Natalie's Surgery

We just got home from Natalie's surgery. We had to be there this morning at 6:45am and the surgery was scheduled for 7:45. Last night she saw me getting some stuff ready and asked what they were for. I told her we had to go to the doctor this morning but she really did not understand. We did not really go into any details since this was right before bedtime and we did not want to upset her.

This morning she woke up at 6, right before we went up to get her. We had to take her earrings off and at that point she figured that this was not good. She never cried but she kept saying she did not want to go and that she wanted to eat breakfast.

At the hospital she did very well. This time it was at a pediatric surgery center so it was all made for kids, so they had tons of toys and more kid friendly. This definitely helped. It also helped keeping Izzie entertained.

When it was time for them to take her she went with the nurse, she took her blanket and Pi with her. She was wearing a gown and her pj pants and some sock slippers that they had given her. She was very brave and never cried. Surgery took 20 minutes and the doctor came back and said that everything went very well. She had some fluid behind her eardrum but it was not infected. Also the adenoids were covering about 50% of the space behind her nose so he said that it should definitely help with her breathing (although she does not snore) and also help with the fluid not accumulating. We had to wait another 20 minutes before they brought her outside.
When they brought her out she looked very sad and all confused. They had warned us that sometimes kids are crying and inconsolable. She was just dazed. She still had the IV on and wanted it off but we got her calmed down so she would mess with it.

At this point Izzie had enough so Aaron had to take her outside so she could play and be loud and not bother the other patients. I stayed with Natalie and read her some books while she drank some juice. She fell asleep on my lap (the pain medicine had kicked in). After about 20 minutes they told us we could go home.

She is feeling much better now. She is watching Mickey and eating some goldfish. We are glad that it is over and hopefully no more surgeries.

Natalie's 3rd Birthday

Today was Natalie's 3rd birthday. I can't believe she is already 3. Time is going by way too fast. On Saturday we had her birthday party. I was worried because I was afraid it was going to rain. It had not rained in about 6 weeks and of course now it was supposed to rain. In the end it did not rain on Saturday but it was chilly and cloudy. I did not mind since we could at least be outside and enjoy the bouncy house we had rented.

Saturday morning we were busy trying to get ready for the party. Natalie was all excited, she thought that her birthday was that day. We tried to explain to her that it was just her party but we are not sure she got it. I am afraid that tomorrow she is going to say it's her birthday. We will see.....

Around 10:30 am the bouncy house showed up and she was very excited when it was set up. She kept saying "Mommy come see MY bouncy house". I was worried what was going to happen on Sunday when they took it away so we had to keep reminding her that we were just borrowing it. Anyway we had things under control as far as party planning so we got to enjoy jumping around in the morning before lunch. Izzie could not jump but she was having fun walking and trying to not to fall. The dogs of course were all confused. Parker was trying to jump to be near us on the side and Abi was doing her best to stay away from all the noise and the big thing now occupying her yard. The girls took a nice nap and then the party started. All the kids had great fun playing in the bouncy house and in the sand tables in the backyard. They also played upstairs. We had about 10 kids so it was fun watching them all run around. Then it was time for burgers and hot dogs and then the pinata. It was now pretty chilly outside so we did the pinata inside, the kids had lots of fun picking all the stuff. Then it was time for cake and then to open presents. I was afraid that the kids would get bored but somehow it was now 7pm. Some of the kids left and some of our friends stayed so we enjoyed more playing in the bouncy house.

Natalie was exhausted at the end of the day. She had so much fun. On Sunday we were getting ready to go and jump but it was raining so we had to wait. We had the bouncy house until that afternoon so we wanted to take advantage of it while we could. It stopped raining and Aaron went to dry it off. We had been jumping for about 1/2 hour when Aaron decided to see how far we could jump. Well as you can probably guess he jumped a little too much and too close to Natalie. When he landed he sent Natalie flying and when she landed she hurt her knee and now was screaming and would not get up. So we had to get out and when she calmed down she could not stand. She kept complaining her knee hurt and would not put any weight on it. So I called the doctor and they gave me an appt so the doctor could check her out and maybe do an X-Ray. Luckily the pediatrician have Sunday office hours so we did not have to got to the Emergency Room. She did not want to go to the doctor but she did very well. The doctor examined her knee and her leg and said that it was just a mild sprain, nothing serious and no X-ray. On the downside she could not jump anymore and we still had the bouncy house at home! We felt bad that we were not able to enjoy it more, maybe next time.

