The Burge Family
Two Tiny Miracles ~ One in Heaven, One here on Earth
The Burge Family
Addy's 18 month check-up!
Can you believe it? My baby girl turned 18 months on Monday, Feb 2nd.
Here's some major milestones:
She's been sleeping a toddler bed at night. We go back and forth, but she has officially made it through an ENTIRE night on her own after much coaxing. Charley started sleeping with her because he had trouble I guess when I was in the hospital in July. And, then I was home with her for 8 weeks and she was always sleeping on me for naps. It just threw her off! But, she loves sleeping in her "big" girl bed. She even wakes up and doesn't cry and will come into our room. She either sleeps through the night or almost religiously wakes up at 2am and walks into our room and smiles at me and then I let her sleep with us the rest of the night. We have the angel care monitor hooked back up to her bed too because if she gets out of bed longer then 20 seconds, the monitor will sound and we know she's NOT In bed, plus it still "clicks" to the breathes she takes, which, believe it or not, still comforts me greatly,even though she's been breathing fine for a year now!
She is a jabbering queen! Lots of new words. She's still not very clear on some things, but she's getting better.
She's starting to understand the word "no" and we've figured out a discipline plan. If she is bad, she sits on a barstool (with us VERY close by) until she calms down. She can't get down...when she was in a chair or on a stepstool, or whatever, it was just something else for her to play on. This works, and I give the credit to my brother who caught her hitting her 20 month old cousin and he put her in the chair and she got up, so he sat her on the barstool. Guess what? She didn't hit him the REST of the day! MEGA improvement!
She's even MORE of a book queen. She loves the ones that sing songs, but she relaly just likes to flip through them and look at the pictures. Someitmes she lets us read them.
She's getting close to losing the pacifier. I'd say by age 2. She can sleep mostly without it and has started to fall asleep without it.
And, we've noticed her showing signs of being interested in the potty. Now, granted, we're NOT pushing it any anyway. But we do let her sit on the potty for a little bit before her bath. If she pees, fine, if not, fine. We celebrate fi she does tho! And, she has, ONCE, but hey, I think that's pretty good! It'll be a great day when I don't have to drop 50 bucks a month in diapers and wipes!
So, she got one shot today. She handled it VERY well, considering.
And, her weight: 21lbs 15.5oz. The issue is they weighed her with her diaper, and they never do that. And, then after her weight check, she put a "load" in her diaper. So, subtract about 15.5oz for the stool and the diaper. We're back to 21lbs, maybe a little over. But, at 21lbs 15.5oz she's in the 17% on the growth chart, down from 22% at 15 months. So, she's probably more like 10% now after all that. The doc usually sees them in 1 year after their 18 month, but because of her weight, she said she wanted to check her at age 2 instead of 2 1/2. She's not concerned, nor am I, because she eats SO well. Seriously, she eats anything and everything. I've watched her eat her lunch and then start taking her cousins lunch. She drinks a good 4-5 full cups of milk a day and very diluted juice twice a day along with fruits, veggies, meat, eggs, cheese. So, she's doing fine, though it's something we'll just watch, wait, and see.
Height? 32inches, 63%, up from I believe 53 or 54% back at 15 months. She is going to be T.A.L.L.! Now you can see why we have clothing issues with her! She's always in leggings or dresses or the combination. She wears 18-24 JUST for height. Last night, because it's been warm here (Yeah, from below 0 to the 70s in oh 10 days?), we put her in a shirt and short pj set. And, it looked a little small, but it still fit her fine. I looked at the tag.. 6-12 months. But, if it's pants or leggings, it HAS to be 18-24 months. I can't wait for summer...capris, shorts, skirts, dresses....we won't have to worry about length! Of course we'll have to get shirts for length, but that's a different issue. With pants, we struggle to keep them up!
Her head was 18inches. I forget the percentile on that, but it's normal!
That's it for now. I'm exhausted and she's already asleep.. so I'm going to take a nap before I get some paperwork done.
