Another Family Blog

We recently spent a week in Fernie at a rented house right in the middle of town. It was a lot of fun. Eric had tons of fun making Grandma follow him around. We got some hiking in and the boys played golf (the girls were taking a vacation from golf too). Dana started to reach out and grab things while we were out there (about 3.5 months old at the time). See the picture below for proof. (It is a still shot taken from video so it is not great quality)

As some of you may know, we have lost our beautiful Cairo. I had the privilege of spending nearly 13 years with my wonderful yellow lab. He really was one of the best dogs to ever live. He was a terror for the first 2 years of his life - chewing through everything in sight and displaying great bursts of energy by running around as fast as he could with his bum tucked in. I used to say that he started to calm down by the time he was 2 and he was actually a “good dog” by the time he was 3. Cairo moved with me to Vancouver and back. He has been with me through University, actuarial exams, buying my first house, getting married (he was a ring bearer!) and having two children. When I was in Vancouver I bought Cairo a cat (Euclid) for company. I later brought Gilbert home as company for Euclid and we welcomed Petra into our home for Cairo - because I hoped her puppy spirit would help keep him young.  He has left behind some pets that truly miss him.

Cairo was a huge fan of food, walks and just generally being near us. He was great with kids and great with other dogs. He was just great all around.

Cairo, I love you and I’ll miss you terribly. Thank you for sharing your life with me. I’ll never forget you.

We had another appointment at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. This one was for the ABR test - Auditory Brain Response. She had to be asleep for the test so we made sure she was primed for sleep when we left home and she fell asleep in the car. Of course, once we got to the hospital, they had to put four sticky things on her head and it woke her up. I tried nursing her to sleep which worked but she woke up again when they started the test. Then Victor came to the rescue and lulled her to sleep by turning the stroller in circles. This time we were able to finish the test before she woke up. From this test we learned that her inner ear is fully formed. Next we have an appointment on Wednesday, September 26th with another ear-nose-throat specialist and a plastic surgeon. These doctors are part of a newly formed team that specializes in these ear problems. At this appointment, I am assuming we will discuss the timing of the next test (a CAT scan) and what our options will be in terms of her outer ear.

It’s Stampede time here in Calgary and we’ve discovered that Eric makes a great cowboy! We went to a Stampede breakfast yesterday and he rode in on his horse… what an entrance. Dana carefully observed the proceedings. I think she may be studying the Stampede way and planning her cowgirl entrance for next year.

Dana has been a very easy baby so far. She doesn’t cry very much and when she does it is pretty easy to calm her down. She loves to smile and to coo at us these days. But the best news of all is the night-time sleep. She has slept through the night 4 out of the last 5 nights. I don’t mean just a 4 or 5 hour stretch - she has been sleeping from around 8:30 pm to around 6:00 am. OVER NINE HOURS!!! I can’t believe it. I feel so fortunate.

Here is our beautiful baby girl in jeans for the first time…

When Dana was first born, we noticed that her right ear was significantly smaller than her left ear. We thought that maybe it had just been squished when she was inside but when we went for her 1 week appointment with our family doctor, we found out that she doesn’t have an ear canal in her right ear. We were referred to the children’s hospital and had our appointment with them yesterday.

The great news is that her hearing in her left ear appears to be completely normal. This is what we were hoping for! The condition with her other ear is called “aural atresia” which basically just means that an ear canal failed to form. The condition of the outer ear not being fully formed is called “microtia”. We still don’t know if she has a fully formed inner ear or not. We will determine this through two more tests - one is called an ABR where they will measure brain response from her right ear when she is asleep. This test will determine the overall functionality of the inner ear. We are hoping to have this test soon since it will be easier to get her to sleep at this age (just feed her!). She will then have a CAT scan in about a year to see how the bones etc. of the inner ear have formed. There is a doctor in Calgary who has recently set up a clinic to deal specifically with these conditions and we are now being referred to his clinic.

Apparently there are two main things that occur when there is only hearing in one ear. First, it is difficult to determine where sound is coming from and second, it is more difficult to hear over background noise. So Dana will need to learn to rely on her other senses in some situations - like looking both ways before crossing the road (not relying on the sound of cars). She may need to have a sound system installed in her classrooms so that she can hear the teacher over the other children (apparently this is something that they have done and it turns out that even the kids with hearing in both ears do better in a classroom with a system like this).

We won’t know for a long time whether we will do anything about Dana’s ear. We will, of course, go ahead with the testing to determine what the possibilities are. Given that she has normal hearing in her left ear, we have the option of doing nothing. Depending on the inner ear, we could have options with regards to creating an ear canal. Then, of course, there is the option of plastic surgery to repair the outer ear. If we do anything at all, it would not be until Dana is 4 or 5 or even older. It may be that Dana will decide herself if she wants something done or not!

We’ll keep you updated on any developments.

I know, I’ve been slacking in the blog department. I’ve just been trying to get enough sleep and make sure the kids are fed and clean… Blah blah. I’ll try and do better. I have a ton of stuff to share with you all and I’ll try and make time to post more regularly.

Check out these pictures of our beautiful girl. She wore the princess dress (a gift from Gina) to a play at the children’s festival.

 She started smiling all the time at about 6 weeks old. We are loving her little smiles! She is a very happy little girl!!

Besides being the most adorable little boy I know, Eric is now also a big brother!

Eric has adapted to our newest family member much better than I had expected. He is not overly interested in her but he doesn’t appear to be too upset about her either so we are happy. He has given her a few hugs and kisses (see picture) but he has also asked Vic and his Grandma R. to “put her down” so that they can play with him. He hasn’t made that request of me but he did come up with a new ploy today - where he will ask me for a hug while I am holding her and of course I have to put Dana down to give him a proper hug. Smart boy!

Eric can clearly say “sister”, “baby” and “Dana”. He picks up various items like bottles, blankets, clothes etc. that belong to Dana and says “baby’s” and usually tries to put them on top of Dana if he can reach her. He likes to give her the soother in particular - probably because we had bought him a doll with a soother a few months back and he knows to put the baby’s soother in her mouth.  We have to keep an eye on him though because I have seen him pull her soother out (with force!) and he seems to be quite fascinated with her eyes (poke, poke).

We welcomed our beautiful baby girl into the world on April 12, 2007 at 6:30 pm.

The stats:

7 pounds, 13 ounces; 51 cm long (20 inches); 34.5 cm head (13.5 inches).

She has black hair and we’re not sure what colour her eyes are (blue? grey? brown?). I’ve captured some pictures from the video we took and attached them below. In case you are wondering, the purpose of the picture of the back of her head is to show her hair.

No baby yet.

The stats from today’s visit:

Blood Pressure: 140/70 the first time! 120/60 5 minutes later. I guess I got excited walking in from the waiting room; Fundal height 37.5 cm; Deedee’s heartbeat - 140; 2 cm dialated, 50% effaced.

Hmmmm. I don’t seem to have made much progress since the last doctor’s visit. Other than the fact that there is no baby yet, everything is just fine. I had the doctor “strip the membranes” again and I have had a backache all day as a result. It is the same feeling as the labour backache but not very intense. So, it will either intensify and the baby will come or it will subside and we’ll continue waiting.