week ending dec 16, 2007:

Week ending December 16, 2007: This was a week of ups and downs.

Chloe’s tummy: Lab Corp lost Chloe’s poo. So we were supposed to get another sample, but she had her appointment with the gastroenterologist before we got that done and the doctor said she doesn’t see a need for the test since Chloe’s biopsy last year showed no evidence of H Pylori. Our doctor had been out of town, and it was another doctor who had ordered the test. How annoying. Anyway, our doctor was unconcerned with Chloe’s “break-through symptoms” (her term for Chloe’s pain and vomiting despite the medicine) and suggested trying to take Chloe off Prevacid. I didn’t understand why that was a good idea since Chloe seemed to be under-medicated, not over-medicated and Chloe’s physiology isn’t likely to have changed to eliminate the cause of her reflux. The doctor either wasn’t able or wasn’t willing to try to explain it to me. In the end she agreed that Chloe could stay on Prevacid for 6 more months and then we should do a follow up. I think our follow up will be with a different doctor. I’ve always stuck with doctors who go the extra mile to explain things to me because in the end I’m the person making day-to-day decisions about healthcare.

The twins haven’t been getting along very well for a couple weeks and this week they all of a sudden starting playing nicely again, maybe due to feeling better (getting over colds and such) and getting more exercise. So I decided to help them get more exercise even though we are house bound because it has rained what seems like every single day for FOREVER. We set up an obstacle course in the house and had the kids jump from carpet square to carpet square, run around the dining room table, climb under a chair, and climb over the arm of the sofa, etc. They had a blast and ran the course at least 8 times. At one point Chloe said “this turned out to be a fun night after all!”

Alex needed a new hat and gloves and he picked camouflage. I guess this is the beginning of the kids making choices that aren’t the ones I would make. I really hate camouflage, but he got a pair of hand-me-down camouflage pants from his cousin Blade and he LOVES them. Both kids love the hand-me-downs from friends and family. I let them pick out their own sheets with their favorite characters and then they received hand-me-down sheets with Bug’s Life characters and Batman. They don’t like the Bug’s Life movie (too scary) and they’ve never seen Batman, but the hand-me-downs are their favorites because other kids chose those sheets, so they must be great!

Chloe made me feel good this week. I bought a new sweater for her while I was shopping alone, and Chloe loves it. She pets the sweater and comments on how soft it is, and she’s said over and over that she loves the color (lavender is her new favorite color), and she’s thanked me and told me again and again that she loves the sweater. She even slept in it one night. It is so nice for me to get some recognition for a small part of the work I do for the kids since so much of what I do goes unnoticed or is down-right resented (giving them medicine, brushing their teeth, etc).

The “downs” of the ups and downs was that Chloe threw up 5 times last night, evenly spaced in time so that I’d just get her cleaned up and back to sleep and I’d drift off for a while, then we’d do it all over again. She threw up one more time during the day, but has started to get better. We had tickets today to see a local production of the Nutcracker ballet, our first. I decided that sitting and watching the ballet at the Chesapeake Arts Center wasn’t any harder on Chloe than watching videos in our living room, so we went despite the throwing up. We made it through without incident and Chloe had a cookie at intermission that was the first food she kept down all day. Alex also went and he got really bored. By the middle of the 1st act he was complaining that he wanted to go home. By the middle of the 2nd act said “I’ve been waiting, and waiting, and waiting!” So I started to tickle and mock-punch him which amused him until it was over. Fortunately the music was over a very loud sound system, and there was no one sitting directly next to us, so I don’t think we disturbed anyone. Afterwards I asked Chloe if she liked it and she had a HUGE grin and said she loved it. The parking lot was full of twirling little girls. I asked Alex if he liked it and he said “yeah, but it was too long”.

One of Alex’s funny lines from this week was “yum, I love peas!” (he actually was not kidding, he really likes vegetables). Here are the pictures from a birthday party that the kids attended on Friday (Abby is a friend from pre-school): http://picasaweb.google.com/constance.phelps/AbbySBday