Spring 2018 Photo Dump

by Nora

Nora’s monster chosen for the Milford Art Show

Wiped after Grammy & Grandpa’s

Great inclusion, Target <3

Cincinnati Nature Center

Highland Discovery Garden in Glendale!

A local brewery, 50 West and their beloved Penny Lane.
She caught fire a while back and now serves as a seating arrangement at the brewpub : )

You know, design, branding, or making wrappers.

Flying Pig 2018

This is my year of scaling back the running. No halves. Perhaps nothing above the 7 miles I did for the Pig Relay! And I’ve been okay with it. 

I can either run at 5am which is proving difficult since Hannah does not sleep through the night and I really need every minute I can get. I can sometimes muster out if Nora falls asleep by 7:45pm. Once 8:30pm hits, no way. I’m typically upstairs and getting ready for bed at 9pm. You know, because of the night waker.

Myself and three other friends agreed to do the Pig Relay - my first relay! It runs the course of the full marathon - each leg was between five and seven miles. I volunteered for the last leg, seven miles. Not bad - I didn’t have to train too hard. 

But between Hannah’s dehydration and life, I just managed to get myself up to six or seven miles before race weekend.  

It was fun... being the last leg, however, means a lot of waiting. Ooph.
I woke up at 4am; I need one hour to drink coffee, eat and digest. 
Left at 5am to pick up my friend and her husband. 
Parked around 5:45am and we went to our bus loading zones to be bussed to our transition locations along the marathon route. 
My bus didn’t leave until about 7am. At our location was a small Baptist church which was extremely friendly and allowed us all to wait inside as needed, with beverages and light snacks. I sat for a good half hour since it was a cool 50˚ outside. 
My 3rd leg didn’t arrive until about 10:05am and by then it was actually warm out - maybe 70˚? That’s hot for marathoners believe it or not. 
My seven miles weren’t too bad - hot and a little flat though. I felt like a jerk among all the marathoners who were struggling though! Pardon me as I pass you on fresh legs! 

I finished around 11:20am. I think our group time was something like 4hours, 50 minutes - not sure how that compares to a full marathon time! 

Another medal to add to my rack!

T&A: The Other Side

We planned pretty well: dividing up the recovery days between ourselves and the grandparents for the first week, then onto the babysitter the second week. 

Hannah really started eating like herself on Wednesday - Day 10. We haven’t quite evened out with sleep yet... I’ll be curious to see if the surgery affects sleep. 

We will have a follow-up sleep study the firsts week of August. Oh my Lord, if it doesn’t come back better, I’ll tear my hair out. We have a little friend whose T&A did not benefit his sleep apnea so now he needs an MRI to see if there are structural issues in his airways - !!

In the meantime, I may consider getting a weighted blanket if she continues to not sleep through the night. I think I’d rather her sleep issues be behavioral and not physiological - ? 

Positive vibes and prayers!

Hannah’s Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy

Holy cow everyone. Tonsil and adenoid recovery is no joke. I was warned.

Thankfully our routine was pretty regular Monday AM, we were able to drop off Nora just a bit early at Extended Day. 

Checked in at 8am, got Hannah’s vitals... waited a good hour for anesthesia to come and see us. We were headed to the OR at 10am. I hate seeing my daughter go under, even though I think it’s better she see our faces. She really fought this time which sucked. I almost cried leaving even though this procedure was small beans. 

*April 30 is also Hannah’s heartiversary! Last year her tubes were April 25th -
funny how everything lands on this week with us!

They were done in about 40 minutes, barely enough time to get a bagel scarfed down!

I also hate walking back to recovery - seeing Hannah being held by a stranger, then she starts crying because she’s confused and scared... I sat on the bed holding her and they wheeled us up at 11am to the PICU to her room for the night. 

Tim and I took turns holding her on the bed while she slept for four hours - !! 11am - 3pm! I thought for sure my night was screwed. 

Tim left at 4pm to get Nora from school and keep her on routine. I made the mistake of letting Hannah eat Goldfish which she scarfed down... then later was crying off and on for a good half hour which I assume was because it irritated her throat. Doh. Not making that mistake again : (

During Goldfish

After Goldfish

Crawling up me in anger.

We mostly watched movies for the evening. I continually tried water and juices with her. Few sips, did take some milk. Zero food. I finally turned off the lights and TV by 9pm, she fell asleep quickly. 

I slept like I expected - like crap. I knew they were coming at midnight to give pain meds, so I basically wasn’t able to fall asleep until about 1am - 3am. I think some monitors were going off at 3am... her pulse oximeter fell off her toe. Then her IV fluid drip line kept alarming for no reason, so they took her off her drip. So all that woke me up, Hannah woke up, then we decided to give her 4am meds early. 

