Be Who You Are: October 2011

Well October was a busy month at the Halloran house!

I went back to work part time! I am a teacher and don't start back f ull time until January 3rd so I am just substituting right now when they need me! I was supposed to go to work February 1st at Atlantic View but a switch was made thanks to a fantastic principal and now I am at the Oyster Pond Academy(OPA) in Grade 3. I look forward to going back to OPA as that is the school I first taught at after university. Nanny Halloran is babysitting Addison during the day at our house which does make the transition much much easier.

My big accomplishment in the month of October was participating in the Run for the Cure. Myself and a great group of girls created a team called the Pink Piggies. I am very proud to say that I ran the 5 km portion of the run!!

We had a very big occasion in our family! Auntie Debbie and Uncle Nathan got married!!!

This meant we Mommy, Daddy and Addison were all in the wedding! There was lots of wedding festivities and family visiting for the special day! Addison got to meet her Great Uncle Kenny and Great Aunt Jenn for the first time! She also got to see her Auntie Jenn and two cousins Brooke and Logan! I must say it was nice having Brooke and Logan around they were very helpful!

Addi the flower girl!

My beautiful sister!

Bayers Family (just missing Cole and Matthew)

Addison had an appointment on October 4th with specialty seating. This is the department at the IWK that deals with special equipment. We bought a bath chair called an Otter which I must say we don't like and isn't user friendly. Addison loves to be submerged in the water and the chair doesn't allow that without filling the tub to the top so we have just been holding her and will until she is too heavy to do so.

This is the otter bath chair!

We also talked about the car and turning Addison's seat around since she was one. Due to lack of head control we have to keep her rear facing. This will require us to buy a more expensive car seat with a higher back and a higher weight for rear facing.
The big part of this appointment was the wheel chair discussion. Addison is getting big and harder to carry around. It is also important that she is in the proper positions to help with her development. When she is sitting in her highchair or other seats she often will arch and get in a funny position. This is not preferable. When she gets her chair it will make sure she is in the proper position so she wont spend her energy in those positions and maybe she can focus on using her energy for something else like using her hands(this is what they told us a goal could be). The wheel chair comes with a stroller base for outside so we just take the seat off when we go out. It is expensive but we are very lucky our health insurance covers 80% of the cost! We are hoping to have it by the end of November for our trip to Ontario.

Addison in the squiggles chair she is getting but of course hers will be pink!

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Nanny and Poppy Mill's house in Debert. Daddy and Uncle Nathan helped Poppy put new siding on their house! We had turkey dinner on Sunday afternoon which Nanny Donna did a great job on! Cousin Jared loved the corn! Auntie Debbie and I took Addison to the Masstown Market which she wasn't to fond of so our browsing didn't last too long!

All ready for the market!

Cuddles with Nanny

Out watching the men work!

On the 24th we went to the IWK for Physio and a blood pressure check! Addison's blood pressure was the best it has been!! Physio went well but of course Addison was a bit fussy when they tried to do tummy time. We didn't really get any new exercises to do they said I am too on the ball and know what I am doing. I have a book for children with Cerebral Palsy which I follow for stretches. I also am part of a support group on Facebook for babies with HIE that I get looks of ideas from. We talked to our physio Amy about going to Toronto for Medek and we will see her one more time before we go.

October 26th was a fun day for Addison and her friends! Joesph Breton had a Pumpkin Party. All of the babies dressed up in their Halloween Costumes. They did pudding painting and we did a photo shoot! Jayne made us all Homemade Mac and Cheese for lunch which was delicious and we finished off with Alicia's yummy festive cupcakes! It was a great day and sure was nice to get together again with everyone!

Ava was giving Addison some cuddles!They are best friends already!

Pudding Painting!!

The G-Tube!

October 27th was Addison's surgery. We had to be at the IWK for 6:30 am. They changed her G Tube to a Button. This is the second time they attempted to do this. Thankfully they did it correctly and we were home and smiling that day by lunch time. They also did a scope of her esophagus which looked fine we will get the results of the biopsy in a few weeks. This is all to do with her refllux which is still not controlled. We switched her to a new formula which is already partially digested called Peptamen Junior. This is to speed up the digestive process and have it empty her stomach faster. At first it didn't go so well because they gave us the wrong stuff and she was getting 250 more calories a day then she needed but by the third day we figured it out and now it is going good. We do notice a difference but we will see if it is enough to keep her on this formula because it is 4 times more expensive then the pediasure she was on(thankfully the hospital pays for it and actually delivers it to our house)!!

The Button with our wonderful Button Pads instead of gauze!

Daddy measuring Addi at Toys r us

On Saturday the 29th, we went to town as a family to spend a nice fall day out and about. Addison was an angel. We went to the new Toys R US and browsed around and Addison played on a few toys. We went for lunch and groceries. Addison and Daddy went and hung out with Ian and Ava while Alicia and I went to the craft show at the Sportsplex!

This is Addison in her Huggabebe It allows us to go in the grocery store with her since she can't sit up on her own!

October always ends the same way...Halloween!

It didn't end up being the day we hoped it would. It started great! Auntie Debbie, Jared, Addi and I went trick or treating in the day time! We went all the way to Truro to see Nanny and Poppy, had lunch at Swiss Chalet and then made stops along the way and were home in time to get ready for trick or treaters.

I don't know what it is about us but nothing can just go smooth. The day went so well and we were enjoying it but of course around 6:30 right in the middle of the trick or treaters coming Addison started having seizures. She had one that lasted too long so we had to call the neurologist on call which thankfully was ours. We had to give her Ativan which didn't help so we had to give her a second dose. It was a miserable two hours and a very upsetting one at the same time. It was just one of those pity party times where Tyler and I were watching the other families out trick or treating and we were at home debating going to the hospital and not knowing what was going to happen. In the end she was fine, slept all night and only had two seizures the next day. We increased her keepra dose to 3 mls twice a day and so far so good!!!