Dancing Babies

Thursday, September 17, 2009

In Emma's mind, dancing with a boy + wearing a dress + kissing = getting married.

I Have an Opinion, Dammit.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Emmanuel and I had a very intelligent conversation last night after President Obama's speech. He made me realize that when I don't practice voicing my opinion, it gets harder and harder to do so. And sometimes, it's important to stand up for what you believe in.

Usually I tell my FRIENDS not to talk politics around me. I do this because I disagree with most of my friends and family in that area, and 1) don't feel it's worth my time and 2) don't want to affect friendships. I've found the latter especially important with women. I don't feel it's worth it most of the time because I truly believe that we all have our politics opinion based on a lot of factors that are very personal, and I chose not to judge those factors. I'll leave that up to you-know-who.

Some argue that most of the people who are criticizing the health care reform are those who do not have personal experience with how our health care system is faulty. They are probably happy with their insurance. Few have personally known anyone with a health care-related problem. So let me share ours, which is nothing compared to others out there, but still valid.

Jan. 2007: Emma is born c-section after having pushed 2 hours on my back in a hospital bed. She is given antibiotics to counter an infection I had from being in labor too long. I am unable to nurse her for 2 days because she has to be under supervision during antibiotics. She is supplemented.

March 2007: Emma is given topical steroids to treat eczema.

Sept. 2007: Emma is diagnosed with toddler's diarrhea, even though she is only 8 mos. old (not a toddler yet). There is no explanation as to why. I am told to put her on the B.R.A.T. diet (bananas, rice, apples, toast) to control it.

Jul. 2008: Emma gets her first allergy blood test, which shows food allergies to peanuts, sesame seeds, egg white, wheat and soy. It is suggested that we see an allergist.

Jan. 2009: Emma gets her first skin allergy test, which confirms the above allergies and includes 10 others. She is developing more allergies. Dr. says to give Zyrtec each day.

April 2009: Emma has diarrhea 2-3 times/day for a month. BRAT diet no longer working.
Family doctor says to see a pediatric GI Doctor.

May 2009: Emma sees GI Dr., gets another RAST test (allergy blood test) in which a bunch of other allergies show up. GI Dr. suggests a probiotic, elemental liquid drink, and refers us back to the allergist.

May 2009: We go back to the allergist, he looks at blood test results, suggests following a gluten-free, corn-free diet.

June 2009: The money runs out and Emma's condition is worsening. I get on my knees and pray. Books fall into my lap. I educate myself.

Sept. 2009: Emma's condition is improving. She no longer has diarrhea. She never uses a steroid for eczema. She is treated with diet, supplements and baths only because that's all that works!

So after reading this sequence of events, maybe some of you will understand my frustration with our health care system. The original advice I was given, which was to put Emma on the BRAT diet, could have been the reason her condition worsened (she was allergic to wheat, bananas, rice, and apples at one test or another).

I wasted 2 1/2 years going to appointments, spending money on supplements, prescriptions, etc. But! I had pretty good insurance, which is more than many can say. Now I have a treatment plan for Emma in which insurance doesn't pay a penny for. It's all about nourishing food and healthy fats. Even if I were eligible for food stamps, they wouldn't even pay for that. So now I'm more broke than I've ever been, but I claim her health for it and I'll take it. I don't want to bash our system and say it's all bad. But I am ticked off that not one single doctor, out of 5 or 6, could ever tell me something to really help my daughter's condition. It was all about treat the symptom and not the underlying problem. What kind of system is this? It's 1/6th of our economy, that's what kind it is. It's based on profit. And it's messed up. Our doctors are there to make money, and make sure that we consistently make them money. I reject it.

So if you ever see us selling our house, our car, dressing in rags, I will blame somebody (and then pray about it and forgive them) and that will be our health care system and the insurance companies that uphold it! Dammit!

Growing Pains

Friday, September 4, 2009

Emma has done a lot of growing up in the past month. Her and I went on the diet mentioned in the last post for 4 days, and then we cut back on the extreme and tried to do a compromise of our usual diet and that diet (GAPS). It is not working for us. Emma's skin only took 3 days to go from pristine clear to scabby and inflamed. So we will be going back to a version of it, as soon as I get organized. It's so hard making drastic changes in the kitchen!

Since our diet start Emma has been very brave trying new foods. She's been trying green things - today it was soba noodles with pesto and she ate some broccoli with her eggs the other day. She chose some grapes at HEB the other day (she's never eaten a grape before) and to my delight she was munching on them all the way to the checkout!

The 4 days of this diet were tough for her. I felt it too...it was like doing a natural detox. The first 2 days I had a headache that would not subside. Days 3 and 4 I felt great, but I was eating a lot more than she was. She wouldn't eat much at all. I did rule out that she has an egg allergy, however, because she was eating a ton of those.

Through all of these ups and downs, Emma is seldom rough with her brother, who is very curious about her toys. Instead of hurting him, she screams for me to come get him, and then when I won't she will let him bite her and pull her hair without retaliating! He gets very frustrated with screaming. I do too :)

Today my brave girl went to the dentist and let them scrape and clean her teeth with their power tools. I couldn't believe my eyes. She's really growing up. And then she knocked my socks off this evening...

At the dentist they told me she has to get rid of the chupon (pacifier). It's altering the shape of her mouth. So, with my recent experience of cold turkey approaches, I decided to just do it. This afternoon I told her that her nap was the last time she was going to use them ever. She cried, curled lip pouted, and then cried more. I almost wanted to cry too. It's a baby thing - pacifiers - and I don't want her to grow up! And, she's been through so much, those chupones have always been there to comfort her when she feels bad and mami isn't enough. So, she sucked on them for about 1 1/2 hours, came downstairs, said she wasn't tired (haha) and I got the feeling she was done with them. So I got the scissors and asked her to help me cut them up. I helped her cut the nipple off each one. She wasn't sad doing it. she put all the nipples on her fingers and was playing with them. Then we put them in a box and used it as an instrument. Ben loved this.


I thought for sure bedtime would be a crying frenzy tonight. But when it was time, she didn't cry, she just asked for them. We prayed that Heavenly Father would help her be a big girl. I left the room with no requests or cries following me.

I am so proud of Emma and her victories. Her strong spirit produces her tantrums, but also her bravery and faith. She is an example to me, a 25-yr. old, when she gives up something that means so much to her in a matter of hours. She is an example to me each day when she gulps down the gross supplement concoction I make for her instead of spitting it out on my face. She is an example to me as she sincerely prays with me at night to bless her body to heal. I am so grateful for my little girl...my big girl...my Emma.