Christmas Wish

I had to interrupt my bloggy break with excellent news.

Today we got the one thing we really wanted for Christmas. At Baby's appointment with the pediatric orthopedic surgeon, the doctor told us that everything looks good, and the harness is working!!! This is the absolute earliest we could possibly know, and x-rays confirm what we have prayed for.

We have been praying that the harness would work and we could avoid casting, and that Baby would heal completely. I had actually asked the Lord for this confirmation for Christmas, and He is so gracious that He gave us this.

The first appointment I was in tears when Baby was put into the harness, and this one I was in tears because she will be staying in it...yeah, I see the irony too....

So best guess is that she will be in the harness 24/7 for another 5 weeks, and then she will get brief periods out of it. We will learn more as we go along.

Merry Christmas to us! And you too!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

In the joy of preparing for our Christmas festivities and caring for my family, time has been slipping away on me! All of a sudden it is bed time and so much is left undone! But my family is well loved and cared for, and that is what matters. (And the fact that we had an almost NORMAL night last night! Praise the Lord! The previous 2 Monday's after Baby's appointment had been long and dreadful!)

With that in mind, I am taking a blogging break until the New Year! After all, there are goodies to eat, family to love, presents to open, girls to play with, goodies to eat...er...did I already mention the goodies?...oh, well stop by because I made some delicious things!...and friends to visit with.

Unless of course the doctor tells us good news next Monday in which case I will have to of course come tell you! But assume no news is good news too.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season filled with the Lord's love and grace.

Baby's Doctor Appointment

We had another check up for Baby this morning as the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon checked her out and checked out the harness positioning. He did make some minor adjustments to accommodate growth and allow more kicking!

He was really, really pleased with what he saw! Baby's knees lay much flatter, and her hip was in the socket! (It is common in these first couple weeks for the hip to pop in and out of place) but her hip stayed in place all week!

He was even more pleased to hear that there was no clicking of the hip all week and that she was beginning to kick her left leg more, moving her left foot on its own for the first time! (A classic sign of hip dysplasia is that on the side of the hip with dysplasia the children move that leg a lot less, and this was very true of Baby, when she did kick on the left it was more of a motion carrying over thing than a deliberate kick. Yet last night when I was nursing her she suddenly started tapping her left foot - she has NEVER done that!)

So while it is still too early to say the harness is working for Baby, there is lots of very good news, lots of positive things to make us hopeful, and nothing negative to indicate it is not working. Which is the best case scenario at this point!

We go back next Monday.

Christmas Traditions - Christmas Tree Ornaments

This is likely only part 1 because I am sleepy, have little windows of time, and am only going to talk about 1 tradition, turns out our family has more than I thought!

When I was little I began receiving occasional Christmas ornaments. Eventually it became expected to get at least 1 from somebody! My husband received some too. Yet our first Christmas our tree was a little on the sparse side, so it was a good thing that we stuck it in the corner and only had to decorate a third of it!

Our first Christmas tree decorating just the two of us was special, and Mr. Pear had a special ornament for me for the tree. A couple one. And now each year we get a couple ornament, and it goes on the tree when we put it up.

Our daughter's first Christmases were marked with a very special ornament with their name on it. Both have the same ornament, Joy Ride from Lenox. It is a special gift from us to them so that one day they have a tangible reminder of how thrilled we were to celebrate their first Christmas with them.

Each year it is our tradition to put a Christmas tree decoration in the stockings. We try to pick something that is both nice and kind of marking that time in their lives. So far there is lots of Winnie the Pooh as that was the nursery theme for both girls, and a huge favorite around here.

Each year the grandparents give the girls an ornament too.

So for those of you keeping track, each girl gets 3 ornaments each Christmas, except for their first Christmas when they get 4. At this rate, at their 23th birthdays they will each have 70 Christmas Tree decorations. Yeah, I don't think their first Christmas trees will be sparse either!

