1st Pro Sporting Event

Jessica got some great free seats and we took Maddie to see the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning play the Calgary Flames at the St. Pete Times Forum.

We didn't think we'd stay much past the first period and Maddie was apprehensive about all the noise at first, but she never cried and soon she was dancing on the seats. We ended up staying the entire game, which was one of the most high scoring in years, though the Lightning lost 9 to 6.

Pee Pee in the Potty

Maddie went pee pee in the potty today! YAY for Maddie. It was very exciting! Afterwards, she got a treat and we danced around the living room singing "Maddie went pee pee in the potty, Maddie went pee pee in the potty." She was so proud of herself. It was so cute!

Maddie's First Olympics

Happy Olympics Day!

Maybe Maddie will be an athlete at the 2024 or 2028 games ? Wow that seems far away!

Swimming

We took Maddie next door to swim and she had a lot of fun. From a water safety perspective, Maddie unfortunately has no fear and just plunges right into deep water, with or without her floaties . She accidently fell into the pool twice after bumping into a patio column (she was fine both times).

On the positive side, Maddie is making great progress in holding her breath when she goes underwater and she can float around wearing her floaties (aka water wings) without assistance. She made great progress in actually moving around too, spinning around and paddling toward something she wants.

18 Month Check Up

Maddie had her 18 month check up today and the doctor told us that we have a perfect little girl! Awwww..makes her parents heart melt!

She was 24% in weight!! YAY, moving up in the charts! AND she was 92% in height. Tall and thin, what most women want to be!

Her doc was very pleased with everything about Maddie. She sd Maddie's ability to string words together is more of a 2 year old milestone. We always knew she is above the curve.
Also, Maddie got her first potty! We are just introducing her to it now. She asked to sit on it a couple of times yesterday. Mostly she likes to carry it around the house! hehehe

Home :)

We were discharged this morning from the hospital and Maddie is doing great! She was running around the unit this morning, flashing her smiles and being cute as ever.

Last night was rough in the hospital, they had attached a heartrate monitor onto her toe and she did not like it at all! She woke up at 12:40 and chased the cord around her crib until the nurse came in after 3 and offered to take it off. They were monitoring her heartrate, because an elevated heartrate means an elevated fever. She did have to come in a few more times to take Maddie's temperature, but I didn't care as long as she was sleeping. Two nights in a row for me is dreadful!! (Brad was sleeping peacefully at home in our bed!) Maddie finally fell asleep around 3 and didn't wake up until 6 to which she fell back asleep on me for 30 mins or so.

The doctor gave us the same diagnosis and told us that there really isn't anything we can do. She did give me a prescription for Diazepam (SP?) just in case she has a seizure again lasting more than 3 minutes. (I was told by the doctor that her seizure only lasted 2 minutes, but felt like a lot longer to me!!) We are just going to have to be more aggressive when treating her fevers and hope that nothing like this happens again!

Maddie has been sleeping ever since we got home, going on 4 hours! Thanks for all of the people that have been keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. We really appreaciate the support!

Worst Day Ever

Well I am writing this from Maddie's hospital room, listening to her cry because she wants to be home without IVs and cords attached to her. Hopefully we can go home in the morning.

So, what happened was that Maddie started running a fever last night and was up every two hours all night long. This morning she woke up with no fever, to which Brad and I were very happy that she was feeling better. However, that didn't last long and it started to climb. I decided to take her to the doctor since I just didn't know what was going on with her and better safe than sorry, right? Once we got to the doctor, Maddie's fever was already 102. The doctor examed her and decided that it was just a viral infection, but wanted to test for strep, just in case. While I was sitting in the room waiting for the results, Maddie started to seize. I ran out of the room with a seizing baby, yelling for help. Both the doctor and nurse came to my aid. It was just awful, watching my sweet little baby convulse and turn blue. It was probably the scariest thing that I have been thru since becoming a mom. I have been traumatized by seeing her in that condition, my little baby so full of life lying on the table listless and foaming at the mouth. I just couldn't do anything to help her, just rub her legs telling her that she was going to be okay. It makes you feel like a failure as a mom when you can't help your little one.

Nobody knows how high her fever got, but after tylenol suppositories and an hour later her fever was 102, again. Her fever never came back today, but you never know when it will rise again. They call these seizures, febrile seizures and only can occur when there is a sudden spike or fall of a fever. We have to just try to keep her medicated when she has a fever. It will probably happen again, there just isn't a way to tell when it is about to happen. There also isn't anything we can do, just try to keep her safe so she doesn't hit her head or fall.

I really thought that I was going to lose my baby today, so those who have kids please please please hold them close because you will never know when they will slip thru your fingers. Brad and I are so grateful that we still have Maddie to hold, she is such a source of joy for us!

Amsterdam

So, we took Maddie to Amsterdam for a week since Brad had a business meeting to attend there and it was quite an experience.

On the way there Maddie slept for a total of about 1 hour which left Brad and myself in an awful place without sleep. It was stressful keeping her quiet while we watched everybody around us sleep. Right before we were about to land, Maddie threw up in her car seat which left us with a baby and a car seat soaked with spoiled milk! It was great fun. Once we landed we were able to change Maddie's clothes and put a blanket down on the car seat to prevent re-soiling of her new outfit. With everything in tow we made it to our apartment around 9am, but couldn't check in until 2pm. UGH! So, we left our stuff under the stairwell at the apartment and hit the city. Maddie slept so peaceful in her stroller, most of the day. Somehow, Brad and I managed to stumble around the city for the next 4+ hours without completely losing our minds. It's strange because funny things start happening after you only have a hour of sleep. As soon as we were able to get into the apartment, Brad let me take the first hour of sleep minus the times that Maddie would hit me in the head trying to wake me up. He took the next hour. Enough to give us strength to finish the day. We went back out for groceries and dinner. That night Maddie woke up screaming bloody murder and refused to go back to sleep without sleeping on me. We were thinking that she was going thru some separation anxiety and probably just scared that she was in an unfamiliar place. This happened every night for the first few nights and then all of the sudden, she slept alone all night!! :)

The days were great, she would sleep in her stroller as we pushed her thru the streets of Amsterdam or a museum. We tried to give her at least one nap a day in her "cot" which also allowed me to get some rest and Brad time to answer work emails. Maddie seemed to really blossom while we were away. She started to become more vocal and Brad thinks more mature. She is a very sweet little girl who just rolled with the new experiences.

On the way back she was a champ on the first flight. We think it had everything to do with the fact that we checked her car seat and just put a harness on her to connect her to the seat belt. The second flight we weren't so lucky. She didn't have her own seat and just got over tired. Brad and I were so wiped that we kept falling asleep with Maddie climbing all over us. She did finally fall asleep, but it was during landing! She slept all the way thru the airport and home in the taxi, only to wake up when I was putting her in the house. She has been sleeping like a champ ever since.

I would say that it was a difficult vacation, but we had a really good time. AND it was FABULOUS spending so much time with our little family, that I treasure so much!

International Traveler

I have an upcoming business meeting in Amsterdam so I am extending the visit so we all can go and take a few days to sightsee. Maddie will soon be an international traveler! We know it is going to be a challenge to fly trans-Atlantic with a baby, but I guess we like an adventure.

I won’t post the dates here for security reasons, but we’d love to hear any advice on what to do in the city, fun day trips, or just advice on traveling with a baby!

In other news, things have been crazy busy, particularly with work, and now preparing for the upcoming trip. It’s 9pm and I’m blogging while checking my work e-mail.... like I’ve been doing most days for the past couple weeks (but without having the time to blog)!