Princess Presleigh

Well ...

2007-10-01T04:44:00.000-06:00

Well it has well and truly gone to hell in a handbasket...

This may be our last post for awhile as things have come crazy unglued around here. Needless to say, we're OK, P is OK but we need to keep our lives under wraps and basically keep to ourselves for the time being. Don't worry, we'll come visit you!

For all our reg visitors, please feel free to email for updates and the like, I'll be happy to tell you there.

Once we get settled in our new home, I'll let you know.

Presleigh & Mom.

This week...

2007-08-26T00:57:00.001-06:00

This week has been very busy and exciting at my house.

My mom and dad had a very very very long talk on Sunday and they decided that Mom and I would go to visit Daddy in his new house far away on the plane.
We left very early Monday morning at got to Daddy's at 8 in the morning!
I played shy with him for a little bit and then by dinner time, I was very happy with him.
He was making pizza for me for dinner and we watched it cook in the oven door and then when I was tired, I put my arms up for him to pick me up. We napped together earlier in the day but I didn't even really know it.

On Tuesday, Mommy went to have a shower and then while she was gone, Daddy went to start the BBQ and I was very upset about it. Then he wouldn't let me walk outside in my barefeet in the rain.

On Wednesday he had to go to work and I looked for him all morning while Mommy was packing for us to leave that afternoon.

We might be going back next Wednesday for a couple of days and then fly back with him to Calgary on Friday for my cousin's birthday. If not, I will see him on Friday night.

Mom's note: This was a good visit. Lots of resolution, lots of talking... was good.

Updates updates from mom.

2007-08-07T23:19:00.000-06:00

I am so sorry that we have not updated in the past month...its been a whirlwind.

I am back to work since the beginning of June and then we were on holidays in Ontario for 12 days and all the stuff with my accident...

I am arguing with my insurance company because the other guys insurance company is taking their sweet assed time about responding to the demand letter from my adjuster. Suffice it to say, 6 weeks later, my car is in the body shop today for repairs and we still have no reply from them.

I have been going to physio every week and I have purchased a TENS machine to help while at home and can't get to physio with the lack of child care.

Presleigh was due to start daycare on Aug 1, but due to a miscommunication, she doesn't start til Sept 1.

Work has been NUTS. Listen, if you're flying with any airline that overbooks their flights (unlike us), confirm your flights, be early/on time to the gate etc.. but don't call and sit on hold with us and wait 15 minutes just to confirm your flights when you known damn well you're booked. I'm sorry that you've had horrible experiences with Scare Canada, AA, Delta etc.. but I solemnly promise, we're not them... get OFF my phone.

Our holidays were chaotic. It poured rain every day we were away while home was in a heat wave (and still is).

I've discovered that P doesn't do well with change. The entire vacation took everything out of her. Everywhere we went was not child proof in any fashion and we said alot "No" "Don't touch" and lots of tears. By the third day of 13 ppl in a 4 room cabin, she was banging her head against the wall and finding ways to deliberately hurt herself. So overwhelmed. Bad mommy.

So we left the crazy cottage a few days early to go to my sisters, which proved to be no less overwhelming when Aunt DeeDee is singing Wizard of Oz at the top of her lungs directly below a sleeping P. And then getting lectured by my sister about her needing to eat more than Cheerios. If I can get her to eat more than Cheerios, I'd GLADLY give her more than cheerios, but I am also not going to open an entire can of soup for her to have 1 tablespoon, so give me a break.

The positive was to get to see my bestest friend, J, that I have been friends with since I was 6. We got a quick drive by lunch with her and her boys on the way back to the airport and dropping off the rental car.

It was not relaxing, it was not fun and I won't repeat it. We start flying to the Dominican, Jamaica and Mexico as regularly scheduled service this winter... I have the 2nd-9th of December off... I think _I_ am going away all by myself... maybe even Hawaii... I don't care.. just away.

And with all this said, I have absolutely no pictures to show for this. I will dress P in her bathing suit and lifejacket and take one to post...it will be quasi authentic. I do however have to get a data kit for my cell phone... I have the most hilarious video from tonight on it.. Buck nekkid, Miss P dancing to some guy singing on America's Got Talent. It was priceless.

Oh speaking of the nekkid bit... she has started to take her diaper off more frequently so we have started to try the potty training bit. Challenge when the bathroom is upstairs, but if I keep the potty down here, she tries to wear it as a hat... no, Im not kidding.
So, one day at a time on that.

Vacation

2007-06-30T10:10:00.000-06:00

We're going on vacation to Ontario with Mom's friends to a lake and a cottage. Mom will post pics when she gets back.

See you all in 2 weeks!

Grrrrrr - bad language alert laugh

2007-06-25T01:03:00.000-06:00

Yesterday (Saturday), I was on my way to The Store That Shall Not Be Named in an effort to get another car seat for Miss P because all my efforts to find a used one at a reasonable price have failed and I needed it far sooner than yesterday. I was coming up C rowchild Tr and exited off at N orth land Dr to go into N orthland mall and I was at a full stop at the yield going to the right, when *BLAM* my head went flying forward and smashed into the steering wheel and *BLAM* my head slammed back into the headrest, which I felt give. Somehow I had the presence of mind to stop the moving car which was thrown forward into traffic and put the car into park and throw on my hazard lights... how or when I don't know, as I don't remember doing it.

My driver's window was open and the driver of the other car came to see if I was alright. I said no. He asked if I had been in an accident before and I said years and years ago. He then asked me where I had been going. I'm still not sure if he was making small talk or if he was trying to get me to say something to get him off the hook. I just said I was going to The Store That Shall Not Be Named. He then disappeared for a second and my gut reaction was to call my mom. In hysterics I called her and asked her to come to the scene, which wasn't far from her house. She asked if I had called the police, and I said no, but I hit my head badly. She urged me to call 911 and then I hung up and called them. The guy wanted into my passenger door to talk to me. My purse and everything were on the seat beside me so then this wave of panic that he was going to rob me went thru my head. Gathering my stuff and putting it on the floor on my side, I let him in. He wanted me to move the cars into the parking lot. So I managed to do that, and I vaguely remember doing it.
I called 911 as we were driving into the lot and told them where I was and they urged me not to get out of the car, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't breath, my head was throbbing.
I got 2 ambulances, 3 fire trucks and 2 police cruisers.

They checked me over at the scene and released me, urging me to get looked at by a doctor for the whiplash I will surely have.

On a funny note, I have a bumper sticker/magnet that says "If you're gonna ride my ass, at least pull my hair." and the firemen were laughing at it, and when the paramedics were helping me out of the car, I saw two of them pointing and laughing at it..so I said "I guess he was trying to pull my hair." Which made them laugh.

He was charged with at least two offenses, don't know what, but I saw them writing tickets.
He totalled his buddy's car so I guess he won't be driving his buddy's car anytime soon.
I went to the doctors after I had cleared my head by going to The Store That Shall Not Be Named with my mom and Greg and got the stupid car seat and he prescribed me some muscle relaxants, pain killers, a collar, physiotherapy and massage therapy.
I can't lift Miss P, I can't do up my own bra and I can't shoulder check at all so my driving has been severely hampered.

If this fucks up my holidays in Ontario, I'm going to hunt someone down and hurt them... badly.
I go back to the doctor Monday. I have insurance adjusters coming tomorrow from my insurance co, I have to get an x ray done, I have the owner's insurance adjusters either Tues or Wed, and I need to get some work done on a shop that is due before I leave. In between all that, I have to work my reg job and try and heal and get some physio and a massage or two before Friday.

I must say, I will from now only ever buy Saturn. My car has such minimal cosmetic damage that unless I pointed it out to you, you'd never know it happened. The wheels need an alignment, and various other things need to be checked, but in all honesty, my body took the brunt of the impact, not the car. The car he was driving, a 91 N issan N s x is a write off... the car is worth less than a grand and there is at least 5 grand in damage..at least that.

I hate you right now, dude. I know who you are and where to find you and if I had the strength right now, I'd bitch slap you.

Small blessings too, none of my girls were with me.

Update

2007-06-15T22:57:00.000-06:00

Well, mom has officially gone back to work...I won't sleep at Nanna's, and now I'm sick with an ear infection.

Mom is having trouble with the whole going back to work thing... but we're getting there.

I go for a walk every day with Nanna and the puppies. They go to an off leash area and run like the wind and then I screech and clap my hands and they come running back.

Mommy's birthday is on Monday and we have three parties in 3 days! One for a friend moving away, one for Father's Day and one for Mommy's birthday. Mommy is going to see Mamma Mia with Nanna on Tuesday.

We go on vacation in 2 weeks. Mommy thinks its funny to go back to work for a month and then go on 2 weeks vacation. We're going to Ontario to Auntie Lori's cottage on a lake.
We can't wait!

Sorry

2007-06-02T02:36:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the lack of updates.. its been rather crazy.

The blog will probably be slow on updates even more now as I go back to work after 18 months starting on Monday.

Its been very wonderful to have been home...but.. all good things must come to an end.

I'm looking forward to speaking adult but I cried today with Miss P... she has no concept that this is all going to change in a couple of days... but I hope it goes well.

Post 111, 241 hits in one single day...whoa

2007-05-17T02:15:00.000-06:00

I love Stat Counter - its evil - its like call display... love hate thing.

However yesterday, someone clocked up 237 hits on here all by themselves...and they were reading everything... but I am not sure how (100 log plateau hit twice!). There are only now 111 posts here.. read everything twice? But you left no comments! I feel... cheap ;-)

Anyways...

Happy Belated Mother's Day to everyone. I hope it was fantastic.

R is for Rambles...

2007-05-09T13:36:00.000-06:00

Mother's Day is fast approaching and the Mother's Day Walk n Run right along with it. Calling all our sponsors (and a big thanks to Auntie Adena who kicked us off!) to make sure to get your monies to us asap so that we can get it in on time.

I had an appointment with our nutritionist last week to talk about what I like and what I don't like and how to make sure I'm getting all the calories I need since I'm so picky. That went pretty well.

Now I have to see my OT again for an assessment so that Mommy has proper information to give daycare when I start in August.

Mommy starts back to work in 23 days and she's not very excited about it. Looking back, she hasn't really had that much of a break while "off" from work for the past 18 months.

Today, she said enough to a project she has been working on for 6 weeks and handed it back in because her heart wasn't in it anymore and she had done more than 2/3rds of it and it was starting to make her crazy.

We went to W a l-ma rt today and she found a very cute summer dress for me and I carried it all through the store. I saw my nanna in the store and I kept showing her the dress and making everyone laugh.

