Easter Celebrations 2015 ~ Easter Sunday and Hop, Hop, Skip!

Easter Sunday before church was a fun morning of chocolate and gift hunting.  Hannah was pretty excited when the Easter Bunny brought her a watch as she’s eager to learn how to tell time.

He also brought her a  new Disney Princess magazine which is always a treat.

There were chocolates and a little more.  I think she found her final eggs late Sunday afternoon.  The Easter Bunny is getting better at hiding!

My hopping sweetie.  Poor lamb!  Her reaction around the 20 second mark is Hannah through and through.  She’s amazing!

All dressed for church.

Afterwards we stopped in at Urgent Care with what I figured would be a ‘She’s okay, it’s just a little sprain’ visit but the doctor ordered x-rays for the following day just to be careful as she was concerned about the swelling and tenderness when she touched it.  Here she is waiting for the doctor and looking oh so cute!

(I must say, if you need to go to Urgent Care, a holiday is a great time!    We were in and out of there in 15 mins!  That never happens!!)

I tried to calm my busy girl’s activity a little bit at the doctor’s recommendation but that’s a big challenge.  In the end she’d slow herself down when she pushed it a little too much and sit quietly and read or watch tv for a bit.  We also played games together which was not only fun but a good quiet activity for her.

Monday afternoon our family doctor was going to be in Urgent Care so we went for x-rays early in the afternoon

and then waited to see him in UC from about 75 mins.  Ah yes, that’s more normal, especially after a long weekend!  Once again I thought it would be a quick ‘she’s fine’ response after he read her x-rays (based on the running, skipping and hopping she was doing) but nope, he saw something he didn’t like and showed it to me.  I saw it too.  He was concerned that she had pulled part of a ligament off.  If that was the case she would be casted for a bit while it healed.  This was the first we’d heard about a cast and she was pretty excited!!  (LOL – Like mother, like daughter!  I was exactly the same as a child.)  Dr. Fitz sent her x-rays for a second read by a specialist and thankfully it came back that she was okay and no cast required.  No gym or baton this week but other than that and she was good to go….slowly!

It’s now a week after her bad jump and she is pretty much back to normal.  I still see her little hop, hop skip occasionally but I think that might be habit now or that she just moves the wrong way sometimes.   So thankful it was just a bad strain and my busy girl is once again busy….even though she’s told me at least 20 times that she wished she’d got a cast….

and ‘crunches!’  LOL!!

That Nasty Tide!!!

Ugh!  I messed up!!

Before we left CA I did a load of laundry and put about a TBSP of Tide in the water.  I knew Hannah’s system didn’t like Tide but figured such a little bit in a large load would be okay.

I was wrong!!

Thursday night I put her in the pjs that had been part of that load as we made Monkey Munch for the cottage. 

She woke up in the middle of the night scratching like crazy and when I turned on the light she was covered in hives everywhere under the pjs.  Oh no!  I immediately gave her Benadryl and covered her with Benadryl gel.  Within minutes all signs of the hives were gone.  A quick change and all was well.

The following morning we were off to the cottage to visit with my parents for a few days.  I’m pretty sure the shorts I put on her must have been the only other item in that load that I hadn’t rewashed.  Ugh!  When we got to the cottage her little legs were itchy under the shorts so once again I changed her and vowed to be more careful.

Little did I know that later that day she would wrap herself in a blanket at the cottage – that had been washed in Tide.  By now her little body was in attack mode and her system went crazy!  It was quickly evident that Benadryl wasn’t going to touch it this time and we were off to a local ER.  In the 15 minutes it took to drive there she quickly went from bad

to much worse!!  Her entire body from head to toe looked like this!

As we sat in the ER waiting room praying they would call us soon she got so bad that others in the room were telling us to go in front of them and she was screaming in pain and begging me to get her medicine.  It was beyond itchy and she was clawing at herself to try and get some relief.  We were both in tears as I went to find her some help.  Thankfully they jumped us to the front and took her right in.  It was a blessing that my sweet baby girl fell asleep waiting for the doctor to come see her.

We were all keeping a close eye on her airway and thankfully even though her face was affected her airway was never jeopardized. Thanking God for that!

They gave her a combination of 3 different medications – Benadryl, Steroids and something else I can’t remember and that worked.  She drifted off to sleep again and rested peacefully for the 3 hours it took for the mediations to take away every hive on her little body.  Even though her airway was not affected I can tell from this picture just how swollen her face was.  Poor lamb!!

At one point she just had one little spot on her face but they were not even considering releasing her until that was gone too.  In the end we were there close to 6 hours before she was well enough to be released shortly after 4AM.  The doctor sent us home with 2 prescriptions to fill in the morning and instructions to return to the ER if the hives came back.  They classified her as a ‘Rare Paediatric Emergency’ for this area and something they don’t see often.  That says a lot when we are in prime vacation country and there are a lot of children’s camps around too.  I cannot say enough about the hospital in Huntsville!  They were wonderful with her from start to finish!!

It was a short night for my little trooper but Saturday morning she showed little signs of the trauma other than a slightly swollen face and hospital bracelet on her ankle.  .

We headed back in to town to fill the prescriptions and wash everything in the cottage with the ‘Hannah safe’ detergent we use at home.  Grandma took up residence in the Laundromat while Bec Bec, Tor, Hannah and I did a little running around.

