A Reedy Slideshow

Here is a 3-4 minute slideshow.  It's pretty simple to do; thanks smilebox.

Another Hearing Test

Liesl Looney, PhD.  Thank God for people like her.  I never really knew how much I hoped I would never have to meet her.

I really wish I never had to meet her; but, given the circumstances, I'm certainly very grateful for her to have entered our lives.

Liesl is Ryan's audiologist.  Scratch that.  She's our audiologist.  You see, in pediatric audiology the patient may be the child, but from experience, I can tell you with confidence that the patient is really multi-faceted:  the child, the parents, the siblings, and anyone who interacts with Ryan on a routine basis.  Liesl says that she loves peds-- she loves changing lives.  Literally.  Watching a child progress from some degree of hearing loss to being able to hear the world and communicate  without missing a beat never gets old.  Her words. What she doesn't say much about are the parents-- the ones who are so crazy that go to great lengths to research the best devices to aid in their child's hearing loss and are very aggressive with their child's treatment regimen.  Then there are other crazy parents on the other end of the pendulum that don't show up for appointments or ones that she has to worry about.

We met with Liesl again yesterday.  Although we have only met with her once before, she has been very interactive in communication via the phone and email.  When I have crazy parent questions, she always answers and always gives us her professional informed opinion.  Yesterday, Ryan had her 7th hearing test.  It was her 2nd unsedated Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test.  It's really interesting how these tests are conducted at such a young age-- basically, while the child is sleeping (or nursing in my case) there are several electrodes connected to her forehead and behind her ear.  There is another wire they put inside her ear and at which point they start stimulating her with her different pitches and frequencies.  Her brain is supposed to respond to these noises-- trust me, they are loud.  But, sadly, and with no surprise, there's no change this time around.  There may be 'something' as Liesl would say, here and there-- 'little blips' per se, but overall nothing.  Still the same diagnosis-- bilateral profound hearing loss. She also retested her ear drums and they weren't vibrating as well as the previous visit-- hopefully due to the cold that Ryan has been fighting (thank you daycare).  Nonetheless, something she'll continue to monitor.

On an up note, Ryan got molds of her ears taken yesterday.  The week of Thanksgiving, she'll get her pink glittered hearing aids (they didn't come in teal, otherwise we would have gone with those).  Most likely these will provide little to no stimulation for her, so says Liesl, but even if they provide a little stimulation this is helpful for her.  Additionally, these are good training wheels for her to get used to having on her ears.  The earlier she can have something to get used to, the better the implants will be for her to adjust to when she does get them.

After her hearing aids, Ryan has her MRI and CT scan on December 5th.  They will obviously have to give her general anesthesia to sedate her so that she lays very still during the scans.  They'll also most likely repeat another ABR (sedated this time) since she'll be completely out.  The next appointment will be with her surgeon on December 7th.  More to come as those dates approach.

Some pics...

                                     

                                               Two electrodes on her forehead.  

Another electrode on her ear.
She was getting her very first ear mold
so her hearing aids fit well.

The Cowboy & The Diva

Halloween was a success!  Bryce learned the simple lesson of 'cause and effect'.  In other words, 'Trick-or-Treat' means hold out your pumpkin and get a piece of candy.  He loved it.

Both Bryce and Ryan also made a trip up to work with me.  For the most part, I have not really brought my kids to work-- except when they were both infants, both times when I was on maternity leave.  I brought them around my floor around 4:30pm, when most parents had already left for the day to get home to their kids, but those who got to see them got some good entertainment.  Bryce was in his little cowboy costume, and I just put Ryan in a little outfit she had gotten as a gift.  

Here are some pics:

Oh yah, there's candy in there.

            

        Where's the candy?

Is there candy in there?

Family pic.  This is the best we got.

                              

                                           Trick-or-treating with daddy

Hanging out with mommy!

                         

The Great Indoors

Well, yes, we survived hurricane Sandy.  We were very fortunate that Monday and Tuesday were more (or less) of a vacation for us.  Besides being unable to sleep Monday night due to the branches hitting our house and the seemingly never ending howling winds, it was a nice two days of rest and relaxation-- well as much as you can get with a two year old and a 3-month old.  
It was nice being able to spend time with the kids and just hang out.  I did use my time wisely by cleaning all of Bryce's toys, and getting the laundry completed (in the even of power loss we wanted to have clean clothes)-- but the other 80% of the time was spent mainly watching TV or reading....well, mostly watching TV.  

Bryce learned how to use headphones to watch Sesame Street:

That was pretty funny watching him be entranced with Sesame Street on our headphones.

Ryan got to wear her pumpkin shirt and headband for the last time!!!  Then we worked on our tummy time until she was all pooped out.

Alert and up....getting a little tuckered out...

And, we're out...

Living a Double Life

I would just like to pontificate a bit today on the in's and out's of living a double life.  Some might refer to this as the norm in the corporate world of a working mom, but nonetheless, I must point this interesting subject out. 

At work, formality and corporate lingo rules the day.  It's all about FILO (First In Last Out), the professionalism displayed in your clothes and your emotional intelligence, and whether you had anything intelligent to say during a meeting.  At home, it's about avoiding spit up, a temper tantrum (that's Bryce's), and a kitchen that's exploding with bottles, sippy cups, and toys.  In a way, in my world the pendulum swings from one end of corporate clothes and formality to the other with multiple trips to Toys R' Us for diapers, diaper genie refills, and the bottomless pitt of wipes.