At the nutritionist appointment, they weighed me again and measured me. I am weighing 23.8 lbs and exactly 30 inches long. At the peed's, I was the same height, but 24.1 lbs. The appointments were only 2 days apart, but just different scales. Both said I was in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. But my peed says I will be short stuff. That's ok, good things come in small packages.

I am walking everywhere now. I still crawl when I want to get somewhere fast, but I walk most places. Mommy says "HELP!"

Walking

2007-04-24T15:13:00.000-06:00

I started walking on Sunday but by yesterday, I started really walking. Sunday I only went from the couch to the tv but yesterday and today, I'm moving. I still crawl when I want to get somewhere fast, but I will go further each time I try this walking thing out.

Mom wishes I still had my helmet for all the crashes I've had so far. But I haven't managed to hurt myself badly. Today, I was on the lawn swing and decided I wanted off without help and tried to flip myself out and scared myself (and Mom!) but I was fine.

I don't like the way the grass feels on my fingers though. I cried when it touched me. Guess we'll be working on that next.

Old pics

2007-04-21T15:40:00.000-06:00

In searching for some photos, mom found these and thought she'd share. As you can see, I ham it up for the camera.

Q is for quack

2007-04-21T14:16:00.000-06:00

Q is for quack..which my duck does.

The rest of this post has nothing to do with Q.

I talked to my Daddy the other day for a couple of minutes. Well, he talked and I breathed heavily into the receiver.

I might be going to see him soon. He and Mom have talked and they are taking it one day at a time. He bought new tires for Mom's car too.

P is for prayers

2007-04-17T00:17:00.000-06:00

Tonight, our prayers are with the families and survivors of the horrific mess in Virginia. Our hearts and thoughts are with you all.

P is for Presleigh

2007-04-08T23:01:00.000-06:00

I think I have finally mastered this eating thing. Today for dinner at Nanna's, I ate absolutely everything that Mom had for me and then I ate some of hers and I had seconds. We had ham, creamed corn, peas and carrots, scalloped potatoes and Nanna made a delicious dessert with yoghurt, cream cheese and vanilla pudding and had strawberries on top. All of the things she used were low fat which means that the lactose was pretty low. I ate about 12 cubes of ham, 5 slices of potato, about 1/2 cup of creamed corn, a few peas and only a couple bites of carrot and about a cup of dessert. My belly was sticking out when I got out of the high chair which made Nanna and Mom laugh.

I now sit forward facing in Mom's new car in my big girl carseat. I am weighing just over 25lbs and I am in need of a haircut now that my helmet is gone. Mom is going to take me at the end of the month as she needs a haircut too. I am not walking yet, but I cruise the furniture and I take the "leap of faith" into people's arms from furniture, but Nanna figures within a couple of weeks, I'll be off n running. Mom says she'd like to wait just a bit longer.

P is for Puppies. Nanna has two puppies. They are Labradoodles and their names are Coal and Lucy. Lucy got her name because she is a mischief maker. Nanna says she would likely be the one to pull the football out from Coal (Charlie Brown). Lucy also would have made a good mother. She followed me everywhere and licked me constantly and made sure I was safe. When I cried, she got very upset and agitated. Coal just wanted to lick me.

P is for purple. The Easter Bunny brought me a purple bunny and he is very very soft.

P is for pink. Mom is getting her hair streaked pink again. She says it is fun.

P is for peace. Mom says she said it before, and she will say it once more. Our lives are very peaceful these days. We are busy and happy and there are people in our lives that love us and we love them and forward is a very good step. There is no anger or resentment and we laugh and giggle every day.

O is for...

2007-04-06T00:03:00.000-06:00

..O pel. This car manufacturer is the designer of Mom's new car. Its all very European, which Mom says makes her car snazzy. The gas tank being on the passenger side is apparently very E uro, however Mom says its annoying to remember.

I now sit facing forward in my big girl seat and I like it. Mom's new car has the L.A.T.C. H. system so I am anchored down so much that not even the wiggle has wiggle room. Mom says it was like trying to strangle an elephant to get it locked in tight.

O is for Oranges. I really like mandar in oranges.

O is for odd spelling. Mom says she'd like to clarify that if words are either mispelt or spaced oddly, it is because she doesn't want the blog to appear on G oog le's search for every weird thing
under the sun.

O is for outtings. Because Bessie has been giving Mom grief, we haven't been going out much lately but now that she has Sadie, she says we'll be going out lots now and even going on a road trip to see my friend Cade.

O is for overnight... which is how long I sleep. I go to bed now by 10 and I sleep 12 hours. Mom is working me backwards by about 10-15 minutes every night so that soon it will be 8-8 because of Mom's work schedule. Mom has to go back to work in exactly 2 months and she isn't looking forward to it.

Happy Easter everybody!

N is for new....

2007-03-29T23:14:00.000-06:00

cars.. Yipeeeeeeee Mom is getting a new car. Well new to her.

Its a 2003 Saturn L200. Its a pretty metallic light blue with a light grey interior. Has power everything. It only has 45,000kms on it (about 30,000 miles I think) and still has quite a bit of warranty left on the big stuff. It has 4 drs which was very important to Mom and it was a pretty good price. Nanna is a haggler so she negotiated. Mom says her name is Sadie. Bessie is headed to the grave. Mom patted her on the steering wheel and said Job well done, but its time for you to go. Nanna suggested euthanasia for the car, so Mom said to disconnect the battery.. Nanna said that wasn't harsh enough, so Mom said "Sugar in the tank!" I'm not sure why they both giggled like little girls at that, but I think they were both very tired. There are some issues to resolve at the dealership (the car has a clunk) and they need to inspect it to see what the clunk is and if it is going to be really expensive, the deal might fall through because the deal negotiated is for $100 more than what they paid for the car and then they wouldn't make any money at all. So we will see tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

N is also for Naps...which I missed today and I'm very cranky and very over tired and miserable.

M is for Mothers

2007-03-29T01:24:00.000-06:00

M is for Mother's Day - see our previous post regarding the Mother's Day Walk n Run

M is for all the fantastic moms out there who survive daily, some more fortunate than others, however, doing everything they can for their children.

M is mommmmmmmmma - my new word.

M is for monkey - thats what mom calls me..or monkey pants.

M is for mommy now going to bed.

L is for Loss

2007-03-20T01:08:00.000-06:00

Mommy is going to post this one.

L is for loss... loss of a child.

When I started reading blogs about premature babies, I found Kaitlyn and her family. I read their entire story one night and cried a river over the loss of baby Corinne who saved her sister in utero. I then went on and found other stories, some with loss and some without, each with compelling and heartfelt stories of life with a preemie or two (in some cases three!). I cried along with Eric and Tobie, with Jennifer and her 3, and today I cry for Tertia.

By no means do I want to give off the wrong impression, and I honestly am sorry for their losses. But I am so grateful that my miracle preemie is where she is today. She survived against all odds and she is a little fighter. I am grateful for every moment. Today, we went swimming for the first time and went with Auntie Deanna and her cousins Daniel and Dylan and my little monkey played and splashed and screeched and laughed. But if she hadn't been a fighter, we wouldn't have been swimming today. Fingers crossed we avoided germs.

Urgh

2007-03-17T00:19:00.000-06:00

From da mom

Urgh urgh....

I think we're over the illness here but I can tell you we're buying stocks in Scott Tissue or Kleenex or something because my nose is _done_. The cough is still lingering but by no means are we barking like dogs. However my mom is sick now. Sorry ma.

I have had a very roller coaster week. Financially its been getting tighter and tighter as my savings are slowly dwindling and seeing not much coming in until the beginning of May. At least I go back to work on June 4th. Then when I was all doom n gloom, I got a cheque yesterday for reimbusement 100% for my new glasses. At MOST I thought I'd get back $150 and I thought it would be much later in the month that I'd see it. So it was a little cheerier. Then I found out about 8 hours ago that things could get a little tougher if things go the way I think they will.
But then again, I start doing a 3 week contract on April 1 that should make things slightly less gloomy.
Then I start thinking about selling my house, moving to Kelowna (with or without my parents) and not working any more than I have to and living on the profits of my house. (I bought for 94,000 in 1994... tax assessment is 290,000 and we all know thats lower than market) Then I think "What if I hate it? I can't come back to Calgary and get a house..." So maybe I'll wait for the parents to move and visit lots first.

Then I sit back and watch my little miracle. Today I managed to get yoghurt into my little monster without so much as a fuss, spit or gag. I got beef barley soup into her and she loved it. One day we will do this smooth stuff all the time like it was nothing.

She's 10x her birth weight now. 22.8 lbs! Helmet free and so close to walking its scary! She gets very brave and lets go of whatever she is holding onto and then lunges at someone/something to catch her. She doesn't crawl much to get where she wants to go anymore.. she just cruises furniture, or if there is too much of a gap, she will get down, crawl the space and get back up again to cruise the rest of the way.

We have followup appointments with the neurologist, the plagiocephaly specialist, the physiotherapist and the occupational therapist, but I think that at this point, we're almost done with everyone until she's 2 for reassessment. We will still see speech pathology until she starts school but for the most part, she is done with living at Children's Hospital. It is too bad they don't offer yearly parking passes.

I have alot more to say but... really...this isn't the place.

K is for Kangaroo

2007-03-16T00:19:00.000-06:00

Kangaroo care is what it is called when you have skin on skin contact with your baby and that's what Mom did alot of us when I was in the NICU/SCN. There were a couple of times that we got stuck together because of velcro or stickies from my leads! I very much enjoyed it and even after we got home, if I had trouble settling down, mom and I would Kangaroo here. I still like to be naked!

K is for Kristin... thats my Mom's name.

K is for Katy, she's Grandma Taffy's daughter and she is my friend.

K is for Rice Krispies (ok well not really, but we needed another K word)... I like these with rice milk.

J is for jammies

2007-03-15T01:52:00.000-06:00

I keep growing in odd spurts. I now fully wear an 18 month sized shirt... but still 12 months in pants. Which is completely buggering when it comes to one piece jammies. I either wear slippers over the feet so that I don't trip or step all over the legs, or my arms are sticking out at the elbows. I have a couple pairs of 2 piece jammies but again, same issue. Pants too long, shirt too small.

J is for jam. I don't like raspberry jam.

J is for jello. I have tried orange jello and it seems to be ok.

J is for jumping. I jump everywhere. I am a lean mean jumping machine. I started using people as leverage and then jump to the next person and then use them as leverage to get back where I started. I also have decided that it would be neat to try and jump off furniture, however I have been saved before I can go anywhere.

Mother's Day Walk n Run

2007-03-14T00:32:00.000-06:00

I know it is a bit early to be posting this, however...

