A Little Progress

I left my house 3 days this week! I am still feeling terrible and still getting sick, but I have made some progress. I'm able to keep a little more food down. I've gained back a couple of pounds. However, it's hard to be excited about it. I know it could be worse but it still just sucks! I'm nauseated 24/7 and still am not tolerating liquids at all. I'm vomiting less, but I'm still vomiting. I had a really good day last week but haven't since...and it gave me false hope that this sickness was possibly ending now that I'm into my second trimester. I know my attitude sounds pissy and I hate that. So I'll just try to focus on the positives. I made it to school drop-off all 3 days this week. Harper doesn't go on Wednesdays and instead she had her 4-year check-up with her pediatrician. I was able to take her and survived our outing. All the kinks have finally been worked out with home health so I'm staying hydrated and out of the hospital, which helps me feel well enough to at least get out of bed. I even did my first load of laundry in probably 2 months. I made it to Muffins with Mom in Harper's class this morning. (I won't mention that I had no idea she was even having one until 5 minutes before we left today, since I've been such a slacker and haven't been checking their folders...)

Here are a few pictures from our week: 

My new accessory. Isn't it stylish?  It's a pain to shower and change clothes and I did get some uncomfortable looks from people when I was out in public, but whatev! It keeps me out of the hospital and helps keep the baby safe, so it's totally worth it.

Ivy, my new best friend

Harper's well exam went great. She has made SUCH an improvement with all of her asthma issues since having her tonsils and adenoids taken out. We tried to wean her off of singulair last month but she immediately developed a cough, so we're keeping her on it for now. She was not a fan of having to get her booster shots, bless her heart. She milked it, too. Poor girl couldn't walk on her leg all day long, and instead pitifully hopped around or insisted on being carried. Her dad tried to convince her that it needed to be amputated, but miraculously it got better after that conversation :)

Vision test

This is where we found her this morning. I guess the dog bed is more comfy?

muffins with mom

"I love my mom because...she makes cake and cookies with me and she goes somewhere with me."

Harrison's class filled up their bucket so they celebrated with a costume day

Hmm, is it obvious I haven't cooked anything in 2 months? Ha! At least he didn't put cereal...

Harrison's Mother's Day Card 2015

Harrison's GI doctor called last night with the results to his monometry study and endoscopy. His biopsy came back showing abnormal cellular changes in his esophagus from acid exposure so he wants to monitor that and wants him back on prevacid. His motility results also came back abnormal. The test wasn't as conclusive as we were hoping as far as diagnosing him though. The pictures from the endoscopy do show that his pyloric sphincter is constricted, which helps explain why he's not digesting his food as quickly as he should be. But they still aren't sure whether the vomiting and reflux is a symptom of his gastroparesis, or if his gastroparesis is a symptom of the vomiting and reflux. He suspects rumination syndrome might be playing a big role, so he wants us to try biofeedback therapy first and see if that helps before putting him on more medication. His physical therapy evaluation is scheduled in 3 weeks and I'm pretty skeptical on how effective this is going to be with a 5 year old, but I guess we'll see. He is also following up with his allergist next week because I have a hunch all of this might be diet related. Kids with food allergies are at higher risk of developing eosinophilic esophogitis.

I don't think I mentioned how the procedure went. It was an awful experience. I asked the anesthesiologist to give him some medicine to help relax him before sending him back since last time he completely freaked out. The happy juice did the trick and he was quite hilarious. It's very weird seeing your child drunk :) One of the funny things he slurred was, "I want my curtains closed. Wow, they're colorful like a rainbow. Hey, it's like I'm a leprechaun at the end of the rainbow!" Then he put his hand down his pants and giggled the funniest laugh and said, "this is why I wanted my curtains closed." Such a silly boy. Anyway, he went back completely fine with no tears. However, he woke up extremely combative and trying to rip the tubing out of his nose. They had to put him in arm restraints and give him some morphine to knock him back out. He woke up the second time calmer, but had a bad reaction to the anesthesia and spent the rest of the first day vomiting and unable to keep any of his food down. I'm sure we were a sad sight lying there together with our matching barf bags. He was finally able to keep down a piece of toast right before bed. The next morning, an x-ray showed that all the vomiting dislodged the sensors and they had to manually adjust it while he was awake...talk about traumatic. The rest of the day he was not himself at all and was extremely quiet. He was mad and sad and I'm sure felt completely violated. They had to give him a shot where we had to hold him down again, and then when it was time to take the tubing out I just wanted to cry for him. I was thankful to see he was back to his old self after we got home. But the next day he totally used his leverage when I told him his screen time was up. "But even after all I've been through?" Well played, kid. Well played.

I think that's it for now. We are currently snuggled up on the couch watching Mulan...I'm pretty sure we've seen it 5 times and yet I still can't stay focused on it long enough to know what it's about. :)