MRI

Josie did pretty well with the MRI today. The worst part was the waiting, once we got there, because she was so hungry. She couldn't eat or drink anything because she was being sedated so that was really hard for her. Especially since they were behind schedule and we didn't get in until 10:00 am (we arrived at 7:30).

They were able to do an oral sedation instead of an IV so I was really happy about that. She fell asleep within minutes but started fighting again as soon as they laid her on the MRI table. The nurses and technicians were so patient and just stood there beside her, in the dark, shushing and patting her until she was still again. Finally, they ended up giving her another dose of the sedative and then she was out. The actual MRI took only 30 minutes and Josie did not stir once. It was amazing because it was very, very loud. (Josie and I both had to wear ear plugs.)

Once back in the room, the nurses and I spent the next 3 1/2 hours trying to periodically wake her up. Finally, she opened her eyes long enough for them to let me leave with her but even now she is still very groggy and unsteady moving around.

But it's over with. Thank goodness! Riley Hospital is yet another great children's hospital that I feel so blessed to have so close. It is amazing that we were able to get her in so quickly, just six days after her first seizure!

Josie is still acting like a completely healthy little girl so that's what I'm expecting the results to show too. They will be in next week!

Thank you everyone for your prayers. :)

Josie's Pediatric Neurologist Appointment

Well, Josie's appointment today did not leave me feeling any better about what's going on with Josie. Instead of assuring me that it's probably nothing, the doctor instead rattled off about 20 things that could be wrong.

She watched the video I have of Josie's second episode and agreed that it definitely looked like a seizure. What she was even more concerned about than the seizures, though, was Josie's head size. Josie was born with her head size in the 75 percentile and it went off the charts (past 100) at two months. From there it has not only increased in size but in percentile as well. (She is now somewhere around 145 percent.) Her pediatrician never seemed too concerned about it, though. She did have Josie undergo an ultrasound of her head when she was around four months but since it came back normal, she just said we'd continue to watch it. Now I wonder if I should have insisted we see a neurologist a whole lot sooner.

The next step is a whole bunch of tests.

• Her MRI is scheduled this Wednesday at 8 am. They did mention that she will have to be sedated but I don't believe it's general anesthesia. A nurse is supposed to be calling me with all the details soon.

• The EEG is scheduled for January 7th.

• The doctor also ordered a whole series of blood tests which we can do at her regular doctors office. I am praying that they can get everything they need with only one stick since she is already healing from the three that it took at the ER. I'm not sure what everything is that is being tested with the blood work but I know some of them are for metabolic disorders.

• The last test is a urine genetics screen.

I am still, of course, hoping it is just nothing. Josie is right where she should be developmentally and the doctor even commented on how well she talked. Since she has shown no delays and has always been healthy then hopefully those two seizures were just some rare occurrence that we will never see again. All her tests will come back normal and we can just put this scare behind us.

Please continue praying for Josie!

Josie

I have a lot to share about Christmas and Ellie's birthday (can you believe she's four?!) so those posts will be here soon.


For now I just wanted to let everyone know what is going on with Josie. She had a couple of little seizures (called absence seizures) and so, per her doctors instructions, I took her to the emergency room on Friday. We were there about 7 hours and she had a CT scan and blood work done. Everything came back normal so we really don't know what caused the seizures yet. (She has not been sick and did not have a fever.) We follow up with a pediatric neurologist tomorrow who will schedule and EEG and MRI. She has not had any other episodes that we have seen and so I pray that all the tests come back normal and that those were all she will ever have. Please keep her in your thoughts in prayers!

A few things about the emergency room visit:

Each time we had to hold a hysterical Josie down to draw blood (three times), as soon as we let go, she said through her tears a really loud "thank youuuu!" A nurse told her she was breaking her heart she was so sweet...

I actually have the second seizure on video on my camera because I was recording Josie rocking on her horse when it happened. The doctor thought it was very helpful so something good came out of me constantly having my camera in hand!

When a lady came into the exam room to ask me my birth date, I told her it was "today" and the doctor said "Mine too!" I told her I was sorry she had to work on her birthday and she told me she was sorry I was spending my birthday in the ER.

Peyton Manning Children's Hospital is wonderful. As much as any trip to the ER stinks, the staff, nurses and doctor were all so great with Josie and made it as painless as possible. I am so thankful to have such an incredible hospital nearby.

I will share any updates here as we get them.

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread House

Today I gave Ellie an early Christmas present to keep her busy while I wrapped presents during Josie's nap time. It was a little magnetic set with lots of different shapes. I wasn't even in the basement but a few minutes when she was already calling for me to show me a "surprise." This is what she made:



She has been writing her name since she was two but I thought this was cute and creative!

