Hannah's 1st Easter Egg Hunt

I took Hannah to the library sponsored egg hunt two Thursdays ago (March 13th - 2 days after her 13th month mark). We even skipped our whole morning routine to get there on time so that she could attend it (because we were told by friends that it started and ended super quick). When we drove up, the main parking lot was full, so we parked farther away. As I was getting her out of the car, I saw a long line of kiddos & parents all heading to the field. In the rush of getting out of the car and over to the line, we lost one of Hannah's shoes en route. They had us line up around the perimeter of the field filled with eggs. These were the eggs right in front of us.


I placed her down on the ground (minus a shoe) and they started the egg hunt. She didn't want to go anywhere because she didn't have her other shoe.


She basically grabbed one egg and played around with it. I had to coax her to get more and helped her out. She was really content with one egg in her hand. Then she picked up another and she was content with the two eggs in her hand. While all of the kids around her had already run way into the field and were grabbing as many eggs as they could, she stayed put in her area and just looked at the eggs left around her. I helped her put a few more into her basket.



I only snapped a few photos of Hannah before the hunt was over. We walked back thru the parking lot and found her shoe next to our car. Then we headed to the library storytime with Mr. Kippy - where she continued to play with two eggs...and of course her usual wandering amongst the other kids & around the library aisles.

Screaming like crazy

Hannah's been doing this screaming thing. It's quite painful to the ear. Today we went out to run errands. She napped and we did the one parent in the car with her while the other ran into whatever store. She was sleeping until we got to Best Buy & then Home Depot. At both stores, she completely tried our patience and screamed.

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I never finished the post...but i'm going to go ahead and publish.

Hannah's Birth (February 2007) "Flashback Friday"

My water broke at 37 weeks of gestation on Friday morning around 9am, and it was green - not good. I just started leaking as got up in the morning & was walking through the apartment, I sorta flipped out. We got ready (I hadn't packed yet - it was on the to do list for that week. I hadn't expected baby Wiggles to come early - our nurse midwife had just left on vacation to Africa - and everyone had said 1st babies come late). My girlfriends Melissa, Kensie & Joy were great moral support! Melissa came to the house and helped us get ready.

So here's triage...we waited there for around 6 hours, waiting for a l&d room to open up. Isaac's parents came to stay & wait with us, so did Kensie (who was also my "doula") and Joy (who brought food & other support stuff). I was really grateful for the support. The nurse midwife on-call had to hand my case over to the OB on-call b/c my lab results came in from just the day before and I had severe pre-eclampsia. It was sorta scary for me b/c it was unexpected, but I also felt validated b/c I had been feeling super sick & people kept on saying "it's normal." It was an emotional time for me.

The birth plan was out the window in so many ways, but the doctor was really great about supporting many of my desires - the main one of not being get cut open. I mean I'd hoped for the best, and was prepared for the worst. So they started me on pitocin and we all hoped that things would progress - I think I was only at a 3. Two days before I was only at a 1 or 2. I wasn't even feeling that many contractions. Things weren't quite progressing as expected.


Here's the l&d room. They tried to make it seem "homey" - it wasn't bad. I got a hep lock and they were monitoring my blood pressure, which was sorta high, and of course the baby's heart beat. I did get to walk around just a tiny bit with the monitor, but then they confined me to the room.


Here's mom & dad G. They were so patient & supportive.



and Kensie... Michael & Noah came too. Kensie would go out periodically to nurse Noah... she herself had just done this 10 days earlier! Wow! What a trooper!

Joy was there too, but we didn't get a photo. She came for many hours but had to leave for little Curtis, since I was taking so long to progress.

Anyways...long labor story short...Ize was such a great support. He was with me the whole time, assisting. (I did hypnobirthing and it was great, but I was exhausted from a previous week of not much sleep, and many hours of labor and no sleep/rest. I was scared I wouldn't have energy to push the baby out and have to be cut open so I ended up getting an epidural at 4am. It helped to lower my blood pressure, too bad it didn't take well on the left side, and the thing came out of my back a few hours later...it all became timeless for me...I was pushing for a long time)

Saturday afternoon, two shift changes later, some 30+ hours later from when my water broke, baby Wiggles arrived! She was covered in meconium (good pooper since in the womb), and the team worked really effectively to suck all of the stuff out of her with these long tubes. Daddy watched and took care of her, while I was just absolutely exhausted. The magnesium they had me on made me feel super sick. The placenta was totally dark green, it'd been sitting in poop for awhile, and it got sent off for some tests. And there were more complications with me...BUT baby Wiggles was healthy (the name at this point was still under consideration - daddy had wanted Zena/Xena lol).





Daddy & Hannah...


My mom & Cristy were able to drive up that weekend. Cristy had to leave after a day, but mom was able to stay for two weeks and help take care of me.


