Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Happy Birthday Auntie Cat!

Lady Advice is taking a week off to wish Auntie Cat a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  We love you and hope you have a great one!






Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Timehop Tuesday

My first Timehop is in video form!  Click here to see Maya go from just starting to put words together to rapping the song “TMI.”

And then we have Cal and her oldest/longest pal Charlie:


And beach kids!



Last one- Maya at the doctor! She humored me to recreate this pic.







Sunday, July 28, 2019

Weekend Update

Happy Sunday! If you read my post yesterday, you know what we were up to yesterday. Maya is doing much better and we are just continuing with the nebulizer and trying to keep her calm! 

Yesterday while Maya was resting, Callie played with Luna and then Uncle Dan and Auntie Hanna took Callie to see Circus Juventas.



Then we went to Dan and Hanna’s for a BBQ.


We also have our friends the Stolles from Seattle in town and staying with us. They have Weston (2) and Isaac (5 months). The girls are having so much fun with the boys.


Have a great week!



Saturday, July 27, 2019

Maya Update- Saturday

Hi all!  Thanks for the nice texts and messages about Maya.  If you have been following along, you know that she ended up overnight in the hospital!  So here is a run down of what happened.

Friday 6am: She woke up and was coughing a bunch...we didn't think it was very unusual because this girl gets bad colds ALL THE TIME, and they always last longer than Callie's colds.  So we decided to have a chill movie day and I kept an eye on her.

Friday 1:45pm: After the second movie of the day, she started to get a bit hysterical and kept saying she couldn't breathe.  So I made an appointment at Target Minute clinic and we headed out.

Friday 2:30pm: We spent about 2 minutes with the Minute Clinic doctor, and as soon as she saw Maya's fever, oxygen levels and how hard it was for her to breathe, she immediately sent us to the ER.  The closest one was Southdale, so we headed there.  Callie got really scared and teary in the car, but was a great support to Maya once we got there.



Friday 3:00pm: We got checked in to the ER and saw one doctor before shift change.  They started her on oxygen and ordered a chest x-ray to check for Pneumonia. Chris arrived from work.

Friday 4:30pm: She went for the x-ray and it befuddled the new doctor (after the shift change).  He said he WISHED it was pneumonia but her chest looked clear.  Her breathing was still bad so they gave her a nebulizer and told us she should be monitored overnight.



Except that Southdale doesn't have a pediatric wing in the hospital, so we had to get her to a different hospital, and we had to wait to see how her oxygen levels did to determine if it was going to be an ambulance ride or if she could ride with us.

Friday 5:00pm: Her oxygen levels were stable enough for us to drive her, so Chris took her straight to the other hospital ER and I took Callie home to pack an overnight bag.  By 5:45 we were checked in to the new ER, and once again arrived during a shift change.  We saw lots of doctors and nurses yesterday!



Friday 6:00pm: We talked to the ER doctor and he ordered another nebulizer and a steroid to calm down the little breathing things in her lungs (I don't remember any of the actual terminology). Then Chris and Callie headed home.

Because she was still wheezing, they ordered her a bed in the pediatric wing of the hospital around 6:30pm.  In the meantime, we watched the original Aladdin movie and ate goldfish!

Friday 7:00pm: I talked to the daytime pediatric doctor, who was almost done with his shift.  They decided to treat it as an acute asthma attack brought on by a bad virus: nebulizer every 2 hours, with the goal of being off oxygen and nebulized every four hours to get home.  We were still waiting on a room in the hospital.

Friday 8:00pm: I talked to  the nighttime pediatric doctor, who confirmed all the things the other doctor said and spent time talking with me about asthma.  It wasn't officially diagnosed, but she recommended a follow up appointment with our pediatrician.  I also learned from her that since I had asthma as a kid, that is the greatest risk factor for my kids.  Sorry Maya! Then she got nebulized again.

Friday 8:30pm: We finally got a room!  Maya was the only patient on the floor, so she was VERY spoiled.  She got a new stuffed animal and blanket to keep.



Friday 8:39pm: She finally ate a little for dinner and called me her servant. A nurse came in and took her vitals.



Friday 9:15pm: We had the first visit with the respiratory therapist.  They had her breathe into a tube that measures her breath and did another nebulizer treatment.

Friday 9:45pm:  Maya finally fell asleep.

Friday 11:15pm: The respiratory therapist came back and did another nebulizer treatment.  Maya was out cold so it was a bit tricky, but he got it done.  The nurse also came to take vitals.

Saturday 3:15am: The respiratory therapist came again and did his thing.  She was quicker to do the neb and the nurse took vitals again.

Saturday 6:00am: Maya woke up SUPER peppy.  I tried to get her to go back to sleep until her next nebulizer, but she would not.  So she played quietly in her bed.



Saturday 6:30am: She reviewed the breakfast menu and decided on eggs, sausage, yogurt and English muffin.



