Unblocking the tear ducts

Edie had her eye surgery today to clear the blocked tear duct. She was a pretty good patient, and it all went pretty smoothly. We had a private little pre-op area, and since it was such a short procedure they let John and I stay there the whole time rather than going back to the waiting room, so that was nice.

They gave her some oral "loopy juice" to calm her before taking her back to surgery. The picture shown above is her waving hello to the camera shortly after taking the loopy juice. She did get a little upset when the anesthesiologist took her away, so I don't think it had totally set in when they first took her back.

Once back in surgery, they gave her gas to knock her out and then IV anesthesia. She was gone quite a bit longer than we expected (about an hour and a half), but Dr. Ikram said the procedure went very well. She said her little tear holes, i can't remember the medical term, were really small and that's what was causing the tear ducts to block. She probed and cleared the ducts, and successfully flushed them afterwards so she expects everything to be fine now.

Edie did pretty well post-op, but had the usual post-anesthesia associated drowsiness and grumpiness. We got her home and she had a few graham crackers and then took a 4 hour nap. She seems to be doing well, with no post-op fever and just a little bit of a bloody nose. The drowsiness and grumpiness seems to be hanging on, but that is normal. After she got up from her nap, and had a snack she did show signs of getting back to her usual self as she demanded to have a bow put in her hair!

I'm glad to have that over with, and thankful it was a successful procedure and overall easy experience. The Kosair staff was wonderful, and made everything pretty easy on us. After our experience at University Hospital with John's surgeries, I have come to not really expect much from hospital staff as far as communication. Everything was easy though, check in and registration, pre-op, check out and they kept us well informed with minimal waiting throughout the whole process. They have really streamlined the whole process at Kosair and all the nurses, techs, and doctors were really accessible and informative and right on time so that made all the difference!

Valentines Fashion Face Off!

For Valentines Day we bring you a fashion face off - who wears the red bow best?

Edie
or
Sadie?

Happy Valentines Day with Love from Edie and Sadie!

Sadie's bow was Edie's idea...

Poor Sadie! She's such a good sport!

18 Month Edie Update

Edie is 18 months old! It seems to me that she is growing like a weed, but she is still quite the munchkin - 22 pounds, and 31 inches tall which continues her growth curve in the 25%. Other than the blocked tear duct, she is doing great developmentally and is a healthy, happy little girl. Dr. Massey was quite impressed with her dancing skills (if you just say dance, she's start wiggling and shaking it) and commented that she is really advanced for coordination. She also jabbers constantly, and will have complete conversations with me where we go back and forth- I just don't know what she's saying. They gave her a hearing test just to make sure there were no issues there, and she passed with flying colors. She does however, already have selective hearing! Hopefully she'll pick up a few more "real" words soon.

This is a really fun age, as she is always excited and into everything and we are having so much fun! We go to story time at the Library one day a week, and she loves that, especially for the bouncy songs (Grand Ole Duke of York, Bouncy Mouse, etc). We also started a music class one day a week too where we do little interactive songs, walking/running to the beat, swinging in the hammock, towel rides, playing with instruments (she loves the drum and cymbols) and lots of fun little activities. She also goes to Parent's Day Out once a week and loves to run around with the other kids there and crawl through the tunnel. She's now down to one nap a day, so that allows us to get out a bit more now that we don't have the morning nap to contend with. I think she likes to shop :)

Edie's current favorite activities are looking at books, playing with Sadie, climbing and sitting in chairs, brushing her teeth and brushing her hair, riding her jeep, playing with her doll and stroller, and most of all, dancing. She still enjoys stroller rides to take Sadie for walks, but with the weather we haven't gotten out quite as much lately. She now eats with a spoon and fork and always insists on feeding herself. She doesn't say too many words other than "Uh-OH" which is the most common. She will say mama, dada, ah-dee (Sadie) occasionally in addition to woof, meow, and quack. She has been really excited about animals and learning animal sounds. She's also been learning her body parts. She waves bye-bye (and said it once too!), blows kisses and also likes to scribble when she can get her hands on a pen. She's still quite the girly girl and loves to have her hair blown dry, wear bracelets and necklaces, wear bows, and carry purses and bags. She also loves shoes!

