Ally and I have survived our first 24 hours on our own! Not like we haven't done it before or anything, but I'm claiming the small victories. Lord knows I need them today! It's been one of those days... you know the kind, when your really think that Ole' Murphy got it right when he said "anything that can go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible moment!"
It started out early this morning when I drove downtown at 7:30 am in traffic to go to the Children's Hospital so I could get some prescriptions filled for Allison. I called them before I left to confirm that they were open but when I arrived I discovered they don't fill outpatient prescriptions until 9am. We weren't about to wait around for an hour so we turned around and headed home. Allison skipped her morning nap for the second day in a row which didn't allow me my normal time to get things done and relax a bit. During lunch time Ally gagged on her pureed spinach and potatoes and threw up all over herself and her highchair- getting the cute outfit I'd just dressed her in all nasty.
Our dog Angus had an appointment at the vet this afternoon- when we arrived we had to wait for a long time because the vet was attending to an emergency. Ally was being an absolute terror since she skipped her nap but we stuck it out. The last few times we visited the vet it has cost us an average of $500! I started off our consultation with the doctor by telling him that I love my babies, but I can't spend that much money today. I refused a few needless (I hope) annual tests and thought we were going to get lucky, but by the time we paid for the exam, a biopsy of a lump on Gus' chest, and some prescriptions we still owed $264- OUCH!! It took forever and a day to check out and Ally went in to full fledged melt down mode in the middle of the lobby. I couldn't do anything to console her- she just needed a nap which she thankfully took as soon as we got home- giving me some much needed time for a hot shower and some couch time.
The one bright spot in our day came when I checked out bank balance online and discovered that the first installment of Matthew's aviation bonus arrived in our checking account. Either that, or there was a Monopoly-style bank error in our favor! First we pay off the car, then it's hello granite counter tops!! So exciting! Don't worry, we're not spending it all and have already consulted with a financial advisor on the best way to invest the bulk of it, but we wanted to have a little fun with it too.
In other news, I'm on a bit of a treasure hunt. Yesterday I found two sweet love notes from Matthew. One was inside a partially consumed package of diapers and the other was in between my pillows. They provided just the encouragement that I needed to get through a difficult day yesterday. When I thanked him in an email he told me there is still one more note to find. I've been looking all over for it, but have yet to discover it's sneaky hiding place. I used half a pad of sticky notes on Tuesday leaving them in his pockets, his shaving kit, backpack, notebooks, boots, etc. Just little notes to let him know how much we love him and will miss him. He usually finds most of them within the first few days but every once in a while one stays hidden for a month or two and provides a pleasant little surprise. I hope it doesn't take me that long to find my third and final love letter!
Lastly, in Ally news- we saw a specialist in rehabilitative medicine who specializes in children with feeding problems on Monday morning. It was a 2 hour and 20 minute consultation during which time they observed me feeding Ally pureed foods, feeding her a bottle, and playing with her. They they did all sorts of developmental assessments and a physical exam. She's on target or ahead of schedule with her motor skills and fine motor skills but is a little behind with speech which is common in feeding disorder children. The doctor also discovered something a little strange- one of Ally's ears is smaller than the other! In 14 months of intense study of this kiddo I have never noticed this anomaly, but as soon as it was pointed out to me it was as plain as day. It doesn't detract from her cuteness one iota, but it's worth investigating. Here's the kicker... because she has asymmetrical ears, they're going to do an ultrasound of her kidneys. Huh??? Yeah, that's what I said too! Apparently the ears and kidneys develop at the same time in pregnancy- around the 5th to 8th week. Thus, a genetic problem in coordinating development at that time, or a non-genetic problem, such as an infection, might affect the development of both areas at the same time. That's what I've been able to surmise after some Googling anyway.
Anywho, the ultrasound won't happen until we return from our San Diego trip in early June so it'll be a while before we have any results. The doctor told me not to spend much time worrying- they were just being on the safe side and ruling out all possible issues. We're also changing up Ally's medications (hence the disastrous trip the the CHKD pharmacy this morning) and they gave us a bunch of samples of this super powered nutritional drink that is packed with calories that I mix with her formula. Ally weighed in at 20 pounds even in her birthday suit and 30 inches long and happily, is now back on the growth charts! Go girl!!
Finally, here is one more picture that didn't show up on my Wordless Wednesday post yesterday- not sure why, but I thought I'd post it today.
Whew- long post today! Think that gets me all caught up- for a few days at least! Thanks for checking in with us.
P.S. In case any of you want to contact Matthew while he is deployed his address is:
LT Matthew V. Martin
Air Dept. V-3
USS Bataan LHD 5
FPO AE 09554
email: martinma@lhd5.navy.mil
He'd love to hear from all of you I'm sure. He is going to be kept pretty busy out there with his job and a tough watch rotation but he'll get back to everyone eventually. Thanks!
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