Many more visitors came, and we were so glad to see them all - for their support and their love. It was great to have the support b/c postpartum recovery for me was oh so painful. Melissa came and took care of me. Ize was there the whole time, but he had to leave periodically also had school and such, so my mom & Ize took turns sleeping on a chair.



We were at the hospital for a few more days, and sometime in there baby Wiggles was named Hannah. I think it became official when I had to fill out and sign papers.


Hannah was discharged Valentine's day 2007. They'd been watching her and waiting for a bowel movement that never came. We packed her up in her bunny suit from Irma, and car seat from mom & dad G, and drove to Mustang on the icy roads. We were glad for the safe car that we bought for Hannah. Right before dinner at mom & dad G's, Hannah finally had her 1st out-of-womb bowel movement. She was officially healthy.

Alright...I'll post more photos...

as I look through old posts...I realized I haven't posted as many photos as I thought I did. A blog is much more interesting to read and look at when there are more photos attached, eh?! Which is funny b/c we have a TON of photos of Hannah... almost one of her everyday of her life, and every week we have photos of Hannah ever since her birth.
So now I'm going to work backwards...and try to post some things...
I'm going to skip the loading to photobucket step and just load onto blogger for simplicity's sake. I think that's why I don't post as many photos as I should. Funny, since I'm a visual person & I also love taking photos. I intend to post photos when I update the blog, but I haven't been that great at having a consistent workflow on pictures - meaning they don't always get downloaded from the camera until "later" - and then time passes and the photos don't get added.

I wanted this blog to be "All Things Hannah" and since I made a folder in our photo files of "All Things Hannah 2007" - I'll start there.

(yes and I'm up in the middle of the night b/c I coughed myself awake. I did get to "nap" from 10pm - 3am...and so I'm on the computer...what's new?)

Bathtime

Hannah loves to take a bath. She likes to play with the water & whatever toys she has - whether her duck, measuring cups, or empty plastic bottles. Her hair totally goes everywhere after towel drying it. These photos were from Tuesday's bathtime.




She refused to get out of the tub tonight/last night/Wednesday. She sat and played and chewed on her toothbrush. She would put her toothbrush in a measuring cup, take it out, stick it in her mouth. If it was the brush end, she'd try to brush/chew. She'd also flip it around and chew/suck on the other end. I tried to get her out a few times, and she'd do her ear-piercing scream that means she doesn't want to. I let her play in there for like 30 minutes after her bath was done.

When I finally got her out, she'd let out most of the water, and she was half-dry already, and her skin was a bit cold & clammy, but she was happy with her toothbrush. This was the 1st time I let her play with her toothbrush in the tub. Bad idea. Next time, we'll keep the toothbrushing to after bathing or before bathing but not while bathing.

It rained dirt last night.

I walked outside today and our car was covered...



Apparently it's from the fires in Mexico and the rains brought it on top of us.

These photos were taken at auntie Cristy's place this evening (of the car & of H. I don't know why I didn't get any of aunt Cristy). We are going to miss her - Hannah really enjoyed having her so close by. She'd play with Hannah, sing "head, shoulders, knees and toes," work with her on signs, and keep her happy & distracted when mommy was trying to do stuff (like clip Hannah's nails). Hannah would get super excited when she saw Cristy. And she would mimic Cristy's signs & she learned from her.

Hannah was making this chewing on the inside of her mouth expression. I'd never seen it before. This photo was with the point&shoot (all I had at the time)- too slow to capture the expression - it missed the moment, but you get the gist.



Here's Hannah going after aunt Cristy's white coat & stethescope.




And her nap earlier in the day. It was short since it was a "foreign bed"...we were there most of the afternoon & evening. helped Cristy pack, fold laundry, and load up the car...

FINALLY the 1-year check-up

Today was the fastest/quickest doctor's appointment at Dr. A's ever! the appointment was scheduled for 1:30pm. We got there about that time...and we left by 2:30pm! Hannah got in, she was quickly weighed & measured. She got 4 shots, got her finger pricked for a CBC, (at least it wasn't the taking of the arm blood-now that's a nightmare), she screamed and cried more than she ever has for shots, but then we were done. We were seen by the NP we like - she's thorough and sweet - even though we were hoping for Dr. A. Her allergy blood tests aren't back yet...we'll wait for that phone call. Hannah's stats: 23.0 lbs, 30in long, 18.5in head. Last few Dr's appts she's hovered around 22 lbs (22.3-22.8lbs).

We even got to go to our friends Carrie & Stanley's house. Hannah played with Stanley and we watched the movie Enchanted. Mommy's been wanting to see it forever (ever since seeing a scene being shot at Central Park in NYC - the summer that mommy was pregnant with Hannah & taking art classes & mommy would eat lunch near Columbus Circle). It was a fun movie to watch - Hannah napped through most of it.

