Uh-Oh

To call Scarlett's recent health issues an "uh-oh" is the understatement of the century, but the first word she said after she had her breathing tube removed in the Pediatric ICU -- and what she continued to say over and over and over for a couple of days -- was "uh-oh." You've got that right, Scarlett. You had one BIG uh-oh.

Here's what happened in a nutshell:

Scarlett started having typical cold symptoms (cough, runny nose) the night of Sunday September 11 and through the next day. She had no fever and otherwise seemed fine. The morning of Tuesday September 13 she was a bit sluggish and stuffy. She didn't have much of an appetite that day and took a four hour nap that afternoon. Still no fever, and no symptoms that indicated anything other than that she had a cold. Later that evening, however, Scarlett became extremely lethargic and started breathing quickly. After a call to our pediatrician's after-hours line, we decided to take her to the children's emergency room at Medical City.

The next 24 hours were a blur. Scarlett was admitted to the Pediatric ICU where it was determined that she had (a) rhinovirus (the common cold); and (b) Rhabdomyolysis (rapid breakdown of the skeletal muscle tissue). The big risk with Rhabdomyolysis is kidney and/or liver failure. Her kidney levels in particular were sky-high, and dialysis seemed imminent. Scarlett was sedated, a breathing tube was inserted (and later a feeding tube as well), she started receiving lots of intravenous hydration to flush her system, and her blood was drawn and tested around the clock to try to determine what was going on and how her body was responding. Needless to say, it was terrifying. After several days, she became less highly critical, but was still very, very sick and ended up having to stay in the PICU for a total of ten days, followed by 4 days on the regular pediatric floor.

The combination of being sedated and bed-ridden for two weeks and the assault her muscles suffered from the Rhabdomyolysis left Scarlett very weak and unable to walk, sit up, or even swallow solid foods. Fortunately, despite the severity of her illness and the incredibly high numbers that her blood work showed during the height of her illness, she did not suffer liver or kidney damage and dialysis was avoided. After she was discharged from Medical City, she moved over to Our Children's House at Baylor where they continued to monitor her medically and also provided daily physical and occupational therapy. She was treated at OCH for two weeks, and finally came home after exactly one month of being in the hospital.

While she was at Medical City and still in the throes of the Rhabdomyolysis, they removed some muscle tissue from her thigh for testing to try to determine what caused the entire incident. All of the results so far have come back negative for an underlying metabolic (i.e. genetic) cause, although there are a handful of results still outstanding. If all of the results come back negative, we will be left with the conclusion that everything was caused by an unusual reaction to a particular strain of the rhinovirus. Given that we are exposed to cold and other viruses all of the time, this is a frightening thought. But the good news is that Scarlett had obviously been exposed to colds before this happened and didn't get critically ill, and in fact the week after she came home from OCH she got a cold and nothing happened other than typical cold symptoms. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that it was a once in a lifetime freak occurrence.

The outpouring of love and support we received from family and friends was nothing short of amazing, and it gave such comfort to Chris and I as we struggled to get through the darkest days. Prayers were being said all over the world, including a mass in the Philippines and a prayer inserted into a crack in the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. We feel so incredibly blessed not only that our sweet girl got better but that we have such an incredible network of people who love us.

Here is a picture of Scarlett leaving Our Children's house to come home after the longest month ever.



Scarlett is still doing out-patient physical therapy at OCH and is doing great at home. The only obvious sign that she's not quite 100% is that she's still a bit too weak to make it up and down the stairs at our house by herself, but she's getting stronger every day and is just about back to her old self.

Scarlett's Going to be a Big Sister!

Scarlett is thrilled to announce the upcoming arrival of her baby brother sometime around Thanksgiving! (Ok, so maybe thrilled is a bit of an exaggeration seeing as how we're pretty sure she has no idea what's coming. When asked "where is baby brother?" she points to my belly and kisses it, but it's entirely possible that she just thinks I'm crazy and decided to name my belly "Baby Brother." Scarlett's belly is named "Babaloo," after all, so I guess it's not beyond the realm of possibility that I could have named mine, too.)

