Friday, July 29, 2011
Marlee rolled over!!
My big girl rolled over this week...
It was actually more of a "plop-over," but mommy says it counts! Technically Grandma said she rolled over on Tuesday morning while Mommy was working, but since I wasn't there to officially document it, I have to describe the plopovers she did on Wednesday, July 27th.
Marlee was hangin on her belly in the sunroom/playroom and holding her head and chest up really high...then all of the sudden leaned her head to the left and plopped right over. It scared her a little bit and after laying there in shock for a couple of seconds with eyes WIDE open (like only Marlee can do)...she started to cry a bit.
We snuggled for a few minutes, pumped ourselves up, and tried again. She liked it much better the second time. :)
Go Marlee!!!!
It was actually more of a "plop-over," but mommy says it counts! Technically Grandma said she rolled over on Tuesday morning while Mommy was working, but since I wasn't there to officially document it, I have to describe the plopovers she did on Wednesday, July 27th.
Marlee was hangin on her belly in the sunroom/playroom and holding her head and chest up really high...then all of the sudden leaned her head to the left and plopped right over. It scared her a little bit and after laying there in shock for a couple of seconds with eyes WIDE open (like only Marlee can do)...she started to cry a bit.
We snuggled for a few minutes, pumped ourselves up, and tried again. She liked it much better the second time. :)
Go Marlee!!!!
Eyelid Surgeries Complete (hopefully)
The surgeries to remove the basal cell carcinoma from my eyelid are complete.
On July 14th, the dermatologist completed a "MOHS" procedure to remove it, and the next day, the plastic surgeon did the "closure." I was awake for the removal but they put me to sleep the second day for the reconstruction. Both surgeries went very well according to the doctors. It is hard to tell right now because of the swelling, but the only thing I am nervous about is that my eye will now be "small" and non-symmetrical to the other eye. I have gotten sick from general anesthesia before, so they gave me some medicine to counteract the nausea, and I am very thankful for that. I felt a little sick when I was in recovery, but it went away pretty fast and I felt pretty good for the days following...just sleepy. It's amazing how much of a difference it is to deal with stuff like this when you have supportive family and friends. I was swarmed by love and support as soon as I found out I had to do this. I literally didn't have to worry about anything...prayer, transportation, childcare, food, bags of ice, walking my dogs. I have the greatest people in my life.
The day before my 2-week follow up visit, I woke up with a horrible scratching/burning feeling in my eye every time I blinked. It got much worse after being awake for about an hour, and I was worried something was scratching my eye. I went in to the doc and turns out one of my stitches had busted through on the inside of my eyelid and was scratching my eye. Unfortunately, my doctor was off that day, and the one I saw was not comfortable removing those stitches, so I had to deal with it for 27.5 hours...yes, I counted. It really makes me appreciate the little things...the days that I feel healthy and normal...those are fabulous. :)
Yesterday I went for my second follow up visit to get some more stitches removed...and she did find and remove the stitch that was scratching me. I still have about 1/3 of the stitches left, but I am getting there. For some reason, my eye isn't healing as fast as the doc expected it to...she thinks it is probably because of my current "lifestyle" with having twinfants. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the top of the closure isn't fully healing back together. She thinks it will probably close up on its own, but if it doesn't, she will go back in on another surgery and close it. I am praying it heals itself, because surgery is not all it's cracked up to be.
On July 14th, the dermatologist completed a "MOHS" procedure to remove it, and the next day, the plastic surgeon did the "closure." I was awake for the removal but they put me to sleep the second day for the reconstruction. Both surgeries went very well according to the doctors. It is hard to tell right now because of the swelling, but the only thing I am nervous about is that my eye will now be "small" and non-symmetrical to the other eye. I have gotten sick from general anesthesia before, so they gave me some medicine to counteract the nausea, and I am very thankful for that. I felt a little sick when I was in recovery, but it went away pretty fast and I felt pretty good for the days following...just sleepy. It's amazing how much of a difference it is to deal with stuff like this when you have supportive family and friends. I was swarmed by love and support as soon as I found out I had to do this. I literally didn't have to worry about anything...prayer, transportation, childcare, food, bags of ice, walking my dogs. I have the greatest people in my life.