Here's some major milestones:
She's been sleeping a toddler bed at night. We go back and forth, but she has officially made it through an ENTIRE night on her own after much coaxing. Charley started sleeping with her because he had trouble I guess when I was in the hospital in July. And, then I was home with her for 8 weeks and she was always sleeping on me for naps. It just threw her off! But, she loves sleeping in her "big" girl bed. She even wakes up and doesn't cry and will come into our room. She either sleeps through the night or almost religiously wakes up at 2am and walks into our room and smiles at me and then I let her sleep with us the rest of the night. We have the angel care monitor hooked back up to her bed too because if she gets out of bed longer then 20 seconds, the monitor will sound and we know she's NOT In bed, plus it still "clicks" to the breathes she takes, which, believe it or not, still comforts me greatly,even though she's been breathing fine for a year now!
She is a jabbering queen! Lots of new words. She's still not very clear on some things, but she's getting better.
She's starting to understand the word "no" and we've figured out a discipline plan. If she is bad, she sits on a barstool (with us VERY close by) until she calms down. She can't get down...when she was in a chair or on a stepstool, or whatever, it was just something else for her to play on. This works, and I give the credit to my brother who caught her hitting her 20 month old cousin and he put her in the chair and she got up, so he sat her on the barstool. Guess what? She didn't hit him the REST of the day! MEGA improvement!
She's even MORE of a book queen. She loves the ones that sing songs, but she relaly just likes to flip through them and look at the pictures. Someitmes she lets us read them.
She's getting close to losing the pacifier. I'd say by age 2. She can sleep mostly without it and has started to fall asleep without it.
And, we've noticed her showing signs of being interested in the potty. Now, granted, we're NOT pushing it any anyway. But we do let her sit on the potty for a little bit before her bath. If she pees, fine, if not, fine. We celebrate fi she does tho! And, she has, ONCE, but hey, I think that's pretty good! It'll be a great day when I don't have to drop 50 bucks a month in diapers and wipes!
So, she got one shot today. She handled it VERY well, considering.
And, her weight: 21lbs 15.5oz. The issue is they weighed her with her diaper, and they never do that. And, then after her weight check, she put a "load" in her diaper. So, subtract about 15.5oz for the stool and the diaper. We're back to 21lbs, maybe a little over. But, at 21lbs 15.5oz she's in the 17% on the growth chart, down from 22% at 15 months. So, she's probably more like 10% now after all that. The doc usually sees them in 1 year after their 18 month, but because of her weight, she said she wanted to check her at age 2 instead of 2 1/2. She's not concerned, nor am I, because she eats SO well. Seriously, she eats anything and everything. I've watched her eat her lunch and then start taking her cousins lunch. She drinks a good 4-5 full cups of milk a day and very diluted juice twice a day along with fruits, veggies, meat, eggs, cheese. So, she's doing fine, though it's something we'll just watch, wait, and see.
Height? 32inches, 63%, up from I believe 53 or 54% back at 15 months. She is going to be T.A.L.L.! Now you can see why we have clothing issues with her!
She's always in leggings or dresses or the combination. She wears 18-24 JUST for height. Last night, because it's been warm here (Yeah, from below 0 to the 70s in oh 10 days?), we put her in a shirt and short pj set. And, it looked a little small, but it still fit her fine. I looked at the tag.. 6-12 months. But, if it's pants or leggings, it HAS to be 18-24 months. I can't wait for summer...capris, shorts, skirts, dresses....we won't have to worry about length! Of course we'll have to get shirts for length, but that's a different issue. With pants, we struggle to keep them up! Her head was 18inches. I forget the percentile on that, but it's normal!
That's it for now. I'm exhausted and she's already asleep.. so I'm going to take a nap before I get some paperwork done.
*sigh*
Over a year...
I've been struggling with this flare. I just realized that a few weeks ago. My first symptoms started last January. March, I had a colonoscopy (a VERY difficult one where we actually filed a complaint with the head nurse as they ignored my post-scope pain that was EXTREMELY painful, NOT Normal.)
