9 Months!

Lillian is nine months old and being a mom just keeps getting better and better. I love her so much! It seems like she gets happier every month. We are in a really good routine now - Lily sleeps from 8:00 PM until 6:00 or 6:30 AM straight through the night (:::fist pump:::), and then she naps from 9-10 and from 2-4. I love that Greg and I get a few hours together each evening, and I get some time to get stuff done around the house during the day.

We are all recovered from bronchiolitis and Lily no longer needs the Xopenex or Pulmacort. I did get another case of thrush from starting the Symbicort and taking an antibiotic, so my CF doctor wrote me a prescription for Nystatin. Because the Symbicort has really reduced my nighttime wheezing, he also wrote me a prescription to continue swishing Nystatin every few days indefinitely. Hopefully this will keep the thrush at bay, (people who have been following this blog for a while may remember how I could horrible thrush a few years ago when I started taking Advair, and I had to stop taking it).

Right now I am in the process of adding dairy back into my diet. I am doing this as described in the book Baby 411. So far I've added cheeses and yogurt and Greg and I have not noticed an difference in Lily. This week I am eating ice cream and next week will be milk. My fingers are crossed that Lily won't start spitting up again!

And, Lily had her 9 month appointment last week. She weighs 17 pounds, which puts her into the 20th percentile. She is also in the 20th percentile for height and the 75th percentile for head circumference. I did talk to her doctor about the fact that she is behind average on her gross motor skills (she is not crawling yet and as still never rolled from back to front). Her doctor was not worried because Lily has been making progress, which is what the doctor really wanted to observe.

This is what Lily has been up to lately:

-She does scoot backwards and around in a circle on her belly, but she does not like being on her belly. Greg and I still make sure she does three 10-minute sessions of tummy time each day. We try to distract her with toys and books, but there is still a lot of whining involved. This makes me wonder if she will ever crawl.

-She loves to stand holding onto something and has pulled herself to standing several times over the past two weeks. Last night she started letting go and balancing for a few seconds. It was so cute! She would let go and hold her hands out like she was trying to balance on a surf board and get excited and squeal. She was so proud of herself.

-She babbles a ton. She can say "lalalala," "mamama," "dadadada," "nananana," "vavava," and "bababa." She actually said "mamama" before "dadada" (:::fistpump:::). And now she says "mama" and "dada" to the right person. Greg commented the other day about how he never hears her say "mama" and I hear her say it all the time. And, when she really wants to nurse, she cries and says "muuuummmm!" or "mum mum!"

-She is obsessed with books. Especially turning and ripping pages. This makes reading to her almost impossible. And board books are not nearly as fun as regular books, (but we try to keep her away from regular books because we don't want to encourage page-ripping).

-She loves Cheerios, baby cereal (but only one particular brand of cereal), puffs, Mum Mums, and bananas. She'll eat only a few bites of most fruits and veggies, whether it be pureed or in finger-food format. I was really excited tonight because I gave her whole sweet peas for the first time and she ate like 10 of them. My CF doctor actually asked me why I lost more weight and I was like, "Because I have this 17 pound baby who doesn't like to eat anything other than grains and breastmilk :P"

-She loves to play ball, she holds her hands up to play pattycake, and she helps me dress her by holding her arms out when I put her shirt on her.

-She loves to go out in public, especially if there are kids around. She always slaps her hand and yells "Heeeeyyyy!" at people. So cute.

-I've been trying to teach her baby sign language, but she's decided the sign for "more" is slapping the high chair tray (as in, "more Cheerios").

That's all for now! I'll end this with a baby of Daddy and Baby:


And one from the Kite Festival this weekend:

Awesome Gift!

Check out this onesie that I received from a fellow mom with CF. Her child wore it and she passed it on to me. (I'm not sure if she wants me to call her out on here). It made me all teary-eyed.

Two Sickies

Yesterday Lily and I both went to the doctor. I was freaking out because Lily looked like she was having trouble breathing, and I knew I was having trouble breathing. I gave Lily her first Xopenex treatment, and she responded really well to it (which is great, but it also makes me nervous that she may have asthma). However, I still wanted to get her checked by the doctor, considering her lungs had been rattly for a week. And I needed to get checked myself because I had a ton of junk in my lungs and was feeling short of breath. I was also still running a fever.