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| Just after the MOHS procedure Thursday |
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| Just before the reconstruction *I had not eaten since 8pm the night before, and this is about 11am, so the smile is fake :) |
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| The day after the reconstruction |
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| One week after the reconstruction...1/3 of stitches gone |
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| 2 weeks after reconstruction - 2/3 of stitches gone |
The day before my 2-week follow up visit, I woke up with a horrible scratching/burning feeling in my eye every time I blinked. It got much worse after being awake for about an hour, and I was worried something was scratching my eye. I went in to the doc and turns out one of my stitches had busted through on the inside of my eyelid and was scratching my eye. Unfortunately, my doctor was off that day, and the one I saw was not comfortable removing those stitches, so I had to deal with it for 27.5 hours...yes, I counted. It really makes me appreciate the little things...the days that I feel healthy and normal...those are fabulous. :)
Yesterday I went for my second follow up visit to get some more stitches removed...and she did find and remove the stitch that was scratching me. I still have about 1/3 of the stitches left, but I am getting there. For some reason, my eye isn't healing as fast as the doc expected it to...she thinks it is probably because of my current "lifestyle" with having twinfants. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the top of the closure isn't fully healing back together. She thinks it will probably close up on its own, but if it doesn't, she will go back in on another surgery and close it. I am praying it heals itself, because surgery is not all it's cracked up to be.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
4 Months
Parks and Marlee are 4 months old today, July 12th. I just read my post from when they were 2 months old, and it truly feels like years ago...and at the same time, feels like just yesterday. It is such a strange feeling. I am going to copy a great friend's idea with marking some milestones on this blog so I can look back at how P & M progressed. Thanks for the idea Janna, hope you don't mind I am stealing it. :)
PARKS:
- You are smiling and giggling ALL THE TIME
- You are wearing size 2 diapers and size 6 mo. clothes
- Your eyes are blue and your hair is RED. We have no idea where you got the red from!!
- Your eyes are blue and your hair is RED. We have no idea where you got the red from!!
- You hold your head up really well, and have started sitting in your Bumbo seat recently.
- You've started trying to pull yourself up when you get ahold of my hands, and when you are in your recliner bouncy seat, you'll do little crunches and lift your head completely up off the seat to see what is going on.
- I am trying to wean you off of your sleep swaddle...we leave one arm in and one arm out (see pic below).
- You eat at approximately 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm and 11pm every day and eat about 160ml per feeding. It takes you about 15 minutes to eat...great improvement from the 45minute feeding days!
- You sleep from 9:15pm until I wake you up at about 8:00am. You get a "dream feed" at 11pm that you sleep through at 11pm.
- You take 3 naps per day for about 1.5 hours and sometimes a short cat nap in the evening.
- You are still drinking all breastmilk and growing fast from it. :)
- You rolled over from your tummy to your back several weeks ago, but don't have much interest in doing that lately. You seem to be close to going from your back to tummy though
- You don't take a pacifier except in the baby jogger and sometimes in your car seat if I hold it for you for the first few seconds
- You are very vocal and seem to have conversations with me. You'll make a noise and I will mimick you and then we will go back and forth with the sounds several times. It's hilarious. (pic of Parks talking below)
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| This is Parks talking to Mommy and the camera |
MARLEE:
- You smile lots now and your laugh is the sweetest sound on earth :)
- You got stung by a wasp on July 3rd. Worst.Moment.Ever. I will have to write more about this later, it was awful, but you are the toughest little thing I've ever seen
- You LOVE the mornings and talk to me all morning after you eat breakfast
- You kick your legs so fast when we lay you on your back. I think you're going to be a sprinter!
- You have almost outgrown Newborn Diapers and are wearing size 1 (except when I find an extra newborn diaper laying around, I use them so we don't waste them), and size newborn or 3 month clothes.
- You are really good at holding your head and chest up. When you extend your neck to look around, you look so old...and beautiful!!
- I am trying to wean you off of your sleep swaddle...we leave one arm in and one arm out (pic below).
- You eat at approximately 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm and 11pm every day and eat about 110ml per feeding.
