Beautiful Eyelashes

Those long and luscious eyelashes are going to get Annabelle in trouble one day! And, today was absolutely no exception.

Annabelle and I were both in her bedroom this morning. I was folding clothes directly from the dryer in her room, and Annabelle was lying on the floor looking at a picture. Sophia was awake and starting to fuss from her swing in her bedroom.

Then Annabelle started crying and yelling, "I can't open my eye! I can't open my eye!"

I looked down to see Annabelle rubbing her eye. I knelt down beside her and tried to help her open her eye. I couldn't!

And, her top eyelashes were literally sealed underneath her bottom eyelid and on top of her eyeball. No joke! Have you ever seen that? How does that happen?

I freak! Calmly and quietly on the inside though. I ran and grabbed a wet cotton ball and literally tried to help Annabelle pry her eye open. It would NOT open!

I see blood! I freak some more! But again, calmly and quietly. I thought she had poked herself in the eye with the picture.

I called hubby. "Um, I think Annabelle has poked herself in the eye with something."

"Do you need me?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

I grabbed Sophia who was dressed in a diaper only and placed her in her car seat. I called out to Annabelle the entire time. "Keep your eye closed. I'll be right back. I am going outside to get Sophia in the car."

Then I come back for Annabelle who is, by the way, staying very calm. She is crying, but thankfully not screaming. She was a brave soul! I carried her to the car, still in her pajamas with bare feet.

Both kids are now in the car ready to go. I am still calm. Worrying about the worst, but still fairly calm.

I called her doctor's office quickly from outside of the car and spoke with a nurse. She said since they didn't have an appointment open immediately that I should go immediately to the ER since I thought I saw blood.

So, I crank the car and off we go. But, wait, I don't know how to get to the ER closest to our house! I called hubby again.

"We're off to the ER. How do I get there?" I asked.

He calmly gave me directions (even though I knew I had him scared to death).

As we near the Chick-fil-A at the first light leaving our neighborhood, Annabelle has stopped crying. I started asking her questions, but I continued to ask her to keep her eyes closed.

Mommy: Did you poke yourself in the eye with something?

Annabelle: No.

Mommy: Are you sure? Did you poke yourself in the eye with the picture you were looking at?

Annabelle: No. I was just rubbing my eyes.

[Pause]

Annabelle: Mommy, I see different colors. Yellow, orange and black.

Mommy: [Again, freaking a little.] Really? Well, just keep your eyes closed. Are you sure you didn't poke yourself in the eye with something?

I didn't think I could stand to see blood in her eye while driving down the road.

Annabelle: Yes.

I look back again after we had made a few turns. And, her eyes were open. And, I did NOT see blood!

I called hubby and asked where he was. He was only a block behind us! Someone used excessive speed to get home (if you ask me). I told him I was about to pull over to check out Annabelle's eyes as they were now open, and I didn't see blood.

I pulled over, and she was absolutely fine!!! I guess the blood I saw was the normal blood from the inside of her eye.

I have no clue what she did, but she freaked me out a little. I have learned the following.

(1) I need to drive to the hospital myself so I know, without a doubt, how to get there in case of an emergency.

(2) I need to plug in a phone to our home phone jack in case of a serious emergency where I need to call 911. We do not have a home phone, but the phone service cannot be disconnected completely as it is required that 911 still be accessible from home. I have problems locating my cell phone when in a panic, so I think this is a must.

(3) Get everyone dressed from head to feet as soon as possible every morning, including teeth brushed! Otherwise, an ER or doctor's visit may be a little embarrassing. We were all still in our pajamas. Well, I had thrown on a pair of shorts since I sleep in t-shirts, and our front door has windows where people can see inside if they are simply knocking. But, I wasn't looking too hot to say the least in my t-shirt, jean shorts and TN orange flip flops! Of course, I haven't looked too hot since Sophia was born!

2 Month Photo

It is hard to believe that Sophia is already two months old! Actually, she's two months and 9 days, and I finally got around to taking her 2 month picture today. Poor second child! Of course, I don't think I was much better with taking Annabelle's on her exact birthday month either.

Here are her stats as of her wellness visit on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 at 2:10 p.m. Keep in mind she was born on April 16th, 2010. So, she was 2 months and 6 days at her doctor's visit.

Weight: 12 lbs (75th - 90th percentile)

Length: 23 1/4 in (75th - 90th percentile)

Head: 15 5/8 in (75th percentile)

And, here is a picture of her twin sister at 2 months and 5 days. Or so I thought they looked alike! Now I can really see the differences.

Annabelle's stats at her 2 month wellness visit at 2 months and 2 days were as follows.

Weight: 12 lbs, 2 oz (80th percentile)

Length: 23 3/8 in (85th percentile)

Head: 15 7/8 in (80th percentile)

Apparently, they were a little more exact with the percentiles when Annabelle was a baby. I did try to interpret the chart myself this time around after the nurse had left the room, and Sophia's stats did fall right in the middle of the 75th - 80th percentile, and at this young of an age, there is not much deviation.

I did produce a significant amount more milk with Annabelle for some reason, so that probably explains why she was a little bigger than her sister at the same age. Or maybe Annabelle just demanded more milk and that is why I produced more. Oddly enough, Annabelle weighed less at birth than Sophia! Annabelle weighed 7 lbs, 9 oz and Sophia weighed 8 lbs, 5 oz.

So there you have it! Both my girls at 2 months of age. Which one is cuter at 2 months? Is it wrong to say that I have my pick? Even though I think they are both absolutely adorable at 2 months of age!

Speech Evaluation

Annabelle had her speech evaluation today with Mrs. Crystal at the North Druid Hills outpatient center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Mrs. Crystal diagnosed Annabelle with a mild articulation delay, and she is recommending speech therapy for an hour a week until Annabelle is able to master the sounds she is using incorrectly that should be mastered by age 3 (n) and by age 4 (ng and y). Annabelle also has problems with l, ch, sh, j, r, z, s, v, and th, but these sounds are not expected to be mastered until a child is 6 (for the l) and 7 (for the remaining sounds).

I guess at this point I am past the denial stage as the diagnosis came as more of a relief (i.e. Thank goodness she actually is recommending speech therapy so that I'll have some assistance to help Annabelle correct these errors) versus an insult (i.e. My child needing speech therapy? How can that be?).

As Annabelle's primary caregiver, I have completely blamed myself for her speech delay, and I'll probably never feel differently no matter what anyone tells me. I honestly feel that if I didn't talk so fast that Annabelle would speak more clearly herself. I think she has a hard time understanding me (which is definitely warranted), so I think she is only speaking what she hears.
I cannot even begin to explain the embarrassment and frustration I have felt as a result of her speech delay. Up until probably March of this year, I have had to reiterate almost everything that Annabelle would say to anyone. I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been for her as well. If I am recalling correctly, it wasn't until December 2009 that she finally mastered saying her own name. She used to refer to herself as "Dannabelle." This is a word that she has heard every day of her life, but she couldn't even say that correctly. That was heart wrenching to say the least. Oddly enough, she has a friend named Annalee, and she's been able to say Annalee correctly since they became friends in March 2009, but she continued to struggle saying her own name.

And my frustration would escalate even more when anyone besides hubby or me would try to help her sound out words. It was as if they were saying, "Hey mom, if you sound things out, she'll learn to speak correctly. Don't you realize that mom? Let me show you how to teach your child to speak correctly." Actually, that still irritates me as that is my job as her mom and teacher.

And, one could probably see steam coming out of my ears when other people would repeat the words back to her just as she said them because they thought she sounded cute with her mispronunciations. I was working hard to help her sound them out correctly, and then someone would say the word incorrectly. Oddly enough, she would often respond with, "No. I said blah, blah, blah." She did this because she knew they were saying it wrong even though she didn't seem to realize that she was saying it wrong herself. This happened more out in public with random people that we had never met before. I know people mean well, but when a child already is struggling with speech, there is no need to point it out even more to the child and the mom.

But, overall, I think we tend to blame ourselves for anything our child is possibly behind on. Because we should have done this or that differently. Oddly enough, several of my friends have children receiving speech therapy, and the thought has never crossed my mind that they did anything wrong as they are wonderful and very attentive moms. So, why should I blame myself? Human nature, I guess. Or maybe because I can truly notice a difference in Annabelle's speech when I, myself, slow down with my talking.

So, I'll get off my soapbox and on with more detail of the speech therapy.

Mrs. Crystal first asked if we had any specific concerns regarding Annabelle's speech. I had been listing out words that Annabelle says incorrectly, so I identified those for Mrs. Crystal. These are the words I identified with Annabelle's mispronunciation of the word.

crunch = cunch

blue = boo

play = pay

Christmas = kissmas

Kroger = koger

them = em

driving = diving

school = duel

three = free

stool = duel

squirrel = turl

Mrs. Crystal then mentioned that these specific sounds are called "blends," and they often aren't mastered until ages 6 or 7.

Then, Mrs. Crystal started by asking Annabelle to sound out several different sounds including "puh" for P, "tuh" for T, and "cuh" for C. Annabelle seemed to do fine with these.

Then Mrs. Crystal did some tongue exercises with Annabelle. She would stick her tongue out and ask Annabelle to do the same. She also moved her tongue all around in her mouth (from one cheek to the other, from the top of the mouth to the bottom of the mouth), and she asked Annabelle to do the same. Annabelle got tired of this exercise very quickly. "I can't do it," she would say. She was clearly frustrated.

Mrs. Crystal asked Annabelle to say "buttercup." Annabelle repeated her. Then Mrs. Crystal asked Annabelle to say "buttercup" over and over again 10 times. Annabelle told her, "I don't want to until I get home." I asked if she'd do it for Mommy, and she finally agreed and looked at me and repeated "buttercup" over and over.

The last portion of Mrs. Crystal's evaluation included the "Goldman Fristoe 2 - Test of Articulation." She showed Annabelle pictures and asked Annabelle to tell her what she saw on the picture. Mrs. Crystal was specifically focusing on certain words to identify any articulation issues. It was quite interesting because some of the words she wanted her to say were words I knew that Annabelle struggles with on a daily basis. Following are some examples:

banana = bana

yellow = jello

plane = pane

blue = bwu

flowers = fowers

frog = fog

slide = swide

stars = jars

For stars, I thought Annabelle always said "tars," but according to the test results according to Mrs. Crystal, Annabelle is saying "jars."

Mrs. Crystal listened to Annabelle's articulation of 53 different words. They focus on the initial, medial and final sounds in each word. She made me a copy of the test results which report the spelling of the word, the correct sound of the word and for any that Annabelle mispronounced, she crossed out the correct sound and wrote down the sound that Annabelle actually uses.

