Thanksgiving and other things...

We had a great Thanksgiving here in Nebraska. Just our little family and it was more fun than I thought it would be. I missed the noise and bustle of the family get together, but I did find that I was very nice to have a weekend with no demands, no where to go, and to just enjoy our little family. On Friday we went and saw Tangled. It was very fun and really funny! Saturday Brady tried to put some Christmas lights up on the house. He neglected to check them first so half of them didn't work. We also found out that the outlets on the outside of our house do not work. Going have to get that fixed soon. I picked up some new lights and we will try again this weekend weather permitting. Brady gave a talk in church on sunday. It was wonderful and I am so glad that I decided to go since I hadn't been feeling well.

On other news, I had a Drs appointment today. Everything is going very well on the pregnancy front. Baby girl is very active and her heartbeat is strong and steady. I had the joy of having my glucose screen today as well. I'm not sure they could make that drink worse if they tried. I got lucky for the blood draw and the gal got a vein the first time, but she snagged some tissue before she got in the vein, so I have a really pretty lump and bruise. I was really glad that it was just one poke though. Normally it takes three or four in several different places. This woman was an angel and took me at my word that my hand was her best bet (considering that the last 17 or so times I have had to have either an IV or blood taken my right hand is the only place that has worked). The results came back just fine and I can now look forward to having my Rhogam shot in the next two days. :o) Oh the delights of being Rh negative with a Rh positive husband. This will be my 5th Rhogam shot and if this little girl tests for a positive blood type I will get number six after she is born. It's a pain, but I truly grateful for modern medicine. Without these shots I would have run the great risk of rejecting any babies born after Cadence. I so glad that isn't something I have to worry about.

Cadence's rash is officially gone. She is finishing up her antibiotics and thankfully it seems the rest of us have escaped whatever it is that she had. Her strep culture came back negative, but the Drs told us that it still could have been Scarlet Fever. I'm just glad it is gone!

I hope that everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving and that you are all looking forward to Christmas! Happy Holidays!

Cady's turn...

Seems like we can't go more than a week without someone being sick or something weird happening.

On Friday night, Cadence told us she didn't feel well. Her throat hurt, she didn't want to eat and was very lethargic. By bed time she had a 103.4 fever and was pretty miserable. We give her some tylenol and sent her to bed hoping it would be better in the morning.

Saturday morning she had a 101 fever and was feeling more like her old self. By mid morning she was acting like herself again. So we thought crisis over.

Sunday morning, I woke up and got ready for church. The girls came in about 7:30am and Cadence said that she was itching really bad. So I had her take off her PJs and found she was covered head to toe in spots. A low grade fever was back and she said that her throat hurt again. So we called the TriCare Emergency PCM number and explained her symptoms (the clinic is closed on Sundays). The nurses we talked to were concerned that it could be strep (possibly trying to turn into scarlet fever) based on symptoms. So they okayed us a trip to the quick care option here in our area.

The Dr took cultures and they ruled out a couple of things and said that he really thought it was strep. The lab on the strep wouldn't be back until Monday or Tuesday, but he prescribed us some meds anyway since he wanted her on the mend as soon as possible (you know, since Thanksgiving is like four days from now).

So we started the meds and we are hoping that she will be feeling better soon since she is pretty miserable right now. Here are some pictures of her spots. She has them ALL over. Including the bottoms of her feet, her palms, and inside her ears. So far none on her tongue or in her mouth. It was funny cause the Dr told us to keep the girls apart. Hey, I'll try, but really it's next to impossible.

And here is crazy little Rory. She has been doing pretty good since we started her on the extra fiber. Her stools have firmed up a bit and sometimes they have been completely NORMAL! Woot! lol. We haven't had normal from her in a very long time so this is great. Now if we can just get her gaining weight...

I really hope that everyone is having a great November and that you are looking forward to an awesome Thanksgiving!

Rory's results...

We got Rory's biopsie results today. They were very good and nothing is wrong! I was relieved to hear it and frustrated at the same time. The Dr asked us to put her on a high fiber, low sugar diet (we were already doing the low sugar part anyway) and we will be adding a Benefiber supplement daily to see if that makes a difference in her stools. He also wants us to have her allergy tested (which was the next step anyway). We will go back and see the Dr in January with allergy results and with any luck have something pegged down. At this point though I am ready for them to tell me that there isn't anything wrong and this is just how she is, and that maybe she will grow out of it.

In the end, Rory is happy. She IS grown even if her weight is on the low side, and she is meeting or exceeding all her milestones. I have much to be thankful for in her case and I am already praying that adding extra fiber will help us get over this hill for her.

Thank you so much for all the prayers and best wishes! We feel so blessed to have so many friends and family who love and care about us!

Rory's Upper Endoscopy and Partial Lower...

Rory had her scope today!

Our morning started early (4:30am early) and we hit the road by 5:30am. We needed to be at the BoysTown Research Hospital by 6:15 to check in and get all the paperwork started (there wasn't much but everyone needed bracelets). They took us back to Rory's room and she got some HUGE but sweet Bugs Bunny PJs and the nurse explained everything and had us sign some stuff saying we understood everything.

Then they gave Rory some meds to help her relax and possibly sleep before they actually put her under. They told us that she might be loopy and act odd, but that it was normal. I am still trying to get videos off my phone, but Rory sure was acting silly!! They say it takes 40 mintues for full effect, but she was out after about 20. The nurse brought play dough, coloring supplies and a few games to keep us occupied (other than PBS on the TV) while we waited. They had a sweet play room, but we opted to stay in our room since Rory got loopy pretty fast.

The childs rights lady came in and Rory got to pick what flavor of gas/mask she wanted (she picked bubble gum) and the color of the sticky tape for her IV. They they explained one more time what the scope would be like and that it would be pretty fast. Then anesthesiologist came in (really nice woman) an let us know that Rory would be put out with a gas first, then get her IV (which was good cause since the last time she was "poked" for blood she has had a thing about needles), and that she would be staying with her the whole time until she woke up. Rory was totally out already at this point and a few minutes later (8:15 right on schedule) the anesthesiologist came back and carried her back.

The wonderful nurse brought us all muffins (Rory couldn't eat this morning and so none of us did so she wouldn't get upset). And we waited.

About 17 minutes later Rory's GI Specialist came in and gave us a print out of the pictures of her insides!! lol. They scoped her throat, stomach, small intestines, and then part of her large intestines as well. He told us that visually everything looked really good, but the biopsies would give us a better "picture" as it were. He said if there is any inflammation in the tissue the biopsy would tell. They also took some samples to find out if she had any enzyme issues, especially since she was testing a bit malnourished. The Dr told us that everything went very well and that he would call with results in a week.

15 minutes later they brought me a grumpy and groggy girl. She had acquired a new stuffed puppy and once she was back in my lap she promptly went to sleep again. lol. She woke up pretty quickly at the mention of juice and drank almost the entire cup. The nurse was impressed, especially since she kept it all down, and brought in the discharge papers very shortly after that.

Rory and Mommy took a 3 hour nap as soon as we got home. :o)

We are super glad that it all went well. We are super proud of Rory for being such a trooper (I don't think she cried once the whole morning). We feel so very blessed to have had some of the best, and most caring Drs and nurses during this whole ordeal. We are super grateful to all our family and friends and their prayers on Rory's behalf. We are truly blessed to have all of you on our side. Most of all we want to thank our Heavenly Father for giving us peace of mind and the right people at the right time to help our daughter. Life is so much easier with the Lord's peace and help.

Thanks everyone! I will update with more normal things in a few days and of course when we get her results. If nothing obvious turns up the Dr did say that we should be heading to an allergist next.