Sunday, November 28, 2010
Swinging
Gwen decided to help me cook today. She got to sit in her swing and was perfectly content to watch me work on gourmet items such as taco meat and hamburger helper. Apparently unimpressed with my culinary skills, she decided to take a nap after a bit...
And here is her just starting to wake up:
And here is her just starting to wake up:
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Pediatrics
So. I've been putting off this post because thinking about it makes me annoyed.
But Gwen's been to see the doctor, by now, and everything seems fine, by the by. She's tiny, only in the 5% for weight and length, and something liek 10% for head.
Remember how I said there was a snaffu with the first pediactric appointment? It had to do with insurance and having the doctor we were planning on having Gwen see listed as her primary care physician--so we'd have to pay full for the visit to see Dr. J. We decided just to let it go, and see her actual PCP later that week.
So I called, made an appointment for "new patient, new baby for Dr. N" (the ACTUAL WORDS I said on the phone). Well, their computer was down or something, so they couldn't make an appointment for me that day, I'd need to call back in a few days. Ugh. Fine. Not a big deal.
I'd been talking to Dr. N's office for a couple of months, asking if I needed to do anything to prepare, etc etc. They always told me that there was nothing that needed to be done until she was born, etc.
So I called back in a few days, AGAIN saying "New patient, new baby appointment." Got an appointment.
We went to said appointment. Apparently the office had recently changed ownership so we had a bunch of new paper work to fill out, etc etc. We're waiting in the waiting room for about 30 min, when they call me up to the desk again. And that's where they tell me that Dr. N isn't taking new patients and ... how did I get an appointment? I must not have told them that she was a new patient. So sorry! :| They end up working me into another doctor at that office, which apparently is okay on my insurance.
Dr. H. is a nice enough man, and I don't doubt his competence as a doctor. But we had picked Dr. N, instead of getting a separate pediatrician, because she is PCP to both Luke and me. So it was because she'd be our "family doctor".
So now, a dilemma: Get a pediatrician? Or stick with Dr. H? Opinions?
Gwen also had her retinal recheck, nothing new to really report there. Continuing to monitor, recheck again in a few weeks. I bought her little baby sunglasses because she's getting her eyes dilated so often. >.>
But Gwen's been to see the doctor, by now, and everything seems fine, by the by. She's tiny, only in the 5% for weight and length, and something liek 10% for head.
Remember how I said there was a snaffu with the first pediactric appointment? It had to do with insurance and having the doctor we were planning on having Gwen see listed as her primary care physician--so we'd have to pay full for the visit to see Dr. J. We decided just to let it go, and see her actual PCP later that week.
So I called, made an appointment for "new patient, new baby for Dr. N" (the ACTUAL WORDS I said on the phone). Well, their computer was down or something, so they couldn't make an appointment for me that day, I'd need to call back in a few days. Ugh. Fine. Not a big deal.
I'd been talking to Dr. N's office for a couple of months, asking if I needed to do anything to prepare, etc etc. They always told me that there was nothing that needed to be done until she was born, etc.
So I called back in a few days, AGAIN saying "New patient, new baby appointment." Got an appointment.
We went to said appointment. Apparently the office had recently changed ownership so we had a bunch of new paper work to fill out, etc etc. We're waiting in the waiting room for about 30 min, when they call me up to the desk again. And that's where they tell me that Dr. N isn't taking new patients and ... how did I get an appointment? I must not have told them that she was a new patient. So sorry! :| They end up working me into another doctor at that office, which apparently is okay on my insurance.
Dr. H. is a nice enough man, and I don't doubt his competence as a doctor. But we had picked Dr. N, instead of getting a separate pediatrician, because she is PCP to both Luke and me. So it was because she'd be our "family doctor".
So now, a dilemma: Get a pediatrician? Or stick with Dr. H? Opinions?
Gwen also had her retinal recheck, nothing new to really report there. Continuing to monitor, recheck again in a few weeks. I bought her little baby sunglasses because she's getting her eyes dilated so often. >.>
Random videos
Some random clips. Again, probably of no interest other than for family. Move along, nothing to see here.
This is a lot of work...
I never did understand why my friends who had babies before me looked so haggard all the time. Feeding every 3 hours, then taking more than an hour to calm down enough to go back to sleep. To all the parents who came before me, I salute you.
And now for some random pics:
And now for some random pics:
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| She's been nomming on my shoulder a lot recently. |
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| Burrito baby is unhappy. |
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| This is Davina, who'll be taking care of Gwen during the day starting a week from Monday. |
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Jenni likes to laugh at me
So I'm feeding Gwen. She's sitting in my lap and just not eating all that well. Then I felt something. Some ... rumbling. Right where Gwen was sitting. So my initial reaction is "oh god!", my normal response to dealing with biological necessities. Then it happens again, and my response is "oh GOD!". Then again, with me saying "OH GOD!". Then I realize my phone is ringing. On vibrate. With Gwen sitting on it.
