Author Archives: LA

Happy Valentines Day & Happy Sunday!

Last night we celebrated Valentines day with Jason’s parents, and Kirra’s Godparents Pam & Phil. Uncle Miah was there too, and pseudo uncle Gordy. We were going to the blacksmith, but it was rather crowded and was going to be an hour or so before we could get seated. So we decided to head back to Jason’s parent’s house and order pizza from Savoys. Kirra went to bed in her pack and play in Jason’s old bedroom, and we all went in the hot tub outside!

Jason and I were starting to get tired around 11:30 so we packed it in for an early night. Kirra woke up once we got into the truck and wasn’t very happy about being woke up. Can you blame her? She did go right to bed once we got home.
 
Today Theo & I went to Ikea for a new duvet and I got stemless wine glasses. Jason played in an online card tourney, and didn’t win, so he signed up for another one later on in the evening and came in 2nd place. I watched Desperate housewives, and I am now thinking about going to bed!
 
Kirra and I are having a playdate at our house with some of our friends from Moms Group. Should be a fun time!

15 Month Check up

We had Kirra’s 15 month check up with the pediatrician this morning. The check up went well! She’s 29 inches long, and 19.14 pounds. She’s between 10-25%.

I asked the doctor if she thinks Kirra’s cough might be allergy related… like if she could possibly have a milk allergy or sensitivity since we were on Gentlease formula and then went straight to cows milk right around the time she started coughing…. and she thinks that’s a real possibility.

So the doctor wants us to try Soy Milk for a bit. She says it’s our cheapest option too. She said if that doesn’t work we can try Rice Milk, and if that doesn’t work we can try Nutramagin formula (she’s friends with the rep, so she will give us free samples if it comes to that (because its super super expensive). She doesn’t think there is any need to do testing. We’ll just to the trial and error instead.

Dr. Evans didn’t have any samples of Prevacid Kirra’s reflux medicine which costs $35.00, but she did see that we’re using Bordeaux Butt Paste, and she gave us an entire box of samples! So that was sweet!

Kirra, has an ear infection! Her first one. She had a fever of 103.5 on Monday and ever since has been grabbing her ears, and her head, so the doctor took a peek, and sure enough it’s pretty infected. Poor baby. No wonder why she wanted me to rock her to sleep last night!

In general she is doing fantastic, and growing well, and developmentally right on track! She says her talking skills are great! Who knew, with a mom like me!

Some answers and reassurance

Hi everyone,
Well we went to the U of M this morning and talked to Dr. Laguna, who was a really cool doctor! She got Kirra’s history from us, since I have an exact recollection of what’s happened these past few months. She put our mind immediately at ease by telling us every newborn in the State of Minnesota is tested for CF (Cystic Fibrosis) and they have a very good way to test this on the newborns. So there is almost a zero % chance it could be CF. Plus the symptoms of CF at this age are more nutritional, than anything else… so Kirra’s symptoms don’t fit at all. She also said that since Kirra is gaining weight well, and acting normal most of the time, it’s probably nothing “SERIOUS”.

With that said, because of her signs and symptoms, and how it started etc…. there is a good chance it’s GERD. which stands for Gastro Esophygeal Reflux Disorder, which the stomach contents come up into your throat, and irritate it, so then she coughs. So we’re going to take prevacid again. Kirra was diagnosed with GERD when she was just 2 months old….we were on prevacid until she was about 4 months old, but she continued to spit up anyways, probably up until about a month ago.
Because the acidic contents can go back down into the lungs, and also because there was a very real possibility that Kirra had some infection or virus back in the fall that started all this coughing, that could have temporarily damaged her cilia which then makes anything get down in her lungs and irritate her.

So we’re also going to be on a steroid inhaler to help build up her lungs and make them strong again. We’re to take both medicines for 1 month. Even if she is 100% totally better in 2 weeks. Or even if it does nothing we do it for a month, and call the doctor in 1 month.

Kirra was taking Pulmicort via a nebulizer, but Kirra was highly irritable during and after her treatments, and the process took close to 10 minutes…. so Dr. Laguna prescribed Flovent via an inhaler with a spacer and mask so it only will take 10 seconds now! That makes us VERY HAPPY! I’m sure kirra will like it better too! She gets two puffs in the morning, and two puffs in the evening.


Tongue Peeling

Today after work I picked Kirra up from Tally’s, and boy was she in a mood. She was so sad, and so tired, and so out of it. Tally said she cried most of the day and only had a 30 minute nap. Poor hunny. Later on in the evening Jason and I noticed something wrong with her tongue. It looked like a big cut on the top, or that the top layer of her tongue was gone! So we drove over to urgent care to get it looked at.


The doctor didn’t seem to think it was a big deal at all. He acted as if it’s really comon, and didn’t think it was thrush or anything. He couldn’t even give us a good reason to why it was that way. Jason and I decided it could be from her pulmicort, so we’re going to skip it today and tomorrow.

I listened to her lungs last night while she was sleeping, and they sound completely clear. I have a new differential diagnosis, and that might be chronic sinusitis. I read that they can have a worsening cough at night, and Kirra has always been stuffy. (Just like her mama).

