The Adventures of Adoption and Parenthood

We are a month into Strensiq for Segunda. We had heard other patient anecdotes regarding the medication. All positive with a few reporting some side effects. The most common is the site injection sores. Here is how it is going for us: The first four injections had terrible site injection pain. The site became red, swollen and very painful even to graze the spot. Segunda let us know if we accidentally touched it and told us to "never touch my owie ever ever again."  But the next rotation of injections saw a markedly smaller reaction, and now there isn't one at all. We are 11 shots in. This means we are just shy of a month. In the beginning, she suffered acute anxiety over the shots and would begin hyperventilating and panicking the moment I headed towards her refrigerator. She would shriek for daddy to hold her hand. Now, while she isn't fond of them and she sometimes still cries, she is starting to accept them as routine. Now for the fun stuff. In less than a mo...

It's been an exciting few weeks around our household for Segunda. Our pediatrician found us an endocrinologist who is one of the foremost experts on HPP in the western United States, and he is local to us. This means that he can prescribe Strensiq for her. Strensiq is a drug developed for patients with hypophospatasia (HPP) and was approved by the FDA 4th quarter of last year. Segunda's new endocrinologist is also on the board for Strensiq. Our luck couldn't get any better.  In mid-March we had our first appointment with the new doctor. It was a torture session for Segunda. She had to walk around the doctor's office for 5 minutes to get a baseline for how fast she can walk and what her stamina looks like. At the 2 1/2 minute mark, she tripped over a rug. She didn't fall, but it was very upsetting to her and she screamed and cried the remaining 2 1/2 minutes and begged me to pick her up. So I walked backwards through the halls of the doctor's office holding h...

We have had an exciting week around our household. We learned that Segunda will be on a wonderful medication just approved by the FDA late last year to treat hypophosphatasia. She will get her first injection the last week of the month. But, this means that we are getting a refrigerator just for her medication and we will put it in her room. Her room was nowhere near ready to receive a refrigerator. So, we got it ready today. Here is her room before and it's not pretty: Her room felt very temporary and not at all welcoming. Take a look at our hurried transformation: As we were moving furniture in and arranging her clothes in the dresser, Segunda kept hugging my legs and saying over and over, "Thank you, Mama." I'm sorry it took us this long to get her room in order. Her medication refrigerator will go on her dresser.  Then Prima was desperate to begin her re-organization. We got through her clothes and that was it for ...

Today as the kids watched movies trying to get over their illnesses, I went through Segunda's clothes. I purged everything that is smaller than a 3T. 111 sweatsuits, dresses, outfits, pajamas, shirts, pants, swimsuits, leggings. Then I went through her closet and took out all the things she doesn't like or doesn't wear and 3 40 gallon bins of 3T clothes. Some of the clothes from the bins made it into the closet, but 75% are being donated.  Only 85 things this go around, but it included a snowsuit, snow pants, and a winter coat.  I found some real treasures in the bins. Segunda will be over the moon for the multiple sets of Hello Kitty pajamas I unearthed.  On her closet shelf were several hats and gloves, so I decided to round out the day by going through the tubs in the coat closet full of hats, gloves and scarves and ditched a few there too. Hopefully these will keep a few toddlers warm in the winter. And the Planes lunchbox sho...

Today I tackled the rest of the clothes category for my clothes. These categories are: - socks - underwear - accessories (scarves, jewelry, belts, etc.) - other (pajamas, swimsuits, etc.) - shoes The death count today is: 9 pairs of socks 2 pairs of slippers 1 slip/cami set 1 boustier 3 strapless bras 8 purses 1 hanging cubby organizer 2 storage utility bags 1 bottle bag 1 changing pad 1 portfolio case 2 jewelry bags 2 jewelry boxes 42 pairs of earrings 4 necklaces 7 lapel pins 6 belts 6 scarves 15 pairs of shoes Here are the before and after pictures to show you the difference. Bear in mind that the bins you see are full of my kids clothes as they grow into them. I will be going through those as well very soon. Yes, I'm putting my underwear drawer on the internet for all to see. But look at how amazing this is.  My shirt drawer before and after My pajama/sweats/swimsuit drawer before and after. My clothes hung so that ...

I recently read the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. And then I read the sequel Spark Joy. And then I bought the journal. And then ... I decided to start with the prescribed first category. As I read these books, I realized with a jolt that true happiness for me lies in organization and structure. And I had fallen away from what truly makes me happy. I have found very little joy in my life of late besides my children and even they are more trying than joyful at the moment. It's time to change my life and I believe whole-heartedly in Marie Kondo's methods. I think by purging and then storing properly, I will be well on my way to living joyfully.  Clothes:  I started with tops and piled them up on my floor. The mound was as tall as my 3 year old who last measured at 33". It was easily 4' across. I picked up the first article of clothing and said out loud, "Does this bring me joy?" The answer was a quick no and I...