Lydia Update

Copied from an email I wrote:

So, on Sunday, Octo 18th Lydia experienced a seizure. (What John and I would call a seizure but I guess a relatively mild seizure.) Her CT scan from our exciting trip in an ambulance to the ER after the first seizure came back normal. A few days later Lydia had an EEG test. Her doctor called & left a message with the results yesterday afternoon saying that her EEG came back totally normal but that he still wanted us to follow up with the pediatric-nuerologist that we have an appointment for in December. (Darn, I was hoping he would say - she's fine - skip it!) Anyway, the ironic thing about that message is that I didn't get it until after dealing with Lydia's 2nd seizure!

It was "rest time" at our house and Lydia had slept HORRIBLY the night before so I told her she needed to nap. (I've been REALLY aware of her sleeping lately b/c the drs. told us that lack of sleep can lower her seizure threshold and cause another seizure) - translation - I haven't been sleeping great. :) So, I told Lydia to go lay down & she started whining/crying about me taking her ponytail out before going to bed. I told her she needed to wait, that I would take it out after I put Micah down. So, Lydia got into bed, I put Micah down, threw a stinky diaper out in the garage trash can, and closed an internet window I had been looking at - all the while I was aware of Lydia's sort of whining/whimpering noises. I figured - it was her ponytail issue. Well, I was wrong. I am guessing that she experienced another 1 to 2 minute seizure because when I got to her in the bedroom she was at the point where I think she was "coming out of it." Her eyes were back in forth between normal and rolling back into her head but her body was pretty pliable. So, I rolled her on her side (like you're supposed to) and tried to get her to focus on me. When I rolled her on her side I realized she had totally wet herself and that's when I realized she must have had another seizure. Her color was normal, she was breathing normally, & I was calm. (All good things.) She sort of came to but was still WAY out of it and I called John just to let him know & get his opinion - do I call 911 again or just the pediatric clinic we go to?!?! Since there didn't seem to be an apparent 911 emergency I called the peds. and they told me that yes, she probably had another seizure, and as long as she was breathing normally and her color was normal I could just let her sleep - that's all she wanted to do anyway. 15 minutes after she had fallen asleep she woke up & responded to me by nodding & acknowledging who I was. I then sat next to her, prayed, read, and prayed some more until John came home. We woke her up after a 2 hour nap (unheard of by Lydia!) :) and we bathed her, changed her, and took her to the doctor. (They had wanted to see her.) After we woke her up she was her normal, happy, sweet self! (All good things!)

The good news is that so far all of her tests have come back normal. The doc we saw last night said that's what you want - everything to come back normal because... "best case" that could mean that Lydia could have a wire or 2 "crossed" in her still developing brain & that she could potentially "grow out of" her seizure disorder. However, 1 seizure means you have a 50/50 chance of having another. Having a 2nd means you have a 75% chance of having another so... he said he would talk with our ped-neurologist and see if he would recommend meds and or an MRI.

So... Long story - maybe not so short :) We've been told that Lydia should start meds today & that she should be scheduled for an MRI. The docs have all conferred and they want her to start on "Keppra." I am most nervous about the possible behavioral side effects (depression, mood swings, agressive behavior, anxiety... etc) It hurts this momma to think of her sweet girl struggling with these issues all because of a condition she can't control and isn't totally diagnosed with. (tears... sniff) :) Anyway... Her ped assured me that he has RARELY seen these side effects in children but that I needed to be aware of them. He also stated that since we are scheduled to fly to NJ on Tuesday to visit family & that traveling USUALLY includes sleep depreviation that he highly recommends starting meds b/c of the likelihood of another seizure. His other bottom line is that Lydia needs to be a kid & live a normal life. He doesn't want us "walking on glass" or Lydia missing out on things because of fear of another seizure. But until she is totally diagnosed and ALL tests have come back we need to make sure we play it safe and not put her in situations that could be "inherently dangerous if she were to seize." (i.e. swimming, riding bikes, climbing big toys without pretty close supervision...) So... that's where we are - taking one day/one step at a time and trusting God has this all under His control because, Lord knows I sure don't! :)

In the meantime, Lydia is acting like her normal self. Reading, coloring, pretending to be "Angelina Ballerina," and doing all her normal 4 year old things! :) We are so grateful for all of that!!! :)

<>< JB+3

FINALLY! Halloween 2009

For some reason or another we had an issue with one of the memory cards that belongs to our camera. The issue was that neither of our computers was reading the card. (I even tried ALL the USB ports!) And of course it was the memory card with ALL of the pumpkin carving and Halloween pictures on it. So this morning, I went to Walgreens and had the pictures pulled off & burned onto a CD. Here are just some of the pictures from the fun-sugar-filled weekend!

Micah wasn't too sure about sticking his hand inside a pumpkin... Although he thought jabbing a spoon inside was pretty fun.


For some reason Trader Joe's was only selling "organic" pumpkins. I didn't figure this out until we had picked our pumpkins and gotten them home. Lydia was a little disappointed at the lack of seeds the organic pumpkins produced because she wanted to try roasting them this year. I guess pumpkins that haven't been genetically modified and then fertilized to death by chemicals don't produce as many seeds. Who knew?!?! :) We still roasted the seeds and Lydia later decided she didn't like them. Ha!



