Therapies, Haircut, Eye Exam

It has been another busy week. We came home from camping Monday morning. We did manage to get most of the stuff out of the camping trailer and get the trailer "parked" in the field. I'm not sure I can remember the last time the trailer was "parked" out of the way in the field, and not right up next to the house.

Wednesday morning, we took Rebekah to get a haircut. We went to Shami, Grandma A's hairstylist and the one who cut Rebekah's hair when she was first diagnosed with cancer and who cut Sarah's bangs the first time. Most of what Shami did was to get rid of the bad ends (and oh were they bad) and then to frame Rebekah's face a bit better. Shami suggested that we want to try to grow the left side of her hair (using the comb over effect) to just about collar level and call that good. If we try to grow it longer, it will only make it more obvious. The left side has a way to go before it is that long, so we'll have to wait and see how it looks. In the grand scheme of things, this just isn't a big deal.

Here are Grandma A, Rebekah and Sarah as we wait for the haircut.


Here is Rebekah pointing to her hair cut.


After the haircut, Grandma A, Sarah, Rebekah and Mommy all went to lunch (thanks Grandma A for the treat) and then headed up to Occupational Therapy. Grandma A played with Sarah while Mommy and Rebekah went to therapy. Rebekah did a good job at therapy. I was amazed watching her string buttons. She has struggled with the beads that we have, but she zoomed through the buttons like they were nothing. She concentrated on what she was doing and didn't seem to be struggling at all. After we finished, we took a look at their therapy pool. Maybe one day, Rebekah will use the therapy pool. She didn't seem overjoyed about the idea, but she wasn't freaked out about it either.

Then we headed for home, but we had to find a back way because the highway was closed. So we went on an adventure... Between Grandma A and Mommy, we were able to find our way. Now I know at least one more way home from that hospital.

Thursday, Mommy took Sarah to Grandma M's house while she took Rebekah to see the eye doctor. This was a new eye doctor for us, but Rebekah needed a good eye exam and this doctor was recommeded by her eye surgeon and has privileges at Emanuel so that if we need any exams under anesthesia or other procedures we could do them at Emanuel where we are more comfortable.

Rebekah did a really good job of cooperating with the tech (who did the first screening) and with the doctor. She had her eyes dilated and handled that well, too. Both eyes are a little farsighted, which is pretty common for kids. Her left eye is more farsighted than her right and has an astigmatism. The doctor wants us to put a patch on Rebekah's right eye 3 hours every day to try to strengthen the left eye so that the left eye doesn't become lazy.

Also, the left eye is definitely dry, but there are no signs of it being scratched. So that is good! We should continue to use the gel at night and should step up the use of eye drops during the day. We need to make the drops part of the routine. Mommy hasn't been really good about that.

They had some of the eye patches that we could purchase, so I bought one box of the pretty girl ones - they are pastels with pretty patterns (flowers, music notes, etc...). I only bought one box, because I didn't know if we were going to be able to make them work. When we started the exam, the technician asked Rebekah if we could put a patch on and she wanted nothing to do with it. I didn't think that was a good sign.

We talked about the patches last night with Daddy and Rebekah wasn't real excited about it. But we opened one up and took a look at it. Rebekah showed us how it went over her eye. She didn't want anything to do with actually putting it on.

This morning, we talked about putting on the patch today and she agreed to let me put it on. So she sat through breakfast with it on and is playing now with it on. She didn't fuss with putting it on and hasn't been tugging at it to get it off, nor is she grumbling about having it on. Whew! I expected it might be a battle, but so far she's done great.

Here is a picture just after we put the patch on this morning. The girls are wearing their "name" jammies and have a bad case of "bed hair".


This afternoon, we will be going into town for Physical Therapy. Wow has it been a busy week!

