Prayers for our precious Hope needed....

Well, we were home with Hope 9 days yesterday, the date in which she turned 18 months. Everything has been going so well...she has fit so perfectedly into our lives. Yesterday was a great day, we went to Matthew's speech therapy and then his daycare was having a lunch with parents so the 3 of us went to lunch and had a picnic together. Hope loved every second of sitting at the table with Matthew eating and really enjoyed the other kids. It was so much fun showing her off yesterday and Matthew seemed pretty proud too. He was a bit stubborn in speech, but warmed up throughout the day. While Chris was at work, the 3 of us spent the afternoon in the air conditioning playing, goofing off, and eventually the 2 of them were zonked out on the couch and I couldn't help but smile at how far they had come in such a short period of time! Such a blessing!

Hope got 5 shots (immunizations) at the pediatricians office on Monday and she was running some fevers Monday night through Wednesday morning and she also had a runny nose and a cough. Otherwise, no issues.

My co-workers and good friends had a Welcome Hope party on Tuesday at work and Chris, Matthew, Hope, and I had such a delightful time. Everything was so personal and so very special. There were pink and brown butterflies, homemade centerpieces and Hope's pictures from our trip in them, and so much more. It was so overwhelming and so very special.

Well after dinner last night, we headed across the street to let her and Matthew swim with the neighbors and I noticed she had little red spots all over her skin from head to toe. Being a pediatric hematology/oncology nurse, I knew exactly what these petecchiae were. I called the pediatrician and then the doctor I work directly with and sure enough in a short period of time, she had bruises all over her and we were headed to the ER to meet the hematologist to see her and get some bloodwork done. After he truly helped us out as well as one of the nurses from the 7th floor in drawing her blood, we knew pretty quickly that Hope's platelet count was dangerously low. Platelets are what clot your blood and Hope's were only 7,000 (normal for kids is 150,000-400,000). Her other blood counts were OK, which was a huge blessing and her doctor even looked at her blood under a microscope to be sure there were no leukemia cells there...that is always something our doctors look for in kids that have low platelet counts.

So, Hope was diagnosed with ITP(immune thrombocytopenia purpura) and this is why she was bruising and at risk for serious bleeding. There's no definitive cause of ITP in children and it is rare, but immunizations and viruses can certainly cause this. Pretty much Hope's immune system is currently seeing her platelets as invaders and they are being destroyed as they try to get through her spleen.

So, Hope came home with us last night, and we need to monitor her for bleeding and she will be directly admitted to the hospital if she starts with any bleeding or if we see purplish spots in her mouth. We also were told to watch her and call for any changes, headache, falls involving her head, etc. The plan is to go to clinic on Monday and have an IV and repeat blood work done, and if her platelets are less than 10,000 still, she will get an infusion of IVIG in clinic to try and help boost her platelet count. It has it's own share of bad side effects, so we are praying that her platelet count comes up on her own of course. It's so very surreal to me to take care of kids with ITP and to now be scheduled in my own clinic I work in for my daughter to be cared for there...

I am still in shock from everything, but am so happy we got her seen and evaluated right away. Such a blessing to have a doctor I work with so willing to leave his family time and meet us at the ER and be a phone call away all week-end long. We kept Hope low key today and tried to prevent any injuries - so hard to do with an 18 month old...we drove to a mall and she loved to ride in the stroller and people watch, went out for an early dinner, then ice cream. She did great, was happy and safe. Go figure, after her bath tonight, she loses her balance and falls head first into the nightstand....her head swelled up and turned blue right away and we just couldn't believe it. She cried hard but not for long. I talked to the doctor and he just said to keep a close eye on her and obviously her bruise will be bad. The poor little baby is covered, COVERED in bruises and little red dots....

So, we were home 20 days with Matthew when we learned he was completely deaf - and now 9 days home with Hope for her to develop this :) We always knew Hope was the name for her and we are truly so thankful for medical care to be available to us and we just ask for you to pray for her safety, no bleeding, stable or BETTER bloodwork on Monday, for Chris and I to remain calm through all of this. We are so thankful Hope attached well to us so we can comfort her...thanks for keeping her AND us in your prayers over the next few days, they are greatly appreciated.

*On a very special note too, I know I have written before about how in tune Matthew is to others, especially those whom are handicapped or are sick. Well, last night when we got home from the ER - all Hope wanted was to lay with Matthew. She fell asleep next to him almost immediately, and at 4am Matthew woke me up, took my hand and led me to Hope's room where he wanted me to tuck him into the spare bed we have next to her crib.....it was priceless. He also got her through her shots this week, and his compassion and caring even though he cannot speak is just amazing. This morning, he let her feed him cereal on the couch and they were too cute for words...think it's just the start of a VERY special sibling relationship!*