- You sleep from 9:15pm until 7:45am or 8am. You get a "dream feed" at 11pm that you sleep through.
- You take 3 naps per day for about 1.5 hours and sometimes a short cat nap in the evening.
- You have a "fussy time" in the evenings between your 5pm and 8pm feedings most days.
- You are still drinking all breastmilk. You aren't growing fast like your brother, but you are doing just fine and the doctor said to keep up what you are doing and that's all you need!
- You LOVE your pacifier...we only use it to fall asleep, car rides and when we go out to restaurants and play dates (and of course, when you got stung by the wasp)
- You are an EXCELLENT napper. I lay you down wide awake and you just look at the ceiling for a few minutes and then fall asleep (you don't even wake up if your brother cries).
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- You are an EXCELLENT napper. I lay you down wide awake and you just look at the ceiling for a few minutes and then fall asleep (you don't even wake up if your brother cries).
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| Cutest yawn I've ever seen. :) |
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| Sound asleep |
I love watching these two continue to grow and develop. I can't believe how blessed I am to have been given these little miracles...and I can't believe how much I love them! Happy 4 month birthday, Parks and Marlee...that's 1/3 of a year!
**I used to laugh at how moms would take 15 pictures of their babies in what "seemed" to be the exact same pose. Now I undertand...each moment holds a completely different and priceless expression. I have officially joined the club. :)
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Father's Day 2011
We spent Mikey's first Father's Day at the lake...where we spend most weekends in the summer. It was definitely a special day because we got to spend it with 3 Dad's: Mikey, my dad and Mikey's dad.
Parks and Marlee got their Daddy a longboard skateboard. It was a big hit. :)
We had breakfast on the porch:
...followed by some nude tanning...
And finished up with some swinging by the water...
Eye Update
So...a quick update on my eye. Turns out it was cancer...a "basal cell carcinoma." Of course that is not the news I was hoping for, but I have since learned that if you have to get skin cancer, that is definitely the type you want to get. It doesn't go to the brain or organs, and is not life threatening in 99.8% of the cases. I am very thankful for that!
The crummy part is that it is "aggressive growing" and in a very delicate place (my lower eyelid, inside my eyelashes). My surgery to remove the growth will be next Thursday, July 14th. The dermatologist will perform a "MOHS" procedure to remove the cancer while saving as much healthy tissue around it as possible. I will then go the next day, July 15th, to a plastic surgeon in Atlanta for the second part of the surgery to have the area closed back up. Because of my age and the location of the cancer, they need a plastic surgeon to do the second part to make sure my eye will close properly and not look too different than my other eye.
So...asking for prayers that everything goes smoothly and the cancer is just a little chunk that they can cut out and stitch up without major reconstruction.
Also...GO GET CHECKED OUT if you have any question on any skin abnormalities. It's just a short visit to a dermatologist and it's totally worth it. If I hadn't caught this one soon, it could've grown so big that I'd lose my entire lower eyelid and have to have a major surgery that would leave me without eyelashes and an obviously reconstructed eye. Big thanks to the BIG GUY upstairs for planting the bug in my ear to go get checked!
The crummy part is that it is "aggressive growing" and in a very delicate place (my lower eyelid, inside my eyelashes). My surgery to remove the growth will be next Thursday, July 14th. The dermatologist will perform a "MOHS" procedure to remove the cancer while saving as much healthy tissue around it as possible. I will then go the next day, July 15th, to a plastic surgeon in Atlanta for the second part of the surgery to have the area closed back up. Because of my age and the location of the cancer, they need a plastic surgeon to do the second part to make sure my eye will close properly and not look too different than my other eye.
So...asking for prayers that everything goes smoothly and the cancer is just a little chunk that they can cut out and stitch up without major reconstruction.
Also...GO GET CHECKED OUT if you have any question on any skin abnormalities. It's just a short visit to a dermatologist and it's totally worth it. If I hadn't caught this one soon, it could've grown so big that I'd lose my entire lower eyelid and have to have a major surgery that would leave me without eyelashes and an obviously reconstructed eye. Big thanks to the BIG GUY upstairs for planting the bug in my ear to go get checked!
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