It is such a fun tradition! And I am making a photo log of their ornaments so we not only know which ornament belongs to which Pear, but also who gave it to them and when.

While it may not be something that gets tucked away in their hope chests, it is a special tradition that already I am looking forward with to helping them when they have their own homes one day in the very far, very distant future.

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

...I would teach Miss Pear that song, but really don't think I could handle hearing it all day at the top volume rain can excite her to, so we will stick to our "two little eyes to look to God" song we are learning intermittently.

First off, we had a MUCH better night last night. While it did take until 11PM to get Baby down for the night, once she was down she slept until about 4:30, got up, nursed, and went straight back to sleep until about 7:40 when she repeated the process and finally woke up around 9:30. I feel SO much better.

Unfortunately, Miss Pear's cold has been lingering for 14 days, so we had to go to the doctor is this very cold, rainy weather. She has what I understand to be the start of a sinus infection, so she is on antibiotics now, along with most of our neighbors!

So it will likely be the continuation of a couple quiet days while we slowly get ready for Christmas.

Miss Pear helped stamp all the Christmas cards earlier in the week and was very proud to help mail them.

Most of the baking is done, but I would like to make one more slice and another batch of shortbread cookies. This baking will be munched on through Christmas and New Years. Of course there are special Christmas logs to be made in advance too so that they can just be stuffed with whip cream the day of!

I am starting to do the other things I can do early too. I roasted three chickens yesterday, took the meat off in large chunks and will just warm it gently the day we need it. I made cranberry sauce today. Oh, and on the weekend I made the special ribs.

I am still hoping to make ahead some side dishes too.

I don't want to be one of those women who miss all of Christmas because they are in the kitchen, yet I want special meals too! So I will see what I can do to figure this out and make it easier. And as tradition demands the same things each year, maybe I can even make up a bake ahead plan for each year! Now wouldn't that be all organized!

Of course, with a 14 week old, planning ahead to make things easier seems to be the name of the game for EVERYTHING!

Do you have a favorite thing you must have each Christmas?

T'was the night before Christmas...

After a night of being up each and every hour with Baby (the first night ever like that), many hours more than once, I read The Night Before Christmas for Moms at My Quiet Corner. I read it last year too, and it was great then, but a must read this year!

And we are praying for a quieter and sleepier night tonight.

But even with the severe lack of sleep, I love being a mommy.

Rainey Monday Morning

This morning began with huge grins from both my girls. Baby was just happy to see me come and get her and immediately launched into baby flirting (which I adore!). Miss Pear came running in while I was nursing baby and declared in a voice of wonder and excitement, "I hear the rain!"

It does not rain much here, and Miss Pear longs for both rain and snow. It is unlikely I can do much about having snow in her backyard for her, but today she gets rain, and you can tell she is excited - there are nose prints on all the windows and she has created a special dance in honor of the occasion.

Baby had her first follow up appointment this morning with her doctor. He was able to answer all our questions and made an adjustment to the harness. Basically we now feel equipped to answer most of our own questions. In the face of each question you must ask if it brings the knees forward or if it brings the ankles together, and if the answer is yes, then you may not do it. So we will continue to work on new nursing positions and diaper change methods. We will continue to do just do our best, pray lots and love her lots. The hardest thing to learn today was how to help her hip back into the socket if we notice it is out....Baby could not care less, Mommy's heart cracked a little at the same time her hip did.

I keep reminding myself of some important truths:

1. God is in this with us, He is not one to abandon His people!
2. God loves us, and loves Baby.
3. By doing this we are giving our girl greater health as she gets older and avoiding surgery.
4. It really could be worse so don't whine.

Okay, so the last one is kind of a "suck it up, cupcake!" thing, but still.

A Saturday Night Update

And to tell you how my brain is functioning I originally wrote Saturnight; after all, the day has passed!

I did honestly want to write you and update now that 5 and a half whole days are up to let you know how we are doing, but I am very tired, and my pillow is calling me, so instead I am going to share with you an email update I shared with other friends today, changing the names of course!