So, I went to the CF doctor and Greg took Lily to the pediatrician. My O2 sats were fine (99%) and my PFTs looked normal, so my doctor said it looks like I just have a really bad cold (he did say that he could hear stuff in my lungs). He told me to keep taking albuterol and vesting every four hours and he said I could try some Muxinex and Afrin. He also wrote me a prescription for Prednisone that I could fill "if I felt I needed it." He said I should call him back if I don't get better in a week, or if my sputum production (there's some gross CF-lingo for you) changes.

Lily's pediatrician said that her breathing still sounded gunky but she was not in distress. She wrote Lily a prescription for Pulmicort and told Greg to call back in two days. She said that Lily might have to take an antibiotic or oral steroid if she's still gunky.

Luckily we both seem to be feeling a little better today - we both are still have gunky coughs, but I no longer feel feverish and Lily is in a better mood. Fingers crossed this goes away soon because we are both so ready to get back to our routine!

And....Now I'm Really Sick

Ugh. My lungs are all rattly, I was up half the night coughing, my head is completely blocked up, my throat hurts, and I feel feverish, dizzy, and weak. I haven't been this sick in a long, long time (It's probably been 10 years). My CF doctor called in an antibiotic (Augmentin) yesterday, so hopefully it will kick-in soon. But, right now I am in no shape to take care of my little peanut and I don't have a crystal ball to tell me when I will be feeling better. So, we are flying my mother-in-law in to help out this week. It sucks that we have to spend the $$$ on a last minute flight, but I knew this was eventually going to happen. I am just so grateful to have an awesome, retired mother-in-law!

Lillian is still sick too. Her lungs still sounds a little rattly and she cut another bottom tooth - so the poor babe has been teething AND sick. So, it's all-around fun times in our household right now :P

Lillian Has Bronchiolitis :(

My poor peanut! She developed a runny nose on Friday, spiked a fever on Saturday, and started coughing on Monday. The cough had not gotten better, her breathing sounded a bit rattly, and she was super fussy today, (she would scream unless I held her and walked around in circles), so I took her to the doctor. He diagnosed her with mild bronchiolitis.

He said to give her Tylenol or Motrin if she seemed to be in pain, push the fluids, use a cool-mist humidifier, and elevate the head of her bed, all of which are things we've already been doing. He also said we could take her into the shower with us and give her some mucinex. And he sent her home with...albuterol and hypertonic saline! The exact same two drugs I take everyday. So, not only are we both on Zegerid, now we might both be on the same breathing treatments :P The doctor said she only needed them if she was having trouble sleeping.

I feel sick too, so this sucks all around! I started coughing up junk yesterday and am really tired and achy today, so we may be hiring a mother's helper for the next two days. I called my CF doctor and he said to wait until Friday, and, if I'm not feeling better by then, he wants to call in an antibiotic.

Here's to hoping for a healthy household soon!

8 Months and Clinic Visit

Lillian turned 8 months old on Sunday! That seems so old to me. Here's a bit about what she is doing at 8 months:

-She's pushing herself up on her belly and scooting backwards and around in a circle. I'm not sure if she is going to crawl or just go straight to cruising. I try to give her at least 20 minutes of tummy time every day.

-She stands holding onto something and I can tell she is dying to move, but she doesn't yet get the concept of picking up her feet.

-She sits really well and loves to sit and play with her toys.

-She also loves the excersaucer, jumperoo, and activity table.

-She has advanced fine motor skills and can pick up a small object with the tips of her thumb and forefinger. She's been banging objects together for over a month, and she recently started throwing things, (not just dropping, but actually raising them and chucking them onto the sofa/bed), picking them up, throwing them back down, picking them up, and repeat. She actually started using the touchscreen on our ipod touch today and Greg and I were in shock.