So, where are we now? Seemingly further away from a solution to problem. I'm so frustrated. I'll be okay, and deep down I know that. I know that once I meet with my GI and my surgeon, I will know what is the right decision and this will end...I KNOW this, but it doesn't make the daily grind any easier sometimes. I think I enjoy work and everything just as much as I don't enjoy it. I enjoy it because it keeps my mind off all the pain. I don't enjoy it because I sit in physical pain day in and day out. I have only missed a few days, but I have been habitually late for the past 6 or so weeks, when I went off steroids. It takes EVERYTHING in me to get out of bed, get dressed, and get Addy dressed and out the door. I'm getting better about doing as much as possible the night before, so when I awake in pain, I don't have to think, I just do.
So, here's the low-down.
I'm meeting with Dr. Stone, my GI, on Feb 17th to discuss 4 drugs...
1) Methotrexate - I refuse because it's what is used to end ectopic pregnancies and/or to help finish a miscarriage, and REALLY want to bear more children, so I do not see this as a forseeable option.
2) Humira - another biologic drug (like Remicade) - I give myself a shot every week - Easy, I did IVF for goodness sakes!
3) Cimzia - another biologic drug via shots, just a little different then Humira
4) Tysabri - A biologic, via infusion every 4 weeks in the hospital - no biggie..>Remicade was every 6 or 8 at the hospital same way.
So, my issue? I refuse Methotrexate for obvious reasons. And, the biologics are beginning to scare me. They rush them through testing/clinical trials and Tysabri had to be sent through twice, why? Because 3 people DIED in them! Now,they figured out why, but seriously, I don't have it in my heart to risk that drug, not yet. If I go this route, I'm going to likely do Humira, but I only have a 20% chance of Humira or Cimzia working because I failed Remicade. I'm torn there. My GI is pushing Tysabri, but I can't do it.....not yet, at least.
So, then I called the GI and didn't hear back from him for a week. Why? (Because I always hear back from his sweet nurse Teri within 24 hours)....He's had my chart on his desk ALL week and he's been consulting with others on my case, I guess it's difficult, lovely!
Anyway, I meet with him on March 3 and get this, they gave me a FULL HOUR with him to discuss surgery options. Of course, if he thinks a biologic is the right way to go, then we'll go that route. There are other risks associated with opening you up for a procedure, so it's all complicated. I won't know details until we talk, but we could do a resection (cutting out a bad part of the instestines and combining the two good parts together), a permanent ostomy bag (take out the colon), or a temporary ostomy bag (which would give my colon a break for 3-6 months). It's a LOT to digest....
Anyway, thought I'd update you all on that. It has just plain exhausted me to be honest...I need something to go my way and soon.
(Oh, and if you didn't figure it out, I'm bailing out of the study because it's not working.)
I've been struggling with this flare. I just realized that a few weeks ago. My first symptoms started last January. March, I had a colonoscopy (a VERY difficult one where we actually filed a complaint with the head nurse as they ignored my post-scope pain that was EXTREMELY painful, NOT Normal.)
So, where are we now? Seemingly further away from a solution to problem. I'm so frustrated. I'll be okay, and deep down I know that. I know that once I meet with my GI and my surgeon, I will know what is the right decision and this will end...I KNOW this, but it doesn't make the daily grind any easier sometimes. I think I enjoy work and everything just as much as I don't enjoy it. I enjoy it because it keeps my mind off all the pain. I don't enjoy it because I sit in physical pain day in and day out. I have only missed a few days, but I have been habitually late for the past 6 or so weeks, when I went off steroids. It takes EVERYTHING in me to get out of bed, get dressed, and get Addy dressed and out the door. I'm getting better about doing as much as possible the night before, so when I awake in pain, I don't have to think, I just do.
So, here's the low-down.
I'm meeting with Dr. Stone, my GI, on Feb 17th to discuss 4 drugs...
1) Methotrexate - I refuse because it's what is used to end ectopic pregnancies and/or to help finish a miscarriage, and REALLY want to bear more children, so I do not see this as a forseeable option.
2) Humira - another biologic drug (like Remicade) - I give myself a shot every week - Easy, I did IVF for goodness sakes!
3) Cimzia - another biologic drug via shots, just a little different then Humira
4) Tysabri - A biologic, via infusion every 4 weeks in the hospital - no biggie..>Remicade was every 6 or 8 at the hospital same way.
