Vacation

I'm bad, I know. I'm sorry. It's been a week since I've written. It's been a busy week. Like right now I should be sleeping, but I'm not. Derek isn't home and I really don't like going to bed without him. I'm tired and I have to get up early, but I'm trying to wait, so I'll catch you up.

Last weekend we finally got to see my niece Raegan for the first time. She is so cute & tiny. Harlow, my Mom, & I went to see her, her big sister, & my brother on Friday night. I wanted to see her sooner but she was born right around Harlow's first surgery so it was crazy. We also went to a picnic at my parents on Sunday. That was fun too. Harlow had blast with my cousin Sarah & she also loved the chocolate cake.

This week I've been getting ready for our vacation over Independence Day weekend!! I've been gathering supplies, cleaning, making lists, packing, organizing, etc etc lol! Before we go away I always end up cleaning and organizing things I've been wanting to do for awhile. Like today Derek cleaned up our porch & I reorganized my clothing and cleaned out my closet - fun!

We are going on vacation for the first time in 2 years. It's not super easy for us to get away so I'm super excited. I have been busy researching things Harlow can do since she can't go on the beach or swimming. I just hope it's not too hot and that she sleeps well down there.

Only 18 days left until the cast comes off!!! I promise not to go missing for an entire week again :-)



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Let the countdown begin...

Harlow had a post operative appointment today. They said her cast should be as tight as it is and that will be fine...darn I was hoping for an early take off lol.

What they did say though is the day she will finally get her cast off - drum roll please.....Monday, July 18th! So about 25 days left. That's less than a month! She will go into her Hip Abduction Brace when the cast comes off and that she will wear basically 24/7 other than bath time for 3 months and then bedtime only for a year. Seems like forever but it can't be as bad as the cast so we are very happy!


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Paint

I decided that Harlow's room needed a change.  Before she was born we decided to paint it yellow because we weren't 100% that she was in fact a girl, so we went gender neutral.  The yellow was great while she was a baby, but now that she is getting bigger and deciding what she likes and doesn't like the yellow really doesn't go with a lot.  So, Saturday I painted her room white on Saturday.  White will always go with everything and we can easily add some color to the walls with decals and such.  I order her a name monogram & a cute saying decal off Etsy.  It too ALL day on Saturday to paint. Then when the whole room was finished except for the closet I rain out of paint :-/  I got more paint yesterday so tomorrow I will finish up the closet.  I did get her room rearranged and back together though, so it's all finished...except the closet lol. 

Yesterday we spent the day with Daddy for Father's Day.  His race team won on Saturday night, which was a nice Father's Day gift for him.  We are debating on going to the beach for July 4th, but we aren't sure yet.  It's not as easy to pack up when your child is in a cast.  We have to pack some extra things for her and take into consideration the heat and she can't get sandy or wet.  Her cast should come off about 2.5wks after July 4th, but it seems really tight and I don't think it's gonna last till then.  She has an appointment on Thursday and I'm going to discuss it with them.  It's really tight around her belly when she is sitting up.  Yesterday she burped and spit up which NEVER happens and I'm beginning to think its because of the cast being so tight.  I don't think she eats quite as much now either.  Maybe they will decide to take the cast off sooner - hahaha, well I can dream right??

What's Shakin'

Harlow says "What's shakin'" all the time. Today she said it to the girl at the bank lol. Her new cast is much nicer since we've had it fixed up. We are down to about 5 weeks! Hip Hip Hooray!!! Next Thursday we should find out exactly when it will come off.

We've decided to re-paint Harlow's room. We painted it light yellow before she was born and it was nice while she was a baby. Now that she is getting older I want her to have something more neutral that will go with everything. Today we went and picked out a nice "snowy" white. I was debating on doing some bright pink & green stripes but I think I'll wait to get the white done and then see. I'm hoping to get it painted in the next few days.

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No More Stinky...