Early in the afternoon Hannah began to ask for her back to be scratched and I soon realized we’d be headed back to the ER based on the doctors instructions.  As had happened the day before, she quickly broke out again.  Poor little sweetie!  Once again I used electronics to try and divert her attention a little from the scratching until the doctor could see her. 

This time by the time the doctor came, the meds I had given her a little more than an hour earlier had begun to take affect.  He reviewed her case, changed up her doses a bit and added one new prescription to hopefully avoid any further outbreaks until her body could get regulated again.  We’re hoping with her medicine cocktails that she’s taking a variety of 4 times a day for the next 4 days, will hopefully help us avoid any further outbreaks. 

This picture was taken only 3 hours after the one above.  What a wonderful difference!

As I write this it’s now Monday evening and Praise God Hannah has been hive free since Saturday afternoon!!!  We’re being super cautious around people and not really touching others.  It’s hard but Tide is so common that we need to be careful until her little body is regulated again.  I was able to extend my vacation by 2 additional days so we’re still visiting my parents at the cottage they rent each July.  A wonderful place to recuperate from the weekend. 

I need to call our family doctor when we get home and have him refer us to an allergy specialist again.  This time I’m going to ask him to test her for a Tide allergy specifically as I’m 99% sure that’s what’s causing this.  My theory is based on the location of the hives always starting under clothing that has been washed in Tide and also that I can’t really think of anything else we’ve changed.  Time will tell and I’ll keep you posted.

Until then, thanks to all who were aware of what was happening and were praying for my sweet baby girl.  Your prayers were answered and she’s had a great couple of days!

First Flu :o(

I must say that we’ve been blessed that Hannah has survived the first 4 years of her life without having the flu.But, that changed on the weekend.  It’s going around our area and hit the daycare last week so it wasn’t a complete surprise when Hannah got it too.  Sickness and kids just go together although she’s a pretty healthy kiddo except for the odd cold and ear infection.

Saturday I was out with my niece for the day and Hannah enjoyed a fun-filled day with my parents.  She was great when we first said goodbye to them but by supper time she was running a fever, was a little sluggish and said her tummy was feeling sick.  We passed on supper and enjoyed a quiet evening together playing games, reading stories and watching parts of Toy Story.  (Hannah is still quite reserved when it comes to what she’ll watch and I fully support that.  We fast-forwarded through large portions of the movie and I think in total we watched it ‘all’ in about 30 mins.  Heh!  That works for her so it works perfectly for mommy too!)

Saturday night I was putting her to bed and holding her while we said our bedtime prayers when she ‘erupted!’ Oye!!  She handled this new experience really well and laughed when I popped her back in the tub when she’d only been out for a few minutes.  I quickly cleaned us both up, remade the bed, added her Nemo bucket to the friends on our bed (there was room since her favourite friend Sparkles hadn’t fared so well earlier!) and put her down again.  Understandably it took her a bit to settle but once she did she slept peacefully all night.  I stayed up with her for quite a while and then kept the monitor on when I was downstairs but that was it.  One set of explosions and my kiddo was done with that.  Phew!  I kept the bucket close and jumped each time she coughed but all in all it was a quiet night.  Thank you Lord!

Sunday morning after checking and finding out that she still had a temp, I quickly decided that we’d stay home for the day.  I called the church to cancel my nursery duty and also let Papa know that we wouldn’t be at their place for lunch.  Hannah was feeling much better but I didn’t want to risk her suddenly being sick again or giving this bug to anyone else.  There were tears from my sweetie when she found out we weren’t going to Nana and Papa’s but it was one of those times when Mommy had to do what she believed was right.

Once the meds kicked in and her fever began to go down Hannah was ready for some quiet fun.  We declared it a pj day for both of us  and I purposely kept food bland for both of us.  I didn’t want to risk giving her something that might upset her stomach nor did I want to cook anything that would smell up the house.  Food smells with the flu just don’t jive!

I’ll say we watched more Disney Jr. than this mommy cares to ever watch again in one sitting!  Thankfully most of the shows aren’t too annoying to watch and if they helped Hannah, that was all I wanted.  We spent a few hours with her cuddled up in my lap which was a nice side-effect to her sickness.   When she was feeling better she moved over to her craft area.

I laughed when she asked me to cut something out for her (her scissors are still in timeout until May) and she showed up like this:

LOL!  She was making sure she didn’t touch the scissors.

The picture and video below still make me laugh and I’m glad I finally remembered to capture this game!

Hannah can:

• count to 29
• recognize the entire alphabet and write most of the letters from memory
• logically explain how to get around our resort at Disney
• remember details about events that happened more then 2 years ago but…

she still thinks she’s ‘hiding’ and I can’t find her in this picture.  HEH!!!

I lost track of the number of times we played this game.

Oh how I love my kiddo!!!

The final tip to me that she was still not 100% came about 2:00 in the afternoon.  She was once again snuggled in my lap when she looked up at me and asked to go to bed!  That spoke volumes and within minutes of her head hitting the pillow she was fast asleep.  We kept Nemo close to be safe but thankfully her bout of throwing up Saturday evening was the only time it happened.  So thankful for that!

Hannah handled this so well and was a trooper through it.  Today she was pretty much back to normal although still has a fever and a number of times this evening complained that her ear was hurting. 

