The Five Best NICU's in the Country

Parents Magazine published a list of the "10 Best Children's Hospitals" in their February 2009 issue. Included in this article was a breakdown of the best hospitals for six crucial specialty areas. One of these was Neonatal Care. According to their judges, here are the top five NICU's in the nation:

1. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
2. Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, Cleveland
3. St. Louis Children's Hospital
4. Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis
5. Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

If you live in or near Philadelphia, count yourself doubly lucky because their children's hospital also came in as #1 overall. I was not surprised to see Riley on the list; I've mentioned many times what an outstanding NICU they have. I was fascinated and encouraged by what other hospitals on the list are doing to ensure incredible care for our children.

To read more about who made the lists and why, please visit Parents online!

"My Story..." Monday: Bye, Bye, Riley...

I've written many times about the amazing children's hospital we were at. Riley Children's Hospital, in Indianapolis, is a great hospital overall, but their NICU, especially, is outstanding. In my first couple years of living in Indiana when I was drenched in despair and self-pity much of the time, wondering why I had ever thought it would be a good idea to move to this state, I often took comfort in the idea that perhaps it was just meant to be. There are very few other places in the country that would have been able to handle my extremely premature daughter as well.

We were used to a phenomenal level of care. Added to that, we had been "stationed" at Riley for three months at this point. The thought of being transferred to a different hospital with a different staff, though it was clearly a step in the right direction, was scary. There was no choice to be made, though. Our fates had been decided and, as we drove home from Chicago, we knew we would be meeting our daughter's ambulance at a new hospital, albeit one right next door to Riley. We were checking into I.U. Medical Center, the very hospital where I had given birth to her three months before...

When we first arrived at the Special Care Nursery at I.U. to see our daughter, I was struck by the size of the room she was in. As I mentioned last week, our daughter tested postive for MRSA which meant she needed to be in an isolation room. Her room at I.U. was easily three times the size of the room she had been in at Riley. It also had windows. In short, it was a very bright, roomy space. Of course, at this point, C. still had bandages over both eyes so it was unlikely she got to enjoy any of the early morning sunbeams but, still, it was nice to have a view!

As the first couple days went by, we had the opportunity to meet several new nurses. They all seemed very friendly. Our nurses, at least, seemed to really enjoy dressing our little girl in pretty, frilly preemie outfits and it was obvious that the Special Care Nursery, rather than serving as a place to heal the critically ill, acted as a place to help the slightly fragile get out the door. At Riley, C. had already tried, and done well with, a bottle or two each day. Within three days at I.U., she was no longer tube-fed at all and was strictly on bottles on an "ad lib on demand schedule"-- basically, she was allowed to eat as much as she wanted as frequently as she wanted, much like most newborns. We were amazingly encouraged by this and so hopeful that when our little girl was released, tube feeding would be completely behind us.

The most frustrating difference that I noticed (aside from simply not seeing our beloved Riley nurses who we had come to know so well) was that I no longer felt quite so "in the loop", medically speaking. There was no team of neonatologists making rounds here. For the most part, if I had questions, I had to call and wait for a return call from a nurse practitioner. Don't get me wrong-- she was very knowledgeable. But it wasn't the same as when I'd be sitting by C's bedside and the doctor on rotation would pull me out to stand with the team of residents and fellows to listen to her status and the plan for moving forward. Perhaps it should have been comforting for me to be able to focus on ruffly socks and feeding her a bottle... the way "normal" parents do with their babies. But, after three months of being entrenched in medical details, I felt lost and unaware. It was unnerving for me.

On about our fifth day there, we arrived to visit C. only to find she had been moved out among the other babies. This shocked us! What in the world??? She had MRSA! She was supposed to be isolated! Well, remember how I told you how very common MRSA is? It's true. And it turned out that so many babies had been exposed to the bacteria (not from our daughter, mind you), that they essentially turned one half of the Special Care Nursery into a "MRSA ward". In a way, it was strange being out among the other families again, but it was nice to be out in the open too. To not have to head into some little alcove.