This morning for her actual birthday we opened presents in the morning with Aaron and then Aaron went to work. Natalie started playing with all her new toys and then we went to the park to feed the ducks and play in the playground. We had playgroup in the afternoon and then after dinner there were more presents that had arrived during the day and the last round of cake!

She had so much fun on her birthday weekend. Now we have to wait until Oct for Izzie's birthday.

Now we are getting ready for the surgery on Wednesday, she has no idea what's coming. I just hope she is not too upset and it is over quick. I will post an update on her surgery on Wed afternoon.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

the bouncy house



Natalie & Izzie


Waiting on burgers & hot dogs


Pinata time






Time for cake








burning up some energy after cake






all her presents this morning




at the park Izzie was playing peekabo

Cooking

So this afternoon we stayed home. We did not have playgroup and the weather outside is pretty nasty. We have not had a drop of rain in over 3 weeks. Of course because Natalie's birthday party is on Saturday now it decided to rain. They were saying on the news that over the next 3 days we will have the most rainfall from one weather event since 2007. Just my luck. Sunday looks to be nice and the latest forecast are calling for 30% or 50% chance of rain on Saturday depending where you look. I am hoping they mean morning and it will be rain free for the afternoon.

So this afternoon we were home and Natalie said she was going to cook dinner. She was going to make chicken. So she wanted her apron on, which then meant that Izzie needed to have an apron on too. The girls were so cute "cooking" together. Natalie is getting more and more interested in her kitchen as she is doing more of the pretend play. Izzie just likes making a mess and playing with all the pretend food.

Here are some pictures














Natalie making some coffee


Izzie going grocery shopping






Coffee is ready.....

ENT Update

Just wanted to write a brief update on the follow up ENT appt. So last Friday I took Natalie for her hearing test. Natalie did not want to go but it was a easier this time since Aaron was home with Izzie. They did 2 tests, one was sounding this noise and she was supposed to look at the speaker that the noise was coming from and the other test they put a probe in the ear (not too far down) to measure how noise traveled given the fluid in the ear. She did ok, not great but no kicking and screaming and most importantly no throwing up.

We got the results earlier this week and she does have fluid in both ears and it is causing some hearing problems. So we have two options, one is to give her a round of steroids & antibiotics to see if that helped get the fluid out or put tubes in, again. At first I was thinking of doing the medicines, just to avoid another surgery but on second thought we decided on tubes. In the past she has been on antibiotics so many times, at one time she was on for an entire month straight and although they worked great to cure the infection and avoid infections it never got rid of the fluid. So we did not think the antibiotics would work and we were going to be in the same position in a few weeks.

Now since this is the third time putting tubes in the doctor wants to take her adenoids out too and instead of the regular tubes they are going to use this tubes called "T tubes". They last 3-4 years and then the doctor has to take them out, they don't fall out. The doctor can take them out, no need for surgery but they do need to sit very still (and not throw up....) so I am sure it will be a while before we take those out.

She is scheduled for surgery on March 18 and I guess because they are taking out the adenoids too they are doing the procedure this time at the pediatric center not the regular place like last year. I have not mentioned this to her, I don't think she will understand the whole surgery hospital thing. Hopefully this will be the last time she will need ear surgery.

