since my last post. I know. Things have been crazy. Really crazy. On Monday, the day after Ella's party, we had a little scare... and spent nearly six hours in the emergency room. Ella was with Rennell and luckily I was working from home. We had crossed paths in the hallway and not five minutes later, I got a call from Rennell. Apparently, Ella started convulsing, shrieking (much different from screaming), was sweaty, pale and her lips turned blue. Eventually, she stopped responding and her eyes started to close. So, Rennell tried to rouse her and only a few minutes later... she was back to herself again. Fortunately (and unfortunately), I didn't have to witness my baby going through this. I got there to see her still pale and a little out of it. We made the decision to drive the 1/2 mile to Walter Reed and wait it out in the ER. I was a bit freaked out and kept hugging Ella. After LOTS of tests (CT Scan, blood, urine, etc.), they found absolutely NOTHING wrong with her. She had no fever, no sign of illness. So... it was either a seizure or perhaps something she ate. Nobody knows. It's a mystery. But I can tell you that we'll be watching her very closely from now on.
The day after this exhausting episode, Ella had to go in for her 12-month appointment... also at Walter Reed. Compared to the ER, the pediatrics clinic looked like paradise. All of the news reports of the the hospital being in dire need of repair are absolutely true. The peds clinic seems to be an exception. Everything went very well. Ella is weighing in at 20.8 lbs and is nearly 29 inches long... She talked and talked to the Dr. and nurses and impressed them with her conversation skills :-) They put in a consult for her to get an echocardiogram on her heart, as she still has a murmer. But we were assured that it is nothing to worry about. It doesn't seem to be slowing her down.
Ella is still not walking on her own, but enjoys using her walker up and down the hall several times a day. She also tries to use anything she can find to help her walk... which is how she had a little accident on Friday. While using a small recycle bin to push her way across the floor, Ella fell down and got a little scrape next to her eye. It's only a tiny scab now, but she certainly looked abused for the first few days. I'm sure this is only one of many accidents to come :-(
Brady is home for the next few days, but will be leaving again (he got home yesterday) for a week and a half. So... Ella and I are missing him greatly and can't wait until he's back for more than a few days at a time.
More photos coming soon...
I have been having a terrible time keeping everyone posted. I keep thinking things will slow down—that the craziness is only temporary. I guess I just need to accept that it isn't a phase. My life is now insane and I have to do twelve things at a time just to keep up. Brady has been gone all week for work and is coming back tomorrow (a day early)! I went into the office Tuesday-Friday and am taking on a little extra work for some undetermined duration (a week? a month?)... and hopefully when it's over, I can have a little time to myself to do some of the things I did before Ella came along—like paint, make some books, take some non-baby photos. We'll see... but back to the main character of our story.
