Margaret Was Not Having A Good Day!

Margaret making herself
comfortable. We JUST got
to the room. 

So Margaret was not having a good day today yesterday! She did not want to wake up and spent most of the day in bed. We were having a lot of problems with her. So after spending 19 hours in bed and not wanting to eat or drink it was time to take her to the hospital to get her some fluids. We went to Phoenix Children's and things went pretty well.

I was really worried about her getting an IV. It turns out they did a super job! She did not even cry. They distracted her with an iPad and put numbing medicine on her arm so she did not even feel the stick. They put a bag of fluid in her, swab her throat for strep, and took x-rays of her chest. The x-rays were negative so she did not have pneumonia are any other respiratory illness. We heard back that the strep swab was positive even though she does not have a red throat, blisters or white spots in the back of throat. 

Margaret FINALLY eating a goldfish cracker!

As Margaret was getting re-hydrated I noticed she because to sniffle again.  I could hear her snorting.  Then she began to cough.  At first it was a little cough but as time went on the cough got worse.  Right before we were discharged she was coughing hard again and then she vomited.  I told the nurse and doctor that I thought it was the nasal drainage that was irritating her throat which caused the cough that in turn caused her to reflux (vomit).  They did not listen to me and we left the hospital with a prescription of antibiotics to treat the strep and a medication for nausea (which I do not think she has).  Today we have an appointment with a pediatrician.  I am taking all the children.  The boys need to be swabbed for strep and I was just told James vomited everywhere.  Poor Bailey said she not not even sure how to clean the mess. Can't wait to see what the pediatrician has to say!

It Takes A Village

Photo Credit: perspectiveparenting.com

It took a village, at least a lot of hands, to take care of this mess!  I was recently woken up because Margaret had barfed all over James and his bed. Bailey and her grandfather get up too. Bailey cleans Margaret off while her grandfather changes James bedding and takes the bedding and all of the clothes and throws them into the washing machine. I take James and go get him medicine and a new change of clothing. Margaret gets out of the bath and I get her some medicine too.  We get everybody cleaned up and straightened out.  With the three of us it took about an hour and half to get everyone sorted out and back into bed!  I hate that Margaret is so sick but I am not sure what to do for her. I don't think taking her back to the urgent care would be helpful at this point. Thankfully we have an appointment with a new pediatrician Tuesday. Hopefully the pediatrician will be able to help us.

Now the Third One is Sick Too!

Joseph in the Urgent Care getting
his breathing treatment

It has been a long weekend!  Thursday is when Margaret was sick and barfing all day.  She would vomit and then pass out.  So she was taken to the urgent care where they gave her some medicine.  By Friday James was coughing too and barfing.  So Friday night I took James and Margaret to the urgent care.  Even on medicine Margaret was still barfing and James had joined her.  The doctor at the urgent care said there is something viral going around and there is not really anything else we could do.

Saturday Margaret and James were still sick.   Margaret still coughing and vomiting and able to hold down little.  James is coughing also but mostly could hold down food.  Saturday evening I noticed Joseph's breathing was getting noisy.  I put him to bed.  By 1:30am Bailey came to wake me up and said Joseph does not sounds right.  She brought him in and I could tell he was having a problem and we would have to go to the urgent care.  It had been all most 2 years since I last had to do this for Joseph.

I was lucky in that I filled out paperwork and gave the urgent care Joseph's information the day before.  I felt pretty sure we would be in there within a day or two.  So I was just able to go in and not have to worry about filling out paperwork last night.  We were there from about 1:45am to 4:30am.  Joseph had his steroid and a breathing treatment.  We get home at 4:30am and I find a naked Margaret running around the house whining.  I see Bailey she tells me Margaret had vomited all over the both of them.  So Margaret was stripped down.  I asked Bailey to put Joseph down to sleep while I gave Margaret a bath. I got her all cleaned up and sent her on her way.  Bailey made a pallet in the living room for the two of them.  They laid down and I finally got to make it back to my bed near 5am.  It was a LONG night last night!  Glad it is over and hope all the children are finally on the road to recovery!