Kite Festival

This morning we took the girls to Zilker Park in downtown Austin for the 81 st annual kite festival. We missed it last year so we have been looking forward to going this year. Earlier in the week I got two kites for the girls so that we could bring them with us. It was a little chilly this morning but it was a beautiful day with nice wind. We got there right before it started and got a good spot to put or chairs and blanket down. Natalie was cold at first but by the time we left she was kicking and screaming because she did not want to go. We brought sandwiches to have a picnic and eat there. They also had some bouncy houses so Natalie was able to go and jump. We flew our kites early in the mornig when we got there but then it too crowded so we could not but it was ok it was fun watching all the other kites. Izzie had a great time playing with the dirt and with everything we brought. We had to keep our eye on her because she liked to go to other people's blankets and go through their stuff. We wished we could have stayed longer but the girls needed to come home and nap. Maybe next year we can stay longer.

Aaron flying our pink fish kite





Izzie having a good time while eating her snack












view of the kites

ENT Appt

Just wanted to share my experience this morning at the ENT. Natalie had a follow up appointment today. Long story short last April she had her second set of tubes put in and in the 6 month checkup in Oct the tubes had already fallen out. She had not had an ear infection but she did have fluid in her ear and they attempted a hearing test. Key word "attempted".... she screamed so much that the test did not give accurate results. So the doctor said to wait it out and see what would happen during the winter months and to bring her back in Feb. So now it was time to do the follow up.

I was optimistic that she would do ok this time, since it has been a while since anyone messed with her ears and also a month ago she was very good for the pediatrician and she let the ped. check her ears and her throat and she never screamed. So I was hopeful. Yesterday I mentioned to her that we were going and she was ok with it and even told me she would not cry.

Well we get to the ENT's office and she starts crying. She did not want to get out of the car and wanted me to carry her. Which was a little difficult since I was already carrying Izzie. So she calmed down and we went inside. In the waiting room she was doing very well, an improvement from last time. We got called inside and she was still doing pretty well. She did not want to go but at least she was walking and was not screaming. Then the doctor walked in and pretty much hell broke lose. I was sitting with Natalie on the chair, Izzie is happy playing with my purse emptying out the contents of my wallet. The doctor was trying to look in her ears but she was screaming and kicking so hard it was hard to see. She has fluid but it was hard for him to see how much since she was so hysterical. Then the doctor wanted to look in her throat. She is screaming and starts gagging. Not sure if you know but Natalie has a very nice trick mastered which is that when she is really upset she can make herself throw up. So I realize she is about to throw up (as she is still on my lap and the doctor is right in front of us). So I put her on the floor and tell her to calm down that we were all done and to not throw up. I then go to open her sippy cup so she could have some water when she threw up all over herself and the floor. At least she did not throw up on me or the doctor. So the doctor leaves to get something to clean the mess and I started cleaning up the mess and to clean her off. At that moment Izzie starts crying. She is still sitting very good in the couch with my purse and my wallet. I think she is crying because Natalie was crying when I realize that she is holding on to the sippy cup of water. Apparently when I was getting it for Natalie I turned it and loosened it so Izzie finished opening it and spilled the entire sippy cup on herself. So she is sitting in a puddle of water. My purse, wallet and everything that was in my wallet is soaked. So I finish cleaning the floor so I could put Izzie on the floor and clean up the water mess. So now Natalie has vomit on her clothes and Izzie is soaking wet. The doctor comes back to this disaster and tells me Natalie will need another hearing test but that we don't have to do it today. Good thing because I don't think I would have been able to handle it.

So we leave the doctor. About 5 minutes after we leave Natalie informs me that she has to pee. So now I have to stop somewhere so she can pee.

We made it home in once piece but I am ready for their bedtime tonight. I guess I can settle for nap time for now.

The sad part is that I need to go back soon for her hearing test. Next time I will bring extra clothes for her and me and I will try to leave Izzie with Aaron.

Weekend Pictures

The weather has been very nice for the past couple of days so we have been enjoying it and spending time outside. Natalie is showing us how she can pedal in her tricycle. Izzie is just being her typical silly self.
here are some pictures






Natalie got tired and then Izzie wanted to ride but she needed Aaron to push her



Playing in the driveway







At the park feeding the ducks


Playing in the backyard wearing their new hats I got them in PR