Friday, Friday, Friday!!!

Whew! I survived week one. Monday and Tuesday were okay, but the rest of the week I was up between 4:00am and 4:30am to begin my day. Yes, I know, I'm a BIG baby! It will get better, but the past 3 months have made me very spoiled. I miss my little girls. I miss the smiles, giggles, and the fun we had. I don't miss the tears, whining, and attitude.

It's nice working again. However, I miss knowing what I'm talking about. Management is management, but the terms are different from one industry to the next. So for me, min/max is Build To, POS is something totally different (I forgot what it is now), but VOCs are still VOCs... whew! Sometimes I get very angry about the situation I've been put in due to the purchase of MAB, but I realize it's something that can't be taken personally and I just have to make the best of the situation I'm in. I feel as though I've wasted almost 15 years of my professional life.

Bailey saw her eye surgeon earlier in the week and she said everything looks great! She wants to see Bailey again in about 6 weeks. That was excellent news! We're gradually increasing her tube feeds in hopes that she'll continue to gain weight. Hopefully I can get her coordinator for our Early Intervention program to call me in the next few years (sarcasm) to approve her Speech Therapy. I find it hard to accept that someone that is so important in your childs development can make a comment about how she hasn't checked her mailbox in several weeks, or how it takes numerous phone calls just to get one simple return call. I guess some people are employed because the employer needs a warm body to fill a slot.

Trish

Work. Day Four

I'm tired.

Work. Day One.

Today was an earlier than usual start. I was up at 5:00am and the girls and I left the house around 6:00am for the start of my first day at work. Things went very well. I had training in Tampa from 8:00am until around 1:30pm, then I went to one of their locations in Lakeland and met with the person that will be training me for the next 8 weeks. I already have a store, but it's important for me to have a complete understanding of my job description before I take on the task of managing a store.

Bailey had a follow-up appointment with her pediatrician today. He said she is looking good and he discontinued her antibiotics that she's been taking for her bladder infection. Her x-ray results were finally available and everything looks good, which is excellent news! He also scheduled her hearing test and that will be on the 1st of April.

Aubrey is doing okay. She has regressed in the potty training department. We were rewarding her every time she used the potty and we recently decided to discontinue rewarding her because she seems to be using the potty every time she needs to. Well, since we discontinued the rewards she doesn't use the potty anymore. It's a learning experience for us all.

Keith is doing better. He still has a cough, but he seems to be able to function now. Hopefully the rest of the house will remain healthy. He spent the majority of the time in the bedroom, so the germs will hopefully be contained to that area.

Trish

We're Home!

I just realized that's the title of many posts for me. But, we're home. It has been a long day for Bailey. We left the house early this morning and arrived in St. Petersburg around 10:00am. Bailey received excellent care this morning. They, of course, were concerned because she was blue. Normal, I say. Then they couldn't find a pulse in her feet. Normal, I say. Finally, after being in recovery for several hours we were sent home. Bailey looks great. She's a bit fussy at times, but she's so strong. I know I would be in bed whining if I had the surgery she just had. I think she's just happy to be finally eating.

Keith is not doing as good as Bailey. He, once again, has the bug that's going around. It seems we continue passing this around and it's just become a vicious cycle. So, Keith has started this cycle and with many prayers I hope this will be the end for us and we won't all become ill. I especially want to keep my two little girls healthy.

Tomorrow is the Big Day

It's such a rainy night here in sunny Florida. I'm only 4 days away from returning to the role of a working mom. I can honestly say I'm looking forward to returning to work. However, I know I'll miss my two beautiful little girls. Aubrey is spending tonight with my parents and I already miss her. I can't imagine how difficult it is going to be working again and not seeing her as often as I have.

Bailey is asleep now and at 4:30am we'll be turning her food off in preparation for surgery tomorrow. We'll be arriving at All Children's Hospital around 10:30am and her surgery is scheduled for 12:30pm. The surgery is scheduled to last approximately an hour. This will be very simple and we should be home later tomorrow evening.

Mom and I took Bailey to PT this morning and then we went to play group. I really enjoy the play group we go to, but lately when I leave I feel uneasy. Today, there were only two other moms and babies there. Each mom was talking about how they love to watch their child sleep and how every time they hear a noise on the monitor they go running. It makes me remember the early days with Bailey. The days before her heart was repaired. I remembered not hearing her baby monitor, but hearing her pulse/ox alarm and running to check her, hoping that we weren't going to take another trip to the hospital. Or looking at her color and wondering if this purple color was a bad thing or if it was normal for her. Of course, I've learned from other parents of older children that her purple color will be normal for her. I guess we can say it's her favorite color.

So now, I'm looking to tomorrow and seeing my little girls eyes corrected. Then giving Aubrey a big hug when we pick her up, then doing last minute shopping for Megan's 7th Birthday! Leave it to me to wait until the last minute. I'm the queen of procrastination.

It's Wednesday Already?

This week seems to be coming to an end before my eyes. Bailey had some appointments yesterday and they went very well. She saw her pediatrician yesterday and he says she looks good. Her tests last week show that she does not have kidney reflux which is great news! It also showed that she doesn't completely empty her bladder, but it's nothing to be too concerned about. He is planning to check her hearing once we get eye surgery behind us. We're not too concerned with her hearing, but she doesn't respond to hearing her name or when we clap or make other sounds. She also had her appointment with GI and he is also happy with her progress. He said we can start trying solids, but we need to do them with her speech therapists. He said they may want to order another swallow study before starting solids, but he's leaving that decision up to them. Today, we had our first PT visit, and she is so tired now. It's only 30 minutes, but her little body gets so tired. Bailey is almost 10 months old, and they evaluated her development around 4-5 months old. Nothing surprising. We have PT again tomorrow, and on Friday she will be having eye surgery.

I have a job now. It isn't quite the position I was looking for, but it will get me in the door with a company I'm interested in working for. I'll go through their training program as a store manager and hope I can impress them enough to become a market manager.

Trish

Busy, Busy Week

This is going to be one busy week! First, let's start with this past weekend. We went to dinner Friday night, then decided to visit Keith's mom. We got home around 8:00pm and made the decision to go to Orlando and spend the weekend at Disney! So, we made hotel reservations, packed our bags, and made it to the hotel around 10:00pm.

This was Bailey's first trip to Disney and Aubrey's 3rd trip. We had so much fun. Aubrey saw Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Cinderella, Belle, Winnie the Pooh, and so many more characters. She rode lots of rides, and enjoyed all the shows.

So, the fun is over and it's back to reality. Bailey has several appointments this week. We'll have the pediatrician, GI, Down Syndrome Clinic, and 3 therapies. Friday, she'll be having her eye surgery at All Children's Hospital.

We will also be going to Megan's birthday party on Saturday... FUN FUN!

Trish