Tomorrow’s adventure – another trip to the doctor?  *sigh!*  Time will tell.

It’s Safe to Say…

Hannah and mosquitos do not get along!

My poor little love!  We were up north for the weekend and we didn’t see any mosquitos until about an hour before we left to come home and then suddenly they were out in droves.  Yuck!  One little guy thought Hannah would make a tasty lunch and even though I swatted him away mid-bite the damage had been done.  Even with Benadryl lotion on within minutes and liquid Benadryl today, my little cutie still looks like this.

She reacts so severely to mosquito bites and normally they blister.  From the looks of it that’s probably the next step for this one.   I’ve enquired about it and what’s been explained is that Hannah was born with immunities to Chinese bugs but not those here in Canada.  Hopefully in time as she (unfortunately) grows more accustomed to Canadian mosquitos she will stop reacting like this.

Thankfully it doesn’t seem itchy and isn’t bothering her at all.  For that I’m thankful!

Buh-Bye Epi-Pen!

Today was Hannah’s appt with the allergist and it went wonderfully!  He listened carefully to what had happened in January and I didn’t feel rushed at all.  That was such a treat as some specialists rush people through and you don’t really feel listened to.  He took time with us and even though he was confident that it wasn’t caused by the nuts he offered to do a test on her and I took him up on his offer.  I knew it would give me peace of mind to know whether or not for sure if it was the peanuts or tree nuts.

Hannah was a trooper through the test and barely flinched.   The doctor explained that he was going to draw on her back and then put 4 drops of liquid that looked like water.  He then gently took her arm and with the corner of a paper package he said that he was going to make it feel like there was a kitty cat walking on her back.  First he walked the kitty cat on her arm and then on her back when he gently scratched each of the droplets.  She was on my lap facing me and he was so gentle that she hardly moved.   Way to go Hannah!

While waiting for the droplets to react (or hopefully not react) he handed Hannah a basket of large stickers for her to look at and play with.  Oh yes, Dr T knows how to entertain pre-schoolers while waiting for time to pass.  

Here you can see how the ‘control’ spots on the right are having small reactions but thankfully the peanut and tree nut tests on the left are completely negative.  Yay!!!  (What you can see on the spots on the left are the peanut and tree nut liquid that he placed on her skin to conduct the tests.  The ones on the right are the controls and they’re red with a raised centre much like the hives she was covered with last month.)

Dr. T is confident that she does not have a peanut allergy and we are welcome to resume eating peanuts, peanut butter and all the other yummy nuts.  I won’t do so right before bed the first time but tomorrow morning for breakfast we’re going to enjoy rice cakes with peanut butter which is a favourite of both of us.

The doctor’s thoughts about what caused the hives is one of two possibilities.  Either it was the eye drops she was taking for her eye infection or, it was the virus that was causing the eye infection in the first place.  He’s not able to test for the virus as it’s now gone so we’re ok with that one.  His other recommendation to be on the safe side is to skip this kind of eye drop antibiotic in the future.  There is an oral version of the antibiotic but it isn’t given to children so she wouldn’t need to be concerned until she was an adult.  That works!  All of this has been recorded in her file and sent to our family doctor too.

One other bit of good news that he shared was that if the hives were due to a virus, the reaction to that is hives, not an anaphylactic reaction so it gave me more peace of mind about the future.

So, all went very, very well!  Dr T said I was welcome to contact him anytime I had a concern.  What a blessing it was to hear that.  I’m hoping not to need to take him up on his offer but it sure was nice of him to say it!

When we walked out of his office and towards the elevator I was near floating!  I hadn’t realized how heavily the concern of a nut allergy was weighing on me until we were in the free and clear!

Thank you Dr T and, thank you Lord for Hannah not having to go through life with such a challenging allergy.  I’ll tell you I sure did learn a lot over the past 6 weeks about what it might be like to face day to day life with a potentially life threatening allergy.  It’s not the ‘marked products’ that are the concern.  It’s all the possibilities of cross contamination just by people going about their everyday lives even when trying to be careful. Sure makes me think!

Praising God for GREAT news today!

We’ve Been Spending A Lot of Time Together…

Who may you ask?  Who has been taking my time and put me through the wringer?  Why….our washer and dryer of course!

Unfortunately Hannah had 2 more bouts with hives last week, the first one quite severe!   I put her to bed Wed night and she seemed fine but woke up around 11:00.  We were rocking in her chair and she was wiggling around, whining and just not herself at all.  I turned the light on and was shocked by what I saw.  Poor lovey!!!

This time rather than being just on her legs and stomach they also covered her chest, neck and portions of her face.  Even the bridge of her nose was covered with welts.  (Sorry, this next one is a sad pic you may want to skip but it shows how swollen she was too.  I took them to take to our doctor when we go see him later this week.)

Thankfully Benadryl works like a charm on her and within 10 -15 mins she was back to normal and all signs were gone.  Thurs she started to scratch her head as I was giving her her bottle and by the time I was about to lay her down I noticed her neck was bright red and the welts were starting again.  I quickly gave her Benadryl and thankfully that’s the last we’ve seen of the welts and rash.