After she finished testing Annabelle, she took her to select a few toys to play with while she left to "score" the test. Besides Annabelle's hearing tests (at birth and yesterday) and seeing tests (at 3 years of age), this was one of Annabelle's first "tests." And, it was her first test that had to be "scored." She scored slightly below average. That is tough for any perfectionist to handle! I will have to teach her how to shoot for the stars and make straight A's one day and graduate summa cum laude. Because that is really important stuff!


Dear Annabelle,

If you are reading this one day when you are older and in high school or college, I hope you know that I never expect you to make straight A's. In all honesty, I hope you'll live a little and not take life so seriously. It is alright if you don't make a 100% on everything! If you continue to apply yourself and live your life with the highest integrity, you'll still get that high-paying job you think you want. Straight A's is not a requirement! But, life is too short, so live a little! But, please, please, please, stay away from the drugs, alcohol and boys, most definitely the boys!

Love,

Mommy


Anyhow, Annabelle received a standard score of 82. According to Mrs. Crystal, they want them to fall within a range of 85-115 at her age. She scored in the 16th percentile. Mother, do I need to explain the percentile thing to you again? And, her test-age equivalent was 2.3 years. Again, heart wrenching!

I meant to ask Mrs. Crystal what the 2.3 year test-age equivalent meant. She did say to call if I had any questions, so perhaps I'll call. But, I have theorized that this is based on articulation alone since the "Sounds-in-Words Score Summary" detailing this information was within the "Goldman Fristoe 2 Test of Articulation." Mrs. Crystal asked other questions when we began regarding Annabelle's listening skills, etc., so I don't think she was testing for any other issues besides articulation. I personally have a hard time believing she's behind regarding her knowledge and intelligence. Instead, I think she falls into the 16th percentile for articulation because she is being compared with other children her age who have already mastered the 6 and 7 year sounds at an earlier age, so that brings her average down because it counts as an articulation error.

They cannot focus on everything, right? She just learned to throw a Frisbee a few weeks ago at her age. Doesn't that count for something?

According to Mrs. Crystal, Annabelle has problems with intentional tongue movements and that we need to focus on strengthening her tongue. She was not able to put her tongue all the way to the side of her cheek, and according to Mrs. Crystal, this is often a sign of articulation issues. Of course, maybe I'm missing something, but I asked Annabelle to put her tongue to her cheeks at home, and she didn't seem to have a problem then.

Mrs. Crystal recommended that we focus on increasing her awareness of her tongue movement by encouraging her to lick an ice cream or put peanut butter or milk at the corner of her lips and encourage her to lick it off. She also said it is a good exercise to have her move a Cheerio from one cheek to the other cheek. Or we can encourage her to clear out food from her cheek with her tongue.

These are all exercises she recommends between now and when speech therapy will begin. And, now that it has been determined that Annabelle needs a little speech therapy, we may have to wait 5-6 months before we can even start speech therapy! Of course, Mrs. Crystal is going to check with other Children's Healthcare of Atlanta locations to see if they have a shorter wait period. I told her I didn't mind driving to the Medical Office Building of Scottish Rite or the Duluth location.

It is definitely in our best interest to get Annabelle in as soon as possible because our current insurance plan will cover 30 visits. But, the deductible must be met first! We've already met the deductible with Sophia's birth, so this year is our best year to pack in any and all necessary medical expenses.

In a nutshell, Annabelle may break the piggy bank before she's even 5 years old!

P.S. I did ask Mrs. Crystal if there was anything I have done wrong or could have done differently (so I don't make the same mistake with the next one). She told me, "No, some kids just don't pick up on some sounds because they do what is easy." Of course, I felt her eyes said something different, but maybe I was reading into it too much. But I replied, "And I've responded and answered her when she's said the word incorrectly." She just nodded.

Audiological Evaluation

Annabelle had her hearing evaluation today. For obvious reasons, the hearing evaluation was required before any speech evaluation. I had actually received the prescription from Dr. Calk at Annabelle's 3 year wellness visit in January, but I waited to schedule anything because I didn't think I could manage anything else into my schedule during the first few months of this year.

Annabelle's speech has improved greatly since then, so right now, I don't feel that it was a mistake. I now believe that others can probably understand 90% of what Annabelle says. Both Dr. Calk and Dr. Colton have told me that other people should understand 90% of what she says at this age, so hopefully, she is now on target with her speech.

I would never wish that another one of my children will struggle with speech as Annabelle has, but I will say that this has definitely been an interesting learning experience. I really enjoyed watching Annabelle as Miss Laura tested her hearing this morning. It was a learning experience for me, and it is always fun to watch other people work to learn new things.

Miss Laura first used an ear scope in both ears. The ear scope sent a message to her computer which drew a little "mountain" as she called it. She used the ear scope to test for the following:

1. Fluid in the ears

2. Reflex to the muscle

Then, Miss Laura sent Annabelle into a sound proof room to play with a board of colored pegs. She placed tubes into Annabelle's ears. She asked Annabelle if she wanted Mommy in the room with her or outside with Miss Laura. "Out there with you," she responded with absolutely no hesitation. I couldn't believe it! She was comfortable with Miss Laura as soon as she met her. So, she apparently trusted that Miss Laura wouldn't close her in that room forever because if I were three years old, that room would have looked pretty scary to me!

She had a blast with the peg game! Miss Laura told her to place one of the colored pegs on the board whenever she heard a sound. Per Annabelle (later in the day), she was hearing beeps and baby, Mommy and Daddy birds chirping. Miss Laura mentioned beeps and birds, so she obviously didn't make that one up.

It was hilarious to watch her. Miss Laura told me, "you've got a talkative one here mama." Oh yes! We definitely have a talkative one! She never shuts up! Miss Laura seemed quite impressed with how well Annabelle followed instructions. She said that most kids just stare at her, so it seemed that Annabelle brought a lot of laughter into her day.

Here are just a few of the conversations between Annabelle and Miss Laura.

Miss Laura: What is your favorite color?

Annabelle: I like orange! Aaannnd, I like yellowwww, and boo, and red.

Miss Laura: What color do you want to use next?

Annabelle: I think I want to use red. I have two reds left.

Annabelle: I hear Sophia crying!

Miss Laura: Uh huh, now listen. Listen for the baby birds. Focus, Annabelle, focus.

I cannot tell you how many times Miss Laura would tell her to listen since Annabelle was talking her ear off. Miss Laura was always very polite when she told her to listen though.

Annabelle's expressions were hilarious too! It was funny to watch her facial and body expressions whenever she heard a beep or a bird chirping. "Mmmm?!?!," she would say as she jumped to place another peg on the board.

Miss Laura and Annabelle also played a game of "copy cat." Miss Laura would say a word and Annabelle was to repeat her when she heard her. I wonder if Miss Laura uses the same word at the same decibel every time for her evaluations because whenever Miss Laura said "birthday," Annabelle never responded. I asked her why Annabelle could never hear her say "birthday," and she said it was because it was at a very, very low decibel.

Here is another conversation between Annabelle and Miss Laura during the copy cat game.

Miss Laura: Cupcake.

Annabelle: Cupcake! Dat is Strawberry Shortcake's puppy dog.

I think "pupcake" is actually Strawberry Shortcake's puppy dog, so maybe the conversation went a little differently or maybe Annabelle thought Miss Laura said "pupcake."

For the last test, we went into another room, and Miss Laura hooked Annabelle's ears up to another machine. Annabelle just had to sit there for that test. Annabelle would hear beeps, and this machine tested her inner ear for echos. The echos were automatically logged on the screen by the machine. This inner ear testing is related to the hair cells in her inner ear.

It looks like she's hearing a beep in this next picture or just listening intently waiting for another one.

All pretty interesting stuff if you ask me. I just wish I knew more about how our ears work, but it was still definitely a learning experience. The audiological evaluation took approximately 30-45 minutes. They had allotted an hour for the testing.

My Saving Grace

Hubby out of town all week.

A bad case of eczema for one little girl with one tube of steroid cream to administer 3 times daily (for a possible skin infection) and another tube to administer 2 times daily (to tame the eczema) along with the application of Eucerin cream as much as possible. Do you see her poor legs? Can anyone guess how long it takes to lube up a toddler all over with Eucerin and apply steroid cream? 15 minutes if she's cooperating the entire time! That is just another hour and 15 minutes out of my already crunched for time day (around the nursing every 2 hours, diaper changes, tee tee wipes, toddler meals, snacks and drinks, clothes washing, and the list goes on and on and on).

The above picture was taken to document Annabelle's first shower because the doctor recommended we keep baths to a minimum (5 minutes at the most) to help keep the eczema from flaring up again and again. Ha! That is probably hard to do with any toddler much less my Annabelle.

A viral infection with an awful croupy cough for the same three and a half year old. At least we hope it is a viral infection as the diagnosis for strep is still on the table until 48 hours from 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

And an awful rash caused by the viral infection because my poor child has skin and allergy issues and her body overreacts to illnesses. Annabelle is rarely ever sick, but this will be the third time her body has reacted with a nasty itchy rash. The rash started earlier in the week, and the doctor and I both thought it was just a flare up of eczema on her face. I should have known better since she has not had eczema on her face since she was a baby. But then it spread to the rest of her body in tiny little bumps. And then it flared up to look much like a sunburn on Friday.

We made a special visit to the doctor's office on Saturday (surcharge for that I assume) because she woke up looking like the above. And, that was after we gave her a dose of Benadryl the night before. I am so glad that hubby took the above picture on Saturday at the Peachtree Dekalb Airport's Air Show because this one time I failed to get a picture, and she is finally starting to look a lot better.

Thank goodness we have already met our deductible for the year because I don't feel so bad taking my children to the doctor for every little thing. Thank you Sophia!!! Did you feel the sarcasm?

And a CRAZY, weird child when doped up on Zyrtec.

But, this folks, this is my saving grace for the week!

Sophia normally will only sleep during the day when snuggled up against me in the Baby Bjorn. But, I decided to try something new on Friday. I swaddled her and then placed her in the swing on the highest setting. She normally hates the swing, but this time it worked! She will sleep for 2-3 hours straight in the swing when she is swaddled.

Thank you Dr. Harvey Karp (The Happiest Baby on the Block)! You are a genius!

Weird

"Mommy, that guy looks weird," commented Annabelle today as a nice man (with a 12 year old daughter) conversed with us regarding teething tablets that apparently work wonders that can be found at natural health remedy stores. That last bit of that sentence is to remind me of these apparently wonderful tablets when "my little man" starts teething. With a temper like hers, she is sure to complain! The man was sure to tell us that he tells everyone he meets with a baby about these wonderful teething tablets, so they must work wonders, right?