I have to give Bailey a lot of credit. She has been cleaning up barf and poo all over the place. I told her thank you and that I would have to treat her to something special for all the extra hard work she is had to do lately.

Sick and Barfing

Margaret sick and sleeping the day away!

I have been working on trying to rebuild my relationship with John. So far, according to him, I am not doing a good job. The first weekend when he came down I did not see him except at night. John complained and said he was not getting to see enough of me. He was interested in seeing the children but he was more interested in seeing me than the kids because he was trying to build a relationship with ME and not the children. I understand that and I agree, I think he is right, so I tried to make things better. The next weekend I spent half the day with Bailey and then the second half of the day with John. That was a little better. This weekend I went to Vegas. I told John, two weeks ago, that I was coming into town to get my car fixed and Saturday was going to be my day. I moved when I was going to come into town because John said he would not have time for us (me or the children) on Sunday because of church and lesson planning for school (and I am sure the Super Bowl somewhat). So I decided to come into town on Thursday and leave Sunday. I told John I was coming to town to let a friend fix my car. Saturday was my day to be alone. He said ok and told me Friday was his busy day. He had to go to work, then to the therapist and finally to a church group. I said that was fine. I was disappointed he did not want to skip the church group and come home to see the children and I but I was ok with it. He felt he had things he had to do so I was ok. I see John for a bit on Thursday night before we both pass out in the bed.

Picture of John's Fridge AFTER shopping!
Bag of sandwiches on the bottom shelf  I
brought with me along with the medicine
and Gatorade on the top shelf.

Since John was going to be gone Friday I spent the day with Chelsea and her children. I got the kids up and gave them a bath. This is when I notice John’s condo was not clean. The place had not been vacuumed, counters wiped down, trash taken out or bathrooms cleaned. It made me feel as though he was not concerned about making a good impression at all. I knew I could clean it but it would only make me mad. It as NOT how I wanted to spend my day. I asked Chelsea if she knew of someone to clean it and she said she would. I told her they job was hers if she wanted it. I went to pick up Chelsea and her daughter at 10:30am. I take us over to McDonalds (the ONLY one I will go to during the winter since they keep it really clean) and we let the kids play. They had a big time. Chelsea’s son got out of school at 3:15 so we went back to her place. I dropped her and her daughter off while I took the children with me to the store. The amount of food in John’s fridge, AFTER he went shopping, was pathetic! I picked up stuff for dinner along with more breakfast foods (the kids FAVORITE meal of the day), more milk and some fresh fruit. I spent $60 on food. I went back to pick up Chelsea and her children and we went over to John’s place. Chelsea’s son is a little older than my children so the boys were having fun and going wild. Nothing like two hyperactive, autistic boys playing in a condo together…lol. They played while I straightened and Chelsea cleaned. She got the kitchen cleaned and both the bathroom before the had to go. I stopped and fixed the kids something to eat. After eating Chelsea and I along with 5 children piled into my car (ONE of the new times I enjoyed having my HUGE van….LOL). took Chelsea and her children home. When we got there James had to pee so we went up to her place. The kids played and Chelsea gave me the blanket she had knitted for James and Joseph for Christmas. They are beautiful! Then she showed me Margaret’s blanket. It is VERY neat! I am looking forward to when she finishes it! Sean (her husband) arrived home and I asked about the time. It was 8:30pm. I had told John I would have dinner for him by 9:00pm. Sigh, I knew I was late. I hurried the children downstairs and out to the car. We get to John’s place and as we are about to walk in John pulls up. We go upstairs. I tell him that I do not have dinner made but I would make it. I told him I was going to cook a steak with salad and béarnaise sauce and fresh broccoli. John said that was too much to eat this late. I said ok. The kids were happy to see him. It was the first time we had seen him all day. They stayed up for another hour and were put to bed. John and I talked for a bit afterwards and we went to bed because we were both yawning.

On Saturday we got up late-ish (8am). I said I had to get ready quickly since my appointment was at 9am for the Aveda school spa. Chelsea ended up meeting me over there thankfully so we would not be late. As I was leaving John made me feel guilty or at least upset. He kept asking me if I was going to stay to eat breakfast (no, we got up late and I would not make my appointment) will you come over after you are done at the spa (no, I told you two weeks ago that Saturday was MY day), will you come back later(no, I want to spend the day away from the kids). The responses I wrote are not what I said for the most part but what I SHOULD have said. I told him two weeks ago when I planned this trip that I was spending the day at the spa and after that I was going to have my car worked on by Sean (He is a master mechanic). I knew there was something going on with the brakes and I had to get it fixed. After that I was going to a hotel room because I wanted to get a good night’s sleep before having to drive back the next day. John was unhappy. He sent me a LONG text that night. I was not even sure how to respond back.

 I offered to go to McDonald's with him Sunday morning so we could talk and the kids could play.  It allowed the children to burn off energy while we got to speak.  In the end we more or less made up but it is hard.  I want to love him.  I just wonder about the motivation of getting back together.  Then he says he loves me but turns around and emotionally punishes me when he is not happy with what I am doing.  I am not up for that anymore.  Basically if you cannot be a positive influence in my life I don't really have time for you.

This week has been SO busy at work I feel like I am spinning in circles.   I know I am not but it feels that way!  On Tuesday Bailey took Joseph with her to the doctor's office.  She was there to pick up her medical records.  While there a car turned into the parking lot quickly and hit her.  Luckily it was at a fairly low speed but she dislocated her should and got a hairline fracture on her hip. That was the cause of some drama.  Then on Thursday Margaret was barfing her head off to the point of passing out so Bailey took her to the urgent care.  That was $40 I had to pay in a doctor visit.  That was the same day I got her medicaid stuff worked out but her prescriptions went to Walgreens and it is basically the ONLY major retailer that does not accept Margaret's medicaid plan.  I had the prescriptions transferred over to Safeway.  Walgreens waited until the LAST minute to transfer the prescription over.  They were wanting me to come back but I would have had to pay $30 for the prescriptions.  At Safeway I paid nothing but I did not get home until about 8:30pm.  It was a LONG ass day!  I was annoyed with Bailey because I told her just to wait on me and I will do the prescriptions later but she wanted to go to Walgreens so I told her to go.  Then she changed her mind but I told her to go.  I am mad at myself for not sticking, yet again, with my first instinct which was to just wait for me and let me get the prescriptions fulled.  

These are just two of the six cones in my floor.
Each cone is covering up a wet spot on the
floor where barf has been cleaned up
from poor Margaret.

Friday there was more Margaret barfing.  The poor girl can hardly keep anything down.  James had started to cough and barf some too.  I took them to the Urgent Care when I got home.  Cost me another $40 for James to see the doctor.  Margaret was free with the secondary insurance.  While there we were told Margaret was doing ok all in all (a bit dehydrated but ok) and so was James.  The doctor said it is something viral going around and there was little we could do.  I was a bit upset with Bailey again.  I will have to ask her to be quiet while at the doctor's office. She was interjecting information in when I did not ask.  I don't like that AT ALL! At one point she seemed a bit rude.  I was not feeling well myself by the time I took the kids to the doctor.  We left the office and I stopped by Sonic to get something cold to drink for sore throats and then headed home.

I got the kids to bed and then passed out myself. This morning when I got up and I SO sick.  I can tell I have a fever and I feel bad.  Writing this is tiring it is has taken me all day to make this post happen.

Friday (yesterday) was also a day I was upset with PITA.  I let him keep $700 in child support last month to help him catch up on his bills.  I write him yesterday and ask how much is he going to send me.  He writes back and says his paycheck was only $1400 and after paying rent ($800-something) then he would have nothing if he paid me AND he would not be able to come down here next weekend.  I said I NEED the money to make MY bills so he says *I* should tell HIM how much to send.  Are you serious?  There is no winning for me in that decision.  What can't he just take care of his end of things???