Since we’re staying away from all nuts right now I was trying to figure out what else might be causing it.  I analyzed everything and one possible theory I’ve come up with is the Tide Free that I’m gradually introducing her clothes to.  Until now I’ve used Ivory Snow on her clothes and only Tide the odd time.  Because of where the welts are and when they’re showing up I’m questioning the laundry detergent. 

So….for the past 4 days I have laundered every single sheet, towel, blanket and piece of clothing that we own.  I went from doing 3 loads a week to 3 loads a day for 4 days in a row!  Each time I thought we were coming down the home stretch I’d find more things that needed laundering.  I’m using a hypo-allergenic detergent and so far she has not had any reaction to it.  Yay!  It may not be this at all but for now it’s working and I feel like I’m doing something to help.  Oh how it broke my heart when she broke out last week and I’ll be honest that by the 3rd time I was really scared too!  So concerned that the face swelling could begin to affect her airway and that I’d be downstairs when it happened and unaware of her struggle.  Thankfully this has NOT happened!  As a nurse friend gently shared with me that if she’s swelling on the outside where we can see, the concern is what’s swelling on the inside that we can’t see?  Another reminder that until we find the source and with the increased intensity of the second attack that I must carry the Epipen with me at all times.  Hopefully I’ll never need it but until we know more it will be our ever-present companion.

Oh yah, and if the Tide Free is the cause ya wanna hear something cool?  Mom told me that my Grandma was also allergic to Tide.  Guess it’s genetic!

She Likes to Keep Mommy on her Toes!!! **Updated Mon, Jan 9th**

I have much to write about so will post as I’m able.   For the next while it’s going to be a mish-mash of posts and dates that they involve. 
Last Monday Hannah woke up and had a little sleep in her eyes but not really much more than normal.  As the course of the morning wore on her eyes began to weep and I realized she had some sort of infection or cold in her eyes.  We headed to a local urgent care where they confirmed this and prescribed an antibiotic eye drop that she was to take for one week.
Her eyes cleared up within 24 hours but we continued on with the drops as prescribed.
Fast forward to last night when we were staying at Grandma and Grandpa’s house together.  She was her normal fun, happy self and snacked on a few peanuts with Grandpa.  She’s had peanut butter for well over a year now and had also eaten Nutella at breakfast yesterday.
When I put her to bed she went right to sleep but was pretty unsettled.  I kept going up and settling her and figuring it was a new place so she wanted mommy there. I ended up going to bed earlier than normal and when I did I quickly realized why she was unsettled - she was SO itchy! I lathered her in cream more than once and scoured mom and dad's medicine cabinet but they didn't have anything for kiddos that would help. (I often travel with our meds bag but since it was just one night it hadn’t even crossed my mind to take them with us.)  Shortly after midnight she was still super itchy so I turned the light back on.  When I unzlpped her pj's I saw that it had got worse and she was now covered in white welts from her tummy to her toes! Poor kid!! I know what that is like and it's awful!!
I hopped out of bed and began to google 24 hour pharmacy's and realized the closest one was in another city.  I decided rather than drive there that I’d to head to  ER. Partially because it was closer and partially because she'd had the nuts.  I wanted to err on the side of caution.
The good part was that the ER was quiet and we were in and out quickly and home within an hour. (The ER in the city we live in is often a 4+ hour wait so this was much better!) (The mask was not necessary.  She just wanted to wear it because it was covered in Disney characters! )
The doctor was great with Hannah, teasing her and making her giggle even though it was 1am. He took the reaction very seriously (more seriously than I thought it was) and because of the potential that it's linked to the nuts he gave us a prescription for an Epipen Jr. until I can get her tested. They also gave her some Benadryl and it worked quickly which allowed her to finally rest peacefully and sleep.
So, for now we're staying away for everything that might contain peanuts or nuts and I'll be calling our doctor's office tomorrow to set up an appt.  He told me to stop her eye drops which I did immediately.
In my heart it's not a nut allergy but given the seriousness of the doctor's conversation last night I'm taking it seriously. I think it might be related to the antibiotic eye drops that she's had this week.
We'll see. I'll keep you posted....
For now, she's as amazing as ever and we're just being careful.  I was like a different person today, reading labels and questioning everything I fed her.  Praying it’s NOT an allergy to something that is part of her normal life!

**UPDATE - Monday, Jan 9th at 1:15**  I spoke with my doctor's office and we now have an appt with them on Fri, Jan 20th.

More stuff to add to post based on the great comments from readers!
1.  The nuts that she ate were peanuts but they were from a can of mixed nuts that contained hazelnuts, almonds, filberts, cashews and almonds.  Also, it stated it may contain oils from other tree nuts.  She'd had Nutella at breakfast that morning too but showed no reaction to that at all at the time.  She has eaten nuts and peanut butter since she was about 15 months old.

2.  As I've given this more thought I've also remembered that some days last week after giving her the eye drops she would get red patches under/beside her eyes and a couple of times even small white welts under her right eye.  At the time I just figured it was where the antibiotic touched her skin when she wiped her eyes after we put the drops in.  She was a trooper but did not appreciate those drops at all!  :)

So Much To Be Thankful For!

Although I celebrated Thanksgiving with my fellow Canadians last month, there is so much to be thankful for today that in honour of my American friends I say, ‘Happy Thanksgiving!’

