spring break 2014 and 3:21

Well, our spring break wasn't the best ever, in fact I demand a re-do!!  It all started with a trip to Stat Care for me on the Saturday before spring break with a diagnosis of strep throat.  So, Ms. Kathy scooped the girls up so I could rest and not spread anymore germs.  Madeline ran a low grade fever on and off while she was there, but never felt bad.  Monday morning she woke up covered in a rash, so we went down the list of possible things that could have broken her out.  Finally, my mom looked in the back of her throat and it was so inflamed!!  So away we went BACK to Stat Care and she had strep and scarlet fever!  Yep, fun fun!  We had a lot of pajama parties/breakfast in bed/lounge days...  We took it easy pretty much all week.  Friday morning, Chandler decides she is going to start wheezing, so I called the doctor's office and they assured me that she would be okay with benadryl and scheduled us an appointment for Monday afternoon.  We hurriedly got ready and went shopping in McComb with Grammy..and I don't even like shopping all that much but was just about to go stir crazy in our house!  We enjoyed our day, even though the girls came home with lots of goodies and Grammy and I came home with what we went to town with!

styling in her daddy's boots

We knew she was sick when she was still and wanted to snuggle :(

Going on a cruise, to see Mickey Mouse or to the beach might have been more fun, but with these two smiling faces, anywhere can be fun!!

Madeline "wrote" a letter to Ariel.. I will let you know if she writes her back!

She insisted on this hat and Grammy insisted on getting it!

Just chilling while shopping..her legs were actually propped up most of the time! ha

Fashionista!  She must get that from her Shimmy, she certainly doesn't get it from her Mama!

Saturday, the girls and I did some grocery shopping then took naps.  Chandler slept about three hours, which is unusual for her and woke up with a 103 fever and just acted like she didn't feel good.  Now we have been fortunate to have never had to take either one of the girls to the ER, but I couldn't get her fever to break and just didn't feel right about not taking her.  Kris was working so he met us there and Ms. Kathy came and got Madeline...and I didn't want her to have to leave, especially since she had been so sweet and we were enjoying our last day of spring break together, but I also knew she didn't need to be in the ER, either!  After some motrin, a chest x-ray (that was clear), and a breathing treatment, you wouldn't have believed that she was sick by the way she was waving and blowing kisses to everyone!  Well, those darn oxygen sats (if you don't remember my hate for the O2 sats, then re-read the heart surgery posts) kept dropping below 90, which is a no-no.  I had just messaged Kimberly and told her they weren't keeping us when the doctor came back in and said that they were admitting her.  I can't really tell you what else he said cause I was in shock!!  I so wasn't expecting to hear that!  Basically, she has bad bronchitis and low sats.  Anyway, they got the IV started in her foot which Chandler was none to happy about and got us up to the 4th floor.  Kris ran home and got some stuff while Chandler got another breathing treatment and some steroids.  Hyper is not the word for Chandler and it was well past her bedtime which probably made it even worse!!  She was literally banging her IV line against the side of the crib (that looked more like a cage)!  They gave her the treatments every three hours without fail and in between the treatments, the IV was beep, beep, beeping and they were coming in to check her vitals, which meant check her temperature....Rectally!!!  So, we had a party at 3 am and didn't get much, if any, rest that night.  Also, low muscle tone is mentioned as one of the main characteristics of people with Down syndrome, but let's just be clear that sister was fighting with all her might against the first couple of breathing treatments, so much so that she stood completely up on the bed and I got many powerful kicks in my stomach.  And during our late night partying, she was crawling around that bed like a champ! :)  I wasn't sure if those tantrums were due to "stubbornness" from Down syndrome or if it was from her Daddy!  heehee

This is right before she acted like she was about to loose her mind!

This cute face kept me from going to the Looney house!

FINALLY asleep and snuggling with her mama.

Sassafras ready for church and her visit to check on sissy.

Sometime in the night, her sats dropped below 90, while she was sleeping, mind you, so when they checked them again, they were fine.  But anyway, due to that, the doc wanted to keep her Sunday night, too.  Um, okay, let me get this straight..you want an 18-month-old to stay in an unfamiliar place, only receiving breathing treatments every three hours, with her foot bandaged with so much tape to keep the IV needle in it and her crazy, sleep deprived bulldog of a mama, to stay for ONE MORE NIGHT?!?!?!?  Being the rule follower I am and wanting to do what's right for Chandler, I obeyed the doctor and we stayed another night.  We were able to get some sleep though and that made all the difference in the world!  In the meantime, we had lots of sweet visitors to pass the time, and big sissy even had to get in the bed with her!

