Pixie

Uhm...Did I mention that Leah cut off all her hair?!?! She's far more brave than I would ever be. It's a bold move and a bold cut, but she's rocking it!

Stupid Asthma

Well...this kid is a barking, hardly breathing mess! So back to Express care we went. We should really just pay rent at this point.

After we got checked in they said her BP was good, her pulse ox and Oxygen saturation levels were good. They actually said, she just needs steroid. Uhhh?!?! Shes already on a steroid inhaler. The good thing is her lungs sound clear so they don't think she's actually sick. Oral steroids for the next few days and she should be breathing easy.

We need a break!

Because of course this kid would test positive for Influenza B!!! Her immune system just can't fight right now...and it's causing her Henoch Schonlein purpura to flare. It's only January and I already want a 2020 do-over!!! Can she just get a break already??? And to make matters worse Bug ended up going down too. Its January 21st and our Flex money for the year is gone. Surely we've hit our deductible by now?!?! Unfortunately, Hattie has high amounts of blood in her urine, and her BP is erratic. I think we'll be having frequent labs done at St. Mary's for the time being. Say another prayer for our girl, please.

SPY Snowball, 2020

The girls swam at the SPY Snowball meet yesterday. I was in deck as an official back to back sessions. We were there for 13 hours!!! I didn't get a chance to take a single picture of Leah. I was busy doing Order of Finish during her session. She swam well...from what I got to see. She swam her seed time in the 50 breast, but looked great and had a small drop in her 50 back. It isn't her favorite pool.

Kiersten had a solid 10 second time drop in her 200 Freestyle, she dropped almost 3 seconds in her 100 breast. In the 10U division she took 5th place and she's only 9. Hattie had to scratch all her events...hopefully back in action soon.

But by far the moments that stick with me are when I see the girls (all the Gators girls) cheering each other on. Leah was right there everytime Kiersten got to the turn. We decided to take Sunday off. Our family needs some down time.

Dunscomb Invite, 2020

This weekend was such a joy after a long hard Christmas break...that really didn't seem like much of a break at all. The girls swam in the annual Seth Dunscomb Invite at the Decatur Family YMCA. I was worried that maybe they wouldn't be prepared for a weekend long swim meet. They were super upset and stressed by Hattie's hospitalization, but they showed up and left it all in the pool.

Kiersten was so excited at the end of the meet jumping up and down because she thought her team was probably the high point winner. I burst her bubble and let her know that you can't win your own meet. So she was thrilled when she found out she took 3rd in her age group for overall points. That's what I love about this kid. She's always cheering for everybody else and to her its absolutely all about the team!

Leah has been struggling with swim. She's at that age where she is trying to decide what's her passion...she loves tumbling and tennis, and violin, and swim. She knows soon enough she's going to have to start making tough choices. But this kid went out and dropped time in EVERY.SINGLE.EVENT she swam this weekend. That's surely a reason to smile. Proud of these girls and so grateful for a weekend of happy hearts. But man oh man, we sure missed Hattie at the pool.

Sweet Little Friends

This afternoon I got a text from Megan Schaeffer asking if she could stop by with a gift for Hattie. I mentioned earlier this week that it takes a village, and I'm just so grateful for ours. When Megan arrived she had the sweetest little package for Hattie. All her little friends had made homemade cards for her. It was adorable watching her open them and smile so big.

Harper Wentworth, Mia Sams, Alec and Gretchen Weber, Mackenzie Schaeffer, Nora Collier, Riley and Carly Getz, Taylor and Kylie Jo Kistenferger, and Millanah and Georgia Holt are just the sweetest little things. It makes you feel so good to know that your baby is loved and that friends are holding her up in prayers. These littles and their wonderful mama's are the absolute best. They spoiled Ms. Hattie with hot cocoa and a mug, nail polish and powder, several activity books, a little painting activity, a frozen balloon and the sweetest framed bible verse. All those handwritten cards are going in her memory box so we can keep them forever. And not only that, they included gift cards for Mitch and I. A special group of friends, indeed. Thank you so much!!!

Is this a Joke?

For real, it's been a day. I woke up at 4am and was having abdominal pain. I chalked it up to sleeping on a hospital couch all week. But when I woke up at 6, it was significantly worse. Like, pain so bad it was making me nauseous, and ALL on my left side. By 7, Mitch was insistent that I get to the hospital. So back to the hospital we went. Actually I had him drop me off at the ER and then go home...because kids. And kids that had a big swim meet today none the less.

