Tasteless Tuesdays

Yes, Finally, my gross story about Ella! I've been patiently waiting for Tuesday to come along. Ya'all are going to love this!

A few weeks back, I had forgotten to lock the bathroom door. Unfortunately, if you ever come to visit you will need to make sure you ask for the key to the bathroom first. Each bathroom is locked in our home b/c Ella has an obsession for toilets and garbage's. So, back to the story. I was in CJ's room and he said, "Uh, Mommy I think I hear Ella in the bathroom." I said, no way, I had thought I had remembered to lock the door. SO not the case!

I walked into the bathroom and saw the most disgusting thing...well, not the most disgusting thing Ella has ever done, but close enough. The girl was STANDING in the toilet. I kid you not...everyone I've told this story too can't believe or figure out how she got feet first into the toilet. I haven't a clue, this girl is sneaky and crafty all at the same time. I'm not sure what she thought she was going to do once she got into the toilet. So, as I was giggling but trying to be the disciplinarian at the same time, she was getting nervous b/c she couldn't get out. I grabbed by the arms and then proceeded to wash her feet off.

Good thing the toilet had just been cleaned or the situation might have been much more gross than it was!!!

Elmo Live!

We actually ventured out of the house yesterday, which is rare for us to do, as a family. Here are the photos from our evening, seeing Elmo Live on stage. Enjoy!

Miss Ella, excited and ready to go!

At the show before it started!

Ella and Daddy sitting together, before the show started.


The show started and was a bit loud for CJ. He's the uber sensitive one!


Ella wanting a better look at Elmo on stage.


Elmo came to the end of the stage, and Ella wanted him to pick her up, lol.

Elmo!

Elmo and Cookie Monster, Ella's two favorite characters!

Oscar and his girlfriend

Daddy letting Miss Ella stand on the bars in front of the stage.

The two of the goofiest kids you will ever meet!

Daddy and Ella watching Elmo again together! Amazingly enough, this is how Ella was the ENTIRE show!!

Had to take a picture of the Ladybugs!!

It just really gets my Goat!

I have some issues I will admit. I'm not perfect just like everyone else in the world. Sure, I like things done my way most of the time, who the hell doesn't? I try to be nice and treat people the way I'd like to be treated. The one thing I will NOT tolerate is someone who treats me like I'm less of a person than they are and then want me to treat them as gold in return.

Do you have anyone in your life like that?

I sure do! I'm sure we all do as a matter of fact. I won't tell you who it is, most of you that know me well know exactly who I'm talking about. It's the one person who, still, after all these years thinks they can walk into my house, ignore me and then call ME the bad person. This is the same person who could give a shit how much mud they track around my house (cause they know I'm the one cleaning it up, and apparently they're too good to take their shoes off most days), could give two shits how much they torture my children. I just don't like it. I don't like people who feel as if they walk on water. I don't need this in my life, I do my best to ignore it, but I will be damned if I'm going to feel like I owe them something, especially when it's in my own house. I will not be made to feel as if there's something wrong with me.

It's been a rough weekend, can ya tell???? A lot has gone on, and I'm hoping when I wake up tomorrow it will all be just a bad dream. A very, very bad dream.

So, Friday night Magellan actually put Ella to bed while I ran errands and took CJ to his open gym class at The Little Gym. About 10p, she woke up, screaming and was burning up. Actually her temp was 102.8 to be exact. She was not a happy lady, she only wanted to be snuggling up with me. Obviously the fever made me very nervous, given the fact she has MRSA. I did get her to lay back down, only to have her wake BACK up at midnight. So I turned on a movie in our little play area in the hallway upstairs, and I let her sit with me, eat crackers and drink some milk. She was such a happy girl, being with her momma after having taken some teething tablets and motrin.

And is it just me, or does it seem like this girl is CONSTANTLY teething? Her bottom molars just freaking came in, and now she's getting her incisors. Those are apparently the worst for her! With CJ, we didn't even know he got them until they broke thru the gums. Naturally Ella has her own way of doing things.

So, Ella was up for a good two hours. Yep, two hours. At 2am she finally was ready to go to bed, as was I. I'm sure you can all guess where Magellan was. Yup, fast asleep. Mothers have never ending jobs. She slept till 6am and I was way beyond exhausted when she woke up. Oh, I guess I forgot the part where we called her ped's after hours line b/c her high fever got us worried about her MRSA. But they said if she seems dehydrated and her fever gets above 104 to bring her in. But to call and get an appt in with her ped's office first thing Saturday morning. Thank GOD for Saturday hours. They do come in handy sometimes.

