On November 10th, our little Miss Makayla decided to one-up her stunt she played at the cake smash and learn to WALK before her first birthday, which was only two days away. I can't believe how quickly it all happened. So Branden was walking Makayla around the house that evening, holding her hands, and as he'd let go she'd take a step then sit down. Thinking nothing more was going to come of it, I left to go pick up cafe rio. On my way there Branden called me and told me that Makayla had taken several consecutive steps (with him behind her not allowing her to sit down). So I hurried home. And nothing happened, but about an hour later Branden and I were just watching TV while Makayla played with her toys. All of a sudden I glance over at her and she is walking...on her own..out into the middle of the floor. She didn't know that we were watching. She fell down, as to be expected, but then she got right back up and went at it again. I got my phone out and this time she walked from our dining room all the way into the kitchen. Her second time walking and she was practically running a marathon! I was so proud. And she's been walking ever since. She is so funny to watch...she sticks her big belly out and basically waddles around! :)
On November 11th, Makayla lost her little voice! She had been a little sick for the few days prior. She had the sniffles and a pretty good fever. But when she woke up with that scratchy little voice my heart just melted for her! So we stayed home most of the day and cuddled it up!
November 12th was Makayla's FIRST birthday. Our poor baby still wasn't feeling too great. I spent the morning in panic about the party that we were having that night. I hadn't finished any of the decorations. I was half-way through making a birthday banner, I hadn't even made the cake yet, and the presents weren't wrapped. I am an awesome mom...not! Branden helped me so much that day...he did all the decorating and cleaning of the house, he wrapped the presents, and he got the baby ready...all while I got the cake baked and decorated. *sigh* I had so many things that I was working on all at once that I was only able to actually complete one thing. Lesson learned. Anyway...so after the stress of the morning was over, we decided to take Makayla to the zoo! She really enjoyed the zoo, and the cool air seemed to make her scratchy voice better. When we got home, Branden and I started making dinner before everyone got there for the party. Our families arrived and just as they did, so did Makayla's cough. It was a barking cough...and it was SOOO sad with her scratchy little voice. After only a few little coughs we all agreed that it sounded like croup. Fabulous. So we went on with the party, even though she was so sad. While I was getting the cake ready, I heard Makayla cry out "Mama" in the saddest little voice, this was the first time she has ever said mama! I instantly dropped everything and went to her. In that moment I realized that parties and food and cake don't matter! All that matters is that my little one feels loved and safe in her times of need. So I snuggled her and we opened her presents together. She seemed a little interested in her new fabulous toys, but her cough was getting the best of her. So eventually everyone went home. Knowing the risks of croup and how bad Makayla's cough was getting so quickly, I decided to take her to the after hours clinic. The doctor confirmed the croup and even stated that it was a moderate-severe case of it. They gave her some dexamethasone (steroid) and we went home and had a heck of a night. The poor girl was coughing and crying the whole night. I ended up sleeping in her room in the recliner with her on my chest and the humidifier going on high speed. I feel so bad that her birthday was so miserable for her! But there will be more birthdays! I am glad that we were able to do the cake smash a few days before she got sick so she could enjoy the cake!
Eventually the croup went away. We had a few bad nights of coughing, but it would have been much worse without the steroid that she received on her birthday. A few days after her birthday she had a well-child visit. She weighed in at 18 lb 7 oz, which is in the 10th percentile. Her height was in the 25th percentile. She's my little lady, that's for sure! At this appointment we were told to wean her off formula and start a regular diet. She now takes two bottles of whole milk, three meals, and 2 snacks during the day. She is such a little piggy. She could probably out-eat many toddlers out there. She eats slowly, but she'll eat all the food on her plate....which is a lot!
One of the main problems that stemmed from having croup was her messed up sleep schedule. She started waking up regularly around 2 or 3am, but with a few snuggles and a song she'd go back to sleep. After a few nights of responding to her at that time every morning, she decided that 2am was a good time to wake up for the day. No joke. She was AWAKE! She didn't necessarily want to play, she mostly wanted to snuggle for hours, wide awake, only in the rocking chair. Don't get me wrong, it made me feel good that she wanted to snuggle with me, but she wouldn't ever go back to sleep! And to top it off, she wouldn't take a nap during the day either! She was on a sleeping strike! I tried everything I could think of to get her back to sleep. Rocking, singing, a bottle, a diaper change, watching tv, crying it out, etc etc. Nothing worked. After a week of waking up for the day at 2am I was beyond exhausted. I was so put down that she would be like this forever and I'd never get my sleep again. She continued on for about another week until I put my foot down. I did some power reading through the book called Babywise and decided it was time to REALLY let Makayla cry it out. I've always been a whimp when it comes to my baby crying. I feel like I'm abandoning her and that she'll have resentment towards me for treating her that way. But I was exhausted and I knew one thing: what we were doing wasn't working. So I learned all the tips and tricks to crying it out. The first night Makayla cried for over an hour. I was heartbroken. The next night it was about 30 minutes. The next night it was 15 minutes...WHAT?! And then the next night I put her in her crib and she whimpered for a second and then laid down and went to sleep. Since then, and I am knocking on wood right now, she has done pretty good at getting herself back to sleep. She still wakes up at 3am and cries, but once she realizes no one is coming to get her she will go back to sleep. She also is back to taking a two hour nap during the day. Hallelujah! It has been an exhausting couple of weeks.
Thanksgiving was last month, so I figure I should say a little something about that! Thanksgiving Eve Branden and I went to a movie, Catching Fire. We hadn't gone out to a movie since before Makayla was born so it was kind of a big deal! On Thanksgiving we spent the day at Paul and Laura's house, where we ate dinner, and then we went home and relaxed for a while. Laura and I then went BLACK FRIDAY (or should I say thursday...since it was the night of thanksgiving) shopping! We went to our Walmart here in town. It was my first black friday experience and I am actually quite impressed! It was very well organized and we were both able to get the things that we went for. I ended up returning what I had bought (a laptop computer) because Branden agreed to let me use his Macbook for all my photoshop/silhouette projects.
Speaking of Branden, he is doing really well at work. His sergeant motivates his crew by creating a stat sheet of everyone's stops, arrests, drugs, etc. And Branden, being the competitive guy that he is, is really motivated by this. He came out number one last month and probably will this month as well. He was also given an award at his work's Christmas party for the most crashes investigated. Considering he only had 9 months, compared to everyone else's 12 months, that is pretty dang cool that he got the award. I am very proud of him! He is such a hard worker and I am extremely grateful for him.
As for me, I am still orienting in the ER. I haven't had the greatest luck with my orientation. Every time I've worked I haven't had anything big come in. Good for people, bad for my learning. I was supposed to be off orientation this week, but I talked with my boss last week and told her I am not ready to be on my own. I don't want to put my license at risk and I want to feel more comfortable.. We'll see how that goes! Also, I have changed my med/surg schedule to work full time nights. No more of that swinging back and forth from days to nights business. Ugh...wish me luck!
All in all it's been a hectic month, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! Until next time!
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