Friday, August 28, 2009

Sophia 8 months



What a sweet baby you are. 20lbs 27in long and the fattest little thighs I have seen. You have started to army crawl, you are hesitant to go from sitting to crawling as I think you feel you will tip over and face plant on the rug...which has happened so the feeling is valid. You say "daddadadadadadada" but no sign of mama yet. You babble and squeal. You love peek a boo, patty cake, and "Sophie come out and play with me" You will flail those little arms at any sign of that song.
You are sleeping through the night and have been for some time now. You take 2 naps, one about 2 to 3 hours after you wake up and then another in the later afternoon for about 45min. You are a creature of comfort and love routine. You will only sleep in your crib and on 2 occasions have you fallen asleep elsewhere. Daddy says you fell asleep on his chest once a few months ago, but until I see proof we will count the 2 times you slept on the floor in the middle of playing. You have not been much of a sleeper on other people. You like and want your own space when sleeping and I can't blame you *ahem bella and abby, you hear that...mommy want her own space*
You smile at everyone especially men. You have a thing for their voices I would like to believe. You are so much fun and I am thankful everyday to have you as our daughter, to be blessed with such an easy going little girl, that just loves to have someone look at her and smile.
I love you soph, pebbles, nana, fifi.

Happy Birthday yaya!!

I wish I was there to wish you a Happy Birthday in person, to give you a card and gift with my hands, to hug you super tight...cause I know you like that best haha. Being far away is so hard when Birthday's and Holidays come around. I would want nothing more than to be there with you today to celebratate your 28th.
I love you Yaya.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Abby


Oh the dealings with Abby just don't seem to get any easier.

Woke up on August 1st and was sick, throwing up and blood sugar dropping quickly. I called the Doctor and they said to head to the hospital. We got there and started her on IV fluids and gave her sugars. Her Ketones were high and sugar was low. Her heart rate was fast and her body was done fighting. They decided to admit us and watch her over night, which seems to be what always happens. She is not stable enough to bring home. We stayed for 2 days and during that time she had an X-ray, lots of blood drawn to try to pinpoint the reason it keeps happening. No luck on any test results. She had some rather frightening rectal bleeding while we were there that no one could find a reason for. A week later, all blood results are within normal ranges for the most part.
Then on August 19th, Abby came downstairs and collapsed on the kitchen floor. She was not responding to me and when she would try to open her eyes, they would roll back in her head. I took her blood sugar and it was 38. I moved her to the couch and immediately went into the kitchen to find anything with sugar in it. Abby was awake but not moving or talking to me at this point, so I gave her a Popsicle and a piece of candy to suck on and a glass of Gatorade. I put a call in to the Doctor in which they called back within minutes. The Doctor expressed her concerns with this happening so closely and seems to be getting worse. She wanted to call some Endo docs and see what they wanted to do and call me back. While I was waiting, I got her blood sugar up to 50. At this point she began to throw up. In between throwing up I was still giving sugars to try to maintain her.
The Doctor called back again and said a team of Endocrinologist were waiting for her at the Children's hospital and to head there.
The Endo docs basically said our best chance at treating this is to do preventative measures. I got 2 machines to test her with at home. Her blood ketones, and her blood sugars. We also have to give her 5Tbs or raw corn starch at night before bed. We found the best way to do this is to mix it with Chocolate milk. We have narrowed it down to the part of her body failing her. While she is sleeping her body tries to maintain her blood sugars by grabbing onto her stored sugars and carbs from previous meals. Well Abby's body does not store any...so it starts breaking down other things it is not supposed to. Which in turn makes her body produce Ketones, after so many produce her body goes into ketoacidosis. Well the Ketoacidosis makes her throw up. So all this time we were thinking she was getting a virus and it was making her throw up and drop her blood sugars, when actually she is dropping those sugars at night and by the time she is waking up she is already in the Ketoacidosis phase and that is making her throw up. So we had it all backwards.
Now that we better understand what her body is doing, we are doing our best to prevent it from happening. The Raw corn starch releases slow amounts of carbs into her body through the night and allows her to maintain a semi steady stream of blood sugar. This has proven to be effective so far. We have had only 2 days of low blood sugar and 2 days of Ketones in her blood in the last 11 days or so.
For me though, I don't feel like it is good enough. I want to know what is causing it, and what long term effects it will have, and how long it will last. The Endo docs said there is 500 metabolic disorders it can be and testing can for all these can be exhausting. Their biggest concern is Abby slipping into a coma while she is sleeping from low blood sugar and us not knowing.
Abby has since started losing her hair, she has 3 balding spots on the top of her head and no one can tell us why. I just feel in my heart there is something more that is being over looked or missed.
I just wish we had a better answer.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

My Best Friend...

Is getting married!!!!

I am beyond thrilled for her, maybe even a little too much so. She asked me to be her Maid of honor and I am so excited. I am sad I am so far away from her right now though, I want to be there for all the little events, trying on dresses, looking at venues etc. I wish I could be there to see her beautiful face when she finds the perfect dress and just knows it, that moment will stay with you forever, I want to calm her through the frustrating things that will pop up throughout this planning period (that you are dreading). I would want nothing more than to be right next to her and support her and give her everything she needs.
What an exciting time this is.
Most importantly I would tell her all the details will fall into place and although it may seem like forever away it will be here before she knows it and , the most important part of this whole thing is marrying the man of your dreams. Going to bed every night and knowing you are with your Best Friend (I know I am not numero uno anymore and that is ok with me), sharing your day, your dreams, and knowing he will be there and do anything for you. Spending your days forever with the one you love is a feeling that can never be taken from you.
The path to a dream is paved with sacrifices and lined with determination, and although it has many stumbling blocks along the way and, may go in more than one direction, it is marked with Faith. It is traveled by belief and courage, persistence and hard work. It is conquered with a willingness to face challenges and take chances, to fail and try again, and again. Along the way, you may have to confront doubts, setbacks, and unfairness. But when the path comes to an end, you will find that there is no greater joy than making your dreams comes true.
Heather, My heart is filled with such love for you and David it is crazy. He treats you like I would wish he would, he gives you what I would hope and pray for you to have, he loves you like I would want you to be loved. You have changed so much since being with David and I can honestly say it is all good changes. My eyes fill with tears even as I write this cause I am so incredibly happy and proud of you (and cause I'm emotional). I love you so much, and wish nothing but wonderful things for you. You have been there for me for everything, and I know I could call you at anytime and say I needed you and you would be there, even from far away. I know you also know I would do the same for you.
I miss you!!