Just sharing some thoughts...that's all.

The Pumpkin Patch (& More)

Well, we made it.  To the pumpkin patch that is.  I hesitate to write more than just that statement, because really, I think that everyone got the memo. For real people, did you all have to show up at 5pm on Saturday?  
There's the issue of parking, then there is the issue of 'free doesn't really mean free', and finally, there's the issue of too many people.  Let's address each individually:

1. Parking-- Apparently, at this pumpkin patch, the motto must be, park where you want and hope you don't get a car ding.  There are really no 'spaces' per se, more like open grassy areas where you just wedge your car.
2. 'Free'-- did you know you can go to a Pumpkin Patch for free?  But, if you want to go on a hayride, play on a playground, or pet the animals, you must pay.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that big of a deal to do shell out a few bucks here and there, but it's more of the point of the matter.  Just a tad annoying.  So needless to say, we didn't do any of that-- not that I minded though-- it was a kid zoo there, so I had no problem avoiding all the germs and runny noses that were awaiting Bryce on that playground.
3. People-- too many.  Way too many.  Kinda felt like China.  Seriously.

We got a few 'free' pics:

This is about as good of a pic as we could get

This is Sean trying to get Bryce to smile.

This was the reward-- dinner at our favorite diner.

Working on eating his 'tree'.

And, in other news, we have a super sweet boy.  This was pretty funny the other day.  He was checking on Ryan for me.  Literally.  And Ryan just loved looking at her big brother.

This is what happened the other morning when I walked in.

Pretty sweet.

First Week at Work Recap

Well, I survived.  More importantly, Sean, Bryce & Ryan survived as well.  Everyone did so well this week.

Here's what is happening in the mornings:

• Ryan wakes up periodically at 2am, 3am, and/or 4am.  She is not fully awake at these times and she's not hungry, but she tends to just wake up. So, like a horrible mother, I let her sleep next to me for those last hours, I mean, I need my sleep...  She'll typically doze back off with the help of a binky and being close to me-- except for Thursday.  Ryan and I were both awake at 3am that day-- guess who got to go back to sleep around 7am?
• 5:15-5:20am-- I wake up to express milk while watching the news.  For those that are familiar, I typically pump about 10-11oz at this time-- totally a crazy amount.  Almost as much a can of coke.
• 5:40am-- finish getting Ryan's bottles together for the day
• 5:45am-- Ryan has usually woken Sean up by this point and is ready for her first bottle.  Sean feeds her.
• 5:45am--shower and start getting ready for the day (hair/makeup)
• 6am-- "Daddy, I'm poopy" is heard from Bryce's room repeatedly for about 10 minutes until we go in and get him.  It's funny because Bryce hasn't really gotten the concept of getting out of bed himself yet
• 6:05-6:50am-- chaos ensues.  Getting Ryan ready (easy) and getting Bryce ready (not so easy these days).  Grab Bryce's lunch, sippy cups, Ryan's bottles, and binky and pack the car.  
• 6:50am- I finish getting dressed and try on a few different shoes with the outfit I've chosen-- this takes at least 5-10 minutes, and I typically go with the first pair I put on.  (Thank goodness I'm not really a shoe princess so this helps to minimize mirror time).
• 7-7:05am--  Sean and I load the car with babies.  I grab pump bag, phone, laptop.  Sean and I typically both have to go back inside the house to get something we forgot.  
• 7:10am-- The Reedy family arrives at daycare (yes Reedy family, Sean and I have to both go since we are down to one car these days-- that's another story for another day.)
• 7:10-7:20am-- get Bryce to sit in a little seat at the little table and eat his breakfast.  Get Ryan to the infant room, put her bottles in the fridge and get her set up either in her crib or in the swing or on the boppy.
• 7:20am-- breathe a sigh of relief and Sean drives me to work
• 7:40am-- Turning my computer on at my desk.  Thank goodness.

Just like our mornings, our evenings are just as crazy (if not more so, just due to the dinner/bath/bedtime structure).  

As for work, I really enjoy my job.  It's definitely fast paced and high stress, but I have a lot of fun in pharma marketing, and I definitely feel the need for this intellectual stimulation.  I know not everyone subscribes to this line of thinking, but I feel like I am a better mom with me working.  It makes me cherish my time with my babies when I have them, and it makes me want to continue to pursue my career to provide everything they want and need.  And, even more important for me these days-- it gets my head out of the 'maybe she'll hear me today' thinking for Ryan. Looking forward to more early mornings, long days, and weary weeks.  Thank goodness for caffeine.

Mommy and Me

Spending time together is the favorite part of our day. Ryan is enjoying daycare and her teachers love her. But the best part is watching how she reacts to everyone she knows.

Tummy Time

Ryan was happily working on her tummy technique this week. She's learning to smile-- so much fun!

Haircut

Q: Who didn't want Bryce to get a haircut?
A: Sean and Me. Which means everyone else 'suggested' he get one.

I guess it was a little unruly.
Here's the new look!!

Note, a cookie was his reward for doing so well!!!