About 11:00 on Monday, we raced home for me to shower and nap and Chandler to sleep for four hours!!  The doctor prescribed a nebulizer for us to be able to give the albuterol at home, and wanted us to follow up with her pediatrician on Wednesday.  Oh and have I mentioned that Kris will be in Jackson for a class all week until Thursday night?!?  Yep, it doesn't just rain in the Smith house but it pours!!  But without both sets of grandparents, Grammy, Papa J, Nana, and Pops, we wouldn't have made it through all the sicknesses or when life gets crazy in general...so I would like to give them a big shout out and let them know how much their willingness to help is appreciated from the bottom of mine and Kris's hearts!!  We are very blessed to have ya'll as parents and the girls are doubly blessed to have ya'll as GRANDparents!

At her visit to her doctor, he prescribed her with asthma.  Which her daddy had when he was little and it is genetic.  He gave her the "three strike rule" by saying that she has had these symptoms at least three times as well as being swabbed for RSV three times and not having it, and if it were true bronchitis, the albuterol alone would have had her sounding better than she was.  He gave us some Pulmicort to give with breathing treatments and some oral steroids.  Hyper/aggression here we come again!!  He also thinks she has allergies, which he gave us Singulair to help with that and the asthma.  He wants to see her back in a week.  It is so nice to finally have an answer to her sickness and I am so glad.  No, I don't like that she has asthma, but it is manageable and somewhat preventable when she shows early signs of distress (for example, this crazy southwest Mississippi weather when it's cold enough to snow one day and hot enough to swim the next), but we are going to roll with the punches and do what we have to to make sure both girls get whatever it is that they may need to stay healthy...  With that being said, spring break might have been full of sickness and not a whole lot of "fun," however, I thoroughly enjoyed my time home with the girls and cannot wait until the summer!

Chandler having Down syndrome is really just a sliver of our "normal" but crazy lives; however, we are all about promoting awareness and making sure that others understand that even though it may seem a little scary because you don't understand it, it really is a blessing too!!  March 21st (3:21) is World Down syndrome day and what a better day to tell people about what an impact this has made on our lives...Chandler's infectious smile and sweet, wet kisses will melt ANYONE'S heart that meets her.  Her magical chromosome makes her personality truly magical, and in turn Madeline is magical without an extra chromosome.  The Good Lord has blessed our lives with two perfect daughters and by having them, we have met so many people that otherwise wouldn't be a part of our lives.  Something (someone) was missing in mine, Kris's and Madeline's lives and we just didn't know who or what it was..  Please join us in promoting awareness on World Down syndrome day by wearing blue, yellow, crazy socks, or whatever you feel led to do, because I can promise you that once you have met someone like our Chandler or our many, many friends like her, they will steal your heart forever and impact you in a way you never saw coming...  We bought shirts that say, "Stay calm, it's just an extra chromosome" and how fitting that phrase is in the scheme of things!  Family, friends and even complete strangers have been so super accepting of her and that in itself makes us super proud...as I've said before she is her biggest advocate!

'nuf said!!

Saturday, some of us will be running, others walking, some strolling, being pushed, and some of us (ME) will be trying to stay upright and breathing haha, nonetheless we will be advocating Down syndrome with the 2nd annual 5K Run Up for Downs in Jackson.  We are so looking forward to this event and it always brings tears to my eyes at the amount of people who will be running/walking for our one and only Chandler and our many other friends with DS!  And next Tuesday, March 25, our one and only Madeline will be turning four and I just don't want to talk about it..where in the world has the time gone?!?  She can make her daddy and I proud, mad, happy, frustrated... all in a matter of minutes but we wouldn't trade her for anything!!  She is the best big sissy ever and we are blessed God chose us to be her parents.  But if you see me next week and I'm sad, know that my big girl is getting bigger and I don't have to like it.  Please keep Kris (and us) in your prayers, as he is gone next week too and that he will pass the class and not miss us too much! haha

until next time,
Megan