German Potato Soup with a Side of Pneumonia

Yep, you guessed it, Emily now has pneumonia. We went in to see her GI specialist and he took a listen and asked for another x-ray. He was pretty upset that they had not admitted Emily to the hospital when she spiked that high fever as he thinks she may have had a kidney infection and may still be fighting it. He was also not pleased with the choice of antibiotic they chose for the UTI and wants to reculture on Monday to see if it actually got rid of it.

So, for the first time in Emily's life, we aren't going to worry about the eating issues, "they are secondary at this point". She got a shot for the pneumonia and a breathing treatment while we were there (for four hours). We are to keep offering her food and just give her what she wants and watch for signs of dehydration. We are using her inhaler...which means she is even more hyper than normal...and paying close attention to her breathing and watching to see if it gets too labored. We will get an ng tube but probably not until tomorrow. I can't wait to get the tube because as M put it yesterday, "Feeding Emily is just physically and emotionally exhausting!" I want the break more than anything. Anyway, she is still at home and unless she runs a fever or starts coughing or vomiting, she will stay with us.

Interestingly, in regards to solids, I have been thinking for a while that maybe Em just doesn't like sweet and we should try salty. I have tried a few things here and there but she has always rejected whatever we give her. Yesterday I made German Potato Soup and I cooked the soup too long, so rather than blending the potatoes only, I had to blend the entire soup. M decided to give Em some and she loved it! She was not just opening her mouth, she was leaning forward to try to get more...yes, we are talking about the girl who hasn't eaten solids in almost three weeks. Ha!

For those who don't know, there is a lot of junk in this soup - bacon, carrots, sour cream, onions, potatoes, etc - and it is a little on the salty side. :) Who knows if she will like it tomorrow but M has declared that she just needs more flavor and salt. What's the next test? Blend whatever I am making for us and try it out...tomorrow, pork and edamame stir fry.

She has also completely rejected the sippy cup from the beginning but yesterday I was drinking water and she was interested so I gave her some sips and she didn't freak out so I put water in her cup and she played with it and was at least interested in it. SO, my daughter who gets "overstimulated by flavor" wants flavor in her food but not her beverages? Who knows...I have learned with her that nothing is final, it can all change this afternoon, much less tomorrow, but at least there is a little hope that we may have gotten somewhere, thanks to good old water and a little recipe from the Germans.

Hope your day goes well. Thank you for your prayers!! God Bless!

Well hello! This will be a quick update as I have things to do...like remove the clutter of pictures that have overtaken my refrigerator and, well, sit on the couch and do nothing. Anyway, we saw Emily's pediatrician yesterday and she could hear cackling and wheezing in her chest, so she put Em on another antibiotic for that. She is the same weight as one week ago...that's not great, but I am pleased that she could have all that vomit and she hasn't lost weight.

This morning when I got Em up, I found that she had removed the ng tube and since it had some dried blood at the end (don't panic, was probably just from scratching the edge of her stomach), I could not reinsert it. So another adventurous day without a feeding tube means she has had very little to eat and we spent a lot of time on the phone with drs and nurses. Hopefully, we should get our hands on one tomorrow and then we can see her GI specialist on Thursday morning.

This is just a video we took tonight...she has taken to climbing up on her 'walker' and pushing it across the room. She thinks she is SO cool, so we had to get a video of it. :) I have been told that many people can't upload my videos, so I put two on. They are pretty much the same thing but hoping you can get one or the other. My favorite part is when she sees me and gets all proud. :)

In other news K has the cold now and we think she is teething on top of it (2 year old molars). M and I feel much better and even started working out again today. We just have phlegm in our throats.

Time to Just Laugh

So she still hasn't gotten the memo that she is sick. :)

Well, M left out the most important piece of information from yesterday...LL called us back to tell us that the 48hr culture did show a minor UTI. So we started Em on antibiotics and are currently working under the assumption that the fever and vomit can be explained by that and the rest of the symptoms can be explained by the familial cold we are sharing with each other. Only time will tell if that is correct.