Jenni didn't stop laughing for quite awhile. She's mean to me that way.
Jenni didn't stop laughing for quite awhile. She's mean to me that way.
Time for an upgrade
This is our deep freeze. It was a wonderful gift from my sister and it has served us faithfully for 2 years.
However, as you may remember from this post, Jenn's having no problem keeping this child fed. However, we also need to eat as well, and our poor little freezer quickly ran out of room as soon as the main fridge's freezer filled up. So the solution is:
This monstrosity. Lowe's had Frigidaire appliances for 20% off and free delivery, so this is what we ended up with. However, looking at the inside...
The second-highest shelf and the bottommost basket thing are completely full of breast milk. And yes, Huggies boxes fit a bunch of storage bags very nicely.
However, as you may remember from this post, Jenn's having no problem keeping this child fed. However, we also need to eat as well, and our poor little freezer quickly ran out of room as soon as the main fridge's freezer filled up. So the solution is:
This monstrosity. Lowe's had Frigidaire appliances for 20% off and free delivery, so this is what we ended up with. However, looking at the inside...
The second-highest shelf and the bottommost basket thing are completely full of breast milk. And yes, Huggies boxes fit a bunch of storage bags very nicely.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The George
He's having more and more trouble getting around. This is him too tired to get up from the floor.
C is for...
cookie fangirl in the making!
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| I think this expression more accurately reflects Gwen's Cookie Monster attitude. She will learn. |
Friday, November 12, 2010
Time is the key...
... and it's something we seem to be quite short on of late. My coworkers are even screaming at me to update the blog. Names changed to protect the guilty:
(10:04:01 AM) <coworker>: Another status reminder: You need to update the Gwen blog!!!
(10:04:22 AM) <me>: I know, I know. Got some pics, but no time to update
(10:04:39 AM) <coworker>: Can you update from your phone?
(10:05:53 AM) <me>: In theory, but the pics are on a real camera.
(10:06:58 AM) <coworker>: We need to add a blog_gwen.c file to the <project> status spreadsheet, then you could just do it at work.
(10:08:42 AM) <me>: add it, see what <the boss> thinks
Can you tell I'm an engineer from this exchange? And yes, this is engineer humor for you. Who says we're not fun and lighthearted people?
(10:04:01 AM) <coworker>: Another status reminder: You need to update the Gwen blog!!!
(10:04:22 AM) <me>: I know, I know. Got some pics, but no time to update
(10:04:39 AM) <coworker>: Can you update from your phone?
(10:05:53 AM) <me>: In theory, but the pics are on a real camera.
(10:06:58 AM) <coworker>: We need to add a blog_gwen.c file to the <project> status spreadsheet, then you could just do it at work.
(10:08:42 AM) <me>: add it, see what <the boss> thinks
Can you tell I'm an engineer from this exchange? And yes, this is engineer humor for you. Who says we're not fun and lighthearted people?
Sunday, November 7, 2010
No new details!
Well, we were supposed to go to the pediatrician on Thursday, but due to some snags with insurance and such, Gwen and I got all the way to the office and did not get to see Dr. J. Or rather, we didn't want to spend the $100 it would be to see Dr. J because he wasn't listed as Gwen's primary care physician anymore.
So we tried to make an appt soon with the doctor who will be her primary care, but their system was down so they couldn't take appointments.
I hope we're not throwing off her immunization schedule. :\ I will try to get an appt with the doctor on Monday, but who knows when it will be. If worst comes to worst, I have rescheduled with Dr. J for next week, but we'll need to change Gwen's PCP temporarily to Dr. J. Which Luke has to do at work, in human resources for some reason.
So we tried to make an appt soon with the doctor who will be her primary care, but their system was down so they couldn't take appointments.
I hope we're not throwing off her immunization schedule. :\ I will try to get an appt with the doctor on Monday, but who knows when it will be. If worst comes to worst, I have rescheduled with Dr. J for next week, but we'll need to change Gwen's PCP temporarily to Dr. J. Which Luke has to do at work, in human resources for some reason.
An outing
Gwen and I went to a friend's baby shower yesterday; my first outing with her. Jenni wanted to come too, but I made her stay home to get some much-needed sleep. She's (Gwen, not Jenni) turning into quite the social butterfly it seems. Besides two very short naps, she was awake and happy for three hours before going into total meltdown. Poor Gwen.
There are more pictures, but these are the ones that had Gwen in them.
There are more pictures, but these are the ones that had Gwen in them.