Of course, we corrected Annabelle politely for her comment and told her that wasn't a very nice thing to say. She looked so sad after we corrected her because she didn't realize she had done anything wrong. Of course, I then had to explain that she didn't realize it was rude and that she hadn't done anything wrong since she didn't realize it was rude.

I got to thinking later that "weird" is a pretty hard word to actually understand the true meaning. But, I think she did understand what she was saying because he did look a little "weird."

Isn't it amazing the things a child knows that we take for granted? I mean she's three and a half years old! She didn't start really talking somewhat well until she was two and a half years old. In only a short year, she has picked up on the meaning of "weird."

Zantac

Sophia has been on Zantac now for 48 hours to combat her gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and I think she is finally feeling a lot better. Dr. Colton had said it would take at least 48 hours before the medicine actually took effect. So maybe it isn't a case of colic after all! Yea!

I was reluctant to give her any medicine at all, but Dr. Colton assured me that it was safe and has been used now for over 40 years. That definitely eased my feelings.

Perhaps now I can enjoy my new baby girl! But most of all, perhaps she can start enjoying life herself without such pain and misery!

As for her temper, I suspect that will never change! I had my 6 week postpartum visit today. I took Sophia with me and left Annabelle with hubby. My appointment was at 2:00 p.m. Sophia ate at 12:15 p.m., so she was due to eat again at 2:15 p.m. She still eats every 2 hours during the day, but fortunately, she is an exceptionally fast nurser, so the meal frequency doesn't cause too much of an inconvenience. I walked into the doctor's office at 2:00 p.m., and Sophia was fast asleep in her car seat. I can count on one hand (probably 2-3 fingers) the number of times she has actually stayed asleep in her car seat after the car was stopped so I was not about to wake her! I left my urine sample and before I even flushed the toilet, she started fussing. Then I flushed the toilet. That was probably a mistake as it was extremely loud! She immediately started screaming bloody murder. When Sophia is hungry, she is hungry! She wants to eat right then and there, no exceptions! I exited the doctor's office to return to the waiting room with my screaming child in her car seat. I am sure that I frightened all of the pregnant women waiting to be seen. The administrative assistants were very accommodating and quickly found me a place to nurse her in a back office. Probably because she was frightening all of the OB patients!

Of course, if they hadn't been so accommodating, I would have nursed her right there in the waiting room. You lose all modesty when it comes to nursing a second child! And I remember walking through the mall during my teenage years and being completely disgusted by a woman nursing her child. Of course, I do think she was bearing all, but I would have been disgusted back then regardless. Now, I am completely pro nursing! And, why should I deprive Annabelle of time at the park because I have to nurse Sophia or deprive Sophia of breast milk because Annabelle wants to play? Of course, keep in mind, I do NOT bear all or any for that matter!

Annabelle's 3 Year Checkup

Annabelle had her 3 year checkup with Dr. Calk this afternoon. Yes, it was a few months late, but I waited to book it until early November, and I couldn't get in with Dr. Calk until January. Since he's seen her for all her well visits since birth, I preferred to stick with him even though he probably does not remember either of us. But, for the most part, I've been very happy with him.

Here were her stats for the visit at her age of 3 years, 2.5 months:

Height: 37 3/4" (50-75%)
Weight: 35 lbs (90%)
Blood Pressure: 92/58
Heart Rate: 104

Two nurses walked in with us to the exam room. I thought, "Oh great! We get another nurse in training!" It turned out to be a very pleasant experience though.

One nurse took Annabelle to weigh, measure and take her blood pressure and heart rate while Lauren, the other nurse, reviewed her list of questions with me and discussed any concerns I had to discuss with the doctor. It actually made me a little sad that Annabelle was so quickly to follow the other nurse without me there to tag along. I just like to watch everything my sweet girl does, and I missed out on how she acted when they took her blood pressure and heart rate for the very first time. I don't think they've taken it in the past.

Then, after Annabelle had returned and while I was still speaking with Nurse Lauren, another nurse showed up to take her for her vision test. Vision test! I never dreamed they would check her vision at 3 years. But, apparently, she did well, and she was so proud because they gave her a sticker with a tiger on it wearing glasses that said, "Lookin' Good!"

Yet again, she followed that nurse without any problem at all. She's growing up so fast! My baby no longer needs me for everything in her life any more. It is definitely bitter sweet!

As for her wellness visit with Dr. Calk, I came prepared with my list of questions. He always takes the time to explain most everything to me. And, today, it seemed as if he took an extraordinary amount of time. But, he didn't act rushed at all, and he answered all of my questions in full detail.

And, Annabelle was awesome! She wasn't scared at all. I had told her that I didn't think she would need any shots today because they had told me that she wouldn't, but I warned her that I could be wrong and they may need to insert a needle to give her a shot. She seemed okay with it, but fortunately, I was right. She had no shots!

Here are details regarding my list of questions for Dr. Calk.


Eczema

Since Annabelle was a baby, she has always dealt with problems with eczema, but this winter has been to the extreme for her. I believe one of her wakings last night was related to this eczema.

Poor baby has splotches of the raised, bright red nastiness all over her body. It has been bothering her for a good 2 months, but I've been able to tame it with fewer baths, lots of Eucerin and Calydryl on the really bad spots. Honestly, the Calydryl and fewer baths has seemed to help the most.

She had another bath last night though, and that seemed to set off another bad case of it. Her little legs turned red while in the tub, and she started itching and scratching before she was even out.

Dr. Calk said that the eczema is generally worse when it is cold outside. I already knew that though. He also said that I really didn't need to cut back on the number of baths, but instead may try a little salt in the bath water. He said that some people believe salt helps to heal the sores, but he believes the eczema is a direct result of the humidity levels.

He did say she would need a steroid cream to heal those sores, so he prescribed Cutivate cream. He said to apply it once daily for 7-10 days. I just wonder how much that cream is going to cost me since our health insurance changed to a high deductible health plan, and we no longer have copays, so the cost is ours up to our deductible. But, the good news is that we will most definitely meet our deductible this year with the birth of our second child, so I'm not too worried with the excessive cost of a prescription. You know me though, I will still try to find the cheapest option.


Labial Adhesion

Yet again, she had a slight labial adhesion. I already knew it though because I've been watching that one like a hawk since she's struggled with that since she was only a few months old.

And, honestly, she hasn't had a problem with it in months, but I noticed it again at the beginning of this week. Naturally! Just in time for another checkup!


Speech

And, my biggest concern for Dr. Calk was her speech. Most people have a very hard time understanding Annabelle, and I have to repeat everything for her. But, once she started talking, she has NOT shut up. She talks non-stop! Some people don't realize she talks so much though because she tends to be quiet and shy around those that she doesn't know or doesn't know very well. Get her alone, and you cannot get a word in otherwise.

Thankfully, she did open up to Dr. Calk immediately. He mentioned something about the Hello Kitty socks she was wearing, and she said, "Yes, I like dose Hello ditty dat socks. I have another pair at home with, with, with, only one Hello ditty dat on it. Dose are my best favorite."

His response: "She's a little chatterbox, isn't she?"

You think!?!?! Is it a girl thing?

He did immediately ask if she had seen a speech therapist though, and he recommended that she see one. He was very positive about it though, which made me feel much better. He said that some people believe in early intervention with speech, but he didn't feel like it would have made much of a difference in Annabelle. He said that a 3 year old is much more cooperative than a 2 year old, and she's going to get a lot more out of it now than she would have a year ago.

I cannot even tell you how good that made me feel because I have really been beating myself up for not acting sooner.

And, he also mentioned that he isn't concerned about her developmentally at all with her speech. He said that she just needs to work on her articulation. He recommended that I write down all of the sounds she has trouble with before we meet with the speech therapist. He said that 2 out of 3 kids her age that he sees have problems with L's.

He said that her vocabulary and ability to process her words into complete sentences was actually very advanced for her age. He said that was actually a 4 year milestone. Whew! Again, it helped ease my feelings as I've really been blaming myself for her speech problems. Maybe I am doing something right! Too often I feel like I am doing everything wrong.

As for easing the cost, Dr. Calk mentioned that speech therapy is no rocket science. He recommended that I take her for a few sessions and really listen to the speech therapist and ask a lot of questions. He said that I am the best person to help Annabelle since I am with her every day. Of course, he doesn't know my daughter, does he?

I have really been trying to work with her to teach her to sound out all of the syllables and sounds, but she gets tired of me, and she'll say, "I don't want to say dat any more!" But, working together, she has transformed "Bookie" into "Cookie" and "Dannabelle" into "Annabelle." So, I know she can do it.

In all honesty, I do know her speech problems are directly related to me. I think she cannot articulate the words because she has "heard" me say a word one way for so long that she cannot change her thought process to say the word correctly. I talk so fast that she has always heard me differently. I mentioned this to Dr. Calk, and he said that a lot of children with speech problems have parents that talk very fast.

As for speech therapy, I am hoping it will be covered by our health insurance. As I mentioned, we will most definitely meet our deductible this year, so if speech therapy is covered, then this is the year for Annabelle to get the most appointments in as we will then only be responsible for 10% of the cost. If it isn't covered, whoa be unto us!


Diet

My next biggest concern is Annabelle's diet as I don't feel like she eats a well balanced meal. And, it isn't always because I don't feed it to her. But, I've felt for a long time that her attachment to apple juice has become the problem. She used to be such a great eater too, until she got closer to 2.5 years of age. I'm not sure what happened. Independence on her part maybe?

She's had issues with constipation since she started eating solids at 6 months of age, and at that time, the doctors we saw all recommended apple juice to help with the constipation. I think it used to work, but it has gradually become a habit for her. So much that if you offer Annabelle water instead of apple juice, she will completely refuse it and go without anything to drink all day.

But, I have been refusing any apple juice or milk until she eats her meals first. If she drinks anything, she just will not eat. Then, she is starving and a pill to be around within just a few hours.

Dr. Calk mentioned the Rule of 2's: We can go 2 days without fluids, 2 weeks without food and 2 months without something else, but I cannot remember what he said.

He said that the apple juice was acting as a high glycemic food. He mentioned that high glycemic foods (including fruits) makes us feel good immediately, but then sends us down and we get hungrier sooner. However, if I stick to feeding her leans and greens, it may take longer for her to feel better, but she will stay fuller longer. He recommended snack foods such as yellow bell peppers, carrots and sugar snap peas.

Dr. Calk also mentioned that she needed 3 square meals a day with a snack in the afternoon. He said that all of her meals and her snack should include a high protein which could be milk or a dairy product. He said she needs 10-15 ounces of dairy per day to meet her calcium needs.