We go see the specialist again on Monday, and we have a list of questions for him!

So far things are going better than expected, and we are slowly figuring things out, finding things that work, finding clothes that fit (including socks which were an unanticipated challenge), and generally learning how to do everything all over again. We have found a new way to swaddle Baby – very important seeing as pants of any kind, including sleepers are completely out. We are finding new ways to hold her, to rock her, to comfort her and to nurse her. Things we had taken for granted were suddenly very perplexing and difficult, but we are slowly figuring them out.

Miss Pear has been a trooper through all of this. She is very concerned about Baby, and wants to do what she can to help jer, which usually includes showing her toys, gently rubbing the back of her head, and talking to her. She talks about Baby’s sandals and seems quite happy that they both wear sandals as she is at the point where she loves similarities (When Baby is dressed you can only see the straps coming out of her onesie, and down under her foot and the two straps that go around her leg at the ankle and just below the knee, so if it straps around the foot and ankle it must be sandals). (And yes, Miss Pear is wearing sandals in December - afterall, we are in Southern CA).

Baby is settling back down in her night time sleeping again (the first night she was up every 2 hours), but napping is still very hard for her. She has figured out how to kick her good leg more, so that is one thing returning to normal for her, and she seems to be adjusted to the whole thing from a movement standpoint.

It has been a long and exhausting week with lots to learn, but God has been so good to us in so many ways to encourage us, strengthen us, and provide wisdom and ideas at just the right time.

I am not sure what will happen at Monday’s appointment, except that the doctor will examine Baby, make any necessary adjustments to the harness, and hopefully have answers to all our questions. It will probably be about a month before we know if the harness is working. In cases like Baby’s there is an 80-90% chance the harness will work, and we are praying fervently that it would for Baby.

And to another friend I added:

It is weird that things that we just took for granted are now so hard. Baby and I will not be in church tomorrow because to be really honest, I have a hard time nursing her at home, in my comfy chair, with our pillow, so I cannot imagine somewhere else, with no pillow, and having to cover up! And even holding her is sometimes hard as she wants to get into her old happy spot and simply cannot with the harness.

And of all things, what is persisting to be an issue is burping. I don’t know if it is the new nursing positions or just her knees being pulled up, but Baby is having a hard time burping and needs to more than before (unless she was just able to do it better by herself before and we never noticed), and right where we would tap her back to help her is where the harness criss crosses on her back.

But you know what? Honestly?? It is not that bad. It was horrible at first to see my baby all wrapped up in these straps and Velcro, to change her diaper by threading the tabs between her body and 2 straps on each side of her. To realize that the hang nails and sores on my one thumb are not from dry skin, they are from rubbing on the Velcro changing diapers. To pack a way 3-6 month clothes that will be given away that Baby did not even wear or only wore once or twice. To realize that Baby will be in a harness longer than she has been alive. Through all the things that were hard, that hurt, that made me cry and even feel sorry for myself, I can honestly say it could have been worse.

How could it have been worse?

• If we did not have the Lord, and His help, love, comfort, wisdom, strength and encouragement it would have been worse.
• If my husband and I were not blessed with a loving spouse who was determined to do our best, and supporting each other and giving lots of hugs, it would have been worse.
  
• If we did not have family and friends praying for us, it would would have been worse.
• If Baby were our first daughter we would have had no clothes on hand in the sizes we need and would have been running all over trying desperately to find clothing that fit and maybe worked instead of just washing what we had, it would have been worse.

But you know what would have been really, really bad?

What would have been horrible is if we were not doing this.

If we were not doing this that would mean that they did not catch it. This does not go away. The degree of Baby's hip dysplasia means that she would have never just outgrown it. If this were not caught, and it was not noticed until she was 9 or 10 years old, it likely would have meant surgery.

So while we are not having a whole lot of fun, we are deeply grateful because by doing all this now Baby will never remember it, and it will help give her a long healthy life.

