As fast as House's staff :0

Mama, Papa, Abigail, Maggie(lab), and Myla(beagle).

The doctors office called yesterday. They called and left a message while I was outside. I didn't think to check until I got ready to make a phone call later. There was the message that we had a waiting message from American Health Network. I actually held my breath as I listened. Blood test came back normal!

I started crying. Weird huh. I have been nervous about other things. Abigail getting tubes in her ears, trying to figure out why her birth blood test came back abnormal (she carries sickle cell trait) and the MRI a few weeks ago. Although all of those things felt overwhelming I don't think I realized how worried I was about this.

We didn't really tell many people the specific things they were "ruling out" (which in my head means they may also be ruling them in). They were ruling out leukemia. Just to hear that word associated in any way with your child sends a parent into a frenzy. I know she is higher risk for leukemia and cancer because of her genetic disorder. I also knew that persistent fever and swollen lymph nodes could be signs. So I was scared.

The relief from the normal test sent me into tears. The blood work showed no signs of infection. So the fever is apparently just something that some kids with nf have although it hasn't been documented by doctors. It has been documented by other worried mamas. :)

We will have a few more test coming up. I think we will be having more testing because she still isn't gaining height at all. She hasn't grown since her 12 month well check....and has only grown 1.5 inches since her 9 month well check. So we will need to do a little more research.

We also have an evaluation by first steps (our states early intervention program) because of her poor muscle tone. We already know she qualifies because of that diagnoses, but I am still interested to see what they say. Abigail has this funny walk. She falls ALL the time still. I know toddlers fall a lot. However I have been around lots off toddlers and her falling is more. I'm pretty sure it's linked to the muscle tone. It's funny to watch her walk sometimes. She appears to be wearing big heavy boots. I'm pretty sure this is all related to the poor muscle tone, but we will see what they have to say...and what our doctor has to say at her 15 month well check on Friday.

We have her follow up pulmanologist appointment at Riley on Tuesday as well. It is just to see if her asthma medication is controlling it. From what we can tell it is. She hasn't had any flares ups since it got regulated in October. However we are also looking for a new home for our chocolate lab and beagle. She seems to be allergic. I have been cleaning more to prevent any issues, but we know we need to find new families for them. Anyone out there interested?

Other than that we are excited about holidays and family time. We have a tricycle for Abigail (a few months away before she can use it) and a baby doll. All we have left is a pair of pajamas and we have her presents. We can't wait to give her the baby. She has become very interested lately, and this one sucks it's thumb, can take a bath (but is still soft bodied), and opens and shuts her eyes. She is just at the beginning of being able to appreciate these things, but she will love the baby for now.

So I hope all of you are doing well. Thanks for all the support and prayers we receive from you. It means so much to us. As the chaos of next weeks appointments and Christmases ensue I may not write as much.

For now though, I am going to go take a nap,