I tried little girl, I really tried. I put up the biggest phone effort ever, and your Daddy can tell you that two hours of being on the phone with someone other than him, is a huge effort on my part. I talked to the government. I talked to health care officials and supervisors. I talked with lots and lots of "little guys". I tried to be super sleuth and convince the government with my evidence. I pleaded with truths. And in the end, I could not move the mountain of government for you. The laboratory supervisor couldn't convince them either. Even when the evidence showed that your PKU test was received in the lab three minutes later at the correct time.
I failed.
For a third time
I will watch over you
As white lab coats
Stick your heel
And squeeze
....And squeeze
.........And squeeze.
You'll cry.
The truth
Did not set you free.
Four millimeters of ink
Misplaced on a page.
This time
I'll cry with you.
Because, little one, Mommy has a deep desire to save you from others' mistakes. And as you get older, I'll even want to save you from your own. When you become a mother, you'll understand that it is not the pin prick that upsets me so. It's the bigger picture. I won't always be able to protect you from the mistakes of others. I can't. And there will be times in your life, when you are in the right, and it will still hurt. But I promise that I'll be there to watch over you, and spill tears with you. You'll always have my fingers to wrap a death grip around when it hurts more than words can say. Whether your three weeks old or thirty three years.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
One Little Mistake
I've been on the phone for two hours with 8 different people trying to get to the bottom of one very critical mistake. I have to tell you that I have had the worst experience with incompetent nurses and lab techs after Hope's delivery. During delivery, they were wonderful, but after they wheeled me into my room, it was ridiculous.
This all revolves around that lovely PKU test that Georgia state law requires of all newborns. The one where they stick your child over and over trying to get enough blood from their heel to fill into what seems like 5 way-too-big circles when your 1 day old is screaming for mercy. The lab tech wrote Hope's time wrong on her PKU test before she was discharged. Which wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that this test must be done no earlier than 24 hours after the baby is born.
Hope was born at 7:35pm. The next day, she had the PKU test done at 7:40pm. The lab tech wrote down 17:40...military time for 5:40pm. Brilliant. So voila, I get a call on Thursday that says that the state has rejected her test because it was done too early. The results are fine, but they won't be accepted. This of course, was on the heels of hearing a recent story on the news about a 5 week old being removed from the home by the state and placed in foster care for a week because the parents refused to do the PKU test.
I'm waiting to talk to the Supervisor at the lab now. And my head is spinning in fury over this stupid mistake. One short line before the number seven has created complete havoc, and no one knows who I can talk to about having that one short line erased! UGHH! But God forbid, if I refuse to spend another 6 hours taking care of this issue, or having her go through the test again, and paying for it again. or lose another day of schooling the children. Because, for all I know, a police officer might be knocking on my door in five months, with orders to take Hope and have her retested. OIY!!!
This all revolves around that lovely PKU test that Georgia state law requires of all newborns. The one where they stick your child over and over trying to get enough blood from their heel to fill into what seems like 5 way-too-big circles when your 1 day old is screaming for mercy. The lab tech wrote Hope's time wrong on her PKU test before she was discharged. Which wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that this test must be done no earlier than 24 hours after the baby is born.
Hope was born at 7:35pm. The next day, she had the PKU test done at 7:40pm. The lab tech wrote down 17:40...military time for 5:40pm. Brilliant. So voila, I get a call on Thursday that says that the state has rejected her test because it was done too early. The results are fine, but they won't be accepted. This of course, was on the heels of hearing a recent story on the news about a 5 week old being removed from the home by the state and placed in foster care for a week because the parents refused to do the PKU test.
I'm waiting to talk to the Supervisor at the lab now. And my head is spinning in fury over this stupid mistake. One short line before the number seven has created complete havoc, and no one knows who I can talk to about having that one short line erased! UGHH! But God forbid, if I refuse to spend another 6 hours taking care of this issue, or having her go through the test again, and paying for it again. or lose another day of schooling the children. Because, for all I know, a police officer might be knocking on my door in five months, with orders to take Hope and have her retested. OIY!!!
