Health Updates for Mama

I had a seizure in my driveway on Saturday, February 4, in the middle of the afternoon, out of the blue. Thankfully, my friend Adie had just gotten here from Bloomington, and she would be the #1 best person in the world to be here. It was scary, but I'm ok. I had a bump on my head, but the CT came back clear. They started me on seizure medicine that day.

I saw a neurologist later that week, and he said it appears to be epilepsy. He ordered a sleep-deprived EEG (which came back normal), and I have an appointment next week with a different neurologist who is an epilepsy specialist.

I had some issues about a year and a half ago while I was still waking in the night to feed Lenore. Three episodes over six months--I'd shake in my sleep, wet the bed, but I didn't know until the next day when Kevin would tell me. The third one was the worst--I shook out of bed and woke up to Kevin yelling at me (about being on the floor). After that one, it took me a while to 'come to,' and I had some weakness in my legs for a few days. And I finally called my doctor.

I saw the neurologist I'm going to see next week after that, and he ordered an EEG, MRI, and sleep study (all normal). I was told to get more sleep and that was that.

Leading up to this latest episode, I had quite a lot going on. I woke up early (5:45am) the day before to walk, worked at the preschool, babysat for some neighbors, and went grocery shopping at 11pm. I then woke up Saturday to make food for a friend's MIL's visitation, delivered that food, went to Lewis's basketball game, lunch, and then got ready to go to the visitation. Once Adie got here, Kevin and I walked outside to help her get her boys inside, and that was when it happened.

The positives are that I'm walking more. It used to be 'Should we go for a walk or go to Target? Let's go to Target.' Or Kroger, Goodwill, etc.

That's perhaps the only positive. :) I can't drive for 90 days, which is May 5th-ish. Oaks Day (the day before Derby Day), if you live in Louisville.

Lenore and I have been riding to/from work with Kevin last week, and my mom was here to help the week before. My work situation has changed over the past few weeks (we moved out of one building and into another), and I'm not doing well with the transition. It was sudden and emotional and very stressful for everyone, and now I'm making plans for Lenore to go elsewhere next fall. If stress is determined to be what caused all of this, I might leave my job and pull Lenore out of school (to eliminate the back and forth of Wednesday-Friday).

I finally used ClickList last week, too. It's the service at Kroger that lets you make your shopping list online, and they have it ready for you to pick-up at the time you choose. Kevin was able to pick it up on the way home from work--I just placed a small order the first time to get us through the week and to try it out. A couple of friends had been raving about it, but I hadn't had a good reason to use it yet. Now, we do. My friend Kate came over this weekend and took me to Costco and Kroger for full shopping trips, which I so appreciate. I stocked up for dinners for a few weeks. :)

For now, I'm trying to stay busy at home with house projects I've neglected (because, Target). I had a really productive day on Sunday in the yard while Kevin took the kids to the zoo, and I'm ready to plant, but Home Depot apparently doesn't have plants in stock yet. Come on, spring!

I should know more after my appointment next Tuesday.

Lewis at SIX!

Lewis is SIX!

It's so hard to believe that our once tiny baby boy is now riding a bike, drawing, spelling, reading, writing, etc. He has grown up so much since starting Kindergarten. It really is incredible.

His stats:
Height: 49 inches [96th percentile]
Weight: 58.64 pounds [94th percentile]

What he's up to:

• He loves riding his bike. He'd ridden a few times without training wheels last summer, but then he got a bit of a mental block, both from crashing and from not being able to go as fast. We reattached the training wheels and let some time pass. With the crazy warm winter we've been having, we decided to give it a go again a few weeks ago. Sure enough, he was ready, and he hasn't looked back, since. For his birthday present from us, we got him a bigger bike--still basic with pedal brakes and no gears or anything fancy. His first bike was just too tiny for him now (think knees in the handlebars), so it was time. He's JUST a bit too short to get started on his own with his new bike, so he's still going back to his old bike when he wants to ride independently. If we help him get started, though, he will take off on the new one.
• We have new neighbors! It is great. One of the girls is in Lewis's class, and her older sister is in 3rd grade. They are the sweetest, and it's been so nice to get to know them and shuffle kids to and from each other's houses.
• School is going really well. The work that Lewis does astounds me--the concepts they are learning at such an early age. And he gets it. His teacher and assistant teacher are absolutely wonderful, and Lewis adores them. 
• He is still very much into trains. Over winter break, we had train tracks set up all over the house. Legos are big, too, as well as drawing and writing and drawing and writing some more. He pretty much wakes up and goes straight to the table to draw. He still watches the Kindle some (Lego videos, educational videos that he sometimes watches at school i.e. counting to 100), but he spends more time than anything else, putting pencil to paper.
• He is about 2/3 through his first YMCA basketball season right now. He says he enjoys playing, which is what matters. :) He's still working on learning the basics, of course. I'm not sure yet which sports he will sign-up for again. He played soccer and baseball through the Y last year. He says he wants to do golf, so we might look into getting him into a golf camp this summer. I'm pretty sure he thinks golf = putt-putt, though, so he might be disappointed. Although, maybe somewhere has a putt-putt league?? He also wants to go out for his school's track team this spring, which we are still on the fence about.
• Lost Tooth Count: still 2! The bottom middle ones. His dentist said the top middle would be next, but they aren't wiggly yet.

