March of Dimes

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ANSLEYS TE FISTULA STORY

vicki stewart

March 2010

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AN UPCOMING BIRTHDAY!

Feb 06, 2010 09:12pm (EST)

Oh my goodness Ansley will be 2 years old at the end of this month! That's crazy!
She is doing wonderful. She had a follow up appointment with the NICU about a month ago and they are sending her for a developmental study or test. Basically what I was told is that they will watch her play to see where she is developmentally and determine if she needs physical or speech therapy. If they do think she needs therapy, then they want to get her started and caught up with other kids her age before she enters school. I can surely appreciate that. I never want her to feel like she is different, because she's not. She is such a sweet little girl!
She is still not talking a lot, but she has added a few words to her vocabulary. She can say mama, dada, goat, no, hey and all gone. She also roars like a tiger which is so cute!
We have been remodeling my mom's house with the intention of moving in there and selling ours. What a JOB this has become. You find all kinds of problems when you start tearing things out of a 38 year old house. It will all be worth it in the end though.
I hope everyone is doing well. As usual, I will post a few pictures of my little darlin', Check out the third picture will chocolate pudding all over her teeth;)
Vicki

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (2) | Permalink

TALKING.. OR THE LACK OF

Nov 16, 2009 09:07pm (EST)

Hello all! I am in need of some advice and Share is the perfect place for info. Ansley will be 21 months old next week and she is still not talking. She can say hey, and da da. She says O for Elmo and at for cat. Should I be concerned about her lack of speech? Is there anything I can do to encourage her to talk? I expect her to be behind, but is this too far behind? I just don't know! The thought has crossed my mind that maybe she is so far behind because she didn't receive anything by mouth for 3 months, therefore not strengthing the facial muscles. Is this a possibility? Any advice or thoughts would be so appreciated!
In other news, we have had my mom's house appraised and inspected. The inspection went well with the exception of a few wiring and plumbing issues. Those were expected due to the age of the house. We are meeting a contractor this Thursday to discuss remodeling 2 of the rooms. We will see what the costs of those remodels are before making a definate decision about buying my sister out of the house. But I'm excited about it! The house certainly meets our needs better that the house we are currently in.
Ansley had a appointment with the kidney doctor last week and that went well. Her kidney is working great and no need to increase her meds! It was a struggle to draw blood though. It took 3 of us to hold her down. She might be little, but she puts up a fight!
I hope everyone is doing good and enjoys the holidays that are drawing near! Here are a few pictures including one in her Halloween costume

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (4) | Permalink

IT'S BEEN AWHILE

Oct 20, 2009 08:23pm (EST)

Hello everyone! I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated my blog. Ansley is doing great. Unbelievable really! She has had a small cold this week, but it has not slowed her down at all! She is gotten very good at walking and following all sorts of directions. Well, except for pulling the cat's tail....for whatever reason she won't listen to "No!" on that one! I bought her some flash cards with picutes of animals, babies, food, etc. and she can point to a lot of the objects when asked. I think she is just a genius. She can put up her own dirty diapers and laundry and she "helps" with the housework. It's so precious to be carring laundry through the house with a toddler right behind you picking up what you drop. She's my sidekick for sure.
We had an estate sale at my mom's house last weekend and it was very sucessful. My husband and I are now seriously thinking about buying my sister's half of the house and moving in there. There is a lot of cosmetic work to be done to the house. It was built in the 70's but my mom had remodeled a lot already. It offers the space we need and it's in the school district we want to be in. It's a tough call though. I don't know if it will ever really feel like it's mine. The one major plus is it has 4 bedrooms which would be perfect if we decide to expand our family.
I wll try not to go 2 months without updating again. I missed my SHARE friends! Here are a few recent pictures. It's so hard to get a good picture these days. She want to hold the camera too!
xoxoxo
Vicki

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (3) | Permalink

A PLAYDATE, A DOCTOR VISIT, AND THE GREEN EYED MONSTER

Aug 13, 2009 08:37pm (EST)