The pulmonology appointment is day after tomorrow. I’m excited to get some real answers. I really hope she doesn’t blow us off without doing any tests and say it’s just a cold go home. I will make them do something! I’m sure it will all be fine though…

I missed my 2 mile run today because of all of this medical drama, so I am bringing my running clothes to work tomorrow, and will work out at the gym during lunch. It’s fairly close and most of the office goes anyways. Tomorrow I am supposed to do 3 miles, so I will do between 2 and 3 miles.

Happy Feb 1 day!

Well we officially have 5 days left before we see the lung doc over at the U of M. I’m pretty anxious to see the doctor there and hopefully she can provide us with some answers to why Kirra has been coughing for so long. The pulmicort seems to have been working however we missed several days and now she is coughing again, so we’re trying to give her the meds as often as possible.


Yesterday I was up at 4:45 to help out my friend Mary with a race, and for Midwest Events. It was really fun, and Mary was really organized so that made helping her out easy and fun! I was done with work about 8am, (had to be there at 6am!). After work Jason and I, Rick & Amber, Missy & Brian went to Afton Alps, and had a totally awesome time! It was just great! I think we need to get together more often!

Today is Superbowl Sunday, and so far we’ve only just cleaned up a little bit. Jason and I are going to just stay in and watch it. I hope everyone has a great start to their week, and I will post info when we find out about Kirra’s coughing!

P.s. Happy Birthday to my Auntie Kath today!

New Part Time work

I got a new gig with Midwest Events. I’ll be going out and meeting race directors for various events around town in the Twin Cities, getting to know them, and help build good PR for Midwest Events. If they need equipment i’ll be able to help them with that, if they need volunteer work, I am there to help, and if they’re all good to go, then I will participate in their events to show that we are there to support them 100%.


It’s going to be very fun!

My first event is at Race up the Place this weekend in Minneapolis. It should be a blast! Later on that day I am going downhill skiing with Jason, Missy, Brian, Amber & Rick at Afton Alps. It should be a ton of fun. Hopefully I don’t climb too many stairs where I get all pooped out for skiing!

Soup da loup

Well I’ve been cooking soup all day long! I got up around 8am and have been cooking soup since 8:30am. My mom and dad came over to help chop vegetables, pull meat apart, and ensure I was adding the different ingredients at the same time. Plus to make sure I added just enough of our secret ingredient.


Jason, Kirra and I went to Adventure Park today, and boy was it busy! We didn’t stay for very long at all. MAYBE and hour? There were kids everywhere, the parking lot was jam packed, so it wasn’t too fun, even though Kirra seemed to still have fun.

After that we exchanged some movies at Blockbuster, and went to Toys are Us looking for a bouncy horse for Kirra. The cost on the bouncy horse was a little much. Maybe she can have it for Easter or after we get our tax money back, so we settled on a chair instead for her. It’s a purple plush chair with Dora the Explorer.

Once we got home we had soup for dinner, cleaned up a bit, and now Jason is reading to Kirra, it’s way to precious! Once the little woman goes to bed Jason and I will watch “My best friend’s Girlfriend” with Dane Cook, and eat popcorn.

Happy Friday

Kirra and I had a great day today. She was good at daycare, and was in a great mood! We all had Subway for dinner. I got her a mini turkey sub with spinach on it, but Kirra didn’t seem to excited about spinach. Well what kid is? Then we went to the gym at the elementary school with some of me and Kirra’s friends from our moms group. I was hoping for a little more “toys” or what-not, but none the less it was fun to get together with some other mom friends, and Kirra enjoyed hanging out with Aiden and Dylan.


Kirra is still coughing, but we only have 13 more days before we see the pulmonologist. I’m anxious to find out what Kirra’s deal is. Being a mom is a roller coaster ride. I read this blog about this tiny little premie who is struggling every day, and I get so worried about things that are much less. Between Kirra’s broken leg, her bout of pneumonia, and now this ever-lasting cough, I just worry so much. I know she will be fine, I just want some answers.

Back at the office Friday

Back at the office tomorrow. I did get quite a bit done, but there were a lot of other things I really wanted to get done as well. I just hope that Tally’s kids are feeling better, and that Kirra doesn’t get sick.

Saturday we’re having the water softener guy come over and tell us how to use ours. Our dishwasher has been leaving white spots on our dishes and we know it’s because of the hard water. I’m also going to be making my moms famous vegetable soup. My parents are coming over to oversee that I’m doing everything right. Later on in the afternoon I think that Jason and I are taking Kirra to Adventure Park to play.
Sunday I have my work party in the evening, where I am serving the homemade soup. The reason why I am having my parents come over to make sure I did it right. It seems pretty easy, it’s just a long process. Lots and lots of simmering.
I’ll make updates this weekend.
Be Well.

Working from home tomorrow!

Well I will be working from home tomorrow because Tally’s kids are sick with the pukies and the pooies. I could have dropped Kirra off at the daycare just down the road or asked Janis to watch her, but it was kind of later at night, and the daily drop in rate is $40, and I don’t really know them much yet. I’m sure eventually I will have the lady down the street watch Kirra. I hope to get some work done though tomorrow. I have a few research projects I can definitely work on!