Bryan update and lessons about baby toys

He seems to be doing much better today. Other than some localized soreness on one side where they had to work really hard to get the tooth out, he says he's not really all that sore. He's currently sitting in his jammies, doing work stuff on his laptop, so I'd say we're off to a full recovery.
Evie and I are going to do a little Christmas shopping today, I'm bringing her floppy seat for the cart and some of her linkey rings to chew on. I will try to be more kind and gentle if/when publicly chastised for letting her sit up at her age.
Speaking of linkey ring toys, I learned a valuable lesson about them last night. If you give Evie a pretty long strand, and she's sitting in her command station, (in which the seat can spin 360 degrees,) The fun linkey ring toys can quickly become infant toy of death. Understand that when I put the linkey rings on the toy, I did think, "this might be a little long," but then I thought I'd just put them there and see what happened. She's never played with them before, and I assumed there would be a time of inspection prior to self-asphyxiation. Apparently, not with my kid, who immediately grabbed, stuffed a couple connected links in her mouth, and started to turn- quickly, creating her own little colorful plastic noose in the process.
I immediately shortened the strand, so now she can only turn a few degrees while holding on.
Now she sits, linkey rings in hand/mouth and begins spinning, only to get caught. She then yells and smashes her linkey rings against the command station, as if to punish them for her lack of progress. I'm hoping she will soon figure out that she can let go, turn and then hold them again. Otherwise, I worry about her problem solving skills.
Well, I don't really worry. After all, according to the old women at the grocery store, she shouldn't be doing anything but laying on her back, so I suppose getting hung up with linkey rings is okay. I have to remind myself that just because she's standing, (and jumping, and spinning) in her excersaucer now, this doesn't mean she really has control over her body quite yet, and well, cognitive skills are still being developed. I can't wait for the day when she does have control over her body, but lacks the judgement to make good choices. This is how we found my brother Travis on top of the refrigerator at 10 months old.

A Big Day

Bryan had his wisdom teeth yanked from his skull this morning. It's something he's been needing to do now for oh, about 3 years. The time finally came when he was in agony all the time, and so I called the doctor myself to arrange an appointment for him. He's currently asleep in bed, mouth full of gauze. I just gave him his next pain pill and did a gauze change. He seems to be doing okay, and right now doesn't seem to be too swollen. He is bleeding far more than we anticipated, but the doc. said that could go on for the first 6 hours, and it's only been 4.5, so we'll see what he's like later tonight.
In other news, while he was at the oral surgeon, Evie and I bopped over the grocery store next door to pick up some foods that don't require chewing, (pudding, yogurt, jello, etc.) I didn't want to fuss with the stroller, and Evie was being a little cranky, so I tried something new- I put her in the cart, and strapped her in with the little seatbelt.
She sat there, triumphantly, and looked at me with such pride and delight, I couldn't help but be proud for her. She looked at me as if to say, "wow, mom, why haven't we done this before?!"
As we walked the aisles, Evie sat there, presiding over all that was her kingdom, smiling at all those looking on in amazement, and asking "how old is your baby?!? I would reply, "almost 5 months." To which they would then say, "5 Months!?!? Isn't she too small to be sitting up?"
It was all I could do to not take my shoe off and smack them with it. I really wanted to turn and look at Evie and say, "You hear that kid? It seems you're too small to be sitting up, so we're gonna have to take you out of there and try again when you're older, okay?" Some people.

25 Christmas questions

My friend Holly sent me this email quiz...I'm not a big fan of forwards, but didn't want to be accused of being a "scrooge," so I decided to put it here. :-) If you'd like to answer, cut and paste them, and answer in the comments section.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Always gift bags, except Christmas, then it's almost always wrap. (I do have to admit that one year when I was in college, I got home to Spokane really, really late Christmas eve, after spending a week doing mission work in Mexico...that year everyone got their presents "wrapped" in Target bags.)

2. Real tree or artificial? Fake. Bryan is allergic to the real ones, and although it was a hard transition for me, I've got to admit, I'm a big fan of the pre-lit, pull out-of-the box tree now.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually Thanksgiving night, but I've been out of commission, so probably next weekend.