Saving on Meat

The weather has turned cooler here in Southern California, ushering in our version of winter. Okay, so the rest of the country would call it fall, but we take what we can get, and this is the time of year I break out those favorite winter recipes, like stew. I have been keeping my eye out for a good price on stew meat lately, and the best price I had found was about $5 a pound. Needless to say I passed on that!

This past weekend I was grocery shopping and made a point of perusing the entire meat section, and found a top of the line brand roast marked down for $1.99 a pound. That is pretty much as good as it gets on beef around here, so I scooped one up. (I was tempted to grab 2, but was determined to keep to my budget! Even the best sale is a bad sale if it does not work in your budget)

And what do I plan to do with my roast? Cut it up for stew of course! That really is all stew meat is, except it is usually the lesser cuts of meat.

I was chatting with my favorite check out lady who loves to see her customers save money, and she agreed this was the way to go, and then she said something very interesting to me. She said that at her store (a Pavilions) the family cuts of meat are selling well, so they are not being marked down as much. But the premium brands of beef are being selling poorly, so that is where to look for a deal.

Of course I could not keep this tip for myself! Hope this helps someone else!

Because I am sentimental

Monday and yesterday I did a job that really hurt. I put away all of Baby Pear's 3-6 month clothing. She had only been in them for about 2 weeks (longer for the sleepers). For a lot of reasons Baby will be the last pear added to our household, so it is time to pass things on. Some of the clothing was new to baby and only worn once or twice, a couple outfits not at all. It was hard to pack it up knowing that when she finally gets out of her harness she may even be out of the 6-9 month clothing.

We have friends due any day, and I am boxing stuff up to ship to them. If they do not have a girl I will pull out all the girl stuff for a neighbor due in February. (We did not know that Miss Pear was a girl until she was born, so we have lots of generic stuff - plus I love baby blue on girls).

But even knowing that these clothes were going to a good home it was hard.

So I am saving all my favorites, all the special ones. The outfits that:

• Miss Pear wore when we filed the final application for my green card
• Baby wore to ER and then home from the hospital
  
• both girls wore and wore and wore
• were special gifts

My plan is to make a blanket for each girl out of them. It is all knit cotton that I am saving so it will just be squares sewn together and then quilted (probably knot quilts). For the back I am going to use their receiving blankets and flannel crib sheets. At the rate I cannot part with stuff they may both end up with queen sized quilts!

I am also saving their dresses for a second quilt for each.

It is definitely making boxing stuff up and passing it on easier.

Day 2 - Moving right along

Things are going better than expected. We did have a long night last night with Baby up every 2 hours (she did not even do that as a newborn!) and when she is awake she just wants to be held, but who can blame her.

We are getting better at the diaper changes - the tabs have to be slid under 2 harness straps on each side.

We are figuring out the clothing challenges, and except for a couple convertible gowns we should have all we need, we just need to figure it out.

We have figured out sleep stuff, and my MIL is making 4 new swaddling blankets that are larger and warmer. And 2 new flannel crib sheets arrived in the mail from her today too - perfect timing!

If you are wondering what the harness looks like (a very common question we are getting), the baby in this picture is wearing the same harness as Baby, except Baby's is a very stylish pink, and is all soft straps and velcro.

Basically we are figuring it out. It may not be the easiest thing in the world to get our brains around, but it is certainly not the worst situation. And God is being so gracious to us and taking such care of us I cannot even begin to explain it.

The good news for today is that all the clothing up to 12 months has been washed (not folded, but washed), so I can now start trying stuff. (Although I will try it as I need to change Baby, not a fashion show. Changing her is hard for all of us, but especially her).

The other good news is that her napping seems to be settling back down again into her usual awake for an hour or so asleep for 45-75 minutes. I am hopeful that means she is settling back down and is not just exhausted.

Day 1 - hopefully over

So our first day of Baby in the harness is hopefully over (please Lord, let her be down for the night!) Baby seems to be starting to adapt but is not happy to have her kicking and stretching ranges limited..

