Test Results

Caroline got the results of her blood tests today - she tested positive for Celiac disease, which is a disease where the immune system reacts to gluten and causes intestinal damage which then causes the body to be unable to absorb the proper nutrients from food. The inability to absorb these nutrients causes gas to build up in the tummy, bulky yucky smelling stools and/or diarrhea, stomach pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, failure to thrive, developmental delays, etc... which explains why Caroline has not gained any weight or grown in height in the last 3 months, has a distended belly, intermittent irritability, is prone to diarrhea, etc. The good news is that with the elimination of gluten from her diet, her intestines will eventually return to normal and she will start absorbing nutrients properly again.

The bad news is we have to eliminate gluten from her diet, completely, 100%, forever. So I am racking my brain trying to figure out what I can feed her for dinner tonight since we just got this news this afternoon and I haven't been able to do any shopping -- so far I have come up with rice chex and fruit. Even the chicken nuggets she eats are breaded, so no good...

We have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with her GI doctor and with a dietician. Will blog some more then about what we find out.

New York Weekend

This weekend was our much-anticipated trip to NYC to celebrate Joel's 40th birthday - a trip that I planned back in March and managed to keep as a surprise for all of about 24 hours ;)

 We arrived Friday night and immediately began trying to eat our way through New York City in 48 hours, beginning at Sparks Steakhouse which is a famous and longstanding establishment and the place where (Joel did not tell me this until after we were seated) the Gambino family crime boss was killed in a mob hit ordered by John Gotti in 1985. While the ambience was great, we didn't think the food lived up to expectations and, also the food put Joel in the bathroom all night long so it earned a resounding thumbs down from him ;)

Saturday morning we took a 3 mile walk from our hotel near Times Square to the Upper East Side, ending up at William Greenburg's Desserts where we got some black and white cookies, hamentaschen, etc, and then took a cab ride back to the hotel and got ready to see the 2pm show of The Book of Mormon, which tickets cost an arm and a leg, but were SO WORTH IT! Best show ever! Awesome, awesome, awesome. Very excited also that The Book of Mormon is coming here to Charlotte next year, and we will very most definitely see it again then. (Hopefully the tickets will be cheaper, LOL... the tickets to the NY show cost more than our flight. It was a cheap flight but still).

After the show we headed to Tribeca for dinner to Nobu, a Japanese restaurant Joel wanted to go to because it is Howard Stern's favorite restaurant and he always talks about it on his show. We did not see Howard there. But, we had an AWESOME three hour dinner, where you order a bunch of small plates off the menu and they bring them to you one at a time so you have time to relax and enjoy each thing before they bring you the next. We were not terrifically adventurous (did not order the live octopus), but the food we did have was all totally delicious, and so were the martinis, especially the pink grapefruit one. Dinner at Nobu, also, coincidentally, more expensive than our flight. But again, SO WORTH IT! I am still salivating over the food in my head.

Sunday morning we found Magnolia bakery and bought half a dozen cupcakes, most of which made it home to the kids ;) Then we met one of Joel's high school friends, Brian, and his wife and daughter for breakfast at the Brooklyn Diner, where I had wonderfully delicious strawberry pancakes. After that we headed to Citi Field where the Mets, happily, were playing the Phillies, and the Phillies, happily, won ;) We had great seats and it was a beautiful afternoon for a baseball game!

We did have to leave early to get back to our hotel, collect our bags, and head to the airport. Having misjudged how much time that would take (I hate NY traffic) there were a few moments there where we really thought we might miss our flight home. Happily we got our boarding passes in the nick of time, scooted to the front of the security line, and made it to our gate with 10 minutes to spare before boarding even started. Phew.

We got home a little after 9:30 last night. The kids, by the way, had an awesome weekend of their own with awesome babysitter Sharon, who took them out to dinner, to Discovery Place, to the Nature Museum, to the pet store, etc. They had loads more fun than they usually have with mom and dad on a weekend ;)

And now... a rainy Monday morning in Charlotte ;)

Caroline's Ordeal

Here is Caroline after her little ordeal at the GI doctor yesterday. The doctor ordered some labs to check her nutrient absorption function, and the nurses at the lab tried twice to stick her and couldn't get any blood out :( So we had to drive over to the uptown office, coincidentally in the same building as Daddy's office, where the nurse there was MUCH better/quicker at finding Caroline's blood ;) Daddy came downstairs to witness the screamfest (Mommy had heard enough screaming for one day already by that point). We also provided a stool sample, which Daddy took to work with him this morning ;) We should know test results early next week.

Mid-Week Update

Caroline has seem improved over the last few days, at least she is less cranky and has been sleeping a lot better. But she has been eating very little... seeming to subsist for the last few days on milk and small amounts of applesauce and cheerios. Pretty much everything else offered to her receives a wail of "Noooooo.....!" and gets promptly chucked on the floor if you ignore the "no" and try to give it to her anyway. (Clara is always on standby floor cleanup duty). Tomorrow morning she has an appointment with a pediatric gastroenterologist to discuss her apparent digestive issues.

Friday Joel and I leave for New York for the weekend to celebrate Joel's birthday, leaving the kids in Sharon's capable hands until our return on Sunday night. So I am going to be running around over the next couple of days trying to get everything ready for our trip as well as get the house stocked and everything in order... Wish me luck :)

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Very cute but a major crank monster today!

Good Riddance!

Today I bid farewell to two things I don't like - spiders and the chore of scooping dog poop.

Yes we still have Clara. But the other day as I was driving the kids to preschool I noticed a pickup truck advertising a dog poop scooping business. I immediately looked it up online when I got home and begged Joel to let me sign up. For $12 a week they come every Friday to scoop the yard and they take the poop away with them ;) I figure this is perfect because the kids don't really use the back yard during the week, and it will be poop-free for the weekend. I do so hate scooping poop. And honestly I wasn't doing it as often as once a week myself :P So looking forward to my poop-scooping free life.

And the spiders! The exterminator came this morning and sprayed inside and out, and stepped on the spiders  he could find for good measure, LOL.

Not a Happy Camper

Caroline stayed home from day care on Wednesday and went back on Thursday, but today we ended up at the doctor's office in a quest to find out what had made her night last night and her morning today so miserable... she has been a VERY cranky baby! No ear infection, no strep infection, nothing but her usual big gassy belly. (For which we've now gotten a referral to see GI). I took her back to day care which probably improved her mood all by itself - she HATES the doctor's office now!

Maybe if I hide in the corner and stay very still no one will notice me....