bike riding

We finally got a baby bike seat for President's Day weekend. When she manages to stay awake, Iris loves bike riding and even seems to like her frog helmet. It is kind of difficult to ride with her since we have to carry her oxygen with us. The oxygen tank comes with only a very short strap so it's difficult to wear (see Evan modeling below).

Iris's first bike ride

Evan, Iris, and the oxygen

She has been tearing off her oxygen recently, so we've done some unexpected trials off oxygen. This happened on both Sunday and Monday.

Iris at the park (no oxygen!)

Grandma is still in town -- amazingly -- although she is beginning to talk seriously about going home. This means that we'll begin suffering again from our lack of home organization systems; although I'm happy to report that we've finally figured out a sustainable laundry system.

I have spent a lot of time on the phone getting Iris ready for daycare and making sure everything is in place for our upcoming trip to Texas (at the end of March). We will get a portable oxygen concentrator for Iris that we can take on the plane with us. Evan and I are pretty disappointed that she is still on oxygen and have feared that the doctors were wrong about her ever getting off oxygen. We have seen slight improvement in her saturation levels over time -- where she would once drop quickly on room air, she now overs at around 89-90. This level is high enough for the cardiology team but the pulmonary team wants her to be higher, and thus we continue with the oxygen.

ten months old

I've been looking at photos and videos of Iris over the last ten months. She's growing so well. She's particularly growing well now that she's off digoxin. Her ten month present to me last night was to take 4 oz from a bottle. However, her Valentine's Day present to me was to get a nasty stomach bug and vomit her insides out this morning. She's doing fine, but definitely under the weather for her first Valentine's Day. 

Iris on February 11 -- ten months down

For her first Galentine's Day, Jill and Dara came to visit. The girls had fun together but are not sure how to touch each other without grabbing and pulling.

Dara & Iris

if you're happy

sick

I haven't posted in a while for several reasons. Most recently, the whole house has been sick. Evan brought back a nasty cold from his trip to Baton Rouge and he spent most of the previous week home from work. Iris and I got sick over the weekend and then my mom finally succumbed a day or two ago.

The weekend was pretty rough. Iris noticeably did not feel well and then started coughing loudly right around bed time on Saturday. I called the pulmonary clinic and (after many missed phone calls) we finally got a prescription for a single dose of steroids that we would give to Iris in an attempt to keep her out of the hospital. Evan fulfilled his fatherly duty and drove to the 24-hour pharmacy at 11:40pm to pick it up only to find that the steroid was in fact a pill that we had to crush and somehow get Iris to take. We finally were able to get her to take it at 2am with the help of a medicine dropper and a bottle.

She had been sleeping with us on the steroid night. The night before I mostly held her in the recliner next to her crib. She was so congested that we propped up her crib and had to suck her snot out repeatedly.

After giving her the steroid we had a crazy baby on our hands for 36 hours. She barely ate, wouldn't sleep, and needed constant attention. Meanwhile, I was spewing a river out of my nose, and was having trouble making enough milk due to lack of sleep and general sickness.

The good news is that we are all finally on the mend. Iris woke up rosy-cheeked on Wednesday morning and has been her old self, with the exception of some very strong desire not to be force fed baby food.

Another reason I haven't posted anything substantial for a while is that Iris has been driving me crazy by biting me while nursing. She has mostly stopped this habit, thankfully, but it has heightened my desire to wean her, which makes me want her to take a full bottle even more. She has gotten up to taking about 1 oz from a bottle, but not more. She also doesn't know what to do with a straw at this point and she only kind of knows how to drink out of a cup. All a work in progress.