Genevieve Update

I tried to take Gen to daycare on Thursday and she just wasn't having it. As soon as I dropped her off she was very upset. A sure sign that she is not feeling well. So I turned around and went back home. Unfortunately Chad was sick too! He felt well enough in the afternoon to take Gen to the doctor with me. It turns out Gen does have Acid Reflux. This surprised me because she doesn't spit up more frequently than I would expect her to. The doctor says that the spit up isn't making it all the way out but often will spill into the lungs. This is causing her congestion and coughing issues. Based on the scan he said that she spit up 13 times in one hour! And that's with her laying perfectly still on an incline. He also said that this is causing aspirations that we can't even see visibly. Her right ear infection had cleared up, but then her left ear was very infected. Dr. Jolley said that is probably what was bothering her the most. That's the bad news. The good news is at least we know what we are dealing with now. She is on 7 different medications: Two inhalers (to be taken twice a day), an antibiotic-for ear infection (once a day), ear drops - to soothe ear infection, Reglan-for Acid Reflux (4 times a day), Zantac-for Acid Reflux (twice a day) and Nystatin ointment - to clear up a fungus related diaper rash caused by diarrhea caused by Augmentin (antibiotic she was originally on, the doctor switched her antibiotic because it wasn't working and it was causing the rash).


We went back to the doctor on Saturday and he said her ear infection is clearing up, but he would like to see her in a week. We can start weaning her off of one inhaler (and see how she does without it) and she doesn't need the Nystatin anymore. We are down to 5 meds!

Chad put one ring on Gen's leg and the left the room for a second.

He came back and she had put the other ring on her leg. :)

(Rings courtesy of Uncle Tim)

Saturday after the doctor's appointment we went for Gen's first trip to the zoo and then to the mall. We got there at 3:00 pm and didn't realize that they close at 4:00 pm. They allow you to stay on the grounds until 4:30 pm. I ended up being just enough time for us. Genevieve was very interested in the large animals that had big movement such as the Beluga Whale. She was also very interested watching other people and loved riding in dad's backpack.

We had to take the hat off for a minute to get a pic of Genevieve in her ponies :)

Despite the look on her face in these pics, she did smile while we were there, we just weren't able to capture it on film :)

I'll work on adding the videos later.

Pictures from Gen's scan today.

Gen had to get a nuclear scan today to see if Acid Reflux is causing her coughing. They strapped her down to a board and she had to stay there for an hour during the scan. Poor girl. Here are the pictures. They aren't the best, they were taken with Chad's cell phone.

We made an exception to our no T.V. rule. We watched "A Bug's Life".

She fell asleep for about 15 minutes.
A shot of how strapped down she was. They had to wrap her legs, torso and chest to a board so that she was still throughout the scan.

Just before they stopped recording she spit up so it was good that they caught that. She also spit up again after they stopped recording. Hopefully through all this we will find some answers. She is on antibiotics for the ear infection which caused diarrhea which caused a really bad diaper rash that Desitin isn't helping. I called a nurse and she suggested an over the counter anti-fungal creme. Hope this works. It seems like now the cough is the least of her concerns. We have another doctor's appointment on Saturday to see results of this scan and if they didn't find anything she has another scan a week from today.

Gen's Health

Yesterday (2/16/09) I took Gen to a new doctor to get a second opinion. He ordered a chest x-ray, tested for strep, tested for MRSA, said she has an ear infection in one ear and fluid in the other, said she has walking Pneumonia, and had me take her to the lab to get tested for RSV. See I knew my little girl was sick. I'm just glad someone is finally listening to me. He gave her a shot of antibiotics, gave her a prescription of antibiotics and asked that I give her albuterol (with an inhaler) every four hours and flovent in the evening and morning. He also asked that he see her again today to see if her breathing has improved. We have an appointment today at 10:30 AM. I really don't want to have to keep her on the inhalers because it is peer torture for her, she doesn't understand why we are doing this to her, but if it makes her better I'm all for it. We had stopped doing the inhalers because we had no proof that it was actually helping at least this way we will know. We had to miss swim class last night, the doctor advised us not to take her. Oh well, there are worst things for sure.

Pictures of Gen :)

She's definitely a happy baby!

When all her teeth come in we will miss this toothless smile.

Droopy ponies
Look mom I'm eating!

What a ham!

She loves to motor around in this walker!

First swimming lesson. The pool was so cold her hands turned blue.

They said they would have it fixed this week.

End of January

Genevieve's new favorite game is peek-a-boo. She's puts the basket over her head herself and waits for someone to say, "Where's Genevieve? Ohhh Genevieve". Then she flips it off. There she is!

Works great with blankets too! When she does this laying down
she kicks her feet. Here I am mommy!

Can you see her first teeth? Two on the bottom.

I just love this outfit. You can tell they were painting at daycare (she has yellow on her sleeve).

All ready for the Superbowl. Yes we know the Seahawks weren't in it this year, but this was her last chance to wear this outfit. It's getting too small anyways.

It's hard to believe Genevieve is 7 months old already. She is growing up so fast. During the Superbowl Genevieve gave her first kisses. It was so cute. I would give her a kiss, then say kisses and turn my cheek to her and she would lay a sloppy kiss on me and wiggle her head a little. She did this several times. I loved it!

Chad and I saw the musical "Memphis" on Saturday night and loved it. If you ever get a chance to see this do so.

On Jan. 19th I went up to Anacortes and met a potential hearing dog. She is a labordoodle and her name is Gracie. It seems like her personality would be a great match for me. So it seems it is just a matter of whether or not she can be successful in her training. She has just begun the hearing dog portion of her training. If she works out I may get her in April or sometime this summer, it depends on when I can get my training done. Genevieve is just starting to show interests in dogs. It would be very neat to have one in time for her to grow up with it. She really likes my parent's dog and my brother and sister-in-law's dog.