More Cabbage Patch Fate?

While on Target online, I saw a cute Cabbage Patch doll that walks that I thought Josie might like for Christmas. You just chose the race and they picked the doll for you. You didn't even know if it was a boy or girl so I had no idea what would be arriving. It was funny when, out of all the possible choices, the doll that arrived was a girl named Paige.



It's even more amazing if you remember this story of our previous Cabbage Patch fate!

Christmas Dance Recital

Ellie did great!





waiting...



third from left
(I only had my regular camera so a few seconds are missing from when I changed it to zoom in.)



practice

Getting Ready for Christmas

decorating the tree


Josie


new ice skate stockings


Santa visit!


Ellie with carolers at the mall. She loved them!



from Ellie

Best Friends

(These pictures all seem a little dark or blurry but I still wanted to share them. I rarely get pictures of them playing together or hugging so I'm happy to have these.)

Their friendship is really growing!

Ellie's Eyes

In my last post is a picture of Ellie's beautiful eyes. I mentioned how they sometimes look so green so I wanted to be sure and capture then on camera the next time they looked that way. Here is another picture from a few days ago, taken in the same light, and completely untouched. It amazes me!

This Morning

Here are some cute pictures/video of the girls from this morning.


Ellie's eyes- bright blue today! (Some days they look so green...)


Josie's big brown eyes


giving each other kisses


If there is music playing, then there is always dancing!

Princess Party

Princesses Ellie and Sara at Sara's birthday party. Happy Birthday Sara!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The whole family has been hit with some bug so we have all been either sick or taking care of someone who was sick (or both!) the last couple of weeks. That's why there have not been any updates recently. Everyone seems to finally be on the mend so thank goodness for that.
Because of all the sickness going on, we ended up just staying home for Thanksgiving. It was actually nice because Eric and Ellie were able to make a super yummy vegan feast. We had all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings- just veganized. Make fun of our Tofurkey all you want, but it is delicious!! :)


making pumpkin pie


Grandma and Grandpa braved the sickness to stop for a quick visit and took this. We actually have very few family pictures so I am thankful for this.


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An Awwwww... Moment

You want to hear just how sweet Ellie is? When I asked her what she was thankful for, all she named were family members and friends! She just started naming everyone, starting with Josie and Charlie. :) I was expecting her to name things and instead she just named people!
And so then, I asked if there was anything else she was thankful for besides a person and you know what she said?

Love.

And when I asked if there was anything else, she said

All of our hearts.

And as if she hadn't melted my heart enough yet, she then said

And you know what else makes me smile? A great big hug and kiss!

And she threw her little arms around my neck in a big hug. It just doesn't get any sweeter...


I am so thankful for my family!!!




Here we all are...including Charlie this time :)

Catching Up

Here are a few more miscellaneous pictures and videos that I thought I would share.


Ellie pretending to "eat" Josie's fingers...always makes her laugh!



a really cool ship that Ellie built with Tinkertoys.



A couple pictures Ellie colored of her new love: Strawberry Shortcake


Ellie playing Mary Had a Little Lamb without the music.



A cute little tap dance by Ellie while dressed as Fancy Nancy.



The girls having fun in their boat.



Josie on Ellie's big wheel and calling for her to show her. She says Ellie like Eh-eeee.



Josie playing "peek-a-boo" after we saw a toy that said it.

Rain Fun

Ellie wanted to go out with me to brush Charlie yesterday while it was raining. I said no at first but then she came out of the mudroom with her rain boots on (over her pajamas...so cute) and I realized that a little rain couldn't hurt her! Of course I brought the camera...




brushing Charlie


looking for puddles out front


singing in the rain :)

Ellie's First S'more

*with vegan marshmallows

We went to one last Halloween party today and the girls loved being able to dress up with their friends again! This time, Ellie was Tinkerbell and Josie was a mermaid. (Cousin Sara was a beautiful Princess Mulan.) We have a whole closet full of Princess dresses so, even though Halloween is over, pretty much every day is still a dress up day here... The joy of girls :)

Kite Flying!

Yesterday was the perfect day for Ellie to finally get to fly a kite! It was 72 degrees and very, very windy. Knowing that it might just be our very last nice day of the year, I promised her that we would go out when Josie took her nap. She LOVED it!


She first wanted to try her homemade kite. It was so windy that it flew really well!


Then we got out the huge Strawberry Shortcake kite that she got way back at Easter.


She started in the driveway...


then to the sidewalk...


and when she got really good, we moved to across the street!


What a beautiful day and so much fun!




First Try


Sidewalk


Across the Street