As for her refusing to eat, he said to only offer her water, no apple juice. And, provide her with her meal, and if she doesn't eat it, don't give in and give her any snacks. He said she will eventually eat when she is hungry. And, just for the record, I am actually not big into giving her snacks. And, I am a big proponent of "she'll eat when she's hungry." The apple juice has been my weakness because I hate when she gets so constipated because it hurts her so much. But, she is at an age where I can explain this to her.

Reason, reason, reason: This is one thing I love about this age! You cannot reason with a 2 year old, no matter how hard you try. I still think it is important to "try" at age 2 even though they'll never get it, but eventually, when they get closer to 3 years old, they truly do understand, and you can reason with them. And everyone says 3 is harder than 2! The problems I have with my 3 year old are a direct result of my parenting at age 2...such as rocking her to sleep every single night after she gave up naps!

So, tomorrow is another day. I know she heard everything Dr. Calk said, and I know she understood it too. So, she may start hating visiting the doctor for fear of him changing my parenting style! Forget the shots!


Growth and Development

I was a little alarmed that her percentile for her height had jumped down while her percentile for her weight had jumped up. I did mention to Dr. Calk, but he said that he isn't worried about it right now. He said that they typically don't see signs of obesity until a child is between 4 and 6 years old.

However, he did mention that when they look back, the higher percentile in weight compared to the lower percentile in height is common among obese children.

But, he said that she is just built "thick." He said that she doesn't have any fat in her belly that is not normal, so that is why he isn't concerned right now. And, I brought this issue up with him. He didn't even mention it to me.

As for her being "thick," please, please, please, if you know someone who has a child that you consider "thick," please do not refer to that child as "thick" in the presence of that child (or the child's parents for that matter), especially if the child is a girl. Just keep your comments to yourself! Of course, I am not upset with Dr. Calk for calling her "thick" because he had no other way to explain it to me since I had asked. But, girls are self conscious enough during their adolescent and teenage years, so don't add to the drama by calling them "thick." They pick up on this stuff much earlier than you would think, and "thick" in a girl's eyes refers to "fat."

Vitamins

Dr. Calk recommended she start taking a multi-vitamin once daily such as Centrum Junior Chewables or Flintstone's. He did mention to stay away from the Gummi ones though. He said the dentist hate those as they aren't good for the teeth.


Miralax

Per Dr. Calk, I can continue to give Annabelle the Miralax once a day, if necessary. However, once every 2-3 days is sufficient enough for her (going on experience alone). Otherwise, it is very runny and she doesn't even realize she's gone poopy sometimes. Not a good thing!

He also mentioned that she should start getting a bowel movement once a day once she starts eating more balanced meals. I beg to differ with him on this one as she used to eat very well balanced meals, and she still had problems with constipation.


Dentist

And, per Dr. Calk, she is now ready to start seeing a dentist. He did recommend a pediatric dentist so that her dentists experiences would be pleasant.


4 Year Checkup

It will consist of another round of shots including the following: MMR, Vericella, Dtap and Polio. And, of course the flu shots if I opt for them, but she hasn't had a flu shot yet, and I plan to keep with that trend. I just don't find them necessary, personally.


Don't most kids hate going to the doctor? For some reason, Annabelle has never been scared of going. Maybe because we rarely go, because (knock on wood) she is rarely sick. She did such an awesome job, and I was so proud of her.

She told me later, "When da doctor put dose tangs in my ears, it didn't hurt, it hurt just a ittle bit." She's a trooper, isn't she?!?! She didn't cry one bit.

Of course, she felt the need to empty my entire purse right in front of the doctor and pulled out my gum which the doctor could have mistakened for medicine.

My favorite part...as we were leaving, she pulled me towards the lab where she had a strep culture done back in August or September. The lab tech saw her, smiled and said, "Do you want something?" I laughed and said, "Yes, she's been asking for a band-aid." Annabelle said, "Yes, a sticker." So, the lab tech let her pick out a sticker. She picked a princess sticker. She apparently forgot that she had asked for a band-aid.

Speech Therapy?

Annabelle had her 2 year well check up on Tuesday. I voiced my concern to the doctor that Annabelle was using some consonants in place of others, such as "dorse" for horse or "durse" for nurse. He said that he would make a recommendation to me on how to assist her with the pronunciation, but if it did not get better in 2-3 months, then he would recommend she see a speech therapist. I have actually been concerned about it, but I actually had not mentioned it to anyone because I didn't want other people to assume that she had a problem (if maybe she didn't). I didn't even mention it to hubby as I didn't want him to worry about her. He (the doctor) recommended that I focus on the consonant sounds that she has trouble with such as "ha ha ha" for "horse." He said that is what a speech therapist would do.

So, all that being said, this is just another thing that makes me feel like the worst mother in the whole wide world. I feel like as a mother I am constantly judged and compared to other mothers. It makes this job that much harder. Why are men not judged and compared as much as fathers? Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how Annabelle turns out), I feel like her intelligence and behavior is a direct result of my parenting since I am the primary caregiver with her the majority of the time.

Before I had Annabelle, I honestly did think that a "late talker" was often a result of the parents not spending enough time with their children. However, I changed my view on that over a year ago! I think I expected Annabelle to start talking shortly after birth or something and when she didn't start talking fluently or clearly by 12-15 months, she was definitely "behind" in my eyes. Of course, no mother wants their child to be "behind" as we all think our child is the smartest.

Maybe I should completely disregard the even tiniest thought of homeschooling! That is scary to think that public schools could do a better job at teaching my child than me. No offense to my best friend who is a teacher in a public school as I know she must be a wonderful teacher because she's a wonderful mom!

So, all of that being said, I'm sure I'll get over this "pity party" tomorrow or the next day or maybe the next and move forward. But, in the mean time, I wanted to document all of the words that I know Annabelle knows as of 2 years of age. I'm hoping it will make me feel better.

I read somewhere that a toddler should have 50 words in their vocabulary at age 2, so it looks like she's right on target (or above target) with her vocabulary. It also said that "late talkers" were considered to be those toddlers who did not have 50 words in their vocabulary at the age of 2. They apparently know more than the 50 words they say, which I know is true with Annabelle because she can find and point out just about anything I ask her to find. She understands everything I say. For those who know her well, please comment and let me know if there are other words I am missing.

Dr. Calk said she should be 80% understandable between 2 - 2.5 years of age by other people. However, I read on the internet that at age 2 she should be between 50-75% understandable, and I think that was only by the primary caregiver. Maybe I misunderstood the doctor?

1. Annabelle (I have no clue how to write out the spelling on her name!)
2. Mommy
3. Dattie (Daddy)
4. Ganmama (Grandmama)
5. Gandattie (Granddaddy)
6. Nonnie (Nonnie)
7. A-am (Adam)
8. Pierce (Pierce)
9. Baby Attie (Baby Adie)
10. Baby Ella (I don't know how to write out her pronunciation of this word.)
11. Juice
12. Apple Juice (pronounced correctly now)
13. Gasshopper (Grasshopper) (new word over the last few days)
14. Bilk (Milk)
15. Durse (Nurse)
16. Dorse (Horse)
17. Kit Cat (Kitty Cat)
18. Boon (Balloon)
19. Bird
20. Cow
21. Dog
22. Pick Fowers (Pick Flowers...Annabelle has a book she loves called Once Upon a Picnic where Little Red Riding Hood picks the flowers in it for the big, bad wolf. We ask her what the big bad wolf is doing, and she says "Pick Fowers.")
23. Batum (Bottom)
24. Baby Doll
25. Paci
26. Balk (Walk)
27. Down
28. Doctur (Doctor)
29. Ball
30. Bite Bater (White Water)
31. Baterball (Waterfall)
32. Pictur (Picture)
33. Mickey Douse (Mickey Mouse)
34. Sing (Swing)
35. Side (Slide)
36. Sitch Sides (Switch Sides while nursing)
37. Shooz (Shoes)
38. Socks
39. Boo Boo (Boo Boo)
40. Bow (Bow)
41. Money
42. Chair
43. Sit
44. Hold You (as in "Hold you Mommy, hold you")
45. Oer Dare (Over There)
46. Dose (Those)
47. Dis (This)
48. Ont (Want)
49. Park (This was a new word she said on her birthday. It sounds sort of Bostonian.)
50. Bowl
51. Boon (Spoon)
52. Pork (Fork)
53. Book
54. Reed (Read)
55. Peas (Please)
56. Tank You (Thank You)
57. Yes Mam (Yes M'am)
58. Potty
59. Tee Tee (Tee Tee)
60. Poo Poo (Poo Poo)
61. Ticker (Sticker)
62. Hot
63. Tea (Tea)
64. Bup (Cup)
65. Ice (She actually started pronouncing this "dice," but I think she pronounces it correctly now.)
66. Nana (Banana)
67. Cado (Avocado)
68. Pear (Pear)
69. Booberries (Blueberries)
70. Orange
71. Pink
72. Purple (as in "Purple Beads")
73. Boo (Blue)
74. Big, Big, Big, Big, Big Piece
75. Sungasses (Sunglasses)
76. Teas (Trees)
77. Choo Choo Bain (Choo Choo Train)
78. Stower (Stroller)
79. Beads (Beads)
80. Biper (Diaper...although, I think she may actually say "diaper" now.)
81. Keen Up Mommy (Clean Up Mommy)
82. Butterbye (Butterfly)
83. See Outside Mommy
84. Dattie Home (Daddy Home)
85. Bye Bye
86. Hi Dare (Hi There...although, I think she may be saying "Hi There" now.)
87. Shooz Off (Shoes Off)
88. Sirt On (Shirt On)
89. No, Me! (No explanation necessary!)
90. Bash Hands (Wash Hands)
91. Rinse Off (Rinse Off)
92. Purse
93. Me Too
94. One, Two, Free (One, Two, Three)
95. Deese Fingers Down (These Fingers Down...she says this when she's trying to hold her fingers down to show us that she's two years old.)
96. Talk Dattie, Talk Nonnie, Talk Ganmama
97. Toofbrush (Toothbrush)
98. Toofpaste (Toothpaste)
99. Cheese
100. Fags (Flags)
101. Atch TV (She started asking to do this after she got sick with her bladder infection. We introduced the movie, and she loved it. Fortunately, she doesn't ask me very often, and I normally refuse.)
102. Movie (Ditto # 98)
103. Dies (Eyes)
104. Diebrow (Eyebrow)
105. Dose (Nose)
106. Boo Boo Hurt Mommy
107. Fog (Frog)
108. Bus
109. Barn
110. Cover Up Mommy
111. Wuv You (Love You)
112. Gas (Grass)
113. Tetty Bear (Teddy Bear)
114. Highchair
115. Hat On
116. Big Bird
117. Elmo
118. Help Mommy
119. Kit Kat Stoo (Kitty Cat Stool...She requests the "Kit Kat Stoo" when she wants to help Mommy in the kitchen.)
120. Butt (Butt...yes, we aren't quite sure who she learned this word from, but when we pointed to her bottom this pasty Sunday, she told us it was a "butt," "bottom," and "Heine." She said each word at a separate time, but she used them all.)
121. Heine (See # 117) (Did I spell "heine" correctly?"

