Surgery Day

Well eye surgery came and went, and we all survived. Here's the run-down...

Wednesday:
-Found out her surgery was at 10:00, much later than I expected! No breakfast would be a challenge! No solids after 1:00, no formula after 3:00 and no clear fluids after 7:00.
-I gave her a bottle when we got home from school, which I normally don't do.
-The three of us went to Target to roam around and she fell asleep.
-Stayed asleep until about 9:30ish and then we fed her dinner.
-Bedtime bottle and in bed around 10:15ish.

Thursday:
-Woke up around 6:30 and had some pedialyte.
-Left the house around 7:30 and found traffic to the Surgery Center. She slept the whole way; thank goodness! She did so much better than I thought she would with no breakfast!
-Checked in at 9:00.
-Walked around the center with Daddy and got an Elephant Beanie Baby.
-Went back around 9:30.
-Got prepped and changed into her gown and went back for surgery right at 10:00.
-By 10:20 she was back with us. She was SO hungry. It took a while for her to calm down, but she did eventually relax with Daddy.
-We were out of the Center by 11:00 and on our way home!

Once we got home, she ate a very big lunch and then napped for about 3 hours. She woke up just like her normal self! Her eye was a little swollen and had a little blood, but other than that it was great.

Now she is typical Keira! We have eye drops for a week, but her eye is clear! It is so nice to not have to fight with her every morning! I love that when she wakes up she can see with both eyes!

Here are a few pictures of the day of her surgery.

Waiting for the elevator.

Her very cute hospital gown! I wish I could have snuck it out of there!!

Right after she finished her bottle. Poor baby girl! Look at that swollen eye!

Relaxing with Daddy.

My Nannie

Have you ever had this feeling like someone is just all around you? There is no one there, but it just feels like they are there? Nannie would have said I'm crazy, but there are days that I think she is here; looking after us, watching us. There are days that the birds seem a little louder and the wind chimes are moving a little faster. The flowers a little brighter, like she's there. Even if it's just in my mind, I whisper I know she's there. And it makes me feel better. Peace of mind.

Today is one year since Nannie passed away. I wish Nannie could have met Keira and Keira met Nannie. I wish she could have felt Nannie's thumb rub on her hand like I did so many times and felt the comfort of knowing that Nannie was there. I think Nannie would have liked her. I really do.

I miss you everyday Nannie. I'm so afraid that I will forget the little things about you. The feeling of waking up at your house on a Saturday morning, you turning on the heater so we could all sit in front of it and warm up, decorating the house for Christmas, playing church with the juice glasses, playing rumikub, painting with water, making play-doh, going on long walks past the mailbox, making mudpies, picking wildflowers, going to the park, strawberry pie, chicken salad with bug juice, lettuce salad, crispies and hot cakes, mixing the sugar in the milk before you put in the cereal, being the dress model, singing in front of the tv like we were on stage, late night ice cream, popping popcorn in a pot, price is right, the hummers, nannie beans, the tire swing, long summer letters, my red haired girl, sitting with you in your chair and falling asleep.

If I love my family half as much as you loved us, they'll be blessed. You always put us first and loved us more than anything in the world. If there is anything that I hope I can pass on to Keira, I hope that is it. I love you Nannie.

What A Month!

Wow, things seem to be nonstop lately. Since Keira's 9 month well check on February 5th, we have NOT been on antibiotics for 2 days. Kiwi finished up her amoxicillin on Valentine's Day only to go back to the Dr on the 15th with a 102 fever. They ran tests, all that came back negative, and said that her ears had fluid in them, but it looked like healing fluid. Dr L told me to take her home, give her fluids and if she still had fever the next day to bring her back. So, we went home and waited. She had fever all night so we went back.

I was afraid of what tests they would run next; chest X-rays for pneumonia, or catheter for UTI. Thankfully (I guess), Dr L looked in her ears and her right ear was full of puss. So, new antibiotic. This time augmentin. Started the meds and within 36 hours, she was fever free!

Things were going great until this past Tuesday night (same day that I might add it SNOWED!! and bunches of it, well bunches of it for central Texas in February, ANYWAY....) when she woke up SCREAMING around 10:30ish. We went to get her out of bed to find that she had thrown up. Stephen got her out and went to give her a bath while I stripped down her bed. He ended up getting in the tub with her in his jammies because she was not having anything to do with sitting on her own. Very sad things to see and hear; I have found that I cry with my sweet girl when she hurts. We brought her back to bed with us and layered towels underneath us. Everytime she threw up, we ripped of a towel layer. Once she finally stopped throwing up around 2:00 ish, she tossed and turned. She ended up staying home with Stephen the next day, but did start to feel better. She still isn't eating as much as usual, but she is getting her appetite back!

Well just when we thought things were on the mend, Boy and I get the bug Thursday night. I now understand why she was screaming. It was awful, but it passed quickly thankfully. Now if only the cleaning fairy will come and finish scrubbing the germs out of my house!!