4. When do you take the tree down? New Year's Day.

5. Do you like eggnog? Very much, especially in a frappaccino from Starbucks.

6. What about Fruitcake? Bleck.

7. Favorite gift received as a child? When I was 10, I got Legos. I had wanted legos since I was 5, but they were always too expensive or something. I had a bunch of fake Legos, but we all know that those were just crap, and never really connected together quite right. Anyway, I was 10, we were in Wenatchee, and I opened a real Lego set; it was the hospital. Then I opened another set, it was the police station. The Legos just kept coming. My mom had rallied all my family members and everyone had given me Legos. Most had given me like a $5 set with one little dude and a car, but you would have thought they had given me a season pass to Disneyland, I was so happy. My mom also gave me a fishing tackle box so I could organize them by size, shape and color...every Lego had its own tray and compartment. (She knew me so well) Looking back, I am still excited to think about that Christmas. You know, I think that today if someone gave me legos, I'd be just as excited.

8. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, it was my mom's.

9. Hardest person to buy for? My husband...he always finds things for himself on sale before Christmas, and just buys them...drives me CRAZY

10. Easiest person to buy for? My sister, she always has a big list to choose from.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? My great-grandmother got me a barbie doll every year for Christmas and my birthday. I HATED barbie dolls, but I always had to be polite and grateful, even though I was so disappointed. My sister and I had a tradition that as soon as we left her house, I'd give the doll to Sara. This is why when she graduated from high school, my sister had over 30 barbies.

12. Mail or email Christmas cards? This year's Scott family photo Christmas card just arrived from Kodak, they will be addressed and sent by this weekend.

13. Favorite Christmas Movie? Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life. " I think it is quite possibly one of the most beautiful films ever made. The older I get, the more I love it. And it never fails, every year when I watch Mr. Potter STEAL their deposit, I just go crazy and start yelling at the TV. It is just so incredibly hateful. I would argue that Mr. Potter is far more evil than the witch in the Wizard of Oz. And in the end, when the entire community rallies around this little family who has selflessly given of themselves for so long. Oh. So beautiful. I'm choking up right now, just thinking about it.

14. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually October, this year I'm a bit behind.

15. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I refuse to answer on the basis that my answer could be held against me.

16. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Yes. Er. I mean, all of it. The candy, the cakes, the fudge. I just love it all.

17. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear.

18. Favorite Christmas song? There are way too many to choose just one. Although, I really like the little drummer boy, always have.

19. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Stay at home. Too many snow storms, too many people with sickness, too many people driving their minivans slowly in the fast lane, and well, just too many people in general.

20. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Dancer, Dasher, Donnor, Blitzen, Prancer, Comet, Cupid ,Vixen, Rudolph...is that right?

21. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

22. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning

23. What is the one present you want most this year? Well, I want a new iPod that can hold all my music at once, instead of my having to sort through and only pick a few songs at a time, but those are too pricey, so just some CDs for my collection. And also, Alias seasons 4 & 5. I've asked my spouse for these for my birthday and Christmas the last 2 years and somehow they never materialize....if you see him, please remind him...ALIAS, seasons 4 & 5 :-)

24. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The materialistic commercials....Best Buy has a pretty horrible one right now where the family drives by Grandma's house, but doesn't stop because they want to go home and play with their stuff. Oh, I just hate that commercial. Do people actually think that's funny? I think it's hateful.

25. What I love most about Christmas? Ummm...almost everything. The music, the decorations, the clothes? The food. So fabulous.

Just FYI

When I went to take my pill this morning, I couldn't find the already cut 1/2 one and not being one to waste, I decided if the prescription calls for a whole, and I tried a half and did okay, why not go for the full one this time?
Well let me tell you, a whole Xanex is a bit much. I'm just finally coming out of the fog. I felt very happy, mind you, but more than just a little zoned. Er, I mean stoned. I can see how people like to take this stuff, although I'm not sure how they get much done will they're on it.
Come to think of it however, since I took the pill this morning, I have cleaned out a closet, done two loads of laundry and fed, diapered and played with a baby.
Imagine what I could have accomplished with all my faculties?