Anyway, I took Ella downstairs with me while Magellan slept in (BIG SHOCK THERE!), and she didn't leave my hip. Not for a second. I basically had to pee with her on my lap, poor thing was so warm again, she was drooling up a storm and screaming from the pain. She didn't want to eat or drink anything. I felt so bad for her, and she was so tired too. Four or five hours for a girl who normally sleeps for 12 is not good. Our appt was for 9am so all of us piled into the car and drove the 20 mins there. CJ kept us all entertained of course, and Ella just sat in her carseat, not making a noise.

The best part of the appt was seeing how much Ella weighed. The little heffer weighs 23.8lbs. And I think at her last appt which was early Feb she was 22lbs, so she's packing them on. But she's so tall she really doesn't have too much chub anymore. Anyway, they took her temp and it was at 101.2. Her ped felt strongly it wasn't a urinary track infection or from her MRSA. In fact, the only possibility we even think it is from is her incisors coming in. She tested negative for strep, didn't have an ear infection and her breathing sounded good. The dr thought maybe Roseola, but I'm pretty sure you can't get it again, and Ella already had it a year ago.

Saturday for dinner the kids and I (big shock Magellan stayed home) went to my aunt's to see my Grandfather who was in town from Virginia. He's getting old and not doing so well, so my mom really wanted him to see CJ and Ella. He has never seen them except for in pictures. And boy was he so impressed with them both. CJ sat right on Grandpa Bill's lap and they chatted up a storm (I could see it make my Grandpa so happy), but being that Ella was not feeling well, she wouldn't go near him. We had pizza and wings and still Ella didn't eat much. She only had 2 bites of pizza and a few pretzels. Oh, she did steal my Fresca though, the little soda junkie.

We got home around 7p and I dropped the kids off so I could run to the grocery store. I did help Magellan get Ella ready for bed, gave her all her drugs and I left. Ella actually slept all night long, probably till almost 630a. She's been getting progessively better as the day goes on, thank goodness. And when I put her to bed, she was back to her old self, being silly and laughing with me.

So here's hoping that my baby is done with the pain and sickies soon. Cause I really need to catch up on my beauty sleep!

My poor ladybug

Thursday did not go as I had planned.

Heck, does anything ever go as planned?

Nope, not in my life. At least not lately.

So you all know Miss Elle had another appt with Dr E yesterday. I guess I didn't really know what to expect, but what happened sure was NOT what I had thought I may expect. As usual Ella is chatty and nosey, and wandering around the whole exam room. It was a different one this time than last so it was a new place to her. New=Fun!

Fun it certainly was not 5 minutes later.

Dr E said he thought Ella's head was looking better since the last time he saw her, which was a huge relief. That was one thing I was praying he would say. And at this point, I was no longer saying "hope for" b/c hope hasn't been getting me anywhere these days. Little did I know, this would be the only good part of the appointment.

Dr E proceeded to tell me that the rest of the scab on Ella's head had to come off. TODAY. I probably went white as Dr E said, "You don't have to be in the room for it, but in order to get it on the right track to heal, the infected parts need to come off. And then I'll use the silver nitrate sticks that I showed you last time to control the bleeding."

I really had no idea what I was in for. Neither did poor Ella.

So, Ella and I sat down together on in the examining chair. I knew I would have to hold her down b/c there was no way this little strong spirited girl was going to sit still and let the dr touch her head again. I am sure she remembered from last time, and quite frankly, she was probably getting sick of people touching her head and pulling on the scab. As soon as Dr E got close to us, with nurse in tow, Ella started screaming. I wrapped my arms AND legs around her body and the nurse had to hold her head still as Dr E washed and soaked the scab. Then he proceeded to pull every last inch of it off....pure torture as I am sure any mother can imagine. I was in tears as I had to listen to Ella's blood curdeling screams. I am sure people in the NEXT building heard the poor thing. It seemed to drag on forever.

Naturally there was a lot of blood. I have to admit I had to catch quick peeks of what was going on whenever the dr stepped away to grab more gauze or more silver nitrate sticks. It honestly has to still be the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. Well, after all was said and done, there is this rather large hole on the side of Ella's head as the Dr got the scab and gunk off of her head. I was very worried at the pain Ella might have been in, but Dr E assured me she was more pissed off we were holding her down. And he was right. As soon as the nurse left the room and I took my hands and legs off of Ella, she calmed right down. And hugged her beloved Elmo, who might I had, has seen better days. He's in pretty rough shape too. Perhaps that's why Ella dragged him to the dr's appointment that day!

