Life keeps going...

Well a lot has happened and I've been busy and let's be honest... Wiped out! So here's the skinny on the latest here in our crazy world. 

Audrey went 15 days!! Yea! However, to make up for some progress she decided to throw me for a loop and have a double seizure on may 7. It was just Garrett and I, so we ended up calling 911 and the next door neighbors ( Bert and Liz) when the rescue meds worked for 30 seconds then she went right back into another. In total 18 minutes. It was rough. Not going to lie about that. She came out right before the paramedics pulled up, and right after Jordan got home (record time for him I might add, especially with all the construction). Luckily no ambulance ride for her. Apparently they're ok with us keeping her since this isn't our first 'ball game' with seizures and she  had stopped.  Long ones are no fun and recovery time is, well, longer. 4 days until she was her happy self. 

Things went great for a couple weeks as this 2 week pattern is holding... Fast forward to this week. 

We knew she was due for one... Instead she had 3 different kinds. 

Monday -we went to the dr (PA). We upped current medication levels, and were told we either will add a 3rd medication or do a whole other game plan. The actual dr is on vacation this week. Of course. But everyone needs vacation time. However he's the only one who can make the final call...

Tuesday- my wonderful mother-in-law came down to be with me in case she had a seizure and so I wouldn't be alone! It was a great day and nothing happened. Just how I prefer :)

Wednesday came and my mom took a turn to be with me all day. So, she pulled out a new seizure... Still not sure what type... Either complex partial or atypical absence. Which lasted 2-3 minutes. She turned a little blue, mainly on her lips, but quickly turned pink when I picked her up. 

We waited for more that day but none, and Garrett and I played soccer to top off what looked to be  like an ok and relatively calm seizure day. 

Thursday- so thinking maybe the 2 week time clock had been reset... She pulled a typical absence seizure this morning which only lasted 10-15 seconds, and then resumed play like normal. 

After her morning nap we headed outside  to enjoy some weather and she decided to have her normal type of seizure (simple partial with secondary generalized) which lasted about 4 1/2 minutes before coming out of it herself.(Yea we like that!). So I called my awesome nurse cousin, who rushed to our aide! (Yea! We love her!!) She arrived just as Audrey came out of it, and so we had some great moral/helping support for the postictal phase and helping with Garrett while I'm on the phone with more doctors trying to figure out what to do now....

We still don't know what we can do, other than help her during these episodes and make sure she stops. 

Some of our seizure videos are comical as I try to stay calm while Garrett and I tag team the 'rescue efforts'. :) my favorite that I will try to post later was from today. Here's the line:

Me- "now Garrett, I need you to hold this video and make sure you can see Audrey while I try to help her a little bit"

Garrett- "ok..... Audrey's having a seizure TODAY?!"

Me- "yes Garrett"

Garrett- " it's ok baby...... Mom I need to call Bert and Liz  (next door neighbors) and tell them to come down cause Audrey's having a seizure." 

Such a cute boy! He tries to help in any way he can think of. 

I guess you could call today a small victory because technically she went 16 days in between regular seizures. But the increase in types is a little concerning to me. More dr calls and hopefully some answers will come to light soon. Until then, we'll just keep doing our thing. 

Just a side note-

I love being a mom, and hate being an adult. However, I believe they are mutually exclusive. :) so we will march through the bad in order to enjoy the good and do what we should as parents to help our children in every way. Even though it might not be the most fun and downright scary at times.

Some of the good these past couple of weeks.

First driving experience and loving it- we're going to be in trouble ;)

Just being her funny,happy self. Love it!!

Progress and milestones

Audrey has been doing pretty good these past 2 weeks, even in spite of her 2 ear infections that just wouldn't go away. So we met with the ENT specialist this past tuesday and decided to get 'tubes in her ears'.  While visiting the specialist she confirmed (what I initially thought) was another ear infection (#4) in the past 7 weeks. I have to say that I think I'm finally beginning to understand the signs Audrey gives me... at least for ear infections.
Thursday we had surgery for the tubes and she has been HAPPY ever since. It reminds me a little of my sweet girl before all the seizures happened. I've been a little curious to see if her seizures stay on course and we have another in the next couple of days (by monday to be specific) or if we finally make it over the 2 week hurdle! 3 medicines (2 anti-seizure, 1 antibiotic) and ear drops are a bit time consuming (morning and night) but to see her really happy and progressing developmentally is worth the extra time.

In this past month she has really turned the corner. I was a little worried at her 6 month well-baby check up because she wasn't really even sitting up on her own (like 3 seconds). Now she can sit up and more!
Here's a list I thought of last night:
-new word (la la) still no ma ma but maybe the next one!
-blowing raspberries (pretty much spitting, which garrett takes as a 'green light' for him to spit too)
-rolls over both ways/ and rolls to get objects
-feeds herself without spilling too much/ and drops food over the side of highchair for reaction
-some cause/effect development
-loves peek-a-boo and anticipates the 'boo' part with a smile (i love it)
-sits unsupported
-can rock on hands and knees - she'll be crawling in no time... eekkk!
-can pivot on stomach
*- new today- pushes herself backwards on wood floor
-can wave bye-bye
-can follow simple directions (shake the rattle when told)
-gives clues to activities she wants to do
-starting to put herself to sleep! -doesn't like to be swaddled anymore.

These may seem like small things but we celebrate anything we can around here. It's really fun to see her progress and 'get bigger'.
Garrett is still my biggest helper! he can even collect all the bottles and put the tops in the bottle basket to be washed. my favorite sayings this past week were:

"mom look! I got a 'oose egg' on my head. " (goose egg)

"mom, here's my plan for the day. we're gonna go to the dr's, then get your medicine, then I got to go on my mission.... to france" - all in a day's work dude! :) ha ha

Something cool... at least I thought it was. probably due to the fact that I play with superheros all day with garrett... batman and spiderman were in Logan today hanging out! ha ha Garrett asked what they were doing here. :) He does want to be Ironman when he grows up. :)