First off, I am very, very thankful that Hannah has definitely taken a turn for the better and she is well on her way to feeling like her old self.  Although still sporting a low grade fever and signs of a cold, the pain and high fever that enveloped her for 3 longs days is behind us.  For that I am very, very thankful!  My sweet baby girl was a trooper through it all but seeing her like this

for days at a time was hard.  Hearing her little cries of pain even though she was topped up with meds had me feeling so helpless.  When she was sleeping I shed my own tears.

Thankfully the 2nd antibiotic worked wonders and with it’s help and more importantly, the prayers of many, my little love turned a corner yesterday and her normal self began to immerge.   Never have I been so thankful to see our home littered with toys and craft supplies, walking an obstacle course each step of the day.  After 3 days of the toys and books not moving from their storage locations, she made up for it in a matter of minutes…and I was thrilled!

She is also sleeping so much better too which is such a blessing to both herself and I’ll admit, to mommy too!  Early Wednesday morning when she was awake whining crying for the 10th+ time that night, was one of the very few times that I’ve ever wished I had someone to tag team with for just a moment.  I didn’t so I took a moment, a few deep breaths and then held her close until she drifted back to sleep.  Thankfully that session at 2am was the last time she woke for the next 5 hours and we both woke up feeling much, much better!

I went back to work today and Hannah went to Ange’s.  She had a great time and when I emailed Ange during nap time to see how she was doing she said she was doing well and the kids were being their normal selves….playing one moment and arguing the next.  Heh!  We often tease that Noah and Hannah are like an old married couple!  One moment they’re hugging one another and the next they’re grabbing a toy out of the other’s hand or bickering with their little 2yo words.  They share a great friendship and I am SO thankful that Hannah has Ange’s home to go to each day!

Normally I teach piano on Thursday nights but I cancelled my students tonight so that Hannah didn’t have to jump right into a 12 hour day at daycare. (Mom and Dad are still in FL for one more week.  Normally they watch her Thurs nights while I teach.)  I wanted Hannah and I to have some time together tonight.  It was fun to watch her enjoy herself while she ate rather than not eating at all. 

Raspberry manicure anyone?

Tonight I am also celebrating with two other wonderful friends.  Earlier this week our dear friends the 3D's received their long waited for TA (travel approval) and will be leaving one week from today to meet their sweet son in China!!  Congratulations 3D’s!!

Today another precious friend and her family received their long awaited LOA (letter of acceptance) for their beautiful daughter!  Next step TA and then hopefully early in 2012 they’ll be travelling to China (to Hannah’s province!!) to meet their precious Ellie!!

I get goose bumps to think that Ellie will be placed in Pam’s arms in the very same room that Hannah was placed in mine! 

Both of these families have waited a l-o-n-g time for this day!  They both received their referrals way back in May and have been waiting since then to travel and meet their children.  Today is a day of thankfulness that each of them are so much closer to holding their little loves in their arms!!

Congratulations D and Pam!!!

Yes, so much to be thankful for!!

I think we might soon earn preferred parking at the doctor’s office! **Updated**

Sadly I spoke too soon.     While Hannah’s fever stayed away last night even when her meds wore off it was back hovering around 37.6oC/99.6oF this morning.  She had a better sleep than the past few nights with only 6 or so wake ups so that was nice for her especially…and Mommy was thankful too.  It was still a lot of wake-ups for my sound sleeper but once again she was woken by the pain in her little head.  We continued meds throughout the night but still the slightest cough brought on a sad whimper and sometimes even full blown tears.  Another day home with Mommy was an easy decision to make. 

Another change that started yesterday afternoon was that she had no interest at all in eating anything.  I tried to suggest anything easy to swallow or cool that I could think of and it went nowhere.  Even the popsicle she had in the tub last night was more fun to melt in the water than to eat.  Thankfully she was still drinking so that was a good thing.  Late this morning she asked for chicken nuggets and French fries so that’s exactly what she got.  She only ate a few fries and one nugget but after eating nothing for 24 hours I was happy to see her consume anything.  This pic is a great one and was taken during one of her ‘peak’ times during the day.  Trust me, looks can be deceiving as 30 mins earlier she was crying in pain.  Medication is our friend!!

Naps have been short and distressed for the past few days so today I decided that whenever she was ready to nap I’d hold her and see if that helped.  She had a wonderfully restful 1 1/2 hour nap which I was SO thankful for and the bonus was that I enjoyed the treat of holding my sleeping little girl which happens rarely these days.  It was a wonderful reminder of what her baby days were like!

Unfortunately when she woke from her nap she was in rough shape again.  Her fever was up and she didn’t know what to do with herself.  It broke my heart to see her sneeze and then literally shake her fists and kick her legs as she cried, ‘owe, owe, owe’ and then uncontrollable tears.  Something more needed to be done as she should not be in that much pain!

During this time I was texting back and forth with my amazing friend Polar Bear and she wondered the same thing I did; that it might be a sinus infection and both of us know from personal experiences how painful these can be.  Others had mentioned this in the comments of my last post too.

I called my doctors office with my concerns and her current status and within 15 mins they called back and told me to bring her right in.  The doctor was between patients when we arrived and he looked at her right then.  Oh how blessed we are to have such an amazing, caring doctor!  The next time I’m waiting an hour for a regular wellness check-up I’ll remember how amazing he was with Hannah during this time and that he can take all the time he needs!