The big thing today was trying to figure out how to still swaddle her so she does not bat her head and wake herself up without pressing on her legs or harness straps. We were victorious on this one.

The next big thing is trying to figure out how to dress her! She is immediately out of size 6 clothes. We think size 9 month might work, if not 12 month - I washed everything that did not need stain treatment today, that will be washed tomorrow. As far as I can tell pants appear to be completely out, and sleepers are still a question mark. It looks like long sleeved T-shirts and onesies, dresses, and those longer sleeping gowns (and those convertible gowns that can be snapped as either a pant suit or a gown) will be the order of the day, but we will keep trying to figure that out too. (By the way, do you know who is carrying the gowns and convertible gowns right now?)

I have realized that it is all a learning curve. By God's grace we are going to figure all this out, and by His strength we are going to keep moving forward.

While this is certainly not what I would have chosen, I am trusting God through this, He is always faithful, always good, and always loving.

I don't know how much I will be here this week, but I did want to pop in tonight and let you know that we are doing better than expected.

Baby Pear has a new outfit

We saw the specialist this morning, and the end result is that Baby is in a harness for a while, likely three months.

The appointment went well, we like the doctor and he talks in a way we can understand, so that helps. He said that her hip was "completely unstable" but that the harness should work. (roughly 80% of cases like this it is successful). So we have three weekly appointments scheduled, and after that we should know if the harness is working or if we need to switch to a cast.

While the harness is indeed no picnic and must not be removed (it is straps and velcro that go from the tops of her shoulders to the bottoms of her feet), it is better than a cast.

God was so good to us through this - besides the doctors. There was a mom with her 9 month old there for a check up who had gone through this, and she was able to encourage us so much through understanding our feelings and the enormity of it all and being able to speak from a compassionate "been there done that" perspective to the practical of how to cloth Baby now.

Basically Baby just got launched right out of 6 month clothing to likely 9 month, we are trying to figure it out.

So even though a lot of stuff is going to be hard - no more swaddling, no more holding her in her favorite across our body position, both of which were her favorite way to fall asleep - God is in this with us, and it is by His strength and wisdom alone that we are going to get through this.

So now I have to get back to sorting clothing to wash in larger sizes while Miss Pear is sleeping and Baby might be sleeping.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments and emails of encouragement and prayer. Even though I was not able to respond to all of them please know that they were of enormous comfort! Prayer is the very best gift, and truly our biggest need right now.

More Baby Pear stuff and other stuff too

So at 8AM Friday morning I was on the phone to make an appointment with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. I only have two things to say about that: first, how sad that there actually is such a thing; and second, how wonderful that they were able to get us in Monday at 9:45.

The rest of the day seem to be monopolized between brain freeze (are you kidding? do we really need to see one of those?) and trying to get all the stuff together that we need, such as a hard copy of the test results, a referral and a hard copy of the ultrasound. While the last one was the hardest to track down because I got caught in the hospital's telephone answering loop, our daughter's pediatrician was excellent in walking us through what we needed to do. In fact, her final words to me Thursday evening were to call her if we could not get in by Monday, if we had any trouble getting the paperwork, if we had any questions, and to just call and let her know when the appointment was so that she had peace of mind....and that she would be praying for us. We LOVE our pediatrician.

So we are now all set for Monday's appointment - at least paperworkwise. Our brains are catching up.

But how sad is it that Miss Pear can say both cardiologist and orthopedic specialist.

Today we are spending the day putting up the tree with a brief interlude to run to Joanne's and CVS for baskets on sale and diapers on sale. And then I am thinking buttermilk waffles for supper because maybe that will tempt Miss Pear's appetite (she has had a cold all week and is just off her game still).

Baby's Results

We got the results from Baby's hip ultrasound on Monday, and as suspected, she has hip dysplasia, and we are being referred to a specialist ASAP in the hopes that treatment can begin before everyone takes off for Christmas and the other holidays.