We just thought it was going to be a quiet week

Look who wants to sit up like a big girl!

So yesterday the home health nurse came to change Emery's dressing and had some concerns about a little rash/infection that's developed on her leg. We'd had it looked at in Clinic Monday and the doctor wanted daily dressing changes. When the nurse was here, Bonnie said that it looked worse than the day before. The nurse said she was supposed to teach us to clean and dress the area around the central line ourselves, which came as a shock to us. I guess that's insurance calling the shots--they probably don't want to pay for an RN to come out daily. However, Emery screamed the whole 30-45 minutes and it took all three of us to manage the ordeal. There's no way Bonnie and I could do this ourselves! We heard the nurse call in to her office, saying, "It took all three of us to hold the kid down!" LOL She advised calling Dr. Thompson, which Bonnie did. By that time, it was 4 PM and the clinic was going to be closing but he told us to meet him at the ER so he could take a look. Traffic was crazy but we are most grateful for the HOV lane, which cut off a lot of our time! We met up with Dr. T. and went up to the clinic, where we also ran into Dr. Javi, one of our favorites from earlier in Emery's treatment. He is always SO sweet to Emery. He got right down in her face to talk with her and then picked her up out of her stroller to carry her around the Clinic. Her doctors are just the nicest guys.

Anyway, we had three doctors and two nurses looking at Emery's leg, debating what was going on with it and whether she needed more intensive treatment. The nurses re-dressed it and Dr. T. prescribed some oral antibiotic. Emery screamed the whole time. She's getting pretty feisty, which I take as a good sign, but it is not fun to listen to her scream at the top of her lungs for an extended period of time (and twice in one day!)

We then asked what we were supposed to tell Home Health, since the Clinic nurses used different supplies and wrapped the leg differently. It was decided that we should come back to Clinic again today and have it re-dressed. Dr. Thompson said he is trying to avoid putting her back in the hospital but it may come to that if it doesn't start clearing up. Emery was pretty fussy all day yesterday and didn't seem to feel all that great.

We dropped off her prescription and were told it would be an hour wait, so came home, warmed up leftovers, watched a little TV and then Bonnie went back out to get the meds. Luckily, Emery had a pretty good night and slept fairly well. She woke up happy and smiley today, did some tummy time first thing this morning and then took about an hour's nap while Bonnie made us some chicken salad and I did laundry. After lunch, it was off to the Clinic again.

After more traffic, more waiting, more screaming while the dressing was changed, and an appointment to return yet again tomorrow morning, we steeled ourselves for the 5 PM traffic by driving through McDonald's for fries and chocolate shakes (don't judge us, it's been a stressful couple of days!) before heading home. We are loving the HOV lane, I have to say. I can't believe more people don't use it--thousands of cars with only one person in them....all backed up for miles and miles in the regular lanes. Thank goodness there are three of us! Emery fell asleep in the car so we stopped by Target to get Ally's birthday presents and a few things we needed, got home about 7, warmed up more leftovers, and now we are winding down another day. Dr. Thompson told us to pack a bag for tomorrow "just in case," so we are getting some things together. If Emery's admitted, we have no idea how long we'll be staying but we are packing light and remembering that there's a laundry room on the 16th floor.

In good news, our little miss is holding her head up so well that she hardly agrees to be held in a reclining position any more. She is all about sitting up and surveying the environment around her. If that head bobs a little bit, she doesn't care--she wants to be upright. Probably all the more reason she doesn't want to lie down on an exam table and deal with medical procedures!