A lot has happened this week. Ansley went to the kidney doctor on Monday for her routine checkup (every 3 months). It seems like these visits get harder each time. The urine collection is easy enough, it's just the blood draw that's tough. I even got our favorite nurse and it took 2 tries trying to get bood. In the end, she didn't get much, but she said that she HOPED that she had enough because she was not going to stick her again. It took me and my husband to hold her down for the blood draw. I can not even express to you how much I hate holding my daughter down and the guilt and hurt that I feel when she looks at me like I should be helping her. It's just a horrible feeling.
Ansley had her first playdate with 6 other children yesterday. She didn't do too bad considering how badly she used to suffer from stranger anxiety. She was the smallest one there and the least advanced, so she could not keep up with the other kids. I think she wanted to play with them because she kept looking at them and trying to keep up but they were just too fast for her. She got knocked over a few times since she is so new to walking, but she didn't cry. She got right back up and tried again. Is it Ok to say that it bugged me? Not the knocking her down part, that was an accident, just the fact that she looked like she wanted to play with them so bad but they were just leaving her behind. I so want her to be an outgoing, friendly person and to be treated like any other kid. I have always been a shy person, and it has not gotten me anywhere. I don't want her to end up being shy.
On to the green eyed monster in my title...I try not to blog about my mom alot. This blog is not for that, it is for Ansley. However tonight I am feeling so sad, so I hope that ya'll can overlook me using this site for my feelings as well. The feelings that I am about to share with you are not feelings that I am proud of...I'm jealous of grandparents. I'm jealous of freinds of mine who have children with their grandparents. I wanted Ansley to have my parents in her life so bad, they were good people. Why did the Lord have to take them away? I just don't understand it sometimes. An older friend of mine is about the become a grandmother for the first time..yes, I'm happy for her because she is so excited, at the same time, it makes my heart ache for all that my parents are missing out on.. Then today, I got a friend request on Facebook from a couple that my mom was friends with and I have known since childhood. They had so many pictures of their gandchildren posted. It just hurts to even look at those photos. To know that they are in my moms age group and still here to enjoy their grandchildren and play a part in their lives, but my mom isn't. I think that part of the reason that my mom's death has been so difficult is because she wasn't ready to go. She wanted to be here for Ansley. She allowed them to preform brain surgery on her to try to help her. She woudn't have even allowed that to happen if she didn't want to be here. The surgery that was supposed to help her ended her life. That is almost impossible to live with....
So sorry for my downer blog, tonight it couldn't be helped.
Vicki

Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (6) | Permalink

UPDATE

Aug 07, 2009 09:16pm (EST)

I have some great news to share~ Ansley is walking!! She has fianlly gotten the confidence to let go of the furnature and walk on her own. I'm thrilled for her! She still resorts to crawling if she is in a hurry, but I'm sure in no time that will be a thing of the past.
She has had a virus called the Roseola virus for the last week. She had a very difficult time with that nasty bug! She is finally feeling better today and back to her smiley self. We had taken her to the doctor on Tues. and he diagnosed her with the virus, but on Wed. she was violently screaming for almost 10 hours straight and she had not had a wet diaper all day. Since she only has one kidney I became very concerned so we took her to the Emergency Room. They gave her a cath and tested her urine. Everything was fine, I was just being paraniod. With only one kidney, I worry about her pee more than most moms I guess!

Well, here are some pictures of her walking. Please ignore the mosquito bite on her forehead! Hope everyone is doing good

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (4) | Permalink

A LITTLE GIRL WITH A BIG ATTITUDE

Jul 21, 2009 10:22pm (EST)

Well my sweet baby has turned into a monster. Seriously. What happened? Is she starting the terrible 2's early or what!? She has become quite the drama queen, pitching fits anytime she dosen't get what she wants. Also, we can tell her no time and again and she goes right back to doing what she KNOWS she is not supposed to. I'm begging you SHARE friends, tell me how you disciplined your kids at 17 months old. Nothing seems to be working!
On a lighter note, we went to another of my husbands family gatherings over the weekend and Ansley did great. She let her grandparents hold her and she laughed and giggled with them. It made me so happy to see her interacting with other people since we have been fighting with stranger anxiety for SOOOOO long. It really made me want to move closer to her grandparents so she can see them more often. (They live about 1.5 hours away so we only see them once a month) It really sucks that she dosen't get more time with them.
Also, my husbands cousin was there with her 2 children, ages 3 and 18 months. Her 18 month was not only walking, but running, climbing stairs, and feeding herself. And feeding herself corn on the cob and a chicken leg. Wow. I enjoy seeing them, but I can't help but make comparisons to Ansley. If I handed Ansley a chicken leg or corn on the cob she would give the dog a concussion as she threw it across the kitchen. It makes me wonder where she COULD be if she had not had so many problems.
As usual, I'm including a few pictures for your viewing pleasure