This morning I called the Orthopedic Pediatric Nurse and had to leave her a message.  While waiting for her to call back I took Harlow for her Red Laser Treatment and then over to her Grammy & Pap's.  Of course just as we pull in Grammy & Pap's the nurse calls back.  I went over everything with her and she agreed that it shouldn't have happened and asked me to bring her in today.  The only time she could see her was 1pm and it was already almost 12pm.  So we had to quickly get up to Hershey since it's almost an hour drive.  Finally we get up there and waited a little and then we got to go back.  They were able to re-pad the inside of the cast and put the good moleskin around the edges.  That helped take away the smell of pee - YIPPEE!!!  They also cut out a bigger diaper hole in the back of the cast.  Harlow did great, even though the cast cutting machine is loud she didn't seem to mind at all. 

The only thing they didn't seem concerned with is how tight the cast was around her belly. They said she has enough room....yeah for now.  He moved her appointment next Monday to next Thursday, so until then we will see how it goes, but I will definitely be bringing the issue back up with him. 

For now though things are good again :-) YAY!

Annoyed

So on Friday I chose to leave out some of the things that I am really annoyed about. First off, when you diaper a spica cast you cannot simply just put one diaper in the cast - doesn't work.  When I went to change Harlow's diaper to leave the hospital - with our own diapers because they never even thought to ask if I wanted to change her for the hour car ride home, her cast was ALREADY soaked with pee!!!!  When they did the cast change they left all the cotton stuffing hang out the diaper hole to keep the cast edge from rubbing they didn't think to tuck the ONE diaper they used inside the cotton.  Needless to say when she pee'd instead of it soaking into the diaper it soaked into all the cotton and just sucked right up inside the cast. I was pretty mad at the hospital and even the nurse couldn't believe they did that.  So when we came home I tried to pull out as much of the cotton and pee soaked insides as I could and then I dried the rest with a cool hair dryer though.  What makes me really mad is that because of their sheer laziness in the operating room my child now smells like pee and it will only get worse in the next 6 weeks.

My second complaint about the cast change is that the Post-Recovery area was out of moleskin.  Our nurse only discovered this after I asked if I could get the moleskin to wrap her cast.  You need moleskin to wrap all the edges of the cast because without it the edges are sharp and will scratch skin but also snag on everything.  So, she told us we would have to wait at LEAST an hour for someone to bring the moleskin up.  I was not about to make Harlow sit in the hospital for at least an extra hour because they aren't prepared.  I luckily had a little moleskin left at home and then Saturday I went and spent $22.50 on more moleskin at a local medical supply store.

Thirdly, her diaper hole is about 2.5" inches wide.  How is she supposed to poo and not get it on the cast with a diaper hole that small.  I mean seriously you idiots!  Clearly the person putting the new cast on has never had to clean a sh*tty diaper. It was very clear to me this time that a medical student did the cast and was not properly supervised (WTH!!!!)

Oh yes there is one more complaint (Sorry!!).  Her new cast is just as tight on her skin as her old cast was at 6 weeks.  She has no room to grow in the cast.  Her first cast was bigger around and gave her more room to grow.  She was starting to complain about some parts of her old cast getting tight during the last week. So I can only imagine how quickly she will be outgrowing this one. 

I fully intend on calling her doctors office tomorrow and having a royal fit with them on all of these items.  It is absolutely ridiculous!  She isn't supposed to have a post-op appointment until next Monday but they will be seeing her this week. Ugh! They drive me insane!!

Harlow had her Child Dedication last night at Church.  It went really well.  She was so cute!!! She was quite talkative last night, but thankfully after the service everyone kept saying how cute she was and how she has such a sweet voice!  I was so embarrassed when the Pastor asked to hold Harlow to pray.  All I could think of was that he was probably wondering why she smelled like pee!!  Well, Pastor Hall if you are reading this then you now know why, because her cast was not properly taken cast of during the change - not because I don't keep my child clean! 