On Sunday May 13, 2007, we will be participating in the Mother's Day Walk n Run. All funds raised in Calgary will be going to the NICU and Special Care Nurseries in Calgary.

We don't have a March of Dimes Walk of America here, however, we would appreciate the sponsorship and if you want to walk with us, let me know soon so I can get us registered as a team.

If you don't live here in Calgary and wish to sponsor us and give a pledge, please contact me at the email address on the sidebar and we can figure something out.

My thanks to anyone and all who believe that we can make a difference and help our little preemies be all they can be.

I is for infirmary

2007-03-13T00:25:00.000-06:00

I think we're headed for the infirmary. The entire house is sick. It started last week when it came home from school and now it has knocked everyone flat on their bums. Last night Mom was sitting here catching up on blogs and she could feel herself get worse by the minute. She woke up this morning feeling like death warmed over.

I have a runny nose and I had a slight fever over the weekend, but it hasn't hampered my spirit. Tonight Rachel had me in belly laughs by flipping her hat off and then blowing a raspberry. Which caused mom to laugh til she cried. Which didn't help her runny nose. Mom says we're buying shares in Scott Tissue.

So, to all that wish to come this way... don't. If you've been sick, come in contact with someone that is sick and especially if you don't want to be sick... go that way --------> cause we're so not healthy and we don't want any more germs.

H is for Happy Birthday

2007-03-08T02:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Rachel!

My big sister turns 14 today! She is one of my favourite people. When she comes home from school, I screech at her until she picks me up and we spend a few minutes together before she does her homework. Sometimes she lets me help her with it but "my sister ate my homework" may be true, it doesn't wash well with the teachers.

We had presents before bedtime on Wednesday because Mom doesn't want to get up at the crack of freakin dawn with Rachel for presents. Rachel usually gets up at 5am! on her birthday for presents!

She got some really neat pants and teeshirts from Grandma Laverty and she got lots of money towards her saxophone that she wants to buy. And she got the mini Kippy stick too. She has presents to open from Scott in the morning before school, but not at 5am!

Deviation

2007-03-08T02:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry, we're deviating from the alphabet for a post here.

Today I got rid of the helmet. Life is good. I'm going to be stumbling and crashing a bit I'm sure for a little while until I get used to not being able to push headlong into things but the first time it hurts, I'm sure I'll learn.

I was going to go see my Grandma and Auntie today but it didn't work out as Grandma forgot how long she had to work today.

And Mom promised to share a recipe with Ava & Jack's mommies so here it is..

Simple Cheater Lasagna

Freezes well, recipe makes for 6 people.
Preheat oven to 350F

1 1/2 cups of uncooked elbow macaroni
grated cheese to cover whatever size of oven safe bakeware you choose(we use a mozza cheddar mix of cheese, however just mozza works fine too)
pasta sauce
canned diced tomatoes
In my pasta sauce I use an organic prepared sauce and then spice to taste and add in green pepper, onion, garlic, mushrooms, canned diced tomatoes and often I will use ground beef or turkey. I also use organic canned tomatoes where possible.

Cook pasta in a pot larger than necessary and drain. In same pot add pasta sauce to macaroni and mix. Put in a large oven safe bakeware and mix in some grated cheese. Over top of mix, grated cheese to cover entire top. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese has completed melted and browned to your taste.
Hint: don't mix cheese into mixture in the pot you just used to cook in - half of it will stick to the pot because it will still be hot! Add the cheese once mixture is in bakeware.
This is quick, simple meal that requires approx 15 mins for pasta to cook and 20 mins in the oven and still gives the lasagna taste without all the hassle.

Another easy recipe that isn't as vegetarian friendly, but still quick n easy and a huge favourite at our house is Mushroom Soup Chicken.

4 skinless chicken breasts ( can be boneless as well, but must be skinless)
1 can of Campbell's Mushroom Soup
1/2 can of water

Mix up the soup and water in bakeware, add the four chicken breasts ensuring that they are covered by the soup/water mixture. (If you have larger breasts... I mean the chicken ones, not the double D type :-), you may want a second can of soup...if you do that, still only use 1/2 can of water) I find that if the chicken is not covered with the soup, it tends to dry out.

Bake at 350F for 45 mins. (little longer if they are not boneless)

I usually serve this with rice and use the soup as gravy on the rice.

Again, another quick n simple meal that you don't have to babysit and not alot of prep time.

G is for Google

2007-03-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

G is for Google. So today it finally happened. Mom was forced to upgrade to the new blogger or else she couldn't post. Let's just say, she hates it. Go Google.

G is for great! Today, I got my helmet gone for good. There is a huge change in the numbers from the original scan and today it was well in line and appropriate. Great! Now mom can throw out the stinky smelly helmet.

G is for Grandmas - I have lots of them. I don't know them all very well, just my Nanna and Grandma Taffy.

F is for Friends

2007-03-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

I have alot of "friends". Mom calls them lovies on here but in reality, we call them friends.

I have an entire bed full of friends. There is a bear from Mom's work, a purple hippo named Violet from Mom, a wooly sheep, several rabbits, a jingle Pooh Bear & my elephant from Grandma Laverty, a blue monkey from Rachel, a pink terry cloth bear from a friend of Mom's, Mickey Mouse that Grandma Laverty got me for Christmas and an Old Navy puppy from Santa.

I have a guardian angel bear from Daddy that is in my memory box because the seam on his foot is starting to let go and Mom doesn't want beans all over in my bed.

I have people friends too. One of Mom's friends, Danielle, had a boy named Cade last April and he is huge compared to me. And Mom's best friend in Ontario has 4 boys and Noah is a year older than me and Liam is a year younger than me.

Grandma Taffy's daughter Katy is my friend too. Today she was making me giggle by saying Dadadadada at me.

F is for french fries. I loooooooooooooooove french fries. Today Mom was off in search of the McD's Kippy mini stick that was released today, and went to 5 different McDs in search to get one for Rach's birthday and they were sold out everywhere. She finally found some in a different town! In order to get them, you have to order food and she wasn't hungry so she brought back a Big Mac meal for Hoser and he shared his fries with me.

F is for french toast. I like this. Mom made it for breakfast on the weekend and I liked it.. or maybe it was just the syrup.

F is for flailing....arms. I sure know how to flail when I am not getting my way. Or make myself go limp. Mom says the terrible twos started 5 weeks ago.

F is for four... the number of teeth I am currently cutting.

F is for five more minutes of sleep for Mom. Which is where she is going now.

E is for Ecstatic

2007-03-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

A year ago today, I came home from the hospital, just over 4 lbs and healthy. Ecstatic is how Mommy felt that day, and terrified too. But we have made it a year at home, with only a few issues and my determined spirit keeps me strong and happy.

E is for Elmo. I like Elmo's World and I have play cell phone that sings the song to me that Grandma Taffy gave me for my birthday.

E is for elephants. I have an elephant lovie that I carry around by the tail or the trunk. Grandma Laverty gave it to me when I came home last year.

D is for Dadadadaadadadaaaaaaaaaa

2007-03-04T02:21:00.000-07:00

Dadda was my first word but it wasn't directed at Daddy, it was just easy to say. Now I use it when I am playing with Mom and we are 'arguing'. I will say Da Da Da Daaaaaaaa and she will say Mama ma ma maaaaaaaa and we go back and forth and giggle.

D is for Dory. I love Finding Nemo. I watch it and squeal at the fish.

D is for Dot.. or my word for Scott. I call him Dot and I call him loudly when I want his attention.

D is for Determined. Someone said "spirited" was a good word, and we'll go with that. I am exceptionally determined to get places and do things. Sometimes they are not good things - like trying to climb the stairs without help.

C is for Cookie...

2007-03-03T02:33:00.000-07:00

...that's good enough for me.

I love Baby Mum Mum's, Ritz Crackers, and Oreo Thinsensations. I totally mush them all and make a mess, but they're GOOOOOOD.

C is also for crazy. I will stand at the coffee table and slam my hand into the table and laugh hysterically at the noise. Mom will laugh with me and say I'm crazy which makes me laugh more.

C is for car. Bessie the beast is still running and the things mom changed last weekend seem to have solved the issue for the moment and saved Mom from having to figure out financially how to get a new car. She's hoping Bessie will make it til she goes back to work in June and has a permanent income again.

C is for computer. Mom looks at the blogs she has listed on the side almost every day and I sit on her knee and watch with her. I especially like watching the videos of Cole & Paige.

C is for clapping. If someone says 'yay', and claps, I will clap too. Mom says I'm cute when I clap.

C is for crib. I have discovered that if I hold the siderail while standing and bounce, the mattress has some serious coils and I can bounce almost as well as I can in the exersaucer.

And lastly, C is for crawling and climbing. I can move at the speed of light. If there is a cat, puppy or human in my way, thats ok, I will climb over. Mom has made a barricade across the living room, made up of my foamy chair, my bike, the piano bench and the arm chair because I am determined to climb the stairs or come to the computer and pull cords. I spend at least an hour a day trying to climb over the barricade. (Note: this space is far too wide for any baby gate and I have yet to find any of the baby fencing to make a corral)

B is for Bathtime

2007-03-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love bathtime. I screech and laugh and kick and splash and basically turn the bathroom into Waterworld. Only there is no Kevin Kostner.

I don't like having the water poured over my head and I hold my breath til its over, but otherwise, I'd stay in the tub til I was frozen and pruned from head to toe.

B is also for bananas. I don't like real bananas - I make that Buckley's face when I have it in my mouth or even in my hands.

B is also for bumps and bruises. As it gets closer to the date that I get my helmet off, mom is more and more worried about the bumps and bruises that will appear as I am completely fearless and I plough headlong into everything and she figures I will be black n blue in a week.

A is for Applesauce

2007-03-01T01:43:00.000-07:00

I have had applesauce a few times but mom bought Mott's Fruit Sensations with different fruits in it to try. I don't like it. At all. I don't like the texture, I don't like it smoother and I don't like the taste. I like the smell, but as soon as it hits my tongue, I make a Buckley's face and spit it out.

A is also for alien language. I had to go to speech pathology yesterday and I sat with a man who played weird alien language for me and it was very strange. Mom was able to just tune it out but it was a repetition of several 'words' that weren't real to apparently see if I noticed a pattern. After 5 1/2 minutes of this, I wanted no more to do with it and was ready for Mom.

A is also for aluminum foil. I have discovered the joys of ratting aluminum foil. Mom has discovered the joys of Tylenol because of it.

Alphabet Game

2007-03-01T01:40:00.000-07:00

Since my mom is playing this on her blog, she thought it would be fun to do it here. If you'd like to play along, please do! Leave us a comment if you do play along so we can follow your game!