The start of another week without daddy

Daddy's out of town again this week. It sort of feels like he was just gone but not really because that was a month ago right before we moved, when we were at the old place... now it's the 1st time daddy's been gone since we've lived at the new house. Mommy's a bit fried. This is the 1st time she's spent extensive time on the internet catching up since being at the new place (besides doing needed research & household items). Blog catching up, photo downloading... We need to post lots of photos. We have a lot of fun photos & videos mommy finally downloaded - about a month's worth on the point & shoot. That'll have to wait b/c mommy still has a lot of stuff on her to do list.

Hannah's been sleeping well, and last night she slept super well. I think she's finally adjusting to the new place. Her appetite has finally returned the past week and especially this weekend. She wasn't eating especially well since before the move. The sickness didn't help and neither did the allergic reaction. Yesterday she ate a ton of solid bite-sized pieces of food. I packed her full with 3 really solid meals. We've been really limited on the foods that she can eat though. No wheat, no corn, no eggs cuts out a LOT - including baby food that has corn starch as a thickener. No Cheerios, no breads and and most baked goods, basically quick foods or any processed foods. Last week she had Yo-Baby and loves it. We've been feeding almost one to her everyday. It's really great that she's been eating so well - even with the limitations! We've been feeding her foods I prepare: peas, carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, beans, soy, soy chips, oats/oatmeal, and other basic food items.

She's also had many bowel movements. Though I dunno if it's the antibiotic she's been on (10-day supply that ended on the 14th). She's been pooping almost after every meal...multiple
times a day - not the traditional once in the morning on the toilet. It's been a bunch and in the diaper. Sometimes solid, sometimes not. I'm glad we've been feeding her yogurt - need to replenish the flora in her system and get her regulated.

Friendly neighbors

We like our new neighbors in our cul-de-sac. Everyone is friendly and they are all great (the one's we've met)! Natalie, next door to us, has fed fed us dinner multiple times. Once the first week we moved in (the night daddy put Hannah's table & chairs together), she brought us dinner twice, and then Monday night she fed me & Hannah (since daddy's gone) and we hung out at their place.

Two Saturdays ago, when mommy & Hannah got locked out of the house, Shasta directly across street was super helpful. We had made a Wal-Mart run, and ended up getting locked out when daddy left for his work/volunteer/AICHE chemical car thing (b/c I didn't take my house keys with me). I put my frozen groceries in her freezer, and we used her internet to get daddy's location...and we went to find daddy for keys.

Hannah loves to play with the neighbor's kids. Natalie has 2 sons & a daughter that's about 5. Our other neighbor Stephanie has 2 girls, one around 5 and one about 2-1/2. All three older girls like Hannah and they all play together. Hannah wants to do what they're doing and follows them around.

Hannah especially likes Natalie's dog(s). Jenna is a huge dog, but very friendly & gentle. Hannah's always wanting to go next door, she does the dog sign (panting with tongue out) and points next door a lot. When we pass by, when we go outside, when we're getting home. Hannah also loves Natalie and has been wanting to be held by her. Nat's like a big kid - she's a ton of spunk, energy, and fun.

Severely Allergic to Peanut

We just got a phone call that the test (RAST) confirmed that Hannah's severely allergic to peanuts - really good that we didn't do the skin test. Her reaction was really truly an anaphylactic reaction. Her face got puffy and then the eczema wasn't "just eczema" (like that NP said...grrrrr). She was truly reacting to peanut! and just a tiny bit of pb. Good thing we have the Epi-pen - though it was a rather pricey prescription to fill.

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...And I guess she's 13 months this day...Happy 13 months Hannah!

Our Lowe's adventure

Daddy just spent over 5 hours at Lowe's. We met up with him & we (me & Hannah) spent around 3.5 hours at Lowe's. It was a huge shopping spree...for lots of needed items, from a garage door opener, a garbage can for curb trash, to blinds, and bathroom stuff. We spent a ton of $, but thanks to the Lowe's giftcard & the 10% moving discount, our out of pocket was manageable.

Since Hannah also tested positive for dust mite allergies today, we need to take precautions for that. The new house doesn't have any window treatments yet. We need to go as dust free as possible, and so we got faux wood blinds for her room. I was going to do curtains, but we're nixing that idea. We're going to make her room as dust mite free as possible (it is carpeted). We currently have a mattress cover for her bed, but it doesn't encase the whole thing with a zipper, it's just a pull-over, so we'll have to "upgrade" to a whole encased cover (which we debated getting when we bought the current one, but decided we didn't need it with a new mattress).

Our doctor adventures

more healthcare adventures...briefly...

So we've been to the doctor's office 4 times in 2 weeks, last week twice and this week twice. Last week's visits were "less effective" and a waste of co-pays. This weeks were much more effective and worth the co-pays.

