No More Doctors!!!

It's Christmas Eve, and while it seems that everyone is feeling pretty well, we still have two different antibiotics in the refrigerator--one for each child. If you add up all the co-pays for visits to the pediatrician and ER (yes, ER--more on that later) and for prescriptions this last month, we've spent close to $300. But it's all worth it to have two (relatively) healthy girls.

Here's the rundown: First, Presley had an unidentified bacterial infection (high white count, but no visible ear troubles or UTI). That accounted for two doctor visits. But because there was a little bacteria in her urine, we had to have a catheter put in to get a "clean" sample. Fortunately, she had a well visit scheduled, but that still brings us to three doctor visits.

Next--and this is the biggie--we took Reagan to the doc last Friday morning because she was throwing up and lethargic with fever. She had a cough and runny nose as well, but I wasn't that concerned until the fever showed up. She was pretty pitiful, and I wasn't surprise that her white count was 28,000. However, what threw us for a loop was her glucose at 250! The pediatrician was so concerned that he sent us immediately to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital with a tentative diagnosis of the onset of type 1 diabetes. We were terrified, thinking our lives were all about to change. I'll spare you the non-essential details and skip ahead to the good part. Once the ER docs saw her, they were more encouraging. They pumped her with IV fluids, and she started perking up. Her glucose went down to 127 (almost normal), her fever lowered, and they felt diabetes was not an issue. After a second check, her glucose was normal. By the end of a long day in the ER, Reagan was actually playing and asking for something to eat! A return visit to our pediatrician on Saturday, with a glucose of only 84, confirmed that she does not have diabetes and simply had a severe stress reaction to a bacterial respiratory infection. She's doing fine and at the end of a round of antibiotics. (We're up to five office visits plus and ER visit.)

We've been watching Presley closely, as she developed a cough very similar to Reagan's. Until late Friday night, she had seemed fine. But Friday evening after returning from a family Christmas celebration, Scott and I were up ALL NIGHT, taking turns consoling her. (This is our child who sleeps ten straight hours without a peep in between!) By morning, her fever was apparent. We headed, once again, to the Saturday clinic at our pediatrician's office. Sure enough, baby girl has ear infections in BOTH ears! (No wonder she was so grumpy!) After a day of antibiotics, she's almost back to normal.

So, the grand total is 6 office visits, 1 ER visit, and 3 prescriptions--whew! Needless to say, we're really sick of going to the doctor! So far, Scott and I have managed to stay pretty well--or at least keep trudging through the pain. That's what parents do. We're all looking forward to a healthier 2007.

My Accent--Or Lack Thereof

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Christmas Is Coming

The holidays seem to have us bustling around like never before. There's the church Christmas muscial, Scott's office party, Reagan's preschool Christmas program, etc. Even with two days of relative freedom each week (with Presley in tow, but no Reagan), I still can't seem to get the shopping or baking or Christmas cards finished.

Nevertheless, life goes on. Presley is growing by leaps and bounds. She is eating all sorts of fruits and veggies now, so we've had some pretty interesting diapers. She's also beginning to sit up on her own and will probably be crawling before you know it! She says, "Dada dada dada," but so far she hasn't said, "Mama." Big sister is trying to teach her to say, "Reagan," too.

Reagan is getting ready to debut in "A King Is Coming to Town" at church. We constantly hear, "Extra! Extra!" being sung thoughout the house. Both sets of grandparents will be in the audience, so it will be interesting to see if she performs as she is capable or if she instead clams up with stage fright. I'm guessing the first. She's been quite the little ham in rehearsals.

We saw Santa this weekend, and Reagan asked for a Princess Guitar. She also wants a Baby Alive, but I told Santa she couldn't have one until she was four. (I'd be the one having to feed it and change its diapers.) Grandma says she'll buy Reagan one if she stops sucking her thumb. I don't think I have to worry about that happening any time soon.

May you and your loved ones experience the joy of Christ during the season that celebrates His birth!

Pretending

Reagan is very into pretend play right now. You never know what character she might be at any given moment--and you never know what she might do next. Last week, she was being the mama, and I was supposed to be Reagan. She kept calling me "Kid", and after she had me say my Bible memorization verse for church she said, "Good job!"

Recently, Reagan has been playing with one of her baby dolls quite a bit. Having a baby sister has brought out her maternal side. Yesterday she got the "Boppy" (a nursing pillow) wrapped around her waist and propped her doll up on it. Next thing you know, she was lifting up her shirt and "latching" the doll on! She sat there about ten minutes, patiently waiting for her doll to finish eating. It was pretty convincing, and maybe a little disturbing.