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Cue Ball
Her Highness had her two week appointment on Thursday. She's growing like a spring chicken on Mama's homemade grow starter milk. Hope gained two whole pounds since her last visit at a few days old. (Must be all those hormones they put in that Mama Knucker Hatch Milk these days.)
To avoid confrontation with the doctor, I lied through my teeth that baby was sleeping on her back. Do you know what she told me? "Good. Well make sure that baby gets lots of tummy time because we have been getting a lot of flat heads." Wow. What a selling point for putting your baby to bed on her back! On that high point, I'll continue to stick with my original theory that God didn't make a mistake when he opted out of stamping written instructions on each baby's belly that said, "This side up." If there is one feature we all agree on with Hope, it is that she was born with the cutest little cue ball head. I'd prefer to avoid the nickname of Helmet Hope.
Just a note: I jest lightly about head shape and helmets, but plagiocephaly can be very serious for those parents and babies who are in the middle of the issue. I don't want to get on my soap box, but in 1999, 1 in 60 babies in the USA had plagiocephaly, an increase from 1 in 300 in 1992. The increase is believed to be a direct result of the Back to Sleep program instated to increase awareness and prevent SIDS. While the program has been deemed successful, one has to wonder if, as in almost everything, moderation is the key.
To avoid confrontation with the doctor, I lied through my teeth that baby was sleeping on her back. Do you know what she told me? "Good. Well make sure that baby gets lots of tummy time because we have been getting a lot of flat heads." Wow. What a selling point for putting your baby to bed on her back! On that high point, I'll continue to stick with my original theory that God didn't make a mistake when he opted out of stamping written instructions on each baby's belly that said, "This side up." If there is one feature we all agree on with Hope, it is that she was born with the cutest little cue ball head. I'd prefer to avoid the nickname of Helmet Hope.
Just a note: I jest lightly about head shape and helmets, but plagiocephaly can be very serious for those parents and babies who are in the middle of the issue. I don't want to get on my soap box, but in 1999, 1 in 60 babies in the USA had plagiocephaly, an increase from 1 in 300 in 1992. The increase is believed to be a direct result of the Back to Sleep program instated to increase awareness and prevent SIDS. While the program has been deemed successful, one has to wonder if, as in almost everything, moderation is the key.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Halloween on the Cheap
It seems like every year we get closer and closer to Halloween, before anyone has decided what they want to dress up like. I found myself, the day before Halloween, scheming on how to convince the children to be easy dress ups. No trips to the dreaded Wal-mart to scrounge around oversized and picked over outfits. I asked Tom Builder for a little support to encourage the kids towards my simple but wonderfully cheap and quick costumes: one mummy a la Tee-Pee, and on Tom Builder's recommendation, one sheeted ghost.
Grace went for the Mummy idea, and Jack liked the thought of being a ghost. Faith, took on the Hand-me-down costume with style, inheriting Jack's Gorilla suit. Somehow the ghost managed to escape my camera (don't they usually?), but I caught the other two before we headed out for an all out assault on the housing industry.
In about three houses, Faith had caught on very clearly as to what a doorbell ring could bring. It didn't matter how many stairs lay before that door, she would earn the prize! The candy booty in this family just got larger with the addition of a third qualified trick-or-treater. And in the tradition of my Father, there will be many "Tax Time" payouts to parents in each treaters future. I like to think of it as teaching our kids the importance of Tax Cuts.
Grace went for the Mummy idea, and Jack liked the thought of being a ghost. Faith, took on the Hand-me-down costume with style, inheriting Jack's Gorilla suit. Somehow the ghost managed to escape my camera (don't they usually?), but I caught the other two before we headed out for an all out assault on the housing industry.
In about three houses, Faith had caught on very clearly as to what a doorbell ring could bring. It didn't matter how many stairs lay before that door, she would earn the prize! The candy booty in this family just got larger with the addition of a third qualified trick-or-treater. And in the tradition of my Father, there will be many "Tax Time" payouts to parents in each treaters future. I like to think of it as teaching our kids the importance of Tax Cuts.
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