Upper GI

Collette’s upper GI (aka barrium swallow radiograph) went fine. She has no anatomical defects (hiatal hernia, ulcers, stricture, pyloric stenosis). That is very good. That means she probably has minor GERD, if anything. The doctor was very good. and he even gave me a radiogram to take home (update:see below). Once I get it scanned I’ll share it with everyone. It was very cool to see the insides working.

That’s one hurdle up and over. Next week we’ll see the cardiologist. And I hope to get some details on the murmur.

And all of the sudden, they are blue

Yesterday, when I came home in the afternoon, I was able to hold Collette for a while. Her eyes were open and playful. Laura claims that she can now smile and I was dilligently trying to get to her to smile at me. But no such luck came my way. I think she immitated my Ooos, but no smile. Then I realized, her eyes are blue!

Photo from the pool with her eyes:



This is new. When Collette was born her eyes had a dark color to them. They gradually became lighter to a grey/slate color. Every now and then Laura and I would guess on the color of her eyes. Sometimes we thought they would turn out brown, other times blues or even hazel. It is so funny how they change. And how the way we see them change. It amazes me that quality of light defines what you see.

A day previous, Laura had taken Collette into our pediatrician regarding the possibility of having GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease or acid reflux). Not only does she spit up a lot, she’ll often kind of gags on her phlem. Yummy. The nurse ordered an upper GI to be done by a radiologist.

But that’s not all. Upon listening to her heart she noticed a murmur. A what? The sound a defective heart valve makes? Yup, a murmur. Though this is the first time Elizabeth (our regular pediatric nurse) saw Collette, Collette had been checked out three different times by two different doctors, and neither noticed this. Can murmurs develop? So, we also have a referral to a cardiologist.

Wait! That white stuff in her mouth isn’t milk spit up. It’s thrush. After the visit, we now have to take Collette to two new doctor’s appointment and adminster two medications. Thrush is a mouth yeast infection—antibiotics for that (4x a day) and then there’s the stuff for GERD (2x a day). Giving mediaction to kids sucks, but we hope that all this helps her feel better. Elizabeth isn’t even worried that Collette hasn’t gained weight in the past week (eek!).

According to the doctors, all this isn’t stuff to get too worried about. But that’s what we’re here for, to worry. In some way it has made both Laura and I attached to Collette more. I mean, we’re not “baby people.” It was the same way with Abigail. Upon birth we felt no overwhelming sense of love towards the baby. Though there is a profound sense of responsibility, affection occurs when the baby can do something. Babies don’t do much. They start to get real fun for us as they start to do stuff (smile, coo, talk, walk, etc. . .). As we got to know Abigail, we fell in love with her. The same, we assumed, would be true for Collette. But this string of abnormalities has really deepened our awareness of Collette’s needs. We feel the need to really take care of her. It has mad us closer to her at this point and makes me realize we need to do a lot more for Collette than just feed and change her.

Dogs my cats indeed!

Ever mix up the words in a common phrase to develop an utterance devoid of syntactical meaning, yet everyone knows what you meant? For instance, I might say “tongue got your cat?” to the tongue twisted talker. While I don’t mean to say such gibberish, it just comes out.

Why? I’d like to think it has something to do with how fast I speak and how slow I talk. Er, I mean, how fast I think and how slow I speak. You get it? But that’s probably not the case. I’m sure it has more to do with my inability to multitask. And I mean true multitasking. Not the type you put on a resume. More like typing an email while talking to a friend on the phone. That sort of stuff.

I made the attempt today. While trying to trouble shoot a malfunctioning IM-video chat I was booking a plane ticket and talking to my dad on the phone. The result? Travel departing from, of all places, St. Louis. Stupid. I blame SWA. The Book Travel section of site moves from Plan trip -> Select flight -> Price -> Purchase -> Booked. When purchasing the travel you can’t see the travel you’re actual going to purchase. The site encourages you to ’shop around’ when selecting the flight. And then they expected you to be organized enough to note something besides the price in the price window. C’mon. Whatever. The problem is fixed, I think. And my parents will be coming out for a weekend visit (their first since the birth of Collette).

