Dr apts, school, and more!

Grace went for a nurse apt yesterday and to see her allergist today. We also spoke with the school psychologist about some options for this fall. We have been struggling with her behavior a lot the last couple weeks and have been hoping for some answers!

At the nurse apt, we mainly wanted to check her weight since she hasn't been eating much lately. We did find out she has grown 3 inches since April! She has lost a little weight but not enough to be concerning yet. We are going to try adding some pediasure to her diet to make sure she is getting all the vitamins etc that she needs and just see if this is just a phase she is in.

The allergist had a lot of info, but unfortunately no answers. I am happy nothing is wrong, but a little frustrated there is nothing we can fix! The rash she had is most likely a reaction from the strep she had. I did learn that what most people think is an allergic reaction to an antibiotic is often just a reaction to an illness. She will most likely also have the same reaction down the road if she gets strep again. It is good to know I dont need to worry about the rash at all! We also talked about the fact that she seems to pick up EVERYTHING she is around. He did say that will likely get better overtime and will actually have a positive effect on her allergies. On the downside there really isnt anything we can do to improve it. I did ask about different vitamins such as fish oil and the many other ones we hear that are supposed "magic cures". I love this Dr because he is totally honest! He pretty much told me, they will not hurt, it may help, but it may not. There is not a lot of real research out there to back up whether or not vitamins really make a difference (this is obviously aside from someone who is actually deficient in something!). He said there is more anecdotal evidence for it (someone who has tried it and noticed a difference for themselves) and it would be something I wouldn't see a change in right away but more overtime, I may notice she has fewer strep infections a year kind of thing.

We also talked about a gluten free diet. It was a pretty similar discussion. He doesn't feel she has symptoms at all of a gluten allergy, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't benefit from a gluten free diet. I was excited to hear that if we did decide to try it we would see a difference in a few weeks (MUCH better than what I had originally heard that said it took 6 months to see a difference!). I think we will probably try the gluten free thing for a while and see if we see a difference. If we don't we will just go back to our regular diet.

I also talked with the school psychologist today about Grace. I was hoping to start her at the same time as Emma to minimize the need for repeated routine changes. We are going to do sort of a mix. If she did start school Birth to 3 services would end, and I want to keep those going as long as possible! The school system also doesn't have a responsibility (for lack of a better word!) for kids until their 3rd birthday. His suggestion is we set up some "visits" for Grace so she can start to get familiar with the room and people in it and can start to feel comfortable there and begin to get into a routine gradually. I think this will work well. Given how much she has started to meltdown and have tantrums again lately, I think a more gradual process will be better for her.

Thats all for now! Now I am off to make dinner for my girls!