Adam, Ortho and Frog

It's been a busy couple of weeks. My new calling has been keeping me busy and stressed out. So many people tell me that Primary Chorister is their favorite calling but right now I find it daunting. So many thingys to make and a singing lesson to prepare every week.

Update on Adam: Adam had to take a terrible barium swallow test. Talk about a 2 year olds nightmare. He had to be strapped onto a little board that would rotate him to the right position, then placed in the middle of a huge x-ray table where a giant machine hovered over him and made scary noises. Plus, some stranger force fed him and strange drink while his mother held his hands over his head and made soothing noises. "I'm done!" he kept saying. Poor boy. However, the results told us that he has reflux. What a surprise! This from a boy who didn't spit up much as a baby. The doctor believes the reflux is causing his pneumonias, so Adam is on medication to stop the reflux. What a relief! If this solves the problem, it is easy and cheap. So far it has been 5 weeks since his last pneumonia and 1 week since he started the medication.

Orthodontist - This was no fun at all. But if Adam stops getting pneumonia maybe we can afford it. I took Heidi to the orthodontist to have her teeth checked out (by her dentist recommendation). I had LOTS of orthdontia when I was growing up and my dad always looked at Heidi and said "there's not much room in there." The orthdontist concurred and also pointed out an amazing tongue thrust that is opening up her bite (her front teeth almost don't touch). She recommended an expander and tongue guard for 6-9 months and then a retainer until she's 12. Wow. It sounds so simple! I had expanders, retainers, the Frankle, braces on the bottom, braces on top and bottom, headgear (only at night, thank goodness), more braces and finally 2 permanent retainers including the one on top I still have. The only real problem is that Cortis will have to get a second job as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company to pay for it all.

Swimmy the Frog Died -
Phoenix's frog lived with us for 7 months. He raised him from a tadpole. We watched him grow legs and lose his tail. Phoenix was going to call him Hoppy when he grew into a frog, but the name Swimmy just stuck. He was about 2 1/2 inches long and spent much of his day hiding in the corner of his habitat. He ate live crickets (that I had to care for and feed. Fun!). He will be missed.
The video is blurry because I filmed it through the plastic tub Swimmy was in while I cleaned his cage.

Good Kids and the Dell Children's Hospital ER

I just have to say how incredibly grateful I am to my good kids this morning. After an all night trip to the ER (more later), arriving home at 6am, Cortis and I were very, very tired. We fell into bed knowing that we wouldn't be sleeping for long: Adam surely would not sleep as long as we'd like to. Adam awoke at 9:30 (at least that's what Cortis said), but Heidi and Phoenix were up and they played quietly with him until we finally crawled out of bed at 11:30! 2 whole hours! Usually there is all kinds of fighting and feelings hurt and Adam holding my eyes open saying "Way Up" (wake up). I ought to bake those kids a pie or something. Thank you Heidi and Phoenix!

So why were we at the ER all night. Yesterday afternoon, Adam tumbled out of one of the living room windows. He was sitting on the sill and apparently leaned back onto the screen (it was like 80 degrees yesterday) and fell out. We tore open the back door and picked him up off of the concrete patio (about a 2-3 foot drop). He cried for a minute and told us "Amas fell outside." Then he starting playing again. He had a scrape on his forehead and on one forearm.

So now what do we do. How hard did he hit his head? Probably not too hard. Lukas, Cortis's doctor brother, said the only way to know for sure if it was a concussion was to get a CT scan or MRI or something (the something part comes from me, I'm sure Lukas knows which one). But, oh my, that would cost a fortune and Adam seemed fine. We said a prayer, gave him a blessing and decided to stay home.

As we are getting ready for bed, Cortis goes in and checks on him. Oh no. Now he has a fever. It's 102.3 degrees. So we call the after-hours nurse and while we are on the phone with her, Adam throws up twice. The nurse sends us to the hospital. Jeni Davis drops everything and is at our house in 5 minutes so we can leave the big kids home. Thanks Jeni!

The hospital is, of course, packed. All these sick little babies. Everything seems to take at least an hour. Sign-in with Triage nurse, then wait an hour, evaluation, wait an hour, get put in a room, wait an hour, see a nurse, wait an hour, see the doctor!!, wait an hour, have a very special visit with a social worker (Adam fell out of a window?) wait an hour, discharge, hey! only 10 minutes, then get to go home.

Diagnosis: The doctor didn't think the fall was serious or had anything to do with his fever (the abrasion on his forehead was gone at this point). He had some spots on his hands and feet, so viola! Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. A simple virus that should clear up in 3-5 days.

Adam was happy and active from about 12:30 to 4:30am. Then he curled up and fell asleep. Cortis and I were exhausted but there was no comfortable way to relax and sleep so we were up all night. Thanks again, kids for helping us sleep in.

No Cystic Fibrosis!

Hurray!  We finally got the test back just today (4 lousy days late) and Adam DOESN'T have Cystic Fibrosis.  (dance a little jig)