SO tired and SO sick.  I am done.  I hope this post makes sense...lol.  Night people!

It's all Bon Bons from here - Part II

OK, it has been so long now I have forgotten all I was doing this morning...lol.  I know I took out all the trash.  I have a ton of it since I am moving.  Pack and organized things for the dentist appointment.  I folded and packed away some of my clothes.  I know there are other things but I just don't remember.

We did make it to the dentist.  I know Margaret has a problem with barfing at the dentist office.  They now even have it in her file...LOL!!!!   So we went back and Margaret was only sitting in the chair.  She was whining and starting to cough.  I KNEW if they did an x-ray, which I heard them talking about, she WAS going to barf!  So I thought I would be smart and tell them to bring a bag in before they do the x-ray so she could barf in it but as I was started to say that Margaret coughed again and barfed all over herself.    Of course, I did not think to take extra clothes with me.  What kind of mom would I have been if I was super organized and thoughtful like that?   *rolling eyes* So I helped the technician clean off the barf.  Margaret calmed down.  The dentist came in and looked at Margaret (no x-ray...lol).  The dentist found two huge sores in the back of her mouth.  So that was the problem!  Thank goodness it was not a tooth!  The dentist asked me if she had something in her mouth recently since the sore was one on the upper gum and one on the lower gum.  I said with her being autistic there is no telling what she may have done.  Sadly, I JUST do not know!  I was told to try and keep her mouth as clean as possible and not to feed her foods that are salty or acidic.  Good to know so I packed the kids up and headed home.  By the time I got home my car was starting to stink of barf.  Good time to get out...lol  

Once home I changed Margaret's clothes and called my mom to tell her the news.  Then we talked for a bit while I spent time making a list of people to call tomorrow and things I have to do.  Tonight I made an appointment at 6AM (UGH!!!) for a blood draw for myself and Joseph.  Oh, what fun we will have on the morning of the 18th!

So for tomorrow I have on my list of things to do...

• Call the WIC office again in Arizona
• Call UCLA and bother them
• Call the pulmonologist and set an appointment for Joseph
• Get an appointment with my general doctor so I can make sure I have what I need before I leave Vegas
• Get an appointment with the pediatrician after the 25th (when I will have a little more money) to see the kiddos and get any medical and other clearances I need.
• Talk to the school district about the kids IEPs
• Call and speak to the Desert Regional Center and let them know I am leaving. Get any information they have so I can hopefully hand-deliver it to the Division of Developmentally Disabilities in Arizona. 
• Get paperwork to get a new birth certificate for me.  Can't find mine.
• Call the homeless shelter again
• Send an email to a new friend to see if she can help me. Thanks Monica!

I am sure their are other things but I can't remember right now.  Tonight John will stop by and visit with the kids for a bit.  It is going to be devastating to James when we move away from John.  It makes me sad but I will see about getting him into therapy.  When John comes by I will leave to put gas in my car and buy some groceries.  I will miss that help too.  I HATE taking the children to the store.  They are normally great for me right up until I have to check out.  Then they go nuts!  I will miss being able to go out by myself to grocery shop.  Maybe I can find another mom and we could swap child watching for a bit?  Maybe?

Tomorrow I will try and scan more pictures and pack.  I will try and not stress over too much and just enjoy my bon bons...lol.  

Last day of July....

And boy am I GLAD to see July come to an end!

Since John left I had to take care of the children by myself. After John telling me he was leaving it was an emotional weekend with no room to take a breathe and gather myself. On Monday, July 9th, Margaret had an appointment at the dentist. That was JUST the start of one of the WORST days of my ENTIRE LIFE!!! She had pointed out to me her front left tooth was loose (thanks to Yo Gabba Gabba...lol). With the recent abscess from Joseph's dead front teeth I was concerned. So poor Dr. Sina was the dentist we went to see. Margaret did pretty well for her during the exam part. She sat in the dental chair and cried VERY little! I was SO proud of her!