Pictures For Leanne in PA

Here are some more pictures from this weekend at the little beach resort town of Seaside where Grandma has a membership in a campground and invited us down to join her. We decided to stay over an extra night (Sunday) and are madly trying to pack up this early Monday AM to get home and get some work done. But while we do:

Anyone have any idea how hard it is to get pictures on a Merry-Go-Round:


Mommy and girls ride the train. Uncle Chuck and cousin Cole in the last car:

(as always you can click on the picture for a bigger size)

A Dream Come True

We are in the trailer. A lot of inspiration comes from this trailer. Much of this blog was written from this trailer, unfortunately. Much of this blog was written and much of the inspiration from this trailer came while "camped" out in the hospital parking lot for days and even weeks on end.

For those of you who don't know, we bought this trailer somewhat on a lark. It was truly a gift handed to us by God more than two years before Rebekah was diagnosed. We can look back on it and see how God had plans for this trailer that we never could have even dreamed of dreaming (or having nightmares) about. It has been perfect in more ways that we could imagine and that can only be God.

When we bought the trailer we thought the "upper" queen bed would be a great retreat for mommy and daddy. A quick try and we realized being 6 feet up with only 18" between us and the ceiling was not really going to work. That is when we started dreaming about the girls sleeping up there. Well, years later here we at the beach about an hour from our house. The rain is pounding down all around us and giving a nice pitter patter on the roof. There is no TV reception and only a few Christian MP3 on the laptop playing over and over again. And, oh ya, the girls are up on top for the first time ever!!!


We still have to keep 1/2 the bed folded up so that the girls will not fall out so things are not exactly as we would have planned them - they never are - but it is truly a milestone reached and a dream come true.

If you are thinking what a tiny little dream this is, you are right. But it is one that gives us much to rejoice about. If you are thinking what a tiny little dream this is, you are right. But we ask you to think about how much rejoicing in your life you are missing if all you do is focus on the big dreams and forget to rejoice over the little ones.

We feel like this is one more step away from where we have been. Please, however, keep in mind that there are those that are just beginning their journey or have not been able to put it behind them. Please keep in mind McKenna, Rachel, Angela, Josh, Gage and... the list is endless so please make your prayers endless as well.

A Rough Day

Today was not the best of days. It started out ok. Rebekah woke up early and managed to wake her sister up. I tried to get them to go back to sleep, but that didn't work. Both girls were scheduled for dental appointments this morning, so after breakfast we worked on getting ready to leave for the dentist. Rebekah tends to be anxious and not cooperative at the dentist, so we gave her a dose of ativan as we left the house to help with the anxiety. She did a great job of cooperating with the exam - both with the hygenist and with the dentist!

The bad news is that it looks like she has 2 or 3 teeth that have cavities and should probably be filled. The teeth are on the left, where she received the radiation. We spent some time discussing what needs to be done about it. Rebekah's regular dentist is on Maternity Leave for another couple of weeks, so we were talking with another dentist in the practice. Neither I, nor the dental hygenist or the dentist think that Rebekah would be able to hold still and open her mouth wide enough to have the work done while she is awake. The dentist we saw today wants to talk to Rebekah's regular dentist and come up with a definite plan. They may also want to do some bite wings so that they can get a better look at both the baby teeth and the adult teeth. And they may want to put sealants on the other teeth to prevent them from getting cavities. Lots to think about.

The good news is that from the Panorex, the dentist didn't see anything that was concerning her about the adult teeth. The tooth buds that should be there, are there. They can't tell if the there is other damage, such as damage to the enamel. The Bite Wings give a better picture of the teeth than the Panorex does, so maybe if they take bite wings when fixing the cavities we'll know more. So while the Panorex is not the best view for them to see the health of the teeth, at least they aren't seeing any major problems. Cavities are not the end of the world, and not completely unexpected. Afterall, there were months (during Radiation and following) that I couldn't even dream of getting a toothbrush near her mouth much less getting a good brushing done. Still, today, she fights getting her teeth brushed. And we have been watching these particular teeth since her treatment ended.

Sarah wasn't nearly as cooperative as Rebekah. She didn't want to sit in the chair right. When she was asked to open her mouth, she closed it an when she was asked to bite down, she opened her mouth. All the while, she had a gleam in her eyes. She knew exactly what was being asked of her. We did manage to get her teeth checked and cleaned without her screaming bloody murder, so I guess it was a success.

