Hospital Yet Again

Friday night was another night I will never forget. It all started in the afternoon during Maryn's "quiet" time. Maryn came out of her room and told me that her head hurt. Since she comes up with a new excuse pretty much everyday to try and get out of quiet time, I told her to go back in her room and thought nothing more of it. I noticed she got very quiet and when I went to check on her she was sleeping. Very odd since she has taken only 2 naps the entire summer (both on days that she woke unreasonably early). I just let her sleep for awhile and went to wake her up shortly after 4:00. She woke up screaming that her head hurt and she was really out of it. My initial thought was that she was getting sick, so I took her temperature. No fever. She was beside herself, screaming, holding her head, and very obviously in pain. I started to ask her more questions (between screams and tears) and finally she got a sheepish look on her face and told me that she was jumping on her bed and hit her head by her pillows (the headboard). I started taking a closer look at where she was holding her head and sure enough I could see the signs of a faint bruise starting to form. I got an ice pack and was contemplating my next move when she started vomiting. Now I knew it was serious. I immediately called the doctor's office and asked them to bump Maya's appointment (oddly enough Maya had a scheduled appointment for 5:50 that evening) because my older daughter was in more dire need of medical attention. She continued to in be pain and act completely out of it. Josh got home just after 5:00 and we headed to the doctor's office. She vomited once more in the car on the way there.

Sparing all the details of the doctor's visit, at the end of the exam the doctor points to Maya and says "I'm not concerned about her, but I'm very concerned about her" as he turns to Maryn. He then proceeds to tell us "I need you to take her to the hospital as soon as possible to get a head CT scan. The symptoms she has are very concerning to me. She could have bleeding on her brain or a skull fracture. At the very least it is a bad, bad concussion. After your CT scan you will need to stay at the hospital until you talk to me... you may be staying there overnight or I may be sending you to Iowa City." Panic totally set in. My heart was racing, tears were forming in my eyes, my hands were shaking. A million horrible thoughts flooded through my head in mere seconds. Unfortunately Makenna was there when this all happened and she started to panic as well, thus forcing me to hold it together. The doctor told us that he saw and heard us as we were coming in for our appointment and knew it was bad so he had already had the nurse call over to St. Luke's to get us squeezed in as priority for CT scan.

We left the doctor's office and headed to the hospital. Praying, praying, praying. Pleading with God to let my baby be okay. All while we were driving she seemed to be showing signs of being her "normal" Maryn. All good signs, so we were hopeful. We got to the hospital and things went fast. Maryn was perfect for her head CT scan and I actually got to go in with her. My parents, like the wonderful, supportive people they are, were there at a seconds notice to get Maya and Makenna for us. Then we just sat and waited. Maryn was still perking up minute by minute as we sat there. The CT tech walked in and said "The scan was negative. You're free to go home." And just like that the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. I could've collapsed in a heap.

The doctor called me for an in depth conversation later that evening. He told me that Maryn suffered a serious concussion (he graded it but he said it was difficult to do since we will never know if she lost consciousness or not and since it's difficult to judge memory loss in a 3 year old) and that the chances of more severe issues cropping up after the time period in which we had the CT scan done would be astronomically low (which gives me such a peace of mind). Once again, I am totally floored with the wonderful doctors and medical staff that we came into contact with. The doctor we saw wasn't even our doctor (she's on maternity leave right now) and he told me that he wanted to take care of us while she's gone so I can call him with any issues. He talked me through my concerns and what to look for. Now we just have to keep her from getting another head injury any time soon... and he told me I couldn't follow her around with a pillow. Guess he doesn't know Maryn very well... how else am I suppose to do that?!

That night we had to wake Maryn up twice in the night to make sure she was coherent. The first time I woke her up I asked her who Puppy was (she was thoroughly annoyed at me and was trying to bury her face in her pillow) and then I continued to ask her her name. She wouldn't answer and kept trying to go back to sleep. Finally, totally annoyed at me and ready to have me leave her allow, she yells "M-A-R-Y-N Maryn". Yep! That's the kid I know and love! Of course I couldn't sleep well in my own bed so I slept with her for a good portion of that night. I just thought maybe I could better protect her if I was right there with her. She thought that was weird :) She'll understand it someday when she's a mommy.

