Spooky Start to Halloween

We had a spooky start to kick off Halloween last night... Madison had her 3rd "episode."

We always lay her down for bed & she puts herself to sleep. Then after she falls asleep we put her oxygen monitor & oxygen on. (If we try to do it when she's awake she just pulls it off & has even pulled the wires out of the pulsox before).

A few minutes after we laid her down, we heard a really weird noise. Almost sounded like she coughed, but she hasn't ever sounded like that before. So I went and checked on her... she had thrown up everywhere in her crib & was blue again with her eyes rolled back. Jake & I put her oxygen on her & cranked it up. Then when we got her monitor on her, her oxygen level was in the 60s / 70s. It took a minute or two to get her levels back to the 90's. We took her helmet off & she didn't have fever, but her hair was soaking wet.

Jake got her crib cleaned up while I gave her a bath. She just cried the whole time. :( Then I rocked her & she fell right asleep. After that she was ok during the night & woke up fine this morning.

I called her pediatrician & neurologist this morning to let them know what happened. They think that she is probably having seizures, but don't know that for certain. However, they are going to go ahead and start her today on an everyday seizure medicine. I hope that it does help, but I'm nervous about the possible side-effects. (mood changes, agitation, nausea, etc.)

Madison has another EEG scheduled for November 18th, just hoping they can figure out what's going on.

I'm glad she's feeling ok right now & can enjoy Halloween!!

Wonderfully Made

Madison had a genetics appointment today. (Just an update on what has been going on - no new information for us concerning her genetic abnormality. There still is no one they can find that has the exact duplication she does.) I was thinking about the appointment last night & trying to remember what doctors we had seen, what all had gone on in the past year, etc. I was flipping through the channels, and on TLC there was a show called "My 40 Year Old Child."

Of course I had to stop & see what it was about.

There was a man in Australia who was 40 years old, but he looked like he was 10. There was also a 6 year old in Montana that looked like & still had the mindset of a newborn. She was 10 pounds, still taking a bottle, etc. It was mind-blowing. There was a scientist in Florida who was trying to figure out what was causing their very rare condition by studying their DNA.

The scientist made a comment about how if just one thing in a person's DNA is off, it can cause severe conditions like these two people had.

We are all wonderfully & fearfully made by God. I don't understand how anyone can doubt that, especially when thinking about things like DNA. The way a baby is developed and formed is so specific, and if one thing is off you can get complications (like a genetic abnormality, or a syndrome, etc.) Even when someone's DNA isn't exactly perfect by the standards of science, they are perfect in God's eyes and are still made in His image.

God's hand is so evident in the world around us, and I love moments like I had last night when it just seems so clear and so evident. Those are the times I try to remember if I ever have doubts that creep in or questions that I can't seem to find an answer for.

Insanity - Starting Month 2

Jake & I started Month 2 of Insanity today... we had the Fitness Test & Max Interval Circuit, along with a volleyball game. I will be surprised if I can move tomorrow! We had heard that the 2nd month was no joke... and after only the first night in I definitely agree. I'm hoping that Max Interval Circuit is the hardest of the Month 2 exercises, but I'm not holding my breath.

We have had pretty good results so far... I've lost almost 8.8 pounds & 8 inches total; Jake has lost 11.2 pounds. :)


On a side note, Madison had her first official speech / feeding therapy session yesterday at Sumner Station. She did a lot better than I thought she would. She says mama, dada, and moo (for a cow) a lot; but yesterday she also said papa (my dad), bub bub (for bubble), and bye bye. So I was pretty happy with that!!

So every week we will have speech / feeding therapy on Wednesdays & her developmental therapist with TEIS on Fridays.

Next week she has a neurology appointment & a genetics appointment, so we'll see if there is any other information coming out of those appointments.

Insanity - Week 3

Well, Jake & I have finished Week 3 of Insanity. Some days doing the workouts are tough, but it helps having someone else that's doing it with you! The hardest part for us has been eating good on the weekends. Every weekend we have had family gatherings, weddings, or showers. I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week, and so far I've done that (down about 6.5 pounds total).

After this week we'll have gotten through the first month! Next week is supposed to be a recovery week. We may have to cut it short though to get started on Month 2 since we'll be going on vacation at the very end of the 9 weeks.

Jake took off work this week, so Madison and I are excited to have him with us! We're planning on taking Madison to the zoo & a pumpkin patch. I think she will love it!!

Glasses

Madison finally got her glasses today. It took almost 3 weeks from the time we went to the eye doctor for them to come in. We went to Vanderbilt to the eye doctor, but the glasses store didn't take our insurance. So I took Madi to my eye doctor in Portland. They didn't have many frames in her size, so they ordered some in for her to try on. That took about week to get those in. Then we picked out her frames, and it took almost two and a half weeks for the final frames to come in. She has a pretty strong prescription (+5), so they did a special lens where they wouldn't look really thick.

I am pretty happy with the way they look! I think she looks pretty adorable...

Instead of having a strap that goes around her head, we got the glasses that wrap around her ears. They are supposed to help keep them on better, but she can get them off pretty easily.

She kept wanting to look at herself in the mirror at the eye doctor when she put her glasses on. She didn't pull them off immediately either, so they said that's a good sign she is really seeing better. This afternoon she did good with leaving them on, but tonight has been a different story. She has pulled them off every few minutes. Hopefully it will just take her a couple of days to get adjusted & then she will leave them alone.

I'm excited to see if they make a big different in her walking / balance & being able to identify things!