School days = puke days?

Lacey started her 3rd day of school today and barfed at school for the second time. The first time she only threw up on her sleeve. Today she threw up on her shoes AND the aides shoes. If she ever reads this blog, I am REALLY REALLY sorry. What's better than walking around with a random child's puke on your feet all day? What? Pretty much anything? Oh. I guess Lacey missed that memo. We tried doing the bus but she held onto the door and screamed bloody murder while we tried to get her on so that's a no go. I don't even understand what the deal is. She enjoys school once she's there. The getting her there though....not my favorite. Maybe I'll just wrap her in plastic and give the teachers splash guards tomorrow.... At least she's cute. Don't let the smile fool you. This was seconds before the bus came and the terror began.

Parenting Fail

I'd like to think that every parent has at LEAST 1 incident where they question their credibility as a parent PER child. I've reached that point with Violet already. She's going through this really fun phase where she likes to take things out of the garbage and also throw things in the toilet. My parenting fail involves a little of both. Violet threw my toothbrush in the toilet. Gross. I'm now just hoping that it was the first time and it hadn't been repeatedly fished out by her. I'm pretty sure it was. I'm just going to keep telling myself that. I found it, got it out and threw it away. The next day, Jake was holding Rigby and I was in another room. I noticed when I came back that Violet was in the bathroom. For whatever reason, I didn't immediately go get her out. When I did I kind of wanted to vomit. Not only had she pulled my toothbrush out of the garbage and was brushing her teeth but she was using the toilet to dip it in!!! I'm not sure why I want to admit this to anyone who might read it. Take it as a warning. If left unattended, your child WILL brush their teeth with toilet water. At least whoever was in their previously remembered to flush.......

Blog Fart

I feel like I need something super important or super hilarious in order to blog. Then sometimes I'll crack up because Violet was dancing along to the radio in the middle of the grocery store and I think, I don't ever want to forget about how cute she is! Especially when she's acting like she might be possessed by Satan. Can I say that about my toddler??? The girls are enjoying their last few weeks of summer before school starts again. We did some school shopping today. Hailey is slowly (very slowly) venturing past t-shirts and choosing tops. I'm trying to convince her she needs a pair of flats but that might just be too much all at once! Lacey on the other hand wants to buy anything that has a sparkle even if the sparkle came from the shirt hanging next to it. Today I tried to get her to choose between 2 shirts. She was so torn between the 2, she actually started to cry. This girl knows what she's doing because I, of course bought both. I am such a sucker! Violet got a stuffed pig out of the deal. Rigby slept through the whole ordeal. I think he found his sisters exhausting! We ended our shopping trip with a trip to a new playground. Maybe I'll have something hilarious to write about tomorrow. I'll just go back to laughing at characters from my daughter's Disney shows. Oh that Dez.....