I am happy to report that she is doing much better now. Back to her normal Maryn self :) And that is exactly what the doctor said we wanted. Anything else was not a good sign. She's being feisty, the comedian, and full-of-it all at the same time! Oh how I love her. I am so thankful that God had His angels protecting my baby's head. I am shaken to the core to think what could have happened... especially knowing other people that have lost their children to freak accidents during nap times recently.

This summer has been a true test for me and Josh as parents. It seems like one thing after another has gone wrong. Head lice, milk allergy, hand foot and mouth disease, head stitches, bad scraped up leg, Maryn's trip to the ER for a virus that mocked all the symptoms of meningitis, I hit my head bad last weekend and now Maryn's head injury. It almost seems like a joke, but it's not. I am exhausted. Emotionally spent. Josh and I praise God all the time for the "little things". Lord we can handle the little things, just keep our family safe from all the big things. I'm starting to wonder if I'm not handling all these little things appropriately or if I'm not learning what I'm suppose to learn... why does it keep on happening?? I am in a constant state of worry about my children's well-being. And maybe that's the lesson here... I just need to give even more trust over to God and realize that He is the ultimate one in control and that He will protect my babies. I typically do a really good job of trusting the Lord with big things in our life (finances, big decisions, career, etc), but maybe I need to loosen the reigns as mommy and trust that God will take care of my babies just like He does every other aspect of my life. Easier said than done. This is going to require a lot of prayer I think.

Maya - 18 Months Old

All about Maya Grace at 18 months old...



Nicknames: Gracie, Grace, My My, Maya Baya, Boo
Weight & Height: 23 lbs 12 oz., 33 inches tall
Hair: Anyone have any hair they want to loan Maya? This child will not grow hair! People assume she is a boy (even while wearing pink and purple) more often than they assume she is a girl :( It's starting to frustrate me.
Favorite foods: Oh food. That's an issue. We discovered in June that Maya is allergic to milk. This has obviously completely transformed her diet. Add this to the fact that she's anemic and needs to eat a diet high in iron and needs a high fat diet (from not being able to drink whole milk) and things get a little complicated when trying to feed her. We had to take away some of her favorite foods when we found out about her allergy... pizza/any Italian food, goldfish crackers, and M&Ms (since there is milk in chocolate). M&Ms minis were one of the only treats we let her have and now it is gone :( It is amazing the amount of food products that have milk in them. Almost everything has margarine or butter in it which won't work. It is so sad to see her cry for her goldfish crackers or any other food that she can't have :( It breaks my heart. Luckily we have found alternatives for just about everything else, but it takes lots of time and effort to stay on top of it. I have to make a homemade pizza that is safe for her for whenever we order out for pizza. I've learned to start freezing individual portions of her pizza to still try and make pizza a "convenience" food. Last night we were having lasagna and we had to make a dairy-free version just for her. Otherwise she looks at our plates and cries to eat what we have :( Most meals we basically end up making two of everything :( Some things we can work with, but it's hard. I did finally find a dairy-free margarine at the health food store that should help with some recipes. BUT with all that said, her absolute favorite food right now is... SALSA!!! The child LOVES it and will stand at the frig and yell "Salsa! Salsa! Salsa!" She prefers to eat it plain with a spoon or dip something in it! Hot or mild, sweet or spicy, she likes them all :)

Here she is loving her salsa with tortilla chips! Good snack for her... no dairy and lots of "good" fats in the tortilla chips.



Favorite Drink: Rice milk 3 times a day (but I have to time it when she's not consuming iron since calcium inhibits absorption of iron) and water with a little bit of apple juice for flavor.
Favorite toys: Balls, swings, getting rides in her cars outside, pretending to talk on phones, anything that makes noise or plays music
Favorite books: Any book. All books. This child loves to be read to.
Favorite stuffed animal: Teddy!
Favorite Person: She loves her big sister Nenny! If Makenna has been gone for awhile she will run up and hug her and scream "Nenny!" It's really endearing. Otherwise she doesn't want me to leave her side or put her down. Mama's girl!
Bedtime: Pretty consistently 7:30
Wake-up time: Ugh! Lately she's been an early riser... 6:00 am seems to be her wake-up time of choice :( Not good news for mommy or daddy. I'm still trying to figure out how I can get it to go back to 7:00! I was spoiled over the summer!
Naps: One nap in the afternoon. Typically goes down around 1:00 and sleeps anywhere from 2 - 3 hours.
What she's saying: Oh my goodness can this child talk! She will repeat anything you say to her and is already using a few common sentences/phrases on a regular basis. She says hundreds of words, too many to even start to list. The amazing thing that Josh and I have noticed is that she is easier to understand at this early age than our other two girls were. Or maybe we're just better at deciphering baby babble!
Latest Accomplishment: She is working hard at running right now :) Talking brings something new almost every day. We recently put the high chair away and she's joined as the dinner table in her booster seat as well! She also can correctly point to her hair, ears, eyes, nose, belly button and toes!

