...that's my life right now!
I have known I wanted to stay home with my children since the time I was a child myself. I struggled not being able to do that with Lily but my mom kept her which was the next best thing. I have written before about Mimi, who keeps Lily. She has become a part of our family and after keeping children for 30 years she is an expert and I turn to her for advice on a regular basis. When Cora came into the equation we knew in-home child care would be ideal but we didn't have an luck finding something like that. I put her on the waiting list at a "school" nearby but I guess you have to get on those things when you are thinking about having a baby because she was pretty far down the list. After talking about it, Pat and I decided I would stay home! My mom offered to help but I thought all week would be a little much for her. That's when we decided part time would work out best for us. I talked to my boss and after the initial surprise, he agreed! He also said because of the holidays and our slower schedule he wouldn't need me to start back until the new year! This makes the situation perfect -- I wont have to go back until Cora is 4 months, Lily will be able to continue to go to Mimi's with her friends and Cora will get one-on-one time with my mom! And most importantly I will have more time to spend with my girls! Dreams really do come true!
Now lets move on to what we have been doing lately. We had lots of visitors and tons of love from cousins and family. I love to hear the little ones say her name, "Towa"!
The next morning while we were away getting breakfast Cora had a blow out. I came home to this. She was wearing a hospital shirt and a diaper one size too big! LOL
We took a trip to Greenville to visit the Kenney's! Lily loves getting together with her cousins especially her "best friend, A-pri"!
Look closely, even Cora has a frozen nightgown!
We spent a wonderful looong weekend at the lake!
And before I knew it she was a month old!
The visit with my friend I mentioned earlier -- that weekend changed the course of the last 6 weeks drastically. I will try to make a long story short: The dogs got out one night and after the first day of laying around I started to wonder about Molly. By the second evening I knew something was wrong when she wouldn't come inside. Pat carried her in and she continued the behavior into Sunday. She wanted outside and she was drinking but she wouldn't eat. Years ago Maggie acted the same way after a big weekend outside and after a few days at the vet and a big bill we were told it was a pulled muscle. So Monday morning I spoke to our vet and after running a few errands I went by and picked up some medication for her. When I got home I knew something wasn't right. I noticed that there was something hanging below her rib cage. It seemed to be filled with fluid. After talking to friends we diagnosed it as an abscess. It turns out that the area I noticed was excessive fluid from the abscess that started between her shoulder blades. The news we got from the vet was nothing that I would have ever expected. Things had spread, the infection was in her blood stream and a large portion of the tissue had died. The first few days they kept her were dedicated to saving her life and removing the dead tissue. After a tumultuous 5 days we were able to go see her. I figured she would be on a table so I was very surprised to see her walk in the room to greet us. I had tried to prepare myself for what I was going to see and I was surprised how well I did. She was literally missing a portion of her body. The vet discussed letting the wound heal from the inside out but ultimate decided on trying to close it. Without seeing it you can not comprehend the severity of the situation, let alone understand what a major surgery this was. She had stitches from one side of her body around to the other (I will spare you the pictures). It ended up being 2 weeks and multiple surgeries before she was able to come home. What we went through when she came home is crazy to think about now. It was an extremely emotional time and considering it all happened 3 weeks after I gave birth didn't help. Thank goodness we adjusted to our larger household rather well because caring for Molly became all-consuming. Pat's work schedule has been crazy so I became the dog walker, caretaker and a wound specialist. I am happy to report that with the exception of one relatively small area everything healed with stitches. We have let that area heal on its own and it is healing so quickly that this last week Molly was released from her weekly checkups! Our vet is absolutely amazing! I am so happy to have my girl back and our family whole again!
I feel like I need to do a little service announcement here. In talking to friends, an abscess didn't seem like a big deal, lots of peoples cats get them. Well, that isn't always the case and in our situation they are not always easily identified. I think any animal owner is pretty conservative about running their pet to the vet because of the expense but if they are acting out of sorts check their body (which we did), really look, touch and feel.
I took this picture when I noticed the fluid below her rib cage.
It wasn't until we knew what was wrong that I noticed the abscess.
We still question what she got into but the vet said it was definitely not a domesticated animal, we thought it was a cat. So we are thinking snake, spider, coyote??? But there was no blood, no real noticeable bite. Who knows but whatever it was, did some serious damage and our waiting only made things worse. Just remember to thoroughly check your pets if they seem in distress.
Now for all things happy -- our girls! I keep waiting for Lily to get jealous or act out but I am continually impressed with her. She loves Cora so much and I never thought a 2 year old could be so helpful. The love is mutual and Lily can almost always soothe Cora until I can get to her. Lily does like to act like a baby every so often but she also pretends to be Mommy and Elsa and Cinderella so we go along with the baby thing.
This night they were both asleep before I finished the first book!
Hasn't happened again but I hold out hope that it will ;)
That's a Little Mermaid band aid on her face!
Peek-a-boo!
Doc McLily. (The doctor set she is playing with was mine from when I was little,
probably my brothers actually. Friends are always surprised when they see it. I love the old toys!)
Cora: "I want to be just like you when I grow up!"
Cora is 2 months old! She is the sweetest; generously giving out smiles and coos. She loves her hands and watching her big sister. I am such a homebody and rarely went out with Lily but this little nugget is everywhere. And when I say little, I mean tiny! She weighed 8.13 (and I'm guess at that, I can't remember and I have no idea where I put her paperwork. Isn't that sad?! I can tell you how much Lily weighed at 2 months - 10lbs even). The pediatrician wanted to do another weight check a week later to be sure she was staying on her growth pattern, and she was. At that visit she weighed 9.3. She is our tiny bundle of joy!
Again, most of this post was written weeks ago so the timeline is completely off. We have had more birthdays, major changes with our big girl and a wonderful Thanksgiving! Continue to check because I will, one day, get you caught up on all of that!