-She loves to babble and can say "mamama," "dadada," "lalala," and "bababa." Right now she is obsessed with "dadada." Sometimes she jumbles it all together and it sounds like she is "talking." It is soooo cute. I freaking LOVE babbling!

-She is not a big eater. We introduced solids at 5-1/2 months and it took about a month before she would eat more than a teaspoon of anything. I've been cycling through all of the fruits, veggies, and cereals, and so far she only really eats Happy Bellies rice cereal, bananas, Mum Mums, and Gerber Puffs. I've tried things pureed and finger-food style. She'll take a few bites and then be done with it.

-She is sooo smiley and social. I love how easy it is to make her smile. And she loves other people. When we go out in public, I put her in a carrier facing-outward and she just kicks like crazy. Everyone tells me how cute she is ;) It's so fun. We also started Gymboree and she loves it. She slaps the floor and yells "ahhhhhh!" at the other babies :) (She always slaps things when she is happy - Greg and I call it "slappa slappa.")

-She usually sleeps 8:00-6:00ish and takes 1 to 1-1/2 hour naps at 9:30 and 2:00ish.

-She has one bottom tooth.

There's the run-down on Lillian. Here's a quick synopsis of my clinic visit:

-My FEV1 is holding steady at 112%

-My culture showed Staph at the last clinic visit (in November). This is a change from previous visits - I hadn't cultured anything in years.

-My doctor wanted to try Symbicort to see if it helps with the nighttime wheezing I've experienced. (I'm also supposed to get a endoscopy of my upper GI tract to see if reflux may be causing the wheezing, I just need to schedule it with my gastro).

-He was a little annoyed that I had lost weight, but I'm exactly where I was pre-baby (which means I still haven't lost the IF weight). I did try to lose enough weight to fit into my clothes, but I also lost a little more just because Lillian isn't eating much solid food and nurses all the time. I am always starving and eating like a freaking pig.

That's about it for now! I'm just excited I blogged twice in one week!

It's Been Four Months!

Holy Cow, it's been FOREVER since I have blogged! Things were crazy for a while and I didn't have time to do much of anything! For a few months, Lillian decided that napping wasn't her thing, and she would only take two 25-minute naps a day. Then she was really fussy from being tired. There were times I felt like I was going to lose my mind! But, now she's napping at least two hours a day AND sleeping 10 hours straight at night!

So, because this is a CF blog, I will start with a CF update. I had a clinic appointment in November and everything is still looking good: No change in PFTs (FEV1 was around 110%) and my cultures were still clear. I did catch a cold last month and developed a sinus infection that spread to a small Staph skin infection on the tip of my nose, but that's cleared up thanks to antibiotics.

Postpartum recovery has been a bit challenging, though. I am having a hard time recovering from childbirth and have to go to physical therapy every week and spend 10 minutes a day doing exercises to fix the problem.

I also developed plantar fasciitis in my right foot and have been making lots of trips to the podiatrist and have had to cut way back on cardio, which is driving me crazy! Back in November the podiatrist taped up my foot and I developed this horrible allergic rash that made me want to claw my skin off and required two weeks of prednisone just so the itching wouldn't drive me insane :/

I am still in shock that I didn't get sick from all the sleep deprivation I endured!

In Lillian news, she is doing GREAT. A little before seven months really was a turning point for us, as far as fussiness was concerned. Now she is soooooooo happy!!! It is so easy to make her smile and she loves to babble and yell and laugh. Greg and I are having so much fun with her.

She's a little peanut, with a height in the 20 percentile and a weight in the 30th percentile, but I'm not surprised considering Greg and I are fairly petite people. She has pretty advanced fine motor skills - she loves to sit and play with toys and is good at picking up small objects - but she is a bit behind with her gross motor skills. At the beginning of December, her doctor was concerned about the muscle tone in her arms. The doctor said that we had to do lots of tummy time for a month, and, if she wasn't considerably stronger, she needed to see a neurologist. Luckily, Lillian saw the doctor a few weeks ago, and the doctor was happy with her progress :)

So there is a quick and dirty update :) I promise I am going to try to blog more. Hopefully I will have some pictures in my next post!