Better living through chemistry

I finally spoke with my neurologist around 7:00 last night. After going over the events of the weekend, how I've been unable to sleep, feeling like my heart is going to explode, feeling like I'm going to crawl out of my skin etc., he determined that instead of my having a bad reaction to the migraine medication as I thought I was, I might instead be dealing with some hormone imbalances brought on by the whole pregnancy, giving birth, weaning stuff., and might be dealing with anxiety instead. Not so much sitting here, anxiously stressing out about things, but rather, dealing with wackadoo chemicals causing my engine to rev, rev, rev, thus preventing sleep and/the ability to just sit comfortably.
So now I'm taking Zanex to see if we can't get me settled down. Last night, I took 1/2 a Zanex, waited two hours, and then took an Ambien, per my doctor's instructions. I'm happy to report that I slept all night; woke up this morning in the exact same position in which I had fallen asleep.
Today, I'm feeling all revved up again, so I'm about to take the other 1/2 of the Zanex and we'll see what happens. Hopefully this is just a temporary fix to get my body back on track, but at this point, I'm happy to do anything they tell me if it results in my feeling like myself again.
I have an appointment with my regular doctor on monday to get hormone and thyroid levels checked, just to make sure we've covered all our bases.
In the meantime, if the anti-anxiety meds help me start to calm down, then I go back on the Topamax (Migraine meds) because the last thing we need with all of this, is me getting another migraine.

Evie meets her cousins

it was all just a tease

I took the sleeping pill at 8:30 last night...fell asleep around 9:15-ish.
At approximately 1am, I awoke, to sit and stare at the ceiling for the remainder of the evening.
I know that in the grand scheme of things, I have a nice life, a nice house, a wonderful husband and daughter, and bombs are not going off over my head. In the grand scheme of things, not being able to sleep is pretty small. But in the last two weeks, I have slept only one night, it was two nights ago and it was a drug-induced sleep. This is taking a toll on my mental and emotional state. Now that Ambien isn't even working, I find myself very, very frustrated.
And for those of you keeping track, I'm still dizzy, and feel tremendous pressure coming from the back of my skull around my jaw to my eyes and nose.
But there's been enough of me down for the count, life has to go on, Bryan had to go back to work, so for me there's no more being sick. Back to the piles of laundry and dishes.

Home

We just got home from a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend spent in Wenatchee with family. Nancy put on a wonderful spread and we enjoyed a great time with an assortment of family members, including Sara and Joey from Spokane. Friday we went over to Grandma's for a roast beef dinner, our first family meal since they moved to the new house.
As of Friday night, I had gone 6 days without sleep, and was feeling a little grumpy as a result. Saturday morning, still suffering from sleep deprivation and drug side effects, I called the neruologist and pleaded for something else. The on-call doc took me off the new drug and prescribed a sleeping pill to get me through the weekend. I reluctantly took the sleeping pill and finally did get some shut eye. We returned home this evening, and I'll take one again tonight, to ensure at least two nights of sleep, before I call the doctor tomorrow to see about a new plan; this is certainly no way to live.

Evie can't get enough of Ragan

In a place far, far away

There are people who can sleep when they lay down. And can stand without a headache. And don't have evil thoughts of wanting to cause serious physical harm to their dogs who insist on howling every time a woodland creature has the audacity to scurry within 1 mile of the property.

No sleep

We went to the neurologist today. It has been over 48 hrs since Steph has slept. New drugs are a no-go, and we are back to the old kind she took before she was pregnant. These won't be started until tomorrow and the other drugs will have to be out of her system, but hopefully it will kick in soon and some relief will be found.

Look who can sit up in the high chair!

Time for some pictures...

