So after a few months of random toes turning purple, Josh finally made me schedule to see my podiatrist. She comes in, sees my toes are purple, and tells me I have Raynaud's Phenomenon (but not a serious case as of now). The way to fix it:

Don't excercise
Rest as much as possible so I'm not stressed
Drink red wine every day
Let Josh massage my feet

I told my mom all this and she said to go back again, maybe this time she'd tell me to buy a whole new wardrobe!

STL was ok. He thinks her main problem is major food allergies and it's causing everything else (crying, not pooping, reflux). Aside from the food allergies, he is looking more into liver function. The first time she had blood drawn her liver protein was low and this last time she had it drawn (2-2) her liver enzymes were high. I have no idea what that means but he said it definitely warrants blood work. He's trying to get all the slides and actual scans from her tests at Children's Mercy (not just their results) and look over them. Once he has those and the blood work is back, we'll have to go back to meet with him and the allergist on the same day. He mentioned her most likely having FPIES. I also just found out yesterday when talking to my grandma that her mom had a lot of liver problems and she specifically remembers it was something with liver enzymes. My grandma also lost her first baby because she was still born. They did an autopsy and it was determined that she died for liver problems. They didn't investigate it any further because at the time there was no need. So that's about it for now! When STL calls with the blood results I'll let them know this info. Who knows...maybe something is connected? I don't know! :)

In other news, Ellie is starting to army crawl. She's getting to be pretty quick. I told Josh I think in another two weeks she'll be crawling. I'm not ready! I forgot how much you have to keep off the floors! Before I know it she'll be walking and then graduating high school!

And yesterday, Emme decided that she needed to take a purse with her...for the first time. *sniff sniff* She's too little to want to take a purse with her, right?! It had all the essentials though; a car, her watch, a few rings, a pretend snake she named "Silly Snake", stuff like that. Kind of weird but yesterday was the first day Emme took her purse and yesterday was the first day Ellie said "mama". She just says it when she wants me. She'll go "mamamamamama". It's different than her normal babble because that is usually just "babababa". I love it!

Well, I need to go lay on the couch. I've got a killer sinus infection.

Sorry, that post of Ellie screaming was for Dr. M to watch. But you all are more than welcome to listen to her scream! ;)

Another day spent at Children's. Had to drop off a stool sample and go to medical records to get alllll of El's test results and labs to send to STL. After they get up from nap I have to go to my OB and get my records from being prego with her and then go to Lee's Summit to get even more records. That should be all (ha!) I need and I'll overnight it to STL tomorrow! Talk about a process.

We got her lab results this morning. Everything was fine on the ultrasound and blood for the most part. Her liver enzymes were elevated. Now, I'm sure this isn't accurate, but I'm starting to wonder about liver stuff. Last time she had her blood drawn (Sept) her liver protein was high, along with her platelets.

When we were last at the Chiro Ellie pooped (as she usually does after being adjusted...?) and Peggy (Chiro) noticed the color. Her poops, 97% of the time, are still meconium-like. She told me to ask about liver stuff the next time we go to GI so I did on Monday. Hence the reason for blood work.

At any rate, this is where we stand. And keep standing. It's hard to not get your hopes up when you have specific appointments but as parents, we always do. And every time we get the call that everything is normal, we get disappointed all over again. How much longer of waiting and guessing? Should kids really have this hard of time pooping? I think not. *sigh* What can ya do though?

Just a glimpse of the screaming I always talk about.

The girls are finally napping so I thought I'd jump on here real quick.

Yesterday was an eventful day! Emme woke with a fever but I wasn't about to cancel our GI appt. with Dr. Cocjin so I packed her up and made her come along. (Sorry, Em!) You read below about the visit and his thoughts. I mentioned he sent her for blood work and a urinalysis but didn't get to tell the gross story with it. I know, you're excited! We get to the lab and the sweet girl was just trying to make it as easy as possible for Ellie. About 5 minutes after inserting the first needle, Ellie's vein burst because of the pressure being built up from using a too small of needle. Needless to say blood starts squirting everywhere (literally) like a horror film. As soon as Emme saw this you can imagine her reaction. She was hysterical. I think she thought someone was killing Ellie! Not to mention she was sick and whiny to begin with, add squirting blood and it doesn't settle well. By this point it was almost 2pm (got there at 10am) and no one had had anything to eat or drink since 7:00! We were all having meltdowns! Oh, and with the urinalysis, they have to put a bag over her "parts" to catch the pee. They didn't stick the bag on right...4 times...so she had 4 times worth of pee all over her. I don't think I need to emphasize how thankful we were to leave there and come home for a nice quiet afternoon of napping.

I finished the night off right: I met a girlfriend for dinner (had an Amaretto Sour for my troubles), we got a great siding and window estimate, and I e-filed our taxes. All in all, I felt semi-successful.

Josh and I are planning on taking the girls to Chicago on April23-28. We're in dire need of some time away and what better place to get that then The Windy City. Plus I'm salivating for an amazing Chicago Dog. Please don't ruin it and remind me of the episode I watched of Dirty Jobs where they made hotdogs. *shivering*

Josh is also going to be teaching for two weeks in April at Centriq Foss (the school he went to). I know he'll do an amazing job. He's naturally talented with teaching abbilities. And the money he gets!, that's always a plus!

I'm going to take a much deserved afternoon nap right now.

The biospy results are in and...

they're normal. *sigh*

Here is my email to Dr. Mellick regarding our appointment today:

What a nice guy! He explained how pooping works. He said he doesn't think there is anything serious going on because biopsy results were fine. He thinks she can't relax to go poop (but that doesn't make sense to me because she's never had a big, hard, painful poop that would make her want to hold it). He had a urinalysis and blood work done today to check things and she's having an abdominal u/s tomorrow Downtown. He said to stop EryPed (Erythro replacement) because eventually you build a tolerance up and he wasn't thinking it was working anyway. Doesn't think she has DGE because she doesn't vomit on a regular basis. Gave us a script for Neurontin to fill if the blood work and u/s are fine in thinking that this might help desensitize her pain receptors (he said she could be hyper sensitive).

I need to know your thoughts on all this. Do I keep pushing for answers? Should we keep the appt in STL? Do YOU think there is something going on? You gave her a rectal exam and could feel she was full of stool, could she get anything out from that? No. Am I crazy? When is enough enough? When do we stop?

Britt