Since it’s now been 5 days of constant fevers (when the meds wear off) and she’s still in so much pain he decided to change her antibiotic and give her one that is for a broader spectrum of problems.  If her sinuses are involved this one should help those out.  Praying that happens!

My lively, energetic little girl is currently a placid and lethargic with moments of energy thrown in throughout the day.  She napped for another half hour later in the afternoon, rested watching Disney Junior and still began asking to go to bed at 5:30.  Her little, ‘I tiiiired Mommy.  Please go bed.’ is such an unusual and distressing thing to hear.

She let me feed her a little supper of mandarin oranges in sauce and a couple of bites of chocolate pudding but that was it.  The fact that my, ‘I do it all myself!’ little girl asked me to feed her is another huge sign that this bug still has a firm hold on her. 

I’m praying that this antibiotic is the right one and that we see a difference even by tomorrow.  I’ve already decided to stay home with her with my employer’s blessing to stay where I’m needed and do all I can to help her feel better.   She’s resting well now and has only woken twice for a good cry and mommy cuddles.  Even that is a huge improvement over the past few nights. 

Thank you for all your kind comments and many prayers.  They are so appreciated!  I had my first big cry today about this situation.  I’ve tried to be strong for Hannah but the feeling of helplessness to take the pain away is awful!  Thank you to all who are praying for us!

Wednesday AM update:

Dare I say it looks like Hannah has turned a corner?  Yay!!!  After a rough night with no less than 10 wakings she’s much more herself this morning.  She’s been playing for the past hour and a half, chatting (sounding a lot like Kermit the Frog) and even smiling!  After 2 1/2 days of laying around and feeling pretty punk, she’s more herself.  Her little nose is running and I’m hoping that if her sinuses have been sore that this draining will help relieve the pressure.  Her fever is still present and she needed Advil (but not Tylenol) when she first woke up and now that that’s kicked in she’s enjoying playing!  SO thankful!

Praying She’s Turned the Corner

My sweet little girl has been one sick ‘baby’ for the past few days.  It hurts me to see her in pain! 

She began with a slight fever Thursday evening and throughout the day Friday.  Friday night was a little rough but meds were keeping the fever down.  Because Hannah’s history with fevers = ear infections I took her to urgent care Friday night.  The doctor said her ears were a little plugged but it was not an infection and she was fine unless her fever continued.

Saturday she was her normal happy self in the morning so we headed out to gymnastics then went to a local Santa Claus parade.  She napped in the afternoon and woke up a little bit ‘rough’ but that's not unusual after a nap so we continued on with plans to meet my brother and SIL to go to another parade.  We bundled up and Hannah had lots of fun dancing to the music and waving at the people in the parade.

Once we got into the car…she lost it!  Poor sweetie!  At the time I didn’t realize how poorly she had been feeling or I never would have taken her.  There were many tears as we waited for traffic to move and eventually she fell asleep.  Once home I took her temp and it was up again so I topped up her meds and settled her in bed.  She remained asleep but woke up within about 20 mins and needed comforting.  By then I knew that Sunday would be a day at home so I cancelled my nursery commitment and lunch with Nana and Papa.

Saturday night was rough!  Hannah woke often and I had to keep her meds up to control her fever. 

Sunday morning I was so thankful that I’d decided we’d stay home.  My feverish baby was struggling and my happy-go-lucky gal was cranky.  Understandable for sure.  Auntie K offered to come over with Pea so that I could run out and get a few groceries.  While my first thought was to say, ‘no thank you’ I realized now was one of those really good times for me to accept that gift of help that was being offered.  I told her yes and they came by for a wonderful playtime!  Hannah had a great time with Auntie K and Pea and I was able to buy our weekly groceries and stuff to make some chicken soup.  It felt weird to be at the store without her but I was also able to get a lot done in a much shorter amount of time.  As I went through the store I looked into the cart and laughed.  All the groceries were in the lower part because I’m used to the items in the top being fair game for my co-pilot.  I also realized towards the end that I’d filled one side of the seat with groceries but the spot where Hannah normally sits was totally empty.  Yes, it was great to take an hour to do groceries on my own but I missed my gal and was excited to get home to her. 

After lunch I tried to put her down for her nap but she was out of sorts and it was easy to see that even though her meds were up to date she was in pain.  She kept telling me her teeth hurt but I’m wondering if it’s a sore throat and she just doesn’t know how to explain to me where the pain is.  I decided a trip back to urgent care was in order once again.  (So thankful for free medical coverage!!)  We saw a different doctor this time and in the 36 hours since our last visit her congested ears had turned into a double ear infection.  Poor little love!!  No wonder she was having such a rough time!  She began a course of antibiotics for the next 10 days and truth be told, I was really hoping I would see improvements even overnight.

Unfortunately the opposite happened.  As on Saturday night, she slept fitfully and woke numerous times during the night crying and needing comfort and telling me her teeth hurt.  My normally awesome sleeper was fitful and restless.  I knew by very early in the morning that Hannah needed a day at home with Mommy on Monday. 

I woke up and emailed the 3 people I report to at work sharing a bit of what Hannah was going through and that I was going to stay home with her for the day.  Can I just say that they were amazing!  All 3 of them took the time to write back to tell me they were praying for/thinking of Hannah and telling me I was exactly where I needed to be.  What a blessing it is to work in a job that I love and also with great co-workers and supervisors!

