Side Effexor

I can't believe it has already been another week since I wrote last. I used to write every 2-3 days but that seems as if it has become an impossible task these days. I think of so much I want to say but I just can't find the time. Carly lost another tooth today so I am awake later than usual waiting for her to go to sleep so that the tooth fairy can come. Who thought of the tooth fairy anyway? Obviously whoever it was didn't need to sleep like I do. Oh well, I may as well get over it because I still have many more teeth to go in this household.

I have been so sure Anna has not been having seizures and I have been so pleased with that. Today, Carly and Kenzie were playing at our house and they asked me why Anna doesn't blink. I was like, "what?" They said, "Yeah, a lot of times when we are playing she just stares at us and doesn't blink or anything." Grrr, sounds like seizures again. We have a neuro appointment next month so I guess we will talk about that then. I was so sure we were done with seizures. I guess I was wrong. I am not sure if they can go up on her Tegretol dose any more or if we have to add something else.

It is no secret that I have battled depression most of my life. I began medication for it in 7th grade and other than a few times when I wanted to not surrender to the pills, I have always been medicated. I had posted awhile back about how I was ready to go postal on someone at my insurance company because they refused to pay for the one drug that had ever really worked for me, Effexor XR. They would only pay for Pristiq which is the new Effexor XR. Pristiq came out about the same time that Effexor XR was going to lose its patent and go generic. Anyway, I was mad about having to switch and actually scared to death to do it because I had been so leveled out on the Effexor. But finances dictated that the switch had to be made. I had been on Pristiq for quite awhile and despite my fears, it had been a great drug. I didn't think it was any better than the Effexor but seemed to work just as well. I had a stroke of genius, or so I thought, about a month ago and decided that since switching back to the now generic Effexor XR would save about $22 a month (the insurance will cover the generic) that I should make the switch. And so I did. It wasn't until I had a crying fit the other night that I realized that the medicine was just not working. Looking back over the past month I realized I had been tired and unable to feel rested no matter how much I slept, irritable, and just overall felt like crap. I decided to go get the Pristiq filled and switch back. Voila- the sadness and fatigue disappeared almost instantly and I feel wonderful again. They say you can't put a price on happiness, but I think I can. Its $32 a month...

Still Here

Today was the Cooke County Ballet Academy's Annual Recital. This was Carly's fourth year to dance and Anna's first. Carly did jazz to "Rockin' Robin" and Anna did ballet do "Oh How I Love Jesus" and tap to "Maypole Dance." Carly did an awesome job as she always has. She loves dance and much to my surprise loves to be on stage. Anna brought me to tears, happy tears. Even though she only either moved her arms or her legs, never both at the same time, she did it. She got up there and did her best. I think it must be hard for her to coordinate all of that at the same time. I am so proud of both girls, both for different reasons.

Gabe is still the perfect baby. He is so happy most of the time. He is sleeping at least a 6 hour stretch and sometimes more. Last night he slept for 10 hours. I had worked four 12 hour shifts in a row last week and desperately needed sleep. I think he knew it because he slept so soundly. At his 2 month check up (and shots BOO) he was 10 lbs and 22 inches. He is a little chunk! I cannot believe he is already 12 weeks old now. Where does the time go?

I don't even remember if I had posted that Anna had an OT evaluation last month. She does qualify and will be getting those services hopefully in the summer and for sure next school year. She has the summer off for speech and will start up again next year. I back to considering switching districts again. I really need to pray harder about it that the right decision will just become abundantly clear. There are pros and cons to both districts and I am not sure what the right way to go is. Honestly, neither option is all that desirable but we have to deal with what is available.

We have been continuing to patch Anna's eye and for awhile I thought we were seeing some improvement but now I think maybe I was fooling myself into thinking we were seeing it. Her eye is not any better. We go back to the opthamologist next month and I feel pretty certain he will recommend surgery. I talked to a lady who didn't have the surgery for her child when he was young and he lost the vision in that eye. He wanted to go into the military and was denied due to his blindness in that eye. I do not want to put up possible roadblocks in her future just because I wanted to avoid another surgery. We will keep patching until the appointment though and maybe it will help. Doubtful, but maybe.

