Happy freaking New Year.

Closing down 2012 was quite an ordeal.

It all started on the 18th when PP and I went in to St. Paul Children's to start her first inpatient EEG. This test got off to a rough start because PP didn't like the process for applying electrodes to her head or being tied to a 35 foot cord, but we managed.

In this picture, PPs has the first batch of electrodes on her head. 

She is exploring her hospital room and wondering which infuriating situation to blame Mama for next...

At around 6PM I noticed an unusual rash on PP's face and she was running a fever. Turns out, she was very sick with some sort of viral infection. The EEG testing had to be stopped before we got any information from it, and she was kept in the hospital for a day to be monitored.

Mama trying to keep PP calm between nurses' poking and prodding. 

The testing was a big "FAIL" but I was glad to be released from the hospital in time to celebrate Christmas with our family. PP would resume EEG testing for Epilepsy the day after Christmas and that sounded just fine to me.

Christmas was really, really fun! PP's cousin, Lil Kenny, exclaimed that it was "THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!" He's four, so he doesn't have much to compare it to, but it was definitely a good time! We made the rounds for four Christmas celebrations and it went better than I could have expected. I know that my little family really needed that special time!

PP likes to be festive.

Wednesday the 26th, Papa Chris and I brought PP back over to St. Paul for round two of EEG testing. I was confident that it would go to plan because PP's viral symptoms were almost completely gone, and the only remaining signs were residual and minimal. Applying the electrodes was still a difficult task, but she handled it better than the first time.

Snapping really embarrassing pictures of children: it's what parents live for. 

This is PPs second round of electrodes! 

Shortly after the electrodes were applied, PP demonstrated every behavior that was in question for seizure activity and as it turned out, there were no seizures recorded on the EEG! This was fantastic news on so many levels: This round of testing only took one day so we were discharged on the 27th, PP is being weaned off of her anti-convulsant, she doesn't have epilepsy, and we don't have to do an EEG again unless there is concern for seizure activity in the future! She does have an emergency medication just in case she has a seizure, but I doubt we will ever have to use it. Best Christmas gift EVER!

Then it hit...

The abominable stomach flu. My poor little girl was its victim. She spent most of Friday laying on the floor, vomiting and having diarrhea. She took cat naps throughout the day, but when she was awake she acted miserable.

This was the first time I had ever watched PP sleep on a floor. 

She was pitiful and incredibly sick!

I was certain it was a stomach bug and I thought I could handle it at home, but I was wrong. By Saturday she went from being able to crawl across the floor to not being able to sit for more than a few seconds because she was so weak. She couldn't keep anything down without the help of an anti-emetic, but she had nearly no appetite anyway. I was force feeding her Pedialyte and water with a syringe to keep her hydrated, but her excessively lethargic demeanor was alarming. Saturday evening we called the Triage Nurse line, which is our usual protocol before going into the ER, but they were busy so I had to leave a message and wait for them to call me back. Mama and Papa don't like to wait for things like that, so we packed up and headed over to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. When we were about a block from the hospital I got the phone call from a Triage Nurse and what she told me to do sent me into a tizzy. In a nutshell she told me, "From the information you told me, my advice to you is to pull over and call 911. Your daughter needs you to call 911 right now." I hung up and called 911, but when the operator started asking simple questions I started crying. I felt like an idiot, but I have never been told to call 911 for PP and it scared me! I quickly handed the phone to Papa and he handled it like a champ. He and the operator decided that the quickest way to get PP to the hospital was for us to keep driving and bring her in ourselves. We were placed at the front of the line thanks to the 911 operator and we got a room in the ER very quickly. The doctor ordered a bunch of tests ranging from a urine sample to and EKG, he didn't want to miss anything and I was very thankful for that. The test results gave the doctor proper grounds to call PPs illness a severe case of a stomach flu virus that has been floating around for the past few weeks.

I wish I could look that cute after day four of uncontrollable barfing, pooping, sleeping and not bathing! 

It's alright tho, neither Mama nor Papa got the flu.

PP was admitted to the hospital to receive IV fluids and close monitoring on December 30; she had already been sick for two days. She was discharged on January 1st, 2013, ending a 5 day flu bug and beginning a day full of good vibes!

New Year, new (or maybe just improved) immune system is our cheer!

Hello 2013.
XoX