1st day in her booster seat at the big table, eating dairy-free organic chicken nuggets and a plum for lunch! Who knew chicken nuggets had milk in them??? I sure didn't before this!


Doesn't she look so proud!


Likes: her likes don't change as often as the other girls... she is still very much liking cotton balls, toothbrushes, taking baths, being outside, going to the park, listening to music with Daddy and anything that has to do with playing in water
Dislikes: getting her diaper changed (9 out of 10 times she will fight us on this), meal times (so often we have to feed her stuff she doesn't care for so I think she has come to dislike eating :(, when we don't let her play with the itty-bitty toys she so desperately wants to play with (think Polly Pockets here)
Best known for: Unfortunately for the last three months I'd have to say being clingy and whiny :( Between the milk allergy making her sick, the iron drops upsetting her stomach, hand foot and mouth disease, teething two molars and a bad cold, she's been a pretty miserable child this summer. Poor baby.
Health: I will find out at her 18 month appointment how her iron levels are doing. I stopped giving her the iron drops since they were giving her such horrible stomach cramps. Hopefully a diet high in iron was enough to bring her levels up. Maya also had hand foot and mouth in June and is currently battling a bad chest cold. She has a runny nose and a cough that sounds absolutely horrid. Luckily she only coughs a few times a day and is still able to sleep.
Interesting Tidbits: She has two more teeth now, bringing the grand total to eight! She is JUST like her sisters... skipped over her canines and went straight to the molars! She now has two molars on the top. Both Makenna and Maryn had the same pattern with their teeth. I've heard this atypical "skipping" of teeth is genetic.

Maryn's Big Girl Room

Maryn was starting to outgrow her toddler bed so Josh and I decided it was time to move to a big girl bed :) We went to the store and she enjoyed the process on laying on the many mattresses and trying to help us pick one out. About a week later, we had the mattress and we spent a Friday evening putting her new room together! We transformed her toddler bed into a full size bed with new bedding! Little did we know that we should have measured the depth of the mattress!! It is so high! She needs a stepstool to get into bed!! After a few laughs, she just decided that it's her "princess" bed and all the rest of us are envious because it's the most comfortable bed in the house!! Maryn has been sleeping better since she got the new bed and we always chuckle when we check on her at night... she's always sideways or in some funny position in the bed. Regardless of what it is, she looks so tiny compared to the huge bed :)

Makenna did extremely well accepting the fact that her little sister got a room makeover. She told us that it was "nice that Maryn got something bigger and newer for once" since usually Makenna gets everything first. What a kind big sister. Due to the fact that she didn't show one ounce of jealousy or whining, we spent some time re-arranging the furniture in her room to give her room a fresh look as well. That seemed to suffice for now :)


The new bed!


The other half of her room...


Maryn in her new bed :) She loves the purple and pink polka dots!


The stool she needs to climb into bed!


The first night she had the new bed she was so excited to go to bed! She put on her jammies before we even asked and raced into bed! My favorite aspect of the bed is that I can snuggle and read to all three of my girls in this bed at one time!


When did my baby get so big??

One Of The Gang

Maya wants so badly to be just like her big sisters. She wants to do what they do, play what they play, watch what they watch, eat what they eat, etc. Obviously this presents some challenges as she's just too young to do many of the things they do. One of the things she has taken to at a very early age is the computer. She sees the older girls take their turn on the computer and she wants so badly to do it herself! I can't tell you how many times I've found her up on the desk banging on the keyboard or playing with the mouse! Or else she'll stand beside the desk quietly and just try to watch and observe what the other two are doing. This was the scene at the computer one day this summer...


