Thursday, March 18, 2010

Spring Break

For those of you who don't know, I'm getting my Post-Bac teaching licensure from UVU. I will be doing my student teaching about this time next year. But what's cool about this is that for the first time since I graduated high school, I get almost a week off of school for spring break! It actually ended up being a bit more because I had to go into a classroom and teach for a couple days so the education department gives their students an extra week off of classes. Cool, huh? Well, spring break officially started yesterday. And how did I start my spring break? With surgery. That's right, the first time I've ever had surgery, or even stitches for that matter (besides the ones I got with Emmalee) was on spring break.
My surgery was a pretty simple one. I had to have my gallbladder out. I have been having attacks for about the last 14 months. Each time I get one they get worse. I was in the ER both Saturday and Sunday this last week. After the second or third attack the only thing that helps take the pain away is morphine. On Sunday they had to give me Dillodan (I'm not sure of the spelling) which is evidently pretty much morphine but 10 times stronger. On Sunday the ER doctor decided to do an ultrasound because my liver enzymes were very high (and have been for almost two years) and on the ultrasound they saw a nice pile of stones in my gallbladder. He wanted to do an emergency surgery, but the on-call surgeon didn't think I was quite bad enough. So yesterday I went in for an outpatient surgery and he took it out. They gave us some pictures, and on the picture of my gallbladder cut open Joel counted 33 gallstones, but there were probably more because it looked like they went on outside the picture (like they were falling all over the place). We figured it we kept going to the ER with every gallstone we would have ended up paying $4,950 in ER copays alone. We didn't go to the ER for every attack, but the last couple ones they had to give me IV's because I wasn't holding anything down. I had Lortab prescribed, but every time I had an attack I started vomiting profusely, even if I took an anti-nausea medicine as soon as I started feeling uncomfortable.
I feel okay today, I've definitely had better days, but all things considered I think I'm doing pretty well. I'm sore, and it's hard to pick up Emmalee (which I'm not supposed to be doing anyways) but other than that it's really not too bad. This is way better than having my attacks. It got to the point that passing a gallstone hurt worse than labor (but then I did have an epidural for labor).
On happier notes, Emmalee is officially over to her new formula and quite likes it. Even without her appetite stimulant she eats much more than she did with her appetite stimulant for the other formula. She is over 16 lbs now (we think), and she is getting quite the little pot-belly. She not only eats a lot more formula, but she also eats more baby food. She now eats between 6-8 ounces of baby food every meal! I love it. And she is such a happy fun baby. I truely feel blessed. She sleeps through the night (most of the time) eats enough that she is still growing on her growth curve (she has one now:) and is such a happy baby. She is so fun to play with. We are staying at my in-laws right now while I am recovering and she loves playing with grandma and grandpa. While grandma was giving her her bath tonight she was having the best time splashing the water and blowing raspberries. I love my baby!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Do you know the Muffin Man?

Well, Emmalee does. Last Saturday while I was at work, Daddy and Emmalee were having quite the day at home. On Friday we had picked up a dozen of Costco's oversized muffins for breakfasts and snacking. Well, Joel was enjoying Saturday afternoon when he realized it was time to come pick me up from work. So he put the muffin on a bookshelf he didn't think Emmalee could reach in the living room, then left her in the living room to play with toys while he went to get ready to come pick me up. Where there's a will, there's a way. When he came back in the living room, she was not playing with toys. She was on the floor in front of the bookshelf eating his muffin. And from what he tells me she was quite enjoying it. The last time Emmalee had milk-based formula she broke out in hives and rashes, was vomiting blood (not a lot, but enough to worry me, it would more blood tinged spit up than actual blood), and had a very difficult time breathing. This muffins not only contained the dreaded milk, but also wheat, soy and egg. Allergy city. He grabbed her up, washed her mouth out thoroughly and washed her hands (which had been her utensil of choice while stuffing her face) and called me. I was worried so I called the pediatricians office. The nice nurse told me if Emmalee had any signs of breathing difficulty at all to rush her straight to the ER, and not to let her fall asleep for at least two hours, even if she was acting okay.

After all of our stress, something amazing happened. Well, actually nothing happened. That's what was so amazing about it. We hung out at the hospital for about half an hour after I got off work just so that we'd already be there if need be, but she was completely fine. I was so relieved! So was Joel, who was feeling pretty bad by this point. I was actually pretty pleased about the incident because I have been growing increasingly uncomfortable about her being on Neocate for so long. Neocate is a completely Amino Acid based medical formula which has been keeping the allergy monsters at bay with Emmalee. After the muffin incident I gave her pediatric G.I. doctor a call to discuss the idea of maybe changing her formula. So today we officially changed her formula to Nestle Good Start Protect Plus. It's a milk based formula with whey hydrolysate proteins, so partially broken down proteins, for easier digestion and added probiotics. He GI doctors thinks that she will benefit from the added probiotics because of all of her stomach problems. So far everything is going well with it and she doesn't seem to have any reactions to it. Her doctor said he was pleasantly surprised to hear about her lack of reaction to the muffin. He said he normally expects most of his patients to outgrow their allergies between 9-12 months, but he wasn't expecting her to outgrow hers--at all. He pediatrician was also positive she would never outgrow her dairy allergy. We still don't know about soy (she had a bad reaction to soy formula as well) but that was also in the muffin, so who knows.

I'm hoping that this is a good sign and our pleasure over this won't be short-lived. I so happy that my baby is no longer miserable all the time! I also feel lucky that she outgrew (hopefully) her allergy so quickly. She is eight months right now which is still pretty young. I'm so grateful that her colic and most of her growing problems have finally ended (or at least they seem to have ended). I know so many people who have had to deal with it for so much longer. She is still on one of her medications, but going from around 5 down to one is okay with me. She is on cyproheptadine which is an antihistamine that is being used in her as an appetite stimulant. It seems to help calm her gut down and allow her to eat. We also still bring her to the chiropractor three times a week which I think has made a world of difference. Yay for professionals in their field who can help big people and little people feel better and help get their bodies to function properly!