BIG Changes!!

Im not very good with changes, and I prefer things just to remain just the way they are. I have been home taking care of my girls since I was pregnant with Camila. As my regular readers know, a few months ago I decided to start working outside the house in a school. I have been doing good with my business, but I was needing some adult interaction, plus I loved the oportunity to give my girls the change to interact with kids their own age.

Even though we think it was a good decision at that moment, we decided it was time to rethink and make some changes. I honestly hate when my girls are sick and I have to call in sick. They miss school and I miss my job. I simply hate having to ask for permissions and permissions, but of course, my girls are more important than anything else so I HAVE to.

Everybody from this country keep telling me: Get a maid for your house, so when your girls are sick, they can stay with the maid. That is VERY normal in this country, and people think we are nuts because we decided NOT to have a maid. We decided my girls doesnt need a maid, but they do need their mom. And they need a mom that is happy staying home with them, and not a mom that feels guilty because she has to call in to miss work again. I honestly HATE the feeling of feeling that Im doing something wrong, when Im actually doing something to take care of my daughters...

I know Im just rambling, but I bet you guys already got my point. So, the decision is made. Im going to go back home full time. Gaby and Mia will continue attending their school normally, and I will pick them up at noon. Mimi will stay home with me, and I will try to take her from time to time to some kind of program where she will be able to spend a few hours and interact with other kids.

I will continue to do stuff for the school like the yearbook and some other design projects, but everything will be done from my home and at my own schedule like Im used to. When my girls are sick, they will stay home with me as long as they need to be ready again to go back to school. I know I will miss talking to adults in "real life", but this is worth it.

Gabriela in the last couple of weeks

As I have been posting a lot about Mia's health, I have hardly had time to post about a few things that Gaby has been up to. Gaby celebrated the 100th day of school with a family project. She did a purple flower with 100 pon-pons. Here is how all the projects look together:

And here is a close up of Gaby's project:

Also, Gaby got to attend to a birthday party while Mia was hospitalized. ALL of the kids from her class has celebrated their birthdays in school, and this was the first one of the whole school year. Hubby and I decided that it was not fair for her to miss it even if Camila was hospitalized. She had a lot of fun, and didnt complain when it was time to leave as she knew Camila was waiting for her at the hospital:



This month is the Independence Month and also the Carnival month. The Carnival decorations of the school were up by Friday, and Gaby got to have a photo with one of the "Diablos cojuelos".

Today we went to visit Luis Enrique... As they have been sick I have been keeping them away from him, but today they got to see him and they were thrilled:

Gaby even got to hold him:

Hubby also got to hold him and had some "boy" cuddling time... It was soo cute... Then ALL the girls got on top of him and it was hillarious:

After that we went to visit my dad who FINALLY moved to the same town we live!! We are very happy about this as now the girls are going to be able to spend more time with my dad and his wife. They now live 5 minutes away from my mom.

Picture Tagged!

I have been tagged by Jennie at Learning to Adjust, and all I have to do is go to the 4th folder where I keep my pictures and post the 4th picture with a short explanation..then tag others.

This picture was taken out of fun and I never got to post it... I guess this is now the time!! HAVE FUN!!!!! Im sure this is something YOU (my dear readers) wont see around YOUR town! :)


Im suppose to tag others, so if YOU are reading this, then I tag YOU!

Working on having healthy buds

This is not a secret... We ALL have healthy issues... The five of us. This has to change NOW! Everybody keeps telling me this is normal because they are preemies and spent their time in the incubator and so on, but I just cant get used to seeing them sick all the time.

I sat down with the ped and told her that I really needed for us to work this out, and make exams to my girls from head to toe to make sure everything is fine, and nothing is not working right. We decided that February and March will be for the girls, and April and May will be for hubby and I.

You guys know me... I LOVE lists. So, I decided to make a list of all the tests and specialists they girls will go throught in the next days and weeks.

Amelia - The Pink Bud
* She has been getting frequent colds, and had tonsilitis two times in between mid December and mid January.
* She is also showing signs of lazy eye in her left eye.
* Another thing is that she gets frequent and VERY serious rashes that only go away with a very strong cream (Desitin is like a joke for her). She has a very sensitive skin.

