4.2 to 6.1

I was all excited to write up some sappy blog entry today. The past few nights Annie has had a bit more trouble getting to sleep at night, and has been waking up for some extra lovin’ at odd hours. She’s normally such a great sleeper, but it’s been a tough week for her. I’d like to complain…as getting up at 4am to cuddle for an hour isn’t the best use of our slumber time…but I can’t for two reasons: 1) Jeremy usually does it ;) and 2) Annie isn’t a huge cuddler in the first place…I’m generally in her way most of the day - any moment that she truly just wants to curl up and breathe in my ear and lay her soft cheeks on my shoulder, and curl her little fingers around mine are priceless. Of course for a second when I’m bleary eyed and ready to retreat to my own bed I start to wonder just how long she’s going to expect me to stay here and rock her…but then I look down at that face and see the days flying by and know…it won’t be long before I’m begging to do just this.

So anyway, life is good, getting some cuddle time with our cutie. We’ve been introducing all sorts of new foods. The grocery store used to intimidate me as I looked for safe foods for our Annie…and the other day I was standing in line confidently, with a cart full of many foods I would let her eat one day. (We already try to make most of our staples around the house “Annie-safe” even though she’s not really to table food yet.) I was having one of those weeks…those nothing-is-wrong-all-is-well, kinda weeks. Annie was good, we were good…it was like there was no galactosemia for miles…(insert sappy music and gorgeous family frolicking on the beach or something…it was like that).

Then today we got Annie’s most recent gal-1-P numbers back. Let me back track a bit…gal-1-P for those of us normal folk is essentially Annie’s galactose level. Galactose is bad…so we want that number to be small. At birth her gal-1-P was 35.8 (yowza!) but it has steadily dropped every test there after…and we were pleasantly down to 4.2 in March. (Anything under 4 is considered a “treated galactosemic” so we were soooo close). Annie’s next scheduled test would not have been until her 1st birthday. But paranoid me, I asked for an additional test in between the 8 month and 12 month…so we went in for the 10 month test last week. I’ve been adding new foods to Annie’s diet - confident that I’m SO paranoid about things that I’m certainly being cautious enough with her diet. I anticipated that even with the new foods, this number would also be less than the previous number - the doctors would be right (they told me the extra test was unnecessary, as the gal-1-P would most certainly continue it’s downward trend.)…after all, the number goes down, even for kids whose Momma isn’t as diligent as I’ve been, right?

Jeremy got the call tonight, Annabelle’s 10 month gal-1-P is 6.1 -- that’s nearly back where she was at 4 months old. The number has gone up, and (this is my personal opinion) (every word I type here is my personal opinion) not by just a bit, but a significant bit. We didn’t go from 4.2 to 4.4.…6.1 is a big jump.

It’s amazing what one teeny weeny little number can do to your day. I’m no longer sappy (ok, I always am) - but now galactosemia is back at the front of my mind, I’m back to spending hours reading about galactose levels in foods, emailing fancy dietitians for advice…and the next time I’m standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, I won’t be so smug…I’ll wonder what food it is that’s lurking in my cart that’s causing Annie’s numbers to rise. Today is one of those days that reminds me that I haven’t figured it all out yet - and I’m most certainly not in control here.

Annie takes Daddy to the zoo...

Annie's first Carousel ride.

In the swamp

Checking out the sea lions

Free ride.

Happy 10 Months!

4 Generations!

Great Grandma, Baby Annie, Momma and Grandma

Busy busy...Annie has been adding new foods to her list of tasty treats, things like pork, beef, a new cereal and she even sampled a bit of cherry turnover - yum yum!  She just had a brief check up and blood test with the geneticist last week.  Blood for her Gal-1-P check...and a little extra was sent off to Emory University to "Dr. Judy" for research.  We're anxious to get the results back on both ends.  We just attended Great Aunt Bonnie's retirement party (photo above with Grandma & Great Grandma at the party).  In Annie's spare time, she's been busy pulling up on everything, babbling away, and a new trick, emptying the dishwasher, faster than I can load it....

Congratulations Great Aunt Bonnie! 

First grade will never be the same at Custer Park.

Happy Mother's Day!

Annie & Momma at the Mother's Day Banquet

Maggie, Dad & Annie

Annie & Dad practicing flying

Annie with cousin Grace

Annie & Dad

Grandma F, Momma, Annie & Grandma M on Mother's Day

What a great Mother's Day - we spent the day with tons of family on a gorgeous afternoon!  Annabelle managed to smile the whole day through with hardly a nap.  She's amazing ;)  Perfect day to celebrate the greatest relationship ever!  It was so fun this year to be the daughter AND the mother! :)

Never a dull moment around here....

Sooo....I have debated touching on our recent family news here on the blog...and because I'm incapable of keeping a secret (which this isn't) and even more unable to hold anything back...here goes:

This next post was GOING to be of Mini-Meek 2's first ultrasound pictures. That's right...TWO...Annie was about to move over and make some room in her nest -- for we had her baby brother or sister on the way, due to arrive early December of 2010. It was a bit of a surprise (I've never understood how such things can be a "surprise"...but now I can say I do. ;) While another baby has always been part of the plan, this was a little sooner than we thought, but we quickly became accustomed to the idea of two close playmates and the house getting a little more snug by Christmas. Taking for granted that the last time we were pregnant...it ended with Annabelle's appearance - we were quick to tell close family and friends. I ran right out and got Annie her first "Big Sister" shirt (which by the way, the smallest I could find was a 2T...for an 8 month old baby...)

In addition to the usual pregnancy lifestyle changes (there went my martini)...we had previously decided that during the next pregnancy I would take on Annie's galactosemic diet, as a precaution, in case this next baby was also galactosemic (the odds are 1 in 4 for another galactosemic). So, quite by surprise, and all in the blink of an eye (or a positive pregnancy test) I became seriously sober and essentially galactosemic. ;) It was a quick crash course in the diet that's for sure -- and also what prompted us to be so forthcoming with the news... It was one thing if I passed up a drink, it was another if I passed up anything with dairy, soy, tomatoes, etc...

So we got excited, we got the granny's excited...and last Friday myself, Daddy and big-sister-in-the-making, Annie, all piled into the Doctor's office to get our first glimpse at this new baby (which I had decided was most certainly a boy, or twins...you know, mother's intuition this time around ;)....only to ultimately find out that we do not have a viable pregnancy. I think we all knew as soon as we saw the big empty circle on the ultrasound screen...this isn't the same. (After all, it wasn't that long ago at all that we saw Annie there, so we knew what to expect.) There's a placenta forming, but no embryo - ie. no baby...to make a long story short.


I expected to be devastated...and I've heard before how hard miscarriages are - but as soon as I saw the empty screen, I think I processed the information pretty mater-of-factly and quickly turned my attention to Annabelle across the room. She was busy babbling, completely unaware that she had gone from big sister, to lone queen of the castle in a matter of minutes... Thank God they were there. No baby news...is much easier to swallow, when you already have a baby to love on. While we would have embraced #2 in December - and enjoyed every moment of two very close babies...we have a new chance now...to get a little better prepared.

We'll take this opportunity to research the galactosemic pregnancy diet a bit more. We'll have more time to give Annie all the undivided attention she deserves. Mommy will take this opportunity to throw back some summer cocktails, sign up for the Chicago Half Marathon, and generally enjoy summer before returning to incubation mode sometime soon :)


For those of you who have followed our short "pregnancy" all this time, thanks so much for your support. I can't believe the amount of calls and emails I received from so many of you who have gone through this very sort of thing. We have the best family and friends - and everythings gonna be just fine :)