Lewis's Favorite Things (Age 6)

What is your favorite...

...color? Blue

...toy? My Polar Express

...stuffed animal? My doggy

...thing to sleep with? My big teddy bear (that used to be his auntie Schwee's)

...fruit? Blueberries 

...vegetable? Carrots 

...cereal? Cheerios

...thing to eat for breakfast? Toast

...thing to eat for lunch? PB&J

...dessert? Ice cream 

...candy? Hershey's Kiss. Actually, Crunch bar. (I included all of his words because I love when he uses the word 'actually' in a sentence.)  :)

...drink? Lemonade 

...restaurant? McAlister's

...animal? Tiger

...book? I Spy

...song? Trolls (aka Can't Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake)

...game/sport? Basketball 

...TV show? Mickey Mouse 

...movie? The Polar Express 

...thing to do outside? Play tag

...place to shop? Kroger 

...shirt/outfit? My choo-choo train shirt

What do you want to eat for your birthday dinner? PB&J 

Who is your best friend? Eli

What do you want to be when you grow up? Train driver 


Here is a link to his favorite things at 5, and at the bottom of that post, there's a link to age 4 and age 3, if anyone is interested.

I'll take his picture this afternoon--he wasn't up for it this morning before school.

What I'm Digging

As an ode to Young House Love Has a Podcast, I'm writing a What I'm Digging post. Randomness abounds, but we've had a lot of happenings around here lately. This was started about a month ago, so things have actually changed since then, which I will explain in a new post.


Facebook of Today Sucks
I wish I could hide all political/religious/etc. posts and just get back to babies and puppies.

I can still remember years ago when there were other heated discussions going around, and I lost friends over it. I remember thinking, 'How can someone so openly express their feelings for all to see?' Didn't their parents teach them that some things were best kept to themselves? Along with, 'God, I don't even know that person/morally oppose that person/etc.'

I want to say, 'Just. Shut. Up.' to everyone.


So Much Pee
aka Lenore is Potty Training
aka Peter is in Early Liver Failure
aka Lewis was Sick
That was short-lived. Lenore decided to potty train one day, which I knew she would. We started on a Monday, and I sent her to school Wednesday and Thursday of that week in underwear. Wednesday, she held it until the end of her three hours until she had an accident. Thursday, she went through three pairs of underwear/pants due to accidents. By Friday, I decided we were back to diapers. Once this case runs out, I am changing to Pull-ups because they are easier to get on/off given our current situation. She will go pee by herself when she needs to, but she still doesn't poop in the toilet. She is wearing a diaper for now and pretty much keeping it dry all day (except nap and overnight and except for poop).

Peter is still in liver failure, but it's not as serious as I thought it was. I thought he was going to have to be put down the week we found out, but steroids have improved things (while also making him pee all over the house for a few weeks there). He's tapering off the steroids now, and I think he knows that we will let him out 2x as often as our normal, so his accidents have stopped (thank God). We go back in two more weeks to recheck his values and see if we can taper the steroids further. He's always had liver issues, but this was different. He wasn't eating much for about a month, so we've switched his food to a lower protein one (to make things easier for his liver to digest) and the steroids have helped him perk up. He's also on an antioxidant to help rejuvenate the part of the liver that was failing, and he's on two medicines to protect his stomach from ulcers (caused by the steroids). So, four medicines for the old boy. I'm lucky to remember to give them half the time, but he still seems to be fine.

Lewis was sick a few weeks ago and took a nap on Kevin on the couch (unheard of for the past 2+ years). As he napped, Lewis PEED ON KEVIN AND THE COUCH. (I first thought he said he'd just sat in it, but Kevin corrected the details for me.) 

So Kevin was covered in pee, and the couch smelled for a few days while it was being cleaned and drying out. I threw my jacket in the laundry that same night of Lewis/Kevin's couch/pee incident, only to quickly retrieve it to go out for a drink with a friend. As I got to the destination, I realized I was covered in pee from my jacket laying on top of  a kitchen rug that Peter had just peed on.

Pee. Every. Where.


Working
I enjoy working. I don't know that I necessarily can handle being with little ones all morning and then coming home to my little ones for the afternoon/evening, but I do appreciate the freeing up that working has provided me. Before, it felt like everything fell on me because I was the one who was home and that was my job (which it certainly was). Now that I work three mornings a week, things are being divided and that unspoken burden has really been relieved. I'm so lucky to have Kevin to share in this crazy adventure of parenting. To be continued...