We also have a neurology appointment next month. It is mostly a seizure follow up which I am proud to say have been absent for quite some time. She will still need the Tegretol until she is seizure free for 2 years but that is fine by me. It seems to help her sleep better so I am in no rush to stop it. We have got to discuss with Dr. Hernandez her impulsivity though. She is hyper and that is tolerable but she seems to not be able to control her impulses most of the time. The Dr had cautioned me awhile back that this would probably be in our future. I had hoped he was wrong but I guess he wasn't. I hope it doesn't mean more medication but if it does we will cross that bridge when we get to it. Overall she is still doing so well and if these are the problems we face then I still feel like we have been blessed.

Work has been so super crazy. Usually starting mid April through about September is our slow season. It works out well because people are going on vacation and our staffing needs are lower. Not so much this year. We have a 20 bed ICU and it is staying full. I am not complaining, overtime is nice, but it is just crazy busy and I am not sure if it is going to slow down. Pretty much everybody is working overtime and some days we are still short on staff. The 4 12s in a row last week nearly killed me but it will be nice when the paycheck arrives! Since the rapture didn't happen today I guess I had better get to bed. 5am will come early and the 12 hours that follow will be long...

The PF

Happy Mother's Day. I had a great one. Although Kenneth had to work and I missed him dearly I really enjoyed my time with other family and with my precious kiddos. I am so thankful for each of them and for the way they are each so very different. I hope your day was wonderful as well.

Yesterday was the annual Preeclampsia Promise Walk. It is a huge fundraiser for the Preeclampsia Foundation. I had to miss it this year because I had to work. I don't want to miss telling others about the cause though. It is a cause that is near and dear to my heart since it has affected all 3 of my pregnancies. Please take a moment to visit the Preeclampsia Foundation and familiarize yourself with the signs and symptoms. The life you save might just be your child's or your own. Our family's story was chosen as the feature story for this month. I feel so honored to be the feature and hope that sharing our story can somehow prevent our story from ever repeating itself in someone else's family. A special thanks goes out to Nicole Purnell. She organized our local walk and has gone above and beyond for the foundation to honor her son Cooper who she lost late in her pregnancy due to this horrible disease.

I know I have been neglecting this poor blog lately. I miss it dearly. It has been like losing touch with a close friend. This is where I go to unwind and make sense of all that circulates in my head and in my heart. I promise to be back more really soon. I am really struggling to find any "me" time right now as I am still adjusting to having 3 kids. It seems like by the time I get them all to bed and get some household chores done that I am about to fall over and I barely make it to the bed. Thank God Gabe is such a good baby and is sleeping usually 6-7 hours at night. Anna is still sleeping through the night too and is now actually not wanting to get up in the mornings. It is nice. Well, I have hit that sleepy time again. It is early but I work again tomorrow and will be up early. I''ll be back...

Trio

On The Fritz

Our Internet has been on the fritz and I despise blogging from my phone so that is why it has been awhile since I've posted. I got the Internet working again yesterday but was too tired to post. I went to blog today and the blasted Internet is not working again. I guess I'll be buying a new router tomorrow. So here I am, blogging from my phone.

Anna finally had her OT evaluation through the school. The OT apologized that it took almost 6 months to get this done, she said she dropped the ball, not the school. Anyway, she scored Anna between 30-36 months. Her actual age is 42 months so I say not too bad!! She will be starting OT soon and will also get 6 weeks of it in the summer. She is still getting speech therapy as well but we will break from that for the summer.

Gabe is still the baby everyone dreams of. He is 9 weeks old now and 9 lbs 6 oz. He eats like a pig and is consistently sleeping 6 hours at night. I was not surprised to discover that he too has reflux and milk allergy- just like the girls did. Today was day one of my dairy free diet in an effort to help him out. He occasionally gets a touch of formula and we are using Alimentum. Dr. Goff started him on Zantac also. If it doesn't work we will switch to Prevacid. I do not drink cow's milk anyway but I will really miss cheese, yogurt, and most of all chocolate. I am losing weight from breastfeeding and cutting out chocolate will help me lose more so I will try to look at it from that perspective.

Now for the REALLY important news. Carly prayed a prayer of salvation and asked Jesus to come into her heart. I couldn't be more proud! She didn't want to tell us because she is afraid of being baptized, mostly it's the fear of being up in front of so many people. I reassured her that God wants her to do it when she is ready and not a moment before. I told her to take her time and we will continue to talk about it. I never expected her to make this decision at such a young age but I could not be happier. I've always said she has wisdom beyond her years- this is no different.

Ok. That is all the phone blogging I can handle for now...