A Peanutty Follow-up

I'm excited to say that the peanut challenge went well! Well, perhaps the actual challenge itself was not good, but I'll explain. Abby started the appointment off with a brave face and slapped some good ol' fashioned peanut-butter on her skin with zero reaction. Then it was off to Alex's skin/contact challenge. As I've said before, you can't teach a kid for almost 6 years to never touch or eat something and then expect him to just slap some on his skin willy-nilly. It didn't go so well for the little guy. He was terrified beyond measure and hid in the back corner of the office with tears free flowing. I couldn't blame him. It broke my heart to see him like that (as always). So we switched gears and gave Abby her oral challenge. Two doses and half an hour later, she didn't have any reactions. So Abby was given the all clear for allergy to peanuts (which I was warned could always change no matter how old you get. Nice, huh?).

Back to Alex. In order to determine his safety at school, we really needed to find out if he has a contact allergy on top of his ingested allergy. With all those peanut-buttery covered hands and faces at lunch, it's possible that one kid might touch him and then BOOM! Allergic reaction follows. I've gone 6 years without using the Epi-pen. I'd like to keep a flawless record. So alas! It came down once again to another round of mama trickery. During an exceptionally hard crying spell, I told him to just give mama a big hug and proceeded to tell him that if he didn't calm down, he was going to give himself an asthma attack. Trust me, it's happened before so it wasn't all just part of the deception. I lifted the back of his shirt up and told him the nurse wanted to watch his breathing for a few minutes and he gratefully put his head on my shoulder and calmed down. The nurse told him that she needed to wipe down his back because it had some 'dirt' on it and then used a wet-wipe with peanut-butter on it to wipe a good-sized area with the potential toxin. Alex is no dummy and instantly went rigid to see what she was 'putting on him'. We told him nothing (mom guilt, mom guilt, mom guilt) and then I got him laughing with lots of mom kisses on the cheek and ear.

Well, I'm blessed to say that nothing happened. No hives. No itching. No swelling. No asthma. Seven minutes with it on his skin and the nurse wiped it off and gave him the all clear for a contact allergy. Turns out that she said food contact allergies are fairly rare and she's only ever heard of two in all her years. So we fessed up. We told Alex the truth about what we did and his eyes were about the size of dessert plates! He smiled and said, "I did it? I'm ok? I'm all done?" I told him that he was safe if someone accidentally touches him and that all he has to do is make sure to get an adult to wash it off for him then go about his day safe and sound. He still has to be extremely careful because if it gets on his hands and he puts his hands on his face or in his mouth, it's very dangerous. But he understands the best a kid his age can and he's doing well.

I am relieved to have some good news for once from one of these blasted life-burdening allergy tests. Usually I walk out of these appointments with a heavy heart and a sad little boy. I still had to deal with the tears and fears, but at least we know a little more about his reactivity to his food allergens. It was a crazy day and I'm glad it's behind us. I'm ever thankful to God these days for Abby's lack of allergies and for the relief from some good news for Alex. We did discover one small thing. Alex was claiming to be 'itchy' before the peanut-butter was even opened from the sheer fear itself. So the doc has said it's about time we did a double-blind milk challenge. There is a chance that Alex is causing a false positive allergic reaction to milk (as his numbers indicate he should be outgrowing it someday). I guess you can give yourself hives and the whole gig with mind-numbing fear. I believe it, but I've seen him start drooling, itching and wheezing after milk. I've also seen the swelling in his throat. So I told the doc we'd deal with that next summer as opposed to dropping more stress on the kiddo's shoulders during school. The doc agrees full-heartedly. What a crazy day! But as always, God is good! Amen!