Madness....Complete Madness going on here this weekend!

New Cast

We made it to the hospital for 6am. The admitted us right away & sent us up to the pre-surgical area immediately after admittance. Of course we had to wait there for awhile. Finally, they gave her some medicine to make her loopy so she wouldn't get upset when we had to leave her. Shortly after that we carried her to the operating room doors and they whisked her away.







They told us she was scheduled from 7:30-9am. She entered the O.R. at 7:21am & Dr. Hennrikus came to see us at about 8:20am. He said everything went great. Her hip is stable, which means it's now properly growing in it's socket & didn't pop out when the cast was removed - YAY!

Right after the doctor saw us we could go up to recovery. She was just waking up but didn't cry once the entire time. She was super mad that she had one of those IV boards on her arm, but other than that she was back to herself in no time. She must have remembered she had to eat & drink before she could leave because she drank half her juice right away & then had a popsicle, cookies, & applesauce! She was determined to leave ASAP. They didn't have any moleskin to wrap the edges of the cast & said it could be at least an hour until they got some...umm no thanks! So I just said I would take care of wrapping it with the moleskin I have at home.

Finally we got the all clear to leave at about 11am! She has been doing great at home. She doesn't use her left leg much yet because it's been so long & at first she didn't realize the cast was shorter. Her legs aren't out quite as far as before so she has to move around a little different than with the last cast, but overall she is doing great & as sweet as always - Thank God!

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Cast Change!

Tomorrow!  Tomorrow Harlow gets her cast changed!  Wednesday was officially 6 weeks since she had her first procedure.  I am SO excited for a new cast.  This one is so dirty and stinky.  No matter how much you try to keep them clean they still get dirty and stinky in 100F weather.

The Red Laser Treatments that we have been having done on her incision have made such a difference!  The incision is almost completely healed - there is no redness to it anymore.  I'm hoping that it has been healing the tendons as quickly as the incision.  Dr. Hennrikus doesn't know about the treatments so I'll be curious to see if he comments on how healed up she is already.  Maybe if we have a miracle tomorrow she will be healed enough to go straight to a brace...so not getting my hopes up tomorrow.

We have to report to the hospital at 6am.  This means we have to get up at 4am to leave by 4:45am because it takes about an hour to get there and I prefer to be early than cutting it close to being late.  I had to laugh when we got home today because the hospital called and left this on the answering machine, "Hi, I'm calling from Hershey Medical Center for Ashley Gloster.  I see Harlow has already been to our Center for a previous procedure and tomorrow is just a cast change.  So since you already know the routine I'll just leave the time on here.  Please be at the main hospital by 6am tomorrow.  I'm sure you know Harlow isn't allowed any food or drink after midnight but if you have questions just call."  LOL I just thought it was funny that she was basically like "you know the deal, be here at 6am".  It sucks getting up so early and I'm always afraid of oversleeping but I'd rather be there early and hopefully get out at a decent time then going in later and getting pushed back because of other procedures before her taking extra long.  We'll just have to nap if we can tomorrow.

Rash

Harlow has a rash on her right leg. The cast is above her knee on her right leg and she has a rash on her leg around the edge of the cast. It's red and looks painful, but she doesn't fuss about it unless it's when I touch it. I know, don't touch it, right? I have to so I can keep neosporine cream on it. I'm going to call the doctor on Monday to see if I need to do anything else for it.

On the plus side I got Harlow the cutest dress for her Child Dedication next weekend. A Child Dedication is an act of prayer that the child will grow to serve God & a dedication by the parents that we will raise our child To foster spiritual & emotional health. We will commit to raise her the best way we know how. I found her this gorgeous off white satin & tulle dress at Baby Gap tonight. I let her choose between that dress and another, I was hoping she would pick it but I didn't think she would, but she did!! I'll be sure to post pics :-)

Tomorrow I have a reading with Corbie Mitleid. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what's in store for me. She is in town for just a weekend & I can't believe I was lucky enough to get a reading.