Day three

I've made it three days on the new drug regime. Still very dizzy and sick to my stomach, I called the neurologist to ensure I'm on the right track. He confirmed my suspicion that it is the steroid that is responsible for most of my nasty feelings, but I will will benefit if I can just deal with it. Not to be one to be called a weak sister, I trod on. He did prescribe some pepcid for my stomach, which seems to have helped a tiny bit with the dry heaves. My head pain has begun to subside a bit as well, so I feel like things will start to improve as my doctor promises.
Bryan is now on vacation, so today he attacked the leaky kitchen ceiling, a project he has been meaning to tackle for 4 months now. We now have a 1' x 2' square hole in the center of our ceiling. I am told that a new gasket is the solution. I assume said gasket will be procured sometime this weekend.
Evie continues to adjust to the bottle, although yesterday was NOT fun. I'm not sure what happened, but she just didn't want any part of napping, and was up late into the night, so sleepy that her little eyes were swollen and red, but yet, she refused to sleep.
Today was a little better, but it is now 7:30, and she is in bed, so sleepy, we could not keep her up a minute longer. She is crying, but is fading fast. We are not looking forward to what this early bed time may mean in the very early morn., but this is the reality of being parents to an infant, I suppose.
I think I may just go to bed soon as well. If you can't beat them, join them, right?

48 Hours and counting...

Still feeling very much like crapola. I can't decide if the meds are making me worse or better, or not doing anything at all. My heart still pounds, my stomach still flips and my head still spins.
Thankfully, my husband is wonderful and works from home, so he is getting the parent of the month award, while I try my best just to stay vertical, without falling over and/or heaving all over everywhere. Last night, when I was laying on my side, puke bucket in hand, an all-too familiar feeling came wafting over me. When I got out of bed at 6am this morning, I took a precautionary pee on the stick; just in case. Thankfully, it is either the meds. or the migraine that is making me sick, not something else. Because we just don't need anything else to worry about at the moment.
Evie has decided that bottles are the way to go, and demands one every 2.50 3hrs. like clockwork. She loves being able to look around and hold on while she eats. She sucks down a minimum of 6 oz. per feeding and I'm wondering if the poor little cherub wasn't a bit hungry.
I spoke with my nurse at the OBGYN yesterday re: the milk situation, and she advised weaning with the pump, as opposed to a cold-turkey approach. This method is one I find much more friendly.
And that is the news today. If I still feel this crappy tomorrow, I'm calling the neurologist to demand something else.

I hate steroids in the springtime, I hate steroids in the fall...

So after the first 24 hours on the new meds., ( a combination of steroids and anti-seizure medication) I have had zero hours of sleep. I've enjoyed the alternating feeling of my heart racing out of my chest and stopping all together (not really, just feeling like it's going to), and the constant joy of dry heaves. I've been taking Zofran and chewing on Tums and I feel like absolute crap. Although he will never admit it, I suspect my husband is harboring longing thoughts of his single days right about now.

Thanks for your kind thoughts...any ideas on how to stop the milk?

Friends,
thanks for all your thoughts and prayers during this weird time for us. It is good to know during times such as these, that we are surrounded with a family of loving friends.
To all those moms out there who did nurse or who are nursing, I need your help. I can't nurse Evie anymore. Not now, not ever. The meds. I am on are meds. that will most likely be a something I will have to take for the duration of my life. Or at least until after menopause, since sometimes that alters the body chemistry. They are also very bad for baby.
subsequently, I had to stop feeding Evie cold turkey this weekend. She is doing much better now with the bottle, but I was "pumping and dumping," thinking the stop would only be temporary. It is not.
I'm curious if any of you have any advice as to how to do this? I don't want to pump and continue to make milk, but at the same time, I need to let out the pressure. Any ideas on the best way to go about this?
Thanks,
Steph

