Pancreatitis and other stuff

Well, it's my 5th night in the hospital, away from my baby for the first, and hopefully, last time in a long time. Friday morning I came in for a scheduled gall bladder removal. I had begun an attack Christmas evening at 11:45 and the pain never subsided. I arrived at the hospital only to find out that I had a blocked bile duct due to a rogue gall stone and had since developed pancreatitis. EXTREMELY, EXCRUCIATINGLY, AGONOZINGLY painful...did I mention it hurts? I hope I never bear this again. I had only hoped I would be here through half the day Friday and possibly overnight, here it is night number 5. I had an elevated white blood cell count yesterday which was cause for concern and needed a CT scan to determine if there was anything else underlying. Nothing other than confirmed pancreatitis. I've had to rest my pancreas with a clear liquid diet. Let me define clear liquid diet...that's jello in every flavor imagineable, decaf tea or coffee, and any type of gross, salty broth you can think of. Gradually, I'll be able to eat more. Tomorrow they'll run more bloodwork and I'll hopefully be able to go home and celebrate New Year's with Todd and Rowan on the couch or in my own bed! Thank goodness for Todd and Grandma, Dad, and Dianne, and Uncle Craig and Aunt Amanda who have helped take care of Rowan, Millie and the cats in my absence. I hate being away from her and know she won't possibly remember this. I'm also thankful that Rowan takes a bottle so well. I hope she'll return to breastfeeding just as well too. I'm awake, with a throbbing back, writing this thinking that I hope and pray 2009 is healthy and happy!

Rowan's Visit with Santa-Take 2

Rowan, Grandma, Daddy and I visited Santa at Chesterfield Mall on Saturday, the 13th. She wore her new dress that Grandma bought for her. This Santa was the real deal and the picture turned out much better than our other visit because it's closer up. Here's a shot I took with my camera. Isn't she sweet? How much longer will she sleep on Santa's lap opposed to cry on Santa's lap??

Rowan and her Opa

We celebrated my dad's 55th birthday on Wednesday, the 17th. Here's a picture of Rowan with Opa. Opa is slowly adjusting to being called Opa since that's what we called his father and that's what my cousin's kids call my Uncle Pete. My dad thinks my Uncle Pete is the only "Opa" in the family. Not true, Dad! Welcome to your new name!

8 1/2 hours

Last night, Rowan slept from 8:30-5! I woke up a little panicked and shocked. I woke her up to change her diaper and feed her. She didn't even really open her eyes to eat. She then slept from 5:20-8:20. I wonder if this will be a regular occurence or if it was just a fluke. We'll see...

Dinner Party

Rowan had her first major dinner party last night at the Cheesecake Factory. She was dressed in a cute holiday jumper but never got to show it off. She slept the entire meal. We dined with the Ramirez family, Kim, Jimmie, Carson, Max and baby girl fetus, and Aunt Amanda and Uncle Craig. At one point she opened her eyes and stared up at the paintings and lights on the ceiling but then quickly closed them and went back to sucking on her bink. I don't know how many more of those quiet dinners our future holds :)

Rowan Elfed Herself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Gall Bladder

Yesterday, I met with Dr. Cronin at St. Luke's. Looks like I have to have my gall bladder removed. I have a lot of gall stones. The magical date will be on December 26, bummer, huh? Oh well. It was for the best. I wanted to be able to enjoy the holidays and all of the get-togethers we have planned. It will be laproscopic and he said he normally keeps his patients 24 hours but since I have a little one he'll consider letting me go. I'm the first case (7:30 a.m.) so if all is well by 1 or 2, I'll be able to go. Rowan is 10 weeks today and will be 12 weeks to the day, the day of my surgery.

I did it!

Today was a big day for Rowan and I...probably not as much for Rowan but it was still a big day. Rowan went to daycare for 2 hours today while I attended a meeting at school. It was hard. As Sandy and I were talking, Rowan sat in her car seat sucking on her binky like Maggie Simpson with her big round eyes staring up at us. I think I would've felt better, less guilty, had she been asleep. Sandy was great. She kept reassuring me that Rowan would be fine. I knew she would but it was still odd to leave her. The meeting occupied me so the 2 hours went by quickly. When I picked Rowan up Sandy was feeding her. She had only taken an ounce because they'd just started. Rowan smiled at me once I got to her level on Sandy's lap. So sweet! We packed up, including our Christmas present from Sandy (how nice is that?!) and we left. All was well.

