Surgery for Callie (again)

Callie will be admitted to the hospital at 6:15 tomorrow morning (December 15) to have her tonsils and adenoids removed. She will stay overnight for observation and hopefully we will be back home Thursday.

This is, by far, Callie's easiest surgery from a medical standpoint, but this is the first surgery where she has some realization of what is going on. Childlife specialists will be working with her and we have prepared her as well as we know how. She can tell you she is going to the hospital to have the doctor take out her tonsils (which she will then show you) and then she is going to watch movies. I think she is actually pretty excited about it. We will have to see what she thinks tomorrow.

We were in Minneapolis today for her NICU follow-up visit. It went really well. Callie was given some OT/PT tests and she worked really hard. She scored at her age level or a little above in every category. The doctor was thrilled with how great she is doing. We talked a little about the need of taking Callie to a feeding clinic in the next year. For now, we are going to keep working with her and see what difference, if any, this surgery makes.

Thanks for checking on us and if you could remember to pray for Callie tomorrow and for the next few days, that would be fantastic.

Callie Medical Update

Callie had her three year appointment last month and it went well. Callie is still tiny but is growing and is proportional. The doctor was quite supportive of our new plan to try Callie on blenderized food as her formula. I plan to blog on that later. While she was examining Callie, I asked her to look at Callie's tonsils because I thought they were quite large. The doctor was quite surprised with how large they are and referred us to an ENT to see what he thought. He too, thought Callie's tonsils are quite large and in her case, too large. He didn't even need a tongue depresser to see them clearly. And when she gags, they actually touch. The doctor asked if Callie sleeps well (never), if she snores (very loudly, all the time), and he already knew about her gagging issues when she cries and coughs. He thought it would make sense for Callie to have her tonsils removed. So, next week, that is what we will be doing.

On Monday evening we will head to Minneapolis for Callie's annual NICU followup appointment. She will have some OT/PT evaluations and then we will meet with one of her NICU doctors. I figure our topic of the day will be Callie's lack of eating and the possibility of doing an intensive feeding program with her. Then Tuesday we will head back home and surgery will be here in Fargo on Wednesday. This will be her first, and hopefully last, surgery in Fargo but I feel very comfortable with the doctor performing the procedure. He know's Callie's history and is going to take every precaution necessary. We will actually be spending the night in the hospital so they can watch her carefully to make sure she does well after surgery.

This is Callie's first surgery where she actually understands some of what is going on. We have watched a pre-op DVD multiple times to try to help get her ready and we talk about what is going to happen. I still figure there might be some freaking out on surgery day. Three is a difficult age to reason with.

Though we aren't excited about yet another surgery, we are hopeful that this procedure will help Callie. She is a horrible sleeper and hardly ever sleeps soundly. We are hoping that once her tonsils are removed, an unobstructed airway will help her fall into a deeper, more peaceful snore-free sleep. When Callie gets upset and cries, she often gags and depending on when she last ate, will throw up. It would be absolutely wonderful if the gagging was a result of the large tonsils and this behavior would cease after surgery. That would really help me in my daily struggle of trying to keep massive amounts of food in Callie's body.

One of the good things we have in our favor for this surgery is Callie's Mic-Key button. Kids often don't want to eat and drink after surgery so dehydration can be an issue. Luckily, we will be able to feed Callie and keep her well hydrated.

Happy Day, Callie

I waited so long to write about Callie's birthday because I was hoping to have some pictures to post of it. But out of my two photographers for the night, there are not really any good pictures of Callie's special day, so I will have to paint verbal pictures for you.



Callie was quite excited about turning 3. Her slogan for the day was "Happy Day, Callie!" It was never "birthday." She loved telling herself "Happy Day." Her one request for her day was balloons. Callie is really not up-to-date on her cartoon characters and animated creatures but she does know who Elmo is, so her theme for the day was Elmo. I decorated with one Elmo balloon and quite a few other balloons and streamers and Elmo plates and napkins. Callie's face glowed when she saw all the balloons and decorations just for her special day.