Yes, I did take more pictures of her head wound. I am trying to cover all my bases as legally, we are not sure what we are going to do about this situation. I will post the most recent picture at the end of the post. I don't want to gross you all out before you finish reading! What fun would that be?

Ella isn't doing much better today, poor ladybug! She has been very snuggly, which she only does when she doesn't feel good. She's had a low grade fever and has had no interest in eating. Another sign you know she's out of sorts. It could be her antiobiotics, could be her head hurting her, could be the teeth she's getting in (those damn canines!), or could be she's just so worn out from everyone bothering her, LOL. She even took two long naps today and is already out cold. She hasn't been sleeping too well, waking up a few times a night just wanting to cuddle. I feel so bad for her. No one, not even a darn baby should have to go through this. Especially when it's something that could've been caught in time and prevented, or just kept from getting this far.

And it's especially hard when you're doing it all on your own. I have almost no help from Magellan. He's actually been on the job working, shocking as it is. And doing estimates, and at the end of the day he just doesn't feel like doing any type of parental duties. So I typically get little if no break. Some days it just really sucks, but I keep reminding myself that Ella is my baby girl and didn't ask for this to happen and being her mother, I have to help her through it, no matter how tough or trying it is for me.

I can't wait for it all to be over!

I have to go and pick CJ up from Little Gym, but then I will add the pictures of Ella's latest wound!

This was yesterday right after we got back from the appointment.

This is today's photo. Not a good view, she does NOT want me taking pictures of her head. Do ya blame her?!

And she is really like, STOP IT MOM!

Sad today

I really did have a very funny, tasteless Tuesday story for you all, but it's been a sad, exhausting day for us here. I guess I'm just not in a funny mood.

We got the results from Ella's culture on her incision today. It was not the news I was hoping for, though I guess I don't really know what I was hoping for anyways. She definitely has a staph infection as my surgeon thought, but she has the worst type you can have. She has what they call MRSA Staph infection. It is very resistant to many types of antibiotics, and it's got the dr and us a bit worried as she is so young and still has an immature immune system. Right now, the best bet is to put her on a Sulfa med, which is another concern in it's own. Both my mother and I are allergic to Sulfa meds, and while Ella's pediatrician (they had to make the call as to which meds to put her on) swore an allergy to Sulfa meds isn't hereditary, I can't help but still be nervous about her being on them. So, obviously we are also keeping an eye out for any allergic reaction to the antibiotics.

Right now, the major concern is the staph infection spreading to either other parts of her body, or to me. The fact that I have 3 incisions me and catching the infection would NOT be good as I'm sure you can imagine. The one big concern for Ella is if she itches her wound and then touches her eye and it somehow infects her tear ducts. It could scar them for life and she would permanently tear, something that can't be fixed. There is also growing concern of another surgery in her future because of the severe scarring the scabs can leave. So much to worry about, and Miss Ella just keeps trucking along. She's a strong little thing I'll tell you all that!

In fact, here is a really yucky picture of her head after Dr E pulled half the scab off. Obviously all the red stuff was under the skin, like blood blisters, and it is a big bald spot now. The stuff to the left is the scab that he didn't get to.




And then you can see the scab before it was touched by anyone. This is probably the best picture I have to show how bad it really was. The pic just doesn't do it justice. It was huge, and gross and stuff was draining out of it.

My poor girl, I don't know how she's handled it so well. She rarely touches it, and I'm sure it must itch like crazy.

Ella goes to see Dr E this Thursday to take a look at it again. I talked to Ella's pediatrician this afternoon and he said if her infection doesn't look better or gets worse within the next 3-4 days then we have to call immediately to bring her in to get looked at again. And I don't know what they would have to do at that point. No one has really discussed it yet.

I think we're all kind of afraid to at this point.

I will keep you all posted. Thanks for listening as usual.

It's me again

Did you miss me? It's only been a week since I've last checked in. I'm doing better. MUCH better than a week ago. All last weekend I was probably in the worst pain of my life. Or very close to it. I couldn't sit up by myself, I had to have Magellan pretty much lift me up. It hurt to talk, breathe or even cough. I was in pretty rough shape, LOL! I can't complain about it though b/c I did it to myself. I just didn't think I would be so uncomfortable. I had a hard time sleeping at night b/c I had to sleep semi upright and couldn't sleep on my sides or stomach b/c of the pain. The pain pump pretty much did numb most of the pain but not all of it. Luckily, I had some Vicodin and Percocet but I really tried to limit the amount of meds I took after Saturday. I just didn't want to depend on them. Dr E. ok'ed my using Ibuprofrin, saying I would need to take 800mg in order to get some relief. And most of the time that did the trick.

