Snow, toilet training, asthma & flu shots

It’s 11:36 p.m. as I start to write this and we’re still waiting for our last guest to arrive.  It’s been snowing here all night, our first snow of the season, and they’ve actually closed down the highway to the North of us.  Her flight was supposed to arrive earlier this evening, but another guest was telling us that it took someone she knew two hours to get from the airport to here earlier this evening.  The highway advisory says that the roads are passable with caution.

Olivia made it through Day Two wearing panties with no accidents!  I even took her out for the morning; I just packed an extra pair of pants in her epi-pen bag.  She did fall in the toilet once while in her father’s care, but that hasn’t seemed to deter her.  I am thrilled!!

The girls both had well-baby checks with their family doctor this morning.  He was pleased with how healthy and robust Olivia is, despite her allergies.  She’s still off the chart for height & weight and her skin currently looks great.  Her eczema is mostly gone, with the exception of a couple patches on her feet.  She seems to be outgrowing her reflux, so we’re going to take her off her Prevacid.  However, she does have a wheeze in her lungs.  We’ve been warned that due to her allergies, she’s at increased risk of asthma, and to be honest, I think we’re pretty lucky that none of the other kids have it since I do.  He perscribed a rescue inhaler for now and we’re going to keep track of how often we use it.  Her allergist also is an asthma specialist, so I would imagine we’ll talk to him more about a diagnosis and plan of action at her appointment in January.

We had a long discussion about the flu shot since Sarah is just getting over a cold and was a bit wheezy herself.  She ended up very sick after her flu shot last year (two trips to the ER for sustained high fever - 106*F - over a week) and I was concerned that the same thing could happen again.  We have to outweigh the benefits & the risks.  Olivia can NOT have a flu shot due to her anaphylactic egg allergy, and she & I are at higher risk if we get influenza.  Everyone else in the family is in school & activities, so are at higher risk of contracting it and bringing it home.  Not to mention, we don’t know what guests are bringing into the house after traveling.  We decided it would be prudent to get it again this year, but since Sarah’s not at 100%, Dr. E offered to come over to our house next week when she’s feeling better and give all five of us the shot!  Did I ever mention how much I love him?!