The above words are not in the order they were learned (by any means)! I just listed them as I could think of them. And, I am sure I have missed some!

Okay, now (after compiling my list) I am trying to understand why I was having a "pity party." Annabelle knows a lot of words (more than the "norm"). She needs to learn to pronounce some of them better, but she is honestly getting much better with her pronunciations. As you can see, I've already noted on some words where I think she has actually improved her previous pronunciation. I think my problem is that I constantly feel that Annabelle is judged and compared to other children. Annabelle is her own self. She succeeds in other areas. And, she is NOT behind on her words even though she needs some assistance with the pronunciation. Most people do not know how much Annabelle actually does talk because they aren't around her on a daily basis, and she tends to be shy and quiet around other people besides her Mommy and Daddy.

I do think we have a VERY independent child, but I think it will serve her very well in the future. Of course, it drives me crazy on some days! She insists on doing almost everything herself (including emptying the pot to her "big girl potty" every single time she tee tees in the potty).

So, here is hoping to hear 10 or more new words every day! That is what the experts say they'll start doing around 2 years of age! Holy cow!

Prayers Needed

I'm hoping I can write this blog quickly as I need to "try" and go to sleep this evening. I am very worried about Annabelle, so we need all of the prayers that we can get! I'm hoping I am just being an overprotective and over worried Mommy.

Annabelle developed hives this weekend after visiting the Yellow River Game Ranch (a petting zoo). I originally thought the hives were mosquito bites or an allergic reaction to a lotion or something that her Nana Janet (a friend from Boston) was wearing.

On Saturday evening, she fell and skinned her knee. It was nothing serious. It was a short cry, and I cleaned it with Hydrogen Peroxide and then put some Polysporin on it after we got home (about 30 minutes later).

She woke up on Sunday, and the hives had spread. Her eye lid was swollen as well (not swollen shut though, and not swollen very badly). So, I gave her some Zyrtec at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. Dr. Calk had recommended this with the last rash she had. The Zyrtec seemed to work as the hives diminished shortly after she had the Zyrtec.

This morning when she woke up, her hives were no longer, but she now had a rash that had spread all over her body, but mostly on her face, inside her ears (where you can see by just looking at her), and on her bottom area. So, I gave her another dose of Zyrtec. The rash began to diminish again, but it did not completely disappear.

So, this evening, I checked her out again, and I noticed that the rash seemed to be getting worse again, but it was slowly getting worse. So, I decided to get her ready for bed, and I decided I would check on her later this evening after she had fallen asleep.

I left her in her crib around 9:05 p.m. She was fussing, but I let her cry a little because it wasn't a bloody scream, and I seriously thought this child was learning how to manipulate me to allow her to sleep in our bed with me again (since hubby is out of town). She got to sleep with us on Saturday night because she had a very long day, and she would not let me lay her down without screaming. However, last night (Sunday night), she slept in her crib.

I checked on her again between 9:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. only to realize that I had forgotten to give her the water I normally give her at night in the crib. She was asking for "Juice Mama, Juice." So, I gave her the juice, but she started doing her swaying and singing, "da da da da da," to let me know that she wanted to be rocked. So, I picked her up and rocked her.

I laid her back down around 9:45 p.m., but when I left the room, she screamed bloody murder. I let her cry for 5 minutes until I heard her at the door crying, "Boo boo hurt, Mommy, boo boo hurt."

When I went in to check on her, she was burning up and sweating. It was as if she had broken a fever, but when I laid her down only 5 minutes before, she did not feel like she had a fever. I can only suspect it was from all of the screaming she had done when I left her for the 5 minutes.

So, I pulled her out of the crib and stood her on the floor. I told her she could pick out some books to put in her crib to read, so she walked from the crib to the book shelf on the other side of the room to pick out a book. She limped all the way. I thought once again that she was being manipulative. Sounds silly, right? Well, we were with her Nana Janet and Papa Bill this weekend, and Papa Bill has arthritis in his knees, so he sort of walks with a limp. They compared boo boos on Sunday and Monday because they both had band aids on their knees. So, I honestly thought she had decided to limp like Papa Bill.

Then, after she reached her crib and put her book in the crib, she would not walk anywhere else. She wanted me to get things for her. When I tried to persuade her to move, she just screamed.

She got a bowel movement, so I laid her down and changed her diaper. I took her temperature then too, and it was 98.7 degrees F. After I changed her diaper, she didn't want me to fasten the diaper back on. And, she would not move! She laid on the floor for an hour without moving. When I asked her what was hurting, she pointed to her knee and said "boo boo." At one point (before I laid her on the floor), she pointed to her tongue and head when I asked her what hurt. She also kept putting her fingers in her ears.

She tinkled while she was laying on the floor too, and she moved her legs as if it hurt to tinkle, so maybe she just has another bladder infection. This is one thought that crosses my mind.

I finally called the doctor's office at 10:36 p.m., and I waited 30 minutes for a nurse to call me back. She ran through her list of questions which included making sure that the rash disappeared when I stretched her skin (which it didn't on only one spot). However, the bump was raised so she said that as long as it was raised, I wouldn't need to see anyone on the rash issue tonight. However, she was concerned about the joint pain, so she wanted me to speak with a doctor.

By the way, it wasn't just Annabelle's scraped knee that was hurting her. If I moved or touched either knee, leg or foot, she would cry and say, "No, boo boo Mama, boo boo." Very strange. And, now that I'm thinking about it, I think she complained that her hands were hurting her too.

Shortly before the nurse called, I moved Annabelle to our bed to sleep. I asked her if she wanted to move to our bed to sleep, and this time, she did not jump all over the chance to move. She didn't want to move at all! She cried for a good 5 minutes after I moved her.

The nurse asked if I had given her anything. I told her I wanted to give her Tylenol, but I had waited because I wasn't sure if they were going to recommend Benadryl, and I wasn't sure if both could be given at the same time. Apparently, you can give them both Benadryl and Tylenol at the same time. She recommended I give her a teaspoon of the Motrin I had on hand though. So, I gave her a dose around 11:30 p.m. She was asleep within 10 minutes.

Candace with the doctor's office called back at 11:55 p.m. She said that she definitely needed to see someone, but she thought it could wait until the morning since Annabelle was sleeping and seemed comfortable. She asked if Annabelle was in daycare or had been around other children. I told her that we went to the library for story time last week, but she hasn't seen any other children since. She said it sounded like Strep. Then she said, "Let's hope it is Strep because that is an easy fix." She said that rashes and sore joints are common with Strep.

So, all that being said, I guess we should "hope it is Strep." However, my motherly instinct tells me that it is not Strep. I guess I hope I'm wrong since that is apparently the easy fix.

However, I pulled out my American Academy of Pediatrics book before I spoke with Candace and then started surfing the internet after I spoke with her, and the other diagnoses don't look too good nor do they look easy to diagnose (for sore joints and rashes). I am really worried that this is something more serious, so we really need all of the thoughts and prayers we can get.

I know Annabelle is a fighter, but I don't ever want to see her in a lot of pain again (or any pain for that matter).

Did I mention that hubby is out of town? He feels awful, and he offered to catch a plane home tonight. I told him that was silly because it could just be Strep as the nurse mentioned. He said he "feels awful because he cannot do anything to help her and make her feel better." He's doing his job supporting a family though so that I am able to be home with her, so he really should not be so hard on himself. He's a great Daddy, and I know he'd be here in a heartbeat (or a plane ride) if we seriously needed him. But, right now, we'll just take one day at a time.

Okay, it is 1:33 a.m., and I am off to bed! I started this blog entry at 1:00 am. (even though I changed the date and time to correspond with yesterday). I'm hoping I can actually get some rest. I just heard Annabelle cry out a little bit, so I hope she's not hurting.

Update: Urinary Tract Infection

It has still been a very hard day for Annabelle, but she has definitely shown some progress. She has wanted to nurse a whole lot more today, but that is fine with me if she feels she needs it.

She only ate maybe a bite or two of cottage cheese this morning and maybe one grape (if that). For lunch, I bought mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese from Boston Market hoping that she would eat some of each, but she wouldn’t eat one bite. She did eat a few of her Daddy’s curly fries from Arby’s, but maybe only three or four of them. For dinner, she wanted nothing except to drop her dried peas into her cup of tea.

Besides the nursing, she does not want to drink anything, and she refuses it completely by pushing it away and saying “NO!” She has not wanted any Jell-O or popsicles, not even one! She did have one popsicle last night (her very first popsicle ever), and she seemed to enjoy it. I actually got some really cute pictures of her eating her first popsicle even though she probably didn’t look her best since she still didn’t feel well.

She woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m. with a temperature of 101.6 degrees Fahrenheit (38.7 degrees Celsius). She felt very hot! I gave her another dose of Motrin. She had been due for another dose at 12:00 a.m., but she lasted until 5:30 a.m., so I guess that is a good sign. When she woke up feeling bad at 5:30 a.m., I brought her into the bed with us to sleep. She either kicked or head butted her Daddy in the head this morning, but apparently, he didn’t remember it very well. He actually gave her a dirty look when she did it, although I don’t think he meant to because he was still sound asleep.

She woke up for the morning around 8:00 a.m., and she was happy and ready to play. She still didn’t seem like herself though since she didn’t want to eat very much for breakfast. I had plans scheduled with an old friend who I haven’t spoken with since three weeks before Annabelle was born. That’s another story in itself, but to make a long story short, she felt that I wasn’t trying hard enough to be her friend because I apparently didn’t call her to reschedule after cancelling with her. Oddly enough, the last time I remembered cancelling with her was the same night that my Grandmother passed away (only two weeks before I became pregnant), and I told her that we would need to reschedule because my Grandmother passed away. I was then exhausted my first trimester, and I didn’t feel like doing much besides going to work and coming home to sleep. I didn’t really feel like going to work either! Then, she said that I didn’t call her until 4 months later to tell her I was pregnant. I think it was closer to 3 months later though as I told her in April shortly before April 15th. She doesn’t believe that she was one of the first non-family friends I called, but she was. I, of course, told my best friend, Kelley, first (after the family found out). But, the family didn’t find out until mid-March, and I got pregnant on January 26th. And, yes, I know the exact date. But, she was definitely one of the next people I told besides family. I never realized she was so hurt with me. I thought she pulled away from me because I was pregnant and happily married. So, anyhow, once again, I had to cancel our lunch meeting, and we haven’t seen each other in almost two years! But, I’m sorry; my children will always come first! And, I am glad I stayed because Annabelle really needed me later in the day. Daddy tried to comfort her, but she still wanted her Mommy.

