For those of you keeping score....

Today was Maggie's 4th trip the ER this year. Her "asthma" (her ped. calls it asthma. Her allergist does not) started acting up on Wednesday and by Thursday she had a fever and was breathing much harder. We stepped up her albuterol treatments and took her to the doc on Thursday but she got much worse Thursday night so at 3 am we took her to the nearest ER, which I learned was probably a mistake. I was surprised that it took over an hour from the time we got IN A ROOM until they gave her any oxygen or albuterol treatments.

When she got to the ER she had a fever of 103 and I think the doctors seemed more concerned about that than her breathing. They tested her for flu, RSV, did chest x-rays and tested her white blood cell count. Everything came back fine except for the chest x-ray. They said she had a very small amount of pneumonia in one lung.

For a time they thought they were going to admit her for observation because she wasn't able to keep her pulse ox levels up without oxygen but after a steriod shot she did better and we went home about 8:30 am.

The rest of the day was spent catching up on sleep and keeping her on her meds. She's now continuing the albuterol every 4 hours round the clock, on a steroid and an antibiotic (just to be safe - they think the pneumonia is viral). She is acting much more like herself tonight....energetic and playful, although whiney and acting out more than normal due to the albuterol. She bit me this evening in an act of frustration.

I just checked on her tonight while she is sleeping and boy what a difference! Last night I could watch and listen to her breath from the doorway of her room. Tonight I had to kneel down next to the crib to catch the soft motions of her chest as she slept. Talk about relief.

We go back to the doc tomorrow am for a check up to see how she is doing. Please pray that she will continue to improve quickly and be all better soon!

Thanks!
Heather

Silent Night

Click here to see a video of our handbell chior.

Christmas Parade

A friend invited us to attend the Semmes Christmas Parade today. Semmes is a small town north of Mobile. This was the first parade that Maggie has ever seen! She had a good time although I think it took her a little bit to decide what she thought of the whole thing.

Of course, no parade in Mobile would be complete without throws - I think Mobilians think every day is Marde Gras! So Maggie got to collect her share of beads, candy, rings, and even a teddy bear!

It was a small parade, but a great size for Maggie's first one. There were 2 or 3 marching bands (unfortunately, none of them were playing when they marched past us so Maggie only got to hear the drums) and fire engines and about 10 floats or so and of course horses both large....

and small....

When it was all over, Maggie said "more?!?" so I guess she liked it even though we never had any really big smiles. But she's been holding onto that bear all afternoon. :-)

Merry Christmas from Maggie!

Christmas is coming!

In honor of the impending advent season, I have loaded all the Charlie Brown Christmas songs onto my playlist....enjoy!

And check out the Sara Groves song - click on the banner at the top of the page. I LOVE this song and so I was excited to get to share it with you for free. It's a great Christmas CD.

Ooh-rah!

Ben just got back from a trip to DC with his dad for his bi-annual Marine Corps Officer Basic Class 3-56 Reunion (whew! What a mouthful!). They had a great time!

There's a new National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico which Ben enjoyed a great deal. When you arrive you get to pretend you are just arriving at your Basic Training - complete with drill sergeants yelling at you! Then there are some great exhibits about WW II, the Korean War and Vietnam. But as always I think Ben was most excited about the planes they had displayed.

Monday they got to do some sightseeing. They went to the National Archives as well as the WW II Memorial and the Air and Space Museum (of course). Ben even got to see President-Elect Obama's motorcade drive by on his way to the White House.

Monday evening was the Birthday Ball for the Marines - 233 years! I was very sad to have missed this because not only did Ben look very spiffy in his suit but there was DANCING! Had I known I would have an opportunity to dance with my spiffy husband I would have gone! But alas - I digress. The ball was held at the top of the Key Bridge Marriott - where they were treated to a lovely view of the city. Ben raved about the steak dinner they served, complete with 2 desserts (Mousse and birthday cake). They have a tradition at the Birthday ball for the oldest Marine present to cut the first piece of birthday cake with his sword and feed it to the youngest Marine present.

Ben had a great time with his dad, but Maggie and I are very happy to have him home!

PT 6

Maggie had another great day - only accident was during naptime so I only partly count that one. :-)

Tonight Maggie went to Will's birthday party (he's 3!) and they had SO much fun! It was a Curious George theme and Maggie liked holding her George mask up to her face and going "ooo..... oooo.....ooooo". Joy had quite the dinner laid out and even had chocolate-covered frozen bananas as a treat while she cut the birthday cake! After dessert we watched a Curious George video which was very cute and funny. Everyone had a great time.

It makes me wonder what kind of birthday party Maggie will want when she turns three. . . hmmmmm. . . .