What you do is each day or so, you post with a theme... the theme is a word that begins with the next letter in the alphabet.

For example, A is for Apple.. the theme of your post is apples.

So here goes...

Peace

2007-02-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

Mom here...

Recently there have been visits to the blog by Presleigh's father and he has been leaving unnecessary comments in her guestbook which I have deleted as necessary.

I will not turn this into your forum to air your grievances, if you refuse to leave an email address or refuse to return phone calls or even make a phone call, then please take your anger and bitterness away from your daughter's blog.

I am not going to remove her blog as we will not be driven away by your behaviour. However, I will make it impossible for you to continue to leave comments anywhere here if this behaviour continues. This is NOT about you, about me, about us... it is about Presleigh. Remember that.

I am completely at peace with our life. We are doing quite ok and we do not need the negativity that you are bringing here and if you wish to discuss this like a rational adult, then please let us do so away from her space.
My email address is on the sidebar if you wish to use it.

Update on Bessie

2007-02-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

Mom has changed the spark plugs and the PVC valve today and Bessie seems to sound better but it didn't get rid of the check engine light. So she will take Bessie in on Monday morning and see what's up with her.

Go blogger

2007-02-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

If there were multiple posts and alot of html code and things that just were rather unpleasant for you to see, Mom says she is sorry. Blogger appears to have taken M e t h a d o n e.
Mom's car is sick so she is getting a new one next week unless Bessie can be fixed for less than $500, cause Bessie isn't worth putting more than $500 into her. Bessie had her regular oil change last week and the check engine light came on exactly a week later and she's down a litre of oil but she isn't burning oil. Mom didn't see any leaks under the car on the snow so she suspected something jarred loose on Pothole Pass (aka any Calgary road). She took it back to the garage and they can't find any reason so they are going to do an estimate on Monday.

Baby Amillia

2007-02-22T18:44:00.003-07:00

Baby Amillia is finally going home. I've only just heard of her story in recent days, but I have prayed for her every day since I heard.... she was just shy of 22 weeks gestation and weighed a tiny 10 oz and was under 10 inches in length. She will have her challenges, but she's healthy and going home!

Here is some of her story....

I will think of you Amillia.

Rice milk

2007-02-17T23:33:00.000-07:00

Since rice milk doesn't have much protein, fats or any of the really good stuff that homo milk does, the advice has been that it needs to be fortified with something (or mom needs to get Lactaid and add it to homo milk which she finds a pain in the butt), so now I get 2 oz of ensure with 6 oz of rice milk for my bottles and she is still trying to feed me meals 3 times a day. I don't like oatmeal, I don't like rice cereal, wheat cereal or any other goop. I'm not crazy about scrambled eggs (we haven't tried a soft boiled egg yet tho), but I do like toast and peanut butter. I have soup usually for lunch with toast or crackers and for dinner I have some of whatever everyone else is having except meat. I will not eat meat of any kind. I spit it out or if I see if on the spoon I will just push it away. I want no part of it.

So mom has been trying to overcome the challenge of getting proteins into me and trying to make sure I'm getting enough calories because I can't subsist on rice milk and Ensure as much as I want to. Mom was able to find lactose free high protein ensure at Shopper's and the pharmacist there thinks that will help with the calories and protein until we can get more food into me.
Its not that I'm not growing, I am growing leaps and bounds. I am now wearing 18 months size for my shirts and 12 months size for my pants and I have big feet!

On another note... 3 more weeks of my helmet and we're gonna be freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Mom says my head looks perfect now! She can't wait to get rid of that smelly yechy thing.

Updates Updates!

2007-02-10T23:49:00.000-07:00

I got spoilt rotten on my birthday! I got my first baby doll and she was a hit! She sings Patty Cakes to me and it makes me giggle. I also got clothes and toys and a very cool cake. Mom made me a teddy bear cake with electric pink icing. (mom: think the colour of this blog template!)

Another update too, we have transitioned from Enfamil Lactose Free to rice milk. I really like it and so far my tummy hasn't been upset. It has only been two days, but we'll see how it goes.

Happy Birthday Princess...

2007-02-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

It has been a very short year. It seems like only yesterday that things took such a dramatic turn.

When Nanna met Mommy at the hospital on Feb 1 at 1pm, I was scared and so was Nanna. You were so tiny and I was scared you were going to have so much trouble when you got here.

When they took you off to the NICU with Nanna, as I lay on the table while the doctors fixed me up, I let the tears roll down my cheek with joy and worry.

But I don't have much to worry about now. Sure, we have our obstacles and our challenges. However, you've overcome them with just the slightest bit of help. Kelli showed you how to climb stairs to lift your tummy last week, so on the 24th of January, you lifted your belly up, propped up your knees and took off. Your exceptional amount of drool started early, but you took your sweet time about getting a tooth. And then another and yet another on its way. Claire showed you how to hold your spoon so you had some control over what you ate and how much... now you are doing so much better as long as you have texture. The smooth stuff is still pretty gross in your opinion and you're still not keen on meat.

We're healthy now. Thankfully. And soon, it won't be long until you've caught up with everyone else too.

My little smarty-pants. You've figured out how to pull yourself up to your feet without any help, and you've started maneouvering around the tables (and people and couches and toys and the piano and and and), and you've managed to figure out how to get attention by flinging your lovies out of the crib and them crashing into the monitor and sending a flurry of people to see what happened. You talk and you argue and you laugh and you sing... none of which makes sense yet, but it is still a melody to me.

You're one today and I thank my stars every day of the miracle and the blessing that you are. I have so many wishes for you and I know you'll be whatever you want to be.

Love Mommy
xxoo

We've gone public!

2007-01-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

Well sorta... Mom has been playing the 'stock market' with my blog. On BlogShares, you list your blog on the fantasy stock market and you are valued by those that come to BlogShares via your blog and various other methods.

She has alot to learn since she's a newbie when it comes to playing the stocks, but has spent some time learning as well as looking through
random blogs.

The game is very cool - mom has become somewhat of a junkie with respect to chip collecting/spending. She owns the majority of shares in my blog and found that her blog was already listed so she claimed it too!

It is very surprising how many people have blogs, but do nothing with them for years and don't delete them. Part of earning your value is voting for the industries that a blog should be catergorized in. And in doing so, she has reported alot of 'dead' blogs.

So, if you want to have a little fun, go play with your blog and make your children some fantasy money! My value is just shy of a billion now! Too bad it wasn't real!

On another note, I'm no worse for wear after yesterday's crashing. I have just a little blister/bump on my lip and I'm back to my usual self. I even let Mom put Vaseline inside my nose and it didn't bother me for her to touch it.

Owie

2007-01-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

If you click on the pic below with me holding the funny zebra ears, above my head is a glass jar on top of the tv. Today, I was having a temper tantrum and slamming the tv table and it fell on my face :( Thankfully I had my helmet on or it would have been worse. I have a fat lip and my nose bled a little, but overall I'm ok.

Mom panicked alot, but the nurses at the Health Link have assured her that as long as my nose isn't still bleeding and that she can't feel my nose actually move, that I'm probably ok and just to keep an eye on me for the next day or so.

Bad bad cookie jar.

As Promised, Take two

2007-01-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

This zebra has funny ears. The Bounce N Go Zebra is really cool, but I'm still too short. Mom put it away for my birthday.

Upside down with Nanna, one of my favourite things to do. You can just see the edge of that first tooth coming in too.

As Promised

2007-01-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

Mickey! My new bedtime lovie.

Rachel was helping me open this present.

The *best* present ever - after opening it, I ate the wrapping paper.

I'm gonna drive to Nanna's, let's go!

Sharing my Baby Mum Mum with Rachel

This is me last week trying to stand in my crib... notice the creativity at pushing the bumper pads out of the way.

I just *love* blogger, so Mom has to create this post several times. If its ugly looking, she's sorry but this is how its staying now.

Something cool...

2007-01-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Mom was looking around about other babies and found a very cool link.

http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook

They will print and bind your blog!

Mom hopes she can get this all spiffed up a little with more photos and info so that its more presentable in book form before submission, but she thinks she might do this.

She also says that 1 yr ago this week was the start of things with me coming early. She was in the hospital a year ago today and wanting to go home.

My original date to be here depended on who you asked. If you asked Mom's GP, it was March 26 and if you asked Mom's High Risk OB, it was April 2nd. So we've decided that April 2nd will be the official date. Mom was aiming for anything after March 21st to avoid another Pisces in her life.

Craziness

2007-01-14T00:52:00.000-07:00

Mom: I apologize for not updating sooner, its just been a rather wild couple of weeks.

Presleigh has her second tooth now and on the mend. I however, am not.. I could sleep the sleep of the gods...

I committed to a part time job to go until at least mid March if not longer, plus I intend to apply for another one that starts in April. I've been doing some subcontract work that has started to finally pay off so all in all its coming together slowly, I'd just like another 22 hours in a day, of which I'd confiscate 20 to sleep.

I also solemnly promise to update with photos once I figure out where once again the USB cable has gone. I'm certain that the moment I use it, someone wants it for something else and takes it never to return it again. We've got so many things that have USB connections in this house, you'd think we'd have more than one cable...but alas, I think they're in storage/technology heaven.

Anyways, I'm off to try and recoup some lost hours of sleep...

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

I'm 11 months old today too! Adjusted age is just shy of 9 months.

I'm getting pretty good at rolling and sitting and sitting back up from being on my back or tummy. I'm still not all that keen on food and I nibble bits here and there but I won't eat a meal.

Last night I tried a little bit of a spring roll and I really liked it. I also had some toasted garlic bread and liked that too. Didn't want any pureed food though.

Mom is planning my birthday party and its gonna be neat. I can't wait.

I hope everyone had a nice New Year's Eve and best wishes for 2007 and hugs to my preemie friends.

I have a tooth

2006-12-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeee. My gums have been so swollen the past couple of days, and singing "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" must have worked.

I have a tooth and the second one is coming right behind it.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

Boy did I get spoilt. One of the first presents I opened was a toy remote control - it wouldn't leave my hands. Unwrapping presents became non essential, I had a remote.

Santa left clothes, a stride n ride, a bounce n go zebra, and a very big story book with lots and lots of colourful pictures and a telephone. I've called everyone and screeched at them at least once.

My nanna made me a beautiful quilt. Mom says she will post a picture of just that.

Santa left big boxes under the tree for everyone!
Mommy got some new kitchen things (new pots to bang on!) and some pretty smelling perfume and concert tickets and lots of other things too.

(Mom: Christmas freakin exploded in this house! Guess who is spending next week organizing dressers and a closet?)

Merry Christmas everyone, pictures to come.

Help requested.

