Guadalupe River State Park

Yesterday we took a much needed family adventure to Guadalupe River State Park. The girls had SO much fun being carefree. We can't wait for Scarlett to truly start walking so we can go camping!

Leaf Cutter Ants

They thought they found a bug

(Scarlett wanted to crawl into the river)

Picnic Time!

We all really enjoyed it and it wasn't too far of a drive. We plan on going back with the car stocked for a full day of adventure!

Holy Sickness!!

What a week this has been and it's not even over yet!

Last Friday at 11pm Emma got hit with a stomach bug + fever and was vomiting ALL night long (about every 30min-1 hour intervals). Around 4am we finally gave her a dose of Zofran for her weight to get her to stop - she. was. miserable. Saturday morning Reese asked for breakfast and ended up getting sick herself at the table - ugh! So we officially had 2 kids with the stomach bug + fever.

 Cody left for work and I set the girls up on the couch armed with bowls, blankets, and washcloths. Scarlett and I tried to quarantine ourselves by playing in other rooms. It worked well until Emma started having stomach pains and wanted to be held. Let me say, it is VERY hard to entertain an active 1 year old when there are two sick girls that need to be cared for. 

Monday, I find out that Scarlett's teacher worked all day with a fever and at the end of the day found out she was strep + ... just great! 

Reese recovered fairly quickly but Emma was having a MUCH harder time. She was extremely lethargic, fevers got up to 104.6, hadn't eaten in days, was coughing and now wheezing. 

Tuesday, Cody took the girls into to be seen and they ruled out the flu. They said this kicked Emma into Asthma and we needed to start her inhalers again (I had already started the Albuterol earlier that day). They gave her a nebulizer treatment there to make sure she cleared up and didn't have pneumonia.

Tuesday night is when I got the lovely stomach bug - ugh! 

Wednesday, Emma's teacher calls to inform me there is a confirmed case of RSV in the class. I told her Emma definitely had a stomach virus but probably had RSV too. I called our pediatrician to inform her that the inhalers were not working at all and Emma was still wheezing, breathing too fast & using her stomach muscles to breath. They wanted to see her that afternoon. 

Playing doctor to an alligator while waiting to be seen

Emma's respiration rate was 42 (nearly double) but she was compensating good since her O2 sats were 97-98%. The pediatrician was worried that she was going to tire out soon though since this had been going on for days. She wanted to start oral steroids, nebulizer treatments every 4 hours, and continue the inhaled steroids. Oh and I should add that Emma now has an ear infection! So we needed to start antibiotics as well.


Don't let this smile fool you, she hates wearing this mask!

Thursday, I go to pick Scarlett up from daycare at 4pm and she was crying hard! They said she had been like that all day (well thanks for the update!) I told them she may be hungry that she snacks all the time at home. When I picked her up she was HOT! I asked if they had checked her temperature and they hadn't. I could tell something was wrong and this wasn't just "hungry". I checked her temp as soon as we got home and she was 102.3! I WAS SO UPSET, FRUSTRATED, LIVID!!! Why didn't they check her temperature when she was obviously hot and inconsolable crying all day?!?!? It was now too late to get Scarlett into the pediatrician for the day - lovely. 

Thursday Night- I completely lose it! Emotionally. I was exhausted from a full week of sick girls plus Emma struggling to recover, sick myself but didn't even have time to "be sick" and now another one is sick with no end in sight. Two margaritas?! Yes, please (whether my stomach can handle them or not)!!

Friday, after being up most of the night with Scarlett I get her into the pediatrician at 3pm to rule out this strep she was exposed to on Monday. She doesn't have the GI upset that Reese, Emma & myself had. She's drinking more fluids than normal and is hoarse when she cries (which makes me think her throat). I tried to look at the back of her throat but it's impossible with a tongue depressor at that age. The pedi said her throat was "very red, poor baby". Her rapid strep test was negative (we had the culture sent out). She agreed with me it wasn't the stomach virus and didn't look like RSV. She said her breathing was a bit "course" but not wheezing. She said it could be the start of croup or hand, foot & mouth (but we don't have any rashes/blisters at this point). It is most likely viral but she did give us samples of antibiotic in case she gets really bad over the weekend.