The Story of Rigby

This post is probably going to be long and kind of boring but I want to remember everything so someday I can tell Rigby all about how he scared his parents! When I was pregnant with Rigby, my blood started testing positive for 3 different antibodies. (I'm Rh negative and took the rhogam shot but it wasn't enough) They kept a really close eye on him with ultrasounds and nst's and as far as we knew everything was just fine. They decided to send me to a maternal fetal specialist just to be safe when I was about 38 weeks. I thought it seemed silly since I was so close to the end but we went. The Dr looked at the baby and my lab work and told us everything was great. We left and got a call a few hours later telling me to go to the hospital for more testing. When I got there MY ob told me the mfs wanted me to deliver before the week was over. This was confusing since he just told us everything was fine but I was huge and uncomfortable and not about to complain. 2 days later on May 24th, Rigby Pierce was born. He was another 9 pound 1 ounce baby just like his big sister Lacey! His birth was uneventful. I went in, they broke my water, I got my epidural and had a baby in less than 2 pushes. Don't hate me. It only hurt right before I had to push. I felt like my hips were going to explode but besides that, it was smoothe sailing! We called everyone and gave them the exciting news that the Smathers family now had a son! It was hard to wait but so exciting to have that moment when he was born! My mom of course left work early and came to meet him. Nate, Mel, Griff, Marlee and the girls came later and everyone got to hold and love on him. All was well. That night when the nurse came to check his weight she noticed he looked a little yellow. We knew jaundice was a possibility because of the antibodies but I never really saw it as a serious thing. I just thought you put them under some lights for a day, call it good and go home.Here are some of the risks of jaundice. Acute bilirubin encephalopathy Bilirubin is toxic to cells of the brain. If a baby has severe jaundice, there's a risk of bilirubin passing into the brain, a condition called acute bilirubin encephalopathy. Prompt treatment may prevent significant permanent damage. Kernicterus Kernicterus is the syndrome that occurs if acute bilirubin encephalopathy causes permanent damage to the brain. Kernicterus may result in: Involuntary and uncontrolled movements (athetoid cerebral palsy) Permanent upward gaze Hearing loss Intellectual impairment Also severe anemia because the antibodies that passed into his body are breaking down his blood too fast. Who knew right? Rigby's jaundice was so bad though that he needed 2 iv infusions of Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg). Jaundice may be related to blood type differences between mother and baby. This condition results in the baby carrying antibodies from the mother that contribute to the breakdown of blood cells in the baby. Intravenous transfusion of immunoglobulin, a blood protein that can reduce levels of antibodies, may decrease jaundice and lessen the need for an exchange blood transfusion. They even considered Exchange blood transfusion. Rarely, when severe jaundice doesn't respond to other treatments, a baby may need an exchange transfusion of blood. This involves repeatedly withdrawing small amounts of blood, diluting the bilirubin and maternal antibodies, and then transferring blood back into the baby — a procedure that's performed in a newborn intensive care unit. Luckily that didn't happen. I was not a fan of reading stroke and death as the risks!) I was able to stay in the hospital with him. I wouldn't have left if they wanted me to. Luckily Nate and Mel took care of the girls while I stayed. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I felt guilty for complaining when there were preemies that had already been there for a month! I have to say though. A week in the nicu feels like an eternity. I stayed in a room with no tv and no bathroom and I was only allowed to hold Rigby to feed him. It is so so hard to not hold and snuggle your newborn baby! Every now and then I would get a nurse that would give me an extra 10 minutes and then I'd get a devil nurse who made me feel like I was in the way when i wanted to sit next to my baby. After a week his numbers were finally low enough for us to go home. Yay! He was still pretty yellow but no longer in danger so to speak. For the next week and a half we just enjoyed having him home. Before we left the hospital, the neonatologist told me to watch his lips. If they were pale, he needed to have a cbc (blood count) to make sure he wasn't anemic. Anemia is very common with his type of jaundice which was not newborn or breastfeeding jaundice. People didn't seem to get that it was caused by antibodies so couldn't be treated the same ways. I always looked at his lips and they were getting pretty pale. He was SUPER yellow so I kind of thought it was just the jaundice. I made an appointment and asked the dr to do a cbc. We went over to nathan Littauer Hospital and his blood count was so low they thought they had made a mistake. His jaundice levels however weren't that bad. He was so yellow because he didn't have any blood in him. He only had 10% of his red blood cells where a healthy baby has closer to 40%. The Dr told me to take him right to Albany Med then called back and told me to stay at the emergency room and they would come get him. (This is all happening on Lacey's 6th birthday! Poor girl!) While we were there, the Dr told the nurses they had one chance to get an iv in. They didn't want to put him under any stress whatsoever because they were afraid that he could have heart failure from his lack of blood. They were amazed that he was doing as well as he was but the dr kept saying that that could change at any moment. Thanks for that! When the ambulance got there, they had sent the head nurse and a respiratory therapist. She couldn't get the iv either so I had to sign consent for them to do surgery to get an iv in if it was necessary once they got to Albany med. They packed him in his little portable incubator looking thing and I had to watch my baby drive away complete with lights and sirens. I met Jake at Nate and Mel's, apologized a million times to Lacey and we were on our way. By the time we got there, he was already on his first transfusion (He got 2) An amazing nurse named Lee (who was also very entertaining) was able to get the iv in so no surgery! The next morning he looked like a different baby. We hadn't seen him pink since he was first born! We had to stay 2 nights just to be sure his blood count stayed at a good level and then we went home! He's been following up with a hematologist but his numbers have been good ever since. Now we just sit home and adore him! Like I said, it's pretty long and boring but I wanted to keep a record. Maybe my next post will be more exciting!