Today was a-w-f-u-l for Hannah!  AWFUL!!!  I have never seem my little love so sick!  Yesterday was bad but today was terrible!  She had no voice and whenever she coughed or sneezed she burst into tears as the pain was so bad.  Oh how it hurt me to see her hurting so!  I now wonder if it could be her sinuses that are hurting her?  We spent the day together, much of it cuddled together on the couch as she just wanted to be held. 

Cuddling with her ‘Stacy blankie.’  A gift from a dear friend.There was no other place I wanted to be either!  (That being said, I’ve seen about as much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as I care to for a while.  Thankfully I had a couple of Tinker Bell movies on the PVR that neither of us had seen and we enjoyed those together.)

Her nap this afternoon was all but non-existent so I decided on a whim to take her to our family doctor.  (You know it’s on a whim when I left the house with no make-up on and having not showered in ummm…4 days!  Sick kiddos will do that to you.)  Our doctor and nurse are amazing and the moment I showed up in their office they took us in.  Dr. Fitz reaffirmed that she did have a double ear infection and also that the antibiotics she’s on should do the trick.  That works for me.  There’s just something comforting about hearing the exact same thing from our family doctor.

Hannah finally napped on my lap from about 4:00 – 5:30 and then woke up asking to go to bed.  I know Hannah is sick when the past 2 days she has been asking over and over again to go to bed from 5:30 onwards!  That’s not my gal!   Both nights I stretched things out by giving her a bath and tonight she was distracted from how she was feeling by glow sticks in the tub. 

I put her to bed at her normal time of 8:00 but tonight was different.  Even though she was still in pain and needed meds for that, she didn’t have a fever!  For the first time since Thursday night she didn’t have a fever when her meds wore off!  She’s been awake and needed snuggles 4 times so far tonight but she’s been cool to the touch each time.  Thank you Lord! 

So, I’m hoping that she’s turned a corner and is on the mend.  Those who have known she’s been sick have been praying.  Thank you!  There is nothing like knowing others are lifting your sick child before The Great Physician!

I’ll see how tonight goes and decide in the morning if I’ll stay home again or take her to daycare.  Ange is amazing and their family has been fighting the same battle this weekend.  Poor Noah and Hannah!

Must run….my lovey needs more cuddles so I’m going to call it a night.

Thank you for praying

A Spoonful of Sugar

A spoonful of suar might help the medicine go down but Hannah didn't need it. She took her first ever antibiotics like a champ and never fussed when it was time for them. It was fun though to see the little faces she made, especially first thing in the morning. Oh how I love every single itty bitty thing about my beautiful baby girl!!

The Sweetest Sight!

This may look like a weird picture to post but it's what I saw this morning and was so thankful for!! Today for the first time in almost a week, Hannah woke up and crawled down to get her toys and books that she knows we keep at then end of the bed. Since last Thursday she has crawled to me and just wanted to snuggle when she woke up but this morning she was feeling so much better and crawled down to get some stories for us to read together. Our morning cuddle time is a precious time of the day and I was so happy that this morning it included stories, toys, giggles, chatting and games! Not only is her fever gone today but her temp is back to normal and she is her happy self! Phew....thankful to have this past week behind us!

Off to play with my little one....

My Little Shovelling Partner

We've had a cold winter but with far less snow that normal. Usually boots become daily footwear from December until March but today was the very first time I put mine on and truly that was to ensure I didn't slip while shovelling the little bit of snow we had. I dressed my little miss in her winter woolies, strapped her into the Baby Bjorn and we set to clearing the driveway. I used the new style of shovelling with one hand and then using my foot to kick the back of the shovel to get the snow off. It was snowing while we shovelled and Hannah loved it! She kept her little head back the entire time allowing the snow to fall on her face and grinning up at me the whole time!

Thank you to all for your kind words, concern, prayers and emails while Hannah has been sick. I believe we've finally turned the corner and she's on the mend. Her little nose is still running and still has some blood in it but we've made it through the entire day without any Tylenol or Motrin as her fever was low enough that she hasn't needed it. She's also much more her happy little self. I hadn't realized how much Hannah chatters during the day until she was quiet for the past number of days. It was awful! Rather than giggles, chatter and playing she was happier just to sleep and spend the day in my arms reading, crying most times she was placed on the floor with her toys. I am so thankful to have my little girl feeling better!!

Teething Troubles :o( **Updated Monday Afternoon**

Hannah handled popping 3 teeth in 4 days like a champ but today it's all caught up with her. She had a slight fever this morning that Tylenol took care of but by the time she woke up from her afternoon nap it was 102.2 and has stayed above 100.1 since then. We're taking meds as have been directed and thankfully we already had a doctor's appt. booked for tomorrow morning so will check to make sure it's nothing other than a teething fever. It sure is awful when your little one isn't feeling well! Mom was with her tonight when I was teaching and this was the sight I met when I came upstairs. Poor little lamb.

Friday morning update
Hannah had a great sleep last night and other than the 2 times I woke her to take her temp and give her meds, she slept for 12 hours. She still had a fever this morning of 100.2 but the doctor checked her out and her ears, throat and glands are ok. It could be the beginning of a cold so I'll keep a close eye on her. Working on keeping her fluids up which is most important when a little isn't feeling well. Thank you for all your kind words and prayers.

