6 Months Old!!!

Holy Cow, where did the time go?? 2009 flew by and, all of a sudden, Olivia is 6 months old! So hard to believe she's half way through her first year and soon enough I'll be planning her birthday party. (And then Aidan's party for his 4th bday but, I'll save that freak out for another time. :) )

Being that she's a big 6 month old now, it was back to the doctor for her check up. She is now 18 pounds 9 ounces and 26 3/4 inches long. That puts her at 90% for both height and weight, same as last time. Her growth has slowed a little, but she's still a big girl. (Compared to Aidan at this age, she's about 1 1/2" shorter and almost 3 1/2 pounds lighter. ) She kept rolling over on the exam table and playing with the paper on the table. She's been congested this week so the doc took a look. One of her ears has some fluid so if her cold gets worse or her behavior changes, she wants us to come back. Nice of Olivia to time it for an already scheduled appointment. Hopefully it will clear on it's own. She hasn't been real grumpy but she hasn't been eating as much though. I don't think that the doc was very happy with her sleeping patterns at night. She didn't offer any recommendations but really, I already know what we are going to have to do. The strange thing is that one night she'll sleep for 8 hours and the next night for only 4 hours. The doc didn't say anything about why that would be. I kind of wish this doctor would give me more info to go on. For most people, I'm sure it's enough but I'm a high maintenance kinda mom. Give me all the info you have! :) But, all in all, she's growing and healthy and doing the things she should be. Except sleeping at night. She got her 6 month set of shots and a seasonal flu shot and then we were sent along our merry way.

Her latest change at home is the minute you put her down she's rolling across the room. She's all over the place. She often rolls into the entertainment center and cries. Poor thing. She's still trying to sit up on her own but I'm sure she'll get it soon. Scooting across the floor can't be far off either. She enjoys her baby food and eats twice a day. It's hard to believe she's doing so many things and that she isn't a little baby anymore. This summer she's going to be trying very hard to keep up with her brother and the neighborhood kids. Just think, this summer she's going to be learning to walk. Crazy!

The Allergist Pt. 2

Tuesday I got a call from the allergist's office. They had tracked down Aidan's results. The nurse told me that his blood level was low enough that they would've done the skin test anyway. However, since he reacted to the skin test, he's still a no-go for peanuts. All that changes is that they want him to come back in 1 year to retest. They're hoping since the level was low, in their opinion, he'll "outgrow" the allergy by then. So, next year, back we go! That should be fun. Another interesting thing they found was he had a low positive for pecans and sesame seeds too. He's had both of those and never had a reaction. So, they seem to think that his body is already finding a way to adjust to those allergens and he can still have them. Hopefully the same will happen with peanuts.

This whole process has apparently made an impact on Aidan. Today he was giving the cats and I "shots" and telling us it was going to hurt "really really bad". He even told me during my "shot" not to move so much. Just like the lab tech said to him. He also told Max that he "knows it hurts. It's ok." It's so interesting to watch him process it all by acting it out and in a way where he has control over the situation. He also talked about it a bit. He mentioned the new doctor, the toys there, and that the skin test hurt although he called it a shot. I'm not looking forward to doing this again next year.

A Trip to the Allergist (or Aidan's least favorite place on Earth!)