Now it is MY turn to tell stories...

My title is: In just three hours. It is dedicated to all the parents out there who can say "been there, done that" and still laugh about it!

Today, for some reason, was the day I decided to sort all of the girl's clothes and shoes and change out the seasons. What a process with two little girls! Anyway, when I do this, it takes all day and the house looks like a pit because I have to start and stop and start and stop. Oh, and did I mention start and stop? I mention that only to set the stage for a pretty tired mom who really wants to finish her task today.

Well, all was going well until just after M left for work, when both girls woke up from what apparently were some pretty bad naps. K woke up first saying, "Owie, no" (owie nose - my nose hurts) and just wanted to be held. I held her for a little while but then Em woke up having a hard time breathing and wanting to be fed. I made her bottle and she only ate two ounces (something that still takes almost half an hour), so I put her in her high chair to gavage the last two, when suddenly K started to lose it. I calmed her down and got it out of her that she was actually hungry too and so I sat her in her chair with some food...of course, none of which she wanted. But she was calm, so I shifted my attention back to Em.

I then proceeded to 'feed' Em, at which point K decided to start whining about the food (catch the nerves grating as I can't really correct K's behavior while holding a feeding tube for Em). Just as the tube drains, I realize that I have forgotten the antibiotics. As I go to get them, I hear the classic choking/vomit noise and I turn to watch Em throw up everything I have just given her...all over the tray, her clothes, down the chair and onto the floor. I took one look of disbelief at her, one look at K (who has suddenly stopped crying) and grabbed a towel. I started to clean up when I realized it was hopeless and I paused to hear the peanut gallery saying, "Ewee MaMa, Ewee" (something about gross Emily!!).

I took a deep breath, dramatically flopped into the chair and laughed out loud. It is a great stress relief for those who have never tried it. I looked at Em and said, "Well, if you wanted a bath that bad, you could have just asked!" To which K said, "No Baf, Mommy, No Baf!" I told K she didn't have to take one, but that only lasted until she saw Em playing with 'her' toys and then she asked to get in. So, how do you put a kid with an ng tube in the tub? You tape the tube to the top of her head...how else? I have no idea really, but it seemed logical to me. Say hello to my one tooth wonder! (and it is crooked at that)!

After I bathed and clothed both of them, things calmed down a little and K decided to start helping me sort...such a good helper she is. So those slippers on her feet are size one, but she HAD to wear them. I can't believe they fit, she is size 5! I asked her if I could take a pic and she agreed if she could sit in front of the tree.

Then she demanded that Em sit next to her...

...and I asked her to show Emily the tree...which she did oh so well.

I don't know what they are looking at but it must have been pretty neat.

Here she is showing her the house ornament, while saying, "No Mama, No" (don't touch Emily, don't touch). K is allowed to touch the tree, but as you can see my barrier of 'presents' (I filled boxes with books and wrapped them to create a barrier for Em but if we have guests, I can just lay them down under the tree like presents), Emily is not.

Anyway, the rest of the evening with the girls went off without a hitch. But since I am a parent, my evening has been spent cleaning the high chair, cleaning bottles, cleaning the kitchen...it never ends, but this story has. :)

For those who think that somehow in all the chaos that is the last several days, we decorated for Christmas, let me assure you that we did this about a week ago...in fact, two days before it all began.

This is K showing the puppy the new decorations.

And this is baby Jesus on the potty...

And baby Jesus in the chimney. I promise, I do not set ANY of this up...she does all this on her own. Like putting the pillows on Grandpa's lap to read a book or monkey on her training potty. She is REALLY funny and she cracks me up ALL the time!

We will keep you posted on what's going on with Em now that we can see her regular drs (9am tomorrow to be precise).  I hope you all have a wonderful day.  Let's try to keep everything in perspective..."this too shall pass", so we should all agree to enjoy the ride, no matter what it brings.  God Bless!!