Anyhow, the official due date is November 22, which is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I had a doctor's appointment this week, and everything looks great. We were surprised with some cool 3D shots during my ultrasound, so here's a sneak peek at what baby brother looks like at 28 weeks (roughly 7 months). Its hard to tell, but there's a hand up by his eye (with his fingers curled outward like he's waving) and a foot up by his mouth.



Assuming the baby arrives on time, he and Scarlett will be almost exactly 22 months apart (so just shy of two years). Scarlett has taken a huge interest in babies and dolls over the last several months. She hugs them, kisses them, feeds them, gives them drinks from her sippy cup, and puts diapers, clothes, and shoes on them. She shushes you if one of her babies is sleeping, and tells them "night night" when it's time to go to bed. We're hoping these are all good signs that she'll be interested in -- or at lest tolerant of -- the baby when he arrives.

Here is a picture of Scarlett back in May posing for the pictures we used to give to grandparents on Mother's Day to announce the baby's upcoming arrival.



One of the baby's nicknames is "Little Turkey," so how perfect is this get up? (I'm already embarrassing the poor little guy and he's not even here yet.)

Nineteen Months Old! (August 21, 2011)

Over the last month, Scarlett had lots of visits from grandparents, got her cast off, and finally got to spend some time at the pool again. Chris and I both traveled separately without her (me to Napa for fun, and Chris to Chile for work). I came back from my trip to a complete Daddy's girl. We'll see if the pendulum swings in the other direction now that's he's gone for a few days (but based on the constant inquiries about her Daddy and pointing out his things -- "Daddy's clothes," "Daddy's shoes," "Daddy's car," "Daddy's books" -- I have my doubts).

Scarlett had her belated 18-month appointment with Dr. Curry last week. Looks like our big girl is slowing down a wee bit on the growth charts: 28 pounds 6 ounces (90%) and 33 3/4 inches tall (90%). She's still up there, but the WNBA might not be headed to Kessler Park to recruit her after all.

Scarlett insists on feeding herself now. Not a big deal if she's eating a grilled cheese sandwich or something else she can eat with her hands; a potential disaster if she's eating yogurt or anything else that requires a spoon. She also loves to dip her food -- hot sauce, ranch dressing, queso, the black bean dip at Gloria's, you name it. If she sees you using any "dip," she wants to do it, too. (And Lord help you if you don't let her; there will be screeching ... lots of screeching. When at a restaurant presented with the option of a screeching toddler and a queso-covered toddler, I choose queso-covered toddler. Not surprisingly, we don't order much queso these days.)

Here she is using a spoon all by herself. Unfortunately, this attire is only appropriate pool-side and if you're under two years old. Chuy's on a Friday night -- not so much.



And here are some shots of Scarlett on her 19-month birthday.

Happy girl.



"You lookin' at me?"



A rare sighting of Winnie following Scarlett. The typical scenario involves Winnie running in the opposite direction.



Playing in the sandbox "out-tide."



Happy nineteen month birthday, Scarlett!

Chile

Chris is on a work trip to Chile. (It's winter there now and there's even snow on the ground. This is nearly impossible for me to imagine as I sit here melting in 100+ degree heat.)

Scarlett's vocabulary continues to blossom, and it's tons of fun to watch. We talked a lot today about how her Daddy is in Chile, and by bedtime, she was saying it herself. What a trip (no pun intended)!

Forty Years

Scarlett's Grandma and Grandpa Schwegmann recently celebrated their 40th anniversary. Not only is it an incredible accomplishment to be married for that long, but they've managed to be married that long and still like being around each other, which is an even more impressive feat. Here's a shot of Bill and Shirley on their wedding day back in July 1971.



And here they are 40 years later in July 2011.



We headed down to New Braunfels to celebrate with them, and enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Grey Moss Inn just south of San Antonio. The restaurant is significant because it is the site of their first date back in 1970. The restaurant is a bit off the beaten path, and Shirley jokes that on that first date when they kept driving, and driving, and driving she started to get a bit worried about where in the world he was taking her. Bill jokes that when Shirley ordered the budget-friendly chopped steak (read: hamburger patty) instead of an actual steak, he thought to himself that she might be a keeper.

Grandpa points out to Scarlett where he and Grandma sat on the patio on their first date.



Greg, Shirley, Bill, and Chris.



The whole gang.



Happy anniversary!