All was going well until the dental assistant went to take a couple of x-rays of her front teeth. Margaret gagged a little but not too bad. I thought I was in the clear. She got up from the dental chair and ran over to me. She had a pale pallor to her skin and I was concerned. I called to her but she detoured at the last minute and headed to a narrow hallway where the appointment setter works. She stops suddenly and projectile vomits. Two bad things about this. One is that I fed her 90 minutes earlier and she should not have been able to vomit so much. The second problem was the appointment setter gets ill easily and he RAN out of the reception area. I felt sorry for her. Luckily Margaret missed vomiting on her clothes and she only got a small amount on her shoes. That was perfect since it was easy to clean her up.

Then I left there and had appointments at two different attorneys to discuss my impending divorce. The first attorney I went to said I had an excellent case to gain sole custody of my children. I was pleased and I liked the attorney well enough. The second attorney was was heading across town to make the second appointment I called the office only to be told they could not see me. Sigh! So I turned the car around and headed home. I make it home at about 2pm after leaving the house at 9am. I arrived home and opened the front door using my key. I walk in and the children go in. They did not want to stay outside because it was SUPER hot that day. The next thing I know I hear James say the TV is gone. I was talking to my friend as I walked in the door and I walk over to where the TV sits and I see it is gone. My first though was that John came back and took the TV. Then I walk back to my bedroom and I see my jewelry box sitting out on my bed instead of being at the top of my closet. ALL the jewelry was gone! Including the jewelry that was in a baby wipe container that held my nicest jewelry. I easily lost $7,000 in jewelry that I had collected over 20 years AND the inheritance of my children. I called the police and at first I was mad. As I was filling out the missing property report I could not think. Most of the jewelry I had not worn in YEARS because of the babies. Then I started to cry. I was so stressed out that night and I was scared to sleep at home. Who ever did this has to either live close to my house or goes by it on a regular basis. That is how they knew I was gone but for someone just to hit my house for the jewelry and my TV they must have been in here before or know me. That was ALL that was taken. My laptop was left behind, my prescription pills and some other moderately valued electronic stuff that was small.

Then to round out the day my husband was trying to force (or at least I felt that way) me to agree to divorce stipulations that I was not happy with. I went to speak to his friend that evening with him and I had to start my car. It was not wanting to start. It was 114 degrees outside and the car was acting like it was fried. I tried to start it again and it did start but then the air conditioner did not work, the odometer (electric) did not work and neither did the speedometer. It was tough to drive 30 minutes across town with Margaret, Joseph and myself in a van with no A/C in 144 degree heat. When we got there I was lightly sunburned and we were all beet red due to the heat. By the time our discussion with John's friend ended thankfully my car had cooled and so had the weather so my car started right up and everything worked. I was grateful for that small miracle after such a tragic and awful day!

July 10th it was MY turn at the dentist. I have a MAJOR problem now with getting dental work because I seem not to be able to numb up with lidocaine. This makes ALL dental work at least kinda painful. I was able to convince John to take the children for part of the day for the first time since he left. I was a welcome relief from them but getting dental work cancelled that out...lol. The dentist knows of my problem and made sure he numbed me up SUPER well. I had enough lidocaine that my face was numb up to my eyes. It felt WEIRD! I had two cavities drilled and refilled. They were both large. They stated out as tiny pinprick cavities 20 years ago and now the tooth is all most gone. The next time I will have to get crowns on the teeth. :( I also had two teeth sealed. They will probably be the ONLY two teeth I have when I am old! LOL At the end of the drilling I was feeling the dentist drill. It was not too bad though. It took until the end of the day for all the lidocaine to wear off! When I got home the children were wondering what was wrong with me...lol.

On Wednesday July 11th I had feeding therapy for Joseph and while I was in the area I had an appointment with another divorce attorney. John was telling me I did not have a good case for the divorce and I thought I did. I went to another attorney to get another opinion. The last attorney told me the same thing. I had a good case. That made me relieved.