2006-12-22T01:13:00.000-07:00

My internet friend, Liz McCarthy and her little bundle of joy, Miss Kaitlyn are in desperate need of some help.

Miss K has some ..ok alot.. of feeding issues and seems to do ok on breastmilk. However, their supply is dwindling. They are looking for donated breastmilk from anyone who is drug & alcohol free & in good health, and willing to donate (Liz is more than happy to pay shipping).

Please if you can help, or know someone that can, please direct them to http://lizmccarthy.blogspot.com and they can either leave a comment or follow Liz's directions about contacting her by email.

Merry Christmas everyone..only 3 more big sleeps til Santa comes.

Christmas is almost here...

2006-12-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't been to see Santa as I saw him and started to cry. Mom has been trying to get to get my pictures done but time is not on our side these days.

Not much new on this front. The helmet isn't bothering me at all. And I sit for hours now without help. Yay.

Merry Christmas everyone. Mom says she will post pictures of Christmas.

My helmet

2006-12-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Its pretty cool and I don't seem to mind it at all. Mom is going to paint it pink and put a crown on it and make me a true princess.

Almost Christmas

2006-12-05T01:04:00.000-07:00

Mom here:

I can't believe she's 10 months old already. Where has the time gone? I think it left with the nice weather because we're just coming out of a huge ugly deepfreeze that left my car inoperable for 2 days. The past 2-3 months we've settled into a rather normal routine. Please don't hate me for this.... Presleigh gets up about 10-1030am, she has a bottle about a 1/2 hr after she gets up (she's not a morning eater and neither am I), then she plays for about an hr - 90 mins and then its back down for a 2 hr nap. She's up between 2-230pm and has a bottle, and then we play HARD and do physio exercises. She has another bottle about 6pm and has a short 30-45 min nap. She plays hard for another 3 - 3 1/2 hrs and then a bottle & bed by 10ish. I have tried to switch this so she's going to bed earlier and then waking earlier, but if I move it back by even 30 mins at a time, she's up at 7 and miserable by 8. Tonight was late as we were watching a movie at Grandma Taffy's and it was midnight when she got into bed so I expect I will have to wake her at 10 to get ready to go to do our errands.

I haven't posted much about this on here as I was doing my best to keep this as positive and upbeat as I could even with our feeding issues which really aren't horrible... however, I guess since I've eluded to it several times, and been asked about it, I should elaborate.

When I was 6 months pregnant, Presleigh's father decided it was OK to leave. Upon hearing of her birth, he immediately (intoxicated and all) wanted to come to the hospital but was told that he was not allowed and to wait. Because of that statement he chose to make my NICU time turn into chaos. The laws in Canada do not automatically grant a biological father guardianship if there has been no permanent relationship (common law or marriage) between the biological parents. (When Presleigh was conceived, we were engaged however not living together at that point.) So, he could not be at the bedside without me... nor could anyone else for that matter. Which he didn't like one iota. So he chose to show up randomly whenever he felt like it. I laid it out for him that if I could get my very sore post c-section body out of bed every day and drive across the freakin city when I wasn't supposed to be driving, then he could get his ass to the hospital every day for a couple of hours after work or he should not bother at all. That made him angry and he stopped coming. And then he stopped calling for updates. He made the decision at he end of June that if he couldn't see her on his terms*, then he wouldn't see her at all. And he has not seen her since June 25th. He hasn't called since September.
In light of all of that, I have a court order for child support being enforced by Maintenance Enforcement and I have a court order for Sole Custody and Day to Day Care and Control. The reasons that I have done this is because he is an alcoholic and he has a history of violence. She doesn't need it and I'm grateful that I got out when I did.
I told him at some point that I thanked him. He asked me for what. I said when he was sober, he'd know. But what I was thanking him for was for setting me free... free from the abuse and the crap and the life that I didn't want.
His mother and sister haven't seen her recently except briefly at the tree ceremony in September. They haven't called me since May.
Each one of them have no idea the preemie issues and expect that she's considered no longer premature. She's past her due date so she can't be premature any longer. I've tried my damndest to explain to them the issues and when she is 'expected' to catch up to other babies/toddlers... but I am failing that miserably.

I have been debating for about 2 weeks now if I should include them in the Christmas card mailout with her studio photos (that have yet to be taken so I expect that they'll be new years photos *laugh*), should I be asking them if they intend to do anything with regards to her or if I should just let them keep digging themselves into the hole and when she's old enough she can ask them where the hell they've been for the past howevermany years? I haven't changed my phone number, I haven't moved... my email is still the same.. *shrug* Maybe once my sister has left and my mom slows down for 30 seconds, I'll talk to her about it.

Anyways, basically the point of all of this babble was to clarify things that people had asked me via email... hope that helps.

* His terms are that he wants to pick her up Friday night and bring her back Sunday night - an alcoholic that binge drinks all weekend that can barely take care of himself wanted weekend access to an infant with feeding issues that didn't sleep through the night til she was 10 weeks adjusted. He can barely pay his bills on time to avoid cut offs and had a girlfriend at the time that drank more than he did and a brother than smokes pot whenever possible and a mother than enables them both. < / start sarcasm >Perfect situation for me to leave my daughter in.. < / end sarcasm >

Happy Turkey Day

2006-11-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Turkey Day to my US visitors. Our Thanksgiving was in October and we celebrated it by throwing a surprise party for Scott. He turned 40 and we turned it into an Over The Hill party. I was very enamoured with the mylar helium filled balloon.

I had a scan on my head this week to measure the size and shape for my helmet. I get my helmet in 2 weeks. Mom was very happy that it will be covered under insurance as it was $2600 and $1100 of that is covered by the Health Region, the other $1500 was up to mom.

Today I spent the evening with mom and my sister at Grandma Taffy's. I had a blast with a plastic pop bottle. 'Hoser' was teasing me with it at the dinner table and then when I got it, I played for quite awhile with it.

Mom has been doing a part time job to help supplement her money because she gets no extra help from dad and her benefits are pretty little so I've spent quite a bit of time this week at home with Scott. I have helped him tidy up around here by throwing my toys further than they were when he picked them up, shreading a catalogue and painting with my bottle.

I get my first of two flu shots in a couple of weeks and then I get the second one on my first birthday with my one year immunizations. Mom figured it was best I be miserable all at once rather than spreading it out over 2 different appointments the same week. She's looking forward to that.

I got a new car seat from Nanna and Grampa for an early Christmas present, however, it doesn't fit in mom's car rear facing. They got me a really nice Eddie Bauer convertible seat, but I guess they aren't designed for 2 door cars. Mom says she'll have to flip me over the top and tuck me in from the hatchback. I don't think so. Mom is going to get a tether bolt installed in her car next week and put me forward facing probably in mid December because I'm getting too heavy for my bucket.

(Mom: If there are any expectant families out there, I have two matching infant Evenflo seats, one used, one not (it was cheaper to buy two than to buy a second base from Evenflo) and they're pretty neutral in colour - beige with 'faded' slate blue and a light sage green check pattern with a giraffe on the back. I have them for sale for $45 for the used, $60 for the unused or $100 for the pair - they're $119 each brand new(canadian dollars). I'll ship anywhere, I accept paypal or hyperwallet and I'll ship the cheapest way I can, you cover the shipping. I can post/email a photo if anyone is interested. Send me an email: alloneword at shaw dot ca)

PT

2006-11-17T23:55:00.000-07:00

I had an appointment with Kelli today. I got to play with some very cool toys. She was very excited at my progress with sitting. She still wants Mom to practise the rolling more. I showed her that I could do it, I just don't like to. She also told Mom I'm not allowed in my exersaucer anymore. I love my exersaucer, however it is making me stand on my tip toes too much and then I will be walking tip toes rather than flat foot. So I'm allowed 15 mins a day max. I also have to practise sitting up from being on my side and my tummy.

I also have to practise riding mom's knee like a horse with mom only holding at my pelvis to practise my balance. Giddy up go!! I also have to practise sitting to standing on mom's lap. I do that really well already, but with help, I need to practise doing it on my own.
I go back and see her in a month.

Next Tuesday my Grampa goes in to have surgery on his heart. He hasn't been allowed to carry me around when I've visited the last few times because his heart isn't very strong and he has to have triple bypass surgery. Grampa instead lets me bang everything with the backscratcher. I like sticks so much that mom has given me a wooden spoon to bang everything with.

Mom went Christmas shopping. I've seen what I'm getting for Christmas but it doesn't mean much to me right now. She says that Santa comes too, but I've no idea who that is. Mom figures I'll just eat the wrapping paper. (mom: I'm thinking of wooden spoons in her stocking!)

Doc Band stuff

2006-11-14T02:14:00.000-07:00

As I previously posted, I have to get a special helmet called a Doc Band. I go on the 23rd of Nov to have my head scanned for the shape and then on Dec 14 I get my helmet. I then go once a week for adjustments until early January.

I'm looking forward to it but it is kinda scary at the same time. I'm glad that I'm not in school because kids can be so mean. But at least it will hopefully fix the shape of my head.

Mom has been pretty busy lately and I got to stay home tonight with my sister. She says I was a wild animal. Blowing raspberries and then screaming at the top of my lungs and then laughing at her reaction. Now all I want to do is stand up and hold myself up on everything. No more of this sitting stuff, or exersaucer. I want to stand, now now now now. And I will have quite the temper tantrum if you make me stop standing to do something else.
Mom just can't wait for the terrible twos.

Bumbo Seat

2006-11-07T00:28:00.000-07:00

There was a news story today on my Bumbo Seat. Mom suspected it would be some sort of safety warning about not leaving your child unattended because the Bumbo claims to be the Babysitter seat and she said that someone probably left their child alone in it and they fell and got hurt. The news story was basically that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Bumbo, its the parents. The parent that leaves their baby in a Bumbo on a counter or table top or something similarly high and the baby falls out because they arch their back and get out (there are no straps to hold me in on a Bumbo). So if you use a Bumbo properly (on the floor where I can't fall far if I do get out), then there is no issue. All of the hoopla over something simple as common sense.

Pictures!

2006-11-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

Mom found the USB cable, so here are some pictures!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Having a hug with Freckles and Nanna

Freckles was only after the squash on my face.

Home sweet home

Truly Canadian eh?

2006-11-05T00:47:00.000-07:00

When Mom was a teenager, there was two guys named Bob & Doug McKenzie on a tv show called SCTV. They put out an album called The Great White North and coined the phrases "Take off eh?" and "Ya hoser". Our neighbour, Grandma Taffy's husband Mac (mom: I'm going to teach Presleigh to call him hoser ;-)) keeps singing the coo roo coo coo coo to me and today I started laughing at him.