Monday was Aidan's allergist appointment. I made Julien take the morning off to come with us. I didn't think that I could handle both kids and be able to manage Aidan at the same time. I was very glad that I made him come. We hadn't even left the house yet when Aidan started to freak out. He talked about the blue tourniquet strap that they used when they drew blood. He said that he didn't want the "blue thing" again. I tried to explain that he wouldn't get his blood drawn again and that it wasn't going to hurt. (Apparently I am not that convincing. Neither is Julien.) We talked about how they were going to feed him peanut butter and that would be the worst of it. He didn't like that idea either telling me that "it's ackey". (Boy do we have that kid trained well!) So, we had to tell him that it was ok just this once and maybe the doctor would let him have it from then on. We were hopeful anyway. Well we all got in the car and headed to the allergist. I made sure to pack heavy as I had no idea how long it would take or how bad Aidan would be. So, I took enough bottles and formula for the entire morning and toys for Aidan to play with. Julien had picked out a toy for Aidan to get after the appointment as sort of a reward. It was an Imaginex dragon with a knight. Very cool. So we get there and are taken back to the exam room. Aidan is ok when he sees there are toys in the room. (Something I like about that office.) Then the doc comes in. She tells us that they are on the phone with the lab trying to find the results to his blood work. Remember that blood work that traumatized Aidan that the office told us we had to do before the appointment. Yeah, the lab can't find it. This peeves me to say the least. So the doc said we would just do the skin test. The blood work would give her a number that I assumed has to do with the level of antibody in the blood. She said if the number was high it would tell her not to do the food challenge but if it was low she would do the skin test anyway. She did sympathize with us about losing the results after the whole drama it caused. I told her I'd like to hear the results anyway but I haven't gotten a call. So we did the skin test. At this point Daddy went to get Aidan's present and I helped Aidan with the skin test. I had no idea that he would freak out so hard about this too. He screamed that he wanted his shirt back on, he cried, he screamed, his face turned bright red. He fought Julien the entire 15 minutes. The doc even checked on him cause he was so loud. Well, when it was all said and done, he had a big reaction to the skin test. About as big as the control. The first time we did it about 18 mos ago he didn't react at all. And he hasn't had any peanuts or PB since then. So the doc determined it wouldn't be safe to do the challenge and he would officially have a peanut allergy. She gave us a prescription for another epipen and told us to come back at 5 years old to try it again. Since Aidan reacted this time around, that means Olivia has an increased chance of having the allergy too. Not a huge chance but enough that she isn't to have peanuts before 3 years old. So we left the office and decided to go to MacArthur's for donuts. We all had been through a lot that morning and donuts were definitely needed. Julien and I were both surprised that the skin test reacted so big. Julien even said to me "You were right. He really is allergic." I would've been all right with being wrong on this one. So, until the next allergist appointment (which I'm thankful isn't for 2 years, it'll take Aidan that long to recover from this one.) we continue to be a peanut-free household.

My Poor Little Guy

Today Julien called me all frantic and told me that the allergist's office had left a message on his phone. Apparently Aidan needed some blood work done before his appointment on Monday. Suddenly I remembered that I forgot to update our info with the nurse when I scheduled his appointment. But then again, the nurse never asked. So, after calling the office I was told that Aidan needed blood drawn either today or tomorrow in order for the results to be done by Monday. I decided I would just take him today and get it over with. I was not looking forward to this at all. Not to mention I had just put him down for nap. Mistake number one was trying to explain to him what we were doing before I got him in the car. I told him that I needed him to be brave and that they were going to pinch him a little. He freaked out at that. Mistake number two was not having Julien go too. We got there and Aidan was fine with being in the lab. I put him in my lap and another nurse helped to hold him. The lab tech stuck him and he flipped out!!! He wiggled him arm and the needle came out and poked him again. The lab tech asked if I wanted to come back tomorrow and try again. I told her that this needed to get done in time for the appointment and I don't think we were going to have any better luck next time. So we layed him on a exam table and I laid across his chest while the nurse and another tech held him and the first tech tried to take his blood. He cried and screamed and told me they were going to hurt him. It was awful. And oh my did he fight. The entire time. The tech couldn't keep his elbow flat and he wouldn't quit moving. So they got a little bit of blood and called it. We obviously weren't getting anymore out of him and he was terrified. Aidan got a band aid and some stickers and we went home. I set him up on the couch with a pillow and blanket and we watched some Mighty Machines and ate cookies. I felt him had more than earned it. Eventually he let me put an ice pack on his arm. Poor guy, he kept talking about his boo boo. I really hope we don't have to do that anytime soon. They better be able to use what they got from him because I don't think he'll be willing to try again on Monday.