Sorry it has been so long since I've posted! Like for all of you, our life has been really, really busy. On Sunday, Mikaela turned one! We had a family party on Saturday and I've attached some pictures. The party was so wonderful and I want to give a special "thank you" to those of you who were able to come and "we missed you" to those who could not make it. She knows she is loved by so many!
On her actual birthday, she woke up sick again. I heard her coughing and coughing through the monitor. I went into her room and her pajamas were a bit wet on the front. There was also a small amount on her sheet. However, she was really listless! She was blinking very slowly and her limbs were just limp. I changed her clothes and took her downstairs. She gagged a few times and nothing came up. About 40 minutes later, she did throw up a small amount. I decided to try to start her on Pedialyte rather than formula as it might be easier on her tummy. During the next 45 minutes, I slowly fed her an ounce. Routinely I wait to make sure it stays down. Well, it didn't. It all came back up. I waited for a time after that and tried another ounce. This time only a bit of it came back up. The next interval, she wouldn't let me pull the bottle away. She was so hungry! She finished two ounces and then two more. I waited about an hour and then gave her an 8 ounce bottle. It all stayed down fine. I even gave her an ounce of cereal before nap and that stayed down well. Then all was good. The rest of the day....ate as usual.
What is the deal with all this puking, though??? I cannot figure it out. One thought that occurred to me is on Saturday, because of the party, she didn't eat her normal amount or on her normal schedule. Maybe with her acid reflux and an empty stomach, could it be that the extra acid caused her to get sick??? Any thoughts? Maybe from those of you who have acid reflux?
By the way, today she is a ball of fire! Back to her best! Cheerfully screaming and playing with all her toys. ...Laughing when we do our usual peek-a-boo. ....Alert curiosity with all around her. Praise God!
A short recap for the month of October:
On the 5th she was so sick. She threw up all day. She couldn't keep any fluid down. She didn't wake up much and was very limp and listless. So much so I was worried about dehydration. Her grandparents came down from Bensalem and and we were heading out the door to CHOP when she started to keep down the fluids. We actually had the van packed and it was running in the driveway. She started to become alert and act more like herself so we decided not to go and wait and see. As the night went on, she really showed signs of getting back to normal. I took her into Dr. Jay on Tuesday 10/7 just for a look. Of course at the time, she was fine, just had a fever. A low fever....which brings me to the next point. She has had a low fever since September 27th. (that was the first day I noticed.)
Sidebar: I decided to keep a temperature journal to track it. It is still there...to this day...mostly hoovering around 100 degrees. 99.3 - 101.5 and Dr. Jay on 10/21 when we went for flu shots felt that a fever with no other symptoms is nothing to be concerned about. She does not have any other symptoms...no cough, not cranky, eating fine, sleeping well...all that good stuff! He thinks that maybe Juliana is bringing home little viruses from school and Mikaela is building her immune system. I am still not comfortable and want to seek another opinion. In fact planning on calling another Pediatrician today for a consult. Last night she finally showed that she was 98.9 and I am hoping that it is on its way out!
So, to move to the hearing journey....we have an appointment November 4th with the surgeon to obtain Mikaela's medical clearance and confirm our surgery date. My concern with this perpetual fever is that the surgery will be postponed. We hope that by next week, she will be all better and her temperature will be normal! Please take a moment and pray for our intention. Thank you in advance for that. We are planning to hit the polls and vote on our way to the appointment. Hopefully the lines will move quickly and we will be able to do that. Once we have confirmation of the surgery date, I will post it.
I know many of you have Mikaela on prayer chains and are anxious for the date. Thank you for your support and love as she (and our family) travels this path. I am trusting of the surgeon and the procedure itself. I have some other hesitancies that are very difficult to articulate. I will try. My hope is that this choice to implant suits her and is what she would choose for herself. My hope is that she will appreciate the option we are providing her now and later in life. For those of you who follow the blog that have children with hearing loss may understand me and what I am trying to express. For those of us who are hearing, may not quite follow it. That's okay. One thing that helps me is that ultimately she holds the choice to continue living in the hearing world or if she wants to she can choose to take it off and be part of the Deaf community---if that fits her better. The choice for now...is ours. But the choice will always be hers.
