HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!

The Cast

Here is Alexandra in her spica cast. This is the second cast. The first one had to be replaced because her hip wasn't exactly in the right position. This one is bulkier than the first because the doctor thought he would leave more room for me to be able to reach down and wash her chest area. It was very kind of him however, that also means the cast sticks out more and she is more dificult to handle. But a clean baby is also important. I can basically reach all her baby parts from her waist up (as well as her diaper area of course). I cannot get hardly a finger down to her legs though. So far the cast has not been as bad as I expected. We have already discovered a "new normal." I have gotten down diapering her which is not that big of a deal. She has had no poop blowouts (the poop fairy has been good to us). She is happy and sleeps very well, just like she did before. She already seems unphased by it. I was able to take her out to lunch with us last week as well as to the library and even to church. I am feeling good about life since I can take her out. She fits in our stroller very well. I think I will get through this and still be sane! Hooray!

Here is her first cast. Her legs were much straighter. She was easier to hold but less room in the chest area to wash her.

Here is just a cute picture of her holding her favorite hippo that Auntie Susi took.

Surgery is a Success!

Yesterday, Alexandra had her closed reduction surgery on her right hip. This consisted of making an incision and snipping her groin muscle. Then positioning the femur in the socket and putting her in a cast for the next 6-12 weeks. We went to the hospital at 6am and she was in surgery by 7am (it took about two hours). Around 9am, I was feeling peckish since I hadn't eaten since 5am. So I headed down to the cafeteria. Of course, seconds after I left, the doctor came in to say that Alex was in the recovery room and that the surgery went well. She was screaming bloody murder while I was munching a lovely breakfast sandwich. Charles tried my cell phone multiple times but I guess I had no reception. Anyway, I returned to the waiting room after 10-15 minutes and found the doctor and Charles in the consultation room. The doctor hurried me into recovery where Alex was inconsolable. The nurses were frantically trying to give her a bottle of water and singing to her. Her little face was completely red and there was no denying that she was MAD. I tried everything (but I am happy to report, remained calm) but nothing worked. The nurse finally asked if I just wanted to give her some morphine. I responded in the affirmative. The morphine kicked in quickly and Alex settled down to just staring at me or the ceiling. Much better. Can we take some of that home?

The doctor said he was very pleased with the way the surgery went. He felt she has a 95% chance that this will work. I was very pleased to hear that because I have been preparing myself for the worst if it doesn't work (open hip surgery and more time in the cast). However, after her CAT scan, he informed us that he was not pleased with the position that her hip was in. So he has made us an appointment to re-cast her on Tuesday. She will not have surgery again but she will still have to be put under anesthesia.

Her cast definitely makes things awkward. You would think I had never held a baby before. I wasn't sure what to do. Breastfeeding takes some serious bicep muscle, twisting and maneuvering.



She seemed to be in a lot of pain and discomfort while we were in the hospital. However, we got her home and immediately put her down for a nap and afterward she seemed to be doing much better. Upon seeing her beloved sisters, she gave us the smiles we had been lacking all day. After a second nap and more pain meds, she really seemed to be back to her old self. I put her in her swing and she was as happy as can be for about an hour. Of course, getting her in her swing was quite a trick. I was almost afraid the thing would fall over due to the weight. I had to pile up blanket after blanket so that she could rest hovering over it since her legs make it so she can't fit in it. If anyone knocked her she would have been on the floor like a rock. But I will do whatever it takes to bring her some measure of happiness.

Charles and I were both worried and preparing for a miserable night. However, we were pleasantly surprised. She slept most of the night and only woke up happy, twice. We were happy that she woke up so that we could change her. However, I am not sure if that will be necessary. We'll have to see. This morning she was cooing and giggling and watching her sisters.

Diapering her is probably the hardest part of the whole thing but even that I am getting the hang of already. We have to use adult incontinence pads stuck to a size one diaper at night or a maxi pad stuck to the diaper during the day. You shove those up in the hole of the cast. Then you wrap a size five diaper around it and the cast. I have had to "petal" the cast with waterproof tape to stop it from getting soiled and thus stinking. I also have to line her potty area with moleskin and keep everything as dry as possible. That means using a hair dryer set on cool to air it out as much as possible. I did this step this morning and she seemed to think it was pretty funny.