If you had asked me a week ago if I was happy with the new "girls", I would've said no. I would've told you I totally regretted my decision. But, I was basing all that on my pain, and how gigantic the "girls" were. To say there were ginormous is an understatement because of all the swelling.

I have to say that now that some of the swelling has gone down, and the pain is gone, I am quite happy with the results. It's still quite a shock to see the girls in the mirror or while getting dressed. For the last week I've been wearing just sweats and stuff to minimize having to pull anything up and over my head b/c I'm not supposed to lift my arms up. Today was the first day I had a "real" shirt on and Pee Lee came in the house and said, "Holy cow! It's a good thing you don't go jogging or you'd pop an eye out with those things!"

Leave it to him to be the first one to say something perverted. I have absolutely no bruising, but still have a bit more swelling to lose. The only thing that really bothers me now are the stitches where the incision was made. Its getting a bit itchy and it's still pretty sore. Today is also the first day I can wear a normal bra. It's amazing to say that I went from a 34B, to a 36D. Which was exactly what I was hoping for!

The first few days were quite interesting every time I would bend over. When I stood back up I could feel the liquid moving in the implant. It was a very odd sensation. The other odd feeling was when I had to take the pain pump out. I did that myself on Monday. The medicine in it was just about gone, but it was driving me crazy. All I really had to do was pull the little tubes (there were 2, one for each side) out slowly and that was that. Sounds simple, but really wasn't!! I could literally feel the tube being pulled from one side of the breast until it came out the hole. It was such an odd feeling and gross to watch that I had to sit down to do the second one. Magellan couldn't even watch!! But, it's much nicer to shower now without having to have someone help me so I didn't get the pain pump wet.

CJ and Ella were angels for Magellan pretty much the entire weekend. Ella was very good about going down for her naps and bedtime. She got a bit antsy late on Saturday about wanting to see me. Of course it still hurt anytime she tried to snuggle with me and I felt bad, but I did what I could. And then it was nice when I could go to the bedroom and hide. I put earplugs in and didn't hear a thing if I needed to sleep. There is no such thing as peace and quiet in this house without them!

I had a follow up appt with Dr E Thursday and he said everything is healing nicely! He is very pleased with the results so far, and surprised I had no bruising. He's the best Dr in the world. Not only b/c of the great job he did with me, but also what he did for Ella.

So I had to take both kids to my appt with Dr E b/c I didn't have a sitter, and apparently it was meant to be that way! Dr E came into the room and was chatting with CJ, then walked over to say hi to Ella, when he noticed her big, yucky scab on her head from her cyst removal surgery. He asked me what happened. I reminded him she had had cranial facial surgery and that the yucky scab is the result. He washed it with a wet, soapy gauze pad and asked me if I could smell it. Of course, I could! It was the most foul smell I've ever smelled. He then proceeded to tell me Ella had a very bad staph infection in her incision, hence the big, yucky, yellow scab. He asked if I minded if he did a culture, I told him to feel free. Then he was kind of touching around the area again, explaining to me that we really needed to get the scab off so the skin could heal properly otherwise it could manifest into other things and do serious damage to her skin. I started to get really worried and then felt awful for not figuring it out on my own. Then, before I even knew it, Dr E had pulled off half the scab! Ella cried a little bit, but he assured me it was only b/c the scab was attached to her hair at the very base of her skull. At that point the smell of the infection nearly overpowered the entire room. It was nasty to say the least. It didn't really bleed, and since then has healed amazingly. There is a very tiny, tiny scab now and it's normal looking, LOL! Magellan and I have to figure out a way to get the rest of the scab off without traumatizing the poor girl, but it just turns my stomach to do so. I also don't want her in pain but I know it has to be done. Ella will go back for a recheck next week to see Dr E. He is now officially her plastic surgeon too!! He is such a sweet ,man to take this on, knowing full well how busy he is! From the end of my appt Friday to Monday night when he talked to Magellan he had already done 15 boob jobs! That is alot if you ask me. So he is a man that is sought out by a lot of people, to say the least! I will NOT be taking Ella back to her other surgeon. He assured me when her incision first started to look ugly that it was totally normal. Well, guess what? It wasn't!

CJ is doing well. He hasn't said anything about the boobies, but did ask me what Tata's were! Even after he had to witness Dr E checking out the girls and looking at my incision, he still didn't say anything about them. Silly boy!

I suppose that's it for now. That should be enough!

Five Question Friday

Something fun....