Saturday 7:15am: Her breakfast came and she scarfed down the sausage patty and left the rest alone.



Saturday 8am: We met with the respiratory therapist and got instructed on how to use her new nebulizer and inhaler at home.  Met with the doctor to get final instructions and clarifications.

Saturday 8:30am: Met with the nurse to get final paperwork and discharge instructions.

Saturday 9am: We headed home!



Rest of the day today: She has been a rockstar with her nebulizer and has had lots of energy we have had to temper down (Maya, SLOW YOUR ROLL). 



We see her primary care doctor on Tuesday to figure out if it is actually asthma and what we can do moving forward.

I'm very grateful for the wonderful hospital staff for taking such good care of us, and for the fact that this hospital thing is not our normal.



And I'm thankful for the technology of texting because I was able to recreate this timeline by going back and reading the text updates I sent to family throughout the whole ordeal!

Thanks again for the thoughts and prayers and positive vibes for Maya!  She is a trooper!

Friday, July 26, 2019

A Picture Update: Summer Week 7

Happy Friday! We had a busy week filled with swimming lessons, head colds, a surgery (for Boom), and probably way less sun than we should have enjoyed considering how lovely it was outside.

First of all, swimming lessons. Both girls threw fits about going on Monday, but ended up loving it every day.  





And the best part of these particular swim lessons, of course, is being able to swim in the fun pool afterwards every day. I didn’t get too many single pictures of Cal because she spent most of the time under the water. She is turning into a little fish!



Sister Shark Doo-doo-do-doo-doo-do-doo

On Monday we had Maya’s family party- a UNICORN TACO PARTY to be exact!

Complete with unicorn horns and unicorn ring toss!



Maya got lots of amazing unicorn presents!

We facetimed with Auntie Mari a bit too!

And pink cupcakes!
We love our family- missed you Auntie Cat, Auntie Mari and Uncle Josh!
Maya woke up on her birthday on Tuesday to some streamers and more presents!



After swimming lessons, G-ma came by and took the girls for birthday donuts.



Then we went to a birthday movie, did birthday money spending (thanks Nana and Papa!), and she had tacos for dinner AGAIN.



Boom had shoulder surgery, so I spent the night over at her condo and we enjoyed the sunset.



On Wednesday Luna rested, went in her first elevator ride, and played with new friends.



This is my only picture from Thursday.  Maya in goggles is one of my favorite things.



The week's worth of swimming and birthday excitement caught up to us today.  Both girls battled stuffy noses all week, but today Maya's moved to her chest and she is miserable with congestion, coughing, and a bit of a temperature.  So today was a movie day.  Luna feels great about it.



Click here for some neighbor boy shenanigans, birthday and swimming videos.  Have a great weekend!

Update 3:50pm: well I posted this post this morning thinking we were going to have a lazy day with not much else to report. Unfortunately, now at almost 4pm we are at the ER with Maya because her head cold morphed into a disastrous mucous-cough and she had a hard time breathing. Oxygen is helping and a chest X-ray is next. Callie is being a great big sister.


I’ll update with more news as it comes.

Update 7pm: We are at a different ER waiting to be admitted to the pediatric wing of the hospital for the night. They think she has a bad virus (the doctor said he WISHED it was pneumonia...) but is getting treated like it was an acute asthma attack. Fun times! She’s a trooper.



Update 8:45pm

We are in a hospital room and she got a new stuffed animal and blanket as a patient. Now I’m feeding her dinner and she said “It’s like you’re my servant!” She is feeling all sorts of spoiled here and has perked up a great deal. We should be able to leave tomorrow after nebulizer treatments throughout the night. 









Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Wisdom Wednesday: Ask Lady Advice

ASK LADY ADVICE

This is a clue to Lady Advice's identity!




Dear Lady Advice,

I have three adorable nieces but I live far away from them so I don't get to see them as often as I'd like! How can I best keep in contact with them and keep up with all of their fun activities?

Thanks,
It's Hot Down Here

*****************************************************
Dear It's Hot Down Here,

Face time, letters, and visits. Maybe you could move back some day!

Love, 

Lady Advice

_____________________________________________________________

Dear Lady Advice,

I just had surgery on my shoulder and I'm worried that I won't be able to hug people (especially my grandkids) like I usually do.  What do you think I can do instead?

Thanks,
Love to Hug

*****************************************************
Dear Love to Hug,

I think you should invent a secret hand shake with your grandkids. Example: high hive turn around handshake fist bump.
Love,

Lady Advice

_____________________________________________________________

If YOU have a question or need help from Lady Advice, please send an email to:

She looks forward to helping you soon!

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Timehop Tuesday: The HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAYA LEIGH Edition!

This girl turns 6 today!!!!!!!



Like unicorns, she is truly one of a kind. She is so sweet, very goofy, extra kind, totally hilarious, and just the best.

I can’t believe my baby is so big!



She is the perfect completion of our family and we love her so much.



Happy Birthday Maya Leigh!