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October 28, 2008

More drama?

Jade's Update
I was up at 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00 to test Jade's blood sugar level. It was low at 2:00, so I had to give her a little bit of fruit juice to bump things up again. At 3:00 and 4:00, I made sure her blood sugar levels stayed up. She practically slept right through the finger-pricking of the blood tests. I haven't seen Jade sleep that well for a long time.

We had "Cooking for the Ketogenic Diet" lessons today. Everything needs to be carefully measured on a gram scale, following a sheet of recipes that are custom tailored for Jade's size and weight and fat-to-protein-and-carbs ratio. The meals actually look delicious and they're not excessively difficult to prepare. The dietitian, keto nurses and doctor are all awesome.

In spite of the fasting, Jade wasn't very hungry today and she's hardly had anything to drink. That's pretty normal as we change her metabolism from a glucose-burning system to a fat-burning system. Oh, and she's constipated and is pretty sleepy (when she's not running around and talking up a storm - YAY!). I spent a lot of my day trying to get her to ingest fluids. I have failed on all counts.

While I still see some short, small seizures, the diet is definitely working. It's only the second day in and it can take up to a month to reach maximum efficacy, so I'm pretty excited about the results so far. She didn't have a drop seizure all day.


Fawn's Update
I can't really understand how a lady who drinks so much water that I can hear her sloshing from fifty feet away can get kidney stones, but the folks at the hospital are pretty confident that kidney stones are the cause of Fawn's pain.

She seems to be doing a little better today. They're flushing her with an IV and the pain seems to have migrated from her sides and toward her front, like her doctor said it would. With luck, the stones will soon pass.

But then there are the contractions.

Fawn started having contractions this morning. They were irregular and about ten minutes apart, but they have abated somewhat as of this afternoon.

Is she in labour? We don't know. Her contractions were irregular when Jade was born (sorry for all the typos on the link, I was tired and excited when I wrote it). They might be nothing more than Braxton-Hicks contractions. She's been having them a lot with Nugget.

Whether it's real or false labour, her stomach muscles are tired.

I'll go back to the hospital tonight, when Jade's asleep, to visit with her for a while. With everything that's going on, we haven't had much of a chance to talk.


Meandering Michael's Update
Michael is tired. So very tired.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear the diet is working out, and that Fawn's pain has been identified as kidney stones -- they're uncomfortable as heck, but not life-threatening.
I hope you get to spend some quality time with Fawn tonight and also get some good sleep for yourself.

Best wishes to you all.

Matt, Kara, Hunter and Cavan said...

That is great about the keto diet. Should be interesting to see what a month will bring.

Poor Fawn! I bet she is exhausted as well. I hope the two of you can manage some sleep in there!

Stephanie Wilson she/her @babysteph said...

I can't believe all you are doing at the same time as diet initiation! I am so glad to hear Jade is doing well and I pray for this to be your miracle!

Steph

Anonymous said...

Here's hoping that everythng turns out fine for you, Fawn and Jade. I keep checking your blogs in my Reader every now and then, hoping there will be some news... (Yes, I know you're some 7 hours or so behind Sweden, but I still have to check!)

Anonymous said...

Hurray for the keto diet! I have a "drink sheet" that used to help kids in our hospital get fluids down...I'll post it on Fawn's facebook page for you.

and speaking of Fawn, egads! Is there anything you need? I can send Uncle Jenn as our Yukon proxy with ANYTHING you may require.

Hang in there, ALL of you!

Anonymous said...

Hi Michael,
Let Kelly and I know if we can do anything to help - anything at all. Don't be shy to ask!