The Knight Life: Days Go By

Guess who just turned 14 years old? This girl...my baby Boo...

She has the innate ability to make people around her laugh and smile with random comments and jokes. While she has always been my little sweet sunshine baby, her life has not been an easy one from the get-go. My baby girl was due on Valentine's day. However, on January 25, 1999 when I went for a regular pre-natal check-up, there was some question about the integrity of my previous c-section site. It felt like it was ripping open from the inside. We had to have an ultrasound (which wasn't typically done more than once way back then), and it was determined that she was developed and big enough that we needed to go ahead and deliver...just in case. Doc told us to come to the hospital at 5:30 that evening prepared to have a baby. We were so not prepared. We were supposed to still have three more weeks! We had no plans for anyone to watch Lefty. The nest had not been prepped yet. It was early. But, I was so ready to meet my girl.

Diva was born, absolutely perfect and precious. I, on the other hand, did not fare so well. A spinal headache set in. I couldn't move for days. Not even to hold her. I couldn't breastfeed her because of the headache, and my milk dried up within 4 days of leaving the hospital. I cried. A lot. The hospital sent me home with the headache and refused to give me a patch after the headache was still there a week later. They said to sleep it off. I missed the first two weeks of Boo's life. It was tragic.

When my head cleared and I could function, I couldn't get enough of that baby girl. As the weeks passed, it became obvious that she was having issues with being touched. It was a rarity for her to even allow us to hold her during feeding times. Our solution was Bubbie. Think bad of us as parents all that you like, but yes, we used an old, travel-sized feather pillow to prop her bottle up on. The weight of the pillow against her and the lack of skin to skin contact seemed to help her rest a little better. It was a life-saver.

Then we started to notice that her skin was constantly broken out in a rash. All ointments, salves, lotions made it worse. Some things, especially Neosporin and hydrocortisone cream, caused blisters to erupt within the rash. We saw doctor after doctor. One finally told us to change her formula. That helped minimally, but other than that small feat, no one could help our baby.

When she started eating real food, a lot of things made her projectile vomit as soon as they hit her stomach. Eggs, milk, peanut butter, and honey were the worst. We must have been just plain stupid, because we didn't figure out the reason for all of her issues until the day that peanut butter made her swell up like a puffer fish AND vomit til she had nothing left. She was having some serious allergy issues. Duh. Unfortunately, at that time, no doctor (not even at the Children's Hospital) would perform allergy testing until a child was 3 years old. Sigh. We got her in on her third birthday.

That was a terrible, scary day. The patch testing that was done caused such bad reactions that on the hour drive home from the hospital, her back began bleeding so heavily that it soaked through her shirt. She screamed the entire time and all the way home. I called the hospital and told them what was happening...they said rinse it off, coat in Benadryl cream, and let it air dry. She couldn't have Neosporin...she is allergic.

Once we made it through the first year of learning how to function with a child having severe allergies, things seemed to improve. We could finally hold her whenever we wanted...it wasn't as painful to her since her allergies were getting more under control. Our dermatologist special ordered some medical surgical wrap to cover her open sores (from the allergies) so that the medication she required would stay in contact with the wounds. She finally started getting better.

Through it all, she still said and did the funniest things. I loved seeing her personality grow. And man, was it getting big! Today, this girl wears so many hats. She is amazingly talented. Things seem to come so easy for her at times...things that I always wished I could do. Boo is very artistic. She can draw, paint, blend colors. She is a petite, auburn haired beauty with a little spattering of freckles on her cheeks and nose. She is a cheerleader. A performer. She loves doing musicals in the theater...and she is good at it. Really good. My beauty is also a dancer. She is the tiny dancer. It is magical to watch her on stage. She puts it all out there on the stage floor. Watching her perform is so powerful to me that I cry. There are other reasons that her performing is so special, reasons better left to a different post, but that include the fact that this past summer she was diagnosed with a severe social phobia and anxiety. For her to put herself out there for everyone to see is a pretty big deal. It takes a lot of bravery. I admire that about my baby. She will amaze me to my dying day.