So, around 10:30 a.m., after I called and cancelled with my old friend, Annabelle fell asleep and took another nap in our bed. I, of course, used that time to blog some more. She woke up around 12:00 p.m. with another temperature. This time her temperature was 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. I tried to feed her lunch as I mentioned above, but she didn’t want it.

I finally got some more Motrin in her around 1:30 p.m. She looked miserable, so I told her that her and her Daddy could watch a movie together. Daddy was excited to be able to watch television while Annabelle was awake, so he picked out a children’s movie, Shark Tale. Annabelle rarely ever gets to watch television! So, this was supposed to be a treat for her. She sat on the sofa and watched it a little while, and I jumped in the shower. Probably 15 minutes into the movie, I heard her crying, “Mommy! Mommy!” Her Daddy rocked her while I finished up, and then I sat next to her in the bed to comfort her. She finally calmed down once I laid down next to her. She never did fall asleep though.

She seemed to be feeling better closer to 2:30 p.m., and I just needed to get out of the house for a little while. I’ve been clamped up in a house since Monday because the weather has been bad due to the tropical storm from Florida, and then Annabelle started feeling really bad on Thursday when the weather turned nice again. So we decided to take her for a walk in the stroller. She was happy to go and she cried when I mentioned it to her and then Daddy said it was too hot, so I told her it was too hot. She really wanted to go outside. She actually enjoyed herself, although she didn’t take one sip of juice the entire stroller ride. It just sat there in front of her where she put it on the stroller tray. I kept asking her to drink some juice, and she would say “No,” every time.

After our stroller ride, she played with Daddy from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. while I took a nap myself. She sounded so happy in there playing with Daddy. I kept hearing her say, “Hi Daddy!” It was so sweet. He would say “Hi Annabelle!” in response every time.

Around 6:00 p.m., I decided to try to get her to eat some dinner, but she wanted nothing to do with it. As mentioned above, she just dropped her dried peas into her tea. She maybe took a sip of tea.

I doubt that she has had 4 ounces of fluids (besides nursing) all day. So, I really started to worry about her. I had changed her diaper around 4:00 p.m. and by 6:30 p.m., it was still completely dry. And, when I changed her diaper at 4:00 p.m. it wasn’t very wet, and the urine was very concentrated.

So, I contacted the doctor’s office around 6:36 p.m. (to be exact), and I left a message with their answering service. I still had not heard back from them by 7:30 p.m., so hubby called and left another message. He had a hard time getting through to the answering service though because the line was busy the first few times he called.

Finally, around 7:45 p.m., Dr. Colton returned my phone call. I thought it was odd that Dr. Colton called me back and not a nurse, but that was fine with me. While I was on the phone with him, a nurse did call and leave a message. She called back later, and I told her that I was on the phone with Dr. Colton when she had called.

Dr. Colton didn’t seem to think that she was dehydrated. He said that if she were dehydrated, she probably would not fight me when I tried to give her liquids with a dropper (which she did). Of course, he doesn’t know my child, does he? She’s a fighter! Thank goodness for that or she may not even be with us today! And, she’s a strong little booger (as the nurses even confirmed yesterday after trying to catheterize her). He said that often times children with bladder infections don’t want to drink anything because they fear that they are going to vomit. I don’t think this is the case with Annabelle because she still requested juice on Friday after she had thrown up both times. This is why I became very concerned. I think she knows that drinking causes her to urinate, and she doesn’t want to urinate because it hurts. I hope it isn’t a more serious reason.

He said she needed to get a wet diaper every 4-6 hours. Of course, I told him that I didn’t think she had a really good wet diaper since 10:30 a.m. So, he recommended “dream time feeding” with her for the next one to one and half hours (because she had already fallen asleep for the evening at this point). He said I should give her a teaspoon every 5-10 minutes, and then start doubling the amount as the time continued, and hopefully, she would realize that Mommy isn’t going to stop with the dropper, so I guess I’ll just drink something myself using my own sipee cup. He recommended mixing ½ Gatorade with ½ water. Since I told him I was still nursing, he recommended nursing as much as possible. But, I told him that she had nursed more already today, but I was afraid that she wasn’t getting very much because I had dropped her down to 3 feedings per day over 7 months ago. That is the problem with nursing, you don’t have a clue how much they are getting to drink. He said that if she didn’t have a wet diaper within 2 hours of our phone call to give him a call back, and we could talk about admitting her to the hospital to get an IV. Of course, that is not the route we want to take if we can help it! He said that for someone her weight (approximately 26 lbs), she needed to be getting 1 liter of fluid per day. He wasn’t surprised that she was still running a fever since she’s been on the antibiotics for just a little over 24 hours, and he said she would probably still be running a fever in the morning as well. I asked him if someone would be on call as the Physician’s Assistant had mentioned to me, and he said that he would be in the office from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. tomorrow if I felt that he needed to see her.

So, from 8:30 p.m. until 9:40 p.m., I had been waking Annabelle up to give her a mix of Gatorade and water using the dropper. She was not happy with us at all, but she only told me about it (and not Daddy)! “NO Mommy, NO NO!” I really hated to wake her up, but I know she needs those fluids. And, she never decided to drink from her sipee cup herself until I made a deal with her that she could look at the pictures on my computer (that she so badly wanted to see one time after I woke her up and she realized I had the computer in there with us) if she would take a sip of drink for every picture. That deal lasted for one picture!

Dr. Colton actually mentioned to me that even third world countries could get around dehydration without needing an IV because they didn’t have IV’s in third world countries. He mentioned that it just took a little bit of persistence. He was actually very nice when he said it though even though I’m probably not making him sound nice in this blog entry. He’s always been very kind when I’ve dealt with him. I think it was just his way of telling me to be more persistent. Of course, I still feel like the worst Mommy in the whole wide world. (1) Because I should have taken Annabelle to the doctor’s office on Wednesday when she wasn’t feeling well just based on her symptoms with the mucous on Monday and (2) Because I should have pushed the fluids a lot harder all day long. I guess I just assumed that she was actually getting some fluids through nursing until her diapers were no longer wet. Shame on Annabelle’s Mommy!

So, at 9:30 p.m. when I gave Annabelle some more Motrin, her temperature was 99.1 degrees Fahrenheit (although she felt a lot hotter). Hopefully, based on that temperature, she is making some progress. By the way, these temperatures were all taken rectally, so they should be fairly accurate. And, my sweet baby girl actually didn’t give me too much trouble with taking her temperature rectally. Of course, I wouldn’t have blamed her if she had.

Also, one thing I did not know that Dr. Colton recommended. I had mentioned to him that her fever would rise an hour to an hour and a half before the next dose of Motrin was due, but this last time, her fever started to spike around 6:30 p.m. (3 hours before the next dose was due). He said that I could alternate every three hours between Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fever down. I did not know that, so that is excellent to know. He also said that I could give her some Tylenol three hours before the next dose of Motrin was due even if I didn’t alternate between the two.

I checked on her around 11:15 p.m. because she cried out in her sleep. She reached down to her crotch to hold herself, so I can only assume that she was hurting while she was urinating. I then felt her diaper, and it felt warm, so I knew she had urinated a little bit more. I guess that is a good sign, but I am going to continue to push fluids down her so we can get rid of this bladder infection! I really think she truly understands that drinking causes her to urinate, and urinating causes her pain.

Hooray! It is 11:50 p.m., and I heard her in there talking to herself and moving around, so I went to check on her. Her fever has broken, and she was actually sweating. That is a good sign to me because I haven’t felt her sweat with a broken fever since her 104 degree Fahrenheit temperature broke yesterday evening. Also, I haven’t noticed any tears with crying, and I had read (and heard from Dr. Colton) that it was also a sign of dehydration.

Please just keep her in your prayers, and keep her Mommy and Daddy in your prayers too that we’ll know the best things for her.

Thank you to everyone who is keeping up with these blog entries. I know they are probably very long and boring to you, but I wanted to document everything for Annabelle as well as myself if Annabelle ever has another issue with another bladder infection.

The Hunt for Suprax

When the Physician’s Assistant, Suzanne, prescribed Suprax to Annabelle, I asked her if she could make sure she prescribed something that came in generic as well. She said, “I don’t know if this one comes in generic, but if they don’t have it, just have the pharmacist call us.”

So, after we leave the doctor’s office around 11:30 a.m., we head straight home to get Annabelle settled and more comfortable. She was feeling much better at this point (or so she seemed). Of course, that is pretty typical of this child. Every time I’ve taken her to the doctor for an illness, she perks up again to her happy little self. As soon as we walked into that doctor’s office, she was smiling and laughing again. Of course, she had just had a dose of Tylenol.

She comes by that quite honestly too. The same day I was hospitalized for a bladder infection gone bad into a kidney infection back in 2000, I had visited the doctor only a few hours before. He told my mom when he spoke to her later that day that she needed to take me to the hospital immediately, and the only reason he had not hospitalized me earlier in the day was because I looked happy, and I looked like I wasn’t feeling too bad.

Anyhow, I got Annabelle settled with Grandmama, and I ran to Publix to fill her prescription and purchase some popsicles, Jell-O, Gatorade and fruit. When I dropped the prescription off with the pharmacist, she told me that they didn’t have any of the Suprax on hand, and also that she has called around to other pharmacists before and it was very rare for anyone to carry it. Of course, she said that she was happy to call around. I asked her to call around if she didn’t mind, and I told her that if she could not find it to please just call the doctor’s office and see if there was something else they could prescribe instead. However, I did explain to her that this was Annabelle’s first bladder infection, and the results of the culture were not back yet to identify the bacteria that had caused the infection. Therefore, the Physician’s Assistant was prescribing an antibiotic that would fight most of the bacteria causing bladder infections. So, I thought it probably made sense to find the Suprax (or its generic) if it could be found.

After I finished grocery shopping (and before I checked out), I went back by the pharmacist to pick up the prescription. She told me that she had found it at Walgreen’s at Oak Grove. I asked her if the generic prescription was available, and she said that particular antibiotic did not come in generic.