Monday morning update
Sorry for the lack of blogging. Still snuggling and cuddling with a sick little baby. Poor lamb! I'm just waiting for her to wake up to see if she still has a fever and then if so will head to the doctor for him to re-check her ears. She's been fighting a fever all weekend. Yesterday morning it seemed to break but by evening it was back again. It's probably just a nasty cold as her nose and a little cough seem to indicate but I hate the thought of her being in pain if her little ears are inflamed. Saturday we spent the majority of the day snuggling on the couch and holding her as she slept but yesterday she was much more herself. I believe she's getting better and really has done very well with it but the fever has thrown me. It's the first time she's had one for such an extended period of time and I want to do all I can to help her through this yuckiness.

Monday afternoon update
When Hannah woke up it was evident that she still wasn't feeling well. Rather than crawling down to her toys and books which she normally does, she crawled to Mommy and when I picked her up she promptly fell asleep on my chest even though she'd been asleep for over 11 hours already. Her fever was back so I called the doctor and his receptionist said to bring her right in. In spite of her cough her chest is clear but one ear is a little inflamed and her fever was still around 102 so he's put her on antibiotics. I always thought I'd be a mom that avoided antibiotics unless absolutely needed but seeing your little love in pain and lethargic just makes you to help them! By the time we got to the doctors office her little sneezes were not only producing a runny nose but there was blood in it too so it was another indication that things were not right. We've had a humidifier running in our room each night which I'm extra thankful for now.

Once we got home from the doctors and having her prescription filled, I gave her her meds and a bottle and she promptly fell asleep in my arms for over 2 hours. The good news is that when she woke up she wanted to get down and play which is what she's doing now. SO thankful for these little moments when she's more like her happy, cheerful self and also thankful that she's still drinking most of her bottles as fluids are so important. I know this is just a minor illness but it sure is tough to be Mom when your little one is sick and all you want to do is make things better. I'm sure my sweetie is on the mend now that we have the meds to help her out. Her 1st Birthday is this Saturday so I want her to be healthy for her big celebration!

Necessity is the Mother of Invention!

Meet my new laundry helper!! We weren't home 3 days before I knew 1 laundry basket just wouldn't do and today I replaced the old one with a 2nd like the one in these pics. The old, broken one only really worked with 2 hands and 2 hands are hard to come by these days so it had to go.

Well....that's what I get for thinking this was going to be a quick blog post!

I added those pics an hour ago and since then my little love has had a rough bout although you wouldn't know from the kicking legs and chattering happening next to me.

As I was waiting for the pics to upload Hannah started to cough. She's had a bit of a cold the past 2 days but other than a yucky nose at times and congested cough (mainly at night) you wouldn't really know it. I have a cool air humidifier running in our room hoping it will help her out.

Her cough upset her tummy and up came part of her bottle. Ah yes, on the sheets I washed ummm....less than 12 hours ago!

Off to change my love's sleepers, scrub the little spot that hit the sheets and find a way to prop up her mattress so that her head is a little higher than the rest of her. Done!

We cuddled for a bit and as I was carrying her back to bed you guessed it! More coughing and what I'm guessing is most of the rest of her bedtime bottle (I hope!) made a reappearance all over her, me, her favourite blanket, taggie and the carpet. Ahhh motherhood! And I love it! Truly I do except for my little Hannah being sick.

So now we have christened the new laundry basket as it sits in the hall with 2 pair of soiled sleepers, a blanket, taggie, my nightgown, the cloth used to clean the carpet and tomorrow we'll add the sheets and be off to do laundry again.

I guess since I was doing a post about laundry Hannah thought she'd add to the fun! Thanks sweetie.

Note to self: Add a set of cotton sheets to Santa's wish list. I'm quickly seeing one set just isn't going to cut it in this role of mommy! :o)

Mystery Solved!!

Yeah! What I have is hives and they're an allergic reaction. Still itchy but some places slightly less than yesterday. After trying over and over to figure out what might have caused them I thought back to the only other time I've had something like this and it was almost 15 years ago and I was allergic to a fur coat of a coworker that I tried on.

What happened this time was on the weekend I took one of my own pillows from home and used one of the cottage pillows as my 'hugging pillow.' Sure enough, when I talked to my dad this morning he went upstairs and checked and it's a feather pillow. Not sure what kind of feathers - I just know my body doesn't like them! (I slept with a feather pillow for years as a kid but now my body doesn't like them at all as I found out the hard way!) I have huge welts on the inside of my arms from my wrists to almost my shoulders, my chest, neck and chin. Yup....everywhere that pillow would have touched my skin. Even though it had 2 pillow cases on it it was more than my body could handle so it reacted. Yuck! Not too many new spots appearing today which is good because they seem to be most itchy when they first come up. Some places are blistering but not really painful or itchy there. I tell ya...I look like Casper walking around! :o) The best way to deal with the itching has been numerous oatmeal baths and lots of calamine lotion and Benadryl.

Oh well, it's been a lesson learned and I just feel so relieved that we've finally determined the cause so that I can avoid a similar situation in the future!

Itchy Scratchy signing off!