The first one in her jumper, she looks terrifed but that is really her excited face. The second one, she loved her Elmo hat so much she didn't want to take it off, even for her bath. Crazy kid!

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (5) | Permalink

UPDATE

Jul 02, 2009 10:03pm (EST)

I haven't been on SHARE much lately, but I have thought about all of you! Ansley is doing really good. She is 16 months old now. She is still not walking on her own much, just a few steps here and there. She walks great holding on to something though. She will get it eventually I suppose! I think I'm ready for her to walk as she is getting rather heavy to tote all the time. She is eating table food now, no more baby food for my baby! That's kind of sad..she is growing up so fast. She is also trying to say her name, but it always sounds like she is saying "acne". Silly girl

I did get my car back although I have not driven it so far. I'm scared to! My in-laws had let us borrow their car and we still have it so that is what I have been driving. And Tracy, since you asked~I have a 2006 GMC Envoy. I love it or at least I loved it until it broke down.

Here are a few pictures of Ansley enjoying her summer
xoxo
Vicki

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (5) | Permalink

WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS

Jun 23, 2009 09:12pm (EST)

Boy have we had a rough few days! First our air conditioning went out...we live in the deep south. We can not live without a.c.! We got that fixed after paying out the wazoo for an after hours call! Then on Saturday we were going to my husbands sisters 11th birthday party and our car breaks down on the interstate. Yep, right in the middle of traffic going 70 mph on I-20. Scared us to death, but thankfully my husband was able to coast over to the shoulder of the road without getting hit. My car just died and it's only 3 years old! Anyway, so we called his dad to come get us and we sat on the side of the interstate for about 45 minutes waiting on him. (His family lives about 1.5 hours away from us). Did I mention that we live in the freakin south...it was 103 degrees that day. I'm just thankful that we were ok though. It does seem as though when one thing breaks, something else is sure to follow! My truck is still sittin at the Chevy dealership waaayyy on up the interstate. Now we just have to find time to go get it. Ha, wouldn't it be funny if they towed it for sitting in their parking lot too long...Ok, not really

Hope everyone else is having better luck
xoxo

Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (5) | Permalink

PICTURES TAKE 3

Jun 16, 2009 08:02pm (EST)

We FINALLY got some more professional pictures of Ansley taken! Sorry to post so many (see next 2 entries), but I can not pick a favorite! I'm so thrilled to get some beautiful pictures of my little girl. She actually took to the photrographer very well. She goes in tomorrow for her NICU follow up. I will let ya'll know how it goes. Hopefully it will be her last? I don't really see the purpose of these visits. She sees her peditrican regularly. She is doing very well. She is smart as a whip! A couple of weeks ago my husband and I were folding her laundry and she was "helping" my husband stack her bibs. So tonight I was folding her laundry once again and I looked over at her and she had 13 bibs stacked in a heap!! She had only watched and helped my hubby with the bibs once and she remembered that they go together! Ok, it may not sound like much, but I was amazed. She is only 15 months old and already sorting laundry! ha ha
The only real issue we have is we are working very hard on getting her to eat regular table food instead of baby food. I thought she would prefer the taste, but NOOOO! We fuss and fight with each other constantly because she just does not like to eat. Well, I take that back, she likes bread and chocolate, but that's about it. She is picky!

I think about my SHARE friends often...I hope you are all doing OK. Lauren, if you read this, I'm thinking about you always and especailly this month.
xoxo
Vicki

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (3) | Permalink

PICTURES TAKE 2

Jun 16, 2009 08:01pm (EST)

ansley and chair 2

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (0) | Permalink

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