Here's a sneak peak at her dancing:

Let it Snow!

Well, it was no blizzard, but there was just enough snow for Edie to go out and have her first sled ride. Edie rode the sled down the street a few blocks to the field. Sadie loves to frolic in the open expanse of snow up there, and there are some great hills for sledding. I was so excited about the snow that we were the first ones in the neighborhood up there to sled. However, I soon realized this was because it was under 20 degrees outside and bitterly cold, and most people had enough sense to wait until later in the day when it warmed up a little to go out and play. Needless to say, we were pretty frozen by the time we got there and our visit to the field was pretty brief. Edie her first sled ride down the hill in our front yard and we quickly ran back inside to spend the rest of the morning in front of the fire.

Bundled up and ready!

Riding down our street

Snow Baby!

Postponed...

Edie's eye specialist called Friday and said there was a scheduling conflict for the operating rooms at Kosair Children's Hospital on Monday, so they would have to reschedule the surgery. They had some earlier dates available at Jewish East, but we decided to wait for the next available Kosair date which is not until February 16.

I was actually kind of glad the surgery got postponed. It gave me a little more time to research it, and now I feel more comfortable with doing the surgery. We were starting to wonder if they were just fixing it to fix it, since the blocked tear duct won't affect her vision at all and really doesn't seem to bother her all that much. I talked to Edie's pediatrician about it on Friday, and she said that while it is not a major problem, having a teary eye and a blocked duct puts her at a higher risk for frequent eye infections. She also said it could bother her more as she gets older. Dr. Massey also said to definitely do the surgery at Kosair rather than Jewish since they are all pediatric specialists, so I am glad we decided to wait until the February date. The other good thing about the February 16 date is she will be first up on the surgery schedule that morning!

Edie's Busy Week

Well, it's been an eventful week for little Miss Edie. She started out her week with a bang - with a baby gate mishap she managed to sneak down to the basement and play in the Tide box. Thankfully it turned out she just tasted it and didn't really consume it, and she also managed to not get any in her eyes! The Poison Control nurse said 2 year olds are her best customer, so to keep the number handy! that we will...

Edie also started music classes this week. She had a ball, though we are going later this week to check out the next level class. The class is divided from 6-20 months, and 20 months -3 years. Edie is just shy of 18 months, so she is pretty borderline. There was another 18 month girl in her class and we are going to go try out the older class together.

We saw the eye specialist today for a follow up on the blocked tear duct. It is still a teary eye so she recommended going ahead with the surgery. I am a little hesitant just because it doesn't seem like its much of a problem, and it won't affect her vision. She said there is very little chance of it clearing up on its own though, so John and I decided we should probably just go ahead and let them clear it up.

The surgery is scheduled for next Monday. We decided to go with Kosair Children's Hospital. I was tempted to go with Jewish East because it is nicer, cushier, private patient rooms, etc and its more convenient but since she's so little and Kosair has pediatric nurses & pediatric anesthesiologists, that route just makes me a little more comfortable just in case there are any complications. It will be outpatient, and recovery time is usually just a day or so! We would appreciate your prayers for a smooth and successful procedure!

Bunches of Funches!

Since Lindsay didn't make it home for Thanksgiving, Edie and I headed down to Shalimar to see the Funches family before they move to Seattle. Edie missed having Sadie along for the ride, but was still a pretty good traveller! She had so much fun with all her cousins, and I'm sure she will miss having all the activity and playmates!

Steele, Mary Boyde, Edie, & Sam

Hayley & Edie

Opa & Sam at the Library

Edie at the FWB Library's Storytime

Enjoying the toys at Storytime!

Mary Boyde teaching Edie & Hayley piano

Hayley & Edie enjoying Oma's fun drawer