Unfortunate Events

Things have taken a definite turn for the worse (not to be pessimistic) with Cara. After running a fever, vomiting and not having an appetite for about 48 hours, we determined that it was time to call her doctor. We got an appointment this afternoon for her to be seen. Our biggest concern being dehydration since the poor baby couldn't keep anything down for more than a couple of hours. A thorough examination led to the conclusion that Cara has a mild ear infection and that the pain and nausea associated with that was probably causing her to vomit. We were given a Rx for amoxicillin and told to offer her fluids around the clock and if she wasn't much improved by the end of the weekend, to bring her back on Monday. We narrowly escaped a positive culture for Strep, thank goodness!

We had also asked the doctor to discuss the ultrasound results from Children's Hospital earlier in the week. We had been praying that the radiologist saw nothing alarming...that it was just genetics. Unfortunately, Lady Luck was not on our side. Instead, the ultrasound found that the three front lobes of Cara's brain are enlarged and causing some concern. Her doctor wants us to take Cara in for a MRI to provide more details and hopefully reveal the reason for the enlargement. At this point in time, her doctor has no idea what this enlargement could mean. She did say, however, that it could very well explain her developmental delays, but that would be the call of a pediatric neurosurgeon, if it came to that. It could be nothing at all or it could be something quite serious. Originally, we were going to take Cara back the Children's Hospital for the MRI but, then, found out that they are 2-3 weeks backlogged. There's no way that I would be able to wait that long wondering what's wrong with my baby, so I put in a call to my mom and asked her to check with the hospital in Montrose. Being a smaller hospital, there's not as much demand or a backlog, so as long as our insurance will cover it, Cara has an appointment there on Thursday morning. We will be packing up and going over on Tuesday, most likely, as long as Cara is feeling much improved from the ear infection. My mom will be able to go to the hospital with me (Ben will be here in Denver, he has to work all week, unfortunately, but he is very supportive of me going to Montrose and getting this done ASAP) and hopefully, we'll get Caitlin's former sitter (or maybe my best friend) to watch her while we go.

Please, continue praying, thinking good thoughts and crossing fingers & toes. I'm trying to to think "what if" or worse case scenario but, I will admit to being scared out of my mind. My little girl has been through so much in her short life and it seems like there's no end in sight.

Thanks everyone & I'll continue to keep you posted.

On the "Forefront"

Before I start a post on the girls' birthday party celebration, I wanted to write about something that really had Ben & I (along with our close friends and family) wondering. Our youngest, Cara, went in for an ultrasound of her frontal lobe area of the brain yesterday. Her pediatrician showed some concern because her head circumference has been measuring off the charts for several months now. At first, he was hoping that the rest of her would catch up to her "out of proportion" cranium. When that didn't happen, he wondered if it was genetics. However, been at approximately 105% of average still worried him. He wanted to be sure that she didn't have hydrocephalus, which could account for the reason why Cara is a bit behind in her developmental milestones like crawling, walking, pulling up, etc. So, he wrote up an order for the ultrasound and we drove to downtown Denver yesterday afternoon to the pediatric imagining department of Children's Hospital. We arrived on time, after a nerve-wrecking experience parking in an ancient parking structure (problem to resolved when the hospital moves to the Fitsimmons campus in October). Let me just say that this hospital is the cutest and most kid friendly place I've ever seen. The information desk looks like a hot air balloon and there's a huge fish tank, TV playing Disney channel shows and playhouses in the waiting area. Doesn't seem like a hospital in a lot of ways. Anyway, we checked in at the pediatric imaging department and waited about 15 minutes for our turn. We were escorted to the ultrasound room by Jessica, a really sweet ultrasound technician. She put enough gel on Cara's hair to hold a mohawk for a long time, did the ultrasound while I kept Cara from swatting at her and within 10 minutes, we were out.
We are still waiting for the results from Cara's pediatrician and have an an appointment scheduled for next week. While we seriously doubt that there's anything "wrong" with Cara's cute little brain, we are prepared for the news that she might need some physical therapy to help her learn to crawl and walk. We will do whatever it takes to help her along. Looking back, I think it was meant to be that I became a SAHM because should she need PT a few times a week, I will be free to take her whereas, had I been working, I would've had to take time off. There is a divine plan and reason for everything in life.
So, if I may ask, could you all keep Cara in your thoughts & prayers over the next week or so as we find out the results of the ultrasound and decide on how best to go forward from here. No matter what we find out, nothing will change how much we love our little girl and how she means the world to us!