So, my issue? I refuse Methotrexate for obvious reasons. And, the biologics are beginning to scare me. They rush them through testing/clinical trials and Tysabri had to be sent through twice, why? Because 3 people DIED in them! Now,they figured out why, but seriously, I don't have it in my heart to risk that drug, not yet. If I go this route, I'm going to likely do Humira, but I only have a 20% chance of Humira or Cimzia working because I failed Remicade. I'm torn there. My GI is pushing Tysabri, but I can't do it.....not yet, at least.
So, then I called the GI and didn't hear back from him for a week. Why? (Because I always hear back from his sweet nurse Teri within 24 hours)....He's had my chart on his desk ALL week and he's been consulting with others on my case, I guess it's difficult, lovely!
Anyway, I meet with him on March 3 and get this, they gave me a FULL HOUR with him to discuss surgery options. Of course, if he thinks a biologic is the right way to go, then we'll go that route. There are other risks associated with opening you up for a procedure, so it's all complicated. I won't know details until we talk, but we could do a resection (cutting out a bad part of the instestines and combining the two good parts together), a permanent ostomy bag (take out the colon), or a temporary ostomy bag (which would give my colon a break for 3-6 months). It's a LOT to digest....
Anyway, thought I'd update you all on that. It has just plain exhausted me to be honest...I need something to go my way and soon.
(Oh, and if you didn't figure it out, I'm bailing out of the study because it's not working.)
Blog RE-stored and a MOVE in transition...
That about explains what has happened...
First, and foremost, I never realized just how many loyal blog readers I still had! That means the WORLD to me. Especially as my Crohn's spirals out of control and we still miss our Sweet Reagan. We know there are many uplifting thoughts and prayers being sent our way and THAT means so very much to us.
So, here's what happened. Earlier this month, I noticed about the first week in that the website wasn't working, but the blog was. We had a death of a dear friend and we were a bit preoccupied. I didn't think much of it because all that was going on. Well, then the blog stopped working. So, I called GoDaddy who this is sponsored by/hosted/etc and found out that there was no hosting renewed. Great, eh? So, I had to pay an outlandish restore fee and get this blog restored. I would of let it go, and just restarted, but my deepest thoughts and emotions are stored on here...everything I have left of Reagan... on here. You just cannot put a price on that...
So, here we are. And, guess what? We're moving this blog back to it's very original spot. Yes, may be my fault, but I'm just a tad disappointed in the cost to run this and decided I'm going to store all of this blog into a photobook type thing (someone gave me a link to do so) and then move this back to a free site and back up my posts frequently. So, not yet, but in about 4-5 weeks, the blog will move to theburgefamily.blogspot.com. The website will exist for at least a year and I'll likely keep it the same and just move the blog. So, give us some time, but just wanted to give a heads up on what will be happening over the course of the next month. I will keep posting here and then once we're moving permanently, I'll let everyone know!
Thanks again from the bottom of my heart for the unending support and prayers. WOW is all I have to say and a HUGE THANK YOU! Especially with what I may be facing with my Crohn's in the very near future...
First, and foremost, I never realized just how many loyal blog readers I still had! That means the WORLD to me. Especially as my Crohn's spirals out of control and we still miss our Sweet Reagan. We know there are many uplifting thoughts and prayers being sent our way and THAT means so very much to us.
So, here's what happened. Earlier this month, I noticed about the first week in that the website wasn't working, but the blog was. We had a death of a dear friend and we were a bit preoccupied. I didn't think much of it because all that was going on. Well, then the blog stopped working. So, I called GoDaddy who this is sponsored by/hosted/etc and found out that there was no hosting renewed. Great, eh? So, I had to pay an outlandish restore fee and get this blog restored. I would of let it go, and just restarted, but my deepest thoughts and emotions are stored on here...everything I have left of Reagan... on here. You just cannot put a price on that...