"Success! I'm on the chair!"


"I'm kind of feeling left out, but at least I'm still on the chair! Maryn usually pushes me off by now!"


"Let me just squeeze on in here..."



"Yes!! I may be the youngest, but I rule this house! I wonder how long this will last?!"

1st Day Of School 2010

Today was Makenna's first day of 1st grade! She is beyond thrilled to have Mrs. Seery for a teacher! And Josh and I are thrilled as well... she didn't get assigned the class that is getting split mid-day due to budget cuts and we've heard so many wonderful things about Mrs. Seery. What a relief! Makenna was excited to go and popped out of bed when I woke her up this morning! I am so thankful that she loves school. I can't imagine how hard it would be if it was a struggle and she didn't want to go. As it is now, I still have to hold back tears until she leaves the van :( I asked Josh what is going to happen to me when she goes to college... she's a mile down the road at the elementary school now and I can barely stand it. I know it's part of growing up and it's very good for her, but man it's hard on her mommy ;) At the end of the day she reported back that she had a wonderful day! She was able to see lots of her old friends and learn all the new routines. Her only complaint was that she got very hungry by lunch time (she eats a later lunch this year). And she continues to be my child with thoughtfulness beyond her years... she searched out the new girl from our neighborhood to play with her at recess because "she wouldn't have any friends at our school yet" and then saved a seat for her on the bus ride home. I'm so proud that she is my daughter.

Maryn, Maya and I fell immediately back into our routine from last year. I was amazed at how fast it happened. Maryn's personality changes when she's the "big" kid of the house. As soon as Maya was down for a nap she remembered that was our time to do puzzles together! I think she put together at least six or eight large sized puzzles today!

My 1st grader!

Maryn Blastball 2010

Maryn participated in Blastball for the first time this summer. It's so hard to find recreational programming for kids under age 4, so when I heard from a friend that the Hiawatha Rec Department had soccer and Blastball for ages 3-5 I immediately signed her up for Blastball. All I knew about it was that it was a fast-paced version of tee ball. Perfect... she wants to be just like her big sister, so this was Maryn's "softball" for the summer!

Blastball is a very fun game. They only have one base - and it squeaks when you run/jump on it :) The kids hit from the tee and then run and jump on the one base and then get back in line. There are no positions in the field, everyone just stands around waiting to get a ball. When you catch a ball you wave it in the air and yell "Blast!" It is a great first step to teaching kids the basics of softball/baseball, but we've found it's been too much of an age spread and having boys and girls play together isn't going so well. The boys are a little too rough and tumble for Maryn's taste. She gets upset almost every game because a boy will shove her or knock her down to get to a ball that she is trying to field. Despite all of this, I think she's having a lot of fun and learning while doing so. Even though I think if I asked her what her favorite thing is about Blastball she would tell me the popsicle she gets at the end ;)


The swing... (My favorite part of this picture is that she's concentrating so hard that her tongue is sticking out - just like her Daddy!)


And a hit!!


Coach Jason racing her to the base


SQUEAK!!!


Turning around...


Had to go back and make sure she squeaked the base loud enough!


Coach Jason trying to teach "ready" position in the field. I love how she's attempting to bend her knees :)


Starting to lose interest in the field! This is the most common scene at these games... kids running off to the nearby splashpad, hanging from the tree, wrestling each other, playing tag, etc.


Water break! Maryn showing off her silly side!


And of course even more silly!


And she FINALLY got a ball out in the field!!! They usually have to make all the boys sit down just so she can get the opportunity to get near the ball!


Maryn's team, The Peacocks, getting instructions from Coach Tina and Coach Jason


Waiting for Blastball to begin... and looking awfully serious!

The Lazy Days Of Summer

Did you ever have visions in your mind as a young child of what your life would be like when you grew up? A recent Sunday afternoon is one of those times that I had envisioned. We had a precious sleeping baby upstairs and the rest of the family was outside enjoying the pool on the deck, eating some ice cream and just loving being together as a family! I can't put into words how much I love these four people!

Josh, Makenna and Maryn enjoying the pool.


The girls loving on their Daddy!


Makenna, Maryn and Mommy having fun!