Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Dailey's 4th Birthday Party
This year we had a costume party for Dailey birthday & it was so fun! We usually carve pumpkins, but I thought it would be fun to dress-up this year. Dailey picked out our costumes. She was a green crayon, Skylee was yellow, Addi was red & my sister & I were boxes of crayons. Dailey was SO excited for her party & loved having everyone here to celebrate with us.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Preschool Halloween Party
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Dailey's 4th birthday
Dailey turned 4 on October 27th. Yes, she already 4. We celebrated her at home that night with pizza & cake. She also got to open a gift from Justin & I, it was a Leapster Explorer. She was excited about it for about 2 days, but now I don't think it's moved in the last 4. Oh well, she got lots of other exciting stuff at her party, so maybe someday she'll play with it again! :)
Friday, November 5, 2010
First Fieldtrip
Dailey's class took a field trip to a local pumpkin patch. They had horse rides, bunnies, a corn maze, face painting & so much more for the kids to do. Both girls had a blast!
Cooking
I don't know what it is about me being in the kitchen, but literally every time I cook the girls help. Sometimes it just doesn't work out that they can help me & I always end up feeling bad. I know they just want to help, but it isn't exactly safe for me to be holding one of them & have the other one standing on a stool watching. I finally figured out a way to keep the girls entertained & still make whatever it is I'm making!
At the end of the two hours my floor was a mess & I had lots of dirty dishes to clean, but I had two happy little girls & that's all that matters to me.
A couple of weeks ago I opened up the pantry & told them to pick 3 things that they wanted to 'cook'. They grabbed random things like flour, pasta & rice. I then let them pick what bowls & spoons they wanted to mix with & they thought they were in Heaven!! They mixed & stirred their little hearts out.
They were having so much fun that I told them they could pick more stuff from the pantry & I think they ended up with every dry ingredient I had in the pantry in their bowls. They had so much fun & it kept them entertained for almost two hours. TWO hours!!!
At the end of the two hours my floor was a mess & I had lots of dirty dishes to clean, but I had two happy little girls & that's all that matters to me.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Cheer camp
This year Dailey did the little girls cheer clinic & had SO much fun!! They practiced one night for a couple of hours, then performed during half time of the football game the next night.
I say 'they practiced' very lightly. She was in a group of 10 three & four year olds, so they worked on the cheer for the first 15 minutes then played Duck, Duck, Goose, had bathroom breaks & water breaks for the rest of the two hours!
On Friday night before the football game she was nervous because she didn't know the cheer, so I told her to just dance & shake her pom poms. At one point during their performance I heard her tell her group leader, with a huge smile on her face,"My mommy told me to just shake my pom poms!"
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
First day of preschool
She goes two days a week & still loves it just as much as she loved her first day!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Skylee's 2nd birthday
It's hard to believe it's been two years since this picture was taken.
And even harder to believe that the little tiny baby in the picture above has turned into our sassy, silly, spunky & loveable two year old!
She was all smiles when it came time for cake & pictures...
...until Justin & I tried to get one with her :)
Thrombcyto...what??
For awhile now I've had a feeling there is something going on inside of Skylee's little body, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Then I noticed that her shins had some bruises, then her forearms & then her head. I figured that since I already had a hunch that something was wrong with her that I was over analyzing everything. I mean she's a 2 year old she's going to have bruises, right?
I kept my bruising concerns to myself & went on with life secretely obsessing about the bruises that kept showing up on her. Then it was like over night the bruises started multiplying! They were showing up in bizarre places that aren't a normal place to have a bruise. She had them on the back of her upper arms, back, upper legs, stomach...there were everywhere! Finally on Tuesday the 18th I counted them & she had 38. This number was a little alarming to me so I called the doctor & the nurse scheduled an appointment for her to be seen that day. I was definately releived that there was now a legitament symptom that I could talk to the doctor about!
