name!!!"
Harper:  "Well Scarlett, the real problem is:  we don't even know if the baby is a girl or a boy and we just need one name for each that we like.  And maybe we can just decide when the baby comes home what we should name it."

Randomly:
"I hope I have 8 kids!  ...Or maybe 3 kids."

While watching a car drive past our front window at 8:55pm on a school night:
"Who on EARTH would be driving right now???"

Randomly:
"I wish viruses couldn't be real and they were just in fairy tales." 

Randomly [as I'm 37w pregnant]:
Harper:  "So anyway, when you go to the hospital, how do they sew your vagina back together?"
Me:  .....

While watching Juliette nurse:
Harper:  "So why can't God make babies be able to drink out of bottles instead of boobs?"
Me:  "Well they can drink out of both, but it's easier for Mommy to feed her this way instead of pumping the milk and then washing a bottle..."
Harper:  "Well, I like holding her better than watching other people hold her.  So probably you should use the pump."

The next day, while watching Juliette nurse again:
Harper:  "OH MY GOSH, it's like she's biting your whole nipple off!"
Me:  "Yeah..."
Harper:  "Has Juliette ever been feeded by another baby's mommy?"
Me:  "No."
Harper:  "Well what would she think if she was?"
Scarlett:  "WELL HAWPIE, you are just gonna have to ask her when she's olda [older]!"

 

 

 

While discussing the new Children's Stewardship program from our church:
Me:  "So every weekend, we'll take one of these envelopes and put some money in it and you can walk it up to the front and put it in the collection basket."
Harper:  "Well I am NOT doing that, because I need to save my money for other things, not take it to church to pay for God."
Me:  .....

As Juliette is screaming her head off during Friday night movie night:
"Well THIS is sure distracting to have a baby in the house..."

While looking at her color-changing mood bracelet shortly after a scratching/screaming fight with Scarlett:
Harper:  "MY BRACELET IS PURPLE, SO I'M HAPPY."
Brian:  .....

While holding Juliette:
"You look like you aren't even alive because you're sooooo little!"

While on a walk through the nature trails in town:
"Why is this place so animal-y?"

Midway through a game of Jenga on the living room rug:
Harper:  "Well this is nice you can sit on the ground now and get up easily, Mom!"
Me:  .....

While snuggling Juliette:
Me:  "So what do you like the best about Juliette?"
Harper:  "Ummm.....just how she loves me!"

 

 

 

- Falling Into Fall -

I was going to title this post "WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS," but then I realized we're already nearing the end of October, so...

 ...hey...

...hiiiii...

...HELLO! 

Here we are, "officially" falling [or maybe already fallen] into 'da smack dab middle of FALL!  I'm loving it.  Life with COVID-19 rages on, though we're learning how to tiptoe around it cautiously since we've realized it isn't going away anytime soon.  We've been able to grow more confidently optimistic through it all and finally mustered up the motivation last month to go out to eat for the first time since March!!! Outdoor patio dining, of course... ;)  It was wonderful!

Also! Scarlett had a mini-series of firsts recently in the realm of FIRST visit to the dentist [for which Harper prepared her really well for many weeks prior!]...

 ...^^ no cavities, might I add...

...and FIRST visit to the hospital. [Well, kinda/sorta.] 

NOT FUNNY BACKSTORY ^^:  Harper had her cousin over to play one Saturday afternoon, and the two older girls were dividing up a bag of marbles into bowls pretending they were blueberries.  Rumor had it that Scarlett put one of said "blueberries" in her mouth and swallowed it, and Scarlett didn't deny the accusation!  Let it be known that I usually only seek out medical attention for my offspring if they're near death; so, in my mind, this was no big deal and certainly not worth an Urgent Care/E.R. trip over the weekend.  [Edited to add before the mom-shaming commences:  Scarlett was breathing normally, eating normally, peeing/pooping normally, AND sleeping normally, and I carefully and continually assessed all of those factors!  ...If the marble went down ok, it should slip back out ok!]  So anyway, we laughed it off, resurrected the toddler potty from the basement storage, and committed ourselves to mushing through every single one of Scarlett's #2's with a disposable fork until the glass prize [re]appeared.  On day 5 sans marble, I decided it would be prudent to call the pediatrician's office [mostly just for a little reassurance/pat on the back that we were doing everything right!].  Long story short, they ordered STAT X-rays, and we were checked into the Imaging Center attached to the local hospital 45 minutes later.

 

Thanks to COVID, the door screeners only allowed one lucky parent inside the hospital.  Brian waited in the car while Scarlett and I waited...and waited...and WAITED in the radiology waiting room.  She was so good and wore her mask like a champ the entire time; all the receptionists and other patients loved watching her and interacting with her as able! :)  Finally we got called back, and she was so brave to lay on the exam table for the X-ray [topless, might I add, since the radiology tech thought the pom-poms on her shirt might be confused with nothing other than ...A MARBLE! lolololol].  They told her to take a breath in and hold it + not move a muscle -- which I thought were ridiculous instructions for a 2-year-old -- but she did it perfectly!  Immediately afterwards, she was dismissed from the Imaging Center with a handful of souvenirs, including but not limited to: Mickey Mouse disposable mask, hospital bracelet that was just her size, and an arm's-length roll of princess stickers! 