I've started rolling more until I get stuck. I still am not a fan of being on my tummy unless I am on someone and supporting myself on them.
Today I was standing holding onto the exersaucer without any help from mom and I was flatfoot!

I'm getting better with some foods. I really like squash so far. The cereal experiment has failed so we're going to try something different next week.

The medicine has worked and I'm feeling lots better, however mom is not. The Benalyn commercial where the woman is sick and struggling to get up and get ready for work and couldn't decide if she should go to work or not (the song playing in the commercial is "Should I stay or Should I go" by the Clash).. that was mom this morning.

Mom and I were over visiting Kaitlyn, Liz & Brian's site and watched some videos of K which were VERY cute. Mom always manges to get the video camera out too late to capture the silly moments, however, she has some pictures of me trying to eat a very large mylar balloon. She says that she promises new pictures very soon. (Mom: soon means when I can find who did what with the USB cable.. I think the same technology thiefs must be coming to my house that are at hiding out with Cole and Paige)

Sick...

2006-11-03T02:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sick. Mom's sick. I have an ear infection but I'm not too terribly miserable with it, but I'm MUCH happier now that I'm on strawberry banana medicine. I SLURP it out of the syringe. Funnily enough, Mom and I are on the same antibiotics. Mom has strep throat for the bazillionth time in her life. I didn't go to OT and PT today because we're sick. I do however, get to get a flu shot next week which I'm not looking forward to. We're going to wait til we're better first. (ed: so I can get sick again)

I'm currently upside down in my crib with every stuffed animal thrown to the other end and the blanket over my head. Mom is still awake because the coughing hurts her chest and throat but she'd like to be upside down with the blanket over her head.

This weekend if we're feeling better, we're going to go paint pottery for our lawyer to say thank you and put my handprints on the mugs we're going to make. Our lawyer is a very nice lady who likes to cuddle me when she sees me, which isn't very often but she has long hair I can pull.

I have started sitting up better and I don't roll everywhere just yet, but I do roll sometimes. Today I decided to tip over from sitting and then roll over to my sister and try and eat her homework. She thought it would be a good excuse "My sister ate my homework.", however Mom intervened.
I really like paper and cardboard and Mom is patiently waiting when I become engrossed with stickers and tape like my sister did. My sister used to take rolls of scotch tape and loop it together and stick it to everything and then pick it off. To this day, we still find half used rolls of scotch tape in the strangest of places.

We won!

2006-10-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Today mom feels like she won the lottery.

The judge today told mom that she could have sole custody of me. She also got offered another part time job starting early next year so that mom doesn't have to worry about money when she is home with me. Because I don't qualify for RSV needles again this season, the doctor doesn't want me in daycare until RSV season is over. So mom can't afford to put me into private daycare and has to take a leave of absence from March 5 until May 31st. So during that time, mom won't receive Employment Insurance Benefits but with the part time job, mom can afford to stay with me now. Yay!

I have learnt how to get someone's attention without screaming! (mom: yay for my ears) I 'chirp' at the person and they look and then I laugh at them. Mom says I'm cute.

Doc Band Clinic

2006-10-27T22:26:00.000-06:00

I had an appointment today with Heather Graham... no not _that_ one... Dr Graham of the Doc Band clinic.

I have been diagnosed as having deformational plagiocephaly. Which is a deformity of the skull... in layman's terms... my head is crooked.

I will get a 'helmet' of sorts that I will wear 23 hrs a day that will assist in the shaping of my head.

Here is a link that gives some better details. In terms of severity, I am a 10 out of 15 - I was graded a 2 in all areas except my range of motion of my neck and I was given a 0 (0 being the best, 3 being the worst).

There are several causes, and I have a number of them - Prematurity, Torticollis & sleeping on one side too much.

They've told mom she can pick the colour for the outside of it with a pretty pattern, or she can design one herself. She said she was going to try and make one with pretty scripts. Because the outter coating is heat treated, it tends to stretch the pretty pictures out sideways and the daisy one looks like they have been flattened by a lawnmower. So she's going to keep that in mind when she's drawing and writing.

On Wednesday next week I will be 9 months old. Hard to believe! And on a sad note, its been 4 months since I've seen my Daddy. I've started saying 'dadadadada' and he's missing it.

Grumpy

2006-10-22T20:04:00.000-06:00

I'm so grumpy today that no one wants to deal with me. I've been Oscar the Grouch.

On other notes, I'm trying to roll - sometimes I'm successful, other times I get very stuck. I sit with lots of pillows as I'm still very wobbly.

I despise my cereal, and I really despise plums. I'm kinda liking pasta with veggies even though it smells like squash.

On that note, I'm going to bed again because I'm miserable and tired.

Mom's turn to post

2006-10-11T00:14:00.000-06:00

Hi from the mom... Today has been the first 'eyeopening' day in a long time about how Presleigh seems to fall through the cracks of everything. I'll do my best to give as much background here. I apologise if I'm whinging, but I guess that I feel I need to vent a little on Presleigh's blog rather than my own as this is more relevant here.

On Jan 16, I was admitted to the hospital as my blood pressure was thru the roof. I was left alone for 4 days (not one doctor came to visit, I just had nurses giving me meds and monitoring Presleigh) and I finally demanded someone come see me because I couldn't stand it anymore. I was sent home on the antenatal programme and bedrest. I had appointments with the doctor, ultrasounds, and nurses coming 4 times a week - how someone is supposed to be on bedrest with zero support from anyone to take me to these appointments and with all the nurses coming is beyond me. I went to my first weekly ultrasound on the 23rd, everything seemed to be 'ok'ish - still concerns about my bp, however, Presleigh was kicking and moving for them. I went to my second weekly ultrasound on the 30th and was sent from there back to the hospital and was given a report to take with me. For the rest of my life I will remember the following text that was at the very bottom of the report (which was not in an envelope, folded, anything):

NO BABE MOVEMENTS, HIGH RISK OF STILLBIRTH, NO GROWTH IN 7 DAYS, PLACENTA & CORD NON FUNCTIONAL

I stood in the parking lot of the building where I had the ultrasound, looking at this, trying not to break down in front of Rachel as she had been with me and waiting for her dad to come get her. The moment I sat down in the car, Presleigh wholloped my cervix with one powerful umph and I said "thats my girl, you show them" and started bawling. I kept seeing "stillbirth" flashing in front of my eyes. How I drove from there to the hospital is beyond me. I still had all sorts of logistics flashing in front of my eyes... how was my car to get home? Could someone pick up my stuff at various things for me that were waiting for me? What about getting Rachel to school tomorrow for her field trip? I can't find my bank card for paying for parking. I don't have anything ready for a baby yet... her room isn't painted. How do I reach my mom, she's in Ontario?

When I arrived, for some reason they felt it was better for me to have a private room - I guess because they feared the worst. I was on complete bedrest - no getting up to pee, no shower, no nothing. I was allowed into a wheelchair to be wheeled around, but even then I got scowled at. I had to take someone and show them where my car was, sheesh. I sent home the majority of my stuff I had had with me - there is no point in trying to keep track of my jacket and clothes etc - someone can bring me clean ones when its time to go home. A nurse showed up with a very pointy needle and poked me - then told me what it was - steroids for baby's lung development. Reality started to sink in. I made it to the hospital in time to have had tv and telephone hooked up before end of the day, so I was able to cry on people and watch the hockey games.

On Feb 1, I had another ultrasound and nothing had changed from the one on the 30th. I had had two steroid shots and they decided to transfer me to another hospital that delivers babies that are prior to 32 weeks. Lights flashing and sirens blazing, off we went. The rest of this part of the story is back in the archives if you want to read more on that...

Back in the archives I've mentioned MRIs and all sorts of stuff of issues we've come across...

Everything that we've gone through as far as getting into physio, seeing OT, etc, has all been because I've had to ASK for help. I was never given anything - phone numbers, books, brochures, referrals etc when we were discharged from the NICU/SCN. I was never offered support systems, I was never offered contact with other parents, nothing. I've always thought that there should be something in the NICU that has a list of contact information if you need help with something, anything.... which brings me to my rant.

Because Presleigh was over 30 weeks, we were never informed of the Early Intervention programme. Because she was over 30 weeks, it was not an automatic referral to OT. Because she was over 30 weeks and 'healthy', we were never given anything other than a referral to a ped. Last week I was invited to join the Parents in Partnership council for the NICU/SCN for the health region. Tonight was the first meeting for me to attend.

WOW

Did we ever fall through the cracks. There is a book we were supposed to get called Going Home? Now What? - You And Your Preemie Baby. Its a comphrensive list of services, referrals, contacts... more than you can possibly imagine. Because she was over 30 weeks, we didn't get outpatient perinatal nurses, we have received 1 and I repeat that, 1 visit from a nurse. That was the day after we came home in March.

I can't wait to get more involved with PIP and hopefully help preemies not be caught in the same place we were.
There were so many things that vary from hospital to hospital obviously, but when you're all falling under the same governing body, you'd think there would be some consistancy. I also found out that there were some gifts we should have received.. never got those either. Not that it matters, but obviously we 'missed' alot of things. I was thinking tonight on the way to the meeting that I was surprised how they seem to keep honouring the volunteer cuddlers however, it was never once offered to us for a volunteer to come in when we weren't there. There was one day that I couldn't get to the hospital due to weather and it would have been nice to know that there was someone giving cuddles.

Prior to tonight, I felt that we had had a reasonably 'ok' stay in the NICU/SCN until I heard stories from other moms. How they'd developed friendships with other parents and how they'd bonded in the pumping room etc... And each time a mom mentioned that, all that kept flashing in my mind was the baby that was in the isolette next to us that had arrived in the NICU in a quarentine/oxygen tent weighing somewhere in the neighbourhood of 600grams and that when I walked in to the pod and saw mom standing there crying, I reached out my hand to squeeze hers and the nurse came along and 'slammed' the curtains closed between us. The message was loud n clear, so I stuck to our pod and kept our curtains drawn and stayed secluded. I realize now how isolated we were. When we were transferred to another hospital, it was warm and inviting and in our area with 10 beds (12 babies - 2 sets of twins), all the moms would sit and cuddle with their babies and we would talk and discuss everything from shoes to our babies and it was encouraged.

Armed now with all this information, all this wish to make things better, I've signed up to be a hospital volunteer. (ye gods what have I done?) My desire is to go back to the second hospital where we were discharged from and ensure that parents have a great experience there. Ensure they are discharged and armed with all sorts of information so that they too don't fall through the cracks.

