Hip-Hip Hooray!

I really couldn't resist the pun, but we went to the doctor's yesterday, and Cora's hip is getting better! Hooray! She is now allowed out of her harness for an hour in the morning and evening. Again, I think I was more emotionally involved in the change than her. She gave a big yawn after being freed from the harness, and really didn't care to stretch too much.

Then came our big moment-- The BATH! We prepped everything and then set Cora in the tub. She gave a wide eyed look, and then screamed bloody murder. (For all concerned parties, NO we did not have the water too hot. She just hated it.) So the romantic ideal of a baby cooing and splashing in the water was quickly replaced by the lets get this over ASAP reality.

Once out of the water Cora promptly peed on her dad, just to let us know what she thought about the whole experience. I laughed, and Brian went off looking for a new pair of pants.

Home Studio-- One Month Old!

Brian and I were playing around with taking Cora's picture since she hit her One Month mark this week. I was inspired to set up for pictures after watching Brian hold Cora on his belly. So here they are:

Sysiphus

I understand futility. On Wednesday, I raked my lawn. Pleased with my work, I went to bed. Thursday rolled around, and the leaves had reappeared. So I raked them again. Friday morning rolled around. The leaves had reappeared. thumbing my nose at the fates or the ever-imaginative gods that condemned Sysiphus to roll the rock uphill only to have it roll back down for all eternity, I refused to pick up my rake. At least for this week. I'm sure I'll get back to it in a couple of days when I have forgotten what futility is all about.

And the Winner of the "Give Cora A Middle Name" Contest is...

Before we reveal the winner of our American-Idol inspired reality middle name contest, we'd like to thank all the contributors who weighed in. All in all, you suggested 45+ names (not including the highly original and entertaining submissions by Janine's father and brothers). We would also like to thank our sponsors. But we didn't get any, and I didn't feel like selling advertising space on Cora's forehead on eBay.

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for.. Her name is...

Cora Price... still no middle name.

A Chin a Week

It's official: Cora, at three weeks of age, has exactly three chins. At this pace, by the time her first birthday rolls around she will embody the quintessential hallmark of chubbitude left by Weird Al in his opus magna, "Fat": "I've got more chins than a Chinese phonebook."

No picture as of yet. But I'm sure one will be coming. Stay tuned.

A visit from the Morfar and the Mormor, and a quick primer in Swedish

This last week we had the pleasure of having my parents come out to visit. And now, a quick lesson for those who don't speak Swedish:

The Swedish terms are much more specific than grandparent. Mor is mother, Far is father, and depending on who you are talking about you string them together in an endless line. For example, Morfar as he relates to Cora, is the mothers father, or my father. Mormor is my mom. Brian's mom is the Farmor, and his mom's mom would be the Farmormor. Get it? It is kind of fun to say. My Farmor is 100% Swedish, so she makes sure I can at least say a word or two in the crazy language of the Swedes. I like that it dictates specifically what lines you are following when you are talking genealogy. If it is stated someone is your Morfarfarmor, you can actually figure out where that fits on your family tree. I will stop my lesson here since my knowledge of Swedish has just run out. Ironic that someone as pasty white as I would speak far better spanish.

Anyway, the Morfar and Mormor were great to have around. My dad was able to swing by after a conference in Pittsburgh, and my mom came a couple of days before and stayed a little longer. She was extremely helpful in keeping the house rolling along so I could rest, and Brian could stay on top of work. I was able to relax a lot and let my body heal up. Brian and my mom got into baking lemon merengue pies so we had some really tasty desserts too. Both parents had a great time with Cora, who loved having extra people to give her snuggles and love.

We also got to go to the Doctors FIVE times in a period of a week. Between the hip, kidney and regular checkup my mom and I spent a lot of time in offices waiting for someone to make my baby cry. We spoke with the Urologist on Monday, and he said her Hydronephrosis in the left kidney is severe. The problem is in a blocked ureter right where it connects to the bladder. She is now on a low dose of antibiotics everyday until one of three things happen:

a) her body grows a bit and the ureter untangles or unclogs naturally
b) If her kidney is still showing function, but the ureter doesn't unblock naturally she may require surgery to open the ureter (usually operable after 6 mos.)
c) If her kidney loses its function it may have to be removed (operable after 1 year old)

So Cora has about 5 more months to grow out of this problem on her own. Since the operations always carry risk, they are giving her some time to grow stronger while they keep an eye on her. She is having some tests done on her in December involving catheters and IVs... :( Sad mommy! Cora doesn't know what she is in for luckily. We will know more about what is happening then, but for now we are just helping her grow strong and praying for her little system.

