Wednesday, March 09, 2011

I've Had Better Days

I took Petunia to her immunology appointment today. The immunologist/allergist was very nice, and good at explaining things (he even adjusted well when I told him I was trained as a biochemist- some doctors either can't switch off their super simple explanations or switch to "expert in the same field" level explanations. He switched to "reasonably knowledgeable lay person" level, which was perfect for me).

From her history, he didn't strongly suspect an immune deficiency (phew!) but did want to run some tests. He ordered an x-ray of her sinuses and some blood tests. She's had far more x-rays than I'd really like at this point, with the checks on her hip for dysplasia (due to her breech birth; she showed some signs of this but it corrected without intervention), the chest x-ray during the first health scare, and now the sinus x-ray. Rationally, I know that this is really low risk, i.e., not something I need to worry about. But it still seems like a lot of x-rays for a such a little kid! Petunia wasn't too impressed with the lead apron they put on her for the x-ray, so I ended up having to hold her down for it. Still, it was worth it- the doctor called my cell phone while I was waiting for the blood draw and told me that the X-ray showed mild to moderate thickening of the mucosal lining on one of her sinuses. This could be a sign of a chronic sinus infection, so we'll probably be off to see an ear, nose, and throat specialist before too long.

Petunia didn't like the x-ray, but she hated the blood draw. The doctor had recommended that I take her to the lab at the office that houses my pediatrician, because those technicians see more babies than the ones at the lab at the office where he is located. But I didn't think I'd have time to make it there before they closed, and I didn't want to have to take her in tomorrow. So I decided to try at the office I was at. Wrong decision. They tried. Petunia screamed, and kicked, and shook her head no. And they failed to get any blood. They called the lab at the other office, and it was open until 5:30, so I did have time to go there. I calmed Petunia down (big, shuddering sobs. Ugh.) and drove to the other office, where she screamed, kicked, and shook her head no again, but they were able to quickly pull the blood they needed. I felt like such a jerk for not listening to the doctor in the first place. Poor Petunia! She calmed down fairly quickly, though, and was all smiles by the time we got home.

We won't hear back on the blood tests for a week or so, so now we just wait. Petunia's been healthy for a week and a half, although she is still congested. Her sleep is getting better again, causing me to hope that we might get back to the one wake-up per night schedule we had back in November.

The extra stop meant that I wasn't even leaving the doctor's office until 5:30, which is when I would normally need to start dinner. I knew that the meal I had on the menu plan was not going to work. I called Hubby, hoping to tell him to put some water on for pasta when he got home, and discovered that he was still at day care, where Pumpkin was taking a lengthy potty break. So we decided that he'd stop at the local fast food place on his way home. Pumpkin was excited about the idea- she views a meal from that place as a huge treat- but I felt even worse, because today was Hubby's birthday. Instead of the nice meal I had planned, he got a greasy fast food hamburger. I should have put a candle on it, because I didn't have a cake, either- I had hoped to have time to stop at the store after the doctor's appointment.

Then, Pumpkin melted down at snack time because I wouldn't let her watch videos on my computer during snack (it disrupts Petunia's snack, and she hadn't eaten much dinner). Pumpkin tantrumed in her room for a good 15 minutes before she finally calmed down and ate her snack. Then Petunia melted down when Hubby tried to get her down for the night, and I had to go take over. Miraculously, Pumpkin accepted that change (it was my night to read her stories, but Hubby had to do it instead). However, it is now 45 minutes past her bedtime and I'm not sure she's asleep yet- I was recently called in to turn her pillow over. And Petunia woke up 20 minutes ago and needed to be resettled.

So yeah, not the best day. I think I'll crawl into bed now and hope that the night isn't a continuation of this disaster!

15 comments:

  1. So sorry you had such a crap day! You have my sympathy. One of my boys had a couple of xrays of his foot, and the other had a really bad blood draw experience- I can't imagine doing both in one afternoon! I hope the night worked its magic and all is well now :)

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  2. Ugh, that does sound like an awful day :( I hate hearing about small children undergoing a barrage of tests.

    Not sure if you were reading my blog then, but when Evan was a month old, he had a seizure-like episode, and got practically every test in the book - CT scan, chest X-ray, MRI, ultrasound, EEG, EKG, spinal tap, and a TON of blood work. They found nothing and determined he had just choked on some spit up, causing him to stop breathing for a couple seconds.

    Needless to say, I'm not a big fan of doing so many tests on young children!

    I hope the blood work comes back fine, and that today is a better day!

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  3. Yuck, that sounds like an awful day. Here's hoping things improve!

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  4. Do you guys have a baby sitter? I know I wasn't ever comfortable with the idea of leaving Tate with a sitter when he was super little but now that both of the girls are getting a little older - might do you and hubby some good to get a few hours off on a Friday night...

    I'm sorry Petunia is having a rough go right now. :( Unexplained illness, a new job and a three almost four year old. Kudos for not just running from the house screaming. :)

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  5. paola7:08 AM

    I think you deserve a beer actually.

    Hope the blood tests come back negative.

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  6. What a hellish day, I'm sorry. Agree with the babysitter and beer recommendations! Hugs to you!

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  7. I was too tired for a beer last night, but don't worry, help is on its way... my Mom flies in tonight!

    (But yes, we also have other babysitting options, too. We're quite lucky in that regard.)

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  8. Oh dear, I hope its nothing and she's just getting a ton of colds and infections like a lot of other kids I know this year.

    Poor hubby too, although if he's anything like mine he doesnt really care about birthdays too much, so just making it up to him another time will be fine!

    Take care

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  9. My daughter (similar age to Petunia) had to have an x ray on her elbow and she hated it as well. Getting blood taken would be horrible for a little person but glad she bounced back fairly quickly. I hope the result come back showing nothing and that you all had a restful night.

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  10. Ack, sounds awful. And sympathies to your husband regarding his birthday "celebration". Birthday celebrations and anniversaries for the adults at our house have been a lot more low-key (read: non-existent) since the kids arrived.

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  11. Oh I hate days like this. That sucks. I hope Petunia's test all come back ok. Hugs to you.

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  12. I'm so sorry. Having recently watched Mademoiselle endure a failed attempt to draw blood, I know how terrible that is.

    It sounds to me like you're doing a great job holding everything together. I'm impressed, really. You and your husband will probably look back on this birthday years later and remember it with humor, the sort of "that's what it was like in the trenches of new parenthood" almost-nostalgia... I hope so, at least.

    In the meantime, I think you deserve a beer (or two) and a nice dinner that someone else cooks.

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  13. Anonymous3:38 PM

    Ick! Hope Thursday and today were better.

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  14. That sounds like a suck fest of a day! And i thought my Wednesday was bad - anyway, I'm glad the rest of the week was better.

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  15. Bad day. And such a worry. Keep us updated.

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