Epidural Steroid Injection

This afternoon I received my epidural steroid injection in my lower back.  This steroid is just to relieve inflammation in between my two L4 & L5 discs.  It will not heal the discs because I have degenerative disc disease.  Nothing can repair the damage that has already been done.  I just have to prevent it from going any further.  I can go back for two more steroid injections per year if I feel that this one injection is not working. 

The whole procedure, which was performed by a radiologist, went well.  The doctor first cleaned my back with iodine.  He then numbed the area with lidocain, placed the epidural into my back, inserted some dye into the disc area and was able to confirm that it was placed correctly by using fluoroscopy (x-ray).
After that, the steroid was injected.  I only felt a bit of pressure...not much pain.  I got a "charlie horse" feeling in my hips, but nothing else. 

The whole injection procedure lasted maybe 15 minutes.  After the injection was done, I had an hour of bed rest in the clinic.  Brad waited with me so I wasn't alone during bed rest. 

The nurses mentioned that I would probably feel the most relief today due to the lidocain and then the steroid probably wouldn't kick in for another 4-5 days.  I feel really good right now.  It feels so good not to put up with this pain every day.

Now, next week I will be fixing my knees.  I see the orthopedic doctor on the 7th. :)  I can't wait to be back to feeling young again.  

Erv, Clean Up in Aisle 7!

The other day Emmy was playing with her toy cash register.  It has a little microphone on the end so I usually speak grocery store lingo into it with her. I'm usually saying, "Erv, clean up in aisle 7," or "We need a price check on baby dolls on till 5"  or ..."Mike Lund up front to bag please." (my days working at Red Owl in high school have paid off)
We were playing around with the cash register and Emmy yells into the microphone, "Erv, clean up my toys!" 

Erin's 1st Sickness

Erin and Emmy both came down with colds last Friday.  On Saturday Erin had a fever of 100.7.  She definitely wasn't feeling herself.  All she wanted to do was cry and lay down...unusual for this bubbly baby.   She slept most of the day on Saturday.  By 9:00 pm on Saturday her fever had broke and she seemed to be feeling a little bit better.  However, Sunday she was definitely feeling much worse.  She was very congested, had a runny nose, and was wheezing.  I started to give her some nebulizer treatments but Brad didn't think it was a good idea to do this until hearing from the doctor that it was okay. 

She didn't have much of an appetite on Sunday.  She only drank 4 oz of formula in the morning and another 4 oz at night.  Definitely not enough - since she's supposed to get around 32 oz of formula per day.  She ate some sweet potatoes in the afternoon and I also gave her some Pedialyte through a syringe several times throughout the day.  I didn't want her getting dehydrated.  She wouldn't drink anything in the bottle...the syringe worked well.   

I brought her into the clinic Monday morning.  The doctor listened to her chest and put her on a neb treatment right away.  We will be doing this 2-3 times per day until the wheezing stops. 
The doctor also checked her ears and discovered she has a double ear infection.  Here we go again.
I just hope that Erin doesn't go through as many ear infections as Emmy did. 
Erin will be on Amoxicillin for 10 days.  Her next appointment is on Dec 1st, so we'll get her ears rechecked at that appointment. 

I kept both girls home from daycare yesterday to rest up.  Erin still didn't have much of an appetite yesterday so I made sure to giver her some jello and more pedialyte.  I gave her another neb treatment at home yesterday afternoon.  She doesn't like having the mask on her face and squirms around a lot.  It makes for a long seven minutes. 
Today she seems to be feeling a bit better.  Her appetite is slowly coming back.

There is another little girl at daycare who has pneumonia right now.  She's had a fever every day for about a week.  Her parents have kept her home for over a week now.  I hope she feels better soon.  Emmy keeps asking where Hadley is. 

Emmy is feeling fine now.  She just has a dry cough and runny nose.  I hope my little munchkins feel better soon.