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| April |
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| Andy, the new father-to-be |
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| Holly |
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| Dave. This is when Gwen lost it and we went home. If I was being held by somebody this scary looking, I'd probably scream bloody murder as well. :) |
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| Janice, the new mother-to-be |
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| Laura |
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| Andy's holding Gwen. He put her to sleep. He claims he's always had that ability with women. |
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Eye stuff
So Gwen and I had an outing to the retinal specialist this morning!
So far our outings to various doctors have been going very well. Tomorrow she has a follow up with the pediatrician she saw for her hospital stay. It will be nice to see Dr. J again, he's very sweet and was good to us--apparently, according to all the nurses, he has *terrible* handwriting, even for a doctor. I don't know how many times I heard the NICU nurses conferring with other nurses about "What do you think this says?" This makes me chuckle. One of those small details that make a person stick in your mind.
But anyway. Today's visit was relieving for me. The retinal specialist, Dr. D, was *very* nice. He is fairly certain she was *not* 38weeks at birth, but more like 34. He thinks she looks 38weeks now based on her retinal development. This age estimate correlates pretty well with what some of the other doctors and nurses kind of felt, as well. I think I tend to believe it, too. All the problems she had with eating and such go along pretty well with premature birth at around 34 weeks.
The eye exam itself seemed not to worry him too much--he felt like it was likely still the benign retinal hemorrhages of newborns, and the blood in her vitreous was most likely just the breakdown of the bleeding that was previously on her retina.
He says she's not out of the woods yet, apparently infant eyes scar much easier than adult eyes, so we'll be going back for fairly frequent rechecks for awhile. Poor kid will have had her eyes dilated so often! He thinks all this is not something we should be *worrying* about, just keeping an eye on. He thought it was probably progressing pretty well.
Thank goodness! That's a big relief off my back.
So far our outings to various doctors have been going very well. Tomorrow she has a follow up with the pediatrician she saw for her hospital stay. It will be nice to see Dr. J again, he's very sweet and was good to us--apparently, according to all the nurses, he has *terrible* handwriting, even for a doctor. I don't know how many times I heard the NICU nurses conferring with other nurses about "What do you think this says?" This makes me chuckle. One of those small details that make a person stick in your mind.
But anyway. Today's visit was relieving for me. The retinal specialist, Dr. D, was *very* nice. He is fairly certain she was *not* 38weeks at birth, but more like 34. He thinks she looks 38weeks now based on her retinal development. This age estimate correlates pretty well with what some of the other doctors and nurses kind of felt, as well. I think I tend to believe it, too. All the problems she had with eating and such go along pretty well with premature birth at around 34 weeks.
The eye exam itself seemed not to worry him too much--he felt like it was likely still the benign retinal hemorrhages of newborns, and the blood in her vitreous was most likely just the breakdown of the bleeding that was previously on her retina.
He says she's not out of the woods yet, apparently infant eyes scar much easier than adult eyes, so we'll be going back for fairly frequent rechecks for awhile. Poor kid will have had her eyes dilated so often! He thinks all this is not something we should be *worrying* about, just keeping an eye on. He thought it was probably progressing pretty well.
Thank goodness! That's a big relief off my back.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
1 Month Old!
Little Gwen's 4 weeks old today. Not really anything exciting going on other than that. Have to include at least one picture to keep the masses happy though.
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| I DON'T WANT TO SWING NOW! |
Monday, November 1, 2010
Well drat!
Gwen had her recheck appointment with the pediatric ophthalmologist this morning, and it wasn't the news everyone (including the doctor!) thought it would be.
After her last recheck the hemorrhages on her retina were clearing up and the doctor was very pleased with Gwen's progress. But today there were some hemorrhages she felt were new, and some in the vitreous now. Nothing that seems to be affecting her vision at this point, but those vitreous hemorrhages could if they move into the wrong places, and clearly we don't want retinal hemorrhages. Everyone thought her hemorrhages would be clearing up, so this was a little shocking.
The ophthalmologist wants us to see a retinal specialist, so we're off to that on Wednesday morning. We'll see how it goes! Right now, we don't really know what's causing these, so I don't have any more real information. We'll see what the specialist says.
After her last recheck the hemorrhages on her retina were clearing up and the doctor was very pleased with Gwen's progress. But today there were some hemorrhages she felt were new, and some in the vitreous now. Nothing that seems to be affecting her vision at this point, but those vitreous hemorrhages could if they move into the wrong places, and clearly we don't want retinal hemorrhages. Everyone thought her hemorrhages would be clearing up, so this was a little shocking.
The ophthalmologist wants us to see a retinal specialist, so we're off to that on Wednesday morning. We'll see how it goes! Right now, we don't really know what's causing these, so I don't have any more real information. We'll see what the specialist says.
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