I'm really not sure where to begin, so my apologizes if this post seems scattered.
Let's go all the way back to Christmas.
Mike and I were so lucky to have two whole weeks off for Christmas. In our entire marriage, we've never had that, and it was awesome. The Father's House doesn't have Christmas Eve services (which is also very new to us), so we took advantage! We packed our bags, and it was off to Canada for Christmas! I was a little nervous about the trip, just because we haven't had to take Harmony on that long of a car ride in a couple months, and I wasn't really sure how she would do. Let me just tell you, that girl was AMAZING. We only had to stop once, and that was for me to go to the bathroom. She was so content in her car seat (oh, and we upgraded to a big one- it's like sitting in first class for her now! It's a Britax Roundabout, and i HIGHLY recommend it!). She still sits backwards since she isn't 20 pounds yet... not even close, actually. More on that later. But she slept for an hour, played, watched VeggieTales, and then slept again. We couldn't have asked for a better trip.
We spent Tuesday through Friday morning at Mike's mom's house, and it was so nice to see the whole family! Harmony was a little overwhelmed by all the people, but she adjusted quickly. She wasn't too interested in opening gifts, but she really liked all the paper and the boxes. So typical for a one year old. But my favorite part of the trip was seeing my sweet baby niece, London, who is just growing up so quickly! Harmony was a bit jealous of her when i was holding London, so she would also climb up on my lap and put her head on my shoulder- just to remind me that she was there too. So funny.
Once all the Christmas festivities were over, and Friday came, mike and I packed up the car once again to make an even longer trip to my parents house for Christmas, Part 2. But once again, harmony was amazing on the trip. We didn't have to stop once for her. She slept most of the time, and when she was awake she would play and talk, and was so content. It was our little Christmas miracle! Once again, she didn't open many gifts on her own. She opened one, and proceeded to play with it for the rest of the time we all opened gifts. I would say her favorite gifts this year are her refrigerator letters and animals, a singing elf that dances (and the jingle will FOREVER be embedded in my mind) her Pooh cookie jar (that is the gift she wouldn't stop playing with), her monkey blanket from Christy, and her Elmo Live from Ashley. She got many many gifts that she just loves, but those are the most frequent toys she goes for.
After Christmas, Mike and I went on a mini vacation with Becca and Denis and 2 other couples to a house that we rented in Elmira, NY. My parents happily agreed to watch Harmony for those couple days, tho I think Harmony was happier- she LOVES going to grammie and grandpa's house! She gets so spoiled! Mike and I rang in the new year with some of our favorite people, and we had a blast just relaxing, eating Andrea's amazing food, sleeping in, reading, just doing nothing. it felt so weird to me. I actually would wake up in the night certian that I heard harmony crying. But it was a great time of rest and renewal for me, and of course I was DYING to get back to Harmony once Thursday came around! I must have held her for HOURS that evening.
We stayed at my parents till Friday, then headed back to Rochester and the real world that evening. We drove through a snow storm, and it was so weird because it's been years since we've had to do that- Pittsburgh spoiled us! Oh, total side note.... GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!! So so excited that they are in the Super Bowl!
Life got back to normal very quickly, and that brings us up to speed.
Now onto Harmony...
I've been really wary of writing anything about her for a while because I don't want to worry anyone. But I feel the need to share with the people I love (ie you guys)- plus I won't have to keep repeating the whole story. So here it is.