We never got to know any other families in the Special Care Nursery. Most of those babies are in there for two weeks or less. It's not the same as Riley where so many of us practically "set up camp" and prepare for the long haul. It was a survival tactic that we Riley parents employed, talking to others who were also enduring long journeys. The months became easier to bear when you weren't isolated and alone in the quest for a healthy, strong baby. It wasn't like that at I.U. Some other parents would smile occasionally but, for the most part, no one had any interest in getting to know you. Being a social creature, this was tough on me too. I don't think it really bothered my husband.

Just over a week after arriving at the Special Care Nursery, I received surprising news during a routine call with the nurse practitioner. They wanted to send C. home. Within four days. We had a lot of tests to schedule and preparations to undergo before this could happen...

I'll tell you about all those next week.

What Big Eyes You Have!

The thing about having a baby in glasses is this...

You spend months, maybe years, trying keep those glasses on said-child's face.

But, eventually, your little one catches on...

And then, even Mr. Potato Head's glasses are fair game.

A New Year's Commitment: Pop Tabs

I've written about collecting pop tabs before. As this New Year rolls on, I want to re-address the topic and share a little more information with you all.

Ronald McDonald House charities have established houses all over the world, mostly in larger cities with significant children's hospitals. These houses are set up to provide lodging to families with a sick or hospitalized child. Most of them charge on a sliding scale (and usually no more than $10 per night) and they provide all the necessities you could need during such a difficult time. It is an amazing organization that relies heavily on the generosity of sponsors and donations.

I want to encourage all of you to commit to help this year. And here's why...

• Collecting pop tabs is ridiculously easy. You can find them on beer, juice, soda, and diet drink cans. You can also find them on soup and pet food cans. Removing these tabs does not interfere with recycling the rest.
• The tabs can be turned in at numerous places. Many McDonald's restaurants accept them, the children's hospital will take them, the actual RM House will take them, and lots of schools have ongoing collections going.
• Every little bit helps.

Consider this...

It takes 1,267 pop tabs to add up to one pound of aluminum. One pound of aluminum sells for about 40 cents. Yikes. But, even given that, last year alone, here are the amounts a few cities raised just on pop tab donations alone...

Colorado Springs: $3,000 Kansas City: $19,600 Milwaukee: $20,038

Since the pop tab program began in 2000, over 4 million dollars has been raised for Ronald McDonald House charities. I find that amazing.

It is so important to me that I share this information. I would love to know if any of you are already collecting pop tabs or if any of you are willing to commit to start. It is a cause near and dear to me since we stayed in a Ronald McDonald House for 3 1/2 months after our little girl was born. But, even with that, I know there are friends and family of mine who are not currently saving their pop tabs. Which makes me wonder if people who don't have a personal story would even bother...

I already save them (though I didn't know about the soup tabs before doing the research for this post!) so I'm committing in 2009 to tell as many people about it as I can.

Please feel free to ask me any questions or share any concerns in the comments! I'll do my best to respond to anything you throw my way.

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For more ideas on how to do things the frugal way, please visit Crystal's Biblical Womanhood every Friday!

Three Games Your Toddler CAN Play

If your family is anything like ours, then you love to play games together. We spend almost every evening after supper and before bath involved in a family game. Lazy weekend afternoons are often game-filled too. But here's the thing... my kids are little. We have one who JUST turned three (and was born four months early) and one who will be four later this month. And maybe it's just me, but there seem to be an awful lot of games labeled "3 and up" that really mean "your 3-year old can maybe, possibly play this if you are constantly 100% on top of what she is doing and don't mind esssentially playing for her". And, in my opinion, those games just aren't as fun for anybody involved.

Here are three games, tried and tested by our family, that your older 2-year old or young 3-year old really CAN play. These are games your child can handle with some independence which is good for both of you. I'm not saying your 2-year old and 3-year old could play this together with no adult present... I'm just saying that they can master and handle the concepts.

1. Hasbro Candyland Castle Game- We received this game as a gift the Christmas of 2007 and it was the first game we were able to play together as a family. The idea is very simple. Players take turns pulling the plastic candy cane and a plastic game piece pops out. The object is to match the color and shape to the shapes on your "cookie" until you've filled all four spots. There are no small pieces, everything packs together neatly, and the concepts of shape- and color-matching are important early skills.
2. Wiggles Stick On Game- I'm going to be very honest here and tell you that this game is not a favorite of mine or my husband's. It's not overly exciting. The idea here is to take turns spinning until you land on and collect five party items. Each time you land on a new one, you get to choose a colorform sticker to add to your game card. The first player to collect all five wins. That's it. But it's simple for even the youngest players and little ones seem to enjoy getting to choose which instrument, for example, they want. The game again addresses colors and also introduces some new vocabulary for the very young....
   