I was thinking I'd do a separate post regarding today's OT and PT appointments, but I've decided to just keep typing rather than waiting for Blogger twice...
We met with Clare (OT) and Kelli (PT) at the hospital this afternoon to do an assessment. The jury is still out on whether or not Presleigh's arm issues are her just determined not to bend/give or if there is truly an issue so it is not going to be 'addressed' per say, rather just keeping an eye on and work with the other issues as they are now and review the arms every few months or as neccessary. We will meet with Kelli every 3 weeks for now and work on the rolling and sitting and tummy time. We have some lovely exercises to work on every day so it's gonna be busy busy. We meet with Clare again in 3 weeks for the food issues. She has encouraged us to keep trying, but not to stress out because she's gaining and she just may take longer to accept the textures. Kelli has referred us to a special clinic (I want to call it the Dbad clinic but I _know_ that isn't right and when I remember the name, I'll let ya know) and this will require Presleigh to wear a helmet for several hours a day and apply pressure to the other side of her head since she is bound and determined to sleep on one side and causing the misshapeness of her head and this helmet will hopefully correct some of that. I have tried the thingie that goes in the bed that keeps them in one place (apparently) but found it more often than not at the other end of the crib, or even better, the velcro attached to her hair. I have tried rolling up a towel inside of a receiving blanket and propping that behind her - now she undoes it all and I find them everywhere. I have tried pinning that to the sheets of the bed, she just flips herself anyways. I have tried pinning HER to the bed, she just flips and tears the sleeper. (Onesie on inside of a sleeper with the pin wrapped in a facecloth.) I have tried putting her in a bigger sleeper with a smaller roll pinned to it on the inside and then her in a proper fitting sleeper inside that - can we talk furnace? Determined child.

So that's been today... bring it on Tomorrow, I can take you!

Opinions...

2006-10-06T17:11:00.000-06:00

Mom joined some online survey groups to earn some extra cash awhile ago, and has now become an affiliate site with my blog! So if you want to earn some extra baby money, click on the little icon on the right and you can join too!

Neurologist appt

2006-10-04T17:49:00.000-06:00

I saw a neurologist today, Dr B. She's a really pretty lady with curly curly red hair that I was determined to pull! I'm still sitting at 8.5kgs on their scale and I'm 64.5 cm tall. On the adjusted scale, I am in the 95% for my weight, 25% for height.

Dr B isn't worried about CP...YAHOO! However, she is concerned that I am quite delayed in my gross motor skills. We don't see her again for 6 months provided she is ok with the MRI results (she couldn't read them for some reason before we got there, but she will check them out and call if she has other concerns) but I go see an OT and a PT next week and work with them on getting me rolling...literally.
She's a little concerned with my aversion to different food textures, but she told mom to keep perservering and try different spoon sizes, and try thinner foods ('water' down the baby food with either formula or unsweetened apple juice) to more of a soup consistancy or add cereal to thicken.
I had a fever over the weekend, but it appears to be a teething fever as there is a tooth just below the surface. Mom thought it might have been an ear infection, but I wasn't screeching in pain - just miserable and crying. Fever is gone and I'm back to my usual self. Today however, was a busy day and my nap schedule went to h e double hockeysticks in a handbasket and now I'm tired and grouchy.

Trees n stuff

2006-09-29T01:26:00.000-06:00

My tree ceremony was kinda neat. Mom was hoping she'd get to plant the tree in a 'specified' place, but they were already planted, we just picked one. I ran into my Grandma and Auntie Deanna and Daniel there, but they didn't stay long. We had to park far enough away and go down a bumpy bumpy road. Thankfully my stroller has BIG wheels. There are some pictures of me laughing going down the road as it was like riding giddyup on Grandma Taffy's* knee. Mom says she is working on getting video and pictures together, so update soon!

*Mom had a very strange dream where I demanded to go see Grandma Taffy, and didn't realize til she woke up that it was our neighbour Cathy that she was dreaming about. The name has stuck!

Lookit what mom made!

2006-09-17T02:52:00.000-06:00

Mom isn't quite sure how she sussed this to work, but after nearly 3 hours (it's almost 3am, I'm sleeping, she isn't!) she did it!

Watch this!

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

Bumbo chair

2006-09-11T22:26:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Kaitlyn, Mom got me a Bumbo chair!

Having prunes and pears in the Bumbo chair.. almost as good as chocolate cake mess.

I've tried the eatting thing for a couple of days now with the chair - I'm still not completely interested, but at least the prunes didn't end up all over mom's new rug!

Eating and other such stuph

2006-09-07T13:09:00.000-06:00

I've decided that I'm not all that keen on the spoon. Quite content to play with the spoon, grab the bowl, and look everywhere but at mom with the food. If mom gets quick enough and gets it into my mouth, I just open my mouth and let it fall onto the bib, me, the tray... Mom is getting quick about grabbing it with the spoon before I do that but I just am not interested. I'm only 5 months adjusted, so mom isn't too worried yet, but she wants me to be eating more. I was only intobated for less than 12 hours and I went straight to prongs in the NICU so hopefully we avoided the major oral aversion problem starters. I do take my bottle very well and the projectile vomitting has completely ceased (mom: thank god, new rug in the living room!) and I'm doing much better on a soy and lactose free formula (Enfamil Lactose Free).

I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon to check on my ears as there is too much wax and mom has been putting very stinky drops in my ears called Cerumol. It has been working, but we have to make sure the wax is leaving.

Mom has received some emails about where my name came from, so here's the explanation from her:

I really liked Presley Grace - but I got hassled alot with "What as in Elvis?" and various other jibes. In discussion with my mom, we talked about altering the spelling of Presley. Leigh is my sister's middle name so we came up with Presleigh. And I'm glad that I did, because Feb 1, is also Lisa Marie Presley's birthday so at least its spelt slightly differently. Helen is my grandmother's middle name and the name she went by - she was Mary Helen. And Lenore is my other grandmother's first name. Grandma Helen passed away when Rachel was 6 weeks old after having been hospitalized since I was 12. And Granny Lenore passed away when Presleigh was 3 weeks old. I truly believed they each waited to make sure the babies were safe before passing on. Presleigh's dad wanted Danika Anne Lenore as her name, but in the end, it came down to my decision and I wasn't all that into Danika (no offense to any Danikas out there).

I'm 7 months old!

2006-09-01T20:43:00.000-06:00

Talking to Nanna on the phone.. teenager already!

It has been a whirlwind summer and I'm 7 months old already! I have another checkup at the doctor's next week on my ears. My cold is gone but my teeth are bugging the heck out of me. Mom says she's sorry about no recent pictures, but my Nanna has been busy and hasn't been able to give mom the disc and mom hasn't taken many recently as everyone else seems to be doing it.

Guestbook

2006-08-22T02:48:00.000-06:00

My mom has been creative (at 245am) and has added a Guest Book to the very very bottom of the page (to be as discreet as possible with the massively huge fonts). Please sign my guest book even if just to say Hi! I can't wait to meet all of you that have been here but haven't said anything! My counter keeps growing every day and nearly at 100 visitors since we made this site! Thanks for visiting!

Exersaucer

2006-08-22T02:11:00.000-06:00

I have discovered the joys of the exersaucer. I spin in circles and jump and screeeeeeeeeeeech at my toys. I have can touch the bottom and push myself off and jump which scares me and then makes me laugh. Tomorrow I'm supposed to visit with my daddy but I'm not sure if he is coming or not.

I'm getting two teeth and they still haven't cut through yet, but mom says she can see them right at the gumline. I drool enough to flood my tray on the exersaucer.

I'm still spitting up after every feed, but its not as much as it used to be. Today I spit up on the tray of the exersaucer and then spread it allllll over the tray with my toys before mom got it cleaned up.

I go to the doctor on Thursday. I've had the sniffles for a couple of days and mom has been giving me Dimetapp which seems to help but my nose is still runny. Yech!

Aug 20

2006-08-20T20:11:00.000-06:00

I'm growing like a weed! I'm almost 20 lbs! Mom is going to have to get me a new car seat soon. I have my first bad set of the sniffles too :( Mom has been giving me Dimetapp which I hate.

I've learnt how to blow rasperries (and bubbles) and I talk a _lot_. I have been saying Hi and Mama but I'm not really sure what I'm saying.

Sleep deprivation

2006-08-14T01:30:00.000-06:00

I've been trying to stay awake as long as I can these days which is making mom crazy. I used to sleep from 10 pm til 830am and then up for a bottle and about an hr and then back to sleep until noon. Then back to bed for 2 hrs around 5pm. Then bed at 10... Now, I sleep til 8, up for 2-3 hrs, sleep for an hr, then nap around 7pm for an hr, then bed whenever I exhaust myself from screeching. Mom has tried every trick, but I am determined to stay awake. I might miss something!

Tonight, I decided to wait until 1:23am! I finally fell asleep because someone else was rocking me. New trick for mom...find someone else.

Speech Pathology

2006-08-03T18:27:00.000-06:00

Today I participated in a speech study at the University. They study how 6 month olds react to various changes in objects with sizes and colours. It was pretty neat however, I just liked the growing black dot, not the colours.

I turned 6 months old on Tuesday and had to get needles...again. I had a fever for most of yesterday and Tuesday but I am feeling much better today.

Mom found these teething drops called Camilia and they are great. They are homeopathic and have chamomille and belladonna in them which instantly knocks me out and makes my teeth not hurt. Doesn't stop the faucet of drool though.

MRI

2006-07-20T15:00:00.000-06:00

My MRI results came in yesterday - the spot is gone. Mom has been doing the snoopy dance.
I weigh 7.3 kgs now (just over 16 lbs) and am just over 24 inches long.
Nanna is going to burn off all the pictures she has taken of me and give them to mom so there will be new pictures soon.

Camping

2006-07-16T18:35:00.000-06:00

I went camping this weekend and I was freeeeeeeeeezing. Mom had me dressed really warmly but I kicked off the covers and woke up frozen in the middle of the night and she tucked me into bed with her. It was gorgeous weekend and we were all very busy playing and having tonnes of fresh air. I have been sleeping like a log when I fall asleep. Because it was so cold, we cut our camping trip short and came back to Calgary.
Mom forgot her camera but there wasn't really anything photoworthy, other than the HUGE 10 man 4 room tent that resembled the Taj Mahal. Although Mom would like a micowave, as warming a bottle for me on a Coleman stove isn't very quick and not the easiest when you're half asleep.

I tasted ketchup and mustard and really liked both. Mom was worried that it might give me a sore bum, so she said if it did, they had to change my butt. :-) I'm teething.. alot. And drooling...ALOT. Mom figures that I am getting 4 at once.. that might not be very comfortable, but I'm pretty happy.