After that appointment, we headed for home. Rebekah was not at all happy. She screamed most of the drive home. I'm not exactly sure why, but I'm guessing that it had to do with the ativan that we gave her. Ugh! Once home, I got Rebekah some tylenol, we started lunch and Katie arrived. Rebekah wanted to sit in Mommy's lap to eat and continued to be very cranky. We had an hour at home before Rebekah and Mommy needed to head out again for an appointment with the ENT. I tried to get Rebekah to calm down and to eat a few bites. I didn't push too hard for her to eat, but continued to encourage her to eat.

Before leaving, I told her that she needed to sit on the potty. Well that started her screaming again. Soon, the screaming turned into vomiting - all over her and all over me. What joy! We were already pushing time to go and now I had to calm her down, get her changed, get Mommy changed, get the puky clothes into the wash and get out the door. It seemed that the vomiting was from the agitation and not from an illness, so I decided to keep the appointment. I did, however, take some supplies just in case she puked on the way. Sarah stayed with Katie.

Rebekah continued to be agitated throughout the exam and at home once we returned. Part of it, I'm sure, was the ativan and part of it was from not having a nap. I just don't know if there are other factors as well. Ugh!

The ENT didn't have any great concerns from the physical exam. He will take a look at the most recent scans and if he has any concerns he'll give us a call. Her left ear seems to be healing from the ear infection, but isn't completely better. While there is some fluid in her ear, it doesn't appear to be much. This tells us that the eustacian tube on that side is working which is a good thing. It may not work as well as it should, but it is at least working. That means that we don't need to be worried about major problems with her flying. With her Make a Wish trip coming up, we got to thinking about potential ear problems with the airplane. He did say that we should make sure that we have pain medication with us and some afrin nasal spray which could help clear up some problems. I really don't like the sound of that, but at least we know we shouldn't have serious issues.

The ENT didn't have any other ideas for the sinus infections that stem from any sort of cold. I find it frustrating and I wish that there was some easy fix for it, but the Radiation she received has just caused some damage that we can't fix. She may have to deal with that forever. I just hate the fact that her treatment has caused issues that we have to "deal" with forever. Don't get me wrong, without the treatment she wouldn't be here to have these issues to deal with and for that I am thankful.

After we got home, Rebekah continued to be cranky. She really needed a nap, but refused and continued to scream which then caused her to vomit again. I tried more to get her to calm down and fall asleep, but it didn't work. Sarah didn't get a nap either, so neither of them were in the best of moods this afternoon. I'm sure Katie was ready to get away from the screams and fussies. She seemed to handle it well, but it certainly wasn't the best of situations. With all of that happening, I didn't get a chance to help Daddy in the office today so that was frustrating to both Mommy and Daddy.

After dinner, Daddy had to take care of some things at the barn and Rebekah asked if she could go with him. Daddy agreed and then Sarah wanted to go, too. Daddy couldn't take both of them and Sarah did not like being told no. It set her off, so we got her ready for bed. It was that time, anyway. She screamed throughout most of the bedtime routine - "me need go byebye" with Daddy and "me need go play" and "me not need go nightnight". She literally cried herself to sleep. It was very clear to me that she was tired and needed the sleep, but she sure didn't think so. It is always tough to hear them cry and fight sleep so badly.

When Rebekah came in from helping Daddy, we got her ready for bed. She wanted to go "nightnight" but was fighting all the bedtime routine. So I had two girls screaming at the same time. Ugh!

Maybe, just maybe, they'll sleep until 7 am instead of waking up at 6 am. Mommy could sure use a little sleep.

Rebekah is Getting Better, Some Stories

We've been laying pretty low at home the last part of the week - no school and no therapies. Rebekah has had a low grade fever on and off, but nothing like on Tuesday. She does seem to be feeling better. Tomorrow she has a couple of therapies and Tuesday a couple of doctor appointments. I'm hoping that we will be able to make them all. Both girls have been doing some coughing, especially at night.

