Happy Birthday Pancake

Pancake had her first pancake for breakfast this morning, at Doodle's request. She had her first piece of cake on Saturday at her (and Doodle's) birthday party. It's hard to believe that my precious little newborn baby is one! I am looking forward to the year ahead. I loved ages one to three with Doodle and knowing what I know about Pancake's personality she'll be a wonderful delightful toddler. We just have to get to the toddling phase! She has physical therapy once a week for an hour and still doesn't crawl, pull herself up or cruise around the furniture. In due time I'm sure she'll be running around after her big brother.

Pancake has been through many medical tests and countless doctor visits over the past two months and she smiled through most of it. She's been catheterized three times already in short life and there will be more (in a year from now for sure and possibly before then if an UTI is expected). Her spirits are better than ever now that she's been diagnosed and is on an antibiotic (she's infection-free now and we're hoping she'll stay that way).

Her personality is so sunny and happy and delightful. When she laughs that good hardy belly laugh it's contagious. She's just so damn adorable. A year ago it was hard to imagine loving someone else as much as I love Doodle, but as all parents of multiple children know, you just do. You grow as much love as children you have.

When I was pregnant with Pancake I would have been happy if she turned out to be a boy or a girl. I really and truly didn't have a preference. But now that we know she's a girl I'm really happy to have one of each gender. I'm happy to be able to experience raising a boy and a girl. And I have a brother and really like growing up with a brother, so I'm glad Pancake and Doodle will have each other to grow up with.
Pancake has been doing some pretty cute things lately. She LOVES bananas and nana is one of her words (one of twelve or thirteen), but for fear of constipation I usually only let her have one "nana" a day and Mr. D usually gives it to her in the morning for her first breakfast (first of three). When I have her she points to the bananas and says "nana." And I reply, "no more bananas today, Pancake, how about ____" fill in the blank. So now she points to the bananas, says nana, while lowering her head, raising her eyes and shaking her head no. It is really cute to see. She repeats it a few times and then moves on to something else.

She used to just say thank you when she wanted to play pass items back and forth, but now she says it whenever I give her something whether it's a toy or a piece of bread or any food. She's still a great eater, though she did go through a rough patch where she hardly ate anything when she had the UTI and numerous ear infections one after the other. She leans her head in and says aaahh when you ask for a kiss or a hug.

She hasn't nursed for more than a week so I guess we're finished. She skipped two feedings after I jumped and said "no Pancake" when she clamped down on my nipple with her sharp new teeth. Then I got her to nurse a few more times and then she just stopped all together. She turns her head and clearly wants nothing to do with my milk. I've pumped a bit to decrease my supply slowly, but I don't think I even need to do that any more. I was sad for a few days because I wasn't ready to wean her, but if she doesn't want it, she doesn't want it. For the past week she's had whole milk and water. She's been drinking quite a bit from a sippy cup so I think she's staying hydrated.
She's playing more with Doodle. They roll the ball back and forth, Doodle tickles her and she laughs uncontrollably. She loves following him up the stairs (with my help). She dances when music comes on and sings the ABC song a little bit. She stands at her play table and makes the instruments play. She loves playing basketball with our toy net and ball. Mr. D holds Pancake and she puts the ball through the hoop. Doodle makes Mr. D keep score for all three of them, which can get confusing.

She recognizes and shows she understands many many words. Some examples: she touches her feet when I say, let's put on your shoes or socks, she can point to people's noses when asked, she combs her own hair and brushes her own teeth (one of the top ones is poking through the gum now with the other top one coming soon), she looks for her spoon on the floor when I say, where is your spoon?, she recognizes outside, bath, splash, water, Cheerios, graham crackers, many other foods, and many other words I won't bother typing here.

She says about 11 words. I'll try to remember them all now:
Daddy
Mama
Doodle (really cute version of his real name)
eat (almost always while pointing to her mouth)
thank you
uh ohbye bye
nana
kiss
mmm (for cow)
woof woof (for dog)

I've heard her say fish once and a friend heard her say eye once while pointing to her eye. But she hasn't said either one since so I don't count them.

She gets scared and cries when there are loud sudden noises or actions near her (just like most kids, including Doodle), like a dog barking or a cat jumping toward her. She's not afraid to have water poured over her head in the bath, she laughs when Doodle splashes her in the tub, she finds it amusing to be bullied by her brother. For the most part she's pretty tough. She also is already showing signs of being a girly girl. She loves her pretty pink shoes with flowers on them. The other day Mr. D got her dressed putting socks on her. He wasn't going to put her shoes on. Pancake held up her pretty pink shoes and said "eh eh" for him to put them on.

She's our sweet baby girl and I feel so lucky to have her in our family. Happy birthday, Pancake. I love you.

pancake, oh, pancake

Well, Pancake will indeed be on an antibiotic for at least one year. Then we get another VCUG to see if she still has VUR. If she does, then she stays on the antibiotic for another year and we do the same thing a year from then. She had to have another catheter put in yesterday at the pediatrician's office to determine if her urine is infected again. It is not.

Pancake hasn't nursed since Saturday afternoon. I guess she's just finished, just like that! I'm not ready, emotionally or physically. I have pumped three times since Sunday trying to wean my milk supply. I hate pumping. I gave Pancake some pumped milk in a sippy cup yesterday but she only drank a small amount. She's getting her top two teeth and I think that's why she isn't interested in the breast.

Her physical therapy continues. She has a session this afternoon. She's not crawling or willing to roll over. She's starting to show some interest in pulling herself up and she helps a little more now when I try to get her to climb the stairs.

Through it all (except for the medical testing) she has a smile on her face. She's such a good girl. I feel badly that she's having such a rough time right now.

Pancake's VCUG results

Today, as a result of Pancake's UTI, she had an ultrasound on her kidneys and bladder, and a VCUG (they insert a catheter then fill her bladder with fluid and take pictures to see if the fluid goes up toward the kidneys or back out of her body the way it's supposed to). She cried and screamed during both procedures. Her ultrasound was normal. Her kidneys are the right size and shape for her age.

The VCUG revealed that she has what's called vesicoureteral reflux, or VUR, on one of her ureters (the tube connecting the kidney and bladder). The reflux is rated on a scale of one to five (one being the least severe, five the worst), Pancake's reflux is a two, which isn't too bad. It has a chance of spontaneously resolving itself, but she has to be on antibiotics for the foreseeable future. There's also a chance she'll have to have surgery to correct the problem. We have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with Pancake's pediatrician where we'll find out more information. For now I have to start her on Amoxicillin AGAIN and she'll be on it for some time.

My poor baby girl. I know things could be worse, but I'm really feeling for my sweet Pancake right now.

a coincidence or something more?

Pancake finished her Suprax on Tuesday night. Last night (Wednesday) she threw up in her crib and then again after I nursed her. She's been pulling on her left ear again. Then this morning after keeping down four breastmilk feedings she had a saltine cracker and promptly pooped. She's asleep in her crib now.

I hope she just picked up a virus and doesn't have such a weak immune system that she can't fight off bacteria without being on an antibiotic. She had an ear infection, went on amoxicillin, the second day after she finished the drug she had a UTI and ANOTHER ear infection. She went on Suprax. Was off of it for one day and was throwing up in her crib and pulling on her ear. I really hope this is just a coincidence and that we're headed for a healthy spring and summer.

Tomorrow we're supposed to go to CHOP to have an ultrasound on her kidneys and a catheter put in to check for urine reflux. Then her follow up appointment with her pediatrician is on Tuesday.

My poor baby girl.

Sickly child?

Pancake and I spent our Sunday at the emergency room at CHOP. She had been cranky for a few days and then Sunday morning she was inconsolable. She cried/screamed for four hours with a short half hour break to sleep in her stroller. Mr. D took her for a walk to calm her down. At the ER they said she still had a fever (this was day five of having an on-and-off fever). They thought she might have a blood infection so they took some blood and gave her an IV of fluid in case she was dehydrated.