Mike comes from a medical family (his mom is an amazing nurse, and his step-father, Dr. Shipman has spent years in the Pediatric field, and is incredible), and Susan noticed while we were in Canada for the holidays that Harmony was still so so small, and that she really didn't have a whole lot of muscle in her arms and legs. But her belly is pretty big- which is a sign that something may be wrong. She suggested that Dr. Shipman come and take a look at her to see if he may know what we should do. He drove 4 hours to come see her (and I am so grateful for that man) he was also concerned about her health. He said that she may have what you call Celiac Disease, which is a fancy way of saying that she has a gluten allergy. He assured us that its 100% curable, and not to be upset. Yeah right. I began praying for her at that moment, and have not stopped. So when we got back we made an appointment to see her Pediatrician to get some tests done. We just prayed that she would listen to what we had to say, and to help us get to the bottom of this issue. GOD IS GOOD because our doctor specialized in Gastroenterology (hopefully I got that spelling right), which is exactly what we needed! Once she saw how small she STILL was (she is 14 months, and she isn't even 17 pounds yet- I stress STILL small because it's normal to have small kids, but it's the fact that she hasn't gained much since her last check-up in August- right around the time she went to table food), she also became concerned and would have suggested those same tests. She added a few more tests just to cover our bases, so she also checked out her liver, kidneys, and other allergies that she may have. SHE. WAS. AMAZING. We couldn't have asked for a more sensitive, kind, and patient doctor, because we threw a lot at her that morning. I think the hardest thing for me to hear in that appointment was that she had to put in her records that Harmony has "failed to thrive". What? My little girl- who is so smart, so spunky, so full of personality and beauty is not thriving? I almost broke down. But she looked me in the eyes and took my hand and said "but she is going to be alright. I want you to believe me when I say that she is going to be completely fine". And I chose to believe her. I still do.
So Mike and I did the hardest thing that we have ever done, and we took Harmony to get her blood work done. It was horrible. I know that I am dramatic sometimes, and i make things bigger or worse than they really are, but I kid you not, I thought I wasn't going to make it through it. Harmony's arms are so teeny tiny, and they kept missing her vein, and Mike just had to keep holding her down while i looked into her sweet face DRENCHED in tears, promising her that it would be over soon. I get emotional just THINKING about it. I just kept telling myself that we needed to do this to know what is wrong. That I was doing the right thing.
Once it was all over, all we could do was wait until our next appointment, which was made for next month. Our doctor assured us that if there was anything urgent in the results that they would call us right away. About 2 days later I get a phone call from her. And I was so so so happy to hear her tell me that Harmony is JUST FINE!!! THANK YOU, LORD!!!! I had Harmony in my arms when I took the call, and I just hugged her and kissed her, and squealed with delight that she wouldn't have to go through any intense testing, that she wouldn't have to deal with any diseases, any allergies, NOTHING. Every test came back normal, and the doctor just celebrated with me. Now that so many things are ruled out, we are focusing solely on her diet. I've been very health-minded since I found out about my thyroid issues, and I don't have a lot of fatty foods in the house. Now, harmony has never been a huge eater, and it's just getting worse as she gets older, but the food that she did eat wasn't high in fat. Actually, she is pretty set on just eating fruits, veggies, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! So the doctor gave me some tips on what kinds of foods to get that are high in good fats to see if that will help bring up her weight. So that is what I'm doing... or attempting to do. But this is the problem. Harmony isn't interested in sitting in her chair and eating AT ALL. I fight tooth and nail at every single meal to get her to eat SOMETHING. She will take one or two bites, and that's it. She is ok at taking her bottles, but she is even starting to not take those well. I'm really really stressed about it, guys. I thought that maybe it's just a phase where she hates her high chair, because she seemed to eat OK if I let her eat while she played. But now that isn't even working. Plus, I really want to teach her that her high chair is where she needs to eat. I've just gotten lazy in disciplining her to do that because I am so tired to fighting it. But I HAVE to get her diet under control, and I need help. Mike and I talked last night, and we decided that we need to seek out people who may be able to help. So this is my first step in doing that. I know that many of you are moms, or have been around young kids, and I would love to hear your advice. I truly believe that she will begin to thrive again if I can just get her to eat more. So please, if you know of any tricks or remedies to get her to sit and eat, AND if you have any advice on good foods for her to have, let me know. You can leave a comment, or you can email me at rachelannshipman@yahoo.com.
I also ask you to continue to pray for Harmony. We still are going to do a few more tests, and we go back to the doctor in a month to see if there is any change. I promise to keep you posted on all that goes on. Thank you, friends.
