Julia: Mommy works at a school, Daddy works in the city, Aunt Amanda works in the city.
Julia: I’m not a baby… I’m a big girl now.
Julia: I have such long long hair.
Julia (while looking at Mommy): She looks beautiful in that dress.
While listening to music in the car…
Julia: What’s this one?
Mommy: Elmo’s World (which Julia has beard about 3 billion times)
Julia: Oooh, We love this one!
Daddy: Alexa (best babysitter ever) is coming over tonight sweetie.
Later on…
Mommy: Mom and Dad are going out tonight.
Julia: Tan I Tum? (Can I Come)
Mommy: No Sweetie.
One Week Later…
Daddy: Alexa is coming over tonight.
Julia: Oh, I can’t tum.
Julia: (After brushing Mommy’s hair) “Oooh, you look so beauuuuuuuutiful Mommy”
Julia: “I have an idea. Let’s read one book downstairs”
Julia: “Wanna come play with me Daddy?”
Julia: (After hearing Aunt Ilene flush the toilet) “Bye bye Ilene’s pee pee”
Julia: “Excuse me Elmo” (as Julia brushes past him)
Hello Everyone.
As you can see from previous entries to this stories section, I am not very good at updating this section. I do not consider myself a blogger. I do update the main photo section of this site about twice a week so maybe I am a photo-blogger. Every once in a while I do feel that there is something I need to write here and now is one of those times. About a week ago, Julia started to have a little cough. Nothing that we worried about as she didn’t seem sick in any way. Last Sunday Julia woke up with a 101.5 fever, so to be safe, we canceled on going to Amanda’s 4th birthday party. The next morning, Julia woke up with a 103.5 fever. Mommy called the Dr and took Julia in for a 2:15 pm appointment. At this appointment the Dr diagnosed Julia with Walking Pneumonia and prescribed some antibiotics.
Later that afternoon, Julia’s fever jumped to 104.5, so Mommy gave her Motrin. After 2 hours her fever dropped to 103.5 and an hour later when I put her to bed, her fever was down to 102.5. Clearly Julia’s fever was headed in the right direction. Around 10 pm, I looked in her video monitor as I tend to do every once in a while. This time was different. I immediately saw that something was wrong and I said to Mommy that Julia was moving funny and that I thought she was seizing. We both darted up the stairs to find that she was in fact having a seizure. Mommy noticed a bit of frothing around her mouth while I noticed that Julia’s eyes had rolled in the back of her head. I quickly dialed 911 and told them that my baby was seizing and that I couldn’t tell if she was breathing. I explained everything in my frantic panicked voice and the 911 voice told me to get some towels wet with cool (not cold) water. He told me to place them in Julia’s armpits, back of neck and crotch. Very very soon afterwards the North Merrick Fire Department and Paramedics arrived. They took control of the situation and even though Julia was no longer seizing, they wanted to rush us to the closest hospital - Nassau University, as Julia was now grunting and in a catatonic state. Our sweet little puppy Allie was so frightened that she hid under the kitchen table. She sensed our panic and fears. I must admit that this was the scariest moment of my life and just writing this out has me near tears.
In the ambulance Julia called out for Mommy but quickly went back to her catatonic grunting state. The EMS gave Julia oxygen which quickly stopped the grunting. The North Merrick Volunteer EMS did all they could until we got to the hospital and I must praise them & the N Merrick FD. Once we arrived at the hospital (10:30 pm) Julia woke up and proceeded to cry. Even with ice packs all over her, the Drs measured a 104.7 fever in Julia. The Nassau University Hospital doctors did everything right and gave all of the correct antibiotics, etc, but I must say (and I mean no disrespect to anyone) that they did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to make Emily and I feel any more comfortable with the situation. They explained that Julia had full Bilateral Pneumonia (both lungs). They said that she had a Febrile Seizure and they took blood, xrays, etc. Not happy with the explanations I was getting, I called the emergency number for our pediatrician, Pediatric Healthcare of Long Island. The late night operator connected me to a Dr Fink of Winthrop Hospital in Mineola. Dr Fink spoke to the Nassau University Dr and confirmed for me that she was doing all of the correct procedures, tests and antibiotics. He also made me feel a billion times better by explaining Febrile Seizures in a way that the Nassau Unversity doctors could not.
