1-year Orthopedic Check-up

Lia had her 1-year check-up at the Orthopedic Specialist's office today.  Good news - her hips look good, and there's no "clicking" or other major issues.  Bad news - the hip sockets are still on the shallow side and need some extra help to grow in well and quickly before additional problems can crop up.  So, what does this mean?  We have a brand new brace - a Rhino brand product known as the "Cruiser" (seriously?) - which Lia will have to wear overnight while she sleeps for at least 4 months until her next checkup.  I'm sure she's not going to like it for the first couple of nights, but I'm hoping that she doesn't mind it too much overnight.  I really am not looking forward to comforting a "braced" baby again, but I am overwhelmingly grateful that not only is this something we will only have to deal with at night, but in all other ways, she is healthy and happy.  We are so lucky in comparison, so I'm not going to complain.

Another cool thing about this brace - it is no where near as restrictive as the Wheaton-Pavlik harness was.  Check out what this little boy is able to do while wearing the brace:

http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/32783962

I had to install a plug-in to watch this, but this little boy is so cute, it was worth it.  Looks like he's a full-time brace wearer.  What a pro!  Anyway, please pray that Lia's hip sockets will grow fast and in the right way!  Next checkup is in early January, so we'll know more then...

Happy Belated Earth Day, Everyone!

Life has been absolutely nuts for the Cromer family as of late.  Due to this fact, it wasn't until today that I was able to get pictures off the camera and onto the computer.  Also, this is the reason for my severely limited blogging in March and April.  Let's just say I'm looking forward to the end of the semester...

Anyway, today we got to do something really unique.  Matt, Lia, and I hauled ourselves over to our nearby cloth diaper store (www.allthingsdiapers.com) to participate in "The Great Cloth Diaper Change" event.

The purpose of the event was to set a world record for the most cloth diapers changed at one moment in time.  We had to sign in, use a ticket to enter (and only one adult per baby was allowed to help with the diaper change), and before we started, we had to hold up our babies and the fresh diapers we were planning to use.  Then we had to wait for the signal to start, then change our baby's diaper.  Finally, we took an "after" picture of the babies in their fresh diapers. The whole event was video recorded (for proof, I'm sure), and the start time was centrally coordinated.  So, today Lia helped to set a world record at the ripe young age of 7 months.

It was fun to meet and talk with other parents and babies.  Lia had a grand time checking everything out and talking to the babies she met.  The store provided snacks and door prizes.  Speaking of door prizes, we won a fun new diaper cover that we're going to have to try out.  Check out some of the pics from the morning:

Life Can Be Hectic

I went on a scrapbooking weekend recently, and so I spent a good amount of time preparing for that weekend, being away, and then recovering from the trip.  :-)  That being said, it's been a while since I've blogged.  For those of you out there who would like an update on what has transpired since Lia's 4 month birthday, here's the scoop:

1/21 - 13lbs, 3oz.  Lia was diagnosed with Bronchiolitis!  Got some asthma meds for her wheezing, but other than some yucky cold symptoms, she was fine.
1/25 - Lia is finally feeling better and can return to her normal daycare.
1/27 - Getting better at holding on to toys and such!
1/28 - 12lbs, 14oz. 4 month checkup/immunizations. The doctor has two bits of good news: Lia is ready to start solids (if we want), and she doesn't need to eat at night anymore.  Matt tried feeding Lia some formula laced with baby oatmeal, but she just spit it out.  We'll try again sometime soon...
1/29 - Lia possibly feeling sick from her shots?  Her first time using baby Tylenol, and it seemed to work like magic.
1/30 - Almost rolled over unaided!  (I admit it, I helped a bit...  She's gotta get a feel for it somehow, right?)

1/31 - Snowsuit!

2/1 - Fun times with Dad:

2/3 - I left for my scrapping weekend right after work, and Matt attempted to start training Lia to not need parental assistance during the night.  She ends up waking up once, but only needs some verbal comforting from Dad.  Here are some pics from the morning before I left for work:

2/4 - Another night with no middle-of-the-night feeding, but a little comforting from Dad.  (Mom still away at scrap weekend.)
2/5 - Lia made it all the way through the night on her own!
2/8 - Still sleeping through the night.  We're talking approximately 8pm until 7am.  Woohoo!  (We have it so easy...)  Here she is turned sideways in her crib after a night of taking care of herself:

 And here's a pic from naptime.  So peaceful....

2/10 - Rosy "Minnesota Winter" cheeks:

2/11 - Lia turned over twice today!  Both times, she flipped from stomach to back while at Anne's house.  Matt and I have yet to see this in person...


So, altogether, things are moving along!  Now, off to do some homework while Lia naps...

8.5 hours

Lia surprised us all last night.  For the last couple of nights, she's been getting fussy around 8pm, so we've been putting her down a bit earlier than normal since she falls right asleep.  Last night, she was ready for bed just after 7:30pm, and we couldn't keep her up any later, so we put her down as I prepared for her to wake up around 11 or 11:30pm.  By 12:30am, I finally went to bed, expecting to be woken up at any minute.