Peanuts Round 2

Tomorrow is yet another big day in our little world of food allergies. Towards the end of summer I planned on taking Abby to the doctor to get her peanut challenge done with the doctor. But sadly the doc had to cancel and so we are just now doing it. She had peanut butter way back around the time of Alex having peanut butter...I think. Honestly though, I can't remember if I ever actually gave her some too. The whole thing blurs together in my mind a bit. Pretty much when Alex was diagnosed with the official allergy to peanuts, our home went peanut free and we haven't looked back. So soynut butter is the substitute we use and we are all so used to it now that there is no point in having peanutbutter in the house for any purpose. Alas, Abby must also begin her trek into the world of school and to be safe, she has to have a peanut challenge to see if she's cleared to be considered allergy free for school. We'd do the test at home, but with big brother having such bad luck with reactions, it's highly recommended to be in a doctor's office to be safe. We know she's a-ok with milk because her and I have special Mommy and Abby doughnut day when we go grocery shopping while Alex is at school. She also sneaks the occasional bits of cheese and such when I have it. I'm praying for her tonight that all goes well and that she passes the test with flying colors. Any prayer for her testing tomorrow is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Now, because Alex is officially in the full swing of all day school, lunch-time is a bit scary as I've mentioned before. One of the things the school asked me to do was to see if he has a purely ingested allergy to peanuts or if it is also a skin (touch) reaction as well. I know inhaled reaction is safe as he's been around many peanutbutter sandwiches and such with no problem. So he gets the joy of going to the doc tomorrow and getting peanutbutter rubbed on his skin to see if there is a zero reaction. I've told him what to expect and tried to prepare him without causing severe fear, but he's pretty scared regardless. It's hard on the little guy to expect so much like this. I'm not sure how it will go, but we are also praying for him as well tonight that all goes smooth and that he passes the touch test without a hive or reaction in sight. Once again, any added prayer for him would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

So wish us luck tomorrow and lift us up in prayer all you can. I'm a bit nervous as well, but God's got this under control like everything else. Peanut challenge round two: Fight!

Abby Entertained

All this talk and worry about Alex has been exhausting mentally. So let's talk about Abby. We are one and a half weeks into school with brother and all the day miss Abby spends hanging out at home. Is she lonely and just lost without brother to keep her company? Nope. Not even in the slightest. Oh sure, she mentions missing Alex from time to time, but I don't think it gets her down at all. I tell you what. This little girl is the most self-entertaining child I know. She can literally sit for an hour at a time and just color and draw at the table. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest. Today, as we whittle away the hours, she has pretty much just went off and played by herself the entire time. I keep "interrupting" her play time by asking what she wants to do or if she wants me to play games or something with her. She keeps saying no and goes about her business. We do things together though like make cookies and clean Strawberry's (her hamster) cage. She's been getting more one on one time with her little pet so she's thrilled about that. Alex has a tendency to try and hog the Strawberry time so Abby just sits on her bed and lets the little thing just crawl all over her legs and whatnot.

Abby and Strawberry.

Today, she spent 2 hours just playing with her stuffed animals. Every time I tried to intervene and join in, she (and the plethora of stuffed animals) would get angry at me. No. that's not a typo. I really did mean that the stuffed animals would get angry as well. Cheesy, her ultimate favorite stuffed animal (a mouse beanie baby from a garage sale), actually yelled at me in her squeaky voice and told me to stop bothering her. I think maybe I'm feeling a little left out. Abby loves her quiet time as well. She just lines up all her 'friends' and eats her snack while watching something girly (I seriously hate those Barbie movies...blech).

Quiet time with friends.

I've gotta give Abby credit for one thing. She really does play great on her own. Much like her brother, she's got a wild imagination and can slip into her own little world without batting an eye. It's nice when I have to get something done, but it also pulls at my heartstrings when she doesn't want me to join in her playtime with her. I guess my little girl is just growing up and sprouting wings. I'm using afternoon quiet time to reintroduce myself to editing my ol' book. We'll see where that takes me in the next three months. In two weeks I'll be alone three hours a day with Abby in school so who knows. Maybe I'll actually get it up for the e-reader by the time I'm mommy to three.