Deviation

2006-07-12T23:03:00.000-06:00

Today I did great since being under anestetic... however, I'm going to let my mom post today.

I've been reading some blogs about preemies and micro preemies... what started out yesterday as some research to get some further in depth information about what milestones we should be reaching when etc, I stumbled across Halle Grace's blog (see link on side)...which then lead to Kaitlyn and so on and so on...Please go read about Kaitlyn and Corinne.. I've not cried so much since I rode the roller coaster they're on. Since this blog was only recently created and all of the notes are created from my point form notations in my notebook rather than daily blog entries, my emotions are so limited in them that its hard to get the total picture of the ride.
I feel badly for feeling that I am so absolutely grateful that we have not experienced some of the more traumatic things that these moms and daughters have had to go through and that we are amongst the top few percentile to have limited troubles, I can't help but weep for them and with them. My prayers are with them all and I know that there are angels watching out for them.

July so far...

2006-07-12T07:40:00.000-06:00

I went to my first Stampede and first fireworks on Canada Day. I just slept through most of it.

I had my MRI yesterday. The anestetic was harder on mom than me. I cried alot when I came out because I was hungry but I did just fine. The results should be available next week and I see Dr M next Tuesday to get the results.

I started giggling last week and my smiles are bigger and bigger every day.

Mom likes the hat... I'm not quite sure.

Stampede! Yahoo!

June

2006-06-30T23:35:00.000-06:00

The tummy U/S shows no thickening of the pyloric valve so that has been ruled out and the chest xray is normal. Dr M hopes that I will grow out of my murmur. I'm up to 14lbs 10 oz and I've had my second set of needles and was genuinely grumpy after them. I've been sleeping for about 12 hrs at night now with a few power snoozes during the day.

I've started to go to physio now for my neck as I don't like to sleep on my left side and its causing my head to be misshapen. The muscle is fine, I just am lazy when tired.

Having a bath with Rachel.

May

2006-05-31T16:14:00.000-06:00

I've started sleeping through the night for about 8 hours now. I got stung by a bee and my lip was very swollen but it went down after about an hour. I'm up to about 13 lbs now but I'm having tummy trouble still with lots of projectile vomiting and my heart murmur is still audible.
I am having a tummy U/S to check for pyloric stenosis and a chest xray for my heart. We're changing my formula to Enfamil Lactose Free to see if that helps. I also had my 4th RSV needle.

My fuzzy chair.

The cat likes my chair too.

April

2006-04-30T17:26:00.000-06:00

I got my 2 month needles at the beginning of April and was up to 7 lbs 8 oz which is most likely what my birth weight would have been. I was gaining too fast so they cut down my caloric intake of Neosure which was 26 cal instead of 24 so we reduced it to 24 and starting to wean to Carnation Good Start. Adding Ovol to my bottles as well as I'm having trouble with gas.

I had my first plane ride on April 13 to attend the memorial for my great Granny in Ottawa. I slept through the entire flight!

I had my third RSV needle and a head U/S too. Looks like the spot is either gone or too small to detect with U/S equipment but keeping MRI appointment in July in any case.

My daddy made us have a DNA test which I did NOT like at all.

Bin shoppin apparently ;-) Look what you can buy now!

Cuddling with Pappa in Ottawa

Check out these cheeks!

March

2006-03-31T19:20:00.000-07:00

Its been a crazy busy month since I've been home. I decided to scare mom and sleep through the night a couple of times. On March 21 I had another eye exam with Dr S and she scratched my cornea. We spent the night at Children's as my eye was swollen shut and oozing. We left the house at 10pm and got home at 620 am and then had to be back at Children's for 9am for an RSV needle. On March 23 I was due to have an MRI and had to fast all night as I was going to have anestetic but the anestesiologist refused to put me under due to my gestational age. Mom demanded a head U/S but they refused so we went to my pediatrician, Dr M who sent in a requisition for it. I have an MRI scheduled for July 11 now. I am up to 6.4 lbs too!

MRI visit that didn't happen...check out the moose slippers!

March 3

2006-03-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

Discharge orders in, and going home! Whooohoooooooooooo.

In the car seat... good to go.

March 2

2006-03-02T23:37:00.000-07:00

Up to 1985 grams. I passed my car seat test with flying colours. I desat a little with feeds but I'm doing well with the bottle. Mom is rooming in tonight and I'm going home tomorrow!
I had an eye exam today and there is no indication of ROP. I have to go see the doctor in a couple of weeks for a followup checkup. And I got an RSV needle, Syrngis. Mom had a hard time with night feeds because alarms kept going off while feeding and was fustrated since I won't beep at home.

March 1

2006-03-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

1 month today! Up to 1980 grams too! I'm getting an iron supplement in a small bottle now as I missed the third trimester which is when I would have stored up minerals and vitamins. I'm off the O2 too! I'm going to have my car seat test tomorrow too. Looks like we're going home as early as mid next week! Mom has been rushing to finish my room.

Feb 26, 27, 28

2006-02-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

Up to 1955 grams and taking 36 mls of Neosure. My belly button fell off today and down to room air on O2 again. I've grown 1/2 cm in length too. The twins next to me have developed RSV and I've been tested and we're healthy! The twins are moving to isolation and no one but adults are allowed on the unit. I had another bath today and everything went soakingly well.

Feb 25

2006-02-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

1855 grams. I have taken a bottle all day today and we're working on weaning me off the O2 as I have no alarms except when feeding. I cuddled with Rachel today and she gave me my bottle.

Feb 24

2006-02-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

1800 grams!

I've only gavaged 2 feeds in the last 24 hrs. My gavage will stay out as long as I continue to tolerate the bottle. There are rumours of going home as early as next week. The head u/s results indicate that I have grown but the spot hasn't so I will have an MRI at Children's hospital on our way home.

Feb 23

2006-02-23T16:49:00.000-07:00

1780 grams today. Bottling every other feed. Another head U/S was done today and the tech is going to compare the last one and this one and hopefully there is some shrinkage of the spot. I cuddled with mom and Nanna today.

Feb 22

2006-02-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

1735 grams.
It snowed...alot..today. Mom couldn't come to visit as the roads were too dangerous to drive but she called lots.

My great granny Lenore passed away today so now there is an angel who's name I know and I carry with me for keeps. Mom says she stayed with me long enough to know I was ok before she went to heaven with the other angels.

Feb 21

2006-02-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

1690 grams!
I had my first bath today with mom and Auntie Adena. I had an echo today too and Dr C says it is just turbulence, like water banging in pipes. I have another head U/S on Thurs.

Feb 19 & 20

2006-02-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Lots of cuddles these past two days and lots of visitors. Auntie Lori and Danielle and Wade and Nanna all came to cuddle with me. I am up to 1665 grams and bottling the majority of my feeds! The murmur was heard again and they are scheduling an echo for the next day or so.

Feb 18

2006-02-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

I started taking a bottle today! Rachel came to help and changed my clothes and diaper and gave me part of my bottle and mom taught her how to pace me. I forget to breathe as I don't have the suck swallow breathe technique quite down pat yet and it causes my alarms to go off when I desat. Up to 1630 grams today.

Feb 17

2006-02-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

Graduated to a big girl crib! Up to 1555 grams. They had a warmer on the crib that made me to hot which made my heart race and me pant. Mom came in and couldn't understand why I was racing a billion miles an hour. I have been desatting with feeds but I recover by myself. Still no further As or Bs (apneas & bradicardias). Dr C came to talk about the head u/s again as on my first one there was a tiny spot floating in the nullspace between my skull and brain - not on the brain but in the liquid.. they are not sure what it is, but it could be an echogenic cyst, blood or fatty tissue. Worst case, I will have to have an operation, but it will be an easy one as the cyst is not on the brain. They did another u/s and they are waiting for the results to see what to do.

Feb 16

2006-02-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

Weight not changed. My feeds will be changed to every 3 hrs and getting 28 mls. Rachel came to read stories too.

Feb 15

2006-02-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

Weight down to 1452, most likely due to PIC being removed. Mom was told at 10am that we were being transferred back to Rockyview which didn't make mom very happy. Happy to be transferred, unhappy about distance. At nearly 1pm we arrived at Rocky SCN and my weight at arrival was 1510 grans. Taking 18 mls of Special Care 24 every 2 hrs. I cuddled with mom for awhile after we got settled in. They changed my soother size to match that of the bottle that I will start to take soon. I enjoyed my ride in the ambulance and happily settled into my new space.

Feb 14

2006-02-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

1458 grams. My PIC came out just after midnight and I'm doing ok. Air probe gone from my isolette and I've been told I'm doing great! Rachel came to read stories again. I had a big poop tonight and I haven't had a suppository for over 24 hrs now. Rachel helped change my diaper and my clothes. I gave mom her valentine and she cried.

Feb 13

2006-02-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

1404 grams
My PIC IV which had vitamins and amino acids and fats in it is going to come out tonight. At 1630 feed, we used a small syringe and I ate orally instead of gavage. Around 1750 grams I might graduate to a cot instead of this isolette, which by the way, is exceptionally decorated with several guardian angels and a valentine I made for mom. My feeds are up to 14.5 mls every 2 hrs.

Princess Presleigh

Well ...

This week...

Updates updates from mom.

Vacation

Grrrrrr - bad language alert *laugh*

Update

Sorry

Post 111, 241 hits in one single day...whoa

R is for Rambles...

Walking

Old pics

Q is for quack

P is for prayers

P is for Presleigh

O is for...

N is for new....

M is for Mothers

L is for Loss

Urgh

K is for Kangaroo

J is for jammies

Mother's Day Walk n Run

I is for infirmary

H is for Happy Birthday

Deviation

G is for Google

F is for Friends

E is for Ecstatic

D is for Dadadadaadadadaaaaaaaaaa

C is for Cookie...

B is for Bathtime

A is for Applesauce

Alphabet Game

Peace

Update on Bessie

Go blogger

Baby Amillia

Rice milk

Updates Updates!

Happy Birthday Princess...

We've gone public!

Owie

As Promised, Take two

As Promised

Something cool...

Craziness

Happy New Year!

I have a tooth

Merry Christmas

Help requested.

Christmas is almost here...

My helmet

Almost Christmas

Happy Turkey Day

PT

Doc Band stuff

Bumbo Seat

Pictures!

Truly Canadian eh?

Sick...

We won!

Doc Band Clinic

Grumpy

Mom's turn to post

Opinions...

Neurologist appt

Trees n stuff

Lookit what mom made!

Bumbo chair

Eating and other such stuph

I'm 7 months old!

Guestbook

Exersaucer

Aug 20

Sleep deprivation

Speech Pathology

MRI

Camping

Deviation

Grrrrrr - bad language alert laugh