Milk???

Vanessa finally saw a doctor and he told her exactly what she wanted to hear. She should be drinking milk but in very small quantities. We're talking 1oz per 15 minutes and then working her way up to 2oz per 5 minutes. That did the trick. It has liquid and protein. She came home from the hospital at 3:30 in the morning and slept until 9 and was up for 45 minutes and drank a few oz of milk and fell back to sleep on my bed. Hailey and I snuck out and let her sleep until 1:30. She woke up a new girl. She drank the last 1/4 cup of milk and kept it down and had more with a few spoonfuls of oatmeal. (Her choice. Yuck!) She had some yogurt and homemade egg mcmuffins the rest of the day. Everything is staying inside and working for her. Fantastic! What a relief.

Hailey has been pretty good but today she needed more attention. I'm finding it hard not being able to take a break in the car or with a stroller since she likes to move all the time.

Tomorrow we're still going to hang low and maybe do some baking. Any suggestions? I need to go out and get whole wheat flour first or buy bread. Since Vanessa is doing better, I think I'll wait for the snow to melt and put her and Hailey in the Chariot and walk to the store. It would be nice after being cooped up for 3 days.

We got lots of snow today. I would say a good 5 cm stayed on the ground. I wasn't really bothered by it since I couldn't go out anyway. I had ordered some stuff online and I got two packages in the mail so it felt just like Christmas. Vanessa told me that Santa wasn't coming though. She did want to go out and make snow angels. Too bad she wasn't ready for that.

So I'm either brave, crazy or very generous. I've allowed Eric to go down to the boat in Florida for 4 days. It will be quite an adventure for Eric and he was really excited to go. He'll be helping my dad take the boat out of the water and close it for the summer. Vanessa's health is under control but she won't be going to school so we'll have to find things to do. Good thing the weather is improving so she can play in the backyard. That will be very helpful if I get gastro. Hopefully, Eric also stays clear of it. You couldn't pay me to risk having gastro on the boat. The toilet better be in top shape.

Wish me luck. I feel like a ticking time bomb waiting to find out who has gastro next. It could even be Hailey. I'm off to bed to get sleep while I can.

Things started slow this morning. Hailey sleeping while I tended to Vanessa who had gastro and hadn't kept any food down for almost 24 hours. She had some pedialyte frezies and some goldfish which she did throw up. If you think goldfish smell fresh you should try and them hydrated.

I'm very fortunate that Hailey just drank and slept all day. Vanessa was on the couch watching whatever was on. Vanessa did vomit on Hailey and I. I put the two of them in the bath and changed my clothes. I pulled Hailey out of the bath and she peed all over me through her towel. She hates baths so I dried her off and put her in a fleece sleeper to calm her. When Eric got home at 5:30, I went out to get supplies and have dinner. When I came back, Eric needed to go out to a viewing since a father of his friends had died. I had only been out an hour and Vanessa had declined. She was watching the news and really wasn't interested in anything. I gave her some tempra which normally she asks to have and I had to coax her to drink it which she promptly spewed.

I called info-sante and they made me realize that she was dehydrated and she needed to go to the emergency. While I was on the phone with them, I was nursing Hailey and Vanessa vomited. I tried to give Vanessa a bucket and Hailey fell of the couch onto the floor. Right at that moment I knew I couldn't do this on my own and called Eric to come home. I got Vanessa ready to go to the hospital at 8pm. When I explained we were going to the hospital, she asked if it was for Hailey.

Right now I'm waiting to hear from Eric as to what the doctor says. I'm thinking they'll give her an IV and hydrate her and send her home. No idea how long that will take.

I'll keep you posted.

Ups and downs

This picture was taken Saturday at the "Festival des Grenouilles". Eric got Vanessa at her best.

Hailey's a whole month old

Time flies when you're having fun. We're enjoying being a family of four. Vanessa is an angel when it comes to Hailey. She's very gentle with her and as patient as 3 year old can get.
One morning Eric went into Hailey's room to check on her. Vanessa and Hailey were in the rocking chair. Vanessa had pulled Hailey out of her cradle and was rocking her. We didn't hear a thing so she must have been gentle but we're going to have to watch Vanessa with that. That's the only time she's picked her up and when she helps she's very careful. She can't stop kissing her and she pulls out her hands to do Where is Thumbkin?