Then I slept from 3:30am to 5:30am when the night nurse came in and Hannah woke up which is basically her normal waking time. 

The morning was long... at least Hannah was tethered to the drip line and could walk around. I was freaking out because she wasn’t drinking or eating much. Hannah isn’t typically a sweets person, but I took an ice cream cup from the RN. And wouldn’t you know it, Hannah at the whole cup! They consider that “fluids” since it’s liquid at room temp, and the cup was 4oz which is what’s needed to be discharged - Amen! 

Getting her IV out was another battle. Poor kid is just constantly poked and prodded this month. We left Children’s around 10am. Hannah fell asleep in the car and took another two-hour nap that afternoon! Poor booger. 

I was warned by loads of other Moms in the Ds community that recovery is awful. Just trying to stay on top of pain management, getting the kids to take the meds every four hours, and forcing fluids and food. It’s been difficult! It makes me feel like a mean, terrible Mom when I have to literally wrestle my child down and force meds down her throat : ( At least we know after two weeks it will be done. 

Wish us luck!

Finally eating strawberries because big sister did.

Mother’s Day Commercial

Well, they sure got the ugly cry out of me!

Teleflora Mother’s Day

Hannah’s Annual Cardiology Appt

That time of year - annual Cardiology appointment. Last year’s appointment threw us for a loop so the past 24 hours have made my stomach flip.

We were up at 5am, out the door at 6am. Echo was at 7am - we decided to roll the dice and not sedate her this year. Hannah was quite cooperative - woo! Tim held her arms while I tirelessly sang songs for a good 20 minutes straight. The room was dim and twinkle lights moved on the ceiling so that helped. 

Her EKG was quick and easy and Dr. Kimball came on in around 8:15am. He has a very straight face - which I imagine most Cardiologists learn - and after listening to her heart, he started out “Well, I’m very happy with how things look...” THANK THE LORD. I said “Oh thank goodness, I was so anxious,” and Dr. Kimball looked very sympathetic and said “Oh I’m sorry!” It was reassuring that he was concerned about my comfort : )

Hannah’s valve leakage is stable at “moderate,” even a slightly bit better. Dr. Kimball thinks a re-repair is unlikely, but not guaranteed. If the leakage stays stable for years, then we would likely be in the clear. If that path was constant, we could also consider going off her blood pressure meds. 

SO - a very good morning with lighter shoulders. 

It’s Always March: Hannah’s Dehydration

I can always guarantee I - or someone in our home - gets sick in March. Not in December - February when most people get the flu. WHICH thankfully we did not get, but nevertheless, no illness is a ball of fun.

Sunday evening, as Spring Break was ready to start, Nora was feeling yucky and had a small fever. Monday she woke with a 101˚ fever and cough. I stayed home that day. Tim stayed home Tuesday. Wednesday she was fair to get back to the sitter’s (whom I already had to pay a full week to watch BOTH girls). 

Thursday late morning I get a call that Hannah has thrown up. Son of a gun. I pick the girls up by 11am. Hannah threw up a bit of blueberries. She didn’t seem too down, only slightly clingy, no fever. “Only” threw up some peas once more at 6pm. She slept fine all night. 

Friday then went to my parents and had a pretty regular, fun day. Saturday we woke up and something was off with Hannah. Could not even lift her head up and continually asked for water.  

Regular fun day at Grammy’s!

After watching her for a while, we realized she was most likely dehydrated and took her to Cincy Children’s Liberty Campus (we did this on purpose because it’s much quieter) by 9am. We got right in and after some bloodwork - which she didn’t even fight - her labwork showed definite dehydration and her glucose levels were down to 38 - real bad. 

Nora was a champ after being gone for nine hours : (

They hydrated her through an IV and the next set of numbers was better - glucose up to 110. Her third reading unfortunately went back down to 68 which was cause to keep Hannah overnight to monitor since her blood sugar wasn’t stabilizing. The on-duty pediatrician said if it kept at a level of concern, an Endocrinologist would need to get involved - that set me on edge. She had no growth concerns, but in the back of my head I thought “Diabetes?!”

Better, but not enough to be released.

Heading to our room for the night.

Since I did the sleep study, Tim said he’d stay the night with Hannah. I took Nora home after hitting Kroger for snacks for both Hannah and Paleo Tim (that’s till an epic tale for another day). I took Nora home and tried to settle for the night. Oh, and get Easter baskets ready because Sunday was Easter. 

