Lil Kiwi Surgery Part IV - Home Sweet Home

After receiving that snazzy yellow sock to keep Lil Kiwi from chewing on her IV, it was time for the night nurse shift change... For about an hour Lil Kiwi was fussy and rolling all over her crib in what looked like an attempt to get comfortable... Since this was the first time I couldn't comfort her; I decided it was finally time to give her some pain killers... Up to this point she didn't once seem to be in pain so we hadn't given her any... The nurse came in and gave me the medicine to give Lil Kiwi (apparently the other nurses had already informed her of Lil Kiwi's wonderful attitude)... About fifteen minutes later and it was peaceful in room 13... Sleep had finally come...

Sleep for both of us... well, for about an hour that is... The nurse came in to do her check up and when she pulled the yellow sock off it was suddenly clear what had been the problem... Lil Kiwi's IV was bad... All the fluids were building up under her skin and her arm was swollen... No wonder she was chewing at it because that had to have hurt...

Ooo see the evil look I was getting...

Luckily, the nurse caught it before it got really bad and convinced them not to put another one it.. It turns out that the IV wasn't put in very well and was leaking the whole time; thus why it was wet sometimes... Lil Kiwi wasn't happy about all the pain and the nurses messing with her... However, as soon as everyone was gone, Lil Kiwi slept... I don't mean she napped I mean full on deep sleep... She even barely fussed when a nurse came in to take vitals in the wee morning hours...

This was the position she stayed in for the next four hours... At 0600 hours the checkup doctors came and then the nurses for vitals and then more doctors... Dr. V came in and after hearing all she had been though took the last tubes out... Let me say that made for one very happy Lil Kiwi... I decided to take her for a outing so we got dressed and headed out... It was amazing how happy she was and as soon as we were outside in the hall she was smiling... The nurses couldn't believe this was the same little girl from room 13... This little girl was smiling, friendly and not screaming... Of course, when anyone else walked by they got the evil eyes and pursed lip look hehehee... So wish I had a picture of that look...

We headed over to the playroom and had some fun time.... However, her hand was still swollen so we had to head back to room 13 and put some heat on it...

Lil Kiwi wasn't happy about that so she tried to chew it off also... Of course, all the chewing could also be because at the time she had three teeth coming in..

It was about 1400 hours before we were finally allowed to leave the hospital... All of us were happy to be home and finally get some sleep... Only problem now is that Lil Kiwi is having some issues with sleeping and always wanting to be held... I understand but I also hope this doesn't become a habit...

She has her check up the second week in July and then we have to do another VCUG... If the tests show no more issues she will no longer be on daily medication... *doing the happy dance* All we would have to do is keep an eye on her and have more doctor appointments than normal... Otherwise, Lil Kiwi is recovering wonderfully and hopefully this will be the only surgery she will need... *knocks on wood*

For Wordless Wednesday I will be posting pictures of Lil Kiwi when she was being silly; so be sure to check them out this WW...

If you missed the other posts about her surgery you can read part I here , part II here and part III here ... and once again thank you to everyone for the warm wishes and prayers...

Nature Valley New Granola Nut Clusters Review

Apparently, while I was off at the hospital, a package was delivered to the house from My Blog Spark... Inside was four packages of the new Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters... I'm a huge granola fan but I'm picky about what I mix it with...

There are four different flavor combinations... Nut Lovers (cashews, peanuts, and pecans)... Honey Roasted Peanut... Roasted Almonds and Roasted Cashew...


The first thing I do is look at labels of snack foods for the Shenanigans household... The label states "100% Natural" so I checked out the nutritional information on back... Surprisingly, the first ingredient on each package is the nut followed by several other "natural" ingredients... Sounds wonderful but as with most healthy snacks it's about taste also...

DH tried the Nut Lovers and as a smile crossed his face declared "Hmm Just the right amount of saltiness to sweetness"... I popped one in my mouth and had to agree... They have a lot of flavor for being a bite size cluster just a little larger than a quarter... As far as taste went, they taste just like their name sounds... A delicious nut wrapped in yummy granola and a little honey...

