2.4.13 Surrounded By Men

It is a part of the designed landscape of my life to be surrounded by those people of the other gender. Those people who are protective, who laugh at inappropriate things, who are rougher and tougher, who's displays of emotion are so deeply felt you remember it for years, who are constant and dependable, who are learning to be heroes, who can always be appeased with freshly baked cookies, who are much better at sound effects, and the list goes on exceedingly longer.

I have never been displeased with my surrounding male-dominated family. When I was little, people would ask me ALL the time what it was like to have 6 brothers and be the only girl, if I was always teased or completely spoiled (both probably). I never really had a good answer. To me, it was normal. Normal to have no one steal your pretty things. To always be playing GI joes, Legos, and Nintendo. To only ever play dress up at friends' houses. To have to wait until your little brother was desperate to have someone to play paper dolls with. I constantly wished for a sister, but never wished away my brothers. I am still very thankful for them.

Ed and I are expecting baby 3 this June. And surprise...

Now that we are building our own family, I find my role has not yet changed. Aimee is my little angel girl. Her and I are soon to have 3 men in our life. And we would have it no other way.

Aimee made a really quick recovery this weekend from her sickness. So thankful that it did not develop on its normal course toward respiratory infection. I did, however, take her in to see a pediatrician. Partly because I had to for our new insurance sake (Very sad to lose our naturopath as a primary doctor). The other big reason I took her in was to discuss this clockwork-like reoccurring sickness.

Last year she was sick a few times during the school year and each time was challenging, but this year she has been sick near continually. As other parents of medically complex children know, this is a constant challenge. Most likely this season of sicknesses end-upon-end is just a combination of factors including a weakened immune system, exposure to more germs from her brother, and the increase in illnesses floating around this season. Yet, after close to 6 months of this, it seemed like it was time to dig a little deeper just in case. The doctor definitely agreed it was time to look at immune deficiencies.

With a referral in hand, Caleb, Aimee, and I descended into the basement of the local hospital to get labs drawn. A mistake I will not soon repeat. Not only is there the bill to look forward to, but we were there in the lab for over an hour as they contemplated, consulted, and attempted to draw blood from Aimee's difficult veins. Children's lab technician is so good that I had forgotten it was even an issue. Dear, patient Aimee. Once they finally got into a good vein, she got a big grin on her sweet little face. She knew the torture was almost over. Smart girl.

Anyways, we were able to do several tests for different immunoglobulins and a few specific disorders. These labs all came back in normal ranges, except for the white blood cell count, which was low confirming the current virus. This is good news that she does not have these immune deficiencies, of course. I just wish there were answers. Some kind of answer usually means some kind of solution.

The doctor simply recommended we keep her away from people, make everyone in contact with her continually wash hands, and have her wear a mask at the hospital. :( Wish we didn't have to keep her away from everyone, but at least until we get through this sickness season, we will have to just keep in touch with the rest of the world via the Internet. Although I love staying at home with my babies, we are especially sad to not be able to go to our church or to visit with friends. So for now, aside from our trips to see therapists and doctors, we're reporting to you from home.