Dr Fink continually used the work harmless. He explained that when a child between 6 month and 6 years of age has a very high fever or a rapid spike in fever it can trigger a Febrile Seizure. These seizures have no affect on development and do not lead to epilepsy or anything worse. My insane rambling fears of Julia’s brain frying were not a possibility. Dr Fink calmed Mommy and I. He talked with us for a long time and he continued to call back about 4 or 5 times during the night to have long in depth chats to help calm us. He explained that there are kids that have this many times in their life and kids that have this only once. He explained that in the 35 years that he had been examining kids, he had seen a bunch that had Febrile Seizures and he had probably seen even more kids that had them but never knew it. Many many kids probably have this in the night and just wake from it and cry and the parents never truly know. In truth, Febrile Seizures happen to 1 out of every 25 kids. It is usually familial but in some cases like ours, we do not think we ever had them when we were kids. Or did we?
At about midnight the doctors at Nassau University told us that they wanted to admit Julia so she could get fluids and treat the pneumonia. I said NO FREAKIN’ WAY and demanded a transfer to Dr Fink at Winthrop Hospital. At about 3:30 am, an ambulance arrived to transfer us from one hospital to another. Once at Winthrop, Julia was quickly wisked into her own private room because she was contagious. Soon after arrival Julia’s fever started to shoot up. She was burning up and had a terrible case of the chills. We knew she wasn’t starting to seize again as she’d stop shaking when we held on to one of her limbs but we feared that she would start to seize. Her fever shot up to 105 degrees but thankfully we didn’t have another seizure on our hands. Eventually Julia calmed a bit and allowed Mommy and I to get about 45 minutes to an Hour of sleep. The next day was filled with fevers and coughs. Dr Goldstein from Pediatric Healthcare-LI came by and reiterated everything that Dr Fink had said the night before. Harmless. No developmental issues. No frying brains. Tuesday night we slept but not well.
By Wednesday we were ready to get out of the hospital. Julia was keeping her fever down and Dr Lanzilotta of Pediatric Healthcare-LI got Winthrop to discharge us. By Thursday, Julia was feeling better but still not herself. The fevers were under control but her cough seemed to get worse and Julia’s immunity was down. We cancelled on the baby naming, anniversary party and 35th birthday party that we were supposed to attend to that following weekend and we also canceled camp for the upcoming week.
Remember earlier how I said that Allie was hiding under the table. Well, even though I came home to walk her and friends came by to let her out a few times, Allie persisted to eat nothing while we were in the hospital because she was so worried. The problem with this is that Allie has low blood sugar. So, the week from hell continued on Thursday night when Allie had a seizure. She has had a few in the past but none in the last year, since we found out she was low blood sugar. Yuck.
Everyone is ok now. Mommy and I have agreed to be very proactive with fevers and we will try to lower her temperature at first sign of a fever. I will still not be “ok” if Julia has another seizure but at least remembering the word “harmless” should help. If you read all of this, I encourage you to read a little more on Febrile Seizures as you can never be to sure that your kid will not have one.
Thank you very much to Grandpa Lenny and Grandma Laurie for helping us immensely that night. Thanks to all of the family that came by to visit us. Thanks to Elisa, Andy & Will for letting Allie out a few times. And, or course, thanks to our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc for all of the thoughts, prayers, cards, flowers, letters, emails, calls, messages, Facebook comments, Tweets, etc. We love you all. Lastly, I must thank and praise the North Merrick Fire Department who happened to be having a meeting at the time Julia Seized. Every member of the department was in when the call that a baby was seizing came through. The Chief immediately hopped in a vehicle and headed our way. One minute later the call was updated to be a baby possibly not breathing. At that point every member of the North Merrick FD got in cars and came over to help. Literally within 2 minutes, there was about 30 cars on our street of people there to help. Along with the N. Merrick FD, the N.Merrick/Bellmore Volunteer Ambulance, the doctors and nurses at Winthrop, Dr Fink from Withrop, and Drs Goldstein and Lanzilotta form Pediatric Healthcare-LI all showed me why they are our true heroes in this world. Thank you all.
Wow… it’s been a while…
Ok, so I am not good at blogging. I try to post photos as often as possible and quite often I forget to write some of the great stories here. Well, in truth, I also am always doing other things on the web. Some might say that I am a Facebook addict or that I am obsessed with Flickr. Both of those things are true, but I also read many of my friend’s blogs or check on my friend’s baby websites… 1, 2, 3 or my friend’s parenting website. I also have been busy with my fantasy football website now that football season started. Also, not to blame the wife, but she has been pretty busy with the computer lately as she has been creating an awesome digital baby photo album. Really great site that makes fantastic books.
