VCUG A Success!

All,

Just a quick note to say that Lacy had her VCUG on Tuesday and she passed with flying colors! She was a champ and did better than her own mother. Seeing her in a hospital gown was cute, but heart wrenching at the same time.

The process was quick and seemed pretty painless from Lacy's end. It started with them ushering us into a scary room with lots of crazy equipment that I had never seen before. They told us that only one of us could be by her side during the procedure, so Ryan took over that duty as I was not sure I could be the 'strong' one for her. Luckily, they allowed me to watch from behind a partition and I could also see what they were seeing internally from a screen.

The nurses (there were 3 of them!) had to restrain Lacy (not due to her squirming) but as a preventative measure so that she would not knock the catheter out once it was inserted. Seeing my little girl being strapped to a table was really hard for me and I had to really strain to keep those tears back. Lacy, on the other hand, was smiling away and flirting with the nurses. They even had a Sesame Street video to distract her if necessary. Once she was strapped in, the head nurse, inserted the catheter and Lacy barely let out a squawk. She didn't seem to be upset at all and continued to smile and jabber nonsense.

The doctor then came in and inserted the dye into her bladder. We asked ahead of time what the chances of her being allergic to the dye were and how they would know. They assured us that there was no iodine in the dye and it was the most sensitive out there. Once the dye was inserted I could view her bladder on the screen behind the partition and could watch it fill up. Lacy and Ryan were doing great...I was in turmoil wishing I was the one next to her. After her bladder was completely full it was time to get her to release it. This actually turned out to be more difficult then you would imagine. The dr. informed us that it would sting a little when she first started to release. They started to pour warm water on her lower half in order to make her 'go.' That did the trick and Lacy let loose, although she started to cry then as she seemed a bit uncomfortable and a little freaked out with all the people now surrounding her and the equipment around her. She cried until she was done, but she never cried with the velocity that she does when getting shots. As soon as she was done, they put her in my arms and she was fine....no severe trauma!

The dr. came back a few minutes later and told us: "NO BLOCKAGE and NO REFLUX!" Wonderful news as these were the two issues that they wanted to clear out as those can cause a kidney infection down the road. Since Lacy has no side affects of an enlarged kidney/ureter they can assume that this is just how she was built and that either one of her parents might have the same internal build. OR, there could be a kink in the ureter, but the only thing they would do for that is just monitor. We will see what our pediatrician thinks in the next few days, but my guess is that he will suggest just monitoring her for the next couple of months to see if the problem corrects itself or worsens. Monitoring would just require ultrasounds and those I can handle. Lacy coos and relaxes during them and seems to enjoy the dark warm room! Nothing invasive, nothing painful, no stress!

Thanks for all the kind words and wishes! She was a champ and Ryan and I are so glad we have that past us! Lacy seems no worse for the wear and our smiley, happy baby is still smiley and happy.

My Two New Teeth!

Well, it is official, Lacy Day has 2 teeth! Her first one broke through last Saturday, just as my Mom was arriving into town, and her second tooth broke through last Sunday. G'ma was here for both those milestones, thank goodness, because Lacy didn't crawl while she was here. We are still working on that, but she is close. She rocks back and forth on her hands and knees and when she tries to coordinate the movements of her arms with her legs it turns into a slide/roll. She can still get to what she wants, she just takes a roundabout way there with a combination of rolling and scooting.

Prior to my mom arriving we had a wonderful visit with my Dad, Jane and Sean in Colorado. We were excited to see them and have them see Lacy since they hadn't seen her since she was 3 months old and it had been a quick pass through visit on our drive West to California. Lacy took to them instantly and enjoyed spending time with her Bumpa, Nana and Uncle Sean. We took in a few of Sean's soccer games (one win, one loss), visited with some of my college friends, and enjoyed the CO scenery and weather (besides a few hours of rain!). Lacy did spectacular on the flights again, but on our way back from CO everyone surrounding us decided to sleep and Lacy was WIDE awake and not using her 'inside' voice should we say. Ryan and I realized it is impossible to quiet a baby who does not understand what "ssshhhhh....." is yet.

My mom came in last Saturday for a week long stay with us. We were able to do and see a lot while she was here even though I had to work for most of it. We took her hiking in the Marin Headlands with a spectacular ending at a black sand beach opening up to the rocky coast and the Pacific Ocean. She enjoyed walking, shopping, eating in Sausalito and took MANY pictures of our house and the surrounding areas. We took the ferry into the city one day and met Ryan for lunch and walked all along the Embarcadero and the gorgeous ferry station is a site to see in and of itself. We drove all through the Marin Headlands later in the week and stopped at all the overlooks and beaches that we could find. We drove through Fort Baker and stopped at the fishing pier and got several good shots of the Golden Gate bridge from underneath (or as close as you can get to underneath these days). The activities are too numerous to mention them all, but she got a lot of "Lacy time" in.