I actually think I like the Nature Valley Nut Clusters better than I do their granola bars; for two reasons... One, they come in a resealable package as opposed to a wrapper that isn't... Two, since I can never finish a whole granola bar, now I can eat what I want and then reseal the bag...

If you want to try some, you can head on down to the store and pick one or more up for some taste testing of your own... Want a coupon? NatureValley.com has a link for a $1 off coupon right now...

Lil Kiwi Surgery Part III - The Thing in Room 13

So, first there was the tushie cocktail followed by the awakening and now Lil Kiwi was to stay three days in the depths of room 13...

As soon as all the nurses had finally left the room DH and Wee Man brought up my bags full of Lil Kiwi's things... We set things up to make her as comfortable as possible... Looking at my sleeping bench I hoped I would be able to get some sleep on it (little did I know it wouldn't matter anyway)... DH and Wee Man decided to head for home since it was getting late and it looked like it would storm... In fact, it rained so hard they had to stop several times before they even got to the house...

So there I was standing next to Lil Kiwi's crib and not a sound could be heard but rain falling; that is, until I tried to go sit on my bed...

"AWWWWWWW AWWWWWWWW"

Okay... take two steps back and silent once again.. hmm one step away from bed..

"AWWWWWWW AWWWWWWW"

Okay... Apparently, I was not allowed to move from her side... Understandable... The nurse on duty felt bad for me so she brought a chair for me to sit in next to the crib... Ooo no... Lil Kiwi would have none of that... I wasn't allowed to sit on the chair... She would only be calm and quiet if I was standing next to the crib... I remember thinking about how I was worried about the bed being comfortable.. *sigh* (she did finally allow me to sit several hours later)

However, she would also scream if she so much as heard the door open... It didn't matter who or what they were doing; if they came in they were greeted by "AWWWWW AWWWWW" .... Keep in mind that for the first 24 hours they come in almost every hour to monitor or check the IV lines... Oh joy... It was so bad that by the last day one of the nurses REFUSED to even come in the room because she didn't want to get screamed at... Everyone down to the cleaning lady dreaded coming into the room and the wrath of Lil Kiwi... She might be small but that little girl has a powerful aura...

There was no sleeping either... Lil Kiwi would lay there looking at me... play and cuddle with Cuski... look at purple guy... watch the door for signs of "those" people... If by chance her eyes did close her ears didn't... The first click of the door and "AWWWWW AWWWWWW" ... The nurses swore they thought we were always sleeping because it was so quiet in the room until they touched the door... The bags under my eyes told otherwise... This was pretty much how it was until about 0130 hours when she decided she wanted more of her apple juice (which she hates) ... All was fine until she burped and juice came flowing out... *sign* I tried to hold her and reach the call button on the other side of the crib... A nurse came to help change sheets and told me there was a washer that I could wash her Cuski and blanket in.. Great...

Wrong... Least we forget the I am not allow to even go to the bathroom or sit without Lil Kiwi getting upset... However, I figured I would try anyways because it should only be a few minutes right... *sigh* Jogged around the corner and threw stuff in the washer and jogged back to room.. Whew I was maybe two minutes IF that... I returned to a screaming Lil Kiwi and a crib with blood all over it... WHAT THE HOLY DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS!!!!!

*push button push button* "There's blood in her crib I think she pulled her IV out" (now you remember that picture in the awakening about her IV)

Thirty minutes later.... clean sheets... no more IV in foot... and the nurses swearing she is the cutest evil little devil they have ever met... Lil Kiwi was once again in her crib with me by her side... Only I still had to get her stuff in the dryer and then after that get her stuff out of the dryer and back to the room... *oh dear* Somehow, I was able to get that all done without Lil Kiwi doing anything else to herself...