Update

Ok,
We went to the neurologist today. Diagnosed with severe migraine, Steph is now on a "cocktail" of three medications to try to stop the seizures and pain. She's actually on the same drugs that are prescribed for epilepsy; hopefully some relief will be found soon.
The doctor described what Steph has as a "neurological disorder," they are calling it migraine simply because there's no other word for it. Symptoms closer to epilepsy, the disorder Steph has is one where chemicals are released and begin to eat away at the lining of the brain, causing the lining to become inflamed. Left untreated, the lining becomes more and more inflamed leading to the irritation of the nerves subsequently causing severe pain, tremor and eventual seizure. Steph now has to take steroids for at least the next week to diminish the inflammation. She is also on an anti-convulsion meds indefinitely.
Because of the drugs she's on, Steph had to stop nursing Evie, not to begin again. This news was very traumatic for both Evie and Steph, but Evie has warmed up to the idea, now that she has realized that she can hold a bottle and look around at the same time.
It’s going to still take a while for Steph to feel better, but it seems we are at least on the right track.
Mike and Nancy will return home to Wenatchee this evening, and we are VERY thankful for their help these past days.

Still down.....

Stephanie has been having another rough day. We had a few episodes this morning but are currently stable. She had some weird reaction to Vicadin last night, but we did not catch it until this morning. Thank goodness for liquid Benadryl. However, we did get her appointment with the Neurologist moved up to 11:30 am tomorrow which hopefully will start to answer some questions and get us set on a better path.

Will update as more information is available.

Stephanie has lost computer privileges....

As you can see from the previous post, Steph has been on some serious medications. So here is a run down of the last few days.

Stephanie has not felt well since we returned from California 3 weeks ago. She has been to the Urgent Care who said she had a viral upper respirtory infection, but could not give her antibiotics because she was breastfeeding. Steph has had a headache since California.

Now lets look at this week. Thursday she was laying in bed and her legs started to tremor. This quickly moved to her arms and into the rest of her body. They would last for 30-60 seconds and we would have a few minutes in between. We managed to get her into the car and then Evelyn and accessories into the car. We were at Tacoma General for 6 hours after they gave her Delotted for headache pain that caused her to have a full blown seizure followed by Ativan, an anti-convulsion medicine which stopped the seizures. This same sequence happened a second time about two hours later. They sent her home an hour after the second full blown seizure and discharged here even though she started throwing up. There answer to this problem was some puke buckets and Zofrane.

Friday we went to Peninsula Family Medical who prescribed her a non-narcotic pain reliever that did not help at all. Mike and Nancy arrived on Friday evening a few hours before the next round of seizures started. Evelyn was asleep in bed (Mike and Nancy stayed with her) and Steph started having more seizures, which were worse than the first night. We consulted with Gig Harbor Urgent Care who recommended calling 9-1-1. We tried to get Steph up but could not make it out of bed, as she could not move her legs. So we called 9-1-1 and she went back to Tacoma General Emergency Room. We spent another 6 hours were they just gave her Ativan and did more blood work and a CT scan, all came back clean. Then they sent her back home.

We slept most of Saturday and had no seizures. Sunday came and her head was hurting so back that we made a trip to the Urgent Care so we could see if there was anything else that could be done. We went through the medications and they could only suggest Vicadin. Which brings us to the present. We are just trying to hold put until Wednesday when Steph has an appointment with Dr. Huddlestone, a Neurologist.

We will update as more happens. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Bryan

The Last two days

II ccan't really see straight, and the room is spinning, so plase forvie any and all spelling erros.
I have had a headache from these past few days. Thursday night, my headache progressed into some weird convulsions and Bryan rushed me to the hospital. Upon arrival, they gave me somethin to try to stop the convulsions, and instead I went into full-blown seizure. We ended up at the hospital all through the neight and returned hom around 6am, with no real answers.
We slept a few hours until noon, when I had a dr appt to meet with my GP. We arrived a few minutes late however, and the doc had already gone to lunch, so I saw a PA who was helpful. She gave me a new pain mediation for the haenous headache, and sent me home. I was to follow-up with my neurolgist, but they couldn't see m until next week.
Nancy and Mike drove over Friday afternoon to help us out, since I was completely out of it, and Bryan hadn't slept in 2 days. Shortly after they arrived, I started seizing again, only this time it was far more violent.
911 was called, and I was taken to the hospital via ambulance--a very embarassing
expere
ince. I was pretty out of it, however, so I don't really know what heppened next. All I know is that I'm back home againnnn, this time on anti-convulsent medication as well as pain meds. The room continues to spin, and Ihave no appetite, since I've been throwing up for the past 3 days.
Thank God for Nancy anc Mike who are helping with Evie. Bryan has gone to bed, who knows when he'll emerge.