The Verdict: School Stinks

I'd love to say that I'm sitting here with that 'my-kids-are-off-to-school-and-I-love-it' grin on my face, but sadly I am not. So far, school has been nothing but tears and stress. And I don't mean for just the kids. Since Alex has begun the trek into full-day school, he's been an absolute mess and a half. He comes home from his day and within mere moments of walking in the door, him and Abby are at each others throats. They literally start fighting on the wagon ride home. I'm thinking of getting them boxing gloves just to soften the impacts. Perhaps that falls under the "bad parenting" category. Though the image of them duking it out in a wagon on the walk home would be quite entertaining. I fully expected there to be added stress to our days with the start of school. What I didn't expect, however, were the horrible temper tantrums and random explosive bouts of crying for teeny tiny things that, on any normal day, would not cause even a blip on the emotional radar.

Alex is a mess in the evenings. His behavior has gone from wonderful to volatile. Today he forgot his lunchbox at school and upon realizing this, broke down in sobs of sheer sorrow. The lack of sleep is starting to weight heavily on him, I fear. Abby does fantastic during the day with all Mommy's attention on her. But the moment brother comes home, out come the cat claws. Literally. She has scratched him just for looking at her. My highly independent son has been asking me non-stop in the evenings if I will just hold his hand and I hear 'I love you mommy' 30 times in two hours. Don't get me wrong. I love that part, but I know it's because he misses me. (The feeling is mutual little dude.) Tonight was the first "I don't want to go to school tomorrow," through sobbing tears.

As for school itself...well...the kid seems to enjoy it when he's there. He's super pumped about P.E. and the library and he is making friends daily. But the confusion poor ol' mom feels right now is quite frustrating. The organization/communication between the school teacher and the parents is spotty. Alex comes home with papers that don't have explanations and with stories about his day that don't make sense (regarding behavior and such) and blast it all! I still haven't gotten my temporary 'brain break' towel back from last week because apparently they are letting another little boy use it due to the fact that he doesn't have a towel sent by his parents! *grumble, grumble* What is up with that, I ask? Oh. And miss Abby? Yes. Well she hasn't even started school yet, but today on the walk up to meet Alex for lunch, she looked at me and said, "I don't want to go to school." I said, "It will be super fun Abby! You'll love all the friends you'll make and Miss Cindy is really nice." She then said, "Fine. I'll go, but if anyone talks to me or if Miss Cindy talks to me, I'll just open the door and walk home all by myself!" Seriously? She's four years old! How did she even compose that sentence?

*sigh* On top of everything, We had to deal with the school giving him 'milk' at snack break despite the fact that I specifically signed papers stating that he was to receive absolutely nothing not approved or sent by me. Turns out that it was, in fact, soy milk, just like Alex said. But after coming home and hearing my milk allergic kid say that he was getting some new kind of yummy soy-milk at snack time, I think my heart leapt into my throat. I spoke to the teacher, the office, and the lunch lady responsible for providing snack milk, (who by the way all freaked out when I told them our lines had gotten crossed) and found out that it was all due to bad communication between the staff. Great. I feel much better now. (note sarcasm) It's not bad enough that I worry about the food allergies at school all day that he is gone. If you don't have a food allergic kid, thank the good Lord above. The stress and worry will make you go grey early. Alex already caught a cold and has needed his inhaler for the past week. And lastly, he was teased last week by a kid in his class about his food allergies. The kid kept trying to touch Alex with his food and saying, "It's not itching you now! It's not itching you now!" I eat lunch with Alex to hope and train him how to be safe around other people's food. But when you see little Johnny with chocolate bars drooling down his peanut-butter covered cheeks as he wipes it away with his Cheeto cheesy fingers, I try not to panic and break out my wet-wipes.