On the 12th I only had therapy for Margaret and Joseph. It was a nice break compared to the other days. July 13th John took the children for the weekend for the first time. It was nice. So Saturday I had an appointment with the Aveda school and got my hair done. It was SO nice. I needed that SO bad after all the stress of the divorce, the break-in of my home, and having the children for awhile without much of a break.

I got the children back Sunday evening and on Monday I had a WIC appointment but I could not make it to the recertification appointment. Tuesday the 17th I did not have any appointments. Thanks goodness! On the 18th Joseph had an appointment with Dr. Sina, the dentist, to clean the heavy tarter build-up on his back teeth. The tarter is so heavy because he does not chew food so the teeth do not have the tarter scraped off of them. So I took him in for his cleaning. He did SO good in sitting in the chair. When the dentist came in I sat Joseph in the dental chair, James in a small child's chair and Margaret in the stroller. I thought this was a good idea but I was horribly wrong! As the dentist started to clean Joseph's teeth Margaret became upset. I saw her stick her hands into her mouth and then the next thing I know she vomited EVERYWHERE! Vomit was in her hair, down her shirt, on her pants and she filled the bottom of the stroller with vomit so the back of her pants were soaked too. I was not prepared for that by ANY means! NEVER though she would get sick with Joseph having the dental appointment!

I had to go and leave Joseph alone while I took Margaret and James to the bathroom and try to clean up all the mess. I was able to get her shirt off without getting more barf in her hair. I rinsed out her hair and then I tried to tackle her clothes. I rinsed them off in the sink using soap and water. By the time I got everything clean her shirt and pants were completely soaked and there was no hand dryer in the bathroom not to mention that a hand dryer would have completely upset Margaret. So I did the only thing I could do. I dumped the barf in the stroller out and then tried to rinse the stroller in the sink but that was not going to happen...lol. Just would not fit. :/ I had to walk Margaret out of the dentist office with just her shoes and diaper on...LOL! The dentist was kind enough to offer me a gown for her but I said I was not worried about it. We only had a short way to walk to the car and then I was going to strap her in and take her to the house to get more clothes. I had JUST enough time to get home, grab clothes for her and then race across town to Joseph's feeding appointment. I just made it in time to walk through the door by the time I got Margaret into her change of clothes. What a wild day! By the time I got back out to my car the stroller I had rinsed out and her clothes were making my car reek of barf due to the warm weather. I was GLAD to get home! I got the clothes into the washing machine and the stroller I set up outside and then used the hose and some dish soap to get it clean. Then I left it in the sun for two days to make sure the smell would be gone.

That evening John came over and stayed so he could take me to watch the children because on July 19th I went to have carpal tunnel surgery done on my right hand. I have been having carpal tunnel issues for the last 20 years but it had gotten so bad that I could not drive, fill out a form, sew on a button or do anything that required me to grip something without my hand falling asleep. I had been tough! So I hoped surgery would solve my problem. I dove myself to the surgery center EARLY in the morning. I get there and I am nervous. I was able to settle my nerves until the nurses were trying to put an IV into the back of my hand. I just do not have good veins there especially on my left hand. So they stuck me once and it did not work so another nurse tried. She got blood but it would not flow. She was moving the needle around and I cried out in pain and starting crying. They think they were on a valve. I don't know besides it was SUPER painful so they stopped. All most the ENTIRE back of my hand was bruised for a week. The anesthesiologist came out and stuck me in my arm and got it at once. I was glad there was NO more torture!