Of course, she still needed an IV so they tried to get one in her arm.. That was a no go... A few minutes later a different nurse came in and tried to get an IV in her hand... That was also a no go... It was about two hours later before another nurse from a different floor came in and got an IV going in her hand... Thank goodness but oooo that was so hard to see them try again and again on poor Lil Kiwi...

The upside to all of this screaming and fighting was that it finally took Lil Kiwi into some much needed napping.. Yes napping not sleep... It had been more than 24 hours since we both had sleep.. The down side to the napping... When she got up she was HAPPY and moving... I was holding on to her tubes and keeping them from getting tangled or pulled... During this she somehow popped open her pee tube TWICE and needed new sheets.. Then on the third time I got them to tape it shut.. THEN she had the tube come off her leg so more tape on leg... Oh it was a sight to behold.. However, she was happy and running laps in the crib so I was happy... This happy silliness provided me with some cute pictures for Wordless Wednesday next week... Make sure to visit next WW for the silliness..

It was great seeing her so happy although she still screamed if anyone touched the door... It was also then that I noticed Lil Kiwi started to chew on her IV... Before, it had sometimes seemed wet but I thought it was just my imagination or mmm lack of sleep... However, a quick talk to the nurses and they checked it and placed a sock over it to keep her from chewing on it... hmm you see how well that worked hehee...
The saga continues in next post.... If only I would have known then what was happening; this might have been the end of the saga...

Wordless Wednesday - Mohawk

Don't know how it started but every year at some point Wee Man gets a Mohawk... Well, DH cut it a TAD to short and felt really bad but Wee Man is LOVING it...

Age 5

Age 4

Age 3

Lil Kiwi Surgery Part II - The Awakening

I'm not a lover of hospital food and when you have to play a game of eenie-meenie-miney-moe to actually FIND the food court; your hopes are pretty low... Surprise surprise... We rounded the corner and what wonderful sights we did see... Subway, Starbucks, some pizza place, a Greek deli, and of course the food cafe'... I headed for some nice Greek gyros and then we realized the problem.. Amidst all the food booths there were NO CHAIRS... I mean come on.... We walked around following people with food hoping to find the secret food eating shrine... Finally, a security guard told us it was actually IN the food cafe' but that we are more than welcome to eat at the other dinning place right around the corner... Egads.. So, we shoveled now cold food and then rush upstairs hoping Lil Kiwi wasn't out of surgery yet.

Two hours had past since they took Lil Kiwi into surgery.... We sat in the waiting area for about another thirty minutes... It's amazing how time really does TICK by when it is your own child... Just as I was recounting the dots on the ceiling tiles, one of the nurses called us back and said "The surgery went perfectly... She's awake and not in a good mood you can head on back to room 8" ... as I was trying to help DH get Wee Man the nurse looked at me and said "Actually Mom if you just want to head on back there so we can get her under control that would be great."

Under control? What in the world could she mean... Lil Kiwi had just woken up from surgery and should have been still groggy...

I started for the room and heard.... "Mmmmmm *scream* Moooooooom *scream* " I'm not sure if the screams were her or the nurses...

As soon as I was within Lil Kiwi's eyesight the noise stopped and she was reaching for me... Yep that is my lil 16 lb ball of fury...

Propped up in a sorta smaller bed with tubes here and there... A nurse stood in the corner (yes she really was standing in the corner) waiting for me/us to get into the room before getting close to Lil Kiwi again... DH and Wee Man came in and that gave the nurse more courage to get what she needed to get done... She helped get Lil Kiwi into my lap and monitored her from there... Lil Kiwi took that first bottle of apple juice like she had just been on a 3 day hike in Death Valley with no water... A small burp and a little juice on mom.. Thanks kid... They put in a movie to pass the time.. It was half way through the movie "Cars" before they decided it was time to move her to her own real room... Back to the still too large bed and a few protests from Lil Kiwi... We made our way through the hospital; while the nurse wheeling her bed told us of how when she first started this job she use to bump the beds into corners, walls, doors, people... Thankfully, we only "bumped" two doors...