Vanessa has taken to telling me which side I should nurse on. She was even placing bets with Daddy as to which one. To bad it doesn't work that way. The other day she told me that she nurses when she's hungry and drinks from a bottle when she's thirsty. (from the pumping days) It's amazing how her brain works.

When Hailey was discharged from the hospital at 4 days old they heard a heart murmur. The doctor wasn't to concerned but had her pulse and blood pressure taken. On infants they take the blood pressure from each limb and take an average. They also have to start all over if they cry because it gives a fall reading. Hailey slept through the whole thing. The results were normal but they wanted her to be seen by a cardiologist.

We had an appointment for July but we got a call to see if we wanted to come in that afternoon. We accepted. I took Hailey in by myself while Eric stayed with Vanessa. They told is it would take 2 to 3 hours and usually you double it for an accurate time so I wasn't brave enough to bring her. She had an echo cardiogram and an ultrasound. The echo went fine but she didn't like the ultrasound. Mostly because it took longer. Since she doesn't take a suce and she's breastfed, I had no way of settling her. The technician gave her a bottle of water. It worked but later when we got home I nursed her and she had too much fluid and vomited everywhere. I had to change right down to my underwear. I'm very glad we were home. The appointment went smoothly and the staff was very good. The doctor spoke to me in English with his thick French accent. My French is ok but in medical terms it's rough. He's a specialist brought in monthly from the Montreal Children's. He wrote down his diagnosis of a partial mitral cleft which means she is fine right now and likely won't have any issues but we'll be going back in 6 months to look again.

When it was done, Vanessa was still sleeping so I took the bus home. It was starting rush hour and the buses were frequent. Hailey and I even did some grocery shopping on the way home.

Hailey had her first pediatrician appointment last week and it went well. She's putting on lots of weight and growing longer. She's in the 95 percentile for weight and off the charts in height. She is pretty strong. The other morning she lifted her head off the bed while on her stomach and looked the other way. She loves being on her tummy because it must feel nice with her gas. We're very lucky it doesn't keep her up.

Vanessa's got gasto again. She's having trouble keeping down ice tea and bread. She's been a trouper while watching lots of tv. We're going to try and have soup soon and see how that goes. We've been frequently washing our hands. We really don't want it to spread. It looks like we'll be staying home from school tomorrow.

Stubbornness causing pain

Nursing has been quite a challenge this time around. It was more stressful this time around because you know how good it can be. I figured Hailey could just continue where Vanessa left off.
I spent the first two weeks nursing Hailey across my stomach and it caused pain and bleeding. Hailey was thriving but I was definitely not. Last week-end I gave in and tried out the "football" position and it's a lot more work to settle in but once you are it's great for us. Except.... switching positions dramatically like that gave me mastitis. I had a mild case but it was brutal. One evening of the shivers and aches just like the flu. By next day I was almost over it.
Everything is pain free this today and things are looking good.

Vanessa loving Hailey

Vanessa and Hailey at bedtime with their matching PJs.

Fun in the sun

We've been doing very well. Hailey is happy being home and Vanessa is happy to have her here. Everyone is healthy for the first time in over a month. Hailey is taking after Vanessa and slept 8 hours straight last night. Eric got antsy and hat to check on her but she was fine. When she finally woke, up she was hungry and I was ready.
Wednesday was a really long day though. Vanessa is having trouble adjusting to all the excitement and attention. She hasn't had a schedual in a couple of weeks. This all adds up to no naps. She's refusing and we've tried almost everything. She's not ready give them up. There have been lots of meltdowns. (mostly hers)Hopefully we'll sort it all out when Eric goes back to work.
Wednesday I also hit a low point in breastfeeding Hailey. It was so painful I couldn't handle it. The nurse told me I was doing everything right which is nice but doesn't help me. We took a break for a day and tried again Thursday and everything is much better now. What a relief. I loved nursing Vanessa and didn't want to miss out on that with Hailey for both her and my sakes.
Today we're going for a walk on the mountain. We'll bring a pic-nic. Vanessa is pretty excited and I have to say I am too. Dressing in layers is the plan for today. It's suppose to go up to 23C. Eric and I are wearing zip-off pants and Vanessa has pants that roll up. Found the sun hat and have to find the sunscreen. Our winter white skin can't handle this all at once but it's so worth it.
Hope you get out and enjoy the sun. It's going to be a nice day across the country.