We had a great family party. We knew Callie wouldn't care to eat her cake so I made Jason's favorite cake since I neglected his birthday. Callie loved being sung to and requested that we sing to her multiple times. She had a little help from her brother blowing out the candles and then she surprised us all by licking icing off the candles.



Callie received a mound of gifts. From toys to cds to books to clothes, Callie thoroughly enjoyed opening all of her presents. It was the most involved she has been with her birthday. I am thinking Christmas this year is going to be a lot of fun!

Play Clothes

Today after Callie was dressed for the day, she sat down to play. Then she looked up at me and said, "Shoes off." I told her it was fine, she could take her shoes off. After she accomplished that, she said, "Socks off." She proceeded to remove her socks and leg warmers. Then she stood up and said "Dress off" and immediately started unsnapping her dress. There was no point in stopping her, but I was curious as to why she needed to now remove her dress, so I asked. Her response? "I play better." Well, there you have it, folks. The correct way to play for the day is in a diaper and t-shirt.

**Should I also mention the sky was dropping 11.5" of snow while she was happily undressing?

The Forgotten Birthday

I originally had grand plans for Jason's and Callie's birthday. Since they are only a few days apart, it was going to be one large party. And since Jason was going to be 33 and Callie was turning 3, it was going to be very convenient for decorating (add one three for Jason, remove it for Callie). The only problem was I ran out of time, and Jason got the raw end of the deal. I don't think he really minded, though. Jason's birthday is on Halloween so we spent the morning at church and the afternoon at Trunk-n-Treat handing out candy to over 1500 kids and the evening handing out raisins and Scarrots to neighbors. I actually forgot it was Jason's birthday until we were going to sleep that night. Oops. We had a small party the next day so I at least acknowledged his special day. I did make up for it by getting Jason a scope for his rifle - just in time for deer season.

And just in case you are wondering what Scarrots are, here's a picture. They're baby carrots, packaged to look like Halloween candy. Nothing's scarier than vegetables on Halloween! And yes, we really did hand these out. I am anti-halloween and anti-candy. What's funny is kids thought they were junk food so they were the first to go. I admit, there were probably a few disappointed kids but maybe there were some happy parents. I wonder if we will have any trick or treaters next year...

6 Months

Right after returning from Alabama, we had Sadie's 6 month doctor's appointment. Compared to Callie, we think Sadie is HUGE. Unlike her sister, she has fat rolls and dimples in all the right places. Sadie is perfectly proportional but the doctor thinks she is going to be petite. Sadie weighed 14 pounds 9.2 ounces which is in the 17th percentile. She was 24 3/4" tall which is in the 13th percentile. Others might consider Sadie small, but we think of her as "pleasantly plump." As far as development goes, everything seems right on track with the little girl.

Now that I am writing this, Sadie just turned 7 months old. She is still our laid back, happy little friend. She loves to smile and laugh. She is a good little sitter and even though she is not crawling, she is quite mobile. I remember months of months of Callie sitting in the same place, but not Sadie. She will roll and squirm and move until she finds what she wants. It is really fun to watch.

We have also started solid foods with Sadie. I held off as long as possible but when she started waking up in the middle of the night hungry, I realized she needed something besides milk. I think since we waited later before starting solid foods, she had time to watch us eat. It was amazing how quickly she took to eating and can do so without making a huge mess. We are still in the experimental stage, but we haven't found anything she does not like. Tonight we fed her apple and sweet potato yogurt and that might be her most favorite food to date. She ate the entire 4 ounce containter and wanted more. It is really fun to feed a child who enjoys eating.

We are still here...

We really are here and are fine and dandy. We just had to hit the ground running upon returning from Alabama and we really have not slowed down. I am thinking we have to make it a few more days and then it will get a little easier. I have a lot to update and I thought about cramming it all in one post but I really wanted to take my time and focus on a few of the things that have been happening around here. So that is what I plan to do. But you will have to wait a little while longer. It's the second week of deer season and I am off to see if I can get my first buck.... I'll be back soon, though.