Violet's appointment with the cardiologist

Today was a traumatic day for Violet. She had her EKG scheduled at 11:30 this morning so the doc could get a better idea whats going on with her heart. Before I go into it, I'll say that the results were outstanding. She only has a minor innocent heart murmur that poses no threat to her health or physical activity!! Praise God! I'm so happy! So, we left our house around 10:45. I got to the hospital check-in window promptly at 11:15 so I could spend some time filling out paperwork. I think I filled out 3 forms and then later they found that I missed one so I had to fill out another one. The information they need is incredible! Violet was happy as can be, waving and smiling at people. She sat in her stoller and played with some animal stickers while we waited. We were then called to come back, so I left the stroller in the waiting room while we went back to the doctor's rooms. The nurse talked to me a little bit and explained what was going to happen. She said an EKG is a very simple and quick test....the most time consuming part is hooking her up to the machine with all the stickers and everything. The moment the two nurses came in with the machine on wheels was the moment she got a sour face and started crying. She immediately wanted to bury her head in my shoulder....but when I wouldn't let her, her screams only got stronger and louder. They took her blood pressure with the little cuff and it was normal I think...her heartrate was around 190 (way high!) because she was so stressed out. Once they got all the little sticky patches on her skin and hooked up to the machine, we tried to calm her down with toys, books, stickers, a toy frog, anything to keep her distracted and calm enough for 10 seconds so the test would run successfully. Thankfully, she found comfort in one of the nurse's green plastic frogs on a string and the test came out fine. Once they finished, she got unhooked and and nurses left, telling me the cardiologist would be in to see us soon. She then was happy as a clam again! She walked around the room exploring things and grabbed a few books and magazines from the magazine rack hooked to the edge of the countertop in the room. We scanned through a few magazines for distraction purposes. The doctor came in about 5 minutes later and talked to me a bit about murmurs. He tried to listen to her (as I sat her in my lap) but the scareyness of the stethascope and his presence sent her into a crying frenzy again. He grabbed stickers and anything we could find to try calm her down again. Eventually she stopped crying and he could listen. He said he heard the murmur faintly, but that it was an innocent one and there was no hole in her heart, just extra whooshing of blood in her heart valves that poses no risk to her health. He was happy to hear that and give me a clear diagnosis for her and not to limit any of her physicial activity since "nothing was really wrong" that needed medical attention. He said he'd like to hear her heart again in about a year's time. His next suggestion was to take an X-ray of her chest area to make sure that her heart is the right size and shape for her body and age. So, I got a lab sheet to go re-register in radiology, a separate wing of the hospital. She was happy to get the stickers off her skin and put her shirt back on. We walked back to get the stroller and I put her in with some melon chunks to eat while we traveled through the hospital. She happily munched away. While we registered for that, I called Dave with the good news. He was happy to hear it as well! So, we got to radiology and soon after settling down playing with some toys in the waiting room, the nurses called us back. I wheeled her down the hallway, and they came out to ask if I could possibly be pregnant. Well, I told them "Yes! I am!" and that of course, meant that I couldn't be in the x-ray room with Violet. So, the two girls took her away from me kicking and screaming while they did the x-ray. Thankfully, they were quick and painless. I couldn't see anything, but from what they told me, they had Violet sitting in a chair strapped in with her arms held over her head. The screaming was hard to hear sitting in the hallway by myself...but she stopped temporarily. They nurses said once she got strapped into the machine she was fine. Weird. Anyway, they gave Violet back to me and we got her shirt and shoes back on. I was free to go, but curious if I could see the pictures of the x-ray. They said sure! So, I walked back to another room and got to see a couple of the x-rays of Violet's chest. Nothing really crazy....a lot of bones and a thing in the middle of her chest where her heart is and an air bubble obviously in her stomach...kindof funny. Probably from her frantic screaming. We were both thankful to be done. I put her back in her stroller with some fish crackers and she ate those all the way to the car. Almost the moment she got all buckled in and the car started moving, she konked out and fell asleep. The whole 30 minute drive home she slept, and when I pulled in the driveway and turned off the engine, she continued to stay sleeping, so I put her in her crib at home to sleep more, and she slept for around 2 1/2 more hours. She definitely needed the sleep because the whole morning at the hospital caused her to skip her normal 10:30 nap. That was our day. She got over it, but most of all I'm glad there is nothing wrong and that she doesn't need to get the echo-cardiogram on Friday that was previously scheduled in case something more serious had been found out. *whew*!! Glad today is over!