So, here we are. And, guess what? We're moving this blog back to it's very original spot. Yes, may be my fault, but I'm just a tad disappointed in the cost to run this and decided I'm going to store all of this blog into a photobook type thing (someone gave me a link to do so) and then move this back to a free site and back up my posts frequently. So, not yet, but in about 4-5 weeks, the blog will move to theburgefamily.blogspot.com. The website will exist for at least a year and I'll likely keep it the same and just move the blog. So, give us some time, but just wanted to give a heads up on what will be happening over the course of the next month. I will keep posting here and then once we're moving permanently, I'll let everyone know!
Thanks again from the bottom of my heart for the unending support and prayers. WOW is all I have to say and a HUGE THANK YOU! Especially with what I may be facing with my Crohn's in the very near future...
From Table Dancer...
to stripper... sheesh.. I got me a FAST learner!
(Yes, we stopped at the diaper, THANK THE GOOD LORD! And, yes, she did that ALL by herself!)
(Yes, we stopped at the diaper, THANK THE GOOD LORD! And, yes, she did that ALL by herself!)
Our Future All-Star Bowler...
Is she not adorable? Okay, I'm TERRIBLY biased! I run a local youth all-star tournament and I bowled in it for a long time myself and have run it for nearly 10 years. We only thought it appropriate to have this sweet lady who owns an AWESOME business called Baby & Me Designs to design and make this shirt... LOVE it!
ICE STORM 2009!!!
So, we officially have POWER after 14+ hours without.
We stopped by our house to turn off the water and grab a couple more things (since we had been at my parents) and discovered our power came on about 20-30min prior (based on clocks).
We stopped by our house to turn off the water and grab a couple more things (since we had been at my parents) and discovered our power came on about 20-30min prior (based on clocks).
We have telephone, cable, internet, power, the works! This came as a HUGE
surprise as MOST people will be without power until the weekend or through next
week. What they said will happen is that they are fixing them and then more
limbs are breaking and snapping more lines. So, though we have power RIGHT NOW,
does not mean we'll have it in a few hours, or even minutes. And, then once the
limbs start to melt, the limbs will start to snap back up and hit the lines
again. This will likely continue for a good 7-10 days before we're set. We
don't have a generator, but luckily, since my parents did.
It's been ABSOLUTELY crazy. We lost power around 10-10:30 last night. We
promptly threw 2 days worth of clothes, etc into bags and put them in the car.
We almost didn't make it to my parents as the road was nothing but a sheet of
ice. In fact, at one point, the car slid about 2 feet to the left and Charley
did not move the wheel. The funny part was at that exact moment Addy goes, "Uh
oh!" Daddy then replies, "Yes, Baby, that's an uh oh!" LOL! If ours goes out again, they are
coming to get us again. My poor brother's house is loaded down with 5 kids (6,
4, 3, 2, 8 months) and 10 adults. It's not a huge house, but everyone seems
comfy. They have the heat and the refrigerator, an electric skillet, and the tv
for the kids and then some chargers for phones as MOST of our telephone lines
are out now too. Again, we are VERY lucky ours was restored. VERY.
Addy was scared when it all happened. I luckily had my computer on so when
it went out, we used the glow from the computer to find flashlights and
candles. When we got to my parents around 11:15-ish, we did nothing but hear
transformers blow and trees snapping. My parents house is surrounded by big
trees, but they have a styrofoam block home with heavy duty trusses, so we were
safe there. But, my mom and I slept on the outsides of the king mattress in
their room with the 3 kids (my nephews came over because my brother and SIL had
to run to get her grandparents because a sheet of ice slid off
their roof and SEPARATED their electrical box from their house, literally).
Talk about no sleep. But, we were warm. My poor parents are so tired and just
went home to get a nap because once this all freezes at 10 degrees tonight (was
14), it's going to be a mess again.
They put us under a state of emergency. Luckily, our main grocery had power
as well as our main gas station. Everyone is just pulling together really well
like we did when the tornado swept through our town and destroyed over 500 homes
a few years back. I'm only worried about running out of food for Addy and pain
pills for me. Otherwise, we are fine.
They called in the National Guard and put 150-200 local people to work on power and another 150 were pulled in from other states and they may get more. My husband's family lives about 45 south and the city has been 100% without power since early evening yesterday and a local town next to ours is also 100% without power. We had around 2-4 inches of snow, rain, and sleet all day Tuesday and then got a TON of rain last night and another 6 inches of snow. They said had it all been snow it would of been around 20 or so inches. Last time we got that much snow, it shut the city down too, but at least we all had power!