We headed into room 13... Awww I was feeling good because normally this is a lucky number for us... Then I saw the inside of room 13 and began to rethink my luck...


Lil Kiwi wasn't at all happy with the arrangements.. how sad she looks..

More of Lil Kiwi's recovery in next post... This is where things took a turn for the worst....

*on a side note... my surgery went fine and I am recovering quickly... and do pardon my grammar as I am still on pain meds*

Wordless Wednesday - Captain Underpants

What you find when you leave your camera with your husband and son...

As soon as I am able I will post more about Lil Kiwi's surgery ... We are still having some issues and are working with getting her to relax at home... I am actually having surgery myself today so it may be a day or two before I continue the story...

Please link up with Mr. Linky and then leave a comment..

Lil Kiwi Surgery Part I - The Tushie Cocktail

*Here is the day before... here is the first part of the surgery... here is part II .... here is part III ... and here is the last part...*

We are home from the hospital and gosh was it a long week... I want to thank everyone that sent such lovely emails and all the warm wishes sent our way...

Tuesday morning we got to the hospital at 9:30 am and sat around waiting to be called in... Around 10:50ish they call us back and we stood in "stall" number 2... The nurses comment about how big the bed is for such a little thing but that it's all they have available because all the small beds are being used...

I warned the nurses that Lil Kiwi is a bit moody with anyone that "might" be out to "harm" her... Perhaps they did not believe me because they tried to go about their jobs... However, they quickly realized that Lil Kiwi is a force to be reckoned with... Safely on the other side of the bed they handed me the gown... The normal questions were asked and we signed papers again and again... Then we saw Dr. V and he came over to let us know they were getting the room ready for her... He then "tried" to mark where he would be cutting but once again Lil Kiwi is quite a little handful... So, instead he got a mark on her knee and some at the incision sight.. Hehee

You can't blame her... Since before she was born we have been to doctor appointments for her (I had about 20 or so ultrasounds while pregnant with her) and then after birth doctor appointments left and right... We did do our best to keep her calm and centered but she knew something was going on...

They finally gave her a nice lovely tushie cocktail to relax her... It was only after she was feeling all love peace and happiness did they even put her ID bracelet on her foot... I have to admit I tried not to laugh (as did DH) but Lil Kiwi was a silly little monkey all loopy on drugs... When they came to get her the technician looked at her.... looked at the bed... then back at her and asked us if it was okay if he just carried her to the surgery room... We told him that was fine... She was so happy still that she smiled and grinned at him... I'm glad that as she went in she was happy and hopefully remained that way until she was completely under...

As for us... The three of us headed down to find some food and kill the hour or two of surgery time...

Will post the next part of the surgery in the next post...

Wordless Wednesday- Lil Kiwi

We are still at the hospital so I probably won't be commenting today... However, will let everyone know as soon as possible how the surgery went...

Tomorrow is just another day

except for the fact that I'm sitting here packing...... still..... What do you pack when your 11 month old is going to the hospital for surgery?! I asked the hospital staff and the answer was "Bring as much stuff from home to make it more comfortable and familiar for her"...

So, here I am trying to pick out what goes and what stays... I'm probably not going to be getting any sleep tonight or for the three days at the hospital...

Check List...
Babylegs (love them)
socks
Cuski
blanket
bottles/sippy
formula
food
toys
diapers
sleep sheep
paci
wipes
purple guy (will have to post about this later)

For me... well, I have a few things too
DS
Laptop (if allowed to use)
sleep wear
book
camera (you know I wouldn't go without this)

Yep my list is super short.. Not enough room with all the stuff for Lil Kiwi...

Wordless Wednesday - Time goes by

When did the small cub... become the lion?

*Friday Wee Man turns FIVE!!! They grow too fast... and yes he loves that hat*

Add your link to Mr. Linky and please leave a comment