Violet's heart murmur

Its hard to even type those words in the title of this post. Its hard to think that your baby has anything wrong with her when she's barely been sick in her life. I switched pediatricians because Dave and I didn't like the other guy (Dr. Pranger). For many reasons, but to avoid ranting, I'll just say we are glad we switched. We are seeing Dr. VanSickle in Waterloo (she's with Covenant, not Allen). She is much easier to talk to! I am glad we switched. ANYWAY, she checked Violet at 15 mo. We are late in scheduling this one, so she's closer to 16 months. She heard a heart murmur. I don't know how serious it is, but she said that at this age, any heart murmur is more serious than one in a child that is less than a year old. She asked if our other doctor heard it. I said no. She was surprised. She said that the only thing to do is see a pediatric cardiologist for a preliminary EKG test (which is a quick test) and then depending on the results of that, she may or may not need the ECHO-cardiogram. The echo test is more extensive, which would prevent Violet from drinking or eating the morning of the test, and she'd have to be sedated for an hour to lay there for the entire test. Most patients don't have to be sedated for this test, but because of her age, she wouldn't be able to lie down for an hour controlled. So.....I don't know whats going to happen. Tuesday next week is the initial exam with the cardiologist. He'll perform the EKG and then let us know from there. I'm just praying everything is alright and trusting God to see us through this.

definitely showing!

Okay, so now I'm about 2 months pregnant! Dave and I started telling people this week. The first person was Hannah, my friend from MOPS. She was happy for me. The next person was my brother Jay. He was surprised and happy all at the same time. Rachel was excited! Then I told Marisa, then mom and dad (mom said she couldn't stop smiling!), then Dave called his family...then on and on from there.

I have a definite pooch on my belly. Its so true that you start showing earlier and earlier with each pregnancy! I guess all your insides are stretched out and its easier to just pooch out than stay all tucked into those muscles that were so tight before the first pregnancy. Anyway....'ts alright!!

Jeanne had the most excited reaction when I told her! She was practically screaming that she was excited for me. Wow, it was great to hear!!

The pic I posted is around 8 weeks pregnant.

sleeping issues....

...and we're both having them. Since I found out I was pregnant, I have been waking up in the middle of the night (maybe around 3 am) and not being able to get back to sleep. Sometimes I would get up and move to the recliner in our room or the couch out in the living room to try fall asleep, but most other times, I toss and turn and try to get comfortable again in the bed, and it takes me forever to do so. Its so frustrating. I wake up very unrested and grouchy. This has been happening for about 2 weeks I think. Violet, on the other hand, has figured out how to shove her legs through the wood slats of her crib. One night she started crying (and usually we just let her fuss herself back to sleep because if we go in to her room, it becomes a bigger deal than if we just let her calm herself down), but this time it wasn't just crying. She started screaming, and it lasted for longer than 15 min. I felt so bad when I walked in there and found her in the corner of her crib face down, with both legs through the crib slats totally stuck. Her chubby little legs were squished, so I pulled her free and rocked her back to sleep while she calmed down from the screaming. That took her around 30 minutes to calm down. The next day at nap time it happened again, only this time it was only 1 leg. The next morning it was one leg. Why is she doing this?!! Its so annoying for both of us, I think. She gets stuck and hurt and can't sleep. She makes us get up in the middle of the night to rescue her. Hmmm. I hope hope hope this is a phase and she learns not to do this!

we have a babbbblerrr

Lately Violet has really started becoming more vocal! She babbles senseless talk all the time and acts as if she's having little conversations with herself...usually following up a babble with a little giggle. She can copy a word we say (not really sounding right but its a valiant effort). She's repeated book, sticker, chicken, all done, poopie...all kinds of words. I know I listed a few words that she uses, but I can't remember what they are and maybe there are more than last time, so I'll do it again: mama dada (or gaga...but lately she refers to both of us as mama) gaga (for banana) buh baba Abby ca (for car) puhpuh (for poopie) wawa (water) rara (sounds like wawa but when I ask her to say Rachel she says acka) bah! (for ball) uh oh oooh (with lips pursed) as a fun sound effect She's advanced physically too...she practically runs places, plunking her little feet as fast as they'll carry her when she's excited to go somewhere. Lately she loves to be covered up in a blanket. She'll squeal in laughter and giggle and try work her way out of it. She recognizes Grandma and Grandpa (my mom and dad) and I think its great! My dad stopped by, and she walked right up to my dad and he picked her up, and she was totally OK with it. If any stranger did that, she's freak out and want mama. She is 31" and 25.5 lbs. Dave wanted me to document a daddy moment he had today. After we got home from church Violet had to go poopie, so he stuck her on the toilet and she started going, but immediately started crying hysterically. It became obvious that the poop she was trying to push out was too big. Dave took a little peek and saw the terd trying to come out but it was too big. He asked for a pair of rubber gloves, and helped Violet get it out. Violet, if you are reading this later on in life, I know you'll appreciate the documentation of this event in your life! It was just really the first time you've had trouble in this area, and dad had to deal with it, not me. :)