Poop however is the thing that scares me the most. An online friend put it this way on her blog:


"As I've forewarned in the past, poop-talk, poop-anticipation, poop-theories and poop-fears are all a common part of the early Mothering process. However, since the dawn of the Spica Cast it is certainly something that brings much greater uncertainty and fear than ever before. The whole poop schedule is watched significantly more closely and the longer between movements, the greater the anticipation and fear of what may lie ahead."

The deed is done, now "the fear of the clean up. The questioning of how bad it would be. The damage? The likelihood of cast contamination seems inevitable. We were certain we were to be haunted by the poop stink for the remaining weeks in this cast.

Well, it seems the angels were watching down on us or something miraculous of sorts. There's no denying that this movement arrived in great style and volume, but incredibly as far as we can tell, thus far - no contamination!!!

This is cause for dancing in the streets as far as I'm concerned. Hooray for the poop fairy for watching over us. Here's hoping things become a tad more regular and significantly more solid in the days to come."

We were visited by the poop fairy with our first poop this morning. Fortunately, they were little nuggets with very easy clean-up. (My apologies go out to those with sensitive stomachs for all the poop talk.)

As sad as it is that she has to go under anesthesia again on Tuesday, I am kind of glad because I feel like I can experiment on this first cast and put it through a good test-run to get the hang of everything. Then I will be all the more prepared when it comes to the more permanent one.

Baby Girls

Alexandra is now six months old and I was thinking that I haven't done any picture comparisons of the girls. So here they all are around six months old. See what you think...

Abby six months old in France

Abby six months old



Sammy six months old

Alexandra six months old

Alexandra six months old

Sammy at six months

Here is Alex at 5 months really but close enough

Alex 5 (almost 6) months old

This is Abby at 9 months in the same swing. I was trying to find pictures of all of them in the swing but I only have video of Sammy in it and no pictures. I am too lazy to download video. Oh well...

Abby 9 mos.

Abby at six months on the train in France

Sammy six months old in Spain

Abby six months old in the cemetary at Normandy, France.

Sammy six months old in Gibraltar



So there you have it, those are my little girls. Two of them seem so grown up now but one of them is still my little baby. I am so glad to have three adorable little girls!

Bring on the Flowers

A friend of mine showed me how to make cute hair clips and head bands with ribbon and fake flowers. So yesterday, I set my mind to the task and here are the results:

This headband's flower is made pulling the wire from the ribbon and thus gathering the ribbon and then sewing it to keep it all together to make a beautiful delicate flower.

I glued the flower on this clip but first I took the flower apart and sewed a button in the center.

I did the same with this flower except I put it on a headband.


And here is another button-center flower.

This flower I took apart and glued the layers together and put a rhinestone in the middle of each.

Here is another ribbon flower in green.

I also bought some peony flowers that looked really cute on the headband.

I couldn't leave out my baby in her cute rabbit ears.

Happy "Evan Lysacek Day"

Well, today in Naperville it is "Evan Lysacek Day." Evan Lysacek is the American, Olympic gold medal winner for men's figure skating from this year's olympics. Apparently, he is from Naperville. So all of Naperville has become obsessed with the boy including our own little Abby. Evan attended Abby's elementary school when he was young. He is making an appearance there today in front of all the students. He will talk about his favorite book and winning the gold medal.

Abby couldn't be more excited. Yesterday, she was sitting on the toilet singing her heart out with a song she made up about Evan Lysacek. She has been so excited for weeks now about him. We have watched his gold medal skate several times on the internet.

Unfortunately, they have banned parents from coming to the assembly to see Evan because there isn't enough room. I wish I could go see him too. I could go after school where the mayor is presenting him with a key to the city but Abby and Sammy have an Easter egg hunt. Oh well...