Thank heavens Hannah’s evening glucose level went back up to 110. That number stayed steady through the next morning. I dropped Nora off at Nana & Papa’s so I could hop to Children’s for Hannah’s hopefully-soon-discharge. 

The poor thing had an IV in her hand for over 24 hours, her hair was greasy from eating veggie straws, and her PJs were dirty. The RN did one last glucose read after being OFF fluids and Hannah was stable - we were out the door in under 30 minutes! Happy Easter!

I hope we never go through that again and have learned our lesson to keep the girls hydrated after illnesses, too ! 

WDSD 2018

So much to share : ) 

Lea Goes To School

World Down Syndrome Day 2018

March 21st, tomorrow, is World Down Syndrome Day. Three copies of the 21st chromosome. A lot of parents may visit classrooms to teach about Down syndrome, or about celebrating our similarities/differences at a more basic level. Many celebrate by wearing mismatched socks to again promote that while we share similar abilities, we can also celebrate differences. 

I personally side a bit more with celebrating that those with Ds are more ALIKE than different. Some year I may gather my thoughts and find a way to educate my daughters’ classrooms when the time feels right. I just don’t think preschoolers will grasp Hannah’s differences - and why point them out?

However, tonight, the real meaning of World Down Syndrome Day hit me. Hannah and I were at her preschool celebrating Moms. We were gathering our crafts and about to get our coats on when another 3-year-old came up to Hannah and with a huge grin, waved and said “Hi Hannah!” Hannah said “Hi” and waved back. The little girl said she was in Hannah’s class. Her Mother came over and said she hears about Hannah all the time.

The emotions on the drive home hit me like a wave - THAT is what acceptance and awareness are. Simply acknowledging, accepting and welcoming those who are just a bit different than you. Granted, the girl was only three and probably didn’t even think Hannah WAS different than her - which makes it that much more pure.

So again, friends - simply educate your young ones, your friends, and challenge yourself; empathy, compassion and acceptance. Not turning a blind eye when you see someone could use kindness. I can only hope that Hannah continues to have friends who want to engage with her. THAT means more to me than mis-matched socks.

That Time We Almost Moved

So from about mid-January to mid-February we nearly moved – within Milford. 

This wasn’t totally out of the blue. Over the past year or so, we jokingly (?) said we should move for a few reasons. 1. The yard is not great. There’s no level point. It’s probably half landscaped. Keeping up with mulch every year isn’t even an option. Trees are great for privacy, but when you have to cut them down or they fall on your house - no bueno. 

2. The house has really been more of a fixer-upper than we anticipated. New dishwasher, new A/C, new water heater, lots of wall painting, and new siding. I miss having 1st floor laundry like our first home. The furnace will need to replaced in the near future. The larger patio slider needs replaced. Some day the decks need refinished.

So for all these reasons - less time and money on the house, more time and money for the family - we seriously considered moving within the district. We’ve got a lot of equity in the house and met with a realtor friend who said we could sell for a really good price. So it felt like if we were going to do it, now was the time. 

So for about four weeks, we started getting the house ready, talking to lenders, and seeing what our options were. We quickly ruled out making a lateral move - there are a lot of homes similar to ours... and with two small children and a large dog, we weren’t willing to risk selling and not finding the perfect fit. 

So then we thought about building - except... there’s no where to build in Milford. The newer neighborhoods are too far North or East. Our commutes are enough as they are now. We found one plot on a nice street, still in our elementary zone, but it was a corner lot with a 50-ft setback and the HOA looked like a pain in the ass. 

The second plot we found was a different elementary zone, less desirable neighborhood. We even went to Schumacher Homes and “built” a home at the top of our budget and we still feel like we settled on some choices - not a “dream” home. 

We drove around Milford an frankly, we didn’t really like anything. We realized how desirable our mature, private neighborhood is and we actually like all our neighbors; a mix of quiet retired people and families with young ones. It’s a pretty drama-free area. 

And deep-down, Tim and I both felt like we would regret leaving our home and our location is prime. 

SO - after tons of swirl, we’re deciding to Love It, not List It. Get a home equity line of credit and make some necessary repairs and updates and continue to build value. I think we’re just at a time where we’re very busy with small children and can’t focus on keeping our property top notch - and we have to be okay with that. 

Plus, getting some fresh paint and updates makes you love your space more : )

The busted-up corner where the 80s built-in lived.

Meh putty color

90s (?) Pear Green

Light grey in progress

Tall ceiling = scaffolding

Calm grey! Except now the trim needs painted white - DOH!

Patched corner! Now my cozy chair looks baaaaaad. Haha!

Much cleaner!