I was in so much pain when they finally got me to a room I was hyperventilating and actually got sick. I've had 3 babies. That was way easier. They got my IV started, gave me Zofran for the nausea and fentanyl for the pain...actually fentanyl twice. An hour later when I was still super uncomfortable they gave me tordol. Yep, that didn't work either. Next up was dilaudid. Thankfully, that did the trick.

The doctor was certain it was either diverticulitis or a kidney stone. They did a CT and it was all clear. So then they decided to rule out Cysts on my kidney or ovary. They results were negative there, too. I actually had a large collapsed cyst on my right side. That's weird. My blood work and urine screen came back fine. They said my blood work showed I was pretty healthy...yes, yes I am, usually. So they said they were giving me another round of dilaudid, perscription for pain meds and sending me on my way. But wait, what's wrong with me? How are we going to make it stop? They said their best guess was gastritis, inflammation of the stomach lining, or gastroenteritis, the stomach flu. Sigh...here's to hoping I can stay pain free. At least Hattie and I got matching Hospital bracelets this Christmas break.

Busting Out

It's been real, St. John's...maybe a little bit too real. But see you later, we're going home!

She's more than ready. The last 24 hours she's been back to her usual shenanigans! She's definitely entertaining and the nursing staff couldn't get enough of her. Since they started the steroids, this kid is hungry all the time. She has been so happy to have an unlimited supply of Goldfish crackers. Then she realized she could order food from the cafeteria...game changer! She dialed up room services and said "I'd like a small cheese pizza, just for me." Someone has seem Home Alone a few times too many. She did great eating all her fruits and vegetables while we were there, so I didn't fret too much. She loved to lift the lid off her entree and say "Bon Appetit".

This morning they came and did blood work and a urine screen, too. While we were waiting for the results and our chance to talk to the pediatrician, she got to do a craft with the Child Life Coordinator. They gave her a choice of projects and she was so excited to paint a safari picture. Girlfriend did a good job! After that she got a delivery of E-cards...and not just a few. This kid received 60 E-cards from family and friends wishing her well. Then we got the good news. Yay, we get to go home. We called Daddy and started packing up. Her blood work and urine screen were both clear. And a room on the peds floor of a hospital during cold and flu season is valuable property. They gave us orders to follow up with our pediatrician early next week and then we see the Pediatric Nephrologist the week after. Henoch Schonlein Purpura, in a small amount of cases, can result in kidney damage. Because she had significant blood in her urine, and then creatine and glucose, we'll be seeing the Nephrologist pretty regularly for a while. Just going to keep saying our prayers that all will be well, and we'd appreciate it if you would pray that prayer too.

St. John's, still

We're still hanging out in Springfield. Hattie is really up and down...shes eating and drinking on her own finally, but still having to monitor glucose and blood in the urine carefully. She named her IV pole, Gail, like in Frozen 2! When she's up and feeling good she's back to her chatty goofy self. When she's down its rough...we can see it coming. Her legs start moving around, she's uneasy and then curled up in the fetal position. Stomach pain is part of this. And in 40% of cases it affects the kidneys. She had blood in her urine and now glucose, too...so keeping close tabs on her.

Before she went to bed last night the doctor came in and said they needed a clean urine sample. They put a clean "hat" in the toilet and said to let them know if she went to the bathroom overnight. When I woke up this morning it was clear she had gone to the bathroom. When I asked her about it, she said she took Gail (the IV pole) to the bathroom by herself and called the nurse when she was done. Not only did the nurse come, she did vitals and they sat and had a midnight snack together while I slept through the whole thing. Little Miss Independent!

This morning she showered and got new jammies on. And a few special gifts have arrived...flowers from Aunt Lori and Uncle Todd. A coloring book and unicorn from Khegan, a Unicorn slap bracelet from the Hittmeiers, balloons from Mr. Kendall and family. Ms. Carrie, Reed and Lillie even came to visit with lots of goodies. So she's happy for now. We were saying lots of prayers that we'd go home.today, but they're still saying tomorrow or possibly, Saturday. Blood and Urine screens tomorrow morning and then we'll see.