Last night, Sarah woke up several time inconsolable. I'm not sure what was going on. I finally got her to take some motrin and she seemed to settle down and go back to sleep. Each time she woke up screaming, she woke her sister up, too. Then I had two girls who wanted Mommy to rock them and snuggle with them. It was not a fun evening.

I promised some stories, so here they are.

A couple of weeks ago, we woke up to a very light dusting of snow. When the girls saw it, they called it "baby snow". A few days later, we had a pretty good coating of snow. They called it "baby snow" too. We explained that it was more than just “baby snow”. Anything "little" they call "baby". Yesterday, it was a small dog (but not a puppy).

The girls’ pull-ups have princesses on them. In the package are generally two patterns, one with 3 princesses and one that has only one princess. Lately, they have been Cinderella. Both girls call her "blue princess" because she is the one wearing the blue dress. They have to have a "blue princess" pull-up and not the other one. So we end up going through the whole stack pulling out all the "blue princess" pull-ups and wearing them until there are no more and then going through the others.

The other day, while we were sitting at the table eating, the girls were telling me how their grandmas make them certain foods. Macaroni and Cheese is not just Macaroni and Cheese, but rather "Grandma Macaroni and Cheese". Chocolate chips are "Grandma Chocolate Chips" and Vanilla Wafers are "Grandma cookies". Those are all Grandma A things. Then they were telling me that Grandma C makes them Chocolate Milk. I know they told me something that was a Grandma M item, I just can’t remember what it was.

When they eat bananas, they have to eat them like Boots eats them. Boots is Dora’s best friend – a monkey. They need them either whole or cut in half (in or out of the peel), but not in slices. Speaking of Dora and Boots, often Sarah and even Rebekah will say that they want to watch Boots on TV. Sometimes, I think Boots is more important than Dora.

String cheese usually has to be in strings and they don’t want to eat bites of it or have it cut into rounds. Some of the time, they want their stick cheese in strings (thin cuts as if strings).

Daddy has been singing to the girls. He sings "Two little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and bumped her" and then waits for them to answer "head", although Sarah lately has been saying "knee". I’m not sure why. Then daddy sings "Mama called the doctor and the doctor said" and waits. Sarah pipes up "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" and sometimes Rebekah will try to say it, too. Sarah has all the syllables, but not all the sounds. You have to know what she’s trying to say, but it is really cute.

If I call Sarah "my little girl", she is usually pretty prompt in telling me "Me not little girl anymore, mama, me big girl." That is, of course, unless she wants me to pick her up and carry her around like a baby, then she says "but me little girl mama."

They have most of their colors down (blue, red, yellow, purple, green, brown, white, and black) and many of their animal noises (bird, cow, dog, kitty, frog, horse, sheep, lion, and rooster). They also know that a train goes "chug a chug a choo choo" and that they can see one from our back window. When Sarah says "chuwachuwa choochoo" her hand is moving like pulling on the whistle.

When we go to Horse Riding, as soon as they see the barn they start saying "neigh" - well it sounds more like "knee" but they mean "neigh". Then they start looking for "Jenny’s car". Jenny is Rebekah’s horse teacher. If they can’t find Jenny’s car, then it is "uh oh" – they know that means a problem. Rebekah, also, looks for Jenny’s dog in her car. She likes to see Twila (the dog) whenever she can.

Rebekah’s horse riding therapy includes some physical therapy aspects. She will do a "tall tree" reaching her hands up to the sky. Then she will do an "airplane" with her arms out to the sides. Sarah likes to do the exercises with her. At home, we’ve started to do "short tree" with elbows at the sides and hands up by the head. Jenny thought that was pretty funny. Sarah doesn't like to choose which motion she will do - tall tree, airplane or short tree. If Mommy asks her to do one, she will usually opt for a different one.

Rebekah is really enjoying her horse riding. She does really well with getting everything together to ride the horse (helmet, saddle, pad, blanket, girth, reins and brushes). Sarah always wants to help, too. She usually carries the girth or the brushes or the reins. Rebekah helps brush the horse and get the saddle and everything on the horse and lead the horse over to the stairs to climb on.