Eighteen Months Old! (July 21, 2011)

I know I often say in these monthly posts that Scarlett had a big month. But this time, I really, really mean it. (And it's actually been two months since I've done one of these updates. You may have noted that we skipped over month seventeen. That was one of Scarlett's sick days in Hawaii, and although I thought ahead to bring the "17 months" sticker for a photo shoot, I didn't bring a white t-shirt, and you couldn't see the sticker on the yellow shirt she was wearing that day. So there were no sticker photos for that month, and the poor thing wasn't really up to a photo shoot anyway.)

As you probably know, Scarlett fractured her leg on July 1st. I read an article a while back that said babies often focus on learning one big new skill at a time, which is understandable given that everything is new to them and trying to process all of that new information at once could be overwhelming. The article gave walking as an example, and said that a baby who has mastered a few words might actually regress verbally when he or she starts to walk since a huge new skill like walking takes so much concentration. I have no idea if this phenomenon was at play with Scarlett or if it was just a coincidence, but her vocabulary has skyrocketed since she broke her leg (and consequently was not able to get around very easily, so she had less to be distracted by). She went from saying just a handful of words regularly to a vocabulary so big that we've lost count. It's as if she decided on July 1st, "well, since I can't walk around and check things out, I'll go ahead and focus on mastering the English language."

Some of her new words include: please, blueberry, water, milk, cracker, pig, cow, turtle, deer, hat, bow, chair, ball, chew, drink, tea, cute, pink, yellow, green, more, hair, eye, nose, mouth, teeth, knee, ear, belly button, hair, hot, scrub, bath, door, car, ring, up, down, potty, stairs, and cast.

A few other cute things she's doing these days:

She says "shhhhh" and puts her finger up to her lips when one of her babies (her Hawaii turtle, Elmo, etc.) is "napping," or when she sees the book Goodnight Moon (which features an old lady rabbit whispering "hush").

She puts her finger up to her mouth and says "hmmmmmm" while looking around for something or if she's deliberating what to do next.

She holds her nose and says "peeeewwwww" when there is something stinky.

She tries to whistle at Winnie (which is what I do to get her to come to me), but really just blows air loudly. She also tells Winnie "shhhh" or "hush" when she barks. I'm sure Winnie really appreciates that.

She blows on her food to make sure it's not too hot. Doesn't matter if it's pasta (that is legitimately hot) or an orange (that clearly isn't) -- you can never be too careful, apparently.

She likes to give "nose-nose" kisses where she rubs the tip of her nose on yours.

The other day she was having a snack in the kitchen and was admiring some prints we have on the wall featuring different fruit. I was explaining to her what everything was, and pointed out a fig. She responded with "pig." I told her that it was close, but a bit different because it starts with an "f" sound. I then said "fffffff-ig," to which Scarlett responded "fffffff-PIG." Maybe you had to be there, but this tickled me to no end. I'm still chuckling about it.

Without further ado, here is one-and-a-half-year-old Scarlett.





Pointing out that the begonias are looking a bit crunchy.



Playing with Daddy.



Being silly.



"Ummm, has anyone else noticed that it's 110 degrees out here?"



"Ok, enough with the pictures. I'm headed back inside to hang out in the air-conditioning."

Scarlett's Summer Jam

Everybody needs a summer jam, where the second you hear it you want to turn up the volume, tap your feet, bob your head to the beat, and sing along at the top of your lungs.

Scarlett's summer jam features a member of the Black Eyed Peas (Will. I. Am.), but probably isn't the kind of song you're thinking, considering that it also features Big Bird, Grover, Elmo ("Melmo" according to Scarlett), and other furry friends. The song is called "What I Am" (I guess a play on Will. I. Am., now that I think about it), and teaches kids that they are smart, strong, helpful, and all kinds of other good things. Scarlett LOVES it, and we listen to/watch it on You Tube numerous times a day (initiated by Scarlett bringing me my iPhone and asking, "Melmo?"). Scarlett bobs her head, sings along when they say "high" (I'm sure she thinks they're saying "hi" when they are really saying "keep my head up high", but close enough). The funniest part is when she plays air drums at the same time Will. I. Am. does. Check it out if you're interested (it's received over 5 million views, and I think Scarlett is personally responsible for a few hundred thousand.)