Another Visit from Grandma & Grandpa Liedl

Lucy's grandparents came to visit again last week. With my part-time work schedule, I had a long weekend, and it's likely the last long weekend in a while. So last Thursday, my parents drove through northern Minnesota, across the Michigan Upper Peninsula, and down to Ann Arbor. They said the leaves were just starting to change.

My parents spent the next three days loving on Lucy. She showed them smiles, giggles, coos, and some cries.

Lucy rolled over for the first time. She went from belly to back, turning to her left.This is Lucy, tired after rolling over.

Lucy's daycare had a pancake breakfast to raise money for the Big Heart, Big House run this weekend. We were able to show my parents where Lucy spends her days.

We also went to watch the University of Michigan Marching Band rehearse. The MMB rehearsals are open to the public every afternoon, and it was a treat to watch. They were preparing for the Michigan v. Indiana game the following day. (Michigan won that game. Go Blue!)

Of the last 3 days at daycare, Lucy has gotten her NG tube out on all 3. Twice she pulled it out by herself, and yesterday, it came out when she vomited. Poor thing - we keep putting it back down when she gets home.

The JDRF walk to raise money for diabetes research is this weekend. Lucy, Kris, and I will all be walking. If you want to donate a couple dollars, you can visit http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=87389592.

Place Your Bets

Lucy has discovered that she has fingers. Unfortunately, her cute little fingers are just the right size to get under her NG tube by her nose. She pulled the tube out once last week at daycare and she got it halfway out last night. So, how often to you think Lucy will pull out her tube? Daily? Weekly?

Things That Start With "S"

While I haven't been posting, I have been making notes about things to post. Turns out most of those things start with "S".

The first one: smiles. Lucy has started giving us lots of smiles and happy sounds in the last couple weeks. The smile starts out small and grows into a big one, and if you are lucky, a happy shriek or coo accompanies it. I am trying to capture the smiles on video. They will be on Facebook.

The second S: sweat test. Lucy had a sweat test to determine if her PHA (pseduohypoaldosteronism) affects just her kidneys or if it involves multi-organs. This test is the same thing that they do to determine if someone has cystic fibrosis, but that is not what we used it for with Lucy. The first part of the test involved apply two electrodes to each of Lucy's thighs. One of the electrodes had a chemical that causes the skin to sweat, and when the current is applied, this chemical is pulled into the skin. Then very thin filter paper is placed on the skin to absorb the sweat. When enough sweat is collected, the lab analyzes the salt content in the sweat. Lucy's sweat test showed that she does not have the multi-organ variation of this disease. This means that she will most likely outgrow the PHA and her sodium supplements in the next couple years. :)



We had blood drawn this week for another potassium level. To weeks ago, her potassium level was 4.9. Then on Thursday, it was 6.2, a lot higher than it should be. Since there is no reason her potassium level should be going back up, we went to have it redrawn today. 5.3! Yeah!
Lucy is doing very well with her neck strength and holding up her own head.

I got crafty and decided to further decorate the nursery. I bought the letters of Lucy's name and I bought scrapbook paper. After tracing the letters onto the scrapbook paper and cutting them out, I decoupaged the letters using Mod Podge. I am very happy with how it turned out.

Lucy has been growing out of a lot of her clothes. So this leads us to the next S: shopping (kind of). We received a lot of clothing at my baby showers, and we packed up the items that were too big. I went through the drawer of the 3-6 month old clothes and picked out the ones that I think will fit her now. She is getting a whole new wardrobe without even entering a store!

Kris and I took Lucy to the Dexter Cider Mill today, and while we were out, I commented on how I was in a good mood today. Kris reminded me that it is probably because I got a good amount of sleep last night. And that is my favorite S: sleep. Lucy slept from 11PM to 4AM and for those 5 hours, I was in dreamland.

Lucy's least favorite S is the next thing: shots. She had her well child exam last week and had to get three immunization shots. Lucy actually slept really well for a couple hours after the shots, but then she cried/screamed for 1.5 hours. She spiked a little fever and finally fell asleep. We're all glad that she doesn't have any more shots for another 2 months.


Our final S is: stain removal with the sun. I've read that putting baby clothes in the sun helps to remove baby poop stains. I was doubtful and figured it was just working by fading the clothes. However, I gave it a try, and it works!!! One of Lucy's diapers leaked onto a cute footie pajama outfit. The poop stain did not come out in the laundry, and I didn't realize it until after I had dried the outfit. I put it out on our patio to get a little bit of sun, and the stain disappeared from the side that was exposed to the sun. I turned it inside out, and the stain disappeared completely. After I did some more reading, I read that the reason this works has something to do with bilirubin. Great trick!

I started back to work part-time this week. I am working 3 days a week for 3 weeks and then I'll be back to full-time. While Kris and I are at work, Lucy goes to daycare at Gretchen's House. We've heard many good things and so far we have been impressed. They are more than willing to work with Lucy's NG tube.

As a reminder, I put more pictures on Facebook because they are easier to upload there. We hope that everyone is doing well. Take care, enjoy the fall weather, and check back for more updates.