McKenna's Surgery

McKenna's Surgery went well and only took half the time it could have taken. Check out her page for details. Encourage them by signing their Guestbook and let them know you are thinking of them and praying for them.

Thank you for praying for her and please continue to lift her family up in prayers. They still do not know what to expect for the next step, so they could use prayers for guidance.

We are continuing to take it easy and try to recover. Rebekah seems to be feeling a little better, but she is still not eating very well. Please pray that she starts eating more. She says she wants to eat, but then will only eat one bite and she's losing some weight. I want her to feel better and pick up on her eating and hopefully gain back all that she has lost.

Thursday, McKenna's Day

Today is two year old McKenna and family's marathon surgery day. 13-16 hours to remove a brain tumor wrapped around nerves and/or arteries. Obviously anything going on in our life here pales in comparison to what they are going through; perspective, perspective. Please join us and lift them up!

What a Day!

This morning, Mommy, Sarah and Rebekah headed into town for Rebekah's Physical Therapy. During her PT, she wanted some Mommy loves which really isn't all that unusual. When it was time to leave, I asked "who wants to go to school" and both girls started running toward the door.

After that, we ran a couple of errands (gas and a car wash) and headed to school. We were a little early, so we sat in the car for a few minutes. Rebekah rested in the car, but I didn't think too much of it. PT can wear her out a bit and both girls will often nod off a bit in the car.

I dropped Rebekah at school and headed for home. While I drove, I called to see how McKenna and her family were doing. Daddy was trying to call me. After a few of his calls, I cut the conversation short and got back to Daddy. The school had called and we needed to pick Rebekah up. She walked into class and layed down on the floor and didn't want to do anything. They checked her temperature and it was 104.1. A few minutes later, it was 103.9.

With as sudden as the change was and how high the temperature was, both Daddy and I were worried about her. As I drove back to school, I called her pediatrician's office to see if I should bring her right in or head to the ER. After several minutes, I finally got an answer that I should get her, give her motrin or tylenol and if I felt it necessary I could bring her right in or I could wait a couple of hours and see how she is doing and bring her in later in the afternoon.

I chose to take her right in. Doc looked at her and said that she definitely had an ear infection. But an ear infection shouldn't cause a fever that high. Her lungs sounded clear and there were no other obvious issues. He suggested that we do some blood work to see what was there. I agreed. Meanwhile, he sent me away with a prescription for antibiotics, but asked that I wait to fill it until I heard back from him with the blood work results.

While we were at the doctor's office Sarah started getting really fussy. She wasn't feeling feverish, but she sure wanted Mommy's attention. I don't know if it was because Mommy was paying Rebekah attention or if she is starting to come down with something. Rebekah wasn't too happy about the blood draw (most of hers have not included pokes-at least not while she was awake), but she didn't do too bad with it. She fussed a little bit and tried to pull the band off her arm, but didn't really cry with it. She didn't want a bandaid, either. The entire time the nurses were in the room doing the blood draw Sarah was screaming for Mama. Mama needed to comfort Rebekah, so Sarah didn't get the attention she needed. As I walked out, I had two girls up in my arms. I guess I got my work out for the day - just an extra 70 pounds to carry around.

The blood work shows signs of an infection. Doc thinks that she probably has a bacterial infection as well as a viral infection. He debated a little on whether to fill the prescription (which won't help the viral infection, but would help the bacterial infection), but thought that it was probably a good idea. So she's on antibiotics once again. Meanwhile we should be keeping her away from school and laying low for a few days. I called and cancelled Speech Therapy for tomorrow, Occupational Therapy for tomorrow and Bus Service on Thursday as well as notified school that she won't be there for the rest of the week. School is off next week and the following week for spring break. We've got lots of appointments for next week and the following week, so I'm not sure if we'll be able to keep them all or not. We'll have to see how she's doing.