Action Plan:
1 - CAT Scan to check for Sinusitis
2 - Check up with an Eye Doctor
3 - Check up with a pediatric Dermatologist

Camila - The Red Bud
* Every cold ends up with an asthma episode, and this last time she ended up with bronchopneumonia. She has had 3 episodes in the last 6 months.
* She has recurrent diarrhea and ocassional vomiting since she was 12 months old. She now has abdominal distention.
* Every blood work that she had in her life has shown a little bit of iron deficiency, even though she eats just fine (better that Gaby who doesnt have any low levels of red blood cells).
* She doesnt know her colors. She is still on the age where it may be normal, but one never knows. She knows her shapes, positions and talks like a parrot, but she cant tell the colors.

Action Plan:
1 - X-Ray to check for Sinusitis and Adenoids
2 - Buy Humidifier or Vaporizer to sleep (still need to find out which option is better for her)
3 - Ultrasound to check if she has any enlarged organ to produce the abdominal distention
4 - Test for tolerance to Lactose, Gluten and Soy (Those are 6 tests, 4 of those are RAST to milk proteins, and the other two are RAST to Soy, and RAST to Gluten).
5 - Disaccharides Test and Digestion Test... Both done with stools
6 - Check up with the Eye Doctor
7 - Blood work to check on the platelets level

Gabriela - The Purple Bud
* She has enlarged adenoids and sinusitis. She needs to be re-check now that she is 5 to consider surgery. She has frequent otitis and tonsilitis with no fever or pain.
* Her colds ends up with wheezing, but this may be related to the enlarged adenoids.
* Gaby's bull legs havent improved at all... She is now walking worse than ever. She also complains about leg pains sometimes.
* The principal and psicologist at school noticed that Gaby is showing lazy eye in the "good eye". I have heard that this happens to some kids, but I need to ask what to do.
* She continues to have misbehavior at school. Not everyday, but still more than the average misbehavior.
* From time to time she complains about a pain in her leg.
* She gets frequent vaginal discharge, we assume it is because her lack of good cleaning when she goes by herself to the bathroom.

Action Plan:
1 - X-Ray to check for Sinusitis and Adenoids
2 - Check up with the new ENT doctor
3 - Check up with a new orthopedist for a second opinion and tell him that she sometimes complains of leg pain.
4 - Follow up with her eye doctor
5 - Call the new psicologist to find out about group therapies.
6 - Resume with the tests prescribed by the neurologist. EEG, Head MRI, plus some blood work with several tests.
7 - Vaginal culture exam

It may seem like a lot to take, but Im positive that things will be easier as soon as we have some answers... It is not easy to deal with something when you dont have an actual diagnosis, and always gets a comment of what it "could" be.

I will keep the blog updated about this.

Hospital's Day 6, Home = Day ONE!!!!

We are finally HOME!!! I just cant believe it... She is still on the process of getting better, and not ready to be exposed, but she is getting there... There are going to be TONS of tests this week, and we hope to find some answers and get some diagnosis.

Here are some photos that I havent post, and that will remember us about this experience. Here is Camila on her way to have an X-Ray because of her abdominal distention. Her belly has been huge for a couple of weeks already. She didnt liked the idea of being by herself on the wheel chair and cried until I sat with her.

Here she is with the oxigen on:

Here she is sleeping with the oxigen on:

Here she is on Monday with the IV in the right arm... That day she was going to the bathroom by herself (of course, I had to go to help her, but she was actually walking and pulling the IV holder by herself).

Here she is today after they took the catheter off:

And here she is at the door READY to leave!

Thanks for all the prayers, and we need to keep praying for a full recovery.

Hospital's Fourth Morning and Day Five

We didn’t had internet in the hospital today, hence why I’m posting this update so late. The doctor came this morning ready to release Mia but after he checked her he decided that she wasn’t ready.

He raised the doses of all her medicines plus she is now being nebulized every 6 hours instead of every 12 hours.

We are hoping that tomorrow is going to be our day.