Stop the Rocking, stop the rocking!

Ever have the feeling that you're trapped in a room that won't stop spinning? I am in that room today. I woke up feeling very nauseous, and the walls were moving. Or maybe I was moving. Not quite sure. All I know is that I am sitting here, fighting the urge to spew, and I am home alone, with a 4 month old. She is doing much better today, by the way. I had Bryan bring her to bed this am before he left for work, and she wanted none of that. So while I was laying on my side, trying desperately to keep my stomach inside my body, I did everything I could to entertain her. Today was the day she decided that being tickled is hilarious. I, in turn, decided that tickling her is hilarious, as she now has this great laugh deep from her belly, that when heard, makes my heart grow three times bigger.
We are now in the living room...she in her pack in play, kicking toys and making grunting noises, I on the couch, doing my impression of Meg Ryan in French Kiss, trying to keep from puking.
I bid you all a good day.

nablopomo

So I've already failed miserably. I'm an official member of nablpomo...aka national blog posting month. I'm supposed to blog every day for the month of november, but due to our trip to Spokane, I forgot to blog for several days.
I finally posted about our trip on Monday. And then yesterday, all I wrote was "don't forget to vote!"
wow...I need more material.

How about teething? Is that interesting to you people?

Evie is teething, and this morning was agony. Not like children starving in Africa agony, mind you. Just, my 4 month old won't stop screaming in pain, and there is nothing I can do to get her to settle down, agony. I rocked her. I walked her. She screamed and squirmed. I gave her a frozen teething ring. She flung it across the room. I have her a wet washcloth to suck on...she smacked it against my face and then flung it across the room. I laid her in her bed, she screamed violently until she was gasping for breath. I held her some more. She squirmed and smacked me in the face. I gave her Tylenol...she ate half and spit out the other half, resulting in bright pink stains all over the front of her clothes.

After 4 hours of crying, kvetching, arching and hitting, (Evie hitting me in the face, not the other way around) I finally got her down for a nap, I subsequently crashed myself. Slept so hard, I woke up with Portia laying next to me, her head on my lap...something that I would never allow if I were awake.

Of course, the napping only lasted an hour, and then back awake she was. She's been a little better this afternoon, but still, not a good time had by all.

Election Day

Don't forget to vote today!

Weekend Adventures

Since Bryan had to work the Seattle Auto show this weekend, Evie and I went to Spokane, via Wenatchee, so we could visit Auntie Sara, and Evie's cousin Skylend.
Leaving Thursday, we went to Wenatchee and visited Grandma Janet and Grandpa Dale. We then went to Nancy and Mike's to spend the night and enjoy a fabulous dinner. We then left Friday morning with Auntie Jonna and "Grandma" Nancy to go over to Spokaloo. We spent the afternoon at Auntie Sara's house, playing with Skylend and enjoying a Turkey dinner with all the trimmings. This was Auntie Sara's first turkey dinner, and it was delicious. Uncle Travis and Grandpa Wayne joined us for the festivities.
After dinner, we headed over to our hotel, where family-friend Carolyn Stuart stopped by, and met Evie for the first time.
Saturday morning, we got up and went to Lens Crafters, so I could get new prescription sunglasses, since mine broke and I can't drive without sunglasses, and I can't see without a prescription. We had lunch at Chilis and then headed back to Wenatchee. Sunday morning, Evie and I got up and headed back to the harbor.
It was a fun trip, but I'm pretty tuckered, since I drove three hours Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Evie is trying to get her schedule figured out, hopefully things will be back to normal soon.
While we were away, Bryan cleaned his office, which included the shredding and recycling of four boxes worth of old papers, etc. He also did some scouring of things (the bathtub, and sink) recently neglected by me, and painted the pine shelf in Evie's room so it now looks presentable. Thanks Bryan!