Anyway, today I have gotten two calls from the school nurse saying that Abby is complaining that she doesn't feel well. The nurse checked her for a fever and she has none. Her throat looks fine too. She says she has been coughing. She complained of this yesterday as well so we kept her home in the morning so she could be well enough to see Evan Lysacek today. When I asked her on the phone what she wanted me to do, she said she didn't know because she wanted to see Evan Lysacek. But then she called back again saying she was not feeling well but still did not want to come home. The nurse again confirmed that she seemed fine and had no fever. So she is going to tough it out, all in the name of seeing Mr. Evan Lysacek. What a sacrifice! Maybe she is just nervous...

Below is an article about Evan Lysacek making an appearance at the high school near our house:


Naperville Welcomes Home Golden Boy Evan Lysacek


NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) -- Naperville's Golden Boy is celebrating a homecoming. It's "Evan Lysacek Day" in Naperville.

Long before his glory days, he was a student at Nequa Valley High School. Six years after graduating, he returned Friday to receive a "Distinguished Alumni Award."

As CBS 2's Susan Carlson reports, it wasn't quite a gold medal, but you wouldn't know it from the reaction of students.

Lysacek returned to his alma mater with a new rock star status. In the gym at Nequa Valley High School, the gold medal winner was greeted with thunderous applause and students in awe.

"This is crazy," said student Matt Rabe. "It's like before a big football game. I love it!"

"I mean, Evan Lysacek, he's a gold medal winner!" said student Stacey Franco. "He went to our school. We just can't believe it!"

Lysacek told the students to go after their dreams, the type of encouragement he said he was grateful to get from his teachers when he was a student there.

"It's such an honor to be back here," said Lysacek. "It definitely takes me back to when I was leading my double life, trying to be a normal student as much as I could, and train as an elite athlete. This is a day to celebrate, but it's also a day to say thank you to those who have backed me in this community."

The festivities gave Lysacek a little break from training for the "Stars on Ice" show that he's currently preparing for, and his "Dancing with the Stars" partner was with him on stage.

The private pep rally was just the beginning in a series of homecoming honors.

"Isn't he a great looking guy? And he still loves Naperville," said Naperville Mayor George Pradel. He unveiled a street sign, renaming a parkway after the golden boy.

Lysacek will also be presented with a key to the city after another rally later this afternoon.

"First, I'm going to find out exactly what it unlocks because I'm not sure," Lysacek said. "A big safe, maybe. That's what I'm guessing."

No Luck

Well, four weeks have passed and the harness has done little to nothing so we are on to the next step. Alexandra will most likely have surgery in April and then an almost full body cast for 12 weeks (three months)! The cast goes on both legs from her ankles up to the nipple line on her chest. I am still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing....

Here are some pictures from the past month or so.

Here is little Alexandra, harness-free for the month of March!

After the first day or two, the harness did not seem to phase her. She was as happy as can be.

Sammy was "Star of the Day" not long ago and I think it was the greatest day of her life! She wore her crown all day.

We made a poster of pictures of Sammy for her special day.

Sammy made Abraham Lincoln at preschool. I asked her who Abraham Lincoln was and what he did. She replied, "that he put papers in his hat."

Abby and Sammy were being especially good friends one day and wanted me to take their picture.

Abby has become quite the writer and reader. She writes letters to each of us several times a week. When we went into her school's open house, her teacher even showed us a letter Abby wrote to her during her free time at school. She always begins her letters, "I love you. You are the best..." The above is actually one of the shorter letters she has written. It says, "Dear Family, I love you family. You are the best. Mrs. Smith (her teacher at school) teaches me a lot. And she sometimes puts an excellent (on her papers). Love Abby"

Alex started on solids this past month and can't seem to get enough. She is already eating three meals a day and loving everything.

For Valentine's Day, Abby and Sammy gave Daddy a heart attack on his office door. They were very sneaky putting it up so he wouldn't hear them. He was so surprised. We also made heart sugar cookies with lots of frosting and sprinkles to give him as well. Grandma was also here for a visit over Valentine's day and the girls loved spending time with her having puppet shows and doing flannel board stories.


Thanks for reading!