Tuesday we visited the pediatrician, we actually met the doctor - Dr.A - at the pediatric practice! WOW a miracle! And we actually like him. We may drive to his other clinic in order to see him instead of getting a NP most of the time.

Today we visited the allergist/immunologist. And we like him too. We're very impressed with Dr. S. Hannah got a skin test. She tested positive for corn, wheat & eggs. So now we're doing to do the elimination diet. Fun fun fun for us! We didn't do the skin test for peanut, we're getting her blood tested for that, and getting the peanut RAST. I'm actually waiting right now in the car...waiting for Hannah to wake up so we can get her blood drawn. She fell asleep between the drive from the allergist's office to the children's hospital outpatient lab. (we're using the internet courtesy of aunt C's house/apt near Driscoll).

The elimination diet should be relatively easy for Hannah, but not so easy for me (since I'm breastfeeding her). This will be an adventure. There's corn, wheat & egg proteins in soooo much food that I like to eat! Almost all of it! I guess I'm going to go to "basic" ingredients - veggies, fruits, tubers, rice & meats and no wheat/corn grain- flour, processed foods or baked goods etc.

We also have to watch for trends and figure out if Hannah has asthma or not. So far there are warning signs and lots of red flags, but it's still in the works... so I guess I don't have to feel guilty for not giving her breathing treatments or the pulmicort from a few months ago.

And as of this moment, she is wheezing as she naps... they'd been asking me if she wheezes and I've been saying "not that I've noticed" or "I don't know" because I haven't been paying attention.

I'm going to have to use the blog as documentation of symptoms. I can't remember everything and I can't keep it all in my head - especially when days, weeks and months all run together in my mind.

Tooth #8

is coming in! It's on the bottom left (her left). It's just barely poking out of her gums.

She seems to be doing a bit better today. Her face and eyes aren't as red. She's still very congested, runny nose, cloudy - some clear, some cloudy, some greenish.

She's getting more used to the new house. And we're still in the process of getting settled in.

Daddy built her table and chairs that A-ma gave Hannah for her 1st b-day present. It's cute. She sat in it last night and drew on her magna-doodle. We all hung out with her last night in her room. It was fun. We played Flux (the card game) with Aunt Cristy & Uncle Neal.

Today we sat at it and drew on her magna doodle again. Hannah likes climbing on and off the little chairs.

the end of a long day...

It's been a long day, a long week, and a long move, but it is now over. But due to multiple stressors, changes, and lack of rest, we're ALL sick. Hannah is sick, I'm sick and daddy is sick. Of course Hannah was the first to be sick for awhile now. Then I started getting the runny nose at the end of last week, and by Friday, I had a fever & the aches, and now a really sore throat & cough. Daddy also has a sore throat and cough. We are all tired. Between caring for a sick child, packing, moving, cleaning the old place and getting it "spick & span" for our "sublettor," and trying to get settled into the new place, we're exhausted! Our bodies are just spent...and our immune systems are in overdrive.

This upcoming week includes Hannah's 1-year check-up AND an appointment with an allergist for her allergy test. We're going to find out exactly what our little girl is allergic to (hopefully) - I mean we basically can do a blood test and not much more. But at least we'll rule out some things. Already last week, we visited different doctors' offices and ruled out more preferences. The new family practice that I took her to didn't have the capacity to meet the needs of our little girl. So back to the old pediatric practice. This week we have her 1-year scheduled with Dr. A, so hopefully we'll really actually get to meet him this time! (try # 4). Either way, we know we have a good allergy specialist and so I'm looking forward to expert advice. We're still on the lookout for a good pediatrician that we *love* and that's not too far away.

This weekend, Cristy & Neal were also visiting. They had lots of fun with Hannah. She really enjoys the company and more people around. So we've now had our 1st overnight guests in the new house as of tonight. Yay!

Smooshed fingers...

We're still in the process of moving, actually now cleaning at the old apt. We had the back porch open and the front door open to let the breeze through and to air out the fumes from painting last night. I was in the kitchen cleaning when I heard Hannah scream and cry irrationally. I thought daddy was with her at the front door. I walked over there, saw that it was closed and heard Hannah outside of it. I then realized that the wind had shut the door on her hand, and so I quickly opened the door and sure enough, her hand had been holding onto the door frame on the hinge side. The door had shut on them, and she'd been screaming and crying in pain. Daddy was nowhere to be seen. I quickly picked her up and held her. Daddy then shortly returned. He had gone to take out the trash. When he had left he said that she was heading towards the back porch and so he didn't take Hannah with him outside. Though in experience it seemed like a long time, in real time, I think it all happened rather quickly.

We don't have internet at the new place...yet. So back here at the old place...updating the blog.