Updates

I wanted to wait to update until we had more information, but I've found myself with a rare 5 minutes of alone time, so I thought I'd provide a quick update.

On Monday Mom and I took Audrey to see an allergist. [By the way, if you ever need an allergist in the Lawrenceville/Snellville area I'd gladly recommend this one. Dr. Schaffer spent time with us answering all of our questions, providing information, and calming our fears.]

He definitely thinks it's a peanut allergy based on the pictures (yes, there was an intentional reason I took them), symptoms, timing, etc. We will do blood tests in the next two weeks to confirm his suspicions. We are also testing for tree nuts and pineapple to rule it out.

Regardless of the results, we now have an epi (epinephrine) pen and have been trained on how to use it. The only thing I can imagine worse than Audrey's allergic reaction is the thought of giving her the epi shot myself. To think about jabbing that pen in her little thigh and holding it there for 10 seconds breaks my heart.

Graham and I are both having a little bit of a hard time with this. As parents we want Audrey to have the best life possible. To know at such an early age that life is going to be more difficult than her peers is heartbreaking. It makes us angry that something can hurt our sweet little girl and there is nothing we can do to fix it. The doctor warned that she will probably not grow out of it, so it makes me sad that she'll never get to eat a Snickers bar, have a Reese's Blizzard, or experience Uncle Jason's famous boiled peanuts (or cousin Hannah's boiled peanut themed birthday party).

Thank you again for all the checking up you've done on Audrey. We've been so touched by how many people have expressed their concerns for her. This is new for us, so any first hand advice is welcome.

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So, my five minutes has actually been two precious nights of room service and me time. I'm at American Heart Association's headquarters for Heart Walk Boot Camp. It's been great to meet some of my peers from around the country and learn what they do, and especially what they do well.

Don't get me wrong, I miss Graham, Audrey, Hudson, and Pongo, but I really love having the time to catch up on emails, blogs, my heartwalk page, administrative work, etc.

I got to "facetime" with Audrey and Graham earlier tonight. It's part of the iphone (similar to skype) that allows you to video chat. Audrey tried to reach my pearls through the phone. So cute! She seemed really excited that she was able to see me through the phone. Miss her!

I just got room service for the 2nd night in a row tonight and the guy laughed at me for having the same pj's on, same show on, and laptop in my bed as last night. I'm not sure this what our leader meant when she encouraged us to go out and "network" tonight...

I don't care, I'm exhausted...the allergy situation has left us with several sleepless nights -- checking to make sure Audgie's still breathing. I got up for a work event at 4:00 am on Tuesday morning (an hour earlier than the alarm was set because I was worried about whether or not I'd remembered to sew the button back on my suit, and also wondering if Audrey was breathing). I slept 10 beautiful hours last night!

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I spend most of my time talking about Audrey and what's going on with me on this blog. I don't spend enough time writing about the what's going on with Graham.

We are happy to announce that Graham is going back to school! He currently has his masters and will be pursuing an education specialist's degree in leadership from Piedmont College. It will take about 2 years. He gets to take his classes at a nearby high school, so we are very fortunate that he will not have to drive far.

I'm so proud of Graham for applying to do this, especially since it will occupy two falls (on the heels of a national championship season).

Okay, well that was more than 5 minutes, but I think I'm about all caught up!