Wow - what a day...
My poor baby girl has been through so much today and is STILL SMILING!!! It all started with her waking up at 6am this morning and not going back to sleep. I knew she wanted some yummy milk but she couldn't have anything besides water after 4am and then couldn't even have that after 7am. Our appointment wasn't until 9:30am so we had to find a way to distract her this morning. Luckily, she ended up taking a short snooze around 7:30am. Her appointment started out with the typical weight check (24 pounds, 9 ounces) and blood pressure. Then came the loud cries when they had to hold her down and stick her 3 times to try to start an IV. They finally gave up and moved on to the preparation for the EEG. So she was swaddled (including her prized right thumb) and taped down to a bed (I will post pictures later). She cried louder for that than when she was stuck with a needle 3 times. Her eyes were bright red and the tears kept pouring. Brandon looked at me and said "How long is this going to last?". Well, they just started connecting all the wires to her head and still had to record 30 minutes of activity. We looked at each other and said this is not going to work. So the technician let us take that much needed right thumb out and she was happy as can be. She finally fell asleep during the EEG just to have a nurse walk in and stick her with a needle again. More crying. They drew some blood and injected her with the radioactive material needed for the PET scan. They decided that an IV was no longer necessary since it wasn't really necessary in the first place. She was to be sedated with oral medication. She fell asleep again and the rest of the EEG went just fine. So then it was time for the sedation and the PET scan. The nurse led us in the PET scan room and told me to rock her until she came back. Well, a few minutes later, she walked into the room and Sophie was sound asleep again. The nurse then told us that if we thought she would sleep through the 30 minute PET scan then we wouldn't have to sedate her!!! Wow - we didn't even know that was an option. And so, being the great baby that she is, she slept through the whole PET scan and did not have to be sedated. Which, in turn, meant she wasn't going to be groggy for the rest of the day. And, of course, when we pick her up off the PET scan machine (pictures to come), she SMILES. Actually, she has been happy ever since. We ate some lunch, she took a much needed bath (pictures to come of her crazy looking hair from the EEG glue), and now, as I am typing, she is napping with her Daddy. Sophie is so brave that it amazes me that she hasn't even turned one yet. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful, happy baby. Thank you all for your positive messages these last couple of days.