I was wheeled in and got on the surgical bed. The anesthesiologist knocked me out. I work up later. The surgery was really short. My hand was wrapped up and I was woozy that first day but otherwise I felt fine. The next day I watched the children for a few hours while John took a nap. The children have been gone for the most part. I have had them over on Thursday and Sunday nights so that John can get up early and go workout with his trainer. Then I kept the children for 4 hours the day after my surgery, I kept them for another 4 hours one day after John got back from working out and Saturday (28th) I kept the children all most all day (10am to 7:30pm). By Saturday John was starting to beg for mercy from the children. I love the little munchkins so much but the can wear you out. I asked John if he understood why I could not do school work at night after taking care of the children all day and he said yes so I agreed to take the children on Saturday. :) I have an appointment with the hand doctor on August 1. Recovery for my carpal tunnel surgery has been difficult and I have had a lot of pain in my hand. Even now I have pain often when I move my thumb. It hurts. I am hoping he will say it is all normal and will heal great. I did have the surgeon tell me that my surgery went well and the carpal tunnel was under extreme compression. I am hoping I got the surgery done in time to keep permanent damage from happening to my nerves in my hand.

To wrap things up on the divorce end John and I are going to try and work things out so currently the divorce has been dropped. We will go the couples therapy and see if we can stay together because having disabled surviving quads we will probably ALWAYS have to deal with each other until we die. It would be easier to do that if we were able to stay together and work in unison for the children than work against one another.

Still grateful the month of July has ended! One of the worst months of my life!

Can't Believe I Forgot to Mention...

I can't believe I forgot to mention what is going on with Joseph! On May 1st we went to the dentist. Nothing like taking all three children with me, alone, to the dentist. (sigh) They do not make it easy. We got there and getting into the waiting room was not too hard. We had a problem once we were called back into the office area. By then another mom with her two children were there. She got to witness me get James and Joseph back into the office but then Margaret balked. She started to cry and scream. I got her arm and tried to get her to follow me but she screamed harder and fell to the floor. The other mom got to watch as I dragged Margaret the last three feet across the threshold of the office door. I am sure I was looking like a wonderful mother at that point (not). Just did not feel like explaining that Margaret is autistic and have an unreasonable fear of the dentist. Margaret was throwing such a big fit that she was putting her fingers in her ears because HER screaming was SO loud it was bothering HER. LOL I know, I know. It is funny but it is not.

Being miserable as she was we went straight to the room while the boys were taken to try and get x-rays. Margaret crawled under the chair where I was sitting and laid there crying and screaming. She volume did lower but that was about it. So she was crying and screaming under my chair as the dentist came in. He is a great dentist since he is really nice to the children and specializes in dealing with special needs children including autism. My ONLY problem with him is that he does not force the children to get all of their teeth cleaned. That concerns me so I think I will take the kids to another dentist once a year to get the cleaning they need. So James goes first. We let Margaret watch but she was still crying and she crawled back under the chair. James is a champ. He gets into the chair and allows the dentist to look at his teeth and clean them. Then comes Joseph. Joseph gets into the chair. He is nervous but he is good. The dentist looks at his teeth and I tel him I noticed that the right front tooth (that he had knocked out of position MONTHS ago at McDonalds) is loose. He looks at it and asks me if I had noticed an abscess in the gum over the left front tooth (LFT). I said no. He showed me. It looked like a pimple in the gum.

You can see the nice big chip out of the LFT. The dentist said he thinks the physical damage done to the teeth is the cause of the abscess. That each tooth was cracked and the root of the tooth died and became infected. My poor baby! How pain it must have been but he NEVER cried or indicated he was in any pain. His Right Front Tooth (RFT) was also bad. I was told he would have to have both front teeth pulled. Ugh! With Joseph not producing growth hormone he is FAR behind in getting his teeth. He will be AT LEAST 7 before his permanent front teeth would possibly grown in.

Barf, Barf and more Barf...

Margaret has always been my little vomiter. Joseph was too but he had a fundoplication and stopped his vomiting. Margaret on the other hand gets something going on with her and the next thing I know she is vomiting all the time. Case in point, today.

Margaret was doing fine today until this evening and she vomited when I fed her some pizza. Then tonight she has been up for awhile talking in her room. Just a bit ago she was screaming her head off so John checked on her. She is covered in barf and so was her bed. She is in the bath now. The vomiting jags (refluxing) can go on for weeks before it stops. I am hoping for a short stint this time. Fingers crossed!