And that's our week in a nutshell. 
I need to say a special thank you to Meme for coming over to help out, babysit so I can go to pedi appt with Scarlett, and for bringing a wonderful "Get Well" basket full of soup, clorox, lysol & kleenex!

Scarlett's Repeat VCUG Testing

As I have posted before, Scarlett has VUR (Vesicoureteral Reflux) which puts her at very high risk for kidney infections. She got her 1st kidney infection at only 3 months old, which is how we realized she had VUR. She has been on daily antibiotic ever since.

The protocol is to repeat the VCUG test yearly until they no longer have the reflux. On Tuesday we went ahead and repeated the test (I wanted to get it done before I find a job and don't have the availability to take her). It was much harder this time with Scarlett being older. 

Before Smiles

They did put numbing medication in her diaper for a few minutes but I promise you she didn't think it worked. A catheter was inserted into her bladder and a contrast solution was injected into her bladder and a series of realtime X-rays were taken. I had to stand at the head of the table and hold her arms above her head. The RN held her feet. Once 60ml were inserted into her bladder the reflux started.

At 3mo old her right kidney only had "minimal reflux" and the left was a grade 2.

 The results this time were that the right kidney was now a grade 2 (so it got worse) and the left kidney didn't show any reflux on the 1st attempt. The Dr. said there was no point in repeating it to see if the left would reflux since she proved to do it on the right. 

Therefore, we have to continue the daily antibiotic for another year. We are increasing her Bactrim dose just slightly to accommodate for her growth but it is still on the low side of being therapeutic. The VCUG will have to be repeated again in 1 year.

The hope is that she "outgrows" this reflux. Her growing should help stretch out her ureters and stop this urine reflux. The pediatrician said most children outgrow this by ages 4-6. I really can't imagine doing this yearly at toddler age ... how do you even try to explain it?! Most children with a grade 2 or less reflux do not require surgery.

We really, really pray she outgrows this & fast!

Christmas 2012

I'm trying to play catch up after a very busy holiday season! 

We had a wonderful Christmas and managed to have 4 family Christmas', a white elephant party & Scarlett's birthday party ALL at our house within a matter of days. It was hectic flipping the house around from one event to the next but SO worth it to be able to spend it with family and friends!

Christmas Eve Day we had family Christmas #1

(Cody's Mom, Grandma, Aunt Arlene, Uncle Randy, Morgan & Gus)

Scarlett got to meet her Great Aunt Arlene for the 1st time and was asleep in her arms in less than 5 minutes

We had enchiladas, tamales, chili, beans, hot onion dip, chips/salsa/queso, sausage balls, sugar cookies, & blueberry angel food cake. Then the girls helped me make cookies for Santa.

After everyone left, the girls opened gifts that were sent from Papa & Carra

 (sorry, I didn't get pictures of the interactive storybooks but they love them)

Christmas Eve Night - Feeding the Reindeer "Magic Reindeer Food"

Christmas Eve Night - Setting Out Cookies & Milk

Then They Waited...

Christmas Morning - Family Christmas #2

Cody cooked us our traditional Christmas morning breakfast (eggs, turkey sausage, bacon, hashbrowns, biscuits & gravy). After breakfast we had Christmas with my mom.

Family Christmas #3 

(I didn't take many pictures at this point but we have a very nice afternoon and made King Ranch Chicken for dinner)

Mom loved her new purse and wallet we gave her!

Thursday was Scarlett's actual birthday. Ashley & Victor arrived that afternoon from Corpus and we ate dinner and sang to Scarlett :)

Family Christmas #4

(Ashley, Victor & Mom)

I made them personalized roasting dishes 

(as well as Cody's mom, grandma & Aunt)

Mom got them the Kindle Fire HD

Cody & I gave Ashley a new bedroom comforter set & Victor Halo 4. 

Friday additional out of town family arrived for Scarlett's 1st Winter ONEderland Party that Saturday morning. That evening friends came back over for our 1st Couples White Elephant Party which was so much fun!! 

We had a very busy but WONDERFUL week of spending time with family and friends! 

What a great way to end 2012!!