EMG

I had the EMG procedure done last week and got the results back right away.  My muscles and nerves are all healthy according to the neurologist.  However, I am still experiencing a little bit of back pain so I'm opting to get the epidural steroid injection and will also be doing physical therapy soon.  I just have to make the appointment and plan for someone to drive me back home after the injection is done.
The EMG procedure went well and wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  First he tested my nerves by zapping each one...starting at my feet and then going up to the back of my knees.  It didn't hurt, but was more like sharp pins and needles going up my leg.  After that was done, he then tested my muscles by placing a tiny needle into different parts of my legs & back...I would flex the muscle with each poke.

I go back for a follow up in six weeks.  I can tell that I'm slowly getting better.  I just have to be careful.

Erin's Standing

Erin loves to play with this toy.  She gets so excited when she stands up.  She laughs at herself the whole time.  She's been pulling herself up onto things lately and gets into everything.  She loves to crawl into the kitchen and pull on the garbage can.  GROSS.   I don't understand why, but she loves it.  I have now blocked off the kitchen to her. 
One of her favorite things to do is to crawl over to the staircase and pull herself up.  She also loves to play in the entertaiment center.  She likes to push the DVD player buttons, etc. 
Emmy and Erin play really well together.  Lately, Emmy has been crawling into Erin's crib to play with her.  I love hearing the giggles come from the next room over.  It's so cute.  Sometimes, Emmy comes into our bedroom in the morning and whispers..."Shhhhh, baby Ewin is sweeping."

More Chompers

Erin's two top middle teeth popped through a couple of days ago.  The new teether that I got her must have helped break them through.  The other two on the top are about to come through as well.  She's been a little cranky lately due to the pain.  We have been giving her Tylenol and orajel to make her feel better.   She hates the orajel.  I don't blame her...it actually numbs your whole mouth...it's a weird feeling.  I dared Brad to try it the other day.  I told him it wasn't that bad.  He licked a little bit off of his finger and his whole mouth instantly went numb...he's so gullible.  :)

Halloween

We drove out to Montevideo last Saturday for some Halloween festivities.  The Legion had a party for the little ghosts and goblins.  My mom also wanted us to stop over to Luther Haven so that the residents could see these famous peacocks that grandma was bragging about for weeks. 

The Legion and the VFW sponsored the event for the little kids.  They had all kinds of games, candy and prizes.  Emmy filled her bucket and couldn't wait to eat the chocolates.  She got scared from some of the older kids' costumes.  She has been so afraid of monsters lately.  Poor thing is afraid of her own shadow. 

After the Legion party, we had an hour to spend so we went over to Scott & Rachel's house before heading over to Luther Haven to see grandma Linda.  Grandma was so excited to see us and everyone loved the peacocks. 

We visited with a few residents and then spent some time with my great aunt Molly.  She's 93 years old, but you wouldn't even know it.  Her eyesight is failing, but that's about it.  She's still sharp as a tack and knew exactly who I was when I walked in the door.

 Always sucking her thumb...



We spent Sunday trick or treating around our own neighborhood.  We just went around our cul-de-sac.  Emmy loved it and didn't want to stop.  She kept saying, "Another house?"  "More Candy?"  

 

SOOOOO Big!

Last weekend Erin was so excited to show us how big she is!  After she raised her arms, she got this huge smile on her face and then looked at us like..."Oh that's what you've been trying to teach me all this time."  We were so ecstatic!  She seems to be progressing so much lately. 

Emmy was so excited she had to give daddy a high five!

1st Pair of Heels

My baby girl has to rock a great pair of high heels.  Like mother like daughter! 

Do I have something on my face?

Erin's getting to be such a good eater.  Her tongue gets in the way a lot though so she gets really messy.  She enjoys all foods so far.  

Fall Project

Emmy and I made these snazzy glitter pumpkins a couple of weeks ago.  She was so excited as she loves to do projects.  I thought that this would be better than carving pumpkins since she's too young for carving just yet. 

These pumpkins bring sparkle to tables and serving areas-and they last far longer than jack-o'-lanterns.
To make one, use a medium-size paintbrush to spread a layer of white glue over the surface of a small pumpkin. Hold pumpkin over a paper plate or a sheet of newspaper to catch excess glitter. Sprinkle powder glitter over pumpkin.  Let dry for about one hour; shake off excess glitter. Coat stem with brown acrylic paint; let dry. Pumpkins will keep for months.

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