A Whole New Jordan?

Devon works his binky magic on the new & improved Jordan, who finally remembers how to suck without screaming every 5 seconds. Notice that she's asleep, and that gravity is on his side.

Devon and I were a little bummed yesterday when we met with the neuro and he told us Jordan's new anti-seizure anti-anxiety medication would take up to two weeks to work. We struggled with the idea of giving it to her, but were partially relieved to at least give it a try, with the doctor's blessings of course.

HOLY COW!! What a transformation! She calmed down very quickly last night, slept from from 10:30 to 6:00 (with a quiet, one hour break between 01:00 to 02:00), and seems practically back to "normal." All this with 1/2 dose! Devon joked that I was going to get worried that she was suddenly too calm -- but it was too late, I already was. Mostly I worry that we're masking some underlying problem by giving her the medicine (e.g. her tummy hurts but now she can't cry out to tell us). Mind you, when she was screaming for the past 6 weeks we couldn't figure out what she was trying to tell us, so maybe she really is feeling better on the Tranxene. I know I'm feeling better (and that worries me, because the last thing I want to do is medicate her to make me feel better!). It's tough, I tell you.

I guess I should also mention the other things that have improved since her first half dose last night. Call us crazy, but we both feel like she's crying more appropriately & more "normally" (instead of shrieking constantly), she's giving us grins & smiles, she's cooing again, and she seems to be "looking" around and taking in her surroundings. Her arms and legs are relaxed, her ankles are bent, her hands open and close, and she's even putting her hands up to her mouth (even though she isn't sucking on them unless they are propped up there so they can't get away). She hadn't been doing any of these things for weeks. She has periods of quiet alert time, finally, too. And did we mention that she slept WELL last night, and even when she was awake she was hardly fussy. Her blood pressure today was a little better than it was on Thursday, and I didn't get a call from the doc on Thursday or Friday, so her electrolytes must be doing fine.

So, even though I'm a little worried about over-medicating her, I'm glad to see that she's emerging from her shrieking stupor, and becoming more like a "normal" kid, with more varied emotions and actions, and hopefully some development to follow.