What’s the point. I can’t actually do two things concurrently. And I mean at the same very moment. Not switching between two tasks quickly. I really mean, at the same time. Who can? My wife. She puts on mascara while driving. That’s right, her face is in the mirror while she merges onto the freeway. She’s crazy and yet quite capable. Unlike me.

What’s the take home? Southwest Airlines needs to get a better site. I mean, I need to concentrate when money’s invovled. Or I shouldn’t do two things at once? I can’t decide. Too many ideas are running in my head now.

1. Rahul Says:
   June 16th, 2005 at 7:39 am

   Yeah, but how does this explain “For all intensive purposes?”.

   It doesn’t.

   But I’m glad you’re writing.

2. Travel Blog Says:
   June 16th, 2005 at 7:24 pm

   Southwest’s Website

   I agree, Southwest could make their website much easier to use….

1st night

The wife and kids are asleep. I’ve been working on the computer for most of the day. Laura has already expressed jealousy towards the computer and the time I’ve been spending with it. Laura and I have recently had our second child, Collette. She’s over three weeks old now and usually sleeps about six hours straight during the night. For those of you childless, that’s a pretty amazing feat. It took Abigail (now 18 months old) over a month to do that. And we think Abigail has impressive sleep habits (which, she does, it’s just that Collette has caught on so much earlier).

Having one of those children that stay up all night would’ve been difficult on us. Laura needs 8-12 hours of sleep. And, while I’m not sure I need it, once I’m asleep it is hard to get conscious again. Really. Despite having conversations in the middle of the night with Laura I’ll still end up not knowing what happened in the morning.

Wait. Back to the computer. I’ve been trying to become a computer programmer of sorts. Of course, I don’t know enough languages yet to make myself marketable. So, I’m learning. I’m trying to make myself more marketable as I look for a new job. I’m definately open to a new career. In december I quit my Ph.D. program. Er, I mean, I “graduated” my graduate program with an M.S. I recieved a degree in Plant Sciences. But, really, I’m trained as a molecular geneticist. Not that the two sciences are different, I just don’t want to leave you with the impression I could go on a nature walk and identify all the taxa of plants along the way. Whatever. I’m not going back to school anytime soon. I’ve been in college for too many years and I’m ready to start supporting my family. That’s the crux of why I left graduate school … more of that some other time.

In the mean time, I’ll be spending my time on the computer, in the garage or playing with my kids. I hope to keep those who care informed on my life here. Enjoy

Laura Says:
June 15th, 2005 at 2:21 pm

While it’s true I’m jealous of the computer it’s also true of the garage. I love having Joel home with me. It’s ideal especially while getting used to having two young kids in the house. But it makes it that much more difficult to know that there is the other parent in the house but not really have them “around.” Don’t get me wrong, anytime I need Joel he will leave the computer and come help. It’s wonderful to have that option. It’s just I still feel like the only parent at home most of the day and so that’s where my jealousy comes into play. Plus, I’m used to getting all of Joel’s attention when he is home. Well, the kids get his attention, too, but that’s fine with me.
I hope all his time spent learning about computer programming is a plus. I realize that even if he doesn’t get a job doing this work it could still be a benefit for him to know it. Am I being pessimistic? Probably. We have this great idea in our head to move back home and get closer to family. I don’t want to get any hopes up. It’s super expensive and I just don’t see it happening unless Joel could get a pretty sweet deal somewhere in the Northern California area. So, until then, I’ll stay a bit jealous but very thankful in Tucson.
It’s just frustrating. My husband is one of the smartest people I know and is such a quick learner. I can’t believe it’s difficult for him to get a job…. we’ll see where this goes!