Double the Pink!

Ladies and gentlemen the verdict is in, and as most of you already know we will be welcoming another girl into our family. We couldn't be more excited!

Last Monday, Jeremy and I went in for our appointment with Dr. Childs hoping to get a peek at our little one. I was seventeen weeks along and wasn't sure if they would be able to get a clear shot. To ensure that the baby would be moving I do what I have always done before an ultrasound and I drank Dr. Pepper 30 minutes before my appointment.  Yes that is right, I am pregnant and I drank caffeine and soda (however, this is about the only times this happens). For some reason Jeremy and I were both nervous about the gender of this child. I am not quite sure why but we were. I was hoping for another girl, but more importantly hoping that our baby was growing and developing normally. Anyway, we walked back to the ultrasound room, I laid down on the table, and Jeremy and I held hands as the TV monitor above was turned on and we got a peek of our little baby. Seeing how much she had grown from 81/2 weeks to 17 weeks was amazing. She must have loved that Dr. Pepper cause she was moving around like crazy. Within a couple of minutes the gender was revealed.  As soon as we got a clear toilet bowl view, I said is that a girl and the technician confirmed, "oh yes, no doubt it's a girl!" Jeremy squeezed my hand and my heart was racing about a mile a minute. Jeremy had an immediate look of relief on his face. While we were waiting for Dr. Childs, Jeremy confessed to me that he really wanted another little girl but was convinced that we were having a boy. He was very nervous at the thought of having a son which I was surprised to learn. He loves Isabella to pieces and is so good with her.

After the ultrasound I had to do the whole routine checkup. Not a good time to do blood pressure check. Because of all the excitement my blood pressure was high for me but it was only because we had found out we were having another girl. I typically have lower blood pressure during pregnancy. I was nervous about the weight check as always, but I was pleased to learn that I had only gained 3 lbs in the five weeks since my last appointment. I know some of you ladies out there who are oh so fortunate to hardly gain 10 pounds during pregnancy would gasp at this, but I rejoice. I gained so much weight my first pregnancy and have been doing much better this time around. Let me just add that I get really annoyed when people make remarks about how much weight or how little weight a woman gains during pregnancy. The goal is to have a healthy baby, and as far as weight gain goes that is something that is handled personally with your OB.

As we were leaving the Dr.'s office, I kindly looked at my husband and said well I guess we can call you "Estrogen Man". LOL! I asked him if he wanted to try for a boy to carry on the name and he gave me the "are you crazy" look. He says two is enough. My reply was well knowing our luck we would try for the boy and get another girl! On the drive home Jeremy patted my tummy and said in the sweetest voice, "it's a little baby girl"!

So all in all we are having a healthy pregnancy thus far. Everything with this pregnancy has been very similar to the first. I have had no sickness which I am so thankful for. I have not had many cravings this time like the first pregnancy, however, I do want sweets which is not a good thing. I do my best to avoid them and I don't buy any at the grocery store. Everyone once in awhile I will break down and buy cookie mix or brownie mix just for a treat.

The Week From Hades

I have been wanting to write an update on Isabella since the weekend, but it has taken me this long to recover from our horrible experience last week. I also have been dreading writing about it because it stirs up fear and anxiety all over again and literally makes me want to throw up thinking about it or talking about it.

We had a good Halloween weekend spending time with the family in Dalton, having a Halloween party with the cousins and going trick or treating. Isabella showed no signs of being sick, and actually she has never been sick her whole life up until last Monday, November 2.

Last Monday began as any typical day for our family dropping Isabella off to her Nana and heading to work, however, our day did not end so typical. My sister in law dropped Isabella off at my work around 5:00 p.m. and I noticed that she felt unusually warm. I figured it could have been from having on a long sleeve shirt, warm jacket and that she had been riding in the car from Dalton to Cleveland. After getting home I checked her temp under her arm around 5:30 and it was 99.5 so I figured it was more like 100.5 but I wanted to get a more accurate reading. In the meantime, I called my friend Cassy and had her stop by the drugstore to purchase an ear thermometer on her way to our house. Almost an hour later at about 6:30 Cassy calls and we were discussing two different types of thermometers when I hear a thud on the kitchen floor. I turned my head to see my baby lying on the tile floor by the kitchen chair. I go running to her thinking she had fallen from trying to climb on the dining room chair (which she always does). When I got to her she was unresponsive and was having a seizure.

By fault when it comes to situations like this I am not the calm parent. I scoop Isabella up while dropping the phone and screaming for Jeremy that Isabella is having a seizure. He grabs her and starts praying and I proceeded to call 911 in my panic state. While I am on the phone with 911 I am watching my child turn colors, drool coming out of her and then she lost all colors and started turning blue around her mouth. We lied her down on her left side and was preparing to do CPR because at one point it didn't appear that she was breathing. The 911 dispatcher was so nice and trying to keep me calm and reminding me that I needed to stay calm for my daughter, and that I needed to continue talking to her so she could hear my voice. Jeremy and I were trying our best to get her to come around but she was gone-- she wouldn't respond. Her eyes were rolling back in her head and every once and awhile she would try to open her eyes and look for us. It was the most heart wrenching thing I have ever been through. It felt as if it took the ambulance an eternity to get to my house. By the time they arrived, Isabella began breathing somewhat normal though it was very shallow and she was burning up with fever. The paramedics loaded me and her in the ambulance and Cassy and Jeremy followed behind.

I wanted to go to TC Thompson but the paramedics kept saying it was too risky to drive that far in case Isabella would start seizing again so they took us straight to Skyridge. I have my own opinions about Skyridge and this was enough to send me into more panic. I kept thinking my baby is going to die. This is it, God has only given me one year with this precious baby. However, for the first time ever I can say that the hospital experience was much better than anticipated.

After arriving they checked her temp which was 101. I was thinking that it wasn't even high enough to have a febrile seizure so once again I am freaking out but reminding myself I am not the medical expert. They gave her a catheter to catch a urine sample, did two chest xrays, drew blood, and did a CT Scan. Here is a picture of  Isabella after being stabilized.

The waiting is one of the hardest parts but after all the tests were run and reviewed by the on-call doctor he reported to us that all things were normal except it appeared she had a touch of pneumonia in one of her lungs and a double ear infection.

By the end of the night Isabella was sitting up in bed singing songs with her Nana and smiling for all her visitors. This is the amazing thing about children. They have an uncanny ability to go through hell and bounce back as if nothing ever happened. I wish adults had this ability. I believe it is God's way of protecting them in their innocence. This smile below was one I longed to see again and was so fearful that I wouldn't. But God came through for us that night as He has done so many times. We are so thankful for all the prayers that were prayed that night.

 

 The next day we followed up with our pediatrician and he confirmed the ear infection, but also said that she did not have pneumonia but what they had seen on the xray was possibly a small amount of fluid that was trapped in her lungs from having the seizure. The good news was that we were able to narrow down the reason for the seizure, and we hope and pray that we never have to go through this again. There is nothing worse than watching your child suffer and being helpless to stop it. 

I am happy to report a week later, that Isabella is back to her bubbly self, getting into all kinds of mischief, telling her mommy and daddy no, and smiling that big huge smile that lights up our world. And also trying to climb the dining room chairs again which were almost locked away indefinitely.