Surgery....this is a vent!

Why does everything with Scarlette always result in surgery. There is never an "easy" fix with her. And usually the solutions are only found after lots and lots of appointments that get us nowhere. A couple weeks ago we saw the ENT docs b/c Scarlette's ear tube fell out. They mentioned that Scarlette's tonsils are abnormally large, and usually that is accompanied by large adenoids. They think that this is the cause of Scarlette's severe congestion/mouth breathing etc and that if it persisted we should consider a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy. We hoped it wouldn't come to that and mentioned it to the allergist but she also felt it was anatomical rather than allergies. Today, Scarlette's feeding therapist said that it's become so much work for her to breathe that it's inhibiting her eating, making it impossible for her to eat by mouth comfortably. She also recommended the procedure to be done to aid in feeding and speech development. SO now we are adding ANOTHER surgery onto our plate. Ideally they would like to group as many surgeries together as possible so Scarlette won't have to be sedated as often.

They are hoping the first surgery will consist of: her tooth being pulled, her inguinal hernias being repaired and her tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy. Her second surgery will just be cardiac, they don't really want to piggyback on to heart surgery (understandably so!)

I am just tired of ALL her issues having to be surgically fixed, I wish we could just give her medicine and her congestion could go away. I get that her anatomy is slightly different but still, where is my magic wand to wave all of this away!!!

Here's a pic of my stuffy, snorty little bugger!

Heartbeats and Allergies!

This week we only had two appointments (I know, hard to believe!) in addition to SJ's therapies. The first was a trip to the OB to check on Baby S and see whether we need to stick with a doctor or can continue with an RN. For now they would like us to stick with seeing a doctor which is totally fine, whatver is best for baby! So far I am measuring right on target and haven't gained any weight. The baby's heartbeat was in the high 140's which according to some myths could mean it's a boy (hey 50/50 chance isn't bad!)!! We go back in 3 weeks for another heartbeat check and measure, and then on June 8 we get to find out the sex of the baby and then we will tell everyone the name we have picked out!

Our second appointment was to see Scarlette's allergist, and unfortunately was much more disappointing. We were hoping that some of Scarlette's allergies had gone away but instead we gained more! We now know for certain she is allergic to all dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, and a 75% chance she's still allergic to wheat. She is also allergic to dogs. We forgot to test for shellfish and grass, but the only thing we did test that was negative was dust mites which is great! I am very allergic to dust mites, pollen, grass, all things natural pretty much, and also dogs and cats (but tolerable) but no foods and Mitch is only allergic to cats. We are still holding out hope that she will eventually outgrow some of these allergies. It's not unheard of to outgrow them at 2, 3 or 4 years of age even, so now we just wait and see! Unfortunately this means she needs to remain on the formula she is currently eating, and we can't switch to a shelf stable drink like ensure or vital jr. Just means more mixing bottles for Mommy!

Tomorrow is my cousin's baby shower and we are very excited to go see everyone and celebrate her new baby due in July!

A small accomplishment...

Yesterday we got a call from Scarlette's urologist. Scarlette recently had a VCUG performed, and the test is done to track whether or not her kidney reflux has gone away, stayed the same or gotten worse. The news was great! Her kidney reflux has almost completely resolved, so much so that we get to discontinue her antibiotics that she has been taking since birth! AND we no longer have to see Dr. Cartwright. This is her first specialist that has officially discharged her, and it felt like a small victory to us! She is down to just one oral medication daily, and even that is being weaned off by growth (dose stays the same as she gets bigger). For as many medical problems that she has faced, she is relatively healthy and for that we are SO grateful!

We also met with ENT last week because one of Scarlette's ear tubes had fallen out and because she made it through the winter with virtually no protection and still had no ear infections, they are not going to have to insert a new one! She gets to be tube free in that ear until something indicates that she may need one again. Hopefully not! :0)

I am almost 12 weeks pregnant now with baby #2 and my morning sickness, although still there, is moderately controlled by the Zofran. Scarlette and I got to see the baby last week for the first time and the doctor said that it has a very strong heartbeat and is measuring a week big! It's hard to believe I am almost out of the first trimester already, with Scarlette the first half of the pregnancy went by SO slowly but this one is going TOO fast!

Scarlette is going to be 20 months in approximately 2 1/2 weeks and I just can't even get my mind around that. I know partly it's because she doesn't act like a 20 month old but it's also partly because I just can't believe she's been here that long! Life is literally flying by! Some new milestones of Scarlette's are: reaching up for toys, taking them out of our hands and looking at them/exploring them, sitting unassisted for 30 seconds or more, and sitting with minimal assistance from the Boppy pillow for minutes at a time, saying Dada and a few other words (which DO NOT include Mama :0( ) and grasping toys with both hands. We saw her physical therapist at the hospital who hadn't seen her in approx. six months and she was absolutely FLOORED with her progress. She actually couldn't believe how well SJ was doing!