Keira has her eye surgery this Thursday. We still haven't been told when it will be on Thursday though. Hopefully early so that she has the rest of the day to relax at home. I just hope she isn't in too much pain. I can see some tears coming Thursday for me! After I take my day off for this, I will only have two sick days left for the rest of the year; March to June. They sure went quick, but after taking so many at the beginning of the year when we weren't in daycare yet, it does make sense that I would run out. Hopefully no one gets sick again or I'll be paying about $200 for each day I take. Nice right? I guess Stephen will just have to stay home with her if she gets sick and I just can't get sick! Do you hear that germs.... STAY AWAY!!!

It really will be a trying week. The emotions are already starting to get to me because of Kiwi's surgery, but this Friday also marks the One Year of Nannie passing away. I know that she will be with Keira that day, just like she is every other day. Thank goodness Nannie can hold her hand when I can't. That helps ease my fear.

Just some pictures

Nine Month Well-Check

Friday I took Keira to Dr. L for her 9 month well check. She seemed to be fine to me. She hasn't been eating as well and has been waking up before her normal time, but I contributed that to her being congested and coughing still. We got there and she was weighed and measured:

Weight: 16 pounds 7 ounces (10-25% and down one ounce from last week's RSV check)
Height: 27 inches (25-50%)
Head: 16 3/4 inches (10%)

Everything is still about the same percentile as her 6 month. She is just going to be petite and there is nothing wrong with that!

We went back to the room and spoke with Dr. L and told her the latest things she can do including the reduced eating and sleeping. So she looked in her ears. First one, yep infected. Second one, yep infected. Lovely! But with all the congestion in her nose and throat, it has to go somewhere! So she is on amoxicilin and tylenol now. Hopefully it does the trick and she is eating and sleeping better by Sunday. If not we will try another antibiotic. She slept well last night and had a great breakfast, we'll see about lunch!

Other than the ears she looks great! We will go back to Dr. L for her one year in May and she will get her one year vaccinations. It was nice not having to deal with that this time! :)

Hope you are all having a great weekend! We are planning on enjoying some Superbowl commercials tomorrow and laughing at Boy when he yells at the game. He really likes the Colts (and Peyton Manning... ha!). :)

Eye Doctor

We went to the eye doctor yesterday for Keira's gunky left eye. We knew it was a blocked tearduct, but now we have confirmation. After waiting over an hour total to see Dr. R, she came back and looked at Kiwi for about 5 minutes and then said surgery. The procedure is pretty simple. She will be sedated with gas. She will insert a very thin metal rod into the two holes leading to the tearduct in Keira's left eye and she will removed the blockage. After that she will flush it with saline and suck everything out through her nose. All in all it takes about 5 minutes.

The surgery will be at a facility next to Dell Children's on March 4th (her 10 month day). It is the same place that Boy Boy had his hernia surgery. Skister said that it is really nice. We will find out what time her appointment is the week of her surgery. They list all of the surgeries from youngest to oldest, so I'm sure we will be pretty early. We will get there an hour before and leave about an hour after.

The hardest part will be no breakfast!! Sweet girl loves her breakfast! Ugh! Well that and um... Kiwi having surgery! UGH!! No fun, but I'll be so glad when we are fighting every morning to get the gunk off of her eye and face. She really hates it and so do I!!

So be thinking of my sweet girl March 4th. And me too please! :)

100th Post!

And what a great one it is!! Since the beginning of the year, we have been busy learning and trying new things. Here's a little catch-up!

January 1st: Clapped to the song "If You're Happy and You Know It" on a toy from Uncle Kevin and when I sang it to her.




January 4th: Turned 8 Months Old. Went back to daycare after having two weeks off for Chritmas Break. She did great getting back into the routine.

January 6th: Said "dada".


January 7th: Trying really hard to pull up.

January 8th: Had her first ever pajama day at school.

January 9th: Scooting backwards all over the kitchen.




January 12th: Got her first Boo-Boo at school. Another baby was crawling and tried to grab Keira. She got scratched in the face and was NOT happy. Neither were Stephen and I, but we knew Boo-Boos would come sooner or later!


January 14th: Took Mandarin Oranges to school for snack. She loves to eat fruit and did a great job with them.



January 16th: Ate almost a whole Eggo for Breakfast. Took 2 crawl-steps to try to get Peanut. She got frustrated after two and quit.





January 18th: Crawled to her Paci! We were lucky enough to have both of us home when she did it, and Daddy even got it on camera. She is still a little wobbly and in the army crawl position, but I think it is ADORABLE!!

January 20th: Crawling around the living room and her bedroom.

January 22nd: Said "mama" and waved "hi" to Peanut when I said "Hi Peas!".

January 23rd: Woke up and found her monitor in the corner of her bed. She sat up all on her own and decided to play with it! Had a pancake for breakfast.



She will go to the Opthamologist for her tear duct on February 3rd at 10:00. We will see what the Doctor says. They may say that it just needs more time, or they may go other routes. We'll see. I just hope it clears up soon. I feel so bad fro her everytime she wakes up and her eye is crusted closed.





She will have her 9 month appointment on February 5th in the afternoon. I don't think she will get any shots, so we should just breeze through this one. I am anxious to see how much she has grown! :)





Other than that we are just busy with the usual! I am looking forward to spending Valentine's Day with my sweet girl. We are planning on having a nice dinner at the house and having a few small treats for Keira. It should be a fun day!