FIVE QUESTION FRIDAY

1. What's your guilty pleasure?
Hmmm, clothes for Ella. I'm totally addicted to Gap, Janie & Jack, and Gymboree

2. What is your favorite TV series?
I don't have just one. I like reality TV (Amazing Race, stuff on MTV, Kitchen Nightmares), and CSI:NY, House

3. Can you speak any foreign languages?
Spanish thanks to Dora! I can understand German but don't speak it as well.


4. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
Oh geez, too many!

5. What's your favorite kind of M&M's...peanut, almond, straight up regular, etc.?
Peanut by far!!

D Day

Literally....

Goodbye B's and hello D's. Surgery went well. Guess I was only in the OR for an hour. Less time than expected. The surgeon told Magellan he was very pleased with the results. Can't wait to be able to see the girls.

I originally had to be at the center at 1115a, but they called and moved up the surgery because they were ahead of schedule. I have to admit it made me even more nervous. Magellan and I got ready and I was just about shaking in the car on the way there. I was nervous and scared. We got to the center, and only waited about 15mins before I got called back to be prepped for surgery. I had to pee in a cup (you know, to make sure there aren't any little Magellan's swimming around!), ask a bunch of questions and get my IV started. Which might I add was a huge PITA! I apparently have the worst luck with IV's. Not only do I bleed a lot, but the nurse was having trouble getting the drip to start. So, he had to keep moving the needle around in my arm, take off tape, reapply it and then take it off again. Not comfortable at all!

My surgeon came back and talked to me for a few minutes then said they were ready to get me started!! I almost puked, LOL! I got wheeled back in my awesome looking hospital garb. You know, the sexy nightgown, underwear that they give you to wear after you deliver a baby, and some cute, brown socks. LOL, I looked awesome. No, no pictures as Magellan wasn't allowed back there. I can vaguely remember the med dr getting me all prepped and I asked her if she had already started the drip for the general anest....She laughed and said, "Why you feeling it?"

I laughed and said "Oh yeah!" Next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room. Oh, funniest part is the med dr asked me if I was a lightweight when it came to drinking. I think so! She explained the meds work a lot quicker for people who don't drink on a regular basis.

At this point it was a bit painful, just felt real heavy. I got the shakes pretty bad, so I got to use a special warming blanket and FINALLY got to drink! It had been since midnight last night with no food or water. UGH, I don't like that feeling. I drank some Gatorade, went to the bathroom, then got dressed (naturally with a LOT of help), and was wheeled out to the car. The car ride was pure torture. Literally every bump and turn hurt the girls SOOO bad. It took me like an hour to get into the house and upstairs b/c I had to walk so slow. Poor CJ had a heart attack when he saw me. He felt so sad because he doesn't like to see anyone sick or in pain. My poor baby!

Since I hadn't eaten anything right away, the pain pills weren't doing crap for my pain. I couldn't move, not even my arms otherwise it hurt the boob muscles really bad. It hurt to breathe and cough, but finally after eating some toast the meds kicked in and I'm much better. Not perfect of course but the pain is bearable.

Magellan is doing fantastic with the kids. I had full faith in him for today b/c we were gone for most of the afternoon and he only had to worry about dinner time and bed time for my El Belle. Both her and CJ took 2 hour naps, lucky bastard! Who knows what tomorrow will bring though? I pray it's not too hard for him.

I am totally going to miss sleeping on my belly and putting Ella to bed. I love that time b/c she snuggles a bit more than usual.

I will try and post tomorrow about how I'm doing.

Have a good night everyone!

Tasteless Tuesdays

Yep, it IS Tuesday. I don't know that I have anything tasteless today, but here is a sort of tasteless yet funny thing for the day.

So, most of you know us New Yorker's got hit with a ton of snow over the weekend. I mean, really HIT with snow. I haven't seen this much in quite awhile. Anyway, Star had to go out Saturday morning when we all woke up and I usually let her out the front door to do her business b/c then I don't have to struggle with taking down our 800 gates to keep Ella from getting into things. Well, we had so much snow, Star refused to walk down the front porch steps and she proceeded to pee on the front porch. Yes, my dog is THE biggest baby there is! I thought it was hysterical, so I almost peed my pants laughing. Then a bit later she had to go again, and I let her out the back door b/c Ella was in bed napping. Well, again, we had so much snow that when Star tried to go poo, the poo couldn't drop to the ground. The snow was already up to her fanny, and her feet kind of sunk down a bit in the snow so just her butt was showing, as she dropped her poo onto the snow. Now that was funny. I called Magellan over just to watch her go poo. I know, I'm gross, but being a person who didn't grow up with dogs, I had never seen such a sight.

Needless to say, Magellan didn't find it funny that Star peed on the front porch....