I hate to say it, but right now, school is not my favorite part of the day. It's going to take some major getting used to and some serious shifts in my trust factor for me to start being comfortable about the whole thing. Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels like ripping the hair from my head and screaming madly into the night. I'm starting to think I stand alone. Here's to a better tomorrow...pretty please?

First Day of School: Alex in Kindergarten

 

 My baby boy...or my big boy, however you want to look at it...is off to school. We've been gearing up for the big change by altering our schedule to fit that of one conducive to school. The kiddos used to go to bed at 8:30 every night and would drift off to sleep (eventually) around 9:30 or 10:00. I have night owls. What can I say? They would then wake up at their own accord the next morning between 7:30 and 9:00. School starts at 8:00 so I upped their bedtime by half an hour and wake them up at 7:00 each morning. It is going great for Abby who loves her new schedule and drops to sleep in about 10 minutes flat. Alex, the one who actually needs his sleep for a full day of school, is fighting it tooth and nail. Today was his first day of school and it was only half a day but I could tell that the lack of sleep will catch him soon. He actually went to bed without arguing tonight.

His first day was a great one and I was super proud of him for how grown up he was about the entire thing. He went straight to his class line-up in the gym and sat with his teacher without so much as batting an eye. He gave me a big hug and blew me a kiss and I said bye to him. Yep. I cried. I turned around so he wouldn't see me, but it was one of the most heart wrenching moments for me to see him off to all-day school. How do I have a kindergartener already?? Abby and I met him for lunch in a desperate attempt to monitor his food allergies until he can get the hang of it without me being there. I figure I have one or two months until he wants me outta there and flying solo. He said he wants me to come every day. We'll see how that goes. I'm super worried as almost every kid at the table had Peanut-butter or milk in some form or another, but I'm putting faith in God and praying daily about the whole situation. He's as smart as a whip and really great about being careful around food. I've taught him well. So one day at a time.

He already made a friend according to his own words. He talked about him all day after getting home. I'm so proud of my social butterfly. I can't wait to see how far he'll fly in school. He's a great kid and I couldn't ask for better. Alex: my little kindergartener.

Diagnosis of the Day

There are so many statistics out there changing the way people look at food consumption in our country. People are consistently saying how the spike in Diabetes over the years has become pretty horrible due to poor food choices...blah, blah, blah. Genetics can play a part as well. And as it turns out, Diabetes is now officially something I have to deal with on a daily basis...with my cat. Our poor fat cat, Logan, was officially diagnosed with diabetes today. What you must know is that Logan is just a tad overweight. I was under the assumption he was severely overweight but the vet said that he's really not too bad. He's a big cat, but not overly fatty.

About a month ago I noticed that he was having some issues with water and, well...let's just say that the litter box was his best friend for non-urinary based issues. It only lasted about a week and I was just about to take him to the vet when it all cleared up and he seemed just dandy again. For the past week or so I noticed him drinking a lot more. I was concerned with stones, as I've had lots of cats in the past with issues like this. But upon further investigating, he was peeing just fine. I found him this morning asleep with his head draped over the water dish and knew that I had better get him in to the vet ASAP. I know you should never self-diagnose, but I was about 98% sure he had diabetes. All signs pointed to it in my head.

The vet said he had an intestinal issue for sure but that we might not want to rush into blood-work for sugar levels and stuff just yet as he might clear up with a round of antibiotics. Bless my vets. They are the opposite of most vets I've been to. They look for the cheapest route first. I love that place. He asked if I wanted to wait or test him and I said I was concerned about the diabetes enough to go ahead and test. Poor Logan. He's so fat that they couldn't find a good vein to take blood from very easily and he now looks like he's been butchered at the barber. The vet came back and said that I made a great call and he was impressed at my spot-on diagnosis. His levels were pretty bad and diabetes was the diagnosis. I was given the option of letting him deal with it as he slowly progressed over the next year until he'd have to be put down or to begin insulin injections twice a day for the rest of his life. Guess what I chose.

