Molly is ONE!

I know this is very cliche, but where does the time go?

Molly, you are one today.

One year ago today, I was recovering from your birth. For those that don't know, I got to the hospital a little late and you were in a BIG hurry to get out...in such a big hurry mommy didn't have time for an epidural. Yikes!

Someone asked me the other day if you are a good baby. I replied "yes." Daddy and I were pretty sure we were done having kids when you were born, but you make me want to have two more . . . two more just like you.

At one year . . .

• You love to smile and get other people's attention. Today at Walmart, I think we made at least five new friends. Random strangers who just had to come and talk to you and marvel in your cuteness.
• You save your biggest smiles for Daddy. When you see him, you clap your feet together and get so excited.
  
• You REALLY like to eat. You love milk, meat, and any kind of fruit. You used to love vegetables, but in the last few weeks you've been a little stubborn about eating them. Last night, you threw a green bean in Daddy's face. He wasn't too pleased.
  
• You are an absolutely fabulous sleeper. You've been sleeping through the night (8 hrs or more) since you were about 8 weeks old. This morning you slept until after 9:00 AM! You still really need two naps during the day - about an hour or so in the morning and almost 3 hours in the afternoon.
• You love to be around your big sister. You are constantly watching and learning from her.
  
• You aren't walking yet. You walk around everything, stand by yourself, and walk with help, but whenever we let go, you just sit down and crawl.
  
• You love to play with balls, Little People, and puzzles. You can already throw the ball - you really amazed your Aunt Beth last week with this skill!
  
• You have grown very attached to your paci. So attached, I usually find you sleeping with one in your mouth and at least one more in your hand.
  
• When I came in your room this morning and sang Happy Birthday to you, you just giggled and laughed for about 3 minutes - it made me a little self-conscious about my singing!
  

I love you Molly Sue! We can't wait to see what year number two has in store for you!

Mommy

Do-Overs, Diagnosis, and Darn Good Pictures . . .

Warning: If you want to see the darling pics of Miss Molly, you'll have to scroll through the following mess first:)

Yesterday I posted on Facebook:

"Wishing I could have a 'do-over' today with a different outcome:("

Have you ever had a day like that? Yesterday was it for me. I normally wouldn't share this on a blog, but here's what's going on.

Yesterday morning around 10:00, I got a bit of a surprising phone call at work from my doctor's office (after a routine physical on Wednesday of last week)

The nurse said "Dr. G got your blood work back and you have been diagnosed with pronounced hypothyroidism."

Huh? What did she say? I was pre-med at Friends so I knew exactly what she said and what it meant, but was so shocked to hear it, for a moment I didn't think she was talking to me.

For my non-science-geek friends out there, my thyroid is not producing enough hormone - not near enough. It's a feedback loop that's a little tricky to explain, but think of it this way (way over-simplified, but trying to make a point): There is one hormone (TSH - thyroid stimulating hormone) that your body produces to tell your thyroid to produce another homone (T3). If your body doesn't make enough T3, it produces more TSH to tell your body to "step it up" and make more. The higher your TSH, the worse the problem. Basically my thyroid isn't listening at all to the TSH and making enough T3, so my body is making more TSH, but my body still isn't listening.

To give you a point of reference, a normal range of TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is 0.5-2.5 and mine measured at a 60!!. This basically means that my thyroid is being super stimulated to produce the necessary hormones and it's not producing what it needs.

I was surprised and completely freaked out to say the least. My MIL (a nurse) sent me a paper that listed the symptoms of hypothyroidism: feeling cold all the time, dry, itchy skin, paleness, weight gain, constipation, loss of energy, exhaustion, hair loss, muscle aches, blurred vision, sleepiness, mood swings, puffy skin around the eyes.

Really didn't have any symptoms beyond the fact I've been having a horrible time losing the last 5-8 pregnancy pounds even with running almost 15 miles a week. In all honesty, I thought I was just getting old and my metabolism was slowing and I tended to hang on to a little weight with Bailey until I stopped nursing. But, my doctor even told me on Wednesday that my weight is well within a healthy range for my height.

Have had about 24 hours now to let it all sink in and am feeling a little better about it today. I was written a prescription for thyroid hormone replacement and started taking it this morning - probably will have to take it the rest of my life. Will go in 6 weeks to have bloodwork done again, levels adjusted if necessary, and then may be referred to a good endocrinologist if needed.

Questions abound . . . How did this happen? Does it always come on suddenly like this? I had the same physical last year and nothing. I've heard horror stories about people gaining 100+ pounds with this condition and taking years to regulate their medication. Apparently, it is not all that uncommon and can definitely happen all of a sudden, especially after pregnancy.

Absolutely hate the thought of being on medication the rest of my life, but the other end of the spectrum could be worse. Your body depends so much on thyroid hormone for nearly everything - from metabolism to healthy hair, teeth, and nails, to mental state and memory.

Unexpectedly, someone here at my new job put it into a little better perspective to me today (her husband has the same issue). . . it's not really medication, it's a synthetic hormone supplement - if I was anemic, I would take an iron supplement right? This helped calm me down a bit.

So anyway, that's the story of my last 24 hours. Yes, it could be worse. No, I'm not dying. Yes, I wish I could "do-over" yesterday and not get that phone call.

On a completely separate note . . . Got some preview collages back of Molly's first year pictures that we had taken on Saturday. To say they are "darn good" in my opinion would be a huge understatement. I LOVE THEM! Isn't she beautiful, even if her mommy is a diagnosed, do-over desiring mess! I sure think so.

Cammy

September Craziness

September at the Todd house tiptoed in, but this week is looking more like a freight train!
A brief look at our crazy week . . .

Tuesday - Mommy works (busy inservice day for USD 259), Bailey at WEE Care, Molly has to be picked up early from daycare due to provider's daughter's tennis match, Bailey birthday party for a friend at 5:00, Cammy's first night of BLT (Tuesday evening Bible Study).

Wednesday - Mommy works, Bailey at WEE Care, Bailey meet your teacher at Kids Day Inn (10:45 - noon - who sets these times anyway?), Dr. Appointment, Bailey's first night of Awana

Thursday - Bailey's first day of Kids Day Inn, Molly 1-year pictures, Clean, Clean, Clean, and Home Team

Friday - Clean, clean, clean to host Bunco at our house!

Yikes! Not sure I'm ready for this crazy schedue, but ready or not, here it comes! So thankful that Joey's job is flexible enough to allow him to pick up Molly today and take Bailey to "Meet Your Teacher" tomorrow.

On another note, Bailey fed horses at her Aunt and Uncle's house for the first time over the weekend. It was fun making this memory with her. A few pictures . . .

The Loot . . .

All Ready

Learning to hold my hand flat.

Bailey loved it so much, she begged me to climb the tree to get more apples!

On the way to WEE Care this morning, Bailey said some funny things. It's crazy how their little minds work . . . amazing actually that they are constantly thinking and learning.

"Mom, why isn't the sun awake yet? (it was cloudy) There's a seven on my clock and it's supposed to be awake. I better bring my sun dudes (sunglasses) to Miss Leslie's just in case it decides to wake up."

"Hey mom, I just thought of something. Mud and blood rhyme." Yes, Bailey, they do. Not sure that would be most kids' first thoughts for rhyming words, but you are right.

It's things like this that help me survive the craziness.

Have a great week everyone!!

Cammy