Celebrations and Nervous Moments...

Maura has slept for six hours straight for the past two nights!! Woo Hoo!! Last night, we moved her Pack-n-Play into the hallway (away from the side of my bed), so I slept, too!! Woo Hoo! I can't tell you how much better I feel today!

Dh has been giving her a formula bottle at 9:00 every night, and then I put her in bed. She goes right to sleep with her little nature sound machine (love that!).

I pray that this is a pattern starting!

So now I need to figure out how to get her to sleep for more than 30 minutes to an hour during the day. These little cat naps are doing her no good. She doesn't get very deep sleep, so then she's super cranky when she's awake.

I'm going to take Jen's lead here. I've ordered two books, The No-Cry Sleep Solution and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. They should arrive by the end of the week, so hopefully we'll have a plan in place soon. She's a good sleeper, just a disorganized one!

Yesterday, Maura went in for an ultrasound. During my pregnancy they noticed on my big u/s that her kidneys appeared a little large. So we followed up yesterday with an ultrasound of her own. She was so good. She laid still, sucking on my finger for almost the entire thing. When we unfastened her diaper so that they could see the bladder she lost it. She'd had enough, and the gel was cold by that point! So she let them know what she thought!

Anyway, her left kidney is still a bit on the large side. Hydronephrosis, it's called. Her right kidney, bladder, and ureters all look normal, so that's a good sign. Apparently, this is pretty common in newborns, and most of them grow out of it by their first birthday. So we have to go in for ultrasounds to monitor her kidney over the next several months.

In my head I knew all of this, I know all of this. But going through it with your daughter is an awful experience. I was fine, we got ready to go early for our appointment. I even had time to have a quick bowl of Cheerio's! I was doing great! We walked into the outpatient center and registered, and suddenly while we were waiting there my stomach starting doing flips. I felt terrible! My hands became clammy--I just wanted to take my daughter and run!!

And then to find out that things are not perfect, well, that sent me into another panic.

And this is nothing in the big scheme of things! This is most likely just something that we have to watch. And worst, she may have to be put on a daily antibiotic to prevent infection. We are very lucky that she is a very healthy little girl.

I couldn't imagine what it would be like if this were more serious. I don't know if I could handle it. It all snuck up on me in that waiting room, and the feeling was overwhelming.

My heart, prayers, and admiration go out to all of those parents who have children with serious medical issues. You are strong and courageous. God bless you and your little ones.