The appointment started off with the nurse weighing her at 22 pounds. I asked if she could be weighed again because 5 weeks ago she had weighed 29 pounds. She put her back on the same scale & it read 22 pounds again so we went to another scale & it read 21 pounds, two seperate times. I couldn't argue with the nurse because I was seeing 22 & 21 pounds with my own eyes, but I didn't feel like that was right. That meant that she lost 25% of her body weight in 5 weeks?? When the doctor came in I took her clothes off so she could see the bruises & the doctor looked like she had seen a ghost. She asked a lot of questions, examed her little body & decided that labwork needed to be done that day. In my mind I still wasn't thinking it was anything major, so I asked what type of things she was checking her for. Big Mistake. I don't remember anything she said except for Leukemia. She listed off lots of different things, but the second Leukemia came out of her mouth I didn't hear anything else she said & I was terrified. I held myself together so that the girls wouldn't be upset, but inside I was so scared. My cell phone had died while we were there so when I was leaving I asked the receptionist if I could use her phone to call Justin. I didn't have it in me to tell him all that was said but I let him know we were headed to the hospital to do bloodwork & I would drop her off with him when we were done so I could take Dailey to get her hair cut. I took both girls to the hospital to do labwork & it was better than I expected it to be. Of course she was crying & upset, but the lady that was doing it was very friendly to her, very fast & gave her lots of stickers when we were done.
I went home that night & was in a fog. Justin had a meeting so it was just myself & the girls. I avoided the phone that was ringing because I knew whoever was calling would ask how I was doing, or how my day was I would lose it & I did not want to be upset in front of the girls & I didn't want to tell anyone what was going on. I didn't want anyone to worry until we knew what was wrong with her. The girls & I cuddled in bed and Dailey fell asleep quickly so then it was just Skylee & I. We sang songs, read books & enjoyed some quiet time together before Justin got home. When he got home he carried Dailey to her bed & crawled in bed with us. Skylee ended up falling asleep & as I looked at her sleeping I lost it. I was terrified & so sad. At this point we didn't have a diagnosis, but in my mind she had Leukemia. Justin & I shared our fears & both admitted that we had got online & searched the symptoms she had. We both know that is the worse thing you can do at a time like this because in a matter of minutes anyone can get online & diagnose themselves with a terminal disease.
The next day I waited for the doctor to call & when she finally did I felt sick & my heart was racing. The first words out of her mouth were "Skylee's white blood count is ..." (the next quarter of a second seemed to last an eternity) "...perfect & so is her red count!" That meant she does not have Leukemia, she didn't have any of the other major illnesses/diseases that she was tested for, but she does have Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura. Idiopathic means that the cause of the condition is unknown, Thrombocytopenia means the blood doesn't have enough platelets & Purpura means she has excessive bruising. The normal platelet range is between 300 million and 450 million, and her count was 12 million. The pediatrician had already called the Pediatric Hemotologist at Children's Medical Center & said that if she was as low as 10 million they would admit her, but since she was above that they would not. They actually do nothing to treat it, they just monitor it to make sure it goes up & not down. If it were to start going down they would treat it, but it's mostly a disease that you just sit & wait until it gets better. And that sit & wait period can last up to 6 months.
The risk of low platelet count is internal bleeding. If she were to get hit in the head, be in a car wreck or fall down she could have major internal bleeding. The orders from the doctor were that she's supposed to only be in our care & no climbing, jumping, running, rough housing, or anything else that she could fall down or hit her head until her platelet count is above 150 million. Did she miss the part that Skylee is two?! How are we supposed to stop her from doing all of those things when she feels fine? She has no symptoms other than bruising, so it's not like she is sick & wanting to lay down to watch movies. Obviously, we have been watching her very closely & she's got to spend lots of extra time with me! She is such a sweet little girl & I've enjoyed all the extra time I've had with her, but I'm ready to not worry constantly. The doctor initially said no daycare (which means to working for me) until she is above 150 million, but it's been 2 weeks & she's only gone from 12 to 36 so we've found ways around that. I only work 3 days a week & I've been able to work from home, have short days in the office or take her to work with me.
She has had her blood tested 3 more times in the last two weeks & she's been gradually going up. The first day was 12, then 24, 29 & just last Friday (10/30) 36. It looks like it will be a long road to get her back to the safe zone, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her there. She is such a sweet girl & I can't wait until we can continually stop worrying about her. But, does worrying ever actually stop when you're a parent? :)
I kept my bruising concerns to myself & went on with life secretely obsessing about the bruises that kept showing up on her. Then it was like over night the bruises started multiplying! They were showing up in bizarre places that aren't a normal place to have a bruise. She had them on the back of her upper arms, back, upper legs, stomach...there were everywhere! Finally on Tuesday the 18th I counted them & she had 38. This number was a little alarming to me so I called the doctor & the nurse scheduled an appointment for her to be seen that day. I was definately releived that there was now a legitament symptom that I could talk to the doctor about!