At 4am, I was finally awoken by Lia fussing, but not even screaming.  She calmly took down 3 ounces, burped, diaper change, then took one more ounce.  Then she went right back to bed around 5am.  She fussed a bit around 5:45am, but fell back asleep after a quick snuggle and repositioning in the crib.

It is now almost 8am, and she's just woken up in time for Daddy to change her.  :-)  8.5 hours of sleep...  Now we just need to try to get her to shift to a 10pm bedtime with the rest of us!

Returning to Work

Today was my first day back at work.  It was a good day!  I feel like I fell right back into the swing of things, though things are still a bit slow for me since technically I have less than 3 weeks of experience in this role so far despite having started back in September.

I would also like to share a picture of the wonderful welcome that was awaiting me this morning:

Orthopedic Update

Well, it turns out Lia needs a brace, just to be on the safe side.  "Hip Dysplasia" is the general term for this sort of situation, and of course it tends to be more common in 1) girls, 2) first-born babies, and 3) breech-born babies.  (It seems the deck was stacked against us...)

Lia's hip joints are just a bit shallow at this point, so the brace will hold the ball-and-socket in a position that will encourage growth to make her hips more stable.  If left untreated, she may be just fine, or she may have other issues down the road like a limp, pain, osteoarthritis, differences in leg length, or other structural issues.  Needless to say, we are more than okay with using a brace to help prevent such issues.  At this point, she's only slightly shy of "good" - her hips don't actually dislocate, but they do move more than they should in a bad direction.  (Apparently the issue is so slight that there are no outwardly discernible symptoms or pain, but the ultrasound pictures are where the doctor is seeing the potential issue.)  We are hoping to only need the brace for 3 to 5 weeks as her bones and ligaments continue to grow.

Lia's next checkup with the specialist is in three weeks.  I'm really hoping that the brace gets to go at that point so she can still get some good use out of her 0 to 3 month sleep and plays (which aren't exactly going to fit her at the moment.)  The brace has to stay on at all times except bath time.  She doesn't seem to mind it too much except for when she's working on her diaper and now can't squirm as much as she used to.  Poor thing...  life sure can be rough.  :-)

Here's Lia in just the brace:

And here we are enjoying life despite the brace.  Yummy formula!

Playtime or naptime?  She can't decide...

Road Trip!

Here are a few highlights from our recent week-long road trip to visit family and friends...

Day 1 (Oct 22): 

Visit with Uncle Kurt and Aunt Kim in WI.  Stayed at Granny Callie's overnight.

Day 2: 

Drove to IN.  Amelia met her Great Grandma Pavot.

Four generations:

Spent the afternoon at my Dad's place, and had a late night bonfire with friends from Hobart.

Day 3:
Hung out with the Sharps, Uncle Bill, and my grandma's good friend Pat.  My Aunt Martha had tons of fun with Amelia, and we also had a surprise visit from a very scary gorilla:

Day 4:
Matt and I had the morning free, so after deciding that the apple orchard was a bit much, we had a fun time enjoying beautiful fall colors at my favorite home town county park:

Then we spent the evening hanging out with more of our friends and their kids (the Carter clan and our friend Sam), and we had a late night trip to visit Uncle Jason and Aunt Carol and their family.  Got home pretty late on this day!

Day 5:
Slept in, packed up, and drove to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ann's for dinner.  Then drove to Matt's brother's house before bed.

Day 6:
Spent the day with the Cromers.

Note: It rained on our walk, but not too badly.  And Kim made an awesome Thanksgiving-esque dinner for all of us!

Day 7:
Lunch with the Cromers, then off to visit my college roommate Amanda and her hubby Loren.  We visited a massive, new "art park" with a few pieces of art and a ton of hiking trails, and then we went out for dinner.  This day was a bit colder than the day before, so we did our best to keep Lia warm!

And back to the Cromers' place we went...

Day 8:
Packed up and drove to Granny Callie's for dinner.  This was the longest driving segment of the trip...

Day 9:
Packed up for the last time and drove home.  It was a fun trip, but I am glad to be back!

Amelia's Birth Story

Before I dig in to the "meat" of this post, I think it would be helpful to give a bit of the details regarding the days leading up to Lia's arrival...

Thursday, Sept 16: Lia was in a frank breech position, and we had a meeting on this day with one of the two doctors at our clinic who might be able/willing to deliver Lia via natural methods. The meeting didn't make Matt or me feel very comfortable with the idea considering this doctor's methods weren't lining up with our research regarding the safest way to naturally deliver a breech baby. I went into panic mode and decided to look into changing our plans at the last minute. Got the number for a local birthing center and planned to call them ASAP in the morning for additional info.