She was so sleepy and cranky and irritable. She just laid on me. CHOP is so great. Before the nurse put in the needle (which had the circumference of a piece of thread) she wrapped warm packs around Pancakes hands and wrists to get the vein to come to the surface so she wouldn't have to poke around to find it. She inserted the minuscule needle, drew two vials of blood and hooked up the IV. Then she taped up her hand and wrapped a hard felt thing around her so she wouldn't pull the needle out. The blood work came back normal.

Then they gave her a catheter to check for a urinary track infection. She didn't mind the catheter as much as the needle. The urine showed a high white blood cell count so they assumed she has a UTI. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic (this will be her third round since she was born!) and we were discharged. Luckily we didn't have to spend the night.

Mr. D and Doodle had come to the hospital with my toothbrush and a change of clothes in case I had to stay there, but the doctor gave me the good news just as they were arriving. Mr. D and Doodle had tickets to Sesame Street Live that a neighbor had given them so they took the car to the show after they dropped Pancake and I off at the train station. We took the train and then walked home. It was our only outside time on that gorgeous day.

We had a follow up appointment with Pancake's pediatrician today. She said the culture isn't back yet on the urine so we won't know if she's on the right antibiotic until we find out what type of bacteria caused the infection -- probably tomorrow. Then she proceeded to tell me why having a UTI at 11 months is not that cut and dry. When adults get them they go on an antibiotic and that's it, they're cured. When someone as young as Pancake gets one there are a number of things that may have caused it. The best result would be that some of her poop crept up into the pee area and the bacteria caused an infection. The other two options are: (1) when her urine leaves her kidney it doesn't keep descending to her bladder and then out her body, it sloshes around and goes back up, causing the old urine to become filled with bacteria and then cause an infection, or (2) her kidneys aren't functioning properly. To test for option one they color some fluid and give her another catheter and see where the fluid goes (comes back out or stays inside). To test for option two they give her an ultrasound on her tiny little kidneys to see if they're the right size for her age. If they are, then they're fine. If they're not then I guess we have further tests.

Right now she has another appointment in two weeks with her ped. Then she'll have an appointment six weeks from now to get another urine culture (no catheter this time).

On top of all of this, she's had a cold or a fever for the past month and a half. She had an ear infection about two weeks ago for which she was taking Amoxicillin. The doctor today said that her other ear is infected now and that it's a good thing she's already on Suprax for the UTI! Another ear infection! How can this be? I was always healthy growing up, I am still breastfeeding, Doodle was never this sick. It's disheartening to think that Pancake might be more susceptible to germs and infections. My poor baby girl.

11 months

With February being a short month it doesn't seem that long ago that I wrote the 10-month update. There isn't much new to add. Pancake has an ear infection and has been generally sick with a cold. We just got back from Vermont last night where we had a great time visiting my mother, brother and sister-in-law. And some high school friends who I hadn't hung out with in a long long time. It was great fun.

Back to Pancake. It turns out she does not have low muscle tone in her legs or elsewhere. She just doesn't want to move. With two rounds of physical therapy under her belt she can now roll over unassisted and occasionally go from sitting to lying on her belly. She is quite good at turning herself around in a circle on her belly or her butt, but still doesn't get on all fours without help. When I put her in that position and rock her she doesn't wait long to put her head and belly back on the floor. We missed her pt session last week because we left for VT early to avoid the big snow storm (which Mr. D ended up driving through in NJ and NY anyway).

Pancake shook her head no once when she didn't want any more Cheerios -- imagine that! not wanting more Cheerios. Maybe she's sick of them finally. She says, mmmm for cow and a similar but more rough sound for dog. She recognizes and points to cats, dogs, pigs, cows and ducks. She really likes to be read to. She is extremely enthusiastic about certain books -- Baby's First Animal Book, Brown Bear Brown Bear, Animal Kisses, Goodnight Moon and Pajama Time.

She continues to devour any morsel of food in her sight, except maybe Cheerios now. Her favorite foods are banana, avocado, Baby Mum Mum crackers and pizza crust. She's a sweet darling girl. I can't believe she's almost one.