Coxsackie (aka hand foot and mouth disease)

Seriously...AWFUL! Violet and Lacey BOTH got it and it has been terrible. High fevers, blisters in their throats, the sudden inability to sleep for more than 1/2 an hour. No fun at all! Violet has been on my hip all weel long which is fine. I love holding my baby but when they're also screaming in your face for the entire day, it's emotionally draining. It makes me feel completely useles as a mom when I can't do anything to comfort her. Her fever was scaring us enough that we took a trip to urgent care where she screamed...the entire time. However, even with all that screaming, everyone still couldn't help but tell us how adorable she is. I'd post a picture of her adorableness but stupid blogger isn't letting me. (Sorry blogger. I'm taking my coxsackie frustrations out on you. I'm sure you're very smart)Lacey has had a double ear infection that her antibiotics don't seem to be touching on top of everything. This week we get to take a trip to an ear, nose and throat specialist. Our Dr made an appointment for me and then I went home and made my own with a pediatric ent. She's been kind of freakish about going to the dr's since her shots so the better they are with kids, the easier my life will be. I'm anxious for the week to be over so coxsackie virus can kiss my hand foot and mouth....maybe not the mouth.

Blog much?

I sure don't. I'm going to skip all the junk I write about resolving to blog more because in all honesty, it will probably be another 6 months. My biggest reason for not blogging? This girl!

She really does bite with her 2 bottom teeth!!!! Violet is almost 8 months old! She is a diva. She is not ok with being put down and heaven forbid you walk in a room and don't instantly acknowledge her (which we usually do because I mean, look at the cuteness!) She's eating "foods" now. Her favorite was avacados but now she likes anything that tastes like a banana. She LOVES her big sisters and they always get the best giggles out of her.

Lacey is 5 and going into kindergarden!!! She is going through this really awesome phase where she never wants me out of her sight and won't go to bed without me or jake in the room with her. I started a reward chart for things like going to bed like a big girl and that seems to be helping. She loves Violet so much. She gets so upset with me when I don't let her carry Violet around the house. She's not quite big enough for that yet!

She had the coolest circus party! Check out her cake!

I stole the idea from a friend. I'm not nearly that clever. All right, onto THIS girl

Someday she'll love me for using that picture I'm sure. Hails is going into (pause....deep breath) MIDDLE SCHOOL!!! How is this even possible? I don't tell her but I am so nervous!!!! It seems like middle school is when the kids really start splitting off into their groups and alliances are formed and it just gets ugly. I don't want her to ever be bullied or feel left out or be the one doing that to anybody else. It is stressful!!!! Hailey is SUCH a big help. If I need to do something crazy like for example, take a shower, Violet goes right to her. She is excellent with her. I'm still suprised at how much she loves her. I thought she'd be like "oh great, another one" Maybe they have a special birthday bond being only a day apart. That's the scoop lately. I know there's more but let's not get too crazy with this blogging thing. Ha. I just wrote thong and had to correct it. I don't have a blogging thong. That would just be weird.

my kids are funny

we have been working really hard on letter recognition with lacey. Yesterday we built a giant 26 square hop scotch so she could fill in all the letters. After she wrote the k, she said, "it looks like a man peeing" I guess she's too big to go into the men's room with Jake now. What do dads with little girls do when they're out by themselves? They need more family rooms....or stalls around urinals. I think men peeing next to each other with no barrier is weird. Anyway....lacey's also been waking up with bad dreams on almost a daily basis. Last night it was a monster with a gun. She came to our room and Jake brought her back to her room and turned on a movie. When he told her she needed to try to go back to sleep, she said in her adorably pathetic quivering lip voice, "but when I sleep, they come back" how awful is that? I guess more family prayer is in order because we have been slackers! Other than that, life is uneventful. Violet is getting bigger everyday even though I tell her EVERY night that she needs to stop growing so fast. Hails is doing awesome at school and has her first I can't stop thinking about him crush. Shoot me now! She's only 11! Lacey loves school. They're considering making kindergarten a half day next year and I really hope they don't. She's so social and she needs that stimulation otherwise she'll just be home talking....and talking....and talking.............. 4 year olds never stop talking!