Pre-Operative Appointment #2

Today Harlow had her pre-op appointment for her cast change.  She will always have a "pre-op" appointment before any procedure.  Her appointment was supposed to be at 10:40am.  My mom went along with us and we got there about 10:30am.  My mom watched Harlow while I went to check in.  The lady at the desk told me that  it was going to be at least an hour and forty-five minutes because Dr. Hennrikus got called to the operating room for a trauma.  So I asked her if that was for sure because I was going to leave and come back.  I mean I can't expect Harlow to sit in her stroller for probably what would end up being over 2 hours until all was done.  The lady called down to check and see when Dr. Hennrikus would be back up and thankfully he was already headed back to his office.  So it ended up being about an hour until he finally saw us.

I asked what the chances of her not needing another cast and he said only one percent - boo!  I figured as much though, so I really wasn't getting my hopes up.  He did say 80% of kids only need two casts though, so this next cast will probably be her last...only time will tell though.  She is scheduled for next Friday June 10th for her cast change.  It is considered a surgical procedure because she is given anesthesia.

Once she is under anesthesia they will cut off her current cast and scrub her down (thank goodness!!!!).  They will then take an x-ray and see how her hip is staying in place.  If removing the cast doesn't cause it to pop out of socket again than they will just put the new cast on and that's it.  However, if they take the cast off and her hip comes back out of socket they will try to do a closed reduction to put it back in but if it doesn't work then they will have to make another incision and it will be just like her first procedure.  I'm pretty confident it won't come back out of socket.  The first procedure went very smooth, better than the doctor anticipated.  They only needed to make one incision and just a quick snip and it went in.  So I think it is going to be healing well enough to stay.  Maybe I am being over confident, but I'm really not worried.  I am hoping it is so healed she won't need another cast, but that's just being unrealistic.

I was surprised that the doctor told us when her cast does come off she will need to wear her hip brace for 22 hours a day for 3 months.  He originally told us only for one month of 22 hour days and then just at night time.  Today he said 3 months of 22 hour days and then just nights for a year or so.  Who knows!  Things change at every appointment, so we will just wait and see!  There isn't anything else to do ;-)

5 Weeks

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday because my Internet was being oddly slow.  So this is for yesterday :-) ....

5 Weeks. It's been 5 weeks. That's over an entire month, 37 days to be exact.  One week until she will get her cast changed! Thank goodness because she is getting stinky.  She made it over 3 weeks without getting any pee on her cast.  Then suddenly one night from all her moving around the pee leaked off the diaper layers and onto the cast - yuck.  I scrub her cast every time she gets a bath.  I've changed the moleskin, but you can only change it a few times because when you take the moleskin off it pulls out the inside lining of the cast.  I've been Febreezing her.  No you don't need to re-read that last sentence, yes I said Febreezing her LOL!  I simply lay a washcloth on her butt and spray her cast.  It works pretty good.  My mom gave me the idea to try vinegar too, so I have also resorted to using that too.  They both help, but it's getting to the point that nothing is working great.  She is kind of stinky, but only when you really sniff her cast.  Her cast is also filthy, the dirt is getting stuck down in the little cast cracks and no matter how hard I scrub it doesn't come off.  I really cannot wait for this cast change!!!!

We never made it to the zoo.  It was supposed to be in the 90's again and I didn't want her to get even stinkier.  She had a chiropractor appointment in the morning for another laser treatment, so until that was over we would've gotten to the zoo too close to lunch.  So we'll make it another day.

I asked for some models on my Whimsical Lo Facebook page.  I needed an infant, toddler, & tween model to take pics in my 3-in-1 flower hair clips.  I was able to get 4 models, I'm so excited!  I cannot wait to see ALL of the cuties wearing my items!  As soon as I get the photos back I'll be posting them on my Facebook page for everyone to see!