a little bit of everything. but mostly allergies.

we are excited to announce that we can have babies again! it is for sure. we are thrilled. not sure how to express how i feel. just thankful and joyful. back in august (if you missed it read HERE) we were told we might not be able to have children after chemo. but i am happy to report that we know for sure now that i am good to go. praise God. we still need to wait at least one to two years since my last PET scan to try and get pregnant. just in case of cancer returning. but the chance of that is minimal. so now we will patiently wait until we get the go ahead from dr. lee to start trying for another little baby. but at least we know that my body is physically able to get pregnant again. we are so thankful. what a joy. one more thing to celebrate.

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allergy update on ava. back in october (read HERE) ava had a pretty bad reaction after eating some scrambled eggs. we found out later that day she is allergic to eggs and peanuts. bummer. however, we started giving ava things to eat with eggs cooked in it and she did just fine. so it is pretty much no french toast or eggs (scrambled, fried, etc) for little ava. then a few weeks ago she ate some mustard and had a mild reaction all over her face. i gave her benadryl and she was fine. we were supposed to take her in to see an allergist shortly after her reaction. well between my chemo schedule and life. we finally went on thursday. it was a sad visit. i documented it a bit with my iphone. so they are not great. but just give you an idea of how our visit went.

just reading her book. no idea of what's about to happen.

so she is playing and reading her books while we wait. she especially likes this little corner of the office. she was playing a little peek-a-boo. then two nurses come in with a large tray of different things they are going to test on ava's back. they do seven total. i told ava. face to face. one nurse holds her arms around me and i hold her head while the other nurses does seven pin pricks on her back. ava really was a champ during that part. it was quick and not that bad. the worst was that i had to hold her like that for 15 minutes. specifically i had to hold her wrists so she would not reach around and inch or rub her back. maybe for some kids this is not big deal. but ava does not necessarily love to be held. especially when her hands and arms are confined. they did give her a lolli pop and that distracted her for about 5 minutes. now she is mad. so we sing wheels on the bus, itsy bitsy spider, old macdonald. she is not up for singing. the nurse hears her crying and comes in with bubbles. well sorta good but not that good. because now i can not hold her arms anymore and she wants to blow them. it is getting worse because it is more more thing i am not able to let her do. she wants her arms and to get down. neither of which i am able to let her do. i manage to get over to my purse and grab her stickers. our saving grace. she loved it. seriously parents get stickers. they have helped us survive flights, road trips, and now allergy tests.

we did it. we made it 15 minutes without touching her back. after looking at her back the doctor tells us she is still very allergic to eggs. peanut is pretty mild but advised us to wait until she is two and bring her in and they will test her again. so still no peanuts. to our surprise her reaction to mustard was pretty significant. so mustard seeds for ava. but the doctor is hopeful she will out grow them.

we chat a bit about what this means and then a nurse comes in to go over using an epi pen and some other information. if you babysit ava ever plan on getting trained on how to use an epi pen next time you watch her. we were told that just because her initial reaction to eggs and mustard was only hives it does not mean the next reaction would be the same. it could be much worse. which is a little scary. but we now have several epi pens. so hopefully we are as prepared as we can be. now ava is free to walk around. shirtless. her fav.

we head home for a popsicle and a wagon ride. we survived. so thankful i was just taking her to see the allergists. i know many parents have it much worse. it does something to your soul to see your child in pain. this is minor. it could be much worse.

do not forget father's day tomorrow. ava and i sure haven't. we have a few surprises coming daddy's way tomorrow.

enjoy your weekend. it is gorgeous here.