CBC-02/29/2008

Max had his monthly CBC today. The results were wonderful. Dr. Ebb even seemed surprised by them. (Oh, and I did confirm that last month, he chased us down to give us the good news.) His platelets were just shy of 198. All his counts were great. I checked on last months' retic count, too, and it was 1.7. He didn't ask for one this month as things have been so good. We have two more months of monthly tests and then should be able to move to bimonthly, which I am sure both Max and I will prefer.

Max did great with the blood draw. He told me he didn't think we should get a blood draw but should do something else instead this morning, and expressed some displeasure when I put the Emla on (he said it hurt, and I know that it did not), and he told me he was scared when she did the draw, but he sat still and didn't even cry. As soon as it was over, he went back to playing. Lauren came in with us and she was her usually silly self. IT was a nice visit.

I really struggled this week. I keep wondering when I will stop worrying so much. The closer to the draw we get, the more I worry, I think. It took me a few days to figure out what was bothering me, because it is really subconcious, but the worry is definitely there. I was not very pleasant to be around today. We didn't even do anything before the appointment because I just wasn't up to it. I hope that I will be able to learn to stop worrying. It is exhausting.

Anyway, here is the wonderful news:

WBC: 8.9
HCT: 36.6
HGB: 13.5
PLT: 198 (With a happy note on the lab sheet saying New normal range :) )
ANC: >4500

Mom's Need to Talk in Specifics

We got yet another snowstorm on Friday. It snowed all day, and we woke to a winter wonderland. Josh was outside, and Max wanted to join him. I told him he needed to put on pants, shoes, a hat, and a jacket before he could go outside, and went back to working, only half paying attention as he headed out into the backyard. I glanced out to see him wearing this. I am pretty sure that Cisco thought he was nuts, too.

And yes, after I took the picture, I went inside to get him a pair of boots, though I couldn't talk him into a warmer jacket or hat. It didn't take him long to figure out that Crocs are not snow walking shoes.

Aquarium Adventure

We went to the New England Aquarium today. I have wanted to go there with Max since before we moved back here. As a girl, some of my fondest memories are of walking down to the aquarium with my father and brother and watching the seals play. When we were really lucky, Dad would let us go in and see the big tank and the rest of the aquarium. This started my love of the ocean and its creatures, and I have dreamed of sharing it with Max since pretty much he was conceived. Josh, Greg (my brother) and I visited the Baltimore aquarium when Max was around 9 months old, and he had fun, but he doesn't remember that. Somehow, we never managed to get to the Monterey aquarium with our kids, even though we went many times before they arrived in our lives.

Max loved it. Josh took the day off specifically so that we could make this visit and having him along allowed Max to go see what he wanted to see while Lauren and I hung back at times. He was fascinated by the big tank and the fish in it, thought that the penguins were really fun to watch, and loved the jellyfish exhibit. He took some time to build a structure out of plastic fish and learned about red belly turtles. He was cautious at the tide pool, as compared to his sister, who leaps before she thinks and was thrilled to be able to stick her hand into the water (in her defense, she did wait until I touched the sea star before she touched it). But, the thing he liked the best was watching the seals. Just like his mom. :) I promised him we would visit them again often, as I am slowly getting my bearings in Boston and am starting to figure out how easy it is to walk (and or take the T) from one thing to another like we did when I was a child. Now, we just need spring to arrive.

On our way out, I realized we were driving by the North End, so we turned onto Hanover Street and amazingly enough found parking and stopped to have a slice of pizza ("Mom, thanks for chosing a perfect lunch place") and then headed to Maria's, our favorite pastry place, for cannolli. It was a wonderful day. I know we won't be able to do this too often as an entire family, but I hope to get to do it again sometime fairly soon.

We head back into Boston in two weeks for Max's next blood draw (Dr. Ebb is on vacation next week) and I hope to take the kids to the Museum of Science beforehand again. I think we all are enjoying being able to get out and do things this year. It has been good for all of us.