Other exciting news in our little world is that my cousin Amanda is pregnant with their first baby and it's a (90% sure) GIRL! She is having her baby shower next weekend and I am so glad to be able to go and see her and celebrate the arrival of her and Carl's first baby! She is due in July!

We find out the sex of our little peanut the first week in June which means we have about six weeks left to wait and it seems way too long! But it's definitely worth it!

This weekend we have lots of fun plans to celebrate Easter, and we are so excited because last year we didn't get to do anything! Tonight, we are going to dye easter eggs, tomorrow we have an easter egg hunt/potluck with some work friends and Sunday we are doing a big Easter dinner/egg hunt with all of our neighbors! And the best part is: nothing is happening at my house!!!!! ;0) I get to make lots of yummy goodies all weekend and I am looking forward to dressing Scarlette in some cute Easter outfits!

Have a happy Easter everyone!!!!

Love, the Skrove's

Some Pics from Kentucky!

A few pics of Ryder and Scarlette in Kentucky!

Morning Sickness, Airplane Rides and Kentucky!

Well the baby must have read my last post because it seems like the next day I started getting morning sickness with a vengeance. I need not go into gory detail but let me just say it leaves me pretty incapacitated! Luckily there is a magic pill, called Zofran. One little white pill in the morning and ALL the nausea and vomiting virtually disappears! Just hoping they will give it to me for the duration of my morning sickness! :0)

Yesterday, we headed to BWI to hop on an airplane and fly 600 miles west to see my best friend Nikki and her family. It was a very nice, very uneventful flight in the smallest plane I have EVER been in! ALL bags had to be gate-checked because there was NO overhead room LOL! The flight was pretty empty so we were fortunate to get to leave Scarlette in her carrier for the flight instead of on my lap! She was calm and quiet the entire hour and half flight!

We got here yesterday morning, and spent the day running errands and going to some fun consignment stores. I found some AWESOME purses to sell and got Scarlette the essentials for our week long stay. Today, we got to go to Cracker Barrell for lunch, and then took Nikki's 4 month old Newfoundland puppy (45 lbs already!) to the dog park. It was over 70 degrees and GORGEOUS!!!! There were at least 40 dogs there and it was packed! It's been really fun interacting with all the kids, Ryder is so incredibly sweet with Scarlette and Scarlette tolerates him (which is saying something! LOL). I taught Ryder to say Coco today (my nickname that Nikki's baby niece used to call me) and I was so excited. Hoping for more nice weather but they are saying it might rain tomorrow! Pics coming soon!

Love,
Nicole

Baby #2.....

....has so far not really made it's presence known. I am just over 4 weeks now so it's still very early, but so far other than a heightened sense of smell I haven't noticed anything different. No morning sickness, no dizziness, although I have been a lot more tired than usual. When I was pregnant with Scarlette I found out very early as well, and the morning sickness started around 5 weeks....I am HOPING it's not as bad with this one as it was with her!

Mitch is CONFIDENT this baby is a boy, he will only refer to it as him or he and calls it by the boy name we have picked out. I, on the other hand am not as confident, although I have been drawn to buying little baby boy outfits (although that might be b/c it's different than what I have been buying for two years!)!!!

Scarlette obviously has NO idea what's going on but we keep reminding her that she's going to be a big sister! We are very excited. She is currently sitting on my lap saying da da da da da over and over again! I am so proud of all of her progress in the last few months, she is doing so well and she is SO close to sitting on her own! We got to move her into her big girl carseat this weekend, we want to get her used to it before the new baby gets here and steals her carrier! :0)

Well that's all for now! My first OB appt is on March 23, the day after we get home from Kentucky! Which reminds me, only 10 more days until we leave eek!!!!

It's the little things...

I feel like I only post when something HUGE happens...so this post is going to be about some exciting little things...maybe boring to most, but that made my day awesome!

1. Scarlette played in her jumperoo for 45 minutes today with her babysitter, Chris. She was SO happy to be in there and this is the first time since her surgery that she has been happy to be in her jumper! YAY!

2. We had a really fun mail day! A sweater dress that I have wanted for Scarlette for SO long came today, as well as a box of chocolates that I ordered from one of my friends who is a dove consultant (thanks Heather!)

3. I went to the grocery store today and got 2 weeks of food for next to nothing! Really good, healthy meals too!

4. Scarlette got a Sophie the Giraffe teether that squeaks and she LOVES it!

5. I took both the baby AND the dog for a walk today together, and they both did SO well!

6. I have 15 Coach purses coming in the mail in the next two weeks (to sell of course!)!!! Have I mentioned lately that I SERIOUSLY love my job!

7. I am 4 weeks pregnant as of today!

8. In two weeks I get to go to Kentucky with SJ to visit my best friend and her family. I haven't seen her since March of last year and I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

9. In a week we get Mitch's test results and find out whether he is board eligible (to make Chief). This one is more nervous than excited I think. LOL!

10. Scarlette has been talking up a STORM since she started saying da-da-da-da the other day! :0)

Here are some pics of my princess from the last few days, I take pics almost every day so I have lots!