 

During dinner, we got a phone call from the pediatrician with the results, and...

 

...

 

...

...

 

...

 

...NO MARBLE PRESENT.

 

"So either it passed before you started examining her stools [not possible], or more likely she just never swallowed a marble in the first place.  Either way, good news!  Have a great evening!" the pediatrician said.  

 

"Real cool $300 story!" Brian said.

 

But all joking aside, we are happy to know that Scarlett is healthy and all is [slash was always] well!  No sweat off this sweet girl's back! :) 

Keeping on the Scarlett train:  aside from dental exams and X-rays, she has been 100% LOVING her 1:1 time with Mommy while Harper is at school 5 days/week!  After accompanying me to my annual well woman exam one morning where she was full of recurring questions like, "Mommy, what 'dis?" and, "Mommy! WHHHHHAT 'DAT?" for the entiretyyyyy of the appointment, she easily talked me into celebrating with donuts and shopping afterwards! ;) :)

She and I also pulled out alllllll the summer annuals last month and planted a bunch of beautiful new mums! MUMS THE WORD! 

After we shipped Scarlett off to spend the night at Grammy and Papa's one evening, we enjoyed a pizza and movie night home alone with juuuuust Harper...

 ...and vice versa the next weekend!  The kids are totally different when they're by themselves, and both nights provided much needed quality time for all parties involved!!!

When Harper gets home from school every day, there's still plenty of [socially distanced] "school" going on inside our home...

...and gosh, Harper's creativity is soaring these days!  She is soooo artistic; she thinks of something she wants to make and goes to town cutting paper towels or construction paper -- and voila!  Disposable masks and family flip flops and mermaid tails and rainbow monsters be hers! 

Next!  The kids recently found a tub of Beanie Babies hidden away at my parents' house, and they have been LOVING them!  Ahhhhhh, the good ole' days... Are you even a kid if you don't experience a little magic from the 90's?!  Between dressing the animals, taking them for stroller rides, and making a zoo to separate all of them into categories, these old Ty dolls have provided many hours of entertainment!  [See, Dad...........it was all worth it!]

 

Lastly! ^^ National Daughter's Day was a few weeks ago, and we definitely celebrated how blessed we are to be able to call these beauties ours!  Admittedly, at times, life's a "zoo" with these two......but I assure you we wouldn't have it any other way!

Happy fall, y'all!  ...Hopefully it's still fall by the time I put you to sleep with another humble-jumbled super long and ultra boring mom-post again.

Until then.............. :-*

- Feb-ewe-AIR-eee! -

It always seems like life is so chaotic and busy through the holidays...

...and then January drags on and on and on and ON...

...but allthesudden it's hello/goodbye February like whoa, a full 4 weeks here and gone in a flash!!!

Feb-ewe-AIR-eeeeeeeee.....#whatamonth!

I just mentally recounted that, in only 29 jam-packed days, we celebrated:

-- the Super Bowl...

-- Pre-K Grandparent's Day...

-- Grandma Penny's birthday...

-- Valentine's Day...

...[complete with Harper's Pre-K party, Scarlett's daycare party, and then hand-delivering our homemade valentines to a few beloved friends and neighbors!]...

-- Fat Tuesday [God bless Dana -- the best neighbor ever -- for showing up on the doorstep with cupcakes from The Cup!]... 

-- and Ash Wednesday! 

^^ I must admit, I was really hoping for the iPriest this year; but somehow, I always end up with a combo of The Blob + Rorschach.  We went to the all-school Mass with Harper's class, and I loved watching her behave so well while sitting next to all of her adorable classmates in the first few pews! 

ALSO last month, Scarlett fully potty trained herself AND learned how to paint her own toenails...

...and I got to photograph a good friend's labor/delivery which was so beautiful and perfect!  ALL THE FEELS IN FEBRUARY!

February 10 was the official 2-month mark of living in the new house, and -- call me crazy, but -- looking at bare walls and countertops has turned me a little crazy in 2020 and I made a very valiant effort to get the ball rolling with decorations.  After many trips back and forth between Hobby Lobby, At Home, Home Goods, and Michaels, the house is finally starting to shape up!  Wall decor and rugs and curtains...OH MY!

We ordered blinds [cheers for some privacy!]...

...Brian started on crown molding...

...and I gave Harper AND Scarlett's room a revamp [lolz, more to come on this...]!

February also entertained with the preschool's family paint night which was a total hit!

Unfortunately, the three girls of the house spent the last week of the month [and the first week of March, too, but who's counting...] down with some variety of 'da flu...

 Harper bit the dust first, soon to be followed by Mommy and Scarlett...

...but LOTS of family naps, several movies, and a few popsicles by the fire helped us through! ;) :)

Brian was the sole survivor when the 2.5 week semi-self-quarantine lifted, and I think it's safe to say the rest of us are finally on the upswing as each day we're more and more energized and feeling back to our old selves!

Over the weekend, the calendar flipped to MARCH!  This month we're looking forward to Harper's birthday [and my birthday, too!], the Bachelor finale [!!!], and the Dogtown St. Patrick's Day celebration!  Not sure how the busyness can top February, but March is going to be a really exciting month and I can't wait! :)))

Until next time...!