The appointment started off with the nurse weighing her at 22 pounds. I asked if she could be weighed again because 5 weeks ago she had weighed 29 pounds. She put her back on the same scale & it read 22 pounds again so we went to another scale & it read 21 pounds, two seperate times. I couldn't argue with the nurse because I was seeing 22 & 21 pounds with my own eyes, but I didn't feel like that was right. That meant that she lost 25% of her body weight in 5 weeks?? When the doctor came in I took her clothes off so she could see the bruises & the doctor looked like she had seen a ghost. She asked a lot of questions, examed her little body & decided that labwork needed to be done that day. In my mind I still wasn't thinking it was anything major, so I asked what type of things she was checking her for. Big Mistake. I don't remember anything she said except for Leukemia. She listed off lots of different things, but the second Leukemia came out of her mouth I didn't hear anything else she said & I was terrified. I held myself together so that the girls wouldn't be upset, but inside I was so scared. My cell phone had died while we were there so when I was leaving I asked the receptionist if I could use her phone to call Justin. I didn't have it in me to tell him all that was said but I let him know we were headed to the hospital to do bloodwork & I would drop her off with him when we were done so I could take Dailey to get her hair cut. I took both girls to the hospital to do labwork & it was better than I expected it to be. Of course she was crying & upset, but the lady that was doing it was very friendly to her, very fast & gave her lots of stickers when we were done.
I went home that night & was in a fog. Justin had a meeting so it was just myself & the girls. I avoided the phone that was ringing because I knew whoever was calling would ask how I was doing, or how my day was I would lose it & I did not want to be upset in front of the girls & I didn't want to tell anyone what was going on. I didn't want anyone to worry until we knew what was wrong with her. The girls & I cuddled in bed and Dailey fell asleep quickly so then it was just Skylee & I. We sang songs, read books & enjoyed some quiet time together before Justin got home. When he got home he carried Dailey to her bed & crawled in bed with us. Skylee ended up falling asleep & as I looked at her sleeping I lost it. I was terrified & so sad. At this point we didn't have a diagnosis, but in my mind she had Leukemia. Justin & I shared our fears & both admitted that we had got online & searched the symptoms she had. We both know that is the worse thing you can do at a time like this because in a matter of minutes anyone can get online & diagnose themselves with a terminal disease.
The next day I waited for the doctor to call & when she finally did I felt sick & my heart was racing. The first words out of her mouth were "Skylee's white blood count is ..." (the next quarter of a second seemed to last an eternity) "...perfect & so is her red count!" That meant she does not have Leukemia, she didn't have any of the other major illnesses/diseases that she was tested for, but she does have Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura. Idiopathic means that the cause of the condition is unknown, Thrombocytopenia means the blood doesn't have enough platelets & Purpura means she has excessive bruising. The normal platelet range is between 300 million and 450 million, and her count was 12 million. The pediatrician had already called the Pediatric Hemotologist at Children's Medical Center & said that if she was as low as 10 million they would admit her, but since she was above that they would not. They actually do nothing to treat it, they just monitor it to make sure it goes up & not down. If it were to start going down they would treat it, but it's mostly a disease that you just sit & wait until it gets better. And that sit & wait period can last up to 6 months.
The risk of low platelet count is internal bleeding. If she were to get hit in the head, be in a car wreck or fall down she could have major internal bleeding. The orders from the doctor were that she's supposed to only be in our care & no climbing, jumping, running, rough housing, or anything else that she could fall down or hit her head until her platelet count is above 150 million. Did she miss the part that Skylee is two?! How are we supposed to stop her from doing all of those things when she feels fine? She has no symptoms other than bruising, so it's not like she is sick & wanting to lay down to watch movies. Obviously, we have been watching her very closely & she's got to spend lots of extra time with me! She is such a sweet little girl & I've enjoyed all the extra time I've had with her, but I'm ready to not worry constantly. The doctor initially said no daycare (which means to working for me) until she is above 150 million, but it's been 2 weeks & she's only gone from 12 to 36 so we've found ways around that. I only work 3 days a week & I've been able to work from home, have short days in the office or take her to work with me.
She has had her blood tested 3 more times in the last two weeks & she's been gradually going up. The first day was 12, then 24, 29 & just last Friday (10/30) 36. It looks like it will be a long road to get her back to the safe zone, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her there. She is such a sweet girl & I can't wait until we can continually stop worrying about her. But, does worrying ever actually stop when you're a parent? :)
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