Througout the afternoon, Rebekah has been wanting to rest with playing a little here and a little there and not wanting to eat much and drinking just a little. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and she'll be back to normal quickly.

McKenna, Rachel, Gage and RJ

Mommy got a chance to talk to McKenna's mommy yesterday. She seemed to be hanging in and in a bit of fog from lack of sleep and a whole new world to deal with. They seemed to be pretty frazzled with everything that was happening - moving from one room to another and McKenna feeling worse than she had been. We have offered to help in any way that we can and specifically mentioned a few ways. Hopefully, we will be able to get out and visit with them for a little while one day this week. When we talked, they were not feeling like they needed help "in a hurry" and with everything being pretty busy we decided not to visit that day.

My heart just breaks for this family. I remember what those first few weeks were like: the lack of sleep, the worry and concern, how terrible it is to watch your little one suffer and only be able to do so much for her, wondering if you are doing the right things or if there is more you should be doing or if you should just be doing something different, and listening to the doctors talk about the treatment and all the side-effects and possible outcomes and literally "freak out" but having to be strong for my little one.

Please pray for this family. Mom is with McKenna in the hospital, dad had to go back home so he could go back to work, and Grandma is helping with the other kiddos. McKenna has a major surgery (something like 13 hours) on Thursday to remove the brain tumor. Thursday will no doubt be a really tough day for them. Pray for success with the surgery, peace and comfort for the family, sleep for mom and guidance for everyone involved in her care.

Please pray for Rachel and her family, too. They are struggling right now and need a miracle. The latest treatment wasn't working and so they've switched again. It is a tough time for them and they can use all the prayers they can get.

Gage is now two weeks past his transplant and his counts are just starting to come up. Their prayer now is that they are ALL HEALTHY DONOR CELLS. Gage has also been having some issues with his liver, so please pray that it isn't anything serious.

RJ got to go home a few days earlier than usual. Something about having been through this three other times and him being able to take care of himself instead of bothering the nurses.

Right now, all these kids as well as RJ are heavy on my heart. All things considered, my girls are doing pretty well. It is all a matter of perspective. We'll have some more stories about how they are doing coming up soon, so stay tuned... Thanks for checking in and for praying for us and our friends.

McKenna

We want to bring to you a family whose lives have literally been turned on end in the last 3-4 days. They are at the hospital right now with their 2 year old daughter McKenna who has just been diagnosed with brain cancer. They are far from home and they have no family near by. They also have older children that need taken care of.

We know where this family is right now for we have been there. You all were a big part of how we got through it this far. Please join us by lifting up McKenna and her family in every way possible. Our hearts and prayers go out to them.

Small Update - Saturday Morning: We don't know much more right now except that there is talk about brain surgery this coming week to try and remove as much of the tumor as possible. Daddy is hoping to get an opportunity to go sit and talk with McKenna's daddy today.

RJ and Other Updates

THANK YOU ALL for the ongoing prayers and thoughts for RJ. Received this late last night:
I talked to his wife last nite and she said he went through the surgery very well and might be able to come home today . He will need alittle quiet time for a couple of days and then guys bombard him on the ol board, as I am sure he will be at the computer trying to catch up. RJ is just too tough to hold down.

Around home things continue to be up and down with cold/flu like symptoms. This crud just won't go away. Of late Rebekah is clearly not feeling well and will not eat much of anything. She uses any excuse she can to get away from the table and then she won't come back, saying "all done, all done eat."

Sarah, at 2 1/2, is often speaking in complete sentences and is definately way beyond Rebekah when it comes to verbal ability. This is a bit difficult on mommy and daddy to watch but also clearly difficult on Rebekah. If Rebekah tries to answer something and Sarah comes up with a "better" answer, Rebekah just shuts down and puts her hands over her eyes. We are working very hard to continue to encourage Rebekah as her frustration is very evident.

Daddy has been on one of his more emotional swings lately. Rebekah is so special to him that he just wants to hold on to her and get his "daddy loves" as much as possible. Unfortunately the girls are both growing up and are not happy to just be held by anyone for any period of time. I guess it is part of growing up but I don't know how you parents of teens do it when your kids won't even talk to you!