3. Neighborhood Sounds Bingo by Bloom (a division of Cranium)- A huge hat-tip to my sister for choosing this game for my daughter's 3rd birthday present. This is one fun, fabulous game. It comes with four bingo cards each with nine everyday neighborhood images (a dog, a pool, a fire truck, a duck, a baby, etc), sturdy cardboard bingo chips, and a "radio". To play the game, you push the orange radio button to hear a sound. Children identify the sound of a frog croaking or children playing ring around the rosie, etc. and then look for the corresponding image on their game card. The first player to get three in a row calls "bingo" and pushes the blue radio button upon which a voice announces, "Great job- you win! Everyone (insert silly command, e.g. hop around the room like a frog, quack like a duck, honk your horns, etc.)" At that point, all players get to participate in some ridiculously silly thing that results in much laughter and also usually makes everyone forget who technically "won". This game requires good listening skills, turn-taking, making cognitive connections, and some fine motor skills. I was amazed how well even our younger child did with this game!

So there you go! Gather your little ones and settle in for a fun family game. And, if any of you have these games, let me know what you think of them in the comments.

What other games do you enjoy playing with your toddlers?

Storing Baby Clothes

Here's a little background just so you know our family situation:

1. I have children of both genders.
2. My husband and I have very generous family and friends.
3. We are both the youngest children in our respective families and our older siblings all have children older than our own.
4. We live in a house with an unfinished basement and an attic unsuitable for storage.

What all this means is that we have a whole of lot of baby and toddler clothing that our two 3-year olds have outgrown. We have received wonderfully generous hand-me-down contributions over the years in addition to a large array of new garments. While I have no qualms about tossing torn or stained items beyond repair, I hold on to most everything else. It's nice to know that there's a plentiful stockpile of clothes awaiting this next baby, boy or girl.

While we are blessed with hand-me-downs, we are not blessed with storage. Fortunately, there is an extra closet in our son's room with floor to ceiling shelves.

From the time my little boy outgrew all his 0-3 month clothes, I have packed away the clean, folded, and labeled baby clothes into empty diaper boxes. I tape up the box and label it with the gender, size, and season (if applicable).

The boxes go on the shelves.


It's not rocket science, but I can't tell you how nice it's been to be able to quickly access the "6-9 month baby girl clothes" to pass on to my sister-in-law without any digging, sorting, or repackaging. It works for me!

For more great tips and ideas, check out Rocks in My Dryer.

I Love White Flour

There. I said it. And I'll say it again. I love white flour. For lots of reasons. And, sometimes, I'm left to feel like a very bad person for feeling that way. Or for letting my children consume products containing white flour. And white sugar, for that matter, but for now, I'm talking about white flour...

I really love wheat flour too. We adore wheat bread around here. The grainier the English muffins, the better. I love baking up breads and muffins and bagels using wheat flour... and we gobble them up.

But you know what?

Nothing really takes the place of white flour in my book.

I've tried.

I baked up the cinnamon rolls with wheat flour and, while I'm happy to report that my kids happily scarfed them down (amazing what frosting can do), I thought they had a funky taste and, while, to his credit, he didn't actually complain, I know my husband found them a poor substitution for my usual rolls. If I'm going to fuss with cinnamon rolls, I want them to be delicious. Not just passable.

Ditto on the pizza crust. It didn't work for me. I didn't like the flavor or texture and it ruined the whole experience for me.

I'm sure there are dozen of other recipes I could try, but I'm not really sure I want to... because my white flour recipes are already delicious.

We enjoy whole grains around here and we get a lot of them...

But you know what?

I love white flour.

And I'm going to keep right on using it...

Am I the only one?

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For more great kitchen advice, thoughts, and recipes, check out Tammy's Recipes for Kitchen Tip Tuesday!