Made it through... The week

**4/19
So we made it through to another week. Whew.

Audrey did good for the rest of the week. We found out wed night she had an ear infection, which contributed to sleepless nights and days, which caused stress for her body, which all helped the breakthrough in seizures. She's on antibiotics, and seems to be getting over the sickness that her and Garrett both came down with.
Now that we are over that hurdle... We can learn from it and do better next time and adjust our 'family protocols'... As I like to call them :)
We are now going to quarantine ourselves for the next couple of months to see if we can keep the frequency of the seizures down. It seems as though the seizures increase when Audrey does get sick. Also if Garrett gets sick, more than likely Audrey will follow in a couple days, like this week.
** 4/28
Had another seizure last Monday night. Currently we're down a week with one to go. The ear infection that she developed from 2 weeks ago never went away with antibiotics so... We are on round 3 and we are exploring putting tubes in her ears. She's had 3 ear infections in 6 weeks.. And the dr said that they like to aim for 4 in 6 months before they recommend tubes. He assured me that he would strongly recommend Audrey for them because ether are also a trigger for her seizures. We are still trying to stay away from sickness so... it would be helpful if you know you are sick and plan on hanging around us to let us know... We can then make an informed decision to stay home or join the party.
As a parent it is hard to deny your kids (and ourselves) fun outings with friends and family, but until we can get a handle on things, this is the only thing we can think of to do.
Recently I have talked to other moms who have gone through similar experiences one of them hit it right on the head.... " this is a solitary journey". We have been so blessed to have friends and family by our side but there is still this feeling as parents that no one really gets what you're going through unless you've done it yourself. Isn't that how all trials and life experiences are. It's still such a comfort that we have the gospel in our lives and to know that Christ himself had a "solitary journey" and he knows exactly how we feel. What a sense of peace that brings to me. However still being human , with many faults... Some days that solitary feeling is more overwhelming.

On a happier and more exciting note...
CONGRATULATIONS TO JORDAN!!!
He is officially done with getting his MBA!!! Well done Jordan!! I am so proud of you and all your amazing abilities to complete school while working full time and deal with us crazy people back at home in any spare time you had left! We love you and so proud of you!!! (Also to be done :) )

Just a little celebrating after...

Silver linings and tender mercies

Well, unfortunately I was right. It's already been a tough week. My poor baby had another seizure tonight. How frustrating it is as a parent that I don't know how to help Audrey nor can I stop these from coming on. I feel so helpless in a situation as this where I believe she is teething, something I can't prevent (like a sickness) and her little body just can't take the stress. However in spite of all this, I can't stop and think about all the bad without recognizing the good in each situation and feel so blessed.
I know we are put through trials to learn here on earth, and the Lord helps us through each day in anyway we allow him to. Here are just a few tender mercies we had tonight within the events that transpired.
When I felt like I had had enough on my own, because Audrey didn't feel good and had been screaming for an hour, I was able to call my mom for help. She came over to help with the kids. Even just to rock Audrey for a few minutes helped immensely. she then took Garrett to go get dinner and run an errand. A much needed break while Audrey slept. She was then back with few minutes to spare, when Audrey woke up and started into her seizure. Where we loaded up and headed for the hospital. (new instructions will hopefully prevent any more speeding trips to the ER) Audrey was able to stop on her own after 6.5 min. Yea! Always a good thing!! We just happened to be at the island market at that time where we decided to head to my parent's church house where my dad was at meetings. We pulled him out and grabbed a fellow priesthood member who came to my parents house and gave Audrey a blessing. She was able to clam down, take her meds for the night and sleep. Being the sweet girl she is, when she woke up getting ready for bed, she gave us her big happy smile, which always puts my heart at ease.
To me this is a smooth chain of events where I know the Lord was watching over us. I feel blessed and hope that the doctors will know the next steps in order to help Audrey.
So grateful for my husband who does it all.... Work, school, and family. We both can't wait for graduation day! :)
Thanks to both of our great parents who help out whenever we need it and whenever we ask! I can't imagine doing all of this without family close by.

One week down... Yea!

So we've hit 8 days seizure free. Let the count-up begin! We have yet to hit a full month w/o seizures. I'm not shooting for the moon but, a month without would be nice. And of course the warm weather has helped all of us be in a better mood. :)
She seems to be doing ok still on the meds, but I have started to see some side effects- or what I think are...
•Shaking/ tremors- this can definatly make me do a double take some days. She'll start shaking like when you try to hold your own hand out and make it be still. Not too bad but keeps me on high alert some days when it's bad enough. (usually just certain times of the day)
• excitability- this one is trickier... She seems to be happy all the time which is part of her personality but, she also seems to get in more of a hyper state, rather than just a pleasant nature. She has also found her voice and is practicing the loud volume... Pair that with being excited all the time... I'm thinking about getting a box of ear plugs next time I go out.... Even more so when Garrett chimes in and they feed off each other. Wow. The other part of this is I think it's hard for her to wind down for naps and bedtime. I can tell when she is truly exhausted because she will just lay down turn her head to the side and go right to sleep. On the flip side, rocking for an hour... We'll see how this plays out.

Well we did have a good Easter and we all got spoiled :) clothes mainly. But Garrett did get some Transformers: Rescue Bots. It's his favorite show these days. Of course all boys like robots who are cool cars. We had to dye Easter eggs the colors of the 4 Bots, then draw eyes and their signature piece ( like rotors for the helicopter). At least we know he likes them :)
Jordan only has a month left of school before he's graduated!!! Yea! I think everyone is looking forward to no homework nights.
Also I signed Garrett up for co-ed spring soccer. He's excited and I think it will be awesome to let him get all his energy out some days. Jordan and I have this bet that he'll be so excited that there are other kids his age, he will just try and talk to them the whole time :) ha ha. We'll see...

Going to be a long week..

Well we almost made it more than 2 weeks... (Technically by a couple hours) but unfortunately Audrey had another on Sunday night. We had a great weekend with family and enjoying General Conference. We did have to use rescue meds and it lasted 9 min. She was happy and having fun in her jumper. Garrett noticed first and said,"mom, look!". We've talked about her seizures and telling us if he notices them. I guess I just didn't really think it would sink in or that he would comprehend it all. What a good kid and how blessed we are to have these 2 great kids.
Well she's doing pretty good now, considering she's teething. No fun. Hopeing it won't stress her out into another one.
Garrett came down with a cold, so we have 2 onry kids. Oh man! I've tried to keep these two apart, but it's super hard! Especially two kids who love to play with each other like these two! And a big 'helper' like Garrett.... Hopefully teething is all she has to deal with this week!
Here's hoping for another two weeks or more!