On her last night here, the Maltese Falcon decided to stay and anchor in Sausalito's harbour. It is an amazing and impressive boat. If you don't know anything about it, google it, it is unbelievable. It is basically an 88 foot sailing yacht that is almost fully automated. It boasts a hotel on board and is rented weekly for $335,000....petty change for most of us. Ha! The boat is actually for sale and comes in at a paltry $190M. Needless to say, it is the talk around town now and the tourists are gaga for this thing. They are crowding the streets, hanging from guardrails, climbing trees, boats are swarming it like bees all to take pics. It is truly a sight to see. Ryan took a kayak ride out this morning to get some pics and I will try to post them here, although I know they will not do this boat any justice.



I feel as though there are many things I am forgetting to write, but if I think of them, I will be sure to include them in the next post.

For all of you who have followed the posts regarding Lacy's ultrasound and hydronephrosis. The appointment we had mid-September didn't come out as we had hoped. There is still an enlargement although they say the enlargment is not so much in the kidney itself, but the ureter. The only way that they can determine if this is just the way she is built or if it is not working correctly is to order the VCUG. We, reluctantly, agreed that this was what needed to happen so that we can move forward and it doesn't turn in to a bigger problem down the road with the most serious being a kidney infection. Her appointment for the VCUG is on Tuesday at the University of CA-San Francisco Medical Center. Luckily Ryan has been able to arrange his schedule to be there, if not for Lacy, then for me, because I am just so scared for her. I realize it is just a catheter really, but its just not what we had hoped. I am sure all will be fine and we will make sure that we keep you all posted as the information comes to us.

Miss you all!

Aye Aye Aye...is crawling next?

Well, I can see that things are going to get a bit more difficult for this working/stay at home mom in the next month or two. Lacy has now mastered sitting and can sit on her own for long stretches before throwing herself back when she is tired! Hence, you can still not leave her side unless you have stacked pillows all around her.

She is learning to get where she wants to go by scooting, although right now, when scooting on her stomach she tends to go backward, but on her back she is a champ. When on her back she pushes the bottoms of her feet onto the ground and pushes herself forward. This is her favorite mode of transportation at present. I don't think it will be long before the crawling begins.

Her fine motor skills are really honed at this point. She knows what she wants and she can reach for it and normally gets it first try, including mom's hair, nose and her favorite, the coffee cup. She loves to look at magazines and loves the sound of the crinkle and crunch when she tears pages out.

Her personality is really coming out and she really does seem to be an easy going girl. Always trying to ham it up for mom and dad and is happy just to be here and a part of the family. I thought that by now we would have had battles with eating, but she will eat what is put in her mouth. Granted, she may eat more sweet potatoes than she does carrots, but there is never a fight to get her to eat. I hope that continues!!! At this point, we have made it through all the cereals and all the yellow veggies--green veggies to follow, then fruits. Nowadays, the dr's ask you to wait four days before you introduce her to a new food to check for allergic reactions. So far so good.

At our Lacy's 6 month checkup (she is 28 weeks!!!) we discussed the hydronephrosis diagnosis with our new dr. and our concerns about putting Lacy through a VCUG if it wasn't entirely necessary. He completely agreed and took our suggestion to have her go through another ultrasound to see if the hydronephrosis has corrected itself. We have that scheduled for 9/15 and we are keeping our fingers crossed that Lacy has kicked her 'nephrosis' and we can move forward.

As for us, we have just been enjoying the beautiful weather that August and September have offered us and on Sunday we will take Lacy on her first hike. We are looking forward to a visit with my mom in late September and during the holiday season, a possible trip to San Diego for Thanksgiving and a visit with Dad, Jane and Sean for Xmas. After that, Lacy turns 1!!!! I know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but time flies and she is changing so rapidly.

Updated Stats

Lacy Day at her 6 month checkup is:

Weight: 15lbs 14oz.
Height: 25 1/2 inches

We have made it through all the cereals (rice, oats and barley--oatmeal being her favorite) and are now on to veggies (currently she is favoring squash).

Some Updates

Lacy is now 24 weeks! My how the time has flown. She is doing wonderful and is still such a happy and smiley baby. Last week she made it through her first plane ride, unscathed, and no worse for the wear. She did GREAT! We really had no problems with ears as we fed her on landing (she slept both times through take off). I think her parents realize that travel is not nearly as easy or as cheap as it used to be. With all the new baggage costs and overweight bag costs, Lacy's parents added almost $200 extra to their tickets. As some of you may know, travelling with kids requires MUCH more baggage. Regardless, it was (as always) a nice yearly visit up to the cottage.

Lacy got to know her G'ma and Aunt Steph and there was so many new things to see and do. Lacy had her first boat ride, watched her first water ski show, met her great grandmother and great aunt, swung in her first hammock, caught her first fish (kind of), had her first foray with sand and splashed in the lake. It was an all around good trip. While we were there Lacy started to sit up on her own (for seconds at a time), but still that spine is getting stronger every day. Lacy also (while sharing a room with mom and dad) found that she could grab both her feet in the middle of the night, and let me tell you, once she figured that out, she didn't sleep a wink. She played with her feet and babbled ALL night long.

