Feeling Better, Eating Well

Papa and Nana Lola gave Tessa a room make-over for her birthday!



pushing her kitty in her wagon

Great Great Grandma Powell

Nana Lola

Pushing cousin Alex in her wagon

our darling animals!




I've been told by a few folks now that it's time I update the blog--sorry! I took Tessa to a GI Specialist last Tuesday that determined she had something called C-Diff that was causing the vomiting and bloody diarrhea. Apparently, after she was on antibiotics for Strep after her birthday, it killed off all of the bacteria in her GI tract, except for a tougher one that flourished and took over, causing her to feel ill. They treat this with Flagyl, but luckily we didn't need it, for she got better on her own. During this latest illness, her Pediatrician basically told me he wanted to consider putting this feeding tube in in 2 weeks. After voicing my concerns to the GI Doc, he thought we should first try to put her on a new "diet;" consisting of almost nothing but Pediasure. He also perscribed a high calorie shake for bedtime that has 60 cal/oz. He thought we first need to get her back on the growth curve, and then worry about getting her to eat more solid foods. Ingenious. He also said there's drugs out there that can increase your appitite, so we have a few options if this "diet" doesn't work. Tessa has been doing great with this diet and we think has been getting the calories she needs for the first time in her life. I have very little doubts this plan won't work! Thank god! She has been a happy kid this last week! She's even been entertaining herself for 20 minutes at a time! Her kitty is feeling better as well (we named her Porkchop) and they are the best of friends. Tessa is certainly not afraid of sharp kitty claws! We've realized she picks up on things very quickly. I often do something only once in front of her, and see her repeating it on her own minutes later. She has learned how to take off the battery cover to the remote control and successfully replace the batteries in the incorrect position. She's also mastered getting down the stairs and off the couch all by herself. What a big girl!