They called in the National Guard and put 150-200 local people to work on power and another 150 were pulled in from other states and they may get more. My husband's family lives about 45 south and the city has been 100% without power since early evening yesterday and a local town next to ours is also 100% without power. We had around 2-4 inches of snow, rain, and sleet all day Tuesday and then got a TON of rain last night and another 6 inches of snow. They said had it all been snow it would of been around 20 or so inches. Last time we got that much snow, it shut the city down too, but at least we all had power!
Addy & I just got showers in case we lose electricity again. Oh, and
as you can sorta see in the photos, a LOT Of the power lines are so low that you can
literally stand there and touch them. Very scary.
Just for proof, here's some photos...
These boots were made for walkin...
...and that's just what I'll do! One of these these boots are gonna walk all over you!
You HAVE to love these boots. Long story short, we got them, a size big, but she's mainly in 4's (still very narrow), but some 5s fit because of socks. Well, we had high hopes they fit, and with some extra thick socks and jeans, she does great in them, though they are a tad big! How can you not love these?
You HAVE to love these boots. Long story short, we got them, a size big, but she's mainly in 4's (still very narrow), but some 5s fit because of socks. Well, we had high hopes they fit, and with some extra thick socks and jeans, she does great in them, though they are a tad big!
How can you not love these? 
My latest Cake..
A friend of mine's little girl just turned 3 and I got the awesome task of doing her birthday cake. I wasn't too proud of this, but I did especially like the cinderella on top! Just thought I'd share!
OH boy...
So, See those DVDs? We've made a habit to keep her away from them. And, well, we succeeded to do so for nearly 18 months....and now, she found them. They WERE alphabetized (and yes, I re-alphabetized them!)
And, we had this doll made for Addy, and we still need to make one for Reagan. Long story short, it's the exact size of when she was born and feels the weight of her. It's so odd holding that baby doll knowing she was that little and the shirt on her is a preemie onsie and I swear I remember Addy swimming FAR more in her onsies then this does does in this one. Regardless, it's awesome to see how far she's come. This is her with the doll. And, we pull it down off the shelf every so often because she'll go.. "Addy! Baby! Addy! Baby!" LOL! She know's that's Addy's Baby. And, we don't let her play with it, because it's a special doll, but every so often after she stares and points at it and obsesses for what seems forever, we pull it down and I decided we ought to get a few photos!
Look how far she's come! 3lbs to 21lbs.....16in to 31in....AMAZING!
And, last, but not least. Here's Addy eating an ENTIRE banana like a BIG girl! She caught a bit of the peel here and there, but this is how SHE wanted to eat it! A mind of her own, I tell ya!
And, we had this doll made for Addy, and we still need to make one for Reagan. Long story short, it's the exact size of when she was born and feels the weight of her. It's so odd holding that baby doll knowing she was that little and the shirt on her is a preemie onsie and I swear I remember Addy swimming FAR more in her onsies then this does does in this one. Regardless, it's awesome to see how far she's come. This is her with the doll. And, we pull it down off the shelf every so often because she'll go.. "Addy! Baby! Addy! Baby!" LOL! She know's that's Addy's Baby. And, we don't let her play with it, because it's a special doll, but every so often after she stares and points at it and obsesses for what seems forever, we pull it down and I decided we ought to get a few photos!
Look how far she's come! 3lbs to 21lbs.....16in to 31in....AMAZING!
And, last, but not least. Here's Addy eating an ENTIRE banana like a BIG girl! She caught a bit of the peel here and there, but this is how SHE wanted to eat it! A mind of her own, I tell ya!
Our Pigtail Cutie!
Seriously, can a little girl get ANY cuter?
Okay, so I'm REALLY biased, but all those fun things about little girls? Well, this is one of them! I can't believe how grown up she looks with them.
(And, this is that picture I promised!)
Okay, so I'm REALLY biased, but all those fun things about little girls? Well, this is one of them! I can't believe how grown up she looks with them.
(And, this is that picture I promised!)