How could I have chose anything else? Look at that face and cute fat belly

Yep. I'm officially giving him insulin twice a day now and the prognosis is great. As long as we manage to keep dosing him, the vet said they can live into their twenties with diabetes. that's a whole lot of insulin over the years, but he's part of the family and Josh and I agreed that we wouldn't have decided any other way. Heck. I made the decision to start shots before I even talked to Josh as I knew what he'd say. He loves our cats just as much as me and so do the kids. I figure we have a kid with asthma and allergies. Why not a cat with diabetes? The funniest part is buying insulin at Wal-Mart and telling them the reason I just need one vile is that it's for my diabetic cat. I laughed when I said it. As for Logan? He's better already. Two shots into his system and he's already back to his fat and happy self. Gotta love those modern meds!

20 & 24 Weeks

This is what you might call a delayed combo post. For some reason, I just totally forgot to blog about my 20 and 24 week pregnancy updates. I posted pictures on facebook for my aunts who absolutely adore watching my enormous belly grow, but that's about as far as it went. So here's what's been happening with baby number three.

At 20 weeks we went in for the mid-preggo sonogram as usual. So this is the big appointment that 95% of the population (I'm just guessing on the percentage of course) get pumped about due to the fact that you can find out what sex the baby is. I was the same way with Abby and Alex. But seeing as how this go around I feel completely different about it, Josh and I decided that we would go the old natural route and skip out on the grand early revealing. Crazy, right? Oh, there are days when I wish I knew what it was just for one reason. I really don't like referring to the baby as 'it'. In my head, "it" is a creepy clown from that bad horror movie. So basically I'm trying to refer to 'it' as 'the baby' instead. All went well at the sonogram for the most part. There was one concern about the kidneys. I'd give you the scientific term, but the doc went over it so fast and so nonchalantly that I couldn't tell you what it was called. Basically it had something to do with digesting the amniotic fluid and a follow up sono was going to happen at 30 weeks to make sure it would work itself out. Fast-forward: at my most recent appointment the final reading of the sono determined that the levels are a little on the high side, but in the normal range so all is well. The kids loved to see the baby moving on the big screen until about 10 minutes in when it became boring to them. We hid our eyes during the leg viewing just to make sure we wouldn't be able to figure the sex out on our own. It was neat to see that little kid practice breathing and moving around. It made me more excited to meet him/her in November. I'm also excited to find out what the baby is naturally instead of cheating and finding out early. I'm calling it my pushing motivation as I am going to be trying the delivery without an epidural (doctor thinks it's for the best because my last two epidurals went not-so-great). Wish me luck!

20 weeks

At 24 weeks, which was actually about two weeks ago, things have been pretty much the norm for as far as pregnancies with me go. The worst part is dealing with horrific, slightly disabling hip pain after I try to stand up from sitting or sleeping. I'm already getting the happy joy-joy four pee breaks every night and Braxton Hicks have begun (yay). My heartburn has been pretty nasty as I am short-waisted (or extra-short waisted for that matter) and this baby spends half of it's time using my stomach as a nice cushy pillow. I actually woke up the other night choking on the acid that had sneaked its way up my esophagus. It was kind of scary because for a second it was hard to breathe. The baby is a crazy little acrobat in there, always on the move it seems like. My weight gain is actually pretty minimal compared to my last two pregnancies, but I fully expect to be packing on the pounds a lot easier now that I don't spend every morning with a friendly visit to vomit-ville. Other than that, all's well. I will say, however, that I keep thinking I look 8 months pregnant. Seriously people. I'm a cow already. So I'm mildly concerned about what my 9th month will be like as I still have about 3 1/2 months to go. Yikes! I'll try to do better and actually blog on my next preggo appointment update in two weeks. Until then, I gotta go. No seriously...I really gotta go. Baby is using my bladder as a punching bag again.

24 Weeks. Yes. I'm wearing the exact same thing as the 20 week photo. Not much fits me these days.