Blog Changes

I did some freshening up here on my blog- I thought it was time for a new look, one that better matched the content of the blog.  What do you think?

I haven't been posting very often- and when I do, it's usually due to the fact that I've had time to sit down and write a few posts and schedule them to post over the next few days... so it looks like I've posted a few times, but really my life is crazy-busy (as I'm sure you can relate) and blogging is often pushed further down on the to-do list.  Like on the next page.  At the bottom.  Squeezed in after the last line in teeny-tiny writing.  But you get the picture.  ;)

Speaking of pictures, we are having our first family photo session next Saturday and to say I'm excited is the understatement of the year.  Yippee!  We've only had it booked for, oh, 2-3 months... I've been working on our outfits for just as long (maybe even longer) and I'm still not sure what we're all going to wear.  I'm working under all this pressure to make sure we all look just right- coordinated, but not matchy-matchy.  Put-together, but not looking like it's taken me the months it has to get the look just right.  And who's putting the pressure on me?  Well, that would be me.  My sister-in-law is taking the pictures so I know with her talent, we could take pictures dressed in clothes made from feed sacks and she'd still make the pictures look amazing.

In other news, we made our first trip to the emergency room last week.  Little Miss H developed a cough that sounded exactly like the baby's cough on the pertussis commercial.  Do you know the one?  She kept having coughing fits and I couldn't sleep- especially after watching the video on the Sounds of Pertussis website- so I took her in around 3 am on Columbus Day.  They swabbed her for RSV- which came back negative- and only swabbed her for pertussis after I begged and pleaded.  I was told to take her to see her regular pediatrician in 2-3 days if her cough persisted and that they would call me if the results of the pertussis swab came back positive. 

Something about all of that didn't sit right with me, so I took her to see her regular doctor later that same day.  They actually wanted to test for pertussis right away (no begging or pleading there!) but I decided not to have her swabbed again since she'd already been swabbed that morning.  (Lesson learned: always consent to another swab)  Our pediatrician wanted to go ahead and get her started on antibiotics as a just-in-case measure and also promised to check with the lab at the hospital for the results of the swab.

We started H on the medicine, keeping her home from daycare as we waited to find out the results of the test.  The typical wait time of 48 hours came and went.  We called the doctor to see if results had come back.  They called the hospital to find out.  No results.  We called again the next day- still no results.  Friday rolled around and still, we knew nothing.  H's cough had improved, she had never run a fever, and had certainly not suffered from a loss of appetite.  By Monday she had finished her antibiotics so we sent her to daycare.  I called the doctor's office again to find out if they had any information.  The nurse checked and then called me back.  She was told by the hospital that this test can sometimes take up to 10 days to find out the results.  (Am I kicking myself now for not letting our doctor do another swab?  You betcha!)  Then out of the blue, on Wednesday D gets a call from a nurse at the emergency room, checking up on H to see how she was doing.  D filled them in on what our doctor had prescribed and said she was doing much better.  Right before the call ended, D asked whether the results from the swab were in or not, only to be told that the ER had made a mistake when swabbing and the lab had to throw the swab out.  (2nd lesson learned: When the health and wellness of a child is at stake, just drive the extra 15-20 minutes to the Children's Hospital- even when it's 3 in the morning and you're by yourself.) 

Thankfully, she seems to be doing just fine.  She had a few days this past week where she didn't cough much, if at all, but with the recent weather change, she seems to have developed a different cough. 


In addition, A has the stomach bug that has been going around in our area.  My little bottomless pit only ate crackers yesterday.  He who has the energy of the Energizer bunny has been a cuddly little guy who sits on Mama's lap and watches cartoons while I run my fingers through his hair.  He usually hates it when I do this, but yesterday, if I ever stopped, he would put my hand back on his head and say, "More, Mama." 

All in all, our little family of four is doing well.  Hopefully A begins to improve today because we had plans to go to a pumpkin patch after church tomorrow!

Happy Saturday!