So, since I had popsicles to purchase and Publix subs for lunch for Grandmama and Granddaddy (and me), I decided to head home first to get the cold stuff in the fridge. But, first, I decided to stop by CVS on the way home because this is normally where I fill my prescriptions, and I thought it would be easier to just have CVS fill the prescription while I went home to get everyone fed. I knew it would probably take longer at Walgreen’s because I’ve never filled a prescription with them before, so they don’t have all of our insurance information on hand. And, I thought they could easily contact the doctor’s office to see if there was another generic prescription that would do the job as well. The pharmacist seemed to think that there was probably another prescription that would work too, but she first needed to contact the doctor’s office.

She told me she would try to contact them, but they may be out to lunch since it was close to 12:59 p.m. when she called them. She was able to contact the doctor’s office, but apparently, the doctor had already left for lunch (naturally). She asked me if I wanted to wait until the doctor returned to see if he would recommend something else, but I told her that I would just go ahead and have the Suprax filled with Walgreen’s since I knew they had it on hand.

On the way home, I tried to contact the insurance company to make sure that Suprax was not a non-preferred drug. I definitely did not want to end up spending $60 - $75 on an antibiotic when a generic drug could be prescribed instead.

Well, that was a fun phone call. I could have sworn the last time I called the insurance company that pressing “0 0 0 0 0 0 0” connected me with the operator. But, that wasn’t the case this time! Instead, I had to listen to them tell me to enter some number that I only assumed was my insurance ID # only to then hear them repeat back the wrong number! Not to mention, I had to listen to “Did you say benefits and eligibility?” “YES!” I said. “Okay, we are connecting you with benefits and eligibility. Please state your [something] number.” Finally, I was connected with the operator, and I’m not sure what I did wrong to finally be connected to a human voice, but I was!

Then, apparently, I was connected with the wrong department, so they had to reconnect me. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait as long as I did the first time around. Dave with the insurance company helped me, and he was able to find that this particular drug fell under the $20 copay for name brand drugs.

So, granted, at this point, I am very, very frustrated. Why couldn’t the Physician’s Assistant prescribe something that was commonly carried? It really irritates me more to think that she possibly prescribed Suprax because someone in pharmaceutical sales is pushing this drug. I tried to search online before I left to fill the prescription to find out if the drug was a new drug, but I couldn’t find anything, so I finally left the house around 2:15 p.m. to head to Walgreen’s to get the prescription filled. I really would have preferred a generic prescription, but I didn’t want to spend any more time waiting on the doctor to prescribe yet another drug that may or may not come in generic.

When I arrived at Walgreen’s, there was a wait as they seemed very busy and everyone was either filling prescriptions or talking on the phone with insurance companies. After she gathered all of Annabelle’s information, she asked what time I would like to pick up the prescription. I told her I was planning to wait, and she told me that it would probably take 30 minutes. So, that would mean the prescription would not be ready until 3:00 p.m. I decided to leave and come back because I needed to run one other errand, and I figured I could finish that errand in 30-45 minutes.

I arrived back to pick up the prescription around 3:30 p.m. The pharmacist asked the girl I was dealing with whether or not the prescription was covered. She told him it was, and he told her to look at the price. So, she contacted the insurance company, and she asked me a few more questions such as who is the primary on the card and is Annabelle the child. Then, she asked for Annabelle’s social security number. Naturally, I don’t have Annabelle’s social security number memorized. I guess she could tell I was discouraged because she then asked for hubby’s social security number. I do have that number memorized, so she was able to process everything using hubby’s social security number.

I started to pay my $20 copay, but I then asked her if Walgreen’s still did the deal with getting a free gift card if you had a new or transferred prescription. It never hurts to ask! She walked away for a minute, and then she came back with a coupon. She found a coupon to get me a $25 gift card with a new prescription! Finally, something went right! Of course, I don’t normally shop at Walgreen’s, but I am sure I can find some groceries to spend it on.

So, I left Walgreen’s, and I got home around 3:45 p.m., shortly before Annabelle woke up from her two hour nap. When she did wake up, she was so miserable she could not even stand up in the crib. She just cried for me. When I picked her up, she felt very, very hot. Grandmama held her while I measured out the medicine. I gave her a dose of Suprax (1 teaspoonful) at 3:51 p.m., and I followed the Suprax with a dose of Motrin at 4:00 p.m. I took her temperature before I gave her the Motrin, and it registered 104 degrees Fahrenheit orally! Poor baby! I really hope this medicine does the trick.

And, would you believe that the retail price for Suprax is $199.99! I saved $179.99 because we had insurance on Annabelle. It seems like the insurance companies would offer an even bigger discount (besides a $10 copay versus $20 copay) for generic prescriptions. I would not think that generic prescriptions would be that costly, but maybe they are.

And, one last note of mention. The pharmacist asked if I wanted to add flavor to the medicine for an additional $2.99. I passed on it just hoping that Annabelle would not spit the medicine back out. I think it must actually taste good (without the flavor) because she took the medicine without a problem. And, the medicine smells fruity.

Diagnosis: Urinary Tract Infection

Have I mentioned that I do not like to take my daughter to the doctor because: (1) The doctor normally tells you that it, the illness, is a viral infection, and they cannot do anything for it. (2) It costs me a $40 copay every single time one of us goes.

So, this time, I should have taken my sweet sick baby girl to the doctor (on Wednesday)! Grandmama was right, but I didn't listen because I just didn't feel she was sick enough. I'm not quite sure what I define as "sick enough" yet, but I obviously should have realized that Annabelle was "sick enough" when all she wanted to do on Thursday was sleep and not play!

So, Annabelle woke up this morning and called out to me for "juice, mama, juice." But, I was sound asleep, and I felt her, and she didn't feel hot. She felt warm, but not hot. I'm not sure what time that was.

But, when she woke up the second time and said, "juice, mama, juice" and I looked down at her at 8:00 a.m., I realized that she was holding both ears. She was sleeping as she fell back asleep right away, but she just looked like something was bothering her. I felt her chest and when I did, I somewhat panicked. Her heart was beating very fast! It really scared me, but I did manage to stay calm.

I called Children's Medical Group at 8:03 a.m. to be exact (per my cell phone detail) to schedule an appointment. My doctor, Dr. Calk, was not in the office today. I forgot it is a holiday weekend! So, the first appointment they had available was for 9:40 a.m. at the Atlanta office (near our house). I scheduled the appointment, but I told the lady that I really needed to speak with a nurse immediately because I was concerned that I needed to take her to the emergency room. I was so worried that I honestly kept repeating to the lady scheduling the appointment that I needed something before "8:40 a.m." instead of "9:40 a.m." She finally cocked an attitude with me and said "8:40 a.m." after she had probably already told me "8:40 a.m." three or four times! I apologized and told her that I was just worried about my little girl. I'm not sure why I apologized, but I do understand how annoying I must have been!

Grandmama and Granddaddy were still sleeping, which is very odd because Grandmama is always awake normally by 7:00 a.m. at the very latest. But, we did have her up very late last night around 2:00 a.m. helping with a sick child. So, I ran in and knocked on Grandmama's door. I asked her to check Annabelle out for herself, and she also became very worried. In the mean time, I grabbed the Tylenol and administered a dose. Grandmama (and Granddaddy too) kept watch on Annabelle while I ran around frantically trying to get myself ready to go (shoes on, keys handy, etc).

I also contacted the Children's Medical Group in Suwanee only to find out that they didn't allow the children to float between offices for their appointments. I told her that I really felt that Annabelle needed to see someone sooner than 9:40 a.m., but she said that their first appointment at the Suwanee office was 10:00 a.m. (or maybe 10:40 a.m.). She also mentioned to me that the nurses didn't arrive until 9:00 a.m. so that is why I had not heard back from a nurse yet. I just wish the first lady at the Atlanta office who scheduled my appointment had told me that! Surely they have someone who can return a phone call before 9:00 a.m. If you call after hours, they return your phone call within just a few minutes!

Shortly after I administered the Tylenol, Annabelle seemed to be feeling better, so I also felt better, and I spent a little bit more time grabbing my belongings so I didn't have to make a trip back to Grandmama and Granddaddy's house to gather our things later. We were out the door and well on our way to the Atlanta office by 8:40 a.m. Grandmama sat in the back seat with Annabelle to comfort her while I drove. Granddaddy planned to come later to pick Grandmama back up. Before we left, I told them that she seemed like she was feeling better, so I knew we'd be alright to make it to the doctor's office on our own. Grandmama insisted that she wanted to go though as she was very worried about her only granddaughter.

Before we even pulled onto the interstate at Steve Reynolds Boulevard, Annabelle proceeded to throw up everything she had just drank. It broke my heart to hear her and know that I could do nothing to help her, but I did feel better that at least Grandmama was in the back seat to comfort her. Poor baby couldn't even cry for some reason immediately after it happened so we only assumed that the crying was making her ears hurt so much that she didn't even want to cry. Grandmama said the vomiting was projectile. I've always wondered how I would respond to a child vomiting in my car, but honestly, I did not once think about my car. Well, I didn't at that moment. I am sort of thinking about it right now as I really need to go get that car seat cover and clean it. I think I'll wait until hubby gets home to watch Annabelle before I do that though.

So, since she had thrown up everything, and she was now wearing vomit that Grandmama described as looking somewhat like she had thrown up coca cola (and she had only had some juice and milk since she threw up at 2:00 a.m.), and since she was feeling much better, and because we were way ahead of time, I decided to run by the house to clean her up a little and grab a clean shirt for her to wear.

Note to self: Keep clean clothes and a clean towel (for vomit) in the car at all times!

Did I mention that traffic was unbelievably light? Thank goodness! We must have arrived at our house by 9:05 a.m. at the latest. At that point, Annabelle still looked pretty miserable, but she wasn't shaking. We left the house at 9:26 a.m. to arrive at the doctor's office by 9:39 a.m. Perfect timing!

Fortunately, we didn't have to wait in the waiting room very long. And, I am still trying to understand why they couldn't schedule an appointment for earlier since the waiting room was almost completely empty. There was only one other baby in the well section and one other child in the sick section with us.

We saw the Physician's Assistant, Suzanne, which I didn't realize when I made the appointment, but it really isn't a big deal as she seemed to explain things a little better to me anyway. I really like Dr. Calk, but sometimes he just talks way over my head!

I described all of Annabelle's symptoms to Suzanne, and fortunately, I had made a list of the symptoms before she actually walked in the door. My list (per my note book) was as follows:

Bloody mucous in vaginal discharge
Threw up Tylenol at 8:45 on the way to doctor
Dark color (like coca cola) in throw up this a.m.
Threw up last night around 2:00 a.m.
Woke up holding her ears this a.m.