Ok, enough excuses…how about some stories……
So, about a week ago, I came home and Emily was on the floor with Julia playing with Julia’s Melissa & Doug wooden animal puzzle. The thing that was different this time was that Emily would say the name of an animal and after scanning the board for about 10 seconds, Julia would pull out the correct animal. It was amazing to watch. Julia was able to grab them and put them back into the puzzle when prompted to do so as well. Since that time, Julia has gotten even better at this and she can now pick the correct animals out of the puzzle just by us giving her the animal sound. Pretty amazing.
Just the other day, Aunt Amanda taught Julia to say Apple with relative ease. That was amazing but what is more amazing is that Just by seeing an apple now prompts Julia to say the word apple. She fully recognizes apples and can process getting the word out.
Funny story here… Last night Julia was eating chicken, peas and carrots. Emily asked Julia where the peas were and Julia pointed at the peas. Next, Emily asked where the carrots were and Julia correctly pointed to the carrots. Lastly, Emily asked where the chicken was and Julia proceeded to make the sounds of a chicken
Last lil story is that every night when I walk in the door from work, Julia now says “Hi Dada” or “Hi Daddy”. It is the sweetest thing ever. The first time I heard it, I nearly died. So amazing.
Julia is at such a great age right now. 13 months is a a fantastic time. Julia is way more mobile than ever before. She still isn’t walking but that doesn’t stop her. She crawls so freakin fast and I would happily put her in a race with anyone else’s baby. Julia will leave them in the dust. She cruises along the couch, table, etc as well. Often she lets go to clap or do something. That usually lasts a few seconds before se realizes that she isn’t holding on. Also, her personality is really coming out. She recognizes items and people much more often. It is amazing to see.
Scary Weekend.
Saturday morning Julia pulled up on her little drum set as she often does and she fell down, as she sometimes does. This time was different, however, as Julia came up with a bloody mouth. Emily and I sprung into action and tried to sooth Julia. Ice stopped the crying but not the bleeding. After a short while we decided a trip to the doctor was in order. When the doctor touched Julia’s mouth, the cut reopened and started bleeding again. The Dr felt that stitches were the next step for us. A quick ride over to South Nassau along with a plastic surgeon rushing us through triage and registration led to two tiny stitches in the frenulum (aka f. labii superioris) skin between the upper lip and the upper gums. While this whole experience was a nightmare, I must say the Julia handled it like a pro. Soon after the the very quick stitching, Julia started smiling again and regained her cute little swagger. Our doctor, the plastic surgeon and South Nassau were all amazing, we just hope that this is the first… and the last… YEAH RIGHT!…. time something like this happens.
Not a Good Blogger.
Ok, So I am good at posting the photos on Julia’s site but I don’t update the “Stories” section enough. Sorry about that. Since my last post Julia has continued to grow at a crazy rate. She is so amazingly smart. She says “Dada” when she looks at me. True, she says “Dada” when she looks at lots of things, but I am taking that one for me! Julia can use sign language to say “more” and she does lots of talking/babbling all of the time. She pulls up on everything and is good at transferring between two objects close together. Julia is just now starting to cruise along the couch. When prompted, Julia can touch her head, nose, eyes, mouth, feet and more. She can even recognize when you say “Touch MY nose (mouth, head, etc)”, and she will do it. Julia now eats with a fork and she now eats big girl foods including grilled cheese and fruits. I promise to try to update more often, but getting the photos posted will always be my priority number one.
Slooooooowly Posting More Photos
I know, I know, I am behind in my postings. Please forgive me. I have been working day and night designing Julia’s first birthday invite. The good news is that I finished this AM, sent if off to the printer and soon enough, you may just receive one in your mail box. Posting to the website will resume tomorrow as Daddy is going to see Tom Petty perform tonight.
Daddy’s Day
Today was my first fathers day with Julia and unfortunately all plans went bye-bye as Julia was sick with a lil fever. She is teething like mad and she slept most of the day. Of course, I am not upset as every day feels like fathers day to me. Hopefully she’ll get better soon.
Julia is wondering if it is a Triple Crown Weekend
Just last night as Julia was falling asleep she was talking to herself and wondering aloud if Big Brown can pull out the third and final piece of the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes this weekend. I don’t think she realized that we were able to hear her through the monitor. Although the sound coming from the monitor was slightly fuzzy, I clearly heard, “Big Brown”, “Belmont”, “Diaper”, “Allie” and “TripCra”, which I took to be Triple Crown. I am not sure where Julia heard about the big horse race or if maybe she thinks Allie is running in it. I suspect that her buddy William told her about it, as I think he is trying to get Julia interested in horses so he can take her on a date HERE.
