Socks: They're Not Just For Feet Anymore

Addy now has several pairs of "mittens" (a.k.a., "socks") because we're all tired of cleaning up vomit.  Today is the first day of wearing them and so far they're doing a good job of keeping her fingers out of the back of her throat, but we'll see how mad they make her.

Hand, hand, finger, thumb

Hands have become Addy's obsession lately.  Hers, yours, doesn't matter.  Hands are fascinating.  And tasty.  She always has one hand in her mouth and she's pretty sure that she can get the other one in there, too, and she loves watching you play Patty Cakes or sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" (only in her version, she eats the spider before he gets to the top of the water spout). 

So far it's been pretty convenient--it's not like her hands can suddenly fall on the floor when she stops sucking on them.  But it's also proving to be pretty messy since she has started tickling the back of her throat, which causes her to throw up.

Feet (and toes)

Addy's physical therapist wants her to work on playing with her feet (reaching for them, grabbing them, and even sucking on them).  So far this seems to rank only slightly higher than tummy time on the "List of Things Addy Likes to Do." It doesn't make her mad like tummy time does.  She just doesn't really seem to care that she has feet.

PT did caution me that another client of hers who has Spina Bifida accidentally used her toes for teething...

Not having the desired effect

Crib wedge, schmib wedge.  It doesn't seem to be keeping Addy comfortable during the night.  She has gone back to sleeping through the night again, but now it's a game as to what new and wacky place you'll find her in the morning.  Twice now she's gotten herself scooted 90 degrees from where I put her to bed and last night she had rotated herself 180 degrees around so that her feet were at the top of the incline instead of her head!

Growing up so fast!

Happy 1/3-of-a-year day, Addy!  According to the bathroom scale, she's approaching 15 pounds already.  It doesn't sound like much, but when you're trying to lift her (and the car seat) into the car, it feels like she weighs a lot more than that!

In shunt-healing news, Addy seems to be back to her old self again.  The stitches in her scalp incision are starting to dissolve and the ones on her tummy are all gone now.  They seem to have used super-duper strength betadine in the OR because I still haven't gotten all of that washed out of her scalp.  (Derek has apparently seen a different version of "South Pacific" than I have because he's been singing "Gotta wash betadine right outta my hair" to Addy during bath time.)

Advanced thumb sucking

We knew it was bound to happen with all of the fist sucking that Addy has been doing lately.  She has finally achieved honest-to-goodness thumb sucking!  It still involves the occasional scratch to the face (and it's often more thumb chewing than thumb sucking), but it's quite cute nonetheless.  The down side is that she usually swallows a lot of air when she's gnawing on her hands, so we have to try to burp her every so often, even when she isn't eating.

"Daylight Savings" Time

It's time for my annual rant about "Daylight Savings Time."  First, you're not actually saving daylight by setting your clock ahead by an hour.  The number of hours of daylight each day is a function of the Earth's orbit around the sun and not the arbitrary designation of when 8:00am happens to occur.  And it's not just that it has a stupid name.  The whole concept is stupid.  What good can possibly come from forcing everyone to adjust their schedules by an hour in the spring and fall?  If anything, you're decreasing productivity by disrupting everyone's sleep schedules.  And don't even try to make the "energy savings" argument.  That's just hooey.  There cannot possibly be enough of an impact on our energy usage to justify the time change.

But I digress.  This year's daylight savings time annoyance is extra special because it reminds me that babies do not understand clocks and they certainly do not understand daylight savings time.  On the other hand I guess if she's going to get up in the night it doesn't really matter what time she goes to bed, does it?

We had 3 big poopy diapers, 2 pee-throughs, and 1 vomit all before 9:30 this morning (which felt like 8:30 because of the time change).  Oh, the joys of parenthood.

The best of intentions

Since Miss Sunshine has had such a miserable couple of nights' worth of sleeping, I thought maybe she was having some acid reflux in the night or I just wasn't getting all of the burps out before I put her to bed.  So I went to the store and bought a crib wedge to help prop her up a little bit in her crib.  (Side note: the kid in the picture on the box has the scariest eyebrows I have ever seen!)

She's still getting up in the night, so it doesn't seem to be helping.  But tonight she actually woke up enough to eat at 1, so maybe she's waking up hungry and then falling asleep before we get any food going?  It's been a few weeks since we've spent 23 hours a day eating so she is due for another growth spurt.

Other than that, we still seem to have some tummy troubles.  I'm not sure if it's related to the shunt revision, or if it's due to her new obsession with sucking on her hands.  I think she sometimes chokes on a little bit of spit and then just empties her whole stomach once she starts to gag.  I should remember to go buy some shares in the company that makes Clorox Wipes.

Always knock on wood

Addy usually sleeps through the night fabulously and I've told everyone who asks about her awesome sleeping habits.  In bed between 8 and 10, doesn't get up until 6-6:30, doesn't wake up for anything.

Until last night.

Didn't go to bed until 11.  Woke up at 1 and fell back asleep pretty much as soon as I picked her up.  Woke up again at 3 and fell back asleep pretty much as soon as I picked her up.  Woke up at 4 and fell back asleep pretty much as soon as I picked her up.  (Have you figured out the pattern yet?)  That'll teach me.

Hungry Like Tiger, Sleepy Like Bear

Yesterday (Saturday) Addy was back to her sweet and smiley self.  Her appetite was back to it's usual voracious level and she spent less of the day sleeping.  I think it was probably just the long car ride home from Nashville that had her so worn out on Friday.  She seems to have that pattern after we've gone there for doctor's appointments.

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig

Addy was released from the hospital Thursday morning as expected.  She seems to have a bit of a headache, but the nausea (or at least the throwing up) is gone now.  Her discharge orders crack me up, though.  Under the "Activity" section it says:

"As tolerated; NO rough play or physical exercise for 6 weeks; no heavy lifting (> 5 lbs)"

Sounds to me like doctor's orders to not do tummy time!

Today was a very sleepy and not very hungry day.  I'm not sure I'd be at my best having had brain surgery 48 hours ago, but it's a little concerning none the less.  She seems to have perked up a little more since Daddy came home from work, though, so hopefully she's on the up swing again.

Shunt successfully revised

Addy's surgery went well this morning. She's working on slowly recovering in her hospital room now and with any luck she'll eventually forgive us for not feeding her since last night. From talking to the neurosurgeon, it sounds like there was a partial blockage in the tube that drains into her abdomen, so that has been replaced along with the valve. He always goes ahead and replaces it since it's the most likely thing to fail and adds another 10 seconds onto surgery time to swap out once he's in there to check everything out. Afterwards, he was much happier with how her soft spot felt than he had been prior to the surgery. So here's hoping this shunt will last a good bit longer than the last.

Hopefully I should have a few more new photos from her hospital visit uploaded later.