Matthew's IEP, Sarah Sees the Dentist, Seizures and Pre-Eclampsia

Monday all the kids had a dentist appointment. Since Aaron had taken so much time off work when Josh was in the hospital, I didn't dare ask him to take off more time and help me so I braved all four kids alone. We pulled in to the very FULL parking lot and I was putting Sarah in the stroller when Matthew decided to open the car door as hard as he could into the car next to us leaving a mark. I went and looked at it there was no dent, but it left a mark you could buff out if you tried. There were no other spots to re-park and I was running late anyway so I just let things go hoping the person wouldn't get too upset. It really wasn't bad so I just let it go. We walked in and they called the boys back and told me I could stay with Sarah and finish filling out paper work in the waiting room. I just looked at them like you have got to be kidding and then said the boys were pretty crazy and I would like to come back to help keep them in line. It's a good thing I did they were all over the place. When it got to be Sarah's turn for X-rays--that was a definite NO GO. As soon as they touched her she started just screaming. They decided to hold off in the X-rays which was a good idea in my book. She only allowed them a quick brush and look into her mouth while sitting in my lap but everything looked ok as far as they could see. Lately I have been trying to get the boys more self sufficient in brushing their teeth, but it was to Josh's downfall. He got his first cavity. Matthew has also chipped his front tooth which they are going to fix. Other than that things are looking good.

Yesterday Matthew had his annual IEP meeting with his teacher, regular education teacher and principal. We set some good goals for him to work on this next year so hopefully he can get closer to achieving them.

In other happenings Josh had 7 seizures back to back this morning. We made a call to the on call neurologist and after explaining the situation, he said and I quote, "Well I don't know what to do next. Hmmm."--meaning, wow, what do we do next for this kid's seizures because all the usual stuff IS NOT WORKING. That is not very comforting since he is supposed to be the pediatric neurology expert! He ended up increasing his new medication to the maximum level according to his weight and we get to go back to the clinic next week to see what step comes next. At this point it is anyone's guess.

As for me this last week I have noticed my hands and face have been puffy. I have put off taking my blood pressure because innocence is bliss, but finally took it last night. Yup it was high. It was high again this morning (and seeing Josh have so many seizures back to back probably didn't help). I saw the doctor and my blood pressure was high in the office and I also had protein in my urine. They drew labs to see if my liver is involved, but we probably won't hear the results until tomorrow. I have another tentative appointment tomorrow to see what's going on, but for now I am supposed to be taking it easy and just waiting to see how bad things are. Just to add the baby has also turned from head down to sideways--AWESOME. That means he might have to get here by C-section if he doesn't change positions. Anyway, I have had pre-eclampsia/HELLP syndrome with 3 of my 4 children and I am just waiting to see if this one will be the same. If so I will be having him a lot sooner than later. That translates into a newborn intensive care stay. The sad thing is this is not new to us since Daniel and Matthew were preemies and ended up with NICU stays as well. Unfortunately, I have never had one this premature, though so we'll see what happens.

At what point can I scream UNCLE and make all these stress and problems STOP? As for now I am trying to concentrate on the positives which I do have many blessings. I keep reminding myself of them--good husband, well behaved children (except at the dentist's office :)), secure job with good health insurance, etc. Oh sigh, I must admit, though, I have almost hit my breaking point on what I can handle at once...if that happens I will then have really puffy eyes from crying--at least it will match my puffy face :).