Friday, Sept 17th: The head midwife at the birthing center informs me that they are not allowed to have a planned breech delivery in their facility, but they can help us if we have a home birth. Our insurance doesn't cover a home birth, so the midwife refers me to a doctor (Dr. Dennis Hartung, Hudson Physicians) who would likely be able to help. The doctor's clinic is 40 minutes away, much farther than the hospital that is within a mile of our house, but I am desperate. After a brief phone consult over lunch, I schedule a 4:30pm in person consult with the doctor for the same day. Our meeting with the doctor goes amazingly well. His experience and plans for delivery fit perfectly with our research, and he has successfully delivered multiple breech babies throughout his career. I finally feel comfortable with the birthing plan we have in place. I have a strong suspicion that I don't have much time left, so I'm relieved to be at peace with our plans for delivery. Matt and I spend time on Friday night trying to encourage labor to start, but no luck yet. :-)

Saturday, Sept 18th: Matt and I do something touristy, so I get in good walking time (again, hoping to get labor started.) By evening, I realize I have caught a cold. Lots of congestion and no energy make me very sleepy, so I zonked out early.  Here's a pic of me while on our walk after the tour:

Sunday, Sept 19th: I was able to make it through church with a lot of warm tea to help with my sore throat. Afternoon was spent cleaning and preparing for company who would arrive once the baby came.

Monday, Sept 20th: Amelia's birthday!!

The birth story: As usual, I got up multiple times throughout the night. by 4:30am, I realized that I now had a fever of about 99.5 deg F, so I took some Tylenol to help bring the fever down. At 5:30am, I was wrapped in a blanket on the living room couch with tissues and water on hand. I had decided to stay home from work due to the cold/fever. Matt woke up to make sure I was up and moving, and that is when I informed him I would be staying home. At that very moment, my water broke in a massive gush. I exclaimed something along the lines of "oh my goodness!", and I told Matt what had happened so he could help get things in the car for us to head to the hospital. (5:30am sure was good timing for avoiding traffic yet being awake!) I was leaking badly, so Matt got everything ready and loaded into the car without me (only later realizing that we hadn't packed the camera.)

We arrived at the hospital around 6:30am, and I was wheeled in to get registered. (We weren't in the hospital's system yet because we had just switched to the new clinic on Friday.) My contractions were only a couple of minutes apart and strong, getting stronger every time. We checked into our room, and during these early contractions, I puked twice. By 8:30am I was already 9cm dilated, and I was fully dilated by 9:20am. I was trying every position possible to manage the pain. Tub/bed/birthing ball/lying on my side/kneeling... wasn't having much luck, but for some reason, I still wasn't thinking about asking for any pain meds. I like to think this is due to my stubborn, stoic nature.

At 9:25am, I was able to start pushing. Thankfully, I was able to move around as needed using a birthing ball, birthing stool, and kneeling on the bed. The doctor had been checking in throughout the morning, and he and the nurse had been great coaches for me. By 11am, Matt was able to see our baby's bottom just before she slipped back inside to await the next push. I was determined to make every push count in order to be done ASAP. The doctor stayed with the nurse, Matt, and me practically the entire time monitoring progress and encouraging me through the pushes. At 11:20am, our baby girl, Amelia, was born! Her APGARs were good (7 and 8), and she only needed some oxygen and time in the warmer after she had arrived. (The doctor did have to help her legs and arms to come out during the pushing, so we are glad we had someone there who knew how to do this safely!)

By the time she was born, I was so exhausted that I didn't mind having a few minutes to rest and recover while the team took care of Amelia. Throughout the labor process, I wanted everything quiet and dark. I had no energy to talk or even respond to questions. Matt and the team were wonderful, taking care of everything for me that they could. After Amelia was deemed okay, the doctor talked me through the delivery of the placenta. One easy push and that step was done!

Hospital recovery was great. Lots of caring people were near to help with cleanup of the mess, bring food, and keep us comfortable. I had thrown up twice during early contractions, and I felt nauseous for a long while after delivery, so it took some time before we were moved to the post-delivery room. Matt skyped/facebooked/took pics (using my mom's camera and a disposable camera that a nice hospital employee had purchased for us.) My mom helped with the baby and other needs. (My mom had arrived just after the delivery, which she thinks is probably a good thing.)

We stayed in the hospital for one night only, leaving in the afternoon of 9/21. I was overwhelmed by the caring, high-touch nature of the hospital staff. What a wonderful team! Plus, the nurse (and the doctor) seemed excited to be part of the process. It was a great event in our lives to share with such a caring team of medical professionals. (Note: We were discharged before we got to see the doctor again, but he gave us a phone call on Wednesday to check in on how things were going. How nice!) I couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery experience! No drugs, no tearing, no surgery, and a healthy baby girl. What a great day!

Pictures from just after the birth:

For having just gone through an all natural labor and not having taken a shower, I think I was looking pretty good!  

And here are some pics with Amelia being held by Granny Callie: