A Sigh of Relief

Today I took Makenna to see Dr. Delgado (the hernia specialist) and I have never wanted to hug a doctor so much. He felt Makenna's hernia and told me it was very small and was pushed back in (which her doctor did yesterday) and that he sees absolutely no reason for surgery. He said that umbilical hernias, such as Makenna's, close spontaneously between the ages of 4 to 5 (not what her pediatrician told me). When I told her about how Makenna was experiencing pain and holding her tummy, he told me that he is sure she does have pain when the hernia is popped out but that is just part of having a hernia and will go away when it closes. I told her that she never had pain before and he said that she probably did but she is older now and can pinpoint right where the pain is coming from and is old enough to tell us about it. Also, he said the warmer weather laeds to more activity which means her hernia is going pop out more and give her a bit more problems. Still no surgery for my baby!! I am so excited and unbelievably relieved. Dr. Delgado did say he would like to see her hernia popped out and just to bring her by next time it does so, but in all he sees no reason to worry and that her hernia is tiny compared to most and should just cause her mild discomfort that will go away once we push the hernia back in. I am one happy mommy, I gave her "lump" so many kisses.

Here we go Again...

Makenna has been complaining on and off about stomach pains for the past 3 or 4 days. I didn't think much of it as she hasn't been sick or acted sick, but last night she was curled up holding her belly right where her hernia is, then it dawned on me, this kid needs to get to the doctor. We went and she pushed Makenna's hernia back in and showed me how to do it also, but she wants the hernia gone. Seems most children who are born with umbilical hernias, like Makenna was, usually are closed up or pretty close to it before they turn 3. Makenna will be 3 in 2 months and hers is still pretty big, so we are going to see the same spacialist who did surgery on Brett's hernia tomorrow. We are hoping that the surgery can be put off until we get back from Florida, but we will have to see what the specialist says. It kills me to think of such a young kid(especially my baby) going through surgery where she will have to be put out, even worse I am dreading her waking up and them not letting me be there right when she wakes up. So this will be on my mind until we get all the details sorted out and even more so until her hernia is just a memory and hopefully a little scar.

Our little Chunk-a-monk

Emma had her first well baby doctor visit yesterday since Feburary. The doctor could not believe how much Emma is cooing and "talking" now or how well she can use her pincer finger and thumb to pick up small objects, but I think the doctor was really shocked when she weighed our little chunk-a-monk and found that she was 28 lbs!! The doctor wants us to cut back Emma's formula intake and replace 4 of her bottles a day with heavily watered down juice. Poor girl is already on her first diet. Really, Brett and I agree with the doctor, that although Emma is incredibly cute as this little round faced, blue-eyed, blond hair chubby baby her weight may not be so cute in 2 years or so, so we are doing what we must to get it under control now. But man, I hope she doesn't lose her chunky thighs, I just LOVE them. The doctor thinks Emma will slim down once she is walking full time. Although she can walk,and even took a few steps on her own for the doctor, her walking has stalled. she no longer is obsessed with walking and holds on to me or Brett for dear life when we try to let go of her. The doctor is unsure whether this stall is due to her nasty fall, or if her weight is too much for her legs. My poor baby. Makenna was super duper chunky before she started walking too, so hopefully it is that once Emma starts to walk she will slim down. Every time I take Emma to the doctor it seems like I leave with something new to worry about and obsess over. Last time I took her they told me her head hadn't grown in 2 months and if it stalled growth they would have to check into some surgery, that in the worst case scenario, would involve drilling a hole into the skull to allow her head to grow properly, thankfully her head has grown over an inch this time. Whew. So, the rest of the appointment went well. She is 29 inches long and is hitting all her milestones and is advanced in her speech, and fine and gross motor skills. The doctor also said Emma is one of the happiest and cutest babies she ever seen, that always brings a smile to my face when people say that and I happen to agree.

Lately We've Been....

Enjoying nicer weather! So, yes it was flurrying out again today, but it didn't stick and basically the weather is finally starting to feel more spring like here in New York. Lately it's been consistently about 60 degrees out, and after a long winter people in NY treat 60 degree weather like it's summertime, and our family is happy to see birds again and hear crickets too. All of Makenna's "outside" toys are back out, her sandbox is full and she has even sweet talked Papa into filling up her water table for her(which she sat in the yesterday while I was bringing groceries in the house). The girls and I try to either get to the park or spend most of the day out in the yard when the weather permits. Emma is loving being outside! It's so funny to watch her feel the grass for the first time or play in the sandbox or even to see her face when she sees worms. Makenna's favorite place to be is at the park. She is always the loudest kid there, but she amazes me at how quickly she makes a bunch of friends each time we go there (ok I have to add that every child Makenna comes in contact with she renames them Koben, she has been doing this ever since we came back from Vegas after Thanksgiving. So when ever we are at the park she will come over and introduce me to her friends who are all named Koben according to her. I just had to add this for Debbi because I swear she does this with EVERY child she has met in the past 5 months and I think it's just too funny.) Emma is still working on walking and has walked unassisted across our whole living room! About a week or so ago she took a spill and hit her face and had a big old black and blue across the bridge or her nose. It looked frightening and I took her to the doctor for it who assured me that thankfully Emma has no cartilidge in her nose yet and that she was just fine. Since then Brett is the only one who lets Emma walk unassisted, i will ABSOLUTELY not let go of her when she is walking, but I will admit that she is getting progressively better and more independent. She has also started to crawl. She doesn't crawl like a normal baby though, she does this army crawl on her belly which works well for her and is pretty cute to watch too. Makenna is getting so skinny that I can't keep clothes up on her and Emma is having the opposite problem. Poor little Emma is already in size 24 months and has even out grown some of them. She's not especially long for her age (she's only in the 70th percentile in height) but she is our little roly poly. Her pants all hang down past her feet and yet are snug across her sweet little belly. She is seriously so cute and chubby I have got to get some pics on here. As for Brett, he is now the Executive chef at a local restaurant called Mojo grill (www.mojogrill.net). He's back to working long hours but his boss is extremely nice and the food is upscale, so he is pretty content there. We are just looking forward to even nicer weather to head our way and for the pool to be open!