Reunion Day ....

For the last week or so we all have been fighting pesky, keep hanging on, colds. Nothing too bad, just won't seem to go away. Even Miss Zoey. And if you can believe it, this is Zoey's first real cold. Runny, stuffy nose, weepy eyes, rattly cough, the whole nine yards. Hard to imagine isn't it? A child that has been hit with everything under the sun but..... the common cold. Do I dare say that we may perhaps be entering into some ordinary, garden variety stuff. Forget it, I won't say it. If I do, I will absolutely have to follow it by a powerful knock on the nearest piece of wood. As I mentioned yesterday, we were heading to the CHLA NICCU reunion today. That was the plan. The plan in fact did go off but not without a minor hitch. Zoey woke up this morning with a fever. Not too high but Tylenol did not bring it down. I thought that it was slightly strange that she never presented with a fever at the start of this virus but would suddenly spike one 7 days in. First thing I thought of was her ears. As luck would have it, her pediatrician had Saturday morning hours today. I was so happy because if I headed to the local After Hours Clinic, which is a great clinic but if I did, the first thing I would hear was how difficult it was to see anything through her little, tiny, narrow ear canals. It would be said with a real dramatic tone too. It truly is a common trait of children with Down syndrome but I have to say I really wish I had ten bucks for each time I have heard that said and I for sure would be sitting pretty with Starbucks money for quite some time to come. So, we got ourselves together and headed to our favorite, local neighborhood Pediatricians office for a quick pit stop before we headed into LA. Dr. Kundell has a handy, dandy special scope just perfect for little, tiny, narrow ear canals and he was able to confirm my feeling ...... definitely an ear infection. That's a first for the little Miss. As was an antibiotic. Yep, another first. Amoxicillin. Now, let me clarify, she certainly has had her share of heavy duty antibiotics in her early days but not your run of the mill pink, bubble gum flavored stuff. Dr. Kundell looked through his computer notes and was dumbfounded to find that he has NEVER prescribed an antibiotic for Zoey in 18 months. He said, "do you know how rare that is for a child who has Down syndrome to NEVER have an antibiotic over the course of 18 months?" My reply, "Of course I do, we are talking about Zoey!" Boy did he laugh at that one. Laughed, but oh so true. Out we went, down to the pharmacy, filled it, dosed her up in the car and continued on our way. Some may say irresponsible. Child with cold, child with fever, child with ear infection, but come on, are a few little things like those going to really stop our Princess? No way. After our quick pit stop we still managed to arrive on time for the festivities. We all had a great time. Zoey slept in her stroller for a bit. The boys had a blast. Snow cone machines, cotton candy machines, train rides, free toys and Star Wars characters meandering around. Every kids dream day. For us too.Except when we lost Joe for awhile.Bound to happen one of these days.That child moves so fast.Found him eventually.Obliviously playing another game for the hundredth time! We saw a few of our favorite nurses, a few of our favorite Neonatalogists. Visited with a couple of really sweet families. Then called it a day. We were extremely proud to be there. Proud of our daughter who fought so hard to be here. Proud to be part of this incredible extended family. Proud beyond words when the doctor who heads the entire NICCU commented that seeing children like Zoey and how well they are doing, energizes himself and his colleagues. Which in turn causes them to work all the much harder and raises the bar higher, for all who work in the NICCU on behalf of these children. Zoey is a graduate. Today she stood, rather strolled, shoulder to shoulder with some other amazing warriors. Kids making their own unique marks. Lending their courageous spirits and resounding voices, in unison, saying: thanks for not giving up on us. Thanks for helping us when we first entered this world and seeing us safely to the place where we belonged all the while ... home. Thanks Children's Hospital of Los Angeles NICCU, words fall short, just know you will always have a special place in all of our hearts. Always.