Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Update on Lulee: Please pray for Lulee today

Everything went really well today. She was so good. She let the doctor do an ultrasound on her heart without even flinching. I held her and she was so calm.

The doctor is concerned about the condition, but said that it is really too soon to tell right now. Typically it shows itself around teen years. We will need to have her checked every 5 years.

We will continue to monitor her throughout her life up until young adulthood.

Thanks for all your prayers and please continue to pray for her and hubby both. Hubby's appointment is Halloween day. Maybe we will get some good news. We found out that we were pregnant with Lulee on Halloween so we need some more good news then. :)




As most of you know Hubby's dad had to undergo open heart surgery a few weeks ago due to a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This disease is hereditary and therefore has the ability to affect Hubby and our daughter Lulee. It also can be a very serious health concern, especially in children.

Hubby is scheduled for testing on Halloween and Lulee is scheduled for testing today. Please say a prayer for both of them that the testing will end up having normal results and that neither one of them will inherit this disease. Also, that Lulee will be calm during her testing as she is scared of doctor's sometimes.

Thank you and I will keep you all posted.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

FALSE ALARM!!!

We have been really busy during this Fall break. On day one we had the cable guy come out to add something that he was supposed to have done the week before (waking us all up from a sound sleep at 8:00am ringing the doorbell and NOT CALLING FIRST). On day two we had an orthodontist appointment for Sadie Bug, and a doctor's appointment for Hubby followed by a midnight till 3:30am search for a neighbor child that had attempted to run away. On day three we had an unexpected doctor's appointment at 9:50am for Sadie Bug. We are also expecting a contractor from the same cable company to come out tomorrow to assess the damage to the ceiling that the first cable guy did during the first trip out. Apparently he missed a rafter up in the attic and his foot almost came through our ceiling in the dining room/playroom. Friday is a free day for us unless Murphey's Law deems it to be something different.

Needless to say our staycay has not been what we had planned for. Poor Sadie Bug really wanted to go to the beach for the break, but it was out of the question with hubby not being able to get the time off to go.

Getting back to the reason for this post, Sadie Bug's false alarm at the doctor's office today. Sadie showed me a spot on the back of her pallet close to her uvula (hangy thing). It was a dark red patch and dark red dots that appeared to be the beginning of strep throat, which we had been to a birthday party two days before that where a child had just gotten over strep.

I went through a series of questions with Sadie. Had she had sucked on a lolly pop or any candy that would create suction toward the back of her throat, did she eat a chip that may have hurt that area, does she feel nauseated, does her throat hurt, fever, etc... The answer to every question was a big NO!!!

So I proceeded to call and make an appointment thinking it could possibly be strep without a fever and other symptoms other than the red patch. We go in today and Sadie Bug is so nervous about having to have her throat swabbed. The doctor asked her pretty much the same series of questions that I had asked her before acquiring this appointment.

There must be an airborne truth serum floating around as soon as you walk into the exam room because as soon as the doctor got the questions out of her mouth, Sadie Bug remembered that she DID IN FACT have a dum dum sucker, pre-red patch, earlier the day before. Did I not ask that?!?!? I asked her. She said you said a sucker, it was a dum dum.

Earth to Sadie Bug?!?!? Ha-ha!! She swabbed her throat for strep anyway for a better safe than sorry measure. It came back negative for strep and positive for dum dum. Ha-ha!

If I had it to do over again I would do it the same way. I believe in the better safe than sorry approach. Plus I really have zero room to talk when it comes to emergency situations. When I was in second grade I was trying to pull my tooth with a kleenex and ended up swallowing some of the tissue. It felt like it was stuck in my throat regardless of how much I drank and how many times I swallowed.

I came home and told my parents and they told me that I would be ok. I had anxiety all ready in second grade and didn't trust that answer. I decided since that didn't work I needed to make up something that would make them rush me to the hospital to get an x-ray on my throat. Yes, I was a little neurotic even in the second grade. Ha-ha!! I told my parents that I swallowed a tack. My neurosis was pacified for a little while as I was on my way to the E.R. Of course they did not find a tack during my x-ray, but my mind was put to ease. Can't say the same for my parents. :)

Sadie Bug's incident was a little different than mine in the way of not making up some crazy story to go to the doctor's office and the fact that she just forgot that she ate the lolly pop, I mean dum dum.

I told her that I would pay the copay and be happy either way knowing that I took her in just in case she had it. I got lucky I had a 10 dollar credit and only had to pay 5 dollars for the false alarm appointment.

I think she felt a little embarrassed by the diagnosis and was not too amused when I joked on her by calling her dum dum for the rest of the day. She's got to know me by now that I won't let her live this down. I only joke on people I really care about. :)

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Courtesy Flushing and the Need to Read

Ok, most everyone knows what a courtesy flush is. For those of you who don't know. I googled "what is a courtesy flush" and this was the best description that I could find that was kid-friendly, short and sweet. :

A pre-wipe flush that's intended to remove the odorous matter before it stinks up the whole bathroom.

Courtesy flushing and the need to read tend to go hand-in-hand with each other. It makes sense though, If you are sitting there long enough to read books, catalogs and or magazines, you would probably need to flush more than once, right?!?!?

It also makes you wonder, is courtesy flushing and the need to read hereditary?


I googled it, but I haven't gone any further as to research the above subject matter. I guess I will just base it on the household knowledge that I have.

My hubby has retreated to the bathroom many, many times staying in there forever and flushing many, many times. In his area of retreat, he
has his on little drawer full of reading material. It is just a ritual that he feels he must perform before he is successful in his mission.


As for Lulee, we took her to the doctor's office about a month and a half ago with a MAJOR diaper rash. It was so bad that desitin would not clear it up. We had to get the prescription diaper ointment (Vusion) which worked really well, but not immediately. In conjunction with the diaper ointment, we had to give her baths with baking soda and keep her without a diaper as much as possible.

She had previously been potty training, but had grown really tired of it and had refused to try anymore until this diaper rash. THANK GOD FOR DIAPER RASHES. Ha-ha!!!

She is doing really well now and is wearing panties during the day and pull-ups at night. She is telling me every time she has to go. For a few weeks now, every time she has gone at home she needs a book. I will give her privacy and come back to check on her. I noticed that she was flushing the potty, but still sitting there not ready to get up. She says she was not done. I finally realized after the first week of this happening, that she was courtesy flushing......hereditary or learned?!?!

Now that is pretty funny when your two year old is doing it!!!


We went to Lowe's today and she had to go three times. We made it without any accidents. On the last trip to the potty, it was a longer visit than the other two. She looked up at me and requested that I get her a book. This was the first time the request had been made in a public restroom. Ha-ha!!! Just like Daddy.

Does anyone else have little ones that do this????