So you say I can't have my wine huh?!?! Well then this Momma will just have to cope with San Pellegrino and good chocolate!!! Ha! :)

Halloween night called for homemade "Jack o'Lantern Pizza" made with pineapple and prosciutto.

"Princess Fiona and Shrek!"

Fiona and Shrek with their "loot"

Sugar-crash-induced sleep "coma"

"Did you see this? It was on YouTube!"

Which video is better? Probably The Office since we all "know" the characters. But you can be the judge. Both videos are pretty hilarious but... between Kevin's tissue box shoes & hairpiece, oh, and "vogue" dance with Oscar, Andy's walker, Phyllis's hat, and Stanley's "stank face" (So You Think You Can Dance reference), Michael's really bad dancing, and Dwight's kick to Pam's best friend's nose... I think The Office wins - hands down. :)

18 months old today!

Micah - just a few hours old

Micah - a few weeks old

It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone... Micah is 18 months old today! He has brought such joy and CRAZY energy to our lives! He is so different from Lydia and has totally proved that some "boy" things are just nature and not nutured. :) The silly car and vaccum noises, constantly going-going-going, and always sporting some kind of bruise b/c of his lack of fear and love of adventure! How fun it is to have a little man around the house - and how exciting it is anticipating another baby-man! Happy 18 months Micah-man! We love you!

Micah's 1st Christmas (2008)

Micah's 1st birthday

Mommy's little "baby-man", Daddy's little "airborne ranger"

Happy 18 months!

Slugs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

That's what little boys are made of!

Yup, it will be a BOY! Very clearly - no doubt about it - we will have another boy on our hands come mid to late February. John and I are both very excited about the addition of another boy. We seriously have NO names in mind that we've agreed on and don't really think help will be necessary in that department. :) (There are LOTS of teachers in our family & we know how "special" students can "ruin" names!) I'm sure we'll pick one sooner or later. Lydia was a bit disappointed when we broke the news - she really wanted a sister. We tried to smooth things over reminding her that only SHE gets to be Daddy's princess, and that only SHE gets to go on Daddy/Daughter dates, and that only SHE gets to go get pedicures and manicures with Mommy (and Nonna, MaeMae, and Chach!) Micah on the other hand has no clue what's going on and probably won't even when the baby comes.

So the pink car seat will now get a more "manly" cover and we'll aquire more "manly" toys to our collection. Right now the princesses outnumber the cars and trucks and blocks. I never envisioned myself as the momma of 2 boys... but I'm pretty excited to see what life will hold...

Pink or Blue?!?!

Well my friends and family... the big 20 week mark in this third pregnancy of mine comes tomorrow. The big 20 week ultrasound also happens tomorrow afternoon. I know my sisters are a bit disappointed that we're not waiting for delivery day to find out what baby #3 is but seriously, when you are adding a 3rd some serious purging of clothes and general baby paraphanlia needs to happen!

So, what do you think we'll see on the ultrasound? Pink or Blue?!?! Post your guess as a comment and we'll let you know tomorrow evening after we find out! (A friend of mine did this and it was really fun to read everyone's guesses on her blog!)

Here for any believers of the old wive's tales are some of the symptoms I've had this pregnancy:

• Earlier than usual morning (AKA All day sickness) - like around 6 weeks last until about week 16 (which is later than usual for me)
• HEARTBURN CITY! Water gives me heartburn - thank God for Zantac
• I detected baby movement around 13 weeks - which is pretty early but this is my 3rd, I know what I'm feeling. :)
• No totally serious cravings (with Lydia it was MILK, MILK, MILK and every so often sweets and with Micah is was Mexican food.) This baby has wanted chocolate - but only within the last few weeks... before about week 18 I really detested most sweets.
• The normal coffee repulsion to go with the all day sickness - I'm totally over that now - back to my 3 shot morning latte! :)
• My skin has been fabulous - almost no breakouts (with Micah I had lots of breakouts, with Lydia none.)
• I've gained only 6lbs! YAHOO! :)

So... post your guess! We'll post the answer tomorrow! :)

UP ROTC 5K

Last Saturday we did the first (I think it will be annual) University of Portland ROTC 5k. The weather treated us to perfect early fall rain, mist, and drizzle. I pushed (Princess) Lydia in the jogging stroller because she "didn't want to get wet" and John carried Micah on his shoulders. I'm not quite sure how the 4 month preggo Momma got stuck pushing the bigger of the 2 kiddos?!?! But then again John did carry Micah ALL 5k on his shoulders (we should have brought the backpack.) Micah was all too thrilled to be up high where he could see & could have cared less about the rain. The 2 pictures are of John and Lydia "getting ready" for the race.

Since we decided to do this race as a family we walked (with a few jogging spurts - but it feels weird to jog/run with a preggo belly!) We finished the race in 43 minutes & the preggo Momma even beat Mr. Triathlete John McDougall. :) John will claim that Micah "lost a shoe" in the last 50 meters and that he had to stop to pick it up... All I know is that the preggo Momma pushing the bigger of the 2 kiddos in the jogging stroller came across the finish first AND I took 3rd in my age group! How hilarious is that?!?!