Dr. Visit

Today we had our 3 month check up with the Endocrinologist at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Little did I know they opened the new wing of the hospital and their office had moved. So while it was a little hectic trying to figure out where to go, we finally did.

Abby's doctor seemed to think she was doing ok. Her A1C number was lower and she said that was a good step in the right direction. It was even lower than a few weeks ago when we were in the ER so I must be doing something right. She looked at the blood sugar numbers and we adjusted some calculations that we will start tomorrow.

Kids Abby's age should not have to go through this. It seems so unfair. I can't even find the words to say how angry I am and how frustrated this is. At our visit today, the doctor not only asked about Abby, but how everyone in the house was doing. If you can just imagine having a 2 year old in the house-they pretty much run everything. But imagine that house with a diabetic 2 year- it's insane. I talked to her about going back to work and finding daycare that would be able to help with Abby's care. That is the most frustrating part of this. I can imagine it is hard enough to leave your child in day care, but even harder when you have to rely on someone else to make sure your daughter is medically ok. It scares me to death just thinking about it.

These pics are while we were waiting for the doctor. Abby found The Little Mermaid book and picked it up and opened it as if she had been reading for years. She just loves her books and I love that she enjoys reading so much. Even while waiting for the doctor.

Oh Crack!

Abby is so funny! The past few weeks or so I have hear her saying, "Oh crack!". I had no idea what she was talking about it but it was funny everytime she said it. Just the other day I finally realized that when she says it, she is mimicking me when I say, "Oh crap!" Guess I better clean up my language.

Finally she is feeling better. There is no more chest congestion, no more vomitting, and her blood sugars are somewhat decent. There is never really going to be a "normal" in regards to the blood sugars and it is so frustrating. Just when we think she is doing good and has a few days with some good numbers, we either get a really high one or a really low one. Or she starts to run a little higher and back to the drawing board we go with adjusting the calculations. Since she is so little, it's going to be like that for everything. Every time she gets sick, everytime she has a growth spurt, and I don't even want to begin to think about what it will be like when puberty hits! But for now she is doing pretty good and it's day by day that matters.

Other than getting sick later that night, Abby had a pretty fun Valentine's Day at her school dance. It was fun to watch a bunch of preschoolers doing dancing like the hokey pokey and the bunny dance. Abby enjoyed getting her 1st valentines from her class mates and it only made me realize that my baby is growing up.

All Nighter

I don't think that I have done an all-nighter since I was in college with the exception of last night. And of course I am much older now and these all-nighters are truly for the birds.

As stated in a previous post, Abby has not been feeling well lately. Her ketones, which is associated with her diabetes have been running a little high. I had been in touch with the nurses in the Phoenix Children's Endocrinologist office and they had advised me of signs to look for and what would constitute a trip to the ER.

Last night after Abby had gone to bed for a few hours she woke up to vomitting all over the place. Andrew and I quickly flew out of bed to see what was going on and to help her. I called the endocrinologist's office and spoke with the doc who advised we take her in to have her looked at and to do some blood work to rule out she wasn't in DKA.

At midnight we packed up our little girl and headed off to the hospital. It was packed full of sick kids, but I guess a toddler with diabetes takes precedence over the others as we were immediately triaged and given a room. They were able to do some blood work and rule out the DKA(thank goodness). We were then pretty sure she had caught a bug somewhere and after her being able to drink some fluids, we were able to go home. At 7 am!

Abby was pretty worn out most of the day, but started to perk up at the visit to the pediatrician this afternoon. We have had no vomitting sinch last night at the ER and she has been able to hold down her dinner so far.

These last few weeks with her being sick have been really difficult. All I wish for is a healthy baby.

These last few days have been very tough. Abby has had a persistent cough for over a week and I took her to the doctor last Monday (Jan 31st). We were prescribed an antibiotic and it should finish tomorrow. However she wasn't getting any better and in fact appeared to be getting worse. So much so that no one got any sleep with her coughing every two minutes Sunday night. We called the Nurse Line to see if there was anything we could give her or do for her. Sad, but for her age there isn't much. So I rocked with her and tried to keep her upright as that seemed to help and back to the doc we went on Monday. After listening to her lungs the doc detected some wheezing on the left side. She didn't want to say Abby had asthma, but she did prescribe us a nebulizer and albuterol to use every 4-6 hours and if not better to come back in on Friday. The other alternative is a steroid, but that would increase the blood sugars dramatically so she didn't want to do that just yet.

As for the nebulizer, Abby is deathly afraid of it. The first time doing it, I could tell she didn't like it, but she did most of it. When it was time for the second dose she totally freaked out. She cried, she screamed, she kicked, she punched, she fought like mad. I think she was more terified of the noise that the machine makes then the actual treatment. She freaks out when we use the vacuum cleaner and her reaction to the machine was so much worse. So we put it away and I decided I would call the doc in the morning and just do the steroid. Abby does better with the insulin injections and oral medications than she was doing with the machine so I figure I would just deal with the high blood sugars and alleviate the stress of her freaking out.

So I called the doc this morning and left a message. Her doctor will call me back in the morning and we will decide what action to take. However, grandma talked to Abby this afternoon about the breathing machine and the mask and I figured I would try again before I put her to bed for her afternoon nap. She did much better and actually let me read her a book while she had the mask on her face. Then when we were all finished with the treatment she said "All done playing with the machine." Whatever works to get her to do it. But maybe tomorrow there will be a new game plan.

I hate it when she gets sick. And I am praying this is not a precursor to her having asthma. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will just be a one time thing and I wont need to use the nebulizer again.

Last night I felt like she was a newborn again as I was trying to to sleep with her in our recliner chair. As a newborn, I spent several nights sleeping with her in that chair as it was the only way I could get her to sleep for more than a few hours in the first few months of her life. That chair has sure saved me.

Strawberry Shortcake

This weekend I went on a major hunt looking for Strawberry Shortcake sneakers for Abby. I could not believe they are non existent, even though I have seen them in a flyer in one of her DVD movies. I was so bummed. Abby just loves Strawberry Shortcake.

Anyways, reason for the new sneakers is she has developed a love of hiking. We have gone out a couple of times to catch the sunset at a few of the hiking spots in the Valley. She has no fear and loves to climb the rocks and explore the outdoors just like her daddy. Her girly sneakers are just not gonna cut it on the desert hiking trails. We decided she needed a little more something with some grip. I love that she enjoys being a princess and wearing her dresses and her "crowns" and sparkly shoes but then she loves to go hiking and get dirty. What a neat little girl. My sister says she's gonna be the girl to go get her nails done and then be able to kick some as* too. Funny.

What a pity!

I am not sure where Abby picked up the saying, "O what a pity", but she has been saying it all night when things don't go her way. She is too funny and I just don't know how kids come up with the funniest of sayings and don't ever realize how funny they are.

Another funny thing she has been doing is "reading" her books and making up her own stories. In the recent Scholastic book order from school, I got her a potty training book called "Everbody Poops". So she walks around talking about elephant poop, pig poop, and pooping in the potty. I can just see it happening while we are somewhere in public over the next few days and her blurting out that everbody poops. Oh dear.

Today was a good day. I found out today that our insurance was retro'ed back to September 2010. That means that it will pick up what our primary insurance does not. Major cool as I will be due a refund for fees that were paid to Phoenix Children's Hospital for Abby's admit back in September and can breathe a sigh of relief.

Also, a project I am working on is a scrapbook page a day. So far I have done a pretty good job in keeping up with my goal and will post some pages here as well.

This entry seems to jump all over the place with random thoughts. I am still fighting a cold and should definitely be going to bed soon.

Enjoy the pics!