All in all we continue to be very blessed and are looking forward to our Make-A-Wish trip to Ohio in May. Very much hoping to meet as many of you as possible.

Prayers Requested

Well, we went from Rebekah not feeling well to both mommy and Rebekah being down and out over the weekend. Ups and downs but we are back on the up side.

This morning we have something more important to come to you with. This is a slight step outside the normal "life and times of Rebekah" and other kiddos but please bear with us - it won't happen often. A friend of daddy's and fellow fire fighter is going in for cancer surgery for the fourth time this Wednesday. RJ has an extended family that he is taking care of (his immediately family as well as that of a relative serving in Iraq). RJ has fought and won cancer three previous times and is a fighter with a positive attitude. Through all the tough times, chemo, etc. he is still putting on a strong front for his family. We (and many of you) know and believe in the power of prayer and we ask that you take a moment or two over the next several days to lift him and his family up in prayer. You can post comments to him too and we will send him the links!

Rebekah is Not Feeling Well

What a day yesterday was. Rebekah woke up not feeling really well. She was having diarrhea and really didn't seem to be feeling well. She kept talking about going to bed and just didn't seem herself. I got to thinking that maybe that was why she hadn't eaten real well the day before. I was running low on diapers/pullups for her because I was hoping that I would get her back into underwear. Clearly, with the diarrhea, that wasn't going to happen.

So I needed to run to the store and get some diapers and pullups. We went quick and ran a couple of errands and to the grocery store. While we were shopping, in the back of the store, she threw up - all over everything. It was a mess and she clearly wasn't feeling well. We headed to the bathroom to try to clean up at least a little. Then I headed straight for the cashier and asked them to have someone bring up a package of chicken (so we could make some dinner).

By the time we got home, both girls had fallen asleep in the back seat. So daddy helped me bring them in and put them both into bed. Rebekah continued to have the diarrhea and vomiting throughout the day. I washed load after load after load of icky laundry. She wouldn't eat and I wasn't going to push her. I could barely get her to drink any pedialyte. I worry about dehydration and keep an eye on her and keep a drink near her. She kept asking for juice, but when I gave it to her she wouldn't drink any. She talked about wanting to eat, but when presented with any food refused it.

She just wanted to sit in mommy's lap and snuggle with mommy. I told daddy that we needed him to fix dinner, and so he did. When dinner was ready, Rebekah just wanted to go lie down. After I had a couple of bites, she was coughing and screaming for mommy. She had thrown up, again. So she needed cleaned up and the bed needed changed, again. She laid down for a little more and then wanted to go into the playroom. Meanwhile, I tried to finish my dinner before it got really cold. Oh the joys of motherhood!

The night was really rough. Rebekah would wake every hour or two and be screaming. She seemed to just want mommy and have her blanket fixed so that it covered her better. She continued to drink during the night and wasn't throwing up. I had to fill up her cup a couple of times. She did, however, have several more diapers that needed changed quickly. She's developing a nasty rash, so they need changed right away and she screams through the change. But, she needs cleaned up so the rash doesn't get worse. I've been coating her with Desetin to try to help the rash. Poor thing! Several times during the night, Rebekah woke Sarah. Then Sarah wanted the same kind of attention that Rebekah was getting.

And in addition to everything else, Rebekah was running a low grade fever. I wanted to get her some tylenol or motrin, but it seemed she would probably just throw it up and she was very clear that she didn't want it. So we waited...

This morning, Rebekah seems to be feeling better. She sat at the breakfast table with us and had a blueberry and a bit of cereal and some milk. So far, it has stayed down and she is playing in the playroom. She isn't looking sick, like she did yesterday. It is still early, so who knows what the day will bring. We'll hope and pray that she continues to improve. Last night, I was pretty sure we'd be calling the doctor this morning. Right now, it doesn't seem necessary. We'll wait and see.

It bothers me that this illness comes so quickly on the heels of the last one and the antibiotics. She hasn't even been off the antibiotics for a week.