Daddy and Rowan

The weekend was nice overall. Rowan had her 2 month vaccinations on Friday. That was NOT pleasant. 4 shots, 2 in each thigh and an oral. She screamed so hard that at one point, nothing came out. A little Tylenol and some TLC and she was fine.

Todd and I attended the Shred-It Christmas Party at the Chase Park Plaza's Tenderloin Room on Saturday night. It was a good time and nice to be out with other adults.

Sunday, Grandma, Rowan and I went shopping. Boy, Rowan is one spoiled little girl already but I guess that's what grandmas are for...mine was. Grandma bought Rowan the cutest little red velvet, long sleeved, empire waist, Ralph Lauren dress. We topped off the cuteness with some little cream knit tights. I think we're going to do another round with Santa this coming weekend in her new dress.
Sunday night Todd was playing with Rowan and I heard him begin to read to her. A new favorite book of ours, maybe not Rowan's yet, Where Is That Cat? I walked in Rowan's nursery to find Rowan and Daddy laying on the floor, head to head, studying the book together. It was so cute that I grabbed my camera. The picture is above.

Today Rowan and I visited Santa at Plaza Frontenac. Look at the cute little grin and don't forget the little dimple on her right. I think she looks like her daddy in this picture. She wore little white tights and her black patent leather shoes. The shoes fit but I'm not sure I'll ever buy size 0-9 tights again. I should've know with a span like that how baggy they'd be on her little ankles. Nonetheless, very cute on her little chubby legs. Santa was very jolly and I think Rowan told him some things on her wish list.

Parents as Teachers

Today, Ann Greaver from Parkway's Parents as Teachers program came over for our first visit. She showed Rowan and I some cool things; neat toys, fun activities, and tons of stuff to read...in my spare time. Am I supposed to laugh at that? Rowan generally hates tummy time but it's a necessary evil. After Rowan's afternoon snooze, I did a little tummy time with her but this time I put a book with baby faces in front of her. She stared and stared at the book and the faces and then she FLIPPED herself over onto her back! I couldn't believe it. I'm sure it was a fluke and won't happen again until much later but I was shocked. Grandma always likes to say how "advanced" she is. Did I mention that as Ann was visiting, Irwin, our 8 year old cat, threw up in one of my decorative bowls on the sofa table right in front of us? I was so embarrassed. What a circus we're running here!

Reading

I just watched the cutest thing. I was uploading our Christmas card and Todd went to Rowan's room and came out with a book. He picked Rowan up and began to read to her. He read The Berenstein Bears Go to School. I think he enjoyed it more than she did as she wiggled, squirmed and fussed a little. They say even reading to them early helps increase their vocabulary. Hopefully, Rowan learns to read as much as Todd does!

Thumb sucking

So many of our friends and family have asked why I was so hesitant to give Rowan a binky. Besides it possibly interfering with breastfeeding, I also had flashforwards to a 5 year old still walking around with a binky in her mouth. Something I hate to see and am disgusted by. So far, so good though in the world of her binky. Last night however, a girl pulled up next to us at a stoplight. She was a cute girl, younger, driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Todd and I were catching up on the day's events when I looked over and saw this girl full-out sucking on her thumb! Her thumb was all the way in her mouth, her lips around it and she was in a daze-like state. I couldn't believe it! This totally grossed me out. The moral of this story is that at least we can throw Rowan's binky away.

Staying Home

Today is my first day of "extra" time with Rowan. She is so worth it. I return on December 22 and 23 for a cameo appearance before winter break. I used to worry about my classroom and how it would look upon my return but that happens to be the furthest thing from my mind. Right now Rowan's sleeping peacefully and so is Millie. It's the perfect day for napping because of the snow on the ground and the overcast sky. We don't have much planned today except to stay home and enjoy our Christmas tree and lights...and of course, each other. These days Rowan's smiling, cooing, and laughing. It melts my heart. Who would've ever thought that I would find those things so precious? She's sleeping for 6-6 1/2 hour stretches at night so things are definitely becoming easier. Taking this extra time has allowed me to enjoy the new things she's doing. I'm so glad I didn't miss it!