At present, we are positive that she must have a tooth coming in. Her drool has increased, her crankiness increased and everything that she can grab a hold of goes into her mouth. We are looking forward to a visit from Ryan's parents and exploring more of the sights and sounds of our new city.

Love to all!

Rice Cereal-Just As Good As Wheaties

Today was a big day for us! We introduced Lacy to solids! It is funny what you get excited about as a parent, but I know I was looking forward to this all week. Our pediatrician had told us to start Lacy (when we were ready) on solids and make it more of a play time activity at first. So, this morning we fed her a bottle and about an hour later we were ready. The first introduction, according to our pediatrician, should be a really thin mix of formula and the rice cereal. That in and of itself was a bit difficult to decide what was 'too thin' and 'too thick.' Regardless, we prepped her and made a big deal out of how fun it was going to be (believe it or not she seemed excited!). She was not quite sure what to make of it at first, but didn't seem too confused or terrified over the experience. As we continued she started to get the hang of opening her mouth for the spoon when it came towards her. She pushed most of the cereal out with her tongue, but seemed to get a few good bites of it down. I think it will just take a bit of practice. She is going to get one more chance tonight and we will keep at it until we can drop at least one bottle feeding. I am so excited, our little girl is growing up!!!

**NOTE: This YouTube video is private and only those invited to this blog can view**

Our First Visitors (aside from the racoon)

Before I go into Lacy's first foray with rice cereal (next post) I wanted to chat about our 5 day visit with Sarah, Adam and Addison.  We had a great time.  They came in Thursday morning and Lacy got to see Addison for a bit at Adam's aunt and uncle's house in Larkspur.  The girls were definitely more aware of each other than the last time when they were about 2 1/2-3 months old. This time they were more curious and Addison (who is moving around like a pro) reached out several times to grab at Lacy (it looked like she was trying to hug Lacy!).

Friday Adam's aunt and uncle offered to babysit both the girls so that we could all get a bit of a break.   I was really really nervous as this was the ONLY time that we had ever left Lacy with anyone other than family.  Not to mention, Tom and Stevie were going to have both girls and that is a lot of work.  Needless to say, we packed Lacy up, handed her off, and walked out the door.  I was so nervous that I forgot to say goodbye to Lacy and had to walk back in as I couldn't leave without a hug and kiss.  We met up with Adam's cousin Katie and her boyfriend Drew downtown and went to Umami (a great sushi restaurant in Marina).  The food, drinks and conversation were hilarious although we always turned back to the girls and funny stories about them. 

**NOTE: We made a pact before dinner to not bore the couple with no kids about our life now--it was broken within the first 10 minutes!**  

We were back to pick up the girls by 11pm and they were both sleeping like babies.  ;)  We didn't know how Lacy would do with waking her up mid-sleep and driving her home and then putting her back down.  We didn't have to worry...she was a champ.  She did GREAT for Tom and Stevie, so well that they have offered their services should we need them again!  

On Saturday Sarah and Adam came into Sausalito and we ordered a great light Italian lunch from a little cafe down the street and we put the girls down for naps.  When they woke up we ventured up into the Marin Headlands and drove in and around the national park area.  It was beautiful.  We stopped at several lookouts in and around the bay and our final stop was atop the hill right above the Golden Gate Bridge.  Talk about beautiful views!  It was absolutely breathtaking and we got wonderful shots with the girls--well, it was a bit windy and the pictures reflect that!  That night we ordered in Chinese food and celebrated Adam's 31st with a cake and a hilarious round of "Loaded Questions" while the girls slept.

Sunday, Ryan and Adam went to an A's game in Oakland (the Giants were away) and Sarah and I did what we do best when we are together and that is shop.  I took Sarah to an outdoor mall (probably one of the nicest malls I have been to) in Corte Madera.  All the shops you could possibly want in a really cute outdoor setting.  Great for kids and mom's with strollers (no tricky escalators and ridiculous crowds).    After our shopping excursion we went our separate ways and met up with them again back at Tom and Stevie's house in Larkspur.  Tom and Stevie had invited us over for a BBQ/Bday party for Adam.   Lacy was a ham the whole night and had everyone in stitches and we even got more babysitting offers from Adam's cousin.  It was a very fun night and we had a really good weekend with them.  

I was lucky enough to get Monday off and I met Sarah  in Larkspur and we headed to downtown Mill Valley to check out a really cute kids store.  It was very cute, but VERY pricey!  I don't think that Lacy needs a $45 onesie that she will never wear again in about 2 weeks.  Regardless, it was a nice day and a really cute town and Lacy enjoyed getting out and about and trying out her 'big girl' stroller for the first time.  

It was great to have Sarah and Adam in town and we already miss them as they embark on their next adventure to Seattle.  Addison is already a pro at flying having been to Iowa, San Fran and now Seattle.  I only hope Lacy is as good as Addison on the flight to Wisconsin!!!  Fingers crossed.