Birthday Update: Five Months!

Birth Deets: 21.5in, 8lbs 12oz 
4 month Deets: 14lbs 2oz, 24.8 inches
Height: ? (next appt 6mo)
Weight: ? (next appt 6mo)
Nicknames: Maddie, Miss Me, Bay, babydoll, Little Wee
Exciting Events: The very first Thanksgiving!! Little Miss attended a small gathering with her mom and dad at grandpa and grandma’s house because a snow and ice storm made the roads getting down from the mountain a bit too treacherous!   Santa came a little early to her house and left her an exersaucer '>(this one!).  She loves it!  Good thing Santa came early because this little contraption is a lifesaver when mommy needs to get things done! We also celebrated daddy’s 40th birthday with a cake we made. 
What She Does: She’s taken to waking up once during the night, generally around 3-4am since mommy started back to work.  That allows us 5-6 hours solid sleep and then a short 1-2hr nap before we wake up… guess that’s not too shabby?  We are waiting until 6months to start solids so for now, mommy will settle with waking just once a night. We hear that many EBF babies continue waking every 2hours and I definitely couldn’t do it! 

We are also still waiting for that first tooth to finally pop.  Poor thing has a chapped chin from all the drooling.  Its seemed to have stepped up a notch in the past few days so we are hopeful the tiny white monster will show soon.  And for those thinking EBF and teeth don’t mix… well she’s already bit because of the teething… not fun!  Miss Maddie is now able to sit unassisted for quite a few seconds!  She generally assumes a tripod like position when she does this but is getting better at balancing every day.  She grabs at most anything and attempts to put it in her mouth even if that thing is twice the size of her head.  Her current favorite toys are an octopus that grandma made out of a ping pong ball and some cotton yarn and an elephant that has 2 different fabrics, a bell inside and crinkly ears. She loves to nap with her '>angel dear owl blankie.  She laughs and squeals and says “mom” and “momma” quite frequently and although she hasn’t picked up on “dada” yet she did say “ohh bah mah” the other day!  Did I give birth to a tiny Dem? I guess only time will tell!

You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby!

Four years.  Four years.

It’s been exactly four years since I took my I-131 radioactive iodine treatment for my papillary thyroid cancer. My oh my, how my life has changed since then!

I’d like to say I haven’t given cancer another thought since that day, but truth is, I think about it every day. Every morning I wake up and take my thyroid replacement pill first thing and wait an hour before eating or drinking anything that might affect the absorption.  During my pregnancy my daily dose was changed 5 times to meet the increasing demands from my body and from Maddie. Since her birth 2 months ago, my dose has been changed twice as my body readjusts to my “new normal.” Without this one little daily pill, I would slowly go more and more hypothyroid and eventually my mind and body would shut down.  I would be so screwed in a zombie apocalypse scenario.

I have just one more year until I can say I’ve been cancer free for the magical five years = cured mark.  In this upcoming year, I have plans to undergo a whole body scan once my daughter is weaned.  Once again I will have to go hypo on purpose.  Once again I will have to take some RAI and go into isolation for a short time – this time from my husband and daughter – to protect them from my radioactive self.  Hopefully this time nothing shows up on the scan in my thyroid bed or in my lungs.

If I think on it too long, it terrifies me. So I try not to let my mind go there.  I have a long life ahead of me – including seeing my great-grandkids grow up – and I'm positive there are many adventures awaiting me!