What. The. Heck. ?!

Well, we clearly could have been contenders in any contest for "weekly drama or craziness" this week. And this isn't something we set out or aspire to win! I have no idea how this happens. We're typically a pretty calm, cool, collected family--but that's not what you would have seen this week at all!

Monday started it out with a phone call from preschool saying that Morgan had vomited multiple times after having hummus during snack time. Hummus is made with sesame paste, and since sesame is something Jacoby is highly allergic too, I asked them to give Morgan benadryl and keep an eye on him until I got there to pick him up. Insert big sigh here. I was so hoping that Morgan wouldn't develop any other allergies besides eggs, but I guess we'll be finding out more during his allergy appointment this coming Monday.

On Tuesday, we were at Children's Hospital bright and early for a feeding and development evaluation with the Occupation Therapy department. The boys were antsy and bored (the perfect recipe for trouble), the appointment was long and tedious, and we left with new concerns about Jacoby's development. The blessing is that the therapist saw no signs that Jacoby is having trouble eating, and she gave us significant praise for what we've done with his restricted diet--she said a few times she was surprised by how well he was maintaining weight for not being able to eat many things. However, Jacoby has fine motor delay and possibly some gross motor delay as well. He's back in the 2 - 3 year old range in some of the fine motor skills (like holding a pencil correctly, being able to draw simple shapes, and being able to cut down a line with scissors). So, we'll be going to see an OT this spring and summer to get him caught up so that he'll be able to start kindergarten next year and not be behind. We knew this is the news we'd hear, although I at least was surprised by how far back he's delayed. Many of his classmates are starting to write their names and draw things that you can actually recognize, and we're just not seeing that with Jacoby. And there's much resistance when we try and teach him anything, which is a sign that these things are probably difficult and hard for him.

Wednesday, I think, was a normal day.

On Thursday, Jacoby and I headed back to Denver for a routine follow-up appointment with the endocrinologist. He's been really pleased with how well Jacoby is growing with the help of his magic medicine. We discussed a few things and he encouragingly told me that research done on kids who are on growth hormone has shown that they develop very highly tuned motor skills, so hopefully this will work in Jacoby's favor during his OT sessions. Jacoby did have blood drawn for some routine tests to make sure treatment isn't affecting his thyroid and to see if his IGF-1 levels are back to normal. He handled this really well.

And now here's the part of the story where Justin and I probably should have our parental licenses temporarily suspended or something. Jacoby usually has his rest time in our room (and yes, we've child-proofed this the best we can), so that Morgan can get in a good nap. Yesterday, Jacoby found a small, obscure pill box buried in a box covered in papers on our dresser that Justin used to carry around 8 or 9 years ago. It's something we literally have not seen or thought about in years, until of course, our 4-year old found it. And despite any fine motor delay this child currently has, he was able to open this pill box which contained very old, expired pills. Needless to say, I came home to find my 4-year old completely doped up and out of it--trouble walking and maintaining balance, heavy eyelids, spaced out, etc. It didn't take long to find the evidence--whenever Jacoby gets into something he knows he's not supposed to, he hides it under our pillows. After a quick call to Poison Control, we headed off to the ER and thus proceeded a very long night in the hospital, answering questions about how he'd obtained the medicine, how much did we think he'd taken (with the only "reliable" source being the drugged up child in question), why did we have this medicine in the first place, etc., and with a kid who was zoned out but completely irritable and not happy about being hooked up to monitors. And, of course, our pediatrician happened to be on-call so her evening was disrupted by our drama. It was actually great to have her treating us, since she knows Jacoby and all of his other issues. She was wonderful about the whole thing and helped me put it in perspective with her humor and kindness. Jacoby had to have a second blood draw to check for toxicity and make sure kidneys and liver were ok. He fought hard (and I'm not kidding about this--I literally did not know what to do with him; it's not like you can reason with or put a drugged 4-year old in time out when he's hooked up to all sorts of stuff) until midnight to disconnect all of his wires before finally giving up, and then he slept until after 6 am this morning (wish I could say the same...yawn). He woke up in relatively better spirits this morning, and when I asked him if he knew why we were in the hospital (hoping for a teachable moment here) he hadn't the foggiest idea. So, we've learned a lot in the past 24 hours, and Jacoby has thankfully come through his first, and hopefully last, experimentation with old, expired prescription medication mostly unscathed.

No Drama. That's the motto and goal this weekend and into next week. I think we can do it. (: