Rainboots, tutu and plie squats, oh my!

Hey there little Momma!
Just checking in; life continues to throw us for loops but we're holding strong and keeping the Faith and counting our Blessings each day. Your health has been fantastic ever since we checked out of TCT; you aren't bruising a bit any more. Praise God!

In other news, mommy has lost another pregnancy, so we are no longer expecting to bring a sibling into the world this year, but we're not giving up hope - and God's timing of you and I staying a night at TCT and us being worried sick about your issues was no mistake; when the dr. told me a week later (at my 12 week appt) that the baby had stopped developing around week 8, I barely flinched. I am just too grateful for the healthy girl I've got to feel sorry for myself. I still want to give you a brother or sister but we aren't lacking for anything and are just trying to trust in God's plan.

Last week you had your dance recital and that was a ton of fun; you wore your hello kitty rainboots with a tutu to rehearsals and stole the show once again on the big night running around the table and losing your sailor hat on stage and telling Miss Lindsay "let's catch it" about the pumpkins. It's all on video for you to see!

This week there were devestating storms all around us but we suffered no real damage. Praying for all those affected and we are out of power, so it's like camping at home. Although, last night we took you to the movies for our 1st time as a family (Crystal took you one time last summer). We saw an adorable film called "Rio" and you really enjoyed it. You even recognized Rihanna's voice when she sang on the cartoon. On the way home, I got tickled b/c you were talking to the red lights just like I do saying "Come on, turn green - this is taking all day!"

You had a wonderful Easter - Gigi and G-Daddy came in from Nashville and took you to Coolidge and for burgers & fro-yo, then on Sunday, all the grandparents had breakfast with us and we all went to church together. It was really special and you were happy with the Tinkerbell and sugared egg and towel and bug catchers the Easter Bunny brought to you. You just love playing with worms and finding ants and other critters. Feeding Kelsey is one of your chores and you give her lots of love.

So far, despite all the doctors and unfortunate news, we are having a fantastic spring. Daddy is working terribly hard to get the gym open soon and the two of you are getting a lot of time together and making life easier on mom as far as taking care of the house for us. I think this is going to be really good for our family :)

Love you so very much - write soon. Mom

Your Diagnosis

Little Bit,
Last week we got quite a scare. You started getting really bad bruises in early March (a black eye without even flinching and really beat up legs) and during trip to Puerto Rico, we decided we needed to check into it (3/17-24). We had bloodwork done on Fri, 4/1/11 – Dr. Coffman’s office said the bloodwork was fine, but they wanted to go ahead and see you. Tuesday, 4/5 they told your dad your platelets were at 100k as of Friday and were about to send you home but then decided to do a quick check since Child protective Services was calling us. Then, your dad was told that you did not need to see CPS, he needed to take you straight to TC Thompson because you have ITP, an autoimmune condition that causes your antibodies to attack your own platelets in response to a virus. Your platelets were so low they didn’t register (and normal is >150k). We checked you in and they ran an IV of immunogloben for around 4 hours and kept you until around lunch on Wed, 4/6. Friday they checked your platelets and they were 100, so you appear to be responding well. We are hopeful the case is acute, not chronic and learning more about it each day. You don’t have to take meds regularly or anything and that’s a relief, but this condition does put you at higher risk for other autoimmune conditions such as lupus, chrone’s disease, diabetes, etc. We are going to do everything we possibly can to optimize your health and you have been a real trooper so far.

You turned back to a momma’s girl this week; I think you have a 6th sense that I need you desparately. You call the baby in my belly Conrad now and talk about having one in your belly too ;0 You pray for G-Daddy to run faster (b/c you confused job and jog). You LOVE my little ponies now and continue to blow our minds daily with your recount of things that you have heard or picked up on. It is truly remarkable! You are our angel and so many people are praying for your wellness. Love you so much baby and always here for you no matter what – I didn’t even mind being at TCT – you make everything fun. I just want to be wherever you are!!!