If I had not made a list, I probably would have forgotten to tell Suzanne that Grandmama had seen bloody mucous in Annabelle's diaper on Monday. Grandmama saved the diaper for me and when I finally saw it that evening, it had turned a light yellow and green color. I really didn't think much of it although Grandmama kept saying that she was worried Annabelle had a bladder infection.

I guess those Moms of ours do know a little something after all! Of course, she should have that symptom down pat as I had my share of bladder infections as a young girl and a young woman. Annabelle comes by it quite honestly, poor thing!

First, Suzanne checked Annabelle's chest, and then she checked out her throat, and then she looked in at her ear drums. She said her ears looked great, and she didn't notice any other problems that would be caused by a respiratory infection. So, she concluded that it was probably a bladder infection based on what we had told her.

She said that she would need to get some urine to make sure it was or was not a bladder infection and that would require a catheter. What? Seriously? You are going to catheterize a 22 month old? Okay. You are the expert. Sometimes I think I trust the "experts" a little too much, but I figure that I don't have a major or any education in the medical field, so they probably know best, right?

So, she sends the nurses into the doctor's office. Three of them! I said something like, "You guys have the fun job!" and "Wow, this must be serious if three of you are needed." I think I said the second line, but if I didn't, I sure thought it!

So, one of the nurses cleans Annabelle up, and before they proceed with the catheter, another nurse prepares to hold my daughter still. Ha! They didn't realize just how strong she is until the process started. Before they started though, one of the nurses said, "Wait! Do you think I should grab a cup in case she starts to pee?" You think?!?! Of course, I didn't think of it, but you think that they would have brought the cup in the room with them before they even started.

The nurses then "try" to catheterize her. Bless her heart! She was really hurting as she just cried and screamed, "NO NO MAMA, NO NO!" "NO NO MAMA, NO NO!" I heard this over and over and over again as tears streamed down my sweet little girls face. Finally they stopped and the nurse said, "Mama, we cannot get the catheter to go in because she has adhesions that are blocking the way." So, I am thinking, "Okay, what do you want me to do about it? Please just hurry or stop hurting my baby girl." I know they were really trying their very best though. I know no one would want to hurt a sweet and innocent child, so I didn't say anything.

Then, Grandmama spoke up and said, "Can you not put a bag on her?" They all thought about it and then one of the nurses said, "Yes. We'll go check with Suzanne." So, they left, and then they came back with another catheter and said, "Suzanne wants us to try again because the bags are not sterile and some of the bacteria in the bag could show up in the urine test." Great!

So, we start this process again, but this time, the nurse who tried the first time held her from the head of the table while another nurse tried to catheterize her. Annabelle screamed and cried once again, and I wanted to scream and cry along with her. Finally, the nurse got the catheter in, and about that time, Annabelle starts peeing all over the table. The nurse who remembered the cup grabbed the cup and put the cup under the stream of urine. She got almost a full cup of urine!

Did I mention that just before they started one of the nurses asked me, "She has had something to drink, right?" Well, you know, I hadn't thought about it, and the Physician's Assistant never asked me either, but yes, she had. I just wasn't sure it was enough. However, I thought that the catheter would go in and then it would stay in there until she actually did urinate. I didn't realize it was supposed to make her urinate.

After that traumatic experience, Annabelle screamed for probably 10 minutes. She just kept saying, "NO NO MAMA, NO NO!" as she shook her head no. And, she continued to say that to me after she was dressed back into her diaper and I was holding her close to me.

And, now that I think about it. The catheter probably hurt her more because she did have a bladder infection. If you've ever had a bladder infection, you know just how sensitive that area can be. Bless my little girl's heart!

While Annabelle was screaming, Grandmama reminded me that Suzanne said that we needed to have Annabelle's finger pricked to do a CBC or Complete Blood Count. So, I decided to go find the nurse to get the second and final pain out of the way while Annabelle was still somewhat upset. They directed me to the lab where the blood is drawn.

In the lab, they let Annabelle pick out her own band aid. She picked some duck band aid, but I cannot remember the Warner Brothers creatures name, but I'm fairly sure it was a duck. I thought for sure she would have picked out the cute Tweety Bird band aid, but apparently, she wanted the duck band aid.

She cried when they pricked her little finger. It was just a very traumatic day for her! Last time she had her finger pricked at her 12 month appointment, she didn't cry at all!

By the way, on our way to the lab, we ran into Suzanne, and she said that Annabelle definitely had a bladder infection, but she would see us back in the doctor's office after the CBC results were back to discuss everything.

So, the diagnosis for today was as follows:

Before Suzanne left the first time, she looked at Annabelle's labia because I mentioned that she still had the labial adhesion that I just couldn't stand to do anything more than put the cream on as directed by Dr. Calk. So, Suzanne looked at her labial adhesion and said that it looked pretty thinned out. She said that I should just apply a little Vaseline on a Qtip after bath time and when I was cleaning her and gently pull down on the thinned out part with the Qtip to slowly pull it apart. Oddly enough though, after the catheter was inserted, her labial adhesion seems to be gone. Poor baby was obviously screaming for several reasons. They had separated the adhesion while they were trying to catheterize her.

Annabelle's urine showed nitrites which is a sure sign of a bladder infection. They then looked at the urine under the microscope and saw a lot of bacteria, so they are certain that she has a bladder infection. However, they have to send the urine off to have a bacteria urine culture done, and they won't know until Tuesday the exact bacteria that caused the infection. In the mean time, Suzanne wanted to get Annabelle started on some antibiotics that apparently fights off most of the bacteria that causes bladder infections.

Annabelle's white blood count did not look too high. If it had been 20,000 or higher, they would have started with an injection of antibiotics right then. And, honestly, I wish they would have just done this now as you'll soon learn about my adventure to fill the prescription in another blog entry!

Suzanne said that if Annabelle's fever does not go down within 48 hours that I should call the doctor on call. If the fever is not gone by Sunday morning, I should call the doctor on call then as it will be close to the 48 hours, and they actually have a doctor that comes to the office on Sundays for a few hours to see select patients. Interesting! Why is it that every time I call after hours to speak with someone that they always have the on-call nurse call me back? And, I have called with things I consider pretty serious, such as allergic reactions to foods. Suzanne said I should call between 7-7:30 a.m. on Sunday because the doctor on call will normally see patients earlier in the morning between 8-10:00 a.m.

Suzanne prescribed Suprax, one teaspoon a day for 10 days. She said that if Annabelle throws up beyond 20 minutes of me administering the medicine, that I don't need to give her another dose, but if it is before 20 minutes, I should give her another dose right away. She said the same goes for Tylenol and Motrin.

She recommend Tylenol (1.6 ML) and Motrin (1.875 ML) for the fever. The dosage amounts are based on Annabelle's weight being 26 pounds. However, she did say that Motrin was better for higher fevers. And, you only have to administer Motrin every 8 hours versus 4 hours with the Tylenol.

Suzanne recommend to give her plenty of fluids (obviously). She said that Pedialyte is great if Annabelle will still take it, which she's never had it. So, she said the light colored flavors of Gatorade would work well too. Also, fruit popsicles are a favorite while they are sick too (again, obviously).

By the way, Annabelle weighed 27 pounds at her last visit only a week or so ago, and she weighed 26 pounds today. Poor baby does not have an appetite!

And, last but not least, Suzanne recommended that since Annabelle has now had a bladder infection that she go to Egleston or Scottish Rite for an outpatient visit to have a renal ultrasound done over the kidney area as well as a VCUG which is a diagnostic for kidney reflux. Apparently, the kidney reflux is an anatomical problem where the urine back flows into the ureter.

I actually had the VCUG done back in 2003, I believe. Unfortunately, they would need to catheterize her again, and then they would insert some die to see if she had the back flow. The nurse asked if I had the problem with the back flow, and I told her that the diagnosis was that I did not.

So, anyhow, she gave me a referral, and then before I left, I stopped by the referral office for them to make an appointment. They are supposed to contact Egleston, and then Children's Medical Group will call me back with an appointment time.

I am now thinking that I do not agree that these tests need to be done. If Annabelle was suffering from recurring bladder infections, then yes, she may need the tests done, but this is her first bladder infection, and she's almost 2 years old! Do I really need to put her through all of that pain again? Not to mention, what problems could the die in her system later cause?

So, there is my eventful day in a nutshell. Ha, ha! Well, it is only part of the eventful day from 8:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. There is always a story, and my day most definitely did not end at 11:30 a.m.


Dear Annabelle,

As I write this blog entry this evening, you are feeling much, much better, or so it appears. I hope you really are feeling better and it isn't just the Motrin dropping your temperature for the time being.

I love you so much, and I really hated to put you through all of that pain today! It broke my heart, and I really hope you know that I only allowed what I thought was best. I wonder though why they couldn't just give you the antibiotics without the urine specimen. Was it really worth the pain they caused my baby girl? I know some mothers get antibiotics for their babies for everything (or so it seems), so why couldn't they give you antibiotics this one time without putting you through all that?

It was so nice to see you playing and laughing with your Daddy this evening. He never saw how truly bad you felt, but it still broke his heart this evening when he got home and you immediately started crying because you apparently were still uncomfortable for some reason. Again, you said, "NO NO MAMA, NO NO!" Maybe your earlier in the day experiences had revisited in your little mind.

If it makes you feel better to tell me, "NO NO MAMA, NO NO!" then you keep on saying it. I just want you to feel like yourself again because this little girl I have seen over the past few days is not the same little girl I have grown to love.

Of course, I still love the sick little girl too, but I'd much rather see the happy little girl.

However, it did remind me that you still need me to hold and comfort you. On Wednesday night when I laid you down for the evening, you immediately laid your head down and fell asleep in my arms. That is so unusual for you as you normally lay your head down and then you'll sit right back up and say, "Hi there Mama!" Mommy just doesn't get much snuggle time any more. I actually really enjoyed snuggling with you that evening, but I just wish it had been under better circumstances.

And, then, on Thursday, I laid you down for a nap and bedtime, but you wouldn't fall asleep until you knew that my eyes were closing too. I think you wanted to make sure I was still there with you.

And this afternoon and evening, you slept on Mommy and Daddy's bed at home for a good two and a half hours (almost) from 4:30 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. But once again, you wanted to make sure that I was there with you. After you fell asleep, I grabbed the computer and started this blog entry as you laid next to me. I felt you every so often to check your temperature. You were so hot! You had a temperature of 104 degrees F when I gave you Motrin at 4:00 p.m., and that did worry me, but I knew the Motrin and antibiotic would start to break the fever. When you woke up at 6:45 p.m., your fever had broken.

Thank you for loving me, forgiving me and still needing me!

I love you with all of my heart!

Love always and forever,

Mommy