Oh, and my big news is that I am WEARING MY OWN PANTS!!! We will skip the details about strained buttons and all that, but I couldn't help going downstairs and doing a turn for Brian in my own duds. Not that I haven't enjoyed my housepants, sweats and first trimester maternity clothes for the last month, but I am overjoyed to welcome my old wardrobe back.

Little Smiler

I love her!

More "Fun"

Apparently Cora is never going to get a bath! Her cord stump fell off on Thursday, and we thought "our little girl is all grown up, she has a belly button! Things were still a little gooey, so we thought we would wait a day for a real bath while things dried up. Meanwhile, we had an appointment for Cora to see a Pediatric Orthopedist about a loose hip. I wasn't quite mentally prepared for them to put her in a hip sling to help solve the problem, and so I cried more than Cora while I watched the doctor put a sling on her and tell us we couldn't take it off, at all, for the next 2 1/2 weeks, and then to come back and see her. They anticipate Cora will be wearing the sling for the next 3 months. At this point in time Pollyanna (AKA my sweet husband) was reminding me it really isn't a big deal, and that this is a problem that has a simple solution. Seeing some of the children at these specialists office really did help us keep Cora's problems in perspective. Anyway, our sweet little one is a little uncomfortable now with her hip sling, and we are trying our best to help her get used to things.

Tomorrow we go see the Urologist about her kidney. The ultrasound from last week confirmed the diagnosis of hydronephrosis, and we are going to see what the recommended course of action is. The pediatrician said there is still a chance of the system resolving itself naturally, and to pray that it just takes care of itself. We have taken that to heart, and would appreciate the prayers of our family and friends on Cora's behalf. I can't stand the thought of them having to cut her open, even to fix things! :(

Oh, and I call the look on her face below "Milk Coma" One of my favorites!

A bath for Cora

We are still sponging Cora down since her little cord stump is hanging on quite persistently. However, there is something sooooooooooo cute about little naked baby bodies. I had to share this one. Who loves her Daddy?

Fake Halloween Pictures

So the jalepeño debacle happened on Halloween. Since Cora was having a tough time we ended up turning out the lights and eating our fun size Snickers as consolation while we tried to help Cora get through the night. However, this did not change the fact that I had bought a couple of costumes six years ago, and I wasn't going to miss out on my opportunity to use them! So, they are late, but who really cares, we have pictures. Oh, the first one is a frog suit, the second I think is more obviously, a pumpkin. :) Yes, I put my daughter in frog suit. She is a beautiful frog!

"And when we thought that she was done..."

"...she rared back, and she let him have it again, man!" (Aaron Tippin, "Kiss This").

Cora has defied conventional wisdom. To those who purport that the key to changing baby diapers and staying dry is the "open-and-close technique," Cora guffaws in your general direction. She has mastered the art of waiting until Daddy has cleaned her and prepped the new diaper before unleashing her bodily functions. She then adds insult to injury by repeating this procedure three or four times. Great fun!

The above song lyric came to mind when, after cleaning her cute little bottom for the fourth time that changing, I declared in all solemnity that "I am not going to stand around and clean your bum all afternoon." To which she replied by wetting the entire table. With the sweetest little smile of contentment on her face.

Learning the Hard Way

Yesterday we learned that mommy should NOT eat jalapeños while breastfeeding-- the hard way. Cora spent the second half of the day absolutely miserable and unable to sleep after I ate a dish at lunchtime that contained jalapeños. Not a lot, but obviously too much for our little one. We all paid the price. Luckily Brian is Super-Daddy and spent the entire evening helping her work out the gas by burping her and working the legs. By midnight we were all exhausted, especially poor Cora. Luckily the incident seemed to be over, and she compensated for her rough afternoon by sleeping six hours straight during the night. Bless her little heart! Hopefully I can avoid such fun in the future by avoiding spicy stuff. I feel all nervous now about eating anything I haven't eaten yet successfully! Bah!

Oh, and as requested, more pics...